Chicago Nixed For 2016 Olympics

Ken AshfordObama Opposition, Red Sox & Other SportsLeave a Comment

Blog_Olympic_Logos To all the conservatives who rooted against America (which, not too long ago, you once considered a bad thing), pat yourselves on the back:  Mission accomplished.

Never mind that the event would have brought in 22.5 billion in economic activity (the equivalent of 315,000 permanent jobs in America), much less be a good place to exhibit American pride.  It's more important to conservatives that Obama lose.  Malkin's mocking the U.S. defeat; so is the Weekly Standard (the offices of the Weekly Standard, in its own words, "erupted" in "cheers" after the announcement). Fox News, which launched an aggressive effort against Chicago's bid, will no doubt follow.

Sad, really, that they're lust to see Obama "lose" trumps everything good.  Let's have a flashback to January 2008:

President Bush Meets with Chicago 2016 Bid Committee and United States Olympic Committee Members

THE PRESIDENT: I want to thank the members of the 2016 Chicago bid to get the Olympics. Listen, Mr. Mayor, you and your committee have put together a great plan. It's a plan that will make America proud.

They say that the Olympics will come to Chicago if we're fortunate enough to be selected, but really it's coming to America, and I can't think of a better city to represent the United States than Chicago.

This is a well thought out venue. There will be — the athletes will be taken care of. People who will be coming from around the world will find this good city has got fantastic accommodations, great restaurants. It will be safe.

And so I — this country supports your bid, strongly. And our hope is that the judges will take a good look at Chicago and select Chicago for the 2016 Olympics.

Kevin Drum reminds us:

Remember, in 2005, when New York was eliminated as a host city for the 2012 Olympics, and liberals everywhere giggled like children and mocked the Bush administration?

Oh wait, that didn't happen.

UPDATE:  One conservative columnist, at least, has some sense:

I don't think conservatives should be celebrating the U.S. losing out on the Olympic games. The Olympics is always a chance to put our national pride on display. However, this might be an instructive lesson on how Obama views the world and possibly the miscalculations of his political team.

Obama looks bad. Anyone disagreeing is being disingenuous. But conservatives should temper their excitement. Is losing the Olympics enough to really go nuts over an Obama loss?

Oh, and Rio won, by the way.

Blame it on Rio.

Letterman’s Confession

Ken AshfordPopular CultureLeave a Comment

Late Show with David LettermanImage via Wikipedia

I'm fairly sure it is none of our business who David Letterman had sex with.  But he told us anyway.  He didn't have to; the guy who was blackmailing him was arrested.

Still, you don't see this kind of honest very much, delivered with humility, candor and humor.  Interesting TV.  Slate calls it a “deeply personal, bizarre monologue.”

From a PR standpoint, Letterman handled this perfectly.  He has a deep resrvoir of good will with the public, and he dipped into it, delivering a glib retelling of the extortion attempt and his "bad behavior" that led up to it.

The extortionist, CBS said, is an employee of the CBS show "48 Hours" named Robert J. Halderman.  He was "let go" by CBS yesterday.

UPDATE:  One of the female employees Letterman had a sexual affair with was named Stephanie Burkitt.  She's a New Hampshire native and a Wake Forest graduate (she's following me!).  She made some on-air appearances for The Late Show.  That relationship ended in 2003, before David's child was born (and before David married the child's mother).  Burkitt later became involved with the Halderman, who apparently accessed Burkitt's diary, and got the goods on Letterman.  Burkitt is apparently "mortified" that Halderman would have done something like that.

UPDATE:  There's a lot of crowing from conservative blogs about Dave Letterman, who, as a late-night talk show host, has had his share of laughs about other people's sex scandals — people like David Vitter and Larry "Wide Stance" Craig and Governor Mark Sanford.  I'm not sure the comparisons are the same. 

For one thing, David Vitter and Larry Craig and Mark Sanford ran for office as politicians esposing "family values".  David Letterman never claimed to be a "family values" champion.  He certainly can't tag him as being a "moral hypocrite".

Secondly, I'm not sure where there "sex scandal" lies here.  There's no evidence to suggest that Letterman, who got married six months ago, cheated on his wife, unlike the objects of Letterman's jokes about past sex scandals of others.  He was, at the time of these "bad" things, a single man.  I don't think single men with girlfriends should cheat on those girlfriends, but I don't think it rises to the level of marital infidelity.  And for all we know, Letterman may have carried on these trysts when he wasn't involved with someone (he had an on-and-off relationship with his current wife for many years).

The only real allegation of true immorality comes from the fact that Letterman apparently slept with co-workers, and apparently subordinates.  To my mind, this is rather low on the list of sins.  Yes, such behavior could involve power plays and the subordination of women, all of which are inappropriate office behavior.  But it doesn't automatically mean this happened in this case.  Isn't it possible that these women were mature consenting adults, and they received no benefit/promotion (or punishment/demotion) from their liasons with David Letterman?  Is there any evidence — any whatsover — of this?

The story here is that Letterman was involved in "sex scandals".  The story here is that Letterman was the victim of extortion.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

The Jeanne Dixon Of Baseball

Ken AshfordRed Sox & Other SportsLeave a Comment

Asked prior to the Mariners game against the Toronto Blue Jays last week for a prediction for the game, Mike Blowers, a former Mariners player and now color commentator, said he expected rookie Matt Tuiasosopo to hit his first big league home run in the game.

But not only that – he predicted that it would come on a 3-1 count.

But not only that – he predicted that the pitch would be a fastball.

But not only that – he predicted it would come in Tuiasosopo's second at bat.

Guess what? All of these things happened.

Check it out — this is fun…

New North Carolina Laws Day

Ken AshfordCrime, Local Interest2 Comments

Being the beginning of another fiscal year, about 100 new laws go into effect in the State of North Carolina today.  They're all listed here (PDF).

But just so you know, here are a few:

  • Local governments get to regulate golf carts now. Phew.  Our long national nightmare is… uh… over?
  • It's now illegal to sell novelty lighters. (A "novelty lighter" is defined as a lighter which is designed to look like a "cartoon charactor, toy, gun, watch, musical instrument, vehicle, animal, food or beverage, or similar articles, or that plays musical notes" — in other words, a lighter that might attract kids,  A regular lighter with a logo, however, doesn't count)  
  • "Truth in Music Performances" Law: It's now illegal to give a live musical performance pretending to be somebody else (e.g., Elvis) unless you make it clear that it's a "tribute".
  • You can no longer object to the location of an ABC store, if the municipality allowed the store to be located there after a public hearing.
  • North Carolina will conduct a swine flu-related study to see if it needs to change the wild boar hunting season.
  • Municipalities can take vehicles abandoned on public property to the junkyard if the vehicle is more than five years old and worth less than $500 (it used to be $100).
  • It's still illegal for motor vehicles to stop on a highway in a way which impedes traffic, but now there's an exception for garbage trucks collecting garbage.  Lovely.
  • Beaver traps with a mouth greater than 7.5 inches and less than 26 inches can only be placed in water where beavers hang out. [Insert your own joke here]
  • Municipalities can go after chronic violators of public nuisance ordinances by serving a single notice.
  • It's now easier for residential areas off of state roads to get speed bumps put in.
  • Before, stray dogs and cats which bit a human could be tested for rabies and if needed, euthanized; now, it applies to stray ferrets as well.
  • Safety rules which applied to skiers also apply to snowboarders and other winter sports people.
  • It's still illegal to drive while watching TV or a computer screen, but GPS screens don't count.  Neither do factory-installed video screens which provide weather or radio information.  Glad we got that straightened out.
  • Public wine-testing events were always legal (with a permit); now beer-tasting events are legal (with a permit) as well.  NASCAR enthusiasts rejoice.
  • If you want to be a licensed marriage or family therapist in NC, they have to run a criminal background check on you now beforehand.
  • Dealers who buy gold or other precious metals from the public have to be licensed. That law is probably a fallout from the Cash4Gold.com scandal.

Big intrusive government bastards…. messing with my beaver traps and boar hunting.

Oh, and while I'm on the topic, there are two other notable new criminal laws on the books:

  • It's now illegal — a Class 1 misdemanor — to vandalize a Port-a-potty (NOTE: Actually, this law isn't effective until December 1, 2009, so you have a couple months of scot-free Port-a-potty destruction ahead of you, if you are so inclined).
  • TEXTING WHILE DRIVING IS ILLEGAL — Okay, this doesn't start until December 1, 2009, but don't do it anyway.  I'm driving NC roads…

Governor Perry (R-Tx) Trying To Bury The Willingham Case

Ken AshfordCrime1 Comment

Willinghamfam

I've blogged twice now (here and here) about Cameron Todd Willingham, the Texas man who was tried, convicted, and eventually executed on what now appears to be really bad "expert" testimony.  In a nutshell, arson "experts" were convinced that Willingham intentionally started a house fire intending to kill his children (all three died).  There was no other evidence against Willingham — just the opinion testimony by arson "experts" who were, as it turned out, not experts at all.

This is, sadly, quite common in Texas — people convicted and/or executed for "bad science" offered as evidence through opinion testimony.  So overwhelming pervasive is the problem that Texas decided to adopt a Forensic Science Committee.

Well, guess what happened when the Forensic Science Committee was set to look at the case of Cameron Todd Willingham?  From yesterday's New York Times:

Gov. Rick Perry replaced the chairman and two members of the state’s Forensic Science Commission, two days before the commission was to hear evidence that Texas executed an innocent man. The new chairman canceled the hearing, at which an arson expert was to present a report critical of the arson analysis that led to the conviction of the man, Cameron T. Willingham. Mr. Willingham, above, was executed in 2004 after being convicted of setting a 1991 fire in which his three children died. Governor Perry, who was in office at the time of the execution, has expressed confidence in Mr. Willingham’s guilt. “This is like the Saturday night massacre,” said Barry Scheck, co-director of the Innocence Project, which has been working on the case. “It’s like Nixon firing Archibald Cox to avoid turning over the Watergate tapes.”

Scheck, who has said there is "no doubt" about Willingham's innocence, was alluding to former President Richard Nixon's firing of independent special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who had been probing the Watergate scandal in 1973.

The governor's office claimed that there was nothing unusual about replacing members of the Forensic Science Commission, saying that some of their terms have expired.

The Houston Chronicle adds some color to the story.  One of the commission members ousted by Governor Perry said nothing about his term expiring. 

The report by the arson expert (Craig Beyler) concludes that the findings at the heart of Willingham's conviction — that the fire that killed his daughters was set deliberately — "could not be sustained" by either modern science or the standards of the time.

Two previous reports by other experts also concluded that the fatal blaze was not arson, but Beyler's is the first commissioned by the state.

Regarding the Beyler report, the Chronicle writes:

Beyler, a nationally known fire science expert, was commissioned not by a newspaper or an advocacy group, but by a state commission chaired by Perry's own political appointee.

So, when Beyler concluded recently there was no credible scientific evidence to support the finding that the Willingham fire was arson, and likened the investigative methods used to folklore and mysticism rather than science, it appears that the governor had to find a way to silence him.

At first, Perry tried to discredit Beyler, using air quotes in an interview with The Dallas Morning News two weeks ago to refer to “latter-day supposed experts” who have cast doubt on Willingham's conviction.

Then, this week, days before Beyler was scheduled to present his findings to the Texas Forensic Science Commission in a public meeting Friday, Perry made a move so blatantly political that it was stunning even for a candidate locked in a tight primary battle.

He canned the commission's chairman, Sam Bassett, his own two-term appointee, and replaced him with a new chairman who promptly canceled Friday's meeting on the Beyler report.

It's pretty clear what's going on.  Governor Perry was governor when Willingham was executed.  He refused to grant clemency for Willingham, at the time ignoring the conclusions of many many arson experts who said that the conviction of Willingham was based on "folklore" forensics conducted by untrained non-experts.  Now, in the middle of a heated re-election bid, the governor is trying to sweep the Willingham execution under the rug by removing state investigators intent on looking into the matter.

More from CNN

Another Day, Another Michelle Bachmann Lie-Meme

Ken AshfordHealth Care, Obama Opposition, Sex/Morality/Family Values1 Comment

So here's what The World's Worst Politican Evah ™ said on the floor of the House last night:

For the video-impaired, here's a transcript:

"[T]he bill orders that these clinics protect patient privacy and student records. What does that mean? It means that parents will never know what kind of counsel and treatment that their children are receiving. And as a matter of fact, the bill goes on to say what's going to go on — comprehensive primary health services, physicals, treatment of minor acute medical conditions, referrals to follow-up for specialty care — is that abortion? Does that mean that someone's 13-year-old daughter could walk into a sex clinic, have a pregnancy test done, be taken away to the local Planned Parenthood abortion clinic, have their abortion, be back and go home on the school bus that night? Mom and Dad are never the wiser.

[Emphasis mine]

By the way, this is classic GOP fearmongering.  You know how you can tell?  Because it comes in the form of a question. 

As in "Does the mean….?" or "Could it be that…?"

Example:  "The Constitution says that the president is commander-in-chief of the armed forces.  Does this mean that Obama will command the United States Marines to come to your home, rape your children, and drink the blood of your grandmother?"

Then they'll add (usually in a follow-up on MSNBC's Hardball), "Well, it doesn't say otherwise.  So naturally, we must take it to mean that Obama will command the United States Marines to come to your home, rape your children, and drink the blood of your grandmother."

That's how the game works.  Learn it.  Look for it.

Anyway, back to Bachmann.

What she's doing is echoing a bottom-dweller convervative argument.  The origin of this argument, which has been hitting GOP inboxes in chain-letter fashion, seems to have come from blogger Peter Fleckenstein and trumpeted by the anti-abortion Liberty Counsel, which recently claimed that Page 992 of the bill "will establish school-based 'health' clinics. Your children will be indoctrinated and your grandchildren may be aborted!"

The nonpartisan (and Pulitzer-Prize winning) PolitiFact, which provided the Liberty Counsel origin, found the assertion baseless, giving the charge its lowest rating, "Pants on Fire."

It concludes:

"The money could also be used to provide 'mental health assessments, crisis interventions, counseling, treatment and referral to a continuum of services including emergency psychiatric care, community support programs, inpatient care and outpatient care.' The clinics would have the option to provide 'oral health, social and age-appropriate health education services including nutritional counseling.'

"Clinics getting federal dollars must act in accordance with federal, state and local law, according to the bills. For example, clinics in Louisiana are not even allowed to counsel students on abortion, according to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals."

But these inconvenient facts are overlooked by Bachmann and her brethren.  None of the three bills in the House explicitly prohibit the use of the school-based clinics to steer kids to abortion clinics, so naturally allow for it, according to the odd conservative logic.

And soon you'll see the lie-meme popping up in ads, complete with scary music underneath, presenting this as truth.  Oh, and Beck, too.

Watch.  You'll see.

The Japanese Mystery Cafe

Ken AshfordRandom MusingsLeave a Comment

20091001-ogori

In Kashiwa, Japan, the mysterious Ogori Cafe had a unique way of filling your order. According to Cabel Maxfield Sasser:

At this cafe, you get what the person before you ordered. The next person gets what you ordered.

The point of the cafe seems to have been to introduce surprise into an ordinary day and to encourage strangers to interact with one another. And I love what Sasser's friend ordered for the customer after him:

Mike went up to the cafe, slapped down a couple thousand yen (~$25), and ordered a little bit of everything: some ice cream, some snacks, some candy, some drinks, a Japanese horn-of-mysterious-plenty intentionally set up as a shocking surprise for the next lucky customer.

After making his order, Mike received single iced coffee.

Unfortunately, the Ogori Cafe seems to have been short-lived. Sasser reports that it's now gone.

Over The Top

Ken AshfordYoutubeLeave a Comment

This hockey open for the UAF Nanooks (aka "The Alaska Nanooks") strikes me as a bit much.  I mean, a hockey playing polar bear destroying the solar system?  First of all, how does he breathe?  And secondly, what does that have to do with hockey, really?

It should be noted that the UAF Nanook hockey team rejected this as being "too eighties", presumably because of the Kenny Loggins music.

I think that's the least of its problems.

The White House Does A Reality Check on Glenn Beck

Ken AshfordRight Wing and Inept Media1 Comment

Read it.  Here's my favorite:

RHETORIC:   BECK SAID VANCOUVER LOST $1 BILLION WHEN IT "HAD THE OLYMPICS."   Glenn Beck said, "Vancouver lost, how much was it? they lost a billion dollars when they had the Olympics."  [Transcript, Glenn Beck Show, 9/29/09]
 
REALITY:   VANCOUVER'S OLYMPICS WILL NOT TAKE PLACE UNTIL 2010.   Vancouver will host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games from February 12 – 28, 2010 and March 12-21, 2010, respectively. [Vancouver2010.com, accessed 9/29/09]
Yup.  Beck claimed that Vancouver lost $1 billion when it had the Olympics, even though Vancouver hasn't had the Olympics yet!

Nate Silver vs. Strategic Vision

Ken AshfordRepublicansLeave a Comment

In a series of blog posts, statistician Nate Silver has made a compelling case that Strategic Vision, LLC is a public realtions/polling firm which, put bluntly, makes up data.

In this post, Silver looks at a recent poll conducted by SV, which made some news.  The upshot of the poll, commissioned by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, is that Oklahoma public high school students are extraordinarily stupid.  The poll showed, for example, that only 23% of public high schools students could name America's first president (George Washington). 

I saw that poll reported in the news; I almost blogged about it.  But where I was left astonished, Silver smelled a rat.  And he went on to make a convincing argument that the numbers appear to be, quite simply, fabricated.

In another post, Silver notes that Strategic Vision appears to make up numbers because in its polling, a statistically high number of the Strategic Vision's raw numbers have trailing digits that end in 5,6,7,8 or 9 (as in 148, 326, 49, etc.)  Obviously, when you are dealing with polls, trailing digits of 1, 2, and 3 ought to show up just as often as trailing digits of 7, 8, and 9.  It's suggestive, albeit not conclusive, that Strategic Vision makes shit up.  "Over a sample of more than 5,000 data points, such an outcome occurring by chance alone would be an incredible fluke—millions to one against," writes Silver, who allows that "some intrinsic, mathematical reason that certain trailing digits are more likely to come up than others" may be an alternative, yet unproven explanation.

But Nate Silver isn't alone on this crusade.  In fact, he didn't even start it.  The governing industry body for pollsters, the American Association for Public Opinion Research  (AAPOR) criticized Strategic Vision LLC for refusing to disclose "essential facts" about surveys it conducted prior to the 2008 New Hampshire and Wisconsin primaries (AAPOR was conducting a study because some of the polls in the 2008 election were wildly off).  Strategic Vision is not a member of the AAPOR (nearly all major polling firms are), which alone ought to tell you something.

Strategic Vision, which normally gets retained by Republican/conservative clients to conduct polling, has a history of questionable practices:

Details of Strategic Visions polls have long raised flags among pollsters, in part because it refuses — unlike other pollsters — to release "cross-tabs" — the detailed demographic breakdowns of individual polls. A source noted other anomalies to me today. One is that the pollster always reports having called a round number of respondents — unusual in an industry that typically uses large call centers and winds up — as casual poll readers know — with uneven numbers of calls.

Another question is how the firm pays for its polls. Its website lists at least 172 public polls, and at a stated cost of $30,000 a poll, that's an expenditure of more than $5 million — quite a sum for a small firm.

A third question has to do with the firm's offices. Its website, as recently as last month, listed offices in Atlanta, Madison, Seattle, and Tallahassee — all of which match the locations of UPS stores, rather than actual offices. The addresses are now gone from the site entirely, though it now also lists a Dallas presence.

If the allegations are true, this rises above the usual "lies, damned lies, and statistics".  This is outright fraud committed by a polling company on the American people.

Did I mention that Strategic Vision routinely conducts polls for Republican and conservative think-tanks and causes?

I’m Shocked, Shocked That There’s Hyperbole In The House

Ken AshfordHealth CareLeave a Comment

I wasn't going to write about this, but there was some Democratic theatrics on the House floor yesterday.  A Democratic congressman — Alan Grayson of Florida – got up in the House and made a tongue-in-cheek mockery of the Republican health care plan.  The freshman Florida Democrat said the Republican health care plan calls for sick people to "die quickly."

"It's a very simple plan," Grayson said in the speech Tuesday night. "Don't get sick. That's what the Republicans have in mind. And if you get sick America, the Republican health care plan is this: die quickly."

Here's the vid:

This morning, Republicans are outraged and insulted about the terrible lack of decorum, etc.  Outraged and insulted, I say.  Rep. Tom Price, R-Georgia, announced Wednesday he will introduce a resolution condemning Grayson for the comments.

Rep. Jimmy Duncan (R-TN) declared:

"That is about the most mean-spirited partisan statement that I've ever heard made on this floor, and I, for one, don't appreciate it."

Really? The most mean-spirited partisan statement ever heard on the House floor?  Apparently, they are oblivious to similar statements from their own ranks.  Ryan Grim at the Huffington Post took a preliminary look at a few Republican representatives who claimed the Democratic health care plan spelled death for Americans:

Take Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.), who said in July: "Last week, Democrats released a health care bill which essentially said to America's seniors: drop dead."

Or Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.), a doctor, who reviewed the public health insurance option in July and diagnosed that it is "gonna kill people."

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), not one to pull punches, suggested on the House floor that Congress "make sure we bring down the cost of health care for all Americans and that ensures affordable access for all Americans and is pro-life because it will not put seniors in a position of being put to death by their government."

July was a busy time for House floor death sentences. Also that month, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), noted: "One in five people have to die because they went to socialized medicine…I would hate to think that among five women, one of 'em is gonna die because we go to socialized care."

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) had a similar assessment. "They're going to save money by rationing care, getting you in a long line. Places like Canada, United Kingdom, and Europe. People die when they're in line," he said on the House floor in July.

UPDATE:  A video compilation:

Classic case of dishing it out, but not being able to take it.

Hey! New Supreme Court!

Ken AshfordSupreme CourtLeave a Comment

Okay.  Most of you know the drill.  Sit still, look at the camera, smile, and shut up.

6a00d83451bd4469e20120a601b8a1970c-400wi

Kennedy, shut up!  He doesn't want to hear you!  Sonia, can you smile, please?  Clarence, don't slouch.  Geez.  (Every year… the same thing….)

Can someone go see where Ruth is?  Didn't she know… oh, hi there, hun.  Didn't see you back there.  My bad.  How are you feeling?  Fellas, why don't one of you let Ruthie have a chair?

Fellas?

Ok, never mind.  Okay.

Folks, look up here.  Scalia, don't.  Don't do the finger thing behind Alito's head.  It just wastes film.

Okay.  Look at the camera.  The birdie.  Whatever.  Smile.

6a00d83451bd4469e20120a5aaee46970b-400wi

Okay.  I guess that's the one.  Whatever.  We're done.  Thank you all.

Justice Ginsburg, you can go too.  Ginsburg?  Can someone see if he's alive?

Quote Of The Day

Ken AshfordElection 2012Leave a Comment

Sarah's got a book coming out soon called "Goin' Rogue" (I guess "maverick" was taken).  She reportedly got a $7 million advance on the book, which is good for her, because she's not exactly taking the lecture circuit by storm:

Palin's bookers are said to be asking for $100,000 per speech, but an industry expert tells Page Six: "The big lecture buyers in the US are paralyzed with fear about booking her, basically because they think she is a blithering idiot."

Imagine my surprise.

Sarah_palin--300x300

If Republicans Are Worried About Wasteful Government Programs….

Ken AshfordHealth Care, Sex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

… and that's why they supposedly oppose the public option, then why are they throwing money at government programs that don't work?

That's right.  The Senate Finance Committee yesterday rejected two amendments to its health bill which would have added the public option.  But what amendment did the Republicans and Blue Dog Dems vote for?  Providing more money to abstience education programs:

The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday night approved an amendment providing tens of millions of dollars to fund abstinence education programs for teens.

The proposal, offered by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), would provide $50 million per year through 2014 exclusively for abstinence education programs. The measure would effectively reinstate the controversial Title V program, which offered $50 million per year to states for abstinence education, but prohibited them from tapping the funds for other sex-ed subjects like contraception. The same prohibition would accompany the Hatch amendment. “Abstinence education works,” the Utah Republican said.

The vote was 12 to 11, with Democratic Sens. Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) and Kent Conrad (N.D.) voting with every Republican to secure passage of the measure.

Hatch, defending the truly ridiculous government spending, said, "Abstinence education works."

No, Orrin.  It doesn't. 

The facts have been stubborn on this. The nonpartisan National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy found that abstinence programs do not affect teenager sexual behavior. A congressionally-mandated study, which was not only comprehensive but also included long-term follow-up, found the exact same thing. Researchers keep conducting studies, and the results are always the same.

Whatever merits one hopes abstience-only education possesses, the bottom line is this: IT DOESN'T WORK.  Yet, the Republicans want to fund it anyway, at the expense — and as part of — a healthcare reform bill intended to bring low-cost affordable health care to everybody.

Insane.