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Following a call for peace Monday by the North Carolina leader of the Latin Kings, one TV reporter was so moved by what she’d heard that she hugged Jorge Cornell.

I did not hug Cornell. I am still hopeful that he is serious and sincere in his call for area gangs to put down their arms and put aside their violence toward one another.

But I still worry about the rest of us.

Cornell said: “My goal is to bring peace to the streets. (For) black and brown to come together as one.”

Who could argue with that sentiment? But, again, Cornell stopped short of renouncing all criminal activity by gangs. And even though he is a man of few words, some of those words seemed contradictory.

I asked at his news conference about his earlier statements that gang violence here is exaggerated (“The newspaper hypes it up. The police hype it up.”). If that was so, I said, why was there a need to call a truce in the first place?

A woman sitting behind me suggested that the police were behind the alleged gang violence. (If I had a dime for every conspiracy theory in this town, I could buy out Bill Gates.)

But I still want to believe Cornell. The safety this could bring and the racial bridges it could build could be significant. I don’t fault the Revs. Nelson Johnson and Greg Headen for reaching out to Cornell. Isn't that what men of faith are supposed to do?

Still, this doesn’t feel totally right. Am I being merely a cynic, as a friend said the other day?

So, I sought further insight from an interview with Cornell in the current edition of the Spanish-language paper, Que Pasa.

Some of what he said, thanks to translation help from a few of my colleagues:

“The peace treaty would be necessary to eliminate carrying the fights (quarrels) away from the table. We would have to avoid retaliation and killings in honor of a better future for all.”

Under the “peace treaty” he proposes, problems would be resolved by gang leaders disciplining their members, to prevent them from taking justice into their own hands, which is what generates the violence among them.

He envisions a “Supreme Council” to organize street marches, mobilize civil resistance against the application of Section 287(g) of federal immigration law, ask that young people are permitted to study in community colleges, even if they don’t have a Social Security numbers, and that they oppose the passing of the aggressive laws against the collective Hispanic community.

“They want to eliminate us completely,” he said. “We have to detain racism.”

Also on hios agenda is to prevent the passage of an anti-gang law in the General Assembly.

‘It’s a negative law, because when three people gather of the same color, potentially it could be considered a gang-related act. Furthermore, if you meet with me, that law would give you problems.”

The more I think about it, the Supreme Council sounds a lot like Prop Joe’s confab of gang lords in the TV series “The Wire,” in which those crime leaders negotiated over territory and resolved disputes around conference tables in a hotel meeting room. They even had an agenda and refreshments.

That said, Lord knows relations between African Americans and the growing Latino community, in particular, are not what they ought to be. It’s a sad, ironic state of affairs. Why should people of color be so distrustful of one another?

So, in the end, something is better than nothing. Talking is better than not talking. And at least trying is a lot better than not trying.

Gov. Mike. Easley is scheduled to receive the "America's Greatest Education Governor's Award" Thursday from the National Education Association "for his achievements in transforming North Carolina's public school system," according to an NEA news release.

NEA President Reg Weaver will bestow the honor in front of nearly NEA 10,000 delegates in Washington.

Given all the recent fallout over his fancy sojourns abroad, I presume he's flying coach.

Meanwhile, on the heels of first lady Mary Easley's own Travelgate brouhaha over exorbitant expenses comes word that she has received an 88 percent raise from N.C. State University.

Effective Tuesday, her salary jumped from $90,000 to $170,000.

Meanwhile, Gov. Easley has been preaching fiscal restraint to legislative budget writers.
Among the advice he imparted to lawmakers was for them to spend less on state employee raises.

We're exploring the possibility of reader video commentaries, either shot by us, shot and submitted to us by the reader or linked to us from YouTube.

If you'd be interested in participating, let me know. If we move forward with this new feature, it's likely to happen sometime in the fall.

In case you missed it, here's Guilford Tax Director Francis Kinlaw's take, in a News & Record op-ed, on the issue of taxing free drug samples:

In recent weeks, several articles and letters have been published regarding the taxation of medical samples by North Carolina’s counties. Given the considerable publicity and concern that this issue has evoked, I wish to provide significant information relating to Guilford County’s current policy and to existing state law.

Many readers undoubtedly will be pleased to learn that a bill currently being considered by the N.C. General Assembly (Senate Bill 1878) would exempt from taxation “free samples of drugs that are required by federal law to be dispensed only on prescription and are given to physicians and other medical practitioners to dispense free of charge in the course of their practice.” If you favor the addition of these words to N.C. General Statute 105-275, you may wish to inform your state legislators of your opinion. (Because property tax laws may be established and revised only at the state level of government, county commissioners and elected officials other than state senators and state representatives are unable to change the law.)

The following facts will explain and clarify the basis for recent decisions and actions by the Guilford County Tax Department.

A directive from the North Carolina Department of Revenue (issued on May 26, 2006) states clearly that “supplies and samples used by and in the possession of medical establishments … are required to be listed for taxation in the various counties of North Carolina where the business personal property is located.”

A routine audit conducted by our office revealed that one large medical practice had failed to list drug samples for taxation in one or more prior tax years. (We attempt to audit the tax listings of every business in the county, regardless of the nature of the business, every five or six years.)

Although drug samples account for a very small percentage of the taxable property in a medical practice and, consequently, for a small percentage of the tax bill, representatives of the medical profession have deemed this issue to be worthy of public discussion.

It is important to note that, because Jan. 1 of each year is the only date of significance insofar as the taxation of business personal property is concerned, a medical practice can maintain and dispense drug samples throughout the calendar year without affecting its tax obligation. Physicians may choose to reduce their supplies of drug samples prior to Jan. 1 and then increase their supplies of samples after Jan. 1. In other words, the volume of drug samples on hand for the other 364 days of a calendar year — other than Jan. 1 — has no effect whatsoever on the tax bill of a medical practice.

Tax administrators in Mecklenburg and Forsyth counties have stated in recent weeks that their counties follow exactly the same procedures that were applied by our department. All other counties in North Carolina are also subject to the same laws that govern taxation in our county.
I understand the opposition by many people to the relevant state law and realize that they would welcome legislative action revising that statute. In my role as tax director, I can assure the public that our Tax Department consistently follows procedures established by state law and that our actions regarding property taxation of drug samples will change if and when the applicable state law is revised.

Francis H. Kinlaw is Guilford County tax director.

President Bush on Jesse Helms:

"Jesse Helms was a kind, decent, and humble man and a passionate defender of what he called 'the Miracle of America.So it is fitting that this great patriot left us on the Fourth of July. He was once asked if he had any ambitions beyond the United States Senate. He replied: 'The only thing I am running for is the Kingdom of Heaven.' Today, Jesse Helms has finished the race, and we pray he finds comfort in the arms of the loving God he strove to serve throughout his life."

Sen. Elizabeth Dole on Helms: “In succeeding Jesse to represent North Carolina in the United States Senate, I knew I could never replace him, but I continue to strive each day to provide the dedicated constituent service he provided the people of our state for 30 years. As my father would say, Jesse was indeed a ‘watchdog’ for North Carolina and for the nation."

It is customary to find the good in people upon their deaths ... and, at least I see it, there was some good in Jesse Helms.

But when do we go too far? When do the platitudes become downright dishonest? Helms, a Southern gentleman to some, could be mean and despicable in his racial views.

And he was unrepentant over the years, stubbornly clinging to the 19th century even into the 21st.

And here we are all but anointing him a saint?

At the same time we praise Helms for his candor (one of his admirable qualities) are we shooting as straight about his true legacy?

It was sad to hear that Sandra Anderson Groat’s home building business is dissolving in the face of rising debts and declining revenues.

The city councilwoman and two-time mayor pro tem has been known over the years for finding a viable market where few other local builders dared venture: southeast Greensboro.

Now it is more fashionable -- but still considered risky -- to build middle-class communities on the other side of the tracks.

Eight years ago Sandra gave me a tour of some of her communities -- tasteful split-levels and brick-and-wood tract homes with two-car garages and neatly manicured lawns. She delighted in telling me who lived where; she knew it all by heart. In one community on the edge of downtown she pointed out a house where they’d found a body right before a closing. Minutes later, she showed me that same community’s breathtaking view of the downtown skyline. One of the best anywhere in the city.

Like those communities, she built her company from the ground up, and in the process established good will throughout the city.

“After considerable consideration,” a statement by her attorney to creditors read last week, ”it has been determined that it is in the best interest of the Company and its creditors for it to initiate a wind-down process of its business affairs.”

What that all means, in lawyer-speak, is that a struggling company is saying no mas in the midst of the subprime crash and a terrible local real estate market.

Too bad for Sandra Anderson Builders Inc. She and her family company left their marks on Greensboro.

This week's column.

Following a call for peace on June 28 by a local leader of the Latin Kings, one TV reporter was so moved that she hugged the gang’s flinty-eyed state potentate, Jorge Cornell.

I didn’t hug Cornell, whose official title is “Inca” of the Latin Kings in North Carolina.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m hopeful that he is sincere in his call for area gangs to put down their arms and put aside their violence toward one another.

But I still worry about the rest of us.

Cornell is a big man with a beard and mustache so delicately thin that they appear to be drawn by pencil. A pair of tatooed tears weep permanently from the corner of his left eye, in a tribute, he says, to his late mother.

His two young daughters, pretty and smooth-faced, were there with him, smiling at all the people and the cameras.

More positive proof that our editorial cartoons aren't considered all that funny by a number of our readers, this came in yesterdays' e-mail:

HAVE YOU NO SHAME?

The Idiotorial cartoon showing St Peter wearing the Barack Hussein Obama tee shirt was offensive to:

1 Senator Helms' memory, family and supporters.

2 Christians of all orders.

3 The basic notion that Church and state are separate. Remember " Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and unto God that which is God's?"

The Sunday guest editorial by Marc Thiessen was a more fitting tribute to a Senator elected by the People of North Carolina five times despite the massive attacks waged against him and the national funding campaigns by Dummycrats to deny North Carolina voters ther choice in the Senate.He defeated "Saint James" along the way.

I will miss our Senator "Know."

As an incorrigible Green Bay Packer fan, I don't know what to make of quarterback Brett Favre's messy flirtation with a comeback after announcing his retirement several months ago.

A man is entitled to change his mind. Unless, I guess he's a politician. But that's another story.

Favre especially has earned the right to have second thoughts about walking away from a game he loves so much and still is able to play so well.

Then again, I understand why Packers management feels jerked around.

Favre has retired and unretired before, according to published reports.

He contacted the Packers, saying he wanted to come back in March, those reports say. The team was scheduled to join him in his public announcement.

Then he said never mind. He wasn't coming back after all.

So the Packers decided to look to the future and prepare the Packers' young backup quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, to succeed Favre.

Now, he's changed his mind again.

The Packers say that's his call, but they've made it clear they've moved on. Rodgers is their man and they've planned the season around him. Favre could come back, but not as the starter.

Now Favre wants to be released by the Packers so he can play elsewhere. The Packers say no; he's still under contract to them, if he comes back.

Oh, the drama.

I personally believe the Packers have an infinitely better opportunity to make to the Super Bowl this season with Favre as QB.

But he has tarnished his legacy, at least a little bit, with his indecisiveness. It is selfish and inconsiderate.

Richard Prince reports on the stir created by the current cover of The New Yorker magazine (to which I subscribe).

The editors say the cartoon depictions of Barack and Michelle Obama as a Muslim and a gun-toting, Afro-wearing black militant, respectively, were an attempt to satirize the ridiculousness of persistent reports that Obama is indeed a Muslim. Or even a sleeper terrorist, a la “The Manchurian Candidate.”

For added effect, an American flag burns in the fireplace and a portrait of Osama bin Laden hangs on the wall.

But satire can be a dangerous thing and even can backfire by actually solidifying the myth it intends to lampoon.

We editorial writers know that all too well. I recall an editorial we published about former pro wrestler Ric Flair considering a run for governor some years ago. We supported the notion, tongue in cheek. But a number of readers took us at our word.

Some were amazed that we would support Flair for governor. Others were delighted.

We discussed the double edges of satire in a staff writers workshop a few summers ago conducted by syndicated columnist Rick Horowitz.

We concluded that good satire is hard to pull off. But, even when it works, some people won’t get it.

The New Yorker does irony and satire better than most, especially on its covers and in its famous cartoons. Not in this case.

Too many theoretically rational voters still believe the silly Internet rumors about Obama, and have even said so in various polls.

The New Yorker may have wanted to poke fun at their prejudice/ignorance, but it may only have fanned the flames of misinformation.

Back to Rick Horowitz: As part of his seminars, he shares examples from other papers. One, from The Washington Post, left no margin for misinterpretation. Emblazoned over the headline of the piece, in large letters, was the label “Satire.”

Just in case anyone was wondering.

No matter what you might think about their politics, you’ve got to admire how deeply four former City Council candidates have immersed themselves in civic affairs.

Rarely have I gone to a public event around here recently without seeing Marikay Abuzuaiter (at-large), Cyndy Hayworth (District 3), Joel Landau (at-large) or Donna Riechmann (at-large) there.

Or all of the above.

And not just for show. They were actively engaged .. i.e., actually working, not shaking hands and kissing babies.

All lost in their bids for public office in 2007 but all have stayed committed to public service. Some may run again. Hayworth told me last week she probably will.

It’s impressive to see them walking the campaign talk rather than waiting till the next filing period (for those who may file) to pop out the woodwork.

Greensboro wants a new aquatics center. Wake County has one.

The Triangle Aquatic Center, which opened in Cary last year, cost $25 million, and spans 72,000 square feet. Among its other amenities, reports The News & Observer:

-- a pro shop
-- an electronic timing system and scoreboard
-- concession stands

For more details, check out this Web site.

And it was buiilt strictly with private money. No, really.

In defense of Sidney Lowe II, who was sentenced Tuesday to 15 months at the Guilford County Prison Farm Tuesday for his involvement in two armed robberies, his lawyers painted an unflattering and unfair picture of N.C. A&T.

Lowe’s father, N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe, and other relatives, essentially blamed A&T, where Lowe II had been a student, for turning his son to crime and drugs.

Lowe said A&T wasn’t his first choice as a college for his son.

Added his uncle, Winston-Salem attorney Michael Grace:

“He wanted to dumb down and thug up when he went to school. He wanted to be accepted. He wanted to drop his britches around his butt and show his underwear.”

Grace,

In the interest of full disclosure, I have taught at A&T part time for the better part of 18 years.

And I have seen little to support a culture of crime and drugs that sucks students into armed robberies.

Ironically, the judge in the case, Henry Frye Jr., is the son of two A&T alumni, a former Supreme Court chief justice, and Shirley Frye, who courted durring their student days. In fact if not for A&T, Frye Jr. might never have been born.

And the blame placed on A&T hardly accounts for the younger Lowe’s troubles with the law before enrolling at A&T.

He was charged with assault in 2002.

Republican Mike Huckabee weighs in on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity & Colmes”:

“A whole lot of people who don’t bother to do anything other than just look at the image. Believe me, I’ve been a candidate, I’m telling you that there are a whole lot of people that don’t get beyond the surface.”

I agree. As if to confirm my misgivings, this letter came in the e-mail today:

"To me it does not matter what color the skin is of our new president. But do we want a President that takes his oath on the Islamic 'Koran,' instead of God's words 'The Bible'? When Obama became US Senator he would not take the oath on our Bible, he had to have his Koran. Do we want a President who will not pledge allegiance to the US Flag, when it is said?"

Obviously, the writer is mininformed. The Koran myth keeps getting repeated anyway. The Internet is rife with this stuff. And polls still indicate that a sizeable number of people think Obama is a Muslim.

My problem is not merely some people's inability to "get" satire. It's their inability to get -- and understand --the facts.

As Huckabee notes, many people who will never, ever turn a page of The New Yorker will see that cover.

Jefff Danziger (above) and a few other cartoonists have mused on how a McCain cover would look, but I think it's too tame.

The most insidious (false) rumor put out about McCain was that he had fathered a black child, a dirty untruth insinuated into the 2000 race by the Bush campaign.

Would that be fair game for satire?

A commenter blamed the liberal bent of the media for not making more hay over Jesse Jackson's hypocrital utterance of the N-word.

But, interestingly, it was Fox's Bill O'Reilly who chose to hold back on the revelation.

"It was not relevant to the subject at hand," O'Reilly told Fox News' Shepard Smith in an interview earlier this week, "one civil rights leader disparaging another over policy. It did not advance the story."

Jackson said of Barack Obama: "Barack . . . he's talking down to black people . . . telling n—s how to behave."

"

Two things I'll definitely do this weekend: Go to the Dudley High School Consolidated Reunion and see the new Batman movie (with apparently everybody else).

The Dudley reunion is a sight to behold, and attracts Panther alumni from the 1930s to the 21st century.
It also is unique. It happens every year, in addition to individual class reunions during the more typical milestone years.

I was at the Koury Center earlier today. I'll be back tonight. If you're in the neighborhood, drop by our Class of '73 room (1696).

One other note about the Class of '73: It unofficially also includes students who began at Dudley but were redistricted during desegregation to other schools. So Smith, Page and Grimsley should be well-represented.

As for "The Dark Knight," I appreciate the respectful, adult approach to a comics icon.

The first movie rooted the idea of a man in a bat outfit in plausibility and explains, for a change, where all those wonderful Bat toys come from. (I thought some of the action was bland and unintelligible, though).

The sequel is supposed to be much darker. Good.

I grew up with comics. But in the interest of full disclosure, I'm a Marvel guy. Still, I've always had a soft spot for Batman, a DC character, because he's always been a darker, more tortured soul than a lot of the DC heroes. That's a Marvel hallmark.

This week's column.

As an incurable Green Bay Packers fan, I don’t know what to make of quarterback Brett Favre’s messy flirtation with a comeback after announcing his retirement several months ago.
On the one hand, I believe Favre has earned the right to have second thoughts about walking away from a game he loves so much, gave so much to and still is able to play so well.

Then again, I also understand why Packers management feels jerked around.

Favre has retired and unretired before. He contacted the Packers, saying he wanted to come back in March. The team was scheduled to join him in a public announcement.
Then he said never mind. He wasn’t coming back after all.

Now he’s reversed field again.

And I’ve changed my mind about him changing his mind.

At first I considered him fickle and selfish and indecisive.

Now I’m beginning to understand how it’s so hard to walk away, especially given the remarkable condition of this 38-year-old man’s body.

He has meant so much to the game and especially to the Packers — playing hurt ... winning almost through sheer will ... bringing a boyish playfulness to pro football even as more and more gray hairs sprouted on his head and chin ... not missing a start for a gazillion games — that I’ll cut him some slack.

Then — as in five days ago, I said he was a jerk. Now I say a man is entitled to change his mind. Unless, I guess, he’s a politician.

If an elected official dares to change his mind, he might as well curse God and country. Or, even worse, not wear a flag pin.

Positions are made, at least in politics, to be kept. Forever.

Or we’ll make you pay.

The Los Angeles City Council has supersized its objection to rising obesity rates.

The council voted unanimously Wednesday to impose a one-year ban on new fast-food restaurants in one of the city's poorest areas, including South Los Angeles.

If approved by the mayor, the ordinance would put a moratorium on the construction of new fast-food outlets in a 32-square-mile area of the city, and it could be extended for a second year.

Would such a measure ever make it to Greensboro? Probably not, not only because it seems to overstep government's role in a competitive business market but because the poorest parts of Greensboro don't have very many fast-food restaurants.

Even unhealthy amenities are missing there, especially in east Greensboro.

Having spent nearly a week in Chicago for the Unity minority journalism conference, I find myself more and more enamored of the place.

The metallic skyline, in shimmering hues of blue and gray, looks surreal, like a sci-fi futurescape (in fact, the city did stand in as Gotham City in the last two Batman movies).

And those are only the tallest buildings. Sprouting throughout are smaller high-rise condos -- smaller, that is, by Chicago standards.

The nearly two dozen I saw were all taller than the tallest high-rise in Greensboro. What a difference even one of them could make if we could whisk it out of Chi-town and transplant it on North Elm Street.

Another impressive thing about Chicago is its walkability. The lakefront area consists of miles and miles of biking, jogging and walking paths that interconnect neighborhoods and parks.

The wider, tree-lined paths near the city's Museum Campus are divided into left and right lanes with blue stripes, like a superhighway for people.

It is a pleasant place with a view of downtown on one side and the bright-blue waters of Lake Michigan on the other.

There are bridges across railroad tracks and well-lit tunnels under Lakeshore Drive.. As you stroll past Soldier Field, you imagine going to a Bears game on a fall Sunday.

I'm guessing this is what the Downtown Greenway people have in mind for Greensboro.

I'm beginning to see their point more clearly.