First: The server seemed to suddenly start generating a lot of SQL errors late yesterday, I'm not sure what's up with that (being a monkey, and all), but am hopeful someone less simian than me can shed some light on this later today. Sorry for problems this may be causing in the meantime with messageboards, .plan files, etc. (I feel your pain, it makes it hard to update the site as well, it took me well over an hour of trying on this first update of the day today).

Second, as Charlie Wiederhold's .plan says: "I encourage and look forward to articles that discuss the violence issue with solid information and a good understanding of both sides of the issue. However..." So anyway, Book Reviews - On Killing, looks at a previous work by Lt. Col. David Grossman (thanks GameTraveler), who was quoted in the Ottawa Sun article yesterday (story). While Lt. Col. Grossman currently seems to be laying ground for his upcoming book, Teaching Kids to Kill : A Call to Action Against TV, Movie and Video Game Violence, this is not new territory for him. Here's an excerpt from the review of On Killing: "Sure, soldiers are trained and ordered to shoot and kill, but only on orders, and punishments for firing without orders are harsh and immediate. Which brings us to Grossman's punch line: When kids play video games like Doom or Mortal Kombat, they are learning the same hair-trigger behaviors and us/them attitudes with none of the context of obedience to command and none of the special circumstances that war creates." I think I'll have to side with the reviewer Caitlin Burke, who says in her conclusion: "But while Grossman has made a fascinating contribution to military psychology and an interesting suggestion about society in general, his comments about America's children are not nearly as pointed or careful as his theses about soldiers..." But of course that's just my (and her) opinion... I could be wrong.

Link of the Day: Crime Awareness Activist Gets Mugged. Thanks DNapalm. It's okay, it's not like a man bit a dog, no one was hurt...