Category: Idle Thoughts

The Curmudgeon philosophy and lifestyle.

From The Seas to The Trees, Pt 5

Curmudgeon

This is the fifth ( and last ) part of a mostly true serialization. Embellishments have been used to emphasize the facts. Descriptive elements have been used in lieu of names to protect everyone’s right to privacy.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Part 5: Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, Then Home

During breakfast the next day, we wondered about how to get back to San Francisco, the airport and what time we needed to be there. The Coed pulls out her ever-present phone and starts doing web searches to get some answers. […]

From The Seas to The Trees, Pt 4

Curmudgeon

This is the fourth part of a mostly true serialization. Embellishments have been used to emphasize the facts. Descriptive elements have been used in lieu of names to protect everyone’s right to privacy.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, – Part 5

Part 4: The Roads Back South

I could have stayed at Crescent City for the entire week, even longer but as I never saw any ‘Help Wanted’ signs, the next morning I join our group to head south to Yosemite.

Our planned course was to take the shortest route to Interstate 5. We figure this had to be the least squiggly, and most direct to Sacramento. There we would cut off to Sonora where we had room reservations. […]

From The Seas to The Trees, Pt 3

Curmudgeon

This third part of a serialization is true – mostly. Embellishments have been used to emphasize the facts. Descriptive elements have been used in lieu of names to protect everyone’s right to privacy.

Part 1, Part 2, – Part 4, Part 5

Part 3: The Seaside Town

While the rest of us were taking in the view from our rooms at the inn, and drinking two-year-old, complimentary wine (ok, not everything was perfect), Snowball and her uncle went out in search of Dramamine to smooth out the squiggly seaside roads we knew were still waiting for us. […]

From The Seas to The Trees, Pt 2

Curmudgeon

This second part of a serialization is true – mostly. Embellishments have been used to emphasize the facts. Descriptive elements have been used in lieu of names to protect everyone’s right to privacy.

Part 1, – Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

Part 2: The Roads North

In the previous installment we left our intrepid travelers at the luggage carousel in the San Francisco airport. Snowball and myself guiding Snowball’s family on a six day trip to see the California redwoods. Next stop – pick up the rental van […]

We Interrupt Our Regular Broadcast

Curmudgeon

I know you may be anxiously awaiting the next installment of my family vacation. But anyone who knows me and knows that I spent a decade and half as a broadcaster, also knows that I’m gonna have a few things to say about recent events in Virginia. I don’t want to disappoint.

This was a workplace shooting

When I first heard of the shooting I assumed it was some screwball TV viewer who had fixated on a journalist they saw everyday and felt the reporter had wronged them. Something like that would not have been hard to believe. After all since the seventies the technology has existed to allow even small stations to produce live interviews and stand-ups from anywhere. During thousands of these live shots everyday, journalists are hanging their butt out there in the wind, unprotected. This killing was a terrible thing.

But the reality of this incident is that was only another in a long line of workplace shootings. It could have just as easily happened in the newsroom or the business office as anywhere else out in the field. The biggest difference I see happening this time is that someone with a gun has finally done something to piss off an industry that can actually incite the public about gun violence and gun control. The folks at home listen to broadcasters and believe what they say is true. What I fear is broadcasters will do the wrong thing for the right reason.

We need crazy people control

If you’ve read this blog for any length of time you probably know how I feel about gun control. If not, read it now, I’ll wait right here for you. If you’re in a hurry here it is in a nutshell. Guns don’t kill people, crazy people kill people. Just take a look at the recent theater and school shootings. Do you think those guys were right minded when they did that? We need to outlaw crazy. Insanity is not a defense! Its an offense.

There’s no excuse for allowing crazy people to get near a gun anymore. The crazies are easy to spot. The guy today had been dumping his crap to Twitter and Facebook for years. All we have to do is monitor social media feeds and look for certain keywords. The tools for this are already in place! Do you hear me NSA?

In addition, we need to not be afraid to react to signs of crazy. Today’s shooter had faxed a TWENTY-THREE PAGE MANIFESTO to an ABC newsroom. The news director there should have seen this and called 911 immediately. If they didn’t arrest the sender for terroristic threats they could have gotten him for endangering the rain forest because of his over-use of paper

But I’m betting that this will create another outcry for gun control. Hillary has already twittered politically opportunistic words to that effect instead of just offering words of support to victims family at an emotionally trying time. What a surprise that is!

We don’t need gun control! We need crazy people control. Please, will someone smarter than me figure out how to see these nut jobs ahead of time, control them and put an end to gun violence.

I promise tomorrow to continue the vacation story.