Brendan I. Koerner's Blog, page 121

Annals of Unnecessary Legislation

By any reasonable measure, scleral tattooing—that is, the injection of ink into the eyeball—is far from a widespread fad. As far as we can determine, in fact, a grand total of three people have had their corneas inked for non-medical reasons. They are body-modification enthusiasts whose story made a stir on The Tubes two years ago, primarily as an example of just how far some folks will go to experience the prick of ink-filled needles.

Yet someone at the Oklahoma Academy of Opthalmology evidently

NIMBYism and Marauding Monkeys

At first glance, it seems odd that residents of Guayama, Puerto Rico, would object so strenuously to the construction of a new monkey-breeding facility—especially since, as opponents make clear, they don't have a moral problem with vivisection. They're instead spooked by the prospect of escapees.

"What's the big deal?" you might ask. After all, it's not like Bioculture Mauritius Ltd. is planning to breed super-intelligent mako sharks. But you have to realize that Puerto Rico has an ugly history w

"Feel My Blood Pumpin' in My Veins…"

Though we've largely shifted over to using the Grooveshark widget when sharing music with y'all, YouTube remains a go-to place for some truly rare cuts. A good case in point is Spanky Wilson's "Kissing My Love," which we recently heard while trolling through WEFUNK Show #246. It's a great prime example of the sort of uptempo soul that puts a smile on our face when the world weighs too heavy.

The whole WEFUNK show is worth a listen, especially the interview with Daptone Records impresario Gabriel

The Middle Ages Get a Bad Rap

So you think Medieval knights were condemned to lug around unwieldy swords, while their Renaissance counterparts bounced around with mere wisps of metal weaponry? Dr. Timothy Dawson believes you've been grossly misinformed—a fact he expounds upon at length in one of Microkhan's all-time favorite publications, the Journal of Western Martial Art:

These results show that full size single-handed swords normally occur in the range of c.650g / 1lb 7oz to c.1400g / 3lb 1.5oz, with a few heavier example

Left Behind

One of our great journalistic mentors taught us that every saga is about money, at least on some level. That axiom certainly appears to hold true in Xinjiang, the western Chinese province that has suffered through days of deadly riots. As the Financial Times explained last year, Muslim Uighurs are incensed not only with the central government's heavy-handed security apparatus, but also with economic discrimination in Xinjiang's booming oil fields:

On Petrochemical Boulevard, the main street in K

The 75-Cent Plague

Reading Walter Kirn's sharp review of Methland reminded us that speed scares are nothing new. In researching the history of Benzedrine for Now the Hell Will Start, we remember coming across this 1959 Time piece about Eisenhower-era addicts and their penchant for crime. With a few linguistic tweaks, it could easily have been written last week—right down to the hand-wringing over the moral harm caused to the Heartland:

"I was involved in a lot of burglaries," the pretty blonde told Kansas City poli

"Kobe 55.7 Percent"

We touched down on Spaceship Earth after the Vietnam War's conclusion, so we can't say that the late Robert McNamara ever loomed particularly large in our imagination. But we do recall being gobsmacked by The Fog of War, perhaps the most thought-provoking documentary we've encountered. As a small memorial to McNamara, the most memorable (and disturbing) segment from the film is excerpted above; the slow-motion footage of a busy, contemporary Japanese street haunted us for days.

Explaining the Fujian Conundrum

Over the holiday weekend, in addition to bidding farewell to our dead-tree labor o' love, we found a few spare moments to start reading The Snakehead, the new book from Chatter author Patrick Radden Keefe. We're only 50 pages in, but so far this tome gets Microkhan's equivalent of an Ebert-ian "thumbs way up" rave. Just an endlessly compelling account of the Golden Venture disaster, in which hundreds of Chinese immigrants washed ashore in Queens after their freighter ran aground.

What we really d

Delhi's Worrying Trend

We normally assume that public health constantly improves, if only incrementally for long stretches. But then along comes a story like this, detailing how Delhi's infant mortality rate has doubled since 2005. The obvious culprit is the continuing influx of rural migrants, few of whom seek professional medical care while pregnant—or, for that matter, for their deliveries.

The Indian government's challenge, then, is to convince poorer citizens that hospital deliveries won't saddle them with massive

Thine Alabaster Cities Gleam

We've made a game-time decision to join our countrymen in taking today off—or, at the very least, to work a half day, then take Microkhan Jr. down to the Graffiti Hall of Fame for a look-see (to be followed, perhaps, by a top-notch $2 taco). But we couldn't jet without noting Uncle Sam's 233rd birthday, which we'll officially celebrate tomorrow. Our small tribute is above—James Brown at his most patriotic, letting a dour Ivan Drago know that he ain't in Chernenko-era Moscow any more. Because not