Louisiana politicians better be careful, or they may trigger a taxpayer backlash against exorbitant rebuilding costs. Take Sens. David Vitter and Mary Landrieu’s request for $40 billion in Army Corps of Engineer projects. Please. That’s 10 times the corps’ annual budget and would fund projects that have nothing to do with flood protection.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Let’s hope the monthlong Boeing Machinists union strike is close to resolution. Both sides this week tentatively agreed to a contract that, if approved Thursday by union rank and file, will get the planemaker back to work at a crucial time for the local economy and the aviation industry.
A work resumption would also be good news for the 7,500 local workers at Spirit AeroSystems who depend for their livelihoods on Boeing orders.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
It’s good to hear that the Tallgrass Film Festival will be held after all this year, in late October, albeit in a shortened format playfully dubbed “Shortgrass” by organizers.
Local filmmaker Tim Gruver started the festival in 2003 despite predictable local nay-saying, but his sudden death this summer left the future of the event in doubt.
Tallgrass has too much promise to let it wither away. With aggressive new leadership, the festival could still develop into a strong cultural offering for the city. Gruver had the right vision; now it is up to others to bring it to fruition.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Steve Abrams, the Arkansas City veterinarian who chairs the Kansas State Board of Education, is leading the fight to inject criticisms of evolution into state science standards so kids can weigh the supposedly competing evidence and make up their own minds. But Abrams’ mind sure sounded made up in a speech last week in Independence, as reported by the Lawrence Journal-World:
“At some point in time, if you compare evolution and the Bible, you have to decide which one you believe. That’s the bottom line,” Abrams said.
At the same event, board member Iris Van Meter asked the crowd to “pray for six of the conservative members that God will use us to see some life-changing things happen for the children of the state of Kansas.”
More evidence that what the state of Kansas really needs is some changing of the board.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., has some explaining to do about how he came to sell stock in HCA Inc. a month before news of the hospital chain’s disappointing second-quarter earnings sent the stock price into a dive — and from a supposedly blind trust. Two federal inquiries rightly are seeking answers, as are Americans who just saw Martha Stewart do jail time for obstructing justice related to insider trading. This also presents the Republican-controlled Congress with another prime opportunity to show that its oversight of members’ ethics isn’t a joke. Either way, it’s not the sort of news Frist needed his name attached to if he’s serious about running for president.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Here are some of the better submissions that didn’t make it onto our printed page in last week’s cartoon caption contest. The winner was Bruce Cole again. Bruce easily holds the record for number of wins. This time he not only won, but even had an entry make the "Runners up" category. As a reminder, here’s the cartoon with his caption as it appears on today’s editorial page. Click on the image to enlarge it. Bernie Lantz of Bel Aire submitted: "Bad hairdo, no football team, I’m still in Wichita, Dorothy!" From Jennifer Meek of Wichita: "That chicken and fraidycat won’t even play with me during basketball season!" Michael Meinecke Had other things on his mind: "Maybe the Chiefs could use a politically correct mascot…" Reader Richard Julius, always a prolific entrant, sent in: "Baseball anyone???" Finally, from Doug Oxler: "And I’m stuck in here cheering for volleyball!"
His state party is defined by its conservative-moderate divide, but one of the contenders for next year’s GOP gubernatorial nomination plans to run as a label-less Republican. Robin Jennison, former Kansas House speaker from Healy, told The Hutchinson News: "I believe labeling yourself a conservative or moderate Republican does the party a lot of harm and it does the state a lot of harm. We have some issues that need to be addressed that aren’t conservative or liberal issues." No argument there, but those Kansas Republicans who try to run without labeling themselves invite others to do it for them.
Meanwhile, the list of maybe wannabes for the GOP nod has gained another name: Sen. James Barnett, who is an Emporia physician.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
A local union official sent an e-mail complaining about President Bush’s suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act in the states devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Suspending the act allows contractors to pay employees lower wages, which the administration hopes will help speed up reconstruction. But the labor official argued that substandard wages will create the need for more federal help for the working poor. And she asks: "Will the corporations — Haliburton and gang — take less profit? Will the CEOs suspend their own pay?"
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Blake West, a math teacher from the Blue Valley school district who is currently serving as vice president of the Kansas National Education Association, has a bold suggestion: The next state education commissioner should be someone who has worked in schools and has a thorough, up-close, personal knowledge of what goes on there, he told Eagle editorial board members last week. Ordinarily, that would be a given. But conservative members of the State Board of Education de-emphasized education experience in the evaluation criteria, and the main qualification of two of the five final candidates seems to be that they are political conservatives.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Much of Dan Glickman’s first year on the job as president of the Motion Picture Association of America has been devoted to fighting film piracy, which costs Hollywood $3.5 billion a year. And the former congressman from Wichita doesn’t always leave the crime fighting to the experts. The Hill newspaper reports that Glickman went along with New York’s finest this month on a raid and "came back with a couple of souvenirs — pirated copies of ‘Four Brothers’ and ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.’ His son was the producer of the latter, which means piracy has a direct impact on the Glickman family fortunes."
On Capitol Hill, the newspaper noted, Glickman stands out among lobbyists because of the power of one of the perks he can offer members of Congress: invitations to screenings of new movies at the MPAA’s theater.
And just think: Long, long ago in a galaxy that must feel far, far away, Glickman spent evenings on the Wichita school board.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
A Sedgwick County District Court grand jury began an inquiry last week into whether area sex shops are violating obscenity laws. But if this jury is like ones in other cities, nothing will happen — other than the jurors will spend a lot of time looking at porn. The reason is that most jurors are uncomfortable defining and dictating an obscenity standard for the entire community. Plus, the motive behind this grand jury seems to be shutting down the sex shops, not removing certain materials. If so, that won’t fly.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Sedgwick County isn’t going to have a casino advisory election anytime soon, thanks to the persuasive powers of the anti-gambling members of the area legislative delegation. But Geary County just joined Wyandotte and Crawford counties in having formally polled locals on the issue. Tuesday’s advisory vote in Geary County showed 60 percent in favor of a destination casino. The turnout was low — 3,900 of 13,500 registered voters, according to The Daily Union in Junction City. But the results officially put Geary County in the game regarding whether and how state lawmakers expand casino gambling. Too bad Sedgwick County commissioners chose to overlook the potent argument that prompted the Geary County vote — that without an advisory election, Geary County risked being cut out of any casino plan. Then again, maybe that’s what Sedgwick County leaders want, public opinion be damned.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Americans need to wake up to the rise of the European Union, which we tend to hear about only in trade flaps over airplanes and wine. Meanwhile, Europeans see the EU as nothing less than a means toward their desired end of being a superpower to rival the United States. “I don’t think the (U.S.) State Department is paying enough attention,” said Leslie Lebl, who served as minister-counselor for political affairs at the U.S. mission to the EU in Brussels. Now retired from a 24-year foreign service career and living in Connecticut, Lebl recently visited The Eagle editorial board when she was in town to speak to the Wichita Committee on Foreign Relations on “EU-NATO Cooperation.”
What would lead European nations to unify politically and economically is hard for unilateral-minded Americans to comprehend. But, Lebl said, “If you join the EU, you get wealthy, you have stability, nobody invades you.” Even after the failure of French and Dutch voters to ratify the European Constitution this year, the EU is gathering strength and relevancy, she said.
What’s of special concern, though, is that the EU and its European Parliament lack democratic legitimacy and are turning the national parliaments into “pass-throughs.” Maybe President Bush’s second-term agenda of advancing democratic ideals ought to include Europe.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
BEL AIRE POLICE SEIZE RETIRED COUPLE’S ICE-CREAM DEVICE; Detectives Insist the Device is a Meth Lab
TABOR BUS STRANDED ALONG HIGHWAY OUTSIDE WICHITA; Anti-tax Riders Refused to Chip in Money for Gas
BARBARA BUSH PUT IN CHARGE OF HURRICANE RITA HOSPITALITY; Tells Shelter Crowd She Doesn’t Blame Them for ‘Gaming the System’
Posted by Randy Scholfield
It was good that the Senate Judiciary Committee began looking into the "Able Danger" controversy this week. Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., claimed that this secret military unit had identified Mohamed Atta and three others as being members of an al-Qaida cell before the Sept. 11 attacks, and that this information wasn’t shared with the FBI. Some Pentagon employees reportedly have confirmed that they recall seeing an intelligence chart identifying Atta as a terrorist before the attacks.
But others say that such reports are based on secondhand information. And Slade Gorton, a member of the Sept. 11 commission, said their review of Able Danger documents found "no charts, no data sets and no analysis identifying Mohamed Atta or any of the other hijackers" before Sept. 11, 2001, the Associated Press reported.
The Judiciary Committee needs to help sort this out.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Liberal columnist Molly Ivins wrote this week that the real problem with the media is not bias but laziness and bad news judgment. “Our failure is what we miss,” she contends, not that the media are supposedly pushing some liberal or conservative agenda. She’s probably right, though what news stories you think need more coverage tends to mirror your own biases.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
By the standards of most U.S. surveys, an 83 percent overall compliance rate would be outstanding. But the issue is whether we wash our hands after using public restrooms, as researched by the American Society for Microbiology and the Soap and Detergent Association. The trade group found that 75 percent of men and 90 percent of women do (with higher percentages saying that they do when they don’t — tsk, tsk). The differences between male and female plumbing are real, but so is the public health risk posed by those who flush and dash. Didn’t our mothers teach us better than this?
Posted by Rhonda Holman
You’ve probably heard by now about the rubber company in China that is marketing condoms under the brand names Clinton and Lewinsky.
"The Clinton condom will be the top of our line," company spokesman Liu Wenhua said. "The Lewinsky condom is not quite as good."
Obviously.
He added: "I believe Bill Clinton cannot be unhappy about this because he’s a very generous man."
Sometimes a little too generous.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
The nomination of Kansas native Julie Myers to head the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency continues to twist in the wind. Even conservative voices such as the National Review and columnist Michelle Malkin have blasted the Bush administration for poor judgment in picking Myers, a 36-year-old lawyer whose resume doesn’t approach the vast experience needed to be the nation’s immigration czar. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., nevertheless gave Myers — niece of former Kansan Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — a warm and folksy introduction at her recent confirmation hearing. He noted that "Kansas has been the home of many great public servants, especially in law enforcement," and went on: "Who can forget the legends of Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson? Their efforts helped clean up my hometown of Dodge City. I knew Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson, and Julie could ride shotgun with them anytime."
Posted by Rhonda Holman
With another monster storm bearing down on the Gulf Coast, the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA and other federal agencies are scrambling to evacuate people, activate troops and ready food and supplies. President Bush reportedly is fully engaged, monitoring the storm hourly.
This might be an answer to those willing to give the feds a pass on Katrina preparedness by saying, "Oh, they really couldn’t have done much more."
Yes, they could have. Rita is showing how they could have done it right.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
There is a new cottage industry of sorts: Training volunteer guides at science museums on how to handle visitors who aggressively — and sometimes belligerently — challenge the theory of evolution, The New York Times reported.
Such confrontations are growing increasingly common, including in Kansas. Guides at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays regularly face patrons angry that the museum’s exhibits use evolution to explain the history of dinosaurs and fossils, the Lawrence Journal-World reported.
Warren D. Allmon, who directs the Paleontological Research Institution, an affiliate of Cornell University in New York, tells guides to emphasize that science museums live by the rules of science and that they seek answers in nature, not the supernatural, to questions about nature. Explanations are tested by experiment and observation in the material world and are capable of being overturned when better answers are discovered. Such rules — and the consensus opinions of mainstream science — should also be the basis for setting our state’s science standards.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Not everybody is toasting North Korea’s agreement to drop its nuclear weapons program, especially its step toward normalizing relations with the United States. Among the dissatisfied is Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., who told the Los Angeles Times that he may hold up the deal’s funding in Congress because it doesn’t address North Korea’s human rights violations. Brownback’s point is well-taken, but it shouldn’t stand in the way of ridding the region of this terrifying nuclear threat.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
A lot of Wichita kids and their parents will miss Crunchy T. Clown, aka Dean L. Martin, who died of cancer this week at age 51. The popular performer was a longtime mascot for the kid’s club at KPTS, Channel 8. And he was a regular on Tuesday nights at Piccadilly Grill, bending balloons into animal shapes and putting smiles on kids’ faces. His family said that he kept his positive outlook until the end.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
With Thursday’s 13-to-5 vote endorsing the nomination of John Roberts to be chief justice of the United States, the Senate Judiciary Committee was acknowledging the obvious — Roberts’ sterling credentials and seemingly bottomless legal knowledge. Some of the "yea" voters also rightly were taking Roberts at his word, however incomplete that might have seemed, that he would rule by the law and not by ideology or personal religious views. Time will tell whether senators’ trust was misplaced, but for now, Roberts seems an excellent nominee and deserves easy confirmation in the full Senate next week.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The reason the Roman Catholic Church is settling multimillion-dollar lawsuits is not that a relatively small number of priests abused children — as unconscionable as that is. Rather, it is that key church leaders knew about the abuse and yet did little about it or, in cases in Wichita and now Philadelphia, aided the abuse by moving the sex offenders to new parishes, where they violated more children.
In the latest case, a grand jury determined that two cardinals in the Philadelphia Archdiocese concealed sexual abuse by more than 60 priests for four decades. According to the report released Wednesday:
"To protect themselves from negative publicity or expensive lawsuits — while keeping abusive priests active — the cardinals and their aides hid the priests’ crimes from parishioners, police and the general public. . . . Archdiocese leaders have endangered and harmed children in parishes and schools by keeping known abusers in ministry and transferring discovered abusers to assignments where parents and potential victims are unaware of the priests’ sexual behavior."
As usual, some church leaders went on the attack, accusing the messenger of Catholic-bashing. But it’s clear that, in these cases and others, those who were supposed to be shepherding their flocks were more concerned about protecting themselves and their institution.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
