Regarding, Are we taking care of ourselves as a country?  I am asking people to support the idea of evening news needing to post how many people in this country are killed each day because of criminal’s run amuck.  My statement is that we are at war within, and we need our troops to honestly come in and to help clear up the ravage of killings, robberies, and injuries American citizens are perpetuating on other citizens irregardless of socio/economic status.  We saw the number of troops who died in Afghanistan and Iraq at a cost of one trillion dollars, probably more, and I live across the Bay from Oakland, and Richmond, California where gang violence has become so routine in some areas the killings and guns in the night to the point little children interviewed after incidence have voices which tremble.  My theory is you pack up what you can take in two suit cases and get your children out of known harms way– easy enough for me to say, but I would do this before I saw my children that broken.  I know how little we can actually live on.  Better still, for all cities where the expectation of about 100 murders per year is becoming almost a normal year; Then bring in the troops.  How many more wars are we going to stick our sons and daughters in over oil?  Do we defend when attacked as on 9/11 a decade aga — We must, but the middle east is an impossible fix. It is not ours, and if The Association of Arab Nations cannot keep order, then we surely cannot.  Muslim is the second largest religion out side of Christianity; It is larger than our armies, and there will always be extremist.  But please could we finally have Federal presence to aid law enforcement until the crime machines of our city are disassembled?  And once more, may we begin asking for an account of the dead and wounded of America each day to help the public realize that we are in a crisis of violence.

I do ask too that mentally ill be removed from jails and be placed in the mental hospitals which were closed, for this is the humane manner other than to leave them homeless or sheltered but not observed.  Lastly, could we just begin the conversation of legalizing drugs, removing the profit motive and allowing functional addicts, those on methadone programs to hold jobs to help pay for their own care.  I would hope that money wasted on drug wars could be better spent on treatment as opposed to punishment.  I have never heard a child say, “When I grow up, I want to be fully blitzed out on drugs and alcohol just like Mom and Dad;”  Have any of you? 

Maybe we could actually have enough money taken out of on-going drug wars to actually allow the scientist to battle cancer, and I can speak for my family and for most people I know.  No family has gotten through life without mourning a cancer victim; so if we keep ourselves out of countries who hate us, get our cities cleaned up enough that little children are not so terrified of dying that they cannot speak because of where they live, then perhaps ending the undeclared war touching our cities every day and moving out even further now; Perhaps, perhaps we might live in a peaceful kingdom prepared to defend ourselves if we must.  Thanks for your suggestions and thoughtful message.

Barbara Everett Heintz, Author of, “Pinkhoneysuckle,” Amazon, Kindle, Create Space and Pinkhoneysuckle Weblog