Media: Michael Moore on Leno tonight

Which wouldn't be significant at all, except the website shows a picture of Moore CLEANSHAVEN, HAIR-COMBED, and IN A SUIT!

Medicine: DOJ's rape treatment guidelines omit emergency contraception

Seeing as many pregnancy termination foes find the procedure palatable in the case of rape or incest, this seems like an ultimate act of political twistery. Emergency contraception is in no way abortion. Emergency contraception is health care. Emergency contraception is safe, prevents the situational need for an abortion, and psychologically reassures raped women who, last time I checked, need all the psychological support they can get. Hardly any woman wants to carry around the baby of a rapist for nine months, a constant growing reminder of violation and violence, and (although I don't necessarily find this to be a consistent ideology) most abortion foes seem to agree that she shouldn't have to.

The result is “a glaring omission in an otherwise thorough document,” the groups said in a letter sent to Diane Stuart, director of the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women.

Gloria Feldt, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, called the omission “a blatant example of politics taking precedence over the emotional and physical health needs of women.” Her organization, and other groups, contend that information about emergency contraception was included in an early draft of the guidelines, then removed from the final version because of political concerns.

To be clear with what I said above, I believe strongly that the termination of pregnancy for any reason is also health care. But abortion foes have often wrongly adopted emergency contraception into their circle of enemies, and Catholic aversion to birth control should be treated as a cultural anomaly for the purpose of health care guidelines for treating a traumatized woman.

Politics: questioning Gonzales on torture

An excellent indictment of Alberto Gonzales' past:

On Tuesday, a dozen retired generals, including a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, signed a letter expressing "deep concern" about Gonzales' position on torture. That position, the military leaders said, had damaged the United States' reputation around the world and exposed U.S. troops to increased risks of mistreatment by captors. Acceptance of torture, the letter states, puts the U.S. "on the wrong side of history."

It's a short and very to-the-point op/ed from the Eugene, OR paper.

Media: Tucker Carlson says goodbye at CNN, picked up by MSNBC

Bo catches me sleeping on the blogjob.

In other news, stock for Lame Bowties LLC closed up two and a half yesterday.

Medicine: one of the causes of malpractice lawsuits is — surprise! — malpractice.

Kevin Drum blogs about a new study out of UC-SD that links medication errors to the busiest times of the month.

Politics: the 'truth' on tort reform

From a Kos diary:

So, Chimpy is doing a "live news event" in Collinsville, Illinois today, giving a speech on medical liability reform. And of course CNN is carrying it live. It's basically a campaign speech two months after the fact. But I was struck by how the words at the bottom of the screen did in no way match the words from Bush's mouth.

As Bush was speaking on the need for medical liability reform, four factoids flashed across the bottom of the screen. They were as follows:

"Medical malpractice payments have dropped 11% in the last 9 years."

"Medical malpractice insurance is less than 1% of overall medical costs."

"Between 44,000-49,000 Americans die every year from preventable medical errors."

"Preventable medical errors cost Americans $17-29 billion dollars every year."

Beautiful.

Media: Thomas Sowell calls homosexuality a "deathstyle in the AIDS era"

Thomas Sowell was one of the only columnists syndicated in my home town paper growing up, so I read him often, since he sometimes knows what he's talking about concerning economics, and he isn't normally on the forefront of dumbassery. But then he claims that

rather than marriage rights, what "homosexual activists" really desire is "the stamp of acceptance on homosexuality, as a means of spreading that lifestyle, which has become a deathstyle in the AIDS era."

Sowell continued: "They have already succeeded to a remarkable degree in our public schools, where so-called 'AIDS education' or other pious titles are put on programs that promote homosexuality."

Media: Savage on the tsunami

Michael Savage consistently makes Rush and Hannity seem like okay guys:

From the December 31 edition of Savage Nation:

SAVAGE: It is the Savage Nation out here on the West Coast. We've had rain for five days. We have another five days of it. I need some aid right now. International aid. Because I may be suffering from seasonal affective disorder if this keeps up. Maybe I should go to the U.N. [United Nations] and see if I can get some special psychotherapy and sun lamps.

We shouldn't be sending as much as we're sending. Bush has a lot of gall writing a check for 135 million dollars. This is more a UNICEF deal, it's a U.N. deal, it's a Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, George Soros, Bill Clinton bleeding-heart-liberal deal. I don't want to send them any money. You know, a few airplanes with some medical supplies and a little lip service would have been fine for me.

You could take the argument that it's God's will, it's too bad and let's move on. And then let others help them. They're not in our sphere of interest. Primarily, they hate our guts in plain English. All right, well, the argument is, well, if you send them money, they're gonna like us, show 'em we're not anti-Muslim. That is such rubbish. That is such rubbish. They're gonna hate you anyhow, no matter what we ever do.

It's not a tragedy. I wouldn't call it a tragedy. It's a human disaster. It's not a tragedy in that sense. But, the issue is, theological questions suddenly arise. ... Now, for you atheists, you have no questions about this. It's a pure accident of nature. You don't ask yourself, "Was it God's hand?"

If you are a God-believing, God-fearing person, I am sure at some point you ask yourself, wait a minute. The epicenter of this earthquake and the resulting tidal wave was adjacent to the sex trade island of Phuket, Thailand ... and then it knocked out many, many regions of Indonesia, some of which are the most vicious recruiting grounds for Islamic terrorists. That's a fact of reality. Then going the other way, it hit Sri Lanka, ex-Ceylon. And as you well know, Sri Lanka is a viciously anti-Western nation, the home of the Tamil Tigers, who are not only separatists but anti-Westerners, anti-Christians, etc. You could argue, maybe this is God's hand, because some of their brethren struck Christian America. Maybe God speaks the truth but waits. Seeks the truth and waits. I don't know. You could argue: God struck them. Now, I don't argue that because I'm not a theologian. Nor do I believe that God is omnipotent. I believe God is omnipresent. But I don't think God has control over every act because there would be no free will and I don't believe in that. ... But then again, who knows? I'm one man amongst billions of people, with one man's opinion.

Many of the countries and the areas in these countries that were hit by these tidal waves were hotbeds of radical Islam. Why should we be helping them destroy us? ... I think what we're doing is feeding our own demise. ... I truthfully don't believe in foreign aid.

We shouldn't be spending a nickel on this, as far as I'm concerned. ... I don't want one nickel of my money going over there. ... I am sick of being bled to death by every damn incident on the earth.

Politics: our 'disadvantaged' President

On AG nominee Alberto Gonzalez:

Bush “likes somebody he sees as having overcome potential disadvantages, because he sees himself as having done that,” says Paul Burka, executive editor of Texas Monthly magazine and a close follower of the president.

And Campaign Extra! points out the logical questions:

Which "potential disadvantages" would those be? Born into a family of Wall Street and oil field millionaires? Grandson of a U.S. senator? Son of a U.S. president? Forced to attend Andover and Yale despite mediocre grades? Bailed out of repeated business failures? Handed a major league baseball team in a sweetheart deal?

We wish they would have been more specific, with so many potential disadvantages to choose from.

Social Security: Krugman's latest

And further repetition of the new left buzz--the lack of a Social Security crisis.

But I prefer the secondary emphasis: that Medicare and Medicaid are in SO MUCH more trouble.

Politics: Frist Filibuster Douchery

Here's a nice article from the left-wing thinktank Center for American Progress on Bill Frist's recent running-of-the-mouth about filibusters, outlining some flip-flopping concerning his own filibustering during the Clinton administration.

CAP's labelling of the behavior as hypocritical and dishonest might be a little strong, though. Sounds pretty politics-as-usual to me, on both sides of the aisle. Now, I'm all about illuminating this sort of bullshot, since its obviously pretty cruddy behavior. But I think Bill Frist can be perfectly well deconstructed on the filibuster issue without referring to his past actions.

Medicine: top condom brands rated (and other reproductive fun)

Hey, why not?

[R]esults showed that the top brand, able to take the most punishment, was the Durex Extra Sensitive Lubricated Latex, according to the report.

Other top-performers include the Durex Performax Lubricated, Lifestyles Classic Collection Ultra Sensitive Lubricated and TheyFit Lubricated.

And in other super-obvious news concerning where people stick their genitals, another study proved what sentient sexual beings could have told you all along:

Providing women with easy access to the emergency contraceptive Plan B did not lead them to engage in more risky sexual behavior, a study of more than 2,000 California women has concluded.

The study did find that women given a supply to keep at home were more than 1 1/2 times as likely to use the drug after unprotected sex as those who had to pick it up at a clinic or pharmacy. The findings led the study authors to conclude that easy access to Plan B, also called the morning-after pill, could reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies while posing no apparent risk to women.

Which is about as obvious as the fact that secondhand smoke in the home slows down a kid's ability to learn.

But of course, we need these studies to prove to dumbasses that can't compute the obvious that sane people really are right.

Whatever: Britney as a CSI?

Best of luck to her. *Snicker*

And for those of you that actually read the article, can you even imagine Natalie Portman and Britney Spears having a conversation? What does an amazingly talented Harvard-educated liberal have to say to the producer-manufactured Republican Podunk Princess?

Medicine: painkiller fears getting out of control

From a BBC News article:

The risk of intestinal damage from common painkillers such as ibuprofen and aspirin may be higher than thought, research suggests.

Doctors found small intestine damage in more than 70% of patients who took non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug painkillers for more than three months.

Previously it was thought the risk of gut problems was low.

By whom??? Since when have we thought that there wasn't a real and significant chance of GI bleeding from NSAIDS? But I guess some half-assed science writer has to make his paycheck this week. Yes, last week they tried to crucify Naproxen w/ their shit headlines. Now Ibuprofen. I have a great idea. Let's give everybody morphine, or better yet, let them suffer and writhe in pain. Or just shoot people in the head when they get a migraine.

It's great to understand risks and all, and in this particular case, if it gets a patient to ask a haphazard doc for a proton pump inhibitor script, that's a step forward. But geez. Pretty soon, whiskey stocks will start rising, as it'll be the only painkiller left approved by the FDA.

Medicine: Italian Smoking Ban

No smoking in bars, restaurants, cafes, etc. Gorgeous.

Politics: GOP playing by the rules

Nice to see some balls on the other side of the aisle. Or rather, at least it's nice to see the majority party can't hoodwink America THAT easily.

House Republicans suddenly reversed course Monday, deciding to retain a tough standard for lawmaker discipline and reinstating a rule that would force Majority Leader Tom DeLay to step aside if indicted by a Texas grand jury.

Religion: Catholic school allowing the sons of two gay men to enroll at Catholic school

But DAMN the rest of the folks at the school are pissed! Apparently parents at the school have to sign some sort of pact that they'll live by traditional Catholic values, which papists of course don't believe includes being a loving homosexual couple. Luckily, there are more than enough seemingly intelligent people involved in this fiasco, pointing out that just because the parents are gay, that the kids aren't doing anything "wrong" (at least that's a relatively MODERATE view!), and this quote, from the Superintendent of the school:

But Father Gerald M. Horan, superintendent of schools run by the Diocese of Orange, rejected the idea of a parental covenant. If the school barred gay parents from enrolling their children, they would also have to ban children of parents who violate other church teachings, including those who are divorced, use birth control or weren't married in the church, he said.

Yay for tolerant (or at least getting there and trying) Catholics!

Media: MMFA's top ten most outrageous statements of 04

Rush Limbaugh on the Abu Ghraib photos: "I'm talking about people having a good time, these people, you ever heard of emotional release? You ever heard of need to blow some steam off?"

Ann Coulter: "[Senator John] Kerry will improve the economy in the emergency services and body bag industry."

Tony Blankley called philanthropist George Soros "a Jew who figured out a way to survive the Holocaust."

Michael Savage: "When you hear 'human rights,' think gays. ... [T]hink only one thing: someone who wants to rape your son."

Oliver North: "Every terrorist out there is hoping John Kerry is the next president of the United States."

Pat Robertson on gays and lesbians: "[S]elf-absorbed hedonists ... that want to impose their particular sexuality on the rest of America."

Pat Buchanan: "[H]omosexuality is an affliction, like alcoholism."

Bill O'Reilly to Jewish caller: "[I]f you are really offended, you gotta go to Israel."

Bill Cunningham (Clear Channel radio host who appeared as a guest on The Sean Hannity Show): The election is over because "Elizabeth Edwards has now sung."

Jerry Falwell: "And we're going to invite PETA [to "wild game night"] as our special guest, P-E-T-A -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. We want you to come, we're going to give you a top seat there, so you can sit there and suffer. This is one of my special groups, another one's the ACLU, another is the NOW -- the National Order of Witches [sic]. We've got -- I've got a lot of special groups."

Medicine: Would you like a clogged artery while you're here?

In what seems to be a tardy and fairly obvious action, the Cleveland Clinic is pushing to remove some fast-food restaurants from their food courts, perhaps in an effort to revitalize its heart-healthy image. The soon-to-be-gone McDonalds had little comment but to reply that they will try to offer Happy Meals that contain a salad and pedometer.

Who We Are

Garrett Sparks founded the Sparkgrass Community during the 2004 election cycle.

Geoff Barnes, Matt Pepper, Matt Zuckerman, and Garrett were all medical students at the University of Michigan. Kyle Potter grew up in a neighboring county in rural northeastern Kentucky with Garrett.

Geoff, future cardiologist and likely leader in the LGBT movement, graduated from Washington University with a degree in Biomedical Engineering. He's an Internal Medicine PGY1 at the University of Michigan

Matt Pepper graduated from Duke University with a double major in Electrical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering. He's now a pediatrics intern back at Duke.

Kyle maintains his theology-rich blog, Vindicated. He graduated from Georgetown College with a degree in History, and is back in Lexington working on his thesis for an M.Th. from Oxford.

Garrett graduated from the University of Kentucky with degrees in Biology and English. He's also working on his masters in clinical research before he graduates from medical school and runs off somewhere to do a residency in psychiatry.

Matt Zuckerman graduated from the University of Arizona with degrees in Microbiology and Creative Writing. He's an Emergency Medicine intern at Brown, and his wife is an astrophysicist. For real.

Sparkgrass alumni:

Josh Blagg is finishing his masters in statistics at the University of Kentucky.

Anshu Jain is a medical student at the University of Kentucky.

Matt Keibler is a general surgical resident in southeast Michigan.

Steve Warnick is a resident in family medicine and psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati.