All he needs is a pair of rose-colored glasses.

I don't know about Australia, but the problems he mentioned are extremely
serious in this country. One out of four African-Americans between about 15 and
45 is involved with the criminal justice system. Bush's much-touted No Child
Left Behind law is only half funded.
About 30 years ago there was a tremendous push to get mental patients out of
the large state hospitals and back into the community. The only trouble was
that nowhere near enough money or authority was put into seeing that the
patients received adequate care and supervision. The result is that our
homeless shelters and prisons are full of mentally ill people who are not
receiving proper care.
What has that to do with botany or AHTA? I will never forget 20 years ago when
I was involved in a prison literacy program, I worked with some young men who
were learning disabled, most of them from the slums. One day I brought in some
spring flowers, and labeled them in English and Spanish. One of the men, about
21, told me he had NEVER BEFORE SEEN A REAL FLOWER. Some of the state prison
systems, notably in Florida, have had some very successful horticulture
programs.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)