Kiri Wagstaff
Monrovia
A story about this — 50 weeks ago
WORTH CONSUMING!
Interesting articles in this issue:
- “The Wars of John McCain”: a description of McCain’s wartime experience, which likely plays a large role in shaping his opinions of our current military conflicts. The main question raised by the article, of whether McCain’s Vietnam experience has tinted or tainted his policy views, is never really answered (and probably cannot be, possibly not even by McCain itself), but the article is great reading nonetheless.
- “How the West Was Wired”: entrepreneurial efforts in the far west of China have brought internet access to the least likely of users: subsistence farmers. Great (and ongoing) story.
- “Is Pornography Adultery?”: this reads like an exercise in a high school debate class. There seems to be a clear answer: [the viewing of] pornography is literally not adultery because it does not involve sexual intercourse with a non-spouse, which is a necessary condition of adultery. The only reason the discussion is of interest is that it seems to mask the question everyone really wants answered: “Is Pornography Acceptable?” If pornography constitutes adultery, then it isn’t acceptable. But if it’s just a hobby, then maybe it is. But even if it’s a hobby, it seems to be one that levels serious damage at spousal self-esteem—which is an interesting facet of our societal attitudes, at the very least.
- “Land of Green Gables”: a travel article about Prince Edward Island, and specifically its appeal to fans of the book, Anne of Green Gables. This was interestingly relevant as I just finished reading the book for the first time; I’d watched the TV show as a kid but never read the book. It was interesting to read about the fanatical tourism to the (fictional) town of Avonlea, recreated near the (real) town of Cavendish. Apparently, this destination is particularly popular with Japanese tourists; there is a great photo in the article of two Japanese women wearing straw hats with fake red braids dangling on each side.
