Hard Times in Middle America

For the third day in a row the stock market has taken a beating and the unemployment rate is at an all time high.  The American poor have not far to go in a downward spiral.  They cannot lose much more than they already have lost.  Many have been at the less than poverty level for some time. It is the proverbial American middle class, the working poor, the blue and grey collar workers that are taken a beating at home and on the street.  Washington D.C. has been pumping money into the working sector via government programs.  But these remedies are not able to keep pace with the lose of jobs, homes, health insurance, car insurance and every other type of necessity which keeps Mr. and Mrs. Joe Average afloat.  The remedies are not keeping up with the problems.
But on the high side CEO's are losing their positions with millions of dollars in exit package benefits. For spoiling the Gulf of Mexico the ex-CEO for British Pertroleum was cut loose with a 23.3 million dollar severance package.  So even in midst of environmental calamities, and American misfortune, excessively paid CEO's still remain recalcitrant, excessively severanced CEO's.  To the dismay of the average American citizen.
My point in this landscape review is that the gap between the rick and poor is becoming a real gap without the upper or lower middle class as a buffer zone.  Millions of middle class homes, four to six bedroom, two plus baths, mud rooms, 4 acres, whatever are being left and abandoned for the foreclosure call to bottle up and try and sell off.  The countryside is a scattered vision of what American may have been or could be, but is not.  Lots abandoned, forelorn fire hydrants, exiled multi-cable connections with nowhere to go, the end of the power line service.  A scenic view of vacant cul-de-sacs without the element of a living context. 
The recession is hanging on for dear life.  And even though we have a well meaning, very capable President in the White House, the financial conundrum may be way beyond anyone's capability to resolve.  It may be that we all need to re-strategize our our personal priorities, our individual vision, and certainly our daily choices in order to survive.
We are all being forced to rethink who are are, what we want, and where we want to be.  This day has been coming for a long time, now here we are.  The American individualistice philosophy may be the saviour or it may be the defeat of all we know and understand.  That is if that is the philosophy that drives us and keeps us afloat.  If not then another systemic change may need to take place in order to expose us to alternative plans and options.  Those are personal choices.
The paths are not only beginning to narrow, they are also diminishing in number.  That is where the fear lies.  Path number one or path number two.  We may not even have a choice, is it possible that the choice has already been made for us.
The Prognosticator.

Apathy in Canada

Indian Country Today, an American Indian newspaper is publishing a four part story on murdered and missing Indigenous women in Canadian Provinces.  There are several Native women's organizations that have been trying to gain greater publicity on the atrocities taking place in the Canadian cities with regard to Native women and girls.  Although records of the murders have been documented it seems as though the law enforcement community is not taking the issues with the appropriate speed and conceren necessary in order to bring these killings to a halt.  In Minneapolis during the mid-80's there was also a rash of muders, not all were Native women, but many victims were Native females.  In that instance the American Indian Movement and several other prominent Native organizations took it upon themselves to ensure the appropriate course of action was taken by the city of Minneapolis law enforcement and other related agencies.  In the caser of the Canadian murders and missing persons reports it seems as though the Canadian authorities are deluged in apathetic behavior.  Many of the missing are being suspected to have been indoctrinated into the huiman sex slave trade for service and eventual disposal. 
ICT has managed to obtain some first person reports that lead the readers to obtain a sordid glimpse into the atrocities that accompany this type of business.  It also appears that Canada is being viewed as a safehaven for pedophile/sex master types from all around the world who apparently practice their trade without fear of being caught or legal retribution.  And for reasons only the victimizers know there seems to be a growing affection for Native women and girls who are sold into this trafficing practice.  My first post is an effort to inform and disseminate information via WWW on this particular issue. 
In reading A Woman in Charge, by Carl Bernstein, he writes about Hillary Clinton's historical relationship with Marien Wright Edelman, founder of the Children's Defense Fund.  And seeing that historical concern it is hard to believe that these horrid atrocities are taking place in Canadian Provinces and that very little attention is being given to this issue.  The numbers of women and girls missing and or mudered are staggering, maybe in the thousands.  Hopefully by writing this blog there will be an interest piqued for more information.