Sometimes, I just shake my head...

I listen to the news. A lot. On the radio, on the TV, and I'm a digital person too -- cnn.com, sfgate.com, a number of international sites, etc., etc. (I also do the New York Times digitally, since I'm a subscriber to their "real" newspaper...)

What I've been hearing and seeing and reading lately just blows my mind. One would think that, after all these years, being the cynical, worldly person that I am, a woman of mature years, I would not be shocked or amazed or even worried about anything I could possibly glean from all these sources. And, truly, I wouldn't say I'm often shocked. Amazed, occasionally. Worried, frequently. But, then, being a student of history, I take comfort in the fact that it's all been seen and said and done before.

What made me just roll my eyes and shake my head this morning was the item (which has been bouncing around for a couple of days, or more) that Mr. Assad, the head of Syria (is his first name Bashar? Bashir?), has or is considering lifting the "emergency" declaration . . . which has been in effect for -- get this -- fifty (50) years. How, pray tell, can an "emergency" last for 50 years? Isn't the nature of an emergency kind of a "right now" thing? I suppose that "right now" could, on the other side of The Great Wormhole, last 50 years, but in our time plane, not so much (at least in my little head).

And, good old Prince Ali (of Saudi Arabia), big-time investor in many US companies, talking on some TV program (maybe yesterday) about how bad it is that women in his country can't do so many things. Yup, terrible, I'm so with you, guy. (So, my friend, what are you doing about it?) Crocodile tears?

And, here in the USA, I am just rolling my eyes and reaching for my Tums every time I see The Donald, talking about his potential presidential bid. Now, I've said many times that I'm outta here if such-and-such happens. The Donald in the White House just might be the tipping point (to use a "today" phrase). The idea that he is even taken semi-seriously, even by the lunatic fringe, is enough to make me go back to eating gluten-containing food. (I figure that the world is going to hell so I might as well live it up for the final few years.) Even if he weren't such a jerk, the idea of a real estate developer in any position in power is frightening. Oh, and today's item on The Donald, on some website, was that Donald says he's worth as much as he feels. OK, then, it's an interesting way to calculate one's net worth. I'm there... Oy!!!

On the up side, my kitties still are their own cute selves, my spouse is just slightly battered and bruised (after falling -- twice -- off the roof of the garage he's fixing, up at the Berkeley house), the children are (as far as I can tell) doing well, my car still runs, there's food in the kitchen, my clothes still fit (they're a little tighter than I'd like), and the black helicopters haven't shown up over my house . . . yet.

It's Good Friday, and Sunday is Easter. I wish we -- in my family -- had some sort of tradition that we could celebrate. Perhaps we'll just have to go with the lifting of the Syrian "emergency" law... You take what you can get, sometimes!