My Life. Let's Dish.

Politics = health, environment, awareness

[nattieliz]

Temperance River State Park 

Cascade Falls at Cascade River State Park

High Falls at Grand Portage State Park

Devils Kettle at Judge CR Magney State Park

George H Crosby Manitou State Park

Gooseberry Falls

[nattieliz]

The North Shore Waterfall Tour

In my last post regarding my surgery I stated I would begin sharing the life I was excited to now have. So here we gooooo! I will share pictures of the trip in another post. 

In early August of this year a friend and I packed up my car with camping supplies, hiking boots, and a sense of adventure. We desperately needed to escape the craziness of civilization and enjoy nature. We drove north past Duluth, Minnesota to what is known as the North Shore - Hwy 61 which follows Lake Superior all the way to Canada. Our goal was to see and capture the 7 most epic waterfalls in Minnesota according to  www.onlyinyourstate.com/minnesota/waterfall-road-trip-mn/

Day 1: A 4 hour drive to Temperance State Park, our 1st stop. We rolled in (after backing into a tree) and pitched our tent. We then hiked a fairly easy, paved path to the waterfalls. We hiked around the area following the river. Then because we thought the hike was a loop, because the sign said it was, we continued only to realize it probably wasn’t the right way. It was fine though and we ended up back on the hwy and walked the 10 minutes back to the campground. That night we made a fire and dinner - steak, peppers, and potatoes (no onion, inside joke). After enjoying a few drinks around the fire we went to sleep under the stars. 

Day 2: After waking up and taking down camp we drove to our second stop Cascade River State Park. As the name states it features cascading waterfalls down a river which eventually flows into Lake Superior. It was incredible and involved another fairly easy hike. It does include stairs and is not paved but it is only a few minutes from the parking lot to the waterfalls. Next we went to Grand Portage State Park to see the High Falls. This park is next to the border of Canada, so close had we had our passports we may have continued to drive. The High Falls are a bit further from the parking lot than the previous 2 but the path is paved, flat, and easy to walk. The High Falls are named for being the highest falls in MN, approximately the height of a 13 story building. After a picnic lunch we went back south to our 4th stop and 2nd sleeping site Judge CR Magney State Park home of Devils Kettle. After setting up the tent we headed to see the waterfall on our first not so easy hike. The path itself is fairly even, but not paved, includes 180 steps, and took about an hour 1 way. Getting there wasn’t so bad but I am not going to lie walking the stairs back up was a test of endurance. That night we had a random dinner of leftover potatoes, grilled cheese sandwich, popcorn, cheez-its, and a bottle of wine. We slept good that night.

Day 3: We decided we wanted a hot breakfast so we stopped at a cafe in Grand Marais for some bacon and eggs. After fueling ourselves and the car we went to our 5th stop: George H. Crosby Manitou State Park - the only one not on the North Shore. We had a to take a 15-20 minute detour on a gravel road to get to this park. Never heard of it? Neither had I and without the internet probably never would have as it truly is in the middle of nowhere. This was the only off beaten hike we took and it was worth it. About an hour hike through rocks, tree roots, steep hills, and (due to the rain) mud. The view once we got to the end was spectacular. After this hike we were officially tired and allergies (not mine) were acting up so when we got to the very touristy destination #6  Tettegouche State Park we decided to pass on the hour long hike. The pictures were gorgeous but when I say there were too many people I mean it. Plus like I said we were tired. Last stop was Gooseberry Falls which I am sure many of you have been to. We probably would have skipped this one too but since it is right off the parking lot we decided to round of our trip and stop by. The crowds were a bit much though and after being at the waterfall a few minutes decided it was time to go home. *Side note: the bathrooms at this location were by the worst.

We stopped at Culvers, turned on the tunes, and drove back to Minneapolis exhausted but so thankful for our time. I encourage all of you to check out some of these waterfalls and if you have any questions let me know. Happy adventuring!

[nattieliz]

Intersectionality

Men: women need your help in fighting sexism and sexual assault injustices. Just this past week Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced plans to roll back the all ready not good enough Obama-era protections against sexual harassment and assault on college campuses. In her announcement she clearly states she is more concerned with the accused than she is the victims. When your pain is not heard and when your experience is not believed it hurts and is infuriating. Unfortunately, too many of us know this too well.  

Every time I post something on any of my social media accounts regarding racism or bigotry I am met with a slew of likes and comments. When I post anything regarding sexual assault, rape, reproductive rights, women in the workplace, domestic violence, ect. there are crickets. And the few that do comment or like are always all women.

Recently there has been a strong movement in this country to boycott the NFL and I am all for it. I stand with Collin Kaepernick and all the people of color who face injustices, including police brutality, in this country every day. I have made my voice loud and clear on the subject. However, after the NFL protected Ray Rice and Jameis Winston (look them up) that was enough of a reason for me to boycott. I shared the stories, voiced my outrage, and called for a boycott and was met with silence. Don't misunderstand me I am glad there is more discussion to further the movement and I am not here to argue about who owns the pain in America - a battle that is ineffective at bringing change. I am stating it is important to make sure when we our fighting our own battles we look out for others as well.

There was a lot of talk surrounding the Women’s March regarding Intersectionality (a term coined by Kimberle Crenshaw to describe ways in which oppressive institutions are interconnected and cannot be examined separately). I heard the call loud and clear - how about you?

[nattieliz]

Living Life - 2 months post op

After surgery and dealing with post op complications I was more than ready to start living life again. I was determined to be more active, knock things off my bucket list, and, simply put, live life not being sick once  a week. 

Progress report: so far SUCCESS! It was a slow recovery but since then I have gone on more walks around the city, brunch and movie dates with friends, farmers market visits, and of course cooking (with fresh veggies yum yum). One thing that is holding me back is my debt. I am getting up to about 15k (ya know the American way) in just medical debt. Add on the 40k in student loans and other miscellaneous debts and it is definitely keeping me from doing everything I want, including much more travel. So now that my body and mind is healthy it is time to work on being financially healthy. I will be sticking to a pretty strict budget for awhile and attacking my debts and hope to be debt free in 3 years. Wish me luck!

Future blog posts idea - my financial (debt free) journey, the decision to sell my eggs (see 1st post I wrote on my hysterectomy), and my travels.

For now - live your best life! Toodles

[nattieliz]

Post Hysterectomy - Trials and Tribulations

*Warning : there are some details involving various body fluids. In order to truly understand what happened it couldn’t be avoided*

In my last post I wrote about the journey which led me to having a hysterectomy. At that time I was two days post op and feeling great. But because life is never fair that did not last long. One week after my surgery I had a post op appointment with my surgeon and I had a fever of 102. My doctor prescribed me an antibiotic but also wanted me to have a CT scan done to see what was going on. After a bad night in which I started (lightly) bleeding I had a CT scan done. Now let’s talk about this CT scan as it was probably one of my least favorite experiences. Ever. I had to drink two bottles of barium water in 2 hours. Two hours of sipping on nasty water - it was not good. Then once I was having the scan they had to inject me with dye. The combination of the two caused me to throw up. I was laying down in a machine and had no way of cleaning myself up. Once the tech realized what happened he told me to wait 15 more seconds to get one more scan done. Oh and hold my breath. It was a long 15 seconds. 

Following the CT scan my doctor had instructed them not to let me leave because he wanted to review the scans immediately. After a few minutes he called to tell me I had an abscess, an infection which would need to be drained. I had to be admitted to the hospital that day and have a drain surgically implanted. It was placed, by a radiologist, in my backside right above my butt. Which meant I couldn’t lay on my back or sit down during the time I had the drain. Now as reminder from my last post I had not taken any pain medication following my surgery and up to this point I hadn't taken anything. There was no need as I was in no pain. But when they implanted the drain they gave me fentanyl which is horrible and I felt like shit afterwards. Following having the drain in I had to spend two nights in the hospital. Because I originally thought it would only be one night once I found out it would be two I did not take the news well. I won’t detail that experience for you but feel free to ask my mom about it. I will say she thought the doctors should sedate me so there was that.

After two nights in the hospital I went home, with the drain which my mom (bless her) had to drain for me each night. Good times. After 3 days I thought it would be able to come out and scheduled an appointment to have it removed (we are now 2 weeks post op). However, the night before the appointment I started bleeding profusely. Not only was it scary but by then I was so over all of it. I was bleeding so much that my mom called in ambulance and back to the ER I went. After spending the night in the ER and ICU, receiving a blood transfusion, and having 2 more CT scans they did not know exactly why I was bleeding but figured it had to do with my infection. I eventually stopped bleeding but had to spend another night in the hospital (back in the same room as last time) just to make sure everything was ok. I have to say during both of my hospital stays I felt fine. No fever, no pain, and vitals were fine. Nothing is more frustrating than being in the hospital and not feeling sick. The next day I was stable so I was discharged for a third time and 2 days later they removed the drain. During this ordeal I was staying with my parents but finally 3 weeks after surgery I was able to go home. 

[nattieliz]

My journey to a hysterectomy

I have always had painful periods. Once a month, since I was 11, I would spend 2 days in immense pain. Couldn’t walk, lift, sometimes breathing was difficult. I took all the ibuprofen I was allowed and just waited it out. When I was 15 I went on the pill. The birth control was used to control my periods better and in turn make them less intense. It worked - I still had the painful days once a month but they weren’t as bad. I told myself that’s life for a woman and learned to deal. I stocked up on pain meds, heating pads, and prepared employers, teachers, and later college professors that I would be routinely be sick each month. 

When I was 24 (2008) I made the decision to “donate” (really sell since I received money) my eggs. That ordeal is a whole other post that I may choose to write someday. Anyways, I did it 3 times and the third time the removal of the eggs did not go well. Two days after the procedure I ended up in the ER and found out that something had been nicked and caused internal bleeding. I stayed in the ICU for 3 days and it healed itself. However, I believe that incident “stirred up” something inside and my very painful periods returned. I tried different forms of birth control, different pain meds, MRIs and ultrasounds of every organ but no doctor could find out why I had this pain. When I was 28 (2012), after accumulating a substantial amount of medical debt, I decided enough. No more doctors I would deal with the pain. 

Then in the fall/winter of 2014 I just couldn’t take it anymore and decided to see a new gynecologist and demand they “fix me.” On January 2nd, 2015 my new doctor diagnosed me (FINALLY) with endometriosis - a condition where the uterine tissue, which should line the inside of your uterus, grows outside instead. That February I had a laparoscopic surgery to remove the tissue and put in an IUD to hopefully slow the growth of the tissue. This helped and for the first time I stopped having painful periods. However, during the surgery my doctor discovered a spot on my liver and referred me to see a hepatologist (liver doctor). After tests it was determined that I had tons of adenomas, benign tumors, all over my liver. The risk was they could one day grow into cancerous tumors or bleeding tumors but they couldn’t be removed until they were grown. The culprit? Apparently hormones. That’s right the hormones from the birth control I used to tamper my endometriosis gave me tumors. They needed to be monitored and every 6 months I was to have an MRI done to assure they hadn’t grown. My hepatologist wanted me to remove the IUD in hopes that if I stopped with the extra hormones the adenomas would heal themselves and go away. My gynecologist feared removing the IUD would cause the painful tissue to grow back quicker. I chose to keep the IUD in because the pain I was in without it is indescribable. 

Things were good for about a year and then in the summer of 2016 the pain came back. And this time not just during my periods. Each week I was having severe pain. Sometimes it was so bad I would just start screaming. I was missing so much work and I wasn’t enjoying life. I wanted to go on long hikes, camp, travel, but there were some days I could barely walk. Between my inactivity and the medications and hormones I was taking I was also gaining a lot of weight. So one day after again calling in sick I was laying in bed and decided it was time to remove the uterus. I had wanted to do this initially back in 2014 when I was first diagnosed but doctors are very hesitant about performing hysterectomys. There are a variety of reasons why which you can find if you search online but the biggest factor is children. I had to reassure my doctor numerous times I did not want to have children. I finally told him even if I did I wouldn’t enjoy my life due to the pain. He conceded and agreed to remove my uterus and one of my ovaries. Keeping one ovary stops me from going into early menopause and all the risks associated with that. In addition, my IUD could be removed and fingers crossed it helps with my liver.

I have been in recovery for only 3 days but I am excited for my life. I have already planned a camping trip in August to explore waterfalls in northern Minnesota. I will keep you update on my recovery but so far so good. 

Thanks for reading!

[nattieliz]

Things People Say - Part 2

“It’s Tradition” “It’s the way it has always been done” “People have been doing/saying it for years” You get my point. 

When faced with an issue of injustice those are a just a few of the “excuses” that are given. As if because you did something before that is the way things HAVE or SHOULD continue to go. For example:

1. The Confederate Flag - Commonly heard excuses “It is our history.” “It is a celebration of the South.” “It represents my family’s history.” No, what it represents is a country who fought against the United States so that they could continue to use black people as free labor. It represents an enemy of the state who the United States defeated in a civil war. It is a celebration of slavery and it is a horrible part of history. What if I flew a Nazi flag which this country likes to proudly brag that they defeated in WWII? (all on our own by the way. No help from any other countries.) What if the MN state capitol flew a Japanese flag? I am fairly certain the same crowd excusing and defending their right to fly the Confederate flag would accuse me and the state of treason. The same people who want an amendment against burning the flag. The same people who argue it is disrespectful to not honor the flag by sitting during the National Anthem. So then why is it OK  in their minds to fly the flag of another county? I am not afraid to say it is because they are racist, they are sad and/or angry the Confederacy lost the Civil War, and when they say “make America great again” they mean with slaves. There I said it.

2.) President elect Trump (I can’t believe that is real) is heard admitting to sexually harassing women - Again we hear the same type of excuses “people (ahem you mean MEN) have been saying stuff like that forever” Yeah kind of the point. It is upsetting that so many feel, and have felt, comfortable saying shit like he did for forever. As long as I can remember I have heard men talk and act like that. So of course men are going to excuse his talk because they themselves say the same thing. And when the country clearly excuses his behavior by electing him to lead (or at the very least represent) the country it screams a loud message to women. It was the first message I heard once they announced Trump won - you do not matter. And when I found out 53% of white women voted for him my first thought was “who taught them to self hate?”

As you grow and learn your feelings are supposed to change. The way you interact with others should change. As you learn your opinions most likely will change. So if you are caught constantly defending something with “it is just the way it has always been” maybe you should dig a little deeper. Expand your thinking. It can be a beautiful thing. 

[nattieliz]

And just a month or two ago a similar thing happened in Kentucky. So yes let’s keep doing this. *Definition of insanity*

[nattieliz]

Support The Cause But Not The Fight?

“The moderate white who constantly says “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action;” who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a “more convenient season.” - MLK

I start with the above quote because it perfectly paraphrases my thoughts. I hear all of the time from whites who “aren’t racists” or “bigots” say - I understand your point but I don’t agree with the way you choose to express it. Ok fine how would you like people of color and women to make themselves heard? What would make you comfortable?

Recently a pro (American) football player started kneeling during the National Anthem. Silently. A nonviolent protest to express how he didn’t feel represented by the government or the song. It angered white folk because it made them feel uncomfortable to examine how life in America as a black man might feel. Jerseys were set on fire. Names were called. And when many moderate whites took up to “defend” Colin Kaepernick the best they seemed to able to muster up was “I see why he is upset but I don’t believe this was the right venue or way to express it.” I’m so tired of hearing this AND IM A WHITE PERSON!

I’m not going to say anything on why black people feel the way they do because frankly it’s not my place. I’m a white person so it’s not my conversation to have. Just as it’s not a mans place to feel he can insert himself into a conversation about why women feel as they do. But considering the years and legislations of oppressions it shouldn’t be difficult to understand. We need to listen to each other and actually hear what people are saying. Don’t discount their feelings, don’t tell them to calm down, just get on their side. And when they are fighting to be heard use whatever privilege you have to give them the floor and then shut up. Support their fight, support their cause, and in turn support all of us and our right for the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.

[nattieliz]

A Nation of Purple States

This election has a lot of people upset, confused, and unsure of how to vote. Many peole have come out as #NeverTrump which is great except for one thing - they are still not voting for Hillary Clinton. I am not here to tell you who to vote for, it is a personal decision that everyone must make for themselves. What I am here to tell you is if you are really against Trump and truly believe that giving him nuclear codes and the Supreme Court would be disastrous then voting for Stein or Johnson is counterproductive. Either Clinton or Trump will be president. Either Clinton or Trump will have nuclear codes. Either Clinton or Trump will choose the next Supreme Court justices. Either Clinton or Trump will be the image that we show to the rest of the world. You have to pick one - it may suck and it might make you mad but that is where we are. 

I have heard people all over social media justifying being against Trump but not voting Clinton in two ways: “I live in a “blue” state so it doesnt matter” or “if Trump wins that is what you get for electing Clinton as the democrat nominee.” I find one excuse to be scary and the other to be pure, privillege BS. If you feel that you can vote for “other” in a blue state because Clinton will still win think about it for a second. You are essentially saying that other people will save you from Trump so you do not need to - sounds kind of like the bystander effect. “I do not need to do anything someone else will take care of it.” But what if enough people think that way? No longer is the state safe and it could swing the way of Trump. As far as the second excuse goes - Trump is not what I will get it is what WE ALL will get. It takes a pretty privillege person to think a Trump presidency is no big deal. 

Hillary Clinton may not be your first pick and I am the first to say she has many issues that are disconcerning. But to equate her with Trump is a false equivalency. We must do everything we can to ensure Trump not only loses but loses badly so the rest of the world knows we do not share his racist, bigoted views. Thanks for listening. 

[nattieliz]

Things People Say - Part 1

"I'm fine with immigrants just not the illegal ones." Ok, first let's start by saying a person is NEVER illegal. Ever. What one means to say is "...just not the ones living here illegally." Semantics some may say. But not me because I believe words to be important. If one continuously refers to a human being as illegal you begin to think of them as less than. It's the way words work - they form the way you think of things. Now that that's taken care of let's look at the phrase as whole. So you are fine with legal immigrants (which I'm not sure is always true) but you have an issue with the ones who don't file proper documentation and thus are living here illegally. Illegal immigration is simply a term Europeans coined after they were done conquering others land and living their illegally. Europeans have a history of going to countries, where other nations already existed, and living their illegally. When Europeans came to America they didn't file documentation with the Native Americans. They settled and took over the land. Europeans formed colonies all over the world and, once they were done, decided in order for others to come to "their" country they had to file proper paperwork. Something they never did. It seems to me a little hypocritical for people to make up rules they themselves never had to follow. And if you are in the group that believes a wall between Mexico and the US would do anything to halt "illegal immigration" you are wrong. Most people living in the US "illegally" came to the country legally and then over stayed their visas.

[nattieliz]

Not really a super majority. And why does it need to be super?

Yes, in the 2008 election, Democrats managed to widen their majorities in both houses of Congress.  In the 110th Congress that served from January 2007 through January 2009, Democrats held a 35 seat majority in the House and a single seat advantage in the Senate, which included Independent Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, both of whom caucused with the Democrats.  The 2008 election saw that majority swell to 78 seats in the House and nine seats in the Senate.

How is that possible, you ask?  Everybody says that the Democrats had a full filibuster-proof majority?  The math doesn’t add up. If there are 100 seats in the Senate, and Republicans, as of January 2009 had only 40 of them (technically the Republicans had 41 of them initially, but we’ll get to that), doesn’t that mean that the Democrats had the remaining 60, giving them the supermajority in the Senate?

No, not necessarily, because it was a very odd year in Congressional politics.

Remember that Minnesota Senatorial election in 2008?  The one that pitted former SNL writer/cast member and Air America Radio host Al Franken against Republican incumbent Norm Coleman?  That race dragged on forever, resulting in several challenges and recounts until the Minnesota Supreme Court finally concluded on June 30th, 2009, that Franken was indeed the winner.  Franken wasn’t sworn into office until July 7th, 2009, a full six months after the 111th Congress had taken charge.

But there is more. Even if Franken had been seated at the beginning of the legislative session, the Democrats still would only have had a 59-41 seat edge.  It wasn’t until late April of 2009 that Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter defected from the Republican Party to caucus with the Democrats.  Without Franken, the Dems only had 58 votes.

But the Dems didn’t have a consistent, reliable 58 votes.  Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy was terminally ill with a brain tumor, and could only muster up the energy to vote on selected legislation.  His presence could not be counted on, and thus his vote in the Senate could not be counted on.  During the first year of the Obama presidency, due to his illness Kennedy missed 261 out of a possible 270 votes in the Senate, denying the Democrats the 60th vote necessary to break a filibuster.  In March of 2009, he stopped voting altogether.  It wasn’t until Kennedy passed away in late August, 2009, and an interim successor was named on September 24th, 2009, that the Democrats actually had 60 votes.

And even then the 60 vote supermajority was tenuous at best.  At the time, then 91 year old Robert Byrd from West Virginia was in frail health.  During the last 6 months of 2009, Byrd missed 128 of a possible 183 votes in the Senate.  Byrd passed away on June 28, 2010 at the age of 92.

In all, Democrats had a shaky 60 vote supermajority for all of four months and one week: from the time Kennedy’s interim successor Paul Kirk was sworn in on September 24th until the time Republican Scott Brown was sworn in as Kennedy’s “permanent” replacement after his special election victory over Democratic disappointment, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley.  In a state that is heavily Democratic, it seems that Coakley figured she didn’t have to actually campaign for the Senate seat, that Massachusetts voters would automatically elect the Democrat to replace the legendary Kennedy.  No way Massachusetts would send a Republican to replace Ted Kennedy.  Brown took the election seriously, Coakley did not, and Brown won (he did, however, lose the seat to Elizabeth Warren, and all was right with the world again).

During those four months and one week, Congress was in session for a total of 72 days.  So for 72 days the Democrats held a 60 seat, filibuster-proof supermajority in the United States Senate.  But wait!  There’s more! As Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn points out, even that was unreliable.  “Even in this window Obama’s ‘control’ of the Senate was shaky due to the balkiness of the so-called Blue Dog conservative and moderate Democratic Senators such as Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Evan Bayh of Indiana, and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas.”

[nattieliz]

Instant News

The age of instant news is ruining us. Because it is expected to be instant many times waiting to verify is waived in order to be the first to report. We are fed the exact same story from so many sources, some who know very little about what is actually happenining. The stories are then reposted by numerous organizations and people add their own opinions. The opinions and facts tend to get confused as people share the story until what is real and what is fake is no longer obvious. 

When the newsflow is constant we are left to pick through the distractions to determine what really is worthy of our attention. We are forced to pick through stories and confirm the facts for ourselves. Most people won't bother doing that so we end up with a society of uniformed people in a world of abundant information. 

Stories should be verified. Facts should be known. Then, and only then, should the story be reported to the people. 

[nattieliz]

The Myth Regarding Wealth and Hard Work

The problem in our society is that we attribute wealth to hard work. Which would then mean that those without wealth are lazy. This is simply not true. Many people with wealth inherited it meaning the only “work” they did was being born. In addition many wealthy people use tax loopholes and “government handouts” much more than even the most talked about “welfare queens.” We must stop treating poor people like they are criminals as if being poor is a crime. In order to accept the notion that people on food stamps are lazy and just want free money, you then also have to accept the notion that people willingly give up their shot at the american dream and put their families in dangerous situations all for $4.50/day in food assistance. A few maybe but certainly not the majority. Most people don’t want to accept your handouts anymore than you want to give it to them.

[nattieliz]

I think this is worth repeating

[nattieliz]

Voting 101 - Take Control

So you aren’t going to vote because you voted for Obama and what good did that do? You are just going to do you and not worry about politics? Hmmm interesting considering you “doing you” is probably going to require something from the outside which is controlled by politics. I get it - the process is frustrating and corrupt and at times it seems pointless but I am here to tell you to stop complaining and take some responsibility! 

1st let’s get something straight the President has, by design, very little power to do anything. This was done on purpose to avoid a Monarchy. So while voting for President is good it is the VERY least you can do. Most of the real decision making and legislation that affects your day to day life is done at the local level. Voting for state representatives, governors, mayors, city commissioners, judges, ect. is actually much more important. Take the time to research and find out which candidates are for the same things as you are AND fill in the bubble next to their name. The research will take time and it will take work but that is the price you pay to live in a democratic, (semi) functioning society. If it’s too much for you to handle move to North Korea where I can assure you that you will never have to make another decision about your life. 

Be an adult and stop letting other people control your life. Because every time you fail to participate in the process that is exactly what you are allowing - OTHER PEOPLE TO CONTROL YOUR LIFE. Think about it....

[nattieliz]

War on Christmas

Every year we hear the same cry about the so-called war on Christmas.“Watch out!” People scream, “1st it’s no nativity scenes in front of state capitals, then it’s red Starbucks cups, next they’ll take away your trees, presents, and those long lines of cranky people trying to buy their kid the latest toy!” If you are like me you roll your eyes and continue to think people are cray. However, today I would like to do something different and teach you a little about the history of Christmas and you may realize that Christmas is bigger than ever before. It starts with an actual war on Christmas - Battle of Trenton. December 1776 and the American or rebel troop's spirits were low. The British had won the last few battles and many Americans thought the end for them was near. George Washington planned a sneak attack, December 25, 1776, on the British who were celebrating Christmas in the town of Trenton. The Americans crossed the Delaware River that night and on the morning staged a sneak attack. The losses to the Americans were minimal and the gains monumental. This victory reenergized the Americans and encouraged more enlistments. Once the Americans gained their independence celebrating Christmas was seen as un-American. (And to some unchristian like, can you imagine?) And so Christmas was not celebrated until the mid 19th century. Christmas wasn’t even a Federal holiday until 1870. Once Americans started celebrating the holiday they combined the traditions of the many immigrants who had arrived. Germans added their flair of adding lights to trees, the Dutch brought good ol St Nick, ect. There is no right way for Americans to celebrate as it has always been a conglomerate of ideas and traditions. It is actually very American to include the traditions of new immigrants and cultures. And trust me when I say George Washington would scuff at your so called war on Christmas. Cheers and Happy Holidays to all of you, however you may celebrate!

[nattieliz]

The Myth Regarding Wealth and Hard Work

The problem in our society is that we attribute wealth to hard work. Which would then mean that those without wealth are lazy. This is simply not true. Many people with wealth inherited it meaning the only “work” they did was being born. In addition many wealthy people use tax loopholes and “government handouts” much more than even the most talked about “welfare queens.” We must stop treating poor people like they are criminals as if being poor is a crime. In order to accept the notion that people on food stamps are lazy and just want free money, you then also have to accept the notion that people willingly give up their shot at the american dream and put their families in dangerous situations all for $4.50/day in food assistance. A few maybe but certainly not the majority. Most people don’t want to accept your handouts anymore than you want to give it to them.