NORTH BAY BOH E MI A N | JULY 27-AUGUST 2, 20 1 1 | BO H E M I AN.COM
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BOHEMIAN
Rhapsodies Not ‘News’
Loss of British tabloid no real loss BY TOM MARIANI
I
t is an insult to the word “news” to call the British rag that had its final run the News of the World. However, Americans should not be the first to throw stones. We have our fair share of Enquirers and Stars. Even taking a look in the back pages of the Bohemian shows where a part of its ad revenue comes from. I had a great aunt who never beat around the bush. She called a spade a spade—or as the Brits put it in the early 1900s, “Call a spade a bloody shovel.” She called papers like The News, Enquirer and Star what they are: scandal sheets. Scandal seems to increase paid circulation. As Hearst used to say about headlines, “If it bleeds, it leads. Some of America’s newspapers are also not qualified to use the word “news.” I worked my way through college in the late 1960s as a newspaper apprentice pressman for the partially merged San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner. Someone at the Examiner decided the paper could increase its smaller afternoon home delivery if it put on a moral crusade against the popular topless bars in North Beach. It made a big deal about taking a stand for children coming home from school by refusing to run ads for topless nightclubs and XXX movies in its afternoon paper. But the Examiner didn’t mention in its series of page-one stories that through its joint-operating agreement, it would continue to share the revenue the Chronicle was bringing in by carrying these same ads. The most popular guy in the “newsroom” was the guy assigned to airbrush the photos of the topless performers to make the images fit to print in the entertainment section. He had lots of visitors from other parts of the newsroom to check out the unretouched photos he’d hung all around his workstation. So I know what motivates readers. The loss of The News of the World is no big deal. There are other scandal sheets out there eager to continue to use the “bloody shovel” and take your money. Rupert Murdoch is not dumb. He can’t claim he wasn’t looking at his high circulation. Sorry to say, there are few real newspapers. Tom Mariani is a retired banker, published poet and short story writer who lives in Santa Rosa. Open Mic is a weekly feature in the ‘Bohemian.’ We welcome your contribution. To have your topical essay of 350 words considered for publication, write openmic@bohemian.com.
Kickstart My Heart
What timing to see a copy of the Bohemian in a cafe with the cover story on scooters (“What a Scoot,” July 20) while my sister and I were scooting through town on our twoweek Vespa tour from Seattle to San Diego! We are on day six of this journey, and the article was spot-on. We have enjoyed every minute of the beautiful scenery on all the backroads in Washington, Oregon and California. The freedom of open air, the smells in the air and the sound of “the wasp” have made this adventure something I will never forget. Dork? No way! If you want to check out photos and stories about our journey, visit our blog, SchnitzelWithNoodles.com. Cheers to scooters everywhere!
ANNA LOEWIN & GINA FREIZE Traveling
A Reckless Ride I enjoyed Leilani Clark’s piece on scooters, but I’m wondering why she seemed to completely neglect the most important part of the article—rider responsibility and safety practices that are required for operating any motorcycle or scooter. There was nothing in the piece that talked about the Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s reasonably-priced classes for M1 license seekers or that there’s a far higher rate of accidents for new, untrained riders, emphasizing the need for beginning riders to buy and wear proper protective gear and to ride defensively. The total lack of helmets or other protective gear as depicted in your otherwise excellent cover illustration does a major disservice to all people interested in scooters or other twowheeled motorized transport.
Riding is fun, but it is not carefree. In even a low-speed accident, the riders on your cover could be hospitalized with serious road rash and possibly irreversible head injury. I see few scooter riders wearing even the basics, like gloves. Perhaps an addendum or a followup article can help your readers make an informed decision about using scooters—fun, inexpensive transportation for getting around town, but with all the personal responsibility and safety discipline that comes with a larger motorcycle.
DOUG BROUSSARD San Jose Hi Doug, thanks for writing. If you read the article again, you’ll find that Leilani did in fact mention the need to take a safety training course.—Ed.
Why Risk It? When we drive by large electric lines, it sometimes interferes with our car radio reception. The pulsed radiation transmissions (approximately 22,500 per day) from wireless smart meters dominate by thousands of times the tiny bioelectrical signals sent from the brain to all the systems, organs and cells in our body. These bioelectric signals are responsible for recovery in adults when we sleep (recharging us for the next day). The bioelectric signals are also responsible for growth, proper development and healthy survival in infants and children. Now that the National Institute of Health has confirmed biological effects from smart meter–type radiation and the World Health Organization put the non-ionizing radiation on its possible carcinogen list, why would anyone even consider risking putting such a device in their home, especially if they have children?
ROBERT WILLIAMS Online