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| Written by Argonaut readers | ||||
| Thursday, 25 September 2008 | ||||
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Universal haploid rights In Tuesday’s Argonaut, Benjamin Ledford’s column, “Women’s rights versus universal human rights,” makes a case that human rights should be extended to embryos. The argument hinges on the facts that an embryo is alive, has different DNA structure than its mother and is of the species Homo sapiens. Well, guess what? A tumor is alive, has different DNA structure and is of the species Homo sapiens. Does that mean it has a soul? Should we ban chemotherapy? Perhaps we should just leave that question up to the states. I’m sorry for the crude analogy. I was once myself an embryo, and they are entirely superior to tumors. But my point is valid. You say life begins at conception. That is just as arbitrary as saying life begins at ejaculation, ovulation, implantation, the second trimester or whatever. Life is a continuum. As reasonable adults living in society, we need to draw an arbitrary line in the sand. Laws are always arbitrary. After all, arbiters arbitrate them. We probably agree on at least one thing: I am disgusted by reckless, unnecessary late-term abortion. But sometimes, when done promptly and responsibly, abortion is better for all involved. That includes those darling little zygotes whose “human” rights you value above women’s.
— Christopher Dennis
senior, physics Marching Band is impressive What a tremendous joy it was to see and hear the University of Idaho Marching Band perform a pre-game and a “you had to see and hear it to believe it” halftime show using recycling crates at the Seattle Seahawks/St. Louis Rams football game before 75,000 people in Seattle on Sunday. It was absolutely fantastic. To hear an entire college marching band transform into a huge percussion section was a joy to listen to and a treat to watch. We might add we were staying at the same hotel as the UI band. The UI, the community of Moscow and the entire state of Idaho can be extremely proud of the way these young men and women represented their school, community and state. Their music ability, showmanship and conduct were exemplary.
— Rich and Mary Eudy
Missoula Too much of a good thing Driving fast is a good thing, but 65 mph is as fast as we are allowed to go. Food is a good thing, but eating too much makes us fat. Leverage is a good thing, but too much of it and we have an economic crisis. Making money is a good thing, but too much causes us to lose focus on the welfare of our fellow man and leads to excessive consumption. We have laws that limit our vices: drinking, smoking and sex (age of consent and pornography). Why can’t we have laws limiting virtues that when done excessively become vices? We should enact laws that limit the wealth of any individual in the U.S. at $100 million. Wealth in excess of this amount could be directed at charities of the individual’s choosing. Annual salaries should be capped at $5 million (this is more than 100 times the average worker’s salary). Laws are made to channel people to act in a manner that is beneficial to society in general. There will always be trade-offs with the individual’s freedom and desires.
— Hunter Snevily
Examine social issuesmath department “How are you going to vote?” This is a question I get about this time every election year. I usually advise them to go to the party platforms of each party to see how they stand on the issues, especially the social issues. For instance, the Democratic Party is in favor of “reproductive freedom,” meaning abortion. Then, for “same-sex marriage,” the say they are “against discrimination.” This means they are against the marriage amendment that was passed by the voters two years ago in Idaho. Democrat Walt Minnick, who is running for Congress, even gave $200 to Idaho Votes No, a group that lobbied to try and defeat the marriage amendment, which is certainly an indication that he believes in same-sex marriage. This doesn’t go over well with Idaho voters. For all of the above reasons, my vote is to re-elect Republican Congressman Bill Sali.
— Barbara Forrey
Media ignores SaliNampa Congressman Bill Sali has done some really good things for Idaho in the short amount of time he’s been in office. He successfully blocked an attempt by the federal government to ban recreational shooting on public land. He worked to get the Sand Creek Byway project moving forward. He’s been fighting FEMA to protect property owners in Nampa and Caldwell. He’s been supporting recreationists who use Lake Cascade and have private boat docks. The list goes on. Unfortunately, the media has refused to report on any of this — the substantive works which have been done by Sali are largely ignored in favor of pot-shots aimed at his character and staff. The responsibility of the press is to portray the candidates for office in a responsible and effective manner that shows them for who they are and where they stand. Unfortunately, Idaho’s press has been woefully negligent in this manner.
— Chris Casteel
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