Preventing The Next Tragedy

I am still trying to digest the events that occurred in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday. 

I can't even begin to comprehend what would possess someone to walk into an elementary school and open fire on innocent children. Pure evil is the only thing that comes to mind. No matter how bad of a day someone is having, what did these kids have to do with it? 

The terror that these children had to endure is unfathomable. And the torture that their parents are now going through is something no human being should ever have to experience. Even the hardened police officers, who have seen their share of bad scenes, could not possibly prepare for this kind of callous brutality.

I don't care where you stand politically, I think we should all agree that this needs to stop. It's so disheartening that, we as a country, can't even come together after a massacre of elementary school kids. What's happening to us?

Things will likely never go back to normal for the good people of Uvalde. But they will eventually get back on their feet with the help of their tight and caring community. After watching some of the interviews, I see so much compassion from the people of Uvalde. We could all take something away from that. And I hope we will....

As I move on, I will tell you straight up that I believe strongly in the Second Amendment. Along with that, I'm also a strong proponent of common sense and getting to the root of a problem.

It's easy to blame the gun in these tragedies. A gun can be a deadly instrument. But the gun does not fire without human intervention. Should stricter gun control laws be enacted in certain jurisdictions? Perhaps, but that's a discussion for another day.  Maybe we need to dig beyond the surface to examine what possesses a human to use a gun (or any other object for that mater) to commit these heinous acts of violence. 

I grew up in the 70's and 80's. And although there might have been a few, I honestly don't remember any school shootings. And back then, the gun control laws weren't as strict as they are now. So, why the dramatic increase in gun violence now?

It's quite evident that today's society has become almost numb to the random violence that's plaguing this country. On any night of the week, my local news cast usually spends the entire first segment reporting on the current episodes of mayhem in the area. What used to seem outrageous now seems routine. It's truly sad...

We can't ignore the impact that social media has had on today's youth. We all did embarrassing things as kids. Yeah, some of your friends might have witnessed it and you got ribbed for a little while. But eventually, people forgot about it. Today, everyone immediately pulls out their cell phones and records the moment. And then they upload it for an eternal life in cyberspace. You now face humiliation from people all over the globe.

This leads right into cyber-bullying. Look, we all grew up with bullies. It was never pleasant but at least you were usually only dealing with one bully. In the best cases, someone came along and chopped the bully down to size and then life was good again. But it doesn't work that way in the cyberworld. Let's say a kid comes from a really poor household and wears raggedy hand-me-down clothes because his parents can't afford new ones. Some entitled asshole can now take a photo and post it on Facebook or Snapchat which opens up the floodgates on the poor kid. 

The news media itself is huge part of the problem too. They are in business to attract viewers and boost ratings. Fanning the flames of divisiveness has proven to be a great way of achieving these goals. The media pits us against one another continuously. 

And we certainly can not overlook the abundance of bad or absent parenting. Too many kids today are either too entitled and severely neglected. How many times have you heard of a 10-year-old being shot in the street at two in the morning? The question that immediately comes to mind is, "Why is this kid out on the streets at 2 am?? Where in the hell are the parents?"

And on the flip side, you have the entitled kids who have no idea of how to cope with anything. They have never learned about responsibility or real life. When they enter their late teens and reality starts to set in, it's too much to handle. So, they often respond by having a mental break down. Sometimes, it's self-destructive. Other times, too many times, they lash out at others.

With all of this being said, there is never any excuse for opening fire on a group of innocent people. Especially a group of innocent children. If anyone feels that they're reaching that breaking point, I really hope that they would seek the support and guidance that they need. And we as a society can definitely do a better job. Maybe we can be a little nicer. Maybe can help someone up instead of kicking them when they're down.

I am not a great public speaker and I'm certainly no phycologist, but I do talk to random people everyday. And I hear all kinds of stories. I've laughed with people and I've cried with people. You never know what a person might be going through until you open up a dialogue. I truly believe that a few words of encouragement can make someone's day. And who knows? It might even save their life. Or many others...

My heart goes out to the people of Uvalde. May you find the strength to carry you on to a better day...

kw

Traffic Jam Jimmy - A Baltimore Icon

Every morning pretty much starts off the same way for me. After a quick shower, I complete my wake-up routine by sipping on a cup of coffee while catching up on the latest news via WBFF Fox 45. Aside from the news and provocative investigation projects, I always liked the chemistry of the news team. Right in the middle of it was their beloved traffic reporter, James "Traffic Jam Jimmy" Uhrin.

Jimmy was a long time employee of Fox 45, beginning his career there in 1974. One of his most iconic roles was playing "Mondy - The Sea Monster". Anyone who grew up in Baltimore knows that Mondy was the trusty sidekick of the legendary Captain Chesapeake. I have so many great memories of rushing home after school to catch the beginning of Captain C's show. 

Jimmy eventually moved onto other things, ultimately landing his role as Baltimore's most adored traffic reporter. With his unmistakable "Bal-mer" accent, he brought us the latest traffic updates sprinkled with his unique brand of humor. He had a natural connection with the audience. It was like you were spending time with an old friend.

Jimmy was a fixture in the community. With his fluffy white beard and jolly demeaner, he was a natural to play Santa Claus. Every holiday season, Jimmy would don his Santa suit and then head out to local hospitals to deliver Christmas gifts to sick children. This exemplified who he was...

It's only fitting that it's been a cold, rainy weekend as we learned yesterday that Baltimore's beloved Traffic Jam Jimmy passed away at the age of 65. This is a tremendous blow to the whole community. I watched his co-workers struggle to get through the newscasts this morning. It was heartbreaking because you could feel the pain of their loss. The love that that they had for Jimmy was fully evident. And from the outpouring of comments on social media, it's obvious that the entire Baltimore feels the same.

There are certain people who can light up a room. And Jimmy Uhrin was certainly one of those people. I never personally met him but I feel like he was an old buddy. His charismatic personality reached way beyond the TV screen. On a recent interview, I saw where Jimmy said that he was honored because someone once told him, "You know, Jimmy, you remind me of Captain Chesapeake." There's no doubt that Captain C would have been proud of the way Jimmy carried on his legacy.

My morning coffee won't be the same without Jimmy's traffic report and comforting banter. I'd like to thank him for all of the smiles over the years. He was one of a kind and will be sorely missed by so many. My deepest condolences go out to his family and co-workers. He will never be forgotten...

kw

Roe vs. Wade - The Leak

When it was leaked last week that that the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) was debating on whether to overturn Roe vs. Wade decision, it quickly sent ripples around the country. No matter where you stand on abortion, I think we can all agree that it's one of the most contested "hot-button" issues of our time. 

I am not here to debate abortion in itself. But instead, I'd like to talk about the residual impact that the recent leak and potential overturn will have.

To start things off, let's go back to the early 70's when the original Roe v. Wade decision was decided. It began with a woman from Texas named Norma McCorvey. In 1969, Norma became pregnant and decided to have an abortion. The problem was that Texas did not allow abortions at the time  unless the life of the mother was in jeopardy. So, Norma hired a couple of attorneys and filed a lawsuit against her local District Attorney, Henry Wade. Her argument was that Texas's abortion laws were unconstitutional. The case was brought before the district court in her area of Texas and the court ruled in her favor. The state of Texas immediately appealed to the SCOTUS.

In 1973, the SCOTUS, citing the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, in a 7-2 decision, ruled that a woman had the right to choose whether she wanted to have an abortion. It was a landmark decision and to this day is still hotly debated. By the way, you might be wondering who "Roe" is in all of this. Well, it's none other than Norma McCorvey herself. "Jane Doe" was the legal pseudonym that was used by McCorvey for this case.

Of course, there are a lot more details to the case but I tried to break it down it down in a nutshell. So, now that we have a basic background of Roe v. Wade, lets fast-forward to present day.....

I was actually quite surprised that there was even a discussion by SCOTUS about overturning Roe v. Wade. No matter which side of the fence you're on, the original ruling has been on the books for nearly 50 years. Why now? And how or why was it leaked? 

There is the political angle that can not be ignored. Joe Biden's approval ratings are pretty low and many political pundits, including a lot of Democrats, expect the Republicans to gain quite a few seats in the upcoming mid-term elections. The leaking of the potential overturn has certainly energized the Democratic masses. And as you would expect, the speculation about what "the conservatives might do next" is running rampant across the liberal networks. So, there is indeed a political advantage to be gained in all of this.

And let's look at how the actual leak is being viewed by opposing sides. The Supreme Court is supposed to be a sacred and trusted institution. So, having an insider spill the beans is something that we haven't really seen before. You might think that this breach of trust would be frowned upon by all. But in our current Divided States of America, that is not the case. While conservatives are calling the "leaker" a traitor, liberals are embracing this person as a hero.

Now, when you get right in the mix of the abortion debate, pro-choice women will usually stand firm on the "my body, my choice" argument. Therefore, the take is that men really shouldn't have any say in the matter. In itself, it seems like a legitimate argument.

However....

What about men who identify as women? Do they now have a place in this argument? 

There is also the debate about when life actually begins. Some people believe that it begins at conception. For argument's sake, let's say that this is true. Shouldn't there now be another person considered in the abortion decision? Of course, an embryo or fetus is not really in a good spot to defend itself. So, their battle is fought by the Pro-Life crowd.

And going off a bit in another direction, why does the "my body, my choice" argument only apply in the abortion argument? For instance, COVID vaccines were forced on countless Americans. Why wasn't a choice entertained in that scenario? I don't want to get into a vaccine pissing debate. I'm just using it as an example how many people view the choice argument as hypocrisy.

If Roe v. Wade is somehow overturned, it would not "outlaw" all abortions. At least, that's the way I understand it. It would simply put the decision back into the hands of the States. In a state like California for instance, it probably would not have a big effect. But in Republican controlled states, women who desired an abortion might have to travel to another state to have the procedure done. Like everything else, there are two ways to view this. On one hand, if a woman is going to have an abortion anyway, why make her travel 500 miles to do it. On the other, there's the argument for a state's right to govern their own populations. I'm aware that this onion has many layers, so let's just leave things on the surface for this discussion.

One could also argue....Why overturn a progressive decision that was made in 1973? If the Roe v. Wade decision gets overturned, isn't it like setting us back 50 years? And more specifically to the current situation, like I mentioned earlier, why now? With record gas prices, soaring inflation and a potential World War brewing in the Ukraine, do we really need to deal with this now? 

It will be interesting to see where all of this leads. Will the "leaker" eventually be revealed? And was his/her motivation strategically planned with a political goal in mind? Or was this simply designed to distract us from something much bigger?  I don't have any of these answers but I have a feeling this one is going to stick around for a while...

kw

Back in the Day - The Arcade

Once upon a time, in a land before the X-Box, kids ventured out of the comfort of their homes and to the video arcade. The arcade housed all of the popular video games as well as a few scattered pinball machines. Bustling with activity, these arcades could usually be found in the local shopping malls. 

The first arcade-style video game that I remember was Space Invaders. Quite primitive by today's standards, people would line up to take a shot at these marching terrestrials. More games like Galaxians, Donkey Kong and Punch Out quickly followed. Before long, the local arcade was alive with an assortment of buzzes, bells and flashing lights.

It generally cost a quarter to play any of these games. So, most arcades had a machine that ate dollar bills and regurgitated quarters. If you were halfway decent on the games, five bucks could buy you a few hours of virtual excitement. By comparison, it now costs me about $100 to let my grandkids go crazy at Dave & Busters for a couple hours. Back in the day, 100 bucks would have bought me a day at Hershey Park, a movie ticket and a couple hours at the arcade.

I remember this one time when someone dropped a "stink bomb" inside of the local arcade on a crowded Friday night. These "stink bombs" were basically a small plastic vial of  liquid stench. We used to refer to it a "skunk piss". You would drop it on the ground, step on it and then wait for the reaction. The smell could be best described as an overload of putrid rotten eggs. The scent came quick and it came hard...

When the smell was unleashed in the arcade on that Friday evening, countless video games were instantly abandoned. It was kind of like Chernobyl, but on much smaller scale. People immediately rushed to the exit door, desperately trying to grab a breath of fresh air in the open area of the mall. The odor was so bad that even the poor guy on the Punch Out screen was left dazed and confused. They had to open all of the doors of the arcade and let it air out for about an hour before anyone could return. Every had a good laugh about it back then. But if something like that happened today, they would have had the Haz-Mat team onsite immediately and they would have shut the entire mall down.

There were bragging rights associated with the early video games. So, if you had one of the top scores, you were invited to type in your name and it would be displayed for all challengers to see. I was never that good on these games but I wanted to impress my friends. So, I would power off the game and then power it back on before I played it. This would wipe out all of the high-games and ensure that I was the top dog when my game ended. You might call it cheating. But I look at it as my introduction to "thinking outside the box".  

I remember one guy getting really pissed because his high game was wiped out. He was actually ready to fight. He had a super impressive high game. I can't remember exactly but it was something like 10 million points or something. Well, he comes in and sees his top score replaced by 1500 points by some asshole named "Tank Arm". I hear him ranting and raving, "Who the f*ck is Tank Arm?!" (My friends gave me the nick name "Tank Arm" because of my "Bull-in-a-China Shop" approach on the basketball court). Well, I never admitted that I was the current owner of the top score. The guy was really coming unglued and I didn't feel like  getting my ass kicked over a game of Missile Command.

When the Nintendo game console was introduced, the old-school arcades began to fade away. Kids could now play their favorite video games in the comfort of their own homes. And they no longer had to worry about stink bombs and people stealing their high game scores. But they'll never feel that unique dose of excitement that always seemed to follow the kids of my day...

kw