what's going on here (part XXIII)...

can someone, please, explain...

1. Abstinence programs take hit
STUDY | Students taking part just as likely to have sex

Students who took part in sexual abstinence programs were just as likely to have sex as those who did not, according to a study ordered by Congress.
Also, those who attended one of the four abstinence classes that were reviewed reported having similar numbers of sexual partners as those who did not attend the classes. And they first had sex at about the same age as other students -- 14.9 years, according to Mathematica Policy Research Inc.

Kids who were going to abstain before the program still abstained; kids who were going to have sex before the program still had sex. If there was no difference, why was $179 million dollars spent annually since 1999? That's a total of $1.4 billion that could have gone to Social Security, Medicare, environment, poverty..., and kept the federal government out of our bedrooms. those christianists sure have a fixation on sex. don't ja think?

and while were on the subject of sex...

2. Administration Blamed For Rise Of Drug-Resistant Gonorrhea

A national HIV/AIDS activist organization says that the Bush administration is to blame for a major increase in the number of drug-resistant cases of gonorrhea.

“The Bush administration’s response to STDs in the US has ranged from apathetic to actively harmful," Sean Barry, Director of Prevention Policy for the Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project said in a statement.

The organization blames the administration, and the formerly GOP-controlled Congress of under funding HIV education and the promotion of Abstinence Only programs in schools.

There has been lots of research on the spread of HIV & STD's for many years. Prevention is the number one way to combat them. Granted, abstinence is one form of prevention and the most effective. However, humans that we are, that doesn't always work. Well, sometimes it never works. There has to be at least equal treatment and funding on medical cure and prevention. Though the christianists probably want to make abstinence mandatory, with almost 302,000,000 people in the US, I think that it is an improbability, even though George Orwell foretold it as possible in his novel 1984. I wonder if 1984 is on the required reading list at Pat Robertson's Regent's University? hmmm...

[Note: Bill Maher on his Friday night show gave his perspective on Regent's U. and the DoJ scandal. Check it out on AmericaBlog.com. I love his new name for George W: President Shit-for-Brains!]

3. JAG lawyer: Military commissions avoid the law

THE LAWYER who won a key U.S. Supreme Court ruling on behalf of a former driver for Osama bin Laden has concluded the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay were created for a single purpose—to secure and use evidence obtained by coercion and torture.

That intent makes the creation of military commissions to try Guantanamo detainees “revolutionary,” the lawyer, Lt. Cmdr. Charles D. Swift, told Emory University law students and faculty this week.

The purpose of military commissions is “bringing law to a lawless place,” Swift said. But their use at Guantanamo is intended not to enforce established U.S. and military law, “but rather to avoid the law and any attempts of defense counsel to bring it back,” Swift added.

The right to open and free trials goes back hundreds of years in history to England and the Star Chamber. It was a secret court used by the Stuarts and previous kings to remove their political enemies. Besides secrecy it extensively relied on testimony that was coerced by torture with the accused not even being able to confront evidence or accusers. The commission that Lt. Cmdr. Swift is referring to is known as the Combat Status Review Tribunal under the Bush administration's pursuit of terrorists, and the trials are held mostly at Guantanamo. The Star Chamber was abolished in 1641. The US founding fathers had it directly in mind when they incorporated the right of habeas corpus into the Constitution. What is the thing that George Santayana said? Oh, yeah. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Wait, I forgot, George W slept through his history classes...

4. Russian Police Vow To Crush Planned Opposition Rallies

Russian police today said they would crack down harshly on attempts to hold unauthorized opposition rallies planned for April 14 in Moscow and April 15 in St. Petersburg, RFE/RL's Russian Service reported.

Metal police barricades have been erected on the central Moscow square where the March of Dissent is planned.

Special police forces, the OMON, are being deployed to the capital.

and

Chess star Kasparov fined over Russian protest

Riot police beat and detained protesters as thousands defied an official ban and attempted to stage a rally Saturday against President Vladimir Putin's government, which opponents accuse of rolling back freedoms Russians have enjoyed since the end of Soviet communism.

A similar march planned for Sunday in St. Petersburg has also been banned by authorities.

A coalition of opposition groups organized the "Dissenters March'' to protest the economic and social policies of Putin as well as a series of Kremlin actions that critics say has stripped Russians of many political rights. Organizers said only about 2,000 demonstrators turned out.

One of the protesters was Gary Kasparov, former World Chess Champion and Grand Master. No wonder Bush said of Putin: "I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy….I was able to get a sense of his soul. - they're soul mates and both champions of democracy...

5. World-Class Violinist Joshua Bell Overlooked at DC Rush Hour

The Washington Post conducted a fascinating experiment in mid-January. They placed world-renowned violinist Joshua Bell at the entrance to the L'Enfant Plaza Station in Washington, DC to conduct a little experiment. Would hearing a world-class violinist inspire commuters to stop and look up from their morning rush, or would they soldier on, ignorant of the Grammy-winning musician who has played with nearly all of the world's major orchestras? The results were an exercise in music appreciation and context:
In the three-quarters of an hour that Joshua Bell played, seven people stopped what they were doing to hang around and take in the performance, at least for a minute. Twenty-seven gave money, most of them on the run -- for a total of $32 and change. That leaves the 1,070 people who hurried by, oblivious, many only three feet away, few even turning to look."

Stacy Furukawa, a demographer at the Commerce Department, was the only commuter to recognize Bell.

Why would anyone be surprised? Most probably had on their iPods, were rushing to work, and used to hearing/seeing this sort of thing every day. I probably would have done the same thing. At least I think I would. More often than not when a Joshua Bell piece comes on the radio, I can recognize that it is him. There is just something about his technique and sound that strikes me. I've seen him in person but I can't watch him for very long. He makes the strangest faces when he plays, it's annoying to me. So, next time I hear someone singing/playing I'm going to stop and look and appreciate the music they are giving to the world. Hey, it might even be Joshua Bell. Seems he found a new venue to try out pieces.


Sources: 1. Chicago Sun-Times, 2. 365gay.com, 3. The Daily Report, 4. Radio Free Europe & ctv.ca, 5. Towleroad