Once again terrorism has claimed the lives of many innocent people and a crazy man is behind it. So for the last few days I've been listening to the media, radio mostly, and reading around the subject in the news, especially the opinion pieces. I happened to be at a laundry with a television when President Barack Obama made his speech, cautioning us to not judge people of the Muslim religion with prejudice. A lot of people washing their clothes that morning were Hispanic. Immigration and gun control are very much part of the debate as we think of which person we will vote for President of the United States.
Will it be DONALD TRUMP, who, in my opinion, talks first, and apologizes later. Or HILARY CLINTON, who, in my opinion, we can expect political business as usual. BERNIE SANDERS, the candidate that speaks to my heart, will not likely be elected but I admire him for knowing that and continuing to promote his message, his values. He actually seems to be the only candidate that wants to admit we have a terrible problem here in the U.S. with poverty. (Currently I'm doing a short jaunt of volunteer work for a summer reading program that has almost no funding, in which paid employees are working miracles with great ideas and few resources.)
OK, PRE JUDGING is making ASSumptions that could be so very wrong... But I'm guilty of AFTAjudice, a word I made up, in which after so much bad experience with a type of person, I feel entitled to be PRE Judging.
There is a peaceable Muslim family in my neighborhood and everyone notices that they stay inside these last several month, no longer out in the yard where we could get to know them and their children. We know they left Pakistan because of the conditions there and believe they are trying to become American citizens, but their co-coreligionists are making it more difficult for them. If DONALD TRUMP becomes president and actually manages to end immigration by people of that religion, I would be surprised. But I would not be surprised if every last one of them is going to be investigated by immigration and naturalization, if not the FBI. While I have no reason to believe that anyone is going to try to harm this family, were I them, I would no longer dress in their traditional clothing because there are more crazy people with military weapons out there who are not so fair minded.
Gun Control was once only about a hand gun or rifle, not these bullet spitting weapons of war.
Even if Moslem leaders speak out against the Orlando tragedy which has about 50 people dead at the scene and many fighting for their lives in the hospital, with a number of them too injured to resume normal lives even though they will survive, I say "This is NOT ENOUGH."
Today I walked my dog and met up with a neighbor who is completely redoing an old house in their family by hand so he can sell it.
As we talked about this tragedy we became morbidly funny. We talked about how everyone wants to die peaceable in old age and in their sleep in the middle of a wonderful dream but lately there are too many terrible and weird ways to die.
There is an epidemic of SHARK ATTACKS and ALLIGATORS HAULING OFF HOMELESS PEOPLE AND CHILDREN. Then there are the SINK HOLES opening up all around. One moment a man is sitting up reading in his bed, maybe even on his cell phone, the next he and his entire house are down in the ground and he is never to be found. Then there was this 23 year old tourist at YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK who wanted to get up close and personal with a boiling pit of acid, fell in, and we can only hope he was dead before he could feel it.
THE SHARKS, ALLIGATORS, and SINK HOLES can be tied in to the change in climate and water shortages. THE YELLOWSTONE death, stupidity. Yet, we can all say that these people had a wrestle with nature, and died in strange ways.
But the people who made it to the gay, bisexual, transgender club in Orlando were out to DANCE. Some of them were not gay, bisexual, or transgender. Here in Southern California most of the DANCE CLUBS are identified the same way, but lots of straight people go to them to DANCE because there is nowhere else to DANCE.
Many of our parents grew up meeting people at DANCE PAVILLIONS or DISCOS. It was popular for straight people to spend Friday and Saturday nights out dancing and having a good time with live bands playing.
So now the reporters are out to determine if really this crazy man who killed and injured so many was "really gay," and that it was all about his personal issues with sexuality. Please!
I try to make the world a better place, if just a little.
Today, I walked into several banks, grocers, dollar stores, and a bakery asking for sponsorship, patronage, donations, even one small item, so that a couple hundred children from poor families who are determined to read their way through the summer can have a small reward for their efforts and can learn that there IS a REWARD for their effort.
So far we have been granted a large sheet cake from a CUBAN AMERICAN BAKERY.
A comic book and graphic novel store owned by an eccentric ALL AMERICAN will help us.
A local pharmacy owned by a MEXICAN-AMERICAN is thinking about it.
Well, this Magyar-American is done for the day.
