Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Is there supposed to be scum on top of the jelly?

It's almost midnight and I'm sitting in the kitchen eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The cold milk is helping me swallow every grapey, peanuty glob and I'm wondering why I can't sleep.

Then I realized it's because the news is almost all BAD.

Some of the events going on right now:
A former Michigan Republican congressman is indicted on obstruction of justice charges and money laundering for a terrorist ring.

A CIA official authorized the destruction in 2005 of videotapes documenting harsh interrogation of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The White House, under intense scrutiny, has admitted to destroying emails as part of a "data recycling" procedure, during the period of time when the US went to war with Iraq and US CIA operative Valerie Plame was outed.

The housing market is in a depression. The real estate bubble that was only casually considered a possibility a few years ago has finally burst. In some markets, houses selling three years ago for 400,000 are being sold for barely half that. The sub-prime interest loans issued to risky borrowers for the past several years are being foreclosed upon. People are losing their homes because they can't pay their mortgage.

Eddie Murphy and his new wife (of TWO weeks) have announced their split.

O J Simpson, mistakenly (in my opinion) exonerated of murder charges in the 90's (thereby living on borrowed time) has now violated the terms of his bail in a memorabilia heist... where he, at gunpoint, tried to "take back" prized heirlooms of his career from an alleged thief. He's back in jail for contacting one of the plaintiffs and THREATENING them.

It was announced today that Ike Turner died of a cocaine overdose.
No wonder I can't freakin' sleep. The world is spinning out of control. The US has a bad political reputation which continues to worsen, Buckwheat can't stay married and Ike not only abused Tina, but also his own proboscis. (I met him in the 90's at a party in Memphis and he was a real dick... um, God rest his soul)

WTF?

OK, I'm finished with my PBJ. I'm going back to bed. The headlines have GOT to be better tomorrow.

7 comments:

Seals said...

Mmmmmm. Peanut butter and jelly. That so rocks.

Anonymous said...

Things aren't all that bad. The news just portrays them that way.

For all the real estate "crisis," I have yet to know ANYBODY defaulting on a mortgage or losing their home.

I can't name you an unemployed friend or relative.

I don't know anybody who's going without the healthcare they need, and I have several family members with chronic conditions.

My daughter's school is first-rate.

Am I just freakishly lucky, or is the media hyping things just a bit?

Violet said...

did you use strawberry jelly? i like strawberry jelly the best.

i do agree with lbb on the generalization that the news hypes the bad stuff. however, i don't feel there is any purpose in exclusively examining the world through rose colored glasses. there are some screwed-up things going on in this country and if we deny them, they are only going to get worse.

Blogarita said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Blogarita said...

When making jelly, there is scum that rises to the top. You have to skim it off and throw it away, leaving just the good part behind. Maybe that's what we need to do with the media reports.

But it is hard not to get one's proboscis out of joint when all we seem to hear about is the bad stuff.

Ashley said...

I have been awake at midnight all week and craving pb & j. Maybe there is something in this water.

I hate the news, it is always so depressing. Last night, the only good story was that rabbits at the animal shelter are ready for adoption.

Fantastagirl said...

Eddie Murphy is splitting up after two weeks? hmmm that is something to loose sleep over... ;-)

In this part of the world, we are feeling the crush - another local factory is going bankrupt. My friend's Dad is affected - after 15 years he is losing his job, his pension and he will not have health insurance - he is diabetic, and has heart problems, all controlled with medicine - which he won't be able to afford. Without his job he will not be able to make the mortgage payment - so now - you know SOMEONE who is out of work, unable to get the health care he needs, and is going to lose his home.

400 employees will be out of work, that's roughly 335 households that are affected in my hometown, there are no jobs available right now, so they will have to move. But who is going to buy their homes?

Yeah, no crisis here....