BRANDING JESUS

 

THE WORLD’S MOST SUCCESSFUL MARKETING

In the history of branding, one image has captured the world more than any other. Many have come close: the Nike swoosh, the MacIntosh apple, the hammer and sickle, the swastika, even Coca-Cola. But no symbol has had more world-wide recognition than the Christian Cross.

 

Whether unadorned or with Jesus nailed to it, The Cross took the world by storm more than two thousand years ago and probably earned the Holy Roman Empire trillions of dollars. That’s some marketing! Were there consultant fees? Who owns the trademark?

 

The Cross is a killing device, nothing more, a wooden structure on which to nail convicts for as long as it takes for them to die. Crucifixion was the method of choice for executing criminals long before Jesus walked the earth. Supposedly invented by Persians in circa 300-400 BCE, the Romans seem to take most of the credit for perfecting the design and creating the cruelest, slowest way to punish or dispatch undesirables, e.g. thieves and Jews. 

 

The Cross has a longer history than, say, a guillotine or the rack or the electric chair. And nicer lines from a design standpoint. But what if Jesus had been executed by guillotine? Would modern followers be wearing miniature guillotines around their necks or installing bigger-than-life guillotines on the frontispieces of their megachurches? 

Guillotine ornament

What would Christian athletes from Latin countries do, tilt their necks and apply a chopping motion instead of crossing themselves before running onto the soccer field or after hitting a home run? I suppose one can get used to anything. 

 

What if Jesus’s head had been severed on a chopping block? A double-bitted axe is not a bad look, symmetrical as it is; it could work well on a necklace or on the front of a church. Blood would be optional.

A noose? Not so much. A gun? Was there even gun powder in Jerusalem back then?

 

Or how about this: What if Jesus had been strangled? That would have been a marketing challenge, indeed.

 

But, the cross! A forlorn-looking Jesus nailed to a cross, upright with his head still on? People loved it! Brilliant! 

It Must Be Someone's Birthday

Here's my latest composition, a little rendition of the old standard. To hear it, go to:

jameschanningshaw.com/music 

EVIDENCE-BASED HATE

IF YOU MUST HATE, EXAMINE THE EVIDENCE FIRST. What is the real evidence that Antifa causes riots (FBI reports?--NO), that the 2020 election was fraudulent (court cases?--NO), that you can trust anything that Trump says ( that's a joke), that QAnon is anything other than an insane belief (that would be NO), that Covid was a hoax (the science is real), that vaccines are not helpful (it's the opposite), that masks don’t prevent disease spread (there are flow studies), that gun ownership keeps us safer (homicide and suicide rates), that Bondi or Patel are trustworthy (joke), that Oswald killed Kennedy (triangulated fire has been proven), that the fall of Viet Nam caused domino Communism in the region (hello?), that God created heaven and earth in 7 days (doesn't deserve comment), that Jesus of Nazareth and Mohammed rose to heaven (ditto), that heaven or hell even exist (double ditto)? 

So far, the evidence points strongly against all the above. The evidence says these claims by Trump supporters are all lies. Why is that? 

READ. BECOME KNOWLEDGEABLE. CHANGE YOUR MIND. FOR THE BETTER. 

Good luck, America. You are in big trouble.

cheers.

Americans do NOT want unity

 

DUDE! JOE AND KAMALA! AMERICANS DO NOT WANT UNITY

Trump supporters desire unity about as much as Christians desired unity with Jews in the Spanish Inquisition, as much as slave holders did with their slaves, or lions do with gazelles on the African savannah. Everyone knows the U.S. is more divided and full of hate than ever.

 

The violent responses by white racist Republicans and white police across the country over the last year are a clear sign that most Americans are not interested in unity. Democrats always try the koom-by-yah unitarian approach, but this time, attempts at UNITY will just anger Republicans and solidify the divisiveness.

 

This time, for once, Democrats need to abandon unity and focus on something unheard of in America: social responsibility. That’s not socialism, it is the commitment to improve the well-being of the citizens of the United States through legislation, laws, and policy. 

What does social responsibility look like? It comes down to policy that promotes the well-being of Americans even if one group hates another. Opportunity, education, voter rights, access to health care, tax codes that lead to the betterment of all Americans, not just the wealthiest. Such taxation does not mean Communism and economic collapse. The rich will still be rich. 

  

Striving for Unity will fail. Striving for social responsibility could succeed. Then we can all go on hating each other as we all thrive.

 

 

 

I'm REPUBLICAN: Ode to the Odious

 

 

I’m Republican, don’t tell me what to do

I’m Republican, I don’t wear a mask.

I’m Republican, I carry if I wanna.

I’m Republican, I’m against all tax.

I’m Republican, gimme money

More money, more money

I want more money

Life is money

Money is Life

I’m Republican, I don’t buckle up

No one tells me what to do

I don’t scoop poop

I drive a pickup (and a golf cart)

And ride right up your ass on the freeway

Don’t tell me what to do

No taxes

Want more money

Want no regulations

I like to burn fuel

Go as fast as I want

Break the rules when I want

Want, want, want it now

I don’t slow for pedestrians

Throw lit butts out the window

I’m white, so

Don’t want immigrants

Even though they just picked my apples for almost nothing

I’m a Republican

What I care most about (after money) is hating Democrats 

And non-white people, except athletes maybe

I know what I want, I know what’s right

Don’t need to weigh both sides, there’s only one right

Global Warming, don’t buy it

Gun control, don’t trust it

Abortion, don't need it

Infrastructure, don't use it

And lock her up while you’re at it

Don’t tell the truth if it doesn’t fit my scheme

Oops, I wasn’t s'pposed to say this

Cause I’m a devout believer in Jeesus Christ

Claim to go to church, get saved every week

Family values, honesty, I’m so pious

But don’t raise my taxes

Do not raise my taxes

Pussy grabber, who cares?

Tax evader, who cares?

Prostitute user and payer-offer, who cares?

Dishonest, who cares?

Dishonest Liar, who cares? 

Dishonest liar and cheater, who cares?

Don’t care about Covid, who cares?

But really all I want, want, want

Is no taxes

And more money

I’m Republican

 

 

 

 

 

 

It Must Be Someone's Birthday

     Composed and recorded by James Channing Shaw

     https://www.jameschanningshaw.com/music

GOD, GUNS AND GREED

  (this article was published in Medium.com)

Donald Trump tapped into a dangerous American sentiment in 2016.
 
 But remember this date: November 2nd, 2004. A major turning point in American history occurred that day. On that day, George W. Bush got re-elected legitimately, and it became clear what America wanted: God, guns, and greed. A majority of Americans, including those who stood to benefit most from affordable healthcare, gun control, fewer tax loopholes for the rich and more regulations on Wall Street, seemed instead to favour ignorance (i.e. Creationism and God), the NRA, market-driven healthcare, oppression of women’s reproductive rights, military bravado without follow-through, and unrestrained abuses by Wall Street.
 
 Combine the historical impact of W’s win in 2004 with Trump’s election in 2016 and what you get is this: America will never be interested in making wholesale changes to provide inclusive societal approaches to the well-being of its populace. Instead, the every-man-for-himself approach, ostensibly answering only to a higher power, will likely continue. This will lead to a gradual decline in the financial and international stature of the United States. It’s already happening. The same happened to the Holy Roman Empire.
 
 Eight years of Obama slowed the deterioration, but Trump’s four years accelerated it beyond Republican’s wildest dreams. Evidence abounds:

Trump’s tax code that increased the wealth of the 0.1% and widened wealth inequality said it all. His support in the financial sector was to be expected but his uneducated supporters went along whole hog as well. And Trump’s tax returns? Meh, they all said.
 
 Despite numerous mass shootings in the past two decades, Americans were not interested in putting the lid on private ownership of military-grade weaponry. Congressional candidates chose to please the NRA over their constituents. The Obama administration failed to pass any significant gun control legislation, and under Trump, any lingering interest in reducing gun violence in the U.S. withered.
 
 State laws, pushed through by bible-thumping Republicans (including women!) eroded women’s reproductive freedoms. Dressed up as pro-life, defended in the name of God, it translated to misogyny and oppression of women, and both W and Trump have been the heroes of the effort. Women voting for this legislation is an astounding example of misguided belief, selfishness and ignorance. But now, with Barrett in place, Roe v. Wade is in jeopardy. 
 
 The economy. So-called ‘job-creators’ have never cared about creating real jobs for Americans. It has always been just a slogan for Republicans. They care about creating profits for themselves, and do so only when they are allowed to out-source to cheap, run-down labor forces in the developing world. They continue to fight all attempts to change tax codes that might reduce their profits by one nickel. And concerning federally funded infrastructure projects? Meh, ‘it’s not American’, or ‘it’s socialist’.
 
 Back in ’08, every person who worked in finance blamed the recession on Bill Clinton’s freeing up of mortgage money to the middle class in the 1990s. They accepted no culpability for investment bankers figuring out how to game the system, making oodles of money, and dumping all risk downstream to unsuspecting homebuyers who shouldn’t have been given mortgages in the first place. “Clinton made me do it,” the finance sector used to say as they stuffed their portfolios. And now the smartest and richest have learned to game the new system and we’re back to where we were. Those same gamers still talk of deregulation, fewer taxes and ‘job-creators’ as solutions to all our problems. In a word, greed. 
 
 Democrats are partly to blame for all of this. They rejected real change back in 2016 and again in November, 2020. If the Senate flips to the Dems, modest inroads could still be made toward a society that values the well-being of its people. But if Democrats lose in the battle for the senate, Republicans will rightly celebrate, having effectively neutered Biden’s legislative agenda. At that point, God, guns and greed will become etched in America’s headstone, thus hastening the decline of American society and any international influence she once had.

 

jameschanningshaw.com

 

Is YUZU safe?

 

As Helen Rosner wrote in the New Yorker (Feb 27,2020), “Yuzu is yuzu; there’s nothing else quite like it.” Yuzu has already become a popular international citrus fruit. If you have never experienced Yuzu, you are in for a treat. But could there be any health problems with Yuzu? 

 

We know that grapefruit juice can dangerously raise blood levels of several drugs (statins, calcium channel blockers) because it inhibits enzymes that normally break down the drugs. There is also evidence that the same happens with the body's estrogen hormones, potentially increasing estrogen levels and the risk of breast cancer in women and erectile dysfunction in men. Could Yuzu do the same?

 

Yuzu is new to the West, and it takes up to ten years for a yuzu tree to fruit, but Yuzu juice is likely to be on grocery store shelves soon, the way lemon and lime juice are today. 

 

Research to date points out some probable anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and cardioprotective properties similar to other citrus. In one study (2015 Japan) Yuzu inhibited platelet aggregation to a degree that would add to the effects of aspirin and other anti-platelet drugs. 

 

The question of whether Yuzu contains the chemicals found in grapefruit (called furanocoumarins) that inhibit drug and hormone metabolism has not been fully answered. Japanese researchers showed in 2018 that lime pulp and zest contained the highest concentration of these substances, higher even than grapefruit, and another Japan study (2011) showed that Yuzu had very low activity of the same substances.

 

So, at the present time, Yuzu appears not to have the same risk as grapefruit or lime, but juice from Yuzu can inhibit platelets, which would account for some cardioprotective properties but also the potential for additive effect in those taking anti-platelet drugs. 

 

 

 

My Ship. Arranged by James Channing Shaw. Music by Kurt Weill, Lyrics by Ira Gershwin

Just posted my piano arrangement of MY SHIP on the website.

Check it out! 

jameschanningshaw.com

COVID SCULPTURE #2: "IRAQ"

To see more of James's Covid sculptures, visit his websites

lostnfoundart.com

jameschanningshaw.com

Open letter to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris

 

 

Congratulations! You now have a special opportunity, one that could change how Americans and the rest of the world view politicians in the United States. Put simply: never use the word BELIEF. Never base your views on what you BELIEVE. The word immediately places your commentary in the category of opinion, not truth. Opinions can be wrong, are never universal, and create division. 

 

“I think” is so much more palatable than “I believe". You can still hedge if the facts are incomplete. Recognizing uncertainty will increase your credibility, given that Trump is so certain about the lies he spews.

 

We all realize it is your job to know everything but we all recognize that you can’t possibly know everything. To turn uncertainty into “I believe” puts you up against the ropes defending yourselves. The “I think” moment elevates you and the mind of your listeners to a higher place, one that instills the trust that you are actively seeking the truth and will ultimately do the right thing. Thank you and good luck.

For all of James's blogposts, books, and more, visit https://www.jameschanningshaw.com

FLASH FICTION: THE KISS OFF

The Kiss Off

Roman, in summer cocktail attire, lingers in the circa 1600 kitchen as guest make their way outside to the courtyard where its south-facing wall is draped in bougainvillea and in one corner of the garden a not-so-bad replica of the Manneken Pis is busy relieving his little self. City traffic noises drift up and over the red-tiled roofs into the garden.

Back in the kitchen, with thumbs in his belt and his shoulder blades pressed against the cool limestone, Roman’s eyes are resting alternatively on Rebecca’s hands, covered in red nectarine juice, and her eyes that remain focused on what she’s doing. She presses her hips into the heavy butcher-block table, her auburn hair pulled back exposing her neck. 

“So?…” Rebecca says, not taking her eyes off the knife blade she’s applying to the fruit.

“What do you mean, ‘So?” Roman says. “Were you expecting something?” He sees her mouth turn up slightly at the corners. What does she know? How does she know this? His heart is in his throat, racing. Does she detect my anxiety? She probably does, being a psychologist. Perhaps she wants something.

“No,” she says. “It’s just that…I mean…you’re standing there like you want to say something but haven’t said anything.”

“Rebecca,” he begins, but shuts it down, thinking again, do I want to do this? It’s a scenario he’s fantasized for ten years: Alone with Rebecca, both their spouses elsewhere, a drink on board to loosen things up. The fantasy takes off from there. Now is the time. Right here, her fortieth birthday, nice neighborhood in Florence, all the guests outside.

“Yeeesss?” she continues.

Roman steps over to the butcher block and brings his face to within six inches of hers. She’s wearing a hint of fragrance. “Rebecca, I was wondering. Do you think we could ever…”—he closes his lids for a full second—“do you think we could…kiss…and not have it ruin both our marriages?” 

Rebecca lays the ten-inch blade down on the butcher block and wipes her hands on the towel hanging from the strap of her apron. 

“Before we’re too old to care?” Roman throws in as a postscript. 

Rebecca raises her head. Her eyes are right at the level of Roman’s lips. She looks up to meet his eyes, alluring enough with those dark lashes, then drops back to examine his mouth again. “Get over yourself, Roman. My marriage is pretty solid.” 

“Well…yeah. Of course. I meant…”

She rises onto her toes, casts a furtive glance over his shoulder into the courtyard to make sure no one is looking, turns her face to meet his and lifts her wet palm up against his face. He leans in to meet the softness of her lips and warmth of her mouth. 

In truth, other than what Roman had perceived over the years as an undeclared mutual animal attraction, he and Rebecca had never been all that compatible. Control issues or something. Politics, perhaps. Feminism, for sure: she could never accept that men might view women first and foremost as sexual objects, with everything else secondary.

They kiss. Each transports the other into uncharted territories of texture, flavor, and smell. Rebecca emits a faint murmur, mostly air. He presses against her, feels her shape and she, his incipient excitement against her hip. They pull back with an audible moist sound, sensing disaster, but laughter is all they hear filtering in from the courtyard. They look at each other for an instant, but a longer instant than ever before. She drops her lids again and brings her fingers to her mouth. 

“So I guess that’s it,” Roman says. 

“Guess so.” Flushed, she returns to her bowl of nectarines. “Guess we’re not too old,” Rebecca says. 

“No. Guess not.” 

He puts his hands in his pockets, turns, and shuffles toward the courtyard to join the rest of the party.

“Better wipe the juice off your face.”

For this and other stories by James Channing Shaw, go to City of Destiny at Amazon.com, or go to this link:

https://www.amazon.com/City-Destiny-Short-Fiction-more/dp/B086L8X67X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=city+of+destiny&qid=1589033781&sr=8-1

LOYALTY: A PRECARIOUS EMOTION

On the firing of Michael Atkinson:
He and many others who were fired were not loyal, right? Donnnald, don't you know? LOYALTY IS THE GUIDING PRINCIPLE OF LOW INTELLECT.

Low I.Q. leaders like you must surround themselves with even lower I.Q. loyalists. This you are good at, gradually lowering the I.Q. of your entire administration and cabinet. Intellectually challenged is the reality of your entire presidency. In your parlance: Sad, The worst, Unprecedented.

Take a walk through history: Hitler, Hirohito, Stalin, La Cosa Nostra, Mao, Jesus, Mohammed, Jim Jones. All troublemakers in the end. And all propped up by LOYALTY, either forced or voluntary. It is only when a leader's views can be questioned and discussed peacefully that good policy-making and good leadership ensues. (Try the respectable Dr. Fauci on Covid-19). But of course you, Donnnald (and your followers) have too low an I.Q. to recognize this. Plus, you are a white-hot, flaming narcissist, defined once again, as...
repeat after me...

Big needs for admiration, grandiose, no consequences to your actions, no empathy
Big needs for admiration, grandiose, no consequences to your actions, no empathy
Big needs for admiration, grandiose, no consequences to your actions, no empathy

https://www.jameschanningshaw.com

CAPITALISM ONLY WORKS IN PEACETIME

The Covid-19 pandemic is showing the world that capitalism doesn't work very well in the setting of economic collapse from a pandemic. Looking back in history, the same thing happens during wartime. Dog-eat-dog capitalism, every person for him/herself, libertarianism and rugged individualism all fail in times like these. Governments have to take over and do what is right for the population at large. That is happening in congress right now. It applies especially to healthcare but also to manufacturing, maintaining supply chains, transportation, almost all sectors of business. The stock market tanking in the face of pandemic or war is the perfect example of how Wall Street is really just a giant casino in peacetime. 

If there is one good thing that comes out of the economic fallout from Covid-19, it is the concept that government can be helpful to the entire country when it's done right. Even Republicans are accepting that healthcare, infrastructure, supply chains, and transportation require the safety net of government. We all would be better off if that safety net were in place all the time and the Wall Street casinos were closed.

https://www.jameschanningshaw.com

Fuhrer Trumpf

In 1934, many Germans were "extolling Hitler for his ruthless determination" and many in the working class "have also become enslaved to the uncritical deification of Hitler." 

Sound familiar? Good thing Trump wasn't prez in 1934. He would have sent love letters to Hitler. 

Now he has to settle for falling in love with Kim Jong Un and kowtowing to Vlad Putin while praising every other autocrat.

And all that with a stupid red truck-driver's hat for a halo.

quotes from Erik Larson: In the Garden of Beasts

Trump's SMASH-YOUR-FACE leadership

Trump's smash-your-face leadership excites Americans like no-jacket Jim Jordan, rep what’s-his-name Collins and Corrupt @CLewandowski. Trump’s lies, hypocrisy and misogyny don’t matter. The nastier, the better. Those who are loyal to narcissists hang on until they get torched when narcissist goes down in flames. The question is whether Trump’s downfall will come before the 2020 election. Not looking good for that.

Himmler was discarded. Goebbels stayed to the end. @RudyGiuliani was in, then toast, now he’s back; no-jacket Jim is still in (for now); @jeffsessions remains loyal to Trump’s coattails; @LindseyGrahamSC pin-balls too much for anyone to know his true stance; Pence waits, panting.

One flicker of optimism: in their eventual downfall, narcissists place blame on their most loyal allies, abandon them and find themselves alone with zero support from anyone.

Feb 21, 2020

https://www.jameschanningshaw.com

Chis Matthews and MSNBC: Time for him to join Fox like Lou Dobbs.

TIME TO POST THIS AGAIN! FIRST POSTING WAS 4 YEARS AGO. Watch YouTube clip of Matthews ranting against Bernie and Socialism. 
Original posting May, 2016: Title: MSNBC? Not so much any more.

I used to crave MSNBC, Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow. Smart people, those two. And more or less politically compatible with my liberal thinking, except when it came to them actually promoting the results of the Warren Commission which LBJ commissioned to avoid a real investigation that might have suggested triangulated gunfire including a shot from the front right that took off the back of JFK’s head. How anyone can still buy into Lee Harvey Oswald as JFK's killer amazes me. But that’s getting off point.

Just recently, I decided I can no longer watch Chris or Rachel or anyone else on MSNBC. And it’s not just the incessant Cialis ads and other obnoxious direct-to-consumer advertising by Big Pharma. Chris and Rachel and the gang are so biased in their reporting, so pro-Clinton, and so utterly dismissive of Bernie Sanders and his ideas that it is clear that they or their bosses must be trying to manipulate the election. Did they do this in the Obama/Hillary primaries of ’08? Don’t remember. Must not have had the channel back then. 

Sander’s proposals are not  out-of-line with liberal Democratic views. It must be that Sanders-the-man is out-of-line with those who are beholden to Hillary Clinton in some way, or perhaps it is the owners and broadcasters at MSNBC. This generally applies to all the major networks, it’s just more painful at MSNBC. Even PBS, usually so thorough in their coverage of both and all sides of an argument, has been dismissive of Bernie’s message, assuming that Hillary is definitely the nominee, discouraging the all-important battles of ideas.

Come to think of it, maybe it IS Big Pharma. If MSNBC is dependent upon those drug company ads for their profit margin, it would make sense to be against Bernie Sanders because of his strong opposition to the deplorable ways of Big Pharma. 

 Whether it is biased individual anchors, the influence of Big Pharma, or indebted management, I’m almost finished with MSNBC. I’ve also given up on the rest of corporate network TV, and I suspect I’m not alone in this thinking. Unbiased, respectful reporting will have to be found elsewhere.

RUSSIA?

R(US)SIA is all over US.

Whom can we blame for the Russian hacking? Russians? Do a majority of Russians support the hacking, cheating and disruption of U.S. elections? Do they even think about it? Maybe it’s too broad, like saying that all Americans are in favor of grabbing ‘em by the pussy and telling Whitehouse staff members to lie under oath.

I sometimes wish I were Russian so I wouldn’t hate them so much for the meddling etc. I mean, they are a magnificent people. How can I hate a people who gave us Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky? Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy? How can we hate the country that, according to current historical thinking, had a larger role in overthrowing Hitler’s Germany than the allies did? Russians are a strong and creative people. 

But then there were the genocidal pogroms to rid the country of its Jews in the 19^thcentury and beyond. And Stalin’s murder of millions. And after the USSR fell, the oligarchs who threw their own people under the bus to become hugely rich through inside deals (and worse) in the name of capitalism. 

Can we lay the blame for hacking on the oligarchs and their ilk? If so, it would be perfectly fine to categorically hate those guys. But if so, Americans should be just as hateful of the titans of Wall Street who consistently swindle the American people for their own gain (2008 crash, anyone?). It would be no surprise for a president who cuts taxes for the most obscenely rich Americans to be in cahoots with the Russian hacking scheme that helps him get elected. Bernie Sanders has always warned that oligarchy is the primary threat we all should be worrying about. 

This is so massive in scope, it is hard to imaging reining it in, much less exposing it. We can't even get Donald's tax returns! It’s larger than the JFK assassination coverup that still no one has genuinely and successfully exposed. It is so large it makes cuddling up to Kim Jong-un seem like a mere indiscretion. Perhaps oligarchs in North Korea are not that far fetched. Perhaps Trump Tower in Pyongyang is moving forward?

Aug 16, 2019

https://www.jameschanningshaw.com

TRUMP'S HEROS #2

The headline might read:

In third term, Trump to replace bust of Putin with bust of himself.


The bust that replaced Churchill:

The bust that will replace Putin:

TRUMP'S HEROS #1

The headline might read:

In second term, Trump to replace bust of Churchill with bust of Putin.

Lip service:

Hero worship:

ADOLF TRUMP

Trump doesn't even need a Goebbles propaganda minister. He's his own propaganda minister. In lock-step with Fox News, he does it all, and Americans are buying it! The Donald and Adolf....sad, sad, sad.

DANDRUFF: THE MYTH OF WASHING YOUR HAIR TOO MUCH

James Channing Shaw's website: https://www.jameschanningshaw.com

One of the most common dermatological MYTHS is the belief that flaky, itchy scalp, so-called dandruff, comes from washing your hair too much. The truth is the exact opposite. Read on.

 Almost 100% of patients who see me as a dermatologist for dandruff suspect the flakes and itch are from drying out of their scalp. Patients instinctively reduce their hair washing but it doesn’t help. In fact, they all admit their scalp feels better the day of and day after washing, but gets worse after two or three days of NOT washing. Here’s the explanation:

Dandruff affects almost half the world population of adolescents and young adults to some degree. It affects both men and women but seems to be more common in men. Flakiness, itch, and oily scalp are the most common signs. At its worst, dandruff goes by a different name—seborrheic dermatitis and can even involve the skin of the face.

Many factors contribute: Testosterone leads to oiliness (both men and women have testosterone). Oiliness promotes microscopic yeast organisms called Malassezia. Individual immune responses lead to the inflammation (redness, itch) and discomfort. That, basically, is the package.

So how does washing hair influence the problem? The issue is this: Do you wash your face only once per week? Or your body skin? Daily washing removes the flakes, the oil and the yeast which in turn reduces immune reactions which ultimately reduces flakiness, itchiness and redness. The purpose is to clean the skin of your scalp, not your hair per se (the hair will get clean in the process). Use conditioners as needed.

What shampoo to use?Mere washing with plain shampoo can help, but the best anti-dandruff shampoos contain either coal tar (T-Gel®, Pentrax®), anti-fungal chemicals (Nizoral®, Cicloprox®) or cortisone-like steroids (Clobex®). Personally, I favor tar shampoos, which also happen to be the least expensive.

How often should you wash your hair? In general, the more you wash your hair, the better your scalp will feel. (Scalp skin is similar to face skin, and you don’t wash your face only once per week!) Daily hair washing is usually adequate in the setting of dandruff/seborrheic dermatitis. It depends on the severity of the condition. The important fact is that washing does not worsen the problem, it only helps.

There are cases where seeing a doctor is required. Topical prescription lotions can reduce inflammation or reduce the Malassezia yeast. Fortunately, the condition is not dangerous to your health, and tends to improve as you move from the prime of life into middle age and beyond. Something to look forward to!

And ONE MORE THING: The concept of lather, rinse, repeat is complete nonsense, falsely made up by manufacturers so that you  use up twice as much product as you need. Once is perfectly adequate. Thank you.