We should all wear tee shirts like this…and mean it.
Archive for July 17, 2017
Can-You? Of Course!
All that good stuff–at farmers’ markets and in our own gardens. Wouldn’t it be nice to have it all year ’round? Believe it or not, there are easy ways to can those fruits and veggies. At the same time, you reduce greenhouse emissions, 1/5 of which are the result of food choices and the food industry.
Download the free “Canning for the Climate Kit” and get started today.
Think about it: free strawberries in November…Yum!
Are We Both Jerks?
July is National Cell Phone Courtesy Month. (Yes, there’s a Month for just about anything.) Anyone who has been rudely interrupted by people on their phones or been run into by a walker (or driver!) chatting on a phone or…well, you know…will appreciate this month.
But, wait. Maybe I’ve been guilty of being a cell-phone jerk, too. Have you? Probably, since we’re all human.
Anyway, the founder (in 2002) of this Month, Jacqueline Whitmore, has 7 simple ways for us to take ourselves out of such jerk-dom. Take a look.
I pledge to be better at this.
When Half-Way is Enough
Against my normally better judgment, I’ve been getting myself into heated discussions over what’s going on in the world and our country. As we “discuss,” I find myself stolidly sticking to my viewpoint. The result is that I don’t learn anything new, including why the other person rightly feels the way he does. That’s why today’s Thursday Thought quote hit home for me.
“The most important trip you may take in life is meeting people half way.” — Henry Boyle
Splish-Splash Gate
Is anyone else bothered by all the Trump brand water bottles at every seat during government meetings? They’re clear as, well, water, in pictures all over the media. I’m irritated by the fact that taxpayers are forced to buy a Trump product and that this product gets frequent, free, valuable advertising.
On the lighter side: There was Watergate, then Whitewater. Could this be Splish-Splash Gate? Consider President Trump’s normal demeanor in light of the lyrics to the old Bobby Darin song “Splish Spash.”
Lots of Jobs!
Great news, in case you missed it. U.S. jobs have been growing for 80 straight months! Good for our economy AND for many people struggling to find work.
Looks like the economists are right. Since 80 months = roughly 6 years under Obama and half a year under Trump, Presidents have little to do with job growth. Who cares who gets the credit? As long as more American workers are finding employment and their families are having improved quality of life!
Talk Trash and get Buff
This video shows how one man handles trash and gets fit at the same time.
The Family Budget as a Weapon
Here, in the middle of the year, many of us are reviewing our family budget to make sure we’re okay until January. This is a good time to take a close look, to see if our spending habits reflect what we say we believe. For example, I believe in human dignity, so shouldn’t I stop buying at that huge discount chain that has been in the news often for mistreating and intimidating their non-documented immigrant employees? I respect how hard local farmers work, so why not buy at farmers’ markets and through co-ops? I may have to pay a little more. But I can save money (and the environment) by walking or car-pooling sometimes. Or by exchanging one night out a month for a family-centered game-night in. I need to make my priorities clear to myself and to the stores and corporations I buy from. They notice how we spend our money. That makes our family budget a potential weapon of mass instruction!
Who’s at War?
There’s no such thing as a war between countries, as Francois Fenelon points out in today’s Thursday Thought quote:
| “All wars are civil wars because all men are brothers…Each one owes infinitely more to the human race than to the particular country in which he was born.” — François Fénelon |
Who Cares if They’re Veterans?
An estimated 8,000 non-citizen residents enlist in the U.S. military each year. Yet a number of these veterans each year are deported for offenses such as non-violent marijuana possession. Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva introduced a bill to allow “eligible deported veterans to permanently return to the United States as Lawful Permanent Residents eligible for naturalization.”
[Read the rest of this short Change.org article. Then sign their petition. Who cares about veterans who put their lives on the line to protect America? We do!