Finally saved a Sunday paper for the purpose of combing through all the hard-news articles, trying to judge how good or bad this world is. Many friends say they don't even bother watching the news anymore, because it gets worse and worse by the year.
Back in its early days, Superstation TBS had a Sunday morning program called "Good News". Before I actually watched it to find out it was another religious show, I actually thought it was a one-hour time slot of nothing but good news in the world. Judging by some of the news articles, it would be difficult to fill a 15-minute TV time slot per month with any good news that would place faith & hope in humankind from media alone.
* Pakistan and the former Soviet state of Georgia are under emergency rule, with militants at the ready to attack whoever they don't like. Surprise surprise, these people are against our government. Who isn't these days? Add to this the fact that Turkey wants to attack Kurds in the northern portion of Iraq, the only stable portion of Iraq to this point, and you wonder: how many wars are we going to be fighting in the next 50 years?
* Cassville, Missouri: Two men, aged 32 and 20, are wanted for the death of a nine-year old girl who they brutally raped before strangling to death with a cord.
* Pat Robertson of PTL and CBN fame backs Rudy Guiliani for president in 2008. Let's see: Guiliani's been married three times... supports abortion rights... and supports the war to a degree. There couldn't be more of a difference between the two people. Has Robertson, who always preaches about morality, changed his tune and confused everyone, including his loyal followers?
* Homeowners are behind on equity payments. These sad-sack mortgages they were victimized by years ago are causing them to fall behind on much more than just house payments.
* The full-page ad on the following page begins: "If you've been waiting for the right time to buy a home..." We're waiting... and still waiting.
* And let's not forget, there's a reason television is called the "idiot box": among other things, it can distract a person who's tired of hearing all this bad news. But there's a blasted writers' strike going on! Nothing new being produced, even Letterman & Leno are likely to go into reruns.
Overall, it's nice to be wired, and it's nice to be connected to the world as we are. Sometimes, especially now, though... it would be nice to find the "off" switch once in awhile.
