In My Humble Opinion...Trump, Black Lives, World Tumult, Gun Control, Abortion

I suppose I need to talk about the news sooner or later and now is as good a time as any. In a lot of ways, every post I write is about the world we live in but, because this is my blog, I get to ignore a whole lot of what occurs on a very bad day. Today is my day of reckoning. A few words are in order just so you will know where I stand.

Black Live Matter...well of course they matter. Unless you can find some personal experience that allows you to understand how a black person feels when they are stopped by the police, you cannot even begin to appreciate what is going on.

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If you have ever felt fear as you are trapped by someone with ALL the power in the world and is holding a gun, then you can understand how bad things can happen. Just the wrong word or motion can lead to a death. My heart goes out to people that live with that fear everyday. I am a white woman whose life also matters but I am white so I have no idea how a person of color feels.

On the other side of the coin are all those police officers that are also afraid. They have my sympathy too. I don't want to walk in their shoes either.

The World is a Very Bad place...I will agree but don't ever tell me that it is worse than it has ever been. Even the horrible shootings in Munich don't begin to compare to the past. Keeping perspective is hard but we really must not let ourselves sink into a pot of self-pity because today or yesterday was not perfect. WE can make a difference.

Donald Trump is an idiot/savior of the world! See, the thing is we get to vote. Both Democrats and Republicans. If you or someone feels like we are danger from this man they need to vote for the person that is the less of the two evils. If we don't, it is as though they have voted for him anyway. Think about it! (Note: Michael Bloomberg, Dem. turned Rep. turned Independent turned Dem., is endorsing Clinton because he is very alarmed.)

Hillary Clinton is a criminal and should be put in prison...this one puzzles me because those people that made the decisions on the law say she did not commit a crime. I suppose that the talk show hosts are stirring this pot but who knows. I'm going with the law because I am all about our country being based on our willingness to obey the law even when we don't agree. And I think that slander is slander.

Building a Wall to Keep Them Out...I am very a torn about illegal aliens. I am worry about children but I also wonder what part of illegal those people didn't get. It is a hard hearted way to see things. I do know that those people that come here legally wait a very long time to gain admission to the United States. I admire those people for their honesty and tenacity. Oh, and I don't think the fences we have built so far have worked at all. There might be a better way.

Abortion...this is such a complicated issue that I don't think we'll ever figure it out. Babies are so precious and should not die at our hands. In my world, no woman would ever be pregnant unless she wants to be. I think rape victims or those that live in compromised circumstances (homeless, drug users) need to take a day after pill. The pills should be readily available. The Catholic Church and any other group that is so visible in opposition to abortion should be spending their time getting information and supplies to woman so unwanted pregnancies do not happen. In that scenario, an unwanted pregnancy might be a burden that could be endured and all babies would be welcome...in my perfect world!

Gun Control...I don't like guns but I prefer for a person that is carrying a gun to do it in plain site. I can cross the street if I feel threatened. I don't think guns are good for anything unless one needs to kill an animal to eat. Otherwise they need to be locked away. AND I am not a fan of the NRA.
But then that is just me.

Mass Murder, Homelessness and Mental Illness...It seems to me that we don't want to deal with the culprits here. Mental illness is truly rampant and needs our attention all of the time. We ignore so many people because they are different when we should be asking ourselves if as a society we are paying the taxes needed to provide for solving the problem. I believe that mental illness and our gun laws are are working hand in hand to create chaos. I have no idea how to stop the violence and loss of human dignity but someone somewhere does. We need to hear their voice.

I'm glad we had this little talk. As a disclaimer here, you should know that I might change my mind. That happens you know.

So, what do you think? Is there a hot button issue that you have been avoiding?

When We Forget What We Are About....

Amerindians in Mexico

Sometimes what sounds like a very good idea is not. It is as simple as that. We live in a box of sorts and, depending on which way you approach that box, things look and sound different. That is what happen when the man at the grocery called someone on speaking a language he did not understand and was not english. That was the problem...the man's willingness to act on something he did not understand. He forgot that he might be the one speaking a foreign language. (As seen on Facebook)

My husband taught me early on in our marriage that most issues are not simple and I needed to be very careful to get ALL of the information before I opened my mouth. Even what seems very straight forward really isn't.

Take gun control for example. Following one of our awful mass shootings this fall I was spouting off about how ridiculous and wrong it was to allow one person to own so many weapons. "There should be laws limiting gun ownership." I said with great authority.

"How many is too many?" he asked.

See, when something is written into law it...well it becomes a "law". Down in black and white and everyone is expected to obey it. No nuances or exception.

We own many guns. Some inherited from great-grandparents. My husband and his family hunted to feed the family. We have those guns in our house. Then we have the gun my husband bought with his first earnings on the farm for pheasant hunting and another to hunt deer with. We have given one to a grandson that hunts deer.

Yes indeed, we own quite a few guns. And the law would apply to us too. So, the question remains "How many is too many." We all know there are so many questions and not nearly enough answers.

Illegal aliens come up in the conversation often here in Arizona. Doing the right thing while protecting children is a hard issue to address. A knee jerk reaction would tell you that we should deport the parents and keep the children they came across the border to birth. Oh my, think of the chaos that would create.

How about the homeless veterans that line the highways and live under the cactus here. People will say that we need to take care of them first and then the Syrians last. But do any of those people want a homeless camp or drug treatment halfway house in their neighborhood? Do they want to take in the mentally ill or pay the extra taxes to care for them? And where oh where do we draw the line between what people can choose to do and what they can't? And last of all we might ask where are our latest group of refugees living in our country. Is the Syrian or a religious community welcoming them and helping provide for them?

See, there is never an easy answer. So, the next time we hear a strange language being spoken we need to remember that all of us save the Navajo people and others like them are descendants from someone that "spoke a foreign language" back in the day. We are very lucky they were not sent back to their home country.

And speaking Spanish/French/German and English both is being bi-lingual. Actually, it an enviable skill and I wish I could do that.

We need to remember what we as a country are all about. We are a melting pot that has always welcomed the downtrodden and, depending on where you live, the languages we hear on a daily basis are many. I like that. So there you have it. That is what I think.

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I might add that I do not think being an illegal is good and I wish that those people would realize that they need to get in line with those that are trying to enter our country legally. Honest, the law is the law!