:: blame the extended gestation.... ::

:: Friday, February 25, 2005 ::

MSNBC - Teen sex increased after abstinence program:

"Abstinence-only sex education programs, a major plank in President George W. Bush?s education plan, have had no impact on teenagers? behavior in his home state of Texas, according to a new study."

:: Jim Nichols 2/25/2005 11:18:00 PM [+] ::
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Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog: Europe on Iran, China on North Korea, US on the sidelines:

"Europe leads on Iran, while China hosts the six-party talks. If nothing else, this signals the limits of U.S. military power right now: our inability to do the SysAdmin job in Iraq means there?s little we can do on either Iran or North Korea. Ultimately, we?ll end up living with the consequences of this strategic weakness, which is why we?d be so much better off seeking dramatically better answers in the short-term with serious leadership instead of watching from the sidelines. Iran will get the bomb, and Europe will end up making the deal. North Korea will eventually implode, and what Asia will get is a dominating China with America nowhere in sight. "

:: Jim Nichols 2/25/2005 11:11:00 PM [+] ::
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Stiglitz on Social Security

:: Jim Nichols 2/25/2005 07:27:00 PM [+] ::
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Yahoo! News - Kraft Halts Production of Roadkill Candy:

"Production of candy shaped like roadkill has come to a screeching halt. The decision, announced Friday by Kraft Foods Inc., was the result of an outcry by New Jersey animal rights activists who said the candy encouraged children to be cruel to animals. "

:: Jim Nichols 2/25/2005 07:07:00 PM [+] ::
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Social Security

Something that I think is not brought up enough is that the Republicans want to change Social Security for many reasons. To dismantle the Great Society program is one of them. But another aspect is to make government programs more complex and less efficient. By making government less efficient you get people to distrust government programs. By making people think that government programs can never be run well you get them to distrust government which is the underlying conservative philosophy. You get people thinking "government can never do anything well so maybe they shouldn't do anything at all."

:: Jim Nichols 2/25/2005 06:51:00 PM [+] ::
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tsunami photos from a digital camera found in Thailand.

:: Jim Nichols 2/25/2005 06:37:00 PM [+] ::
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Another fascism alert...Leiter Reports: Gingrich: We Need a Law: Being Anti-American is Grounds for Dismissal

:: Jim Nichols 2/25/2005 05:42:00 PM [+] ::
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Seed Magazine: Science is Culture an interview with Greg Graffin

:: Jim Nichols 2/24/2005 10:37:00 PM [+] ::
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CornellEvolutionProject.org - Statement of Purpose & Background:

"Evolution and religion may not be at war, but no agreement seems possible in their most basic tenets. Traditional religions are based on dualism, and evolution is strictly materialist. Dualism is founded on a belief in the supernatural. The materialist position forms the basis for belief in naturalism, which holds that 'the empirical procedure of exploration and verification is the only known reliable method of discovering truth' (Smith, 1952). For the materialist, the supernatural has no basis in reality but instead is an unwarranted distraction brought about through mythology. "

Greg Graffin, the lead singer of Bad Religion, has published his Phd Thesis from Cornell

:: Jim Nichols 2/24/2005 10:29:00 PM [+] ::
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The New York Times > Business > Economic Scene: Some Economists Say the President of Harvard Talks Just Like Them:

"BEFORE he went into government at the World Bank and Treasury Department, Lawrence H. Summers was a star economist. The habits of mind that made him a successful researcher - including the style and rhetoric that economists use when they talk to each other - help explain why he is now embroiled in controversy as president of Harvard."

For some reason I've always liked following Harvard gossip...

:: Jim Nichols 2/24/2005 06:34:00 PM [+] ::
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CNN.com - 'Minutemen' plan?to patrol Arizona border - Feb 21, 2005:

"Intent on securing the vulnerable Arizona border from illegal immigrant crossings, U.S. officials are bracing for what they call a potential new threat this spring: the Minutemen"

Nothing scares me more than civillians doing work that should be done by government.

:: Jim Nichols 2/23/2005 09:21:00 PM [+] ::
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Third Party Politics
ProfessorBainbridge.com: Is the Libertarian Party a Good Idea?:

"While some libertarian political activists are certainly Republicans and Democrats, the existence of the Libertarian Party ensures that there are fewer activists and fewer voters in each major party coalition than would otherwise exist. Therefore, each party's coalition becomes less libertarian. I do not mean to exaggerate the extent of this effect. But even a handful of political activists in local and state party organizations can make a big difference. Whatever one thinks of the initial creation of the Libertarian Party, its continued existence seems to be a mistake for libertarians."

:: Jim Nichols 2/23/2005 08:46:00 PM [+] ::
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BBC NEWS | Business | US rejects UK plan to boost aid:

"The US remains opposed to a UK proposal to boost aid for the world's poorest countries, saying it is unnecessary. "

:: Jim Nichols 2/22/2005 10:40:00 PM [+] ::
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Hedera: Five Golden Rules for Presentations:

"Don't ever begin with an apology.
Don't ever underestimate the audience's intelligence.
Respect the time limits.
Don't survey the whole damn field.
Remember that your an advocate, not the defendant."

:: Jim Nichols 2/22/2005 10:37:00 PM [+] ::
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Put Social Security details on the table

We know from experience our President’s administration has a tough time processing information. Recall that cost estimates of the Medicare drug benefit weren’t even in reality’s ballpark. The Bush administration’s newest estimates are more than double what they swore to 20 months ago when pitching the plan to Congress.
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And the president and staff missed wildly on weapons of mass destruction. Regardless of the war’s present outcome, Congress authorized a search and destroy mission for weapons, not the liberation of a country. That misinterpretation cost 1,462 American lives so far and affected millions more whose families have been directly touched by war.
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Social Security affects many, many more — less violently for sure. But for the millions who will be absolutely reliant on that retirement or disability income, Social Security can be a life or death matter.
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If the system indeed is in crisis, we can’t afford to guesstimate our way out of it.

:: Jim Nichols 2/22/2005 10:15:00 PM [+] ::
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The Weekly Standard on Hunter S. Thompson's suicide. The End of the Counter-Culture He got it. Seems like they never did...

:: Jim Nichols 2/21/2005 09:32:00 PM [+] ::
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