Even in Hawaii, which has the highest percentage of carpooling workers in the country,
only 16 percent of workers said they shared a ride. In most states it is less than 11 percent.
I wonder what an adventuresome reporter would discover if he/she traveled a thousand miles or so by signing up online for carpools with strangers. Here are some Web sites that help people find carpools:
- Divide the Ride links parents to find ways to get their kids from place to place.
- Carpoolworld allows you to set up carpools for commutes or one-time trips.
- RideCheck enables you to enter your travel plans and see who else is going there.
Cop Killings Rising Fast
Philadelphia is reeling
from the death of a police officer who died in the line of duty. It is
iconic of what is happening nationwide.
Listen to this story from Joel Rose at WHYY in Philadelphia.
The
Officer Down Memorial Page tracks officer deaths. Through the first nine months of 2007, officer deaths were up sharply
nationwide, from 109 in 2006 to 133 this year, an increase of 22 percent. In that period there was a 41 percent jump, from 39
incidents to 55, in the number of officers who have been shot and killed (not including accidental gunfire).
Here's a tally of fatalities so far this year:
Here are some deaths
from around the country just this month:
It is always tempting to think that we live in the worst of times.
But look back 100 years, and you will find some context:
The
number of police officer deaths roughly tripled from 1900 to 1920, from
40 to 150. Prohibition began in January 1920 -- and with it came an
organized network of crime to distribute alcohol illegally to the
thirsty population. The rise of organized crime proved deadly for
police. There were over 1,800 officers killed in the 1920s, the most of
any decade in that century. In 1929, more than 200 police officers were
killed for the first time. A year later, 244 officers were killed. This
remains as the largest number of deaths of police officers in a single
year. By 1933, the year Prohibition was repealed, the number of police
officer deaths began to decline.
The number of police officer
deaths began to climb in the 1960s and 1970s, coinciding with a jump in
the violent crime rate. A complex combination of social
and economic factors were at work during these decades. A generation of
young people were experimenting with rock music and drugs. They were
protesting the Vietnam War. Labor and civil rights groups were actively
staging protests. Encounters between police and blacks were often tense
and increasingly violent; blacks rioted in Detroit and other cities.
Some leftist political groups were pursuing violence as a way to
address some political cause. Law enforcement -- seen as oppressors and/or traditional
authority -- were invariably targets. Police officer deaths climbed from
125 in 1965 to 150 in 1966 to 180 in 1967. In 1971, a total of 238
officers were killed, the second highest total in the 100-year period.
Vacant Homes Mar Neighborhoods
NPR
reports:
A vacant home in a decent neighborhood used to be a rarity.
But
in cities around the country, homeowners and investors -- unable to
afford the homes they bought -- are abandoning their properties, marring
the neighborhoods they leave behind.
What to do with Leftover PrescriptionsThe Food and Drug Administration recommends you flush the most dangerous medications down the toilet, but some environmentalists wonder if that creates a problem in waterways.
So now the feds recommend that you wrap leftover prescriptions in kitty litter or other pet droppings when disposing of them.
Reuters says:
On its Web site, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (SAMHSA) recommends ways to disguise leftover pills.
"Mixing prescription drugs with an undesirable substance,
such as used coffee grounds or kitty litter, and putting them
in impermeable, nondescript containers, such as empty cans or
sealable bags, will further ensure the drugs are not diverted," (the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy) says.
Of course some people do not drink coffee. But maybe they
have a pet ferret.
"Ferret waste, like nearly any other form of pet waste, can
be effectively used to help prevent the abuse of unused
prescription drugs," SAMHSA spokesman Mark Weber said.
Reuters said this news delighted the American Ferret Association, which responded by saying, "The U.S. government declares ferret poop to be an
effective weapon against drug abuse."
The Writers StrikeI have a question: Why can't the Writers Guild write more creative picket signs and create some catchy picket line chants?
Look at their signs. They can do better.
Picket line chants typically do not stray from the tried and true:
- What do we want? _____ (fill in the blank) When do we want it? NOW!
- 2-4-6-8 blah blah blah blah blah
I asked my Poynter colleague Roy Peter Clark for some advice on what Writers Guild picket signs might say. He suggested:
- Writers On Strique
- Subjects + Verbs = Our Fair Share
- One Word –- Fairness -- Worth a Thousand Pictures
- To strike or not to strike -- Shakespeare would carry a sign.
- Pay us our fair share -– and we’ll write like the Dickens.
- What do we do when our nose is on strike? Picket.
Please add your suggestions for creative picket line signs and chants. Just go to the feedback section of today's column. The best contribution will get a cheap but meaningful Poynter gift.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's Note: Al's Morning
Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other
materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and
analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it
will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The
column is fact-checked, but depends on the accuracy and integrity of
the original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be
corrected.
It was the best of times... Now these are the...
