Film: Can the Hitchhiker's Guide get any better?

I just found out that Alan Rickman is voicing Marvin the Paranoid Android. That's so sweet!

Saturday Dog Blogging!

Art: 100 naked women

Conceptual artist Vanessa Beecroft is opening her latest work involving 100 naked women in tights in Berlin. Some of my favorite parts about this exhibit:

Their hair colours - red, yellow, and black - were deliberately picked to allude to Germany's flag, Beecroft said.

And: Germans had an "intellectual and philosophical background" which made them more receptive to her work, she said, in contrast to the French, who were mainly interested in the fashion worn by her models.

and by far: "this evening's public performance lasts for three hours. Apart from the odd stretch and yawn, the women are instructed to remain as still and silent as possible. Towards the end they can lie down. Yesterday, at the preview, attended by dozens of journalists and TV crews, several of the "girls" as Beecroft calls them sat down exhausted. Most looked distinctly bored."

Most heterosexual guys don't need to go to a museum to see a bored naked woman.

Health: Cookie Monster No More?

Sesame Street's favorite blue monster (sorry Grover, you're kind of lame) is going healthy and adopting cookies as a "sometime snack". I think that it's great that Sesame Street is trying to incorporate more healthy eating and exercising tips into the show. Cookie Monster will now eat cookies in moderation, so don't be sad - me still want cookies. Even Bill Frist thinks this is a good thing, so I have now officially found one thing on which Dr. Evil and I both agree.

Cats: Azubuike signs with agent; won't return to Kentucky

What a dumbass. I guess that should open up some severe playing time for Joe Crawford, Bobby Perry, or Sheray Thomas. KY has always been the sort of team that could lose its leading scorer and not miss a beat, but the sheer stupidity of this move is amazing.

LGBT: Wounded soldier wants to keep serving, as long as he doesn't have to hide the fact that he's gay

An Army sergeant who was wounded in Iraq wants a chance to remain in the military as an openly gay soldier, a desire that's bringing him into conflict with the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Sgt. Robert Stout, 23, says he has not encountered trouble from fellow soldiers and would like to stay if not for the policy that permits gay men and women to serve only if they keep their sexual orientation a secret.

"I know a ton of gay men that would be more than willing to stay in the Army if they could just be open," Stout said in an interview with The Associated Press. "But if we have to stay here and hide our lives all the time, it's just not worth it."

If having big chunks of grenade shrapnel in your body isn't enough to demand some respect, then I think it's pretty clear our military has some severe issues.

LGBT: Conn. Senate Approves Civil Unions Bill

The state Senate easily approved a bill that would make Connecticut the first state to recognize civil unions between same-sex couples without being pressured by the courts.

China: Anger after 'murdered' wife returns

Wife disappears. Chinese authorities "interrogate" the husband until he confesses. Husband is sentenced to death, but only serves 15 years and is released. Now, wife is not really dead. My favorite part: In his first interview after being released, the wronged man said he wanted compensation from the state and to avoid his former wife.

Law: Florida to allow use of force even outside home

Under [the old] law, however, people attacked anywhere [outside of their home or car] are supposed to do what they can to avoid escalating the situation and can use deadly force only after they've tried to retreat.

Since when did de-escalation become a 4 letter word? Police officers are taught to de-escalate; and as a physician I think it makes sense? But apparently in Florida this law allows people who "feel threatened" to shoot first and ask questions later. Oh wait, there's a Bush down there, now I understand. Criminals (and tourists) be warned. My favorite quote though is this:

"I'm sorry, people, but if I'm attacked I shouldn't have a duty to retreat," said the bill's sponsor, state Rep. Dennis Baxley. "That's a good way to get shot in the back."

Floridians will now be proud to know they have the right be shot in the front.

Entertainment (for me at least): 'Star Wars' fans wait at wrong theater

'Star Wars' fans wait at wrong theater. I don't know what's funnier, the fact that it's the wrong theater or the fact that they refuse to move even after being told it's the wrong theater. And I thought studying for boards was a futile waste of time. Before you Trekkies start attacking me for ragging on the SW fans I just wanna say, "It's just a movie. Get a life."

Medicine: Injectable Long Acting Naltrexone?

Drugs for alcohol addiction have always met significant compliance obstacles. An alcoholic has to choose every day to take a drug like Antabuse, which would make him sick if he drank, or naltrexone, which blocks opiod receptors, which generally isn't the happiest thing you can do to a person.

But now there's an injectable form of Naltrexone that last 30 days! Compliance issues, we hardly knew ye.

Now, instead of making 30 decisions to stop being an alcoholic per month, an alcohol addict need only make that decision once a month. And that sure seems like a good thing.

Ethics: Ethics Panel Finds Conflict With Senator's Job as Physician

The Senate ethics committee has ruled that Sen. Tom Coburn must close his obstetrics practice.

The ethics committee has ruled that his private practice constitutes a potential conflict of interest with his work in Washington, and it has given him until Sept. 30 to close his office in Muskogee, Okla

For nearly two decades, Senate rules have barred members from holding outside professional jobs, such as those as lawyers, real estate agents and physicians, for fear that such services -- and compensation for those services -- might conflict with their role as policymakers.

OK, so this issue seems to have stupidity on both sides. What kind of conflict of interest is he going to have? A bias towards protecting pregnant women? Maybe if all of his patients worked for the defense industry or something I'd be worried, but he's an obstetrician. And after the recent Schiavo fiasco I think Congress could use a few more doctors (or at least better ones they have now). And how old and honored is this law barring him? A hundred years? Nope, less than 2 decades. Yeah, because in this country anything 20 years old is practically pre-historic.

On the other side of the issue I can easily see lawyers in congress making the same claim and then it's s snow ball effect. The easiest thing to do is just to start practicing pro-bono since it's the income that's not allowed, then again, he's a conservative Republican so I don't see that happening anytime soon. Any other opinions?

Medicine: Cognitive therapy vs. Pharm therapy

In another chapter in the most tiresome debate in the world, some UPenn researchers show that cognitive therapy is at least as good for moderate to severe depression (APA guidelines previously said that you had to sell the pharm if someone had severe depression). Maybe most importantly, cognitive therapy led to less relapse.

Oh my gosh, a pop up window just said that I won a free Apple Ipod! Golly Gee! I gotta go!

The next study: free Ipods vs. cognitive therapy.

Literature: Saul Bellow, dead at 89

It's a bad year to be a brilliant Jewish author. We've lost Arthur Miller, and now Bellow. Geniuses.

"The backbone of 20th-century American literature has been provided by two novelists — William Faulkner and Saul Bellow," Philip Roth said Tuesday. "Together they are the Melville, Hawthorne, and Twain of the 20th century."

Music: Tally Hall needs you!

Tally Hall, a funky band to which I have a second degree connection, is trying to break through via MTVU's Best Music on Campus contest. Give their single, "Good Day," a listen, and if properly impressed, give these UM kids some votage.

Medicine: kissing cousins

An interesting article on some Pennsylvania folk who had to go get married in Maryland because Penn, like 23 other states, bans marriages between first cousins.

And while most of us still go, "EWWW!," science has taught us that, while it may be kinda gross, first cousin marriages don't present the genetic obstacles that people had long believed:

Robin Bennett, associate director of the medical genetics clinic at the University of Washington, said that laws prohibiting cousins from marrying are "a form of genetic discrimination."

Bennett led a 2002 study on risks of genetic problems in children born in such marriages. The study found that children born to couples who are first or second cousins have a lower risk for birth defects than commonly perceived.

On average, an unrelated couple has an approximately 3 percent to 4 percent risk of having a child with a birth defect, significant mental retardation or serious genetic disease.

Close cousins face an additional risk of 1.7 percent to 2.8 percent, according to the study, funded by the National Society of Genetic Counselors, and the U.S. Health and Human Services Department.

I can't find the exact stats to back this up, but I'm thinking from what I've learned that a younger first-cousin couple would have a better chance of producing a healthy child than many older women populations.

Thus, discriminating against first-cousins with regards to marriage seems incredibly unfair. No one bars cystic fibrosis carriers (about 1/25 of the population) from marrying each other or having children, and they have a 25% of having a kid w/ CF.

The article notes that some states do require genetic counseling. That seems fair enough. Genetic counseling might be a good (yet expensive) idea for the entire population. And some married first-cousins might even be improperly afraid of producing an unhealthy child. Having a 95% chance of having a healthy kid might lead a couple to go ahead. And fundamentally, that's their decision.

But I have to say, I'm really glad this article didn't have anything to do with Kentucky.

Pseudoscience & Fads: Got Oxygen?

Studies show today's air contains only 25%-50% of the oxygen that it used to. This is from a link off the local mall oxygen bar. I had no idea there was such a crisis. But seriously, where is this statement coming from? Oxygen levels in the Cretaceous? The bar provides patrons with 95% oxygen (eupho2ria). Not only that, but they sell oxygen drinks and (who knew we had the technology) a shower head that actually mixes air into your water (order now, only 1 left).

They also sell "NEXCITE Aphrodisiac Drink"

Nexcite is a non-alcoholic berry-like flavored aphrodisiac drink that drives women wild. FoxNews.com calls it “the king of kinky drinkies…”

Nexcite was also formerly called Niagara, but the little blue drink had to change it's name after it was sued by Pfizer for trademark infringement.

Baseball: Opening Day

The Tigers and the Reds both win their openers? And the Reds against Pedro, no less? Wonders never cease.

Oh yeah. Tarheels still blow.

Literature: Marilynne Robinson wins Pulitzer

for her dying-Iowa-preacher novel, Gilead. Not a huge surprise. Robinson teaches at the Iowa Writer's Workshop, i.e. every creative writing student's wet dream, and that's her first novel in twenty-some years.

And other people won other stuff too.

Medicine: silly adults, tricks are for kids

New surveys show that teens say oral sex isn't really sex and hearing loss from listening to loud music isn't a big problem, even though three out of five have had ringing in their ears after concerts.

The best quote from the two studies:

Adults are sitting there yelling at each other about abstinence, condoms, oral contraception and abortion, and kids have found their own path. That’s the most important issue that underlies these data: Adults are more clueless than we would like to admit.

No kidding.

Health: Study Uses Video Games to Fight Obesity

Video games to fight obesity? Next up cigarettes to battle cancer. Stay tuned.

Jones is one of 85 children being recruited by the West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency to participate in an at-home study using the video game Dance Dance Revolution to increase activity. He lost about 10 pounds by changing his diet. Now after two weeks playing the game, he's lost another 10."

MedPol: Women still have a chance in a few places

The Governor of Illinois approved an emergency rule requiring that pharmacies fill birth control prescriptions quickly and the New Hampshire Senate approved a bill offering emergency contraception over the counter with no age limit.

And some the most beautiful quotes from the latter story:

Sen. Robert Boyce argued the bill would promote a “Sex in the City” lifestyle, referring to the popular television program.

“This is saying there is no consequence for sex,” said Boyce, R-Alton. “One of the consequences is conception. One of the consequences is disease.”

Boyce said people must see doctors to get prescriptions for drugs for diseases. He gave strep throat as an example, which drew a response from Sen. Maggie Hassan.

“With all due respect Senator Boyce, an unintended pregnancy is not the same thing as strep throat,” said Hassan, D-Exeter.

“I do not believe the punishment for youthful indiscretion for unguarded sex is to force young women to have an abortion or unwanted pregnancy,” said Hassan.

“The amendment [proposed by Republicans to limit the sale only to those over 18] supposes only women 18 and older might need this in an emergency,” Senate Democratic Leader Sylvia Larsen said. “I’d like to live in a world where that’s true.”

Schiavo: a criminal DeLay

If you're like me, you're sorta pissed that Tom DeLay keeps threatening the judiciary for, ya know, being a judiciary that at least attempts to act within the limits of constitutional law most of the time. And more than a handful of people have been worried that his comments about these judges having to answer for their actions could incite violence. But NJ Senator Frank Lautenberg lays it all on the line masterfully:

April 1, 2005

Tom DeLay
Majority Leader
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Majority Leader DeLay,

I was stunned to read the threatening comments you made yesterday against Federal judges and our nation’s courts of law in general. In reference to certain Federal judges, you stated: “The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior.”

As you are surely aware, the family of Federal Judge Joan H. Lefkow of Illinois was recently murdered in their home. And at the state level, Judge Rowland W. Barnes and others in his courtroom were gunned down in Georgia.

Our nation’s judges must be concerned for their safety and security when they are asked to make difficult decisions every day. That’s why comments like those you made are not only irresponsible, but downright dangerous. To make matters worse, is it appropriate to make threats directed at specific Federal and state judges?

You should be aware that your comments yesterday may violate a Federal criminal statute, 18 U.S.C. §115 (a)(1)(B). That law states:

“Whoever threatens to assault…. or murder, a United States judge… with intent to retaliate against such… judge…. on account of the performance of official duties, shall be punished [by up to six years in prison]”

Threats against specific Federal judges are not only a serious crime, but also beneath a Member of Congress. In my view, the true measure of democracy is how it dispenses justice. Your attempt to intimidate judges in America not only threatens our courts, but our fundamental democracy as well.

Federal judges, as well as state and local judges in our nation, are honorable public servants who make difficult decisions every day. You owe them – and all Americans – an apology for your reckless statements.

Sincerely,

Frank R. Lautenberg

I wonder where Frank Lautenberg buys his suits. Because I don't think most suits are made to hold the huge balls this guy must have.

Medicine: Bush Order Allows Isolation of Those with Bird Flu

Bush Order Allows Isolation of Those with Bird Flu

I'm all for epidemic containment, but you all know the first time this is enforced will be by some Sheriff in a rural town who arrests a "china-man" because he sneezed loudly on an incoming flight.

That other border

I don't really hear much about deaths along the US-Mexico border much around here, so I thought I'd post some information. INS crackdown in cities has forced immigrants to enter the US through long stretches of dessert, leading to a jump in deaths from Between 1994 and 2003 and estimated 2,600 undocumented migrants died crossing the border. There's a good review of the basic history from National Geographic. There's also a good discussion of the contributions that undocumented workers make to businesses called The Cost of Doing Nothing: The Need for Comprehensive Immigration Reform. But in more recent news vigilante citizens groups supported by white supremecists now plan to patrol the border (see KRT Wire | 03/30/2005 | Bush administration unveils plan to expand border patrol initiative. The whole reasoning behind this is that it's a lot easier to patrol the border, forcing migrants into life-threatening situations, than it is to patrol our own country. There are fewer issues of rights violations, and corporations (who might be imposed upon if undocumented worker laws were enforced) have a lot more say over immigration policy than the undocumented workers themselves. The number of citations issued to employers of undocumented workers is dismal. So once again the US chooses to militarize the solution on foreign (or at least border) soil rather than dealing with the options in our own country.

Direct Action: Wal-Mart Fact Checker

Forgive me if this post is not as coherent as it should be - I spent an hour on it earlier today, and then my browser choked on me. Boo Firefox!

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the nation's largest union with over 1.8 million members, often stands up for those in the working class (and the not so working class - for the future residents reading, you can join the Committee on Residents and Interns, one of the main groups helping to enforce resident work hours). The SEIU has a record of pushing for health care reform, such as opposing President Bush's fiscal year 2006 Medicaid cuts (which failed to pass the Senate in a 52-48 vote - thank your Senators, especially the Republican ones, for voting against this cut). One of the SEIU's current campaigns, via its Purple Ocean network, is to spread the facts about Wal-Mart.

Now you can pick many reasons to dislike Wal-Mart, but the one thing about Wal-Mart that really irks me is their continued union busting behavior. I'm coming at this from a biased perspective, as my family is very blue-collar and pro-union, but I personally believe that labor unions are one of the few ways that the poor and the working class can actually achieve "The American Dream" and raise themselves up by their bootstraps. This is my personal beef with Wal-Mart, but there are other cracks in the House that Walton built.

There is actually a great report written by Representative George Miller (D-CA) on Wal-Mart's Labor Abuses and Hidden Costs linked on the Joe Hill Dispatch Wal-Mart Beat. The SEIU has some interesting facts as well, including:

Wal-Mart sales clerks made an average of $8.23 an hour or $13,861 year in 2001. That's nearly $800 below the federal poverty line for a family of three. (Source: Business Week)

In Georgia, Wal-Mart employees are six times more likely to rely on state-provided health care for their children than are employees of any other large company.(Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Reliance on public assistance programs in California by Wal-Mart workers costs the state's taxpayers an estimated $86 million annually. (Source: UC Berkeley Study)

In the first decade after Wal-Mart arrived in Iowa, the state lost 555 grocery stores, 298 hardware stores, 293 building supply stores, 161 variety stores, 158 women's apparel stores, 153 shoe stores, 116 drugstores, and 111 men's and boys' apparel stores. (Source: Iowa State University Study)

Every year Wal-Mart purchases $15 billion worth of products from China. (Source: Washington Post)

Today Wal-Mart uses over 3,000 Chinese factories to produce its goods almost as many factories as it has stores in the U.S. (3,600). (Source: L.A. Times)

All else being equal, U.S. counties where new Wal-Mart stores were built between 1987 and 1998 experienced higher poverty rates than other U.S. counties. (Source: Pennsylvania State University Study)

So what's a person to do? First, let others know the truth about Wal-Mart. Second, resist the low prices and stop shopping there. Take note that Sam's Club is also owned by Wal-Mart, and shop at Costco instead (they pay their employees better, and if you are a Democrat, they contribute to your candidates). Third, write a letter to Wal-Mart letting them know how much you appreciate their corporate practices (Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Bentonville, Arkansas 72716-8611 1-800-WAL-MART). In all fairness to Wal-Mart, they also have a webpage listing the good they do for their communities.

Whew - how's that for a first post?

Politics: Romney to veto stem cell bill

Gov. Mitt Romney said Friday he knows he can't stop a bill that would give scientists more freedom to conduct embryonic stem cell research, but he promised to "vote my conscience" and veto it anyway.

The bill passed the state House on a 117-37 vote Thursday night, a day after the Senate approved it 35-2 — margins that would easily override any veto.

"I'll vote my conscience, but this is one that the story is complete," Romney said Friday.

I'm sure Harvard's new stem cell center is pleased that Romney's anti-science douchery is nothing more than early signs of a presidential run.

Medicine: Truth in Advertising

There's been a lot of talk lately about conscience clauses for doctors/pharmacists that refuse to prescribe birth control for patients. Personally I feel it's a doctors duty to offer all treatment options to a patient and if they cannot, then they should refer their patient to a physician who will. My problem is when doctors don't tell patients that they will not offer them abortion referrals or birth control until it's too late. This is similar to pregnancy support centers who's whole mission is to scare women out of abortion as an option. I realize restaurants have similar problems, having to notify patrons about smoking or non-smoking sections, and which credit cards they accept. That's when I hit upon the solution: Graphic Art. Doctors who refuse to offer or refer for abortion, birth control, or mifepristone can put these universal symbols on their cards letting people know ahead of time. I'm hoping this is the beginning of truth in advertising in medicine.

Maybe you can come up with your own. I'm working on a "I believe that vegetables want to live, even when their legal/religious guardians--who spent years with them and should know their wishes--say they would want to die after fifteen years on life-support" one.

Religion: the sad inevitable

Peace be with our Catholic friends.

Blogs: blogging the Cats

Our buddies over at BlueGrassRoots were featured in a Louisville Courier-Journal article on blogging college basketball.

Poetic Justice: Pat Robertson stars in porno

After years of work taking moneyshots from everyone from Richard Nixon to Grover Norquist, conservative whackjob Pat Buchanan has finally decided to put his abilities to more profitable uses.

"Hmm, this isn't so bad. Sorta tastes like salad dressing," Buchanan remarked.

Medicine: Michigan House passes Conscientious Objector Policy Act for doctors, now it goes to Senate

This law featured in the ACS weekly bulletin allows health care workers to refuse service to anyone on moral, ethical, or religious grounds. Unfortuntaely, although there is a clause in the law which prevents overt discrimination on racial grounds, several groups are worried that the law permits docs to refuse healthcare to LGBT people even in emergent situations if they are morally opposed to homosexuality. Let's hope Chris Kolb can rally a lot of support and that this doesn't pass in the senate.

Politics: This is priceless!!

KALAMAZOO, Michigan (AP) -- Commentator and former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan cut short an appearance after an opponent of his conservative views doused him with salad dressing.

Entertainment: Hedberg Dead at 37

Comedian Mitch Hedberg was found dead in a New Jersey hotel room Wednesday morning, according to Minnesota's Pioneer Press. He was 37.

The cause of death has not been determined, and details concerning his death have yet to be released. The Pioneer Press reported that Hedberg's family has been told he suffered a heart attack.

Much like Steven Wright, Hedberg was a master of the sharp-as-glass-shards one-liner ("Rice is great when you're hungry and want 2,000 of something"; "I would imagine if you understood Morse code, a tap dancer would drive you crazy"; "When someone hands you a flier, it's like they're saying, 'Here, you throw this away.' ") His comical, almost-too-obvious observations about life's subtle peculiarities inspired Time magazine to declare the stand-up comic "the next Seinfeld" in 2000.

This was the best stand-up I've ever heard--and truly great stand-up is hard to find. I saw Lewis Black on Wednesday night and laughed hard for 90 straight minutes. I probably won't be laughing much more in 2005.

Medicine: The Separation of Church and Pharmacy

By way of MediaMatters, The American Center for Law & Justice has a good piece on the rise of so called "conscience clauses" being passed in several states. These laws permit doctors, pharmacists, or other health care workers to not provide access or information on anything they find morally offensive. Such laws have already been used to refuse prescriptions for Ritalin, emergency contraception for a rape victim, and birth control refills. One pharmacist not only refused to give out the birth control, but even refused to return the prescription slip.

MediaMatters points out:

Though "conscience clause" advocates prefer to focus on birth control pills -- and the media reports that cover the controversy do likewise -- their position that pharmacists need not fill prescriptions they disagree with has far-reaching implications. By the same rationale, a pharmacist who believes, as the Rev. Jerry Falwell once claimed, that AIDS is "God's punishment for homosexuals" could refuse to fill a prescription for an AIDS patient. Pharmacists could refuse to fill prescriptions for heart medicine for the elderly, antidepressants for a suicidal patient -- anything.

Luckily the Michigan government defeated a bill to introduce these clauses, but there's no telling what might happen in the future.

At what point do people simply realize that when their career choices might conflict with their moral views, maybe they should find a different profession?

Technology: "Signposts in Cyberspace"

Here is what a one million dollar technology study will get you these days.

Schiavo: "A recipe for illusion, terror, and the killing of the soul"

Garrett has allowed me to join his Sparkgrass party.

These bones shine with brightness.

So aside from concurring with Garrett's comment on the Schiavo case, I offer for your consideration this excerpt from the Archbishop of Canterbury's Easter Sermon. It wasn't about Schiavo and assorted players, but I think it relevant...

Paul does not say that we shall live for ever; he says that we shall die and that we shall be raised as Jesus was raised. Forget spiritualism and cryogenics; forget supposed evidence for ‘survival’. Paul doesn’t think we are going to survive but that we are going to live again because of God’s action. Here and now, we must indeed once to terms with the reality of death, and we must put to death all in us that binds us to our narrow self-interest. Indeed, you could rightly say that Paul’s teaching is really that we must put to death our refusal to die, because that refusal to die, that fearful denial of our limits, is the root of our selfish and self-paralysing habits of sin. A healthy human environment is one in which we try to make sense of our limits, of the accidents that can always befall us and the passage of time which inexorably changes us. An unhealthy environment is one in which we always look for someone to blame and someone to compensate us, and struggle to maintain fictions of our invulnerability to time and change.

Societies as well as individuals fall victim to these diseases. We react so often with panic and hostility to the presence of persons and cultures who are different and blame them for our own dysfunctions. We maintain a ludicrous confidence in technology to solve the environmental problems it has itself intensified because we can’t believe that our capacity to generate wealth and comfort for ourselves is anything other than infinite. We fantasise about a state of security so complete that nothing and no-one will ever threaten us. We need to hear that all this is really the denial of death - that it is what Paul elsewhere calls ‘the works of the flesh’, the closing up of ourselves in the face of a reality we can’t fully control.

What Paul is telling us is this. If your hope is that this life will be protected and prolonged, that your comfort zone as you understand it will never be challenged, that you will never have to face the reality of being mortal and limited, God help you. It’s a recipe for illusion, terror and the killing of the soul. But that doesn’t mean that your ‘real’ life only begins on the far side of death. Rather it means that here and now you learn to live not by self-defence but by opening up to what God gives.

Read it all if you wish. The emphases are mine.

Love,
Captain Sacrament

Schiavo: the end

Peace be with the Schindler's.

And may God have mercy on the souls of all of the assholes who exploited this family and their situation in order to push their supposedly pro-life politics down our throats.

LGBT: So it's ok to discriminate as long as God's on your side?

New York Medical College, which refused to sanction a gay student group, is exempt from Westchester County's anti-discrimination law because of its connection to the Roman Catholic Church, the Human Rights Commission has ruled.

Comedy: Daily Show's Iraqiversary

A beautiful clip.

Sparkgrass: Openings

We at Sparkgrass pride ourselves on (mock)diversity. We currently consist of six white dudes, two Indian dudes, three married dudes, a Catholic dude who can't get married in quite a few states after the last election, two Jewish kids, two progressive Baptists, two engineers, two literature majors, two vegetarians, two econ majors, four kids from rural Kentucky, two Michiganders, an osteopath student, one chubby kid, an Arizona grad who doesn't know who Lute Olson is, one guy who went to medical school just so his name would coincide with a soft drink, and a poker player (who isn't even Jewish).

The following positions are now open. Leave a comment to apply:

-an angry feminist
-a happy feminist
-a lesbian (can coincide with above)
-a Muslim (bonus: a Muslim lesbian feminist--angry or happy welcome)
-a Jew who actually practices
-a public health student
-a graduate of an obscure liberal arts school (obscure majors (or political science) welcome)
-a gay Jew (if practicing, even better)
-a nihilistic philosophy major
-anyone with ovaries, a uterus, or vestiges thereof
-a transgendered/transsexual individual
-an environmentalist who bathes regularly
-anybody that thought Death Race 2000 was a KILLER movie
-anyone who has dreamt of snipering Rick Santorum or Tom DeLay
-a gun control nut (to counteract sniper)
-a liberal theologian

Great salaries! Fun work environment! Free health care from stupid medical students!

What I'm Reading

I am currently reading (aside from the USMLE books) Radio: An Illustrated Guide. It's a comic book about how This American Life is made and how you can make your very own radio stories. It's a quick read at around 32 pages.

Politics: Schiavo case may be bearing fruit

In Vermont, a Bid to Legalize Physician-Assisted Suicide: "In a Zogby poll conducted in Vermont in December, 78 percent of 500 randomly selected adults said they would support a bill to allow terminally ill patients to get medication from their doctors to hasten death." The bill still hasn't made it out of committee, but at least it's a start.

What We're Reading

(Most recently updated at top)

Steve
Overdosed America, John Abramson
Arrowsmith, Sinclair Lewis

Garrett
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini

Anshu
The Scalpel and the Silver Bear, Lori Alvord

Aashoo
White Noise, Don Delillo

Zuckerman
1776, David McCullough
How to Be Good, Nick Hornby

Geoff
Deception Point, Dan Brown
101 Biggest Mistakes 3rd Year Medical Students Make, And How To Avoid Them, Samir Desai

Erin
Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides
Letters to a Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke

Keibler
Phantoms in the Brain, V.S. Ramachandran
Rock of Ages, Stephen J. Gould
The Essential Neruda

Pepper
Transmission, Hari Kunzru

Irony: those moralless courts

"Today's ruling further confirms that the judicial branch of our government is nearly bereft of any moral foundation," said Tom Minnery, Focus on the Family's's vice president for government and public policy.

This quote wasn't on Terry Schiavo, but rather on a Colorado court case in which the judge decided that the death penalty could not be used after jurors used the Bible (rather than, ya know, THE LAW) to decide whether to give the death penalty or not (despite, ya know, the whole "eye for an eye" thing being a supposed vestige of Judaic law supposedly fulfilled by Jesus Christ, who pined for people to turn the cheek instead...)

Yup, a court that does whatever it can to avoid giving the death penalty is totally bereft of moral foundation. Right.

LGBT: Do we need a Gay/Lesbian Unit of our Police Dept?

Do we need a dedicated LGBT Unit in the Police Department? Washington DC things so...

MedSchool: Psych Cinema

Reason #3421 why I want to go into Psychiatry.

I can't see Internal Med docs sitting around watching Rushmore, Secretary, and Donnie Darko together.

Politics: Latest casualties in Iraq: Ethnic jokes

Is nothing sacred? Not even "a Sunni, a Shiite, and a Kurd walk into the casbah..."

Tech: Technology Will Always Prevail

So a man in Oklahoma has made a device that filters out Fox News. Now there's a great idea. Now if only we could filter what goes into people's ears and brains and not just what comes out of their TV. But wait, that would make us as bad as them. It's like the dark side: if you use their tactics to fight them, you could become them!

Schiavo: here's your "Nobel-prize nominated" neurologist

Not too surprising.

Hammesfahr, who was disciplined in 2003 by the Florida Board of Medicine, testified during an October 2002 court hearing on the Schiavo case that his claim to be a Nobel nominee is based on a letter written to the "Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine" by Rep. Mike Bilirakis (R-FL) recommending Hammesfahr for a "Nobel Peace Prize in Medicine." But that award does not exist (the Nobel Assembly awards separate prizes in peace and medicine), and assuming Bilirakis intended to nominate Hammesfahr for the prize for medicine, as Hammesfahr claims, the nomination is meaningless because Bilirakis is not qualified to nominate anyone for that award.

According to an explanation of the nomination process posted on the Nobel Prize website, the Nobel Assembly sends out invitations to approximately 3,000 people who are allowed to propose candidates for the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. The 3,000 are "mainly members of the Nobel Assembly, previous prize winners, and a selection of professors at universities around the world" -- not U.S. congressmen. Furthermore, the Nobel Assembly's "Nomination and Selection" criteria make clear that "[i]nformation about the nominations, investigations, and opinions concerning the award is kept secret for fifty years," so if Hammesfahr had received an actual nomination, he presumably would not know about it.

Dumbass.

Dumbasses: NRA Leader Advocates Guns for Teachers

Worst.

Idea.

EVER.

Schiavo: et tu, Ralph Nader?

Ralph just boarded the "Save Terri" train.

I'm realizing that I'm not a fan of the remove-the-feeding-tube method. As Terry Schiavo has no cognitive processes, she experiences no pain that is not simple reflex. But it's awfully hard on people to watch. But of course, it's not technically legal to give a morphine order to "titrate to pain," especially when the patient isn't experiencing cognitive pain. Though I'm pretty sure that'd be the most ethical method.

Wow: Remember the Ultimate Warrior?

Dude.

He retired from wrestling and how he's a HARDCORE, TRADITIONAL, PURE CONSERVATIVE (quote from bottom of page).

Pooping: Single-Sex Single-Use Toilets illegal?

Today I wasted away in a corner at Starbucks studying High Yield Anatomy. Needing to #2, I ventured to the bathroom and found the door locked. No big deal. Until the dude sitting at the table next to the bathroom explains to me that some chick just went in the men's restroom, and he was pretty sure the women's room was open, so I should just go in there for my business. This was sorta ironic, since I was just telling Courtney about this article, and about how it totally makes sense for places to only have unisex single use bathrooms.

A few feet from my office, Yale Law School every day violates our nation's civil rights law by needlessly discriminating on the basis of sex. And people walk by this violation day after day and never say a word.

There are two single-use restrooms side by side. One is designated for use solely by men; the other solely by women. This might seem innocuous. But it's a clear violation of Title VII, our core federal civil rights law that prohibits private employers from discriminating on the basis of sex. Yale is discriminating on the basis of sex in the conditions of my employment. I can't use this women's bathroom because I'm a man.

Of course, the ridiculous thing about this might be that he very well could use the women's restroom if he wanted to, and get in absolutely no trouble. People might think he's a little weird, but hey, most men are used to that. Especially men who would write an article like this. I'm not sure if the signs in the front of restrooms are absolute gender requirements (like white/black water fountains in the South--you could get arrested for that'un), or if they're simply suggestions, like "We at Starbucks honorably and nondiscriminately suggest if you urinate out your (penis/vagina) that you might find this restroom to suit your needs for comfort and cleanliness instead of that other one."

Of course, the feminist movement may have not jumped on this one because we all know that women's restrooms are a lot cleaner than men's restrooms. Women don't have to aim when they piss, and men usually don't bother. That sets up a nice dynamic right there. Maybe women have to wait a little extra longer sometimes, but hey, better to piss on yourself than a toilet covered in the urine of the dude that came out right before you.

Just so you know, I waited until the woman came out of the men's restroom. I couldn't quite bring myself to go deposit my bounty in the women's can.

Politics & Religion & Medicine: Schiavo has a new Savior

In addition, in a petition by the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), a neurologist who examined Schiavo's medical records found she was "most likely in a state of minimal consciousness," rather than the persistent vegetative state previous doctors have diagnosed. According to the petition, the agency's board-certified neurologist, Dr. William Polk Cheshire, has information "that seriously challenges the diagnosis that Mrs. Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state," as courts have upheld.

I was curious, wanted to make sure this Dr. William Polk Cheshire is actually a doctor (and has never claimed to have been nominated for the Nobel Prize). Turns out he is, and is even board certified in Neurology. Works at Mayo in Jackson and is a bioethics faculty there. Click here for full record. He's also kind of a religious nut. Having authored, "Returning to the Judaic Roots of the Christian Faith". He's also published in more mainstream journals, arguing that media coverage of human embryo research is biased against life and that Jesus Christ is responsible for the advent of hospitals.

Concerned readers should take notice when any category of humanity becomes subject to prejudicial and disparaging language and the value of vulnerable human life is trivialized alongside sensational assertions of anticipatedmedical cures (Am J Bioeth. 2004 Winter;4(1):1-5.)

The emergence of hospitals during the first few centuries of the Christian era testifies to the earnestness and, if the reader will accept it, also the validity of the conviction of their founders that Jesus of Nazareth, descendent of Abraham and David, the wounded healer of Isaiah 53, assuredly was thelong-awaited Messiah of Israel (Ethics & Medicine. Highland Park: Fall 2003.Vol.19, Iss. 3; pg. 143)

Medicine: Australia Scientists Grow Adult Stem Cells from Nose

For those of us who are blessed with larger than life schnozzes, we may possess an overflowing reservoir of accessible stem cells!

More importantly, this represents a possibility at completely avoiding the pitfalls of stem-cells harvested from embryos. This article does not make any characterization or comparison of the quality and adaptability of the two types, so I don't think it should be taken as a substitute, but more or less an additional option.

Schiavo: the misleading tape

This piece from Reuters does a great job explaining how the movements Schiavo makes on the infamous tape do not imply any sort of cognitive activity.

Religion: South Officially a "No Science" Zone

CNN is reporting (by way of AP) that several southern cities will not show an IMAX film about volcanoes. The reason? The movie references evolution when talking about DNA in underwater microbes. Apparently, theater owners were worried that this would alienate patrons due to religious beliefs.

In a related story, Planet of the Apes will be pulled from all Blockbuster shelves in the South and Galileo will now officially be known only by his church name, "Satan McLyingstein."

Go Cats: Movin' On Up

UMass is expected to name Eastern Kentucky coach Travis Ford as the new Minutemen basketball coach Thursday. Come back and visit, Travis.

MedPol: Quote of the Week

On Harvard-trained transplant surgeon Bill Frist's comments that Terry Schiavo isn't really brain dead:

Medical ethicists like Dr. Kenneth Prager, chairman of the Medical Ethics Committee at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, say it's "inappropriate" for Frist to make an armchair diagnosis. "A diagnosis should be made bedside by a neurologist. He's not a neurologist, and he wasn't bedside," Prager said.

OUCH!

The worst part is that Frist genuinely knows better.

LGBT/Politics: End to Don't Ask. Don't Tell?

A little weight is being put behind ending the armed forces ban on gays and their discriminatory Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.

New York City Council is expected to vote on a resolution calling on Congress to abolish the ban on gays in the military.

The proposed resolution was debated today in a committee hearing.

"It is long overdue for the Council to speak out about this unfair and discriminatory policy," said Council Member Alan Jay Gerson, the prime sponsor of the resolution.

Literature: Ian McEwan's "Saturday"

McEwan's latest is getting fabulous reviews, including a nod from Kurt Vonnegut:

What a stunningly successful tour de force. Ian McEwan, no stranger, God knows, to successes with his brains and language, this time assumes not only the persona but the knowledge of a brilliant neurosurgeon, who makes scientific interpretations of the responses of his and others' nervous systems to sometimes horrendous events in a single day.

Saturday follows a day in the life of a London neurosurgeon amidst the first English protests of the Iraq war.

Politics: the Dean dilemma (on Terry Schiavo)

Bo has a scathing but fair post on Howard Dean and the DNC's inability to effectively deal with the Terry Schiavo situation.

I certainly take issue with his assertion that "the 'Democratic wing of the Democratic Party' (which Dean claims to represent) wants Schiavo to die." Terry Schiavo is already dead by any reasonable medical definition. Ask neurologists worth their salt, and they'll likely agree.

President Bush claims that:

In cases like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws, and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life.

If I represent the 'Democratic wing,' which I believe I do in this case, I don't reasonably believe there are serious questions or substantial doubts for a secular government. For better or worse, we do have legal definitions of death based on neurological definitions. Neurologists agree that Terry Schiavo in fact does fit those definitions (I'm having trouble finding the specific language of the Florida law to make my point, though I know I saw it in an article a few days ago).

I won't dare to be so presumptious as to say that the only valid definitions of life and death are neurologically based. Certainly cultural or religious ideas of metaphysical matters are at least as valid, and I don't question the passion or the wisdom of those who really do believe that Terry Schiavo is alive and that removing her feeding tube is akin to murder. I will certainly question their medical knowledge, however. The law is strictly unambiguous in the matter, and empirical evidence suggests a drastically different conclusion than is being reached by those who prefer to view life in strictly metaphysical terms.

Politics: GOP anti-labor? surprise!

As if labor weren't still recovering from Reagan, apparently if you're a state employee in a state with a newly elected GOP governor, you don't deserve the right to negotiate your labor conditions en masse:

Republican governors in a few spots across the country are angering state employees by removing one of organized labor's strongest tools — the right to collective bargaining.

Governors in three states who've taken the step say it's about making government more efficient or being fair to non-union workers. Critics say it's political payback for labor's traditional support of Democrats and part of a wider shift to undermine workers in favor of big business.

Within hours or days of taking office this year, Mitch Daniels in Indiana and Matt Blunt in Missouri eliminated collective bargaining agreements for state employees, affecting about 50,000 workers. Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher did the same when he took office in 2003. In each case, the agreements had only been granted by executive order, not by law.

In Mississippi, where state employees don't have collective bargaining rights, GOP Gov. Haley Barbour supports a legislative effort to eliminate existing civil-service protections. In Oklahoma, the GOP-controlled state House approved a measure to repeal a law granting collective bargaining to municipal employees.

Blunt said the union rules of the business world should not apply to government. "Fundamentally, public employees are different than private sector employees — their employer is the people of Missouri," he said on his first day in office. "Taxpayers should not be bound by collective bargaining agreements."

So apparently if your employer is the people of Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Mississippi, etc., your rights as an employee don't mean too much. Besides, it's obviously beneficial to the state to underpay their employees, as that prevents from having to sift through all those pesky job applications. And you don't have to worry about getting Christmas gifts for anybody at the office, because nobody will be staying until Christmas anyway. And we all know that the state is inefficient at doing all things, so we might as well fulfill that prophesy by turning an able workforce into a workforce of the folks that not even Wal-mart would hire.

And I especially like the absolutist nature of that final statement, as if 1 Capitolism 2:39 says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, bargaining collecitvely shall not be done by my chosen people, oh great nation." I would love to see a real argument for why taxpayers should not be bound by collective bargaining agreements, other than simple anti-labor whim by the Grand Ole Party newest wave of despicables.

Politics: MI's bid to join the Bible Belt

HB 4433 seeks to allow the display of the 10 commandments on public (namely government) property. Now, I argue that Proposal 2 only passed due to homophobic religious rhetoric that seeks to impose a particular close-minded bigoted biblical interpretation. Others say that it's pro-family and pro-marriage, though it seems to exclude families and marriages. Well, I guess legislation to display the 10 commandments on government property is pro-separation-of-church-and-state and has nothing to do with religion either. The summary of the bill can be found here: "A bill to allow the display of the Ten Commandments on public property". It's only been referred to committee and we'll see if it gets to the full MI House for a vote.


Casperson (left) with his life partner and two children

Rep. Tom Casperson, the primary sponsor of HB 4433 isn't all bad though. He's also introduced legislation to repeal MI motorcycle helmet laws (see HB4505). The medical readers of this post will be pleased to hear of since it means more organs for donation. Hell, I don't recall the bible ever mentioning motorcycle safety, so I guess ol' Casperson figures it isn't necessary.

Politics: pushing all the right buttons

Matt Yglesias and Jessica at Feministing ponder why Republicans don't support legislation designed to reduce the number of abortions in this country. Excellent posts worth the two seconds needed to read them.

Politics: Sully gets it right

Andrew Sullivan laments conservatism come undone:

So it is now the federal government's role to micro-manage baseball and to prevent a single Florida woman who is trapped in a living hell from dying with dignity. We're getting to the point when conservatism has become a political philosophy that believes that government - at the most distant level - has the right to intervene in almost anything to achieve the right solution. Today's conservatism is becoming yesterday's liberalism.

Politics: pro-life or pro-vegetativeexistence?

For the love of humanity, let the girl die and be at peace!

Employing an "extraordinary congressional" maneuver, House Republican leadership early Friday made a last-ditch effort to keep doctors from removing Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.

Schiavo is scheduled to have her feeding tube removed at 1 p.m. today, under court order.

"Later this morning, we will issue a subpoena, which will require hospice administrators and attending physicians to preserve nutrition and hydration for Terri Schiavo to allow Congress to fully understand the procedures and practices that are currently keeping her alive," a statement from the House Republican leadership said.

That statement was released by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis. Details of the subpoena were not immediately clear and it was not revealed whom it actually targeted.

"The Committee on Government Reform has initiated an inquiry into the long- term care of incapacitated adults, an issue of growing importance to the federal government and federal healthcare policy," the statement said.

"This inquiry should give hope to Terri, her parents and friends, and the millions of people throughout the world who are praying for her safety. This fight is not over."

What's to understand, Congressman? The girl has no cerebral activity, and cerebral activity is consciousness and life as we know it. Lower brain reflexes that some incorrectly attribute to consciousness might make the neurologically-ignorant think there's something still there, but there's not. What, are senators suddenly all going to go back to college, take pre-med courses, go to med school, and spend four years doing a neurology residency?

Pro-life or not, there's simply no issue here for the mildly educated, and the whims of the ignorant or amateur theologians have no place in a government of rational representation.

Evil Empire; Wal-Mart settles illegal worker suit for $11 million

As if that were its only labor exploitation.

LGBT: Gay man denied a funeral

Here is an excerpt from an article:

From the San Diego Daily Transcript:

A member of the Greater San Diego Business Association and owner of two gay bars has been denied a funeral at the University of San Diego and in any Catholic church or chapel in the Diocese of San Diego. John McCusker, 31, owner of Club Montage and ReBar, two local gay nightspots, died early March 13. McCusker suffered an apparent heart attack while at the Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort on vacation.

A 1996 graduate of USD, McCusker's family wanted to have the funeral service there, but was denied after church officials received information about him and his businesses.....

Joyce Marieb, executive director of the Greater San Diego Business Association, called McCusker, "a great leader and the kind of guy that people love to see because he gives back and is very generous to the community."

"We all know what this is about," Marieb said, who knew McCusker for the past five and a half years. "They [the Catholic Church] claim they've buried other gay people and that it's because of the bar aspect."

A statement released earlier Thursday by Rodrigo Valdivia, chancellor for the Diocese of San Diego, explains the church's actions.

"The facts regarding the business activity of John McCusker were not known by church officials when arrangements were requested for his funeral. When these facts became known the bishop of San Diego concluded that to avoid public scandal Mr. McCusker can't be granted a funeral in a Catholic church or chapel in the Diocese of San Diego."

So what about McCusker would cause a public scandal?

"His business is adult entertainment, which is inconsistent with Catholic teaching" Valdivia said. "People would be scandalized that the church granted a funeral to a person who had this type of business activity."

This is crazy - why does the Catholic church have to be so bigoted?

LBGT: MI Attorney general says Proposal 2 bars future same-sex benefits

Republican hatemongering much?

In the first legal interpretation of Proposal 2, Attorney General Mike Cox wrote in an opinion that Kalamazoo's policy of offering health and retirement benefits to same-sex partners violates the amendment. Voters passed the measure 59 percent to 41 percent in November.

Proposal 2 said a union between one man and one woman "shall be the only agreement recognized as a marriage or similar union for any purpose."

Kalamazoo's policy gives domestic partnerships a "marriage-like" status, Cox said. Given the constitutional amendment's broad language, conferring benefits recognizes the validity of same-sex relationships, he ruled.

Politics: The Soft Bigotry of Life Expectancy

William Saletan at Slate discusses all the different lies that the Bush administration has been telling to African Americans and Hispanics to dupe them into supporting his social security plan.

History: Happy St. Patrick's Day (a little early)

Leave it to The Onion to tell it like it is. And I thought the Jews had it bad!

Dog Blogging: Woof

Medicine: New recommendations for 60-90 minute exercise programs

Of course, since we were so good at implementing the 20 minute (late 90's) and 30 minute (since then) recommendations, obviously they should be jacked up a little higher.

Law: Breaking it, NCAA style

Slate has the rundown:

Most forms of gambling, including betting pools, are illegal in nearly all states. (The law often exempts certain licensed charitable organizations, such as churches that sponsor raffles; and of course some states allow casino gambling and sponsor lotteries.) In Vermont, however, residents can legally participate in NCAA tournament pools: Just last year, the state passed a law allowing people to participate in so-called noncommercial forms of betting, in which a winner (or a charity) receives all the money.

No matter where you live, however, it is illegal to make interstate telephone calls to participate in a betting pool, and probably illegal to use the Internet to do so. The 1961 federal Wire Act prohibits using phone lines to place or accept bets across state lines; each violation can carry a two-year prison term and a fine up to $5,000. Whether this law applies to the Internet is unclear, though the federal government has used it as justification for prosecuting some companies that run Web-based gambling sites. Last November, the Senate passed a bill that aims to ban Internet gambling more definitively; the bill has been referred to a House subcommittee for consideration.

I guess the Feds could prosecute office betting pools, since they've obviously solved all other problems in our great nation.

Econ: Krugman Krugman Rah Rah Rah

The argument over Social Security privatization isn't about rival views on how to secure the program's future - even the administration admits that private accounts would do nothing to help the system's finances. It's a debate about what kind of society America should be.

And it's a debate Republicans appear to be losing, because the public doesn't share their view that it's a good idea to expose middle-class families, whose lives have become steadily riskier over the past few decades, to even more risk. As soon as voters started to realize that private accounts would replace traditional Social Security benefits, not add to them, support for privatization collapsed.

But the Republicans' loss may not be the Democrats' gain, for two reasons. One is that some Democrats, in the name of centrism, echo Republican talking points. The other is that claims to be defending average families ring hollow when you defer to corporate interests on votes that matter.

And with friends like this, who needs enemies?

So anyone who repeats the $600 billion line is helping to spread a lie. That's why it was disturbing to read a news report about the deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration, who must know better, doing just that at a pro-privatization rally.

But in his latest radio address, Mr. Bush - correctly, this time - attributed the $600 billion figure to a "Democrat leader." He was referring to Senator Joseph Lieberman, who, for some reason, repeated the party line - the Republican party line - the previous Sunday.

My guess is that Mr. Lieberman thought he was being centrist and bipartisan, reaching out to Republicans by showing that he shares their concerns. At a time when the Democrats can say, without exaggeration, that their opponents are making a dishonest case for policies that will increase the risks facing families, Mr. Lieberman gave the administration cover by endorsing its fake numbers.

Onion: Iraq Exit Strategy-- We'll go through Iran!

Thank you, Onion!

LGBT: An unsuspecting ally

Sometimes the irony is just so sweet...

Supporters of same-sex marriage found an ally in San Francisco Judge Richard Kramer - a Catholic Republican appointed to the bench by a former GOP governor.

Medicine: Acid trip--all day, every day

Neurologists have some cool stories to tell (even if they ARE being replaced by MRIs and drunken Canadian monkeys named Babinski):

Imagine every time you hear the telephone ring, you taste a burrito with jalapeño and guacamole. Believe it or not, some people -- synesthetes -- experience things just like that.

For them it's like being hooked up to a weird virtual-reality machine. The number 7 may look green, or the color red might smell of soap. G-flat on the piano might look like broken glass.

Note to self: become synesthete. Except I'm not a big fan of guacamole. Or olives. Or pickles. I hope nothing I hear tastes like olives or pickles.

MedPol: Medicaid in the Cross Hairs

A nice summary of the Medicaid situation from NYT.

Economics: Slanting Social Security

I Heart Krugman.

Politics: we're all doomed

Kevin Drum has a nice outline of what the Congress has been doing this year (and it's only March!).

• Passed: A tort reform bill that makes it harder for ordinary citizens to sue corporations who harm them.

• Coming soon: A bankruptcy bill that will make it harder for distressed workers to declare bankruptcy and will increase credit card company profits by an estimated $1 billion.

• Coming soon: A transportation bill that adds two unpaid hours onto the work days of short-haul and long-haul truckers.

• In progress: Changes to Social Security that will almost certainly include benefit cuts for current workers.

• In progress: Making permanent a set of tax cuts that primarily helps the upper class.

Politics: Delay Gets Treatment for Heart Condition

MSNBC is reporting that House Majority Leader Tom Delay was treated for an arrythmia after arriving at Bethesda National Naval Medical Center yesterday. Sources are indicating that he's fine and will not need extensive treatment. He has already been sent home.

So it turns out that Delay really does have a heart. I guess I owe my friend 5 bucks.

Medicine: empathy is just like an orgasm

If you don't have any, you can always just fake it.

War: Saddam capture staged?

An ex-Marine who participated in the capture of Saddam is saying that Saddam was actually captured the day before it was announced in a small suburban house, and the capture in the well was staged.

Prayers: for Kolonay's brother

Sparkgrass contributor Jeremy Kolonay's brother is in the ICU with a less than pleasant prognosis. Drop him a note of encouragement.

Politics: U.S. Misses Soldier Reimbursement Deadline

And hawks wonder why the 'loony left' thinks they're heartless and power hungry?

The Defense Department hasn't developed a plan to reimburse soldiers for equipment they've bought to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan despite requirements in a law passed last year, a senator says.

In a letter sent Wednesday to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., asked details on the Pentagon's progress setting up the reimbursement program and questioned why it was not in place yet.

"Very simply, this is either negligence on their part, because they were not happy with this when it passed, or it's incompetence," Dodd said. "It's pretty outrageous when you have all their rhetoric about how much we care about our people in uniform."

Awesome: Video game icons honored on 'Walk of Game'

Mario! Mario! Mario!

LGBT: gay couple featured in USANext hate ad suing to the tune of 25 million

The ad attacking the AARP, first covered on Sparkgrass here, featured a wedding picture of an Oregon gay couple.

I hope they get every penny.

Humor: GOP To Make Law Giving Everyone's Money To The Rich

The latest from Opinions You Should Have, including a "quote" from Mitch McConnell.

Sparkgrass Community's First Caption Contest!!!

Rick Santorum is an easy nomination for the sickest bastard currently elected to public office. And for some reason, this picture, that plastic face, the spray on hair, the extended digit... gives me the willies!

"I'll raise the minimum wage...
IF you let me massage your prostate!"

So here's the contest: make up the funniest/freakiest/wrongest caption you can think of for this picture. Winner gets... umm... a free rectal exam from Sen. Man-on-Dog himself!

Update: Thanks to Ben over at BlueGrassRoots for co-sponsoring this caption-contest!

Economics: The Debt-Peonage Society

Paul Krugman rips the new bankruptcy bill written by and for credit card companies in his latest.

Film: Tarentino to take a stab at the Friday the 13th franchise?

Negotiations to start work on The Ultimate Jason Voorhees Movie seem all but complete.

SWEET!

Politics: and just like that

the minimum wage proposals were each thrown to the wolves.

Politics: how cute

From AP, about alpha Bush and Clinton on the Tsunami World Tour:

Bush, 80, said Clinton offered ahead of time to give the older former president the bedroom so he could lie flat and avoid paining his body. Clinton, 58, decided to play cards in the other room that night.

The next morning, Bush said he peeked in and saw Clinton sound asleep on the plane's floor.

"We could have switched places, each getting half a night on the bed, but he deferred to me. That was a very courteous thing, very thoughtful, and that meant a great deal to me," Bush said.

Bush said he and Clinton are not close, but have been compatible on the tour, partly because Clinton respects his age.

Awwww. Wouldn't you pay a zillion bucks for a picture of Bill Clinton asleep on the floor of a plane? Probably not his first time, but still!

Politics: liberal mock outrage

Okay, I think Trent Lott got what he deserved, and I admit I don't know all that much about Lindsey Graham. Maybe he has some racist history I don't know about. But as a Red State refugee, I can totally find the humor in Graham's joke to a Tennessee Lincoln Dinner crowd:

“We don’t do Lincoln Day Dinners in South Carolina,” Senator Graham told a Lincoln Day gathering in Tennessee Saturday. “It’s nothing personal, but it takes awhile to get over things.”

And people are PISSED!

Now, I'm not saying I tolerate the racist crap that comes out of some of these Southern senators' mouths from time to time. But come on, kids. THIS isn't exactly a smoking gun. It's actually kinda funny! Southerners don't like Northerners, and it has nothing to do with taking away their easy-to-identify farm labor, but everything to do with the way Northerners sit in Starbucks at Barnes and Noble making fun of Southerners all the time. It happens! And they know it!

So are Southerners a bunch of xenophobes? Sure. But so are Northerners. Northerners just don't understand that the rest of the planet (besides the US South) isn't exactly just like them. Ignorance is bliss in that regard.

Politics: Bush vs. Science

Kevin Drum blogs about the calling out of the Bush camp in quoting studies that support their policies. Actually, quoting studies that don't support their policies, but quoting them anyway and hoping nobody finds out. Amazing.

Medicine: a happy marriage makes happy wound healing

Blah blah blah stress blah blah blah glucocorticoids blah blah blah immunosuppression blah blah *yawn*.

But wait! Check out the methods to this study from those Illinois-beating sickos at Ohio State:

In the wound healing study, 42 couples agreed to let researchers use a suction device to create several minor blister wounds on their skin in two sessions about two months apart. The first time, couples were told to discuss a neutral topic; the next time they were given half an hour to resolve an issue or two on which they disagreed. Their discussions were monitored.

Researchers also checked participants' wounds over the next few weeks and their production of three proteins created in wound healing.

The outcome: "Even a simple discussion of a disagreement slows wound healing," says psychologist Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, who did the study with co-author Ronald Glaser of Ohio State University College of Medicine.

The moral of the story: be nice to your bleeding husband or wife. And Ohio State sucks.

Politics: Rick Santorum ready to give the 40 hour work week a rectal it doesn't need

So you've heard it all over the news. The Democrats want to destroy small business in three easy payments of 70 cents, while the GOP wants to give small business a gentle prostate massage to the tune of 55 twice. Neither plan probably gets anybody over the poverty line.

But whatever. Low wage earners need all the help they can get, and if in the days of these absurd politics, we can get blood from the stone, that's great. It probably won't pass the uber-conservative House, who think the economy will collapse if poor people suddenly have money to eat after they pay their cable and cell phone bills.

But why won't Sparkgrass's evil nemesis, Sen. Man-on-Dog himself, Rick Santorum, quit trying to steal overtime from wage earners? Doesn't Wal-mart have ENOUGH tricks with which to screw its employees without giving them another weapon the in arsenal, all wrapped in some sick pro-family visage? Oh yeah, and people who work for tips? Up their arses! And up their doggies' asses too!

Don't let this creepy man touch you.
He'll turn you to stone.