A wound that should not heal...

Five years...

Like all deep wounds, this is one that will hurt for the remainder of our lives. But I think that while a certain amount of healing should be allowed, there is also a certain amount that should not.

When something like 9/11 happens, it is important that we not only do not forget the event, but we also need to remeber the pain. There are some that will never be able to forget the pain, because of the people that the lost in the various events of that day, but there are many more of us that will push the pain aside, or convince ourselves that it did not happen to us, and distance ourselves from it in a disconnected way.

Even if you did not lose a loved one in the towers, or the planes, you should still feel the pain of loss just as much as those that did. You should still feel the pain, or the pang of tears when they list the names of those lost, or who gave everything for those that they were trying to save.

We are all brothers and sisters in this Nation. Perhaps this comment sounds a little to wishy washy, or idealistic... but it is true.

As I sit here and listen to the names being recited at the site of the towers, I feel a dull ache in my chest and stomach when I think of the magnitude of the loss. All those children that will never see their parents, and folks that will never see their spouses again. The pain is that which I know will never go away... but when you think of the scope of the events of 9/11, then maybe that pain should NOT ever go away.

We are shaped, as a people, by the events in our lives. Both the good and the bad sculpt us into what we are and what we will be. We need to make sure that the lives that were lost, were not lost in vain. We need to remember that this is a learning experience and make ourselve and our world a better place. Sometimes this requires force of arms, and other times this requires a compasionate should to rest the heads of the wounded on... what will define us is when we know how and when to offer one or the other.

Blessings to you all... and the hopes for a brighter future.

A News Junkie Darkly

I have become a news junkie.

Yes… I have found myself doing what I could never understand in my Father and Mother. I will sit through the day and Listen, Read or Watch news in some fashion or another.

Most of the time this is restricted to listening to the news, as it is easier to do when I am working, though I am willing to bet that several people at my work are plotting to have me committed soon. This is due to the fact that I have been caught arguing with the radio (or online stream) from time to time, and that never looks good to others.

I try and read as much of my local rag as I can, though I am continually saddened by the moderate to extreme liberal slant of the news they publish. I will not even go into the numerous typographical and grammatical errors that I find in this glorified toilet paper each day.

No… Somewhere down the line I have become addicted to knowing what is going on every day. Not that I can do much about it, as I am sure that no one of great political where-with-all reads this blog… but this IS my space, and as long as it is, I will do my part.

What I find the most troubling about the news these days is its dependence on bad news. I know that this has been said countless times, and many people see it as just another catchphrase in the arena, but it is true.

How often do you see “good news” stories on page one, above the fold in your local paper? Not often… and do you know whose fault this is? Ours.

How interesting is a paper whose head line is: “Local man save three and puts out fire himself!” No… do not go looking for that one… I made it up. Now, put that article in one paper dispenser and this one in another: “Local man kills 10 Nuns, has sex with a pig and burns down a school.” Yeah… you guessed it… people are more interested in a Murderous, Heretic, arsonist who practices bestiality than in a Hero.

Personally, I will take the Hero… we need as many heroes as we can get these days, and there are very few people that are qualified. Let’s face it; if there were a real Superman today, he would get sued out of existence for violating various civil rights all over the US and maybe other countries. If you have ever seen the animated movie “The Incredibles”, they might not be too far off the mark.

News is the lifeblood of our world these days. There are so many news and information channels and websites, that we are literally suffering from information overload. What ever happened to the good old days when the news you watched on TV was already three or four days old? When you read the paper and the people that were writing could actually spell and practiced good grammar? When columnists actually had either a degree or experience?

I can remember when I was a kid, watching the news reports from Vietnam come on TV, and they were, by the time they were being shown, several days old. Likewise most other news, once you saw it on TV or read it in the paper, it was long-since over.

Nowadays it is almost like the people know something is going to happen before it does. News teams are standing by, waiting to catch the action as it occurs. God forbid they try and prevent it, just go out there and get the story.

It is amazing how sensationalism and the Macabre have won out over sense and sensibility.

A Disturbing Trend

You know something… we are raising a generation of rude people.

My wife and I were sitting, eating breakfast this morning, and I watched as a man came in and sat down in the waiting area… waiting to be seated.

Well… This being Sunday, it was not long before the usual Church crowd started wandering in, and the place started to fill up. While this man sat there, a couple elderly women came in, one of them having a noticeably hard time both walking and just standing there.

The afore mentioned young man looked at them, and instead of offering his seat to them, he did something that completely miffed me. He not only stayed seated, but he picked up his back pack and placed it on the seat next to him, thusly taking up two seats. All the while he kept looking at the two old women standing there.

After a could minutes, a man who was not much younger than the women, and directly across from the young man that would not give up the two seats he was taking up, stood, with some effort, and gave his seat to the eldest of the two women. Watching this the whole time, the younger man made no effort to follow suit and surrender his seat to the remaining woman.

My issue here is why could he have not given his seat up? I would have in a heartbeat, because that is the way I was raised. From the time I was very young, I was taught to respect my elders.

I think that if we took a good, hard, look at what we see going on around us today, we would see that many of the things that are happening with gangs and the trouble in our schools, can be attributed to two things; Lack of discipline and disrespect of our elders.

Face it… the laws that are in place these days and the way they prevent us from punishing our children by almost making it a crime to raise our hands against them, have made parents the familial representation of a Lame Duck. If a person does spank their kid, when they get to school all they have to do is say that their parents hit them. In some cases, that is all it takes to get the parent in trouble.

What kind of society are we creating when we cannot or will not discipline our children? NOT disciplining them is only creating a fantasy world in which they will be mislead into thinking that they will always get their way. This will create a dysfunctional and impotent society.

If we continue in this direction, we will not have to worry about threats from outside the country… the terrorist and Anti-American groups can just sit back and watch us get stupider and lazier, then make their move when we are too dumb and lazy to do anything about it.

If you are thinking I have gotten off my original thought, no… I have not. It all starts with discipline and respect. You have to respect those that came before you and that which they have to teach us… some of the information may become dated, but the core teaching will still be there. Our prior generations are our greatest natural resource, we need to learn as much as we can from it. It is also important that we, as adults, be allowed to punish out children as we need to. Punishment should be harsh… it should teach us a lesson, and in some cases, it should shame or embarrass us.

There is nothing quite as educational as a good paddling by your mother in front a your friends.

Only when we bring discipline and respect back into our homes and schools will we get back on the road to a great nation.