Spread the Word About HR4170!

As you may already be aware, today is “1-T Day” – the estimated date on which student loan debt will officially hit a mind-boggling ONE TRILLION DOLLARS.  As a result, hundreds of organizations and individuals are participating in a National Day of Action to mark this extremely important, highly disturbing milestone.

To that end, ForgiveStudentLoanDebt.com has, once again, collaborated with Kyle McCarthy, Founder of OccupyStudentDebt.com, as well as LoanReformNow’s RaeAnn Roca, to create a new website:

HR4170.com.

As our petition in favor of The Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012 quickly approaches our goal of one million signatures, no doubt you’ll be called upon by friends, family and co-workers to defend your support of the bill.  HR4170.com is intended to be your one-stop destination for all things related to this groundbreaking bill.

Not only does the new site provide easy-to-navigate links for you to use to help spread the word and raise awareness about the bill, but it also contains a whole host of resources to help sharpen your arguments, explain why this bill is needed and how it will help to jumpstart our floundering economy.

Please join millions of others across the country participating in today’s National Day of Action by visiting HR4170.com and start spreading the word!

Thank you, as always, for your continued support.  Together, we’re going to fundamentally change the way in which we pay for higher education in America – but it’s going to take some work, so let’s get started!

Robert Applebaum
Founder, ForgiveStudentLoanDebt.com
Follow me on Twitter: @bobbyapples
Join the FSLD Facebook Group

Conservative publisher Andrew Breitbart dead at 43

 

(Reuters) – U.S. conservative activist Andrew Breitbart, a larger-than-life author and publisher, died unexpectedly of natural causes in Los Angeles early on Thursday, a representative for his website confirmed. He was 43.

The brash and outspoken writer and blogger, who was influential in U.S. Republican politics, was the center of several major news websites, including www.Breitbart.tv, www.breitbart.com and www.biggovernment.com.

“We have lost a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a dear friend, a patriot and a happy warrior. Andrew lived boldly, so that we more timid souls would dare to live freely and fully, and fight for the fragile liberty he showed us how to love,” a memorial page on his websites said.

The page said Breitbart “passed away unexpectedly from natural causes.” A representative for breitbart.com confirmed his death in an e-mail.

Larry Bietz, the watch commander at the coroner’s office, said it had received a report that Breitbart died at UCLA Medical Center but that the office had not yet received his body. “I can confirm that it’s been reported to us that he died,” he said.

Breitbart reportedly collapsed when walking near his house, according to the Associated Press, which cited his father-in law.

Breitbart was notorious for his fiery opinions. The last posts from his Twitter feed appear to have come just moments before midnight, with one calling a user a “putz” and another replying “Apologize for WHAT?” to another user.

His work played a role in a number of prominent news stories over the years, including undercover videos of the community group ACORN and the texting scandal of former Democratic U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner of New York.

(Reporting By Susan Heavey; Editing by Anthony Boadle)

(This story corrects state in last paragraph)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/01/us-usa-politics-breitbart-idUSTRE8201AV20120301

365 Snap Shots of Life Blog Challenge: Day 39

Frogs, frogs they are everywhere.

Frogs, frog’s croaking fill the air…

-Red Skelton

-Eva Santiago copyright 2012

365 Snap Shots of Life Blog Challenge: Day 30

January 30, 2012

True Beauty

Have you ever met someone and  you just knew by  casual observation, that they are going to be somebody? Well I met this young woman last summer and she is exactly that. Some people come into the world to change things for the better and I believe she will. Some people are born knowing  there purpose for being here right from the very start; this young woman certainly does. She is a delight to anybody who will take the time to really get to know her. I’m so glad I met you!

365 Snap Shots of Life Blog Challenge: Day 24

January 24, 2012

I was looking through some pics for today’s post and I chose this one because it made me realize how many pets we have adopted through the years. Our first family pet was a  Jack Russel Terrier who just happened to come into our lives at the worst time. All of my kids were under 10 years old with my youngest just having turned 2 that year. I felt like Bosco was another child I had to look after and I was already spread out past thin. It broke my heart to have to give him away to a neighbor but it was what was best for him as well. After that, we didn’t have any pets because I thought it best to wait until the kids were older and handle taking care of a pet. Then entered our rabbit phase. After the 6th rabbit died we decided to take another break from owning a pet.

This Desert Tortoise was a gift from our neighbors to my son. That boy adores turtles. I think that Snap, as he named him, was THE gift of his 12th birthday. But unfortunately Snap didn’t last long because someone stole him not too long after. So here is to you Snap, wherever you are, Jojo still misses you.

SNAP!

 

-EVA SANTIAGO copyright 2012

365 Snap Shots of Life Blog Challenge: Day 22

January 22,2012

Ladie and Her Wine

Because cat in a box says so much more about you than wine in a box.

SOPA/PIPA January 18, Internet Blackout

Dear readers and friends,

Today I am joining the biggest internet blackout in history. My blog will be unavailable on January 18th, 2012.  Please click on the image to be a part of a history making event. We all need to stand up for our right to free speech.Thank you and see you on the 19th!!

-Eva Santiago

‘Twas 3 Days After Christmas

‘Twas 3 days after Christmas

when all through the land,

not a kid was in sight.

No fussing, no arguing,

there was not a single fight.

Where could they all be?

I looked out my window

the streets are  deserted.

I looked here, there,

I looked everywhere

and I grew disconcerted.

There they are!

Didn’t have to look far.

They all have their eyes,

glued to their Kindles-

their hands on their iPads.

They no longer wonder.

They no longer ponder.

Little ones, of all ages and sizes

too early to be  wired,

6,8,10 12 year olds,

young minds now in a quagmire.

So I looked in the past,

when kids did kid things-

they played cow boys and Indians

and the sunsets seemed to last.

They played hide and go seek

some even thought they had wings.

Some jumped rope and hopscotched 

and they made up their own nursery rhymes.

They had imagination,

because it was encouraged.

They had less information

thus, they weren’t so discouraged.

This is a plea for the parents

of this current generation

now being nurtured,

on their iPhones, iPads,

Kindles, Androids, and iPods:

Our kids need US!

Our kids don’t need anymore APPS.

There isn’t an APP to replace

a hug, a kiss and a smile.

There isn’t an APP to replace,

time well spent with your child.

-EVA SANTIAGO Copyright 2011

15 days of Christmas Songs: 10th Song

Today’s song I dedicate to my daughter Esther who is a big fan of Taylor Swift. I have to admit, I’ve never been a fan of country music. However, Taylor Swift is a country music artist that is a cut above the rest of the pack. She brings something extra special to the country music world. Yes, I’m aware that I posted a metal version of this song a few days ago. This morning I happened along this beautiful version done by Taylor Swift and I urge you to have a listen as you nibble on some home made cookies and sip on a warm beverage. Savor the flavors of this season!

 

 

 

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 13

Please refer back to my earlier posts and read what this challenge is about so that the later posts make sense. 

Day 13 Question# 13: What was one negative in your life that you were somehow able to turn into something quite positive?

Answer: When I first read this question, I decided to write about the very first thing that popped into my mind. I grew up in my uncle‘s home and he is the typical male chauvinist with an extra added twist; he is a Latino macho man who thinks women are to be seen and not heard. Back then the message I was getting was that I was not to have my own voice, or opinions. You’re a girl, therefore no one wants to hear from you.

So  I began to journal and really made friends with pen and paper pretty quick at a young age. Being that children long for the approval and recognition of their parental figures, I was no exception. One day I ventured out of my shell and I showed him a poem I had penned, which I was proud of because I felt in my heart it was a good piece. I took it to him and I asked him to read it. He did his usual looking down at me through the end of his bifocals which were perched on the end of his bulbous nose much like a surfer trying to balance his board on the crest of a wave.

I stood there frozen, holding my breath and trying to hush the beating of my heart which felt much like a freight train barreling down a dark tunnel at top speed inside my chest. I tried hard not to focus on my uncle’s’ blank face so I looked around in the place trying to count the people around me instead. Finally he finished. I wondered what took him so long to read just a few lines of my prose. The terrible silence continued and all I wanted to do was make a mad dash for the door and forget it all. Then my uncle pushed his military issue glasses back up his snooty nose and then he spoke,

” Well, you know this isn’t any good. Every good piece of poetry  MUST rhyme and since your doesn’t, this isn’t good at all.” He gave me my journal back and turned back to his newspaper. I was dismissed just like a scullery maid.

“That’s it?’ I thought. I was in the 8th grade at the time and I had been reading plenty of poetry, I was falling madly in love with Shakespeare’s love sonnets. I knew for a fact my uncle was being narrow minded because not all of the poetry I was reading   from the  greats I was studying had to rhyme. Being that I was quite shy and also understanding that my uncle would never hear my views, I kept my thoughts to myself.

I didn’t let his insensitivity stop me. No sir! Not when I had been encouraged by Mrs. Gillard in the 6th grade who told me I had a gift and that one day she hoped to see my first book of poetry. Her words have been the steam behind my engine all of these years. Yes, my uncle hurt me terribly but I chose to ignore his biting words and I embraced my teacher’s honey coated positive words.

And I’m so glad I did because ever since then, I have published my first bookand I’m working on publishing my 2nd book; which happens to be a volume of short stories and poetry. When my second book comes out I plan to mail it to my uncle with a thank you note. Because of his mistreatment, I learned to turn the negative around and prove to myself that I can do my dreams; no matter what dirt people throw in my face to blind me along the way.

I am writing this in the hopes that if you’ve been discouraged and kept from following your dreams, DO NOT LISTEN to those haters who tell you you can’t. Turn it around and prove them wrong because that’s the power that you have to hush those voices of opposition.