Print edition for February 12, 2007

Letter: Criminals in military an offensive idea: I am a Korean War veteran and I don't merely pooh-pooh it, I am disgusted with it. Military service is a privilege that should never serve as a dumping ground for criminals of any ilk.

Shane comes back: Shane Mosley made a smooth return to the welterweight division - along with a convincing case he still has what it takes, at age 35, to compete among boxing's elite.

John Katsilometes on what's next for the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute (think 'franchise'): This year Ruvo sought out his longtime friend for a far more important project: To design care centers based on the downtown Las Vegas LRBI model and build them all over the world.

Editorial: Securing Nevada's spot: New Hampshire officials have discussed moving up their primary before Nevada's caucus. The New Hampshire primary had been the first in the nation and the second in the schedule of political primaries and caucuses behind Iowa. Politicians in New Hampshire are worried about being upstaged, which is understandable.

FLASHPOINT for Feb 12, 2007: Gov. Jim Gibbons recently released some documents his transition team produced - weeks after I first requested they be gathered. One of the more noteworthy is the one produced by his transportation working group. The experts, after what was characterized as a "robust and candid exchange of opinions" that "may run against the grain of your current thinking," actually proposed some tax increases. This is the second group of experts Gibbons has ignored on the subject. Minor boost in driver's license fees. Indexing gas to inflation. A new vehicle depreciation schedule. Increased assessments on aviation fuels. Why is this so ...

Editorial: Failing the smell test: The rule is designed to prevent regents from abusing their power so that they can't leverage their authority to secure jobs within the university system during, and immediately after, their terms. Even the appearance of such abuse must be avoided.

Letter: How do we define victory in Iraq?: Now that the Russians are selling their version of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles to Iran, our "leaders" are all upset and making ready to go war with Iran.

Ron Kantowski on a series that will prepare UNLV for the meat of its schedule: "Sunday is the most important day in college baseball," he said. "But whether that's a rolling point or not, I don't know."

CONVENTION CRASHING: Surfaces 2007 expo: They were perhaps the unhappiest life-size wooden sheep ever built.

Principal departures: Emily Richmond, Las Vegas Sun; Nearly one out of every five principals has at least 25 years in the teaching profession, and the number of retirements is continuing to climb.

Editorial: Protection or shell game?: According to a story by the Las Vegas Sun on Thursday, the number of drilling permits issued on federal land has doubled under the Bush administration, which says increased production is necessary to wean the United States off of foreign oil.

Letter: Conservatives take focus from real issues: Air Force One is a customized version of the Boeing 747, a commercial airliner that seats 300-plus and consumes fuel at the rate of $6,000 an hour, and George Bush is one of the nation's most-traveled presidents.

Many factors at play in illegal immigration: Many factors at play in illegal immigration

Letter: Many factors at play in illegal immigration: The cause is a complex economic model that includes the census, the graduated income tax, the birthrate, the Federal Reserve Bank, the national debt, life expectancy, the Baby Boomers retirement, Social Security and related program promises, middle class incomes, a 50-year economic cycle relating to industrial-based light manufacturing jobs in America, our positioning America with cheap labor to take advantage of the opportunity presented by emerging consumer nations such as China and India, the global economy, the establishment of the North, Central and South American economic bloc, free trade and last but not least the New World Order that has ...

Criminals in military an offensive idea: Criminals in military an offensive idea

GOP still cool on global warming: WASHINGTON - When President Bush spoke for the first time in a State of the Union speech about the need to "confront the serious challenge of global climate change," environmentalists celebrated something of a turnaround for the Republican Party - which had put a senator who called global warming a "hoax" in charge of the Senate environmental committee.