Glucose Test Strips Recalled

According to NPR:

FDA and Abbott, the giant health products company, are announcing a recall today of up to 359 million blood testing strips used with several of the company's blood glucose monitoring systems.

The problem? The strips may be giving patients a false sense of security by making blood glucose levels look lower than they really are.

The company says the tests in the lots being recalled just aren't absorbing enough blood to give a precise read. And, strips exposed to warm weather or stored for a long time in the medicine cabinet are more likely to give a false result.

"FDA and Abbott are reviewing the cause of the manufacturing defect to avoid this problem in the future," said Alberto Gutierrez of FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

The strips being recalled are used with Abbott's Precision Xtra, Precision Xceed Pro, MediSense Optium, Optium, Optium EZ and ReliOn Ultima blood glucose monitoring systems. They were manufactured between January and May 2010 and are sold in retail stores around the country. They are used by both consumers and health care professionals.

You can check here to see if you have an affected item.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

All the Miserable Bastards

"I just know there wouldn't be this many people in the room if we were chasing a woman's record. The reason everybody is having a heart attack the last four or five days is a bunch of women are threatening to break a men's record, and everybody is all up in arms about it. All the women are happy as hell and they can't wait to come in here and ask questions. All the guys that loved women's basketball are all excited, and all the miserable bastards that follow men's basketball and don't want us to break the record are all here because they're pissed. That's just the way it is." -- Geno Auriemma, coach of UCONN's women's basketball team at a press conference.

Now, I don't follow sports, really. I had no idea UCONN women's team was about to break a UCLA men's streak record until I started seeing rumblings about it on teh internetz. Can we guess who was rumbling? If you said "all the miserable bastards", give yourself eight meeeellion liberty dollars. These grumblings I've seen have had to do with the apparent differences between men's and women's basketball. Apparently, according to these detractors, since the women play with a ball that is about an inch smaller (to compensate for women generally having smaller hand sizes--also, the weight difference in the ball is minute) and that in the women's game, if the defender is within three feet of the player a five-second-rule is applied (as compared to the men's game, the defender has to be within six feet), that the women aren't playing real basketball. They're playing ladyball or some such thing and cannot possibly beat a real basketball record. Here enters Mark Potash, candidate for Misogynist Douchcanoe of the Year, waxing assholish on Monday:

Here’s a news flash for Auriemma: You’re not chasing UCLA’s record of 88 consecutive victories under John Wooden. You didn’t tie it and you’re not going to break it. That’s a men’s basketball record. You coach a women’s team. A women’s team can’t break a men’s record any more than a men’s team can break a women’s record.

Nobody’s having a heart attack over your perceived ‘‘threat’’ to UCLA’s record. The only reason people are writing about it, if they are at all, is in response to others who are trying to convince themselves that you’re breaking it.

[...]

Auriemma should be happy that established media are buying the idea that UConn is breaking UCLA’s record and giving him a soapbox to whine about the lack of respect women’s basketball receives in the sporting world.

Women’s basketball gets what it deserves. Probably more than it deserves if you include a professional league that is attached to the NBA like an oxygen machine.

It’s not as popular as men’s basketball because it’s neither as good nor as entertaining. All you have to do is watch five minutes of a women’s game to know that. It’s basic physiology, Geno. Basketball is a game that emphasizes jumping ability and quickness. Women — no offense, of course — can’t match the jumping ability or the quickness of elite men’s players.

[...]

But if Geno wants to continue the charade of breaking the men’s record, he’s going to have to start playing some men’s teams. I think he knows how ugly that would get. There are probably 10 high school teams in the city that could beat the Connecticut women. [...]

Hostile much? Way to prove Coach Auriemma right there, Mark. Miserable bastard indeed. Pro tip for you Mark: try not to trip over all that bitter misogyny you're standing in up to your knees.

UCONN by the way, did in fact win. From ABC Sports:

No. 89 came and went as effortlessly as nearly all their previous games. This season. Last season. And the season before.

UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma, never at a loss for words, was close Tuesday night.

"It's pretty amazing. It really is," he said.

No exaggeration there.

His No. 1-ranked Huskies topped the 88-game winning streak set by John Wooden's UCLA men's team from 1971-74, beating No. 22 Florida State 93-62. Playing with the relentlessness that has become its trademark — and would have made Wooden proud — UConn blew past the Seminoles as it has so many other teams in the last 2½ years.

[...]

Maya Moore had a career-high 41 points and 10 rebounds and freshman Bria Hartley added 21 points for the Huskies, who have not lost since April 6, 2008, in the NCAA tournament semifinals. Only twice during the record run has a team come within single digits of UConn — Stanford in the NCAA championship game last season and Baylor in early November.

When the final buzzer sounded, UConn players sprinted across the floor to shake hands with the student section as fans held up "89" signs and "89" balloons bobbed in the stands behind center court. Two other fans raised a banner that read "The Sorcerer of Storrs" — a play on Wooden's nickname, "The Wizard of Westwood."

[...]

It is one more chapter of history for UConn, and perhaps the grandest.

Asked what he would recall from the incredible run, Auriemma mentioned a pair of experienced stars on this team: "I'll probably remember Maya Moore and Tiffany Hayes. And how incredibly difficult it is to play that many games in a row and win 'em all."

Connecticut long ago established itself as the marquee program in the women's game, the benchmark by which all others are measured. The Huskies already own seven national titles and four perfect seasons under Auriemma, and they've produced a galaxy of stars that includes Rebecca Lobo, Diana Taurasi, Jennifer Rizzotti, Sue Bird and Tina Charles.

The streak, though, takes it to another level, certainly raising the profile of women's basketball and maybe all of women's athletics.

Two days after beating No. 11 Ohio State to tie UCLA, UConn toppled the mark in front of a sellout crowd of 16,294 at the XL Center that included Wooden's grandson, Greg, attending his first women's game.

"My grandfather would have been thrilled. He would have been absolutely thrilled to see his streak broken by a women's basketball team," the 47-year-old Wooden said. "He thought, especially in the last 10 years, that the best basketball was played at the collegiate level — and it wasn't by the men."

[...]

There was a festive atmosphere throughout the city, where building lights gleamed blue and white, and it was as electric as any Final Four inside the arena. Charles and UConn men's star Kemba Walker sat behind the Huskies' bench, and football coach Randy Edsall was there, too. Former NFL star Warrick Dunn, meanwhile, was cheering for his alma mater, Florida State.

[...]

The Huskies have beaten 16 top-10 teams during the latest streak — four more than UCLA did during its run — and five of those wins came against the No. 2 team. It's been more than 17 years since UConn lost consecutive games.

The Huskies have won by any average of more than 33 points during the streak and rarely found themselves in trouble. They have trailed for 134 minutes, including only 13 in the second half. They've won back-to-back national championships, and are now one short of Tennessee's record for overall titles by a women's team.

Even before UConn tied UCLA's record, the two programs were linked.

Auriemma acknowledges that his team runs the same offense that Wooden perfected 37 years earlier. But it's not just the Xs and Os. The top block of Wooden's pyramid of success reads: "Competitive Greatness: Perform at your best when your best is required. Your best is required every day."

That's been Auriemma's mantra all along.

Greg Wooden, who lives in California, said he came East because, "I kind of thought that somebody should come here from the family and show support."

He also was aware that "certain players have said they're not really supportive of the streak."

But he came knowing "my grandfather would have loved to have been here to see this."

The day Notre Dame broke UCLA's streak, John Wooden was asked how long it would be before somebody surpassed it.

"I have no idea how long it will be before somebody else wins that many. I know it takes at least three years," he replied.

Try 36 years, 11 months, and 2 days.

Sounds rather like Mark Potash and his ilk need to pull some heads from dark crevices.

Good work, Lady Huskies!

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

You Have No Idea...

...how badly I want one of these:



[Image: TIE Fighter toy by Kenner.]

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Quote of the Day

(Chuckling) "There's much for them (Democrats) to be angst-ridden about. If they think it's bad now, wait until next year."- Professional obstructionist and buttfor Mitch McConnell (R-eally?) laughing it up about how he and his fellow Republicans are ruining American's lives just for the hell of it, with no intention of stopping.

Bonus buttfor:

...in a last minute effort to derail the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) tried to subvert today’s great civil rights achievement. McConnell tried to attach an amendment to the stripped-down National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would have required the Service Chiefs to certify that implementation did not compromise military readiness or unit cohesion. The amendment would have likely extended the current certification process — which already includes the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and President Obama — and undermined the intent of the legislation and the wishes of military leadership.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime

Public Image Ltd.: "Public Image"

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Liberals are from Mars, Conservatives are from Uranus

Oh hey look it's Time Magazine!

Really? Even the late Henry Luce is [TW: sexual violence and rape apologia] getting embarrassed.

So Time has devoted an entire article to exploring the science of whether there's any biology behind our political affiliations. Go ahead, read it. I'll even link to the story again.

Let me state for the record that I'm a transsexual woman with a Ph.D. in the biological sciences. I have had it up to here (I know you can't see me, but I'm pretty tall) with the false dichotomy between nature and nurture. I'm still a punk kid, but oh if you only knew the shit I've learned and experienced.

Anyhow, to varying and sometimes substantial degrees, biology effects everything. So of course it's slightly behind politics. It's also slightly behind why I like campy sci-fi movies. Slightly.

Culture is also everywhere. It too has a role in things. Sometimes a pretty big role.

You know whose stuff everyone should read? Julia Serano. Her Ph.D. is in biochemistry, but I won't hold that against her. She's really, really good at exploding the myths that either biology or culture is solely responsible for explaining human behavior.

But I digress. First off, I want to congratulate Time on interviewing researchers with even shoddier scholarship than I read about in "The Strange Link Between Winning Elections and Online Porn." (I can't wait for this to pass. I'm gonna load Time so fast on my cell phone!)

Here's the thing, the pornographic elections people had something of a story. Election, caveman, fight, testosterone, erection, naked lady. I mean, that doesn't make it science, but it's certainly something, right?

This business with the biology of politics doesn't even have that. As far as I can tell, the rationale seems to be that people have beliefs, and there's probably other things that correlate with believing in stuff, and biology can cause correlations.

Look, it's cool and all that Time talked to another political scientist in order to give the story a sense of balance, but HEY WAIT, WTF I thought we were making stuff up about BIOLOGY?!? Anyhow, that guy used the word phrenology. This means that either the other side of the story is a huge asshole, because that's a really, really mean thing to bring up, or maybe, just maybe, it's time to rethink the story. I suppose it could be both, but the dude's right about the phrenology. Phrenology. Heh.

I know the American century was hard on all of us, so I'm not going to belabor the point (or am I?), but there are usually cultural implications underfoot when someone's making grand reductionist claims.

For example, there are folks who are excited about the prospect for finding a gay gene. Some folks are jazzed about using science to "fix" (or otherwise eliminate) queer people, while others are hoping to use genetics as proof that gay people have rights because OMG we can't help being inferior to other people. If you can't tell, I'm not hot on either argument. Also, the gay gene? It does not exist.

And then there's things like "election, caveman, fight, testosterone, erection, naked lady." If I had a nickel for every time I read a study about how men are programmed (by science!) to treat women poorly and women are designed (by science!) to love it, I'd be throwing up in a very expensive claw-footed bathtub.

All of this reductionism absolves people from having to worry about trying to change things. Conservatives aren't selfish or ignorant or privileged, they've just got the genetic structure of stage coach tippers. And liberals (is that my other option?), well, they're just a bit heavy on the guanine.

Anyhow, culture doesn't effect politics. (Did you know that Karl Marx, the Marxist Karl Marx, died poor? It's shocking, but true!) Let's not worry about political economy or feminist analysis or sociology or giving a fuck in general.

Instead, let's write a giant computer program to run the US. I mean, if we can ignore culture and focus on biochemistry when discussing politics, it'd be awfully efficient.

It's been a while, but let's see....

for year=2010:3000;
lastday=365;
if (year/4)==(abs(year/4));
lastday=366;
end;
for day=1:lastday;
if eig(ANGST) > 1;
BOMB IRAN
end
if day==abs(day);
DESTROY SOCIAL SAFETY NET
end
end
end

I'm not a very good programmer (and I'm writing this after midnight and I can't get blogger to let me properly indent stuff), but I'm sure we could put brilliant folks on this.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Feel the Homomentum!

And the dinosaurs groaned at more evidence of their impending doom:

President Obama signed the landmark repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy Wednesday morning, handing a major victory to advocates of gay rights and fulfilling a campaign promise to do away with a practice that he has called discriminatory.

Casting the repeal in terms of past civil rights struggles, Obama said he was proud to sign a law that "will strengthen our national security and uphold the ideals that our fighting men and women risk their lives to defend."

He added: "No longer will our country be denied the service of thousands of patriotic Americans who are forced to leave the military - regardless of their skills, no matter their bravery or their zeal, no matter their years of exemplary performance - because they happen to be gay. No longer will tens of thousands of Americans in uniform be asked to live a lie, or look over their shoulder in order to serve the country that they love."

The signing does not immediately implement the repeal but instead begins the process of ending the ban on gays serving openly in the military.

The law will not actually change until the Pentagon certifies to Congress that the military has met several conditions, including education and training programs for the troops.

"In the coming days, we will begin the process laid out in the law" to implement the repeal, Obama said. Meanwhile, he cautioned, "the old policy remains in place." But he pledged that all the service chiefs are "committed to implementing this change swiftly and efficiently," and he vowed, "We are not going to be dragging our feet to get this done."

Hold my feet to the fire, he said, once upon a time. And so we shall.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Photos of the Day

President Barack Obama signs the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010, at the Interior Department in Washington. [AP Photos]

Lt. Dan Choi, right, arrives at Interior Department in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010, before President Barack Obama signs the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, into law. At left is Petty Officer Autumn Sandeen. [AP Photos]

President Barack Obama smiles at the Interior Department in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010, prior to signing the "don't ask, don't tell" repeal legislation that would allow gays to serve openly in the military. [AP Photos]

Thank you to all the brave LGBT servicemembers who spoke out about their experiences. Thank you to their allies. Thank you, Congress. Thank you, President Obama.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Open Thread

Hosted by Snowman Cupcakes.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Question of the Day

This one is always fun...

What's for dinner?

I've got some leftover ham; trying to figure out what to do with it. I think it's Breakfast for Dinner time.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

It'd be a shame if the employees I supervise didn't go to strip clubs together.

[Trigger warning for homophobia]

This news cycle the media is revisiting "the other side" of Don't Ask, Don't Tell-- the large minority of military personnel that aren't so hot on teh gayz.

In a sense, the stories annoy me: The military's got combat troops who the Defense Department has selected to not be women or (openly) homosexual and bisexual men, and the military's cultivated that bigotry with official policy. We're supposed to be surprised that a little more than half of these troops are bigots? All-and-all, I'd say I'm more impressed by the just less than half of those troops that are supportive of a more inclusive military.

I see why this is an important story, however. The selected quotes I hear from selected troops give a glimpse of a culture that has to either change or collapse under the weight of its contradictions.

Here are some real winners from a story that ran yesterday in The New York Times:

"There’s no doubt in my mind that openly gay Marines can serve, it’s just different in a combat unit. Maybe they should just take the same route they take with females and stick them to noncombat units.”

And we're off!

"Concerns about the ability of combat units to integrate openly gay troops has also been raised repeatedly by the commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James Amos, who told reporters recently that having gay Marines in combat units would be a 'distraction.'

'Mistakes and inattention or distractions cost Marines’ lives,' General Amos said."

Uh-huh. Distractions like bigotry.

“Showers will be awkward”

Do tell. I don't take showers with in public places (mostly because I don't want to get arrested). That makes it pretty awkward for me. I don't really care how awkward/educational/hawt is the for anyone else. Don't mind me, I'm mostly about cleaning my epidermis.

“Being gay means you are kind of girly. The Marines are, you know, macho.”

Totes! We want macho, macho men in the Marines, not some sort of overplayed gay stereotype. By the way, if gay means you are kind of girly, what does that say about lesbians on the front lines? I guess I already know the answer to that one-- women are all diminutive and weak. They all totes cry like some sort of Boehner.

“'They were kicking people out for being homosexual, and now they will be kicking people out for picking on homosexuals,' [an anonymous] sergeant said."

I think that's the idea. I know it's confusing, but so is war.

"An Army officer who is now leading troops in Afghanistan said he expected that swift and stern disciplinary measures would stamp out harassment. But he said he still anticipated that many openly gay soldiers would feel alienated at first from their straight colleagues.

'They will not be going to all of the events, strip clubs and bars that the other soldiers attend, and soldiers will almost certainly not be going out of their way to sample the gay culture.'"

Sure, good point. Gay soldiers might feel uncomfortable in a workplace where going to strip clubs was an expectation. This could be a problem. Also: You have got to be fucking kidding me.

I'm not sure what sampling the gay culture entails. I'm thinking of using tongs to sift pull a John Waters video out of a vat of glitter, but maybe I'm wrong. I guess it for some gay guys it might involve getting together with a bunch of guys to watch the game and then taking your pickup trucks out to play paintball. You know, gay guy stuff.

This whole "culture" thing strikes me as an issue. You've got a group of people who are living and working together in a stressful environment. There's going to be a culture. One would think that focusing on one's job, one's role as part of a team, and respecting one's colleagues would be part of that culture.

Yes, there are going to be cliques, but in my experience in healthy, successful communities people are allowed to express their differences as long as those differences do not directly conflict with the mission. Perhaps this has never been a strong point for a military that strikes me as suppressing diversity in the name of protecting freedom. Which is a minor problem when one starts unpacking the whole "protecting freedom" thing.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Daily Dose of Cute

"Don't make me go out there."

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime

Living In A Box: "Living In A Box"

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Net Neutrality Fail

President Stooge of the Corporations strikes again: Bye-bye net neutrality.

Senator Al Franken explains.

As a source of innovation, an engine of our economy, and a forum for our political discourse, the Internet can only work if it's a truly level playing field. Small businesses should have the same ability to reach customers as powerful corporations. A blogger should have the same ability to find an audience as a media conglomerate.

This principle is called "net neutrality" -- and it's under attack. Internet service giants like Comcast and Verizon want to offer premium and privileged access to the Internet for corporations who can afford to pay for it.

The good news is that the Federal Communications Commission has the power to issue regulations that protect net neutrality. The bad news is that draft regulations written by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski don't do that at all. They're worse than nothing.

...Here's what's most troubling of all. Chairman Genachowski and President Obama -- who nominated him -- have argued convincingly that they support net neutrality.

But grassroots supporters of net neutrality are beginning to wonder if we've been had. Instead of proposing regulations that would truly protect net neutrality, reports indicate that Chairman Genachowski has been calling the CEOs of major Internet corporations seeking their public endorsement of this draft proposal, which would destroy it.

The FCC is meeting today to discuss the current proposal. It is likely they will approve it as is.

Additional reading:

New York Times—F.C.C. Is Set to Regulate Net Access: "The Federal Communications Commission appears poised to pass a controversial set of rules that broadly create two classes of Internet access, one for fixed-line providers and the other for the wireless Net."

Guardian—Net neutrality: US expected to ratify new rules on internet access: "The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is today expected to formally approve controversial new rules on how internet users access content such as YouTube and Skype. Dubbed by one US senator as 'the most important free speech issue of our time', the rules drawn up by the country's media and telecoms regulator would effectively create two levels of internet access – one delivered by traditional fixed-line broadband, and another by wireless and mobile providers."

Reuters—US FCC set to back Internet traffic rules: "The rules would ban high-speed Internet providers like Comcast Corp and Verizon Communications from blocking lawful traffic, while recognizing the need to manage network congestion and perhaps charge based on Internet usage. The rules, to be somewhat looser for wireless Internet, could help cable companies in competition with plans by Microsoft Corp , Google Inc and Amazon.com to deliver competing video content over the same Internet lines the cable companies run to customers' homes."

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

This is so the worst thing you're going to read all day.

by Shaker AnnaAnastasia

[Trigger warning for sexual assault and rape apologia.]

Even the title is awful: Assange, Morality, and Desire.

The article is positively craptacular. It's from yesterday's Chronicle of Higher Education, which, for those who don't know, is the premiere journal for higher education professionals.

The author, a recently tenured professor, basically attempts to make the case that Assange shouldn't be faulted for rape because of cultural and age differences with his victims. Because older Australian men have different sexual ideas than young Swedish women. Or something. Plus, Assange was "seduced" by the Swedish summer at the time.

I can't even write it without shaking my head.

The Chronicle is aimed at higher ed professionals, many of whom work with students 18-25 who are at residential campuses. I'm sure I'm not the only Chronicle reader who has worked with far too many students who have been recently raped, and no doubt a few who have raped someone, because it's easy to get away with rape on a residential college campus.

How will this article shape, change, or even reinforce the views of higher ed professionals who so often deal with rapists and their victims...?

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Open Thread

Hosted by what is either two snowpeople embracing, or a snowperson slap fight.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Question of the Day

What is your favorite mythological creature?

In addition to literal answers like "unicorn," cheeky retorts like "a genuinely progressive US president" are also welcome.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Quote of the Day

"You're trying to paint the governor as a racist. And nothing could be further from the truth."—Dan Turner, spokesperson for Gov. Haley Barbour (R-Acist), who recently waxed nostalgic for the Citizens' Councils which were "the respectable face of white supremacist political activism" preceding and during the Civil Rights Era, which Barbour recalls as a time that wasn't "that bad."

So nothing is further from the truth than "Haley Barbour is a racist"? Cool! Let's think of some things that are closer to being true than "Haley Barbour is a racist." I'll start...

Haley Barbour is an alien from Planet Yeahright.

Haley Barbour is totes into eating poop sandwiches every afternoon at 3pm.

Haley Barbour's favorite show ever is Saved by the Bell. He hearts Screech.

Haley Barbour is half komodo dragon.

Haley Barbour's head is filled with garbage farts.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

What I'm Listening To

Aloe Blacc, "I Need a Dollar"


Video Description: Aloe Blacc performs "I Need a Dollar" with The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last week. (The video should start right at the beginning of the musical segment, but, if not, jump to minute 37.)

Or, watch the music video here. The music video ends with "Life So Hard," the lyrics for which don't seem to be available online, but are:

The key to everything, everybody, here in America is the money / Some say that it's the root of all evil / Brings wars and [can't make this out] / These families in the street, with nothing to eat / These baby boys and girls with no shoes on their feet / All the men who leave or die in a war zone / And the women do it all on they own / It reminds me of the ghettoes right here and the hoods that I see / Everywhere that I've been in this country / Stop bailing out the banks and give the [?] to me / I guess my piece of the pie ain't free.

Lyrics to "I Need a Dollar" are available here.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Daily Dose of Cute

Video Description: Olivia plays with everyone's favorite toy in Dudley's bed. Dudley snoozes on the adjacent couch, completely unaware of Olivia's Epic Battle with the Fuzzy Thing going on in his bed. Set to a section of Aaron Goldberg's "OAM's Blues."


Dudley and Sophs (and Iain's sugar-free cookies)


Dudley and Matilda


Olivia in Dudley's bed. Which is, of course, only fair.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!