Political Voice

First it was recycling.  Cans, bottles, paper – no problem, already had that.  Ash educated EVERYONE at work & home – literally dug thru garbage & pulled out recyclable items.  Disgusting but effective.  Within 6 months I flipped cans.  Half bag of trash, giant orange cart of recycling.  This is HER planet, keep it GREEN; most everything is recyclable.

Summer 2016, bought her first home – then found forever homes for 18 foster cats & dogs.

 

This year we’re saying NO to straws.

Straws?  This is a problem?  Yep, completely serious.  It’s something we use no more than 10 minutes, then discard into the trash.  Most will not decompose for hundreds of years.  Those that make it into our oceans – even worse.  Yep, a simple straw.

If you can stomach it, watch the video below.  It made me a believer.

 

We are grown-ups; we can drink out of a glass without a straw.

 

Take Action  #NoPlasticStraws

  • Join in and next time you out to eat, ask for no straw.  Remind your server or bartender when the drink is served too.  If you accidentally end up with a plastic straw, reuse it on the next drink instead of going through multiple straws.
  • Purchase reusable straws that are great for on the go.  There are many options available including bamboo, stainless steel, glass, and silicone.  They’re easy to throw in your purse or suit coat too.

 

 

https://www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org/no-straw-please

Skip a Straw – Save a Turtle

By: Robyn Albritton, Sustainability Director, Sailors for the Sea

 

Straws are consistently on the top 10 lists for marine debris collected every year during the International Coastal Cleanup. It is estimated that Americans use a whopping 500 million straws per day – a number that, end-to-end, could circle the planet 2.5 times.  Imagine this number compounded on a global scale.

 

While it seems simple, straws create a pressing threat to our oceans because they are made to be disposable, and on average are used for just 10 minutes. Plastic straws are rarely recyclable, requiring special facilities, and they almost always end up in a landfill, or worse the ocean. Over their lifespan the straw breaks down into smaller and smaller, even microscopic pieces. Pieces so small that single-celled organisms and other marine life eat them.

 

The plastic remains forever.

 

This year, all citizens in Colorado were mailed ballots.  LOVE LOVE voting by mail.  [NOTE: designated drop boxes are located throughout the County, if one wants save postage on the ballot return 🙂  Louisville’s [box] is at the local Police Station.]

 

registered Libertarian…but kinda all over the board this year with my vote.

voted: Libertarian twice, Republican thrice & Democrat 4 times (2 Democrats ran uncontested).

 

7 proposed tax increases in my town or County – voted them all down.  I’m not against city programs – but after attending a council meeting last winter, sadly realized our City Board was inept at decision making.  Squeaky wheel syndrome, loudest voice wins.  Louisville’s population (& related tax revenues) continue to grow…but this Council requests even more $$s.  My thought: expand our business district, support LOCAL proprietors.  Council members should NOT draw a check – should be 100% voluntary positions…yep, even meals.  Don’t like it, don’t run.  Fix ‘County Road’ which directs traffic into our Downtown.  Washed out by the 2013 Flood…yep, over 3 years ago.  Golf course was fixed within months (with city tax dollars).  ENOUGH!

Citizens vote to retain Judges.  Information is available re: these individuals.  EDUCATE yourself & choose accordingly.  Colorado Court of Appeals – voted 2 YES, 8 NO.

Constitutional Amendments: Yes to 70/higher living wage to Coloradans.  No to 71/makes it harder for citizen initiatives to make the Ballot.  (Backlash from last election’s marijuana legalization.)

Propositions:  Yes to 106/citizen right to Die (within 6 months of your expiration date). Yes to 107 & 108/allow all citizens to vote in Primaries.  One-third of Coloradans are not registered with the national 2-party monopoly – so we are shut out from voting…but our tax dollars still fund this activity.  Ridiculous.

 

It’s not HOW I voted, it’s THAT I voted.

Your voted ballot has been received and accepted by the Boulder County Elections. This is your final message this election. Thank you for voting!

 

Sent from my iPhone

Next Tuesday (November 8th) is Election Day – VOTE!

 

 

Donald Trump Is Elected President in Stunning Repudiation of the Establishment

 

Donald John Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States on Tuesday in a stunning culmination of an explosive, populist and polarizing campaign that took relentless aim at the institutions and long-held ideals of American democracy.

 

The surprise outcome, defying late polls that showed Hillary Clinton with a modest but persistent edge, threatened convulsions throughout the country and the world, where skeptics had watched with alarm as Mr. Trump’s unvarnished overtures to disillusioned voters took hold.

 

The triumph for Mr. Trump, 70, a real estate developer-turned-reality television star with no government experience, was a powerful rejection of the establishment forces that had assembled against him, from the world of business to government, and the consensus they had forged on everything from trade to immigration.

 

The results amounted to a repudiation, not only of Mrs. Clinton, but of President Obama, whose legacy is suddenly imperiled. And it was a decisive demonstration of power by a largely overlooked coalition of mostly blue-collar white and working-class voters who felt that the promise of the United States had slipped their grasp amid decades of globalization and multiculturalism.

 

In Mr. Trump, a thrice-married Manhattanite who lives in a marble-wrapped three-story penthouse apartment on Fifth Avenue, they found an improbable champion.

 

“The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer,” Mr. Trump told supporters around 3 a.m. on Wednesday at a rally in New York City, just after Mrs. Clinton called to concede….

 

Les Misérables – Do You Hear The People Sing?

 

 

Count me in.

Let’s celebrate our nation’s original inhabitants – true natives to this land – not another European relic.  Reconsider Columbus Day.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day (also known as Native American Day) is a holiday celebrated in various localities in the United States, begun as a counter-celebration to Columbus Day. The purpose of the day is to promote Native American culture and commemorate the history of Native American peoples.

 

 

“Indigenous Peoples Day” reimagines Columbus Day and changes a celebration of colonialism into an opportunity to reveal historical truths about the genocide and oppression of indigenous peoples in the Americas, to organize against current injustices, and to celebrate indigenous resistance.

 

Ways to Honor Indigenous Peoples Day

  • Craft a service or celebration around Indigenous Peoples Day.
  • Build and strengthen connections to nearby Native communities.
  • Take action to rename Columbus Day “Indigenous Peoples Day.”
    • South Dakota, Alabama, and Hawaii have renamed Columbus Day.
  • Provide education on Native lives and cultures.
  • Hold a movie screening with a discussion afterward.
  • Host a common read and book discussion.
  • Take action for the rights and needs of Native peoples!

 

More cities, states ditch Columbus Day name for Indigenous Peoples’ Day

 

A growing number of U.S. cities and states moved to downplay Columbus Day — a federal holiday — in favor of the rebranded Indigenous Peoples’ Day, but one major city rejected a proposal for the name change this year.

 

Among the states engaged in the rebranding: Vermont, where Gov. Peter Shumlin said the “sacrifice and contributions of the First Peoples of this land” would be honored. He wrote that the day provided an opportunity to celebrate “indigenous heritage and resiliency.”

 

South Dakota has avoided the Columbus Day name for decades, reportedly declaring the second Monday in October as Native Americans Day in 1990.

 

Phoenix became the largest city to recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day after a city council vote made it official last Thursday, KJZZ reported. Dozens of other cities also approved the name change in recent years, including Denver and Seattle.

 

Boulder hosts inaugural Indigenous Peoples Day Celebration

City is 14th in U.S. to mark the celebration

 

Boulder’s inaugural Indigenous Peoples Day Celebration takes place Sunday and Monday, with events that aim to highlight the culture, history and basic existence of the city’s first and often marginalized residents.

 

Boulder is among just over a dozen American cities, including Denver, that observe the holiday this weekend. For the last 82 years, the holiday has been observed as Columbus Day.

 

The City Council unanimously approved Indigenous Peoples Day in August, recognizing that Boulder “has benefitted directly from Indian removal policies that violated human rights.” The council vote included a promise to rename Settlers Park; a new name has not yet been announced.

 

Denver permanently approves Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Columbus Day

 

DENVER — The city of Denver will no longer celebrate Columbus Day on the second Monday of October after the city council voted to change the holiday to Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

 

The move, in a 12-0 vote Monday night, is meant to recognize the rich history of Native Americans and the role they played in Denver development.

 

Last year, the council passed a one-time proclamation to recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

 

Boulder made a move in August to make it permanent, and Denver has joined at least 14 other cities in the country who have followed suit.

 

Protesters have disrupted the Columbus Day parade in the past in Denver. They believe the holiday wrongly celebrates the enslavement of Native Americans and their removal from the land they called home.

 

Some of that land was along the Cherry Creek and the South Platte River where the people of the Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes lived.

 

The council’s proclamation says the “systematic destruction of indigenous peoples resulted in poverty and disparities in education, health and the socioeconomic status of Native Americans.”

 

Denver joins other cities such as Seattle; Minneapolis; Albuquerque, N.M.; and Portland, Ore., on the list now marking Indigenous Peoples’ Day.