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Editorials from around Ohio
By The Associated Press
Excerpts of recent editorials of statewide and national interest from Ohio newspapers:
The Cincinnati Enquirer, Aug. 10
Nobody really wants to see Ohio workers, already struggling with rising prices in a tough economy, having to worry about keeping their jobs and income when they or their children get sick. But a union-backed ballot initiative that would require Ohio businesses with as few as 25 employees to provide seven days' paid sick leave to each worker, no questions asked, is certainly not the answer. ...
Gov. Ted Strickland, who's been working for weeks with little result on a "reasonable compromise," should use his influence with labor to make sure this poorly written, potentially economy-crippling measure is stricken from the Nov. 4 ballot. ...
Most Ohio businesses are operating on thin profit margins, and just like households, they are hit with rising costs, particularly for energy. This is the worst possible time to impose such a burden on them. ...
The issue of how workers deal with taking time off for illnesses is better left to the legislature ...
On the Net: http://tinyurl.com/6jae3z
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The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, Aug. 10
America's volunteer military has served the nation well in post-9/11 wars that lack clear borders and time frames. ... The Iraq "surge" wouldn't have happened if all the troops already there had gone home as scheduled. Instead, many missed holidays with the kids. The Pentagon just told 1,250 Marines already training local Afghan forces they'll have to stay nearly a month longer.
But the most flagrant "extra" the Pentagon has required is sending overseas those whose enlistments are almost up -- and then preventing them from leaving until these deployments end. Known as "stop-loss," the practice used judiciously and properly can avoid risky personnel disruptions in a war zone. But as used during the Iraq war, it became doublespeak for coerced enlistment extension ...
That's why it's welcome news that a proposal from an Ohio lawmaker requiring service members affected by stop-loss orders to get a monthly bonus is in the House version of the Pentagon spending bill. Ohio Rep. Betty Sutton of Copley Township and fellow Democrat Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey sponsored the original legislation but agreed to cut the required bonus to $500 a month to keep the idea moving. ...
On the Net: http://tinyurl.com/5s2ubq
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The (Findlay) Courier, Aug. 8
Perfect China. That seems to be what China wants its Olympics visitors to see, starting (Friday) in Beijing.
Nothing must be seen that doesn't fit with the image China wishes to project -- that of a nation where everybody does what's expected and all are far too contented to ask for anything more ... like freedom. ...
So great is China's fear that its system will be found wanting, and its control over its people weakened through this brief influx of foreign influence, that any hint of dissent is being put down and hidden away.
What China doesn't seem to understand is that its systematic squelching of protest is having the opposite effect from that intended, at least upon Western observers. The free world would be far more impressed with China if it were to allow dissidents to demonstrate in full view of journalists and those attending the Games. ...
But China's not there yet. The Chinese government, while far more benevolent and economically advanced than it was under Mao, is still a communist dictatorship whose chief priority is maintaining its own power. ...
On the Net: http://tinyurl.com/5m5zjy
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Akron Beacon Journal, Aug. 10
The gathering of scientists, policy experts, health care providers and activists at the 17th International AIDS Conference last week in Mexico City followed a familiar script. The individuals, organizations and governments engaged in the effort to contain the viral infection assessed the progress and disappointments and argued over the best ways to proceed against the deadly infection. ...
But if intensive research has broadened knowledge of HIV/AIDS and raised hopes of finding a cure, the disappointments have been severe as well. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the rate of new infections in the United States in 2006 was about 40 percent higher than previously estimated. ...
A major setback, the drug manufacturer Merck this year halted clinical tests of a vaccine, dealing a blow to the hope that an effective AIDS vaccine soon would be on the market. ...
To reverse the pandemic requires an extraordinary level of cooperation among nations, not least in disseminating the knowledge (say, the relevance of adult male circumcision) that will push nations to make the necessary changes in policies, traditions and attitudes.
On the Net: http://www.ohio.com/editorial/opinions/26527484.html
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