On a Soap Box

It seems to me that the older I get the more I notice things.  I am not sure if it is me personally or the fact that it seems like the world is simply getting crazier.

If you turn on the news, read a paper, magazine, listen to the radio, or simply talk to a group of friends anymore it doesn't take a minute to realize things are simply not good.  I hate it! The alarm (radio) has been playing for 15 minutes, I can only here snippets as it is in the other room.  So far... I have heard twice about the President's $100 million dollar trip to Africa, the Zimmerman trial, Paula Dean's admission after almost 30 years, the attack on the coal industry, a reminder about Snowden, and the Arab Spring's far reaching effects.  And that is all on NPR, usually not such heavy stuff this early in the day.

I didn't hear any positive stories, no one is talking about a cure to any disease or a puppy or anything that might make people feel good. 

I wonder if I am going crazy, I wonder sometimes if we aren't being programmed to expect all this bad stuff.  I don't know. I do know that I am concerned.  Very concerned.

I feel sorry for Paula Dean, I also feel like there is some serious censorship happening in our country.  Good, bad or indifferent we do have freedom of speech in this country.  I am not a Paula Dean fan, I do not record all the episodes of her show or buy her cook books.  I will admit I have made a few of her recipes (she has a mean gooey butter cake!), and her company makes a peach salad dressing that is amazing - low calories, no fat and multiple uses.  That is kind of the extent of my knowledge of her.  I am sorry, I am not going to jump on the band wagon of crucifixion for something she admits to saying decades ago, especially when you can turn on so many music stations and hear the same thing.  Don't want the word used, then lead that change by not using it.  I think she is being used as a diversion.

We have big problems right now, huge problems.  And I simply don't feel they are the cause or blame of any one party or person.  Oh I do feel there are certain people that have advanced the problems a hundred times quicker than anyone could have imagined.  I am horrified at how our constitution is being butchered and dismantled and how we are for the most part being complacent.

I don't believe the government has the right to "spy" on the American people, sorry... no.  I do not doubt for a second that everything I have ever typed into my computer or phone are backed up somewhere, please, what expectation of privacy can any of us have?  Google yourself... if it has ever had your name attached to it, it's out there.  But I am sickened to think the Government is the one storing it.  I guess no one should be surprised, as technology has soared, it has just made it easier.  Seriously, this has been going on since the beginning of time, we just don't need investigators now for the dirt on all of us to be collected.

The IRS, seriously?  These are the folks that will be running our health care?  Seriously?  Frankly that in and of itself is insanity - where in a normal world do you link health and taxes?  Really?  And even if that connection was too far removed to follow, do we really want the same people that cannot "catch" $47million dollars in tax returns being sent to the same address and all to illegal aliens being the ones to decide what medical care we receive? As for targeting conservative groups, that is simply shameful, but really?  I am sure over the decades they have targeted many different groups, this time they got caught. Hasn't tax evasion been used to bring down quite a few "bad guys" over the years?

I am not sure how I feel about Snowden, part of me feels he's a hero.  We had the right as American's to know what our government was and is doing.  The other part of me wonders about the places he is reaching out to for protection.  China?  Russia?  Cuba?  Ummmm... something smells fishy... another distraction?

Everyone deserves a vacation, I completely understand the need.  And I am sure being President is a tough job.  I have never felt that any President, and no I don't care what party, needs to vacation on the American taxpayers dime.  And I have never felt they need to take their entire family with them on "business", because then it is automatically perceived as a holiday.  If they want a vacation, they need to do exactly like the people they serve, pay for it from their own wallet and use common sense.  Would those vacations be as lavish if the money was coming out of their own bank accounts?  And I don't feel that applies strictly to the President, but to any elected official.  They need to remember they are servants of the people, not the other way around.  I am furious as a tax payer that my White House is still closed to tours, but the President and his family can go on a lavish vacation.  Frankly, it's gross...

The only thing positive that seems to have come out of the news was the Supreme Court decision on DOMA and Prop 8 yesterday.  I am not for or against gay marriage, I don't feel it personally affects me and therefore my voice is not one that needs to be heard. I am simply thankful that for the fact that the government was basically told to get out of our bedrooms and marriages.  Marriage is not a government institution, they need to step out.  Culture, society and people will make the changes that need to be made, it's the natural evolution of things... I am thankful the Supreme Court realized that.

This year has really been a rotten one for news.  It's only June and our 1st, 2nd, and 4th amendments are under heavy attack.  The division in this country on the basis of race, gender, and income is growing more disgusting and stupid by the minute.

I for one want a story of a puppy dog finding a new home, a cure for a horrible disease, a veteran that comes home and has a warm welcome and their job waiting for them.  I am searching for something good in a sea of bad.  And I am praying that ignorance and complacency has not insured a world completely different for my sweet grand baby.   I pray that there is still hope.  I am tired of the hatred and bitterness.

Whew... guess I was on a soap box today... might be time to find an easy listening station to wake up to....