“When Words Are Inadequate”

This is my first post on this site.  I was invited by the web hosts to be a contributing author.  To simply say “Thank You” for their trust is an understatement of vast proportions.  It’s an honor to be part of such a relevant site.

The post below is something I’d written several months ago.  However, the content is timeless.  It also allows the reader a glimpse from behind my eyes.  Your feedback is most welcome.

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The photo above is an accurate depiction of the way I view my heart…broken and pieces of it scattered within the nations I was privileged to work.  I look around myself and see so much selfishness.  It’s all about “me, me, me”.  What happened to caring about those that are less fortunate?  Each time upon returning to the USA…it was, literally, like landing on a different planet.  Then there is the severe lack of necessities for many of our own citizens.   Yet, those “that have”…seemingly care nothing about “those that have not”.  What’s wrong with this picture?

The waste of so many natural resources was the biggest disappointment.  There are still days when I go into a fruit market, and break down in tears.  I know whole groups of people that have never even seen an orange or a lemon.  The swollen tummies due to malnutrition of those I saw in so many places… flash before my eyes…and I wonder if those shopping around me are even aware of what is taking place beyond their own borders.

The times I stand in front of the huge fountain not far from my home is gorgeous…and a sight to behold.  Yet, it is a reminder of all the places I have been where people do not even have clean drinking water.  I have seen disease ravage whole villages due to the lack of clean water.

Then there are those of our own nation that cannot even afford to get the medical help they need…while the rich captains of industry make billions of dollars of profit in 90 days.  What’s wrong with this picture?

Our own nation is suffering due to many natural disasters.  The state I reside is one of the states that were hit hard with the flooding.  The governor called for the National Guard to help.  Well…guess what?  The number of National Guard that was needed was NOT available.  They are in Iraq & Afghanistan.  What’s wrong with this picture?

Why are so many victims of Hurricane Katrina still suffering?  Where is the media coverage for this ongoing tragedy?  Do we just forget about them since they are not in the news every day?  What’s wrong with this picture?

Our citizens cannot get affordable medications.  We were told not to go over the border into Canada to purchase these medications, as they may not be safe.  Yet, China produces large quantities of medications that have created havoc in the lives of many…, as there were huge recalls.  What’s wrong with this picture?

Why are so many of our jobs being outsourced?  Why are these companies given tax breaks?  Many that I know had pets that died due to contaminated pet food from China.  I also know children that had gotten ill due to the lead contained within the toys that were manufactured in China.  Did you know that parts of our US Passports are now being outsourced?  What’s wrong with this picture?

The greed in the lending institutions appears to be the worst of all…as so many are losing the very roof over their heads.  I cannot close this article without letting you know of what I have observed in numerous “churches”.  Many cannot afford to feed their families.  Many “churches” have food pantries.

However, some of these “churches” will not give the necessary food until the individual or family first sits through one of their services and commits to begin attending their church. This is not “giving” at all…its bribery!  This example was not about only one “church”…but several in this area.

You may not need help today…but none of us knows what tomorrow holds.  None of us had a say into which nation we were born, and none of us had a say into which family we were born.  You could just as well have been born in Sudan, Zimbabwe, Nepal, etc., etc., etc. I could, literally, give many other examples, yet, I’m sure you get my point.

Whether you believe it or not…it makes no difference to the FACT that “We are our brothers keeper”

Michelle

The US Needs Tight Gun Control Laws

The aftermath of the shooting

Wake up America!  We are a really violent nation.  Every Christmas I read these stories where children are given guns as some weird rite of passage.   Well, there is no frontier anymore and we don’t need the wild west in the cities.  How many Columbines and other needless deaths must there be before we have laws to protect people from children with guns and to protect children from having guns? 

This Christmas it happened again.  in Chandler, Oklahoma an 11 year old boy in the Fifth Grade, Michael, who had already been given a .22 caliber Rifle last year, was given a .22 pistol as a Christmas present.  Michael was playing with it with a friend when the gun went off  and a bullet hit him in the forehead.

The local paper quoted a neighbor as saying, “It is kind of a rite of passage growing up in the country to have a gun. I had my first gun when I was 9 or 10.” 

Michael and his friend were playing with the gun went it went off.  This is a personal tragedy for the parents that could easily have been avoided, but had Michael lived who knows how his life could have benefited society. Newspaper and TV accounts talk about what a great kid he was, now no one will ever know.

In a 1998 Associated Press article, 19 years ago, the US had the highest rate of gun deaths among the 36 richest nations.  That amounted to 14.24 per 100,000 people in 1994. “If you have a country saturated with guns – available to people when they are intoxicated, angry or depressed – it’s not unusual guns will be used more often,” said Rebecca Peters, a Johns Hopkins University fellow specializing in gun violence. “This has to be treated as a public health emergency.”  

If you look at the Centers for Disease Control website for the years 1999 – 2005, deaths from guns per 100,000 from newborns through 85+ years of age is a shocking 80,603. If you lower the age to newborn to age 18, it is 9,256. 1 death is too many.  Those numbers are obscene in a civilized society.

After Columbine, mothers banded together for million mom marches on Washington for tighter gun control laws. In advocating against gun control, not a an, but gun control for gun-related deaths involving children, Fox News made fun of the effort since it had essentially dwindled to nothing by 2001.  By all means, let’s demean an effort to avoid another Columbine. Good job, as usual, Fox News.

Why assault weapons are sold is beyond me.  Surely those weapons are not necessary for hunting?  

If you look at the news, there are numerous stories about the “skyrocketing” number of people purchasing guns, requesting concealed weapon permits and purchasing assault weapons. I hope that the Obama Administration brings some sanity to this issue.  Gun control is not a ban.  We should be setting an example instead of setting the “Pulp Fiction” example where men dressed as Santas gun down whole families and leave 10 children without parents and others shoot people in movie theaters because they talk.  

As a nation we are obsessed with guns and it is killing us.