Thank you, Lacy, for your weekly exercise lessons.

This is a low impact, but surprisingly aerobic and inspiring form of exercise.  I look forward to the introduction of your T'ai Chi class.

If you would like a different kind of exercise routine, call Dr. Lacy at Mountain Palace for more information.

Howcum 97% of Scientists Say Humans Cause Climate Change But Americans Still Don't Get It?

"The most ambitious survey ever on the causes of climate change - covering 11,994 peer-reviewed academic papers by 29,000 scientists over 20 years - has found that 97.1% agree climate change is caused by human activity, with dissenters representing a "vanishingly small proportion." Yet there is a "gaping chasm" between the scientific consensus and public perception with just 42% of Americans seeing that connection, largely due to industry lobbying.

 "There has been a systematic attempt to create the impression that scientists did not have a consensus, as part of a broader strategy to prevent federal government action. The public have been confused because people have been trying to confuse us.""

 http://www.commondreams.org/further/2013/05/16-2

Where do your clothes come from? What conditions do the workers make them in?

The Bangladesh Factory Safety Accord...14 American retailers refuse to sign safety accord:

1. WalMart (17,000 workers in 34 factories in Bangladesh)
2. Gap (does business with 78 factories in Bangladesh)
3. Macy's
4. Sears/Kmart
5. JCPenney
6. VF Corp (owns North Face, Wrangler, Vans, etc.)
7. Target
8. Kohl's
9. Cato Fashions
10. Carter's (Oshkosh)
11. Nordstroms
12. American Eagle Outfitters
13. The Children's Place
14. Foot Locker

Vote with your wallet... . Companies pay attention to their customers: Tell them you want clothes/shoes/housewares/etc. that don't have the blood of innocent workers on them. Demand decent working conditions, living wages...otherwise, how can we wear these clothes, buy these products in good conscience?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/17/bangladesh-factory-safety-accord_n_3286430.html#slide=2468322

GOP Congressman Mike Kelly Receives Standing Ovation After He Rips IRS Commissioner

GOP Congressman Mike Kelly Receives Standing Ovation After He Rips IRS Commissioner

WATCH THE VIDEO

"REP. MIKE KELLY (R-PA): This has nothing to do with political parties. This has to do with highly targeted groups. This reconfirms everything the American public believes. This is a huge blow to the faith and trust that the American people have in their government. Is there any limit to the scope where you folks can go? Is there anything at all? Is there any way that we could ask you is there any question that you should have asked?

My goodness. How much money do you have in your wallet? Who do you get emails from? Whose sign do you put up in your front yard? This is a tax question? And you don't think that's intimidating? It's sure as hell intimidating. And I don't know that I got any answers from you today. And I don't know that -- what Mr. George said is great work -- but you know what? There's a heck of a lot more that has to come out in this. Any anybody that sat here today and listened to what you had to say, I am more concerned today than I was before, and the fact that you all can do just about anything you want to anybody? 

You know, you can put anybody out of business that you want. Any time you want. I gotta tell you. You could talk about how you're a horribly run organization, if you're on the other side of the fence, you're not giving that excuse. And the IRS comes in, you're not allowed to be shoddy, you're not allowed to be run horribly, you're not allowed to make mistakes, you're not allowed to do one damn thing that doesn't come in compliance, and if you do, you're held responsible right then. I just think the American people have seen what's going on right now in their government. This is absolutely an overreach and this is an outrage for all Americans."

religious freedom IRS style

New at Connections Cafe!

Saturday breakfast - Classic Belgian Sourdough Waffles with local Maple Syrup     

Now open Sundays - 12 - 5 p.m.
 
Grilled Pizza  - Thursday 5 - 9 p.m. and every Saturday at the Ligonier Country Market  8 -12 noon.

Come eat some GREAT Mexican food this Friday night!!!
This weeks menu: Tamales, Quesadillas, Enchiladas, Pozole,
Dessert: Flan and Fried Ice Cream
YUM!
BYOB establishment, no cork or bottle fee.

Connections Cafe, a healthy food eatery, located on 109 S Market Street  Ligonier PA  724 238 9611

Wendy wanted me to remind everyone that Relay for Life starts today.

There will be performances for the opening ceremonies at Weller Field.

Mountain Palace - Pida Exercise

Mountain Palace is continuing last weekend's special of pork with broccoli and rice due to its popularity and the widely known health benefits of this wonderful vegetable. Lacy's Chinese exercise training this weekend will include pida which involves striking one's own pressure point areas to cause stimulation. She will also include review of the bone joint exercises, specific pressure point massage, and active motion exercises. She has been getting much positive feedback about the benefit of the activities from her Sunshine Club participants. Sessions are conducted at 11:30 Saturdays and cost $10 per session or $30 for the month. She is thinking if we have thunderstorms this Saturday and a larger number of participants of moving to the New Florence ccommunity covered picnic area next to the ball fields behind the fire hall. Come to Mountain Palace this weekend for some healthy activity, healthy tasty authentic northern Chinese food, or to get reacquainted with Lacy's mother Yuzhen or meet her brother Zhongbao. Eleven miles north of Ligonier left off of Route 711 onto Creek Road directly across from Mirror Lake. Friday 6 to 9, Saturday 12 to 9 and Sunday 12 to 6.  724 717-8614  www.mountainpalace.net  Alternate phone cell 724 288-3872

People have been lying to you all your life.

Dear Young Workers:

Even if it weren’t for the economic stagnation, you would already be facing a tough market. That’s because you are showing up at the job marketplace nearly empty-handed. Our society long ago decided it was better for you to sit in desks for 16 years than to gain any real work experience in the marketplace that is likely to hire you later.

Even if it were legal for you to work when you are capable of doing so—from the age of maybe 12 or 13—the government has imposed these wage-floor laws that price your services out of the market. Then you are told that if you stay in school, you will get a great, high-paying job right out of college. Then it turns out that employers aren't interested in you. You are beginning to sense that employers think you have few marketable skills and have no demonstrated predisposition to produce.

Here’s the root of the problem: People have been lying to you all your life. ......

Read more: http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/advice-to-young-unemployed-workers#ixzz2TYLWHOjl

morning freak out

The Beanery Writers Group May 20 & May 27, 2013, Writing Prompts

 

I’ve been posting  a bi-monthly prompt from the Beanery Writers Group. I keep hearing that recipients of the prompt are writing even if they don’t send me the results. Some have sent the results, and some have been posted. I will continue sending out the prompts weekly (or at least try weekly) as long as I keep receiving positive responses.

 

MAY 21---NOTE: I am scheduled to do a book-in-progress reading at the Allegory on East Main St., Ligonier, onTuesday, May 21.

 

May 19, 3:00-5:00 p.m. Jim Busch on How To Perform A Reading Of Your Work. St. Michael’s of the Valley Church in Rector

 

NOTE: The Beanery Writers annual print publication is now available. They can be purchased for $4.50 from the Second Chapter Bookstore on West Main Street, Ligonier. from any member, or by contacting me at 724 238 3493.

These booklets make a great substitution for a get well, birthday, or any other occasion card.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Beanery Online Literary Magazine is up and running, albeit poorly. If you haven’t visited the site plan on doing so to check out the Wednesday (or Thursday, if necessary) posting atwww.beanerywriters.wordpress.com .

 

May 20, 2013 Prompt

The following persons were born in the second half of May. Choose the one you would like to interview and state why you chose that person. Then create a list of questions you would ask them. After the seven minutes, go to the Internet and research the answers to your questions.

 

5/17/1970:Jordan Knight, vocalist

5/27/1930:John Barth, author.

5/29/1939:Al Unser Sr, auto racer.

5/30/1908:Melvin Jerome Blanc, voice of Bugs Bunny, et al.

5/31/1819:Walt Whitman, US poet

MAY 27, 2013 PROMPT

The month of May celebrates many things. Below is a list of some of them. Choose one of them, explain your choice, and elaborate on how you would celebrate the event:
Mental Health Month.
National Duckling Month.
National High Blood Pressure Month.
National Home Decorating Month.
National Photo Month.
National Physical Fitness and Sports Month.
Older Americans Month

Date Your Mate Month

National Recommitment Month

National Salad Month

 

OR do the same for the following daily events

 

5/30/1431:Joan of Arc burned at the Stake.
5/30/1783:First daily newspaper began publication (Pennsylvania Evening
:Post).

5/31/1884:Patent for "flaked cereal" applied for (Dr. John Harvey Kellogg).
5/31/1889:Johnstown, Pennsylvania flooded (2,295 killed)

 

The prompt results can be sent to beanerywriters@yahoo.com 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sit down for 7 minutes and just write (in any genre). Then, if you feel so inclined, develop your 7 minute writing further.

 

Send your results to beanerywriters@yahoo.com . Even though we haven’t responded to each submitter, some responses have turned into posts on the Beanery Online Literary Magazine (http://www.beanerywriters.wordpress.com/).

 

NOTE: The Beanery Online Literary Magazine seeks submissions for Father’s Day, Flag Day, July 4, and the summer seasonsend to beanerywriters@yahoo.com with the word SUBMISSION in the subject line.

 

The Beanery Writers Group meets the second and fourth Fridays (except the first Fridayin October, and the second Friday in November and December). It is open to writers in all genres, either seeking assistance on a single project or ongoing membership.

The next meeting date is Friday, MAY 24, 2013, 1:00-3:00 p. m., at the regular place---the Coffee Bean Café (on Rt. 30 in LATROBE across from the former outdoor theater and present CVS Drug Store). Gather early for sociability and/or eats. The back room is being reserved from noon to three-thirty, so we can gather and socialize without taking up the space for customers at the coffee shop.

WITH WEATHER CONDITIONS BEING WHAT THEY ARE THE MEETING MIGHT BE CANCELLED AT THE LAST MINUTE. Call me at 724 238 3493 if there is a question about inclement weather cancelling the meeting.

Carolyn Cornell Holland, Beanery Writers Group facilitator

www.beanerywriters.wordpress.com

www.carolyncholland.wordpress.com

www.intertwinedlove.wordpress.com

Alvira raises a good point...time for new blood...time for new decisionmakers

Alvira said: "Sounds like this is even more reason to vote new supervisors into the office. How about Gary Thistlethwaite and Scott Matson. New blood with new progressive tax saving ideas for the community."

What do YOU think?

Most Transparent Administration in History Releases Completely Redacted Document About Text Snooping

The American Civil Liberties Union was curious about warrantless government snooping on citizens' text messages. So the group filed a Freedom of Information Act request to the Justice Department. Here's what they got back.

http://reason.com/blog/2013/05/13/most-transparent-administration-in-histo

yellow bellied son of tricky dicky is having a bad week

In its decision, the 3rd Circuit strongly rejected Obama’s unilateral action. “Nothing in the text of the Clause or the historical record suggests that it is intended to be a type of pressure valve for when the president cannot obtain the Senate‘s consent, whether that be because it has become dysfunctional or because it rejects a president‘s nominations,” the court held. Indeed, the opinion continued, under the government’s interpretation, “If the Senate refused to confirm a president‘s nominees, then the president could circumvent the Senate‘s constitutional role simply by waiting until senators go home for the evening.” So much for the separation of powers.

This is the second major ruling against Obama’s recess appointments. In January, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit voided all three of the president’s additions to the NLRB. As Chief Judge David Sentelle held in that case, Obama’s actions “would demolish the checks and balances inherent in the advice-and-consent requirement, giving the President free rein to appoint his desired nominees at any time he pleases, whether that time be a weekend, lunch, or even when the Senate is in session and he is merely displeased with its inaction.”

http://reason.com/archives/2013/05/16/federal-court-slams-obamas-recess-appoin

Oh, great. IRS tyrant chick now in charge of IRS Obamacare.

The Internal Revenue Service official in charge of the tax-exempt organizations at the time when the unit targeted tea party groups now runs the IRS office responsible for the health care legislation.

Sarah Hall Ingram served as commissioner of the office responsible for tax-exempt organizations between 2009 and 2012. But Ingram has since left that part of the IRS and is now the director of the IRS’ Affordable Care Act office, the IRS confirmed to ABC News today.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/05/irs-official-in-charge-during-tea-party-targeting-now-runs-health-care-office/

Mary wants you to have her response to Larry Shew's letter to the Echo

 Election Time Propaganda

Mr. Shew paints a rosary financial picture of the LVSD in his editorial "Board Progress Praised”. However Shew fails to mention the RKM foundation donated $800,000 in June 2011 because the reserve had been nearly depleted to complete the consolidation.  Shew fails to state the district received another $230,000 from the gas deal in 2008.  Shew fails to state the teachers have been without a contract for a year thus the district did not pay any step increases, nor additional pension costs and social security taxes thus decreasing the expenditures.  (This will have to be addressed).  Shew fails to state the children do not have an activity bus (cost $12,000) , and they must pay to play and park.  Shew fails to state the millage was increased by 4 mills in 2011, another 2 mills in 2012 thus the taxes collected are being compounded each year.  Since the district is in great financial shape according to Shew the board members should roll back the taxes which were promised by them as a benefit from the closing of LVMHS.

Mary Raich

Now open Sunday's  12 - 5 p.m.

Grilled Pizza tonight   5 - 9 p.m. 
            Pizza Menu
Fresh tomato, mixed cheeses and pesto
Asparagus with Gorgonzola
Grilled veggie
Pesto chicken

Thursday Lunch Features
Sandwich - Grilled veggie, cheddar cheese grilled
Soup  - Curry lentil
Salads - French Potato,  Cauliflower & pea, Spicy peanut noodle, French lentil, Tuna and red bean, Curry chicken.

BYOB establishment, no cork or bottle fee.

Connections Cafe, a healthy food eatery, located on 109 S Market Street  Ligonier PA  724 238 9611

election coming up

LIGONIER VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT

In the race for four open seats on the school board, Barbara Boring, Kim Dickert-Wallace, Carl Fabrizio, John “Buzzy” E. Maier, Carolyn Shafer, Edward Sutter and David Wilcox have cross-filed to seek nominations from both parties.

Those seven people are seeking nomination to the four open seats that carry four-year terms.

JoAnn Thistlethewaite is the sole candidate for a two-year term on the board on both ballots.

Read more: http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourligonier/3970664-74/nomination-republican-term#ixzz2TSjBLR3n 
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

I am thankful that JoAnn Thistlethewaite is running unopposed.  A strong minded good hearted person with an open mind and lots of ideas is just what we need.

On the four other open seats, I intend only to vote for Edward Sutter. I see the other candidates as partisans who are unlikely to find a path to peace for this school district.  Mr. Sutter, on the other hand, has always impressed me with his ability to articulate his ideas in a way that promotes goodwill while advocating for positions that might be in opposition to the hard line of the majority.

I would like to encourage voters to cast one of their votes for Mr. Sutter to help us find a way to heal this district and move away from this unhealthy stalemate.

I think together Thistlethwaite and Sutter will bring a fresh energy to the LVSD and perhaps a new start.

dc

Grilled PIZZA   Starts Tomorrow!
  

Sharon will be making her famous grilled pizza starting at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Relax on the porch or dine inside.
               BYOB 


Connections Cafe, a healthy food eatery, located on 109 S Market Street  Ligonier PA  724 238 9611

The marquee says "This is a save the theatre event."

Foxley Farm news

Supervisors entertained lengthy discussion on Foxley Farm, owned by residents PJ and Maggie Nied.

The Nieds' Greensburg-based attorney Scott Avolio had requested township officials “clear their records” and issue an occupancy permit for the couple to operate a bed and breakfast despite the controversy over the Barron Road property, located in a residential district.

According to Avolio, the occupancy permit could be issued, based on a supervisors' decision in 2011 that allowed the Nieds to use the property under a litany of conditions.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/westmoreland/4014505-74/nieds-supervisors-township#ixzz2TMTcE6IJ
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

Pittsburgh Dad playing games

Mary's comments to LVSD board on 5-13-13

Last month Mr. Irwin reported to the board that there will be 2.5 million in the reserve fund come June.

Pulling a rabbit out of a hat is one thing. Making 2 million dollars appear magically from June of 2012 to June of 2013 would be a difficult feat even for Houdini.

Reviewing the minutes for June of 2012, it is stated the ending fund balance was $27.2 million. Then in March of this year a motion was voted upon to approve the 2013-14 Budget. The new budget includes the expenditures in the amount of $26.5 million. The difference according to these numbers is approximately $700,000 not 2.5 million.

Another review of events occurred in May of 2012 when Dr. Oldham told the board the Southern activity bus was not being utilized, therefore it had to be cut, and since that was being done for the southern end the same had to be done to the Northern End. You then voted to eliminate an activity bus that was needed and being used, in order to balance out a bus that was not needed or being used. I have a RTK that even shows the comparative numbers for the activity buses reporting the high ridership from the northern end. You supported a motion 9 to 0 based on Dr. Oldham’s illogical reasoning. This is one district, even though you rationalize some of your decisions as though it is a district make up of separate regions as you keep perpetuating a split. The removal of the activity bus, filling board vacancies, and frequently criticizing cyber school choice are just some examples. Your vote to remove the activity bus looks like a punishment to get even with the northern end because of cyber school enrollment.

Then later in that summer Mrs. Hutchinson publicly states she would like to recommend the activity bus be reinstated for the Northern End, but since there were additional students enrolling in Cyber School she said there was no money. So it does not look like a punishment now, but rather it is a punishment for the northern end. How vindictive and unchristian!



So since Mr. Irwin has stated the district is in great financial shape by making 2.5 million appear, there should be no reason for denying the students of the northern end the activity bus that they need in order to have an equal opportunity to participate in after school activities, unless it is really a punishment.

I understand the current budget does not include an activity bus for the northern end. Thus for the reasons stated I ask that the activity bus be put back in the budget before you vote. It only cost $12,000 for one year which is not much, when Mrs. Shafer stated she did not think any of the tax increase are excessive when she voted for a 4 mill increase in 2011.




The activity bus will open an avenue for all students to be able to participate and it will reduce the financial burden placed on families for gasoline and the time to drive the 40 mile round trip to pick up the students.

In addition, since Mr. Irwin stated the district is in great financial shape the pay to play and the pay to park needs to be eliminated.

Also, since Mr. Irwin produced 2.5 million it is time that the board keep its campaign promise which was not to raise taxes and possibly reduce taxes by shuttering the LVMHS. Instead, you raised the taxes 2 consecutive years in a row because you were out of money to the point that the RKM foundation had to give you another $800,000 because you would have had to raise the taxes even higher. So before you vote for the new budget it is time to roll back our taxes.

So let’s go over this again: Reinstate the activity bus for the northern end due to need, eliminate the pay to play and to park and roll back the taxes since you have 2.5 million and you are at the 8 % limit of the budget which you are only allowed to maintain in reserve.

tyranny is always lurking just around the corner

Suppose that the Environmental Protection Agency were to admit offhandedly that the fluoridation of water had only modest communist mind-control effects. Or the United Nations were to concede it had been running fleets of black helicopters over U.S. cities, but only in the course of conducting extensive goodwill tours.

The Internal Revenue Service has managed a similar confirmation. For years, tea party and patriot groups have breathlessly alleged that federal bureaucrats were conspiring against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Then federal bureaucrats conspired to target conservative groups because their tax documents contained the words “tea party” or “patriot,” and because they were “educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/michael-gerson-political-corruption-at-the-irs/2013/05/13/9457820a-bbec-11e2-9b09-1638acc3942e_story.html

3 reasons Benghazi still matters

How does the murder of an ambassador to a country we helped liberate reflect on the way in which we got involved in Libya: President Obama dispatched forces without consulting Congress. As U.S. involvement in Syria and elsewhere heats up, the absolute lack of a coherent -- much less constitutional - foreign policy will only lead to more tragedies both in the Middle East and throughout the world.

LOL Sing along with this!

Gee.. John Lennon's lyrics ring truer every day

No short-haired, yellow-bellied, son of tricky dicky
Is gonna mother hubbard soft soap me
With just a pocketful of hope..

What the Brits are observing about fracking...

Grassroots campaigns can stop fracking one town at a time

City councils and local activists have stymied shale gas mining in New York, and could prove an example for others to follow

 "And what Rendell failed to mention is that the drilling of over 150,000 wells for natural gas has transformed large swaths of rural Pennsylvania into what basically are industrial zones, bristling with monster trucks, wastewater ponds, and traffic jams. Air pollution is higher in counties with drilling than those without and residents complain about round-the-clock noise.  Ed Rendell also didn't mention the McIntyre family, who live in Butler County – western Pennsylvania's frack zone – and whose members suffer from projectile vomiting, headaches, breathing problems, mysterious skin rashes … the list goes on. The family dog died suddenly, after lapping up some water the family believes was problematic. The McIntyres no longer drink, brush their teeth, or do their laundry with the water piped into their home.

New Yorkers worried about fracking have been looking at the impact it's had on their neighbors in Pennsylvania. Increasingly, they don't like what they see there. After a fact-finding tour to the town of Troy, in northern Pennsylvania, Terry Gipson, a New York state senator, reported that, despite signs of renewed economic activity in the region, he couldn't help wonder what will happen when the gas boom goes bust, as all booms inevitably do."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/may/13/fracking-new-york-grassroots-campaign-to-stop?guni=Network%20front:network-front%20main-4%20Pixies:Pixies:Position12 

Mellow Mike...it's an open stage for music and poetry and stuff

..and it's at Connections Cafe tonight 6:30 to 9:30.

SAMA and jazz

LIGONIER — Organizers of Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Ligonier Valley’s 12th annual spring Garden Party are hoping to strike the right chord and raise some money.

With a theme titled “Art and All that Jazz,” the party kicks off at 5 p.m. June 1 at the facility, located at 1 Boucher Lane, Ligonier.

Peggy Shepler and Joyce Collins, both of Ligonier, are serving as co-chairwomen of the event that has enjoyed a lot of success over the past 11 years.

http://tribune-democrat.com/local/x508500325/Annual-spring-Garden-Party-will-combine-art-jazz

alert alert dog found in Wilpen

Hi,  I am writing to you on behalf of some nice people in Wilpen who are not online.

They currently are running an ad in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that reads:

FOUND: LAB/SHEPHERD Spayed  female.  Chip registered to M. Mitchell.  Please call 724-995-8332. We need  to find her a home.

I called them and here’s what I learned. The dog appeared on their property April 23^rd. Their vet in Latrobe scanned her for a microchip and found one, issued by the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society and registered by a Michael Mitchell in Pittsburgh.  Mr. Mitchell, whose voicemail answers “Roofs and That”  has not replied to the phone messages they’ve left.  (Nor has the humane society.) 

How did a dog from Pittsburgh end up wandering in Wilpen?

The dog is wearing a pink breakaway collar with the name “Dasia” written on it.  That’s also the name on the microchip registration.

She has the body type of a lab but the coloring of a shepherd (dark brown with a black saddle)  She has a little graying on the muzzle though she does not appear to be old. Her weight is 60#.   There is no digital photo to share at this time.

We wonder if you or any of your blog followers know someone in the Wilpen  area who may have lost Dasia.

The folks who found her are not able to keep her and will be looking for a new home if her owner cannot be located.

She is housebroken and well behaved.

Thank you for helping us help this lost dog.

Casey Brown

Pittsburgh, PA

caseybb@earthlink.net

Pittsburgh Dad Mother's Day greeting

such a fun Mother's Day!

Mother's Day history

"For some years, radical Protestant women had been agitating for a national Mother's Day hoping that it would further a progressive political agenda that favored issues related to women's lives. In the late 19th century, Julia Ward Howe (better know for the "Battle Hymn of the Republic") expressed this hope in her 1870 prose-poem, "A Mother's Day Proclamation" calling women to pacifism and political resistance. Years later, Anna Jarvis intended the new holiday to honor all mothers beginning with her own -- Anna Reeves Jarvis, who had died in 1905. Although now largely forgotten, Anna Reeves Jarvis was a social activist and community organizer who shared the political views of other progressive women like Julia Ward Howe.  

In 1858, Anna Reeves Jarvis organized poor women in Virginia into "Mothers' Work Day Clubs" to raise the issue of clean water and sanitation in relation to the lives of women and children. She also worked for universal access to medicine for the poor. Reeves Jarvis was also a pacifist who served both sides in the Civil War by working for camp sanitation and medical care for soldiers of the North and the South. Although I've never seen it on a pastel flowered greeting card, Mother's Day honors a progressive feminist, inclusive, non-violent vision for world community -- born in the imagination of women who devoted themselves to God, not Caesar. Happy Radical Mother's Day!"

A Mother's Promise

"The gravity of the moment that comes with holding your child for the first time -- looking into their eyes, rocking them to sleep, allowing their breath to fill your heart, marveling at how nature has taken a part of you and a part of your husband to create someone uniquely beautiful -- the seriousness of that moment, is only eclipsed by the moment you discover your little boy or little girl is forever gone, just a few hours after watching them wave back at you from the school bus window. Mothers are not supposed to outlive their children. It is against the natural order of things. Having endured tragedy of a particularly cruel and violent sort less than five months ago, we continue to live in a state of shock and horror. But through our pain, we are trying to gain some perspective. [Read the full text of her moving letter at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jackie-barden/sandy-hook-moms-gun-violence_b_3239946.html]

(The above letter concludes:) This Mother's Day, we encourage you to make the Sandy Hook Promise with us. Today is not about guns, laws or politics; it is about mothers and love. As "Sandy Hook Moms," we often hear the phrase "I can't imagine what you are going through." Well, please imagine it. Imagine what it's like to lose a son or daughter to gun violence and encourage your elected officials to do the same. We never thought our school, our community or these innocent children would ever face the unspeakable. The more we as parents expand the boundaries of our love beyond our family and to all children, the more likely a tragedy like the one that broke our hearts will never happen again. To all the moms reading this, Happy Mother's Day, and thank you. Many of you wrote moving letters to us as we faced our darkest moments. You'll never know how much your kindness helped us face the day ahead. In return, we remind you to cherish every moment. Hold your children extra close every chance you get. Bask in their smiles. The dishes, or anything else, can wait. We promise. "

To join us in making the Sandy Hook Promise, please visit: http://www.sandyhookpromise.org/.