The Good
Going “cold turkey” is a hard task for smokers, so the Iowa Department of Public Health has come up with a new plan to help those who light up in 2010. Anyone who calls its “Quitline” will receive a free four-week supply of nicotine patches, gum or lozenges until Jan. 31. Callers are also offered counseling services. The incentive is double the amount the department offers the rest of the year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Iowa ranks 29th of 50 states in rate of adult smoking. As much as we hate to see our tax dollars used to reverse people’s bad habits, we know less smoking will benefit us all in the end.
After six years in the making, the world’s tallest tower opened in Dubai last week. Standing a reported 2,684 feet or half a mile into the sky, the Burj Dubai houses a luxury hotel, apartments and offices. The building features an elevator with the longest travel distance in the world — 120 stories — which will provide the adventurous with great fun… going down.
The Bad
During the harsh winter temperatures, Iowans work hard to keep the cold weather out of their residencies. They might focus their attention on keeping something else out — deer. Last week, an apartment tenant at the Royal Oaks Apartment building had to protect herself with a vacuum cleaner and a trashcan when a deer jumped through the picture window as she was washing dishes. An animal control officer said the deer was apparently startled by traffic on Hickman Road and went through the window to escape. According to reports, the deer was in the apartment for 10 minutes before an employee opened a door and it ran away. And, no, the woman was not Mrs. Claus, and the deer was not Dasher.
Being proactive can be helpful, but New York City is pushing this to the limit. Recently, a New York City-funded guidebook for heroin users called “Take Charge, Take Care” was released and offered information on how to prepare drugs carefully and how to care for veins to avoid infection. The city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene printed more than 70,000 copies and hopes the pamphlet promotes health and saves lives. But the Drug Enforcement Agency calls it “a step-by-step instruction on how to inject poison.” Heroin addicts already know how to ruin their bodies and minds. When this so-called “guidebook” falls into the wrong hands, a lot more damage will happen.
The Ugly
President Obama pledged to cut all pork barrel projects from defense spending and veto any swollen bills that he came across in August, but it looks like that promise was short lived. Nearly 2,000 pet projects made their way into the defense budget, and none seem that important. Last week, President Obama signed into law the 2010 Defense Appropriations Bill, a massive $636 billion bill filled with $4.2 billion of pork barrel projects. Critics are outraged as they say the bill is full of “classic pork” projects that might help save jobs but not money. Some of the more ridiculous projects include: $5 million for a visitor’s center in San Francisco, $23 million for indigent health care in Hawaii, $20 million for a WWII museum in Louisiana, and $2.4 million for handicap access and a sprinkler system for a community club in New York. This isn’t the type of change we voted for.
People like to tip back a few drinks and have a good time, but a South Dakota woman apparently doesn’t know when to stop. Marguerite Engle, 45, passed out at the wheel of a stolen delivery van, but that wasn’t the whole story. Engle registered a blood alcohol content of .708, nearly nine times the legal limit. The state’s legal limit is .08, and officials stated the highest they could remember was .56. Engle was charged with two counts of driving under the influence. Drunk driving is serious and dangerous, but when a driver is behind the wheel and considered legally dead from alcohol poisoning, she needs to be shipped to rehab and forced to sober up.CV
