At The Border: Immigration Or War

So it's interesting how this whole immigration crisis is playing out in real life and simultaneously on TV. 

In real life, we have a caravan of thousands of people marching from Central America (Honduras and Guatemala) to the U.S. border seeking asylum, mostly for economic reasons. 

On TV, we have the Last Ship Season 5, where South and Central America are at war with the U.S., "no longer willing to sit at the children's table of international politics," and they are coming to the U.S. to fight.

In the U.S. today, there are over 40 million people that were born in another country.  Of these, there are over 12 million immigrants living illegally in the U.S. (55% from Mexico), and we know that we need immigration reform.  

In the truest sense, we are almost all of us immigrants to this country, with ourselves or our families coming over at one time or another, and we are grateful for the generosity and open doors that allowed us to come here and make a good life.

Of course, we want to pay it forward and give others the same asylum and opportunity that we had and which they as human beings deserve. 

Yet, the country continues to debate the mix of compassion and giving to the oppressed and needy versus the merit principles for bringing in needed skills, talents, and investment, and how many is the "right" number to allow in at any one time.

In real life, we are beefing up border agents, building a wall, and calling in the military to halt the illegal flow of immigrants, so that we can channel immigrates through a process and vetting that leads to legal and safe immigration to this country

On TV, we are fighting in the air, on land, and at sea an alliance of countries from the south and central that want to take over the U.S., and we are also holding our own and holding them back.

In both cases, we need to have and maintain borders to be a sovereign country, to protect our country, and to ensure that caravans of illegal immigrants or foreign troops are not crossing the border and doing harm. 

It's high time for true immigration reform that is compassionate yet principled, but overrunning the border isn't an option that is practical or fair.  ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

At The Border: Immigration Or War

Some Reflections From The Procedure

So I had a little procedure this week. 

I hate going to the hospital--who doesn't?

But I figured better to take care of something before it gets worse. 

I think of it like taking the car into the mechanic for a tuneup every once in a while. 

This analogy stuck with me years ago, when the orthopedist told me I needed to get a hip replacement and started to describe it as having a flat tire that needed to be repaired. 

Leading up the the procedure, someone sent me this funny cartoon:

This really hit a nerve too because even the best medicine these days reminds me of the truly horrible medicine not so long ago.  

Ah, have some liquor, bite on this piece of wood, and now we'll saw your leg off!

I remember my father never even liked to go to the doctor, and he had total faith that G-d was his doctor--I think he actually managed to avoid the doctor for literally something like 30-years.

He also used to joke that many doctors were butchers, and he didn't want to get caught under their knife. 

So that's certainly some apprehension going in to this. 

The other thing that was interesting-sad that I saw this week when I went for an MRI was someone taking a homeless person into the radiology center for a scan. 

But when the lady asked for insurance the person didn't have any, so the lady asks for "proof of homelessness."

I was flabbergasted at this as the guy was obviously homeless and literally was wearing tattered clothes.

They wouldn't do the scan until the person escorting him would come back with this proof.  

I felt so bad for him and thought to myself is this what the healthcare system and care for the poverty-striken in this country has come to? 

While I am so truly grateful for the miraculous care that I received this week, I am equally saddened at the care that others don't get that need it, and pray that we as a "caring society" will do better. 

Anyway, I want to express my gratitude to the doctor, the hospital, my wonderful family who stood by me, and most of all to G-d for seeing me through the procedure this week and for watching over me always. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Some Reflections From The Procedure

Going To Bed Hungry

So lots of people like to drink tea. 

But the other day, a nice person was telling me how they drink tea all the time. 

It's not just that they like tea, but there was an important true story behind it. 

You see, they said, when they were young growing up in a foreign country, they often didn't have enough to eat. 

So instead, they had resorted to drinking lots of tea. 

They went on to say, that as children, they often had to go to sleep hungry. 

It is truly a wake-up call for those of us who, thank G-d, have what to eat and so much choice and plenty in this great country. 

Not everyone in the world is so blessed to eat heartily and go to sleep with a full and satisfied belly. 

It is especially saddening and tragic when we are talking about innocent children in this world. 

As we go from the workweek to the weekend, perhaps it is a good time to reflect on how much we have to be grateful for and to wish blessings of peace, health, and prosperity on all our fellow mankind, here and all around the world. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumethal)

Going To Bed Hungry

Homeless DC

So aside from all the Washington, D.C. weighty monuments to our esteemed values of democracy, freedom, and human rights.

And aside from all the prestigious institutions and people of great power that formulate the policies and rules and keep us abiding by them. 

This is what I see in D.C. 

The plight of the poor, homeless, and downtrodden. 

Those that have fallen by the wayside.

People who are down on their luck.

Human beings--that's right human beings--that need and deserve help or even just a chance.

Why does anyone have to live--if you can even call this living--like this a couple of blocks from the White House. 

I know there are people all over the world who are hungry, homeless, sick, and abused.

Yet, nowhere is this more stark an example than in the U.S.A where there is such an enormous divergence between "the haves" and "the have nots" and where our values are supposedly bound up with equality, human rights, charity, and kindness.

Yes, we are supposed to be equal in treatment and in opportunity, but we all know that is not really the case. 

Sure, some work hard and others are perhaps lucky/blessed, but then are those that are born with a "silver spoon in their mouths" and excel through a tight weave of corruption, narcissism, nepotism, and abuse.

Yet a real chance for everyone, a living wage, and basic dignity and respect should be afforded to all.

Money and power is ephemeral.  

Those with it, that abuse it, shall see it pass between their fingers ever trying to clutch unto it with dear life. 

Only the way we treat others will last in this world and in the world after. 

Everything goes around and comes around. 

This is the cycle of life and the lot of those who abuse their good fortune as well as those that harness it. 

G-d will judge with His mighty hand and bring to bear the deeds and intentions of those that mock His holy will. 

Because His children lay in rags and heaps, while others dance their folly jig. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Homeless DC

STOP Human Trafficking

So we watched the movie "Sold."

It was about this young Nepalese girl (maybe age 12) who was sold into a horrible brothel in Kolkata, India.

She fought to keep from getting raped, but eventually they drugged her and tied her hands to the bedpost--where the evil bastards had their way with this child. 

She and the other young girls in the brothel were raped about 10 times every evening to "repay their debts."

The horror these children go through taken, beaten, drugged, and raped over and over again. 

It's unthinkable and the lowest grotesqueness of people who could possibly treat children this way. 

Finally, the young girl does manage to escape to Hope House (a rescue shelter for the human trafficking victims) and with the information she provides, the police are able to raid the brothel and rescue the other children. 

The movie tells how their are 5.5 million children around the world that are being sex trafficked--and I would presume that the real number is unfortunately much higher!

I can only imagine how G-d must cry heavenly tears for these poor children.

It is incredibly hard to understand that in some areas of the world poverty is so bad that some desperate families actually feel they have to resort to selling their children to survive.

In other cases, the children are preyed on and simply disappear.

Children who should be playing with toys are instead forced to be sexual play things. 

Innocent children who should be treated with love and care are instead treated as animals for the sick and cruel physical pleasures of others. 

Have mercy on these children---save these children from wherever they are bound and held--give them back their freedom and their dignity. 

If ever there was a cause for people to rally around--surely, saving these children from sexual abuse and trafficking is one that all can agree is at the crux of our very humanity and mankind's soul. 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

STOP Human Trafficking

Pennies From Heaven

So I ran into this lady in downtown Washington, D.C.

She posed for the picture and made sure to line up the top and the bottom posters to get it just right. 

It says:

"Not One Penny In Tax Cuts For The Rich"

Makes intuitive sense doesn't it: the rich already are blessed with...riches!

Any more pennies in their war chest is sort of a drop in the billionaire bucket. 

With tax reform is on the table now...we need tax relief for the middle class and to grow the economy. 

The rich really do not need to get any richer.

Especially with a national debt over $20 trillion already--and not including future entitlement obligations that exceed projected revenue for social security and medicare, which bring the debt in excess of $70 trillion!). 

The gamble with this whole tax reform plan is that the $1.5 trillion or so in proposed tax cuts over 10 years translates into a much bigger economic expansion that makes up for that revenue loss to the government and more. 

If not, well then Uncle Sam bet wrong and our annual deficit gets bigger and bigger (already $666 billion in FY 2017).

Tax cuts for the rich today and estate tax cuts to pass wealth between generations--when they impact the top 1% are ridiculously targeted to those who really don't need it, and many of the decent ones, like Warren Buffet, don't even want it. 

Let's have a heart and help the people that really need the help--let's narrow the growing divide between the haves and the have nots, and move to eliminate the class system that elevates one child of G-d over another. 

- While some live in McMansions, others are homeless.

- While some eat steak and drink expensive bottles of wine every night, others go hungry and thirsty.

- While some wear fancy designer clothes, expensive jewelry, and different outfits every day, others don't have a clean shirt on their back. 

It's nice to think that some "deserve it" more than others, but we also have to think who really needs it more. 

And if the pennies do ultimately come from Heaven (as all blessings do), then let us distribute these with compassion and lovingkindness as we know our Creator would want us to. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Pennies From Heaven

Treating The Homeless With Dignity

I love this organization, Think Dignity.

They do hands-on advocacy and activism to help the homeless. 

From providing them storage lockers, bathrooms, showers, haircuts/shaves, clothing boutique, hygiene products (e.g. tampons etc.), drinking water, legal services, and more.
While others looks away, they jump in to actually do something real. 

They actually bring mobile showers to them!

The video show on the left, one person living a regular life with a home, job, and everything they need, and on the right, another person down on their luck, homeless and needy.

Both are G-d's creatures--one just needs a fresh start!

At the end of the video, it says:

Don't Look Away.
Think Love.
Think Hope.
Think Strength.
Think Worth.
Think Dignity. 

I hope you are truly moved in the same way that I am by this organization and their beautiful mission and meaningful outreach activities. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Treating The Homeless With Dignity

It's Gazillions Baby!

So being a millionaire is no longer anything.

You're still considered sort of a poor schlub!

Even a billionaire is not such a big deal anymore. 

It takes at least $2 billion to make it unto the Forbes 400 Richest Americans List. 

Further, a recent episode of CNBC Filthy Rich Guide asks who will become the world's first trillionaire!

They say trillionaire as in a number with "4 commas"--never really thought of it that way.

...but it's definitely a big,(1) big,(2) big,(3) big,(4) big number.

Jeff Bezos of Amazon with $90 billion currently in the bank and growing fast is forecasted to be the one who will make it. 

So no longer are we betting on which mega corporation--Apple (with a current value of almost $830 billion)--will become the first trillion dollar company.

We are talking individuals with that much moolah too. 

So with the median net worth of Americans a measly $69 thousand dollars, it's no wonder that billionaires like Mr. Wonderful (Kevin O'Leary of Shark Tank) calls more than one entreprenuer looking for an investment, a cockroach!

What's a shame is not only the complete social inequity and class system that we have and that continues to grow with those in McMansions and others homeless, but also that so many can't see that what's really important is not the beautiful pocketbook full of money, but the decent soul filled with good deeds! ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

It's Gazillions Baby!

It's Not (Always) Easy

Sometimes, we see people--especially on social media these days--and they look "all that!"--so happy, so loved, so rich, so with everything--so it seems (superficially). 

But there is definitely another reality out there, and that is that everyone has problems:

- Family
- Health
- Finances
- Work
- School
- Conflict
- Spiritual

Like Helen Keller said: 

"I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet."

I remember as a child, if I felt sad about something, my dad at times would remind me about the children in the hospital, and to think about how we can help others less fortunate--and he was right!

What I see in life is a lot of people trying, but also so many challenges, failures, and suffering along the way...unfortunately, it's part of the learning and growth equation, and in why we're here. 

In college, I always remember one (English) professor who taught me from Henry David Thoreau:

"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation."

Sometimes, in our solitude or when we speak quietly from our heart with our closest loved ones, we feel and express some of those deep feelings of hurt, pain, and suffering from our lives.  

Those experiences, memories, and feelings are not all that there is of us, but it is certainly a part of all of us--although maybe only the brave will admit theirs.

It's not shameful to feel, to cry, and to be human. 

It's certainly not what Facebook and Twitter are all about. 

But it's a genuine and critical part of us which recognizes as my dad also taught me that--life is not easy--and that we have to fight every day to do our best and to help others to do theirs. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

It's Not (Always) Easy

The Excuses We Make

So on the way to the airport, I am talking with the Uber driver. 

"There is such a discrepancy between the rich and the poor here," I say.

"Yeah," she says, "When I drive and stop at the lights, there are many poor people that come up to the car looking for a handout."

She continues, "I usually have a few dollars here" pointing to the little cubby hole under the parking break. 

"But my friends make fun of me saying, they [the panhandlers] are just going to go out and buy a beer!"

Excuse #1 not to give poor people--they'll misuse our charity and buy alcohol, drugs, or prostitutes. 

The driver says, "But so what...if I were in their shoes, I'd buy a beer too."

I'm thinking, hey this is nice...she's fighting the bad inclination and her friends pressure and still wants to give--this is great!

Sure enough, we stop at a red light, and a really poor man starts walking up to the window to ask for help.

This person is dressed in dirty battered rags of an undershirt, and has sores on their arms and body.

The driver says, "Yeah, if I gave him, he'd probably just switch his shirt inside out later [as if the other side would be magically less dirty and ripped] and go home to his Rolls Royce!"

Wow, when excuse #1 doesn't hold...

Excuse #2--the poor people are just faking it...really they aren't poor, but rather they are fantastically rich and trying to pocket some more money for free.

It's like the evil inclination sitting on one shoulder telling us "don't give,"  even as the good inclination is sitting over our other shoulder beseeching us to have mercy and "give, give, give."

In this case, the evil inclination won out. 

I reached for my wallet and wanted to open my window, but honestly this person looked scary--dirty and maybe sick--I was afraid of this person. 

I hope G-d forgives me, because I feel it wasn't my evil inclination making excuses, but this time it was genuine for me. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

The Excuses We Make

Poverty Stinks

A lady dropped these placards around on the Metro yesterday with a little pack of tissues. 

It says:

"Hi, I have 2 kids and I'm a single mother and I have no job. If you can please help me for food and for rent. G-d bless you. Thank you."

It is heart-wrenching, the poverty!

People without food or shelter. 

Many without medicine and proper clothing. 

Basic things that most of us take for granted.

It takes so little for everything to go to sh*t. 

Both individually and also societally. 

The world can be a cruel, cruel place. 

But people can open their hearts and wallets to help others. 

Also, advocate for people that are less fortunate. 

Imagine G-d looking down and what does he see from us. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Poverty Stinks

Steak or Peanut Butter

Ok, so yes this is not the best looking steak and peanut butter...

But that's not the point here.

I was talking to a workman who has a seasonal business. 

"Business is doing well," he said.

During the busy time...they can work 80 days straight without a break. 

And also work until midnight.

But the flip side is that for many months in the year, they have very little work at all.

It's literally feast or famine. 

As we were talking about this, he says to me:

"We really have to make it during the busy season, because that determines whether we eat steak or peanut butter the rest of the year!"

It struck me how difficult this must be too depend on a few months for how you live all the year round. 

Sure, it must be nice to have a slower season and have some rest, relaxation, and maybe some fun. 

But if, G-d forbid, you're not earning enough to support yourself for the duration of the year and you're stuck eating peanut butter because you can't even afford a steak anymore, then that must be pretty darn tough. 

Just something to think about and be grateful for if you can eat what you want and when you want to. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Steak or Peanut Butter

People Literally Eating Garbage

So I saw another homeless person yesterday eating out of the garbage on the street. 

They had flipped open the top, reached in, pulled out a half-drunk cup of something awful looking, and in one shot, gulped it down. 

I was choking watching this--it was so upsetting that any human being has to live this way. 

Like so many of these poor folks living off the streets, their belly was sick and widely distended. 

And their pants were very worn, with holes, and wrapped ill-fittingly around their waist. 

They dragged a small suitcase behind them. 

When people say that things are bad in their life, perhaps we often don't stop to think about how bad things can really get (bli ayin hara).

G-d should have mercy on his children and bless us not to know any loss, sorrow, pain, suffering, sickness or hunger.  ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

People Literally Eating Garbage

Is Man An Angel Or Beast?

So is man an angel or a beast?

On one hand, we see small and great acts of love, kindness and generosity. 

People feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, donating clothes to the poverty-stricken, and standing up to defend those that are abused, discriminated against, and victimized.

Every day is an opportunity to be a gracious, heavenly angel!

At the same time, we are witness to horrible acts of hate, cruelty and inhumanity.

The strong preying off and committing gross acts of violence against the weak, the rich elitists taking from the poor lower-class, the powerful violating the human rights of the masses and ruling with a brutal iron fist. 

Every day is the possibility to act the vicious, lowly beast!

It's a choice as we stand here teetering on the world we are injected into. 

The angel and the beast fight within us. 

Our souls yearn to emulate the spirit of our Holy Creator, while our bodies look for raw physical and material satisfaction. 

It is truly a battle that rages within us, and can tear any or all of us apart. 

Yet, our mission is for good to overcome evil--in everyday small and large ways.  

To fight the urges that torment us and to rise, rise, with the wings of an angel to reach our potential and fulfill our destiny. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal) 

Is Man An Angel Or Beast?

Ending Up As A Rock

So some people would say ending up as a rock is not a bad thing. 

A rock symbolizes strength and something that weathers time itself. 

However, it's one thing being alive and a rock and another being dead as one. 

Fidel Castro, the authoritarian Cuban President of 50 years, the revolutionary who defied the United State and brought us and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war, the dictator who violated the human rights of millions of the Cuban people...and where does he end up?

Dead at age 90, cremated, with his ashed placed inside a 15-foot tall rock. 

That's what's left of the man. 

Of course, there is his legacy in Cuba that includes high literacy, universal health care, environmentalism, and competitive sport's teams. But there is also mass poverty and economic dysfunction, gross repression and human rights abuses, and Island isolationism. 

So perhaps with Fidel gone, over time, Cuba will find itself on a path of greater moderation and reform. 

In the meantime, Fidel is gone--like every other living thing comes and goes--no matter how strong he acted or how repressive he ruled, what is he now but a big useless rock with a nameplate affixed.

(Source Photo: Associated Press Via Wall Street Journal)

Ending Up As A Rock

Homeless And Hungry

I took this photo in Washington, DC.

Two statues of back-to-back homeless people in the grit on the sidewalk.

They sit as everyone rushes on past them--many stone faced as well as too many stone hearted.

In this case, someone put the newspaper Street Sense on the lap of the statue. 

As many in DC, the homeless are trying to get back on their feet in this case by writing articles for and selling this newspaper about homelessness, poverty, and social issues. 

Impressive that they sell about 16,000 of the biweekly 16-page paper and that the homeless vendors make about $45 per day doing this. 

Like this picture of the homeless on the street, bracing back against each other and sort of huddled up among the masses of the fortunate around them, I imagine that they must really feel like these statues--odd, uncomfortable, lost, scared, and painted over by society that marks them as dirty, dangerous, and unwanted.

But these homeless and hungry are G-d's children, no less than any of us!

I applaud Street Sense and other advocates and activists that see, hear, and feel beyond themselves and help the needy and downtrodden. 

Helping these people in desperate need is truly G-d's work, and like recently sainted, Mother Teresa, is an act of unbelievable kindness and mercy that we can all learn from and should emulate. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Homeless And Hungry

Sh*t Rolls Downhill

Just ten months ago was the gigantic Vale and BHP Billiton dam collapse disaster in Brazil.

Enough iron-ore mine waste rolled downhill to fill the Dallas Cowboys' Stadium more than 11 times--the waste destroyed villages, killed 19 people, and polluted 400 miles of waterways.

But of course, when the report came out this week, all was supposed to be okay, because that's what insurance and obfuscation about what would be done differently to protect people in the future is all about.

Then yesterday, I stopped by some workmen. 

One was at the top of this hole, and the other was underneath.

Underground, the guy is standing in the muddy water and installing a new meter. 

I talked with the guy above ground about how hard it must be too work in these conditions. 

I asked if there were rats down there, and he said "generally no, because it's sealed off."

Yet, it was obvious how tough these jobs are, where people have to get down into the dirty and do the jobs that others don't even want to think about. 

Further on this, I contemplated how in all jobs and things in life, as they say, "The sh*t rolls downhill!"

Meaning basically that we are still living in a class society, with the elites and everyone else, where the top 1% own as much as the other 99%, and the drudgery of life gets relegated down to the lower-rung masses. 

The lower the rung, the deeper the crap you end up working in and doing for others, and on top of it, getting blamed for whatever goes wrong.

The elites hold the power and can do no wrong, and the mediocrity or impoverished can basically do little or no right--that's why they presumably are where they are--they deserve it (or so we are led/forced to believe)!

On the TV, I heard on the news, one elite defending the corruption of another senior official, saying they did nothing wrong--even though the evidence has already shown they have and moreover, again and again. 

There is no truth to be found in the world of the elites--they wish and will do whatever it takes--lie, steal, collude, and even kill--to remain the powerful, the rich, the honored, and the noble. 

The rest dig the holes and can bury themselves in it for all the elite are concerned--they stand at the top and the sh*t rolls mightily downhill from there. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Sh*t Rolls Downhill

From Fractured to ONE

I really liked this T-shirt.

It says volunteer, but in three rows like this:

vOl

uNt

eEr

So in the center is ONE!

When we give of ourselves, we shed our billions of individual selfish natures to be one--with humanity and with G-d.

These days, seeing from how shattered and fractured this nation and world is, it is just a dream again for unity.

- The fighting between different races and castes of people

- The fighting between rich and poor

- The fighting between communities or family members

- The fighting between unarmed (and armed) civilians and police

- The fighting between republicans and democrats

- The fighting between proponents and opponents of X, Y, or Z policy, person, place, or thing

- The fighting between governed and those who govern

- The fighting between terrorists and terrorized

- The fighting between religions and within religions

- The fighting between East and West

- The fighting between good and evil

This reminds me learning in yeshiva from Zechariah 14:9 (when the destroyers of Jerusalem will themselves be destroyed)"

"And the L-rd will be king over all the Earth. On that day, the L-rd will be one and his name one."

Oneness--unity--peace is a vision and a goal. 

With unity we recognize our ONE true maker and guider of all creation.

And with unity we seek and find solutions to the world's big problems (global poverty, disease, war and so on).

Fractured and fighting among ourselves, we are small, petty, selfish, and weak. 

But together, we can unite with Heaven and conquer all that ails humanity. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

From Fractured to ONE

Poverty Is An Illness

Poverty is not just a phenomenon of poor, homeless and hungry people. 

It is a social and economic epidemic, and here are some sobering statistics:

- "Nearly 1/2 of the world's population--more than 3 billion people--live on less than $2.50 a day."

- More than 1.3 billion people live in extreme poverty--less than $1.25 a day."

- "1 Billion children worldwide are living in poverty...and 165 million children under the age of 5 were stunted...due to malnutrition."

- "1/4 of all humans live without electricity."

- "80% of the world population lives on less than $10 a day."

Those empty stomachs, battered roofs, and tattered clothes are leaving indelible marks on so many impoverished people, yet many at the other end of the spectrum are living so high and mighty...it's a crazy contrast that fails to make any sense. 

Passing by the stronghold buildings of the World Bank in Washington, D.C., I found these striking "End Poverty" t-shirts that they had in their storefront--although I couldn't help think how far removed this place was from this sorry state of global poverty and chaotic and violent world affairs. 

We are living in an incredible bubble, and while I often hear how grateful people are to be here and have "all this," somehow I just don't think we fully get it what's going on out there! ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Poverty Is An Illness

Getting "Unf*cked"

So on July 4th, I wrote and did a short video about how messed (f*cked) up things are in the world today (of course, technology-aside), and I advocated for people being a good influence and for constructive change. 

On the positive side, I saw this neat bumper sticker to "Unf*ck The World," and I checked out their website utwnow.org. 

It was impressive to see people advocating for, banding together, and engaging to do good things to help others such as assist the homelessness by giving them haircuts, doing laundry, providing "mobile hygiene," and helping with a thrift shop and job opportunities.  

In contrast again, it was interesting in the Wall Street Journal today, there was an editorial on how Brexit (Britian leaving the EU) has nothing on Amexit (America's disengagement from global affairs). 

Around the world, there is cause for not only pause, but great concern.

- From allowing Syria to cross the red line in using chemical weapons (on civilians!) to the recommendation to not charge the former First Lady, we are in moral and leadership retreat.

- Russia takes over Crimea and agitates in Eastern Ukraine and the Baltics, while China continues its island buildup in the strategic South China Sea.  

- ISIS continues to hold ground across the Middle East and Northern Africa and attacks targets literally everywhere in the world and routinely takes, enslaves, and sells women to the highest bidder on the Internet.

- North Korea and Iran test ballistic missiles, and nukes are a forgone conclusion for them. 

- South America and Europe are in economic and political turmoil with varying degrees of recessions, runaway inflation, shortages, impeachment proceedings, voter recalls, and fractioning. 

- The U.S. is struggling to maintain its leadership role as we fluctuate between recognizing the dire need and pulling back all around. 

In the election cycle, I think just about every single person I have heard from now says in near hopelessness something like, "If only there was another candidate that I could vote for."

What we can do locally to help--and certainly there is a lot more to do there with poverty and homelessness--perhaps people can do nationally and globally in demanding more--not material things, but rather a real caring about others and not just ourselves, a genuine discourse on policy and not just punch lines for the next election or media soundbite, a solutions-oriented mindset rather than a gaming the system one, and a big vision to settle the stars, cure vicious diseases, pull everyone out of poverty, and resolve endless cycles of global conflicts.

Do you hear much of anything on this these days and is anyone taking the high ground or is it just who is more crooked and untrustworthy--this cannot be the answer. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Getting "Unf*cked"