Sometimes the Media can be so insensitive...or is that all the time?

 

           So, the 50^th anniversary of former President John F. Kennedy’s assassination just passed on November 22 (original date was November 22, 1963 and the place was Dallas, Texas) and I feel as though the media took it way too far. I feel sorry for the family to have to watch them showing the actual video footage of President JKF being shot and dying over and over and over again. This is sad and I find it extremely sick and insensitive to the max. But that’s the media for you. If the intent was to educate, they could have placed more emphasis on the incredible thing she has done throughout his life and the impact he had on the civil rights era, which may have been why he was assassinated. I was in the grocery store yesterday and I passed the magazine rack where I saw one of the magazine covers had a front page heading the read... “Dig up JFK’s body NOW!” Here are some links to check out.....

·         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-LA0ypFXig

·         http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/14/us/jfk-assassination-5-things/

    
          The bottom line, yes I thinks it is very necessary to review something like the death of very remarkable former president such as JFK but, being considerate to the fact that this is a person who has been laid to rest and don't forget that he has family that feels some type of way about his death and the fact that he was murdered because of the difference he was trying to make. His daughter Caroline is still alive and she has three children and I'm sure they would have preferred not to watch those disturbing recordings of the assassination over and over again.

Are the undeniable problems in in U.S. Politics having an impact on our Christmas Shopping?

             Many in the media say...Yes, this is true! All of the recent political dysfunctions from the October 2013 government shut down and the potential continuance of disarray in the New Year is making Americans think twice how they will spend this Holiday season. Check out these links to articles I read regarding holiday sales and shopping behaviors this year....

·         http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2013/10/political-dysfunction-to-dull-consumer-holiday-spending-survey-says.html/

·         http://news.msn.com/us/record-crowds-over-weekend-but-spending-declined

I also took a look at this research study regarding shopping behaviors around the holidays and they have data from previous years to give you an idea of how Christmas shopping has been changing over time. I found this very interesting....

http://americanresearchgroup.com/holiday/

                I just think this is crazy and how Americans are scared to give during such a joyous and exciting time of the year. We love to invite family and friends to spend the holidays and fellowship, and travel to be with loved ones, and show our love through giving.....and all the chaos in our politics is having such a negative effect on all of our lives and households. Also, we don’t really know what to expect going into this new year, but what we can do is continue to enjoy the holiday season, time with our families and/or friends, and find other ways to celebrate to holidays than spending money. With that being said, staying informed in what’s happening in politics, even if you think something does not affect you....it probably does in some way. Budgeting does not have to be a bad thing, but we should not feel like we need to do this because our government is letting us down. Hopefully, the October 2013 “Washington Gridlock” will be an inspiration to finding a long term solution for government funding instead of short term methods of buying time and playing with peoples' paychecks.

 

Why did the Shutdown occur?

There was so much confusion surrounding why we had to enter the beginning of a potentially very devastating situation. When we 1^st entered into the shutdown, it took many of us by surprise because we knew this could possibly happen but did not think they (the GOP) would really do such a thing to the American people. However, they did...but why? According to the media, this was a game for the GOP to stop ObamaCare. Really? I was completely shocked...there was even a video that went viral with 2 of the GOP representatives plotting on how they were going to try to hold out and make it look like they wanted to compromise for the sake of the American people in order to hold out a little longer because they just knew they were so close to “win”.....so this really is a game to you?

Check out this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXhgE-lKxU4

                I was shocked and completely upset, because I was very worried that if they don’t stop playing, our state WIC program would be closed down as well and I would be out of a job until additional funded gets approved. I think this was a very stupid move for the GOP to make and they will pay when re-election time comes for reach of them...even the ones that wanted to speak up but didn’t. I totally get the fact that we need to find ways to get out of debt and try to phase out of government assistance programs because we really cannot afford to keep them running without going deeper and deeper into debt. However, to furlough hardworking Americans to prove a point and drag it out to very end is saddening and surely that was not the only option.

Check out this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fgol7V0_pg

Why would you shut down WIC????

SO WIC is being immediately effected by the Federal Government shut down...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/01/wic-shutting-down_n_4023284.html

This is so crazy and unreal...do you have any idea as to how many babies have no other way to get formula but through WIC? Too many and their moms may not have any other option  to feed their babies. I love my country, but I don't think we are going to be able to get out of this. They can postpone  and raise the debt ceiling , but we can barely pay the interest on what we owe the world. Therefore, we will be right back here and in a way worst position that we are not. We cannot keep borrowing, our dollar is not going to be as valuable as it has been. There is no where to get the money we need to live how we live here in the Unties States and we are already in too deep.

Yeah, there may be a plan put in place on Capital Hill to fund Federal programs for a little while longer, but what next? The United States is way past broke and I don't think there is anyway to reverse the damage at this point. The media is definitely keeping us posted, but they are leaving a lot of things out...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/30/reasons-government-shutdown-terrible_n_4019301.html?ir=Politics

The issues are so much deeper than what is televised, this is very scary :(

Is "zero-tolerance" in schools too much?

Here in the state of Georgia, there are a lot of schools in this area with the "zero-tolerance" stance on discipline in our schools and the idea that this is the best approach to keep students in line. However, these strict punishments that students receive when they break  a rule can be very unnecessary at times, for example:  http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/story/23561550/ga-lawmakers-seek-to-revisit-school-weapon-policy

The middle and high school I attended had "zero-tolerance" policies and  for the most part, they helped students think twice before they got into trouble. However, for a student to get suspended and receive failing grades on assignments he misses while on suspension is ridiculous. These policies do need revision and I am very glad to see that this has grabbed the attention of policy-makers.

Breastfeeding Rates on the Rise in the United States

              This means a great deal for our nation, because in the past the U.S. has had very low breastfeeding rates, in comparison to other countries, for a long time since back when formula was first created and introduced to the world back in 1867. This has had an impact on our infant mortality rates and how our babies receive basic nutrition. The Surgeon General’s call to action includes goals for supporting breastfeeding and ways to increase the breastfeeding initiation rates among postpartum moms and newborns in the United States. You can read more about the “Call to Action” by clicking on the link below:

http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/calls/breastfeeding/calltoactiontosupportbreastfeeding.pdf

Breastfeed infants are exposed to increased overall health benefits and this means a great deal for our government healthcare and supplemental nutrition programs such as Medicaid and WIC (Women, Infants, and Children). You can read more about these programs by clicking on the links below:

http://dph.georgia.gov/WIC

http://dch.georgia.gov/medicaid

 

 

Hi, just created my blog. So excited, but I really have no idea what I'm doing :(