This is the American flag flown at Tantasqua Regional High School, a five-town regional school system located at 320A Brookfield Rd, Fiskdale, MA 01518. The flag is a symbol of unity not just for Republicans, nor only for Democrats, but for all Americans who love the United States of America.
Just like Tantasqua Regional School System, including the towns of Brimfield, Brookfield, Holland, Sturbridge (Fiskdale), and Wales is a unified system, the United States of America is also unified, composed of 50 states, federal district and five inhabited territories. Note that Alaska, Hawaii, and territories are shown at different scales and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabitednorthwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.
The following was so well written by my author husband that I am sharing his pearls of wisdom with you here in this post with his permission.
Just a note for my right leaning friends from my left leaning self as we near voting day:
TOPSHOT – Police officers kneel during a rally in Coral Gables, Florida on May 30, 2020 in response to the recent death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died while being arrested and pinned to the ground by a Minneapolis police officer. – Clashes broke out and major cities imposed curfews as America began another night of unrest Saturday with angry demonstrators ignoring warnings from President Donald Trump that his government would stop violent protests over police brutality “cold.” (Photo by Eva Marie UZCATEGUI / AFP) (Photo by EVA MARIE UZCATEGUI/AFP via Getty Images)
They say we want to disband police departments (and that we hate the police): we don’t, that’s a lie. We want to weed out racism and unnecessary police brutality and for those who abuse their power to be held accountable.
They say we want to release all prisoners: we don’t, that’s a lie. We want to weed out racism and ensure the punishments match the crimes and to de-privatize prisons.
We are all in the same boat, all nations, all people of Earth.
They say we want open borders: we don’t, that’s a lie. We want asylum seekers to be given their chance to seek asylum. We want to help people who are coming from unimaginable terror and poverty help to give them the chances we have. We want to ensure children aren’t separated from their parents and that nobody is kept in cages. But we do want proper vetting.
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims
They say we want to take away your guns: we don’t, that’s a lie. We want logical gun control to help prevent mass shootings.
Humans are all the same, with the God-given free will to practice their faith and worship freely. Picture courtesy of J. Krishnamurti.
They say we want to wage a war on Christianity and Christian values: we don’t, that’s a lie. We want people of all religions to be able to practice and worship freely.
They say we want to get everything for free: we don’t, that’s a lie. We want to work hard and make sure that healthcare and education are affordable for all.
They say we want a war against traditional marriage: we don’t, that’s a lie. We want people of all sexual orientations to be able to love freely, no matter who you love.
They say we want to destroy or rewrite history: we don’t, that’s a lie. We want to recognize the ugly parts of our past and do everything we can to say, “that’s not okay, let’s not honor those aggressors, let’s not let those things happen again.”
They say we want to take away your constitutional rights: we don’t, that’s a lie. We choose to believe science and wear masks and try to prevent the spread of this disease.
This is what the United States really looks like, a microcosm of humanity.
They say we hate America: we don’t, that’s a lie. We just recognize our faults and want us to do better, be better.
Stop with the us vs. them.
Stop with the straw man arguments.
Stop with the fake news. Stop with Fox News.
Our position is one of empathy, compassion and logic.
Stop believing the hype.
Stop with the division.
We are all equal under the law, and the Constitution of the United States.
We want equality for all. That doesn’t mean we want to take anything away from you.
The Fairness Doctrine made the important distinction between broadcast and cable news. Now the FCC says it is OK for the media to lie to us and pretend they are telling the truth. How do you like being duped?
Appearances and momentum capture the attention so easily that we sometimes confuse what we see, hear and think to be the truth of what we are seeing, hearing and thinking. Magicians know this and use this when they trick their audiences about what they are seeing and hearing, ultimately affecting their thinking.
No, this is not a comical bit from a Friends TV episode. The reality is, sometimes we delude ourselves into thinking that what we are seeing and hearing is real because we literally saw someone doing something, and heard them say it. No one would ever lie to us, right?
We need to be smarter humans. Whether the subject is religion, finance, or politics, it is never advisable to listen to only one side before we make important decisions. Look past the drama, the popular mantra of the group, the wishful thinking and look clearly at the facts, the real and accurate facts.
Many of us have allowed others to confuse our thinking. At these times, we are choosing to step out of our own personal power by listening to others because they seem to be louder, more sure of themselves, or seem to be in the know. If they are pontificating erroneous fictions as if they were facts, how is anyone to know without personal investigation?
Television, radio and social media does not serve the public like it used to do before the days of President Reagan when he vetoed the regulation that the news media had to profess the truth in what they reported. How many of us know that the television news media and some of its counterparts are more interested in the advertising dollars they attain over telling the actual truth which they have consciously decided not to tell?
Keep in mind that it is the conservative entities (not liberals), usually Republicans (not Democrats) who own most of the media who are pushing hardline, rightwing spin to appease the huge corporations and conglomerates who pay for the advertising that makes the TV, radio and print media possible. No one ought to lose their jobs for telling the truth.
We do not help ourselves nor our country when we focus on the fictional reality, such as Fox News with its many hosts, and quote the deception they promote as if that was real. Anyone with a grammar school education, who can read, is able to get to the bottom of the truth of the matter. We do not need to take someone else’s view point, then say, “There are so many confusing viewpoints out there. I do not know what to believe.”
Stop watching fictional news. Go to reputable sources. How do you know the difference?
Go to mainstream news outlets: Reuters, AP, NPR, New York Times, Washington Post, BBC, Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Bloomberg News, The Atlantic, and Politico. All these news outlets tell the truth based on facts of actual events and history without spin of a particular political party.
Don’t choose ignorance and confusion over accurate facts. We know fact and fiction are different things, but when people in high profile places tell us something, and we have something to gain by listening to them, we can easily fool ourselves into believing what we want to believe over what is true and factual.
It is better for us all, and for our country, to base all our decisions on real and true facts. Facts do not have opinions, they just are what they are.
It is time to move past choosing sides, as if we are ordering our favorite Kentucky Fried Chicken meal, or picking our favorite sports team. Facts are not interchangeable with fiction.
This is a critical moment in our history, between the Presidential Election of 2020 and the Inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris, who won in a free and fair election. No one stole the election. Voters in every state as well as the electoral college have certified on this President-elect. These are provable facts.
On January 5, Democratic Senator Candidate Jon Ossoff is challenging incumbent Senator David Perdue earlier in the day in the first runoff election, followed by a second runoff election between Democratic Senator Candidate Raphael Warnock and incumbent Senator Kelly Loeffler.
Georgia voters will be the ones to decide which political party controls the U.S. Senate, since the protracted vote count in the previous election did not result in winners in either race.
Democrats need to flip both Senate seats to have unified control of the White House and Congress. Again, every vote in these elections matters.
Stagnation and the inability or unwillingness to work together works against the democracy this country has long fought for. Perhaps it is time to step out of the molasses and take a new breath sweeping through our land at this time.
Since we are a country of law and order, now is time for us to be lawful and orderly and do what all government officials and everyone in the military have sworn their oath to do, which is to serve and protect the Constitution of the United States of America, not any particular person.
Remember, the Constitution of the United States of America was written because of the abuses of King George III of Great Britain usurping the rights of the people of the 13 colonies. Our Forefathers, representing all citizens then and now, shunned an autocratic king ruling over the USA.
Recognize that this past Presidential Election was run as all previous elections have run, with in-person, and absentee ballots. Absentee ballots include provisional and mail-in as our military have always used and been counted after the election, since they voted on Election Day, often out-of-state or out of the country and required being mailed in to be counted after that day. This is nothing new.
Absolutely no one stole the 2020 Presidential Election. It’s called counting all the ballots because every vote counts. As mentioned above, there were no illegal votes/ballots. This has also been documented by Republican appointees of Homeland Security.
When it comes to counting ballots, ballots that have been cast for one side or the other are not illegal ballots, nor are absentee ballots illegal. This is perhaps the biggest lie being touted today, as if only Republican or in-person votes are legal. That assumption is false no matter who says it. Facts are facts, and history is history.
However, if we do not align ourselves with democracy we will be aligning ourselves with non-democracy, with a ruler who is an autocrat, a tyrant, a dictator, a king and the like.
Saying the economy is great because the stock market is doing well, while ignoring the rest of the 90 percent of the citizens who are lining up in countless food lines, losing their jobs, their homes, their very lives, is not the real test of how “great” the economy is.
Now is the time to stand on accurate facts while we can. It is possible to lose democracy. I believe most of us do not want to do that.
This is what the United States really looks like, United Humanity, not only white Americans.
“ANTIFA” is a philosophy, not a group of people. It means “Anti Fascist.”
What does is mean to be a Fascist?
Fascism means:
a form of extreme-right authoritarianism
ultra nationalism
characterized by dictatorial power
forceable suppression of opposition
strong regimentation of society and the economy.
ANTIFA started in the early 1900s, around the time of World War I. People of every ethnicity, race, color, creed, gender, age, ability and/or disability are born with God-given free will. People do not wish to be dominated, nor treated unfairly or be suppressed by a political power, nor by elitist political and/or financial greed. WWI was supposed to put an end to worldwide domination by military force.
The ideals of Freedom and Democrary are so ingrained in American politics that the Founders of the United States of America wrote in the Preamble to the Constitution of the US:
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
The ratification of the Convention held on Monday, September 17, 1787 promoted the rights and priviliges of those in government, including the rights of its citizens. Our government is based upon life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all citizens, not just those at the top of political power, nor at the top of wealth earners.
The rights and priviliges are not for the of suppression of:
human rights including the immigration of persecuted asylum seekers
stealing and selling of babies and children also considered to be part of human trafficking
voting rights
women’s rights
global warming and climate change
rainforest destruction
frakking for profit
truth in lending practices including the wealthiest among us
truth in reporting and news coverage
truth in all areas
We have not seen Fascism in the United States of America until now.
Why is that?
The opposite of Fascism is ANTIFA. It means Anti-Fascism. To a nation based on freedom and liberty for all,ANTIFA is a GOOD thing, unless you happen to be a Fascist.
The opposite of Fascism is DEMOCRACY, and LIBERALISM. To BE AGAINST Antifa is to be a FACIST.
Are you a Fascist?
Do you promote a Fascist agenda?
If you discover you are a Fascist, you need to find another country to be part of.
We are more alike than the differences we profess. There is nothing to be afraid of. Stop shaking in your boots. There is no reason to fear people of different ethnic backgrounds, different genders, different ages, different religions, nor any difference in skin color. There is nothing we cannot handle with peaceful negotiation.
Truth matters.
Spanish/Mexican land greatly exceeds the land mass of the 13 colonies in 1763.
The United States of America is founded as a nation of immigrants. We welcome everyone, not just white people from Eastern Europe. As a matter of fact, people from assorted backgrounds were already here and settled within the current borders of the USA prior to the westward push to the opposite sea. The indigenous people of our great and wonderful land are still here. We love them. They are all part of the American Dream in this beautiful melting pot of humanity.
There is no reason to demonize people. We associate with groups of people who are different from our own. In these
Just 249 years ago, most of the central and southwestern USA was Spanish/Mexican.
days before the November 2020 Presidential Election, including the Presidential Conventions and TV shows, differences in the beliefs of the parties are being highlighted. There is a palpable undercurrent of fear that is present. Fear of others, how they think, and how they look, is not the way to make the best decisions, nor is lack of understanding the actual history on which this great nation is founded.
This present and palpable fear between political parties has infected the base of each within this country. It is important to separate fact from fiction in order to make common sense decisions based on love for all of humankind, not hype, hate or spin of the truth. This is not like rooting for your favorite sports team. We need to make decisions not based on the popular opinion of others, but based on our own research with input from more than one credible source.
I am writing to you as a former newspaper reporter and feature writer for three large newspapers. I needed to get real facts from three corroborated and credible sources, not friends who thought the same way I did. When I covered local Town Hall meetings, which are the heartbeat of the town, I could not misdirect the information to any particular target audience. The news I wrote had to apply to all townspeople. It was their tax dollars that funded the government of their town. I did not have any right to distort the truth of my own personal opinion. We all need to investigate further than what one side of any issue is before jumping on any bandwagon that may take you in the wrong direction, simply because you negelicted to navigate the precipice just around the corner.
How important is it to you that other countries with autocratic and oligarch leaders not interfer in the elections of the United States of America?
How important is it to you that factions of other countries not put bounties on the heads of our American soldiers?
How important is it to you to have your vote counted in the next Presidential Election?
It is easy to see the fear instigated by those with fear-based agendas.
What is the best way to make decisions not based on fear, but instead on intelligent investigation?
Is money the bottom line?
STEP OUT OF FEAR. STOP THE HATE. STOP SPREADING THE FEARMONGERING.
It is possible to stop the runaway train of fear by switching tracks to the path of love, empathy, compassion, justice and liberty for all, as we profess to believe in our Pledge of Allegiance.
Let’s see, who are really illegal immigrants in the USA?
Who are the people we count as illegal aliens?
Who counts as legal residents of the USA?
Should we determine who is legal by what they look like?
Is the USA still the country who welcomes the tired, poor, huddle masses yearning to breathe free, homeless, tempest tossed, as the Statue of Liberty lifts her golden flame of welcome?
How far back should we look, to the Native American Indians? Well, no, we should not go back that far because then we would all be illegal aliens. Looking back at the history of the United States of America it is easy to see why the USA border with Mexico is such a hot spot. However, Mexicans were here long before we were, and many of them and their families never left. They still live on their original homestead. Some Americans think these people are immigrants when in fact, they were here for generations before we got here.
Spanish/Mexican land greatly exceeds the land mass of the 13 colonies in 1763.
Shall we count the Spanish/Mexican people who lived here in 1763, prior to all our wars with them?
Shall we include those people in the land before we arrived in all the conquests and purchases?
When you think of it this way, who are really the aliens?
There has got to be a better way for people of conscience, to resolve our current humanity and immigration dilemmas, that do not include a gun to someone’s back or face, and deportation of this nations’ children who are in this land of “freedom” trying to make a better life for themselves and their families, like we all are.
We can be so short-sighted. For Americans living here now legally, it was not that long ago, not even 200 years
Maps of the USA from 1776-1866, just 146 years ago.
ago, when our very own grandparents and their grandparents were immigrants to this country. Most of them simply walked through Ellis Island, signed their name, or an “X” if they could not write, to get in. We do need smart immigration reform that does not include inhumane treatment. The scarcity mentality based on fear, fear of others, fear of their beliefs, fear of how they look, fear of how they think, fear, fear, fear is the pinacle problem of our time. We are smarter than this.
We need to stand on principle, not fear of others. We need to be fair, not self-righteous. We need to empathetic and compassionate to the plight of humanity caught in the midst of inhuman actions in these extraordinary times. We need a clear mind not infected with the plague of inhuman actions to solve the problems facing us today.
This fear and demonization of others has infiltrated the small minds, greedy hearts and loud voices of a few of those among us. We need to broaden our horizons and find creative solutions that do not include the destruction of the soul and spirit of human integrity, that place all non-white Americans, as well as non-American people, in the same category as crimminals and drug lords. We need to address crime issues, but often it is the illegal immigrant who is the victim of the crime, not the perpetrator.
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