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NYFW -DELPOZO f/w 2013 Fashion Show-


...and wonderful Olivia Palermo sitting right in front of me...


Sunday, February 10, was a very special day for me in the New York Fashion Week category.
I had the privilege to attend DELPOZO Fashion Show and let me tell you that I still have goosebumps when I'm thinking about that collection, the words are not enough...
Fabrics as wool, mohair, tulle, organza and neoprene in wonderful tangerine, purple, green and yellow colours, were a dream come true... This collection was a pure perfection!
Tomorrow a new outfit post!




All US Babies Branded At Birth? ... J. D. Longstreet

All US Babies Branded At Birth?   ...   J. D. Longstreet
All US Babies Branded At Birth?
RFID Chips Implanted In Newborns?
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

*******************

America has already become a police state.    And now we are prepared, it would seem, to dig ourselves deeper into the status of a police state with the proposed new (Super) National ID card.

Soon the government may be collecting biometric information on you -- and on me -- such as pictures, fingerprints, retina scans, DNA, and whatever else is needed to make their new super National ID card  system workable.

We are talking about an ID card that you will need to use at checkpoints, airports, and toll booths,  or to access the Internet, and to buy firearms, to purchase prescription drugs, at your job sites, or to gain access to apartment buildings, etc. 

As proposed, this will be a "super" National ID card, an electronic card beyond anything we have seen before.  It will place every American citizen on an electronic leash with the federal government holding the other end of the leash.

The National I. D. Card will guarantee the federal government’s complete control over every man, woman and child in the US, period!

If you want the government to have total control over your life, then do nothing and very soon we will all be carrying that blasted new "Super" National I. D. Card.

A National I. D. Card will grant the federal government the power to reach into the everyday lives of people living in this country on an unprecedented level.

If you are one of the few, (rare) Americans, these days, who actually believes in freedom -- actually believes you have a God-given right to privacy, actually believes the you are entitled to the freedoms and liberties outlined in the original Constitution of the United States -- then you had better rise up and fight for them because we are on the extreme edge of losing them and becoming slaves to the all powerful Central Government the “Progressives” such has Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democratic Senator Charles Shumer of New York apparently want for their fellow Americans.

In an article written by David Bier at Rightsidenews.com entitled: "The New National Identification System Is Coming" Mr Bier says the following:  "Even worse than a physical card, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration (SSA) has created an electronic national ID called electronic employment verification (EEV). The current rendition is known as E-Verify, which has combined DHS’s immigration database with the SSA’s database, containing your name, address, legal status, work authorization, and social security number.

The Senate immigration bill will mandate all employers use E-Verify to check the immigration status of their employees. Right now, employers can voluntarily submit the employee’s name and number to check if they match the name and number in the system. If the names or numbers don’t match, you must take further steps to prove your identity at SSA offices.

The system creates a guilty-until-proven-innocent approach to employment that also allows DHS to monitor every worker throughout the country. Some proposed mandates would require employees who work multiple jobs to automatically visit SSA offices — the new DMVs of employment — to prove that they really do work both jobs.

“People say ‘National ID,’ ” Sen. Schumer told Politico. “[But] that’s a card that you’d have to show whenever anyone, a police officer or anyone came up to you.” Actually, that’s not true. National ID is any mandatory system that could identify you at any given time. E-Verify combined with biometrics from state DMVs or elsewhere would meet that definition."
We recommend you read the entire article at:  http://www.rightsidenews.com/2013020431908/us/homeland-security/the-new-national-identification-system-is-coming.html

An electronic National I. D. Card could hold huge troves of information. It could include information such as: where you live, where you have lived in the past, information on your family, information on your religion and information on your Obamacare Insurance policy, plus more information on your education, and even the registration of your guns!

Think about it. A National I. D. Card will, most likely, contain your fingerprints, a scan of your iris, or even your DNA profile on it.

Of a necessity there would have to be a national database containing continually updated personal information. We already know that once that database is created by the government, it will grow larger and larger and more encompassing.

Understand:  Those entrusted with all that information on you have unlimited power over your life.

Then, too, how are we going to know when others seek access to our information, and why, and how can we be certain that permission won’t be granted?

Of course, We are told the National I. D. Card will help in the fight against illegal immigration. How exactly? Illegal aliens will continue to slip across an unsecured border and they will continue to work for cash under the table -- as has been noted by others.  No.  The electronic National I. D. Card is just another means for the federal government to gain even MORE control over US citizens.

I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me. I am proud of my ancestors who were bootleggers and smugglers. They left me more than fond memories. They left me with a strong distrust of government. I think that distrust is healthy. They left me something else as well. They made me understand that the government is not responsible for me. They taught me that a man is always responsible for himself. They taught me the more I depend on government the more dependence government would require until I had nothing left to give -- and then I would find that I was a slave to that government.

In this Constitutional Republic we call America; it is up to us, the citizens, to keep our government on a short leash. Indeed, it is our duty, as citizens, to keep the tentacles of government out of our every day existence. They have no business there.

We must be wary of "knee-jerk" responses to danger, real or imagined, such as I believe the proposed electronic National I.D. Card to be. If the government wants to "Card" somebody, why not make every one NOT a citizen of this country carry one (an I.D. card) while inside our borders?

As I look about me today, at modern day America, I have to conclude we have failed at the single most important task we have as adult Americans. That task is to preserve freedom in this country… to guarantee a future for our children in a free nation.

A National ID card is much the same as a tattooed number on your forearm. It is proof of ownership… by someone other than you.

If natural progression holds true, next will come the National RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chip implanted at birth. It will broadcast a radio signal all the days of your life telling the government who you are, and where you are, at all times. Beats branding babies, right?

National ID, of any kind, takes away one of your basic rights, the right to privacy.

It is time to get a grip, America! Our National Anthem says: “…The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.” Well, don’t you think it is about time we began to act like it? A National ID card would say to the world just the opposite.

© J. D. Longstreet

Words Of Wisdom

Words Of Wisdom
A young lady confidently walked around the room while leading and explaining stress management to an audience, with a raised glass of water. Everyone knew she was going to ask the ultimate question, 'half empty or half full?'... She fooled them all .... "How heavy is this glass of water?" she inquired with a smile.
 
Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. To 20 oz.
 
She replied , "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.
 
If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case  it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes." She continued, "and that's the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."
 
"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden - holding stress longer and better each time practiced.
 
So, as early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down.  Don't carry them through the evening and into the night... Pick them up tomorrow.
 
1 * Accept the fact that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue!
 
2 * Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat  them.
 
3 * Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
 
4 * Drive carefully... It's not only cars that can be recalled by their  Maker.
 
5 * If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
 
6 * If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
 
7 * It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
 
8 * Never buy a car you can't push.
 
9 * Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
 
10 * Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
 
11 * Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
 
12 * The second mouse gets the cheese.
 
13 * When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
 
14 * Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
 
15 * Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.
 
16 * We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
 
17 * A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

Something To Consider...

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty
-VS- Tyranny




President Obama is taking a lot of heat from the presumably "conservative" element in America. While I wish I understood completely why this is so, primarily because I find myself in disagreement with at least 50% of his positions if not more, I find myself in realization that America in majority voted for exactly what the President espouses. So, in my rather individualized mind, as uncomfortable as it is, I must acknowledge that America has spoken. In their affirmation of the President's views and policies it is reasonable to expect he would continue to pursue the policies and agenda that the citizens of the United States voted in majority to embrace.

As I see it the lion's share of the problem can be found in the "conservatives" unwillingness to recognize that the realities confronting our nation today are vastly different than those confronting the Patriots of 1776. Now I realize that the hard core socon, neocon, and just plain cons of the rEpublican party will likely skewer me for the saying. But as they say it is what it is and somebody on the right (preferably many) need to pull their heads from out of their arses, stand up and make it clear they understand we live in a pluralist society. There is no changing that and to a great degree the very people on the right who are bemoaning this reality are in fact responsible for it.

Logic and rational thought does not rest solely with conservatives or libertarians, it also resides in many reasonable and rational individuals that are to the left of us. Maybe it is just me, but it seems irrational to not consider the rational and logically based thoughts of those who may disagree with us. If I've learned one thing of importance from business management it is to consider listen and honestly consider the view points of those you might disagree with. or if you fail to do so it is quite possible, and likely, you may just miss an opportunity that will benefit your company and it's employees.

Government cannot be run precisely as a private business because government in America, to govern effectively requires the public's trust. However, it is justifiable and proper to understand and believe the principles adhered to in a ethical and successful bushiness, when applied properly to governance will lead to a more prosperous and productive nation.

The following article, with all its patriotic verbiage is precisely what is ailing this nation. Please everyone don't get me wrong here, the left has as many publications (and blogs) that are just as full of fluff and BS as the right does. What needs to be acknowledged by both sides is that this is true, it is damaging to the national conscience, and allowed to proceed unchecked will result in splitting the nation apart along partisan political and ideologically driven likes. Forgive me if you will but we owe our founding fathers by far more more, even if wee seem unwilling to understand how they ultimately created this nation.

Enough of me, here is the article that prompted this post.
Townhall - The grotesque spectacle of the State of the Union address, with its lengthy receiving line of adoring sycophants, demonstrates why the President is operating under the delusion that he is more than just our President. Like him, many people seem to fundamentally misunderstand his role. He’s not our “leader,” or our “ruler,” or our national “daddy,” no matter what his adoring fan, comic Chris Rock, thinks.

Let’s clarify things for those folks with the unseemly desire to offer up their personal sovereignty to some government hack. Unlike Hollywood geniuses better known for exposing their breasts than exposing their brains, I'll never pledge to be a servant of any politician.

I'm an American citizen. As such, no mortal man may presume to lead or rule me.

And I already have a father, one who incidentally has a better track record of job creation than Barack Obama by the mere fact that he hasn’t destroyed several million of them. Nor has he left any ambassadors to die, or surrounded himself with kids in a sick circus of political exploitation designed to steal the fundamental rights of law-abiding citizens.

Hell, now I’m thinking “Dad 2016.” I mean, if that’s cool with Karl Rove.

As for Barack Obama, and I say this with no disrespect, but he’s just an employee. There’s this thing military people know as the “chain of command.” When it comes to American citizens, we’re at the top of the chain. Done. That’s the entire chain of command for an American citizen, and the President’s not in it. Should he presume to suggest a course of action, with a few rare and well-defined exceptions, it is just that – a suggestion.

Now, the President is the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, but command in a military context is quite different. Command is a circumscribed function, strictly limited to military personnel engaged in their military duties and focusing not on the prerogatives of power but on the dual responsibilities of accomplishing the mission and taking care of those warriors he leads.

A commander is by no means some sort of rock star, at least if his self-regard is properly kept in check (There is a reason every commander at every level in the military has a grizzled noncommissioned officer assigned to him or her, and it isn’t for ego-boosting).

No, the President works for me, and for you. Too often, Americans seem to forget that. Sure, he has a big job. He’s an executive, with lots of people (civilian and military) working under him. He deserves the same respect as any decent superior should show a subordinate – and make no mistake, the President is a subordinate of even the most humble American citizen. {Read More}

I am not sure what I may be missing here but; in as much as the President works for you and me at some point he must make recommendations to the legislative branch, including sending bills for their consideration, as well as making executive decisions that are in the interests of the people who elected him. In this I know of no better way to govern than by erring in favor of the majority vote. President Obama was duly reelected President as well as the nation electing a dEmocrat Senate. At the same time the nation elected a rEpublican house. It seems to me our system of checks and balances is functioning as intended. Perhaps it would do the nation and all it's citizens a good turn if the ideologues on both sides of the aisle begin listening to that which they have heretofore choose to tune out.

Via: Memeorandum

NYFW -Day 3- my outfit for Tibi Show


 Tibi Show

 Alejandro Ingelmo Presentation 


Tibi 2013 Collection NYFW





Tibi, Tibi,Tibi... was my next show to attend on my second day at NYFW and it was extraordinary! I was fascinated by the characteristic minimalist design that we all know that Tibi delivers all the time. I had my eyes on neoprene sweatshirts and the graphic trousers + the fabulous shoes... all the shoes. Perfection head to toe.
I wore a reeed printed outfit, black suede heels and oversized 3.1 Phillip Lim clutch.
The night ended with one last presentation: Alejandro Ingelmo! It was all about shoes, men & women, and what made this show special for me was the fact that on Polyvore I created some sets with his designs and now I got the chance to actually meet the designer and see his newest collection...




                                                                            Coat: thrift store/ option Here 
                                                                            Pants: J Crew/ similar Here 
                                                                            Sweater: J crew
                                                                            Clutch: 3.1 Phillip Lim / sold out
                                                                            Heels: BCBG/ different color Here
                                                                            Bracelet: c/o Poshlocket/ Here 
                                                                              


mirror mirror

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

We are still recovering from a weekend of 2-year-old birthday party fun and now preparing for the 2-year-old check up that will be happening in just a few short hours. (how I hate when my wee ones get shots)

But before I go I thought I would leave you with some mirror eye candy. I noticed lately that I'm pinning a lot of mirrors. The irony of which is not lost on me as I just got a hor.rif.ic haircut and won't be looking in a mirror for quite some time. Maybe I should start pinning hats too.

Mirrors are one of the best decorating tools available as they can instantly change a room, and great ones are available at every price point. When in doubt about what to put on the wall, add a mirror. You can never have too many. (I have an extra 6 in my basement 'store' right now)








Find these images and more on my Pinterest board.

Do you have a favorite mirror? Have you found/seen any cool ones lately? Any suggestions on how I get my hair to grow at lightening speed?

Report From the US Constitution Free Zone ... J. D. Longstreet

Report From the US Constitution Free Zone   ...   J. D. Longstreet
Report From the US Constitution Free Zone
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

****************

I got to thinking recently.  (THAT is ALWAYS dangerous!)  If, as the DHS insists, I live in a Constitution Free Zone of America, and they can do as they darn well please inside this zone, then it also means I can do as I darn well please inside the CFZ, too. Huh? 

I have to ask the DHS ... does that mean that we are, in fact, living in a lawless zone?   See, ALL our laws, local, state, and federal are based on the US Constitution.  Without the Constitution, none of those laws apply, right? That means ALL law is null and VOID, right?

"Hot DANG!"  It's the Old West, AGAIN!  "Git me ma shoot iron, Ma.  I'm a strappin that thang on and agoin to town!" (We already have "Open Carry" laws in NC.  But, WAIT!  With NO LAW, it doesn't matter now, does it?)

YES, I DO understand  that DHS says that travelers along the nation’s borders may have their electronics seized and the contents of those devices examined for any reason whatsoever — all in the name of national security.  But "the border," according to DHS, stretches 100 miles inland all the way around the country!

If you'd like to see where exactly the CFZ is, then go to: http://www.aclu.org/constitution-free-zone-map      (You will note that is an ACLU site.)

I would remind you:  THIS IS NO JOKE!

"Using data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, the ACLU has determined that nearly 2/3 of the entire US population (197.4 million people) live within 100 miles of the US land and coastal borders.

The government is assuming extraordinary powers to stop and search individuals within this zone. This is not just about the border: This " Constitution-Free Zone" includes most of the nation's largest metropolitan areas."
  SOURCE:  http://www.aclu.org/national-security_technology-and-liberty/are-you-living-constitution-free-zone

Staying with the ACLU for a moment -- from their Fact Sheet on U.S. "Constitution Free Zone" we learn this: 
   
"Normally under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the American people are not generally subject to random and arbitrary stops and searches.

    The border, however, has always been an exception.  There, the longstanding view is that the normal rules do not apply.  For example the authorities do not need a warrant or probable cause to conduct a “routine search.”

    But what is “the border”?  According to the government, it  is a 100-mile wide strip that wraps around the “external boundary” of the United States.
   
    As a result of this claimed authority, individuals who are far away from the border, American citizens traveling from one place in America to another, are being stopped and harassed in ways that our Constitution does not permit.

    Border Patrol has been setting up checkpoints inland — on highways in states such as California, Texas and Arizona, and at ferry terminals in Washington State. Typically, the agents ask drivers and passengers about their citizenship.  Unfortunately, our courts so far have permitted these kinds of checkpoints – legally speaking, they are “administrative” stops that are permitted only for the specific purpose of protecting the nation’s borders.  They cannot become general drug-search or other law enforcement efforts.

    However, these stops by Border Patrol agents are not remaining confined to that border security purpose.  On the roads of California and elsewhere in the nation – places far removed from the actual border – agents are stopping, interrogating, and searching Americans on an everyday basis with absolutely no suspicion of wrongdoing.

    The bottom line is that the extraordinary authorities that the government possesses at the border are spilling into regular American streets."  SOURCE:  http://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/fact-sheet-us-constitution-free-zone

In order to learn how much of the US population is living within the CFZ where DHS is claiming these preposterous powers, the ACLU did some ciphering.

"The population estimates were calculated by examining the most recent US census numbers for all counties within 100 miles of these borders.  Using numbers from the Population Distribution Branch of the US Census Bureau, we were able to estimate both the total number and a state-by-state population breakdown.  The custom map was created with help from a map expert at World Sites Atlas."  SOURCE:  http://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/fact-sheet-us-constitution-free-zone

So.  What did the ACLU learn:  "What we found is that fully TWO-THIRDS of the United States’ population lives within this Constitution-free or Constitution-lite Zone.   That’s 197.4 million people who live within 100 miles of the US land and coastal borders.

Nine of the top 10 largest metropolitan areas as determined by the 2000 census, fall within the Constitution-free Zone.  (The only exception is #9, Dallas-Fort Worth.) Some states are considered to lie completely within the zone: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont."
  SOURCE: http://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/fact-sheet-us-constitution-free-zone
(Editor's Note:  We recommend you go to this ACLU site and read it's contents.  This is no joking matter!  It is for REAL!)

It is not often we agree with the ACLU but THIS time -- they are right.  In closing on their Fact Sheet on US Constitution Free Zones they say the following: "If the current generation of Americans does not challenge this creeping (and sometimes galloping) expansion of federal powers over the individual through the rationale of “border protection,” we are not doing our part to keep alive the rights and freedoms that we inherited, and will soon find that we have lost some or all of their right to go about their business, and travel around inside their own country, without interference from the authorities."  We could not agree more!!

To argue that this pertains only to electronic devices is ludicrous. Think about what you have on your cell phone, you smart phone your laptop your PC.  Heck, our very lives are embedded on those things these days.  Want to know someone, I mean REALLY know someone, take a look at their computer, smart phone, etc.

Having said all the above, my point is this:  Again, we have allowed the US Constitution to be shredded! We have allowed America, once the freest country on the planet, to become the largest police state on the planet.

When, oh, when, are the American people going to bow their backs, get their hackles up,  and say:  "ENOUGH, damnit!"  Or, are we going to wait until they build that fence along the southern border -- and the eastern border -- and the northern border -- and the western border?

Finally.  Remember the civilian army Obama spoke off years ago, that he said must be as well equipped and trained as the US military?  Well, he has that army now.  It's called the DHS.  They're armed with everything from Tanks to Armored Personnel Carriers to battle rifles, to bullet proof check points, and billions upon billions of rounds of man-stopping ammunition.  THEY are ready for an uprising. In fact, they are EXPECTING an uprising.

The question is:  Will Americans resist?  Frankly, I don't know, anymore.  I just don't know.

© J. D. Longstreet

Is Time Running Out for the Republican Party?...

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty
-vs- Tyranny



The future does not look bright for either the Republican Party or it's Tea Party faction. There are more than just a couple of reasons I make this statement, but perhaps the biggest reason is found in the changing demographics of the United States. I touched on this issue in priors posts here, here, and here, but the issue deserves revisiting as it is very likely the single most important factor that will determine the future fate of the Republican party.

Demographic changes as well as other issues the Republican party will need to address effectively if the party is to remain relevant is outlined in some detail by Michael Gerson & Peter Wehner writing for Commentary.

Excerpt: -The first factor is America’s changing demographics. Much has been written on this topic, but the essential datum is the long-term shrinking of those demographic groups, especially white voters, who traditionally and reliably favor the GOP: from 89 percent of the electorate in 1976 to 72 percent in 2012. This decline is partially an artifact of a change in the way the Census Bureau classifies Hispanics, who used to be counted among whites before being placed in a separate category. But it has much more to do with a real, ongoing change in the composition of the American populace. In any given contest, the GOP can overcome this obstacle. Over time, however, the obstacle will grow ever larger.

Consider the performance of Mitt Romney, who carried the white vote by 20 points. If the country’s demographic composition were still the same last year as it was in 2000, he would now be president. If it were still the same as it was in 1992, he would have won in a rout. If he had merely secured 42 percent of the Hispanic vote—rather than his pathetic 27 percent—Romney would have won the popular vote and carried Florida, Colorado, and New Mexico. Republicans, in short, have a winning message for an electorate that no longer exists. {Continue Reading}

The plight of the Republican Party is not hopeless, however, unless it's members do some honest and deep introspection and admit that times are changing what is now only a possibility WILL become REALITY.

Via: Memeorandum

Russian meteor hit with force of 30 Hiroshima bombs



The 55-foot rock, said by Nasa to have a mass of 10,000 tonnes, plunged to Earth in the Urals region on Friday morning, causing shockwaves that injured 1,200 people and damaged thousands of homes in an event unprecedented in modern times.
Nasa estimated that the energy released by the meteor's impact with the atmosphere was 500 kilotonnes, around 30 times the force of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. It entered the atmosphere and broke up at an altitude of around 32 miles, causing a shockwave that blew out windows and set of car alarms in Chelyabinsk two and a half minutes later.
Divers were this morning searching the Chelyabinsk region's frozen Lake Chebarkul for a fragment of the meteorite. No fragments have been found in the region so far - despite some 20,000 rescuers and recovery workers being dispatched to help the hundreds of people injured.
An army of glaziers were also being transported to Chelyabinsk to urgently repair the thousands of broken windows in homes as night time temperatures fall below -15C.