Early Morning Ramblings

Here is a rundown on the news today. As I sit with my cup of coffee enjoying my last few days of mid morning freedom before school begins I wonder if I need to be watching the news.

Here is a sample of the news stories I heard:

This lovely mystery creature washed up on the shore of THE Hamptons. I guess they figured it wasn't son of satan or a prehistoric beast, but a decomposed raccoon. (say YUCK twice!)

A shooter has been aprhended. This freak came out of some woods in Wisconsin and opened fire on 9 people enjoying vacation time at a lake. He killed four. I am wondering if he even knew these people.

Another deranged individual has posted a video on Youtube saying how he had poisoned baby food in order to kill people who are hispanic and black, but the guy in the video appears to be black. Maybe he isn't....I don't get it. I guess it is not true....he was just trying to scare people.

A couple in Dubai are facing six months in prison for fornication on a beach....a couple of drunk Brits on a business trip.

They have traced the salmonella outbreaks to jalapeno peppers from Mexico. (I think I need to know this.)

There is a nation-wide manhunt for a wealthy man who has kidnapped his young daughter. This looks like it has potential for a Life Time movie.

Here is the only good news I have heard....there is an experimental drug news:ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h4y8QD_gmpWNesiZxM5uGzopDQVgD928UEG80
that is like exercise in a bottle. Read what the AP said about this....don't get too excited because it will probably be about ten years before people can use this....but I am thinking I want to be in on the clinical trials.

I also heard parts of speechs by Obama and a parts of speechs by McCain. Obama definately is the better speaker and has all the charisma in the world....I am wondering if that is what people will be looking for in November.

Anyway, I am thinking of those folks who never watch the news or check the internet to see what is going on out there. (I was one of those people for several years....after college and early in my marriage I just didn't pay much attention.) They live in a bubble and they are perfectly happy. I sometimes wonder if they are not taking the healthier road, but I am also reading a book dealing with Hitler's rise to power. It dawned on me that one reason he was able to do this was that many Germans really had no idea what was going on. They were looking for the path of least resistance I guess. At any rate there was not a lot of crital thinking taking place. I know I wasn't doing a lot of thinking when I decided to vote for John Anderson in the early 80's!

Now today we have more access than just newspapers. We have network news, cable news 24 hours a day, and the internet. We have constant access and they have to fill all this time so we have to hear allllll sorts of garbabge. Not only do we have all this access to news, many time it is manipulated and we are not sure what is information and what is propiganda. Figuring out the world is harder and takes more work. It takes effort to search for the truth. So not only are we bombarded with all this stuff , we must have our filters turned on at all times as we try to understand the various worldviews influencing the information presented. Discernment is a talent we all need to have. It is a spiritual gift I pray for.

My belief is that we need to be aware of what is going on in the world. I don't think we need to obsessively watch tv news or check our internet every hour on the hour, but if we are going to live here we are not doing ourselves any favor if we abide in a news free bubble. Yes, we are going to wade through a lot of information that we don't want or need to hear about, but we will be better informed and better understand our culture.....and be better able to choose the best candidate for President in November.