Happy GroundHog Day!

This is pretty meaningless in southern Arizona where six more weeks will bring spring, actually about 2-3 more weeks will bring spring.

Anyway, thoughts on the continuing drama of the times: one thought from the Arizona state budget struggles and one from my own observations.

1)On Horizon, http://www.azpbs.org/horizon/index.php , KAET Arizona PBS station, show to discuss Arizona public affairs issues. It’s how to keep track of state government. This show was from the midddle of the last week of January.

They discussed the current Governors proposal to do away with the state supported statutes for mentally, including severely mentally ill persons, as a way of cutting into the budget deficit. There was discussion of how these laws came into being around 1980; the number of people affected, how communities will be affected by the cuts, if they take place. Because of lack of any other support for the mentally ill, they also discussed how much more money it will cost in crisis management for those mentally ill who have no meds or structured support. The cost in police calls, emergency room management and other public costs would be then charged to a different jurisdiction than the state in many cases, county or city budgets. This of course does not begin to calculate the intangible human suffering and grief involved.

They finally came to the point that the result of this would be going backwards, not just in monetary terms, but human/humane terms. The host of the show seemed genuinely shocked by the logical progression that this budget proposal would lead to, if it happens. The two other panel members involved in services to the mentally ill community, of course, were well aware of the implications of the situation.
So far, most discussions I have seem on PBS or other media like this have been so theoretical and not yet “real” for the program participants. At least, I haven’t seen it so starkly like I saw it on the faces of these people. It was really quite horrible and I almost didn’t watch it but I had the feeling of being a Cassandra watching the great wave of things coming in the future and no one is seeing the same stuff yet—BUT it’s getting closer to more people seeing it all the time in front of them as it happens.

For myself, I think the Arizona legislature will be no closer to finding a budget solution at the end of June, traditional end of the session, than they are now. I think it will be such an ugly political election year. 


2)Notes from the current recession/depression are coming closer to me and the people I know. It seems like I'm aware of more people who lately have slipped a notch downward in the ecnonmic ladder.

Someone I know in the MidWest seems to be in bad straights. She made a remark on the phone the other day about eating a lot of spaghetti, I don't know if with meat or not, and not affording veggies and fruits as they were too expensive. And her husband, who's been out of work a while, makes all their bread.

I've never heard that out of her before. I wanted to say something about lentils and rice that I have a couple times a week but I actually had a roast in the crock pot and so that information came out instead.

I feel bad for her but didn't want to ask too much. She's still working, their kids are grown and they have a house. They've always wanted to move to Florida when the kids were grown enough.

A neighbor learned that she can't sell her townhouse/condo because no one wants to finance them in the Phoenix area. she'a have to sell to someone who'd pay with cash. I think that dismayed and surprised her.

There are days when things are going along fine and then some bit of news or something i hear from someone reminds me of the direction we're really going in.

On the other hand, contractors and people who fix things want work and are doing pretty well at it. I took two lamps in to see if they could be fixed to the old established, Phoenix Lamps, and I'm going to get my excellent brass, floor lamp back like new for not much money!!! I don't know how much yet but lamp is totally useless the way it is. Hooray! I love that lamp and I use it to read by sitting on the couch.

They said they were very busy and they have a wonderful store full of all kinds of lamps, from all time periods, and other furniture that they also sell. It's a wonderful old store to look at.

I'm looking at the rest of my "work on the house" list I've been getting done the past 2 years and it's time to start doing the rest of it: insulation, getting rid of old carpeting, maybe some other things as well.

That's enough commentary for now. I'm progressing eating/cooking my multitude of greens from the CSA. I passed some on to a friend so they wouldn't go to waste. next time we have mustard greens I'm going to ask to trade!

Peace to all,
Shamba