Thursday, December 3, 2015

WHAT NOW? GOOD NEWS! (GOOD NEWS?)

Presidio Sentinel San Diego, December 2015

By Laura Walcher

I’m a little challenged this month, having been determined to report some good news and raise a few laughs, but it just ain’t easy.

Dreadful Donald has scooped up most of the available ink and air; seeking safety, seeking grounding, migrants rush desperately from country to country – and now, as I write, their plight is being made more difficult by fears of terrorists amongst ‘em.    The Southern Poverty Law Center counts 784 “active hate groups in the U. S.”  (the “winners” are Neo-Nazi  and anti-LGBT organizations);  ISIS, Boko Harom (or whatever they’re called) reign mysteriously and shockingly unabated, seemingly unstoppable; a world spokesperson calls Pres. Obama an “anti-semite, and says John Kerry “ … has the intellect of a pre-teenager.”  OK, so this commentator is
Israel’s Chief of Public Diplomacy.   You got a problem with that?  The innocents don’t even win lately, per half
the antelopes dead from a bacteria that used to be harmless and has now turned deadly. 
and … whoops!!! Have I cheered you up, yet?


Fortunately for our spirits and psyche, we can find corresponding good news.  We liked it when ex-presidents, George W. Bush (Bush 43) and Bill Clinton appear on a TIME cover as compatriots, warmly reminiscing about their illustrious (and semi-illustrious) pasts.  Separately and together, they now contribute their time and energy to benefit the less lucky of us (i.e. earthquake victims in Haiti).  George is a respectable artist;  Bill’s got his Hillary to support.

And amends are being made: Volkswagon,  per its sins, had been  such a disappointment, its decades-long superb reputation eroding by the day’s news’ deadlines. But, they seem determined to save themselves.  Their recent full-page NY Times ad headline reads, “We’re working to make things right. “ Dealers breathe a sigh of relief, and affected VW owners get gifts, a “goodwill package,” says Michael Horn (VW Group of America).

Sincere apologies with gifts … that works.

Around here, I’ve been  the last senior standing. 
We won’t mention names, but count the family in, for
recovering from  a stroke, a deep-vein thrombosis,   a fractured wrist.

So don’t go reading any newspapers (save this one), and pay scant attention to the world’s ills.  We forget, they’ve always been ‘round;  for better or for worse,  our fabulous modern technology helps us know all about them, all the time.


If all else fails, remember Winston Churchill, that reasonably good guy:    “If you’re going through hell, “ he said, “keep going!”   xxx