The United States should not release Osama bin Laden's death photos.

Osama bin Laden is dead, and now many want to see pictures. The high school gossip in me wants something to gawk at. The doubting Thomas in me needs "proof" to settle my suspicions. But some suspicions can never be settled, and I believe that releasing these photos will put Americans, especially those overseas who are trying to protect us, in danger. For me, that is the deciding factor - we should not do anything that makes their tough job even more dangerous.

Document the history of this weekend's raid, put the photos into an archive, and release them in 50 years. Hopefully, by then the world will be so far past the present terrorism insanity that the pictures will appear an incredible relic of times long ago.

P.S. For those doubters, were Osama bin Laden alive, he could completely discredit the current U.S. government by releasing a verifiable video of himself discussing the events of this past weekend while holding Monday's copy of the New York Times. That is an opportunity that he would not pass up for long.

Mayor Bloomberg should have let voters give away $100 million for his campaign

Congratulations to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who won his third term as mayor, after spending close to $100 million on the campaign.

This was his money; he earned it, and in America you choose how to spend your money. As a practical matter, however, I think that Mayor Bloomberg could have accomplished his reelection goal while donating most of that money to improving the lives of New York's least fortunate citizens.

Here's how: First, set aside maybe $10 million for traditional campaign expenses - an office, staff, public appearances, press interviews, and a solid Web site infrastructure. Then, put $90 million into a pool that will be donated to New York City charities over the 10 weeks leading up to the election. Each week, voters go to Mayor Bloomberg's campaign web site, register in his database (with appropriate precautions to confirm the person is an individual voter), and then select from a list of local charities who they would like to receive a $1 donation from the Bloomberg campaign. Each Saturday night, the selections are tallied and checks are presented to the charities in a nice public appearance (covered in the Sunday papers, of course). The next week, the donation amount may grow (or shrink) depending on how many voters directed contributions.

Instead of political activitists calling you during dinner to support their candidate, the PTA and local Boys & Girls Club would be hanging out at the grocery store, asking you to visit the Bloomberg campaign site and help them raise money for a new computer or trip to the Capitol. By the end of the campaign New York City schools and charities would be $90 million richer, Mayor Bloomberg might have a nice tax deduction, and the publicity and goodwill from this campaign would far outstretch anything his mailers, robo-calls, radio and TV ads could have done.

Government that works for America, must first work for Americans

I am glad for Laura Ling, Euna Lee, and their families that North Korea released them after President Bill Clinton's visit this week. Media analysts have a field day with subtle acts of international diplomacy such as this, looking for the hidden meanings and trying to sort out winners and losers. But there are very few cases where the best interest of a few individual Americans should be sacrificed for the "greater good" of America, and this certainly was not one of them. Lost in the current context of big government plans, such as "reforming Health Care" and "Creating Jobs", is the fact that the first job of the American government is to serve individual American citizens - and this is surely an example of that happening.