EUROPE UPS TRADING ANTE WITH CHEMICAL LAWS

This past summer Europe raised the stakes in trans-Atlantic bargaining power. New chemical laws went into effect a couple of months ago which have sent American businesses scrambling back to the drawing board to seek newer and safer ways to create and enhance products that will flow into the European market – a market of 27 countries and almost 500 million people.

The new laws in the European Union require companies to demonstrate that a chemical is safe before it enters commerce – the opposite of policies in the United States, where regulators must prove that a chemical is harmful before it can be restricted or removed from the market. Manufacturers believe that complying with the European laws will add billions to their costs, possibly driving up prices of some products.

Of course, the Bush administration and the U.S. chemical industry adamantly oppose the E.U. laws, which will be phased in over the next decade. The laws also call for the European Union to create a list of “substances of very high concern” – those suspected of causing cancer or other health problems. Any manufacturer wishing to produce or sell a chemical on that list must receive authorization.

From its crackdown on antitrust practices in the computer industry to its rigorous protection of consumer privacy, the European Union has adopted a regulatory philosophy that emphasizes the consumer.

Photo Credit: Google Images

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Compare the European Union’s position to that of the lenient regulatory scheme in place in the United States which has led to the banning of only five chemicals since 1976. The EPA relies on the chemical industry to voluntarily stop production of suspect chemicals. Another instance of the fox guarding the chicken coop. What is truly amazing is the fact that many of the cleaners and substances we use everyday have never been tested for safety. The only visible warning is the skull and crossbones and the label warnings on the containers.

Focusing on consumer protection in the European Union has upped the ante for American businesses. Imagine that – what a novel idea to really worry about protecting the consumer.

IF ONLY ONE LIFE – THE FOLLY OF THE DEATH PENALTY

“The Life of David Gale.” If only one life is spared – if only one life is saved. Then abolition of the death penalty is worth it. The death penalty is simply an exaction of revenge – a philosophy posited in the Old Testament of the Bible.

But our Nation was founded on Christianity, not the Old Testament. So get rid of the Old Testament. Read the New Testament. After all, isn’t our Nation founded on Christianity which derives from the New Testament?

How many of you have read the New Testament? Anyone? My grandfather was a Baptist minister. I grew up with religion. My dad was an Evangelical United Brethren; my mother was a Baptist; my great grandfather was a hardshell Southern Baptist.

I spent my life with religion. Every summer I went to Topeka, Indiana, and spend two weeks in church camp. I knew all the Beatitudes by time I was 8 years old. I have read the Bible – both Old Testament and New Testament. But the New Testament was given to us to wipe away the bitterness and the exactitude of the Old Testament. The New Testament is our Christian heritage.

Jesus gave to us a new philosophy of life. The New Testament provides a basis of forgiveness and love, not of hatred, not of regimen, not of exactitude.

Yes, I watched the movie “The Life of David Gale”, and, yes, if only innocent life is spared, then the death penalty is a travesty. The death penalty should be abolished. Much, much, rather thousands of guilty lives spared than one innocent life condemned to death and suffer that ultimate unjustified sacrifice to a sentence that can never be undone.

THE REMNANT TRUST – WORDS THAT CHANGED HISTORY

I am not shy about my love of books. I have my own library of somewhere around 800 books, and I don’t intend to stop anytime soon. I love to stop in at Borders and browse the bargain books, and I rarely leave with purchases under $50.00. I journey to Hyde Brothers on Wells Street every now and then as well and search through old books for prizes to return home with me. So when I learned of a group of aged books set to come to IPFW, I was thrilled.

This coming January through April at IPFW, the Remnant Trust will make available a world-class collection of manuscripts, first- and early-edition works in original form, such as the Declaration of Independence, the Magna Carta, and the Federalist Papers. The Remnant Trust is comprised of over 900 manuscripts, books, pamphlets, and related documents on subjects related to individual liberty and human dignity.

Photo Credit: IPFW – The Remnant Trust

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The IPFW exhibit will include more than 50 manuscripts, books, pamphlets, and documents on subjects related to individual liberty and human dignity. The books will be available to actually hold, touch, and read.

As a prelude to the exhibit, IPFW is hosting four lectures – open to the public – tying the books to their particular time period as well as describing the roots of social and political ideas. The lectures not only focus on social and political ideas but also weave in period architectural styles.

I missed the first lecture two weeks ago, but I attended tonight’s lecture, and I will be attending the remaining two lectures in October. I totally enjoyed learning about the social and political ideas, but it was the idea of tying these age-old philosophies to architectural styles that really intrigued me.

The lecturers addressed the topic of “organic conservatism” and its impact on and relationship to classical architecture. I can’t wait until the next lecture on October 8th when the discussion will center around the concept of the “individualist conservative.”

But even more than the lectures and the knowledge gleaned, I cannot even imagine what it will be like to actually touch books the likes of the “Prince” by Machiavelli, the “Emancipation Proclamation”, and the “Rights of Men.”

Whether you are a book lover or not, or a reader or not, this opportunity should not be missed. The books can beheld in our hands – we can touch the leaves of the books and read the age-old words that, indeed, changed history.

McCAIN’S CAMPAIGN MANAGER TIED TO FREDDIE MAC

Well, here we go again. Another example of McCain touting his “holier than thou” credentials which can’t be backed up by facts.

Freddie Mac, one of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis, paid $15,000 a month from the end of 2005 through August to Davis Manafort, a firm owned by Sen. John McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis. However, McCain has defended his campaign manager by stating Rick Davis has had no involvement with the lobbying group for several years.

McCain’s campaign has been attacking Obama for ties to former officials of the mortgage giants, both of which have a long history of cultivating Democratic and Republican allies alike to fend off efforts to restrict their activities. Freddie Mac’s payments of roughly $500,000 to Davis Manafort began in late 2005, immediately after Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae disbanded an advocacy coalition that they had set up and hired Davis to run.

Photo Credit: Associated Press

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From 2000 to the end of 2005, Davis received nearly $2 million as president of the coalition, the Homeownership Alliance, which the companies created to help them oppose new regulations and protect their status as federally chartered companies with implicit government backing, according to the report.

So, let me get this straight. While McCain brandishes his efforts to regulate the mortgage giants to “save” the little people, his campaign manager was taking money to lobby against regulation? Oh, what a tangled web we weave.

NEW POLL SHOWS CLOSE GOVERNOR’S RACE

In an exclusive Indianapolis Star-Channel 13 poll, Governor Mitch Daniels seems to have a race on his hands. According to the poll, 46 percent back Mitch Daniels re-election effort, and 42 percent support Democrat Jill Long Thomspon. The governor’s campaign is quick to dismiss the results and believe their lead in the campaign is bigger than the four points reflected in the Star-13 poll.

Long Thompson’s campaign points to the right direction, wrong track numbers. When asked if Indiana was heading in the right direction, 47 percent said yes, but 44 percent said Indiana is on the wrong track.

“We believe, by and large, that Hoosiers approve of the job Governor Daniels is doing,” said Eric Holcomb of the Daniels campaign.

But I have to wonder if Mr. Holcomb understands the meaning of the phrase “by and large” which today means “generally speaking,” “mostly” or “on the whole.” However, the origin is nautical, and had a very precise meaning. It was an order to the man at the helm of a sailing ship, meaning to sail the ship slightly off the wind. A similar command was “full and by” which meant to “sail as close to the wind as it can go.”

Thus, when a person doesn’t want to “sail” directly into a statement, “by and large” is a hedge, a phrase of circumspection, a way of saying that the statement is an imprecise generality. Holcomb is actually saying that they aren’t quite sure how many Hoosiers approve of the Guv’s policies and actions. Nice choice of words – by and large. Perhaps a better assessment would be “we just don’t know.”

WHERE DID PALIN GET HER GLASSES? WHO CARES?

In the latest round of nonsensical twaddle in this year’s presidential election, voters are more focused on Sarah Palin’s glasses than on answers to real issues. One headline shouts, “Sarah Palin’s Much-in-demand Glasses Bring Sexy Back.” Wow, way to demean women. Palin becomes a talking bobble head with a pair of glasses.

Voters – and I would assume most of the vision-struck are women – seem to be more interested in Palin’s glasses then her anti-choice and anti Roe v. Wade, anti-ANWR, anti-global warming, pro-book banning, pro-creationism in schools positions, just to name a few.

Photo Credit: The Stump

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But, if you want a pair, they come from a Japanese designer. The frame is from Kazuo Kawasaki’s 704 series, in grey, made from titanium and mounted via a screwless tension system. The price starts at $375 for the frame and can go up to $700, depending on the lens. Guess that puts them out of my range. I paid just under a hundred dollars for both lens and frame at J.C. Penney. And, even then, I was looking for something less expensive. I hadn’t needed glasses for over 30 years, so it was quite a shock.

What is it with media and voters? When it comes to women candidates, their accessories trump their intelligence, values, positions, and ability to lead. Hillary Clinton’s pantsuits provided fodder for the media and voters on a daily basis as they tried to guess what color she would wear. She was labeled “dowdy” and “chunky.” Never mind her accomplishments throughout her life and her current position as a well-liked and respected senator. Never mind that she put up one hell of a fight for the opportunity to represent the Democratic party in this November’s election.

When Katie Couric stepped into the CBS nightly news slot as the anchor woman, the media went into a frenzy about what she would wear. Would it be a pantsuit? Would it be a dress? What colors would she wear? How many in the media and viewers care about what Bob Schieffer, Charlie Gibson, or George Stephanopoulus wear when they appear on their programs?

When focus is turned to such meaningless issues as clothing and accessories, the media and male political establishment have effectively diminished the ability of women to be taken seriously. Now, back to Palin’s glasses – they are simply glasses. Are they really so important that voters – in particular Republican women voters – cannot tear themselves away from looking at them? Are they really so mesmerizing that women will ooh and ah and become brain dead on issues?

While I don’t particularly care what Republican women do, I do care how women of all races, parties, and ages are perceived. The fixation on Palin’s glasses does a tremendous disservice to women in both political parties. So now you know where she got them. And, I still say who cares?

AH – I LOVE THE SMELL OF REPUBLICAN HYPOCRISY IN THE MORNING

Hypocrisy – many of us have had that dreaded word thrown at us. Most of the time those using it have no clue what it means. Hypocrisy is:

• a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess
• a pretense of having some desirable or publicly approved attitude

The Republican right-wing hypocrisy machine is in full gear with Sarah Palin. Before Palin’s pick, the right-wing was slipping away from McCain, suffering from a severe case of benign neglect. So McCain conjured up a magic trick by the name of Sarah Palin.

The right-wingers, once feeling alone and deserted, were suddenly touched by the spirit of a kindred soul. And she was on the Republican ticket. But here’s the hypocrisy: these hard-core religious right believe a woman’s place is in the home – having babies and waiting hand and foot on the husband. A wife’s role is to be submissive to her husband in all things. To the religious right, a two-bread winner family represents a modern-day travesty because the home is the little woman’s domain, not the office, and certainly not a governor’s office.

Enter Sarah Palin – a working mother of five who can sling a gun and shoot down the Alaskan wildlife with the best of the boys. Ah, and, according to those in the know, she’s “hot.” Palin doesn’t wear those old dowdy pantsuits that became Hillary Clinton’s trademark. The old song about bringing home the bacon and frying it up in pan aptly applies to Palin’s many talents.

Photo credit: Alaska governor’s office

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But ironically, Palin is the antithesis of what the religious right believes its women should represent. How do they reconcile that? They can’t. Their glee at having “one of their own” on a national ticket trumps their “values” system. Ah, I love the smell of Republican hypocrisy in the morning.

ANTI-CHOICE ADVOCATES ATTEMPT TO DUPE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

Can the County commissioners be duped? The answer to that question will be forthcoming as the County Commissioners recover from discovering that a local anti-choice – otherwise known as pro-lifers – group and its attorney, Jim Howard, tried to slide one through on them. Howard has drafted an ordinance that purportedly protects the health and safety of individuals who have surgery on an out patient basis.

But as the Commissioners learned, strangely enough, the proposal before the commissioners would require doctors who perform certain gynecological-related outpatient procedures to have admitting privileges at a hospital in the county.

The procedures listed include tubal ligation/sterilization, uterine endometrial ablations, dilation and curettages (with or without suction), and dilation and extraction. What? No procedures included that protect all those other males and females not having gynecological-related outpatient procedures?

Here is the link to the ordinance:

http://www.co.allen.in.us/images/stories/commissioners/Draft%20Patient%20Safety%20Ordinance.pdf

Notice that the procedures listed are specific only to women – sorry guys, you don’t merit enough concern to fall under the ordinance.

Look for the group to retool the ordinance to include all procedures in order to ram through the gynecological-related procedures. So much for anti-choice proponents caring about all patients who undergo outpatient surgeries.

McCAIN AND PALIN – CLASSIC BAIT AND SWITCH

I have to give McCain credit – he has pulled a classic “bait and switch” tactic in the political arena that is usually reserved for use by businesses. In retail sales, a bait and switch is a form of fraud in which the party putting forth the fraud lures in customers by advertising a product or service at an unprofitably low price, then reveals to potential customers that the advertised good is not available but that a substitute is.

The goal of the bait-and-switch is to convince some buyers to purchase the substitute good as a means of avoiding disappointment over not getting the bait, or as a way to recover sunk costs expended to try to obtain the bait. It suggests that the seller will not show the original product or product advertised but instead will demonstrate a more expensive product.

McCain has little substance to his campaign, and he has admitted he doesn’t know much about the economy – the number one issue for most Americans.

So, in order to distract from the pressing issues of the day, McCain, in an unexpected move designed to throw Obama and the Democrats off-task, appoints an unknown governor from a state with less population than a number of U.S. cities including Indianapolis, Indiana. Not only is she a governor of a sparsely-populated state, but her husband belonged to the Alaska Independence Party which advocated becoming a separate nation.

The Republicans – as did many Democrats – found it outrageous that Obama had been and was affiliated with a minister who spouts hate, but Republicans are now jumping up and down for a governor whose spouse belonged to a party that advocated separating and becoming an independent nation. Seems to me if you are espousing the doctrine of separating from the United States, you certainly don’t like our country very much.

In order to ensure his success with the tactic, McCain has shielded Palin from any degree of questioning. Of course, he wants her along to campaign because her presence accomplishes two things:

1. She draws attention away from McCain which decreases the amount of time he has to answer any real questions about real issues; and,

2. He can keep an eye on her so that she doesn’t show her inexperience in so many of the areas in which she knows very little

Obama has recognized this bait and switch and is now getting back on track to talk to the American people about the real issues of the day. Bait and switch is a fraudulent activity in the business world, and it is just as fraudulent in McCain’s selection of Palin.

PALIN – AERIAL WOLF HUNTING IS GREAT!

Enough said. A governor who has no respect for wildlife. You may not care about wolves and other wildlife, but I sure do.