Flying with Broken Wings…#247

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Flying with Broken Wings

Author Elizabeth Ann Johnson-Murphree books at: Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com

Flying with Broken Wings is about the life of Charlotte Jean Murphree. Charlotte was not a famous person, in fact, not too many people knew her, but those that did knew there were many facets to her life. The book tells of fifty-two-years of daily testing of her will to carry on and the misfortune she faced. As a baby and young girl she was made fun of and bullied by schoolchildren, her progress was slow but she never gave up the fight to overcome her disabilities. As an adult, she fought physical disability of Cerebral Palsy, living with Bipolar, Depression and Schizophrenia disorders. She lived not only with these disabilities, she endured the “Voices” that lived within her for over thirty years. This book is about the beginning, the middle and the end of her life.

Books by Author at Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com:

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Fragments of Time

A Passage into Madness

Asterial Thoughts

A Sachet of Poetry

Rutted Roads

Rhythm Rhyme and Thoughts

Reflections of Poetry

Beyond the Voices

Honeysuckle Memories

Echoing Images from the Soul

A Journey into the Soul

©2020.elizabethannjohnsonmurphree

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Let’s start with Trump’s claim to accomplishments; or those he takes credit…#246

These are just a few, but it is Trump’s “MO”, contemplating the past four years! Only eight days left.

 1. Trump took credit for 3 bills to benefit Native people and took credit. However, the tribal leaders credit efforts in Congress for those bills. The work was done by, Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat, and Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican. Senator Tom Udall, Democrat of New Mexico. Senators Jon Tester, a Democrat, and Steve Daines, a Republican.

2. Trump took credit for the finalized creation of Space Force as our 6th Military branch.  However, Trump directed creation of ‘space force’ as sixth branch of military Trump said the new branch would be separate but equal to the Air Force.  But, senior military leaders publicly opposed its creation, including Trump’s secretary of defense, James Mattis, because they argued it would create further complicated bureaucracy and counteract the Air Force’s work to defend the country’s space assets.

3. Trump took credit for a law to make cruelty to animals a federal felony so that animal abusers face tougher consequences. He signed it…But, a bipartisan group in Congress also deserves credit for the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act.

4. Trump took credit for the violent crime rate has dropped steadily since 1999. The rate rose slightly in 2015 and 2016, but the general trend has been a long downward slide that predated his election. This drop begins long before Trump was elected president.

5. Trump signed a bill making CBD and Hemp legal. Congress deserves credit for the inclusion of this measure in the 2018 Farm Bill.

6. Trump’s EPA gave $100 million to fix the water infrastructure problem in Flint, Michigan.  Both President Barack Obama and Trump deserve credit for this allocation, which was set in motion before Mr. Obama left office.  However, people in Flint don’t trust that it is “fixed” because they were lied to; it has not been repaired and is not safe.

7. Under Trump’s leadership, in 2018 the U.S. surpassed Russia and Saudi Arabia to become the world’s largest producer of crude oil. However, Domestic oil production has been expanding since 2010, predating the Trump administration.

8. Trump signed a law ending the gag orders on Pharmacists that prevented them from sharing money-saving information. Mr. Trump tweeted in support of this law and deserves credit for using the bully pulpit of the presidency to demand transparency in drug prices. But Congress deserves most of the credit for the unanimous 2018 passage of this transparency law, which prohibits gag orders that prevent pharmacists from sharing prescription drug prices with customers.

9. Trump signed the “Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act” which includes the “Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act” which both give law enforcement and victims new tools to fight sex trafficking. The bill was crafted and pushed through Congress by Representative Ann Wagner, a conservative Republican from Missouri, who thanked Ivanka Trump for advocating its passage.

10. Trump signed a bill to require airports to provide spaces for breastfeeding Moms.  Congress also deserves credit for the Friendly Airports for Mothers Act of 2017, which was championed by Senator Tammy Duckworth, Democrat of Illinois, and former Representative Stephen Knight, Republican of California.

Beginning in 2016 Donald Trump operated like a typical mob boss, in charge of an organized crime family. He surrounded himself with sleazy characters that live in the shadows and commit many different types of crimes, most of which they are never held accountable for.  In 2016, Manafort and Gates indictments read like novellas, filled with plot twists, mystery and intrigue. The indictments against 12 Russian intelligence agents were incredibly detailed, showing Putin and his pals just how much U.S. intelligence agencies know and can prove about their evil activities.

One thing we know for sure is that Donald Trump won the presidency in the Electoral College by the narrowest of margins. We may never know if the crimes that occurred caused Hillary Clinton to Someday; it may become clear that Donald Trump is both a criminal and an illegitimate president.

The House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump. Following a weeks-long investigation into the president’s dealings in Ukraine, in which Trump allegedly pressured the Ukrainian government to investigate his political rivals, the House officially voted in favor of two articles of impeachment, making Trump the third president in U.S. history to be officially impeached. Rep. John Lewis said on the House floor. “Our children and their children will ask us, ’what did you do? What did you say?’ For some, this vote may be hard. But we have a mission and a mandate to be on the right side of history.”

VOTE, VOTE, VOTE…

Check facts; don’t listen to others from either party, then vote on your findings, and not what someone else told you.

E.

Sacrifice: Our Time Is Now

I reached out to someone this morning just to check in. Trying to follow my own beliefs that if we simply ask, “How are you?” that we may catch them at a time, when they need us most. The first reply was, “Oh my God, you have good intuition.” I waited for what was to follow. To hear how she is doing. 

The following is the story she told me. We all need to hear this with our ears, hearts, and minds. Put aside your politics for a moment and hear some truth from someone on the front lines of this pandemic. She gave me permission to write this so I hope I can articulate it well enough and bring her emotion and truth to the forefront and maybe open some eyes out there. We are in a serious crisis. 

This woman works in the ICU of a local hospital. She said that they are at full capacity. The doctors are pulling staff together trying to prepare them for what is about to come. More death is certain. Patients are being placed on ventilators, they cannot breathe, some are dying. Through her tears, she started to tell me how many of the patients are young, otherwise healthy people. One woman is thirty seven, being medflight in from another town. Another man is fifty-two, his wife is not able to come into the ICU and see him as he struggles. They are preparing to move patients to makeshift hospitals. She’s drained, frightened because healthcare workers know it’s getting worse and eventually they will not be able to keep up and help patients, which is their calling, their oath. To hear this in her own words was heartbreaking. It brought tears to my eyes as she talked about how we are in trouble because our society as a whole is not taking this seriously. 

Those are her words from her story this morning, now here are mine. Wake up people! The toll that this pandemic is taking on healthcare workers is astounding. It’s not unlike being in a war zone. We are at war against a virus that is not invisible. It’s right in our face, the faces of those suffering. Our health care workers are being traumatized by climbing up a muddy hill that they keep falling back down because they can’t get a handle on this thing. It eats them up when they see people at bars, restaurants, weddings, large social gatherings, and not taking this seriously. When we talk of bringing hundreds of kids to school. It’s a slap in the face to them, a big, “fuck you!” when you call this pandemic a hoax or propaganda. I don’t think it’s propaganda or a hoax to that fifty-two year old man’s wife who has to sit outside an ICU waiting to hear if her husband will die or not. 

This is our time in history to respond, to act with bravery and sacrifice. When we look back at crucial times in our world’s history: The Spanish Flu, Holocaust, World War Two, Civil Rights, Vietnam, 911, and the list goes on, and we see how our country responded, it was with valor and sacrifice. People were willing to place their own needs aside and do what was best for humanity as a whole. Now, with the political divide, there is also a pandemic divide, and it’s killing our nation. We are not “One Nation Under God.” We are not bringing our spiritual heritage and constitution to the forefront of our core beliefs. Not that the system worked for everyone, but we are moving farther away from having any system at all. Instead, hostility and selfishness is taking over.

We have people that cannot decide if we should send kids back to school or not. Teachers are becoming the scapegoats to what is wrong with education. Even educators themselves are divided. Think for one moment if a student dies on your watch because we didn’t sacrifice and take this seriously. Think how you would feel if a colleague who you worked with daily, was no longer there because of our selfishness. You think the pandemic and being out of school is taking its toll on our mental health. Well, wait until you have to deal with death first hand. I’ve had my share of death and tragedies in my lifetime, so I know it’s not easy to recover from. Actually, you don’t ever recover. Healthcare workers are begging us to be safe and sacrifice now in order to have a life later. 

No one is saying close businesses and don’t go to work, but use common sense. Start thinking about the person next to you instead of your own needs. 

I see conservatives calling people who believe in the pandemic “sheep.” How is looking out for others, our fellow man and woman, a bad thing? Our issue right now is not political. It is about morals, ethics, what is right and wrong. The past few years I have seen morals on the decline. I do not wear a mask to protect me. I wear it to protect you. I do not go to large social, indoor gatherings of any kind to protect me. I make that sacrifice for you. I sacrifice because it is our time. It’s our time to show the world what we are made of. We need to sacrifice now so we can give our children a future. That’s what our grandparents and great grandparents did. They showed empathy towards one another and put their needs and comfort aside so we could ultimately recover and have a better life and prosper. This is not happening during this crisis. Too many are showing their true character and our society is suffering because of it. 

You don’t need to listen to my words, but you better listen to the words of our healthcare workers that are sacrificing everything for us all. They see it first hand, the suffering and turmoil that this virus is causing. It’s no hoax. It’s not a propaganda stunt by the far left. It’s time to wake up before it’s too late. That is not a scare tactic, it is reality, coming from those that are experiencing this first hand. 

We did not ask for this but it is our time to do something about it. To pull together instead of become more divided. Lives depend on it. Our future depends on it. 

Be well and for the love of God, take care of one another. That has new meaning these days. 

Peace!

Coping With The Little Bastard Called Anxiety

C Murphree…The journey is the destination.

Republicans vs Democrats…# 245

BY – Celeste Epiphany Waite

Hear my voice, hear my dreams

Let us make a world, world, in which in I believe

Hear my words, hear my cries

Let me see a change through these eyes

You may think I won’t be heard

Still I raise this hand, spread this word

These words of fire, of hope and desire

And now I’ll let them free

Hear my voice, hear my dreams

Let us make a world in which in we believe

In which we believe

Hear my words, hear my choice

∞∞

During the past four-years, I have said that Trump was a cross breed of Hitler and Jim Jones.  The book “Mein Kampf” (My Struggle).  Mein Kampf, (yes, I have read it) is autobiographical written by Adolf Hitler while imprisoned, in it Hitler outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germany.  It is said that Trump read Hitler’s “My New Order”, a collection of speeches; they contained Hitler’s extraordinary ability as a master propagandist.  “My New Order” and that there are similarities between the speeches of Trump and those written by Hitler.  The speeches show that when criticism by someone responds back with insults and name calling.  Both Hitler and Trump contradicts themselves often.   Hitler made and then broke treaties, just like Trump has separated America from many of our Allies. 

James Warren Jones the American cult leader, preacher and self-professed faith healer conspired with his inner circle to direct a mass murder-suicide of himself and his followers in his jungle commune at Jonestown.   Jones was an aggressively bisexual drug user, liar and narcissistic psychopath. In 1978, Jones then ordered a mass suicide and mass murder of 918 commune members, 304 of them children, almost all by cyanide-poisoned Flavor Aid.

The moral fiber of the person who occupies the Oval Office matters to the vast majority of Americans. Across party lines and religious groups, say it is important to have a president who lives an honest, decent life.   In looking at the beginning of Trumps impeachment, Trump was tied to the fact that the Ukraine may have been pressured to investigate H. Clinton.  After four- years as president few deny that Trump misuses his power. 

This president appears to be a pathological liar, rough, bullish and shows personal and professional evilness.  I believe him to be a severely damaged human being and a treacherous president.  Yet, the presidency deserves respect, even when the president does not.  He is willing to say and do things that no other president in American history.  Republicans’ are driven by only one thing, to defend their president at all cost, and they will do anything to protect him.  At one time the Republican Party stood for truth, honor and integrity, no more.  

I am certain that the Republican Party is thinking about their loss of power with Trump in office.  It is too late to turn back, four years raced by in the blink of an eye, but it is not too late to make a logical decision about the future.  My issue with Trump is the lies; I cannot forgive his moral wrongdoing, his malice and his assault on reality, the truth.   

Trump has promised to create 10 million new jobs, is he counting that above the 22 million jobs that vanished due to the pandemic?  He pledged to create 1 million small businesses, cut taxes, protect American jobs, and develop a Vaccine by the end of 2020.  Return to normal by 2021; make medicines and supplies available for health care.  Yet another answer to the question is to ask states to bid on the supplies.

He has pledged to bring back jobs from China, provide no contracts to those outsourcing to China.  Hold China accountable for the spread of the Virus.  Cut the cost of prescription drugs, lower healthcare insurance, cover all pre-existing conditions.  Provide school choice to every child, teach American exceptionalism; American exceptionalism can best be defined as the belief that the United States has a duty to spread its ideals around the world.  Trump wants to take limits off Congressional Terms, fund law enforcement, and deem drive-by shootings an act of Domestic Terror.  He would dismantle human trafficking networks. 

For the future, he want to launch a space force, establish a permanent presence on the Moon, send manned missions to Mars, win the internet race to 5G. Lead the world in clean drinking water and air? Stop endless Wars and bring all troops home, maintain and expand America’s military strength.  Wipe out Global Terrorists; build a Cyber security defense system and missile defense system.  Continue to nominate Supreme Court judges, defend the freedoms of religious believers and organizations, and support the second Amendments rights.

Creating an impossible list, probably, as the Democrats also create an impossible list.  So the purpose of my research is to see how both parties’ promises will probably never see the light of day.  Nonetheless, the worse choice of the two is Donald Trump.  I am certain my Republican followers disagree with me; your comments are welcome as well as those from the Democrat party.   I do not believe either can deliver what they base their presidency on; neither can tell the truth in some cases.  No matter who wins we will still have to show a measure of respect for the position they hold.

eajm

2020.elizabethannjohnsonmurphree Books

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Yes, another political post…#244

President Trump has said that this Election Day will be the most exciting in U.S. history, while mocking Joe Biden.  On Saturday night, Trump’s physician, Dr. Sean Conley, said the president has been cleared to return to an active schedule and has met criteria from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to end isolation.  Then why don’t we see the results of his test?  If Trump “does” have the Virus, and it has been proven, the Dr. Sean Conley and anyone else who has said he is “Cured” needs to be jailed as a criminal along with Trump.

Also, now that Trump has fallen down in the polls he will begin his pursuit on ballot tampering so that he can insist on the true winner is the decision of the Supreme Court.  He will then be counted the winner as the Supreme Court being mainly Republican will give it to him, the Bush/Gore ticket.  Joe Biden will need to win by a landslide; even then Trump will contest the vote.

Biden has served in public life for fifty years; his government experience is at his forefront.    He has become agitated at times with Trump, but he has never stooped to the low that Trump has reached.  Biden is a politician, and has proven worthy of respect for his service.  Trump is a business man, he has had a TV reality show, where all he had to say was, “You’re fired”, and this he has carried over into the White House.  His success is measured in fame, money and power, a being born into one of Americas wealthiest families did not hurt him.  He takes the stance of “If you think you have problems, look what the pandemic has done to my presidency”.  Trump is a political drama queen!

Stop to reflect on the past four years and look objectively as to why Donald Trump should not be re-elected. Need a visual, have we shut our eyes? Is this what you want to deal with another four years? These children are still in cages, many of these pictures reminds you of who he actually is as a human being. Remember, and vote for the best choice now.

Trump update: Trump is back to open-face rallies, however, his Dr. does say and I quote:

“Dr. Conley’s use of the Binex-NOW test appears to fall outside the scope of the FDA’s emergency use authorization of it, which states the test should be used “within the first seven days of symptom onset”; Trump developed symptoms 10 days ago.

However, Dr. Bobbi Pritt, chair of clinical microbiology at the Mayo Clinic, told the Association of American Medical Colleges that PCR tests might show positive results even though someone isn’t actively infectious: “You can be PCR-positive for weeks to months but you probably aren’t infectious. You’re just shedding little bits of dead RNA. The test does not distinguish live virus from dead virus,” she said.

Grateful: A Brief Tribute To Thich Nhat Hahn

Great post.

For Fear That We May Forget…#243

I am not trying to sway your vote; it is your right to chose whomever you believe is the best person for the job.  Donald Trump is not a politician, he is a business man, and what he does as an American citizen is his right, but you cannot run a country like a business.  Joe Biden is a politician, he has been Vice President under President Obama for that alone should be the reason he wins. 

A businessman is a person undertaking activities for the purpose of generating cash flow, utilizing a combination of human, financial, intellectual and physical for economic development and growth.   Trump does not own America, the United States Federal Reserve is not his personal cash flow, he cannot sale it off, and I will give him credit for a few things, but they do not offset what he is doing now.  To support white supremacist, aka, the Proud Boys, to tell his followers to “Stand down and stand by”, is not presidential.  Trump knows how to bankrupt businesses, spend the money of his backers, to live like a “King”, but not in my White House.  The era of Camelot left when the Kennedy’s, Camelot represents truth and goodness, none of which Trump can claim.

Joe Biden is a politician, and has been most of his adult life. A politician, a person experienced in the art or science of government, actively engaged in conducting the business of a government. Biden has his faults, personally and politically, he might not have been my choice, however, he is the only choice as president. 

I am fearful that Trump may go mad; he has clearly stated that he will not leave the WH peacefully.  If nothing else, I actually want to see how he can handle it.  Biden will fill the office with experience, and style.  Let’s face it folks…there has to be a certain measure of transparency, but I don’t believe in telling John Q Public everything.

But, getting back to Trump, I do not have enough time and space to comment on all that he does, but one area is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention drafted a sweeping order last month requiring all passengers and employees to wear masks on all forms of public and commercial transportation in the United States, but it was blocked by the White House, according to two federal health officials. The White House Corona virus Task Force, led by Vice President Mike Pence, declined to even discuss the Virus. 

Many feel that the Trump administration has turned the wearing — or not wearing — of masks into a political expression, as seen most dramatically on Monday evening when President Trump whipped off his surgical mask at the White House door after returning from the hospital where he was treated for Covid-19.

 “It’s especially outrageous because the science is so clear: masks save lives.”

Now, I hear that Trump, had a “Medical Evaluation” By Fox News’ Dr. Marc Siegel, Says Trump is “Medication Free”.  He went through a reality TV-like “medical evaluation” with Dr. Marc Siegel on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight, and claimed that he was medication free and that he was recently retested for COVID-19.  This is not a reality show Mr. Trump!

Trump also said that he will donate his plasma, used to help other COVID-19 patients, “if they want me to do it.”  What I want to know is why he took a medication where they use “aborted” fetuses, when he has clearly stated he did not believe in abortion.  There are so many arguments about abortion, if it is overturned, my fear is that women will return to the kitchen table and knitting needles use in the 1950’s.

Trump refused to debate virtual, well of course he want, he cannot intimidate anyone.  I do have an issue with him using the White House for his campaigning.  The White House is the “people’s” house, it is bad enough that he sits in the White House and degrades women, people with disabilities and such, but I say “Not in my house”. 

This brings me to Trump’s “friend”, Kim Jong Un who rolled out a new ballistic missile at a rare midnight parade Saturday, experts say the new ICBM appears to be the largest road-mobile rocket of its type.  The stakes are high: US weapons experts believe North Korean missiles can strike anywhere in the US. A North Korean nuclear missile would take about 40 minutes to reach New York City once launched. However, very little is publicly known about the capabilities of North Korea’s missile technologies. Trump wanted to befriend Kim because North Korea has pristine white beach front property. Trump wanted to make a deal not as President but as a business man wanting to build hotels.

Trump is “friends” with Putin, and the Federation of American Scientists estimates that Russia possesses 6,800 nuclear weapons. China, whom Trump has “pissed off”, has 280 nuclear warheads.  Trump is like a “pit-bull”, he bites into something and will not turn loose.  If he gets four more years will he get America in a war? 

I watched his WH speech today, he is back peddling now, praising law enforcement, blacks and Latino’s, and does he think we have forgotten about “the wall”.  People just have a discussion about the bad that he has done and what he has said, do you want a president that pull children out of parents arms and lock them up in cages.  When talking about the protest, looting and burning, he said, “Well there are good people on both sides. Really!

Trump needs to be arrested and locked away, he is not solely responsible for the Virus in America but being silent when he knew it was being brought in, is criminal.  He, in my book is responsible for the deaths and is no better than Hitler.

Trump argued Saturday, that it is important for Black Americans to support law enforcement. Is he blind, how can they support law enforcement when their own race is being killed and decimated against?  I support law enforcement, there are good and bad apples in every basket, but do not ask these people who have had to live like second rate citizens since their ancestors were brought over in slave ships, to support individual that murder them.  

I am from a poor southern family, yet although we may have been dirt poor sharecroppers we could go in the front door of Bob Gibson’s BBQ, while my black friends had to go to the back door, yes not all southerners are prejudice.  We were still white, but given more respect than the Black’s.

A friend of mine Bob F. from Madison, Wisconsin, Black, he told me that he wanted to take his family from Wisconsin to Mississippi to visit relatives, but they had to drive straight threw, eat in the car, use black facilities.  In those days Black’s were not allow to stay in motels in the south and he drove for two days to get there as they were afraid to pull into waysides to sleep. In the 50’s it would be dangerous. 

As my children say, I may have been poor but my “whiteness” gave me privilege!  Folks, we are Americans, a land of immigrants, it is time to take back America. It is going to take all of us voting to really “Make it Great” again.

E.

Your Love is a Fist…#242

Raw is this

Fatherless flesh

Life in troubled times

Blues gone to grays

Why do some people

Cause others pain

In this all too familiar

Love-Hate Game

As the red around me

Spread, I prayed for

Cleansing waters…then

Suddenly, the rain fell.

©2020.elizabethannjohnsonmurphree

A Piece of Myself

Chuck is an educator, Young Adult Novelist, and passionate about helping people with depression and anxiety by sharing his own insights and experiences.