Dave Foulk Internet Flyer

PHOENIX NEWS HELICOPTERS CRASH- I stayed up late last night and watched all of the video from the coverage of the news helicopters that collided and crashed in Phoenix today. I was napping (a perk of vacation) when the accident happened. My wife woke me up to see the initial horror of the scene of the wreckage. The story sent chills through my wife because she has endured two instances where I was in a news and traffic helicopter that had severe mechanical trouble and was forced to an emergency landing. It brought back memories for me, too. And I stayed up a little later dealing with those old ghosts that like to make my heart race and my hands shake.

Once we were flying in marginal weather, very low clouds, when another traffic helicopter, traveling over the same road as us in the opposite direction- passed us at the exact same altitude. Our rotor blades only missed by about a foot. It was over in a couple of seconds. But what -nearly- happened is haunting. There were other close calls, too.

I am so sorry for the families and loved ones who are grieving today.

POSSIBLE TERROR PROBES- It's possible the Homeland Security Director has more than a gut feeling.  NBC  News has posted these possible attempts to probe U-S Airport Security.  The stuff they tried to sneak in speaks for itself:

"- San Diego, July 7. A U.S. person - either a citizen or a foreigner legally here - checked baggage containing two ice packs covered in duct tape. The ice packs had clay inside them rather than the normal blue gel.

- Milwaukee, June 4. A U.S. person's carryon baggage contained wire coil wrapped around a possible initiator, an electrical switch, batteries, three tubes and two blocks of cheese. The bulletin said block cheese has a consistency similar to some explosives.

- Houston, Nov. 8, 2006. A U.S. person's checked baggage contained a plastic bag with a 9-volt battery, wires, a block of brown clay-like minerals and pipes.

- Baltimore, Sept. 16, 2006. A couple's checked baggage contained a plastic bag with a block of processed cheese taped to another plastic bag holding a cellular phone charger."

My gut is telling me something, too.

OSAMA BIN LADEN IN PAKISTAN:  There are apparently some credible reports that the most sought after fugitive in the world is hiding in the hills of Northern Pakistan.  The United States' public enemy number one, O.B.Laden is reportedly alive and well, and quite un-dead and hiding out.  The President of Pakistan says "no problem- we can get him, and we do not need your help, so stay away".  He said that just before dodging another anti-aircraft missile or car bomb intended to turn him into cole slaw.  Diplomats say we don't want to create another enemy in the region. I recall our chief executive saying that if you do not help, you are on the side of our enemies.

TAMMY FAYE DIES-  It was hard to watch the Larry King interview with Tammy Faye Messner last week.  The former queen of The PTL Club was emaciated, could barely breathe, and was obviously making one last appearance on national TV.  Of all the scammers on religious broadcasting, she was the most colorful.  Those long streams of mascara framing bright lipstick as tears flowed from her eyes.  Only God can judge her sincerity, and I am sure He has.   

I worked for PTL's competetion for eight months.  More than twenty years ago I got a snoot full of Pat Robertson and an organization that had a few very sincere people, and a whole lot of folks who had something other than evangelism on their front burner.  Some of the folks at PTL always looked down on Jim and Tammy Faye as the sort of "low priced spread" of Christian television.  Maybe they were right.  Jim Bakker's cheating proved he was a scoundrel, along with some of his top leaders.  I know some people who lost thousands in one of his ventures involving some condos.

For all of you who might be sending a lot of money to television evangelists, and watching or listening to services in place of attending a local church, here's a quick checklist:

Will that TV preacher visit you when you're sick, in jail, hurting?

Will he, or she have time to talk with you if you have a problem?

Other than sending in a prayer request to sit on a pile of ten thousand others, will anybody hold you hand and pray for you? 

Who is going to preach your funeral? 

I was hired to be news director of a new sattellite network for CBN.  The network would play Christian Contemporary music and I would be in charge of five minutes of news at the top of the hour.  One of the first things we were told as we set up the network was that we were to avoid telling potential affiliates that we were a Christian orginization.  

Numbers. Get the numbers.  Number of people.  Number of dollars.  

My children had a rough time.  Bethany got pneumonia.  Jonathan pulled a TV off a shelf onto himself.  I was told that if  I spoke in tongues, I would not have trouble like that.

When WSB Radio's Kerry Browning, who took my place as news director, said "Why don;t you come on back home, bud."   I never looked back at Tidewater.  I sold one house, bought another, sold that one, and bought another..all during the worst of the Carter inflation years.

If I hadn't walked down the aisle of First Baptist Church Forest Park the first Sunday I was back ... I probably would not have darkened the door of a church for a long, long time.

There is no substitute for local congregations, whether they are Lutheran, Episcopal, AME, Assembly Of God, ... no matter.  Television and radio are no substitute for flesh and bones of fellow believers.  Go to church where you live, and if there's any extra in your tithe fund..send it off.  Wisely. 

PAUL DUNN-  Dead at 70, and a firefighter for 44 years.  It's all he ever wanted to be, and we are a better community because of that ambition.  

LADY BIRD JOHNSON- The last line of nearly every news story written about Lady Bird Johnson was that she died of natural causes. Since she had been sick for months, and 94 years of age, I had ruled out the possibility of an Indian knife fight.

HIPPA LAW:A BRIGHT SPOT- At least there is some privacy at the pharmacy these days. The clerk no longer says "would the person who just dropped off the prescription for personal fungus please report to the pharmacist"

ANTIDEPRESSANTS- My colleague Hallerin Hilton Hill talked about the abuse of antidepressants today. The reality is- not all of us can simply "make up our minds to be happy. If that was the case, most of us would be happy. And happy is not the opposite of being depressed. Feeling normal is the opposite of being depressed. Of course, you can pill up on benzos and be so lit you wonder what planet you're on. But the newer anti-depressants are useful NOT to drug you up, but to bring your body into a more balanced chemical state, where your nerves and brain are properly utilizing the chemicals that carry messages. Studies I have seen say a combination of therapy and anti-depressants work the best. And if you feel like nothing is left to live for- please, get help.

*KNOX COUNTY CREDIT CARDS- Somewhere, Cas Walker is laughing. Who had the idea to hand out so many purchasing cards to so many people? Anybody who has ever managed people knows the potential for abuse of any kind of permission to spend. One station where I have worked had more paperwork to fill-out for travel expenses than most car dealerships when you buy a car.

*PRESIDENT BUSH SAYING THE NATION IS "WAR WEARY"- Probably not as war weary as the troops who have served multiple deployments. And if the Iraqi parliment takes a vacation, American forces should stand-down until they return. I heard a report that some Iraqi police trainees fired on American forces in an incident this week.

*AL QUAEDA REPORT INDICATES TERRORIST GROUP IS STRONGER- I am sick of watching propaganda videos of Al Quada training camps. I would like to see American video of smoking holes that used to be Al Quaeda training camps.

*PROBABLE SERIAL KILLER ARRESTED- The FBI says at any time, there are several serial killers in America. Most of them do not stalk their victims. Rather, their victims wander into their path through some circumstance. A serial killer was executed this week in California, and a sadist executed in North Dakota. Good. But I hope psychologists were able to pick their sick minds so police can catch some of the others still out there.

*RUNNING OF THE BULLS IN SPAIN- This year was a particularly violent one in Pamplona, Spain. Several people were seriously injued by the bulls. Tell you what, next year save your trip money; put on while clothes and a red sash and visit a bar in south Texas, Alabama, or Georgia. You'll have some running to do.

*SOMEBODY'S BABY- Police found a homeless person dead in a vacant lot near the mission this week. It's easy to dismiss something like that as a "non-story". And in reality, it's not worthy of a newscast mention. But at one time, that person was somebody's baby. Were they loved...ever? What brought them to life's end in a vacant lot. Most of us either die in our own beds, or in a hospital bed. How awful it would be to die without friends or family at your side, no one to offer a prayer or kind word as you leave this realm. They were somebody's baby, once. They were always God's child. Just like you and me.

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Foulk

I only offer this sorry excuse: News is a beast that has to be constantly fed.  Sometimes, at the end of the day my hands are sore from hammering on a keyboard and it feels like my brain has been sucked dry of any cogent thought.

Thank God. 

I have been blessed to have learned a craft where I can use my head and my fingers to provide food and shelter for my family.  As drained as I feel sometimes, I know it's not nearly the kind of weariness inside say, someone who lays cement blocks for eight hours-a-day, or someone who works cooking and cleaning in someone else's home.  

With apologies for the hiatus, let's get started again-  with a new look, and some new ideas.  And I would especially welcome what YOU have to say.