Monday, June 17, 2013

The perils of reading the newspaper


Trivial thoughts on reading yesterday’s newspaper:  a Tarrant County woman was unable to pay almost $3500 in traffic fines, went to jail, and complained about deplorable conditions. If it was $100 I might sympathize but that’s a lot of fines and means a lot of tickets. Why didn’t she take more care with her driving? Why didn’t she pay the fines as they were imposed rather than letting them accumulate to an impossible total? Sorry, but not much sympathy from this law-abiding citizen…..President Obama wants Europe to try U.S. food. This is one time I’m not in step with our president—why should they when Europe bans all the altered foods we are offered. They don’t tolerate Monsanto at all, while we are left to figure out what’s safe and what isn’t. I’ve stopped buying familiar and favorite brands because Monsanto has a hand in them, even Jacob’s beloved chocolate chip toaster waffles…..And, finally, Texas just executed its 500th prisoner. Makes me cringe with shame and cry with outrage. Sometimes Scotland looks really good—think I could convince my family to go?

And then on Facebook—that oracle of truth—I read that human intelligence is gradually diminishing. Now I know there’s a lot of talk about “dumbing down America” but is this now an international epidemic? I thought some countries, particularly Asian countries, put a much higher value on education than we do in this country (especially in Texas). But then, if I can’t figure out first-grade math homework, maybe the world’s intellectual capacity is going to hell in a handbasket.

I might just quit reading the newspaper and start skimming Facebook. Too depressing.

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