WHAT'S NEW Friday, 4 Apr 03

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 4 Apr 03   Washington, DC

1. PRESIDENTIAL SECRECY: WHAT IS IT THEY'RE TRYING TO COVER UP? 
The 1978 Presidential Records Act made records of past presidents
available for Congressional investigations.  The President,
however, was allowed to invoke executive privilege if disclosure
would threaten national security or reveal the deliberative
processes of the executive branch.  You probably thought we'd
progressed beyond the custom of hereditary authority, but in
November 2001, Executive Order 13233, "Further Implementation of
the Presidential Records Act," extended that executive privilege
to a deceased President's descendants.  Warning that Executive
Order 13233 could severely limit investigations of former
Administrations, Rep. Doug Ose (R-CA) has now introduced a bill
to revoke the order.  Just last week, we reported that President
Bush had signed yet another Executive Order that would postpone
automatic declassification of documents from the same era. 

2. EPHEDRA: WELL, NOW THAT YOU BRING UP SCIENTIFIC PROOF...  The
American Heart Association has joined the chorus calling for a
federal ban on ephedra, a herbal stimulant linked serious side
effects including heart attack and stroke (WN 14 Mar 03).  A
spokesman for the powerful ephedrine industry snorted that a ban
would be "irresponsible," since the allegations against ephedra
had not been "proven scientifically."  That's the problem, isn't
it?  Neither has ephedra been proven safe.  As a result of the
1994 Dietary Supplement and Health Education Act (DSHEA), the
herbal market is totally unregulated: herbal products don't have
to be proven safe or effective.  But in the case of ephedra, the
bodies are starting to pile up (WN 14 Mar 03).

3. MISSILE DEFENSE: HOW IS THE "NEW" PATRIOT DOING?  Compared to
what, you might ask?  We could compare it to the old Patriot
Advanced Capability (PAC-2) used in the 1991 Gulf War, but that
sets the bar pretty low. (Maybe one Scud in the whole war.)  As
of Monday, a count by the Center for Defense Information put the
number of Iraqi Ababil-100 missiles launched at 13.  These are
slower and have shorter range than the Scud. Patriot missiles
reportedly intercepted eight, but only a few of the most advanced
version of the Patriot, the PAC-3, have been used. 

4. PRAYER HEALING: WELL WHAT DID YOU EXPECT FROM "PARADE"?  WN
got a lot of mail from people who read "Why Prayer Could Be Good
Medicine." As near as WN could tell, no one on Earth doubts that
sick people who pray may derive some sort of emotional benefit,
perhaps even improving their prognosis.  The only question with
any religious implications is whether intercessory prayer, prayer
offered by others without the knowledge of the patient, helps.
The answer will not be found by reading Parade.  Elsewhere, In
Touch Ministries distributed a pamphlet to troops: "A Christian's
Duty in a Time of War."  It included a helpful scripture from
Romans 13:1 "Every person is to be in subjugation to the
governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from
God..."  This was the basis of the Devine Right of Kings.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND and THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY.  
Opinions are the author's and are not necessarily shared by the
University or the American Physical Society, but they should be.
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