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[rivendellrose]

Was I the last person in the world who didn't know that sex is illegal in US prisons? And that's why we don't have a program to give inmates condoms. Unlike pretty much every other industrialized country. Hello, STDs? *Headdesk* My country is insane, I swear. It's like the sex ed debate all over again - "but if we give them the means to have sex safely, they'll have sex!!!" Well, yes, dumbfucks. They'll be doing that anyway, but if you give them condoms that little AIDS epidemic (along with every other damned thing) might not get spread quite so quickly. Argh.

The wonders of Salon.com.

While I'm at it, have a story about a cook trying to be a chef at her own restaurant, which should appeal to nekokoban (holy flying fried fava beans, Batman!), and an interesting and glowing review of the new Battlestar Galactica for all you BSG fans out there. I really need to look into getting the first season of this.

Comments

[scearley.livejournal.com]

I grew up in restaurants. Both the 'Sizzler' type as well as the snooty Classic French jacket-required type.

I can unequivocally tell you that the 50% failure rate for restaurants their first year is directly due to people who think restaurant management is just hanging out with the customers checking to see if everything's ok (and wandering off before hearing the answer), much like the woman in that story.

It makes me want to rip out my hair.

Oh, wait, I'm bald. People like this made me lose my hair.

Just to show how ludicrously this person managed her restaurant, it's clear that she had spent NO time in a restaurant as an employee before. And she still manages to try to blame her sous chef because, among other things, the sous chef was "possibly a pisces."

You know what's most anger-inducing about this? It's GABRIELLE FREAKING HAMILTON (http://www.jamesbeard.org/events/2001/06/015.shtml).

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I can understand the anger, but the whole point of her article was how silly it was of her to have treated the situation in that way, and how ignorant she was of the process when she started out. The essay itself was not blaming the sous-chef - she was blaming herself. There were elements of the story where, for comedic effect, she wrote about the attitude she'd had toward her sous-chef at the time, but the end of the essay makes very clear that she knows better now, I thought.

[scearley.livejournal.com]

I can't read the entire article, because I don't pay for Salon.
But since I know Gabrielle since she won a James Beard award in 2001 (? 2002? 2000? something), I knew she somehow worked things out in a positive way. Currently she's being positioned as the next Anthony Bourdain for her "reckless" ways in the kitchen but I don't see it.

(Restaurants are such soap operas)

So the preview ends with her saying the sous-chef can't handle change. And since I couldn't go further, and didn't put together the author's name until after I'd had a good "ARGH" built up, and I hate to let such righteous anger go to waste. :D

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

That's odd. I don't pay for it either, but I could read the whole thing. It must be a random kind of thing...

Anyway, the actual article ends with her having a total craptastic disaster because she tries to fry fava beans and they keep exploding like little bullets all over the kitchen, and everything is going wrong and then Mario Batali shows up in the restaurant. And she concludes that it was a good thing that everything went wrong, because it knocked out her arrogance. The last few sentences are something about the difference between an okay cook and a really good chef comes down to doing things the right way, not trusting that people will just 'not notice,' and listening to people who disagree with you (like the sous-chef, who pretty much saved the day in that incident. They end out the night with the sous-chef forgiving her enough for the disasters of the night to have a drink together. There's a very strong sense of them both coming to a sort of peace, mostly because the writer has realized that her s-c was right to begin with that this was no way to run a restaurant.

[scearley.livejournal.com]

So how long did her flighty management style go on before this big meltdown?

[reve-lucide.livejournal.com]

I really need to look into getting the first season of this.

YES, YES, YES. :)

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

And look, I'll have more time to do so in just half a week! *g*

...aside from that whole 'finding another job' thing, of course. But you know. Free time, for the moment!

[reve-lucide.livejournal.com]

Free time is good, in whatever form it comes in.

But yeah, find another job. <3<3

[beam-oflight.livejournal.com]

I didn't know, but I'm not American so I have an excuse.

I wanted to watch BSG but I missed half of season 1 when they showed it and I just couldn't get into it not knowing wtf was going on. I don't think they've repeated it yet either, but I could be wrong.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

That's a very good excuse. One the I often wish I had as well. :P

My problem is more that I don't have cable, and am stubbornly refusing to get it... so I have to do everything via DVDs. It's fine, because my city has an awesome library system... but it only works if I remember to check the darned things out.

[beam-oflight.livejournal.com]

I don't have cable or sky or anything either, so while they constantly repeat things on there, us lowley terrestrial and freeview viemers have to wait for ages for it to come round again(unless it's doctor who which is always on bbc3), half the time we don't even get it, or the first season or two is on terrestrial TV to get us hooked and then they buy it up like they did with lost. That or, as you said, get the DVDs.

[pat-t.livejournal.com]

That article about the prison systems and condoms was interesting. I had no idea that it was illegal either or that they were not allowed to have condoms. Makes no sense.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was shocked by that, as well. I can't believe that this kind of backward, idiotic logic can prevail.

[scearley.livejournal.com]

IIRC it's because rape is defined such that a woman is the victim. Men, by legal definition, cannot be victims of rape. Thus, sex in prison is illegal.

[scearley.livejournal.com]

....plus it stops guard/inmate sex.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

First, I'm pretty sure that's a completely innaccurate statement. Second, even if it weren't, that's not really the point. I'm not interested in arguing this, but I'd like to say that I find your attitude toward this offensive.

[miss-arel.livejournal.com]

Um, not really. Some states may define it that way, but in Washington, rape is defined as: "sexual intercourse between persons without consent. The penetration can be in any form: penetration of the vagina, anus, or mouth by an object or a sex organ. Either sex can be the victim or perpetrator of penetration." The idea that rape can only be perpetrated by a man against a woman is archaic and so very not true.

The reason prison sex is illegal is most likely because lawmakers think "if we don't talk about the problem, that means it's not happening! Lalala, I can't heeeear yoooou!"

[ex_mrs260625]

sex is illegal in US prisons?

Well, you'd better tell the prisoners. They wouldn't want to break the law, would they? :0p

Sheesh. Give the guys some condoms. Maybe a little safe, consensual sex will help relieve tension that would otherwise manifest in violence.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

They wouldn't want to break the law, would they? :0p

Exactly. Between prisoners and teenagers, I think somebody needs to give the US government a good lecture on basic psychology...

Not to mention prevent the prisoners from being STD time-bombs when they return to 'normal society.' Going back to their S.O.'s, wives, or the local dating scene... lovely. This country makes me ill with stupidity sometimes.

[tonsai.livejournal.com]

okay, you know i'm not really a scifi/fantasy geek, really, but BSG is fucking sweet. though i, uh, skipped everything between halfway through the first season until the current season, but it's just amazing, regardless. like, "holy shit i can't believe that is on tv!" awesome. i might go back and watch the stuff in between sometime.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I'm going to check the SPL and see if they have it. And if they do... well, I'm sure it'll be a bit of a wait, but I'll get to see it soon-ish!