I have a black Patagonia backpack that I use for travel and work. It wasn't cheap but I've had it for years and it's just like new. Since I've moved to Michigan, I'm going to have to buy my winter coat and even if it might cost me $400, I'm getting one, so worth it, to me.
@jsr78 when i saw your post, i was like, "what?" And then i read the link you provided:
Was just about to drop a link here this morning from the NY Times about this remarkable man. Finally some unequivocal GOOD news! He hopes other companies will begin to use their enormous profits for socially-responsible causes like climate change which affects us all (are you listening Jeffrey Bezos??). Perhaps this is the early birth of a "newly-evolved form of Capitalism", one which recognizes that social responsibility and greater good must play a vital part too.
Patagonia Founder Gives Away the Company to Fight Climate Change - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Was just about to drop a link here this morning from the NY Times about this remarkable man. Finally some unequivocal GOOD news! He hopes other companies will begin to use their enormous profits for socially-responsible causes like climate change which affects us all (are you listening Jeffrey Bezos??). Perhaps this is the early birth of a "newly-evolved form of Capitalism", one which recognizes that social responsibility and greater good must play a vital part too.
Patagonia Founder Gives Away the Company to Fight Climate Change - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Well, in retrospect Patagonia is not the first: Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, MacKenzie Bezos and others have chosen to be so generous toward worthy causes with their fortunes... but it's so heartening to think that this elite group of socially-conscious billionaires may be widening and may, one day, even become "the norm".
Warren Buffett is a railroad owner and I think he could do much more. Perhaps he'll take a page from Patagonia's book.
Warren Buffett is a railroad owner and I think he could do much more. Perhaps he'll take a page from Patagonia's book.
I was looking for some good news this morning to start my day and I came across this article. ( https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/innovative-paint-cools-down-the-school-playground-by-12-degrees/)
A paint company has made solar reflective paint that a school near Atlanta used to redo the concrete/asphalt playground area. The result was a decrease in temperature by about 12 degrees.
Could you imagine the benefits of more places used this type of paint on concrete and asphalt? Wow!
I usually try not to vent too much on this forum, in the spirit of keeping things positive.
But I'm so appalled by DeathSantis' latest stunt I want to scream.
He spent 12 million dollars of Florida taxpayers' money to fly ~50 migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard.
I mean, WTF???? 😠 😠 👎 👎 😖 😖
This is wrong in so many ways. Obviously there's the human rights issue of misleading the immigrants by telling them they would be given housing and jobs, and using them as political chess pieces.
But one needn't be a "bleeding heart liberal" to be upset.
Even the hard core conservatives should be asking, " Why is the governor using our money to relocate migrants from Texas????!!"
And I have to ask, how the hell does it cost 12 million dollars for a couple of charter flights from TX to MV??? Those are some wicked expensive plane tickets! What happened to the rest of the money? DS probably siphoned off most of it for his campaign fund (which would also be equivalent to his bribes and payoffs fund).
With $12 million, each family could have been *GIVEN* a home and assistance with finding jobs and getting acclimated. What a F-ing waste.
Any R with an eye on their pocketbook (and most are obsessed with it) should be outraged and calling for impeachment. I don't even know how this stunt could be legal. Under what provision in the state constitution is this supposedly allowable??? ARRRGH
A minor clarification about the DS idiocy: I just read in my local paper (which is behind a paywall so I won't post a link), that the 12 million came from federal "American Rescue Plan" money-- which is supposed to be used for needed state public works projects, etc. So although it's not coming directly from state funds, those needed projects will now have to be paid for out of taxpayer dollars or not done at all. Some of the R's may be too dim to realize this. Or maybe they think it's OK for bridges to collapse and the ocean to engulf Miami Beach for lack of mitigation structures and engineering.
A minor clarification about the DS idiocy: I just read that the 12 million came from federal "American Rescue Plan" money-- which is supposed to be used for needed state public works projects, etc ( https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/local/2022/09/15/marthas-vineyard-migrants-political-reaction-elizabeth-warren-charlie-baker-ted-cruz/10388547002/. So although it's not coming directly from state funds, those needed projects will now have to be paid for out of taxpayer dollars or not done at all. Some of the R's may be too dim to realize this. Or maybe they think it's OK for bridges to collapse and the ocean to engulf Miami Beach for lack of mitigation structures and engineering.
This is a very long post, so brace yourselves. ;-) @jeanne-mayell, I couldn't figure out how to post this in the Numerology area as a new post, so please feel free to move it there if you want.
I'm not a professional numerologist, so there may be some on here who disagree with this assessment. The system that I use places everything in a cycle of 9, and each number represents a different phase of the cycle. I've done a sort of numerological "review" of the current 9-year cycle of TFG, and I find it interesting, if not actually predictive.
A personal year in numerology begins on the day after a person's birthday in any given year, and continues through the day before their birthday the following year, the birthday itself being generally considered to be "outside of time" for the purposes of numerology. The personal year number is calculated by taking the person's day and month of birth along with the current year (current as relates to the person's birthday) and adding down to a single digit. In TFG's case, (born June 14) that would mean that 2015 is calculated as 6+1+4+2+0+1+5 = 19 = 1+9 = 10 = 1+0 = 1. This is the basis of this essay.
TFG announced his run for the Presidency on June 16, 2015, two days after his birthday. That year was a personal 1 year for TFG, beginning on June 15 of that year, and ending on June 13 of 2016. A "1" year is a time for beginnings, and he began his political journey.
His "2" year - partnerships - began in June 2016, by which time he had pretty well cemented his candidacy, and now it was time for him to consolidate his "partnerships" by gathering his sycophants and followers around him, winning the election, setting up his government. This was mostly completed by June of 2017, when his "3" year - communications and direct influence - began.
The period from June 2017 - June 2018 was his time to communicate his "message" as far and wide as he could. That doesn't just mean his words, of course; it also means his style of communication (lying constantly about everything, even in the face of almost irrefutable proof) and his actions in furtherance of his agenda, including the appointment of Neil Gorsuch to SCOTUS.
When TFG's "4" year - building a foundation - began in June of 2018, he focused on continuing to build and shore up his support. He removed career professional political veterans and replaced them with people who he thought would do his bidding, including another SCOTUS Justice in the person of Brett Kavanaugh and several other justices in the Federal Court System. This continued throughout much of his remaining time in office, but the majority of it was finished by June 2019.
His "5" year - change and re-direction - began in June 2019. During this year, the cracks were starting to show, and by June 2020, Covid had drastically altered the landscape. During this period, TFG was beginning to be seen by many as the primary force behind doing exactly nothing about it until it was far too late. In addition to almost dying from the disease, his lies and inaction in the face of such an existential threat began to turn the tide against him and empower those of us who stood against him to get him removed. It was also during this time that Justice Ginsberg passed away and gave TFG a chance to have his parting shot by appointing an unprecedented *third* Justice to SCOTUS, the relatively unqualified Amy Coney Barrett.
The "6" year - responsibility and obligations - beginning in June 2020, brought with it many accusations of dereliction of duty and failure to uphold the laws fairly. The positive side of 6 is creating harmony, but the negative side of 6 assumes that the way he sees things is the "right" way, and as long as everyone sees the world the way he does, this will lead to that harmony. The old saw, "We'll get along fine as long as you do it my way" comes to mind, and that's pretty much how he was (and still is) dealing with things. He expected that his judicial appointments and contacts among politicians and his followers would protect him when he tried calling in the "favors" that he perceived were "owed" to him. Unfortunately, that's not how the real world works, and - owing to his refusal to accept the very real responsibilities of his office - he lost the election. Unfortunately, he also refused to accept that, and continued to try to force his idea of "harmony" on the country and the world. It was likely during this time that he stole and/or destroyed classified information, perhaps intending to use it for leverage to get what he wanted because to him, his happiness was the definition of harmony, regardless of how anyone else might fare. This period gave way to the "7" year in June 2021.
Learning, knowledge, and wisdom characterize the "7" year, and one aspect of learning is investigations and fact-finding. Merrick Garland was confirmed as the Attorney General in March 2021, and while his investigation into the events of January 6 began shortly thereafter, but due to staffing shortages, the DOJ didn't really begin to work in earnest until June 2021, corresponding to the beginning of TFG's "7" year. After the Senate blocked the formation of a Congressional Commission in May 2021, the House appointed its own Select Committee, officially constituting it on July 1, 2021. These simultaneous and coordinating investigations have now reached TFG's "inner circle" with apparent evidence that his closest advisors were directly involved and that TFG himself was the driving force behind it. Although the investigations are continuing, the majority of the information was gathered prior to the end of TFG's "7" year in June of 2022
Now we come to the present, the "8" year, which began in June 2022 and will extend through June 2023. Eight is the number of balance and justice. This period has already been and will continue to be characterized by court fights, legal maneuvering and preparations to indict and charge TFG and many of his minions, not just for his crimes as President, but also for personal and financial crimes. In spite of all of the legal wrangling, the DOJ, the Committee, and at least two state governments seem to have uncovered enough evidence to indict not just TFG but also several others in both his personal and political orbits, and they are simply nailing everything down so as to have nearly iron-clad cases when they arrive in the courtroom. These fights over what amount to legal positioning will probably continue until at least March of 2023. I expect that several indictments of TFG and many others will be handed down likely in the months after that in preparation for the courtroom showdowns that will happen during the following year.
And that brings us to TFG's "9" year - the year of endings - beginning in June 2023 and flowing through to June 2024. I hesitate to say that TFG will experience actual justice, but not because he is protected or "gets away with" what he's done. Rather, I feel as though he will be removed from the public eye, whether by passing on or by being institutionalized medically or psychologically. In any case, this will be the end of the cycle not just for him, but I believe for many in Republican political offices who supported him.
We have been waiting and waiting for this day.
It is finally here!
"New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a sweeping lawsuit Wednesday against former President Donald Trump, his three eldest children and the Trump Organization in connection with her yearslong civil investigation into the company’s business practices."
He's going to "need a bigger boat" of lawyers. He might need to hang the help wanted sign up at one of his resorts because being his lawyer will be like issuing your own death sentence. It is career ending,
We have been waiting and waiting for this day.
It is finally here!
waiting and waiting for the other shoe to drop
and now...
it's raining shoes! hallelujah!
it's raining shoes! amen!
I can't say I am surprised with the news that Trump and the Trump spawn are being sued in New York for multiple tax and fraud charges. As I speculated previously, out of all the cases against Trump, this one was the safest to proceed. If convicted, he faces fines and penalties, but no actual jail time, so it will be harder to whip the MAGA crew into a frenzy. In short, he is going to have a harder time saying "persecution" and "witch hunt" when he isn't facing jail time. Also, because this is New York, it is safely in a blue state that Trump's government cronies can't touch.
I think that charging Trump's children was a calculated move as well. I think they are trying to force Trump to announce that he is planning to run in 2024 before the midterms. This will KILL the Republicans because they will be forced to deal with Trump and his talking points. Further, women will be reminded that Trump was the one who packed the court to take away women's rights to reproductive Healthcare and abortion. Why give him a second term? Before you know it, we won't have the ability to vote anymore. That alone is more than enough reason to NEVER vote for a republican ever again.
I wonder if Trump can hold back long enough to avoid making an announcement before the midterms. It will be tough, because the January 6 hearings will be starting up next week, and the Trump Organization will be involved in a trial in October as well. If he can make it, then Republicans will be happy. If not......well, let's say the blue wave will probably get much, much bigger.