Saturday, March 31, 2012

The Problem with most public High Schools

When I went a semester to College of the Siskiyous near Mt. Shasta, California I had a professor that taught logic. One of the things he shared was, "Public High Schools have become babysitting services and reformatories all over this nation." Many of the students in the class debated him regarding this but I didn't. The reason was that this was also my personal experience in going to public school. I couldn't disagree with him even though I wanted to because of my loyalty of going from kindergarten through my Junior year in High School in public schools. And in Los Angeles my parents had even moved to Glendale specifically because they had the best public schools in Los Angeles County at that time. (1950s and 1960s). So I felt bad at not being able to argue with my professor about this. But what he said was true when I went to school and it was much worse now around 50 years later.

So, if people ask me, "How should I educate my child I will tell them, 'Don't send your child to public school, whatever you do.' Either home school them or send them to a really good private school or a combination of both if you want them to love learning for life. Loving to learn for life is actually the key to success. Boredom is the key to failure in school. If you aren't excited and interested in what you are studying there really isn't much point in going to school until you find something you love to study.

There is a great book called "Dumbing us Down" that I greatly recommend. In that book he points out that anyone who wants to read will learn "When he or she is ready". To force people to learn things they don't want to or aren't ready to learn is to kill the creative spark in them sometimes for life. This is my experience as well. I'm very grateful that I had a few teachers in public school that inspired me. I can count them on one hand. Mrs. Krell in 4th grade that pointed out to the class what a great writer and story teller I was. Mr. Addison who let us watch John Glen go off into space on TV in 8th Grade Science Class and demonstrated cool things like Electrolysis by breaking water into hydrogen and Oxygen right there in front of us with 12 volt direct current so oxygen boiled off of one electrode and hydrogen boiled off the other in glass tubes, and various English Teachers and Social Studies teachers that made English and Social Studies(U.S. ,California and World History) interesting to me. Those were the main teachers that inspired me to enjoy learning, to always be curious, to always ask questions in classes both High School and College and the last most important thing, "There are no dumb questions so just keep asking whatever questions you have." More than half the time in both High School and College I noticed thankful looks from students when I asked questions because they were afraid to ask that particular question and it was pivotal to whether they understood both the material and knowing what the heck was going on in class or in regard to their homework or tests. So, "Just keep asking questions and stay interested in life enough to stay alive. Sometimes I think I stay alive just so I can see what happens next in my life, my kids lives and what happens in the world. Life is very interesting! If it isn't you might not be around very long. That's kind of how life really is!

Support Your Local Private Schools

When I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, it was okay to get As in grade school so I did. But in junior high and High School (public School) if you got good grades you might be jeopardizing your life. Because the popular kids who usually never went to college and whose best time in life was going to be public high school would beat kids who got good grades up or put them into trash cans and roll them down the hill. So, if you wanted to be a straight A student it was sure to be painful unless you were also captain of the Football team and sometimes even then kids might gang up on you and beat you up for getting better grades than they were capable of.

So, even though I could have done better in Junior High and my first year of public high school I settled for C's, B's and even a couple of D's (like in Chemistry). Also, I cut school some to go surfing in my surf wagon with friends because my Mom would always write me notes because she didn't want me to get any black marks that might interfere with college.

In the beginning of my senior year I wanted to drop out of High School and get a job. However, my parents wanted to send me to Santa Fe, New Mexico to a church school connected to a church we attended then. So that is what I did instead of dropping out of school. At the church school I was the biggest and the strongest in school. I got straight A's because there was nothing and no one that I had to fight and I had a really great time there that I have never forgotten. The next year I went to college. So, going away to a private school was one of the best things I ever did as a young person.

Now I'm 63 and my daughter goes to the best private school in the county. 40% of the people in her School are National Merit Scholars. At a fund raising event I attended at a Country club the seniors singing and sharing were going to Princeton and Stanford next year. This is the second private school fundraiser (two different schools in my county) that I have attended in the past year. Private Schools make the leaders of tomorrow! Great teachers and 4 hours of homework a night from 8th grade on with great motivated teachers and students creates 40% National Merit Scholars in a school. No one gets beat up at most private schools because it isn't allowed if you want to be a student there. Somebody gets beat up and you are no longer a student at that school ever. Success and how far you can go in life has no limit! Support your local private School where kids have a future!

What's it Like to be Retired?

The easiest answer is: "The Good news is I'm retired and the bad news is I'm retired."

I noticed when I was a child, teenager and young adult that most males seemed to die within about 1 to 5 years of retirement. I wondered why that was. It had a lot to do then with men identifying completely with their careers. I knew that I would have to identify differently with my life if I wanted to retire effectively. I also read about characters like "Lazarus Long" in Science Fiction who was at least 3000 years old and saw no real reason that medical technology and diet combined with right living thinking and exercise couldn't extend lives that long either in my lifetime or eventually.

Ray Kurzweil predicts human immortality by 2045. Incidentally, he predicted the Internet 20 years before it happened. He is an inventor and engineer and MIT graduate about my age. He calls the bridge to human immortality the "Singularity". And like most Singularities at that point no one can predict the future with any certainty.

I myself, have already seen the early 2030s where a young group of males worldwide (mostly between the ages of around 10 to 30 years of age) decide to go online 24 hours a day waking and sleeping and this behavior so changes them from most people that conversation between normal people and "24 hour plugged in people might become difficult to completely impossible. So, I have already seen some of the signs of this incredible change in humanity. Do I think this is good? Let me ask you a different question. Did you think the 20th Century was all Good? Right I thought it was incredibly good and bad at the same time. Well. The 21st century will be defined the same way only it will be completely different. For example, they likelihood of another war like World War II is about zero. There could be a terrorist caused war like we have seen the last 11 years but a big war is unthinkable by all nations. In fact, if Iran got too crazy you might see Russia or China just nuke it completely out of existence before it polarized the world through to a nuclear war. So, we live in very different times than before in the 20th century. By the way I don't think that is going to happen, I just was trying to share just how different a Century we are now in from the 20th Century.

Anyway, I digress. Being retired is like a vacation that never ends. If you like vacations can you survive one that never ends? That appears to be the biggest question. If you can't survive a vacation that never ends maybe you shouldn't retire or maybe you should work part-time. The biggest thing is be sure to know yourself and your income and savings and can you survive if inflation is averaging 4% a year which is the overall average people tend to consider a 50 year average. If you can survive that financially then maybe you will be okay. And if you can survive not working and be okay and not get too bored then maybe you will be okay.

I was lucky because I almost died from a Heart Virus at age 50. After thinking I might die for about 7 months my heart specialist said, "We finally figured out what was wrong with your heart! You had a heart virus and your heart has healed up and you can expect to live into your 70s or 80s or longer now if you take care of yourself. In my case I was pretty much in shock to hear this as my wife's stepmother and also her mother had died in the last two months and my wife had had a miscarriage thinking that I, her mother and her stepmother all were going to die. So, when I told her I was going to live she cried and said, "You have to stay retired now so I don't lose you too." I was so in shock I didn't really know what to say. I took a trip a few months later with my 10 year old daughter and my mother to Scotland, England, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and northern Italy. I met my son and his friend who were traveling all over Europe on a Eurail pass that they bought in the U.S. So I rented a 6 passenger motorhome in Munich, Germany and drove it to Oberamagau and we took a Gondola up and watched a guy jump off the mountain that was about my age in a paraglider. As he floated away on the winds I thought what a miracle it was to still be alive and to be watching someone about my age flying off in a paraglider with my Kids and my son's friend who had just gotten his degree in Physics from UCSC.

So, being retired was pretty amazing even though I had to believe I was going to die to get there. Any middle aged crazy of my 40s was replaced with, "I'm just so glad to be alive for myself and for everyone else! Every day I'm alive is Grace."

So, "What's it like to be retired?"
Every day now for me at least is "Grace"
I'm grateful every moment to still be alive!

So, almost dying made me aware of my mortality more and so I stopped trying to live like I was 25. I still have friends now in their 60s trying to pretend that they are still 25. One of them a few years ago broke his arm while skiing while chasing a young 25 year old female friend. He woke up after being knocked unconscious with a broken arm and a torn rotator cusp in his shoulder. I was going to go to Thailand to get it fixed (the rotator cusp) but his doctor said he thought it would heal on its own.

So, even though my friend thinks I shouldn't be riding a motorcycle still, I think he shouldn't still be chasing 25 year old girls like we used to before I got married when I was 26 in 1974. So, personally I think women are much more potentially dangerous than motorcycles so "To Each his own".

So, I guess the question remains, "Can you survive being retired?"
It is a simple question with a "Yes" or "No" answer.
But I would suggest you not retire until you can answer it or you might not survive retirement.
My own father only lasted 5 years in retirement before he was gone. So, this is serious business.

However, because I learned from how everyone I saw die early in their retirement I have now been
retired 13 years at age 63. Was this a good thing? This is what God did to my life so I'm here because it is useful to God. So, that is enough for me. But yes. It's been pretty amazing to be able to help friends and family with all sorts of things. I find it is mostly like being a fireman. I'm here to put out all kinds of fires in everyone's lives in my family and in the lives of any friends who ask for my help.

So, do I feel my life has value? Yes. I probably see the value of my life now more than any other time in my life. So, welcome to retirement!

What you put your attention upon you become

As I was a little child growing up this is one of the things my parents impressed upon me. That literally, "What you put your attention upon you become". At the time I didn't take this very seriously but just went on with my little life. But, as time went on I found this to be more and more true in my life on every level. It appeared more and more at every turn that one literally created their lives by what they focused on and how they related with whatever it was. And as I grew up as an intuitive this I found was even more true for me than for most people. Because as I moved forward in life I found that often what I thought about would happen. So, at times this could get really scary and other times it would be equally wonderful.

So then, I came up with another truism for all people but especially for those who are intuitively gifted like myself, "Be very careful what you desire because you may get it!" This statement both carries the potential promise but also the potential of what actually can happen if you desire things that in the end might not be useful or even survivable in your life. Because very often what I desired I actually got and at least 1/2 the time it wasn't what I wanted very much or not at all, especially when I was under 30 years of age. On the good side of this one finds out very quickly what one wants and what one doesn't want. On the bad side of this one hopes that one doesn't manifest something that is permanently maiming or fatal into one's life.

So, since I am very aware that what I think I want will often manifest here in the physical world it makes me think twice now and to consider the consequences of anything I think I want or desire now as an older man. Somehow I survived all the desires and manifestations of my youth and earlier parts of my life and now I have to think ever more carefully what I'm manifesting for myself and all around me. Is God a part of all this? Yes. For me, God and angels are ever near and with me and so if I'm not sure about something I will often ask them of the wisdom of wanting this or that for myself or for others. And usually I will get a very wise answer because now often my decisions might affect 100s or thousands of people directly or indirectly connected to my life and life's work. So, having God involved creates better outcome for everyone.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Health Exchanges Have Fans in Some States

By LOUISE RADNOFSKY

A handful of states say they are planning to press ahead and voluntarily implement a key part of the 2010 federal health-care law even if it is wiped out by the Supreme Court.
The Obama administration's law faced three days of skeptical questions from the court's conservative majority this past week, increasing the odds that part or all of the law will be struck down. The justices met Friday for their weekly conference, where they were expected to take a preliminary vote and decide how to issue their written opinions on the case, but they aren't expected to announce their decision until late June.

Enlarge Image

The health-care overhaul requires that all states have a new insurance exchange where consumers can comparison-shop for policies. The law calls for them to operate like travel websites that sell airline tickets, allowing people to stack up policies next to each other and get plan details in simple terms.
The exchanges, set to take effect in 2014, are one of the most popular parts of the new law. States can run their own exchanges or let the federal government do it for them.
Officials in Rhode Island, California and Colorado—states where governors are broadly supportive of the law—say they plan to move ahead with their exchanges even if the entire law gets struck down. They added that they expect the law will remain in place, and are working to meet the 2014 deadline to get exchanges up and running.
"You can crystal-ball yourself to death," said Peter Lee, the executive director for the exchange in California. "If the unthinkable became thinkable, there are members of the state legislature, there's an exchange board, there are constituents across the state who would say, 'OK, now's the time to take the next steps.' "
Lawmakers in California have floated the idea of introducing a statewide requirement for individuals to carry insurance or pay a fee. Massachusetts is currently the only state to have this requirement.

Rhode Island Democratic Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts, sees 'a role for an exchange here.'

Rhode Island officials, too, said they were pressing ahead with their state exchange and would also consider passing state-level legislation to substitute for parts of the federal law if they are struck down.
"There's a role for an exchange here…and that can happen no matter what happens with the Supreme Court," said Democratic Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts, who has been overseeing Rhode Island's health-overhaul efforts.
Ms. Roberts said she had pushed legislation three years ago to create a state requirement to purchase insurance or pay a fine. She said she would be prepared to do it again, if necessary.
While states could still create their own exchanges if the whole law fell, they wouldn't get the law's federal funding to run them, or the federal subsidies designed to help lower earners buy coverage in the exchanges.
The executive director of the Colorado exchange, Patty Fontneau, said the legislation creating the state's exchange explicitly banned officials from using state funds to prop it up, and that funds from private companies or foundations might be options for keeping it going.
She said that as officials consider applications from vendors to provide the technology to run the exchange, they are discussing the importance of being able to adapt to a different landscape.
"The deadlines are so tight that we are continuing to move forward, because we have to be flexible, and we realize…we can't really stop and wait to see what happens in June," she said.
Most states have taken federal money to begin establishing their own exchanges, though they are at varying stages in the process. In all, the U.S. has given out around $730 million in set-up funds to date. A few states have turned away all funds.
Some Republican-led states, which have opposed the health-care law but have moved ahead with their exchange preparations just in case, said they would likely halt their efforts if the court overturns the law.
"We're prepared to stop at any time, or to consider moving forward," said Seema Verma, a health-policy consultant for Indiana GOP Gov. Mitch Daniels.
A spokesman for Florida GOP Gov. Rick Scott said the state would comply with the law if it is upheld, but that officials would "cross that bridge when we come to it." Florida has turned away federal money to create its exchange.
Lane Wright, the spokesman, said the governor's administration was "confident" the law "will be ruled unconstitutional, and so we're not very concerned how these exchanges would be set up."
Write to Louise Radnofsky at louise.radnofsky@wsj.com

end quotes from:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304177104577314030983468536.html

So, the interesting thing about Obamacare is that much of it will remain and be implemented by many of the more progressive states no matter what the Supreme Court does. So, many things look like they have permanently changed to the point where many states will run their own programs no matter what they Federal Government does. And maybe this is better in the end in regard to states rights.

Food, Solar and Wind Co-ops

As Gas and food prices rise, most intelligent people who are trying to raise families or just survive will have to find a way to survive this worldwide. One of the ways to facilitate this is to form either from scratch or to add to existing food and/or fuel co-ops nationwide and worldwide.

For example, many food Co-ops in the U.S. allow members to supply time as a part of membership in the Co-op. So members actually volunteer a specific amount of time and act as checkers and stockers and even sometimes drivers of the food from farms to the Co-op wherever it may be. It might be possible to expand from Fuel or Food Co-ops into Solar and Wind Co-ops.

For example, in the cities it is more unlikely to be allowed to put up Wind generators because of the noise and vibration. However, if people already live in the Suburbs or country this becomes less of a problem and wind generator permits might be easier to obtain for groups. As the price of fuel increases worldwide these types of co-ops could be lifesavers and extremely cost effective relative to the price of fuels.

The main problem with this is that as these types of co-ops are expanded or founded they would also have to contend with times that oil might collapse in price so solar power and wind power might be less cost effective during these times. However, once enough people understand that oil is slowly leaving the earth just because of the exponential number of middle class people worldwide buying cars which is supposed to reach 4.9 Billion middle class people somewhere between 2030 and 2050, one can see oil and gas will soon be gone (10 to 25 years at most). So, Co-ops supplying alternative fuels and Organic foods will be a survival mechanism of intelligent people who don't want to have to go back to horse and buggies worldwide.

So, as more and more people drive Prius type Plug-ins or similar in cars and trucks worldwide, Food, Solar and Wind Co-ops will become more and more important to middle class people or any people that want to stay mobile for their jobs and their lifestyles. So, organic food and less expensive prices combined with cheap energy supplied by a co-op and saved in large banks of deep cycle batteries for plug in vehicles that can then reach 300 miles a charge or more like the Tesla can right now will be the norm rather than the exception out of survival and necessity all over the world. And I think you will see more and more banks of solar cells in the roofs and paint jobs of all vehicles eventually and any excess energy can be sold to your co-op or power company that you might not need that particular day.

Another type of idea might be for a Food Co-op to buy something like a Plug-in Prius or a bank of them for members to use who live in a large city that don't own cars but still can drive and need to on occasion. Survival and innovation go hand in hand, "Necessity is the mother of invention!"

$5.99 a Gallon for Premium

No. This is not a joke price but a real one. Yes. The gas station is remote in Big Sur on the California Coast. But when I asked how much Premium was since it wasn't displayed anywhere around the Shell Station he said, "$5.99" a Gallon. I wrote several articles about the world problem of oil with so many new millions buying cars in China, India and Brazil, especially but here is another article I wrote about Environmental factors that tend to degrade quality of life just like oil prices too high can:
12 environmental problems facing mankind today
The single most relevant problem in the above article is overpopulation and the unsustainable demand that causes to the whole environment of earth.

In February 2012 I wrote the following article:
$3.95 a Gallon for Regular in Northern California

However, yesterday it wasn't $3.95 a gallon for regular. The cheapest Regular I could find is now $4.27 a gallon. And a few weeks ago when I went to Los Angeles and Orange Counties in Southern California the cheapest gas was between $4.25 and $4.50 a Gallon for regular then in late February or early March.

Here is another article on why "Everything costs more":Peak Everything-Why everything costs more

Here are two more articles regarding Oil:

Here are two more articles regarding surviving with no oil, too expensive oil or unavailable oil.

The end of oil will come quicker the more people on earth who are using it up. It is really in the end not about price, it is about availability. If you can't get oil at any price the whole question of oil becomes redundant. And at that point all vehicles who run on Gas or diesel will have to run on something else or not run at all.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Kindle reading to you in your car or truck

I wrote another couple of articles on Kindle which I find harder to reference than before. However, this week I found out that I can play my Kindle Audiobooks into my 2011 4WD truck through its speakers by utilizing the same cord that plays from my Ipod Classic and my Iphone through the trucks speakers. This was pretty nice because I just got a free download of "Ringworld", a Science fiction classic from Audiobook with a real person reading the book. However, ANY book on your Kindle can also be read by a robotic voice if you wish through the speakers in your car if it has the right receptor usually on the dashboard. This is a great boon while traveling if you are alone or if one or more people want to hear the same thing. I also found on my Sirius satellite connection in my truck channels 80 and 82. 80 is a book channel where books are either read or acted out radio style. And 82 is old time radio classics of the 1930's, 40s and 50s before TV really made it big in the late 1950s and early 1960s. So, it is fun to here stories told in the form that I heard a lot on the radio until I was 6 in 1954 when my father finally bought a 17 inch black and white TV so I wouldn't spend all my time next door watching TV at my neighbors house. If a hands free phone call comes in through blue tooth on my smartphone it automatically interrupts whatever else is going on and then after we hang up whatever we were listening to comes back on once again. So, for drives of more than 10 to 15 minutes it is nice to listen to a good book if that is your wish.

Wooden Wheels on Cars before 1925 or 1930

OLD WOODEN SPOKE WHEEL

You just don't see many like this anymore. My father talked about his father having wheels like this on their touring car while traveling from Texas to California. There were no paved roads between Texas and California except in large cities. He said going across the desert they broke a spoke on a wooden wheel and put the spare wheel on. So they had spare tubes so they wouldn't get stuck without a tire and a tire pump and an extra wooden wheel in case a rut in the road broke the wheel or too big a rock or a combination broke the wheel or punctured a tire. When it rained it wasn't usually a good idea to travel unless you were on a graveled or rocked road because you would get stuck. This was about 1915 and probably before to 1925 when my Grandfather rode on Wood spoke wheels. Somewhere around Arizona they broke a front spoke wheel so my Grandad stopped to put a new wheel on that was tied onto the trunk of the car. The dogs rode on the running boards (they tied them on) so they wouldn't mess in the car back then because they were outdoor dogs and mostly to hunt with so were not housebroken. My Uncle was 4 years old and went and stood over on a large red ant hill and his screams when they bit him all over drew everyone to save him. Where they lived in Oregon and Washington and Texas I don't think they had the large red ants that will attack humans sort of like bees if you are near their hives. I myself, when I was 4 had this same experience in El Cajon, near San Diego, because they didn't have ants like this in Seattle where I had come from either. It is so painful that it only takes one time to learn the lesson of the large red ants of California and Arizona and possible a couple of other areas as well. My father said that the alkali dust roads were so bad that only the driver wasn't crying from eye irratation and it also created sores in your mouth from the dust that it took about a month for all the sores in your mouth to heal from all the dust. Only the driver, my Granda who had goggles on didn't have eyes watering from the alkali roads. And everyone had the mouth sores for over a month after they reached California likely in the early 1920s. I found this wood spoke wheel in Big Sur on the coast of California next to the rest room. It is near the Shell Station($5.99 a gallon for premium) today in between the River Inn and the Post Ranch and Ventana Ranch. If you want to see more wooden spoke wheels go to google images and type in: 'Wooden Spoke wheels'.

Later: I was talking with my son about wooden spoke wheels on cars and trucks. They were a natural outgrowth of mostly wooden wagon wheels. On very rough roads wooden wheels absorb more concussions at slow speeds than light enough metal to build with could in the early 1900s. Also, my father told me that no one drove over 25 mph ever on the rough roads over most of the country because if you did it would completely destroy your vehicle. So, all metal wheels that you started to see likely in the early to late 1920s on the more expensive cars were not usually driven over bad dirt roads because it would destroy the vehicle. So, even if you were going across the country you needed a more truck like vehicle to survive the terrible mostly unpaved roads outside of the cities. So, most vehicles that people did this with resembled more the SUV's of now more than anything else. However, 4 wheel drives were not very common back then except maybe in some trucks.

CIRCA 1920 NASH QUAD 4 FIRE TRUCK
This was a four wheel drive truck from: http://www.ci.chippewa-falls.wi.us/Departments/Fire%20Emergency/History.htm

So, the touring car that my Grandfather drove from Texas to California was likely a big Dodge that could hold his wife and three or 4 kids (there were eventually 5) and their two hunting dogs (on the running boards) and whatever clothes and goods they brought along that they didn't ship by railroad. In emergencies a group of men would go to rescue people or put out fires by getting 4 or 5 men on each running board and heading off at 10 to 25 mph in emergencies. Also, if one rode the running boards while going through fence gates he or she could open the gate so no animals got out, let the vehicle through and then close the gate and then hop on the running board until the next gate so the cattle or other herds didn't get out past the fences.

Also, most places didn't have ambulances back then and a doctor might be 50 miles away for many many people. So, unless you could take care of yourself and anybody else around sometimes you just didn't survive at all. Under those circumstances a snake bite, a broken arm or having a baby might be fatal as often as 50 percent of the time if you were that remote. And also, in 1900 only 1 person in 12 lived to be 60 years old. And this was an average that included the whole the U.S. The larger black 6 passenger (or more) vehicles among those below with wooden spoke wheels likely is what my grandparents and father drove from Texas to California and eventually to Oregon and Washington in. The top 4 are from 1917 and the bottom 4 are from 1924. I found wooden spoke wheels on some Dodge vehicles in pictures up to about 1927 or more recent.

Below is a copy of an original 1920 Dodge Brochure for sales of this Dodge. It is free to print out from the "Old Car Manual Project" at:http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Dodge/1920_Dodge_Brothers/1920%20Dodge%20Brothers.html

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

50 percent of U.S. will be Hurt or worse if Obamcare fails

I was looking realistically about Obamacare and what it might mean to the U.S. should it succeed through the Supreme Court or not. And the first thought is how many thousands will die without it just within the next year alone. And then I thought about how many because they wouldn't have insurance were going to cost the government thousands of dollars each because of no health care when it might have mattered to keep them healthy. But then I thought about the precedent of Individual Mandate and wondered what else the Congresses of the next several hundred years might make us as U.S. Citizens buy as well. And then I also realized that this country might go bankrupt if Obamacare doesn't pass as a nation because of just how fast to true cost of health care is rising. And then I thought, "Well. If all the people with curable diseases die because they don't have any healthcare won't that make the U.S. genetically stronger. But then I thought about how cruel such a system would be and won't that make those super specimens cruel like the NAZI's during world war II? And then I felt sick to my stomach about the whole thing because no matter whether Obamacare passes or not, the future is becoming more polarized both right and left and polarization only leads eventually to Fascism which tends to create dictatorships. And then I wondered whether the U.S. will ever stop being so extremely polarized. And then I thought that extreme change (as in Global Climate change, Tsunamis in Japan change, Tornadoes starting in January now, etc. etc. etc. really is freaking people out to the point of panic and that is why they are just so very polarized nationwide. So, what is the solution? I don't know. I only know the solution for me and my family. I don't really know how to solve the world's problems and no one else does either. So I guess we are in for it as a nation no matter what happens.

Airline Pilots on Mood Altering Drugs

I was reading a report of how 231 pilots died in accidents in a 2006 study were using mood altering drugs and the term mood altering drugs refers to a class of drugs like Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, or Lexapro and their generic equivalents. So when Captain Osbon got erratic part of the problem was his mood altering drug which likely means he was just going onto it, coming off of it or having dosage problems with his mood altering drug which made him delusional. And part of the problem of mood altering drugs is that under certain conditions with some people that they become delusional or suicidal or both. In other words they lose complete touch with reality. For me, personally, that is why I would never use mood altering drugs because as a counselor for Emotionally disturbed teenagers in the 1990s I saw up close and personal just how bad things could get while they were on mood altering drugs.

And from my point of view I don't think having an airline pilot or flight attendant on mood altering drugs is okay. From my point of view a very low dose of LSD might have similar effects in some circumstances, especially just starting a mood altering drug treatment or coming off of a treatment or forgetting to regularly take their medicine. Any one of these times extreme complications sometimes occur. However, all this is just my personal opinion because I don't consider any mood altering drugs actually safe. Instead I see them as a way to avoid the expense of counseling. To me, it would be like getting shot by a gun and instead of removing the bullet just putting a piece of duct tape over it. But this is just my personal opinion.

Begin quote from nytimes.com

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Fracas Aloft on JetBlue Flight Shows Gap in Screening

By JAD MOUAWAD

Published: March 28, 2012

Reuters

Clayton Osbon, a JetBlue pilot, was removed from the plane after it was diverted to Texas.

On Tuesday, a JetBlue pilot who was behaving erratically was physically restrained by passengers after his co-pilot locked him out of the cockpit. With chaos in the cabin, the plane, flying from New York to Las Vegas, was forced to make an emergency landing in Amarillo, Tex.

While the airline has said only that the pilot, Clayton Osbon, was suffering from a “medical condition,” the incident highlighted the delicate subject of how airlines screen pilots for fitness to fly.

Pilots are required to have annual medical checkups. But these exams, performed by general medical practitioners, are not always thorough, some pilots say, and do not typically include psychological evaluations. The airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration rely on pilots to voluntarily disclose any physical or mental health problems they may have or medication they are taking.

Captain Osbon has been employed by JetBlue since June 2000, four months after the airline started operations.

David Barger, the company’s chief executive and president, quickly took to the airwaves Wednesday, declaring that Captain Osbon was a “consummate professional” with no earlier problems. He also was a senior pilot who taught and evaluated standard operating procedures on the Airbus A320, the airline said.

“I’ve known the captain personally for a long period of time and there’s been no indication of this at all,” Mr. Barger said in an early-morning appearance on NBC’s “Today” program.

Mr. Osbon, 49, was charged by federal authorities on Wednesday with interfering with a flight crew. Under federal law, a conviction could carry a maximum sentence of 20 years. Mr. Osbon remained under medical evaluation.

An F.B.I. affidavit filed Wednesday in Federal District Court in Northern Texas said that Mr. Osbon had told the plane’s first officer that “we’re not going to Vegas.” The co-pilot “became really worried when Osbon said, ‘We need to take a leap of faith,’ ” the court document said. It described a chaotic situation on the plane, with Mr. Osbon acting erratically, running in the cabin, banging loudly on the cockpit door after being locked out by the co-pilot and shouting jumbled comments about “Jesus, September 11th, Iraq, Iran and terrorists.”

The issue of pilot health, which can also include fatigue, is longstanding. Pilots are screened for medical or psychological problems before being hired, and are randomly tested afterward for drug and alcohol use. They must undergo medical examinations once or twice a year, depending on their age, to keep their certification with the F.A.A.

Pilots are supposed to disclose all physical and psychological conditions and medications or face significant fines, which can reach $250,000, if they are found to have falsified information, the F.A.A. said.

But some pilots may be reluctant to disclose such information, for fear of losing their jobs, industry analysts and retired pilots said Wednesday. Many airlines also have anonymous phone lines for crew members to report suspicious behavior to professional standards committees.

Otherwise, airlines rely on the collaborative nature of the business, which provides constant checks and balances, said Robert W. Mann Jr., an airline industry analyst and a former executive with major airlines.

“Airlines have ways of monitoring the psychology of their employees because crew members typically can say, ‘I do not want to fly with Bob, he’s a jerk,’ ” Mr. Mann said. “If half of the first officers in the fleet do not want to fly with Bob, flight operation officers would know.”

Two years ago, the F.A.A. relaxed its longstanding ban on psychiatric medications for pilots, saying that new drugs for depression had fewer side effects than older drugs. The agency now grants waivers allowing pilots to fly while taking Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa or Lexapro, and their generic equivalents.

The F.A.A.’s administrator at the time, J. Randolph Babbitt, said the agency was relaxing its ban because it was concerned that some pilots with depression were not being treated, or were being secretive about it. “We need to change the culture and remove the stigma associate with depression,” Mr. Babbitt said then.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: March 28, 2012

An earlier version of this story, using information provided by the F.A.A., misstated the percentage of pilots with a first-class medical certificate who had been granted a waiver to fly while taking certain psychiatric medications. It is 0.016 percent, not 0.00016.

end quote from:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/business/jetblue-incident-raises-questions-about-screening-pilots.html

U.S. Losing Hacker War

TECHNOLOGY
Updated March 28, 2012, 10:31 a.m. ET

U.S. Outgunned in Hacker War

By DEVLIN BARRETT

WASHINGTON—The Federal Bureau of Investigation's top cyber cop offered a grim appraisal of the nation's efforts to keep computer hackers from plundering corporate data networks: "We're not winning," he said.

WSJ's Devlin Barrett reports the FBI is struggling to combat cyberattacks by hackers. "We're not winning," FBI executive assistant director Shawn Henry said. AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari

Shawn Henry, who is preparing to leave the FBI after more than two decades with the bureau, said in an interview that the current public and private approach to fending off hackers is "unsustainable.'' Computer criminals are simply too talented and defensive measures too weak to stop them, he said.
His comments weren't directed at specific legislation but came as Congress considers two competing measures designed to buttress the networks for critical U.S. infrastructure, such as electrical-power plants and nuclear reactors. Though few cybersecurity experts disagree on the need for security improvements, business advocates have argued that the new regulations called for in one of the bills aren't likely to better protect computer networks.
Mr. Henry, who is leaving government to take a cybersecurity job with an undisclosed firm in Washington, said companies need to make major changes in the way they use computer networks to avoid further damage to national security and the economy. Too many companies, from major multinationals to small start-ups, fail to recognize the financial and legal risks they are taking—or the costs they may have already suffered unknowingly—by operating vulnerable networks, he said.

Enlarge Image

Associated Press

'You never get ahead, never become secure, never have a reasonable expectation of privacy or security,' says Shawn Henry, executive assistant director of the FBI.

"I don't see how we ever come out of this without changes in technology or changes in behavior, because with the status quo, it's an unsustainable model. Unsustainable in that you never get ahead, never become secure, never have a reasonable expectation of privacy or security,'' Mr. Henry said.

end quote from:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304177104577307773326180032.html

I have often wondered about this too. Where does it all end? If I am logical there are more billions of people who might earn a living hacking around the world than any other group. Because of this potentially, as long as networks are global in actuality no matter what others might say, protecting information, privacy and even money in various banks appears to just be more and more problematic worldwide every day.

For example, it is a well known quoted fact that American businesses presently (not tomorrow, now!) lose about 1 trillion dollars a year to hackers from around the world right now! This means that you and I pay more for everything because who in the end pays for this hacking directly? That's right. You and I as consumers pay in everything we buy in the U.S. So who pays that 1 trillion dollar loss per year? American consumers do in everything they buy! So, one either considers this the true cost of doing business or we junk the internet for Business?

Health

I was thinking today what allowed me and others to still be alive at 63 and older? The first thing is genetics, a country with a good government and good food growing base, intellectual and intuitive intelligence, not drinking alcohol at all or very seldom, not smoking anything, understanding that fast foods kill in the long run if eaten every day, understanding that red meat every day reduces normal lifespans 13% of the time, understanding that life cannot be predicted at all in some ways and just accepting that fact always and not worrying about it, etc.

In my specific case it was good genetics and coming from on my father's side pioneers who had been in the U.S. since 1725 when they sailed up the Philadelphia River from England. Since then they spread to Ohio, Michigan, and my particular strain, to Kansas and then my Grandfather moved to the west coast of Washington, Oregon, Arizona and finally bought a house in Seattle. On the other side of my family though both of my grandparents were born in the U.S. both had to go back to Scotland to grow up, one because the family home in Philadelphia burned down, and the other went back to grow up because his father died when he was 8. Both met in Scotland and returned to the land of their births.

Then my father who decided to become a vegetarian for health reasons in 1934 because he was studying with Paul Bragg, (Jack LaLanne's teacher) stayed a lacto-ovo vegetarian his whole life and raised me this way too. So, I was a 100% Lacto-ovo vegetarian until age 32 when I started studying with Tibetan Lamas. They thought I needed to eat meat because they all live above 8000 feet and vegetarians cannot usually survive under those conditions, although they do well in warmer less severe climates and in places where there is good indoor heating which wasn't what Tibet was like in 1980.

A love of nature and wilderness and of mountain climbing and of traveling in general kept me generally out of jobs that left me stranded in offices which made me more healthy because I was away from smog and unhealthy city living generally after I was about 21 and finished growing up in the Los Angeles Suburbs. Believing in God was very helpful to my living this long as well. And even though being spiritually gifted and an intuitive almost took my life up until about age 23 it slowly became one of the most important things that kept me alive after I got used to being that way as an adult because I was constantly protected in many different ways and often knew most dangers even before they arose for both me and my family and this had a form of unlimited protection inherent for me and my family and encouraged positive behavior for all of us in a way that kept us all healthy and alive. So, all of these factors combined to make sure that I am still alive at age 63. However, it is important to note that until I was diagnosed with a hypothyroid condition at age 58 I didn't expect to live to be over 65. Now since I was diagnosed and started to use Armour Thyroid from Canada by a doctor's prescription I could now live to 100 or more under the right conditions.

Here is a Koan that I was given in regard to long life:

"If you want to live forever you might die right now. But if you are ready to die right now you may live forever!"

This just appears to be exactly the way life really is.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Dramatic Precipitation changes in 2011

Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog

Wettest year on record in Philadelphia; 2011 sets record for wet/dry extremes in U.S.

Posted by: JeffMasters, 3:00 PM GMT on December 12, 2011

+19

This year is now the wettest year in nearly 200 years of record keeping in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A large, wet low pressure system soaked the Northeast U.S. on Wednesday and early Thursday, bringing 2.31 inches of rain to the City of Brotherly Love, bringing this year's precipitation total in Philly to 62.26 inches. This breaks the old yearly precipitation record of 61.20 inches, set in 1867. In a normal year, Philadelphia receives about 40 inches. According to wunderground's weather historian Christopher C. Burt, this is one of the most difficult U.S. city records to break, since rainfall records in Philadelphia go back to 1820. The only other sites with a longer continuous precipitation record in the U.S. are Charleston, SC (1738 -) and New Bedford, MA (1816 -).

Figure 1. Departure of precipitation from average for 2011, as of December 6, 2011. Image credit: NOAA/HPC.

20+ inches above average precipitation in Ohio Valley, Northeast
Philadelphia is not alone in setting a wettest year in recorded history mark in 2011. Over a dozen major cities in the Ohio Valley and Northeast have set a new wettest year record, or are close to doing so. Thanks to rains associated with this year's tremendous tornado outbreaks in April in May, plus exceptionally heavy summer thunderstorm rains, combined with rains from Tropical Storm Lee and Hurricane Irene, portions of at least twelve states have seen rains more than twenty inches above average during 2011.

The fraction of the country covered by extremely wet conditions (top 10% historically) was 32% during the period January through November, ranking as the 2nd highest such coverage in the past 100 years. And if you weren't washing away in a flood, you were baking in a drought in 2011--portions of sixteen states had precipitation more than twenty inches below average (Figure 1.) The fraction of the country covered by extremely dry conditions (top 10% historically) was 22% during the period January through November, ranking as the 8th highest in the past 100 years. The combined fraction of the country experiencing either severe drought or extremely wet conditions was 56% averaged over the January - November period--the highest in a century of record keeping. Climate change science predicts that if the Earth continues to warm as expected, wet areas will tend to get wetter, and dry areas will tend to get drier--so this year's side-by-side extremes of very wet and very dry conditions should grow increasingly common in the coming decades.

Figure 2. Percentage of the contiguous U.S. either in severe or greater drought (top 10% dryness) or extremely wet (top 10% wetness) during the period January - November, as computed using NOAA's Climate Extremes Index. Remarkably, more than half of the country (56%) experienced either a top-ten driest or top-ten wettest year, a new record. Image credit: NOAA/NCDC.

Unofficial state yearly precipitation record set in Ohio
The Wilmington, Ohio NWS office announced last week that three stations in Southwest Ohio had unofficially broken the 140-year old state yearly precipitation record. Cheviot, Miamitown, and Fernbank have recorded 73.81", 71.89", and 70.85", respectively so far in 2011, beating the old record of 70.82" set at Little Mountain in 1870. According to wunderground's weather historian Christopher C. Burt, the old record should be 72.08” at Mt. Healthy, Ohio in 1880.

Wunderground's weather historian Christopher C. Burt summarizes the global weather extremes in November in his latest post.

Jeff Masters

() end quote from: http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2001

So, if you look at the drought which tends to be the most damaging you can see the worst of the drought was in Texas and in the Southwest and South east which was the worst over the largest amounts of areas. Though too much rain might bring flash floods or floods in the end droughts tend to damage areas sometimes for years (5, 10, or more).

Toobin and Reid on Supreme Court Ruling

Mr. Toobin who is a lawyer and who watches the Supreme Court Proceedings for CNN TV says he thinks the individual mandate is in trouble from what he saw today. Harry Reid Majority Democratic Leader of the Senate says in regard to his own experiences with supreme courts in States and Federal Cases that often Supreme court Justices don't telegraph their final votes in his long experience. Who is right we will have to wait until June to find out their final opinions. However, if Obamacare does pass I now believe it likely won't be an 8 to 1 passage but more likely a 5 to 4 passage if it does.

The nytimes.com has a 2 hour presentation that you can listen to of them discussing all this live from the Supreme Court. I found it interesting the kinds of questions from Justices like: paraphrased: "What about making all U.S. citizens pay for their funerals when they are young so society doesn't have to do it? Or what about having everyone join an exercise gym so their health problems would be less? I found these two questions valid and I too, have some reservations about giving congress literally infinite power to enter "Every citizen into required business contracts for life."

Even if you fully agree with Obamacare on every level, the precedent of this Law might create more and more required economic encumbrances for every U.S. Citizen created by future Congresses. So, the Supreme Court HAS to look beyond the good or ill created of Obamacare forward 100, 200, or 300 years and what the precedents of passing Obamacare as a Supreme Court could or will create. They don't want a slippery slope that infinitely encumbers all citizens into a Governmental Corporate economic snare ongoing that potentially could infinitely expand economically through time.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Tibetan Self Immolation in Delhi, India

March 26, 2012, 10:13 am

Tibetan in Delhi Sets Self Alight to Protest Chinese Leader’s Visit

By SRUTHI GOTTIPATI

Jampa Yeshi, a Tibetan protester self-immolated in New Delhi, ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to India, March 26, 2012.

Manish Swarup/Associated PressJampa Yeshi, a Tibetan protester self-immolated in New Delhi, ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to India.

A protest march in New Delhi took a dramatic turn after a Tibetan exile self-immolated Monday afternoon.
“From head to toe, he was full of fire,” said Dorjee Tseten, the national director of Students for a Free Tibet, who witnessed the act.
The exile, Jampa Yeshi, who is believed to be 26 years old, set himself on fire at Jantar Mantar, the site of frequent protests, at 12:25 p.m., shortly after a Tibetan rally made its way back from Ramlila Maidan, another popular ground for political demonstrations in New Delhi. The protesters were agitating against the India visit of Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, for the BRICS Summit, an economic meeting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, later this week.
Leaders of Tibetan groups said Mr. Yeshi had not told anyone he planned to set himself on fire. “It’s not planned by any organization,” said Tenzin Norsang, joint secretary of the Tibetan Youth Congress, who was leading the protest. But, he said, “we appreciate his courage.”
Mr. Yeshi was rushed to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital minutes after setting himself ablaze. Witnesses said that he was severely burned and that his scorched flesh was peeling off. Mr. Yeshi set himself afire behind one of the gates at Jantar Mantar and then streaked past the podium in a ball of fire and crumpled under a tree on the road in front of the protesters, they said. The police and Tibetan activists then rushed forward with clothes and water to douse the flames.
“He was shouting. I was in shock. There were women crying,” Mr. Tseten said. “It was very emotional. I don’t know what it would lead to in the coming days.”
Activists said that Mr. Yeshi, who left Tibet a couple of years ago, self-immolated while Inder Singh Namdhari, a minister in the lower house of Parliament, was speaking at the podium about the high number of self-immolations in Tibet.
Over the past year, about 30 Tibetans in Tibet have set themselves ablaze to protest Chinese rule in Tibetan areas. Of those, many of them monks and nuns, 22 have died.
In India, Mr. Yeshi, whose first name has also been spelled as Jamphel and Jamyang, is the third protester to self-immolate. In 1998, Thupten Ngodup self-immolated at the same spot, Jantar Mantar, and died later. Another protester suffered minor burns after setting himself alight outside the Chinese Embassy a few months ago.
“This is a call for the international community that Tibetans need their support,” said Mr. Tseten.
India is home to an estimated 120,000 Tibetans, including their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. On Monday, hundreds of Tibetan supporters thronged Jantar Mantar. After Mr. Yeshi set himself on fire, they proceeded to march toward the Chinese Embassy to protest Mr. Jintao’s impending visit and draw attention to the self-immolation crisis.
Protesters said they were not against the BRICS Summit, just Mr. Jintao’s attendance.
“What we want? We want freedom,” the protesters chanted as they wound their way through the streets, waving Tibetan flags.
“Who’s the killer? Hu Jintao.”
Some protesters also held placards over their faces – with the words “Hu Jintao is unwelcome” and a picture of a bloody hand smacked on the Chinese president’s face – to stave off the afternoon heat.
The police, however, stopped the protesters before they reached the Chinese Embassy, saying they could not continue because of their proximity to the Indian Parliament, which was still in session. Demonstrators settled down on the pavement at the mouth of Sansad Marg as Mr. Norsang, the protest leader, negotiated with the police.
“We will go peacefully, sir,” said one protester to the police officers.
The police officers were losing patience.
“Go to Jantar Mantar or be prepared to face the hostility of the Indian police,” an officer told Mr. Norsang.
The protesters remained seated, with the police, in helmets and shields, lined up next to them.
Mr. Norsang said that the protesters were willing to be arrested if they were not allowed to go the Chinese Embassy but maintained that he was trying to hold a peaceful rally. He said the agitators would wait at the spot until they received permission but that they would definitely protest outside the embassy.
“Hu Jintao’s policy is responsible for self-immolations,” said Mr. Norsang. He’s “unwelcome here.”

end quote from: http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/26/tibetan-in-delhi-sets-self-alight-to-protest-chinese-leaders-visit/?src=recg

Strangely enough when I look at this definitely in the most pain this man has ever experienced man it reminds me of "The Hunger Games" when Catniss wears flames in the Arena. The Tibetan Experience likely is not too different than Catniss' relatives in Area 12. And the experience of Catniss as a Volunteer also reminds me of this 26 year old Tibetan who is literally burnt up by the plight of his people.

Merlin on SyFy Channel

I have been watching the British TV show Merlin for several years now with my wife. At first even though I liked the show I felt it wasn't really depicting the historic Merlin which has Merlin being much older than Arthur. However, as a believable story this one also works as I was thinking tonight. What better protector for Arthur than a incognito Merlin who is his manservant and studying to be a healer with Gaius, the Court Doctor or Healer. I can see how Merlin even while a young man could if he was gifted could teach and protect Arthur from Harm.

However, I presently believe that Padmasambhava and Merlin were the same person. What led me to this idea was when I was in Rewalsar, India which is a Padmasambhava holy place. I have also been to Glastonbury Tor and Glastonbury Abbey which is in Glastonbury, England where Arthur was buried after he died when because it rained more then was on the Isle of Avalon (an island in the middle of a lake). Also, Padmasambhava who brought Tibetan Buddhism to Tibet was Pink Skinned like Britishers even though he was thought at the time to be from Afghanistan. If Merlin began as a Celtic priest in England as a Druid he might have traveled to the far east to learn raising his body from the dead and other Siddhis that would have been helpful for Merlin to help Arthur Create Camelot in all its glory. If Merlin went in his 20s or before to India and to Nepal and Tibet after he became a Mahasiddha this also would make sense. And then if he took himself and his knowledge and gifts to Tibet and pragmatically allowed Buddhism and the local Bon Po religion to join much like Catholicism and local religions join in South America and other colonized parts of the world it would make sense. Then if Merlin in his 40s and 50s went back to England to help Arthur grow up and become King and Create Camelot it all works. This is what I believe at present from everything I have found out along the way through external and internal research in the U.S., England, India and Nepal.

Also, I have also written about Jesus (Yesu, Yeshua) (Yesu and Yeshua are what Jesus was actually called in ancient Aramaic, his native tongue)

In Time: The Movie

I think it was a good idea to make a movie like this but it wasn't believable enough. The problem for my son was he didn't see how the way time was shared was working for him. For me, the problem was: "How do you transfer the concept of money into time?" This didn't work for me. So, even though I loved the concept and Timberlake and the other actors did a great job what was lacking was a believable plot line. So, in the end it became a modern futuristic Robin Hood kind of tale that no one would believe over the age of 12 to 15. But it was still fun to watch the retro XKE Jaguar whining on electric power as well as the retro Lincoln Continentals and retro Barracudas too, all electric powered as well.

Kerli and Zero Gravity

I just heard a blurb on Youtube about how Kerli calls her style "Bubblegoth" which I think is an interesting name. Her latest single is "Zero Gravity".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEkS_mQ0GlI

Kerli is from Estonia and came to the U.S. in L.A. around 2008. She started around the same time as Lady Gaga but Kerli makes all her own costumes and some of her sets and has a different style and point of view than Gaga.

I AM Wakon Tonka

I AM Wakon Tonka

To Hug Me is to Hug all the wide open spaces your spirit longs to visit both now and in the afterlife

To Know me is to experience everything that you want in your life forever

To See me is to be blown away in a wind like you have never seen

All the things of you that you need to let go of are blown away

and you are cleansed and reborn in Wakon Tonka's image

I AM Wakon Tonka the Great Moving Spirit Grandfather God that blows across the plains and

interpenetrates everything

I AM Wakon Tonka who takes you home

note: After I finished writing the poetic prose I was inspired to write after a few hours I realized that many may not know who Wakon Tonka is: I found the following reference from "Black Elk Speaks" a book I also own. But I found the following on the internet at the following page:
http://www.ucan-online.org/legend.asp?legend=4260&category=5

begin quote:

Lakota - Black Elk Speaks Appendix 3

Appendix 3

Lakota Words in the Text

John G. Neihardt spelled Lakota words as he heard them, attempting to use the sounds of English to convey the rhythm of Indian speech. Some of his translations of those terms into English were effective and evocative of deeper meanings, but they did not always get across the literal meanings of the words. He also created plurals of Lakota words as though they were English, by adding s. This, of course, does not reflect the grammar of Lakota. For clarification, the following list gives modern linguistic transcriptions of the Lakota words in Black Elk Speaks, with literal translations.

aguiapa: 'bread' (literally, 'caused to brown')

Black Kettles (note 1, chapter 5): confusion of Black Feet and Two Kettles

Black Feet: Sihásapa 'Blackfeet' (one of the seven Lakota tribes)

Blue Clouds: 'Arapaho Indians'

Brules: 'Burned Thighs' (one of the seven Lakota tribes)

chacun sha sha: 'kinnikinick' (the inner bark of red willow, used as an additive to tobacco for smoking)

chahumpi ska: 'sugar' (literally, 'white tree sap')

Hetchetu aloh!: 'So it is!'

Hey-hey!: Hé hé! 'Look here!' (an interjection, used in prayer and ritual to call the attention of spirit beings)

heyoka: heyókha 'contrary; sacred clown'

Hoka hey!: Hókhahé 'Onward!' (a rallying cry, used to encourage others, as in battle)

Hunkpapa: 'Head of the Camp Circle' (one of the seven Lakota tribes)

Hya-a-a-a!: Hiyé! 'Thanks!' (an exclamation, used ritually)

Inkpaduta: 'Red Tip' (name of a Santee Dakota chief)

Lakota: Lakhóta 'Teton Sioux' (the western division of the Sioux)

Minneconjou: 'Planters by Water' (one of the seven Lakota tribes)

O-ona-gazhee: 'refuge' (called "The Stronghold" in English; Cuny Table, in the badlands north of Pine Ridge, where the Ghost Dancers took refuge after the Wounded Knee Massacre)

Ogalala: Oglála 'Scatter One's Own' (one of the seven Lakota tribes)

paezhuta sapa: 'coffee' (literally, 'black medicine')

Pahuska: 'Long Hair' (a personal name used both for Maj. Gen. George A. Custer and for William [Buffalo Bill] Cody)

papa: pápa 'dried meat'

Red Cloud's Agency, Red Cloud Agency: Red Cloud Agency, later renamed Pine Ridge Agency, home of the Oglala; also called owákpamni 'Indian agency' (literally, 'place of distribution'; Neihardt called it "the Place Where Everything Is Disputed")

Sans Arcs: 'Without Bows' (one of the seven Lakota tribes)

sheo: 'prairie chicken'

Shyela: 'Cheyenne Indians'

Two Kettles: 'Two Boilings' (one of the seven Teton tribes)

Un-hee!: (an interjection expressing surprise)

Wachpanne: 'Poor' (a personal name)

waga chun: 'cottonwood'

Wakon Tonka: 'Great Spirit, God'

Wanekia: Waníkhiya 'Savior' (literally, 'One Who Makes Live', a personal name used for Wovoka and for Jesus)

Wasichu: 'white people'; also, 'something holy, incomprehensible'

Watanye: 'Bait' (a personal name)

wichasha wakon: 'holy man'

Yanktonais: 'Little End Village' (one of the three divisions of the Sioux)

Ye-a-a!: Hiyá! 'No!'

Yuhoo!: Yuhú! (an interjection, apparently expressing triumph)

From John G. Neihardt, Black Elk Speaks (Lincoln 1912 1961

end quote.
I particularly like the definition of Wasichu which is: White people; also "something holy, incomprehensible"