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Music lifts children from the slums with the Recycled Orchestra.

3/29/2016

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In the impoverished South American country of Paraguay, there is a slum called Cateura outside the capital of Asuncion. This poorest of shantytowns is built on a landfill where the city’s 1,500 tons of garbage and waste is dumped each day.

Despite the filth and the stench and contamination it breeds, about 2,500 families live in Cateura, making their only hand-to-mouth living by sifting through the trash and selling anything that’s recyclable. 24 hours a day there are people going through the most decrepit waste of others, cashing in on 10 cents for a pound of plastic and 5 cents for a pound of cardboard. 
 
The barefoot children don’t go to school, can’t read or write, and have no medical care, forced to sift through the trash from a young age, just like their mothers and fathers. There is no hope for escape to a better life in the landfill community, as joining a gang, becoming a criminal, and doing drugs are usually the only other options. The inhabitants don’t usually have electricity or plumbing and their drinking water is dangerously contaminated with pollution. That was the only life they know in Cateura…until the music started.
 
When environmental technician Favio Chavez visited the landfill community years back, he had an idea for a music school to help lift the children out of their wretched conditions. He quickly realized that new instruments or even buying used ones was not an option. "A violin is worth more than a house here," Chavez.

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So instead, to generate instruments for the music school, he turned to a resource they did have in abundance – trash. Why not make the instruments out of all the recycled materials and garbage? So he turned to local trash worker and carpenter Don Colá Gomez for help, asking him to make a violin.

​Though Gomez had never seen one, they started going to the dump together three days a week to scour for things they could use to construct their patchwork instruments; oven trays, oil cans, recycled string, drain pipes, bottle caps, forks, metal scraps, and salvaged pieces of wood.

 
They brought everything back to a cramped workshop at the edge of the dump, where he went to work. Pretty soon, he was producing three violins a week, and then taught himself how to make cellos and guitars, trumpets and saxophones, and finally drums and basses.
 
The instruments were given to the children during free music classes, and thus the Recycled Orchestra was born. The availability of instruments and the new presence of music in their lives inspired the children – and reinvigorated the community – like no one could have imagined.

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Most of the parents in the landfill community had never heard their children play, so they set up a concert at the local church, with banners in the street and local radio stations advertising it. The concert was packed with humble parents swelling with pride, hopes for a better life rising with each musical note.
 
The children kept playing and became quite adept. The amazing story of a children’s orchestra from the poorest of places who played with instruments repurposed from trash spread like wildfire, and soon they were invited to play in the main city, and then to other countries in South America, and now all over the world.

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"People realize that we shouldn't throw away trash carelessly," says a young man nicknamed Bebi as he plays the Prelude to Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 on an oil can cello.  "Well, we shouldn't throw away people either."
 
Now, a documentary is out called LandfillHarmonic, which follows the story of the children rising from the trash to play beautiful classical music in the finest concert halls of America and Europe.

"My life would be worthless without music," says one girl in pigtails in the documentary.

"My life would be worthless without music," says one girl in pigtails...

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Even before the documentary was released, donations started flowing in from all over the world for the music school and the people of Cateura. Once she heard about the Recycled Orchestra, Paraguay's most famous musician, Berta Rojas, started flying down regularly from her home in Maryland to teach musical classes.

​Of course there are still problems in the trash community. People are still poor and faced with a never-ending scramble for survival. But now, the community feels they are being better respected instead of scorned, called Recyclers instead of just trash workers. They can envision a day when their children don’t have to work in the trash but can go to school, and move away for real jobs and other opportunities for a better life. They have been transformed by the power of music, resurrected by the indomitable hope of the human spirit.


Just listen to Ada Rios, a precocious and smiling little girl when interviewed about playing music:

“When I play the violin I feel like I am somewhere else. I imagine that I'm alone in my own world and forget about everything else around me and I feel transported to a beautiful place. I'm transported to a place that is completely different to where I am now. It has clear skies, open fields and I see lots of green. It's clean with no trash. There is no contamination where we live. It's just me alone playing my violin.”

-Norm  :-)

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25 Facts About Big Pharma, the world's biggest drug cartel.

3/21/2016

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​“Big pharma” is a term used to collectively describe the biggest and most influential publicly traded pharmaceutical companies in the United States and the world. Although they dominate the medical industry, they don't always have a patient's best interests in mind. In fact, Big pharma has a vested interested in promoting use of their drugs, making profits, and paying out shareholders – not curing, healing or looking out for patients’ health. 
 
So just how big, corrupt, and downright shady is Big Pharma? These 25 facts will absolutely shock you.
 
1. 50%, or 1 in 2, Americans are on at least one prescription drug.
 
2. 25% of all U.S. women, or 1 in 4, are taking a prescription drug for mental health.
 
3. An independent survey found that 66% of all new drugs released on the American market are similar to existing drugs without offering any additional benefit.
 
4. Just how big and profitable are the top 15 pharma companies? Here is a breakdown by market value:
Johnson & Johnson: $276 billion
Novartis: $273 billion
Roche: $248 billion
Pfizer: $212 billion
Merck: $164 billion
Sanofi: $134 billion
Bayer: $123 billion
Novo-Nordisk: $118 billion
Bristol-Myers Squibb: $115 billion
AbbVie: $110 billion
GlaxoSmithKline: $103 billion
Eli Lilly: $98 billion
AstraZeneca: $84 billion
Teva Pharmaceutical: $59 billion
Shire: $49 billion
 
5. To put that in perspective, top pharma firms Johnson & Johnson and Novartis are each worth more than the Gross Domestic Product of countries like Finland, Chile, Hong Kong, Ireland, Pakistan, etc., and would rank in the top 40 economies in the world!
 
6. It’s estimated that global expenditures for prescription drugs are now over $1.1 trillion each year.
 
7. To put that number in context, the total U.S. budget for discretionary spending in 2015 was $1.1 trillion (a trillion is a thousand billions!), including our total expenditures for food and agriculture, social security, unemployment and labor, transportation, Medicare, education, veteran’s benefits, science, energy, environment, and governmental spending.
 
8. At least four of the world’s ten largest pharmaceutical companies are now American.
 
9. North America holds 41.8% market share for the entire world’s pharmaceuticals. (The EU has about 26.8% market share and the rest of the world combined adds up to the remaining 31.4%.)
 
10. Through the 21st century, super drug producers like the U.S., Canada, Japan and Europe are expected to rise to over 85% of all market share.
 
11. As of 2014, pharma companies were spending around $4.53 billion on ad campaigns every year, and increasing at a rate of about 18% year over year. Ad spending is actually down from an all-time high of $5.4 billion in 2006. To put that in perspective, Coca Cola spent “only” $3.3 billion in advertising in 2014.
 
12. Pfizer spends the most on advertising ($1.4 billion that year), while Eli Lilly spent $272 million in ads just on their erectile dysfunction drug Cialis, the most of any individual product.

13. With hundreds of drugs in trial, research and development (R & D) spending is huge for big pharma. In fact, in 2013 ten of those 15 big pharma companies I listed before spent $65.8 billion on R & D alone.
 
14. 40% of all finished drugs sold in the U.S. are made overseas and 80% of all active ingredients in U.S. pharmaceuticals are made abroad, where the FDA has no jurisdiction and big pharma can evade U.S. standards and regulations.
 
15. 1Clinical trials conducted in other countries – many of them purposely held in poor and developing nations where the populace is desperate, uneducated, and to poor to afford medicine – are used to gain research to submit to the FDA for approval in the U.S. In fact, it’s estimated that 80% of all U.S. drugs are approved on data and research from foreign clinical trials.
 
16. According to Forbes, pharmaceuticals tied with banks for the highest average profit margins of any industry at 19%. That out-profited the other highest industries like oil & gas, auto makers, and media stocks.
 
17. With all of those billions being spent on ads and a collective trillions of dollars in market share at stake, it’s not uncommon for big pharma companies to bend – and break – the laws when it comes to truth in advertising. In fact, in 2012 GlaxoSmithKline paid out a $3 billion fine and pled guilty to criminal charges of knowingly promoting some of its top-selling anti-depressant drugs Paxil and Wellbutrin to people under the age of 18, while neither drug was FDA approved for use by minors.
 
18. Similarly, Johnson & Johnson paid a $2.2 billion fine in 2013 for promotion of off-label drug use, and Pfizer got hit with a $2.3 billion levy in 2009 for illegally marketing its top painkiller, Bextra.

19. These indiscretions are so common they’re hard to regulate and most don’t ever make it through lengthy court battles. But even when facing a fine over $2 billion, these companies don’t even suffer financially, as that is only a few weeks profit for most of them.
 
20. Big pharma is getting bigger, as some of the largest mergers and acquisitions have occurred in the industry. In 1999, Pfizer bought Warner-Lambert for $87.3 billion, the sixth biggest mergers and acquisition in U.S. history, in order to gain control of Lipitor, a cholesterol-lowering drug that is the best-selling pharmaceutical of all time.
 
21. The five best selling drugs worldwide are:
1. Humira (adalimumab) from AbbVie (sales: $9.265 billion)
2. Remicade (infliximab) from Johnson & Johnson and Merck & Co. (sales: $8.215 billion)
3. Enbrel (etanercept) from Amgen and Pfizer (sales: $7.963 billion)
4. Advair (fluticasone and salmeterol) from GlaxoSmithKline (sales: $7.904 billion)
5. Rituxan (rituximab, MabThera) from Roche (sales: $7.285 billion)
 
22. Who is selling all those drugs? Big pharma employs about 65,000 pharmaceutical sales representatives at any given time in the U.S. alone. On average, each sales rep aims to meet with and influence 180 doctors each month.
 
23. Pharma sales reps attempt to sway doctors to prescribe their drugs using many methods, like fancy dinners, vacations, hotel rooms, and even monetary gifts. In fact, a study concluded that between 2009 and 2011, drug companies paid doctors at least $76 million in gifts – in the state of Massachuesetts alone! The real number is probably much higher, as gifts under $50 don’t even have to be reported.
 
24. Big pharma is one of the most powerful lobbyists in Washington, influencing laws, public policy, and political elections. Every year, Big Pharma lobbies on more than 1,500 pieces of legislation, spending upwards of $100 billion to influence the outcome.
 
25.  Year over year, drug recalls are increasing by about 309%, with an average of about 1,742 prescribed drug recalls every year.


-Norm  :-)

I originally wrote this article for Dr. Charles Ward and his Innate Legacy chiropractic coaching system.

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​25 Facts about Songkran, Thailand's wet and wild New Years celebration. 

3/20/2016

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1. While the western world celebrates New Years on December 31 at midnight and considers January 1 the first day of the year, the rite of passage of the changing of the year is done differently in Thailand, and most of Asia for that matter.

2. Thailand’s New Year is called “Songkran” and celebrated in mid April, the hottest time of the year in the southeast Asian country.

3. But it’s not just a one-night affair, as the Thai New Year observation goes on for three full days. While it used to be a floating hotel with dates that changed slightly depending on the year, Songkran is now set for the 13th to the 15th of April.

4. Songkran is quite possibly the most unique New Year in the world, celebrated with a national water festival that’s grown to legendary proportions. Not only do all Thais take part, but also tens of thousands of farang (foreigners) visit the country every year to join in the wet and wild festivities.

5. For those three days, the streets basically become a massive water fight, with every man, woman, and child (but especially teens, young adults, and now, tourists) throwing water on each other unmercilessly.

6. It’s also the longest holiday in Thailand, running three full days, day and night. However, in some parts of the country that are vacation spots or cater to tourists, etc. the water fights sometimes go on for a full week!

7. For weeks ahead of the New Year, you’ll see giant water pistols and crazy, colorful Hawaiian-style shirts sold on the side of the road in anticipation of the antics. Thais will also resort to garbage pails full of water, hoses, and buckets – whatever it takes to soak their fellow man or woman.

8. In cities, you’ll even see big tanker trucks driving around delivering water (or soaking people themselves) and delivery trucks also deliver blocks of ice, deposited in the trash pails so the soaking will be frigid as well.

9. Everyone is fair game to get doused with a bucket of water when they are walking around during Songkran. Tourists who wish “not to participate” better stay in their hotel rooms for those three days or not come to Thailand!

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10. Water isn’t the only thing thrown around, as children and other Thais love smearing others with colorful paste, especially all over their faces. Don’t worry – it’s just colored talcum powder, and considered a good thing or a blessing if they gift you with a handful of paste to the face. The use of chalk during the water festival originated from the practice of monks marking blessings with colorful chalk.

11. Some mischievous Thais even add a little Tiger Balm to their talcum powder paste, which will make your skin tingle a little but isn’t harmful.

12. There are a few exceptions to the water fight free-for-all during Songkran; you should never ever throw water on Buddhist monks, police officers and other officials, or babies, toddlers and the elderly.

13. Where does this delightful tradition come from? Although it’s been a Thai holiday throughout its entire history, the origins of Songkran are from from neighboring Burma. The word Songkran derives from the word “saṃkrānti” which literally means “astrological passage” and relates to movement or change from the bad of the old year into the good of the new.


14. Songkran parallels the rising of Aries on the astrological chart, which is the calendar of many countries in Asia and keeps with the Buddhist and Hindu solar calendar.

15. How should you prepare for Songkran? Other than catching up on sleep and taking a lot of vitamin C (since everyone is partying overtime and soaking wet – and the cleanliness of the water can be suspect – it seems like the whole country catches a cold after Songkran,) you’ll want to bring the right things. Cheap sunglasses (or even goggles!), athletic shorts that dry easily, a dry wick shirt, boat shoes or flip flops (though those slide around a lot), waterproof sunscreen or a hat (tourists often forget about the strong sun since they are always wet, often getting a bad sunburn), and DEFINITELY a quality waterproof bag or case for your phone, money, hotel key, etc.

16. With all of the water fight “sanuk” (fun) going on, don’t forget the true meaning of the New Year holiday. Traditionally and still to this day, Songkran is a time for Thais to symbolically cleanse and rejuvenate their bodies and souls to end the year, preparing for good fortune in the new year to come.

17. For most Thais, Songkran is a time to return home to be among family, paying respect to elders. Children pour water over the palms of their parents and grandparents in a sign of thanks and reverence for their ancestors.

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18. Once back at home, children and family visitors alike help the housewife clean her residence spotlessly, as any remaining rubbish or dirt will bring back luck. Any images of Buddha are also washed with the utmost attention and care. Once Songkran start, Thais visit the local temple to pray and offer food and alms to the Buddhist monks, as well as pouring water over them to purify their sins and bring good luck.

19. In most cities in Thailand, there will also be colorful parades in the streets and beauty pageants with traditional costumes where “Miss Songkran” is coronated.

20. Thais may observe their New Year holiday with slight differences based on region. For instance, in central Thailand, Thais often perform “merits” like releasing birds or fish back into the wild, and some Thais even release bigger animals like buffalos or cows to their freedom.

21. In southern Thailand, Songkran is also known as “free day,” and residents make sure to observe the only three rules that apply during the festival: people shouldn’t work and shouldn’t spend money; they should not hurt people or other animals; and they should not lie.

22. 2In the north of Thailand, there is always gunfire and firecrackers shot off into the sky to scare away bad luck. During the days, people prepare food and collect other practical household items and gift them to the local monks at the temple, where they also bath Buddha’s statue.

23. While the intent of the water festival is all fun and blessings, the unfortunate reality is that there are many accidents and injuries on the roads during Songkran due to drunken motorcycle driving more than just wet roads. If fact, police statistics show that the death toll from roadway accidents doubles every Songkran, in a country that already has one of the highest road fatality rates in the world. Be careful and “Songkran responsibly!

24. In 2016, Songkran will take place April 13-15. Instead of just a big party, the Thai government and cultural authority is asking that all people – Thai and farang – focus on the spiritual message and intention of the traditional holiday.

25. Having experienced the Songkran festival many times all over the country, I definitely urge tourists to take part - but also observe the true meaning. Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, Koh Samui, Chang Mai, and even anywhere in the remote provinces are all great places to experience Songkran. Have fun, be safe, and get ready to be WET!  

-Norm  :-)

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Want to live to 120 years old? Take these health lessons from the longest-living cultures on earth. 

3/19/2016

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​The average lifespan in America is now around 75.5 years old, though that’s expected to rise in the future thanks to modern medicine and technology. But that’s still nowhere near the life expectancy of people in some cultures around the world.
 
Called “Blue Zones” for the astounding average lifespans, they are defined as areas where people have three times the chance of reaching 100 than we do in the U.S. 

In fact, the island inhabitants of Okinawa in Japan, the Titicaca Indians in mountainous Peru, the Abkhasia in the Caucasus Mountains in Southern Russia and other areas, super centenarians are common (those who live to 110 years or more) and there are plenty of documented cases of people living to 120 or even 140!

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While there is no secret fountain of youth for these cultures, scientists and doctors have studied them intensively and identified several health, diet, and lifestyle factors that they all have in common. The current consensus among among medical science is that only 25% of your longevity is determined by your genetics, with the other 75% a factor of how and where you live. 

In this blog, we’ll introduce you to the people and cultures in the earth’s Blue Zones, and then summarize those practices that keep them happy and healthy well past 100 years old!

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The islanders of Okinawa in Japan
This small south Pacific island in Japan holds the honor for the longest disability-free life expectancy in the world. Known as the “land of immortals,” Okinawa has an incredible 900 people over 100 years old, the highest number of centenarians in the world despite having only 1.385 million people. How is that possible? Researchers noticed that the people there eat most of their food lightly steamed, eat more tofu and soya than anyone in the world, drink green tea, and eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, especially the dark green leafy kind. Unlike some of their vegetarian counterparts in other Blue Zones, the people of Okinawa do eat meat, though interestingly they usually only eat fish and it is often raw. They are always physically active even in advanced years, elders are greatly respected, and their “island attitude” results in a largely stress-free and communal life.


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Southern Italian and other Mediterranean cultures
The island of Sardinia in southern Italy in the Mediterranean Sea holds the highest rate of male centenarians in the world. It’s estimated that the benefits of the Mediterranean Diet, also common in Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, parts of Spain, etc. help account for such long and healthy lives. That includes daily consumption of olive oil, called liquid gold for its health benefits, along with plenty of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and low consumption of meat and dairy. Don’t forget the glass of wine with every meal, a great source of flavonoids. Elderly people in this region also get plenty of exercise, sunshine, fresh air, and stay active in their homes, families, and communities. 

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The Abkhasia of Southern Russia
This unforgiving environment in the Caucasus Mountains, located between Europe and Asia, was once referred to as the “longevity capital of the world.” In fact, the longest-living man in the world, Shirali Muslimov, who lived to the ripe old age of 168, was from Azerbaijan in that region. The people there mostly eat freshly picked nuts and whole grains, and locally grown fruits and vegetables. They only rarely eat meat, and with the fat removed, but drink a special fermented beverage for vitality called matzoni, made from goat’s milk. They are constantly walking up and doing hilly paths and mountainous terrain, so every person is trim and fit no matter what age. Just like in Okinawa, elders are revered and respected in their society.


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The Hunza of North Pakistan
High up in the inhospitable mountains in Pakistan, the Hunza tribes have lived for many centuries, isolated from the rest of the world but enjoying very long, healthy lives. Due to the mountainous conditions the Hunza have to walk almost everywhere, and farming the soil is a full time job that keeps them physically fit. They subsist on a diet of fresh fruit most of the year and keep dried fruit to get them through the winters. In summer months, their diet also includes beans, corn, roots, tubers, squash, and sprouts, all extremely healthy. Most of the time their food is eaten raw because even cooking fires can be hard to come by. Eating meat or dairy is an extreme rarity, as the mountains don’t even allow for grazing of animals. Incredibly, they are virtually disease free during their lives, despite the harsh terrain and their hard lives.


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The Vicalbamba Indians of the Andes Mountains
In high-altitude valley in the peaks of southern Ecuador, the Vicalbamba people commonly live to 110 years old or more. Of course they stay active and physically fit, walking and hiking and cultivating the land, but like many of these people with extraordinary long lives, they also enjoy a strong sense of community, a stress-free life full of laughter and the warmth of extended family, and a sense of purpose long into live, as elders are looked up to. The Vicalbamba also share an almost-vegan diet, eating some cooked whole grains and lots of vegetables, nuts, and fruits all harvested with their own hands from their lands, with very little animal products.

Other Blue Zones around the world:
On the Greek island of Ikaria, there are an alarming number of centenarians and chronic disease and dementia are almost non-existant. Costa Rica spends only 15% of what America does on healthcare, yet their residents have a far longer life expectancy than almost all developing nations - and even many wealthier societies.  The Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica is one such Blue Zone, renowned for having elders live well into their 90s and 100s. 

There are even Blue Zones evolving within the United States which proves that it's not just environment or hereditary factors that determine longevity. In Loma Linda, California, emerging data reveals that residents live at least ten years longer than the national average due to their lifestyle, health, and diets. Alaska contains another Blue Zone. 

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So what do they all have in common?
So if you want to live to 140 years old, too, should you just move to one of these places? I don’t think it quite works like that, but the good news is that you can replicate many conditions of their lifestyle to improve your health, even back in the United States.

Researchers who collected extensive data from these regions came up with several striking similarities between cultures in the Blue Zones:
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  • Diets that consist mostly of vegan, and/or vegetarian and organic food.
  • They typically ate only 1,700-1,800 calories a day at most, even with physical activity filling their daily lives.
  •  That caloric intake was between 69-73% carbohydrates, 15-18% from fat and 10-13% from protein.
  • Food was grown and harvested local, without any chemicals, pesticides, fertilizers, additives, GMOs, coloring or preservatives.
  • A good portion of food was eaten raw.
  • Vegetables, legumes, and fruits made up a large portion of their diet.
  • They ate little or no sweets, no processed sugars, and no salt except possibly sea salts.
  • They ate little or no animal products (0-10% of their diet, depending on the culture), and if they did it was lean and low fat.
  • The fats they did eat were extremely healthy, coming from fish, eggs, olive oil, etc.
  • They stayed lean and physically fit by walking, working, and staying active. No one had an exercise routine per se, but the activity in their lives dictated that there was zero obesity in their cultures.
  • People in all of their cultures had low levels of stress in their daily lives.
  • They used natural remedies and plants and herbs to heal ailments, not synthetic or chemical pharmaceuticals.
  • They all laughed, interacted with family and friends, and enjoyed a sense of community with all of those around them.
  • They believe in something greater than themselves; a purpose to their daily lives whether that be religion, spirituality, or just community.
  • As they grew older they still had a sense of purpose, as elderly people are all greatly revered and respected in their cultures.

-Norm :-)

I originally wrote a version of this blog for Dr. Lance Casazza at Casazza Chiropractic in Sacramento, California.
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Cabbages & condoms? A perfect pairing for a great cause at this Thailand restaurant

3/15/2016

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​If you’ve spent enough time in Thailand, very little will shock you, and yet I had to do a double take when I saw the sign across the street from my hotel in the Hu-Gwang Bay area right outside of Pattaya: “Cabbages and Condoms.”
 
I was not mistaken; nor was I hallucinating – that was really the name of the restaurant (that adorned the Birds and Bees Resort, appropriately.)
 
Amid all the idyllic white-sand beaches, tropical islands, Buddhist Pagodas shrouded in incense smoke, spicy street dishes, local Thais warm smiles and plenty of Muay Thai camps where they are trained to knock out someone’s warm smile (I was there for something like the latter – a karate training camp) lies the bacchanalian madness of Pattaya. 

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​In fact, Pattaya is like the Las Vegas of Thailand; and consider that Thailand is like the Las Vegas of the world; that actually makes Las Vegas the Pattaya Super Light of the United States.
 
But if you scrape beneath the cliché tourist facade you’ll actually discover fragments of a fascinating and meaningful culture, and that was the case when our karate Shihan (instructor/master) and longtime Thailand resident, Judd Reid, brought us to Cabbages and Condoms for our celebratory last meal of the training camp.
 
It definitely defied easy definitions when we first walked in. A path led us into the jungle like explorers of yesteryear wielding machetes to cut back the bush on their way to an epic discovery. As we meandered deeper into the grounds (which is also a resort with great villas and a beautiful infinity pool) we passed tropical gardens, flower beds, bamboo foot bridges about streams with tropical fish, and saw chickens and even rabbits running free on well-manicured lawns.

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​As we walked along the footpath under rustic bamboo hanging lanterns, I stopped short more than a tuk-tuk in Bangkok traffic, intent on snapping a photo of almost every sign along the way. Some of them listed self-help mantras, anti-government rhetoric, famous poems, quotes by notable human rights activists, and even prompted us to make philosophical and political choices depending on which way we walked.
 
Once we reached the restaurant there were even mannequins dressed in garments pieced together with hundred of condoms (sans wrapper) – a bizarre fashion show with prophylactics the wardrobe.
 
I barely had time to process it all as we arrived at the restaurant and ended up at a series on outdoor decks that staggered down the hill and jutted over the ocean, with a view of locals joyfully playing in the waves on the sliver of private beach below. 

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​The only thing better than the view as the flaming sunset slipped behind the horizon was the food - which far surpassed expectations.

What on earth is this place, I thought – both one of the most beautiful and paradoxical settings I’d ever witnessed.

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In fact, Cabbages & Condoms is not just one restaurant but a chain, with establishments in Chang Rai, Khao Yai, Krabi, Bangkok and Pattaya in Thailand, as well as two locations in the UK.  (Note: Although the Bangkok restaurant is the original, I had friends eat ether and said the food was subpar.)

​It was originally the brainchild of one man named Mechai Viravaidya, a half-Thai, half-Scottish national who grew up and was educated in Scotland and Australia with a focus on family planning and social advocacy. In 1965, Viravaidya returned to Thailand, where he began working to curb the substandard medical care for women, ignorance as to proper family planning strategies, and traditional norms that were prevalent in the country.

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At that time, condoms were still very much taboo and not at all popular (and expensive), and so locals rarely used them. Socially transmitted diseases - and later HIV and AIDS - spread unchecked throughout the population, and family planning and modern women’s health was almost nonexistent among the poor, uneducated, and those living in remote rural communities.

​Noting that you could buy cabbages in any market, shop or restaurant, Viravaidya declared that getting condoms should at least be that easy.
 
“You can go to any shop around Thailand and you will always find cabbages,” he explained years later. “Condoms should be like cabbages which are ubiquitous and accessible to everyone.”
 
Hence, the origin for the name of his restaurant, Cabbages & Condoms, was born.

But this restaurant wasn’t just a novelty. Cabbages and Condoms was actually the keystone initiative of a non-profit service organization called the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), which aimed to better the lives of the country’s poor. Viravaidya left his civil service job in 1973 to found the organization (called the ‘PDA’) and enlisted some creative measures to popularize condoms and remove their stigma, including condom blowing contests for school kids and gave condoms to taxi drivers to disseminate (pun intended!) to their customers.


All of the profits from the newly formed restaurant, Cabbages & Condoms, went to support PDA programs focusing on primary health, birth control, education, HIV/AIDS, environment, poverty eradication and water resource development, eventually becoming one of the biggest NGOs (charities) in Thailand with more than 600 employees and 12,000 volunteers.
 

Viravaidya gained admiration and respect for his efforts and went on to serve as the deputy minister of industry, minister of tourism, information, and AIDS, and even on the Thai senate in 2004.
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​His legacy is still gold-plated in the Kingdom of Siam, where condoms are still sometimes referred to as “mechais,” a tribute to the first name of “Mr. Condom.” More importantly, even as HIV and AIDs spread rampantly in many developing countries around the world in the 1980s and 90s, reaching epidemic proportions in many African and other Southeast Asian countries, Thailand reacted quickly thanks to the tireless work and social progress Viravaidya. Not only were HIV and AIDS levels normalized, but the average number of children in Thai families decreased from 3.7 to 1.5 during his tenure – a testament to education, family planning, and the societal acceptance of condoms.
 
In 2007, Mechai Viravaidya was honored with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Gates Award – including a $1,000,000 check - in recognition of his life’s work of family planning, HIV and AIDS awareness, women’s health, and advocacy for the poor.
 
That explained why there were photos of Viravaidya posing alongside Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, Warren Buffet, and other philanthropists, celebrities, and heads of states adorning the restaurant walls; not at all what you’d expect from a restaurant with the slogan, “Our food is guaranteed not to cause pregnancy.”

 


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March 8 is International Women's Day. Here are 30 reasons why it's the most important day of the year.

3/10/2016

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March 8 is International Women's Day, a day to honor women and girls around the world and reflect upon the progress that's been made thanks to brave and extraordinary pioneers along the way.
 
"But this is no time to stop and rest," says Tiffani Sharp, Founder & Executive Director of Willow Tree Roots, a non-profit that works to empower women in the developing world through social entrepreneurship. "Now more than ever, we also have to bring awareness to critical female human rights issues and strongly advocate for change."
 
Born from the labor movements in North America and Europe around the turn of the twentieth century, the first National Women's Day was observed in the United States in 1909. Since then, the plight of women has seen great strides in some areas, but is still sorely lagging in others.
 
Therefore, the theme for International Women's Day in 2016 is "Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality". This year's agenda outlines the goals of free and equitable education, early childhood care, and an end to discrimination, violence, sexual exploitation, trafficking, forced marriage and female genital mutilation by 2030.
 
So in honor of those 2030 goals, here are 30 reasons why International Women's Day is the most important day of the year:
 
Sexual violence
1.  Around the world, approximately one in three women will be raped or beaten in her lifetime. (UN)
 
2.  Worldwide, women between the ages of 15-44 are more at risk from rape or domestic violence than cancer, car accidents, war, and malaria. (UN)
 
3.  About 120 million girls around the world -- or 1 in 10 will experience sexual violence. (UNWomen) 
 
Domestic violence
4.  About 30 percent of all women report being in a relationship where their partner inflicted physical or sexual abuse. (World Health Organization)
 
5.  Several studies reveal that about half of all women who die from homicide are murdered by their current or former husbands or dating partners. (UN)
 
6.  603 million women are living in countries where domestic violence is not a crime.  In fact, out of almost 200 countries in the world, only 76 have laws that specifically mention domestic violence - and only 57 countries have laws that address sexual abuse. Ten countries in the world legally obligate women to obey their husbands. (The Independent)
 
Child brides and legal servitude
7. It's estimated that around 15 million girls - some of them as young as 8 or less - were forced into marriage in 2015. (The Independent)
 
8. More than 700 million women in the world today were married before the age of 18, and 250 million were married before 15. (UNICEF)
 
Trafficking, slavery, and displacement
9.  There are 20 to 30 million slaves in the world today and 600,000 - 800,000 human beings are trafficked across international borders every year. (DoSomething)
 
10.  4 out of 5 victims of human trafficking are female and 50 percent of them are minors. (Trafficking.org)
 
11.  At least 20.9 million people are victims of forced work or labor slavery. (ILO)
 
12.  In fact, women and girls make up 98 percent of all victims of forced sexual exploitation in the world. (Mashable)
 
13.  Every year, around 14,500 to 17,500 women and girls are trafficked into the U.S. (Do Something)
 
14.  Of the 42 million refugees worldwide who have fled their homes because of war, 80 percent are women, girls, or young children. They are often the targets of systematic rape, violence, and terror by military and political parties, not just individual perpetrators. (Women's Refugee Commission)
 
15.  It's estimated that up to 5,000 women and girls every year are murdered by their own relatives in so-called "Honor killings", mostly because they are rape victims, thought to have engaged in premarital sex, or accused of adultery. (UN)
 
Education 
16.  About 584 women worldwide are completely illiterate. (UN)
 
17.  62 Million girls are denied an education every year worldwide. (Makers)
 
18.  About 25 percent of young women (15-24) in developing nations - about 116 million total - never finished even primary school. (eGirlPower)
 
Work and income 
19. Around the world, women are paid only 60-75 percent of what men earn on average. (PBS)
 
20.  70 percent of the 1.5 billion people in the world living in desperate poverty (less than $1.00 a day) are women. (Do Something)
 
21.  155 countries have at least one law that limits women's economic opportunities, 100 countries have laws restricting the types of jobs that women can do. (The Guardian)
 
22.  In 18 countries around the world, men can prevent their wives from accepting employment. (The Guardian)
 
Childbirth, reproductive rights, and genital mutilation
23.  Every minute, a woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth somewhere in the world, adding up 1,400 per day or 529,000 each year. 50 percent of pregnant woman in developing countries lack proper maternal care, so many of them die from very preventable diseases or complications. (UN)
 
24.  About 1 in 4 women experience physical or sexual violence while they are pregnant. (UN)
 
25.  About 200 million women and girls in the world have suffered forced genital mutilation in just 30 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. The vast majority of these were done without painkillers, medicines to stave off infection, or under supervision of a doctor.(World Health Organization)
 
The plight of women and girls in the U.S.
Sometimes people in the United States or western nations think that these issues are only confined to the developing world. But shockingly, these problems exist in the United States, too. According to the latest annual report by Maria Shriver, co-sponsored by the Center for American Progress:
 
26.  42 U.S. million (about 1 in 3) and 28 million children now live in poverty or on the brink of poverty.
 
27.  In the U.S., almost two-thirds of all minimum wage workers are women, yet an equal two-thirds of women are the primary or co-wage earners for their families.
 
28.  The average U.S. woman is paid 77 cents for every dollar their male counterpart earns. The statistics are even more disproportionate for minorities, as African American women earn 64 cents on the dollar every white man makes and Hispanic women earn only 55 cents for every dollar.
 
29.  In 2014, the Nation Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline in the U.S. received multiple reports of human trafficking from every state and the District of Columbia. (Mashable) 
 
30. American servicewomen are more likely to be raped by a fellow serviceman than killed by the enemy in combat. (Truth Out)
 
***
Despite these grim statistics, there is hope for change. In fact, there are certain initiatives that have been proven to empower women, improve their lives, and strengthen societies as a whole, generation after generation.

Email me at [email protected] if you'd like a one-page brief on those initiatives.
 
If you'd like to read a first-hand account of how poverty, societal norms and even government corruption affect disenfranchised women in Southeast Asia, check out the book, The Queens of Dragon Town.

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The CRAZIEST sh*t you'll see in Southeast Asia!

3/1/2016

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A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a blog with the FUNNIEST sh*t you'll see in Southeast Asia and shared it with you. The response was so great that I decided to follow up with a new two-part blog with the CRAZIEST sh*t you'll see in Southeast Asia!

From Cambodia to Laos, Vietnam to Myanmar, and Thailand to the Philippines, there's definitely NO place on earth that will make you sure in amazement and scratch your head like in Southeast Asia, where the wild, hilarious, and downright bizarre are a daily occurrence. 

So enjoy, and look for part 2 of this blog coming soon! 

If you want to read more about life in Southeast Asia, read my new book, The Queens of Dragon Town.

-Norm   :-)
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In Southeast Asia they put cobras and scorpions in liquor bottles and let them ferment in there, with claims that drinking it will give you the animals' power.
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Who needs a barber chair when you have freaky mind-over-matter skills.
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In the west, they have Missing posters for cats, dogs, and maybe stolen bicycles, but in Asia, they're trying to track down that lost flip flop.
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No stretch limo? Just weld a couple of mini vans and station wagons together.
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I call "Not It" being the guy playing with power lines with a stick up his ass!
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If expensive sex change surgery is out of the question, there are easier and faster (but probably a little more painful) ways to get it done.
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Hell NO I'm not stepping foot inside the "Zippa Ripper" bar.
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Well you can't argue with the name of that bar.
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One of the NASTIEST things you'll see/eat in Southeast Asia (and that's saying something) is Balut - or semi-fertilized duck embryos. They walk around selling them to beer drinkers and it's like a delicacy .
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Just a random Korean tourist de-pantsing while standing on a bar in the middle of a crowd. No big deal.
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If your psychiatrist is named Dr. Meth...chances for a full recovery are not good.
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Wait, you said it's the black wire?
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Interesting name for a drug store, no?
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Is that a grenade?
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Well that's one way to attract customers.
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No. You. Didn't.
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Does anyone else find it super creepy that the spokesmodel for a sweet condensed creamer is a super-Arian blonde haired white kid...in Asia? Huh?
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My question isn't so much about this establishment that sells pre-rolled joints, marijuana-topped pizza, or Indian food...but why they have a photo of me tacked on above it. Seriously.
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It floods so much during the rainy season, that even this classroom in Thailand was underwater. No joke.
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We have our "Type AMEN and share to bring good luck" memes, and they have their weird cobra religious stuff going on memes.
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Now THAT'S my kind of gym!
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Most kids I grew up with went to soccer or science camp during the summer, but urology camp? Sounds like a blast.
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Either you're going to be preparing a lot of rental agreements, or they're promoting promiscuity.
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This is actually brilliant, as riding a moto or even a car through water in the rainy season will stall it and could permanently mess up the engine...unless you have a "snorkel."
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A "phone booth" in the Philippines.
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"Honey, do you want fried dwarf sperm with oyster sauce for dinner tonight?" "No, I had that last night. How about pizza?"
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I know it's someone's name, but it's funny that this accounting firm is named "Socheaty."
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This isn't a real image of course, but what's shocking is that people from Southeast Asia aren't quite sure at first...
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...because they really do pack every spare inch of every vehicle with as many people, boxes, and even animals as possible!
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Like this motorbike thats carrying a wide load (I like how the driver is on his cell phone instead of concentrating!)
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...or this van.
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When was the last time your mattress was delivered by a puny moto?
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Even animals are "transported" in close quarters. (Sorry, vegans.)
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Any place that's reasonably flat and in the shade is a good place to sleep.
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You see people wearing surgical masks everywhere in Asia because of pollution and fear of germs spreading/getting sick. But I've never seen a person wrap themselves completely in plastic on an airplane.
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...but I have seen a guy wearing a full-body mosquito net suit in the airport!
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Was the architect drunk?
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With SO many people living in close quarters in Asia, the burden on infrastructure like electrical lines is insane. It's not uncommon to see fires break out on the circuit boxes high up on the electrical lines. Fearing the fire will spread to nearby buildings and burn the whole block down, proactive citizens climb up and start throwing buckets of water on the fire (and the electrical box!) or start throwing water at it from their apartment windows. Insane!
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Pepperoni, pineapple, or scorpions pizza toppings?
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I have no idea but it's funny.
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There's nothing like a nice painting of a Chinese opium den to warm up your office waiting room.
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The electrical grid isn't the only thing that sucks in many parts of Asia, the Wi-Fi sucks, too. In fact, in many remote areas or on the islands (and especially in the Philippines where the telecommunications system is so corrupt), people take matters into their own hands by constructing these homemade Wi-Fi extenders for their phones and raising them high into the trees!
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Or sometimes you just have to get create your own Wi-FI signal!
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I have no idea. I really have no friggin idea.
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In Southeast Asia there is a common practice called "coining." When someone is sick or just not feeling well - no matter what the ailment - they take Tiger Balm and load it into the cap of the jar and scrape the shit out of their backs. They swear that it helps make them feel better. Tiger Balm does contain small amounts of aspirin, but it might be a lot less painful just to take some aspirin!
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    Norm Schriever

    Norm Schriever is a best-selling author, expat, cultural mad scientist, and enemy of the comfort zone. He travels the globe, telling the stories of the people he finds, and hopes to make the world a little bit better place with his words.   

    Norm is a professional blogger, digital marketer for smart brands around the world,  and writes for the Huffington Post, Hotels.com, and others.

    Check out South of Normal his Amazon.com best-selling book about life as an expat in Tamarindo, Costa Rica.

    Cambodia's School of Hope explores education and empowerment in impoverished Cambodia, with 100% of sales going to that school.

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    Pushups in the Prayer Room, is a wild, irreverent memoir about a year backpacking around the world.  

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