Comments on both sides trivialize conflict

Could we get a reality check here, please? Justin St. Germain's comment on Andre Iguodala's skills on the basketball court was certainly in poor taste, but it is equally rash to say, as Mr. Bataineh did in his letter on Tuesday, that one man's careless remarks are a greater tragedy than a conflict that has claimed hundreds upon hundreds of lives! It is this devaluation of the sanctity of human life (saying that poorly chosen words are somehow worse than mass murder) that characterizes the doctrines and actions of groups such as Hamas and the Tanzim of the PLO's Fatah faction ... which brings another point to mind: Some have said that the brick is the Palestinian's only weapon in the war against Israel. I guess that they forgot about the explosives and the arms shipments that the Israeli government intercepts on a regular basis. Sadly, it probably doesn't catch all of them. [Read article]

The first round of lawsuits against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act have been filed, and it's time we take a look at what this procedure really is and what merit, if any, there may be to these appeals.

First, let's go over what a so-called partial-birth abortion - or "dilate and extract" (D and X), the medical term for the procedure - actually is.

D and X is performed in the second or third trimester of a pregnancy. By that time, other forms of abortion are usually not feasible because of the size of the fetus. The procedure basically entails dilating the mother's cervix, pulling the fetus partially out of the mother, feet first, then puncturing the fetus' skull and vacuuming out its brain. I'm not making this up, folks; that's really what happens. [Read article]

In a closed meeting last week, the executive committee of the College of Engineering voted by a two-thirds majority to exclude women from future enrollment. Committee members defended the decision by citing low female enrollment in the college and the need to "distinguish" the college from others around the nation in an increasingly competitive market. However, the decision has encountered unprecedented opposition from bra-burning feminazis, lesbians and the women's studies department. We asked our columnists, "Did the College of Engineering go too far? Or do these chicks just have their panties on a little too tight?" [Read article]