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By JDes, on May 19th, 2012
 Happy Armed Forces Day May 19,2012 to all our military service members and their families. Thank you for your service!
In honor of the service of active duty service members, beginning on this Armed Forces Day, the National Parks and several other agencies of the United States is giving away a free annual pass. This annual pass will allow active duty service members and their families free access to over 2,000 national parks, wildlife refuges, national forests, and other public lands around the nation! This initiative is one of the results of the “Joining Forces” efforts of First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden to give back to military families. Dr. Jill Biden recaps Joining Forces Initiative as follows:
First Lady Michelle Obama and I started the Joining Forces initiative last year as a way to honor, recognize and support our veterans and military families. This effort is a wonderful way to give something back, giving our military men and women and their families a chance to reconnect with their loved ones, experience the beauty of this country, and simply have a little fun.
In order to get a pass, go to any national park or wildlife refuge that charges an entrance fee or other selected sites and show a current, valid military identification card to get a pass. For example, when you go to the entrance to Joshua Tree National Park, located at 74485 National Park Drive Twentynine Palms, California 92277 (760) 367-5525 show a current and valid military id card and ask for the annual pass and it covers the owner and passengers in a single, private, non-commercial vehicle. This is the same at any recreation site that charges an entrance fee per vehicle. The pass is also available to dependents of active duty personnel. Where there is a per-person fee charged, the pass covers the pass owner and three accompanying adults age 16 and older. There is no entry fee for children 15 and under. For more information on the participating locations and sites click Free Annual Pass Info For Military Families. Have questions visit the Department of The Interior. Again Thank You, Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and activated National Guard and Reserves for your service, now go outside and play!
By JDes, on April 12th, 2012
 Let the desert party planning begin for it’s that time of the year again, Coachella Music and Arts Festival 2012! This year is taking on the two-weekend format that began in the last few years to be able to accommodate the Coachella Festival Goers starting tomorrow April 13, 2012. I know you might be saying, “Why tell us about it now?” Well, the short answer is, I thought I might be getting tickets and be able to do more “Live”, but it does not look like possible to attend in person, and there is a Coachella prior post here as a reminder of the annual event.
There are sure to be some exciting music acts and attractions as usual, but this year with Social Media, Coachella has added apps for mobile devices to help keep you connected!
For the opening day, you can see some great musicians perform like The Black Keys, Jimmy Cliff and more! There are hundreds of fine musicians performing this year including Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg who are rumored to have surprise appearances by other Big Names! Will update this information as soon as it surfaces more. You can check out the Coachella lineup here to see when your favorites are performing!
The Coachella Music and Arts Festival is in two weekends with the first beginning April 13, 2012 to April 15, 2012 and the second weekend from April 20, 2012 to April 22, 2012! So there are Two chances to catch your favorite acts! To get the ins and outs of what you can bring and cannot, check out the Festival info page here. Stay tuned for our Pre-Coachella Music Web Fest where we get a listen to some of the great musicians! and follow us @Hidesertweb and for the latest on the Festival follow @Coachella on Twitter!
The Coachella will be held in Indio California at the Empire Polo Grounds as in the past located 81800 Avenue 51, Indio, CA 92201, a short hop from Palm Springs California.
By JDes, on June 9th, 2011
What makes a family? Let’s look at the definitions of family. According to the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary online, a family has many definitions, but 5 (a) sounds like more of what the traditional thinking has been ;
5 a: the basic unit in society traditionally consisting of two parents rearing their children; also: any of various social units differing from but regarded as equivalent to the traditional family <a single-parent family>
Well, that’s what many people have long thought about what a family is.
Now, in the 21st Century, there seems to be evolution of society’s definition of ‘family’. For example, an article by Katherine Schulten, in the New York Times blog , ‘How Do You Define Family?’, refers to a study by Pew Reasearch Center on seven trends of new definitions of ’family’ on the horizon;
more unmarried couples raising children;more gay and lesbian couples raising children; more single women having children without a male partner to help raise them; more people living together without getting married; more mothers of young children working outside the home; more people of different races marrying each other; and more women not ever having children.
Wait, back up! This post is about Joshua Tree Gay Pride being held June 11, 2011! Oh, o.k. I got it now. The theme this year of the Joshua Tree Gay Pride event is “Love Makes A Family”! Now, that is very simply stated what a family is made of, LOVE! Mike Lipsitz is inviting everyone June 11, 2011 to Joshua Tree Gay Pride “family friendly” events being held at the Art Queen Complex, located at 61855 29 Palms Hwy, Joshua Tree Ca., 92252.
Continue reading We Are Family Joshua Tree Gay Pride
By JDes, on June 5th, 2011
 Whew, that was a chore! After noticing that there was not much data in analytics for HiDesertWeb.com, a deeper investigation was needed since this site has been online for over 4 years and enjoyed a modest amount of visitors. It was very noticeable when @Twitter posts by @HiDesertweb were not appearing on the weekly recap posts! While reviewing several possible candidates for the cause of the site errors, it was narrowed down to a couple of things, the forum and/or database space! Turned out to be both. The forum caused the database to fill up due to you know, those people and bots that flood your sites!
Well, so far so good with the repair of Hidesertweb.com site. Upgraded WordPress, MySQL and a few other little annoyances like that forum! There is more maintenance needed, but at least HiDesertWeb.com is back at work again!
Now, I can get back to the blog! I have missed quite a few events and activities that I will catch up on, so check in later!
By JDes, on December 1st, 2010
All over the world, December 1 is recognized as World AIDS Day. This year 2010, World AIDS Day offers hope for people who have been affected by HIV/AIDS due to the significant awareness and education that has spread throughout the world! Over the past 20 years, many people have become more open to learning about HIV/AIDS as a result of the resilient and hard work of persons in the trenches to bring awareness and fighting for a cure.
 World AIDS Day began on a December 1, Wednesday as an observance of an estimated 25 million people who died from the virus between 1981 and 2007. Those numbers are staggering when you put a face on them. There are some of my dear friends who are in that number, and for them, I try to reach out, inform, and educate as many people I can about HIV/AIDS. In a shocking statement, Pope Benedict XVI has stated that “in certain cases” use of condoms by Catholics is acceptable. This is a slight shift from the Vatican’s long held blanket ban on the use of contraceptives. According to the Guardian, Pope Benedict XVI first acknowledged that using a condom to reduce the risk of HIV infection, thus moving away from a total ban on condoms. Hopefully the Pope can influence other religious leaders and others to start a dialogue about the importance and urgency of preventing and stopping HIV/AIDS.
Many HIV/AIDS persons experience various forms of discrimination from employment to health services.
World AIDS Day is also designed bring the attention of the human rights violations suffered by people living with HIV/AIDS as detailed by World AIDS Campaign here.
Continue reading World AIDS Day 2010
By JDes, on November 1st, 2010
By JDes, on October 30th, 2010
Democrats in the Hi Desert of Southern California are coming out of the closet! On Sunday, October 24, 2010, Morongo Basin Democratic Club put out a call to Democrats of the Morongo Basin, located North of Palm Springs, to come out to meet and greet at the induction celebration of the their 100th member.
The Mid-term election of 2010 officially takes place November 2, 2010 and this years’ election campaigns have been a battle for hearts and minds in the media and gatherings all over the country! Many of the media outlets are pushing the notion that the Tea Party along with the Republican party are leading an enthusiastic charge for replacing and defeating Democrats across the United States, while Democrats sit and watch idly by. Much of the campaign rhetoric against the Democrats is leveled against The President of The United States, Barack Obama and his actions to turn around the down sliding United States economy that began before he was nominated or elected! As such, the charges against the Democratic party by the Tea Party and Republicans, especially those in Congress who opposed actions to steer the United States economy out of the slumps, have been overly critical and negative .
But I digress. Many people in the Morongo Basin consider ourselves “Bi-Partisan” and would seek to elect the best candidate for the job despite party affiliation of the candidate. However, in this 2010 Mid-term election, campaigns for local, State and National offices, have drawn party lines causing one to pick a side.
Continue reading Thars Democrats in The Hi Desert
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