Daily News - Elmer Smith http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/elmer_smith RSS Feed for Elmer Smith en-us Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:01:00 GMT Elmer Smith: Pointless search for Fort Hood massacre's 'real reason' http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/elmer_smith/20091110_Elmer_Smith__Pointless_search_for_Fort_Hood_massacre_s__real_reason_.html A CONGRESSIONAL committee has joined that posse searching for the "real reason" that Nidal Malik Hassan went berserk and allegedly killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Tex. Elmer Smith: West Philly High takes center stage - for a day http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/elmer_smith/20091106_Elmer_Smith__West_Philly_High_takes_center_stage_-_for_a_day.html THE MAYOR'S caravan turned off Walnut onto 47th Street right on schedule. Megastar Wyclef Jean was being escorted through a throng of excited students in the marble hall outside the East Auditorium. Elmer Smith: Why are we in Afghanistan? Knowing history would help us http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/elmer_smith/20091103_Elmer_Smith__Why_are_we_in_Afghanistan__Knowing_history_would_help_us.html HILLARY CLINTON'S smug retort to a British Broadcasting Company reporter's question about the war in Afghanistan should have been my first clue. Elmer Smith: Cockpit gadgetry may have turned pilots into laptop jockeys http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/elmer_smith/20091030_Elmer_Smith__Cockpit_gadgetry_may_have_turned_pilots_into_laptop_jockeys.html YOU'RE MAKING that last step from the jetway onto the plane. The stewardess is smiling. First-class passengers are seated comfortably watching regular folk troop back to tiny seats in the six-across sections. Elmer Smith: We don't need a new hate-crimes law http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/elmer_smith/20091027_Elmer_Smith__We_don_t_need_a_new_hate-crimes_law.html Scott Lee Zulfer's case demonstates that, if we are truly outraged by a particular type of crime, we can demonstrate it without any new law Elmer Smith: Shall we shed tears for the CLEW-less? http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/elmer_smith/20091023_Elmer_Smith__Shall_we_shed_tears_for_the_CLEW-less_.html I COULD BARELY suppress my glee when I heard that the government is slashing the salaries of the top execs at those banks that we bailed out. Elmer Smith: Balloon-boy hoax just like most others: Full of hot air, a harmless game http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/elmer_smith/20091020_Elmer_Smith__Balloon-boy_hoax_just_like_most_others__It_s_full_of_hot_air_and_a_harmless_game.html I HAD ONE shot, one chance to save this child's life. A flock of ravenous raptors had spotted the frightened boy dangling from the gondola. They swooped in for the kill. Elmer Smith: Jails and lotteries: Sure thing for states http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/elmer_smith/20091016_Elmer_Smith__Jails_and_lotteries__Sure_thing_for_states.html YOU CAN'T help but be moved by the level of cooperation we're starting to see among the states. We reported yesterday that a half-dozen states have expressed a willingness to ease Pennsylvania's prison overcrowding by housing some of our excess inmates. Elmer Smith: To pass the health-care plan, forget the GOP http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/elmer_smith/20091013_Elmer_Smith__To_pass_the_health-care_plan__forget_the_GOP.html YOU ONLY HAVE to look at his Viagra ads to see that Bob Dole will stand up for what he believes, even at the risk of ridicule. Elmer Smith: Enough is enough: Time to lift travel restrictions to Cuba http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/elmer_smith/20091009_Elmer_Smith__Enough_is_enough__Time_to_lift_travel_restrictions_to_Cuba.html THEY DIDN'T mean to attract attention. But a group of American women can hardly escape notice in a Cuban hotel lobby.