Saturday, April 02, 2005

A Melange



How do you put those diagonal thingies over letters and what are they called in English?

Anyway, this is a stew of news items that drew my attention for one reason or another:

First, John Paul II has died. May he find peace. The next pope will be selected by all Cardinals under eighty. As the current one nominated most all of them it is quite likely that the current conservative policies of the Vatican will continue, if not get worse.

Second, the Governor of Illinois has come out on the side of the women who want their contraceptive pill prescriptions filled:


Gov. Rod Blagojevich approved an emergency rule Friday requiring pharmacies to fill birth control prescriptions quickly after a Chicago pharmacist refused to fill an order because of moral opposition to the drug.

The emergency rule takes effect immediately for 150 days while the administration seeks a permanent rule.

"Our regulation says that if a woman goes to a pharmacy with a prescription for birth control, the pharmacy or the pharmacist is not allowed to discriminate or to choose who he sells it to," Blagojevich said. "No delays. No hassles. No lectures."


Neat that he uses the discrimination argument as it has been used, quite successfully, by the other side so far.

Third, the President of Sudan refuses to have the criminals of Darfur accused in the International Criminal Court. What's good enough for the United States is good enough for Sudan, maybe? Anyway, this was one of the reasons other countries criticized the American policy of not backing the ICC. For why would anyone else want to back it when the most powerful country doesn't?

That's about it for today. There are a few other posts on the American Street today, as on most Saturdays. But I recommend going out instead. Life is short.