NaBloPoMo, Day 30: The End

Reader, today is the last day of NaBloPoMo. Can I get an amen? I loved being in the habit of writing everyday; of course contributing to lost productivity in the workplace is something I'm always proud of. Yes, there were some days the proverbial well was dry. Those were the days where cute animal videos featured heavily.

Luckily, this was a pretty eventful November. I mined the historical election and Prop 8 about a million times, here and here for example. The ever-worsening economy provided additional fodder, forcing us to learn about The Glass Steagal Act. There was non-political stuff, too: bizarro molecular gastronomy, nitpicky grammar and manners, the science behind biologics, and the awesomeness of Paul Rudd and Mad Men.

Thanks for reading and commenting this month, reader. I'm taking a short break from posting, so I'll say it now: Christmas carols? Already sick of them.

NaBloPoMo, Day 29: Goodbye Liars, Crooks and Thieves

Is every administration this jam-packed with the corrupt, hypocritical and the criminal?



Yeesh. Good riddance.

NaBloPoMo, Day 28: What the Frick is Going on in India?

Reader, what with the non-stop cooking, eating and drinking the past few days have brought, I'm somewhat in the dark about what's going on in India, so I'm taking a minute out of my tryptophan hangover to get up to speed.

First things first. Mumbai and Bombay are the same city. Bombay is the old colonial name recently jettisoned in favor of Mumbai, named for the Hindu goddess Mumba Devi Mandir, the mother goddess. Located on the west coast of India, Mumbai is India's financial capital, home to its film and television industry, Bollywood and twelve million people.

In a nutshell, starting Wednesday night a terrorist group that may or may not be Deccan Mujahideen, may or may not have connections to Pakistan, staged a series of ten attacks at different spots in the city known to attract American and British tourists including hotels, a Jewish center, the main train station, a hospital, a movie theater and a historic cafe. You can find an exact listing of the locations and an event timeline here.

Death toll counts as of writing range from 125 to 150. Two Americans are confirmed among the dead. This story is developing minute by minute; check back later, reader.

What a mess.

NaBloPoMo, Day 27: Happy Thanksgiving!

And that's all I have for today. Have a wonderful holiday, reader!

NaBloPoMo, Day 26: Almost There

Reader, last night I chomped through a few more episodes of Mad Men. Episode 11: Indian Summer was all about vibration.

The ever-expanding Peggy who provided the Men with some copy for Belle Jolie lipsticks in episode 6, has been tasked with doing the same for a weight loss system called the "Electrosizer." The Men are at a loss with the contraption because their guinea pig wives rave about the thing but haven't lost a pound. As soon as the Men crack the carrying case open, it's obvious to the viewers (but not the Men) the Electrosizer is a vibrator. Classic.

Later in the episode, simpy Betty is crawling the walls with isolated suburban boredom and horniness because Don is just too tired from fucking his various mistresses to pay her any attention. Instead he's pawning her off on a psychoanalyst in an effort to make her happier. You'll be surprised to hear it isn't working. Later, Betty has a close encounter with an unbalanced washing machine and comes away from it positively invigorated.

Here's a modern-day ad for the Hitachi Magic Wand. Great news! It stimulates your circulation!



Oh, brother. Happy day before Thanksgiving, reader.

NaBloPoMo, Day 25: Biologics

If you're one of my five regular readers, you know I spend a fair amount of time writing about health. Specifically, the plethora of health inequities due to our woeful lack of a cohesive national healthcare system, the anti-government, business kow-towing administration we've suffered through the last eight years with, and how misguided it is that we allow the healthcare of our citizens to be largely driven by a profit motive. This means I also write with some frequency about the pharmaceutical industry and the FDA.

Despite the number of hours I have clocked on the FDA website, I have never been very clear on what exactly the term biologics refers to. It was high time to get it. On the homepage of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, the FDA breaks down biologics into seven groups:

Allergenics: the stuff used to test for and treat allergies.
Blood: FDA monitors the safety of the nation's blood supply.
Cellular and gene therapy: we'll get back to this
Devices: so many things like dialysis equipment, lab and testing equipment, pacemakers etc
Tissues: FDA does not oversee live organs, but things like getting an ACL from a cadaver. Stem cells, etc.
Vaccines: we all know what these are
Xenotransplantation: animal based stuff. Like if you got a pig heart valve. I think also the bovine bone gunk I had put in my jaw would be considered xenotransplantation.

This is a pretty sweeping list. But what we're really talking about when we talk about biologics is cellular and gene therapy. We've all heard of the bigger biologics because they present the most promising treatments for the most difficult diseases: Herceptin for breast cancer, Humira for rheumatoid arthiritis, and Epogen, used by cancer patients to boost red cell production decimated by chemotherapy, to name a few.

But how is a biologic different than a drug like aspirin? Why are biologics so forking expensive? When will they be available generically?

One of the Urban Farmers, who works for a company that produces biologics broke it down for me. Here it is, filtered through my highly unscientific mind: drugs are like making a cocktail--a jigger of this, a slug of that, pour over ice, slap on a garnish, done. Biologics are like raised bread. The ingredients are straightforward: yeast, sugar, water and flour but in order for these ingredients to become bread, stuff has to happen. But the right stuff won't happen if conditions are not just so: the water cannot be too hot or too cold or the yeast will not grow. In order to rise, the dough has to be kept at just the right temperature. It's ingredients plus a process. Make sense? Let's move on and don't mind that sound, it's just generations of scientists rolling over in their graves.

So! We now have an inkling of what a biologic is. Now I'm going to get all scientific on your asses by showing you this. The 23 atom aspirin on the left looks like it could be easily put together by a preschooler using Tinker Toys. The Epogen on the right ... not so much.

Back to our bread example: so even if you give me a shopping list, lend me your Kitchen Aid mixer and your lucky apron, I am unlikely to turn out a product exactly like yours. For a loaf of bread, whatevs. But if the slight differences in our results actually harmed me? This is the concern and the argument of companies like Genentech who openly admit that sometimes they can't even get their own product right, so delicate are some of these processes. And it must be mentioned, since this is always part of the equation when a patent is about to expire, that according to Wikipedia, breast cancer drug Herceptin brought Genentech $327 million in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2007 and would probably prefer to keep that stream of revenue flowing.

So we arrive at the concept of biosimilars, so named to allow for the fact that they can never be exactly the same as a proprietary biologic. There are significant barriers to getting biosimilars to people, as this abstract points to. Clearly this is the direction we need to go, so that all health care options are open to all people struggling with these devastating illnesses. There is a whole crapload of stuff out there about legislative efforts to get the ball rolling on biosimilars; I'm so exhausted that will need to be another post.

NaBloPoMo, Day 24: Vintage Ads

The fine ladies at Jezebel pointed me to Blog of Hilarity's 9 Most Disturbingly Misogynistic Old Print Ads, but before I get to that, want to mention that misogynistic isn't really a word. It's misogynist, just as "feministic" is not a word, either. It's "feminist," okay? Not feministical, either. Okay? Yes? Good.

Moving on, let me say viewing these ads fit nicely with the Mad Men marathon I'm currently running and my reactions to them very much mirror the reactions I'm having watching MM.

1. Fish dangling off the tampon string. I'm not sure I even understand this ad. I ran this phrase through Google translator and it means "I am like a fish in water." As in, a tampon in your vagina is as comfortable as a fish in water? What woman wants any association of fish with her vagina, anyway? Clearly created by a female-free ad team, this is too stupid to be offensive.

2. If your husband ever finds out ... I thought this ad was totally HOT. It's so absurd that I can't take it seriously as a message condoning violence against women. I, too, have strong feelings about not drinking bad coffee. Go ahead, take away my feministical credentials.

3. The chef does everything but cook. Yep, hate it. Vile.

4. Blow in her face and she'll follow you anywhere. Have to agree with the commenter; think they got this one backwards.

5. Pep vitamins. Clearly points to the massive amounts of pharmaceuticals needed for anyone to feel completely fulfilled by cooking and cleaning.

6. Trix. Yuck. Women cannot be five, only girls can be five, so this ad is both stupid and disturbing. That kid's expression is downright scary.

7. She may look clean but ... Bleh. Blame women for the spread of sexually transmitted diseases? Ugh. Haven't come too far on this one--I do believe that prostitutes continue to be prosecuted far more often than the men that frequent them. Fail.

8. Douche ad. Oh brother. This just looks and reads hopelessly dated. Reminds me of ads that say candy is good for you, or smoking helps you lose weight. Though the idea that douching can increase your charm is sort of bizarre/interesting.

9. Love's Baby Soft. Yikes. Though I know this ad would never run today, is it really any different than the JonBenet beauty pageant circuit? Creepy. I remember wearing this perfume. I thought I was the shit.

NaBloPoMo, Day 23: Prop 8, Manners + Grammar

I heard a great interview on NPR last week with Kai Wright, writer for The Root. The interview was a follow up to his Root article The Prop 8 Blame Game in which Wright unpacks the racism and homophobia the Prop 8 vote shined an unflattering light upon. Wright also untangles the much bandied-about polling that got many white people's knickers, including my own, in such a twist. Of interest are the poll numbers not discussed in the media: that six out of ten people over the age of 65 also voted yes on 8, as did white Protestants, and people with children under the age of 18, according to Wright. Thought provoking to be sure.

Last night at a group dinner we started talking about the correct way to negotiate the bread and butter at a restaurant. I was definitely raised to do it this way, though I don't have a clear memory of who taught me this. I suspect it was Nanny. These conventions can seem fusty but feel important to me. Must be my Virgo need for order and tidiness--clearly selective since I just received a postcard from a mold colony that's recently taken up residence in my refrigerator. And obviously not at home with friends, where it's perfectly acceptable to eat with your fingers and lick the plate. But out in the world, especially at a nice restaurant? YES.

In other nitpicky issues, Liz and I were talking this morning about one of my favorite topics, correct use of the apostrophe s. She was vexed about inconsistent use of the apostrophe s in her workplace. Based on her observations, I believe there is grievous misuse going on in that setting, which parallels what's happening in society at large. To wit: in the magazine title Ladies' Home Journal, "ladies" is both plural and possessive, so the apostrophe s is used correctly. On the other hand: Boys and Girls Club of America? FAIL. Any grammarians out there please feel free to correct me.

As I was writing this I remembered that a few years ago at work I was reviewing some documents from a state agency with an HR person and noticed that the word "employee" was misspelled everywhere as "employe." When I pointed this out, as you know I surely did, he informed me that as a time and money saving measure, this state agency had decided to formally drop the last "e." To my horror, I learned that this an accepted spelling variation. But not accepted by Professional Critic. FAIL.

NaBloPoMo, Day 22: Vinho Verde

Reader, when I was in Cape Cod I drank a lot of vinho verde, a lovely light sparkly Portuguese wine. Did you know there's a lot of Portuguese influence on the Cape? Now you do. Also? That means delish kale linguica soup. Delish linguica anything, really.

While looking up vinho verde, I learned a new word: pétillance which I guess means lightly sparkling never to be confused with semi sparkling, which vinho verde is not. Got it?

And even though it is definitely getting to be winter here, and that means you might need to turn the heat on and eat hearty fare, I still had two glasses tonight and enjoyed it thoroughly.

NaBloPoMo, Day 21: Prop 8 Promising News

Reader, yesterday the California Supreme Court agreed to revisit craptastic Prop 8. Per the Chronicle article, the court has three issues to consider:

1. Does Proposition 8 make such a far-reaching change to California's Constitution that it amounts to a constitutional revision, which requires a two- thirds vote of the Legislature to be placed on the ballot?

2. Does Prop. 8 violate the constitutional separation of powers by restricting judges' authority to protect the rights of same-sex couples?

3. If constitutional, does Prop. 8 invalidate the 18,000 same-sex marriages that took place in California between June 16, when the court's ruling legalizing gay and lesbian unions took effect, and the election?

Meanwhile in San Francisco, African American minister Amos Brown, an outspoken Prop 8 opponent and the head of the SF branch of the NAACP has said he expects ministers to boycott the annual NAACP fundraiser, which took place last night. Supporters of Prop 8 said there is no formal boycott planned but numerous ministers reflected that their congregations did support Prop 8. Brown maintains, "The Yes on 8 position does not represent the spirit of Jesus." Can I get an amen?

TGIF, reader.

NaBloPoMo, Day 20: Mad Men

Reader, I'm five episodes into the first season of Mad Men and so far am totally sucked in. A few observations so far.

The costumes are just fantastic. This and the set design alone makes it worth watching.

Jon Hamm playing Don Draper: so far we're just getting hints of the mystery behind the man. There's a lot lurking beneath his suave Bryan Ferry-esque exterior--just not sure yet what it is, but it involves a name change and paying his long-lost brother $5 grand to go away. Want more Don Draper.

The women's figures! Torpedo boobs and vavoomy hips abound. Such a welcome relief from the current crop of sinewy Madonna-Gwyneth-Jennifers, which are so hard on the eyes. Especially love Christina Hendricks playing Joan Holloway, who steals every scene she's in:



Continuous drinking and smoking: at work, at home, when pregnant, in the doctor's office--you name it, they're smoking.

And finally--holy cow rampant sexism. If I haven't been sufficiently grateful for the feminists who came before me let me get on record right now: THANKS, LADIES! Because of your work I never had to keep a stash of needle and thread in case my boss lost a button, lie to his wife when he was out banging another girl, or stand quietly while being ogled by the office troglodyte. Ugh.

Here's a clip some intrepid person put together of the "most un-pc moments" on Mad Men. You'll see not just sexism but anti-Semitism, fantastic fathering, the whole nine. Check it out:

NaBloPoMo, Day 19: Media Catch Up

Reader, weep. I sat in meetings all day today and expect to do very much the same for the next two days. My hiney hurts.

So! Let me catch you up on the various forms of media I've been soaking in the past week. Because I know you care, deeply.

Sex and The City: The Movie: Clocking in at two hours and twenty eight minutes, SATC: TM is about two hours too long. Missing the zippy zing of the half hour episodes, the movie uses forced hilarity and an excess of costume changes in an effort to distract you from the painful fact that this is a fucking boring movie. In a nutshell: Big is still a big dick, and even though he acts like an even bigger dick than you thought possible, Carrie manages to neatly take the blame for his dicky behavior and marries him anyway. Hated it!

Baby Mama: Though I do love me some Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, Baby Mama was only mildly entertaining. Probably fine for a sick day on the couch or an airplane. Get your Tina fix by renting the first two seasons of 30 Rock. Meh

Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris: I started reading this book by the author of Chocolat at my sister's last month. Due to my penchant for skimming I promptly became confused, as it jumps back and forth between real time and the past. Professional Critic simply cannot be bothered to read the helpful chapter headings that would clue her in to such nuances. However, my sister urged me to press on and so I started over, actually reading this time, and became quickly immersed in this novel of intrigue set in an private English boy's school. Many twists and turns, would be perfect for a rainy day. A page turner.

The Pacific and Other Stories by Mark Helprin: This short story collection covers wide-ranging topics: baseball, war, September 11th. I didn't read more than five of these because I had the same reaction to every one: great fits of sobbing. What can I say? Even his happy stories, where the guy gets the girl, are suffused with deep melancholy. Fine if you don't mind weeping.

Heat by Bill Buford: This book I found at my local library, where you can always find a stack of non-library books left on top of the book drop. Like I need another reason to love the library. I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of a writer deciding to go full-tilt boogie into the world of cooking. Best part? When Buford apprentices with a Tuscan butcher. Not as zexy as Anthony Bourdain but still--Good stuff .

Next up: Mad Men!

NaBloPoMo, Day 18: Cuteness Tuesday

Reader, you can tell NaBlo is wearing me out. Enjoy.

This video of a rotund Japanese kitty stuffing itself into a box has been making the rounds of the internet. What can I say? It is goddamn cute.



The ninja cat is a much cooler customer.



Must ... have ... lap ... hippo



I'm sure my cats would let me do this

NaBloPoMo, Day 17: It Can't Be Monday Already

I was totally nigh nigh when this came on but when I watched it today, thought Justin Timberlake did great job on SNL's Weekend Update:



Then later he also did a sorta funny bit with Beyonce:

Justin Timberlake & Beyonce - Parody "Single Ladies" SNL
Uploaded by Rock_You_Justin

Reader, please note that Daily Motion does not know how to spell "parody" and so I fixed it for them on the above link. Gah. The horror.

NaBloPoMo, Day 16: Sunday Observations

Reader, today Teacher and I took two very lovely and different hikes in Marin. One was in a very redwood-y, fern-y, wooden-bridges-over-babbling-brook area (and you'll have to take my word for it because I forgot to take any pictures). The other was up a sunnny windswept ridge. On one side, an eagle's eye look at an amazing piece of real estate we like to call San Quentin State Prison.

















And on the other side, views of San Francisco, sail boats in the bay, and though you can't see it in this picture, the tops of the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge peeking over the hills. Most excellent.

















And: last week's 30 Rock with guest Jennifer Aniston was muy not funny. I was bitterly disappointed and hope next week is better.

Plus: what is the deal with Sarah Palin's bedroom hair? I had no luck finding a picture, but ever since the election she's looking like she and Todd just finished making baby number six or tried real hard anyway.

NaBloPoMo, Day 15: You Can't Legislate Love

Reader, today was a huge nationwide protest against Prop 8. I joined the Urban Farmers at the Oakland rally. It was great to see an amazingly diverse crowd and listen to the speakers implore us to not let what must surely be the last gasp of bigotry keep us mired in blaming or hatred and instead let the power of love do its work. It was just what I needed to hear. And you know what else? Wanda Sykes came out today at a rally in Las Vegas.

And teh awesomeness of Rachel Maddow goes on as she stands in solidarity with bloggers against certain former Vice Presidential candidates:



Thanks, Rachel!

NaBloPoMo, Day 14: Friday Light

Holy hell reader, I'm halfway through NaBloPoMo and I am tired. Please enjoy a new interwebs find, FAIL Blog. Check these out:


see more pwn and owned pictures

Ouch.


see more pwn and owned pictures

Um, what kind of burger?


see more pwn and owned pictures

Any state would be proud to produce such appealing marketing.

I could go on but why deny your God-given right to waste an hour perusing this site like I did?

Hey, tomorrow there are going to be nationwide protests against shiteous Prop 8. I'll be going tomorrow with the newlywed Urban Farmers. Get out there and support love!

NaBloPoMo, Day 13: A Different Angle to Prop 8

Reader, take a few minutes to watch Keith Olbermann break down the hate of Prop 8. If you're dry-eyed at the end of it, you're made of STONE.



This article about dogs serving injured veterans has nothing to do with Prop 8 but also made me cry.

NaBloPoMo, Day 12: Eat This Now. It's Food. No, Really. It is.

If you've perused my links, you know that I'm a big fan of Carol Blymire, the nutty lady who cooked her way through the Thomas Keller masterpiece and then blogged all about it on French Laundry at Home. She is an adventurous and grounded cook and hilarious to boot, but once she met her goal of making every recipe from the book, needed to turn her attention to a new task.

She set her sights on Alinea, a Chicago restaurant specializing in molecular gastronomy. Like me, you may have no idea what the hell that means, so click that link. Does that explain it? Not really, right? As far as I can tell, molecular gastronomy involves doing all kinds of science-y things to food using hydrocolloids until it become nearly unrecognizable as food, then serving it on fresh-from-the-mothership tableware.

Molecular gastronomy is kind of big whoop right now. I'm meh about it. The whole concept just seems so detached and bloodless to me, so unlike seeing saw-wielding Carol grappling with a giant pig head on her kitchen table. How great is that?

Check out this dish from famed Spanish restaurant el Bulli, a hub of the molecular gastronomy movement:

























Dinner is served!

So what is that? Not sure. el Bulli classifies this ectoplasm as tapas, and calls it "cala Montjoi goose barnacles." WTF? But it must be said--they've got no shortage of customers. el Bulli is only open from April to September and takes reservations on one day the prior October, employs 42 chefs and has operated at a loss since 2000. Whatever it is they're doing, they're very dedicated. You must give them that.

Even though I sort of don't care about molecular gastronomy, I'll keep reading Alinea at Home because I like Carol so much. What's not to love about a lady who describes a recipe as "bacon on a sex swing?"

NaBloPoMo, Day 11: Feel-Good Movie

This past weekend Lizh and I went to see Role Models, a free-wheeling, f bomb-laden adult comedy with a heart.

The very loose plot centers around Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott, friends and coworkers under court order to participate in a mentoring program called Sturdy Wings, headed by the utterly fabulous Jane Lynch taking a Sarah Palinesque turn as the program's nonsensical tough love director.

Here's a clip:



Slate's Dana Stevens wonders why Rudd isn't a bigger star and I have to agree totally. Rudd is funny as hell and matinee-star handsome. His trail of low-key appearances belies his commanding on-screen presence. But maybe his star is on the rise. Watch for him hosting SNL on November 15th.

Role Models follows the steady stream of recent adult comedies that are actually funny: The 40 Year Old Virgin, Superbad (my favorite), and Knocked Up--unlike the recent spate of painfully unfunny romantic comedies we've been subject to like The Break-Up, the upcoming Four Christmases or the preview we saw for this dreck. The latter are the types of movies made for airplanes--it doesn't matter if you slip off into an Ativan-induced haze for a minute or an hour, you haven't missed a thing.

If you only have a few minutes but still want to laugh your ass off, check out the first two minutes of The Office, Episode 504: Baby Shower. You'll have to sit through an ad, but it's so worth it.

NaBloPoMo, Day 10: The Painful Reality of Prop 8

For many in California, the exciting outcome of the Presidential election was tarnished by the steaming pile of doo-doo that is Prop 8, which eliminated the right of gays and lesbians to marry.

Especially painful for me was learning that seven of ten African Americans voted for Prop 8. I wasn't sure what to do with my sense of betrayal, anger, and confusion upon learning that many African Americans polled do not view this as a civil rights issue.

Rachel Maddow tackled this thorny matter with the help of Princeton professor Melissa Harris Lacewell to help us make sense of what happened. The whole clip is great but if you're short of time, the segment starts at 3:30

NaBloPoMo, Day 9: History Repeats Itself

Reader, we've all been trying to make sense of our present, ever-deepening financial shithole. Untangling the furled knot leads us to the 1999 repealing of the Glass-Steagal Act, which I mentioned briefly last week.

The origins of the Act, posted on a pro-investment site, ring eerily familiar:

"Commercial banks were accused of being too speculative in the pre-Depression era, not only because they were investing their assets but also because they were buying new issues for resale to the public. Thus, banks became greedy, taking on huge risks in the hope of even bigger rewards. Banking itself became sloppy and objectives became blurred. Unsound loans were issued to companies in which the bank had invested, and clients would be encouraged to invest in those same stocks.

...the GSA set up a regulatory firewall between commercial and investment bank activities, both of which were curbed and controlled."

The 1999 demise of the Act set the stage for our present problems:

Consequently, to the delight of many in the banking industry (not everyone, however, was happy), in November of 1999 Congress repealed the GSA with the establishment of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which eliminated the GSA restrictions against affiliations between commercial and investment banks. Furthermore, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act allows banking institutions to provide a broader range of services, including underwriting and other dealing activities."

William Kaufman has written a more pro-consumer view of the bipartisan origins of this mess including the 1999 roll call. You'll see it includes many Democrats like Joe Biden, described by the author as an "ever-servile corporate factotum." Kaufman also cites an investigative piece from the Phoenix Business Journal, which uncovered that:

Obama and McCain . . . have accepted a substantial amount of campaign money from Wall Street bankers, investment and securities firms and their executives during this election cycle.

Investment firms have donated $9.9 million to Obama and $6.9 million to McCain this campaign thus far, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Commercial banks have given Obama $2.1 million and McCain $1.9 million. Private equity firms and hedge funds have given Obama $2 million and McCain $1.4 million, according to CFRP.

Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase & Co., UBS and heavyweight law firm DLA Piper are among Obama's top contributors.

Change we can believe in or business as usual? Elected by the people for his stated commitment to Main Street yet funded with Wall Street dollars, only time will tell who Obama will answer to.

NaBloPoMo, Day 8: Thunk

Reader, that's the sound of me falling over from the cuteness of Monifa, the baby pygmy hippo.



Hope she can reunite with her mama soon. Squee.

NaBloPoMo, Day 7: The Bradley Effect

Reader, remember all that speculation about the hordes of people who were telling pollsters they planned to vote for Obama but really weren't going to? And how we therefore couldn't trust the polling numbers and we all fretted hardcore about not winning this election? Well, it turned out to be a bunch of hooey. There was no Bradley effect at all. Glad we can lay that to rest.

The passing of Prop 8 however, really put a damper on the excitement. There are lots of great responses out there, here's one from Melissa Etheridge, words from Rebecca Woolf, and you can also read about the path back to the state Supreme Court.

And for some levity, check out the most recent Target: Women skewering The View. TGIF!

NaBloPoMo, Day 6: Turn That Tide!

Cool article in the Times about a federal court ruling against a Bush administration Medicare policy of paying for only "the least costly" treatment. Making health care decisions based on cost and not what is clinically appropriate is more American than apple pie! Sigh. Especially when it comes to the poor and elderly, who we all know are just not worth as much.

Did you see Sicko? The look of disbelief and pity in the eyes of the British doctors as Moore asked them if they made medical decisions based on cost was almost too much to bear. So this ruling is a droplet of sanity in an insane sea and yes, THAT IS WHAT TAXES SHOULD PAY FOR. If that makes me a socialist I guess so are all the corporate bankers at AIG who were more than happy to get their government bailout AND their spa treatment. Oh yeah and everyone that expects the police to respond to a 911 call and not get a bill for it later.

In another health matter, take this Weird Body Quiz and see how you do. I only got 6 out of ten correct, one of those being the fart question.

NaBloPoMo, Day 5: Wow.

Reader, what an amazing moment in history.

Yes, we can.

And did.

Decisively.


NaBloPoMo, Day 4: Election Day!

You voted already, right? You didn't? What in the sam hell are you doing sitting in front of a computer, reader? Go vote!

Moving on. The Tudors. As a piece of historical drama, it's a tad sexed up, verging on the ridiculous at times as Henry ravages one wench after the next. Halfway into the first episode I was over Henry VIII as played by the pillow lipped Jonathan Rhys-Meyers. He's much too pout pout I'm zo zexy. Like Angelina Jolie, when Rhys-Meyers tries to be sexy he just looks like a caricature of himself as he screws everything in a skirt, except his long-suffering, soon to be jettisoned wife for the coy but soon to lose her head Anne Boleyn.

I'm a much bigger fan of his friend, Charles Brandon played by the delicious Henry Cavill, tasked with escorting Henry's sister Margaret to marry the decrepit old King of Portugal. On the way they have a hot little frolic on the ship. Later, they conspire to kill the old goat then marry before returning to England. Henry is none too pleased and banishes them from court. While they wait for him to cool down they hurl tankards of wine at each before going at it on the dining room table. Good stuff.

The rest of it, meh. Not sure if I'll make it past the first season. When oh when will the dreaded "very long wait" label disappear from Mad Men in my Netflix queue?

NaBloPoMo, Day 3: Scarier than Halloween

You may know by now reader, that I have a special interest in the FDA and the pharmaceutical industry. Check some of my past rantings here, here, here, here, and here. This week's NYT Magazine features an excellent investigative article by Gardiner Harris, The Safety Gap about the current state of the FDA in light of the pharmaceutical industry's mass exodus to the last bastion of cheap and unregulated manufacturing, China.

Take the time to read this. I know, "reading" is so out of vogue these days what with blogging and microblogging keeping us informed about Brangelina's ever-expanding brood. I look forward to an Obama win if for no other reason than to help shift the public discourse away from "drill baby drill" to more thoughtful policy statements. Cringe. Why some Americans are so proud to sound so stupid, I'll never understand.

Back to our story. Maybe once upon a time the only drugs you took from China were those unpronounceable supplements sold at health food stores whose contents were mysterious but sure kicked a cold's ass. Two I have taken are here and here and while they were effective, I'm not sure I would take them now for fear of some additional unwanted ingredient, like lead. But now, we're all consuming drugs made from China, everything from aspirin (almost exclusively made in China) to the blood thinner Heparin. Unlike Chinese-labeled herbal supplements, it is highly unlikely that you would ever know the provenance of these drugs.

You may not be surprised to hear that the news for drug safety is not good. The FDA, already tasked with a ridiculous amount of responsibility, is under resourced, operating with antiquated systems and processes, has been left in the dust by the overseas move of these operations. In fact, many Chinese plants have never been inspected. Yet the push is stronger than ever for cheaper drugs (cheaper everything really--check out Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price about the Wal-Mart presence in China) thanks to the sorry state of health care in this country.

The FDA plans to open its first office in China next year. About time, since as Harris notes:

China’s leap to one of the biggest suppliers of pharmaceutical ingredients in the world happened over the last decade, as the Chinese government subsidized the construction of manufacturing plants that have undercut prices everywhere. Generic drug makers in the United States, where price competition is fierce, were the first to seek cheaper drug ingredients in China. Last year, generic drug applications to the F.D.A. listed 1,154 plants providing active pharmaceutical ingredients: 43 percent of them were in China, and another 39 percent were in India. Only 13 percent were in the United States. Branded drug makers, with their fatter profit margins, resisted buying ingredients from China for years, but with their businesses now suffering, even major pharmaceutical companies like AstraZeneca, Bayer, Baxter and Pfizer have announced deals to outsource manufacturing to China.

I have been writing about the drug industry for more than a decade, but I have rarely written about a subject that both branded and generic drug makers wanted to discuss less. Nearly all of the industry executives who spoke for this article did so anonymously. Even the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, a normally loquacious trade group, was largely silent on the issue. Not one of them, it seems, wants to talk too much about the difficulty of regulating factories across several times zones, 6,000 miles and a vast linguistic and cultural divide.

I can't say I'm surprised that no one wants to talk about this. But I'm sure I wasn't the only one who nearly fell off her chair after seeing the conditions under which Heparin is processed in China. The impact on consumers goes far beyond typical outsourcing complaints about the accents of help desk folks. Yet an unchecked profit motive makes it unlikely that the pharmaceutical industry will voluntarily do their own inspecting and instead point to the FDA as falling down on the job.

Hopefully an Obama administration will bring a more regulation-friendly environment. Like many, I have a strong desire to not be killed by that which is supposed to help me. Yet as I learned the other day, we owe much of the current financial crisis to the dismantling of the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act, a firewall that had been put up between investment and consumer banking, which happened under the Clinton administration. Thanks, Bill! Hope we do better this time around.

NaBloPoMo: I Already Missed a Day

Reader, it's National Blog Posting Month, or NaBloPoMo, where bloggers everywhere accept the challenge of posting everyday in November. As you can see, I missed the first day because my head was up my ass. But, all is not lost! Just as eating chocolate chip cookies for breakfast does not mean I need to forsake vegetables for the rest of the day, I will move forward despite this less than stellar beginning. And try not to dwell on the fact that November is a really long month and by the end of last year's NaBlo I never wanted to blog again.

So! It's daylight savings and I took advantage of the extra hour to do some laundry and am feeling very virtuous indeed. Gus is driving me up a tree with his incessant howling, door chewing, and carpet scratching. My threats to put him out do no good as Gus would like nothing more than to get out. Owing to his pencil eraser sized brain he of course does not realize that I am saving him from certain death. Little fucker.

John McCain was on SNL last night in a kinda funny satire of Obama's 30 minute closing speech, with beloved Tina reprising her Sarah role. This was a lot funnier to me than it would have been if I had never seen QVC. This will make sense in a second: