The next president is NOT my president; not now, not ever! ACTION # 1

Develop an Action Plan focusing on what you can and are willing to do.

Millions like myself who care about civil rights, justice, women’s rights to decisions about their own health and bodies, freedom of and respect for diverse belief systems, disavowal of divisiveness, deep concern about the environment, especially climate change, public education, the role of the United States in foreign affairs, responsible economic policies, compassionate and logistically sensible immigration policies, and the list goes on, are fearful of the immediate future. Judging from the campaign rhetoric, tweets, and cabinet choices of the president-elect these are issues that he will build a wall against, impede, and stomp on.

There are many legal, nonviolent political actions I plan to take. Each Sunday I will publish a blog with a specific action described. In between there will be other topics of interest about the world around us. Here are some other websites for action ideas:

www.wall-of-us.org: This is a great website that when you sign up will send you an email once a week with four possible actions to take. You decide which or all you want to do, and it provides full information on how to proceed.

http://front.moveon.org/about Another website that provides some actions to follow up on.

http://www.care2.com/dailyaction/homepage.html This site also has actions, but seems more geared to petitions.

For specific action against the appointment of anti-public school appointee Betsy DeVos for Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, see: http://networkforpubliceducation.org/2016/12/8216/?link_id=3&can_id=85896952488278c80f93df3dfb528628&source=email-here-is-your-toolkit-for-action-say-no-to-devos&email_referrer=here-is-your-toolkit-for-action-say-no-to-devos&email_subject=here-is-your-toolkit-for-action-say-no-to-devos

A government is NOT a business. The purpose of our government according to the Constitution includes:  “to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”

Each day, the headlines bring worse news. Almost every single cabinet and agency appointee announced is dedicated to destroying the department or agency he/she is to head.

We can each believe whatever we want, but beliefs do not change facts. Climate change is real and at a critical tipping point. To ignore that is to make this planet uninhabitable for younger generations.

Divisiveness is real, and the increase in hate incidents since the election is frightening and shameful. Some even use the president-elect’s name to justify their hateful acts.

All reasons to take ACTION!

Scroll through some of my past blogs about places—many in the news currently—including Cuba, Peru, Yemen, Japan with a close look at Hiroshima, Cambodia, and Greece, to name a few and all places I have spent some time. In addition to places, topics range from fascism to whales.

One of my favorite quotes from reviews of my book, Voice of a Voyage: Rediscovering the World During a Ten-year Circumnavigation, included this last line, “. . . best of all it makes one think.” You can read the entire review and others on Amazon or Goodreads for Voice of a Voyage. My blogs are entertaining, but also, hopefully, will make you think.

Bear in mind Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words:

“Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars”