Well, it’s been a couple years since I’ve worked for The Record. I didn’t grow tired of it, but being the editor of the Opinion section requires staying up-to-date with current affairs and whatnot, and that can wear on you.

Sure, it’s claimed that the media disproportionally reports the bad news, that stories of tragedy and rotten people are thrown at us more and more to gain ad revenue or contribute to a culture of fear. But what if things really are just getting worse?

Keeping up with the news can be depressing, but I’m down to give it another shot. Since this is the welcome-back issue, and since I’m just settling into this, I’m going to keep my topics light. So, that said, let’s see what’s been going on this week!

Here’s something. Iowa has been issuing gun permi — huh… Iowa has been issuing gun permits to blind people. Well, isn’t that something… Says here on Huffington Post that “state law does not allow sheriffs to deny an Iowan the right to carry a weapon based on physical ability.”

Blind Iowan (or Bliowan) Michael Barber is one of many visually disabled gun owners in the state. While he didn’t have anything to see, he had this to say to The Register last month: “When you shoot a gun, you take it out and point and shoot, and I don’t necessarily think eyesight is necessary.”

This isn’t a bad story, right? I mean, what a progressive stance Iowa has taken on the Americans with Disabilities Act! Right on, Michael Barber. We need more Bliowans like you to “shoot down” inequality! Heh! Heh heh!

What else happened this week? Oh, here we go. This doesn’t look like a “feel-good” story per se, but it looks like it ends in victory for the good guys. In Pine Bluff, Ark., a man threatened two people with a gun in their home. Although the gunman was shot and killed by SWAT officers during negotiations, the two people were able to make it out before there was any gunfire. Again, not a tragedy. The victims ended up safe and sound and the police did what they had to do with gunman Monroe Isadore, a hu— hmm. They did what they had to do with Monroe Isadore, a 107-year-old man.

OK. What else have we got here… A 76-year-old Marine veteran’s $197,000 home was foreclosed over $134 in owed property taxes.

Well… that’s about all I’ve got, I think. No, I guess there’s stuff going on in Syria to talk about. I read something on the Washington Post about how peaceful protests started happening in 2011 and the government responded by “kidnapping, raping, torturing and killing activists and their family members, including a lot of children, dumping their mutilated bodies by the sides of roads.” There have been over 100,000 casualties since then and, recently, the use of chemical weapons on civilians.

But Obama says we might not be bombing them, maybe! So that’s good.

Have a good 9-11.

Jonny Moran can be reached by email at [email protected].