Brian Gongol
If there's one thing it's probably OK for the government to subsidize, it's public education -- from kindergarten through college. As we become more of a service economy, "entry-level" education requirements are quickly moving above the high-school diploma into the associate's and bachelor's degree. But as states blow money on useless things like economic-development incentives like Vision Iowa, they're imposing higher tuition costs on students. Heavy student loan debt isn't a good thing; for those who take out loans, it's hard to pay off. For many others, high tuition costs and the burden of loans can be a major deterrent to getting necessary education. That's not to say that simply throwing more money at education will make it better, but public education across the board -- but especially at the secondary and post-secondary levels -- is a much better place to put our public dollars than in incentive packages.
Things must be better in Louisiana than we thought, since the state legislature there has taken to trying to regulate video games. Besides being a completely useless idea, it's a distraction from the real work at hand: Getting ready for the 2006 hurricane season.
When men give their ladies stress during pregnancy, it may be good for the kids, according to a study from Johns Hopkins.
Capitalism is environmentally green: AMD is planning to launch a new series of energy-efficient computer chips, which could shave a few percentage points off energy consumption. But they're not doing it for love of Mother Nature...it's just good for business.