Traveling

[GoCubsGo]

Or is it just a "if it bleeds it leads" habit that most all stations have now?

When I left Chicago in 1993 a shooting wouldn't lead unless it was a child shooting.


These days I don't watch local news.

[O Really]

Now that you mention it, most of these shootings reported involved children or some other drama. But "bleeding lead" doesn't have to be a shooting. Gory car wrecks will also work. Runover pedestrians or dog attacks.

[GoCubsGo]

Now that you mention it, most of these shootings reported involved children or some other drama. But "bleeding lead" doesn't have to be a shooting. Gory car wrecks will also work. Runover pedestrians or dog attacks.

That was the Asheville news lead.

Not enough shootings.

[Ulysses]

So ever since we've been in the Bay Area TV market, we've watched local news - and San Francisco stations have HOURS of news - pretty much every broadcast has some Oakland news. From that, one would surely think Oakland is a city of crime, shootings, assaults, garbage piled on streets ... did I mention shootings?

So are the stations biased because they're from across the Bay? Or is it just a "if it bleeds it leads" habit that most all stations have now? Or is Oakland really a scary place?

Well, I don't watch local TV news much any more. Usually just the network news, and then after about 20 minutes I shut that off because then it's usually become more commercials than news. I'm so sick of hearing about "Ozempic".

There are parts of Oakland were I've been without mishap, but in my growing dotage I probably would not go to those parts these days. Plus the Pandemic seems to have resulted in more violent crime, but not just in Oakland. And, actually, Oakland is a very cool town, with some fantastic neighborhoods. The most common news story coming out from there (from the little I watch local news) seems to be related to increasingly violent attacks on Asian Americans in the "Chinatown" area of the city. I hate that shit.

So no, Oakland is not all that scary a place; like any major US city it depends on where you go. OK, Salt Lake City is probably a bit safer, unless you object to being recruited into a semi-Christian cult.

[Vrede too]

Now that you mention it, most of these shootings reported involved children or some other drama. But "bleeding lead" doesn't have to be a shooting. Gory car wrecks will also work. Runover pedestrians or dog attacks.

That was the Asheville news lead.

Not enough shootings.

AC-T top story:
Asheville baker wins Food Network's 'Gingerbread Showdown'
However, also on the homepage is:
Police search for man who might have information on recent homicide

[GoCubsGo]

Now that you mention it, most of these shootings reported involved children or some other drama. But "bleeding lead" doesn't have to be a shooting. Gory car wrecks will also work. Runover pedestrians or dog attacks.

That was the Asheville news lead.

Not enough shootings.

AC-T top story:
Asheville baker wins Food Network's 'Gingerbread Showdown'
However, also on the homepage is:
Police search for man who might have information on recent homicide

Top story on WLOS

[Ulysses]

Anybody here ever been to East Asheville Hardware?

[neoplacebo]

The only time I was there everybody in the place was guzzling big vats of shut the fuck up. Nobody said a word. Even when I announced that I was the trouble they'd all been waiting for.....crickets.

[Ulysses]

The only time I was there everybody in the place was guzzling big vats of shut the fuck up. Nobody said a word. Even when I announced that I was the trouble they'd all been waiting for.....crickets.

So you are saying your presence left them speechless?

[O Really]

Anybody here ever been to East Asheville Hardware?

I'm not sure the focus you have on that place, but here ya' go. East Asheville Hardware is not a real place. "Asheville Hardware" is a real place, but is an upscale sort of place that sells expensive woodworking tools and "locally harvested lumber" that is nothing at all like the place in the song. The song is about a concern of big corporate stores running the small locals out of business, which they are indeed doing, along with killing off entire towns.
Lowe's, on the other hand, is a real store, and Sears was but isn't any more.

[Ulysses]

Anybody here ever been to East Asheville Hardware?

I'm not sure the focus you have on that place, but here ya' go. East Asheville Hardware is not a real place. "Asheville Hardware" is a real place, but is an upscale sort of place that sells expensive woodworking tools and "locally harvested lumber" that is nothing at all like the place in the song. The song is about a concern of big corporate stores running the small locals out of business, which they are indeed doing, along with killing off entire towns.
Lowe's, on the other hand, is a real store, and Sears was but isn't any more.

Thanks, you may have saved me a trip. In checking the map, it does appear there is an East Asheville, but whether it's a separate entity from Asheville, I don't know. It's possible Mr. Wilcox decided to sing about a non-existent hardware store to get his message across. Also possible that there was an East Asheville Hardware but it closed aloong the way. But of course I would defer to those who've actually been there.

I notice that Asheville Hardware changed its format around 2010, as well as moving to the more upscale location. Wilcox wrote his song in the '70's, so it may have been accurate at the time it was written.

[Vrede too]

... Wilcox wrote his song in the '70's, so it may have been accurate at the time it was written.

1996. He didn't even move to WNC until 1981, and did not record any music until 1987.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Wil ... _musician)
You need to bone up on your silly obsession.

[Ulysses]

Sounds like O Really is going south, which is good, since it sounds like all hell has broken loose in the Vancouver area...

Deadly storm cuts transport links around Vancouver

A deadly storm described by officials as a once-in-a-century weather event has severed road and rail links around Vancouver, Canada. Two motorways connecting the West Coast city were closed after being damaged by severe flooding. Thousands of people were forced to leave their homes due to the massive storm, which struck on Monday.

A woman was killed in a highway landslide, and rescuers say at least two other people are missing. The woman's body was found near Lillooet, about 250km (155 miles) from Vancouver, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). RCMP Sgt Janelle Shoihet said that rescuers had not yet determined the number of occupied vehicles that were lost in the slide, according to AFP news agency.

Motorist Kathie Rennie told CBC News she saw the landslide come down on traffic that was already at a standstill south of Lillooet. "No sooner do we get back into our vehicles, the people that were in front of us are just screaming and running," she said. "The look on their faces, it was like a tsunami was coming. It was the scariest thing that I've ever seen.... I just turned around, and I'm just watching the whole side of the mountain coming down and taking out these cars... everything just being swept away. Just complete panic."

The provincial minister of transportation, Rob Fleming, told a news conference it was the "worst weather storm in a century". Thousands of homes in British Columbia were evacuated after an "atmospheric river" dumped the region's monthly rainfall average in just 24 hours.

Now, where have we heard that term, "atmospheric river", lately?

[neoplacebo]

... Wilcox wrote his song in the '70's, so it may have been accurate at the time it was written.

1996. He didn't even move to WNC until 1981, and did not record any music until 1987.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Wil ... _musician)
You need to bone up on your silly obsession.

He said "bone up." I've heard rumors that East Asheville Hardware will change its name to East Asheville Hardwood but I'm not convinced that's credible information. As I mentioned, the only time I was there everybody in the place was punch drunk from guzzling gallons of shut the fuck up so I doubt any of them would be able to muster very much "wood," much less any hard wood. But Ulysses has such a hard on for the place, even to the extent of considering taking a trip there, I've no doubt he can give us the "hard" facts of the matter. And I have every confidence that on his trip there he will certainly abstain from the apparent tradition there of sucking down all that shut the fuck up.

[O Really]

Sounds like O Really is going south, which is good, since it sounds like all hell has broken loose in the Vancouver area...

O Really has scooted off in front of several messes this year. Fires burning near where we had stayed in Montana and Washington, flooding on the Skagit River about 20 miles from our spot in Anacortes, rockslide on our route a week after we passed Elkton, OR, tree across the road out of Crescent City, staying ahead of massive rain, yada. Oceanside is looking very good.

[Ulysses]

On your way to Oceanside watch out for earthquakes. We just had a 3.8 this morning.

[Vrede too]

O Really has scooted off in front of several messes this year. Fires burning near where we had stayed in Montana and Washington, flooding on the Skagit River about 20 miles from our spot in Anacortes, rockslide on our route a week after we passed Elkton, OR, tree across the road out of Crescent City, staying ahead of massive rain, yada. Oceanside is looking very good.

So, you're saying that you leave disasters in your wake, right? Stay west, old man.

[O Really]

O Really has scooted off in front of several messes this year. Fires burning near where we had stayed in Montana and Washington, flooding on the Skagit River about 20 miles from our spot in Anacortes, rockslide on our route a week after we passed Elkton, OR, tree across the road out of Crescent City, staying ahead of massive rain, yada. Oceanside is looking very good.

So, you're saying that you leave disasters in your wake, right? Stay west, old man.

[O Really]

So no, Oakland is not all that scary a place; like any major US city it depends on where you go.

Or maybe it is.
Oakland is Number 1 when it comes to having the highest overall crime rate in the state, and is the eighth-largest city in California. It serves as a major trade center for the Bay Area, is the busiest port for San Francisco Bay. Unfortunately, the crime rate here is one of the worst in the state, making Oakland safer than only 1% (that’s a rate of 1 out of 100 according to Neighborhood Scout.com) of the cities in the United States. Violent crimes are 238% higher than the California average and 287% higher than the national average, while property crimes are 124% higher than the state’s average. Your chances of becoming a victim here are close to 1 in 14, and there are some 20 crimes per 100,000 persons that occur in the city every day.

[Vrede too]

So no, Oakland is not all that scary a place; like any major US city it depends on where you go.

Or maybe it is.
Oakland is Number 1 when it comes to having the highest overall crime rate in the state, and is the eighth-largest city in California. It serves as a major trade center for the Bay Area, is the busiest port for San Francisco Bay. Unfortunately, the crime rate here is one of the worst in the state, making Oakland safer than only 1% (that’s a rate of 1 out of 100 according to Neighborhood Scout.com) of the cities in the United States. Violent crimes are 238% higher than the California average and 287% higher than the national average, while property crimes are 124% higher than the state’s average. Your chances of becoming a victim here are close to 1 in 14, and there are some 20 crimes per 100,000 persons that occur in the city every day.

Sort of. Being White, educated, older, not involved in marketing drugs or other serious crime, and middle or upper class our chances of becoming a victim in Oakland are much less than 1 in 14. Otoh, since he is annoying Useless his chances of becoming a victim, as indeed recently happened at the hand of a neighbor, are higher than 1 in 14.