Supreme Court: In a decision that defies right wing pandering, the Supreme Court today announced that the death penalty for felons who committed their acts prior to the age of eighteen is now considered "cruel and unusual punishment." Conservatives who pander to the eye-for-an-eye citizens among us will respond that the acts these felons have committed are also cruel and unusual, and no doubt they are correct.

Ultimately the question as always comes down to whether we want to have a government that is in the business of murdering our fellow citizens so that the rest of us can feel smug and sanctimonious while continuing to avoid building a society in which acts of violence committed by some members of our society are at the very least reduced by eliminating poverty, improving education, and behaving in a general manner that illustrates our Biblican heritage of being our brother's keeper.

The Space/Time Continuum: Since the end of World War Two, it has become cliche to remark on the Earth as a shrinking planet. Considering the rapidly growing population and the complexity of issues that everyone must face today, perhaps the Earth hasn't shrunk at all. Maybe it's expanding. If so, we'd better hope the growth is sustainable.

Speaking of Complex Places: Bill Gates, the world's richest man and co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, addressed the nation's governors recently and chided them over the collapse of education in America, particularly the floundering morass that we call "high school."

According to Gates, "today only one-third of our students graduate from high school ready for college, work and citizenship." Gates wants us to "design high schools to meet the needs of the 21st century." Gates gave the governors a figure meant to startle, perhaps even terrify them when he reported that China, a country that is yet to meet the standards of a developed nation, is matriculating six (6) times as many engineers as U.S. colleges. Gates places the blame on poorly designed high schools.

In typical CEO fashion, Gates has tossed down the gauntlet, but his sole suggestion for a solution to the problem was "high schools should be smaller." It was good to see someone of Gates' stature take a public stand on this issue. But we must remember that Brother Bill got to be the world's richest man by being the world's most effective salesman. Someone else will have to engineer the right changes in our educational system before the salesman can sell it.

You can read more about Gates' speech in the LA Times. It has also been broadcast on C-SPANN, so you know it'll show up again, repeatedly.