Ever feel like there is nothing but bad news, or the world is collapsing around us?

I know I do!

A couple of months ago, it really got bad with Syria, Iraq, ISIS, North Korea and the daily reports of record bad weather. It was biblical. Fast forward a couple of weeks, and miraculously you hear nothing about Syria, beheadings, school shootings or the missing Malaysia aircraft.

Thank God… now we only have to worry about Ebola. Five thousand poor souls in Africa and six unlucky people in the U.S. have died or contracted this very “scary” disease. It was 24 hour coverage. By the way, and for the record, it is estimated that 30,000 people die and over 200,000 hospitalized each year, in the U.S. alone, from the common flu.

Wait a second and think about that!

Who causes this concern? THE MEDIA!

Every day there are crimes committed and the case is literally tried in the court of public opinion. I am not standing up for criminals, but why do I have to watch three weeks of a Michael Brown case on T.V. (was shot in Missouri by a cop who ordered him out of the street)? Why do I have to watch rioters and looters taking the opportunity to commit a crime on a business and accept it as public outrage? The guy robbed a store 15 minutes before he got shot. It’s whatever the Media chooses to cover and deem newsworthy. Then it is “spun” to a racial issue.

As a financial consultant, it has always gotten under my skin when news commentators use extraordinary terms for common events, simply to either make a story interesting or for ratings. “The Market plummeted”… it was down 100 points (on today’s standards not even a blip on the radar screen at ½% move). The Market “surged” (that was the other day) and it was up 70 points (less than ½%). It’s enough to make you feel like a dog chasing his tail!

I am not condemning the media, as they have the most important job in the world. They are the fabric which connects us and in their own way protect us. However, one must understand the dynamics and not get caught up in the hype. Depending upon which station, you must further filter out their own agenda, like one U.S. channel, which I won’t name. This channel is extreme right-wing Republican American hype and if a Democrat cured cancer, AIDs, or was the second coming of Christians, I doubt it would make it to the “air”.

What’s the worst part about all of this? They are strictly regulated.

What is the answer? I don’t have it. It is something we must accept, but realize it is there. If not, I might be visiting you in the sanitarium.