Let's Go 'A Few Rounds'....

Well, it's been a while since I felt compelled to add something to this blog. Not much happening in our small community, but not so in our neighboring town, Las Vegas. The past three weeks have seen many a news program devoted to reports of shootings at or near several high schools there, and it does not seem to be getting any better.
What is wrong here? What is becoming of our society? Sixteen-year-olds are shooting one another, and for what reason? As usual I have my own opinions, and they probably differ from yours, but, hey, it's my blog!
First, am I an anti-gun, anti-NRA nut? Not by any stretch of the imagination. You see, I was raised in small rural communities in Oregon where to own a gun and to use it for sport and protection were a way of life, second nature if you will. The big difference was that we were trained to use the weapons properly and safely by our fathers, uncles and Granddads. The guns were not just left laying around. And if we killed an animal, we damned well ate it. Hunting was a secondary food source.......same with fishing. Even now I own a gun. Remember, we live in a small rural community where wild coyotes still roam free. We have even lost one of our dear pets (cat) when he strayed too far from the house at the wrong time. Now we have a chain link fence to keep the pets in and the wild critters out. Still, we have a gun in the house, just in case.
But what about now? Kids get their hands on guns and express anger by going out and shooting people. I do believe there is something to the 'suggestions' that TV, movies and those crazy video games desensitize our youth from the meaning of taking someone else's life. Kids kill freely on the video games with no remorse, and it seems there is no remorse in real life killings either. It's just a game.....a deadly game.
Just how bad is it? The other night I was watching the news when a report came on that back east or midwest.....I forget where.....about some kids who were having a snowball fight. One of the snowballs was over-thrown and it hit a neighbor. The neighbor went to the the house and got a gun. When the young boy tried to apologize to the neighbor, the boy was shot and killed!
Even communications are in trouble. This morning, Dear Abby had a letter about a girl whose boyfriend ended their relationship (dumped her) by sending her a text message! He didn't even have the guts (read that as 'communication skills) to face her and tell her why!
What has the world come to? What can be done about it? Do we adopt a gun law where no one can have weapons? That is not the answer, Folks. Bad guys will always be able to get weapons, gun law or no gun law. All a gun law would do really is take the guns out of the hands of people like you and me, and the bad guys would still have theirs. Great!
We have to get back to teaching our youth what life is all about. We need to show them the way, like we did in the past. If you want to get rid of something or enact a law, ban the video games. Make death mean something again. Make life mean even more.
It used to be that when women gave birth, and they were working at the time, a maternity leave of weeks (even months) was not uncommon. Now, some mothers are back to work in what seems like hours. We leave child rearing up to baby sitters, pre-schools, teachers, and, of course, TV, movies and video games. Let's just entertain them and get them out of our way. We don't have the time for our youth anymore, so they cannot and do not learn our values.
Is it any wonder we are headed in the direction we are with today's society? I have a hunch that it will get worse instead of better. And who is to blame? We all are.............Think about it.

Ahhhh....Politics

Super Tuesday, or Super-Duper Tuesday......Although the Republicans are beginning to show preference for John McCain as their candidate, the Democrats yesterday settled very little, leaving that battle still up for grabs. Congratulations to McCain on his showing. The GOP maverick won in nine states, including all of the winner-take-all contests and garnered 423 delegates while Romney won in 7 states and received only 130 delegates. Quite impressive for a candidate who is deemed not conservative enough for some GOP bigwigs.
The Democratic race, however, was confusing to me. Hillary won 8 states, Obama won 13. Hillary picked up states with larger delegate counts and got 471 delegates to 437 for Obama. The popular vote was a virtual tie. Hillary was aided by her appeal to women, Latinos and older white males. Obama won over the youth vote (18-29 yr-old), Black vote and made a good showing in the overall white vote. The results really settled nothing and this thing may go down to the wire at the Convention. The GOP race will be settled long before that.
There was some interesting political analysis on ABC during the coverage last night, one in particular. Although Hillary and Obama are locked tight in this duel, it was pointed out that Hillary is campaigning on the 'change' issue as a change from the Bush (and GOP) administration, while Obama is campaigning on the broader issue of change from politics itself and the way politics are conducted in modern day society. Interesting. Could that fundamental difference be the deciding factor as this race moves forward?
No matter. Either one will definitely be a change from the current administration and it looks like that will happen. In my opinion, the GOP does not stand a chance come November if history repeats itself. No administration or party has retained the White House when the election year begins with an economic recession.....never.
The (Democratic) fight is not over yet. The war has just begun, and that was proven with Super Tuesday. Batten down the hatches and get ready. Let's just hope the two candidates, Hillary and Obama, play nice and don't rip the party apart in the process.