Advice From New Gingrich

Here's a thought-provoking article he writes in businessweek. Basically he's arguing that that the concept of adolescence needs to be retired. I agree that there needs to be a rethinking but I'm not sure if the entire concept needs to be ditched. What bothers me about the concept is that you have (young) people acting like adults (working, taking drugs, having sex, committing crimes) but not required to pay the consequences like adults. I believe that biology makes treating adolescents as fully adult inadvisable but it does seem like there's a grey area that needs to be rethought.

The city rising

Check out this long, but interesting, article from TNR on how inner cities may be becoming gentrified. The rise of the city is something I've been keeping an eye since I started listening to Long Now seminars. I think the sustainable way of the future is the way of the city. There are increased dangers to be sure (terrorism, nuclear strikes, epidemics) but my sense is that the potential benefits outweigh them (increased efficiency, decreased transportation costs, increased connectedness). Your thoughts

Population Bust

Check out this interesting NYT piece on western population issues. It's long and covers quite a bit but it's worth reading because it goes over many of the facts and faces of demographics today. Nothing really new, but good coverage of what's going on.