Editorial Musings from the Heart(land)

From my earliest memories, I was told that someday, even I too could become “President of the United States.” America, as they said to light a spark within me, is a land of opportunity and if I wanted to be President, then it was entirely possible to make it happen. So I was told. But what I see today is only the privileged can make it happen. If a person is not approved by the leadership elite, then the hope of being President is no more than that, only a hope. After watching, listening and considering all that has been reported to us by whoever the media is, it has been determined by somebody that our current President should not be in the office, PERIOD. It really doesn’t matter if we voted him in or not. It really doesn’t matter if he did anything illegal. It really doesn’t matter what the nature of his personality is or not. It has been decided by someone (not the voters), he should not be in office. The Speaker of the House of Representatives has gone so far as to s...

I don’t think it’s a secret a good number of Americans have pushed for the legalization of marijuana for quite some time. During my college (state university) days, one could sit in the student union working on homework and detecting the smell of pot wafting through the student union. That was many many days ago. Yet in spite of what appeared to be at the time a desire by the American people to use pot, there continued to be draconian laws penalizing anyone caught smoking or possessing marijuana. Many lives have been ruined by the enforcement of these laws. States are now legalizing (mostly via referendum) the usage of pot. Some of the laws only allow for some sort of medical use and others are making recreational use legal. States are moving in this direction, even though the federal government continues to be against any law liberalizing pot usage.  I have often thought how could a government of the people on the federal level get it so wrong. The government and ...

Here is my take ... It has been reported that Athletes participating in the league will most likely be susceptible to suffering from CTE and other lingering injuries playing the game. Do note, that many parents are becoming less likely to encourage their children (unless it is the only way out of their socioeconomic status) to play football because of those injuries. The NFL is not expected to stop playing the game because of this harm. Could it be they fear the loss of money and status? Recently, the NFL was shocked by the trend associated with “Colin Kaepernick”  protesting American political and social issues by refusing to honor the playing of the “Star Spangled Banner.” Once again, money was and is the issue here. We have no idea of what the owners of the NFL are thinking because whatever they decided to do was to make sure fans continued to watch and attend football games. Revenue from ticket sales and television viewing is a pretty big deal. Recent relocations of sever...

Human trafficking is characterized by the use of force, fraud or coercion to lure their victims into some type of labor or commercial sex act. Not all of these above factors may be present in every situation. Human trafficking is a crime which is seldom reported due to language barriers, fear of traffickers and possibly fear of law enforcement itself. Craigslist, to their credit ... removed the "Personals" section within their online service in March of 2018 due to Federal legislative decree stiffening penalties associated with sex trafficking. It was the right move legally, ethically and morally. Sex trafficking is a subset of the larger issue known as "Human Trafficking." It is not an unreasonable stretch of logic to equate sex trafficking with the trafficking of labor, e.g. illegals being brought into the U.S. for the purpose of working in American businesses. A good number of American businesses are INDEED guilty of said labor trafficking. No place is ...

This current batch of political leaders are most disingenuous ... thus, disgracing their elevated leadership status. Perhaps, referring to them as such is a little strong .... nevertheless, it may NOT be too far off the mark. If any of our elected leaders truly cared about a solution to the immigration problem, then at this very moment we would be talking about workable solutions instead of blaming each other for the lack thereof. The images we are being presented with regarding detention of children are simply put forth to elicit emotional outbursts as opposed to serving as a basis for generating solutions to the overall problem of illegal immigration and border security. Once again, the defenseless  (in this case the most helpless of all ... children) are getting hurt and are no more than political pawns. Hey!!! Washington ... these defenseless folks have families, breath, blood and emotions. Management types in business, will tell the minions ... that if we are not par...

Pretty scary stuff ..... and I'm also a little shocked by the rousing applause to go along with it. The icing on the cake came with a comment by the playwright, "Tony Kushner" (backstage supporting and listening to Mr. De Niro) denouncing the Trump presidency by referring to it as "the Hitler mistake." Normally, the safest course of action when threatening behavior rears its ugly head is to move as far away as one can possibly get. At times it has been necessary for me to run in the opposite direction when faced with .... 1. Individuals in a state of rage (angry). 2. Those that exhibit racial hatred and/or hatred of any kind. 3. Unsavory locker room talk, and .... 4. Physical violence. In a free society, Mr De Niro has the right to express himself politically as he wishes. Perhaps that is the underlying message regarding the standing "O" ... not necessarily standing to support his opinion, but his right to have one and openly express it. LOL ...

I am not altogether displeased with the way President Trump handled himself during this weekend's Economic Summit in Quebec, Canada. And on top of all that, I am impressed with the ongoing Twitter dialogue (if that is what one would call it) with the Canadian Prime Minister, Trudeau. Due to the way in which the opposition here in the United States treats the President, it's not too much of a surprise that the rest of the world thinks they can do the same. The members of the G7 are also politicians playing to their home crowd and they shouldn't expect the US to be any different in protecting the best interests of our country. President Trump  being the street fighter (from, New York) that he is certainly never misses the opportunity to respond in kind. As to tariffs .... it would seem each country has their own set of tariffs to protect their industries. Screaming out loud in economic pain over our need to do the same is disingenuous at best. I am intrigued by the po...

join me as I walk down fantasy lane .... Donald and Kim .... back to back .... each armed with their agreed upon single shot weapons .... They start ... Step 1, Step 2 .... Step 15 & they both turn ... a visible flash, a powerful and loud shock wave .... the winner still standing ... takes all. end of walk .... World leaders who have a beef with each other and of course on behalf of their respective countries .... simply should consider duking it out between themselves ... therefore excluding us little people from being sent to die for only God knows what. Subsequent to a Congress and President declaring war ... These leaders themselves should head out to the battlefield instead of sending young people with so much life ahead of them into harm's way. The fantasy above crosses my mind as I play with the possibility of something similar happening in Singapore, just a few short days from now ... It seems possible (not probable) that one of the two world leaders might decid...

Friends and loved ones are asking themselves .... How could this have happened to this wonderfully gifted individual? What did we do wrong and how did we miss the signs of her pending suicide? Is there something we did that triggered such an outcome??? Her loved ones are saying ..... We loved her so deeply and cared for her at every turn.  We helped her when she needed help.  We covered for her when she was unable to cover for herself.  We heard her pleas for help and assisted by escorting her to therapy. We helped her keep track of the medications she was prescribed.  And ... we watched her at every turn, looking for signs that she might be at risk and do something like this. If she even hinted at such an occurrence ... we watched even closer.  Any variation in her behavior immediately set off alarms which caused us to attend to her that much more closely ..... We made every effort to let her know we needed her and the deepness of our love for her.  We...

Monsanto, the company made famous by its development of DDT and Agent Orange is now going to get bigger and more invasive with a Bayer buyout. The US and the EU have given their blessings, consequently the two companies will end up in wedded bliss on June 7, 2018. At which time, the Monsanto brand will vanish. Both of these companies are global giants in the agricultural business.  Monsanto (as well as Bayer) use and develop genetically modified organisms (GMO) in order to enhance the production of our raw food supplies. Monsanto, specifically ...  is responsible for developing genetically modified soybeans which are resistant to a well known herbicide called "Roundup" (developed by Monsanto). Thus, production farmers can use the herbicide on their soybean crops (a huge US crop) increasing yields without damaging the soybean. The kicker is that these genetically modified seeds are now patented products, owned by Monsanto who aggressively protects its patent restricting ...

I recognize the need for American trade policy (and overall foreign policy for that matter) to be consistent from one Presidential administration to another. It seems unwise for there to be a radical change every few years subject to an election outcome. BUT ... it also seems to be fundamentally absurd  continuing forth with any trade policy which is detrimental to the American worker and our national security simply because of the perceived need for policy consistency. Based upon what I am reading and viewing in the press, It is not surprising to me to witness the "gnashing of the teeth" and screams of "bloody murder" as a result of the President raising tariff barriers on steel and aluminum imports. Sure ...  it is going to upset a good number of people, worldwide. The upset ones are most likely the ones who are benefiting from the current state of affairs. They of course will most certainly seek to penalize us (the American consumer) in order to vividly illus...

Racial Prejudice ... is alive & well. Unfortunately ... a significant portion our educational effort focusing on the elimination of the US's racial divide appears to be falling short of its goal. It's a little hard to stomach comments made by rather visible television personalities who most certainly express their hatred of those who are different based upon skin color, etc. These visible personalities have scored big in life's financial lottery, yet they offer nothing more to society in the form of behavior that uplifts us. They in fact tear us down and bury us deeper into the morass of hatred and shame. I am thankful for the fact that ABC canceled Roseanne Barr's show. By doing so, the network is vividly telling the citizens of our country, this kind of behavior and thought is not acceptable. They are telling us that personalities expressing themselves this way are NOT any longer to be tolerated. Reprisals will be swift, clear and permanent. Even in my s...

Frankly, I am amazed that the US government and the government of North Korea are even talking about “talking” at all. The 180 degree “turn about” exhibited by the North Korean leader in conjunction with and subsequent to the 2018 Olympics is truly magical. So magical in fact that it borders on being unbelievable and disingenuous at best. The more our President beats his chest, the more the North Korean leader does the same. It would appear that they are two of a kind. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have to assume they both were a little like the drama queens I encounter everyday in the elementary school environment … both seeking exposure and attention when the f e rv o r concerning whatever they are doing dies down a little. Perhaps this kind of concern regarding the drama is more telling about me as opposed to the reality of the situation at hand OR, it IS exactly what it is … “Unreal” All of us (including me) really do not want a nuclear conflict betw...

Keep your eyes open and report any non-acceptable behavior and attire. Any company that encourages, supports and designs a workplace culture of snitching will not work. A company I work with, now monitors its vehicles with GPS devices (vehicle behavior is watched) and there is even talk of installing cameras so they can watch everything you do in the vehicle on demand. It is obviously clear all this technology is not enough for this company. They are now paying people within the company to snitch on their peers. They are calling them "Team Captains", but make no bones about it ... they are snitches. They are ready and willing (for a little money of course) to rat their fellow employees out if they do not adhere to an artificially imposed company standard. They use the term, "Team" in discussing this structure ... but in reality this has nothing to do with teamwork and everything to do with control, power and suppression. Trust is extremely important with...

Every single thing on  Facebook is there because you put it there. In light of all the revelations that are coming forth about our data/information NOT being private and secure on the net??? ... You actually considered for a moment that what you have posted on Facebook would remain private? Even if some scurrilous data company did not gain access to your so-called private information, do you think that Facebook would not have used it for their corporate gain??? We do everything on the net. We bank, we file our tax returns, we review our medical information and we supply info related to our income, etc. ALL on the net. Each one of these entities that request and require our private info vigorously con us into believing it's OK and secure. After conversing with a IT security person for a very large corporation, he made the following extremely clear. Subsequent to the data breach of "Equifax", everybody's private information is now out in the open. NOBODY's...

No need to subscribe to cable TV. Track the news via the net and nonstop entertainment, abounds!!! I just happened to be given a sneak peak of the upcoming season .... Stormy Daniels' Storm (a delicious weather forecast) Sex Cults & Arianna Huffington (religious freedom) The Rocket Man Summit (a musical) Trump Dossier (sex, lies & video) and, finally .... Facebook Privacy (a comedy) Don't miss out on the new season!!!

Several months ago, when we were all talking about people from a list of banned countries who would not be able to travel to the United States, I had a conversation with a friend from one of those countries .... He told me that "only the little people in these countries (like you and I) would be harmed. It's the governments of these countries that are bad ... NOT the common everyday citizen." He is right, of course. How many of you out there have any say so over what the United States' government says and does?? Unless you are an important elected official, the answer to that question is probably none. All of us simply live from day to day facing the same struggles and must cope with the higher ups. We (humanity) are all cut from the same piece of cloth. Not many (if any) differences separate us from one another. Perhaps we might not want to judge and criticize one another so harshly. I came across this quote and wanted to share it with you ..... We rea...

I thought perhaps it might be helpful to review our past in order to give us some perspective as to how to handle the illegal immigrants in our country at the moment. After reading a little literature in a class I was teaching, the subject of the Transcontinental Railroad popped out at me. This incredible feat, was accomplished largely by the help of Chinese immigrants. Without their help it may never have been done so quickly or so profoundly. The railroads building the line were elated at the effectiveness and proficiency of the Chinese workers, plus they were VERY HAPPY with the amounts the workers were being paid in order to do the job. Let me mention here that there is an amazing parallel between then (Chinese workers) and now (Latino Workers). Some of the very reasons the US imported the Chinese are the same reasons that current American companies encouraged the use of Latino workers. There are some differences, yet the parallel between the two is significant. The Chine...

Our government is broke .... the political parties that control government cannot agree on anything regarding immigrants in this country, illegally. The current President's position is as follows: Wants funding for a wall on the southern border of the U.S. Wants to end the visa lottery program. Wants to curb visas issued to families of legal immigrants. The President really doesn't want to extend Dreamers and may have the power to suspend it on MAR 5 2018. (The President's possible ace in the hole) All of which (as they say) is to address security/terrorism concerns on behalf of the United States. The opposing party wants an extension (or permanent implementation) of the program entitled "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA - Dreamers)". Plus they too are concerned about security. Nevertheless, they do NOT want to give in on the points above. The President will give the opposing party what they want if the President gets what he wants. As ...

.@tedcruz: "If Republican majorities in Congress pass citizenship for millions of people, an amnesty, I think it is quite likely we will lose both houses of Congress and Speaker @NancyPelosi will impeach President @realDonaldTrump." pic.twitter.com/DO0K7y1vXO https://twitter.com/FoxNews/status/964132728647110657 Who do YOU think you are? Your right to the American dream is simply luck and not even remotely earned. Be a statesman as opposed to a power monger, if it means the above ... So be it Mr Cruz, it's the right thing to do.