Upside Down and Inside Out

It has been many, many weeks since I've slept through the night and I wish I knew the reason therefore. At first, I literally could not stay awake past 8 pm, a joke at any age past about 10, but woke up wide awake at 3 am. Then, I stayed awake until the wee hours, the hours during which the wee ones used to require a feeding to finish sleeping through the night. Now, it's so erratic than I cannot predict if tonight is the night for good sleep or no sleep.

Last night, I read for a while, turned out the light at 10 pm, fell soundly asleep, and then bolted awake at midnight, just in time to watch all the late and late late night shows that would not exist without insommnia. They aren't all that funny when one is using them as a sleep aide: a cranky disposition affects the response to the alleged jokes that may be more humorous earlier in the evening. I've tried reading, just getting back into sleep posture and hoping, as well as sipping hot tea or hot chocolate while watching terminally boring TV, but nothing seems to work.

Of course there are sleeping pills, both OTC and prescription, but I am one of those people who feels that using a synthetic product to achieve a natural result is not what my body needs or wants. Usually, these cycles of insommnia naturally fade after about 2 weeks, but this time, it's taking longer for my body to recycle itself into a new cicadian rhythm. Meanwhile, I'm watching the recycled programs that I missed during the day on either CNN or HLN, a variety of short shows that covers the gamut of what's happening in the world while I'm doing other things.

One of the middle-of-the-night stations clarified that Jon Gosselin probably trashed his own NY apartment and slashed all his personal belongings, then blamed it on his ex, Haley, so he can collect insurance. He is behind on his rent (huh, wonder why), can't get a job, has no viable income (K8 evidently cut off his ... allowance), and NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE. He owes child support for his little tribe of dependents (yeah, Jon, you did use them as a tax deduction), which he also cannot pay. The Goss is proof positive that it is possible to cut off one's nose to spite one's face.

And, believe it or not, more travelers are upset with longer lines at check-in than they are with over-all security measures taken to keep them safer in the skies. As one interviewee put it, "If my number is up, there ain't nothing no one can do about it." Well said, sir, but I wonder how many of the other passengers aboard your plane share your whatever attitude? Or, perhaps, the innocent victims upon whom the blown-apart airliner may come to rest? Or, the surge in copycat doers who may find it cool to watch the reruns of the devastating explosion that kills all aboard and far too many victims on the ground?

As far as the pundit spin goes, it's pretty much what one would expect: one side favors being proactive, while the other side continues to favor being reactive. Again, I guess that choice is determined by how often one flies at the mercy of a terrorist who just wants to deflower his heavenly virgins. This terrorist attack was not prevented, it was botched, and you can bet that the next extremist wrapped in explosives will be better trained in the detonation process and, therefore, successful.

Which flight? Which extremist group? What kind of explosive in what kind of container? What difference does it make? When we fail to prevent the event, all we're left with is scraping bits and pieces of human remains out of the debris and decrying the loss of American lives, while exploring diplomatic solutions to terrorist actions, an oxymoron any way you look at it.

I favor limiting the number of overseas flights for passengers that have a more active terrorist mindset than others. These individuals are on a watch list for a reason, so use that reason to keep them off the planes, or at least from landing on American soil. And when a parent contacts the government and says, "I think my son has been radicalized and is planning a terrorist act," believe the parent and keep the kid off the plane! I also believe that authorities should round up and deport all the "students" with expired student visas who not only no longer attend a school, but who also do not appear to be gainfully employed. If they aren't dealing drugs to pay the rent or living off a Pell Grant, they just may be making bombs.

The caution: it's better to be safe than to be sorry.