NRU The Kitchen Sink

The usual suspects
on homelessness and tone deafness:
Los Angeles, like San Francisco now and New York before it, is waging an unneeded and cruel war on the homeless (again).  Here is the latest missive on their tactics.  I can barely stomach to read them, but it is important as citizens to keep an eye on the policies we unleash on the least protected, most vulnerable in our societies.  I was so sad to see that piece after I had opened this one to read and found this other one to read.  In the first short piece, there is not just empathy, and that power of connecting with source energy of others, but hope.  Hope that simple gestures of respect and honor can help people to regain and reclaim their humanity.  What a gift!  And in the second, which I realized after I opened, I had already read and probably shared last month, is another way for people with significant resources and skill to connect with those in need.  Hope, again, all dashed when you see the city taking away the pieces of dignity so lovingly and with empathy bestowed on those without homes.  Ugh.  Utterly heartbreaking.

political corner:
During a contentious political season such as this, it is incumbent on citizens to become knowledgeable about the issues being discussed by candidates. Therefore as the GOP candidates continue to rail against immigrants, particularly those undocumented, these are some facts that need to be investigated and weighed against the policies espoused by these candidates:
"'Undocumented immigrants, like everyone else in the United States, pay sales taxes. And they also pay property taxes—even if they rent. Plus, as ITEP points out, “the best evidence suggests that at least 50 percent of undocumented immigrant households currently file income tax returns using Individual Tax Identification Numbers (ITINs), and many who do not file income tax returns still have taxes deducted from their paychecks.' In sum, according to ITEP, 'undocumented immigrants living in the United States pay billions of dollars each year in state and local taxes. Further, these tax contributions would increase significantly if all undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States were granted a pathway to citizenship as part of a comprehensive immigration reform.'"

I searched in vain for "good" news or even "silver lining" news -- maybe it is just me and I am feeling gloomy, or maybe it is all bad news, I don't know.  But in lieu of good or not so bad news, instead, I am going to give you travel porn.  You are welcome.  If you clicked and didn't see the bodies you expected on the beach, sorry, you must not have met me.  You are lucky it wasn't the ten best cemeteries to travel to in the world, that is my ultimate travel porn.

Non-Mainstream Media
I am not always sure why we need outlets like Medium of TheMighty.  Aren’t there already myriad ways for people to publish their writings? Then, you read something like this.  And the need for an alternative media source that compiles/publishes “the other side” of stories becomes readily apparent. When I wrote I am not always sure why we need Medium it was not meant to imply that what they offer is not of substance, useful and often compelling.  It is just that I am not always sure why these voices are not present in our mainstream media.  This article itself is demonstrative proof of the need for *alternative* outlets.  I cringe when I write that … our media should always contain a variety of voices, viewpoints and opinions.  These are the days I am glad we have the internet.

This is a letter a mother writes to herself on the day she receives the official diagnosis her son is autistic.  I won’t belabor the point.  This kind of *reporting* is not full of references to clinical studies or long treatises on the history of treatments or government regulations or school level interventions.  This is the kind of real deal information that mothers and fathers who are worried about their children need to know.  Thank you to the internet, again, for providing the means to disseminate this info.  Oh, and, of course, thank you to the parents who are willing to share of themselves.  Your ability to be vulnerable and strong, open and fierce, loving and disciplined is greatly appreciated.