5 THINGS FOR WHICH 2010 SHOULD BE REMEMBERED

• January 21, 2010:  Supreme Court removes limits on Corporate, Labor Donations to campaigns.   In a stunning reversal of laws held for more than 100 years, a 5 to 4 Supreme Court decision changes the rules of free speech.  Read more here.
• Glenn Beck The fusion of television and enlightenment.  In other words, not to be believed by seriously thinking people.  He discusses civil unrest.as only Beck can deny realities.  He says the only people he trusts are in the military but that they are boxed in by the people having their hands on the power.  He says the media will demonize and glorify whom they want.
• The legacy of Larry Summers: 
  FOR two years the Obama Administration’s economic policy has been caricatured from the right as an invasive expansion of government and from the left as a cowardly capitulation to Wall Street free market fundamentalism.  How can it be both things at once? 
• Republicans force tax relief to be continued as tax cuts for the rich.  Now that tax cuts for the rich are extended, Coburn calls on the rich 'to sacrifice to a greater extent.
• Former Speaker Newt Gingrich gives a speech in Texas for the Institute of Policy Innovation.  for as full speech printout, click here.  Other great speeches were made by Christine O'Donnell, Sharron Angle
  
  This started out to be 10 things but as I began to think of people and things for the year, I realized that there was no way I could play in my own head for long.  There were just too many things that happened and no way to name it and them, all, in this blog.
  
  
  

VOICES OF VOTERS WHO BAND TOGETHER CAN HELP BRING SANITY BACK

Groups of firefighters made it known to their politicians that they would not be voting for them for re-election if they did not vote yes to the funding for the injured firemen and workers of 9/11.  The bill was then passed with sufficient Republicans voting in favor.

Voters should start to make their voices heard.  Votes are not the only way of being heard.  People now are writing blogs, tweeting, speaking opinions on Facebook as well as signing petitions.  Before those who think the only way to get their point across is with violence and guns, people power should be tried.  If you feel you have not a strong enough voice, support someone who is saying the things you believe in and would say if you had an audience to whom you might say what you mean.

People Power is about politics, about strategy and about social change. There is a Game of Social Resistance for those interested.  Click here. 

For an inspiring story about non-violent protest in 2005 in Kyrgyzstan,, click here.

ANTI-ABORTION LAWS TURNED UP BY STATES

It should be no surprise that abortion rights are being challenged in our country.  There are still

Southerners fighting the Civil War.  There is too much support for those unwilling to accept the votes of the majority or the reality of laws enacted which they don't wish to accept.  Lauren Kelley wrote an excellent updating article on AlterNet. To read this article, click here.

The ongoing tactic being used is erosion.  States are gradually making it more and more difficult for women to obtain an abortion.  For example, in Nebraska,one tactic was to move the  final limit in time for an abortion to 20 weeks, instead of the current 22-24 weeks limit, based when a birth would be viable.

In an article on the The History of the Abortion Law, a summary is stated as follows:: 

The single decision of seven, non-elected justices has defined federal abortion policy in the United States. It was a decision explicitly defended on the basis of ignorance, under the claim that "no one knows when life begins". Like slavery before it, abortion is now central to the lives of many Americans, but no matter what the social cost may be, when laws victimize the weak and vulnerable, it is time for the law to change. 

This country is being led by the ignorant  in too many areas, in my opinion.  As long as we have a voting majority pf people believing that Obama is not a citizen, that evolution is still only a 'theory', that homosexuals choose to be gay, that violence is the key to power, we will never be a strong and admired country again.  We have elected too many zealots for personal causes rather than to be representatives of their constituencies. Unfortunately some do not see their constituencies as the people who voted for them, but rather those who gave them campaign funding.

 

 

 

INTERESTING NEW METHOD TO STOP WOMEN FROM SMOKING

UK Researchers who are using morphing software to show women between the ages of 18 to 34 what they will later in life look like if they continue smoking are meeting with impressive success.  Telling a woman she will lose her beauty has never seemed to stop them before.  But, showing a woman what she will look like when her beauty is gone seems quite useful to make women consider smoking cessation.  For the full article, click here


Wrinkles develop as collagen disappears.  Vitamin C is used up as oxidants and other toxins pour in.  One article states:  "Smoker's face" occurs because toxins involved in the smoking process create a series of noticeable changes in skin complexion and colour. As the chemicals from cigarettes are absorbed into the bloodstream, they constrict the blood vessels, including the tiny capillaries located near the surface of the skin. The increased carbon monoxide produced by smoking reduces the amount of oxygen that is then circulated to areas of the skin. This means that even less oxygen and nutrients reach the skin through the constricted blood vessels. Combined with this is the capacity of direct exposure to cigarette smoke to irritate and dry-out skin. In the smoker's case, their skin's moisture levels may already be reduced because of the diuretic effect that nicotine has on the body."  .

Another article lists the following problems:  The most serious damage to skin is caused by:

• smoking restricts blood flow through the capillaries (tiny veins near the skins surface) preventing oxygen and nutrients getting to the skin
• smoking increases production of an enzyme which breaks down the supply of collagen to the skin’s structure. Collagen supply is vital to the skin’s elasticity. It decreases with age but smoking cigarettes accelerates this process.
• smoking reduces the body’s store of vitamin A which provides protection from skin damage
• smoking gets in the way of absorption of vitamin C – a vital antioxidant for skin protection and health
• smokers continual puckering from drawing on a cigarette and squinting in reaction to the cigarette smoke results in deeply wrinkled skin around the eyes and mouth – classic signs of ‘smoker’s face’

For this complete article, click here.  Statistics indicate that three times the number of women who smoke die of lung cancer than those who die of breast cancer.
One would think that knowledge about the health risks of smoking might be influential but denial is a very great source of comfort to abusers of their own bodies.

COUNTRIES AND INDIVIDUALS ARE ONLY AS GOOD AS THEIR WORD

It seems , relative to sanctions, The United States has behaved like any inconsistent parent who plays favorites and confuses the children totally on issues of trust.  The BBC, in an article stating the US sanctions are riddled with loopholes, puts the blame on lobbyists.."A New York Times report found evidence of US firms trading legally with blacklisted countries such as Iran.Loopholes and exemptions were exploited in a trade worth billions of dollars."  Furthermore, the NY Times goes on to say that in the last decade, more than ten thousand license to violate the sanction rules have been given due to lobbying groups. 

Written here, "At the behest of a host of companies — from Kraft Food and Pepsi to some of the nation’s largest banks — a little-known office of the Treasury Department has granted nearly 10,000 licenses for deals involving countries that have been cast into economic purgatory, beyond the reach of American business." Is there much more for this country to have to see revealed to know that the Republicans in the past administration did not have our country's best interest at heart, just as they do not at present with their demands for lowering taxes for the richest and the Robert's court allowing foreign corporations to influence our elections.

I grant that the Democrats cannot clean the Aegean stables in  only a couple of years, but it is time that perhaps the current administration take charge of this gross statement it is making to the rest of the world.

CHRISTMAS HAS COME AND GONE

I'm too satiated by good friends, family, gifts, food and cheer.  There is no better a day than to see my granddaughter expecting her little girl in a couple of months, her parents excited about becoming grandparents for the first time. Add to that a daughter happy with the man in her life, a grandson with a relatively new girlfriend we all like, and the kinship bond between two families when their children wed.  In all, the warmth in this group welcomed friends and, in all, had the wonderful time families are written about but don't often achieve.

It is sad to hear that the rest of the world is not as joyous, and one not cease one's own happiness to commiserate with those less fortunate.  After all, it is time to have warmth after many lean years, isn't it?

People will take some time to resolved their own feelings. For some the glow will go on for several days...for others, it cannot be forgotten soon enough.

May Christmas be what everyone wishes it to be next year.....