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NFL and players union agree

Posted on: March 8th, 2006 by ecthompsonmd

 

Peace at last
Owners approve labor deal; CBA extended six years
Posted: Wednesday March 8, 2006 11:48AM; Updated: Wednesday March 8, 2006 9:23PM

Paul Tagliabue can now turn his attention to other league matters after recent marathon negotiation sessions.
AP

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) -- Labor peace was restored to the NFL when the owners agreed to the players' union proposal Wednesday, extending the collective bargaining agreement for six years.

There were no further details on the accord, including whether it includes expanded revenue sharing.

The vote was 30-2, with Buffalo and Cincinnati, two low-revenue teams, voting against it.

Free agency, put off twice by the protracted negotiations between the owners and players, now will start at 12:01 a.m. Friday.

"It was a good compromise," said Jim Irsay, owner of low-revenue Indianapolis. "We're happy with it -- 30-2 is a good vote."

The agreement comes after a week of on-again, off-again negotiations, culminating in a two-day owners meeting.

No work stoppage was imminent -- at least for the next two years -- but no agreement would have sent teams scrambling to get under a lower salary cap, at $94.5 million. That would have put a number of veterans on the street and limited the amount of money available for other free agents.
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I hate when millionaires argue with millionaries over money. Don't you?

South Dakota abortion bill

Posted on: March 6th, 2006 by ecthompsonmd

 

(CNN) -- South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds signed a bill Monday that bans nearly all abortions in the state, legislation in direct conflict with the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in 1973.

The new law defines life as originating "at the time of conception."

"In the history of the world, the true test of a civilization is how well people treat the most vulnerable and most helpless in their society," said a statement released by Rounds, a Republican.

"The sponsors and supporters of this bill believe that abortion is wrong because unborn children are the most vulnerable and most helpless persons in our society. I agree with them."

Although the law -- intended as a constitutional challenge to Roe v. Wade -- is set to take effect July 1, Rounds said in the statement that he expects legal action will prevent that. He added that a settlement of the issue could take years and might ultimately be decided by the nation's highest court.

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Of course, the governor is wrong. The most vulnerable people in our society are not the unborn but yet the born. We have millions of children that are being kicked off of welfare and Medicare payrolls. Tens of thousands of children are being abused and Child protective services are unable to protect these children because of budgetary cutbacks. We have left millions of children behind in education. We have far more important and pressing problems than abortion. But the far right continue to bring it up over and over again to distract us from the real problems.

Brownie Calls for Chertoff's resignation

Posted on: March 3rd, 2006 by ecthompsonmd

 

When is Michael Brown, former FEMA director, going to learn that we simply don't care what he has to say. He has lied to us all a number of occasions. Someone needs to take the microphone away from this man.

The Associated Press has released a video which reveals that President Bush was briefed about the severity of hurricane Katrina. Again, this is not news. There was no doubt in my mind that he was briefed. The big question is did he hear and did he understand.

There are calls for a special commission to investigate the failures in Hurricane Katrina. There is no need for an investigation. We have all of the information that we need. Federal, State and local officials failed in planning and in implementing a plan to help the residents of the Gulf Coast. Republicans and Democrats failed.

The real tragedy is that the failure continues today. New Orleans is allowed to writh in agony. we either need to completely destroy it or rebuild it. Right now we're doing neither and it is incredibly painful to watch and probably, most likely, more painful to live through.

  • Errington C. Thompson, MD
    Errington_ThompsonDr. Thompson is a surgeon, scholar, full-time sports fan and part-time political activist. He is active in a number of community projects and initiatives. Through medicine, he strives to improve the physical health of all he treats.
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