Social Issues Archives - Page 18 of 21

Biden Metrics

By Darlene Mitchell May 23, 2020 May 23, 2020 2020 Election, Black and Brown Issues, Donald J. Trump, President, Joe Biden, Social Issues, Women's Rights

Biden Metrics

By D. S. Mitchell

The Breakfast Club

On Friday morning, May 22, 2020 Joe Biden ventured ‘virtually’ out of his basement to talk to well-known radio host, Charlamagne Tha God, on his nationally syndicated radio program, “The Breakfast Club”. Charlamagne is a Black man, with a large Black audience. That means he has a lot of power to influence Black voters, a great many of them younger voters. Joe Biden’s interview ruffled a lot of feathers. And now 48 hours later the cable television shows are filled with chest thumping Trump supporters, Democratic hand wringers, and Biden apologizers.

Who I Am

Who am I to weigh in on this issue? Some would call me an elderly White woman. I would describe myself as a writer-journalist. It is all about perspective. First, I want to make it clear that by writing this article I am in no way attempting to minimize or be dismissive of Black suffering in this country. I am in no way putting myself into the shoes of any Black or Brown person. But, I will say, that Black and Brown people are not alone in their struggle against discrimination, including economic and physical abuse. As a woman I want to say I have been denied equal pay. I have been denied credit. I have faced verbal and physical attack, including rape. This country, for all of its proclaimed “greatness” is far less than what it could and should be.

In Vietnam Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

By Darlene Mitchell March 21, 2020 April 27, 2020 Coronavirus COVID-19, Public Health, Social Issues, Vietnam, World Health Organization

In Vietnam:

During The COVID-19 Pandemic

By: Megan Rees

An Expat in Vietnam During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Back To Normal?

The clamoring sounds of drums and squawking horns filled the street, outside my window. I know what it means: a funeral. I can see the family members and friends of the deceased all wearing white, parading behind this tragic tune. It was a symbol to me, a sign that life in Hanoi, Vietnam, was starting to return to normal, or so I thought.

Lunar Festival

Tết, is the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. It is the most important celebration in Vietnamese culture. During the New Year festival it is normal to see Hanoi go from a busy, polluted city to a ghost town. It is the time when the Vietnamese pay respects to their ancestors, as well as welcoming the lunar New Year with family members. I love the city at this time of year. Hanoi is vibrant and colorful, every space is decked out in multi-colored lights. People are happy. There are elaborate floral decorations with signs everywhere proclaiming, “Chúc mùng năm mới!” (Happy New Year). Hanoi becomes festive and that warm holiday feeling fills the air.

A Slow Down

Then, the town gets quiet. Everything slows down. The typical commotion is muted. City streets are noticeably subdued and traffic is light. It is a nice break from the usual hustle and bustle sounds of a rapidly developing metropolis. The holiday itself was relaxing. It is typical for families to come together over big meals to welcome the New Year. I had dinner on New Year’s Day with my adopted Vietnamese family; it was great for the world to stop for a while. It was exactly what I needed. But, there was an urgency, I needed to start working again.

Joe Biden: Who We Need

By Darlene Mitchell March 15, 2020 April 27, 2020 2020 Election, Democrats, Donald J. Trump, President, Joe Biden, Politics, Social Issues, Voting

JOE BIDEN: We Need You Now

By Trevor K. McNeil

The Evil of Two Lessers

There is a long-standing joke that in the democratic system one is voting for the lesser of two evils. The basic idea being that no politician is really good and will almost always serve their own interests. Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore coined the phrase the “evil of two lessers” referring to George W. Bush’s second election in 2004. A term that could well apply to Donald Trump in 2016. Sorry Hillary boosters, but I was never a fan. There is something about hawkish economic pragmatists that just leaves me cold. Though compared to Donald Trump she looks like a master of state-craft, if a bit Machiavellian.

Beyond Party Lines

Another statement that has made it’s way into the political parlance is “anyone would be better.” A notion that was particularly popular in terms of Richard M. Nixon and George H.W. Bush. Though rarely has this been so literally the case in terms of the American presidency as it is this election cycle. Despite the continued protection of Donald Trump by the Republican party, a level of loyalty that looks like royal fealty, the current president has pushed politics past party lines. It is no longer about Republican or Democrat, not that it ever was, Trump changing parties more times than wives. It is about what is best for the country, which is getting anyone, but Trump into the Oval Office.

A Sense Of Security

For the most part Democrats vote for Democrats and Republicans vote for Republicans. This only stands to reason. It is also extremely limited and only takes into account card-carrying party members. According to the “30-30-40 Rule” each of the major parties has an intractable base of roughly 30% of voters. It is the other 40%, the swing voters and moderates that decide who wins elections. A fact which serves as a large part of the logic behind #VoteBlueNoMatterWho with regard to the 2020 presidential election. It is beginning to look increasingly like the “who” is going to be Joe Biden. Not because he has the best policies or voting history, but because in terms of sheer electability he has the best chance.

Mother Earth Is Begging For Help

By Darlene Mitchell March 10, 2020 July 2, 2020 2020 Election, Climate Change, Democrats, Donald J. Trump, President, Ecology, Economics, Science & Technology, Social Issues, Voting, Wildlife

Mother Earth, Protect Her

By D. S. Mitchell

No Planet B, For Me

Calamity Politics is pro-environment. I hope all our readers are pro-environment. Earth is the only planet I’m ever going to set foot on. I see her as a nurturing, caring, loving place that needs reciprocal love and care. We need to get this right; for the grandchildren, and the great-grandchildren. I want to make climate change and environmental protection a priority. We are in the middle of the Democratic 2020 primaries. Biden and Sanders are still battling it out. Recent primaries do appear to have Biden overwhelming the Vermont senator. Whoever wins the nomination must make Climate Change and environmental protection a top national issue.

Four More Years Could Seal Mom’s Fate

The Trump environmental wrecking crew is at the gates. As each day passes, I become more agitated. I am afraid that we will not be able to mount a sufficient defense against their heavy-handed onslaught against the environment. The agency that is most responsible for that protection, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has been decimated by Trump and his Fossil Fuel allies.

In the Courts

The Sierra Club’s donations are up. The World Wildlife Fund donations are also reportedly, up. I think we will need every environmental organization on the planet to stop the assault on the planet. Hopefully their resistance will be both through lawsuits in the courts and active street protests against Trump’s dangerous agenda. It is important to recognize that U.S. politics effect policy worldwide, not just nationwide. We are an example to the world. What we do, other countries do.

Embrace the Future

Clean energy is better for the economy and it is better for Mother Earth. Time to wrestle control of environmental policy and legislation from the fossil fuel industry and their army of lobbyists. The remnants of the dirty Industrial Revolution must come to an end. Let’s look forward, and embrace the future. We are moving into the Technological Era. Parts of the transition will be painful, acceptance is the first step. If you are affected by a changing industry, change yourself, change your skills. Become part of the future, not a useless relic of the past.

From Australia to the Amazon

Whether it is the wild fires in California, or the Amazon; millions of animals are being killed or displaced by wildfires. Many of the fires are set by humans as a quick means to clear land for cattle grazing or palm oil production. In Australia recent fires were also caused intentionally by man. The Australian fires have caused the death of an estimated one million animals. At the other extreme, the polar ice caps are melting at an incredible rate. This loss of ice is creating big trouble for animals who depend on the ice for hunting and nesting. These emergencies must be addressed quickly, we don’t have much time.

The Orange Whore

President Trump and environmental corruption are center stage in the 2020 election. Whoring with fossil fuel barons, erasing climate change regulations, abandoning the Paris Climate Agreement, increasing offshore oil leases, supporting coal mining has made it clear, Donald Trump is no friend of Mother Earth. He has revealed his true heart, and it is nothing more than a dollar sign. Trump and the greedy fossil fuel abusers would kill Mom and dance at her funeral. It is up to us, to stop the war on our planet. Time to elect Democrats, from the state houses to the White House. Mom’s life is at stake.

Join the Resistance

The Human Need To Reunite

By Darlene Mitchell March 2, 2020 April 20, 2020 Family Reunions, Psychology, Relationships, Ruminations, Social Issues

The Human Need To Reunite

By Anna Hessel

Getting It Together

We all have a basic need to reunite with those who are important to us; there are many types of reunions: high school, college, and family, being some of the most popular. We see television, movie, and band reunions, all of which bring together memories which allow us to reminisce about times gone by.

Reunions in the Media

There are a multitude of films about reunions between old flames and friends – I have watched dozens of these movies on the Hallmark Channel, alone. I am sure we can all remember “Class Reunion”, “Peggy Sue Got Married”, “Beautiful Girls”, “10 Years”, “The Big Chill”, “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion”, and “American Reunion”, just to name a few.

Novels Too

Multiple novels about reunions fill the book shelves. “The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion” by Fannie Flagg, “After The Reunion” by Rona Jaffe, “The Odyssey of Reunion” by Abhisek Pani, “Blake’s High School Reunion” by Marcia Carrington, “Murder at the High School Reunion” by Steve Demaree, “How to Prepare for your High School Reunion, and Other Midlife Musings” by Susan Allen Toth. There is a bevy of books titled “High School Reunion”, and plethora of ones simply titled “Reunion” or “The Reunion”. There is even “The High School Reunion Diet: Lose 20 Years in 30 Days” by David A. Colbert – this particular book reminds me of my husband’s ten year high school reunion – lots of preparation on our part to visit three hours with many people he barely knew.

How To Survive Your Class Reunion

Psychology Today has dubbed the high school reunion as “psychological time travel”. Guideposts Magazine offers several tips for enjoying your class reunion. A good start is recognizing that many of your old classmates may also have anxiety about attending. A great suggestion Guideposts made was to reconnect ahead of time on social media. Another suggestion was to pick up the old year book and leaf through it, reminding you of the faces, the fashions and the vibe of the time. When at the event introduce yourself, get up and move around, ask others about their current lives, and spend time with people you didn’t know back in the day.

New Eyes

Definitely avoid heated and divisive topics such as politics, instead focus on the memories. Everyone has experienced setbacks and troubles, as well as happiness in their lives since you knew them. Allow the passing years to disappear by looking at everyone with new eyes and a forgiving heart. Don’t obsess about losing that last 10 pounds before you reunite; the fact is we all age physically, even the prom queen, football star, and cheerleaders. If it is any comfort, Chicago Magazine tells us, “your 50th high school reunion will be much better than your 20th. Let’s face it, folks, as we age, we learn to not sweat the small stuff”.

African-American Suffering

Whether called reunions or just “family get-togethers” families have gathered for centuries for no other reason than to celebrate family heritage, faith and fun. Reunions not only give a sense of intentional preservation and family bonding for people, but satisfy a need to nurture. In the United States reunions have deep roots in African-American history, painfully recalling slavery and its toll on family units as they were torn apart and sold off to various plantations. African-American family reunions may well date back to the Emancipation. “Information wanted” ads were common in newspapers of the day, and may be the root of African-American reunions as people searched for lost and separated family members.

A Shifting Population

Between 1915 and 1940, a period dubbed as the “Great Migration” close to 4 million African-Americans traveled south-to-north, many heading to New York and Chicago. The enormity of that black population shift encouraged the growth of family reunions in that demographic. The significance of extended family formed the idea of the need for togetherness at specific times when all could be reunited. For more information, please visit the website of the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture: #APeoplesJourney.

Today, family reunions in all cultures symbolize heritage, fellowship, and a sense of community.

Ms. Hessel is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists

Health Care Goblins We Ignore

By Darlene Mitchell February 27, 2020 July 5, 2020 Medicaid, Medicare, Social Issues

Health Care Goblins We Ignore

By D. S. Mitchell

Grassroots Platform

Over the last couple of days Calamity has focused on Medicare-For-All. But there is more to the story of health care in America. Www.CalamityPolitics.com gives me a grassroots platform to discuss health care. But, it does not give me the right to manipulate facts or lie about the issues. With that said, I am sharing opinions developed through my years of ground level experience in health care, otherwise known as trench warfare.

Street Level Experience

I am a baccalaureate prepared RN, and have worked nearly four decades in major hospitals in Oregon, Washington, California and Nevada. On the battlefield I have formed many opinions about the scope of care we give our patients and how to deliver better client results. I’m not only experienced, but I am passionate about health care and how to improve it. Mine is a pragmatic common sense small world approach to these issues. I am not a policy maker. I do not have a doctorate in nursing or public policy. It is important to leave policy creation to the experts. My comments and opinions come from a community view.

Lies About Medicare For All

By Darlene Mitchell February 26, 2020 May 6, 2020 Bernie Sanders, Entitlements, Health Care, Human Rights, Medicare, Mitch McConnell, Republicans, Senior & Elderly Issues, Social Issues

Lies About Medicare For All

By D. S. Mitchell

Drop The Labels

Honest health care policy experts know that the solution to fix the American health care system is staring us in the face, and it is single-payer. Whether dubbed “Medicare-for-All” or an “expansion of Medicaid” through ObamaCare. The solution is easy when labels like “socialism” “liberalism” “progressivism” are ignored. Trump and his DOJ is in court at this very moment trying to invalidate the ACA (ObamaCare). It seems that the more resistance Republicans arouse over destroying ObamaCare the voices for Medicare-for-All grows louder.

Health Care As A Right

The evidence is clear, Americans believe that every person has a right to health care, irrespective of their ability to pay. We as a people, believe that we have an obligation to take care of each other. In fact, there is more momentum for the adoption of a single-payer health care system than at any time in our history.

Scuttle Safety Net

Despite its enormous popularity and unparalleled record of success Republicans are neck-deep in their war against the nation’s health care safety net, whether it is Medicare, Medicaid or the ACA. New Republican proposals have emerged since the 2016 election that would slash benefits for the elderly and leave older Americans at the mercy of the “for profit” insurance industry.

Voucher Plans

When Paul Ryan was Speaker of the House he was extremely vocal in his attacks against both Medicaid and Medicare. He supported a voucher program that would transfer more costs on to seniors and leave them at the mercy of the private insurance industry. Just because Ryan is gone, doesn’t mean that the Republicans have jettisoned that philosophy. The actions to undermine Medicare and Medicaid are ongoing and must be stopped. It is not just about protecting our existing Medicare system, it is about ensuring that every citizen has access to excellent health care as a right. In such a system it definitely works best when “everybody is in, and nobody is out.”

An American Tragedy

It is believed one hundred Americans die everyday from the lack of health insurance. That is over 30,000 unnecessary deaths each year and that number is expected to grow steadily over the next decade. This is an American tragedy.

Republican Tax Scam

The Republican tax scam was hard on American health care. Millions remain uncovered and millions more are losing coverage due to increased cost for insurance brought on by the elimination of the ACA insurance “mandate”. The insurance mandate was a device used by the ACA plan to expand the pool of healthy people in the system to keep prices down.

10 Ideas To Help Relieve Depression

By Darlene Mitchell January 11, 2020 February 9, 2024 Depression, DNA, Mental Illness, Psychology, Social Issues, Suicide

10 Ideas To Help Relieve Depression

By David L. Jones

Depression Has Taken Over My Life

It’s Dave, here. I have for the last month been living at the bottom of a black hole. I have spent all day in bed with the comforter pulled tight over my head. I won’t lie to you, depression has taken over my life. Feelings of immeasurable sadness, hopelessness and utter emptiness are consuming me. This time of year is always a struggle for me, but this winter has been excruciatingly painful.

A Dark and Windowless Room

The only reason I have found the strength to pull the comforter off my head and pull up a chair to my computer and start writing, is that hopefully sharing my story, can help someone else that has found themselves trapped in a dark, door-less, window-less room.

Four Generations of Suffering

A friend of mine who also suffers from depression offered me some advice recently. She reports at least four generations of depression, alcoholism, and suicide in her family. She told me that when she begins to experience depression she refuses to give herself permission to suffer.

THE VETERAN AND PTSD

By Darlene Mitchell November 11, 2019 February 3, 2021 Homelessness, Housing/Homelessness, Mental Illness, Social Issues, Suicide

THE VETERAN AND PTSD

By Anna Hessel

Is It Enough?

We often see flags waving on porches across our country and special social media posts of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall, or the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, or one of the National Cemeteries, with prayers or poems on Veterans and Memorial Day in honor of those who have served our nation. There are many restaurants that offer free meals, movie theaters offering complimentary admissions, and other giveaways to vets on November 11th, and a national hair care chain offers free haircuts as a thank you for veterans; often our former and current servicemen and women are asked to stand for a round of applause at sporting and concert events, but are these accolades enough?

The Tragedy of PTSD

How are we really taking care of those service women and men who suffer from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)? Many of our veterans return home to find they have no home. More than 40,000 of those who have served our country are homeless. And PTSD is a major factor in causing homelessness. It is estimated that as many as 33% of veterans, suffer from this debilitating illness. Mental illness is a significant factor in homelessness among veterans.

Recognizing Symptoms

There are 3 main symptoms of this disorder. First, “arousal”: anger, difficulties with sleeping, or concentrating. Second, “reliving”: nightmares and flashbacks which can impede daily activities, and can lead to loss of employment income. Third, “avoidance”: a feeling of utter detachment from life and those around them, often leading to depression so severe it is not possible for the sufferer to function well enough to keep, a job or take care of a home.

What We Can Do

There are multiple ways that PTSD can cause homelessness; but this does not have to be the sad reality for countless veterans suffering with this illness. The actual events leading up to becoming homeless, and the realization that you no longer have a roof over your head, can add further stress and worsen the already debilitating condition. A traumatic event such as homeless can exacerbate mental illness symptoms significantly.

Reduce Triggers

We as friends, neighbors, relatives and community members must recognize that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a very real condition. Our veterans served us. They need us now. We must help them. Now, is never too soon to help our veterans afflicted with PTSD. To do that we must offer non-judgmental support – simply listening and allowing a person to verbalize what they are remembering. Talking is not always easy. Understanding and accepting that a veteran may not be able to talk ‘about it’ and not press them to do so.

Mental Health

Avoiding loud noises such as fireworks, or high action violent films can help reduce triggers. An emotional support animal can be very helpful for those that are coping with PTSD. Making sure our veterans have strong support systems against this illness will lessen the number who are homeless or suicidal. Providing strong mental health care is key in assisting those living with this ailment. There is hope – for more information please visit the following websites:

http://nchv.org/
https://www.va.gov/homeless/