Would have been better to just require a license with required facility monitoring by the government or 2rd party agency for all dog breeders especially the amatuar breeders. Additionally require papers on all dogs sold period not just pedigrees. Most dogs are already damaged from the puppy mills/breeders before they even hit the animal shelters or pet stores. Control at the source.

http://inhabitat.com/arizona-rules-all-dogs-and-cats-sold-in-pet-stores-must-come-from-shelters/

Arizona judge rules all dogs and cats sold in pet stores must come from shelters

Read more: Arizona judge rules all dogs and cats sold in pet stores must come from shelters
by Katie Medlock, 08/31/15

A federal judge in Phoenix, Arizona just ruled that all dogs and cats sold in pet stores must come from animal shelters or non-profit organizations. The ruling upholds an ordinance passed in 2013 that was challenged by a store called Puppies N’Love, which claimed it violates constitutionally-granted interstate commerce laws. Those in favor of doing away with puppy mills and encouraging pet owners to adopt or rescue companions see the decision as a great step forward.

Read more: Arizona judge rules all dogs and cats sold in pet stores must come from shelters | Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building

So Caitlyn Jenner received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award and I have been pondering this and so am posting the definition.

The Arthur Ashe Courage Award (sometimes called the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage or Arthur Ashe for Courage Award) is an award that is part of the ESPY Awards. Although it is a sport-oriented award, it is not limited to sports-related people or actions, as it is presented annually to individuals whose contributions “transcend sports”. Often these transcendent figures are also athletes who have been at the top of their sport, such as Muhammad Ali, Dean Smith, and Cathy Freeman.

“On the subject of why Jenner was selected for the Ashe Award, [Maura] Mandt said, ‘I think Caitlyn’s decision to publicly come out as a transgender woman and live as Caitlyn Jenner displayed enormous courage and self-acceptance. Bruce Jenner could have easily gone off into the sunset as this American hero and never have dealt with this publicly. Doing so took enormous courage. He was one of the greatest athletes of our time. That is what the Arthur Ashe Courage Award is about, somebody from the athletic community who has done something that transcends sport. One of the biggest platforms the Arthur Ashe Foundation has is educational, and I think in this choice we have the opportunity to educate people about this issue and hopefully change and possibly save some lives. I think that is why it was the right choice.’”

Source: http://www.si.com/more-sports/2015/07/12/caitlin-jenner-espnys-espn-adam-schefter-jason-pierre-paul

This helps me better understand how someone is selected for this award. As Maura Mandt spoke that Caitlyn Jenner displayed enormous courage and self-acceptance and therefore was selected but still was the Arthur Ashe Courage Award totally buried and did this award ceremony prove to be nothing but a Transgender Platform?

It will remain to be seen how Caitlyn continues her courage and how she will continue to educate and advocate for the Transgendered community. Myself I just want acceptance for all and hope for the day were it no longer has to be a high profile issue.

Obama pushing broadband for low-income households

Well, let’s just step in another pile of sh*t. I’m tired of seeing money moved into segmented populations when the same money can be used to provide internet access for all. Why not take that funding and make WiFi hotspots for entire populations. And just food for thought, I’d like to see the figures on how many low-income households already have connected paid service for their televisions. So in short these populations already have a form of cable paid service. Meanwhile myself I disconnected my paid TV services several years ago for financial reasons and have to pay MORE for my internet service because I’m not bundled. Yep, well bundle me into this program! I have to have internet as how else will you all hear my opinion on poop such as this?!?

Article Below:

By David McCabe – 07/15/15 09:00 AM EDT
http://thehill.com/policy/technology/247965-obama-launching-internet-access-program-for-low-income-households
President Obama on Wednesday will announce plans to work with local governments, telecommunications firms and nonprofits to provide broadband service and digital training to more than a quarter million low-income households.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) pilot program — dubbed ConnectHome — is designed to bring residents of public or assisted housing online in 28 communities.
The plan will bring broadband Internet service and training to close to 200,000 low-income children, the administration said.
“While many middle-class U.S. students go home to Internet access, allowing them to do research, write papers, and communicate digitally with their teachers and other students, too many lower-income children go unplugged every afternoon when school ends,” the White House said.
“This ‘homework gap’ runs the risk of widening the achievement gap, denying hardworking students the benefit of a technology-enriched education.”
The president will formally announce the program in Durant, Okla., the White House said. Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro painted access to broadband Internet as an economic necessity for children and their parents.
“The stakes are clear: families living in the 21st century need 21st century tools to thrive,” he said.
Eight Internet service providers, including CenturyLink, Cox Communications, Sprint and Google Fiber, will provide low-cost or free broadband service to HUD residents in the chosen communities.
Companies and non-governmental organizations will also back programs aimed at bolstering residents’ digital literacy and technical skills.
The list of organizations involved includes some recognizable names. Best Buy plans to offer some residents technical training and support, including after school for certain students. GitHub, which developers use to manage coding projects and collaborate, has donated $250,000 to the pilot program.
In addition to support from the corporate and nonprofit sectors, the initiative will rely on the support of local governments.
“Mayors from Boston to Durham, and from Washington, DC to Seattle, have committed to reallocate local funds, leverage local programming, and use regulatory tools to support this initiative and the expansion of broadband access in low-income communities,” the White House said in a fact sheet.
Other than a small U.S. Department of Agriculture grant, the program uses no federal money, officials told reporters.
HUD will also be directed to take additional steps to make broadband a part of its assisted housing.
Castro said that the administration will evaluate the program’s success for possible future expansion.
“My hope is that it will demonstrate great results and will give us the opportunity in the future to think through how we could help expand it beyond this point,” he said. “But, right now, it’s a demonstration project in these 28 communities.”
“So we’re focused on getting this right, and doing this as a demonstration project allows us to make sure that we get it right.”
The Obama administration has made expanding broadband access a priority in 2015. Earlier this year, the FCC voted to move forward with examining a plan to expand a phone service subsidy program to cover broadband service.
–This report was updated at 11:58 a.m.

Is our American dream still here? One that always taught that if you work hard, are honest, believed in being an American citizen without question or threat you would be rewarded with a comfortable living, a house, a car, and even time to enjoy your retirement years.

Or are we only free based on the second, third generations that have lived and evolved on public assistance, evolved so to the extent that it is considered America’s duly role that all comforts shall be provided for free what generations before us worked so hard for.

Do we live in an illusion that we are free in our pursuit of happiness or is our freedom solely based on what our government can provide to us for free, without work, without education, a sense of entitlement that all shall have housing, food, cable TV, cellphone, and demanding thereof as their right?

Sounds like socialism to me, socialism breeds complacency, complacency breeds status quo, status quo breeds to do no more than absolutely necessary to maintain that sense of entitlement.

The next time you are out and about, focus on what you see around you…. what do you see?

We are not “forcing” any gayness, agenda, or gay machine on anyone, just a final win that states that two people in love, who are committed in sharing their lives together, should be afforded the same entitlements, respect, and courtesies as anyone else. Some would argue that this is not equality and is a forceful forcing of an agenda but seriously, the other side wins too, because now you all won’t have to hear about it anymore. And I’m sure in 2 years the divorce rate will be just as high as our counterparts. And remember this is marriage in the eyes of the state, marriage in the church is an observed religious contract.

Commentary of: The Complicated Political History Of The Confederate Flag – [source: JUNE 22, 2015 6:19 PM ET, Jessica Taylor]

The confederate flag has a different meaning down South than up North.

“…in 2000, a compromise was reached — the battle flag would be removed from atop the dome and a smaller, square version would be placed at a less-prominent place on the Statehouse grounds — on a 20-foot pole next to the 30-foot Confederate monument. But that didn’t end the controversy, and many years of protests, criticism and boycotts followed.”

– [Source: http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/06/22/416548613/the-complicated-political-history-of-the-confederate-flag%5D

So next let’s remove the confederate monument in Columbia, SC and oh also Camp Chase on Sullivant Ave that is celebrated yearly locally. We can’t have confederate anything – let’s ban the selling of it all and let’s remove it from the history books. Sort of like Germany banning the swastika and anything associated with it after the new government. Heck let’s burn those books as well. And while we are at it, that rainbow flag is not accepted by most of the American population, let’s get rid of that as well.

Yep that’s it, erase it and we will eradicate racism and prejudice in our country. Yeah, let’s get back to reality. Don’t hide what we’ve done, let’s just educate not to do it again.

http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/06/22/416548613/the-complicated-political-history-of-the-confederate-flag

Today is the Pride March and many will be marching rain or shine.

Columbus [Ohio] Pride Festival and Parade​ has come a long way! Originally being to bring awareness of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) Community, then to tolerance then to acceptance and now to embrace that all should be proud of who they are.

A thought and something that I’ve had to rethink and understand better and that is of the interchanging of the word tolerance and acceptance.

“Acceptance goes a step beyond tolerance. If a sign of tolerance is a feeling of “I can live with X (behavior, religion, race, culture, etc.)” acceptance moves beyond that in the direction of “X is OK.” You can tolerate something without accepting it, but you cannot accept something without tolerating it. For example, when a son or daughter tells a parent about an unwelcome career choice, marital partner, or sexual identity, he or she wants that information not just to be tolerated, but to be accepted.” – [Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/looking-in-the-cultural-mirror/201402/tolerance-acceptance-understanding]

The above paragraph summarizes perfectly the struggles that one who identifies as a GLBT person has to go thru. If you have the chance to attend the pride festivities including the parade and show or watch on TV (I’m sure the “showiest”) snippets of the event; remember this, GLBT’s are individuals who are contributing members of our society. We just want acceptance (refer back to definition). Not all put on a “show” or will be contributing to the “show” in it’s extreme of fashion, but rather are just everyday day people who are doctors, lawyers, grocery clerks, school teachers, insurance, real estate, police, and firefighters. We contribute in making better communities, funding our schools, volunteering, and just overall living the life just like anyone else.

Pride is for everyone…..A sense of one’s own proper dignity or value; self-respect. At the end of the day we ALL want that ACCEPTANCE. Enjoy the day, mingle, learn, accept, and have fun!

One always has negative people in their lives. I do my best to limit to two max!

http://www.life-with-confidence.com/how-to-deal-with-negative-people.html

Long distance romances have a uniqueness because you romanticize about being in the relationship with that person. This ways strong because it is not encumbered by the physicalness of the relationship. Good luck and enjoy the path, if it is meant to be then it will, otherwise enjoy the ride.