A Country Divided - The United States of America

I have not seen our country as divided, as polarized, as it is today since the Viet Nam era. Indeed, I think the present division in America today is far worse with hatred being spewed forth ftom the current occupant in the White House against other Americans.

Discourse at the highest level of our American National Government has turned American against American, even worse than it did during the Viet Nam Era or the American Civil War itself!

Recently, a person with whom I am acquainted addressed an interesting question to me via an internet social media site in regards to civil (political) discussion in the United States of America. The following is the response I gave the person on that social media site:

"I will try to answer your specific question of "What has happened to civil discussions?" to the best of my abillity.
In my humble opinion, civil discussion in America has diminished greatly since the vocal political conservative minority captured the White House.
While the majority of American voters actually voted for someone other than the current occupant, the current Oval Office occupant received the majority of the vote from the 'electors' in the Electoral College.
The bottom line was the result that the vocal political conservative minority successfully moved America into an abyss where all rules of civility have been cast aside; and, the United States of America is now led by a person who espouses intolerance and hatred.
The leader of the vocal political conservative minority is The Great Divider, Donald J. Trump, who regularly and consistently belittles Arabs, Mexicans, Muslims, persons of color, members of the Press, athletes who exercise freedom of speech, the elected leaders of our country's European allies, political rivals, Democrats in general, and any person who disagrees with him."

Is Civil War brewing in the United States of America?

Politics in the United States of America: 
The nastiest I have ever experienced in my seven decades of life, thanks to Donald John Trump and his political conservative supporters who advocate hate and intolerance.

Take a look-see and read two articles from The Washington Post:

Politics, The latest sign of political divide: Shaming and shunning public officials, Mary Jordan, June 24 at 7:54 PM
The Fix - Analysis, Maxine Waters shows why the Sarah Huckabee Sanders-Red Hen story is extremely important, Aaron Blake, June 25 at 11:49 AM

And, from CNN, take a look at:

Politics. Maxine Waters encourages supporters to harass Trump administration officials, Jamie Ehrlich, CNN, Updated 2:02 PM ET, Mon June 25, 2018

Donald J. Trump is The Great Divider. According to Trump and his die-hard Supporters, all facts are fake. Trump and his politically conservative adherents live in an alternative universe that has an alternative reality consisting of alternative facts. Both 'The Twilight Zone' and 'Sliders' are reflective of their type of reality.

Today, the United States of America has The Trumpster who gets his jollies putting people in his Hate Dumpster. Instead of making America great again, Trump is tearing America apart again!

A Guest Commentary About Roland Hansen From Political Conservative Proselytizing Christian Chris (CW) Martin

A fellow by the name of Chris (CW) Martin is the scribe of a blog entitled Tilting at Windmills, Thoughts On Every Subject, PC Be Hanged. Indeed, Chris Martin does write on a variety of topics and he pulls no punches while he consistently bashes Democrats in general and political liberals specifically; and, he frequently uses negative adjectives in addressing those who he considers the opposition. Mr. Martin also preaches in a regular series in his blog that concerns bible study. Jesus, the gospel, etc.

Mr. Martin used to be a regular commentator on my blog Roland Hansen Commentary here, as well as on my other blog of Roland's Ramblings, my Google+ page, and on my Twitter account. Then, in mid December of 2017, he decided that he could no longer tolerate me; and, he consequently blocked me on Google,  Twitter, and every conceivable place on the internet.

Chris Martin made a brief commentary about me (without mentioning me by name) and other "liberals" on Wednesday, December, 2017 in the opening statements of his blog entry entitled Ye olde stat page 2017.

Here is a copy and paste of those opening statements of CW Martin:

Wow, I didn't realize what a messed up battle this year was on my blog- but as the song says, "There's reason to believe that this coming year will be better than the last." 

Far too many posts were spent fighting koolaid-sipping liberals, not because of my great love and devotion for Trump (which doesn't exist except in their tiny imaginations), but because they cannot accept reality or history.  I believe I fought my last battle with my last remaining koolaid-sipping friend a few weeks back, when I found that explaining for the umpteenth time that equating ANYBODY in current US politics with Hitler or Stalin is showing a total disregard for both reality and history,  was "invalidating" that person, while his making the point that he is "well-regarded by intellectuals" (AKA How dare you disagree with me, peon)  was not a similar invalidation of myself.  Difference being, I can take being called stupid, because it still leaves me with more common sense, but they could not accept that someone could reject their re-write on history.  Truth though, is that the whole fight was leading me to want to say something I knew better than- and I said goodbye. 

ANYway, that unfortunate year long battle with utter stupidity reflects heavily in my stats- and while I'm not going to quit fighting the good fight, I have my doubts that my opponents will be stopping by anymore.  That said, let's look at the stats.

The rest of that blog entry concerns his ranking among blogs worldwide, how many blog entries he made that year, how many views his blog has had, the number of comments that were made in response to his blog entries, etc., etc., etc.

So, if you would like to read more of anything and everything that Chris Martin writes about the world, you may find him at:

• chris martin @scrappybooogle on Twitter
• CW Martin on Google+
• Laurie Easterday Chris Martin (Chris Martin) on Facebook
• Tilting at Windmills, the blog of CWMartin

At Life's End

I am in the twilight of my life. I am not in the autumn of my life; I am in the winter of my life. Indeed, being in my 71st year, I am near the end of my life.

Unfortunately and regretfully, I spent the vast majority of the time in the early and middle adult years of my life trying to secure a better tomorrow for myself and family. I did so by means of working  two jobs and by spending innumerable hours performing volunteer work in community, civic, charitable, fraternal and other organizations.

In order to assure a secure financial future for my three children, including amassing sufficient savings for their college education, I was so financially prudent that we missed out on many enjoyable day to day activities that had a price tag attached to them. I spent a tremendous amount of time in volunteer work because I wanted my children to have a better world in which to live. I thought I could make a difference. As it turned out, the world is no better today than it was 20, 30, 40, or 50 years ago; and, I missed having quality, quantity time with my family.

Regrets -- I have more than a few!

That all being expressed, I wish to leave a message before I depart this world to all the people who always seem so busy trying to make for a better tomorrow that they do not take the time to enjoy today.

I say to them, "It is all well and good to plan and prepare for tomorrow, but make sure to seize a moment to live and enjoy each and every day. Spend time with family and friends, go to the zoo, visit the museum, picnic in the park, go for a bike ride, lay on the beach, go outside to breathe in the fresh air and look up to the sky with wonderment and awe, smell the roses. Do not put off for tomorrow what you can enjoy today."

Do not live a life in such a way that when you are in your end of days that you look back on your life with regret.

I say unto you as Robin Williams said, "Make your life spectacular."

In The Memetime: Trump's Broken Promises

The Third Ward in Toledo, Ohio Demands Attention from City and County Officials

The Third Ward in Toledo, Ohio is the geographical area of Toledo that is bounded by the Ohio/Michigan border on the north, Douglas Road on the west, Laskey Road on the south, and on the east by the Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks that run roughly parallel just to the east of Detroit Avenue. The Third Ward is my home turf.

The area of Toledo known as North Towne lies within the Third Ward. Geographically, North Towne is the eastern half of the Third Ward.

REF: North Towne in Toledo, Ohio

REF: Overview of North Towne, Toledo, Ohio (Neighborhood)

The western half of Toledo Third Ward includes a large portion of the area of Toledo known as Whitmer-Trilby. Geographically, more than half of the Whitmer-Trilby area lies within Toledo Third Ward. 

Whitmer-Trilby lies to the west of North Towne.

REF: Overview of Whitmer-Trilby, Toledo, Ohio (Neighborhood)

The Third Ward of Toledo at one time was a nice blend of residential neighborhoods, retail and commercial districts, and well maintained industrial sites. BUT, not any more! 

The economic decline during the period of time of the Presidential administration of George W. Bush, the corporate greed of big business, and the total lack of resident citizen support from Toledo and Lucas County elected officials and governmental bureaucrats have all contributed to the blight that exists in Toledo's Third Ward today!

In the past several years, the Third Ward in Toledo, Ohio has been spiraling into an industrial wasteland replete with numerous auto junk yards and recycling scrap yards lining the length of Detroit Avenue within the Third Ward. 

We lost the once vibrant North Towne Mall shopping center and theater complex that was located north of Alexis Road west of Detroit Avenue east of Telegraph Road. It was razed to the ground with the exception of a stand-alone physical fitness center. A multi-structured residential apartment community remains on the immediately adjoining property at the north. Rather than advocating redevelopment of the former Mall property for mixed commercial, retail, residential use, the City of Toledo decided to stiff area residents with reckless disregard to the interests of nearby neighborhoods. In December of 2017, the City of Toledo administration and the clueless Toledo City Council in a resident-be-damned attitude decided to rezone that property for industrial use.

REF: Former North Towne mall site rezoned to help spur development

Not long before the City of Toledo rammed that zoning change down the throats of area residents, they had also rezoned the property on the south of Alexis Road west of Detroit Avenue east of Telegraph Road. For years, harness racing was the center of attention in what was known as Raceway Park. Before being used for harness racing, Raceway Park had been a car race track. Immediately south of this property is a neighborhood of homes consisting of three blocks on each of four streets, the neighborhood in which I was raised during my youth. Well, Raceway Park closed up and the lackluster city officials of Toledo decided the property should become a huge fenced in parking lot for Jeeps awaiting shipment out of the Toledo.

REF: Raceway Park to be re-zoned, new company to buy

Picture, for a moment, this precise area north and south of Alexis Road between Detroit Avenue and Telegraph Road. We have retail, commercial, and restaurants running along Alexis Road itself. North of it, The City of Toledo has created an industrial wasteland to serve as a buffer between the north side of the Alexis Road businesses and the apartment communty to its north. Then on the south side of the Alexis Road business properties, the overseers for the City of Toledo have injected a gigantic parking lot with prison-looking solid fencing topped with barbed wire to buffer the tesidential neighborhood from the businesses. BUT WAIT -- don't stop there, ADD THIS to the picture. In a dictatorial move by the three-member Board of Lucas County Commissioners performed without the advice and consent of the citizenry, the Commissioners have purchased green space property on the southeast corner of Alexis and Detroit to build (are you ready?) a JAIL

REF: New Lucas County jail location announced

REF: New Lucas County jail proposed for North Detroit Avenue

REF: Petition in the works to keep the Lucas county jail downtown

REF: Bill for future Lucas County jail already close to $1 million

Well, those concerns expressed above are just a few of the issues and are in just one area of the Third Ward in Toledo, Ohio. There are many issues in the Toledo Third Ward that are in need of attention, but have had an extremely low priority with the local governmental political hacks in Toledo and Lucas County.

One example is in regards to a so-called flea market on the northeast corner of Alexis Road and Lewis Avenue. The appropriate local governmental officials need to inspect Stormin Norman's Trading Post located in Alexis Park Shopping Center, 5860 Lewis Ave, Toledo, Ohio 43612. 

The structure itself is crumbling and the roof is leaking into the interior with black mold growing on the ceiling tiles that are falling out. The contents contained therein are literally piled all over the interior. Litter and trash are strewn throughout. Stormin Norman's poses a serious environmental health risk and fire hazard. This business enterprise should be condemned, vacated, and closed to occupancy.

The needs, wants, and desires of the residents of the Third Ward in Toledo, Ohio cannot be ignored anymore!

Clean up the junk yards and scrap yards along Detroit Avenue.

Have the owner(s) of Northwest Trailer Sales & Services located at 120 W Alexis Road clean up their area; the same for the retail and commercial corner on the northeast of Laskey and Lewis.

Require badly needed repairs to the crumbling buildings, walkways and parking lot be made by the owner(s) of the Alexis Park Shopping Center on the northeast corner of Alexis Road and Lewis Avenue.

Find re-use of the now vacant Dick's Sporting Goods Store at the southeast corner of Alexis and Lewis, the vacant K-Mart property in Ramco Plaza Shopping Center at the southwest corner of Alexis and Jackman, the vacant Banner Mattress Store at the southwest corner of Alexis and Douglas that abuts theThird Ward, the long abandoned buildings that once housed Cub Foods and other stores on the north side of Laskey across from Miracle Mile Shopping Center in the Laskey/Jackman area, the long abandoned row of retail stores in Consumer Square Shopping Center on the west side of Telegraph Road just north of Alexis Road, and the vacant retail store fronts in the shopping strip adjacent to the east of Lowe's at the northwest corner of Alexis and Lewis.

Enhance and improve facilities, equipment, services, and recreational opportunities in Greenwood Park and Northgate Park.

NO MORE INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL BLIGHT. 

NO MORE HEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES NEGLECT.

NO JAIL.

It is time the City of Toledo and for Lucas County to pay attention to the desires and needs of the Citizens of Toledo's Third Ward.

The following provides a description of the Toledo Third Ward Citizens Association.

The goals of Toledo Third Ward Citizens Association are:

* To preserve and strengthen the residential qualities of Toledo Ohio's third ward.

* To foster and promote the economic well-being of the residents and the businesses in Toledo Ohio's third ward.

* To advocate and support services and programs that will enhance Toledo Ohio's third ward.

Objectives of the Toledo Third Ward Citizens Association:

* To serve as an advocacy conduit for the residents of the third ward of Toledo. 

* To encourage the rehabilitation of aging and/or deteriorating housing structures within the third ward of Toledo.

* To support the development, renovation, and rehabilitation of existing neighborhood business and shopping districts and centers within the third ward of Toledo.

* To achieve stability in land use and actively oppose specific land use changes that would adversely affect the existing nature of a given neighborhood within the third ward of Toledo.

* To maintain appropriate green areas with proper development throughout the third ward of Toledo for park and recreation purposes.

* To upgrade major, secondary, and residential traffic arteries within the third ward of Toledo.

* To improve public services and facilities in the third ward of Toledo for health, safety, education, cultural, and socialization activities. 

Donald J Trump: The Success Story

Along those lines, I suggest you click onto the following embedded links in order to go over to read:

• Trump Bankruptcy Math Doesn't Add Up
• Trump, Lies, and Bankruptcy
• DONALD TRUMP'S MANY BUSINESS FAILURES, EXPLAINED
• This Is How Donald Trump Actually Got Rich
• Fact-checking Trump's claim that he has no business ties to Russia

60 Minutes: Sir Nicholas Winton "Saving the Children"

ATTRIBUTION: This entire blog entry has been obtained and reproduced from YouTube.

Shoah - The Memory of a Holocaust
Published on May 17, 2017
It is 1939 and Europe is on the brink of war. Hitler has invaded Czechoslovakia, threatening the lives of the Jewish population. Nicholas Winton, a young British stockbroker, decides he will do everything possible to save the lives of as many Jewish children as he can. This film, transmitting on Holocaust Memorial Day, tells the extraordinary story of how Nicholas Winton rescued 669 children from the clutches of the Nazis, bringing them by train to Britain.

In order to provide a degree of credibility with both the British and Nazi governments of the day, Nicholas single-handedly established the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia - Children's Section, using it to obtain passports and visas for the children. He then organised for each child to be adopted by families throughout the country and their safe passage across Europe and into Britain.

For nearly fifty years, Nicholas told no-one of his heroic deeds. His incredible story might never have come to light were it not for his wife who, fifty years later, found a suitcase in the attic containing a remarkable scrapbook full of documents and transport plans.

The story then emerged in 1988 when the BBC's That's Life programme reunited over two dozen of his 'children' with their rescuer for the first time in a highly emotional broadcast.

American Political Conservatives Believe No Cost Is Too Much To Preserve The Second Amendment

I believe as the title of this Roland Hansen Commentary puts forth that American Political Conservatives believe no cost is too much to preserve the Second Amendment of the Constitution of United States of America.

The meme I place here says it all.

 

You may read some of my thoughts about the Second Amendment by opening these embedded links here and here and here.

Parental Abandonment

"Imagine rearing your children to adulthood only to lose them. If this thought provokes an emotional response in you while reading about it, you can only imagine what it is like to endure it.
The truth is that it happens in our society more than most people realize. You do not have to be a bad parent or an elderly parent to be abandoned by your adult children. I know many great parents to which it has happened and they are living their worst nightmare." 

The above is the opening sentences in an opinion article from The Courier-Tribune of Asheboro, North Carolina that I read on the internet.

I strongly suggest that everyone read the entire opinion piece. To read the entire article, follow the embedded link contained within the title of the article:
The painful plight of abandoned parents
By Lorrie Baker Suggs
Posted Mar 18, 2018 at 12:01 AM

Now, go over to read the Roland Hansen Commentary that I posted back on Monday, February 23, 2015 entitled Call Your Parents and Grandparents. I agree with J. K. Simmons.