Opinion

Our view on screening fliers: Does this 6-year-old look like a terrorist?

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 05:56:29 GMT

Eighty-year-old John Mitchell, of Irving, Texas, hardly fits the profile of a terrorist. But every time the gray-haired retiree flies,he is confused with one.

But every time the gray-haired retiree flies,he is confused with one. Mitchell, who apparently has the samename as someone on the government's terrorist watch list, discovered in 2005 that he could no longer print out a boarding pass at home or at an airport kiosk. He went to the ticket counter, learned his name was on a watch list and had to prove he was not that John Mitchell. It took him 13 months to straighten out the confusion - and then not very satisfactorily. Every time he flies, he still must go to the counter to show an ID.

U.S. Near Bottom for Infant Mortality in Industrial Nations --- The Rest have Universal Health Care

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 05:27:31 GMT

An Associated Press story today stated the United States is among the worst industrialized nations in infant mortality. It cited a World Health Organization report issued in 2004 which states that in the U.S. roughly seven babies died for every 1,000 live births before reaching their first birthday.

So here's my point: I would assume that most people in this country would do anything to reduce infant mortality, though perhaps I'm wrong since this same country doesn't seem able to pass SCHIP, which would help underprivileged children. Yet at the same time, if you look at the Save the Children report, all of those industrialized countries have something we do not: Universal Health Care.

Tom DeLay: "No American Is Denied Health Care In America"

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 06:00:34 GMT

Thursday, while speaking in the U.K., Tom DeLay warned that if the GOP doesn't get its act together, Hillary Clinton would be the next U.S. president. I think he picked the wrong audience though, because he stated that a Clinton victory would result in higher taxes and bloated government and also that she would seek to create a British-style publicly funded health care system. Since this was the U.K., that prediction that was met with thunderous applause.

When he then said, "By the way, there's no one denied health care in America. There are 47 million people who don't have health insurance, but no American is denied health care in America," he was met with derisive laughter.

Do India's Teachers Need Some Remedial Studies in Treatment of Students?

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 05:28:02 GMT

Several pretty bad incidents, two of which have resulted in deaths. First in Kerala, a nursery school teacher forced a three-year-old student to drink her own urine after the student wet herself in class. The teacher, Mary Dominic, of the government-supported nursery school at Muppliam village was suspended. She said that she was trying to cure the child of bed-wetting, by making her drink a spoonful of urine.

Bush: "Iraqis are saying 'God, I Love Freedom'"

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 05:23:06 GMT

Wednesday President Bush held a joint press conference with French President Nicholas Sarkozy. When asked about the quagmire that is Iraq, Bush said,

I don't --- you know quagmire is an interesting word. If you lived in Iraq and had lived under a tyranny, you'd be saying: God, I love freedom, because that's what's happened.

Giving thanks for all the sacrifices made

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:35:16 GMT

"In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned.

Nothing's bugging me

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:32:20 GMT

The ripped turf in my front lawn was a sure sign we had been visited in the night by skunks.

She was afraid she'd miss meatloaf night

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:31:26 GMT

Rosa Parks refused to move to the rear of the bus. Foxy Brown refuses to even get on the bus, Sadly, I suspect, the average American recognizes the name of acting-out rapper Foxy Brown more than they do civil ...

Once more, life outperforms art

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:30:25 GMT

I was watching the latest episode of the new TV series " Dirty Sexy Money " the other day and laughing at how entertaining but outrageous and unbelievable some of the plot twists are.

If she had 2, she'd be king

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:29:31 GMT

Despite one campaign glitch after another , Hilary continues to insist she wants to become our nation's second President Clinton.

Get off the bus, Gus

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:28:44 GMT

The latest 5-minute ride that took me 15 minutes got me to thinking: If our kids are, as most studies agree, getting fatter and weaker all the time, perhaps adding a bit of exercise to their daily regimen might ...

The birds

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:27:57 GMT

The bird calls were beautiful. Two competing yet harmonious sounds. The odd thing is, it was in a grocery store.

Giuliani: "Intensive Questioning" Works

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 02:57:58 GMT

This weekend on Bloomberg TV's Political Capital with Al Hunt program, Rudy Giuliani, who has said in the past that waterboarding may not be torture, that ...

"It depends on the circumstances," he said. "It depends on who does it."

... responded to criticism by John McCain, who has experienced torture firsthand and said Giuliani was wrong

Happy Haggard-versary, Ted

Sun, 04 Nov 2007 06:07:05 GMT

Has it been that long? Scandals such as the Larry Craig restroom arrest have all but erased last year's Ted Haggard "affair" from our memory.

Editorial: KMT confusion? It's election time

Sat, 03 Nov 2007 06:57:05 GMT

"Some things that [Ma] said may not be in sync with our highest standards ... but so long as he is elected, all the things that worry you will disappear."

Being lectured by a two-time presidential election loser is hardly an intimidating prospect, unless that person holds an honorary title in the Chinese Nationalist Party and his audience is the KMT faithful. via Taipei Times

Why is it so hard to define torture?

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 20:09:31 GMT

Michael Mukasey's confirmation as the 81st Attorney General of the United States appears in limbo, or even dimming, because he refuses to call waterboarding torture. He did say was that waterboarding was "repugnant" to him, but he did not say it was torture or illegal. Let's drop the legality aspect for now. Let's just look at trying to define something as torture. I have only one question: why is it so hard to define something as or as not torture?

Tricksters can't spoil our Halloween spirit

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 18:21:28 GMT

"Ugh, pumpkin guts are everywhere! What happened to them?"

Growing up, I didn't care for Halloween. I suppose that a lot of my dislike of the day stemmed from the fact that I was a rule follower and not a rule breaker. via Buffalo News

America heads toward bankruptcy

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 13:27:56 GMT

"You see the dollar going down, and interest rates going up"

If I had the power to summon all 16 of the people running for president to be in one place, I would want them in a Senate hearing room for a session that is taking place this morning. via Statesman Journal

No treat here

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 23:31:33 GMT

"Fire these people and the people who hired them, and then explain to the new people that the best way for a disaster relief agency to get good publicity is to do a good job helping disaster victims."

Halloween came early at FEMA. The treat of receiving timely and positive news about the response to the California wildfires turned into a trick on the American people.

Federal Emergency Management Agency employees masqueraded as reporters during an Oct. 23 'news' conference to ask FEMA's deputy director, Vice Adm. Harvey E. Johnson, about the feds' role in the relief efforts.

Real reporters were given only 15 minutes' advance notice of the hastily arranged 1 p.m. briefing. FEMA provided a toll-free number at which reporters could dial in to listen to the event, but they couldn't ask questions. The agency also provided access to a video uplink, which many networks, including Fox News and MSNBC, carried live. Read more

These candidates for appellate courts offer chance to restore their esteem

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 23:12:51 GMT

Lamentably, controversy still shadows Pennsylvania's appellate courts. The state Supreme Court rulings on the 2005 pay raise have inspired grass-roots outrage across the commonwealth. via The Morning Call