Thirsty much?

Now we know why Rubio was so parched during his rebuttal speech!

PAPAL SECURITIES

SNL NAILED IT!

Effing Wal Mart

Just in case someone is pissed off about being charged for paper bags, or having to pay a buck for a reusable bag, the bottom of the sign says

Please leave guns & ammo you want to return, in your car. 

What lucky, low paid employee gets to go out to the parking lot for the gun/ammo return??

Sure, use the new ordinance to hit up customers for another nickel. 

Yet Tree Hugger writes this:

They will be on sale to the public at the price of $1, and Wal-Mart will apparently be taking them back for recycling when they reach the end of their useful life. We haven't heard anything about the company giving incentives for customers to reuse them, nor disincentives for the use of disposables, both of which would be further steps in the right direction. However, we are pleased to see yet another sign of the giant trying to reduce its footprint. Of course we should probably point out that however green Wal-Mart becomes, consumerism is likely to come with a significant environmental impact for some time to come. With this in mind, the fewer times a shopper fills up that bag in the first place, the greener they will be — but when the need does arise to shop, whether at Wal-Mart or elsewhere, we hope the public will use this new tote and use it well.

Another write up:

"All are black, 100% recyclable, and are made from 85% recycled materials.

The tags state that each bag is made from approximately 4 plastic soda bottles and can replace 50 shopping bags. The claim is that they can carry the same weight as 2-3 plastic bags.

An article from Sustainable is Good states that Wal-Mart will take these bags back for recycling at the end of their lifespan. 

At Wal-Mart the rotating bag-holder was not designed for reusable bags, and there really is no room for the cashier to put them elsewhere to load them.

My particular cashier had some previous experience with filling reusable bags at the check stand, so she did manage to work out a way to fill them without too much trouble, but it was more time-consuming than using their plastic bags, and it was a hassle for the cashier."

The local town forced the no plastic bag mandate, so Walmart is not getting "green" credit here-- the green they are going for is to either charge you for paper bags or get you to buy another thing.  

Don't feed the bag monsters!

GANDHI

State of the Union

They say a picture says 1000 words....
John "Photo Bomb" Boehner was disrespectful from the very beginning of the State of the Union speech. Starting with the President handing both Joe Biden & John Boehner copies of the speech in a large manila envelope, Biden opened his, & Boehner tossed his aside, unopened.
A friend mused, if there were a shredder there, he would have shredded it!
Boehner was "representing" the party of no by sitting there making faces during the whole speech.
He even chose to not stand when the President said he would make sure the troops who risked their lives, got the medical care they needed, when they returned home. Here in the US of A, the one thing politicians do agree on, are things military in nature-- but certainly "Supporting the Troops", is almost universally both accepted & required (if only in symbolism w the placing of wreaths, saluting of the troops, and other lip service)... John Boehner did not even stand to applaud that sentiment.
Joe Biden looked like he wanted to punch out Boehner after that round.
It is clear that JB represents the menacing attitude of the GOP. Sore losers, having to get up & say we now support immigration reform, if simply because, "they need the votes". Old John McCain got up & stated that one right out loud. No realization of the struggle & conflict, just that they need to win elections & can't ignore that demographic. Heartwarming, Eh?
We can expect more of the same, since the sore losers will turn up the "no". But this time rather than wasting time bending over backwards, President Obama said he will start to use the Executive Order route to get things done. Meanwhile Chuck Hagel's nomination/confirmation process for secretary-of-defense) (he's a republican!) is being filibustered.
"Let’s put this in perspective—Republicans decided to filibuster a Republican secretary-of-defense nominee, someone Mitch McConnell once called one of the most respected foreign-policy voices in the Senate, someone John McCain said would make an excellent secretary of state."

 John McCain, the defeated presidential candidate who boldly sang this song while campaigning for president...

Simply put, the State of the Union is a mess.

Are you ready?

Disaster preparedness. Sounds so *doom & gloomy*, but truth be known, shit happens. It often happens to people who say, "nothing like this never happened here before."
It could be a severe storm, high winds, freezing rains that bring down trees, power knocked out. Then there is flooding, hurricanes, tornados, earthquake, wildfire, pandemic, tsunami- you name it.
The truth of the matter is they recommend you have a 3 day supply of  stuff- everything from food & one gallon of water per person, per day. We've had flashlights, & first aid stuff & other various things, but never all together in a tote/ kit.

The reality of the matter is that the disasters we've witnessed in the last few years, have not been able to get help to people in 3 days. Therefore you need to be prepared to be "self contained" for a longer period of time. 

I went to a disaster preparedness class- it was taught by an EMT & Certified Emergency Response volunteer. They were not selling anything, and only trying to get people to take preparedness seriously.
We live within the Ring of Fire-- & overdue for an Earthquake. We don't have side by side plates like California, ours are shelves out in the ocean, and will be a vertical drop, theoretically more damaging.

In any case, I am inspired & I hope to inspire you & you are inspired to pass it on to others.

So much easier to get a stash of water jugs stockpiled when there is not a mid disaster frenzy going on.
Make your own really good first aid kit. Start stashing no cook foods & other things like power bars so if you had to get along without power or water... what would you need?

There is a ton of good info about emergency preparedness on You Tube & other lists & resources on the web, including the Red Cross.

I don't want to be the person waiting for the Disaster Relief truck to rely on them saving & helping me.
Of all the stuff we spend $ on, putting together an emergency kit, can literally save your life.
Disasters happen. Be ready. I've been procrastinating for a long time, I had some stuff, but it was scattered around in the house. I finally put together a kit & still working on other odds & ends.

The CDC has some good info... I'll post more links later.

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/

Rockin' thrift shops (NSFW)

NSFW= Not safe for work, Language warning

But hey nice to see/hear kids saying they are not getting ripped off by brand name new clothes...
check out the thrift store-- it's #@$@ing awesome...

Harry Belafonte's Kick ass speech

WOW! Harry Belafonte was presented with the Spingarn Medal Award (awarded annually by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for outstanding achievement by an African American.) for his achievements, and dedicated the time to make this statement about Black America today.

After his speech, Jamie Foxx won an award & he got up & said he had written something to say, but after hearing Belafonte's words, none of that matters. What Bealfonte said sheds light on what it is he needs to be working on. Talk about a speech with serious impact!

Veteran singer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte has weighed in on the debate over gun violence, chastising fellow black Americans for failing to speak out on the issue.

Belafonte, 85, whose singing career helped popularise calypso music, was receiving an NAACP Image Award at a ceremony in Los Angeles on Friday night, and used the opportunity to launch an impassioned appeal.

From Harry Belafonte‘s speech at the 2013 NAACP Image Awards:

“Let me start off first saying, thank you to the N. A. A. C. P. and Ben Jealous, for the work you do, the path you’re forging for us in these troubled times. The group most devastated by America’s obsession with the gun, is African Americans. Although making comparisons can be dangerous, there are times when they must be noted. America has the latest prison population in the world. And of the over 2 million men, women, and children who make up the incarcerated, the overwhelming majority is black. We are the most unemployed, the most caught in the unjust systems of justice, and in the gun game, we are the most hunted. The river of blood that washes the streets of our nation flows mostly from the bodies of our black children. Yet, as the great debate emerges on the question of the gun, white America discusses the constitutional issue of ownership, while no one speaks of the consequences of our racial carnage. (Applause)
The question is, where is the raised voice of black America? Why are we mute? Where are (Applause) Where are our leaders? Our legislators? Where is the Church? (Applause)

Not all, but many have been the recipients of this distinguished award. Many were men and women who spoke up to remedy the ills of the nation. They were committed to radical thought. They were my mentors, my inspiration, my moral compass. Through them I understood America’s greatness, Dr. W.E.B. Dubois, Martin Luther King Jr., Eleanor Roosevelt, and others like Fannie Lou Hammer, Ella Baker, Bobby Kennedy, Condi Rice and perhaps most important for me, Paul Robeson.

He was the sparrow. He was an artist who made us understand the depth of that calling, when he said, “Artists are the gatekeepers of truth. We are civilization’s radical voice.”

Never in the history of Black America, has they ever been such a harvest of truly gifted and powerful artists as we witness today,  yet our nation hungers for their radical song. 

 Let us not sit back silently.

 Let us not be charged with patriotic treason. 

 I thank my friend Sidney Poitier for stepping to the plate. I promise you Sid, you’ll never have to do this again. 

 But, my congratulations to all those who are honored here tonight. And I’ll tell you, our kids, those who languish in the prisons of America, are waiting on us to change the system. Thank you.”

"What I find missing mostly in the American discourse is the rejection of radical thought," he said, in a previous speech. "They (national leaders) speak within the same dull space they inherited from past oppressors."

Belafonte eloquently delivered such powerful words and to use the time/spotlight he could have used to reminisce & name off those who helped him along the way in his singing career. No! He had the spotlight & he was going to use this time to be an activist.

He took on the roll of the wise grandfather of the Black Community, when he delivered this speech.
The band did not dare to "play him off the stage"- what he had to say was literally life & death important. This is one of those landmark, very important speeches.

His words captured my attention, in a jaw dropping, bring you to tears, MAN ! this guy is speaking cold hard truth, so well. 

I am in awe of his wisdom to seize the moment & use it to spark the community to work together & make meaningful changes. He deserved the Award Medal just for that speech alone!

SB commericals

A lot of duds this year, but thought this Hyundai commercial was funny:



Gangnam Style goes nuts



VW had their fun....




It was an interesting game for sure, right up till the last minute.

Interesting when they had the power outage.... I halfway expected the crews to say
Heck-of-a-job, Brownie- 8 years after Katrina & we are still waiting for FEMA to fix things around here!

Either that or what a moment for the Utility workers to decide to go on strike.
We want to discuss wages & work conditions.... we'll restore power to the super bowl after
negotiations.

Sorry Beyonce fans, the halftime show literally put me to sleep.

You could tell the honchos must have sent word to stop speculating that the outage gave either team an advantage. But then they went on to say "since the outage" about 10 more times.
Would have been funny for them to have to use a chalkboard for a scoreboard!

NFL Pioneer Days!