It worries me because of things like the recent "Kids for Cash" scam in Pennsylvania in which kids, unrepresented by lawyers, received huge out-of-state sentences for infractions that should have netted them a suspension or a week or two in jug. Two judges received millions in kickbacks. At least one kid took his own life. Who knows how many basically decent kids were introduced to lives of crime or otherwise psychologically damaged. In other words, I don't trust the governments that implement this kind of stuff.

On the other hand, we have parents assaulting teachers over a bad grade, big kids bringing in arsenals, little kids showing up with Daddy's (or Mommy's boyfriend's) handgun that they found under a sofa cushion, kindergarteners arriving with stashes of crack cocaine--the list is endless, and obviously teachers can't deal with these sorts of infractions. It's a huge problem, but I'm not sure police forces are the answer. Otherwise, all of the sudden every childish misbehavior is going to start looking like a major felony.

I have it, and they have solemnly informed me that there is no way their business customers can opt out of the evil Domain "Helper" Service. That came all the way from some vice president's office in Philadelphia after I spent two weeks on the phone with them about a year ago. Since they were kind enough to send their apologies via SnailMail, I wrote back and solemnly informed them that I would never, ever click on one of their sponsored links, and that if I ever saw that page, I would shut the browser window immediately. It wasn't much--the equivalent of throwing a spit wad, but they know how pissed off I am. I know I can make other DNS arrangements. It's about 87th on my list of crap to worry about.

Properly, it could be "assembly language" or you could also say, "I got my start on 8086 Assembler," which in my case would be true. But there's nothing wrong or incorrect with calling it "assembler." Frankly, I've never heard it called "Assembly" without the qualifier "Assembly Language." Harrumph.

I had a similar thought. Affordable broadband access is an excellent idea, but it doesn't do much good to a family whose electricity and gas service have been turned off.

Well, then I suppose my spouse must have been a lucky man, since we watched every episode together, purchased and read the book, and sought out Sagan's various works of science fiction. Our children were a little young to have benefitted from the original airing of the series, and I don't recall whether they ever saw it in reruns. But both of them read and enjoyed our small collection of books by Sagan. And I'd have to assert that we weren't the only young couple watching and enjoying the series together.

Sagan was a confirmed atheist, and there's no way I can see that Fox will be able to do an honest job of this. I hope Ann Druyan is maintaining some sort of control.

As for me, my husband died last month. I take a great deal of comfort in Sagan's assertion, which I can still hear clearly in my memory, that "we are made of star-stuff."

Thanks for these two posts. After I got it installed night before last I did nothing much with it all day yesterday--family emergency--so the only thing I've run into is the annoying correction feature. Today's a full work day. I'll refer to your posts as a checklist.

No kernel panics here. I did have a tooth-gnashing amount of irritation with an update needed for Adobe CS5, but aside from that misadventure (which took a couple of hours of swearing to put right), Lion has been a giant snooze. No overheating, no bashing and thrashing, no sudden power issues. In fact, "snooze" is probably the right word, since I haven't yet found anything about it to impress me, either.

I happen to have a journalist acquaintance who wrote a pretty good book about dog cloning in Korea. I can tell you you're both right and wrong. You will see the adorable beagle mentioned in the post just below. What you won't see, and (just as you say) won't want to see are the many dogs sacrificed for the project. Although Seoul and other cities are home to pampered pets, dogs are also a livestock commodity in Korea, and if you want to do a bit of research, you won't have any trouble getting all the dogs you want, and nobody will particularly care where they go.

We could've easily produced the first cloned dog right here in the United States, and researchers in Texas knew that. They also knew, full well, that Americans wouldn't stand for what had to be done in order to accomplish the feat.

In any event, if you like dogs, "Dog, Inc." is a pretty good read.

I don't think it's fear of pedophilia. As a parent I observed that from early childhood on my children began to develop their own senses of bodily integrity. It's one of the things that keeps the manufacturers of Band-Aids in business--gotta maintain that bodily integrity in the face of cuts, scrapes, and assorted boo-boos by sealing them up with adhesive bandages. The first trip to the beauty or barber shop is often a terrible trauma, and so are the holiday visits where one is plunked against one's will on the lap of some terrifying bearded stranger in a red suit. If you watch compassionate pediatricians, nurses, or even barbers, you'll see them explain to the child what they're about to do, what it will feel like, and why they are doing it.

We spend a lot of time cultivating and encouraging this sense of integrity in our children lest they be hurt or taken advantage of by strangers, but we're just reinforcing the sense of self that is already developing. It's natural for children not to want to be touched, mauled, or manhandled by people they don't know. It's natural for adults, too, only we've learned to repress it in certain instances. Children are working very hard on their independence and self-determination, and they're well aware that they can be overpowered by large adults. The wails of the child undergoing the TSA search go straight through any parent because the parent hears the violated child--not sexually violated but deprived of self-esteem and self-image by an adult who is a stranger.

I don't think TSA agents are pedophiles, though it would certainly be an appealing job for someone who was. I don't perceive the children as being groped. I do see them being swooped down on and overpowered by strangers, no matter how well-meaning. It has to be terrifying.

There has to be a better way of handling this.

True enough. But I will assert that there's a certain ROI when the grandchild is in the works.

My favorite "protect the women" argument has to do with the introduction of anesthesia in the 19th Century. Use of ether or chloroform, while risky, began to receive widespread acceptance after its introduction in the 1840's, and any number of physicians and surgeons worked to perfect it. One in particular, John Snow, recognized its possibilities during childbirth. He developed techniques for cutting back on pain (analgesia) without knocking the prospective mother out completely. Queen Victoria is known to have employed him for several of her numerous deliveries.

His work was raved against in many pulpits because it was perceived to be in violation of the book of Genesis, which states "you will bring forth your children in sorrow." Fortunately, rationality in tandem with numerous upper-crust British ladies, eventually prevailed.

What do we need with a space telescope or space exploration program anyway? Our children are being groomed to be the poorly fed, poorly housed, poorly educated drones of the likes of of the Koch Brothers--or worse, cannon fodder in the next forever war undertaken to line the pockets of the defense contractors. Other countries will gladly assume the exploration of frontiers and the advancement of knowledge while our kids get to learn about creation science.

Yah. I think in the vernacular in the U.S., hawks actually go out and hunt for stuff while buzzards chow down on stuff that's already dead. I guess that would mean "hawks" are somehow more noble. But to give the buzzards (or vultures) their due, they certainly play a part in cleaning up the place. I saw an American Black Vulture sitting as nicely as you please on an abutment overlooking the busiest throughway in my city about two years ago. Because of the way the road is cut, I was actually up the hill from him and above him. (Or her, who knows). I thought he would make an excellent PSA for driving safely and fastening seat belts.

Ah. I was going to point out that I always called them buzzards until someone told me it was politically incorrect.

I normally don't answer answers, but this time I'll make an exception:

Unless and until you've had day and night responsibility for an old person, especially an old person you love and who (once) loved you, there's really not much you can say on the subject. Elderly people with dementia or alzheimer's can and do wander. They become confused. They may be frail, but they can be out of sight in the blink of an eye--into the traffic, into an area of high crime or other danger, onto the construction site next door, into a water-filled ditch. What's worse is that they often wander away in the evening, just as the sun is going down and the rush hour is picking up. There's even a name for it--"sundowning." They require eternal vigilance, but every once in a while you have to go to the bathroom or turn the heat down under the soup you're trying to cook.

The current system, called Safe Return, is a national registry. You sign up, provide phone numbers and other details, and are given a bracelet or pendant with registration number that says something like, "This person has dementia. Please call 1-800-xxx-xxxx and provide the following number: nnnnn." It works as long as the person cooperates in wearing the bracelet or pendant and as long as they're found by a person of fundamental decency--as opposed to, say, a thug.

No, I don't believe that dementia patients or people with autism or any human should have to be microchipped like a pet dog. I do believe there's a problem. In this case the police perceived the problem, took a look at the available technology, and made an attempt to offer a solution. Their understanding of the situation was faulty in several areas, but at least they took a stab at it.