Caffeinated Thoughts |
- Emmett McGroarty in Townhall: Education Revolution… Without the People?
- Obama Administration Abandons DOMA
- FreedomWorks Staff Member, Tabitha Hale, Assaulted By CWA Union Member
- Is it time to Allow Concealed Carry on the Campus of the University of Iowa?
- Wisconsin Physicians: Doctor Notes to Protesting Teachers.
| Emmett McGroarty in Townhall: Education Revolution… Without the People? Posted: 23 Feb 2011 09:30 PM PST
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| Obama Administration Abandons DOMA Posted: 23 Feb 2011 09:14 PM PST Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the U.S. Department of Justice will no longer defend DOMA, Holder said in his statement:
I'm not sure I can say anything that I haven't already said before. It's not a surprise. President Barack Obama's "personal belief" that marriage is between one man and one woman that he expressed during 2008 was a sham. He thinks when life begins was above his pay grade, but evidently has no problem deciding on the definition of marriage. Since he believes section 3 of DOMA applied to legally married same-sex couples, what does he think about a federal judge's ruling that California's constitution was unconstitutional? Hmm…. Share and Enjoy: |
| FreedomWorks Staff Member, Tabitha Hale, Assaulted By CWA Union Member Posted: 23 Feb 2011 08:15 PM PST Tabitha Hale the New Media Director at FreedomWorks (formerly with Smart Girl Politics) was assaulted by a union thug from Communications Workers of America when they took their protest today to the FreedomWorks offices.
She’s all right, but sheesh, the left likes calling Tea Party activists violent. I had a chance to meet Tabitha last fall at the BlogCon conference that FreedomWorks held, and originally started following her via twitter, she told me that I was the first one to link to her blog. I'm glad I was able to be an encouragement to her. I'm super excited about the work that she is doing, and it seems like she is ticking off all the right people. HT: Michele Malkin Share and Enjoy: |
| Is it time to Allow Concealed Carry on the Campus of the University of Iowa? Posted: 23 Feb 2011 07:43 PM PST
Beware Gunmen: The University of Iowa is no longer a defense free zone…it has balls… tennis balls!
Let me start by saying that I applaud the University of Iowa for providing courses on what to do in the event of a gunman on campus, it is important for everyone to stay vigilant in this day and age, and be prepared for anything. But as I read this article in this morning’s Daily Iowan, parts of it made me think that they had mistakenly ran an article straight from the Onion. LeeAnn Yeckley entered a training room at the University of Iowa Department of Public Safety wielding a red rubber gun. Instantly, the 22 other "potential victims" pelted the UI graduate student with yellow Styrofoam balls. In this situation, called "the swarm," the balls represented different objects that can be thrown at an attacker before several brave people in the room attempt to bring the person to the ground and get control of the weapon.
Iowa’s new shall issue law has resulted in many places feeling the need to declare themselves as gun free zones. Iowa City and Johnson County have both passed ordinances banning weapons on city and county property respectively. Not a big suprise from the city that has passed an ordinance declairing itself a nuclear weapon free zone. North Liberty, a growing, relatively conservative town(by Johnson County standards) just outside of Iowa City is now discussing a ban as well. But the University’s ban on weapons is nothing new and has not changed as a result of the new law. Certainly one option is to continue the ban on weapons and start issuing everyone a tennis ball, but maybe there is another way. Maybe it is time to allow weapons on the campus of the University of Iowa. It is not completely unheard of, in fact we may be seeing a slow trend towards allowing firearms on campus, instead of banning them. Currently weapons are allowed on all campuses in Utah, based on a statewide law. Texas will likely be the next state to join Utah. A bill to allow firearms on all college campuses in Texas has just gained support of a majority of the Texas state house; a similar bill has already passed the state senate and Gov. Perry intends on signing the legislation. Passage in Texas would be a huge step forward for advocates of allowing firearms on campus; Texas is home to 38 public universities and more than 500,000 students. Eight other states including Arizona, Tennessee, Michigan, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Florida, Nebraska and Mississippi also have pending "campus carry" legislation. And 12 others have had legislation proposed within the last few years including Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Ohio, South Dakota, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington. To my knowledge and limited research, no such bill has been proposed in Iowa. But, there is at least one student group at Iowa State University advocating for the change. Anthony Taylor, a junior in software engineering, started the Iowa State chapter of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus last year. Eric Cooper, 2010 Libertarian Gubernatorial candidate, serves as the student group’s faculty advisor. The arguments for and against allowing firearms on campus are numerous and beyond the scope of this blog entry. If you would like to find out more, two good starting points may be Students for Concealed Carry on Campus and The Campaign to Keep Guns off Campus. But I think it is time to start the conversation here in Iowa.
Who knows, maybe I’ll open up the paper tomorrow to find that the University Police department is being replaced by the Hawkeye women’s tennis team…I hear they are pretty good shots. Share and Enjoy: |
| Wisconsin Physicians: Doctor Notes to Protesting Teachers. Posted: 23 Feb 2011 09:23 AM PST Earlier this week several Wisconsin physicians were found handing out notes to excuse protesters from work due to illness. Their actions were caught on tape by several individuals and news organizations and the videos were posted. The University of Wisconsin had recently sent out a press release stating: These UW Health physicians were acting on their own and without the knowledge or approval of UW Health. These charges are very serious and in response, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and University of Wisconsin Medical Foundation, the UW Health entities that employ the physicians, have immediately launched an investigation of the reported behavior. So they acknowledge that the allegations are very serious and have launched an investigation. Will we know the results of the investigation? Unlikely, the press release continues: The investigation will identify which UW Health physicians were involved and whether their behavior constituted violations of medical ethics or University of Wisconsin and UW Health policies and work rules. The investigation and any potential future action will follow the established procedures of the University of Wisconsin. Any future disciplinary action taken will be considered a personnel matter and will be treated with the confidentiality required by University of Wisconsin policies I’m currently a third year medical student, and as a future physician I must say that I am ashamed at the actions of the Wisconsin physicians and find their actions very unprofessional, even unethical. But there are two things to keep in mind when it comes to this investigation. First is what was done, second is what can be proved. First, what was done. I think it is pretty obvious that teachers called in sick from work when they were not sick, or at least did not have an illness that would have prevented them from doing their job that day or put anyone in danger of contracting their illness. Not knowing the exact details of their contract, it is probably safe to assume that calling in sick when not sick is probably a violation, and a sick note would be required to prove that you were too sick to work. The physicians assisted in this act by providing a note to those they knew were not sick enough to miss work. If they are well enough to travel to the capital and stand in the cold amongst thousands of people and protest, they are probably well enough to stand in front of 20 kids and teach addition. This action resulted in the closing of many schools, ABC news reports at least 15 school districts were forced to close due to the call ins. With the physicians notes, the teacher will now be eligible to get paid for their time off. Maclver Institue has estimated that this will result in around $9 million in taxpayers money to pay for the salaries of teachers while they take the day off from teaching to protest. Now this will certainly also add days to the end of the school year, similar to a snow day, which will add to the costs. The result of the doctors notes: sacrifice in student education and millions in taxpayer dollars in a state that already has financial problems. Second, what can be proved: not much. Although several of the videos indicate that the physicians asked little to no questions regarding the “patients” health, they will still be able to say that they assessed the patient and deemed them sick. This will work for several reasons. First, they don’t have to tell anyone, anything. HIPPA protects the privacy of patients. Investigators will likely not be able to find out how detailed the assessment truly was. Although it is funny that they will claim the right to privacy to a conversation that occurred on the sidewalk surrounded by 30,000 people, it will still fly. Second, “sick” can mean anything you want it to. As seen in several of the videos, the physicians say things like: “Many of these people have mental anguish, and it can be beneficial to their health to take the day and spend it being consoled by others here suffering from the same mental anguish” Although everyone can look at that statement and see that it is complete rubbish, it will fly from a legal perspective. In conclusion, these physicians will likely get off scot-free because of the current medical and legal system we have in place. But they sure tarnish the profession, and as a future physician, I am disgusted. Share and Enjoy: |
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