Week in Review 12

• After a season of apparent policy slip-ups, Pope Benedict XVI announced Monday that he is shuffling top advisers and bringing in veteran diplomats closely identified with Vatican policy in Iraq and the Middle East. Among those whose duties were shuffled are God, who has been reassigned to a largely ceremonial role as Associate Assistant Vice President for the Development of Papal Input, and Jesus, who will work in the Vatican mail room.
• The bald eagle is taken off the endangered species list. The government, however, insists that the mildly receding hairline eagle remains on the protected list.
• Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and other world players seek a "unified response" to Darfur crisis at a conference in Paris. It is unclear whether this will replace the current "unified response" -- apathy.
• A 15-year-old boy in India who allegedly delivered a baby by Caesarean section in an attempt to set a world record as the youngest surgeon apparently fled as police prepared to arrest him on Tuesday. He gave police at the front door the slip when he left through a window.
• China's Xinhua News Agency says its legislature has approved a contract labor law aimed at improving workers' rights. On behalf of Americans everywhere, let's hope they now have the right not to make total crap that falls apart in three days.
• With parts of Alabama suffering from exceptional drought, Gov. Bob Riley declares June 30-July 7 as "Days of Prayer for Rain" as he wants Alabamians to pool their prayer power to cure the drought. This is the kind of practical leadership folks have been lacking since, oh, the Dark Ages.
• Researchers announce they will visit Michigan's Upper Peninsula next month to search for evidence of the legendary creature known as ''Bigfoot'' or ''Sasquatch.'' Michiganer Michael Moore agrees to film the search for a documentary, being that he's Sasquatch's closest human cousin and all.
• During a speech in Rhode Island, President Bush holds up Israel as a model for Iraq. Well, let's all hope that 60 years from now, like Israelis, Iraqis can live free in a state of perpetual fear of getting blown up.
• In a major blow against terrorism, British authorities thwart a plot to reassemble the Spice Girls.
• The Atlanta Hawks draft Al Horford and Acie Law in the 17th year of their rebuilding plan.
• In Senegal, First lady Laura Bush picks vegetables and hands out mosquito nets to emphasize that fighting AIDS in Africa also means tackling some of the continent's even more widespread afflictions: malnutrition and malaria. Unfortunately, Mrs. Bush's plans go awry when she is arrested for being an undocumented worker.

I'm saying a mouthful

Does this just happen to me?

It seems that every time a waitress comes to my table to ask how my meal is, she chooses the moment when I've just crammed my mouth full of something, more often than not something that takes about five minutes to chew. Now, granted, I don't spend a lot of time with my mouth empty after my meal's arrival, but still. So the conversation goes something like this:

Waitress: How's your meal?

Me: Mmmmh bmmmm hhmmmm ummmm rmmmm hurmmmm. (Which obviously means "Well, if this steak's considered blackened, well I reckon I'm Eddie Murphy.")

Waitress: That's good.

Week in review 11

Honestly, I have no clue what's been going on outside my own little world because I've been on vacation for the past 10 days and eight nights or something like that. I'll assume that the rest of the world went something like this:

• A report came out that showed our economy is super strong and Republicans waved it around.
• A report came out that showed our economy is going to hell in a handbasket and Democrats waved it around.
• A lot of people were killed in God's name because of religious differences.
• A pro athlete who could live the rest of his life in the lap of luxury did something really stupid and put his future in jeopardy.
• Four gazillion people died in West Iran, uh, I mean Iraq, and some one blamed the "liberal" media for overlooking all the positive things that happened this week, such as when an RPG missed 12-year-old Habib by 4 inches while he was running to a beautiful, high-tech, brand new school that will be blown up next week.

Of course, I'm just assuming all that because I was on a round trip around the world, or at least around the little part of it that takes you from Columbus to Eufaula to Panama City to Valdosta to Eufaula again and back to Columbus. Not exactly "Following the Equator," but it'll do. So, here's the Week in Review as I actually experienced it:

• Gas is cheaper in Alabama, Florida and Valdosta than it is in Columbus. Certainly this is simply a product of "economic factors" we non-economic-minded morons can't understand ... such as price gouging and collusion.
• Alligators are attracted to red kayaks. And while most kayaks bop along around 4 mph, they can hit speeds of 35 mph when followed by a 10-foot-plus alligator.
• This kayaker falsely assumed that there is some current on the Chattahoochee River between Hatchechubee and Lakepoint near Eufaula. I was wrong. My calculations for the 2-hour, 16-mile trip were off by two and a half hours.
• I turned 37 in one of my favorite places on Earth. No, not Louie's Gutbuster Buffet. Panama City, Fla., where there's now a high-rise condo complex every 12 inches. But, soon, there also will be a Margaritaville at the new Pier Park. At least I think I turned 37. I know it had a 3 in it.
• The chic way to dispose of your cigarette at the beach is to flick it into the sand. With any luck, you can pollute the air, the land and if the sea comes in enough, the water too. The ultimate redneck triple-whammy. And you thought it was just people in Columbus and Phenix City who are too lazy to use an ashtray.
• People from such far-away lands as Michigan and Minnesota don't understand the whole sunscreen concept ... well, until Day 2 of their Florida vacations anyway.
• Overheard from my exasperated son at Wild Adventures when his dad stopped to talk to a deranged maintenance man: "Oh great! Dad's stopped to talk to a crazy person again!" His dad attracts these people like dog poop attracts flies.
• The portable DVD player is mankind's single greatest invention, something to which parents who take their kids on long trips can attest. Headphones that plug into these DVD players run a close second.
• A discovery: Floating over waves on an inner tube in 95-degree heat is cool. Changing a flat tire in 95-degree heat in Eufaula is hot.
• A discovery you're not allowed to tell my doctor about: Next to Troy's Snack Shack in Montezuma, Ga., the best burger in America can be found at Schooner's in Panama City Beach. But I must say the view of the open-air, beachside restaurant is far better than Troy's.

Week in Review 10

A little early this week, but I've got a busy Friday, so nothing newsworthy is allowed to happen Friday ...

• NASCAR fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr., right, joins Hendrick Motorsports, where he'll be teammates with despised racer Jeff Gordon (despised because he's the sport's best and most literate driver). Junior's fans urge him to reconsider and get a more likable teammate, such as David Ragan, Carl Edwards or Satan.
• To repair the space shuttle's damaged thermal blanket, NASA blasts 84-year-old Edith Mae Mygrant and her sewing kit into orbit. Mrs. Mygrant says she can repair the shuttle's blanket and crochet some doilies for the International Space Station.
• Hamas violently wrestles control of the Palestinian government and security forces from Fatah and President Mahmoud Abbas. "The era of justice and Islamic rule has arrived," Hamas spokesman Islam Shahawan said. Boy, nothing's quite so reassuring as knowing "Islamic rule has arrived."
• The U.S. military reveals that it researched the possibility of using a bomb that would have employed hormones to turn opposing forces gay. The plan was dropped after it was tested on Iraq's Republican Guard, which then spontaneously put on a production of "Cats" that garnered rave reviews.
• Country singer Sammy Kershaw announces that he's running for lieutenant governor of Louisiana. Who better to restore dignity to Louisiana politics than someone who's biggest hit was "Queen of My Doublewide Trailer?"
• Twelve viewers tune in across America to watch the San Antonio Spurs sweep the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. It's the lowest TV ratings for a major sports championship since a couple of weeks ago when the Anaheim Mighty Ducks won the NHL's Stanley Cup on the Home Shopping Network.
• Scientists believe they find the remains of a giant, birdlike dinosaur as tall as the formidable tyrannosaur in China, citing it as a major discovery in evolutionary science. They are forced to retract their statements, however, after realizing what they discovered was actually the result of a Yao Ming parasailing accident.
• A report shows shoppers at Wal-Mart stores are loading carts with merchandise -- flat-screen TVs, DVDs, six packs of beer -- and strolling out without paying. Employees also are helping themselves to goods. Analysts estimate losses due to shoplifting, employee theft, paperwork errors and supplier fraud could total more than $3 billion this year at the world's largest retailer. More amazing is that all the world's Wal-Marts put together could have $3 billion worth of anything.
• "The Sopranos" kind of ends its run on HBO.
  

Guitar man

In case you haven't heard, local guitar maker -- and fixer -- Mac McCormick died Tuesday after a long illness. A lot of folks in the Chattahoochee Valley and beyond play guitars made by the man.

I'm not lucky enough to own one of those guitars, but he did work his magic in repairing my old hand-me-down guitar, which still sounds as good as it did when my dad got it more than 30 years ago. Mac was one of those genuine characters, content to work in a little shop in the back of another business, a glass company the last time I saw him.

He was kind of a gruff fellow. The first time I took my guitar to him and explained the problem, he snatched it out of my hands and acted kind of irritated while he fixed it in a matter of minutes. He was so gruff that I figured it was gonna cost me a bundle and began fumbling for my wallet and checkbook and calculated my life savings in my head. When he shoved it back at me, I asked, "How much?"

"Nuthin'!"

Hey, I'll take gruff and free any day. The guy definitely marched to the beat of a different drummer ... or strummer. He lived life on his own terms, and I can appreciate that. The next time he had to take the darn thing apart and actually accepted a reasonable payment. He made good money from his custom-made guitars, though.

So, bon voyage, Mac. Next Buffett tune I strum on my guitar, I'm dedicating to you. The guitar still sounds great. Considering my talent level, that's quite a compliment.

Baseball gods, please

I'm a very spiritual person, if not a religious one. But right now I've got to have faith in the "baseball gods." They must exist. I believe they're busy punishing the New York Yankees for trying to buy a World Championship. How else can you explain the Red Sox's comeback in the ALCS a couple of years ago? Anyway, baseball gods, if you're listening, grant me this one prayer: Please let Barry Bonds hit his 754th home run, and then never another one. Leave him one short of Hank Aaron for eternity. Amen.

Week in Review 9

• Temporarily, Paris Hilton is released from jail and ordered to spend the remainder of her 45-day sentence under house arrest ... in her posh, 2,700-square-foot Hollywood Hills home because she was refusing to eat or sleep in jail -- or as folks on the outside would term Paris' behavior, acting normal.
• To make room for Paris Hilton's return to jail, a crack-addicted prostitute known only as "Sparkle" from South-Central L.A. is transferred to Paris' posh Hollywood Hills home. Nearby residents express relief that they finally have a neighbor with a real job.
• Boxer Mike Tyson films a segment for a Bollywood musical production. Tyson expresses his wish to star in more Bollywood productions. I don't have a joke for this. Do I need one?
• U.S. scientists will lose much of their ability to monitor global warming from space, a confidential report to the White House warns. Told of the report, President Bush responds, "And what's the bad news?"
• The Sierra Club asks the federal government to ban the toxic chemicals nonylphenol ethoxylates that are found in some detergents. Scientists believe the chemicals can cause male fish to develop female characteristics. They make the conclusion after studying several male largemouth bass crying for no apparent reason.
• After a series of angry exchanges between the U.S. and Russia, President Bush tries to ease tension by stressing "Russia is not going to attack Europe." Bush is so confident of that fact that he wants to build a massive missile defense shield over the whole continent.
• The Space Shuttle Atlantis returns to space, and, naturally, NASA gets busy studying damage to the shuttle's thermal blanket that occurred during liftoff. Tired of being criticized for problems after every liftoff, NASA changes its policy of running the shuttle by Jiffy Lube to prepare for each mission.
• The Project for Excellence in Journalism shows Fox News spent less coverage time on Iraq and far more time on Anna Nicole Smith than its cable news rivals in the first three months of 2007. In all fairness, though, it's hard to tell which story was the bigger disaster.
• Rags to Riches becomes the first filly to win Belmont since 1905. She wins despite being late out of the gates because she was touching up her makeup when the starting bell rang.
• Turns out the 23 nuns of the Salesian Sisters of Mary Immaculate Province in San Antonio are big Spurs fans. They pin players' names on their habits and even pray for the Spurs to win. The Spurs have embraced the nuns and gave four of them seats for the opener of the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Spurs beat the Cavs, proving once and for all that when it comes to NBA teams, God does not like the King James Version.

On the water

About 10 years after my first kayaking trip around St. Simons Island, I finally got my very own kayak -- the Blast by Victory, an inexpensive but pretty reliable and stable kayak that tracks pretty darn well for a 9.5-footer. It's my Father's Day and birthday present rolled into one.

I bought it this morning and was on the water at Lake Oliver by 1 p.m. I'd rather paddle around someplace that's more natural with fewer homes on the water. But for purposes of testing the kayak and honing my skills, it's a great spot. It's not too big, not too choppy and there aren't too many Jet Skis zipping around, ruining the peacefulness of the lake.

I didn't mind paying the $2 launch fee at the Lake Oliver Marina, but then I was told that I had to launch it down the rocky concrete boat ramp. You're supposed to launch kayaks from grass or sandy banks so as not to scrape your boat. So I had to pay $2 for the marina to NOT accommodate my boat. If you don't want to accommodate kayaks, fine, but don't take my $2. Do one or the other. "Not my rules; it's the city's," the man at the marina said. Of course my policy on stupid rules is to not enforce them when I'm put in that kind of situation. Just ask the folks at the L-E how I feel about stupid dress codes. They have to keep putting out memos just for me.

And while I don't like paddling around so many homesites, I will say this: All the homes on the lake are well-kept and beautiful, especially the ones where the backyards leading to the lake and docks or boathouses are kept very natural. There's not a single eyesore on the lake, although there are a few ostentatious mansions that detract from the area. Then again, I'm not much for status symbols, nor do I have a pressing need to be noticed. If I could afford a million-dollar home, it would just look like home ... but with a really nice boat house/writing shack.

I'll soon be taking it down the Chattahoochee, on Lake Eufaula, down the Flint and around some bays on the coast. In the meantime, you may see my little red kayak bopping around Lake Oliver. Give me a holler if you see me.

Balls!

I've seen some bad television channels in my day, but whatever channel 3 is on my Knology system takes the cake. It's supposedly news, financial and sports headlines, although the images don't quite match the text.

My wife suckered me tonight by telling me the "ball game" was on. Hoping to find ESPN, ESPN Classic, Fox Sports, ESPNU, ESPN News or the NFL Network on, I instead saw this:

Note the text has nothing to do with sports. It's about a Sacramento man who turned 110 and eats an unhealthy diet. It should be noted that the image doesn't do justice to the excitement of the channel because what you can't tell here is that the football rolls back and forth slightly for a few minutes.

That was followed by the robot. The robot is reading something, but you don't know what because this station has no sound. He seems very serious, even for a robot:

Granted, I've got like 140 other channels, but I think I'm gonna only watch this one until I discover why it's on my TV. I think the robot is speaking only to me. "Chris Johnson, we the robots of the world have appointed you our leader. Now, please go to Station X14 and pull Lever 23 and ask for Hal, who will give you the coordinates for Mission Excalibur. And don't take no wooden nickels."

Real country radio

I grew up a child of baby boomers, and that meant a lot of the music I listened to as a child was stuff like the Beatles, Elvis, the Everly Brothers and even Herman's Hermits. During my teens, I was into Prince, the Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, Keith Sweat and Cameo. It wasn't until college that I finally turned on to country music.

That was about the time Garth Brooks, Clint Black, Travis Tritt and Alan Jackson were beginning to get airplay. I loved Black's "Killin' Time," Brooks' "Much Too Young," Tritt's "Country Club" and Jackson's "Here in the Real World." But soon everybody was into country music, and country began to turn pop-ish and bland. It got to the point where I couldn't listen to mainstream, our-hands-are-tied corporate country radio anymore.

Meanwhile, with the help of digital radio, I began to go back in time and discover REAL country music. Merle Haggard. Hank Snow. Hank Williams. Johnny Cash. Johnny Paycheck. Waylon Jennings. I got the chance to see Haggard in concert at the ol' Silver Moon honky tonk outside Buena Vista. I've interviewed Charlie Daniels, a super nice, down-to-earth guy. I always wanted to interview Hank Jr. The closest I've gotten is to talk to old manager Merle Kilgore, who yelled at me for no reason: "Hank ain't doin' no interviews!" OK.

Problem is, you're rarely going to hear those old guys on corporate-controlled radio stations, whose push to bland-down radio is exactly what's driving interest in digital and satellite radio. I do like a few modern acts. I love Sugarland, mainly because I saw lead singer Jennifer Nettles pay her dues at such places at The Uptown Tap in downtown Columbus, and because she's not ashamed to have a little twang in her voice. I like Brad Paisley's "Alcohol," Craig Morgan's "Redneck Yacht Club," and Kenny Chesney's "Beer in Mexico."

Maybe that's why when I go to Eufaula, as I regularly do during the summer and you can read about in this coming Sunday's column, I always turn the radio dial to 95.5, WTVY out of Dothan, and leave it there. You can barely pick it up in Columbus. But if you go to their Web site, you can click a link and listen to them on the Internet.

Why would you want to? Because you may hear some bland new act like Rascal Flatts, but it might be followed by Haggard's "Mama Tried." Then forward for some Sugarland. Then back a little for early George Strait, maybe "The Fireman." Then way back to "Miller's Cave" by Hank Snow. Then some good recent Tritt stuff like "Modern-Day Bonnie and Clyde." In short, they get it. Their hands obviously aren't tied. Their DJ's sound like real human beings and not overly polished. They sound happy, too -- perhaps because they don't have to listen to Faith Hill, Rascal Flatts and Shania Twain all day.

Now if someone will just take Sunny 100's "all-80s weekend" one step further and make an "all-80s all the time" or even "all 70s and 80s all the time," I'll be happy. Somebody had to have the crazy idea to launch the first oldies station playing 50s and 60s music. Now they're all over the place. Yeah, the 70s and 80s probably are the new oldies, but what do you expect? I'm 36. Bring on the oldies ... and retirement!

Week in review 8

• A Gwinnett County, Ga., mother is taking her quest to keep Harry Potter books out of schools to federal court. Laura Mallory says the books promote witchcraft. (Oh, by the way, they promote reading, too. And since witchcraft isn't real, so what?) The Harry Potter books are chock full of superstition, magic and evil spirits, but actually are going to be taught soon in Muscogee County schools. No, wait, that's not Harry Potter? Oh, yeah, it's the other book full of superstition, magic and evil spirits ... the Bible.
• A 37-year-old woman suffering from an inoperable brain tumor wants to donate a kidney before she dies, and will choose the recipient from among three contestants on Dutch national television. The government says it cannot stop the broadcast. It's obvious the lady doesn't have a heart to give away.
• An auction of Jackson family memorabilia is held in Las Vegas. Most of the collection includes items that belonged to Michael Jackson, such as glittery suits, platinum records, autographed photos and a 12-year-old Guatemalan boy.
• Protests erupt in Venezuela after new-wave dictator Hugo Chavez shuts down a popular anti-Chavez TV station. Some protesters worry that Chavez is gaining too much power, but most are worried they'll be forced to watch horrible shows like "American Idol" or "Who Wants My Kidney?"
• Smoke blankets Columbus. However, authorities discover the smoke did not come from the forest fires on the Georgia-Florida line. The smoke is instead traced to Jimmy Earl Hornsnuckle of Upatoi who can't seem to shake his 12-pack-a-day habit.
• SHANGHAI, China -- China's leaders are trying to calm public concern over sharp price rises for pork, the country's staple meat, ordering local governments to ensure adequate supplies and help low-income families. Fortunately, a deal is worked out after 11-year-old Jamison Stone shoots Hogzilla II, also known as Monster Pig, in Alabama. Stone offers to give the 1,000-pound wild boar to China if China agrees to send America's economy and jobs back.
• Kobe Bryant asked to be traded from the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday, a day after calling the team's front office ''a mess.'' He said there was nothing the Lakers could do to change his mind, saying he didn't see "how you can rebuild that trust. I just don't know how you can move forward in that type of situation.'' Hmm, maybe the team could rebuild that trust by buying him a big diamond ring.
• The United States and Iran finished in a virtual dead heat, and way down the list, in the Economist magazine's assessment of the peacefulness of 121 countries. The United States placed 96th and Iran came in 97th on the global index. Iraq was in last place, with Sudan and Israel just above. Topping the list are all the countries the United States hasn't tried to force democracy upon.
• SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A pair of wounded humpback whales that spent more than two weeks wandering up the Sacramento River appear to have slipped back into the sea., officials said Wednesday. President Bush hails the whales' turnaround as proof immigration reform is working.
• Peace activist Cindy Sheehan, who lost a son in the Iraq war, announces she's going to quit protesting the war due to the hatred she's gotten from America's peace-haters. And unlike President Bush, she knows a lost cause when she sees one.

Week in review 7

• ABC announces its fall lineup will include the sitcom "Cavemen," based on the cavemen from the Geico commercials, leaving Americans to ask the question they never thought they'd ask: "Whatever happened to good ol' reality TV?"
• The start of the Stanley Cup Finals is delayed when the Ottawa Senators can't get their puck out of a subcommittee.
• Gas prices soar over $3, meaning the poor, helpless oil companies who are merely at the mercy of world markets will likely suffer another quarter of record profits, much to their great dismay.
• The Internal Revenue Service does a poor job in identifying tax-exempt groups that may have links to terrorists, according to a report released Friday. However, researchers are relieved to find that the IRS has no problem whatsoever in tracking down hard-working members of the middle class over "questionable" $12 deductions.
• Ratings fall 19 percent over the previous year for the "American Idol" finale, in which Jordin Sparks (Who was Carl Weathers' stunt double in "Rocky II") won the title. This gives hope that America's long, national nightmare may soon be over.
• Florida moves up its primary to Jan. 29, bypassing other states who've moved up to Feb. 5. However, Florida is then trumped by Ohio, which decides to hold its primary five minutes from now.
• Dario Franchitti wins a rain-shortened Indy 500, the highlight of which was seeing his rain-soaked and barefoot wife Ashley Judd in the winner's circle. Driving about 40 mph on the final lap, Franchitti and the other drivers are passed on the final lap by 95-year-old Wanda Mae Perkins, who was on her way to the grocery store. Perkins is disqualified for making an obscene gesture at the slow Indy drivers.
• On a weekend traditionally reserved for marking the sacrifices of our nation's fallen military heroes, Americans unite to pray for two lost whales in the Sacramento River. Fortunately, the two whales are supplanted by "The View's" Rosie O'Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck as the two dumbest mammals on the planet.
• In a video posted on YouTube, Hillary Rodham Clinton asks viewers to pick her campaign theme song. Options range from U2's "Beautiful Day" to Smash Mouth's version of "I'm a Believer" to Celine Dion's "You and I." Tammy Wynette's "Stand by Your Man" is not an option.

A transportation alternative

Are you sick of high gas prices? Of course you are, unless your name is Fred Mobil or Sam Citgo. I've got a local solution to at least cut down on using motorized vehicles in Columbus ... a lazy river. All we've got to do is build a 20-or-so-miles-long lazy river that winds its way through Columbus. Everyone grabs an inner tube and cruises to their destination at a leisurely 3 or 4 miles an hour. I'm sure the city will seize upon this idea, and when they do, since it was my idea, I'd really appreciate it if they'd have the lazy river run down the median of Broadway, so I can hop out right by the paper at 12th Street.

Granted, I'm not sure this plan will go over quite as well in winter. Then again, we can heat the water. And the lazy river may get a little rough as it tumbles over the Fall Line from the north side of Columbus where I live. And we may have to ban extremely unattractive people in skimpy swimsuits. But no transportation system is perfect. I also wouldn't mind a larger-scale lazy river that round-trips between Columbus and Atlanta -- we just might have to speed the river up a little. Then again, who's ever in a hurry to get to Atlanta?

It's just a thought. I'm sure you might have other ideas, but I'm sort of partial to lazy rivers, as you can read about in this coming Sunday's column.

Plains speak

When Jimmy Carter ran for re-election in 1980, I rooted for Ronald Reagan. It should be noted I was 10 and thought Iran was something I did after stealing a piece of bubble gum from the Suwanee Swifty. I probably only rooted for Reagan to aggravate my parents, both of whom supported Carter at the time.

And I still think Reagan was a good man, and I think he was the right president at the right time. However, as the years went on, I developed a lot more respect for Carter, who I think is probably one of the more honorable men to hold the Oval Office. I worked with his niece, Billy Carter's daughter, who is one of the nicest and smartest people I've ever worked with. And Mr. Jimmy is the only president I've actually met ... while we both played at a "celebrity" softball game in Plains. I didn't know who the guy in a plaid shirt and blue jeans was who was walking up to me from the side until he said, "Hi, I'm Jimmy Carter." The Braves were in the playoffs, and he was heading to the game later, so all we talked about was baseball. Fortunately, we didn't talk foreign policy, which seems to get the guy in trouble a lot.

I don't always agree with the guy. I don't think we should have boycotted the 1980 Summer Games. And I don't think we should tread as lightly with militant Muslims as he does. And I think he loves the limelight more than a good ol' Georgia boy should. He wanted that Nobel Peace Prize. I think a lot of the Carter Center's wonderful efforts over the years have been geared to winning that award, rather than the intrinsic value of the work itself.

But I will say this for the man: As bad as the Middle East is right now, it would be exponentially worse had Carter not brokered peace between Israel and Egypt. I remember watching Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian prime minister Anwar Sadat shake hands while sitting in my grandfather's lap. He was usually a bitter man, having lost both his legs in World War II, but he became emotional that day. Peace really meant something to him, and that day made an impression on me forever.

And I don't think there's anything wrong with Carter saying that President Bush's foreign policy has been the worst of any presidential administration in history. Really, why bother to state the obvious?

And, oh yeah, Carter talks like me, so he gets extra credit for that.

Same ol' Braves

I can't believe my Atlanta Braves have lost 6 out of 8 games, just as I was starting to become a believer again. Oh well, I loved them when they were the lovable losers of the 1980s, so I guess being two games out of first place in the NL East is hardly the end of the world.

And there's a part of me that kind of misses those lovable losers of the 80s, when poor Dale Murphy had to carry the whole team on his back while Claudell Washington was snorting the outfield lines, Dion James was killing birds and Bob Horner was nursing hangnails on the DL. Lovable losers like me have gotta have heroes too, you know. Plus, when you were 30 games out of first place, any win was cause for celebration.

But I know the Braves are gonna be in it all year. And you've gotta believe in a team that truly feels like your local team with so many Georgia and Alabama boys on it. It's like having a local American Legion team in the Major Leagues.

Week in Review 6

• Famous for being famous Paris Hilton has her sentenced reduced from 45 to 23 days for a probation violation, with jail officials giving her credit for good behavior (Paris Hilton?) and the fact that she actually showed up for her latest court date (impressive). She will be in a "special needs housing unit" with her special need being unwarranted attention. She will also be separated from the "general inmate population" in a move hailed by ... the "general inmate population."
• Abraham Lincoln might have survived being shot if today's medical technology had existed in 1865 -- that's what the annual University of Maryland School of Medicine conference determined this week. They also decided that if a frog had wings, he wouldn't bump his rear end every time he jumped.
• Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., jumps his motorcycle over a pool of sharks in what the White House decries as an obvious political stunt.
• Presidential candidates revealed their earnings and assets this week. Republican Rudy Giuliani reported $16.1 million in earned income over the past 16 months, while Democratic hopeful John Edwards and his wife reported $29.5 million in assets. Libertarian presidential contender Chris Johnson reported assets of $12.75 and a 15-percent-off coupon for Captain D's.
• Outspoken evangelist Jerry Falwell dies at age 73. Teletubby Tinky Winky, reached for comment during a Barbra Striesand concert, says "Ooooo, man say mean things."
• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers creating a trust fund of up to $100 million for grizzly bear and gray wolf populations in parts of the Northern Rockies, but some express concern that the wolves will blow it all on whisky and women.
• In another brilliant move, Washington announces that the new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad -- set to open in September in what is now a war zone -- will be the world's largest at 104 acres and most expensive at $592 million ... because what the insurgents in Iraq need is a really, really big target.
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to announce approval for Lybrel, an oral contraceptive that would end women's periods. New drugs are expected soon that would help them end their semicolons.

Cheesebuger in Paradise

Boy did I commit a little mortal sin this weekend. No, nothing like that. Get your mind out of the gutter. In my Sunday column about newspaper songs, I had a major typo: "Cheesebuger in Paradise."

Yeah, I know, that Jimmy Buffett song has nothing to do with newspapers other than the terrible dietary habits of print journalists, so you'll have to read the column to see how it relates. Fortunately, that typo won't be found online ... I fixed that. Unfortunately, I can't fix the tens of thousands of Sunday papers with the typo. I've already gotten in trouble with the Margaritaville police once this year. Even though I'm not fond of this Buffett song, this screw-up could very well result in capital punishment.

Week in Review 5

• During a campaign speech in Virginia, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says of the recent Kansas tornado: "In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died -- an entire town destroyed." Actually it was 12. An Obama spokesman says the senator later realized his gaffe and said: "My bad. Duh, there aren't even 10,000 people in Kansas. Man, I overstated that almost as much as people have overstated my qualifications to be president."
• Republican presidential contenders Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney are each forced to clarify their positions on abortion. Clarifies Romney: "I'd like to make it clear that I stand, steadfastly, firmly, wholeheartedly, 100 percent behind whichever position will get me elected." Responds Giuliani: "Yeah, what he said."
• Informed by his National Security Adviser that six men were arrested and charged with plotting to massacre U.S, soldiers at Fort Dix, President Bush responds, "Huh, huh, you said Dix."
• The United States files charges of conspiracy and providing support for terrorism Thursday against a Guantanamo detainee who worked as a driver for Osama bin Laden.
  Salim Ahmed Hamdan also faces additional charges of failing to yield the right of way at a dangerous intersection in Kabul in 2001.
• Congressional Democrats settle a major trade impasse with the Bush administration. The Democrats will get Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in exchange for Rep. Sanford Bishop and a player to be named later.
• Paris Hilton is dethroned as the most spoiled brat in America when Roger Clemens rejoins the New York Yankees for $18 million under the condition that he doesn't have to be, like, part of the team or anything.
• BOSTON -- A fight in the balcony interrupts the opening night performance of the Boston Pops. In a statement, the symphony says that's the last time they'll have Lynyrd Skynyrd as their special guest.
• A study finds that many thin people are actually fat on the inside. "Being thin doesn't automatically mean you're not fat," said Dr. Jimmy Bell, a professor of molecular imaging at Imperial College, London. According to the data, people who maintain their weight through diet rather than exercise are likely to have major deposits of internal fat, even if they are otherwise slim. In a related study, Ashley Judd is found to be extremely ugly beneath her skin.
• FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- Two female college students who bared their bellies at a Framingham State College lacrosse game couldn't stomach a front-page newspaper photo of their stunt and now are in trouble for swiping copies, campus officials said. They apparently felt the photo made them look fat, the paper's faculty adviser said. In a related story, Ledger-Enquirer columnist Chris Johnson sabotages Webcasts at http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/ in which he offered commentaries. "I thought the camera was supposed to add 5 pounds, not 30," he says.
• Atlanta's Bobby Cox ties Sparky Anderson for fourth place in career managerial victories when the Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 on Friday night, Cox's 2,194th victory in the majors. Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is third on the list, but Cox is the all-time leader in times being caught in the dugout picking his nose on camera.

Newspaper songs

Hey, in this Sunday's column in the Ledger-Enquirer, I'm going to write about some great newspaper songs, some obvious, some not so obvious. Although, unlike my colleague Brad Barnes, who's liable to throw some obscure bands at ya, I'm fairly mainstream outside of my religiously following Jimmy Buffett. So I'm sure you'll recognize all the songs I list, assuming you're over the age of 12. Allow me to go ahead and get one stuck in your head:

So while she lay there sleeping,

I read the paper in bed.

And in the personals column,

there was this letter I read:

"If you like Pina Coladas,

And getting caught in the rain.

If you're not into yoga,

if you have half-a-brain.

If you like making love at midnight,

In the dunes of the cape.

I'm the lady you've looked for,

Write to me and escape."

Vigilantes

I really hope I don't accidentally kick a dent in the Mercedes whose the-world-revolves-around-me driver double-parks it in the parking garage near work. I hope somebody else does it besides me because there are cameras in there, and I don't wanna get busted. Usually, when somebody does this, I be sure to double-park my vehicle right beside them, so close that it's hard for them to even enter their vehicle. But I usually only do this when driving the wife's car in case Mr. Toogood Foryou retaliates.

I also want to make clear that I do not condone the following: When a driver tosses his cigarette butt out the window at a red light and you go retrieve it from the road and toss it back into their open window. I appreciate it, but I don't condone it.

I also do not condone playing Ernest Tubb songs at 200 decibels outside the home of the teenager who cruises by your house with his window-rattling stereo blasting inane rap songs.

All these things are very wrong. Really, don't do it. I mean it. Unless, you know, you get the urge or something.

Week in review 4

• Asked his opinion on the fading secularization of Turkey, President Bush replies that it's none of his business because he prefers his deep-fried anyway.
• Humiliated by a video made and circulated by his daughter of him falling-down drunk, David Hasselhoff defends his actions by explaining that he just been forced to watch himself in several episodes of "Baywatch."
• Britney Spears returns to the stage at the House of Blues but is accused of lip-synching (What?! No way!). People are tipped off after seeing Britney's lips ... no, wait, that was another video.
• Despite lackluster reviews and the leaked ending that sees Mary Jane Watson accidentally extinguish our hero with a giant can of Raid, "Spider-Man 3" makes $57 kajillion in its first five minutes of release.
• Minutes into the Kentucky Derby, Brits are humiliated when a YouTube video surfaces shiowing a drunken Queen Elizabeth II rolling around drunk on the floor of her Churchill Downs suite with David Hasselhoff.
• On "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," Lindsay Lohan announces that she's planning a Vegas-to-Malibu party trip to celebrate her 21st birthday. The Department of Homeland Security puts the states of Nevada and California on full red alert.
• Folk singer and anti-war activist Joan Baez complains that she was not allowed to perform for recovering soldiers recently at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Officials say the wounded soldiers have been through enough pain.
• In the wake of President Bush's veto of a bill calling for withdrawal of troops from I raq to begin in October, Republicans and Democrats come up with a compromise bill: U.S. troops will begin withdrawing in the year 2048. By that time, there should be no Iraqis left, and with alternatives to fossil fuels, we'll be a lot less interested in the Middle East.

Daddy's coming home!

For nearly 10 years, I worked until about midnight or 1 a.m. at the Ledger-Enquirer. I was on the news copy desk, which doesn't exactly lend itself to a good family life or much life at all outside of work without some creative scheduling. However, about a year and a half ago, I was fortunate enough to land a more normal schedule in the features department.

But last night I helped out a short-handed copy desk and realized how tough that can be on a parent. I managed to sneak out of the newsroom a little early and called to let the wife know I'd be home soon. In the background, I heard my 7-year-old son, Saylor, jumping up and down and yelling, "Daddy's coming home! Daddy's coming home!"

However, by the time I got there, the little fella had tuckered himself out waiting up for me and was asleep. I picked him up and carried him to his bed, kissed him on the cheek and told him I loved him, and he could barely mutter, "Love you too," before conking out for good. Sure makes me appreciate the flexibility I've got now.

Because I've got a flexible schedule, I was able to pick him up from day care and get him to his baseball game tonight. He's the 12th best hitter on a 13-member team but managed a couple of "hits" tonight and wound up with the game ball, which pretty much made his year. He said "I'm gonna call everybody I know," and proceeded to do just that after the game. The ball now sits on the mantle in our living room.

Had I still been on the news copy desk, I reckon I'd have missed that, too. So, the next time you spot a typo somewhere in the paper -- something that could never, ever happen on your watch, I'm sure -- cut them some slack. The words in one daily newspaper are enough to make a novel or two out of. It's a wonder there aren't far more errors in such a rushed product. Imagine if Mark Twain handed a rough draft of "Huckleberry Finn" to his editors at 2 p.m. and the book had to be edited, proofed, run on the press, out the door and hitting people's doorsteps in about 14 hours. That's pretty much what putting together a newspaper is like.

Perfection is every editor's goal and every reader's expectation, but it's not realistic. Just remember that there are a lot of folks giving up an awful lot to get that paper to you every day. Think about it while you're reading your kid to sleep.

Week in Review 3

• WASHINGTON -- An Iraqi who was one of al-Qaida's most senior and experienced operatives, Abdul Hadi al-Iraqi, has been shipped to the Guantanamo Bay military prison for terror suspects, officials said Friday. This makes the 47,428,651st senior al-Qaida operative captured since the War on Terror began, meaning the only terrorists left are Osama bin Laden and some guy named Eddie.
• LONDON -- A mineral recently discovered in Serbia has the same composition as kryptonite -- the fictional substance that robs Superman of his powers -- the British Museum said Tuesday. Mineral expert Chris Stanley at the Natural History Museum said: "Towards the end of my research I searched the Web using the mineral's chemical formula, sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide, and was amazed to discover that same scientific name written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luthor from a museum in the film 'Superman Returns.'" Stanley then raced down the hall to help a friend who'd been bitten by a radioactive super-spider.
• After she and Laurie David confronted presidential adviser Karl Rove at the White House Correspondents dinner about global warming, singer Sheryl Crow said that people could help save the planet by using one square of toilet paper at a time. It's obvious Miss Crow has never eaten at a Mexican restaurant.
• Richard Gere tried to quell the storm over a public kiss on the cheek that he gave a Bollywood star at an AIDS awareness event, apologizing Friday for any offense. Gere's embrace and kiss of actress Shilpa Shetty sparked several noisy demonstrations by hard-line Hindu groups and a flurry of legal complaints, which ended with a judge in the northwestern city of Jaipur issuing an arrest warrant for the two stars for violating obscenity laws. Perhaps this explains why all the Indians handling American companies' customer service calls are so irritable.
• Funeral goers let out a collective gasp at Boris Yeltsin's funeral as the former Russian president rises from his casket after someone proposes a toast.
• Actor Alec Baldwin goes on "The View" to apologize for a recently leaked voice mail to his 11-year-old daughter in which he berated her for missing his phone call, swore and calles her a "rude, thoughtless little pig" for missing his call. Baldwin said he meant to call her a "rude, thoughtless little ferret," but got confused in his anger.
• WOODBURN, Ind. -- The adviser for the Woodlan Junior-Senior High School's student newspaper, The Tomahawk, has been placed on administrative leave and is expected to be fired after she didn't alert the principal that a student had written a column advocating tolerance for homosexuals and those "different from you." The principal sends a clear message that tolerance will not be tolerated.
• For the first time astronomers have discovered a planet outside our solar system that is potentially habitable, with Earth-like temperatures, a find researchers described Tuesday as a big step in the search for "life in the universe." The planet is just the right size, might have water in liquid form, and in galactic terms is relatively nearby at 120 trillion miles away. Because it's so close, NASA makes plans to visit the planet, but says it's gonna wait until gas prices go down a little.

Parrotheads in The Gulch

With the help of a hitchhiker we picked up in the bowels of downtown Atlanta, my friend Gregg and I finally found the tailgating spot for Parrotheads known as "The Gulch" before Wednesday's Jimmy Buffett concert at Philips Arena. From makeshift beaches to hula skirts and tiki huts, Parrotheads managed to turn the parking lot into a bit of paradise in the urban jungle. Everybody talks to everybody else, and there are no strangers in Margaritaville.

But I got in trouble with the police in the parking lot. OK, it was the "Margaritaville Police," and they issued me a written warning citation for not wearing a lei. The citation noted that it wouldn't go on my "permenant record." When I pointed out they misspelled permanent, they issued me a second citation for being a nerd. I did purchase a $3 lei and the police later struck my first offense. As punishment, they also ordered me to go to wicked Wanda's trailer and have an upside-down tequila shot, which I passed on. I'm still upset that they didn't check the "too sexy" box on the citation, but then again it was two guys patrolling the parking lot, so that's OK.

Parrotheads are fairly normal people most days of the year (perhaps I'm the exception to that rule). But when Buffett comes to town, let's just say they let it all hang out, figuratively and literally as you can see in this slideshow from WSB TV. If you're offended by folks drinking mass quantities of alcohol, you may not want to view it.

Oh, a bonus during the show: Jazz great Earl Klugh played guitar during "A Pirate Looks At Forty."

I survived the mayhem and am fully functioning today, despite the tailgating, the show, a friend's cell phone beeping every 10 minutes all night long, and getting up at 7 a.m. in downtown Atlanta and getting to work by 10:15 a.m.

It was the third Buffett concert experience I've had, and I can say that Wednesday will go down as one of the most fun days of my life.

A "Hoot"

One thing that bugs me about a lot of movies aimed at kids is the three or four cuss words that they toss in there for no apparent reason. In most cases, they do nothing to advance the stories or the characters and just leave parents shaking their heads. Really, even going back to my youth, would "Smokey and the Bandit" would have been any worse without all the cussin?

Don't get me wrong: I'm no puritan. And I've seen my share of movies with vulgarity, nudity and graphic violence. I'm not against them. I don't think some of my favorite movies, such as "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" and "Sideways," would be as funny with G-rated words. And it wouldn't have been in line with the characters. But 10-year-olds weren't their target audience.

Which brings me to the movie "Hoot," which my 7-year-old son has wanted to see ever since we saw the trailers a year or so ago and he noticed Jimmy Buffett was in it (he also produced it), and Saylor knows I'm a huge Parrothead (which is another word for Buffett fans for those of you without advanced vocabularies).

So we got the movie through the cable's "on demand" service, and it turned out to be what a kids' movie ought to be. Kids standing up for a good cause. Good guys win. Bad guys lose. Silly jokes. Cute animals. Cute kids. Positive message. And not a single dirty word or even the slightest sexual innuendo.

For an adult, it was predictable, but tolerable. I enjoyed it just for the mix of music (provided mainly by Buffett and friends, including a reggae-style revamping of his mid-1980s song "Floridays") and the Florida scenery. It's based on Carl Hiaasen's book of the same name, and when nonconformists like Hiaasen and Buffett team up, good things usually happen.

There's some stuff Hiaasen has written that I wouldn't want Saylor to read. And there are plenty of Buffett songs I won't let him hear. But it's nice to know some folks know that there's a time and a place for everything. If only everyone else were as reasonable.

Anyway, if you've got kids in the 5-13 age range, check out this movie. And when the kids go to bed, watch "Harold and Kumar" for the umpteenth time. It's get funnier every time.

Week in review 2

• BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Five thousand bunnies blocked a highway Monday, tying up traffic after the truck that was carrying them collided with another vehicle and overturned, unconfirmed reports said. The other vehicle was an egg truck. The eggs were temporarily missing but later found painted in pastel colors and tucked away under roadside vegetation.
• DETROIT -- A cagey urban coyote that eluded authorities in a nearly hourlong foot chase through downtown Detroit is pregnant, according to the Michigan Humane Society. Since the announcement, Wile E. Coyote and Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband, Prince Frederick von Anhalt, have stepped forward claiming to be the father.
• The Rev. Al Sharpton protests at the funeral of Hawaiian crooner Don Ho.
• BOSTON -- Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya wins the Boston Marathon. Cheruiyot, who also won in 2003, set the course record last year but finished in a slower, unofficial time of 2 hours, 14 minutes, 13 seconds. "When the lion is chasing the antelope, he doesn't look back. He has to eat," Cheruiyot said. "So when I run, I don't stare at my time." Officials say it's the last time Cheruiyot will be allowed to bring his lion to the race.
• SAN JOSE, Calif. — Taxpayers who couldn’t electronically file 11th-hour returns using Intuit Inc.’s TurboTax, ProSeries and other software won’t be penalized for delays caused by the company’s overtaxed servers, the IRS said. A record number of returns on Tuesday choked the company’s computers, leading to delays in customers receiving confirmation that their returns had been submitted successfully. Usually, it takes only a few minutes after hitting the submit button for TurboTax users to get a confirmation. By Tuesday evening, it was taking hours. While the IRS won't penalize taxpayers, it is requiring that the company change the name of the program from TurboTax to DaewooTax.
• Senators in the liberal state of Vermont vote to call for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Resenting being called war hawks, Bush and Cheney order Vermont bombed off the map.
• Sanjaya Malakar is finally voted off "American Idol" despite having a higher approval rating than President Bush ... not to mention a better grip on foreign policy, economics and immigration control.
• Two diaries written by Anna Nicole Smith in the early 1990s failed to sell at an auction this weekend, but are now available for a minimum bid of $25,000 each, said an official at Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas. The auction house is considering whether translating Smith's diaries into English will boost their value.
• The Atlanta Hawks finish out of the playoffs for the eighth straight season at 30-52, a whopping four more wins than last season for third-year head coach Mike Woodson, whom owners praised for carrying the team through injuries and finding new and unique ways to lose games.
• The horrific shootings of 32 people at Virginia Tech are blamed on gun control, lack of gun control, videogames, bullying, violent films, lack of prayer in schools, income disparity, intolerance of foreigners and Skittles. Hardly anyone blames the shootings, however, on Cho Seung-Hui, the shooter.

A hundred what?

My son's coach-pitch team is 4-4 heading into tonight's game that wraps up the first half. The last win's highlight was our first baseman belting the team's first over-the-fence home run of the season. Apparently, there were a pre-arranged deal between the kid and his parents that I didn't know about. After the homer, his excited mom came jumping around the dugout and told him, "Well, I guess you get your $100."

Wow! If I'd have known that was the deal, I'd have signed up to play coach-pitch. We tried something similar when Saylor was 4 and playing soccer, which he now thinks is some sort of torture devised during the Inquisition. Saylor hadn't scored a goal all year, perhaps because he spent most of his time on the field conversing with his imaginary friends while the ball rolled by. Anyway, we told him before the final game that we would buy him a Teen Titans toy (about $7 I think) if he scored a goal. So during the game while driving toward a goal, a quick kid came and stole the ball from him and Saylor broke down in tears, officially making us the worst parents ever. Needless to say, he got his Teen Titans toy anyway.

Flash forward to practice yesterday where his teammates' $100 reward is still a hot topic. Saylor plays outfield and makes sure no clouds get past center field (which explains why a fly ball nearly landed on his head yesterday). He bats pretty far down the lineup and hasn't exactly ripped the cover off the ball. We get pretty excited about infield hits and reaching on a fielder's choice. But during his practice game yesterday, he got a couple of infield hits and came around to score both times. (With about 6 defenders out there during a practice game, it's not that hard.)

Trying to be supportive, I yelled through the fence, "Way to go, Saylor! You've scored TWICE!"

His response, "So, do I get a hundred dollars?"

Week In Review 1

• President Bush went to America's southern border this week to promote his immigration reform plan. From now on, anyone trying to enter the United States must answer one question to prove they will be of value to the United States, its culture and its economy: "How's your curve ball?"
• A team of scientists in suburban Cleveland announces that global warming is getting worse and must be stopped immediately. The scientists make the announcement after digging themselves out of a 16-foot snowbank.
• In a week that saw the funeral of legendary Grambling football coach Eddie Robinson and the lead-up to the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's breaking the color barrier in baseball, black leaders around America made sure the public's attention was focused where it should be ... on a caustic white radio shock jock who looks like Frankenstein.
• DNA tests confirm photographer Larry Birkhead is the father of the late Anna Nicole Smith's baby, but the custody battle takes a twist when Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt adopt the child.
• Not to be outdone, Madonna adopts Anna Nicole Smith's lawyer, Howard K. Stern.
• President George W. Bush strongly condemns Thursday's attack on Iraq's parliament building, saying his message to the Iraqi government is: "We stand with you." He adds, "...well, not 'with you' with you, of course, but from a safe distance."
• Leaders of Japan and China meet in an attempt to foster better relations without forgetting their wartime past. They decide that the few people still alive who had anything to do with their warring history fight it out once and for all in a Bingo game at a Tokyo nursing home.
• From the AP: The famous Gerber Baby will change parents with Nestle announcing it will buy Gerber Products Co. for $5.5 billion, giving the world's biggest food and drink company the largest share of the global baby food market. Nestle then announces the arrival of tasty Strained Green Bean Crunch.
• All charges are dropped against three former Duke University lacrosse players who were accused of sexual assault by a stripper. DA Mike Nifong apologizes to the players and says he'll no longer try to prosecute innocent rich white kids when there are still plenty of innocent poor black kids to go around.
• After the charges are dismissed, the three players hold a press conference at which David Evans calls the stripper's rape accusations "fantastic lies." The so-called victim disputes Evans' claim, saying the lies were pretty good as far as lies go, but hardly fantastic.
• Protests continue in the Kyrgyz capital, with thousands of demonstrators camping in tents and vowing to stay until until Kyrgyzstan's president steps down or lets them use more vowels.
• The United States is holding off on imposing unilateral sanctions against Sudan so that negotiations can take place on Sudanese acceptance of deployment of U.N.-backed international peacekeepers for Darfur, a top administration official says. The two remaining refugees of the genocide agree that "there's no reason for the world to, you know, get in any kind of hurry or anything."
• Tens of thousands march in Baghdad to mark the fourth anniversary of Baghdad's fall, meaning the celebration of the fourth anniversary of "mission accomplished" is just around the corner.
• The Bush administration toughens its approach with China, filing two cases against China alleging unfair trade practices and imposing stiff penalty sanctions in a dispute involving Chinese government subsidies to paper manufacturers. Bush says if China doesn't change its ways real soon, the country won't be allowed to have ALL of America's manufacturing jobs. China apologizes and promised that if America keeps sending all its jobs there, they'll even try to make the instruction manuals for all the products make sense.
• Though the U.S. trade deficit with China is on pace to exceed last year's record of $232.5 billion, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez says, "This talk about a trade war is way overblown." ... He later adds, "For it to be a trade war, there would have to be two countries involved, not just one."

Coming this weekend

Check Blawg Wild every weekend as I plan to start a "Week in Review" feature. It will be full of information. Or full of something anyway.

An apology

I was in a bad mood tonight over work-related stuff and took an overdue dinner break. Adding to my frustration, the downtown Burger King was closed at 9:10 p.m. for some strange reason. So, I was in a worse mood by the time I settled for McDonald's. (The pickins are slim after 9 p.m. downtown.) Anyway, a homeless guy near the door stopped me. He said he didn't want money, just something to eat. He was polite.

I get tired of being asked for money downtown all the time, especially since the homeless population in downtown Columbus has really exploded over the past few years. The panhandling downtown is getting almost as bad as Atlanta. And I've had a couple of arguments with homeless guys who ticked me off. Nevertheless, I occasionally give up some spare change or a dollar or two unless the person is rude, overbearing, high or smells too much like liquor. If I feel the person is genuinely just down on his luck, I don't mind parting with a buck. Yet, I just didn't feel like dealing with this guy earlier tonight and simply said "sorry" as I passed him by.

Call it a guilty conscience or fear of bad karma, but I couldn't enjoy my meal (granted, it was McDonald's) knowing I could have helped the guy out. So after throwing the remnants of my meal in the trash, I went out to ask the guy if I could get him a burger or something, but he was gone. Then I really felt guilty. I'm bracing for bad karma.

So, to the guy at McDonald's shaking off the rain Wednesday night after the storm, I'm sorry ... and I owe you a burger.

I miss Imus already

I usually catch part of Don Imus' radio show in the morning, at least the portion that's also broadcast on MSNBC. I don't always agree with the guy, but I like that he's willing to be politically incorrect in a politically correct society and that he doesn't pander to politicians, stars or the public.

But now Mr. Imus has incurred the wrath of THE OFFENDED. THE OFFENDED is a group constantly on alert for things that might hurt their feelings. In this case, Don Imus used the term "nappy-headed hos" to describe the look of the Rutgers University women's basketball team. Of course, I and a lot of other folks didn't hear this racially insensitive remark until THE OFFENDED rose up and brought it to the forefront, the same way they did when Michael Richards went looney and used the n-word while being heckled during a stand-up routine. Now it's all over TV, radio and in the papers. By golly, everybody's heard it now.

Imus has been suspended for a couple of weeks, but THE OFFENDED want him fired, burned at the stake and fed to alligators. I guess that one remark negates every positive thing the guy's done, including supporting our troops, holding politicians' feet to the fire and running a ranch in New Mexico for kids with cancer to have the times of their lives. (By the way, Imus says 10 percent of the kids who come to the ranch are black.)

I agree that what Imus said is insensitive, and the guy has apologized profusely. But where do you think Imus got the term "hos" from? Think he heard it from his rich white friends in the Northeast or some white ranch hands in New Mexico? No, this term came from the hip-hop culture. Hip-hop artists who've used the term and popularized it and put it into the mainstream so that folks like Imus now know it are honored for their work, lauded, awarded, praised and have become role models for a generation.

I will give the Rev. Al Sharpton props for having decried the term's use and the other negative effects of the hip-hop culture long before this incident, although not as vehemently as he will attack any offense committed by a white person. But if he and THE OFFENDED find this so offensive, they're focusing their battle in the wrong area. They need to demand that Ice-T, 50 Cent, Jay-Z and their ilk be fired. That those who produced their records be fired. That those who sell their records be fired. They need to focus on the origin of the problem, not the result of it. It's simple cause and effect. Attack the cause, not the effect.

Criticizing Imus for picking up on this word so popularized by hip-hop is like blaming your next-door-neighbor's Suburban for global warming.

And I seriously doubt this much of a stink would have been raised had this phrase been uttered on "The Tom Joyner Morning Show." Someone would have complained, but you probably wouldn't have had to hear this phrase over and over. Drop the double standard. It's either wrong or it's not. And in the meantime, if you're determined to be offended by something, find something a bit more relevant to society than a shock jock's morning show.

Spring break

Spring break's over for me. The big element of this year's spring break was a trip Tuesday to the Georgia Aquarium, the world's largest aquarium, and much bigger than the aquariums in which I used to house my goldfish. Cleaner, too.

I expected a crowd and got one. No big deal. Only problem was that every person in the world has a digital camera or camera phone these days and everybody going through the aquarium had to stop every 12 feet to take a photo. We came to look at the exhibits; everybody else came to have their photos taken in front of exhibits and didn't care about blocking a whole window while hundreds of people waited ... so they could take their picture in front of the window.

The Georgia Aquarium is an amazing place, but it would be nice if they had designated spots for photography. It would be nicer if everyone wasn't so self-centered and was more considerate these days, but that ain't happening. The most exciting part of that day was a near-miss with the fatal shooting at CNN Center, which happened minutes after we had lunch there.

From there, we were off to a cabin near the old home place and then Wild Adventures in Valdosta. It's kind of like Six Flags except the lines are much shorter and you don't feel price-gouged around every corner. Plus Valdosta (where I worked 1991-93 as a sportswriter) has some of the nicest folks you'll ever meet. It's a beautiful town, and if the newspaper hadn't been owned by a terrible company (which sold the paper away nearly a decade ago), I might have spent my entire career there.

From there, it was back to my old stomping grounds of Americus where I also worked at its newspaper (1989 & 1993-97) and went to college at Georgia Southwestern (1988-91). Americus is a town full of characters and great places to eat, such as Pat's Place, Monroe's Hot Dogs, the Forsyth Bar & Grill and my friend Paul's place, The Station, between the Rylander Theatre and the Windsor Hotel. The Station is my favorite restaurant, and not just because it has the best fried cheese grits and blackened grouper in the world. If you go, tell Paul I sent ya. Maybe he'll give me a free fried cheese grit next time I go.

I get to sleep in my own bed tonight. It's not as quiet as the cabin (though there's always a chance you'll hear that screaming growl of one of the last black panthers in Georgia who prowls the area).

Starting Sunday, my nose will be back to the grindstone, which is why it'll look a little flatter come Monday.

Failed drug war

There's a massive trial under way in Harris County involving a huge $5.5 million drug bust from last year. You can read about it here. It amazes me that every time there's one of these busts or forgone-conclusion trials that it's hailed as some great victory in the war on drugs. However, if busts this big continue to go on in Columbus, across Georgia and everywhere else every single year, then shouldn't that be seen as a sign the war on drugs is a complete and utter failure? There's as many drugs on the street now as there ever was. Exactly what has been accomplished besides ruined lives? When people talk about the Kenneth Walker shooting here in 2003, they always put it in racial terms. From day 1, I've seen it as nothing more than the fear and paranoia of the unsuccessful drug war.

The war on drugs can in fact be easily won, but it takes radical thinking. And people are scared to do things differently than they have in the past 40 years of the drug war, even though it's still not working. What's that saying about doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?

Here's how you win the war on drugs, economically, in 10 years or less:

• Any drugs confiscated in the war on drugs are distributed free of charge at designated drug parks on police properties in the largest cities of each state. Anyone 18 or over who wants coke, pot or whatever signs a release form that requires them to attend a 10-minute counseling session and offered optional rehab to receive the drugs, which they then must use in a walled drug park. If they try to leave the premises with them or try to distribute them to kids, they are arrested. They had these parks in Switzerland where junkies legally drugged themselves to death, and it was the greatest public service announcement to deter drug use you could imagine. Dealers don't make their money on casual users, but junkies have no pride and will gladly accept the stigma of the free drug use park. Anyone willing to sign these forms and go into these parks is already a lost cause.
• It would remain illegal to import drugs into the country, sell them or possess them on the streets. Because all the junkies will be getting their drugs for free and killing themselves on police property, the market would collapse and it would not be worth the risk for small-time pushers, big-time importers or drug producers in Colombia and elsewhere. If the street price of coke plummets 800 percent, it won't be worth risking jail time when the only bling you're getting out of it is a $4.95 Casio watch in the Wal-Mart checkout lane.
• In short, the drug trade suffers complete economic collapse. Those who were gonna do drugs anyway are monitored and segregated. Drug-related crimes such as theft plummet. Prison populations dwindle. Lives of young men now lured into the "Scarface" fantasy of thugdom are recaptured. Police are freed up to handle other crimes and quality of life issues. "Petty" crimes such as throwing your cigarette butts on the street eventually won't have to go ignored. Latin America is saved from itself with no market for its drugs, forcing drug farmers to go into other fields, literally.

Or, we can keep doing what we've always been doing and hoping somehow it miraculously starts working. I'm not for legalizing drugs. That doesn't work either. But somewhere between legalizing drugs and this insane war is some room for common sense. I hope.

Crawling pilgrims

Why on Earth does Eufaula schedule its annual pilgrimage for the same weekend when everyone's heading to the beach for spring break? Does a massive traffic jam add to the ambiance of the whole event?

Somehow folks dressed in plantation-era outfits standing on the front porches of those beautiful mansions and homes doesn't capture a bygone era when they're waving at a miles-long line of SUVs, trucks and cars. And 99.9 percent of these vehicles are packed with luggage, coolers and beach paraphernalia -- meaning they're not there for the pilgrimage. They're on their way to the beach and saw Eufaula as nothing more than a dot on the map big enough for a pee break or a 10-piece McNuggets to go.

I got caught up in the traffic jam this weekend, though I wasn't on the way to the beach, merely a retreat near Lake Eufaula. It took about one and a half hours to cover a six-mile stretch of 431 heading into the historic district. If I hadn't known a couple of backstreets in Eufaula, it would have taken two hours. I feel for the people whose five-hour drives to the beach turned into seven-hour drives to the beach.

People's cars were running hot. Some were breaking down. I had my seat reclined and would ease up a few inches every now and then. The tags were mostly from metro Atlanta, and judging from their expressions, I'd say Eufaula's lucky these frustrated drivers didn't burn down the historic district on their way through. They're not interested in a bygone era; they're more interested in a bypass era, and Eufuala's desperately in need of one.

Don't get me wrong. I love Eufaula. I go there several times a year. I'm sure I'll be on the lake this summer. I love old houses. I used to live in a 100-year-old house, which instead of a carport or garage had a place to park your horse and carriage. And the historic district is beautiful ... except when it's set against the backdrop of a traffic jam.

I'm sure the businesses along U.S. 431 aren't interested in a bypass. But I think the city would be better served with a bypass than with thousands of drivers cursing it for bottlenecking their trip and turning a leisurely drive into a nightmare. And even when it's not spring break or the pilgrimage, that busy 431 really takes away from the historic district's atmosphere.

Funny guy

Regardless of your political opinion of President Bush (as an independent in the middle, I disagree with some of his policies but refuse to believe he's the devil incarnate or as ill-intentioned as left-wingers like to believe), you've got to give the guy credit for his self-depricating humor at the last two White House Press & Broadcast Correspondents dinners. You can find this year's speech at various Web sites with online video.

It's still not as good as last year's in which he worked side-by-side with a Bush impressionist who represented the president's inner monologue, a far funnier performance than Stephen Colbert's, although I'm a fan of "The Colbert Report." You should be able to find last year's hilarious performance on You Tube.

I know he doesn't write his own material, but he still delivers it well, unlike most of his serious speeches. Maybe he'd be better with his own talk show than the presidency. Still, it's my view that a guy with a good sense of humor can't be that bad or stupid.

I'm a scalawag

This is like the coolest hate mail I've ever gotten, but only because the guy addressed me as "Scalawag." How could he have possibly known that was my middle name?

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Dear Scalawag,

"But if you need to celebrate Confederate Heritage Month, go right ahead. You don't need me to celebrate with you. You don't need an official designation from the State of Georgia...."<<<

As I white man and an associate member of two Sons of Confederate Veterans' camps I'd have to agree with you, at least in part..... YOU DON'T NEED ME TO CELEBRATE:

Martin Luther King Day - I'm old enough to remember his less-than-stellar qualities and am aghast at the almost obligatory nation-wide hoopla that takes place each January. Funny thing - I never hear anyone comment on how, despite his so-called "non violence", that violence followed him around as surely as the plague follows the rat.

Black History Month - not because black Americans haven't contributed to this country, but because Afrocentrists, each February, mount their bully-pupits to lecture us about how Africa was the center of civilization before the white man ruined it with his slave trade... Have you ever heard of anything in Africa, either in the past or the present, that looks even remotely "civilized"?

I'm not going to celebrate either of these travesties, and a lot of white folks won't either. Nor is it mandated that anyone must join us in celebration of Confederate history month. Those who see no value in it can do as we do in January and February - simply ignore it. It is after all, a free country.

But, white folks who haven't sold out their past or their history (the way you have), live in Georgia too - and they have as much right to official proclamations of their past as anyone else does.

Here's an idea whose time has come - how about an official "National Thanks for Slavery Day", because, in spite of the fact that no one wants to come out and say so, 95% of American black folks wouldn't be here at all if one of their ancestors hadn't survived a trip across the Atlantic in the hole of a slave ship.

Bill Vallante
Commack NY
SCV Camp 3000 (Associate)
SCV Camp 1506 (Associate)

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Funny, I don't recall saying anything about Black History Month or MLK in my latest column. I do recall saying that folks pressing for a slavery apology are living in the past, as are people who want to celebrate their Confederate heritage. I acknowledge my Confederate heritage, but I'm not proud of it. Yeah, they were fighting for something they believed in. So does al-Qaida, but it doesn't make it right or worth celebrating. The history, however, is worth preserving.

As for folks who insinuate slavery was a good thing because they managed to escape the horrors of Africa, are you kidding me? That's like saying, "Good thing they crucified Jesus or we might not have Christianity." Or, "good thing those Muslims attacked us and killed 3,000 people on Sept. 11 because it focused our attention on the war on terror." Or, "good thing that Hitler guy came along or there wouldn't be an Israel right now." That good springs from evil does not justify the evil.