The news is not good

I am distrubed--devastated?--by some of the things in the news these days, though I rejoice that the 11-year-old Florida girl was found alive and well (except for dehydration and mosquito bites). We hear so many cases of children disappearing that it is truly a blessing to have one with a happy ending. Makes me so scared for my grandchildren, I can hardly stand it. I look back with amazement at the things my chldren did 30 years ago, and I never worried about them. Today I'd panic if my grandchildren wandered around the neighborhood alone.
Adoption is a big issue for me, with four wonderful adopted children, so I am seriously disturbed by the story of the 7-year-old Russian boy who was put on a plane by himself and returned to Russia. There's been a lot on the news about how children raised in orphanages, with little human contact, have not learned to trust and may lash out. It seems to me that adoptive mother was not properly prepared for what she was going into nor did she get counseling when it went wrong. I suspect she expected a grateful, perfectly loving child, which is unrealistic. I am glad to hear that several Russian families want to adopt the child but think how scarred he is for life. I have however known famlies that adopted Russian chldren, worked at it, and their family life turned out okay. I really am angry at the adoptive mothr in this case. Again, I look at my grandchildren, and think how they are hugged and petted and talked to, told they're wonderful (and, of course, they are!) and I grieve for the children, even in this country, who do not have that kind of love. The director of the Lena Pope Home for disadvantaged children told me once, "No one ever told these kids they were okay," and his words stuck with me. A friend told me about her ex-husband's children's mother who would not allow anyone to touch her children as babies, talk to them, hug them, etc. They were simply in their cribs. By the time the oldest was five--when my friend inherited him--he was incorrigible.
And then I read in the paper that El Paso is about to be "ground zero" for a war between two gangs with cartel connections. I have several friends who live there and I emailed one to ask if she was okay. She is, but she said she's careful. She's noticed that the stores are not fully stocked, and the city is full of refugees fleeing Ciudad Juarez. She's seen more Chihuahua license plates than ever before, and every night on the news there are reports of more murders in Juarez, many of innocent people. The people of El Paso wonder how our government can stand by and do nothing, and I do too-although there are probably plans being laid that we know nothing about. Still, it is a horrendous situation.
And today there was news of a 17-year-old boy in Fort Worth shot in the head when he went home for lunch and surprised burglars.
Is there no end? I want some good news. I guess the nuclear arms treaty with Russia rates pretty high on the good news list, but then there's Rep. Boehmer's assertion that the Republicans will take over Congress in 2010 and roll back everything the Obama government has accomplished--like international goodwill? Health care (for sure)? Unemployment compensation? Environmental controls (okay, forget off-shore drilling--it's a trade-off)? It boggles the mind--and scares me.