Greece Riots to Occupy Wallstreet to worldwide protests Connect the dots!

How can they fail to connect the dots? We are sending more and more of our children to college with huge pressures to do well. Sending them to testing centers, pushing them through the rigours of college prep, then through the mill that is college and they come out to what? Unemployment and underemployment is rampent among the newly graduated from college. This is even more true in Europe, specifically Greece. The young do not have jobs. They live at home and are supported by mom and dad. They keep trying. Jobs in Europe are protected. In most cases there is no part time work or work for teens outside of possibly family businesses. I may be simplifying this horribly, but with the benefits attached to real jobs, they are hard to find and not available to youths.

These individuals who grew up with the promise of a future, worked hard and now can't find anything are disillusioned. They have stayed in school and gone through the gamut and can't find work now that they are "finished."

what do we do? They are the ones protesting, along with those others who are affected by lost pensions, lost savings, lost health care, where they have watched the rising excesses of the past decade only to watch it all fall apart as they were to join into the fray.

Where do we go from here? Hopefully the Ghandian way. Nonviolent protest. However, there is so much pent up anger about the whole situation that it seems to be a tinder box out there.
When they feel they have so little to lose, then they will do take chances.

The protesters need to police their own ranks and take care of the violent, destructive forces. They will get them no where fast.

This topic bears some more thought. And since no one seems to be reading what I say, I think I have a bit more time to chew on it all.

Thank you Andy Rooney

I just finished listening to Andy Rooney's last 60 Minutes piece. Wow. How can one sum up 33 years of writing presented by a writer on TV? The everyday things stated in a grumpy but honest way on National TV? Thank you Andy for the laughs and tears.

We have gotten to see ourselves grow older. We have a few icons who have been allowed to continue to work on into ages that many of us will never see. We hear about others our age who pass suddenly not able to live the long lives some do. But in the case of CBS, we have the chance to watch those we have watched since high school. Yes, Andy, I dated myself there. So now that I am able to join AARP, now you can retire. Thank you for allowing us to watch and learn all these years.

If I ever see you at a restaurant, you may rest assured that I will not interrupt your meal.