Get well soon, Sen. Inouye

The demanding schedule that U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, 88, is accustomed to keeping would exhaust most people decades younger.

Those who have seen him at public events can attest to his presence: When Inouye talks, everyone listens. And as Hawaii’s senior senator in charge of the powerful Appropriations Committee, he’s often talking on the state’s behalf.

So it’s concerning news that Inouye has been hospitalized for oxygen problems, his second admittance in less than a month after falling at his home on Nov. 15.

"For the most part, I am OK," the decorated WWII veteran said stoically, adding: "I will be back on the Hill as soon as my doctors allow it."

We join the rest of Hawaii’s congressional delegation and the governor in wishing him a speedy recovery.

3 dozen pennies for your thoughts

Numerologists and others are having a field day with the uniqueness of today’s date: 12/12/12.

Some are saying that today is actually the day the Mayan calendar supposedly predicted the end of the world, though others are saying the actual date is 12/21/12, or maybe 12/22/12. (If we’re all still alive tomorrow, it wasn’t today.)

Others go on about the significance of the number 12 itself — and to have three in a row is pretty interesting, you have to admit.

But here’s the upshot: For most of us, today is the last day in our lifetimes that we will see the same number three times in a date. There will be no 13/13/13, and the reset to 01/01/01 isn’t until 2101.

We can hardly wait.