Tag Archives: current events

A Commentary On Charlottesville And Beyond

What I saw in Charlottesville on the campus of the University of Virginia last night was sickening and immoral. There is nothing right about hate. America should be better than that.

No one has a birthright to all the wealth and all the privilege in life. Just because you are from one race doesn’t give you a birthright to the great bounty given by the Creator.

There is more than enough to go around. This country has welcomed people from around the world to its shores and we are a colorful tapestry of individuals who all want to have a part of the promise that has been afforded to many for generations.

I would even go as far to say that America is only one of many places where people are free to dream, to achieve, to live, to believe and to love as they wish. The globe is full of opportunities and that is where we are in this time of history.

What A Wednesday In The News

newsIt was not a slow news day in the world, at least in the USA and UK. Shootings in Washington DC involving congressmen and at a delivery company location in California. A tragic apartment fire at a high-rise complex killed 12. Not to mention all the stuff we have been hearing about for weeks in politics. Now there are stories that happened everywhere in the world but didn’t get reported for hours today. Our planet is a big place where breaking news happens locally and globally.

Many people have stopped watching the news but I say you have to keep informed these days. I am an idealist and optimist so bad stuff doesn’t get me down much but I am starting to understand the desperation people are feeling these days. When most news is bad news it really plays on ones emotions and psyche. My friends I say fear not which is something that is said in religious texts but even I fear a little because I am human. With political unrest and infighting it makes things even worse. Yes Wednesday, June 14th, 2017 was a horrible day but tomorrow is coming and there is a promise of hope there.

The Children of Manchester

The children of Manchester are wondering why, like all of us. A rising pop princess puts on a concert designed to bring people together and to sing for her generation suddenly is thrown into the chaos brought about by hate and terror.

All of a sudden the children of Manchester are a little less safe than they once where and the same could be said for the Children of Chattanooga. Now is a time to keep calm and to blame those who did this and not those who by ethnic and genetics are connected to them. We must seek justice for those kids and the others who died on May 22, 2017 but not at the price of the souls of England or elsewhere where terror has wreaked its ugly head. Perhaps we should look inward too as to what we can do to calm our own communities so things like this won’t happen again.

From Sandy Hook to Columbine there is too much violence that is rearing its vile and evil soul. Too many kids are caught in the crossfire of adult hate and have become victims of a hate-filled game.

Ariana Grande should know that she is not to blame for this, she was doing her job entertaining people and helping them forget about their cares for a while. We all need to have that freedom to remove ourselves from what danger the world is in for a bit. In this time we remember those children in Manchester and everywhere that violence and fear have made people scared.

A Middle Aged Man Complaining On The Internet

Yeah, I am a bit of a cliche…a forty-something man complaining on the Internet. Yet I don’t complain about what I don’t have or about my woes (although we all have them) I complain about what others don’t have and what is being taken from them. Our world is so diverse which the norm and not the exception in the 21st century. As an old white guy” I am not threatened by people getting things they need to make their lives better, I am happy for them its a win-win thing for all. Jealousy and fear are two things that are rearing their ugly heads all over today, two dangerous emotions when magnified in social circles. I am concerned that many are suffering because of it.

We live in a world that is ever-changing and there are many that feel left behind…well I would say its time you caught up. What are you doing to make yourselves smarter, kinder, loving? Perhaps you shouldn’t blame others but look at yourself in the mirror and see what is looking back. The world is speeding by and it’s not going to slow down. This goes for me too.

Something About Division

I was never really good at math but it doesn’t take a mathematician to see how divided the world is. We already know the USA is pretty divided at the moment and I am not confident the current president can heal wounds. To me what its all about is people seeking the same rights and privileges that others have had for hundreds of years.

We can see that one group is so afraid they won’t have control anymore while another group seeks the right for self-determination. Freedom is a very loaded word in that it means that one side wants the right to control everything, everywhere. It also means they get to call the shots too. But then another side is told they can’t have basic human rights such as health care, marriage, reproductive freedom, equal pay, and to just be treated fairly without prejudice and so much more.

Leveling the playing field benefits everyone. No one loses. So why do some want to make it hard for others. It doesn’t make sense to me.

I am an American but I am a citizen of the planet. One is no more important than the other. However some don’t see it like that. I don’t buy into America first at all costs because as long as someone suffers elsewhere then a higher power tells me to love thy neighbor as thyself.

We don’t have to be divided if we would be more generous, welcoming, loving and caring. Selfishness is a heart problem and no country will be great as long as it’s still a thing.

 

Support For Journalists, Writers and Fellow #Bloggers #journalists

journalist-ashx_I am not a journalist but I am a blogger and therefore share a brother and sisterhood of those who are keeping us all informed about the world around us. When you attack a journalist who is an essential part of our democracy then you undermine society. Bloggers, journalists, writers, reporters are all a part of keeping the shadows of the world illuminated so that no one can do nefarious things that can harm people.

The notion of fake news is a subjective one but there are a lot of news outlets who are doing the hard work of reporting the facts. Sure journalists are human and they don’t always get things right but more times than not they are accurate and factual. Without them we don’t know whats going on out there. So to those who are on the front lines in the news gathering business you have my support.