Thank The FDA For Your Skin Cancer
They're "protecting" you from protecting your skin with the best sunblocks out there -- like Photoderm Max 100 SPF that I get in France. Anthelios 60 SPF has Mexoryl, but both Anthelios and Photoderm Max are heads and tails above US sunblocks in the protection they offer from both UVA and UVB, and in photostability (meaning the sun doesn't make them break down like US-available sunblocks!). Here's a bit from John Mackenzie's ABC News story on why "is the Best Available Sunscreen Illegal In The U.S.?"
This summer tens of millions of Americans will apply creams and lotions to protect themselves from the harmful effects of the sun. What most do not realize is that most of the sunscreens available in the United States are inferior to those available almost everywhere else in the world.In Europe, Asia, South America, Canada, Mexico and Australia, people are using the newest, most effective sunscreens. What makes them superior is an ingredient called Mexoryl.
"It produces a product which gives us almost perfect protection against sunshine, or at least as good as we can get at this time," Dr. Vincent Deleo, chairman of the dermatology department at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, told ABC News.
Sunscreens contain a combination of ingredients such as oxybenzone, Parsol 1789 or titanium oxide. But adding mexoryl takes sun protection to a whole new level, according to Dr. Darrell Rigel, a clinical professor of dermatology at New York University and a past president of the American Academy of Dermatology.
"Mexoryl is over two times better than any other combination of ingredients that currently exist, in terms of protecting from ultraviolet A radiation," said Rigel.
The sun's ultraviolet A radiation, which can penetrate glass, causes wrinkles and sagging skin, contributes to skin cancer, and weakens the immune system.
While most sunscreens are effective at blocking UVB rays responsible most sunburns, few lotions have provided broad UVA protection until the arrival of Mexoryl.
Mexoryl has been available around the world for the past several years, but it has yet to be approved for use in the United States. Officials from the Food and Drug Administration declined to say whether it's even under consideration.
European studies have shown the compound is both safe and effective, which leaves many American doctors increasingly frustrated it is not sold in the United States.
I pay about 12 Euros for a 1.4 oz Photoderm Max at Samaritaine department store in France. In the USA, Zitomer Pharmacy, in Manhattan, is selling that same size tube -- against FDA regulations -- for $39! For that price, you should probably just stay home and hide under your bed. We'll let you know when the FDA has stopped protecting you from protecting yourself from the sun, so you can come out, apply some really good sunblock, and go to the beach.
Ash Bridges
Some entertaining bridge-burning from a now former member of the legal profession, via Gawker. Here's an excerpt from his exit letter:
While I have a high degree of personal respect for PHJW as a law firm, and I have made wonderful friendships during my time here, I am no longer comfortable working for a group largely populated by gossips, backstabbers and Napoleonic personalities. In fact, I dare say that I would rather be dressed up like a pinata and beaten than remain with this group any longer. I wish you continued success in your goals to turn vibrant, productive, dedicated associates into an aimless, shambling group of dry, lifeless husks.
Mini-Mo Enroute
J-Mo, my Venice, CA, neighbor, otherwise known as Julia Roberts, is preggers, reports A Fly On The (CAA) Wall.
UPDATE: Then again, in the words of Defamer, "Nothing in Hollywood is official until a publicist denies it."
Live From American Film Institute
Cathy Seipp is hosting an event with Hollywood and blogger speakers and I'm blogging from it...LIVE!...at this very moment. We're at AFI in the hills of Hollywood. The evening is titled "The Inside Story: Hollywood And The Media Deconstructed." Emmanuelle Richard and I are her co-hosts, as always, but this time, all we had to do was e-mail out Cathy's invite, then a warning about getting frisked due to the presence of Charles Johnson from Little Green Footballs. Panel One -- the Hollywood part -- is Andrew Breitbart, co-author of Hollywood Interrupted; Mike Sullivan, former head of programming at UPN and still creating programming at Paulist Prodns; Allan Mayer (described below), and Rob Long, TV producer/showrunner who was the young, co-showrunner of Cheers.
I'll post whatever tidbits I can type fast enough to paraphrase and quote. PS This may turn out to be real crap, because it's terribly hard to listen and type and blog and get it right, so I may end up being a bit boring, omitting, and/or confusing in the name of correctly quoting people:
Cathy asked Mike Sullivan to talk about how some of the freshest shows on TV have been created by and/or star(red) "middle-aged has-beens"...from B-movie actress Lucy Arnaz, to Carroll O'Connor to David Chase ("The Sopranos"). Sullivan said the idea of network execs is that we know how "this old hack" will do, and "maybe this young hack will be better." Rob Long later pointed out that Ricky and Lucy wouldn't have been thought to have an inter-racial marriage back in the day.
"There's a cluelessness in the news business..." commented Alan Mayer, former editor of Buzz Magazine; now head of the entertainment division at Sitrick, a crisis PR firm. "We don't want to deal with the substance of anything," said Mayer. People just want to examine the motive -- not what happened, but why it happened, he explained. He feels there's a blurring of the lines between entertainment journalism and political journalism and other kinds of journalism. He noted that he was amused at the way the Schwartzenegger administration is dealing with the flood of foreign press requests by setting up a press junket, patterned on Hollywood press junkets.
Rob Long said just told...I think he said it was The New York Times...that the sitcom was dead.
Former UPN head Mike Sullivan breaks in: "Again?"
According to Rob, Hollywood sitcom execs are the meddling-est suits of all, constantly looking over the show-runner's shoulder. Oh yeah -- Sullivan used to be a censor. So he really knows all sides of the biz.
Rob comments on the Hollyweasels butting in: "It never occurs to these people that it's so bad because they're involved in doing it." Also, Rob knew a very funny sitcom writer who was depressed, and was prescribed Paxil. Apparently, anti-depressants are a cure for being funny. The guy took the drug, became a lug. Good. I think I'll stay crazy then!
Andrew brought up reality TV, and Mike noted that civility used to be prized; now it's the opposite (on TV and in our society, I think he meant). Alan said Jerry Springer's been doing it for 15 years, and it's just now moving into prime time. He sees a business problem for the entertainment industry: there are no reruns, and there's no syndication. It's throwaway programming. PS Alan did the recent behind-the-scenes for The Simpsons (voiceover) cast, in their bid to get salary increases.
Some very attractive woman, an actress, asked about people taking productions out of town and out of the country. George Clooney was one of the accused (for his first directing effort). Sullivan mentioned that (John Sayles) Matewan was non-union! It's always the leftiest lefties who are the worst employers!
VERACITY NOTE: Somebody posted in my comments section below that this is not true. Maybe the comment by Sullivan was that Matewan was ABOUT union struggles? If anybody has the correct info on this, please let me know. On deadline now -- will come back to this when I'm done with my column on Tuesday afternoon.
MORE: Actually, it appears Sayles has worked non-union, although I can only find rumors on Google that Matewan was non-union.
Alan addressed runaway production, noting that people get caught between the choice of shooting at home (because people like working at home, quality of technicians is high, and the US looks more like the US than other places do). He talked about the difficulty of getting a green light -- and learning you can make it "for a price." And sometimes the only way to make it work is to go to Canada. Sometimes, the choice is make it there, or don't make it, he noted. "The best that can happen, and it's not a happy outcome..." he noted, is "...doing as much of the prep and the post" as possible, here (in America).
Rob noted, because the "above-the-line" costs (ie, actors -- the non-crew members of the production) are so high now, money is a concern in a way it never was.
Sullivan revealed that the Sopranos was first developed for Fox, and said that if it had been made for Fox, it would have been a totally different show, and Gandolfini wouldn't have been in the lead role.
Rob thinks HBO will begin to think that everything they do is great, and it's great because they did it. He thinks it's the nature of..."people" (networks, I think he means).
Andrew (who runs The Drudge Report), referred to himself as "Matt Drudge's bitch," then commented that blogging is based on good mainstream journalism, and if the journalism isn't good (LA Times was his example of "not good"), the blogging can't be good. He thinks, if the rest of the country knew "how the sausages are made" (in terms of production), people would be outraged at how stars' salaries are squeezing the below-the-line people.
Cathy's daughter, aka Cecile Dubois, is blogging live on Cathy's blog...check out her stuff on the event here.
Alan mentioned that he liked how Mulder on "The X Files" referred to "the Military-Entertainment Industrial Complex," and talked about how he wanted somebody to write a book on NY, DC, and Hollywood when he was a book publisher, and feels people don't really address the growing inter-relation here. He mentioned this before, at greater length, but my fingers weren't fast enough. If you know Alan, ask him about this, because he has a lot to say on it. If you don't, Luke Ford will probably have it all, word for word, in a day or two, because he's taping this whole thing.
Rob describes Hollywood, in a nutshell, as "people scrambling for money." He says, I think referring to the old Ovitz aura: "There's no 'most powerful man in Hollywod'; there are just aging failures."
Alan calls journalism "such a passive profession" (now), where people are waiting for stuff to come to them, contrasted with the old Izzy Stone journalism. Sullivan noted that he, as a programming executive, was informed by the grips that shows were canceled -- when he had no idea. Alan found the stuff he needed for The Simpsons' salary negotiations via a guy who found all the information through public sources. Cathy commented on people from the LA Times who have a reputation for never leaving the office. Or their chair, she might have said.
Toby Young asked if a journalist who starts writing hard-hitting stories for The New York Times or another paper -- if they wouldn't be frozen out. Mike Sullivan responded by pointing out the vast number of great sources there are -- disgruntled employees. Rob answered Toby's question -- noting that people are afraid of being frozen out (of their society, I think he meant) -- and maybe even by their spouses!
Andrew pointed out that you rarely hear from celebrities how grateful they are that they make the kind of money they are, and how grateful they are to this country in general. Hmm, but with the salary whining -- this is the marketplace. The stars can get it, so they do.
Rishawn Biddle noted that we have kind of an innate knowledge of stars -- who they are and what they do -- Andrew kept talking over him, so I couldn't hear what he was saying. He noted that people understand that stuff is fiction, and like it -- and people from Pakistan aspire to be Americans. Andrew was arguing that you'll be pushed aside if you have "a certain mentality" (ie, right of center), that they'll be "utterly alienated." Oh, please. See below blog item on how NPR! has more Republican commentators than any others. He says "Hollywood puts out a negative message of what America stands for." Again, I turn to the marketplace. Hollywood is not a state film unit. You want to make a movie about how great fundamentalism is, raise the money, go ahead. Rob, who is right of center, disagreed that you'd be ostracized on the set for being to the right. If he has been ostracized, he's done quite well for it!
Rob feels "you can't get a more distorted view" (of America) than you can by watching CNN and reading The New York Times. He calls it "a massive disinformation campaign."
Sullivan pointed out that it would be hard to sell a movie critical of Roe v. Wade. Rob agreed.
Andrew noted that Martin Sheen, who is anti-nuke, is willing to get arrested for that, but said Sheen is pro-life and doesn't protest for that -- out of self-interest, Andrew felt. (That pro-life wouldn't play so well in The Biz.)
Whew. Time for a drink. I need one. Signing off! Hope this was semi-coherent!
Drunk From AFI
Okay, drinks thingie is over, and being a (post-)Jewish drunk, I had two drinks (my ultimate limit) and two spinach pie corners, and I'm more semi-coherent than usual. Sitting next to me is Matthew Klam, who's writing a piece for The New York Times on blogging...and has come all the way here from the coast that's convinced it's superior, ie, New York. Of course, we're the biggest book-buying market in the country, and the biggest subscriber audience to The New Yorker.
Panel number two is Matt Welch, Charles Johnson, Kevin Drum, Roger L. Simon, Moxie, and Mickey Kaus, who looks quite sexy in a sweatshirt and baseball hat with a day's growth (saw him in our local coffee shop the other day, dressed accordingly). Yeah, yeah...you've read his stuff, but now you know the untold story.
"Moxie is here to represent the 20% of women bloggers," says Cathy, noting that Moxie is "by far, the most right-wing person on this panel." There was something about running around in a bikini for John Ashcroft, but I missed the beginning part of it.
Mickey, like me, is a Kerry-loathing Kerry voter. Mickey used to be at Newsweek. "There's a reason every Newsweek writer is an ex-Newsweek writer." Small news-hole, apparently, is the reason. Why did Mickey blog: "If worse came to worse, I could start posting my stuff up on the Web." Now he has "a little bit of money and a few readers" -- his worst fears being none of either after starting a blog. He's Kausfiles.com (which gets you to his blog on Slate but don't ask me to link it, because I'm typing 900 miles per hour, and I'm still behind). Mickey attributes the demise of Howell Raines to bloggers -- rightly, I think.
Moxie started blogging in October of 2000 "as a means to write every day." Initially, she did not start her blog with the intention of writing about politics, but over the course of time, she became outraged by what she saw in the media -- ie, there are no right-wing women here (I think she means Los Angeles), and made the transition to writing about politics.
Roger L. Simon picked up on something Moxie said about blogs: "I think it's an extraordinary way of...meeting people." Blogging is a giant singles bar with no physical contact? Or something like that. When Roger had a novel coming out, he thought he'd try blogging (as a way to publicity). He finds a strange similarity between the writing required in blogs and the writing required in crime novels. Roger seems to claim to be apolitical, but or "off in all directions," but I think people tend to find him right-wing. He notes that blogs are crummy for selling novels.
Kevin Drum is a former software exec whose company got bought up by a Swiss company, then quit (I think that's what he said), and spent time reading Mickey, and then went to a Mickey link to Glenn Reynolds, then it was blog-crack to him. Two days later, he was blogging, then he started writing for Washington Monthly.
Kevin brought up, roundaboutly, one of the main charms of blogging: lack of editor! Well, I must interject, if you have a good editor, that person makes your work better. If you don't -- kill yourself, FAST!
Charles Johnson started blogging to teach himself the technology, then September 11 crystalized something in him -- which became the blog Little Green Footballs. Go back to his blog around September 11 -- and see the roots of what his blog is now. He's a musician, interested in history (he says), and "it's been a very interesting process - becaues it's lead to a real examination of all these issues with examination with Islamic extremism. He feels the mainstream media "whitewashes" what's going on now. "We're not even told this is a war...yes we're at war, but not really." He wants to bring "enlightenment" and "a more clear vision" of...?where we are and what we're going? I believe that's what he said.
Matt Welch pointed out that Charles goes through the Arab press and pulls stuff so we know what's going on. Matt feels he's "a lot less interesting," and felt then that "blogs were stupid and narcissistic" (and he still does). But, after September 11, he felt compelled to blog -- and Ken Layne set up his blog. Matt's also an associate editor at Reason Magazine. "Ultimately, I don't really care about politics too much," but he doesnt' belong to a political party, and finds people like Mickey, who are politics obsessed...sort of crazy...and I missed the other word, but it was quite funny.
Cathy noted that Matt has had "a few drs, inks." Yes, haven't we all!
Cathy pointed out that blogging makes the world smaller -- and noted that she met (via blogging) Sergeant Striker -- an Air Force mechanic and blogger. She thinks she meets people she would never meet otherwise.
Matt says "it's a fantastic way to meet people who just aren't in your social strata"...like a Republican cop from Pomona (one of his first readers). He thinks it breaks the red-blue divide: "Bro, we're on the same team here." He's a bit disappointed it's receded so much (I think he means since September 11). Matt uses his Web log, he says, to garner different points of view. Matt, here's mine: will you cut the baseball stuff already!
Charles gets tons of comments. And days of 100,000 unique visitors, he says. He's knocked with some regularity for not erasing comments of racists of one stripe or another. "Overly vehement" in their expression is his euphemism for it. "You really -- if you pick out the people who really have something to say and skip over" those "who don't"...he says you can "learn a lot." "The exchange of ideas" is "one of the main benefits" of blogging, he thinks.
Kevin Drum talks about proof of the reach of blogging being his being here -- meaning his Washington Monthly blog -- but actually, it was a blog-fight on LAObserved.com that got him here. People attacked Cathy for not including a more representative (ie, where are them Democrats!?) slice of blog-dom...and she responded by inviting Kevin.
Moxie says blogging has expanded her professional writing -- and her freelance photography jobs. Moxie, "bizarrely," Cathy notes, wrote a singles column for The Jewish Journal, even though she's "not Jewish, and a Republican."
Mickey doesn't think the Web breaks down class barriers: "I, too, have people from all over..." who send him tips and arguments. He hasn't found himself "talking to cops in Pomona." Apparently, they're all bored lawyers or women who "don't have careers but are at home..." Cathy tried to elicit the porn angle. No luck.
Matt pointed out that his site has comments; Mickey's doesn't.
Mickey feels blogging is a real meritocracy. Mickey does a commercial for Ken Layne. Buy the Corvids CD. Blog-mercial. "If you are a good blogger, you will be read." Mickey noted that your hits go down right away if you suck. I'll drink to that. Or sober to that, rather.
Cathy got her most hits when she said Playboy "was okay" on National Review. Hello, this is a surprise? She calls blogging "the ultimate free-market" something I forget by the time I was about to type it. Now she's opening to questions, and I think I need to get a wrist massage.
Matt says he's "too small to attract trolls." Actually, he's too balanced. Also, he says he argues with assholes "until they leave."
Cathy notes a sort of self-censoring by comments posters on people's personal sites. Roger says he's "had a few." Charles -- well, personal attacks are his blog business. He is "called an odious Neanderthal," notes Cathy. "There seems to be a general code of honor, more often than not," says Cathy.
Virginia Postrel notes that "the commenters create a sense of who the audience for the blog is." She finds it non-representative...and "not very intelligent" (and I think she's speaking of Reason's blog on that).
Matt's feelings about various people's commenters:
Roger Simon's: "scare me"
Charles Johnson's: "scare the hell out of me"
Kevin Drum's: "scare me"
Roger notes that there's some woman author who sometimes post 5,000 words a day on his site, and I think he said she is smarter than he is. "I think one of the reasons blogs are what they are" is that they're a way to have a dialogue outside the mainstream media. Roger doesn't get freaked by the wild comments: "they're out there and I want to see it." "I'm a writer and I want to know." "In order to do art, you need the food that comes from this kind of thing."
The origin of the name (of Charles Johnson's blog) "Little Green Footballs": "it's intended to be somewhat enigmatic." He had a music publishing company under that name. It had to do with "a hang-gliding incident in Tokyo."
Uh-oh...I'm running way low on laptop power, and on wrist-power, too. I think I have to check out now. Thanks to Apple, for creating the iBook, and for my ancestors, for these wrists, which continue to type, despite the massive abuse I put them through. I hope this wasn't terribly incoherent; then again, I've been drinking, so please take that as my excuse.
The Booze Bounty
Pizza delivery people are being bribed to turn in minors with visible six packs, and no, not the abdominal kind. Compare our Puritanical approach to that of countries like France, where drinking isn't prohibited for kids -- hence, they aren't all apeshit over alcohol like kids are here. Essentially, in my experience, it's considered piggy to get sloppy drunk there, where alcohol is considered something to be enjoyed in moderation, before, after, or with meals. Moreover, because alcohol isn't demonized and prohibited, there isn't the impulse to go sneak out and drink. And, it's so nice, in France, to go to an ordinary cafÈ, not a bar, and be able to order a glass of wine and a snack at 4pm and watch the world go by. Maybe what's wrong in our neck of the bois isn't a national problem with alcohol but with the Puritanical prohibitions against it. And the same goes for drugs, if you take that logic a step further. How many "criminals" are we paying to keep in jail, who would otherwise be productive members of society who like a nightly toke? (Thanks to A.Ho for the link tip.)
Right, Right, And Center
A survey by the left-leaning media watchdog, FAIR, says NPR mostly uses sources who are Republicans:
"Republicans not only had a substantial partisan edge," according to a report accompanying the survey, "individual Republicans were NPR's most popular sources overall, taking the top seven spots in frequency of appearance." In addition, representatives of right-of-center think tanks outnumbered their leftist counterparts by more than four to one, FAIR reported.
Yes, even the liberal-est of the liberal media leans conservative!
(via Romenesko)
Discover Khaddafi Country!
Intrepid LA Times travel reporter Susan Spano wrote a huge two-pager, "The curtains part, revealing wonders," on the joys of vacationing in Libya. She did add a caveat:
There's nothing easy about visiting Libya, especially for Americans. A U.S. State Department warning, citing the country's sponsorship of terrorism, remains in effect, and tourist services are unsophisticated. Except for the new Corinthia Bab Africa Hotel in Tripoli, accommodations are rudimentary. At tourist sites, printed information is scant, and guides speak halting English. Changing dollars for Libyan dinars is an ordeal; credit cards are rarely accepted; alcohol is banned, in adherence to Muslim law. And just try to get a visa.
She was kind enough to add a helpful link to the State Department warning against traveling to the Middle East at the end of her piece:
This Public Announcement is being updated to remind U.S. citizens of the continuing threat of anti-American violence and terrorist attacks against U.S. citizens and interests, specifically in the Middle East, including the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa....On occasion, the travel of official personnel at embassies and consulates around the world is restricted because of security concerns, and these posts may recommend that private U.S. citizens avoid the same areas if at all possible.
She did not include the one specifically on Libya. Probably because of stuff in it like this:
While Libya has taken steps to cooperate in the global war on terrorism, the Libyan Government remains on the U.S. Government's State Sponsors of Terrorism List. Although Libya appears to have curtailed its support for international terrorism, it may maintain residual contacts with some of its former terrorist clients.Recent worldwide terrorist alerts have stated that extremist groups continue to plan terrorist attacks against U.S. interests in the region. Therefore, any American citizen that decides to travel to Libya (Amy says: is a moron!) should maintain a strong security posture by being aware of surroundings, avoiding crowds and demonstrations, keeping a low profile, and varying times and routes for all required travel. In light of these security concerns, U.S. citizens are urged to maintain a high level of vigilance and to take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness.
Oh yeah, and then there's this bit in there from the U.S. Treasury Department, on the U.S. sanctions against Libya:
...On February 26, 2004, OFAC issued a general license for transactions related to travel to, from, and within Libya and residence in Libya. The general license ñ authorizes the purchase of airline tickets, hotel room, etc. However, certain restrictions on payments will continue to apply to these transactions, for example: while there are no restrictions on how payment may be made to travel service providers in the U.S. for any travel-related expenses, the use in Libya of credit cards and checks drawn on U.S. banks remains prohibited. Travelers should be prepared to engage in cash-only transactions while in Libya. (Amy says: especially when negotiating ransom demands with kidnappers.)
What a charming place to travel! What's next from our friends at the LA Times? "Get Beheaded In Baghdad?" Or maybe "Osama Country: Your .04-Star Terrorist-Packed Cave Awaits!"
UPDATE: You might want to check out this article, "Attackers Hunted Westerners," from May 31/CNN.com, before you start packing your bags.
"Virginia Is For Lovers. Some Restrictions Apply."
That's the revise on the state of Virginia motto that gay activists are toying with, thanks to a new law prohibiting civil unions:
The new law is an amendment to the state's 1997 Affirmation of Marriage Act, which prohibits gay marriages. The amendment extends that ban to civil unions, partnership contracts and other "arrangements between persons of the same sex purporting to bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage."Some legal experts say the law is so vague it could interfere with powers of attorney, wills, medical directives, child custody, property arrangements and joint bank accounts.
Will the last lesbian out of Virginia, please turn out the lights? And any person who isn't gay, but who is for fairness and equal rights for all people, should treat the entire state like country club that doesn't admit Jews or blacks. The same goes for any state or place with bigoted, rights-denying policies based on religious nonsense. (Uh-oh...let's just hope our fundamentalist-in-chief doesn't get his way with that constitutional amendment!)
(via Reason's blog)
Dickelodeon
Defamer's name for the new gay cable network being launched by MTV. Sadly, they're calling it "LOGO." LOGO? Defamer gets my vote.
Michael And Me
Andrew Anthony has a few "awkward questions" for Michael Moore:
Is he the radical who has claimed to give a third of his income to worthy causes or a ruthless self-aggrandising hypocrite, or both?
Democracy Later
College students are being denied the vote, writes Megan Tandy:
(One) argument used to justify banning students from voting in college towns is their transient lifestyle ñ that they'll simply move away in four years, leaving behind the polices they help put in place. But, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 46% of Americans moved between 1995 and 2000; in other words, nearly half of the American public are as transient as college students. What's more, many states allow homeless people to vote and Virginia allows the homeless to vote "wherever they lay their head at night."
Shorn Again
My friend Hillary Johnson collects fab heads of hair -- her own:
A couple of years ago, I became a serious collector of haircuts. While I can't afford to buy my clothes at Gucci or Chanel, or hang works by Ed Ruscha or Richard Diebenkorn on my dining room wall, a haute couture haircut is relatively affordable. Why bother living in Los Angeles if you're not going to participate in at least some aspect of the city's vanity fair? I'm a big believer in strategic luxury. A $200 haircut, for instance, can go a long way toward compensating for a $14,000 economy car. Think about it: If you had to choose between a Ford Escort and regular haircuts by Laurent D at PrivÈ, or driving a Volkswagen Passat to Supercuts, which package would you select?I'll take the dramatic clash of the cheap and fabulous over a steady diet of mediocrity any day. So after several years of wearing my hair long, I showed up on Laurent's doorstep. Laurent doesn't cut your hair at a haircutting station but in front of a full-length mirror set up like a stage. This is because the haircut is more like a performance or magic show, complete with two assistants who hand Laurent the various instruments he requires, including a razor, thinning shears and scissors. His process is improvisational. After cutting off the long stuff, he set about changing the texture of my hair, thinning it at the top, then razoring in layers and sculpting them into short, foamy waves.
The end product was a head of short hair that somehow looked like a splendid up-doóit curled charmingly around my ears and pooled at the base of my neck in soft whorls. It was an impressionistic masterpieceóand technically brilliant, for when I washed it the next day, it looked just the same. And the next week. For the next three months it grew out charmingly, and for three months after that it gracefully accepted my whittling here and there with school scissors.
School scissors -- surely, the next trend after garden shears for Hollywood hair. You heard it here.
Rush To Misjudgment
Editor & Publisher editor Gregg Mitchell (a stand-up guy, if the fact that he once personally mailed me an E&P issue I never received is any indication) found himself rather creatively quoted this week. Former New York Times publisher Abe Rosenthal wrote in The New York Sun, "The other day, an editor of Editor & Publisher, a trade paper, said all American journalists should come out in unity and demand the American withdrawal from Iraq."
Noted New York Times detractor Rush Limbaugh then parroted the Rosenthal party line. I guess Rush is quite happy to be convinced something's true as long as he agrees with it. Unfortunately, Rosenthal got the "a," "an," and "the" parts of what he wrote right, but not much more. Mitchell was quick to bitchslap Rosenthal in print:
This did not speak well for a man who once headed The New York Times. E&P is a magazine, not a "paper," although that has only been true for, oh, a century or so. I am the editor, not an editor, as plainly pegged on the column. More importantly, I did not say anything close to what he had me saying. Other than that: good job.Rosenthal went on: "The planned unity of newspapers, television, and magazines is not my idea of good journalism -- or journalism at all."
Now, on this point, one can only agree. The problem is, I never called for any such thing.
My May 7 column was not addressed to "all American journalists" (print, TV, radio, Internet), and not even all newspaper journalists. It was aimed only at those who decide on editorials for the nation's largest newspapers -- and it did not, in any case, advocate that they "all" do anything. I merely suggested that at least ONE major paper come out for a phased U.S. pullout from Iraq -- as opposed to, say, sending more troops, which has been the favored position.
It seemed like a modest request, since the most recent USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll shows that 47% of the public now want us to bring home some or all of our troops. I imagine it's over 50% by now, the way things are going.
Subsequently, on CNN, I put that request in even more humble terms: I asked major newspapers to "consider advocating" a phased U.S. pullout from Iraq, or at the minimum begin a "healthy debate" on this subject.
Why did Rosenthal grossly mischaracterize what I am seeking? Perhaps he is afraid of that "healthy debate" on Iraq.
And, of course, it is Rosenthal himself who ends up calling for "planned unity" by urging all editors "to present background stories about the millions killed by Saddam" -- or else be branded "truly embarrassing."
What's "truly embarrassing" is the complete lack of embarrassment Rosenthal, Rush, and various self-promoters in the guise of public interest (Coulter, Hannity, and Michael Moore, just for starters) have about passing off lies and distortions as truths -- as long as it serves their particular partisan position. Come on, can't any of you viles even work up a tiny tinge of pink in the face about that?
(via Kevin Roderick's LAObserved)
Hastert Talks Tough To McCain
This is rich. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, a former wrestling coach whose achy shoulder got him out of the war, lectures five-year Hanoi Hilton resident John McCain on military sacrifice. (Thanks, Eric, for the tip.)
Stanley Kurtz Casts Himself As Chicken Little
Conservative columnist Stanley Kurtz holds up Sweden in one more attempt to deny gays equal rights, erroneously claiming that gay marriage helped wipe out heterosexual marriage in Scandinavia. Statistics say he's wrong, points out Slate's M.V. Lee Badgett:
In fact, the numbers show that heterosexual marriage looks pretty healthy in Scandinavia, where same-sex couples have had rights the longest. In Denmark, for example, the marriage rate had been declining for a half-century but turned around in the early 1980s. After the 1989 passage of the registered-partner law, the marriage rate continued to climb; Danish heterosexual marriage rates are now the highest they've been since the early 1970's. And the most recent marriage rates in Sweden, Norway, and Iceland are all higher than the rates for the years before the partner laws were passed. Furthermore, in the 1990s, divorce rates in Scandinavia remained basically unchanged.Of course, the good news about marriage rates is bad news for Kurtz's sky-is-falling argument. So, Kurtz instead focuses on the increasing tendency in Europe for couples to have children out of wedlock. Gay marriage, he argues, is a wedge that is prying marriage and parenthood apart.
The main evidence Kurtz points to is the increase in cohabitation rates among unmarried heterosexual couples and the increase in births to unmarried mothers. Roughly half of all children in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark are now born to unmarried parents. In Denmark, the number of cohabiting couples with children rose by 25 percent in the 1990s. From these statistics Kurtz concludes that " Ö married parenthood has become a minority phenomenon," andósurpriseóhe blames gay marriage.
But Kurtz's interpretation of the statistics is incorrect. Parenthood within marriage is still the normómost cohabitating couples marry after they start having children. In Sweden, for instance, 70 percent of cohabiters wed after their first child is born. Indeed, in Scandinavia the majority of families with children are headed by married parents. In Denmark and Norway, roughly four out of five couples with children were married in 2003. In the Netherlands, a bit south of Scandinavia, 90 percent of heterosexual couples with kids are married.
These statistics aside, even if gay marriage caused every married heterosexual to run immediately to divorce court, that's still not a basis for denying homo taxpayers the same rights as the hetero ones.
Countdown 'Til I'm In Jail
Or at least in the poorhouse. One of our elected idiots, California Congressman Duncan Hunter, has introduced legislation that could, in his words, ìturn parents into prosecuting attorneys fighting a wave of obscenity":
H.B. 4239, also called the ìParentsí Empowerment Act,î would allow the parent or guardian of a minor to sue in federal court anyone who knowingly disseminates any media containing ìmaterial that is harmful to minorsî if the material is distributed in a way that ìa reasonable person can expect a substantial number of minors to be exposed to the material and the minor, as a result to exposure to the material, is likely to suffer personal or emotional injury or injury to mental or moral welfare.î The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.The bill allows compensatory damages starting at no less than $10,000 for any instance in which a minor is exposed to ìharmful to minorsî entertainment products. The bill also allows that punitive damages and reasonable fees may be awarded to the prevailing party at the discretion of the court. The bill also seeks to strengthen the current test courts utilize in determining what is obscene material by providing a separate definition of obscenity specifically for children. It is an affirmative defense to action under this bill if a parent or guardian of the minor owned the material.
The bill is in its earliest stage, but if it passes, it will seriously threaten retailers, distributors, and publishers. Family.org talked to Hunter who said, ìIf the people who published (the material), published it in such a way that they could reasonably have expected children to access it, then the parents can receive an award of $10,000.î
One more reason to dethrone the Puritan-In-Chief and many of the numbskull Republicans. At least the numbskull Democrats aren't so threatening to our freedoms. Too many Republicans treat The Constitution like a piece of old paper toweling. If your kid can't handle a dirty word or prurient comic, keep him locked in a closet and blindfolded. Don't try to curtail creators from writing and speaking freely.
(via Reason's blog)
Fat People Are Eating Your Wallet
A study by Roland Sturm and Darius Lakdawalla, two economists at RAND, says we're all paying bigtime for all the obese people in big fat health-care costs:
Obesity is linked to very high rates of chronic illnessesó higher than living in poverty and much higher than smoking or drinking....When compared with 100 normal-weight individuals of the same age and sex having similar backgrounds, 100 obese people would be expected to suffer 67 additional chronic conditions among them. In comparison, the increase associated with smoking is only about 25 additional conditions per 100 smokers (compared with 100 similar nonsmokers) and 12 additional conditions for problem drinkers.
Aging 20 years, from 30 to 50, is the only health risk comparable to obesity. Severely obese individuals, at least those who are aged 50ñ69, are more than twice as likely as are their normal-weight peers to be in only "fair" or "poor" health and suffer about twice as many chronic medical conditions.
Consequently, obese individuals incur higher health care costs than current smokers or problem drinkers. The obese spend 36 percent more on health care services and 77 percent more on medications than do their normal-weight counterparts. Current smokers spend only 21 percent and 28 percent more, respectively, than do nonsmokers; and problem drinkers spend yet smaller additional amounts on health care.
No, I'm not for a "Twinkie Tax." But, I do think fat people should pay extra for their health care -- perhaps by the pound! Helmet-less motorcyclers, "problem-drinkers," and smokers, too.
Bias On Spring Street
Cathy Seipp dissects LA Times editor John Carroll's apparent grudge against political columnist Jill Stewart, who criticized his paper's California recall election coverage as biased:
Carroll slams Fox News and (unnamed) websites as "pseudo-journalists" that have "taken on the trappings of journalism" but are really fakers, because they don't seek to "earnestly serve the public." Evidently, Carroll considers opinion journalists who publicly argue their opinions to be, ipso facto, not serving the public. (At least, not earnestly.)He does grudgingly acknowledge that in this country journalism is open to all: "It is the constitutional right of every citizen, no matter how ignorant or how depraved, to be a journalist." And we're depraved, Carroll apparently thinks, on account of the fact that we're deprived...of the five Pulitzers the Times just won, for one thing, but also of the awareness that the reader (or listener, or viewer) is "a master to be served."
Gee, Officer Krupke, tell us more. Like how, for instance, the Times reader is served by mysterious, information-withholding descriptions such as this: "The worst of the fictions originated with a freelance columnist in Los Angeles who claimed to have the inside story on unethical behavior at the Times." Or this: "Instead of being ignored, the author of the column was booked for repeated appearances on O'Reilly, on MSNBC, and even on the generally trustworthy CNN."
Well, who is she ó this damned, infernal freelance columnist who managed to hoodwink even the generally trustworthy CNN? For the record, Jill Stewart is a friend of mine (we pseudo-journalists believe in owning up to biases, even if real ones don't always), and although it's convenient for the Times to dismiss her merely as a freelancer, her weekly column does appear in (real? pseudo?) papers like the San Francisco Chronicle, the Orange County Register, and the L.A. Daily News, among others.
Apparently, Stewart so gets Carroll's goat that he refuses to even mention her by name!
The Politics Of Personal Destruction
Research-fueled candidate-sliming in The Atlantic.
The Car Of The Future
...Smells like french fries. Jim Washburn writes in the OC Weekly about the latest innovations in biodiesel. Converting your car, Washburn notes, "may be a minor inconvenience today, but it means never having to stand at the corner of Bristol and Anton with signs reading, 'No Blood for Wesson Oil.'"
Where There's A Mill, There's A Way
Considering plastic surgery? Who better to counsel you on the ramifications of getting a fake face than a fake doctor of psychology? It turns out that Lynn Ianni, the shrink on the Fox show Extreme Makeover, got her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in the mail from a diploma mill called California Coast University. Yes, some Ph.D candidates struggle for years to write their doctoral dissertations; others struggle for seconds to find a stamp to put on the check they're mailing to buy the fancy-looking piece of paper that says they earned their Ph.D. And now, that line you've all been waiting for: No, she's not a doctor -- but she plays one on TV!
Complain And Simple
While I love letters telling me how I'm the next best thing to Socrates, only much prettier, the letters from people who think I'm shallow, mean-spirited, and stupid are always the most entertaining. Here's one from this week's mailbag:
Dear Ms. Alkon,
In todayís St. Paul Pioneer Press, I read your ìAdvice Goddessî column. Please note the section below, part of your response to a woman asking for advice about meeting men.The choice is yours: Find some courage or buy 26 cats and plan to die alone in a smelly apartment with one light bulb swinging over your head.I am appalled at this stinging insult to single women. How dare you imply that every single woman has 26 cats and lives in abject squalor? What century are you living in? Or was this only a feeble attempt at humor?
With disgust! N.C.
Of course, the "feeble attempt at humor" above was a joke I've retreaded for years about my own prospects. America, formerly "the land of the free and the home of the brave," is now also "the land of the insulted." Everybody takes everything soooo seriously. I mean, come on...like I would ever own 26 cats? Sure, I could see having one or two -- preferably dead and recycled into toilet seat covers.
Global Warming For Dummies
George Monbiot has a few essential questions for "The Fossil Fools" -- the "scientists" who dismiss global warming as a danger to us all:
1. Does the atmosphere contain carbon dioxide? 2. Does atmospheric carbon dioxide influence global temperatures? 3. Will that influence be enhanced by the addition of more carbon dioxide? 4. Have human activities led to a net emission of carbon dioxide? It would be interesting to discover at which point they answer no - at which point, in other words, they choose to part company with basic physics.
Just because global warming is also attributed to "natural" causes, driving a Hummer isn't exactly helping matters. Nor, for that matter, is owning a house that isn't powered by solar or wind power -- if that's something you can afford. The big joke, for me, actually, is the Hollywood crowd arriving at Premieres in their modest little Priuses -- then zipping home to their 7,000 sq. foot, heavily air-conditioned mansions. Don't even talk to me about the people with recycling bins on their private jets.
Unwanted Control Of Pregnancy
Isn't that what the FDA decision is all about? Kari Lyderson writes about the bogus notion by an FDA official that "Plan B," as the pill is called, was likely to be misused by teen girls who couldn't figure out the directions. Please. Two pills -- a high dose of regular birth control pills -- taken 12 hours apart, within 72 hours of unprotected sex. How hard is that to figure out?
Right-wing pundits have also said that making the pill available over the counter would mean men (or other women) could purchase the pill and slip it to women or girls secretly to prevent them from conceiving a wanted child. Though there might be a small number of situations where something like this would happen, again it is an argument that twists reality on its head ñ itís safe to say that in the majority of cases where a male partner is trying to manipulate a womanís reproduction, it is by trying to prevent her access to contraception or otherwise limit her control over her own body. In other words, a husband or boyfriend is far more likely to pressure a woman not to take the pill or to be dismissive of the risk of pregnancy than he is to slip the pill into her drink.Insinuations that the pill isnít healthy for women are also inaccurate ñ the pill is essentially a strong dose of the same hormones and chemicals in birth control pills, and has virtually no side effects or long-term effects. An abortion is far more disruptive and stressful for a womanís health than using the morning after pill.
Every year thousands women of all ages, and young women and girls in particular, see their lives changed forever because of unwanted pregnancies. Many unwanted pregnancies are avoided with the availability of the pill by prescription as it is now, but many more could be avoided if the pill were affordably and easily available over the counter. The idea that a woman should have to undergo an abortion or bear a child she isnít ready for just because of a lapse of judgment or a broken condom, when this situation is fully avoidable with the pill, is a sad statement about the priorities of the Food & Drug Administration.
The priority is clearly going against separations of church and state under the guise of good medicine. Out, out, damn Bush!
The Administration Has A Rummy-Ache
Arianna weighs in on the Abu Ghraib spin:
To hear Don Rumsfeld tell it, even though the Bush administration had been told back in January about the abuse and torture going on at Abu Ghraib ó and that there were photos documenting it ó the idea that this might be a very bad thing didnít really hit home until recently because no one in the White House had actually laid eyes on the photos.ìIt is the photographs that give one the vivid realization of what actually took place,î Rumsfeld told the Senate Armed Services Committee last week. ìWords donít do it.î
Really?
So being notified by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that U.S. soldiers were torturing and humiliating naked Iraqi prisoners in the very place that had once been Saddam Husseinís favorite Little Shop of Horrors wasnít vivid enough to get the alarm bells ringing on Pennsylvania Avenue?
Neither apparently were the non-visual warnings about the mistreatment of prisoners delivered by the Red Cross, Colin Powell and Paul Bremer.
Why not? Is the country being run by a bunch of preschoolers who canít process all those big words and will only sit still for a colorful picture book?
See Rummy spin. Spin, Rummy, spin.
Now, there's something those Bushies are very good at!
Book-A-Lena
An interesting book, recommended by Lena -- Martha Nussbaum's Hiding from Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law. Here's the Publisher's Weekly Review:
Often, contentious social issues like gay marriage, pornography and stem cell research are framed in terms of religion, morality and the public good. This erudite and engaging treatise contends that these debates are frequently really about the primal emotions of disgust and shame. Philosophy professor Nussbaum, author of Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions, challenges a number of fashionable intellectual currents, including Leon Kassís notion of a bioethics based on "the wisdom of repugnance" and communitarian Amitai Etzioniís championing of public humiliation of drunk drivers and other criminals. In response to advocates of populist reflexes of disgust and shame as a cure for social degeneracy, she mounts a critical defense of the classical liberal philosophy of John Stuart Mill, one refounded on a psychoanalytic theory of the emotions. She argues that while disgust and shame are inescapable psychological reactions against human animality, weakness and decay, injecting them into law and politics ends up projecting these troubling aspects of ourselves onto stigmatized groups like homosexuals, women, Jews and the disabled, and is therefore incompatible with a liberal and humane society. Writing in an academically sophisticated but accessible style, Nussbaum is equally at home discussing Aristotle and Freud, Whitmanís poetry and Supreme Court case law. The result is an exceptionally smart, stimulating and intellectually rigorous analysis that adds an illuminating psychological dimension to our understanding of law and public policy. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Err Travel
Brilliant stroke by the airlines, this new rule that passengers are entitled to bring 100 pounds of their crap, but can only pack 50 lbs. per piece of luggage. I normally travel with one rolling expandable suitcase, but I now know to bring an extra nylon duffel inside it in case I go over the weight limit. Today, my luggage was over by 11 pounds. I had a choice: pay a $25 overweight charge, or give everybody a good look at my thongs as I repacked a bunch of my stuff into my duffel. Luckily, I've never been modest.
Apparently, the airlines think their business would be helped by giving their customers one more reason to be pissed off about flying. This policy is especially brilliant considering that it gives the already blindingly speedy and efficient TSA double the bags to check. The first airline to nix this rule gets my business by default. The rest of them -- well, they can eat my now much-seen thongs.
The Queen Of Team
If there is one, trust me, it is not Cathy Seipp. Cathy weighs in on a recent adventure in editorial repurposing:
I'm developing the Pollyanna-ish theory that whenever a freelance writer declines insulting treatment by an editor, said writer will be offered three times more money for the same article within three days.Sometimes I sell reprint rights to my pieces, as observant readers may know. It's never for much money; but it's also not much work to copy, paste, point, click and maybe do a few minutes of respinning, so I figure it's worth it. Recently, though, an editor asked me to write a new ending for one of these things. I said sorry, I can't get into rewriting for $125, but if he can't use it as is that's OK, I'll send it elsewhere.
This brought on a miffed email scolding me for not being a "team player," expressing shock that I wasn't open to editorial "input," and complaining about some colloquial words I'd used in the piece, because they weren't "proper English" and not up to high "editorial standards." I believe these sentiments were softened by the use of smiley face emoticons, but the sight of these abominations fills me with such nausea that I will let memory draw its gentle curtain on that part.
I have to wonder what kind of slanderous person would give anyone the notion that I'm a team player? Is any writer a team player? (Sure, J.R., looking forward to brainstorming widget ideas with you at the next meeting! Yeah, that'll be the day.) Anyway, I did indeed sell the piece elsewhere, for three times the money, which is the moral to that story.
Is any writer "a team player"? Probably not any writer you'd want to read!
Snakes In The Bush
Keith Olbermann is not to be swayed by attempts by the Bush administration to tar former Ambassador Joseph Wilson.
(via Romenesko)
Go To The Head Of The Class
Wanna cut teen pregancy rates? Mark Townsend reports in the UK Observer that encouraging teens to "experiment" with oral sex (quotes, mine - what, experiment until they get it right?) "could prove the most effective way of curbing teenage pregnancy rates," according to a government study. Hilarious, but peer reviewed, and perhaps even statistically sound!
A Vast, Left-Wing Conspiracy
Luke Y. Thompson points out how wrong people are to claim that Kerry is as far to the left as George Bush is to the right. If he actually were, notes Luke, he would have done the following things (below are a few of my favorites):
-Given federal funding to the Nation of Islam, Church of Scientology, PETA, and the Madalyn Murray O'Hair foundation. Denied it to any organization that allowed open expression of Christianity. As a consolation prize, made a public speech declaring that Christianity is a religion of peace.-Introduced the following acts: The "Meat is Tasty" act, to promote a vegan lifestyle; The "More Profits for Businessmen" act that would in fact cut CEO salaries in half; The "I Love Jesus" act, making it legal to bulldoze churches; and the "No Gun Left Behind" act, which would confiscate the guns from all Americans except Arabs who could show that they need guns because of their religion.
-Made Jerry Springer the Attorney General, because he knows how to break up fights.
-Given one press conference a year, and insisted in talking in Ebonics at each.
More here!
More On Abu Ghraib
Matt Welch points the way to this piece on NormBlog, a supporter of the war in Iraq:
Amidst the general feelings of abhorrence brought forth by the revelations about the torture and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, those of us who supported the war in Iraq as a liberation of the Iraqi people from Baathist dictatorship have had a more particular reason to feel appalled. For it was precisely because that regime was one which permitted and practised torture and other unforgiveable crimes on the scale it did that it was an appropriate object, for us, of external intervention and removal. The project to remove it which it was right to support, and whose completion through the achievement of a sovereign, democratic Iraq it remains right, even now, to see through, has been shamefully and irreversibly tainted by what was done by American soldiers in that notorious prison. It is not to the point to say that the abuses were not, either in nature or scale, comparable to the crimes of the Saddam Hussein regime. The practice of torture, just as such, is an unmixed and inexcusable evil; it is an abomination.
A Fly On The Wall quotes his grandfather, one of the liberators of the concentration camp Mauthausen, weighing in on Abu Ghraib:
I hear soldiers saying this happened because they weren't trained properly. What kind of idiot has to be trained not to abuse another human being?
George Bush, Preacher-In-Chief
Clearly, the separation of church and state idea isn't working.
Stunt For Red October
Andrew Gumbel reports that, surprise, surprise, Michael Moore's cries of censorship were just a stunt:
In an indignant letter to his supporters, Moore said he had learnt only on Monday that Disney had put the kibosh on distributing the film, which has been financed by the semi-independent Disney subsidiary Miramax.But in the CNN interview he said: "Almost a year ago, after we'd started making the film, the chairman of Disney, Michael Eisner, told my agent he was upset Miramax had made the film and he will not distribute it."
Oops!
Oh yeah -- congrats, Andrew, who's a Press Awards finalist for his Elliott Gould piece.
Score One (More) For The Fundamentalists
The FDA rules against permitting over-the-counter sales of the morning-after birth control pill, "citing concern about young teenagers use of the pill," according to an AP report. What a bunch of crap. Do we not allow alcohol to be sold to adults who want to drink it because alcoholics might get their hands on it and get tanked?
Here's my previous blog item on the topic, noting that they're sold in France, and the country doesn't seem to be falling apart because of it. No, the French are pretty smart about sex and relationships. It's the preoccupation with the (clearly) failed commie thing that's making France a mess.
If you're an American woman, and happen to be in Paris, go to a pharmacy there and ask for pilules de lendemain (morning-after pills). Buy a bunch. I think they're about 11 euros. The pharmacist will be concerned that you're using them as frequent birth control instead of as an occasional emergency measure, but just explain: "Ces sont cadeaux, actuellement. J'habite aux Štats Unis, et c'est trËs Puritanique la, donc je les donnerai ý toutes mes amies!" (These are gifts, actually. I live in the United States, which is very Puritanical, so I'm giving these to all my friends!)
MORE: From National Women's Law Center:
As NWLCís report (in PDF) Slip-Sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard-Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Looking Forward, explains, under this Administration, the National Cancer Institute has distorted the science on whether abortion can cause breast cancer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention replaced a comprehensive online fact sheet about condoms with one lacking crucial information on condom use and a diversity of viewpoints has been eliminated on the Presidentís Council on Bioethics.
A vote for Bush is a vote against science. Just hope you don't come down with a disease that might be alleviated through stem cell research.
Wiping Their Feet On The Constitution And The Bill Of Rights
Bush Democracy is a "We Elites Know What's Best For You" America, a "Don't Mind Your Pretty Heads About Anything" America. Arianna writes, in a very illuminating piece:
Welcome to George W. Bush's version of America ñ Bush Democracy. Apparently, he has his fanatical neo-con programmers working overtime to iron out all those bothersome bugs and kinks that have been holding the United States back for the last 228 years ñ exasperating glitches like openness, integrity, accountability, responsibility and the value of an informed public.
Be sure to click on all (or at least a lot of) the links in her piece.
The Los Angeles (Press Release) Times
Booth Moore retypes again!
Barbarians Like Us
We're supposed to be civilizing the Middle East, when a handful of soldiers lower us to the level of the primitives we're battling. Sick, sick stuff. More terrible Abu Ghraib photos here.
(via fellow Journalism Awards finalist Matt Welch)
Your Fundamentalism Or Theirs?
Daniel Radosh points out that not all fundamentalists are anti-choice. The solution? Separation of church and state anyone? (Oh, that old thing?!)
Fly It, You'll Like It
A very entertaining new blog I just discovered. And he's just discovered the new 2,000 Year Old Man, aka Harrison Ford.
Southern California Journalism Awards Finalists Announced
I happen to be one of them -- in a couple categories (see below). The exceptionally talented auto writer Dan Neil just won a Pulitzer for his column, so I would say he's the favorite in this category...nevertheless...! I'm reminded of how nice it is to be named Alkon, so alphabetical order has you listed above the guy who scored "The Big P."
B6. COLUMNIST -- daily/weekly newspapers over 100,000 circ
Amy Alkon, The Advice Goddess (syndicated)
Mariel Garza, Daily News of Los Angeles
Erin Aubry Kaplan, LA Weekly
Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times
Dan Neil, Los Angeles Times
C5. SIGNED COMMENTARY -- daily/weekly newspapers under 100,000 circ
Amy Alkon, Creators Syndicate
Kevin Chavez, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Thomas Elias, Southern California Focus
Joel Kotkin, The Jewish Journal
Mark Lacter, Los Angeles Business Journal
Therapy's Lenny Bruce
There's an article in yesterday's New York Times about Albert Ellis, the wise and hilarious 90-year-old psychologist and author of 55 books, whose thinking on solving psychological problems is part of the foundation of mine. Dan Hurley writes:
On a recent Friday evening, nearly 200 people came to the Albert Ellis Institute in Manhattan to watch a master performance ó call it stand-up psychotherapy ó by a legend.As he has on nearly every Friday night for more than 30 years, Dr. Albert Ellis, the 90-year-old psychologist who invented rational emotive behavioral therapy and wrenched psychotherapy out of the age of Freud and into the age of Dr. Phil, was demonstrating his no-nonsense, confrontational, obscenity-laden technique before a packed house on East 65th Street.
"Do you know why your family is trying to control you?" he asked a volunteer who joined him at the front of the room. "Because they're out of their minds," he said, adding an unprintable adjective between "their" and "minds."
Another volunteer, Kristin Bell, spoke of her sister who had been killed by a drug dealer eight years before. "Why can't you understand that some people are crazy and violent and do all kinds of terrible things?" Dr. Ellis asked. "Until you accept it, you're going to be angry, angry, angry."
It is Dr. Ellis's conviction that people can always rationally choose to change and that a psychotherapist's job is to nudge them, gently or otherwise, in the right direction. That view has defined his career and has helped usher in an emphasis on quick results over profound insights.
Ellis' thinking is based, in part, on the ideas of the Stoic philosopher Epictetus; that it's not things or events that disturb us but the views we take of them. Identify your irrational thoughts, change the way you think (to be more rational), and you can change the way you feel. I think his therapy is the fastest, most efficient kind out there.
If ever you're in New York, make sure you go to one of Ellis' Friday night therapy sessions before an audience, described in the article. $5 admission, 212-535-0822 is the number of Ellis' non-profit institute on East 65th in Manhattan (between Madison and Park). You can also get a great shot of Ellis from his books. A few I like are: A Guide To Rational Living, How To Stubbornly Refuse To Make Yourself Miserable About Anything, Yes Anything!, How To Control Your Anger Before It Controls You, his most recent book, Ask Albert Ellis, and The Albert Ellis Reader: A Guide to Well-Being Using Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, which is a compilation of Ellis' articles and talks.
PS The words Hurley "bleeped" for the article, if I know Ellis, are "fuck," "fucking," and "shit." If somebody says "fuck you," Ellis will turn around and say, "No, unfuck you -- fucking's a good thing!" I'm with him there!
Spam Is Canned Meat
Heh heh...no more blog comments spammers now! Gregg (my boyfriend) installed Jay Allen's MT Blacklist. I just went over and donated $25 to Allen. Before we added the blacklist of spammer's URLs to my site files (their actual URLS are banned from being included in comments, and they get a "sorry!" message when they try to post), one last spammer snuck in. One of the most satisfying things I've done recently was typing the spammer's URL into my Blacklist file, and banning them myself. That felt gooood! Now there are over 1000 URLS banned...all "get a bigger mortgage on your Penis in Los Vegas!" Hah! Not anymore!
PS We went with Blacklist instead of Speng's plug-in for a couple of reasons: It puts the burden on the sleazebag vandal spammers (because the regular commenter doesn't have to go to the trouble to type in a security code before posting) and it makes the comments section accessible to everyone. Apparently, blind people can't use the security code version (admittedly, probably not a huge readership of mine, but nevertheless...I think it's nice to see that everybody's included in case they want to be).
PPS The message, if somebody tries to post a spam link, says some polite "comment denied due to questionable content" to the spammers at the moment. I'll be rude-ing that up real soon!
And FYI: Spammers do this to up their link share on Google, so they appear further up the in the search.
Mountains being longer be mountains consumer electronics, far look should news.
Bergdorf Bitch
A little something fun to read from the snottygirl book review section until I get my comments up and running again.
Blog Comments Temporarily Out Of Service
Thanks to the massive comments spam attack on my blog, I've followed the lead of Kevin Roderick at LAObserved, and turned off my comments until my boyfriend can get James Seng's rather elegant spam-blocker plug-in installed. Please save up your comments and post them in the next day or so when I turn the comments function back on. I'll post a note at the top of my blog to let you know when I'm up and running again. PS If anybody has installed this Seng plug-in and has any advice (especially relating to Mac installation and permissions issues) please e-mail me at adviceamy at aol.com, and I'll be happy to forward them to help others. Many thanks to those who post their opinions here and not links to online casinos and penis pills (which actually do affect size -- they make your wallet much smaller). And now, I have a column to write.
The Comments Spam Attack Continues
Posting may be light today, because I'm deleting hundreds of blog comments spam. Being the detective girl that I am, I went to one of the sites, and tracked down a company in Troy, Michigan, which provides the loan aps to various Internet sites. They say they're cutting off the guy (in Guam, quelle suprise!) and giving me his contact information. Heh heh...time to make a few fun phone calls! FYI to others with Movable Type sites, until MT writes a spambot blocker into their software, I've found a solution -- James Seng's plug-in that makes users enter a "security code" (just a string of numbers, different every time) to put up a post -- thus foiling the automated spam-bots.
UPDATE: Here's the scumbag spammer (the text is from the email from the guy from Troy):
Here is the contact info for the companyemail: admin@autoloancenter.org
company name: Live Chat, Inc.
Address: 09-01-1288 #1209
City: Guayaquil
Country: Equador
State: GUAMy affiliate manager has already sent Alex a cease order. we do not have a
phone number for him, all correspondence has been via email.Please let me know if this happens again.
He may just drop our program and sign up with someone else and continue to
spam sites like yours.
ADD Or IDD?
What was it that I was going to post? Oh yeah, that thing about the study out of Penn that suggests young women might be distracted because they aren't getting enough iron in their diets.
Radio Advice Goddess
I wrote a blog item about radio host Glenn Sacks' men's movement campaign against mean tee-shirts (unfortunately, the original link in it was wrong -- now corrected). The shirts said, among other things, "Boys are Stupid--Throw Rocks at Them." Here's the corrected link to the piece Sacks wrote on the topic. And here's my blog item on it:
Men Can Be Whiny Crybabies, Too!
Radio host Glenn Sacks proves that the men's movement Cassandras can be just as irritating as the women's movement Cassandras. Do men really need protecting from those meanie women? Are they really a downtrodden class? Or are they just as good as an excuse as any to give a guy a soapbox? And, finally: Can't we all stop whining and get along?
Whiny victim feminists are bad enough. Is equality really having men join them? No, the tee-shirts aren't exactly ideal; neither are tee-shirts that say "Women are only good for sucking the chrome off a trailer hitch." But men water down their case on important issues like fathers' rights by getting all sniffly about stuff like this. And I'll be saying so on the radio tonight, on Glenn Sacks' show: in LA at 9pm PST on KMPC 1540 AM and in Seattle at 11pm PST on KKOL 1300 AM. It can also be heard on the Internet, live, at this address. Call in at 1-800-770-1540.
Want To Advertise On AdviceGoddess.com?
Officially, there is no advertising on my site. I pay (close to $500 a year, if not more) to maintain my site and my blog so I can put up my thoughts on relationships and socially relevant issues. Period. The contributions I get from Paypal and Amazon and the occasional 5% I get when somebody buys a book through my book links page don't even begin to cover the cost.
Which brings us to the point: I should be preparing for my radio appearance tonight, but I came home to a giant spam attack, and I just deleted about 100 blog comments spam. The spam attack continues as I write this, with me intermittently deleting the vandalism.
If you're a filthy vandal, posting stuff with a commercial link in it on my blog to further your link share on Google, so you can sell more penis pills or separate more fools and their money with your auto loans, just to name a few; please be advised of the cost of doing so: $4,995 per entry, starting immediately, which would be 2:52pm, Sunday, May 2. Oh, and there's nothing that would please me more than to drag your sleazy spamming ass to small claims court and sue you blind for the money. I've got my eye on a company in Michigan; a company whose perps forgot to hide their real corporate identity and contact information well enough on the site I went to from their spam link. Hmmm, visit the folks in Detroit/siphon a downpayment on a Honda Insight out of some sleazebags. Cool!
Be Kaus He Likes It
Mickey Kaus recommends Carlos Watson's "bloggish web column", noting that "he almost always has something interesting to say. And he's, you know, diverse! I can't figure out why he isn't on every talk show in the country." Here's what Watson says about "Cheney's Case":
Regardless of how the Supreme Court rules in reviewing Vice President Cheney's secret energy task force, the result may be the re-energized presidential candidacy of Ralph Nader. Win or lose, the secret energy task force is likely to provide a ripe target for Nader to raise one of his most effective issues -- corporate corruption of the political system.On the one hand, if the court forces Cheney to reveal whom he met with to decide energy policy, Nader may have evidence of a conspiracy so notorious (Enron, Halliburton, etc), that it makes even the most ardent defenders of the Bush administration blush.
If the court does not force Cheney to reveal who was involved and whether their involvement helped drive up gas prices and lead to electricity blackouts, then Nader may sound an even louder drumbeat of coverup.
In either case, Nader's political ads and speeches are likely to find great fodder this spring and the issue may be just what he needs to get more voters to pay him close attention.
Roy Walford's Obit
"Eccentric UCLA Scientist Touted Food Restriction," says the headline of Roy's obit in the LA Times. But here's the best part:
Roy L. Walford was born in San Diego in 1924. Exceptionally gifted, he was not only the top student in his high school class, but also a talented gymnast and wrestler and a jitterbug dancer.He matriculated at Caltech, where he met his lifelong friend Al Hibbs, a NASA space scientist who died last year.
After graduating, they went to the University of Chicago, Hibbs to study math and Walford to work on a medical degree. Walford developed an interest in theater and wrote a farcical adaptation of Christopher Marlowe's "Dr. Faustus." He also supplemented his income by performing a balancing act in which he was held aloft by a weight-lifter.
Upon graduation, what he later described as his periodic craziness took over, and he and Hibbs decided they wanted to sail around the world. Lacking money, a boat or the desire to earn the money working, they decided to try gambling.
Analyzing roulette wheels, they found that each had its own idiosyncrasy, with certain numbers appearing more often than others. Armed with their observations and a borrowed $200, they tackled Las Vegas and Reno.
They came away with $42,000, which allowed them to purchase the yacht of their dreams.
A cover story in Life magazine, as well as articles in Time and The Times, alerted the casinos, which began randomly moving roulette wheels around in the casinos to prevent others from following their example.
Walford and Hibbs sailed the Caribbean for 18 months until their money ran out, at which point they resumed their professional careers.
In addition to being a gifted scientist, Walford was also what one friend called a "cultural provocateur." Although he was on the clinical faculty at UCLA, he traveled with the Living Theater, writing reviews for the now-defunct Los Angeles Free Press. He wrote about the underground drug scene in Amsterdam before it became well known.
His tastes were eclectic. He was close friends with members of the pop group Manhattan Transfer and "was into punk rock before the rest of us knew what it was about," UCLA's Cochran said. His adventures in India, Africa and Biosphere 2 got him elected to the Explorers Club.
He met and married Martha Sylvia Schwalb while he was in Chicago and they had three children, but the couple divorced after 20 years. After that, he gained notoriety for his large number of relationships with women. Friends joked that he wanted to extend his life span only because "there were too many women and too little time."
