Small Things Count

No matter what culture, a new year gives hope for a fresh start. So, on this Chinese New Year, I wish you a happy, prosperous new year filled with harmony and love.

As a child I loved Winnie the Pooh. Admittedly, I still do. For me, a Milne Pooh book always had a comforting story and a message, like today’s Thursday Thought.

Valentine’s Day is almost here and you don’t have a gift for your Special Person.  Why not choose a gift that says, “Let’s share our love!”  Present Sweetie with something that benefits a group or cause.  Many companies dedicate proceeds from the sale of certain products to fighting cancer, preventing domestic violence, or helping victims of disasters.   Others offer “fair trade” products–food items, for example, whose production has been overseen to ensure that workers have not been enslaved or mistreated.   Possible gifts include cosmetics, gloves, scarves, T-shirts, fitness aids (exercise mats, heart-rate monitor watch, etc.), lunch boxes, coffee, and chocolate.

You’re on the Internet anyway, so take a few minutes to do something to help the over 20 million adults and 13 million children in America who go hungry.  Go to www.freerice.com and have fun.  Another easy on-line anti-hunger task is to go to www.thebreastcancersite.com, click on “Click to Give,” then on the “Hunger” tab. For each click, sponsors of the sites donate food.   In fact, keep both sites’ addresses in an email to yourself, marked “unread,” so you remember to do it each day as you read your email.  You may find other such sites as you wander around cyberspace.  If so, be sure to let us know so we can pass them on to others.

If you’ve ever had a pet, you’ll understand this. You’ll remember the times they looked at you as though saying, “Go ahead and kick me–I’ll love you no matter what.” Of course, you didn’t kick them, but you didn’t always show your appreciation for their co-existing with humans.

It’s official. The Dakota Access pipeline is operating illegally without a key permit, making it (according to the Appeals Court) illegal.

Now, the Biden Administration must decide by February 10 whether to shut it down while the government does a court-ordered environmental review — or allow it to continue to operate illegally.

We have a chance for Biden to shut down this pipeline now while we wait for a robust review that could shut down the pipeline permanently, a pipeline that endangers the land, therefore the lives, of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Read more on the petition (click on “View full petition text”), then sign it. Do it TODAY, because there are only a few days left.

Sometimes a comic strip can give us a chuckle while reminding us of an important fact. Like this one.

Here’s your Thursday Thought for the day:

“It’s very hard to hate someone if you look them in the eye and recognize them as a human being.” —  Maya Angelou

I joined Facebook ‘way back when because I could keep up with news from family and friends in other locations. I could get a chuckle, learn something new, catch people up with my life…all sorts of fun things. Then Facebook became–well, you know. That’s why this appeals to me:

Wonder what all the hype is about, why there’s even a Black History Month? Who started it, anyway, and why do people think it’s important, let alone celebrate? The answers to these and other questions can be found in Black History Month Is for Everyone. Take a look.