Daily Archives: Sept. 2, 2006

Open thread

Sept. 2, 200612:04 a.m.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Open thread | Comments (69)

Another day, another fallen prophet

Sept. 2, 200612:03 a.m.

Prophets: They sure don’t make ‘em like they used to. A case in point is Warren Jeffs, the polygamist sect leader from Utah who was arrested Monday in a Cadillac Escalade filled with cell phones, laptops and $54,000 in cash. He also had a supply of wigs — presumably indispensable in discerning God’s will for his 10,000 followers.
Then again, if he were really the prophet he and his followers claim, he might have seen this coming.
While it’s easy to make light of con men like Jeffs when they’re finally called to account, it’s worth remembering the damage such men can wreak on the credulous, given enough time and insularity. Jeffs, for example, is charged as an accomplice to child rape by mandating marriages between older men and girls as young as 13.
Hard to imagine churchgoing adults embracing that sort of thing. But it was hard to imagine Jonestown and Waco, too.
Posted by Dave Knadler

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Crime | Comments (76)

Uncle Sam wants to know more about terrorists’ flight plans

Sept. 2, 200612:01 a.m.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff made a sound case in a Washington Post commentary that authorities need to better access the detailed information collected when an individual books a flight, such as itineraries and payment details, for comparison with other intelligence about known terrorists. He said the U.S. government has collected such data about travelers on international flights to the United States for more than a decade. “But in the past few years European privacy concerns have limited the ability of counterterrorism officials to gain broad access to data of this sort,” he wrote. Perhaps if the Bush administration had been more attentive to our European allies’ concerns about Iraq and other issues, they’d be more cooperative about such data sharing.
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Terrorism | Comments (18)

City shouldn’t be cut out of airport deals

Sept. 2, 200612:00 a.m.

The Wichita City Council recently directed city staff to do all it could to resolve a dispute about the only minority-owned business at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport, a bakery that was to be displaced for a Starbucks. It’s hard to believe council members had this in mind — a contract with Host Marriott, which handles airport concessions, that would deny the bakery owners the right to appeal to the City Council if there are future disputes over their new bagel shop franchise. Host Marriott should not be able to bar the council contractually from having a say about anything at the airport, which the council governs.
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Wichita government | Comments (3)