Blog of Parag

Do you know where that pill came from?

In a Presidential election year, the candidates start talking about their favorite whipping-boy topics such as social security and healthcare. This year re-importation of prescription drugs is a hot topic. Everyone and their uncle is talking about the difference between prescription drug prices in US and Canada and also, rest of the world. The pharmaceutical industry and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made an argument that they can't vouce for the safety of drugs imported from outside of US. Initially, I thought it was just a smokescreen.

Then, I read about tests done by FDA to buy prescription drugs from online pharmacies. They tried many online pharmacies from Canada to buy these drugs. In one case, the package was shipped from Dallas with a fake return address in Miami. The credit card transaction was carried out by a company from St. Kitts in the Carribean. The server on which the 'Canadian' pharmacy resided on was in China. Many of the purchases were more or less similar to this case. In many cases, the pills when tested turned out to be counterfeits. They didn't contain what they were supposed to. If one buys Viagra and it turns out to be a counterfeit, it doesn't matter that much. He just wouldn't get it up. But, for people who depend on these drugs to control conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure or a mental disorder, taking a counterfeit could mean the difference between life and death. Wonder how many more people will be exposed to counterfeit drugs if it becomes legal to buy drugs internationally.

Here is an example photo that shows how good these counterfeiters are.

Can you tell the difference between the authentic and fake pill by looking at it? Chemical testing is needed to find out which is which. Keeping this in mind, be careful when you buy prescription drugs from a place other than your neighbourhood pharmacy.

By the way, the pills on the right side are authentic Lipitor.

When to retire?

Most everyone wants to retire as soon as possible and enjoy life. But, it is never clear when would be a good time to do that and one always doubts if s/he has enough resources to live in retirement. This is something I read in Kiplinger's magazine. It can be a rough guide to help in making these decisions. If a person takes out 4-5% of the funds in first year of retirement and then, keep taking the same amount (adjusted for inflation), those funds (invested 50/50 in stocks and bonds) will last for at least 30 years or more.

For example: If one has $1,000,000 portfolio at the time they stop working, they can take out $40,000 to $50,000 in the first year and then same amount adjusted for inflation year after year for 30years and can leave an inheritance.

• Find out your life expectancy (X yrs) from how long your grandparents and other blood relatives lived.
• How much you would need per year ($Y) to live the kind of life you decide to live.
• Set a target to have $25*Y ready by the time you are X-30 years old. This is a good estimate for the 'when should I retire' question.

Movie Friday

Thanks to all you guys for your movie suggestions, but in the end we decided that eating Japanese food peacefully was better than any movie we could watch in the theater. Went to Yotsuba, our favorite Japanese place. The waitresses know us there. It feels good to be recognized and get special treatment at a restaurant. Tried a new sake, Yamadanishiki. It was quite good. V had her usual plum wine. We had tempura and 5 sushi rolls. It was a little too much for two of us but we finished it all. This was follwed with a nice nap before we picked up Ashwini. Overall, it was a nice Friday afternoon. No more half day Fridays till next June.

NCAA Football 2004 week #4

Nebraska had the week off. I played cricket whole afternoon, so, couldn't catch any games on TV. Next week, will be a home game against Kansas. I remember going to a Nebraska home game against Kansas in 2000. That was fun. I got to sit in a sky-box. I think Nebraska is one of the few schools that doesn't allow alcohol in the stadium.

Texas played Rice. It wasn't the one-sided game that I expected it to be. Rice defense restricted Texas to scoring only 35 points. Texas will play Baylor next week, which will be another blowout game.

There were no upsets. All ranked teams won their games. Nothing really exciting happened. #1 USC barely squeezed past Stanford just by a field goal. They completely shut down Stanford in the secong half. If Stanford could have kept up what they did in the first half, this would have been the upset of the week.

Michigan won against Iowa and Notre Dame keeps winning. They beat Washington yesterday. Penn State was shocked by injuries to their top 2 quarterbacks. Zack Mills injured his shoulder and Michael Robinson suffered a concusion when he was hit while getting sacked. It looked really bad. He went down and couldn't get up. They had to get an ambulance on the field to take him away to a hospital. Fortunately, it didn't turn out to be anything serious.

Ravi Shankar

Just came back from a live concert by the sitar maestro, Pt. Ravi Shankar. It was awesome. It was a great experience to listen to him play live and be in the presence of such a legendary genius. The venue was Hill Auditorium on the University of Michigan campus - supposedly an acoustically perfect auditorium. He played three compositions. The first one was 'Jansammohini' which we listened to in the foyer. It was followed by Raag Maarubihag. After the intermission, he played Raag Maj-khamaj that was mixed with many other Raags (my untrained ear could pick Raag Megh and Raag Yaman in the medley) and folk tunes. He experimented with different taals in that composition too. It was very well done. He plays with such fluency. Doesn't seem like he is even thinking about what he is playing, it just flows. I couldn't believe that he was playing that for over an hour. Time seemed to just fly away. The whole concert without counting the intermission was more than 2 hours and 15 minutes. He seemed very fit for a 84 year old man. Many of us can't even sit in one position for more than 2 hours.

By the time we got Ashwini settled with her babysitter, battled with traffic and found parking, we were late by 15 minutes. The organisers had stopped latecomers from entering the auditorium and we had to wait outside till the first Raag was completed. I think that is a very good idea. People arriving late always disturb the performer as well as the audience. This policy should be implemented everywhere. I know they do it at most classical music concerts in US. Ashwini was asleep by the time we came home. She was happy with the babysitter; there were no problems. We should do this more often.

I believe...

A regular reader of my blog may think that I am a staunch democrat. But, that is not so. The caricature-like character of George W Bush just makes him a perfect target of all the jokes and such. I think that there are good and bad ideas on both the democratic as well as republican side. This post lists some of these that I stand for or believe in.

• I support the first amendment to the fullest extent. To protect children from viewing or reading objectionable material is their parent's job and not the government's. (D)


• I believe in complete separation of religion and government. They shouldn't even be talked about in the same sentence. (D)


• I support death penalty. People who take someone else's life should have no right to live their own even in a prison. (R)


• I support women's right to choose. They are the only one's who are capable to make decisions about their own body, health and life-style. No one else and especially a man can't force this decision on them. (D)


• I support stem cell and cloning research for the obvious reason of finding cures to many many uncurable, devastating diseases. (D)


• I think trade unions are detrimental to businesses and eventually to the workers that they are supposed to represent. They have destroyed many industries and lives in India and hope that doesn't happen in US. Thankfully, only 18% of US workforce is unionised. (R)


• I believe people should have the right to bear arms but with proper access controls that exclude known criminals and stupid people who are at risk at their own hands. (D/R)


• I think the war in Iraq was wrong wrong wrong. (D)


• I think there should be a limit on lawsuit compensations. The bloodsucking leaches that masquerade as lawsuit-happy lawyers should be hunted down and shot. They are undoubtedly responsible for major healthcare and insurance problems. (R)


• I support gay marriage. (?!)

This is not a complete list. I'll be adding more items to it later.

As for the current Presidential race, I would like to see Kerry win only because it looks like the Republicans are going to get majority in the House and Senate. A democratic white house will be good to keep the checks and balances. If one party controls all three, the extreme policies from that party get implemented which is bad for the country. Also, as one of my colleagues put quite eloquently, "Bush is the idiot we know and Kerry is the idiot that we don't know. It may be a good idea to give the unknown idiot a chance."

Wrath of God

Check this out... If it is true, you know whose side the God is on!

Path of hurricanes through Florida.

Last chance for Summer movies

As we officially move from· Summer into Fall, our 'Summer hours' at work come to end this week. From June through September, we were working one extra hour from Monday to Thursday, to take half days on Friday. V and I took these opportunities to watch a couple of movies and to eat out peacefully while Ashwini stayed in daycare.

Tomorrow is our last chance to watch a movie. Could anyone please suggest 'must-see on big screen' summer movies that are still playing in theaters?

Autumnal Equinox

FYI:  Today (Sept 22nd) is the Autumnal Equinox. The day and night are exactly 12 hours each. Also, the Sun rises and sets at true east and west, respectively.

• This is officially the first day of fall season.
• Looking forward to some crisp cool nights (perfect for taking the telescope out), fall colors, enjoying hot coffee on cool foggy mornings and apple picking.
• It also means that a lot of yard work to rake leaves is in the near future.

I feel safe already

A federal judge ordred Martha Stewart to report to prison in three weeks to start serving her 5 month sentence. I don't know about you but I feel safe that they finally caught her. This is a clear warning to Osama bin Laden. His days as a free man are numbered. He is next in line. Kenneth Lay and Jeff Skiling will probably be pardoned by an executive order in the second term as long as they keep donating enough money to the W reelection fund.

NCAA Football 2004 week #3

Another nail-biting Saturday. Nebraska won at Pitt as expected. Nebraska defense dominated the hapless offense of Pitt. But, still there were some moments that could have turned the game around. I was surprised that this game was on ABC here in Michigan while the Michigan game was on ESPN. Nebraska has next week off and they will host Kansas on Oct. 2nd.

Texas had the week off. They will play Rice next week which would be a completely one-sided game.

Michigan barely won over unranked San Diego State. They don't look good at all. Notre Dame beat the other big Michigan team, Michigan State. It looks like Tyrone Wilingham is bringing great changes to Notre Dame. They are doing well after sucking for years.

Two big games were decided by place kickers. LSU lost to Auburn by one point. That point was the missed PAT attempt by their kicker Ryan Gaudet. I am sure he received kicks from everyone on the team. Place kicker James Wilhoit of Tennessee missed a PAT attempt with just a couple of minutes left on the clock and they were trailing by one point against Florida. Everyone including me thought that the game was over. But, the Vols got the ball back and Willhoit made a 50 yard field goal in the dying seconds of the game to win it. Tennessee got awarded one of the touchdowns that was short, but that is a different story. Little advantage that all teams get at home. It was a day of place kickers winning and losing games.

Ganpati bappa moraya!

American Heart Walk

I am helping the American Heart Association fight the nation's leading causes of death by participating in the American Heart Walk on October 2nd in Ann Arbor, MI. I am sure many of you have been personally affected by friends and relatives suffering from heart disease. Step out against heart disease and stroke by supporting my efforts to raise money and awareness. Please visit my walker site and make a donation if you wish.

If you want to participate in a Heart Walk in your area, find more information about it here.

Thank you for your support!

Outsourcing Overblown?

Outsourcing makes up what percentage of India's GDP?

• 2%


• 10%


• 25%


• 40%

Make a choice before clicking on the link below for answer.

The correct answer is A. As of 2003, the outsourcing industry accounted for only 2% of India's GDP and employed about one million people. By comparison, 800 million Indians still live in rural areas — and farming still makes up 25% of India's GDP.

Less than 5% of total US tech/call-center jobs have been outsourced to India. That number seems small as a percentage but, when it is translated into actual numbers, it is hundreds of thousands of jobs. So, it is a big deal for people in US who lost their jobs.

Thanks, Mayuresh!

Culinary Notes

- MTR is amazing. On Sunday, I made vada and rassam with MTR ready mix and it was just fabulous. I am still licking my fingers. Should try more MTR ready mixes.

- Finished our last bottle of '2001 Rosemount Estates Shiraz'.

It was good but not as good as the 2000, which got us hooked onto shirazes. If anyone can still find a 2001 in some remote wine store, give it a try. We must have had 3-4 cases of this wine in the last couple of years. It is on its way down but still good. 2002 wine from the same makers was pretty bad. Haven't tried the 2003 yet, hope it is good.

Suggest a caption...

- Come on Whitney, enough of your singing, it is my snack time.

---

Recently, there was a report of Rabri and Laloo Yadav sitting through the National Anthem.

Dead birds

We have this huge window above the front door of the house. Birds often mistake it as open space and fly into it with their head first. I have been confronted with at least one dead bird on our doorstep every summer.

NCAA Football 2004 week#2

This week has been interesting. A lot of teams that expected to win came out with a loss. I don't put Huskers in that category. They lost to Southern Miss 21-17, that too at home in Lincoln. They usually win all the games with non-conference teams. They played horribly. The defence wasn't working well. But, they are working at it. This is a team-building year. There are a lot of new players and a new coaching staff. I would be happy if they have more wins than losses in the end. Next week, they play at Pittsburgh. Without Larry Fitzgerald, I don't know how well they are doing this year. It should be an easy win for Nebraska but considering how they played yesterday, I won't be surprised if they lose.

Texas eked out a win over Arkansas. That would have been a big upset. Nex week, they play at home against Rice.

Another team that barely won was Ohio State. Marshall put up a big fight and finally lost of a field goal. 24-21.

Two big upsets for ranked teams. #8 Michigan losing to Notre Dame. This was really bad. I was supporting Michigan and it was painful to see the score. #13 Kansas State lost to Fresno State big time. 45-21. This was no last-minute lucky win. Fresno State just pounded Kansas State just like they did in last week's game against Washington. This is one unranked team that should be watched this year. Hope they continue with this streak and do well. But, they belong to WAC and won't face many challenging teams later in the season and won't get too high in the ranking because of the weakness of their schedule.

Mudslinging gets into higher gear

Bush Says Kerry Has Many, Many Positions on Iraq

At least Kerry isn't holding onto one 'wrong' position and killing thousands of troops/people while defending it.

At least he doesn't have his VP candidate threatening the country that if the other side gets elected, there will be more 9/11 type attacks.

India, an IT powerhouse: Who said so?

I am planning to attend a conference in Hyderabad, India in January 2005. There is a website set-up for information about the conference and they have contracted out registration and accomodation arrangements to Travel Corporation of India (TCI). I am just appalled at the poor quality of web-page design and disgusted with the general service provided by TCI.

I used to be very proud of India's status as an IT powerhouse in the world. Not any more!!! As an amateur web designer, I could have done a better job at creating and maintaining this website.

Genesis crashed

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Scientists 'hopeful' for Genesis

It is sad that the parafoil didn't deploy properly and hence, Genesis couldn't be captured by the stunt pilots waiting in helicopters. It crashed in Utah desert at 193 mph (311kmh). NASA engineers are hopeful that the samples collected by the probe survived the crash without any contamination.

The $264m Genesis mission was launched in August 2001 on a journey to capture samples from the storehouse of 99% of all the material in our Solar System - the Sun.

It used collectors made of ultra-pure wafers of gold, sapphire, silicon and diamond.

These were hung outside the probe for more than 800 days, sifting space for just 10-20 micrograms of solar wind material, and were designed to be returned for analysis.

800 days to collect 10-20 micrograms of solar wind material. Wow! Considering that the space between Earth and Sun is almost perfect vacuum, it is appropriate to have taken so much time to collect so little material.

Bush or Kerry?

World 'wants Kerry as president'

Global research company GlobeScan Inc and the University of Maryland found clear leads for Mr Kerry among those polled in 30 of the countries.

Only Filipino, Polish and Nigerian respondents clearly backed Mr Bush.
...
Kerry would win handily if the people of the world were to elect the US president.
- Steven Kull of Maryland University.

But, that doesn't matter a damn bit. Only Americans get to vote in the Presidential election.
According to this article in latest issue of Time magazine...
Bush's Bounce: Poll shows Kerry flagging

For the first time since the presidential contest became a two-man race this spring, it seems to have a clear leader: President Bush. The latest TIME poll shows Bush leading his rival, John Kerry, 52% to 41%. Kerry's decline has coincided with the airing of television ads attacking his Vietnam War record and antiwar activism. Anxious Democrats say Kerry was not quick or aggressive enough in countering the largely unsubstantiated attacks on his record by a group calling itself Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, but Kerry's drop in the polls also suggests continued confusion over his explanations of where he stands on Iraq.

If Kerry wants to get back in this race, he should talk in a way that is not meant for a Harvard graduate, but for a person working or shopping at Walmart. That is the biggest demographic and he should target it. He should stop making statements like this...

Kerry ... announced, "I will not have my commitment to defend this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they could have and who misled the nation into Iraq."

People fall asleep by the time he finishes his sentences. He should talk like Bush. No more than 5 words in a sentence.

Hrithik is GAY???!!!???

via Patrix
Check out other cool stuff at vishalpatel.com

1000 dead: what's next?

More than a thousand American troops died in Iraq over the last one and half year. More than 85% of those died after major combat was over and President Bush declared victory from the aircraft carrier last May.

This second chart also provides an estimate of Iraqi fatalities, which is huge and we hardly ever hear about it in the American media.

Capriati beats Serena Williams

Capriati moved into the semi-finals of the US Open Tennis tournament. It was a great 3 set match with ups and downs for both players. But, 4 calls went against Serena in the last set. All of those were clear mistakes by the linespersons and the chair judge. I am sure Serena is going to fume about it in the press.