How you can help people affected by the Colorado wildfires

In Florida, we are regularly threatened by Mother Nature's wrath in the form of hurricanes, and people from all over the country have always pitched in to send donations and supplies. 

If you didn't know, Colorado is experiencing some very serious wildfires right now. Tens of thousands of people are being evacuated, and a heartbreaking number are losing their homes.

The Colorado Division of Emergency Management has set up a website at www.HelpColoradoNow.org, with information about what kind of supplies they need donated (if you are in the area), and where financial contributions should be sent. 

Happy Veteran's Day

In honor of Veteran's Day today, I wanted to share a quick story with you from my trip to D.C. last week.

After our conference ended, we headed back to our hotel and there were a lot of people in military dress uniforms walking around. It turned out that there was a big gala honoring veterans that evening, and it was a really special group of veterans.

Morning Coffee Reading for June 20, 2011

Here's your morning coffee reading for today:

• Tim Pawlenty spoke at the Right Online conference last weekend, and knocked their socks off. Don't write him off yet, folks.

RedState | Erick Erickson | Tim Pawlenty impresses Right Online

• Looks like President Obama's quick visit to Puerto Rico may have been a good fundraising trip, but has the potential to become a public relations nightmare. Apparently spending only four hours on the island territory "unleashed a growing political furor."

Salon | Obama's Puerto Rico visit spurs anger, discontent

• Here's an interview with Attorney General Pam Bondi by Sunshine State News, discussing public records and transparency in government:

YouTube | TheSunshineStateNews | AG Pam Bondi on Public Records

• Legal Insurrection is an excellent legal/political blog written by conservative law professor William A. Jacobsen. The site recently went through a nice redesign. Same great content. Go check out the new site. and follow Professor Jacobsen on Twitter: @LegInsurrection.

• Here's a heartwarming story about a charity, American Veterans Empowerment Team (AVET), which sends care packages to troops overseas and pampers them when they visit home. This Fox Orlando video shows one service member getting picked up in a limo at the airport.

My Fox Orlando | AVET offers support to troops and military families

• Great blog post by @ChrisOfRights with a more accurate perspective on the Robin Hood story:

Chris of Rights | Liberalism and Robin Hood

A powerful tribute to our Navy SEALs

A graphic design company called the Stoneridge Group created this poster as a tribute to our Navy SEALs and their heroism on May 1, 2011.

You can order a 24" by 36" poster of this image here. All proceeds go to the Navy SEAL Foundation.

(Hat tip: RedState)

"Proudly Serving Those Who Serve"

This is officially my new favorite Budweiser ad:

YouTube | Budweiser | "Coming Home"

Please support our troops by making a donation to these great charities:

Wounded Warrior Project

Not Alone (PTSD programs for veterans)

United Service Organizations (USO)

Walter Reed Army Medical Center

[Cross-posted at The Minority Report and Red County]

God Bless Our Troops...And Their Pets

Your feel-good moment of the day...video of a soldier returning home from Afghanistan to a very enthusiastic greeting from his pet dog, Gracie...

YouTube | ltschmidt02 | Seeing my dog the day I got back from Afghanistan

As the soldier notes in the comments on his YouTube page, he and his wife adopted Gracie from his local animal shelter. As the owner of a rescue pet myself, I can tell you he is absolutely right about how much love you can get from shelter animals. They know you are rescuing them. :)

Please consider supporting the Orlando Humane Society and adopting your next pet from a shelter.

God Bless Our Troops, and everyone who supports them at home, both human and animal.

More ridiculousness from the Palin-Haters

Just when I think the lamestream media's hatred of Sarah Palin can't get any more ridiculous...

This weekend, Palin traveled to Haiti on a humanitarian trip with Reverend Franklin Graham and the Samaritan's Purse charitable organization.  The Haitians, still a long way from recovering from the earthquake, recently were dealt another blow after the outbreak of a cholera epidemic.  The Associated Press sent photographers, and this was one of the photos they published:

Note the photo's caption: "Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, center, has her hair done during a visit to a cholera treatment center set up by the NGO Samaritan's Purse in Cabaret, Haiti, Saturday Dec. 11, 2010. Palin arrived Saturday in Haiti as part of a brief humanitarian mission. Dieu Nalio Chery / AP"

The AP needs to find a dictionary and look up the meaning of "journalism."  First of all, Sarah Palin isn't getting her "hair done" in this photo.  It's just a girl pushing a loose strand back in place.  As someone who has had long hair since high school, there's no way I would consider this getting my hair done.  If Sarah puts her hair in a ponytail, is that "getting an updo" now?

And what about the girl in the photo?  Who is she?

Let's look at another photo from the trip:

Who is that next to Todd Palin?  Hey, wasn't she on that dancing show?

Hmmm.  Same brown hair in a ponytail, same white T-shirt and jeans, same scarf as the "hairdresser"...yes, it's Bristol, Sarah Palin's daughter.

So basically, Bristol helps her mom fix her hair and the AP twists itself into pretzels trying to embarrass her.

The liberal derangement and paranoia over Sarah Palin continues, even after they were forced to admit that she wasn't really getting her hair done.  After seeing photos of Palin washing and sanitizing her hands, a Huffington Post commenter slammed her for being "primarily concerned, above all humanitarian else, about catching something."

Ummm, hello!  Palin was visiting a treatment center during a cholera outbreak!  Cholera!  Symptoms include sudden onset of severe diarrhea and vomiting, often causing severe electrolyte imbalances and dehydration, leading to death if not adequately treated.  And by the way, the World Health Organization and other medical organizations recommend thoroughly washing and disinfecting any hands that touch cholera patients, their bedding or clothes, etc.

So, yeah, that prissy little snob Sarah Palin didn't want to get cholera.  How ridiculous!  [insert eyeroll here]

Seriously, people.  This is the left-wing media's philosophy...their hatred is so deep and irrational that they are willing to attack a woman for taking basic health precautions so she doesn't bring a dangerous disease home with her (where, remember, she has a baby son).

Anyone want to take a bet what would happen if Michelle Obama had been on this same trip and Malia had fixed her mommy's hair?  Somehow I don't think we'll see Mrs. Obama taking a trip like this any time soon. 

(Hat tip to "kristinn" at the Free Republic, who had this great comment: "To reiterate, a daughter helps fix a loose strand of her mother's hair, and it becomes an international scandal. Amazing.")

Want to help the earthquake victims in Haiti?  Samaritan's Purse is collecting donations online for its humanitarian missions.

Instead of changing your Facebook status, how about actually DOING something?

Over the past few months, I've noticed a trend on Facebook and other social media platforms of my friends changing their status message or profile pictures, in an effort to "raise awareness" of a particular cause or disease:

• Women writing a status message that simply lists a color, purportedly the color of the bra they are wearing, to raise awareness about breast cancer;
• Women listing where they like to set their purse when they get home, with the saucy-sounding phrase of "I like it [on the bed, on the kitchen counter, etc.]," again to raise awareness of breast cancer;
• Tinting Twitter profile pictures green to support the Iranian election protests in June 2009; 
• Changing Facebook and Twitter profile pictures to a red icon to support the fight against AIDS; 
• And then, this week, changing Facebook profile pictures to a favorite cartoon character to support the fight against child abuse.

This all sounds very nice...after all, who doesn't want to fight cancer and child abuse?  But I can't help but think, do all these photos and status updates and tweets actually accomplish anything?  The only example I see of any of this  social media maelstrom doing any good is the number of people around the world who changed their time zone to Tehran in June 2009 to make it harder for the Iranian government to track down those who were actually sending out tweets in support of the protests from within Iran.

For the most part though, this frenzy of status updates does not have much of an effect.  After all, who isn't "aware" of breast cancer?  I'm not even sure that being raised by wolves would be enough to be beyond the reach of the very talented marketing people who are responsible for making every single household appliance available in pale pink.

You can have any color you want, as long as it's pink

So, here's my radical idea: next time you get a message strongly urging you to "Help Raise Awareness!", instead of just changing your profile picture or status update, include a link where your friends can actually do something to help the cause, by donating money or volunteering.

As a conservative, I believe in limited government and I have deep concerns about the effect that generation after generation living on welfare might have on society.  I do not think that long term public assistance is the best way for people to be happy, healthy, and safe.  However, I do believe that we have a moral obligation as human beings to share opportunities with those who need our help.  I am a very strong proponent of private charities, especially those with a proven track record.  Private charity has a much better success rate than government programs, and is almost always more financially efficient. 

Here are some charities that I would encourage you to support:

American Cancer Society (Cancer research and support for patients and families)

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure (Breast Cancer research and support)

Ronald McDonald House Orlando (Provides housing for families of children who are being treated at local hospitals)

Habitat for Humanity Orlando (Building homes for low-income families; neighborhood improvement projects)

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Central Florida (Humane Society) (animal rescue, treatment, and adoption services, spay/neuter programs, educational and abuse prevention programs)

BETA Center (Prenatal care and counseling for teen moms and at-risk families; educational support; child care training)

Wounded Warrior Project (helps wounded veterans and their families)

Walter Reed Army Medical Center (link includes information on sending holiday cards to wounded veterans, donating to support veterans and their families, and volunteer opportunities)

United Service Organizations (USO) (sends care packages to troops stationed overseas, entertainment and therapy programs, other support for active duty military, veterans, and families)

Please share the websites for charities that you support in the comments.  Between  my Facebook friends and Twitter followers (where I share links to all blog posts), plus all the other readers of this blog, that's several thousand people I  can reach every week.  If every single one of you decided to donate an hour of your time and $20.00 this week, think about what an amazing impact that would have!

OK, go out there and do some good deeds!  Thank you :)

Amazon links if you like pink appliances (I wasn't kidding, they really do make everything in pink):

KitchenAid 5-Speed Blenders with Polycarbonate Jars, Pink

KitchenAid 7-Speed Digital Hand Mixer, Pink

KitchenAid Cook For The Cure Measuring Tool Set, Pink

KitchenAid Pink set of 4 Prep Bowls & lids

KitchenAid Cook For The Cure Digital Timer, Pink

KitchenAid Cook For The Cure Series 5-Quart Colander, Pink

KitchenAid Pink Cook for the Cure Cup Grater

Kitchenaid Cook For The Cure 6pc Culinary Gadget Set Pink

Happy Fourth of July!

Hope everyone has a wonderful and fun Fourth of July weekend.  

 

In honor of the anniversary of the founding of our great nation, our Cool Conservative of the Day is the brilliant and beloved Bob Hope.  

 

Star of vaudeville, Broadway, radio, movies and television, Hope was honored five times by the Academy (two honorary Oscars, two special awards, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award), and awarded an amazing 58 honorary doctorates.

Beyond his great comedic talent, Hope was also well known for his deep love and appreciation for our military, appearing in or hosting nearly 200 USO shows.  Bob Hope was very proud of being the "first and only honorary veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces," after being so designated in a 1997 Resolution of Congress.

In honor of the Fourth of July, please consider joining Bob Hope in supporting the USO.  You can donate online here or learn more about volunteer opportunities with the USO here.

God Bless America, our Troops and their families, and you and your family too this Fourth of July weekend.

Sunshine State Sarah Official Mascot

We've had some exciting but heavy news this week, so I thought I'd post something just for fun...

Introducing Dave the Cat, blogger, tuna fish addict, and Official Mascot of Sunshine State Sarah...

Dave was adopted from a local animal rescue organization as a kitten.  He was very sickly, just skin and bones, not expected to live for more than a few days.  As you can see, we were able to nurse him to health and he's fat, happy, and more than a little bit spoiled now.

For more information on how you can get your own little fuzzy friend, or help other animals in need, please check out the SPCA of Central Florida.  There's lots of animals waiting for adoption, volunteer opportunities, and donations in any amount are always welcomed.  Thanks!

The Gulf Oil Spill: How YOU can help

As a lifelong Floridian, I have been watching the news coverage of the Gulf oil spill in shock, horror, and despair.  The devastation just seems so immense and I fear that our beautiful corner of the ocean may never be the same again.  

FoxNews has posted a list of well-established charities that are helping with the cleanup efforts.  There are different organizations for each affected Gulf state, and they need both volunteers and monetary donations.

Please check out the list, and consider donating some of your money or time.  Please also share this link on your own Facebook, Twitter, or other networks.  Every little bit helps.  Thank you.

FoxNews | Gulf Oil Spill Aftermath: How to Help