Tag Archives: vote

Observation …. word of the day

08/10/2018 Nativegrl77

Word of the day is all about the act of observation …and a rant

I have to ask everyone who is taking the time to read this —at what point will the various cable and main stream stations do the right thing and stick to the truth instead of skewing it to make the current government look sane -stop trying to sway voters and report the news…This stuff is NOT normal

After days and weeks of offensive down right discriminatory comments coming from Politicians already in office, folks running for office, even some pundits are riding on the edge of truth but the reality is – this kind of rhetoric, this fear mongering could quite possibly put our democracy at risk.

The only solution is to End the #trumpTrifecta yes, midterm2018matters

Compare and Contrast all the things that the Obama2010admin as well as Congress managed to achieve despite the Republican Tea Party.

Observe and analyze who what when and why things have not improved as some out there on the left want and then remind them what people said … that a President that goes too far left of center is not representing all Americans. The truth is most people “most” used to be moderate and expect the President to be not just moderate but bipartisan; until Obama! And while folks on the right said one thing and did another on the floor of congress and btw this is standard republican behavior no matter who is in office, it makes you wonder if taking a hard left is the only way to solve and get the People’s Business done and back on track.

Then reality comes back and we have to remember the Democratic Party is made up of a huge tent with various degrees of democratic ideology and going or taking that hard left was not only a mission impossible but possibly no one was or is ready for. The 2010-2013 Republican Tea Party were united no matter what their colleagues said or did, the Democratic party on the other hand seem to fight to get good legislation on the floor of the Senate ,debate it to make progress in the move toward the 21st Century living. We all know our ability to move forward is being held hostage by the Republican Party having turned full out trumpNation until they can ruin our recovering economy of all “it’s Obama” stamp. I hope my worry is your worry, that we will have no place to go or anyone to help if in fact we fall into a deep recession … again!

I have to say my Observation of “the Media” … is not just giving Republicans more airtime but seemingly those folks know who is buttering their paychecks so the fair and balanced slogan when describing the news is just a joke now.

We must remember what happened in 2008! Yes, Congress goes through change, but the era of trump is at hand. Now, more than ever we need main stream media to provide on a daily basis information on the failure of the house of bush, the deficit he left and finding out that Wall Street, Oil and the Banks as well as AIG made bets not only with the people’s money but against us – you would think some would understand that after years of corruption it might take years to make all the corrections given the fact that some parts needed to make the fix are being held hostage by Republicans. I am no expert but people need to compare their own budgets to what happened in 2008 then estimate your recovery time… and realize any correction will take a long time especially since folks on the right were able to downsize/block or stall most of the financial fixes in the Senate. So, voters need to take a real look at the spending that team trump is engaged in and call him out.

The Democratic Party needs to get our arses out to vote.

Mitdterm2018 is a pivotal moment and if we really want change; Not Autocratic change, we need to urge all protected classes to make sure they vote. It has become apparent that some folks do not understand why the process of change cannot and should NOT be done by only the POTUS but Congress in both Chambers as separate branches of our government needs to do the work of the people. While it is obvious, the House is definitely representing $$$$ the Senate faces obstacles and the only solution is getting truer Dems on the floor of the Senate. We must make sure our Nation is NOT sliding into an autocratic nation to which some of trump supporters have expressed as a good change? Come on!?

President Obama did the best he could with what the last admin left him and again it took a long time to get to an improved 2017 but it seems team trump has not only stripped away the Obama legacy it has hurt Americans in ways that probably won’t be fully felt until 2019. We are witnessing those on the right who choose to provoke trump fear; lately that has turned into action by those feeling certain TV or radio personalities were giving them subliminal instructions to act against those who support the Democratic Party ,Muslims, Black and Brown folks and Jews. That has got to stop; it would be even better if “the Media” would stop giving folks on the right passes when they make outrageous, racist, xenophobic exclusionary comments…we hear it from Fox News but now cable stations, depending on the day or hour seem to take a hard right and has this viewer wondering where the money is coming from, supporting the more extreme view on our airwaves? But then again Sinclair Broadcasting is another animal doing its best to alter the facts and reality of our daily lives. What we are seeing by some reporters, pundits, and talking heads are of engaging in the dance of “News manipulation” which is a sad representation of what real journalists, reporters and commentators used to be … What hashtag #FreePress means and meant to our founding fathers …lol

If you are trying to figure out exactly how we got into this mess? Remember that once fabulous video “House of Cards” by David Faber…on CNBC… but I don’t believe it’s still available

What have you Observed?

~Nativegrl77

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

So, tell me you and yours or countries closing their borders do not relate

07/09/2018 Nativegrl77

2018

ref·u·gee

noun: refugee;

plural noun: refugees

a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.

“tens of thousands of refugees fled their homes”

UNHCR

Urban Refugees

More than half the refugees UNHCR serves now live in urban areas

Prominent Refugees

An A-Z of refugee achievers around the world.

synonyms:

émigré, fugitive, exile, displaced person, asylum seeker;

boat people

“collecting blankets for the refugees”

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

The Middle Class and Unions … a repost

06/28/2018 Nativegrl77

By CAP Action War Room

With The Middle Class At Risk, We Need Unions Now More Than Ever

We’ll be taking a welcome day off next Monday, and we hope all of you can do the same. But celebrating Labor Day is about more than just a three-day weekend. It’s a chance to reflect on the importance of unions and remember that we need them now more than ever.

Unions have been at the center of some of America’s most important fights for fair labor standards. Unions helped end child labor: the very first American Federation of Labor (AFL) national convention passed a resolution calling on states to “ban children under 14 from all gainful employment.” Labor unions negotiated for and won employer-provided health insurance coverage, one of the first great expansions of health care to all Americans. And unions didn’t just give us this Labor Day long weekend – they fought for labor standards that gave us ALL weekends.

Unions are central in providing good jobs and middle-class security to America workers. As unions go, so goes the middle class. The chart below spells that out pretty clearly: as union membership has declined, the middle-class share of income has also dropped:

Nowadays, union membership is under attack from many who are either ignoring history and economic data, or only have the wealthiest Americans’ interests in mind. Anti-union policy groups and lawmakers in states across the country are attacking an already weakened labor movement by advancing so-called “right-to-work” laws, which inhibit workers from collectively bargaining for better wages, benefits and protections, under the guise of ‘choice.’ These laws allow some workers to get the advantages of a union contract—such as higher wages, benefits, and protection against arbitrary discipline—without paying any fee associated with negotiating on these matters. This doesn’t result in more freedom, it results in lower incomes.

Wisconsin became the latest state to adopt a “right-to-work” law and take its working families in the wrong direction. Estimates by Marquette University economist Abdur Chowdhury suggest that Wisconsin workers and families will lose between $3.89 and $4.82 billion in direct income annually due to effects of the law. Recently, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) vetoed a bill passed by the Missouri legislature to enact a similar policy there.

The numbers are clear. The typical worker in a “right-to-work” state makes about $1,560 less per year than she would in a state without such a law. According to new research, women in union jobs earn $212 per week, or 30.9%, more than women in non-union jobs; men in union jobs earn $173 more per week than their non-union counterparts. Union women also face a smaller gender wage gap: They earn 88.7 cents for every dollar a man makes, compared to 78 cents across all workers.

BOTTOM LINE: If you care about a strong middle class in America, you should care about unions. The organizers that have been at the heart of many important labor reforms in the past have a vital role to play for America’s economy now and in the future, too. It’s on us to take every opportunity we can to remind people that unions work. So have a great long weekend, and make sure you remind your friends and loved ones: Enjoying your labor day weekend? Thank a union.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Separate but Equal ?

02/15/2018 Nativegrl77

” O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath ~
America will be! “

From: Let America Be America Again

by Langston Hughes

[banner]

Separate Is Not Equal: Brown v. Board of Education

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education marked a turning point in the history of race relations in the United States. On May 17, 1954, the Court stripped away constitutional sanctions for segregation by race, and made equal opportunity in education the law of the land.

Brown v. Board of Education reached the Supreme Court through the fearless efforts of lawyers, community activists, parents, and students. Their struggle to fulfill the American dream set in motion sweeping changes in American society, and redefined the nation’s ideals.

The end of the Civil War had promised racial equality, but by 1900 new laws and old customs created a segregated society that condemned Americans of color to second-class citizenship.

As African Americans and other minority groups began the struggle for civil rights, they strengthened their own schools and fought against segregated education.

Beginning in the 1930s, African American lawyers from Howard University law school and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People campaigned to dismantle constitutionally-sanctioned segregation.

In the early 1950s, African Americans from five different communities across the country bravely turned to the courts to demand better educational opportunities for their children.

In 1954, under the leadership of Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Supreme Court produced a unanimous decision to overturn Plessy vs. Ferguson and changed the course of American history.

Today, thanks in part to the victorious struggle in the Brown case, most Americans believe that a racially integrated, ethnically diverse society and educational system is a worthy goal, though they may disagree deeply about how to achieve it.

From: http://americanhistory.si.edu

—

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

FISH … Wild or Farmed …do you know what to look for? reminder

10/26/2017 Nativegrl77

How to

Identify

Sustainable Seafood

Know the label to look for when shopping for fish.

by Virginia Sole-Smith – 2010

This international nonprofit organization uses independent certifying agencies to make sure fisheries are catching their fish in the most environmentally friendly way possible. The label now appears on more than 180 frozen, fresh, and smoked-fish products sold in grocery stores across the country, including Whole Foods and Target,Wal-Mart has committed to buying all its store-brand fish products from MSC-certified fisheries within the next two to four years. For more information, visit eng.msc.org

Please ask your grocer if they buy and sell certified Sustainable fish … Nativegrl77

facts about MSC

Our vision is of the world’s oceans teeming with life, and seafood supplies safeguarded for this and future generations

Our mission is to use our ecolabel and fishery certification program to contribute to the health of the world’s oceans by recognising and rewarding sustainable fishing practises, influencing the choices people make when buying seafood, and working with our partners to transform the seafood market to a sustainable basis.
MSC vision and mission

The MSC is a global program with fisheries participating from all the world’s oceans

We have a staff of 100 spread across the HQ in London and regional offices in the Netherlands, USA, Australia, Baltic region, France, Germany, Japan, South Africa, and Spain, where our multilingual staff can be contacted to answer questions.
MSC offices and staff
The MSC program assesses wild capture fisheries only

The MSC assessment program is used to certify wild capture freshwater and marine species. Our program does not assess fish farming (aquaculture), although some forms of enhanced fishery may be eligible for assessment.
Why MSC doesn’t certify aquaculture fisheries
We do not certify fisheries, we set standards

To maintain impartiality, the MSC operates a ‘third-party’ certification program. This means that MSC itself does not assess fisheries or decide if they are sustainable. Instead certificates are issued by certifiers who are independently accredited to be able to perform assessments of fisheries and decide if they meet the MSC’s standards.
Third party certification
The market for certified sustainable seafood creates an incentive for fishery improvements

Most fisheries say MSC certification helps them retain existing markets and gain access to new ones. For example the Germany North Sea saithe fishery used to rely entirely on fresh fish sales, but is now winning contracts for frozen fillets because its customers are requesting MSC certified products. This presents a powerful incentive for other fisheries to demonstrate their sustainability or to make improvements so that they can be eligible for certification too.
Benefits of MSC certification (PDF, 8.2 mb)
Fisheries in the MSC program can influence fishery policies

An example from the South Africa hake fishery illustrates how fisheries in the MSC program can influence government policy. The fishery introduced tori lines (streamers flown from boats to keep birds away) in response to one MSC condition. These are now mandatory on all trawling vessels in South Africa.
Net benefits report (PDF, 8.2 mb)
The MSC program has delivered environmental improvements in fishery management

For example the MSC assessment process for the Ekofish Group plaice fishery led to a voluntary agreement with NGOs to close certain sensitive areas for this bottom-trawl fishery, and to take part in scientific research on the impact fishing gear has on habitats and the seabed.
Find out about other environmental benefits resulting from the MSC program
The MSC program uses the best available science

MSC certification is a robust scientific process, which draws on scientific expertise from marine scientists worldwide as well as contributing to improving scientific understanding through the fishery assessment process.
MSC standards and methodologies
Every MSC certified fishery has demonstrated that it maintains sustainable fish stocks, minimises environmental impacts and is effectively managed

These are the three MSC environmental principles that every fishery in the program must prove it meets. Measurable environmental benefits that have occurred in MSC certified fisheries include the recovery of the New Zealand hoki fishery‘s historically low stock levels, due to a raft of management measures including a stock rebuilding plan.
The MSC program is transparent

Information from each step of the assessment process is available on the MSC website to make it easier for stakeholders to contribute. We also invite stakeholders to participate in key improvement projects and publish progress online.
Consultations
We work collaboratively with stakeholders around the world

The input that stakeholders provide during a fishery’s assessment is key to ensuring a thorough assessment and a credible outcome. For this reason, certifiers are required to carefully consider all comments received, and justify and document their responses. The MSC also has an objections procedure which provides a mechanism for any disagreement with the assessment of the fishery to be reviewed and resolved. The MSC is continually improving its program, and stakeholders are invited to contribute to its development through regular meetings of the Stakeholder Council and public consultations.
Have your say
We work with fisheries in developing countries to ensure there is equal access to the benefits of certification

The MSC program is open to all fisheries regardless of size, scale, location and intensity. To promote equal accessibility to its ecolabelling program, the MSC works with stakeholders and fisheries from all over the world. Through the MSC’s Developing World Program, the MSC seeks to promote increased participation of developing country fisheries in certification.
Developing World Program
We are a non-profit organisation

The MSC is a registered charity and non-profit (501c3) and to a great extent relies on financial support from donors with an interest in protecting sustainable fishing. The majority of this income is received in the form of grants from private foundations, as well as some more limited support from governments, companies, other NGOs and individual supporters. Additional revenue is also generated from MSC International (the trading arm of the MSC) which administers a fee structure for use of the MSC eco-label, helping the MSC to become more financially independent and reduce its dependence on charitable donations.
Make a donation
We meet best practice for ecolabels and setting social and environmental standards

The MSC has the only seafood ecolabel in the world that is consistent with the ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation’s guidelines for ecolabelling of fish products.
How we meet best practice
MSC certification helps to safeguard livelihoods and sustain communities

Encouraging responsible fisheries management improves security for the livelihoods of communities who depend on them, especially for smaller scale artisanal fisheries. In the Net Benefits report there are many examples, such as in the American Albacore Fishing Association Pacific tuna fishery which in 2005 had unstable incomes and lack of resources to invest in repairing vessels. After certification, the fishery found new buyers in Switzerland, Germany, France and the United Kingdom – and, confident of a market, was able to set its own price for the first time in its history. Now fishing is a reliable industry for the future of the community.
Net benefits report (PDF, 8.2 mb)
Buying MSC labelled fish makes a difference

To remain MSC certified, fisheries must continually meet requirements for maintaining fish populations, so your favourite fish can still be enjoyed in years to come.
Where to buy sustainable seafood
You can be sure that all fish with the MSC ecolabel can be traced back to a certified sustainable fishery

MSC-labelled seafood is traceable through the whole supply chain. When a product is sold with the MSC ecolabel, each business in the chain must have a Chain of Custody certificate, proving they have demonstrated to independent auditors that MSC certified fish comes from a certified supplier and is kept separate from non MSC-certified fish.
MSC chain of custody certification
23% of shoppers across markets around the world recognise the MSC ecolabel

2010 research carried out in the USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, and Japan shows that across these regions, 23% of the adult population is now aware of the MSC ecolabel – up from 9% in 2008.
Find out more about the research
Consumers respond positively to the promotion of certified sustainable seafood

When promoted as part of a campaign called ‘Les Jours Bleus’ (Blue Days), the MSC ecolabel helped increase sales for MSC Partners. Findus increased their market share for breaded fish in Carrefour stores by 30% in volume. Sales of Connétable products were multiplied by 10 compared to their average annual sales throughout the year.
Les Jours Bleus campaign
Our ‘Fish & Kids’ project teaches the next generation why seafood matters

By working with education caterers, schools and children, the MSC is bringing sustainable seafood to over 4000 (roughly 20%) of primary schools in the UK. The project teaches children about sustainable seafood issues and helps schools source MSC fish for school meals. In 2010 the project was also launched in 60 schools in Sweden.
Fish & Kids website
The MSC is widely recognised as the leader in the sustainable seafood labelling field

Independent comparisons of seafood labelling programs routinely place the MSC at the top of the list and recognise the MSC as having the most robust and scientific standards of all seafood ecolabelling programs.
MSC standards and methodologies