Kill People

"Disco Bloodbath," by James St. James. Simon & Schuster. 286 pages. $23.James St. James' vastly entertaining, scarily well-written and horrifically funny book, "Disco Bloodbath," begins with a description of the chemical makeup and preparation of ketamine hydrochloride, the drug commonly known as Special K. If we are to understand the events that are about to unfold before us in this "Fabulous But True Tale of Murder in Clubland" (subtitle), St. James tells us, a working knowledge of K and its psychotropic effects is key. "Otherwise you'll be lost in the sauce, as they say."

"Disco Bloodbath," by James St. James. Simon & Schuster. 286 pages. $23.James St. James' vastly entertaining, scarily well-written and horrifically funny book, "Disco Bloodbath," begins with a description of the chemical makeup and preparation of ketamine hydrochloride, the drug commonly known as Special K. If we are to understand the events that are about to unfold before us in this "Fabulous But True Tale of Murder in Clubland" (subtitle), St. James tells us, a working knowledge of K and its psychotropic effects is key. "Otherwise you'll be lost in the sauce, as they say."

ANOTHER SEARING image. More innocents being led from a bloody crime scene. This time it was children at a Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles. Last time, it was office workers in Alabama. The time before that, stock traders in Atlanta.This time -- just like last time and the time before that -- an unstable person had access to a powerful gun.And you can regrettably predict what comes next: The gun lobby repeats that "guns don't kill people, people kill people."Nonsense. You can draw a straight line in logic from the proliferation of guns in this country to the rising tide of senseless violence.

AFTER U.S. missiles hit sites in Sudan and Afghanistan, some Americans seemed uncomfortable. A vocal minority voiced opposition. But approval was routine among those who had learned a few easy Orwellian lessons.When terrorists attack, they're terrorizing. When we attack, we're retaliating. When they respond to our retaliation with further attacks, they're terrorizing again. When we respond with further attacks, we're retaliating again.When people decry civilian deaths caused by the U.S. government, they're aiding propaganda efforts.

GUNS don't kill people -- people do. That's true, assuming that we're dealing with adults who know what they're doing when they pick up a handgun and shoot to kill.But don't tell me that guns don't kill children. They do every day. Children and teen-agers are involved in more than 10,000 unintentional shootings each year. In 1994, the last year for which statistics are available, 185 kids were killed in accidental shootings.Other hazardsOh, I know. I know. More kids drown in swimming pools or die with shattered skulls from bicycle accidents than from handguns.

Broadway, Virginia. -- A number of people have commented about the apparent contradiction of a right-to-lifer shooting and killing, in the name of principle, an abortion doctor. How can one devoted to the sanctity of life, they exclaim, believe it justified to commit murder?No surprise, I say: Our political landscape is littered with such contradictions and hypocrisies.Switch the occupant of the White House from Republican to Democrat and watch the senators of the two parties quickly trade across the aisle their sacred principles concerning presidential powers.

We crossed another line in Florida on Wednesday when that poor misguided soul gunned down a doctor who performed abortions.Forget, for a moment, the irony of a pro-life advocate pulling the trigger. That's like a sick cosmic joke. But something more profound is at work here.We were surprised either by the killing or maybe that one hadn't happened sooner. But the sad truth is that we won't be surprised the next time. In fact, what would be surprising now is if there weren't a next time.That's the line we've crossed -- the barrier between what was once unimaginable in our society and what is now blood-red reality.

There must be something to cold fusion after all, if it can blow up and kill people.In counter-revolution, comrades, the first things they set free are the prices.

Baltimore is the City That Reads. Hizzoner even shut the libraries and is locking the schools so that people can sit home and do it.Some guy in New York will get $100,000 to negotiate with Baltimore firefighters. There are folks here who would talk to firefighters for half that.There must be something to cold fusion after all, if it can blow up and kill people.In counter-revolution, comrades, the first things they set free are the prices.

Zingin' the Blues2 Keep this in mind as we walk toward the light.Alice B. HoffbergerBaltimore.Words and ActionsI recognize that the headline of J.D. Considine's article regarding the controversy surrounding Ice-T's lyrics in the song "Cop Killers" was intentionally ironic: "Guns don't kill people, albums do." This is borne out by his making the actual argument that words don't kill people, guns do.More importantly, however, it must be realized that words are used as a primary tool in the efforts to shape people's attitudes.

Lots of things get shot in Baltimore. The breeze. Action movies. Bad guys. But waterfowl, not so much. So what was a famous shotgun manufacturer doing on the wide-open asphalt of West Baltimore this past weekend? Shooting something else: a commercial. This portion of U.S. 40 is a submerged highway between the Social Security building and a commuter train lot that allows you to traverse the inner city without actually seeing it, and it's apparently the perfect place for Benelli USA to film an ad for ESPN and the Outdoor Channel.

Make the Mechanic a relic of memory I've read with interest of the discussions about saving the Morris A. Mechanic Theater, a grotesque example of public-building-as-urban-fortress ("Saving the Mechanic," Sept. 28). Ugly when it was built, it served as a cold and unfriendly public space for many years. It was never quite clear why anyone imagined that the urban canyon it is part of could serve as the centerpiece of an urban renaissance. Of course, there are practical reasons to save the Mechanic.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The civil defense men in blue uniforms joined neighborhood volunteers picking through the rubble with their hands, there being no heavy equipment to aid in the task. Dedicated young men used a nylon sack to bag bits of flesh, now destined for a proper Muslim interment. "Why so many explosions at the same time?" asked Mohammed Mayahi, 57, whose sons were among the people burrowing for signs of life and death in the heap of debris that a day earlier had been a two-story apartment building, alive with families, shops and a restaurant.

On a sunny afternoon in Baltimore - a world away from nighttime in Afghanistan, where U.S. and British forces launched missile and bomb attacks - Miss Little Italy waved from her convertible in the Columbus Day Parade yesterday, her star-spangled scarf blowing in the wind. A few blocks from the downtown parade, pretzel vendors hawked their wares above the din of the tens of thousands who gathered, many draped in Ravens purple, for a Sunday football game. All seemed normal until word of the retaliatory strikes raced through the crowds.

GUNS DON'T KILL people. People kill people." Tell that to the parents of the two high school students who died Monday in Santee, Calif. Certainly, there's plenty of blame to go around: The alleged assailant had made threats that his peers seemed to take seriously -- but not seriously enough to alert their parents or authorities. At least one adult, interviewed on national television, indicated that he was aware of the 15-year-old freshman's boast that he planned to shoot up his school.

The fiercest foe of effective public policy is the human trait that insists that being absolutely right is more gratifying than getting something done. Piety -- often hysterical -- commonly cripples important debates about privacy, abortion, capital punishment, land use, criminal justice, education, economic principles and more. No subject of wide public concern in the United States is more polarized than the matter of guns. As every American knows, guns, wielded by people, kill people -- far, far too many of them.

WHILE WE bicker over the confirmation of our next police commissioner, it is my belief that we are missing the boat. When Acting Police Commissioner Edward T. Norris is confirmed and takes on the monumental task of trying to reduce Baltimore's crime, it should be noted that the problems we face will not disappear and the murder rate will not drop overnight. According to the Baltimore Police plan, it will take three years to significantly reduce the murder rate. The problems we face in our city are bigger than that: the decay of moral values and the lack of a value of life among those who choose to pick up guns and kill people to resolve their disputes.

ANOTHER SEARING image. More innocents being led from a bloody crime scene. This time it was children at a Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles. Last time, it was office workers in Alabama. The time before that, stock traders in Atlanta.This time -- just like last time and the time before that -- an unstable person had access to a powerful gun.And you can regrettably predict what comes next: The gun lobby repeats that "guns don't kill people, people kill people."Nonsense. You can draw a straight line in logic from the proliferation of guns in this country to the rising tide of senseless violence.

"Disco Bloodbath," by James St. James. Simon & Schuster. 286 pages. $23.James St. James' vastly entertaining, scarily well-written and horrifically funny book, "Disco Bloodbath," begins with a description of the chemical makeup and preparation of ketamine hydrochloride, the drug commonly known as Special K. If we are to understand the events that are about to unfold before us in this "Fabulous But True Tale of Murder in Clubland" (subtitle), St. James tells us, a working knowledge of K and its psychotropic effects is key. "Otherwise you'll be lost in the sauce, as they say."

"Disco Bloodbath," by James St. James. Simon & Schuster. 286 pages. $23.James St. James' vastly entertaining, scarily well-written and horrifically funny book, "Disco Bloodbath," begins with a description of the chemical makeup and preparation of ketamine hydrochloride, the drug commonly known as Special K. If we are to understand the events that are about to unfold before us in this "Fabulous But True Tale of Murder in Clubland" (subtitle), St. James tells us, a working knowledge of K and its psychotropic effects is key. "Otherwise you'll be lost in the sauce, as they say."