Top Chef Open Thread
Chef Tom Colicchio will drink. your. milkshake!!!
He will also cook you up a special hot stew with his meat and two veg.
Question of the Day
Given that I've spent pretty much the entire day today immersed in delivering a message to Jay Leno on behalf of lots of people keen to give him their gayest looks, I thought an interesting QotD might be: If you had an opportunity to say one thing to any well-known person, who would it be and what would you say?
As for me, I'll continue to concentrate on my message to Jay about "gay looks" for the time being...
Reality Check: Why Don't Fat Women Get Checked for Cancer of the Nasty Bits?
The Rotund points out a recent Reuters article about how clinically obese women are less likely to be screened for cervical, breast, and colorectal cancer. And of course, researchers and journalists just can't imagine why.
It's not certain why obese women are less likely to get these screening tests, as few studies have been designed to look at the underlying reasons
Well, here's one: Stigma and Discrimination in Weight Management and Obesity, by Kelly Brownell and Rebecca Pugh. A few highlights (with my emphasis):
24% of nurses said they are 'repulsed' by obese persons
Numerous studies2-6 document explicit negative attitudes about obesity among physicians, nurses, dieticians, and medical students. These attitudes include: obese people lack self-control and are lazy, obesity is caused by character flaws, and failure to lose weight is due only to noncompliance.
Among physicians, 17% reported reluctance to provide pelvic exams to very obese women, and 83% indicated reluctance to provide a pelvic exam if the patient herself was hesitant.12 Given that overweight women may hesitate to obtain exams and that physicians are reluctant to perform exams on obese or reluctant women, many overweight women may not receive necessary preventive care.
Efforts to reduce bias toward obese people have been limited. One intervention study17 attempted to reduce stigma toward obese patients among medical students. Before random assignment to a control group or an education intervention using videos, written materials, and role-playing exercises, the majority of medical students in the study characterized obese individuals as lazy, sloppy, and lacking in self-control, despite the students indicating that they had an accurate understanding of obesity's cause. After the intervention, students demonstrated significantly improved attitudes and beliefs about obesity compared with the control group. One year later, the effectiveness of the intervention was still evident.17
Here's another one: Barriers to routine gynelogical cancer screening for White and African-American obese women, by Amy, Aalborg, Lyons and Keranen.
The lower screening rate was not a result of lack of available health care since more than 90% of the women had health insurance. Women report that barriers related to their weight contribute to delay of health care. These barriers include disrespectful treatment, embarrassment at being weighed, negative attitudes of providers, unsolicited advice to lose weight, and medical equipment that was too small to be functional. The percentage of women who reported these barriers increased as the women's BMI increased. Women who delay were significantly less likely to have timely pelvic examinations, Pap tests, and mammograms than the comparison group, even though they reported that they were 'moderately' or 'very concerned' about cancer symptoms. The women who delay care were also more likely to have been on weight-loss programs five or more times. Many health care providers reported that they had little specific education concerning care of obese women, found that examining and providing care for large patients was more difficult than for other patients, and were not satisfied with the resources and referrals available to provide care for them.
I find that bit about having been on weight loss programs five or more times fascinating. Because the logical conclusion is, these are women who know bloody well that diets won't work for them--and also know bloody well that no matter what they see their doctors for, including a fucking pap smear, they'll be told to go on yet another diet.
24% of nurses are repulsed by fat people. 17% of doctors don't want to put a speculum up a fat woman's vagina. (Do they enjoy giving pelvics to thin women? 'Cause, ew.) A majority of medical students think fat people are "lazy, sloppy, and lacking in self-control."
Yeah, it's a total fucking mystery why fat women don't want to have their most vulnerable body parts, the ones culturally designated as most shameful, poked and prodded by medical professionals. How could we ever begin to figure that one out?
Goodbye, Gravel; We Hardly Knew Ye
Gravel: Out. Not of the presidential race that hardly anyone knows he's in, but the Democratic Party.
Long-shot presidential candidate Mike Gravel told supporters Wednesday he is leaving the Democratic Party to join the Libertarian Party.I feel his pain. And I'd add a grumblefuck about gobbling from the corporate trough, too.
Gravel, a former Democratic senator from Alaska, said in an e-mail that the Democratic Party "no longer represents my vision for our great country."
"It is a party that continues to sustain war, the military-industrial complex and imperialism - all of which I find anathema to my views," he said in the e-mail in which he also asked supporters for campaign donations.
But even if I belonged to the Democratic Party, I don't think I'd find the Libertarians the answer to my problems.
Quote of the Day
"Wow, you're the first person actually that's ever asked me that question in the, I don't know, maybe 70 college campuses that I've now been to, and I do not think that's any of your business."—Chelsea Clinton, after being asked whether her mother's credibility had been hurt during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Her response was met with applause.
Meanwhile, the WaPo's Ed O'Keefe (among others) asks: "Is it fair to ask Chelsea Clinton about Lewinsky?" which, of course, totally misses the point—that questions about a woman with whom her husband had an affair a decade ago aren't relevant to Hillary Clinton's candidacy, no matter to whom they're directed.
Makes You Wonder
When Hillary Clinton sits down for an interview with an editorial board for a newspaper run by Richard Mellon Scaife, a guy who spent a whole lot of money in the 1990's to prove that she had murdered Vince Foster, and the upshot of the interview is that Sen. Clinton happens to mention that she would have left the church if her pastor had preached sermons like Rev. Jeremiah Wright, it kind of makes you wonder whether the whole thing wasn't planned out that way.
At least that's the conclusion of Josh Marshall at TPM, and I can't say I don't wonder the same thing myself.
Then there's the whole Bosnia trip thing and how Sen. Clinton "misspoke." That's an amateur gaffe that you'd expect from someone running for a freshman term in Congress... or John McCain. (But then he'd get a free pass for it because he has so much credibility from the media anyway.) With all the talk about how carefully Hillary Clinton has crafted her campaign and, according to the Orcosphere, how she's so coldly calculating and never leaves any fingerprints on anything she does -- why, she's Karl Rove in drag! -- how could she make such a blunder?
So juxtaposing these two stories -- the interview with the far-right editorial board and the bush-league Bosnia blunder -- it makes you wonder whether she's as smart a campaigner as the conventional wisdom would have you believe (and her detractors hope she isn't), or if she's just as prone to the kluztery and fallibility as everybody else? Or maybe the Bosnia gaffe was really planned just to lull everyone into a false sense of security so they wouldn't see it coming when she does whatever voodoo she does to win the nomination, win the election, and finally vanquish all her foes in one fell swoop.
Or maybe we're all getting in way too deep with all of this overanalysis and nobody outside of the blogosphere and punditocracy really gives a rat's ass. I wonder.
(Cross-posted.)
No Grover Left Behind
Grover Norquist's opinion on the raising of fuel economy standards to 35 mpg by the year 2020:
The government itself has calculated that around 2000 people a year are killed because of those CAFÉ standards and our cheerful government has just voted to increase them, to make cars lighter, smaller. And more people will die. I mean 2,000 people a year die because the environmentalists think that you should be in a smaller car because it offends their sensitivities that you’re using gasoline.One of the necessary evils of free speech is having to put up with people who get the opportunity to spew drivel and horseshit while running around with scissors in a toga.
Grover would have us believe that increasing fuel efficiency and eventually weaning ourselves off of oil will actively kill people.
Grover would have us believe that our salvation lies with the unchecked consumption of oil, to the point of its dribbling out of our ears.
Grover would have us believe that more lives would be saved and enriched if we kept driving vehicles that use more gasoline, consequently forcing people to keep paying more as gas prices continue to increase.
Grover would have us believe that he is not in any need of remedial education, despite the clear lack of intellect that could actually forge a relationship between fuel efficiency and fatalities, thereby making Grover dumber than a bag of hammers.
Grover should shut the fuck up and actually think before he spews.
St. McCain
If the time ever comes—and I hope to Maude it doesn't; I hope more than I can possibly explain (though this and this may give you some idea)—when we are looking for reasons why McCain managed to beat either Obama or Hillary, let us remember this article, which gave us reason after nausea-inducing reason why the press loves their straight-talkin' maverick war hero, like "McCain is an ironist wooing a group of individuals who regard ironic detachment more highly than sincerity or seriousness."
And let us not point our fingers first and foremost at whichever candidate fails to get the nomination, nor whichever candidate gets the nomination, nor even whatever monstrously overpaid and congenitally underskilled Democratic strategists s/he uses to run his/her campaign, but at a press who values hanging out with the "coolest kid in school" (barf! ack! gag!) more than sincerity and seriousness, even as they are tasked with conveying to the American electorate the facts about the people interested in being their leader.
Question of the Day
Bouncing off the Satellites happy news about the B-52's...
What long-AWOL band do you desperately wish would put out a new album?
I'm sure you all know mine...
The all-too awesome recently released "Watch Us Work It" single was proof positive that the Spud boys have still got it. So, come on, where's the new album? I'm beggin' ya!
Who's On First?
Via Andrew Sullivan:
So Dr. Dobson isn't just reaching out to the evangelical Christian base anymore; he's going for the Dr. Who fan base as well. How extraordinary."What does it take to be the most liberal member of the United States Senate – farther left than Ted Kennedy, John Kerry or even Hillary Clinton? For the answer, take a look at a man who could be the next president of the United States: Barack Obama.
Sen. Obama was recently named the most liberal U.S. Senator, based on the annual voting analysis by the non-partisan and highly respected National Journal. If he emerges as the Democratic nominee, one of the critical jobs of Focus Action will be to uncover the real Barack Obama—not the feel-good orator who speaks of “change” and “hope,” but the man who would be the most left-wing president in our nation’s history.
Throughout our history, great Americans have stood up to grave challenges of all sorts. As this latest wave of secular liberalism threatens us, I look forward to standing shoulder to shoulder with you in prayer and action – in defense of the family," - James Dobson, in his latest email. [Emphasis mine.]
(Cross-posted.)
The Lady In Red
Just say no. Or yes. Or something. Nancy Reagan announced her intention to announce her intention to endorse John McCain. (And what is it with people sending out press releases telling us they're going to send out a press release? Enough already, just make the fucking announcement!)
When asked why she was throwing her support behind Old Man Surge, the former First Lady opined, "You know, he is the default nominee, and there is a certain excitement that brings to the race."
She later added "It's been quite a long time since this country has had a real douchebag in office, and John McCain is someone that fits that bill perfectly."
Nancy Reagan is also looking forward to McCain's plan to bomb Iran next January. "Just say yes to 100 years of war."
How Odd!
Fucking Reuters' Odd News is going to drive me to an early grave.
Today's collection of stories provides a perfect example of how, while stories about the mistreatment of women are included as "odd" in the sense that they are perceived to be "unusual"—although the more I write this series, the more evident it should become how aggravatingly not unusual violence against women in any form actually is—their inclusion among the typical "water-skiing squirrel" fare minimizes the gravity of women's suffering.
Let's play a game of Which One of These Things Doesn't Belong?
If you haven't gotten it yet, I'll give you a hint—it's the one about the woman forced to swim with fucking piranhas!
Police rescued two teenage Bulgarian sisters from a circus in southern Italy which forced one of them to swim with flesh-eating piranhas for the amusement of guests, police said.Child abuse—how delightfully "odd"!
While the 19-year-old sister swam in a transparent tank, the younger, 16-year-old was forced into a container where the circus staff tossed snakes at her. She was injured by one of the snakes, police said.
And totally on par with a busted ferris wheel, a bingo winner, a restaurant check reduced for bugs in the food, and two dipshits setting a fire with a "Rodenator" while trying to kill fucking gophers! What kind of damn idiot looks at all these stories and doesn't understand how including among them a news item about young women forced to submit their bodies to piranhas and snakes for circus-goers' amusement isn't bloody appropriate?! Ugh.
[Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight.]
I'm Not Laughing
Hillary, you owe me an apology. You may have misspoke, you may have misremembered. You may have confused your trip to Bosnia with a rerun of M*A*S*H. Whatever. I don't really care. But you owe me an apology. You owe us all an apology.
No, not for saying something disingenuous. You're a politician, we're used to that. You've done something far worse:
You've brought Sinbad back into the public eye.
I had forgotten all about Sinbad. I had forgotten all about his crappy sitcoms, and crappy movies, and crappy HBO specials. And now what? His face is all over the news. Anderson Cooper is talking about Sinbad.
Let me make this plain: I should never have to look up and see Sinbad's picture on CNN. Certainly not during dinner.
Caption This Photo
"Why do you wear that stupid bunny suit?"
"Why do you wear that stupid man suit?"
President Bush hugs a person dressed as the Easter bunny at the start of the annual Easter Egg Roll, Monday, March 24, 2008, overlooking the South Lawn of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Gayest Looks for Leno
On Friday, I posted the latest in an occasional series of rants about how much I hate Jay Leno for being a sexist, homophobic, racist douchebag who swears he's none of the above yet continually delivers "jokes" providing transparent evidence to the contrary. Last week, it was an interview with Ryan Phillippe, during which he asked the actor to look into the camera, pretend it was his "gay lover…Billy Bob," who "has just ridden in shirtless from Wyoming (still milking the Brokeback jokes, I guess), and give it his "gayest look."
Phillippe responded, incredulously, "Wow. That is so something I don't want to do."
Though Phillippe declined, playwright Jeff Whitty—who wrote the Broadway musical Avenue Q and, in 2006, famously penned a letter to Jay Leno about his homophobic humor—has offered his gayest look to Jay Leno, which you will find below.
Which is a total coincidence, because here's my gayest look:
Fuck you, Leno. Really and truly. I totally can't say that enough.
[Via Andy.]
Drink Pink!
Tart sent me this article (filed, naturally, in Reuters' "Oddly Enough" section) about a new Russian vodka designed especially for women, which its designer touts "as a glamour product for upwardly mobile women in booming Russia … designed to be sipped with salad after a workout in the gym." What makes it a vodka just for women? Well, the pretty label with the butterflies, of course.
"Women need a drink of their own," says creator Igor Volodin.
Says Tart: It's widely known that regular alcohols are not intended for the delicate sex; I mean, the bottles are so...unpink.
Says I: If I've said it once, I've said it a nonillion times—the only thing that could make watching Sex and the City reruns even better is getting drunk on a ladies' vodka while hanging out with Carrie and the gang!
Says Tart: We need a drink that wears a dress and comes with free samples of nail polish and laundry detergent.
Says I: Next time we go for a walk on the beach and a quick douche, it will be great to have our own vodka to drink afterwards, instead of the yucky man vodka.
Says Tart: The time is now! It's time to open up alcohol consumption to the girls! Somebody assemble the baseball bats and call Tom Hanks!
Says I: Calgon and ladies' vodka, take me away!
All sarcastic bitchery aside, here's the not-funny part:
Damskaya or "Ladies" vodka worries doctors, who fear a fresh wave of female alcoholics in a country already suffering one of the world's worst drink problems.So drink up, ladies! And remember—if you get black-out drunk on your pretty new ladies' vodka and some shithead rapes you, it'll be your fault. Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!
The Moscow Serbsky Institute for Social and Forensic Psychiatry says Russia has 2.5 million registered alcoholics, but adds the real figure is seven times higher -- more than 10 percent of Russia's population of 142 million.
Yuri Sorokin, a psychologist running a Moscow rehabilitation center for drug addicts and alcoholics, said 60 percent of those he treats for alcoholism are women…
Sorokin said he expected an influx of new patients in about six months.
"When such strong marketing experts are involved, I will never be jobless," he sighed.
But at least you won't have a hangover.
