Mad World???

Pandemic, economic crises and now violent rioting in the streets across our nation  ... We seem to have hit the trifecta for national unrest and disunity, and just in time for an impending election no less?  Coincidence?  Well, personally, I don't happen to believe in coincidence.  Usually, you follow the money which sad to say often goes hand-in-hand with political power and opportunism, often much to the detriment of the "We the People."

Motive and origin stories aside, the facts on hand are these:  A man, a Black life, is needlessly dead at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Another tragedy, one in the line of many over the past several years and one that should NOT have happened; for this tragedy could have prevented with strong leadership and a unwavering commitment to weeding out individuals who have been shown to exercise repeated poor judgment and egregious behavior in carrying out the duties of their office as "upholders of law and order" in our society.  Every single time these tragic deaths at the hands of rouge police officers happen, the majority of decent law-abiding citizens --from all walks of life and ethnicities-- are truly outraged, not to mention heart-broken at the senseless disregard for  human life.  Everytime such tragic events happen our leaders espouse the same sentiments across the airwaves and media platforms.  These leaders lament the tragic loss of life, while pointing out that the majority of police officers are decent people committed to their sworn oath to "protect and serve" their communities --which is true, but the loss of even ONE human life when preventable, is wholly unacceptable.  These leaders finish their public statements with necessary reaffirmations of their strong commitment to "weed out the bad officers, with a history of questionable judgment and bad actions."  But the fact that George Floyd and so many others keep needlessly dying at the hands of police officers exercising egregious behavior means that we, as a nation, have NOT taken the steps, in a widespread and ongoing concerted effort, needed to get at the root of this problem in our nation's police agencies.

This is why people have taken to the streets in protests, initially peaceful protests ... but since co-opted by those with ulterior, violent and destructive motives that really have little if anything to do with the needless loss of life of a Black man; for how can you protest the needless loos of life of one man by way violently assaulting, injuring and killing other human beings?  There is no "moral arc of the universe" justifying his type of violent and destructive behavior ... 

Now, I keep hearing that there are statistics showing that police agencies across the nation have taken serious steps to address bad behavior and rouge cops.  If that is true, then let us get these number out there for all to see, but unfortunately action speaks volumes louder that mere words or numbers, especially when the action winds up being the senseless loss of a human life at the hands of police officers sworn to serve and protect ALL lives.

What we need right now, is STRONG LEADERSHIP from the very top (i.e., the President of the United States) to say "The loss of life of George Floyd and others like him shouldn't still be happening in our nation.  Previous Presidents and community leaders have not done enough to date to root out these bad cops, as evidences by repeated tragic occurrences in the needless loss of lives. Any needless loss of life at the hands of our police officials is one life lost too many!  As such, my administration is committed to providing the leadership necessary to guide and implement immediate and lasting reforms throughout our nation's police and law enforcement agencies.  This leadership will be spear-headed by Attorney General Bill Barr, who will be heading up a commission to issue timely and effective guidelines for assessing individual officer conduct and behavior, as well as training programs to promote more equitable conflict resolution skills.  It is our sincerest hope that Police Unions across the country will work with us to formulate and implement these guidelines, because at the end of the day doing so will help to present our nation's dedicated men and women in law enforcement in a more favorable light.  Once established, these guidelines will be rigidly enforced, with regional assessments of progress reported back to the AG and his commission over the course of the next two years.  Moving forward, we will have zero-tolerance policy for egregious behavior on the part of rouge cops who do a disservice to our rule of law, to their fellow officers and to their sworn oath to protect and serve the citizens of their communities at large."  Now that would be a real game-changer, wouldn't it?

The time has finally come to respond to the very HEART of this matter, by temporarily relinquishing  the predictable myopic focus of only addressing the FIRE in the house (i.e., violent protesters and looters who have systematically co-opted a legitimate movement of protest).  You can put out the immediate fire, but if you do nothing to substantively address the underlying spark, then the fires will inevitably rise once again, on down the line.  Mr. President and leaders of cities being hardest hit by protests, you can actually walk and chew gum ... Be firm by cracking down on violence, vandalism and looting, while simultaneously addressing the underlying issue ... the spark behind the destructive fires now burning madly across our nation.  We must address the underlying problem behind these protests if we are to have any hope of restoring faith our law enforcement agencies or the over-arching rule-of-law moving forward.  The time has come to stop kicking the can down the road for the next President by taking the timely and immediate action as outlined above.  Timing is everything ....................

My heartfelt sympathy and best intentions are being sent out to the family of George Floyd in this time of loss and mourning.  May God Bless keep and guide you all during this difficult time!


6/23/2020  It kind of surprises me that Congress is taking up writing legislation in an attempt to help prevent future loss of Black Lives.  Not that I think this is necessarily a bad thing, just that I thought Police agencies fell under the jurisdiction of States Rights. As such anything Congress passes with respect to police agencies would not be legally binding, right?  Such legislation would wind up being kind of like optional, highly advisable best-practice guidelines?  That's why I was thinking that guidance and over-arching follow-up would be best coming from the Department of Justice.  I guess, however, at the end of the day Congress does control the "$purse strings$" and they can say, "Hey, States, you either follow our federal guidelines, while demonstrating an on-going compliance, or you're not going to get any federal funding for X, Y and Z."

Thoughts and prayers are with Rayshard Brook's family and friends, who "send him home today" with a home-going celebration.  May God especially Bless, watch over and guide Rayshard's four precious little children that he leaves behind.

State of Our Union: HOPE is fast becoming Concrete ....

I have not had time to write until now regarding the recent State of the Union address. I am happy to say that I heard a much needed message of reasons and opportunity for unity in the speech, regardless of the political lens through which you happened to be viewing the President’s address. Because at the end of the day, as President Trump pointed out in so many different places throughout his speech, it can’t always be about politics. Sometimes we can (and have) to put aside our politics in order to come together and get things done for the benefit of “We [ALL] the People.” In the ongoing absence of any national unity our nation, and more importantly its citizens, will suffer greatly and eventually our nation will simply cease to exist.  In the absence of unity we diminish the good we can do for others here in the United States as well as abroad.

I, personally, thought President Trump delivered a remarkable speech, one that will go down in History as one of the all-time great State of Union Addresses. I loved how Trump wove the fabric of where we have been as a nation --highlighting some of our darkest hours when we rose to the occasion, working together with our allies, to deliver an astounding victory despite the overwhelming odds working against us during WWII -- together with opportunities to work together to meet new and future challenges (e.g., reigning in high prescription drug costs, making medical costs transparent to the consumer up front and across the board, ending HIV within 10 years, finding a cure for childhood cancer, putting an American in space again on an American rocket). Then Trump really brought these messages of unity to life in a beautiful tapestry of well chosen and heartfelt personal stories of the Presidential guests.

It was good to hear the President lay out fact after fact, in the absence of the 24-hour biased media propaganda filter, about actions --moving beyond mere WORDS-- that he and his administration have actually taken in order to help improve the lives of “We the [average] People.” Jobs are way up --for women, African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians-- GDP is rising significantly for the first time in a decade, Businesses are coming back to the USA in record numbers, bad trade deals are being renegotiated, energy costs have come down and we are now an exporter of energy, no longer tied to the whims of Middle Eastern countries. ISIS has had its territorial caliphate reduced to rubble. North Korea has not fired a missile in over 15 months. Iran and Russia, other potential and nuclear powers respectively, have been put on notice. NATO allies are paying their fair share. Tax cuts have provided much needed relief to businesses and individuals alike. The unfair “Death Tax” has all but been eliminated for family owned ranches, farms and businesses. Accountability has been restored to the Veteran’s Administration and Veteran’s now have the tools they need to seek medical care outside of the VA system when necessary. Our military is the process of being upgraded for the first time in decades, which will save lives and improve readiness. First time drug offenders are being given a second chance at engaging in a meaningful life again with the implementation of the “First Step Act.” And for the first time in decades we have a President who is ready, willing and able to finally address meaningful and comprehensive immigration reform, including the possibility of extending a permanent status to the Dreamers.

I must say, this is quite an impressive resume for only a mere two years in office. At the same time, it’s kind of bewildering to ponder when you consider the incessant negativity and flat-out omission of any good news for “We the People” in the mainstream media’s news coverage of the President and his administration these past two years. It truly makes you wonder what planet the mainstream media types have been living on of late? These days omission is no longer a sin, instead it’s become the media’s stock and trade. Reading over the above list again, I would have to agree with President Trump’s assessment that “the state of our union is indeed strong.” And I think that a whopping 72% of the country also agree that the state of our union is indeed strong, given the post SOTU polling -- regardless of the mainstream medias attempts to frantically convince us otherwise.

Watching the speech, it seemed that the faces, smirks, head-shaking and eye-rolling on the part of some Democrats spoke almost as loudly as the President’s spoken words. What these Democrat faces and mannerisms were saying is that ‘we cannot stand behind any good news for the “We the People” if we were not the ones responsible for designing and delivering it.’  Moreover the smugness and condescending air of these Congress members suggested to me that most Democrats truly believe that “We the People” are basically stupid.  As such their mandate is not to govern “of, by and for the people”, but rather in ‘in spite of the people.’ The masks are coming off and people are finally beginning to see these Democrats and their Big Government policies for what they truly are, mainly a misguided effort to wield power and exert control over every single aspect of our daily lives.  Perhaps the people are even beginning to connect the dots as to the true agenda behind open borders and never really addressing true comprehensive immigration reform (i.e., importing a new and more easily managed class of voters, a radical transformation of the electorate ... just ask, the 95,000 illegally registered illegal immigrant voters in Texas, 58,000 of whom have been proven to have voted in at least one or more recent national elections.  And what about proportioning seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, which is based on populations in given Congressional districts?).

The above being said, I have a new-found respect for Debbie Waserman-Schultz, Nancy Pelosi, and even Chuck Shummer, who found the courage within themselves to stand up and applaud in response to President Trump’s resounding declaration that “America will never be a socialist country" because socialism runs so very counter to who were are as members of a free nation living with hard-won rights and freedoms obtained by the sacrifices of the many who came before us. This is what President Trump had to say on the subject of socialism ..“America was founded on liberty and independence and not government coercion, domination and control. We are born free and we will stay free ... Tonight we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.” .. This affirmation and the courage of these Democratic Congress members was especially reassuring to me given the hard Left turn toward socialism the Democratic Party seems to be embracing these days. I find myself wondering how so many of our youth can so eagerly be embracing a well-known failed formed of government. I mean there are literally volumes of examples throughout history to demonstrate that socialism does not work, the most recent being events currently unfolding in Venezuela. The answer has to be that our education system has systemically failed to educate our youth honestly in this respect. Then again this failure may actually be by design? Hopefully the President’s plan to finally unleash “School Choice” --giving parents the right to choose where they want to send their children to be educated, which should raise the bar for education standards and improve the overall education product by introducing competition into the system-- will help to turn around this education ‘failure’ trend, especially where an honest account of our history is concerned.

Well, it’s late. I should close. Hope you’ve enjoyed my take on the SOTU. Bottom line, this Independent wholeheartedly approves of where we are heading as a nation, even though I did not vote for President Trump. The progress we have made thus far, in a mere two years, has restored HOPE for me. That’s HUGE from where I’m standing. Hope is fast becoming concrete.  I was rather tiring of only unicorns and rainbows, must be the engineer in me? Anyway, if you can take off your political lenses for just a moment, I think you will see that President Trump honestly called for unity in his speech and more importantly he laid out a path of opportunities as to how we can begin to come together for the benefit of our great nation, while always bearing in mind that to whom much is given much in turn is expected.  Despite Congressional grid-lock and what thus far seems to be inevitable partisan politics, things are getting done and President Trump is extending a hand to come together in order to tackle new challenges on the summit of what we as a nation, working together as in days long since past, are capable of achieving.  He/she/they who choose to sit on the sidelines and/or 'resist/ should be wary lest they become obsolete vessels of ‘resistance to nothing' within the volumes of our History. For the media's biased and often outright dishonest news coverage --which now provides the 'resistance' with the appearance of purpose-- will later become little more than dust blowing within the shifting sands of time.

2/11/2019  Thinking a bit more on the noble intentions of socialism.  And I came to the conclusion that man has huge spiritual evolution chasm to overcome before we would even be close having what it takes to actually bring these nobler intentions into the realm of the achievable.  What say you???

Universe can be a pretty f****** cruel teacher at times???

One of the worst things about being sexually violated is that on some level it never completely leaves you.  It's always waiting there to rear its ugly head, when you least expect it, even years and sometimes decades later.  It isn't enough that they took something from you back then --a little piece of you that you'll never fully recover-- it affects the choices you feel comfortable making from that day forward in ways you couldn't even begin to imagine at the outset of your healing process. I guess, the question then becomes --at some point-- they took something from you back then, at the outset of your struggle, so are you going to allow their actions to continue to have power over you in the here and now, and evermore moving forward?

Here I thought I was done with my healing for the most part.  I mean I finished my degree, embarked upon a career path, managed to allow a man into my life, even married and was able to have three beautiful children.  So when I look back, I have to think I've come so incredibly far, right?  Then all of a sudden you find yourself face to face with an obstacle you hadn't even expected and the next thing you know your entire future depends upon your ability to rise above yet another challenge, and at a time of extreme stress which never bodes well for emotional/psychological outcomes.  The universe can be a pretty f******* cruel teacher at times, I think ... Least that's how I feel sitting here now with a bottle of wine. Good news is I'm completely exhausted.  Haven't slept more than 3.5 hours in 4 days.  Maybe my head and heart will clear after I crash?  Maybe I will find the courage to stay on the path yet again??????  Maybe I've come as far along the path as I'm meant to come .......

9/8/2018  After a few days contemplation, and some much needed sleep. My head and heart have cleared. I've decided, I'm not crazy for speaking up. For setting boundaries and declaring that my body is sacred. No one has a right to touch me, regardless of the circumstances, without my express consent. Maybe, I've been put here in this place and time and situation to speak up for others. To be a voice for those who don't have the experience or courage to speak up themselves? After consulting with a friend of mine in a similar profession, I've decided to write a professionally objective letter and then follow the chain of command. That way I have written proof of my objections should the need for subsequent legal action arise, which I sincerely hope it won't. But always be prepared, right? ... On another matter, speaking about "the Universe" got me to thinking a bit more about what I Believe.  These days people seem to be proponents of a God-centered perspective or a universe-centered perspective, as if the two are mutually exclusive?  Well, that's my experience/take anyway.  But upon finishing the above bottle of wine it occurred to me that God, or "The Creator" --which is my naming preference-- is actually THE enlightened consciousness that provides order amidst the all-encompassing chaos that IS the universe.  The Super Ego to the Id & Ego, if you will?  Think I'm onto something here????

9/21/2018  Well, I wound up having to remove myself from this particular situation.  I din't want to give in and leave, because initially I had thought that my perpetrators get to win again even all these years later.  Now, having chosen to step away from the situation --to leave-- I see now that I was meant to pursue an alternate path.  Moreover leaving this bad situation wasn't giving up, instead it was having the courage and faith to step BLINDLY into the unknown in order to be presented with an alternate path. I also think that the primary individual I had issues with was a perpetrator (S.B.) himself.  He kept finding ways to touch me and I could literally feel his negative energy and mal-intent emanating from him even in the absence of outright assault.  It was downright overwhelming and I shouldn't have to deal with that.  I tried to go through the chain of command to get help, but none was readily forthcoming.  So I'm not going to feel bad about myself for not being able to stick it out.  Life is too short to settle and "stick it out."  Sometimes, the bigger/better person is the one who finds the courage to walk away from a bad situation and not the one who tries to find a way to stick it out.

9/26/2018 We have a huge Graffiti whiteboard in our office where everyone has scribbled --still scribbles-- their favorite quotes. Some quotes are self-composed, while others are famously familiar.  Little dabs of colored artwork/doodles dot the huge board as well.  In sum, this board is a major source of daily inspiration for me, especially as my three beautiful daughters have each shared a little piece of themselves here with me.  As I am sitting here with tears in my eyes, utterly overwhelmed by emotion and grief I look up and I see these words scribbled in the top right hand corner of the board.  The words are written in the loopy cursive of my youngest daughter, in a bright nature-colored green.  The words read "Rage, Rage against the dying of the light, do not go quietly into that good night."  And suddenly, I realize that "quietly" pretty much sums up my existence here to date.  Quiet allows me to remain in the shadows, in silhouette where I cannot be seen, where I cannot be hurt. And it occurs to me that if I want things to change I have to be loud.  I have to fight, before surrendering ultimately to that long good night.  And just when I thought I no longer possessed the strength or will to move forward any longer, the storm clouds suddenly cleared and the way was before me.

In looking back over the events that have transpired this past month it occurs to me that most people merely pay lip service to a notion of attempting to understand and truly work with abuse survivors in any given environment (i.e., work or school).  They check the "I have listened" box --the "willingness" box-- and then they summarily dismiss all further needs of the abuse survivor, falling woefully short of offering any meaningful assistance.  I suppose this predictable response is due in large part to a general inability of most normal people to comprehend the triggers and the level of anxiety certain situations present to abuse survivors. After all, it's just easier to deal with "normal" people anyway, right? But when an abuse survivor does somehow manage to find an individual who not only genuinely listens, but someone who is further willing to take things a step further by actually putting words into meaningful action, it so genuinely empowering to people like me, people who are survivors of abuse, people who sometimes feel they are limited in the choices they can make towards the end leading a meaningful life and fulfilling their dreams.  God Bless these few, rare and genuine souls.  You truly help to make this world a better place!