This is a wonderful piece on dead zones in U.S. law. Tolerated violation of laws is a facinating topic to me. It certainly weakens the system.

This has some wonderful insight into illegal versus legal drug use, copyright infringement and pornography.

I admit it; my geography isn't fantastic. I can put most of the US states on the map, but I've lived my life on the east coast, and I get a little vague in the mid-west and west. I do have some clue - I've driven cross country a couple of times, but after playing US state tetris, I'm getting much, much better.

This is certainly one of the more interesting and useful online tools I've come across.

Would you like to know what the US Government is actually up to?

I was astonished to read this passage in a BBC article today "Judge overturns US web porn law":

"It is not reasonable for the government to expect all parents to shoulder the burden to cut off every possible source of adult content for their children, rather than the government's addressing the problem at its source," government lawyer Peter D Keisler wrote following the four-week hearing, the Associated Press news agency reported.

I do not think that our government is responsible for babysitting our children. I do expect parents to shoulder the burden of being aware and selective of what their children experience.

In our media and marketing rich society, it is tough parenting. There are so many influences to draw children's attention to and away from. We teach them ideals and morals, and try to shield them from harm. The Internet has plenty of material inappropriate for children. So does downtown Boston. The Internet has given us almost magical access to information and media, and choosing to bring it into one's home carries a huge responsibility to monitor and guide.

Yesterday, I heard a speaker on NPR talking about the portrayal of a young boy's dubious manner toward an older (16) girl on the Disney show The Suite Life of Zock & Cody. In brief, he was very sexually directed, for a pre-adolescent. The speaker was surprised by the content, but he was aware of it because when his kid watched TV, he was there too. He'd read a book or watch.

It isn't surprising to me that, Disney, a company who's core PR is their wholesomeness, has targeted content with some questionable role models. But it does surprise me that Mr. Keisler expects the Internet, the free speech arcade mall of the world, not to have questionable content.%