Compassion...................

This is not a political post even though that comes into it. I was born and raised in England, when I was young we had a Socialist Government. My Dad was into politics, he enjoyed the debate (much to my mums disgust) and wanted to do what he could in his work and living situations. So he was a member of the Labour Party. From what I can see, its not the same party now, much the same as here in the States, traditional values have changed. He was a union man. In his day the unions brought very necessary change to the lives of factory workers. Safety for machines that had often left people maimed due to lack of guards when they were needed. Accidents that could be prevented. No one though of suing back then, they fought to change things and make them better. Most of us started work at 14 or 15 years old but the old child labour laws had changed, so that children did not have to work in factories any longer. Going back to my genealogy children of 4 years old helped their parents to work from home. The women in my area were "plaiters" they plaited straw for the hat industry. A lot of women in my parents day did "Homework".......I know mum did several jobs from home. One I recall was putting birthday cards into the plastic sleeves or something like that, putting a card with an envelope and they got paid by the amount that they did. My Aunt Sally made hats. Putting feathers on them. Back then everyone wore hats.
Under the Labour Party many things were run by the government. That would never be popular here in the States. However, there were some advantages. The BBC ran the airwaves and one had a licence to own a TV or Radio. No big deal, a small fee. The electricity and Gas were controlled as were public transportation and so in my mind (I was a kid) everything ran smoothly. One put a coin in the meter and got a certain amount of electricity. I remember when someone forgot to put money in and there would be this clunking noise as the lights went out. You would have to search for a coin in the dark or go next door to ask for one. However, everyone had the necessary means to live. Trains and buses went everywhere one did not need a car. Coal and things like that used for fires. All went smoothly. People grew vegetables in their gardens or had an allotment.
When this changed and things were privatized so much happened, strikes for more money left us over the winters usually using candles and cooking over a coal fire in the living room. We learned to survive. God help us if the coal man went on strike.
The big thing in England was the National Health Care system. A wonderful piece of (?) legislation. Public schools that taught everything imaginable. (even though they had little success in teaching me math or spelling it was not their fault haha.)
Now..........to me, a country is not civilized if it does not give it's people health care from cradle to grave. Yes one pays higher taxes but few do not get back more than they pay in. You can opt out and pay insurance for private care always. People who live there complain. People always complain. You don't have to die because you cant go to the doctors though and throughout Europe you will see that most all countries have some form of health care far superior to the USA. I could go on. Doctors who made house calls. Midwives. Free dental and optical. If you could not pay, then free burial. The schools are free and superior to any here. Higher education as well.
So now.............here we are with a president who is taking away the most basic human rights for us living in the USA that is supposed to be the leader in the free world. What a joke that is. To increase his military budget he is taking away things like free school lunches, when sometimes that is the only good meal the child gets. Meals on wheels for the elderly. It will be a step back for us. The public schools are in a mess now and the teachers are beside themselves. Please read this

Michelle Charland

I can't help but have tears in my eyes and pain in my stomach. I've loved and taught too many children over the past 20 years to stand back and watch our education system get torn apart!!
Please call your Representative and tell them to vote No on House Bill 10. Our children deserve better than this!!!!!!
"To those of you not in the education field, you may not understand a lot of the educational jargon and the foundation of the American education system. Having a school voucher system (proposed by Trump's Education secretary Betsy DeVos) doesn't just mean you can choose any school you want your kid to go to. It also means the public education program will be dismantled. Let me explain...
If your child has an IEP, frame it. Then kiss it good-bye.
If you have a job in special-education, meaning if you're a: special education teacher, physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech pathologist, a para, or a teacher's aid, you're in the same boat.
If you are in ESL teacher, you'll go first.
House Bill 610 makes some large changes.
Inform yourselves.
This bill will effectively start the school voucher system to be used by children ages 5-17 and starts the defunding process of public schools.
The bill will eliminate the Elementary and Education Act of 1965, which is the nation's educational law that provides equal opportunity in education.
ESSA is a big comprehensive program that covers programs for struggling learners, advanced and gifted kids in AP classes, ESL classes, classes for minorities such as Native Americans, Rural Education, Education for the Homeless, School Safety (Gun-Free schools), Monitoring and Compliance, and Federal Accountability Programs. Yes, there are all of these programs happening in our education system, in addition to just academics.
The Bill also abolishes the Nutritional Act of 2012 (No Hungry Kids Act) which provides nutritional standards in school breakfast and lunch.
The bill has no wording whatsoever protecting Special Needs kids, no mention of IDEA, and FAPE.
Some things ESSA does for Children with Disabilities:
-Ensures access to the general education curriculum.
-Ensures access to accommodations on assessments.
-Ensures concepts of Universal Design for Learning.
-Includes provisions that require local education agencies to provide evidence-based interventions in schools with consistently underperforming subgroups.
-Requires states in Title I plans to address how they will improve conditions for learning including reducing incidents of bullying and harassment in schools, overuse of discipline practices and reduce the use of aversive behavioral interventions (such as restraints and seclusion).
Please call your representative and ask him/her to vote NO on House Bill 610

I was not going to get political but here we are.
The situation with health care could leave millions without insurance and those who have pre-existing conditions or in the middle of treatments. What are people supposed to do? Just die? Is that what Trump wants.
Sure Obama care may not be perfect. It has helped a lot, but others are paying way more than they can afford. So fix it.............don't do away with it. Face the problems and fix them. Or here's a thought. Universal Health and dental care. Who can afford a dentist. I sure can't.
It is a mess...............the greed is overwhelming. Where is the compassion for those less fortunate, yes including immigrants.
I know that in England (and Europe) the immigration problem is desperate. They flow in and are welcomed by the government who give them access to health care that they have not worked for or paid in to the system. True. What's the alternative? Let them die? No...........fix the laws that are flawed. Be sure some kind of work is found for them to earn their care. Educate them and move them forwards into society. In America, what happened to bring me your sick and dying, we have become a country of "I got mine, fuck you" (sorry)
What is the answer? Free enterprise is great. Becoming wealthy is great. You cant legislate compassion but people can shame them into paying a fair share in taxes with no offshore accounts, no loopholes and instilling into people the fact that the more you have the more is expected of you. Its all about power and possessions. How much money can a person use. Some great men like Bill Gates understands it, he remembers where he came from and there are many many like him, but not enough. This while people like Trump use the laws and loopholes to avoid paying taxes and yet earn billions ever year and are proud that they avoided taxes that go into the national budget to help those less fortunate. That is morally and ethically wrong to me.
When some have billions that they will never ever spend, nor will their kids or grandkids, and refuse to give up anything to help the homeless. Shame one them. It does not matter if anyone "deserves" to be helped, it's not something that one should judge. You don't know their story. That brings me to this, mental health. When the State Hospitals were closed nothing replaced them. Now people are out there (with guns) and no help because they cant afford the health care. Yet, the laws change so that even the mentally ill can purchase a gun or at least that is what it is coming to. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE IN IT?
This president is also at war with the environment, destruction of the planet is fine by him. All that has been done to protect the public lands and animals, all in danger of being undone by one man who is the epitome of greed. Worse yet are the people who follow him.
Sorry, no nice pictures in this post. I could go on but will leave it at that.