Tuesday, August 20, 2002

Poppies bloom in Afghan fields, again: This week, the UN reported that Kabul's opium ban has failed. By Scott Baldauf, The Christian Science Monitor. 10:54:46 PM    comment []

New, new economics: Small-Picture Approach to a Big Problem: Poverty, by Daniel Altman (NYT). A cadre of young economists who study development, including some of the most sought-after professors in the nation, are dissatisfied with supposed panaceas like balanced budgets, new infrastructure and financial stability. These economists are using basic insights about people's motivations and the flow of information to guide policy in emerging economies, one piece and one country at a time. 6:32:06 PM    comment []

Firefighters Vote to Boycott Bush Sept. 11 Tribute, by Steve Friess, Reuters. The International Association of Fire Fighters voted unanimously on Wednesday to boycott a national tribute to firefighters who died on Sept. 11, in an angry response to U.S. President George Bush's rejection of a bill that included $340 million to fund fire departments. Bush is expected to speak at the Oct. 6 ceremony in Washington D.C., where the National Fallen Fire Fighters Foundation is hosting its annual tribute to those who died in the line of duty during the prior year. [thanks, FmH!] 6:32:01 PM    comment []

Online Only Law School Graduates First Class With the graduation of its inaugural class, the first wholly Internet law school said it has already hit several milestones for growth. In less than four years, the Concord University School of Law has grown from 33 students to more than 1,000 today enrolled in the school's Juris Doctor, Executive Juris Doctor, and Master of Health Law programs. The school's faculty has also grown, from six at the school's launch in 1998 to more than 60 currently. Concord said more than 42 percent of its current students already have one or more advanced degrees, including 67 MDs, 33 Ph.D.s and 23 CPAs. Moreover, its students recorded a 50 percent pass rate on California's rigorous First Year Law Student's Exam, compared to the statewide first-time takers' rate of 30 percent. For more information, visit: http://www.concordlawschool.com [Syllabus.] 6:16:07 AM    comment []

War games rigged? General says Millennium Challenge 02 was almost entirely scripted. By Sean D. Naylor, Army Times. The most elaborate war game the U.S. military has ever held was rigged so that it appeared to validate the modern, joint-service war-fighting concepts it was supposed to be testing, according to the retired Marine lieutenant general who commanded the games Opposing Force. 6:16:06 AM    comment []

The Royal We: The mathematical study of genealogy indicates that everyone in the world is descended from Nefertiti and Confucius, and everyone of European ancestry is descended from Muhammad and Charlemagne. By Steve Olson, in The Atlantic. [thanks, rbr!] Humphrys began to notice something odd. Whenever a reliable family tree was available, almost anyone of European ancestry turned out to be descended from English royalty—even such unlikely people as Hermann Göring and Daniel Boone. Humphrys began to think that such descent was the rule rather than the exception in the Western world, even if relatively few people had the documents to demonstrate it. 5:54:17 AM    comment []