"It’s not an anniversary likely to be celebrated this week: America invaded Iraq four years ago. And it’s still not a mission accomplished," our editorial today notes. But despite the sectarian violence, daily bombings and instability, there are a few hopeful signs.
As the editorial noted, since the start of a military "surge" in Baghdad, there’s been a significant decrease in bombings and attacks in the city — though some fighting seems to have shifted elsewhere in the country. And Bush made two excellent moves in appointing Robert Gates as defense secretary and Gen. David Petraeus as leader of U.S. forces in Iraq. But are the changes too little, too late?
Posted by Randy Scholfield
House Majority Leader Ray Merrick, R-Stilwell, wants a state employee fired for refusing to remove a bumper sticker from her car. Ashley Holm, who works in the Kansas Legislative Research Department, has a sticker on her car that says the four letter "f-word" followed by the word "war." Because she parks in the underground parking garage at the Statehouse, Merrick and others who also park there see the sticker. "I don’t appreciate offensive language being on a bumper sticker in a public garage that’s owned by the people of the state," Merrick told the Topeka Capital-Journal.
Merrick’s concern is understandable; the language is offensive. But should she be fired because of it, given that even bad speech is protected by the First Amendment? Margie Phelps of the funeral-protesting Phelps clan is still a state employee despite her offensive speech. And is this a matter for state leaders? No, says Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka. "We shouldn’t get into the business of censuring what people put on their automobiles," he said.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
UPDATE: Rep. Merrick said he complained about the bumper sticker but never discussed a potential firing, Associated Press reported. Meanwhile, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said Holm shouldn’t lose her job. “I’m a big believer that free speech is alive and well and should be alive and well in and out of the Capitol,” she said.
When the daffodils start blooming, it’s time for oil refineries to shut down production to perform annual maintenance while they switch from winter to summer fuel blends. This creates a drop in the gasoline supply that causes prices to rise. The warmer weather in spring also makes people want to drive more, creating a higher demand for gasoline that causes prices to rise. The higher price of transporting the gasoline to the retailers and the higher cost of doing business cause prices to rise.
All that makes sense. But according to energy analyst Jacques Rousseau, those refiners who’ve kept their production online have more than doubled their profit margins since January.
Posted by Patrice Hein
The United States long has been a magnet for talented foreign students, many of whom enrich the work force for good after graduation. Testifying before Congress earlier this month, Microsoft founder Bill Gates rightly emphasized not only the urgent need to better educate American students in math, science, engineering and more, but also the need to issue more than the current 65,000 H1-B visas annually for scientists, engineers, computer programmers and other professionals. Microsoft, he said, has 3,000 technical jobs going begging for skilled workers in the United States.“Even though it may not be realistic, I don’t think there should be any limit,” Gates said.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Credit goes to Wichita lawmakers for trying to ensure that Wichita’s best interests don’t get lost in any new teaching and research affiliation between the University of Kansas Medical Center and Missouri-based St. Luke’s Health System. The House-passed budget includes language requiring the oversight board of the residency program at the KU School of Medicine-Wichita to approve any affiliation deal. Still, this question has turned into a partisan power struggle in Topeka. And instead of being detrimental to the Wichita campus, the affiliation could further its standout record of training primary care doctors who choose to practice in Kansas. If lawmakers want to help Wichita, they shouldn’t just safeguard the status quo but also improve funding for the medical residencies and increase Wichita’s role in medical research.
