THANKS FOR THE TROOPS:

As the veterans of World War II pass too quickly into history, their ranks are being replaced by a new “greatest generation.” The war on terrorism is creating veterans at a rate not seen in decades.

Yet the military is much smaller now than during World War II, leading some analysts to posit that a rift exists between soldiers and citizens and that those making sacrifices on the battle front are disconnected from the society whose freedoms they defend. The American people are oblivious to the war, they claim, as well as to the men and women who are fighting it. Some have even suggested that the only way to close the gap is to return to conscription.

But these observers of the social scene have never served in Iraq.

Those of us overseas know that “support the troops” is more than a slogan. Here we are besieged by what my master sergeant calls “paper love,” the cards, letters, posters and other gestures of support sent by people across America. The paper love is often accompanied by packages of snacks and comfort items. Some mail comes from family members, but even more is sent by private citizens and troop support organizations. The war has inspired a remarkable level of civic involvement that goes largely unnoticed — except by those of us in the field or recovering stateside.

Read the whole thing, and note the links that will let you help, if you like. And contrast it to Hollywood’s response. Or, as the article does, with the much lower level of support in Britain, something I’ve observed myself

UPDATE: Heh. And a reader from North Dakota emails:

Re your Armistice Day post headlined, “Thanks for the troops,” I was wondering if your readership has suggestions on how we Americans could best show support for the soldiers who are serving in Iraq who are notAmericans.

I do my small bit to show support for our folks (sending letters,cards, DVDs, books etc.) Reading your post and the Washington Postarticle you linked made me think, I should also try to do something for the soldiers from other nations who are fighting the fascists and terrorists in Iraq. Maybe other readers had the same thought.

I will do some research on this myself, but I was thinking some of your readers may be able to provide information on showing support for other nations’ troops more quickly and comprehensively.

Several other readers had similar questions. I don’t know. Any suggestions? (Bumped to top).

P.J. O’ROURKE: “If I had a computer I would do nothing but play with it all day.” Funny, I once had a girlfriend who said that about . . . well, never mind.

DANIEL DREZNER on the Foreign Service. Plus, an optimistic post on trade.

GEOENGINEERING UPDATE:

There is now “no doubt” that some of the effects of human-induced climate change could be offset with engineering fixes, according to David Keith, an expert on climate and energy at the University of Calgary.

Be cautious.

CHUBBY gets a second look.

ANBAR SHEIKS visit Vermont.

BOBBY CALVAN makes a fool of his bosses. Or, rather, provides the opportunity for them to do it to themselves.

THE TROUBLE WITH MOVIES: They don’t make money.

ARMITAGE ON PLAME: “He took the blame for leaking Valerie Plame Wilson’s identity, but he also gave us a bit more evidence to show that, from his perspective at least, it was entirely unintentional. But there must be a conspiracy in there somewhere.”

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: Here’s more on Alaska porkmeister Rep. Don Young:

As chairman of the House transportation committee, Alaska Congressman Don Young flew at least three times to upstate New York aboard a jet owned by Robert Congel, an ambitious shopping mall developer seeking federal highway money.

With Young’s help, Congel got millions of dollars to boost his dream of building the largest mall in North America. The veteran Republican congressman got something, too: more than $33,000 in political contributions from Congel, his family and his associates.

For Young, the Congel story was hardly unusual. Time after time in recent years, Young approved millions of dollars for highway projects for people who in turn fattened his campaign treasury. . . . During his six years as chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Young transformed the massive 2005 highway spending bill by dramatically increasing the use of earmarks, which set aside billions in federal money for pet projects.

With Young in charge, the number of earmarks more than tripled — from 1,850 projects worth $9.35 billion in 1998 to 6,371 projects valued at $24.2 billion in 2005. Federal auditors have found that thousands of these new earmarks weren’t priorities for state transportation officials.

A McClatchy Newspapers investigation has found just how lucrative Young’s earmarks were.

Read the whole thing. Remember, it’s not just the waste. It’s the corruption.

ARE MODERN WAR MONUMENTS WIMPY?

RON PAUL is up to 7% in New Hampshire. I actually think the war issue is breaking perfectly for him — antiwar people can still support him as payback, while people who might otherwise be leerier of him on his war stance can feel more comfortable as victory appears to be in sight, making “send a message” voting more palatable than it was in 2004.

ALMOST 100 YEARS after the Tunguska impact, some interesting discoveries.

PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW HOW I LIKE my new Sony HD video camera that records to flash memory. I didn’t take it to Las Vegas with me, so I only got to play with it a bit, but I like it a lot, so far. Image quality is good — I hooked it to the HDTV and toggled back and forth between its image and the MOJO HD show Three Sheets, which comes in 1080i, and there wasn’t a lot of difference, and the slightly greater softness in the camera image may be explainable by the fact that I was using an analog connection because the HDMI connector hadn’t arrived yet. (Sony should’ve included one). Color rendition wasn’t as good as Three Sheets, but neither was my lighting setup. Ease of use is good, though the camera could actually be a bit larger to fit my hands. The optical image stabilization is excellent. Sound quality through the builtin 5.1 microphone setup is decent, and there’s no motor noise since there’s no tape. I also ordered this bluetooth wireless microphone, which hasn’t arrived yet either. So far, so good; I’ll let you know more when I’ve had more time to play with it. But for the moment, I’d say that it’s not an HD version of my Canon GL2; it’s more like an HD version of my Sony Digital 8 consumer-level camera. Which makes sense, in light of the price.

ADVICE TO HOLLYWOOD: “Want to make some money? Make a movie where Americans are the good guys and the terrorists are the bad guys. It’s not like there’s a shortage of stories that fit the bill.” Yeah, they seem unconcerned with maximizing shareholder value. I’m surprised there haven’t been shareholder lawsuits over that. Related thoughts here.

UPDATE: An amusing suggestion via email: ‘They need to make some gag movies about this, like Scary Movie or Not Another Teen Movie. How about Not Another Anti-War Movie?“

WHO KNEW? But apparently I’ve been waxing libertine lately.

A commenter has already answered Ron Coleman’s problems with my statement that “I would venture that the real problem isn’t sex as such, but the puerile way it’s treated. I think actual porn is more honest and healthy than the pop-culture treatment of the subject.” Ron’s commenters observed:

I thought he was saying that “real porn” is probably less damaging than the kind of crap that Brittany, Madonna, gangsta rappers, etc. flout to our young folk as “sexuality”.

Look at soap operas, primetime shows like Desperate Housewives, most movies, etc., and the sex isn’t about sex — it’s about manipulation, domination, or display. In porn, people actually act like they’re doing it for fun. I think that’s better. And, anyway, we’ve already established that porn is good for America. And personally, I love America!

UPDATE: Another virtue of porn is demonstrated in this comment from Ace’s place, where they’re, um, experts.

MORE FOLLOWUPS ON BLOGWORLD, from Rick Moran and Maxine.

IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AS FRANK RICH KNOWS IT, and Jules Crittenden feels fine.

RAND SIMBERG: “Even the BBC has figured out that things are going pretty well in Iraq. How long will it take the Gray Lady and the networks to figure it out?” Until there’s a Democrat in the White House?

TAKING THE PORKBUSTERS APPROACH LOCAL, with Georgia Porkbusters!

A SPINAL TAP FOR THE 21ST CENTURY? The videogame Rock Band spawns a mockumentary.

CINNAMON STILWELL on the Edward Said shrine at SFSU.

SO, HOW WERE MY FLIGHTS? Fine, this time. Continental got me to Las Vegas smoothly and a few minutes early. Northwest got me back to Knoxville smoothly, and a few minutes early. And I managed to snag an upgrade to first class, which was nice. This has me feeling a bit better about flying, but it’s probably just some sort of cruel trick . . . .

WITH THANKSGIVING COMING SOON, several people have asked me to re-post my recipe for Thanksgiving leg of lamb. There are some other recipes at the link, too.

WHO WILL ELECT LEBANON’S PRESIDENT? Not the Lebanese.