vote – Katrina Michelle Russell

International Women’s Day!

March 8, 2018 Katrina Russell

We did it! It is officially women’s day in the year of women. It only took thousands of years of giving birth to every person to ever be born to get recognition. I mean don’t get me wrong it doesn’t change anything. We still don’t have equal pay, or reproductive rights.. and we still “deserve” to be raped if we wear the wrong outfit.. and we still get hassled for any choice we make in our lives, whether we choose to work or not.. have kids or not.. and so on.

The craziest part of the whole thing is that we are not actually a minority. We make up up more than 50% of the population. There is no reason for this. We are the ones who raise the future generation. We are the ones that teach boys and men how to treat others. How is this the norm? Well, sadly we tend to think of ourselves as competition instead of being each other’s biggest champions.

I read through all the posts and memes today, and all the women screaming for themselves. I saw how McDonald’s switched their sign around to commemorate Women. I saw how everyone was talking about the things that men need to do to help women, and all of that is great. I agree, men need to take their sticks out of their asses and acknowledge that women are just as strong, smart, and competent as men, but what’s more important is that women have to encourage each other.

It’s great that we’re marching, but what we really need to do is start shopping at women owned businesses. We need to start hiring each other.. and promoting each other.. and voting for each other. I’m not saying vote for someone just because they are a woman. Sarah Palin is a woman and no one should vote for her, but if you know that there is a candidate on the ticket.. look into her. Even if it’s a name you never heard of, look into her.

When you see a mom having trouble, give her a hand. When you have a coworker in your office don’t make her your enemy.. be happy for her if she gets a promotion. Befriend her, learn from her, teach her.. grow together. If we expect men to come around and treat us with respect we need to show them how it’s done. We are the mothers of the world. If we can teach other’s how to respect who will?

Politics, school shootings, Uncategorized

Who will inherit the Earth?

February 28, 2018 Katrina Russell

To quote the late great Whitney Houston, I believe the children are our future. Now obviously we all know at this point that Ms Houston was flawed, but that doesn’t negate the message that she sang so remarkably. The children literally are our future. They are the future presidents, future business people, future doctors, and teachers, and parents of the next generation… most importantly right now.. they are the next voters.

Children have forever been overlooked. They should be seen and not heard. Well, today children are being heard. They have a platform never imagined by previous generations.. they have social media… and I don’t just mean facebook, which apparently is for old people now, who knew? They have platforms that most of us have never even heard of. Instasnaptube… or what ever they are called can connect young people from around the globe without even knowing how to pay the phone bill, and here’s the thing, these kids are smart, and way more competent than we adults give them credit for.

Today in Somerville Massachusetts kids walked out of their school. Now, for those that don’t know Somerville this is not an area normally thought of as involved.. or political.. or really full of any kind of clout. These kids are not the connected kids who are used to having power. These kids are taking their own power back, and they are not alone.

Adults spend a lot of time arguing about their rights. The right to have giant killing machines, the right to be able to say what they feel, the right to own or have or do… these kids don’t care about your rights to things.. these kids care about their right to live. These kids are literally saying enough is enough. It has been almost 20 years since Columbine and nothing of real consequence has been done. There has been no laws passed to keep children safe. It has been over 5 years since Sandy Hook… a mass attack that killed dozens of babies and nothing was done. NOTHING!. How is that possible?

Now, I understand that people feel very strongly about their rights. I know people that own guns and that’s fine… but why do people argue with things like background checks? Why do people feel that mentally unstable people have the right to kill others? Why are people opposed to registering these instruments designed for no other purpose than to kill? It makes absolutely no sense. A lot of the pro-gun argument is that if they give a little they will lose everything, but in fact their insistence to not understand and agree with common sense gun laws is going to lead to the next generation.. the generation of gun violence victims to actually ban all guns. That’s how it works.

These “kids” who “don’t know what they’re talking about” are going to be voting in the next few years. These “kids” are going to be running for office.. and if you think Obama was good at the grassroots effort you’ve seen nothing like a kid with am instagram account collect followers.

Millennials are thought of as lazy and entitled, and maybe part of that is true, and I’m not sure what the kids of today are called.. because technically they aren’t even millennials, but these “kids” will find the fastest, easiest way to spread their message, and they feel entitled to their feelings, their message, and their lives. I’m sure at one point the “adults” thought those kids fighting for slaves rights, or women’s rights, or gay rights were just “stupid kids” who won’t accomplish anything… but I believe the children are our future, and if you don’t watch out they’ll leave you in the dust.. and they’ll feel entitled to your jobs.. and vote themselves in.

Healthcare, Homeless, parenting, Politics, Uncategorized

We need to stop fighting against and start fighting for!

February 16, 2018February 14, 2018 Katrina Russell

When I look at my news feed all that I see are stories about the horrible things that the GOP and especially Trump are doing, and it’s not that I disagree, but it has been over a year and his true supporters are not wavering. Maybe they’re racists, maybe they’re elites, maybe they’re just supportive of his causes… who knows? The point is no one is changing anyone’s minds by complaining.

Mueller is doing his thing, and that’s great. I hope he finds all kinds of evidence and puts everyone away, but complaining one-way or another on social media is not going to change that outcome. The fact that we all sign a petition to impeach him won’t matter until there is enough evidence to do so.

We are all spinning our wheels. The US Presidency primary is 2 years away, and Trump knows this. Trump knows that if we spend all of our time talking about him and fighting about Hilary then there will be no one to run against him. There will be no one to rally around to take him down. That’s what happened last time. It’s not that Trump won. It’s not that the country chose him.. the country chose “not Hillary”.

The republicans, and racists, and anti-women brigade chose Trump.. and many liberals either bowed out, went with a 3rd party, or voted for Trump out of spite. Unless we want to see this happen again we have to banned together. It’s not enough to hate the same person.. we have to support each other. We have to find people that we can put forward. We have to concentrate on who is doing good. We have to demonstrate a difference.

Right now all that we are showing is that we are just as hateful as the other side. I don’t think that’s the message that we want to put forward. No one wants to be told that they’re stupid, that they’re wrong, or that they made a crappy choice. People are going to defend their choice till their last breath to save face. Instead of pointing out all the reasons we hate Trump. Instead of pointing out all the reasons that his supporters are evil and stupid, let’s concentrate on finding people who represent the things that we want. Let’s show ourselves and Trump supporters another way.

Three years from now Trump will more than likely be on that ticket… who do you want opposite him? If we all faction off.. if we all fight among ourselves then he will win. If we just keep him as the enemy, if we keep his supporters our enemy no one will even be open to listening to another side.

I don’t want another 4 years of Trump. I don’t want more slashes to medicare, more cuts to food programs that hurt children and the elderly. I don’t want more cuts to public schools.. even if my son is in private. I don’t want healthcare to be a thing for only the wealthy and the healthy. He talks about how great countries like Norway and Australia are… use that. Talk about people who support the same policies as they do. Use his words against him. Talk about the DACA kids making a difference. Talk about the soldiers fighting for our rights to be healthy, safe, and educated. Talk about the inner city programs that are working. Talk about your grandma with meals on wheels. Talk about how well the free college programs help the next generation of doctors and engineers. Talk about the good things happening in this country and around the world. He talks enough about the bad.

Healthcare, parenting, Politics, Uncategorized

The educated vote is going down with the Dinosaur.

June 2, 2017June 1, 2017 Katrina Russell

I had an interesting conversation with a Trump supporter today. She said that she wasn’t worried about all the horrible things that he says because she doesn’t think that they’re going to happen. Really? So, you’re glad a person who wants to take food and healthcare away from children, women, and elderly is in office because you’re pretty sure the Democrats won’t let it happen?

How does that even make sense. I pressed her more. She says that she only watches Fox News because all of the other news outlets only talk about all the bad things that are happening, and she doesn’t want to think about it… WHAT?!?!? Talk about keeping your head in the sand.

She said her insurance is too high under the Affordable Care Act, and the Republican’s want to repeal it… yes, and put people, like her and her family, who have pre-existing conditions into a pool of their own so that their insurance will go up 10x and those without any health problems will drop.. “well, that won’t happen”. I told her that they have come out and said that anyone who has a pre-existing condition doesn’t deserve good insurance because they couldn’t manage to take care of themselves…. “No one said that….. ok only one guy”… yeah, one guy who happens to be a member of congress.

I told her that they want to cut funding to special programs in public schools… which her child needs and is in a special needs class, “well, that won’t happen”. I told her they want to cut food healthcare for women, including letting employers decide whether or not their employees should have birth control paid for. “That’s has nothing to do with employers.. why should they have a choice?… that won’t happen.”

She’s said she’s more concerned about North Korea dropping a nuke, and that we have to make sure that they are stopped from making the bombs.. I told her that Trump’s response is making sure that all other countries get the bombs too so that they can bomb them fist if need be. She said that was crazy… no one would want that. I showed her the video… even Saudi Arabia… who he just sold $110B worth of weapons to.

She said that she doesn’t like the Democrats because she saw one of them swear at a rally… Really? But pussy grabbing and telling his rally attendants to “Get him the F**K out of here is ok?

“Well, this is why I don’t watch the news… this stuff is crazy”

Right.. but you keep voting.

bullying, Love, parenting, Politics, Uncategorized

When did it become OK to push people?

May 30, 2017 Katrina Russell

It’s been all over the news and I’m sure you’ve seen it, but when did it become OK to push people… any people… out of your way? I couldn’t imagine pushing someone out of my way for any reason (aside from my child being in danger).

Who decided that some have the RIGHT to be “Better” than others? Who decided that some have the RIGHT to toss other’s aside like yesterday’s news? I have a four year old and I have spent the last 3.5 years teaching him to respect other people. To say please and thank you. To say sorry. To “mind his manners”. Did no one bother to do that with THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES?

This behavior is just disgusting. This should not be seen among actual grown-up people. This is behavior that would get reprimanded on the school yard, and yet even the man who was pushed was making excuses that “It is natural that the president of the United States is in the front row.” OK, maybe that’s true. Maybe the President of the larger nations should be up in the front for pictures, but does that excuse a PUSH?

Does the President of the United States not have to say, “Excuse me”? Or wait his turn?

There was another few videos circulating this weekend with Trump and Macron, whom I’m starting to adore… both involving handshakes. One was in a one on one meeting, the other in a large group meet and greet, in which Macron side steps Trump to greet Merkel first.

Both Macron and Merkel have since come out and discussed their feelings about Trump. Macron explained that the handshake “battle” was very intentional and that you have to put a bully in his place, and Merkel announced to the world that the US is no longer someone to depend on. And let’s not forget the UK is skeptical about sharing classified information with the US now. And the Israeli’s are pissed about Russia.

Is there anyone that Trump hasn’t offended, belittled, or betrayed? Any why is this so acceptable? Why is it that the F**king President of the United States is still being heralded for being a callus bully? And why would anyone be OK with their children growing up to think that he is something to aspire to be?

Politics, Uncategorized

Trump “It’s Complicated”

May 19, 2017May 18, 2017 Katrina Russell

In the wake of the latest Trump scandal I just have a few words to say. I have been very clear on my dislike for this President and pretty much everything that he stands for. Not because he is a Republican, or Christian, or White… I happen to be two of those things.. and an Independent (which means neither Republican nor a Democrat… I vote for the person that I agree with on issues the most) That being said… I was also a HUGE fan of the Apprentice when it was on and thought, though an arrogant jerk, that he had half a brain. I now can admit that I was wrong.

I have never in my life seen a person who is so incapable of taking responsibility. I have never seen anyone that is so quick to cast blame at anyone or anything but them self. I have never seen anyone who just lies for the sake of making them self feel better. I have never seen anyone who needs to toot their own horn and pat their own back at the expense of other. I have never seen anyone so clueless about the way the world works… and I could never have imagined such a person in office.

Everyday there is a new scandal. And everyday his people come out and denounce such craziness.. Trump would never… collude with Russia.. they had no contact at all… except almost everyone on his team and in his family… that have since had to resign or be fired. Trump would never take money from Russia… with a few exceptions… Trump would never tell Russia to hack the DNC… except on International Television at a rally… Trump would never give away top secret info to Russia… except when he wants to and it’s ok cuz he’s President. Trump would never tell Comey to stop investigating the Russian connection… except when he did, but he was only asking… not demanding.

Does the President of the United States of America really not understand that his words and actions are real? That the things that he says and does have actual consequences and repercussions? Does the man who supposedly is so successful in business really not understand how a budget works.. and that you can’t cut taxes (revenue) while asking for outrageous money for walls, wars, and Russian steel? Does he really not understand that taking money away from food and healthcare is going to kill the people that he swore to protect?

He is the President of the United States and all he does is talk about crowd size, election results, and how mean people are to him. He literally said that he had no idea that being President would be hard.. or that Healthcare, foreign relations, and pretty much anything political would be complicated… This is not a reality show, Mr President. The people who die under your watch can’t come back for the reunion show… This is real life. Maybe you should either take responsibility or walk away and let someone who can handle it take over.

parenting, Politics, Uncategorized

What do you mean by pro-life?

May 16, 2017May 15, 2017 Katrina Russell

This has been a hot topic in the US for decades. Pro-Lifers protesting with signs and pictures of dead fetuses and babies. Declaring Planned Parenthood as a slaughter house for the unborn. Calling women and doctors murderers. These, mostly Christian, high moral individuals take all life as sacred… or mostly, kind of.

I was at a community gathering the other day and there was a lovely woman from Planned Parenthood there to talk to those interested about the reality of what her organization does. It wasn’t her normal gig. Normally she was one of their lawyers who fight for the rights of their patients and doctors alike, but with all the misinformation, or “alternative” facts going about, the organization has chosen to be out in full force to educate and answer questions.

Most people think that Planned Parenthood is an abortion clinic and that’s all they do there. When there is discussions about birth control people start a tirade about how they don’t want to pay for other people to use their tax dollars to abort babies as a form of birth control. There is a post going about of people calling PP and asking them about pre-natal care, a service that is not provided at most locations, and therefore assumed that there is no other services that women need.

I don’t know how many of you reading are women, or know women, but there is more to women’s health than pregnancy. I didn’t get pregnant till I was 36, and yet had been seeing a Gynecologist for almost 20 years at that point. There are yearly pap-screenings, which include cancer checks, as well as checks for irregular growths and cysts. For those who choose there are sexually transmitted disease tests, and actual birth control… not just abortions, but pills, implants, sponges, diaphragms, and which ever one you may choose that works best for you.

I know what you’re thinking, “Why should I pay for some slutty tramp to get tested for STDs?And if you can’t afford birth control then don’t have sex.” Well, let’s just throw the rape word out there to start with. Sometimes women don’t always have a choice.. but let’s say they do. Let’s say they are a lovely college student whose parents have died… who has been dating a man who she has known for a year and are planning to marry…. is it ok for her to have sex? Is it ok for her not to get pregnant? Let’s say that wonderful man isn’t as wonderful as she thinks and is running around on her and gets an STD…

Maybe no one should have sex at all… and if you have sex before you are married and not for the reasons of having children then you should die… and so should the child, because you do not deserve screening for STDs and cancer which could not only kill you but damage the unborn child… so in reality… you’re only pro-“people whose lifestyle I approve with” life.

Now let’s go the other side… Planned Parenthood is the reason for abortions… ahh.. actually abortion rates are down even lower than before Roe vs Wade was passed… and that’s only the ones that were reported. Planned Parenthood chose a name that should be self explanatory. They help women choose and plan when they become parents. They educate women on their bodies and supply birth control to those who would not otherwise be able to afford it, thus creating less unwanted pregnancies, not more abortions.

The biggest misconception about Planned Parenthood is that all they do is abortions and that the government is paying for them, and there is no way to stop that therefore we must defund. Actually only 3% of all services provided are abortion services, and none of that money comes from the federal government. In fact there was an amendment created (The Hyde Amendment) in 1976 that specifically prohibits this. In fact there is no way to actually “defund” Planned Parenthood” outright. There is no line item in the federal budget for them. They are simply a healthcare provider who gets reimbursed by medicare for services that medicare are required to pay for… such as cancer screenings and birth control pills.

Right now everyone is pushing to defund Planned Parenthood and others life it. What you need to realize is that when you vote to defund Planned Parenthood, you are voting to limit healthcare to Medicare recipients. That includes grandma, and the single mom with her kids….. so… not exactly Pro-Life… if you ask me.

Politics, Uncategorized

Should grandpa get a vote?

May 12, 2017 Katrina Russell

In a surprising turn of events President Trump signed yet another executive order. I know.. you’d think he wasn’t able to play well with others the way he’s not able to actually work within the other branches of government. Congress won’t approve… sign an executive order… judges find it unconstitutional… call them out for being un-American. The media reports it all… call them fake… and mean. Seriously, he thinks people are being mean to him.

download (33) So of course he has to make sure that all the mean people can’t stop him from doing his job. He has to fire anyone that says something against him. He has to fire anyone investigating him. And now he’s signed an executive order to make sure that all the mean voters that don’t like that he’s taking away their meals on wheels, Medicare, and PBS don’t have a chance to retaliate by voting him and his cronies out of office.

He’s set up a new commission to figure out how to make sure as few elderly, disabled and poor can vote. If anyone has to jump through hoops to get registered.. it certainly going to be grandma with a bad hip.

The Republicans are, as usual, singing his praises… “How could even the Liberals be against stopping voter fraud?”. No one is against voter fraud. Which is why the few people who were caught attempting voter fraud were punished.. they just happened to be Trump supporters.

What we are opposed to is setting up arbitrary rules about checking IDs on grandpa who fought in WWII, but hasn’t driven since the Bush administration. Apparently those vets aren’t American enough to get a say in the today’s government. If he wants to set up rules images (23) about valid IDs being needed for voting… then set up another commission that goes to every nursing home, every hospital, every veterans house, every homeless shelter and makes sure they all have IDs.. then show up again on voting day… send out buses, set up ballots in the homes… and take their votes… or are they too mean for you?