Prada Handbags

As our community mourns yet more domestic violence-related deaths, our state legislators are considering a Republican House amended budget that includes 9.1 percent cuts for both domestic violence services and rape crisis services.

House Appropriations Chairman Bill Adolph has framed cuts to the Department of Public Welfare programs as a way to find money to restore funding to education programs. This is being justified based on contested estimates of the rate of “waste, fraud and abuse” within “welfare” programs.

In the hierarchy of human needs, safety comes first. Basic human needs (food, shelter and safety) must be met before more “advanced” needs can be realized. Witnessing or experiencing rape, battery and other abuse destroys safety.

Children and young adults who live with these realities day after day cannot benefit fully from an education. While I find cuts to education funding proposed by Gov. Tom Corbett appalling, and laud legislators for looking at ways to restore that funding, it should not be at the expense of the safety of domestic violence and rape victims. Education cannot be a priority over victim services, and it is bad public policy.

Rape crisis centers across Pennsylvania assisted more than 31,000 victims of sexual assault in fiscal 2010. Approximately one-third of those clients were children. Domestic violence programs served 92,000 victims, including 7,410 children during that same year. The proposed cut is likely to result in a complete lack of services for nearly 4,000 sexual assault victims.

It is important to note that for nine years rape crisis and domestic violence services received no state increases, and in fact have sustained cuts.

Neither the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence nor the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, which fund local centers, has been the subject or rumor of “waste, fraud or abuse” of DPW dollars, In fact, both organization are known as models for responsible administrative oversight and positive service outcomes.

I have contacted state Rep. Gerald Mullery, D-Newport Twp., about my concerns over these proposed cuts and he has assured me he will fight to have the funding restored.

I encourage everyone to contact their state legislators and let them know the proposed cuts to vital services are not acceptable.

Plastic bag for bangus, plastic bag for ampalaya, plastic bag for tomatoes, plastic bag for this and that and so on and so forth. Every item, big or small, cheap or costly, wet or dry, goes into a plastic bag. Buy just a single item; say, one camote, one apple, or one sayote, and right away, the seller opens a plastic bag and shoots the lone item into this ubiquitous but problem-giving container.

In fact, a wet or watery item like fish or chicken settles not only into one plastic bag but into two or three. One kilo of galunggong is placed inside a first plastic bag that is small, thin and transparent; this is then thrust into the second plastic bag that is bigger, thicker and translucent, with a handle; finally, the already-twice-covered galunggong is placed inside a third plastic bag that is the biggest and the thickest, and with a sturdier handle. To accommodate a mixture of purchased items, this third one, the “major-major” plastic bag, needs to be the strongest among the three plastic bags.

So, now, do your math. Count the number of people buying things from the market plus the number of items they take home daily. Start from vegetables: eggplants, ampalaya, tomatoes, onions, etc.; next, meat: pork, beef, lobsters, etc.; then, fruits: atis, mangoes, oranges, etc; and, groceries: sardines, milk, coffee, soaps, oil, etc. Unless these are bought at a big supermarket, not a single one of these enumerated items is exempt from sloping down into three different plastic bags. Thus, every day, each market buyer accumulates more than a dozen plastic bags in his or her house. Multiply the number of market buyers with the approximate number of plastic bags taken home by the buyers, and what do you get? Thousands and thousands of used plastic bags in a city in one day!

One thing more: Not all these used plastic bags are disposed of properly. Light as kites that are easily blown by the wind, several of these plastic bags travel from place to place or dangle from one structure to another. Further, the use of these plastic bags by some barangays as town-fiesta decorations contribute to the easy and speedy travel of these plastic bags.

In some places, you see plastic bags bulging with garbage that people purposely hang from the trunk of a tree. Try roaming some streets in the city or in several not-so-posh subdivisions in Metro Manila, and witness a tree trunk in front of two or more houses used as a hanging garbage can. With many colored plastic bags hanging from every side or from the lowest branches, the pitiful tree appears like a Christmas tree.

They found a manufacturer in Mexico, after weighing their options and ruling out the U.S. and China.

“It was hard to find a manufacturer here, so I ended up going with Mexico, with leather custom made at a tannery in Guanajuato,” she said. “While it’s much more expensive and labor intensive, I just don’t believe in manufacturing in China, plus I travel to the manufacturer a lot and China wasn’t an option in the long run.”

Then in fall of ‘08, only days before her first trade show, the economy took a sharp downturn.
“That first trade show was like a ghost town,” she said. “Buyers got really nervous and instead of buying the new thing, they were sticking with what they knew.”

With sales that doubled in the last year, Free Endearment may have ridden out the worst of the storm, but others weren’t so lucky.
“Most people who were in the same boat as us when we started have since quit,” she said.

Publicity eats up a lot of a designer’s budget, Jaclyn said, but it’s essential to growing the business.
“The biggest expenses are the trade shows, which can be $50,000 a year, and PR firms,” she said. “But you have to do them. It’s kind of sad, but nowadays people don’t like to buy something they haven’t heard of.”

They now have a second El Paso-based investor and Free Endearment bags are carried in about 20 boutiques nationwide. Ruby Lola carried the line when it first launched, and she’s looking to have a trunk show there soon. Thus far, the highest sales come from boutiques on the East Coast, Jaclyn said.

Her ultimate goal, she said, is to create a sustainable brand and not be another fly-by-night designer.
While letters and offers from retail stores are starting to trickle in, she plans to hold out and continue to expand her label.

Citizens’ Greener Evanston, which boasts 1,400 members, has not taken a firm stand in favor of a bag tax or ban.

“We support 100 percent the idea of reducing disposable bags, plastic or paper,” said Ron Fleckman, president of the organization. “We are also a pro-business group. We are very willing to be an active participant in the education piece.”

Dan Mennemeyer, president of the Evanston Chamber of Commerce, said the group had only begun to survey its members, and early results are mixed. Speaking personally, Mennemeyer said he had switched to reusable bags three or four years ago.

“It is now second nature,” he said.
Local business owner Todd Ruppenthal said the consensus among people at his table was that “the best ordinance would be no ordinance at all.”

Speaking later as president of the Central Street Merchants Association, Ruppenthal said, “We are not against a greener Evanston. What we are against is something we believe is very small-sighted. This is the head of the pin of what could possibly be done.”

Some pointed to the aesthetic upside of eliminating plastic bags that litter streets and alleys and get caught on tree branches. On the other hand, resident Rebecca Weber said she didn’t see as much bag litter as empty beer bottles, pop cans, diapers and old shoes.

“What are you going to ban next? Fast-food takeout?” she said. “Where does it stop?”

Weber said she views the proposal as city interference in choices she should have as a consumer.
Citizens’ Greener Evanston is hosting a presentation of the documentary “Bag It!” by filmmaker Susan Beraza that members say makes a compelling case for action. The presentation is scheduled for 7 p.m. June 3 at the Unitarian Church of Evanston, 1330 Ridge Ave.

She had never taken part in a competition. I feel, as a parent, 8 years old is far too young to have to learn that she might not be good enough to win. While I can, I want to shield her from the realities of life, especially one that might make her feel less than excellent.

Being on the fence, I placed a call to the contact number on the registration form. I was informed that, although there would be a first-place winner, all children would receive prizes for participating.

Based on that information, I felt confident that this contest would be held in a manner that would not judge or upset my child. I presented the idea to my child and she wanted to be a part of it. She practiced for 14 days. Every chance she got. As soon as school let out for the day, my daughter would listen to the song on repeat, over and over again.

She and I had talks of what might happen regarding winning and/or losing. I expressed to my child that everyone has an opinion, and some people’s opinions might be different than mine. I informed her that although I feel she is the very best, someone judging might not.

I also assured her that everyone leaves a winner. She was very excited. We talked about different ways to calm her nerves. This was a big deal for her, which in turn was a big deal for me. She knew which outfit she’d wear days before the show.

Well, we reported to the stage at noon. We registered, obtained our number and gave our CD to the sound technician. Everything was a go.

I sat with my video recorder ready and my child stood in line awaiting her turn. Her number was called. She began by announcing her name and the song she’d be singing. She began. I was so proud of my little gal, having the courage to sing in front of all of those faces. As proud as a mother could be!

SUNY Professor Sherri Mason met with the first municipal board on her list as she seeks local interest for her elimination of plastic bags initiative.

Mason, who presented before the Dunkirk Rotary Club back in April about the initiative, met with the Village of Fredonia Board of Trustees last week to share the idea and garner support.

"Single-use disposable bags which are predominantly disposable bags litter our countryside. You can walk down Vineyard Drive and there are five of them stuck there even though they cleaned it up last week," she said. "Some places are banning them, but more predominantly places are instituting fees. So in order to use a plastic bag a consumer has to buy them from the store, with the intent that hopefully instead of buying a disposable bag they will choose to buy a reusable bag."

The country of Ireland, she said, began this process in 2002, introducing a 10-cent fee and has seen a 93 percent reduction in plastic bag usage as a result.

"I'm trying to work with the village, the town of Dunkirk and city of Dunkirk to impose a similar fee here. I wanted to start at 10 cents but I want it to double every year until it gets to $1 in year five and then it would freeze at $1," she said. "You can spend $1 on a plastic bag or you can spend $1 on a reusable bag, and hopefully people would make that change."

Mason said she would like to educate people about the initiative and have a referendum on the idea.

"I think it's really important that we get a lot of community awareness and support for something like this, so I would propose a referendum. If we're going to get it to not only be implemented but to stay. I don't want us to pass something and then have it repealed," she said.