Propecia and Proscar and My ADD

This post has nothing to do with China, but is like a public service announcement. About 8 years ago my hair started to thin, I’m not too vain, but I love to have hair. A family member told me about Propecia, its a drug you take to arrest male pattern baldness. I thought it was bs, but said wtf and did it. The thing is that almost had to go down on the doc for him to write the scrip. he was like “why do you need propecia?” me-” I dont want to lose anymore hair.” doc bupesh- “you have a ton anyway.” me “wanna keep it” doc bupesh, “whats in propecia” me- “its in the PDR on your desk, you can read.” doc bupesh reads then looks at me, “its the same thing as in Proscar, the prostate drug.” me- “I know that.” him confused…In the end he consulted the sacred cow of wisdom and wrote the script, but what a pain in the ass it is in the states to get meds isnt it? (huge digression coming….. Like once a doctor told me to get checked for ADD ,so i went to a doc. I was like “doc so and so said i have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). ahole doc- Yeah?” me-“he said I need meds.” doc ahole “so what?” “me “im not a doc so I cant write prescriptions, can you write me a scrip?” doc ahole -“how do i know you have ADD?” me-“I trust your omniscience, you’re the doc right?” doc ahole- “you’re too old, only kids have ADD” me-“does my childish behavior qualify me?” him-” show me what makes you think you have ADD?” me thinking,,,, I pull out a note from the other doc. “this paper here says it. i trust in the intelligence of mankind and he says i have it so…” doc ahole, “but you have very advanced degrees, you have accomplished a lot. This is not consistent with a person suffering from ADD.” me- “if you wont write the script i’ll find another doc.” getting up. he gets pissed, writes the scrip but didnt really diagnose. He prescribed a med that gave me killer headaches. I then found another doc, went through the same garbage, got another pill shaped like a little oil barrel, it was time release, and it was ok. The problem is that I hate the meds so i never take them. they make me feel stupid and I can only focus on one thing at a time. My coworkers, however, love it when i’m on them. I guess it shows how much our world values creativity. Maybe one day I’ll take one and blog, you can give me feedback. But in all honestly I am just saying ‘no’ to those little pills.) ok now back on topic (mini digression- the last digression is an example of how the ADD brain functions- its the inability to focus on one topic at a time..) Ok back to baldness, Propecia and Proscar Now I am tired and dont want to write anymore, but I owe you a conclusion: PROPECIA AND PROSCAR ARE THE SAME THING. Merck makes more money on the Propecia as they sell it to those of us who are vain and want to keep their hair. PROPECIA AND PROSCAR ARE THE SAME THING. The active ingredient in each is Finasteride. the proscar tabs have a 5mg dose and the Propecia tabs have 1 mg. Get the docs to write the Proscar scrip and your health care should cover it and you get the benefit of the hair loss arresting as well. From a financial perspective in China Propecia 1 mg tabs 28 cost RMB 287 28 mg total Proscar 5 mg tabs 10 cost 70 RMB 50 mg total Bu the proscar, divide it into 4 tabs and enjoy your hair. “(marketed by Merck under the trademark names Proscar and Propecia, also available under several generic names)”from wiki

Rabbit….

Odd Things You Get Used to in China

Good article on the things you get used to in China. It comes from forbes.com Social Phenomena 1. Frequent Mine Disasters On March 28, 2010, a vast mine disaster happened at the Wang family coal mines, which are owned by Huajin Coal Company. After the accident took place, 108 mine workers escaped successfully, but 153 mine workers were stuck in the shaft. All of a sudden, the disaster got the attention of the media. The media were focusing on the rescue process. After a few days, 111 more workers were rescued, and 38 people died. In fact, the Wang family coal mines incident is just one of many mine disasters in China. In the first half of 2010, Chinese mine disasters haven’t stopped. Coal mine disasters have happened in many places, such as Xinyu in Jiangxi Province, Xiangtan in Hu’nan Province, Yichuan in He’nan Province, Chengde in Hebei Province, Tacheng in Xinjiang Province and Jincheng in Shanxi Province. The mine disasters have occurred all over China. When we see mine disasters, it is normal that people are worried, sad and angry. But if people see the disasters happening again and again, what should the people feel? I hope that we will not become numb because we are used to all this sad news. 2. Visitors Fall to Their Knees to Meet Government Officials The former mayor of Zhuanghe city might be the first government official who lost his job because of citizens’ knees. On April 13th, more than 1,000 people from Longwang Temple Village, which is in Zhuanghe city, were in front of the city government office. All the villagers were on their knees, hoping to meet the government officials. However, the villagers still weren’t allowed to see the mayor. After 11 days, Sun Ming, the mayor of Zhuanghe city, was suspended by the higher government office. On April 22nd, almost 100 villagers from Guangdong province were kneeling in front of a government office. The people were trying to protest the fact that their farms were occupied unfairly. Unfortunately, the appeal was ignored. A Chinese couple, authors Chen Guilin and Chun Taofu, indicated in their “Chinese Farmers Survey” that upon seeing farmers kneeling down in front of him, Director Zeng Xiaodong had tears on his face. Zeng said, “Because of significant pains and long hardship, these old men were resigned to kneeling on the ground?” Ten years ago, a report (about the government’s visitors) would shock journalists. Nowadays, visitors kneeling down right in front of government offices is not surprising. Is this a sign of progress in China, or a signal that things are not working correctly? 3. Unjust Charges When the She Xianglin injustice case was still a hot topic, charges against Zhao Zuohai shocked the whole of China in 2010. It took 6 days in total between when the “deceased” Zhao Zhengshang was back in the village and the “criminal” Zhao Zuohai was released. But before Zhao was released, he had spent 11 years in the prison. Zhao suffered from harsh interrogation and jail, his case has been a sample of “Village Unjust Charges”. On June 21, the president of Henan Province Court came to Zhao’s new home, and apologized to Zhao with a bow. No matter what, Zhao’s life can’t be restarted. However, more unjust judgments are a painful part of Chinese justice… 4. Violent Evictions and Unclear Governmental Operations Here is the current Chinese style of forced evictions. The homeowners try to kill the removers, and protest with slogans on their roofs. The government officials hire people to throw bricks into the houses at night and write threatening words on the gates. Forced evidtions have lead to social dissatisfiction and instability. The “sunshine eviction” policy, which was announced by the central government, has become a “black-box eviction” policy. Local governments not only never tell the public why the lands are sold out and what the lands will be used for, but also the public is forced to sign agreements to keep quiet about the violent evictions. Meanwhile, the subsidies [granted to homeowners] after the evictions are vastly different from place to place. Some people become millionaires in one night, but some people lose everything in one day. What are the obstacles of a harmonious society? The answers could be plenty, but violent eviction must be one of them. 5. Rough Government Officials During the 2010 National People’s Congress and the Chinese Political Consultative Conference, different local officials displayed different manners. Some ministers answered the questions with smiles. However, one of the government officials asked a question in reply to a female journalist: “Which unit [publication] are you from [do you work for]?” In China, we have heard many inappropriate statements like, “Are you speaking for the (Communist) Party or the public?”, and official lines such as “We will do research about it.” The fact is that the Chinese government officials don’t know how to talk properly. The officials either talk in a stilted manner, or keep silent. The problem exists among most Chinese government officials. 6. Charitable Contributions Went to Government Coffers After the May 12 (2008) Sichuan earthquake, there was a huge development in charity in China. However, a question remines: where have all the donations gone? This April, one person published a post with a question: Is the Chinese government stealing donations? Wang Zhenyao, director of the ministry’s Social Welfare and Charities Division, indicated that the heavy state involvement was due to a “systematic problem.” Behind the “policy issue,” the givers were worried: Were the donations used by government officials for limos? Related reading: Sichuan Earthquake Donations: Where Did the Money Go? 7. The Loss of Talent What is the important in the 21 century? Talent! Ge You and Feng Xiaogang (a famous movie actor and director in China) both know this. However, the loss of talent is a problem that China is facing. A report from the Chinese Academy of Social Science says that China has lost the most talented people in the world [to other nations]. When will the talented people come back? A CEO from study abroad organization gave a simple answer: When China beats America, those talented people will come back automatically.

Great Article on Chinese Paid to Post Propaganda

This is a great article about Chinese who are paid by the communists to post nice things about china or to downplay bad news. ” Two years ago, Chinese President Hu Jintao called on Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members to “assert supremacy over online public opinion, raise the level and study the art of online guidance and actively use new technologies to increase the strength of positive propaganda.” After Hu’s speech, Communist Party officials and the State Council issued an official call for “comrades of good ideological and political character, high capability and familiarity with the Internet to form teams of Web commentators … who can employ methods and language Web users can accept to actively guide online public opinion.” The CCP has hired thousands of freelance Internet propagandists whose job is to infiltrate chat rooms, message boards and comment areas on the Internet posing as ordinary users to voice support for the agenda and interest of the CCP. They praise China’s one-party system and condemn anyone who criticizes China’s policy on Tibet. They comment aggressively on news reports about China’s food-safety problems, relations with Taiwan, suppression of bird-flu and AIDS information, Internet censorship, jailing of dissidents, support of Sudan’s military in Darfur and other sensitive topics. Comments applaud the Chinese government and slam its critics, all using scripts and lines approved by the party. The BBC calls these freelance propagandists China’s 50 Cent Party. The Guardian newspaper calls it the 50 Cent Army. (50 Cent isn’t a rapper in this case, but a reference to the pay: 50 Chinese “cents” per post, which is equivalent to about 7 US cents). Other names include “red vests” and the “red vanguard.” Some estimates claim that the 50 Cent Army includes a whopping 300,000 people. If that’s accurate, China’s freelance propagandists exceed in number the total populations of 47 countries. Why This Isn’t “Astroturfing” Of course, the Chinese didn’t invent the idea. In the US, for example, political campaigns, companies and other organizations have been known to use paid staff or volunteers to post messages en masse to create a false impression that the public supports or opposes something. A genuine bubble of opinion is called a “grass roots” movement. So faking that is called “astroturfing.” Two years ago, Chinese President Hu Jintao called on Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members to “assert supremacy over online public opinion, raise the level and study the art of online guidance and actively use new technologies to increase the strength of positive propaganda.” After Hu’s speech, Communist Party officials and the State Council issued an official call for “comrades of good ideological and political character, high capability and familiarity with the Internet to form teams of Web commentators … who can employ methods and language Web users can accept to actively guide online public opinion.” The CCP has hired thousands of freelance Internet propagandists whose job is to infiltrate chat rooms, message boards and comment areas on the Internet posing as ordinary users to voice support for the agenda and interest of the CCP. They praise China’s one-party system and condemn anyone who criticizes China’s policy on Tibet. They comment aggressively on news reports about China’s food-safety problems, relations with Taiwan, suppression of bird-flu and AIDS information, Internet censorship, jailing of dissidents, support of Sudan’s military in Darfur and other sensitive topics. Comments applaud the Chinese government and slam its critics, all using scripts and lines approved by the party. The BBC calls these freelance propagandists China’s 50 Cent Party. The Guardian newspaper calls it the 50 Cent Army. (50 Cent isn’t a rapper in this case, but a reference to the pay: 50 Chinese “cents” per post, which is equivalent to about 7 US cents). Other names include “red vests” and the “red vanguard.” Some estimates claim that the 50 Cent Army includes a whopping 300,000 people. If that’s accurate, China’s freelance propagandists exceed in number the total populations of 47 countries. Why This Isn’t “Astroturfing” Of course, the Chinese didn’t invent the idea. In the US, for example, political campaigns, companies and other organizations have been known to use paid staff or volunteers to post messages en masse to create a false impression that the public supports or opposes something. A genuine bubble of opinion is called a “grass roots” movement. So faking that is called “astroturfing.” The difference between China’s 50 Cent Army and astroturfing is fourfold. First, is scale. A typical astroturfing campaign might involve a few or maybe a dozen people at most. Or, in the case of a mass mailing, it could involve thousands of people who voice or submit their opinions only once or twice. China’s approach involves thousands of times more people. The second difference is duration. China’s 50 Cent Army works every day, all year, year after year. Astroturfing efforts, on the other hand, are one-off projects designed to achieve specific, limited goals. The reason is that a free press and the machinations of multi-party democracy quickly expose astroturfing projects and turn public opinion against their agendas. Because the Chinese government is accountable to neither the public nor the press, it can sustain Internet mass-propaganda efforts indefinitely. Third, China’s 50 Cent Army, when used abroad, hits people who aren’t expecting it. When a political group in the US fakes a grass roots movement, it does so in an environment where people are skeptical and have their guards up. But most people in the West have no idea that China is constantly swaying public opinion on the Internet, and tend to accept what they see at face value. And finally, China’s degree of organization far exceeds any known effort elsewhere. The government’s Culture Ministry reportedly trains and even certificates Web propagandists. It’s run like a professional organization. How This Affects You and Me Criticism of the Chinese government abroad is often countered by the argument that China’s political system is an “internal matter” — something that’s none of the business of outsiders. But China’s 50 Cent Army is everybody’s business. With 300,000 people, you can see how the CCP could easily determine what makes it onto the front page of Digg, and what gets shouted down. They could use Wikipedia, YouTube and Slashdot as their most powerful tools of global propaganda. It would be trivial for China to determine Yahoo’s “Most Popular” news items (“Most E-Mailed,” “Most Viewed” and “Most Recommended”). Over the long term, the existence of China’s 50 Cent Army erodes the value of the Web 2.0, which is based entirely on the actions of users. If half those users are working for the CCP, then the results of user actions are compromised. Nobody can trust it. It’s also yet another threat to Internet anonymity, which is already under pressure from legislators and some organizations who believe that anonymous posts create opportunities for fraud, deception and the exploitation of children. The more China’s 50 Cent Army succeeds, the more support will fall behind the idea of fixing the problem by illegalizing anonymity. Ultimately, China’s 50 Cent Army threatens free speech. And although new threats to free speech are constantly being invented – the 50 Cent Army being one of the most recent innovations – the defense of free speech is always the same: More free speech. So be on the lookout for the CCP’s paid posters, and oppose them at every opportunity.”

Water Pollution in China

From asianoffbeat.com Here are some photos of China’s most polluted waters. 2. This 3,400 mile-long Yellow River in China is frequently contaminated by chemical spills, and frequent diversions and damming, which causes the Yellow to often run dry and sometimes even turn red. 1/3 of the river is unusable, but this doesn’t seem to be slowing things down as the river is used to provide water for millions of people in China, whose expanding cities are another reason the river is contaminated. 3. More than 2,800 factories line the shores of Lake Tai, the 3rd largest lake in China, contributing to its title as one of the largest and most polluted in the country. Officials have estimated a hefty $14.4 billion price tag to clean up all of the industrial dumping and sewage that contaminates these waters. Currently the waters have a green tint from all of the algae flourishing thanks to their ample source of industrial pollution in the lake. 4. The damage done to the Yangtze River due to pollution is so bad its been described as irreversible. Over 360 miles of the 3,860-mile long Yangtze River are polluted due to damming, inadequate sewage, industrial pollution and rapid population growth. Currently the river is responsible for 35% of the country’s fresh water fish supply, while construction of the Three Gorges Dam along the river displaced over 1 million people.

Obama Doll on sale in China

This hilarious, according to the Telegraph, Chinese are selling this Obama doll, I think its a sex doll, but who knows..(personally I think the ears are too small)

Street Dentists in China…..

I complain way too much. I complain about the doctors, their lack of hygiene, the hair salons, the batteries, just about everything, but I should learn to enjoy the good things in life, like qualified dentists and such. Check out these photos form asianoffbeat.com. How fd’ed up will your life have to be when you seek the ‘medical help’ of these ‘professionals’? (these are street dentists from China)

Awesome Pandas!

Chinese Goods Poisoning us Just in Time for the Holidays

Here is news about more toxic glasses from China. My question is if the buyers for the Warner Bros Studies Stores will be held accountable. The problem is that these guys fly to China, get wined and dined, maybe a massage with a happy ending and they fly home. In essence, they are almost as bad as the chinese making this toxic crap. I wonder how many of these glasses have flown under the radar as we are lucky these were caught. A thought, how bout we invest some of that money we owe China in testing labs just for their toxic products. We tell them if we can do that, it will forestall any lawsuits in the future. excerpt: “The decorative enamel on the superhero and Oz sets — made in China and purchased at a Warner Brothers Studios store in Burbank — contained between 16 percent and 30.2 percent lead. The federal limit on children’s products is 0.03 percent. The same glasses also contained relatively high levels of the even-more-dangerous cadmium, though there are no federal limits on that toxic metal in design surfaces. In separate testing to recreate regular handling, other glasses shed small but notable amounts of lead or cadmium from their decorations. Federal regulators have worried that toxic metals rubbing onto children’s hands can get into their mouths. Among the brands on those glasses: Coca-Cola, Walt Disney, Burger King and McDonald’s.

Hilarious Photo from Vietnam

Great photo from asianoffbeat.com