Joke's on US...

I opened up the morning Sunday Times Union - I'm no longer shocked by headlines and stories that have become all too familiar. How many times do the same stories have to be repeated over and over and over again before anybody "gets it?"

People, we have problems. They are below, ripped from the TU headlines; attached you'll find my solutions suggestions.

Revolution of the North African kind may or may not hit here. As I outlined yesterday, General Motors bears a great responsibility for the economic turmoil facing America now.

NO FAIRYTALE ENDING

No surprise, either! Another one of those "Extreme Makeover" projects ends in disaster. Only this time it's local. A few snippets from the story:

"Colonie Police are familiar with 23 Fairway Lane. Officers filed 18 incident reports between 1997 and 2007..."

"School and property taxes tripled to about $10,500... (the house) had a market value of $433,000 in 2009, compared to the $136,000 bungalow they tore down for the show."

"What had been a six-figure (trust) fund, along with accrued interest, has now largely been spent down after paying off the mortgage and four years of taxes..."

I remember when the show came to Colonie to "help" a "struggling" family. Questions were already raised in the blogosphere as to whether this kind of "handout" was a good idea. For the locals, it was not.

SOLUTION ::: No handouts for people who can't handle them. Or, in this case, at least pay their property taxes for the next 50 years upfront.

FIRST GAS, NOW FOOD

Ho-hum. Again? Really? Nobody gets it.

SOLUTION ::: (this'll never happen) President Obama subpoena the blueprints for the EV1 automobile from General Motors and give every US automaker access to them. Had this car and its technology been allowed to develop, gas would be about 99 cents a gallon today.

RABBI WEARING A BADGE, NOT A POLICE OFFICER

No matter how good intentions are, it doesn't take much these days to de-rail ANY man of the cloth of any faith!

"In Brooklyn, where (Rabbi) Freilich is widely known, he double-parks his vehicle, blocks fire hydrants, leaves the vehicle sitting in bus stops while shopping..."

"An agency spokesman also said they did not sanction the installation of emergency lights and a siren in Freilich's vehicle."

SOLUTION ::: Keep church and state seperated, like the original plan sez...

Now, what SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON PAGE ONE (but at least made page one of the "Capital Region" section, Section D...)

SWEENEY TALKS OF LOSS, HEALING

A man local media loved to hate has turned the tables on his own worst enemy, alcohol.

"Losing a seat in Congress wasn't my biggest loss... It was the loss of myself and the loss of everything that went with it..."

The story of someone coming back into his own from being down and out is an inspiring one and a balance to all of the abovementioned articles.