Where’s the Outrage?

Here are some things that I have been reading about and I think need more discussion:

• Remember the U.S. Attorney scandal? Former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias testified before Congress  that he got a call from Senator Pete Domenici. During the call Domenici asked about whether or not Iglesias was going to file an indictment against some New Mexico Democrats right before the 2006 mid-term election. Domenici got a slap on the wrist from the Senate Ethics Committee for the “appearance of impropriety.” In my opinion, I think this is terribly mild.
• Abstinence-only education doesn’t work. There have been numerous studies to show this. Florida has passed legislation that Florida schools teach sex education. Some teens believe that drinking Mountain Dew or smoking marijuana can prevent pregnancy. I took care of a teenager who injected herself with turpentine in order to prevent herself from becoming pregnant. Representative John Duncan, a Tennessee Republican, said that it seems “rather elitist” that people with academic degrees in health think they know better than parents what type of sex education is appropriate. “I don’t think it’s something we should abandon,” he said of abstinence-only funding. Education– we truly need our children to be educated. (and we need to vote John Duncan out of office!)
• Did you see that the Veteran’s Administration is being sued in a class-action? In spite of the official rhetoric out of the Bush administration, a recent RAND report found that “300,000 U.S. troops — about 20 percent of those deployed — are suffering from depression or post-traumatic stress from serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.” They fight for us and we can’t at least give them decent health care when they get back. We have to do better.
• Finally, did you see where a government contractor supplied these flash-band grenades that never worked. After the $15 million contract, the Department of Defense found a flaw in the law enforcement weapon and ordered it to be fixed. Pyrotechnic Specialties, Inc. figured out it was cheaper to just print new labels. Three FBI agents have been injured. Company officials were indicted but there was this nugget: Company officials bribed a federal official and paid for a visit to a strip club.

Tags: Corporate Wrongs, Military, US Attorneys by ecthompson
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There is a sense of calm that comes over a professor once he or she gets tenured. All of a sudden they are free to write and say what they please without the risk of being fired. Judge Antonio Scalia sits on the Supreme Court like a tenured professor. He proved that he is skilled at spinning a political discussion just like “regular” politicos. For him to point to Al Gore and suggest that it was his fault that the Supreme Court took the case or that they made what is one of the worst decisions in modern history is laughable.

60 Minutes has an interview with him this week.

Tags: Supreme court by ecthompson
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A remarkable find.

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From AP:

A Dutch school director preparing an exhibition on Anne Frank has found a holiday postcard signed by the Jewish teenage diarist, a museum said Wednesday.

The card, sent in 1937, was addressed to one of Frank’s best friends, Sanne Ledermann, and postmarked from just across the Dutch border in Aachen, Germany, said Maatje Mostard, of the Anne Frank Museum. (more…)

Tags: Foreign Affairs by ecthompson
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I watched a U.S. Trade mission to Colombia a few days ago on C-Span.

You can watch it by clicking the link that says Vignette on U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. The video will remain up on C-Span for another week or two.

The roughly half-hour I watched of the show involved U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab and nine members of the U.S. House of Representatives touring Medellin, Colombia and meeting with various officials.

The photo above is of Medellin where 2.4 million people live within the city and 3.2 million people live in outlying areas. Here is a brief history of the city.

My friends at the AFL-CIO oppose this agreement. They say union workers are routinely killed in Colombia and the deal will result in lost American jobs.

This blog, Plan Colombia and Beyond, is also opposed to this agreement on the grounds of human rights.

I have little doubt that the right-wing government of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is on the wrong side of many basic human rights questions.

Here are arguments for the pact from a government web-page dedicated to trade agreements.

Currently, the deal is stuck in a disagreement between the Democratic House and President Bush.

Of the nine House members on the trip, there were seven Republicans and two Democrats.

I was interested in the presence of the two Democratic House members in the trade delegation. The two members were Bob Etheridge of North Carolina and Hank Johnson of Georgia. [Read more →]

Tags: Economy, House of Representatives by Texas Liberal
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