Daily Archives: Oct. 14, 2007

Open thread 10/14

Oct. 14, 20071:05 a.m.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Open thread | Comments (213)

Should teachers carry guns?

Oct. 14, 20071:03 a.m.

School shootings such as last week’s in Cleveland bring the lament that if only a teacher had been armed. . . . Oregon high school English teacher Shirley Katz is taking the notion to the natural next level, challenging her school district’s gun ban. Oregon allows concealed-carry permit holders to have guns in public buildings, and she wants to take her 9 mm Glock pistol to work. One reason: “I refuse to let my ex-husband bully me.” The other: The Virginia Tech and Amish school massacres “reinforced my belief we have to take action. We can’t just acquiesce as we have been taught to do.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Education | Comments (321)

Clinton less polarizing than most other candidates

Oct. 14, 20071:02 a.m.

Conventional wisdom is that Hillary Clinton may be too polarizing to become president. But a Washington Post/ABC News poll found that Clinton is actually less polarizing than nearly all the other leading candidates, Republicans and Democrats.
Of those surveyed, 41 percent said they definitely would not vote for Clinton in the general election. Only Barack Obama had a lower “reject rate,” at 39 percent. John Edwards, who argues that he is the most electable Democrat, had a 43 percent reject rate. All of the top four Republican candidates had higher reject rates: Rudy Giuliani, 44 percent; John McCain, 45 percent; Fred Thompson, 54 percent; Mitt Romney, 57 percent.
The poll also challenged the belief that former President Clinton might hurt his wife’s candidacy. Two-thirds of those surveyed approve of the job he did while he was in office — the reverse of President Bush’s current 33 percent approval rating, the Post reported.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Presidential race | Comments (37)

Brownback might take communion alone

Oct. 14, 20071:01 a.m.

The Kansas City Star notes that of the six Catholic candidates running for president, Kansas Republican Sam Brownback’s positions on issues align the closest with those of the church. The five whose positions are farther apart are Republican Rudy Giuliani and Democrats Bill Richardson, Joe Biden, Christopher Dodd and Dennis Kucinich. The issue arose recently when Roman Catholic Archbishop Raymond Burke said again that Holy Communion should be denied to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights.
Posted by Rhonda Holman

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Presidential race | Comments (13)

Conservation now part of official state policy

Oct. 14, 20071:00 a.m.

Good for the Kansas Corporation Commission for deciding last week that it would officially pursue policies to promote energy conservation. That makes economic and environmental sense. A Kansas Energy Council study last year determined that conservation could save as much as 20 percent of projected electricity use by 2020. But it remains to be seen whether the KCC decision not to impose any mandates on utilities but to rely on voluntary cooperation will get the desired results.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Environment | Comments (62)