A bit of cognitive dissonance on a lovely Friday afternoon - from the pet food recall to Hairspray.
First, the substance. Gina is totally brilliant and has written the ultimate smackdown of the FDA's handling of the pet food recall:
Do I have to tell you that as we approach 11 a.m. ET this morning, neither of the latest recalls has made it to the FDA’s recall page? Do I have to tell you that we’re still waiting for more recalls, and that the FDA still won’t tell us what companies are involved? Anyone want to take bets that the companies will drop their releases late today, and that chances are good the FDA won’t update the recall lists until Monday?
Do I have to tell you how many people do their shopping on the weekend, and how many will do as they’ve been advised, and check the FDA recall list before getting food for their pets? How many of those will not be aware of the most recent recalls?
Over on Howl911, Nikki has made the point that what the FDA is doing would sound ridiculous if human food products were involved. Something like: “We’ve identified four bakeries that got the tainted ingredients, and it might have made it to products that are on your grocery shelves. Any recalls are vountary, and we can’t tell you which breads you might want to avoid. Have a nice day.”
Even if you accept — which we don’t, of course — that these are “just pets,” how about the potential economic hit some families will take if a pet becomes sick? Dr. Paul Pion of the independent Veterinary Information Network puts the costs to pet-owners in the range of $2 million to $20 million.
FDA, you work for us. Tell us the companies. We know you can’t force them to come clean with us, so let us know. Let us know.
Not only is it in the best interest of consumers, it’s also in the best interest of the pet-food industry. Until we know where tainted products are, who in her right mind will buy anything? Aren’t the companies that are not involved owed something, too?
Click here now and read the whole dazzling thing.
Okay, so now switch gears with me, and embrace the fluff.
I just saw a rough partial screening of Hairspray - yes, THE Hairspray, the new musical film of the musical stage show of the original 1988 John Waters film. I interviewed Adam Shankman, the director, and wrote about it over on AfterElton.com:
So, other than Travolta's semi-suckage, how was the movie? Oh, just basically completely brilliant. I've been pissed off lately, what with the Supremes going all retro on abortion rights, and the pet food recall and the Virginia shootings and the war in Iraq, and well, you know, life as we know it in America today, and Hairspray is the perfect antidote to all that - and not, like a lot of movies, because it lets you escape reality for a little while.
Hairspray succeeds, in all three of its incarnations, because at heart it's a feel-good movie about fighting the good fight. Tracy Turnblad, a plump high school girl who knows she's destined for greatness as either the first woman president or maybe a Rockette, gets picked as one of the dancers on an afternoon music show on a local TV station. She uses her new-found fame to take a public stand for racial equality in segregated 1962 Baltimore, saying that if she were the first woman president she'd "make every day Negro day!"
Go read all the goodness here - and see a nice, long video preview of it too. And leave comments and tell them OMG Christie is the MOST INCREDIBLE BLOGGER EVER IN THE HISTORY OF BLOGGING.
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