Tag Archives: Facebook

What do the clouds say?

30 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by in Life, My Thoughts

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We all need an escape, from the mundane political crap that’s spewed upon us on a daily basis, whether via the news on TV or any of your social media feeds, and of course the ever dramatic wedding industry.  When I saw this go by in my Facebook feed, via my friend Kitryn Marie, I couldn’t resist sharing it.  It’s brought about giggles from friends both publicly & privately, with some asking if I was hinting at a specific person.  The answer is no, no one specific and everyone specific.

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Let’s face it.  We’ve all done it.  If you say you haven’t, you’re lying!   We sit out in our backyards, or glance out a car window, and we look UP.  Not at the sun, directly, but at the clouds.  And you know you’ve found yourself wondering if you might catch a shape of something floating by.  People have claimed to see anything from the devil himself, to horses, to hearts, to an angel playing a harp.  Either they have very vivid imaginations, are on some powerful drugs or they simply want to believe a cloud is more than a visible mass of liquid droplets or frozen crystals made of water or various chemicals suspended in the atmosphere above the surface of a planetary body.

Whatever fuels us, we’ve all done it.  And we’ll continue to do it.  But you do have to wonder..are the clouds looking down and wondering what shapes they’re seeing?  Now, about those moons…..

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Random Acts of Kindness

06 Friday Dec 2013

Posted by in Life, Love, My Thoughts

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A Random Act of Kindness is described as “a selfless act performed by a person or people wishing to either assist or cheer up an individual person or people.”1  The keyword here is selfless.

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This is something you do because it comes from your heart.  Can anyone explain to me why people find it necessary to “brag” about what they’ve done?  You do it because it’s the right thing to do, not because you’re looking for recognition.  So many of us  have so much to give to others, just get out there and do it!!  Forget about telling your Facebook friends, your twitter followers, etc.  Just know that what you did made someone else smile and go on your way.  Imagine if we all did this, what a wonderful world it would be.  More smiles, less hurt, more happiness, less tears.

Do what you can and don’t look for anything in return….always be sure to show compassion and kindness to strangers..for you never know when you may be in the company of an angel…angels don’t always have wings.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_act_of_kindness

original photo via leadchangegroup.com

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www.dorindaduclos.com

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How safe are we? Paramus Mall Shooting

05 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by in Life, My Thoughts

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Once again we were faced with the madness.  A man, in a helmet with the visor down, dressed in combat clothing, and carrying a rifle, was able to walk into the Garden State Plaza in Paramus, NJ and start shooting.  Witnesses say between two to five shots were fired.  How was this man able to enter the mall?  Where was security?!

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Most police activity took place outside the entrance to Nordstrom. As of midnight, EST, officials are reporting one shell casing found at the scene and the shooter has not been located.

My status on Facebook regarding the shooting had several people commenting.  Richard O’Malley, a New Jersey resident, had this to say, “You aren’t ever safe, anywhere. You are always a potential victim. The question is always, “Is there someone easier than you to attack?”. And in NJ, the law has made us all fair game.”  Laurie Romanelli, another New Jersey native said, “The worlds gone nuts! I had to go to willow brook the other night ( tho I prefer GSPlaza) it’s nothing but kids hanging out getting in trouble!!! My kids were never allowed to do that!!!”

The information surrounding this event is all over the place.  The shooter’s in the mall, the shooter’s long gone, there were two shots fired, there were five shots fired.  Of course in all the chaos there are bound to be conflicting reports.  NBC News is reporting that only one shot was fired.  This shooting comes on the heels of the shooting at LAX airport last week, where a New Jersey man is accused of killing a TSA agent and injuring 4 others.  He also, was able to get by security, before he was wounded and taken into custody.  Are Americans in such dire straights that they feel the only way out is to take others with them?

This brings me back to a discussion several of my friends and I have been having regarding the amount of information that is told to us by the media.  People who have an axe to grind find they can get their ten minutes of fame because the news agencies will give them that moment.

Do you think the media tells too much or do you feel you need to know everything that’s happening during a given event?  So why, then, does the local news make the rounds, for hours at a time, while the White House gets to sit back and tell tales?

We Do Not Approve – President’s ratings drop amid healthcare debacle

31 Thursday Oct 2013

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United States Secretary of Health and Human Services  Kathleen Sebelius testified on Wednesday about the problems with the Affordable Healthcare Act website, Healthcare.gov.  Or maybe she thought she did.  She really didn’t answer the questions being asked.  She appeared to stammer her way through at times and using “whatever” as a response when asked if President Obama was responsible for the mess.  She claimed the president had no knowledge of the problems prior to the launch, and that everything fell on her.  A sacrificial lamb?  The president is good with that.  Think Hillary and Benghazi.

“You deserve better. I apologize. I’m accountable to you for fixing these problems.”

ImageHer apology might have been believable if she hadn’t read it off a piece of paper.

It comes down to this.  The president is responsible for EVERYTHING the government sets out for the America people.  And yet he continually says he didn’t know, he wasn’t aware.  Is he that far out of the loop with his own staff?  How does one run a country like the United States of America if you’re always in the dark?  Or is he?  I don’t think so.

It’s very convenient to play dumb when it comes to the majority of the country you’re supposed to be leading, believes  you’re not worthy of your position.  In fact, the president’s rating is the lowest it’s ever been.  In a recent poll conducted by NBC/Wall Street Journal shows Obama’s approval rating is at 42%, down 5% from early October.  51% disapprove of the job he’s doing.  In a discussion on Facebook, regarding this information, Paul Pannone of ewednewz.com & www.pauljpannone.com said “Mirrors my poll exactly; 42% combined feel he is– or doing the best he can in a broken system.” President Blames Others For His Shortcomings

I believe at this point in his presidency, he hasn’t proven he can handle the job.  It’s been five years of disappointments.  My question is to the 42% of Americans who think he’s doing his job…What is it that you see that the majority of us do not?

Oh My Gov .com

30 Wednesday Oct 2013

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OhMyGov.com – The web site boasts “Tracking the Influence of the Nation’s Most Influential” and “Dig into the social conversations making news and impacting policy.”

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Welcome to the government’s next step in mining your data.  By using a web site called ohmygov.com, they will be collecting data from social media sites like Twitter & Facebook regarding your medical postings.  While they claim the information they collect will remain anonymous, I’m pretty sure we all know what that means.  Lawyers have taken opposite approaches, with one claiming it’s a trust issue and as long as we are giving out that data, we shouldn’t expect it to be private.  Or in other words, if you don’t want it out there, stay off social media.  Another lawyer claims that she sees this as a major issue regarding  HIPAA and an invasion of privacy, especially if the information gets into the wrong hands.

For a mere $2500 a year and up you can have access to unlimited people and agencies you want to track.  Pick a plan! All plans come with a FREE TRIAL!  Too bad Obamacare doesn’t offer that option.

ImageWhat this chart suggests is that only information from public figures such as Congressman & Government Agencies can be accessed.  So where do we, as private citizens come into play?

It’s quite interesting to see who is, in fact, using this website to get information.  Companies like Microsoft, the National Parks Conservation Association, Georgetown University & Newsweek, just to name a few.  My question is, what exactly are they looking for?!

No information has been given as to whether or not your privacy settings on Facebook will have any effect on this data mining.  Only that it claims any information regarding your medical postings can be used.  I have my privacy settings set to friends only.  This is why I have them set that way.  I don’t want just anyone coming along and viewing my information.  If that were the case, Facebook wouldn’t need privacy settings or a button that says “Send a Friend Request”.   I can understand them being able to extract this information via Twitter.  There really is no expectation of privacy there, unless your tweets are protected, but even then, once you tweet, it’s out there.  Protecting tweets only means people (followers) you are not connected to can’t see what you’re saying if they try to view your wall.

So the questions still remain.  How does farming your social media medical postings impact policy?  Will it decide who gets funding and for what diseases or is it just another way for the government to keep an eye on you?  And is this really how we want our taxpayer dollars to be spent?

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