Blue Eyed Blog
Sport The Color, I Will!
May 4th
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Lupus Foundation of America, Piedmont Chapter | 4530 Park Rd. | Suite 302 | Charlotte | NC | 28209
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Take the Zero Tolerance Pledge
Apr 28th
I posted the following on my Facebook Wall recently:
NOTICE: I’m done playing nice with this birther BS. There are no “legitimate questions,” and there never were, about his citizenship. It’s racism. Don’t like it? I. DON’T. CARE. I won’t be nice about it any longer. I WILL call you out on it. Clear enough? Good.
Also, I don’t care if you’re offended by this. I’m deeply offended by the whole racist idiocy, so I’m offended first and I am not interested in your feelings on the matter. Not even a little bit.
Finally, he was an Illinois State senator. He was a United States Senator. He IS the duly elected President of the United States of America. He has earned, and deserves, respect. If you cannot properly respect him and the office of the President, then just shut your pie hole. But post your racist, disrespectful malarky on my wall and you WILL feel the burn.
And I mean it. I’m done with this disrespectful treatment of our President. You may not like him. You may not agree with him. That’s fine. This is America, and you are free to do that. I’ll be the first to admit that I disliked and disagreed with President Bush (both of them) and President Reagan. But no one ever asked to see their birth certificates. If Barack Hussein Obama’s name were Barry Smith, and he were white, no one would ask to see his birth certificate.
Let me say this again, as clearly as I can: There never were any legitimate questions about Barack Obama’s citizenship status. There still aren’t.
And I refuse to tolerate any more of this racist idiocy. I will call it out whenever and wherever I see it. I will not listen to it. I will not allow you to justify it with whatever clever rationalization you come up with today. I simply will not tolerate it any longer. Period. I will have a zero-tolerance policy for it. I will not support any politician that makes any of these coded statements about Barack Obama’s citizenship. I will not purchase goods or services from businesses that advertise on programs like “The Apprentice” by the new Prince of the Birthers McDonald Trump. I will contact those advertisers and tell them I am boycotting them, and why.
It must end. This is the 21st Century. There is no place in this country any longer for racism — either overt or covert. It must end.
I encourage you all to “sign” this zero tolerance by either leaving a comment or posting the link to this post to your Facebook page or tweeting this post. Any or all of those things. And then follow through. Don’t stand for it. Yes, you may alienate family or friends. You may have angry arguments with people. But unless we each stand up to stop this, the festering cancer of racism will continue to live on. It only lives because it is allowed to live. Because somewhere someone does not speak up against it. No, I am not going to end racism. Neither are you. Not by myself. Not by yourself. But together we can. Yes we can.
If I Had $100
Apr 20th
Friends,
You and I and everyone who ever grew up in North Carolina are the beneficiaries of Democratic majorities who invested in us. They believed that our education and well-being were essential to the growth, economic health, and the overall quality of this state.
Sadly, it is not clear that we’ll be able to say that about the children born during the 2011-2012 Republican majority. The GOP has simply lost all faith in the generations-old contract between the people and their leaders. They have begun to dismantle the state that our parents and our grandparents left us; the one we were entrusted to improve for our own children.
That’s why your attendance at this year’s Jefferson Jackson Dinner is vitally important. Your support allows our party to fight Republican special interests and their regressive agenda in every corner of this state.
With the first 100 days of their control of the North Carolina General Assembly, Republicans have sought to dismantle public schools, deny health care to seniors, kill job creation programs, disenfranchise the voting rights of college students and the disabled, and permit people to carry guns in our parks and restaurants.
Governor Bev Perdue and the Democrats are the only forces standing in the way of this right-wing assault on the middle class.
This year’s Jefferson Jackson Dinner, a celebration of party unity and Democratic tradition, will be held on Saturday, April 30 at the Raleigh Convention Center, 500 S. Salisbury Street in downtown Raleigh. A special reception will be held at 5:30 p.m. The dinner starts at 7 p.m.
Individual tickets are $100. Sponsorship opportunities are available. RSVP to Sallie Leslie at (919) 821-2777 x205,sleslie@ncdp.orgor Jaime Hahn, (919) 821-2777 x206, jhahn@ncdp.org. Click here to purchase tickets online, or go towww.ncdp.org.
U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire is this year’s keynote speaker. She is the first woman in history to be elected a Governor and a United States Senator. A champion of middle class families, as Governor, Shaheen worked to make college more affordable, made public kindergarten a reality for more than 25,000 additional children, and extended affordable health coverage to tens of thousands of New Hampshire Children.
Also, on Saturday, April 30 is the State Executive Committee meeting. It will begin at 12:30 p.m. with registration beginning at 11:00 a.m. The meeting will be held at the Raleigh Convention Center, on the Exhibit Hall Level in Exhibit Hall A. The election of a Democratic National Committee member and break out session are among the agenda items.
Through grassroots activism and your support, we can turn back the tide of Republican extremism in North Carolina. From the school house to the White House, we can restore the American dream. United, we win.
Sincerely,
David Parker
Lupus In The News
Apr 20th
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With the recent approval of the first new treatment for lupus in over 50 years, lupus is making the headlines more and more. This month, we’re highlighting some other developments that you might find interesting. The potential role that systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) might play in relation to other diseases commonly associated with lupus has been the focus of several recent studies. Whether it’s the possible relationship between SLE and depression, the genetic link with preeclampsia in women with lupus, or how environmental factors might increase the risk of developing autoimmune diseases, there is much being learned.
Diabetes and Disease Activity Predict Depression in Lupus
April 12, 2011 - ModernMedicine.com “Laura J. Julian, Ph.D., from the University of California in San Francisco, and colleagues analyzed the role of cardiovascular and SLE-specific disease-related factors as predictors of longitudinal development of depression in the prospective Lupus Outcomes Study (LOS).” Gene Mutations Offer Clues to Common Complication of Pregnancy Exposure to Insecticides May Up Autoimmune Disease Risk Next week we will be sending our latest Lupus Research Update (LRU), which will provide more interesting and in-depth information about current lupus research. Be on the lookout for that in your inbox!
For the latest, up-to-date information about lupus, please visit the ALR’s Lupus In the News page on our website. You can also join the discussion about these articles and others with our entire PALs (People Affected by Lupus) community onFacebook and Twitter. Leading the way to a cure. |
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The Right is The Wrong
Apr 17th
Think the Republicans know anything about running this country? Think again. Think they know even the first thing about the economy? Think again.
Need proof? Here:
That’s right, the more of the three branches of government the Democrats control, the better the economy — and the country — does. And look what happens when the Republicans control all 3 (House, Senate and President). Atrocious. Abysmal. Pathetic. Reprehensible. But they really only need control of one or two to wreak havoc with the economy.
So letting the Republicans set the budget agenda is tantamount to asking Jefrey Dahmer to plan the dinner menu. They are, quite frankly, entirely incapable of governing. And this latest crop of Republicans are even less capable, less interested and less willing to do what’s right. For being “the right” they sure are “the wrong.”
So vote for them. But only if you hate America and don’t want jobs, an bustling economy, a functioning social safety net, etc. You know, all of those things that make for a functioning country and a livable society.
Miss TSA Calendar
Apr 16th
Update: Due to the overwhelming popularity of this posting, I’ve opened a Cafe Press shop from which you can purchase “Miss TSA” items. Plus it will help support me. So buy lots.
Put Your Day in Perspective
Apr 15th
This was sent to me by my dad after I got zapped by the 220v electrical service for the dryer earlier in the week. Little did I know that being bug-zapped was just the beginning of my craptastic week.
It ended like this:
But it could have been much worse. Now, read on for what he sent me, and by the way, Snopes says this really did occur, just not in AZ but in UT. See http://www.snopes.com/photos/accident/culvert.asp
TRUCK WRECK Read the caption on the first photo, then look at the second photo.
Look at the picture above and you can see where this driver broke through the guardrail, on the right side of the culvert, where the people are standing on the road, pointing. The pick-up was traveling about 75 mph from right to left when it crashed through the guardrail. It flipped end-over-end bounced off and across the culvert outlet, and landed right side up on the left side of the culvert, facing the opposite direction from which the driver was traveling. The 22-year-old driver and his 18-year-old passenger were unhurt except for minor cuts and bruises.
Now look at the second picture below…
If God isn’t done with you, God isn’t done with you.
THE END
The Power of Words
Apr 15th
What you say matters. But just as important as what you say is how you say it. The words you use.
Don’t think so? Really?
Now what do you think?
Let’s All Go To Walgreens
Apr 12th
At first I thought this whole thing was just a joke. Not the budget business, but the laughable statements coming out of the right-wing idiosphere. For instance, Senator Jon Kyle (R- Arizonastan) claimed, on the floor of the U.S. Senate no less, that “If you want an abortion, you go to Planned Parenthood, and that’s well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does.” He said well over 90$ of what Planned Parenthood does is abortions. Well, that’s not exactly correct. Here’s what Planned Parenthood actually does:
See that little, tiny wedge down there in green? the one labeled “Abortion Services 3%”? That’s how wrong Jon Kyle was. Off by a piddly little 87%. But rather than be honest that he was just making stuff up as he went along, his office issued the following statement regarding his whopper saying it ”was not intended to be a factual statement but rather to illustrate that Planned Parenthood, an organization that receives millions in taxpayer dollars, does subsidize abortions.” Right. Well, at least he was honest about the fact that his statements are not intended to be factual, since they rarely are.
But a U.S. Republican Senator outright manufacturing fake statistics on the floor of the Senate is not really news, is it? The next time one of them actually tells the truth, that might be news.
And speaking of news, or, more accurately, the Not-News Channel, Faux which has an even worse track record than Senator Kyle, here comes “Fox and Friends” — which I call Fox and Fiends” with possibly the most outrageous and stupendously stupid exchange of the week — and the bar is pretty high on that one when it comes to Faux Newz folks. Just watch.
That’s right, these guys just said that women can get all these services like Pap Smears and Breast Exams at Walgreens. Watch the reaction of the couch-decoration in the middle. She hardly blinks. Stares right at Steve Doocey, not even able to look at what’s-his-idiot that made the Walgreens comment.
While it may be true that Republican’s prefer to get their prostate exams in Airport restrooms, that does not mean that women should be expected to jump up on the counter at Walgreens. How abjectly stupid does one have to be to make such a comment? I hope they came home to their wives wearing this T-Shirt at the end of the day:
On the off-chance that their wives could find it. Or want to. Frankly, I’m surprised every Republican isn’t walking around doubled-over after the outright assault on women in which they have engaged recently. It’s shameful. It’s outrageous. It is amazing that the media and the voters are letting them get away with it.
But if these bobble-heads at Faux thing medical care at Walgreens is such a good idea, let’s see them all line up at the pharmacy counter for a colonoscopy or a prostate exam. I think it’s high time we have a law in this country similar to Canada’s which states that you cannot call yourself a news organization if you intentionally lie or mislead your viewers. It’s why Fox cannot get a license to broadcast in Canada. Canada’s Radio Act requires that “a licenser may not broadcast … any false or misleading news.” Fox News tried to get the provision repealed so they could broadcast in Canada, but they failed. They cannot get a license there. What does that tell you about what they broadcast here? Right. It’s lies and misinformation and propaganda.
Finally, the most trusted name in Cable News, Comedy Central, had, of course, a wonderful piece on this whole thing via Stephen Colbert. I’ll leave you with that so that you will be able to laugh, rather than looking for this key on your computer.
Why is it that a supposed ‘News’ channel is mostly comedy, and a Comedy channel has the best news? Truly a sad state of affairs.
