Another night of incomplete sleep. Then I had to wake up at 8 a.m. to cancel an appointment. Hungry, but too tired and exhausted to fix something to eat, I had 4 of the mini chocolate cookies that I can eat. But then my moment of weakness. They were too fresh, they tasted better than they ever had, chewy instead of crunchy, four became eight became ten (you see, I started to restrain myself.) But too late. Four is fine, ten kicks me over into a sleep for 4-6 hours that I can't wake up from and then this terrible headache behind my eyes that I can't take anything for because of drug interactions.
So, no Mauricio today, because I didn't get to volunteer at his school, instead I succumbed to chocolate and Facebook. So, no wonderfully organized thoughtfulness, no Kindergarten, no sweet, energetic, distracted children. Just a distracted, hurting adult who invites you on a ramble with her through her thoughts and mind. It's a place I'm pretty comfortable, of course, as I live there, but you may not be so comfortable. You won't need any spelunking gear, but you may need a certain calmness, because I am the Queen of Rabbit Trails.
So here we go! Facebook. Somehow, I got a Feed from Americans Against the Tea Party. And while I agree with the general sentiment, they are prone to generalizations, and inflammatory statements. I got pulled in to a thread about the veracity of Fox. I hear an intake of breath..from my reader...yes, I know. On Facebook, them's fightin' words. On this thread, there's a crazed discussion about outright lies and fabrications on Fox News (they're there, I've seen them, I was an unwilling witness). First, I must say, we kicked cable out of the house, when basic cable jumped from $20/month to $65/month when Bresnan got taken over. So Jon Steward and the Daily Show share with me. Truth to tell, that's all the Fox I can tolerate or I get that headache that I used to get when I was 8 yrs. old and would sneak and read my Aunt's Mad Magazines (oops, RABBIT TRAIL ALERT). So, back to the thread, there's an intense discussion about ALL news being biased, links proving that the government pays CNN (raised eyebrows), references to James Carville (more eyebrows). I'm in and out of my news feed, "sharing" links including a depressing one vividly demonstrating the distribution of wealth in this country, and another one that calculates that if the sequester continues it will cut $830 billion which "happens to precisely equal the taxpayer subsidy to the ten largest banks over the same period."
That sucking sound you hear, is me, going down the rabbit hole into the alternate reality that is Facebook...even worse, Fox on Facebook (or is it Facebook on Fox). And, slightly deranged, I put my own post on, a version which I posted earlier on this very blog, but it goes like this, "Oh, what a day!...when opinion is touted as fair and balanced news, fiction as fact and intolerance outshouts compromise. And now, with this sequester, the most vulnerable of us all will pay for our excesses. Do the math. If the budget cuts continue, they will equal the amount of the Wall Street baill-outs. Go figure."
You notice that the above version is lacking the presidential endorsement that was in the earlier, Blog, 'version. Because, I am yes, you said it CHICKEN. I'm not stupid. I'm not going to endorse the president on a thread that calls him Joseph Obama (?, I don't get it) and calls MSNBC left wing news (huh, NEWS to me!). My sedate statement prompts NO discussion, it is a non-statement, or a black hole of opinion, but does engender ONE like (thank you , fans). So then, I'm really on a roll, and post on MY home page the following, "Compassion is NOT a weakness. Jesus wept, your heart bleeds...seems to me you're in good company. "Truly I tell you,whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:39-41. I am absolutely sure that compassion for our fellow mans of the highest priority. It is thru the empowerment of us ALL that we will find our strength. If we allow the weak to stumble, we will all fall together. It is harder to lift someone up after they've fallen then to not let them stumble."
I know. I was so riled up, I was quoting scripture! ME! So, I watch the exchanges, which includes trolls: (Internet Slang according to Wikipedia, who "is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.), people who are trying to actually engage in an intellectual discussion, and people spewing words like "libtards" and questioning each others "intellect and literacy", then somebody drops the F-bomb. It's like watching a tennis match between drunken players, and then someone farts loud and smelly. It is then that I realize I have a that Fox News/Mad Magazine headache. I got the same headache when I watched 2 hours of Glenn Beck at one time, but that was with a lot of nausea and queasiness too. So, I bail! I post the most intelligible thing I've probably posted all day, "Too much time on FB. Think I'll go stick my head in a snow bank and freshen my brain." (This statement got 3 thumbs up...smart people). II turn off all electronic devices and go to sleep.
So, no Mauricio today, because I didn't get to volunteer at his school, instead I succumbed to chocolate and Facebook. So, no wonderfully organized thoughtfulness, no Kindergarten, no sweet, energetic, distracted children. Just a distracted, hurting adult who invites you on a ramble with her through her thoughts and mind. It's a place I'm pretty comfortable, of course, as I live there, but you may not be so comfortable. You won't need any spelunking gear, but you may need a certain calmness, because I am the Queen of Rabbit Trails.
So here we go! Facebook. Somehow, I got a Feed from Americans Against the Tea Party. And while I agree with the general sentiment, they are prone to generalizations, and inflammatory statements. I got pulled in to a thread about the veracity of Fox. I hear an intake of breath..from my reader...yes, I know. On Facebook, them's fightin' words. On this thread, there's a crazed discussion about outright lies and fabrications on Fox News (they're there, I've seen them, I was an unwilling witness). First, I must say, we kicked cable out of the house, when basic cable jumped from $20/month to $65/month when Bresnan got taken over. So Jon Steward and the Daily Show share with me. Truth to tell, that's all the Fox I can tolerate or I get that headache that I used to get when I was 8 yrs. old and would sneak and read my Aunt's Mad Magazines (oops, RABBIT TRAIL ALERT). So, back to the thread, there's an intense discussion about ALL news being biased, links proving that the government pays CNN (raised eyebrows), references to James Carville (more eyebrows). I'm in and out of my news feed, "sharing" links including a depressing one vividly demonstrating the distribution of wealth in this country, and another one that calculates that if the sequester continues it will cut $830 billion which "happens to precisely equal the taxpayer subsidy to the ten largest banks over the same period."
That sucking sound you hear, is me, going down the rabbit hole into the alternate reality that is Facebook...even worse, Fox on Facebook (or is it Facebook on Fox). And, slightly deranged, I put my own post on, a version which I posted earlier on this very blog, but it goes like this, "Oh, what a day!...when opinion is touted as fair and balanced news, fiction as fact and intolerance outshouts compromise. And now, with this sequester, the most vulnerable of us all will pay for our excesses. Do the math. If the budget cuts continue, they will equal the amount of the Wall Street baill-outs. Go figure."
You notice that the above version is lacking the presidential endorsement that was in the earlier, Blog, 'version. Because, I am yes, you said it CHICKEN. I'm not stupid. I'm not going to endorse the president on a thread that calls him Joseph Obama (?, I don't get it) and calls MSNBC left wing news (huh, NEWS to me!). My sedate statement prompts NO discussion, it is a non-statement, or a black hole of opinion, but does engender ONE like (thank you , fans). So then, I'm really on a roll, and post on MY home page the following, "Compassion is NOT a weakness. Jesus wept, your heart bleeds...seems to me you're in good company. "Truly I tell you,whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:39-41. I am absolutely sure that compassion for our fellow mans of the highest priority. It is thru the empowerment of us ALL that we will find our strength. If we allow the weak to stumble, we will all fall together. It is harder to lift someone up after they've fallen then to not let them stumble."
I know. I was so riled up, I was quoting scripture! ME! So, I watch the exchanges, which includes trolls: (Internet Slang according to Wikipedia, who "is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.), people who are trying to actually engage in an intellectual discussion, and people spewing words like "libtards" and questioning each others "intellect and literacy", then somebody drops the F-bomb. It's like watching a tennis match between drunken players, and then someone farts loud and smelly. It is then that I realize I have a that Fox News/Mad Magazine headache. I got the same headache when I watched 2 hours of Glenn Beck at one time, but that was with a lot of nausea and queasiness too. So, I bail! I post the most intelligible thing I've probably posted all day, "Too much time on FB. Think I'll go stick my head in a snow bank and freshen my brain." (This statement got 3 thumbs up...smart people). II turn off all electronic devices and go to sleep.
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