Doing something about COVID-19

June 12, 2020

Here I am again and this time with some fun for you. Picture a Democrat, a Republican and an Independent all jumping off a cliff together. Oh! They all crashed on the rocks below. Now why did that happen? Well, science is real and there is where we can find our answer. It was gravity that caused them to all hit the rocks. You see, gravity is a constant and gravity does not discriminate by political leanings, religion, color of skin and so on. It is a constant, which means it is there and short of flying off the planet you cannot do anything about it. (Hint, do not jump off a cliff ...

Can’t turn away from injustice, intolerance

June 11, 2020

The murder of George Floyd by police officers calls for justice. Pope Francis at his general audience June 3 said, “Dear brothers and sisters in the United States, I have witnessed with great concern the disturbing social unrest in your nation in these past days, following the tragic death of Mr. George Floyd. My friends, we cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life.” On May 31, Archbishop Jose Gomez, president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, stated, “The killing of George ...

‘This should be the norm’

June 10, 2020

Recently, during the Louisville, Kentucky, protests, a white police officer, Galen Hinshaw, found himself isolated among the protesters who were becoming hostile. It became a very dangerous situation, as the officer admitted that he would not have been able to defend himself without getting injured, considering how he was outnumbered. He backed himself up against a wall as the protesters came closer. Then, the unexpected happened — five men, three of them black, one white, and one Dominican — locked arms and stood in front of the officer, facing the crowd and protecting him from ...

Pandemic has disproportionate effect on women

June 9, 2020

We have all felt the immediate effects on our lives and the lives of our loved ones during this pandemic. Even though we are all in this together, our lives have been and will be affected differently in the post-pandemic world. In 1918, the Spanish flu disproportionally affected young men. The deaths from the flu, along with World War I casualties, was the cause for a shortage of men in the work force in the immediate years following. This catastrophe was an important catalyst for the women’s movement that eventually won us the vote. After the war, there was an increase of women ...

Time to wake up about Trump

June 5, 2020

“He brings the Bible, holds it high, puts it down, lies.” Remember those inspirational words now-President Donald Trump spoke, mocking U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz while he campaigned for the office of president? The base loved it. He was telling the established “political elites” like it was. Sen. John McCain a hero? “He’s not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” More words of inspiration that any veteran who’s ever served could cling to, knowing their service to country wouldn’t go unnoticed from a future ...

On racial issues, will we ever manage to learn from our past?

June 2, 2020

Will this country learn? I ask that question because the foundations of the present violence appear to me the same as the Chicago riots, and the Los Angeles riots. A majority white nation where all the power centers such as political legislators, civilian powers brokers, economic powers brokers, and criminal justice power brokers rest mainly with people who are absorbed by self-interest. The second issue is the income inequality, excusive punitive policing in non-white areas, school resource and education inequity and daily emotional stress non-white communities experience at the ...