Warm wishes to all you bloggers on this Christmas Day. Special blessings on all those who gave their time and money to area charities during this period of economic uncertainty. And comfort to those who are dealing with sickness, loss or who are separated from loved ones this holiday, particularly those with family members serving in the military overseas.
May this day be merry and bright.
If the state’s public universities must raise their food and housing costs at this time, at least Wichita State University will do it less than the rest. Among the hikes approved last week by the Kansas Board of Regents, WSU’s 3.4 percent increase looked better than the others: 6.5 percent at Pittburg State University, 5.1 percent at the University of Kansas, 4.9 percent at Emporia State and Fort Hays universities, and 4.7 percent at Kansas State University. KU’s food and housing costs will remain the highest in the system, more than $6,800 a year. Back to that “if,” though. Many Kansans surely will agree with regent Gary Sherrer of Overland Park, who said in voting against the increases: “I think we’re doing business as usual in very unusual times.”
The Iraq War is over. Flames still burst from various sources and wild cards remain, such as the potential that Muqtada al-Sadr might stomp his feet and encourage his diminished militias to attack us. Yet support for Sadr among Shia is hardly monolithic. In fact, many Shia view him as a simpleton whose influence derives strictly from respect for his father. Others cite the threat from Iran, but the Iranian participation in the fighting here remains overstated.
Nobody knows what the future will bring, but the civil war has completely ended.
The Iraqi army and police grow stronger by the month, and even the National Police are gaining a degree of respect and credibility.
Iraqis are tired of war and ready to get back to school, to business and to living life as it should be.
- Independent correspondent Michael Yon, in the New York Post
Michael Yon is braver than the rest of us for declaring the war over, but it’s important to understand that there are no final battles in counterinsurgencies and it’s impossible to pinpoint the exact dates when wars like this end.
The anti-Iraqi insurgency – a war within a war – really is effectively over.
As long as another such war within a war doesn’t break out, Yon will appear more perceptive than the rest of us in hindsight when the currently low levels of violence finally do taper off into relative insignificance.
None of this means terrorism and violence in Iraq are over. Violence is never over in the Middle East, and Islamist terrorism will be with us for years, if not decades.
There may yet be another war, a different war, in Iraq. It would be foolish to dismiss that possibility or assume there is no more work to be done.
- Michael Totten, commentarymagazine.com
Marcia Nielsen, executive director of the Kansas Health Policy Authority, issued a valuable caution about a recent audit of the state’s Medicaid system. Though the audit found irregularities that need further review, some media reports of substantial fraud were “not supported by the facts,” Nielsen said. The audit used data processing techniques that looked for anomalies in billings but did not look into individual cases. Most of these anomalies were caused by data entry errors and were not the result of “unethical or intentionally criminal behavior,” Nielsen said. The state needs to follow up with these red flag and make sure that the Medicaid system is operating efficiently and has proper safeguards. But, as Nielsen noted, “the process needs be driven by solid, data-driven analysis, not anecdotes or cursory reviews.”
