Jill Carroll's back

This comes a bit late, but Jill Carroll is back, and she's already indulged in some Americana, streaking her hair purple and smiling at the discovery of freedom.

The big question is: Did the U.S. government broker a deal to get her released? Or did she work with the captors to get the freelance money CSM owed her? (kidding!!) We'll perhaps never get an answer, but my gut instinct says, yes, perhaps. Her family seemingly didn't have any cash, nor did the Christian Science Monitor, for which she wrote (and will perhaps write.) CSM has no option but to offer her another assignment.

Most print media organizations in general don't have any money, and the situation's getting worse every day. CSM couldn't have afforded the ransom money, so it has to be the US government.

Her twin sister pleaded for her release one day, and next day, voila, she popped out of nowhere. The back-to-back string of events is a bit mysterious, perhaps a sign of some cover up. That mystery will never be solved, so I'll just celebrate her return.

I checked for her updates everyday over the last few months -- new statements, pleas, or clues of her being found -- it seemed like a never ending saga.

As for her controversial statements, when anyone's head is under the gun, they'll say anything. It's a pressure situation.

So what's next for her? She seems to be enjoying the rest. But she's a writer and may be getting fat book offers. For now she's eligible for worker's compensation benefits, which means filling out forms and going through red tape.

The CSM folks say she won't be writing for them for now. I hope she writes a book.

She will, however, revisit Iraq, it's a lock. She belongs to a rare breed of journalists who don't let the past interfere with their future. International reporting requires guts, and she has loads of it. If she can fill out the worker's compensation forms, she can do anything.

But I'm better. My specialty is to cook up amazingly unreal stories. Guts? Plenty of it. Only when playing golf.