Oooh, I like that phrasing: any sufficiently advanced parody is indistinguishable from a genuine kook.

Mississippi, and he says it's satirical

So still political theater, just branching out into new genres?

Have folks seen this?

The New Panic Over Prescription Painkillers

The article starts off listing reports of rising pain killer overdoses, then:

But at the same time, studies also consistently show that chronic pain is tragically undertreated in the U.S. (and around the world). Last June, an Institute of Medicine report called undertreated pain a "public health crisis" that affects 116 million Americans, and costs the economy around a half-trillion dollars per year in medical bills and lost productivity. The same month, three pain-related articles in the Lancet focusing on post-operative, cancer related, and non-cancer related pain, respectively, found mass undertreatment in all three areas. The journal ran an an accompanying editorial pointing to another study from Human Rights Watch showing that the problem is global, and more because of bad policy than because of a supply. In one recent study of 40 countries, 27 didn't consume enough opioid drugs to treat even 1 percent of patients with terminal cancer or HIV/AIDS. " Furthermore," the editorial added, "in 33 of 40 countries, governments had imposed strict restrictions on prescribing morphine, beyond the requirements of UN drug conventions to prevent misuse."

...

But the reason so few painkillers are prescribed by pain specialists is likely that after a decade of policies targeting doctors with costly investigations and criminal charges, there simply aren't many conscientious pain specialists left. In his paper for Cato, Ron Libby includes multiple warnings from palliative care specialists that this was exactly what was happening. In 2003, for example, David Brushwood, who is both an attorney and a professor at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy, told the Decatur News that physicians once had a cordial relationship with drug cops--that if a doctor suspected a patient was diverting, he would cooperate with the police to turn in the patient. But for the DEA, doctors became high-profile targets, and thanks to asset forfeiture, lucrative targets as well. Since the DEA campaign, Brushwood said, the cops "watch as a small problem becomes a much larger problem . . . [then] they bring the SWAT team in with bulletproof vests and M16s . . . with charges [of] murder and manslaughter."

After a series of high-profile prosecutions of doctors, one pain specialist told the Wall Street Journal in 2004, "I will never treat pain patients again." Another told Time, "I tend to underprescribe instead of using stronger drugs that could really help my patients. I can't afford to lose my ability to support my family. The Village Voice reported in 2003 that medical schools had begun advising students, "not to choose pain management as a career because the field is too fraught with legal dangers."

Article is longish and I haven't read the whole thing.

It can be hard to spot satire these days.

Indeed. Reality is just too absurd.

I know I'm giving ad revenue to people whose pockets I shouldn't line, but I'm obsessed with chacha.com. I mean, it's such a bad idea. I like search engines, but I think it's creepy to have advice engines. Gizmodo reported it because it gave narrow-minded hateful answers, but it seems to have leavened it out.

But I think we're far away from needing an "app" to answer "are black people better than white people?" And from being able to have an app answer it, because it's just people typing in the answer, and the tech is just interpreting the questions.

It's not even as sensible as Yahoo Answers, where you get to read a bunch of different answers (often lame), but at least you can put some sort of identity to the people answering, and you can look at their track record.

I'm currently asking Chacha if I should consider an abortion, and it's in a loop of not answering me. Just like it wouldn't tell me what love was.

However, I know now that abortions are bad, you know, for some people. I rephrased my question, and lo:

To me abortion is a very bad act. It is the killing of a tiny human being. Some people feel that it is okay though. ChaCha again!

Going to see this: [link] tonight with my friend H. Only drawback is that we got our tix months ago and it is the night the DH gets back from his trip to Chicago. I would rather he not come back to en empty house, but, hey, culture calls.

Timelies all!

Happy Birthday Suzi!

The turn signal saga continues. I got a call yesterday that the part was in, so I went to the auto parts place after work today. Turns out they ordered the wrong part(passenger's side turn signal instead of driver's side). So they will return that part and order the correct part. There's a shipping fee that is non-refundable, so I ended up paying more because they messed up.

you shouldn't have to pay extra shipping for their mistake.

Yeah, that's ridiculous.

I am now asking chacha all sorts of important life questions. I should not have an abortion, but sex can be relaxing as long as I'm protected. Human meat is apparently tasty, but dangerous to eat. Also it isn't suggested that I sleep with my brother.

This kept me sane through many a conference call.