DURHAM DISPATCH : Second thoughts

By Budd Saunders

The headline read, "Reaction mixed as Blackwater guards face charges." Yes, and I had mixed reactions. The indictment that five Blackwater guards are facing is the result of a shooting in Nisoor Square in Baghdad. There were 17 Iraqis killed including children. I have written several unfavorable columns about the so called security guards in Iraq. I described them as "trigger pullers" who are actually mercenaries. My reactions are mixed because it turns out that the men who are being charged are four Marines and one soldier, all decorated combat veterans of duty in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq. There is a sixth, but he negotiated a guilty plea on a lesser charge if he testifies against the others. Let me amend that last sentence. He has been promised a cakewalk if he betrays his comrades in arms. That's more like it. It's true that I have written a lot criticizing the mercenaries, but under the present circumstances I believe I have to apologize. Please permit me to write how others feel and how I feel a - Thursday, January 1, 2009

VIEW FROM THE CHEAP SEATS : Making excuses Bullet head and Punkin' Duncan

By Steve Foster

There have always been great excuses for not going to work. The varieties of lame excuses are as impressive as any Sears catalog. You can take one from the rack, like "my leg hurts and I can't walk," to "I have a doctor's appointment." Your boss knows you have no health insurance and your paycheck is so small that a $125 office visit is beyond your economic means is as good as gold. Just take that day and do whatever it is you do when playing hooky from the wage-slave hamster wheel. Hearing excuses from those who would rather not be with you on any particular day can be educational. Learning new and improved versions of the "calling-in sick" game, in case they can be employed on a later date, comes with a certain amount of objectivity. For instance, just how do you explain your family cat getting loose in your Wranglers? The scratches were enormous and hurt so bad you swore on the spot to cancel the prized membership in PETA. Will the boss believe the truth or is the truth so fantastic that its mere utterance - Thursday, January 1, 2009

Big oil: Still trying to fool us

BY JIM HIGHTOWER Minutemanmedia.org

ExxonMobil wants you to know that it cares about poor African children. Several are featured in a recent TV ad touting Exxon's donations to a charitable effort in Africa to fight malaria. Chevron wants you to know that it's a caring corporation, too. It's running a TV ad touting its concern about alternative energy, featuring a touching tagline that says: "This isn't just about oil companies. This is about you and me." Why the push to show Big Oil's gentle side? Because new profit figures show yet another quarter of the ongoing money grab by these giants. Exxon's take for the three summer months, for example, was nearly $15 billion - the most profit of any corporation in history. So the money grabbers are putting on masks of altruism, hoping we won't notice their pockets bulging with our dollars - and hoping we won't demand that Congress take away the billions of dollars they get each year in tax subsidies. To see the true heart of the oil barons, however, don't look at their ads - look at their production nu - Thursday, January 1, 2009

Letters to the Editor

Children need homes Dear Editor: I works as a teacher for Ozark Guidance Center. I have taught many children who need foster or adoptive families. Many have been abused or neglected. Some are handicapped. They need loving homes. We need to allow the Department of Human Services (DHS) to do their job and trust that they do it properly. They are trained to inspect homes and determine whether the homes are acceptable for foster care or adoption. Arkansas voters made a terrible mistake when they limited DHS from finding good hoes that are desperately needed for children. That mistake should be reversed. - Thursday, January 1, 2009