Archive for 2007
Perspective – NEW YEAR’S
We are facing another new year, the time to reflect on the past while anticipating the future. This is the time of promises of changes we wish for the next year. This is the time to remember the good and the bad of yesterday. This is the time to remember the successes and failures of […]
“I intend to be among the outlaws”
By June, 2008 the United States Supreme Court may offer some clarification of the Second Amendment and the rights of individuals to own guns. But, their interpretation may be so narrow that it has little impact outside the source of the case, Washington, D.C., leaving the rest of the nation still debating gun control. If […]
“A free people…ought to be armed”
Thomas Jefferson said, “No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.” But did he foresee guns being used in mass murders, the most recent leaving three dead in Colorado? There a gunman killed two people and wounded two others at a missionary training center in Arvada. Later the same day he killed […]
“Out of many, one”
“The one absolute certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, or preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities. We have but one flag. We must also learn one language and that language is English” stated President Theodore Roosevelt. […]
Birth control for eleven-year-olds?
The Portland, Maine school board is allowing school personnel to dispense birth control to girls as young as eleven without the knowledge or consent of their parents. Is this reasonable or unacceptable? Would you want your eleven year old daughter using birth control without your knowledge? Does availability of birth control promote sexual activity in […]
The price of ‘freeing the oppressed’
How do you propose an acceptable number of dead American military personnel? How do you justify losing even one American life. Are there acceptable deaths? My inability to answer these questions is probably why I did not have the character to serve my country while many of my family members did. Maybe I could never […]
Is there a life not worthy to be lived?
In the United States we have had access to legal abortions for about 25 years and access to voluntary euthanasia in Oregon for about 10 years. Some might question discussing abortion and euthanasia together but isn’t abortion just a form of involuntary euthanasia? What does the future hold for these procedures? If we look at […]
The United States – “One nation under God?”
The funeral of a United States serviceman, who was killed in combat, ignited the debate over God and government. Is it inappropriate to mention God at a military funeral? Did we vote to become an agnostic nation? The debate continues because some individuals and groups believe any mention of God in government violates the “separation […]
Thoughts of a soldier’s father – VETERAN’S DAY
How do I write about the people willing to do what so many of us are not willing to do? How do I write about heroes? The ones “ready to pick up a rifle, ruck up and close with the enemy.” How do I write about Veteran’s Day when I am terrified because I have […]
The realities of illegal aliens in the United States
The United States has illegal aliens from all over the world, with the majority from Mexico (70 percent) and Central America (15 percent). Do we have a plan to deal with these 15 to 20 million illegal aliens in our country? Should we provide amnesty or deportation? Are illegal aliens just good people seeking a […]
The Ivy Leagues vs. Supreme Court
Stanford and several other Ivy League universities continue to disregard the Supreme Court ruling of March 2006, which states they must either allow ROTC and military recruiters on campus or lose federal funding. Stanford argues they must refuse to allow ROTC on campus because the military is discriminating against homosexual individuals. This stalemate came to […]
FDR tried to help people
President Franklin Roosevelt would be proud of the help our government’s Small Business Administration provided Sun Valley area businesses following the Castle Rock Fire this year. Although the fire did not damage any buildings, local businesses still suffered economic damage because of the fire. Rather than just handing out money, the SBA set up a […]
The little-known link of Levis to yodeling
Some important information needed in life is left out of our educational system. One such bit of information is the history of Levi Strauss and the copper rivet. How should we refer to such extraneous information? Years ago when I was in medical school, acronyms were already taking over. Everything had an acronym — “PMC” is […]
When does dissent become treason?
The first amendment of the Bill of Rights states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” We […]
Let’s work together to balance civil rights and national security
The Sikh man felt violated when asked to remove his turban by a court bailiff in Dallas, Texas. Was that discrimination? Was he treated any differently than anyone else entering the courthouse? Should his faith have allowed him rights other individuals do not have? The airline captain removed six Muslim imams from the flight. He […]
Is the Hippocratic Oath no longer relevant?
The Hippocratic Oath has endured for more than 2,400 years, penned 400 years before the birth of Christ. G.E.R. Lloyd described the Hippocratic Oath as “an ideal gold ethics standard representing a clear dividing line separating healers and killers, a commitment that physicians make to protect life, and never to deliberately take life.” Few documents […]
How objective is media reporting on gun control?
The Idaho State Journal recently offered editorial support for gun control, taking the path of most media, assuming guns are a problem and gun control will solve that problem. They referenced the Jason Hamilton murders when they complimented the University of Idaho for banning guns on campus, calling it a wise decision. They overlooked an […]
U.S. must regain its resolve to defeat terrorism
Listening to our political leaders discuss Iraq and terrorism, I hear little discussion with real solutions. We must first separate the discussion of the war in Iraq from the discussion of terrorism, focusing on developing goals for both. Rather than developing goals, our politicians’ discussions revolve around mandating deadlines, controlling troop numbers, and the like. […]