Is anybody else disturbed by mentions of Virginia Postrel and breast implants in the same sentence?
Now, I don’t look at Virginia and see, oh, this; I’m hosting my share of anti-veneration memes. But in spite, or perhaps because, I have met Virginia (and helped put together a stop on her book tour for The Substance of Style [overwrought review warning]), there are certain political issues that really, really don’t overlap with the circle labeled “VP” in my internal political Venn diagram.
I don’t care that Virginia herself has written on the topic; and in particular, I don’t care that I of course agree that these kinds of medical decisions, and the management of any attendant risk, ought to be decentralized, ideally all the way to the level of the individual adult, even if that means practically shutting down the FDA.
I just don’t care. My inner Midwesterner wants to metaphorically leave the room, sputtering over how unseemly it all is. If this is the price of defending (or regaining) freedom, somebody’s going to have to substitute for me until we can move on to a more edifying topic. Like, I don’t know, nanotechnological bionic hornets or something. Call me when this is over.
3 thoughts on “Why I’m Not Good At This Political Stuff”
Comments are closed.
The bionic hornets are right out of Neal Stephenson’s Diamond Age, but about a century early.
I am sorry to have caused you so much stress Jay. I guess you find breasts and Virginia a little too close a connection, and I understand that. It is not as if the forbidden thoughts such a connection raises haven’t occurred for many of us over the years (don’t tell her I said that by the way;^)
I seem to recall that back in pre-internet days (meaning I can’t back up my story), an exotic dancer rolled over in bed and smothered her husband with her after-market modifications. Has the FDA looked into this aspect of the safety issues?
There was also a tax court case where a stripper deducted the cost of her implants as a business expense. The IRS maintained that they were a personal expense, not a business expense, and not deductible. The decision went down the middle: they were not a personal expense, since they were in fact an advantage in her work but a hindrance to her usual activities outside of work. However, since they were a modification or improvement of an existing structure, rather than a repair, and expected to either extend its useful life or enhance the income-producing capacity of an existing asset, they were a capital asset and the cost could be recovered through depreciation.
Whoever said being a CPA was boring?
Link