I don’t know whether the federal Controlled Substances Act allows the federal government to prevent Oregon doctors from prescribing drugs used to end the lives of terminally ill patients, as the Bush administration argued before the U.S. Supreme Court today. But philosophically, I wish the federal government would stay out of this issue. Regulating medicine is a state responsibility, not a federal one. And the voters of Oregon have twice approved physician-assisted suicide. As much as possible, end-of-life decisions should be left to individuals, not to the federal government.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
It’s hard to know which is more outlandish: Harriet Miers reportedly telling David Frum that President George Bush was the most brilliant man she had ever met. Or Bush insisting Tuesday that Miers was the best-qualified person he could find in the country for the high court.
These two apparently don’t get around much.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
As his spokesman noted, Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., greeted President Bush’s nomination Monday of Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court with “conspicuous silence.” But here is some of what he finally had to say Tuesday: “I have said in the past that I would like a nominee with a proven track record on important issues to all Americans and whose judicial philosophy is well-formed. I am not yet confident that Ms. Miers has a proven track record, and I look forward to having these questions answered.”
Brownback could be key to Miers’ confirmation. If he and other ardent pro-lifers are unconvinced that Miers will get them the swing vote they crave, the nomination could go south — though that seems unlikely.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
NBC News reported that when the floodwall on the 17th Street Canal in New Orleans was built a decade ago, there were major construction problems. According to court records, the levee contractor told the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that the soil and the foundation for the walls were “not of sufficient strength, rigidity and stability” to build on, NBC reported. Yet the work was done anyway.
Other reports have shown that local officials did a poor — and possibly corrupt — job directing federal money to levee improvement work.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Hollywood’s blockbuster movies often portray sex and drug use without depicting their consequences, says a new study from the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney.
The authors of the study concluded: "The motion picture industry should be encouraged to depict safer sex practices and the real consequences of unprotected sex and illicit drug use."
But Adam Smith, a writer with the British film magazine Empire, said it isn’t Hollywood’s job "to be a social or moral guardian. It’s fiction."
What do you think?
Posted by Melissa Cooley
No, whooping cranes are not what’s for dinner, as seven Kansas hunters learned the hard way. The seven, who admitted shooting and killing two of the rare whoopers last year during legal sandhill crane season, received their sentences last week, including a $3,000 fine each and loss of hunting privileges for two years.
The hunters got off fairly easy — under law, they could have been fined up to $15,000 and jailed for six months.
Although the men didn’t deserve jail time, a higher fine would have sent a stronger message that these rare birds are extremely valuable natural resources.
To prevent this from happening again, the Kansas Wildlife and Parks Commission in August made some appropriate changes in the sandhill season, moving the daily start time to 30 minutes after sunrise to avoid low-light confusion, and moving the opening date back four days.
It’s a pretty good start on a compromise solution. The commission should still consider closing the sandhill season in state wildlife areas where whooping cranes nest, most notably in Cheyenne Bottoms nears Great Bend.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
