Thanks for the, uh... perspective

Thanks for the, uh... perspective

A couple of truly bizarre items today. First, the least gut-wrenching look yet at the Indian Ocean tidal wave:

"I was taking my morning swim around the island that my brother Geoffrey, a businessman, had bought on a whim a decade ago and turned into a tropical paradise 200 yards from one of the world's most beautiful beaches..."

The other is actually interesting, an inmate's take on mandatory sentencing:

I beseech you all to think about these women -- to encourage the American people to ask for reforms, both in sentencing guidelines, in length of incarceration for nonviolent first-time offenders, and for those involved in drug-taking. They would be much better served in a true rehabilitation center than in prison where there is no real help, no real programs to rehabilitate, no programs to educate, no way to be prepared for life "out there" where each person will ultimately find herself, many with no skills and no preparation for living...

Signed: Martha Stewart.

Sure I laughed a little and thought of a lot of punchlines. But if it works in using the celebrity-obsessed media culture to get just a little discussion of the issue out, more power to her.