June 2, 2002

The Bush 9/11 Scandal for Dummies:

The Bush 9/11 Scandal for Dummies: Ready to do some 9/11 conspiracy debunking? Read this and lets get some old time MeFi discussion going. It's all there, from the (s)election of Bush as president to the "pre-planning" of the American Patriot Act. As Weiner describes the culprits as:

. . .the HardRight began serious planning for a 2000 electoral victory -- and then implementation of a HardRight agenda, and the destruction of a liberal opposition -- a year or two after Clinton's 1996 victory. (The impeachment of Clinton was a key ingredient to sully Democrat opposition.) The GOP HardRight leaders decided early to select George W. Bush, a none-too-bright and easily malleable young man with the right name and pedigree. They ran into a speed-bump when John McCain began to take off in the public imagination, and so with dirty tricks they wrecked his campaign in the South and elsewhere, and continued on their merry course.
posted by crasspastor at 10:44 PM PST - 21 comments

NewYorkTimesFilter: Study Shows Building Prisons Did Not Prevent Repeat Crimes

Study Shows Building Prisons Did Not Prevent Repeat Crimes
(New York Times link--you know the drill)
The rate at which inmates released from state prisons commit new crimes rose from 1983 to 1994, a time when the number of people behind bars doubled, according to a Justice Department study released yesterday.
The report found that 67 percent of inmates released from state prisons in 1994 committed at least one serious new crime within three years. That is 5 percent higher than among inmates released in 1983.
Criminologists generally agree that the prison-building binge of the last 25 years, in which the number of Americans incarcerated quadrupled to almost two million, has helped reduce the crime rate simply by keeping criminals off the streets. There has been more debate about whether longer sentences and the increase in the number of prisoners have also helped to deter people from committing crimes. The new report, some crime experts say, suggests that the answer is no. (More inside)
posted by y2karl at 10:28 PM PST - 22 comments

The money making game

The money making game was Grandpa's favorite game. My Grandpa wasn't nearly this interesting.
posted by hadashi at 6:43 PM PST - 4 comments

Toothpaste for Dinner

Toothpaste for Dinner Everybody's favorite crackpot Drew is making new drawings and paintings. This site's a lot easier on the eyes, less of those pesky sentences which hurt brains.
posted by clango at 6:13 PM PST - 5 comments

Bad Rapper.

Bad Rapper. Don't spank your monkey!
posted by kingmissile at 2:03 PM PST - 9 comments

This is the auction for you,

This is the auction for you, if you've totally forgotten what crystal pepsi tasted like, and you want to relive the glory.
posted by jcterminal at 12:42 PM PST - 47 comments

UK Kids to Get £40 a Week to Stay in School.

UK Kids to Get £40 a Week to Stay in School. Schoolchildren are to be paid £40 a week to stay on at school as part of a multi-billion-pound revolution in secondary schools in England and Wales.
posted by ncurley at 11:15 AM PST - 37 comments

Sensitivity or Censorship?

Sensitivity or Censorship? A fascinating article in the NY Times reveals that the the New York Board of Education is editing literary passages used on its high school exit exam to remove passages that might "make a student feel ill at ease" while taking the test. Deletions include all references, no matter how innocuous, to drugs, alcohol, homosexuality, God, race, Congress, unpaid U.N. dues, nudity, sex, violence, and much more. Some of the quoted authors, including Annie Dillard and Frank Conroy, are pretty upset with the state, especially since the passages don't indicate that they have been "revised." On the other hand, standardized tests are often criticized as being culturally biased so maybe this is a justifiable attempt to make students from different backgrounds feel equally at ease in taking the test. What do you think?
posted by boltman at 10:18 AM PST - 30 comments

The Glossarist is "a searchable directory of glossaries and topical dictionaries." Obvious enough. Topic areas are arranged in a Yahoo-like structure.
Now, go find out what all those obscure technical terms you've been wondering about mean.
posted by Su at 9:49 AM PST - 5 comments

Nuclear Issues in India and Pakistan.

Nuclear Issues in India and Pakistan. - Selected Internet Resources, from UC Berkeley.
INDYMEDIA INDIA: "We want Peace"
"The Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) is deeply concerned at the campaign unleashed in India for a 'full-scale war' with Pakistan and the attempts at projecting a 'national consensus' in favour of such a war. While condemning strongly the latest terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir the CNDP appeals to all political leaders, policy-makers and legislators of India and Pakistan to ensure immediate pull-back of troops from their common border and to launch a dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues."
The Kashmir quandary I | The Kashmir quandary II | Peace, war and Hinduism | Kashmiris reject war in favour of democratic means: Survey
posted by sheauga at 8:35 AM PST - 21 comments

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