Today is Sunday, October 1.  I know, it’s October already.  It seems like only yesterday it was September.  Oh well.  There are only 85 days until Christmas, stores already have decorations for sale and you should all be starting your baking.  Today we remember the birthdays of James Lawrence, William Edward Boeing and Julie Andrews.  On this day in 331 BC Alexander the Great of Macedon defeated the Persian army at Gaugamela, in 1885 special delivery mail service began in the US and in 1982 EPCOT Center opened in Orlando, Florida.  In Cameroon it is Unification Day, in Nigeria it is Independence Day, in Omaha, Nebraska it is Ak-Sar-Ben Day and in the US it is National Homemade Cookies Day.

Stop your clamoring and get out your Useless Holiday Information folder.  Ak-Sar-Ben Day is in celebration of the Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben, a group that was formed in 1895.  Its initial purpose was to keep the Nebraska State Fair in Omaha.  The name is actually Nebraska spelled backwards.  In their effort to keep the state fair in Omaha, the group went to New Orleans to secure all the floats used that year in the Mardi Gras parade, to develop a more festive atmosphere in Omaha.  They ultimately failed and the fair moved.

Since then, the Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben has become a philanthropic foundation that continues its efforts to serve the mission of “building a more prosperous heartland where communities can flourish and every child can succeed.”  The organization supports financial need based scholarship programs and administers Nebraska’s Pioneer Farm program, Good Neighbor Awards and Ike Friedman Leadership Awards.  I think we have gone as far as we need to on that, so let’s put the folders away for this week.

I have been watching the news lately.  I’m not really sure why I have started doing this.  I guess it is part of a masochistic need to be assaulted with stuff I can usually read about in the paper the next day.  In any event I have noticed that every time there is an incident of some kind, we get a report from someone who is live on the scene.  Usually, the reporter is standing in the dark, with only the camera lights on.  There is no one else around because the story being reported happened hours earlier, but the news doesn’t come on until 11 PM.

“Yes, Jim, it was quite hectic here this afternoon.  Police responded to a report of shots being fired.”  From there we switch to footage shot earlier in the day.  In the background we see a half dozen police cars with lights flashing, crime scene tape all over and police walking around or standing talking to each other.  The reporter is talking to witnesses.  “Yeah, like I was standing in the kitchen and I heard this popping noise.  I didn’t know what it was and I ran outside to see.”  Just as an aside, if I heard popping noises and was not sure what they were, I don’t think I would run outside to find out, but that’s just me.  Another witness, “I don’t know what it was all about.  There was some shooting and screaming and these guys running.”  One final witness, “I don’t know who it was, but this happens a lot around here.”

After those extremely informative interviews we cut back to the reporter.  “That’s what we know at this point.  The police have not released any new information, but we will stay on top of this developing story.  This is (insert your favorite reporter name here) live at the scene of today’s shooting.”  What I have a problem with is why the reporter had to come to us live when nothing was going on.  Sometimes they will be standing across the street from a building they claim is a hospital where an injured victim is being treated.  I would think it would be simpler, safer and less expensive if they just had the reporter do the story in the studio.  

While I have been watching the news and other shows, I have become increasingly bothered by commercials for cars.  The companies are very proud of the safety features they have built into their products.  Some of these features are very helpful.  The blind spot warnings are a great innovation, as are the lane departure alerts.  There are other features that I think are great, too.  The rear view camera in my car is a fantastic thing.  I am sure I could name others, but then I would be digressing from the point I want to make.  I am not a fan of the emergency braking systems they have been touting.  

One commercial shows a car driving on a city street and a guy using his phone starts to cross the street.  The car “sees” him and stops before he is run over.  Where was the driver looking that it became necessary for the car to stop on its own?  Another commercial has a car driving along a road when it comes up on an RV.  As it closes in, the car “senses” the RV and stops before the car tries to enter the back of the RV.  If you are a driver and cannot see an RV in the road in front of you, then you should not be driving.  I can see how someone crossing the street might escape notice, but an RV?  I think we would be doing everyone a big favor if we actually required the driver to pay attention.  Just a thought.

This week our fact is one that will make you say, “Huh?”  I am sure you will be as puzzled by it as I was.  I am going to give it to you and then leave you to figure it out.  If you do, let me know.  Here you go - It is Texas law that when two trains meet each other at a railroad crossing, each shall come to a full stop and neither shall proceed until the other has gone.