A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom. —Martin Luther King, Jr.
Between terrorists’ bombs and bad politics, feelings of impending doom are difficult to shake.
I hate to admit it, but yesterday’s bombings in Brussels hit me extra hard. I was sitting here yesterday morning, looking for a picture in the archives, when the news flash came across my screen. I wasn’t surprised. Police have been focusing on Belgium since the Paris attacks in November. At the moment, it seemed just another sad facet of the increasingly violent reality in which we live. Push forward. Keep going.
There was something different this time, though; something I have more difficulty explaining. Kat and I were having a rare quiet lunch at one of our favorite Mass Ave. restaurants and instead of enjoying the brief moment without children I couldn’t shake the feeling that something in the universe had changed that morning, and not for the better. There was an emotional shift toward that feeling of impending doom. This was before I heard of the Peruvian mother of three-year-old twins who died at the ticket counter. Neither had I seen the pictures and videos of broken glass and strewn bodies. Brussels, somehow, was different.
Be sure, security forces around the world are on heightened alert and I don’t expect they’ll be too friendly with anyone they see wearing only one glove as yesterday’s suspected bombers did. At almost exactly the same time, without knowledge of the Brussels attacks, the US military conducted an airstrike against an Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula training camp in Yemen.  If we’re counting body bags, we killed more of them than they did us. Is this feeling of doom really necessary and warranted?
Politics isn’t helping. The US presidential primary race has done a very good job of demonstrating the Dilbert principle of the least qualified rising to the top. If Scott Adams were to illustrate the current nominees, he’d have nothing but a row of pointy-haired bosses lined up making excuses and blaming everyone else for all the world’s problems, making the most bizarre and nonsensical statements, each trying to outdo the other’s stupidity. Given that from this set of clowns we are destined to choose our next president, it is difficult to imagine the next four years going in a positive direction.
Top that with tensions in East Asia. Every time North Korea lobs another set of missiles into the Sea of Japan or China sends warships into portions of the South China Sea claimed by Japan, I get nervous. I have a son stationed on one of the bases in Okinawa. It doesn’t take a great military strategist to figure out that should tensions escalate into actual fighting, our first line of defense, and offense, is going to come from those bases. Marines have a history of being the first into a situation. That does not give me any comfort at the moment.
My dreams last night played off this feeling of impending doom. In my dreams, I was supposed to be on a multi-city European photography tour, but I missed my flight at one of the stops and was stuck in, of all places, Brussels. The dreams weren’t necessarily horrific in any way; they centered on the frustration of not being able to find anyone who could help me catch up with the group. But that challenge of not being able to find help when it was needed lasted all night long. I was rather relieved when my alarm went off.
So, how do we shake this feeling of impending doom? We all know that we can’t be productive with such negative emotions dominating our lives. Is this just common anxiety run amok? If so, Kat’s continual charge that I need to chill would seem to be appropriate. Oh, but did you know that physical issues such as cardiac arrhythmia and myocardial infarction can also cause one to have feelings of impending doom? Ah, and apparently too much Nutmeg can cause hallucinations and feelings of impending doom. Anything that interrupts the natural, steady heart rate can result in us feeling as though the entire world is about to end. I’ll be sure to take my blood pressure meds this morning.
Beyond all that, though, I think we have to take control of the information we receive and how we respond to those things we cannot control. I have a list of things that I think might help. Mind you, I’m not a medical or psychiatric professional, but a quick survey of materials didn’t give me much faith in the ability of professionals to address the situation, either. So, let’s go with this and see what happens.
- Limit the amount of news intake. I’ll admit to being a news junkie and there are times when I can stayed glued to news feeds for hours. Now is not a good time to do that. I’m limiting myself to twice a day, no more than 30 minutes each time. Your limits may vary.
- Spend time with people, live, in person. Now is not the time to be a social hermit. We see the worst in people when our only exposure to them is Facebook. Having real conversations with people helps restore our faith in humanity as a whole.
- Give a pet a rub, unless your pet is a goldfish, in which case just watching is probably enough. Pets have a wonderful way of absorbing our anxieties, giving us a chance to relax a moment, get our breathing back on a normal pattern, and giving us a positive feeling.
- Indulge in a comfort food. Singular. One. Mine will be chocolate. While this isn’t a good time to overeat, the pleasure of a comfort food releases happy little endorphins that boosts our moods and gives us a more hopeful feeling.
- Go for a walk. Again, it’s that combination of removing yourself from those stressors, getting some exercise, and being out in nature. Precautions might be appropriate for those who have allergy issues this time of year, though. Sneezing and runny noses don’t help.
- Smoke ’em if you’ve got ’em. I know, every health professional on the planet just screamed in anguish at that one. Â Let’s get real, though. If we’re all going to die (and we are), we want to feel in control of what takes us there. The pain of lung cancer is preferable to being a bombing victim because we’re the ones in control. Yes, it’s a bad habit and you really should stop. But a couple of puffs of a pipe or a good cigar can be therapeautic. And if you’re smoking green rather than brown, all the better.
if none of those work, then perhaps it’s time to consult a professional. I would recommend starting with your family doctor. Cardiac issues really do impact our emotional state and feelings of impending doom. We can shake this, though. If we don’t, we seal our own fate.
Good luck.
5 Things You Should Know: 01.07.17
06:02:29Â 01/07/2017
https://youtu.be/4MvFw37SdSk
No rest because of the wicked
Ah, Saturday, we’re supposed to have a little lighter fare today, aren’t we? I’m afraid that’s not going to be possible. For those of us here in the Midwest, we’re waking up to temperatures at or below zero, which makes being out at all for any length of time rather dangerous. It’s not going to get much warmer, either, as highs today will still be well below 20 degrees. Be thankful that you’re not in the Carolinas or Eastern Tennessee, however, as they got socked pretty hard with a winter storm yesterday. Fortunately, it was not as widespread as initially feared.
For a Saturday there are a surprising amount of things to talk about. Indianapolis had two more murders overnight. The president-elect is attempting to pick on Arnold Schwarzenegger over television ratings, and prison gangs in Brazil decapitated some 30 inmates as the violence there continues to escalate. These are not the type of things we like to deal with on a Saturday, but they are things you need to know. So, adult up and let’s look at our top 5 things you should know.
This isn’t supposed to be possible
Americans were taken aback yesterday when 26-year-old Esteban Santiago of Anchorage, Alaska, a National Guard veteran who served in Iraq, stepped off a plane in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, retrieved his legally-checked baggage, pulled out a gun and started shooting1. Witnesses say there was no apparent motive or reason to his shooting. Santiago simply shot at anyone and everyone until he was out of ammunition. By the time he was done, five were dead and eight others injured.
Immediately, people begin asking how and why this happened here, in Ft. Lauderdale of all places. Naturally, it’s too early to have all the answers, but a couple of things are evident at this point. First, Santiago’s family states that he had been receiving mental health care and that he “wasn’t right” after returning from Iraq2. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of soldiers having emotional and mental difficulties after returning from service. We also have to realize and come to grips with the fact that the mental health care we give our veterans sucks. If mental health proves to be part of the cause, then we all have to accept part of the blame.
At the same time, many are wondering how he was able to get a gun through the airport in his luggage. Guess what: it’s perfectly legal. Guns can be shipped in checked luggage as long as they are locked, ammunition is stored separately, and shipped in a hard-sided container. All Santiago had to do was retrieve his hard-case from the baggage area. He then went to the bathroom, assembled and loaded the weapon, and came out shooting. It’s up to the ATF now to determine whether this calls for a change in the rules. I think a lot of people flying would support that.
Russian hacking isn’t done
The National Intelligence director released a declassified copy of the same report given to President Obama and the president-elect yesterday, and what they are saying is a bit more frightening that what we first thought. There is a lot of information in the report, of course, but one of the most troubling items to stick out is the prediction that, even though the election is over, the Russians aren’t done hacking3.
The report is the most detail we’ve seen yet from national intelligence sources concerning the source and severity of Russian-backed hacking efforts regarding the election. According to the assessment, intelligence agencies have a “high amount of confidence that the GRU (a top Russian intelligence agency) relayed material it acquired from the DNC and senior Democratic officials to WikiLeaks.” While the public version lacks the supporting evidence, since that is necessarily a closely-guarded secret, the information made available makes a very strong case against the Russian government and Vladimir Putin.
Contents of the report stand in strong opposition to statements made by both the president-elect and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange this week4, both of whom denied any involvement by Russia in the election. However, what you should know is that the report is the combined work of 17 different intelligence agencies with thousands of people involved at various levels. This is much more in-depth and authoritative than a tweet pulled out of someone’s ass.
Retail continues to suck
While the store will continue to operate online, the website is showing a 50% discount across the board, indicating a severe inventory sell-off as stores begin shipping back whatever is left on their shelves when they close Sunday evening. This is a huge blow not only to the retail sector, but also to the suburban malls in which most Limited stores are located. As both retail fashion and mall shopping decline, they leave in their wake a significant blight of empty stores and large, vacant buildings.
This doesn’t come as a big surprise to The Limited’s employees. The company had announced back in the fall that it would be closing some stores and laying off employees. Both the CEO and CFO left at the end of the year with no replacement. Some stores have already been offering steep discounts up to 90%. If you have some expendable cash, this might be a good day to go shopping, but don’t expect there to be much left. No new inventory has come to the stores since the first of the year.
Other people looking for work
The Limited employees aren’t the only ones looking for work. United States Ambassadors appointed under the Obama administration are expected to resign and return home by January 206. The mandate applies only to politically-appointed positions and not career diplomats. On one level, this is pretty much business as usual during a presidential transition period.
However, what is different this time around is the requirement that everyone actually be back by the inauguration. Typically, exceptions are made for those who have children in school as well as politically sensitive locations such as Germany, Canada, and Great Britain. Failing to leave some ambassadors in place means that the United States has no Senate-confirmed envoys in those countries until Congress gets through the painfully long process of approving the president-elect’s appointments.
The move not only shows complete disregard for the importance of a cohesive foreign policy, but also leaves our closest allies without a diplomatic relationship with the White House. Ambassadors are now struggling to find new accommodations and secure visas for families who need to stay until the end of school.
And finally …
We can end today on a bit of a high note as employment figures released yesterday showed the economy creating 156,000 new jobs last month even as unemployment ticked up a tenth of a percent to 4.77. This is seen are solid growth despite the minor increase in unemployment. Hiring has continued a slow but steady increase over the past seven-and-a-half years, climbing steadily from the recession President Obama inherited from the Bush administration.
Even the unemployment was good news. The reason for that small increase was that more people were looking for jobs during the period, something that had been a point of concern for economists who were afraid too many people had simply given up. Healthcare was the sector with the largest employment gains, with restaurants and bars coming in a close second. Manufacturing finally managed to add a few new jobs last month as well, after having lost the previous four months.
Those who are gainfully employed are also making more with hourly wages up 2.9 percent, the biggest jump in the past seven years. What remains to be seen, of course, is whether this upward trend continues under the new administration. While the president-elect has bullied some companies into keeping jobs in the US, the actual number of those jobs has not been significant and could still result in yet another retreat in the manufacturing industry. We’ll just have to wait and see.
That’s all we have time for today. With weather as cold as we’re experiencing across the Midwest this morning, you’ll want to exercise extreme caution if you get out. Better yet, just stay home, stay safe, and catch up some reading. Â We are, again, taking tomorrow off, hoping nothing major happens over the next 24 hours or so. We’ll be back bright and early Monday morning. Enjoy your weekend.
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