Archive for the 'Social Programs' Category

The War On Porn

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Bad Decisions, General Politics, Social Programs, The War On Terrorism

No, I didn’t spell that wrong. It’s simply how technology people choose to spell it… (NOTE: this might seem confusing, but the original title was War on Pr0n, but then I changed it back to Porn, but didn’t omit the striked sentence. Doh!)
From the Wash Post.
The new squad will divert eight agents, a supervisor and [...]

September 23rd, 2005 | Permalink| 17 Comments »

Poverty Bites

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Health Care, Social Programs

Malcolm Gladwell, author of the best selling books The Tipping Point and Blink, points out an interesting correlation between poor dental health and poor people:
People without health insurance have bad teeth because, if you’re paying for everything out of your own pocket, going to the dentist for a checkup seems like a luxury. It isn’t, [...]

August 24th, 2005 | Permalink| 12 Comments »

Finnish Line

By Callimachus | Related entries in Ideas, Social Programs, The World

Robert G. Kaiser gets thinky in Helsinki and finds much to admire in Finland.
Finland looks even more like the successful alternative-America than does Canada. Canada has been unfairly dragooned into that job by people too uncreative to study any nation they can’t get to by car, or people in such haste to beat up on [...]

August 22nd, 2005 | Permalink| 4 Comments »

Terrorist Sympathizer Omar Bakri Mohammed On The Dole

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Social Programs, The War On Terrorism, The World

Recently I wrote about Omar Bakri Mohammed fleeing London for Lebanon after Tony Blair announced that terrorist sympathizers were going to be kicked out of the country.
But now it seems that he’s had it so good in Britain, he’ll be back for the free medical care for his heart surgery.
He receives £331.28 a month [...]

August 11th, 2005 | Permalink| 3 Comments »

Question Authority

By Callimachus | Related entries in Ideas, Race, Smart Things Said By Smart People, Social Programs

Johann Hari advises fellow British citizens to question authority — even if the authority’s issue is multi-culturalism, and even if you don’t trust the motives of some of the other people who question it. Hari speaks from a particular perspective:

I am the child of an immigrant myself, and I believe we should take more immigrants [...]

August 7th, 2005 | Permalink| No Comments »

Global Rich List

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Economy, Social Programs, The World

A new calculator/shaming device has been launched to show people how much they make when compared to the rest of the world’s population. Basically, the Global Rich List is a way to get you to donate money to CARE International. If after reading this you want to donate just one hour’s salary to fight global [...]

July 30th, 2005 | Permalink| 10 Comments »

Unintentional State-Sponsored Terrorism

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Social Programs, The War On Terrorism, The World

This is unfortunate.
TWO fugitive London bombers have been living in Britain on state benefits, it emerged last night.
Somalian Yasin Hassan Omar, 24, received £23,000 in housing benefit over six years while living at a flat in Southgate, North London, which was raided yesterday.
Flatmate Muktar Said-Ibrahim tried to bomb a bus.

July 26th, 2005 | Permalink| No Comments »

Balanced Story About Progress In Baghdad

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Economy, Social Programs, War

For as much as I hear around the blogosphere that we should be hearing more good news coming out of Baghdad, stories like this seem to give a more holistic view of the situation.
Over 18 months, American officials spent almost $2 billion to revive the capital ravaged by war and neglect, according to Army [...]

July 26th, 2005 | Permalink| No Comments »

Border Control + Catch And Release

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Bad Decisions, Race, Social Programs, The War On Terrorism

The Counterterrorism Blog with a look at our ridiculous border control tactics:
So far this year, the Border Patrol has apprehended some 119,000 non-Mexican illegal aliens along the SW border. That is an increase of 175% over last year, which was itself a record year for such apprehensions. What is the reason Homeland Security officials give [...]

July 14th, 2005 | Permalink| 4 Comments »

What Does Gas Cost In Your Area?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Economy, Social Programs

Fueleconomy.gov has the answer

July 12th, 2005 | Permalink| 4 Comments »

Overturning Roe v. Wade Good For Liberal Morale?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Social Programs, Supreme Court

That’s what this LA Times article proposes:
WASHINGTON â€â€? Social conservatives relish the idea that Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s resignation from the Supreme Court has moved them one step closer to their goal of outlawing abortion. Liberals are vowing to fight any potential successor who would, unlike O’Connor, favor overturning Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 ruling [...]

July 5th, 2005 | Permalink| No Comments »

Punshing Dead Beat Dads Curbs Pregnancy

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Good Decisions, Social Programs

If you prosecute them, they’ll stop breeding. Gotta love that!

June 23rd, 2005 | Permalink| 7 Comments »

Some More On The Minimum Wage

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Social Programs

Some key links to understanding what’s going on with the minimum wage

June 21st, 2005 | Permalink| No Comments »

Edwards, The Left and Poverty

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Elections, General Politics, Social Programs

Political Wire makes a good point about Edwards poverty intiatives…

June 21st, 2005 | Permalink| No Comments »

More Criticism Of “30 Days”

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Social Programs

This time from In The Agora:
According to the Labor Department’s 2004 “Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers,” approximately 59% of the working population in the US is paid at hourly rates. Of those, only 2.7% make minimum wage or less. Only 1.7% of hourly workers over 25 are paid minimum wage. Notice that the number of [...]

June 19th, 2005 | Permalink| 1 Comment »

Do We Need To Fix The Minimum Wage?

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Ideas, Social Programs

An idea for helping those at the bottom of the ladder get a little higher up.

June 19th, 2005 | Permalink| 2 Comments »

30 Days

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Social Programs

A new reality television program sheds light on social issues. But is it honest?

June 19th, 2005 | Permalink| No Comments »

To Cut Subsidies Or Not…

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Social Programs

New World Bank chief and former Department of Defense heavy, Paul Wolfowitz, is calling for cutting subsidies for richer countries to help out the poorer. Good idea or bad for America?

June 16th, 2005 | Permalink| No Comments »