The Future Well Being Of Our Planet…
Posted by Michelle Moquin on December 29th, 2009
I received an e-mail from Organizing For America (OFA) yesterday, asking me to give them feedback by filling out a short survey. Did any of you receive this?
One of the questions they asked was, “What other issues would you like OFA to work on?” ‘Oh…I am so happy you asked.’ This was my answer:
Women’s issues, specifically in Darfur, the Congo, Iraq, Iran, and any other country that supports the plight of women. I feel that we should pull out of doing any business with any country that abuses their women and girls. By buying oil from Iraq, we as a country, are saying that we are okay with the fact that they rape and abuse their females…that we are okay with the fact that they treat their females as second class slaves. I find this unacceptable.
If we truly want to change the world we must change how women are treated in this world. Women and girls suffer daily because we help support countries that abuse them. And the only way to drastically make women’s lives better is to make a drastic change in how we do business with these countries.
We must stand up for these women…we must tell these countries that we will no longer do business with them until they treat their women as equals, and give them the same rights as men. We have to give the men ‘no choice’ but to comply.
The lives of women will not only profoundly change but so will our world. The minds and talent of girls around the world will be able to thrive and grow. It will be amazing what they will be able to offer this world, that they presently can not, because they are nothing more than slaves to men.
I wish for our president and OFA to take the plight of women and girls around the world more seriously and to take drastic steps. If we don’t take this stance, it will be a very long time before women in these countries will be free from their horrific plight.
I encourage you to fill out this survey if you get the opportunity and tell OFA what issue(s) you would like them to work on.
In the mean time, women and girls around the world are still suffering. I receieved the following e-mail. Once again, can we all send a few dollars to help?
Dear Michelle,
All the talk of progress in Sudan masks a horrific truth: Unprecedented levels of rape and sexual violence threaten women and girls on a daily basis.
Next year’s elections could spark more instability and violence, and our contacts inside Darfur and Sudan tell us women and girls may pay the highest price.
Save Darfur works directly with activists like Niemat Ahmadi to monitor events on the ground and get information.
Niemat told me, “The enemies are everywhere, the terror is unrelenting, and the tragedy of these awful years has fallen especially heavily on both the women of Darfur—and, with more horror than my words could possibly convey—the girls.”
In the weeks leading up to Sudan’s first elections in over 24 years, we urgently need your help to speak up for the women and girls of Darfur. Your donation will give Save Darfur the resources we need to:
- Give activists on the ground a megaphone so that their voices cannot be ignored;
- Petition, rally, and lobby the U.S. government and the United Nations to increase peacekeeping forces in Darfur, to help protect the millions of women and girls there;
- Develop and distribute reports and benchmarks for fair elections in Sudan; and
- Pressure the world to isolate and ultimately arrest indicted war criminal Sudanese President Bashir.
Donate now so that we can be that megaphone the people of Darfur and all of Sudan so desperately need.
https://donate.savedarfur.org/08/electionsnd
Niemat wanted to make sure I told you—your efforts are working. She talks of the indictment of President Bashir, of the global pressure on his regime, and of the increased number of UNAMID peacekeepers in the region.
But then she says, “These are not the greatest measure of your impact. Hope is. That is the gift you are giving to the women and girls of Darfur.”
Don’t let these women and girls down.
Please make a generous contribution to support this movement today.
On behalf of Niemat and the rest of the amazing activists whose outreach your donations are supporting—thank you for standing by Save Darfur at this critical moment in our fight for peace.
My best,
Jerry Fowler
President, Save Darfur Coalition
Readers: Thanks again for all that you do. I’ll end my write with this beautiful quote:
As the Dalai Lama has affirmed:
“The future well being of our planet rests
in the empowered hands and compassionate hearts of its women!”
*********
Hi Zen Lill: Nice to hear from you. Love the ‘self talk’. Yes when you’re in the midst of it, it certainly can feel like someone else has stepped in and taken over. Thankfully I have no physical PMS symptoms – did when I was way younger but not at all now. I am grateful for that.
In regards to the abs, I agree with you. It’s nice having a flat strong stomach – I mean Pilates is all about building the core…and toned arms are great for opening jars, etc :). The exercise physiologist (EP) was speaking strictly in terms of building the ‘percentage of muscle mass’, when looking at your overall body and body fat percentage.
From what I understood, if you have a high percentage of body fat, say 30%, and you want to decrease it and turn it into muscle, increasing your percentage of muscle mass, those three muscle groups are the only ones that will increase the percentage of muscle mass. Your percentage of body fat and muscle mass is determined by this very high tech machine that while laying on it, scans your body calculating and reading your body fat and muscle mass. The ‘ol pinch of the skin body fat reader is way passé, so I was informed. Maybe I wasn’t clear before, so thanks for bringing it up. But again, do your own research as I know you do. :) Happy New Year if you don’t tune in!
Hi Larry: Have you written in before about you and June? Hmm seems to tweak my memory but maybe I am mistaken. It is a drag when something you want is not available. I knew people were having trouble posting but I didn’t know that you couldn’t even view my blog. Hmm..Anyway Happy New Year to the both of you too. It makes me smile knowing you read my blog together.
Jon: Thanks for your post. I have only been reading tidbit of this. But I agree with you. After flying last week, I was reminded just how much it isn’t working.
Peter & Anna: Hafa Adai. You need never worry if you are posting too much. I know how much your peeps rely on the info you post. Oh and Anna, on a side note, it does not surprise me that your letters were returned – hopefully I will receive the one without the return address – clever girl – let’s see if it works. I have yet to get to my PO Box to pick up my mail. When I do, I’ll let you know if I received it. Thank you.
Hi Ruth: I really miss it too when I don’t see comments from my readers. Whoever I am upsetting, - no big deal. I have powerful friends too. :) Thanks for posting your article on meds. Those stats about breaking the hip are scary and match up with what I learned last week from that EP that I mentioned.
So…How are you? I loved hearing that the girls had such a good ‘first’ Christmas. Made me smile when Evelyn mentioned that they were sure ‘Santa was a very nice man.’ Evelyn, you made me laugh over ‘the sampling of the goodies’ – love the relationship you two have. So…besides hanging out with the girls and feasting on english pudding, what are the plans for New Years?
Mary: Yeah I’m wondering. Can you blog us some info please?
Readers: I know I am posting late today but we were out late last night and I really wanted my beauty sleep, which means sleeping till 9 am. I was pretty prepared with my morning post but then I woke up and saw all of the comments, and I wanted to take a little bit more time today to address all of you since so many of you were able to read and blog.
Lastly, In regards to the health care bill…we all know that it isn’t perfect. But it is a start and many people who don’t have health care will now have it and those that have pre-existing conditions will no longer be denied covered. That in itself is incredible. I believe it is worthy of a thank you letter, don’t you? Do it.
~Thank you
Happy New Year To All Of You!
(just in case my blog becomes invisible again!)
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: Your Bad Ass Bitch Editor
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the ‘Donate’ button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my ‘Donate’ page)
December 29th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Hi Misch, I hear you in regards to BMI pinch an inch is waaaay passe’ hahaha…
While I was investigating osteoperosis prevention, weight training did come up as high on the list of ways to build muscle mass which is why I promote it, yoga and Pilates are great for the core and strengthening though and are all great in conjunction. I emphasize the weights also nc I see a lot of women at the gym who focus on cardio, spending 45-60 mins on eliptical or bike…it will slim down your ‘core’ area quicker than weights/cardio mix but the emphasis I make is on health, all else will follow – a pal asked me how I stay so thin when I do minimal cardio…bc overall I burn more calories from lifting and muscle mass weighs more yet is more compact in volume, bottomline: to me, less work, more payoff although some people consider lifting weights no matter the size a lot of work, it’s really not, burning an hour if cardio on a treadmill seems way more tedious to me : ) anyway, your points are taken and noted ; )
I’m working on some 2010 noteworthy points for all the healthy (and feeling the benefits) followers, going to be incorporating some mind/body/spirit fun and important stuff into the mix, key to following any life program Is mixing it up either in content or thought/intention and I’m on it ; ) variety US the spice of life after all : )
I’m so glad and grateful that I am always able to tune in here…your power broker pals must like me : ) tee hee…!
Catch you all later, time for tennis! Luv, Zen Lill
December 29th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Forgot to tell you that I loved this post and I love that you never forget to keep women where they belong, up front and in your face – until the inequities are eradicated the world over and there’s no such thing as ‘womens rights’ and it’s just plain old ‘human rights’ being discussed it has to be this way, so thanks for being so vigilant in the quest. I love you for that and I’d guess that I’m not alone in the sentiment : ) Luv, ZL
December 30th, 2009 at 2:21 am
Michelle
I sent it to your home address I found on the web. I hope I wasn’t being too forward. I also hope it was the right one. I sent a DVD showing some of the highlights of Guam.
Hafa Adai
Anna
December 30th, 2009 at 2:45 am
I’m with you Michelle. I am so happy to have this bill passed. We went through 43 other ones and it didn’t happen. So this is a start. Like Social Security and Medicare, now we have something to improve upon.
The republicans were against those two bill when the dems were trying to get them passed. They used the same tactics to scare the people from accepting SS and Medicare Care.
Now most of those republicans are running around say “keep your government hands off my Medicare and SS, as if those two entities were started and being run by private enterprise.
I am constantly amazed at the ignorance of most of the supporters of the GOP. They are made up of people who like to quote cute catch phrases made up to make the quoter seem smarter than he is.
So these idiots run around saying their for “less government” as if they really know what that means or who will step in to replace the job the government does to protect its citizens from the power and corruption of big business and organized crime.
Who are these idiots? My husband used to be a republican until he lost 13 million dollars in the stock market. Now he raves about the government doing nothing to punish the “crooks” who stole his money.
I remind him those were the same “crooks” he wanted the government to give free reign to make him rich. He scowls at me and says I don’t understand finance.
I tell him I may not have the MBA he has from Princeton, but my BS from the the University of Kentucky tells me that if you allow a group of people unregulated access to trillions of dollars, they will steal as much as they figure they can get away with.
He has no answer because those unregulated people he wanted unregulated stole his money.
Fortunately, we are still very well off. But many of our friends have been financially ruined.
I remind him how worse it could have been if he had gotten his way and our SS had been invested in the stock market. He just shrugs.
What else can he do? Greed made him blind to common sense.
Sandra
December 30th, 2009 at 2:58 am
I don’t know why we have to have any troops in Japan either Mary. I am for the troops going to Afghanistan, but it still makes me sad to see our Guam sons and daughters heading that way.
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by Heather Hauswirth
Guam – Some forty-five men in the Guam Army National Guard are getting ready for war. The platoon is currently undergoing intense pre-mobilization training at the old Naval Housing Field in Barrigada. In less than two months time these men will be in Afghanistan as part of the president’s mission to beef up U.S. troop presence in 2010.
In order to adequately prepare for the intense high stress environment that these men are going to face in country in Afghanistan, it’s necessary that they undergo a series of drills and training. The drills they are undergoing right now have to do with how to properly execute a building search.
Sergeant Dennis Eber is no stranger to war. He himself is a Purple Heart recipient and having been deployed to Afghanistan before, his insight in the battle field is key for a training instructor. “Our training is designed to prepare the whole platoon pushing out, to prepare them to start working as teams and how to react to certain situations whether receiving small arms fire, indirect fire, or soldiers go down, how to evacuate that personnel, how to call in and utilize radio communications,” he said.
Specialist Jesse Muna was deployed once before to Afghanistan, but he says it doesn’t make it any easier. He will be leaving behind his four children. He takes his training seriously. “Every drill is essential we are making sure we are all ready to go out so we can come back home safe,” he said.
For Private First Class Clint Materne, just 24, this will be his very first deployment. “We are always reassured we are coming back home so we put that in our mind and we reassure our family’s we are coming back home and they are good back bone and support,” he said
These men will be gone for ten months to a year and leave for more intense training in the next few weeks before they push out to Afghanistan sometime in February.
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Anna
December 30th, 2009 at 3:00 am
Q: How can we tell if a charity we want to make donations to is legitimate?
A: To determine if a charity you want to make donations to is legitimate, check the IRS searchable database at http://www.irs.gov/charities/contributors/index.html, where you can find out if a charity is eligible to receive tax-deductible donations (click on “Search for Charities”).
For greater detail, check with Guidestar USA, Inc. (www.guidestar.org). This charity, founded in 1994, will show you (for free) a nonprofit organization’s actual tax filing (IRS Form 990).
A third helpful source is Charity Navigator (www.charitynavigator.org). Founded in 2001, it is the largest evaluator of charities, covering 5,300, but does not evaluate every charity registered with the IRS. Charity Navigator evaluates charities based on how much of their income goes to the actual charitable works, to administrative expenses and to fundraising, assigning them zero to four stars, four stars being tops.
I selected one of the four-star charities, Action Against Hunger-USA, and learned that 89.2% of its income goes to programs, 9.6% to administrative expenses and 1.1% for fundraising. The name and salary of the top executive is also given, as well as the charity’s mission statement and contact information.
Note: Not every dollar you give to a charity is tax deductible. Visit http://www.irs.gov/publications/p526/ar02.html#d0e589 for more information.
Our inside source: Nancy Dunnan, a New York City-based financial and travel adviser and author or coauthor of 25 books, including How to Invest $50-$5,000 (HarperCollins).
December 30th, 2009 at 3:04 am
Twas the night of Thanksgiving and out of the house
Tiger Woods came a flyin’, chased by his spouse.
She wielded a nine iron and wasn’t too merry,
Cause a bimbo’s phone number was in his Blackberry.
He’d been cheatin’ on Elin, and the story progressed.
Woman after woman stepped up and confessed.
He’d been cheatin’ with Holly, and Jaimee, and Cori,
With Joselyn, and Kalika. The world had the story.
From the top of the Tour to the basement of blues,
Tiger’s sad sordid tale was all over the news.
With hostesses, waitresses, he had lots of sex,
When not in their pants, he was sendin’ them texts.
Despite all his cryin’ and beggin’ and pleadin’,
Tiger’s wife went investin’ — a new home in Sweden.
And I heard her exclaim from her white Escalade,
“If you’re gettin’ laid then I’m gettin’ paid.”
She’s not pouting, in fact, she is of jolly good cheer,
Her prenup made Christmas come early this year.
December 30th, 2009 at 3:12 am
Michelle
Here is the start of the republican battle to take back the Senate. They have targeted Harry Reid.
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Fellow Conservative,
Harry Reid has sold out to the liberal special interests and used pork projects to buy the votes of Democrat Senators with our tax dollars. He’s spent millions of campaign dollars claiming to be the most powerful U.S. Senator in our state’s history. But he’s used that power to make taxpayers pay for abortions, raise the cost of health care, and dramatically increase our national debt.
Harry Reid knows I’m the proven conservative who can kick him out of the Senate. He’ll lose the power he covets and his ability to do any more damage to America’s taxpayers. I’m the proven conservative who beats him by ten percentage points and I’m the only conservative who according to recent polls would beat him with more than 50% of the vote!
With December 31st quickly approaching, we face our first major reporting deadline to send a clear message that the American people want to kick Harry Reid out of power. Will you join us in kicking Harry Reid out of the Senate by making your contribution of $50, $100, $250, $500 or more now, before the end of the quarter on December 31st?
I’m reaching out to you, because it’s essential we post the highest possible fundraising numbers. Harry Reid, the media and even the far left will look to our fourth quarter fundraising report to judge the strength of our opposition to Reid and his Democrat majority in Congress.
The government take over of health care is Harry Reid’s plan – and he is proud of it. But you and I both know that this radical, big government scheme will have terrible consequences on American families, and I guarantee you this bill will be Harry Reid’s “Waterloo.”
Thanks to Reid’s strong-arming and selling of pork projects, the Democrat majority in Congress is imposing a government take over of health care that will limit our ability to choose our doctors, decimate the quality of our health care, astronomically raise our taxes and force taxpayers to help pay for abortions.
Unseating the liberal Senate Majority Leader will not be easy. Harry Reid has proven time and again that he’s not afraid to take and spend liberal special interest money on his campaign. Make no mistake; the radical left will work hard to keep him in power.
We need to send a clear message with our December 31st reporting deadline that we want to kick Harry Reid out of power. Please follow this link immediately to contribute $50, $100, $250, $500 or more before midnight on December 31st.
Americans have had enough of Harry Reid’s selfish ways. Times are beyond tough, but Harry Reid has chosen to make passing the Congressional Democrat’s radical agenda into law his top priority instead of providing relief to America’s families.
We must kick Harry Reid out of the Senate! If I am fortunate enough to be elected to the U.S. Senate, I will proudly work to defend life and prevent taxpayer dollars from being used to fund abortion. I will actively work to protect our 2nd Amendment rights. I will consistently vote against pork spending and will work to roll back the growth of government. I am opposed to any tax increases. Soon after announcing my candidacy I signed the Americans for Tax Reform pledge to not raise taxes.
December 31st marks our first major reporting deadline, and we need your financial support to post the strongest possible numbers. Please follow this link now to make a generous contribution before midnight on Thursday, December 31st.
Thank you in advance for your support, and have a happy New Year.
Sincerely,
Sue Lowden
P.S. As families celebrated the holiday season, Harry Reid and his Congressional Democrats have worked over time to impose their radical, government take over of health care on us. Join me in kicking Harry Reid out of the Senate by following this link now!
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The scare tactics are on full bore.
Mike
December 30th, 2009 at 3:22 am
LAUREN ZANDER: THE SECRET TO FACING THIS SCARY WORLD
We human beings are an insecure lot. We wish that we were more confident… that we could tell people what we really think… that we could ask for what we really want… that we could get ourselves to do something important, however much it frightens us. Life coach and regular Daily Health News contributor Lauren Zander says people often ask her how to deal with their insecurity. They wonder how to overcome the fears they bump up against whenever they think about what they truly want from life. The answer, she says, is simple and involves just a single element. Once they get it, people can conquer their fears and experience unshakeable self-confidence. “This comes from one place only — having personal integrity, which is complete trust in yourself to do what you say you will do,” says Lauren. “It seems counterintuitive that a fear of things external could be solved by trust in yourself, but it really is true.”
Many people mistakenly believe that integrity is based on their behavior with others, that it means following through if they tell another person that they’re going to do something. But personal integrity is really about taking internal responsibility for all your decisions — not simply doing what your boss says… or taking a stand because you’re a board member… or staying on the straight and narrow path because you don’t want to get into trouble. These are obligations and forms of outer responsibility, says Lauren. When it comes to themselves, people will say they keep their promises but then will have a list of reasons why they can’t eat right, exercise, be patient with family members and so on. “Hanging on to beliefs about why you can’t keep promises to yourself enables you to think you have integrity,” says Lauren. “But,” she points out ” your soul always knows the truth.” The more often your soul watches as you fail to keep promises to yourself, the more insecure you will feel about your world in general.
“Every day that you fail to do what you should — just for yourself — eats away at your self-confidence and respect and erodes one of the most important elements in life, your personal integrity,” says Lauren. On the flip side, “People who learn to keep a promise to themselves — no matter what it is — have the power to change anything in their life, because they know they can trust themselves to do it,” she says.
THE ROAD TO REAL INTEGRITY
A first step is to consider the primary areas of your life (your health, your career, how you manage your finances, relationships with family, friends and your significant other) and evaluate whether your life is everything that you want it to be in each area. You may have an integrity issue in the parts of your life that don’t measure up. The danger here is in not being completely honest, brushing aside situations you consider tolerable rather than identifying them as broken. For instance, you might accept the body that is “okay” instead of trim and healthy… the relationship that’s fine but not great… the job you can barely endure but “need” to pay the bills but that dooms you to a life of mediocrity. Wouldn’t you rather have the confidence to bring about change? This is how greatness happens.
After you have evaluated five or so major areas of your life, pick one that is really troubling and address it. This will be the start of learning that you can make promises… keep promises… and make a difference in your life. You might decide to stop complaining about your inability to save money and start depositing a few dollars each week in a special account… or decide to eliminate sugar completely from your diet. Start with small steps that are concrete and achievable, as even small achievements can make a big difference.
Next, tell at least one person you are close to about what you are doing and for how long — this is “practice” for keeping a promise to yourself. “Assign a consequence,” urges Lauren. “Perhaps for every minute you’re late, you pay the person you leave waiting a dollar, or even a dime.” It’s not about making it painfully expensive, but rather to help you to stay focused on your commitment to your promise and to teach yourself to stop making excuses. The consequence makes you focus every time you keep or break the promise, so you quickly realize how your excuses have gotten in your way — telling yourself you need sleep more than exercise today, for instance, or blaming traffic for making you late again. Lauren gets tough with clients who complain that it’s impossible to keep a promise, taunting them that if they were paid $1 million to accomplish the task, they’d likely find a way.
“We all need to realize that we do have the power to keep our promises,” says Lauren. As you stay the course, day after day, your mental drama will begin to quiet down and good feelings about yourself will arise. “You will experience the pride of having personal integrity and realize what a great asset in life this is… there is no better feeling in the world than respecting yourself,” says Lauren.
THE NEXT STEP
Now that you know this about yourself, Lauren says it is time to decide how to use the knowledge. In what areas of your life are you being fearful? What have you not addressed that could, in fact, be improved or changed?
“If you don’t ever experience fear, you need to ask if you are really going after things that matter to you,” says Lauren. She advises that you take a deep look into your life to identify issues and challenges that you have never really conquered — for example, your ability to be truly intimate with others or to actively pursue advancement in your career instead of waiting for someone to promote you. Such areas are fabulous opportunities to see where your excuses have been holding you back. Make yourself a promise — or two — about new and different behaviors and then watch how it lifts your life to a higher and far more satisfying level.
Lauren invites Daily Health News readers who rise to the personal integrity challenge to email the results they create for themselves. Send them to HandelGroup (click on “Get in Touch” at http://www.handelgroup.com) where the staff will select a winner for a free coaching session with Lauren.
Source(s):
Lauren Zander, cofounder and chairman, Handel Group, http://www.handelgroup.com.