Blue Eyed Blog
Voting Rights Retained in NC
Jun 23rd
Seems the last line of defense in this state, the only sane voice of reason left, is our Governor Bev Perdue. She keeps vetoing the ridiculous assaults on sanity and the citizens of this state that the Republican-controlled legislature keep barfing forth. Maybe now the residents of this state will realize why it had been so many decades since we allowed the Republicans to be in charge around here: they are unwilling to act like sane stewards of the people’s trust.
8 vetoes. Keep the veto pen warm Bev!
Friends,
Most days it seems the only thing stopping the Republican legislature from repealing the entire 20th century is Governor Perdue. Just a few minutes ago, she vetoed the single most blatant attack on voting rights in North Carolina since Jim Crow, the Republican Voter ID bill.
North Carolina Democrats have been fighting this bill for five months. We need your help to keep up a coordinated defense of voting rights by making a small donation right now.
This Republican General Assembly, which will be turned out of office in a fair fight, is trying to change the rules to keep the people from being heard. Their attempts at rigging the elections, even before the voting starts, would make it more difficult for seniors, college students, newly married/divorced women, and African Americans to vote. The GOP silences those voices so they can manufacture a majority.
In July, the GOP-led General Assembly will continue to work on bills that propose to eliminate convenient early voting, Sunday voting, same day voter registration and reducing the time frame for early voting– all things fair government advocates and Democrats know increase participation in our Democracy.
The GOP sees our volunteers spreading out through neighborhoods and college campuses, registering new voters. New voters made up the margin of victory for President Obama in North Carolina in 2008 and they will do anything to keep them away from the polls.
The Republican agenda offers nothing to most hard working North Carolinians. Our North Carolina is better than that. Generations of us have worked and fought together for a hundred years to ensure that all people who are eligible to vote can do so without arbitrary hurdles. They know the difference between right-sizing government and doing what’s right by our people.
Thank you, Governor Perdue– for placing your full faith in the good people of North Carolina by protecting their right to vote.
David Parker
Another Bowl
Jun 22nd
I swear I’m not going to turn this into a wood-turning blog, but lately it’s about the only thing that takes the edge off. Everything else has been leaving me pretty stabby lately, but there’s just something about taking a hunk of wood and turning it into something that soothes me.
My son and I spent almost 4 hours at the lathe tonight and I ended up with this:
It’s Orange Osage wood, and the pictures don’t really do the wood justice. It’s small — only about 5″ in diameter and barely 2 inches thick — but the richness and the color are amazing.
Next up is this block of highly figured American Maple:
It’s a 5″x5″x4″ blank. We’ll see when I have time to do it. If things keep going the way they are, I may have to spend lots more time at the lathe just to keep my sanity.
The Ferocity of Love
Jun 16th
Note: I originally published this back in November on a different blog, but recently, well, it just makes sense to re-publish it here.
This started out being titled “Is Cancer winning?” because sometimes it feels that way. It really does. I mean big time. Is it winning? Only if we let it.
I have dear friends, and now family members, suffering from the effects of cancer. It seems everyone knows someone or is related to someone, or … ok, that’s just obvious.
Maybe I’m just wondering why it’s showing up so much in my life lately. And by “my life” I mean peripherally. Not directly. In some ways that would be worse. In some ways? I don’t know. Being so indirectly connected to it, yet being so directly affected by it, makes it harder, for me, to deal with in some ways.
I always want to help the ones I know and love, no matter what their situation is. But with this? All I can do — the best that I can do — most of the time, is stand helplessly by.
You say “call if there is anything I can do.” Are they not calling because there is nothing I can do? Or because they are so overwhelmed with the day to day dealings, the appointment, the prescriptions, the dashing back and forth, dealing with the insurance companies that want nothing more than to find a way not to pay for any of it, that there is no way to stop for five seconds and think what someone else can do.
I know that feeling. I know it very well. I have lived it, on and off, for the past 12 years. People said it to me when my son was in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for weeks without end. But it was all I could do to keep myself fed and (sometimes) showered, taking shifts by his bed. And then the dozens and dozens and dozens of hospitalizations, trips to the ER, weeks in the Pediatric ICU, surgeries, etc. over the years. It is overwhelming. Stupefying. Each time.
The most frightening thing of all? What you can get used to. What becomes normal. I could do a sterile pediatric deep trach suction and not even wake up. Most of you don’t even know what that is. I can change a G-Tube when it pops out — and the catheter balloon burst — while boarding a plane with another toddler in tow. By. My. Self. I can change a Trach in under 30 seconds. All that was normal to me.
One of the parent support email lists I am on (I’m admittedly probably on too many) talked at great length about how parents of kids like mine almost always suffer from (undiagnosed) PTSD. For some of us there is no ‘Post’ about it. When the trauma is never ending, there is no ‘Post.’ But you learn not to panic. It takes a lot to make me panic now.
I can only imagine that this is what my friends and family are going through as well. It’s not the same but it is. And there is no training course for it. There is no preparation you can ever do. There is no way to ready yourself, or steady yourself, or do anything but withstand the utter onslaught of it all.
I had a conversation tonight about “what if it were your son or daughter that had cancer?” The answer is obvious: You do anything and everything for your child. You let no one stand in your way. It toughens you in ways you cannot imagine beforehand. It becomes all about what your child needs. No matter how old your child is. 3 or 30, 4 or 40, it makes no difference. Except if they are 30, or 40, you can ask them what they need, what they want, and honor those wishes, meet those needs as best you can. And anyone that detracts from those needs? That is in any way “in the way?” Toast. It’s not about anyone else. Or anyone else’s needs, or wants, or desires.
During that conversation, and for the first time in years and years and years, I couldn’t help but cry. Because I already know how all of that feels. It wasn’t cancer, but I know. The fear, the helplessness, the desperation. The ferocity of love.
I still want to help. But maybe the best I can do is just stand over here and try not to get in the way. But if anyone needs me, you know where I am. And you have no idea of what I am capable. More importantly, of what YOU are capable, when the time comes and the need arises. But if you need someone to stand next to you … Or to pick you back up off the floor, again … Or, as my dear neighbors so aptly put it, just to hold the bucket while you let it all out. I’m right here.
Adding: This saying keeps coming to me lately in various ways: You entered this world crying, while those around you smiled. May you leave this world smiling, while those around you cry.
Dear Men
Jun 14th
I found this on Facebook earlier today and thought it was worth sharing. This shouldn’t need to be said, but sadly it does.
It’s about time that the responsibiity for preventing sexual assault landed where it belongs: on those that actually commit sexual assault. After all, we don’t put up posters about how to avoid getting shot, or stabbed, or car-jacked, or almost any other crime. But somehow it’s women’s responsibility to prevent a crime happening to them. This seems backwards to me. Women don’t ask to be sexually assaulted. Ever.
Especially in light of recent stupid things being done. Maybe we need a larger, more general poster about not doing stupid, sexist, racist, or generally idiotic things.
But seriously men, what’s the problem here? If you’re having trouble “getting a girl” then maybe, just maybe it’s not the fault of, you know, every woman on the planet. Maybe there’s something about you, your attitude towards women, and your treatment of women that makes them see you as threatening, creepy, annoying, irritating, etc. Try figuring out what is wrong with YOU instead of blaming an entire segment of the population. As a friend of mine used to say, “if you meet one a**hole during the day, it was probably just an a**hole. But if everyone you meet is an a**hole, well, then, guess who the real a**hole is?”
Does Anyone Fall for This Stuff?
Jun 9th
Now this is a new and novel approach … The United Nations now has my millions.
From: Dr.Wilfred Davidson Subject: Date: June 8, 2011 2:27:54 AM EDT To: undisclosed-recipients:; Reply-To: westernunion32@yahoo.com.hk Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by srv-fw-capul.capul.com.br (Postfix) with ESMTP id C555CFDA7A; Wed, 8 Jun 2011 03:28:33 -0300 (BRT) Received: from srv-fw-capul.capul.com.br ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (srv-fw-capul.capul.com.br [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with ESMTP id insKd1XWDJia; Wed, 8 Jun 2011 03:28:33 -0300 (BRT) Received: from capul.com.br (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by srv-fw-capul.capul.com.br (Postfix) with ESMTP id 19D55FD5EF; Wed, 8 Jun 2011 03:27:55 -0300 (BRT) X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at capul.com.br Message-Id: <20110608062758.M97227@info.com> X-Mailer: OpenWebMail 2.52 20061019 X-Originatingip: 82.128.14.227 (baldecheio) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 X-Suspected-Spam:Attention Winner
We wish to inform you that the United Nations Organization (UN) has
taking over the Inheritance/Winning payment issue in which you presently have
with your transaction agents. Your funds was withdrawn by UN on your behalf
based on the fact that you where subjected to too many process that will make
you spend more money before receiving your funds.Your Inheritance/Winning
payment was paid out to the United Nations Organization, and they have
succeeded in depositing your funds with us.They have ordered Western Union to take full responsibility in the transfer
process of your funds, and we have received your application for the first
installment of $5,600 USD from the total amount of $1.million.USD.
For some security
reasons ,we need you to reconfirm your personal data’sFull Names**
Contact Address**Country**
Telephone Number**
Age**before receiving the MTCN for the first installment, and we will email you
others after 24 hours of receiving each payment.Yours truly
Dr.Wilfred Davidson
E-mail:westernunion32@yahoo.com.hk
Well, at least he didn’t outright ask for my Social Security Number and Bank Account information. But I’m so glad the United Nations Organization has taken over the responsibility of getting me my millions of dollars, on $5,600 transfer through Western Union at a time.
Seriously, does anyone fall for this stuff? Really?
Bowl Turning
Jun 8th
A month ago I joined TechShop. If you don’t know about TechShop you should. It’s like heaven. Really. Tools. Tools. Tools. Equipment. Tools. All the tools you can’t afford to buy, don’t have the room to store, and would only use once a year are there. And you can use them whenever you need them.
Did I say Tools? Yeah. Heaven.
I love to work with wood. We’ve made lots of furniture — end tables (2 of them), a coffee table, and a sofa table out of Claro Walnut
and 2 night stands out of Canary Wood with stained glass windows in them that we also made. I actually designed those from scratch.
I have always wanted to learn how to turn bowls on a wood lathe though. My neighbor in California was a master wood turner and I could stand in his driveway for hours watching him turn bowls and baby rattles and round boxes. The ‘bottles’ he made for us are air-tight. Yes, air-tight.
Last week my son and I took the Wood Lathe SBU (Safety and Basic Use course) at TechShop. You have to take an SBU before you can use stuff. So far I’ve taken MIG Welding and Aluminum Casting. Those were great fun, but I don’t really need to cast a whole lot of stuff in solid aluminum, and, while there are plenty of things I’d love to take a welding rod to, not much I actually need to take a welding rod to.
Turning bowls though. That’s something that you don’t need an excuse to do! Last night I went off to Lowes and bought a plain poplar board and glued up some blanks. One for me and one for my son — actually 2 each, but the other two are twice as thick.
Earlier tonight, after a day that made me extremely stabby and aggravated, off we went to spend some time practicing on the lathe. It was just what I needed. Nothing quite like generating a huge amount of mess and creating something to set you straight. I didn’t create exactly what I had in mind, but as our instructor said last week, there are no mistakes, just opportunities to change your original design.
Here’s what I ended up with:
Small, yes, but I sort of like the shape. It’s going to take a lot of practice. I can live with that. The practice is a lot of fun! And next week we’ll go back and turn those bigger blanks into something. Then we’ll practice some more and maybe break out some of that Claro Walnut (yes, I still have some squirreled away) or some Cocobolo that I have stashed, or we’ll order some burls or something.
This will be a fun adventure in creating. I hope it doesn’t end up being an expensive adventure in buying all sorts of exotic woods, too.
NC Gov. Perdue Does the Right Thing
Jun 3rd
Bev Perdue stunned the GOP leadership today by issuing an Executive Order for the immediate release of federal unemployment benefits to 47,000 out of work North Carolinians.
The order ends nearly two months of deadlock during which Republican legislators employed the jobless as pawns in budget negotiations with her office. Finally, these unemployed – our friends, family and neighbors – will have help paying bills, mortgages and putting food on their tables.
In a statement moments ago, the Governor explained that she had finally had enough of the GOP’s petty political games and the very real suffering they were causing:
“Just yesterday, they voted down a measure to separate this issue from their budget. Enough is enough. They continue to use desperate people as leverage to extort my support for an ideologically-driven budget that needlessly cuts millions from our public schools and inflicts millions of dollars more in damage to our universities, pre-school programs, community colleges, job creation efforts and vital health care services. I will not stand for it and I will not sit by idly as the legislature continues to play these games and deny the jobless the unemployment benefits they need.”
There will be howls from the offices of the Republican leadership over the next few days, but I think that what our Governor did today is nothing short of heroic.
I’ve watched the honest attempts of Governor Perdue and the legislative Democrats to work with the Republican majority during this session. She has been equally clear about the limits to cuts she’ll tolerate for schools and services. With this unprecedented move, however, she has demonstrated that there are no limits to the lengths she’ll go to preserve the rights of the people of our state.
I’m proud of her and the Democrats in the General Assembly, who have fought so tirelessly on this issue. In these troubled times, when it seems that the Republican agenda is boundless in its capacity to hurt working people, women, children and the shrinking middle class, North Carolina feels like one of the luckiest places left.
Bev Perdue is truly one of the strongest Democratic leaders serving in America today.
David Parker
