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    Driving with scissors –a bracing start to motoring in Malaysia

    Kurt Stewart
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    Driving with scissors –a bracing start to motoring in Malaysia

    Exit 158 of North-South Expressway Northern Route in Malaysia –Licensed under Public Domain via Commons.

    My first driving experience in Malaysia was a master class in shambolics.

    In my company’s head offices in downtown Kuala Lumpur, after a flash orientation with my project manager, he hands me the keys to the car and says, “Ok, you ready to drive it back to Ipoh?”

    I’ve been in country exactly one hour, and now I’m about to drive to Ipoh, 250 kilometres to the north of Kuala Lumpur, where I’ll be stationed for the next year. It’s beginning to feel like 250,000 kilometres as I look out in horror at the churning sea of cars speeding by and wonder exactly how this is going to work.

    Here I am in downtown KL with no map, no GPS (my mobile device isn’t set up yet), nothing but the stars to guide me in broad daylight and I have absolutely no idea where to start. So my manager hastily scribbles a cartoonish map with some scrambled directions on it and says, “It’s pretty easy really – if you get lost, just ask someone for directions.”

    Not only is this city a box of pretzels to me, I’ve also got to adapt myself immediately to driving with the steering wheel on the right side of the car and traffic moving on the opposite side of the road from what I’m used to. Somehow, I’ve got to find my way out of the city and onto the motorway that will take me north to Ipoh.

    I’m game. I get in the company issued Proton Saga (a “made in Malaysia” vehicle), drive around the block and come back right to where I started, hyperventilating wildly. I breathe deeply.

    There’s a snarl of roads snaking off into canyons of throughways, overpasses and rivers of fast-moving cars headed into unfathomable places with names like the Persekutuan Highway, Lebuhraya, and Pantal Bahru. I can’t match any of that to the scrawled directions I hold in one hand while trying to balance the right-sided wheel in the other. I don’t even know for sure if I am heading north or south, or even really where Ipoh is located on the map. In short, I am totally lost.

    Into the Valley

    Let’s try again. This time I ask a street cleaner before take-off. He helps me clear the first hurdle, which is basically going around the block but in the right direction. I manage to carry on, haltingly. I stop and pull over on a busy street and a Kuala Lumpur cop pulls up behind me, looking a bit confused by this wild-eyed foreigner. I ask him for directions out of the center towards the southwest end of the city where the north exit is meant to be. It seems very far away.

    I get swept up onto a ramp that takes me into one of those impossibly named freeways, and I am carried away in traffic, a tiny bit of flotsam on the tide of a million frothing automobiles. I think I am going in the right direction. At least I see some signs, some indications that I am heading towards my destination. Then suddenly I’m not, I’m off on a tangent, yanked off course into an eddy somewhere. So I pull over into a gas station and ask a Chinese man who is filling up his tank if he can direct me to this point on the little scrap of paper I am jabbing my finger at.

    He says something I half understand about having to turn around and double back and the whole thing sounds like I’m headed into a quagmire. It hits me that I will probably be turning around this big sparkling city for eons, like those lost souls in the limbo of Dante’s Inferno that trudge around in endless circles as part of their eternal damnation.

    The Chinese man no doubt sees the despair in my eyes and takes pity on me. He kindly offers to lead me in his car out to the freeway that will shepherd me on my way. I accept a little too gleefully and proceed to follow behind him as he swerves through a thousand little back streets and, after a good fifteen minutes, pulls his car off the road and motions for me to carry forward onto the freeway.

    Some Lateral Thinking

    Except I misread his hand signal, and instead of going straight on along the freeway, I mistake his indication for what, I soon find out, is not a freeway at all.

    In fact, it turns out that parallel to the freeways in and around Kuala Lumpur, there are narrower roads set aside for motorcycle traffic. What I’ve done, most likely to the poor Chinese man’s horror (I can’t see his face but I imagine a look of shock and terror, along with violent hand signals) is gotten myself onto this razor-thin roadway meant to be used exclusively for motorcycles.

    I think I hear the Chinese man pounding his horn behind me. Or maybe it’s just the mosquitoes. But it’s not mosquitoes; it’s the sound of a swarm of motorcycles collecting in a furious buzzing mass behind me. I now fully understand that I have taken myself and the car into a twilight zone of Kuala Lumpur driving, a place where no car should ever go.

    The motorcycles are beeping their horns, trying to get past me, and I am trying to move over on this ever-narrowing strip of concrete to let them pass. They screech by me, beeping and waving and shouting things that probably sound much like those impossible-to-pronounce road names.

    This is completely insane, and the worst part is, the only way to get back out to the real freeway, where cars are supposed to go, is by driving my car onto the motorcycle off-ramps that skip by me every 100 meters or so. They are just right for a motorcycle, not so good for a four-wheeler. I notice as I drive by them that they are more like little bridges, and on either side, there’s nothing but air and a drop into a 3 foot ditch.

    So my choice , I’m thinking as I slowly hug the road while passing through a tunnel that echoes with the hot buzzing sound of the motorcycles screeching by, is either to drive indefinitely on this road to Hell, or attempt the impossible and drive over one of these tiny bridge off-ramps. I start slowing down to size one up that just might be wide enough to let me pass, and then close my eyes and turn the wheel.

    Deliverance of a Sort

    There is a moment when I think – I know – that on this very first day of driving the car away from the head office, I will move it onto this little piece of last hope I have of saving face, and the car will list to one side, the wheels will slip over the edge, and there will be a newish white Proton dangling on a motorcycle off-ramp for all of Kuala Lumpur to marvel at. Worse, it may end up in the ditch, sticking up like a made-in-Malaysia metallic turnip.

    There will be stories in the press, and speculation as to how a white Proton managed to end up in this very unlikely place. They will probably guess that some foreigner, some very drunk foreigner, thought it would be a good joke to leave a car there, stuck on the edge of the freeway. There will be photos with captions like, “ White man runs amok – leaves hundreds of motorcyclists maimed”, or, “Foreign devil pulls prank – leaves car stranded on motorcycle off-ramp”. This will be my introduction into Malaysian life, a life most likely involving prison time now.

    I square the car up as the buzzing motorcycles whizz by, steel myself, and gingerly step on the gas. I am inching it across this tiny ticket home, squeezing the wheel for all my life, and hoping not to hear the deadening clang of an axle hitting the edge of the concrete. There are some vertical plastic tubes sticking up on the left side of this sliver of a bridge, and I try not to hit them as I slip the car out onto the main road.

    Somehow, the car makes it to the other side without a scratch. I pound the steering wheel and let out a victory whoop.

    Shaken, I maneuver the car back onto the freeway, and find, to my sweaty relief, a road sign pointing towards Ipoh. The headlines will have to wait for another day, but this first foray into Malaysia’s driving wilderness has convinced me to avoid off-trail motoring in a Proton Saga.

    Kurt Stewart is a freelance writer now stationed in Portugal, having survived his Malaysian driving saga. He lived and worked in Malaysia for 5 years where he contributed to Hawaii Reporter and other publications. 

    Hawaii Independent film Wind and The Reckoning getting closer to coming to the screen!

    Daniela Stolfi-Tow
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    Hawaii Independent film Wind and The Reckoning getting closer to coming to the screen!

    From John Fusco, the writer of Young Guns, this is a true life story of the Leper War on Kaua’i is depicted in this chilling and moving film.

    The Wind and the Reckoning reveals the real-life story of a Native Hawaiian ranching family that defies the oppressive new colonial government and faces down American mercenaries rather than have their freedoms callously ripped away. For the first time in a feature film, one of the most epic events in Hawaiian history, the Battle of Kalalau, unfolds through the eyes of the islands’ indigenous people.

    After the overthrow of Hawai’i’s traditional monarchy by American land barons in 1893, leprosy, carried to the islands by foreigners, spreads rapidly through the vulnerable indigenous population. Driven by racism, fear and greed, the newly declared republic’s president orders all Native Hawaiians suspected of being infected forcibly removed from their communities and permanently exiled to Kalaupapa, a remote colony on the island of Moloka’i, their marriages legally dissolved and property distributed to their heirs. But when Ko’olau (Jason Scott Lee), a well-known and respected cowboy, and his young son Kaleimanu (Kahiau Perreira) refuse to be separated from their home and wife and mother after contracting the disease, a confrontation with armed police leaves a sheriff dead. Ko’olau, his wife Pi’ilani (Lindsay Marie Anuhea Watson) and Kaleimanu flee to an isolated valley on their home island of Kaua’i, where they survive with a small band of other infected Hawaiians. When the provisional government dispatches a ruthless Civil War commander (Henry Ian Cusick) and a group of battle-hardened mercenaries to pursue him, a sympathetic marshal (Johnathon Schaech) tries to broker peace, but the victims resist in a revolt that will
    transform Ko’olau and Pi’ilani into legendary Hawaiian heroes.

    Inspired by the writing of Pi’ilani, directed by David L. Cunningham (To End All Wars and Beyond Paradise) and written by John Fusco (Young Guns, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Hidalgo), with dialogue predominantly in the Native Hawaiian language, The Wind and the Reckoning brings to cinematic life an inspiring story set against a dark and painful period in Hawai’i’s history.

    BTS clip of the cast and crew discussing working together during the pandemic, how it affected them, and the similarities of the story they were telling to what they were experiencing in real life.

    Video clip with Henry Ian Cusick as Captain McCabe and John Schaech as Marshall Hitchcock.

    >> Follow news for the film and it’s release here at their website and sign up for email updates as well: The Wind and The Reckoning

    Farm To Table: The CTAHR Connection

    Albie Miles
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    Farm To Table: The CTAHR Connection

    This virtual forum featuring CTAHR’s Food Systems Working Group brings together the following project leads:

    • – Farm to School – Lydi Morgan Bernal
    • – Go Farm’s Finding & Accessing Markets for Food Production – Pomai Weigert
    • – The Culinary Breeding Network –Jay Bost
    • – Product Development in Food Businesses – Lauren Tamamoto
    • – Business Marketing – Shannon Sand
    • – Data Driven Value Chain Coordination – Hunter Heaivilin

    Grassroot study shows out-of-state homebuyers are not the problem

    Grassroot Institute
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    Grassroot study shows out-of-state homebuyers are not the problem

    By Keli‘i Akina

    It is tempting to look for scapegoats when we talk about Hawaii’s housing crisis. 

    Often taking the blame are people from the mainland and elsewhere, who allegedly are crowding out local buyers and driving up Hawaii home prices.

    However, a landmark new study from the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, “The ‘outsider’ theory of Hawaii’s housing crisis,” shows that it ain’t necessarily so, and instead we should look closer to home if we want the true culprit.

    The true culprit, of course, would be Hawaii’s extensive land-use, zoning and other homebuilding-related regulations, which this study and many others have shown actually are significantly correlated with housing shortages and high median home prices, not just in Hawaii but throughout the nation.

    In other words, the problem is about supply. Yet, despite overwhelming evidence showing this to be true, too many local politicians and others attack the issue by focusing on demand — as if prohibiting or punishing outside buyers is going to result in a significant increase in new housing.

    In the case of out-of-state buyers, Institute researcher Jensen Ahokovi looked at nationwide tax-assessment records provided by the AEI Housing Center in Washington, D.C., along with sales data from the Hawaii Bureau of Conveyances and found that “there is no statistically significant relationship between out-of-state buyers and home prices.”

    In fact, he found that the share of homes being sold to outside buyers actually trended downward between 2008 and 2021, yet home prices still continued to increase.

    As Ahokovi said to reporter Allison Schaefers in Monday’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser: “Considering these two trends, it is difficult to associate rising housing costs with fewer out-of-state buyers.” 

    I’m happy to say, the Institute’s new policy brief has been making waves in the media. 

    In addition to the Star-Advertiser, Pacific Business News, KITV 4 and Hawaii News Now have all shared news of the report with their audiences — and more coverage is in the works.

    Of course, when you introduce a study that challenges conventional wisdom, you can expect a few objections, so I want to take a moment to answer a few of the most commonly asked questions about the report:

    >> If 25% of total home sales between 2008 and 2021 went to out-of-state buyers, isn’t that a lot?

    Yes, but the real question is whether those outsiders were driving up housing prices. As I noted, the trend of outside buyers during that period was downward — from 33.5% in 2010 to 19.4% in 2020 — yet home prices kept going up. 

    Beyond that, the report shows that outside buyers in Hawaii do not necessarily buy the same properties as local residents anyway, and more important, there is no statistical basis for blaming outside buyers for high housing prices in Hawaii or anywhere else in the U.S., even though it might feel like they’re responsible..

    >> The report defines “local buyer” as someone whose primary address is in Hawaii. Isn’t this too broad and vague? How do we know if they are really local?

    For this report, we used the same criteria as the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, which has the benefit of being objective and measurable. 

    It is possible that this results in some outsiders being classified as “local.” But by the same token, what about a former Hawaii resident, an aunty perhaps, who had to relocate to the mainland for several years and only now can afford to return and buy a home here? 

    In the end, we decided that such outliers had an insignificant effect on the larger statistical trends we were studying.

    >> You’re saying that outside buyers have no impact at all, but Hawaii isn’t like other states. We can’t just spread out like Texas. So isn’t every outsider home purchase a problem?

    Our report doesn’t say that outsiders have had no impact, rather that their impact is statistically insignificant. It’s a small but important difference, not least because it points toward more effective ways to address our housing shortage.

    As for the claim that Hawaii lacks available land for housing, the truth is that only 5% of the land in Hawaii is zoned urban, and even that amount is not all zoned for residential. We may not be as big as Texas, but relatively speaking, we still have a lot of land available for housing, if only homebuilders were allowed to access it. 

    Meanwhile, don’t forget about California: Its outside-buyer share is a mere 1.9%, yet despite having considerably more land than Hawaii, it has the nation’s third-highest median home price. The culprit, as in Hawaii, is excessive homebuilding-related regulations.

    Speaking of which, the question I have heard most often regarding our report is:

    >> What is the solution?

    Since we know that the main problem is excessive regulations, the answer lies in identifying which ones are most responsible, then working together to get them out of the way.

    You probably have noticed that there has been no shortage of advice from the Grassroot Institute regarding how to address Hawaii’s housing crisis. 

    In policy reports, commentaries and legislative testimony, the Institute has discussed how to reform the state Land Use Commission, ways we could liberalize Hawaii’s many zoning laws, why we should consider the “Tokyo model” of by-right zoning and light-touch density, the benefits of “building out,” and why we should encourage “Yes in my backyard” policies that discourage the politicization of new homebuilding.

    Regarding our latest report, I am pleased that it has prompted so many people to think about the real causes of Hawaii’s housing crisis. Think of how much further we could have gone in providing more housing if not for all the debate about outside buyers, among other unfortunate distractions. 

    My hope is that the Institute’s new study will make future policy discussions about housing more fruitful by removing from the agenda a popular notion that has been more divisive than anything else.
    _____________

    Keli‘i Akina is president and CEO of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.

    Can We Sack the GET?

    Tom Yamachika
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    Can We Sack the GET?

    Every so often a question comes up from some alert readers.  “The Hawaii General Excise Tax (GET) is regressive, meaning it falls hardest on the poor.  Hardly anyone understands it, because it is so unlike the sales taxes, and even the gross receipts taxes, in any of the other States.  It taxes basic necessities, like food, medical care, and electricity.  So why don’t we just get rid of it?”

    It seems to me that there are several reasons why our lawmakers are going to keep it around for a very long time, if not forever.  Are they good reasons?  That’s up to you to decide.

    First, the tax produces money.  A LOT of money.  As seen in Chart 1.2 of the Department of Taxation’s annual report for fiscal 2020-2021, the GET brings in more than $3 billion per year, and normally produces 40%-45% of all tax dollars collected.  (In a typical year the individual income tax produces roughly 30% of all tax dollars collected, and all other taxes combined produce the other 30%.)  Lawmakers who know this fact will understandably be reluctant to mess with this goose, because it’s been consistently laying lots and lots of golden eggs, even when our economy was in the dumps because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Second, the tax produces money with a relatively low nominal rate.  Four percent doesn’t seem like a lot compared to 7-8% in Nevada, 7-10% in California, 6-11% in Arizona, and so forth.  So it’s tough to tell lawmakers that 4% is outlandishly large compared with other States.

    Third, there is rarely a constituency that rises up to oppose an increase in the GET.  Many businesses on which the GET is imposed pass on the tax to consumers, so they would have a hard time arguing that an increase in the GET hurts them.  Consumers get pinched, but typically in small amounts so they are unlikely to put up a fuss.  There have been notable exceptions, however, such as when dozens of angry taxpayers showed up at a Senate Ways and Means committee hearing in 2011 and saw that committee kill the bill in a 10-4 vote (then-Ways and Means chair David Ige was one of the four voting to raise the tax).

    Fourth, a good part of the tax is well hidden from constituents.  Unlike sales taxes, our GET applies to business-to-business transactions such as when a farm sells vegetables to a distributor, who then sells the vegetables to a supermarket, which then sells them to a consumer.  The farm and the distributor have to pay 0.5% tax each, and the supermarket pays 4.0% or 4.5% (which it passes on to the consumer).  The consumer only sees 4.712% on the retail receipt (the extra 21 basis points is a “tax on tax,” because the tax is imposed on not only the retail price of the vegetables but also the amount of tax passed on to the consumer).  The two earlier 0.5% layers are not shown on the receipt but simply factor into the sales price.  Furthermore, businesses pay full retail tax when they are end users, such as when they pay for power, rent, and office supplies.  Those get factored into the prices of their goods and services as well.

    Fifth, the GET lets us offload some of the tax burden to tourists.  They don’t pay income tax, but they do need to pay GET like the rest of us.  The Tax Foundation of Hawaii estimated that tourists bear between 15% and 20% of the tax bite.  Other studies have put the export percentage as high as 38%.  Even 20% of $3 billion annually is not small potatoes.  If we aren’t able to collect that $600 million the rest of us are going to have to make up for it somehow – or rely on state government to tighten its belt by that much (fat chance of that happening).

    For better or worse, there are reasons why we have our GET and probably won’t be sacking it any time soon.  If you think you have a better way of funding our state government, great!  Our lawmakers need to hear from you. 

    The Future of Food & Agriculture in Hawaiʻi

    Albie Miles
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    The Future of Food & Agriculture in Hawaiʻi

    A monthly speaker series featuring thought-leaders, academics, community leaders, state officials, and practitioners across the state and the nation. The first installment, Food Insecurity in Hawaiʻi: Root Causes and Systemic Solutions, will take place at Ka Waiwai on Friday, September 16, 2022. Doors open at 5 p.m. and speakers begin at 6 p.m.

    Out-of-state buyers don’t drive Hawaii home prices, report shows

    Grassroot Institute
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    Out-of-state buyers don’t drive Hawaii home prices, report shows

    A pathbreaking analysis of nationwide data dispels the popular belief that out-of-state homebuyers are the cause of the state’s housing woes

    HONOLULU, Aug. 17, 2022 >> A new report from the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii explodes the popular notion that out-of-state buyers are responsible for Hawaii’s high housing prices.

    The report, “The ‘outsider’ theory of Hawaii’s housing crisis,” is the first of its kind to analyze data from not just Hawaii but from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, plus more than 2,300 counties nationwide, to determine the relationship between “outside” buyers and median home prices.

    The question to be answered was: “Do all states and counties across the U.S. that have high percentages of outside buyers also have high median home prices?”

    The answer, basically, is no. Mainland jurisdictions with high outside-buyer shares frequently have below-average median home prices, while states and counties with above-average median home prices often have very low outside-buyer shares.

    In 2020, Hawaii had the highest median home price of $636,400; its outside-buyer share was third-highest, at 19.4%.

    However, the jurisdiction with the second-highest median home price, at $618,100, was the District of Columbia; its out-of-state buyer share was only 4.9%, below the national average of 7.3%.

    California had the nation’s third-highest median home price, at $538,500, but the second-lowest share of out-of-state buyers, at 1.9%.

    Delaware and Maine had out-of-state-buyer shares similar to Hawaii’s, both at roughly 19%, but their median home prices did not deviate much from the national average of $244,604.

    Looking at the entire U.S., the relationship between outside buyers and median home prices was “statistically insignificant,” based on the Institute’s analysis of home sales data from the Hawaii Bureau of Conveyances and nationwide tax-assessment data provided by the American Enterprise Institute’s Housing Center (AEI Housing Center).

    The new report, by Institute research associate Jensen Ahokovi, is careful to point out that the findings do not mean that outside buyers have no effect on local home prices, only that they are not a significant factor.

    In fact, between 2011 and 2020, the share of outside homebuyers in Hawaii trended downward, yet home prices kept increasing.

    The report concludes: 

    “Out-of-state buyers are just one determinant of the price of housing. In Hawaii, as elsewhere, there are many other factors, including, most importantly, government regulations. To that point, most research finds that land-use regulations comprise the primary reason for the current condition and large increase of home prices in the nation’s most expensive locales. Rather than scapegoat out-of-state buyers, Hawaii policymakers should focus on reducing the number of governmental regulatory barriers that restrain the state’s housing supply.”

    In his introduction to the report, Keli‘i Akina, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii president and CEO, says:

    “The outside-buyers myth is widely believed, but to the extent that such buyers have any impact at all, the evidence shows it to be statistically insignificant. What is significant is that focusing on policies meant to discourage outside buyers will do little to help the average local family that wants to find an affordable home.

    “If we want to address Hawaii’s housing crisis, we cannot be misled by our preconceptions. Real change cannot happen until we properly identify the source of the problem. In this case, that means addressing the substantial regulatory barriers to housing in our state — not getting distracted by the ‘outsider’ theory or any other myths.

    “Our inclination may be to look outside Hawaii for the causes of the housing crisis, but we cannot ignore the facts. The solution to Hawaii’s housing crisis — like the problem — begins at home.”

    To read or download a copy of the report, go here.

    Secrets to Healthy Aging from Dr. Bradley Willcox

    Robert Kay
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    Secrets to Healthy Aging from Dr. Bradley Willcox

    Author’s Note: We recently had the opportunity to interview Dr. Bradley Wilcox about the importance of reducing chronic inflammation and just as importantly, what steps we can take to accomplish this. Formerly a clinician at the Queens Hospital, he’s now a fulltime research scientist. Dr. Willcox trained at the University of Toronto, the Mayo Clinic, and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Willcox’s research teams have identified several important genetic and environmental risk factors for aging and aging-related chronic diseases. His research team in Okinawa identified the first longevity-associated gene, and his research team in Hawaii was the first to identify the association of the FOXO3 gene with human longevity. He is on the Editorial Board of several leading gerontological journals, including the Journals of Gerontology. He has been recognized with a Dorothy Dillon Eweson Award for Advances in Aging Research, the Henry Christian Award from the American Federation for Medical Research, a Director’s Citation from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and other honors. Dr. Willcox is also the author of a New York Times best-selling book on healthy aging, The Okinawa Program. His work has appeared in cover articles of Time Magazine, National Geographic, and on Oprah, Good Morning America, NOVA Science, BBC, and other outlets.

    Dr. Bradley WillcoxQ:  First of all, please describe your job?

    A: As a geriatrician, the vast majority of my time is spent treating people who suffer from the afflictions of old age. These are almost always chronic in nature — heart disease, arthritis, cognitive decline, diabetes, and the list goes on.

    Q: What is the connection between inflammation and aging?

    A: Oxidative stress and inflammation are the key factors for development of chronic disease and other ravages of old age. Oxidative stress—let’s call it inflammation, is believed to be a principal mechanism of aging.

    Q: How do you prevent inflammation and chronic disease?

    A: The good news is that most of the ailments I treat can be markedly delayed and largely prevented by a healthy diet, exercise, and other lifestyle factors. The right food can be a powerful prophylaxis that can actually thwart illness. The Okinawan people — who are the longest lived people in the world — use the term nuchi gusui, which literally means “food is medicine.” But modern medicine is just beginning to understand the biochemistry behind the concept of food as medicine. After two decades of research, I believe that the Okinawan diet is a veritable Rx for longevity and healthy aging.

    Q: Can the kinds of foods in the Okinawan diet be a guidepost for people who live in America?

    A: Absolutely. Consuming the right foods, with the right micronutrients, mitigates risk for many age-associated diseases and, perhaps, modulates the very rate of aging. Thus, it’s no coincidence that the Okinawans consume home grown turmeric, sweet potatoes and other local foods, including several vegetables rich in marine phytoactive compounds such as astaxanthin. All these foods are available in Hawaii and on the mainland. More importantly they will help mitigate inflammation, which is not our friend.

    51MWSNL4YzL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_
    Brad Willcox is the author of the Okinawa Program and (see below) the Okinawa Diet Plan.

    Q: Can you talk a little about astaxanthin?

    A: Yes. It’s known as a marine carotenoid, found in seaweeds and kelp. It’s part of the Okinawan diet and shows particular promise in our research. The compound has powerful, broad-ranging anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties. Research indicates astaxanthin may benefit those suffering from inflammation-related conditions including arthritis and rheumatoid disorders, metabolic disease, as well as cardiovascular, neurological, and liver diseases. It’s available as a supplement both in a natural form (which you can buy at Costco) or as a nature-identical compound (which you can purchase at GNC).

    Q:  What’s the difference between the natural product and the “nature identical” product?

    A: This is a natural compound (sold as Bioastin) is derived from algae, whereas the nature-identical version (ZanthoSyn) is synthesized. They are both good for you. ZanthoSyn, however, is has greater bioavailability, meaning it’s absorbed better by your system and hence packs more punch. One 12gr ZanthoSyn tablet is roughly equivalent to three 12 gr tablets of Bioastin. (Full disclosure, I’m on the scientific advisory board for Cardax, the company that produces ZanthoSyn).

    Q: What’s the bottom line on your research regarding he FOXO3 gene and longevity?

    A: In short, the FOXO3 gene, which everyone has, is strongly associated with human longevity. However people that have certain variants of this gene have a 2-3 times greater chance of living to 100. I’m also convinced that FOXO3 is connected to mitigating inflammation. The bottom line is that even if you don’t have the “best” FOXO3 variant in terms of longevity, by expressing or “turning on” the gene, you’ll be able to duplicate the “longevity” mechanism.

    ZanthoSyn_Front
    ZanthoSyn is a nature-identical version of Astaxanthin. It is also available in a natural product called Bio Astin.

    Q: So how do you “turn on” the FOXO3 gene?

    A: You can do it by eating certain foods, which is one of the functions that the Okinawan Diet achieves. What we’ve learned is that certain micronutrients found in the same foods I mentioned earlier, Okinawan sweet potatoes, turmeric, marine-based carotenoid-rich foods (e.g., seaweeds and kelp) and other items have compounds such as astaxanthin that will express this gene.

    Q: You said the Okinawan Diet is a diet is a veritable Rx for longevity. Can you draw a distinct connection between diet and healthy aging?

    A: Healthy aging, which means absence of chronic illness, is the best way to grow old! Eating foods I’ve described can actually help prevent you from getting ill. By some estimates, 80% of coronary heart disease (CHD) and type-2 diabetes mellitus and 40% of cancers may be prevented by modifying dietary habits. We’ve found that Okinawans who eat a traditional diet gained an additional 6% survival time from age 65 (1.3 years) versus other Japanese and an additional 20% survival time (3.6 years) versus Americans. Perhaps most notable is that Okinawans gained almost a decade of additional disability-free life expectancy compared with Americans. Some of the compounds that help express the gene, such as, along with other marine carotenoids such as polysaccharide fucoidan, xanthophyll fucoxanthin have some amazing qualities such as inhibiting cancer growth, fostering reduction in bad cholesterol, and lowering triglycerides. The shorthand is that by stimulating the FOXO3 gene with the right foods and phytonutrients, odds are you will live longer and healthier.

    Q: What other biological roles do these foods play in assisting healthy aging?

    A: The compounds contained in the foods I mentioned trigger our biological systems into mimicking an ancient survival mechanism called caloric restriction. Caloric restriction has been unequivocally proven to make organisms live longer. It sounds strange but the less you eat (up to about 30% less than usual), the longer you live so long as you maintain a diet adequate in macro- and micronutrients. A diet that contains compounds that turn on caloric restriction’s biological mechanisms may also make you live longer and healthier.

    Q: 51XDK8G4K4L._AC_UL320_SR212,320_I thought caloric restriction means fasting—starving yourself. I don’t want to do that!

    A: You don’t have to starve yourself to promote caloric restriction. Instead, you can mimic caloric restriction by eating certain foods that imitate caloric restriction’s biological effects, thus getting the benefits of caloric restriction without the deprivation. Our studies, and those of others, have shown strong support for this.

    Q: Can you discuss any recent research you’re involved in that might be of interest?

    A: I’m glad you asked. My colleague Richard Allsopp, a Ph.D. Professor over at the John A. Burns School of Medicine, has just recorded preliminary findings from a trial focused on how astaxanthin impacts FOXO3 in mice. Like me, Dr. Allsopp focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of aging. What he’s found seems to confirm what we believe about the efficacy of astaxanthin. The upshot is that  when mice ingest astaxanthin, FOXO3 is expressed in a statistically significant manner in the heart and to a lesser degree in the blood and skeletal muscles. This implies that you’re getting an anti-flammatory and stress resistant effect from astaxanthin in vital organs. By “stress resistant” I mean that you’re seeing a reduction in inflammation in the tissue which can be measured by reduced cytokine levels. If it reduces inflammation in a mouse, that’s a pretty good indication that it will work in humans too.

    Q: Any parting advice?

    A: Eat lots of vegetables, fish, engage in regular physical activity, avoid tobacco and drink moderately. Wouldn’t hurt to take astaxanthin either.

    ****************

    Dr. Willcox is Principal Investigator of the National Institute on Aging-funded Kuakini Hawaii Lifespan Study and Kuakini Hawaii Healthspan Study, which are ancillary studies on aging from the Kuakini Honolulu Heart Program. He is also Professor and Director of Research at the Department of Geriatric Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, located on the Kuakini Health System campus. He  is the Co-Principal Investigator of the Okinawa Centenarian Study and has been investigating mechanisms of aging for almost two decades with this study. 

    How to reduce permit delays for Hawaii homebuilding

    Grassroot Institute
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    How to reduce permit delays for Hawaii homebuilding

    By Keli‘i Akina

    Albert Einstein once pointed out, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” 

    That’s good advice for anyone trying to address Hawaii’s acute lack of housing.

    Two days ago, a colleague of mine at the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, Joe Kent, spoke to members of the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce about how excessive regulation has contributed to the lack of housing in our state — and how more government intrusion won’t miraculously produce a different result.

    Kent addressed the chamber’s permitting taskforce, which for four years has been looking into why applications for building permits on Hawaii island are taking so long to be processed.

    You’ve probably heard that it can take a decade for a homebuilder to get the rights to build on a piece of land. But did you know that even the simplest changes and permits can face heavy delays? 

    Joe pointed out that in Hawaii County, residential permits take about 143 days to issue. In Honolulu, it’s 108 days for residential projects and 432 days for commercial projects over $1 million. 

    Several of the counties have conducted audits of their planning departments and permitting systems, and the conclusions are nearly always the same: The delays exist because of staffing shortages. 

    If you looked at the problem like a bureaucrat, you would probably conclude that the way to fix the delay is to hire more staff — and that’s what several of the counties are doing. But it takes time to hire new staff, and, in any case, adding more staff is to miss the bigger picture.

    In fact, Joe said Hawaii’s permitting departments could reduce their staff, if they simply reduce the number of required permits.

    For example, Hawaii County’s overly-stringent building code requires permits for things such as sheds, fences, tents and some air-conditioning systems. Unfortunately, just about any substantial renovation you might want in Hawaii requires a county permit. And those permits are notoriously slow in coming.

    Yes, there might be projects that have demonstrable health and safety concerns. But we don’t need to have permits for so many different things. Other states and counties across the country are able to operate safely and more efficiently with fewer local permits and building code requirements. 

    Some — including Delta County and Montezuma County in Colorado; Arcosanti Urban Laboratory in Arizona; Wonder Valley in California; Brewster County, Marfa County and Terlingua, Texas; and Miller County, Missouri —  get by without any building codes or permit requirements at all. 

    Other states, like in Tennessee, let local governments opt out of state building codes for one- and two-family dwellings.

    In addition, permitting departments could outsource to the private sector. Houston, for example, uses an outside vendor as a relief valve to expedite the permitting process, and Honolulu certifies private inspectors to help as well.

    Joe’s presentation made it clear that there are many ways to approach the permitting and regulatory delays that contribute to Hawaii’s housing crisis. 

    Adding more public employees to our permitting departments and continuing as we have in the past would not be one of them. 

    Let’s think a bit more outside the box, shall we?
    _____________

    Keli‘i Akina is president and CEO of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.

    Governor Ige Provides Mental Relief by Vetoing Anti-Telehealth Bill

    Guest Contributor
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    Governor Ige Provides Mental Relief by Vetoing Anti-Telehealth Bill

    By Anthony Caliano

    The Intent of HB1980 was to improve patients’ mental health by authorizing insurance reimbursement for telephonic treatments. Special interests got their own version of the bill through conference committee, which, if passed, would have been disastrous for the people of Hawai’i.

    June 27th marked a major victory for consumers of mental health counseling in Hawaii. In announcing his reasons for including HB1980 on his “Intent to Veto” list, the Governor put the interest of people’s health over the financial interests of private health insurance companies seeking to exploit disadvantaged consumers of mental health services – to save a buck – amidst one of the worst mental health crises in American history.

    It was clear at the June 27 press conference, when discussing his objections to this “anti­telehealth bill”, that Ige listened to actual community members and care providers. (Rather than the health insurers, who are not actual health care providers.) If HB1980 passed, it would be providers, rather than the insurers, who would need to explain to their patients why their telephonic counseling sessions are no longer covered by insurance, unless the following criteria are met:

    1. Audio/Visual Telehealth technology must be unavailable;
    2. The patient must first see the provider in person within the past year; and
    3. The telephonic treatment must be a “covered health care service.”

    These burdensome conditions are not fair to the many disenfranchised groups this bill would impact.

    Kupuna are already on edge due to their heightened risk of COVID-19 complications. It is
    unacceptable to then take away their preferred, simplest, and most accessible mode of communication – the standard telephone – as a means of receiving treatment from their mental health specialist is.

    Rural residents simply do not have the same telecom infrastructure as residents of Kaka’ako.

    The economically disadvantaged can’t afford smart devices and highspeed broadband. Perhaps those hurt the most are those with limited technological or language proficiency.

    All of these people in crisis would have been left behind by this legislation.

    This bill is also unfair to every American taxpayer. Why? Because on the federal level, the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services decided that telephonic and audio-only communications qualify as “telehealth” for mental health services – without requiring patients to physically visit their provider AND lack a smartphone. If HB1980 passed into law, your hard earned private employer-sponsored health plan coverage would give you and your family materially inferior care options than those with Medicare/Medicaid plans – BELOW the Federal safety-net. Those on Medicaid can use the telephone to talk to their therapist.

    Those with private plans in Hawaii could not. Why shouldn’t we, Hawaii residents and private consumers of health insurance plans, have that choice? If Hawaii’s private insurance marketplace offers it – as some plans have for years – why is our state government trying to take it away?

    The Federal government is actively taking steps to advance access to telehealth, but our State seems to be going backwards. Why should we, as consumers, pay for private health insurance plans whose executives are lobbying to pass laws that harm us?

    How irresponsible is our government when the Chair of the House Health Committee, who introduced this bill, was unable to provide concrete answers to the press about the questions raised by this bill. He instead referred the Star-Advertiser to
    direct their questions to HMSA. (Check out the article here.)

    Free Close-up Photo of Man wearing Camouflage Facemask Stock Photo

    The Health Committee Chair also explained to Hawaii’s Mental Health Task Force that because Hawaii’s Medicaid/MedQuest Administrator did not like the senate version of HB1980 that went to conference (which harmonized state and federal telephonic/telehealth law), the conference committee passed out a final draft that actually legally conflicted with federal law. Moreover, that final draft was significantly more lucrative for Hawaii’s private insurance plans. My questions, as a private citizen are: “Who elected the MedQuest Administrator?” and “Why does the government have its hands on my private mental healthcare?” This 11th hour legislation served yet another special interest that writes sweetheart donation checks – to ensure their lackeys can stay in power another term.

    We now find ourselves in another election year – and since the last election, we have only seen homelessness get worse, domestic violence go through the roof, and countless neighbors struggle with addiction, anxiety, depression, and attempted suicide. Knowing this bill would affect every single private health care plan in Hawaii, it’s troubling to consider how many more lives would have been endangered or lost as a direct or indirect result of HB1980’s passage.

    Thus, the timing of this bill – “Relating to Telephonic Services” – under a pretense that it would provide relief during the pandemic, is fishy too. Most people learning about a new “Telehealth” bill would not have suspected a callous, opportunistic piece of legislation when people were in crisis. Yet, it nearly made it under the Governor’s pen before we, the people, were able to put a stop to it. Fortunately, through media activism, hundreds of health care providers and private citizens wrote to the Governor asking for this veto. Thankfully, he agreed.

    The fight for telephonic telehealth legislation that actually helps, rather than hurts people will live on another year – to a newly elected legislature and Governor.

    Mental Health is a concern for everyone. During this heated primary election season, every candidate gave lip service to mental health access. Their advisors made sure of that. But it’s important to see through the clown shows and understand what is at stake.

    This election season, it is our Kuleana, as responsible citizens, to weed out the elected officials we hired – through our ballots and taxes – who’ve shown us they only seek power and influence by serving special interests. Don’t let them chip away at our mental health – as it can only get worse from there.

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