Tuesday morning roundup

Wait, Bernard Kouchner, it's okay for Roman Polanski but not Guinean soldiers? Do you realize now that you've lost moral authority on the matter for defending him? And the widespread there's-gambling-in-the-casino shock that women are the target of war crimes... where have these people been? Although I guess it's something that they're shocked.

On universal accountability.

Another week, another person hit by a metrobus. At least these days, people are surviving.

Now, I did not regularly read Gourmet, nor cook from it, but some of these comments just rile me. First of all, I can't stand Rachel Ray, and whenever I've made the mistake of trying her recipes, it's turned out bland and disgusting. Second, who is this idiot:

The death of Gourmet doesn’t mean people are cooking less or do not want food magazines, said Suzanne M. Grimes, who oversees Every Day With Rachael Ray, among other brands, for the Reader’s Digest Association.

“Cooking is getting more democratic,” she said. “Food has become an emotional currency, not an aspiration.”

Food used to be an aspiration? Besides--see Michael Pollan's magazine piece from a month or so ago--the Food Channel doesn't encourage actual cooking, just watching other people cook.

Not sure where to even begin on this one. Where were all these people--those worried about the erosion of personal freedoms--over the last eight years? And what if the birthers took all that energy and devoted it to something constructive??

Why isn't food safety a no-brainer?

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Last night, a (conservative) friend shared his mammoth splinter saga and offered the following insight: "Bring on universal healthcare. I look forward to having a bureaucrat between me and my doctor. It may be all that prevents me from beating his inept, slow-waiting room ass."