Eight Feet Deep

Crystal structure
of a protein from
a bacterium that
causes tuberculosis.

News stories with great regularity come along on both the world and national scene which cause a great stir. Take for instance the great December 2004 earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean which killed more than 180,000 people. Hurricane Katrina and that whole freaking 2005 season in which they ran out of names for the storms might be considered such a huge story to a certain degree.

Then stories come along which touch a more national nerve because of their odd or bizarre qualities. A good example would be the Runaway Bride. Also, anytime someone — especially a cheated wife — cuts off someone’s penis — especially their husband’s — such as the John and Lorena Bobbitt story is a surefire media spectacle.

These day’s hot item du jour is the story is that of Andrew Speaker, the young Atlanta lawyer, who flew to Europe on his honeymoon and back while knowingly carrying a deadly form of tuberculosis.

Why is this such a hot news story that it eats up time on the cable news shows like Tommy Chong with the munchies? One reason is, unquestionably, that the guy may have exposed scores of people on his airline flights with the deadly disease. Can you just imagine how today’s media would have treated Typhoid Mary?

This is not to say the Speaker story is illegitimate when it comes to news. People’s lives may have been put in danger. Speaker was ordered quarantined by the government. And just the fact that it is tuberculosis being talked about, something that has barely raised eyebrows in the U.S. for years, should interest anyone who even thinks about health.

But is this story, like the Bobbitt story, like the New Orleans-Katrina aftermath obsession, overblown to the point of being underwhelming? Sure it is. But that is just how it is these days. People need not feed themselves a steady diet of this or any ongoing news story or issue so long that obsesses. This is from one who has sat in front of the tube watching CNN nonstop on stories such as the O.J. Simpson low-speed chase or the John-John Kennedy plane crash.

After awhile, though, stories just stay too long. That is how I already feel about the Speaker saga. It has come to that point in time in news-watching this all that I must turn off the TV and read a book. That is really the most redeeming point of this whole topic, not just talking about TB. It’s the fact that you can turn off the tube or quit reading your newspaper or news magazine for awhile when it overpowers or really begins to irritate.

It is so simple. Yet for some, it’s so elusive.

Attention somebody. I just spent about an hour on a post in which I put a lot of heart and emotion into. Then this stupid Internet Explorer error message happens and even though I have this little yellow bubble on my blog’s dashboard telling me that Blogger saves my drafts automatically, that does not appear to be the case.

I don’t know who is responsible for not fixing the computer system at the Beaumont Public Library, but I wish whomever it is would do something. Or maybe our city manager can stop thinking about tearing down the existing buildings along the river to build the Ritz-Carlton long enough to take action. The library needs a better computer system and new computers.

Although I am almost certain the new mayor, Becky Ames, or anyone in the Beaumont municipal government for that matter reads this lil ol’ blog. But if they do, I beseech them to do something. Your library computers suck. I am sorry for being ineloquent but that is about is as blunt as I can put it.

Why not Cooter?

It appears that former U.S. Sen. Fred Dalton Thompson, who plays the district attorney on “Law and Order,” will seek the GOP presidential nomination. Why not? The more, the merrier.

Thompson actually has some experience in Congress so there’s that. Nonetheless, he joins a crowded field of some of the least exciting politicians (on both sides of the aisle)since the Ross Perot/James Stockdale ticket. Thompson isn’t exactly greased lightning himself.

It seems only fair that since the Republicans are going to have an actor in the race, then perhaps the Democrats should as well. So who could they pick?

Well, Ben Jones, who played Cooter on the “Dukes of Hazard” is probably available. He was a democratic congressman from Georgia from 1989-93. Also during that era, some of Iowa’s voters sent Fred Grandy, “The Love Boat’s” Gopher, to the U.S. House as a Republican although he failed in a bid for governor of that state. Isn’t the political world hilarious?

If you go with present-day actors, then Martin Sheen and Geena Davis should be considered because they have experience playing president on television. I would like to see Martin Sheen elected president just because of all the crap that his son, Charlie Sheen, might get into. That would be a journalist’s dream.

Actually, if both sides dressed up a pair of chimpanzees and ran them against each other, they would provide more excitement and vision than all those who are in the hunt for president at the present. Hell, you wouldn’t even have to dress them up.

J

Does anyone have a cheap laptop for sale? I determined that it wouldn’t be worth the money to repair my old machine. So I am looking for a used, refurbished or whatever kind of laptop that won’t break the bank. In the meantime, I guess I’ll be using those at the public library or at the local Internet cafe for $7.20 an hour. I see that staring me in the face at this very moment. It says:

“Computer Usage: $7.20 an hour.”

It is rather foreboding, kind of like the Hazmat placards on rail cars and tractor trailers with the ominous skull and crossbones. Get me outta here!

Alas, my cheap but faithful laptop seems to have entered a state of Murphy’s Law. That is an uncertain but probable diagnosis. Oh well, if it is a worse-case scenario it remains the best $250 I have spent in recent years. I figured if the rebuilt machine made it through the aftermath of Hurricane Rita and one year afterwards I will have spent my money wisely (for once). Indeed, it made it past September 2006. But I shall not yet sound the knell for my trusted little machine. It is time to get out the screwdrivers. But first I’ve got to buy some orange juice. Have a happy and safe Memorial Day.