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Fantasia's book, "Life is Not a Fairy Tale," was released yesterday.

It's touted as the story of a poor girl from little High Point, N.C., who overcomes adversity and becomes a huge success.

Fantasia, who dropped out of Andrews High School, reveals that she never learned to read (so much for boasting by her former teachers).

I haven't read the book, which I'm sure has a lot of value. Fantasia, after all, is a great story. She's also personable and obviously very talented. I wish her continued success.

But in this excerpt on the publisher's Web site contains absolute fiction about her hometown. For example ...

Harriet Miers has built a remarkable legal career.

Back in 1970, she became the first woman lawyer hired by a big Dallas firm. She rose to partner, became a top litigator and served terms as head of the Dallas and Texas bar associations. She also served on the Dallas City Council.

Gov. George W. Bush appointed her to the Texas Lottery Commission.

She's worked for him in a number of White House positions, currently as White House counsel.

All she lacks is a judicial experience.

That's not a small hole in the resume of a nominee for U.S. Supreme Court.

Get ready for a battle over this one.

Liberal groups will try to pick apart her background, looking for reasons to oppose her. They'll invent some if they have to.

Conservative groups also will wonder how she might rule on key issues.

Bush did not choose a woman guaranteed to set off a firestorm -- Priscilla Owen or Janice Rogers Brown, for example. They already encountered resistance when they were named to appellate court seats.

But in picking Miers, Bush has gone with someone with such a clean slate that it's going to take a while before strategies for and against her can be developed.

Her gender may make it a bit harder for some senators to vote against her. But partisanship is powerful. Anything can happen.

Last week, the High Point Enterprise began running a "Prep for Market" box on the front page of its Local section:

"20 days until the official opening for the 2005 fall International Home Furnishings Market. High Pointers need to polish their southern hospitality."

High Pointers do NOT need to be lectured about their manners by the local newspaper.

Somebody got the message. In today's "Prep for Market" box -- 17 days until market -- the offensive exhortation was dropped.

Sorry to say, the High Point Enterprise was back at it today:

"Prep for Market"

"16 days until the official opening for the 2005 fall International Home Furnishings Market. High Pointers need to polish their southern hospitality."

As I wrote yesterday, High Pointers don't need a nagging newspaper.

But let's just examine the logic of this approach for a moment.

High Point is competing with Las Vegas for the furniture market.

Vegas has more and cheaper hotel rooms, more restaurants, more entertainment, more flights in and out, more glamour and excitement.

High Point has more showrooms, more product on display, more furniture gravitas ... for now.

It's got to work on making the market experience more convenient and affordable for visitors.

One thing High Point leaders have always touted as an advantage has been this market's Southern hospitality. And it is.

I think, in its clumsy way, the Enterprise is alluding to that.

But what it's literally saying is, "High Pointers need to polish their southern hospitality."

If our Southern hospitality is in such need of polishing that the local newspaper has to nag us about it daily, we may be in more trouble than I thought.

But, maybe the Enterprise is right. After all, hospitality -- Southern, Eastern, Northern or Western -- is more than charm and grace.

It's treating guests with respect and consideration for their well-being.

Which means not overcharging them for services while they're here.

I wouldn't be too impressed with a hotel demanding $250 a night for an $80 room, no matter how polite the staff.

Ellen Goodman isn't one of my favorite columnists, but one point she made in her Second Opinion article today (not posted) grabbed my attention.

"Who knows the name of Leigh Ann Hester, a 23-year-old from Kentucky who fought her way to a Silver Star for valor?"

Goodman was focusing on women serving in Iraq, particularly Lynndie England. But she raised a larger issue.

Who knows the name of any soldier who has earned a Silver Star for valor in Iraq?

It seems that very few of our men and women in uniform are receiving media attention for their bravery. (I'm making a notable exception for our own Allison Perkins' outstanding reporting from Iraq.)

Here's Hester's story, which did receive front-page attention in the Washington Post June 26.

Add Hester's name to the handful that might be widely recognized.

They include, of course, Jessica Lynch and Shoshana Johnson, both famous for having been captured in the early days of the war; Lori Piestewa, a Native American who was killed in action, also in the war's early stages; and England and others implicated in the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

Is that it?

I didn't know until I did a little research about Paul R. Smith, posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in Iraq. Why isn't his name as well-known as Lynndie England's?

I'm not writing this in support of the war but in support of the brave Americans and allies -- including Iraqis fighting to build a democratic country -- who have served there.

Of course, it's easy to believe the worst if you don't hear about much except terrorist attacks, casualty reports and protests. Lately, the most prominent faces associated with the Iraq war are those of Lynndie England and Cindy Sheehan. I think our military men and women deserve better than that.

John Robinson writes wistfully about the days when newspapers were fun to read. Sue adds a comment about the virtues of small-town news.

The smallest paper I worked for was the most fun -- The Mountaineer in Waynesville, N.C. It came out three times a week.

I started two days after I graduated from Carolina in 1977 and stayed two years. I often thought afterward I might have been in too big a hurry to move to a bigger town.

Many of the stories I covered there were centered on the unique environment of the Great Smoky Mountains: small plane crashes, bears and, very often, snakes. ...

My column today:

Good morning. This is the North Carolina Lottery Commission.

Hello. I'm calling for some information about my son's college scholarship.

Hold, please. I'll connect you with that office. ...

Hurrah for Howard Coble. He earns one of the better scores for his voting record from Citizens Against Government Waste.

Mel Watt and Brad Miller got dismal scores on the same survey. In fact, Watt scored a big fat zero.

CAGW tracked votes on 40 spending and tax issues, finding -- not surprisingly -- that 2004 was a big year for government waste.

At least Coble is trying to hold the line.

We're waiting, waiting, waiting for a detailed report from our son in Tanzania.

He began his Peace Corps assignment there two weeks ago, and so far the only word has been a brief entry on his blog.

Of course, it's nice to know he was doing fine as of Sept. 24. And I appreciate that he doesn't have access to a telephone and apparently very limited access to the Internet.

But, I have proof that it's not impossible to get word out. In fact, a lot of words. ...

Rev. Nelson and Joyce Johnson are receiving a prestigious Leadership for a Changing World award from the Ford Foundation today, with a $115,000 grant.

Read the citation here.

The award is based largely on the Johnsons' effort to launch the Truth and Reconciliation process.

Fair enough, if the Ford Foundation is sold on the value of that process.

The citation's recounting of Nov. 3, 1979, is interesting, however.

It says Nelson Johnson organized a "march for racial justice."

It never refers to the event as a "Death to the Klan" rally. Never makes reference to the Communist Workers Party or Workers Viewpoint Organization. Never says Johnson was an avowed communist. Never says members of his group invited the Klan to the confrontation, were armed and also fired shots.

In other words, it offers a one-sided presentation of a complex event.

Because of Johnson's role in the 1979 tragedy, and his accusations of city complicity in the shootings, he's viewed by many as one of the most divisive figures in Greensboro's history. It does appear, however, that he has taken serious steps toward reconciliation.

So, is this award deserved?

One group of teenagers opens fire on another. A 19-year-old is struck by a bullet and later dies.

The death of Katrell Frazier brings Greensboro's 2005 homicide count to 23, Eric J.S. Townsend reports today.

Greensboro is consumed by an emotionally draining re-examination of its darkest day -- Nov. 3, 1979. Five members of the Communist Workers Party were shot to death by Klansmen and Nazis.

The killings and aftermath left deep scars on the community and impacted the lives of many people, as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has been told in hours of public hearings.

The truth and reconciliation process has attracted extensive media coverage and national and even international attention. Fine.

But how much attention has been given to the fact that, from 1980 through the present day, 564 homicides have been committed in Greensboro?

How many scars have all those deaths left on the city? How many families have been torn apart? How many young lives have been wasted -- including the lives of those who have gone to prison as a result?

How much examination are we doing into why these 564 murders happened, how we can heal the wounds and, most importantly, how we can put an end to this culture of killing?

One horrible incident took five lives, and Greensboro still carries the shame.

Don't the 564 dead since then matter, too?

Today's editorial about Fantasia Barrino seemed to strike a nerve in High Point, judging by some calls I received from upset residents there.

One woman demanded cancellation of her N&R subscription.

Sorry, Circulation Department. I'll have to take the blame for that one.

The callers took offense at the editorial's assertion that High Point should be ashamed that Fantasia didn't learn to read.

Some pointed out that the High Point schools she attended belong to the Guilford County system.

That was true during her last few years of schooling. But she began her education in the former High Point city system. It was in those primary grades when she should have been taught to read.

But which school system is responsible dodges the point. It's that some young people are passing through our schools without learning what they need to know to become successful adults.

And I'm talking about those who are not fabulous singers.

I fully recognize that a child's family has a lot to do with how well she does in school. The parents of a child who is not learning to read should notice that and insist that the schools do a better job. Those parents also should work with that child at home relentlessly until the child is reading.

A child's education is too important to trust entirely to the schools. If my children only knew what they learned in school, I would consider them undereducated.

All that said, our society assumes a certain responsibility for our children. A primary responsibility is to give them a basic education. The N.C. Supreme Court has said children in this state have a constitutional right to receive a sound basic education.

I also think each community has a responsibility to help meet this obligation. Indeed, there are many programs in High Point -- such as Communities in Schools, with which I have been involved since its inception about 15 years ago -- that seek to do this. CIS provides a variety of services to children who need extra help, including a program called Jump Start, which focuses on reading.

Unfortunately, some children slip between the cracks. Or, judging from test scores, a lot do.

Should we look to find fault when this happens? We can and do, but let's not forget to point the finger at ourselves, too. Everyone who didn't serve as a volunteer tutor, or make a contribution to an organization that helps in the schools, or didn't support teachers through a PTA appreciation effort or otherwise said "It's not my business" and walked away shares a portion of the blame.

It's a very strong statement to say High Point should be ashamed that Fantasia received a poor education in our schools. But can we really deny it? Only if we try to deny responsibility for the children of our community.

We have a lot to be proud of in High Point. We have many nice neighborhoods, some fine schools, some first-rate businesses, beautiful parks, outstanding citizens. I could go on. I'm proud of High Point and like living there.

But -- we should be ashamed that we have so much poverty, crime, illiteracy, drug addiction, homelessness, AIDS/HIV, substandard housing and other problems in our community.

Does that make High Point a worse city than Greensboro or any other?

No. No worse, and no better.

We don't have to compare ourselves to any other city.

We should want to become better than we are now.

I'm sorry the editorial hurt some feelings. It may have bruised civic pride a bit. It sure is a lot easier and more fun to rejoice in Fantasia's success and claim her as a favorite daughter.

But that wouldn't be the whole story.

This will be worth adding to the collection.

A lady called earlier this afternoon to ask about squirrels.

They've disappeared from her Greensboro neighborhood, she said. She lives near Kernodle Middle School.

Come to think of it, I've seen very few around my home in High Point. That's odd because I have three oak trees, and usually squirrels are running all over the place.

So, I'm passing on her question: What's happening to our squirrels?

With the Yankees out of the playoffs, I'm pulling for my next-favorite team, the Cardinals.

I'm very happy that Reggie Sanders is having a great post-season.

He was a terrific shortstop for the Greensboro Hornets way back in 1989. Unfortunately, he broke his leg halfway through the season.

Afterward, he often sat in the seats happily signing autographs for kids -- including mine. He impressed me at the time as a friendly, good-natured young man. During his long major league career, with many different teams, he's built a reputation as one of the sport's best citizens.

Go, Reggie and the Cards.

The biggest surprise from today's Greensboro City Council primary? For me, it's the 4 percent voter turnout.

This wasn't like going to the dentist, folks. Where were the other 96 percent of you?

Next biggest surprise would be the strong third-place showing of Sandra Anderson in the at-large field. She finished within 3 percentage points of veterans Yvonne Johnson and Don Vaughan. If she repeats that result in the general election, this political newcomer will win a seat on the council.

Women candidates did very well, finishing first in the at-large race (Johnson), District 1 (Dianne Bellamy-Small), District 2 (Goldie Wells), and District 5 (Sandy Carmany). Mike Barber led in the only other contested race, District 4.

Altogether, nine of the 14 candidates who advanced through today's primary are women.

By the way, if Johnson repeats her first-place finish in the at-large race Nov. 8, will that encourage her to run for mayor in 2007? Absolutely. That's very much on her mind, she said tonight.

Mayor Keith Holliday, unopposed for re-election this year, is not likely to run again in 2007.

My column today:

I want to impress a friend who's visiting High Point for the first time.

Our tour starts ...

Much attention has been paid to President Bush's successful nomination of John Roberts as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and still-pending nomination of Harriet Miers as associate justice.

Little has been said in North Carolina about the fact that Gov. Mike Easley has an important appointment coming up early next year.

Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr. of the N.C. Supreme Court must retire on his 72nd birthday Jan. 30.

That's right: North Carolina has a mandatory retirement age for judges.

Not for any other elected officials.

That's one difference in how the U.S. and N.C. Supreme Courts work.

Another is that we elect state judges in North Carolina.

But, when vacancies occur, the governor fills them by appointment until the next scheduled election.

Easley will appoint Lake's replacement, who will serve until a successor is elected in November 2006.

Our judiciary is nonpartisan, but Lake is a Republican who heads a conservative court.

Can I get anyone to take a bet that Easley will appoint a Democrat to the seat?

I promise you, it's a sure thing.

There's no hint yet as to who that will be. Whoever, it surely will be someone who is willing to run for an elected term. Easley doesn't want to put a seat-warmer in the state's highest judicial office.

Lake isn't only chief justice, he's head of the state's entire court system. In my view, he's done an excellent job, which he's fully capable of continuing after his 72nd birthday. I think the mandatory retirement age should be raised to 75 or eliminated altogether. One compromise could be to allow older judges to finish their elected terms but not run for a new term after they're 72.

Easley's appointment will not be subject to legislative confirmation.

He'll have to be careful, though. A poor choice won't hold up at election time.

Associate Justice Edward Brady already has announced he'll run for chief justice. He's a Republican. He will NOT get Easley's appointment.

But remember, this is a nonpartisan court.

Yeah, sure it is.

High Point police killed a dog yesterday on the street in front of my house.

The victim was a menacing Doberman that belonged to a neighbor who had been warned many, many times to stop letting it run loose.

He ran out of warnings.

The dog was kept in a back yard enclosed by a fence that it could easily escape, and did many times.

I had encountered the dog Tuesday when I returned from a run with my dog, which I had on a leash. The Doberman followed us all the way to the gate of my back fence, but wasn't threatening.

Yesterday was different. The dog was out, literally terrifying people in the neighborhood, including an older woman who walks with a cane. The dog did not attack her but approached so closely that she could have fallen. Fortunately, my wife was there to help her up our front steps and out of danger.

A neighbor called police and, after unsuccessful efforts by animal-control officers to capture the dog, one of the officers shot and killed it.

I love dogs and am sorry to see this happen to one.

The owner is the only one to blame.

I spoke to him once about the dog running loose, after it had chased my wife up our front steps. He showed no concern about that but blamed his landlady for not providing a better fence. He said he didn't believe in chaining dogs.

He just didn't get it. His dog did.

Check out the ad on page A5 of today's N&R.

It wishes a happy 50th birthday to Robbie Perkins and declares, "Long May You Run."

A young Perkins is shown in his Duke track shirt and striped shorts.

I don't know if everyone in Greensboro realizes what a great runner City Councilman Perkins was back in the '70s.

I trailed far, far behind him quite a few times in both high school and college.

The first time was a cross country meet in Richmond in 1971. Shortly after the start, he ran out of sight. He had his own race, the rest of us had a slower one.

The next year, I was in a two-mile race with him on the track. For me, a good two-mile time was breaking 10 minutes. He ran under 9 minutes that day.

To give you an idea of how fast that is, it's never been done by a North Carolina high schooler.

He was a big star at Duke at a time when Duke was the cross country power in the ACC. Another top runner at Duke was Greensboro native Bynum Merritt.

Duke, Carolina and State all had outstanding runners back in the '70s. In fact, the level of talent hasn't been equaled since. Perkins was one of the best, an All-American.

He continued running after college and made the 1980 U.S. Olympic team. Unfortunately, the U.S. boycotted the Olympic Games in Moscow that year.

Happy birthday, Robbie. I guess you could still leave me far behind.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reports today on the corrupt process that spawned North Carolina's lottery legislation.

"Lottery company Scientific Games wrote parts of North Carolina's new law that outline how companies will win multimillion-dollar contracts to run the state's gambling operation," the story by J. Andrew Curliss and Dan Kane begins.

Scientific Games employed former Jim Black aide Meredith Norris, who facilitated contacts between Black, other legislators and Scientific Games' vice president, Alan Middleton.

Here's a memo from Middleton to Black's office, suggesting what the lottery bill should say about awarding contracts to vendors. The language seems harmless but could give an advantage to Scientific Games.

Black, speaker of the N.C. House of Representatives, later appointed Kevin Geddings to the state's lottery commission. Geddings is a friend of Alan Middleton, and the two have had business dealings.

Is the fix in, or what?

We're planning to say more on tomorrow's editorial page.

Jim Black told a Greensboro Chamber of Commerce audience yesterday that he and Marc Basnight are looking for ideas on how to change the state's tax system.

Judging from Black and Basnight's talent for raising money, soliciting "ideas" from business people interested in changing the tax system should be plenty lucrative!

What happened to John Edwards' poverty gig?

Can he run his presidential campaign from Wall Street?

One thing about Edwards. He's always coming up with something new.

Downtown High Point will be rockin' Saturday night, with a free concert by the Neville Brothers in the Showplace parking lot.

It's part of an effort to jazz up the furniture market.

Rock on! The High Point market needs more spark. After all, marketgoers have been to Vegas. Now they want some fun with their furniture.

It's so important to liven up the downtown nightlife that the city of High Point stepped up to underwrite part of the cost for the concert -- up to $10,000.

Um, not to be a spoilsport or anything, but shouldn't city money open up the event to city residents?

It's not happening. You've got to have a market pass to attend, says the International Home Furnishings Market Authority.

I understand. If High Pointers could go, they'd crowd out the market visitors. To make it worse, some High Pointers might not behave themselves appropriately.

But there's a bit of an issue here. When I asked City Councilman Bill Bencini about it last week, he acknowledged that issue and said council had not approved an expenditure of city funds for the concert. He said he'd look into it at today's council meeting.

I'm glad the market is putting on the Neville Brothers concert, as well as a kick-off party headlined by Edwin McCain on High Avenue Wednesday night, which the city also is co-sponsoring.

The market ought to provide a good time for guests.

I don't mind not going. I'd just like to know how the city can ask taxpayers to chip in for the costs and tell them to stay away.

Charles Krauthammer wrote a very frightening column last week. It was about the re-creation of the 1918 flu.

Among other things, Krauthammer is an M.D. He acknowledges the scientific value of bringing back to life such a horribly dangerous virus. It will be immensely helpful in learning how to combat other strains of the disease, like the bird flu bubbling up in Asia now.

What has Krauthammer worried is the publication on the Internet of the genome structure of the 1918 flu virus.

(Here it is, by the way. Please don't try to cook it up at home.)

This has opened the gates of hell, Krauthammer exclaims.

Yes, disseminating the information as widely as possible expands research opportunities.

It also puts a weapon of mass destruction within reach of terrorists.

My question: If al-Qaida terrorists did acquire this weapon, would they use it?

Sure, Osama would set off a nuclear bomb in New York, Washington or Greensboro if he could. The more people he could kill, the better in his estimation.

But a deadly flu epidemic isn't a nuclear bomb that would destroy one city and carry fallout over a relatively limited geographical area.

It would likely spread around the world and kill more people in the most backward countries that lack modern medical facilities, communications systems and the ability to erect effective quarantines and other barriers to transmission.

A flue virus could be released in the United States and take many lives here. But it very quickly would find its way beyond our shores, even to the Middle East, where it likely would kill even more people.

Are these terrorists so intent on destruction that they want to destroy everyone, even themselves? Would they detonate the ultimate suicide bomb if they could?

God help us if that's true.

Elephants, lions and other African animals roaming the American plains?

That's the vision of wildlife researchers at Cornell University.

The idea is not being widely embraced.

The argument is that these animals could become extinct in Africa, so alternative wild populations are needed to ensure the survival of the species.

The suggestion is not to move them from Africa but to use captive animals that are already here. Just take them out of their enclosed habitats and set them loose in the wide open spaces out West.

There's a certain dreamy romance to the notion, but would it really be smart to mix non-native with native animals? Lions with bears? Wildebeest with bison? Zebras with mustangs? Giraffes with ... well, we sure don't have anything like giraffes.

Ranchers out West have enough trouble with coyotes and wolves. Mix in cheetahs and lions, and they just might get irritated.

Speaking of lions, after reading this I started worrying more about my son in Tanzania.

I think Doug Albright has been an outstanding judge, but I was most impressed with him when I heard him thunder from the pulpit at a presbytery meeting.

The regional governing body for the Presbyterian Church USA was debating the proposed "fidelity and chastity" amendment to the denomination's Book of Order.

Basically, it would bar practicing homosexuals from ordained office in the church, as well as heterosexuals in sexual relationships outside marriage.

Albright, a Presbyterian elder, stood up for the traditional teachings of the church. Thankfully, that position was upheld.

That principle continues to come under assault in the PCUSA and other denominations. Some congregations defy the fidelity and chastity amendment, and denomination leaders in Louisville don't seem very interested in defending it.

So I have a job I'd like to see Albright step into after he retires from the Superior Court bench next year: the Presbyterian church's Permanent Judicial Commission. It badly needs someone who will uphold church law against the winds of secular liberalization.

Uh-oh. Harriet Miers has been outed as staunchly anti-abortion.

Not that it comes as a surprise. The White House has been sending not-so-subtle signals of this to the religious right for some time.

Back in 1989, when she was running (successfully) for Dallas City Council, Miers indicated her anti-abortion beliefs in response to a questionnaire from Texans United for Life.

Her key answer was a promise to support a constitutional amendment overturning the Roe v. Wade decision.

Senate Democrats now have what they need to oppose Miers' nomination, which hasn't generated much enthusiasm anyway. She fails the Roe v. Wade litmus test.

But does she, really?

If she supported a constitutional amendment overturning Roe, doesn't that mean she recognized the strength of the 1973 decision?

I mean, why would you need to amend the constitution if the constitution itself was sufficient to achieve your purpose?

Now, maybe a Justice Miers would vote to overturn Roe if the opportunity were presented. But her 1989 statements don't say that.

One thing is certain: The Supreme Court can't amend the constitution.

Oh, and one other thing: Her personal opinion about abortion or any other issue should not determine how she votes on cases before the court. She'd be a poor justice if they did.

Right now, I'd say we still don't know much about what sort of justice she might make.

My column today:

High Point police shot and killed two dogs within five days this month. ...

Glenn Devon McKinney admitted in court that he killed Jerry Louis Alston in Greensboro in May 2003. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Now, in a decision reported today by Eric Collins, the N.C. Court of Appeals has ordered a new trial for McKinney because police failed to obtain a warrant before their initial entry into the home shared by Alston and McKinney where the murder took place and where Alston's body was found.

Read the unanimous opinion here. It's a fascinating case.

The decision, written by Judge Patricia Timmons-Goodson, offers this clear statement:

"It is a fundamental principle of our legal system that an individual's Fourth Amendment rights should not be violated, regardless of what charge that individual faces. Thus, even in the most grisly of cases, an individual's right to be free from illegal search and seizure must be strictly upheld."

Concurring were Judges Robin Hudson and Rick Elmore, both of whom have strong Greensboro connections.

The case is not without its subtleties. For example, it was important to establish that McKinney actually did share Alston's residence, strengthening his claim to a right to privacy. Yet, after the murder, testimony indicated he had fled to Florida. Timmons-Goodson wrote:

"We note that in its brief, the State asserts various other reasons that the trial court could have relied upon in denying defendant's motion to suppress, including that defendant had abandoned the residence and that the evidence would have been discovered inevitably."

While those might have been effective arguments, they weren't the arguments prosecutors made during the motion-to-suppress hearing. At that time, prosecutors contended McKinney didn't have standing to file his motion because he wasn't a lawful resident of the house, and also that police Sgt. Jane Allen entered the house before obtaining a warrant because she thought there might be someone inside who needed medical attention.

Trial court Judge L. Todd Burke was convinced and denied the motion to suppress evidence obtained at the crime scene. But the appeals court shot the case down, deciding there was reason to believe that McKinney lived at the house and little reason for Sgt. Allen to believe she needed to enter the house without a search warrant.

The appeals court decision points, therefore, to mistakes by police, prosecutors and the trial court judge.

Not big mistakes. Not made with malicious intent. But serious enough to compel this ruling.

Without the evidence gathered at the house where the murder occurred, it might not be possible for prosecutors to win a new trial. McKinney could go free, despite having admitted this crime (it's a lot less likely he'll confess at a second trial).

An injustice? Or protection of basic constitutional rights? What's your opinion?

Christians routinely face discrimination, hostility, even violence in Pakistan.

Yet a Boone, N.C.-based Christian organization, Samaritan's Purse, is rushing material relief to earthquake victims there.

Samaritan's Purse is run by Franklin Graham.

Jesus instructed his followers to "love your neighbor as yourself" and told the parable of the good samaritan to answer the question, "Who is my neighbor?"

A "good Samaritan" is not someone who loves his friends, but loves his enemies.

Our neighbors include people in Pakistan, even those who hate us.

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg high school student was suspended for 10 days, later reduced to two, for posting a racially offensive photo of a school administrator on his personal Web page.

Here's the Charlotte Observer report (free registration required).

You can see a video from WCNC here.

The Butler High student, 17-year-old Dimitri Arethas, posted a doctored photo of a black school administrator that included a racial slur. Arethas is white.

Another student took a copy of the photo to Principal Joel Ritchie. Arethas removed the Web posting and apologized, but Ritchie suspended him, citing a C-M system policy prohibiting "any inappropriate information, relating in any way to school issues or school personnel, distributed from home or school computers."

You can read the policy here (scroll down to rule 22).

The principal's view was that placing offensive material on the Internet is the same as posting it in the hallways in school or putting it on a highway billboard.

Is it? Is posting material on a Web site "distributing" that material? Or does a reader have to search it out? Granted, that doesn't take much effort.

Then there are the free-speech issues involved. Do students have a right to express their own opinions, however offensive, on their own Web pages or blogs? Lots of high school students have blogs these days, recording their daily experiences and thoughts. If they gripe about a teacher, are they subject to discipline under school policies like those enforced by Charlotte-Meck?

If they do face retribution, won't they just post the same material anonymously or under false names?

And how can schools police the Internet, anyway?

Where does responsibility lie?

No doubt with the students. This one certainly needed to learn a lesson.

Should the lesson have been administered by school officials, or by parents?

Arethas' parents reportedly contacted the ACLU. Maybe that says something about their attitude.

If, when my sons were in high school, one of my them had done something like this, the ACLU couldn't get him out of the trouble he'd have at home.

We're going to write an editorial about this. We'd love some input from the blogging community before we do.

If Skip Alston thinks the N&R roughs him up, what would he say about this editorial drubbing from the Wilmington Journal?

The Journal is part of the BlackPressUSA Network.

It does NOT pull any punches.

Best line (among many hard shots): "The only thing Alston ever got done to our amazement is fit his ten-ton ego into his two-ton car."

Oh, man. The presses were smoking in Wilmington.

The relationship between N.C. House Speaker Jim Black and former aide, political consultant and maybe lottery lobbyist Meredith Norris is interesting.

Legislative insiders say she used Black's state-issued laptop even after he no longer employed her and continued to issue "guidance" to Black's staff, the Charlotte Observer reported.

A legislator told me you could call Black's cell phone and Norris would answer.

Much more to come about all this ...

The latest headache for N.C. House Speaker Jim Black: The FBI is snooping around him.

The Charlotte Observer reports this investigation likely has to do with Black's connections with the video poker industry rather than the smelly lottery issue that's drawn so much attention lately.

The question is when state Democrats are going to do something about Black, who's arguably the most powerful politician in the state.

We're still waiting for Gov. Easley to speak up about the lottery mess. This is the crowning achievement of his administration so far, but his legacy will be tainted if the state can't run an honest lottery. Undue influence by a big lottery vendor in the drafting of lottery legislation raises bright red flags. So far, Easley's office has only said it didn't get involved in the details of the bill. That's reassuring.

Then there are the Democrats who want to be governor, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and Attorney General Roy Cooper. Little heard from them, either.

Perdue actually cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate to put the lottery legislation over the top. Is she concerned that she's responsible for passing a possibly tainted bill?

As for Cooper, this could be his time to shine. He should promise the public that his office will investigate any alleged impropriety regarding the lottery, and then back it up.

But he's already given Black a pass on Black's use of "reserve funds" which he hands out pretty much at his own discretion. (Here's the state auditor's report about that.) And what does it say about the SBI (part of Cooper's Justice Department) if the FBI has to come in and investigate Black's relationship with the video poker industry?

Then there are the House Democrats, who keep choosing Black as speaker session after session. Black has become a fixed power in Raleigh, with no term limit, serving in his post longer than a two-term governor. He maintains the loyalty of rank-and-file Democrats by raising huge amounts of campaign money and sharing it with those Democrats who support him. That's been mutually beneficial so far, but it could drag them down in the November 2006 elections. If I were a Republican running for a seat in the state House next year, you can bet I'd tie my opponent as closely as I could to Jim Black.

Much more to come about all this ...

My furniture market hospitality job is to help lost joggers.

I'm an early morning runner, as are many people who come to High Point during market.

Sometimes they set out for a predawn run from their rented house and have trouble finding their way back.

Twice in recent markets, I've been asked for directions.

The first time it was easy to help. The jogger had a landmark I could point her to.

But the second one just had no idea at all where she was staying.

I tried every way I could think of to help: Address? Whose house are you staying in? When you drove there, do you remember which way you went? She didn't know anything. The last I saw her, she was running down a street she thought looked familiar.

Notice that both joggers were women. Does that mean men don't get lost when they're out jogging in a strange place? Not at all. A man will run 10 miles out of his way before he'll stop and ask for directions. I've done it myself.

It's easy to get turned around the wrong way, especially in the dark. If you're running in an unfamiliar city, you first should carry the address where you're staying and, if possible, the phone number of someone who could come to get you in an emergency. Then, you should note landmarks as you go and also try to keep track of your left turns, right turns and intersections. Look at street signs and remember the names of the road you're on and the ones you cross. It's also helpful to notice your directions, meaning North, South, East and West. If you start out running south, then you know you have to run north to get back.

It's not that I mind helping lost furniture market folks. We High Pointers are nothing if not hospitable to our guests. But they need to be buying and selling furniture, not wandering around in the dark wondering where they are.

Guilford County has improved its Web site.

The commissioners page is very helpful, showing photos of all but Steve Arnold and providing several phone numbers and an email address for each one.

Just remember, when you fire off an email to a commissioner, those that are sent to a county email account are public documents.

A High Point Enterprise editorial today proclaims, "Reports say market orders are up" (free registration required).

It notes that "a number of exhibitors throughout the market have said they think customer traffic is down a bit," but nevertheless retailers are buying.

The Enterprise, my former employer, tends to accentuate the positive about furniture market. In this case, its hopeful tone may be justified. A more objective source, Furniture Today, also reports that sales at this market may be fairly good, although attendance is reported down 10-20 percent, considerably more than "a bit."

Unfortunately, market attendance is what matters most to High Point.

That wasn't always the case. In the days when a significant amount of furniture was produced in and around High Point, orders counted. A strong market meant that factories would be busy in the months ahead filling orders. More workers would be hired, and employees might be working overtime. More money would be coming in to High Point as a result of those sales.

Now, strong orders mean that factories in China, Vietnam, the Philippines and other overseas locations will be busy. Sure, there's still some production in North Carolina, but much less than in the past.

So the real market money is generated by market itself -- the money that exhibitors spend on their showrooms and the money visitors spend for hotels, restaurants and other expenses. If fewer people come, fewer dollars come with them. If attendance is down 10-20 percent, that's a poor market.

Certainly, how much business gets done remains an important indicator. We want the High Point market to be a good place to get business done. But success on the business side is usually determined by larger economic factors. If consumers aren't buying furniture, retailers may be reluctant to add to their inventories whether they're attending market in High Point or Las Vegas.

Now, everyone figured attendance would be down this market because of gas prices and the natural disasters along the Gulf Coast. Then there was the Vegas effect. Some retailers who attended the first Vegas show were less likely to come to High Point only three months later. Now that they've seen Vegas once, the question is whether they'll continue to go out there and drop High Point.

Next year's markets will be critical. If High Point's attendance doesn't rebound, that will be a sign of trouble.

Judy Mendenhall deserves a hand, not only for her work as inaugural president of the market authority but for her many contributions to High Point over the past quarter-century or so.

As mayor in the 1980s, Mendenhall was one of the early leaders in the development of the Piedmont Centre business park, one of the Triad's foremost economic engines. Without it, High Point would be much poorer today.

Later, as president of the High Point Chamber of Commerce, Mendenhall put special emphasis on education and workforce development. She did a lot to get business actively involved in supporting our schools. Much more improvement is needed, but Mendenhall helped business leaders understand that their future success depends on how well our children do in school today.

Four years ago, she took on a huge challenge, running a brand-new organization called the High Point International Home Furnishings Market Authority. Its job was to improve the massive and unwieldy semiannual business event known as the furniture market, threatened by an upstart competitor in Las Vegas.

She faced big obstacles. The High Point market is not an entity but a collection of simultaneous trade shows held in dozens of showroom buildings spread over several city blocks operated by competiting interests. It defies direction and coordination. What's more, Mendenhall worked for a board of directors partly drawn from some of the most powerful of those interests. Even such seemingly easy tasks as creating a central registry of people who attend market or agreeing on dates when all the showrooms should open and close proved to be virtually impossible to accomplish. Beyond that, the market depends on providers of services -- primarily food and lodging -- that work beyond the control of any authority, setting high prices that anger visitors and weaken High Point's claim to their loyalty. In response to demands to "do something" about gouging, the authority president can only plead, cajole and appeal to reason.

Mendenhall has performed well, thanks to her incredible smarts, tenacity and passion for doing what's best for High Point and the market. She's made mistakes, but she's also managed to make a lot of progress in improving parking and transportation services and securing political and financial support for the market from around the Triad and across the state. She's made leaders in Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Raleigh realize how much the furniture market means to all of us in North Carolina.

The question now is who will replace her. There's agreement that an exceptional person is needed.

One candidate I would suggest is Earl N. "Phil" Phillips Jr., a developer of Showplace, who recently sold his interest in that building and other downtown properties. A businessman and former U.S. ambassador to the Eastern Caribbean, Phillips is a native High Pointer who maintains such a keen interest in the market that last week he placed full-page ads in the News & Record and High Point Enterprise urging: "Triad, wake up! Our lifeblood is in jeopardy."

The full text is posted on Ivan Cutler's Insidefurniture.com blog.

This morning, I asked Phillips if he might be interested in the job. He didn't say no, but noted that he's 65 and not really looking for full-time employment, especially in a position that requires a lot of energy. Bottom line, however: He said he wants to do anything he can to help the High Point market.

Whoever is chosen for the job must be a strong enough leader to keep all parties focused on the central mission: making the High Point market experience the best in the business.

I take it that Condoleezza Rice is not Eugene Robinson's type.

In his column on our Second Opinion page today (not posted on our site but available here at the Washington Post), Robinson wonders if the secretary of state is blind, in denial, confused or what?

How can she have such a different worldview from 98 percent of black Americans -- all those who don't give President Bush a favorable job rating?

Um, let me try that one, Gene: She knows the president better than they do.

Or how about this? As the nation's top diplomat, an expert on international affairs and a global traveler, Rice's worldview is just a bit better informed than the "worldview" of ordinary black Americans.

But that's not really Robinson's complaint. No. He seems to think that Rice should be somehow ... angry and resentful about the injustices of the past.

Why, despite being raised outside Birmingham, Ala., in the Jim Crow era, she had a happy childhood, thanks to parents who sheltered her from the ugliness of society, provided piano lessons, saw that she had a good education.

Shame on them! What were they thinking? And look at the terrible result!

Sure, little Condi grew up to be an academic whiz, the No. 2 administrator at Stanford University, the national security adviser and now the federal government's highest-ranking black woman EVER.

But she works for George W. Bush! What a disgrace.

Apparently she is supposed to conform to the same thinking as 98 percent of black Americans and maybe carry a chip on her shoulder to boot.

Instead, she acts as if she doesn't know there was ever the slightest unpleasantness in Alabama back in the bad old days.

Except that Robinson himself reports that one of young Condi's friends was killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, that her father stood guard with a rifle at the entrance to their neighbood to fend off the Klan.

I'd say she knew all too well what was going on around her.

So how dare Eugene Robinson suggest she's not black enough in her attitudes to suit him or that she hasn't done enough to promote other blacks to lofty positions in the State Department. (If she'd done that, I suppose he'd accuse her of corrupting them.)

Condoleezza Rice is a brilliant woman who represents the United States with grace and dignity on the world stage.

And she's accomplished great things even though the white establishment that ruled the society where she was born and raised didn't even think she or anyone like her was worth a decent education.

Her parents knew a whole lot better. They made sure she was well educated and taught the better aspects of our culture. If they shielded her from some of the hateful attitudes around her, then God bless them. This country needs a lot more parents like them, of all races.

My column today:

Steve Wood filed to run for mayor of High Point minutes before the deadline Aug. 5.

What he's been doing since then is kind of a mystery.

That's Steve Wood, for you: politician perplexing. ...

Malachi Greene has resigned from the N.C. Lottery Commission after a month on the job. He cited other commitments.

Still under pressure to resign is Kevin Geddings, who's had personal and business ties to a vice president of Scientific Games Corp., a large lottery vendor. House Speaker Jim Black, who appointed him, wants him to stay, Geddings says. But then, Black has his own connection to Scientific -- former aide and political director Meredith Norris, who was on the lottery company's payroll while lottery legislation was crafted in the General Assembly.

Meanwhile, Charlotte is asking the commission to limit lottery sales in the city but also to share a portion of lottery proceeds with local law-enforcement agencies to cover increased costs associated with lottery activity.

Among other things, Charlotte wants lottery sales prohibited within 50 feet of a school or church; rules to require that lottery outlets don't derive more than half of their income from the sale of lottery tickets and alcoholic beverages; and a say as to whether it's appropriate to allow lottery ticket sales in certain neighborhoods at all.

"We don't want any business to become a magnet for trouble in the neighborhoods we've identified as fragile and threatened," city attorney Mac McCarley said.

How's that for confidence in the state's new enterprise, the pride of Gov. Mike Easley? Basically, the state's largest city is afraid state-sponsored gambling could become a public nuisance.

Would local police seek to shut down lottery vendors as they do other dens of iniquity?

Well, no. Legislators cleverly inserted language into the lottery bill to make sure local authorities have no say at all in how the lottery operates:

"A county or municipality shall not enact any ordinance or regulation relating to the lottery, and this chapter preempts all existing county or ordinances or regulations (sic) that would impose additional restrictions or requirements in the operation of the lottery. To the extent that this chapter conflicts with any local act, this chapter prevails to the extent of the conflict."

In other words, the lottery commission can say to Charlotte or any other city or county: Mind your own business.

This is going to be a fiasco.

Part of a letter from my son, Andrew, who's five weeks into his Peace Corps training in Tanzania:

I'll throw in a good word for W. PEPFAR, the AIDS relief program, is actually doing some real good things over here in Tanzania.

I'm starting to get a vague picture of what HIV/AIDS is doing in Eastern and Southern Africa, and it is staggering. One completely mind-boggling statistic (and an explanation for the teacher shortage) is that in neighboring Malawi 20 percent of the country's teachers die of AIDS-related illnesses every year. It's revaging the 18-40-year-old generation -- the people most important for development.

Fortunately it's not as bad in Tanzania, but it's still bad. Hospitals turn away patients with, say, TB or malaria if they are HIV-positive because they assume they'll die anyway. I'm just starting to get a vague sense of the real situation, but it's scary.

Iran, led by radical president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is whipping itself into an anti-Israel frenzy.

Wednesday, Ahmadinejad called for the destruction of Israel. Today, he's participating in Death to israel, Death to America rallies in Tehran.

Iran, please recall, is developing nuclear weapons.

And we thought Iraq under Saddam Hussein was a problem.

Well, Iraq might become more of a problem than it is now if its new government comes under Iranian influence.

Iran is a scary country, but its attitudes toward Israel are typical for the Islamic world, where virulent anti-Semitism is mainstream. Here's just one example.

Despite all its peace treaties and efforts to appease Palestinian demands, Israel remains in a very precarious position. As long as it's a matter of official state policy in a country like Iran to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, the Middle East sits on a powderkeg.

If the United States ever weakens in its support for Israel, that small nation will fall into grave jeopardy.

The group promoting a degree of marijuana legalization in Denver is making a specious argument:

Pot smoking will make the city safer.

Try to follow the logic.

If people are allowed to possess small amounts of marijuana without risk of arrest, they'll smoke more pot and drink less alcohol.

Marijuana use is responsible for less crime and violence than alcohol use.

Therefore, Denver will be safer.

Oh, wow, man. That's heavy.

Except ...

Who says all those Coors drinkers out there are going to switch to pot? It seems to me, marijuana smoking might make a person more thirsty, not less. Anyway, more marijuana smoking is just going to produce more stoners, in addition to all the drunks.

One more thing. Marijuana is far from safe, as this medical briefing makes clear.

One of its effects is a lapse in logical thinking, which could explain the SAFER group's argument.

One other problem in their plan: Even if Denver voters approve this ill-advised initiative Tuesday, it won't matter. Police say they'll continue to enforce state drug laws.

I'd vote no. How about you?

President Bush should have picked Samuel Alito the first time.

Never mind that Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said Sunday that a nomination of Alito would cause a lot of problems. Reid was all for Harriet Miers.

From what I've read and heard so far, Alito is conservative, more so than Sandra Day O'Connor. In fact, he's compared to Antonin Scalia. That means his addition to the Supreme Court will move it to the right.

Alito also is a well-qualified, experienced jurist. And fair, dedicated to the rule of law and respectful of legislative intent and judicial precedent, according to those who know him well.

As always, abortion will be the central issue for the extremists on the left and right. I'm sick of it. We can't define judges according to a single issue. Either they have sufficient legal credentials, or they don't.

The comparison to Scalia doesn't hurt Alito a bit, in my opinion. Scalia and new Chief Justice John Roberts strike me as far and away the smartest members of an otherwise not-very-distinguished court.

If anyone thinks Alito lacks the ability to serve on the high court, make the case against him on those grounds -- but not ideology.

Congratulations to Jake Martinson. The former president of High Point University has accepted an offer to serve as interim president of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

Garrett-Evangelical is celebrating its 150th year.

Martinson graciously called me this morning with the news. He's very excited about this opportunity, which he said "came out of the blue. I didn't apply for it." He'll serve from Jan. 1 through May 31, when new president Philip Amerson takes over.

An ordained Methodist minister, Martinson led HPU for two decades. He stepped down last year and was honored with the position of chancellor. With all the hoopla over successor Nido Qubein's remarkable accomplishments at HPU since January, it's a bit too easy to overlook Martinson's record. It includes raising what was High Point College to university status, moving to NCAA Division I athletic competition, uniting the campus by persuading the state and city to reroute Montlieu Avenue and adding such outstanding facilities at the Millis Athletic and Convocation Center, which hosted a visit by President Bush in 2003, and the Hayworth Fine Arts Building.

He'll be more than a caretaker at Garrett-Theological. The board of trustees wants to see some substantive changes and Martinson said he'll be fully empowered to get started.

This will be a nice way for Martinson to close out a remarkable career, which also includes presidencies at Andrew College in Georgia (1972-76) and Brevard College in North Carolina (1976-85). And, come next summer, Martinson and his wife, Libby, expect to retire to the North Carolina mountains.

They'll be missed in High Point, where they've left a fine legacy. I wish them all the best in Evanston and a long, happy retirement.

Masterpiece Theater on PBS is airing a new production of "Kidnapped," adapted from the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson.

"Kidnapped," set in the Scottish highlands around 1750, is a rousing tale. Back in the days when I read to my boys every night before bedtime, "Kidnapped" was one of our favorites.

There have been many film versions.

The 1960 Disney release starred Peter Finch and James MacArthur.

A 1979 made-for-TV miniseries featured David McCallum. I remember it as particularly well done.

Armand Assante starred in a 1995 remake. I thought he was an odd choice to play a Scot.

The appeal of "Kidnapped" is its heroic central figure, Alan Breck Stewart, a defeated rebel trying to rekindle dreams of Scottish independence.

In the new film version, based on the first half aired last night, Alan Breck is presented much more ambiguously than in the previous movies or, in my view, by Stevenson himself.

This Alan Breck, by continuing resistance to English rule, only brings more hardship to his friends and kinsmen. He cares only for his own freedom, and a thrilling fight, while dismissing the suffering of others. He'd rather die, and see others killed, than accept peace without honor. He's doomed to fail because the price of liberty is higher than his countrymen are willing to pay. They've fought and lost, and don't have any fight left in them.

I believe Stevenson crafted Alan Breck Stewart to represent the spirit of Scottish nationalism -- gallant, proud and defiant even in defeat, much in the same way that Mel Gibson more than a century later portrayed William Wallace in "Braveheart."

Unless there's a turnaround in the second half airing this coming Sunday, the new film version seems to scoff at the Alan Breck Stewarts and William Wallaces of the world, deriding them as foolish and reckless, more tragic than heroic.