Jackson Free Press

It is indeed laudable that you are pressing to have this unfortunate young woman's remains returned to her family in Omaha ("Missing Shannon," Feb. 2-8, 2006), and the authorities involved do deserve to be castigated for dropping the ball, but let's keep this whole affair in perspective. Use of the term "family" for her relatives in Omaha is a bit of a stretch—your description does not approach the concept of "family" as many people appreciate it. It seems from your article that every step of this woman's life was leading her to an untimely end; hers just happened to be in Jackson.

One may make the argument that the "system" failed her but it sounds as if she rejected the "system's" overtures at every turn. Every city has a seamy side—it's an unavoidable reality, better concealed in some locales than here. As a taxpayer in the region, I would rather the authorities use their limited budgets (aka Sheriff McMillin's fuel allotment) to maintain order and investigate solvable crimes that have an impact on the community as a whole. While her death was avoidable and clearly a sad event, her life choices seem to have fueled the circumstances that led her down that fatal path. While I remain sympathetic to her relatives' plight, from a purely objective standpoint, the loss of a transient drug-addicted prostitute does little to negatively impact our regional community as a whole.
— Phillip Ley, Ridgeland

Erotic Genius
Speaking of lust and romance (The Love Issue, Feb. 9-15, 2006), conventional wisdom has it that artists have a lot of both, while scientists are unworldly ascetics. Before this influences your career choice, consider this: Einstein was irresistible and had many affairs. Ernst Schrodinger credited "erotic inspiration" from a tryst with an old flame for his invention of quantum mechanics. Marie Curie took a handsome grad student for a lover. Robert Oppenheimer had a fling with Linus Pauling's wife. And the great physicist Richard Feynman was very close to stripper Candi Samples, among others. You won't hear about any of this in general science class, but Feynman neatly explained how a passion for research went with other passions: "Science is like sex. They both can have practical results, but that's not why we do it."
— John Davis, Jackson

Like Lambs to the Slaughter
I sure hope that all health-conscious Americans are aware of Gov. Haley Barbour's life working against the health and well-being of humanity as a tobacco lobbyist.

What part of guilt should Gov. Barbour have for the 4,961 tobacco-related deaths in Mississippi, as reported by the federal Centers for Disease Control for 1999? When will the preachers and political parties of Mississippi and America cast shame on anyone who promotes legal and lethal tobacco? I would walk, roller blade and bicycle from Birmingham, Ala. to Jackson if Gov. Barbour ever schedules a press conference to publicly apologize to humanity for promoting the legal product that slaughters 450,000 Americans every year.
— Mike Sawyer, Birmingham, Ala.

Previous Commentsshow

Someone should publish Dr. Philip Ley's greatest hits, eh? These are some letters! I'm glad he sends them, though. It proves that there are people out there -- and educated ones at that -- that proudly think like this.

DonnaLadd

Feb 15 2006

Is John Davis a genius or what? It comforting to know that Phillip would feel exactly the same if Shannon were his daughter.

Ray Carter

Feb 16 2006

John Davis is my personal hero. I never got to meet him, but he sent us editors at the JFP letters and Billie Holiday cds from time to time. As for Philip, he certainly keeps things interesting. I think this point he makes is interesting: if someone 'rejects the system' are they allowed to call on it to protect them (even after death). I think there are some pretty heavy precedents on this that say yes, but Ley opens up a dialogue that I bet runs around people's minds often.

casey

Feb 16 2006

Ray, Shannon would never be the doc's daughter. People like that raise perfect children and never have difficult problems with addiction and such. Casey, part of the problem here with his logic, even if you accept it, is that there are a number of bodies that have not been identified, and there is no guarantee that has been given to the public that it's Shannon's body. Thinking that one should not put efforts and resources into investigating cases of the most troubled among us does not take into consideration, I guess, that there could well be at least one killer still running loose in the community. I know it is highly unlikely that anything awful could ever happen to Dr. Ley's family, but one never knows.

DonnaLadd

Feb 16 2006

Oh certainly, certainly. The sad thing, though, I think is that a lot of people probably see things the same way he does. Good job on the story, by the way. I know you worked hard on it.

casey

Feb 16 2006

Indeed, if you become addicted to drugs and spend all or most of your time hanging around drug dealers and pimps, you're likely to get abused and possibly killed. However, I don't know that it's alright to conclude she had it coming. To reach this conclusion without any real sympathy is to deny the pull of drugs and the the reality of the inability of some people to free themselves once overcome or overwhelmed by any temptation. People overcome miraculous shortcomings all the time due to the help of our fellow men, women, and the Almigthy. Who amoung us can make it totally without the help of others. Not many. Maybe not any?

Ray Carter

Feb 16 2006

My response to Mr. Ley is to quote my 6 year old. "Mama, there's no such thing as 'better.'" "What do you mean?" "God loves us all the same, so that means we're all the same, so no one's 'better'."

kate

Feb 16 2006

I think your six-year-old is already a whale of a lot wiser than Mr. Ley. There is such a huge love deficit in the world. Reading that letter didn't even make me angry; it just depressed me. Cheers, TH

Tom Head

Feb 16 2006

Oh my goodness, I guess Mr. Ley has never read any part of the Holy Bible, especially all the stuff in red, that clearly says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, or he that is without sin, cast the first stone, or judge not lest ye be judge. There are alot more I could bring up but will just say that all human life is precisous no matter how far we stray. And remember that Shannon had a mother and was a mother and no parent/child should experience the violent death. Keep God first BMJ

badmamajamma

Feb 17 2006

Right on, BMJ. It's just more blaming the victim.

DonnaLadd

Feb 17 2006

Ahh yes, the old ugly saw of "It's your own damn fault" rears its head again. Personal Responsibility on Steroids at its Finest (or IMO,more accurately, that would be "Our society as a whole is too heartless or lazy to waste time on compassion"). This sounds a lot like my comment to Emily about abortion and responsibility on the Post-Roe Board (Jan 25, 05 | 8:47 pm) Suffice to say that the "Individualism on Stereoids" attitude I spoke of hurts a civilization more than it helps it (as James Mitchner convincingly wrote in This Noble Land: My Vision for America)

Philip

Feb 17 2006

Yeah, it's very survival of the fittest, and it's gross. As if the fittest would be so damn fit if they didn't have people to get fit on the backs of. It's repulsive that there are people who think this way. I feel sorry for them.

DonnaLadd

Feb 17 2006

Casey!!!! :-( I am Philip. Phillip Ley has two L's in his name. As you can see we inhabit very different planes of thought. But you're forgiven :-)

Philip

Feb 18 2006

While I remain sympathetic to her relatives’ plight, from a purely objective standpoint, the loss of a transient drug-addicted prostitute does little to negatively impact our regional community as a whole. "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the whole, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less; just as if a promontory were, or if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were. Every man's death diminishes me because I am involved with mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls: it tolls for thee." -- John Donne

Tim Kynerd

Feb 19 2006