"Three-quarters of the miseries and misunderstandings in the world would finish if people were to put on the shoes of their adversaries and understood their points of view," Indian philosopher Mahatma Gandhi once said.
OPRAH'S ROOTS
Tickets are "sold out" for the Oprah Winfrey show to be broadcast live from the Opera House of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts one day before President-elect Barack Obama takes the oath of office Jan. 20, but you can always watch the former Baltimore TV personality on the tube.
Miss Winfrey began her career as a reporter and co-anchor for Baltimore's WJZ-TV. According to her Black History biography, the station sent her to New York "for a beauty makeover, which Winfrey believes was her assistant news director's attempt to 'make her Puerto Rican.' She also attributes the makeover to an incident when she was told her 'hair's too thick, nose is too wide and chin's too big.' "
Miss Winfrey worked in Baltimore for seven years before moving to Chicago.
IN MEMORIAM
Closing the chapter on the 110th Congress, we call attention to those distinguished members who died in office:
Rep. Charlie Norwood, Georgia Republican - Feb. 13, 2007
Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald, California Democrat - April 22, 2007
Sen. Craig Thomas, Wyoming Republican - June 4, 2007
Rep. Paul E. Gillmor, Ohio Republican - Sept. 5, 2007
Rep. Jo Ann Davis, Virginia Republican - Oct. 6, 2007
Rep. Julia Carson, Indiana Democrat - Dec. 15, 2007
Rep. Tom Lantos, California Democrat - Feb. 11, 2008
Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, Ohio Democrat - Aug. 20, 2008
BACK TO SCHOOL
Georgetown University's board of directors unanimously selected Paul Tagliabue to serve as the next board chairman. The 1962 Georgetown graduate and former commissioner of the National Football League from 1989 to 2006 will serve a three-year term starting July 1.
"He has engaged deeply in the university since his days as an undergraduate, and his leadership will be especially meaningful now to further our ongoing efforts to enhance Georgetown's mission at this critical time in history," university President John J. DeGioia says.
Before football, Mr. Tagliabue was a lawyer at Covington & Burling in Washington, and before that a policy analyst for the Pentagon.
A FLOAT, BY GEORGE
Out of more than 1,300 applications it has received from groups wanting to march in the Presidential Inaugural Parade along Pennsylvania Avenue, the Presidential Inaugural Committee has selected, among the other lucky few, George Washington University's float design.
According to the university's Danielle Earls, the float will be carried on two trailers stretching 70 feet and feature a large inflatable globe, a student-built mini-Baja vehicle, a real-time stock ticker and about 40 or so eager students representing GW's nine schools and colleges.
Float construction will commence in early January.
OPPOSING MARCHES
It's worth noting that the annual March for Life, in each of the past several years drawing more than 200,000 pro-life advocates, will be held in Washington Jan. 22 - only two days after pro-choice supporter and President-elect Barack Obama marches in his Inaugural parade to the White House.
The first March for Life was held Jan. 22, 1974, on the West Steps of the U.S. Capitol, attracting an estimated 20,000 pro-life Americans. It has grown in size and scope ever since.
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