Tag Archives: George Floyd

The Road to Diamond, Day 119: Passages

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Historical, Inspiration, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

March 27, 2025- In a short letter, with two photos attached, I learned that the young adolescent girl from Mexico,whom I had been sponsoring for three years, has left the sponsoring agency’s wing. There is nothing further I can do for the child, save pray, as all contact with her is through the agency.

In her stead, I will sponsor and support a much younger child from a Caribbean nation. The differences between the two girls could not be more stark. The first was content to stay at home and tend her younger siblings, or so she said. The second is a self-starter, inquisitive and studious, with eyes full of sass. I look forward to seeing just how far she will go in life.

In my own space, I had a spot on my face treated with cold nitrogen, this afternoon. It will need to be evaluated in three months’ time. Another spot will be surgically removed, next Wednesday. I have borne a scar or two, previously, so I am not worried. It’s better to be rid of the spot, before it becomes cancerous.

The country is going through a passage or two. Indeed, the planet is experiencing changes not seen in over 80 years. Some events are actually more reminiscent of the so-called Dark Ages, when kings, lords and other nobles ran roughshod over the masses. Back then, however, those multitudes were uneducated. Nowadays, any chicanery or deception is occurring because the people are, by turns, tired, distracted or complacent. There has rarely been a time when so many are willing to accept whatever is told them. This, though, will not continue in perpetuity. Abraham Lincoln’s admonition, about not fooling all the people all the time, will be brought to bear-as it was after the Watergate scandal and hopefully in just as civilized a manner. We do not need either another Civil War or a mass uprising, as happened in 1968, after the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. or in 2020, after the death of George Floyd. At some point, the seemingly defanged Congress will need to assert itself and prevent the “correction of overspending” from becoming an overreaction all its own. It will need the support of the judiciary, and of several other institutions.

The point should never be to excuse excess in one direction, but to ensure it is not replaced by excess in the opposite way.

The Summer of Rising Tides, Day 1: Whose Law, Whose Order?

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Striving

June 1, 2020–

The summer of 2020 doesn’t begin, astronomically, for anothe rthree weeks. From today until Labor Day, though, I will be entitling posts as part of a series, The Summer of Rising Tides. Coronavirusdisease-2019, and the racially and politically-sparked violence in our nation will be the initial foci of this series, as they are the immediate backdrop.

The situation is, as most are aware, extremely fluid-with fearful people across the political spectrum trying their best to show respect towards the Floyd family and many still making a concerted effort, within the bounds of their own sensibilities, to not spread the novel Coronoavirus.

There are those who view President Trump as the sole bulwark against a feared dictatorship, by a little known philanthropist named George Soros, who is nearly 90 years old and is of questionable mental stability. I personally don’t think Dr. Soros has a chance in H*** of taking charge of the country, or of even functioning as the “power behind the throne” , in a potential Biden Administration. His most powerful days, such as they were, are behind him-fortune or no fortune. Most of the fears people have expressed to me are the result of his occasional pronouncements that he sees himself as “a kind of God”.

Others fear a second Trump administration. The president may have added gasoline to that fire, by stating, “The looting starts, the shooting starts” and “I am your Law and Order President”. A rumour had even made its way out here that there was nationwide curfew, starting at 7 P.M. (EDT). That curfew has been established, but only for the District of Columbia, and it was announced by the Mayor of Washington, not by Mr. Trump.

Here in Arizona, we do have a statewide curfew, for everywhere except the Navajo Nation, which has its own sets of restrictions, themselves stemming from efforts to control COVID-19. The statewide curfew is essentially from 8 P.M.-5 A.M., until Monday, June 8. There are exceptions for those who are working or who are taking care of elderly relatives. The statewide curfew is a response to rioting in the Phoenix area, on Saturday night, into Sunday morning.

I am old enough to know that none of the above-mentioned events will play out as anticipated, or as feared. If Mr. Trump is re-elected, he is most likely going to adhere to our Constitution. If Mr. Biden is elected, Mr. Trump will likely complain, long and loud, will leave office and become an even louder voice of the opposition. As for Dr. Soros, he would be likely imprisoned, if he tried to assert power in this country. His comment, that he could gain power by getting the Black people on his side, because they “are easiest to manipulate”, has already sealed his failure.

This will not, however, be an easy three months. We will need to strive, mightily, to bridge our gaps, recognizing, at long last, that we all bleed the same. Stay tuned, and stay safe.

Holding One’s Temper

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Posted by on in Community, Inner Struggles, Personal Values, Social, Striving

May 29,2020–

As with every single thing that has come before the American public, the course of events, over the past few days, has had its share of back and forth. Thankfully, all comments that I have seen, so far, concur that George Floyd did not deserve to die the way he did.

I don’t like rioting and destruction. I don’t like toddlers throwing temper tamtrums, either. I understand both. A heavy hand resolves neither, but a firm, considerate tone of voice and clear statement of expectations go a long way towards stopping both.

I have seen, firsthand, when a weak leader took the word of someone who made up a story, out of whole cloth, and fired someone who had not done anything like that of which they were accused. I have also seen an out-of-control maniac grab a 16-year-old boy by the head and smash his head into a tree, three times- in the name of “school discipline”.

Both “styles of leadership” created for more problems than they were worth. Neither person deserved the position he occupied. Neither victim deserved the fate that was meted out.

George Floyd did not deserve to die aviolent death. His accused killer did not deserve pass after dreadful pass, for the previous harsh treatment he was found to have given to his “collars”/