Not Nearly Enough

Attached is an article from The Tacoma News Tribune discussing the implementation of GPS devices to track sex offenders. Unfortunately, this is hardly the answer to this particularly horrible problem. Granted, it's a start in updating the monitoring and supervision of these criminals, but so much more is needed. I hope more people become aware of the situation and demand adequate justice to be served. I guess we'll have to see how this plays out for now...

The Tacoma News Tribune

Burn, Baby! Burn!

Attached is a link o' good news. The motel mentioned has been a persistent issue for residents in Tacoma and Fife. Sorry if you have to look further for your crack. Read on!

Tacoma Daily Index

New Media-Will It Change the World?

With the mass proliferation of blogs, websites, podcasts, etc., it is apparent that these new forms of media are not going away. I would rather argue that these forms will continue to grow, change, and adapt and eventually spawn even new forms of media that we haven’t quite gotten to yet. The interesting thing about these new forms is that many of the producers of this new media are people outside the traditional world of media (books, newspapers, tv, etc.). All of a sudden, there’s an entirely new flavor of media, material and information. Tim Ferriss’ book, The 4-Hour Workweek, has become immensely popular without advertising in the more traditional forms of media. Rather, he advertised and used word of mouth marketing via websites, meetings, blogs, etc. (in other words, new media sources). Can these new forms change the world? Can they move new ideas to the public? I would argue that they can and I would also state that they may already be more effective than the traditional forms today. The success of YouTube and MySpace are great examples of user generated media. What I find interesting is how these users and producers are going to be able to shift thinking and business in ways unknown previously in the marketplace. The proliferation of ideas is occurring at a rate previously unknown. Can it make for greater positive change? I guess we’ll see, but I’d be willing to bet on it.

Worthy Goal-More Preventative Measures to Protect Against Violent Crime

As news comes out about how security at colleges is somewhat inadequate, it got me thinking about this problem. At the University of Washington, a student was recently killed by her stalker ex-boyfriend even after campus police knew about the stalker. And what happened at Virginia Tech is all too recent to even begin to forget about that sad event. But what can be done? For one, I can’t imagine that the large universities have nearly enough security personnel. During my time at UW, I can rarely recall security personnel or police being all too present except for sporting events or weekends when parties were underway. Unfortunately, I felt that the reason for the security or police presence was more for trying to bust up parties as opposed to preventing violent crime. Should there be a shift in thinking about what police and security should focus on? I think that may be a possibility. While underage drinking could pose a problem, violent stalkers and mentally ill students armed for World War III is a much more serious matter. And personally, I think those issues are worth reviewing. Can certain violent crimes be prevented? Is there a better policing method to enhance safety? I’m not so sure that relying on tried and true policing and security methods will gain any new efficiencies. So if that’s the case, how do we adjust to our changing times?

Sad Times at Virginia Tech

What a strange week we’ve had. The tragedy at Virginia Tech was certainly sad and I hope those families there get all of the support and help that they need. I’m not really sure what to make of the situation with campus security and cops there or if the whole thing could have been prevented. For the most part, I think college campuses are safe. I never felt that the University of Washington was an overly dangerous place to be and I don’t think anyone thought any different at Virginia Tech. As a matter of fact, I’ve never felt that any college campus that I was ever visiting was ever a dangerous place to be. And to cap it off, violent crime is down in most parts of the country overall. I don’t know if there is a real answer to preventing this type of tragedy other than possibly including a mental health check in the background checks for weapons. Without too much of an invasion of privacy or personal rights, I am not sure that there’s much of an answer to this problem or its reoccurrence elsewhere. Possibly a better background check is in order, but other than that, what else could be done?

The Big Idea

I'm not a fan of almost anything TV, but I like Donny Deutsche. The guy is interesting and he conducts a pretty good interview. If you don't know who Donny is, he's the host of The Big Idea on CNBC. Donny is originally famous for running his ad agency. After years of advertising, he's now working on his own show which airs weekday evenings. Donny has guests that aren't the typical fare on most other talk shows. And nicely, there's quite often a business, professional, or showbiz bent to add to the uniqueness. Somehow Donny manages to not get too soft with the guest, but he's not annoyingly inflammatory either. After work, I just don't want to hear two or three people yelling over each other (as many TV interviews now go these days). Donny doesn't seem to have too much patience for that nonsense either. It's just a really simple show with some interesting guests minus the band, joke monologue, sketches, and other mindless fluff. A good show if you've got the time to catch some TV right around dinner. And you won't feel like you've lost some IQ points after watching it either. I think that alone puts it in the top 1% of television.