8/3 Morning Report

Libya is still big in the news. Bulgaria is waiving $57 million in debt! Well, sort of. They are putting the money into a fund for HIV victims in Libya—which means Kadfi gets the money twice! What a reward for falsely accusing and imprisoning people! Meanwhile, France and Libya are doing an arms deal! Isn’t that special? Makes me really feel safe again. But, then again, money does talk…

One deal for 168 million euros was for Milan anti-tank missiles and the other for 128 million euros was for communications systems, the source had said.

(…really makes me think highly of EADS…which after the Airbus problems, isn’t saying much…)

And, not to be outdone, the French even thumbed their noses at the international community.

Rwanda is shocked by a French appeals court ruling that freed two Rwandans indicted by Kigali and an international court over the country's 1994 genocide, and its foreign minister called the decision absurd on Thursday.

The two men were freed on a technicality. It seems the French appeals court believes they can only be arrested if the international court was making a judgment, and in this case it was asking for arrest pending any decision.
(…how utterly compassionate…and stupid…I hope no one epxects they’ll stop bashing Americans after this farce of justice…)

Speaking of legal surprises, and the US, it seems more and more doctors are citing religious reasons for not doing certain procedures or prescribing certain drugs.

More than half the states in the past two years have debated expanding legal protections for health care providers, including pharmacists who refuse to fill prescriptions for the "morning after" pill. Two states have passed them.

I’m sure there are a lot of surprised people reading this article. The media has let us believe there is little or no resistance along these lines. But, more and more often, it is ending up in court.

Most disputes arise out of beginning-of-life and end-of-life issues, such as assisted suicide. No doctor is required to perform particular treatments.

The collision between religious freedom and rules against discrimination occurs when physicians perform procedures selectively, offering them to some patients but withholding them from others, says Jill Morrison, legal counsel to the National Women's Law Center.

This year in a case generating wide interest, the California Supreme Court will hear a first-of-its-kind lawsuit: fertility treatment denied to a lesbian.

In Washington state, a gay man recently settled out of court with a doctor who refused to prescribe him Viagra.

Honestly, I fail to see why these two ended up in court. If this type of sexual life is natural, fertility treatments do not apply since only by intercourse with the opposite sex (ie. male-female, penis-vagina) can procreation take place. It seems more of an argument against the naturality of it than anything else.
(…personally, I just see it as a strong statement about our selfishness as Americans…)

Meanwhile, the legal scene over the Minneapolis bridge collapse is just starting to heat up. No surprise that information about lack of oversight or negligence is suddenly coming to the surface. Recriminations are flying in all directions:

White House press secretary Tony Snow said while the inspection didn't indicate the bridge was at risk of failing, "if an inspection report identifies deficiencies, the state is responsible for taking corrective actions."

(…snip…)

Gov. Tim Pawlenty responded Thursday by ordering an immediate inspection of all bridges in the state with similar designs, but said the state was never warned that the bridge needed to be closed or immediately repaired.

And, there are over 70,000 more with an estimated repair price tag of $188 billion.
(…and we wonder why they haven’t all been repaired yet…reminds me of how badly oil refineries need to be upgraded…and the price tag for that…)