The first post was a link to a story where someone’s friend had been crushed by their truck because he supported it using 2x4’s instead of jackstands.

One story told of a guy who was working in his father’s exhaust shop on an Impala. The car was up on an alignment rack, and the son was lying on a creeper underneath. The car was not properly secured, and began to roll backwards. The guy grabbed the car in attempts to keep it from rolling, and it pulled him along – right off the ramp and crushed him. All this happened while the father was watching.

Here is my close-call story:

I was out 4-wheeling in my '83 Chevy. I don’t remember why I had shut my truck off, but it didn’t want to start because of a bad battery connection. I climbed under the hood and wiggled the battery wire, then jumped the started with my pocket knife (because it was easier than going back in the cab to start the truck).

The truck started just fine, but I quickly found out that the body had shifted on the frame, and the transmission was actually in REVERSE instead of Park.

Now imagine standing on the tire of a vehicle, with half of your body snaked around under the hood. The truck starts, and immediately begins driving in reverse. There is no one inside the truck to stop it, and no one around to watch or call for help.

I was quite startled, but managed to escape from under the hood unscathed. But then my truck was driving away without me. I had to run to catch up with it and climb in the passenger side door, slide across the seat and hit the brakes.

I don’t mind taking the long way these days. I keep a pair of safety glasses in my car, and wear steel toes. I don’t mind when people tease me about being ‘too safe.’ I only have one body that has to last at least 80 years.

What, me worry? Of course I do!

But what does he know? He said the same thing about the Red Sox. If the primaries were determined by supporter passion, Paul would win without question. Paul’s fans are excited about classical conservative policies, and solid ethical stands in favor of liberty that lead even John McCain to say that he was the most honest man in congress, according to “The Elephant in the Room.”

Ron Paul can win because voting in primaries is usually fairly low. Sometimes only 20 percent of voters actually vote in the primary. This means that, if all of Paul’s passionate supporters vote, their votes could carry up to five times the gravity they do in random polls.

The Sept. 14-16 Gallup poll placed Ron Paul at four percent, which is up from three percent, possibly showing an increase in support. If Paul’s results are magnified by five, he could get at 20 percent, placing him among the candidates who actually get media attention, and forcing the four other front runners to split about 70 percent of the vote.

Paul’s campaign funding has consistently been close to or above some of the front-runners. And his support has been truly grassroots, as more than 99 percent of his support has come from individuals, and nearly half of the money was raised from donations of $200 or less. 49.5 percent of polled military members supported Paul, while the rest of the support shared by the other eight candidates.

It’s not that a victory for Paul would be easy. Paul’s unprecedented underground support has been ignored by the mainstream media, in favor of stories they seem to find more newsworthy, like CNN’s segment about Barack Obama’s wife’s mp3 player.

Sometimes Paul is ignored through blatant inaccuracies. Paul is the only anti-war candidate in the GOP, but, on Fox News, Morton Kondracke said that there was no GOP anti-war candidate. The passion of Paul’s supporters lead many of them to be as upset about his denial as Tinkerbelle would have been if he had said, “I don’t believe in fairies.”

If supporters can get the word out that, among other things, Paul has never voted for an unbalanced budget, never voted to raise congressional pay, never taken a government-paid junket, he voted against regulating the internet and he returns a portion of his congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury each year, he has a chance. He is the candidate that Americans have been complaining doesn’t exist for years.

At 72, Paul is healthy, and he could be seen through two presidential terms and still be under the life expectancy.

So will Paul win the Republican nomination? I would have to suggest to Stephanopoulos that it’s to early to tell. But if he does win, I’ll be overwhelmed with a joy I’ve never felt before, mostly because America will be one step closer to the responsible and free nation the foundeers intended. But I’ll spare just a little bit of joy for the embarrassment it would cause for Stephanopoulos, who I actually used to like for some reason, for rudely insulting the most respectable man in congress.

A court order will help to satisfy the $33.5 million lawsuit Simpson received for the slayings of his ex-wife (Nicole Brown) and her friend Ron Goldman in 1995. The order came after a closed court hearing. The hearing was to decide if Simpson was hiding assets from the Goldman family so he wouldn’t have to pay the lawsuit.

Of course Simpson has been hiding assets. His favorite phrase seems to be “If I have to work to pay them then I won’t work. I’ll just play golf all day.” At least he’s been true to his word because he hasn’t worked since he was ordered to pay the money. He lives lavishly in Florida off an NFL pension and an annuity. What I can’t seem to understand is how a judge can issue an order and allow a person to ignore it. Because that’s what Simpson has been doing. He has been ignoring the court order. I almost think the judge issued the order for the fun of it. Surely somebody has enough authority to make him get a job and start paying.

Collector Alfred Beardsley was ordered by Superior Court Judge Gerald Rosenberg to surrender press credentials that Simpson wore as an Olympics commentator by Dec.14. Dollar amounts of the press credentials are unknown at this time. Beardsley revealed that he knows about “other tangible properties of substantive value” that he can lead the Goldman family to. Goldman’s family attorney, Michael Brewer, told CNN that he believes Simpson is earning money from signing autographs and that the money should go towards the lawsuit.

The Goldman family has collected roughly $500,000 from property seized at Simpson’s former home in Los Angeles. However, the Goldman’s admit that the majority of that money has been used to for attorney fees and various other expenses.

The Goldman family also has the rights to Simpson’s book “If I Did It.” The book is supposedly an example of how Simpson would have killed Brown and Goldman IF he wanted to. The book recently ranked second on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com. There are more than 200,000 copies circulating the web and book stores with more to be printed. The Goldman family will make 90 cents per copy sold.

So, Simpson getting himself in trouble this time could possibly be a good thing for everyone else. I have no intentions on reading the book but I am tempted to buy it. I’m tempted to buy it because the money won’t go to him. I’m happy to know that he won’t profit from the success of the book and I hope he keeps getting himself in trouble.

Whether or not I think Simpson was guilty of murder is not important. In the United States your innocent until proven guilty so my thoughts are irrelevant. However, he was ordered to pay money and I would like to see it happen. If the only way to receive the money is by seizing personal property, bribing his friends to snitch, or by him getting himself into trouble, then I say do whatever works.

The news hit hard when many people became aware of the passing of Minister, Motivational Speaker and author, Ms. LaMira King.

King was a Detroit native and the founder and Pastor of Valley Walkers Ministries (valleywalker.com).

King was the first black woman to graduate from Ferris State University, with a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations and Marketing. She recently became the project specialist for the Office of Multicultural Student Services.  King was the founder of the Image Awards at Ferris State. She was the one person that took all of the weight on her shoulders to organize to 2006-2007 school year "Imagine More" Bus Tour.

Many people will remember King for her speeches given last school year at the Virginia Tech memorial and at this year’s Sept. 11 remembrance ceremony.

Ms. LaMira King was a member of Delta Sigma Theta, and a hard working woman. On many occasions students would see Ms. King with a smile on her face.

Around 7 p.m. on Sept. 20, a prayer ceremony in the quad was quickly organized. Many people gathered to hear short remarks from Dean of Student Life Leroy Wright, Interim Director of Multicultural Student Services Matthew Chaney, and students Carnel Richardson and Maurice Webb.

Tears were shed and sadness filled the crowd because Ms. King’s life was cut short. She may not be in our presence anymore but, she is one who continues to watch over us.

I was one of many people who were fortunate enough to be in the presence of such a great woman. There were many occasions when I would go to Ms. King to talk to her and have her pray for me.

I will remember Ms. King for her motivational speeches and the challenges she gave to people. She challenged people to stand up for what is right in any situation.

Ms. King is survived by behind three young children. If you would like to make any donations contact the Office of Multicultural Student Services at (231) 591-2617.

What the Bush administration refers to as the ‘surge’ was a four month process that started in February that had 30,000 new soldiers being sent to Iraq. Gen. Petraeus is the Bush administration’s top official in Iraq and had spoken to Congress about the supposed positive results of the ‘surge‘ earlier this month.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has set up a fact checking website regarding Gen. Petraeus‘ testimony. In it, she compares quotes from Gen. Petraeus and quotes from other sources regarding the same information. The difference is staggering especially on the issue of sectarian violence in Iraq.

The “death toll from sectarian attacks around the country is running nearly double the pace from a year ago,” an Associated Press article from August 25 said.

However, Gen. Petraeus said, “Coalition and Iraqi operations have helped reduce ethno-sectarian violence, as well, bringing down the number of ethno-sectarian deaths substantially in Baghdad and across Iraq since the height of the sectarian violence last December. The number of overall civilian deaths has also declined during this period.”

Other quotes from Pelosi’s website show the data that Petraeus is reporting with is clearly skewed.

“The more than 2,600 people killed by car bombs in Iraq are not counted as casualties of sectarian violence,” the Los Angeles Times said in a Sept. 4 article.

“According to a spokesman for the Baghdad headquarters of the Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I), those attacks are not included in the military’s statistics. ‘Given a lack of capability to accurately track Shiite-on-Shiite and Sunni-on-Sunni violence, except in certain instances… we do not track this data to any significant degree’,” The Washington Post said in a Sept. 6 article.

The same Post article also said, “Violent attacks by Sunni tribesmen allied with the United States against al-Qaeda” were not included in Pentagon sectarian violence reports.

Rep. Pelosi’s website, speaker.gov/blog/?p=736, has dozens of other reports that conflict with Gen. Petraeus’ testimony. Some of these reports even come from the man himself.

With all of this information behind it, the MoveOn.org advertisement does not seem unwarranted. In fact, I thought it was wonderful. MoveOn.org is doing its stated function of “nonpartisan education.”

The advertisement has made a stir as well. In a pathetic measure that will only serve to lower their approval rating (which according to Zogby International now stands at a record-low 11 percent), Congress voted to censure the ad 72-to-25 last week.

It’s getting under the skin of the right people. Congress condemned it, President Bush called it “disgusting” “and presidential hopeful, Rudy Giuliani said “they should not be allowed to get away with it when they try to do character assassination on an American general who is putting his life at risk to protect America.”

I don’t know what Giuliani means by “it.” But knowing Rudy, “it” is probably the constitutionally protected right of free speech.

This situation will be regarded as a victory for MoveOn.org. The American people dislike the establishment and the status quo, especially when it comes to foreign policy. And that status quo has taken us to Iraq and never wants to get us out.

An acquaintance in its simplest form is only someone who you know. Merriam Webster says an acquaintance is, “to cause to know personally or to make familiar.” Of course there are varying levels of acquaintanceship. A person may hang out with many acquaintances at a social function, saying a couple words to them here and there. Then there are those who you only know because they helped you with something at one point in time, or because they are friends with one of your friends. Already you can tell that this type of relationship is very disconnected, and should not be associated with friendship.

So what is a friend? A friendship is more like a marital relationship without the sex. Aristotle asked what a friend was and said this, “A single soul in two bodies.” A friend is someone who is on the same wavelength as you. They know how you feel without you even telling them. They know what to say when you are down, and support you in all your endeavors. A friend also knows when criticism is appropriate, and isn’t afraid to tell you. Oscar Wilde said, “A true friend stabs you in the front.” That is to say, he lets you know when you are wrong straight up. A friend doesn’t criticize you behind your back.

“I do not wish to treat friendships daintily, but with the roughest courage. When they are real, they are not glass threads or frost-work, but the solidest thing we know,” said Ralph Waldo Emerson.

A friendship is one of the strongest bonds there is. A simple quarrel among friends over things even as great as a girl (or a guy) will not break the foundation that the friendship stands on. A friend will admit when he is wrong, and a friend will forgive when she is asked sincerely. Friends do not hold grudges, lest they want to be friends no more.

If I were to sum of friendship into one word, I’d say it is love. All friendships should be built on the foundation of love. The best definition of love that I have ever come by is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 verses 4-7 in the New Testament of the Bible. It reads, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

It doesn't get any better then that. Keep your friends close, knowing that they are the ones who care about you most. Don’t let simple quarrels ruin long lasting relationships. Don’t diminish a friendship by caring more about how many acquaintances you have.

“This is my command: that you keep on loving each other just as I have loved you. No one has greater love than a person who lays down his life for his friends,” John 15:12-13.

Who is a friend? Someone who cares about your life more than their own. Anything less then this is not worthy.

Finally some words of political wisdom!
Right on Kevin Breen!

If I encourage people to vote, who otherwise would not vote, then I dilute the power of my own vote, which obviously is always the best possible vote. Why would I want people who do not care to vote haphazardly?

Democracy and the will of the people is only a myth masking many vested interest groups that really control our country.

Still, it is not really true that Americans are “apathetic”; no people in the world puts in more hours of work and less vacation, and guzzles more entertainment than Americans.

God Bless America, because I am going to a cubs game wearing my Founders’ t-shirt.

Sincerely,
Don Roy
Associate Professor of Political Science/Art

Dear Torch Editor:

Am I the only one who see how ridiculous this FERPA-BURPA issue is for countering plagiarism via turnitin.com? No doubt we have vomited another goldmine for lawyers.

If a teacher suspects a student of plagiarism (usually justifiable), but needs absolute proof of course, then a plagiarized paper has protection under the student’s intellectual property ownership laws (FERPA-SLURPA) even though the student is using stolen material?

Does this mean that any attempt to prove plagiarism by submitting part of a student’s paper to SEARCH engine is possibly illegal and subject to prosecution under FERPA-PERPA?

There just is no end to this extension of criminal rights and free enterprise. Only when we all share everything in common and full blown communists will there be peace on earth. In the meantime, Long Live Big Brother, Ferris State Corporation!

Sincerely,
Don Roy
Associate Prof. of Political Art/Science