Month: August 2004

Categories
News News Feature

BARNSTORMING

HEY PORTER

So we all knew it was a joke when President Bush said he didn’t want to see American intelligence politicized, didn’t we? We knew what he really meant was, “I want to stuff the top intelligence positions with fiercely partisan, fiercely loyal yes-men, further complicating this spooky boondoggle and insuring that national security takes a solid backseat to business as usual. Why else would Bush appoint Porter Goss as the new CIA Director?

Writing for the allegedly liberal New York Times Elizabeth Brumiller said that Goss’ appointment would put someone in place, “who is not identified with the [CIA]’s failures.” Spin doesn’t get any more transparent than that and, “not identified,” is, of course, the crucial turn of phrase here. Goss hasn’t been employed by the CIA since the 1970’s but he’s been has Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee–the committee responsible for policing ALL American Intelligence agencies– since 1997. If Goss had been doing his job correctly for the past seven years it wouldn’t have taken a national disaster and a Senate-level investigation to discover the deeply tragic policy flaws blinding the American Intelligence community like unchecked Syphilis. So no, Goss’s fingerprints can’t be discovered at the scene of the crime because he wasn’t at the scene of the crime. He was more like a stakeout-cop sitting at a booth in the Coffee Hut having a bear claw across the street from the scene of the crime. The failures in American Intelligence are, in a very real sense, also Goss’s failures. But that’s not why he’s a bad choice for the position.

To really see why Porter Goss is the worst possible candidate to head the C.I.A. you have to turn to this little gem from D.C. reporter Cory Reiss:

“Rep. Porter Goss said Thursday that the uproar over allegations that White House officials purposely identified a covert CIA agent [Valerie Plame] appears largely political and doesn’t yet merit an investigation by the House Select Committee on Intelligence, which he chairs. “Somebody sends me a blue dress and some DNA, I’ll have an investigation,” Goss said.”

If there has ever been an ever a more partisan line concerning a FELONY at the highest levels of American security, I would love to read it. The undeniable, but still unexplained, and certainly unexcused outing of Plame by an administration insider is inexplicably, according to Goss, bad political pool on the Democrats’ behalf. But the Clenis’ extraseminal activities are enough to get an expensive government investigation clipping along at full chop-chop? To put it mildly: What the fuck?

But Goss’ slavish whoring for the administration, and even his sophomoric, glandular obsessions don’t add up to much. So what’s the dealbreaker? According to Goss there’s no point in opening an investigation without first having the damning, incontrovertible evidence of guilt in DROPPED ON YOUR DOORSTEP. Now that might be a good rule of thumb for future presidents pondering war, and certainlu an improvement. But for a CIA director tasked with determining what is and is not worth looking into it pretty much sucks. Throughout the 9-11 investigation we heard members of intelligence moan about having all the evidence we needed to prepare ourselves for a domestic attack–except for the exact date, time, and location of the attack. They had EVERYTHING, except for the Blue Dress. And to paraphrase yet another example of failed leadership in the American intelligence community, Condi Rice, “Do we want the [Blue Dress] to be a mushroom cloud?”

Of course, none of this matters much, does it?

Categories
News The Fly-By

BE AFRAID

James L. Hart, who won the Republican nomination for West Tennessee’s 8th District congressman by an 8-to-1 margin over Dennis Bertrand, bases much of his platform on the discredited theory of eugenics. Here, without a single punchline to clutter the page, are some excerpts from Hart’s official platform:

“Stop Welfare and Immigration. Replace it with a War on Poverty Genes …

“Why does Detroit look like it was hit by a nuclear bomb and Hiroshima look like it was on the side that won the war? Everyone knows the answer but is afraid to say. Because genes have a more devastating effect on civilization than nuclear bombs, and the reason for Detroit’s decline is that there are less `favored races’ in Detroit with an average IQ of 85 and more `favored races’ in Japan with an average IQ of 104. … The poverty genes of less `favored races’, which are spread by welfare and immigration, are destroying our cities no less than if they were hit by a nuclear bomb. … If we had integrated with less `favored races’ centuries ago, there would have never been an electric light. There would never have been an airplane. Unless we stop dysgenic welfare and immigration policies, the U.S. will look like one big Detroit. …

“Eugenics is a moral commitment, not a racial affiliation and any race that accepted its moral responsibility to protect the right of its children to be born physically healthy and mentally capable could evolve into and become the next more highly evolved species above homo-sapiens. We are responsible for what our children will be. …

“This dysgenic process has devastated our inner cities. I will save our cities by stopping welfare and immigration and replacing it with a war on poverty genes, and nonviolent eugenic pro-gram[s] based on individual merit, not group averages. … It is our hope that all races and nations will accept that moral responsibility.”

As several media outlets, who seem obsessed with Hart’s quirkiness, have already reported, the Republican nominee often campaigns in a bulletproof vest, pistol at the ready. He received 7,671 votes. Forget foreign terrorists. Our neighbors are scary enough.

Plante: How It Looks

Categories
Politics Politics Beat Blog

Dems for Bush?

It depends on whom you ask as to particular identities, but even if you don’t ask, leaks and rumors are rife in Shelby County Republican circles just now about the likelihood of some imminent (and eminent) local Democratic defectors to the presidential campaign of the GOP’s main man, President George W. Bush.

Nobody is naming names just yet (read: counting eggs before they hatch), but hints and indirect suggestions from a variety of sources led me straightaway to one prospect — state representative John DeBerry, an African-American businessman/minister who has a constituency he describes as racially and politically diverse. DeBerry represents state House District 90, an oddly shaped area that snakes longitudinally from a portion of Midtown through South Memphis to the Mississippi state line.

“I’m considering it,” DeBerry said about the possibility of endorsing Bush. “I’m a Democrat, but I’ll be quite honest. I’ve thought a lot about the candidates and platforms of both parties.” DeBerry, a relatively conservative Democrat who professes a serious concern about “values” issues like abortion, prayer, and gay marriage, said he hasn’t made up his mind yet but will shortly. There are those in the GOP camp, though, who talk as though he’s already on the dotted line.

But a defection by DeBerry, though newsworthy, would be as nothing compared to the Big Kahuna — Mayor Willie Herenton, whose name escapes the lips of several Republicans. Nobody’s claiming the Memphis mayor for the Bush campaign yet, but one local Republican source maintains mysteriously that “conversations have occurred” at the level of Karl Rove, the celebrated chief political aide to Bush.

It is a fact that Herenton has been a no-show so far at any of the several local occasions at which he might have put his authority behind the Kerry-Edwards campaign. The mayor was absent from last week’s Beale Street rally featuring Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, the Democrats’ recently nominated candidate for vice president.

Herenton, who was incorrectly announced by Rep. Harold Ford Jr., who introduced Edwards at the rally, as having been involved at some point of the North Carolinian’s time here, was in fact out of town on Wednesday, the day of the Edwards visit, said his spokesperson, Gale Jones Carson, who added that the mayor considered himself friendly to Edwards.

The mayor returned to Memphis on Thursday. Asked to comment then on reports that he might endorse Bush, Herenton passed word through Carson that he would not comment on his “political plans for the current year.”

The mayor made a stir among both Democrats and Republicans locally when, in 2002, he endorsed the U.S. Senate candidacy of Republican Lamar Alexander, the ultimate winner, and not that of Democratic nominee Bob Clement, then a congressman representing Nashville.

That stir attained statewide dimensions when the Memphis mayor traveled to Nashville to share a stage with Alexander.

It should be said that two ranking local Republicans, both with strong connections to the GOP’s national establishment, poured cold water on the prospect of a Herenton/Bush axis this year. “I’m not aware of anything like that,” said one. “That’s unlikely,” said the other.

Even so, one of the few Shelby County Republicans willing to put his name on the line, party executive secretary Don Johnson, confirms that an official announcement about prominent local Democrats for Bush is forthcoming, though it probably won’t be made until the return to Memphis of the local Republican chairman Kemp Conrad, who is traveling in China as part of a program sponsored by the National Council for Young Political Leaders.

Conrad, a sometime confidante of Herenton’s who helped broker the mayor’s support for Alexander two years ago and who has made a point of launching various “outreach” campaigns to minorities and other groups not usually identified with Republicanism, will be back in Memphis on or about the 14th, Johnson said.

Categories
Music Record Reviews

Short Cuts :: Record Reviews

Tyrannosaurus Hives

The Hives

(Interscope)

The Hives’ 2002 U.S. breakthrough, Veni Vidi Vicious, was the rare record of its ilk to match its hype and then some. It detonated where almost every other competing product was content to merely rock out. It was simply faster, louder, smarter, and funnier than anything else in its little corner of the musical world. The band’s new follow-up album, Tyrannosaurus Hives, is not.

The new record maintains the same 12-songs-in-under-30-minutes pace as Veni Vidi Vicious and rumbles along agreeably. But there’s nothing here as immediately gripping as the earlier album’s sure-shot singles “Main Offender” or (especially) “Hate To Say I Told You So.” Tyrannosaurus Hives is more of a genre record — a really good one but probably not much better than countless others from indie garage bands you’ve never heard of.

The guitars don’t roar here with the same ferocity as on Veni Vidi Vicious, but drummer Chris Dangerous might be the secret hero, keeping things motorvating along at a joyously intense clip. And singer “Howlin'” Pelle Almqvist earns his nickname again. Almqvist is a great shouter and showman, a worthy inheritor to the swaggering frontman tradition of Mick Jagger and Iggy Pop. But he just doesn’t have the chops to put over the slow stuff. This was apparent on Veni Vidi Vicious with the band’s limp cover of Jerry Butler’s “Find Another Girl,” though covering such a lovely obscurity was an endearing move. Here, the token ballad is the original “Diabolic Scheme,” a slow burn with some borderline-embarrassing wordless crooning that sounds as if someone is strangling a goat.

The band is better suited to the mid-tempo record-geek reverence of “A Little More For Little You,” a sturdy bit of hand-clap/finger-snap soul-pop with Phil Spector drum breaks and a chorus vocal that filters Atlantic Records R&B through Springsteenian boardwalk rock.

And if the guitars don’t penetrate as directly, the lyrics on Tyrannosaurus Hives are generally more oblique. I miss the specificity of Veni Vidi Vicious‘ rants about record companies and wage slavery. The strongest songs-as-songs on this passable platter are likely the witty troglodyte rock of “Abra Cadaver” (“They tried to stick a dead body inside of me/But I kept breaking free/They could not capture me/I pulled maneuvers that were closer to savage, see!”) and the pretension-puncturing “Dead Quote Olympics” (“Yes, they were smart but they are dead/And you’re repeating all that they said/You know it won’t make you clever like you thought it would”).

— Chris Herrington

Grade: B+

Now Here Is Nowhere

The Secret Machines

(Warner Bros.)

Space rock is always good in theory. Combining two of the 20th century’s great cultural obsessions — science fiction and rock-and-roll — has worked for Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, and, most recently, the Flaming Lips. But these great successes of the past (particularly the Lips) only serve to underscore the Secret Machines’ failure.

Now Here Is Nowhere has its moments: The chorus of “The Road Leads Where It’s Led” soars pleasingly; they’ve perfected a fat, meaty fuzz bass sound that occasionally comes roaring through the mix like a boost-phase ICBM. Judging from what’s on the album, the band probably provides a great live experience. The Bonham-redux drums from “You Are Chains” and “Nowhere Again” already sound like they’re echoing inside an arena; all that’s missing are several thousand fans holding lighters aloft. So the elements are there, and they’ve been assembled with great care, but the final product is flattened by the weight of its influences. “Pharaoh’s Daughter” might sound inventive if one had never heard Dark Side of the Moon, yet the band treats it like it’s some kind of profound revelation. “Lights On” sounds like a half-dozen Trans Am songs that aren’t burdened by Brandon Curtis’ goofy lyrics.

And therein lies one of the great mysteries of rock-and-roll in particular and art in general. Curtis’ meandering musings aren’t significantly dumber or more awkward than either the four or five songs Hendrix wrote about his desire to live underwater or just about anything the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne has ever committed to paper. But coming out of their mouths, it works, because they sound convinced by the power of their imaginations. The Secret Machines, on the other hand, sound cobbled together out of other artists’ eccentricities. — Chris McCoy

Grade: C

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Here’s To Your Health

Drinking beer and grilling meat is one of those quintessential, all-American pairings. Almost everyone has sucked back a beer while grilling some nicely marbled steaks, slabs of salmon, lamb, chicken, or whatnot. Everyone also has heard the somewhat overrated health risks involved with grilling meat too, right? If not, let’s refresh your memory.

Several studies have concluded that grilling and charring muscle meats such as beef, chicken, and fish creates little cancer-causing guys called heterocyclic amines (HCAs). There’s also that damn benzopyrene, which is the nasty buildup of fat that drips onto hot coals and then evaporates and sticks to the meat. In fact, some reports say that when a pound of meat is grilled over charcoal, it can contain as much carcinogenic benzopyrene as 300 cigarettes! And most recently, some tests performed by scientists in Hong Kong found that levels of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in charcoal-grilled meat can be much higher than in non-charcoal-grilled meats. What are PAHs? They are organic chemicals that are “probably” carcinogenic to humans. (Probably? C’mon yes or no, you lousy nerds!)

While nothing conclusive has yet linked grilling meat over a flame with cancer in humans (we have been eating grilled meats ever since our caveman ancestors employed fire for cooking), the reports are still a little spooky

But don’t be spooked. Let beer be your savior! It seems that a German food chemist by the name of Udo Pollmer discovered that using beer while grilling inhibits HCAs. Other studies suggested that soaking meat in beer for several hours before grilling also reduces the chance of these carcinogenic compounds forming. Any beer works so long as it’s alcoholic.

Don’t forget that beer also helps to tenderize meats, so we’re in business for some marinating action and some “healthy” grilling.

If you’ve never cooked with beer before, it’s easy and extremely versatile. Just use caution when cooking with extremely hoppy beers (they can overwhelm the meat), and you’ll be fine. Here’s an easy recipe:

Alström’s Doppelbock Steak with Parmesan Garlic Broccoli and Tomato Salad

What you need:

1) A perfectly portioned steak of choice. Make sure it’s nice and marbled with fat.

2) At least one bottle of Doppelbock beer: Aying’s Celebrator, Paulaner Salvator, Spaten Optimator, Tucher Bajuvator Doppelbock, or even Sam Adams Triple Bock if you can find it. These beers are malty sweet, less hoppy, and high in alcohol — perfect for grilling with steak. Check with your local brewpub too; they might have a fresh growler of Doppelbock that you can take home (use only 12-16 oz).

3) Broccoli, one average-sized head per person

4) Parmesan cheese, half a cup

5) Chopped garlic, to your liking

6) Salt and pepper

7) Olive oil, a few tablespoons

8) Yellow and orange tomatoes, one of each per person

9) Balsamic dressing

What you need to do:

1) Get an airtight container, drop in the steak, and cover with the entire bottle of bock. Seal the container and give it a good shake, then stick it in the fridge at least overnight or up to 24 hours. Re-shake occasionally. 2) When it’s time to grill, simply slap that Doppelbock-soaked piece of meat on the grill and get cooking. Personally, we don’t like our steak cooked more than medium rare. Anything more is a waste of meat and its inherent goodness. And besides, you just killed any bacteria by soaking the meat in alcohol. 3) While the steak is grilling, steam the broccoli, then toss it gently with olive oil. Shake in the Parmesan cheese and chopped garlic, then add salt and pepper to taste. 4) Chop the tomatoes lengthwise into meaty slices, arrange on a small plate, and splash on just a bit of balsamic dressing.

Recommended: You can always reduce the leftover beer marinade by cooking it down on low heat, then drizzling it over the finished steak. Feel no need to add anything to it. The beer is tasty by itself and even more so when blended with the juice from the steak. Pair with more Doppelbock beer or contrast with something light, such as a pale ale or lager. n

by Jason & Todd Alstrom

Taking the Heat

Cool wines for this hot summer.

by Taylor Eason

It’s time to get serious about summer wines. This frickin’ 100 percent humidity makes me want to flee as far away as possible from red wine, no matter what the occasion. Give me something white and cold and give it to me now, baby.

To conquer your sweat, slide out to the deck/pool/patio, roll the chilled, wet bottle across your forehead, and pop open the cork or unscrew the top. It’ll provide relief for a little while, at least.

Highfield 2002 Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough — Meatier than most Sauvignon Blancs, with energizing grapefruit, passionfruit, and a slight buttery aftertaste. $17.

Nora 2003 Albarino Rias Baixas Spain — The albarino grape thrives in the wet, green earth of northwest Spain. Its bright, tangy acidity makes it a perfect accompaniment to seafood, and it’s also a pretty kickin’ just-relax wine. There’s a taste of peach and green apple, with a hit of lemon-lime. Good price for an albarino. $13.

Caymus 2002 Conundrum California — This label reads “White Table Wine” because the winemaker blends several different grapes to create this gorgeous, lush beverage. The Conundrum formula changes each year, and this one smells so good, I want to climb into the bottle and live. Seductive and rich with spicy-floral, honeysuckle, and vanilla. A slight hint of sweetness yet tart at the same time. Magnificent. $25.

Baileyana 2002 Sauvignon Blanc Edna Valley Paragon Vineyard — A refreshing blend of grapes picked at different times during harvest to form a cornucopia of flavors, from grass and lemon to white peach and almonds. $13.

Carmel 2003 Private Selection Chardonnay/Sauvignon Blanc Israel — Something a little different from Israel: a delicious wine for anytime, not just kosher occasions. It shows off the best of both grapes in this blend: delicious grapefruit with a hefty dose of rich butter on the tongue and finish. $17.

Kings Ridge 2001 Pinot Gris Oregon — I’ve seen a lot of overpriced Oregon wines lately, but this ain’t one of them. Pinot gris is a fantastic grape for the cool climate in this state. This version yields a clean, melon-y, honeyed, and citrus wine that’s great for lounging around the pool. $13.

Faiveley 2002 Chablis — A solid Chardonnay from the Burgundy region of France, this is a hard-to-find, inexpensive Chablis. (Except for the jug-wine imposters from California. By the way, that isn’t Chablis, or Chardonnay for that matter. It’s cheap grapes, made into cheap wine, to sell cheap. Needless to say, the French hate that Almaden et al. sullied the name.) Faiveley is the Real Thing: minerally, slightly earthy with a tinge of tangy citrus. $16.

Whitehall Lane 2002 Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley — A Sauvignon Blanc with strong oak influences and citrus and exotic fruits like mango and lychee. Fascinating. $13.

Montecillo 2003 White Rioja — Sportin’ some lively lime, crisp green apple, and a clean, soft texture in the mouth. It’s made from a relatively obscure white grape called Viura. $10.

Alta Vista 2003 Torrontes Premium Mendoza — A white grape that thrives in Argentina, Torrontes is unlike most wines out there. It reminds me of a gutsy, well-made viognier: very fragrant, full of exotic fruit and flowers in both aroma and taste, yet it’s dry. Great for drinking with anything spicy or just for drinking. Easy entry point on the price too. $10.

Categories
Cover Feature News

An Imperfect Solution

In 1997, when Colleen McKenzie was 19, she had a breast augmentation procedure performed by the Memphis Plastic Surgery Group. She was told that her new saline-filled implants were perfectly safe.

Three years later, McKenzie began experiencing fainting spells, extreme fatigue, muscle and body aches, and fever. Her vision blurred and she had to start wearing glasses. She suffered from depression and memory loss and had to take a leave of absence from her job as an art director for Idex Creative Marketing. She went from doctor to doctor for months, but none could give her an accurate diagnosis. A rheumatologist told her that her illness was imaginary and suggested she see a psychiatrist.

In 2001, McKenzie met Dr. Douglas Shanklin, a pathologist at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and a leader in research linking saline implants to silicone poisoning. Saline implants are filled with a saltwater solution, but the liquid is encased in a silicone shell. Shanklin’s studies indicate that the silicone casing can cause the same kind of damage as a silicone-filled implant. Shanklin diagnosed McKenzie with siliconosis, a disease caused by too much silicone in the body. He said McKenzie’s symptoms were the same as those experienced by women with silicone implants. Lawsuits from many of these women in the 1990s led the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to restrict the use of silicone implants.

Shanklin says siliconosis can cause autoimmune diseases, cognitive dysfunction, seizures, and lupus. Other physicians are not so

sure. Many plastic surgeons claim there’s not enough research to prove that silicone causes health problems. And many of those who do acknowledge the possibility of silicone-related illnesses still tout saline implants as a safe alternative.

I Must, I Must, I Must Increase My Bust

Women have long attempted to increase the size of their breasts with implants of various kinds. In the 1800s, women injected paraffin directly into breast tissue. And some had glass or ivory balls implanted. During the 1940s, Japanese prostitutes began injecting industrial-grade silicone into their breasts to please American soldiers. Many of them died when the silicone migrated to other parts of their bodies. When Las Vegas showgirls began using a similar procedure in the 1950s, the Nevada state government banned the procedure.

Recognizing the market for a safe breast enhancement procedure, two plastic surgeons in Texas developed silicone implants in the 1960s. In 1976, the FDA enacted the Medical Devices Amendment, which gives it the authority to review and approve the safety and effectiveness of medical devices. Since breast implants were already on the market, they were “grandfathered” in and didn’t have to meet the same criteria.

In 1984, legal troubles began. A silicone implant recipient sued Dow-Corning, an implant manufacturer, after she’d contracted systemic autoimmune disease. The jury agreed that Maria Stern’s implants were the cause of her illness, and she was awarded $211,000 in compensatory damages and $1.5 million in punitive damages. The evidence was sealed under court order.

By the early 1990s, implant manufacturers were being routinely sued, and the FDA began requesting studies on the safety of silicone implants. A class-action lawsuit eventually left Dow-Corning, once the largest implant manufacturer, bankrupt. In early 1992, FDA commissioner David Kessler called for a voluntary moratorium on the distribution and implantation of silicone gel implants and asked for more studies on their safety.

In April 1992, new research was submitted to the FDA, and Kessler lifted the moratorium, with the caveat that silicone implants should only be made available to women who met certain criteria, such as needing reconstructive surgery after a mastectomy. Women who underwent such surgery had to take part in a lengthy study protocol.

Now women who want routine cosmetic augmentation have only one choice — saline implants, which are marketed as the safe alternative to silicone.

The “Safe” Choice?

Shanklin got involved in studying silicone poisoning by accident. In 1986, a pathologist in Detroit was consulted in a lawsuit in which a woman was claiming her implants had made her sick. When the doctor learned that the surgeon being sued was a close friend, he asked Shanklin to take his place.

“I went immediately to the library, because this was news to me, and I was astonished to read papers from the 1960s and 1970s on the issue,” says Shanklin. “One of the attorneys in the case asked me to provide a list of all the things that could happen to this woman. When I said she could die, attorneys woke up all over the room.”

The case was eventually settled out of court, but Shanklin continued his research. He teamed up with fellow UT pathologist Dr. David Smalley, and the two wrote a number of research papers on the effects of silicone on the human body. Their studies focused not only on breast implants but the effects of silicone in other medical devices as well. From February 1996 to June 2002, they ran an implant follow-up clinic at UT to study poisoning from implants and to give affected women a place to get help.

According to their findings, siliconosis is a real disorder that generally shows up several years after implantation. Most of the research provided to the FDA by the implant manufacturers was conducted on subjects who had had implants for a year or less, according to Shanklin.

“In long-term patients, we saw everything from rashes to forgetfulness,” says Shanklin. “Some developed a broadly based food intolerance, and one woman I saw had broken out into wandering vasculitis, where various vessels swell up and the tissue around them breaks and leaves scars,” says Shanklin. “I’ve had several implant patients die of lupus in their 50s.”

According to the National Center for Policy Research for Women and Families (CPR), manufacturers’ studies do not take into account that the types of diseases associated with silicone poisoning, such as autoimmune and connective-tissue diseases, take years to develop. But these manufacturer-approved studies are commonly accepted by many plastic surgeons, including Dr. Robert Wallace, a plastic surgeon with UT Medical Group, Inc.

“If I went home tonight and my wife said, ‘I’d like some breast implants,’ I’d say okay with no hesitation,” says Wallace.

Wallace has performed hundreds of saline breast implant augmentations, and he says none of his patients have complained of symptoms of siliconosis. He says he has “explanted” a couple of siliconosis patients who got implants from other surgeons.

“There may be a small subset of people who really do have a reaction [to silicone]. It’s not our position to judge or try to browbeat these people, telling them they’re fine and they should get back to work,” says Wallace. “But the medical science commissioned by the courts came away with the conclusion that silicone does not make you sick.”

Teresa Jones (a Germantown nurse who requested that her name be changed to protect her identity) had saline implants put in nine years ago and she agrees. She says she hasn’t experienced any signs of silicone poisoning, nor has she experienced the more common risks, such as deflation or capsular contracture.

“I’ve heard claims made by women about silicone poisoning, but I don’t believe there’s actually a link between silicone and diseases,” says Jones, who went from a B-cup to a C-cup. “It’s used in all kinds of medical devices, like tubes for kids’ ears and artificial joints. Historically, it’s been found to be a very inert and safe material.”

However, Shanklin and Smalley’s studies found that adverse reactions also occurred in some patients who had been implanted with these other medical devices. In one of their studies, which was published in the Journal of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine, 22 men and 21 women who had been injected or implanted with non-mammary silicone-containing devices were tested to determine the silicone’s effect.

Their findings indicated that implantation of any silicone-containing device has the same immunogenic consequences as those shown in women with siliconosis. The study also showed that how long the devices had been implanted was a more important risk factor than the amount of silicone implanted.

Not all women who receive saline implants are at risk. Between 1985 and 1996, there were 23,454 adverse reaction reports filed with the FDA for saline implants, versus 103,343 for silicone gel implants. There’s been little research to determine why some women are more susceptible than others. Shanklin believes some women are simply more genetically prone to adverse reactions to silicone.

McKenzie, who participates in a nationwide Internet support group, isn’t so sure. “The women in my group have had several conversations trying to find that common link,” says McKenzie. “What is it about us that would cause us to get sick? We can’t find the answer.”

Finding that answer would mean more FDA-sanctioned manufacturer research on women who have had implants for an extended period of time. Many who believe that saline implants can cause siliconosis are convinced that such studies will never happen, since proof that saline implants can cause diseases could damage a multimillion-dollar industry. Meanwhile, women like McKenzie try rigorous detoxification programs and work to get health-care coverage from skeptical medical insurance companies.

The Road to Recovery

Now 25, McKenzie is feeling much better, but she says she’s still got some healing ahead. She had her implants removed a year ago. On good days, she’s fine as long she’s home and in bed fairly early. At night, she still experiences intense pain, especially in her hands and wrists. On bad days, she wakes up, takes her medicine, and goes back to bed.

Most women need several years to recover from siliconosis, and since many doctors don’t believe the disease exists, many victims turn to alternative medicine.

“I’ve only encountered two doctors who have believed me,” says McKenzie. “My rheumatologist told me I didn’t have to be sick if I didn’t want to. He suggested intensive psychotherapy. Why would I want to be sick and bedridden by age 23?”

McKenzie gets emotional support as well as nutritional and detoxification tips from Saline Support, a nationwide Internet group for women who believe they have contracted siliconosis through saline implants. The 433-member support group began in July 2000 when Patty Fausett, a siliconosis victim from Henderson, Nevada, noticed a lack of support for women who’d contracted the disease from saline implants. She decided to start a group devoted to women with saline implants.

“My goal was to really help us get better, because what I saw in the other group was a lot of older women with horrible medical problems that didn’t seem to improve over time,” says Fausett. “The ones who were showing improvement were doing it through alternative medicine — detoxification, healthy eating, and organic foods — rather than going to doctors, who’ll just give out prescription drugs to further poison our bodies.”

The women in Saline Support use the group to share detox methods that have worked and to share stories about their issues with doctors and family members.

“Our group is a safe haven for women to come to, where they can feel that they will not be rejected,” says Fausett. “So many doctors have said this is all in their heads. Women can come here when they have emotional problems from the frustration of dealing with doctors who don’t understand. We’re like women on a stormy sea trying to keep our heads above water, and there’s no one there to help us.”

Fausett says she thinks the problem will only get worse as more and more women opt for saline implants. According to CPR statistics, the number of women who underwent augmentations doubled between 1997 and 2002. In 2002, approximately 236,888 women had cosmetic breast implants.

“I don’t know if they’ll ever really find the answers until some government agency steps in and realizes that women are getting sick,” says Fausett. “We need to stop and find out what’s going on and how we should fix the problem.”

The Next Big Thing

“A number of years ago,” says Shanklin, “I had some patients that had gotten implants as high school graduation presents, and that’s apparently become a sub-industry. You don’t get a limousine ride or a convertible anymore. You get breasts. When they’re 35, they’re going to be sick as shit. I’ve seen it happen again and again.”

According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 3,841 girls 18 or younger received breast implants last year. With the recent popularity of plastic-surgery makeover shows, such as The Swan and Extreme Makeover, breast implants and other forms of cosmetic surgery seem more appealing to young girls.

“It’s a tragedy that so many young women are running to plastic surgeons to fix their bodies instead of learning how to accept themselves as they are,” says Fausett. “I would just plead with them not to get implants as a way to cure their self-esteem problems.”

Fausett worries that some teens who may be susceptible to silicone poisoning will begin to see health problems before they reach 25. And since there’s no real cure, she says they’re likely to be stuck with some complications for the rest of their lives. Although Fausett’s almost back to normal after five years of recovery, she’s still dealing with an autoimmune thyroid disease.

But implant science is marching on, and there may soon be an alternative to silicone and saline implants. Several biotechnology companies are working on a tissue-engineering technique that would inject cells from another part of the body into the breast area, creating larger breasts. The technique would initially be marketed to women who have had lumpectomies or mastectomies, but the method could eventually be used for cosmetic breast enhancement as well. The future of the technique depends on FDA approval.

For now, victims of siliconosis continue to publicize their plight. A few weeks ago, a film crew from MTV’s I Want a Famous Face was in Memphis filming McKenzie for a segment of the show. Each show counters a positive plastic surgery experience with a negative one. One episode this fall will feature McKenzie in the negative story slot.

The issue is slowly gaining more attention, and McKenzie is planning on putting together a calendar of explanted women who’ve contracted siliconosis through saline implants. She says she’ll probably use some of the women in her support group as models. Each month will feature a different woman’s pictures and story. Some of the women have lost husbands and homes. Others spent months unable to care for their own children.

“This is a lose-lose situation,” says Shanklin. “They lose their health, and if the situation is severe enough, they lose their augmented breasts. Sometimes they lose their husbands and their jobs. They lose their self-esteem, and it’s all downhill. All they’ve got left is a chest so full of scars it looks like a railroad switching yard.”

Categories
Opinion

Ounce of Prevention

Shane Asbury lightly knocks at the door before entering the room. His next patient waits inside on an examination table. “Hello, ma’am. I’ll be doing your exam today. It says here that you have a cough,” says Asbury, consulting the patient’s chart. “Tell me about it.”

For the next 15 minutes, Asbury’s every move and every word are observed and graded. If he passes, he takes one step closer to becoming a doctor.

No pressure. At least, not yet.

Asbury is one of six University of Tennessee Health Science Center students participating in a simulated examination in preparation for a national standardized test. The test, called the Step 2 Clinical Skills exam, is aimed at measuring a medical student’s bedside manner. The test, instituted in June, is a new component of the three-step United States Medical Licensing Examination.

The Step 2 CS is a one-day exam in which students are graded on their interactions with 11 or 12 people trained to act like real patients. Students read a patient’s vital statistics before entering the examination room, then they encounter one of about 25 common ailments seen in doctor’s offices from abdominal pain to migraine headaches. Students use the information they gather to write an assessment of the patient’s condition.

The test sounds good in theory, but some UT students say the Step 2 CS is unnecessary.

Students participating in UT’s simulation are fourth-year medical students who must successfully complete the test before beginning their residency programs. They contend that by the time they reach their fourth year, they’ve already had similar training and tests. “We have been doing this type of program here at UT for about four years,” says assistant dean of academic affairs Robert Shreve.

Students taking the national test must do so at one of five testing sites around the country: Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Houston and the UT students’ closest option Atlanta. Test registration is $975. Students are also responsible for transportation, lodging, and other expenses.

For Asbury’s classmate and future pediatrician Laura Goss, the price is too high. “Some of [my classmates] are taking the test before the end of the year, but I’m not taking it until I can come up with another $1,000 and that probably won’t be until February,” she says. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s a good test, and I could see the need for it at some schools, but here, where we are involved with patients throughout our curriculum, we don’t need another test.”

Future pathologist Doug Hof is more adamant in his dislike of the Step 2 CS. “There is a similar component in Step 3 [of the USMLE] already. I think the National Board of Medical Examiners spent so much on these test sites and on the early trials that they had to go through with it. Just being in a room with someone for 15 minutes in front of an observer does not show whether or not I can interact with my patients. Of course, I’m going to be on my best behavior during that time.”

Jennifer Ware is the training manager for the “patients” used in UT’s simulations. “Sure [the students] would rather not take the test,” she says. “Even the American Medical Association has been critical of the test because of additional costs.”

But Gail Beeman, director of UT’s CS program, says the new test has merit. “When it’s administered in the first two years of study, we’ve found that those students have a problem sometimes with closing or ending patient encounters,” she says. “Older students are more aware of those things, but they sometimes still get nervous and forget to call patients by name, which is what patients like.”

The Step 2 CS test began almost a decade ago as an assessment for foreign medical students. In its current form, all students are given a one-year window of eligibility, based on their registration date, to take the exam. Passing this portion of the exam is a prerequisite to the Step 3 test.

Categories
Editorial Opinion

EDITORIAL

Call it a tempest in a teacup, if you will. But there’s no doubt that last week’s controversy regarding City Council chairman Joe Brown’s decision to refuse access to City Hall to a visiting Iraqi delegation was an international embarrassment of the first order for Memphis. When you’re suddenly famous for buffoonery from L.A. to London, you should not consider it anything less than a black eye for the city.

Brown has apologized, sort of, but steps need to be taken to ensure that Memphis never again finds itself in such self-inflicted hot water. For starters, let’s be certain that whoever happens to hold the largely ceremonial office of City Council chairman is brought up to speed on the duties of that office, e.g., that he/she understands that the chairman is a point person as regards international visitors and thereby has in place a system for welcoming such visitors. In that fashion, “misunderstandings” (as Brown called last week’s snafu) can be eliminated and avoided.

Second, let’s find a means to give some legitimate funding for the Memphis branch of the Council for International Visitors, our local liaison with the State Department. This all-volunteer organization has struggled for years, with virtually no budget, to show off Memphis to dignitaries from abroad; in such circumstances, one could seriously argue that last week’s debacle was an accident waiting to happen. Elisabeth Silverman, who tirelessly organizes local tours and meet-and-greets for our foreign guests, was underappreciated before last week, and she should not be scapegoated now for the preeminent sins and misdeeds of others.

We spend literally millions trying to present a positive image of Memphis and Tennessee to the world at large. Surely we can spend the minimal amount of time and money required to ensure that no foreign delegation to this city ever gets treated so shabbily again.

Third, local rivalries and political grandstanding, both of which played a significant part in the misunderstanding, should be prevented by whatever means necessary from interfering with the sensitive issue of foreign visitors to our city. Though both Chairman Brown and Mayor Willie Herenton, who made himself unavailable to meet with the Iraqis, pleaded protocol issues and would adamantly deny being influenced by their frayed relationship with council member Carol Chumney, it seems indisputable that, as various of her councilmates have indicated in one way or another, Chumney’s decision to take a hands-on role in shepherding the Iraqis put off her colleagues in city government. They should not have let their feelings toward Chumney get in the way of their larger responsibilities to the visitors and to the community’s good name.

And Chumney, who characteristically released a detailed “chronology” of events putting the blame for the fiasco on any and all others, needs to reexamine her way of interacting with other council members and with the mayor’s office. The causes she advocates may be — and most often are — estimable in themselves, but she seems determined to pursue them with a minimum regard for other officials and maximum regard for her own celebrity.

Last week was not strike one for Memphis. It was a strikeout, a whiff, a total embarrassment in the eyes of the world. We had best be better prepared for the next time at bat.

Categories
Music Music Features

Something Borrowed, Something New

Van Hunt’s eponymous debut, released on Capitol Records early this year, may well be the year’s most compelling R&B album, even if the 26-year-old, Atlanta-based musician doesn’t quite see it that way.

“I wouldn’t necessarily call it an R&B record,” Hunt says during a recent phone interview from Los Angeles. “To me, it’s a pop record, a blend of different stuff — funk, blues, little doses of rock here and there. I’d hesitate to call it an R&B record in the same way I’d hesitate to call a Prince record an R&B record.”

The Prince reference is meaningful in multiple ways. In Hunt’s press bio, he describes receiving a Prince album from his father as a kid (and budding musician), along with the instruction that “I want you to be like this guy.” Hunt doesn’t say which record it was, but from his description of the album jacket, it was clearly Prince, the artist’s second album — when he was still primarily identified as a soul performer, but when his rock-oriented interest in the guitar was first peeking through.

This is a useful template for understanding Van Hunt: Ostensibly, it’s a soft-soul record, in the same Marvin Gaye vein as most other male neo-soul artists. But the multi-instrumentalist Hunt’s interest in the guitar is a sonic identifier that differentiates him from other contemporary soul men. There are no solos or heavy rock riffing on Van Hunt, as there is on Prince‘s “Bambi,” but the instrument has a clear presence on the record, noticeable on such touches as the bluesy guitar line that snakes through the entirety of “Seconds of Pleasure” or the crisp, unadorned strumming that kicks off “Down Here in Hell (With You).” Hunt even recruited onetime (Prince & the) Revolution guitarist Wendy Melvoin to add some rhythm playing to the record.

For Hunt, Prince is a “huge, huge inspiration” that he ties into a heritage of African-American musicians who have broken genre barriers, among them also Sly Stone, Thelonious Monk, and Ray Charles.

Prince also might be seen as a lyrical inspiration for Hunt, not because he apes Prince’s style but because Hunt’s lyrics have a similar appealing oddness and individuality. Most modern male soul singers traffic in bland, incense-scented love-man patter or rote horndog bedroom talk, but Hunt’s romantic problems sound entirely his own.

“I write about pretty much the same thing everyone else does,” Hunt says. “Pain. Pleasure. It’s hard to avoid those subjects. I just try to approach things from a different angle, using my limited vocabulary. Just trying to come up with something new.”

The result is a magnificently glum single called “Dust” (“It’s just another ray of merciful hope/I don’t expect many more”) and a sadomasochistic lover’s plea called “Down Here in Hell (With You),” on which Hunt can’t comprehend the notion of “love without pain” and asks, “What would I do if we were perfect?/Where would I go for disappointment?/Words without hate/Would leave me nothing left to say.”

If Hunt is a little different from other neo-soul contenders, that’s reflected in a touring schedule that has him in such unlikely places as Austin’s South By Southwest Festival earlier this year and Seattle’s similarly alt-oriented Bumbershoot Festival next month. It’ll also make Hunt one of the rare national soul artists to play a Memphis rock club this week when he takes the stage at Newby’s for his Memphis debut.

“We can adapt to pretty much anything,” Hunt says, when asked about his and his band’s eclectic touring schedule. “We feel like we can play with anybody — Norah Jones, Outkast, Seal, Kanye West. We’ve played with all those people. I’d love to tour with Neil Young or David Bowie.”

Though next week’s show will mark Hunt’s first Memphis performance, it won’t be his first trip to the city. In fact, the first sessions that eventually produced Van Hunt were cut in the Bluff City.

“I’m really excited about coming to Memphis,” Hunt explains. “We haven’t played there before, but I recorded there. I was a fan of the White Stripes, and I read that they had just finished recording [at Easley-McCain] in Memphis. And I thought, man, I want to go there and get some of that blues vibe too. Of course, when I got there, I realized how much they had actually chopped off of Beale Street, which definitely isn’t what it used to be. But that was only mildly disappointing, because Memphis has a lot of inspiration for me.” Hunt cites such Delta-to-Chicago migrants as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, in particular, as musical heroes.

“We found a nice place at the House of Blues [Studios] and set out to record,” Hunt says, “but we really only made it through about two and a half weeks because the band just didn’t seem too happy with the way things were going. So we moved over to Nashville. But those Memphis sessions were the foundation for the album.”

E-mail: herrington@memphisflyer.com

Categories
Opinion

Goodbye, Scarlett

Knock back those mint juleps, girls! At the sixth annual Southern Girls Convention, the Southern belle sports fatigues, a blue mohawk, and enough radical spirit to mend the world’s ills. Or at least that’s what local organizers Robin Jacks and Anna Mullins of the Women’s Action Coalition (WAC) are hoping for.

The Southern Girls Convention (SGC), being held this year at First Congregational Church from August 12th to 14th, is a three-day conference of feminist workshops on everything from radical cheerleading to transsexual health. SGC originated in Memphis in 1999, and after a four-year tour of other Southern cities, the convention is back in the hands of its founders.

“It’s kind of strayed from its focus over the years and become more about skills-sharing and less about activism,” says Jacks, who created the convention after noticing the lack of resources in the South for feminist activists. “We brought it back here this year so we could make sure there are more organizing workshops. There really needs to be a space for people to gain political consciousness.”

The workshops will address issues that are specifically feminist in nature as well as broader ones, such as the religious right and Marxist humanism. Deborah Cunningham, from the Memphis Center for Independent Living, is scheduled to lead a workshop on disability rights and language. Marquita Bradshaw, from Youth Terminating Pollution, will host a workshop on environmental racism. Other topics include queer rights, reproductive choice, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and post-third-wave feminism.

“I like to see feminists moving outside of just women’s issues,” says Jacks. “Feminists are starting to understand where other minority or oppressed groups are coming from because we’re living under a very bad presidential administration. People are saying let’s work together and be cool.”

After Saturday’s workshops, groups will be gathered in a regional caucus so activists from the same areas of the country can network. Jacks says she wants the convention to be a tool for people to meet others of like mind and not just a place for socializing.

According to Jacks, there’s a lack of concern for activism in Southern cities like Memphis because so many people interested in making a change move to cities such as Olympia, Washington, or Portland, Oregon.

“Being an activist shouldn’t be about you personally,” says co-organizer Mullins. “If I were just thinking about me, I’d go off to San Francisco and be with my kind. The goal of activism is social change, and that means you need to address problems for everybody. That includes rural and Southern places, where many women have never thought about these things.”

“The South is very polite,” says Jacks. “Nobody in the South grows up thinking it’s okay to be gay or it’s okay to not pluck your eyebrows. To be able to find other open-minded people here is really cool.”

Jacks decided to put the original conference together after attending a human-rights conference in Jackson, Mississippi. She was already involved in WAC, a feminist student organization at the University of Memphis, and the group helped her sponsor the 1999 convention. About 150 girls from all over the country showed up, and the next year, a feminist group from Louisville, Kentucky, asked if they could move the conference there.

SGC ended up getting passed around from year to year with hometown groups in each city taking up the organizational reigns. It went from Louisville to Auburn, Alabama, and then to Athens, Georgia, and Asheville, North Carolina. Jacks says they never intended for it to last this long. “It’s now become an institution rather than something that just happened once,” Jacks says.

The spirit of the conference has been very do-it-yourself (DIY) from its inception. Funding comes primarily from registration fees. Attendees who can’t afford the $20 fee are allowed in on a sliding scale.

“All the things that DIY and punk-rock culture rebel against, like corporate control and people trying to own our bodies, are the same things that feminism resists,” says Jacks. “The reason we do the convention so DIY is because we don’t ever want to organize something where someone might not be able to come because they can’t afford it.”

The Southern Girls Convention will be held from Thursday, August 12th, through Saturday, August 14th, at First Congregational Church (1000 South Cooper). For more information or to preregister, go to SouthernGirlsConvention.org.