headlines in brief

Health FDA rules over-the-counter cough remedies are not safe or effective for… Health FDA rules over-the-counter cough remedies are not safe or effective for children younger than six, according to the Associated Press.

The drug industry maintains the widely used medications are safe and work, though they caution that misuse in infants can lead to overdose.

Lewis: I’ve always known that cough medicines weren’t appropriate for children because they taste awful. Cherry Robitussin is an attack on the human condition. None of these medicines are passable without a chaser.

Likewise, this ruling doesn’t deal with the larger issue of children and babies who abuse cough remedies. Many 4-year-olds attest to rampant use of cold medicines for their mind-expanding possibilities. Especially for career-minded kindergarteners, constantly pressed to create innovative finger paintings, a bottle of Children’s Cold and Cough can be just what the shaman ordered. For others, cough medicine is simply a gateway to fun. Four-year-old Toby Mackenzie testifies, “When I’m tripping, I feel like a kid again.” Magazines such as “Highlights,” also called “Hightimes,” enhance the kids’ trips with an endless supply of mazes and connect the dots games.

Jack: Granted, I’m 14 years removed from being affected by this decision, but I can still see it for what it really is, a complete and total victory for children around the world.

Pediatricians might laud the decision, saying they knew all along that such medicines are ineffective and even dangerous, and parents – who are losing their most effective means of getting a sick child to fall into a quick drug-induced sleep – might be perplexed by it, but it’s the kids who are really breaking the bank on this decision.

News keeps getting bleaker and bleaker for pre-adolescents as recesses are being slashed and more standardized tests are being introduced into their curriculum. But with the FDA’s decision, kids are finally benefiting from a decision that is not meant to overdose or over-manage their lives.

Entertainment

Kid Rock was arrested in a Georgia Waffle House brawl.

The rocker, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, and five members of his posse were arrested at 5:15 a.m. at a Waffle House outside of Atlanta and charged with simple battery, according to Reuters.

Lewis: When the clamor over Kid Rock’s first CD was dying down, I thought Kid Rock would be like Gary Coleman, the type of celebrity you hear about over the years under bizarre circumstances, long after his career dies. This is just what I expected.

Kid Rock has only fortified Waffle House’s status as an institution of Southern culture. If you think you’re familiar with Waffle House, know that Waffle House in the North is very different from Waffle House in the South. Waffle House in the South has syrup all over the jukebox, cigarette ashes in the Texas toast and a completely stoned labor force. It’s not surprising that Kid Rock would get into a brawl there. Something about the atmosphere in a Waffle House says, “I bet you could kick Kid Rock’s ass, right here in the Waffle House.” Waffle House isn’t the kind of place where you say, “You wanna take this outside?” You just do it right there inside, triumphantly scalding your enemies with cheese grits.

Jack: The good news is that the Waffle House restaurant where Mr. Rock decided to pull his latest stunt is in Atlanta, meaning that CNN will not have to drive far from its headquarters as it spends the next month devoting the majority of its constant 24-hour broadcast cycle to this meaningless story.

I know it is unlikely, but I really think society would be better off if this story was ignored. Rock’s problems outside a Waffle House deserve only a brief news mention. But unfortunately, much more coverage will be forced down society’s throat.

Currently, television media is dominated by incompetence and irrelevance, and that is the real story here. Kid Rock is going to receive a disgusting amount of coverage for his embarrassing little incident, while important stories will go untold.

The problem is that we have too much news available. It must be hard for one major 24-hour news network to fill its day with intelligent stories, and America is blessed with three such stations.

The problem is that the watered down news appears to be winning. The old nightly newscasts have lost 34 percent of their viewers over the last decade, according to Nielson Media Research Data, while more people are turning to the cable news networks to keep in touch. That means more of the country will be inhaling filler pieces about lame musicians than concise legitimate news stories.

Also, if you are actually a concerned Kid Rock fan, I predict he will come out of this quite all right, after a painfully public trial, and live to create even more of his famous “hick-hop.”

Politics

Bobby Jindal was elected governor of Lousiana.

He’s the nation’s youngest governor, the son of Indian immigrants and a Republican, according to the Associated Press.

Lewis: Governor Jindal is awesome, because he breaks every expectation. He grew up in this Indian household, the son of a physicist, but went on to a liberal profession and converted to Roman Catholicism. He went to Brown, the most left-wing of the Ivy Leagues, and came out a Republican.

Also noteworthy: He advanced to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He claims to have personally witnessed a friend being possessed by a demon. He delivered his third child himself at this home, when his wife went into labor suddenly in her sleep. Maybe the experience is why Jindal is such a proponent of market-oriented health insurance reform.

Lousiana is making big strides in dispelling the myth of a racist, sexist Southern electorate. Its last governor was its first woman, and now it has an Indian in the seat. As an Alabamian, I’m jealous of Louisiana. Charles Barkley was going to be Alabama’s first black governor, but then he got into a bar fight and his reputation was too sullied to run.

Jindal is a symbol of how important immigrants are to the United States, and how importing an educated workforce is essential for its long-term success. We should keep Jindal in mind when we make decisions about immigration, since we don’t usually consider immigrants’ progeny as assets. Like their parents, they take jobs. Good. Louisiana is a state known for corrupt, good-old-boy politics. Is it such a tragedy that Jindal stole this one?

Jack: While Jindal’s victory is certainly a great day for the Indian-American community, and an important cultural stepping stone, his ethnicity should not be the most important issue.

The Democrats’ loss in Louisiana should serve as a wake-up call for the party. I get the impression that the Democrats seem to think that they have it made for the next few elections thanks to the current president’s gross unpopularity.

Jindal is young, charismatic and has plans to clean up corruption in Baton Rouge. All of those are appealing prospects for a state riddled with poor leadership and still reeling from a Hurricane Katrina.

No matter his party, the governor elect would have been a formidable candidate, so it is possible that his election does not represent a new backlash against the Democrats.

Never the less, the Democrats must take note; empty promises and uninspiring candidates will not do them any favors. Action and charisma are what they are going to need in the elections ahead.