Sunday, September 28, 2008

To Be Honest With You

A day like today makes we want
to come home out here in the
country, turn off the radios,
television set, and scanners, and sit
with my  .357 in my lap and
the 12 gauge on the coffee table.

But you can’t give in.
If you do, darkness wins.

Instead, I monkeyed with the internet
most of the afternoon, setting up
what I hope will be a web site that
will also be home to this blog. 

I spoke to my daughters, e-mailed my
son, and my wife and I prayed for
the Hampton family when we sat at
the table for lunch.

I’ve been working in the profession
I love for forty years, and frankly…I
have seen enough anguish for a six pack
of lifetimes.

Someone told me the recent events in
Knoxville have shaken their beliefs.

Where does God go when some maniac
runs into a church, belching death from
a shotgun? 

What happens to goodness when
a kid is shot to death at school? 

There’s no sane argument that could
give a reason why.

And how can things like the Christian and
Newsom kidnap, rape, and killings happen?

How do people grow to be so dead inside
that they can even think of the horrors
inflicted on those two?

Years ago, I told myself I would never forget
a one of those murder scenes.
 
I was wrong. There have been so many
that I  erased some of them from my mind.

But the worst ones are still there. The stench
of death, the smell of large pools of blood.
I try.. I really try not to remember their
faces.  But sometimes I do.

Why does God allow these things
to happen to innocent people? 

I’m sorry.  I don’t know.

There were a lot of words where
this sentence now resides.  It was a
feeble attempt to offer some
comfort to those who are worrying
tonight.

Some would think it simplistic– words
from a borderline fanatic.  I do have
my faith.

But I deleted a lot of words from this
piece, because I honestly do not know.

Posted by Dave Foulk at 04:18:21 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Friday, September 26, 2008

A Lost Child

Today, Knoxville Police officers were at
Carl Cowan Park- the latest location to
be searched for Jennifer Hampton.  It has
been about a week since she was last seen
at The Days Inn on Lovell Road.

Police say there was evidence of a crime
in her room, but will not say any more than
that, as they await more test results from the
TBI. 

I have seen a lot of stories like this in my
time, and I can recall very few of them that
turned out in a positive manner. 

But you have to hope.  What if a child of
yours went missing? 

So the family waits, and hopes, and
prays for the 21 year old, described as a
sweet girl, who was working to save money
for her education.

Even waiting is expensive when you have
to do it far from your home in Florence,
Alabama.  You can help.  Watch the website
at WNOX, and listen to the radio for
information.

Sun Trust bank is taking up money that will
help the family with expenses.  Here is a link
that helps you locate a branch near you..on the
upper right of the page:

https://www.suntrust.com

A mother waits.  And doesn’t want to
go back home without her baby.

And a lost child is a lost child- no
matter what age.

Posted by Dave Foulk at 18:54:23 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Monday, September 22, 2008

Jesus On Wall Street?

You bet He is.  Here is a link to
an interesting article:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/septemberweb-only/138-53.0.html

Posted by Dave Foulk at 21:53:38 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Federal Anti-Hacking Law

You might want to see what the federal law
says about it.

http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/1030_new.html

Posted by Dave Foulk at 11:11:59 | Permalink | Comments (3)

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Don’t Moon Too Soon !

I saw this old cartoon and thought it
could serve as a warning about “ready,
fire, aim” on Monday morning:

Posted by Dave Foulk at 21:12:03 | Permalink | Comments (3)

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Messenger Gas

I seldom say I am weary of criticism of
the news media.  As a matter of fact, I am
usually the first to complain about shoddy
or irresponsible reporting.  But today, I
have had a sombrero full of complaints
that “the news media” (make sure it’s
pronounced with disdain) caused Knoxville
gasoline prices to roar sky-high this past
weekend.

In particular, I have heard more than a few
complaints that this humble reporter
started the whole ball, or barrel rolling with
a report Thursday morning that warned
people that prices were about to increase.

One accusation really puzzles me, and that
is the allegation that WNOX reports of a
pending gas price surge were tantamount to
shouting “fire” in a theater. In this instance,
a failure to report it would be like seeing a
fire in a theater and calmly walking out, not
bothering to tell anybody else the place was
aflame. 

The price increase was coming, whether
East Tennessee bought another gallon of
gas or not.  That is because wholesale prices
were about to increase, and the way gas
stations price their product means that
as soon as wholesale prices go up, they change
the numbers on their signs to reflect that
change.

Did people take advantage of that information
and fill up?  Sure.  And a near empty tank
filled with Thursday gas was about twenty
dollars cheaper than it was on Friday.  Now
that prices are down about fifty cents in
most places, it is about a ten dollar difference.  

I can’t blame folks who are already hard pressed,
wanting to save twenty bucks on a tank of gas.
And fears that stations might run short probably
caused some hourly workers to fill up because if
they don’t work…they don’t get paid. 

There is always a concern over whether you
do greater harm in reporting a story.  And I
can only assure you that that concern is
always in the back of my mind when I report
stories that have a wide reach.

Every time I turn on the microphone, I have
to realize that on the other end of the wire,
there are two, one-hundred thousand watt
transmitters about to carry whatever
information I allow out-of-the box.  When I
tell you a story, it had better be a matter-of-
fact, or from an iron clad reliable source.

Had I made the decision to say “ummm hmmm”,
and then sit on my thumbs and broadcast
nothing, I would have been criticized for being
a shill of the oil companies.  When I decided
to broadcast the story, confirmed through
reliable sources, I knew some folks would
eventually get around to accusing me
of starting whatever run might occur.

It’s like a fact I learned about fist fights a
long time ago when I was a young street
reporter.  In most cases, the loser goes to
the hospital, and the winner goes to jail.
Either way, it is not a pleasant night for
anybody.  So it is at times with reporting
the news.

My truck runs on gas, too.  A lot of it.

 

 

Posted by Dave Foulk at 21:17:55 | Permalink | Comments (7)

Ike’s Horrors

Here are some photos from The Boston
Globe’s coverage of Hurricane Ike.
I think they show both the large-scale
damage, and some small-scale images
that tell the story.  It makes me
thankful that my home is here in
East Tennessee.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/the_short_but_eventful_life_of.html

Posted by Dave Foulk at 14:14:15 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Bummed Out


I was supposed to be recovering from
gastric bypass surgery today.  Instead,
I am on hold and dealing with an infection
that stands in the way.  The doc wants it
gone before he messes with my innards.

It’s a real bummer.  I had my stuff ready
for the hospital, and was so confident that
I would be recovering right about now that I
even neglected to refill my insulin prescription..
thinking I wouldn’t need that stuff anymore.

It might sound very simplistic to some of you,
but that old song keeps running through my
musical memory:

“Farther along we’ll know all about it.
 Farther along, we’ll understand why.
 Cheer up my brother, walk in the
 sunshine.
 We’ll understand it, all bye-and-bye”

I suppose it just wasn’t meant to happen
this week for some reason.  Getting
this done has been a real challenge, and
it continues.

Thank you so much for your notes and
prayers.  I appreciate it so much.

On another topic, please remember all
of your public safety workers on September
11th.  Check the WNOX website local news.
If I can upload the file, I will post audio from
the actual FDNY radio communications on
that terrible day .

And God Bless our firefighters who
tried so hard that day.

5  5  5  5  5

Posted by Dave Foulk at 03:06:34 | Permalink | Comments (1) »