The Other Palin: Intolerant, Hypocritical, and Uninformed too

by Cheryl on May 12, 2012

in Inequality, News, Politics

I contemplated using precious time to write about Bristol Palin and her comments. The daughter of the uninformed and insignificant vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has proved again that she is her mother’s daughter. Bristol criticized President Obama for considering his daughters’ views on equality when he made his decision to support marriage equality. Bristol is giving the President advice on parenting? Excuse me while I pick my head up off the floor.

Bristol said, “While it’s great to listen to your kids’ ideas, there’s also a time when dads simply need to be dads.  In this case, it would’ve been helpful for him to explain to Malia and Sasha that while her friends parents are no doubt lovely people, that’s not a reason to change thousands of years of thinking about marriage.  Or that – as great as her friends may be – we know that in general kids do better growing up in a mother/father home.  Ideally, fathers help shape their kids’ worldview.”

“Dads should lead their family in the right ways of thinking. In this case, it would’ve been nice if the President would’ve helped shape their thoughts instead of merely reflecting what many teenagers think after one too many episodes of Glee.”

Bristol is so much better off since she had a mother and a father in her home, right? Is Levi Johnston, the father of this unwed mother’s baby who is not involved in their child’s life, going to lead them in the right way of thinking. Bristol offering what she thinks is some profound insight on serious issues with idiotic references to Dora the Explorer and Swiper the Fox while living the exact opposite of what she preaches is hypocritical and shows a strong lack of good judgment. Seriously, Glee can make you gay?

A couple of things are important to note here:

One, Bristol probably did not write that blog post. Although, the post sounds juvenile and is not well written it’s still too coherent for her to have written. The post is designed to get someone from the left to say something the right finds offensive so the right can use it to accuse the President of attacking Palin’s daughter.

Two, what better way for Bristol to try to become relevant than to write or say something entirely stupid?

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My First Blogoversary!

by Cheryl on May 11, 2012

in Anniversary, Personal

It was a year ago in May that I published my first blog post. The exact date was May 3, 2011. But as usual I remembered too early and then forgot when the date actually rolled around. I did remember, so I should get some points for that.

It’s hard to believe that it has been a year already. I started this blog as a way to collect my personal thoughts about current events and whatever else crossed my mind. I didn’t reach my goal of 100 blog posts in a year, but I do have a file full of things I haven’t posted yet. The editor in me is very picky.

Thank you to all the visitors that stopped by to read and browse around. I’m looking forward to another year. Keep stopping by to visit and leave a comment or just say hello.

Happy Blogoversary to me!

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One-issue Voters Please Wake up

by Cheryl on May 10, 2012

in Equality, News, Politics

President Obama made history yesterday. He became the first sitting president to endorse same-sex marriage. He told Robin Roberts of ABC’s Good Morning America, “It is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.” Under this president Don’t Ask Don’t Tell has been repealed, the Justice Department is no longer defending the Defense Of Marriage Act, and spousal benefits have been extended to partners of gay federal employees. This is by no means all that needs to be done, but this is progress. And wouldn’t you know it’s not good enough for some people even though it’s more than any other president has done.

The other criticism has come from people using the bible to justify their opposition. It’s infuriating to see people stand in front of a TV camera and say they aren’t going to support the president because of his belief in equality for all people. You don’t need to ask What Would Jesus Do because it is clear; Jesus would not support treating any group of people like second-class citizens. You can argue until you are blue in the face and that still will not make discrimination acceptable. You have to know right from wrong.

My question to the one-issue voters out there is: Do you think you will be better off voting for Mitt Romney? If the answer is yes, let me get the door for you. Consequently, I suppose if you’ve decided to jump on board the republican train you know where Romney stands on policy issues and general principles, right? In case you need a refresher I’ve listed some for you:

  • Mitt Romney doesn’t know whether he supports The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, legislation that helps end pay discrimination.
  • Romney believes that employers should have control over a woman’s decision to use contraception.
  • Romney’s suggestion to students struggling to afford college is shop around.
  • Romney supports Paul Ryan’s budget plan, which would double student loan rates and slash Pell Grants.
  • Romney’s top surrogate, Gov. Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania, told women who don’t want a government-mandated ultrasound to just close their eyes. Romney says he is proud of Corbett’s endorsement.
  • Romney said, “Let Detroit go bankrupt.” Now he is trying to take credit for President Obama’s auto bailout.
  • Romney opposes the Buffet Rule and supports additional tax cuts for wealthy people like himself.
  • Romney’s policies would drive up the deficit while making cuts up to 40 percent in Social Security benefits as well as cuts to Medicaid.
  • Romney said he will repeal Obamacare and “kill it dead” on day one. Making it legal for insurance companies to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and remove approximately 2.5 million young Americans from their parents’ health insurance.
  • Romney opposes the DREAM Act. His solution to illegal immigration is self-deportation. That includes children who were brought here under no fault of their own who know of no other home.
  • Romney remained silent at an Ohio campaign event as a woman said the president was “operating outside the constitution” and should be tried for treason.

If you still don’t find something in that list that will cause you more hardship than fellow American citizens who are gay having equal rights you were never a supporter of President Obama. But it should give you insight into Mitt Romney, a man whose main goal seems to be to become president while lying and taking both sides of every issue. What kind of leader is that?

P.S. It was almost painful to watch Giuliani talking to Charlie Rose this morning trying to turn the president’s support of marriage equality into a flip-flop moment. I said almost painful because it was very satisfying to see him fail in his attempt. It was almost as funny as his doomed 2008 presidential bid, where his strategy was to forgo campaigning in early-voting states and he put all his chips on Florida and it produced one delegate. That never gets old.

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Everybody is asking for it

by Cheryl on May 9, 2012

in Information

Over the past three weeks I have been stunned by the places that carelessly asked for my social security number on forms as if it’s a zip code. The social security number is one of the most if not the most super-secret confidential number that you possess. You are told to guard this number with your life. Don’t share it with anyone. It holds information key to your existence. Everyone needs to have one. It is required to get a job, get a credit card, buy a house, buy a car, etc. There is almost nothing of importance that does not require your SSN.

The SSN was never meant to be used as a personal identifier, but rather an account identifier to track worker’s earnings for benefits purposes. However, the SSN has become the preferred method of identification used by medical offices, schools, and utility companies to name a few. About 400,000 cases of identity theft occur yearly, so it concerns me when I get no guarantee from the people requesting my SSN that it will be safeguarded.

If my social security number is stolen it can be used to open up new lines of credit, open bank accounts, and take out loans. Social Security Numbers are required for business transactions from places that the IRS may be interested in such as:

  • Financial institutions
  • Employers for wage and tax reporting
  • Tax returns
  • Medical benefits (health insurance)
  • Social Security Administration
  • Licenses (drivers, hunting, fishing, etc.)

My daughter had surgery when she was a toddler and I had to provide her social security number as well as mine on the medical forms. About a year later I was notified by the hospital that their computer system had been compromised and patient information was exposed and possibly stolen. The hospital provided seven years of security by flagging our credit reports with fraud alerts. Every financial application/transaction with a company now requires me to go through an extra step of speaking with a representative to verify my identity.

In the past three weeks I have been asked for a family members’ social security number and mine for inconsequential transactions. The most recent was an accident report form from the school for my son, who was injured while he was practicing a sport. My son has been a student at the school for many years and for them to request sensitive information like this with no policy for safeguarding it is irresponsible.

I almost always leave the SSN field blank if I know the business or agency already has access to it or doesn’t need it. Three weeks ago I didn’t provide the SSN on a form at a doctor’s office and the administrator asked me for it in a waiting room full of patients. I told her I did not feel comfortable verbally blurting out the number so she asked me to write it down and she would enter it in the system right away and shred the paper I wrote it on. She let me watch her put the piece of paper in the shredder.

Insurance companies discontinued listing the SSN on our insurance cards years ago because of identity theft. But medical personnel say the insurance company requires it from them. Is this true? Why isn’t the group number or the patient ID issued by the insurance provider sufficient for identification? I am uncomfortable casually providing a SSN to any business or agency if I am not sure why they need it or how they intend to protect it. After searching the web I found some questions that may be appropriate to ask next time I am asked for my SSN:

  • Why is my SSN needed?
  • How will it be used?
  • What happens if I refuse to provide it?
  • Does law require it?
  • What security measures does your company take with customer SSNs?
  • Is there any other information I could use

I hope the answers I get after asking the questions above leave me feeling more confident than in the past because I would like to know that my concerns about my information matter.

P.S. According to www.socialsecurity.gov utility companies do not need your SSN. They have alternate means of identifying people.

UPDATE: I went to the doctor and I was asked to fill out a form to update my information. The form had a space for my social security number and I left it blank. I completed the other parts of the form and walked up to the desk to hand it to the administrator and I asked, “Do I really need to provide my SSN?” She quickly smiled and said, “No, we don’t need that. These forms have not been updated to remove that space. I don’t know why that hasn’t been done.”

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Forward

by Cheryl on May 4, 2012

in Politics

Obama campaign video.

 

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Truth Team

by Cheryl on May 4, 2012

in Politics

Obama team responds to false negative ad.

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Severely Out of Touch

May 2, 2012

Mitt and Ann Romney are sealed inside the wealth bubble and they are reinforcing the shield around it. The Romney’s want low-income and middle-class voters to believe they have struggled financially and can feel their pain. Take Ann Romney for instance. Speaking in Connecticut, Ann continued to hammer home the fact that she raised five [...]

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Mitt Romney, the Champion of Stay-at-Home Moms

April 15, 2012

Once again, we were cast into the fire of phony outrage over some comments made by Hilary Rosen, a democratic strategist hired by CNN. Rosen, made an off-the-cuff remark as part of a broader statement when responding in a conversation about Mitt Romney using his wife when he gets questions about women’s issues when she [...]

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