BRACK: From drone training to Georgia State to likely Maiming Act of 2016

By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher  |  Here and there during this holiday season, a round up:

Most likely prediction to come true if it hasn’t already: you will soon hear of a Christmas gift, one of those drone airplanes, crashing into either a house, automobile, or even a human. Those machines take training to fly them correctly, and don’t you know a lot of kids (or adults) getting such a “toy” for Christmas will think he or she has become expert in its operation, when they have not, and may hurt someone.

Best hope is for the Federal Aviation Administration to put even tougher restrictions on the operation of drones … to protect the rest of us. This is a case, in many ways, of technology getting ahead of the human ability to handle it. Perhaps there should be an age limit for operations, and potential users having to get “pilot’s training” on drones before they can legally operate them.

It even could create a new job: drone pilot training, much like auto driving training!

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We just realized that the carol, Hark, the Herald Angels Sing!, was written by Charles Wesley in 1739, three years after he returned to England from the Georgia Colony. He and his brother, John, created so many wonderful church hymns. The Christmas season is in several ways tributes to them.

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Hurrah for Georgia State University being awarded the rights to develop Turner Field. The long land-poor university now has space to expand properly, and perhaps create additional income for its future development! What is surprising is that the Atlanta city government for once made a decision that has universal acceptance!

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The big three commercial television networks have fallen on relatively rough times in recent years, as more and more televised productions are going to cable networks, and to streaming channels. We’ve even seen “paid programming” in prime time, a sign of the network outlets reduced circumstances.

Yet there is a new wrinkle in Americans watching television that bodes well for the major networks: the way Americans are cutting off their cable services and going to over-the-air watching via antennas. Not only that, but the trend is that even more television families are protesting the high and increasing cable prices to anticipate more television viewers will be cutting costs by leaving cable and dish companies, mainly because of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and other streaming systems.

So why the positive potential for the big networks? At one time it looked like the major sports network, ESPN, would dominate the sporting field, taking away viewers from the major networks. But as people cut the cable, that means fewer eyes watching ESPN…..which can lead eventually to more major sporting events on the major networks. What an amazing development in TV watching. What was old will be new again!

Who knows: perhaps some day Americans can watch major sporting events….on the streaming channels! That’ll save us lotsa money!

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We don’t know State Rep. Scot Turner (R-Cherokee). He has introduced legislation that has our head scratching. His bill, named  the American Heritage Celebration Act (HB 15), would allow a greater variety of fireworks to be sold in Georgia, basically legalizing the sale of any fireworks allowed under federal law.

How about another title for this legislation: “The Georgia Maiming Act of 2016, most likely to blast off someone’s fingers or hands?”