Category Archives: politics

What will Martin County Become?

I moved here to Martin County six years ago. I literally was running away from Palm Beach County. The whole place was closing in on me. The people, the traffic, the constant building way, way out to the Everglades, the traffic.

I had driven up here for years for work. I even came up after one of the Hurricanes. I think it was Jeanne. I needed air conditioning. Everyone was so nice.

I drove up Dixie in Rio and always stopped to take a photo of Mrs Peters sign. I took video of the river and the sailboats.

I always felt special driving under the Jensen Arch.

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I loved it because it never changed. It always felt like old Florida to me. A  place where the people who lived here knew how to keep it special.

It must be filled with special people and I was right about that!

Then I moved here. People had kayaks and paddle boards and it reminded me of Boulder, Colorado where people drive around with Kayaks on the roof of their cars. A funky downtown with so much potential. An entire area with so much potential to be funky and fun.

Downtown Stuart with all it fun shops was a great place to tell people to meet me for lunch.

It never changed.

I could live here. I can breath here. People smile here. They are polite. They care about where they live. No one was driving up your rear end and yelling and giving you the finger.

In the last few years we have been polluted, multiple trains are coming and we have 200 sober homes here. People are being court ordered here for treatment. People that can be kicked out any time of their sober home to the streets. People are driving up my rear end and giving the finger when I pull over to let them go.

And don’t even start with the NIMBY stuff. I’ll save that for another day. There is a big difference between being a NIMBY and not wanted polluted gross water and junkies. I think that both go together.

A month ago there was someone shooting up heroin at the corner store. Some guy was upset because he had to pay for his gas with his weed money.

Many motels have been sold and now they are treatment centers. Let’s not talk about this or deal with it. Let’s wait until it’s really bad.

These treatment center are not for our neighbors but for people up north. Come to Florida. You can be a junkie here. Live in Florida. You get nothing. If you are over 65 and need alcohol or drug treatment through Medicare there is one choice and that choice will probably put you on a psychiatric unit with  a general population and not with the program you need.

The people in charge say there is nothing that can be done. That these homes ( and let me remind you that all a sober home is is a place where people live sober. Anything else is a treatment center and must be governed under Florida Law.) We are learning now that many of these places are just scams run by drug addicts or other scam artists to make money.

A scam in Florida can you believe it?

These places are not Switzerland. If there is something illegal going on there has to be a way to investigate. I think people are not thinking hard enough and they are being snowed.

The water I moved here for is unswimable. So many people I know have gotten sick. I cannot take my grandson or my dog there.

There seems to be no answer or any one taking responsibility for what Martin County is becoming. No one.

The junkies keep coming , the dirty water keeps coming and the trains are on the way.

Last year both our Representatives Gayle Harrell and Mary Lynn Magar refused to lift a finger to do the one thing that would have helped us. Millions of dollars are spent that will never make a difference. Someone is getting rich while we are still getting polluted. US.

We have been taxed in Martin County 75 million dollars to water storage so we don’t have to have discharges. Well that didn’t work. We begged for a reservoir with the water going south as mother nature put it in the first place. That didn’t happen.

In the election in 2006 ” The Palm Beach Post, which criticized Harrell for “too obediently” voting the party line and for having “so little clout in Tallahassee that she can’t protect her well-intentioned legislation from harmful amendments.”Ultimately, however, the conservative nature of the district proved too much for Ramos to overcome, and Harrell won re-election over him, scoring 54% of the vote to her opponent’s 46%

In 2008, The Palm Beach Post endorsed Fetterman over Harrell, praising the incumbent for closing a loophole that allowed sexual predators to avoid prosecution, and once again criticizing Harrell for her record in the legislature, where “she wasn’t known for bucking the GOP leadership.”However, Harrell was able to dispatch Fetterman with relative ease, regaining her seat and earning 56% of the vote to Fetterman’s 44%.”

We know she doesn’t buck the leadership. That’s why she refused to help her own constituents. She is also been conferring with people up north about the voluntary legislation regarding sober homes encouraging people to open them up down here as long as they do a voluntary sign up.

She should be asking herself: Why is everyone sending their junkies to Martin County?

She is no friend of ours and certainly not a friend of the water. She just had some kind of event. Invited all the Republicans , left everyone else out so she has no interest in being inclusive and getting anything done. It’s like  all the people that have worked so hard for the water don’t exist.

She should be fighting for us instead of cow-towing to the leadership in Tallahassee.

On Mary Lynn Magars Wikapedia page there is nothing. She said the same thing last year. She couldn’t so anything. I can’t find anything she has actually done. I must be wrong. How can this be true? Someone please tell me she has done something.

I say this because of our ( The train is the train and we have to wait for that one) pollution we are loosing our tourist base. We certainly have more people but those people are going to requires services we just don’t have for our people that live here.

In the last election we picked our clean water candidates. They were bipartisan and they reflected the people who understand the water and have the smarts and the know all to get this stuff done. They certainly would not have destroyed the water of South Florida, continued to allow Salt Water Intrusion, discharges and everything else because of their party and because of their ego.

Last year we painted and sent solidarity fish to multiple representatives and senators. The only one that answered was Thad Altman. Not Gayle, or MaryLynn Magar or even the Democrats answered us.

altman

 

Yesterday, I read an article about eviscerating our ability to get Florida Government Records.  No sunshine. Another bill was filed to override us saying we don’t want fracking. Who’s for  fracking raise your hands! Come on higher!

In the coming year we have some big decisions to make. I hope that one of them is not voting party lines but voting for keeping our Martin County a great place to live.

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We don’t need vindictiveness, stupid games, egos, grandstanding, and more of the same BS. We need to work together or else we’re gonna have a dead river and people shooting up heroin in all our corner stores. We need people that not only understand the issues but understand how to work together with people and are willing to to stand up to get things done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gathering Weekly Photo

Gathering

May 4th,2014 We had a funeral for the St Lucie River and the Indian River Lagoon which had been devastated by discharges from Lake Okeechobee.  Both turned green with poisonous green toxic algae. Our lives would never be the same again.

As a way to protest we held this funeral at Phipps Park which the park next to the the “Gates of Hell” where the water out and runs into the river and the lagoon.

DSC_0062

 

Here is a video that Brad Langel shot with his drone. There is a great shot of the St Lucie Locks that will be opened when Lake Okeechobee is too high. That’s when we get polluted with Lake water that destroys mostly because the fresh water hits the lagoon, changes the salinity of the water and kills everything including the oysters that my friends very lovingly place through out.

 

Here are a few other photos of the event.

 

 

Here is new’s cast.

Lessons learned from Phil Ochs

I wrote this a while back. Today is Phil’s Birthday. Happy Birthday Phil Ochs and thank you for all you and continue to do for us through your music.

cyndi lenz

Lessons learned from Phil Ochs

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I really never knew that much about Phil Ochs. I knew his voice that’s for sure. It is  so distinct which makes watching his story even harder. Harder but compelling. I watched this documentary and  could not stop thinking about it and all the important lessons we could learn from him I decided to watch it again a few weeks later.

There But For the Fortune
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/phil-ochs-there-but-for-fortune/watch-the-full-documentary/1962/

Also available on netflix

I try to watch as least one doc a week.  I start off telling myself that I’m working on craft and production style but its when I get sucked up into the story is when I knows its good. When I forget about angles, the footage  and just want more.
It’s all about the story. It’s always about the story. It’s all about THIS story.

Phil never even knew what folk music was until…

View original post 1,161 more words

Happy Chanukah-It’s all about the Neis

I love Hanukkah because it’s the holiday  of miracles and lights.

Light conveys both an absence of darkness and a quality that will help us to see — and understand — more clearly.

I feel like we all need lot’s of light right now.

A civil war and oppression from the west. Sound familiar?

The Story of Chanukah

“The story of Chanukah begins in the reign of Alexander the Great. Alexander conquered Syria, Egypt and Palestine, but allowed the lands under his control to continue observing their own religions and retain a certain degree of autonomy.  Under this relatively benevolent rule, many Jews assimilated much of Hellenistic culture, adopting the language, the customs and the dress of the Greeks, in much the same way that Jews in America today blend into the secular American society.

More than a century later, a successor of Alexander, Antiochus IV was in control of the region.”

He was waging war against Egypt and there was a rumor going around that he had died.

“The deposed High Priest Jason gathered a force of 1,000 soldiers and made a surprise attack on the city of Jerusalem. Menelaus was the High Priest appointed by Antiochus, but he was forced to flee Jerusalem during a riot. The King returned from Egypt in 167 BCE, enraged by his defeat, and he attacked Jerusalem and restored Menelaus, then executed many Jews.

When these happenings were reported to the king, he thought that Judea was in revolt. Raging like a wild animal, he set out from Egypt and took Jerusalem by storm. He ordered his soldiers to cut down without mercy those whom they met and to slay those who took refuge in their houses. There was a massacre of young and old, a killing of women and children, a slaughter of virgins and infants. In the space of three days, eighty thousand were lost, forty thousand meeting a violent death, and the same number being sold into slavery.

— 2 Maccabees 5:11–14

Antiochus decided to side with the Hellenized Jews in order to consolidate his empire and strengthen his hold over the region. He outlawed Jewish religious rites and traditions kept by observant Jews and ordered the worship of Zeus as the supreme god (2 Maccabees 6:1–12). This was anathema to the Jews and they refused, so Antiochus sent an army to enforce his decree. The city was destroyed because of the resistance, many were slaughtered, and a military Greek citadel was established called the Acra.

He began to oppress the Jews severely, placing a Hellenistic priest in the Temple, massacring Jews, prohibiting the practice of the Jewish religion, and desecrating the Temple by requiring the sacrifice of pigs (a non-kosher animal) on the altar. Two groups opposed Antiochus: a basically nationalistic group led by Mattathias the Hasmonean and his son Judah Maccabee, and a religious traditionalist group known as the Chasidim, the forerunners of the Pharisees (no direct connection to the modern movement known as Chasidism). They joined forces in a revolt against both the assimilation of the Hellenistic Jews and oppression by the Seleucid Greek government. The revolution succeeded and the Temple was rededicated.

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According to tradition as recorded in the Talmud, at the time of the re dedication, there was very little oil left that had not been defiled by the Greeks. Oil was needed for the menorah (candelabrum) in the Temple, which was supposed to burn throughout the night every night. There was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet miraculously, it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah. An eight day festival was declared to commemorate this miracle. Note that the holiday commemorates the miracle of the oil, not the military victory: Jews do not glorify war.

This week we commemorate the miracle and the light. We are the light. We have to stay the light.

Even way back then there were war mongering  power hungry wing nuts.

Who was Judah Maccabee? (by Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf)

The Greeks were different from other empires. They didn’t just want your land, your resources and your riches — they wanted your national essence, your culture. They wanted you to think like them, live like them and even be entertained like them. The problem was most Jews weren’t buying, and the Greeks didn’t appreciate that. So the Greeks brought pressure to bear on the Jews.

Women who insisted that their sons be circumcised were killed along with their babies. Brides were forced to sleep with Greek officers before they could be with their husbands. Jews were required to eat pork and sacrifice pigs to the Greek gods. The teaching of Torah became a capital crime.

The sages and their students went into hiding in order to study and preserve the Torah. Secret weddings were held. Most Jews did anything and everything to remain Jewish. Many were tortured and murdered for their defiance. A period of darkness and suffering descended upon the Jews of Israel.

The Hasmonean family was led by Mattisyahu and his five sons: Shimon, Yochanan, Yehudah (Judah), Elazar and Yonasan. Mattisyahu was a devout man who could not bear to see Judaism and the Jewish spirit crushed. It was his family that led the revolt against the vastly superior Greek forces. Mattisyahu understood that the battle was far less for national liberation than it was for spiritual and religious liberation. Though Mattisyahu’s valor provided the initial spark for the revolt against the Greeks, he died shortly after the rebellion grew into a full-fledged war. The mantle of leadership passed from Mattisyahu to his son Judah, and with that the course of history was forever changed.

Judah Maccabee was a fearless leader, a brilliant battlefield tactician and a man capable of inspiring thousands to take up arms in the battle for the preservation of Judaism. It was Judah Maccabee who conceived of ways for the Jewish forces to out-maneuver the larger, better equipped and seasoned Greek army. When at last the Jews captured Jerusalem, rededicated the Temple and witnessed the miracle of the oil, it was with Judah Maccabee as the leader of the Hasmonean family and at the head of the Jewish army of liberation.

The Jewish rebellion was a great event in Jewish history, but tragically, the war against the Greeks was also a civil war. Not all Jews sided with the Maccabees, who to some represented “the past.” Many Hellenized Jews aligned themselves with “progress” and with the future. As a result, Jews battled with one another for the right to define the future of Jewish life and the Jewish nation.”

A tradition of the holiday is playing dreidel, a gambling game played with a square top. Most people play for matchsticks, pennies, M&Ms or chocolate coins. The traditional explanation of this game is that during the time of Antiochus’ oppression, those who wanted to study Torah (an illegal activity) would conceal their activity by playing gambling games with a top (a common and legal activity) whenever an official or inspector was within sight.

dreidel

A dreidel is marked with four Hebrew letters: Nun, Gimel, Hei and Shin. These letters stand for the Hebrew phrase “Nes Gadol Hayah Sham”, a great miracle happened there, referring to the miracle of the oil.

The letters also stand for the Yiddish words nit (nothing), gantz (all), halb (half) and shtell (put), which are the rules of the game! There are some variations in the way people play the game, but the way I learned it, everyone puts in one coin. A person spins the dreidel. If it lands on Nun, nothing happens; on Gimel (or, as we called it as kids, “gimme!”), you get the whole pot; on Hei, you get half of the pot; and on Shin, you put one in. When the pot is empty, everybody puts one in. Keep playing until one person has everything. Then redivide it, because nobody likes a poor winner.

A song

Chanukkah, Oh Chanukkah
Come light the menorah
Let’s have a party
We’ll all dance the hora
Gather round the table, we’ll have a treat
Shiny tops to play with, latkes to eat

And while we are playing
The candles are burning low
One for each night, they shed a sweet light
To remind us of days long ago

God made the sun and it shines for everybody. Ziggy Marley

Here’s is a cute short funny version of the story.

 

 

this video is great (Neis is the miracle) Let’s be the light this year. Let’s all be the Hanukkah miracle.

 

Save the Date: Awake the State

Save January 12,2016 for Florida Awake the State. This year the Treasure Coast will have our very  own “Awake the State” group at 4 PM. The Meeting place will be the River Warrior Lodge.

Thank you to Mary Westcott Higgins, candidate for State Representative for District 82 for bringing “Awake the State” to the Treasure Coast.

Facebook Page for Treasure Coast Awake the State

Facebook Page for Awake the State Florida

 

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“We will rally on the bridge to “Awake the State”  the first day of Legislative Session. We will “Awake the State” with signs addressing our concerns. Then, we will have snacks and drinks at the Lodge.”

Awake The State is an organic, grassroots movement of everyday Floridians fighting to protect and restore our middle class.

This is a non partisan event.

From the “Awake the State” website.

“Gov. Rick Scott and his extreme allies in the Legislature have launched an all-out assault on Florida’s middle class. They’ve put our public schools in danger, harmed the quality of health care Floridians receive, and cost our communities thousands their jobs.

Floridians are fed up with their governor and legislative leaders insisting on extreme, regressive policies that hurt hard working Floridians. Enough is enough.

It’s time to Awake The State and urge our state legislators to end the war on our middle class and instead work to protect and restore our middle class by investing in our future.”

We are being assaulted by all sides by the very people who were elected to protect us.

From the Awake the state website

Commonly Asked Questions

What is Awake the State and how did it begin?
Ever since Gov. Scott and legislative leaders announced their plans to cut thousands of jobs, raise taxes on middle class Floridians and make the deepest cuts to education in history, people from all across the state have been looking for a way to voice their opposition.

Progress Florida, Florida Watch Action and America Votes joined together to provide a platform for everyday Floridians to make their voices heard. In 2011, Awake the State started as a Facebook page that quickly grew to thousands strong who organized rallies in cities all across the state of Florida on March 8th, the opening day of the legislative session.

Who is behind it?
Awake the State is made up of Floridians from every walk of life including educators, healthcare workers, police and firefighters, advocates for consumers, middle class families and more.

So please join in so we can all make a difference.

 

 

 

 

Famous Syrians You May Know

My original relatives came from Mesopotania and then went to Canaan if you go all the way back. America is a place where people have come from all over. Until now.

Our US media seems perfectly happy to spread the hate. But they don’t speak for us.

Here is a good article from the Washington Post.

“All of the other suspects in the Paris attacks appear to have been European citizens. In fact, large numbers of citizens from France, Britain and other Western nations have traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight, suggesting that the problem is not so much those coming from over there but those who are already here”

Here is a list of a few  famous Syrian people or of Syrian decent  that you might know.

Paul Anka

Anka was born in Ottawa, Ontario to Camelia (née Tannis) and Andrew Emile “Andy” Anka, Sr., who owned a restaurant called the Locanda.[2] His parents were both Antiochian Orthodox Christians. Anka’s father was Syrian, his mother was Lebanese “from the town of Kfarmishki, in Lebanon.

Shannon Elizabeth

Shannon Elizabeth Fadal (born September 7, 1973),[1] known professionally as Shannon Elizabeth, is an American actress and former fashion model. Elizabeth is well known for her roles in comedy films such as American Pie, Scary Movie and Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back. She is also known for her work in horror films such as Thirteen Ghosts, Cursed, and Night of the Demons. She became widely known as a sex symbol for her role in the 1999 comedy film American Pie.

Jerry Seinfeld

Seinfeld was born in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Kalmen Seinfeld (1918–1985), was born to a Jewish immigrant from Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine. His mother, Betty (née Hosni; born 1914) is of Syrian Jewish descent; her parents Selim and Salha Hosn were from Aleppo

 

Paula Abdul

Abdul was born in San Fernando, California, to Jewish parents. Abdul’s father, Harry Abdul, was born into the Syrian Jewish community in Aleppo, Syria, was raised in Brazil, and subsequently immigrated to the United States.[6] Her mother, the concert pianist Lorraine M. (née Rykiss), grew up in one of the two Jewish families in Minnedosa, Manitoba in Canada, and has Ashkenazi Jewish ancestors from Ukraine.

Syrian Americans

Syrian Americans are Americans of Syrian descent or background. Syrian Americans may be members of a number of differing ethnicities, including Arabs, Armenians, Arameans, Assyrians, Syrian Jews, Kurds, Syrian Turkmens and Circassians. It is believed that the first significant wave of Syrian immigrants to arrive in the United States was in 1880.[3] Many of the earliest Syrian Americans settled in New York City, Boston, and Detroit. Immigration from Syria to the United States suffered a long hiatus after the United States Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1924, which restricted immigration. More than 40 years later, the Immigration Act of 1965, abolished the quotas and immigration from Syria to the United States saw a surge. An estimated 64,600 Syrians emigrated to the United States between 1961 and 2000

F.Murry Abraham

Abraham was born as Murray Abraham on October 24, 1939 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Frederick Abraham, an auto mechanic, and his wife Josephine (née Stello), a housewife.[3][4] His father was Assyrian[5] and emigrated from Syria during the 1920s famine; his paternal grandfather was a chanter in the Syriac Orthodox Church.[3] His mother, one of 14 children, was Italian American, and the daughter of an immigrant who worked in the coal mines of Western Pennsylvania

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs’s biological father, Abdulfattah “John” Jandali (b. 1931), was born into a Muslim household and grew up in Homs, Syria.[9] Jandali is the son of a self-made millionaire who did not go to college and a mother who was a traditional housewife.[9] While an undergraduate at the American University of Beirut, he was a student activist and spent time in jail for his political activities.[9] Although Jandali initially wanted to study law, he eventually decided to study economics and political science.[9] He pursued a PhD in the latter subject at the University of Wisconsin, where he met Joanne Carole Schieble, a Catholic of Swiss and German descent, who grew up on a farm in Wisconsin.

 

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. ” Steve Jobs

Please feel free to add anyone I forgot.

Our Brand is Crisis:Syrian refugees , Florida, Presidential Candidates

Here is your blog reading music. I was doing some research and I came across this. Norval Marley, the father of Bob Marley, was of Syrian Jewish descent.  This(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Jews)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis_management

I don’t know about you but when I look for a leader I look for someone who will, in a crisis, do their research, not over react, take everything into consideration. Actually know what the deal is.

In the last week we’ve seen a lot of ugliness coming out of people just reacting and not understanding. I found it very sad that people could not take the five minutes to google to find out but actually believe the hype that was pushed by the news.

We have got to do better.

“Crisis management is the process by which an organization deals with a major event that threatens to harm the organization, its stakeholders, or the general public. The study of crisis management originated with the large-scale industrial and environmental disasters in the 1980s It is considered to be the most important process in public relations.

Three elements are common to a crisis: (a) a threat to the organization, (b) the element of surprise, and (c) a short decision time. Venett argues that “crisis is a process of transformation where the old system can no longer be maintained.” Therefore, the fourth defining quality is the need for change. If change is not needed, the event could more accurately be described as a failure or incident.”

There is a Syrian Refugee Crisis. What happens? Our GOP Governors and GOP Presidential candidates instead of showing how they could be leaders  turn it into a way to show their base exactly how stupid and immature they are. Even some Democrats. Wouldn’t it be better to do the right thing and then educate your electorate? (Patrick Murphy and Gwen Graham)

Do we really need elected officials to have gut reactions like a sixteen year teen ( Sorry an insult to the 16 year old teen.) with out even understanding the issue. If they are too lazy to look this stuff up by themselves don’t they have staff?

Here’s a map of every state refusing to accept Syrian refugees

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What they don’t know is they already have been doing this.

They don’t have the legal right to make these statements. They could make it difficult but it would look crazy since they already have been doing so and this could cut down the amount of money they are given from the Federal Resettlement Fund which would really mess with Florida’s resettlement of Cubans who come here and automatically get accepted.

“Kevin Appleby, director of migration policy at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said one tactic states could use would be to cut their own funding in areas such as resettling refugees. The conference is the largest refugee resettlement organization in the country.

But “when push comes to shove, the federal government has both the plenary power and the power of the 1980 Refugee Act to place refugees anywhere in the country,” Appleby said.”

In a manner of moments the fight went on Facebook and I’m sure many arguments and many unfriendings happened.
What I don’t want is a Governor who thinks he speaks for me. Governor Rick Scott before blurting out that would not take any Syrian refugees should have done a few things.

He should have actually found out the deal was, do some research and not totally over act like the rest of the GOP Governors and the one’s running for President. How self centered can these people get? Did you ask the citizens of Florida what they wanted? No. Have you ever? No. Do you even care about Florida? No You just care about what your friends the Koch brothers will give you.

So here are some things all your staff should have told you.

From the

The politics of the Syrian refugee crisis, explained

So far this fiscal year, 1,393 Syrian refugees have been admitted to the United States, according to State Department data. The United States plans to admit, “several hundred more” [Syrian] refugees before the end of this month, for a total of 1,500-1,800 individuals this fiscal year, the State Department told The Fix on Wednesday.

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Here’s a map depicting the areas of the United States in which these individuals were settled.

 

“Here’s what we know about previous years: Refugee resettlement data, like many other federal measures, is recorded for each fiscal year — the period between Oct. 1 and Sept. 30. In fiscal year 2012, during which the conflict in Syria was well underway, the United States admitted 31 Syrian refugees. That was followed by a slight uptick to 36 in fiscal year 2013, and a jump to 105 Syrian refugees in 2014. In fiscal year 2015 (which as we noted is still ongoing): 1,393.”

So this has been going on already.

The process for a refugee to get in is very rigorous.

The Reception and Placement Program

Information about the sponsoring agency is communicated back to the originating RSC, which then works with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to transport the refugee to his or her new home. The cost of refugee transportation is provided as a loan, which refugees are required to begin repaying after they are established in the United States.

Once in the United States

The Department of State has cooperative agreements with nine domestic resettlement agencies to resettle refugees. While some of the agencies have religious affiliations, they are not allowed to proselytize. The standard cooperative agreement between the Department of State and each of the domestic resettlement agencies specifies the services that the agency must provide to each refugee. All together, the nine domestic resettlement agencies place refugees in about 190 communities throughout the United States. Each agency headquarters maintains contact with its local affiliated agencies to monitor the resources (e.g., interpreters who speak various languages, the size and special features of available housing, the availability of schools with special services, medical care, English classes, employment services, etc.) that each affiliate’s community can offer.

As the cooperative agreement requires, all refugees are met at the airport upon arrival in the United States by someone from the sponsoring resettlement affiliate and/or a family member or friend. They are taken to their apartment, which has basic furnishings, appliances, climate-appropriate clothing, and some of the food typical of the refugee’s culture. Shortly after arrival, refugees are helped to start their lives in the United States. This includes applying for a Social Security card, registering children in school, learning how to access shopping facilities, arranging medical appointments, and connecting refugees with needed social or language services.

The Department of State’s Reception and Placement program provides assistance for refugees to settle in the United States. It supplies resettlement agencies a one-time sum per refugee to assist with meeting expenses during a refugee’s first few months in the United States. Most of these funds go toward the refugees’ rent, furnishings, food, and clothing, as well as to pay the costs of agency staff salaries, office space, and other resettlement-related expenses that are not donated or provided by volunteers.

Though the Department of State’s Reception and Placement program is limited to the first three months after arrival, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement works through the states and other nongovernmental organizations to provide longer-term cash and medical assistance, as well as language, employment, and social services.

Refugees receive employment authorization upon arrival and are encouraged to become employed as soon as possible. Based on years of experience, the U.S. refugee resettlement program has found that people learn English and begin to function comfortably much faster if they start work soon after arrival. Most refugees begin in entry-level jobs, even if they have high-level skills or education. With time, many if not most refugees move ahead professionally and find both success and satisfaction in the United States.

After one year, refugees are required to apply for permanent residence (commonly referred to as a green card) and after five years in the United States, a refugee is eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship.

You get the picture.

I can’t tell you the multiple time Rick Scott has over reacted from a freakin fan at a debate when he refused to go (This should been a clue to the clueless) to closing down recruiters instead of waiting five minutes to find out the shooting was by a mentally ill person and not ISIS hiding under our bed. (http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/rick-scott-orders-guard-recruiters-to-armory/2237822)

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/florida/2015/11/8583483/state-department-punctures-scotts-syrian-refugee-claim

“Ever since last Friday’s terror attacks in Paris, Gov. Rick Scott has been a mainstay on national news outlets criticizing President Obama’s plan to relocate 10,000 Syrian refugees to the United States.”

Keep talkin your self into this hole. Because it’s a long way down.

“And the 425 figure isn’t tied solely to Syrian refugees. It represents the capacity Florida has to accept additional refugees from anywhere in the world, according to the Florida Department of Children and Families, one of Scott’s own agencies.

In addition, federal officials say they have not discussed a specific number of Syrian refugees that could come to Florida.

“We have not asked Florida to take 425 refugees,” a State Department official told POLITICO Florida. “No specific number of Syrian refugees has been discussed with the governor of Florida.”

Whoops.

Does he even know we have 92 people in Florida right now?

Do me a favor: before you REACT do some research.

“Three elements are common to a crisis: (a) a threat to the organization, (b) the element of surprise, and (c) a short decision time. Venett argues that “crisis is a process of transformation where the old system can no longer be maintained.” Therefore, the fourth defining quality is the need for change. If change is not needed, the event could more accurately be described as a failure or incident.”

Before you react. Take a breath. Be 100% Be Human

Let’s avert the crisis.

 

 

 

 

Blogging 101 Day Nine: The 15 Dollar Challange. Being a good neighbor.

The other day I mentioned in my blog that Brook Hines had written a blog called

Darren Soto is minimum wage challenged — UPDATE

Brook is my favorite Florida Squeeze writer. It’s a good blog so you should read.

Nutrition is a huge part of my life. Every day I  tell my patients the eat good whole foods with fruits and vegetables. They look at me like I’ve lost my mind. These are the people that really have no choice but to eat food in cans and processed food which is what is killing us. Food in cans is filled with sodium and processed food is filled with sugar.

Most of these people are on fixed incomes because they are over 65. Most, if they can get food stamps, get 15 dollars a month for food stamps. The cheapest food you can get is the stuff in a can or in box which is the food that is bad for you. This is my $15 challenge. No one can eat on 15 dollars a month.

Most people on both sides are totally unaware. Unless you worked in the community every day how could you be?

One of the biggest list I have at work is my list of food banks. I encourage them to go for the fresh fruits and veggies if possible.

If you think about it when we have food drives that’s what we bring. We bring our old canned food and food in a box.

We bring out most unhealthiest food to the most vulnerable people.

We’re killing people with our kindness if you think about it.

I look at issues through the eyes of Abraham Maslow.

maslows-hierarchy

Many people in our state barely have their physiological needs taken care of. Clean water and food. I know my representatives really do not care if our citizens have this.

The citizen’s of Martin County do make this happen. We are the ones fighting for clean water and we are the one’s that worry about making sure people have food.

No matter if this is 15 dollars minimum wage or over $15 for our elderly and disabled people we have got to do better. My challenge to you if to find someone near you  and make sure they have good whole foods and fruits and vegetables and clean water.

There’s so much more to write but I’ll save that for another day.

Instead of waiting for something to happen. Let’s just make it happen.

Book Review: The Hunting of the President (with documentary video!)

Years ago I read this book by Joe Conason and Gene Lyons.  This all still stands today. SSDD

Hillary haters you have been brainwashed. Every single day news outlets mention her emails and tell you why should not trust her. Some of you tell me this. “I hate Hillary. Because of ….pick one. Benghazzi, emails what ever.”

This is nothing new and it is planned and plotted. Sad but true.

I may not like the GOP candidates but the  “Hate” is special. It should be. There have been millions of dollars invested so you can hate Hillary Clinton.

I started writing this yesterday and I ended up looking up ” What causes hate.” I really believe there is more to it and there is something that goes on in people brains when they “Hate” and this case “hunt.”

No matter what Hilliary does she is hated and she is hunted and the very people who you allow in your living room that calls themselves news are complicit. No matter what she does it’s twisted and turned inside out and outside in.

Not just Fox, but NBC’s today Matt an Savannah have a daily ’email segment.” On meet the press every Sunday it’s a topic. I’m sure more but I don’t watch much more tv. It makes me ill.

In the situation of the server I would probably would have done the same thing. When I needed a server my son set it up and I just told him to tell me what to do.  I have all my emails go to one account except for one job where I have to go to a special encrypted site. But the only reason I know that is because they told me. The encrypted site is new to me. Setting it up and getting there is a nightmare.

Just like Bengazi I have no earthly idea what happened because I was not there.

I wrote this the other day about Meet the Press and their sponsors.

https://cyndi-lenz.com/2015/10/15/meet-the-sponsors-of-meet-the-press-kochs-new-clean-water-commercial/

Enough of me lets talk about this book.

the hunting of the president

So who is Joe Conason & Gene Lyons?

Joe Conason

is an American journalist, author and liberal political commentator. He writes a column for Salon.com and has written a number of books, including Big Lies (2003), which addresses what he says are myths spread about liberals by conservatives.

From 1978 to 1990, he worked as a columnist and staff writer at The Village Voice.

In 1992, he became a columnist for the New York Observer, a position he still holds.

In 2000, he co-authored the book The Hunting of the President: The 10 Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton with Gene Lyons; the book was turned into a documentary in 2004, which Conason co-produced. The Raw Deal, his book on the Bush Administration‘s efforts to “end Social Security as we know it”, appeared in 2005. In 2007, Conason published It Can Happen Here: Authoritarian Peril in the Age of Bush

Gene Lyons

A winner of the 1980 National Magazine Award for Public Service for the Texas Monthly article “Why Teachers Can’t Teach”, he was an Associate Editor at Texas Monthly in 1981, and General Editor at Newsweek from 1982 to 1986. He has written hundreds of articles, essays and reviews for such magazines as Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books, Washington Monthly, The Nation, Esquire, Slate, and Salon. His other books include The Higher Illiteracy (University of Arkansas, 1988) and Widow’s Web (Simon & Schuster, 1993).

Lyons writes a column for the Arkansas Times that is syndicated nationally by Universal Uclick.

“In vivid prose, Joe Conason and Gene Lyons, two award-winning veteran journalists, identify the antagonists, reveal their tactics, trace the millions of dollars that subsidized them, and examine how and why mainstream news organizations aided those who were determined to bring down Bill Clinton, The Hunting of the President may very well be the All the President’s Men of this political regime.”

Available on Amazon.

There was also a documentary.

Here is the Trailer

“Mr Star just did what he was hired to do.” A great history lesson by Bill Clinton of how the right wing plots and plans.

Documentary is available on Netflix.

I hope you will take the time to read the book or watch the documentary. I’m not telling you who to vote for. I am telling you to do your research and don’t let anyone on the news give you important information.