ONE FAMILY: TWO DIFFERENT PATHS?

I am fascinated with the story of the capture of James (Whitey) Bulger, the FBI's most wanted criminal. I had never heard of Bulger before, nor had I ever read any books about him. I had heard of the ascent of his brother William from local Boston pol to President of the Massachusetts State Senate to president of the University of Massachusetts.

I am intrigued that two people with the same familial ties could go in such drastically different directions. One to a life of killing and jeopardizing the lives of people, the other to a life advocating for minorities, children and the under privileged.

We often look to parental guidance or the lack of it to explain childhood and adult behaviors,or we look to environmental or societal circumstances to explain criminal behavior. Yet, the story of James Bulger and his brother William needs much more than a clinical formula to understand why each brother took the path he did.

"HIGH NOON" AT STARBUCKS?

Recently, Emily Rasinski's photo in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch illustrated what "Open Carry" gun laws looked like. The photo showed a tall, handsome, smiling man leaning against a wall at the entrance of Starbucks in Olivette, a community outside St.L. City limits. Thrust in his belt and visible for all to see was a gun.

Along with the photo was the article, "Openly carrying guns is in vogue," by Shane Anthony. According to the article, the man claimed to be carrying the gun openly to demonstrate his right to do so, and "to deter others with ill intent from committing a crime."

Reading the article and looking at the picture, I was reminded of Gary Cooper in the film "High Noon." Cooper plays a renowned gunslinger who defends a whole town with people who have been bullied to immobility by a band of outlaws. At the time the film was made, Cooper was appealing and seemed heroic.

Today, people are coming to understand that dialing 911 is a better way to protect people against crime, rather than gun toting, self appointed vigilantes. Did I hear Cooper utter "YUP!"?

NICHOLAS KRISTOF & THE MILITARY

The columnist Nicholas Kristoff recently suggested that we need not look to other systems of government when our own military structure could be used as a model to get us through tough economic times. He recounted the many benefits the military provides our society in terms of education, integration, child care, health care, with a high mission of ethical purpose. Many of the points he made were valid, except his omission of military history was glaring.

Integration of minorities by the military occurred not within the military system but by Congressional oversight and legislation. The ethical mission of the military is beautifully written and distributed to all within the military as well as its contractors. Yet, the individual and collective greed for profit was exposed, changed and is still changing because of public and press exposure not because of the structural workings of the military.

Yes, the military is a model for many things, but governing a free society is not one of them.

HOUSE HUNTING? NOT HERE PLEASE!

Canadian Geese are at once fascinating and a menace. They mate for life. They are beautiful in flight and gliding across water. Yet,they land in an ungainly almost comical manner using their webbed feet for brakes.

When they land,the couple builds their nest together. After laying their eggs, both alternate between feeding each other and sitting on the nest. When anything gets too close one parent begins a hissing sound, assumes an attack mode with his/her long neck, spreads its wings wide and runs directly at the intruder. People have been held hostage in their home and car by their menacing manner.

I was startled recently to spot a goose standing silently, neck tall under a shady street in the city. I wondered where it came from? I asked a neighbor if he had seen geese in the area. He said, "Not in years." When he turned around, all he could say was "Oh my God!" And with good reason. when the eggs hatch, the small, fuzzy, cute ducklings will form a line and follow their parents as they learn to swim, grow to full size and poop all over the place.

GEORGETOWN: I FEEL YOUR PAIN

NPR recently reported that Georgetown University had misspelled the word University on the cover of the Graduation Program. The news stopped me cold in the middle of my workout. Spelling has always been my nemesis contributing to more than an anxious moment or two in my career.

A letter of mine was sent to the President of Temple University. It contained a misspelled word. The President was a kind man who responded without mentioning my blunder. Not so his diligent assistant who enclosed a note, written in red ink with the words, "THIS IS A DISGRACE." I was mortified.

Writing errors of any kind are unsettling, but I would give Georgetown a break. The Class of 2011 should hold on to those Programs as they will probably be worth a lot of conversation at the 25 Anniversary Reunion.