Good Morning Friends,

Today I recommend listening to Kiss the Rain as you read my post, for today I step outside my usual mental meanderings and ask for your support.

I came to Tanzania wanting to help change children’s lives. I came to Tanzania vaguely aware of the injustices of a country with no tangible women’s and children’s rights policies. That awareness has heightened over the past year.

These are issues I feel strongly about but can influence little, however I do what I can.

I was honoured and privileged to be asked to help a good friend finalise her petition to the South African government to take action to save the countries women and children. The cases within her petition; of a paedophile father and a girl being raped on the beach are people she is very close to. The picture of the little girl on the petition page…

The amazing photography of Louie Schwartzberg –

(Photographers be warned: There is no other video to compare with this on you tube)

Louie Schwartzberg bio

My Mom and Dad were both blue collar workers – hard workers.  Daddy worked hard to give our family what he thought they needed – a nice home, vacations, all the newest technology, which back then was a microwave, VCR and cordless telephones. We gathered at six each evening for dinner together at the table.  He grilled steaks most Saturday evenings on the brick charcoal grill he’d built in the backyard while first Lawrence Welk and then Love Boat played on in the background.

But for much of this seemingly idyllic childhood we lived with an ever-present fear, one that haunted our every moment.  We continued on as if all was as it should be, but each of us spoke each word, thought each thought with the image of ‘it’ coming back smothering our certainties.

My brother was almost four years younger than I.  When he was seven months old, I was told he had what…

Spanking and hitting can cause low self-esteem, unintentional injury and negative behavior outbursts.

Ranting is not something I regularly engage in but…

By Jackie Saulmon Ramirez | September 3, 2014

As many of you know, I volunteer for Parents Anonymous of New Jersey, a leader in the prevention of child abuse. If you have read many of my posts you will also know that I struggle with anger/rage issues. For me, the commitment to non-violence parenting was both heartfelt and life changing.

Fathers teach daughters what to expect in a relationship by how they treat their wives.

Last week, while eating lunch and killing time on social media, I ran across a post by a woman I knew as a well-educated and kind person. The post sent my anger through the roof in a flash, insinuating that she was proud to have learned “respect for others” through her parents spanking…

Spanking and hitting can cause low self-esteem, unintentional injury and negative behavior outbursts.

Ranting is not something I regularly engage in but…

By Jackie Saulmon Ramirez | September 3, 2014

As many of you know, I volunteer for Parents Anonymous of New Jersey, a leader in the prevention of child abuse. If you have read many of my posts you will also know that I struggle with anger/rage issues. For me, the commitment to non-violence parenting was both heartfelt and life changing.

Fathers teach daughters what to expect in a relationship by how they treat their wives.

Last week, while eating lunch and killing time on social media, I ran across a post by a woman I knew as a well-educated and kind person. The post sent my anger through the roof in a flash, insinuating that she was proud to have learned “respect for others” through her parents spanking…

Look Back.

Look back at me.

Have you ever thought, said, or wanted to say this as someone walked, drove, or flew away?

On this Labour Day when people march forward to celebrate how far workers have come and how much further they need to go, it’s good to look back on the brave people that fought for workers’ rights.

The BBCminiseries North & South isbased on the book byElizabeth Gaskell; screenplay by Sandy Welch and directed by Brian Percival, yes, same title, different show than the American Civil War miniseries, North & South. This North & Southrefers to the North and South of England, and focuses on industrialization and the inequality between classes.

A couple hundred years later, not much has changed.
The lower classes work themselves into an early grave while the upper…