Letters

Re "Welfare Chief Is Hoping to Promote Marriage" (Registration required)

To the Editor:

Why would the Bush administration want to focus on eliminating poverty by spending $100 million a year to promote and encourage marriage among low-income people? 40 percent of poor children already live in two-parent households.

I think that the reason so many two-parent households are so mired in poverty is because poor women often marry poor men. Government marriage promotion will not change that. The $100 million is far better invested in education and job training.

Ray Garraud

Etcetera
So, the drug war continues. I often wonder what can be said now that hasn't already been said by the eggs frying in the pan campaign of the 1990s or the "just say no" campaign of the 1980s. Well guess what? In the 2000s, If you do drugs, you're helping the terrorists.

Light that joint, my friend, and you might just as well be one of the evildoers. Now if the thought that the money might wind in the hands of a guy with a turban doesn't keep a crack addict from firing up or some corporate lawyer from stuffing $500 worth of Bolivia's finest up his nose I don't know what will.

But seriously, Critics say the campaign has other shortcomings-- "it plays the terror card and unduly blames America's youth for terrorism". But if this campaign, in appealing to one's patriotism, prevents even a handful of youngsters from going down the road to addiction, then it may provide some needed ammunition in this ongoing war.

By the way

As I drove home on Saturday evening, I notice that the usual express route was blocked off by several police cars. There seemed to be something serious going on. I turned on the radio thinking that perhaps I might hear the scoop... sure enough, I heard that apparently some Hells Angels biker types got out of control, armed with daggers, machine guns, baseball bats etc. Damn! there goes the neighborhood.

American History

On Sunday, February 24th, at 9:00 pm ET/PT, the CBS television network will broadcast THE ROSA PARKS STORY. This film provides an inspiring account of one of the most remarkable women in American history. It explores key events that led to the historic moment in 1955 when Ms. Parks refused to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger. Although this film looks back at a critical time in our nation's past, it speaks powerfully to our historic present. It is a film that all Americans need to see.

Eye on Dubya
I'm not sure but is W hitting the pretzels again?


War TV? ("War's not Hell, it's entertainment")

The latest reality show coming to a network near you will include real stories about U.S. military personnel. Much of the action will be shot at the front (for example, where journalists are barred) and it's all approved and even supported by the Pentagon. What's up with that?

Other thoughts

"We are born into a life. The life is waiting there. We don't pick it, we step into it: parents, first born or last, the part of the country, the part of the world, our appearance, the efficiency of our brain. Then a time comes when we realize that we also have choices, and so we start the task of building our own life - an impossible task considering the number of days we are given to complete it. However, I don't think that's important; what's important is to begin". VIA( Eliot Wilder)

Photo

Their debt paid to society now what?

"This year the nation's prisons will release more than 630,000 people—the largest prison exodus in history. That's four times as many as were released in 1980, before crack, before zero tolerance, before truth-in-sentencing policies and before 1.9 million people filled U.S. prisons and jails, the current record. Since 1980, the number of prisoners returning to society has steadily climbed. It's simple physics: the more people you lock up, the more you must one day let out. For 40% of those now in state prisons, that day arrives in the next 12 months".

Amanda Ripley of Time magazine tells one man's story from lockup to a new life.

Observation

Right-wing nut commentator and former presidential candidate, Patrick J. Buchanan may not be the political powerhouse of years gone by, but his strong anti-immigrant ideas always seem to end up in book form on the New York Times bestseller list, and his paranoid suburbanite Archie Bunker-type audience is not as fringe as we would like to think. If anyone has had a huge influence on how Americans view immigration, it is Mr. Buchanan. Interestingly, his views on African Americans have also been controversial at best.

________

If you're in the over-forties crowd, there is plenty of research to suggest that you are still having a very active sex life. If not, you may want to consider an
occasional trip to Spain or Belgium.

"The Genius and Wit of Howard Zieff" highlights the work of perhaps the most significant advertising photographer in New York in the 1960's. (VIA NYT, registration req.)

Whatever works for you (pragmatic Fallacy)

Pragmatic fallacy is committed when one argues that something is true because it works. For example: astrology works, numerology works, therapeutic touch works. What "works" means here is not clear.

At the very least, "Works" means that one perceives some practical benefit in believing that something is true, despite the fact that the utility of a belief is independent of its truth-value. At this level "works" seems to mean "I'm satisfied with it," which in turn might mean "I feel better" or "It explains things for me." At most, "works" means "has beneficial effects" even though the evidence may be very weak for establishing causality.

Dude, you're getting a Dell
I love those Dell computer TV commercials featuring that kid "Steven" . That has to be the best slogan since "whassup" and this generation's answer to the "where's the beef" Wendys ads of the 1980's.

The phrase is so catchy that many of my co-workers and friends mimic this slogan apropos of nothing while sharing the appropriate handshake (closed fist, knuckles brushing). Steven is what Tom Sawyer would have been had that fictional character grown up in Suburban America. We all know or have known someone with a personality like Steven.

Furthermore, the ad spots deal with a slice of life that most of us can identify with, the plot lines are comical and most importantly, there's always the proverbial icing on the cake "Dude you're getting a Dell".

Etcetera Etcetera

This is the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition featuring model Yamila Diaz-Rahi on the cover which hits newstands today, Feb. 20, 2001, hot off the printing presses. (I'm sure) (AP Photo/Jeff Bark, Sports Illustrated).

There's an ongoing debate as to whether this type of content belongs in a sports magazine and whether women are being exploited and reduced to a body part. My point of view ... if curling is a sport, than so is this.

Of probability and the Unconscious
A lengthy but fascinating article on Scientists discussing how automatic brain circuits affect the way we react to activities like gambling or watching an exciting sporting event. According to one researcher: "My hunch is that most decisions are made subconsciously with many gradations of awareness. For example, I'm vaguely aware of how I got to work this morning. But consciousness seems reserved for more important things" {Like what time I get to leave... or what Am I doing this weekend}. Actually, those were my exact thoughts yesterday while toiling away at work ... Hey! these scientists may be on to something.