Yovette Mumford-Markey makes annual donations to the non-profit Women of Means organization.

Woman of Means is celebrating it’s tenth year in service to Boston’s impoverished women and children who need free quality health care, education and advocacy. Women of Means has organized a team of volunteer medical professionals and provides transportation for Boston inner residents who can afford healthcare. Needs medicine, vaccinations and diagnostic tests are performed to assist in identifying diseases that would otherwise go undiagnosed. The volunteer doctors work with patients that have HIV/AIDS, Hep. A,B,C, asthma, high blood pressure, diabetes, thyroid conditions and a host of other mental disorders.

I feel that contributing to this organization is a necessity not only because these women and children are without healthcare insurance but because to make diagnosis and even in some cases resolve diseases before they become terminal is healthy for the entire city. Personally I was tired of seeing so much of our economic and personal gift giving go overseas while there is so much strife and poverty right here at out doorsteps in America.

My philanthropic perspective: By acting locally we are contributing globally to better healthcare.

Safetyissues.com

More to Skiing and snowboarding, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, ice fishing, & pond skating. Pick your winter sport, but be conscious of safety regulations and good old common sense by following these safety tips for outdoor winter sports:
Cell phone, walkie-talkies & mini-flares: Always have at least one of these on you while roaming on a winter sports adventure. Even though phone coverage can be inconsistent in ski areas it is important to carry one anyway! Walkie-talkies are shorter ranged but most ski resorts have them for rent so make sure to get a set to stay in touch. Flares are a good signaling device just in case you get into trouble in a snow bank or hurt and in an out of heavy traffic areas.

Solar glare: Sunlight glaring off the white of snow can be blinding causing you to lose balance or bump into someone causing an accident. Solar glare can also cause sunburn to the whites of your eyes, which can be painful. So either wear sunglasses with protective lenses or non-fogging goggles made with solar glare lenses. Nothing worse than having goggles fog up while skiing. Want to see where you are going guys!
Weatherproof watch: You need to be able to keep track of time while you are out there having fun.
Water, sunscreen & Chap Stick: Hook a water bottle on to your ski jacket or zip it in one of your pockets. Keep hydrate. Think you are out in the snow you don’t need water? Think again! Dry and cracked lips can shorten your fun time and be painful for days so make sure to remember the sunscreen and Chap Stick.
Safety clothes & guards:  Helmets are an absolute must have; make sure it is properly secured on your head, not around your neck! Also make sure that you wear a knitted cap directly on your head before placing the helmet on. This will help not only keep the helmet cushioned on your head but also your body heat inside close to your body. Spend the time to get properly fitted in fishing gear, snow pants, toe warming socks (I love those things. I wear them around the house). Dress in layers and find snug fitting gloves with Velcro wrist tightness. Make sure a professional properly fits you with comfortable ski boots, and snowshoes. No, your big brother, weekend Dads or Moms who may know how to fit you are not the professionals I am suggesting. But this is just a suggestion!
There are all kinds of new technology out there for thin insulated materials to make your body movements enjoyable so that you not constricted with bulky clothing.  Getting frost bitten burns and is no fun to recover from. Let us not see a YouTube video or Twitter posting about you losing a finger or toe to frost bite. OK?
Pond skating: Make sure the weather has been cold enough for at least a weak before attempting to skate on a pond. Please call the local authorities to ask permission to skate on a lake or pond. Make sure you get your skates properly sharpened before skating on raw lake or pond ice. Wear knee and elbow guards.
Having fun means balancing common sense safety practice with your desire to have the thrill and excitement of doing the sport. Think Safety, because life has no reset button!

Yovette Mumford, Executive Director of the non-profit www.safetyissues.com, mother of three, attorney, inventor of safety medical products at www.safetymedicals.com, writer, lives in New England.

Hi,

For safety’s sake, America think about who our next President should be.
I, for one, do not want a President whose convention mantra is “Fight, fight, fight! Nor do I want a Vice President who compares herself to a “Hockey Mom that is a PitBull with lipstick” anywhere near the children or more importantly near the minds of our children. Perhaps we should honor Mr. McCain by allowing the next Republican President to select him as Secretary of Defense. I believe that America needs a President who is a veteran at defending our inalienable rights as outlined in the U.S. Constitution not necessarily a veteran at defending the rights of proud corporations of our nation.

On my walk this morning, I listened to a song “Too Young to Die” by Jamiroquai. Some of the words were:

Everybody, don’t want no war. No, No No,
We are too young to die!!
So many people all around the world have seen their brothers FRY!
What is the motive? Madness? I wish I knew.
So Politicians, this time, better keep your distance.
‘Cause our backs are up against the wall.
Say it LOUD, We are too young to DIE!!!
Say it LOUD, We are too young to DIE!!!
People can you decide
‘Cause when it falls it’s gonna take us all.

Barak Obama has become the Democratic Party Nominee for President of the United States. Obama is not just a statesman, but an icon for renewed American values; an icon for a multicultural voice; and an icon for America’s vision of her future as a melting pot for all the cultures of the world.

As Obama preaches with his modulated baritone voice, he speaks of a future formulated to convey mesmerizing tones of self reliance and an openness to listen to others. McCain’s high pitched voice bellows “Fight, Fight, Fight and wars for 100 years”.

Obama uses former President Lincoln’s image as an icon to conjure our imagination about his candidacy. I think this is a very powerful icon to project his state of mind and Presidential mission. I call the image to your left an icon for “The Thinking American”. This image of Obama, sitting in Rodin’s “The Thinker” position, engulfed in the Bald Eagle, in a reflective pool that illuminates Lincoln came to me while thinking about Obama’s historic Presidential campaign.

An icon is a graphic representation of concepts and psychological symbols that represent a common consciousness of many men in any culture. Both the Bald Eagle and Obama are thinking about an America’s vision of a future without fear, fossil fuel dependency, famine, refugees, or the continuation of fighting on every front. Both are icons of America’s values, voice and vision!

Art has always been a very powerful tool as a communication medium to ignite change and ideas to our consciousness, whether in song or painting.

This icon is offered to help communicate to the international community that most Americans disagree with the practices of the Bush administration and now the possibility of a McCain Presidency. America has to show the world that we are intellectuals and not bullies. We seek to communicate in such a way that keeps America a safer place not just from another attack like 9/11 but also from domestic violence as well. The increase in domestic violence has always been directly associated with the health of any nation’s economy. The Obama Presidency is an icon of the new American voice and vision.

This new icon sends a message to the rest of the world that Americans really want to listen to the concerns of other countries and do not support the current Republican administration’s unilateral aggressions and the protection of multi-national corporate greed and oppression.

I believe that the Barack Obama’s Presidency and team of new officers could be more effective in keeping us safer for the following reasons:

1. His Presidency is an icon for our American values. These are not new values but values that never gets propagandized or celebrated enough in our art or other mediums, especially to the world. The international community, it seems from the many interviews I have heard with representatives of countries such as Germany, France, Switzerland, Brazil, Jordan, Iran and Iraq, are willing to trust the Obama icon and consider new dialogue with America, which exemplifies a difference from the old and existing approach to international affairs. Obama represents America, both black and white, foreign and domestic (Kenya and Kansas) by his own heritage. It is perceived that his blood line represents many of the same issues the majority of the world’s oppressed have endured. He is borne of an American Christian mother and an African Muslim father. He has been educated in both extreme parts of the world. He is an icon for the melting pot of the world; a product of interracial harmony, reflections of America. He represents an America that is cunning but not cold, savvy or sour but rather strong yet not overbearing.

2. Obama is an icon for our new American voice. When he speaks his voice is mesmerizing. America! He expresses such energy and confidence that his passion illuminates his being. America! He is ardent yet sensitive. America! America’s voice should be heard around the world in harmony with other voices in the international community. Obama is an icon for character that is for family values, community concerns and global human rights.

3. Obama’s agenda for the new American vision? Just like the Bald Eagle, which has the longest vision clarity of any animal on earth, he sees the necessity of treating our international neighbors as equals; America! He embodies the iconic strength of the Democratic Party for the distinguished agendas of global warming, universal health care, and many others.

Obama said in his acceptance speech “what the Republicans don’t understand is that this campaign is not me; it is about YOU, America!” This is a very important statement for us to take note of and reflect upon. We would make a big mistake idolizing Obama, the man.

We need to stay focused on being active in our own American safety issues. We need to elect thinking Americans who have good judgment on how to help keep us safe in an ever more lethal world. Former President Clinton stated it formally “Americans must lead in the world by ‘example’ as power not ‘power’ as the example.”

These kinds of idioms, put into practice, will keep us safer. We can not keep electing politicians that are the icons of intimidation or multinational corporations. They are the icons that send a message to the international community that says Amercia is responsible for nuclear proliferation. They are the icons with the message of double standards in the world; one for Americans and another for the rest of the world. They have made themselves icons that send the message that our military does whatever it takes to manipulate others to believe in corporate America’s own agenda. It is time for the American people’s agenda to become the icon for the world!

Perhaps it is images of Dennis Haysbert as President of the U.S. on the HBO Hit series “24” or Morgan Freeman as God in the movies that have most of America well adjusted and even enthusiastic about electing an African American President. I am sure it is a combination of many things converging at this time. Whatever it is, let Americans think about their choice for the next President with great diligence. Remember that Ground Zero in New York is now an icon for the disaster of September 11, 2001. Remember when you walk into the voting booth that OIL is the icon for this administration that has Americans being damaged in wars on too many fronts, for all the wrong reasons.

We are all too young to die as individuals or as a nation. As the song goes once the nukes drop, it takes us all out. Life has no reset button!!!

~ Yovette Mumford

safetyissues.com

Hi,

You may have provided your baby with a safe crib and safe furniture, when you leave the baby alone in the room how can you assure yourself he or she will be completely safe? You cannot stay with your baby in the nursery all the time, but you need to be assured that your baby is sleeping soundly and not in distress. You can have a peace of mind by investing in a baby monitor, such as the Safety 1st Sight N Sound Assurance Monitor System, and keep it on at all times the baby is left alone.

The Safety 1st Sight N Sound Assurance Monitor System is a video baby monitor with black and white screen, allowing you to see and hear your baby. This is a device that’s so easy to install and use. It consists of a video camera that can be adjusted into an angle that lets you get the best view of your baby.You will find this video baby monitor particularly suitable if you have a big house because you will be able to receive its frequency within a maximum range of 300 feet, while still providing you the video clarity you want. With Safety 1st Sight N Sound Assurance Monitor System, you have an option whether to operate the device using household electricity, or battery power.

Baby monitors help reassure you about your baby’s safety. They are especially comforting in times when you sleep soundly and have the baby sleeping in another room. If you have a large house and want to be alerted when the baby wakes, the Safety 1st Sight N Sound Assurance Monitor System can be programmed to set off an alarm.

Remember, however, that transmissions from baby monitors can be picked up on cell phones and on your neighbors’ baby monitor receivers. Make sure to turn off your transmitter while inside the nursery. You would not want to be embarrassed by having your neighbors hear your private conversations. Life has no reset button, think safety!

Safe living,
Yovette Mumfrod

Hi,

Sometimes when you feel the heating in a room is not enough, a portable space heater can be a less expensive option. They are also perfect for those times when you want to heat only one room thus avoid the cost of turning on the central heating system. By using the portable space heater, such as the Bionaire Safety Smart Heater, you can raise the temperature only where you want the heat, thus save on energy costs.

There are several types of portable space heaters you can choose from – heater fan, convection and ceramic, all of which heat the entire room, and the radiant heater, which provides focused spot heating. The Bionaire Safety Smart Heater, is the radiant type, which is really designed to provide heat to nearby people and objects, not the entire room. The Bionaire Safety Smart Heater, uses infrared radiation to heat up people and things that can be reached directly by the waves of energy emitted from the heater.

Radiant space heaters like the Bionaire Safety Smart Heater, are more cost-efficient in energy consumption when you wish to stay in a room for a few hours only. This way you don’t need to heat up the whole room; you only need to stay directly in the path of the infrared radiation.

The Bionaire Safety Smart Heater, is fitted with several levels of protection to ensure safety during its operation. It will turn off instantly if it tips over. It is thermostatically controlled, i.e. it shuts off automatically when temperature settings are reached, and comes with a sleep timer. Individuals in the family, who are sensitive to cold, or the elderly, will find this radiant heater very appropriate for their needs.

This is an electrical device so safety should be a prime consideration when you’re using space heaters. Place it in a location away from foot traffic, and keep children and pets away from it. Life has no reset button, think safety!

Safe Living,
Yovette Mumford