House Democrat Prohibits Congressional Staffers From Texting And Driving

John DuBois - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

House Administration Chairman Robert Brady (D-Penn.) introduced a resolution Wednesday that would ban Congressional staffers from using their cell phones to send text messages while driving while on the job.

"The texting ban applies to House staffers who are operating official vehicles, utilizing-issued devices or conducting official business," said Brady.

This is not the first step Brady has taken to roll back distracted-driving. Brady recently offered legislation to reduce the amount of Federal highway funding available to States that do not enact laws prohibiting the use of certain communication devices while operating a motor vehicle.

“Mobile communications devices are an important and integral part of day-to-day life. My legislation and the committee resolution will encourage people to use common-sense in their operation and help to ensure safer roads. No phone call, e-mail, or text message is important enough to risk your safety and that of other drivers,” Brady said in a statement.

Human Rights, Iran, Clean Energy Top Obama Talks with China’s Hu

By Paul Brandus - Talk Radio News Service

It has been a very busy day for President Obama on his first and only full day in the Chinese capital.

After a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao got right down to business, hitting on every single subject of importance; “Every single one,” emphasized Jon Huntsman, the American Ambassador to the People’s Republic - Iran, North Korea, the global economy, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“We’re actually getting a little bit of traction” on these issues, claimed Huntsman, the former Republican Governor of Utah.

Observers have been speculating for weeks whether Obama, not known for being a confrontationist, would take up the issue of human rights with his hosts. It is a subject the President has avoided with Beijing, underscored by his recent decision not to meet with the Dalai Lama, the spritual leader of Tibet, for fear of offending the Chinese government. But Obama did, in fact, confront Hu, challenging him to protect the freedom of religion and the rights of ethnic minorities in the separatist region.

“The President was candid in describing human rights as a core, a fundamental, bedrock principle of U.S. foreign policy,” said Jeff Bader, senior director of the National Security Council for Asian Affairs. “This was as direct a discussion on human rights as I've seen by any high-level visitor with the Chinese.”

But Obama apparently stopped short of saying Tibet should be allowed to break away, an omission regarded by some observers as a de facto acknowledgement with Beijing that Tibet is legally part of the People’s Republic.

As for Iran and its nuclear program, Obama - who warned over the weekend that time is running out for Tehran to come to the negotiating table in earnest - failed to get much support from Hu, according to Bader. Obama has said that if Tehran doesn’t meet the so-called P5+1 negotiators halfway by the end of the year, then tougher economic sanctions may be inevitable. The President has also refused to rule out the possible use of force against Iran.

It seems unlikely that China, which like the U.S. holds permanent veto power in the U.N. Security Council, would ever back tough new sanctions against Tehran barring a dramatic change in the status quo, Bader said.

“The President did talk to President Hu about the possibility… that we will not reach resolution of this issue and we may have to go to track two and greater pressure. I would not say that we got an answer today from the Chinese, nor did we expect one on the subject.”

Hu seems more concerned with neighboring North Korea, which tested a second nuclear device earlier this year and taunted neighbors, and the U.S., by test firing more missiles.

“From the Chinese perspective, North Korea is a more immediate problem and a more immediate security concern, so it's not surprising that they would place more emphasis on that.” Bader added.

On climate change, the U.S. and China will join forces to, among other things, speed up renewable energy programs, develop electric cars and clean coal technologies. But both Obama and Hu have tacitly acknowledged that next month’s long-awaited global climate conference in Denmark will not result in a treaty to curb carbon emissions, a setback to supporters of rolling back emissions. Washington and Beijing now view Copenhagen as just another step along the way towards meaningful action on curbing emissions, as opposed to the kind of sweeping action that supporters say is already dangerously overdue.

“They agreed that the issue of climate change can't wait,” claimed Deputy National Security Advisor Mike Froman, who said the joint efforts to develop new technologies represents “an important step forward on climate change.”

The President also squeezed in a bit of sightseeing today, ditching his suit for a distressed leather jacket before embarking on a tour of the Forbidden City. Wednesday, it’s off to the Great Wall of China, an hour’s drive northwest of Beijing. Mr. Obama then heads to South Korea, the final stop on his Asian tour. He’ll return to Washington on Thursday.

Paul Brandus filed this report from Beijing

Frank Urges House Committee To Support Anti-Discrimination Bill

John DuBois, University of New Mexico - Talk Radio News Service

The House Committee on Education and Labor held a hearing on Wednesday to discuss the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) which was introduced by U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) in June of this year.

The bill, known as H.R. 3017, would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

During the hearing, Frank implored his colleagues in the House to support the legislation.

"Let me just say to my colleagues. There's nothing to be afraid of. These are our fellow human beings. They're not asking you for anything other in this bill, for the right to earn a living. Can't you give them that. If you don't like them and don't want to be friends I think your missing on something, but that's your choice," Frank said.

According to Frank, the bill will provide more job opportunities based on a candidate's skill, work ethic and experience, rather than his or her sexual orientation.

A Swine Flu Primer

Coffee Brown, MD, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News Service

Is swine flu the pandemic we know is coming? According to federal agencies and a blue-ribbon panel of experts: maybe. The situation is early enough and changing fast enough that we can reasonably hope for the best even as we plan for the worst. This primer is designed to help you do just that. We will continue to post updates. The short answer is that basic hygiene is the most important thing to concentrate on.

The swine flu is a virus, not a bacteria, therefore, antibiotics are not useful against it.
The virus is Influenza A (H1N1), meaning that not all flu is this particular swine flu, and not all respiratory viruses are this virus. This virus has elements of human, avian, and swine flu virus genetics (i.e., not human genes, or bird or pig). There is little or no current human resistance to this strain. Pork is not in any way associated with this virus at this time. raising pigs or eating pork are not thought to carry any risk whatsoever for this infection.

Well then, what can you do? For now, treat this as good practice, not just for the WHO and the CDC, but for each individual: Wash your hands frequently, cover your face when you sneeze or cough, wash your hands after doing so, and demand the same courtesy from those around. Clean doorknobs, faucet handles and similar items that are touched by many other people. Avoid unnecessary travel to Mexico, Avoid work, school, or gatherings if cases have been reported in the immediate area, or if you have any infectious symptoms. Working while ill is not the heroic thing to do.

Should you go to work or school? Yes, with these exceptions: If you have any respiratory symptoms or if swine flu has been identified in your immediate community. These are also the circumstances which would support wearing a mask or avoiding gatherings.

What symptoms should you look for? If your are worried about a contact, symptoms should begin within 7 days. Symptoms should include some combination of the following:
Respiratory symptoms, like sniffles, congestion, cough (typically not productive), or sore throat, are almost always present. Fever, muscle aches, chills, fatigue and malaise are frequent, Occasionally nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. If you believe you may have the flu, your doctor can test for it.

Currently available antivirals are effective against this strain, and a quarter of government stockpiles, totaling about 11 million doses, have been released from government stockpiles to communities for treatment and prevention. Protection lasts about 10 days. Your has physician has specific guidelines for the use of these medicines, They should NOT be used “just to be sure.”

The current flu vaccine is not effective against this strain. A new vaccine is under consideration, but will not be available over the short term. First steps, distributing a “seed virus” to pharmaceutical companies to create pilot batches of vaccine, have begun. The pilot batches need to be tested for safety and effectiveness before full-scale production is requested. By the time that decision can be made, the pattern of this disease will be much more clear. The whole process takes several months before vaccines are available to consumers, which means it will not be available during this season. The vaccine may still be important, though, because history shows that a second or even third wave may present during fall and/or winter.

Sen. Arlan Specter (D-Penn.) attended today’s hearing briefly to emphasize the need to balance fully informing the public with the need to keep the problem in perspective.

What is the government doing about this? Plans have been long since prepared for just this situation, supplies, like antivirals, masks, and respirators have been distributed by the CDC and FEMA. Daily updates are being distributed to healthcare workers all over the country. The CDC advises a regional containment strategy, varying the level of response to the local pattern of illness. Increased screening of arrivals from out of the country, or travel restrictions within the country, would not be expected to reduce the spread.

We are on Stage 4 alert, per the WHO, how bad is that?
It simply means that there definite cases of human-to-human transmission, Stage 4 does not mean that the disease has become more severe.

All the really sick people are in Mexico. It is not known why the most severe cases appear to be confined to Mexico so far, but the CDC expects some severe cases to occur here as well. How worried should you be? Think of this as similar to an orange level terrorist alert. The emergency designations allow government resources and authorities to be positioned before a disaster occurs.There is a real possibility that the outbreak will worsen, but for now, it’s a matter of being ready. Of the 40 American cases as of last night (04/27/09), one has been hospitalized, none has died, the rest have been mild.

As of 04/28/09, 64 cases had been confirmed, and five Americans hospitalized. These numbers will be outdated by the time you read them. What does that signify? This is an expected event: more cases will be discovered each day for a while, and therefore more hospitalizations. The percent who become severely ill may go up, if this turns out to be highly contagious and virulent, or may go down, as screening picks up more of the milder cases that would normally go un-noticed. The ultimate pattern is not clear this early, but all government agencies are taking the possibility of a true pandemic seriously, and individuals should do the same. States and municipalities should review their infectious disaster plans.

Because of increased attention and the need to report new developments rapidly, expect conflicting information and ongoing reappraisal.

Harkin asked the panel whether funding is adequate for their response. they responded collectively that past funding has made it possible to begin work on a vaccine, and also enabled surveillance that Schuchat said lead to the virus beginning analysis in the U.S. before Mexico sent specimens to Canada for identification. Harkin said that he was disappointed that Mexico considered American bureaucracy a stumbling block, and that he would follow up on that. The panel also told him that reduced funding undermined the states’ ability to operate existing epidemic plans, had cost PHS 12,000 employees.

This Information is from The Centers for Disease Control http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/ ,the World Health Organization’s http://www.who.int/csr/don/en/ Dr. Richard Besser and the Senate Appropriations Committee Chaired by Sen Tom Harkin (D-Iowa).
Witnesses included: Rear Adm. Anne Schuchat, interim deputy director for Science and Public Health Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases; and Paul Jarris, executive director of the Assn. of State and Territorial Health Officials.

Can conservatives still govern?

Coffee Brown, University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News Service

In light of disastrous setbacks for Republicans in the last two election cycles resulting in the fruition of long-deferred liberal dreams, some are debating that this may be the end of conservatism as we know it.

Democrats currently control both houses of Congress, both led by a Democratic President who has pledged wide-sweeping reforms in the face of widespread economic crises. Many blame Republicans and the administration of President George W. Bush for the current state of the U.S. economy and the resoundingly unpopular war in Iraq.

“Republicans lost in 2008 and 2006, not because they ran on conservative ideas but because they ran away from conservative ideas,” says Lee Edwards, Ph.D., Distinguished Fellow of the right-leaning Heritage Institute.

“Can conservatives govern? That’s a reasonable question, given the glaring miss-steps and failures of the Bush administration,” Edwards said. “In 2001 the Bush administration, working with a Republican Congress, enacted a monumental tax cut of $1.6 trillion, the largest in U.S. history, which kept the economy humming until the financial collapse of 2008.”

According to Edwards, the core principles of conservatism should be: ordered liberty, individual freedom and responsibility, limited government and a strong national defense.

But David Boaz, Executive Vice President of the Liberal-leaning Cato Institute, disagrees. He says that conservative values have become rigid in a society that has naturally become more liberal.

“The conservative ascendancy was also helped by the decline and fall of American liberalism – its swift descent marked by a tell-tale shift from concern for the common man and middle America to a preoccupation with minorities and special interests,’” he said.

And now, the center is farther to the left than it used to be, the left has moved toward the center and “many Americans have looked at the future of the welfare state and they like what they think they see – the entitlements,” Boaz said.

Quoting famed Libertarian and former National Review Editor Frank S. Meyer, Edwards said, “The freedom of the person is the central and primary end of political society. The state has only three limited functions: national defense, the preservation of domestic order, and the administration of justice between citizens.”

Edwards, has written more than 20 books on the history of conservatism, and said that history is repeating itself.

“American conservatism seemed on the edge of extinction after the crushing defeat of Goldwater in 1964,” he said. But, “Reagan wrote that the landslide majority (that defeated Goldwater) did not vote against conservatism, but against the false image of conservatism that our liberal opponents successfully mounted.”

“Starting in 1989, traditional conservatives, neoconservatives and libertarians have been fussing and feuding – partly because they miss the unifying threat of communism,” Edwards said, adding that in order to survive, Republicans must embrace ideological diversity within the party.

“What we need is a politics of inclusion, not a politics of exclusion,” Edwards said. Republicans need “a renewed fusionism that will unite all the branches of a now-divided conservative mainstream.”

Social conservatives have become among the most important constituencies, as they provide the necessary ground troops in the political wars, he said.

And what makes a conservative renaissance possible? “The philosophers would not have been able to write their books, and the popularizers would not have been able to publish their magazines, and the politicians would not have been able to run their campaigns without the support of conservative philanthropists. Men of means and vision,” Edwards said.

It will be hard to work with the new Democratic majority because “conservatives are uncomfortable with compromise, and they scorn accommodation,” Edwards said.”

Outlining the road back to power, Edwards said that conservatives are well funded, but need to master the new media and choose a charismatic figure to be this generation’s Ronald Reagan.