Do You Want Pommes Frites …With That Suicide?!?!

"Top chef's death shocks France, sparks condemnation of all-powerful food critics" reads the AP headline for the a story about 52-year-old culinary superstar Bernard Loiseau, found dead on Monday.

Loiseau, whose self-named company was traded on the French stock exchange, had recently dropped two points in the increasingly influential GaultMillau guide. According to one report, the chef threatened to kill himself if his ratings slipped.

"I am sure that Bernard was very affected by the loss of these two points. We should not allow ourselves to be manipulated like that ? I give you a star, I take one away," confidant Paul Bocuse told the AP. "These critics are like eunuchs: They know what to do but they can't do it….The profession is going to react."

It's good to see the French exercised by something other than the "badly brought up" heads of state of the New Europe.