Miscellany: 5/26/13

Quote of the Day
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.
Charles Mingus

On Military Brats

Courtesy of Stars and Stripes

It occurred to me after I published last night's post that some people without a military background might take offense at my calling the sweetheart cheerleader in the embedded video clip a "Navy brat". After all, if someone calls your child a 'brat', you probably think of the dictionary's first entry: "an ill-mannered annoying child". But I guarantee that the lovely young lady in question wouldn't bat an eyelash; the familiar reader knows I have referred to myself as a military or Air Force brat;  it is generally understood to refer to a child born and raised in the career military lifestyle. I think for most of us, even if we didn't understand the term's origin in a military fond of acronyms like PCS, TDY, etc., it represented a shared experience, a certain spunkiness and risilience: you typically move a lot  (between fourth and sixth grade, I attended 4 different schools, one of them twice: my maternal grandfather's parish school while my Dad procured family housing). Usually we lived on base, but sometimes we lived on the economy, like when my folks rented a house on the outskirts of a small French town, not a problem for my bilingual parents.  I can still recall with fondness buying warm crunchy, spongy baguettes from the local bakery and my Mom buying red balls of Gouda cheese from a traveling vendor. We also got to see a lot of the world; while my Dad was in France, we often visited places on weekends, including visits to Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium. My Mom has an extensive souvenir spoon collection.

Never being able to put down roots has implications; you have to adapt to a more transitory lifestyle and unfortunately that includes relationships. Maybe you learn not to vest too much in short-term relationships when you know you probably won't stay in any one place more than 3 or 4 years. On the other hand, you develop friendships that often span the US; for example, my baby brother and his wife recently went up to attend our niece Emily's confirmation but stayed with friends made while my brother was stationed in Italy. My folks sometimes also had reunions with family friends while I was growing up. My best friend in third grade (Florida) was Donna; we used to go down to the pier looking for crabs. I next remembered our visiting her family when we were in South Carolina and I was in sixth grade. It seems silly now, but I was very self-conscious about my height at the time; Donna and her older sister were at least 5'8", towered over my short Mom, even taller than my Dad,  while I probably stood just shy of the 5 foot mark and  felt freakishly short  next to them.  (I probably caught up while in eighth grade.)

It turns out "military brat" had its origins in yet another government acronym:

A researcher [at the National Defense University library] found a book written in 1921 which described the origins of the term.  It came, like many of our military traditions, from the British Army.  It seems that when a member of the British Army was assigned abroad and could take his family (mostly in India), the family went with the member in an Admin status entitled:  BRAT status.  It stands for:  British Regiment Attached Traveler.  Over the years, it was altered to refer only to the children of the military member (the wives of the British Army [who were all males] objected to the term referring to them).  And the term not only stuck, but in many cases was adopted world-wide. 

Mary Edwards Wertsch describes the culture (my edits):

A 'fortress,' with a capital "F," which suggests a togetherness within and a separation from civilian America.The military's demand for readiness sets it and its people apart from civilian America, she said. The military mentality supports the authoritarian lifestyle, and so kids growing up in it negotiate two different worlds.

Wertsch said military brats have such values as idealism, antiracism, loyalty, patriotism and honesty. Not only that, she said, "The vast majority of us really like to be called military brats. We look upon it as an affectionate term with humor built into it. 

Further, Wertsch said, military brats and civilians have different views on the importance of education. "I don't think military brats are consciously aware of that," she said. The way education plays out is, a military brat goes into a school in the middle of the year and needs to make friends and have a social identity in a hurry. So military brats tend to be either a super achiever in school, which gets the attention of their peers and teachers, or they go the opposite direction and join the out groups. Fortunately, I believe most military brats fall into the super-achievers category. They come in aiming to succeed. They've developed very high expectations for themselves. Military values are the things that separate us most from the civilian world. Idealism -- military brats tend to be very idealistic people. We've been raised in an environment where you do things for principle, to support an ideal."

I left for college while Dad was still active-duty; the rest of my siblings graduated from the same Texas high school, although sister #1 started at my (different) Texas high school and subsequently attended a base high school (along with brother #1) while my Dad was stationed in Germany. Sister #1 started a military career as an Air Force nurse but left the service after marrying and starting her family with a career enlisted man; my baby brother was also career enlisted Air Force. Together, 5 nieces and 2 nephews are also military brats; the group includes 2 nurses, 2 teachers, an engineer and an accountant.

Little things stick with you; I was still on UWM faculty when I went to visit my brother in Florida after Megan was born. My brother subsequently got orders for Germany and decided to stop by my folks before the family flew out; I flew in from El Paso to see the family; toddler Megan now had a baby brother. I remember Megan was playing with some toy when her older cousin walked by and stripped the toy from her grasp. I watched Megan's reaction; she didn't cry or complain: she walked up to her astonished cousin and snatched back her toy. I loved my spunky, cool niece.  My brother apparently had stayed just long enough for me to see them off; I remember that my brother called Megan to join them. As Megan left the room, I called after her that I loved her. I got up to go say my goodbyes to the family, but they had already left. I didn't know if my niece had heard me, and it would be years before I would next see them. (Megan was now a second grader and had 2 additional siblings, including my third goddaughter.)

More Military Homecoming Videos







Movie Stars, Breasts, Patents and ObamaCare

Recently one of the most beautiful, in-demand actresses on the planet, Angelina Jolie, went public with her decision to have preventive double breast surgery; a very expensive medical test under patent to Myriad revealed that she might be at risk for developing breast cancer. (Over the past day, one of Jolie's aunts has died from breast cancer. Jolie's explanation for her decision is here; she explains that her mom died from the disease in her mid-50's and her doctors estimated that she had nearly a 90% of developing breast cancer (and 50% of developing ovarian cancer,which also runs in her family, which this surgery does not address). The Myriad test showed she was carrying a marker mutation of the BRAC1 gene, which is associated with a nearly 2 out of 3 chance of developing  the disease. ) [I've seen one report that Jolie's mother had both breast and ovarian cancer but died from the latter.]

My first reaction to the news was a concern some healthy women with family history have the surgery unnecessarily; this one lady who ultimately decided against it talks about a second opinion she got: "I’m so glad I didn’t listen to the alarmist doctor who wanted to treat my breasts like “ticking time bombs.” Another cautioned against it, noting that it can’t eliminate all risk of breast cancer (Jolie’s is now estimated at 5 percent). He railed at surgeons describing the breasts of women like me as “ticking time bombs” and advising unnecessary prophylactic mastectomies. I do know that I chose a course of rigorous medical follow-up: an annual screening mammogram (where a radiologist reads the results immediately) and twice-yearly breast exams by a surgeon. The tiniest cyst gets emergency attention; I’ve had biopsies and ultrasounds and needle aspirations." She then quotes Dr. Francis: "For women like Angelina it’s important that they are made fully aware of all the options that are available, including risk-reducing surgery and extra breast screening."

I have a healthy skepticism of precise percentages for risks, e.g., 5%, 87%, etc.; I didn't really read Jolie discuss her treatment options and why she went chose major breast surgery over alternative approaches; my impression is she saw it as her only real option for her health under the circumstances. My opinion is that she probably made a reasonable, informed decision  and did due diligence in using the best tools/tests available, and I do admire her if for no other reason than to set an example for other women with known genetic risks for breast and/or ovarian cancer to take charge of their health versus gamble that they are the one of the lucky ones and "no news is good news".

The video below is more an opportunity to talk about the $3000 BRAC1 marker test, granted a patent, but which is now under deliberation by SCOTUS. The ACLU wants to argue that Myriad doesn't deserve a patent for a gene-based test because genes are a part of nature, which can't be patented, and that Myriad's patent impedes versus advances scientific process; Myriad insists that it has invented a "new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof" (which can [be patented]). The devil is in the details of detecting mutated genes, not the fact of the gene itself. Bailey in his write-up tries to provide an even-handed discussion of the issues but does a fairly good job eviscerating the ACLU's case (he says at the end he's still an ACLU member, which I infer as meaning "despite their stand in this case"). Bailey ends his piece with a classic spot-on Scalia exchange:

During oral arguments, Justice Antonin Scalia asked the highly relevant question of the ACLU attorney: "Why would a company incur massive investment if it—if it cannot patent?" The lawyer lamely responded that scientists might do such work "because they're curious," "because they want a Nobel Prize," and because they would "get enormous recognition." Scalia drily replied, "Well, that's lovely." Scalia asked the right question; for the sake of future patients' well-being, let's hope a majority of the court comes up with the right answer.

Indeed, Krugman has a Nobel Prize in economics which means squat in comparison to free market solutions for today's listless global economy. It wasn't "science for the sake of science", NIH, etc., that led to an innovative test to improve our detection of breast/ovarian cancer risks, but the private sector:  investors, management and applied scientists put time, effort and resources, often spanning years before they see a penny (if ever). They not only need to recover their costs in the long run but to cover the dry holes they drill. America leads the planet in innovative health care technologies and discoveries; let us not kill the goose laying the golden eggs, following the rest of world into mediocrity. If SCOTUS is competent, it will uphold the Myriad patent. Every American has a stake in SCOTUS doing what's right--and so does the rest of the world.

It's not clear how the Supreme Court will rule in the Myriad Technologies case, but this much is more certain than the fact there's not going to be a sequel to Salt: As Obamacare kicks in, groundbreaking genetic tests and preventative surgeries will remain elusive perks of the privileged, as innovation and patient choice are always the first things to go when bureaucracy and the state take over health care.

Political Cartoon

They forget the Fourth Amendment when it comes to personal communications, the First Amendment (press), and the Fourteenth Amendment (equal protection)--the one thing the Obama Administration does believe is the unfettered freedom  of government bureaucrats.

Courtesy of Robert Ariail and Townhall

Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups

Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band, "Streets of Philadelphia". Instantly recognizable percussion arrangement, Springsteen's most memorable movie track always makes me think that he's trying to channel his inner Bob Dylan.