Support Our Troops

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Just plain stupid

Many of you know that I have severe eczema. Bad weather makes it worse: in humidity I break out in hives; in freezing conditions I often develop staph infections. I rely on various and sundry steriod creams to keep it under control.

But what if, instead of trying to stay out of extreme weather conditions, and instead of treating the rash with medical ointments proven to ameliorate the problem, what if I decide to treat the problem by, oh I don't know, reading a book? Not a book on skin care, mind you. Maybe Harry Potter. Or the Journal of Applied Organizational Psychology. Anything, as long as it is unrelated to the problem. Think it would work? Of course not. Any idiot knows that the way to solve a problem is by stemming the cause of the problem.

That's what makes this program such an incredibly stupid idea:

Among those supporting InnerChange is former attorney general John D. Ashcroft, who wrote shortly before this month's arguments before the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis that high recidivism rates prove that programs such as InnerChange, sometimes called IFI, are needed.

"Neither Judge Pratt nor Americans United offers a better way to stop the revolving door of prisons. They simply want to shut IFI down," Ashcroft wrote in the St. Louis Post Dispatch. (emphasis mine)

So here we have a problem. And since the problem exists, it's obvious that a religious-based program is an appropriate solution. Let's not worry whether lack of religion has anything to do with why a person wound up in prison in the first place.

See, this is why I think anyone who wants to plan and implement policy should be required to take classes in argumentation. Not only is Ashcroft confusing cause and effect, but he has ignored the fact that the burden of proof lies with him to show that InnerChange will reduce recidivism. But let's give Ashcroft the benefit of the doubt. Let's say that he doesn't understand statistics very well (it's pretty tough stuff as D. sill attest ;)) and so he doesn't know how collect the data that will allow him to perform the T-tests, correlations, or regressions that will allow him to know if the program has an impact. How about some descriptive data that can allow us to extrapolate?

Pratt ordered InnerChange to close its operations and repay $1.5 million to the Iowa government and prisoners whose telephone surcharges helped fund the program. He said he was careful not to pass judgment on the beliefs of the staff or the effectiveness of the religious approach, although he said he had received no credible data on recidivism rates. (emphasis mine)

Nope.

So there's no evidence at all, and yet the state of Iowa is spending $1.5 million helping prison inmates pray? I wonder if any of them have eczema.

Why I oppose the death penalty

Martin O'Malley, Maryland's new governor, on the death penalty:

Human dignity is the concept that leads brave individuals to sacrifice their lives for the lives of strangers. Human dignity is the universal truth that is the basis of ethics. Human dignity is the fundamental belief on which the laws of this state and this republic are founded. And absent a deterrent value, the damage done to the concept of human dignity by our conscious communal use of the death penalty is greater than the benefit of even a justly drawn retribution.

Source

I am no longer interested in Bill Richardson as a presidential candidate:

NEW MEXICO Gov. Bill Richardson stopped by last week during his two-day swing through New Hampshire. Among the Democrats vying for their party's Presidential nomination, he stood out as someone not very interested in playing to the far left, or to anyone else's expectations. With Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards tacking hard left, and Sen. Hillary Clinton trying to sound moderate while still holding on to the liberal base, Richardson was quick to note that he is a different kind of Democrat...

For one, he's all for tax cuts.

He's also pro-Second Amendment (he was endorsed by the National Rifle Association in last year's race for governor), for a stronger, larger military, against gay marriage...
Source

'Nuff said

Ted Haggard is a New Man

"I have some sad news for 'the gays' (as they're referred to). Unfortunately, they have lost one of their own this evening. Ted Haggard, the evangelical preacher who, as you know, was caught doing meth and fucking dudes. The Denver Post is reporting that he is now 'completely heterosexual.' People say, 'How did they turn this clearly gay man into a heterosexual?' It's very simple. Y’know when you were a kid and your father caught you smoking...then he decided to make you smoke a carton? Ted's been a busy boy." ---Jon Stewart

Is America Ready for a Female President?

There is so much good commentary out there, I just have to link to it all.

Getting God to Laugh with Her

When I die, I want someone to write something like this about me.

Minimum Wage vs. Pay for Performance

Inquiring minds want to know

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Lending a Hand to a Friend

Justice Takes a Hand as Former Student Pleads Guilty in Macabre Theft

A medical doctor pleaded guilty today to removing a hand from a cadaver at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 2002, when he was a medical student there, and giving the purloined appendage to a nude dancer who had a fondness for the macabre. According to the Associated Press, Ahmed Rashed, who now practices medicine in Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge that will prevent him from obtaining a medical license in New Jersey during a period of probation.

In short, he stole a hand, and they slapped him on the wrist.