NYC Take Action – Call your Councilman or Woman

I’m hoping that City Council votes against term limits tomorrow!  Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island and Manhattan let your councilman know that this matters to you! Call or fax them!

So I called Councilman Gentile. I’ve know Mr. Gentile for a long time and he is a very respectable man. I’ve always seen him go above and beyond in our community. Mr. Gentile is voting for the referendum to let the vote on this matter.

Facebook Group – NYers Against Extending Term Limits – Come Join!

 You Tube Video – NYers are Against Extending Term Limits.

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NYC City Council

I hope the people in the NYC Council aren’t afraid to table the vote tomorrow on term limits. Our country has run on term limits for a reason. There are plenty of other wonderful women and men who want to run for Mayor. NYC is not a loss for qualified candidates for mayor.

*Remember, Bloomberg is a financial watchdog and has hired the best and brightest people’ there’s no reason thatWall Street should have fallen under his direction. Now he says that he wants to help Wall Street come back. The market will come back in time when it settles and self corrects. We didn’t let Rudy stay in a time when his leadership was needed. Please vote against term limits or just table the vote.

Bloomberg says he won’t run if this doesn’t go through. He doesn’t want NYC to vote on it.  C’mon City Council, do the right thing!

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Prayers Needs

So since you are here could you do me a favor and say a prayer for a young woman in Brooklyn.

I ran into a girl who attended the school where I work 10 years ago. I didn’t teach her, but I had seen her in the halls. She was always a very enthusiastic girl. She was a server at a Brooklyn restaurant and recognized me. I spoke with her for a bit about how the school used to be and answered her inquiries about teachers.  When she came to check on us, she told me about her life. Her ex-husband had punched in her teeth and she left him and came back to Brooklyn. Her four year old son was taken away by the social workers in PA. She wasn’t going to see her son until November 20th.

I told her that she should think about being a para or a teacher and returning to her old school. I told her that she has a second chance to put her life on track and get her son back.

I think she needs some prayers.  My heart breaks and I just wanted to take her home with me.

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Tom Golisano Woot!

Who’s Tom Golisano, you ask?

You can read about this billionaire and his political past here,  but the important thing to know is that he is calling for the City Council to vote against extending term limits. Way to go, Golisano!

I bet Mayor Bloomberg didn’t think he would be met with so much opposition on a third term. It’s time for a new beginning Mike. You’ve been a good mayor, but it’s time for someone else to take the reigns. Don’t worry, there qualified people here who can handle the job. Change is good!

Then there’s another knucklehead, Ronald Lauder who’s just making himself look foolish by flip-flopping on the law. Nice reporting by Robert W. Laird of the Daily News!

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Free Coffee at B&N Starbucks

Free Barnes & Noble/Starbucks latte, cappuccino, espresso, coffee or tea! http://tinyurl.com/freecap Good until 10/31http://tinyurl.com/freecap

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Pro-Reality…more than pro-life & pro-choice

I had a conversation about abortion with a some great thinkers last night. We came to the conclusion that there is a new group of people called Pro-Reality,  which is in between the pro-choice and pro-life standpoints. Now Christians (and pro-life friends), don’t get upset at me – hear me out and then please share your views. There are many people who don’t see this topic as just black and white.  There’s a shade of grey here.

• Pro-lifers believe conception starts at birth. Most of these people are also Catholics who are against using contraception and giving out contraception to teens.
• Pro-choice  are Roe v. Wade supporters and believe it’s a woman’s right to choose and that a fetus is not a child.

Then there are a group of us who we decided to called Pro-Reality.  The Pro-Reality group isn’t just liberal people reinterpreting Biblical law.  Many of the people in this group are Catholics and Christians. Many who have children understand that they have a responsibility to teach their teen children about relationships and that a condom is necessary if someone is engaging in a sexual relationship. Sex before marriage is a reality in today’s world. Many Catholics will argue and say that we need to teach abstinence and although I would love to live in that bubble and agree with them, I know the reality of life.

Pro-Reality supporters are also people who will show their children pictures of what an abortion looks like. Seeing an aborted fetus is part of the Reality – there is no doubt that a fetus is a child when you see pictures or video of it. No one would want to have an abortion after seeing the results of an abortion. If you have never seen an aborted fetus, you could go to You Tube and search for ‘the hard truth’.

So although Pro-Reality supporters looks very liberal supporting pro-choice, Roe v. Wade and Obama, we are actually individuals who have done a lot of thinking and praying in our choice. Strong Catholics/Christians will tell us we are sinners and are go to burn in hell. But before you thump the Bible at us, think about….maybe we are just the type of people who will help bring about change in society.

FOCA (the Freedom of Choice Act also called H.R. 1964 – ya know I love the law) is one of the biggest problems in this election. Obama says that he will pass it and pro-lifers point out that every restriction on the abortion will be removed. Most importantly certain late term abortions will be allowed. Pro-Reality supporters are against this and hope that another regulation will be put in place to stop late term abortions, as well as protect surviving aborted fetuses (By the way, no one is pro-abortion and most people support this).  There will also be a repeal of the Hyde Amendment which will allow federal funding for abortion. This of course, angers Pro-lifers because their tax money is going towards things that are against their beliefs.

As for me, personally I am pro-life, but I support every woman’s right to choose because I am not here to pass judgment or my religion on anyone. This makes me Pro-Reality.  My religious beliefs extend into many areas of my life. For example, as a Catholic, I am against divorce for myself, but as many Christians believe, if a marriage isn’t working out, then it’s okay to divorce. Christians believe that God understands that the marriage just didn’t work out.

Over a decade ago, I used to be a conservative. Many people who know me today would be surprised to hear this because I am pretty liberal these days.  Yet, back in the day I met Conservative writer, Kathryn Jean Lopez of the National Review (ulta conservative)  online. We were just teens then and she was just as fiesty back then as she is now. Back then, her views and mine were identical. Kathryn Jean Lopez says that Catholics can’t vote for Obama because of his views on abortion (Dr. John F. Kane has the answer for you Kathryn Jean) . For centuries, the Catholic Church didn’t support Darwin, but in the last few years, evolution has been accepted. God expects us to continously think and question prior thought.

I’m glad to Conservative Catholic law professor, Douglas W. Kmiec write about Catholics for Obama as the Pro-Reality movement is happening.  Catholic Online even allowed Kmiec to express his views at their site. (Disclaimer: Kmiec does not use the term Pro-Reality because that’s our word here in Brooklyn).

Topics: Politics | 6 Comments »

100,000 Support Our Next President

Amazing picture from the Huffington Post. Click on it to see a larger version – it’s amazing!

The current cover of the Huffington Post 100,000 come out in St. Louis to Support Barack. What a picture!

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Cronyism in Brooklyn?

From the Brooklyn Paper: “The Brooklyn Paper showed that Markowitz’s Best of Brooklyn reaped hefty contributions from Ratner; his company, Forest City Ratner; its executives; and subsidiaries. All told, the donations have been between $680,000 and $1 million since 2003 — the year Ratner unveiled Atlantic Yards, which has enjoyed unbending support from Markowitz.”

Sellout Brooklyn, much? Nice donations. People in Downtown Brooklyn were forced out of their homes and donations were collected.

BROOKLYN & NYC need new leadership!

Joe Chan, president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership must be wondering how he got himself involved in such a dishonorable position. I bet he didn’t know everyone was getting kickbacks and he is  just a pawn of their business.

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Justice for Nixzmary Brown in Brooklyn

Tonight in Brooklyn,  justice was served. Nixzmary Brown’s mother,  Nixzaliz Santiago,was found guilty. I am crying (see tonight I have some tears). These are tears of relief as I remember years ago, Hedda Nussbaum served no time in jail as she claimed Joel Steinberg abused and killed their six year old adopted daughter, Lisa Steinberg. Although,Nixzaliz didn’t get charged with murder, she did get charged with manslaughter.

Sammy Sanchez, Nixzaliz’s attorney said, “She did not do the same as Cesar. An angel, Nixzmary Brown, died and that was a tragedy and we feel terrible for all of the family. But Cesar was the true criminal.” Sammy Sanchez must have had a hard time defending Nixzaliz. For me, a mother who allows her child to be continuously beaten and sexually abused deserves more than life in prison.
On November 5th, Nixzaliz could be sentenced up to 33 years. I’m just relieved that Nixzaliz wasn’t able to get off for letting her daughter suffer for so many years.

Nixzmary’s Soldiers are a group of mothers who have rallied together to protect the rights of children and help end child abuse in NYC. On Sunday, October 19th, they will be having a rally in  Central Park from 11 – 4 pm and invite everyone to come and take a stand against child abuse.  Even Mayor Bloomberg is going to make an appearance at the rally. For more information click here.

** Another problem in the area of child abuse in NYC is  that teachers MUST report the child abuse AND the teacher’s name is then included in the report and the suspected child abuser has the teacher’s name.  As a mandated reporter, the teacher’s identity should not be in the report or shared with parents. Of course this wouldn’t hold me back from reporting abuse, but I am sure many teachers don’t want to be put in an uncomfortable situation with parents knowing that they reported them. Laws must be changed to help children.

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Pottery Barn Shopping Spree

We went to the Pottery Barn Friends and Family Sale and I spent a lot of money. Do I feel guilty? NOPE. I’ve been waiting for this sale for awhile and I stocked up. Everything is still in bags, but I’ll post pics soon :)

The sale goes on until Saturday (but you need a Friends and Family card which was given out in stores a few weeks ago).

Topics: Pottery Barn | 2 Comments »

Props to the Lord!

I have been having conflicting thoughts about some things lately. I have a situation with someone talking about me. Of course what they are saying is not true and the words said came back to me through several channels because people know me.

But it hurts to think that someone would have unkind words to say about ME.  I pretty much spend my days in a drama-free way, so this isn’t common for me.  I understand that my time here is limited so I do what I love and don’t spend time speaking about other people.

Unsure of what to do, I turned to Him for guidance. Normally I would cry, but there there wasn’t a tear shed. Maybe God knows how much I hate crying or maybe He just helped shield me from this situation. So props to God for whatever He is doing in my life.

If you have a moment, say a prayer that the woman with too many words stays out of my path for awhile. I think God  needs to send a bit more understanding to me before I see her.

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Walmart Needs New Marketing People

Recently, I have seen some hype on the blogs about 11 Moms that were choose to be Walmart Moms. I’m not really sure why anyone would want to be a Walmart Mom. I mean it’s Walmart, not Nordstroms. I think frumpy and acid washed blue jeans with the tapered legs when I think of the word Walmart.

I don’t mean this offensively to any of the Moms involved in the project. I have only shopped at Walmart twice in the last 20 years.  Once, I purchased a litter box with a door for my cat. Another time, I ran into Walmart during a vacation because I needed suntan lotion. So I don’t have that much experience with Walmart.

But I do have a lot of experience with Target and Kohls. Target is an amazing store where you can get just about anything. Kohls has housewares and  clothes for the family. Most of my friends without children go to Target and continue to go to Target after they have their kids.

Shouldn’t Walmart be targeting current Target customers? I mean if these Moms already go to Walmart, then no one needs to suggest to them to go. Walmart needs to get the untapped market of Target customers. When I do have kids, I assume I would just go to Target’s cute baby section and buy, buy, buy! And of course all of my Mom friends go to Kohl’s so I am sure that I would find myself in Kohls. But when I think of Walmart, I think of my friend saying the word and stressing the first syllable as Wallllllllllllmart, the way that someone would say something negative  like Durrrrrrrrrr.

And why do the Eleven Moms of Walmart almost all have the same hairdo?  Does Walmart make Moms all have the same bob type do?

Also several years ago, there was a lot of negativity around Walmart not providing health insurance for many workers. I think somehow the workers were scheduled to work just under a full time work week and therefore ineligible to receive health benefits.  I’m not sure if I have that correct and maybe Walmart has corrected that problem by now. But in NYC, many people talked about boycotting the store that wouldn’t provide health care and whose employees wouldn’t be able to afford it on their own.

Then there was the stories on some nightly show like 20/20 that most of Walmarts clothes were made in sweatshops (80%). But maybe Walmart has fixed that up by now to?  I mean these 11 Moms wouldn’t support a company that isn’t PC, right?

About the only thing about Walmart that interests me at the time is that they have a commitment to being green.  So I think that Walmart needs some new marketing people because

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