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After 39 hours of travel that involved one dala dala, one cab, one car, two buses, one prop plane and three jets, Kenny and I arrived home last night after an amazing, exhilarating and sometimes frustrating two weeks in Africa.

I'll write more in the next few days. Today I need to do a lot of catching up at work.

In the meantime, please take a look at Kenny's safari photos here.

I've mentioned our 15-hour bus ride from Nairobi to Mwanza. It was terrible, as it included one breakdown and several hours over roads so bad that at one point I asked Kenny, "Are we still on a road at all?"

Here's a detailed account by a Peace Corps volunteer of a long bus journey along the same route.

One odd thing was that, anywhere we stopped, even in the dead of night, people selling stuff were immediately outside the bus trying to gin up some business -- food, clothing, watches, whatever. Do people really shop from the bus? These vendors must have thought so.

Of course, many passengers welcomed the chance to buy food, especially bananas or other fruit. After all, we were on a 15-hour trip and there were no stops at McDonald's or Wendy's. Personally, I would draw the line at fish. Not cooked fish. Just fish, fresh from the lake. What are you going to do with a fish on the bus?

Most people in Tanzania get around on foot or bicycle. There's a steady stream of them along the edges of any road. Often they're really loaded down with stuff. A bicycle might have two people and a bundle of wood, or a mattress, or a basket of pineapples. Some of these people ought to enter the Tour de France, because they can really pedal.

But walking and biking are dangerous pursuits. People traveling along the edge of the road are fair game for anyone in a motor vehicle, whose only legal obligation is to blow the horn warning them to get the hell out of the way. The horns are going all the time, and if you're on a bicycle veering into the roadway to pass a pedestrian, you'd darn well better get the hell out of the way. Fortunately, the bicycles are also equipped with horns so the riders can warn the pedestrians to get the hell out of their way.

On city streets, this all becomes very dramatic. Drivers of motor vehicles rule, and they seem to derive sadistric satisfaction from making everyone else dive for cover. It's truly scary to be riding in a cab that is about to run over an old woman. Amazingly, old women in Tanzania are quite nimble. The ones still alive, anyway.

I couldn't help noting an irony on our way back to Mwanza from the Serengeti. Our driver, who took great care anytime animals wandered into our path in the park, showed nowhere near the same consideration for human beings walking or biking along the highway. By this time it was dark and nearly impossible to see people anyway. At one point, an oncoming vehicle with bright lights blinded us. Our driver inadvertantly swerved onto the shoulder. If anyone had been alongside the road at that moment, it would have been deadly, especicially as he was doing about 105 km/hour and wasn't inclined to slow down for anything except a roadblock.

There were actually three of those on the way into Mwanza. Police checkpoints. I guess they were searching for terrorists trying to sneak into the city, although why terrorists would be interested in Mwanza I couldn't guess.

Real terror is riding the dala dala, which is how we got from Andrew's into the city, a distance of about 5 miles. This is a van that, operated in the U.S., would hold maybe 15 people comfortably. Our record was 30. Seating is designed for people no more than 5 feet tall. People without seats crouch over other passengers. Everyone is totally squeezed together. Needless to say, seat belts or child safety seats are not options. In fact, there are no safety features of any kind. The vehicles is stripped down, intended for one purpose: cramming in as many people as possible.

The dala dala is staffed by a driver and a conductor. The conductor shoves passengers in and collects the fare, about a quarter (compared to about $5 for a cab, which we used sometimes). The conductor calls out the stops. Our favorite stop was outside a Coca-Cola bottling plant. The conductor would yell out "Soda! Soda!"

Dala dalas do follow regular routes and run frequently. No matter how full a dala dala appears to be, it will always stop to pick up anyone else who wants to venture in.

Dala dalas are all over the place, the most common vehicles in and around the city. Fully loaded, they can putter uphill at maybe 20 mph. Downhill, it's hang on and pray! I doubt drivers have to pass any kind of test. They swerve around slower traffic any time they think they can avoid a head-on collision with another vehicle by a split second or so.

All routes begin or end at the dala dala depot in central Mwanza. This is a big, dusty vacant lot surrounded by people selling used auto parts, food or clothing. From there you can catch another dala dala going somewhere else. Surprisingly, this system is quite efficient, though uncomfortable and downright frightening.

Oh, petrol costs something above $4 a gallon. When dala dala drivers, and even cab drivers, pull in for fuel, they invariably get no more than three or four liters at a time. Makes sense. When a catastrophic collision could occur at any moment, the last thing you want is a full tank of gas.

I was astounded at the number of people we met who were heading to Africa to help.

Our flight from London to Nairobi included a group of education students from N.C. Central University who were going to do some teaching in Kenya for a couple of weeks. Coming and going, the planes were full of missionaries and volunteers for various nonprofits and NGOs.

Heading to Nairobi, I sat next to Clark Peterson, a movie producer (credits include "Monster" with Charlize Theron) who was going to Kenya to begin work on a dramatic film about the life of Craig Kielburger, a young Canadian who founded and runs an organization called Free the Children.

Free the Children operates in dozens of countries with the purpose of stopping exploitative child labor. As Peterson described Keilburger's story of starting this organization as a kid himself, and overcoming opposition and obstacles along the way, I could see why he thought the project had strong potential. Not only is it a good story in its own right, but a movie can help spark awareness of an issue that needs more global attention and action.

I was impressed with Peterson, who was down-to-earth, friendly and genuinely interested in using his profession to accomplish something positive. I look forward to seeing this movie in a couple of years.

I'm tapping this out at home with the sloshing of our washing machine in the background.

That's a noise Andrew would love to hear.

In just a couple of weeks in Tanzania, I really learned to appreciate the fact that I have clean, reliable water right in my own home. I can wash clothes, drink from the tap, take a shower whenever I want.

It isn't that way where Andrew lives outside Mwanza, and I doubt it will be that way when he moves to another location across the country soon.

Few people in Tanzania have access to good water.

You'd think there would at least be plenty of water in Mwanza, which sits on the shore of one of the biggest lakes in the world. Not so. Andrew's water (he has a tap in his small enclosed yard behind his house, another in his detached kitchen and a commode and shower in his detached bathroom) runs only a few hours a day. And it's not safe to drink. I wasn't really satisfied that it was safe even for taking a shower, so I limited mine to about 30 seconds.

When the water is on, Andrew fills up several 20-liter buckets. He boils and filters water for drinking. When he washes dishes, he has to rinse them in a tub of water treated with chlorine. Then he uses the leftover rinse water for the toilet. He does the same for clothes washing, which of course he does by hand. Water can't be wasted.

Our routine in the evening was to sit and wait for the water to come on, then wash any dirty dishes, use the toilet and try to get a shower. Sometimes the water would come on about 9, sometimes 10, sometimes 11, sometimes not at all.

It's frustrating to come back to the house in late afternoon, a little sweaty and dusty, and not have water to wash up with. You just never get really clean.

Yet, somehow, Tanzanians themselves are very clean people. Andrew says they typically take a couple of bucket showers every day. They must be very spare with water to accomplish that. Yet the evidence is undeniable. Their clothes are clean and neat and, as I can attest from being crammed in the dala dalas with 25-plus Tanzanians at a time, they don't smell.

Water is precious. Tanzanians make a little go a long way. Unused to doing that, I really missed not being able to use as much as I want. I'll try not to take it for granted from now on.

My column today:

The starriest sky I ever saw stretched across the heavens above our tent on the rim of Tanzania's Ngorongoro Crater.

My sons and I were camped at 7,000 feet above sea level, not quite prepared for the 40-degree chill but awestruck by the beauty around us. That afternoon we'd toured the national park that encompasses the crater floor 2,000 feet below, viewing lions, black rhinos, elephants, zebras, wildebeest and many other species of Africa's most spectacular wildlife. The next day we'd drive through the Serengeti and add leopards, cheetahs, giraffes, baboons, crocodiles and more to our sightings.

Americans who visit East Africa typically go on safari as we did, meaning they hire an outfit operating out of Nairobi or Arusha to provide a vehicle and driver/guide to take them through the parks. Some even stay in splendid lodges and enjoy all the comforts, rather than camp as we did.

In either case, the experience is well worth the cost and arduous travel it requires to reach that far part of the globe. At the time of the great migrations, particularly, the Serengeti is filled with animals. And so magnificent is the nearly hidden world of the Ngorongoro Crater, the remains of a collapsed volcano, that it could have been the Garden of Eden -- not a far-fetched thought given the discovery by Louis and Mary Leakey of early hominid fossils at nearby Olduvai Gorge.

But "safari" in Swahili means "journey," and ours took my younger son Kenny and me to an Africa not seen in vacation brochures. For two weeks, we shared the life of my older son, Andrew, a Peace Corps volunteer working near Mwanza on the southern shore of Lake Victoria.
It's a life like that of the people he interacts with daily, whose homes lack clean running water and reliable electricity; who eat mostly bland diets of rice, beans and a boiled corn flour pudding called ugali but sometimes fish, chicken, goat and fresh fruits and vegetables; who live in constant danger of contracting diseases for which effective treatments are largely unavailable; who accept inconvenience and hardship as routine.

Those same people are friendly, warm and so welcoming that the most common word we heard was "karibu," which meant, "We're delighted you're here."

Still, it takes getting used to. Despite its lakeside location, gentle climate, proximity to national parks and status as Tanzania's second-largest city, Mwanza is not a tourist destination. It's mostly a ramshackle collection of hovels that look as if they'd flatten under the stress of a half-hearted earthquake. Without a single traffic light anywhere, or anyone interested in policing, drivers make up their own rules as they go, employing their horns more often than their brakes. Commerce pours out of crumbling shops into sidewalks, alleys and streets. Vendors compete with beggars for the attention of the occasional foreigners who find their way through town.

While we treated ourselves to excellent meals in a couple of actually fine restaurants, we also ate in cheap roadside food stands and absorbed other local experiences: riding in dala dalas, vans built for maybe 15 passengers but crammed with as many as 30; attending a wake in a nearby village for a child who died of malaria; visiting with the family of Andrew's friend and fellow teacher Kassim, where we were served traditional dishes by the women, who did not join the men in eating.

Kenny and I even endured a torturous 15-hour bus ride from Nairobi to Mwanza, getting the feel -- bump by bump by crash -- of the frustrations of traveling across Africa's great distances if you're not lucky enough to fly.

Kenny and I tasted, touched and smelled something of the real Africa that Andrew is coming to know, but how well did we understand it? As the sun rose over Ngorongoro that bracing morning, and then thick clouds rolled across the spectacular highlands and plunged into the crater, it literally dawned on me: What I thought I saw clear and bright remained as distant from my comprehension as the stars now out of sight above.

We stopped at a Maasai village on our way from the Serengeti to the Ngorongoro Crater.

It was an authentic village, but also a bit of a tourist trap. For a fee of about $40, you're welcomed in, given a tour and invited to take as many pictures as you want.

(If you spot Maasai along the road, it's considered rude to photograph them without their permission.)

They also put on a show, singing a song of welcome and performing a dance that really looks more like a vertical leap contest among the young men.

We poked around inside one of the communal houses, observed an outdoor school for small children (older kids go to school in a larger village) and also were invited to buy lots of craft items on display. We ended up spending close to a hundred bucks there.

We also happened to be the only tourists there at the time, and maybe the only ones there all day. If the village is raking in big money from the tourist trade, it doesn't show.

The Maasai are nomads who more or less follow grazing opportunities for their cattle and donkeys. They grow a little corn when they're in one place long enough but for much of the year live on a diet of milk and blood. When times are really hard, just blood from their cattle.

We had a chance to learn more because a young Maasai man hitched a ride with us to his village on the rim of the crater. He was a very pleasant 24-year-old who spoke a little English.

He was surprised to learn that Andrew, 25, and Kenny, 23, aren't married yet. He already has two wives and a couple of kids.

Polygamy is the norm among the Maasai. The more cattle a man has, the more wives he can afford.

(Polygamy still exists among the general population in Tanzania, although it's become uncommon among more educated people. We met a man whose uncle had more than a dozen wives, but he himself only has one.)

I asked our Maasai friend about his life, which consists very simply of herding cattle and tending to the basic necessities. He expressed a great deal of satisfaction with it. Indeed, the area where his village was located is one of wide open spaces and great natural beauty. I don't know where else his nomadic existence takes him and his people, but the Ngorongoro region is spectacular.

At the same time, I'm aware that life for the Maasai is harsh and full of conflicts. Children are often malnourished and sickly. Few receive much of an education. They compete for grazing land with the protected wildlife in and around the national parks. Sometimes they clash with farmers and other people who keep livestock.

Still, I couldn't help contrasting their pastoral lifestyle with what I saw in Mwanza or even Nairobi, crowded cities that draw people who no longer want to scratch out a living on farms. Unemployment is high in these cities. People are crowded together. Children beg in the streets. Crime is increasing. You see idle men sitting on curbs and sidewalks everywhere. Is that any life compared to the freedom of tending herds of cattle out on the plains? Of course, I don't know what it's like to try to survive the long dry seasons on those plains when the cattle on which the Maasai depend have little to eat and drink. If the rains don't come in time, people and livestock die.

I asked our friend if he thinks his own children will have the same life he has had.

"Oh, yes," he said. "Maasai forever."

I hope so.

(You can find our photo album here.)

(Also, you might want to read this article from the February issue of National Geographic about the Serengeti and Maasai.)

I wouldn't recommend every aspect of my recent trip to Africa. If you go, you might want to skip the visit to Nairobi Hospital, the 15-hour bus ride from Nairobi to Mwanza, even the dala dala experience.

But don't miss the Serengeti. There's no place like it in the world.

My only regret was that we covered too much ground in too little time.

Our itinerary took us from the western entrance of Serengeti National Park on Day 1 to the Pimbi Campground, where we spent Night 1; then out the eastern entrance and on to the Ngorongoro Crater on Day 2, spending Night 2 in the Simba Campground on the crater rim; then back through the Serengeti on Day 3, stopping on the way at Olduvai Gorge, and returning to Mwanza that night.

I could have spent days in the Serengeti, where the animal viewing was simply fabulous. Fascinated by close observation of elephants, lions, giraffes, cheetahs, zebras, baboons, hippos, crocodiles, leopard and wildebeest, I could have lingered for much longer than 15 minutes or so at a time. But, with great distances to cover and the need to reach the campground before dark, you have to move on.

There probably won't be a next time for me, but if there were, I'd spend at least five days in the Serengeti and cover a relatively small portion of the park each day.

Still, what we did exceeded expectations. I thought there might be long intervals between significant animal sightings. Not so. The vast park is full of animals, especially wildebeest, zebra and impala. They're everywhere.

My favorite zebra moment came when we arrived at a river where a herd was watering. They were very skittish, venturing cautiously into the shallows for a drink. Every time a nearby hippo splashed, the zebras bolted out. Surely they weren't afraid of a hippo, I thought. Indeed not. Just around a bend in the river a large croc was lurking. An unwary zebra would have made a fine meal.

Everyone wants to see the big cats. We were lucky enough to come across a group of five lions in a remote location, with no other vehicles around. Our driver broke park rules and went off-road to give us a very close look. In fact, we followed the lions for some distance as, apparently annoyed by our presence, they slowly stalked away. Only minutes later, we had a similar encounter with a pair of cheetahs.

Sometimes the cats draw a crowd. That was the case with a leopard. One had been seen lounging by a road. Word spread by radio among the guides. By the time we arrived, about 15 vehicles had gathered around the leopard, which had parked itself underneath a Land Cruiser for the shade. Eventually it got out and prowled around between the vehicles, coming up right beside ours and providing some incredible photos for us.

I really loved watching the giraffes, so mesmerizing in their movements. They're shy, usually moving away from vehicles, although occasionally one will stop and stare while munching on leaves gathered from the tops of trees.

My favorites were the elephants, and we were afforded many wonderful moments with them. Once, a herd of about 30 was casually feeding on both sides of the road around us. Even better, late on the first afternoon, we rounded a bend and suddenly found ourselves virtually face to face with a large female and her calf, barely 5 yards away. Amazing.

We heard, but didn't see, many animals during our night at the Pimbi Campground. As you can see from this sign, there could be severe consequences of wandering beyond the camp, especially after dark. I was worried enough about venturing to the toilet, right at the edge of camp. Only a few feet from the crude facility was bush, where anything could hide. You'd be easy prey for a hungry predator. Fortunately, with so many tasty wildebeest around, why would a lion bother with a scrawny human?

If you might not feel secure sleeping in a tent in the middle of lion territory, there are always the Serengeti lodges -- with indoor bathrooms. But that might be giving up some of the thrill.

Raising the minimum wage is one of those issues that lets politicians claim they're helping people who really need and deserve a hand. Unfortunately, it's just as likely to unleash unintended consequences.

Today's story by Eric Townsend gives a hint of that. It quotes the manager of the Family Dollar store on East Market Street, Mark Clark, as applauding because the higher wage will attract better employees.

Get it? The good news for him is not that he has to pay the same employees more, but that he might be able to hire better workers.

This point is reinforced by this 2004 study by two Duke University economists. From their executive summary:

"Current low-wage workers — the intended beneficiaries of a minimum wage increase — are those who are most hurt by raising the mandated wage. This alone should caution policymakers. Even more troubling, the
authors found that these low-skilled workers are displaced by wealthy teens who did not even participate in the labor force at the lower
minimum wage. While there is nothing wrong with wealthy teens entering the labor market, one must question the efficacy and equity of a policy that takes jobs from current low-skilled employees and gives them to wealthy teens with marginal labor force attachment."

This effect makes sense for employers and employees. A business can absorb a payroll increase if productivity also increases. For that, workers have to bring higher-level skills into the workplace. Meanwhile, the higher wage can entice people with those skills into the work force -- whether they're students seeking part-time work, stay-at-home parents coaxed out of the home, or people looking for second jobs. The workers displaced likely will be those who have worked at or near the $5.15 minimum-wage level but whose value to the employer is not commensurate with a higher wage.

What needs to happen, of course, is for all workers to improve their level of education and job skills so that they are worth more in the marketplace. It also would help if there were less competition from the influx of illegal immigrants swelling the work force.

Nicholas Kristof makes a lot of sense when he argues that people in Third World countries need what many in the West deride as "sweatshops" -- factories, big or small, where generally unskilled workers toil for low wages. Those jobs beat no jobs, he points out. Efforts to force businesses to pay more than the labor is worth in the global economy invariably fail. No one goes into business to lose money.

Similar principles apply here. Unskilled workers need jobs, which not only provide some earnings but offer opportunities to gain skills and move up to better positions. But employers aren't in business to overpay workers. They want value for the wages they pay. An unintended effect of raising the minimum wage could be a shifting of jobs from one set of workers to another, so that some of those who need the most help will actually end up worse off.

It's called football outside the U.S., and it's wildly popular.

Kenny and I got a sense of soccer's international appeal during a long layover in Nairobi Airport July 1. We watched the England-Portugal match in a snack bar/lounge jammed with people from all over. We listened to exclamations of excitement in English, French, German, Swahili and I don't know what other languages. And, to me, it was a pretty dull contest -- scoreless through overtime and decided by penalty kicks.

I watched yesterday's World Cup championship game between Italy and France, except for when I was dozing. Although each team scored an early goal -- France on a cheap-call penalty kick -- it was still 1-1 after overtime and decided by yet more penalty kicks.

They need to juice up the offense in these games so that the outcome is settled during actual play. What they do now is like a baseball game tied after nine innings and then decided by a home-run contest between each team's five biggest sluggers.

One good move would be to eliminate the offsides penalty. This rewards the defense for not getting back. Italy lost what seemed to me to be a perfectly well executed goal in the second half because the scorer was a half-step faster than the defenders. This rule is like not allowing a breakaway dunk in basketball.

But what do I know? The rest of the world loves football.

The mom of another Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania asked my advice for traveling to Tanzania. I just have a few pointers, based on my experience.

1. Expect your plans to change. Schedules are flexible; bend with them. If you miss a flight, take a bus. You'll probably get where you're going, eventually.

2. Be patient. Things happen and people do things at their own pace. Relax and enjoy.

3. Don't take anything you aren't prepared to leave behind. When our travel plans changed in Nairobi, Kenny and I had to leave a couple of suitcases behind. We lost more in Mwanza. By the time we came home, we were down to carry-on. Oh, well.

4. Don't assume you can change U.S. money into local currency. We found that some banks in Mwanza would not exchange $100 bills older than 2003. Why? Because North Korea counterfeits U.S. $100 bills, and some apparently have found their way to East Africa.

5. Learn a little Swahili. A good effort will be appreciated. It's especially important to know the proper greetings and responses.

6. Respect local customs. People dress neatly in Tanzania; you should, too. Don't wear shorts, for example. When eating, use your right hand, not your left. (Well, your left is OK if you're using a fork, but definitely not if you're eating finger food.)

7. Try local food and drink. Not that you can find American food and drink, anyway, but don't complain if you can't.

African beer is pretty good, by the way. Try Tusker, Castle or Kilimanjaro (Kili).

8. When buying stuff in the street or even in shops, you're expected to bargain. The give-and-take is good-natured, so have fun with it. If you're taking a cab, you must negotiate the price before you start. If you wait until you arrive, that's one situation that could get testy.

9. Being called mzungu (white person) is not insulting. Take it in good humor.

10. U.S. foreign policy and the Bush administration are not popular in Tanzania, but most people are too polite to say much. They seem to like Americans, anyway.

11. Have a great time!

I really don't get it.

The state can provide vouchers so parents can send their children to private day-care facilities.

The state can provide Legislative Tuition Grants for students in private colleges and universities.

But the notion of providing vouchers to educate K-12 kids in private schools horrifies most politicians.

Why? We can't build enough public school classrooms to keep up with enrollment growth. Why not use private schools as a safety valve? It would be less expensive to offer, say, a $5,000 annual voucher, and it might give some children a chance to get a better education.

If church-state entanglements are a problem, then exclude religious schools from eligibility.

By the way, Andrew's new teaching assignment in Tanzania is at a Catholic girls' school near Lushoto.

Imagine that: The U.S. government is providing teachers at church schools in Africa. Well, not to worry. I doubt Andrew will put the Vatican's spin on math lessons.

Just to be safe, though, we'd better not tell the ACLU about this.

In more than five years as attorney general, Roy Cooper has been building a pretty good record to carry into a 2008 gubernatorial campaign. But this report says he's decided to seek a third term in his current office.

Despite Treasurer Richard Moore's apparent fundraising prowess, I think Cooper's retreat will give the Democratic nomination to Bev Perdue, who's been lieutenant governor since 2001. She's got a better resume than Moore, and she can be a dazzling campaigner.

Her top issue -- spearheading North Carolina's very successful effort to keep its military installations -- trumps Moore's (raising the minimum wage).

She has to overcome the curse of the lieutenant governors, who have been on a gubernatorial losing streak since Jim Hunt made the jump in 1976. The string of failures includes Jimmy Green, Bob Jordan, Jim Gardner and Dennis Wicker. Gee, I guess that's all of them.

But whoever heard of the state treasurer getting elected governor?

My column today:

I can't get images of Africa out of my head.

- A snarl of safari vehicles, their drivers vying to give camera-toting tourists the best view of a leopard prowling through the Serengeti grass.

- A sudden face-to-face encounter with a female elephant and her calf.

- Maasai children singing ABCs under a shade tree -- their village school.

- Street kids in Mwanza begging, "Give me money, baba. I'm hungry."

- A leper, sitting on a sidewalk, reaching out his hand for a coin, stubs for fingers. ...

Small world: Bruce Siceloff of the Raleigh News & Observer is blogging from Tanzania where, as I did, he's bravely -- or foolishly -- been getting around on dala dalas.

Siceloff's "Road Warrior" (correction: Road Worrier) blog usually focuses on Triangle traffic. So, when he returns to Raleigh, will he suggest employing dala dalas there as a means of moving people more efficiently?

If you cram 30 commuters into one van, you can reduce vehicular traffic considerably.

All you have to do is waive all safety regulations.

By the way, here's an interesting article from Far Flung magazine called "Dala Dala Death Race." The author claims to have had 50 riders in a dala dala, which beats the heck out of our record of 30, but there must have been some on the roof or holding on to the sides.

Anyway, Dala Dala Death Races on I-40 through Research Triangle Park would add a lot of adventure to the Raleigh-Durham commuter experience. Considering their lack of progress in getting light rail going over there, this looks like a good alternative.

I don't blame Israel for hitting Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

But Israel has gone too far by bombing the Beirut airport, bottling up the harbor, destroying highways and other actions aimed at cutting off outside access to the country.

Israel should end its general attack against Lebanon and concentrate on Hezbollah positions. The more the terrorist organization can be weakened, the better for Israel and for Lebanon, too, whose government is powerless to control the Syria- and Iran-backed militia.

Speaking of Syria and Iran, why don't they call off their dogs? Or did they order this stepped-up aggression by the terrorists? Israel responded to the kidnapping of two soldiers by Hezbollah. Now the terrorists are firing rockets deep into Israel.

This is a very dangerous situation, and a de-escalation is imperative. It won't take much more for a wider war to break out involving Syria, Iran and, heaven help us, the United States.

While the G8 summit in Russia is important, President Bush ought to fly to Israel immediately and pressure Prime Minister Olmert to back off. Other world leaders should rush to Syria and Iran and urge those countries to yank Hezbollah's chain. This is a catastrophe in the making unless it can be defused soon.

These are some of the kids our schools have to deal with.

While reducing the suspension rates.

Quite a few people have commented on my light-on-top appearance.

Someone on the blog called me a Forrest Gump lookalike.

Yeah!

I didn't want to take my hair with me to Africa, knowing I would have limited opportunities for showers and shampooing.

It was a good decision.

In fact, most of the East Africans I saw -- men and women -- keep their hair very short. It's just the practical thing to do.

My friend and barber, Garrett Whitley of College Village Barber Shop in High Point, wasn't so sure I knew what I was doing. As he sees it, his job is to make me look better, and I reckon he thought exposing more of my head to view was going to have the opposite effect.

He questioned me several times about my intentions and gave me every opportunity to change my mind. When I insisted, he set his clippers at one-fourth inch and cut a swath.

Shorter, I said.

One-fourth inch.

Shorter.

One-32nd.

Yeah, that's it.

That was one way to lose a headful of gray hair. I think it made me look younger.

Unfortunately, it's growing back even more gray than before.

But it felt good not to have to worry about hair.

If I go back to Africa next year, I'll do it again.

If my wife goes, too, as I hope she will ... well, I may not recommend the same style for her.

The "Voter Reward Act" is on Arizona's ballot this November.

It's a voter lottery, and it's a sad sign of the times.

"The people of Arizona declare our intent to create a reward system that will improve the public participation in Arizona state government by encouraging citizen participation in the political process, and particularly voting at elections," the initiative says.

How? By entering voters in a lottery for cash prizes -- as much as $1 million "or more, adjusted for inflation."

Good grief! Forget about encouraging voter participation for the sake of democracy, for the sake of good government or for the sake of civic responsibility.

Do it for the chance to get rich.

Is that what our Founding Fathers pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor for?

Is that what the suffragettes crusaded for?

Is that what civil rights marchers risked life and limb for?

For the right to win a payoff if they bothered to vote?

If you have to be enticed with the chance of winning a million in order to vote, you probably have no idea what you're voting for. But, so what? Let's go with it.

In fact, the same idea could be applied to other areas of civic involvement.

Can there be similar incentives for people who show up for jury duty, attend city council meetings, make their child-support payments and go all year without committing a major felony? We really can build better citizenship if we'll just pay for responsible behavior.

Arizona voters have to approve this measure for it to take effect. That means there's a hitch: There's no lottery yet to lure them to the polls.

Just as well. This idea is a loser.

I'm glad Ray Ducharme is back in Charlotte. He still has a tough battle to recover from injuries received in Pamplona, Spain, July 7 during the Running of the Bulls.

People are entitled to have fun in their own ways, as far as I'm concerned, but Ducharme's experience should drive home the point that playing with large, angry animals is not a sport for amateurs.

He should have known better. Now, everyone who's aware of his experience does know better.

Chimney Rock Park for $55 million?

That's $5,500 an acre for 1,000 fabulous acres rising above Lake Lure. Sounds like a deal.

Margaret and I went on our first date to Chimney Rock Park in 1976.

Sure wish I could buy it for her.

Anyone want to help me out? I'm just short, oh, about 55 mil.

The City Council conducted a positive, productive discussion about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report this afternoon, even though council members differ strongly in their views.

They formed a consensus to pursue the report's findings further by asking the city's Human Relations Commission to get involved.

Everyone was present except Florence Gatten, who is out of state for family reasons.

Not everyone participated fully in the conversation, but no one made a fuss about it, either.

It was a very good session.

We'll have an editorial in tomorrow's paper.

(Personally, I'm less enthusiastic about the whole T&R process than is our editorial board in total, but I think council's discussion showed that something of value can come of it all.)

My column today:

The zoo will never seem the same again.

Visiting Tanzania's Serengeti National Park last month gave me an entirely different view of lions, giraffes, zebras and other African animals.

Especially elephants. My sons and I watched spellbound as a herd of 30-some elephants grazed noisily through the tall grass and bushes in late afternoon sunlight. It's an experience you can't match at the N.C. Zoo near Asheboro, which has three African elephants occupying a 3.5-acre habitat. ...

As we wrote in an editorial Wednesday, City Council held a polite and positive discussion about Truth & Reconciliation Tuesday afternoon.

Not that some members didn't have to bite their tongues from time to time.

I detected admirable restraint on a couple of occasions:

When Dianne Bellamy-Small read a lengthy prepared statement that included a partial recitation of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address:

"It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain ..."

Applying Lincoln's tribute to the fallen at Gettysburg to the Communist Workers Party members slain in 1979 probably struck some councilmen as a considerable stretch. I doubt a resolution seeking to "take increased devotion" to the CWP cause would win majority support. But good manners prevailed, and no one said anything.

On the opposite side of the issue, Keith Holliday repeated his long-held view that the city of Greensboro in 1979 was a victim of a clash between two extremist groups. and asserted that the T&R process has tried to put a "guilt trip on 238,000 citizens who are not responsible for the events of Nov. 3, 1979." Again, those who think the city, especially the Police Department, bear some blame exercised admirable self-control, and no arguments erupted.

I doubt anything will ever reconcile the completely different views held by people in Greensboro of those tragic events, their causes and the fallout. The best this city can do probably is for everyone to accept that minds aren't going to change and to respect the rights of others to disagree.

The City Council conversation showed that, with good manners, Greensboro can talk about this productively and then, just maybe, put the subject to rest and move on.

If the General Assembly wants to eliminate runoff primaries, that's fine with me. Hardly anyone votes the second time around.

But this "instant runoff" idea really stinks.

The idea, to be tested in several elections in 2007 and 2008, is for voters to indicate their first, second and maybe even third choice of candidates at the polls.

That way, if no one gets enough "first choice" votes to win outright, the winner would be determined on who was the top second choice.

Seems to me it confuses voters enough to decide their first choice. Now they have to choose a second or third choice?

Besides, who wants to elect everyone's second choice?

Right now, a candidate needs to have at least 40 percent of the vote to win a primary. If failure to get there creates too many runoffs, drop the threshold to 30 percent or eliminate it altogether. Simple plurality wins.

Just don't ask me to name my second or third choice candidates. Sometimes, it's hard enough to find one I like.

I hope the two High Point men kidnapped in Haiti this week are released safely. Their lives no doubt depend on the payment of some amount of ransom -- if not $100,000, then whatever is feasible. These things seem to be negotiable.

Update: Thank God, they're safe. Now, I hope they're on the way home.

I admire the courage and commitment of Tom Barron and William Seastrum, but I would question any American's decision to visit Haiti now.

The State Department's travel warning for Haiti points out the dangers. This would get my attention:

"Visitors and residents must remain vigilant due to the absence of an effective police force in much of Haiti; the potential for looting; the presence of intermittent roadblocks set by armed gangs or by the police; and the possibility of random violent crime, including carjacking and assault. Kidnapping for ransom remains a serious threat, with more than 50 American citizens, including children, kidnapped over the past year."

Having just been to East Africa to visit my son, Andrew, I would advise anyone going to a Third World country to consider the possible dangers. They are, primarily, that you may not have access to medical care if you suddenly need it; there may not be any effective or helpful law-enforcement presence, exposing you to possible criminal activity; and traffic and vehicle safety standards may be minimal. I can say we witnessed all of these issues.

Crime can be a particular concern because, if you are an American: 1) you stand out; and 2) it's assumed that you have a lot of money. Therefore, you're more likely to be a target for robbery or kidnapping. Andrew was a frequent target for thieves at his location just outside the large city of Mwanza, Tanzania, which is why Peace Corps has moved him to a more rural and safer assignment near Lushoto.

Generally, Tanzania is much, much safer than Haiti (Andrew has been to Haiti, so he has a basis for comparison). Kidnapping of Americans hardly ever happens in Tanzania, as far as I know. If it was common, I would not have gone there, and in fact Peace Corps would not be working there. I can say with assurance that the safety of its volunteers is a high priority for the Peace Corps, which is why it does not operate in Haiti.

There is important humanitarian work that needs to be done in Haiti, but the risks may have become too great for anyone who doesn't travel with a squad of armed guards.

Guilford County commissioners aren't making any progress in getting along better.

After charging that their white colleagues fired County Manager Willie Best because Best is black (um, why did they hire him, then?), Skip Alston and Bruce Davis now say Interim Manager David McNeill should step down.

Is that because McNeill is white? If you applied Alston's and Davis' logic, you'd have to say so.

(The logic: If white commissioners vote to fire a black manager, it must be because they're racist. Therefore, if black commissioners want to get rid of a white manager, it must be because they're racist.)

Alston and Davis say they want McNeill gone because his position as interim manager gives him an unfair advantage while the board searches for a permanent manager.

It's funny that they didn't raise the same objection about Merle Green, who was assistant county health director, then interim director after Ramesh Krishnaraj resigned under pressure in 2004. Last year, commissioners gave her the permanent position.

Of course, Merle Green is black.

The notion that an interim should get out of the way is absurd. Should Greensboro's interim police chief, Tim Bellamy, step down if he wants to be considered for the permanent position? Of course not.

Do Alston and Davis want McNeill to go on unemployment for the six months or so it will take the county to hire a new manager? Totally unreasonable.

Suggesting that McNeill is going to pollute the search process is grossly insulting to a dedicated, competent county employee and, in my opinion, borders on harassment.

For racial reasons? A certain way of thinking would lead to that conclusion.

But that kind of unhealthy thinking shouldn't be part of anyone's mentality in Guilford County government.

I wrote from Tanzania last month that a Mwanza police officer advised Andrew to get a gun to protect himself against burglars.

It seems that this is not an unusual strategy there, according to this news story.

Guns actually are rare in Tanzania. It's not like Somalia, where every 10-year-old totes an AK-47.

So, if you have a firearm, it's not for show. It's for shooting.

Naturally, authorities were disappointed that businessman Daudi Malifedha failed to use his police-issued pistol to defend himself against a gang of bandits armed with pangas and firearms of their own. What was his excuse? He had 12 bullets!

I wonder how that approach would work here. You can get a gun license only for self-defense but, if you're attacked and fail to shoot your assailant, you have to give it up.

Use it or lose it.

The Charlotte Observer really hammered the lawyers for Duke lacrosse players in an editorial today (registration required) headlined:

"Legal logorrhea"

"Judge tells Duke lacrosse trial lawyers to pipe down. Bravo!"

I love the use of "logorrhea." But I think this editorial is all wrong.

It supports Superior Court Judge Kenneth C. Titus' warning against too much talk in the highly publicized alleged rape case.

"Newspapers will print, and TV will broadcast, every damfool statement the lawyers in the case make, but there's nothing requiring them to make damfool statements," the edit says. "Nothing, that is, except their desire to prejudice the pool of potential jurors and their interest in self-promotion."

Pretty harsh.

So, what sort of "damfool" things have these lawyers said?

That their clients have alibi witnesses and other evidence (such as phone, ATM and dorm entry records) showing they could not have committed the alleged crime when it was supposed to have occurred.

That they voluntarily submitted to and passed lie-detector tests.

That DNA tests did not link them to the victim.

That they tried to meet with DA Mike Nifong and show him exculpatory evidence and he refused.

I don't blame these lawyers one bit for going public with this information, especially after the prosecutor made it clear he didn't want to see it.

I doubt their goal is to prejudice the jury pool. More likely, it's to stop this shaky case from going to trial at all. Certainly, it's to counter the impression given by the initial news coverage of this incident that led the public to believe a vicious crime had been committed. Now, there's a great deal of skepticism about the charges, as there should be.

It's also worth noting that, if these lawyers had been gagged all along, there would not be a write-in campaign against Nifong's re-election. No one would have known what a mess has been made of this case until it went to trail -- after the November election.

If the three defendants are brought to trial, the facts presented in court will determine the verdict.

In the meantime, it's a good thing that so much information has been reported. It's important to know how this process of justice is working -- or not -- in a closely watched, highly charged case.

Sure, the judge is doing his job by trying to put a lid on information. But I think the more the public knows about this, the better.

Mark Binker reported today that Rep. Alma Adams already has begun to campaign for more help for low-income workers.

The Greensboro Democrat was one of the main drivers behind the dollar-an-hour hike in the state's minimum wage.

Next year, she hopes to add a provision so that the minimum wage is indexed to inflation.

That would make it like a dog chasing its tail. Forcing wages up, when there's no corresponding increase in productivity, is the very definition of inflationary.

Her idea to add an earned income tax credit to the state's tax code is much better. It lines up with federal tax policy and, more importantly, it makes legislators figure out how to pay for this benefit. By raising the minimum wage, politicians like Adams claim credit for making small business owners come up with the money.

That's easier than carving out room in the budget for payments to low-income workers, and a lot easier than what legislators really ought to do: improve education and job training enough so that more workers are worth higher wages in the marketplace.

The mercury soared to 110 in Las Vegas yesterday, and it's going to return to triple digits today and for much of the rest of the week.

Sure, the World Market Center is air conditioned. But what happens when the strain on power systems forces rolling blackouts, as in California?

Market meltdown!

And they're bound to run out of water out there, too. Then the line, "But it's a dry heat," won't wash, so to speak.

New motto for the High Point market: "Sure, our town doesn't sizzle. And that's good!"

Good for Bill Clinton, supporting Sen. Joe Lieberman's campaign for re-election in Connecticut.

The hawkish Lieberman faces a stiff challenge from the anti-war wing of the Democratic Party.

Clinton previously has criticized the left-wing assault on Lieberman.

I don't think we'll see Al Gore pitching in to help his 2000 running mate.

Our editorial today reiterates the N&R's position against capital punishment.

Regardless of anyone's stand on the death penalty, however, states' ability to carry out executions by lethal injection is in jeopardy.

The issue hinges on the participation of physicians, whose medical expertise is seen in some legal circles as necessary to ensure that the combination of death drugs is administered correctly.

The American Medical Association, however, strictly prohibits any participation by physicians.

Here is the AMA policy.

Here's the opinion by U.S. District Judge Malcolm J. Howard in Willie Brown Jr. v Theodis Beck, secretary, N.C. Department of Correction.

Here is the opinion from the federal court in Missouri.

Here is "Observations Regarding Lethal Injection" by Dr. Orin F. Guidry, president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

As of now, the courts have not ordered North Carolina to secure the participation of a physician. State law only requires a physician to be present. It would seem to be implicit in that requirement, however, that the physician would have the role of dealing with medical issues that might arise during the lethal injection process, which is rather complex. Therefore, it's probably just a matter of time before a decision like the Missouri ruling affects North Carolina, too. When that happens, the impasse between the legal system and the medical community may put an end to lethal injections here.

My column today:

The University of North Carolina should adopt a "neighborhood schools" enrollment plan. What's good for public schools also should work for the state's 16-campus system of higher education. ...

A Republican Party group in Asheville uses strong, emotional imagery in a billboard campaign, the Citizen-Times reports.

Next to the words, "Had enough?" the billboards show a Mexican flag flying over an upside-down U.S. flag.

Does this mean Mexico has taken over the United States?

I guess it's supposed to be making a point about the wave of illegal immigrants from Mexico.

Is this message effective, offensive, or both?

Some "experts" said al-Qaida wouldn't get involved in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah because the two Islamic terrorist organizations are "enemies," one Shiite and the other Sunni.

I guess they were wrong.

Al-Qaida and Hezbollah are united by their determination to exterminate Israel. The statement by Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaida's second-in-command, rejects the idea of a cease-fire. As far as the terrorists are concerned, the war doesn't end until Israel is destroyed.

Al-Qaida's goals extend far beyond that, however: "It is a jihad for God's sake and will last until religion prevails ... from Spain to Iraq," al-Zawahiri said.

What's frightening is that this is no longer fringe thinking in the Muslim world. It prevails among the leaders in Iran and, with rising support for Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine, is gaining ground elsewhere.

The fighting in Lebanon has got to stop soon because of the harm to innocent civilians and damage to the country's infrastructure. But I hope Hezbollah will be weakened substantially -- militarily and politically.

Please help me figure this out.

Durham County Commissioner Lewis Cheek agreed to a petition campaign that put his name on the November ballot for district attorney.

"The people will be able to directly state whether they are satisfied with the status quo," he said ...

... before announcing: "I will not run a campaign and I will not serve as district attorney."

Here's where I have trouble. Cheek agreed to have his name placed on the ballot to give voters a chance to elect someone other than Mike Nifong, but if they do elect him, he won't serve.

Is there something funny in the water over there in Durham? Does everyone smoke something other than good old tobacco?

A lot of people certainly are not satisfied with the status quo in the DA's office. Nifong's prosecution in the Duke lacrosse rape case is wildly off target. He'll never win convictions against the three players charged, and it's a waste of time and resources to pursue matters any further.

Nifong narrowly won the Democratic primary, and because Durham County Republicans are spineless losers, he faced no opposition in November.

Then Cheek emerged. A former supporter of Nifong, he recognized a disaster in the making and allowed a petition drive to proceed on his behalf. He never actually said he would run, but come on. You don't put a race horse in the starting gate unless you want it to run.

He would have been a credible challenger, too. He's a county commissioner and former Durham city councilman and mayor pro tem.

Now what? Well, his name will appear on the ballot so voters who want to retire Nifong can still do so by electing Cheek. If Cheek won't serve, however, the governor will appoint the next district attorney.

He could appoint Nifong, whom he appointed to the job in the first place. When it comes to Mike Easley, nothing would surprise me. But a strong rejection of Nifong by voters, and the embarrassment of the Duke case, surely would convince the governor to find someone else. Maybe Freda Black, who trailed Nifong only by 45-42 in the Dem primary, would be a logical choice.

But it sure would be better if Cheek changed his mind and agreed to serve if elected.

Then again, this whole situation confuses me. Can anyone explain what's really happening?

While I'm on the subject of Durham:

The Herald-Sun reports today on a major increase in crime recorded during the first quarter of 2006.

(There's no indication of how much Duke University students are to blame for this, but I'd suspect not much.)

Mayor Bill Bell points to, no kidding, the "gun lobby."

"The gun lobby in this country is very powerful ... and you've got gun lobby people preventing more stringent laws," he said.

More stringent gun laws? The Herald-Sun reports:

"Aggravated assaults involving guns jumped from 53 in the first quarter of 2005 to 72 in 2006 -- a 35.8 percent increase. Robberies involving firearms saw a 69 percent increase, from 87 in the first quarter of 2005 to 147 in 2006."

Aren't there already stringent laws against aggravated assault and robbery involving firearms? Maybe Durham should work harder on enforcing those laws.

There definitely is a difference of opinion about whether a bill passed by the legislature gets the former High Point ABC director and board legally off the hook for last year's improper property transaction.

Taft Wireback's story today quotes Guilford County Assistant District Attorney Howard Neumann as saying: "The legislature passing a bill which validates it would make it very hard to prosecute anybody."

Our editorial Friday quotes state Rep. Laura Wiley as saying of the bill she introduced: "It in no way precludes any further investigation into this matter. If there was wrongdoing, it can still be pursued by the district attorney if he so chooses."

There's no question about wrongdoing, which Taft has carefully reported. The question is whether failure to follow proper procedures for selling a closed ABC store invalidates that sale or could encumber future title transfers.

The bill clears up that question. I believed assurances by Wiley and High Point City Attorney Fred Baggett that validation of the sale itself does not validate the process by which the sale was transacted.

If the DA's office thinks otherwise, it should contact the governor's office and urge the governor not to sign the bill.

For that matter, if the DA's office had concerns, it could have made them know prior to the bill's passage. It was introduced May 17 and didn't receive final legislative approval until July 10.

The other primary sponsor was Earl Jones. Co-Sponsors were Alma Adams and Maggie Jeffus. I don't think there was any suspicion of this being handled in a sneaky or secretive way.

Certainly, last year's deal in High Point smelled very bad and should not have happened. At least two of the three former High Point ABC board members have said they would not have voted to approve the sale if they'd known that the buyer was the business partner of George Humble, the ABC director at the time who negotiated the deal without allowing opportunity for upset bids. Maybe, maybe not. They're weren't very vigilant about carrying out their oversight responsibilities.

Sadly, High Point city officials haven't been very interested in pursuing matters. No police investigation into the improper land deal was ever initiated. Without an investigation by some law-enforcement agency, the DA can't bring charges.

But this is the DA's office that, after an extensive (and still-not-released-to-the-public) SBI investigation, declined to prosecute anyone in the Project Homestead scandal. The High Point ABC deal is small potatoes compared to that. So, whether the legislation immunizes anyone from charges in the High Point ABC land deal is really just an academic discussion.

OK, it's official now: Mel Gibson is nuts.

Especially when he's tanked up.

The account of his arrest for drunken driving shows a man with serious problems.

Not the least of which is a streak of anti-Semitism.

At the same time, it's possible to overreact. The Anti-Defamation League, while properly critical of Gibson's behavior, is too quick to drag the discussion back to Gibson's 2004 film, "The Passion of the Christ," which it condemned as unfair in its depiction of Jewish hostility to Jesus.

The movie should stand on its own. Gibson's actions Friday don't add anything, in my view, to understandings of the message of the film.

His tirade does tell us that he needs help and will have to work very hard for a long time to rehabilitate his image.

No wonder N.C. State lost Chancellor Marye Anne Fox to the University of California-San Diego a couple of years ago.

She found gold out there on the Left Coast.

Fox was mentioned in an op-ed by Jennifer Washburn that we ran today. It seems her outside business interests have paid her $339,260 in the last year.

Her many outside commitments have drawn criticism. The fact that she's well paid for some of them also has led to concerns about outside influences on university policy.

Not that her official salary is shabby. It's $350,000 -- compared to the $248,000 she was paid at State.

In addition, UCSD paid her $248,000 that she would have gotten at State if she'd stayed. She was owed a year's sabbatical in Raleigh, but her new employers picked up the cost -- although that was not publicly disclosed until earlier this year.

All in all, she made a lucrative move out West.