The ideas for columns often come to me at strange times and from unusual places. The thought behind this week's effort for the Toledo Free Press, "What's A Fair Price For Safety" came from a comparison made in casually in conversation. This casual thought found expression in as a comment to a post on the reasons behind the union-led demonstrations in Madison, Wisconsin over a proposed change in state law in well-respected blogger and occasional radio talk show host Maggie Thurber's blog Thurber's Thoughts.
With a reply by her to that comment, Maggie in turn set my mind to the task of expanding that thought into a cohesive piece of writing (or at least as cohesive a piece as I am capable of). Once again, editor-in-chief Michael Miller was gracious enough to place "What's A Fair Price For Safety" online at the TFP website early this week. This means that you will have the rest of the week to spend going over not only the mid-week Star edition, but the flagship edition at the end of the week.
I'm sure that by the time the weekend arrives, that there will be many exciting stories to follow in Toledo largest Sunday circulation newspaper, The Toledo Free Press.
This week's effort for the Toledo Free Press was something a little different for me. "A Tale of Two Cities" occurred to me when I read the numbers in a piece for the Kansas City Star by Yael T Abouhalkah on the expansion of the Kansas City (Missouri) police and fire departments.
While I went into the piece with what I thought were definite opinions about how these numbers related to Kansas City and to Toledo, I found myself growing less sure of previously held assertions as the research that I did progressed. In the end, I couldn't decide whether KC's example was a path to follow or a warning to heed.
I have always believed that the beginning of wisdom is having more questions than answers to begin with and a willingness to shed assumptions if the information discovered persuades one otherwise. Perhaps working on this piece is the beginning of such wisdom for me (yet another sign of the Apocalypse, no doubt).
But enough of this or I will ruin the piece for you entirely. Besides, there is infinitely more worthy of reading in this week's TFP; and anyone who wants to catch up with all that's going on in Toledo and NW Ohio will be spending a bit of time this weekend with Toledo's largest Sunday circulation newspaper.
Greetings from the people of Columbia, at least that is what I have been asked to pass on. By the time that I post this Saturday morning, I will have just returned from a five day trip to Bogota, Columbia. There were a couple of things in this short trip south that I couldn't help but notice, and I thought that I would share them with you briefly (mostly because I am exhausted from another 15 hour travel day).
For those of us in Toledo who are complaining about there not being enough police serving the city and that those out there are not visible, let me tell you that things in Bogota are very different. This city of a little over 3,000,000 people has some 10,000 police officers. As a consequence, I can tell you that the police presence here are very visible. They are on many street corners, at the newspaper where I worked this week, and very much in evidence at the airport; and let me tell you that they and their counterparts in the army are readily apparent to even the most casual observer.
As someone who is a stranger here in Columbia (and simply strange in most other places), and who does not speak the local language, I must tell you that this highly visible presence of protection was extremely comforting.
The second thing that struck me this week was the concern of the Columbian people for us. I cannot tell you how many people who have stopped me to talk to me ask how things were going in the US and what the long-term economy looks like.
While I expect that there was a self-serving aspect to some part of this questioning, as the US is Columbia's largest trading partner, I sensed a real concern on their part for what might be going on and for the people of the US.
They are likewise curious about the feelings of the American people on the massive bailout packages in the US that have been making news all over the world. The only honest answer that I could share with them was our similar concern (and the fact that I was yet to clear US Immigration had nothing to do with it). Quite frankly I don't know of anyone who is sure that our government has done the right thing (though many of us suspect that they have not). I likewise don't know of anyone who knows if it will do any good, or how and when all of this might end.
While I have to say that I am grateful for my safe return to the US (even Toledo looks pretty good right now), I must again extend my thanks and gratitude to the people that I met and worked with in Bogota. They were universally friendly and helpful to a stranger (and who is stranger than me), who spoke no Spanish and was mostly helpless in trying to get around the city. I have seldom been treated so well in any city in the world.
