Category: family

Gonna be tough to top that

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He’s back! President Obama has his feet back under him and the State of the Union address he just delivered made it clear that he and the Democrats are on their game.

The President isn’t going to wait around for the Republicans to hold who knows how many pointless votes on policies and programs they can’t overturn. Instead, he will work with Democrats and any willing Republicans, and he’ll use Executive Orders to move our country forward on minimum wage increases, equal pay for equal work, world-class education for our country’s children, peace in the Middle East, keeping our troops at home, making the voting booth easily accessible for legal voters, and immigration reform.

Obama said we are building a stronger economy using renewable energy fuel resources. The President also told climate deniers to get out of the way.

Come on Mr President, put a cherry on top of tonight’s speech and say No to Keystone XL now.

I listened to Rep Cathy McMorris Rodgers deliver one of four responses to be offered up by the Republicans tonight (Tea Party darlings Sen Rand Paul and Mike Lee are responding too while Rep Ileana Ros-Lehtinen R-Florida will deliver remarks much like McMorris Rodger’s but in Spanish).

McMorris Rodgers touched on some of the points Obama raised like access to health care, jobs, and education, but she didn’t do much more than share some personal examples about how important those things are to her and her family.

And really, did the Republicans and McMorris Rodgers think they need to pander to women by asking a woman who just had a baby two months ago to deliver their flimsy response?

Women and people of color will be wooed and courted by Republicans and Democrats from now until the November elections are over. The President and Democrats came to the front door tonight with a huge bouquet of long stem roses, jewelry, and heated seats on the 50 yard line of this Sunday’s Super Bowl. The Republicans can’t decide on a team captain.

Does Rep Paul Broun think we need another Sandy Hook?

Who wouldn’t want to own a gun just like the one Adam Lanza used to mow down 20 children and six children during a school day? Senate hopeful Paul Broun is giving one away. Clearly the doctor thinks there aren’t enough shooting victims already.

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Friday, January 24, 2014

Former Gov Mike Huckabee is waving Todd Akin’s flag now. Will Georgia’s doctor-politicians Paul Broun, Phil Gingrey, and Tom Price sing the chorus on women’s inability to control our libidos, therefore forcing us to rely on government subsidized birth control? Robin Abcarian ticks through the Republican Party’s continued failure to woo women voters.

New filings by Cobb EMC member against co-op and settlement payouts covered in the Marietta Daily Journal

Rep Greg Morris wants SNAP recipients to take drug tests since they get state funds. State legislators get state funds without peeing in a cup. Courts have ruled against similar laws. This is a sure way to make sure children are hungry .

Growlers to Go bill would boost growing state’s brewery industry. (Plus adding spirits to wine?) Sen Burt Jones has filed SB 303 that also fast tracks referendum voting for dry cities and counties. Maggie Lee at Macon Telegraph covers this plus Georgia Democratic Party Chair DuBose Porter’s response to Rep Sharon Cooper suggestion to pull the plug on rural hospitals.

Twiggs County budget decisions include choosing an audit firm and one commissioner’s failure to recuse himself. This decision was made by the same people who opened a new library last year and closed it two weeks later due to budget problems.

A year’s worth of happiness

The Friday Photo
January 24, 2014

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I don’t keep a diary or journal. As 2012 was winding down a friend suggested collecting the high points throughout the course of the year, writing them down, and keeping them in a container. At the end of the year it could serve as a reminder of happy moments that were worth writing down. This is what my 2013 container looked like.

On January 3rd I recorded my first contribution for 2014: New Year’s Day with Brenda, Diana, Maia, and Karrie (close in my heart).

Rural Georgia needs to suck it up

Health professionals know minutes, 60 to be exact, matter following a stroke. For someone struggling to breathe during an asthma attack, or stopping the bleeding after an accident, or consumed by a mental health crisis, seconds matter. Minutes are too long.  State Representative Sharon Cooper, R-Marietta, should know this. She’s a registered nurse.

She also has the luxury of living in a metro county with a wealth of hospitals, four to be exact, according to the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce.

Cooper opposes the Affordable Care Act and the expansion of Medicaid funding, a critical financial piece for rural hospitals. Walking lockstep with Gov Deal and fellow state legislator Rep Jason Spencer, Nurse Cooper told WABE in Atlanta, “There are some of those rural hospitals that need to close.”

I guess we’re just spoiled out here in rural Georgia, expecting to have access to an Hospital_Rightemergency room without driving 20+ miles to get care. All 1 Million of us rural Georgians who were cared for in small rural hospitals last year just need to suck it up, buckle up, and floor it.

Who cares how far away the hospital is? It’s only time and miles.

Chevrolet downshifts on truck ad

I would include a link to the Chevrolet Silverado High Country pickup truck commercial I posted yesterday, but Chevrolet has put the brakes on the ad. Chevrolet replied to the comment and link I posted on their Facebook page yesterday saying they “paused” the ad (the same response was posted to other comments about the commercial).

I really don’t want offensive advertising to drive me away (no pun intended) from another Chevrolet purchase in the future. There is a Chevrolet Equinox in my driveway, and before that there was a Malibu.

My dealer, like many across the country, works hard to build good relationships with their customers. Chevrolet could best serve their dealers and vehicle owners with marketing that celebrates and respects our diversity.

Chevrolet gets it all wrong

I like to watch a good football game. Sunday I caught the end of the Broncos-Patriot game (go Peyton Manning) and then watched the entire 49ers-Seahawks game. My husband went to bed but I stuck with it until the trophy was presented (including that horrible interview between Pam Oliver and Jim Harbaugh).

The online world lit up after Chevrolet ran an ad several times during the games touting their High Country pickup truck. The truck looks like it is a thing of beauty, comfort, and performance.

http://youtu.be/GF0xHVpgRvg

The High Country isn’t built to appeal to people who like tofu, veggie burgers, and kale (and quinoa, based on the Chevy Trucks Facebook page).

Chevrolet said so.

Chevrolet thinks tofu is for women, as the macho truck driving man hands an attractive woman a recyclable  grocery bag while the voiceover says “tofu” (nice touch adding the eco-friendly bag). Ridiculing veggie burgers and kale salad were next on the menu.

But enough of that girly stuff. Chevrolet switches to football jersey wearing men tearing into the food Chevrolet thinks their truck owners eat: beef burgers and grilled chicken cooked over a fire. They close with a visual of the large covered smoker the truck pulled to the cookout, and say of tofu, veggie burgers, and kale, “be damned” (whew-that set off a firestorm of criticism).

The number of American farms owned and operated by women doubled between 1982-2007. The USDA reported in April of last year that 1 Million women are the primary and secondary operators of farms in our country, boosting our ranks to 30 percent of the farm owners in our country. The United Soybean Producers “Farmer Profiles” page includes two women among the five growers featured there.

I’ll bet somewhere on their farms those women have a pickup truck. Maybe a couple of them. I wonder if these women know High Country pickup truck drivers are not the kind of people who eat soybean based foods like tofu or veggie burgers, you know, “girl” foods.

Maybe during the Super Bowl in a couple of weeks Chevrolet will introduce a full size pickup truck that is only powered by renewable energy. In pink. With cup holders designed for yogurt containers and hummus. Because women deserve a “special for us” choice in pickup trucks too.

Today is about the man who ended the terror

I had a short post ready for today until my friend Amelia Shenstone posted this piece written by Hamden Rice. It is powerful. Read it and share.

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January 17, 2014

West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources can’t seem to get warnings right in regards to the coal chemical contamination that continues to leave citizens looking for a glass of fresh water. Georgians should be aware that neither our state’s Environmental Protection Division or Department of Community Health issued warnings about health risks during the largest fish kill in our state’s history on the Ogeechee River in May 2011. That was left up to the counties.

Speaking of unpermitted dumping and our rivers, U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood signed an order yesterday approving the settlement between the Ogeechee Riverkeeper and King America Finishing over the fish kill referenced above. The Savannah Morning News says, “Wood’s order ends that legal dispute while allowing King America to deny culpability.” A handful of private citizens are still pursuing the company in other legal action.

Week One and Republican legislators under the Gold Dome are considering giving Federal gun control the finger and with legislation that would provide a “hall pass” to violate laws and regs. Creative Loafing covers it.

The Peach Pundit said yesterday that a possible restoration of funds for “charity hospitals” in Georgia might be in the works. The Pundit wrote, “making sure that charity hospitals–especially in rural Georgia–don’t close due to lack of funding could complete the hat trick that lets Deal remain in the governor’s mansion for another four years.” Serving patients who require Medicaid does not make a facility a “charity hospital.” And FYI, hospitals in Atlanta, Athens, and Savannah are not rural hospitals. They may serve rural patients, but they are urban/metro providers.

Restoring the backbone of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 might happen with a bipartisan bill introduced by yesterday. And yes, it would apply to Georgia.

Tennis players and fans roasting on the barbie has re-ignited the climate debate since the polar vortex.

Testing, 1,2,3

I may be jumping on the bandwagon, but I am thinking about adding links to things that are worth a read and posting them here (some will also be Tweeted). With the Gold Dome buzzing again, there is a lot of ground to cover in addition to national politics and happenings (and I’m just one rural resident who needs another cup of coffee).

I can check the stats and see if people are visiting my site and clicking on links, but that may not tell me the full story. If you have a suggestion (or want to send me things to include) please comment below.

Here’s what I’ve read this morning:

Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Georgia House Rep Jason Carter delivered the Democrat’s response to Gov Deal’s State of the State and simultaneous campaign speech yesterday. Maureen Downey at the AJC covers it today.

Georgia Public Broadcasting covers state legislator interest in medical marijuana

Jim Galloway at the AJC”s Political Insider reports that Former EPD Director Harold Reheis was rescued from frigid water in Cobb County quarry (why didn’t Cobb county authorities want to identify him??)

We begin again

Another year comes to a close. I learned an awful lot in a year that I decided to be more fully present in, for myself, my family, and my friends.

It has been a good year for me (most of them are, having really cheated death at 25, and showing early stage cancer who’s the boss at 50).

In January I stood silently with strangers for marriage equality on a brilliantly sunny winter day. Seven months later in late afternoon July heat I stood for equality with my sister, nephews, and Guilford friends. In Washington I was proud to see a young man I met while he made his way though college lead Georgians in our country’s biggest climate action.

I didn’t paddle 12 rivers in 2013, but I did nine, and loved everyone one of them (including the weekend we chalked up three).

This year allowed me to stretch beyond the confines of fighting Plant Washington. I am no less passionate, but glad to have fewer sleepless nights as this project continues to wither.

And again, I circled back to welcome another year with women I have known and loved for decades.

I’ve got plenty to do as the New Year eases in. My middle-aged body will have to work harder to whittle away this season’s eggnog. Adequate sleep needs to be a priority (said she who is up after midnight, again for the second night). Less time in front of a monitor and more time reading is a priority.

It is a New Year. Be present and look for the good in it and each other.

At least 194

I don’t like guns. I’ve never fired one and I don’t care if I ever do.

I can appreciate the hand and eye coordination in shooting a target because some days I can barely thread a needle when wearing my readers.

I get the issues around hunting to provide food for families (Hunting is violent, but I don’t think Contained Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs, are any more humane than killing an animal with a single shot.)

What I don’t get is why AT LEAST 194 children have died in our country since Newtown. One hundred ninety-four. 10 x 19 +4.  AT LEAST that many.

We don’t keep good data on gun deaths and children, so 194 is on the conservative side. Why don’t we have uniform reporting on children who die because they are shot? Who doesn’t want us to know how many children are dying because of guns in the country we say is the greatest in the world?

A year ago today we were stunned into silence as a nation while we waited for the students and teachers to emerge from Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Yesterday we waited for the body count at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado.

Shame on us for waiting to learn the body count at another school shooting.

Shame on us.

It took 10 years to get the Brady Bill passed after Jim Brady and Ronald Reagan were shot. 10 years.

Using the conservative data we have, are we willing, as Americans, to let 1,940 more children die while the NRA, the members of Congress that they own, chest-thumping state’s rights legislators, and gun waving citizens, prevent background checks and bans on assault weapons?

I am asking my fellow rural Americans who own guns and think enough children have died just since Newtown to do something about it.

The next time you buy bullets for hunting, put 194 individual bullets on the counter.

194 bullets

Ask the people standing there with you if they think 194 children shot and killed since Newtown is enough. Ask them why we need to be able to buy assault weapons and rigorous background checks aren’t the law. If they say “because of the Second Amendment,” ask them about the last time their home was invaded by an entire Army division. Owning an assault weapon is over-kill. No pun intended.

If you think speaking up for gun control isn’t “your thing,” ask any one of the 194 families who won’t open birthday presents with their daughter, son, sister, or brother, in 2014, why speaking up shouldn’t be “your thing.”

They can give you one reason why you should.

Black Friday belongs on Friday

I’ve posted this before, but revisited it too late the night before Thanksgiving. In hunting up a current link, I learned that the director, Gary Weis, spent most of his time filming at Kennedy in an international concourse, betting that people arriving from such long distances would be emotional. He said the woman holding flowers hadn’t seen her sister in 25 years.

Can’t we take a break at least on Thanksgiving to be thankful for what we already have, and who matters in our lives? http://garyweis.com/snl/snl.html

When upside down is straight up

The Friday Photo
November 22, 2013
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Decades ago my mother-in-law taught me her trick for storing multiples: the upside container means another one is already open.

Jo’s memory is upside down and sideways now, but her keen idea is straight up.

As we gather around the table

Who’s coming to Thanksgiving and what will you serve? Two keen pieces on families and Thanksgiving (FYI Sullivan uses strong language in his post. He’s spot on).

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The perfect argument for higher minimum wages captured in one photo.

And Andrew Sullivan on the Cheney sisters, “Christian compassion,” and equality.

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