Tom Loncaric, a very smart young man from Atlanta, once told me that the Northern way of doing business is to act smarter than you really are. For example, in the the guitar store in Michigan, where we both worked, all the Northern-born employees acted like experts, and tried to impress the customers.

But, Tom told me, the Southern way of doing business is to act dumber than you really are. Southerners, he said, act impressed by the customers, rather than trying to impress them. Tom did not include a judgment on which method is better, but his insight blew me away.

I have no judgment either, but this is such a brilliant observation that I believe it. And I am sure it has something to do with Garrison's contrast between North and South.

P.S. Even if you are from the South, the Herb David Guitar Studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan is a great place to find great music and a great deal.

P.P.S. I do not understand the previous post about "racism."

God bless the US Marines! Do you remember when Ronald Reagan cut and ran from Beirut? He pulled out all our Marines, to keep them safe. Can you believe Beirut actually is in better shape than Baghdad now? Even after the pounding from Israel last month!

Without American troops, the future of Baghdad may be like Beirut, or maybe eventually like Saigon. We pulled out of these places, and they are better off without us. Almost anything would be better than Baghdad now.

Todd Jones was less than stellar at the start of the season, but he was wonderful after May or so, when he had constant work. In Detroit, we had that same discussion about making Zumaya the closer, until Jones got in sync. After that, Zumaya in the eighth inning + Jones in the ninth worked extremely well. Now, probably, Zumaya needs a tune-up, but most of the rest of the Tigers' bullpen is ready to crank.

They make no bones about it. Washington media people such as Tim Russert do not understand this. They continue being polite enough to speak as if GWB were rational, even when GWB himself does not claim to be rational.

In fact, "rational" is an insult in fundamentalist circles. They use reason as a debate tactic when it suits them, but they only value their own brutal "gut instincts," which they justify through brutal interpretations of scripture.

In a TV interview, GW Bush just said that he never e-mails. How could anybody run an enterprise such as The Free World in 2006 CE, if he never e-mails? Who even could stay in touch with his own family? GW Bush lied about that, I am sure. It illustrates his inclination always to lie.

I will grant that he probably can't type, but I am sure he dictates e-mails. Then he probably locks his typists away in Guantanamo, or jets them off to the Egyptian Secret Service.

It seems you have started posting your columns earlier in the day, King. Is this a new policy? Or just the past couple days? Or am I wrong? Or?

We need to emphasize: THE TERROR AND DUNGEONS ACT APPLIES TO US CITIZENS AS WELL AS ALIENS. Many of the posts above are wrong in asserting that only non-citizens are covered. Poster nickolajM is closest to the real truth.

Part Two: Has anybody begun to prepare legal cases against W.Bush and Cheney, in order to prosecute them after they leave office? We need to start a two-prong case (in the US courts, and in international courts). How can I get involved?

until after the election?

The Torture And Dungeons Act only applies to Alien Unlawful Combatants. You can look at it. It really is not such a long law. Google 948a,title 10,United States Code.

But we must not treat anybody this way. They could take away most of the people in my office.

The Detroit Free Press tells us that Saturday will be Windy with Snow and Rain, with a high of 45, and a low of 38. Wind chill will make the high feel like 30 degrees, and the low will feel like 17.

On Sunday: Cloudy and Windy, with a high of 42 and a low of 32.

And, they are young. At least the guys who made the errors are young. They will be back.

... because Pete is such a sleaze. It's hard to think about the concept of Hustle without thinking of "Charlie Hustle."

Part Two: The Tigers have everybody under contract. They could trade (say) Maggs, Casey, Grilli, and Maroth, maybe Ledezma, for somebody who would hit 35 to 40 homers. And the Tigers' second-string catcher could start on most MLB teams. They could throw him in.

And the team would get better, because they are young and strong.

Whom could the Tigers get? Who fills the bill?

This is Bush's/Cheney's version of, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman," or, "Read my lips: No new taxes," or, "Your president is not a crook."

But those other guys were talking about "shenanigans" and fiscal policy. Bush and Cheney are lying about Torture and Conquest and Dungeons, and tens of thousands of humans dead, maimed, locked away, and screaming in agony!

Will a press person confront them and ask, "How can you say you do not torture, when the whole world has proof that you do torture?"

I cannot even research this situation, find out what Rush Limberger has to say for himself, because he charges $59.95 just to take a look at his web site! (People need to "join" for a year in order to get in and take a look.) Is this like W.Bush's "public" appearances, where only vetted Republican contributors can attend? Or is this just greed?

I would sooner flush sixty bucks down the toilet than give it to Rush.