News-Record.com

My column today:

Michael Brown, put your mind at ease ...

Eugene Robinson's column on our Second Opinion page today is pretty far off base, in my view.

He'd like to see Washington adopt Hollywood values.

Although he seems to confuse Hollywood values with those of most Americans.

"Why is it that Washington often seems so out of touch with the rest of the country?" he writes. "Maybe it's because people here are so busy taking themselves seriously that they don't have the time, or the inclination, to go to the movies. Just look at this year's contenders at the Academy Awards."

Robinson notes the several nominated films with homosexual or transsexual themes, offering this as evidence of ... well, I'm not sure what. He concedes that "the prominence of gay-themed movies this year doesn't mean that America has reached a consensus on homosexuality when it is framed as an issue."

Certainly not the consensus he might imagine. After all, in every state where voters have been allowed to decide whether to allow same-sex marriage, they've been consistently opposed.

But Robinson apparently sees something new emerging with the success of "Brokeback Mountain," which he describes as "a love story about two gay cowboys -- not Village People 'cowboys' prancing up and down the streets of some godless big city, but real cowboys who live in the red-state American west."

Well, not quite, Gene. "Brokeback Mountain" is fiction. The characters are Hollywood actors, not real cowboys.

Not that they couldn't be real. But, honestly, is Robinson suggesting that two cowboys who engage in a love affair despite being married to women represent acceptable values in mainstream America? And that Washington needs to learn something from this?

I haven't seen the movie. I'm not boycotting it; I just don't see many movies. People I know who have seen it sure didn't rave about it. I suspect its success had a lot to do with curiosity and the tremendous amount of publicity it was given by the media. Besides, you can see, even appreciate, a movie without accepting whatever values it tries to impart.

The people in Washington may need some values education, but I don't think it ought to come from Hollywood.

... of course, it's about eight months too early to say.

But, if history is a guide, Debbie Maines has her work cut out for her.

District 2 is the only contested race this year for the Guilford County Board of Education. It drew two candidates: Maines and Garth Hebert.

Both ran two years ago for an at-large seat and finished a distant third (Hebert) and fourth (Maines) in the primary behind Dot Kearns and Jim Kirkpatrick. Neither qualified for the general election.

Hebert received about 900 more votes than Maines countywide.

Breaking the results down, however, I find that Hebert's advantage over Maines was more pronounced within District 2 itself. I figured it at 1,125 to 603, but that may be off a couple of votes here or there. I'm no math whiz. At any rate, it's a significant margin.

That's not to say Hebert is a lock to beat Maines. Both were running for the first time in 2004, and both could have learned very different lessons from the experience that will inspire different strategies and a different result this year. The issues may be different, the electorate may be different.

It's also hard to transfer the outcome because, last time, the two were running in a field of six candidates. This time it's head-to-head. By far, most of the votes in 2004 went to Kearns and Kirkpatrick. Whom will most of those voters support this time, Hebert or Maines?

Anything can happen. But one simple measure, the 2004 voting, suggests that Maines is starting behind.

Wasn't it a beautiful day today? So nice that Allen and I walked to a downtown restaurant to have lunch on the terrace.

So many other people had the same idea that management was caught short-staffed. So, when a young woman showed up uninvited and started waiting tables, she was hired.

Now that's a way to get yourself a job. Who needs an interview? Just show up and go to work.

I see four leading contenders in the 2008 North Carolina governor's race. Here they are, with one or two things they've garnered attention for:

Roy Cooper (D), attorney general:
Chasing payday lenders;
Suing TVA over air pollution.

Richard Moore (D), state treasurer:
Calling for an increase in the state's minimum wage.

Sue Myrick (R), congresswoman:
Telling President Bush HELL NO to the ports deal;
Cracking down on illegal immigrants who commit crimes.

Beverly Perdue (D), lieutenant governor:
Breaking a tie vote in the Senate in favor of the lottery;
Leading the commission protecting the state's military bases.

Who's your choice at this point?

That John Blust. Lately, he's always in the middle of something.

Now it's a turf fight between a couple of other Republicans -- state Rep. Julia Howard of Davie County and former state Rep. Frank Mitchell of Iredell County.

Howard, in her ninth term, serves a district that includes her home county and part of Iredell. Mitchell lives just outside it -- or did until he bought a mobile home and claimed it as his address.

No good, Howard says, challenging Mitchell's residency.

Her attorneys hired a private investigator to find out where Mitchell really stays.

He has a chauffeur who drives him to his mobile home some nights, Howard told me today.

The Iredell County Board of Elections held a hearing on Howard's complaint Wednesday, and scheduled another for March 13.

Representing Mitchell at the hearing was our own John Blust, a Greensboro lawyer and legislator.

"I was surprised to see him come into the room," Howard said.

Well, maybe she shouldn't have been.

Howard is a political ally of Richard Morgan, the Republican who worked out a co-speakership deal with Democrat Jim Black back in 2003. Blust is a persistent critic of Morgan and Black.

Blust thinks Mitchell got a raw deal when his district was redrawn, throwing him into the same district as Republican Rep. George Holmes.

Mitchell didn't care to run against Holmes so, two years ago, he challenged Howard. She said he was using his step-daughter's address in her district, but she let it go -- and beat him in a GOP primary.

This time she's trying to get him thrown off the ballot. His mobile home isn't his legal address, she claims.

Blust said it's a "nice manufactured home," and he advised Mitchell: "Don't be playing games." In other words, really live there. He does, Blust contends: "That's where he sleeps every night."

Howard said she's not responsible for how the districts were drawn but thinks the rules should be followed. "We have enough ethical problems in Raleigh. We don't need more," she said.

This isn't just political for Blust. When he was dealing with a broken leg a few years ago, Mitchell would pick him up and drive him to Raleigh, then help him get around town.

No word on whether any legs might get broken as a result of this tiff.

I think I understand the calculations behind the decision to limit Greensboro Coliseum seating for Sunday's final game of the ACC women's basketball tournament.

Making only 10,719 lower-level seats available fueled a rush to tickets, guaranteeing a sell-out in advance.

That eliminates the risk of a flop on Sunday, which could occur if the expected Carolina-Duke championship match does not materialize.

Carolina-Duke are No. 1 and 2 in the country. They play outstanding, high-energy basketball. They feature big stars in Ivory Latta and Monique Currie. The coliseum will be rocking.

Unless Carolina and Duke aren't playing. Face it: a Maryland-Florida State game would be a disaster, attracting less than a full house.

If the entire coliseum were open, local fans might not rush to buy tickets in advance, waiting to make sure the top teams make it to the finals.

The downside is that coliseum and ACC officials are giving up the chance to make a killing Sunday. They might be able to sell thousands more tickets if they pull open the curtain.

I think that's what they ought to do, if Carolina and Duke win their semifinal games on Saturday. Announce immediately after the second game that upper-level tickets are going on sale immediately.

Won't it be a lot better for women's basketball to have a championship game crowd of 16,000 than 10,719?

Sure, the coliseum will have to call in more staff. Management should have them on standby.

They'll all be working the next week at the men's tourney anyway.

According to Robert Bell's story Thursday, some officials think it will be kind of cool to see ticket scalpers outside the coliseum Sunday. Why? The extra money won't go to the coliseum, to the league or to the schools. It will go into the scalpers' pockets.

Better to see thousands of additional fans lined up at the ticket windows for the chance to fill upper-level seats.

Go, Duke! Go, Carolina! Win today and Saturday, and sell more tickets.

Democrats were quick to jump on Sen. Elizabeth Dole when they found out her husband, Bob Dole, was lobbying for the United Arab Emirates in the ports deal.

That makes it more embarrassing that Sen. Hillary Clinton has the same problem.

Bill Clinton was advising the UAE -- even before his wife knew about it -- and has a pretty cozy relationship with the Persian Gulf state.

The UAE is a very, very influential country

The Colorado teacher suspended for delivering an anti-Bush spiel in his high school geography class was out of line.

However, he should not lose his job.

Stimulating a discussion in class is one thing. The recording made by one of Jay Bennish's students shows that the teacher was pushing his very strong views on the kids, including making comparisons between Bush and Hitler.

Whether these are appropriate subjects for a geography class is one question.

The free speech issue is another. However, a teacher does not have the right to say anything he pleases in a public school classroom. Administrators can exert control over the content of class discussions. Would you let a teacher attack particular religious beliefs? Then why give him free rein on political issues?

At the very least, Bennish should have informed his principal that he was trying to engage students in dialogue on controversial political subjects. I imagine the principal wasn't pleased at hearing about Bennish's actions in a complaint from a parent or, worse, on the radio.

Bennish should be reinstated to his job, providing his does actually teach some geography. He also should be advised that, if he wants to prompt discussions about politics, he should act more as a facilitator and less as an adult trying to impress kids with his own views.

Thank God no one was killed on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus today.

Not that the driver of a rented SUV didn't try. He struck nine people, including eight students, near the Student Union this afternoon.

Possible motive, according to the News & Observer of Raleigh: Revenge against Americans for their treatment of Muslims.

The suspect, Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, 22, is a native of Iran and a December UNC grad.

Why would he target random UNC students? What have they done to Muslims? Carolina is one of the most tolerant communities anywhere in the world. ...

... Although, the Daily Tar Heel recently published a cartoon depicting the prophet Muhammad.

And it ran a column last year that, in a satirical vein, called for ethnic profiling of Arabs. After protests were received, the columnist was fired.

Nevertheless, an act of violence aimed at innocent people with a political objective is terrorism. It's inexcusable for any reason -- even publication of cartoons or articles someone finds offensive.

This wasn't a rational act. But, given the escalation of irrational violence of the world, it must be seen as a warning.

It's time for everyone, especially political and religious leaders, to speak out against violence, revenge and hatred before a lot more harm is done.

Tanzania, where my son Andrew teaches as a Peace Corps volunteer, is one of the most peaceful countries in Africa.

But that doesn't mean it's without trouble.

Andrew addresses some concerns in a recent letter:

Refugees

"There's another wave of refugees coming into Tanzania. This group's from Burundi, where there's been fighting since 1993, so every now and then there's another wave.

"In the last 15 years Tanzania has hosted refugees from Burundi, Rwanda, Congo, Mozambique and South Africa. Before that there were Ugandan refugees as well.

"Tanzania has been proud of welcoming these people, even when this country was much poorer than it is now (which I only believe is possible because I've been to Haiti).

"At the same time, many people are getting frustrated because the areas refugees stay see huge increases in crime, and many people feel it is slowing this country's development.

"Peace Corps actually doesn't put volunteers in areas where there are a lot of refugees, like Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika. Those are mostly Congolese.

"The road between here and Bukoba goes through the areas where the refugees from Burundi are and has a reputation for being extremely dangerous, which is why we take the ferry.

"The problem is so many refugees bring their guns with them across the border, and it is believed that refugees account for a solid majority of the guns in the country. I've heard stories of whole buses robbed at gunpoint on that road, but you never hear about that happening anywhere else in Tanzania."

The Maasai

"The National Geographic article ('Heartbreak on the Serengeti,' February 2006) was real interesting, but it barely scratched the surface of the relationship between the Maasai and the rest of the country.

"They are being treated harshly in the northern part of the country, but they also do a lot to hurt their cause. The Maasai consider all cattle in the world to be theirs and will still steal some from other people. When I was in Morogoro, not too far out of town some Maasai grazed their cattle on some people's farms, basically destroying them.

"It's also a situation of long rivalry. The Maasai brutally conquered and pillaged the Bantu for a couple hundred years, and now that the Bantu control the country the Maasai are not integrating. Tribal rivalries have been virtually wiped out in this country, except for some tensions with the Maasai."

Drought

"The drought's still going strong. We've had some rains, but they were few and far between.

"The short rainy season basically didn't happen, and now people are plowing and getting ready to plant in preparation for the long rains, which should start in a couple of weeks."

(This was written in mid-February; Andrew said by phone today -- before we lost our connection -- that the long rainy season has begun in the Mwanza region, where he lives.)

"Even this close to the lake (Victoria) there's no irrigation, so they'll just plant and hope. I'd hate to see the situation in Dodoma and Singida (both areas with lots of Peace Corps volunteers) if the rains don't come on time. I wonder what Peace Corps would do if famine broke out in areas where they have volunteers. Right where I am it shouldn't be as bad, but you go another 10 miles from the lake and it's a whole other story. As you get away from it, it gets real dry, real fast."

Bird flu

"Oh boy, now they're confirming bird flu not only in Nigeria but Egypt too. I tell you, if it gets here I don't think it'd be too good. People always buy chickens alive and slaughter them themselves. Chickens usually just run around, and obviously there are birds everywhere around the lake.

"Not to worry, though. I haven't been handling them, and I've only eaten chicken maybe four times since I've been at site. And let me tell you, you won't see Tanzanians undercooking anything. In general, whether it's beans, meat or fish, they'll boil it for hours."

On local crime

"Here you don't have the luxury of being able to call the police. The nearest station is 8 km away, and they don't have any cars."

I expect Attorney General Roy Cooper to put a stop to this, just as he went after payday lenders.

The lottery legislation prohibits the state from targeting economically vulnerable populations. Clearly, that should rule out ticket sales at pawn shops and check-cashing stores.

If payday lending is predatory, so is the lottery under those circumstances.

Sure, buying a lottery ticket is voluntary. So is borrowing money.

The provision in the lottery law protecting the poor from blatant exploitation was wise, but it has to be enforced. That's the attorney general's job.

If Cooper, a likely 2008 candidate for governor, wants to distinguish himself from politicians who are unconcerned about lottery consequences as long as it rakes in the money, here's his chance.

Supreme Court tells law schools: If you want federal funds, you have to obey federal rules and allow military recruiters to visit your campus.

Harvard, Yale and some other law schools tried to ban military recruiters because of the Pentagon's prohibition of homosexuals in uniform.

Criticize the policy, if you like, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote. But don't deny military recruiters the same access you provide for others.

The decision was unanimous.

The military isn't the only winner. So are law students who actually might be interested in what the military offers.

As for homosexuals, if they won't tell, the military won't ask.

The decision isn't posted yet on the court Web site, but here's the transcript from oral arguments in December.

I believe Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar has that all wrong.

Running down students at UNC-Chapel Hill, as he's accused of doing, isn't a mission from God.

But that's just me talking. Muslim leaders need to say it, too -- emphatically and repeatedly.

I applaud the Muslim Students Association at UNC-CH for its quick response to Friday's frightening episode.

Of course no one should associate one person's actions with the beliefs of the Muslim community as a whole.

The Muslim community in Greensboro is peaceful, respectable, successful and an asset to our city.

But here's what worries me: The experience in Europe, where large and rapidly growing Muslim communities are producing radicals -- even "jihadists," according to this report -- among the younger, native-born generations.

This has not occurred in the United States, yet. Let's hope it doesn't.

But when I see a young man like Taheri-azar -- seemingly Americanized and integrated into our culture -- suddenly and without warning turn into a jihadist, I wonder how many more like him there are. To think there are none would be foolishly naive.

What happened Friday in Chapel Hill might be a case of "nutjobbery," to borrow Ed Cone's term. But violence to "avenge the deaths of Muslims around the world," or "to spread the will of Allah" is evidence of an ideology, not insanity. It is an ideology with a significant following in other parts of the world.

If this attitude exists here, it cries out to be repudiated. And not only repudiated but stamped out before it becomes truly dangerous.

High Point City Council will ask for special legislation moving municipal elections to even-numbered years.

The council should be careful what it asks for.

The purpose of this proposal is to increase voter turnout for City Council races, which plummeted to 11 percent last year.

The same concern applies to Greensboro, where a similar turnout was recorded in November.

Move city elections to years like 2006 and 2008, when more people take an interest in voting?

I agree that more people do vote in those years, especially when the presidential contest heads the ballot.

But that in no way means that more people would take an interest in voting for City Council candidates.

Voters' attention is unfortunately limited. With a long ballot of higher-profile candidates -- for president, U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, governor, lieutenant governor, Council of State offices, state legislative seats, sheriff, county commissioners, school board -- the mayor and council candidates likely would be lost. They'd certainly get less media coverage, they'd have to compete with many more candidates for campaign contributions and they might have fewer opportunities for meaningful dialogue with voters.

I'd be more inclined to move other local races, such as sheriff, commissioners and school board, to the odd-numbered years with municipal elections.

I'm also more open-minded to the idea of extending City Council terms to four years. I've strongly opposed that in the past, but maybe voters would take more notice if the elections took place less often.

More people should vote in city elections. This is the level of government where they can exert the most influence, and where services provided have a direct impact on their lives.

But there's really no excuse for their failure. I don't favor moving these elections to a time when more people come out to vote for other races, because those voters know less about the city candidates and issues than do the 11 percent or so who vote in odd-numbered years.

Holding a city election at the same time as the presidential, gubernatorial and other big elections in 2008 will produce more votes, but many of them will be ill-informed and largely disinterested voters.

My column today:

Only 4 percent of the students who entered UNC-Chapel Hill in the fall of 2003 from North Carolina public schools failed to make it to their sophomore year.

That's a terrific record -- better than the numbers at any other UNC system campus -- but it could get worse if the university requires a higher freshman grade-point average.

And more dropouts could open the doors for more transfer students from out of state. ...

Bennettsville!

The name of the small town in South Carolina jumps out at me.

Five suspects in a 2004 High Point murder were arrested there Monday.

I don't know how many violent crimes have been committed over the years in High Point by people from Bennettsville, S.C. It's a lot.

Police have noticed the trend, Chief Jim Fealy told me this morning. He referred to Bennettsville as "our sister city in crime."

The connection seems to be "familial to a certain degree," Fealy added. But he admitted police don't fully understand the link.

Does anyone have an idea?

I plan to look into this in more depth.

What Tom Shaheen is saying here is simple: People who play North Carolina's "Education" lottery are going to lose too much money.

That will discourage them from playing, or send them on the familiar trails to other states, which pay off more in prizes.

The proposed solution: Designate more revenue to winnings, and less to education.

Oh, but don't worry. If that entices more people to play, education will end up with more in the long run.

North Carolina's lottery law requires 35 percent of revenue to go straight to education. Fifty percent is set aside for prizes, compared to 61 percent in South Carolina and 58 percent in Virginia. Astute players can figure out the odds and will keep driving to those states -- especially since they can fill up their tanks with cheaper gas while they're there, thanks to the lower gas taxes.

OK, I'm for paying out more in prizes. Go up to 60 percent.

But let's not take the extra 10 percent out of the portion going to education.

Take it from the remaining 15 percent slotted for administrative expenses, advertising and payments to retail outlets that sell lottery tickets.

Why does the lottery commission need to pay for advertising? Everyone knows about the lottery, and the retailers will advertise where people can buy tickets. The news media will shine plenty of attention on the big winners. As for administrative costs, given the big salaries for Shaheen and members of his staff, I'd say too much money is available for that.

Besides, if more prizes generate more business, plenty of money will come in to cover necessary administrative expenses.

Don't cut education by a single percentage point. If this lottery is going to have any validity at all -- a prospect that gets shakier every day -- it's got to provide every bit of the money promised for schools.

The furniture market's college of cardinals didn't release black smoke today, but it wasn't white, either.

More like gray.

They've elected a pope but can't say who he (or she) is.

Maybe on March 24.

Forgive me for borrowing the Vatican imagery.

It's just that the ways of High Point's furniture market authority board sometimes are just as mysterious as the workings of the Church.

And the fact that the next authority president may need some extraordinary powers to maintain High Point's position as the world's top furniture market.

I'm not sure the board can keep its choice under wraps for 16 days. But the fact that it thinks that's necessary is unsettling. It must anticipate some tough bargaining.

If there is negotiating, I hope it's not only about salary and benefits. The new president must be guaranteed a strong hand in running the market. While he or she may work for the board, the president can't be subserviant to it. The board's members represent various interests, some of which may conflict with the overall needs of the market. The president must have the ability to make the market's many elements work together for the good of all.

The man or woman who gets the job will be the most important person in High Point. And the selection has to impress the community, the industry and High Point's rivals in Las Vegas from the moment he or she is named.

It's worrisome that the board doesn't intend to name that person for 16 days. The delay conveys uncertainty when confidence is needed.

Let's hope the qualms are erased as soon as the secret is revealed.

Make that, let's pray ...

It's hard to say where our schools are weakest, but math and science may be the top candidates.

Not surprisingly, math and science teachers are in short supply.

It was shocking to hear Erskine Bowles report recently that the entire UNC system -- 16 campuses -- has produced exactly three physics teachers in the last four years.

Given that people with the skills to teach these critical subjects -- where we're getting clobbered by Asian countries -- are so badly needed, wouldn't it make sense to offer higher salaries?

Why do our schools pay a physics teacher the same as a physical education teacher?

No offense to P.E. teachers. Or art, or social studies.

That's not the way the private sector works.

If someone who has a degree in physics, or chemistry, or biology or math can earn twice as much in the private sector as someone who has a degree in P.E., why do public schools offer the same salary?

Today's statement from Dubai Ports World drips with bitterness.

"Because of the strong relationship between the United Arab Emirates and the United States ..."

(We tried to be your friends, you cursed infidels!)

"... and to preserve this relationship ..."

(When camels fly.)

"... His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai ..."

(Just so you know you're not dealing with some second-rate poohbah here.)

"... has decided that DP World would do the following."

(Just so you know His Highness is still calling the shots.)

"DP World will transfer fully the U.S. operations of P&O Ports North America Inc. to a United States entity."

(If you want Halliburton, you can have Halliburton.)

"This decision is based on an understanding that DP World will have time to effect the transfer in an orderly fashion ..."

(Stop trying to bully us.)

"... and that DP World will not suffer economic loss."

(You don't expect us to walk away empty-handed, do you?)

"We look forward to working with the Department of the Treasury to implement this decision."

(Cash only.)

There's nothing shadowy about Barry Bonds' home run surge anymore. Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams expose it all in their upcoming book, "Game of Shadows."

This week's Sports Illustrated carries excerpts.

I was engrossed in it last night.

Almost as appalling as Bonds' blatant cheating with performance-enhancing drugs beginning in 1999 are the accounts of his loathsome behavior toward other people. This guy is a total creep. The idea that he could break the all-time home run record set by classy Hank Aaron is distressing.

Commissioner Bud Selig should suspend Bonds immediately and order a thorough investigation. If the drug allegations are substantiated, Bonds should be kicked out of the game and his records stricken from the books.

Of course, that would leave Mark McGwire's single-season home run mark as best in baseball -- and McGwire may be no cleaner than Bonds.

Next after McGwire is Sammy Sosa -- oops, problem there, too.

Many of the game's recent super sluggers are tainted.

Baseball has got a mess on its hands, but it will only get worse if Bonds continues to play.

Quite a few people must have let out a sigh of relief today at learning DA Doug Henderson won't bring charges related to Project Homestead.

Not that there wasn't wrongdoing that led to the misuse of up to $500,000 in public money.

In Henderson's statement, released today, he cited the death of Homestead founder, president and ceo Michael King, poor record-keeping and faulty memories of former employees and board members as impediments to the SBI investigation.

Those "faulty memories" also may have been affected by self-interest.

What about the role of Greensboro elected officials in keeping the money flowing to Project Homestead, even after City Hall employees raised warnings?

Henderson noted that "Rev. King was a politically persuasive man." I get the distinct impression that the report would show which City Council members were unduly persuaded. Fortunately for them, the report is not being made public. Henderson said it was not his job to pursue that.

"I'm not here to embarrass people or hold them accountable on ethical issues," he said.

The report could come out anyway. Councilman Tom Phillips will ask the council to seek its release.

In addition, there are interested parties that can make a strong case for access to the report, Henderson said. Those include the bankruptcy trustee and individuals who bought houses from PH for more than they should have paid.

Henderson calls the outcome unsatisfying, saying it leaves him feeling a little empty. Some questions will never be answered, he added. Some probably could be answered better, but witnesses offerred "different recollections" about various events.

In other words, everyone and anyone who had a hand in misusing public funds and giving homebuyers less than they paid for is getting away with it -- in legal terms. King, of course, is beyond the reach of the law anyway.

If the SBI report sees the light of day, however -- as it should -- there might be some sort of reckoning yet.

Forbes reports that Bill Gates' net worth has increased to $50 billion.

Once it was a big deal to be a millionaire.

Gates is a millionaire times 50,000.

Can you get your mind around that? It boggles mine.

Gates and his wife, Melinda, give away a lot of money.

They could give away 99.9998 percent of their wealth -- or $49,999,000,000 -- and still have a million dollars.

With $50 billion, you could buy a half-million homes worth $100,000 each.

You could send 1,250,000 kids to college for four years at $10,000 a year each ... or one kid at that rate for 5 million years.

You could buy 2.5 million cars at $20,000 each.

Run North Carolina's state government for about three years.

Or pay off about 0.6 percent of our national debt.

Oh, man. The national debt. Now that's some real money.

I doubt this message from Christian Peacemaking Teams makes any sense to the Islamic terrorists responsible for Tom Fox's death:

"We forgive those who consider us their enemies."

But, then, maybe Fox's example can begin to change the hearts of hateful men in a way that further violence can't.

Consider the contrast. One group calling itself "Swords of Righteousness" advances its agenda through kidnapping and murder. One called Christian Peacemaking Teams works through peaceful witness of the gospel.

Yes, CPT members are lambs among wolves ... just as their Lord commanded them.

I know. Evil men will continue to slaughter them and other innocents. Will they ever recognize their own shame in the face of the true faith and devotion exhibited by people like Tom Fox? We have to hope so, because changing hearts is the only way to bring about real peace.

My condolences to the family of this brave man and to the Guilford College community that embraced him with so much love and support. I share their belief that he is now in the eternal care of the God he served with every measure of conviction to the very end of his life.

I'm guessing Leonard Pitts' column (printed on our Second Opinion page today) will upset more than a few Christians.

Especially this part:

"Just once, I'd like to read a headline that said a Christian group was boycotting to feed the hungry. Or marching to house the homeless. Or pushing Congress to provide the poor with healthcare worthy of the name.

"Instead, they fixate on keeping the gay in their place. Which makes me question their priorities. And their compassion. And their faith."

If he had issued such an overgeneralized, derogatory comment about, oh, Muslims, the Miami Herald might be dealing with demonstrations and demands for an apology.

I'm sorry Pitts never once has read a headline about Christians doing any good works. If he hasn't, maybe he should ask the editors of the newspapers he reads why they aren't printing such stories.

Because, when it comes to feeding the hungry or housing the homeless, I doubt anyone does more than Christians.

(As far as pushing Congress to provide health care for the poor, well, Christians are supposed to do their own charity work, not ask government to do it for them.)

So Pitts isn't aware of any good works done by Christians. All they do is fixate on keeping gays in their place.

Homosexuality is a big issue in many denominations, no doubt. Lots of Christians don't think the church should bless homosexual conduct. But that hardly makes them guilty of Pitts' charges. Among the Christians I know, far more are feeding Christ's sheep than persecuting them.

Pitts is normally a very thoughtful, insightful writer, but this time he projected his anger at the actions of one person onto a very large, diverse and overwhelmingly positive group of people.

The very liberal and usually political correct Asheville Citizen-Times stumbled into quite a brouhaha by publishing two full-page ads Thursday from a local group called Christians United with IBOM.

Page one proclaims "What the Bible Says About Sodomy." Page two advertised a downtown rally Saturday (coverage in today's AC-T) "in support of Christian and conservative businesses and their right to operate according to family values sanctity of marriage (between one man and one woman) wholesome work environment (without oppression from the Sodomites & the liberal media)"

Publication of these ads prompted many complaints to the newspaper and an editorial apology Saturday.

"We strongly support the right of all citizens to publicly present their opinions, whether or not we agree with them, and it was that paramount value that caused us to accept the advertisement for publication," the editors wrote.

"In doing so, we failed, however, to live up to another value that is equally central to our ability to function with integrity. For that, we would like to express our remorse and offer an apology.

In allowing the use of the word 'sodomites,' we allowed an entire group of people to be referred to with disrespect and contempt."

I agree the AC-T made a mistake. It should have demanded that the advertisers withdraw that word. At the same time, even without that word, an entire group of people easily could construe that the ads in their entirety referred to them with disrespect and contempt.

Publication of the ads definitely deserved to provoke a community discussion about the balance between free expression and offensive expression.

Sort of like we had in Greensboro about the Rhino's publication of the Muhammad cartoons.

The AC-T editorial, unfortunately, goes on to invite more trouble by pulling its own citations from the Bible to argue against the anti-homosexuals. Its heaviest ammunition is a quotation by Jesus recorded in Matthew 7:1-3 that begins: "Judge not, that ye be not judged ..."

With that, the editors waded into a battle they can't win but will have a hard time ending. Remember, it's possible to use portions of the Bible to back up many different, sometimes contradictory positions. The AC-T editors will hear plenty in response to their attempt at proving that the anti-homosexual people are wrong in their interpretations.

The "judge not" citation is easily misused, anyway. Obviously it doesn't mean that you shouldn't "judge" the murderer, rapist, child abuser, war criminal, etc. I read it as a warning not to assume that an eternal judgment is pronounced against anyone, because human beings don't have any authority in that regard.

The Bible does empower Christians to determine what behavior is not appropriate for healthy living and even detrimental to the church. "Expel the immoral brother" is an explicit instruction found in Paul's writings. Clearly, there can be times when that's necessary -- in a church, a school, a workplace, even a family.

Of course, which level of immorality is sufficiently egregious when everyone is guilty of some immorality is the stuff of many disputes in the church and elsewhere.

I don't think these ads or the rally in Asheville yesterday do anyone any good. Nevertheless, they fall under the First Amendment protections we all cherish.

That did not require the AC-T to print the ads. The same First Amendment gives it the right to refuse to publish certain material, and it should have exercised that right -- that responsibility, if you will -- to a greater degree.

Then it compounded the error, not with its apology, but with its attempt to battle with the Bible.

All this is my opinion; as an editorial writer, writing on behalf of a newspaper, I wouldn't want to go where the AC-T editors have ventured.

Death-penalty opponents are attacking on so many fronts lately that it's hard to imagine the continuation of capital punishment much longer in this country.

Today's story reports a new strategy: Physicians should not play any role in an execution, even to monitor the right administration of lethal or pain-dulling drugs.

The story notes that lethal injection is being challenged as cruel and unusual punishment, with Greensboro attorney Jim Exum, a former state chief justice, playing a leading role.

The same argument has been advanced in Missouri.

In California, opponents tried to block the execution of a 76-year-old inmate on account of his age and because waiting on Death Row for 23 years was cruel and unusual.

Offenders can't be executed if they're too young or their IQ is too low.

Aside from those issues, North Carolina juries are less inclined to recommend the death penalty, preferring the option of life in prison without parole.

Polls show most Americans still favor capital punishment (although the number is declining), but most Americans never have to sit on a jury hearing a capital case.

I have to be honest: I'm really not sorry to see people like Timothy McVeigh executed. At the same time, I would consider that justice was done if he had to spend the last 50 years of his life in a cell.

Bottom line: With all these challenges to capital punishment, it's only a matter of time before the courts shut down the death chambers, regardless of the manner of execution.

Why wait? The public is losing confidence in capital punishment, it's inconsistently applied, it creates a chance for enormous error and it manufactures way too much work for lawyers. Let's do away with it.

The men's mile was won in 4:12 at the NCAA indoor track and field championships Saturday.

Are you kidding me?

The state of middle-distance running in this country has never been worse.

Notice who still holds the collegiate record: North Carolina's Tony Waldrop, at 3:55, set way, way back in 1974.

I was a freshman teammate of his that year. Waldrop was the best of many outstanding middle-distance and distance runners in the ACC during the 1970s. The overall quality of competition hasn't been duplicated since.

Africans dominate world distance running now. Judging from Saturday's NCAA meet, it doesn't look like there are any Americans coming up through the college ranks who can give them much of a run.

Yes, as I've written before, Pat Robertson is a nut.

That doesn't mean he's always wrong.

This time, it's Barry Lynn of Americans for the Separation of Church and State who's off the wall.

Lynn harshly criticized Robertson for the Christian evangelical's condemnation of radical Islam Monday.

"To condemn an entire religion because of the behavior of some is deplorable," Lynn declared.

But Robertson didn't do that. He specifically condemned the behavior of some.

Does Lynn want to stand up for the terrorists who kidnapped, tortured and murdered Tom Fox? Those are the kind of people Robertson was talking about.

"Satanic" is as good a term as any for barbarians like that.

I agree that Sandra Day O'Connor's speech at Georgetown University last week deserved more news coverage, although, as Slate points out, she's made similar pronouncements before.

In addition, the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist raised similar concerns in his state of the judiciary report issued Jan. 1, 2005 (part III here).

Nevertheless, it's worth noting every time a retired Supreme Court justice says the country is heading toward dictatorship because of conservative politicians' attacks on the court.

Noteworthy, but overblown.

It sounds to me like a sensitive judge bridling at criticism of the court's work.

Criticism that has occurred as long as the American judicial system has existed.

Sure, politicians try to bully and badger judges. How can that lead to dictatorship? The politicians answer to the voters.

Federal judges do not. They enjoy lifetime appointments. They're immune from the politicians' blustery talk. It's only wind rustling through the courthouses. All the judges have to do is shut the doors to their chambers to keep it out.

I don't believe that criticism of judicial decisions is going to inspire a wave of violence aimed at their honors. They don't face any greater danger of that kind than do the politicians themselves -- less, probably. Sure, there are crazies out there. I'd say they're more likely to take a shot at a Tom DeLay than a Sandra Day O'Connor.

If Supreme Court justices think they're entitled to pronounce judgments on matters of national importance -- and sometimes life and death -- without hearing a cross word in response, then they're simply too insulated from the rest of the country.

My column today:

Before everyone's attention shifted to college basketball tournaments, Greensboro was embroiled in a debate about local publication of the Muhammad cartoons.

The Muslim community pronounced itself deeply offended and demanded an apology from the Rhino Times.

Shortly thereafter, a more dangerous offense disrupted the normally basketball-crazy campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. December graduate Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar gunned a rented SUV through an outdoor gathering place, hitting nine people. None was seriously injured, although the driver's admitted intent was to kill as many as he could in order to avenge Americans' treatment of Muslims around the world. ...

Gov. Mike Easley is challenging the federal proposal to sell national forest land in North Carolina.

The governor's math is a bit challenged, however.

"You are proposing to sell 9,828 acres in North Carolina, or nearly 9 percent of our total National Forst acreage," the governor wrote to federal officials.

The 9,828 acres proposed for possible sale is a correct figure.

But that's not 9 percent of the total NF land in North Carolina. Not by a long shot.

There are more than 1.25 million acres of NF land in North Carolina.

The proposed sale, then, represents about 0.8 percent of the total. Quite a difference.

It's hard to have a rational debate about the merits of the proposal based on wild misinformation.

This is why responsible, law-abiding people should be allowed to keep guns in their homes.

Crystal Strickland of Fayetteville probably saved her own life and those of her children because she had a gun and knew how to use it.

If she lived in San Francisco, however, the Board of Supervisors would want to fine her $1,000 and put her in jail for six months for violating the gun ban approved by voters last November.

If she hadn't been murdered, that is.

The Charlotte Observer wrote today (registration required) about the impending lottery border war.

South Carolina retailers aren't giving up on drawing customers from our side of the state line after the North Carolina "Education Lottery" starts up.

Neither is Ernie Passailaigue, the combative Palmetto State lottery director.

He noted his state pays out more in prizes than North Carolina will, plus:

"South Carolina gas prices are cheaper. Cigarettes are cheaper. All we need are cheaper NASCAR tickets and we'd have a corner on the lottery market."

We need to answer that. Can we sell lottery tickets at ABC stores and give away a bottle of booze with every $100 in ticket sales?

That would draw the crowds from South Carolina.

Come on, Secret Service. Lighten up. Can't you tell the difference between a threat and a parody? Give the kid his computer back.

Maybe a loan from the city could speed this up.

Some foreigners find the Dutch immigration film offensive. No kidding? That's the idea. The Dutch are saying: If this offends you, maybe this isn't the country for you. Stay out! It's obviously aimed at fundamentalist Muslims.

Too much practicing what she preached? Her seminar didn't belong at Governor's School, and she didn't belong at East Forsyth High School.

The president of the N.C. Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. Zachary Bridges, writes in the Charlotte Observer (registration required) that the Jim Black eye exam requirement should be repealed. I suppose Black will still insist he knows better.

John Travolta is just right to play J.R. Ewing. But J.Lo as Sue Ellen? I don't really see that.

Charles Krauthammer's column on our Second Opinion page today lays out the case that one thing logically leads to another when changes are made in how society defines marriage.

Events already are moving in that direction in Canada, which legalized same-sex marriage last year.

Polygamy is next.

Krauthammer puts it like this:

"After all, if traditional marriage is defined as the union of (1) two people of (2) opposite gender, and if, as gay marriage advocates insist, the gender requirement is nothing but prejudice, exclusion and an arbitrary denial of one's autonomous choices in love, then the first requirement -- the number restriction (two and only two) -- is a similarly arbitrary, discriminatory and indefensible denial of individual choice."

I see three possibilities in regard to state and federal governments' relationship to marriage in our states and the nation as a whole:

1) They defend the traditional definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

2) They give in to demands for change, eventually opening the institution to any and all variations.

3) They give up and withdraw recognition of and support for marriage altogether.

I don't much care for choices 2 and 3.

Here's what friends of Tom Fox say about the Christian peace activist's murder in Iraq.

Here's what Cal Thomas says.

What do you think?

Suggestion to sports editors:

In view of today's complaint, you should refrain from running photos that portray black basketball coaches in an unflattering way. Doing so only reinforces the ugly stereotype that black basketball coaches become agitated, even angry, at times during the heat of competition.

In order to avoid such errors, you should seek approval from a racial sensitivity panel, headed by Misters Fuller and Hodge, before printing any photograph of a black basketball coach.

Of course, white basketball coaches -- such as Herb Sendek, shown on the front of last Saturday's ACC section looking like he was roasting in the fires of hell -- are fair game.

I admit to writing the provocative headline on today's Counterpoint.

I really didn't know how else to take the writer's meaning.

I don't believe that Richard A. Koritz supports what Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar did, but Koritz clearly thinks Taheri-azar was justified in his anger at the U.S. government for killing Muslims around the world.

The writer's assertion was very strange to me, as the author of the editorial in question. He seems to think we should have used the Chapel Hill incident as an opportunity to condemn the war in Iraq. Sorry, the attempted murder-by-SUV of UNC students was not connected to the war in Iraq, except in Taheri-azar's mind.

Besides, I absolutely reject Koritz's idea that the United States is waging war against the people of Iraq.

Whatever you think about the war -- justified or not, well-managed or not -- you can't plausibly argue that it is now or ever was a war against the people of Iraq.

It started out as a war against the Saddam Hussein regime, which itself oppressed the people of Iraq.

Now it is a war with the people of Iraq against Saddam loyalists, insurgents and foreign terrorists.

The people of Iraq have voted in large numbers to establish a new government -- something they never before had the freedom to do. The United States is supporting that government against the violent forces trying to overthrow it.

The war against the people of Iraq is being waged by the insurgents, terrorists and extremists.

LA Weekly reviews Oriana Fallaci's latest book, "The Force of Reason."

It sounds like a must-read for anyone concerned about an impending clash of civilizations.

Reviewer Brendan Bernhard notes that Fallaci, an Italian journalist, recounts a 1972 interview with Palestinian terrorist George Habash:

"The Arab goal, Habash declared, was to wage war 'against Europe and America' and to ensure that henceforth 'there would be no peace for the West.' The Arabs, he informed her, would 'advance step by step. Millimeter by millimeter. Year after year. Decade after decade. Determined, stubborn, patient. This is our strategy. A strategy that we shall expand throughout the whole planet.'

"Fallaci thought he was referring simply to terrorism. Only later did she realize that he 'also meant the cultural war, the demographic war, the religious war waged by stealing a country from its citizens … In short, the war waged through immigration, fertility, presumed pluriculturalism.'"

Now, 34 years later, Western Europe has been radically changed.

Bernhard writes:

"How did Islam go from being a virtual non-factor to a religion that threatens the preeminence of Christianity on the Continent? How could the most popular name for a baby boy in Brussels possibly be Mohammed? Can it really be true that Muslims plan to build a mosque in London that will hold 40,000 people? That Dutch cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam are close to having Muslim majorities? How was Europe, which was saved by the U.S. in world wars I and II, and whose Muslim Bosnians were rescued by the U.S. as recently as 1999, transformed into a place in which, as Fallaci puts it, 'if I hate Americans I go to Heaven and if I hate Muslims I go to Hell?'"

These are questions with important implications for the future. Trends in Western Europe may foreshadow events in the United States.

It's just so predictable:

In the same way that Republican defenders of Tom DeLay attribute his troubles to partisan attacks, Democratic supporters of Jim Black stick up for their party's legislative leader and main money man.

All that scrutiny of Black stems from partisanship, Greensboro's Alma Adams tells Mark Binker.

"It just seems to me there's a lot of exploration of reports from Democrats," Adams said. "I just hope when it is all said and done there is as much probing into the records of Republicans."

Is Adams suggesting that in a state where the legislative and executive branches of government (including the State Board of Elections and State Bureau of Investigation) are controlled by Democrats, there's some kind of conspiracy to go after Democrats like Black and leave Republicans alone? That makes a lot of sense.

Here's what I think: The big money goes to the party in power. In Washington, that's the Republicans. In Raleigh, that's the Democrats.

Big money corrupts.

The politicians who are caught breaking the rules can blame partisan persecution if they like. Maybe some of their partisan supporters will believe them.

What this says to me, however, is that these politicians like the current system just as it is as long as it works to their advantage. Even when confronted with obvious abuses, they won't admit anything's wrong or make any apologies. And they expect the voters to re-elect them just the same so they can keep on with business as usual.

In truth, many of them don't have much to worry about politically because the fix is in. These legislators, or at least those favored by party leaders, get to draw their own districts in ways that practically guarantee re-election. It's all part of the system that ensures government of the politicians, by the politicians and for the politicians.

Sadly, the answer isn't simply to replace the party in power with the other party, even if that were possible. The Republican Party probably would produce its own Jim Blacks if it found itself in charge in Raleigh, and when those Jim Blacks were accused of wrongdoing, its blind loyalists would complain that the criticism was nothing but partisan politics.