Comments on: Curfews as further erosion of a healthy public life

By: Chris Hardie's Weblog

Chris Hardie's Weblog — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 04:05:04 +0000

Using real names in online communities

I remember the first time I was logging onto a remote computer system (a BBS) and was asked to choose a handle - an alias for my online activities. There'd been plenty of times where a computer game or other piece of software had asked for one, but ...

By: Jean

Jean — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 21:36:23 +0000

I suppose the policy is, in part, a reaction to the growing drug traffic in this community, and perhaps -- perhaps -- a wish to protect "our" children from that threat, or perhaps, temptation.

I heard a local (and respected) physician say, just yesterday: our greatest growth in production, manufacturing, and employment in this community can be found in the buying and selling of illegal drugs. We have moved from George Orwell's "cheap palliatives" (beer, cigarettes, sugar, etc.) to much more expensive ones.

I can't help but think that our community -- like many others -- wants to see a quick fix to problems with deep roots. Like applying Roundup to poison ivy. Still, as any gardener knows, Roundup is no quick fix.

Neither is a curfew.

By: Adam Bee

Adam Bee — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 04:31:54 +0000

Yeah, any policy is a balance of many interests, including how specific it can be and how easy it is to implement. It's hard to interview every 19-year-old that comes into a bar to see if he or she can drink responsibly, for example. Perfect policies don't exist, so a heuristic like an age limit can often be optimal.

I agree that this policy is almost certainly too broad. It's hard to come up with specific alternatives, though.