Category: Life in the Big City

Oh, Baltimore!

~ odd man out ~ 1 Comment

I was trying to convince Swamp Rabbit that there was nothing new about Donald Trump’s style of racism, that Randy Newman had sung about it long before Trump became president.

I told him that Republican Richard Nixon, running for president in 1968, wooed Southern white Democratic voters by stoking their anger regarding desegregation laws. And that Alabama Governor George Wallace, running as a third-party candidate that year, also reached out to Democrats, and ultimately helped get Nixon elected.

And that Lester Maddox of Georgia, another segregationist governor, walked off the set of the Dick Cavett Show in 1970 when Cavett refused to apologize for implying that some of Maddox’s constituents were racists.

And that all these events influenced singer/songwriter Newman, whose 1974 album Good Old Boys, addressed America’s enduring racial divide in ruefully funny songs like “Rednecks,” told from the point of view of a Southern bigot who understands that the North has been no kinder to black people than the South:

Last night I saw Lester Maddox on a TV show/With some smart-ass New York Jew/ and the Jew laughed at Lester Maddox/And the audience laughed at Lester Maddox too/Well he may be a fool but he’s our fool/If they think they’re better than him they’re wrong/So I went to the park, and I took some paper along/And that’s where I made this song…

And I told Swamp Rabbit that Newman, in 1977, released an album that included “Baltimore,” a song about a big city on the skids (Oh Baltimore! Man, it’s hard just to live) that could have been written last week.

And that the blowhard Trump, ranting on Twitter in 2019 about “disgusting, rat and rodent infested” Baltimore — its population is about 64 percent black and its poverty rate about 24 percent — would sound just like Wallace and Maddox if not for his Northern accent and his tendency to make remarks even more blatantly racist than anything those governors ever said.

And I reminded the rabbit that almost every prominent Republican politician has either defended Trump’s recent racist remarks or declined to comment, which puts them all on the wrong side of history.

Swamp Rabbit stopped me and said, “Where you goin’ with all this, Odd Man? I already know Republicans ain’t worth a damn.”

“Just wanted to turn you on to Randy Newman,” I said. “Politicians come and go, but good songs never get old.”

Footnote: Dick Cavett is a gentile from Nebraska, not a Jew. Newman, who is Jewish, has always enjoyed using unreliable narrators.

One more: Anyone who pretends they’re surprised by the recently discovered recording of Ronald Reagan referring to black people as monkeys during a conversation with Richard Nixon either wasn’t around when Reagan was in office or wasn’t paying attention.

Virginia Beach has some of the most drunk drivers in the country

~ susie
Photo by Matthew T Rader on Unsplash

“The high ranking is certainly troubling,” says John M. Cooper of Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers. “It is clear that something has to be done about it. With law enforcement already in full force around the city, the only way to bring those numbers down is for drivers to change their own habits. That is not always so easy.” 

Virginia Beach has one of the highest rates of drunk drivers in the country. That is what a study conducted by QuoteWizard, a Lending Tree company, says. According to the study, which looked at the number of drivers with DUIs on their record, Virginia Beach ranked tenth among U.S. cities. Law enforcement in the city agrees that Virginia Beach has a drunk driving problem, even with their aggressive tactics to stop it. 

Law enforcement in the city has already started cracking down on drunk drivers to attempt to get the problem under control. There are often checkpoints around the city, and the Virginia Beach Police have even created a special operations traffic safety unit and a fatal crash team. These teams consist of ten officers that rotate DUI enforcement every day. 

Officers say that those caught impaired behind the wheel will face prosecution to the fullest extent of the law. For victims of car accidents though, that does little to help. However, it is important that those hurt by drunk drivers understand they can claim compensation if they are injured in a crash. 

It is also not only law enforcement around the city that have noticed the problem. The DMV has also given the Virginia Beach Police a grant to pay 30 officers overtime, so they can continually try to get drunk drivers off the streets. 

Impaired driving is one of the most dangerous driving behaviors individuals can engage in. Violating drunk driving laws is usually a clear case of negligence. When one driver is negligent and hurts another in a car crash, accident victims can hold the intoxicated operator liable for any expenses or losses associated with injuries caused by a crash. It is important that those injured by a driver who was drinking to speak to an attorney who can help with a personal injury claim. 


A mensch

~ susie

Can I just say how much I love this guy? Malcolm Jenkins is a great human being, and Philadelphia loves him for it:

Unlike, say, Jerry Jones:

Atlanta is home to six of the Top 10 deadliest roads in Georgia

~ susie

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A combination of data from the Federal Fatality Analysis Reporting System covering 2012 through 2015 and US Census results has revealed that six of Georgia’s ten most deadly roads are located in Atlanta. That evaluation, completed by the data analysis group 1point21 Interactive, sought to determine the number of fatalities per mile on several different roads using certain criteria. Eventually, the group ended up taking into consideration 277 miles of road in Georgia.

Using that information, they determined that the most dangerous stretch of road is 0.98 miles of I-20 in Atlanta where five people died in the reporting period. Other roads had more fatal accidents and fatalities but using distance as the primary parameter resulted in a clearer understanding of dangerous areas.

“For Atlanta drivers, a study like this can be incredibly helpful in identifying dangerous roads and encouraging more alertness in those areas,” said Alan Hamilton, an Atlanta Car Accident Attorney with the law firm of Shiver Hamilton.

Unfortunately, even the most alert driver can still be swept up into an accident not of their own causing. Drivers must take steps to minimize the risks to themselves. Always wear your seatbelt and leave at least three car lengths between you and the car in front of you; more in inclement weather situations. Georgia is a modified comparative negligence state, which means that in the event of litigation related to an accident in which you were involved, a jury can consider your actions in determining whether you were partially at fault for any injuries you may have suffered. If they find that your acts (or failure to act) played a role in your injuries, any award you may receive can be reduced by up to fifty percent.

Additionally, if a jury or court were to determine that you were fifty-one percent responsible for your own injuries – even in an accident caused by another individual – you would be completely barred from recovery in Georgia.

Studies like this highlight the inherent danger in operating a motor vehicle, but also highlight that there are numerous factors that come into play in creating that danger – many of which are beyond the control of the driver. What a driver can do is exert control over those controllable elements – such as speed, safety, time, and location – and work to make driving as safe as possible.

OK, you’re in love, but can you sell my novel?

~ odd man out ~ 1 Comment

An editor friend just called to apologize, he hasn’t had time to read my new manuscript because he’s having his roof replaced and can’t hear himself think. I said hey, no hurry, it will still be there when you find time, unless I rewrite it.

I was kidding. I’m done with the novel until I find an agent for it. I’m doing my research again.

Most literary agents seem to be young women looking for Young Adult and Romance and Queer and so on. (What is it with the YA craze in publishing? Do you know any teenagers who put down their phones and video games long enough to read?)

A lot of agents post descriptions of the sort of manuscripts they prefer. A surprising number say they won’t represent a writer unless they “fall in love” with his/her manuscript. As if falling in love weren’t a highly overrated reason for doing something, especially something business-related.

Some say they’re looking for either literary fiction or genre fiction, as if those categories are always separate and mutually exclusive.

Some are enormously successful. Recently I visited the website of an agent who represents a formidable posse of first-class writers. I pictured them in her stable, being fed and groomed in luxury stalls. I could go for that.

Yes, it’s delusional to think an A-list agent will look at my manuscript and phone me, even if my unsolicited query letter indicates I’m witty and self-effacing, in exactly the right proportions, and a joy to work with, and in the vanguard of writers who are inventing The Next Big Thing.

But one never knows, do one?

Just this morning I looked at my ringing phone and saw the call was from New York City, and my pulse quickened. Could this be love? It was a recorded message from someone trying to sell me something. I don’t know what the product was because she was speaking Chinese.

Long ago, I reluctantly concluded the best way to get an agent’s attention is through referrals. This time, lucky for me, I know a friend of a friend of a friend who knows a friend of a big-name agent in Manhattan. I’ll let you know when I make the connection.

Missouri seeks to change laws in battle against opioid crisis

~ susie

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Good idea. I wish we had this here:

Like many other states, Missouri is trying many different methods to combat the opioid crisis that continues to rage. As part of that effort, the legislature is reexamining some of the laws on its books to see if changes can possibly stem the problem.

One of the rules it has identified relates to the ability of locations to accept and dispose of certain types of medications. As currently written, pharmacies – such as Rite Aid and Walgreens – are not allowed to accept prescription medications for disposal. Currently, opioids may be disposed of during specific collection drives that only happen once or twice per year or by dropping the drugs off at the local police department.

However, the legislature is proposing to change that rule, allowing these pharmacies to establish “opioid disposal kiosks”, which would be open to anyone seeking to safely dispose of no-longer-needed prescription opioids.

“These medications are dangerous if consumed improperly and they are dangerous if disposed of improperly,” said Gary Burger, a North St Louis personal injury attorney with Burger Law. “It is imperative that these laws be changed to create year-round disposal locations for these drugs, so they are removed from circulation properly.” Additionally, having police departments as drop-off locations likely discourages individuals who are illegally in possession of these medications from dropping them off as they try to stop using the drugs. “The idea of taking illegally obtained medications or the prescription of another person to the police station probably does not sit well with anyone because it is a felony in Missouri to possess drugs not prescribed for you,” says Burger.

Most of the 200 million opioid prescriptions dispensed every year are never finished by the patient. This vast surplus of medication contributes greatly to the crisis, yet very often individuals do not realize the impact of these remaining medications. Additionally, many individuals who do not realize that medications such as these can cause serious environmental problems if disposed of down drains or in toilets.  

As deaths from opioid overdoses continue to increase, states will have to continue to examine where changes can be made to cut down on the amount of these drugs that are readily available to the population.  

Running out of gas with Steppenwolf

~ odd man out

So I was on the highway, on my way to a sales job near Allentown with my stomach in a knot because I knew the job would suck. It was Throwback Thursday on the college radio station and the DJ was playing songs that, way back in the day, were mainstays on the big commercial stations. The Steve Miller Band’s “Living In the USA” came on. I hear you, Steve, we’re living in a plastic land, somebody give me a cheeseburger, how are your royalties doing?

And then Steppenwolf’s “Born To Be Wild,” an anthem of the road if there ever was one. The guitar churns like glass in a garbage disposal. The keyboard clings like wet cement. The overall effect is dark and dirty, like exhaust fumes from a sixteen-wheeler, but energizing, like good meth.

I cranked up the volume and pushed the rented Ford to 90 mph and remembered “Born To Be Wild” playing long ago when I climbed a high fence to get to my impounded car – I’d parked in a loading zone — and then tried to drive the car through the car lot’s locked gate in order to avoid paying the parking ticket. Bad idea.

The verses triggered more ancient memories, one after another, and a brief feeling of nostalgic transcendence.

Get your motor running/Head out on the highway/Looking for adventure/In whatever comes our way…

But the Ford’s gas gauge had a glitch. It said I had enough fuel for forty more miles but then, within a mile, the figure dropped to four miles. I was thirty miles from my destination, so I pulled off the highway to search for a service station before I ran out of gas.

Too late. The car chugged to a halt soon after “Born To Be Wild” faded out. I found myself stuck in a semi-rural scene with old houses and vast backyards. It was 6 pm, still plenty of light. I knocked on the doors of several houses and looked around for man-eating dogs.

A bearded man opened the fifth door I knocked on. I paid him ten bucks to drive me to the nearest service station. I filled a gas can, but when we got back I couldn’t pour the gas into the tank because the car had a built-in anti-syphon valve. It took me a half-hour to force-feed the gas tank.

I felt exhausted and marooned, and battered by the big existential questions. Who am I? How did I get here? Where can I get a macchiato in the middle of nowhere, or even a decent cup of coffee?

I got back on the road, smelling of gasoline, with the radio off. “Born To Be Wild” played in my head, mocking me, reminding me that most of my adventures these days are misadventures. They pull me out of the elaborate routines I’ve established to make enough money to support my writing habit. They pull me out of my safety zone and wake me up. Who needs that?

Drug overdoses send 1,300 to Connecticut emergency rooms early in 2018

~ susie

Opioid painkillers crisis and drug abuse concept. Opioid and prescription medication addiction epidemic. Different kinds of multicolored pills. Pharmaceutical medicament background

In 2018, the months of January and February were not kind to those fighting the opioid crisis in the state of Connecticut. According to statistics, some 1,300 people went to emergency rooms across the state in those two months.

The statistics were released by the Department of Public Health. The release of these statistics is part of an effort to shed light on the opioid crisis and drug overdose issues in the state. The statistics will also help provide responses to drug overdoses and track the patterns. The county with the highest number of visits to the emergency room was New Haven County with 405 visits. The county with the lowest number of emergency rooms visits was New London County with 54 visits.

As of mid-March 2018, the opioid crisis is not showing any signs of slowing down not only in Connecticut but also across the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a Vital Signs report in the middle of March. The report stated that the number of visits to emergency rooms increased by 30 percent due to suspected opioid overdoses. This increase occurred from July 2016 to September 2017.

The report showed increases in overdoses in both men and women of all ages and in every geographic region of the United States. The report’s data might be able to help track overdoses and improve how emergency services department respond to these calls for service.

“The opioid crisis continues to grow throughout Connecticut,” Peter Billings of Billings & Barrett, said. “Fighting your way out of a drug addiction is difficult and can be downright impossible when faced with drug crimes charges.”

Connecticut’s increase in opioid overdoses from July 2016 to September 2017 by 30 percent is nowhere near the highest increase in the country for that timeframe. Connecticut came in towards the lower half of the list. The state with the biggest increase was Wisconsin at 108.6 percent. The state with the lowest increase was New Mexico at 8.3 percent.

 

Opioid addiction can occur in multiple ways: people can become addicted to medications prescribed to them for various injuries or illnesses or they could become addicted to opioids they purchase on the street. However, it is important to understand its impact to continue to fight it.

 

‘Disinvited’ Eagles weren’t going anyway

~ odd man out ~ 1 Comment

Swamp Rabbit was getting on my case for not being a football fan.

I’m a fan of the players,” I said. “It’s the NFL I hate — the overpaid commissioner and the spoiled rotten billionaires who own the teams. I hate the way they suck up to the U.S. military and bow down to Donald Trump when he waves the American flag at them.”

Swamp Rabbit wasn’t listening. “You live in Philly and you don’t even like the Eagles. I saw what you wrote about them.”

“Au contraire, rabbit. I wrote that Eagles fans get carried away when the Eagles win. They act like holy rollers at a revival meeting.”

I added, “But I like the Eagles, especially since Trump disinvited them to the White House because he knew only a handful of them would show up.”

Swamp Rabbit dissed me some more. I shouldn’t get sports mixed up with politics, he said. Sports-watching should be an activity that brings people together instead of dividing them along political lines.

“Tell it to Trump,” I said. “He said players who knelt during the playing of the national anthem were unpatriotic, even after the players explained they were taking a knee to protest police brutality and meant no disrespect to the country. Trump made an issue of it because 70 percent of NFL players are black, and he knew calling them unpatriotic would play well with his racist supporters.”

Swamp Rabbit scowled at me. “Football ain’t politics. It should be a place you go to escape politics.”

“There’s no escaping Trump,” I said. “He seeps into everything.”

I told Swamp Rabbit about the airborne toxic event in Don DeLillo’s novel White Noise. A big black cloud descends on a small town, causing fear and suspicion. People exposed to the cloud develop symptoms — sweaty palms, deja vu, etc. — but it’s unclear whether the symptoms are caused by actual exposure to the cloud, or by exposure to news reports about the cloud.

“Trump is like an airborne toxic event,” I said. “Thanks to the media he’s everywhere, spreading fear and suspicion, even when there’s no reason for people to feel those things. Even when the subject matter is only football.”

“The media should ignore the guy,” Swamp Rabbit said. “Maybe he’d just go away.”

“I don’t think so, rabbit, but dream on.”

New York State sees jump in construction injuries

~ susie

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A report issued by the New York Committee for Occupational Health and Safety found that 71 workers died in construction related accidents in 2016, up from 55 in 2015. Worker safety organizations are pointing to reductions in funding for site inspections statewide as a cause, along with the reluctance of workers in the country from other countries being scared to report safety violations due to the current climate surrounding immigration. Construction company advocates say that the increase in deaths is an indication that it is time to change the laws, to allow judges and juries to properly apportion liability.  

The law in New York State currently says that liability for workers injured or killed on site is to be borne equally by the property owner and the construction company. Assuming a plaintiff is successful with their claim related to the injury or death, the damages are payable due to a violation of the labor law and/or the industrial code by the construction company, and by the property owner, regardless of fault.

“Supporters of changes to liability for the construction industry are, following this report, arguing the law should be changed to allow the courts to assign fault to the injured worker, including total liability, if the evidence supports such an assignment,” said Joseph Miklos, a construction injury attorney with Silberstein, Awad, & Miklos, P.C. “These supporters are taking the position that by giving construction companies peace of mind that they will not be automatically responsible for accidents occasioned by workers negligence, the companies would be more inclined to do a better job with site and employee safety. “

Miklos went on to say that proposed changes to the current “scaffold law” to eliminate absolute liability would not encourage a construction company to provide a safe working environment. “Employers have a duty to provide proper safety training, to develop proper safety procedures, to provide proper safety equipment, and to encourage reporting of unsafe work environments. Failure to do so is negligence.”  

 

Miklos hopes that raising awareness of the increase in deaths will encourage better reporting by employees of unsafe working conditions. “The law is there to encourage compliance, but also to allow people and companies to be held accountable. Changing the law will not reduce danger to workers – that is up to the companies and the government agencies.”