Daily Archives: Sept. 23, 2007

Open thread 9/23

Sept. 23, 20071:05 a.m.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Open thread | Comments (127)

Not just Wichita that has problem with Rumsfeld

Sept. 23, 20071:04 a.m.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s gross mismanagement of the Iraq war made him a poor choice to be keynote speaker at the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting, a booking that proved short-lived. Now, Rumsfeld’s appointment as a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University has generated an online protest petition signed by professors, staff members, students and alumni and stating, “We view the appointment as fundamentally incompatible with the ethical values of truthfulness, tolerance, disinterested enquiry, respect for national and international laws and care for the opinions, property and lives of others to which Stanford is inalienably committed.” Ouch — but then you go into retirement with the reputation you have, not the reputation you might want or wish to have at a later time.
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Wichita events | Comments (47)

Bizarre restriction on faith-based books in prison

Sept. 23, 20071:03 a.m.

Federal prisons, including Leavenworth, had from January until June to remove from their chapel libraries books as seemingly benign as C.S. Lewis’ “The Chronicles of Narnia” and Charles Schuller’s “Living Positively One Day at a Time,” on the premise that library materials should be “free of discrimination, disparagement, advocacy of violence and religious radicalization.” The purge resulted from a 2004 report by the Office of the Inspector General in the Justice Department that recommended that prisons take steps to avoid becoming recruiting grounds for militant Islamic and other religious groups, the New York Times reported. As a result, all books not included on an approved list were removed.
Prisoners are denied some rights, but they shouldn’t be denied the right to read materials of a spiritual nature. Not surprisingly, a Christian and Orthodox Jew at a New York prison have sued. As Pat Nolan, president of Justice Fellowship, in Lansdowne, Va., told the Topeka Capital-Journal, “The problem is the government is situating itself as the sanctioner of what is a proper religious book for prisoners.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Crime | Comments (56)

Burns film another national event

Sept. 23, 20071:02 a.m.

Ken Burns’ latest documentary, “The War,” about the American experience of World War II, was undertaken with a special urgency, he said last week — 1,000 U.S. veterans of the “Greatest Generation” are dying each week. “We realized the clock was ticking and there was a narrow window that would close very shortly,” the filmmaker said.
If early reviews are any indication, Burns has performed a national service with this 14-hour history, which took him five years to make and captures not only the stark brutality of war but also the lives of families waiting anxiously on the home front. “The War” starts at 7 p.m. today on KPTS, Channel 8 in Wichita. It sounds like essential viewing for Americans.
Posted by Randy Scholfield

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under American life | Comments (5)

Wichita native has been a godsend

Sept. 23, 20071:01 a.m.

“Robert Gates has been a godsend. After a bombastic defense secretary, we now have a candid one. After ego, we have self-effacement. After domination, we have a man who welcomes discussion,” New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote about the Wichita native. Brooks asked Gates whether invading Iraq was a good idea, knowing what we know now. Gates’ response: “I don’t know.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Iraq | Comments (19)

Dubious, bogus and utterly phony headlines

Sept. 23, 20071:00 a.m.

The following satirical headlines come from borowitzreport.com:
MOVEON.ORG PLANNING MEAN LIMERICK ABOUT PETRAEUS; Seeks Something That Rhymes With ‘Betray Us’
CLINTON CAMPAIGN REACHES OUT TO OTHER FUGITIVES; Attempt to Compensate for Loss of Hsu
O.J. AUTHORS “IF I ROBBED THEM”; New Book Explores Hypothetical Armed Robbery
HEDGE FUND MANAGERS MARCH ON WASHINGTON; Largest Chauffeur-Driven Protest in Capital’s History
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Spoof headlines | Comments (17)