Homelessness and the Mentally ILL

Several years ago, two women appeared at my door one evening, garbed in long dresses, no makeup, wearing head scarves, passing out religious brochures. The younger one introduced herself as a former neighbor, who had moved away a couple of years earlier after a divorce. I did not even recognize her,as before, she had been a beautiful blonde,fit, always perfectly made up and on her way to tennis practice in her short skirt, etc. Her son and mine were friends, but I rarely talked to her as she seemed to travel in a different social circle. Needless to say, I was shocked that this was the same person! She introduced the other woman as her mother. A few months later "Jan" (not her real name), showed up at my door again, this time alone, saying her mother had left town and that she, "Jan", was now "living on the streets" and sleeping in a neighborhood park. My husband and I allowed her to stay at our home for several days while I tried to find resources, a job, etc, for her, however she began showing severe schizophrenic behavior, and as I still had 2 children at home, my husband was emphatic that she not stay with us any longer. We paid for a couple of nights in a hotel for her. I contacted her ex-husband, who wanted nothing to do with her. He had remarried, had custody of their 2 sons and had "moved on". She also had a grown daughter from an earlier marriage who seemed to be completely out of the picture. Anyway, this is a long, heart-breaking story, but bottom line, "Jan" refused to go get help at a shelter and I was told by a social worker that unless it was proven that she was a danger to herself or others, she was allowed "to die with her rights on". She could not be forced to get help! I really had my eyes opened with that experience! Don't know what the answer is to all of this, but it is certainly a problem to be grappled with.

Separate Schools for Homeless Children

It was very, very, hard to not live with my Mother for most of my childhood (my father was killed in an accident when I was 2), but she knew, because of her fragile mental state, she could not give me and my siblings a stable home and loved us enough to allow us to be put in a "children's home" where we could flourish, which we did. We all attended regular schools and I don't ever remember being made to feel "different" by the other students. The trend since the 60's has been to keep the family together while providing social services, but it appears that the children do not always receive the benefits they need from that system. Of course there are many more single parents now and much more drug and alcohol dependancy. I think people are a lot more mobile also, especially in Phoenix, so it is difficult for other family members to help out. My main point is no child should ever be "homeless" and they should have the same opportunity of any other child to receive a good education. They ought not to be "stigmtized" in a special school. I believe the money spent on this extra layer of bureaurocracy could be used in better ways to benefit the children. My mother,now 86 with dememtia, is being cared for by her children, all who have reared successful, healthy children themselves and are in stable, long term marriages. She is blessed with 7 beautiful grandchidren and 5 wonderful great children. I really believe the outcome would have been much different if she had not made that choice long ago to "give her children a chance"

In Defense Of John McCain

The left's chosen form of attack against McCain, is to try and promote him as a carbon copy of George Bush. That, comparison couldn't be farther from the truth. He is in actuality, a centrist and has been known as a "maverick" for a long time in Washington.

Sadly, there are no good choices in this election. For me, it all comes down to who I think will do the least amount of damage to the country and keep it the safest in the next four years, and after weighing all the factors, McCain is my choice.

Those who keep on bringing up McCain's statement about continuing the Iraq war for 100 years, taken in context, he really said we may need to have a "presence" in that country for quite a while, just as we do in several countries that we have been in conflict with. My guess is a lot of Iraquis would welcome that presence, if it fosters a climate of peace from the warring tribal factions there. (Sunni and Shia, Radical Islamists and those who aren't)

As for Obama, "the longer he goes, the more he's exposed". We are all for "hope and change," but , contrary to popular belief, it is possible for our country to be much worse off than it is now. From what I gather, most of us will probably not like the "changes" he has in store for us, unless you think (for example) socialism and appeasement of our mortal enemies is good for the U.S.A.!

Reservations about Obama

About BarrackObama's questionable associates: It is the PATTERN of his friendships with anti-American, racist people, (Rev. Wright(racist, whose anti-American rants were caught on tape and who was Obama's close friend and "spiritual mentor" for 20 years), William Ayers and his wife Bernadette Dorhn (known, unapologetic,anti-American terrorists), and the list goes on....

His wife's anti-American statements, etc. etc..

Obama said he had visted all 57 states of the U.S.

For a long time he refused to wear an American flag lapel pin. Again, it is the pattern that is disturbing.

It seems that more of his unsavory far left associations surface every week.

As for appeasement, he has stated his intentions to meet with Iran's leaders (Mahmoud Ahmadinejahd being just one of them) and have a dialogue. He doesn't seem to have a clear plan as to what exactly he hopes to accomplish from that meeting. Most free nations of the world have already condemned Iran's nuclear program, so that ought to be non-negotiable.

The meeting Neville Chamberlain had with Hitler was very much the same, and had devastating results.

By meeting with these radical Islamist leaders, Obama runs the risk of joining the list of "useful idiots" and emboldening the enemy. It is well known by now, one cannot negotiate with a terrorist, and Iran is high on the list of nations that are or have harbored terrorists. It has also been proven that Iran is supplying the insugency In Iraq with weapons and fighters to kill our soldiers. Iran is also ground zero for Radical Islam's jihadist movement to annialiate Israel and the entire West.

These intentions have been clearly stated by them time and time again.9/11 will pale in comparison if they accomplish this goal!
For those do not believe this, I suggest they read the Quran. The mandate to kill all of us "infidels" is in there in black and white.

The reason Radical Islam is a far greater threat to us than the Soviets were in the cold war, and now, the Chinese, or even North Korea, is the fact that those countries do not want mutual destruction. It appears the leaders of the Jihadist movement actually welcome that, in that it will hasten the coming of the 13th Iman and insure a world wide Islamic kingdom.

Contrary to what the far left in America believe, there is EVIL in the world, and we are in a fight against it for our very survival. Sadly, it will probably take another huge attack on American soil (which I hope to God never happens) to convince them.

Stereotyping People

One's religious or political affiliation has absolutely nothing to do with the sort of vehicle a person drives. My husband and I are moderates, (me leaning more to the conservative side, and he to the liberal). We are Christian, but do not identify ourselves with any label or denomination.

I don't know anyone who fits the stereotypes some people seem to use frequently to marginalize people with whom they don't share beliefs and lifestyles.

My husband and I choose to own only one vehicle, a 96 Volvo sedan, which we keep in "creampuff" condition. Since he telecommutes and travels out of state,(flying) half the time, and I am a homemaker, it works for us. We have also diligently used the city of Phoenix's recycling program for over 20 years (our neighborhood was the first to participate).

I believe it is time for us to stop being so devisive and think of people as people, not identifying them according to color, party affiliation, religious beliefs, sexual preference, etc..

In the end we are all Americans, and need to come together to solve these very grave issues we all face right now.

Leisureville

The town described in the book,"Leisureville" by Andrew D. Blechman sounds eerily like the movie, Pleasantville. When my husband and I moved to Phoenix in 1972, we lived about 20 minutes away from Youngtown and Sun City. Our first visit to these senior enclaves was to pick out carpet for our new home at Toliver's in Youngtown.

After surveying the rock landscaped front yards of the immaculately groomed small houses, all alike, sitting in neat row after neat row , like so many grave stones, we vowed never to live in such a sterile enviornment, especially one with no children around. We just couldn't imagine it! Now at ages 59 and 61 we still can't.

We are blessed to have both of our grown children and their families living within 10 minutes of us. Our granddaughters (4 and 13) are such a big part of our lives, that to have them only able to visit us 30 days in a year sounds like sheer torture and would deprive us of life's most precious treasures!!

I plan to read the book, but I'm pretty sure it will be depressing and only fortify my resolve to always live in a homogeneous community, near family.

I can't imagine trading our lifestyle for one where the only people we'd interact with would be other seniors! There are several community centers around us with a full calender of events. The country club is right across the street from us, should we want to join, church activites abound, and together we can enjoy the vibrant jazz community in Phoenix as we are both musicians and have several musician friends who regularly perform around town. We are fortunate to live in a central Phoenix location, with a myriad of things to do and places to go just a few minutes away. I realize not everyone would enjoy our lifestyle, and that is what is beautiful about getting older. We finally know ourselves and what makes us happy (or not) in life.

Illegal Immigration

The more illegals that leave Phoenix (and we still have at least 500,000 in AZ according to the latest estimates) the better off the citizens here are.
We have endured for far too long, over crowded ER rooms, millions of tax payer dollars being used for anchor babies and the resulting welfare payments to the mothers, our schools being mandated to spend millions of dollars on "English learners" (children of illegal aliens).

Some of the most ardent supporters of these policies are Hispanics, especially those whose families have been here for generations.
Over 30% of those incarcerated are illegals due to rapes, thefts, shootings, drugs, etc. etc. Phoenix is #1 in identity theft attributed to illegals stealing social security cards, and other legal documents and credit cards from our citizens.

Most every week, a new "drop house" is discovered. A lot of the violent crime here is directly related to the $200 billion human and drug traffiking industry from Mexico and other South American countries. A lot of illegals are involved in traffic accidents, and most have no insurance. There are whole neighborhoods (enclaves) in Phoenix that look like a third world country. The list goes on and on!

I see no evidence of our economy suffering due to "brown flight."
I do believe, however, that we need an orderly guest worker program, as our hotel, construction, and agricultural industries always need workers. Unfortunately, these businesses have been responsible for most of the illegals coming here the last 10-20 years,and exploiting them with their slave wages, while the citizens have born the brunt of the costs.

The big difference between this huge tide of illegal immigrants, and waves of immigrants in our nation's history, is that a large segment of this group feel an entitlement to be here. They believe the American Southwest belongs to them and we are the "illegal invaders", hence the refusal to learn English and assimilate. They want to have whole states declared part of Mexico,(La Raza). I suggest you read Patrick Buchanan's "Death of the West". There is a whole chapter that lays out their plan.

The Hispanic culture has been an integral part of the Southwest from the beginning, and is a beautiful one. The contributions to the rich quality of life in the Southwest have been immeasureable.

However, the illegals who are coming here, seem to be, in pretty significant numbers, representative of the dregs of Mexican and other Latin American countries'society. A large number of them are extremely poor, uneducated and a disproportionate amount of them are felons. The Mexican government has encouraged their people to come here for just those reasons!

Mexico needs to be forced to stop stealing our sovereignity! Much as we would like to, America simply cannot absorb all of the world's poor. My daughter-in-law and her parents are legal immigrants, having done it the right way, and recently became citizens.