World is worse off than most realize - Rant 2

Recently in this space it was written that the world is in a dither.

Wrong! It’s worst than in a dither. It’s in a state of uncontrolled chaos. You know, like California, only worse.

Where did we go wrong-headed … as individuals, as a country, as a world? That’s not rhetorical; common sense people demand answers!

Need examples? No problem. The daily news is full of them.

An 18-old-year idiot forced his 18-month-old niece to smoke marijuana … and videotaped himself in the act. Ten years in prison was the sentence. Should have been life with daily beatings with a graphite fly rod. Wielded by a prisoner nicknamed “The Lone Whipper.”

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi gave a 90-minute speech to the United Nations. In the speech, the murderer, terrorist-protector, and dictator backed the United States’ war on terrorism, called the United Nations Security Council “the terror council” and pantomimed tearing up a card containing the UN charter.

In a rambling look-at-how-well-I-come-across-on-the-international-stage speech, Gadhafi called for an “era of engagement based on mutual interest and mutual respect” and referred to President Obama as “our son Obama.”

This is the same Gadhafi who last month extended a hero’s welcome to the Lockerbie bomber after his release in Scotland. Why would anyone want to listen to him say anything?

NFL star player Plaxico Burress was sentenced to prison. For once, a football player did not make headlines for shooting someone that mattered. Burress shot himself. In the leg. In a crowded club.

NBA guard Delonte West was arrested for gun possession. At least he wasn’t packing in a game. He was pulled over for speeding and officers found two loaded guns on his person (one strapped to his leg) and a loaded shotgun in a guitar case.

What’s he trying to do? Prove he’s a shooting guard?

Banks have been skewering customers with hefty, and possibly illegal, overdraft fees. After the bankified Ponti scheme was brought to light, three major banks said, “Calf rope!” and promised not to screw customers to the fiscal wall any longer.

Until next time.

Both sides in the political debate on health care reform are lying. Democrats who support the basic administration plan say it’s not Pollyanna to seek utopia in health care; anti-Obamaites claim socialism is the underlying cause of this president’s reform package.

The “for” backers are not looking at the big picture … the overall global economy that is still in recovery. The “aginners” are not looking at the true need for reform, something that has not been addressed in the past 10 years.

Still mired in Afghanistan with no sight of an end to the War That More Than Likely is Not Winnable, the United States military is now calling for even more troops. Why doesn’t someone in power check with Russia on how that worked for them in years past?

Police broke up a dog fighting ring. The big news is not a single NFL player was arrested in connection with the bust, and it was located in an Illinois day care center.

Despite “No Child Left Behind” and federal and state mandates to improve education, it is still, overall, in the throes of “The Sky of Falling” mode. The system is broken, district by district, state by state, and the system has to be changed in order to change the end result.

The public has to demand a system that pays teachers what they are worth, evaluates and gets rid of teachers that can’t teach or motivate students, moves emphasis from athletics to academics, and works to inspire students from the earliest grades to graduate high school and get additional education … college or technical school.

And, how was your day?