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Miss Manners Goes Modern

Etiquette experts are scrambling to keep up with the technological advances that create new challenges to our pre-existing system of manners. Last night, for example, I received my first wrong-number text message. What was the proper thing to do? Ignore it? Write back and politely inform the sender of the error? I am only allotted a certain number of text messages per month; does this factor into my decision? If I pay for each message received, am I entitled to compensation?

I read the mystery message again. "Wanna do dodgeball Saturday nite?"

I carefully considered all the options, and sent my reply: "Nah, I think it's time we both grow up a little."

Negativland in NYC this Thursday

Stay Free! pals Negativland are going to be doing a rare live appearance this Thursday, at the Highline Ballroom here in New York, and you won't want to miss it. The show is modeled after the group's live radio program and has something to do with God. You can find out more about it here and in this excellent Time Out article. Steinsky, who you may remember (or not) from our Illegal Art Exhibit compilation CD, will be opening.

For those of you outside of New York, the group also has dates in Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC, and Charlottesville. Here be the details.

No Fare Hike? Thank Mickey Mouse.

One MTA board member suggested a new way to avoid a fare hike last week -- plaster the Times Square subway station with Mickey Mouse and friends. The Times' Cityroom quotes the boardmember, a Mr. Norman Seabrook:

I would rather try to sell 42nd Street’s subway system underground to Disney for $60 million a year and have them paint it any way that they want to paint it. They spend $100 million for one minute to be on the Super Bowl on a Sunday. I think that they would spend X amount of dollars in rent for that terminal. I think 34th Street would do it. I think other businesses around the state and the city would do it. That would lessen the burden on the public.

I already nearly close my eyes for the two-minute shuttle ride from Grand Central to Times Square when the interior of the cars are completely coated in ads for Delta Air or HBO. I suppose I'd grin and bear it if that meant my daily rides stayed $2 each. But the MTA needs billions, not millions, to accomplish its huge capital improvements -- 2nd Avenue subway anyone? And I don't think even Disney could bail the city out of that one...

An SUV experiment

For those of you in New York, WNYC's Brian Lehrer show is looking for people to participate in a crowdsourcing experiment, By Thursday, they want you to count the SUVs on your block and to report back to them with your findings. In order to use your info, they'll need the following:

1. Your neighborhood
2. Your block (street and cross streets)
3. The number of SUVs parked 
4. The total number of cars parked.

I plan on participating myself, though I'm not quite sure what the point is. According to the website:

We’re trying to find out just how much gas-guzzling SUV use there is throughout the New York area, with all the talk of environmental sustainability in the city.

If they think people are hypocritical about driving SUVs while professing a love of the environment, they would do well to read James Surowiecki's column in a recent New Yorker.

As Surowiecki points out, Americans overwhelming support fuel-economy standards, even though they continue to buy gas-guzzling SUVs. But what looks like a contradiction makes sense when you realize that Americans associate big cars with safety (erroneously, but with reason). So while they'd prefer that gas-guzzling tanks not be on the road, they don't want to be dwarfed by these vehicles if they are.

Surowiecki compares the situation to the National Hockey League in the 70s, when hockey players voted for the league to require helmets, even though most players personally chose not to wear them. Helmets protected players from head injuries, but gave them a competitive disadvantage: it was harder to see in them, for example. As long as some players wore helmets and others didn't, the players who didn't had an advantage. But if rules required everyone to wear the helmets (which they eventually did), everyone benefited from greater safety and a level playing field.

So, while owning an SUV in the city may seem to make no sense whatsoever, a healthy percentage of SUV drivers would probably welcome SUVs eradication. (The rest, we can presume, are self-centered, delusional pricks.)

(Via Streetsblog)

Very Proffessional

23rd & 8th, NYC

Maybe not the best choice for a playset. Even with the planes.

My friend Chris lives in Chicago, and this past weekend he visited a little expo of Lego sculptures. Among the very impressive Lego landscapes, dinosaurs, and whatnot was this familiar tableau:

Now, there's no arguing that this is very well realized, especially when one considers how hard it must be to make convincing fireballs and billowing smoke with little plastic blocks. But one can't help but wonder why this was built.

I'm not offended or anything, I'm just puzzled. And confused. Because it's kind of funny, too. So maybe there's a touch of shame in there as well. Regardless, you've got to hand it to someone for making something out of Legos that provides so much conflicted thinking, right?

Right?

The Internet Makes Us Dumberer

The Pew Institute issued yet another study about how stupid Americans are, and how we are getting stupider. (Query: At what point do the scientists decide Americans are as dumb as possible and stop studying this? Check back in November 2008, I guess.) Wired's take on the story is "despite the Internet, we are less informed."

Despite the internet? Through that lens, this study is no surprise at all: Let's foist the most distracting blink-box in history on a nation of idiots begging to be distracted and see if they linger on the boring parts.

The Official Whiny Blog Post of New York

I heard a radio commercial this morning that concluded with, "That's why, in our opinion, Subaru is the official car of New York." Corporations routinely pay huge sums to be recognized as the official so-and-so of whatever. A very quick Web search of the New York Yankees finds they have an official airline; an official athletic apparel and footwear company; an official printer, copier, and SLR camera provider; an official amino-acid sports supplement drink; and the list goes on and on. But apparently Subaru believes if you toss in an IMHO, you can circumvent those pesky contracts and fees.

Now, you might be thinking, "Jack, lighten up, you take commercials too seriously and as a result seem humorless." Hey, I'd let it slide if it was totally innocuous like "the official super-fun vacation getaway of summer!" But New York City actually has a rapidly growing number of official designations, from an official flag and an official journal, to more modern products. So I just think Subaru should keep their eyes on their rearview mirror—New York City's legal eagles may soon be after you. As for me, I'm still working on the paperwork to become the official so-and-so of whatever.

Supersize Returns to McDonald's

Speaking of McDonald's, the New York Times recently reported that Supersize drinks are back — only now the 42 oz. behemoth is known as the "Hugo." McDonald's you may recall, abandoned its Supersize menu right around the time Morgan Spurlock's movie Supersize Me came out.

That was three years ago, though, and so now enough time has passed that the criticism ignited by the movie is moot. That's the problem with criticism as a counter to corporate greed: its power is only short-term.

Did McDonald’s Give In to Temptation?

By ANDREW MARTIN
New York Times
Published: July 22, 2007

IT wasn’t too long ago that the only thing McDonald’s seemed good at was making people fat.

Staggered by overexpansion, listless sales and a barrage of negative publicity linking its food to obesity, the chain’s glory days appeared to be fading.

In 2003, company executives set about reinventing McDonald’s by focusing on getting better rather than bigger. In the last few years, McDonald’s has seemed to do just about everything right.

The chain has spruced up its restaurants, improved its advertising and introduced menu items that have helped to reshape its image and reinvigorate sales.

Premium salads and apple dippers brought moms back. Chicken wraps lured people during off-hours; higher-quality coffee turbocharged breakfast business.

McDonald’s stock price has quadrupled in the last four years, and the company has reported positive same-store sales, an important industry measure, every month since April 2003.

Given those results, a new McDonald’s menu item is a bit of a stunner. Remember Supersize sodas? They’re back, except this time the chain is trying a new name. Meet the “Hugo,” a 42-ounce drink now available for as little as 89 cents in some markets. A Hugo soda contains about 410 calories.

McDonald’s might as well have called it the Tubbo.

Making matters worse, Hugo ads are available in several languages, making sure that minorities — who are disproportionately affected by the obesity epidemic — are aware of the budget beverage.

McDonald’s officials said they were simply offering customers a variety of choices. And they emphasized that the Hugo was a summer promotion and available only in some markets.

“People, I believe, tend to drink more during the summer,” said Danya Proud, a McDonald’s spokeswoman. “People are out and about.”

She said the Hugo was being offered because of customer demand, and so far, it has sold quite well. Ms. Proud cautioned about comparing the Hugo to McDonald’s old Supersize menu.

“That’s not what this is about,” she said. “You have to put it in context with the rest of our menu.”

By offering the Hugo, McDonald’s isn’t doing anything different from its rivals, particularly Burger King, which has made huge servings, like the quadruple-patty BK Stacker sandwich, a signature of its menu.

Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University, says she feels some sympathy for fast-food restaurants. Most are public companies that must continually find ways to grow, and she says that offering bigger sizes is an easy way to do it.

“The companies are stuck,” she said. “They must grow. Therefore they are looking for products that are going to sell. And guess what? The healthy ones don’t.”

Some nutritionists, including Ms. Nestle, think that an increase in portion sizes is partially responsible for the increase in obesity, and the evidence is compelling.

The number of people who are overweight or obese has increased sharply since the early 1980s, and during that period, portion sizes have increased greatly. Ms. Nestle and Lisa R. Young, a nutritionist at N.Y.U., found that portion sizes offered by fast-food chains are two to five times larger than when first introduced.

When McDonald’s opened in 1955 the largest soda was 7 fluid ounces, according to Ms. Nestle and Ms. Young. Now a small soda is 16 ounces, and a child’s soda is 12 ounces. And what was once considered a normal adult meal is now a child’s portion. A patty the same size as the original McDonald’s hamburger and a serving of French fries, for instance, is now offered to children as part of the Happy Meal, Ms. Young said.

The problem with bigger portions has been well documented. They are undoubtedly good deals. But put simply, if people are offered more food, they eat it.

Yet the Supersize phenomenon backfired for fast-food restaurants, particularly for McDonald’s, which is the biggest hamburger chain and carefully cultivates its wholesome, family-friendly image.

As nutrition advocates increasingly harped on fast food’s role in the obesity epidemic, so, too, did books like “Fast Food Nation,” a surprise blockbuster that focused on McDonald’s role in industrializing farming and food.

Worse yet for McDonald’s was the 2004 documentary “Super Size Me” in which the filmmaker Morgan Spurlock ate nothing but McDonald’s food for a month, vomited on camera and gained 25 pounds.

McDonald’s dropped its Supersize menu that same year.

OF course, McDonald’s remains a burger joint, and its turnaround has been driven in part by brisk sales of its dollar menu, which includes double cheeseburgers, McChicken sandwiches and fries.

Sales of healthier items on the dollar menu remain relatively weak. “Double cheeseburgers always outsold salads 10 to 1,” said John Glass, an analyst at CIBC World Markets. But salads and yogurt provide a halo effect that makes the dollar menu more palatable. The Hugo is harder to swallow.

“They do not have to go there,” said Bob Goldin, executive vice president for Technomic, a food industry research and consulting firm. “Common sense has to prevail. No one has to drink that big of a serving.”

Ms. Young, who tracks portion sizes of fast food , said McDonald’s deserved credit in 2004 for dropping its Supersize menu and reducing portions. Neither Burger King nor Wendy’s followed suit, she said.

Wendy’s, she said, simply changed the name. A “Biggie” drink became a medium.

Now, Ms. Young accused McDonald’s of doing the same thing with the Hugo. “They got rid of Supersize and got all that good publicity,” she said. “I just think it’s a dirty trick.”

“I think they would get a lot of heat if they reintroduced Supersize,” she said, “but basically Hugo equals Supersize.”

McDonald’s has wisely recognized that its competition isn’t just other fast-food restaurants, but also coffee shops and convenience stores like 7-Eleven, where the Big Gulp remains a best seller.

But given the size of McDonald’s and its status as a cultural icon, it will always be held to a different standard. After all, Morgan Spurlock didn’t eat Burger King’s Whoppers for a month.

Hugo-size me? Not a bad name for a sequel.

McDonald's Sends Condolences

I live in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, the Brooklyn neighborhood where Officer Timoshenko was killed.

Timoshenko's death is a tragedy and people respond to tragedy in different ways. For instance, a number of people on a neighborhood listserv collected cards and brought them to the 71st Precinct.

The local McDonald's flew it's its flag at half-mast. It's Its McDonald's flag.

At the risk of seeming insensitive, it looks like Mayor McCheese died.

ROFL! @ Joe's Pub, This Friday

This Friday night, I will be representing Stay Free! at ROFL!, a web video "competiton" that pits some of the coolest websites against each other to show the funniest stuff online. Last month's show was great, and there is a great roster of competitors this month, so I hope you can come out and join us.

Host: Dave Hill
Musical Guest: Curtis Eller
Featuring: Me, Jason Kottke (Kottke.org), Cintra Wilson (Salon), Peggy Wang (Buzzfeed), Marisa Olson (Rhizome), Brett O'Connor (Negatendo), John Michael Boling and Javier Morales (53 O's) and Earl Dax (Scenedowntown).

Friday, July 27 @ 11:30PM
Joe's Pub
425 Lafayette St. (just South of Astor Place)
$15

ROFL! is presented by The Onion and Paper Thin Walls. Tickets are $15 and you can get them online here, by calling 212-967-7555 or at the door.

Image via I Can Has Cheezburger?

Ritalin Side Effects: Honey, I Shrunk the Kids!

Is your child acting up? Would it be easier for you if that child were, say, smaller? Then we have the drug for you: Ritalin!

After three years on the ADHD drug Ritalin, kids are about an inch shorter and 4.4 pounds lighter than their peers, a major U.S. study shows.... children who had been taking ADHD drugs before the study began were smaller than kids who had not yet started treatment. Those who first began treatment at the start of the study were normal in size, but grew more slowly than normal kids as the study went on.

In addition to being smaller, kids on Ritalin are less creative, less interesting and less trouble.

Ritalin, for the reduction of everything.

Via American Iatrogenic Association

My New Favorite Thing: Shredding Scissors

I'm almost embarrassed at the level of excitement a $15 pair of scissors brought our household, but these shredding scissors have fascinated my wife and I since we bought a pair (quintuplet?) in December. (My wife is kind of a nut for cutting things up and reassembling them.) These 5-bladed scissors come from Japan, are relatively inexpensive, human powered, and... I swear, will cause you to open and close them repeatedly while marveling at the movement of the blades, like you were Jeff Bridges in Starman. (See also: 9-bladed!) 

Anus Burgers OK'd

I don't see any ads for Carl's Jr. or Jack in the Box in Brooklyn, except on the internet, so it was on the internet that I found out that Jack in the Box is making fun of Carl's Jr.'s "Angus burgers" by using camera angles to make the word "angus" show up as "anus". Carl's Jr. wasn't happy and sued to stop the ads. And lost!

The best thing about this for me is that Carl's Jr. is being pwned - about the quality of its meat - by Jack in the Box, a fast food restaurant best known for literally poisoning its customers.

The capitalist response to Sicko

Google started taking its first steps into evil when it allowed China to begin filtering content. It took its first big local step when it encouraged HMO's to buy GoogleAds using Sicko as a keyword to counter the message of the movie. (This is yet another reason why Stay Free! is an Ad-Free Blog - it is hard enough to rouse ourselves to provide content for the blog; we'd hate to be undone by our own sidebar.)

The Google founders do seem like good guys, and the motto "Do No Evil" is a noble sentiment. Alas, this is another bit of proof that incorporating one's company is a lot like getting bit by a vampire - no matter how good a person you were before the bite, and no matter how hard you want to still be that person, you are eventually going to start drinking human blood.

In any event, we are big fans of Sicko and you really should watch the movie (it's free!).

(Movie link via Liam)

Merck's Wonderdrug?

The other day, I returned from the pharmacy aghast and stunned at the price of Gardasil, the vaccine my doctor prescribed to protect me against HPV, the cervical cancer-causing virus. My insurance covers only .5 ml of the miracle-drug (or so pharmaceutical giant Merck would call it), and it turns out I need 5 ml, which comes with it a $900 price tag.

Fuming, I turned to the Internet to see just what I was getting myself into. The shot protects patients from contracting four of the most prolific strains of HPV, two of which cause 70% of cervical cancer cases.

But according to a recent analysis by the Center for Media and Democracy's PR Watch, groups may be too quick to call for mandatory dispensation of the vaccine. Aside from pointing out Merck's less-than-spotless record — Vioxx anyone? — and noting reports of the FDA's "woefully inadequate" review of that medication, PRwatch.org also interviewed Dr. Diane Harper with the Dartmouth Medical School, who critiqued the federal government's recommendation to require all middle-school aged girls to get the vaccine.

Insurance companies are saying that VFC program is required by law to purchase this. But the problem is that the states don't have enough money allocated by VFC to purchase enough to cover their whole state's population. So if you make a mandate that your child can't enter sixth grade as a twelve-year old without having the shots, and your state only has enough to give it to 10% of the twelve-year olds, and you're the next kid in line and your family doesn't have $500, then you can’t go to school. And that is wrong.

PR Watch also cites a Bloomberg News article that even before the FDA approved Gardasil, Merck had spent $841,000 to publicize it on the Internet in the first quarter of 2006.

I'm still going to get the shot, but I'll be on my guard against Gardasil.

The libertarian response to Sicko

I'm on an email list devoted on iatrogensis—medical problems created by medical treatments—that has a strong libertarian contingent, so I've had a chance to read several right-wing critiques of Michael Moore's new movie, Sicko.

I agree with one popular criticism: Moore should have acknowledged that Cuba is a hell hole. But I've yet to find any serious argument debunking the main point: that American health care is seriously screwed. In fact, the critiques all follow pretty much the same formula. Most cite inconsequential anecdotes of bad health care experiences in Canada, England, and the other countries Moore visited. The more substantial criticisms point out that people in, say, Canada and England may face long waits for medical care, that hospital infection rates are high, and that some people may be denied care if that care is deemed "experimental."

...and so?  I'm still waiting for a problem that's not also common in America. Canada has long waits in emergency rooms? Been to an American E.R. lately? England has high rates of hospital-induced infections? America's private market hasn't solved that problem yet either. (The iatrogensis email list was created to respond to the problem of hospital-borne disease in the US!) Experimental treatments are explicitly excluded from all American health care plans—and the insurers get to decide what counts as "experimental," even if a treatment plan has evidence of past success.

The one thing Canada, England, and the other countries don't have in common with the US is 47 million people who are uninsured. That feat is America's alone. For many of those people, that means no medical care at all. Somehow America has managed to have the worst of both worlds—we have all of the disadvantages of the other healthcare systems without the advantages: 47 million uninsured, relatively low life expectancy, high infant mortality, and low overall health compared to other industrialized nations. (See This New Yorker story.)

The only complaint that makes sense applies only to those Canadians, Europeans, and Cubans who have so much money that they can afford whatever health care they want, when they want it. Okay, you win: if you're super rich, America is the place to be. But Sicko wasn't created for the super rich; it was created for the rest of us.