Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
New York Times Sunday: the goods
Balls and Walnuts reads the New York Times so you don’t have to.
Stellar Indian chef and cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey waxes lyrical on the Indian mango — you know, what we’re getting in exchange for giving India lots of nuclear technology? And she makes it sound like a fair trade. I’m jonesing for those mangoes already.
Further proof that Big Pharma is evil:
On Feb. 3, Joyce Elkins filled a prescription for a two-week supply of nitrogen mustard, a decades-old cancer drug used to treat a rare form of lymphoma. The cost was $77.50.
On Feb. 17, Ms. Elkins, a 64-year-old retiree who lives in Georgetown, Tex., returned to her pharmacy for a refill. This time, following a huge increase in the wholesale price of the drug, the cost was $548.01.
Snip.
Now Ovation has raised the wholesale price of Mustargen roughly tenfold and that of Cosmegen even more, according to several pharmacists and patients.
Sean Nolan, vice president of commercial development for Ovation, said that the price increases were needed to invest in manufacturing facilities for the drugs. He said the company was petitioning insurers to obtain coverage for patients.
They’re talking about Mustargen, a drug that has been around for 60+ years. Seems to me Ovation ought to have petitioned insurers before jacking up the price nearly 10-fold, but that would imply a modicum of concern for human welfare.
By the way, in case you haven’t heard, we’re screwed if an avian flu pandemic hits North America.
Alan Moore, co-creator of V for Vendetta, isn’t down with the upcoming movie.
“I’ve read the screenplay,” Mr. Moore said. “It’s rubbish.”
The article chronicles Moore’s feud with DC Comics, and also provides a neat glimpse into the inner Moore:
Today, he resides in the sort of home that every gothic adolescent dreams of, one furnished with a library of rare books, antique gold-adorned wands and a painting of the mystical Enochian tables used by Dr. John Dee, the court astrologer of Queen Elizabeth I. He shuns comic-book conventions, never travels outside England and is a firm believer in magic as a “science of consciousness.” “I am what Harry Potter grew up into,” he said, “and it’s not a pretty sight.”
Hah. You think that’s scary. You should see what Hermione grew up into.
Read the whole story. It’s a cautionary tale for those of us who dream of seeing our work snapped up by Hollywood. (In my opinion, Hollywood hasn’t been that cruel to Moore. From Hell wasn’t bad, and even The League of Extraordinary Gentleman did not totally suck.) Also, you’ll learn what Moore is working on nowadays. Hint: Alice, Dorothy Gale, and Wendy Darling have grown up, and are they ever nasty.
Finally, Adam Cohen provides a thumbnail review of Crashing the Gates, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga and Jerome Armstrong’s book discussing the reasons for Republican ascendancy and Democratic failure in recent years, and the role the netroots may play in the remedy of that situation. I’ve been reading Crashing the Gates and enjoying it (if you can enjoy something this depressing), and I can vouch for Cohen’s review. However, his one criticism is a bit unfair:
The Democratic establishment could not hold the netroots back even if it wanted to. Their ability to raise money, recruit volunteers and shape the debate will make them indispensable. What “Crashing the Gates” is short on is policy: ideas for providing health care, improving education, and all the other things that make it important which party wins.
The problem, as the authors discuss in detail, is that the Neocons have invested enormous amounts of money, time, and manpower into think tanks which produce ideas. Progressives and liberals are way behind in this regard. The Neocon ideas have proved wildly successful at enabling Republicans to win elections (and brand the Democratic Party as the “party of no ideas”), even while these very ideas are proving disastrous for the health of our country.
D.
There’s also another where are the democrats going story(s) in the magazine section. I stuck that next to the throne so I can get to it sometime this week…
When my mother was sick and suffering seizures, a month’s worth of meds cost $400.00 and she didn’t have prescription coverage. One time, in mid-month, they had to switch her meds for another $400.00. I remember thinking at the time, “Thank God she can afford this. What happens when people can’t?”
Thanks, Blue Gal — I’ll look for it.
Mary Stella? Evil. Eeeeevil.
Agh. Not the avian flu. I hate the avian flu. The freaking avian flu is why my husband’s going to be gone for two days later this week, and why he’s home late every night. When’s flu season over, anyway?
Good question. Since this bug seems to be different, I think all bets are off, but I might be talkin’ out my ass here.
[…] After seeing the movie, though, my curiosity got the better of me. I had to see why Alan Moore was so tweaked by the screenplay that he refused to have his name associated with the movie. By the end of the novel, I had gnashed my teeth to bloody stumps – […]