I AM DISAPPOINTED.

You know what? Forget everything I've said about smoking being a nuisance. Being Chinese Valentine's Day, the five star hotel's restaurant we ate in was packed. Which means: non-smoking section? What non-smoking section? The second-hand smoke translates my runny nose and sore throat into spectacular hacking fits.

(n)

On to other topics.

The Chinese have a phrase, "Shanghai men". There's no "Beijing men" or "Guangzhou women". It's always "Shanghai men". One woman related, "One day I took the bus in Shanghai. It drove past the back doors of residences. Through every back door, I could see a man working in the kitchen preparing dinner. And whenever I pass by the river, I see a row of men doing the laundry." Ah, the joys of female empowerment.

On TV the other day, a reporter from Hong Kong interviewed Beijing's volunteer community patrol. The reporter asked if the volunteers received any subsidies. A volunteer replied, "At first, they cooked green bean soup for us to drink. Now, they probably don't have spare time, so they give us a bag of green beans for us to take home and cook ourselves."

Next time: Suzhou history and Asian insults. Probably.

Chronic fatigue syndrome, or CFS, is a debilitating and complex disorder characterized by profound fatigue that is not improved by bed rest and that may be worsened by physical or mental activity. Persons with CFS most often function at a substantially lower level of activity than they were capable of before the onset of illness. In addition to these key defining characteristics, patients report various nonspecific symptoms, including weakness, muscle pain, impaired memory and/or mental concentration, insomnia, and post-exertional fatigue lasting more than 24 hours. In some cases, CFS can persist for years. The cause or causes of CFS have not been identified and no specific diagnostic tests are available. Moreover, since many illnesses have incapacitating fatigue as a symptom, care must be taken to exclude other known and often treatable conditions before a diagnosis of CFS is made.

(CDC)

Two of my old classmates have this. The older sister now has to use a wheelchair; I don't know if she's been kicked out of school yet. (She'd finished with her gr 10 courses a while ago, but had to restudy the material to take the gr 10 provincials.) The younger sister, who developed full-blown CFS a few years after her sister, has stopped attending school. Both are extremely nice and intelligent, ... I just don't know.

ETA:

In 2000, a much younger doctor (but no more open-minded) doctor was so convinced I was simply too lazy to work that he...taunted me, "If you're able to get to my office, you're able to get a job." [He was] oblivious to the fact that I had been fired for diligently getting to a job that I couldn't perform once I got there.

[...]

In the past, a disease with these symptoms was called mygalgic encephalomyelitis, [but] in 1988 the CDC decreed a name change to chronic fatigue syndrome. ...In fact, there are many other symptoms that are ar more worrisome than the fatigue, [including] neurocognitive dysfunction. None of this is apparent from the intentionally degrogatory name chosen by CDC.

Karen M. Campbell, founder of CFSfacts.org
From Ms. Fall 2006, Letters to the Editor.

Plan B, or the morning-after pill, has finally been approved by the FDA for over-the-counter sale, after a lot of political manuevering. However, there's a catch - women under 18 still need a doctor to prescribe this medicine. I guess teenage pregnancy and unwanted children are morally and socially better than birth control.

A spokesperson for the Christian Medical Association, interviewed by the CBC for a story on Plan B, believes women wanted doctors who were moral, and who would make 'good health decisions'. So, a doctor would make a health decision based on morality, rather than his/her patient's health? Also, the spokesperson cited a survey where 79% of pharmicists felt that they should be able to refuse to prescribe drugs when deemed immoral. That doesn't say anything about the pharmacists' morals.

Why do these people believe that since they follow a certain set of morals, everyone should and wishes to follow these same morals? Can't they stick to patrolling themselves?

The CMA's Associate Executive Director, an obstetrician, claims

The CMA views Plan B as an aborticide; however, Plan B has no effect if a woman is already pregnant. How hyprocrital of the CMA.

An FDA official has admitted that the FDA was pressured by higher levels of the government to rescind their approval of the drug.

I can't help but think of the recent law that requires minors to have a parent or guardian accompany them out of state for an abortion. An opinion piece, in the New York Times recently, made a good point: most parents want to know where their daughters are, and want the best for their daughters, but not all of them.

P.S. I will admit that the pro-Plan B interviewees were sometimes, I think, a bit too biased about their opponents. Surely the right-wing religious associations don't believe that sex is acceptable if it's solely for the sake of propagating the species? Oh, I forgot about sodomy laws.

[/rant]

Too many wallpapers to look at:
Propaganda (or, a more sorted site at A Tribute to Propaganda)
And Sensitive Light

( Onamatopeia )

Apparently I might require a dental operation to remove two wisdom teeth that are growing improperly. o.O

I don't want to torture my poor printer, so I will actually hand-illustrate my fairy tale - if I do it. If I don't, I have to go looking for another time for my Engl 110 course =P

Brutal game, even with a walkthrough: Chasm (indirect link)