Footnotes: Won't you be my neighbor?

Bombs vs. guns

A tale of two narratives

1. The Austin bomber blew himself up.

[As police closed in, an explosion killed the prime suspect in the Austin bombings]

2. As we don't have an immediate "enemy" in this fight, the media is grasping for a narrative.

[Read a local news account and find all the little code words sprinkled through to help plant seeds]

3. What is clear is that there is a focus on the PERSON here and not the method or means to "prevent" future attacks.

[This is in stark contrast to mass shootings where immediately the answer is "Gun laws!" And while we may see battery laws or changes at shipping centers, we know that future attacks will happen and criminals will learn to simply go around the laws]

What's his name?

Pop quiz time

1. What is the name of the school resource officer who stopped the Maryland high school shooter?

[You'd think by now the media would have him everywhere, the same way David Hogg and the kids of Parkland are everywhere — at least his face and name]

2. The media controls who and what you consume for news. They do it for profit, first and foremost.

[Take, for example, the way CNN decides who speaks about what. It is the company's prerogative, for sure, but people need to stop pretending they are "NEWS"]

Men vs. women

There are differences, you know

1. A man in Austria won a sexual discrimination suit.

[The question that pops into my mind is whether we will just keep going back and forth on this issue. Is there an end game?]

2. Robin Williams was reportedly quite crass and "lewd" on the set of "Mork & Mindy," but his co-star loved him like a brother.

["It was Robin being Robin."]

Won't you be my neighbor?

The Mr. Rogers documentary

1. The trailer for the movie makes you wish there was a modern Fred Rogers.

["He was radical!"]

2. What made Mr. Rogers great was that you could turn the show on and you really didn't have to worry about what was coming. Even as Sesame Street and other shows started pushing envelopes in their editorial direction, Rogers was even more "radical," as some said, but he did so in the right way: not to prove or score a political point, but to speak to higher ideals. Principles. Morals. Human kindness and love were his goals.

[Could a show like his even exist in today's polarized world?]

Let's make the most of this beautiful day ...

1. Movies: Wes Anderson returns to animation, and his "Isle of Dogs" is getting great reviews.

["Stop-motion canine fairy tale is a triumph"]

2. Closing: The Toys R Us liquidation is beginning.

[Most stores will be closed by the end of the year]

3. YouTube: The online video repository giant has suspended a major U.S. firearms company in light of recent atrocities.

[Spikes Tactical of Florida is the latest victim of the shifting policies and enforcements]

4. Medicine: Are medical algorithms the next danger to health care?

[One went rogue and started cutting care, and nobody knew why]

Editor’s note: The content of this post originally appeared in the Footnotes newsletter.

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