Small Things Count

Do you unwittingly donate to a hate group?  You can’t always tell by their names. Examples: Christian Revival Center, Free American, Israel United in Christ, Vineland Clothing, Family Research Council, and Insight USA.  These are among the 917 Hate Groups identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as currently active in our country.

To find out which ones operate in your state, look at the list of hate groups by state.

Identifying them is the first step. Not supporting them is the second step.  Eradicating them and all they stand for is the ultimate step.

Today’s Thursday Thought quote, although from the famous “Anonymous,” just struck me as a good way to live. Yes, it’s chance-taking, probably making us a little more vulnerable. Or is it just getting away from acting based mostly on what other people think? If enough people lived this way — imagine!

“Care more than others think necessary. Trust more than others think wise. Serve more than others think practical. Expect more than others think possible.”

Since the government is now taking more seriously unidentified crafts zipping and hovering in our skies, I thought this cartoon might be a timely warning:

Many of the flea-treatment products we buy for our pets, such as flea collars, contain tetrachlorvinphos (TCVP), a pesticide that can harm our pets and cause irreversible harm to a child’s brain development, increasing the risk of learning disabilities. The products are designed to leave behind chemical residue to kill fleas and ticks, so anyone that touches the pet—or any furniture that the pet has rubbed against—can absorb the dangerous neurotoxin through their skin or get it in their mouth. NRDC has convinced PetSmart and Petco to stop selling products containing TCVP—now it’s time to get these other major retailers on board. Send a message to the CEOs of Walmart and Target urging them to ​remove these dangerous products from their store shelves and website! [from the Natural Resources Defense Council].

Target and Walmart are still selling these products. Go to https://act.nrdc.org/letter/6003-tcvp-retail-210625?source=act_nrdcnewsletter&tkd=2263193&utm_source=newsletterneca&utm_medium=mainlinkca&utm_campaign=email&t=5&akid=15034%2E2263193%2EdZSeph and read the rest of the article. Then sign the petition to CEOs of Walmart and Target to get them to take these harmful products off of their shelves.

I woke today to a wonderful piece of news: Attorney General Garland has re-set a moratorium on federal executions. Under our previous administration, that moratorium was lifted after 20 years and 13 people (including the first woman to be executed in 70 years) had their death penalties carried out.

Garland’s reasoning is sound. He wants to take a good, hard look at why the poor and minorities are executed most often, at the chemicals and other aspects of the execution process, and at why so many people have been exonerated too late, after their death sentence has been carried out. These are not moral issues, debating whether or not death is a moral sentence — “eye for an eye” of the Old Testament was replaced by Jesus’ commandments and example. It’s very practical, and human.

I hope we get answers so that, should the death penalty be reinstated, it would be ONLY on the basis of fairness and surity of guilt.

We all do it. We try to do everything, be everything. The result is that we’re so busy and stressed that we’re no good to ourselves or those around us. Today’s Thursday Thought quote/picture is worth taping to our bathroom mirror so we can repeat it each morning.

I hear too much, see too much. From everyone. But it’s what’s coming from my fellow Christians that cuts deeply into me. We are so divided, divisive, dismissive, cruel, nasty, and unloving. We’ve tossed the teachings of Jesus out the window, replacing them with twisted versions and burying the idea of respecting and loving ourselves and spreading it to our neighbors. And why? WHY? Because of politics, of all things! I can’t help thinking that Jesus is even sadder than I am.

Your child or pet loves going “bye-bye” with you. You take them to the grocery store, lock the car for safety, roll the window down a little for air, and run in for a carton of milk. Two minutes, right? But then you remember a couple of other things you need (now up to 10 minutes), then run into a friend (now 20 minutes). Maybe a magazine catches your eye, or you read package labels to be sure the item is healthy. Without thinking, your 2-minute stop has become 30. Back in the car, what’s happening? How safe is your child or pet? Let this chart be an eye-opener for you.

Summer’s here. Start your garden by using orange-halves or half grapefruit skins to plant seeds in.  Keep moist.  When they’re ready, plant the seedlings, skins and all, into the ground.  The skins add nutrients to the soil

[For more easy, money-saving, Eco-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7000, choose a format, and download to your computer or e-book device. For a description of the book go to My Free Books).

I’m afraid that counting sheep never worked for me. My imagination allowed them to wander off so I had to go get them, therefore losing count. Or there was a cute lamb. Lots of distractions. So today’s Thursday Thought saying and picture solved my sleep problem and sent me off to dreamland with a smile.