Of course Bjork had every right to utter one word, twice, as a human rights protest. I'm amazed that any of us would criticize her (and only a little less amazed at how many of us hadn't heard of her!)

I'd like to say a word or two in defense of Brad Pitt, who has put not only lots of money, but also considerable time and personal effort, into rebuilding some of the most seriously devastated neighborhoods in New Orleans. His efforts have not only put roofs over the heads of many displaced families, but have also underwritten significant large-scale construction of radically "green" state-of-the-art domestic architecture.

Whatever he and his wife are up to with their other interests and projects, and however much self-aggrandizement might have to do with any of this, his efforts have resulted in great objective improvements to the lives of many needy individuals and also to our community as a whole and, by extension, to the world at large, which will certainly benefit from the jump-start he's given to several forward-looking technologies.

Brad and Angelina like being in New Orleans whenever their schedules allow because people here treat them like humans and generally leave them alone. We seem able to maintain a no-papparazzi zone.