Dave Richards for August 15th…………
--This week we’ll look at the news wire. Although, maybe we shouldn’t. I mean to say the negativity and just plain craziness in the world reflected by today’s news stories is reaching proportions we haven’t seen in decades. Here are some examples.
--U.S. Senator Marco Rubio is said to be targeted for assassination by a Venezuelan drug trafficker. Really? It seems so. The Florida Republican is said to be living under beefed-up security.
The crazy part of this is, if I were to decide to kill someone I wouldn’t advertise it in the international press. Such actions could be bad for my health. Totally crazy.
--Political foes now have another reason to dislike President Trump. Even when he denounced the hatred and bigotry displayed in Charlottesville, Virginia this past weekend, he is now under fire for “not denouncing” the hatred and bigotry strongly enough. If I were the president, I’d just give up on these people. Even when you do what they want they criticize you for not doing it THEIR way. Nuts.
--The author and theater critic Rex Reed once said that he didn’t know why Hollywood made remakes of films which bore no resemblance to the successful originals. How dare they call them re-makes? I was reminded of dear old Rex’ words yesterday. Paramount Pictures is now in production for the sixth “Mission Impossible” movie. This is where you insert those remarks. I was a devotee of original Mission Impossible television series in the 1960’s and haven’t recognized or even completely understood any of the “sequels”. Anyway, the publicity people at Paramount came up with a good one this time. Actor Tom Cruise has supposedly been hurt doing one of his own stunts during filming. It seems Cruise’s character was supposed to jump from one building to another and he instead missed his mark and hit the side of the building he was jumping to. Kinda like the coyote in the Road Runner cartoons. It was crazy there, too.
--A new Rand survey paints a picture of the American workplace which hasn’t changed much from the 1960’s. In it, workers report they are being pushed harder and harder to do more, increasing stress on the job. Further, they report hostile workplace environments and unwanted sexual advances from co-workers. The report goes on to say that workers are increasingly being forced to work during their personal time to satisfy their work demands. After stating all that, the survey concluded by reporting that most workers thought their supervisors were considerate and supportive. What part of that makes sense to you?
--Nearly anywhere you go these days people are talking about the increasing tensions with North Korea. Most are saying they wouldn’t worry so much except they perceive North Korea’s leader as ‘crazy’ and capable of doing anything. I thought it strange to hear that, because I imagined that people in North Korea are saying the same thing about our leader.
--This just in on the wire, British Prime Minister Theresa May and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have both denounced the violence and public display of racism and bigotry displayed this past weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. No word yet on whether Mr. Trumps political foes liked those denouncements any better than Mr. Trumps.
--Go Daddy, a web-service company which among other things registers domain names, says it is no longer going to provide services to the website of “The Daily Stormer” after it published an article using sexist and obscene language toward Heather Hayer, the young woman who was killed in the violence in Charlottesville this past weekend. Some people will publish anything on the Internet these days, and if you ask me, they are proving to be as crazy as the man who announced he would kill a U.S. Senator.
--Finally, authorities in London have announced they will stop Big Ben, the Great Bell in the clock tower of Westminster Palace. For 157 years Big Ben has chimed hourly and is a tradition as British as Tea and Crumpets.
Workers will need to do routine maintenance on the workings inside the clock and stopping it will improve the safety of those workers. When asked if the familiar chimes will be missed, the reply was, “Well, maybe the tourists will, but everybody here uses their cell phones to tell time.”
It’s a crazy world out there………be careful.
--That’s what I think. What do you think? Comments to: dave@onworldwide.com or postal mail to Dave Richards, WOON Radio, 985 Park Avenue, Woonsocket, RI 02895-6332.
Thanks for reading! And…..Happy Birthday, Denise!
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