TWO DEATHS IN AUGUST

          The untimely death of a young black man, Michael Brown, in Rockford Illinois and of Robin Williams in Los Angeles will no doubt be the domestic stories of the summer.  The former was unknown beyond his neighborhood.  The latter was an international superstar.  Nonetheless, each death has major implications beyond the deceased and beyond the time and place in which each death occurred.  Moreover, each event has struck a nerve in the American psyche and started an important dialogue.

          The incident in Rockford could not have been a more perfect storm to highlight all that is wrong with race relations in America.  Another white policeman guns down an unarmed black male.  A week goes by with little information released on the killing from the white police force.  Looting and violence occur during evening protests.  Modern assault weaponry, most often utilized in third world battle zones, is employed for crowd control.  Midnight curfews are put in place. There is minimal African American representation in the political and justice systems of a town that is predominately black.  Mayors, governors, police chiefs and presidential candidates stake out positions that will either further or curtail their careers.

          In the midst of this cauldron of anger, calls for change and calls for restraint, I would like to share one thought.  Communities are able to avoid the racial tensions that lurk in the background, just below the surface, by embracing racial diversity.  When citizens demand diversity in their court systems, police departments, legal and physician networks and schools, the downhill spiraling of events, unfolding in Rockford Illinois, is unlikely to occur.  Diversity strengthens the fabric of a community in good times and in bad.

          The suicide of Robin Williams has grabbed our attention for very different reasons.  Everyone has either suffered from or knows someone with a mental illness.  The fact that Robin Williams, so loved by the public and his own family, with wealth and exciting projects, could take his own life, is disconcerting.  Just like the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman put an exclamation point behind heroin addiction, the death of Robin Williams puts new focus on mental illness. To the extent that others come forward for treatment, that mental illness is discussed more openly and that additional funding is made available for research and treatment, there is a silver lining in Williams’ death.

          We can only hope that both these issues continue to resonate with the media, the public and our political leaders until actual change is accomplished.  Unfortunately, given our collective track record on stepping up and following through on gun violence, drug and prison reform, global warming, immigration reform and many other social ills, this may be asking for too much.

SECOND POT OF COFFEE THOUGHTS

It is interesting how each morning the life cycle plays out on the NBC network affiliates.   The NBC Today Show for the beautiful people to snare in the twenty somethings; the political show, Morning Joe, on MSNBC for the middle age crowd; and the hard core financial news show, Squawk Box, on CNBC, featuring guests with one foot in the grave.

The increasing age of the guests and audience for these three NBC morning shows is directly responsible for the decreased ratings for each program and for the increased complexity of the topics discussed.

If I were to make one prediction, on which I would wager all the marbles, it would be that gas/oil fracking, no matter what regulations, taxes or other barriers are put in place, will continue to accelerate and transform South Western Pennsylvania.  It is unfortunate that the economic potential is simply too great to have environmental concerns slow this juggernaut down.

Our Marcellus Shale is the fracking sweet spot of the world because of prior geological mapping, road and bridge infrastructure that simplifies setting up and moving rigs, landowners who have a financial interest in cooperating with the drillers and workers from the western oil belt who know the business.  No other country has this combination of factors to grow the fracking industry.

The most gratifying news story of the summer has been the large anonymous gifts and hundreds of small donations to save our local libraries.  What other institution gives so much pleasure, to so many, across all age groups and income boundaries.

While I continue to read Rolling Stone magazine and to sample new indie groups on Spotify, I sometimes get the impression from the comments and lyrics that these millennial kids see my generation as a large part of the problem.  I always feel better when one of the young band members is photographed hugging Mick Jagger or Willie Nelson. 

If these young musicians want to show some rage by singing about a failing democracy, unaffordable higher education, lack of empathy for the poor or drones killing civilians in other countries, why not crank up Teenage Wasteland, For What It’s Worth, or, Smells like Teen Spirit.  Oh, I forgot, those old guys are either dead or millionaires.

Have you noticed how quickly certain words and phrases make their way into common usage with journalism operating at the speed of the internet?  “Seachange”, “over the moon” and “it is not my circus and those are not my monkeys” come to mind, among many others.

There has been a seachange in the manner in which we receive our news over the past ten years.  Some of the new media websites are over the moon in their complexity and format.  Thank goodness that the Observer Reporter is not my circus and its staff not my monkeys in this cutthroat and challenging environment.