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Murphy Martin Commentary
July 13, 2006

"The World Around US"

Take a look at any television network news at the dinner hour, or, watch any local television newscast that follows, or, listen to any radio talk show, or, thumb through the pages of your favorite newspaper---when you do any of these for several days in a row you sooner or later say to yourself: "What is happening? The World Around Us seems to be getting closer to disarray!"

Since July 4th, when we again paused and gave thanks to our fore-fathers for our Declaration Of Independence, each day we have closely monitored news outlets:

North Korea launches Missiles, some aimed our way; The Dallas Mayor surprises with an announcement she will not seek another term; The new president -elect of Mexico says no fences are needed along the U.S.-Mexico borders; A doctor in New York, apparently distraught over recent marital problems, blows up his four story building in what may have been a suicide attempt; A realtor was found murdered, stabbed 27-times, in a fashionable new residential area in the Dallas suburb of McKinney; Dirty-looks, which they called "mean -mugging" caused two men to open fire on two neighbors, killing the mother of four as she crouched in the kitchen while frying catfish; Still another teacher is charged in the sexual assault of some of his students in Duncanville; A Coach is denied bond in another sexual assault case; China has set aside an area for Texas business leaders to build a brand new city; Prices soar for Cancer drugs; and Ray Nagin is at it again. The New Orleans Mayor who once tried to teach 1,200 school buses to swim while his citizens drowned during Katrina, has again demonstrated his abilities to deal with hard decisions!

None of these many stories swirling around us are the top stories, the most prominent topics still leading the news every day! Those stories are Iraq, the coming mid-term elections, the immigration problems, and the rising costs of gasoline and health care! The World Around Us is spinning faster and faster and at times it seems no one is in control.

There are those who think the Democrats have cleverly lulled the Republicans into a false sense of security for this fall's voting. However, ABC reported over last weekend that a check of the bulletin boards in the bowels of the Democratic headquarters is the Dean-Schumer-Emanuel-Pelosi-Sweeney-Kennedy-Clintons-Reid approved messages: It's Iraq; Change versus More of the Same; Human Rights; and, Civil Rights. The Democrats can be expected to continue to fire broadsides at President Bush and the Republican record but they have to be very careful to not lump the great sacrifices our forces are enduring in the Middle East as they slash away.

While Iraq never fades--Congress continues to argue the merits of what should be done on the myriad of problems closer to home beginning with making our borders less porous and rising cost of health care and gasoline.

Back to the fallout from Katrina, and a lot keeps falling out, Reportedly 50-thousand vehicles were ruined in the flooding and were abandoned by their owners. The largest auto-crusher east of the Rockies is in Tyler, Texas. They offered the city of New Orleans $100 per vehicle, as is, where is, an estimated five-million-dollars to the city. The Tyler firm said they could do the job in sixteen weeks. But Mayor Nagin knew better. He said no to the deal and now it is going to cost his city twenty-three million dollars to get the cars crushed and removed from his city. That's 18-million MORE than the Tyler firm would have charged.

In the face of Our Changing World a smile now and then helps fathom some of the things going on around us. Such as an e-mail I received yesterday:
"This morning, from a cave somewhere in Pakistan, Taliban Minister of
Migration, Mohammed Omar, warned the United States that if military action in Iraq continues, Taliban authorities will cut off America's supply of convenience store managers. And, if this action does not yield sufficient results, cab drivers will be next, followed by Dell, H-P and IBM customer service reps."
Sounds like they are getting serious!!

By the way, I wonder what would have happened if the outgoing Mayor of Dallas had worked as hard to keep the Cowboys in Dallas as she did to keep the Texas-Oklahoma game in the Cotton Bowl for future years?

Perhaps we have wondered aloud enough for this time about The World Around Us! Much more and we may be a candidate for a "mean-mugging!"

Murphy Martin

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Previous commentaries:
"Birthday Time Again"
"Presidents -- Past and Present"
"Expensive Babies"
"Change of Pace"
"Yesterday Katie Said Goodbye to Today"
"Musical Chairs Continue at ABC-TV"
"No Quick Support for Bush Plan"
"Moussaoui Meeting with Virgins Delayed"
"What the Hell Happened?"
"His Name is Still Magic"
"The Tallest Pine is Gone"
"Keeping America Free"
"Remembering"
"Christians vs Muslims"
"Bush Bucks Bashing"
"Early Look at 2008"
"Contrasting Memories"
"Reporter's Rough Roads"
"Another Cowboys Loss"
"People, Places and Things"
"Super Bowl Wasn't So Super"
"State of the Union"
"Is God Dead in Europe?"
"Remembering Dr. King"
"This Week in Review"
"New Year, New Challenges"
"The Party's Over"
"Democracy in the Middle East"
"Unfinished Business"
"Merry Christmas Rules"
"Bush Unveils Plans"
"Today is Special"
"Border Security Now!!!"
"Stupidity Loses Financing"
"Crisis Christians"
"They Led the Way"
"Sadistic Saddam Hussein"
"Bourbon Street Bashing"
"Hurricane Aftermath"
"Standing Tall"
"Never a Dull Moment"
"Another Hero Laid to Rest"
"Blame Game"
"Senior Thoughts For the Young"
"Role Model Challenge"
August 18 - "Network News Anchors"
August 11 - "Now All Three Are Gone"
August 4 - "Trust in the Media"
July 28 - "Television Then and Now"
July 21 - "The Mick"
July 14 - "Forty Years and Counting"