On Two Wheels - We’re all for anything that makes riding a motorcycle safer, up to and including the airbags with which some cycle manufacturers have begun experimenting. But we feel as though those manufacturers have gotten a little ahead of themselves. They’ve skipped an important step. While motorcycle airbags may save lives in some situations, it seems silly to us that they’re even being discussed while so many riders take to the roads without wearing helmets. Isn’t that like discussing airbags for a car while ignoring the fact that it doesn’t have any seat belts.

Nation of Law - The United States cannot seriously claim to be a beacon of freedom and justice if it codifies a system that allows the government to prosecute people using evidence that the accused cannot see. But that’s one of the powers President Bush is seeking in the 89-page anti-terrorism bill he is sending to Congress

Slipped his moorings - The two most dangerous leaders in the world are George W. Bush and North Korea’s Kim Jong Il. The lights seem to be out upstairs in both men. Neither man can see the world as it really exists.

I wish to stress that. It’s not a question of having a difference of opinion. Rational people can easily disagree on what is the right policy. When people see things that are not there, however, reasoning and debate are useless. It’s like a demented person who believes someone is hiding in the trunk of the car. No amount of explanation will convince that person otherwise.

JUST A THOUGHT - Most rational observers of the situation can probably agree that including text in a speech delivered by Pope Benedict XVI last week that suggests Islam is an “evil and inhuman” religion was not in the best interests of the world community. In the big scheme of things, figures like the Holy Father are here to bridge the schisms that exist between societies — not to create them. -

Welcome Clarity - Don’t look now, but Congress is on the verge of doing something useful.

The House is set to approve a bill already passed by the Senate that would make it easier for anyone with a computer to track federal spending.

Their bill directs the White House Office of Management and Budget to create a searchable online database, with information on all federal grants, contracts, earmarks and loans of more than $ 25, 000.

Rebirth - “After the Holocaust, many people could never have imagined that Jewish life in Germany could blossom again,” German President Horst Koehler said in an Associated Press story. “That is why the first ordination of rabbis in Germany is a very special event indeed.”

“They are people that when they are in our custody, they deserve nothing except the fundamental rights that all prisoners have under the Geneva Conventions,” McCain, a former prisoner of war himself, said of the terrorists. But he added that “We should not do things which would be condemned by everyone in the world.”

Senators Right to Protect Geneva Convention - No one in the administration has told us what supposedly legal interrogation techniques they need Congress to authorize and the Senate is right to hold firm against vague promises that everything that has or will be done is legal.

No horsing around on this issue - With midterm elections looming and voters in a sour mood, House members were desperate to find something to shake the “Do-Nothing Congress” image.What do Americans like? Animals.   

Who do Americans hate? The French.

On flimsier foundations have laws been built.

The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act passed the House with bipartisan support Sept. 7. It prohibits slaughtering horses for human consumption. Proponents say the law will break horses’ grisly journey “from stable to table in four days.”