Physixal Disability

All of us have disabilities in that we are not physically ideal. I don't have the traits required to play center in the NBA. My Dad was severely near sighted. My Mon shook constantly from Parkinson's Disease. My friend and companion of 34 years has been totally blind from birth. All of these are physical defects that are disabling to certain degrees.
Recently, I have experienced disability more directly. I go through bouts of near crippling arthritis and have lost a good bit of my vision. Okay, that's just how it is.
Folks with disabilities need help, but they do not need to be babied. They are not helpless children. they just need a bit of help. Instead, all too often they are shunned left to languish in a dark, lonely place. Families all too often say,' let the Government take care of them." Why? Well, they are afraid they might have to spend a dollar or two. That is some of it. They are afraid that they will have to give up a few minutes of fun and games. And, they are scared to death that they might end up the same way.
I have known many people with a variety of disabilities, blind, deaf, paraplegic, missing limbs, neuro-muscular diseases, and guess what? They are just people. Not saints, not children, just people. Some are rotten SOBs, to be blunt. Some are talented and brilliant, Mist are just folks, with the same hopes and dreams, the sane joys and angers, and the same desire to be included , to be productive members of the human race and pushing them aside, ignoring and excluding them is perhaps the worst mortal sin a person can commit.
Some say, 'well, the Government takes care of them.' The Government cannot agree on what color the sky is. Disability pays a bit of money to those who worked at some time, but it is not a lot. Those who did not work are stuck with SSI and trust me, it is a pittance, which then makes them reliant on Medicaid, food stamps and subsidized housing, Not a good way to live, just mere survival. The Government programs are necessary, but that fact is not acceptable.
We have Vets coming home broken and Trump, despite all of his effort, cannot get Congress to vote for enough money to really care for them.
. Churches should help, but I know from personal experience that they generally only help members and that they do reluctantly. This is not what Jesus taught and they should be ashamed
especially the mega Churches who are getting richer by the second and, yes, I include the Roman Catholic Church.
Private organizations try but are woefully underfunded. There are people and corporations in this Country who are enormously wealthy. I do not begrudge them a nickel  of their profits, but they could do more. Not so much in cash, but in a better way.. In our modern world, there are many devices that allow the disabled to function about as well as anyone. With such equipment and a bit of training, the disabled, with the exception of severe cases, like quadriplegia, can become employed. It may be a bit rocky at first, but with a little time and patience, fine employees can be found. I, everyday day, run across able bodied workers who do not really want to do their jibs, They whine and complain. Most disabled folks I have met would be over joyed at having those jobs and would work hard to keep them.
The rest of the solution lies with us. We must start including folks with physical issues in all the activities we engage in. This is especially vital for children. Isolation warps all people but it is especially, damaging to kids. The disabled are exactly like us. Cranky at times. Warm and funny at times. Intelligent, at times and not so much at others. They have all of the assets and liablities that we do. They are human beings and, again, I ask, Are you?.

America - The Media Just Keep Picking at Scabs

We have all done it, especially when we were kids. We would get a cut or a scrape and, once it scabbed over, we would start picking at it. It looked ugly, sometimes it itched and we would just start picking at it, Generally, when we got it off, it would just scab over again, we would pick it some more, and eventually, it would heal. Every once and awhile, we would succeed in getting it infected, then the folks would carry on a bit, and sometimes, it would leave a scar.

The News Media in Country are like kids picking at a scab. We have long been scarred by racial tension. I'll not enumerate the causes and history. Most of us know at least the basics and, really, what good does it do to drag it all back up again. But, they pick and pick, until everyone is on edge, then something happens and we find that old scar ripped open. It scabs over, and they rip it open, until now it's infected. And they will keep at it again and again.

I am not saying that these tensions should be ignored but what the hell good does it do to go on and on with it, dragging out all of these experts and community leaders and sociologist and psychologists, the same ones over and over again.

Einstein said that if you keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results, you are, by definition, insane, psychotic. Yet, they trot out the experts and politicians and old film footage and, it would seem that they expect that somehow, magically, this time it will work.

It won't and really all they are doing is preying on people's fears and old prejudices in a never ending search for a bigger audience. They are vultures preying on the dead flesh of those poor souls, both police and those the police have needlessly and stupidly shot. The National Media should be ashamed of their behavior.

The only way any of this will change is if we, as individuals, can learn tolerance. We are all different and we must learn to accept this and allow each other to be different. Neither the media, nor the government, nor the churches nor the so-called experts can solve this. Only we, individual human beings can do this. It will be slow and painful, but it is the only way. Individual human beings must take responsibility for their own behaviors and stop looking for some authority to step in and fix things. I'll let you in on a secret; the folks really running things don't give a damn if we kill each other off, as long as they keep the cash rolling in. We are the ones suffering and we must fix things.

America - The Majority

I want to make something clear. I love America, both the idea of it and the majority of its citizens. I have taken to task the media, the government and the big corporations, for good reason, but the vast majority of folks are decent, good people. and the structure that made the Nation great is still in place, sort of.

The media is dominated, in fact, owned by, big, big corporations. I have little doubt that the on air news people are basically decent people, for the most part, so I do not really fault them. They, like most of us, are just trying to make a living, and, like most of us, have to play by the boss' rules. I will say that in times of emergencies, they do a pretty good job, at least until the crisis passes and they have to start spinning the information again. It is the giant corporations that are to blame for the focus most broadcasts choose. Certain events are covered, others ignored, and always, those favored by CEOs are given smooth passage.

I am also sure that many public officials are, at heart, decent people. I doubt that few of them go home and kick the dog or make their kids live on gruel. I am sure many of them would love to actually help people and, every now and then, they manage to push through a piece of legislation or two that does help. The problem is this. To get elected, and keep getting elected, costs a bunch of money and, always, there are business representatives, lobbyists, PAC funders, etc., who are just waiting with big checks, provided you do as they wish. Power, which does come with elected office, is perhaps the most insidious of drugs, and the lust to obtain and keep that power clouds the minds of even those with the best intentions. In the Lord of the Rings, even the great elves, even Gandalf, had no desire to take the ring from Frodo, lest they be tempted by all of that power. So, government grows more and more corrupt and less and less concerned with the welfare of the vast majority of its citizens.

Even amongst corporate leaders, I am confident that many, if not most, are reasonably honest men and women who simply want to put out a good product at a decent price and who try to treat their employees fairly. It is when we get into the upper reaches of business, the mega-corporations and the mega-banks that we begin to detect the truly rotten apples that spoil the business world. These are the manipulators, the men and women who are always trying to steer the world in the direction they want, no matter what the cost to others. In the board rooms of these ridiculously large institutions, the most despicable lust for power is put on display. These giants of business have polluted the environment, released a mind boggling array of pharmaceuticals, crushed smaller businesses in the drive to own the World, have manipulated economies in ways that have enslaved most of the Earth's population, and are looking for more.

The majority of American citizens are, at heart, or so I fervently hope, still as ornery and cranky as ever. Likewise, they are still the hardest working and most creative people around and also, the most fun loving. But, right now, they seem to be slumbering, sleepwalking through the beginning years of this millennium. Understandable, since, as I have previously explained, we have been bombarded with change at a furious rate over the course of the last century. But, unfortunately, we cannot yet rest. There are countless troubles on the horizon and we must face them or this great experiment, The United States, will be nothing but a fond memory. Forget troubles abroad, we must solve our problems here. Walt Kelly's wonderful old comic strip Pogo had the wonderful line, "we have met the enemy and he is us." That is the truth.

The structures that made this Nation great are still in tact and we need to reclaim their use. The elections we are seeing unfold are nothing but a farce. I urge you to vote, but not for either of the 2 parties. Vote for any 3rd party candidate you can find. They will not win, but it will send a message that you wish to participate in elections but refuse to put up with the current dog and pony show of Trump, Clinton, Bush and the rest of the confederacy of dunces ( not an original line. A Confederacy of Dunces is a wonderfully funny novel by John Kennedy Toole. I just love the phrase). If there are no 3rd Party candidates, write in Homer Simpson or SpongeBob Squarepants. Just let the ruling elite know that you are wise to their game and you have had about all you can take.

Will that work? Who knows, but right now, it seems to me to be the only palatable response; if mockery does not get their attention, then, as was done in the 60s, it might be necessary to get in the streets, to start demonstrating. I sure hope not because, trust me, that is not pleasant. In the meantime, simplify your lives, avoid debt like the plague, learn as much as you can about everything and take care of yourself, your friends and your families. Remember, you are the physical and spiritual descendent of the brave and brilliant people who created and built this Nation.