The war on drugs hit an embarrassing new low earlier this month with the search of former Bel Aire Mayor Harold Smith’s house. The Bel Aire police suspected Smith and his wife, both senior citizens, of growing marijuana in their backyard. So nearly a dozen officers spent about 45 minutes searching their home, including looking in dresser drawers, before realizing that the plants were . . . sunflowers. Bel Aire contracted for an independent review to see how it was possible for the police — plus the Sedgwick County district attorney’s office and a district judge — to mistake our state flower for pot. Sounds like they were the ones on drugs.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Democratic leaders criticized President Bush after his New Orleans speech last week for trying to use the disaster to promote “ideological experimentation.” And I was a little surprised myself that he chose that speech to outline plans for school vouchers, “worker recovery accounts,” and opportunity zones. But David Brooks opined in his New York Times column on Sunday that the reconstruction could be Bush’s version of FDR’s New Deal, and an opportunity to forge “a positive use of government that is neither big government liberalism nor antigovernment libertarianism.” That will be a battle, Brooks noted, but said that if Bush can “devote himself to executing his policies, the Gulf Coast will be his T.V.A., the program that serves as a model for what can be done nationwide.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
One thing that grates on my ears is hearing rock music classics used as sound-bite jingles for commercials. Is that how the younger generation will recognize, say, Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll,” as an anthem for Cadillac? Sad.
Here’s an interesting exception to the rule: Gravel-voiced singer Tom Waits, who has a policy of not doing commercials, recently turned down repeated offers to do an ad for General Motors, which proceeded to hired a soundalike and run the ads anyway in Europe.
Waits is now suing GM and the ad agency involved. “Apparently the highest compliment our culture grants artists nowadays is to be in an ad — ideally naked and purring on the hood of a new car. I have adamantly and repeatedly refused this dubious honor,” Waits said. “While the court can’t make me active in radio, I am asking it to make me radioactive to advertisers.”
Maybe there are a few rock stars who haven’t sold out entirely?
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Josh Marshall made a good point on his blog:
“Then there’s the president’s great line from the speech: ‘It is now clear that a challenge on this scale requires greater federal authority and a broader role for the armed forces.’’’
“No, it’s not. Actually, every actual fact that’s surfaced in the last two weeks points to just the opposite conclusion. There was no lack of federal authority to handle the situation. There was faulty organization, poor coordination and incompetence. . . .
“You don’t repair disorganized or incompetent government by granting it more power. You fix it by making it more organized and more competent. If conservatism can’t grasp that point, what is it good for?”
Right at this moment, I think it’s hard for a lot of people to come up with an answer for that one.
Posted by Melissa Cooley
The Kansas Supreme Court’s review of whether Attorney General Phill Kline should be able to obtain patient records from abortion clinics isn’t the only Kline case dealing with medical privacy. A federal appeals court in Denver heard a request last week by Kline’s office to lift an order blocking the enforcement of his 2002 opinion that all health-care providers — including school nurses, psychiatrists and social workers — have to report to authorities any indications of underage sex, even if it was consensual and between teens. Kline’s argument is that, according to state law, any sexual relations with children younger than 16 is a crime. But health-care providers — which already report possible child rapes — argue that the reporting requirement is an invasion of privacy, and, of particular concern, they worry that it could discourage some minors from getting needed medical services, such as prenatal care.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
This study adds weight to the theory that global warming is increasing the intensity of hurricanes. It says the number of hurricanes in the most powerful categories has increased sharply over the past few decades.
This may not be the last Katrina, so it is important that as we rebuild New Orleans, we prepare it for another. That means improving the levees and restoring the wetlands.
Posted by Melissa Cooley
With the unveiling of the much-lampooned “Kansas — as big as you think” campaign came a commitment to spend more money promoting the state’s potential for economic development and tourists, $4.5 million total. Because of the boost, Kansas has moved from 49th to 41st in the nation in state spending on travel and tourism in the past year (North Dakota, eat our dust!). Already this year, 50,000 people have inquired with the state’s travel and tourism office, compared with 57,000 inquiries for all of last year. Lots of them are said to be seeking agritourism experiences — wagon rides, sheep shearing, etc. Can it be that the goofy slogan is working?
Posted by Rhonda Holman
