And Now for the News...

I have a ritual on weekday mornings. The alarm goes off at 6:15, I groan, I mumble, I swear that I am going to start homeschooling Michael so that I won't have to get up at such and un-Godly hour, stumble out of bed and shut off the alarm. As I collapse back on to the bed, I click on the TV with the remote and start watching the early morning local news.

Early morning news seems a little less formal than any other newscast and for that reason alone, I enjoy it. I'm not a political person, I'm not one to get in to great debates about what is going on in the world but there are few things happening out there right now that I just ...well, I just cannot believe.

Here's the top five news stories that have me riled up:
1. Michael Jackson Homicide. You know, it's all very, very sad. The world has lost a great musical icon. But this just shows you that no matter how much money you have, you are no better off. I mean, it took tons of medication just for this man to be able to sleep and just because of who he was, doctors were willing to risk their careers, their licenses, to give him what he wanted. "He demanded the medication" someone said. Um, excuse me, the man weighed like 100 pounds fully clothed, I don't think he was a real threat to anyone who said no. So who's to blame? I think there are a slew of doctors to blame and I think each and every one of them should be held accountable. For murder? No. For homicide? I'm not sure. But they sure need to answer to an ethics committee of some sort and have their licenses taken away.

2. The President's on vacation. Um, it must be nice after putting us in even greater debt as a country than we already were to go on vacation to a house that cost $30,000 a WEEK!! Yes, a week. So while I'm sitting here unable to find a damn job and my husband is out of work and I'm watching friends in the same position and some of them LOSING their homes, our leader is jetting off to the Vineyard. Oh, but wait...the $30,000? Well, he's paying for their share of the house. What exactly does that even mean?? I'm sorry but if you are so concerned for our country and for leading us, how about leading by example and not flaunting the extravagant lifestyle? On Saturday when that hurricane was barreling the coast, people were DYING! And you know what the real hurricane story was? The president's vacation had to be delayed. Boo-freakin-hoo.

3. Lockerbie bomber set free. I will never, ever, ever understand the judicial system. It is not set up, it seems, anywhere to protect the VICTIMS. It is set up to protect and coddle the criminals. This person served a total of what? Eight years? Wouldn't it be nice if all of those people who got blown up on that Pan Am flight got to come back and join their families after eight years? No one seems to take that in to consideration. This man is dying of cancer and got a compassionate release/transfer, whatever. Where was the compassion for those people on that plane? Oh, wait, there was none.

4. Jon and Kate. Oh-My-Gosh...if I have to hear yet another story about Jon and Kate and how he is out partying, dating, lying, cheating, I mean really? Who cares?

5. The Fiore/Jenkins case. This is just absolutely horrible. I mean, disgustingly horrible. Two lives completely wasted; each ended in horrible circumstances and quite possibly by the same hand - his. I was reading out there on another blog - and I'm sorry I can't remember whose - but basically she was saying that you have to be pretty darn angry and psychotic to not only kill your spouse but do rip out their teeth!! I mean, CRAZY. But I think what really bothers me the most about these two people and this case is that they were brought together because of completely shallow and superficial reasons! She wanted a millionaire and he wanted a model. Yikes! I can understand this marriage heading for a quickie divorce but it just seems bizarre that it had to end this heinously. Very, very sad.

I'm hoping to try and focus on some good news for the remainder of the week. Or perhaps I'll just skip the morning news and move on to something more productive...like checking my e-mails. There hasn't been anything bizarre there for at least a couple of weeks!