Right Mind

Buttars' Evolution Bill Dies In House

The House voted Monday to gut and then kill Sen. D. Chris Buttars's evolution bill as he watched from the sidelines, putting an end to its storied journey.

That means for now, teachers won't have to stress that a scientific theory, hypothesis or inference regarding the origins of the species is not an empirically proven fact. [DMC: Gasp! You wouldn't want to admit that!]

After witnessing first-hand the passage of an intent-blasting amendment and the subsequent 28-46 vote on the bill, Buttars didn't veil his feelings.

"There was a number of influenced legislators who believe you evolved from an ape. I didn't," the West Jordan Republican said. "And it's being taught in school and that's wrong."

Nick Gier Out The Skinny Branches Again

In today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News, Nick Gier went out on the small branches again. In attempting to defend the judicial murder of the unborn, Gier writes:

Thomas Aquinas, who was declared infallible by Pope Pius IX, believed that the fetus was not a person until late in pregnancy.

Joel Garver, assistant professor of philosophy at La Salle University (a Roman Catholic University) writes:

Pius IX never declared Aquinas to be infallible.

I'm not sure what the fellow had in mind, but I can only assume it was Pius IX's "Syllabus" in which a variety of opinions were condemned. Some Catholic theologians take these condemnations to be infallible. The "Syllabus" condemned the view that the teaching of Aquinas (and other Fathers and Scholastics) is no longer relevant and applicable. But that's a far cry from declaring Aquinas infallible.

I think this professor would be on firmer ground if he cited Pope Leo XIII's "Aeterni Patris," which grants papal encyclical authority to a very positive assessment of the abiding importance and validity of Aquinas for Catholic theology.

As for the claim that Aquinas taught that the "fetus is not a person until late in pregnancy," that's problematic on several counts.

1. The reference must be to Aquinas' theory that conception is an extended process, continuing until the fetus is sufficiently developed materially in order to receive a human soul as its form.  Following Aristotle, Aquinas saw this occurring 40 days after initial conception for male fetuses and 90 days after initial conception for female fetuses.  In either case, that's hardly "late" in pregnancy.
2. If the context concerns the permissibility of abortion, it's worth noting that Aquinas held that intentional abortion was sinful at any point in the process of conception and gestation, whatever the status of the fetus.
3. There's a distinction in Catholic moral theology between matters of fact and principles.  Even if Aquinas' theory of fetal development is bunk in terms of scientific facts, the present question is how one would apply his understanding of moral principles to what we now know of fetal development.
4. One could also argue that on the basis of Aquinas' theory of human ensoulment, if Aquinas knew what we now know of fetal development, he would hold that a fetus is fully a human person from the moment of initial conception.  For an extended argument in favor of this see Haldane and Lee, "Aquinas on Human Ensoulment, Abortion and the Value of Life," available here: http://www2.franciscan.edu/plee/aquinas_on_human_ensoulment.htm
   

  

A Manifesto Against Islamism

The following document was published today in the Jyllands-Posten from 12 brave intellectuals. Heads are going to roll over this (literally):

MANIFESTO: Together facing the new totalitarianism

After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new totalitarian global threat: Islamism.

We, writers, journalists, intellectuals, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all.

The recent events, which occurred after the publication of drawings of Muhammed in European newspapers, have revealed the necessity of the struggle for these universal values. This struggle will not be won by arms, but in the ideological field. It is not a clash of civilisations nor an antagonism of West and East that we are witnessing, but a global struggle that confronts democrats and theocrats.

Like all totalitarianisms, Islamism is nurtured by fears and frustrations. The hate preachers bet on these feelings in order to form battalions destined to impose a liberticidal and unegalitarian world. But we clearly and firmly state: nothing, not even despair, justifies the choice of obscurantism, totalitarianism and hatred. Islamism is a reactionary ideology which kills equality, freedom and secularism wherever it is present. Its success can only lead to a world of domination: man's domination of woman, the Islamists' domination of all the others. To counter this, we must assure universal rights to oppressed or discriminated people.

We reject cultural relativism, which consists in accepting that men and women of Muslim culture should be deprived of the right to equality, freedom and secular values in the name of respect for cultures and traditions. We refuse to renounce our critical spirit out of fear of being accused of "Islamophobia", an unfortunate concept which confuses criticism of Islam as a religion with stigmatisation of its believers.

We plead for the universality of freedom of expression, so that a critical spirit may be exercised on all continents, against all abuses and all dogmas.

We appeal to democrats and free spirits of all countries that our century should be one of Enlightenment, not of obscurantism.

12 signatures

Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Chahla Chafiq
Caroline Fourest
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Irshad Manji
Mehdi Mozaffari
Maryam Namazie
Taslima Nasreen
Salman Rushdie
Antoine Sfeir
Philippe Val
Ibn Warraq

HT: Michelle Malkin

Case Closed?

Dale, please extend my congratulations to the Logos students for winning the Mock Trial Competition. The Logos faculty, student body, and the community at large have every reason to be proud of their accomplishment. The following question is not intended to diminish their achievement. [DMC: Yea, right] I just wondered if any of the young women on the Logos legal team actually argued the case, or, were they limited to the role of witnesses or nonverbal support staff?

• http://logosschool.com/activities/MockTrial.asp
• Logos School Mock Trial -- National Results
• Logos School Mock Trial Report: Update
• Idaho State Mock Trial Results,
  
• State Mock Trial Update, 
• Back From Mock Trial in Boise, and 
• Mock Trial.

Three of the eight outstanding attorneys recognized at the competition were from Logos: Cecilia Hui and Heather Hagen for the A team, and Maggie Church for the B team.

MCA Has Gained Control

Diversity is one of the pillars of liberal thinking. For Mayor Chaney to simply exclude someone from the discussions because he has a difference of opinion is not being a true liberal (Daily News, Feb. 16). Again she continues to break her campaign promises to open city government to the residents of Moscow. As correctly discerned by Councilman Dickinson, Don Meyer did indeed publicly characterize most of the current city leaders as Moscow Civic Association clones, which does indeed accurately describe their political allegiance. I fail to see Dickinson's concerns unless he is ashamed of his endorsement by MCA; an endorsement also bestowed on Councilman Stout and Mayor Chaney.

The endorsements by MCA carry great political clout in this community, and in just a few short years, MCA has attained one of its primary goals -- to control political power in our city government. In fact, along with their friends and liberal allies, Citizens for Quality Education/Friends of Neighborhood Schools, the liberal s now control two of the three taxing authorities in our community, City Council and the school board, with only the county commissioners remaining independent of MCA (at least for now).

Unless Mayor Chaney and the City Council start expanding diversity in city government, it is going to be a very long four years of homogenized city policy.

Edward Christian, Moscow

The Internet Jihad

A troubling video of an insurgent sniper in Iraq known only as "Juba" is spreading across the Internet. As National Public Radio describes it, in the professional-quality video, "Juba" is quiet, efficient and ruthless as he trains his sights on American soldiers and pulls the trigger. Jihadist messages accompany the grisly footage -- in English. The video's colloquial American vernacular strongly suggests the video was either made in the United States or by people deeply familiar with this country -- and skilled in the use of the latest technologies.

"Juba" is just the latest indication of the frightening success of the Internet jihad. "Our enemies have skillfully adapted to fighting wars in today's media age, but... our country has not," Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said despondently earlier this month. Whether the United States is "losing" this high-technology war is debatable, but clearly we suffer critical losses the moment a "Juba" video in English comes into existence and spreads around the world.

It's not just furtive recordings, videos, Web sites and e-mails; it's proactive attacks on our own media outlets, too. In the weeks after her Web site published the Danish Muhammad cartoons, syndicated columnist and popular conservative blogger Michelle Malkin suffered repeated illegal "denial of service" attacks which incapacitated the site for hours. The attacks, traced to computers in Turkey, were dispersed once the Turkish Web-hosting company was notified. From here it is up to U.S. and Turkish authorities to pursue the hackers. No doubt many of them will elude consequences, however.

Church of St. Espresso

Church hopes lattes attract new members

AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- An Austin Baptist church is hoping to attract a younger crowd to church by turning its library into a cafe and gallery.

The Rev. Charles Whitmire told the aging congregaton at Crestview Baptist Church in North Austin that serving espresso and mocha latte was a good way to increase sagging attendance, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Whitmire said the church has about 300 members, whose average age is 70. Fifteen to 20 years ago, the church had 600 to 700 members, he told the newspaper.

The church bought an espresso machine, grinders, a smoothie machine and other coffee-related equipment for about $4,000. Whitmire and six other people trained with Texas Coffee Traders to learn how to brew up mochas, lattes and other coffee drinks.

The Connexion Cafe & Gallery opened Feb. 17. Whitmire said about 60 people came on opening night.

The cafe, which is staffed by church volunteers, isn't currently charging for coffee but accepts donations, the newspaper said.

HT: Pearcey Report

Japan Lifts Ban, Buys Spuds

The news that Japan has lifted its ban on US potatoes is being welcomed by the region’s potato growers, who’ve struggled in recent years with sales dragged down by low- carb diets and other factors.

Under the agreement announced earlier this month, imports of potatoes to be processed into potato chips will be allowed to approved plants. After sending experts to the US last summer for inspections, Japan authorized imports from fourteen states, including Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. The three Northwest states produce an estimated sixty percent of the nation’s potato crop.

Idaho Agriculture officials are crediting a state trade mission to Japan last May for helping to open the import doors.

Japan had originally banned the import of US potatoes in 1950, citing a concern with pests and diseases. The potatoes will be shipped under a rigid protocol that covers seed, field inspections, soil removal, storage, packing, and shipping.

Oregon Researcher Developing Fast Test for Avian Flu

Right now, avian flu tests are expensive and take a long time to produce results. An Oregon State University professor claims he has a better method for testing chickens and other birds. Manoj Pastey, who’s from India, says it would cost only ten dollars, instead of the tens of thousands for equipment used in current tests.

The process would work like litmus paper from your first chemistry set.

Pastey: You can see the color change, if it positive or negative, so it’s very simple. And you don’t need sophisticated equipment, and you can detect within ten to fifteen minutes. Right now it takes about three days to confirm.

Pastey’s grant for a hundred thousand dollars from the Department of Agriculture gives him two years to develop the test. In addition, he hopes that the antibodies he cultivates will work also as treatment for avian flu.

What Else We Learned

Joe Stegner says that what he learned in Sunday school justified his vote against a constitutional referendum defining conventional marriage. I went to Sunday school in Grangeville like Joe, and I think he flunked.

I learned to love and forgive those who do wrong. We were not instructed to encourage or support wrongful or perverted conduct, even between consenting adults. There is a fundamental difference. Joe's logic could as easily apply to legalize gambling, prostitution and indentured servitude. I guess Joe would not just forgive those who "can't help themselves" in any such consensual conduct, but would have Idaho "celebrate" along with them. Each Idaho main street would look very different in Joe's world.

Nor would my old pastor have thought it wrong that the public be entitled to vote their choice on an important social issue. The Bible I was given contained some old hymns, as well as America's national anthem, indicative of a blessed connection between God and country. I fear for the society my grandchildren will confront, where our laws and our leaders, like Joe, are not guided by a sense of moral conviction, and where it is more socially reprehensible to stand against perversion, than to participate in it.

I forgive Joe, but he has forever lost my vote, which incidentally cannot be purchased under Idaho law, even between consenting adults.

Ron T. Blewett, Lewiston

Say something like this in Moscow and you'll have the Diversity Police knocking at your door.

Navy To Base Two More Subs In Puget Sound

SEATTLE -- The U.S. Navy will move two of its fastest attack submarines to Washington state by next summer as it shifts defenses from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific, U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., said Monday.

Once the USS Seawolf and the USS Connecticut arrive in Puget Sound, the Seattle area will be home to all three of the Navy's Seawolf class of subs -- huge, deep-diving boats the Pentagon ordered as the Cold War neared its end in the early 1990s.

...

The shift will put 60 percent of the Navy's submarine fleet in the Pacific and about 40 percent in the Atlantic by 2010, Dicks said. Today submarines are evenly divided between the two oceans.

In a phone interview from his office in Bremerton, Dicks applauded the Navy's decision, saying it underscores concerns about military threats posed by China and North Korea. "Having more assets in the Pacific Northwest makes sense," Dicks said.

Each of the high-speed subs will bring a crew of 140, and will keep a steady supply of maintenance and overhaul work at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Dicks said.

The Navy's third Seawolf sub, the USS Carter, moved to Naval Submarine Base Bangor, on the Kitsap peninsula northwest of Seattle, last year. It's the most heavily armed submarine ever built.

Ironic, given her namesake...

Pope: In Vitro Embryos Are As Precious As Fetuses

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI said Monday that embryos developed for in vitro fertilization deserve the same right to life as fetuses, children and adults -- and that that right extends to embryos even before they are transferred into a woman's womb.

The Vatican has long held that human life begins at conception, but Benedict's comments were significant because he specified that even an embryo in its earliest stages -- when it is just a few cells -- is just as much a human life as an older being.

The pope made the comments during an audience with members of the Pontifical Academy for Life, who opened a Vatican-sponsored conference Monday on the ethics surrounding the handling of embryos before they are implanted during in vitro procedures.

The Vatican opposes in vitro procedures because embryos created in a laboratory are often discarded, whereas others are frozen and still others are created solely for experimentation or to create stem cells.

Benedict repeated the Roman Catholic Church position that life begins at the moment of conception and deserves to be respected and protected from that moment on -- a position set out most authoritatively in the 1995 encyclical "Evangelium Vitae."

Always High Taxes: The War On Wal-Mart Is Really About Expanding Government

From the WSJ Opinion Journal:

With the war on Wal-Mart now heating up in nearly three dozen state legislatures, I put a call in to someone who was in on the ground floor in pushing to force the retailer to spend more on health care for its employees. What Maryland's Delegate James Hubbard, a Democrat from Prince George's County, had to say was revealing of both why he backed his state's "Wal-Mart bill" and what this fight is really about: expanding Medicaid and other taxpayer-funded health-care entitlements.

Let's first understand that the drive to enact anti-Wal-Mart legislation has very little to do with the retail giant except in two respects: dipping into its very deep pockets, and using the controversy surrounding the company to mask the larger agenda of expanding already-bankrupt entitlement programs. Of course, in this war legislators have a ready made ally in the AFL-CIO, which has its own reasons for going after the nonunionized company.

With that, let's turn to Mr. Hubbard. He began our conversation by pointing out that the Wal-Mart bill--which forces companies with more than 10,000 employees to spend at least 8% of their payroll on health care or pay the state the difference--was always intended to be just the first step. Four years ago, he made his intentions clear by introducing legislation to increase cigarette taxes and to use the tax code to compel employers to provide health insurance. Under his legislation the revenue from these taxes would be dumped into a new state fund that would then be used to expand Medicaid eligibility to families with incomes up to 300% of the poverty line (up from 200% now). But even in a legislature with large Democratic majorities, his bill stalled.

So Mr. Hubbard and others settled on a new approach--pushing through smaller, bite-sized pieces. The first piece was the Wal-Mart bill. It passed last year and was enacted last month, when the Legislature overrode Gov. Robert Ehrlich's veto. Two weeks ago Mr. Hubbard was at it again, this time introducing a new bill to mandate that companies with at least 1,000 employees spend 4.5% of their payroll on health care or pay the state the difference. Once this piece is in place, Mr. Hubbard told me, the next step will be to create a similar mandate--perhaps 2% or 3%--for companies with fewer than 1,000 employees. Each year, Mr. Hubbard hopes to expand the mandate to include ever smaller companies with the ultimate goal of "health coverage for all Marylanders."

The liberals well understand the concept of incrementalism: impose socialism one law at a time.

Noteworthy Bumpers

From Expose the Left

Euphemisms for Today

From John Leo's blog over at U.S. News & World Report:.

• pluralistic plan--hiring quota
• covenanted relationship--living together without getting married
• legislative advocate--lobbyist
• enhanced interrogation--torture
• rendition--outsourced torture
• sheltered in place--quarantined
• neutralize--kill
• targeted killings--assassinations
• deferred success--failure on a school test
• security contractors abroad--mercenaries
• troop redeployment--get out of Iraq now
• intercommunal coexistence--peace
• technological inexactitude--lie
• involuntary undomiciled--homeless people
• deinstalled--fired
• wildlife conservation park--zoo
• volume-related production schedule adjustment period--plant closing

The High Benefit of Low Prices

A recent Zogby poll, for example, found that 38 percent of the American public has an “unfavorable” view of Wal-Mart, whereas only 13 percent of the individuals polled had negative views of Target, another “big box” retailer, but a company that does not engage as aggressively in price cutting and discounting merchandise as does Wal-Mart.

The popularity of the notion that Wal-Mart is “bad for America” can be attributed to a number of factors. First, the organizations that are leading the anti-Wal-Mart campaigns generally receive favorable press from journalists. Second, by enjoying almost unlimited access to friendly and prominent news media sources, these groups have been able to push a continuous message with almost no opposition or objective scrutiny.

Third, because the nature of large-scale retailing is murky to most people—including most economists—economic fallacies prevail where firms like Wal-Mart are concerned. Wal-Mart’s actions and their community effects can best be explained by the economics of large-scale retailers, and with an understanding of why they are extremely vital to a community’s overall economic health.

Hopefully, policymakers at all levels of government will end their war on Wal-Mart and the opportunities the company provides to shoppers and employees. Right now, the prospects are less-than-hopeful, and if this war continues, many people will pay a high cost for this war on low prices.

HT: Palousitics

Supreme Court Sides With Abortion Protestors

Washington, D.C. – Today, the United States Supreme Court unanimously sided with abortion protestors and ended a 19-year legal battle waged against the protestors by the National Organization for Women (NOW). The case of Scheidler v. NOW was brought by NOW against several pro-life protestors, claiming that the protest activities of several pro-life individuals and groups were in violation of RICO and the Hobbs Act.

In order for RICO to apply, there must first be a violation of one of the laws listed within RICO. One such law that abortion advocates have relied upon is the federal law known as the Hobbs Act. The Hobbs Act prohibits extortion, which is defined as the improper obtaining of property from another. Abortion advocates argued that pro-life protestors committed “extortion” by picketing their clinics.

Today’s decision is the third decision by the United States Supreme Court in this case. In 1994, the Supreme Court sent the case back to the district court for further proceedings to determine whether RICO was violated by the protest activities. After a trial that awarded treble (triple) damages against the abortion protestors, the case made its way back to the Supreme Court in 2003. The Supreme Court’s decision focused on the fact that the protestors did not commit extortion because they did not seek to “obtain” property from the abortion clinics, as required by the definition of the term extortion. The Court sent the case back to the court of appeals, which determined that threats of physical violence could constitute a violation of the Hobbs Act, thus forming the basis for a RICO lawsuit against the protestors. RICO has been used to impose fines against some pro-life protestors in excess of $100,000,000.

The Supreme Court decided today that physical violence or threats of physical violence unrelated to robbery or extortion fall outside the scope of the Hobbs Act, and thus the protestors’ actions could not be considered violations of the Hobbs Act, and therefore did not violate RICO. The Court ordered for judgment to be entered in favor of the abortion protestors.

HT: Bill J.

What a Racket!

Moscow-Pullman Regional Airport Software

Today's Agenda at the Idaho Legislature

As reported in today's edition of the Idaho Statesman:

• POLICE BUDGETS: The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee will set budgets for Idaho State Police and the governor's office. The meeting will begin at 8 a.m. in room 328.
• CHARTER SCHOOLS: The Senate Education Committee will consider a proposal to raise the maximum number of charter schools allowed to start in any school year from six to 12. The meeting will begin at 3 p.m. in Room 433.
• EDUCATION: The House Education Committee will consider a proposal to prohibit bullying, one to give scholarships to students going into math and science and another to create a loan program for math and science teachers. The meeting will begin at 8 a.m. in Room 406.

Senate Unanimously Backs Bill To Toughen Drunken-Driving Laws

As reported in today's edition of the Idaho Statesman:

The full Senate unanimously approved a proposal Monday to steepen penalties for drunken driving, while a Senate committee killed a bill that would have allowed state law enforcement to set up roadblocks for random drunken-driving checks.

Senators agreed to increase the time served for repeat offenders and drivers who injure others while drunk, and increase the license suspension period for refusing to take a breath test.

Bill sponsors said current law makes it too easy for a driver to refuse a blood alcohol content test because they lose their license for only three months.

"License suspension is effective and it makes sense," said Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, a sponsor of the legislation. "The license to drive an automobile is not a right, it's a privilege."

Fatal crashes are declining in Idaho, but the percentage of fatal crashes that involves alcohol is staying constant, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

According to the NHTSA's annual alcohol-related fatalities report, 36 percent of all fatal crashes were alcohol-related in both 2003 and 2004, but went down 12.3 percent in the same period.

Juries rely on blood-alcohol readings to convict drunken drivers, but current Idaho law encourages drivers to refuse the test by making the penalty higher if they breathe than if they refuse to do so, according to Heather Reilly of the Idaho Prosecuting Attorneys Association.

Cost Of Premium Cigars Would Drop With Tax Cut

As reported in today's Spokesman Review:

The average smoker of premium cigars may be able to pay any tax Idaho requires. But whether those smokers are willing to ante up is another story, lawmakers were told Monday.

"The average consumer of premium cigars is a discriminating and astute consumer," said Russell Westerberg, lobbyist for the Cigar Association of America. "He didn't earn the ability to enjoy certain luxuries in life by being a foolish consumer and paying more than necessary for products of his choosing."

HB693, approved 13-4 Monday by the House Revenue and Taxation Committee and backed by Rep. Jim Clark, R-Hayden Lake, sets the tax on premium cigars at 50 cents each. The tax now is 40 percent of the wholesale price.

Under the current system, a $75 box of premium cigars is taxed $30. That would drop to $12.50 under the new law, which Clark – not a cigar smoker himself – said is much more in sync with prices in Oregon and Washington and on the Internet.

Mark Sturman, owner of Sturman's Smoke Shop in Boise, said he's in danger of going out of business because Idaho cigar smokers won't pay the high taxes.

NewCities Meeting Thursday, March 2 at UI Best Western