Serenity

Today I noticed an usual amount of negativity. I am originally from a small town in Northern Wisconsin and I regularly keep up-to-date with the local newspaper via the web. I read the articles, the editorials, obituaries, and the comments on all of the above. You'd be amazed at amount of hate and ignorance that still exists. It seems as though those who are particularly negative seem to make up the majority of the online commentors.

Recently there was outrage over a front page photo depicting local elementary school children playing with large of amounts of chocolate pudding as the hooray event after a succesful fundraiser. Comments included remarks about starving children around the world and all the food the school wasted. I'm not sure how pudding became so nutritionally valuable that any fun with the substance would be considered a slap in the face to the hungry nations of the world. But what do I know?

Today I wasted at least an hour reviewing an editorial about Obama being overrated stating that he was only elected because he's black, received more fundraising donations than any of his competitors, etc. and continued on about how his big move as President is going to be disarming Americans and essentially dissolving our 2nd Amendment Right to bear arms following suit of the Candians, British, and Australians who were just too wimpy to stand up for themselves.

I comment on the comments more than the editorials and articles. There are 888 recognized active hate groups in the United States - 12 in Wisconsin - 2 in Northern Wisconsin (both KKK). This is not to say that the people of Wisconsin are not generous and overwhelmingly kind - they are. Everyone should visit the state - particularly the northern half of the state - at some point in their lives; it is too beautiful to ignore. But, when will we, as eathly population, ever decide to stop the hate that thrives on superficial technicalties?

We all just need a little serenity.