Notes From A Bear's Journey

Let's Go Back -- Updates    Yikes, there's been some confusion over a few of the recent postings so here are a few quick updates.     Regarding the post on marijuana ( Pot/s and Ban/s ), one of the main differences between marijuana and heroin is the different parts of the body that are affected; the cannabinoid receptors within our bodies aren't usually found in the brain stem which controls our breathing and cadiovascular functions. So despite many rumors, there hasn't been a single case of a marijuana overdose due to breathing (anxiety maybe, but not breathing).  The same cannot be said for synthetic marijuana or heroin, which can cause respiratory failure (the heroin death rate has tripled since 2010, which some sources blame on increased traffic from Mexico, one alleged result of the marijuana supply flow diminishing and even reversing back into Mexico and causing drug cartels to seek their profits elsewhere).  An interesting story about this...

Cynical Pinnacle    Sometimes, it's difficult to avoid being cynical or pessimistic.  Perhaps it is our culture, perhaps our upbringing; but at times, such outlooks seem to quietly sneak in without us being aware of it.  You lose your phone (one site says 113 smartphones are lost or stolen every minute ), you drop your wallet or keys, you leave money at the grocery self-checkout, whatever.  It happens.  And your friends or family tell you to call the store, or call the police, or call lost and found...maybe somebody turned it in?  Then comes that cynical inner voice, that pessimistic whisperer in your head telling you, "not likely."  What are the chances?  It's gone, why bother?  How could you have been so careless, so in a hurry, so, so...stupid!  You, you, you...that voice never stops berating you.    This happened to me when, yes, I was in a hurry and placed a few personal checks in my shirt pocket as I headed out t...

Pot(s) and Ban(s)    There must be something mainstream when you appear on the cover of magazines as diverse as National Geographic and Fortune , as well as Time and The Week .  The irony is, you're famous, but not in a good way since you're illegal.  In fact, the U.S. government considers you as dangerous as heroin.  But a majority of the U.S. wants you.  In fact, even big-time drug dealers in Mexico now want you.  Is it the billions of dollars that you generate?  Probably, but there's something even more attractive about you, despite your age.    A weed is a weed is a weed; that is, unless you really are the real thing...weed.  Marijuana, ganja and dozens of other culturally popular names have made "weed" suddenly quite popular, and mostly for reasons not commonly associated with it.  Thousands of years ago, there is evidence that the Chinese already knew this, for marijuana has been discovered in their medical dispensa...

Hospitalization    Just when you think it could (or would) never happen to you...it does.  A bad cut that won't stop bleeding, an anxiety attack that seems to stop your breathing, a sudden fall.  Before you know it, that cliched blurry Hollywood scene of doors bursting opening and ceiling lights flashing by as you're quickly wheeled into the emergency room becomes reality.  How did you get here?  How did it happen?  And so quickly?  Will you be okay?    For those of us on the receiving end, the news is almost as devastating.  For both sides, life suddenly and necessarily is disrupted.  Will the person, friend, family member (even dog or cat) be okay?  How serious is the injury?  What's the prognosis?  Should you leave immediately on the next flight, leave work, leave family, end that vacation?  And what about your home...and theirs?  Will things be taken care of?    This happened recentl...

A Bit Rusty    It comes up now and then; you're called to play an instrument at a friend's house, or asked to be part of a sport team or perhaps going out on a date after a long dry spell.  You start, you sort of get into it, and before long, you're laughing and having a good time, your mind catapulting you into believing that you still have it, that you're physically almost as good as you were when you were young...just a bit rusty.  But this isn't about any of that.    Here's the opening:  Rust has knocked down bridges, killing dozens.  It's killed at least a handful of people at nuclear power plants, nearly caused reactor meltdowns, and challenged those storing nuclear waste.  At the height of the Cold War, it turned our most powerful nukes into duds.  Dealing with it has shut down the nation's largest oil pipeline, bringing about negotiations with OPEC.  It's rendered military jets and ships unfit for service, caused the cra...

Pilgrims, We Are...    The other day, I had the chance to talk with my auntie; well, let me back up a bit.  This woman I had only met six years ago, and this was only the second time I've had a chance to chat with her since then (we haven't met again since).  But in Hawaii, there is an old colloquial pairing that whoever you feel cares for you, or whom you yourself deeply care for, well, she becomes your "auntie."  This can be a close relative who might not actually be your aunt; and of course, this can carryover to someone who might not even be a relative.  In some ways, it becomes a symbol of respect, one-sided in a sense, as usually the "auntie" is just going about her life caring and giving and not seeking much of anything, much less a familial title.  So it was with this friend of my, my auntie, 97 years young and so full of life that I felt more than a bit humble when we both put down the phones.    She began filling me in on her l...

No Comment    Seems odd, doesn't it?  Here it is, nearly the middle of June and summer about to be in full swing.  Time is flying by.  And while I've written about this before, I find that nowhere is this more noticeable than with friends and family.  Just the other day, a friend called and the news wasn't too good as both of his siblings had late-stage cancer.  You know how the conversation goes, you're happy to hear that distant voice, chat for awhile (summing up your recent life --the highlights, no less, in about a minute; hey what have you been up to?), hear details such as he mentioned, say that we simply must get together and then, well, more time goes by.    In this particular case, my friend mentioned that the last time he saw us was six months ago.  Six months!  So what happens?  Do our lives get busier?  Does our circle of friends change?  Do other interests take priority?  And what about family?...

Be Mine    When one hears the word "mine," the thought is likely that of a shaft deep in the earth, a series of tunnels leading to minerals or fossilized petroleum.  But in the vein of the earlier post (sorry about the pun), the subject turns to cluster bombs, just one of the methods used to deliver explosive and damaging weapons, including in this case, mines.  As you're likely aware, buried mines continue to play an extensive role in modern warfare (ISIS often lines entry streets with them once they've taken over a city), despite being banned by countries throughout the world (165 countries have agreed to not only stop the production of anti-personnel mines, but to also not transfer or use their existing stockpiles but rather to destroy them; the United States, Russia and China --currently the 3 largest exporters of weapons-- are among the 35 countries still refusing to sign the treaty ...in fairness, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines says this about t...

Bombs Away    One hears that phrase from old war movies, and it usually has a somewhat good connotation, the bombs let free from their B-52 airplane holders and heading for the enemy below.  But on the other end, there would be nothing but horror, hearing the bombs whistling down, much as Londoners heard in WWII, calling the rocket-powered bombs "doodlebugs" for the rocket sound;  once that sound stopped, they knew that bombs (mostly incendiary and often with a delay switch to frustrate the firefighters) were out of fuel and heading downward to destroy part of their city.  But across the oceans, there is only one country that stands out as the most bombed country in the world (per capita), and ironically, war was never declared there (at least, not by the U.S. which did all the bombing)...Laos.    More bombs than WWI and WWII were dropped on Laos during the Vietnam War years from 1964 to 1973, an average of 177 planes a day dropping bombs every 8 m...

Finances    Imagine yourself a star tennis player, as in making the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.  Now picture meeting someone with a brain tumor, someone who doctors told he had only six months left to live.  Two wildly separate people, both of whom went on to become quite successful in their fields, the world of finance; one worked for decades in the height of Wall Street (Goldman Sachs, Lehman and Credit Suisse) and the other was (and still is) recognized by Barron's as one of the top 100 financial advisors in the U.S.  And both were disgusted by what they saw happening.    First off (again), this is not my field and as with all matters financial, one should always take one's finances seriously since this is your money and your retirement and your life savings (and of course, this is a blog so while I try to be accurate, be aware that when it comes to money, you should view this as only opening a door for further investigation on your part)....

Ciggies    My mother-in-law smokes, and like many smokers, has done so for most of her life.  Well into her 80s, she still faithfully puts down about $100 monthly for her half-pack-a-day habit (make that about $400 per month if you're a 2-pack daily person).  According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), this just adds more sales to the 264 billion cigarettes made in the U.S., currently among the top four producers of tobacco (although like most farming, tobacco is now mostly run by massive corporations on huge farms; from USDA statistics, tobacco farms dropped from nearly 180,000 in the 1980s to about 10,000 by 2012).  And since the growth of addicted and casual smokers is actually showing a decline in the U.S. (relatively speaking, since nearly 20% of adults in the U.S. still smoke (t hose with mental illnesses, especially those with PTSD, depression and bipolar disorder, are especially prone to smoke) and every day more than 3,000...

Clutter    Let's face it, many of us are surrounded with clutter (and I'm not talking to those of you who are spotless and organized).  Myself, I've whittled my books to just one bookcase, my clothes are what I consider minimal (easiest thing for me to discard) and my papers...well, let's skip over my many piles of papers.  All of this came to mind while debating the merits of Marie Kondo's best-seller (2 million copies sold, so far), The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up .   And she's rather brutal...    Take books.  Her advice first of all is to gather every book in the house (this includes things such as cookbooks) and lay them out on the floor (so you get an idea of how many books you really have);  any books you've forgotten (say, a yearbook hidden in a box in the garage) goes right to the trash.  Her motto basically is, if you can't remember that you have it or where it is, then you don't want it.  Her second basic premise...