What Is Going On? - Lima,OH

You must be great fun at parties. :p

This country has had its ups and downs. This isn't the biggest down. The problem is the news thinks we like to be depressed so the only time we hear non depressing news is if they can't find something depressing to report.

I would suggest you stop looking to the news to determine the state of the world.

End times?

Bwahahahaha!

Seriously. Turn off the news. Get you news online with less sensationalism.
Look around you.
When I do, I don't see people robbing people and stealing cars and shooting people.
Of course if I watch the news, that's ALL I'll see.
It's not about burying your head in the sand it's about not being available for EVERY piece of breaking news in ANY place at ANY time. THAT'S what has changed.

It's gonna be ok, Victoria, it really is.

Nothing is 'going on' that hasn't always been going on.

Take care of you and yours, ok? Try to look for the good stuff. With three kids there must be TONS of good stuff.

:)

I'm sorry you are sick.

Stop listening to the talking heads. They are saying the economy is getting better - and there are just enough ignorant people out there believing it.

I live 22 miles west of DC - we hear about robberies and death. But we also have good humanitarian stories as well.

You will be making a positive difference in people's lives. Keep doing it. Be the change you want to be and be the role model you want your children to be.

Nothing's going on that hasn't gone on for centuries. I have just finished reading a couple books about the Holocaust and after reading how many children were taken to the gas chamber, I won't listen to stories about how things were so much better years ago from grandparents and parents! I also read that violent crime has gone done since the beginning of the 1900's. We tune into stuff on TV and think that crime happens all the time, but statistically it hasn't.

You're just thinking about it too much. Stop watching the news.

How about times in colonial America when people died of diseases because there wasn't modern medicine? How about bubonic plague and smallpox, yellow fever and measles at the turn of the century, before vaccines? Children and adults died in droves. And wars.... on our land, and overseas.....

How about the war in Somalia right now? People are afraid for their lives and I saw pictures today of women picking through the dirt with sticks to find bits of grain for their children to eat..... and finding nothing.

Kinda makes bronchitis, ear infections and pink eye seem not so bad. It's winter and you live in Ohio. Everybody gets sick. Soon it will be spring, the days will be longer and your kids will be well. Take probiotics (they really do help) and try to think positive.

People are wonderful, and people are a mess. It has always been so. The ancient Greeks at the height of their civilization complained about the state of the world and what their youth were coming to. And if they got a dangerous infection, they often died from it.

Studies have shown that people who watch a great deal of commercial news programming have a much darker sense of the world. They feel less safe and more anxious. I realized over 30 years ago how discouraging and destructive it was to watch TV news, and got the television out of my house. It's only gotten worse since. One famous slogan: "If it bleeds, it leads." News editors know how to attract viewers – by running the stories that make them fearful, angry and anxious.

I listen to "All Things Considered" on National Public Radio. There's little corporate influence, little incentive to profit from bad news, and so the coverage is much more balanced, and the stories they feature include more background information so listeners can understand the context. This is not always good news, but at least it offers a depth that increases public understanding.

And it's not a bunch of rich commentators ranting and blaming. Rather than riling us up, it gives us a clearer sense of the whys behind the news, and enough knowledge gives us more choices, if we want them. Less outrage and helplessness.

I don't always feel great about the direction the world is moving. But history does tend to rise and fall through cycles. Just like addicts, we sometimes have to hit bottom before enough of us take enough interest to turn things around again, to question our myths about what makes the world work and admit to where we've gone off track. I personally don't think we're quite there yet, but things are rocky enough that most all of us are sitting up and taking notice. I see this as an uncomfortable but necessary process.

So, this is a good question you're asking. I hope you can find answers that empower you instead of leaving you feeling anxious and victimized.

I agree with Mamazita - take a history class.

It's not life... it's ratings.

"News" gets ratings just like every other TV show, in fact, many have even stopped CALLING themselves "News" and have added extra words to take them out of the "Journalistic Integrity" issue entirely.

Drama drama drama drama.

Even those stations' online news are FAR more in depth and balanced than the DUM! DAH! DUN! "shows"... but one better is to trash the stations entirely.

Find REAL news.

The AP is where everyone save investigative reporters pull a large portion of their info from (heck... right now, the headline is fireworks explode over celebrations in egypt). The Associated Press covers EVERYTHING. Look at any newspaper, and you'll see 'AP' annotated all over the place (jump into international news and you'll see AFP, same organization). Reporters get the info from the AP and then write stories about it. But you can look into their feed all on your own!
http://www.afp.com/afpcom/en/
http://www.ap.org/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ is technically a station, but their news reporting is probably the best in the world. They cover a huge amount! I find out more about our own country reading the BBC news than I do reading American news. How sad is that? (It's the lack of political party bias. They report all angles, not just the ones supportive of one party or another.)

Then there are special interest things. I'm constantly on National Geographic, NASA, and a handful of other places (medical, anthropological, archeological, etc.)

And lectures by some of the world's most brilliant thinkers? Head on over to TED! Pick a subject, any subject. (so much better than a 10 second sound bite by some talking head whose assistant gave them the 4 sentences to say about it). http://www.ted.com/talks

The world is an amazing and exciting place!!! There are new discoveries all the time! The Dutch might be racing on a frozen river in one of the most spectacular (legendary) ice races of all time, the Fed is optimistic about economic recover (so price of gold is dropping), we've found dozens of Earth 2.0's!!!

There are thousands of FASCINATING news stories out just this month!

There will always be war, poverty, crime. One can choose to focus on that, OR one can choose to find out what in heck ELSE is going on.

I like to know what else is going on, personally.

How very boring people would say the news is if they reported on every single good thing people have done. "Today, John walked his dog AND picked up his poop" "Lydia was outside today pulling weeds" "Frank gave $10 to a homeless guy"....you get the idea.
Bad news sells...good news doesn't. So, the news guys find the worst things that are happening and make it a big story.
If it makes you feel better - there was a big radio thon going on today "Big Kiss for Children's Hospital" and I believe they raised about 1 million dollars. Must have been a LOT of people and businesses that donated!
L.

Unfortunately modern media only reports the bad stuff - they report when a plane crashes, not that thousands of planes landed safely today; they report an armed robbery, not the amount of people who give money to charities to help others every day. Eh, you get the point.

While the world around us seems a scarier place than it was 20 years ago, I think it is more our perception than the reality. I have more to worry about now - my son, my family, than I did 20 years ago so the negative media did not really phase me much then. Now, yeah, I worry about my son walking 2 blocks to a neighbors. But, in reality it is no more dangerous for him now than it was for me to walk places 20 years ago.

I do read the news - rather voraciously, to be honest - but I focus on the larger picture more - world news, the current election drama, and, well, the fluff pieces and the stories that highlight humanity's triumphs rather than failures.

If we all began to eschew the horror stories media produces and forced them to better balance good news with bad our perceptions would improve. As it is, it is up to us to find the daily good in the world around us.

Things have always been this way. Sometimes you'll see great things happen often while other times you'll see more negative stuff happening. Last year was an awful year for me. Both my MIL and mom were diagnosed with cancer on the very same day at the same time--what are the chances of that happening? I couldn't get those odds if I played the lottery. Then MIL died; mom is surviving. Problems in the family. This year, so far, things have been better. Sometimes the tide turns a different way. If your area is getting bad, might be time to consider moving. The economy isn't great, so there's more crime, that's a given. Hopefully, things will get better.

I know for me, I'd take a million armed robberies to one or two stories of rapes, murders and child molestations any day of the week. I worked in healthcare as a nurse anesthetist for about ten years. One of the greatest contributions that any healthcare provider can make to the industry is to not judge and to try and see the good in people and the world and to treat our patients and fellow humans with COMPASSION, regardless of our differences. I believe it also makes for a happier and healthier life in general. It doesn't matter why people do what they do-it matters what each of us do in our own lives. We can not change or control a single thing except for our own behaviors. In nursing especially, you are going to deal with all walks of life.If you are prone to reading into the bad too much, I just want to let you know before you put in the time, effort and expense that there are horror stories abound in that field. Worrying all of the time, feelings of impending doom, end of times etc. can also be a sign of anxiety/depression. Perhaps try avoiding the news for a spell, and get refocused on the tangible-the life you share with your family (which sounds much happier and more worthwhile, anyway). If you find yourself still carrying around the same degree of worry, it may do some good to bring it up during your next doctors' visit.

I completely understand what you are saying. I went to Target a few months back with my 4 year old and I'm pregnant. I got out of my car and bent down to put my daughter's coat on. The lady I had parked next to turned around from on her way into the store and came back to her car in a huff.. I thought nothing of it and went on inside. When I came back out, that lady had vandalized my car with scratches and dents. It was horrible! I have a very nice car that I have have had since 2004. I baby my car and this person beat it with what looked to be a bat from the dents. Luckily I have good insurance to fix it, but they will never be able to get out all the little dents.

I, like you, blame it on the economy. My husband made the statement that those that don't have seem to be attacking those that do. This administration seems to feed that anger. I have hopes things will get better. Our country has seen this before with the Great Depression and race issues during the 60s. We have to lean on God and not let it destroy who we are as individuals!

Chin up... don't let it change you. Still, always watch those around you and your children.

I don't think the world is getting worse. Look at our history! Look at the genocides, the epidemics, the wars and the violence that splashes our history pages with blood. Perhaps there weren't as many cancers (there are many indications that cancer rates are increasing, probably as we continue to put toxins into our environment) but people died of the flu and pneumonia and tuberculosis and cholera - in fact, people had many many children in part because they knew a couple of them would probably die! I can't imagine KNOWING that one of my children probably won't make it. My heart couldn't take it. We're spoiled that way. Our world has ALWAYS been a wonderful, beautiful, dangerous, horrible place to live.

But I do think there comes a point in each person's life when they really realize it. That happened to me when my son started walking, and suddenly I sort of saw danger around every corner, and the news scares me, and I just want to cling so tightly. I went through a stage where everything truly frightened me, too.

But actually, as far as history goes, things are going very, very well in the U.S. right now. Even in modern times, if you take a look at Somolia or the Congo or Sudan or North Korea, you might start to feel truly blessed to live where you live. I think you have just kind of hit a rough patch and are seeing things through a negative lens.

Crime rates are actually holding pretty steady, even during the economic decline, but certainly some places have gotten more dangerous. If you feel this is the case where you live, you might see if you can move. But also, check out past statistics of the place where you live to see if things are actually getting worse, or if the constant media and negativity on TV just makes you feel that way. Good luck.

Society has taken God out of every where. People are not raising their children in moral homes, their no being taught respect, and values, too many kids are raising themselves because both parents work so when children get home from school no is home. This is not all homes, but enough to where as a society theres more and more crimeI'm in San Diego and at least once a week we hearn about another ATM roberry, body here body there found in remote areas, How is it going to be for our children and grandchildre. J.

I turn to God all the time....not just for me and mine, but for so many others and the leadership of the world. That they would consider the needs of their people first and not their own ambitions.

Blessings....

These are signs of the end times.

Be right with God and you will be able to rest better at night.

Try to move to a safer area if that is possible.

God Bless.

Is moving an option if you don't feel safe where you live?