We Are Being Distracted From What Really Matters

Who in this country decides what is going to be news? How does something like the John Peterson case become a national news story when there are numerous murders on a daily basis in most of our big cities, and none of them make the national news? I'll bet if you or I were murdered, the story and subsequent investigation and trial would not be on "World News Tonight". What about Terri Schiavo? I am sure there are other people on various types of life support around the country that get their "plugs pulled" and we don't hear about them. One evening this week, the Terri Schiavo story took nearly 15 minutes of ABC news. For one person!! What about Michael Jackson or O.J. or the baseball steroid thing? Again, way too much information about things that have little relevance in the overall scheme of things. How about stories that really do matter? On the same night that ABC news spent 15 minutes on Terri Schiavo, they spent no more than one or two minutes on Iraq and what had happened there that day...how many had been killed. What about the situation in Darfour, Sudan? We almost never hear anything about that. What about plans for Iran and North Korea? How many people know that plans have been approved for oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? Yet most people, at least in the office where I work can tell you what happened on "American Idol" or Survivor" or any of the other stupid reality shows or in the Michael Jackson trial or the stupid basketball playoffs. All things that have no importance in the overall scheme of things. Are we afraid to think about or discuss the important things? Are the TV networks afraid to air these things? (maybe their ratings will go down...that's something to really be afraid of!!). We are spending too much time, energy and money on things of little or no importance and not enough where it really counts.

The Oil Price Conspiracy

There are plenty of people getting rich on this oil situation (and I'm not one of them). They are doing it at the expense of the rest of us and driving us into poverty and bankruptcy (not very Christian of them, is it?) Think of this..the stations raise their prices, even when they haven't gotten a new delivery of gasoline. So they are taking gas that they bought at the old lower price and selling it the new higher price, thereby making that much more profit. Also it seems awfully fishy that the price goes up everywhere by the same amount on the same day, as if a decree is issued by some supreme dictator somewhere. Also, notice that the price always goes up they day after a news report about how something is going to cause the price to go up. It is all a conspiracy. There is no competition amount the stations and companies. They know very well that thay have us over a barrel (no pun intended) and are taking us on a wild ride. That refinery blast down in Texas (my condolences to the families of those killed) is probably somewhow part of a conspiracy to drive the prices even higher. The vast majority of us have no choice but to continue to drive (at least back and forth to work and basic grocery shopping) and to pay the higher prices. But that money has to come from somewhere. It will first come from things that we spend money on that are not necessary (what is and isn't necessary differs for each of us). So the overall economy will suffer because of it.

Terri--A Bad Case of Micromanagement

The President and congress have no business getting involved in Terri's situation. They are supposed to be running the country as a whole, not trying to control the life of each and every person. That is the job of lower branches of government. They will never get anything done if they try to control each and every person.

My other problem with all of this is...why are so many people so concerned about this one life, but not about all of the defenseless unborn babies that we kill each year??

Save Oil, Ban Motorsports

In the past week or so, the price of gas has gone up 10 to 15 cents per gallon. The people on TV tell us that the price increases are due to extremely tight supply and, of course, the volatility in the Middle East. If the supplies are really that tight, then I say that it is time to get rid of motorsports. Nascar, Indy cars, monster trucks, etc, right on down to the local dirt or asphalt tracks that run races on Friday and Saturday nights during the warmer months. All of these racing vehicles must use up huge quantities of fuel. Yes, it is a big industry and it makes someone a lot of money, but at the same time, there are a lot of people who can barely afford to drive to work and must cut other things out of teir budgets (maybe even food) to be able to pay the skyrocketing price of gas. While the deeper issue is our dependency on foreign oil, there are things that can be done now to cut down on how much of it we use. One of those things, I believe, is the complete elimination of motor sports.

So Sayeth The Shack