The Onion discusses obesity, the serial killer serial killer, The Hulk asking for a sequel and ringtones. Plus, random references to James Comey and Neil Gaiman.
The joke in the "no cure of obesity" article is the early 2000s argument about whether obesity is a disease, like diabetes or the flu. For example, this 2002 NYT article has a headline asking if obesity is symptom or a disease:
There was a similar debate about classifying things like addiction as a disease that got a lot of cultural commentary, like a 2005 South Park episode that had a miracle "cure" alcoholism. Like in the onion article, the joke is that the obesity/alcoholism is a "disease" that can be cured.
People tend to feel strongly about disease nomenclature, but my view is that it's just about money, and all the cultural commentary about agency misses the point. In July of 2004, Medicare allowed "obesity" to be considered as an illness which meant that people could get coverage for things like weight-loss surgery. Before that update, Medicare would only cover people that were diagnosed with something like hypertension, but not for people that were obese but had no other conditions. The issue is that this bureaucratic definition of disease (something that needs to be covered by insurance) is different from the colloquial definition of disease (a condition caused by an external factor, often completely outside one's control).
The joke in the "no cure of obesity" article is the early 2000s argument about whether obesity is a disease, like diabetes or the flu. For example, this 2002 NYT article has a headline asking if obesity is symptom or a disease:
https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/16/health/asking-if-obesity-is-a-disease-or-just-a-symptom.html
There was a similar debate about classifying things like addiction as a disease that got a lot of cultural commentary, like a 2005 South Park episode that had a miracle "cure" alcoholism. Like in the onion article, the joke is that the obesity/alcoholism is a "disease" that can be cured.
People tend to feel strongly about disease nomenclature, but my view is that it's just about money, and all the cultural commentary about agency misses the point. In July of 2004, Medicare allowed "obesity" to be considered as an illness which meant that people could get coverage for things like weight-loss surgery. Before that update, Medicare would only cover people that were diagnosed with something like hypertension, but not for people that were obese but had no other conditions. The issue is that this bureaucratic definition of disease (something that needs to be covered by insurance) is different from the colloquial definition of disease (a condition caused by an external factor, often completely outside one's control).
thank you for the context! this definitely helps. I'm not sure I find the story any funnier, but it makes more sense.
Apparently "Apology Screamed" IS in the store! https://store.theonion.com/collections/unisex-t-shirts-from-the-onion/products/apology-screamed-t-shirt