Caridad Pineiro® Romance Author
NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Romance Author
Random stuff from NY Times and USA Today bestselling author Caridad Pineiro.
This morning’s Guilty Pleasure is none other than this year’s Mr. Romance Jamie Ungaro! Not only does he have great dimples and wonderful blue eyes, he seemed like a really nice guy.
A local Ohio boy, Jamie was selected as Mr. Romance 2010 at this year’s RT BookReviews Convention in Columbus, Ohio.
You can visit Jamie at his Facebook page!
On Sunday morning while I was at RT, I heard the news that my beloved New York City was once again under attack.
As always I feared for the people of the city as well as the courageous police officers and firemen who protect us every day.
When I arrived home, I heard Mayor Bloomberg’s take on the attempted attack. To quote:
I guess being a multi-billionaire who owns Bloomberg News isn’t enough to keep Mayor Mike in the loop about what recent polls (Courtesy Rasmussen) are saying, namely:
I’m not going to do the math, but based on the above poll figures, the Feds and NY law enforcement would be chasing after lots of average Americans instead of Muslim extremists (and I say extremists because not all Muslims are terrorists) if they had the same initial impression as Mayor Mike.
Which makes me wonder why it is that some politicians and media folk are busy trying to portray average Americans as crazies and terrorists? Worse yet, why is it that some politicians and media folk are initially downplaying that these acts might be the work of terrorists from abroad or working with those who are in other countries?
Given that in the last year and a half we’ve had at least 3 attacks by Muslim extremists (the Christmas Day bomber, the Fort Hood massacre and now the Times Square bomber) with contacts overseas, I think it’s time to turn our attention away from average Americans who are exercising their right to voice a different opinion and look in the right direction.
What are your thoughts on this Thoughtful Thursday?
It somehow seems appropriate that since it’s Earth Day we talk about all the little things we can do to help improve the world around us. After all, we do hold the world in our hands and it’s our job to safeguard it for our children’s future.
Obviously there is our ability to recycle now and most cities and towns ask citizens to place glass, metal and certain papers into recycle bins for pick-up. But there are lots of other things you can “recycle” as well.
Take old clothes that are still serviceable. Take them to a local Salvation Army or Goodwill location. If they can’t sell them, chances are they will send the clothes to recycling centers.
As for old computers and toner cartridges – a big problem due to the heavy metals in all the parts. If your computer is not all that old, look online for people who are willing to take them as charitable deductions. Just make sure to wipe the hard drive of your data. And as for toner cartridges, most companies, like HP, have options for returning the empty cartridges to them for re-use. Another thing you can try to do is to buy toner that uses soy inks. Another good way to help the environment.
What else can you do? Don’t litter. It amazes me every day to see people dropping papers and other trash on the street in NYC. It makes me wonder if they do the same thing at home. It also makes me wonder what the city would look like if each of the 20 million people who come here every day would drop just one piece of paper.
Smokers – don’t leave your butts and other things on the street. Most of the garbage I see on NYC streets is the remainders of butts, matches, etc. If you’re lucky enough to be at a beach that allows smoking (more and more beaches are prohibiting this), remember that the sand is not your ashtray.
If you are walking in a park or along the beach and see a piece of garbage that you can pick up and throw away appropriately (if it’s safe to pick up, mind you), then please do so. I tell my daughter that if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem and that’s especially true of the environment.
Finally, it’s nice to have the money to be a consumer. Being a consumer has almost been ingrained into the American way of life. Lease a car and change it over every few years. Buy the latest and greatest as soon as it’s out. Buy bulk (ugh, I so need to work on this!) at the big box store. I’m sure you guys can think of some other ways in which we are encouraged to consume.
Here’s the thing — we need to learn to consume responsibly. The latest and greatest is nice, but it’s a drain on most people’s incomes and what we junk that is relatively new may end up in a trash heap somewhere unless you can find someone to give it to or take it for their own use (FYI – Freecycle is a great way to do this!). As for buying in bulk, Americans toss out immense amounts of food that is spoiled or expired because we buy more than we can consume in a reasonable period of time.
As for cars — well, we run our American-made autos into the ground. It’s nice not to have car payments after 3 to 5 years rather than continuously paying for leasing. Also, some of those hybrids may contain heavy metals and the price is high. There are many energy efficient internal combustion engines out there at more reasonable prices. Try car-pooling instead to be environmentally conscious.
Funny how helping the environment can also help your wallet as well.
One thing that might not help your wallet — jumping on the band wagon of buying all new “green” products. Why? Well, consuming for one. If you’ve got something relatively new that your junking just to go green, you may wish to reconsider both for the sake of your wallet and the environment. Why else? All those green cleaners are probably great, but sometimes pricey. Baking soda and vinegar can do “green” cleaning for a small portion of the price. So can a lemon wedge and salt or lemon oil and salt (for buffing and scouring. A trick from hubby’s old Italian grandmother!).
Anyway – just some ideas to hopefully get your mind going environmentally on this 40th Earth Day! If you’ve got “green” tips of your own, please leave a comment. I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on how we can improve and protect our environment.
It’s that time of year most of us dread – Tax Day! So for today, some interesting facts about taxes.
In 1861, Congress passed the “first” tax on personal income to fund the costs of the Civil War. When the war ended, the tax was repealed. (For a history of the U.S. tax system, you can read this article on Tax History at the Treasury Department.) To cope with the costs of World War I, the personal income tax was brought back and it was all downhill from there.
According to Rasmussen Reports, 61% of Americans believe cutting taxes will help the economy and 66% think that Americans are overtaxed.
Kiplinger analyzed tax burdens and reports that, “the top 1% (of Americans) pay 39.89% of all federal individual income taxes. The bottom 50% of earners pay just 2.99% of those taxes.” The top 10% (those earning more than $108905 or more) bear 71% of the tax burden (also from Kiplingers).
41% of New Yorkers did not pay federal taxes last year reports the NY Post. Now this is depressing not because they did not pay taxes, but because in a state with the world’s financial center – New York City – there should be more prosperity.
The Tax Foundation did its annual calculations and indicated that most Americans will work over three months, from January 1 to April 9 before they have earned enough money to pay this year’s taxes. In New Jersey, we get to work an additional 16 days — until April 25 — to pay all those taxes. Thanks, Corzine!
So what’s the average person supposed to do?
As the old saying goes, there are two things in life you cannot avoid — Death and Taxes. Ask Al Capone. Tax evasion did him in!
But on that note, wasn’t it John Kennedy who said:
Hmmm . . . maybe the Tax Man should Cometh a little less? Or at least leave some change in our pockets? LOL! Since that seems unlikely in the near future, how about taking advantage of some of these Tax Day Freebies being offered to take the sting out of things? Click on this link to find out how to get free and/or reduced specials at Starbucks, Maggie Moos, Cinnabon, McCormick & Schmicks and others.
I’m back! Sorry I wasn’t back yesterday as promised but computer issues ate up most of the day.
So you may have been wondering where I’ve been. Well, hubby and I had been planning this trip for some time and we cashed in all our frequent flyer and hotel miles and headed off to London for a variety of reasons.
We visited our best friend in London and I got great inspiration for new stories and research one in particular.
We had a wonderful time and the break from legal and writing work did me a world of good. After feeling a wealth of frustration over a number of projects in the last few months, all the new sights, sounds and foods revived my flagging creativity.
I hope the sights and info will inspire you as well as over the next few months Tip Tuesdays become Travel Tuesdays as I share some of the 600+ photos that I took all over London and nearby environs.
Today’s photographs are from some of the parks in London as well as the gardens in the area. The Brits love their gardens and it shows in the neatly manicured plots in front of many of the homes. In particular, the camelias caught my eye as they were in full bloom in an assortment of colors. I’ve always wanted to plant a camelia, but NJ is just too cold. Surprisingly, London which is far more North of NJ, has more temperate weather and because of this palm trees, camelias and other plants seem to thrive there.
The weather during our visit was a little drizzly, but not cold which made it just fine for the long walks we took through the various neighborhoods and parks. We even had two beautiful sunny and warm days and when that happened everyone seem to come out of their homes and offices and head to the nearest greens.
The photos in this collection are of three different parks:
St. James Park is located directly behind 10 Downing Street and Whitehall Chapel and in front of Buckingham Palace. It is a lovely park with a lake in the middle of it. Lush lawns, trees and flowers were all over and since this park was close to offices, Parliament, etc. it was mobbed when the sun came out.
Regents Park was right near our hotel in the Camden area of London. It’s also right next to the London Zoo or ZedSL as they call it (ZSL in American Speak). Even bigger than St. James, Regents likewise had lovely gardens and an immense lake filled with an assortment of very interesting water fowl.
Finally, St. John’s Wood Church Grounds was a smaller park along the route to the Tube (aka the subway). We passed by the park several times as they had closed our Tube line for servicing during their “bank holiday” (aka public holiday) over the Easter weekend. Take a moment to notice the very old tombstones scattered in the park and buried beneath the flowering camelias. It was rather creepy to walk past them at night, but it got my writer’s mind going about what might happen in such a place in the dark!
We spent over a week in London and also did a daytrip to Stonehenge and Bath, so look for tons more photos in the coming weeks as well as some video.
I hope you enjoy!
If you can’t see the slideshow below, you can click on this link to see the London Gardens 2010 photos!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2055743&id=1130005412&l=7d26d54995
Today is a very guilty Monday, because I have some good and bad news. The good news is that a group of some wonderful friends have started a new blog which I think you will enjoy. So please take a moment to visit them at Attacking the Page, a website about writing and the martial arts. My friends will be blogging weekly so check back soon to see what’s up with them.
I’ve seen these women in kick butt action and I can tell you – they definitely know what they are doing.
As for the bad news, some upcoming family, work and writing deadlines are going to prevent me from blogging for several weeks. I’m sorry about that, but please take the time to post any comments or questions to this blog and I will answer you as soon as I can.
I’ll be back on April 12th with lots of fun stuff for you and hopefully some good news about some upcoming projects.
All the best to you! Be back to chat with you soon!
Caridad
Unlike my mom who was actively involved in politics, I’ve always taken a laid back approach. Maybe that’s been a wrong thing to do. For too many years I’ve trusted that government would get out of the way and let the People grow via the tenets of the American Dream – hard work which leads to prosperity.
Sadly, government has become a major roadblock to the American Dream. Whether left or right, red or blue, politics is bringing the American Dream to its knees.
So lately, I find myself reading everything I can about what’s going on because sadly, I do not trust one of the people in power to do what’s right for me or for America. They are all — red and blue, left and right — too busy endlessly campaigning instead of leading.
Today will see yet another video bite to stick in the public’s craw — the health care summit. A last step to make it seem as if they are all really listening before they use reconciliation to jam a bill down the throats of an American public that wants health care reform, but not what’s in the current bill.
Why is it so hard for the politicians to see this? Aren’t there enough polls out there for them to heed?
Some seem to think that it’s an issue with them not explaining it more clearly. Maybe . . . they . . .should . . . talk . . .like . . . this . . . because . . .the . . . .American . . . . people . . . are . . . too . . . stupid . . . .to . . . .understand . . . .duh.
The only stupidity is believing just that — that the American people are stupid. That they are willing to fork over their Freedom to a distant government that doesn’t hear what it wants.
Recently, the Consumer Confidence Index took a big hit. According to Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center: “Consumer Confidence, which had been improving over the past few months, declined sharply in February. Concerns about current business conditions and the job market pushed the Present Situation Index down to its lowest level in 27 years (Feb. 1983, 17.5). Consumers’ short-term outlook also took a turn for the worse, with fewer consumers anticipating an improvement in business conditions and the job market over the next six months. Consumers also remain extremely pessimistic about their income prospects. This combination of earnings and job anxieties is likely to continue to curb spending.”
This was apparently “unexpected” by experts. Seems to me that if you have the pulse of the American Public this should certainly not be unexpected. Like me, many are following what’s happening and not liking what they see from either the red or blue, left or right. It shouldn’t be unexpected that based on that, consumers are not optimistic and are pulling back from spending money, etc.
So I’ve had my rant about politics this morning. What about you? Are you happy with the direction we are taking? Do you think we need to focus on jobs more?