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I'm a curious creature by nature, most of us tend to be. I enjoy surfing the net and reading about various tidbits from all around the globe. I'm not a sports fan but I've read plenty of sports articles. I don't care for Lady Ga Ga or the latest rappers but I know what they've been doing. I've never seen most of the current run top shows out there and I've know idea why we keep up with the Kardashians but I've spent time on OMG just to see what the rest of the world is doing. It is a wonderful ability to be able to open up the World Wide Web and learn about anything. The world is literally at your fingertips. I can be a science geek one day and a Hollywood who's who expert the next.  I can learn about the joys of a family I do not know in Petra or the sadness of a fallen soldier I'll never meet from Arkansas. I can leave my respects, my awe, my bewilderment in a comment and feel as if I have participated in the world without ever leaving the comfort of my living room. To me it should be a beautiful thing to be able to feel empathy for the individuals who inhabit our world that we will never be capable of knowing in person.

What amazes me most in regards to all of these varied posts is the comments section. In particular the often arbitrary, insulting, demeaning, demoralizing, disgusting comments that most people feel are perfectly fine to add to every article. For instance, currently there's an online story regarding a 12 year old who wandered off from the camping group with out a buddy and became lost in the woods. He was found just over 20 hours later with minimal mishap. Many comments were thankful he was found safe as the overnight temp was 31 degrees and he had no jacket, food or water. However, many more comments were about him being a great target for a gay evangelical, not smart, no big deal that he was out, too stupid for words and the list goes on. Similarly I read an article this morning on a man's very touching tribute to his pregnant wife who died in one of  the 9-11 planes. Again the comments were mixed with beautiful thoughts about what he had done and ugly racial slurs and conspiracy theories that were not needed. An article about a 90 year old 9th degree black belt contained a comment about how she probably was a bitch in bed. Rebecca Black, an online singing sensation, not for good but for bad, has some of the most hateful comments I've ever seen in print. She has been forced to drop out of regular school due to the high profile hatred she's incurring. She is 15 and getting death threats. DEATH THREATS, really?! Are we so shallow a society that a 15 year old whose only crime was poor singing is being threatened with death? After reading some story comments, I am immediately reminded that it's not that unreasonable to believe, that  issues of the days of MLK are still alive and well and not just in the south. I've even seen comments at the end of articles which debase not only the author but the entire subject being written. Why read it if you don't want to know?

If the comments were relevant, well written positions of why you disagree with the subject being discussed it would be a different story. We would have a true open discourse about an idea or subject, person or thing that would instill a debate with reasonable respect for all parties involved. Unfortunately no such thing seems to exist. Those articulate enough to write an opinion tend to not be the writer. Instead we have individuals who think writing "First to comment" as the comment serves some value in the world. We have people who can not even be bothered to spell check or use even slang correctly. We have sex starved women posting links to their sites and penis enhancement ads trying to garner our attention. We have the freedom of speech here yet what we choose to say tends to have no value.

 Why do humans feel the need to interject evil into every aspect. Why do we feel joy in tearing down those around us that may be trying to make a positive difference. I feel we are at a loss in our society. Everyone has an opinion. We do not live in a rose colored society but based on the comments that I have seen, the glass is definitely less than half empty. No Comments Please.