I was in the Rexall drug store in Demopolis, Alabama; one of the few cool places in town. Summer in the early Sixties was hot, even before Global Warming. An air conditioned store was a good place for an eleven year old to chill out.

I opened the magazine Modern Man and was face to face with a naked lady. From a biological perspective, my testosterone increased significantly, this quickened my breath and caused my arms and face to redden. I became extremely still and there was a ringing in my ears. From a more practical standpoint, I was hypmotized.

Anthropologists determined a long time ago that males of most any species act a bit stupid when females are nearby. It isn't by choice; we are trying to prove our capability as a mate in the only way we know. This is as natural and as predetermined as a politician saying his favorite book is the Bible.

Yet our society continues to collapse into conniption fits any time a boy under thirty is exposed to a little flesh. We act as if the mere sight of a naked lady will result in young boys going crazy over sex. The reality is boys are already crazy over sex before they even know what it is.

This week I received the 2008 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue; one of the best moneymaking ideas of all time. During the dead of winter, when sports stories are scarce and most young ladies are bundled up, the magazine does a feature on women's swim suits.

Decades ago, with tongues firmly in cheek and eyes closely watching subscription numbers, SI began showing the upcoming summer swimwear; at tropical locations and in full color.

Soon the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue was the most popular and the most controversial magazine published. Each time the envelope was pushed and a little more tan skin was featured, more librarians would complain and more irate mothers would cancel their subscriptions.

The current edition is about five times as thick as the regular magazine and filled with advertising from the folks who realize how many people look at this issue. It is one of the great marketing success stories ever.

In another savvy move, SI now offers subscribers the opportunity to cancel the issue so no one is offended and all eleven year olds are spared the trauma of seeing near naked ladies before they are twenty one and married.

The latest version was rather boring to me. All the models were identical; skinny, pouty, and clueless. An up close and personal Q&A with selected models proved unintentionally funny, but the rest was rather bland. It was also hard to tell the swimsuit pictures from some of the ads.

Still there were offended parties. One particular writer was so put off she referred to the issue as pornography. I don't see it, but just to be safe, you might want to lock the young boys up for a few weeks. Keep them in their room and don't allow them access to anything but TV and the internet. That should keep America safe from sin for a while.