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This sobering multimedia presentation makes anyone who sees it grateful for those who are serving in Iraq and those who have served -- and sad for the cost of war. It only takes a couple of minutes to watch.
 

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Military Sexual Assaults

 

The U.S. military sounds pretty happy [PDF] that there were only 2,374 reports of alleged sexual assaults last year involving a servicemember as either the perpetrator or the victim. That is actually down from 2004, and the Defense Department calls the drop, along with changes to the way the military responds to sexual assault, "great progress."

 

The DoD says:

At the close of the reporting period on Dec. 31, 2005, criminal investigations had been completed on 1,386 cases. This resulted in 163 unidentified alleged offenders and 44 alleged offenders where either civilian or foreign authorities had jurisdiction. Another 641 alleged offenders had cases that were either unfounded, unsubstantiated or there was insufficient evidence to prosecute. When the reporting period closed, 352 offenders were awaiting final action and another 274 had punitive action completed.
 

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Uncle Sam Does NOT Want You!

 

A recruiting station could be an interesting place to talk to people on this third anniversary of the Iraq War.

 

The Associated Press says it is no wonder recruiters are always against the wall to meet recruiting goals these days. In addition to the fact that we're at war, the pool of eligible recruits is getting smaller. The article says:

"As you look at overall population and you start factoring out people, many are not eligible in the first place to apply," said Doug Smith, spokesman for the Army Recruiting Command.

Some experts are skeptical.

Previous Defense Department studies have found that 75 percent of young people are ineligible for military service, noted Charles Moskos of Northwestern University. While the professor emeritus who specializes in military sociology says it is "a baloney number," he acknowledges he has no figures to counter it.

"Recruiters are looking for reasons other than themselves," said David R. Segal, director of the Center for Research on Military Organization at the University of Maryland. "So they blame the pool."

The military's figures are estimates, based partly on census numbers. They are part of an elaborate analysis the military does as it struggles each year to compete with colleges and companies for the nation's best and brightest, plan for future needs and maintain diversity.

The Census Bureau estimates that the overall pool of people who would be in the military's prime target age has shrunk as American society ages. There were 1 million fewer 18- to 24-year olds in 2004 than in 2000, the agency says.

The pool shrinks to 13.6 million when only high school graduates and those who score in the upper half on a military service aptitude test are considered. The 30 percent who are high school dropouts are not the top choice of today's professional, all-volunteer and increasingly high-tech military force.

Other factors include:

• the rising rate of obesity; some 30 percent of U.S. adults are now considered obese.
• a decline in physical fitness; one-third of teenagers are now believed to be incapable of passing a treadmill test.
• a near-epidemic rise in the use of Ritalin and other stimulants to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Potential recruits are ineligible for military service if they have taken such a drug in the previous year.
  

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Poison Prevention

 

This is National Poison Prevention Week. [PDF]

 

About eighty-five thousand children visited hospital emergency rooms because of poison accidents in 2004. PoisonPrevention.org has details.

Here are resources to help you find experts. [PDF]

Here is the latest national poison accident data available (from 2004). [PDF] More than 92 percent of all poisoning accidents occur in the home. Sixty-five percent involve children.

If you were to guess the poison that children most often ingest, what would it be? Drain cleaner? Pesticides? Nope. Cosmetics and personal-care products, which account for 13.4 percent of all accidents.
 

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America's Low Culinary IQ

 

You would think that, given all of the cooking and food shows on cable TV these days, cooking is one area in which Americans excel. Not so, according to the people who write the recipes on the food boxes. The Washington Post has a story that would be fun to test with the public.

Food companies are dumbing down their recipes, and cookbooks are now published with simple instructions and lots of step-by-step illustrations.

"Thirty years ago, a recipe would say, 'Add two eggs,'" said Bonnie Slotnick, a longtime cookbook editor and owner of a rare-cookbook shop in New York's Greenwich Village. "In the '80s, that was changed to 'beat two eggs until lightly mixed.' By the '90s, you had to write, 'In a small bowl, using a fork, beat two eggs,' " she said. "We joke that the next step will be, 'Using your right hand, pick up a fork and . . .'"

Even the writers and editors of the "Joy of Cooking," working on a 75th anniversary edition to be published by Charles Scribner's Sons in November, have argued "endlessly" over whether to include terms like "blanch," "fold" and "sauté," said Beth Wareham, Scribner's director of lifestyle publications. "I tell them, 'Why should we dumb it down?' When you learn to drive, you learn terms like "brake" and "parallel park." Why is it okay to be stupid when you cook?"

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Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends upon the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.
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