Here We Go Again, Politics

First, there are the voting rights of the Katrina Hurricane victims. Now there is the immigration situation. I seem to remember the citizens of Iraq having satellite voting. What, we can’t do the same for the Katrina victims? I could have sworn we already have laws to deal with illegal residents. We can’t enforce them anymore?

Let’s start with the voting issue. Why would our government officials from the states involve in Katrina, not want each and every victim to be able to vote? Did it ever occur to them that the victims voted them in office? I say to them, keep in mind, the same way you got in, is the same way you can be forced out. If I were you, I would make it my business to see that all of my constituents, wherever they are, had access to vote. If I am going to represent them in congress and wish to stay as long as possible, I would know for sure that their vote was counted.

This should not be an issue of allowing them to vote, they already have that right. The problem seems to be the government officials not finding a way to allow the votes to be taken. If you can make sure those in Iraq get their turn at casting a ballot, why can’t you do the same for U.S. citizens. What, voices here are not as important as those in Iraq? Give me a break. Too many times you want citizens here to agree with what you say, put into action, and make law but when it is your turn to do the same for them, you become brain dead. My suggestion, do what you are being paid to do. Get the ballots to those who need to cast a vote, by hook or crook, since you are familiar with that anyway.

Now on to the immigration problem. There is one thing I know for sure. If you can wage a war in a foreign country, you can wage one against illegal entry into this country. It’s called Homeland Security. Terrorists don’t care where they gain entry, just that they do. What makes you think they haven’t given some thought to pretending to be Hispanic or Latino to come to America? We must enforce the laws across all our borders. Those who work as border patrol should have all the power they need to ensure our safety from those who are willing to sacrifice their lives to make a point. The point being, war against America.

I know the country is fighting terrorists from all four sides. What makes it so hard for us to judge illegal entry by any one person, coming for work or to wreck havoc? Illegal is illegal in any form or color. It couldn’t possibly be hard to realize that protecting our borders include anyone and everyone coming across all of them. So Homeland Security is looking for what looks like a terrorist. Does that mean they stop looking for illegal immigrants? Isn’t one as bad as the other? Each could cause our country to be put into a whirlwind of trouble. Either we end up dead or we end up starving half the country. Neither sound good to me.

What we need more than anything else right now is for those we have elected to office to get with the program and see the big picture. The decisions you make today will bring results tomorrow. Make the wrong one and there will be a heavy price to pay later.

Fed Up

Today is the day I have decided I am fed up. Fed up with the war in Iraq, the economy in Michigan, politicians, multiple killings and kidnapings across the country, celebrity trash, bad weather all around, riots, and what we all call the news. Is there no good news to report anymore? I am more than fed up. I am tired of being tired.

You could call me a news junkie. Since I am a freelance writer, I spend a lot of my time alone. Alone doing what I do for a living, which is generating and looking for writing assignments. Because of this, my only contact with the outside world while I am at home working is the news. Imagine this, I don’t have cable so the news I get is from the major TV stations we all have access to for free, NBC, ABC, CBS, UPN, and WB. Hello, if this is all I see and it is mostly bad news, think about how I would feel if I did have cable news too. Lord please help me.

Each day as I watch the news, looking at stories from different angles to possibly write about, all I get is sad, disgusting news. Yes, it is important to know what is happening around the country and the world but, does the news media ever look for the good stuff as well as the bad? It doesn’t look like it to me. Even the newspapers I get don’t show much on the positive side of things. They just rehash what you see on TV, supposedly, in more details. Enough already! Give me a break. Yes I said it, give me a break.

With so much going on in this world, nobody can make me believe that there is no good news out there somewhere. Could it be because of people like us who tune into the negatives and spend so much time absorbing it? I am most likely part of the guilty crowd. Maybe if we stop looking and watching all of the bad stuff and generate massive low ratings, the stations would take another look at their agendas. Maybe they would see a need to spread more, good news. Maybe, just maybe, we would get more of a balance picture of what is happening around the globe.

I don’t know about you but I am a tad upset with what is thrown in my face, day after day. I would love to be able to do more than just shake my head from side to side saying, my oh my, what is this world coming to. It would not bother me a bit to sit watching the news one day and smile as I think, there is still hope. How about you?

Let’s try this idea? One day we all join together and not watch one bit of news for 24 hours. Instead we go out into our neighborhoods and see what we can find that is positive. We look for the good stuff. Then the next day we send the information to the stations and say, “now report this.” Can you imagine what might happen afterwards? People might just become more friendly. They may start saying hello as they pass you on the street. They might start holding backyard fence discussions again. They might start being the eyes and ears of the community again, eliminating killings and kidnapings. They might discover some hometown heroes. Jobs might be created because Mr. Smith needs work done which Mr. Jones can do. See where I am going with this?

All it takes is for all of us to get back in touch, in touch with our immediate surroundings. Then we might be able to generate good news instead of bad. That way, the media would have to report on it. It would be too much not to. Just a thought.

Issues

I have been swamped with writing assignments for school and for submissions. In the past month, I attended conferences, workshops, and group meetings. Whew! I have been busy. But it has not stopped me from hearing and reading about different issues most are dealing with across the country. I will try to give you my take on a couple of them and let you go with the flow or not.

Upcoming Presidential Election

Can a woman run the country? Some say yea and some say nay. Me personally, I have reached the point of wondering, does it really matter? All I want is someone to be in charge that has more than just ideas on the agenda. Why? What good is an idea that doesn’t work because it does not take into consideration what the effect will be on the majority of the populous. I think many politicians think the majority are the rich and not the poor. So if the idea works for the rich, you can bet your bottom dollar it won’t work for the poor, including the middle class. Most likely, the middle class is the new poor. They have too much money to qualify for help and not enough money to qualify as well to do. It’s that caught in the middle thing, too much of one and not enough of the other.

Can a woman make a difference? As far as I am concerned, it sure can’t hurt. As a matter a fact, it might even be the solution to this hell hole we the average Americans are currently living in. I use to be a middle class citizen but now I am a starving artist. And believe me when I tell you, I am really a starving artist. Living hand to mouth, check to check, hoping and praying that things will turn around soon. So if a woman, my soul sister, can turn this problem plagued country around, I say, let’s give it a try. It sure couldn’t get any worse than it is now for people like me.

More Layoffs

I live in the automobile driven section of America, Detroit, Michigan. That makes it very hard to accomplish any forward motion when all is dependent on the car. It also doesn’t go well when the image of the city itself is not exactly an image one writes home to momma about. Yet, today I hear of Delphi dropping more suppliers. You know what that means? More people are out of work. Last month, my sister was laid off and her husband will most likely know by the end of this month if his job is on the line. She left Ford as a contract worker and her husband has been with AT&T for more than 25 years. I say my family has something to worry about. You see this follows my son getting laid off last September from the police force. Add all of this to my life as a freelance writer (starving artist) and you can see our family fiscal health is falling apart. We normally help each other during hard times but, who’s going to help who when we all are on the receiving end?

Other Issues

Here in my section of the country, there are issues about the school board, water rates, crime, garbage pickup, home foreclosures, unemployment levels, affirmative action, voting rights, and a host of other things making up a list too long to even record. How I survive in all this mess I will never know. But I do. I do it one day at a time and with a lot of prayer. So do I care if there is a woman president? Am I worried about my family structure holding on? Did Writer’s Digest accept my query? Oh, sorry. My mind started drifting to more writing work and more money. Anyway, yes I do care about all the issues before us today. I can only focus though on my status you see. It is how the bills get paid . . . or not.

A Few Thoughts

You didn’t see me last week because I was just too busy to do the blog thing. Again, I don’t have a clue as to how others find so much time that they can blog, day after day, hour after hour and still have a productive life. Anyway, this week I have a few things that I want to comment on.

Sudoku Puzzles

Think Sudoku puzzles. Guess what? I am hooked. I have always been a crossword puzzle person but the Sudoku puzzles I have allowed to possess me to no end. I don’t know if it’s the fact that it deals with numbers, on if it is the simple logic involved to solve them. No matter what, I work them wherever I see one. I did notice that completing them seem to relax me. Maybe it’s because I become so engrossed with making sure that all nine numbers in each box are in harmony with the other boxes. Some people would probably say that it is too much work on the brain but I love it. So much so that I went out and bought a book of Sudoku puzzles. There were more than 100 in one book. I spent one whole week solving those puzzles. They went from easy to very difficult. Percentage wise, I successfully completed maybe 25% of them all. The funny part is, that percentage was accomplished in the difficult section. Anyway, if you don’t see an updated blog from me each week, write it off to I will most likely be too busy doing a Sudoku puzzle to visit the blog.

Faith

The other thing on my mind this week has to do with violence. I told you before that I lived in Detroit. Last week, a woman was killed in a church here. When I heard that on the news, I almost had a heart attack of my own. What has become of this world, is all I could think? First the battles carried out in the Gaza strip between the Jews and the Palestinians. Then came the cartoons that spurned riots in countries with deep convictions in the Islamic faith. Now we have a killing in a church of people who believe in the Baptist faith. What will be next? I bombing of Catholic churches,? Lutheran lynching? Mormon hanging? How about those who practice Hinduism? What will become of them? Let’s not leave out those who believe in Confucianism, Buddhism or the Methodists. I am worry. If we all believe in one that is more powerful than ourselves, don’t we believe in his teachings? I know for a fact that he does not, never has nor ever will say it is all right to kill others. The magic word that is taunted by the almighty in all religions is LOVE. I will never understand why no one else can see that violence begets nothing more than, more violence. No, I am not holier than thou but, I do know right from wrong. According to my good book, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, sedition, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, and reveling are not right any holy books of any faith. Need I say any more?

Affirmative Action

As an African American, I am very worry about privileges and rights being taken away that were so hard fought for. In November of this year, Michigan residents and other citizens in the United States will have to decide if affirmative action is still needed. Many say no, others say yes. I say yes and I will tell you why. Lord, knows I wish that we did not still need affirmative action but, as long as there are still prejudice and discrimination, affirmative action will still be needed. It was originally set up to guarantee equal opportunity for everyone, an opportunity to an education, housing, jobs, and the pursuit of happiness. Yet, in this country many still cannot live where they want, go to school where they want or get the job that they want. Why? It is still a country of who’s, who and money talks. It is because of that we must not let affirmative action laws fall by the wayside. Imagine, if we are still fighting over something so simple as religious beliefs, do you really believe that we don’t need watch dogs to keep the lines of communication open? It doesn’t matter what the numbers show, the reality is prejudice and discrimination still exists. Because of that, we cannot let go of the only alternative we have. If we lose it, so many before us will have died in vain.