Lupus Walk Houston 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The Lupus Foundation of America Gulf Coast Chapter had a Walk and 5K run in downtown Houston today. It was well very well attended and supported.

Given the severity of this disease and the number of Houstonians with it I was taken aback that I did not see any TV media coverage from KHOU, KTRK, KPRC, or others to bring the event and awareness to our greater Houston’s citizens. Many other diseases with lesser impact are continuously in the news. One must wonder why.

As the husband of a woman with Lupus for 20+ years it is my civic duty to publish this information with the expectation that it will receive wider coverage. Visit the Lupus Foundation website for more information on this disease.

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If there is one thing that everyone should do now is stop smoking cigarettes. Need I say more? The reality is that cigarettes do hurt not only you but those around you in more ways than one. Secondary smoke kills. There are documented instances where a spouse of a smoker was adversely affected.

Secondly it is important to note that no one wants a loved one to be doing something to their body that shortens their life or makes them sick. While it is easy to say it is your body, it is your life the reality is more complex. In a family everyone’s life is intertwined and in effect we are our brother’s and sister’s keeper.

If we want to be frank, in addition to not smoking, we must exercise. Exercising serves the dual purpose of improving one’s cardiovascular fortitude as well as keeping one’s mind off smoking for an extended period.

So if you want to be healthy, the answers are simple. Stop smoking immediately and start a proactive exercise program that is consistent and sufficiently strenuous.

After Senate Republicans failed to weaken the Violence Against Women Act to exclude immigrant, Native American, and LGBT women from its full protections, attention now shifts to the House, where Republicans are pushing to do the same thing. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney refuses to take a firm stand.

Just how much violence against women are they willing to accept?

The American electorate can tolerate quite a bit from politicians, but no one respects a coward. The Violence Against Women Act revolutionized the way violent crimes against women are prosecuted and prevented. Since it became law, domestic violence has dropped by more than half.

But some Republicans in Congress are opposing the Violence Against Women Act because they want to exclude some women from its full protections. And Mitt Romney won’t even take a stand.

All women deserve protection from abuse — no matter if they are white, black, immigrant, Native American or gay — and no violent criminal should get away with hurting them.  How can Republican politicians who are too afraid to stand up for that principle live with themselves? Just exactly how much violence against women are they are willing to accept?

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Authored by then-Senator Joe Biden, the Violence Against Women Act revolutionized the way violent crimes against women are prosecuted and prevented and the way communities respond to survivors.
• Domestic violence has dropped by more than half since the Violence Against Women Act became law in 1994.
• Two-thirds of Americans strongly agree domestic violence is a serious, widespread problem in the U.S.
• The Violence Against Women Act funds programs that assist both men and women. At the same time, it focuses on protecting women because women continue to bear the brunt of domestic and sexual violence:
  • In the U.S., 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men are victims of domestic violence at some point in their lives.
  • Nearly 1 in 5 women have been raped during their lives, compared with 1 in 71 men.
  • Every day, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends.
  • Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBTQ) victims experience domestic violence in 25% to 35% of relationships — the same rate as in the general population.
• The reauthorization bill that passed the Senate yesterday with overwhelming support — despite all of the "no" votes coming from Republican men — has the backing of nearly all state attorneys general and nearly a thousand national, state, and local organizations in America.
• Like the Senate Republicans’ version of the bill, the House GOP bill would exclude immigrant, Native American, and LGBT women from its full protections.

If you are looking for cheap car insurance there are many options that you have. Personally speaking I am an insurance geek. I always try to get the best option. One must study the details of a policy by reading it all in detail to ensure that one is getting all that was promised in every way possible. While insurance is a necessity, one must ensure that one is getting what one is paying for even if it is cheap.

Insurance policies with income protection should always be considered. It ensures that one is protected at all cost in theory. When you are protected by a very good insurance policy it provides a peace of mind that you cannot get from simply taking a chance. When you are protected by insurance you know that your family will be taken care of irrespective of your eventuality.

Now when talking car insurance quotes, one should definitely consider using the internet. It gives a plethora of options.to choose from. I have been using the internet when I needed to buy my insurance, change my insurances, or even modify my insurance. When you have these types of options you can be sure that you would have made the right choice.

Alarm Systems Eagle Springs is all you will likely need to protect your family. Who do you think is the oldest and largest provider of electronic security services in the country? If you guessed ADT, then you would be right. This company has monitoring twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred sixty five days a year.

The reality is that you do not trust your most precious resource to any security company. I an not talking about your jewelry, your stock and bonds, or any other of your material possessions. I am talking about your family. Just like you do not purchase the cheapest foods for your newborn because of long term physical and psychological reasons, you should not skimp on your families security.

I have used security systems for many years. In fact, using a reliable one I am sure was one of the largest deterrents of any bad activity occurring at my home. I get my alarm monitored and I keep it tuned. It is something you are responsible to do for you and your family.

Karen Menke gets it. Everyone that is honest with one self knows there has been a war on women from the inception of this country. Things have improved over time for women as they fought for what they should not have had to fight for as inherent rights.

It is true that women fought for and got the right to vote. Women fought for equal pay and our President, Barack Obama, signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

Sadly as Republicans have taken over several legislatures throughout the country they have started concerted efforts to pass what can only be compared to Taliban style laws that mostly affect women.

Karen Menke understands this and is doing what I hope both women and men will do throughout the entire country to stop the Talibanization of laws in America. It does not matter how oppression is marketed. Oppression is oppression. Government control of a woman’s body or government withholding of healthcare for women is oppression.

Join Karen Menke in Austin Texas for the Unite Against the War On Women rally on April 28th. Sign up and get on the bus to Austin to let our Legislature know women will remember in November.

So what exactly is krill oil? Krill oil is an oil that is harvested from the Antarctic krill, a shrimp like crustacean that actually lives very deep in the ocean.

Doctors and scientists have found this oil to be a rather miraculous substance. It seems to make the heart stronger, help create pain free joints, improve ones mood, modify ones cholesterol beneficially, make a woman’s menstrual cycle more variable, and just make ones health better.

Krill oil was tested to be fifty four times better in anti-oxidants than the norm. So what have clinical trials shown?

• Reducing risk of cardiovascular event by up to 45%
• Reducing artery clogging LDL by up to 55%
• Reducing triglycerides by up to 27%
• Reducing heart damaging inflammation by up to 29%.
• Raising HDL by up to 27%.
• Soothing of pain by up to 29%
• Boosting one’s memory by up to 48%.
• Reduction of facial wrinkles by up to 51%.
• Increasing ones energy level by up to 50%
• Decreasing physical and emotional issues by up to 47%
• And much more.

"Path to Poverty" For America

This week, Republicans in Congress are back in their home districts desperately trying to convince their constituents that voting to disinvest in America to pay for more millionaire tax giveaways is really putting our country on the so-called "Path to Prosperity."

The Republican budget puts America on a Path to Poverty.

We need to rebuild the middle class, not shrink it one American family at a time. The Romney-Ryan budget would end Medicare as we know it and gut investments in our kids so oil company CEOs and their hedge fund managers can get more tax giveaways.

It would kill millions of American jobs and give up on the investments that make America competitive in the world — all the while digging us deeper in debt with wasteful tax handouts. The GOP plan is a great strategy to bring in more checks from their corporate campaign donors, but it’s a Path to Poverty for America – and Americans want no part of it.

We tried their trickle-down economics before and all we got to show for it are massive deficits and a shrinking middle class. Our economy does better when everyone pays their fair share, when everyone gets a fair shot, and when everyone plays by the same rules.

ATTACKS AND RESPONSES

CLAIM

"Hardworking taxpayers deserve a path to prosperity — and Ryan is leading the way."

REALITY

• The GOP “Path to Poverty” would throw millions of Americans out of work, take money out of the pockets of regular Americans, and gut investments that make America competitive in the world.
• The Romney-Ryan budget would also mean more parents without jobs, fewer teachers in our classrooms, and more kids thrown off Medicaid — even though these are some of the most foolish things to do with our budget.
• We’ve tried it their way before and already know what we’ve got to show for it: massive deficits and a shrinking middle class.

CLAIM

"The House GOP budget is courageous."

RESPONSE

• Letting seniors go bankrupt and taking food away from vulnerable children to avoid asking your wealthy campaign donors to pay their fair share — that’s cowardly.
• Courage is standing up to the wealthy and powerful special interests funding their campaigns — but Washington Republicans won’t do it. They actually want more giveaways for the 1%.
• Do we really want America led by politicians who’ll show courage only when their corporate campaign donors give them permission?

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• The GOP budget would actually make the debt worse by providing $3 trillion in corporate and millionaire tax giveaways, with an average of $150K for the richest 1%.
• At the same time, the GOP budget would end Medicare as we know it, take away Obamacare, throw millions of Americans off their health insurance, and cut more than $3 trillion from programs that vulnerable families rely on.
• A recent poll shows 70% of Americans oppose cuts in federal education aid, but the GOP plan would deeply cut education at all levels: Head Start, K-12, and college.
• Like the latest budget plan from Republicans in Congress, Mitt Romney’s $11 trillion tax plan would overwhelmingly go to a tiny number of the wealthiest few — including himself — while cutting the Social Security and Medicare that Americans invest in all their working lives.
• 70% of Americans, including the majority of Republicans, want to keep Medicare as it is today, instead of replacing it with coupons as the House GOP and Mitt Romney have proposed.
• Three-fourths of Americans, including nearly 70% of Republicans, support the Buffett Rule. And America does better when the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share.

In the last six years, Republicans got 7 out of 10 Congressional campaign dollars spent by corporations that benefit the most from tax loopholes passed by those politicians.

My Book: As I See It: Class Warfare The Only Resort To Right Wing Doom Hardcopy: http://amzn.to/dt72c7 Kindle: http://amzn.to/lUFQCV iPad/iTunes: http://bit.ly/qB88Lk Twitter: http://twitter.com/egbertowillies

On Wednesday April 4^th, 2012 the Kingwood Area Democrats had a topic packed substantive meeting. Our membership is growing tremendously and with this growth we are engaging in many more activities.

We were honored to have Diane Mosier and Andrea Gardner, Houston, TX leaders of the “National March Against The War On Women”. They eloquently detailed the plans for the march at our Capitol in Austin, Texas on April 28^th, 2012. Please visit the site and make a donation NOW if you can. I just made my donation.

We must have a large well supported rally to let our Texas Legislature and all legislatures around the country know that we won’t allow them to infringe on the rights or put the health of our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, our grandmothers, our nieces, or our wives in jeopardy. Men, women, and children will be standing up for the rights of all women.

Our Kingwood Area Democrats members Susana Palma and Angelo Palma have kindly offered to provide a bus to take part of a group to Austin. We have wonderful members that are working in every form whether it is financially, writing articles to different media, website support, telephone and membership support, activities support, and other political activities support. We hope to need more buses and if that arises we will take donations from travelers as warranted.

In other business

Dillan Dimas of Obama For America(OFA) gave a short talk detailing their intent in Texas. I asked him what we needed to do to assist the president and what will OFA do to assist our local candidates. He gave a “President lifts all boats” response.

Dorinda Barajas, our secretary, provided sheets requesting volunteers for activities giving our growing number of members. She is doing an excellent job keeping all skillsets organized.

Deborah Mowrey, our publicity chair, encouraged the members to participate in the various activities scheduled for April (e.g., Humble Good Oil Days).

Pam Spivey (membership committee) submitted a change to our bylaw relative to membership dues to be voted on at the May meeting.

Wil Williams and Philip McNutt detailed our Senate District 4 convention. Philip McNutt made a killer hot horseradish/tomato dip that forced me to eat just about a pint of it because of its awesome flavor.

Sue Pilko gave us information on programming for the next two months.

Bruce Menke provided information on a Get Out The Vote book reading, our new monthly video showing, and of course a refreshment schedule.

Linda Abdmoulaie gave us the state of our accounts. Our growing memberships, our candidate round up at the Kingwood Country Club, and our ACLU event have added substantially to our coffers.

Marc Croes in his normally jolly self, signed up more members and gave his membership report.

Evan Carroll gave a passionate plea for members to show support against an Houston City ordinance that inhibits feeding the needy within the city.

My Book: As I See It: Class Warfare The Only Resort To Right Wing Doom Hardcopy: http://amzn.to/dt72c7 Kindle: http://amzn.to/lUFQCV iPad/iTunes: http://bit.ly/qB88Lk Twitter: http://twitter.com/egbertowillies

Clear Contrast

As Mitt Romney plods on toward the GOP nomination, President Obama set forth his vision for America in a key speech yesterday — adding that he couldn’t “remember a time when the choice between competing visions of our future has been so unambiguously clear.” Let’s make that contrast clear.

Working families paying more so millionaires can pay less is not the America we want.

In America, we still believe that working hard and playing by the rules should get you a fair shot. Mitt Romney and Washington Republicans actually want middle-class Americans to bear more of the burden so oil company CEOs and their hedge fund managers can pay less.

Their plans are all the same: they’d end Medicare as we know it to pay for new tax giveaways for their millionaires, Big Oil, and the rest of the 1% funding their campaigns. We tried tax handouts to the richest few and they never trickle down to the rest of us. We tried giant tax breaks for big corporations and they shipped our jobs overseas.

President Obama says we’re all better off when “everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules. It’s simple. Our economy works best when we value working families and everyone contributes their fair share. Politicians who don’t get it have no business leading America.

ATTACKS AND RESPONSES

ROMNEY ON RYAN: The Ryan budget plan is “bold and exciting” — it’s “very similar to the one that I put out.”

• They’re nothing new: the Romney-Ryan budget would end Medicare as we know it to pay for more massive taxpayer giveaways for Big Oil, millionaires, and the rest of the 1%.
• The GOP plan would throw millions of Americans out of work, take money out of the pockets of regular Americans, and give up on investments that make America competitive in the world.
• Tax giveaways for the richest 1% don’t get the economy moving or create jobs because millionaires and billionaires don’t need or spend the money — they just hand it over to their hedge fund managers.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• The GOP budget would actually make the debt worse by providing $3 trillion in corporate and millionaire tax giveaways, with an average of $150K for the richest 1%.
• At the same time, the GOP budget would end Medicare as we know it, throw millions of Americans off their health insurance, and cut more than $3 trillion from programs that vulnerable families rely on.
• Like the latest budget plan from Republicans in Congress, Mitt Romney’s $11 trillion tax plan would overwhelmingly go to a tiny number of the wealthiest few — including himself — while cutting the Social Security and Medicare that Americans invest in all their working lives.
• 70% of Americans, including the majority of Republicans, want to keep Medicare as it is today, instead of replacing it with coupons as the House GOP and Mitt Romney have proposed.
• Three-fourths of Americans, including nearly 70% of Republicans, support the Buffett Rule. And America does better when the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share.

In the last six years, Republicans got 7 out of 10 Congressional campaign dollars spent by corporations that benefit the most from tax loopholes passed by those politicians.

My Book: As I See It: Class Warfare The Only Resort To Right Wing Doom Hardcopy: http://amzn.to/dt72c7 Kindle: http://amzn.to/lUFQCV iPad/iTunes: http://bit.ly/qB88Lk Twitter: http://twitter.com/egbertowillies