Possibly—“Alarmed by the number of suicides among soldiers in Iraq, the Army has asked a team of doctors to determine whether the stress of combat and long deployments is contributing to the deaths.”—USA Today.

That is where the money is—J.L. Hunter Rountree was convicted of lifting $2,000 in a Texas bank heist. He’s 91 and depends on a hearing device and a cane. He was convicted of hitting a Mississippi bank five years ago and ordered out of the state. He then got three years for holding up a Florida bank. With his current conviction he faces a 20-year max term.

Nothing’s too good for GIs—“Military troops hospitalized as a result of combat-related injuries would no longer be charged $8.10 a day for food under a bill that passed the House unanimously.”—News item.

Simple, let opponents leave—David Hope, archbishop of York, mourns that infighting over the rights of homosexuals “is eating the heart” out of the Church of England.

‘Eating heart out’?—At Abington Memorial in suburban Philadelphia, hospital supervisors complied with the demand of a man that no Black staff worker touch his wife, who was awaiting delivery. Hospital tops apologized to the staff and arranged for cultural sensitivity training.

Where do they park their kids?—In Tennessee, the state ended subsidies for transporting 15,000 low-income children to day care centers. Top center operators asserted that families used the bus service even though they didn’t need it. A wire service observed that there were parents like Vannetricia Bailey, “who now faces a 30-minute walk with her five children to their day care center.”

Ultimate Rollover—Check it out—Terra Wind Amphibious Motor Coaches. Drive it on land or lake bottoms. $850,000 and up.

Making do—Actor Will Smith and spouse, actress Jada Pinkett, are living out of suitcases in a $3.6 million L.A.-area house until their larger home is available. The temporary digs are spacious and include a pizza oven, apparently so you don’t have to rely on those dratted delivery pizzas.

Thought for the week—Berthold Brecht’s classic Three Penny Opera posed the question: Who’s the bigger thief, the bank robber or the bank president?  
 
 
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