The shooting in Tucson has turned into a circus of pointing fingers.
We desperately try and make sense of a senseless crime committed by a deranged individual because we have this need to comprehend how and why anyone could do something so horrible. Instead of focusing on Jared Loughner, it’s turned into Rhetoric. Tea party activists blaming liberals, liberals blaming Sarah Palin, An Arizona Sheriff calling out the media for inciting anger and hatred, and the current state of the economy and political climate in the U-S as a reason for a new breed of home grown terrorists. We discussed this tonight on Fox29 news at 10pm. Author Buzz Bissinger weighed in calling the blame game insanity and this was the lone act of a disturbed man. We should be focusing on the mental health issue in this country, said Buzz. From all accounts so far Jared Loughner had a troubled past, filled with anger and anti-government sentiment and he targeted Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Many commented on my facebook page agreeing with Buzz but others saying the politicians and media feed weak minds. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. My prayers tonight to all the victims and their families.
Economic outlook 2011
2010 was a rough year. We all want to say goodbye to the recession and hello to more jobs. Sadly economists I talk to don’t expect the job market to improve much in the New Year. With that said, the number of jobless claims fell to their lowest level in two and a half years this week. Pending home sales are up slightly while mortgage rates are inching back up with 30 yr. fixed mortgages just below 5%. Financial Expert Todd Shoenberger tells me he doesn’t believe the housing market will improve much in 2011. On a good note the stock market had a good year and so portfolios and 401k’s that took a hit are in better shape and Shoenberger says take advantage of matching funds given by company’s and flex spending accounts.
Texting & Driving
Texting while driving? When will it end? When will people realize how dangerous it is. Safety comes first but people still think they can multi-task, look down, and not be held accountable. A few days ago I saw a father texting while driving with his children in the car. Does he not realize the risk. I’ve been close to being hit several times by people who were too busy on their phones or blackberries to care. A new report out in Phiadelphia shows that since December, police have written more than 18-thousand tickets for texting or talking on a cellphone without hands-free. That averages 48 tickets a day. In a city this size, that means the vast majority are getting away with it. Why aren’t people paying attention to the law here? The law doesn’t seem to be a deterent and maybe it should be a state law. Right now if you are caught in Philly the penalty is a 75 to 300 dollar fine. Is sending a message really worth a life? According to AAA last year more than 5500 people died from distracted driving. One accident , one death is one too many. What did you do before? Be patient and go hands free and wait until you get out of the vehicle to send that so important message.