-Caveat Lector- ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date sent: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 21:49:18 -0500 From: "Jeff Taylor" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Reason Express List Member <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Reason-Express: REx32, v2 Welcome to Reason Express, the weekly e-newsletter from Reason magazine. Reason Express is written by Washington-based journalist Jeff A. Taylor and draws on the ideas and resources of the Reason editorial staff. For more information on Reason, visit our Web site at www.reason.com. Send your comments about Reason Express to Jeff A. Taylor ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) and Virginia Postrel ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). REASON Express August 9, 1999 Vol. 2 No. 32 1) Fine Colombian Mess 2) Schools Against Science 3) Boy Scouts Lose in Court 4) Columbine Set to Re-Open Next Week 5) Quick Hits - - Paging Juan Valdez - - Separated by hundreds of miles and a couple of weeks, two events suggest America's drug war will get much worse before it gets better. First, a U.S. Army de Havilland RC-7 reconnaissance plane went missing July 23 over Colombia while on an anti-drug assignment. Several days later, the Pentagon announced the plane had hit a mountain, killing all five aboard, including Capt. Jennifer J. Odom, the flight's pilot. They were the first U.S. military personnel killed while drug warring in Colombia. The plane was part of the sensitive 204th Military Intelligence Battalion, and little more information was provided about the mission or the circumstances surrounding the accident. This immediately suggested that perhaps Colombia's drug-running guerillas had a hand in the plane's downing. But guerilla involvement is something that the Clinton administration, which made such a big deal over three servicemen who were roughed up and spirited away to Belgrade, could not easily process, were it true. And, to be fair, given its recent stands on women in the military and women's issues in general, it cannot easily come out and say that an experienced female pilot flew smack into a 9,000 foot mountain. So, it says just about nothing. The inescapable conclusion is that no one is truly minding the store with regard to these operations, which seem to have been left to the DEA and the Justice Department to manage. This should be a warning sign. Warning sign number two came last week with the startling news that the wife of the Army commander leading the U.S. forces in Colombia was charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine. The drug was shipped from an American military base in Bogota to New York City. Several pounds of cocaine were shipped in six separate shipments. Laurie Hiett, the wife of Colonel James Hiett, told federal investigators that she had mailed the packages for her husband's chauffeur. Two possibilities come to mind with regard to Mrs. Hiett, both of which must be keeping drug czar Barry McCaffrey awake tonight: 1) She did it, which means no part of America's anti-drug effort is immune to the corrosive corruption which has crippled Latin America. Or, 2) she was set up, which would show that no part of the American effort is beyond the reach of the narcos and would suggest a shrewd effort to drive a wedge between civilian and military authorities in the U.S. To top it off, McCaffrey recently returned from Colombia with a request to spend $1 billion more to stop drug traffic in the region. At some point, someone in Washington might want to ask exactly what that money will be buying besides body bags and ruined lives. http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-08/07/055l-080799-idx. html http://www.villagevoice.com/features/9932/bastone.shtml http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak/novak051.html Jacob Sullum reviewed "Drug Crazy: How We Got Into This Mess and How We Can Get Out" by Mike Gray at http://www.reason.com/9905/bk.js.high.html ************************************************************** - - Inherit the Fins - - This week the Kansas Board of Education becomes the latest public school entity to toy with replacing evolution with creationism in school classrooms. If adopted, the new curriculum would have no room for discussion of natural selection, common ancestors, or the origin of the universe. Broader than evolution, such edicts strike at the heart of scientific inquiry itself. The common approach is to assert that as mere theory, such concepts do not have the standing of received truth. This sets up scientific proof to be somehow inferior to that which everyone "knows" to be true. Science always wants to couch its findings with qualifications. Something could pop up. Religion is under no such constraint. Yet, backers of the creationists are increasingly using the bits of science which do support their view to advance their cause. Of course, if the public bodies who heard the arguments had the least bit of sophistication, the effect would be exactly the opposite, a demonstration of why science works. http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-08/08/157l-080899-idx. html Walter Olson looked at how Darwin is being attacked by both right and left at http://www.reason.com/9906/co.wo.reasonable.html Kenneth Silber looked at recent attempts to advance the argument from design at http://www.reason.com/9907/fe.ks.is.html ************************************************************* - - Merit Badgering - - In a first-time decision by a top state court, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts of America's policy of excluding gays is illegal under the state's Law Against Discrimination. The court held that because of the group's size, prominence in schools, and general pervasiveness, the Boy Scouts is essentially a "public accommodation," like a motel or restaurant. This suggests the question: When was the last time you took an oath to sit in a restaurant (well, smoking or non-smoking maybe) and did you get your hotel bed-making merit badge? The high courts of four other states--California, Oregon, Kansas, and Connecticut--have upheld the ban on gays. The Scouts argued that as a private club, the organization can set its own admission policies. It plans to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court on First Amendment grounds, setting up one landmark case for the court to decide. And whatever that ruling, exactly nothing will be settled. Meanwhile, the Boy Scouts removed, without court challenge, a 42-year-old longtime volunteer for an Orlando troop after he was found naked and hanging by his ankles from a tree. Clark Getz later had one of his feet amputated as a result of his injuries. Officials said Getz was videotaping autoerotic activity when something went awry. http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-08/05/148l-080599-idx. html Former Eagle Scout Nick Gillespie weighed in on Scout suits at http://www.reason.com/opeds/nick032498.html ************************************************************* - - Ring, Ring Goes the Bell - - School opens next week at Columbine High for the first classes since April 20. Jefferson County School District officials believe they have done everything possible to prepare for the event. In all, $1.2 million was spent to erase the physical signs of the bloodbath. But what of the stifling, arbitrary environment that many students cited as a chronic problem at Columbine? Hard to tell. At least one student who was held to be too sympathetic to the gunmen will not return to the school if administrators have their way. And a general denial persists that anything in particular--such as police reports of terroristic threats--should have warned authorities that something was up with regard to Harris and Klebold. Some parents do think that the sheer size of bureaucracy of both the school and the district must be addressed. They favor carving the system up into several smaller districts with more local control. http://www.nando.net/nation/story/0,1038,79631-125710-882903-0,00.html http://www.westword.com/1999/080599/feature1-1.html Nick Gillespie looked at schools of alienation at http://www.reason.com/9907/ed.ng.schools.html Jesse Walker wondered about attempts to draw lessons from Columbine at http://www.reason.com/9907/ed.jw.empty.html ************************************************************* QUICK HITS - - Quote of the Week - - "He was doing something sexually to himself. I guess that's his thing," Sgt. Nick Pallitto, a spokesman for the Lake County (Florida) Sheriff's Office, describing the situation Clark Getz found himself in. http://www.naplesnews.com/today/florida/d238920a.htm - - Uncle Sam Won't Play Madam - - The IRS is expected to take control of Reno's infamous Mustang Ranch bordello today, as part of a $40 million tax fraud case against its owners. The feds have owned the Ranch once before and did try to operate it as a brothel for a short time. When no one would trick for Uncle Sam, the IRS sold it to the current owners in what it now contends was a scam-transaction. Officials don't rule out another sale of the property for any legal business--such as a brothel. http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/reno/934093599.html - - A Wallbanger - - The House voted 310-112 to side with state governments and alcohol wholesalers over consumers and producers. The bill would allow state prosecutors to bring charges in federal court against anyone who bypasses a state-mandated wholesaler. This form of e-commerce could be stamped out if the bill becomes law. http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-08/04/171l-080499-idx. html http://www.nandotimes.com/politics/story/0,1068,79452-125451-881923-0,00.h tml http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Spectator/_daily|news240|098296878717100 8334 399959338 - - A Smaller Net Net - - Cogent analysis on why proprietary networks--the kind of thing AOL persists in creating--result in the loss of billions of dollars of value for society. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990725.html - - Gross Out - - Reason's Jesse Walker tries to bring nuance to a long Washington Post fret about potty jokes in America. http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-08/08/056l-080899-idx. html - - Byte Tax - - It is full steam ahead for the Internet Tax Commission. The panel is promising a report to Congress even if some members object to the recommendations. http://www.nandotimes.com/politics/story/0,1068,79452-125451-881923-0,00.h tml - - Correction - - Last week Sen. Fritz Hollings was identified as a Republican. He is a Democrat. ############################################################## NOTE TO READERS The growing use of very long URLs by some Web sites, together with the limitations on the number of characters Reason Express uses in each line so as to be as compatible as possible with the widest range of mail readers, has conspired to make some hyperlinks seem broken. In reality, the URL will still work, provided it is cut-and-pasted into a browser in its entirety. Further, Reason Express discriminates in favor of longer, more complex URLs that will remain valid longer--at least days, sometimes weeks--over short URLs which often expire in a day. 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