| An Exchange of Souls
How many people have died in Iraq per dollar of profit made? I don't know why all of a sudden he's shocked, shocked to find that in a capitalist system human life is a commodity, and a cheap one at that. As far as I'm concerned, Lee Iococca tried to kill my Dad. The Ford Motor company made a cost/benefit analysis of the price of fixing the Pinto, and decided that it was cheaper to pay death benefits than to fix the car. He no more knew who he was going to kill then the Tylenol killer of around the same time, but the corporate media treated the 7 deaths of the Tylenol killer as the most outrageous depravity possible, and the Pinto killer as a businessman, later lionized when he obtained tax dollars to keep Chrysler out of bankruptcy. Luckily, no one rearended my Dad, and he's still alive today, but no thanks to corporate morality.
MEETINGSCOMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS
COLUMBIA CAMERA CLUB: 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Capital Senior Center, Maxcy Gregg Park. Open to all ages and skill levels. (803) 786-7022, www.columbiacameraclub.com WREN INSTITUTE FOR URBAN RESEARCH: New York City lecture, 6-7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8, #221 Kress Building, 1502 Main St. (803) 771-0219 MOMS CLUB OF COLUMBIA NE: 10 a.m. the third Friday monthlyat Seacoast Church, 1955 LeGrand Road. Service-oriented group for stay-at-home moms. Meetings are open to mothers and children. Call (803) 419-1054 or go to www.columbiamoms.org MOMS CLUB OF COLUMBIA-C: 10 a.m. the third Thursday monthly at Heathwood Park, 800 Abelia Drive. Newcomers and children welcome. www.columbiamoms.org SUPPORT GROUPS DIVORCE CARE FOR MEN AND WOMEN: 7-9 p.m.
911 tapes released in Omaha mall shooting
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - For almost 30 harrowing minutes, Jodi Longmeyer recounted to a 911 dispatcher what she could see and hear of a teenage gunman's deadly rage in a mall department store - and then broke down, she said Friday. As she told the dispatcher she could see Robert A. Hawkins' body lying next to a gun, her voice cracked, and she began to cry - a mixture of sadness and relief that the crisis was over. Nine people, including the gunman, were dead. "I had seen more than I wanted to see," Longmeyer told NBC's "Today" show Friday, describing the call. Longmeyer, who is a human resources manager at Von Maur, agonized with the operator while barricaded in an employee locker room at the store. Tapes of her 911 call were released Thursday, a day after the tragedy unfolded.
Patriot missiles: Iraq Veterans Against the War
Some of them will be okay. They will live with the secrets. They can dissociate from what happened in combat because it was part of the job. It was what they signed up for. They will keep the secrets out of duty – the silence is part of a code, and they honour that code above all else. But for others, the secrets they keep are like a poison, slowly releasing toxins of shame and remorse. Who can they tell anyway? They talk to each other – other veterans who have seen what they’ve seen, done what they’ve done, and who can relate to the burden of carrying these secrets for the rest of their lives. In 1971, the protest group Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered at a hotel in Detroit. More than 100 veterans talked about the atrocities they had witnessed in southeast Asia.
Hyphens, histories and the hypocrites
Black History Month, which many blacks now refer to as African-American Culture Month, has just ended. Predictably, I received a lot of unprintable complaints. Many of the writers, like others over the years, did not realize that they were practicing a double standard. The same double standard is at play when whites condemn blacks for bringing up the past. A man in Tuscaloosa, Ala., a member of the League of the South, challenged me, during a public forum at which I was the guest speaker, to explain why blacks "can't forget the past." Ironically, the League of the South's raison d'etre is to glorify the inhuman and racist legacies of the Confederacy and the Civil War. In short, white history still matters. But African-American history - slavery, separate-but-equal schools, "colored" water fountains, poll taxes, redlining, salary differentials, lynching and the Tuskegee syphilis experiment - is seen as being passe and should be forgotten.
Giants' battle for second could last entire spring
It's going to be interesting in spring training," said 11-time Gold Glove shortstop Omar Vizquel, who arrived Sunday, one day ahead of schedule. "We've got a lot of work to do this spring to establish our infield going into the season. There are a lot of questions about who's going to be at third, who's going to be at second and probably who's going to be at short." The 40-year-old Vizquel was joking about his own position on the field, considering he signed a $5.3 million, one-year contract in November with a club option for 2009. Vizquel's friendly, familiar face and reliable glove and leaping, athletic defense provides the most stability in this infield. With an adopted 8-month-old girl named Caylee now at home, he spent little time sleeping this winter and will be eager to hit the field as is always the case.
Harvard-Westlake's Hamlin commits to Colgate
Jakarri Hamlin, a Harvard-Westlake of Studio City defensive lineman, has committed to play football at Colgate. Hamlin, a 6-foot-3, 250-pounder, also plays on the basketball team. "Jakarri really liked his visit to Colgate," Harvard-Westlake coach Vic Eumont said. "He was going to visit Lehigh, too. They were interested, but he liked Colgate so much that he canceled." A couple of other Harvard-Westlake football players are receiving recruiting interest. Defensive lineman Ross Gruber could be headed to Johns Hopkins, and defensive back Andy Firestone is considering Div. III Williams College in Massachusetts. Also, Firestone's brother, Nicky, is expected to make a splash as a varsity sophomore this coming season as a multi-purpose back and return specialist. "Nicky is quick.
Cape Meares now has Oregon's largest Sitka spruce
CAPE MEARES, Ore. (AP) - Almost three months after a windstorm toppled the Klootchy Creek Giant, the Oregon Big Tree Registry has crowned a new champion Sitka spruce. The Sitka spruce at Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint stands 144 feet tall, with a circumference of 48 feet and an average crown spread of 93 feet. That's much shorter and skinnier than the Klootchy Creek Giant, which topped out at 206 feet and a circumference of 56 feet 1 inch. "The reason it is so small is that the top blew out probably 100 years or more ago," Brian French, an arborist who is part of a group dedicated to documenting Oregon's most impressive trees, told The Oregonian newspaper. "At one time, it was a massive, massive tree. It was very close in size to the Klootchy Creek Sitka spruce." Designation as one of Oregon's champion trees does not earn it legal protection, but people are less likely to damage it if they know it's on the registry, said Cindy Deacon Williams, program coordinator for the Oregon Big Tree Registry.
North Shore religion briefs
Our Lady of Hope Parish, Ipswich, is accepting ticket reservations for the 2008 Boston Catholic Men's Conference, to be held Saturday, April 19, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Boston College's Conte Forum, and the Boston Catholic Women's Conference, Friday, April 18, from 5 to 9:30 p.m. at Conte Forum. Contact Lou De George at 978-356-9552 or e-mail ldegeorgesr@yahoo.com for men's tickets and Joanne DiNatale 978-948-7863 or e-mail jodina@verizon.net for women's tickets. West Church Preschool, a ministry of West Congregational Church, is now enrolling for its weekday preschool program 2008-2009. The program for 4-year-olds meets Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to noon or 9 a.m. to 12:50 p.m. with Lunch Bunch. The 3-year-old program meets Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m.
The Dougherty County School System Police Department made 185 arrests ...
ALBANY A student version of Albanys Crimestoppers program may soon be roaming the halls of Dougherty County schools. Kids know a lot of stuff, they see a lot of stuff, but sometimes theyre afraid to say something, Albany Police Sgt. Carmelita Preston said. Preston, Dougherty Schools Police Chief Troy Conley and school officer Erika Ellis presented details of the programs development at a Wednesday school system safety and security meeting. Privately-funded Albany Crimestoppers is not dependent on tax dollars and rewards anonymous tipsters with cash, Preston said. The officers are studying a successful Tampa, Fla., student program to work out the details for Dougherty County, such as whether to provide a special phone or drop box for tips, which could be observed by other students, she said.
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