    Stuck In Traffic #4ÿ
    by Calvin Stacy Powers



    ==============
    Violence on TV

    "Does the violence on television really have anything to do with
    the violence in our society?"
                                          
    While it is trendy to speculate that the well documented trend of
    increasing violence on television is due to changes in societal
    morals, I don't think that explanation is obviously correct by any
    stretch of the imagination.  I can think of at least one other
    hypothesis to explain it.  I'm sure this is not an original theory
    on the subject, but I think when something is new, it is treated
    with much more respect and dignity.  As the novelty of a thing
    wears off, people treat it more casually, more informally than
    they used to.
                                          
    For example, my parents told me that once upon a time, people used
    to dress up to go to football games.  Collegiate football was
    still coming of age and going to a football game was a Big Event.
    And I have seen pictures of my parents and relatives dressed up in
    suits/ties, fancy dresses and corsages at football games.  And it
    wasn't just them.  Everyone in the stands had their Sunday best
    on.  These pictures looked like something out of the Twilight
    Zone!  Obviously today people do not dress like that at football
    games.  We paint our bodies the team colors, wear strange hats,
    and hold goofy signs up in hopes of getting on TV.  What brought
    about the change?  Is this an indication of a downward spiral in
    our society?  I don't think so.  I think it's just that the
    novelty has worn off attending a football game and people don't
    think of it as a Big Event anymore.
                                          
    For another example, take airplane travel.  When the economics of
    air travel began to enable a large number of people to fly, there
    was an enormous novelty to it and again, people treated flying as
    a Big Event.  If you watch movies that were made during the early
    days of air travel, you'll see that everyone on the planes are
    dressed up in their Sunday finest.  Now you could argue that in
    the movies people always look well dressed, but I think they
    probably reflected a general attitude toward flying.  But today,
    now that we take airline travel for granted, we show up at the
    airport in our scraggliest jeans and T-shirts.  Again, is this a
    sign of the general moral decay in our society?  I don't think so.
    I think it just shows that the novelty has worn off.
                                          
    Perhaps the same phenomena is occurring with television.  When
    Television started to become economically viable for many people,
    it was a big deal.  To own a television was an immense status
    symbol.  Only Successful Families owned a television, which was
    usually the centerpiece of the home much like the hearth used to
    be.  Families would actually plan their day around television and
    sit down and watch TV together.  It was a Family Event.  And the
    early days of TV programming probably reflected society's
    attitudes toward this new media.  Good Folks simply did not
    tolerate low morals in this highbrow medium.  Today, several
    decades later everyone, and I mean everyone, has a TV, if they
    want one.  And over the years, the novelty has worn off so the
    highbrow attitude has worn off.  Thus the increase in violence,
    looser morals, and in general a more casual attitude toward what
    is and is not acceptable to show on the television.
                                          
    So I think a case can be made that the increase in violence on
    television is more a reflection of our more casual attitude toward
    the medium of television itself, and not necessarily a reflection
    of our attitudes about society in general.
       
    ==========
    "The Club"
                                          
    The AP news service recently reported a story about a Detroit
    woman by the name of Deborah Kemp who was walking back to her car
    at a gas station after paying for her gas.  It seems that a man
    jumped into her car to steal it and began to drive away.  But Ms.
    Kemp's 6 year-old daughter was in the back seat of the car and Ms.
    Kemp wasn't about to let the man get a way with her daughter.
                                          
    She jumped into the car on the passenger side and began beating
    the man with her car's antitheft locking bar as the man was trying
    to drive down the street.  (This is one of those steal bars that
    locks on your steering wheel known on late night TV commercials as
    "The Club.") Kemp eventually caused the man to crash the car after
    which she dragged the man out of the car and continued to beat him
    with "The Club."
                                          
    Kemp suffered only minor bruises and her child was unhurt.
                                          
    Is it just me or is there something exciting about this story?
    Why don't we hear more often about people standing up for
    themselves against crime?  Is this a rare occurrence or is this
    sort of thing just not reported very often?
              
    ===================
    Strange Bed Fellows
                                          
    Boy has the political landscape changed.  Tonight on CSPAN I saw a
    press conference held by Jesse Jackson followed by a speech by Pat
    Buchanan.  On most issues, these two people would be miles apart
    on every issue.  And they are miles apart from each other on every
    issue except for one:  Foreign aid.  Both of these men called for
    a massive scale back of foreign aid.  Pat Buchanan said something
    to the effect that why should we be supporting foreign governments
    when we have people that need help here at home.  The Rev.  Jesse
    Jackson said why should We be paying for South Korea's defense
    from North Korea.  Furthermore why should we be paying for the
    defense of Japan when they are better able to pay for their own
    defense than we are.
                                          
    I doubt that you will ever see Buchanan and Jackson sharing the
    stage at any event.  But It's true that politics makes strange
    bedfellows..
                                          
    =================================
    Backhanded Compliment of the Week 

    In the same speech I mentioned above, Pat Buchanan called Supreme
    Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg a "centerfold for the ACLU."
                                          
    And this guy thinks he could seriously be considered as a
    Presidential candidate?
            
    =====================
    Strange Bedfellows II

    On second thought it occurs to me that Jesse Jackson and Pat
    Buchanan have much more in common than I originally thought.  Both
    men represent extremist positions from their respective political
    parties.  In some sense their job could be viewed as firing up the
    troops with extremist, baiting rhetoric and language.  Then other,
    more moderate appearing candidates from their respective parties
    cash in on the fired up masses.  Cruelty To Animals A poll on the
    show TV Nation reported that 10% of Americans would pay $5.00 to
    see Orrin Hatch fight a big, mean dog on pay TV.  86% would root
    for the dog.

    ============================
    But Will They Feel Our Pain?

    There are times when symbolic gestures are needed and can make a
    difference in social relations.  For example, anthropologists
    believe that "shaking hands" originated as a means for two
    stranger to show that neither was armed.  Today we don't really
    feel the need to prove this to each other.  Yet we continue the
    tradition of shaking hands as a symbolic act of trust and
    goodwill.  But when the House of Representatives is in session, I
    want more than symbolism, I want real action.
                                          
    Take for example, one of the least controversial aspects of the
    "GOP Contract With America," the new rule that binds the House to
    following the same laws that it imposes on the rest of the
    country.
                                          
    Sounds great.  It makes for great speeches and soundbites.  The
    contrarian in all of us would love to believe that when the
    government burdens us, it will be burdening itself also.  But, as
    is the case in so many government actions, this attempt at
    regaining the respect of the American people is just for
    appearances.
                                          
    First of all there's a conflict of interest at work.  The agencies
    authorized to oversee the regulations imposed on the rest of the
    country are somewhat independent.  But when these same agencies
    are charged with the task of overseeing the government that funds
    them from year to year, can anyone doubt that these organizations
    will enforce inconvenient restrictions on the House less
    enthusiastically?  Can anyone doubt that the enforcement of these
    regulations will vary widely depending on the party affiliation of
    everyone involved?
                                          
    More importantly, we have been led to believe that the House will
    feel burdensome regulations the way the rest of us do.  But in its
    usual political judo, the burden of the House obeying these
    regulations will be borne by the taxpayers, not by the
    Representatives.  In the long run, most laws and regulations
    imposed on the country boil down to spending time and money.
    Congress has unlimited amounts of both.  If the need more money.
    They just spend it.  If they need more time, they just hire more
    people, which ultimately leads to spending more money.  And the
    cost is borne by the taxpayers.
                                          
    If the House of representatives were truly sincere, they would
    ease our pain by repealing the burdensome legislation that's the
    source of the double standard.  Instead, the House of
    Representatives has made a token gesture of subservience and dealt
    us more.
                                          
                                           
    ======================
                                           
    "Paranoia is better than no imagination at all ."
                                          
                                                                              
    =====
    Trees
                                          
    Trees express themselves by sculpting the space around them with
    their branches and leaves; defining light and shadows and the
    movement of air; judging each other's lives like we judge art.
         
       
    ==========
    Two Deaths
                                          
    Frank Zappa died last year and hardly anyone noticed.  Kurt Cobain
    killed himself last year and everyone on the planet knows.  MTV is
    still playing its Kurt Cobain specials.
                                          
    At first I thought this was a perfect example of how unfair life
    is.  But then I realized Zappa probably wanted it that way.  The
    question is, "What did Cobain want?"
              
 
    ===========================
    Paradox Amid The Earthquake
                                          
    The worst Earthquake since the 1920's has hit Japan.  Watching the
    news reports of the incident It seems to me that the loss of human
    life was surprisingly low.  Of course any loss of life is tragic
    and I don't want to belittle the lives of the 4500 (at current
    count) people who died.  But it seems to me that the disaster
    could have been much worse considering that it ocurred in a
    country with such an extreme population density.
                                          
    All the news reports I've seen so far have interviewed victims of
    the disaster who are critical of the government not helping them
    soon enough.  And I saw an interview with a member of the Japanese
    Self-Defense Organization (their equivalent of an Army or National
    Guard I suppose) talking about how the government was not
    establishing a central command post to coordinate things fast
    enough due to the lack of information and communication.
                                          
    Meanwhile, there was another interview with a civilian religious
    organization distributing food supplies and clothing from all over
    Japan and the world.  Thier spokesman said he didn't want to
    appear critical of the government efforts, but he felt the need to
    point out that his organization got to the disaster faster than
    the government and began distributing relief supplies much sooner
    than the government efforts.
                                          
    So while the Japanese government was trying to establish a
    centralized command post to properly coordinate the efforts, other
    people were just doing it.  Amidst the disaster there's a lesson
    to learn here.  Spontaneous efforts of average citizens, sloppy,
    informal, and haphazard as they may be are often, (I would argue
    always) more effective than a centralized, organized, planned
    effort.  It's something of a modern paradox, but there it is on
    TV, right in front of our eyes.  I wish the people who are busy
    criticizing the Japanese government would look around and see just
    who _is_ being effective.
                               
    =========================
    The Perfect Snow, Almost
                                          
    Yesterday, here in North Carolina, we had almost the perfect snow.
    It began snowing at about 8:00 in the morning.  It was snowing in
    big clumpy flakes and falling fast.  There was almost no wind so
    you could see snow falling everywhere.  And it was falling fast
    enough that you could see the accumulation on the ground
    throughout the morning.  By mid afternoon, there was just enough
    snow to cover the ground and coat all the trees beautifully.
                                          
    But the best part of the snow, was that it wasn't cold outside.
    The temperature was hovering near freezing or perhaps just
    slightly above.  So the ground was being covered with snow, but it
    was warm enough that the roads weren't being covered at all.
                                          
    So it snowed just enough to give us that "winter wonderland" look
    for a few hours, but it didn't make the roads a mess or disrupt
    our daily schedules.  The only downside of the snow was that it
    didn't quite snow enough to build a snow man or make a decent
    snowball.
       
    =============
    Paper Weights
             
    The AP news service recently reported a story from a prison in San
    Antonio Texas.  It seems that a new rule had recently been enacted
    in the prisons that forbade the inmates from weightlifting.  and
    the weights that they had previously had access to had been
    removed from the prison.
                                          
    After complaining about the removal of the weights, inmates began
    to order large law books from the prison library.  They strapped
    the books together and used the books as weights.  It seems that
    Federal Law requires that all prisoners have access to the law
    books for thier defense.
                                          
    The prison in question is now considering whether or not they will
    start photocpying requested sections of the books instead of
    delivering the entire book to the prisoners.
                 
                         
    ==============================
                                           
                                          
    "If you don't believe in gods, leave them alone."  
                                    --Chinese proverb
                                  
    ==============================
    State of the Union, Why Watch?
                                          
    Well, The President is scheduled to give his State of The Union
    speech in less than 10 minutes and CNN reporter Wolf Blitzer has
    already spilled the beans about all the major points that the
    President is going to make.  He's told all the themes Clinton is
    going to touch on, all the specific proposals the President is
    going to make, how long the speech is going to be, and he has even
    quoted the highlights of the speech before the darn thing has been
    given.
                                          
    It looks to me like CNN is doing everything it can to make the
    President's speech as boring as possible.
                                  
       
    ======================
    Heroics In Chapel Hill
                                          
    No doubt you have by now heard of the shooting incident that
    occurred in Chapel Hill on January 26th in which Wendell
    Williamson, a 3rd year law student walked through the heart of
    Chapel Hill indiscriminatly shooting at anyone who crossed his
    path.  But why?
                                          
    WXYC, the student radio station at UNC-CH, reported that
    Williamson had been at the courthouse earlier during the day and
    had come out angry and stating that he was going to come back
    shooting.  But I haven't seen any other news source confirm that
    story.  The Raleigh News and Observer did however mention that a
    collection notice had been on his apartment door from the electric
    company threatening to disconnect his electricity if he didn't pay
    his overdue bills.Hardly an incident to start shooting people
    over.
                                          
    The local press reports immediately after the incident indicate
    that Williamson had suffered some emotional trouble in the past,
    but nothing that would indicate he was capable of such an inhumane
    act.  His neighbors report that he was a nice guy, who mostly kept
    to himself.  Acquaintences at the local pubs Williamson used to
    visit report that he was a quiet peaceful person though he did
    tend to talk to his beer while drinking.  No reports about what he
    and his beer discussed.  The bottom line is we just don't know yet
    why this man suddenly lost control and went on this shooting
    spree.  All we know is that two peolple are dead because of it.
                                          
    But it would have perhaps been many more if it weren't for a
    modern day hero, Mr.  Bill Leone who risked his own life to help
    other bystanders get to safety and then made a daring run at
    Williamson and tackled him.  As most heroes, the 26 year old Leone
    downplayed his heroic acts in the national press coverage.  He
    said his actions were more `idiotic' than heroic.  Mr.  Leone was
    the head bartender at Tammany Hall Bar on Henderson street where
    Williamson was shooting.  He reports that he had heard from inside
    the bar 8 shots fired in the street.  He could have stayed inside,
    in the relative safety of the bar, but he didn't.  He rushed
    outside to help get people off the street and then began sneaking
    through a parking lot to get behind Williamson.  It wasn't until
    after Mr.  Leone tackled Williamson to the ground and held him
    until the police arrived to take Williamson into custody that Mr.
    Leone had realized that he had been shot, reportedly by the
    police.
                                          
                                          
    When pressed for to explain himself, Mr.  Leone simply said to an
    N&O reporter, "When I saw the people staring from the windows in
    the dental building behind the gunman as police were shooting, I
    saw they were in the line of fire...I was just sort of offended
    someone would walk into the street with a rifle and start
    shooting."
                                          
    I don't want to belittle the tragic loss of two lives in this sad
    incident, but I think it's important that we remember that this
    incident was resolved by a person who risked his own life, someone
    who took action on his own accord because it was the right thing
    to do, by someone who could have said, "it's none of my business"
    and hid in safety.  Mr Leone is a true modern day hero.
                                          
    ==================================================================
     Stuck In Traffic is a bi-monthly e-zine edited by, and mostly
    written by Calvin Stacy Powers.  Copyrights of individual articles
    are held by their respective authors.  All unsigned work is
    authored by Calvin Stacy Powers, who holds all copyrights.
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