godslink's Blog

My husband and I usually take the Shoreway into work in downtown Cleveland. Due to time factors (accidents, slow-downs, ect.) we have decided to take the route of St. Clair Ave. While going through the City the conditions at the bus stops following the snow storm are deplorable. There are huge drifts that have prevented riders from standing in the shelters. On the corners without shelters there are drifts along the sides of the street which block unsheltered stops. People are standing in the streets waiting for buses or on the top of snowbanks. It is the responsibility of RTA to keep their stops safe. When it is dark and foggy in the mornings it is difficult sometimes to see individuals standing in the street. This situation is accidents and tragedies waiting to happen. In Minneapolis where I am from, the transit system makes sure that they clean their stops. That should have been one of the first thing that RTA did. They could have hired temporary people to shovel snow. When riders pay $4.00 per day for a ride, come on RTA do something different.

Well everyone we are seeing the end of the Bush Regime and it's time for another interesting campain. Lets talk about the issues and the candidates that we are going to support and why. Let's see for the Democrats we have Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama and Dennis Kucinich (sp?). For the republicans we have Rudy Gulianai and ? Which way do you think people are going to go and why. One of my first concerns is health care; the costs of visits and prescriptions are going higher and higher even if you have a good insurance policy. Another concern is employment for ex-felons. I am not an Ex-Felon but I work with programs that deal with ex-felons, if they can't find work they will resort to crime for support (such as selling drugs) and we will have more victims. The Department of Corrections predicts over 50,000 inmates by next year. We have alot comming out, where are they going? In the streets.

Lets really look at the issues.

I am sort of confused, the calander states that Daylight savings time ends on 10/28/074. One of my Co-workers said that it will end on November the 4th. Does anyone know what day it actually ends? I know that they were talking about changing it, I never heard whether they actually did. If they did change it, why?

It is really sad that we go to the blogs to talk about news event and things happening around the world and all of the sudden every thing turns to racial issues. Are people so insecure within themselves that they have to put others down to feel good and powerful about themselves? There was an old saying back in the day "United we stand, divided we fall". Are people so stupid that they can't see what they are doing? We have two groups of people in this world, the haves and the have not's. We used to have three classes of people, the poor, the middle class or the rich. Now we have the poor and the rich. There is not much inbetween. Some of the media keeps racisim alive. I had the awful opportunity to be on the Ricky Lake show some years ago. These talk shows put you in separate rooms and try and provoke you into anger. If we watch media shows that continue to provoke people to anger by using race as a tool, then the masses of people stay divided and the rich people stay rich and the poor stay poor. If we would all stand together as one then we would have a voice. God made all of us, white, black, yellow, red, what a boring world this would be if we were all the same. I am grateful for difference.

I sit in my office behind my computer thinking about Amber Hill and those two precious little girls. I work in an environment where we see the devistation of oppression and poverty. We see the lifelessness and hopelessness in peoples eyes and hearts. We listen and see heart renching stories of murders, sexual abuse, incest, theft, enormous amounts of child support, unemployment, homelessness and fear. My mouth wants to condem her and watch her suffer for what she did. My heart understands and breaks for her and her family. I understand what she must have felt like in an abusive relationship, just wanting someone to love her and praying that he will change. I understand what it must be like to look at your children every day and your having a difficult time feeding them, clothing them and trying to keep up with a society that beats you down. I understand what it must be like to look at the brown stone of the projects day after day, night after night and it looks like it is a lifetime sentence. Come on people, we have to unite and put our feet down to all of this oppression, poverty, which creates so much pain. We have to try to understand why people get like they do and instead of tearing them down lets try to come up with a solution to build them up. I pray for Amber Hill; God please bring peace to that family and back to our communities.

I received a surprise when I opened my mail last night. I had a valid check for the amount of $3,750 drawn on Key Bank. There was a letter to accompany the check that stated I had won a lottery with a grand prize of $125.000. The letter went on to state that I would have to pay $2.500 in taxes and another $750.00 for something else. It said that before the check was valid to call a number and speak to Sandra or Frank. I called the number out of curiosity. They instructed me to deposit the check into my account and call them when I have done that. After they have received that money a check would be forwarded to my account for $125.000. Please if you recieve one of these, contact the authorities. DO NOT DEPOSIT THIS CHECK. IT IS A SCAM.

I am writing this as a plea for help. I work in a field that provides assistance for men with many different kinds of social problems. The biggest problem that I see is employment. Many of the individuals that I work with are previously convicted felons. The felonys are from non-violent to violent. They have served their time in prison and are now out in the community. About 1 in 4 people being released from institutions from around the state of Ohio are from Cuyahoga County. These guys are doomed from their release date to recommit a crime and end up back in the penal system. They cannot find decent employment due to their felony records. I can't tell you how many potential employers that I talk to on a daily basis that say " sure I'd love to help but, I don't hire anyone with a felony conviction".

I know many guys have committed crimes against person, place and society and they have been punished. I do believe that people change. I think that it is so unfair that some of these guys are not even given an opportunity to work because of their past. I think that it is total discrimination. If these guys can't get a decent job, how are they going to become responsible citizens? They are going to try to survive and recommit another crime and possibly more victims.

I am pleading with the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County and surrounding areas. Please if someone comes to any of your places of buisness, don't just turn them away because they have committed a felony. See how you can utilize them. There are tax breaks and all sorts of programs for buisnesses who will hire felons. They need a second chance.

Someone Who Really Cares

After reading the article about the shootings outside of the Hip-Hop bar downtown, I have some questions. First of all, unless things have changed the legal age to enter an establishment that serves alcohol is 21. It appears that some of the people that were patrons at that establishment were under the age of 21.

It is not the establishments fault that the shooting took place however, it is the establishments fault that minors were in that bar. The kids today don't know how to deal with their emotions ( all the violence lately the adults don't either). It is adults responsibility especially bar owners and other people who are responbible to check ages, that these young people are staying out of establishments that serve adults.

Some of the Hip-Hop crowds are listening to so- called music with a very violent nature. It is not suprising that they are becomming more violent also.

My husband and I recently bought our first home. We had rented the same two family house since we had married three years ago. The house was in a nice area and a nice place. When we moved into the house we always had the dream of owning our own. We had some neighbors move in who had alot of children and were very noisy which helped us make the decision that it was time to find our home. We called our landlord when we realized that the house would be financed and we would be closing. We gave him 30 day notice of our intent to move, at the end of our thirty days we cleaned the house, turned in our keys and gave a forwarding address. The landlord told us that a 30 day notice was not sufficent that according to a lease agreement that we signed 3 years ago ( a one year lease), that we owed him a half of months rent. Because of fueding with him, he will not allow us to have access to the gas meter to have our gas taken out of our name.  What do we do?