To elucidate the impact of polarization on the daily lives of U.S. citizens, the research community may need to modify its benchmarks for what constitutes a successful public policy. The authors suggest that we need a better understanding of how polarization affects the quantity and substance of rulemaking, regulations, and judicial decisions. We also need to examine the effects of partisan polarization at the state and local levels of government, how much polarization complicates the conduct of defense and foreign policy, and precisely how polarization affects different policy areas. The publication should be of interest to members of Congress, presidential candidates, civil servants, political scientists, reporters, and stakeholders seeking to influence public policy.

Polarized Politics and Policy Consequences | RAND

An award-winning children’s book based on the true story of two male penguins who reared a baby penguin stands atop the American Library Association’s annual list of works that drew the most complaints from parents, library patrons and others, The Associated Press reported.

Published in 2005, the book, “And Tango Makes Three,” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, with illustrations by Henry Cole (Simon & Schuster), was named one of that year’s best by the association.

But some parents and educators complained that it advocated homosexuality.

Next week's headline: Parents complain that National Geographic documentary about lions advocates polygamy.

(I wonder if these complainants would self-classify as "educators.")

See also coverage in the LA Times.

Paternal Penguins Pique Parents

If there’s one thing we know about government, it’s that it’s much harder to dismantle programs than it is to create them in the first place.

Why George Bush’s 'Freedom Agenda' Is Here to Stay

The Internet revolution itself is not about hypertext, but the culture of participation and the sharing of knowledge.

Web 2.0 Won't Eat Your Mouse

If you think those who have long challenged the mainstream scientific findings about global warming recognize that the game is over, think again.

Then, ponder this: I defy the data!

Global-Warming Deniers: A Well-Funded Machine

According to a 2005 report of the International Centre for Prison Studies in London, the United States—with five percent of the world’s population—houses 25 percent of the world’s inmates.

Why Are So Many Americans in Prison?

From NYT:

Computer scientists from California universities have hacked into three electronic voting systems used in California and elsewhere in the nation and found several ways in which vote totals could potentially be altered, according to reports released yesterday by the state.

The California reports said the scientists, acting at the state’s request, had hacked into systems from three of the four largest companies in the business: Diebold Election Systems, Hart InterCivic and Sequoia Voting Systems. [Makers of Los Angeles County's InkaVote system did not submit its equipment in time, so it wasn't included.]

Thousands of their machines in varying setups are in use.

Matt Bishop said his group was surprised by how easy it was not only to pick the physical locks on the machines, but also to break through the software defenses meant to block intruders.

All the machines had problems, and one of the biggest was that the manufacturers appeared to have added the security measures after the basic systems had been designed.

By contrast, he said, the best way to create strong defenses is "to build security in from the design, in Phase 1."

From the LA Times:

"Right now, I don't see any smoking gun, honestly," said Stephen L. Weir, Contra Costa County's clerk-recorder and registrar of voters, and president of the California Assn. of Clerks and Election Officials.

Diebold also condemned the review, questioning why no election officials were included in the testing.

The review:

Secretary of State Debra Bowen began her top-to-bottom review of the voting machines certified for use in California on May 31, 2007. The review is designed to restore the public's confidence in the integrity of the electoral process and is designed to ensure that California voters are being asked to cast their ballots on machines that are secure, accurate, reliable, and accessible.

The review includes David Wagner, Matt Blaze, Eric Rescorla, and many others:

When exactly did House of Blues cross over the line between tribute and parody?

Hey kids, let's commit a felony!

We suggest that the technology exists to render format string vulnerabilities extinct in the near future.

Scientists Hack Into Electronic Voting Machines in California and Elsewhere

After a hearing lasting more than 40 days, Pakistan's Supreme Court on July 20th overturned the government's suspension of the court's chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

The court's ruling means that Mr Chaudhry is to be reinstated.

The decision is a major blow to General Pervez Musharraf, the president, and a tactical victory for the secular political parties, who have rallied behind the judiciary in protest at what they regard as an attempt to undermine judicial independence.

The ruling is also momentous because the Pakistani judiciary in the past has always been reluctant to rule against the military or a military-led government.

However, while the decision removes one source of political tension, it will do little to stop the terrorist violence now engulfing the country.

Justice wins

We investigate the networks of committee and subcommittee assignments in the United States House of Representatives from the 101st--108th Congresses, with the committees connected by ``interlocks'' or common membership. We examine the community structure in these networks using several methods, revealing strong links between certain committees as well as an intrinsic hierarchical structure in the House as a whole. We identify structural changes, including additional hierarchical levels and higher modularity, resulting from the 1994 election, in which the Republican party earned majority status in the House for the first time in more than forty years. We also combine our network approach with analysis of roll call votes using singular value decomposition to uncover correlations between the political and organizational structure of House committees.

Community Structure in the United States House of Representatives

This week, some big thinkers about biotechnology came to Washington for a "progressive bioethics summit." They invited me to go and talk to them.

At most liberal bioethics conferences, the main question in dispute, in one form or another, is whether to be more afraid of capitalism or religion.

For the past several days, while eating lunch at my desk, I've been watching video of the liberals at a conference they held last year. I know, I need to get a life. But the video is kind of poignant. It shows a bunch of nerds commiserating about being beaten up by a gang of bullies. The bullies, according to the nerd movie, are Bush-appointed neoconservative bioethicists who do the bidding of the Christian right.

I like having the freedom to soak my head in a new topic and come out saying the opposite of what I expected. Committing to a political identity would just get in the way.

Not everything that's legal is moral. The most interesting moral questions aren't the ones you can settle with simple rules. They're the subtle ones you find in literature and real life.

Liberals, progressives, and biotechnology