President Bush picked a timely point to emphasize during his United Nations address today — that the United States respects Islam and seeks peace and freedom for the Middle East. His strong words for Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the Sudanese government’s role in the Darfur crisis also were welcome. The question is whether Bush’s appearance can move other nations to act decisively on either problem. Considering how off the mark Bush’s pre-Iraq war speech to the same body turned out to be, his credibility at the United Nations remains a problem.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Not only should it be against state law for Attorney General Phill Kline to send campaign solicitations to e-mail addresses collected through his office Web site, but it already is, according to Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen in Washington, D.C. Saying her group was “shocked” that the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission considers the practice lawful, Claybrook told the Harris News Service that a Kansas statute prohibiting the “use of public funds, vehicles, machinery, equipment and supplies” for a candidate’s campaign should suffice, because the e-mail list should be considered state property. “There are plenty of opportunities for airing this issue,” Claybrook said, “but sweeping it under the rug, in my view, is not an option.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Pope Benedict XVI has said he is “deeply sorry” for remarks last week that quoted a medieval text calling some of the Prophet Muhammed’s teachings “evil and inhuman.”
Some Muslims still aren’t satisfied, but the pope has apologized enough.
In its spasm of protests and outrage, the Muslim world is missing the pope’s larger point — about the evil of any religion using violence in the name of God — as well as his invitation to engage in honest dialogue.
True, it might have helped if the pope had chosen his words more carefully, as well as acknowledged Christianity’s own checkered past on this point, but Muslims of good faith should accept that the pope’s intent was to respectfully engage them, not condemn them.
Of course, the loud militant minority in the Muslim world doesn’t believe in self-reflection and rational discourse. Its overreaction was predictable: Mobs burned the pope in effigy in several countries, and fanatical groups, including al-Qaida in Iraq, vowed to “smash the cross” and “conquer Rome.”
Again — making the pope’s point. Is the Muslim world willing to confront these fanatical elements in its midst?
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius certainly isn’t sitting on her campaign cash. It’s only mid-September and she’s already on her fifth TV commercial — this one aimed at casting the Democrat as the catalyst for the state’s economic rebound. Like the earlier ads suggesting she led the way out of the school finance crisis, the latest one shows some nerve by bragging that there haven’t been any tax increases on her watch. The thing is, as Republicans rightly note, in 2004 Sebelius unsuccessfully advocated raising sales, income and property taxes for public education and also hiking cigarette taxes 50 cents to fund health care initiatives. But as Kansas City Star columnist Steve Kraske told readers Sunday, “She’s betting that you’ve forgotten all about that.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The debate about school homework, as reflected in a front-page article in the Sunday Eagle, is really about finding some balance.
Although new research shows that homework is mostly ineffective in elementary grades, there is some real benefit to middle and high school students in having homework, as long as it doesn’t overwhelm them.
Homework can help teach self-organization and consolidate learning at school — if the extra work is well-planned and meaningful. “Make work” helps nobody and just turns off students to learning.
That said, a little homework probably goes a long way toward reinforcing lessons.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
One of the studies that has emerged from tragedies such as Sept. 11, the Asian tsunami and the tragic nightclub fire in Rhode Island looks at a group’s immediate reaction to a crisis situation. Humans have a need to comprehend a situation before they react, and those 60 seconds could cost them their lives. The Washington Post reports that human behavior in hindsight shows that people have a tendency to try to explain what is happening collectively, rather than just evacuate and ask questions later. The larger the group of people, the more likely they are to stay in an attempt to the discern the event, as in the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, rather than escape to safety, as sociologist Benigno E. Aguirre of the University of Delaware discovered. He also discovered that larger groups tend to look after one another rather than think only of themselves and rush to safety.
Living in Kansas, we find ourselves in this situation frequently when the tornado sirens sound. How many of us actually seek shelter, as our vigilant forecasters urge? Or do we wait for some sign — like being hit by a tree?
Posted by Angie Holladay
