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New Jersey hospital emergency room becomes first in U.S. to end use of opioid painkillers PATERSON, N.J. -- St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center announced it has become the first hospital in the country to implement a program that will manage patients' pain in the emergency room without the use of opioid painkillers. Painkillers most frequently used in the emergency room in the past were oxycodone, vicodin and percocet, according to Dr. Mark Rosenberg, the Emergency Department chair. “Our job here together is to look at the whole equation and understand how we can stop people from going from a prescription,...

Imagine for a moment that you were ticketed for speeding by the state police. Suppose that you lied to the cop about why you were driving so fast. Then imagine that a group of special-interest lawyers contacted you and told you they wanted to appeal your ticket to the Supreme Court, and they gave you a legal pseudonym to hide your identity. Now imagine that the Court ruled that the ancient Romans had no speed limit on the Appian Way, that the Germans have no speed limits on the autobahn, and that speed limits are a violation of the Constitution...

http://www.amazon.com/Decision-Points-George-W-Bush/dp/0307590615/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279195424&sr=8-1

THE SUPREME Court's rejection of the Bush administration's plan for terrorist trials has rightly been seen as a rebuff of the president's unilateral legal approach to fighting al-Qaeda. But in a subtler way, it is also a profound rebuke to Congress. The nation's legislature has mostly sat on the sidelines for the duration of the war on terror, letting the administration make its own rules -- and ride roughshod over the law as well as fundamental American values. The court's action forces the administration to invite Congress into the process of designing trials for enemy combatants. This presents a major...

One year ago, on June 23, 2005, the United States Supreme Court opened the floodgates for the abuse of eminent domain by state and local authorities with its Kelo v. City of New London decision. That decision held that private property could be taken by government agencies and turned over to private developers under the guise of “economic development.” Since that time, private property seizures by local municipalities and state authorities have increased dramatically. According to a recent report issued by the public-interest law firm,  the Institute for Justice, 5,783 properties have been seized or threatened with seizure nationwide within the...

A Houston-based rapper said his decision to call himself the "Arabic Assassin" was meant to stir up a bit of controversy in the music business. The stage persona — along with some incendiary lyrics in one of his songs — also helped get Bassam Khalaf fired this month from his job as a baggage screener at Bush Intercontinental Airport. "I thought it was kind of ridiculous. What does my music have to do with my job?" Khalaf said Thursday. He lost his job July 7, about six months after he joined the Transportation Security Administration as a baggage screener. "He...

From full text of press conference: Q: Just now you said that the United States supports a one China policy. What concrete step would you take to translate this commitment into reality? PRESIDENT BUSH: In terms of your question about the one China policy -- one China policy means that the issue ought to be resolved peacefully. We've got influence with some in the region; we intend to make sure that the issue is resolved peacefully -- and that includes making it clear that we do not support independence.