Keeping Up With The White House First Ladies On The Internet

Mrs. Laura Bush, first row-center, joins forme...
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Every four years the United States takes part in the race for President. It’s a long and expensive contest that ends with the pivotal decision of who will become the leader of the free world. At the same time we choose the President, we also decide who will become the nation’s First lady. Though not an elected official, The First Lady is a defacto leader who holds an important position on many levels. She represents the United States diplomatically and symbolically.

Historically, the First lady wasn’t always necessarily the wife of the President; she was sometimes a close relative who stepped in to represent the President if he wasn’t married. In recent times, however, the First Lady has always been the presidential wife as well.

Several of the First Ladies have been greatly admired for their achievements, intelligence, interests, and for their personal style. Lady Bird Johnson was known for her national beautification project, which put a focus on landscaping the nation’s roadways. Jackie Kennedy used her knowledge of antiques and art history to head up a major restoration project at the White House. Dolly Madison was known for her heroism. Thinking quickly, she saved a portrait of President George Washington when the White House was threatened by British troops during the War of 1812.

The Internet has several sites devoted to our nation’s First Ladies, offering a wealth of information about the various women who have held the role and their part in history.

The National Library has a very detailed site at: http://www.firstladies.org. It offers biographies, film clips, information on events and exhibits about the First Ladies, and a special section on the First Ladies’ style choices.

The White House has its own Internet website at http://www.whitehouse.gov. The site focuses on the biography and special achievements of our current First Lady, Michelle Obama.

There’s even a site devoted to the work of former First Lady Hillary Clinton, who is now Secretary of State. Go to: http://www.state.gov/secretary/ to find out what Secretary of State Clinton (and President Clinton’s First Lady) is doing today.

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Filed Under: General, Politics, United States Tagged With: , , ,

Grace and Greatness — The Epic Poise of First Lady Jackie Kennedy

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The assassination of President John F. Kennedy was a searing event that changed the social and political landscape of the United States in ways that continue to reverberate. The shock of his death affected the populace as deeply as a death in the family.

The funeral of President Kennedy took place over the three days following his assassination in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. The event was broadcast live, and was, to this day, one of most watched events ever broadcast. The funeral stands out in history not only as it signified the tragic loss of a young President, but also because it was the first time television, still a relatively new medium, was used as a means for bringing people together. Americans everywhere stopped what they were doing and gathered to watch, in sorrow, as the sad pageant of JFK’s funeral procession made its way through Washington D.C.

Accompanying the military procession throughout was President Kennedy’s widow, Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy. Greatly admired for her grace and style as First Lady, Mrs. Kennedy exhibited another kind of grace after her husband’s death. She walked alongside the President’s casket during the funeral procession, dressed in black, displaying great stoicism and an almost regal composure throughout.

Somehow Mrs. Kennedy had the presence of mind to outline a plan for the funeral, staying up all night to prepare it, just hours after witnessing, first-hand, the President’s assassination. At Mrs. Kennedy’s direction, the event followed along the lines of the funeral of Abraham Lincoln. The procession included a military guard lead by a riderless horse.

In the years that followed, Mrs. Kennedy held a special place in the hearts of the American public, as many people said it was her brave composure in the aftermath of the tragedy that gave them a feeling of hope, a feeling that somehow the loss of President could be endured, and life would go on.

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Betty Ford, A First Lady Whose Courage Changed Society

The swearing in of President Gerald Ford by Su...
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First Lady Betty Ford met the American public rather suddenly, due to the unusual circumstances of her husband’s transition into the Presidency. Unlike other First Ladies, she wasn’t exposed to the media spotlight during her husband’s run for office (he didn’t run) and there was no pre-inaugural “getting to know each other”  honeymoon period.

The situation was unusual because Gerald Ford, instead of campaigning for office, became Richard Nixon’s Vice President during the scandals that engulfed the Nixon presidency in the early 1970s. Chaos reigned in the Nixon White House as the Watergate scandal raged. In the midst of Watergate, in 1973, Nixon’s acting Vice President, Spiro T. Agnew, was charged with tax evasion and forced to resign. Nixon appointed the well-regarded Gerald Ford, a congressman from Michigan and former Republican Minority Leader, to step in as Vice President and steady an increasingly shaky situation. Then, when Nixon resigned in 1974, Ford was elevated to President of the United States, and Betty Ford instantly became our First Lady.

As the scandal of Watergate died down, Ford was seen as a stabilizing figure. His wife, Betty, was admired as a devoted wife and mother, and a socially and politically active First Lady. In her later years she showed great strength when her struggles with addiction were revealed.

In 1978, Mrs. Ford’s family confronted her about her drinking problem and use of painkillers. It was the start of a journey that lead Mrs. Ford to seek treatment and to candidly discuss her addiction problem. After her recovery, she teamed with healthcare professionals devoted to finding a cure for drug and alcohol addiction, and to stimulating more discussion regarding the need for treatment in the United States. The Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California, opened in 1982. The center’s successful treatment system is a model for many of the drug and alcohol rehab centers operating today.

Today, drug and alcohol treatment is openly discussed, and this openness has healed a great many people from addiction. We have the former First Lady to thank for much of this.

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New Mexico Tourism Department Promotes the State

Coat of arms of Mexico.
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New Mexico tourism is a definite boost to the state’s bottom-line economy. Currently the responsibility of advancing tourism in New Mexico falls to the New Mexico Tourism Department. According to its website the mission of this organization is to market the state by spotlighting the destination areas of the state; attracting tourists from around the world as well as the United States; and to encourage those tourists and visitors to prolong their planned stays.

The New Mexico Tourism Department touts the State’s landscapes and natural resources and being rich and diverse. It states that there are adventures of all kinds for any type of traveler, including snow and water skiing, hiking, biking, boating, sailing and so much more.

New Mexico has plenty to do and see such as art, exploring history that includes conquistadors and dinosaurs. Among some of the activities to be found include exploring old ranching, railroading and mining towns. You can learn about the history of these towns including stories about Pancho Villa, John Chisum and Billy the Kid while traveling on the wonderfully scenic highways. You can also stop and visit many state and national parks, ancient lava flows, ice caves and archeological sites. New Mexico has a wealth of geology and sites to be explored.

There’s also high-tech to be discovered in New Mexico. The state is home to Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos, the Very Large Array and many space observatories. The state’s wide-open landscape has been a home to much aerospace industry advancement since Robert Goddard started his space and rocket research in the 1930s. Goddard is considered to be a frontier of modern rocketry and started his research in Roswell. And of course if you are visiting Roswell, you should visit all the fascinating venues surrounding the aliens of Roswell, whether you are a believer or not.

There is so much to do and discover in New Mexico—there will be something for everyone!

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Filed Under: New Mexico, United States Tagged With: , ,

New Mexico’s Assisted Living Policies

When it comes to assisted living in New Mexico, it is important to know the number of residents in the state. You also need to know what percentage of that population is disabled or soon will be, and you need to know how many assisted living facilities or in-home care providers are available. New Mexico is one of six states where one-quarter of its current population will be senior citizens by 2030 (the other states are Florida, Wyoming, Maine, Montana, and North Dakota).

This means that one out of every four people in New Mexico will have an 85% chance of needing assisted living. That doesn’t include younger individuals who, for whatever reason, are disabled and need assisted living support.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a State Residential Care and Assisted Living Policy in 2004. If you go to the website for the New Mexico Department of Health, very little is explained with regard to assisted living, and it is categorized under State General Funded Services. To the state’s credit, a phone number is supplied, as well as a link to send an email. With government agencies, it can often be very difficult to get a response.

What are New Mexico’s assisted living policies? How many assisted living facilities are there in the state? How many residents need care, now or in the future? What regulations are in place to ensure the health and well-being of the residents? To answer these vital questions, the New Mexico Department of Health could add a PDF on its website, outlining the pertinent policies and regulations.

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America’s Public Healthcare Option — What’s the Answer?

With so much recent debate from both sides surrounding President Obama’s healthcare bill featuring the polarizing public option, it’s easy to get confused – or lost in jargon. Among the mess, one thing’s certain — liberals and conservatives can agree that our country’s current healthcare policies need reform – and quickly. Health insurance is becoming unreasonably costly – even for America’s super rich –- and more employers are opting out of providing healthcare packages for workers. Something needs to change, for sure, but is President Obama’s current plan the right answer?

The pros to “Obamacare” – as it’s been dubbed – are clear. Every American would be required to have health insurance by a government-granted date. On the surface this seems to be a huge step in the right direction. If every American was somehow insured, strain on charity care and Medicaid greatly decrease. No longer would uninsured patients get slapped with astronomical hospital and prescription drug bills, which then ultimately are passed to taxpayers. Great.

That is, until you take a closer look and realize what Obamacare has plenty of holes. How exactly would every citizen get covered? What about preexisting conditions? Would disgruntled insurance companies provide sub par coverage – or worse – would healthcare providers provide sub par patient care? As a country, we hope not – but our new healthcare reform plan is so freshly minted, no one has a concrete idea of how it will ultimately unfold and work for Americans. A public healthcare option has been successful in other countries – and here’s hoping it will take hold and be successful here. Something needs to change for the better.

The bottom line is that this new public healthcare option poses so many varied positive and negative arguments, it’s impossible to tell what’s right. Unfortunately for the American public, only time, implementation and evaluation will give us the facts we all wish we had right now.

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Michelle Obama Uses Summer Break to Melt Away Childhood Obesity!

Michelle Obama - Tallahassee, Florida.
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Democrat or Republican, few First Ladies have been as relatable to the everywoman as Michelle Obama. That’s not to say Laura Bush’s quiet politeness and literary background or Hilary Clinton’s “bull-by-the-horns” version of healthcare reform weren’t equally important or equally beneficial for our country. It’s just that somewhere between the DIY vegetable garden in the South Lawn of the White House and the wardrobe from Talbot’s and J.Crew (read: NOT Saks or Barney’s), Michelle Obama seems to effortlessly tap into the hearts and homes of the everymom, because she is one. Good thing too, since she’ll no doubt need the support of women, moms and teachers across America this summer as she tackles the growing epidemic of childhood obesity.

The most recent initiative in Michelle Obama’s ongoing battle against the sad state of our children’s waistlines zeroes in on the educational and nutritional backslide America’s school aged kids call summer break. Dubbed “Let’s Read. Let’s Move,” the initiative aims to contend both with children’s lack of physical activity and healthy eating habits during their off months, and also with their tendency to lose up to three months of reading progress in that time. The First Lady, alongside congressional leaders, officially launched the program on June 8, 2010 – and jump started progress by supplying underprivileged youth with “healthy lifestyle kits” packed with healthy snacks, reading material and activity equipment like swim goggles.

The ideas and motivation behind “Let’s Read. Let’s Move” are rock-solid. The statistics on unhealthy kids are staggering, and Type 2 Diabetes among children under 12 is rapidly spiraling out of control. Truthfully, parents and educators ultimately bear responsibility for these alarming trends – and if Michelle Obama can reach out to those American mothers who already connect with her, turning an unhealthy summer break into an educational, nutritious and healthy one for our country’s children may be easier than we think.

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Is the Entire Millennial Generation Really Doomed?

America's Unmeployment“Millennial” is the most recent term to roll off the press describing the lazy, self-entitled, spoiled generation raised by doting and over accommodating Baby Boomer parents, currently 18 to 29 years old. It’s a relatively new term, following Generation X and Generation Y, to describe society’s up-and-comers. And if you watch the news or read the paper, chances are you’ve heard or read this term once or twice over the last year to explain the national phenomenon dooming the future of the entire generation, given today’s bleak job outlook combined with Millennials’ characteristic sense of entitlement.

Tragically, the current economic and political climate in America finds a lot of college educated 20-somethings unable to find suitable employment and right back on Mom and Dad’s sofa, eating Cheerios and endlessly, aimlessly sifting through online want ads. Even sadder than this emerging trend is that, besides the estimated 14 percent of Millennials who are unemployed and actively seeking work, a whopping 23 percent have given up and are, quite literally, becoming professional couch potatoes. If you’re keeping track, that’s a 37 (thirty-seven!) percent unemployment rate among these young people, a number veering dangerously close to what it was in 1930. And to top it off, the majority of these kids are intelligent, articulate, college educated, well traveled and generally employable!

Frankly, the bulk of responsibility for these depressing numbers lands squarely on the shoulders of the economic fallout, a factor entirely out of Millennials’ control. You can blame plain old bad luck for the poor timing of this generation’s coming of age. It’s also quite possible that a tiny bit of responsibility for those statistics falls on the Millennials themselves, who trends show were raised by Baby Boomers who constantly told them how wonderful they were. Few Millennials would be willing to accept a job offer with a salary and benefits package they deemed below their inflated self worth. Nonetheless, the current state of the up-and-coming generation is sad, bleak and sordid. Here’s hoping things turnaround for everyone soon, unless Millennials can discover a way to earn a paycheck for climbing the couch potato ladder.

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Finding the Right Home Mortgage Lender

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When you’re ready to buy a home, the first thing that you’ll need to do is find a lender. The lender will go over your documentation to make sure that you can afford to buy a home, and to make sure that you are trustworthy in paying your debts.

Finding the right home mortgage lender can make all the difference. Each lender has different requirements, so it’s important to make sure that you’ll qualify for a mortgage. If you have the necessary credit score, income, and down payment, you can proceed. The following tips will help you find the best lender for your mortgage:

• Look for the best rates. An interest rate of just a half percent lower can save you tens of thousands of dollars over the course of your mortgage. Shop around at different lenders in your area and compare rates. This can easily be done online. Keep in mind that many banks want your business. If you find one you like, you can negotiate for a better rate if they know other lenders are offering you one.
• Start with your own bank first. It’s a good idea to start with a bank with which you have a relationship. This can also make the process, as well as your banking and finances, more convenient.
• Find one that specializes in home loans. There are many different types of mortgages. You want a lender that knows everything there is to know about home loans, refinancing, and so forth.
• Consider customer service. You will have your home mortgage for 15 to 30 years. It’s important that you choose a lender that prides itself on customer service. Choosing a mortgage lender that is professional, courteous, knowledgeable, and prompt in returning your calls and addressing your concerns is a must.

Finding the right mortgage lender can be time consuming, but the results are well worth it.

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Why, Obama, Why? BP Oil Spill

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Or, in other words, WHY has President Obama seemingly turned a blind eye to this whole BP mess? We’ve hashed and rehashed the issue on every newspaper, cable network, website, and blog (both democratic and republican!) — and the general theme, despite what side a particular pundit may learn toward, is that our President has barely flinched in the face of our country’s most catastrophic human-made disaster. Why?

We’re barraged with answers to this question, both from the left and right – and my feeling is that the truth may lie somewhere in between. Or maybe it’s nowhere to be found. Only President Obama knows the reasons behind his apparent apathy toward the estimated 40 to 50 thousand (thousand!) barrels of crude spewing into our pristine Atlantic everyday.

True, maybe our President is actually working doggedly, tirelessly behind the scenes, nary even a cig break, to fix the problem. Who am I to say otherwise? All I know and all I’ve seen is what BP graciously grants access to – and that’s not a whole lot, so maybe I’m being unfair. What I DO know for certain is that left to continue it’s ugly, messy, polluted reign over America’s Gulf Coast at its current rate, the Oil Spill of 2010 will continue up our East Coast, destroying communities along the way – basically crushing the coastal economies where an estimated 85 percent of our country’s population calls home. Apologies for repeating myself — but why? Why can’t we fix this?

Democrat or republican, I think we can all agree that losing the economies of Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and so on until Maine can only leave our entire country decimated. And that’s not the kind of change we need. What we need is to reach out to allies for help and guidance. Foreign lands have offered assistance, and we’ve turned them away. It might sting, but America needs to swallow its pride and accept generous offers from Russia and Germany to close the well, clean our ocean and resume life as we knew it before April 22, 2010. I’m just curious why we’ve had to wait this long.

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Filed Under: Democracy, Politics, United States Tagged With: , , ,
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