In celebration of Veterans Day, here is a public service announcement from General Henry “Hap” Arnold — then leader of the United States Army Air Forces, and later to become one of the proponents and leaders of an independent United States Air Force. It’s a great ad because it stresses the importance of education and intelligence in leading the military, if not the nation itself — concepts which seem to have become unimportant, if not outright derided, of late.

This PSA appeared in Captain America Comics #43 (December 1944)

Written by Jack Schiff with art by Win Mortimer, this PSA was originally published in January 1953 DC comics including Action Comics #176, Wonder Woman #57, and World’s Finest #62. As was the case with many DC comics PSAs, it was later republished in July 1960 in a such comics as Detective Comics #281, Superboy #82, and Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane #18 (where this copy is from).

Other Patriotic PSAs (more or less):
The U.S. Constitution (straightforward PSA about the Constitution)
Airboy and the Constitution (Free Speech and schools, from Airboy )
Are You a Red Dupe? (1950s anti-communist screed)

This PSA appeared in a variety of DC’s November 1957 comics, including Action Comics #234 (the source of this scan), Adventure Comics #242, World’s Finest #91, and Wonder Woman #94.

The script for this PSA was by Jack Schiff, with pencils by Ruben Moreira. Unlike some other patriotic PSAs, this one was only published that one month — probably because it specifically mentions celebrating the centennial of Roosevelt’s birthday, which would limit its use in later years.

Theodore Roosevelt biography at WhiteHouse.gov
Theodore Roosevelt article at Wikipedia
The National Portrait Gallery/Smithsonian biography of Theodore Roosevelt
Text of Teddy Roosevelt’s Inaugural Address (March 4, 1905)

This ad comes from Supergirl #5 (June 1973) and is an anti-drug PSA from the makers of Huskie shoes. (Of course, in today’s climate, this ad still applies, only this time it’s referring to steroids or HGH). It’s one of the few PSAs I’ve seen that is part of an actual company-sponsored advertisement as opposed to the ususal “public service” ad.

For another baseball-related PSA, check out “Danger: Prejudice at Work”
There are too many anti-drug PSAs to choose from, so here are a few choice ones from the files: “We Can Stop the Enemies of Youth,” “The Amazing Spider-Man in Double Trouble,” and “The New Teen Titans as part of the President’s Drug Awareness Campaign.”

More PSAs

Then there are days like today, when I cringe. It seems there are questions about Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s application to renew his Tennessee medical license. Apparently, he didn’t meet the “forty hours of continuing Medical Education” requirement, yet submitted his application stating that he had.

To be fair, this is the first time in his many license renewals that forty hours of continuing education has been required, but on the other hand it’s hard to miss the requirement as it’s plastered all over the renewal application and instruction — not to mention that fact that this requirement has been on the books and discussed since 2002.

Careless mistake or deliberate prevarication? Probably depends on who you listen to and which side you favor.

Either way, it’s not comforting behavior in any physician, let alone the Senate Majority Leader.

Q: I used to be a mutant but I recently lost my powers. Do I still have to register?
A: No, you do not need to register, but you do need to fill out form 341-T “Declaration of Cessation of Urban Vigilante Activity”. Fill out the personal information, mark the appropriate box for the reason behind your loss of powers, and drop it off at the nearest FBI or SHIELD office. Farm-based hereos will need to fill out form 341-W, which applies to rural activities.

Q: I have to wear a respirator at work and it covers up most of my face — does this mean I have to register as a masked hero?
A: If your gear obscures your identity, then that qualifies as a mask and you are required to register for the Act. As a rule of thumb, if you have to wear a name tag or have your name stenciled anywhere on you clothes, then you need to register. This means that the following professions are required to register by the Act:
• Firemen
• Scuba divers
• Surgeons
• Dentists and Dental Hygienists
• Painters
• Clowns
• Emo kids with hair over their eyes (The United States v. Death Cab for Cutie)
• Rock singers wearing makeup (The United States v. Simmons, Stanley, Criss, Frehley, et.al)

Q: I work as a professional wrestler and wear a mask, do I need to register?
A: If your role is as a heroic or good-aligned wrestler, then yes, you are expected to register. If you play an evil or villanous wrestler, then you are exempt from registration because due to an inadvertant oversight, the Act as written only applies to heroes. If you foresee your role changing, it would be best to go ahead and register now.

Q: Since I’ve registered, can I now declare my costume and other super hero expenditures as work-related expenses on my tax forms?
A: Yes. You can also declare super-hero based medical care as well, and don’t neglect to deduct for mileage and depreciation on vehicles.

Q: I’ve heard that the divorce rate is higher for super-heroes who register.
A: Nothing could be farther from the truth! In actuality, our very scientific studies have shown that a full 78% of indivduals report improved satisfaction with their marriage after registering*.

Q: What about Halloween? Will the Registration Act affect the wearing of costumes and trick-or-treating?
A: Halloween and all pumpkin-related festivities are now illegal under Section II of the Superhero Registration Act. For reasons not entirely clear, Arbor Day has also been outlawed.

Q: My super powers are granted directly by my deity. Isn’t registering as a superhero with the Federal Government overnment a violation of the Establishement Clause?
Q: I’m the Norse God of Thunder. I thinketh that registering with the government dost be a violation of my First Amendment rights to Freedom of Religion.
A: Under the direction of the President, the Department of Justice has determined that the rights “guaranteed” by the Constitution and subsequent amendments do not necessarily apply to super-powered individuals. The only people who would disagree this decision are clearly communists and/or terrorist sympathizers. You’re not a terrorist sympathizer, are you?

Q: As a foreign operative and/or alien and/or time-displaced individual and/or artifical lifeform**, am I still required to register for the Act?
A: Yes you are. Any super-powered or masked individual who operates on American Soil — including outlying territories, helicarriers, and assorted secret moon bases — are required to register with the Federal Government.
In addition to the standard registration form, you may be required to submit one or more of the following forms as well: 338-A (Declaration of Residency in a Foreign Nation), 338-AN (Declaration of Residency in a Non-Recognized Foreign Nation), 338-AX (Declaration of Residency in a Foreign Nation, Since Destroyed or Re-Zoned), 338-C (Declaration of Residency in a Future Timeline), 338-CX (Declaration of Residency in a Future Timeline Which Can No Longer Exist), 338-D (Declaration of Residency in the Past), 338-DS (Declaration of Residency in the Distant Past), 338-DW (Declaration of Residency in an Alternate Past), 338-E (Declaration of Residency on a Planet or Moon within the Solar System), 338-F (Declaration of Residency on an Extra-Solar Planet or Moon), 338-FX (Declaration of Residency on an Extra-Solar Planet or Moon, Since Destroyed), 338-G (Declaration of Residency on an Artifical Planetary Object), 338-GX (Declaration of Residency on an Artificial Planetary Object, Since Destroyed), 338-J (Declaration of Residency in a Parallel Dimension or Alternate Reality, Accessible), 338-JT (Declaration of Residency in a Parallel Dimension or Alternate Reality, Not Accessible), 338-JX (Declaration of Residency in a Parallel Dimension or Alternate Reality, Since Destroyed), 338-K (Declaration of Residency in a Magical or Fictional World), 325-B (Declaration of Individual as an Artificial Lifeform, Biological), 325-E (Declaration of Individual as an Artifical Lifeform, Electronic)**, 325-M (Declaration of Individual as an Articfical Lifeform, Mechanical)**, or 325-S (Declaration of Individual as an Artifical Lifeform, Magical).

* Statistics provided by the Statistical Heuristic Interpretation Evaluation and Logic Department. Margin of error ±75%
**All Mechanical and Electronic Artifical Lifeforms are required to have a compliance chip implanted.

Fox TV: Sexual Song Lyrics Prompt Teens to Have Sex Sooner
MSNBC: Raunchy Songs Can Prompt Earlier Teen Sex
CNN: Study: Sexy Music Sexy Music Triggers Teen Sex

It was hard to miss those headlines. A recently published study, partially funded by the “think tank” Rand Corporation, addresses the subject of teens, musical choice, and sexual behavior, but the actual results are not nearly as dramatic as the media outlets — or even the study authors — would have you believe.

The article, “Exposure to Degrading Versus Nondegrading Music Lyrics and Sexual Behavior Among Youth“, is published in the most recent issue of Pediatrics, a well-respected medical journal – though it is toward the back of the issue.

In the study, researchers questioned teenagers by phone at three instances over a period of several years about their musical preferences and their sexual behaviors. The results suggest that there is a correlation between listening to music with degrading sexual lyrics and earlier initiation of sexual intercourse. That’s pretty much all the study shows: adolescents that listen to sexually charged music tend to experience sex earlier.

Note that the study does not demonstrate causation, it only shows correlation. It does not show that listening to sexual music causes or is responsible for this sexual behavior. The authors would like us to think that they’ve controlled for every other possible variable that could explain sexual behavior, but given that we don’t know all these variables, it’s hard to see how they could control for them. In fact, at the end of the article, the authors hedge their bets and admit this very fact.

The bottom line is that the authors and reporters are reading entirely too much into the study. It’s yet another example of the post hoc ergo proctor hoc fallacy equating correlation with causation. I’ve seen this behavior frequently from the media, but I become concerned when I see authors who should know better using the same poor logic. This is a study published to justify a point of view, not advance science.

A few final thoughts:

• Teenagers lie, particularly about sex, even to researchers on the phone. I see no mention of whether this was addressed at all.
• The study only addresses a strictly heterosexual definition of sex. Going simply by the numbers, several hundred of their respondants were likely to be homosexual.
• The musical grading of “sexual vs non-sexual” and “degrading vs non-degrading” is entirely subjective.
• The researchers only asked about an extremely limited number of performers (16).
• Many of the p values (the measure of the likelihood that the results were obtained purely by chance and not by correlation) are too high to be making such strong pronouncements. Strangley, no r values (the measure of correlation) are listed.
• Personally, I’m always suspicious of reports that come out of “think tanks” (though at least this one was published in a peer-reviewed journal).

With Idependence Day just around the corner, this seemed like a good time to take a look at this United States Constitution PSA from the pages of Flash #65.

It offers a free information kit on Article II of the Constitution, which describes the requirements and powers of the Executive Branch of the U.S. government.

(For those of you who may not remember, SDI stands for the “Strategic Defense Initiative,” commonly called “Star Wars”, which was a plan to use armed satellites and ground-based counter missiles to protect the United States from a Soviet ballistic missile attack.)