The biggest news out of the state primary was the defeat of two conservative State Board of Education members, giving 6-4 majority control of the board — and the evolution debate — back to moderates.
It’s a big win for sound science and for those who want a more pragmatic BOE agenda.
Among the losers was 5th district conservative Connie Morris, who recently called evolution “a nice bedtime story.” She lost decisively to Sally Cauble in this largely rural Western Kansas district.
Two more conservatives could yet be in trouble: Ken Willard won in the 7th district primary but still faces an excellent candidate, former Rep. and Board of Regents member Jack Wempe, in November. And John Bacon faces Democrat Don Weiss in the 3rd district.
Perhaps the biggest loser was the Intelligent Design network, which poured money and effort into these races. Nationally, Kansas was seen as a foothold for the ID movement, but this race shows that the group, having failed to convince scientists, is also failing to convince voters.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Cal Thomas has a piece on today’s op-ed page reporting how “Armageddon is hot again,” given all the wars in the Middle East. And he notes how end-of-time “prophets” are making big profits. His conclusion: “The end isn’t yet upon us, because too many expect it.” And his advice to the faithful: “Stop worrying about dates and times.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Once again, the FDA is promising action on Plan B, the morning-after contraceptive that is now available only by prescription in most states.
The agency said Monday it wants to meet with the drug’s manufacturer, Barr Pharmaceuticals, within a week to discuss how to make Plan B available over the counter to women 18 and older.
That’s a sensible move, but it’s also way overdue. Plan B was endorsed by the FDA’s own scientists and a panel of independent advisers in 2003, but a top FDA official sided with opponents who warned that young teenagers might engage in riskier sex if the pill was easily available.
The FDA has promised a decision on Plan B before. That was last summer, after Democrats put a hold on President Bush’s nominee to be FDA commissioner. After the hold was lifted, the agency announced its decision: We’ll decide some other time.
Sens. Hillary Clinton and Patty Murray say they won’t be fooled again. They’ve put another hold on Bush’s nomination of acting FDA commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach. This time, they say, the blockade will stay until the FDA makes a final, yes-or-no decision. You can’t blame them for being skeptical.
Posted by Dave Knadler
What happens when you take a disturbed kid and shove him toward the abyss? He’s likely to fall in.
Maybe that’s what happened to the young soldier encountered by Washington Post writer Andrew Tilghman in Iraq last February. “I came over here to kill people,” the young private told him. “Over here, killing people is like squashing an ant.”
The soldier was Steven D. Green, now accused of premeditated rape and murder in the deaths of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and her family (see photo of crime scene) just three weeks after that conversation. Tilghman makes no excuses for Green, but his account of the near-constant fear and violence in Mahmudiyah, where Green’s unit was based, is harrowing.
And given reports of Green’s troubled youth, his apparent problems with drugs and alcohol, his petty criminal record, it’s easy to wonder how such a man was deemed fit for military service at all, not to mention the maelstrom of Iraq.
Posted by Dave Knadler
An Eagle news brief Tuesday put it mildly when it reported that Operation Rescue expressed its displeasure that a Sedgwick County grand jury found no criminal conduct related to a woman who died after receiving an abortion. The anti-abortion group issued a statement blaming the lack of an indictment on “corruption and cronyism at the local and state level,” citing Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
How much money was wasted convening a grand jury to confirm what a Kansas Board of Healing Arts investigation already determined? But, of course, Operation Rescue thinks the Board of Healing Arts is corrupt, too.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., has proposed getting rid of the U.S. penny. It makes sense, so to speak. Yes, it would be sad to lose Lincoln’s likeness on a coin in circulation. But as a Seattle Times editorial described, the penny has become “a mosquito egg of value offered free to customers who use it to avoid carrying even more dead weight.” Save the minting costs and retire Abe.
