Contributing to the overall sloth of the criminal justice system, the tools that allow us to differentiate between criminals who are pathological from those who are incidental offenders remain underutilized. DNA would allow this differentiation, enabling rehabilitation or containment on a selective basis. This lack of prioritization shows the disregard our society has for offenders of any kind.

Associated Press Via Yahoo News Article
(Original Article Title: “Gaps in DNA databanks have led to tragedy”)

Yahoo News Article

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbC-N8nhBkE

If the link breaks, search for the title at video.google.com.

About 1 in 50 infants in the U.S. have been neglected or abused,
according to the first national study of the problem in that age group.

My question: why is this the first national study that has been conducted on this problem? Neglected children grow up to be emotionally imbalanced adults. The cycle continues.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080404/ap_on_he_me/infant_neglect;_ylt=At_Fhdbafgj3__lQPXMWCpSs0NUE

Title: “Old canals concern federal water bosses”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080405/ap_on_re_us/aging_irrigation_canals;_ylt=AlUY2jCKiLNWlYmxtBd8t2ms0NUE

“We pay in interest four times more than we spend on education and four
times what it will cost to cover 10 million children with health
insurance for five years,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
“That’s fiscal irresponsibility.”

No, madam politician, it’s the definition of insanity. Servicing the interest alone (not the actual principal of the Federal Debt - JUST THE INTEREST) costs taxpayers 4X what we spend on education?!!

Here’s a great little table I made up from information in that article:

Year — US Federal Debt, in trillions
1989 — $2.7
2001 — $5.7 (average of $250 billion per year over 12 years added)
2008 — $10 (average of $600 billion per year over 8 years added)

Ok, so clearly we have an accelerating debt burden. As any “subprime borrower” can tell you, that’s not a good thing. You need to either curb borrowing or increase your ability to make payments. Thankfully, both of these tendencies are right around the corner for Uncle Sam. Yeah, not so much:

Over the next 25 years, the number of Americans aged 65 and up is
expected to almost double. The work population will shrink and more and
more baby boomers will be drawing Social Security and Medicare
benefits, putting new demands on the government’s resources. (…) Aggravating the debt picture: the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates could cost $2.4 trillion over the next decade.

This article is one of the best pieces on public finance that I’ve seen in the mainstream press in a while. The parallels to the current mortgage fiasco are deservedly prominent - a very worthwhile read.

Nearly two-thirds of academic leaders surveyed at U.S. medical schools
and teaching hospitals have financial ties to industry, illustrating
how pervasive these relationships have become, researchers say.The article is worth a read.