Some Plain Speaking

First, the video’s title is a misnomer.  There is no cure.  But, it is time for some plain speaking.  He’s right. It’s not about liking a particular politician, party affiliation, or who gives the better press conference. It’s about science. And, quite honestly, it’s about life and death. The numbers tell us that the West Coast has handled the pandemic and flattened the curve much better than the Northeast.  Science also tells us that the outbreaks spreading throughout the rest of the country spread from New York. And, despite the blame China rhetoric, the virus in New York came from Europe. The novel coronavirus was in Europe as early as December, when the world was still focused on that market in Wuhan.

He’s also correct that we need to watch and learn. Because this virus is not just going to go away. It will return. Probably in waves. It may even become endemic, like the flu or the common cold (which, technically, is another coronavirus).

NC third grader writes letter to Donald Trump: ‘You have been very rude’

Courtesy: Kelley Wheeless; Acquired from WNCN via WNCT

A North Carolina third grader is gaining national attention after a letter he wrote to presidential candidate Donald Trump as part of a class project.

Source: NC third grader writes letter to Donald Trump: ‘You have been very rude’

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Apparently, there aren’t that many people in this state smarter than a third grader.  Donald Trump won the Republican primary.  Frankly, I’m embarrassed.  I keep hoping that the Republicans of the country will, finally, show some sense.  If this is the best they have to offer, then my Independent vote will go to the Democrats.

My tax dollars at work

NC GOP leaders file motion to block gay marriages – WCTI 12
October 9, 2014

I don’t agree with them, but that is their right.  What isn’t their right is to use my tax dollars to pay a lawyer from California $400 an hour for this.   The motion asks that they be given until October 17th to assemble data in support of their arguments.  You do the math.  Not that much, you may be thinking, for a lawyer.  I’d agree with you if they were using their own money.  But they aren’t.  They’re using ours.

Speaker Tillis, this is not the way to get my vote.  Express you opinion all you want.  I don’t care.  But don’t use my money to do it.

And, by the way, the motion was denied.

Judge in NC gay marriage case denies delay – WCTI 12
October 9, 2014

They have until noon today.

Amendment One

Today, I’m sorry to say that I am ashamed to be a North Carolinian.  I know I don’t usually post on controversial subjects, but this one has got me so steamed that I need to vent.  Everyone is entitled to their own opinions.  The freedom to think as we please is part of what makes our country so great, but, unfortunately, our narrow-minded Puritan roots are showing.

The results are in and Amendment One has passed.  Apparently most of my fellow Tarheels agree that “marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state”.  Not only do I feel this sentiment to be unfair, but think it asinine that such bigotry and discrimination should be written into our state’s constitution.

Then again, this is a state where it is still, technically, illegal for a woman to move in with her boyfriend before they are married.  This state, and the rest of the South, need to wake up.  It is the twenty-first century, people, not the Middle Ages.

Swine Flu and the Media

Okay, quit with the drama.  It’s the flu.  Not much different from regular flu, from everything I’ve heard.  This is not Avian Flu or Spanish Flu (the strain that caused the horrific 1918 pandemic), but Swine Flu, which, by the way, has almost nothing to do with actual pigs.  Therefore, going out and slaughtering all the pigs isn’t going to make any difference.

Out of a global population of 6 or 7 billion, only about a thousand have, or are suspected to have, Swine Flu.  Around 35,000 thousand people die of ordinary strains of influenza every year in the United States alone.  Swine Flu hasn’t killed that many people globally. 

Sure, it could mutate into something that actually merits the media frenzy and melodrama, but so can any of the strains of influenza that pop up every year.  This is why the elderly, the ill, and children are encouraged to get flu shots every year.

Instead of indulging in hysterics and succumbing to media sensationalism, we should focus on the all too deadly pandemic of HIV/AIDS, and the true tragedy and horror occurring in Darfur and the rest of Sudan.

They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys From Sudan by Alephonsion Deng, Benson Deng, and Benjamin Ajak

This is one of the most heartbreaking books I can remember reading.  Right up there with Elie Wiesel’s Night.  All of this horror going on for so long, and yet, like so many Americans, I was completely unaware of the harrowing situation in Sudan until actors and actresses started talking about Darfur.  Where were Peter Jennings, Dan Rather, and Tom Brokaw?  I remember them talking about Rwanda and the genocide there.  They spoke of Congo and its civil war along with the Ebola epidemic there.  But not about Sudan.  If I wanted to know about the world, before the Internet, I had to listen to the BBC.  American news shows spend too much time talking about Britney Spears and Tom Cruise, and not enough discussing actual news.  It took that whole teddy bear controversy involving a white teacher to bring America’s public eye to Sudan, and even then it wasn’t there for very long.

Reading this book was a real eye opener.  And how much worse must it be now, with the unrest in Kenya over the elections?  Imagine being five or six years old and surviving a walk to Ethiopia through the desert, battling not just hunger and thirst, but soldiers, lions, and hyenas.  Then being forced back to Sudan, then to Kenya.  Finding kindness in few places and in few people.  It is so far beyond sad that I don’t there is a word for it in the English language.

It is a disgrace, and the entire Western world should be ashamed.  What did we say after the Holocaust?  That is should never happen again.  Well, look at Kosovo and Bosnia.  Look at Rwanda.  Sudan.  Afghanistan.  Genocide is happening right before our eyes, but we refuse to see it.  Acknowledge it.  Read this book, I urge you.  Open your eyes.  Think of how many Lost Boys are still lost, and will never be found.

They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky is a very powerful book.  A fascinating glimpse into another world where hearing lions roar in the night is a common thing, and one doesn’t even blink when meeting a giraffe.  But also a horrifying journey into a world of eternal violence.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Halloween Layouts and Election Congrats

First, let me give a big “Yippie!” and “Hurray!” for Kay Hagan, the new Junior Senator from North Carolina. 

Second, I would like to congratulate the President-Elect, Barack Obama, on his victory, and wish him good luck.  He’s going to need it.  Also, congrats go to Governor-Elect Beverly Purdue.

Okay, enough politics.  No more campaign commercials!!!!!!!  Sorry, I just had to get that in.

Now for the pictures.  My niece finally sent us pics of the kids in their Halloween costumes.  Bree is a “pretty” vampire.  She didn’t want to be a vampire if it wasn’t pretty.  I’m telling you, the girl is a serious prep.  I have visions of movies like “Bring it On” when I think of her in high school.

::dramatic, horrified shiver::

Danny is supposed to be R2D2 from Star Wars.  I don’t know that he actually pulled it off, but he’s cute anyway.

The kit used in the above layout is Leaves of Life Addon from Raspberry Road Designs.  The alpha is from Melissa’s Halloween Fun kit over at Sentimental Style.  Below, Vampyre Breeanna is showcased in Trick-or-Treat, one of Melissa’s kits from Scrappy Expressions.

This final layout was done with my own Apparition kit dyed purple.  Except for the flower, which is one Melissa’s Autumn Blooms at Sentimental Style.

Dole Crosses the Line

Senator Elizabeth Dole has crossed the line. Watch this latest campaign ad:

That voice at the end?  It isn’t even Kay Hagan’s.

Religion has no place in an election.  You run on the issues.  You tell us what you think is wrong with this country, with the current government, and you tell us your solutions.  The what, how, and whys of your proposed policies and programs.  You do not attack your opponent’s religion.  Or lack of religion.  This is below the belt.

I don’t care if Ms. Hagan is a Christian or an Atheist.  A Jew or a Muslim.  A Hindu, a Buddhist, a Shinto, or a Witch.  I DON’T CARE!!!!  As long as her religion does not involve her telling me to commit suicide on Friday the Thirteenth because the Most Holy Prophet Reverend Bubba said so, or some such nonsense, her religion makes no difference to me.  Or anyone else’s either.

Senator Dole, I was actually leaning toward you in this election.  Now, though?  Not on your life.  You just lost me, and you will not be getting me back.

Smoke and Politics

Today was rather smokey.  The front cooled the temperatures at bit, though I’ve yet to see a thunderstorm, but the winds switched in such a way as to blow the smoke our way.  The fire has burned in Hyde, Tyrrell, and Washington Counties for about a week, now:  Hyde County Fire Update – WNCT.  I’ve been told that people as far inland as Greensboro and Winston-Salem could smell it today.  For those of you unfamiliar with the geography of North Carolina, the counties in which the fire burns are on the sounds, whereas Greensboro and Winston-Salem are in the western Piedmont.

On an entirely different front, what is with the articles of impeachment?  Is the United States Congress suddenly finding itself with nothing else to do?  With wars on at least two fronts, higher gas and food prices, a week dollar, immigration, Social Security, etc, you’d think they would have enough to keep themselves busy for decades.  But, no.  They waste their valuable time, not to mention our money and our time, attempting to impeach a president who won’t be president, anyway, in less than a year.  

I don’t like George W. Bush, and I think many of his actions are against International Law, though I’m sure you could argue whether or not they are, technically, unconstitutional since many of them took place outside our borders, but come on.  We’ll be rid of him in January.  Why waste money and time when he’ll be gone in January?  Instead, try working on alternative fuels, fixing Social Security, strengthening the economy, healing foreign relations, financing the wars and our troops, finding ways to improve agricultural policy so that our farmers can actually choose to grow something other than corn and soybeans and have a place to sell it.  I’m sure there’s a long list of other problems on the Congressional To Do List that would be a better use of our money than George W. Bush.

Bead It!

Thank you all very much for your lovely compliments.  I never knew beads would be so popular!  So, this little freebie is just that.  Beads.  Twenty-five beads in rainbow shades for y’all to play with.  A couple of them are grayscale.

The bead to the right is shown actual size.

Download link:  Bead It!

Enjoy!

On a side note, and off topic, Senator Clinton paid a visit to Jacksonville yesterday.  That’s just a few hours down the road, depending on beach traffic.  Although I don’t like her on a personal level (after being humiliated on national and international television multiple times, I think she should have kicked Bill to the curb), I think she’s approaching North Carolina in a better way than Senator Obama is.  All of his commercials are cardboard.  Just general stuff with none tailored to us.  At least, none that I’ve actually seen, anyway.

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Update 2/24/2015: I’ve gone through all of my links and deleted all of those for 4shared. My account there has been discontinued. Unfortunately, this means that many of my early kits are no longer available. If I can find the time, I may attempt to recreate and/or redo some of them.