“People are sheep. TV is the shepherd.” ― Jess C. Scott, Author

Hello and welcome. Truth these days has become a rare commodity. Once you leave the Bible itself, well, you really do have to be able to sift through the chaff of what passes itself off as factual information. This is what I thought about as I began to think about thinking about something to share with you on this Thursday, February 12, 2015. This recent episode of outright fabrication put forth time and time again by what many reported to be their most trusted news person, Brian Williams of NBC News, calls into question the matter of trust that we have in our sources for information. Having admitted to telling stories about his experiences in a war zone that were not true, now every story he has ever reported is being fact checked. His eye witness accounts from New Orleans during Katrina are under particular scrutiny. Many of the personal events he has written and talked about from his early life are also being questioned. Bottom line, he is in a whole heap of trouble having been caught lying. (Before this situation came about Mr. Williams was listed as the 23rd most trusted person in our nation. After last week in a new poll he has dropped to 835.) He may not make it back into his regular reporting chair and even if he does he will likely never regain the high level of trust that he once enjoyed. He never enjoyed that from me. Why? Because I'm so smart? Not even close. It's because I do try to check things out and I can tell you that he and the rest of those involved in what is called the mainstream media are never unbiased in their reporting. I say it again, once you leave the Bible, you better be prepared to check things out. (I did read yesterday that Mr. Williams has been suspended for 6 months without pay.)

Mr. Williams does have his supporters. From professionals to his associates, all kinds of proposals have been floated in attempting to explain how this misremembering might have occurred. A cursory review of some of the questionable accounts coming out of the examination of his earlier reporting tells me that he and his many apologists have much more 'splainin to do'. With everything that has been done life can end up seeming not to be fair. A university study indicated that of the 100 top grossing films from 2014 only 12% had a woman in the lead role. Furthermore, their review of 2300 actor portrayals indicated that women were more likely to be cast in supporting roles of caring while men were more likely to get into fights. We are not movie goers so I really have little to add but this all seems kind of silly to me. Women being kind and supportive. Men being aggressive and combative. Wow! That is a weird deal. I am laughing but according to the article I read it has many people really stirred up. To many it's probably not a laughing matter, but, sorry, I'm still laughing.

I had a conversation recently with a young man. I asked him why he was so down in the mouth. (A look of sadness and discouragement.) He told me he had to be living the most boring life one could ever imagine. That gave me an opportunity to tell him a little story. I told him about a fellow who recently came back to work for our company. He had left about four months ago. This fellow had talked endlessly for days about this great opportunity and all the perks and benefits he would enjoy when he took this new job. I told this young man how that I heard what the man was saying but my experience told me it would never be what he thought it would be. The fellow was caught up in a dream of his own making. That grass looked so green over there. It didn't take this fellow long to realize the grass was green because it was on top of a septic tank, and, oh by the way, the new job didn't smell so good after all. He is now back here and glad to be back. My advice to the young man was that he look around at the blessings that he enjoyed in his present circumstance and be thankful for them even as he continued to prepare himself for what God had for him going forward. He acted like I had encouraged him. That was my intention. I've been that fellow looking at the greener pasture so I wasn't just telling him something I had only observed. Maybe he will avoid those hard learning experiences. I pray that he will. Take care and I'll catch back up with you next time. May God help us all is my prayer. Amen. .... More later.