OK, this is just irresponsible reporting

I'm sorry, but one of the Yahoo news headlines today was "Americans are lighting their cars on fire to avoid making payments." This is the video story if you care to watch it, but I'm warning you - it's stupid.

This has got to stop. Not the people lighting their cars on fire, that part's ok, but the media's constant reporting of every weird thing that's happened recently and attributing it all to the bad economy!

What's next?

"Flood waters rise in Iowa as rivers attempt to flee bad economy!"

"Immigration officials in Texas kidnapped by Americans and held for ransom in exchange for free pass into Mexico, due to bad economy."

"Polar bear clubs see dramatic rise in membership as people turn to frigid waters to steel themselves against the pain of this bad economy."

"Local bird populations dramatically down as songbirds stay in South America to avoid disastrous American economy!"

I get it, the economy sucks. It's just like it was in the early eighties, and if you're as old as I am you remember that time. I remember my mom "re-fashioning" shirts for me to wear because my dad took a pay cut (as did all the management with Caterpillar) in order to keep his job and keep the company afloat, and we had no money.

And you know what? The recession receded. Good times were again had by many for many years, until they weren't again. And then they were. And now they're not. And so on and so on.

Good thing I never get to watch the news because our TV is permanently tuned to Noggin. This would really bug me if I had to watch it, too!