AT WEEK'S END CAPSULES OF COMMENTARY ON RECENT EVENTS

Not A Good Choice

Talk about conflicting messages. There they were: a young woman and
two young children in a van, the kids strapped safely into child
restraints in the back seat. That's just the way it's supposed to be.

But even the best safety seats can't protect children from some
threats. Up front, the young woman was puffing away on a cigarette.
The van, its windows closed, was filled with smoke, smoke the young
children were breathing -- along with the carcinogens that come with
cigarette smoke.

Presumably this woman would not give these children a martini before
supper. Presumably she knows that by smoking cigarettes she's
exposing herself to increased risk of disease and premature death.
Presumably she cares about the children.

So, parents and other caregivers, if you smoke, that's your choice.
It's a poor choice, but the kids strapped in the back seat don't have
a choice.

So Pay More For It

Speaking of cigarettes, they are taxed at different rates by
different states. Virginia's tax? At 2.5 cents per pack, it's the
lowest in the nation.

You'd think that a state legislature that was cutting education,
cutting mental health and failing miserably to meet its citizens'
transportation needs might be willing to look at any reasonable
approach to raising revenue. The tax could have been increased
tenfold and still would have been well below the national average.
And maybe some people, put off by the higher price, would decide they
could live without cigarettes.

Mathews Drug Test

Speaking of drugs, the Mathews County school system has decided to
put off implementing a voluntary drug-testing program of high school
students.

Good.

There is absolutely no doubt about the good intentions of Mathews
officials. But the program would have given incentives to students to
submit voluntarily to a "search" of their bodily fluids. What of
those who didn't want to submit? Would it be because they have
something to hide? Or because they would feel some vague discomfort
related, perhaps, to the Fourth Amendment? Searches are not something
to be normalized, to be acquiesced to in exchange for free parking at
the high school.

Over So Soon?

As our legislators in Richmond have gone about the unpleasant
business of lopping state services to deal with shortfalls in
revenue, some of them have used a familiar justification for not
trying instead to increase revenue by raising taxes. "A recession,"
they say, "is no time to raise taxes."

Better put a lid on that one. According to some economists, the
recession is nearly over. One even says that when the data are in,
the statistics will show the recession actually ended in November --
well before the lawmakers even showed up in Richmond for the current
session.