As if the daily news from Iraq weren’t downbeat enough, there is this: Insurgents are blowing things up with "dirty bombs" involving chlorine gas. Explosions of a truck bomb on Wednesday and a chlorine tanker on Tuesday sent 200 or so to hospitals for respiratory, skin and eye problems. Fortunately, U.S. troops were able to quickly raid an operation near Baghdad with five buildings full of propane tanks and ordinary chemicals believed to be for bomb making.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
"This is a crime against humanity," Rep. Geraldine Flaharty, D-Wichita, said about the Kansas House voting Wednesday not to raise the state’s minimum wage. The wage floor — which applies to about 19,000 Kansans — is $2.65 per hour, the lowest in the nation.
Polls show that 86 percent of Americans want an increase in the federal minimum wage, which Congress will likely raise from $5.15 to $7.25. Maybe Kansas House members were too busy cutting corporate taxes this session to pay much attention to what the public wants. Or maybe they agree with Rep. Benjamin Hodge, R-Overland Park, that the state should avoid "European-style socialist bills."
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Slate’s William Saletan argues that Sen. Hillary Clinton is failing her first big test: explaining her vote to authorize the Iraq war. By refusing to apologize, Saletan notes, she’s showing an arrogant tone deafness to public mood that has already damaged, perhaps fatally, her campaign.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
At least the version of the official-language bill that overwhelmingly passed the House this week would accomplish something — by earmarking $500,000 for programs to help adults learn English. But for all the high-minded language about the need for the bill, it can’t help but look like an unseemly overreaction to the changing demographics of the state and an unspoken slap to Spanish speakers. Not exactly lawmaking to write home about — in any language.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
State Sen. Les Donovan, R-Wichita, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, told The Eagle editorial board that the idea of an Amtrak passenger route through Wichita is “appealing,” but he’s not sure whether the state could find the financing for it.
Donovan said another transportation infrastructure goal he’d like to see eventually — “it’s not going to happen in my time” — is the so-called “SPIRIT 54” plan to make U.S. 54 a four-lane from Wichita all the way southwest to El Paso.
A four-state coalition of supporters has managed to upgrade a few legs of the route, improving safety and access on what they say is the most heavily traveled two-lane highway in the nation. But as with the Heartland Flyer dream, financing remains an uphill climb.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Ordinary people average two lies during every 10 minutes of conversation, with some telling as many as 12 lies during that period of time, according to research by Robert Feldman, a social psychologist at the University of Massachusetts who was listed as an expert witness for the “Scooter” Libby trial but was not called upon to testify. Feldman has found that, in general, lies are told to please the listener, to protect someone or to make the liar seem a better person. Some examples: “This dish tastes wonderful.” “Your new haircut looks great.” “Yeah, I was the team leader on that project.”
Feldman has also found that popular people tend to use deception more frequently and more often for self-promotion than unpopular people. Could this be a reason why we tend to equate politicians (popular people, by definition, since a majority had to “like” them to vote them into office) with liars?
Posted by Patrice Hein
Climbers on Oregon’s most-climbed peak, Mount Hood, have been making headlines lately. In December, three climbers lost their lives when a blinding snowstorm set in during their climb. Another three climbers and their dog were successfully rescued this week (see photo).
Oregon state lawmaker John Lim is sponsoring a bill that would require climbers to carry a beacon when climbing above 10,000 feet. He says that this requirement would save lives and the amount of time and money spent on rescue missions.
Opponents of the bill say that danger is an inherent part of extreme sports and that the beacons are not necessary. Some feel that carrying a beacon would give climbers a false sense of security. Besides, having to make life or death decisions is what puts the “extreme” in extreme sports.
Whether carrying a beacon is required or a choice, having a signaling device won’t ensure climbers come back alive. No matter how hard some people try, one cannot legislate sound judgment.
Posted by Patrice Hein
