ObamaCare and Immigration Reform

by Jason L. Riley
The Wallstreet Journal, March 29, 2010

Now that Congress has passed ObamaCare, some are pressing the White House to turn to immigration reform. Only hours before House Democrats voted on March 21 for a federal takeover of the U.S. health-care system, thousands of demonstrators led by liberal activists gathered on the National Mall to demand more open immigration policies and "Legalization Now!" for undocumented aliens.

But a larger welfare state is not conducive to comprehensive immigration reform. If foreigners start coming for handouts instead of economic opportunity, tighter restrictions will be justified.

American liberals have advocated the creation of a European-style welfare state since at least the 1960s. Yet according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Europe still spends twice as much as the U.S. on social programs—20% of gross domestic product versus 10%—and assistance aimed at the poor and the unemployed is especially generous. Also more generous, in the main, are European public pensions—wealth-redistribution mechanisms that effectively take from the affluent young and give to the old.

The U.S.-Europe welfare disparity to a large extent reflects different attitudes and preferences. Europeans tend to view the poor as hard-luck cases who aren't personally responsible for their situation, while Americans perceive welfare recipients as shiftless cheats. A 2005 World Values Survey found that 71% of Americans see poverty as a condition that can be overcome by dint of hard work, while only 40% of Europeans share that viewpoint.

As voters came to understand ObamaCare for what it is—another enormous, underfunded entitlement program that will expand the welfare state and increase dependency on government—it's no wonder that they turned against the bill. (A CNN poll on the day of the climactic House vote found that 59% of respondents opposed the legislation, versus 39% who favored it.)

And as taxes rise to subsidize higher health-care premiums, the program's unpopularity is likely to grow. The White House and Democrats in Congress don't seem to care what the polls show, but attitudes toward ObamaCare could bode ill for passing any immigration reform that includes legalizing the undocumented or lifting immigrant quotas to reduce pressure on the border.

Belief in social mobility has informed welfare and immigration policy from colonial times. In 1645 the Massachusetts Bay colony was already barring paupers. And in 1882, when Congress finally passed the country's first major piece of immigration legislation, it specifically prohibited entry to "any person unable to take care of himself or herself without becoming a public charge."

A problem that immigration reformers face is the public perception—fed by restrictionists and exacerbated during economic downturns—that the U.S. welfare state is already a magnet for poor immigrants in search of government assistance. It's true that the U.S. attracts poor people, but it's also true that they come here to work, not to go on the dole. We know this because the data consistently show that foreign nationals in the U.S. are more likely than natives to be employed and less likely than low-income natives to be receiving public benefits.

During the recent health-care debate, uninsured illegals were scapegoated for crowded emergency rooms and rising costs. In fact, the uninsured use the ER in rough proportion to their percentage of the population. It's a myth that undocumented immigrants are driving U.S. heath-care costs.

Even Harvard economist George Borjas, a prominent immigration restrictionist, concedes that the welfare magnet argument for sealing the border can't withstand scrutiny. "[T]here exists the possibility that welfare attracts persons who otherwise would not have migrated to the United States," he writes in "Heaven's Door," his influential book on immigration policy. "Although this is the magnetic effect that comes up most often in the immigration debate, it is also the one for which there is no empirical support."

While there's no evidence that immigrants come here for public assistance, that could change as the U.S. welfare state grows. And one consequence could be less-welcoming immigration policies. The European experience is instructive.

In countries such as France, Italy and the Netherlands, excessively generous public benefits have lured poor migrants who tend to be heavy users of welfare and less likely than natives to join the work force. Milton Friedman famously remarked, "you can't have free immigration and a welfare state." There is a tipping point, even if the U.S. has yet to reach it.

Due to the growth of existing entitlement programs to accommodate retiring baby boomers, the U.S. welfare state was destined to expand even before ObamaCare's excesses. And large-scale immigration reform this year was always a long shot with unemployment pushing 10% and midterm elections in November. But left-wing immigrant advocates should be mindful that the two issues aren't unrelated.

Immigrants to the U.S. historically have been significant contributors to the growth and vitality of our labor force because the vast majority come for the right reasons. Don't change the incentives.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704094104575143661044721230.html

Cuba's Major-League Cachet- Dominican players have risen in U.S. baseball, but Cubans still hold sway

Given my recent trip in 2006 to Havana, Cuba with USA Baseball for the Olympic Qualifying Games this article was of great interest to me. The Cuban and USA baseball teams have always had a strong rivalry, often playing each other in final rounds of Tournaments, most recently the 2009 International Baseball Federation's World Cup in Europe. I had the honor, as team physician for the USA baseball team, to watch these two rivals play for the tournament win. Team USA won in this case but as always, Cuba was a tough competitor.

Anyone interested in the future of Dominicans in Major League Baseball might cast a worried look at one of the most talked-about prospects for the 2010 season, a young left-handed Cuban pitcher named Aroldis Chapman. Left-handers are always in demand, and Mr. Chapman has thrown his fastball at a burning 100 miles per hour. Anything he throws faster than 95 seems virtually unhittable. But he rarely throws that fast and is usually at about 90. He has a pretty good slider and a very slow curve. In other words, he has not mastered many pitches for a starting pitcher. He also has control problems, and some days has trouble finding the strike zone. He also has back spasms, was sent down to the minors before the season even opened and began the season on a Triple-A team.


So why is everyone in baseball talking about him? Why were half the ball clubs in the major leagues interested in him, and why did the Cincinnati Reds pay $30 million for him? The answer, at least in part, is because he is Cuban—so not only does he come from a fabled baseball tradition, but he is also a defector, which is a popular political story.


The history of Cuban baseball is almost as long as the history of baseball itself. And despite a half-century embargo—or maybe because of it—Cuba still has a cachet that no other country can match in the American major leagues. That includes the Dominican Republic, which has produced the largest group of foreigners in major league baseball, at more than 470 players.

The Dominicans have John F. Kennedy and Fidel Castro to thank for their place in the major leagues. The first American baseball games probably took place in the 1830s. Cubans have been playing on their island since at least 1866, and are the only foreigners who have consistently played in American major league baseball since the 1870s. They played winters in Cuba and summers in the U.S. The first Cuban player, and the first Latino, in the major leagues was Esteban Bellán, who played third base. From a wealthy Havana family, he learned baseball while studying at Fordham University in New York and later became one of the organizers of the sport in Cuba.

Dominicans have been playing baseball since the 1880s, after it was imported by American and Cuban sugar executives. By the late 1890s, when Dominicans had reached a level where they might play in the U.S., the major leagues—as well as the minor—had adopted an unofficial policy of not letting blacks play. This limited Cuban participation, though a few lighter-skinned athletes "passed." A number of white Cubans had distinguished major league careers, such as Dolf Luque, called "the pride of Havana," a right-handed pitcher with an incredible 21-year run in the majors.

But only 15% of Dominicans are white and most of those belong to a wealthy upper class that rarely turns to professional athletic careers. While Dominican baseball became some of the best in the world, it was confined to playing in Latin America.

All that changed in 1947 when Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Cleveland Indians signed Larry Doby. Once black players were in the majors the search was on for more black talent. As of 1948 there had already been 32 Cuban major leaguers, so Cuba was a logical place to look. In 1949 Minnie Miñoso, the speedy outfielder nicknamed "the black comet," moved from the Negro League to the Cleveland Indians, and became the first black Latino player in the major leagues.

The first Dominican to play in the majors was Osvaldo Virgil, who made his debut in 1956 and was known to baseball as Ozzie Virgil. He had been discovered not in the Dominican Republic but in the Bronx by the great Cuban scout, Alex Pompez, who had found Mr. Miñoso and many other Cuban stars.

The next Dominican was Felipe Alou, a power hitter who played both infield and outfield. He dreamed of becoming a doctor but dropped out of medical school in 1958 because he desperately needed the $200 the Giants offered him. He went by Rojas Alou, Felipe Rojas Alou or Felipe Rojas, but the scout that recruited him did not understand and called him Alou. All the Rojas boys—Felipe, his brothers Matty and Jesus, and his son, Moisés, all major leaguers— changed their last names to Alou rather than contradict the Americans. In 1992 Felipe Alou became manager of the Montreal Expos, one of the first Latino managers in major league baseball.

There was a steady trickle of Dominicans into the majors in the 1950s and early '60s, including pitcher Juan Marichal, to date the only Dominican in the Hall of Fame. Dominicans probably would have remained a trickle if Kennedy and Castro had gotten along better. But then Eisenhower banned the import of Cuban sugar and the Soviets stepped in to buy it. From 1962 to 1963, Kennedy, angry about the Soviet Union's increasing role in Cuba, laid down embargo measures cutting off economic relations between the two countries.

By the time of the embargo, 96 Cubans and only 12 Dominicans had played major league baseball. It was no longer possible for a Cuban to work in the U.S. and return to Cuba. No longer could a baseball player play in the Cuban leagues in the winter and the major leagues in the summer.

Now, for a Cuban to play in the U.S. he had to defect, denounce his country, desert his family and neighbors and never return. Few Cubans were willing to do this. Even today, with the tantalizing possibility of earning millions in the major leagues, few Cuban players have been willing to defect as Aroldis Chapman did in July 2009 while playing for the Cuban national team in the Netherlands.

The 60 Cubans who have come to play in the major leagues since the embargo represent a fraction of the Cuban players with major league talent. Those who have come have had to face a major adjustment. In the Cuban leagues a player spends his entire career on his hometown team. The fans are his family and friends. When the team plays an away game, the local fans climb into the beds of trucks and take the bumpy ride across the island to the game.

The Cubans disappeared from the major leagues just as the demand for players—including foreign players—was greater than ever. Beginning in 1961, as baseball switched from rail transportation to planes, the leagues expanded. In the 1970s the free agent, a player who could turn to the highest bidder, was created along with a restrictive system of drafting players. Foreign players are not included in the draft and so teams are allowed to sign as many foreigners as they are willing to pay for.

All of this would have sent top scouts—many of them Cuban, such as Rafael Avila for the Dodgers—to Cuba. Instead they went to the Dominican Republic. And Dominicans became top scouts as well. In the 1970s and '80s intense scouting operations in the Dominican Republic grew into large training academies, and soon major league clubs were maintaining an extensive presence in the Dominican Republic.

Today, more than 400 Dominican teenagers sign with the major league system every year, and Major League Baseball is handing out more than $40 million annually in signing bonuses in the Dominican Republic. Major League Baseball says that it generates $76 million in business annually in the Dominican Republic, and that its teams spend $14.7 million on academies that directly and indirectly provide 2,100 jobs in the country.

But baseball is hungry for top players and the major leagues have created an organization called Major League Baseball International, which hunts the world for players. So far programs in many places, such as Germany and Great Britain, have not yielded much. They have had greater success in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea—where baseball has been played for almost as long as in the Dominican Republic—as well as a number of Latin American countries. Currently there is great excitement about Nicaragua.

The entire international equation could be changed once again by Cuba. It seems a matter of time until the U.S. embargo ends and Cuban players, like Dominicans, will be able to spend part of the year at home and part in the major leagues.

Despite little contact with the major leagues these past 50 years, Cuba has maintained extremely high standards of baseball, producing some of the best players and some of the best teams in the world. Major League Baseball seems certain to welcome them. It remains uncertain where the Dominican Republic would be without a Cuban embargo.

By MARK KURLANSKY
The Wall Street Journal, April 10, 2010
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303720604575170171909416204.html?KEYWORDS=cuba+baseball

Lacrosse Growing in the Valley, State of Arizona

His hands couldn't quite grasp the stick. The ball coming toward him wasn't quite as big as his eyes.

Kyle Klein was like any kid in his neighborhood. He grew up playing in a field with a stick in his hands trying to annihilate a ball being thrown toward him.

Now 21, not much is different for Klein. He's still  playing in a field with a stick and a ball. But this time, the stick feels like an extension of his hands, and the ball is more like a friend.

Klein is a key player for one of the top NCAA Division I lacrosse programs in the country.

"I was playing baseball most of my life; when I first started playing lacrosse, I had no idea how to play the game," said Klein, a Scottsdale Desert Mountain graduate who is a junior defender at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh. (His twin brother Konner plays lacrosse for Grand Canyon University's club team.) "But as soon as I had a (lacrosse) stick and a ball in my hands, I fell in love with it."

Klein is a product of the Arizona Lacrosse Foundation leagues, which is helping shepherd what some believe is the fastest-growing sport in the West at the youth, high school and college level.

Though college lacrosse in Arizona can trace its roots to 1960 when Arizona formed its club team, lacrosse is primarily considered an East Coast sport.

Arizona State club lacrosse coach Chris Malone, who also is the director of the elite youth lacrosse program Arizona Burn, said he has seen the growth.

"When I first got here (in September 2007), there were 75 kids in my youth program. Now there are 225," said Malone, who was an All-American at Maryland. "In my first season at ASU we averaged about 300-400 fans in the stands. This season we he had 5,050 in our first game, and we sold out our second game with 1,300 people. It's an attractive sport. Kids like it, and those who are playing are introducing the sport to their friends."

Nick Cavanez, a senior captain for the Scottsdale Chaparral club lacrosse team, began playing the game in the fifth grade.

"When I first got into high school there were 40 guys on the team; now there are at least 60," he said. "At (Phoenix Brophy Prep), they had 100 people come out for their team. It's definitely growing really fast."

There are 25 high school boys clubs in the Valley and 15 high school teams in the Arizona Girls Lacrosse Association.

The number of elite players from Arizona has grown as well. In 2004, Scott Hochstadt founded the Starz Lacrosse Organization, which is the largest elite club lacrosse organization in the country. The Burn are a member of the organization.

"The talent there (in Arizona) is stronger than any other area, believe it or not," Hochstadt said.

Along with Klein, there are a handful of players playing Division I lacrosse on the East Coast. Hunter Rodgers, a sophomore midfielder, and Pierce Bassett, a freshman goalie, are believed to be the first Arizona products to play for Johns Hopkins, which has won nine Division I titles and is considered the premier program in the nation.

Malone said his goal is to increase the number of elite players who are athletically and academically equipped to earn scholarships from big-time college programs every year.

Klein said it's only a matter of time.

"Kids are starting to play the sport when they're a lot younger now," Klein said. "By the time they get into high school, the sport will there will be bigger, and Arizona will be a hotbed for lacrosse."

 

by Odeen Domingo - Mar. 20, 2010 04:42 PM

The Arizona Republic
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/preps/articles/2010/03/20/20100320arizona-lacrosse-growing.html

NEW.....Patient Education Videos

When I started creating a new website for Southwest Sports Medicine I wanted to improve our Patient Education. Our new website has just that, animated videos of any orthopaedic elbow, shoulder or knee condition/ procedure.

Check them out on our NEW website:
http://mattalinoorthopaedics.com/education.html

Check out our NEW WEBSITE!!

Southwest Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Surgery Clinic has a NEW WEBSITE. The new site contains updated pratice information and an extensive amount of patient education.

Check it out!!

www.mattalinoorthopaedics.com

Your Catholic Priest: Fr. Thaddeus McGuire -- Love for Eucharist, parents’ example inspire priesthood

FR. THADDEUS MCGUIRE
Love for Eucharist, parents’ example inspire priesthood


      The first thing a visitor to Fr. Thaddeus McGuire’s office notices is a long, rectangular table laden with holy cards, framed portraits of the saints, holy books and a single, illuminated candle.
     This priest is passionate about spreading the Gospel. He wants to pray and inspire, but most of all he wants others to know that the Eucharist stands at the center of the Catholic faith.
     He wears the cord of St. Philomena about his waist and has fervor for telling others of the third-century virgin martyr’s powerful intercession. He credits his parents with enkindling in him a love for the Eucharist.
     Fr. McGuire grew up in Ohio as one of eight children in a devout Catholic family that made it a priority to attend the first Mass every Sunday morning.
    “We always sat right up front and we were always the last people in the church, too,” Fr. McGuire said. “My parents would make an act of thanksgiving. That really did have an impact on me.”
     The McGuire family had a sturdy devotional life, too, praying the rosary on car trips and making the Stations of Cross during Lent.
     After earning an MBA, Fr. McGuire worked for five years with a consulting firm and traveled to many major cities in the United States, often testifying as an expert witness.
    When he was 30, he began to think seriously about the priesthood. He found himself doing a lot of spiritual reading, learning about the lives of the saints and wanting to receive the Eucharist daily. He also discovered a desire to serve somewhere apart from family and friends so as to better discern what God wanted for his life.
     He wound up spending three years working among the poor in Jamaica with the Mustard Seed Communities, an apostolate in the Archdiocese of Kingston. Amidst vermin and the absence of running water, he lived humbly, praying and working alongside the people of the tiny island nation.
     He eventually approached the bishop of Mandeville about becoming a priest and was sent to study in Rome at the Angelicum, where he earned a licentiate in sacred theology.
    With Phoenix growing steadily, the need for priests in the United States became apparent and he was ordained for the Phoenix Diocese in 1999. Fr.
    McGuire became pastor of St. Daniel the Prophet Parish five years ago and said he loves being a spiritual father to his parishioners.
    His love for the Eucharist means that the children who attend the parish school attend Mass daily. “It has been a huge blessing in leading the children in our school to a great love for our eucharistic Lord,” he said.
    While serving at Corpus Christi parish a few years back, someone gave him a book about St. Philomena and told him, “St. John Vianney and St. Philomena have a lot in store for you.”
    Since then, he has helped spread devotion to the saint and serves as the spiritual director for the arch-confraternity of St. Philomena for the western United States. He said the saint’s intercession is powerful and has led to many healings and prayers answered.

What are you passionate about as a priest?

The Eucharist. This is the Church’s thinking: the extent to which we come to love, appreciate and hunger for the Eucharist — everything else springs from that. In the Eucharist, we encounter the face of Christ. That’s what we were created for — to see God face to face. And in the Mass, through God’s word and the gift of the Blessed Sacrament, we come to see the face of our Lord Jesus more clearly. Doing that enables us to see the face of Christ and to encounter Christ truly present in our brothers and sisters. It’s not by accident that we hear time and time again that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith life.

Did someone invite you to consider the priesthood?

No. I would say it was the great high priest our Lord Jesus and my personal prayer with Him. I don’t have any memory of anyone ever saying that to me. I think every young man says, ‘I wonder what it’s like to be a priest?’ My mom and dad never encouraged or discouraged us in terms of any vocation or profession. It was a progressive journey to the priesthood.

What can families do to encourage more vocations to the priesthood?

Moms and dads, through their word and example, how they witness to their children their appreciation for the gift of our faith and the way in which they invest themselves in the practice of it by attending the perfect prayer of the Mass regularly and joyfully and with grateful hearts. By their participating in the Mass and in serving their local parish community and beyond — that’s the way.

 
By Joyce Coronel
Feb. 16, 2010
The Catholic Sun
http://www.catholicsun.org/2010/february/16/ycp-mcguire.html

Olympic Training to Become Doctors, Professors

Olympic athletes can discover that they retire from the sport that has consumed their lives at an age when most people are just starting out in their careers. Winning medals was just the end of the first act for the following athletes. In their post-Olympic careers, they didn't simply discard one career for the next. They've found ways to apply their experiences as athletes to become better at their new jobs.

Eric Heiden
Hometown: Madison, Wis.

Olympic Games: Innsbruck 1976, Lake Placid 1980 in speed skating.

Second Career: Chairman of the department of surgery Intermountain Healthcare in Park City, Utah.

Long Midwestern winters brought out the best in Eric Heiden, who was recognized as a good hockey player around the neighborhood. But it was his speed-skating that really made him stand out. His coach, Dianne Holum, was an Olympic medalist who drove him to train five hours a day. The schedule netted Mr. Heiden a string of racing victories and a spot on the junior world championship team at 17.

He went on to compete in the 1976 Innsbruck Olympics in Austria. He didn't medal, finishing seventh in the 1,500 meter and nineteenth in the 5,000 meter.

He was more determined to win in the following year, where he became the first American to win the World Speedskating Championship. He captured the title in 1978 and 1979, setting the stage for the Lake Placid Olympics. "I wasn't super confident I was going to [win] gold," says Mr. Heiden. "But once you get the first medal under your belt, it opens the floodgates and allows you to focus."

He ended up sweeping every individual event, winning an unprecedented five gold medals. He also broke five Olympic records and one world record. The skating world was stunned when he retired shortly afterward. At 21, he felt he was ready to move on. "I wanted to get back to school and try something else," he says.

Hunting for his next challenge, Mr. Heiden, scaled back on his pre-med schedule at Stanford University so he could become a professional cyclist. He won the U.S. Cycling Championship in 1985. He also captained the 7-Eleven Cycling Team, which became the first American team to be invited to the Tour de France in 1986. He crashed within sight of Paris on the final mountain stage.

Mr. Heiden finished his medical degree at Stanford University in 1991, and went on to become an orthopedic surgeon. He is currently a partner at the Orthopedic Specialty Clinic in Salt Lake City, where he specializes in ACL reconstruction and arthroscopic surgery. He has treated speed skater Apolo Ohno and Cadel Evans, a pro cyclist. Mr. Heiden, now 52, is also acting medical director for the U.S. Speedskating and Cycling Teams, and is on call in Vancouver.

He often calls on his sporting days to treat patients. "Being an athlete, I see athletes feel confident that I understand where they're coming from," he says.

Debi Thomas
Hometown: San Jose, Calif.

Olympic Games: Calgary 1988 in figure skating.

Second Career: Orthopedic surgeon.

Most aspiring figure skaters live and breathe the sport, but Debi Thomas never wanted to give up her dream of going to medical school. "People used to tell me that you can't win World [Figure Skating Championships] and go to Stanford at the same time. Of course, the more they said 'impossible,' the more I wanted to prove them wrong," she says. Indeed, Ms. Thomas was the first African-American figure skater to win the U.S. National and the World Championships—all while going to school.

Ms. Thomas went into the 1988 Olympics in Calgary with high expectations. She had repeatedly fought for the World Championship title with East German skater Katarina Witt, and their rivalry was billed by the media as the "battle of the Carmens" since both women planned to skate their long routines to Bizet's tragic opera. She says she didn't have the right mindset going into the competition and had lost confidence at the last minute. She had even considering quitting. "Even if you're well trained and you're physically ready for a competition, your body is not always going to go out there and perform," she says.

She faltered early in her free skating routine after two-footing a landing on a combination. She never recovered, winning a bronze behind Elizabeth Manley and gold winner Katarina Witt. It was a very disappointing loss, she says. She had planned to retire from skating whether she won or not. "Knowing I had my medical career to look forward to made it easier to take," says Ms. Thomas, who graduated from Northwestern University's medical school in 1997.

Specializing in adult reconstructive surgery, Ms. Thomas works as an orthopedic surgeon at the Bone and Joint Center in Terre Haute, Ind. The 42-year-old says her days as a skater provide her with helpful insight in diagnosing patients with sports-related problems.

"Figure skating was a pretty individual sport," she says. "I've grown up a lot since those days and enjoy being part of a team now. Being a doctor is about working with nurses, therapists, anesthesiologists, and I've learned more about team play being a doctor than when I was in sports."

Karlos Kirby
Hometown: Des Moines, Iowa

Olympic Games: Albertville 1992; Lillehammer 1994 in bobsled.

Second Career: College professor and Navy reserve officer

A three-time All-American track and field star and a talented football tailback, Karlos Kirby had his pick of 35 colleges. He gave up his scholarship at Long Beach State University to become an Olympic bobsledder.

He had been fascinated by the sport since seeing it on television. Something just clicked, he says. "I had to give it a shot." He persuaded the executive director of the U.S. National Bobsled Team to give him to tryout in Lake Placid.

At 5-foot-10 and 175 lbs, Mr. Kirby says he was smaller than many competitors at the tryout. Mr. Kirby failed to impress on his first day of fitness testing. The coach told him he could go home.

"I didn't know if I'd make the team, but wasn't going home until I finished," says Mr. Kirby, who returned on the second day. By the end of the year, he was one of the top three pushers in the U.S.

After transferring to the University of New Mexico in 1989, Mr. Kirby completed his bachelor's in University Studies, a multidisciplinary degree, and his master's in physical education.

Five years and five U.S. National Push Championships later, Mr. Kirby competed in his first Olympics in Albertville, France, in 1992. "It was over in a flash," he says. His team finished 9th in the four-man bobsled event. He did better the following year, becoming the first American in 28 years to win a World Championship bronze medal. He didn't medal in Lillehammer in 1994 and retired.

He soon decided to return to education and has been an instructor at William Penn University, as well as Duke and Drake Universities. He's also made time for military service, as a lieutenant in the Navy Reserve. Mr. Kirby, 41, serves as a public affairs officer and is preparing for his first tour in Afghanistan, where he will be working with NATO.

By Dennis Nishi
Printed in The Wall Street Journal, Tuesday, February 16, 2010