Smoking and Divorce
It's a nasty combination, as witness this strange story from my friends at D Magazine.
Dynamist Blog
More on Military Mail
In response to the post on the possible dangers of posting military addresses online, even so that people can send DVDs and CDs to bored troops, reader Carl Zeichner wrote:
"Books for soldiers.com" is a website dedicated to sending books to soldiers on active duty. The soldiers log on and make their requests for books, cds, etc. Until recently, all it took to read their requests was a password, requested in the usual relaxed way. Now, however, the website requires that you register by mail, with a notarized letter and a contribution to cover the cost of the new security measures.
This is because people are sending letter bombs to the solders on the website. Its all part of this new kind of warfare.
I asked the folks who run BooksforSoldiers.com whether this account was accurate and got the following reply from site founder Stormy Williams:
We do not ask for a contribution, we ask for a processing fee - according to our attorney, one is voluntary and the other is not.
I have no knowledge of letter bombs, but I have had a ton of complaints from families and soldiers concerning abuses of their mailing address. Unwanted political rants, pornography, and other abuses have occurred. However, our main concern was to patch the security hole BEFORE someone sent a dangerous package to a solider.
The DoD does use a complicated system of FPO and APO addresses but one can figure it out if you have enough time.
So, bombs don't get through--I'd hope the military would detect them en route--but obnoxious mail does. (I'm not entirely sure the pornography is unwanted, though it's certainly unauthorized.)
That, my dear readers, is what is known in the trade as reporting--minus the time-consuming part where I actually have to craft a story. (And minus the really annoying part where I call people at pre-arranged times only to find they're not even in the state, much less their offices, or where I wait by the phone for return calls that never come. I've had a lot of experience with that sort of thing lately, reminding me why I don't want to be a regular reporter.)
DVDs and CDs for Marines
I received the following email from a Marine sergeant in Iraq:
My name is SSGT Jerry Jeffrey and I'm a Marine currently in Iraq till Oct 05 and have approx 30 Marines that work for me. We really enjoy watching movies and listening to music to help combat the bordom during down time. We work 12-14 hour days and enjoy kicking back and relaxing to a good movie or cd. Please add our unit to your list to recieve dvd's, and cd's.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT
Update: A couple of readers have scolded me for posting the address of a servicemember, saying it puts him in danger. (How that happens with an FPO address I don't quite understand, but then the military mail system is a mystery to me.) If that's the case, SSGT Jeffrey probably shouldn't be writing to random bloggers asking for mail. At any rate, I've taken down the address, so if you'd like to send some entertainment to the troops, email me for the address.
Breast Implants and Culture Wars
As some 180 witnesses line up to tell the FDA why it should or should not allow women to get silicone gel breast implants for cosmetic reasons, one thing is clear: This debate is another culture war. The divisions I limned in this 1992 article on the controversy are still driving the discussion.
The LAT's coverage is here and here. George Mason law professor and Volokh Conspirator David E. Bernstein has a somewhat outdated webpage devoted to the controversy. Joseph Nocera's category-killing Fortune article on breast implants and toxic torts is posted here, probablyly without permission.
Speech at Cal State Long Beach
I will be speaking on "The Substance of Style" Thursday evening at Cal State Long Beach. Details on this and other upcoming appearances are here.
All About Pain
The Scientist has put together an interesting special supplement with lots of articles the science. culture, and psychology of pain. Free registration is required.
Sin City
Several readers have asked my opinion of Sin City. I liked the look of the film and thought Mickey Rourke was remarkable as Marv. But, on the whole, I found the movie less than compelling. It was too stylized to be emotionally gripping, and that's just as well because it was all about torturing depraved, evil people. I liked Kill Bill, but I have my limits.
For another point of view, see this review, done in Sin City's graphic style. (Via Design Observer.)
In related news, the best theory for my unknown teen idol photo comes from reader Diana Day, who writes:
The unidentified "celeb" in the last photo is Matt Czuchry, who plays the love interest of Alexis Bledel (Becky in the movie) on the TV show Gilmore Girls. I don't know who his girlfriend is in real life; it's embarassing enough that I can identify him.
There did seem to be a lot of Gilmore Girls fans in the crowd at the premiere, prompting a middle-aged woman--i.e., someone like me--to comment that she had no idea who these people are because she's too old for that show.
The Power of Presence
For non-Catholics, even more than for Catholics, I suspect, "the pope" will mean John Paul II long after his successor has been crowned. Anne Applebaum's column on what John Paul II actually did to "defeat communism" is must-reading. The conclusion: "He didn't need to man the barricades, in other words, because he had already shown people that they could walk right through them."
Arguably, a contemporary pope need never leave Rome. With television, radio, and the Internet--not to mention plain old ordinary print--why take the trouble to travel? Your message, your voice, your image can be anywhere in the world in an instant. Yet John Paul II left Rome 104 times, "more than all previous popes combined," notes Newsweek in a graphic that unfortunately doesn't appear to be online, and traveled more than 775,000 miles.
The pope understood extraordinarily well was that in an age of pervasive media, personal presence is not less valuable but more so. He didn't need Esther Dyson to teach him. He had Catholic theology--a church that preaches the incarnation of God as man and the real presence of Jesus in the bread and wine of the Mass. These doctrines may not be true (I certainly reject them) but they do contain important wisdom: Human beings exist, even in their most spiritual moments, as tactile, physical beings. There is no substitute for personal presence.
A New Risk for Teachers
Here's a bizarre story involving teachers at two schools in my neighborhood:
A North Dallas High School teacher was arrested and placed on paid administrative leave after an attack last week on a middle school teacher in front of students.
Paulette Baines was charged with assault with bodily injury in connection with the beating Friday, Dallas County Jail records show. Ms. Baines, 45, was released from jail early Saturday after posting $2,500 bail, a jail official said.
She could not be reached for comment. A man who answered the telephone at her home and said he was her husband said they had no comment.
Mary Oliver, a teacher at William B. Travis Academy/Vanguard for the Academically Talented and Gifted, said she suffered several injuries, including bruises to her face, a concussion and two broken ribs. Ms. Oliver, 45, who teaches seventh-grade science, was recovering from her injuries at home Sunday.
The reason for the attack: Ms. Oliver had told Ms. Baines's daughter and other students that they weren't supposed to be at their lockers during class.
Patent Art Museum
PatentRoom is a new online "museum of early 20th Century industrial design uncovered in U.S. Patent Office archives," featuring lots of fun (and inventive) stuff. It also has a blog highlighting one or two sketches a day. The site was created by Ken Booth, who also has a site called Adventure Lounge, featuring aircraft designs.