Non-beverage alcohol in Russia

According to BBC, 43% of men in Russia die from high alcohol consumption. Unfortunately this may not come as a surprise to some -- the Vodka stereotype comes to mind -- what may come as a surprise is the fact that men in Russia are drinking aftershave and cleaning agents!

According to the article aftershaves contain up to 97% alcohol and they're cheap... men who drank heavily or non-beverage alcohol (aka aftershave...) were six times more likely to die than men who did not drink at all or did not have a drinking problem. Life expectancy for men in Russia is 59, and 72 for women...

I am Russian and I constantly get the Vodka jokes -- but I guess it's not all laughs for some :(

Paris Hilton on BBC

I realize that Paris Hilton is famous for being famous but I still don't see why her (not at all surprising) release from jail needs to end up on BBC's homepage ... b/c when I think important news I think Paris Hilton! Just a little disappointed...
Meanwhile, I'm glad the folks at the G8 summit are finally making nice over climate issues.

Hope for sex-boost slimming pill

BBC is reporting that scientists are working on a new pill for women to not only boost's women's libido but decreases their appetite!!! Talk about killing two birds with one stone ... It'll take about 10 years to develop and get the pill to market but when it does maybe it'll create a new breed of women -- always ready and never hungry!

A bit of a downer but the article does mention that according to psychologists when women go off sex its mostly as a result of problems in the relationship rather than physiological issues ... just something to keep in mind...

Oh and the article has a really bad photo accompanying it.

My MC Commercial

Replacing cell phone: $50
New student ID: $18
Bottle of Advil: $4
Doing the senior fountain run: Priceless!

Forbes Homepage

I have a major issue with the Forbes homepage ... maybe it's just my computer but this is not really working for me ...

The strange existance of Ram Charan

I am a bit of a Consulting buff. I am planning to go into IT consulting when I graduate USC and for the time being am planning to make a career of it. So it was no surprise that I got sucked into an article in by David Whitford in Fortune today about the (apparently) most influential consultant alive, Ram Charan.

It's a long article (for CNN), five full pages, and it's worth every word! I mean this guy is truly fascinating. He started college (in India) a the age of 15, went to Harvard Business School (graduated top 3% of his class), was a professor at a number of Universities before abandoning academia to pursue his passion of solving problems, aka consulting.

He never married, never had kids, he never even learned how to drive or bought his own place (until recently, although he is planning to move in "maybe never"). He lives out of hotels and airplanes. Rents an office in Dallas, TX (where he's never really been) and has his assistants FedEx him boxes with clothes and supplies to where ever he is in the world (and he's all over, trust me!)

If you have some time, and you are interested in reading a profile on a truly extraordinary (if at times peculiar) individual, read the article on the strange existence of Ram Charan.

Interpersonal skills important in the business world

In case you're a business junkie like me but opted for a different major, say Communication, this should make you feel a little better about your choice.

According to an article in Fortune newly hired MBA's are said to be lacking interpersonal skills and more top-tier B-Schools are starting to offer communication, team-building, and leadership classes as part of the curriculum.