The Foulk Internet Flyer

When You Burn A Church

2006-02-13T12:43:00.000-08:00

Several churches have been set fire and destroyed in Alabama. Let me re-work that sentence. Several church houses have been set fire and destroyed in Alabama. Whoever does this kind of thing does not destroy the church, because the church is the body of people who gather under that roof.

Rather, someone has burned the extra money saved up at the end of the week; maybe from selling a few extra dozen eggs. I am sure dozens of cake-walks and bake sales went up in smoke when those buildings burned, along with all of the love and care put into that fine southern food.

I can smell the sweat equity the men of those churches spent to build those churches, to maintain them, keep decent roofs on them when their own houses might have been leaking. The gallons of paint spread on Saturdays so the pastor could comment on Sunday about how nice the place looked.

Memories cannot be burned, but landmarks can go away in a pyre and a plume of smoke; places where weddings were held, final rites were said over the dead, and countless deep, deep decisions made over how a person should handle some personal business.

There is a great groaning when a church burns.

Firefighters hate to lose the battle and sometimes have to be nearly dragged out of the places where they may even worship themselves. Church fires can be dangerous because of large open spaces that draw air, that dangerous third part of the fuel,heat triad that takes down buildings.

It's hard to watch church members watch their church burn.

It's even harder to think of who would do such a thing.

That long-time symbol of freedom, love, peace, redemption and respect for our fellow man must be a powerful threat to some people. Or some thing.

2006-01-24T18:10:00.000-08:00

You always wonder if there's someone filled with enough hate, anger, or rage out there. If you have any kind of public life at all, you wonder, and worry sometimes.

I have been on-the-air since 1969. That's a long time. There have been a few incidents where I was worried for my life.

The one that comes to mind first, was when I was covering a protest march by a white supremacist in Atlanta, and an angry crowd was throwing rocks the size of bricks. One of them could have easily cracked a skull. Fortunately, they missed any vital parts. One man, a paramedic did get a bloody cut from a rock that grazed his head.

That same day, some Klansmen chased me into the corner of a parking lot, and if it had not been for a photographer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution who scared them away by snapping photos, I am sure they would have attacked me.

Once I was filming (yes, film..and I again date myself) a stabbing in Knoxville, and a man whispered a threat for me to stop shooting or I would end up stabbed, too.

Years and years ago, some law officers threatened to club me if I continued to take photos of a fight. Later on, I learned it was a county judge drunk out of his mind and flailing away at officers.

I have been way too close to a couple of shootings, and crash landed in a helicopter twice. Oddly enough, the flying mishaps are the only ones that have left lasting damage through a bad back.

Police have taken my photo and investigated me because I was at a few too many crime scenes where victims of a serial killer were found. And once, I nearly got into a fight myself, when a jackass brayed a taunt while I was trying to cover an execution.

Once a man cursed me continually while I was trying to record an interview. He even smacked me on the back of the head. As I turned to poke him in the kisser, a very wise photographer from Channel Eleven grabbed my hand and said "it's not worth it". He was right.

And since that last threat, those words..."it's not worth it" are coming back in my mind, in a new context.

Forget South Beach, Here's The South Knox Diet

2006-01-05T11:33:00.000-08:00

Everybody has some kind of diet.

There’s the South Beach, The Bible Diet, The Sonoma Diet, and all kinds of companies where you pay money for information on how you can lose weight by their method. I suppose they all work to one extent or another.

My wife found a diet of her very own. It’s called “The Have My Innards Re-Plumbed Diet”. It works better than anything I have seen. After five months, she can run around inside clothes she used to wear, and never touch the fabric.

But I am not too big of a fan of leaving the operating room with tubes placed in naturally occurring body orifices, plus a couple of extra tubes where the doc made his own sump.

I think I will write my own diet book. People tend to buy diet books without ever considering whether they will follow the rules of the diet. So I believe I’d be pretty safe, plus, if they bothered to follow it for a few days, think of the endorsements from happy followers.

The first day would go something like this:

Breakfast: A cat head biscuit or two with country ham and red eye gravy made with strong coffee, fried apples, and extra biscuits with cow butter and some apple butter made outside in a copper kettle over an open fire. If you have coffee or tea, please use artificial sweetener.

Dinner: Pot Roast with carrots and onions, Irish Potatoes boiled and served with butter, green beans, and cornbread. Banana Pudding and plain tea with no sugar. If you drink sweet tea made with artificial sweetener instead of sugar, your eyebrows will grow together and you will want to move up north.

Supper: Meat Loaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn on the cob, slaw, and macaroni and cheese. Please make sure the macaroni is not from a box, but from scratch. Yeast rolls, but leave off the butter to save calories. You may, however use some gravy on them in moderate amounts. Coca Cola or Pepsi, not “pop”, and not “diet” anything. After dinner; odd-man for the rest of the “nanner puddin”.

Evening snack: Slice of chocolate layer cake, or cornbread and buttermilk in a glass. That ought to hold you ‘til morning.

That’s a diet I could live with. But somewhere, my doctor’s stethoscope is burning.

Alive, Then Dead

2006-01-05T10:44:00.000-08:00

I can't imagine how awful it was for those families in West Virginia to have hope, then relief, and then everything snatched away from them in a moment.

Of course, I'm talking about the horrible mistake that was made, when somehow the families waiting on news from a mine explosion were told their loved ones were found alive, with only one fatality. Turns out, it was just the opposite, only one man had survived.

So who gets the blame for making the mistake of telling family members that the miners were found alive? We may never know. But I am sure that the person, or persons responsible know themselves what they did.

This event will be the object of studies in many journalism and public relations courses. I think it shows several things:

The need for one person, and only one person who speaks for emergency crews and the company or persons involved in a crisis. There should be one place to go for information, and one person to give it. That human funnel's job is to make sure the correct information is given.
Family members should have been the first to be notified about their loved ones. Why in the world did the Mine Company wait so long, knowing that the families were celebrating, when they should have been making funeral plans. Bad news is hard to break to people, but it was terribly wrong to delay it.
Talking in "code" as they were inside the mine...such as "one item found" when they meant one person found...is extremely dangerous when communications equipment does not work properly. Better to talk "in the clear" and be clear. And why was a loudspeaker open to an entire tent full of people at the command post?
There's a tremendous competetion in the news business, and newspapers are time conscious also...because of their web sites. The pressure on reporters at-the-scene to "get it first" is tough.
Did reporters make a mistake by releasing the news? Not if their source had been reliable and official, such as a mine company executive, or someone with the rescue team, or better yet, from a family member who sincerely believed their loved one had been found alive, and had been told so by somebody...(who knows who, yet?)
Mine work is complicated, dangerous, and tough. Few people understand exactly what happens under the earth. There were many common mis-speaks, the most often statement was that "oxygen" was being pumped into the mine. They meant "air". Oxygen would accelerate any fire, much more than air.
And, we are talking about the middle of West Virginia, in a place that is not used to scores of reporters and cameras, and not used to dealing with that kind of magnifying glass scrutiny. It's easy to see how the claw for information could get out of hand.
I really fault the governor's office for following rather than leading. Why didn't the governor assign someone to help the mine company with handling accurate information?

There are lot's more criticisms and observations.

But none of it... will bring back those who died in that mine.

Mountain Heartbreak

2006-01-02T18:05:00.000-08:00

I got a long distance call from my youngest daughter this evening. She wanted to know if I had been called to go to West Virginia where thirteen miners are trapped below the surface.

She remembered the story I had told her. And her call brought back memories. None of them were good.

In Whitesburg, Kentucky in the late 1970's, The Scotia Mine blew up. And when a crew went in to rescue trapped miners, it blew up again.

More than twenty men died. I remember the family members standing, waiting on word on their loved ones. The weather was cold, miserable, and wet. And the inky dark seemed to soak up the illumination from your headlights.

Nobody was telling reporters much of anything. I spent the night in some guard shack, waiting on any information to call back to Channel Ten. This was before cellular phones, but I doubt they would have worked in Letcher County, anyway. We had to bum a telephone, and call the newsroom collect.

But my misery was nothing. Those people waiting to hear if their daddy, brother, uncle, husband was alive or dead...that was misery.

The story ended like so many other mine accidents where men work way below the earth's surface to gouge coal out of the Kentucky earth.

They were all dead.

And I don't care if I ever cover another mine explosion again.

Broadcasting's Needle Is Stuck

2006-01-01T16:16:00.000-08:00

There's a lot of heat, and not much light coming from the syndicated talk shows at the end of this year. And television news is as stuck as a phonograph needle on an old '78 RPM record. For those who are not familiar with how a a stuck phonograph needle sounds, ask your grandpappy.

There's no denying that the issue of federal snooping on it's own citizens is a major issue, one of the top ones of the year. After the second week of talking about it, though, we are running out of things to say. Talk show hosts are repeating themselves and the callers are saying the same thing.

It's under investigation, Congress is home drinking hot Dr. Pepper and eating chicken salad finger sandwiches. The issue has been talked to death for now. Please, wait until something new happens. The self-appointed Washington TV experts need some time off, too.

There are some excellent reporters in Washington, DC. One of them is a former WSB newsman, Peter Maier. He is fair, conscientious, and a hard worker. Hence, he is on radio. Listen for his reports on CBS, and Westwood One. Peter was the "go to" reporter when they needed someone with experience, compassion, and ability to cover the horrific Tsunami when it happened.

If I see one more Katrina recovery story, I am going to evacuate myself. Every potential angle has been followed in the past two weeks. Why? Because it is a slow news time. Those year-ender pieces from New Orleans say very little that's new. Same for Tsunami pieces. They are rebuilding a shattered piece of the world.

If you ever hear "continue" in the first line of a news story---beware. "The clean-up continues" , "The furor over internet snooping continues". The word "continues" is news-speak at best for:"nothing new is happenning", and at worst for:"whoever wrote this couldn't come up with a compelling lead".

Here are just four on my list of stories that I believe are not getting the coverage they deserve right now:

Newspapers in Europe and in Turkey say the United States and allies are planning a pre-emptive strike against Iran and it's nuclear industry.
What is happening in the housing and construction industry? Is there such a demand for materials to the Gulf Coast that prices in other places might cause a big slowdown in new home building? And what would that do to existing home sales, home improvements,etc?
Our southern border is broken, and bleeding immigrants.
What are our elementary, junior, and high school students learning. How does this state compare with others. And how many teachers are saying "forget it" to disclipline problems and government paperwork, and either entering another field or private school?

If I were in on one of those assignment/editorial meetings, I would bring those ideas to the table, and some more. And then, I would probably be asked to go for coffee.

Catching Up On Old Business

2005-12-29T17:10:00.000-08:00

My apologies for neglecting this site for so long!

Somewhere between the last post and this writing, Christmas happened. Many of my friends have said the same thing; that this Christmas was upon us quickly, and it was very hard to get into the "Christmas Spirit"

If you watch and listen to some of the pundits, there was a war on Christmas this year.

I would respectfully submit that whatever war is waged on Christ and the celebration of His birth is already won by The Prince Of Peace. Jesus Christ lived out the prophecies of ages before him, conqured death, and did exactly what He said He would do.

I am not the best Christian witness, nor a Bible scholar. But even, as the song says "a wretch like me" realizes that the war on Christmas is a paper tiger. The war is over. Christ won the war, not with His birth, but with his sacrifice.

It seems to me that there is no war, just an effort to highlight any and all efforts against Christian oriented displays.

They can take down all of the displays. The Truth will live on.

I read the back of The Book.

THE END OF TRICKS AND TREATS

2005-11-01T13:16:00.000-08:00

It ended last night when the doorbell rang at 9:30- six hours before my wake-up time. It was the last doorbell of an era.

No more Halloween at this house. I am sorry to say that the once-fun practice of dressing up and going door-to-door for treats has ended. For good.

For us baby boomers, it was a fun thing to do. It was elementary school-age fun. Costumes were seldom store-bought. The best we could usually manage was a hobo, a ghost (made from an old sheet), or a cowboy or princess. It was simple. The little ones are still cute as ladybugs, princesses, and spider-men.

But last night, kids old enough to drive themselves door-to-door were ringing my doorbell. They had a peck of candy...at least ten bucks worth of loot, and enough sugar to send Dumbo the elephant into a three week sugar high. I have an idea for the older kids: Get a job and buy your own candy!

And then there is the dark side of Halloween. It wasn't considered years ago, but now there are sinister connotations. One kid- about ten years old told me he was the magician from The Dark Side- a comment that tells me he is hearing that kind of talk from somewhere- and I don't think it's Sunday School.

Churches have tried to combat the day with "trunk or treat" or similar programs. I say forget it. What would be wrong with saying that Halloween is a day when dark forces are celebrated, and we simply don't do that?

In Atlanta, a convicted sex offender was running one of those "haunted houses". Outside of the presentations by various churches, we are not sure exactly what our kids might see in a place designed to scare the daylights out of you.

There are real monsters out there. And call me backward believing Bible Belt ignorant if you want to...but I believe when we start fooling around with demons, and messing with the dark side, we might be tickling the tail of a dragon that is better left alone.

Dress up. Eat all the candy corn you want. Say "boo" to each other. But next year, it will be on your dime, mom and dad.

As for me and my house... .

STANDING IN THE WIND TO PROVE IT'S A HURRICANE

2005-11-01T13:10:00.000-08:00

It appears NBC weatherman Al Roker is catching some criticism of his antics during the latest hurricane, when he was knocked down by the high wind. He defends his actions, and goes on to imply that some other journalists are simply jealous. Here is a copy of an e-mail I sent him:

Twice, I have reported live from the middle of a deadly gun battle. Both times, I happened to find myself caught in the crossfire. I have been in other dangerous places. Once I was trying to get natural sound of a C-5B cargo plane, and the jet wash knocked me down and tumbled me about a hundred feet along the ground.

But when I covered hurricanes on the Georgia and South Carolina coast, I knew it was going to be bad, and had sense to get inside a shelter during the worst part of it. The real story is not what is happening outside. The real story is the fear and worry that is happening inside shelters while the wind is raging. And to tell you the truth, I didn’t see any of that during any hurricane coverage this season.

Did you?

OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE TRIPE

2005-10-29T19:15:00.000-07:00

I don't usually repeat other people's work on this blog. But this is one of those exceptional pieces that is both funny, and sad at the same time for any of us who have worked in the news business for a number of years. A friend of mine, WSB Radio news anchor Bob Coxe shared it with me, and I decided to pass it along to you. It's about old- versus- new style news writing.

BY STEVE SAFRAN
LOST REMOTE
MANAGING EDITOR

"We interrupt this program to bring you a Special Report":
OLD: The president has been shot.
NEW: A cute girl is missing.

"Breaking News":
OLD: The president will resign.
NEW: There's a car on the side of the road with a flat.

"News Alert":
OLD: Man will land on the moon within the hour.
NEW: Man landed on Pam Anderson over the weekend.

"Exclusive"
OLD: We are the only people he would do an interview with.
NEW: We are the only people he would do an interview with from 7:43 am - 7:48 am.

"Live!"
OLD: Live!
NEW: Live (on tape or possibly an :01 generic for everyone)!

"Storm Central is in full gear!"
OLD: A major, possibly record-breaking storm is headed our way and there is important information you need to know for your safety.
NEW: It's looking sorta cloudy, isn't it?

"We have a crew on the way."
OLD: We have a crew on the way.
NEW: We just saw the story on the other channel and we're calling in our truck guy from his day off.

"We have new details..."
OLD: We have found out additional facts that are new and pertinent to your understanding of this complex story.
NEW: We got nothin', but we're rewriting the copy in the present tense.

"Our Team Coverage"
OLD: Four reporters on a big story that requires several locations to tell properly.
NEW: Eighteen reporters on a non-story, possibly standing within inches of each other.

"We are sending out our chopper."
OLD: Because there's a riot in the streets, and aerials will provide perspective as to its intensity, range and danger.
NEW: Because the promos say we will.

"We are the number one news station in town!"
OLD: We won in the ratings.
NEW: We won in the ratings among 34-59 year old middle-income white females earning $34,500 - $52,875 with two or fewer kids who are expected to purchase shoes in the next quarter.

"Go to our Web site for more information."
OLD: Go to our Web site for the exact same information.
NEW: Go to our Web site for more information buried among car ads, Google ads, our marketing message, our "community" work, team bios, show schedules and how to buy advertising on our channel.

"We are making calls right now to find out more."
OLD: We are making calls to our contacts who can give us the inside scoop.
NEW: We are waiting for the AP update thingy to go "ping"!

"This story will have major impact here at home."
OLD: Ways the national or international story directly impacts our community.
NEW: Someone in our 250 square mile area has a cousin who knows someone there.

"There has been a major outbreak of a deadly virus."
OLD: 35,000 people are infected and it is spreading out of control.
NEW: It showed up in a dead bird.

"This just in..."
OLD: We just found this out and we want you to know about it.
NEW: We finally got the prompter to work.

"Jeff Smith is on assignment."
OLD: Jeff Smith is doing a weeklong investigation into City Hall corruption.
NEW: Jeff Smith is holding out for more money.

"Our reporter joins us by videophone."
OLD: Because we wanted to get this to you quickly, and it's the best we can do right now.
NEW: Because it's a xxxxload cheaper than a live truck, a truck op, a cameraman and satellite time.

"Visit our blog."
OLD: Our what?
NEW: Our GM saw someone else doing it, so here it is.

"Are your children in danger? Watch us tonight to find out."
OLD: Yes, there is contaminated water at our playground that is making children ill.
NEW: No they aren't. Good tease writing, though.

"There is controversy tonight over..."
OLD: Two big shots are debating an important matter relating to politics, business or the community.
NEW: Someone thinks Lindsay Lohan and Calista Flockhart are too thin.

"Exclusive new undercover videotape..."
OLD: You mayor smoking crack with a hooker while stealing money from the city for more drugs.
NEW: Paris Hilton.

"You won't believe what we uncovered."
OLD: A smoking gun clearly showing the governor and his cronies on the take.
NEW: Something we took off "The Smoking Gun" Web site.

"That story when we return."
OLD: We have two minutes of commercials now, then we'll tell you the story.
NEW: It's buried in the "F" block, about 45 minutes from now.

"You are watching WXXX - the Emmy's station of the year."
OLD: We won "station of the year" this year.
NEW: We won it 16 years ago. Before there was competition.

"We are having technical difficulties."
OLD: Something broke. We're fixing it.
NEW: It never worked in the first place.

"Don't miss our News at Five!"
OLD: Watch us. There has been a lot going on today.
NEW: Please watch us or we're getting ditched for Dr. Phil.

Some Requested Funnies From The Radio

2005-10-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

My morning colleague Hallerin Hill gets to hear the beta version of a lot of my humor. He will never admit it, but he laughs at some of it. Hal has a goal of telling his dad at least one good joke a day, and I have made it my mission to help him. Here's a list of the latest ones I've found.

The Bermuda National Orchestra reports their triangle player is missing.

Queen Elizabeth has granted peerage to the man who invented the modern zipper. He will be known as Lord Of The Flies.

Two dogs will collars feel strangely uncomfortable in a bar. They notice none of the other dogs are wearing collars, and that they have inadvertently wandered into a stray bar.

Horse walks into a bar and the bartender says "Why the long face?"

The Pillsbury Dough Boy died....of a yeast infection.

A milkman joins the Masons, and then goes around giving everybody the secret milkshake.

The most valuable piece of paper in the captain's safe- says "starboard is on the right".

Commode stolen from police headquarters. Detectives say they have nothing to go on.

Political survey of nudists shows a definite swing to the left.

High winds, and a chicken gets downwind, and lays the same egg three times.

I once spent a long time with the famous comedian Red Skelton. One thing I learned from him is that the simple jokes are often the funniest. I like the little quickies that can deliver a chuckle for just a moment. In my line of work, those moments help keep my sanity..hmm Hallerin might say they keep what's left.

Heartbroken Reporters- Hiding Their Hearts

2005-09-20T16:28:00.000-07:00

A handful of television anchors and reporters have been mocked and criticized recently because they became emotional while covering the events brought on by hurricane Katrina. From what I have read so far, most of the criticism has been from people who have never covered a major disaster, and some have never been a reporter on the street at all.

Critics cannot have it both ways. I have heard for years how reporters are dispassionate ghouls who look for the sensational. Now, I hear it's wrong for a reporter to become emotional or distressed when they are describing and reporting on conditions that appear to be worse than some disasters in third world countries.

I believe it's understandable for a reporter to become emotional at times, but s also a reporter or anchor's job to try to keep those emotions in check in order to render an accurate portrayal of what is happening.

In my more than three decades of covering spot news, I have seen my share of things that deeply distressed me. It's hard to summon up that emotional detachment, and it can be especially hard when the story involves the very young, the old, and the vulnerable in our society. I have been lucky enough to have time to cry and pray, and work it out in my mind at a later time.

It changes you. Forever.

We might be able to learn a lesson from our first responders- the firefighters, EMS, and law officers who deal with awful things on nearly a daily basis. They do their jobs (hopefully) with professionalism and compassion, yet try to keep their own emotions in check until a proper time.

Critical incident debriefings help them cope with tough things they experience, and the professionals who conduct them cann help keep the nightmares at bay.

I believe reporters need a way to talk to someone after covering things like multiple death incidents, or disasters. It would have helped me and possibly spared my family some rough days when I wasn't myself--those things still rumbling in my mind.

There's a way to interview someone who has been involved in a traumatic event. One thing you certainly DON'T want to do is capitalize on someone who is distraught and possibly not thinking clearly. This time, I have witnessed the best and the worst techniques. But I'll have to say as a whole, reporters have been more compassionate toward grieving people than I have ever seen.

Some of the reporters, even some of them who have covered combat may never be the same again. The casualties were home folks- Americans. The houses looked American. Things this bad are not supposed to happen in this country... or so we thought.

Now, let's lighten up a bit on the people who are slogging through the sludge to bring us the news. The truth be known, we have all cried a bit in these past couple of weeks.

Freedom Engine Not So Free of Bugs

2005-09-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

After the September 11th, 2001 attacks destroyed dozens of New York City fire apparatus, east Tennessee responded with a huge public drive. In all, we raised 940 thousand dollars, nearly a million dollars to buy New York City a new Ladder Tower. I don't think a soul would begrudge one red cent we provided New York City in a time of need.

I know that a lot of us had in our mind's eye- the vision of 14 Truck racing to the scene of a blaze, or pumping thousands of gallons of water onto some burning building. I thought it was saving lives and property. But for a year-and-a-half, 14 Truck has been idle...out of service because of one problem or another with the brand new truck.

Seagrave Fire Apparatus Company was chosen to build the rig. FDNY has several pieces from this company, and would be famliar with the city's stringent specifications.
Seagrave started building fire apparatus in the late 1800's.

(www.seagrave.com)

There's been a problem.

The truck - designated 14 Truck by the FDNY, was paired with Engine 35 in Harlem.

But it has spent several months off the road in one shop or another.

One source tells me the total is around eighteen months, but I could not confirm the exact amount of time in the FDNY and Seagrave shop. The manager I talked to was reluctant to tell me an exact length of time, but confirmed it was "months".

The latest problem, he says, was a bad swivel. That's the turntable-like mechanism that allows the ladder and platform to swivel around 360 degrees to reach windows for rescue, and to put streams of water into upper levels, or on top of fires. It took ten weeks to repair. A new swivel had to be made, and that is a big, heavy piece of solid metal that has to be machined to close tolerances.

The good news is that 14 Truck, "The Freedom Engine" is expected to be back in service Thursday.

To be generous to the manufacturer, it might be good to remember there was a demand for a lot of fire engines in a short amount of time. This might have caused production mistakes. And the FDNY shop administrator I spoke with says the department is negotiating with Seagrave to get an extension on the warranty because of the list of problems.

And I understand from another source that 14 Truck is not alone in the list of Seagrave pieces that might be turning into FDNY "Shop Queens", to borrow an aviation phrase for a plane that requires a lot of work, all the time.

Fire engines last a long time. Even in New York City. Let's hope they can get this one straightened out so it can provide the years of service Tennesseans expected from their dollars, dimes,and pennies.

It's Not A Game

2005-09-07T14:53:00.000-07:00

Reporters and broadcasters like catchy phrases that seem to roll off the tongue and please the eye. The most recent example is the use of two words in the search for what went wrong in the hurricane recovery.

"blame game"

Please stop it. It's silly.

Blame is not a "game".

Do you mean responsibility? Say it.

Quit using words the same way you leaned into the wind to prove you were in a hurricane.

People have died, and it seems the worst of the worst of a city has been allowed to set itself upon others who were not able to get out.

The vermin who suck life from the poorest and most vulnerable people were allowed to take over a city. That is not a game.
The mayor of New Orleans might have thought a hurricane heading toward his city was a game, because he waited.

The governor took her time making decisions, as if she were on the television program "So You Want To Be A Millionaire". The TV show is a game. A hurricane bearing down on your state is not.

The head of FEMA is a man who lists his last job as some executive for a horse breeders association. He was an assistant at FEMA for a few years under a man who was no ball of fire himself.

Today, we learned of an alert sent to Charleston, SC where authorities were told planeloads of people were on the way. The planes landed in Charleston, WEST VIRGINIA. The medical and relief crews waiting in South Carolina were not playing a game.

A friend of mine, Dan Bell, is a bus driver. He was sent to the very center of New Orleans to pick up loads of people. He tells me that often, it took a long time for someone to decide where he was to take them.

Thirty two busses arrived at the Astrodome in Houston. The people had to be "processed" before they were let into the shelter. Dan tells me two people died on the busses waiting to be "processed".

And now, to the more personal level.

In Port Allen, LA, we were at a truck stop, prepared to spend the night waiting on the warehouse to re-open. (the unloading crews had inexplicably gone home, even though we told them repeatedly we were coming). The police chief in that small town had found a thousand people on busses. The people on the busses had been evacuated out of New Orleans- away. Just away. No destination. They had been on the bus for 18 hours. They needed food and water. Nobody was playing a game when FEMA sent the busses on a trip to nowhere.

In my opinion, it was pure incompetence. And before we left that evening, 300 more people had arrived in West Baton Rouge Parish.

It was no game for the warden of the prison- when he woke up his kitichen staff to feed these people. And the 150 trustees who worked hand-to-hand to get water from our trucks were not playing around between midnight and four in the morning.

Some people are to blame for their own incompetence in leadership. Others are to blame for not heeding warnings to get out while they can. And there is no logical reason for people to be outlaws. No sociologist will ever convince me that being poor gives you the right to shoot and rape.

There is no blame for those who took food to feed their families, and there is no blame for those who were not able to leave, or not mentally capable of understanding.

But in one parish. They found thirty nursing home patients dead in their beds.

Abandoned.

Blame? My God!

Who could abandon those old people without trying to keep them from drowning in their own beds?

I believe those who messed up so horribly now know they are way over their heads in their posisitions of leadership from the national down to the individual level. Unless they are as opaque as the stinking water that floods part of New Orleans, they will have to live with that blame, that self blame for a long time.

And in a few months, commissions will convene to investigate the response to the hurricane.

That's when the game will begin.

Give a long, hard pull on the Spin Wheel, and maybe one prize will be the truth.

Dave Foulk (c) 2005

RELIEF TRIP TO BATON ROUGE

2005-09-04T12:21:00.000-07:00

EAST TENNESSEE RELIEF FOR HURRICANE KATRINA

THE CITADEL KNOXVILLE MISSION TO BATON ROUGE 9/2-9/3

YOU GAVE

1 TRUCK/WATER- BETHANY PRAYER CENTER
1 TRUCK/FOOD- SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK
1 TRUCK/WATER- SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY
1 TRUCK/WATER- LA. STATE PATROL HEADQUARTERS
2 TRUCKS/WATER- JEFFERSON MEMORIAL CHURCH
2 TRUCKS/WATER - STAGING AREA @ W.BATON ROUGE PARISH

$85,800 TO AMERICAN RED CROSS, DELIVERED TO BATON ROUGE CHAPTER BY ARMED OFFICER FROM PARISH SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT

This note:

Nothing ever goes as planned when you try to mount a relief effort inside a disaster zone. Our planned destinations were changed en-route when I got an urgent cell phone call that a feeding center was running out of food and water. We immediately diverted a couple of trucks to Jefferson Memorial so they would at least have water, and told the folks there that a truck of Con-Agra food would go straight to Second Harvest, and they could work out distribution there.

One destination that said they would take all we could bring, was not equipped with people or space to take more than a truck load. A desparate law officer asked for a car load, saying his police officers were dehydrated, and no way to get water after they left for the day’s work. Problem solved; the law officers got water they needed, and additional labor resources at the other site were spared.

The university turned out a hundred kids to sweat and unload water for evacuees the school had taken in.

But the most remarkable event of the trip was when my driver, Mike and another driver, Dennis were eating late at the Waffle House. I stayed in the cab to take a nap. The guys met a police chief who was despirate for water- with a thousand people stranded on busses with absolutely nothing. The parish sheriff woke up the jailhouse, got the kitchen staff cooking, and got two trustee crews unloading our water.

It was warehoused at W. Baton Rouge Parish, but taken into New Orleans with search and rescue workers, and also readied for an anticipated thousand MORE busloads of people who will arrive there first after being taken from New Orleans.

I hope you enjoy the photos. I wish there were pictures from all the sites, but I thought it was just too much to ask of those dog-tired drivers. They slept in the sleeper cabs while they were unloaded.

I will have the full story for you later in print and on radio. But I wanted to make at least this much of the story known to you as soon as I returned.

Everywhere we were, people were thanking God for your generosity.

Dave Foulk

2005-09-04T12:19:00.001-07:00

CREWS HAD TO BRING THEIR OWN PROVISIONS, AND MANY BROUGHT FUEL SUPPLY TRUCKS WITH THEM, TOO

2005-09-04T12:19:00.000-07:00

POWER CREWS WERE STREAMING TO THE COAST FROM AS FAR AWAY AS PENN. AND OHIO

2005-09-04T12:18:00.002-07:00

MOST OF OUR CONVOY...A COUPLE MORE TRUCKS WERE PULLING IN

2005-09-04T12:18:00.001-07:00

SOME OF THE DRIVERS TALK ABOUT THE LACK OF FUEL. NO STATIONS WERE OPEN SOUTH OF MERIDIAN

2005-09-04T12:18:00.000-07:00

NO HOPE OF GETTING GASOLINE! BARRIERS PLACED AT THE PUMP

2005-09-04T12:17:00.001-07:00

THIS TRUCK STOP HAD NO POWER. WOMEN WERE COOKING CHICKEN, HOT DOGS AND BURGERS ON THE GRILL OUTSIDE. BUSINESS WAS BRISK!

2005-09-04T12:17:00.000-07:00

THIS WAS THE SCENE FROM NORTH OF HATTIESBURG ON TO THE COAST

2005-09-04T12:16:00.001-07:00

tornado through here

2005-09-04T12:16:00.000-07:00

ONE OF THE MANY RIVERS AND BAYOUS

2005-09-04T12:15:00.000-07:00

I-59 ENDS. YOU CANNOT GO SOUTH ON -10 TO NEW ORLEANS, ONLY WEST ON I-12

2005-09-04T12:14:00.001-07:00

CONVOYS OF TREE TRUCKS, APPARENTLY HEADED FOR BILOXI AND NEW ORLEANS

2005-09-04T12:14:00.000-07:00

I-12 HEADED TOWARD BATON ROUGE

2005-09-04T12:13:00.001-07:00

BETHANY PRAYER CENTER ASKED FOR PALLETIZED LOADS FOR EASIER HANDLING. THIS WAS NOT ONE OF THEM

2005-09-04T12:13:00.000-07:00

OUR FIRST STOP IS BETHANY PRAYER CENTER, BATON ROUGE

2005-09-04T12:12:00.001-07:00

DRIVERS WAIT WHILE SOME DECISIONS ARE MADE ON WHERE TO DELIVER THE REST OF THE WATER.

2005-09-04T12:12:00.000-07:00

THERE WERE HIJACKINGS OF RELIEF TRUCKS. WE WERE TOLD TO GET RID OF THOSE STICKERS NOW THAT WE WERE IN BATON ROUGE.

2005-09-04T12:11:00.001-07:00

DONATIONS FROM EAST TENNESSEE !

2005-09-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

WE HAD ONE OF THE HEAVIEST LOADS IN THE CONVOY

2005-09-04T12:10:00.001-07:00

ALMOST UNLOADED

2005-09-04T12:10:00.000-07:00

THE WATER DROPPED AT THE PRISON WAS USED FOR EVACUEES AND FEEDING STATIONS, AND ALSO WENT INTO NEW ORLEANS WITH THE WARDEN..AS HE DELIVERED SACK LUNCHES THREE TIMES A DAY TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AND RESCUE WORKERS

2005-09-04T12:09:00.001-07:00

THESE MEN WORKED HARD AS THEY COULD FROM MIDNIGHT UNTIL JUST BEFORE 5AM. MANY OF THEM THANKED US FOR BRINGING WATER.

2005-09-04T12:09:00.000-07:00

THIS MAN ASKED A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT NEW ORLEANS. HIS FAMILY LIVED IN A HARD-HIT AREA, AND THERE WAS NO WAY HE COULD HEAR FROM THEM.

2005-09-04T12:08:00.001-07:00

THE WEST BATON ROUGE PRISON IS A PRISON FARM, WHERE 65 ACRES IS WORKED BY THE INMATES

2005-09-04T12:08:00.000-07:00

WARDEN BRIAN K. BELLELO HAD HIS KITCHEN STAFF MAKING SANDWICHES FOR 1000 STRANDED EVACUEES.

2005-09-04T12:07:00.000-07:00

WE HAD A REVERSE BUCKET BRIGADE GOING OFF TWO TRUCKS !

2005-09-04T12:06:00.000-07:00

3AM AND GOING STRONG

2005-09-04T12:04:00.000-07:00

WE HAD ONE OF THE HEAVIEST LOADS IN THE CONVOY

2005-09-04T12:03:00.001-07:00

THE OTHER TRUCK HAD TONS AND TONS OF KUB WATER, PLUS OTHER DONATIONS

2005-09-04T12:03:00.000-07:00

THE OTHER TRUCK HAD TONS AND TONS OF KUB WATER, PLUS OTHER DONATIONS

2005-09-04T12:02:00.001-07:00

THE WARDEN HAD SOME BOTTLES UNWRAPPED AND PLACED IN MILK CONTAINERS FOR EASY LOADING INTO PICKUPS AND CARS

2005-09-04T12:02:00.000-07:00

HARD TO BELIEVE ALL OF THE WATER

2005-09-04T12:01:00.000-07:00

ABOUT FINISHED

2005-09-04T12:00:00.000-07:00

NO GAS, NO DOUGHNUTS, NO NOTHING ALONG I-59

2005-09-04T11:59:00.000-07:00

SATURDAY AFTERNOON, MANY MORE RELIEF TRUCKS WERE ON THE ROAD

2005-09-04T11:35:00.000-07:00

WORE OUT

Drastic Bypass- Not a decision for the faint of heart

2005-08-20T18:17:00.000-07:00

Many of you might not have heard that my wife, Dena decided to have gastric by-pass surgery on August First. Her weight has been an issue with her nearly all of her adult life. From the start, I told her that I was against such drastic action, but even though I love her more than anything or anybody else, I cannot stand in the way of any medical decision she might make concerning her own health. I tood her though I had much trepidation over the procedure, that I would support her, and do whatever the "coach" as designated by the surgeon, would want me to do.

This has been a helluva coaching session.

The first two weeks saw her progressing normally, and improving nearly every day. The diet was not nearly as much of a hassle for her as was the two gastric drains left in. It was my job to sump out the drains, and measure the liquid, then clear the drain. Otherwise, I was the keeper of the official record of intake, walking time pain-in-the-patoot reminder, and all around orderly.

Two weeks to the day after her surgery, there was trouble. Dena had excruciating pain in her right side, the opposite side of her surgery. There was exploratory surgery the next day, and a battery of tests. She has developed a problem with her right lung, where the lower lobe is, for lack of a long medical word, sticking to itself. She has pneumonia, and is in the hospital taking one oral antibiotic, and one IV antibiotic.

Her diet is still progressing...now she is in the puree' stage, and the surgical site looked good. And, it appears that she has lost a lot of weight, although it is hard to tell with those nifty gowns you have to wear.

To sum up her feelings about all of this, I'll use a direct quote: "I hope six months from now I will be able to say this was all worth it."

The initial gastric bypass was not much of a problem, except for the first two days of post surgical pain. And I am told that her experience is unusual.

Dena and I refrain from giving anybody any medical advice, especially in a format such as this. But I did want to make a blog entry, and thank so many of you for your prayers, and your support..from Seymour Intermediate, to New Hopewell Baptist, and many other church and prayer groups that I do not even know of.

For those of you who are struggling with being fat, I understand. I am fat, too. Many will say that we made our own decisions about our weight, and that is true for many of us. But I strongly believe there is a genetic element that somehow causes our bodies to handle carbohydrates and proteins differently, and maybe in my lifetime medical researchers will learn enough about it so that gastric bypass and lap band procedures will be as long-forgotten and antiquated as ether anesthetic, and polio braces.

The Creaking And Groaning Of An Old Typist

2005-07-20T16:47:00.000-07:00

I apologize to those who have checked the blog and found that I haven't made an entry in a while. My doggone left hand seems to have forgotten that ugly injection it got only a year ago, and by the time evening rolls around I can only type a couple of lines without having to re-arrange a recalcitrant digit.

For those who have never had a shot in a finger or wrist joint, I refer you to the many Tom And Jerry Cartoons where 'ol Tom the cat would get his paw smashed by Jerry the mouse. Tom's paw would swell up about ten times its normal size and you would hear "boing boing boing" as it pulsated much to the cat's horror. That is what a cortisone shot feels like in your hand.

There used to be a time when I could type at a blistering hundred words a minute for hours at a time. There also used to be a time when I had hair, didn't need extra-wide shoes, and my real teeth had a two-thirds majority over the fake ones. Things change.

But would we want it any other way? What if there was a medical procedure that would allow us to stay young forever? How scary. After all, would you want to have children when you are 60. You could attend their high school graduation in a hearse.

If everybody looked young and we were in public, how would we know who to cast that all-knowing "look at those young idiots" to another person our age. Going to the drug store would be boring. We wouldn't be able to buy pills by the scoop, like we used to buy candy in the Sears and Robuck store.

How would doctors afford those nice cars if all of us stayed disgustingly healthy?

If we were all young forever, there would be no people from Ohio left to drive slow in the left lane of the interstate.

And Tenncare would be so well off with all of us healthy and young, it would be called Ninecare.

An Old Puzzle Piece Turns Up

2005-06-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

All my life, I wondered what my dad did in The Second World War.

Last night I got the answer, from a man who served alongside my father in the Pacific Theater.

It wasn't like I never asked. I did. But Daddy would always kind of mumble something about being in G-2, the intellegence division of the army. Or, he would joke that he crawled across Alabama then crawled across the Phillipines.

One of my father's old war buddies called my stepmother to inquire about any records my dad might have had about his time inside Japan after the surrender. I knew he had been in a few Japanese towns, including Kobe. I am looking through papers to see if I can find documents.

My dad's old friend told me that he never told -his- children what he did in the war, either. He said they just did their job, came home, and went back to work.

But what a job. These young sergeants were attached to headquarters company for the 6th Army. They were assigned the task of collecting intellegence reports from Japanese-Americans who were questioning prisoners-of-war, looking over photos and other information obtained from the enemy, then writing reports to the commanders, colonels and generals at the headquarters company. It probably scared them to consider that what they reported might have a life-or-death effect on American troop movements on the battlefield.

My dad's old buddy also told me that half of the day was spent training with Army Rangers. Their outfit would be in one of the first waves of the invasion of mainland Japan.

Now if fits together. Daddy had told me that he had all new stuff, new blanket, rifle, new trucks were coming in. The build-up toward the invasion was on.

I can imagine what he was thinking, after seeing reports that no doubt outlined horror after horror visited on American forces and their friends on the islands.

I know some of the photos he brought back are ghastly, and were kept away from my children until they were old enough to understand what they were seeing. Aftermaths of invasions, battles, fights.

I have read the actual intellegence estimates of expected casualities had The U-S had invaded Japan.

Chances are I would not be here.

So .. Thank you, Mr. Truman, and Mr. Oppenheimer, and Prof. Einstein.

It's been more than ten years since my dying father called me to his desk and had me retrieve his "Ike" jacket from the closet. He had me help pin his medals in the proper place.

It all makes more sense.

I found out that, even as a young man, my dad had a sense of humor and liked to have fun. In the words of his contemporaries, he was a "regular guy". That is, if any of those guys could ever be considered regular.

I thank God for that puzzle piece that I always wanted, but never seemed to be able to cajole from my dad.

A Radio Giant Is Silenced

2005-06-25T17:03:00.000-07:00

I got word late yesterday that Elmo Ellis had died. Outside the radio industry, and outside Atlanta, Elmo Ellis is not a household name. But his influence has echoed through your house, played in your car, been your friend, reassured you, and even delivered news that shook you to your core.

Elmo Ellis was the brains behind the resurrection of radio after the Second World War. His ideas at WSB Radio were copied all over the nation. Elmo Ellis was a pioneer in talk radio, before that name meant a high-pitched screech and scream, often laced with dirty language.

Mr. Ellis (nobody called him Elmo) led WSB Radio through the tough civil rights turmoil in the 1960's. His leadership positioned the radio station right in the middle of the debates and the arguments, and he made sure it was a calm and reasonable voice. It paid off. Atlanta saw relatively little violence during that time, and the city positioned itself to be the economic and industrial center of "The New South".

I worked for Elmo Ellis. It was not easy. And when you got a note to "See me, EE", it sent a little chill up your spine. He was not the kind of man who suffered fools lightly. I probably got more than my share of those notes.

His leadership was based on integrity, commitment to quality in our individual effort, and a strong feeling of community and responsibility. Elmo Ellis kept his mind on his station, and his heart for Atlanta. It worked.

Last month, Mr. Ellis could barely talk, but his son brought him to the WSB Old Timers reunion. As he approached the crowd, everyone rose to their feet and gave a standing ovation for several minutes.

Cancer was taking its toll, but his mind was still sharp. He reminisced with many of us, especially with some of the older veterans who had known him for so long.

Toward the end of his visit, my youngest daughter, Julie approached him, and told him how much of an influence he had been on my life. She told Mr. Ellis that I spoke of him, and his lessons frequently. His reply was "You should be proud of your dad, he's a good man."

Some days I am not so sure about either of those facts.

But I can say for sure that if there is anything in my work to be proud of, somewhere, it has an "EE" on the page.

Dog Noses- Connected to Man's Best Friend

2005-06-20T17:36:00.000-07:00

If you don't like dogs, I'm sorry. There's something wrong with you.

Now before your bristles start pointing skyward, I acknowledge there are some people who are afraid of dogs. They've had a bad experience with a bad dog.

But think- nearly every person on this planet has had a bad experience with a bad person, but there are still those we love and cherish.

Dogs like you when nobody else does. They don't care if you're broke. And if you run out of food for them, they won't bite you. They just go with the flow until you get some cash for a new bag of grub, or wait until you're ready to share some leftovers until pay-day.

You can stink, and dogs will love you. In fact, they will probably love you even more if you stink.Dogs are not judgmental. They don't care if you wear stripes and plaids together. And they don't look at your 401K, your credit rating, or anything else before they give you approval.

All dogs want is love.

That is why it breaks my heart to go to kennels and see the animals doomed for euthanasia. Stupid people let their dogs and cats breed. There are too many of them. I know the day when the people at the shelter have to decide which dog lives and which dog dies is hard on them. Giving the shots must be terrible. I would be willing to bet there is a big turnover in that job.

I don't anthropomorphize dogs. They are animals, and do not not think like people.

Animals are not on the same plane as humans. We must always pick human life over the life of an animal. I am not an animal rights activist, not a member of PETA, not a vegetarian, and I even have a cat in the house.

But I love dogs.

Dog noses are fascinating pieces of God's creation. Imagine how sensitive those noses are.

Some of them can even smell a patient's skin, and point out a cancer before it is clearly visible to a doctor.

They can help people find termites, illegal drugs, and lost people.

And the friendship of an animal can even help find a lost soul.

It's working in prison programs where prisoners train dogs.

With all that said- here is a web site I found that is a tribute to dog noses.

Enjoy: http://www.dognoses.com/

Prayer Changes Things: Pray for better reporters.

2005-06-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

This evening, ABC news aired a piece about the ancient Kaballah- a cult-like religion that seems to have captured the attention of some celebrities in California ... the latest in their quest for the religious Truth.

I wish ABC news had spent about fifteen minutes on the physical truth and checked out a cockamamie statement made by one of the leaders of the cult. He told the reporter that a Duke University study showed that prayer " actually changed the molecular make-up of water".

Now wait a minute- if you change the molecular make up, it seems to me that it would not be water any more. Nor does his statement hold water when you go to the Duke University official website and search "effects of prayer". Here is the news release concerning the actual study:

DURHAM, N.C. - Cardiac patients who received intercessory prayer in addition to coronary stenting appeared to have better clinical outcomes than those treated with standard stenting therapy alone, according to researchers at Duke University Medical Center.
Their results further suggest that using rigorous scientific methods to study the therapeutic value of prayer and other noetic interventions appears feasible and warrants larger-scale, more definitive investigations. Noetic interventions are defined as "a healing influence performed without the use of a drug, device or surgical procedure," said the researchers.
Results of the phase I feasibility-pilot, known as the MANTRA (Monitoring and Actualization of Noetic

TRAinings) Project, appear in the Nov. 1 issue of the American Heart Journal. ... (and it goes on -df)

It took me all of three minutes for me to log onto the internet and do the search. So why did the ABC news reporter, producer,editor,anchor..everyone let such a statement go unchallenged? Time certainly was not a factor because the piece had been taped or filmed days ago.

It appears to me that some folks got all caught up in the gee-whizzicals of mysticals. The man behind the curtain got one over on them this time.

A View Not Shared By All My Media Friends

2005-06-13T17:48:00.000-07:00

A lawsuit has been filed by some media companies in their effort to obtain release of in-car police video tapes of a couple of incidents. There was once a time when I would march lock-step with any lawsuit over release of information. I have changed. So has the nature of the information reporters seek to obtain.

Years ago, there were no such things as in-car video recorders. Lawsuits and arrest records had to rely on witness accounts and whatever kind of photographic or audio recordings happened to be made at the time. Now, police officers routinely record nearly everything they do. That is a good thing, because it keeps everybody honest.

In the case of the attack on three officers and the subsequent brawl at Walter P. Taylor Homes, releasing the videotapes before trial would be a very bad idea. Neither side in the case will have a chance to make copies of the tape, then change their statements to conform with what happened.

It's all there. It's on tape. Let's bring the people to court, hear their account of things, and then play the tape. Videotapes in police cars are kept in locked boxes with only supervisors able to get to them. Therefore, there's no monkeying around with the evidence. There are at least four, or five angles, I am told. Justice lies within the truth of the recording.

But surely a reasonable person can see how release of the tape before trial could damage the purity of testimony and of evidence, and the opinions of potential jurors. Of course the tapes should be released to the public, but in such a highly charged case, I think waiting a while will not hurt broadcasters and publishers, and might help get to the bottom of what happened.

I am less inclined to agree with the district attorney in the request for release of the videotape involving the fatal accident. A Knoxville police officer has been indicted in connection with the crash. The tape will easily show whether he had his siren operating, and probably will show whether he ran the red light at the intersection where he collided with a car in which a woman was killed. I am not sure what difference the release of that tape would make, except that it might set a precedent where Randy Nichols does not want to involve himself.

The big lawyers from the state attorney generals office will be here. I know the media companies have their Palladin gunslingers, too. When high noon comes on the courthouse steps, I hope Lady Justice isn't hit by a stray bullett.

Shakey And Bill- and The End of My Career

2005-06-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

I might as well start looking for a job in newspaper. My talking days are over. Finished. Kaput.

Shakey Campbell- the fastest tooth puller in Seymour latched on to my incisor and did not let go this afternoon, until the fractured root canal had been yanked from it's position just to the west of the middle of my front teeth. It left a gaping maw that only an expert could fill.

In comes another Seymourian...Bill Oakes, The Dental Lab King who regailed friends and family alike with a plaster likeness of all five of my remaining real teeth. Until Shakey can complete his work...Bill has created a "temporary" partial plate that will fill the gap in my tooth, and allow me to look a little like Jed Clampett.

For Pete's sake- my wife made me shave off my moustache of 25 plus year...because she said I had gone from looking dapper to homeless. And now there is a hole in my pie hole big enough to drive a Mini Cooper through. As William Tecumseh Sherman once said "Getting old is worse than war".

But the worst thing about my new falsie is that I speak like Sylvester The Cat. I was afraid it would happen. Now..everything I say sounds like "Thufferin Thucotash" !

I've been sitting here trying to practice my speaking voice. The fact that I am narcotized with a couple of Lortabs probably is not helping much. But it feels like there is a Buick hubcap in the roof of my mouth. I was told to leave it in place for at least 24 hours, and he will make adjustments to the fit tomorrow when the swelling goes down.

(I just paused for a second to stick my ice pack back to my face..to ease the throbbing and swelling. You know, the tooth is not so bad, but Doctor Campbell left heel marks on my chest when he climbed up on top of me to gain some leverage.)

At least I think that is what happened. I had him turn on the nitrous oxide gas so high, I was sucking it in like a barely street-legal 5 liter Mustang GT. And I am sure that I raised a few eyebrows when I pulled up to the Wallgreens Drive-Thru...shoved my Lortab prescription into the window and said...."How fastch couldthch you guyschth fillcth thisch scriptch for somech dopech".

By morning news time, I will probably have two options...leave the new appliance in my mouth and sound like a kid with new braces...or put the dad-blame thing in a jar while I read...and whisthle throughth the newsth and my hole.

I need a print writing job and a paper bag with eye holes.

Get The Heck Outta The Way

2005-06-06T18:30:00.000-07:00

My good friends at the Seymour Volunteer Fire Department have just re-fitted one of the most-used fire engines with new emergency signals.

These lights are so dazzling, Helen Keller would notice them. Really, they are bright warning lights, and a new siren. This equipment is not cheap. But it is neccesary. Why? Because people simply will not get out of the way of an emergency vehicle.

I have seen it countless times from inside an ambulance. People will actually slow down, and stare in the rear view mirror, and refuse to pull over to the right to get out of the way.

Did you know Rural Metro ambulance drivers are trained to ALWAYS pass on the left? There could be reprimands or worse if they refuse to follow this regulation. They always have to slow to at least a creep through red lights, and most of the time stop to make sure some chowderhead disregards all of the noise and lights, and plows into the intersection.

The other day, a Rural Metro fire engine was destroyed as the driver went off the road to avoid a pickup truck that pulled right in front of the fire engine on Emory Road. Come on people- these things are ten feet tall, twenty feet long, and make enough noise to wake the dead.

It has been a long time, but I have seen a fatal fire engine crash. I don't ever want to see another one. But they happen with regularity in the United States. Many times, it is because another driver failed to yield to the emergency vehicle. You can check statistics and see what I mean by clicking on

www.firehouse.com

Check every few days for a while, and you will see why I am so passionate about this. And I haven't even mentioned the danger to emergency workers at the scene of car crashes, when someone drives through the scene at speed and never sees the paramedic or fire fighter in the road. There's been some talk about adding in-cabin cameras to fire engines to video tape the worst offenders, so they could be identified and cited to court for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle. I know The City Of Knoxville was considering it at one point, because the problem was so serious !

When you hear the siren and see the light...get yourself over to the right.

And say a prayer for the people on-board who are rushing to help save a stranger or their property.

No It's not a radio-controlled model !

2005-06-05T11:33:00.000-07:00

From an old collection of photos: This is the WSB Skycopter- a Hughes 269-300C that was powered by a Lycoming piston engine. This was one of the toughest helicopters made. It trained thousands of U-S Army pilots at Fort Rucker, Alabama, and was once the front-line machine for police departments all over America. Now, turbine-engined aircraft have replaced all but a few of these venerable aircraft. The Hughes was not as smooth, cold in the winter, and hot in the summer, but it was built like a bulldozer.

Tooth and Consequences

2005-06-05T09:40:00.000-07:00

My tooth has apparently found out that its days are numbered. Therefore, it's trying to escape. It must hear the sounds of the snark-o-lator and pull-o-matic in the dentist's office...waiting for the fateful day this week.

The front tooth will not go quietly into the biohazard box. No, it is planning an escape- a deed that will leave me with a gaping maw in the front of my pie hole- a hole that says nothing if it does not scream " Goober! Goober! This man is a goober! Look at the hole where his tooth used to be!"

I'll look like Curley Joe Howard without a tooth. My three chins will have lost a companion. My image will plummet from that of a rather dapper fat man, to a slovenly dolt who has managed to lose all of his teeth except two, and they have cavities and root canals.

Then there's the aspect of how my voice will sound on the air. Will the empty space cause a whistle, a rush of air where a "th" or "tee" sound once sounded? The demented dental criminal is planning to leave and ruin my career. I can hear it now. I will sound like Sylvester The Cat. Thufferin Thucotash!

My only hope is that Bill in the dental lab places the mold of my non-teeth in the front of the assembly line, and that Doc Campbell can deftly place an imposter in the escapee's position before it has a chance to flop out in a suicidal plunge into my lap- probably in front of somebody important.

If they're doing a re-make of Deliverance anywhere around here.. I might have a character actor for them by the end of the week.

Nothing But The Tooth

2005-06-04T13:02:00.000-07:00

The other day, I told my doctor that getting older was rough. It's tough to have a 26 year old's mind trapped in the body of a man in his middle fifties. It's not that my body can't cash checks my mind wants to write, it's that the account has been closed and the bank has moved out of the neighborhood.

I noticed one of my front teeth was getting a little loose. It was a crown job, and I figured that the cement had worn a bit loose. Since it was getting worse by the day, I finally asked the dentist's office to work me into an appointment.

Doctor David Campbell DDS is the keeper of my five good teeth. He seemed concerned that I was about to lose 20 percent of the clientele from my pie hole.

First came the obligatory x-ray. When the attendant came back with the film, she wouldn't say everything looked okay. I knew there would be no appeals, no higher court ruling for the offending chopper. It had moved from active status, to a place on death row, ready to join about 20 others in that great mastication in the sky.

Doc Campbell confirmed it. I was headed for a partial plate, maybe more than one, he said.

One reason for my bad teeth is the fact that I had heavy doses of antibiotics when I was young. Ear infections in childhood left me with tooth problems later in life. I also had a childhood dentist who went after my teeth like a shade tree mechanic goes after a seized bolt. That left me with a lifetime fear of densists.

Today, that fear is only eased by that wonderful product called nitrous oxide. I suck that stuff in like I was a small block Chevrolet engine, and still want more. I can't figure out why they call it laughing gas. I don't think I have even chuckled, chortled, or even tittered. Stupor gas would be a much better name. And I am grateful for the state is renders my nervous system.

No nitrous the other day- because they didn't do anything too invasive. The nurses did take a couple of plaster impressions of my gums, in preparation for the instalation of my falsies. They used about a quart of this plastic-like gack inside a little tray. I had to hold it in my mouth until it hardened. It hardened alright. The dental assistant tried to remove the tray. It didn't budge. She pried harder...still no luck. Still harder, and still not one millimeter of slack between my teeth and gums and that impression. She told me to wait (What else was I going to do?) and she would get some help. Finally..with two people trying and me starting to think of those old Three Stooges movies... the mold came loose.

Now, as the death watch winds down for my doomed loose tooth, Bill Oakes is making me a whole, wonderful set of partial plates. Bill is apparently taking great relish is carrying around an image of what is left of my teeth, and making some new ones. Bill is my age. Misery loves company.

I hope David Campbell has plenty of nitrous oxide. I might need a "to go" cannister. Wonder if Auto Zone or Pep Boys could help? Novocaine is also cheap. I hope he uses a lot of it.

The next time something gets loose, I think I will just keep it to myself until whatever it is that's loose falls off. At this rate, replacement parts are about to catch up with the number of original equipment parts still installed.

I had a worm...and a trojan

2005-05-31T17:50:00.000-07:00

If a machine can ever get a mechanical version of the dry heaves...my poor computer has been horking and heaving heavily for the past 36 hours. Even though I thought I was running the Fort Knox of security on my machine- it picked up both a trojan and a worm...a wormy trojan....eechhhh.

I spent an evening in Bombay, and an afternoon in Ottawa working to fix what some snotty nosed puke who has no life of their own did to my expensive machine...make that MY WIFE'S machine.....! The people who do this sort of thing are the little perverts who sit in the back of the class and draw dragons.

I hope they get painful rectal itch, athlete's foot, and marry someone who has night terrors.

Now, I feel better.

Tenne$$ee Waltz- A tough dance for integrity

2005-05-26T14:29:00.000-07:00

They call it Operation Tennessee Waltz. Federal indictments have been returned against some people and those accused have started their walk through the United States Of America's judicial system.

Tennessee made national news today. Not for the spallation neutron reactor, not for research advances at any of our learning institutions, not even for our music.

This time, FBI agents were escorting some people who stand accused of trying to use their influence and their political standing for personal gain. I looked up The Hobbs Act just to jog my memory. Extortion is a word that's used a lot in the legal description. The Hobbs Act was originially intended to break up union racketeering and wrongdoing.

There's another statute called the RICO Act...stands for Racketeering Influencing and Corrupt Orginization Act. That's the one where you read about federal agents padlocking and confiscating entire businesses. I have known of one case where the federal government took ownership of an adult nightclub.

I have covered trials where elected officials were sent off to prison: a sheriff, a county commissioner, and others. They didn't look so influential after their convictions.

Some observations about federal investigations:
First, people who are accused are presumed innocent. It is always the prosecutors job to prove guilt. So we shall see what kind of evidence they have.
I will tell you they are usually thorough. Most times, the district attorney general and supervisors for the various agencies make sure they have what they think is solid evidence.

In the case of Operation Tennessee Waltz, I would not be surprised if prosecutors had audio or video tapes to back up their allegations. I wonder if they have tapes of lawmakers refusing to take the money and run, and if they did would we ever see those honest people who stood up for integrity?

What started the investigation? Were there earlier allegations of wrongdoing? Was influence or extortion in another instance the reason for federal agents starting the probe?

These prosecutions can be career makers for federal prosecutors. High visibility cases in the federal system get the attention of the Attorney General of The United States. Remember, Bob Barr in Atlanta parlayed his work into a congressional term.

Personally, I get angry when these cases come up. Not so much that I love Tennessee, but it's the allegation that people are willing to whore themselves out like that. We elect people so they can serve, not so they can take advantage of the gravy train of corruption that might come their way. I bow up at the fact that federal agents even had to start a phony company that would troll for crooks, and again- I wonder where they got the idea they might catch a few of them.

Innocent until proven guilty, of course. But bad publicity for the state is blowing out like feathers from a ripped pillow. The Tennessee Waltz will probably play several times before the flashpoint of allegations, trials, and who-knows-what fades in the distance.

MEMORIAL DAY: OUR VETERANS DESERVE BETTER

2005-05-26T13:57:00.000-07:00

My daughter-in-law is a medical school student at Quillen College of Medicine, a fine school associated with East Tennessee State University. From all that I hear she is making stellar marks, some reported to be the highest ever for board examinations in certain studies. I have all the admiration in the world for this young woman. She is brave to decide to enter the healing arts at a time when our nation is in such turmoil in medicine.

There are some new ideas coming from these new doctors, and I have hope that our medical services will remain the benchmark for the world. We must find a way to provide care for those who cannot afford it while we make sure those who are able to pay will take some responsibility for it. Tenncare in Tennessee is broke..and broken. I am not sure it can be fixed, and some one-third of a million people stand to be "gently" taken off the rolls. What will these people do? Some will die sooner than they should. And don't you dare snort and say that just is not so.

Later this month Remote Area Medical will parachute a team of doctors and clinicians to some mountain in Scott County. Imagine...in 2005, we have to use a parachute team who live in tents to get medical care to people who live within a hundred miles of a level one trauma center, and three or four big hospitals.

And finally, there are our veterans. I have a radical proposal for healthcare for these brave souls:

Abolish The Veterans Hospitals. Close them. Let the veterans have federally subsidized health care in local hospitals, provided by locally based VA doctors. Here's my idea-

A doctor could become a member of the VA HMO plan. These doctors could set up their practice in a town of their choosing, and in the specialty they desire. Veterans would have a list of approved VA doctors. This patient pool would be added to whatever kind of private practice the doctor might have.

In local hospitals, these doctors would be credentialed to see patients, perform surgeries, etc. , while the excellent nurse corps that is inside the VA hospitals now, would be added to the pool of available nurses. The additional nurses would help the looming shortage of nurse and special care personnel. Their salary could also be a combination of federal funds, and private hosital money, depending on the porportion of patients.

Some- not all veterans hospitals can be dismal places, where there is almost a pall of sadness.
These brave people deserve more than that. Even in the old Soviet Union, old soldiers were honored and people gave up their seats on trains and busses for them. They proudly wore their medals to show citizens their service.

Should it not be that in this country, the people who put their lives on-the-line for our freedom deserve the best, the closest, and the most competent care? Our World War Two veterans are dying by the dozens each day, but there are Korean War, Vietnam, and Gulf War One and Two Vets who will take their place in the ranks of those who need health care.

We would do well to think about them on this Memorial Day. The ones who did not come home would want us to.

2005-05-23T03:45:00.000-07:00

Hallerin Hill and his friends have moved!
WNOX is now broadcasting on 100.3 FM.
"First Cup" starts at 5:30. The first local newscast of the morning is at 5:00AM.
Remember, that is 100.3 on the FM dial, for WNOX- East Tennessee's News Talk leader.

Forward this to at least 10 friends and you will have good luck. If you don't:

your hair will fall out
your dog will scoot on your newly cleaned carpet
your teenaged daughter will run away with a young man with many body piercings and a mowhawk hairdo dyed bright red
your only good molar will get a cavity
and your car will need a r ing job within 500 miles

WSB Radio Oldtimers Reunion 2005

2005-05-22T08:50:00.000-07:00

Someone in our crowd said it best, "Never before, and never since our time, has so much broadcasting talent and professionalism gathered at one station."

I hope the WSB Old Timers enjoy these photos. I want to thank my daughter Julie for doing a great job.

You can crop, edit and copy as you please.

2005-05-22T08:47:00.004-07:00

Site of the WSB Old Timers Reunion 2005

2005-05-22T08:47:00.003-07:00

John Furman was one of the corporate officers at Cox Communications. He understood good business was good radio.

2005-05-22T08:47:00.002-07:00

This beautiful spot was once the home of Mayor Ivan Allen of Atlanta.

2005-05-22T08:47:00.001-07:00

Aubrey Morris, the best radio news reporter ever. His voice was southern twang unforgettable on WSB. His friendship to me was priceless. I learned a lot from this man.

2005-05-22T08:47:00.000-07:00

Me, with my former WSB News Director boss, Bob Ketchersid, and Peter Maier, White House Chief for CBS Radio

2005-05-22T08:46:00.002-07:00

Mr. .Bartlett again.

2005-05-22T08:46:00.001-07:00

Marcus Bartlett at the piano. He's in his 90's. His first job at WSB Radio was music director in 1930!

2005-05-22T08:46:00.000-07:00

Don McClellan videos an outcue for his piece on the reunion. Don is one of the mainstays of WSB Televisison, and an old radio guy, too.

2005-05-22T08:45:00.003-07:00

This is Laura Peterson, the widow of Bob Peterson. Bob's midwestern accent was unmistakable on WSB. He had a wonderful, big laugh, and was a pleasure to work with. Bob's untimely death left us with only memories of the great man- and plenty of "Bob" stories to tell. My favorite is the time Bob went dashing out of the newsroom to the studio just before time for the news. He didn't know that a floor cleaning crew had applied wax stripper that was extremely slick. Bob stumbled, and scraped about 20 awards off the wall, and his news copy and tapes went flying. He quickly gathered all of it up...went into the booth, and proceeded to deliver a flawless newscast- such was the professionalism of Bob Peterson.

2005-05-22T08:45:00.002-07:00

Two of the giants in Atlanta radio history share memories.

2005-05-22T08:45:00.001-07:00

Me, Jim Howell, center. Jim was part of the great team of personalities at WSB. Quick wit and a part of Atlanta's most successful morning team ever. Right, Gordon Van Mol. Also from Knoxville, Gordon was a top-notch anchor and assistant news director at WSB. He left the station for a successful career at Georgia Power, and as a broadcast station owner. Gordon was great in pressure situations on-the-air. He was also an excellent talk show host, and anchor of a 75 minute news program that was a fixture on WSB.

2005-05-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

Mr. Ellis looks at a poster from the 1950's.

2005-05-22T08:43:00.001-07:00

Elmo Ellis. This is the man who re-wrote the rules of radio, and introduced ways to "Shake The Rust Off Of Radio" in the 1950s. He was vice president and general manager of WSB for many years. Mr. Ellis was also a mentor to dozens of radio broadcasters, myself included. He had a knack for knowing what the listener wanted and how we should get the job done. Mr. Ellis - I don't think any of us ever used his first name- was not the kind of man who would accept less than the best individual effort. That influence stayed with his staff members no matter where we pursued our career. His commitment to excellence and community service left lasting lessons on all who worked for this great man.

2005-05-22T08:43:00.000-07:00

Mike Kavanagh has a laugh as he interviews Aubrey Morris.

2005-05-22T08:42:00.001-07:00

There's no person with a quicker mind that John Moore. He was one of the mainstays of morning radio in Atlanta, and his interviews of movie stars, politicians, personalities, and oddballs were priceless. John is one of my internet pals, and he can find some of the funniest sites I've ever seen.

2005-05-22T08:42:00.000-07:00

Mike Kavanagh- still a member of the WSB Radio on-air staff. When I first came to WSB, Mike was the guy who showed me the city, the newsroom, and how things worked. His friendshsip and help in those first few months made all the difference in the world for this newcomer. Thanks, Mike.

2005-05-22T08:41:00.001-07:00

Gary Guntor did it all at WSB. He was a news anchor, and an on-the-air personality. I think I broke into his programs with news updates more than any other! Gary is a true people person, who genuinely liked being on-the-air. His easy going banter kept things moving, but when the big news happened- you could depend on Gary to keep you informed.

2005-05-22T08:40:00.001-07:00

What a nice venue for the reunion !

2005-05-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

Me, Bob Ketchersid, and Aubrey Morris. Bob was my boss at WSB. He's nw part owner of a station in Athens, Tennessee. Bob was an excellent leader. He had a quiet and kind demeanor- rare in this buisiness! He knew how to instruct you, coax you, and push you into your best effort. Aubrey was a mentor to both of us.

2005-05-22T08:38:00.001-07:00

One of my best friends ever. Rick Shaw was assistant program director at WSB. If something needed done- Rick was the "go to" guy. He was there in snow and ice storms, and during big news events to make sure we had what we needed. Rick's easy smile and great sense of humor was priceless during some of the rough times at work.

2005-05-22T08:38:00.000-07:00

Frank Steitler was an on-the-air personality who moved into the WSB sales department. He was as good there as he was on-the-air. His hard work paid the freight for our efforts during my time at WSB.

2005-05-22T08:37:00.002-07:00

Howard Gunter had the kind of voice and presentation on-the-air that said "this is important". He was an achor at WSB for years and still keeps in touch. Howard also did a wonderful job setting up the audio system for the reunion.

Nutty Speculation Live On-The-Air

2005-05-17T17:54:00.000-07:00

This morning a small plane had landing gear trouble over Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A news helicopter was close by, and Fox News carried live pictures of the plane circling around the area. The pilot was trying to use some fuel before he took the chance on scraping along the runway with seven souls on board.

The "editor in me" couldn't believe the speculation on Fox News, as I watched the closed captioning script scroll under the photos of the plane. Whoever Fox had on-the-air was an aviation expert. But Lordy, the man was giving all kinds of scenarios where the gear might collapse when the plane touched down, or the sparks from scraping along might cause a fire and immolate those on board.

In my time around airports, I have seen the same thing happen occasionally. The pilot gets a signal that his landing gear is not secure. Chances are, the gear is locked, but the circuit that operates the light has a fault. I would imagine that the designers made it show "unsafe" in the event of any abnormal position.

The plane disappeared for a while - with the reporters saying it was going over the Everglades. My guess is that the pilot took the plane out, burned off some more fuel, and bounced the aircraft up and down a few times. Pilots have told me that doing so can shake the landing gear into the locked position.

It landed without a hitch. It probably happens a few times like that every day in America.

I was most concerned about the dire predictions and awful description of what could go wrong. Any dolt in their right mind can figure out when a plane lands on something other than -landing- gear...it's a problem. But let's see how it pans out. Say the plane could have a gear collapse, but leave speculation on injuries to the ghouls who want something like that to happen.

2005-05-16T20:03:00.000-07:00

Gracie- my wife's cat about to get cat schnoozle on the camera lens

2005-05-16T19:58:00.000-07:00

Peanut waiting..or looking at birds, I couldn't tell.

2005-05-16T19:57:00.000-07:00

Lilly at what she does best.

2005-05-16T19:55:00.000-07:00

One of my photos- from the front yard.

2005-05-16T19:52:00.000-07:00

This station is in Richmond, Virginia. An old colleague, Dick Hemby is a fixture in morning radio in Richmond.

2005-05-16T19:20:00.000-07:00

On-The-AIr

2005-05-16T18:42:00.000-07:00

It appears that this will be my new home for blog entries. The old site was a bit ponderous to work with, and extremely slow. I had purchased additional bandwith with the expectation that I would be there for a while, but it appears that this free blog serves the purpose a bit better.

One thing's for sure, uploading photos is a snap with the Picasa and Hello software from Google. Google is going to take over the internet simply because of ease of use.

And while I am talking about the internet, you need to check out www.Mozilla.com
and the Firefox web browser. It is more resistant to attacks, and also works faster. It was developed by a group of interested people who want the internet to stay fun and free. And the browser is free, plus the Thunderbird e-mail client if you are interested.

Thanks to all who read these postings. They are from the heart, and guaranteed flibber-flabberless.

-foulk