tonymcewing's Blog

I wonder? Hmmmm. We'll know in just a few weeks, but I think Apple may have made a critical marketing mistake by announcing the new iPhone 3G a month before making it available to Mac-maniacs like me who seem to often purchase the newest, latest version of most of what Mac comes out with before giving it a lot of thought. Had the iPhone 3G been available within a day or two of Jobs' San Francisco extravaganza, I guarantee you I would already own one. Now, I'm 80 percent certain that I'm going to keep the iPhone I have and just upgrade to the 2.0 software, which will be free. Here's why:
First and foremost, I've now had time to cool on the notion that I just have to have 3G.
Second, while the availability of 3G and GPS is great, I now feel it's not enough to warrant an upgrade. There is still no multimedia messaging, no videotaping capabilities, voice command. Shall I go on? These are basics that you can find on even the cheapest cell phones, not to mention features I would use frequently.
Third, although I can well afford it, I am a frugal guy by nature, (despite my occasional impulse Mac gadget buying), and I am having a hard time justifying paying an additional $300 for a phone and nearly $200 or more a year for another AT&T contract to which I'd be committed for another two years. Especially since my current iPhone, which is barely a year old, works just great and does most of what I want it to do anyway, including getting onto the Internet in a reasonable period of time. And I still have lots of storage space left. Moreover, the things my current iPhone can't do that I'd like it to do most, the new 3G phone won't be able to do either.
Like a number of other iPhone owners on this site, unless 3G users convince me with an overwhelming and irrefutable body of evidence that I really do have to have this phone, I think I'll just stick with the iPhone I have, enhance it with the new free 2.0 software and wait until my AT&T contract expires in a year to decide whether to upgrade. By then, I am all but absolutely certain Apple will have come out with another generation of iPhone or at least more features. And even if it doesn't, I'll just feel a little more justified by then getting rid of my current iPhone which I paid almost twice as much for as the 3G sensation. I'm still a little bitter with Apple about that. But that was my own fault. No one put a gun to my head and made me go out and buy the first generation iPhone as soon as it was released. Believe me, I've learned my lesson, big time!

     This month we commemorate the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It's the perfect opportunity of course to reflect upon how much progress has been made in achieving Dr. King's  dream.  In many ways, April 4, 1968 seems like a lifetime  ago. 1968 was just four years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act  by Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2nd, 1964. That act prohibited discrimination in public places,  provided for the integration of public schools, (as required by the landmark US Supreme Court decision Brown vs The Board of Education in 1954), the desegregation of other public facilities as well as making employment discrimination illegal. It was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. And no one seriously believes it would ever have happened without the efforts of the modern civil rights movement, which had been led by Dr. King since the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955, when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man as was required by law at that time.              Yes, it all seems like a lifetime ago. But it wasn't. I am years away from being called a senior citizen and yet I vividly remember the segregated water fountains in the South--Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana, where many of my relatives are from. No, I didn't read about the "colored only" fountains or just see them in photos or on film, I saw them with my own eyes. I also remember my sisters and brother and I going into a restaurant in Mississippi one afternoon to place an order for our family while my mother and stepfather remained in the car. When we stepped into the restaurant, all activity and conversation seemed to grind to a very conspicuous and uncomfortable halt. When we placed our order, the cashier was clear that we could not dine inside and the order had to be "to go."  As we waited for our food, I could see all the patrons and waitresses were white. I also noticed all the cooks and dishwashers in the kitchen through the order window. They were all black. I remember thinking, even at that very young age, here are all these black people working in a restaurant in which they are not allowed to dine. I couldn't wait to get out of that place.                I also have equally unpleasant memories of walking down a dirt road with my grandmother and younger sister in Arkansas some years later. We had been walking for several miles in the heat of the day and were very thirsty. We happened upon this small mom and pop general store and decided to get something to drink. We were met at the front door by someone I assume was the owner who told us "coloreds have to use the back door." As odious and offensive as that was, it was quite mild by comparison to my grandmother's retort. Suffice it to say my grandma didn't need much motivation to let loose with a string of obscenities that would make a hundred sailors blush. So it goes without saying that his demand that we use the back entrance was more than enough to provoke my grandmother to unleash. And needless to say I can't repeat a single word of her colorful response to his, ummm, request.     I bring up these experiences not to dwell on the past or open old wounds, but to hammer home the point that while such segregation and discrimination, often sanctioned by the government, may seem unfathomable to anyone under 30, in the timeline of human history, indeed in the timeline of this country's history, it wasn't very long ago.     So why does it matter? It matters because barely 40 years ago, blacks, particularly in the South, insisted on their right to vote and equal justice and protection under the law, frequently risking and all too often losing their lives in the process. 40 years later, a man of half African descent could become the presidential nominee of a major political party and stands a good chance of being elected President of these United States. Even if he doesn't become the nominee, a woman will--another historical first nearly as unimaginable four decades ago. It is not anything I ever thought I'd see in my lifetime. And it says a lot about how much progress can be made in a relatively short period of time once people are willing to allow intellect, logic and our innate sense of justice to overrule and override the prejudices, misconceptions, unfounded fears and insecurities we all harbor.     Have we arrived? No. Has Dr. King's dream been fulfilled? Of course not. Is there still much, much more left to do? Certainly. Our public education systems are a mess, our healthcare system is perhaps a bigger mess, the gulf between the haves and the have nots seems to be widening almost daily, just to name a few issues. But the point of this blog is not to focus on all the things yet to be done. We can do that another time. But rather, to look at what we've already accomplished in such a short span of time. We really have come a long way. And therein lies the possibility of hope of where we can go from here. If you look at the OVERWHELMING accomplishments we've achieved, thanks in large measure to the dream of one man who was able to inspire a nation and multiple generations, then what's left to be done might not look quite as OVERWHELMING. We owe it to Dr. King, to ourselves, to our nation's posterity and every principle our Constitution has come to embody to keep Dr. King's dream alive and continue moving forward. If we commit even a fraction of the energy and will that he exhibited, imagine how far along we might be ten years from now, let alone 40.

Hey guys, of all the holidays we celebrate, Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite. I suppose it began when I was a child. Thanksgiving was the only time of the year when I got to see much of my family in one place, usually my home. The food was always incredible, (especially the sweet potato pies which are still my favorite), and there was always plenty of it--enough to snack on for days afterward. And interestingly, the food always tasted even better by the third or fourth day. As an adult, I began to appreciate more and more the importance of being thankful for the wonderful things in my life. We can always find someone or something, some person or circumstance, some friend, relative or situation to complain about. And that's OK. Personally, I've always found it more rewarding, more fulfilling and more beneficial to my well being overall to complain less about what's not going right and give thanks for the things in my life that are good. As such, I'd like to acknowledge my most valuable possessions--the people in my life who are closest to me. They keep me grounded, often keep me out of trouble, frequently give me good advice and stand by me when I screw up anyway. They are, in a word, PRICELESS. Everything else I own now or will ever acquire in the future is secondary.
And thank you faithful viewers for helping me keep it real all these years, for letting me know when I've screwed up, for forgiving me when I do, for sharing in the triumphs and tragedies we've been through together for the last 15 years, in short for being there day in and day out and trusting me to tell you the news of the day. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and don't forget to count your blessings.

Where the heck did 2007 go? 2008 is right around the corner, but before we get there, we have to get through this holiday season. What a difference a year makes. This time last year, the housing market had slowed considerably. This year, it's practically in shambles and is threatening to take the economy right down the tubes with it. Defaults and foreclosures are at an all time high. And gasoline is already $5 dollars a gallon in one Northern California town and more than $4 a gallon in another. Word is, we may all be paying 4 bucks a gallon by summer.

Question is, what impact will all of this have on holiday shopping?  How much are you spending on gifts this Christmas and is it more or less or about the same as last year? I can already tell you, I'm spending a lot less.

Well, I did it. I said I would and I did. I have owned my Toyota Prius for about a month and a half now and it has been GREAT! I now know why customer satisfaction for the Pruis is well over 90%, the highest of any car. But I'm still waiting to see the kind of mileage promised. More on that in a moment. First, you have to understand that my enthusiasm has a lot to do with the amount of savings I'm seeing at the pump. My last car was a V12 which got maybe 12 miles to the gallon on a good day. That behemoth was costing me about $870 a month to drive when you totaled up gasoline costs, maintenance and insurance. I drove it for almost two years before I realized how much I was spending just to drive it. Now, instead of paying $450 a month for gas, I'm paying about $50. What a difference! And it's much better for the environment. So of course I'm excited.

However, I'm still waiting to achieve anywhere near the kind of mileage the EPA claims the Prius gets. And from what I hear, it'll never happen. The most popular hybrid on the market is supposed to get 60 miles to the gallon in the city and 50+ on the highway. I have about 2500 miles on my car so far and am averaging 41.3 miles per gallon at this point. I've been told I'll see a HUGE increase at 5,000 and 10,000 miles once the car has been broken in. I certainly hope so but I've been told I'll be sorely disappointed if I'm expecting the kind of mileage the EPA claims. Now of course, the car performs better in warmer weather than colder temperatures, which means Southern Californians should be getting about the best mileage anyone could expect from the car. Most Prius owners have said, I can expect to average between 45 and 48 miles per gallon at best. That would be somewhat disappointing, but so much better than anything I've ever experienced before that I'd be just fine with that mileage.

If any other long-time Prius owners read this, I'd be interested in hearing what you have to say. But so far so good.

    Hey...when you wake up at 2:10am every morning, five days a week, you need all the help you can get to do your job and believe me, I have a LOT of help. To most viewers, it's the people on the air with whom they most identify. We're the faces and voices of what they see and hear. We make them laugh, occasionally make them cry and sometimes make them downright angry. But for us on the air, we know that there is a lot more to getting that newscast, that story, that interview on the air than most people know. And by the time you see me at the desk delivering the news, a myriad of people have already paved the way. Before I even get up in the morning, news photographers have been out shooting video and interviews overnight or the night before that will air that morning on the news. If you think my schedule is bad, by the time I get up a little after 2am, my producer, Carol Fracassa has been hard at work for hours building the two hour show I will anchor. A team of writers has been at the station almost as long looking at wire copy, scouring the various feeds that come into the station with video from around the world, and rewriting stories that aired the night before on the 10 O'clock News. Oh yeah, those feeds with video from around the world? They don't just magically appear from nowhere. You have engineers who are responsible for making sure those feeds come in via satellite, captured on videotape and get to the writers who need them. 

     And let's not forget the hardworking folks at the assignment desk, perhaps one of the most thankless jobs in the business. They are the ones who have to keep their ears open for any unusual police or fire activity coming from a bank of scanners at the desk. They are the ones who have to check with law enforcement agencies throughout the LA Metropolitan area to determine whether anything of note occurred while you and I were asleep. And they're the folks who have to do the juggling, trying to get a limited number of photographers, reporters and ENG vehicles to wherever the news is happening or has recently happened. For those of you not familiar with some of the terminology, ENG refers to the trucks used to bring you a story "LIVE." Nope, it's not magic. There are people, very knowledgeable people how know how to operate those trucks so you see and hear what you need to see and hear while it's happening.
 

      Once the assignment desk has covered all the bases by sending out the crews to wherever they need to go, and the photographers have shot the video and the writers have written the stories I'll read and the videotape editors have put them together and the producer has built and organized the show you'll be watching for part of the morning, there is yet another group of people who must be engaged before you can see or hear anything. These are the people who occupy the "control booth" while the show is on the air. There is a director, who decides what camera I have to read to, determines when the video has to roll and is responsible for the overall look of the show technically. There is a technical director who takes direction from the director. When the director says take camera three, it's the TD who punches the button for camera three. There is an associate director and a chyron operator--the person who is responsible for all the writing you see on the screen, including the names of the people who are interviewed. There's a playback person who actually rolls the video when the director says so. That person is in a completely different room. And then there are the edit coordinators. Those are the people who make sure the dozens of videotapes aired during the newscast are coordinated so they are in the right order and in the playback area when they're supposed to be there.

      When I arrive at work, I go straight to make-up. Yep, that's right--make-up.  Trust me, if I didn't, you wouldn't listen to anything I was saying. You'd be too distracted by how horrible I would look. Don't let anyone tell you any differently, when you're in a studio under the glare of dozens of hot lights, you need make up. From make up I go to hair, which doesn't take long since, if you've ever seen me on TV, you know I don't have a lot of hair to work with.  It's at that point that I sit down at my computer to look at all the hard work done by people who got up far earlier than I did. Once I actually go over what's been written and rush to the studio, I put on a microphone that has already been checked by the good people in audio and which is constantly monitored throughout the show. I sit down in front of a camera that is operated and shaded just right, (so I don't look green or gray), by a cameraman in a room about a mile down the hall. The cameras are robotic so there isn't anyone standing behind them. They're moved around, focused and framed by the operator who uses a little joy stick in the video room. All of these people by the way are wearing headsets, earpieces or are within earshot of a squawk box so that everyone knows what everyone is doing at any given time. If there is miscommunication of any kind, our newscast could go down the tubes. Then there is the teleprompter operator who has to keep up with the pace at which I'm reading and catch up to me when I ad-lib and say something that isn't on the script. And the stage manager, who just happens to be one of my best friends, who is like a brother to me. He's my lifeline in the studio, telling me what camera to read to, what changes are being made in the show and how long the commercial breaks are. Then there are the production assistants who rip and coordinate the scripts

     The point is, I may be the face of the news for many of you, but that's pretty much it. Not to belittle what I do, (after all, we're called anchors because we are expected to hold the show together no matter what goes wrong), but I just want to pay homage to the many people behind the scenes who not only make me look good, but make it possible for you to be informed and entertained.

 
 

OK, I already know we pay less for gasoline in this country than many other places, but let's face it, that fact doesn't make it less painful, especially here in California. I've already started
taking action to reduce the amount of gasoline I consume. First of all, I walk a lot more places than I used to. This not only saves money, but it's good exercise. Secondly, I find I just don't go some places that I used to because I don't want to waste the gas. Finally, I have decided to get rid of my current car in a little over a month from now in favor of a hybrid. I won't identify the make and model of the car I drive now but suffice it to say its gas guzzling borders on obscene! It's extremely wasteful and I find I can no longer, in good conscience, justify keeping it. Besides, I'm a very frugal person and I don't like throwing away money, even if the car is incredibly fun to drive, (which it is). The point is, I know I can't be the only one trying to reduce the pain at the pump--a pain that is likely to get worse before it gets better.
And even if gasoline prices do come down in the future, having a hybrid means I'll save that much more money and know I'm doing something good for the environment.
Again, I can't be the only one taking cost-cutting measures to relieve the pain. I'd be interested to know what some of you out there are doing to deal with the gasoline gouging.

I don't know how many of you have ever been caught up in a governmental bureaucratic nightmare but, if you have, you know how scary it can be and how impossible it can be to straighten things out or even get anyone to listen to you. My nightmare begain with a parking ticket I received in the city of Los Angeles in late January. That, of course, was irritating enough. No one likes getting a parking ticket. Making matters worse, I had just parked on this street, (which I will call Elm for the purposes of this blog), not two weeks before that. It was legal to do so at that time. Apparently, a few days later, signs went up on "Elm" street, forbidding anyone without the proper permit to park on the street after 6pm. I parked about 5pm, never noticing the signs and found the ticket on my windshield when I emerged two hours later. It was an expensive mistake--$45.

As annoyed as I was, I of course paid the ticket on time by check. In fact, the city cashed the check exactly 21 days after I was issued the ticket, which was the deadline for paying the citation. Fine! That was taken care of. Over and done with! Little did I know, this was just the beginning of the nightmare. About a month and a half later, I received a letter from the Parking Violations Department of Los Angles informing me that, since I had neglected to pay my ticket on time, the fine had been increased from $45 to some ridiculous amount. I was furious! I couldn't believe what I was reading. I immediately went online and printed out a copy of the check the city had cashed in February. Then I called the number on the letter the city sent me. That was chapter two of my nightmare. I was on hold for 45 minutes before a human being finally came on the line. I explained my situation to the woman, who told me she could help. She instructed me to mail a photocopy of my cashed check in the same envelope the city had provided for me to send my increased fine and everything would be taken care of. But the city had to receive the information within 15 days. Once received, I would get a letter confirming I was right and they were wrong. I mailed the letter the next day. Fine! That was taken care of. Over and done with! Or so I thought.

This month, I received a third letter from the Parking Violations Department. But this was no ordinary letter. It was downright terrifying and threatening. It stated that because I had failed to pay the citation, my case had now been turned over to a collections agency. In other wods, we're getting ready to ruin your credit unless you pay up. Oh yeah, did I mention the fine had almost tripled to $124 now. The letter also screamed that the city had notified the Department of Motor Vehicles not to renew my registration until the fine was paid. And the letter threatened to deduct the amount from any tax refund I was due from the state and seize my vehicle by putting a boot on it. By this time, I was ready to explode. I couldn't imagine how they could be so incompetent. What had they done with the letter containing a photocopy of the check the city cashed two months ago? If I did this to someone else, wouldn't I be arrested and charged with extortion? That's when I did something that most people couldn't do because they don't have the same access. I called the head of the city's parking department directly. Of course, he knew I worked for FOX 11 and by the end of the next day, my ticket had been cancelled and my $45 refunded. Thing is, that isn't what I was looking for. I just wanted the city to acknowledge it made a mistake, that I had paid my fine on time, and stop harrassing me! Cancellation of the ticket meant the harrassment would stop for me, but I wondered what would happen to an ordinary citizen who didn't have FOX 11 news behind his or her name.

It didn't take me long to find out. When I told a close friend about my experience, she recounted to me her own horror story with the city parking department that took six months to straighten out. SIX MONTHS! The city browbeat her so much with threats to ruin her credit, seize her car and block her registration, that she was a nervous wreck and had all but decided she would pay the parking deparment money she didn't owe, just to get the city off her back. There is something fundamentally wrong when a city department is so mired in such bureaucratic ineptness, that it turns the lives of basically honest, law-abiding citizens into a lving hell. The parking department does have field offices throughout the city where you can appear in person to plead your case, but they are open basically 9 to 5. Most people are at work during those hours, which means they'd have to take time off, which many people can't afford to do. Nor should they have to when it's so evident that the city is in error. And there's no guarantee that appearing at one of the field offices will solve the problem.

My nightmare with the Los Angeles Parking Violations Department has been over for a week now. But I still wonder how many other people out there have been tortured by one government agency or another without ever getting any satisfactory resolution?

Last week, we reported on a mentally and physically disabled man who was brutally beaten by four men, one of whom he had met online and agreed to meet in person. Obviously, that turned out to be a huge mistake. According to authorities, the man the victim agreed to meet at his apartment, later returned with three other men. The four thugs pummeled the victim mercilessly and stole his computer and other personal belongings. It was hard to watch the video of this wheelchair-bound, mentally impaired man who had been roughed up so savagely, a shoe print was still visible on his face. To make matters worse, the stolen computer was the only means this poor man, who is unable to speak, had to communicate with other people. The good news is all four of these guys were apprehended and now face very serious charges.

It's understandable why this victim erred in judgment and agreed to meet a complete stranger at his residence. He may not have had the mental capacity to comprehend just how dangerous doing something like that is. But most of us have no such disability and exercising a little common sense when using the Internet can save you a lot of grief later on. Below are just a few tips to help keep adults and kids alike safe from the many dangers lurking in cyberspace.

(1) If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Never, ever give out personal information to anyone you don't know, even if the unsolicited email appears to come from some "official" source like a government agency or some reputable company. Don't reveal your name, address, phone number, social security number, banking or credit card information or your password. If the email looks like it comes from a legitimate source like the government or a company, simply call that agency or corporation to find out. Chances are the email is fake.

(2) Even when shopping online, it is best to buy from stores that you are personally familiar with or have come highly recommended from people you trust. You should know exactly where the company is located and just how long it's been in business and how long it's been operating on the Internet. Again, one phone call or doing a Google search on the company can save you headaches later on. Don't underestimate the power of Google. I've used it countless times to investigate companies or individuals offering too-good-to-be-true deals. And sure enough, most of them turned out to be frauds.

(3) NEVER invite someone you meet online to your residence or give him or her personal information that can be used against you. If you feel you can trust someone enough to meet the person, it is always best to meet in a very public place with lots of people. Even this carries some risk, but isn't nearly as risky as inviting a stranger to your home. Underage kids should NEVER, EVER agree to meet anyone in a public place or anywhere else without the expressed consent of a parent, who should be present at any such meeting.

(4) Speaking of parental consent, adults should not communicate online with children under 18 without a parent's knowledge and approval. Even then, parents should monitor such conversations when possible and make judicious use of parental controls and blocks on the computers used by minors. And computer literate children should be thoroughly schooled on the dangers of online predators. Like adults, children should be carefully instructed not to give out information of any kind to anyone they don't know who contacts them online. If a contact seems suspicious, children should immediately alert their parents or another adult they trust.

(5) I end this short laundry list of precautions the way I started it. If it sounds too good to be true, chances are it is. If you get an email telling you you've won some kind of lottery you never entered, chances are you didn't. If you get an email saying you'll get millions of dollars from someone you don't even know who lives in some foreign country--you won't. If, after reading any unsolicited email offer, your inner voice says to you, "sounds fishy." Listen to that voice. Chances are, you'll be very glad you did later on when you read or hear news stories about other victims who ignored the voice of common sense within.

Despite the fact that there is now more information available to young people and their parents than ever before, teenagers in this country are still becoming pregnant at an alarming rate. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, about one million teenagers get pregnant in the US every year.  What may be even more startling is that 95 percent of those pregnancies are unintended--meaning neither the teenage boy nor the teenage mother wanted it to happen. In this day and age, you wonder, how can that be? Kids these days know more about sex at seven it seems than I knew at seventeen. They know the mechanics and presumably what can happen when those mechanics are performed between a boy and girl without some form of contraception.

 Measurable progress has been made, but not nearly enough. Birth rates among teenagers have declined since 1991...most notably between 1991 and 1996. But it's still a huge problem. Public costs from teenage childbearing totaled $120 billion dollars between 1985 and 1990. $48 billion of that could have been saved had each birth been postponed until the mother was at least 20 years old. Of the million or so teenage pregnancies each year, about a third of them end in abortion. Birth rates among teenagers vary significantly from state to state. Some states have rates almost three times higher than states with the lowest rates.

So who or what is to blame? Is it a lack of parental guidance? An abdication of personal responsibility? Moral decay? Socioeconomic forces? Inadequate intervention by government? Perhaps all of the above to varying degrees. And while it is imperative that we continue to come up with whatever means we can to prevent teenagers from getting pregnant in the first place, it is equally important that help be available to teens and their unborn babies when it does happen. And history shows it will happen, over and over and over again.

And that brings me to an incredible organization located in Los Angeles County. While there are a number of worthwhile agencies and charities dedicated to helping pregnant teenagers, none is better at it than the El Nido Family Centers headquartered in Mission Hills. The organization has been around for more than 80 years providing a safe haven of guidance and support to children, adolescents and entire families in the most disadvantaged and underserved communities in LA County. And it is home to the largest teen parent program in the state. El Nido offers a wide range of services for teens including parent education, assistance so the teenagers can stay in school, high quality pre-natal care and counseling for the prevention of a second pregnancy.

And now El Nido has launched another program called The Baby Basket. The need for baby items for teen parents and their children is tremendous.Clothing, formula and safe baby equipment are luxuries for many of the three thousand teen parents that El Nido serves at any given time. This new program is the brainchild of one of my colleagues Kathy Perez, who is also a new mom. "Shortly after my son Jackson was born, I  was fortunate to receive an abundant amount of clothes and baby gear...and I started to think that there must be a need for these clothes and barely used gear."  It is the perfect opportunity for people to donate clothing, unused carseats, cribs, blankets, you name it. Or you can just make a financial donation if you'd like.  One thing's for sure, whatever you give will be used to help a teen parent for whom the bare necessities are often unaffordable.

Whatever or whomever you believe is to blame for the teen pregnancy crisis in this country, we can all agree on one thing.  The babies born to these teenagers certainly bare no responsibility for their predicament and should not have to suffer because of the faulty judgment of their young parents, who themselves are often in desperate need of help. That said, if you'd like more information regarding drop-off locations for El Nido, you can visit their website at www.elnidofamillycenters.org.  Or you can contact the organization directly at (818) 830-3646.

 

 

 

 

OK men, here's your chance to show your support for women and help those of them who have been victims of violence. I have to admit it's an unusual idea, and I'm not sure who came up with it, but here it is, if you are a man and you really want to know what it's like to walk a mile in the other gender's shoes--literally. It's a march to stop rape, sexual assault and gender violence organized by the Valley Trauma Center. And, yes, high heels will be distributed to the male marchers, along with signs and t-shirts. The march is Saturday April 28 at the Sherman Oaks Galleria located at 15301 Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. Registration and distribution of high heels will begin at 10am with the opening ceremony starting at 11:30. The actual mile-long march will commence at noon with a post-march reception at 1pm, where awards will be presented to the individual and team that raised the most money. By the way, there will be entertainment, food, beverages and perhaps most importantly, foot massages! Men in high heels may be a funny sight, but there is nothing funny about the violence perpetuated against women, which is a huge and ongoing problem in this country. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Valley Trauma Center, which by the way, is the only sexual assault and rape crisis center serving the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys. If you want more information you can call (818) 756-5330 or you can go the the website: www.walkamileinhershoes.org. And by the way, you don't have to wear high heels to take part in the walk. There will be plenty of marchers, male and female, who will be wearing much more sensible shoes for the occasion. But for those men do want to get a real "feel" for what women go through or who just want a chance to get in touch with their feminine side, high heels are being distributed on a first come, first serve basis.

Trust me, I've heard all the excuses why people don't vote. Everything from: my vote doesn't matter, everyone is corrupt anyway, big business runs the everything, there's no real difference between the candidates. I actually used to make some of the same excuses years ago before I became fully aware how many people had literally given their lives so that I could have the right to have a say in how things are done in my neighborhood, my city, my county, my district, my state and my country. Now, I vote in every election no matter how insignificant it might seem, although it seems fewer and fewer people share my point of view.

Without getting into any boring statistics, suffice it to say voter turnout for most elections is abysmal, and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. That's unfortunate on a number of levels. Our form of government depends in large part on an informed electorate that actually participates in the process. I know elections have increasingly become big business, especially the major ones, with billions of dollars being raised and contributed to determine who ends up staying in the race and who ultimately gets your vote. Of course serious election reforms are needed; and I understand getting elected officials to support such changes is a lot like asking a bunch of foxes to enact legislation making it more difficult to raid the chicken coop. But that still does not relieve us of our responsibility to vote. Ours is not a perfect system and this is far from a perfect country, but as far as I'm concerned, it's the best thing going on the planet, and as feeble as my one vote might seem to others, I intend to cast it whenever I can. It does matter.

If you don't think so, talk to Janet Nguyen. For those of you who haven't heard of her, she's the newest member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, the first Vietnamese-American and the youngest person to sit on that board. Out of some 45,000 votes cast, Nguyen emerged the winner by a whopping three votes! THREE votes! And while I don't have any stats from the Orange County Registrar's office, I'd be willing to bet that there were a significant number of people who didn't bother to take part in this historic election. Think about it for a second. Had four more people voted for Nguyen's opponent, the election would have had a completely different outcome. And that could have a huge impact on the laws, regulations, and codes passed by the board, which will effect the lives of those who voted and those who did not as well. Who sits on that board, on any board or council, state seat, Congress or in the Oval office can determine how much you pay for everything from a pack of gum to a gallon of gas, from your rent to your mortgage. It can decide how long you wait to get that pothole filled that has cost you hundreds of dollars in repair bills for your car, or how much you pay to park that car or where you can park it. Or much, much more importantly, whether you can afford health insurance or whether we're at war, with whom and for what purpose.

It is well worth taking the time to get to know who and what are on the ballot, then exercising your right, your duty to vote. It does matter. What doesn't matter so much, at least to me, are the opinions of those who constantly complain about our elected officials and the way our governments work or don't work, but who find every excuse not to vote when the time comes. Put your vote where your mouth is. Then talk to me.

Most of you have heard the story of the boy who cried wolf. In a nutshell, every time the boy would shout "wolf!," the townspeople would run to his rescue, only to realize he was joking and there was no wolf. Finally a wolf does show up, but when the boy cries out for help, no one shows up to save him. Any guesses what, or should I say who the wolf had for dinner that night? The moral of this story is quite clear. More on that later.

Very recently, Republican presidential candidate John McCain used the phrase "tar baby." He was answering a reporter's question about divorce at the time and responded in part, "we are getting into a...tar baby of enormous proportions." It created quite a stir in some quarters. For those who are not aware of where that term comes from or what it refers to, here's the deal. "Tar baby" is a metaphorical phrase that refers to a sticky situation made even worse when one attempts to solve the problem. Tar, after all, is sticky. It actually originated from a fairytale of sorts called Br'er Fox and Br'er Rabbit. I won't get into the details of the story because, more important to our discussion here, is that the term eventually devolved into a racist and derogatory reference to black people. Senator McCain apologized for his use of the phrase and said it was a bad choice of words, even though clearly, the senator's usage of the term had no racial overtones whatsoever and he was obviously using it in its historical context to describe a "sticky situation."

I won't get into whether it was indeed a bad choice of words or whether Senator McCain was right to apologize. However, I will say there is nothing I have ever read about McCain's past or present that would lead me to believe he is a racist. In fact, quite to the contrary. As far as I can tell, he is a decent and rather honorable man--well, about as much as you can expect, given that he's a professional politician. The murmurers out there who suggested that the Senator's use of the term "tar baby" might have been some kind of Freudian slip uncloaking deeper, darker attitudes about blacks, in my opinion, are not only off the mark, but woefully misguided. And that brings me to my point.

As an African American man, I know first hand what racism and discrimination are, what they feel like, how devastating and destructive they can be, and why it is imperative that we do whatever we can to obliterate them whenever and wherever they exist. But I believe we are equally obligated not to manufacture racism and discrimination where they don't exist. There's still plenty enough of both out there to eradicate without making it up. In fact, doing so is terribly counterproductive in the greater battle against injustice because, in the long run, painting a picture of racism or discrimination where there is none, diminishes our ability to combat it when it does rear its ugly head. Remember the boy who cried wolf? Eventually, people will stop listening. Are there folks out there who won't vote for Barack Obama simply because he's bi-racial? Or Hillary Clinton just because she's a woman? Or Mitt Romney strictly because he's a mormon? Of course. But just because people choose not to vote for any of these candidates doesn't necessarily mean they are racist, sexist or anti-mormon. Perhaps they actually disagree with them on the issues that really matter. What a concept!

So why do people raise the emotional red flag of racism so quickly, even if it isn't there? If someone is truly convinced discrimination exists in a particular situation, I have no problem with the person bringing up the issue, even if it turns out later to be a mistake. But I have a serious beef with people who use the battle cry of racism and discrimination primarily for political or monetary gain, knowing full well their motives are not pure. I can certainly understand the temptation. It is a powerfully effective weapon. Since most people don't want to be thought of as racist, they will often back down from their accusers just to avoid that odious label, even if they really aren't racist. People who cry discrimination irresponsibly do a great disservice not only to themselves, but to the many who have fought, even died, to stamp out injustice, and to those who have truly been victimized by it.

It may sound cliche, but we really have come a long way since W.E.B Dubois, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Susan B. Anthony and other great leaders who struggled valiantly for civil rights progress and equality in this country. And yes, we absolutely still have a long way to go to achieve some of the wonderful ideals Dr. King talked about in his "I have a dream" speech. The fight against injustice, racial or otherwise, is a noble one. But it should also be a fair one. Manufacturing injustice where there is none, can be as devastating to those accused of it as real injustice is to those victimized by it. There is nothing "noble" or righteous about the perpetrators of either. I enthusiastically support those who decry discrimination and injustice wherever they find them. Just don't be the boy who cried wolf.

As a news anchor, I report stories everyday that really bother me, some more than others. But every now and then, I run across something that absolutely turns my stomach and makes me want to puke. That was the feeling I got when I read the story about 101 year old Rose Morat in New York City who was assaulted and robbed by a vicious miscreant masquerading as a human being. I wanted so badly to comment on what this shameless coward had done but what I would have said would not have helped Ms. Morat and would have been unfit for air.

By now you're probably aware of the disgusting facts of this story. The spunky centarian was heading to church with her walker. Before she could get outside her apartment building, she was brazenly and brutally attacked by this 30 something goon who punched her mercilessly in the face, knocking her and her walker to the floor, fracturing her cheekbone. The whole assault was captured on surveillance video. And how much did this poor excuse for a man get for his barbaric efforts? 33 dollars and Rose Morat's housekeys. Making matters worse, authorities believe the same man robbed and assaulted 85 year old Solange Elizee shortly thereafter, getting away with 32 dollars and her wedding band. Ms. Elizee suffered cuts and bruises.

The world was outraged. Not to mention, as far as I know, this monster is still on the loose, despite dozens of New York City's finest detectives being assigned to the case and an $18,000 reward being offered for his capture. New York lawmakers are even considering making assault of anyone over 70 a felony. Right now, it's just a misdemeanor. We are all justifiably furious about what happened to these two women. It was an inexcusably heinous attack on two of the most defenseless members of our society by a characterless thug. But it seems to me we should be equally upset about what I perceive to be a disregard and disrespect for seniors in this country in general. It has been said you can tell a lot about a society by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens, and when it comes to the elderly, the statistics suggest we have a long way to go.

Despite the fact that seniors are the fastest growing segment of our population, they seem to be among the most neglected. In some cultures, seniors are venerated and revered. In this country, they're just as likely to be ignored or worse, physically abused. We have a social security system that seems to be perpetually on the brink of bankruptcy. And let's not get me started on health care, especially long-term care. But the problem is even more pervasive than that. According to a report by the National Center on Elder Abuse, in 2003, there were more than 250,000 reported cases of abuse of seniors in 32 states. California had the highest number of cases with nearly 67,000 incidents reported. These are just the cases that were reported in 2003. Sadly, experts believe a lot of elder abuse is covered up. And unfortunately, the number of incidents is rising precipitously every year.

I'm glad to say, in my family, at least on my mother's side, it's been a different story entirely, as far as I know. My maternal grandmother, who died at 92 some years ago, pretty much ruled the roost for much of her life. When she got to the point where she was no longer able to take care of herself, my mother and other family members took care of her. In fact, my mother, who works part-time, still takes care of my grandmother's oldest brother, Uncle Sonny, who will turn 107 in December. Needless to say, I was brought up to have the utmost respect for the elderly members of my family, whose approval and attention I still crave. It's one thing to have knowledge, but the ability to apply that knowledge is something else entirely. That's called wisdom, and it usually comes with age and experience.

Yes, we need to take care of our seniors, but perhaps of equal importance, is what we can get from them. They are an amazing resource. I can remember as a child talking for hours with my elderly uncles, aunts and other relatives and gaining insights that I would never have been able to know on my own and was often too young or hard-headed to appreciate at the time. Now I realize how invaluable a lot of that information has been and how much I've benefitted from it.

So, yes, be outraged about what happened to Rose Morat and Solange Elizee. But don't let your indignation stop there. We absolutely must do much, much better when it comes to our seniors. We just have to. Like it or not, eventually, we're very likely to be them someday. My grandmother and mother used to tell me all the time, when I stubbornly resisted their advice with that know-it-all attitude kids can sometimes have, "Jest keep on livin' boy." Well, I have. And now I know exactly what they were talking about.

OK, I need to hear from some of you parents or grandparents out there on this one. Let me state at the outset, I am not a parent. I've never had the joy of having a kid, only the pleasure of being one. And still am in more ways than I'm sure my mom cares to think about. Even though I don't have kids of my own, I have always wanted the best for our children and have always expected the best from them.
Now trust me, I'm well aware that children are different and that there are special needs kids who may have disabilities that are not readily apparent. Those kids are not the focus of today's discussion.
So I'm in this restaurant the other day and in comes an impeccably dressed woman with her two children--a boy, who appeared to be three years old or so, and a girl, who looked to be about seven. As the mother stood about three or four feet away from the kids, waiting to place her to-go order, the boy and his sister start playing catch with one of those superballs. Now I don't know if you're familiar with them, but when a superball hits the floor or table, or your head, it can not only knock you senseless, but will bounce about four or five feet in the air and ping pong all over the place. And that's exactly what happened numerous times, since neither the boy nor the girl seemed particularly adept at catching it. Add to that, the boy screaming at the top of his lungs and running around wildly while the ball bounced everywhere, including onto and under the tables of other patrons in the restaurant who were trying to enjoy their meals.
The mother witnessed all of this, as did a number of very annoyed diners, including myself and the restaurant manager. The mom did say "stop" a couple of times as I recall, but both kids not only ignored her, but laughed and got even rowdier. She made no additional attempts to restrict their behavior or seemed to care much about the discomfort her children were causing the other diners. Not that this matters one way or the other, but just so you know, these were not underprivileged kids. Since the restaurant has huge windows, I saw the mom when she drove up in her brand-spanking new Mercedes SUV.
What in the world do you do? The mother was completely ineffective and nobody else in the place said anything to anyone. We all simply tried to enjoy our meals for the 15 minutes or so that these two and their superball ran roughshod over everyone and everything in their path.
Personally, I felt by not saying anything, I contributed to the problem. I certainly did not see it as my place to say anything to the kids. But should I have said something to the mother, or perhaps the manager who also witnessed what was happening? Should HE have said somethng to the mother? I know what would have happened had it been my mother and I was one of the misbehaving children. One sharp look from Mama McEwing immediately instilled the fear of God in me and I would have sat perfectly still for as long as it took to complete her order. I love my mother dearly and I think she did a helluva job raising us, but I don't know that having your kids absolutely petrified of you is the most effective form of parenting either.
Even though I'm not a parent, it seems to me it is the responsibility of the parent(s) to teach children when certain behaviors are appropriate and when they are not. Honestly, I don't blame the kids. They were just doing what kids that age do. And what they were doing was not inherently wrong. They were playing with a ball. Had they been in their yard or in a park or on a playground, their behavior would not only have been perfectly fine, but enjoyable. But in a restaurant where people are eating--where things can be broken or an injury can occur, to me, that's a different story. And if these kids don't respect their mother's authority now, whose authority will they respect later? Or will they have to learn some very hard lessons in life that might have been avoided with some serious training and discipline earlier on?
So when the mother finally leaves the restaurant with her kids, the other patrons began to complain vociferously, even the manager! Yet none of us had done a thing. Our inaction certainly does not absolve the mother of her irresponsibility, but did we all fail these kids in some way at that particular moment? I don't know. Am I expecting too much? Or do I just not get it?