Stem cells, golfing aviators, sales tax holiday

Bush's stem-cell decision -- three years later: Monday marked the third anniversary of President Bush's decision on the funding of human embryonic stem-cell research.

There is no ban, and never was, on stem-cell research.

The president's decision related only to federal funding of human embryonic stem-cell research.

President Bush maintained the prohibition that had been in place since 1996 (under President Clinton) which did not allow the government to pay for the destruction of human embryos in order to create stem cell lines for research.

However, his decision, for the first time in U.S. government history, allowed for federal funding of research on embryonic stem cell lines that had already been created through private research.

In the three years since the decision, almost $25 million in taxpayer money has been spent on human embryonic stem-cell research, with more promised. Yet the results are lackluster at best, and the researchers admit it will be many years, if ever, before embryonic stem cells might treat a human.

In the meantime and relatively unnoticed, adult stem cells have successfully treated hundreds of patients, for conditions such as heart damage, spinal cord injury, blindness and cancer.

The public deserves to know the real facts: Embryonic stem cell research is unlikely to treat patients, while adult stem cells are the real promise for real treatments.

The cry should be not for a loosening of the federal policy on embryonic stem cells, but an aggressive expansion of adult stem cell research. -- Tony Perkins, Washington Update

When I had a chance to meet with golf great Jack Nicklaus a few years ago, he said his most indispensable business tool was his Gulfstream IV. Between playing golf, building golf courses, making appearances, and tending to family matters, owning and operating his own jet was the only way to, pardon the pun, stay on course.

As I delved deeper, I uncovered a whole list of golf pros who own and/or pilot private aircraft, including several Hall of Famers:

Greg Norman, Phil Mickelson and, of course, Arnold Palmer.

Arnie's history of flying is fascinating.

It turns out Palmer has been in the cockpit for nearly 50 years, first going solo in a Cessna 172. He's flown with the Blue Angels, and set a circumnavigation record in a Learjet. He now owns-and pilots-a Cessna Citation X. -- Mark Nothaft

Some pro golfers fly for personal reasons, others for the thrill. The common denominator among those PGA greats is to remain in the captain's seat.

The need to be in control, even in the air, is what initiated Arnold Palmer's interest in piloting and keeps him flying today at age 74.

It's what drove Phil Mickelson to earn his pilot's license. It's what prompts Jack Nicklaus to man the left seat when he travels by helicopter and to remain somewhat pilot savvy 20 years after he last landed an airplane.

There are others who steer through the air, most notably Bobby Clampett, the part-time pro and full-time golf broadcaster for CBS Sports and USA Network, who flies his single-engine Malibu to all assignments.

Until recently, when he and his family discovered the convenience of motor homes, Bill Glasson flew his own plane to each stop.

To own an airplane, particularly a jet, is a growing trend among professional golfers as they consider safety issues, convenience, comfort, and scheduling flexibility. Palmer was the first to own a jet-in fact he was the first athlete in the world to buy his own jet aircraft-when he purchased a Rockwell Jet Commander in 1966. But he wasn't the first golfer to own or fly his own plane.

That distinction belongs to Johnny Bulla, who was an endorsement spokesman for Walgreen's Drug Stores in the 1930s and a pilot for Eastern Airlines.

Bulla flew his golf friends to special exhibitions to sell bonds during World War II. Walgreen's offered Bulla a plane to fly to tournaments.

After World War II he purchased a C-47 and converted it to a DC-3, and Bulla taxied his fellow professionals to tour events for a small fee.

Often, his co-pilot was another intense, self-reliant sort named Ben Hogan.

It's not that other athletes haven't learned how to fly planes, but it seems that golfers might just be the most adaptable to the necessary tasks and mindset.

"Golfers, I think, are used to having their fate in their own hands," says Clampett, who uses his pilot's license to further one of his favorite charitable causes, the Children's Flight of Hope, a non-profit organization that provides free air transportation to and from medical facilities for ill or injured children.

"I guess that's how we're made, but it does take a special kind of person to do this. Not every golfer could fly a plane."

"When you've had a bad tournament one of the great things is getting in your airplane and forgetting about golf," Palmer says.

"I've said many times that flying my plane is good therapy-to disappear into the clouds and not worry about what I did or didn't do on the golf course. I'll do that again when I leave here.

It remains one of my great loves, and it's something, thankfully, I still do quite well and enjoy, and I always look forward to that time in the air. It's always a thrill for me." -- David Shedloski, column excerpts from Stratos magazine

The Cape Aviation Pilots Club had an informative program Sunday evening which consisted of remarks by charismatic Cpl. Ron Webb, chief pilot the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Troop E headquartered in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

Webb lives in Dexter, Mo., flies out of Poplar Bluff in a single-engine four-seat Cessna 182 and spends a lot of his time spotting and timing speeding vehicles.

He also made an implied case for more funding and less bureaucracy to save expenses and make it easier for the job of saving lives and reducing accidents.

He stressed that wearing a seat belt could possibly save your life and, in certain marginal speeding instances, prevent your ticketing.

Webb is an excellent representative for the highway patrol, displaying common sense, a sense of humor and the knowledge to directly and informatively answer questions.

You're kidding me: Former Kerry foreign policy adviser Sandy Berger (former national security adviser under President Bill Clinton) after being caught mishandling classified information and admitting he smuggled some papers out of the National Archives building, is no longer front-page news.

Imagine the clamor if an aide to Attorney General John Ashcroft would have been similarly caught.

Missouri's first-ever sales tax holiday for back-to-school shoppers is getting an extra statewide boost this week from Senate president pro tem Peter Kinder of Cape Girardeau, who sponsored the tax holiday legislation in the Missouri Senate when it was passed into law last year.

The sales tax holiday was passed to help families with back-to-school purchases and will be in effect Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The tax holiday suspends Missouri's 4.225 percent sales tax on back-to-school purchases across the state and will also suspend local sales taxes except in those areas where local governments opted out of the tax-break program.

Many retailers are also offering additional discounts which run the total savings in some instances to more than 20 percent.

Under the program, clothing purchases of up to $100, school supply purchases up to $50 and computer software purchases of up to $200 are exempt from sales tax at each store.

In addition, personal computer purchases of up to $2,000 are exempt from state sales taxes.

A recent national study determined that shoppers are expected to spend more for back-to-school purchases this year than last, with the average American family spending almost $500 on back-to-school items.

In addition to the financial benefit this brings shoppers, other studies indicate that increased sales of non-tax exempt items boost sales for retailers.

Kinder said this year's event is especially important to Missouri, because it will serve as a basis on whether the holiday will be extended by the legislature to provide tax breaks in future years.

Gary Rust is the chairman of Rust Communications.