OPINION
4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JULY 13, 2015
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Founded in 1873
STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher
LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor
BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager
By CHARLES
KRAUTHAMMER
Washington Post Writers Group
W
ASHINGTON — We
need a pick me up.
Amid the vandalizing of Palmyra,
the imminent extinction of the north-
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
ern white rhino, the disarray threat-
DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
ening Europe’s most ambitious at-
HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager
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— amid plague and pestilence and,
by God, in the middle of Shark Week
NASA/AP File
— where can humanity turn for up- This combination of images from July 1 to July 3, provided by NASA
shows Pluto at different distances from the New Horizons spacecraft. NA-
lift?
Meet New Horizons, arriving at SA’s New Horizons spacecraft is on track to sweep past Pluto next week
Pluto Tuesday. Small and light, the despite hitting a “speed bump” that temporarily halted science collection.
fastest spacecraft ever
launched, it left Earth
moons were not discov- one meal is allowed one remark.
with such velocity that it
ered until after New Hori- A young novice arrives and af-
shot past our moon in nine
zons was launched. And ter seven years a monk stands up
hours. A speeding bullet
yet next week we will at dinner and says: “The soup is
the size of a Steinway, it
see an entirely new world cold.”
KDV ÀRZQ \HDUV WR
come to life. “We’re not
Seven years of silence. Then an-
list of accomplishments of the Oregon Legislature must the outer edges of the so-
planning to rewrite any other monk stands and says: “The
lar system.
textbooks,” said principal bread is stale.”
start with this: It adjourned on schedule.
To
Pluto,
the
now-de-
investigator Alan Stern
Seven years later, the now-aging
Our neighbors to the north have
• Victories for special-interest ac-
moted “dwarf planet” that
in a splendid New York novice rises and says: “If you don’t
gone into triple overtime, breaking the tivists included an expansion of back- lives beyond the Original
Times documentary on stop this bickering, I’m outta here.”
Charles
record for longest legislative session in ground checks on gun sales and creation Eight in the far distant
Which is what a conversation
the mission. “We’re plan-
Krauthammer
Washington state history.
of a LGBT coordinator position within “third zone” of the solar
ning to write them from with Klingons would be like, ex-
Count too as a major success that the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to system — the Kuiper Belt,
cept with longer intervals. Which
scratch.”
Oregon legislators brushed off — like help veterans discharged because of their an unimaginably huge ring of rocks
Then there’s the romance. The is why we prefer to scour our own
crumbs on a picnic table — the ear- sexual orientation.
and ice and sundry debris where the 3OXWR À\E\ FDSV D KDOIFHQWXU\ RI solar system. And for more than
solar system exploration that has just the science, more than just the
ly-session drama of Gov. Kitzhaber’s
The session was notable for sever- dwarf is king.
After 3 billion miles, New Hori- yielded staggering new wonders. romance. Here we are, upright bi-
resignation. Once Kate Brown took of- DO ¿UVWV 2UHJRQ EHFDPH WKH ¿UVW VWDWH
¿FHOHJLVODWRUVRIERWKSDUWLHVJRWGRZQ to automatically register people to vote zons will on Tuesday shoot right Such as Europa, one of Jupiter’s peds with opposable thumbs, barely
to the people’s business — or at least the when they receive a driver’s license. We through Pluto’s mini-planetary sys- moons, with its vast subterranean down from the trees, until yester-
business of the people who donate.
DOVR EHFDPH WKH ¿UVW WR UHTXLUH KHDOWK WHPRI¿YHPRRQVWKHPDJQL¿FHQWO\ ocean under a crust of surface ice, GD\ XQDEOH WR À\ WR FRPPXQLFDWH
named Charon, Styx, Nix, Hydra and the most inviting potential habitat at a distance, to reproduce a sound
Higher education was a big winner. insurance plans to offer a year’s worth Kerberos.
for extraterrestrial life that human or motion or even an image — and
Lawmakers approved a stunning 22 per- of birth-control supplies in a single pur-
even today barely able to manage
Why through? Because, while beings will ever reach.
cent increase in funding for community chase. A companion measure allows the other planets lie on roughly the
Yes, ever. Promising exoplanets the elementary decencies of civili-
colleges and universities. Most of the women to get oral contraceptives direct- same plane, Pluto and its moon sys- — the ones circling distant stars that zation — taking close-up pictures
IXQGLQJZLOOJRIRUVWXGHQW¿QDQFLDODLG ly from a pharmacy without a doctor’s tem stick up at an angle
and chemical readings
and rebuilding administrative positions visit. There were also ample examples of to that plane like a giant
of a mysterious world
New Horizons gets one
\HDUVDZD\
cut during the recession. Community trivial politics. Legislators tried, but failed archery target. New Hori-
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colleges will test a tuition-free program. to remove the Mississippi state flag from zons gets one pass, going pass, going straight by the
Every ounce of super-
Funding for K-12 education in- Capitol grounds because it contains the straight by the bull’s-eye.
ÀXRXVZHLJKWKDVEHHQ
bull’s-eye.
creased, but at a much lower rate. Public Confederate symbol. There were propos- No orbiting around, no
stripped from New
lingering
for
months
or
school buildings will get expensive, but als to ban the declawing of cats and allow
Horizons to give it
even years to photograph
much needed seismic improvements.
dogs to ride in the beds of farm vehicles. and study.
we deduce might offer a Goldilocks more speed and pack more instru-
With solid majorities in the House
Marijuana dominated the session as
No mulligans. And no navigat- zone suitable for water-based life — ments. Yet there was one conces-
DQG6HQDWH'HPRFUDWVZHUHLQ¿UPFRQ- lawmakers grappled with rules to govern ing. Can’t do that when it takes 4 are being discovered by the week. sion to poetry. New Horizons is car-
trol. As expected, Portland-area politi- LWV OHJDOL]DWLRQ 7KH\ UHDFKHG GLI¿FXOW KRXUVIRUDPHVVDJHIURP(DUWK But they are unreachable. The jour- rying some of Clyde Tombaugh’s
cians controlled the agenda. Their liberal compromises on taxes and local sales to arrive. This is a preprogrammed, ney to even the nearest would, at ashes. After all, he found the
wing constituencies – environmentalists, of pot — and did so on bipartisan terms. single-take, nine-day deal.
New Horizons speed, take 280,000 dot.
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For what? First, for the sci- years. Even mere communication
public employee unions and social activ- Oregon businesses dodged a staggering
ists — secured important gains:
increase in the minimum wage. But pro- ence, the coming avalanche of new would be absurdly difficult. A sin- erworldly discovery, notes Carter
• Gov. Brown extended an order re- ponents already are collecting signatures knowledge. Remember: We didn’t gle exchange of greetings — “Hi Emmart of the American Museum of
quiring a 10 percent reduction in carbon for an initiative measure. Employers even know there was a Pluto un- there,” followed by “Back at you, Natural History, he will become the
emissions from cars and trucks over the were saddled with new paid sick leave til 85 years ago when astronomer brother” — would take a genera- ¿UVWKXPDQEHLQJWRKDYHKLVUHPDLQV
carried beyond the solar system.
Clyde Tombaugh found a strange tion.
next decade. This was a huge win for requirements and restrictions on when to WLQ\GRWPRYLQJDFURVVWKHVWDU¿HOG
For the wretched race of beings
It’s the galactic version of the
environmentalists after Democrats failed ask job applicants about prior criminal
Today, we still know practical- old Trappist monastery joke where we surely are, we do, on occasion,
to renew the standard two years ago. But convictions.
O\ QRWKLQJ ,Q IDFW WZR RI WKH ¿YH every seven years one monk at manage to soar.
the victory cost the governor a transpor-
Lawmakers showed remarkable re-
tation funding agreement.
straint not spending all the projected tax
• The Oregon Education Association revenue. They set aside $300 million in
pushed through HB 2655, which allows reserves to help cushion the impact of
parents to easily get their children out of much higher pension costs following
By DAVID BROOKS
cative, vulnerable and
overall context. You have
new standardized education tests based the Supreme Court’s rejection of cutting
New York Times News Service
carefree.
time to see how one thing
on Common Core standards. The teach- payments to public retirees. It’s a small
This
mode
of
interac-
layers onto another, pro-
ers’ union is concerned how test results down payment. More will be required –
tion nurtures mental agili-
ducing mixed emotions,
f
you’re
like
most
of
us,
impact school accountability and teacher from taxpayers, government and public
ty.
The
ease
of
movement
ironies and paradoxes. You
you’re wondering what the
evaluations. Passage, however, jeop- employee unions — in the years ahead.
on the Web encourages
have time to lose yourself
ardizes $140 million in annual federal
What you think of this session de- Internet is doing to your atten- you to skim ahead and
in another’s complex envi-
funding for Oregon schools. The OEA pends on where you stand in the econo- tion span.
ronment.
get the gist. You do well
also won big with money to implement my. It can be said that this session largely
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You toggle over to check your in social media and inter-
“by observing what hap-
full-day kindergarten, which will add was decisive. That is, legislators did their phone during even the smallest active gaming when you
David
pens, by following the lin-
can engage and then dis-
more teaching jobs.
job.
pause in real life.
Brooks
ear path of a story, we can
engage with grace. This
You feel those phantom vibra- fast, frictionless world
convert information into
tions even when no one is texting rewards the quick perception, the knowledge in a way that emphasiz-
you. You have trouble concentrating instant evaluation and the clever per- ing fast response and constant stim-
for long periods.
formance. As neuroscientist Susan ulation cannot. As I see it, the key
Over the past few years research- *UHHQ¿HOG ZULWHV LQ KHU ERRN Mind issue is narrative.”
ers have done a lot of work on atten- Change, expert online gamers have a
When people in this slower world
tion span, and how the brain is being great capacity for short-term memo- gather to try to understand connec-
resculpted by all those hours a day ry, to process multiple objects simul- tions and context, they gravitate
spent online. One of the conclusions WDQHRXVO\WRVZLWFKÀH[LEO\EHWZHHQ toward a different set of questions.
who
are
planned
are
cherished
and
are
afe and accessible birth con-
that some of them are coming to is tasks and to quickly process rapidly These questions are less about sensa-
more
likely
to
grow
up
to
lead
success-
trol is key to a host of gains
tion than about meaning. They argue
WKDWWKHRQOLQHOLIHQXUWXUHVÀXLGLQ- presented information.
ful lives themselves.
in maternal and child well-be-
about how events unfold and how
WHOOLJHQFHDQGRIÀLQHOLIHLVEHWWHUDW
Fluid
intelligence
is
a
set
of
skills
Birth control drugs and devices
ing, economic advancement for aren’t 100 percent safe and effective. nurturing crystallizing intelligence. that exist in the moment. It’s the abil- FRQWH[W LQÀXHQFHV EHKDYLRU 7KH\
online is like being a part ity to perceive situations and navi- are more likely to make moral eval-
families and nations, and may Efforts to relax the degree of physician of Being
the
greatest
cocktail party ever gate to solutions in novel situations, uations. They want to know where it
involvement in managing them have
even lower the crime rate.
is all headed and what are the ulti-
and
it
is
going
on
all the time. If you independent of long experience.
Starting early next year, laws signed long been fought off because of a sin- email, text, tweet, Face-
2IÀLQH OHDUQLQJ DW mate ends.
by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown last week cere belief that direct contact between book, Instagram or just
Crystallized intelligence is the
its best, is more like
will allow pharmacists to prescribe healthcare providers and patients will follow Internet links you
Being
being a member of a ability to use experience, knowledge
oral contraceptives and hormonal help avoid contraception-related prob- have access to an ev-
book club than a cock- and the products of lifelong education
online
contraceptive patches for a year at a lems. At the same time, the necessity to er-changing universe of
tail party. When you’re that have been stored in long-term
time. Coming 55 years after “the pill” visit a provider in order to obtain a pre- social touch-points. It’s
RIÀLQH \RX¶UH QRW LQ memory. It is the ability to make anal-
is like
constant contact with ogies and comparisons about things
¿UVWEHFDPHDYDLODEOHLQWKH86WKLV scription is an opportunity to keep tabs like you’re circulating
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the universe. There you have studied before. Crystallized
VWHS¿QDOO\QRUPDOL]HVVRPHWKLQJWKDW on reproductive and general wellness.
being
%XWRQEDODQFHWKHFRVWEHQH¿WUDWLR with instant access to
are periods of solitary intelligence accumulates over the
should always be a woman’s choice:
a part
reading and thinking years and leads ultimately to under-
Whether to go through the life-altering has clearly shifted in favor of moving people you’d almost
this
service
to
pharmacists,
who
are
never
meet
in
real
life.
and then more inten- standing and wisdom.
and sometimes hazardous process of
of
the
The online world is brand new,
Online
life
is
so
de-
tional gatherings to talk
themselves
highly
trained
profession-
pregnancy and motherhood.
but
it feels more fun, effortless and
licious
because
it
is
so-
and
compare.
als
capable
of
counseling
women
and
Living in this time in one of the
greatest
Research at the QDWXUDO WKDQ WKH RIÀLQH ZRUOG RI
world’s most advanced nations, we can directing them to specialists if more cializing with almost no
cocktail 8QLYHUVLW\RI2VORDQG reading and discussion. It nurtures
scarcely imagine what it was like here complicated issues arise. Being able to friction. You can share
bon
mots,
photographs,
elsewhere suggests that agility, but there is clear evidence by
before 1960 — and how it still is in obtain a year’s worth of oral contracep-
party
videos
or
random
mo-
people read a printed now that it encourages a fast mental
many less-developed nations — with tives from a neighborhood pharmacy
ments
of
insight,
en-
page differently than rhythm that undermines the ability to
women endlessly pregnant, many dy- without a prescription represents a sub- couragement, solidarity
ever.
they read off a screen. explore narrative, and place people,
ing prematurely, and families with far stantial savings in terms of time, hassle or good will. You live
They are more linear, ideas and events in wider contexts.
too many mouths to feed. We roman- and money. This will reduce the odds in a state of perpetual
The playwright Richard Fore-
more intentional, less
ticize childhood and motherhood — in of unplanned pregnancies during gaps anticipation because the next social likely to multitask or browse for man once described people with
many ways rightly so — but there isn’t between prescriptions. (Women will be encounter is just a second away. You keywords.
cathedral-like personalities — with
much that can be said in favor of hav- required to start with a three-month sup- can control your badinage and click
The slowness of solitary reading complex, inner density, people with
ing eight children and losing several of ply to see whether there are any adverse yourself away when boredom lurks. or thinking means you are not as distinctive personalities, and capable
reactions before being able to buy pills
them to illness and poverty.
This form of social circulation concerned with each individual piece of strong permanent attachments.
Smaller families and an ability for for a year.)
takes the pressure off. I know some of data. You’re more concerned with These days that requires an act of
women to integrate pregnancies with
California already has a similar but people who are relaxed and their best KRZ GLIIHUHQW SLHFHV RI GDWD ¿W WR- rebellion, among friends who assign
their working lives have greatly im- somewhat less comprehensive law. selves only when online. Since they gether. How does this relate to that? one another reading and set up times
SURYHGOLYLQJVWDQGDUGVLQWKH86DQG Washington state should certainly fol- feel more in control of the commu- You’re concerned with the narrative to explore narrative and cultivate
nication, they are more communi- shape, the synthesizing theory or the crystallized intelligence.
other advanced nations. The children low Oregon’s lead.
CARL EARL, Systems Manager
Legislature
was decisive
A
What you think of it depends on
where you stand in the economy
Attention span in the online age
I
It’s about time
S
Buying contraception from
pharmacists is a logical move