This study has been around for more than ten years, but its lessons are always current, always important. A well-designed program of early invention with at-risk children produced long-term benefits of nearly thirteen times the cost. The effects were dramatic in fewer high school dropouts, better work records, fewer teenage pregnancies, and most dramatic of all, less criminal behavior.

The study is available on my other website. You can access it immediately with this link:

Pre-schoolIntervention

To access other articles about crime, recidivism, and rehabilitation, go to this page:

Articles

It's no secret that we spend fortunes on incarceration. Continue...

The audience booed during the movie Network when Ned Beatty, as the character Arthur Jensen, proclaimed that business was more important than nationhood:

"...There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM, and ITT, and AT&T, and DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide, and Exxon. We no longer live in a world of nations and ideologies... The world is a college of corporations, inexorably determined by the immutable bylaws of business. The world is a business..."

Repugnant thought. While Americans wouldn't approve a system like that of the former Soviet Union, where the government could wield absolute power, I fear that we don't recognize an equal threat, a system in which megacorporations wield the absolute power. That threat is a lot closer. Continue...

Words can't begin to describe the plight of the people of Haiti, a close neighbor in the Carribean. You surely know by now: Countless thousands lie buried in rubble, dead or dying, even more are homeless, hungry, thirsty, in need of medical attention. My wife and I made a special contribution via the internet last night; I'm asking you to do the same. If you can afford a large gift, well, I can't think of a worthier and more urgent cause. If all you can afford is the minimum $10, by all means, do your part.

To my knowledge, no one I have ever known is in Haiti, but we are all humans, and I personally thank you for anything you choose to give. Please do it NOW. Here's the link:

Red Cross for Haiti

Both news stories appeared under the "odd" heading. In one, a defendant got a 10-year sentence for stealing an $80 slab of meat. In the other, a driver was fined $290,000 for speeding. "WTF?!" you ask. As the late Paul Harvey would have said, here's the rest of the story: Continue...

1: Any promises by pompous politicians to "get tough on crime"; we already pay around $500 per household to keep people behind bars. Let's try getting smart instead of getting tough for a change. 2: Related topic. Hysterical reports about ex-convicts committing nasty crimes. Yep, it happens. People who have no criminal records do nasty things also. I'd love to hear some reports about how many ex-cons are busy doing their jobs, paying their bills, and raising their children. 3: Any more poppycock claims that President Obama isn't an American citizen or that 90% of the people in prison are illegal aliens or climate change is a socialist hoax. 4: Detailed reports of the naughty bedroom frolics of politicians and preachers, followed by tearful proclamations of remorse. Persons of either gender who provide this fodder for unimaginative paparazzi should learn to say "none of your damned business!" or else keep their knees together or zippers up, as the case may be. The voyeurs among us can pay for their fix at the porn shop rather than relying on Fox News. Continue...

The treatment of women in some eastern nations shocks and disgusts me. How can a society with any sense of honor permit such horror, I wonder. How can the males of such a society dare to call themselves men, while condoning unspeakable atrocities against women. Sometimes criminal punishment prescribed by law in those countries is also shocking. Then at times the two meet, in a way that doesn't seem all bad. Take what some fiends in Pakistan did recently to a young woman in revenge for a marriage proposal rejection.

Fazeelat Bibi, 22, was a pretty, fun-loving girl, whose cousin, Sher Mohammed, wanted to marry her. He came with relatives to ask her family's permission. Continue...

Not long ago on this site I told you that Christmas isn't the exclusive property of any religion, in spite of the name, and explained why. Even a sarcastic friend of mine who delusionally believes he's smarter than I am (don't worry, Steve Langer, Ph.D., I'm not going to mention your name) told me it was well researched and well written. But please understand that I still wish all truly devout Christians a joyous and holy experience of this special day. If Christmas is only a secular winter holiday to you, may it be a happy one, and a time to wish for more warmth in your own heart, in your family, in our national life, and in the role of our nation in the world. Continue...

Regardless of how eloquently I write about earth-shaking topics, the most popular page on this site is almost always the free wallpapers, and the request I most often get is to add screensavers. Your wish is my command, or something like that. It's taken a while, but I'm starting with six, and intend to add more soon.

They're on my other website, Going-Straight.com. You can get to the right page by just clicking here on the link below, but please don't go just yet. Continue...

No, my friend, I don't have it backward: The bumper stickers do. By thousands of years. In the northern hemisphere, around this time of year, there has been a popular holiday since long before anyone ever heard of Jesus Christ. Evangelical Christians who try to claim this season as their private property do a discredit to Jesus and to their religion, not to mention the U.S. Constitution. I want to respect and honor Christians and Christianity; those who demand a suspension of rational thinking make that difficult. Continue...