Adam Roland Hansen: Happy 40th Birthday.

July 31, 2013 marks the Fortieth (40th) Birthday of my firstborn, Adam Roland Hansen.

I want to shout out, "Happy Birthday" to my son, Adam, and in his honor, I write this blog entry.

I have previously written birthday wishes and greetings regarding the anniversary of the birth of Adam Roland Hansen.

ref:
JULY 31, 2004, HAPPY BIRTHDAY
JULY 31, 2005, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ADAM
Adam and A Happy Birthday, July 31, 2007
Adam Hansen: Happy Birthday!, July 31, 2010
Happy Birthday, Adam!, July 31, 2011
July 31, Adam And Me., July 31, 2012

I think Adam's fortieth birthday is especially worth mentioning on the world wide web because of the way in which he himself has decided to mark the special occasion. If you are interested in knowing what that is, then click on over to read:
Adam Hansen Turns 40: It's About Clean Water

Adam Hansen Turns 40: It's About Clean Water

Please take a look at what I found on the net:

charity: water Public Service Announcements
Water changes everything.
Almost a billion people live without clean drinking water. We call this the water crisis. It's a crisis because it only starts with water -- but water affects everything in life.
Health. Education. Food security. The lives of women, especially.
We can end the water crisis in our lifetime. But first we have to let everyone know it's happening. Learn how water changes everything -- and share this with everyone you know.

imagine if New York City's taps went dry. What would we do? Jennifer Connelly walks to Central Park to get dirty water for her family as millions of mothers in Africa do every day. This new PSA from charity: water was directed by Hotel Rwanda's Terry George, cinematography by Ellen Kuras. Music by Rumor Mill. Edited by Michael Rothman @ Mudbutter.
All involved DONATED their time. Its national commercial debut was on American Idol Gives Back on April 9 where it was seen by more than 20 million people in America.
Want to act? Just $20 can give one person access to a clean and safe drinking water project.
charitywater.org

This whole thing about clean water and charitywater.org was brought to my attention by my son, Adam. You see, Adam will be celebrating his 40th birthday soon; and, he decided to celebrate his special birthday in a very special way that would help the cause of clean water for everyone.

Imagine not having clean drinking water. Well, for nearly 800 million people, that is the reality. Help me help my son, Adam, celebrate his birthday by helping to quench thirst throughout the world. PLEASE, click onto the embedded link below for a special message from Adam.
ADAM TURNS 40

Stop Being Afraid. You're Americans. Act Like It!

Fight The Good Fight!

Fight The Good Fight!

Ohio Republican Governor and Legislators Give Shaft To Senior Citizen Homeowners.

The 130th Ohio General Assembly has just stuck it to me and to other senior citizens in Ohio who own (or are buying) their homes. That is in accordance to Ohio Am. Sub. House Bill 59, the recently enacted State Biennial Budget bill, that Governor John Kasich signed into law on June 30, 2013.

It was just this year that I finally qualified for the Ohio homestead exemption on my house property taxes; and now, the Republican-controlled Ohio state legislature and the Republican Ohio Governor John Kasich have decided to take it way from me and raise my taxes. It is hard enough to live on a fixed income with rising medical expenses and rising utilities and rising food costs and rising gasoline prices and rising everything on the consumer AND now we have the Republican politicians sticking it to us senior citizens.

Well, to be totally truthful, not all senior citizens are adversely impacted. According to the changes just made to the homestead exemption, an individual 65 years or older will receive the exemption provided that the person's total income does not exceed $30,000. Over that amount - too bad, so sad.

I worked hard all my life. I have paid and still do pay plenty of taxes. I have never minded paying taxes; but, I did breathe a slight sigh of relief when I received the homestead exemption this year because it enabled me to better pay the rising medical expenditures that accompany the declining health of us older people in our twilight years. Now, it is gone, gone, gone.

Not only has the real estate property tax homestead exemption been taken away from me, but as a consequence of the change in Ohio's homestead exemption, I will now also lose the discount I had been receiving on my City of Toledo Department of Public Utilities bill. You see, the City of Toledo discount to senior citizens for water, sewer, storm water, and refuse collection is based upon eligibility for the homestead exemption. Unless Toledo City Council makes changes, those local discounts are also gone, gone, gone.

Thank you, Republican Ohio Governor John Kasich. Thank you, Republican-controlled 130th Ohio General Assembly! I hope Santa leaves a lump of coal in your Christmas stocking this year.

Gee, I wonder what would Jesus say to those heartless Ohio Republican elected officials who shoved this law to us where the sun don't shine.

ref: Ohio budget bill tax law changes

Pro-Life or Anti-Woman, Anti-Abortion per George Carlin

Hold The Presses! Anita Lopez is No J.Lo! Anita Lopez Wants Control of The Press.

Hold the Presses!

This entry of Roland Hansen Commentary concerns Anita Lopez. It is not about Jennifer Lopez, aka J.Lo, I mean, after all, Anita Lopez is no J.Lo!

If you recall, I mentioned Anita Lopez back on May 23, 2013 when I scribed the Roland Hansen Commentary Ohio's City of Toledo Mayor: For Whom The Bell Tolls.

It seems as though in her quest to be Mayor of Toledo, Ohio, that Anita Lopez is running a close-fisted, closely guarded campaign. Here, click on over to take a look-see and listen to: Anita Lopez: Toledo, Ohio's scripted mayoral candidate

It also seems as though Anita Lopez wants to have control of The Press.

As it stands right now, Anita Lopez requires certain specific the information from members of the Press prior to granting any interview. Some, but not all, of the advance information required by Lopez is a list of the reporter’s questions; whether the reporter has interviewed anyone else and what did they say; whether Ms. Lopez will be allowed to use visuals, and the answer to  "How knowledgeable is the reporter.”
Click here for an example of the Media Information Form as it was required of a reporter for The Blade.

For an interesting video, I suggest you watch and listen to "Democratic mayoral candidates face-off over campaign practices."

Juneteenth. Free At Last.

It was Martin Luther King, Jr who said "I have a dream."

It is a dream that is still in the process of becoming a reality. Juneteenth is just one way to help that dream come true.

Dating back to 1865, Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. The term "Juneteenth" is a portmanteau of June and nineteenth. It was June 19th of the year 1865 that Major General Gordon Granger and 2,000 Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas informing its inhabitants that the Civil War had ended and that all slaves were free people.

REF:
Juneteenth, Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease
Juneteenth, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Juneteenth.com

Explore Juneteenth on Google News.

I cannot help but wonder when all people in the United States of America regardless of race, religion, national ancestry, ethnicity, gender, sexual preference, weight, height, hair color, or whatever will be truly equal.

Teen Suicide and High School Graduation

This time of year in the good old U.S. of A., there are high school graduation ceremonies taking place all around us, including that of grandson Ben Wexler and nephew Dovi Rosenberg. With all these high school graduations taking place, I am reminded of a Roland's Ramblings blog entry that I made a couple years ago in which I relayed a story about the valedictorian speech of one high school senior that I had read elsewhere.

Here is an excerpt from that blog entry:

The story begins with the preface:
‘We all know or knew someone like this!!’ The story then continues:
One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, ‘Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd.’

Please, please click on over to read this most heart touching story contained in my Roland's Ramblings entry, "One small gesture can change a person’s life." I promise you will not be disappointed.

Ohio's City of Toledo Mayor: For Whom The Bell Tolls.

Once again, the political scene in Toledo, Ohio in regards to the 2013 mayoral campaign seems to be more like a three-ring circus. Well, actually, it seems worse than a 3-ring circus.

Thus far, there are seven people who have publicly announced that they are in the race for City of Toledo Mayor in 2013. As time goes by, there might be even more people announcing their candidacy for the position of Toledo Mayor. The September 10 primary election ballot will whittle the number of candidates down to two mayor candidates facing one another off in the November general election.

Here is the list of the presently declared 7 mayoral candidates:

1. Incumbent Mayor Independent Mike Bell
2. Toledo City employee and Local 2058 A.F.S.C.M.E. President Independent Alan Cox
3. Toledo City Councilman Democrat Joe McNamara
4. Retired Toledo City employee Libertarian Michael Konwinski
5. Evangelist, Minister, and Just Recently A Declared Republican Opal Covey
6. Lucas County Auditor Democrat Anita Lopez
7. Toledo City Councilman Independent D. Michael Collins

You can get the gist of what is going on in this year's Toledo Mayoral politics by clicking over to read each of the following:

• AFSCME leader Alan Cox vows to work to repeal strong-mayor system, The Blade (www.toledoblade.com), Tom Troy, January 12, 2013.
• Answering the call: McNamara enters mayoral race, Toledo Free Press (www.toledofreepress.com), Sarah Ottney February 14, 2013.
• Lucas County Libertarian Party announces its candidate for mayor, Toledo Free Press (www.toledofreepress.com)  March 12, 2013.
• Toledo history lesson from Opal Covey, Blade Slices - Politics (www.toledoblade.typepad.com/bladeslices), Tom Troy, March 13, 2013.
• Libertarian Konwinski plans to run for mayor, Covey says she’s a GOP candidate, The Blade (www.toledoblade.com), Tom Troy, March 14, 2013.
• McNamara slams Lopez over workers at her event, He says 6 county employees attended mayoral kickoff, The Blade (www.toledoblade.com), Ignazio Messina, April 25, 2013.
• Mayoral candidate Anita López calls Bell, McNamara “out of touch” with voters, economy, La Prensa (www.laprensatoledo.com), Kevin Milliken, April 27, 2013.
• Mayor’s race features 3 top contenders, But others may enter already-crowded field, The Blade (www.toledoblade.com), Tom Troy, May 13, 2013.
• Collins jumps into contest for city mayor, He vows to reopen district police site, The Blade (www.toledoblade.com), Tom Troy, May 15, 2013.
• Heavy mettle, Toledo Free Press (www.toledofreepress.com), Michael Miller, May 17, 2013.

Opal Covey, who seems to change political parties as often as you and I change clothes, has run for Mayor of Toledo on several occasions as if she has been on a mission from G-d. Indeed, how many remember the Mayoral Candidate Forum for which I facilitated and served as moderator?!! You don't remember? Well, then, click over and take a look at the blog entry of HistoryMike: AUG 28, 2005 - Toledo Mayoral Candidates At Beaner's Cafe and you will see that Opal Covey was there.

An, oh, by the way, this is not the first time that Mike Bell and D. Michael Collins have had a slugfest in the quest for the office of Toledo Mayor. Take a look at this previous Roland Hansen Commentary:
Michael v. Michael OR All About Mikes in Toledo, Ohio, June 30, 2009.

And with this June 2, 2010 Roland Hansen Commentary Mike Bell, The Motorcycling Mayor of Toledo, Ohio in mind, I now ask for whom the bell tolls.