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Cindy’s 10 Facebook Tips

Facebook is great for reconnecting and staying connected to family and friends. But it can also be a nasty place.  If your Facebook experience is doing more harm than good, maybe some of my tips can help. If these tips don’t work for you, before you leave Facebook completely, deactivate your account and take a break. Here are my 10 tips to enjoying Facebook (in no particular order):

  1. If you want to just enjoy Facebook and not get your blood pressure up, “Unfollow” (don’t unfriend) people who post things that annoy or upset you.
  2. Don’t post anything political or religious.
  3. Don’t comment on someone else’s post, unless it’s a positive comment and NOT political or religious. If you must respond, just “like” with an emoji, no text.
  4. Be positive, try to entertain, teach or inspire.
  5. Don’t reply to posts from people or groups you don’t know. By answering stupid questions like “what do you call the end of a loaf of bread” you will get more stupid stuff in your news feed.
  6. Post awesome photos past and present. People like photos.
  7. Use private messages for private things.
  8. Don’t accept friend requests from people you don’t know, unless you have friends or interests in common.
  9. Treat people as you would face to face. The golden rule applies here. But some people are just plain nasty; block them.
  10. The real jewel of Facebook is private groups. If you don’t belong to any groups, you are missing out. Find something that you are interested in and join a private group. You don’t get the same nasty comments in private groups. People tend to be kinder and often very supportive.

I know a lot of people who complain about Facebook and it’s usually because they don’t understand Facebook’s algorithm, therefore they get stuff in their newsfeed that only feeds into their dislike for the site. By following these tips, you can customize Facebook so that it’s enjoyable. But it does take some time to weed out the crap, especially if you have lots of ‘friends.’

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Too Much Money

Book Review

Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man
By Mary L. Trump

I already knew Donald Trump was a sociopath and a narcissistic liar, but it was interesting to read his life history. Like all of us, some of Trump’s behavior is genetic. But being born into the Trump family with all of Fred Trump’s money along with the way he was raised created a perfect storm. Really no surprises as far as Donald Trump goes. There is also a lot about Fred Jr. in the book, since it was written by his daughter.

What I found most interesting is the family dynamics and what it’s like to grow up in a very wealthy family. It’s a totally different world; housing paid for, college paid for, health insurance covered, as well as allowances and trust funds. Some of the ‘hardships’ in the family, included having a leaky air conditioner in a rent free apartment or having to sell your yacht or airplane.

It’s a good read and Mary Trump is a good writer with some interesting insights into the Trump family and specifically Donald Trump. I hope she makes a lot of money on this book to make up for some of the millions of dollars stolen from her by her uncles and aunts.

Sadly, I doubt many in Trump’s base will read this book, but I do hope it helps to get Joe Biden elected in November. This country – and arguably the world – is in deep trouble if Trump gets another four years in the White House.

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Why I’m Voting NO on Question One

Massachusetts Ballot Question One 2018

Not all Massachusetts nurses want a ‘yes’ vote on Question 1. The Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) is promoting ballot Question 1, which would set limits on the number of patients assigned to a nurse at one time. First, this bill only pertains to hospitals and it’s important to note that hospitals staff about half of all nurses and the MNA only represents about 25% of nurses statewide.

The idea of limiting patient load is good in theory, but it’s more complicated. Supporters say that hospital nurses are often over-worked and limiting patient load could make hospitals safer. It is not surprising hospital administrators oppose the ballot question, because it would be expensive. The cost of health care in the US is a much bigger issue and our whole health care system is a mess, but that’s another story.

Regarding Question 1, I’ll be voting no on Question one for a very different reason, simply because there are not enough nurses to fill the jobs we have now. This country has had a nursing shortage dating back to the 1930’s and I don’t see an end to the shortage anytime soon. If this bill passes, hospitals will drain nurses from other much needed and already short staffed places like nursing homes, group homes, rehab facilities, doctor’s offices and home care.

Hospitals already have the most skilled nurses and they should have the flexibility to move staff where it is most needed, without government imposed ratios. Creating nursing assignments is complex and dynamic and needs flexibility. Hospitals will do just fine without this bill. However, if the bill passes, it will be devastating and life threatening to long-term care facilities for the elderly, sick and disabled – our most vulnerable citizens – who often can’t speak for themselves.

I have been a nurse for 36 years and have worked in several different settings including hospitals, nursing homes and home care. It is the nursing homes and home care who are desperate for nurses and this bill would make a bad situation worse. For example, I know of children with complex medical needs who are approved for home nursing hours, but there are simply no nurses to fill those hours. If there were plenty of nurses I would have no objection to Question 1, however at this time when I weigh the pros and cons, I think a yes vote would hurt more people than it would help.

Please Vote No on Question One.

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Celebrating 100 episodes of Rubber Duck Theater

Producer Cindy Bissell during a production of an episode of Rubber Duck Theater.

 

GRAFTON: Grafton Community Television celebrates another cable access milestone during August. GCTV producer Cindy Bissell, along with program hosts husband Richard Bissell and son Aaron Bissell have reached the 100th episode of their cable access show “Rubber Duck Theater.”

“Rubber Duck Theater” debuted on August 1st, 2011. Cindy, Richard and Aaron Bissell are certified access producers for Grafton Community Television. The program featuring the Bissells with recurring guest Nicholas Nicklebee, is primarily billed as a half hour movie review show, but it includes a variety of topics including family travels and themed conventions. The Bissell family reached episode #50 in January, 2014 and episode #75 in November 6, 2015.

The 100th episode features a one hour special that will run on Grafton Community Television during the month of September. The show airs on Grafton Community Television’s Charter Channel 191 / Verizon Channel 34 on the following weekly schedule: Tuesdays at 11:00 PM, Friday at 10:00 PM, Saturday at 10:00 PM and Sunday at 7:00 PM. The program will also be available at the GCTV VOD link: http://graftontv.org/current/VoD.html.

Past episodes of “Rubber Duck Theater” can also be found at https://vimeo.com/rubberducktheater and at http://www.rubberducktheater.com/

Grafton News article PDF
Grafton News (web)
Grafton Patch (web)

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Meeting Richard Dawkins

Richard Dawkins

Richard Dawkins is a British ethologist and evolutionary biologist; but he is probably more well-known as an outspoken atheist. He is definitely a hero of mine. What a thrill it was to actually meet Richard Dawkins in person!

Richard was a speaker at the 70th Annual American Humanist Association Conference, which happened to be held in Boston this year. Aaron is also a big fan, so we went to hear him speak. His speech was interesting, insightful and entertaining. I just love listening to his British accent. We were even more excited to be able to meet Richard at a book signing after the lecture!

Aaron and Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins and I

Aaron brought his book “The God Delusion” and was able to get it signed. In this best selling book, Dawkins ruffled many religious feathers when he wrote that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and that all religious faith is a delusion. Dawkins encourages Atheist to speak up against religion because religion is a major source of conflict in the world and because it gives people justification to blindly believe without any evidence.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Dawkins was asked how this event might change the world, he responded:

“Many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense. Beliefs might lack all supporting evidence but, we thought, if people needed a crutch for consolation, where’s the harm? September 11th changed all that. Revealed faith is not harmless nonsense, it can be lethally dangerous nonsense. Dangerous because it gives people unshakeable confidence in their own righteousness. Dangerous because it gives them false courage to kill themselves, which automatically removes normal barriers to killing others. Dangerous because it teaches enmity to others labeled only by a difference of inherited tradition. And dangerous because we have all bought into a weird respect, which uniquely protects religion from normal criticism. Let’s now stop being so damned respectful!”

Dawkins gives atheist the courage to come out of the closet. Atheists are far more numerous than most people realize and our voices need to be heard in order to fight back against religious intrusion in our schools and politics. We need to fight back against those who force their own religious agendas down the throats of our children and our government. It is vital to uphold the separation of Church and state. Religion is an unnecessary part of our global problems and it is time to stand up against the enemies of reason.

It is also important to help remove the negative stigma associated with atheism. Here in the US, research has found that Atheists are the most hated and distrusted minority in the country. University of Minnesota study found that atheists are more distrusted than Muslims, recent immigrants and gays. While in reality, Atheist are statistically more peaceful, moral and trustworthy than Christians. The best way to fight back against the negative stereo typing of atheist is for atheist to stand up and say, I’m an atheist and I’m a good person. After all, an atheist is just a “non-theist.” A theist has a belief in the existence of a god or gods, an atheist does not have a belief in the existence of a god or gods. Is that really such a bad thing? On the contrary, it’s a good thing. Being an atheist is evidence of a healthy, independent mind.

Thank you Richard for speaking out for free-thinkers. It was a pleasure to meet you!

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