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Daredevil Performances: Is the spectacle worth the risk?

In Education, Entertainment, history, Local News, Media, National News, Opinion, sociology, Technology, television, Theatre, Uncategorized, World News on June 25, 2013 at 6:27 pm

DIH LOGODanger as a spectacle has long been a past time of human culture. Death-defying stunts have graced stages of theatres and circus tents for centuries. Never has there been a more awe-inspiring sight, however, than the dramatic aerobatics of stunt pilots and wing walkers. On Saturday, June 22nd, wing walker Jane Wicker and her pilot Charlie Schwenker died in a fiery crash during a performance at the Dayton Vectren Air Show in Vandalia, Ohio.

Wicker, who had been involved with aerobatics for more than a quarter-century, was sitting on the wing of the inverted plane as it dove, nose-first, into the ground and exploded. The aftermath of the crash left a burning wreck, two people dead and hundreds of spectators horrified.

News of the accident quickly spread around the country, landing on the lead story of every print, broadcast and online media outlet from the New York Daily News to the Huffington Post. Preliminary investigations of the cause of the crash from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are as yet inconclusive.

The very next day, high wire performer Nik Wallenda spent his evening engaged in a heart-stopping, quarter-mile tightrope walk across a 1,500 foot deep section of the Grand Canyon. As a record number of viewers tuned in to the Discovery Channel to watch, they were treated to more than a half hour of listening to Wallenda continually pray or thank God and praising Jesus with nearly every successful step. One might wonder if they would think he’s crazy too.

Harry Houdini

Harry Houdini

From escape artist Harry Houdini to motorcycle stunt rider Robert “Evil” Knievel, daredevils have long attracted crowds of spectators and generated millions upon millions of dollars for their promoters over the years. While Houdini eventually died of a ruptured appendix, he was nearly killed several times by his own hand as a result of escape attempts gone wrong. Many of his compatriots, like Wicker, were not so lucky; which begs the question, is the spectacle worth the risk? Apparently it is because the public keeps going to see them, like sadistic voyeurs almost hoping to see something go horribly wrong.

Local government, concerned about the staggering level of liability involved, does everything it can to discourage people from attempting these kinds of stunts by requiring miles of paperwork and expensive permits before allowing these kinds of activities on public lands. Some simply don’t allow it to happen at all.

Wallenda’s high wire walk, for example, didn’t actually cross over the Grand Canyon, but the gorge of the Little Colorado River Navajo Tribal Park. His 1,400 foot steel cable was actually suspended over land of the Navajo Nation, near Cameron, Arizona.

Could these daredevils have what Freud called a “death wish,” a desire, often deeply repressed, for self-destruction, accompanied by feelings of depression, hopelessness, and self-reproach? That might be said of Houdini, given his almost obsessive interest in death and the afterlife. But for most everyone else in this line of work, it’s about attention and a desire to push the envelope – that need for the adrenaline rush associated with doing what no one else is brave enough to do (or stupid enough, depending on your point of view).

In the end, there would be no market for these kinds of acts if the public wasn’t thoroughly fascinated by them. As for the performers themselves, it’s probably best to take into account Jane Wicker’s own words.

“Why do I do this? There is nothing that feels more exhilarating or freer to me than the wind and sky rushing by me as the earth rolls around my head,” Wicker once wrote. The day before the crash she told WDTN TV2, “I’m never nervous or scared because I know if I do everything as I usually do everything’s going to be fine.”

For those left behind, there is a great sense of loss when these daring entertainers pass doing what they love. But they will be remembered for their spirit and the smiles on the face of those who sat in awe of their skill and passion to defy the very fabric of nature.

Gery L. Deer is an independent columnist and business writer based in Jamestown, Ohio. More at http://www.deerinheadlines.com.

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It’s time to end the Korean War.

In Education, National News, Opinion, Politics, sociology, State News, World News on April 1, 2013 at 3:21 pm

Deer In Headlines

By Gery L. Deer

North Korea's leader is a kid having a tantrum; a tantrum that needs to end in a spanking the the world's leaders.

North Korea’s leader is a kid having a tantrum; a tantrum that needs to end in a spanking the the world’s leaders. (Photo UK/Telegraph)

On June 12, 1987, while addressing people near the Berlin Wall, President Ronald Reagan said defiantly, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” Shortly thereafter, down it came, marking the collapse of communist Russia and the end of the Cold War. For the first time in nearly 40 years, back yard bomb shelters were being graded over and civil defense drills became a thing of the past.

Now, more than 25 years later, Americans are facing the real possibility of both conventional and nuclear attack from a power-happy “kid,” revitalizing fears that created the pointless duck-and-cover drills of the 1950’s and 60’s. Over the last several weeks, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made repeated threats about ending the sixty-year peace marked by the neutral zone of the 38th parallel and restarting the Korean War.

Though an armistice was signed in 1953, it did not officially end the Korean War, or what the U.S. Government laughingly termed a “police action.”  While America was involved in the conflict for only three years, North and South Korea are technically still at war. At the time, China and the Soviet Union supported the aggression of North Korean troops, but today, the political lines are less well defined.

With the dissolution of the Soviet Union and China’s economic, not to mention capitalistic, successes in the west, North Korea stands very much alone in its saber rattling. Any attempt to launch missiles or re-invade South Korea would most likely be met with resistance of a level that the young, blustering North Korean leader is clearly not taking into account.

Even so, North Korean officials have insisted the country is going ahead with the development of nuclear weapons and missile technology necessary to carry them to the continental United States, among other targets. As the U.S. military continues its show of strength over South Korea, well in view of the northern leaders, tensions are growing and Kim Jong Un has ordered rockets to be readied to strike.

Most experts agree the young communist leader cannot possibly believe he has any hope of prevailing in such an aggressive action. But, with so many American-allied territories within striking distance, the damage and loss of life could still be considerable if he carries out his threats. Perhaps now is the time for a decisive and joint action by China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the protectorates of the United Nations, including America? It might be time to finally put an end to the Korean War.

Kim Jong Un has made it apparent he wants to start a war – with someone – and if America is his target, he’s doomed to lose such a conflict. He’s obviously suicidal and doesn’t seem to care who or how many he kills for his own ego boost.

One could argue that this maniac is really China’s problem. But, if that’s the case, why don’t they just shut him down now? They certainly have the manpower to do it and, for the first time in recent history, they’d have the support of Russia, South Korea and the other surrounding countries. With a little patience, on the other hand, the country could go bankrupt before military action is even necessary.

Kim Jong Un has spent North Korea’s money on high-end living and the development of a few mass-attack weapons and missiles, activities that will shortly bankrupt the country. Once that happens, he will either be overthrown or forced out by his opposition or the Chinese. Either way, his long-term outlook is not promising – bad for him, good for the rest of the world. It could be that the best thing to do is wait him out; match his threats with equal vehemence until he goes away.

Unfortunately, patience is expensive, costing the American taxpayer millions of dollars a day in military operations stepped up to meet potential hostility. Once again, it seems the best alternative is to assemble allies against him and shut him down before he can do something that costs the lives of millions.