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Gifts for all occasions in the Galleria! Back by Popular Demand! Win a Pie of Knowledge t-shirt! Click here to find out how. Add your comments on this week's "What is the Deal?" column at Uncle Hiram's Bulletin Board. July 6, 2003 What is the Deal with Thinking? By Jan A. Larson Chante Mallard, under the influence of alcohol, marijuana and Ecstasy, struck Gregory Biggs with her car leaving Biggs wedged through the windshield with his head and torso inside the passenger compartment. Mallard, afraid that she would run afoul of the law for the incident, decided the best thing to do was to park the car in her garage and let Biggs die. What was she thinking? Later, when her "buzz" had theoretically worn off, Mallard decided to enlist a friend to help dispose of Biggs' body. It is said that you really find out who your friends are when you ask someone to help you dispose of a body. The removal of the body and subsequent burning the front seat of her car put an end to the ordeal for Mallard, or it might have ended it, except she talked about the accident at a party several months later. The police were told of Mallard's revelation and now she will spend the next 25 years behind bars. What was she thinking? Catherine Donkers was stopped by troopers at a toll plaza in Ohio and cited for breastfeeding her baby while driving her car on cruise control at 65 miles per hour. She has been charged with failing to comply with a lawful order, obstructing official business, driving while under suspension, improper child restraint and child endangerment. Donkers claims that she did nothing wrong and Michigan (her home state) law allows an exemption to the child restraint laws for nursing mothers. Donkers' husband, citing the couple's religious beliefs, has insisted that he is responsible for his wife's actions, wants her name cleared and the charges transferred to him. One might legitimately ask, "What was she thinking?" with respect to her decision to nurse a baby and drive 65 without apparent regard for her child's safety and the safety of motorists near her. The question must again be asked with respect to her decision to take the case to court instead of simply paying a $100 fine. Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, one of nine Democratic candidates for President, incurred the wrath of Republicans and others, for his comments calling for a "regime change in Washington" shortly after the fighting began in Iraq. Adding insult to injury, Kerry recently blasted the President, effectively calling him a liar, with respect to the President's justification for war based on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capability. That capability is known to have existed in Iraq. Fifteen members of the UN Security Council agreed, UN weapons inspectors prior to 1998 agreed and there is ample evidence that such weapons were used on the Kurdish people in Iraq. Yet Kerry chose to promulgate a preposterous notion that the President had simply fabricated the threat and lied to the American people and the world about such weapons as an excuse for war. Does that make any sense at all? Kerry is an intelligent, educated, well-spoken individual, attempting to define his position relative to the other Democratic candidates and stake out a position diametrically opposed to the President. Maybe he simply got some bad advice, but as a candidate generally regarded as having among the best chances of securing the Democratic nomination for President in 2004, one must wonder, "What was he thinking?" Terrance Shurn made a spectacular exit from this life in a 100 MPH motorcycle crash in Benton Harbor, Michigan while attempting to elude police. Shurn's death sparked two nights of rioting that destroyed three police cars, resulted in one house being burned to the ground and several others being set on fire. Rioters blamed the police for the high-speed chase that resulted in Shurn's death, but logic dictates that Shurn surely had the opportunity to avoid becoming involved the chase in the first place. Unfortunately, no one will be able to ask the departed Mr. Shurn what he was thinking. Jay Williams, a talented guard for the Chicago Bulls, was also involved in a motorcycle accident. Unlike Terrance Shurn, Williams survived, but his future as a professional basketball player remains in doubt as of this writing. Williams, who graduated from Duke University in just three years, violated a clause in his contract that prohibited the use of motorcycles. It is likely that the Bulls will terminate his multi-million dollar deal if he is unable to play basketball again. A young man on top of the world made a decision that will change his life forever. Will we ever know what he was thinking? Male or female, rich or poor, famous or anonymous, we all make decisions at one time or another that we regret. Some of them, however, are of such proportion that they simply beg the question ... . -- Send feedback to the author. The "What is the Deal?" column will appears weekly on the Pie of Knowledge website. Guest submissions are welcome and encouraged. To submit an article to "What is the Deal?" click here. To subscribe to the "What is the Deal?" mailing list and receive early notification when a new column is available, click here. The Pie of Knowledge will never, ever divulge email addresses to any third party for any reason unless so ordered by a court of law. Contributions to the Pie of Knowledge are greatly appreciated. 
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