Daily Archives: Nov. 23, 2006

Open thread

Nov. 23, 20061:05 a.m.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Open thread | Comments (24)

Be grateful for those who serve

Nov. 23, 20061:03 a.m.

Americans are divided about the war in Iraq but should be united in gratitude for the men and women serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Most of us will be enjoying this day with our families because of their willingness to be away from theirs.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Iraq | Comments (36)

Can Kansas capitalize on its puny minimum wage?

Nov. 23, 20061:02 a.m.

Talk of the minimum wage is all the rage these days, what with six states having voted this month to hike theirs and the Democrats vowing to raise the $5.15-an-hour federal minimum as one of the first acts of their new Democratic Congress.
Then there is Kansas.
Kansas’ $2.65-an-hour minimum wage is now the lowest in the nation, with Kansas the only state to have a wage lower than the feds’ $5.15 (if you don’t count the U.S. Virgin Islands or the six states without minimum wages). True, Kansas’ embarrassing wage is mostly symbolic, because the state minimum does not apply to workers who come under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Still, Kansas’ minimum wage certainly stands out from the crowd, as this map shows. While it may not be much of a welcome mat for potential workers, maybe it will signal businesses in the mood to relocate or expand that Kansas is their kind of low-cost state. Or maybe state lawmakers will finally follow the lead of state Rep. Ted Powers, R-Mulvane, by doing the right thing and raising it.
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Welfare | Comments (60)

The human impact of ‘Living Old’

Nov. 23, 20061:01 a.m.

I caught the last half of the “Frontline” special Tuesday night on PBS on "Living Old." Most of the focus on our aging society — those over 85 are our fastest growing segment of the U.S. population — is on the economic impact, which will be huge. But the special also dealt with the human impact — what it’s like being old, end-of-life decisions, the burden of being a caregiver, the state of many nursing homes. The opinion of one of the elderly persons interviewed: Growing old is for the birds.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under American life | Comments (4)

Hard to buy Ortega’s makeover

Nov. 23, 20061:00 a.m.

In a month that has seen a number of second acts begin (Trent Lott, Robert Gates) and falter (John Kerry), the biggest is surely that of Daniel Ortega, the former Sandinista guerrilla leader elected as Nicaragua’s president in a comeback after his 1985-90 reign. Ortega, whose candidacy was championed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, contends that he’s a new man whose administration will respect property rights and trade agreements. It’s hard not to be skeptical. In his first trip outside the country since the election, to Guatemala, Ortega blasted plans for a U.S. border wall and called for the United States to learn to live with Latin America’s leftists and “work for the unity of the Americas,” while “taking into account the asymmetries between the countries.” Does that mean accepting all comers?
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Foreign affairs | Comments (7)