The
Global Commission on Drug Policy is the latest group to advocate an end to the drug war - but also an unusually high-profile one,
including former Presidents of Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Switzerland, Prime Minister of Greece, Kofi Annan, Richard Branson, George Shultz and Paul Volcker. Tomorrow, June 2, sees the launch of their report, which advocates treating recreational drug use (and abuse) as a public health issue rather than a criminal justice one.
[more inside]
posted by anigbrowl
on Jun 1, 2011 -
60 comments
Why Not a Negative Income Tax? "What kind of program could help protect every citizen from destitution without granting excessive power to bureaucrats, creating disincentives to work, and clogging up the free-market economy, as the modern welfare state has done? [Nobel-prize winning economist Milton] Friedman’s answer was the negative income tax, or NIT."
posted by shivohum
on Mar 14, 2011 -
106 comments
SEED Magazine:
Wealth of Nations:
"Shared natural resources underpin the global economy, but our current economic system does not acknowledge their worth. Can a major new effort to assess the costs of biodiversity loss force a paradigm shift in what we value?" [more inside]
posted by zarq
on Nov 30, 2010 -
10 comments
Dirty Coal, Clean Future To environmentalists, "clean coal" is an insulting oxymoron. But for now, the only way to meet the world's energy needs, and to arrest climate change before it produces irreversible cataclysm, is to use coal—dirty, sooty, toxic coal—in more-sustainable ways. The good news is that new technologies are making this possible. China is now the leader in this area, the Google and Intel of the energy world. If we are serious about global warming, America needs to work with China to build a greener future on a foundation of coal. Otherwise, the clean-energy revolution will leave us behind, with grave costs for the world's climate and our economy. (more
here and responses
here,
here and
here)
posted by kliuless
on Nov 12, 2010 -
49 comments
A
description of the CIA's waterboarding techniques and the practical applications of other physical interrogation practices to enhance its effectiveness.
posted by artof.mulata
on Nov 9, 2010 -
30 comments
Three years after the National Academies (US) report
Rising Above the Gathering Storm outlined eroding science and technology "advantages," the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (
PCAST) released today an outline for the development of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education: Prepare and Inspire (
executive report).
[more inside]
posted by cgk
on Sep 16, 2010 -
15 comments
Despite
very strong denials last week from Google and Verizon that they were not discussing ways around
Net Neutrality, Google and Verizon
held a conference today to announce their agreement to the establishment of price-tiered network services, dividing the current Internet into a "neutral public Internet" that remains "open" (and which preserves access to YouTube and other Google properties), and a set of paid, priority channels that Verizon and other telecoms can use to deliver certain other types of content at higher prices, particularly over cell networks and whatever future infrastructure the Internet will be carried over.
posted by Blazecock Pileon
on Aug 9, 2010 -
224 comments
With a
ruling scheduled today on Prop 8 — the California ballot measure that took away the right to marry from same-sex couples — Dave Fleischer has an in-depth
analysis of all of the
polling data on Prop 8, and his findings include some counter-intuitive numbers, like that the confusing wording actually ended up helping the No vote more than the Yes.
posted by klangklangston
on Aug 4, 2010 -
619 comments
Postcards From Hell — For the last half-decade, the
Fund for Peace, working with Foreign Policy, has been putting together the
Failed States Index (the 2010 version is out), using a battery of indicators to determine how stable—or unstable—a country is. But as the photos here demonstrate, sometimes the best test is the simplest one: You'll only know a failed state when you see it.
[more inside]
posted by netbros
on Jun 25, 2010 -
16 comments
You may be active in social media on your own account. That’s good. But please remember that whether you are on your own time or company time, you’re still a member of our team. And the judgment you exercise on your own time reflects on the judgment you exercise at work.
There’s only one you – at play and at work.
posted by h0p3y
on Feb 7, 2010 -
75 comments
The Portugal experiment. On July 1, 2001, a nationwide law in Portugal
took effect that decriminalized all drugs, including
cocaine and heroin. Under the new legal
framework, all drugs were “decriminalized,” not
“legalized.” Thus, drug possession for personal
use and drug usage itself are still legally prohibited,
but violations of those prohibitions are
deemed to be exclusively administrative violations
and are removed completely from the criminal
realm.... The data show that, judged by virtually every
metric, the Portuguese decriminalization framework
has been a resounding success. Within this
success lie self-evident lessons that should guide
drug policy debates around the world. (
pdf of complete paper)
[more inside]
posted by caddis
on May 22, 2009 -
94 comments
No conflict of interest there, no sir. Organic food fans and small farmers alike are saying if HR 875 is passed, it will mean the end of organic farming in the United States. An overstatement? Perhaps, but HR 875 has serious flaws. The bill, introduced by Rosa DeLauro last month (who happens to be married to Stanley Greenburg of Monsanto, the world's largest producer of herbicides, chemical fertilizers and genetically engineered seeds), is
here.
[more inside]
posted by bitter-girl.com
on Mar 18, 2009 -
56 comments
Policy Archive compiles research and recommendations from think tanks, universities, government agencies and foundations into one browseable/searchable site. Designed to give the
non-wonk layperson free, centralized access to subject-specific information on public policy in the USA, Policy Archive offers
quick links to topics like
banking & finance,
education,
labor, and
military. Or just browse by who
wrote,
published, or
funded a given bit of research.
16,000+ documents and growing.
posted by Rykey
on Nov 22, 2008 -
12 comments
Policy Exchange, the same British conservative think tank who brought you reports such as the tastefully titled
The Hijacking of British Islam (
previously), have released a new report,
Cities Limited (pdf), which states that the only solution for people living in the North of Britain - where unemployment and poverty are high - is to
abandon their homes and move south. Leader of the Conservative Party, David Cameron, minced no words in his response: "
This report is rubbish from start to finish. I think the author himself said it might be a bit barmy. It is barmy. I gather he's off to Australia. The sooner he gets on the ship the better." Conservative bloggers have been very quick to distance themselves from the report, some going as far as to blame it on
Liberal Democrats. Co-author of the report, Tim Leunig, a lecturer in economic history at the London School of Economics,
defends his position.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing
on Aug 14, 2008 -
32 comments
The antidote to LOLbushsuxx0rs. Over the course of the past week, Slate ran a ten (10!)-piece series, "Fixin' It", in which various writers postulated how the course of various aspects of the United States' military, culture, and policies could be redirected for the better. Although the articles are not entirely devoid of Bush criticism, there's mostly a fairly rare focus on the positive actions to be taken from here onward by the next President (whether it be McCain or Obama or Clinton).
posted by WCityMike
on Apr 10, 2008 -
33 comments
Presented in a way that is familiar to gimmicky kitchen appliances, this
frightening weapon can fire 120,000 rounds per minute without a human operator. It makes no noise or flash, and can be mounted anywhere and is operated remotely.
[more inside]
posted by hellslinger
on Mar 10, 2008 -
84 comments
