Bugs's Blog

A member posted this post, but it turned into a battle (go figure) so she edited the post and turned her comments off; I don’t blame her. I hope she doesn’t mind me reposting this. If she does, all she has to do is say so and I’ll pull it down.

“This blog is not about the news, but it is about current events here in the Fox4 NEWS blogs. Really this is a plea for a new blog category, we could call it "Ridiculous Alter Blogs" or " Insulting Juvenile Blogs". Come on Alice, help us out here. You can just move the blogs to their new category and I and others who really would like to blog about the news won't have to wade through ridiculous amounts of nonsense on the news blogs. You could just call it "Insult Blogs" or "Trash Mouth 101 Blogs" Surely, these blogs would be very easy to identify. Surely, you agree that it has gotten unbearably ridiculous.

Anyone who would like to suggest a name for the new category, please share. Maybe Fox4 will choose yours :)

Those participating in the nonsense the titles above imply, don't waste your time posting a comment here, I won't even read it before I delete it :)”

My questions are for those members who post non-news in the news category.

Why do you do it? Is it the attention? Is it you don’t know the difference between news, entertainment, politics, sports, and faith? Or is that you just don’t care or because you can? I don’t understand people not using this forum, especially the “News” category, as the blog was intended to be used.

Good Morning Everyone!
Bugs

PS: Just tell my why you or you think people post non-news in the “News” section. I’m not looking for a blog battle so keep personal observations about other members to yourself; I’ll delete them anyway.

I was just sitting here thinking about why I’ve been so cranky towards the blog lately. I know why I come here; that’s easy. I enjoy most of the people who contribute to this forum.

Overall, or should I say individually, ya’ll are good people. So if this place is so great and I love all ya’ll so much, why do I find myself getting grumpy every time I come here?

Is it the alters? Nope. Heck, sometimes they’re the most entertaining “things” on the board. I’m even guilty of creating a couple of my own (Wayne's World & Master Yoda; sorry). More power to those of you who have managed to have never created an alter and may you stay steadfast in your purity, but alters aren’t my biggest gripe.

Is it all the fussing and fighting? Nope. The only time blatant aggression really gets to me is when I see INNOCENT people being attacked for no reason. Notice I said “INNOCENT”. In my opinion there are only two blog veterans that come close to wearing the badge of innocence. Other than those two, none of us are innocent. We’re all guilty of making slurs or jabs or picking outright fights with other people.

“Let those amongst without sin cast the first stone.” So it’s not for me to complain about something that I’ve done.

Well it’s not alters and it’s not the fighting, then what is it?

Is it the egomaniacs? No; I like big egos. They have great sense of humors. Is it the know it alls, the done it alls, or the seen it alls? Nope. I’ve seen it all, done it all and…well, I’ll have to pass on the last one, but those types of people make life interesting. Right?

To be honest, what gripes me is that the “News” category is misused, neglected and abused. Of course FOX moderators are in control of which category what post goes in, but they usually allow the posts to remain where they are originally posted. I don’t like that, but who really cares what I don’t like, huh?

If I were “King of the Blog” (LOL), I’d promptly move any non-news posts into another category. A post about sports would be zapped into the sports section; a post about politics would go in politics and so on and so forth. Boy wouldn’t ya’ll love me?

Dedication blogs and battle blogs would be a thing of the past. If the post didn’t fall into one of the established categories, out the door it would go.

Unfortunately that would pretty much leave the “News” category empty. That would also force someone to decide what news is and what’s not news. What’s news to some people isn’t news at all to other people. This gets me to the purpose of this post.

Perhaps some members aren’t familiar with what news is and what news isn’t.

What’s News?

Most anything published or broadcasted by any news media is news. Now there can be sports (steroid usage) and politics (Foley gets nabbed or Clinton gets his) on the front page and that is considered news, but your opinion about your favorite team or what a scumbag Bush or Clinton are, isn’t news.

Those are “Sports” and “Politics”.

Entertainment news can be news too (ie: the writer’s strike), but telling everyone you can’t stand Britney is NOT news.

In other words news is pretty much anything that’s in the media that can’t fall into any of the other categories.

Now that leaves us with birthday wishes, I had a baby, my dog died, my wife is sick, google won’t work, going on vacation, and my neighbor’s dog crapped in my front yard again. Those are all news. Yep. That’s all news.

The reason those subjects are news to me is because they’re very real happenings and thoughts about those events in the lives of real people. To me, that’s hyper-hyper local news. Anyone remember that?

Hyper-local news is any news happening in your community. From a burned down IHOP to a lost dog, that’s all considered hyper-local news.

News can also be fun and funny.

Begging for money is not news.

What’s also not news is standing in the middle of the forum crying about how much you hate someone or can’t stand this person because they said this or think that way. News is not hormonal rants about how much you hate everyone on the blog; news is not middle aged men flexing their mental muscles. Folks, that’s not news at all; that’s dribble and we have plenty of double dribblers around here.

If ya’ll want to duke it out, go to the entertainment section and we’ll all be happy to go down there and watch and even join in, but take your battles out of the news, please.

Giant pictures of snowing mountains is not news; jokes are not news; daily observations of blog battles are not news; open threads are not news, and let’s all have an orgy on my blog is not news.

Well, maybe that last one could be news.

I know why people post non-news posts in the “News” category. More people visit the “News” category (expecting to find news LOL); members want to post where they will be seen by the most people, but if it’s not news the post doesn’t belong here. Set your ego aside and post it somewhere else.

I’m sure I’ve stepped on a lot of toes and said a lot of silly things (what’s new?), but you can take solace in knowing I am neither the ‘King of the Blog” or any type of blog law enforcement. You guys can relax; they’re just words.

Now I’d be hypocritical if I sat here and complained about people complaining and not posting any news and not post any news, so here I go.

Did any of ya’ll see that story the other day on the woman and son who saw the woman’s dead son’s face in a tie dyed shirt? That, to me, was NOT news, but FOX thought it was. So what do ya’ll think? Is that really a message from her son or are they loco?

If ya’ll aren’t familiar with the story, I’ll summarize.

A woman’s son died and she tie dyed a shirt and an image of her dead son appeared in the dyed shirt. (Trying saying that fast three times)

At least that’s what the mother and brother say.

Ya’ll have a good day!?
Bugs

Happy New Year Everyone!

Except for the sound of three firecrackers at midnight, New Years passed without much fanfare.  Sleep took over somewhere during the news making the last news story of 2007, at least for me, the story about the lady getting tossed off the bus for reading the Bible out loud to her children.

Not only was this not news last night, but FOX felt compelled to re-run the article this morning.  The only logical reason FOX would create news out of such a non-event might be because they’re trying to shake off the byproduct of reporting the truth (liberalism), but, to me, creating Christian conservative news is a bit obvious and debasing.

Between Dart and the T, does anyone have a clue how many people are asked to get off trains or busses every year for creating disturbances? Many of those people are preaching “their” own form of gospel, but no Christian subculture of the ACLU jumped in to defend those peoples’ rights.  I have little doubt the woman was treated any differently than if she had been reading a newspaper or reciting “Mother Goose” rhymes at the same voice level as she was reading the Bible. 

If she was speaking as loudly on the bus as she was in the newscast, she certainly would have prevented other passengers from reading quietly to themselves. She would have also more than likely silenced any conversations between other passengers and perhaps even been a distraction to the bus driver.  In my opinion the T went above and beyond their obligation by delivering the woman to church.

Being familiar with these types of Christians, my guess is this lady was not just reading the Bible to her children; she was in essence preaching to everyone else on the bus. She was probably quite proud of herself up until the time she was asked to stop.  The only advice I could give to her would be to either keep her voice down to an unobtrusive tone or restrict her preaching to where and when preaching is appropriate.

I hope ya’ll have a great day!
Bugs

Disclaimer: This is in no way a political endorsement or advertisement. I just want to share, that’s all.

 

I was unsure where to post this.  In one sense, yes the story is political, but in another sense I find the piece appropriate for the “Faith” category. But then again politics and faith tend to rub people the wrong way so I’ll just post this up here in the news section.

 

I’ve been a long time fan of Sen. McCain for many years and have a great deal of respect for him. This is the text of Sen. McCain’s last campaign email. I really enjoyed reading it and I hope you do too.

 

This it the picture that came with the email.

 

“My Christmas Story "

 

As a POW, my captors would tie my arms behind my back and then loop the rope around my neck and ankles so that my head was pulled down between my knees. I was often left like that throughout the night.

 

One night a guard came into my cell. He put his finger to his lips signaling for me to be quiet, and then loosened my ropes to relieve my pain. The next morning, when his shift ended, the guard returned and retightened the ropes, never saying a word to me.

 

A month or so later, on Christmas Day, I was standing in the dirt courtyard when I saw that same guard approach me. He walked up and stood silently next to me, not looking or smiling at me.

 

After a few moments had passed, he rather nonchalantly used his sandaled foot to draw a cross in the dirt. We stood wordlessly looking at the cross, remembering the true light of Christmas, even in the darkness of a Vietnamese prison camp. After a minute or two, he rubbed it out and walked away.

 

That guard was my Good Samaritan. I will never forget that man and I will never forget that moment. And I will never forget that, no matter where you are, no matter how difficult the circumstances, there will always be someone who will pick you up and carry you.

 

May you and your family have a blessed Christmas and Happy Holidays,

John McCain”

 

I hope that if you find yourself facing “difficult circumstances" this season  you can remember, “there will always be someone who will pick you up and carry you.”

 

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Wayne

In the spirit of Christmas I thought I’d surf through the FOX4 website (Did you know they actually have news here?) in search of some heartwarming holiday news story to share with everyone.

 

Oh well, better luck next time.

 

Obviously, the holiday story that jumped off the page was a story about an elderly woman who came home to find her house burglarized and her presents stolen from underneath the tree. To make matters worse, the lady’s dog had passed away about six months ago. It’s just a shame; a real shame.

 

Here’s the link: “Thieves Steal Elderly Woman’s Christmas Presents.”

 

Moving on down the list of local news stories I came upon another not so heartwarming holiday story about man in McKinney who was following UPS trucks and stealing packages off peoples’ front porches.

 

Here’s the link: “Man Arrested for UPS Package Thefts in McKinney"

 

The first line of the first story pretty much sums up the first thought that ran through my head when I read these two articles.  “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas is apparently alive and well in Dallas.” I could just see the “Grinch” going door to door stealing Christmas gifts and busting down some sweet grandmother’s door to take her gifts.

 

The police suggest having your packages delivered to the post office, but if anyone has been to the post office lately, standing in the usual long line doesn’t outweigh the risk of having a package stolen.

 

They also suggest keeping up an extra close eye on your neighborhood and neighbor’s houses for suspicious activity or people who don’t look like they belong in the neighborhood and call 911.

 

I guess an appropriate season’s greeting would be, “Merry Christmas and Keep Your Weapons Handy.”

 

It’s a real shame that at this time of the year there’s an increase in these types of crimes and criminals who play on the spirit of the season.

 

What’s even worse is that this is the time of year when emotions run high, suicide takes more lives than any other time, and people (family and friends) find themselves bickering amongst themselves.

 

This shouldn’t be the time of year of higher crime rates, increased tensions, and hatefulness.  On the contrary, this should be the season of giving, spiritual peace, and love.

 

OK, there you go Alice. Sorry to digress towards the end, but I couldn’t help myself.

 

I wish ya'll had a "Preview" option.

Yesterday a man in Omaha walked into a mall and began shooting holiday shoppers leaving eight dead.

Because the man left a note behind stating the shootings would make him famous, that’s all that will be said about this person, but the silence in this forum about this event seems odd.

There are “news” blogs on everything from Baron’s wardrobe to homosexuality to a stolen donut truck to just about everything in between, but nothing about the eight victims of the gunman.

There’s nothing about the tragedy of those innocent people which could have been any one of us in any mall in America. Worse yet, imagine the terror of knowing your child, spouse, or parent was in that mall at the time of the shooting.

I don’t know; it just seems that after a mass shooting such as this one, there should be at least one post on this tragedy by now.

My heart and prayers go out to the family and friends of the victims.

Use your imagination and picture the following conversation.

 

911 Operator: 911 what is your emergency?

 

Caller: Yeah, I just had a burger and it was too salty.

 

Abuse of power has reached a new high or should I say low.  A girl working at a fast food restaurant in Ga. was arrested after admitting she accidentally spilled salt on a hamburger then served the burger to a police officer.

 

According to the girl, a co-worker and her manager wiped the salt off the burger before serving the burger to a police officer. The police officer says he got sick from eating the salty burger and arrested the girl for reckless conduct.

 

My question is, if you or I, not being police officers, reported a salty burger to the police, do you think anyone would have been arrested?

 

PS: I realize this is the third post on the same subject, but the more the merrier.

We’ll let’s see what in the news today.

 

Internationally:

Hurricane Felix is headed towards Central America as a category 5 (sounds bad).

 

The war in Iraq doesn’t seem to have gone anywhere (no easy way out).

 

Nationally:

The last abortion clinic in Mississippi is fighting to stay open (big controversy).

 

Those Democrats are going at it head to head while the Republicans are deciding who wants who to do what (great politics).

 

On the Local front:

Another kid died of a cheese overdose (sad trend).

 

The Flower Mound Police Association is about to hold a benefit to help an injured officer (heart warming).

 

…and there’s a serial rapist on the loose (scary).

 

Does anyone have any thoughts on any of today’s news?

 

Wayne