Abstinence-only sex ed quiz

If you want to know what our government approving as sex-ed these days, go ahead and take this simple 10-question test published by Naral.  It only takes a couple of minutes. Your answers will be scored and explained and you'll probably be shaking your head even if you've been keeping…

Continue ReadingAbstinence-only sex ed quiz

What we can learn from the geographic clumping of dialects and religions.

Check out the map below.  It is a map of the Linguistic Geography of the Mainland United States (a higher resolution version is available here):   Imagine that there is some loony person who would argue that the dialect he speaks is the one true, objectively superior dialect and that all other dialects are inferior…

Continue ReadingWhat we can learn from the geographic clumping of dialects and religions.

It makes ECONOMIC sense to invest in disadvantaged children while they are young

I can’t think of a dumber investment policy than to have our states spend three times more on average per prisoner than per pupil…  We don’t really have a money problem in America, but a profound values problem and a profound priorities problem.

Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund, during her lecture “Stand Up for Children Now,” on April 19, 2006 at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.

Americans spend $60 billion a year to imprison 2.2 million people. This statistic compelled me to pull out my calculator.  The result was shocking.  In the United States we spend more than $27,000 per prisoner per year.  Is this effective?  Other than the violence, crowding, beatings by “goon squads,” rapes, riots, and high rates of recidivism, that is, is it effective?  There are many reasons to be concerned.  Here’s the main reason indicated by the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons:

What happens inside jails and prisons does not stay inside jails and prisons. We must create safe and productive conditions of confinement not only because it is the right thing to do, but because it influences the safety, health, and prosperity of us all.

What might be more effective method of using our limited social resources than putting millions of people in prison?  How about investing more in the training and education of disadvantaged children?  This is not just an idealistic platitude.  In the June 30, 2006 issue of Science (www.sciencemag.org – …

Share

Continue ReadingIt makes ECONOMIC sense to invest in disadvantaged children while they are young