I thought I was already stressed enough & then I read this.

[RaySharpton]

I thought I was already stressed enough & then I read this.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/l...-to-collapsing-nations/ar-BB14UNLc?li=BBnb7Kz

"...current and former U.S. intelligence officials have expressed dismay at the similarity between events at home and the signs of decline or democratic regression they were trained to detect in other nations."

“This is what happens in countries before a collapse. It really does unnerve me,” said Gail Helt, a former CIA analyst."

I know I really should be reading instead of watching TV.

Ever since Friday night, all Atlanta TV stations were showing the Atlanta looters, but not the local peaceful protestors until well after midnight. They exempted all regular programming. So many armored vehicles and fully armored national guard soldiers stationed only two blocks away from me at Lenox Square shopping center parking lot after the out of state looters moved from Atlanta to Buckhead. Very scary and loud on my street Friday night.

Tonight was better.

I saw this article on my laptop while watching a movie on TV.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

I am sorry that you are feeling stressed and glad that tonight was better. Stay safe.

 

[RaySharpton]

I am sorry that you are feeling stressed and glad that tonight was better. Stay safe.

Thanks, Welsh_Dragon

I just wish everything would get better in the world and U.S. and Atlanta.

 

[lanejudy]

I find that watching the news is stressful. I try hard to avoid too much exposure to “news” - whether that be traditional TV broadcasts, online websites, social media, discussions with family/friends/neighbors, chat forums, clickbait, etc. It’s easy to feel bombarded by it all, but I plan my news times and sources and intentionally avoid other exposure.

 

[mamabunny]

Ray, I know this is hard - I feel the same way.

We sat here in our home the other night, and watched on live local television as the National Guard rumbled down the streets of our city, with HumVees and troop carriers. The soldiers who got off the carriers all had their riot gear on already. They were armed, and basically formed human barricades to help stop the non-peaceful people from going further and doing more damage; as time passed, they slowly, quietly, deliberately moved their human barricade to urge the remaining people to stop - and go home.

No shots were fired, and eventually, everyone calmed back down, and everyone went home. During the course of that 6 or so hours that we sat watching this, we did see some courageous acts of human kindness, and we saw people standing up and blocking the troublemakers from breaking glass and looting. We saw camera crews running through tear gas to try and cover the situation and reporters doubled over from trying to breathe. And we saw our local police department remain calm and focused, and working to try and keep everyone safe, and protect private property from vandalism at the same time.

But it was still unnerving to see.

Like @lanejudy, I have had to limit my news intake recently; I am an inveterate news junkie, and typically consume information from multiple sources; it's important to me to prevent the "echo chamber" that can happen if you only have 1 or 2 sources of information. But I have consciously stepped back a bit on my consumption recently, only because I found myself at the point of despair regarding the (overall) events of 2020. It has been a hard year by any measure, for all of us, and I hope and pray that the next 6 months somehow give us all the break we so badly need.

In a meeting last week, one of my colleagues remarked that "Everyone who answered the old standard interview question "Where do you see yourself in 5 years" back in 2015 was *so* wrong!" LOL That might be the understatement of the year!

I know it is hard to see right now, but I continue to believe in the American people as a whole. I think that we all want *everyone* to have the same chance at the same American Dream - that our kids will live better lives than we did, that our family will have a warm, safe home, and there will always be food on the table, and a job to go to, and a bit of money left in the bank after all the bills are paid.

All we have to do is remember *that*, and it will be a step forward in truly living up to the American ideal that all people truly are created equal.