Newtown, CT School Shooting - Remember the Victims (12/14/2012)

As tragic and as heartbreaking as what happened in Connecticut on Friday was, I am baffled by some people's response that gun control is the answer. As long as the world has been, there has always been evil. There has always been mentally disturbed individuals, individuals with a twisted outlook on life and those who they view as responsible for what has happened to them. Individuals who are selfish, spiritually with no guidance or accountability to other human beings or a sense of morals. This is devastating to me that we, as a society, would glorify these individuals by parading them across our T.V.s and news feeds and then that we would blame the guns and wonder "How could this happen?"

When a drunk driver goes the wrong way on the highway and kills a dozen people, we do not turn around and try to take away every one's right to drive or own a car. We punish that individual. We grieve for the lives lost and families suffering, those who can send money to help with funeral costs or volunteer with charities who raise awareness of the severity of driving under the influence and what can happen when we act selfishly. It would be ridiculous to blame the car or all drivers because of the minority of people who only think of themselves and become murderers. 

Let us stay focused on the victims.

Let us not be blinded by our pain and shock into believing that this can solved by stripping away our Constitutional right to gun ownership and the right to protect ourselves. 

You can click  here to read about where to send donations to as well as a number for those who would like to volunteer. You can also go directly to the Newtown Parent Connection, Inc. site and make donations there as well as see about trauma support sessions for those in the Newtown area. 

You can participate in honoring the victims today by wearing blue and yellow/gold in their memory.

As always, thank you for reading.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

Find out more information, donate, or find a Making Strides Walk near you by clicking the link below:

Making Strides 2012

2012 ADA Walk for a Cure!

It's that time of year again!! I am so excited to have been a part of all the strides that have been made since I first became an advocate in 2010. THANK YOU to all those who have supported in the past by walking and/or donating!! I appreciate it so much! Every little bit helps in the fight! Raising awareness is so important! Not only is diabetes a life-altering disease, it is a life-threatening disease as well. Diabetes is more deadly than breast cancer and AIDS combined! That is huge! But we can ALL get involved in some way.

Please support me this year as I join others on September 23rd, 2012 to walk for a cure! All proceeds go to diabetes research. Thanks in advance for your help!


Click here to partner with me in the 2012 ADA Step Out: http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?px=5227937&pg=personal&fr_id=8373&et=JQe_q0NkKXHzxoyn2seZJg

2012 Alert Day

Today is the 24th Annual American Diabetes Association Alert Day, this is held on the 4th Tuesday of every March! It is the day when every American is asked to take the diabetes risk test to find out if they are at risk for developing Type 2 Diabetes. The reason for this is that people are often diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes years after it has settled into their system, it is a disease that you can be walking around with for a long time before you even realize it. Unfortunately, if that happens the major symptoms have already developed and harmed the body. It's a disease but it is treatable.

Please follow this link to take the online test now:
http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/prevention/diabetes-risk-test/

It is fast (only a few simple questions), easy, and free!

In America there are 26 million adults and children with Type 2 Diabetes. Don't wait for it to be too late.

Health Care Reform Act's 3.8% Tax - Know Your Facts

"The PPACA creates a new Code Section 1411, which will generally impose a 3.8 percent tax on the lesser of "net investment income" or the excess of modified adjusted gross income over a "threshold amount" (generally, $250,000 for taxpayers filing a joint return, $125,000 for married taxpayers filing a separate return and $200,000 in all other cases). Net investment income generally means the excess of (i) interest, dividends, annuities, royalties, rents, income from passive activities, income from trading financial instruments and commodities, and gain from the disposition of certain non-business property, over (ii) allowable deductions properly allocable to such income. In determining the amount of net investment income, special rules apply with respect to dispositions of equity interests in certain partnerships and S corporations, and to distributions from certain qualified plans. This additional tax applies to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2012"

A lot of people have been talking, emailing, and warning each other about this part of the health care reform bill that passed seemingly, unnoticed. Today, I was "informed" via email that this was a "ploy to steal billions from unsuspecting homeowners". It is commonly explained as a sales tax but that is not correct, the best way to describe it would be a tax on profit. Basically, if you sell your home for a profit of more than $250,000.00 you will be required to pay a tax of 3.8%. The amount is $500,000.00 for couples selling a home. In reality, only a small percentage of Americans will be affected by this. The question then is, do you think it is right to be penalized for making a high profit.
Personally, I know that this tax will never apply to me however, I am able to look past myself and do believe that it is wrong. Based on the idea that no one should have to owe the government for making a large profit on their $400,000.00 home. However, this is not a perfect world and America is in a financial crisis. I do believe that compromises have to be made for sure and yes, certainly it is easy to say that those in the upper class should pay more than anyone else simply because, they can. Last time I checked though, they already do. So how far are we as a people willing to let that go? This was not something that was "snuck in", the America people have not had the "wool pulled over their eyes" by President Obama, this was open to the public and could have been discovered and researched by all. The problem is, no one thinks of that. No one cares until they are unhappy with something that effects them and then they decide to depict and study things. If even then, most of the time people never research things on their own, they simply hear about it from one of their friends and react how they are told based on the half-facts they were given. I'm sure we have all been guilty of that at one time or another, myself included.
I believe the majority of America needs to wake up and stop complaining about things after the fact. Actually research a candidate, bill, or issue for yourself before forming an opinion or making a decision, or God forbid, voting.
These are confusing times and we can't make decisions based on what we have been taught or what sounds good on the surface.


Learn about the Health Care Reform Bill:

http://www.healthreform.gov/index1.html

http://www.healthcare.gov/

Read the President's budget for the 2012 fiscal year:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/

"Top 10 Pros and Cons" of the Health Care Reform Bill:

http://healthcarereform.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=003725

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act:

http://ppaca.com/


Quote taken from the "Boulder Real Estate Blog" (http://www.boulder-buzz.com/health-care-bill-and-real-estate-tax/). Sources include Eons.com, (http://www.eons.com/groups/topic/2208705-REal-Estate-Sales-Tax?page=1), CNNMoney.com, (http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/22/news/economy/medicare_tax_increase/index.htm), sorry FOX fans... and, Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&tkr=IP:US&sid=a70ouHuhCn5Y).

Recent "Occupy" Media Story...

Why is it OK to storm into a bank, shout hateful slogans and slurs at innocent people (i.e. tellers
just doing their jobs who have no say in what they are complaining about
anyway), and try to set up "camp" in their lobby! I have no issue
with the "occupy wall street" groups using their freedom of protest
and speech, I applaud that, HOWEVER they are going about it the wrong way, it
is not an excuse to break any laws - I find it interesting they then cry the
victim when they are carted off to jail. This tells me that they are obnoxious
and have no character.