Hostage

Pro-Iranian Shiite kidnappers in the Middle East have freed three Western hostages since Thursday. Muslim sources say further hostage releases hinge on Israel's taking the next step by freeing more than 300 Arab prisoners. Israel, in turn, has reiterated that before it frees any detainees, it wants seven Israeli servicemen missing in Lebanon.The Evening Sun wants to know what you think about the current hostage situation. To register your opinion, call SUNDIAL at 783-1800 (or 268-7736 in Anne Arundel County)

This is typically the busiest month for moving in the year. If you're one of those people who will be on the move soon, make sure you check out the company that will be transporting your belongings. According to Consumer Reports, regulators in Massachusetts and New Jersey sued movers for giving customers low estimates and then hiking the price once goods were on the truck. One mover, according to the magazine, threatened to sell the belongings unless customers paid up. Federal law restricts how much movers can revise initial estimates, but that's only in cases where people are moving across state lines.

Maryland Senate President Mike "Boss" Miller has now extended the bounds of his seemingly boundless manipulation of Maryland by holding a special session of the General Assembly needed to pass a budget hostage to his lust for table games inPrince George's County("Leaders float the idea of two special sessions," April 25). If the two-session compromise goes into effect, the second session should be held at that fount of political influence, Atlantic City. This will make a great movie someday; one only hopes that John Goodman will be available to play the Boss.

A simple question needs to be asked by The Sun: Did gun owners living in Watertown and elsewhere in the Boston area feel safer than those who didn't have a gun? With the Boston Marathon killers literally holding the town of Watertown, Mass., hostage, I can't imagine the extent of feelings of fear, hopelessness and helplessness of those living there who did not own a gun. Watertown and other Boston area gun owners must have thanked God that they would be able to defend their families against these killers.

Five weeks ago in these columns, we made the observation that Saddam Hussein had become "hostage to his hostages." That state of affairs has now been confirmed. The Iraqi dictator's announcement that he would release by Christmas the thousands of hostages still in his clutches is hardly the humanitarian gesture he claims. Instead, it shows he has realized at last that the mass seizure of hostages is not a deterrent to a vigorous response from the civilized world community. Quite the reverse.

This is typically the busiest month for moving in the year. If you're one of those people who will be on the move soon, make sure you check out the company that will be transporting your belongings. According to Consumer Reports, regulators in Massachusetts and New Jersey sued movers for giving customers low estimates and then hiking the price once goods were on the truck. One mover, according to the magazine, threatened to sell the belongings unless customers paid up. Federal law restricts how much movers can revise initial estimates, but that's only in cases where people are moving across state lines.

With the release of journalist Terry Anderson, a grim era comes to an end. Anderson had been held since March 16, 1985, the longest of any American hostage. Because of the tireless efforts of his sister, Peggy Say, he had also become the best known.But even as Americans rejoice, two Germans remain in captivity in the Mideast. More ominous, despite tentative moves toward peace in the region, any lasting settlement of long-standing disputes and grudges still appears a long way off. But the Mideast does not operate in a vacuum, and changes in the rest of the world -- primarily the end of the Cold War -- have vastly changed the playing field.

A photo caption in The Sun yesterday incorrectly identified the woman standing next to freed hostage Jesse Turner, because of an error by the Associated Press. She is Nancy Waddell, wife of the commander of the U.S. Air Force hospital in Wiesbaden, Germany.+ The Sun regrets the errors.

Americans will rejoice when the last American hostage in Lebanon, Terry Anderson, joins Allan Steen and Joseph Cicippio in freedom. That will close the book on this chapter of Americans held hostage by pro-Iranian factions in Syrian-controlled Lebanon. It will not end lawlessness, however, or wrap up the hostage crisis as an impediment to peace in the Middle East.Two German hostages remain, held as barter for Germany releasing terrorists who committed crimes in Germany. At least one Israeli is held and five more are held or dead.

A man suspected of holding a woman hostage in North Point State Park on Sunday afternoon has been charged with multiple offenses, including assault, Baltimore County police said yesterday. About 5:30 p.m., the woman told police that she had escaped from the man and that he had fired shots as she fled into the woods. Police blocked off North Point Road and other roads leading into the park and searched for the man. Scores of motorists in the area were forced to wait until the search was over.

The State Department is probably very pleased with the outcome of last week's hostage crisis in Algeria, although given the loss of innocent lives it would be impolitic for officials to say so. In case you missed it, Islamic militants had held an unspecified number of people hostage at a gas field in eastern Algeria, including a small number of Americans. Dozens of militants and hostages - including three Americans, according to the U.S. - were killed during a series of attacks by the Algerian military.

Republicans in Washington seem to have recognized that refusing to raise the debt ceiling and putting the nation on the brink of default in a trumped-up "crisis" isn't playing well with the general public, so they're switching tactics. Now, instead of blindly driving off the cliff of fiscal Armageddon, they are pushing for the Obama administration to prioritize federal obligations - so the country can be late on some bills but not on debt payments, Social Security checks and pay for active-duty members of the military.

Baltimore County police tactical and hostage negotiating teams responded to an incident Thursday morning in Cockeysville after receiving a call that a resident there was suicidal. At 9:29 a.m., police were dispatched to the unit block of Kings Crossing Court after receiving a 911 call from a medical professional. Police took the resident, a 56-year-old male, into custody without incident and transported him to a local hospital for treatment and evaluation. No charges have been filed, officials said.

From USA's description of the "Second Time Around" episode of Political Animals : "With the clock ticking, Elaine sends Bud to diffuse the Iranian hostage situation. ... "               A sharper awareness of buried metaphors might help people sort out their confusion about homonyms. Free rein , letting go of control, for example, comes from horseback riding, understanding of which makes free reign nonsense. In the Political Animals episode, Elaine wants Bud to defuse the hostage situation, to render it harmless, as one defuses an explosive device.

The Orlando Magic organization is supposed to be run like any other professional sports franchise. The GM makes decisions regarding personnel. He gives the team assembled to a coach, who does his best to put a winning product out on the court. The owner pays for it all. But the Magic aren't like most other franchises, because they have a superstar who thinks he is bigger than the game.  Dwight Howard has been the coach, general manager and star player in Orlando for about two years now . He has been holding the entire organization hostage as it tries to appease a flip-flopping All-World center who can't seem to make up his mind. This is just another chapter in a growing narrative of selfish, me-first NBA players who just refuse to play with the cards they're dealt.

Back from a visit to Kabul, Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger expressed confidence in relations between the U.S. and Afghanistan. It's Pakistan that concerns him. "A lot of terrorists are being trained and harbored in Pakistan," said Ruppersberger, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee. "That's a serious problem. " As if to underscore his concerns, a Rockville man who was kidnapped by al-Qaida in Pakistan last year said in a newly released video that his captors will kill him if the U.S. doesn't meet their demands.

When Iranian human rights activist Shirin Ebadi won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize, Iranian-American scholar Haleh Esfandiari remarked that the choice would improve Iran's image across the globe. The Islamic Republic, she said, "has been seen as this rogue state, a hostage taker. Now people will see the other side." Ms. Esfandiari was right on both counts, only now she is the hostage, held in a notorious Tehran prison on trumped-up charges, and Ms. Ebadi is preparing to fight for her release.

Maryland Senate President Mike "Boss" Miller has now extended the bounds of his seemingly boundless manipulation of Maryland by holding a special session of the General Assembly needed to pass a budget hostage to his lust for table games inPrince George's County("Leaders float the idea of two special sessions," April 25). If the two-session compromise goes into effect, the second session should be held at that fount of political influence, Atlantic City. This will make a great movie someday; one only hopes that John Goodman will be available to play the Boss.

There are three points that need to be taken away from this week's episode of “Terra Nova.” One: Like Tolstoy wrote, “Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” and I counted no fewer than three unhappy/messed-up families this week. Two: Plot development has also apparently been affected by the time travel, because it's moving about as slowly as prehistoric molasses. I feel like a mosquito about to be trapped in amber. Three, and most important: It is freakin' awesome to watch dinosaurs burn to death.