“I will build a great wall — and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me –and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.” – Donald Trump
I remember when the faces on construction job sites and landscaping crews changed in my community 25 years ago. The change happened quickly, dramatically would probably be a better description. Many of my friends and peers work in or own construction and landscape companies. This sudden change brought many new challenges to their business, ones they had never encountered namely the ability to communicate and verifying and confirming the labor could legally work. All agreed that these new faces were dependable, showed up, were skilled, worked hard and changed their businesses for the good.
Superintendents and job site managers began taking classes at the local Tech School in conversational Spanish. Job sites were not only inspected for safety and code enforcement’s but for Green Cards as well. It was a whole new world then, and now is so common place we don’t even notice.
200 to 300 years ago my ancestors immigrated to the United States from England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland. When I work on my Ancestry genealogy I try to imagine why my 7th great-grandfather would make such a perilous journey to an unknown country with unknown possibilities. Leaving his home, his family, his country behind him must have been a terrifying and gut-wrenching decision. I can only assume he thought there would be more opportunities to work, to survive than at home.
New faces continue to make these same decisions, make these same perilous journeys today as they look across the Rio Grande River or the Mediterranean Sea. They are driven by hope, safety and survival, seeking new possibilities and new opportunities for themselves and their children. The risks are great, but so are the risk of standing still.
I am glad there wasn’t a wall to keep my ancestors, new faces, out of this country 200 years ago. I wonder if Donald Trump is thankful for that as well.
Ends and Beginnings 
Donald Trump represents a scared faction of American’s who see this country changing and they aren’t willing to change along with it. America is a different place now and we have to live in hope and not fear. Yes there are those across the world who wish to do us harm but changing hearts and minds begins with peace, love and understanding.
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I agree with you Tony but this “scared faction” as you call it worry me. I am afraid there are more of these sentiments out there than we can know. The privacy of a voting booth could change our world.
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Donald Trump is a Freddy fence sitting fear monger who says whatever he has to to be noticed and make money. All publicity is good publicity for him. I want to know why his name, his hotels, his ex wife Ivana and his daughter Ivanka have their names listed in pedophile sex trafficker Jeffery Epstein’s little black book. I want to know if he is such a good business man, why all the bankruptcies. Is that his plan for our economy? What about his mob ties?
The guy is a thug….
I won’t be voting this year.
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Thank you Ms. Dawn Marie. You still have a vote, keeping it in your pocket, in my opinion, is a for vote for The Donald. Don’t let that happen.
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Rigged. Two sides of management working for the same corporation. The goals (as I see it) are to steal us blind and keep people in a perpetual state of debt induced slavery while making us think we need them, their laws and their products by perpetuating greed and creating violence to instill fear and hatred in the people. I am done with the propaganda. Whew, that was a mouthful! Breath Dawn.
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Gosh, come to think about it….Bill Clinton has quite a past with Jeffery Epstein as well.
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Know you are just making me feel bad, like I ruined your day :). You may not be happy with both of the choices, but ignoring the problem won’t make it go away.
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Oh my day is not ruined. They can do what they want. They can’t take me. I used to care and get so angry about politics. I had CNN and FOX and CSPAN and BBC going all the time. I walked away after I voted for Jr after Sept 11. I swore off voting after that. I vote locally still though. The scandals are smaller. Republican, democrat, republican, democrat…it is all the same. Even Socialist Bernie votes the Democratic Party line and always has. He is just a democrat. Nothing different or he wouldn’t still be in Washington. Nothing but lots of back scratching going on there….along with lots of killing and stealing and lying and those sorts of things. Third party voting doesn’t do anything and I think we all know that and voting for the principal of the matter to me is a waste of time. I have other principals of the matter to do…besides, I am just passing through this place. It is a short life and then reality starts.
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Yes it is a short life, but my life is extended through my children. I can see beyond self through 1, 2, 3…. generations as my parents do and my grandparents did. My “reality” starts now, everyday, why wait. If I was simply living my life expecting some eternal reward, some glorious after life that “Trumped” (no pun intended) all that I can accomplish here and today then why not just end it all now and get a head start on paradise? “on earth, as it is in heaven”
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Politics and rigged elections are not the solution. The government can not save anyone. They come and go. Always have. They start out with good intentions (sometimes). But when people figure out that they can get things from the government, both elected officials and lay folk alike, the government becomes rotten and fit for the trash. You can not fix rotten. It is dead. I believe our biggest impact is in beginning with yourself and your own family and extending that out to others around you by serving as an example. Nothing in this world can ever get better unless we change ourselves and our minds.
The people can not do anything about what career politicians do. They will do what they will do. It is a beast of a machine. No face….and when one part leaves, another takes its place. Unfortunately, they get us to want the same things they want. They get us to vote for their wars and their debt and their abuses worldwide. And we think lesser of the evils is our only choice. It is not. We always have another choice. We do not have to scream for war. We do not have to hate. We do not have to be so caught up in the next new thing that we just have to have so that we work so much that we can’t ever see those people who depend and rely the most on us. We don’t have to take what we are taught as dogma when it comes to education, religion, politics or anything else we learn. We have a mind and resources to learn and think for ourselves. We can start with ourselves. Until we do that, there isn’t any hope. In my opinion.
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I have created an entire post for you. Your welcome 🙂
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For today? I’m curious!
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gather up all your comments you have shared with me and there is your next post 🙂
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Lol. Gotcha.
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Your welcome, just don’t get overheated 🙂
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I only post about art….I just finished some apple blossoms and apples. It is a still life. Pretty colors!
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I have looked at your beautiful work. I am a big fan of your sunflowers. I cycle by a one acre sunflower field and stop to admire the grace offered at the end of long stalks. I try to see what Vincent saw and wonder why I wasn’t given the gift of an artist. Maybe in my next life.
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Thank you very much. I am in love and awe with flowers in general, but there is something that just…well, sunflowers are absolutely amazing to me. Last year, the desert mesa bloomed with sunflowers. It was incredible. We don’t get much rain around here being desert and all, but apparently it was just enough. Rare site indeed!
I bet that field you are talking about is beautiful.
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It is a sight to behold. I wish I could translate what I see with my eyes on to canvas as you do. I am jealous.
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I can’t translate what I see either. Most of my art is my mind. If I don’t know how to draw something, I practice it a few times and then I paint it like I want. I have a long road ahead. Practice!
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Based on what I have seen you are well down the road 🙂
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Just shy of 100. Not quite sure how shy, but I think I am getting close!
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I believe anyone can learn to paint. Just takes work and time and desire to learn and do. Just like anything else. If you want to and want to put in the effort, it can be done.
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Well I have made the effort, fortunately I have other talents 🙂
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I have heard it takes like hundreds of paintings before you start feeling comfortable. I think I would agree with that.
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I temped at our local unemployment office several years ago, on the job placement side. Unofficially, some companies would say, “send us the Hispanic workers. They’re reliable and they work hard.” These were companies that paid a fair wage, treated their workers well and were willing to learn enough Spanish or hire bilingual managers to cope with the language barrier. They couldn’t count on the very people who want to build that wall.
As for those who don’t like their choices so they don’t plan to vote, that’s scary, too. The non-voters shouldn’t decide the election.
This is a tough year for many with the choices we have, but it will be a lot tougher if Trump wins.
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Amen, AMEN!
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As an outsider (Canadian), I find your political options very scary at the moment. I don’t know if it’s my age, or cynicism of having lived through many politicians, but I feel as if politicians are in it for the “wrong reasons” (if I can quote from the Bachelor, lol). What happens to our neighbours ultimately affects us. Please vote wisely!
p.s. Great blog – thanks for visiting mine so that I could find you.
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Thank you for reading and taking the time to share your thoughts
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Would it be OK if I cross-posted this article to WriterBeat.com? I’ll be su7re to give you complete credit as the author. There is no fee, I’m simply trying to add more content diversity for our community and I liked what you wrote. If “OK” please let me know via email.
Autumn
AutumnCote@WriterBeat.com
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Curious, why is it necessary for me to email you directly?
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