tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23052372537691970232024-03-14T00:46:42.143-05:00JOY TH!NKJoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-79185862067609459052023-04-01T23:57:00.000-05:002023-04-01T23:57:52.948-05:00An Assault on Our Nation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUeLIitbCxTd8nXngFQKFH9MMZEbcXh2HnUKW5Tk78nNiYBuNlsAWh1v9Qi3xH-Az9gMYudtKjNDtFbaHR2dGHhaueyRGiYi_2DwwX0v4q8CQPhDx_C9NiHgCjLNfkyFuWp7m_ynH1R_HH3YTIfpBwEsOoO8Qtvz9b6O5O3TVH1yI4SFYM3toGB7pRFg/s750/IMG_3350.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="750" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUeLIitbCxTd8nXngFQKFH9MMZEbcXh2HnUKW5Tk78nNiYBuNlsAWh1v9Qi3xH-Az9gMYudtKjNDtFbaHR2dGHhaueyRGiYi_2DwwX0v4q8CQPhDx_C9NiHgCjLNfkyFuWp7m_ynH1R_HH3YTIfpBwEsOoO8Qtvz9b6O5O3TVH1yI4SFYM3toGB7pRFg/w440-h248/IMG_3350.jpeg" width="440" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>I don't hate guns.</i> As a kid my Dad let us shoot bb-guns and even his 22-shotgun. So I get the rush. I get the fun of shooting a can off a fence and for those into hunting I get that it can be a family tradition and a bonding experience. I know several humane and decent people who eat what they shoot and though not my thing I understand the primordial urge to hunt for prey. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What I don't get is how we went from the NRA and gun owners wanting to encourage firearm education and responsibility to a free-for-all of anyone under any circumstance owning weapons of war? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I loved lawn jarts but we don't sell those anymore because they caused a lot of injuries and took out many an eye. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawn_darts#:~:text=Starting%20in%20the%20late%20twentieth,the%20United%20States%20and%20Canada." target="_blank"><b>Three children</b></a> died from lawn jarts so they were banned, can't be resold and also can't be used in public spaces. So for fucks sake, how are we allowing our kids to be slaughtered and terrorized at school and not at least agreeing on the basics of gun safety? How can anyone look at this girl on a school bus fleeing horror and not think we have a problem?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimbtsFAjwwkw22rvtbuxiXeUi4SPY4BJy1R7ZbJbx1u_dWwSWOokmO72tPb5z6Z8h8RBBpU-Sj6SkYv9y1wZhSN7bj5AjYqV9Le3B-Z1aaPlI-Ku6_hCJzhXDz8OMhvR-i2zoGoDsabQYUEAZwHe04RuCgGHHaan2WBfq-_f_t4wz683svSKrM1bH5_Q/s282/Screen%20Shot%202023-04-01%20at%201.24.36%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="162" data-original-width="282" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimbtsFAjwwkw22rvtbuxiXeUi4SPY4BJy1R7ZbJbx1u_dWwSWOokmO72tPb5z6Z8h8RBBpU-Sj6SkYv9y1wZhSN7bj5AjYqV9Le3B-Z1aaPlI-Ku6_hCJzhXDz8OMhvR-i2zoGoDsabQYUEAZwHe04RuCgGHHaan2WBfq-_f_t4wz683svSKrM1bH5_Q/s1600/Screen%20Shot%202023-04-01%20at%201.24.36%20PM.png" width="282" /></a></div>Firearms are the #1 cause of death for children and teens. It used to be auto accidents but we made cars safer, enacted seatbelt laws and did other things to focus on the issue. In contrast, we have put more guns out in the country and have numbed ourselves into accepting that school shootings are a way of life. That active shooter drills aren't causing anxiety in our kids. That politics is us against them when it should be all hands on deck to save lives. Children's lives!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This is not even touching on the suicide and homicide and violence that more guns have brought to our streets. Those stats might be overlook-able to gun lovers since they think it won't affect them. But how can we sit by and let someone's hobby and fun become the number one killer of our kids?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And for those who like to cite the <b>2nd Amendment</b> I ask if they have indeed read it:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: rgba(80, 151, 255, 0.18); font-family: "Google Sans", Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><i><blockquote><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: medium;">A well <b>regulated</b> Militia, being necessary to the <b>security</b> of a free State, the <span jsaction="click:sKUsF" role="tooltip" style="outline: 0px;" tabindex="0"><g-bubble data-ci="" data-du="200" data-tp="5" jsaction="R9S7w:VqIRre;" jscontroller="QVaUhf" jsshadow=""><span class="c5aZPb" data-enable-toggle-animation="true" data-extra-container-classes="ZLo7Eb" data-hover-hide-delay="1000" data-hover-open-delay="500" data-send-open-event="true" data-theme="0" data-ved="2ahUKEwi-ubS0q4n-AhUSkmoFHaK0CtsQmpgGegQIFxAD" data-width="250" jsaction="vQLyHf" jsname="d6wfac" jsslot="" role="button" style="cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; outline: 0px;" tabindex="0"><span class="JPfdse" data-bubble-link="" data-segment-text="right of the people to keep and bear Arms" jsname="ukx3I" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgba(4, 12, 40, 0.5);">right of the people to keep and bear Arms</span></span></g-bubble></span>, shall not be infringed.</span></blockquote></i></span></div><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">WELL-REGULATED!! That's how it starts. And the right is tied to being part of the <i>militia</i> to secure the state you reside in. Not to mention this was ratified in musket times. It in no way implies that anyone can own weapons of war for their own fun and pleasure. As a matter of fact it reads to me as this right comes with the <i>responsibility</i> to protect your own state and the citizens within it. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPHanP__35kINRRFvebV0PZdtuVnksXUWDyfc0dikjuzeDJ9ZRW-9DVkKLcbYrU2Q8wCHgiJ5UDUm5-UopOTOs3jbyoPDPzNFPbYaEA3ahznc_73Rl616kJynhmyjgO7zKJwFNXxTrIJLFd1N0ZMDWwh8EH9B9m6c3d6mg4HIpHPfVsD7ByjXSGGfU6A/s370/Screen%20Shot%202023-04-01%20at%201.25.13%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="302" data-original-width="370" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPHanP__35kINRRFvebV0PZdtuVnksXUWDyfc0dikjuzeDJ9ZRW-9DVkKLcbYrU2Q8wCHgiJ5UDUm5-UopOTOs3jbyoPDPzNFPbYaEA3ahznc_73Rl616kJynhmyjgO7zKJwFNXxTrIJLFd1N0ZMDWwh8EH9B9m6c3d6mg4HIpHPfVsD7ByjXSGGfU6A/w253-h206/Screen%20Shot%202023-04-01%20at%201.25.13%20PM.png" width="253" /></a></div>So here is my solution: anyone who wants to own an automatic/semi-automatic/war-like gun needs to be trained, licensed (the regulated part) and on call for state emergencies (the security of the State part). </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I think this is not only grammatically aligned with t</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">he Constitution but is in the spirit of what our Founders had in mind.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Our military and police are not just handed weapons- they are trained in their use, when to use them, how to store them and the consequences of firing them. There is a reverence</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> for what they can do and the responsibility for caring one on your person. They pledge to protect the public/country from harm. That is what we need from gun owners now. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">If you won't defend your State and the children that reside in it, you have forfeited this right. </span></div><p></p>Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-12119970678021094862022-01-01T19:15:00.000-06:002022-01-01T19:15:00.195-06:00Creating YOUR Year ... ๐ ๐๏ธ<p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="485" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/3jIkrf7rK2B3ZJ" style="border-width: 1px; border: 1px solid #CCC; margin-bottom: 5px; max-width: 100%;" width="595"> </iframe></p><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><strong><a href="//www.slideshare.net/JoyMeredith/me-mapping-creating-your-year-2022" target="_blank" title="Me Mapping Creating Your Year 2022">Me Mapping Creating Your Year 2022</a> </strong>from <strong><a href="//www.slideshare.net/JoyMeredith" target="_blank">Joy Meredith</a></strong></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj8GV00CwyWDvpu_X7yIn21skCxg15mku0VuFQO5FgiDidDZEKddZ3nDV1Ha8o2BpWK8xE4A0GuL15OF2EkUusAOloDfHElo3a3lfJcD862rCCU_NESyMvus6Tde1atveJnaq0dKYSE_CSC-yuEqtUj8EBbI54gJ4mDn7C9m7XGHZGKrkNDIlIVyfw7oQ=s1692" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1216" data-original-width="1692" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj8GV00CwyWDvpu_X7yIn21skCxg15mku0VuFQO5FgiDidDZEKddZ3nDV1Ha8o2BpWK8xE4A0GuL15OF2EkUusAOloDfHElo3a3lfJcD862rCCU_NESyMvus6Tde1atveJnaq0dKYSE_CSC-yuEqtUj8EBbI54gJ4mDn7C9m7XGHZGKrkNDIlIVyfw7oQ=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p><br /></p><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>2021</b></span> <span style="font-size: x-large;">๐ณ ... <i>amiright<span style="color: red;">?!!</span></i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;">I have much much higher hopes for 2022, but as always I need to map it out to really see and live into it. So join me ๐</div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Happy Mapping & <i>Cheers</i> to a </span><b style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-large;">Happy Happy</b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-large;"> 22</span><b style="color: #cc0000; font-size: xx-large;">! </b></div>Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-65469376605664571682021-03-17T17:03:00.001-05:002021-03-17T17:05:45.178-05:00Prove Me Wrong: Civil Debate Not Hate<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="714" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/NtU5PjeQ12XCSK" style="border-width: 1px; border: 1px solid #CCC; margin-bottom: 5px; max-width: 100%;" width="668"> </iframe> <div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"> <strong> <a href="//www.slideshare.net/JoyMeredith/prove-me-wrong" target="_blank" title="Prove Me Wrong">Prove Me Wrong </a> </strong> from <strong><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/JoyMeredith" target="_blank">Joy Meredith</a></strong> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>Royalty</i> clashed all over TV and social media last week. It started with Meghan and Harry and our queen of TV, Oprah. Then it bounced back over the pond and exploded with Piers Morgan (often considered a royal PITA ๐).</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This exchange led to Piers leaving the show:</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="337" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JOb9RESEQg4" width="510" youtube-src-id="JOb9RESEQg4"></iframe></span></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: verdana;">The attempt for Alex (GMB's weatherman) to try to explain things from Harry and Meghan's perspective could have led into a fruitful dialogue- but it didn't. When asked about Piers' departure from the show Alex said he hadn't wanted him to leave </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: verdana;">just to </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #f1c232;">listen</span></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: verdana;">.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;">I disagree with </span>Piers'<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"> take on many many things but it does no good to have him go off and echo to his supporters when it just divides us more and nothing gets accomplished. He's a powerful voice and I've appreciated it when <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6dNqRZxsxg&ab_channel=CNN" target="_blank">used to support gun control</a>, which he strongly advocates for, or when he's called on politicians to be open to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFvTrdOqdXo&ab_channel=GoodMorningBritain" target="_blank">urgency of the climate crisis</a>. </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #262626;">Ignorance needs to be called out, people do need to be held accountable for their words and actions and </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;">I'm all for </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;">ostracizing</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"> truly evil people so they can do less harm </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;">if necessary</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;">. This is not that. </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: verdana;">Of course we all love to think we're right (<a href="https://joymeredith.blogspot.com/2021/01/when-im-right-im-right-except-for-when.html" target="_blank">myself, very much included</a>) but if we're not simply open to being proven wrong that doesn't make us smart and superior it makes us uninformed and ideologically stuck. </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #262626;">And, if we keep dividing ourselves into pools of only people we agree with we will have a hard time uniting to fight real battles to come. If we can't civilly discuss royalty and race how are we ever going to get to the even touchier topic of </span><a href="http://ThePopeThatSavedThePlanet.com" style="color: #262626;" target="_blank">religion and our environmental crisis</a><span style="color: #262626;">. </span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #262626;">Truly strong people and ideas do not fear scrutiny and challenges- that's how things can be proven solid and correct. We need to be able to talk about politics, princesses and problem solving without righteousness but instead a resolve to listen and consider what others are saying. If not, things will get even more tribal and more toxic and we'll be in real trouble. </span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UXaTnp2vEBc/YFJ80lCMWtI/AAAAAAAADi4/qn02FF24lnsz7Z5zXHRH7kNtjxhxzdF4ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1286/PMW%2B%25231.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1278" data-original-width="1286" height="179" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UXaTnp2vEBc/YFJ80lCMWtI/AAAAAAAADi4/qn02FF24lnsz7Z5zXHRH7kNtjxhxzdF4ACLcBGAsYHQ/w180-h179/PMW%2B%25231.png" width="180" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #262626;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;">So above is my attempt to come up with a solution ๐ก</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: verdana;">๐บ</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #262626;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #262626;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;">Because what our world needs now is less bullying and bravado and more honest debate without all the hate </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;">๐ค... ๐ง</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626;">[btw: I'm pro-Queen, pro-Meghan & Harry and think the main problem is Rupert Murdoch (and the likes) and money-grubbing tabloids that use race as a way to stir things up and make profits. But who knows, maybe I'm wrong ๐ฌ]</span></span></div>Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-7088375836363041882021-03-01T10:00:00.094-06:002021-03-01T10:16:55.892-06:00911Cam: See the Emergency <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="485" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/KkJ2L1HI5FEzHA" style="border-width: 1px; border: 1px solid #CCC; margin-bottom: 5px; max-width: 100%;" width="595"> </iframe> <div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"> <span style="font-family: verdana;"><strong> <a href="//www.slideshare.net/JoyMeredith/911cam-see-the-emergency-243438747" target="_blank" title="911Cam: See the Emergency">911Cam: See the Emergency</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/JoyMeredith" target="_blank">Joy Meredith</a></strong></span> </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #ffa400; font-size: large;">PROBLEM<b> </b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1lqU3nGzYFA/YDrIL72KBII/AAAAAAAADhA/RJoYdbeZLiAm4H4dESKBTKOGz0CGxuVrwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/Jetsons.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="142" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1lqU3nGzYFA/YDrIL72KBII/AAAAAAAADhA/RJoYdbeZLiAm4H4dESKBTKOGz0CGxuVrwCLcBGAsYHQ/w190-h142/Jetsons.jpg" width="190" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jetsons" target="_blank"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">The Jetsons</span></a> lead us -at least me and my generation- </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">to believe that we'd have flying cars and robot housekeepers by now. Even as far as technology has come much of it has yet to be developed; not because it's not ready but because we haven't harnessed and deployed it with the urgency it warrants. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">If I have to wait on mobile-modernization, can we at least take on the currently solvable problem of accurate emergency information getting to our first responders?!</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gloifh9romQ/YDrTL_70exI/AAAAAAAADhI/g2uevdZsmLkbFlznGClI8JpTuYyqwdVbgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-02-25%2Bat%2B7.20.57%2BPM.png" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="2048" height="118" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gloifh9romQ/YDrTL_70exI/AAAAAAAADhI/g2uevdZsmLkbFlznGClI8JpTuYyqwdVbgCLcBGAsYHQ/w189-h118/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-02-25%2Bat%2B7.20.57%2BPM.png" width="189" /></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="text-align: right;">At a time when we can amazingly <i>see</i> <a href="https://youtu.be/4czjS9h4Fpg" target="_blank">NASA's <i>Perseverance</i></a> actually land on Mars, and have millions of </span><a href="https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS732US739&q=How+many+Zoom+calls+per+day&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiFyMTK-orvAhWCg-AKHSYHAuIQ1QIwFnoECBAQAQ&biw=1024&bih=529" style="text-align: right;" target="_blank">Zoom meetings a day</a><span style="text-align: right;">, we are still way behind in utilizing these technologies to protect and save our own citizens.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="color: #ffa400;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">SOLUTION</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The solution is to have <b><span style="color: #ffa400;">911</span>Cam</b> data-transfer (updated <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_9-1-1" target="_blank">E911</a> / <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_Generation_9-1-1" target="_blank">NG911</a>) available to anyone who calls for help. The technology is already available. The stumbling block is federal funding and the leadership to shepherd a big endeavor from an old territory hot-potato to an innovation success. In the past, states/counties have had to fight for extra funding and support to role out any upgrades to their 911 system. There is no reason why we as a nation shouldn't support this as both a homeland security step and at a minimum as a public service provided to keep our citizens safe and alive. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="color: #ffa400;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">OPPORTUNITY</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Since we are in the middle of handling one of our nation's biggest challenges with COVID-19 we should take this as a prescient warning that we have failed at adequately building infrastructure to deal with national emergencies. The good news is we are now ripe for taking on big challenges. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NtlJbTdLOFI/YDrUkVvLAhI/AAAAAAAADhQ/ETDLT-MH3S4MF0EaqCiRKzbdeLUpf9gMQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/911Cam%2BSS.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1280" height="265" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NtlJbTdLOFI/YDrUkVvLAhI/AAAAAAAADhQ/ETDLT-MH3S4MF0EaqCiRKzbdeLUpf9gMQCLcBGAsYHQ/w265-h265/911Cam%2BSS.png" width="265" /></a></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span style="color: #ffa400;">911</span>Cam</b> is a perfect <i>test project</i> to unite many government agencies (federal, state and local) in bringing together resources, innovation and leadership. There are other natural disasters, defense challenges and domestic threats to our safety, security and wellbeing ahead. Now is the time to show what our government, technologists and leaders can do. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">We <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/21/magazine/f35-joint-strike-fighter-program.html" target="_blank">spend billions</a> on fighter jets that never fly a mission- we can spend some of that on infrastructure for our emergency services. And if we are to thrive as a nation and reclaim our status as the clear <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Innovation_Index" target="_blank">global technology leader</a> we need to take on big projects and not just on Mars... but on Main Street. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w7pUssn17K0/YDrt6oXYIiI/AAAAAAAADhY/IgdeqDdc7X4AQI8c7bkjF1oba9rp5AHNgCLcBGAsYHQ/s520/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-02-27%2Bat%2B7.11.40%2BPM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="264" height="294" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w7pUssn17K0/YDrt6oXYIiI/AAAAAAAADhY/IgdeqDdc7X4AQI8c7bkjF1oba9rp5AHNgCLcBGAsYHQ/w149-h294/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-02-27%2Bat%2B7.11.40%2BPM.png" width="149" /></a></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">So here is me, just Joy-Citizen imploring our government to rally the resources and resolve to build a 911 system that allows every citizen who needs help to be <i>seen</i>.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I refuse to believe that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanna-Barbera" target="_blank">Hanna-Barbera</a> has more imagination and vision then our leaders (at least in the "real world"). </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">We might not be ready for flying cars but if we can send video from Mars and communicate with colleagues around the world we can certainly get a 911 Operator our identifying information, our location and video of our emergency. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span style="color: #ffa400;">911</span>Cam</b> life-saving technology is coming and </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">the leaders who move to make it happen will be seen as national Heroes who will be ready to solve even greater challenges to come. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #ffa400; font-size: x-large;">Who will answer this call? </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Full disclosure: Jetsons was <i>supposedly</i> set in 2062 but no one told us that, and you get my point</span> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">๐</span></span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"></blockquote></div>Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-21291637674226049612020-11-22T17:32:00.000-06:002020-11-22T17:32:52.904-06:00The Nobel Question: Will You Be Remembered for.. Destruction ๐งจ or Peace? โ๏ธ<p></p><div style="text-align: center;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="302" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L1mKwsciemo" width="524" youtube-src-id="L1mKwsciemo"></iframe></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">We are in surreal times... </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">the Trump administration, the <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=coronavirus&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS732US739&oq=coro&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j0i131i433j69i57j69i59j0i433j69i60l2j69i61.1263j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#wptab=s:H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgVuLVT9c3NMwySk6OL8zJecTozS3w8sc9YSmnSWtOXmO04eIKzsgvd80rySypFNLjYoOyVLgEpVB1ajBI8XOhCvHsYuL2SE3MKckILkksKV7EKpicX5Sfl1iWWVRarJCcWJxaDACDgo3bgQAAAA" target="_blank">pandemic</a>, half the nation upset with the other half over their denial regarding what's true (or not) about both.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">You need not be American to partake in the battle over what's going on in the US, as is captured in above <i>Q&A</i> clip with former Prime Minister of Australia, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Turnbull" target="_blank">Malcolm Turnbull</a>, getting into it with <i>The Australian's</i> editor, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Kelly_(journalist)" target="_blank">Paul Kelly</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_Corp_(2013%E2%80%93present)" target="_blank">News Corp</a> & <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Murdoch" target="_blank">Rupert Murdoch</a>'s influence in Australia is as hot a topic down under as is Fox News' here. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Which reminded me of one of my favorite stories of all time.. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">how there came to be <span style="color: #f1c232;">The Nobel Peace Prize</span>: </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #222222;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hvK529eota4/X7mcF0yHVgI/AAAAAAAADa0/80LJaATa8dUKUf4N-p9Miu0ZaG7FnUoAwCLcBGAsYHQ/s440/440px-Nobel_Prize.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="440" height="232" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hvK529eota4/X7mcF0yHVgI/AAAAAAAADa0/80LJaATa8dUKUf4N-p9Miu0ZaG7FnUoAwCLcBGAsYHQ/w236-h232/440px-Nobel_Prize.png" width="236" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>When <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Alfred Nobel</a>'s brother, Ludvig, died the obituary accidentally named Alfred and stated <span lang="fr">Le marchand de la mort est mort</span> </i></span></span><div><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>("The merchant of death is dead").<span style="white-space: nowrap;"> </span></i></span></span><div><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i><span style="white-space: nowrap;">It </span>went on, "Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday." An inventor with 355 patents he was most well known as the creator of dynamite.</i></span> </span><div><br /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: verdana;"><i></i></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #666666;">Appalled that this is how he would be remembered, his last will specified that his fortune be used to create a series of prizes for those who confer the "greatest benefit on mankind" in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and </span><span style="color: #f1c232;"><b>peace</b></span><span style="color: #666666;">.</span></span></i></span><span style="color: #666666;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i><span style="color: #666666;">119 years later a </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #f1c232;">Nobel Prize</span></a><span style="color: #666666;"> is known as an honor and as a contribution to humanity.</span></i></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #666666; font-family: verdana;"><i><br /></i></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">I bring this up as a reminder to us all, but especially the Murdochs, Trumps and all GOP leaders, and any (D) & (I)s as well, who are sowing discourse for the sake of money and power. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">Are you bringing our country together or dividing it? Are you taking a principled stand or just riding a populist wave that is built on <a href="https://joy-think.blogspot.com/2020/06/white-fright.html" target="_blank">people's pain and fear</a>? </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">If this COVID has taught us anything, it is how lucky we are to be alive in a time where science and </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">available </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">advancements bring us hope. But also, that today's technology paired with some of our fellow-citizens' lack of belief in this science and willingness to cooperate as a nation can also have disastrous consequences as well (</span><a href="https://joymeredith.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-pope-that-saved-planet-from-joy.html" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank">hello, climate crisis!</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">)</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;">. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">Even with the fantastic recent news of vaccines on the way, none of us knows what the upcoming year will bring. Or the year after or after that or for the rest of the years of our lives. We only have what we stand for. What we foster. Sure it's great to be rich and powerful, but it might also be the time to ponder what our obituary will say? What legacy we will leave behind for our kids and our country?</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">As relevant as it was those many years ago is the question: </span></span></div><div><br /></div></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>Are we looking to blow things up and cause more destruction</i></span></span> </div></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>or bring our nation and our world together and create peace?</i></span></span> </div></div></div></blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"> <span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;">What do we Prize?</span><span style="font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"> </span></p></div>Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-28525999343427593712020-10-18T16:37:00.002-05:002020-10-18T16:37:50.340-05:00Go Ahead Apple, Make my ... iDay! <p> <a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hjGXbXBUGuA/X4Xukizk3hI/AAAAAAAADZQ/P6B7QEQUaVgvLmuumgr885EWP50Jjq3QwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1792/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-10-13%2Bat%2B12.07.11%2BPM.png" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1134" data-original-width="1792" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hjGXbXBUGuA/X4Xukizk3hI/AAAAAAAADZQ/P6B7QEQUaVgvLmuumgr885EWP50Jjq3QwCLcBGAsYHQ/w634-h400/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-10-13%2Bat%2B12.07.11%2BPM.png" width="634" /></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uHhEfnIjntk/X4XwcxVuk8I/AAAAAAAADZc/qvomziO7hCo6Cv4Z4VnRir_Rz2bBPf_YACLcBGAsYHQ/s1052/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-10-13%2Bat%2B12.07.35%2BPM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1052" data-original-width="888" height="114" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uHhEfnIjntk/X4XwcxVuk8I/AAAAAAAADZc/qvomziO7hCo6Cv4Z4VnRir_Rz2bBPf_YACLcBGAsYHQ/w96-h114/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-10-13%2Bat%2B12.07.35%2BPM.png" width="96" /></a></div>I know there are way more important things going on in the world so forgive me for this frivolous request, but thinking of ways to make things even a little bit better has eased my nerves in all this chaos.<p></p><p></p>As an Apple enthusiast I love my iPhone and enjoy having all my info accessible but I would love it even more if it was all in sync with my calendar. What would make me happy is if I pulled up a day in my iCal on my iPhone/MacBook and I could see all my activity of the day: <div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LNI-P05ZkpE/X4XweoJYGmI/AAAAAAAADZg/Kzi1VXPql-wfYnbD6i46jE6762U-RTnzACLcBGAsYHQ/s1052/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-10-13%2Bat%2B12.07.47%2BPM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1052" data-original-width="826" height="121" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LNI-P05ZkpE/X4XweoJYGmI/AAAAAAAADZg/Kzi1VXPql-wfYnbD6i46jE6762U-RTnzACLcBGAsYHQ/w95-h121/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-10-13%2Bat%2B12.07.47%2BPM.png" width="95" /></a></div>photos, who I call & texted, what I spent and my health stats...<br /><div><p></p><p>Every day in this <i>pandemic-pause</i> has seemed to blend together so I would really like a little organization to help me keep track of what happened today, yesterday and last month. The data is all there so my request is that Apple make my day an<b><span style="color: #0b5394;"> iDay</span></b> snapshot.</p><p></p><p>Thanks, Apple!</p></div></div>Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-70740403839134807572020-09-19T19:53:00.000-05:002020-09-19T19:53:06.467-05:00Pro-Life Christians' Best Bet Is Biden<p><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sUsAsS2j3pI/X2Z2Di2ovPI/AAAAAAAADYQ/RUkIRidyPxgmMjG1Zvr7xqDq7bynpizowCLcBGAsYHQ/s1646/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-09-19%2Bat%2B4.19.41%2BPM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="852" data-original-width="1646" height="271" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sUsAsS2j3pI/X2Z2Di2ovPI/AAAAAAAADYQ/RUkIRidyPxgmMjG1Zvr7xqDq7bynpizowCLcBGAsYHQ/w522-h271/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-09-19%2Bat%2B4.19.41%2BPM.png" width="522" /></a><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">As if the 2020 Election wasn't already divisive enough we now have a Supreme Court vacancy in the mix. Yikes!!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Though I am <i>clearly</i> not a theological scholar, nor even a person of faith, I have none the less thought a lot about religion and specifically Jesus over the years and think that now is the time to put every argument on the table and discuss it because we all have a stake in this election. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Let's put aside the fact that while President Trump claims to be a man a faith he spends his weekends golfing (Com 4), rarely goes to church nor seems able to coherently discuss <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=39&v=xoIlSttFiok&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel=CourierNewsroom" target="_blank">his beliefs</a> when asked about them. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Instead we might as well get right to the heart of the argument that pro-life politicians and judges are better for Christian values. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Normally the fact Trump has had three wives, all of whom he's broken his vows to and cheated on (Com 7), would be enough to turn away devout folks. But the argument is it's worth the sacrifice of holding their noses to get judges that are anti-Roe-v-Wade. I say the devil is in the details.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">If we as a society want fewer abortions, and I believe we all do, there are things that we can do to aid that. First let's clarify what we really believe is pro-life:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Birth Control</b>: Jesus said nothing about birth control. Even the <i>be fruitful </i>instructions God had given to Adam and Eve were from the Old Testament and with a population of nearly 8 BILLION people from TWO... I think we can check that box โ ! </span></li><ul><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2012/07/06/health/melinda-gates-contraception/index.html" target="_blank"><i>More</i> birth control</a>, especially if it was free to all, would dramatically reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies, abortions and deaths from poverty in the world.</span> </li></ul><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Sex</b>: Mary <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary,_mother_of_Jesus#:~:text=Later%20Christian%20writings%20and%20traditions,-The%20Dormition%3A%20ivory&text=Some%20apocryphal%20accounts%20state%20that,been%20betrothed%20at%20about%2012." target="_blank">was 12</a> when God impregnated her and she had Jesus. This has historically been an age that would have been acceptable to marry off daughters. This also corresponds with when females begin to menstruate. So if God (and Mother Nature) think 12 is when females are ready to procreate is that what we want for our daughters? </span></li><ul><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Of course not! When times change we do as well. And as a society we don't want young girls having sex and babies so we modify what we now know is a more healthy range for the times we are living in. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Pre-martial sex is also considered a sin and yet most of us have partaken so which is worse: not multiplying or having sex? </span></li></ul><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Freedom</b>: Attorney General Bill Barr as well as several governors and the whole anti-mask movement are decrying how horrible, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2020/09/17/bill-barr-coronavirus-slavery-tsr.cnn" target="_blank">only second to slavery</a>, stay-at-home and masks orders are in our country. Covid protections enacted to save lives are tyranny and yet they want to restrict what a woman can do with her <i>own</i> body when it comes to reproduction. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Healthcare</b>: Pro-life includes the born as well and Biden/Harris and Democrats want more healthcare, especially for children and seniors. Feeding kids that are here, caring for the sick among us and supporting the poor will save more lives and bring about a better world and are far more Christian than tax cuts for billionaires. </span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The thought of an abortion is sad to me, I hate the idea of the physical act itself and fortunately it is not something I have had to personally contemplate... but then I've never been raped, or a victim on incest or been forced to choose between bringing an un-planned child into the world. Not everyone has been so privileged or lucky.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The other big politically charged issue is the second amendment but here the Democrats/Biden are also a better bet: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Gun Control</b> helps with Commandment 6: <i>thou shalt not kill</i>. </span></div></div></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">Caring for the poor, social justice, making peace, service, generosity, forgiveness, turning one's cheek, philanthropy, kindness... pick a topic and there is not one Christian value I can fathom that Trump embodies more than Biden. </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">So take some time to really think (or pray) on <i><b>WWJD</b></i>? ๐๐ </span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: white;">I can't say for sure I would know but I think we can take an educated guess. </span></span></div></div><p></p>Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-69351661293885178602020-09-03T23:59:00.004-05:002020-09-04T00:04:07.082-05:00White Fright<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-foVu6BzYwQw/X016NvAqrRI/AAAAAAAADXQ/Wo3cf__K8JoNALymMVKtArgeTXQe8mt1wCLcBGAsYHQ/s691/IMG_6819.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="669" data-original-width="691" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-foVu6BzYwQw/X016NvAqrRI/AAAAAAAADXQ/Wo3cf__K8JoNALymMVKtArgeTXQe8mt1wCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG_6819.jpeg" width="640" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">My sister once said something that has defined my thinking on compassion; she could imagine there might be a heaven but knows for sure there is no hell because no one, even a murder, deserves to go there. Her reasoning: if someone did something awful there is clearly something wrong with them and their defect is not something anyone would willingly choose. Hard to swallow but it is actually more reassuring to believe this than that someone sane would choose evil willingly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">So I try and remember that when I see hateful bad things. Even when someone is mean to me or others I think that must be a really hard way to go through life. </span></div><div class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">What a huge weight that hate and anger is to carry. So much so some can't help but to fling it at others. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">No happy, confident, secure person wants to make another person suffer- there is no joy in that. To willingly inflict hurt/hate you are either in pain or broken inside. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">I can't stand Donald Trump but hating him, or anyone, is a waste of time. More productive is to try and understand why some are drawn to him even after all his demonstrated racism. Not necessarily so we can change their minds but you need to understand someone's argument before you can debate/advocate for the other side. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana;">White men (historically) are not use to having to explain themselves to their wives or children and have enjoyed a long stretch of rule. But nowadays they are expected to see women as equals, their children want them to be <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woke" target="_blank">woke</a>, and everywhere from the boardroom to the bedroom they are suppose to self-correct the way they were raised and what was the norm for... well, all time. </span></div><div class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>It's hard. Jarring!</i></span></div>
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<div class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Of course it's way past time this happened but it's truly difficult to change for <i>anyone</i> and when you're not shown good role-models you can relate to you're afraid -even if you're willing- to do it wrong and be emasculated or look stupid. Men's top fear after all is humiliation. </span></div><div class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://brenebrown.com/" target="_blank">Brene Brown</a> had an amazing conversation with <a href="https://www.russellbrand.com/" target="_blank">Russell Brand</a> about how things are changing in the world and how some of the unrest in politics and in general comes down to a </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">white male -power over- last stand</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> (and I include the white women who stand for this as well). We've come from a male-dominated culture that valued conformity, whiteness, straightness, heterosexuality, structure, order, falling in line. </span></div><div class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SM1ckkGwqZI" width="560"></iframe></span></div><div class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">(begins at 13:00)</span></div><div class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><div class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face=""><br /></span></span></div><div class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">When <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ubl7-2iyXE&ab_channel=JayE" target="_blank">Tom Brokaw said</a> some folks he speaks to don't want brown grandbabies he was sharing what he had heard. I have no doubt many folks still feel that way. And why wouldn't they when whiteness has been what has been prized in our society. If they don't have friends and family members who are people of color they see no reason to open their minds to an evolved way of thinking.</span></div><div class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">When corporate America started shipping jobs out of the US there was backlash but instead of blaming the folks that were doing it they blamed the easiest target those who were thought to be stealing their jobs: brown people. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Farmers, steal workers, factory workers, coal miners all took a hit in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Age" target="_blank">Information Age</a> with our changing new economy and instead of working together we divided ourselves more. We blamed immigrants, foreign workers or anyone that was different when it was actually industrial farming, automation and technologies that shifted. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The white middle-class blue-collar worker was hurting and mad so politicians and corporations began to shift blame to the easy target. But in fact it is all our doings. Walmart started by Sam Walton with the motto <i>Buy American</i> but because his heirs (and investors) wanted to make more money they started forcing suppliers to lower their costs. This lead to the producers of products cutting cost which often lead to cheaper labor either in a neighboring country or overseas. Which then lead to good middle-class jobs being cut which lead to more people shopping at discount stores which made the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walton_family" target="_blank">Waltons even richer</a>. Instead of blaming brown folks or foreigners those that are suffering need to look deeper and <span style="color: #38761d;"><i>follow the money</i></span>. Walmart is the largest private employer in the US and the Waltons have now hoarded billions instead of fairly sharing it with the ones who got them there. This is not socialism this is <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/conscious-capitalism.asp" target="_blank">conscious capitalism</a>. You help us make the fortune you get a little slice yourself. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Anyway, the point is that the otherism is a scapegoat for changing times and fear of what will be our place in the new millennium. Globalism is scary. Evolving is uncomfortable. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Trump is a fantastic showman and like him or not there is no doubt he is clearly one of the most successful <i>salesmen</i> of all time. I did not say <i>businessman</i> because his businesses have filed bankruptcy </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_career_of_Donald_Trump#:~:text=Although%20Trump%20has%20never%20filed,small%20businesses%20(unsecured%20creditors)." target="_blank">6 times</a></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> and to date we have no idea if he has any of his own money left at all. But regarding sales and marketing <i>he is a genius!</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The trouble with that is that if he was only selling snake oil or steaks who cares? But he is now the most powerful man in the world and instead of making our nation and the world a better place he is using his charm to sell something else: <span style="color: #cc0000;">FEAR</span>!<span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">And who is buying it? White folks that have seen their way of life change. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The fear of changing times are not make-believe there is a real growing pain that happens. And if we keep up this dividedness many folks will not end up with a happy comfortable life. The missing piece though is this isn't due to others, it's due to how things have always worked. Ask Blockbuster owners how brutal it was to lose their livelihoods. But do we hate Netflix? Nope. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">White folks can now choose to hold on to the 1950's past and reject the American Melting Pot or they can grapple with how to make change work for them. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">It doesn't mean accepting open borders or everything that the far left is proposing- I don't- </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">but it does mean not letting some showman make us hate each other for the color of our skin. Especially when the majority of the ones he's trying to scare worship Jesus: </span><a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/april/why-jesus-skin-color-matters.html" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank">a brown man</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">And as for Trump's current boogeyman, he is trying to use Black Lives Matter protesters as a scare tactic to lure white suburban women into voting for him. Granted no one wants rioting in the streets but it looks as though many of these troublemakers are just trying to stir up unrest and are <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/175-arrested-during-unrest-in-kenosha-including-104-outside-city-police-say" target="_blank">not even from the area/cause</a>. Trying to make a stance for racial justice and equality radical is what political operatives often tried in the past and with gay-marriage in 2004. You'd think every single American that has seen the George Floyd murder by cops (including all the good cops) would be able to take a stand for honoring all humans with their constitutional rights. And I get it protests are annoying but imagine having to be Black in America in 2020 and <i>still </i>having to stick up for your basic rights to not be shot let alone be discriminated against. <i>Talk about fucking ridiculous?!!</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">So folks, let's not let Trump or anyone else scare us into being afraid of others because the color of their skin. We are all members of the human race, some just more pasty than the rest ๐. We are <i>all</i> scared of not being healthy, happy and able to provide for our families. There will always be challenges in our country and the world but no problem is ever solved when we fight each other, only when we come together and put country over party and look out for all of our citizens. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;">United We</span> <span style="color: #cccccc;">Stand, Divided</span></span><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-size: large;"> We Fall</span> </span></span><span face="" style="-webkit-text-fill-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; color: #14171a; font-size: x-large; white-space: pre-wrap;">๐บ๐ธ</span></div>Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-66185545824961206502020-07-16T16:49:00.000-05:002020-07-18T14:48:13.676-05:00Got the Balls to #MaskUp?!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We are in mid-July and we've got 60K+ new cases of <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=coronavirus&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS732US739&oq=cor&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j69i57j69i60l2j69i65j69i61j69i65j69i60.1405j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#wptab=s:H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgVuLVT9c3NMwySk6OL8zJecTozS3w8sc9YSmnSWtOXmO04eIKzsgvd80rySypFNLjYoOyVLgEpVB1ajBI8XOhCvHsYuL2SE3MKckILkksKV7EKpicX5Sfl1iWWVRarFAMEgMAoubRkIEAAAA" target="_blank">COVID-19</a> per day, over 138,000 Americans dead and a stalled economy where people are debating whether to send their children to school mere weeks from now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What do we need now? And I mean immediately! We need <i><b>everyone</b></i> to wear a mask to stop the spread. All the other countries that have this under control did massive testing, tracing and were on top of their healthcare systems... we are clearly not following that path in our government at this time so the other option is to save ourselves. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mask wearing can <a href="http://files.fast.ai/papers/masks_lit_review.pdf" target="_blank"><i>stop the spread</i> </a>and help us get things on track. If we don't do it soon we will have given up another 6 months to a year of our lives and our economy- not to mention countless lives. It's a no-brainer. But we need to have the balls to do it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And by <i>balls</i> I mean both kinds. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">โฝ๏ธ ๐ โพ๏ธ ๐ ๐พ </span></div>
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<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/13/marc-benioff-widespread-face-mask-use-can-end-the-spread-of-coronavirus.html?__source=twitter%7Cmain" style="font-family: Helvetica;" target="_blank">This week</a><span style="font-family: "helvetica";"> Salesforce's <a href="https://twitter.com/Benioff" target="_blank">Marc Benioff</a> teamed up with <a href="https://covid19.xprize.org/fight-covid19" target="_blank">XPRIZE</a> to create the $1M </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://covid19.xprize.org/prizes/nextgenmask?fbclid=IwAR3dLDB_AQNEBE5xck23UJWLZLA9cyJygTK9hpqqtt7qM3D7cG3OB0L1-dw" target="_blank">Next-Gen Mask Challenge</a>. This is fantastic but we can also work with the masks we have and just get people to start wearing them. Because at this point the non-maskers aren't choosing between comfort and not but about believing they can make a difference and not. </span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-news-league-produce-cloth-face-masks-team-logos-amid-coronavirus-pandemic/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-news-league-produce-cloth-face-masks-team-logos-amid-coronavirus-pandemic/" border="0" data-original-height="796" data-original-width="1358" height="185" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qxqVuDN1S90/XxCjaYKuy-I/AAAAAAAADTw/viY0-VFUw6Io58HlSfkeZW-ceezAKzqDACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-07-16%2Bat%2B1.58.06%2BPM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"><span id="goog_161403758"></span>NBA News<span id="goog_161403759"></span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So my suggestion is to get all the major sports stars to do a social media post with masked photo:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Hey folks you want to see us play this year or next?</i></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"> #MaskUp </span>๐ท</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Include Nascar: Winners #MaskUp </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">๐... and every other sport as well! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm looking at you PGA, NHL and newcomer E-sports ๐</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The cool-factor with teens, men, and the politically stubborn is the only thing stopping us from getting this handled. So it's going to take balls to be a little hot, little inconvenienced, little silly looking to save your fellow citizens but we need to all do this together.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of course let's involve anyone with a platform but two other important groups to call upon:</span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MWW4-pgG_pQ/XxCzSONZ-FI/AAAAAAAADT8/t8Rz5eBOxVcBC4P4S0egiHJpJoF47vD6gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-07-16%2Bat%2B3.06.04%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="546" height="167" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MWW4-pgG_pQ/XxCzSONZ-FI/AAAAAAAADT8/t8Rz5eBOxVcBC4P4S0egiHJpJoF47vD6gCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-07-16%2Bat%2B3.06.04%2BPM.png" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1) <b>Military</b>: Have PSA with military members saying: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><i>If we can fight for you on the battlefield you can protect each other from this killer on home soil. </i>#MaskUp</span><i> </i>๐ท</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">People<i> </i>say they respect the troops this gives them a small way to repay our debt for all they have done to save us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2) <b>Avengers</b>: Get all the Marvel superhero stars to <i>activate</i> their super loyal fans:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Avengers</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> save lives </span><span data-offset-key="d5e93-0-0" style="background-color: white; font-family: , , , "segoe ui" , "roboto" , "ubuntu" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-text="true" style="-webkit-text-fill-color: transparent; background-image: url("https://abs-0.twimg.com/emoji/v2/svg/1f9b8.svg"); background-position: center center; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 1em 1em; padding: 0.15em;">๐ฆธ</span></span><span data-offset-key="d5e93-1-0" style="background-color: white; font-family: , , , "segoe ui" , "roboto" , "ubuntu" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-text="true" style="-webkit-text-fill-color: transparent; background-image: url("https://abs-0.twimg.com/emoji/v2/svg/1f9b9-200d-2642-fe0f.svg"); background-position: center center; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 1em 1em; padding: 0.15em;">๐ฆนโโ๏ธ</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"> YOUR turn! #MaskUp</span> ๐ท</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This can all be launched August 1 (or ASAP) and we can have things semi-normal by September if we all pitch together and simply wear a mask. For months we were told we should stay indoors to <i>flatten the curve </i>and most were willing to do that. Now we can be outside and with others if we simply mask up and follow the other basic precautions. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For those who want to get our economy moving- <b>#MaskUp</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For those concerned about elderly parents or at risk loved ones- <b>#MaskUp</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For those concerned about getting kids back in school- <b>#MaskUp</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And for those wanting to make a deadly virus political- there is nothing more presidential that Trump can do than to be able to say he stopped the pandemic so MAGAs- <b>#MaskUp</b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Stay safe folks, and if you care about your family, sports, movies, our military and for goodness sake simply each other </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">#Mask</span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Up ๐ท</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Update: </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Found these 2 excellent examples right after I posted this (no connection). </span><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Go Michigan!</b><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="315" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fmichiganfball%2Fvideos%2F322799052079321%2F&show_text=0&width=560" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cI2EXY5Bdf4/XxHelv1_ZVI/AAAAAAAADUc/F-eCOCQ1sSUOiUal48l9nq41eWcrVXMQACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-07-17%2Bat%2B12.22.05%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="947" data-original-width="1198" height="505" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cI2EXY5Bdf4/XxHelv1_ZVI/AAAAAAAADUc/F-eCOCQ1sSUOiUal48l9nq41eWcrVXMQACLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-07-17%2Bat%2B12.22.05%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-44292828355523002642020-04-25T18:57:00.001-05:002020-04-27T21:40:32.321-05:00America 2.0: The How<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3_uzmhfFgJY/XqSqySSZ5PI/AAAAAAAADQE/wTNgf4nYHJg7aBNpDGDVLZHXlI4Ee5BxQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-04-25%2Bat%2B4.25.04%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1026" data-original-width="1014" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3_uzmhfFgJY/XqSqySSZ5PI/AAAAAAAADQE/wTNgf4nYHJg7aBNpDGDVLZHXlI4Ee5BxQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-04-25%2Bat%2B4.25.04%2BPM.png" width="316" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kara Swisher asked what America 2.0 should look like and people chimed in with, aside from a bit of snark, some smart quality ideas. Which mostly leads to the question: <i>how can we make the good ideas happen?</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Well <i>I </i>have some ideas on that!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No matter what suggestion came up the two main stopping points aren't going to be technology or lack of imagination, as always, it will be money and politics. These are the buzz killers of many great ideas but alas here are a couple of ways that Silicon Valley and others can try to move things forward:</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">EZ- Cash: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Politics, news, art, music, philanthropy really almost anything could be improved if there was a way to utilize a micro-currency. Maybe you can't afford or aren't willing to take time to pledge funds to every piece of content you consume or cause you back but if you could micro-tip as easy as you could share a post, people would. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We use</span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> E-ZPass </i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to get around tollways, </span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: lime;">E-Z CA$H</span></b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> can be how we move money: </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><a href="https://joy-think.blogspot.com/2017/12/e-z-cah.html" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">more here</a>
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<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Wiki-U: </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Education from elementary to higher learning is the key to a prosperous society and equality not just in US but around the world. What wikipedia has done for general information we can do to organize and democratize learning. What we need is a platform with each grade of school (or subject matter) organized in an accessible way with rich multimedia content. Think </span><a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Khan-Academy</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> but with a more robust mix of all the best teachers, historian and documentarians in the world. There is enough info already created to get started on this now, including the Khan tutorials, if a group of educators (and librarians) could begin to gather and organize the nuggets of knowledge in a digestible way.</span></blockquote>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k1fq5Xm8RAw/XqS70LPuJeI/AAAAAAAADQw/9T9ozlxVdg4luxxZNNatSoji-8ZSioW5wCEwYBhgL/s1600/Superfriends-Justice-League-Hall-of-Justice-540x305.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="305" data-original-width="540" height="112" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k1fq5Xm8RAw/XqS70LPuJeI/AAAAAAAADQw/9T9ozlxVdg4luxxZNNatSoji-8ZSioW5wCEwYBhgL/s200/Superfriends-Justice-League-Hall-of-Justice-540x305.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0m6JgxkYI8o/XqS6rC2jucI/AAAAAAAADQo/9q21Ni7g6a0VBxS-Iz74nXgOhOF60Tc7gCEwYBhgL/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-04-25%2Bat%2B5.32.06%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="1444" height="119" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0m6JgxkYI8o/XqS6rC2jucI/AAAAAAAADQo/9q21Ni7g6a0VBxS-Iz74nXgOhOF60Tc7gCEwYBhgL/s200/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-04-25%2Bat%2B5.32.06%2BPM.png" width="200" /></a><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">New Crew:</span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b> </b>As a child I learned that in times of real peril</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_League" target="_blank">Justice League</a> had to come together to save our world because even Superman couldn't do it alone. When I grew up I learned </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Abraham_Lincoln" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Lincoln</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> did this to save the Republican Party and our country when we almost came apart</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. So in a time of pandemic and financial ruin we need an all-hands-on-deck approach to bring together the greatest minds and leaders to help save our economy, our divided country and our lives. If President Trump won't do it, candidate Biden should enroll the Obamas and Bushes, all his past rivals (including Trumps 2016 ones), captains of industry and great experts of our time and put out all the data, ideas, and resources he can muster. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">MMXX </span><span style="color: #cccccc;">League of </span><span style="color: #073763;">HEROES!</span></b></span></blockquote>
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So that's what I think, thanks for asking Kara.<span data-offset-key="bvn4e-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #14171a; font-family: , , , "segoe ui" , "roboto" , "ubuntu" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-text="true" style="-webkit-text-fill-color: transparent; background-image: url("https://abs-0.twimg.com/emoji/v2/svg/1f60a.svg"); background-position: center center; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 1em 1em; padding: 0.15em;">๐</span></span><span data-offset-key="bvn4e-1-0" style="background-color: white; color: #14171a; font-family: , , , "segoe ui" , "roboto" , "ubuntu" , "helvetica neue" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-text="true" style="-webkit-text-fill-color: transparent; background-image: url("https://abs-0.twimg.com/emoji/v2/svg/1f1fa-1f1f8.svg"); background-position: center center; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 1em 1em; padding: 0.15em;">๐บ๐ธ</span></span><br />
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Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-42124488330256489042020-03-14T13:05:00.000-05:002020-03-14T13:05:11.227-05:00Bern For Biden โ๏ธ๐ณ๏ธ๐บ๐ธ<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mkEF2sswD18/XmrNO44O3XI/AAAAAAAADOw/ig3LtHtHea0zRsWMH4l6vWBsihKCayuJwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-03-12%2Bat%2B6.58.08%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="818" height="451" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mkEF2sswD18/XmrNO44O3XI/AAAAAAAADOw/ig3LtHtHea0zRsWMH4l6vWBsihKCayuJwCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-03-12%2Bat%2B6.58.08%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/03/10/joe-biden-bernie-sanders-spar-over-trade-entitlements-guns-and-iraq/4965512002/" target="_blank">AP Photo/ Elise Amendola, AP</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Covid-19 virus is here and the chaos is in full effect and so when I got a text from Jack, a Bernie supporter, who wanted to check in to see if I finalized my vote for our upcoming primary Tuesday, I had to pause. Not because I was unsure of my vote but in awe of the passion that keeps these volunteers going. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During the 2012 election I made a few calls for Obama and I'll tell you campaign volunteer isn't all pep-rallies and bumperstickers-- even if your candidate wins, along the way you often have encounters with some rude unkind people. So I sincerely thanked Jack for his passion but said I believe it is time for Democrats, Independents and Republicans with integrity to unite behind Biden. Then I asked if <i>he</i> would consider changing his vote. To take the passionate fierce devotion he and follow Bernie followers have for healthcare and social and economic justice and use it to defeat Trump!
โจ</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I admire how Bernie's campaign, and career, is built on advocating for the lower income folks in our country. I don't agree with <i>the how</i> of his plan to get there- but clearly the majority of Americans agree that healthcare for all, addressing climate change and wealth inequality are goals we as a nation can stand behind. Bernie now is in a place of raw power- he can </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">use his movement in a multitude</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> of ways: </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">drag the party so far left it loses independents, be a spoiler, or as is my hope... be a uniter. H</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">e's got the power! What will he do with it? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Don't Bern out, or Bern it down... come Bern for Biden! โจ</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bernie has the made his mark, he has changed the conversation in the Democratic Party, he has created a movement--- now is the time to use </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bernie's power and passion to defeat Trump! Sanders can unite us in fight to restore the dignity of the office and get to work on all the things we do agree upon and in doing so get more of the progressive agenda heard and enacted than ever before. Bernie can be the hero of this nightmare for our nation and lead us forward. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Joe Biden needs Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders needs Joe Biden. The Democratic Party needs them both to come together. Everyone knows what needs to happen. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only sure way to help our nation weather this crisis and heal the aftermaths of all this division is to unite and for us all to come join JOE! ๐ค</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #444444;">Next Step</span></b>: Let's not cancel Sunday's debate, let's have both men sit down for a productive discussion on how what they agree upon differs from Trump. Talk about the virus response, talk climate change initiatives, discuss what they can take from each of the prior Dem candidates. Talk about how Democrats, Independents and Republican allies make up the science believing, truth-telling majority and how we can do more together then divided. We might not be ready for a hard left but like the arch of the morale universe let's at least bend towards justice!</span>Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-20425188391649243382019-12-15T18:12:00.000-06:002019-12-15T18:12:12.436-06:00THE 10 Men<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mLazFD_XU1Q/Xey8FL10-iI/AAAAAAAADMM/p3dtZa5NQxAT_-Lm0pWgEom0QRze59AigCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-08%2Bat%2B3.01.07%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="861" data-original-width="1600" height="344" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mLazFD_XU1Q/Xey8FL10-iI/AAAAAAAADMM/p3dtZa5NQxAT_-Lm0pWgEom0QRze59AigCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-08%2Bat%2B3.01.07%2BAM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></b><b style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> Democrats can not stop Trump, </span></i></b><b style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">only honorable Republicans can.</span></i></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><i>๐ฅ</i></span><span style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: orange;">.......</span> </span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐</b></span></div>
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The Democrats alone can not successfully contain Trump when so many Republicans are enabling his lies and deceit. The only way to unite our country is for the men who have witnessed his unfitness firsthand to stand up for our democracy. Otherwise it appears simply political: left vs right. When instead the real fight is with what's constitutional vs what's corrupt.<br />
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<b>Why these 10? </b>Because they are leaders/respected members of the Republican Party and they have had direct dealings behind the curtain in the White House. They have seen the chaos and they know what danger there is in four more years of this. They are not never-Trumpers. People will believe them.<br />
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They must do it as one in a united stance. It's easy to bully and ostracize one member at a time but if they stand together they not only make a bold statement, they begin to redeem the Republican Party from putting the US in <a href="https://joy-think.blogspot.com/2019/12/russian-influence-za.html" target="_blank">this mess</a> in the first place. They start to return the GOP to a place of leadership on security, rule of law, and morale clarity. If they don't stand up to Trump now, he will be the face and voice of the GOP for decades to come. Is that the legacy they want to leave their party, let alone their children?<br />
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<b>Motivation</b>: Doing the right thing and living with one's head held high should be enough of a reward but there are others. The folks that demonstrate leadership and clarity in this time will: be seen as future of the party and in great place for future opportunities; be sought after for dealmaking and peacemaking expertise; be hailed as heroes of their party (if not immediately, in history); and they will leave a legacy of bravery that they can be proud of.<br />
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<b>Compromised</b>: Some politicians might have had intimidation used against them for whatever reason. The Russians are known for covertly comprising folks and then using it against them as a form of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kompromat" target="_blank">kompromat</a>. The only way to handle this effectively is to issue blanket immunity for anyone who might have been compromised by our political adversary. This needs to be done in a way to preserve as much discretion as possible but seen as a form of <i><b>cyber</b></i> (hacking, video, financial) <b><i>warfare</i></b>. If our enemies get away with silencing or worse <i>flipping</i> our politicians it puts our entire democracy at risk and will be the tool of choice in all future conflicts.<br />
To handle this, immediate protection must be undertaken so that politicians can come forward to CIA/FBI and be immunized from any repercussions resulting from blackmail/extortion.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E9HIusNBbgU/XfWGnpU4nVI/AAAAAAAADNQ/aR5W3MGtP7gjJDyCSd2NPXTBZsXzEJBoACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Question%2B45.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="788" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E9HIusNBbgU/XfWGnpU4nVI/AAAAAAAADNQ/aR5W3MGtP7gjJDyCSd2NPXTBZsXzEJBoACLcBGAsYHQ/s200/Question%2B45.png" width="200" /></a><b>The Question</b>: If not in the impeachment trial, if not in 2020 or even by 2024- eventually Trump's taxes, call records, business dealings, foreign ties, etc will be revealed. It might take time but betting that Roger Stone, Rudy Giuliani, and the Russians won't at some point release volumes of documentation they have kept hidden on Trump seems like a bad bet. History has shown eventually everything comes out. The SDNY has lots they are looking into, not to mention the other cases farmed out in the Mueller investigation. Betting on Trump and his associates is a mighty risky gamble that almost certainly will not end well. So these men and all who have supported Trump in the past must ask: <i>Question 45 ๐</i><br />
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<b>01.10.20</b>: A move as legendary as this needs a historic and memorable date so I suggest January 10th for <b>THE 10 </b>to come forward as <b>1</b> and speak up for the what needs to be said: <i>Trump is not fit for office</i>. Do it together. Ask others to join you. Unite those that know what is right for our country and make it not a circus but a stance for truth, justice and the American way.<br />
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Trump is by far one of the most captivating and entertaining <i>performers</i> to grace a stage but there are real-world, deadly, and irrevocable consequences for letting him stay in the highest office in our land and take our country through more of this. There is no political gain, tax cut or judge worth sacrificing our country or one's personal honor for.<br />
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Please help save the republic. <b><span style="color: red;">Our country </span><span style="color: #cccccc;">needs</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">YOU!</span></b><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;">[Note: It might be against policy for even ret/non-active military to speak publicly against Trump but they can still ask others in their circle to speak for them. And for the other Republicans that are either stepping down or have stayed quiet- now is your time to join <b>THE 10</b>: Senator Portman, Senator Murkowski, Senator Rubio, Senator Sass, Senator Ernst, Senator Collins, Senator McSally, retired Sen. Jeff Flake, Sen. Bob Corker, Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen...</span><span style="color: #666666;">]</span>Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-41415794103382571422019-12-09T20:42:00.001-06:002020-12-28T17:04:18.059-06:00Russian Influence-za<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VS3LeSeM8zM/Xe2XXkrU5wI/AAAAAAAADMw/2Y9Qh2H76h88ehexlOnPJMnwD2FPhbe5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-08%2Bat%2B2.41.12%2BPM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="880" data-original-width="1570" height="358" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VS3LeSeM8zM/Xe2XXkrU5wI/AAAAAAAADMw/2Y9Qh2H76h88ehexlOnPJMnwD2FPhbe5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-08%2Bat%2B2.41.12%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The US-Russian saga is the most interesting (and terrifying) thing going on in the world today. And if it's seemed too piecemeal and confusing to follow, I totally get it. But even if you think it doesn't affect you, I promise it does. Therefore, we need to understand even just the basics.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">So here we go...</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Where to start? Let's begin with:</span><br />
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<b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-large;">Putin</span></b><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">He believed the collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest geo-political catastrophe of the century. As a KGB officer he was humiliated by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union" target="_blank">the fall of the USSR</a> and blamed the west- specifically the United States. He's made it his mission to bring Russia back to its <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Empire" target="_blank">former glory</a> and will do anything it takes to humiliate the U.S. and vindicate his homeland.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Watch <i><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2L8qINZD3Q" target="_blank">Putin's Revenge</a></b></i> the two part series from FRONTLINE to understand why Putin hates the U.S., despises Hillary Clinton, and desperately needs to have a way to protect himself and his wealth.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In order for Putin to get revenge he needs two thing: money and power. </span><br />
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<b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-large;">Money </span></b><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Putin needs money: one to maintain his power and two to ensure his safety. But it does him little good to hoard all his money in Russia so he needs to launder it out of the country. He was doing that successfully by building up oligarchs' (beholden to him) fortunes until lawyer, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Magnitsky" target="_blank">Sergei Magnitsky</a>, working for <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">an American-born British financier, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Browder" target="_blank">Bill Browder</a>, was tortured and killed while in a Moscow prison. </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Browder vowed to avenge his lawyer/friend's death and lobbied and passed the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnitsky_Act" target="_blank">Magnitsky Act </a>which: </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>authorizes the U.S. government to sanction those who it sees as human rights offenders, freeze their assets, and ban them from entering the U.S. </i></span></span></blockquote>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Hear more about Browder and Magnitsky in this S<i>tay Tuned with Preet</i> <a href="https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/preetbharara/episodes/death-sergei-magnitsky-bill-browder" target="_blank">podcast</a> or this <a href="https://youtu.be/9Wh73eCPrZg" target="_blank"><span style="color: #666666;">interview</span></a>. It ties in why Putin was desperate to get sanctions removed and why the Trump Tower meeting which invoked "Russian adoptions" was really <i>codeword</i> for getting the U.S. to remove these financial restrictions through a back channel. </span><br />
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<b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-large;">Active Measures</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">If the oligarchs, and therefore Putin, are prevented from laundering money out of Russia they are backed into a corner and feel provoked to do ever more desperate things. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white;">What they did was accelerate ongoing <i>active measures</i>:</span></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><b>Active measures </b></i>is a term for the actions of political warfare conducted by the Soviet and Russian security services (Cheka, OGPU, NKVD, KGB, FSB) to influence the course of world events.</span></blockquote>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">These measures included calling in favors from the likes of Paul Manafort and Donald Trump to the Russian mob that had aided in money laundering and suspicious dealings over the years. </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">So how</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> will Putin ensure sanctions are removed and maintain his power and wealth?</span><br />
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<b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-large;">Roger Stone</span></b><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Well, before we get to the <i>how</i> we need to introduce <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Stone" target="_blank">Roger Stone</a> into the picture. It's easy to think Roger is just a bad joke and write him off as a would-be-Batman-villain, but in actuality he is one of the most important back-seat political drivers of the last 40+ years.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Watch <i><b>Get Me Roger Stone</b></i> to see how one man messing around behind the scenes- not to mention blatantly in front of the cameras- can alter an election in front of our very eyes. See how his ties with Paul Manafort (they were <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black,_Manafort,_Stone_and_Kelly" target="_blank">business partners</a> from back in the 80's); his 30+ year relationship </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">with Donald Trump; his dirty-trickster ways; and his link to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiLeaks" target="_blank">WikiLeaks</a> affected the 2016 election.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">For the logistics of the how, we check in with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Bannon" target="_blank">Steve Bannon</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Analytica" target="_blank">Cambridge Analytica </a>folks. Their manipulation of our data through Facebook and in conjunction with Russian active measures was a perfect storm which blew Trump into office. </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">This accomplished several things for Putin: took down Hillary Clinton, stirred chaos with Trump and U.S. allies and got our fellow citizens to turn against</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> each other. </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Putin has been successful using active measures so much so we are now in a place where Republicans who were until recently staunch Russian opponents are now either doing his bidding or at least not preventing him from waging a cyber/disinformation war on the American public. </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Are our politicians infected with Russian influence-za? Do they not know what is going on beneath their very noses? Or are they choosing to surrender our elections and our very democracy to save <i>their</i> careers and <i>their</i> power? Is this Putin's dream come true or are we going to wake up and unite behind securing our elections, holding accountable </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">those</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> who betrayed our country and defending our nation from foes foreign and domestic? </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">On July 10, 2020 President Trump commuted Roger Stones prison sentence. This is the same day that Stone told reporter <a href="https://twitter.com/howardfineman" target="_blank">Howard Fineman</a>: </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UvfcVotf3U4/XwoZXI4YiGI/AAAAAAAADTU/vXKZvdjALmE9Fqm8uPnKMHJqUvnRMdqdwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_6013%2B2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="750" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UvfcVotf3U4/XwoZXI4YiGI/AAAAAAAADTU/vXKZvdjALmE9Fqm8uPnKMHJqUvnRMdqdwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_6013%2B2.jpeg" width="249" /></a></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">O</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">ne would ask: what </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">information </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">pray-tell would Roger have on Trump that would allow him this leverage? And if Trump is willing to play ball with Stone what would he be willing to do if Putin had <i>kompromat</i> on him? </span></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Our elections are coming and Trump will do anything to stay in power so he doesn't need to face charges and investigations he is now shielded from as POTUS. Roger Stone and Paul Manafort are now out of jail and we as a country are more divided and distracted from the real enemy. </span></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">While Covid-19 is killing 130,000+ Americans, we need to also fight the Russian Influence-za that is about to kill our democracy. We must join together and vote like our lives and our very country depends on it- because it does!!! </span></span><div><span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">__________________________________________________________________</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><b>Update II: </b></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #444444;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #444444;"><i><b>Agents of Chaos</b></i> came out in September from HBO and adds more to social media piece:</span></div><div><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="335" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/M-OA7H8DoJM" width="503" youtube-src-id="M-OA7H8DoJM"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Note:</b> End of year Trump <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/23/trump-pardons-manafort-stone-kushner-450328" target="_blank">pardons of Manafort and Stone</a>. ๐</div><br /><span style="color: #444444;">Stay tuned, I'm sure there will be much more of this story to unfold over the years to come...</span></div>Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-58079882170449668832019-09-15T16:25:00.000-05:002019-09-15T16:25:10.215-05:00Pronoun Power: The Quest for Singular "They"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--2Rjo3gs_dA/XX6YWDkXhMI/AAAAAAAADKs/jNEy_-N4R2Ed-zB4qoOtxmSXZ3c6iZAQQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-09-15%2Bat%2B2.59.42%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="140" data-original-width="748" height="116" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--2Rjo3gs_dA/XX6YWDkXhMI/AAAAAAAADKs/jNEy_-N4R2Ed-zB4qoOtxmSXZ3c6iZAQQCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-09-15%2Bat%2B2.59.42%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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When I was writing my book I had my dear step-Mom read a draft and when I asked her for her thoughts she said she loved all but two things: my grammar and my punctuation. My reply was that I was lucky enough to have a brilliant editor who'd fix all my errors so she could rest assured the world would not know how atrocious my actual writing is. </div>
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Most of the time I agreed with the changes that were suggested to me but one particular back-and-forth I do remember having with my editor was how <i>they</i> is a plural and I could not use it in the singular for a sentence I was trying to include. I was annoyed but eventually acquiesced ๐</div>
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Fast forward to today when we are trying to be a more inclusive non-gender-biased world and well meaning folks who are guarding the rules of grammar are torn about how to use a plural pronoun in a way that can be adopted by individuals who would prefer not be identified as either <i>he or she</i>. </div>
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Well, finally my quest for using singular <i>they</i> has risen to include a social component that makes it ripe to be embraced. Still I thought why not avoid the grammar wars and instead forge a new frontier. </div>
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So today I take the bold step of suggesting we create a new pronoun that can stand in singular non-gender form but include all people: <b>thay </b>/<b> thair</b>. </div>
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Pronounced the same but used to represent "a" singular person instead of a plural.</div>
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Pronouns are simply words but when someone is disempowered by having to identify themselves as one that does not fit these words can wound. They can be used by ignorant people as weapons of division. Let's keep the meaning <i>they</i> has held but add <i>thay</i> as a sign of the times and a pronoun that gives power to our communication that we can all back.</div>
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Power to the Pronoun! Power to ALL the People: <b>he, she, thay</b><span style="color: red;"><b>!</b></span></div>
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Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-416536056374912142018-09-08T08:00:00.000-05:002018-09-08T08:00:08.061-05:00QUESTION 45<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WnROWFJVLZg/W5NCyiiuIzI/AAAAAAAADAc/xfwsXLPvESwaqzvtUNt4Jy03kA1svpOkwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-09-06%2Bat%2B6.42.59%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="788" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WnROWFJVLZg/W5NCyiiuIzI/AAAAAAAADAc/xfwsXLPvESwaqzvtUNt4Jy03kA1svpOkwCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-09-06%2Bat%2B6.42.59%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">There is <i>only</i> one question ...</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Ask Pence, the Cabinet, GOP Leadership, and any Trump supporter? </span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">Question</span></b> <b><span style="color: red;">45 </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Get them ON THE RECORD now-- for they must choose on which side of history they will stand. </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">๐บ๐ธ</span><br />
<br />Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-9436054041209252702018-07-04T13:50:00.000-05:002018-07-04T13:50:09.206-05:00Immigration Reform: Building on America's Greatness! ๐บ๐ธ<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B7fXZHED6TI/WzwV-HcUnxI/AAAAAAAAC_Q/yZ664jPLdAsj4d0fz0KlWwDK3PajKqu2ACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-07-03%2Bat%2B7.33.14%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="988" height="355" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B7fXZHED6TI/WzwV-HcUnxI/AAAAAAAAC_Q/yZ664jPLdAsj4d0fz0KlWwDK3PajKqu2ACLcBGAs/s640/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-07-03%2Bat%2B7.33.14%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">via: <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/04/28/trump-nra-forum-border-wall-easy-one-bts-nr.cnn" target="_blank">CNN</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">People like a good theme- something catchy and simple- like: <i><b>Build the Wall!</b></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Not sure who came up with the phrase that is chanted at every Trump rally, although it does have a <a href="https://youtu.be/5IPyv4KgTAA" target="_blank">Roger Stone</a> whiff to it. But I digress... the point is that even though immigration was THE topic of the 2016 campaign and the hot topic of 2018 it is not something that has surged to the point most experts are concerned. And the Central American "flood" <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-06-26/what-immigration-crisis-the-u-s-isn-t-being-swamped" target="_blank">is balanced by</a> fewer Mexican immigrants coming here to stay. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Today the costs are almost the least to be concerned over-- what's at stake now is whether we stay united as a country or as latest Twitter trending meme alludes to start a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SecondCivilWar?src=tren&data_id=tweet%3A1014561884136095745" target="_blank">#SecondCivilWar</a>?!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Since something clearly needs to be done and while I don't have a perfect solution a few things seem obvious, non-partisan and doable so let's at least start <i>building on America's Greatness</i>*:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Family Separation</b>: Stop separating families and reunite ones that already have been. Only deport folks if their children have been located and are able to travel back with them to a safe drop point.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Registering</b>: Register all immigrants with reason for entry and asylum request when applicable. Finger print and ID everyone as way to help prevent smuggling/sex trafficking of minors/women. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Freedom Anklet</b>: Release family as unit with one person per family agreeing to wear an ankle monitor. (Yes, I understand this is degrading and it is not my preference as well but better than separating families and also quashes the reason not to allow entry while in process). <i><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/16/nyregion/ankle-monitors-weigh-on-immigrant-mothers-released-from-detention.html" target="_blank">Intensive Supervision Appearance Program</a> </i>already has protocols in place. </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This keeps families together and children with parents.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Savings: ~$5/person/day vs. $300. Should be easy for Rs to support.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If they break rules of monitoring then are permanently banned from US.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The anklets can be different color- lets say <span style="color: #bf9000;">gold </span>or <span style="color: red;">r</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">w</span></span><span style="color: #0b5394;">b</span>- vs criminal black ones to signify awaiting immigration status so as to be a bit less stigmatizing.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Guest Worker</b>: Finally establish a guest worker program where <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90179512/immigration-reform-may-be-dead-but-guest-worker-proposals-that-benefit-agribusiness-live-on" target="_blank">compromise is needed</a>.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Criminalize all <i>employers</i> who willfully break laws.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Allow folks to travel back and forth as long as they are following rules.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Home Sanctuary</b>: Instead of the super controversial and unsustainable <i>sanctuary cities </i>in the US, establish sanctuary zones in the countries of origin so folks are not fleeing the violence of their preferred home.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Take the $750 million in <a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-mexico-us-security-20171026-story.html" target="_blank">development aid for Central America</a> (Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras) and establish safe zones in the countries so their citizens do not feel need to flee for their safety. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Not necessarily a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/13/central-america-us-foreign-policy-deportations-aid" target="_blank">military-led base</a> but create a full package that would include economic opportunities, education, military security zones, and infrastructure support for struggling areas.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No cooperation, no aid.</span></li>
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</ol>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Immigration is a tough problem to completely solve but we are dividing ourselves as a nation when we should be protecting our borders and laws while showing we are still a melting pot that welcomes those who are willing and able to keep <i><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Building</b> on</span> </i><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;">America's </span><span style="color: #0b5394;">Greatness</span>! </span></b></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">*<span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">๐บ๐ธ</span> Granted way less catchy, but way more humane, hopeful, and American! </span></div>
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Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-78069598242795270752018-01-28T16:29:00.000-06:002018-01-28T16:29:16.596-06:00Due Gooders: What to Do with Bad Men<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1lPKvCjGTUE/Wm0yf6AUB1I/AAAAAAAAC9A/1VqXpV66MNsLvbbBveNCwbdOSmIZql-OQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-27%2Bat%2B8.09.26%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="906" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1lPKvCjGTUE/Wm0yf6AUB1I/AAAAAAAAC9A/1VqXpV66MNsLvbbBveNCwbdOSmIZql-OQCLcBGAs/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-01-27%2Bat%2B8.09.26%2BPM.png" width="302" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">When <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel" target="_blank">Alfred Nobel</a>'s brother, Ludvig, died the obituary accidentally named Alfred and stated </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span lang="fr">Le marchand de la mort est mort</span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> ("The merchant of death is dead").</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; white-space: nowrap;"> It </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">went on, "Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday." An inventor with 355 patents he was most well known as the creator of dynamite.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;">Appalled that this is how he would be remembered, his last will </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">specified that his fortune be used to create a series of prizes for those who confer the "greatest benefit on mankind" in physics, chemistry, </span>physiology or medicine, literature, and peace.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">117 years later a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize" target="_blank">Nobel Prize</a> is known as an honor and as a contribution to humanity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So why do I bring this up you ask? Well, because the state of our world in the last year has left me in a whirl. I have been <a href="http://joymeredith.blogspot.com/2017/10/for-love-of-louie.html" target="_blank">heartbroken</a> that <a href="https://joy-think.blogspot.com/2013/07/capturing-and-creating-your-genius.html" target="_blank">many of the men</a> I most admired have turned out to be asses and abusers. But unfortunately it's not just a few... everyday we find out more who have abused their positions (and privilege) and have had an entitled, destructive, power-hungry way of being in the world. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet most are not complete sociopaths* but jerky guys behaving very badly who need to evolve. And why should we care? Because we need them to lead a revolution to clean up their messes, redeem themselves, and show generations to come that the boys-clubs-ways are truly unmanly. That, and there is just simply too many men involved to isolate them all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>My idea </b>๐ก...</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: large;">Due Gooders</span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: Men who have done bad ready to evolve</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and pay their </span><i style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">due</i><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">s and do </span><i style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">good</i><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I envision a non-profit that starts out with some of the high profile men we see in the news who come together to form a kind of <b>A</b>ssholes <b>A</b>nonymous organization where they get help for what caused their behavior, work to make amends for any damage they've done, and then find a way to repay to society their debt by doing good in the world. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It could be thru charity work, or they could create a documentary, book, PSAs or lecture series </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">exploring toxic male culture,</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> or any other way of transforming their destruction into good. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is <a href="https://goodmenproject.com/about/" target="_blank">The Good Men Project</a>, <a href="http://www.acalltomen.org/about-us/our-vision" target="_blank">A Call To Men</a>, and various religious and other male focused organizations, but I think that the <span style="color: #783f04;">Due Gooders</span> needs to be a separate conversation about how in this new millennium masculinity needs to evolve by men owning their own past. Even though there is a range of behavior, all men caught up in #MeToo movement bear responsibility to take this on. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Bottomline:</b> It would be a waste to not at least try to salvage the good in this reckoning and help facilitate a full-blown culture shift. Women shouldn't have to bear the burden to transform male culture-- the men who did the bad now need to pay their dues and man up to do it themselves! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What's in it for them is a possibility (if they do the work) to leave a legacy- and obituary- of more then just their worst sins but a story of redemption and inspiration for their children, society and for themselves. Now<i> that </i>would be a good next act and great ending. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[*Note: I feel it goes without saying but will state clearly that some of these guys are irredeemable</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and are not capable or willing to change- this is not for them. Only for the guys who feel shame, want to clean up their messes, and are willing to do the work.]</span>Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-76796924678925404862017-12-17T22:05:00.000-06:002017-12-17T22:12:23.879-06:00We Don't Need More Babies, We Need More Adults<iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" gesture="media" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AqxXT7brXVc" width="560"></iframe><br />
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I can't believe this clip is not all over ever Sunday show and not getting more attention. It sums up what is wrong with Speaker Ryan specifically and current Republicans in general: old ideas, archaic solutions.<br />
<br />
Take the real issue of aging Boomers- facts are facts- but we don't need more babies in the world or in the U.S. to solve this issue. The last thing a world of <a href="http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/" target="_blank">7.5 billion</a> needs is more people adding to an already exploding, unsustainable population. Instead we need healthier citizens, collaborative technology, and less wasted resources.<br />
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Here are some solutions we should try instead of becoming breeders for Boomers:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>More Peace</b> </li>
<ul>
<li><b>Hire Diplomats</b>: The State Department has <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0ahUKEwj848vm_pHYAhXi6YMKHY9bAmMQFggrMAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fworld%2Fnational-security%2Fstate-departments-plan-for-staff-cuts-causing-new-worry-in-congress%2F2017%2F11%2F15%2F72576ac6-ca10-11e7-8321-481fd63f174d_story.html&usg=AOvVaw3_-srjJflt3SQy0zc5WL_j" target="_blank">cut the budget for diplomats</a> under Rex Tillerson. We need more diplomatic efforts and deals cut in the world vs saving pennies and spending billions on another war or defending escalating aggression on foreign soil. </li>
<li><b>Military Contracts</b>: War is profitable for many. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military%E2%80%93industrial_complex" target="_blank">The Military-Industrial Complex</a> is incentivized to keep us on war-footing in order to secure their lucrative contracts. Want to save money: war less. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>More Wellness</b></li>
<ul>
<li><b>Healthier Citizens</b>: Everything from the food and water supply, environmental pollution, and healthcare options need to be our focus if we want to keep the aging and current population as well and active as possible. When we over-work, over-stress, and under care for folks it costs us far more than a wellness based approach would. </li>
<li><b>Better Research</b>: Alzheimers alone <a href="https://www.alz.org/facts/" target="_blank">can take down the U.S. healthcare system</a> if we don't get a handle on it. Not only is it a devastating disease for the patient but the family is often stuck between raising their children, working, and caring for parents. It's depleting their work, community involvement, and quality of life. We need to fund research and have better programs to care for those affected.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>More Equity</b></li>
<ul>
<li><b>Fair Taxes</b>: Wealthy Americans need people to buy their goods and services, educate their kids, clean their homes, wax their boats, and keep their lifestyle going. If they hoard their wealth the middle class will dwindle and not only will it be un-Christian and bad for business, it is bad for the general welfare of the country that allowed them to prosper. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>More Freedom</b></li>
<ul>
<li><b>Healthcare Rights</b>: Restricting birthcontrol, abortion, and a safety-net for women to choose what works for their families cost our country. To be clear: more babies aren't free.</li>
<li><b>Death with Dignity</b>: Put the fact that <a href="http://www.thirteen.org/bid/sb-howmuch.html" target="_blank">most costs are incurred in the last few months</a> of life aside and <a href="http://uthanasia.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">just allow folks to decide</a> what works for them and their family. Have restrictions in place so that abuse is minimized but not only would it save billions but what speaks more to our freedom then let us decide when and how we want to die. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>More Smarts</b></li>
<ul>
<li><b>Better Education: </b>Education investments have priceless ROI: keeps kids safe, advances prospects for a better society, makes kids more employable for future, and could spark the next technology wave. </li>
<li><b>Better Infrastructure</b>: High speed transportation is a key to everything from jobs and the environment to how to provide a better quality of life for our citizens. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div>
I could go on and on... immigration reform, prison reform, election reform. There are endless issues that can be solved if we came together as a country. The Republican taxcuts are about to give corporations and the 1% billions of dollars... or we could make all of the above investments and not only help The Boomers but invest in our entire society. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
We don't need more babies, we need more adults who are willing to lead our country forward with smart solutions.</div>
Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-29922869966559761172017-12-03T12:41:00.000-06:002017-12-03T12:41:51.996-06:00E-Z CA$H <a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lcDRpkQ-Eow/WiMziDXp5WI/AAAAAAAAC58/E7z9o62d90o_4W3qqjIMSLTGfWG97p1_gCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-12-02%2Bat%2B5.12.01%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="654" height="182" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lcDRpkQ-Eow/WiMziDXp5WI/AAAAAAAAC58/E7z9o62d90o_4W3qqjIMSLTGfWG97p1_gCLcBGAs/s640/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-12-02%2Bat%2B5.12.01%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a><br />
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Recently I've been obsessed with money. Not my normal area of interest, which might be the reason I'm now hyper-sensitive to it ๐ ... but for various reasons I've been focused on the generation, flow, and exchange of money.<br />
<br />
My friend Vickie and I even meet weekly for a Money Club that started after we read <a href="http://jensincero.com/" target="_blank">Jen Sincero</a>'s <i><a href="https://jensincero.com/shop/" target="_blank">You Are A Badass At Making Money</a></i>. I loved this book because it takes on money not as a heavy topic but more as a way to up your energy... a game... a <b><span style="color: red;">Hi-Vibe</span></b> way of being in the world.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bnSrzOqB5-M/WiMH_jhGRNI/AAAAAAAAC5k/htRu-kIF9r4AxxWuJnGgCc65hPbRK59PACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-12-02%2Bat%2B2.05.50%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1110" data-original-width="784" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bnSrzOqB5-M/WiMH_jhGRNI/AAAAAAAAC5k/htRu-kIF9r4AxxWuJnGgCc65hPbRK59PACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-12-02%2Bat%2B2.05.50%2BPM.png" width="282" /></a></div>
And of course whatever you focus on expands, so in the last few weeks I've been fascinated with everything from digital and crypto-currency to money apps. <br />
<br />
There are currently several money exchange avenues but none have jelled and caught fire. Banks offer their programs and PayPal's <a href="http://venmo.com/" target="_blank">Venmo</a> is popular among <i>the kids</i> these days.<br />
<br />
But what I want is an <b><i>E-ZPass for the Internet</i></b> where I can exchange money not just out in the world but also online without a big deal every time I want to do it.<br />
<br />
I think the <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cash-app/id711923939?mt=8" target="_blank">Cash App</a> is almost there.<br />
<br />
Simple, beautiful interface, and I think with this added game-changing feature it could be the new face of money...<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">My idea </span></b> <span style="font-size: large;">๐ก </span><br />
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Create a <b><span style="color: lime;">CA$H</span></b> icon/button on social media bar (& ๐ ) for websites that links to their account so you can micro-tip/spend until you want to <i>CA$H out</i>.<br />
<br />
I suggested this <a href="https://joy-think.blogspot.com/2015/04/could-next-big-thing-be-small-square.html" target="_blank">idea first for <i>Square</i></a> but I think it's even a better fit under the CA$H umbrella. Cash-tags can be used with url's for every site on web even if they don't want to sign up until there is money donated/sent to them. Imagine how it can transform the way charities, journalists, artists, politicians, etc. are funded.<br />
<i><br /></i>
We use<i> E-ZPass </i>to get around tollways, <b><span style="color: lime;">E-Z CA$H</span></b> can be how we move money. <br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qGpC0MZqZfI/WiM4I9VZEEI/AAAAAAAAC6g/_pl0JGuzC9E-1Jk5zTKYgXXsp1Jc18FZACLcBGAs/s1600/mm.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="68" data-original-width="176" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qGpC0MZqZfI/WiM4I9VZEEI/AAAAAAAAC6g/_pl0JGuzC9E-1Jk5zTKYgXXsp1Jc18FZACLcBGAs/s1600/mm.png" /></a>Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-86857818248351926662017-10-08T15:16:00.000-05:002017-10-08T15:16:15.908-05:00Trump & Twitter: Don't Delete โ๏ธ, Stop โค๏ธs & Retweet ๐<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The President of our country is now <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/25/553475174/declaration-of-war-means-north-korea-can-shoot-down-u-s-bombers-minister-says" target="_blank">threatening war on Twitter</a> weekly and it's scary as hell! </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I get the dilemma: Twitter thinks it's doing a <a href="https://twitter.com/jack/status/912440745470025728" target="_blank">public service</a> by providing direct access to the news worthy leader of our country; 45's critics say it's an abuse of the platform.</div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Solution</span></b>: Let him tweet (so we have the record for history, for Mueller, and for monitoring) but stop the spread of his tweets by cutting off the ability for him to get โค๏ธs and <i>retweets.</i><br />
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This compromise allows him to go on record but not use Twitter to spread the threats/war speech.<br />
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It's hard to believe Chief of Staff Kelly, FLOTUS (<a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2017/09/melania-trump-speaks-on-cyberbullying-at-united-nations" target="_blank">with her anti-bullying campaign</a>) and his children have yet to stop this destructive habit but since they haven't we need to patch together a fix that will stop the spread while keeping an eye on what we need to know as a nation.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><i>Note: Probably good idea for him not to be able to retweet any non-verified accounts as well but let's start with baby-steps.</i></span>Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-86905373189839348732017-09-19T15:46:00.000-05:002017-10-14T18:36:13.701-05:00Will Mark & Jack Cause WWIII? or Save US From It?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We were cyber attacked by Russia during the 2016 election and it's not OK. I mean it's really really not OK. And the astonishing thing is Russia <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/russias-facebook-fake-news-could-have-reached-70-million-americans?source=twitter&via=mobile" target="_blank">shot a weapon</a> at the U.S. and we're going to let them reload for 2018 like there is nothing we can do about it.<br />
<br />
There is!<br />
<br />
We need to demand that Facebook and Twitter either get their services under control or take them offline and shut them down while any and all voting is taking place in our country.
We don't let this type of sabotage and not only false advertising but <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/19/opinion/samantha-power-propaganda-fake-news.html" target="_blank">blanket foreign propaganda</a> on our airways we can not allow it on our other media platforms as well.<br />
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I'm no tech expert but there must be a way to block IP addresses that spam, unleash bots, or are found to be connected with nefarious foreign sources. Start a volunteer bot-army brigade that provides the company with suspected violators- I'm sure your communities would step up to help. Or just spit-balling here...how about asking <a href="https://www.hillaryclinton.com/" target="_blank">Hillary Clinton</a> and <a href="https://www.mittromney.com/" target="_blank">Mitt Romney</a> to head bi-partisan group to work with both the government and Silicon Valley to unite behind <i>American Commission on Cyber Safety</i>. <br />
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We now have Russia sitting back and relishing Trump starting tough talk with other nations. Who knows how far this will go? Are we going to let our enemies use our own technology against us?<br />
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I am a huge fan of Twitter and before they screwed with my feed (another rant for another day) loved Facebook as well. I dare say they have been two of the best inventions of our time. But with great power comes great responsibility and these two brilliant guys need to know their country needs them to put our nation's sovereignty and well being before their shareholders and even their customers.
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<br />
Tech-war could start a real war and there is no <i>like</i>-ing our way back from all the loss of life, treasure, and progress this will cause. I'm calling on Mark and Jack to step up and stand up for their companies to stop aiding and abetting our enemies.<br />
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Come one guys, I know you want to do good in the world - now's your time!<br />
<br />
<br />Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-78743310065068701752017-09-12T21:15:00.000-05:002017-09-12T21:45:01.744-05:00Donny Saves The Dems! <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_ZSlokkddz0?start=504" width="560"></iframe>
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<br />
Bill Maher has been making the point for years that Democrats need better messaging. Dan Savage summarizes it perfectly in above clip and in his <a href="https://t.co/YZLyfSPy32" target="_blank">recent interview with Katie Couric</a> (@ 47:30) reinforces the point... <i>wording</i> is the key to Democrats swaying "reachable" voters.<br />
<br />
Democrats need to have clear concise messaging that all of them can get behind:<br />
<br />
<b>Universal Healthcare</b> <i>vs</i> Single Payer<br />
<b>Earned Benefits</b> <i>vs</i> Entitlements<br />
<b>Marriage Equality</b> <i>vs</i> Gay Marriage<br />
<b>Estate Tax </b><i>vs</i> Death Tax<br />
<br />
People don't want to be forced to think about: paying, giving entitlements, gay sex, and taking away a widow's money. Don't even get me started on <a href="http://joy-think.blogspot.com/2014/06/stop-debating-global-warming-start.html" target="_blank">Global Warming</a>! But Americans do want: healthcare, benefits, <a href="http://joy-think.blogspot.com/2013/03/good-bad-ugly-of-marketing-marriage.html" target="_blank">equality</a>, and for the uber wealthy to pay their share.<br />
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But who can lead the country to this new wave of power-packed words as political weapons?<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j7cDCvFOtPQ/Wbcm457esfI/AAAAAAAACyM/IrSeAntezQA6_dV87vIiTeBY8T_2wCY9ACLcBGAs/s1600/donny_deutsch_pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j7cDCvFOtPQ/Wbcm457esfI/AAAAAAAACyM/IrSeAntezQA6_dV87vIiTeBY8T_2wCY9ACLcBGAs/s1600/donny_deutsch_pic.jpg" /></a>As much as I love Dan Savage (Bill Maher too) and as much as we need them to come along we need someone a tad less crude to lead this parade... so I nominate <b>Donny Deutsch</b>!<br />
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Donny lead an advertising company, is politically savvy, hates what #45 is doing to the country, and loves a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Idea_with_Donny_Deutsch" target="_blank">BIG IDEA</a>.<br />
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I envision a think-tank type environment [ for now we'll call it:<i> Word <b>D</b> Institute </i>] that brings together political minds, artists, creatives, social justice activists, and marketing mavens to create simple clear one page, one theme, one soundbite (with talking points) messages.<br />
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<a href="http://joy-think.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-pence-stake.html" target="_blank">Unseating Trump</a> is not a strategy that can be banked upon, but getting prepared to focus the conversation, seeding the way, and getting excited for '18 needs to be where all the energy goes.<br />
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<i>Donny are you in?</i>Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-8354964701141946682017-08-29T20:48:00.000-05:002017-10-14T18:36:22.563-05:00The Pence Stake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Mueller might take too long and there are <a href="http://www.salon.com/2017/08/24/roger-stone-predicts-a-civil-war-if-donald-trump-is-impeached/" target="_blank">threats of a revolt and violence</a> if Congress makes a move to impeach... so now t<span style="font-family: inherit;">here is only one clear path to getting <i>45</i> to go and that is by making Republicans do it themselves. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And the only way they will is to tie them to him and have them firmly stake their future on his.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mike Pence is a constitutional officer who has sworn to support and <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;">defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. He was the head of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_transition_of_Donald_Trump" target="_blank">the Trump transition team</a>, has a security clearance, gets regular briefings, talks to the president daily, and I'm assuming also has a TV, internet access, and a subscription to a paper or two. If he doesn't know what's going on at this point, he can't claim himself commanding enough to lead our country at any time in the future. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Therefore, it is now time to demand that Vice President Pence either get Donald Trump to step down or <i>stake</i> his own personal reputation and future to Trump's. He has more access to knowledge, intelligence, and occasions to observe 45's </span>erratic<span style="font-family: inherit;"> behavior then almost anyone and it is literally his job to step up if the president is not capable of commanding the country. Every reporter should ask:</span></span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Is Trump </i></span></span></span><i style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;">physically, </span></i><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">mentally, and morally up to leading our nation? </i></b></blockquote>
<i>Yes or no?</i><br />
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The follow up:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><b>If President Trump is ever found to have committed crimes or enrichment against U.S. interests will you stand behind Mueller's findings and commit to not pardoning his behavior and let all consequences stand?</b></i></blockquote>
If he wants to stand there with all the <a href="http://billmoyers.com/story/timeline-pences-role-white-houses-russia-related-mess/#.WaszlZ9IJoA.twitter" target="_blank">smoke swirling</a> around Trump, his campaign, his <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&ved=0ahUKEwj398u427zWAhULTCYKHSsMB68QFghFMAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2017%2F06%2F14%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Fdemocrats-in-congress-to-sue-trump-over-foreign-business-dealings.html%3Fmcubz%3D3&usg=AFQjCNHgwFeXH33mfjKQbpiR4mqbhAPgcA" target="_blank">business profiteering</a>, and his policy making then Pence must stake his honor firmly and unwaveringly.<br />
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Pence has a <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0ahUKEwjH2rjt6v3VAhUILyYKHa_rAJUQFggnMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fnews%2Facts-of-faith%2Fwp%2F2017%2F03%2F30%2Fthe-religious-reasons-mike-pence-wont-eat-alone-with-women-dont-add-up%2F&usg=AFQjCNFKHjetTTDkipABzJMRYK6g6sT8vw" target="_blank">rule he will not be in a room alone</a> with a woman who is not his wife, he should have as high of standards to not serve a man who is this corrupt, dangerous, dividing and damaging to our nation. Let's get him on the record now and clearly.<br />
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He's either a man of <i>honor</i> or of <i>complacency</i>; it's time to make him choose which.<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Note: We need same 1st question asked of all Cabinet Secretaries with follow up: </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="color: #999999;"><i>If President Trump is ever found to have committed crimes or enrichment against U.S. interests will you seek to rally and get behind a 25th Amendment remedy? </i></span></b></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">09.18.2017 Update: </span><br />
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This sums up Pence issue clearly. He knows Trump is ill-equipped to run the country but pretends he doesn't which is not only <i>fraudulently authentic</i> it is a danger to our country:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SJW2YVArI9M?start=510" width="560"></iframe>Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-81098326672898662452017-03-22T15:18:00.000-05:002017-03-22T15:19:29.967-05:00Beyond Complicit Ivanka Is Now Explicit <div itemprop="video" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/VideoObject">
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The SNL sketch was biting and brilliant but already too mild for what is currently underway at the White House. Ivanka has been given mostly a pass because she seemed polished and polite and by golly who can fault a daughter for supporting her dear old dad?<br />
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Not anymore!<br />
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The First Daughter it turns out has been participating in some <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/13/donald-trumps-worst-deal" target="_blank">shady business deals</a> connected with her father for years. And as smoothly as her introduction speech went at the RNC it is time to stop giving her a pass. She has now stepped literally and figuratively <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/03/21/520965076/ivanka-trumps-move-to-the-white-house-raises-questions-about-ethics" target="_blank">into this administration</a>, with or without a title, and is now directly linked to this presidency.<br />
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Today she is beyond passively complicit, her participation is now clearly <i><b>explicit</b></i>.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span data-dobid="hdw">exยทplicยทit</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">stated clearly and in detail, leaving no room for confusion or doubt</span><br />
<table class="vk_tbl vk_gy" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><tbody>
<tr><td class="lr_dct_nyms_ttl" style="font-style: italic; padding: 0px 3px 0px 0px; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">synonyms:</span></td><td style="padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">clear, plain, straightforward,</span> <span style="color: #999999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">crystal clear, easily understandable</span></td></tr>
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There is no longer any doubt where she stands and what power she has to influence her father. As if <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/.../donald-trump-jared-kushner-justice-department.html" target="_blank">her husband's appointment</a> wasn't enough, going forward they will not be able to simply brush off the ties to whatever policies and predicaments he now inflicts in his path.</div>
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There is still a small chance that she is jumping in to try and right this ship before it ruins our country and what's left of her name. We can give her an opening to try. But unless it's swift, transparent, and in the service of all Americans she will be giving up any leeway she has been given. </div>
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Country before party, profits, and paternal loyalty. We need a hero... and our climate, our healthcare, and our peace at home and abroad all depend on someone reining in this ridiculous circus before irreparable harm is done. </div>
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<i>Congratulations Ivanka, with your shiny new security clearance and West Wing office you now have no plausible deniability for whatever #45 gets the citizens of the U.S. and the world into. Please ask </i><i>yourself how you will want your daughter (and sons) to feel about what you and her father enable her grandfather to do to our country.</i></div>
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Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2305237253769197023.post-11328176129229987822016-11-11T08:10:00.000-06:002017-10-14T18:36:32.867-05:00Making Trump Great: Unite The OWL Council <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I am not fan of Donald Trump and was less than thrilled he is our new president... BUT, after my pity-party and reading this tweet:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N39SP4ZKJ3I/WCVo7KU5GrI/AAAAAAAACrg/YkRyYrxERCUdZw9unQJBXyzNiiPxtoHXgCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-11-11%2Bat%2B1.43.53%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N39SP4ZKJ3I/WCVo7KU5GrI/AAAAAAAACrg/YkRyYrxERCUdZw9unQJBXyzNiiPxtoHXgCLcB/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-11-11%2Bat%2B1.43.53%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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it struck me that the lesson and the legacy Obama instilled in us is to have HOPE. So in that vain I offer up The OWL Council (or The OWLs).<br />
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Two of the things that President Trump will have going for him is that he loves building and also loves entertaining and being around celebrities and people of importance. So let's expand on Uncle Rush's advice and surround him with the wisest, deepest, most honorable bench of advisors.<br />
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Since his win many have tweeted (yes, the times we live in) words of conciliatory congratulations, and although few leaders are brave enough he could do as one of our all time greatest presidents Lincoln did and surround himself with a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_of_Rivals" target="_blank">Team of Rivals</a>. <br />
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The OWLs would be a group of <b>O</b>mnes* <b>W</b>orld <b>L</b>eaders that would be assembled, say monthly, to offer President Trump a full range of views on important governing issues. Include the greatest experts on leadership and other specific topics (the economy, trade, business, education, climate) and have differing views discuss all points of debate with him. He would make the policy but would have a plethora of arguments flushed out instead of relying on only his cabinet and those who would seek to merely serve him.<br />
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The one thing Trump would like to do is succeed and be the greatest president <i>ever</i>. He is in office because people are tired of politicians same old way of doing business. Dividing our country further will serve no good for our country nor our citizens. We must give him this final opportunity to bring us together before we permanently end what makes us the <b><span style="color: blue;">UNITED</span><span style="color: red;"> States of America</span></b>.<br />
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I have many other thoughts on how to expand this idea, so as a patriotic citizen I offer my help to make President Trump's dream come true and make this country as <i>great</i> as it can possibly be. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(*Latin: for all) </span>Joyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16547778178373113962noreply@blogger.com