Do Iraqi airstrikes signal Bush's pro-Israel policy?
President Bush wasted no time in demonstrating that he willcontinue a tough line against Iraqi threats to allied planes in theno-fly zones. It's a good signal to send early in hisadministration. Is he sending others as well? American and Britishplanes attacked radar installations and command centers south ofBaghdad at the same time [Feb. 16] that State Department officialswere meeting with leaders of Iraqi groups that oppose SaddamHussein. If it's a coincidence, it's an extraordinary one.
And maybe it's no coincidence that the airstrikes occur whenSaddam reportedly is making aggressive noises at Israel, threateningretaliation for the recent deaths of Palestinians. Bush is taking amore hands-off approach to the Mideast peace process- what there isleft of it- and perhaps the airstrikes are meant to tell Saddam tokeep his hands off Israel as well.
- The (Canton, Ohio) Repository
Recent defenses of DARE program were misleading
After months of criticism, here and elsewhere, the people whohead the DARE program nationwide have admitted their program is afailure. Earlier this month, officials of the program, whose acronymstands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education, said they are coming upwith a revamped program - one they have been working on for twoyears.
This raises several question, not the least of which is whyDARE's leaders strongly defended it against recent criticisms whenthey apparently knew at least some of the complaints were true. Fortwo years they have been working quietly on changes based onevidence that DARE wasn't working, yet they were happy to continueaccepting taxpayer money from school districts. Not only that, theyoften impugned the motives of their critics, attacking them ashiding an agenda to legalize drugs.
Recently, studies by the National Academy of Sciences and thesurgeon general have shown the program to be flawed. Now theprogram's critics, including Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson, wholast year withdrew support from DARE in the Salt Lake SchoolDistrict, have gained a measure of credibility.
- The Desert News (Salt Lake City)
Earnhardt tragedy could teach lesson about safety
It's easy to be swayed by the mythic nature of Dale Earnhardt'slife and death...
Polishing the myth eases the pain of losing the man. It distractsfrom the realization that racing is - always has been - a bloodsport. Earnhardt was the fourth driver to die in less than ninemonths, but his death will make the greatest impact.
Maybe better safety equipment - a head restraint, softer walls,more controllable aerodynamics - would have saved Earnhardt...
Some - including Earnhardt - have said that tragedy is just partof the game...
On the track, Earnhardt was one of the boldest and seeminglyleast vulnerable. He was one of the last drivers to wear an old-fashioned open-face helmet. He visibly chafed at new safetyregulations, saying they were a disservice to fans who wanted to seeraces the way he wanted to run them - fearless, tight and just alittle dirty.
But if Earnhardt could have seen the reaction to his death - thebroken sobbing of an anonymous fan in a parking lot, or the hollow-eyed grief on his own son's face as he walked out of Halifax MedicalCenter - maybe he would have rethought what fans really want. InSunday's aftermath, one thing is clear. They didn't want this.
- The News-Journal of Daytona Beach
Death of Napster not the end of music-swapping
Napster may be on its way out, but America's music industry stillhas to contend with the unregulated swapping of copyrighted songs onthe Internet. As officials with the Freedom Forum noted, the FirstAmendment guarantees freedom of music, not free music. ...
Napster had, in effect, appealed on the basis that sharing musicover the Internet was no different from taping a TV show to watchlater or giving a friend a tape of favorite tunes. The court,however, determined that taping a TV show on a VCR or recording acompact disc on a tape to play in the car is limited in scope,largely for personal use and not used for profit.
Numerous other sites exist on the Internet to exchange music. ...
Enforcing any ban on music-swapping will be difficult, especiallyif companies outside the United States take over the enterprise.
The music industry must adapt and learn to use the new technologyto its advantage. That means coming up with a way to distributemusic online so that customers are less likely to copy it illegally.
- The (Rock Hill, S.C.) Herald
Poor enforcement of labor laws sets a bad example
In exporting capitalism to nations as diverse as China andPoland, Americans have argued that they also are exportingdemocratic ideals such as the rule of law and respect for humanrights. But what if the United States itself sets a bad example?
That's the question raised in a new study published by HumanRights Watch and written by Cornell University professor LanceCompa. In 'Unfair Advantage,' Compa finds that American corporationsroutinely break federal labor law and violate the legal rights oftheir employees - and that the government does almost nothing tostop them.
Since the 1930s, federal law has guaranteed Americans the rightto organize unions and to negotiate working conditions with theiremployers. Polls show that most people still support the concept.Yet Compa finds that thousands of workers are fired every year foractions as simple as wearing a union lapel pin. Drawing on documentsfrom the National Labor Relations Board, Compa finds that the numberof workers discharged for union activity has risen from a fewhundred annually in the 1950s to more than 20,000 annually in the1990s. He interviewed a Florida nursing home worker who was firedduring a union campaign, won his case before the labor board, andafter five years of litigation won a grand total of $1,798 in backpay and interest.
- Star Tribune of Minneapolis
