Human Nature

Your March 2, front page article "Mayhem in Post-Quake Chile," with the sad picture of a devastated mother and child and cover story about the 720 killed, rampant looting and overall devastation caused by the earthquake, was certainly heart wrenching and calls our attention to the terrible suffering of others. But how can America continue with more foreign aid when so many of our tax dollars have already been used for the people hit by the Haiti earthquake and at a time when our own economy is crashing down on us?

Joe Flacco will need every bit of his Joe Cool persona next season. By getting that $120.6 million mega-deal from the Ravens, he's made himself a huge target for criticism every time the Ravens don't play well. Sure, he was always a favorite target of angry fans. It comes with the territory when you're an NFL quarterback. But this new contract will ratchet the pressure a hundred times more. The minute he has a bad game, the Flacco haters - and there are still a ton of them - will come out of the woodwork.

Boston -- The reports piling on my desk contain little evidenc of peace on earth. They offer even less testimony about good will. They are horror stories from Bosnia and they seem to arrive like malevolent New Year's greetings, bearing grotesque reminders of what people can do to each other.The sorriest of the lot carry accounts of mostly Serbian atrocities -- of murder, rape, hate. They have been collected, typed and mailed by human-rights activists, people whose daily work I do not envy.

Lance Armstrong has been rightly condemned for cheating. It takes skill, raw talent and extreme drive just to complete the Tour de France. However, to use unlawful measures to win it takes a complete unraveling of one's moral compass and a breakdown in ethical boundaries. This is true even if Mr. Armstrong has brought great inspiration to cancer survivors. As an attorney, one of the things that offends me the most is Mr. Armstrong's apparent misuse of the legal system. He abused it to suppress the truth by filing lawsuits against his accusers, lying under oath and, in general, attempting to subvert any investigations by reportedly trying to intimidate witnesses.

Washington. -- One hundred and thirty Julys ago the president, referring to the Mississippi, said, ''The father of waters again goes unvexed to the sea.'' Lincoln was pleased, the occasion being the triumph of the siege of Vicksburg by a general from the Mississippi River town of Galena, Illinois, U.S. Grant.It would be nice if that willful river -- today 16 miles wide on some Illinois and Missouri plains -- would be more vexed by human ingenuity. But the big river, by riveting our attention on the unpredictable and uncontrollable sphere of life (which is almost all of life)

As sure as there's death and taxes, there's surely bound to be people who file their tax returns at the last minute.That was the case again last night as late filers jammed the main post office on East Fayette Street trying to beat the midnight deadline. A traffic jam was caused by those who drove up in cars to drop their state and federal returns into 16 plastic containers manned by postmen on the street outside."I think it's a mess," said Joseph Wiggins, 28, who filed his taxes in February and went to the post office last night to buy an envelope.

A Changed Man Francine Prose Harper Perennial / 421 pages / $14.95 Prose's satire concerns a purportedly reformed white supremacist who wants now to lend his services to a human rights organization. Prose "delivers a well-crafted, ironic and insightful tale of the darker side of human nature," we said last year.

Imagine my surprise this morning when I saw letters from apparently well-fed individuals complaining about paying unemployment insurance. For all those beleaguered employers who don't want to pay unemployment benefits I've got a solution: Hire illegal immigrants. They are non-persons, so an employer does not have to pay unemployment insurance and really shouldn't bother about niceties like Workers' Compensation, minimum wage laws, child labor laws, unions, OSHA or any other oppressive, socialistic safety net provisions.

Evil never sounds as good as it does in a Verdi opera. This dark side of human nature gets a particularly tuneful and theatrically gripping workout in Rigoletto, which moves with brutal speed toward a tragic tangle of blind love, vengeance and self-sacrifice. If you go Rigoletto will be performed at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow and five more times through April 13 at the Kennedy Center, off Virginia and New Hampshire avenues Northwest, Washington. Tickets are $45 to $250. Call 800-876-7372 or go to dc-opera.

"We got him, justice is done. " Really? We seem to be overjoyed by the idea that Osama bin Laden's death is some sort of compensation for all the suffering and lives he annihilated. I suppose it's human nature that revenge is a joy. But now our revenge must be avenged. Perhaps our joy should just be geared to the fact that at least bin Laden will no longer plan additional harm. George B. Wroe, Glyndon

I know nothing about open-wheel, IndyCar racing, but I do recognize what happens to squabbling families - and how they self-destruct. Until the Baltimore Grand Prix came to our city for a second time, I never bothered to study the sport, and I'm trying to learn. It's amazing there are so many "moving parts" to putting on a road race, and the skill and technology involved boggle the mind. If the people of Baltimore were smart (a questionable assumption), they would support the Baltimore Grand Prix in the same way they coddle the Ravens.

The expectation is that some time Saturday it'll become official that Opening Day starter Jake Arrieta has been sent to Triple-A Norfolk. The numbers show why. He is 2-8 with a 6.32 ERA. He leads the majors in losses. He's dropped his last six decisions in a span of seven starts. He is 1-5 with a 7.85 ERA in seven home starts. He allowed career highs in hits (11) and runs (9) in Friday's 9-6 loss, and he pitched just four innings. After the game, Arrieta admitted to reporters that he is lost, and is more frustrated than he has ever been.

Imagine my surprise this morning when I saw letters from apparently well-fed individuals complaining about paying unemployment insurance. For all those beleaguered employers who don't want to pay unemployment benefits I've got a solution: Hire illegal immigrants. They are non-persons, so an employer does not have to pay unemployment insurance and really shouldn't bother about niceties like Workers' Compensation, minimum wage laws, child labor laws, unions, OSHA or any other oppressive, socialistic safety net provisions.

In recent days, members of the Board of County Commissioners have given themselves high marks when taking turns mounting the county soapbox. Members have proclaimed themselves successful in keeping campaign promises across the board in their first six months in office — one-eighth of their four-year terms. How enviable it must be to grade one's self. If I had been able to grade myself in high school, I'd have surely graduated cum laude and been offered scholarships from numerous Ivy League colleges, with fraternities competing to have me become a pledge to their house.

"We got him, justice is done. " Really? We seem to be overjoyed by the idea that Osama bin Laden's death is some sort of compensation for all the suffering and lives he annihilated. I suppose it's human nature that revenge is a joy. But now our revenge must be avenged. Perhaps our joy should just be geared to the fact that at least bin Laden will no longer plan additional harm. George B. Wroe, Glyndon

Concerning The Baltimore Sun article "Cat parasite reaches human brain: Possibility of link to schizophrenia explored" (Aug. 1): Outrageous. 1. Schizophrenia has long been understood by psychodynamic psychologists (Theodore Lidz, among others) as caused by a certain pattern of faulty emotional attachment by parents and parent-figures from early on in a child's life, causing distorted emotional development. 2. People have been cured of it--see the web site of the National Empowerment Center.

"The Great Disruption: Human Nature and the Reconstitution of Social Order," by Francis Fukuyama. Free Press. 343 pages. $26.Out in the deep waters of contemporary times swims a group of social scientists waiting to catch the next big wave of social change to surf into shore. Francis Fukuyama, author of the best-selling "The End of History and the Last Man," thinks he has found one in what he identifies as a moral decline of Western and developed Far Eastern countries from the 1960s to the beginning of this decade, to be followed by a moral "reconstitution."

Who's hot The Phillies have won 12 of 14, picking up 5 1/2 games on the Braves in the NL East in 10 days. Who's not Jarrod Washburn of the Angels has given up 13 homers over 30 2/3 innings in his past five starts. Line of the day M. Cabrera, Marlins LF-3B AB R H RBI HR 6 4 4 4 2 He said it "It's human nature to want to play for a winner. My own ties here make me optimistic that it could be done here." Mike Lowell, Marlins third baseman and Miami native, told he wouldn't be traded this season On deck Roberto Alomar is expected to join the White Sox today against the Twins.

Your March 2, front page article "Mayhem in Post-Quake Chile," with the sad picture of a devastated mother and child and cover story about the 720 killed, rampant looting and overall devastation caused by the earthquake, was certainly heart wrenching and calls our attention to the terrible suffering of others. But how can America continue with more foreign aid when so many of our tax dollars have already been used for the people hit by the Haiti earthquake and at a time when our own economy is crashing down on us?

Evil never sounds as good as it does in a Verdi opera. This dark side of human nature gets a particularly tuneful and theatrically gripping workout in Rigoletto, which moves with brutal speed toward a tragic tangle of blind love, vengeance and self-sacrifice. If you go Rigoletto will be performed at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow and five more times through April 13 at the Kennedy Center, off Virginia and New Hampshire avenues Northwest, Washington. Tickets are $45 to $250. Call 800-876-7372 or go to dc-opera.