If it had been Friday night, they could have named the baby "Critical Mass" (CM for short) and the bicyclists could have snapped lots of pictures of the birth once they got over the idea the car was trying to attack them.
As for traffic, it's been insane lately, and the people who let this happen to our society deserve the worst conceivable punishments. The real story though is not that, but how the sclerotic traffic is probably a high water mark of the oil economy. By this time next year, or at most a few years from now, it will just be a memory, and then soon enough, a fading legend of the "highways of fire". Try to see the bigger big picture. ---- George Perkins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Here's my exchange with WKOW news director on this subject. You'll need to > read from bottom to top > to get the context. > > --- George Perkins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > You misunderstood my comment, no I wasn't joking. > > > > The feel-good story of a couple having a healthy birth in an unusual > > circumstance, in > > unfortunate circumstances simply missed an opportunity to bring the real > > issues of > > their trying moment to light. > > > > The real issue is that they got stuck in traffic on the way to the > > hospital. Why? > > Not because they were hurrying to get to the hospital in their vehicle! And > > don't > > insult my intelligence assuming I was advocating a trip to the hospital on > > a bicycle. > > The issue is that there are far too many other people driving for > > non-essential reasons. > > Dane County's sprawl, our society's addiction to oil and big cars, and > > cognitive > > dissonance as to the consequences are the issues. WKOW would serve its > > viewers if > > the implications of these issues were fully explored. The human interest > > story (which I understand is part of the news business) of this birth in > > traffic presented WKOW with a real opportunity to bring the other "big > > issues" to > > light in a human-scaled manner. That was my point. This is why the FCC > > gives WKOW > > the right to the airwaves - supposedly educate and inform, not only to > > entertain. > > You have a limited time and budget compared to the entertainment portion of > > your broadcast. I was trying to offer an observation about a missed > > opportunity. > > > > George Perkins > > > > > > --- Al Zobel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > I'm not sure if you're joking or not. Are you suggesting that the couple > > > should have hopped on a bike and ridden to the hospital? Or that perhaps > > > they just should have stayed home and had the child there? > > > > > > Al Zobel > > > News Director > > > WKOW-TV > > > 608-661-2710 > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: George Perkins [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 10:40 AM > > > To: Al Zobel > > > Cc: wkow-receptionist > > > Subject: WKOW NEWS: Father Delivers Son on John Nolen Drive > > > > > > RE: http://wkow.madison.com/News/index.php?ID=16521 > > > > > > Hmmm. "swerving onto the bike path" - can't say if the reporter took > > > liberties with reality, or if > > > anyone on a bicycle just got plowed down...? I'd say the unspoken real > > > problem in this news > > > story is that on their way to the hospital the car got stuck in grid > > > lock traffic. This means we > > > have too many cars and not enough people using alternatives like bikes, > > > walking, buses, car > > > pooling, van pools, etc.!! Not to mention that newborn is subject to > > > increased risk of > > > respiratory disease due to the increasing levels of motor vehicle air > > > pollution in Dane County > > > because of all of this unnecessary driving! > > > > > > Everyone likes a cute personality feature news story, but as a public > > > duty to its viewers, the > > > news staff should dig a little deeper to help us all understand the root > > > cause, implications, > > > solutions, etc., to social problems. > > > > > > > > > George Perkins > > > 442 Toepfer Avenue > > > Madison WI 53711 > > > > > > > > > > > --- rick opel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > http://wkow.madison.com/News/index.php?ID=16521 > > > > Anyone else see the problem with this "feel good" piece ? > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
