Tag Archives: United State

Friday the 13th …


To be sure, we have all thought about the history of Friday the 13… right

just another rant …

 I think we have all used it as an excuse, but if you take everything our POTUS has had to address over the last eight years you hope that other superstition about everything happening in sevens is right around the corner.  The 114th and now the 115th Congress, controlled by Republicans meets less, holds more hearings all paid for by taxpayers, debates and votes on legislation that does NOT always support their constituents or their best interests. They are the epitome of what Friday the 13 is all about and while voters were warned, we had eight years of experiencing the wrath of the party of no … why? because people continue to stay home instead of exercising their right to vote … #MidTermsMatter

In addition, the 2017 calendar is giving us 2 Friday the 13ths which happens more often than not but reports are that our fellow Americans in the northeast apparently get more snow blizzards with extreme cold … which can lead to flooding, while the NW is experiencing more than enough rain to make up for some drought

We must all remember that this is not only disaster weather season it is also when Republicans go into full campaign mode.  We used to think that government is there when all else has failed.  The fact is the Party of No says one thing does another hoping the voter sees nothing.  Unfortunately, unlike the tornadoes, hurricanes and flooding that happens mostly Republican States, we see the disaster that seems atypical of the Republican Party of No. We all need to question those States with Republicans in control who have not in my opinion invested enough money or effort in making sure all their constituents are safe, have an emergency plan, a place to go or transportation to evacuate. Though, if you listen they want and advocate less government, less taxes, less debt, less spending unless their state needs money to plug their budgets or women who dare want need reproductive rights …  just a few of several examples of why in this election year people need to be more aware.

We all know a vote for Rand Paul is a vote for going back in time when a certain group treated Women and Minorities like things or inanimate objects. In fact, the current class and culture warfare is enough to see why we the People should not vote for any Republican until they stop the racism, discrimination and that family values platform that takes women back to a time when being seen but not heard and producing babies all the time was the norm. It is not a healthy way to live and all I have heard from Republicans are unhealthy attitudes toward women, gays, children, and people of colour, who they really want to control and or disenfranchise at the ballot box. We only have to look at the number of brown and black men in our jails and or prisons, who more often than not are charged excessively compared to white defendants.

I think we all agree that this has to be the worse time or moment to be President of the US yet, if folks would do their research, the improvements or changes are moving us into the right direction but change takes time.  Though we all heard about the meetings and requests for money from Wall Street and Banks by Republicans as reported by talking heads on cable or hearing Speaker Boehner made a visit and held a presser which showed him shaking hands with one if not both Koch brothers.

Speaking of Money, it is important to be reminded of the stimulus, which Republicans voted down but knew they were all going to get for “their” constituents anyway, gave out big checks and took credit for the money while bashing and stating the Obama Administration is spending excessively.  Who knew that Republican Governors would plug their budgets, give the stimulus to their “special interest groups”, or make big bold statements at ribbon cuttings. I guess it should have been obvious to us that Republicans had an agenda that included eliminating social programs or persons employed by the State or Federal government. They say the best middle class jobs are created by small business people but the fact is most are public service positions.  It is important to remind folks that Republicans say stop spending, stop entitlements and continue to be the Party of No while being pro-Wall Street, pro-Banks; maybe doing backroom deals or fund-raising with folks like the Koch bros for the upcoming elections; in spite of We the People.  The question is …why if in the right state of mind anyone would vote Republicans into Political Office in the upcoming midterms knowing that it will be bringing back the status quo. The change in 2014 means voting for members of Congress who will have the courage in this vile environment to put People before Profit and Party, at this moment it is a Democratic Party. We all know that did not happen so our next attempt to get the positive change we need is to vote for the Democratic Party all down the ballot in 2016.

In my utopia, among the obvious those wanting to be in public service would be required to believe in equal rights for everyone, true Reforms of entities that gamble while creating products meant to fail that impact or demolish our economy locally and globally.

Nevertheless, that is just my dream and ok, it’s Friday the 13th

Re: Tell President Obama: No More Public Lands and Waters Giveaways


Ran
 I wanted to make sure you’d seen this, from Monday. It’s been five years since BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster, but the Gulf Coast is still suffering. President Obama can help ensure there are no more Gulf oil spills — and establish his climate legacy at the same time.We’ve already had a great response from thousands of RAN supporters. Will you join them by adding your voice?

Tell President Obama: no more oil, coal and gas leases in coastal waters and on public lands.

Five years ago today, BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, killing eleven people and sending some 210 million barrels of oil flooding into the Gulf of Mexico. President Obama called it “the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced”.1

Never again. The president can help ensure there are no more disasters like the Deepwater Horizon — and establish his climate legacy at the same time. Call on President Obama to stop leasing our public lands and waters to the fossil fuel industry.

BP5_NEVER_AGAIN_720x720_2.png

The Gulf Coast is still suffering. The 170,000 workers who cleaned up the spill are at greater risk for cancer, and kidney and liver disease.2 Last year, dolphins and whales off the Louisiana coast died at four times the usual rates.3 And 10 million gallons of oil sit on the Gulf floor in a congealed “bath mat” the size of Rhode Island.4

BP controls more of the deepwater Gulf than any other oil company, with an outrageous 600 leases.5 In the case of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, a U.S. judge found BP’s conduct to be “grossly negligent”.6 But — to be clear — when it comes to the fossil fuel industry, gross negligence is business as usual.

So we’re joining our friends at CREDO Action to say: No more Gulf oil spills. No more giving away our public lands and waters to rapacious fossil fuel companies that care only about their profits. Tell President Obama to issue an executive order now.

President Obama wants to be remembered as a climate leader. But he has a huge climate blindspot. While the president has pushed for international agreements to limit carbon pollution, he’s also presided over a massive drilling boom on our public lands and in our coastal waters.

That explosive growth is killing the climate. Emissions from federally managed lands and waters cause approximately 24 percent of U.S. energy-related greenhouse gas emissions annually — mostly from coal, oil and gas.7

The solution is simple. If President Obama wants to establish a real climate legacy, he should issue an executive order instructing federal agencies to stop granting new and expanded leases to extract fossil fuels from public lands.

To avoid catastrophic climate change, scientists say we must keep between 67% and 80% of the world’s remaining fossil fuels in the ground.8 One quarter of U.S. fossil fuel production happens on federally-managed lands and waters. The president can take a huge step towards stopping climate change — and preventing future Gulf oil spills. Urge him to issue an executive order today.

For our lands and our waters, our communities and our climate,

Amanda_400x400.jpg Amanda Starbuck
Climate and Energy Program Director
Rainforest Action Network

P.S. Bridge the Gulf, Louisiana Bucket Brigade, and Idle No More Gulf Coast are among the many organizations fighting for justice and accountability in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. On this fifth anniversary of the BP disaster, support them today.

Sources:

1. “Remarks by the President to the Nation on the BP Oil Spill”, White House Office of the Press Secretary, June 15, 2010
2. “BP Oil Spill Cleanup Workers Are At Higher Risk Of Sickness, Cancer”, ThinkProgress, Sep. 17, 2013
3. “Science Links Dolphin Deaths to BP Oil Spill – Again”, National Wildlife Federation, Feb. 13, 2015
4. “Scientists have found a 10 million gallon ‘bath mat’ of oil on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico”, Business Insider, Feb. 4, 2015
5. “Deepwater Gulf of Mexico”, BP
6. “U.S. judge upholds BP ‘gross negligence’ Gulf spill ruling”, Reuters, Nov. 13, 2014
7. “Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Fossil Energy Extracted from Federal Lands and Waters: An Update”, Stratus Consulting, prepared for The Wilderness Society, Dec. 23, 2014
8. “Unburnable Carbon 2013: Wasted capital and stranded assets”, Carbon Tracker Initiative & Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, 2013; “Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report”, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2014.

skin care products …. how about sleep water and good food


shoesandblackgirl

Have you been getting digital product ads for Holiday events that are months away. I have and while I do love and buy products from certain sites, others are annoying offensive and you have to wonder how the FDA gave them the greenlight. Anyway, the ads in both print and digital have been focusing on women’s looks … how awful or our sagging skin or wrinkles … lest we talk about those aging spots oh and don’t stop there why not just lighten brighten and whiten your skin to make yourself look younger. Say what? I have admitted to having had a tough time with my skin when I was in my 20’s. I did not have acne in high school but moving to the city and indulging in food I had no idea existed … probably full of Tran’s fat and the environment forced me into doing time under the lights. I had allergy issues eczema and so on but the dermatologist was fantabulous. I did what I was told which is the most important thing during those years so my skin recovered, but the issues of wrinkles, lines and saggy parts of the face actually seem to be less when you go to sleep at a reasonable and consistent hour and to-be-honest water has and will always be our body’s savior. I have to admit, 2015 has been stressful, the heat, and working odd hours has a tendency to bring out wrinkling sagging in the neck area while the face is fine right now.  I look at those commercials, scream then wonder if I should finally break down buy the anti-aging stuff.  I actually decided to product test anti-aging wrinkle reducers’ in 2013 and did not feel the product I used made a difference.  If you just test my advice for a month in 2013 let me know if you saw a big difference; by going to sleep earlier than usual, drink 2 liters of water, and eat right you will definitely see positive changes. I love coffee tea and prefer water mixed unless it’s seriously hot or cold then I will drink what I call “naked water” … they say try to drink half your body weight though getting advice from your friendly doc or nurse is a better suggestion.   I try to drink 2 liters of liquids a day…. I do drink naked hot water. I stand by my statement in 2013.  I also went back to using coconut oil, moisturizer/creams with high SPF, vitamin C, E and B5 least we talk about adding more fan time

 

~ Nativegrl77

let the madness of March commence …&some News


rain wind and more rain…more wind …

just another rant …

What worried me before the mid-term elections was the possibility that people who have no experience, civility, common sense or clarity may get on the floor of Congress and really ruin what used to be a great country if they “take back their country.” I guess you can plug in whatever that means for you though it sounds like an awful way to live if you are a minority on any level. Now, 7.5 yrs. later you would think, maybe people have experienced enough bs and now understand that elections have consequences. The true answer is no, not many constituents in red states have been laughing, listening or have learned  from what has occurred on the floor of Congress .

The grim reality is that a vote for Republicans is a vote against your own best interest people.

If you live under a Republican controlled state, you have to ask yourself what have Republicans really done for you lately especially if you have family friends who are Federal Employees…  co-workers Teachers, Cops, Emts, Firefighters. Honestly, i don’t get it. The Republican mission remains unchanged and is as clear as the nose on your face and what you are hearing right now is only about winning the primary, you cannot be telling me Republicans can or intend to do a 360 or 180 if they win. The mission of Republicans in congress has been to seek out and privatize public service jobs or destroy them while dismantling the ACA by any means necessary. Unfortunately, the “thing” (Women) they have chosen to use as a Political football reared its ugly head again, a need to shutdoen homeland security, EPA,Education. republicans hate immigration reform while the XXL pipeline got vetoed by POTUS, rumors are it may still get built anyway and that boggles my brain.

In 2010, Republican Governors told their constituents their focus was on JObs Jobs Jobs though as time passed it was clear the mission included eliminating unions, defunding education and every social service program available while eliminating Working Families at the same time. This was not just a rude awakening it was a slap in the face, which brought out that sleeping giant that gained speed and culminated into millions of folks fighting back voting POTUS back for a second term. Now, in this 2016 year, the 21st Century the Party of No wants to roll back the clock, stir blue collar workers into a froth with instantiated anger that they, their wives and neighbors will march into that voting booth and vote based on everything other than who really is qualified to be President of the United States . The results from the midterm elections should have been a warning shot; their votes will and have affected our children, our lives, and now a trump president could ruin our future for years to come.  Think of the possibilities, if voters put the Democratic Party back in charge.  There will still be differences of opinion but changing out the extreme and partisan Party for a Congress that might be willing to work together for the greater good, rids America of Citizens United, makes sure that equality in all its forms finally reigns and that income inequality gap starts to fall away. The choice is an obvious one to me as this group of Republican lawmakers on the local State and Federal level decidedly agreed to take an extreme hard right. The Political Party of no made the unseemly choice to sign a pledge to stick by Grover  Norquist! it hurts all Americans, supports Paul Ryan’s farst of a budget that will change Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security as we know it. We cannot afford to give power to Rep.Ryan and  McConnell power that has in my opinion been abused  misused far more than their constituents understand or accept.  Mr. McConnell’s famous statement, that his job, his only goal was and still is to make President Obama a one term President will go down in history, and not in a good way. President Barack Obama has done more for the middle class and poor on his own while in office than those running states, let alone a Congress that has been an obstacle on so many levels during his Great 2Terms in office

Voting is a Right NOT a Privilege ….

below is just one of many stories of brave people who took a stand for us, Annie took a stand for my right to vote … NOW, we all have to Stand Up ! We will NOT let them turn back the Voting Clock !

Annie Lee Cooper

The Selma Times-Journal reports:Annie Lee Cooper, a civil rights hero, died Wednesday afternoon at Vaughan Regional Medical Center. She was 100 years old.

Cooper became known worldwide in 1965 for a confrontation with Sheriff James G. Clark.

Historian David J. Garrow tells the story in his book, “Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Voting Rights Act of 1965,” which was released in the 1970s by Yale University Press.

According to Garrow’s documented version, Cooper had stood in line for hours outside the Dallas County Courthouse to register to vote. Clark ordered the 224-pound, 54-year-old African-American woman to go home. Cooper clamed he poked her in the back of the neck with either a billy club or a cattle prod. Cooper turned and delivered a right hook to the sheriff’s jaw. He dropped to the ground. — Read the whole story –> Annie Lee Cooper, civil rights legend, dies | The Selma Times?Journal