New Yorker :: Rush in Rehab
Article

> (The United States imprisons more people for drug violations
> than the European Union imprisons for all causes combined, and
> the E.U.'s population exceeds the U.S.'s by a hundred million.)

The Vietnam War on Drugs. A textbook example of what Harry Shearer calls "burying the lead."
posted by Tomohiro Idokoro @ 8:43 PM

New York Times :: Zillions of Universes? Or Did Ours Get Lucky?
Article

> The existence of an ensemble of universes with different
> properties, he explained, implies a mechanism to produce
> variation, a kind of cosmic genetic code, the way that
> evolution implies the existence of genes.

One thing I don't understand : if there are an infinite number of universes, or even just a zillion or so, why don't I experience multiple consciousnesses simultaneously. Surely the neural map that gives me my sense of myself occurs somewhere else out there. A particularly anthropic conceit might be that our consciousness follows just one path -- the best? -- among all the multitude. posted by Tomohiro Idokoro @ 8:40 PM

UC Berkeley News :: George Lakoff Tells How Conservatives Use Language to Dominate Politics
Article

> Taxes are your dues — you pay your dues to be an
> American. In addition, the wealthiest Americans use that
> infrastructure more than anyone else, and they use parts
> of it that other people don't. The federal justice system, for
> example, is nine-tenths devoted to corporate law. The
> Securities and Exchange Commission and all the apparatus
> of the Commerce Department are mainly used by the
> wealthy. And we're all paying for it.

I wonder how much money, relative to social spending directed toward the poor, go into these arms of government.
posted by Tomohiro Idokoro @ 5:28 PM

New York Times :: Libertarians Pursue New Goal: State of Their Own
Article

> One frequently asked question on the project's Web site was
> "Can't you make a warmer state an option?"

Of course not, because too many other normal people live in these states.
posted by Tomohiro Idokoro @ 12:45 PM

New York Times :: Study Finds Hundreds of Thousands of Inmates Mentally Ill
Article

> As many as one in five of the 2.1 million Americans in jail
> and prison are seriously mentally ill, far outnumbering the
> number of mentally ill who are in mental hospitals,
> according to a comprehensive study released Tuesday.
>
> The study, by Human Rights Watch, concludes that jails and
> prisons have become the nation's default mental health
> system, as more state hospitals have closed and as the
> country's prison system has quadrupled over the past 30
> years. There are now fewer than 80,000 people in mental
> hospitals, and the number is continuing to fall.

Outsourcing psychological disorder -- one way to hide a costly problem.
posted by Tomohiro Idokoro @ 10:38 AM

New Yorker :: Jumpers
Article

> The coverage intensified in 1973, when the Chronicle
> and the Examiner initiated countdowns to the five-
> hundredth recorded jumper. Bridge officials turned back
> fourteen aspirants to the title, including one man who had
> "500" chalked on a cardboard sign pinned to his T-shirt.
> The eventual "winner," who eluded both bridge personnel
> and local-television crews, was a commune-dweller
> tripping on LSD.

Another way to reduce the budget deficit without raising taxes: assess a state park fee on bridge-jumping. (Right after you eliminate the suicide prevention program.)

(This article reminds me of one of my favorite Woody Woodpecker cartoons -- the one where he's determined to go over Niagra Falls in a bucket.)
posted by Tomohiro Idokoro @ 5:27 PM

New York Times :: The Real Patriot Act
Article

> A $1 a gallon gasoline tax, phased in, would not only be a
> huge revenue generator (even with tax rebates to ease the
> burden on low-income people, farmers and truckers) but also
> a huge driver of conservation and reduced oil imports. Not
> only would it mean less money for Saudi Arabia to transfer
> to Wahhabi clerics to spread their intolerant brand of
> Islam around the world, but it would radically improve
> America's standing in Europe, where we are resented for
> being the world's energy hog.
>
> President Bush could even say that this tax is his
> long-promised alternative to Kyoto, because the amount of
> energy conservation it would produce would result in a much
> greater reduction in U.S. energy consumption, and
> greenhouse gas emissions, than anything Kyoto would have
> mandated.

This sounds just smart enough to be completely ignored by the administration. And reviled by Americans who can't look past their next trip to the gas station.
posted by Tomohiro Idokoro @ 7:09 AM