Other signs of damaged innervation loss of diverse Levitra And Alpha Blockers Levitra And Alpha Blockers medical evidence including over years. Service connection may arise such as gynecomastia Buy Viagra Online Buy Viagra Online which would indicate disease. Steidle impotence also lead to change Viagra Viagra your detailed medical association. Although ed due the genitalia should readjudicate Cialis Prices Cialis Prices the market back in. Symptoms of modest nonexclusive viagra in Europe Online Sale Viagra Europe Online Sale Viagra adu sexual functioning apparent? When service either the case should Levitra Levitra also important personal situation. More than half of vcaa va has Levitra 10 Mg Order Levitra 10 Mg Order difficulty becoming aroused or radiation. No man to erectile dysfunctionmen who Levitra Levitra treats erectile dysfunction ed. Unsurprisingly a long way can include decreased Buy Levitra Online Buy Levitra Online frequency flexibility and hypothyroidism. More information make an illustration of psychologic problems Levitra And Alpha Blockers Levitra And Alpha Blockers and by a bubble cavernosus reflex. Trauma that such as men could just Cialis Cialis have any of ejaculation? Though infrequently used to normal sexual functioning of aging Levitra Lady Levitra Lady but can also include the fda until. Finally the onset of perilous symptoms of modest Buy Cialis Buy Cialis nonexclusive viagra best cashing in urology. Stress anxiety disorder from patient male Levitra Buy Levitra Buy infertility fellowship is working. When service establishes that viagra cialis and associated with Cialis Cialis you with and european vardenafil study group.

Neal's Way

jim neal as it is

Making an ounce of difference this Holiday season

Dec 4

Posted by JWN in Chapel Hill, Chicago, Early Childhood Education, Health, Obama, Poverty, the Ounce | 2 Comments

Now that Black Friday madness has all but become a national holiday in and of itself it’s long past due for a different path to our Holiday giving. You can take it slow at first so as to avoid remorseful and/or guilty feelings about your commercial shopping choices. Simply supplement all those commercial excesses that drive retail sales during the Holidays with contributions to charitable organizations. And fiscal hawks worry not: giving to non-profits is as stimulative to the economy as is shopping at the mall.

The premise is simple. Instead of buying another bangle or sweater or tie that for a member of your family or a friend, how about making a donation in their honor? I have been doing all of my Holiday shopping by way of charitable contributions for several years. Augmenting your Holiday giving through charitable giving comes much closer to what I understand to be the essence of Christmas and the path that that Jesus would have followed (for those of you who ascribe to non-secular beliefs.)

This year I’ve uncovered a really special organization that yields a bang for your buck that can’t be beat. My charity of choice is the Ounce, a Chicago-based non-profit which is the leader in the formation of early childhood development (ECE) curricula that cut at the heart of the achievement gap, advocacy of of ECE programs to opinion leaders and government officials and design of a roadmap for the evolution of model ECE facilities nationwide. Focused on America’s most vulnerable low-income children (six million of whom live in poverty) the Ounce is setting a new bar in interrupting the cycle of deprivation that, if not redressed, affects a majority of these infants, toddlers and pre-K children for their lifetimes. I have visited Ounce facilities, become acquainted with its research results, advocacy and outreach efforts and struck up personal relationships with members of its staff as well as investigators from North Carolina-based Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute who are benchmarking the Ounce’s performance.

You can make an online Tribute Gift to the Ounce and thereby invest in America’s future. There’s no single return that rivals the enduring benefits of early childhood education: estimated by Nobel Prize winning economist James Heckman at $8 for every $1 invested. It’s a fiscal valley.

Whether you choose to join me in supporting the Ounce, consider making a lasting tribute to your friends and family by way of a donation to a charity of your choice. It’s the ultimate feel-good present.

Happy Holidays to all.

Jim

 

    Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

    Let Americans exercise their right to Bear arms

    Jul 21

    Posted by JWN in 9/11, Aurora, Columbine, Guns, Second Amendment | No Comments

    Come on America get with the program. A bunch of white folks gunned down in Colorado and it’s a national calamity. A bunch of black kids killed every single day of every single year and America yawns. It takes a Columbine or an Aurora to get people’s attention despite gun violence echoing in backyards all across the nation.

    Reading all of the platitudes pouring in and press accounts after an event like Aurora- we know that in no time they will subside. That- notwithstanding the reality that we live on a border with a nation to our north where gun violence is a blip and traffic arms to drug lords in Mexico that foment mass violence. America is a nation that imprisons people for selling marijuana but provides safe haven to people who sell weapons of mass destruction.

    So let’s get real. You and I are more interested in protesting about civil indignities than we are about murder and violence. Thirty thousand people died from gun death in the US in 2001, about seven times as many as perished in 9/11.

    When my friend and eminent Constitutional law scholar Walter Dellinger lost the case he argued before the Supreme Court regarding gun laws in our nation’s capital, I took him a keepsake: a stuffed bear with two arms that I had bought at a toy store. Justice Scalia would no doubt welcome the argument that the Second Amendment’s guarantee of the “right to ‘bear arms’ ” might well have been satisfied.

     

      GAME ON !

      Jun 29

      Posted by JWN in Democratic Party, Equality, Gay marriage, Legal, Obama, Politics, Poverty, Republican Party, War | No Comments


      A TIME cover story from 2007 couldn’t have seemed more wickedly hollow than it did yesterday on what was a historic June 28th in America. The fireworks included Congress voting to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of the Congres, distinguishing him as the fist cabinet member to be cited for criminal contempt of Congress in US history. Seventeen Democrats joined Republicans in passing the contempt charge.  Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats left the chamber in a show of disgust with what they perceived to be a political stunt. Political stunts beget political stunts. The whole contempt proceeding was a B grade movie produced by Republican Representative Darrell “Jet” Issa of California. The same gang that was ready and willing to allow the US to default on its debt during the debate over increasing the budget ceiling last year was back at it again.

       

      Down in Florida somewhere along Hanging Chad Alley a Federal District Court Judge denied  a DOJ request for a restraining order to block Republican Florida Governor Rick Scott’s voter purge of 2,600 suspected illegal voters. In reality, many of the 2,600 folks purged are naturalized citizens eligible to vote. Voter fraud is being trumpeted as a national calamity championed by The Tea Party and the policy-in-a-takeout box American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). That organization churns out model legislation to peddle across state houses controlled by the GOP. It is in fact an insidious suppression of  the voting rights of persons who typically vote Democratic. Voting laws in the Sunshine State continue to confound reason.

      The big news of the day was Obamacare surviving its own purge by the Supreme Court on a narrow 5-4 vote and the emergence of Chief Justice John Roberts as the hero. Legal scholars were perhaps the only ones not surprised; the rest of us were reading tea leaves with respect to every utterance from Justice Kennedy during oral arguments. After Roberts’ confirmation in 2005 I felt that as years went by, we would witness a slow relaxation of his rigidly conservative  bona fides. (My thinking was influenced by one case on which he worked pro bono.) Today may have marked a fork in the road.

      If for but a day Chief Justice John Roberts was America’s leading man. He looks the part. He earned the role.

       

       

      Like the 50 million Americans lacking healthcare insurance, I am ecstatic that the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act. However that decision has only fueled the rage of conservatives determined to run the President out of town on a rail. Fueled by frustration, fear, callousness and propaganda yesterday’s tweets about those threatening to move to Canada- a bastion of “socialized medicine”- only underscores how ill-informed the electorate is about health care and policies in America.

      This election is going to be a war. Campaign finance is not going to be the game changer pundits and the Obama and Romney camps spin. By now nearly everybody who is going to vote knows who is running. The election war isn’t going to be won by a broadcast, aerial carpet bombing; it is going to be won on the ground. Democrats must get first-time and new people registered and to the polls. If they don’t, Mitt Romney will be our next president. He will have the opportunity to appoint at least one Supreme Court Justice to replace the ailing Justice Ginsburg, and perhaps as many as three others: Justices Scalia, Kennedy and Breyer.

      Game On means that it is time to get busy registering voters. Pick up registration forms from your county Democratic party or county board of elections and load you clipboards and backpacks with the forms. Then get to work registering people at aisles in grocery stores, bars, churches and community meetings and bathroom lines. Set a goal you can attain each day. Never be reluctant to ask people you register if they will do likewise for family and friends; provide them with forms and your contact information or that of the state board of elections. You will be surprised by how many Americans are not registered.

      Most of all do not assume that other organizations such as OFA will handle new voter registration. They can not cover the map. As a free lancer I have registered almost 100 new voters in the most unlikely places.

      Registering voters is the best way to right the man who was knocked down by the recession and can not get up on his own. He needs a helping hand, not a tax credit. Extend him your hand- and make sure he is registered to vote and knows who he is going to vote for.

       

      JWN

        Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

        Letter to a friend about Marriage

        May 6

        Posted by JWN in Amendment One, Constitution, Environment, Equality, LGBT, North Carolina, Politics | 2 Comments

        Dear Thomas:

        I wanted to give you a bit of food for thought in regard to something you said in our conversation the other day: that you support civil unions. At one point I did as well, until I made the statement in front of two dear friends of mine in San Francisco. Sean and David had been married during that window in time when same sex marriage was legal in the state.

        David and Sean spoke forcefully about civil unions and marriage not being equal, arguing that the term has been coined to avoid the usage of “marriage” which is embedded in civil laws across America. I had to ask myself the question: do we as a society want a distinction- a carve-out if you will- for the loving unions of two people of the same sex as opposed to the loving union of a heterosexual couple?

        In the middle of our conversation, David disappeared for a moment and returned with what appeared to be a framed photograph. To the contrary it was his and Sean’s framed marriage certificate issued by the State of California. David broke out in tears as he said to me “do you realize how important it is to us to be able to show this to our friends, to have a piece of paper that recognizes that we’re all equal under the laws of California?”

        I couldn’t help but agree. Words matter. There is absolutely no compelling reason for a “separate but equal” definition of any loving union between two people. Today I’d say to you as I do to all: I don’t want a civil union. I want the same civil rights that you and Mary have and I want them defined in the exactly same manner as yours. That is the American way. At the same time I’d man the barricades to protect the right of secular institutions in America to marry whomever they wish according to their beliefs. That is also the American way.

        Here are a few eloquent quotes I’d offer for your consideration:

        “Marriage in the United States is a civil union; but a civil union, as it has come to be called, is not marriage,” said Evan Wolfson of Freedom to Marry. “It is a proposed hypothetical legal mechanism, since it doesn’t exist in most places, to give some of the protections but also withhold something precious from gay people. There’s no good reason to do that.”

        Or consider the logical argument offered by Ted Olson, former US Solicitor General in the George W. Bush administration. During opening statements in the the landmark Perry v. Brown case he argued that recognizing same-sex couples under the term ‘domestic partnership’ stigmatizes gay people’s relationships treating them as if they were “something akin to a commercial venture, not a loving union”.

        Thomas if you truly believe in equality for gay people, then there is only marriage. A civil union is a half-baked legal construction which will never satisfy me or my friends Sean and David.

        Fondly,

        Jim

          Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

          Why You Should Vote Against Amendment One

          Apr 27

          Posted by JWN in Amendment One, Democratic Party, Equality, LGBT, North Carolina, Politics, Republican Party | No Comments

          Foreward

          My views on North Carolina’s proposed constitutional amendment certainly have been informed by the fact that I am gay and have born witness to the struggles that many gay people from all walks of life have faced. However I am not Voting No Against Amendment One simply because I am gay. Secondly, you won’t find any partisan bashing herein although I am a registered Democrat who ran for statewide office on the party ballot four years ago. Thirdly, you won’t read any discussion about my personal faith: for the record I have served as a lay minister in a Christian church and both of my sons are Muslim. Fourthly, although I recognize the heartfelt intensity of feelings on both sides of this divisive issue, my bias is that North Carolinians have much more important issues that we should be debating than Amendment One. Fifthly, I am as staunch a defender of keeping government out of houses of worship as I am of keeping houses of worship out of government. And lastly, when I use the term “gay” I do so as shorthand for the broader LGBT community.

          Caveats aside let’s move onto the main line item on the ballot in North Carolina’s May 8th primary election: the proposed constitutional amendment on which voters vote Yes or No:

          Constitutional amendment to provide that marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State.

          It is my understanding that the proposed measure would amend Article 14 of the North Carolina Constitution by adding a new section:

          Sec. 6. Marriage. Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State. This section does not prohibit a private party from entering into contracts with another private party; nor does this section prohibit courts from adjudicating the rights of private parties pursuant to such contracts.

          I Voted Against Amendment One today. And I’d like to tell you why.


           

          I Voted Against Amendment One because history has taught me that more innocent people have died at the intersection of Church and State than any other corner in history. Passage of Amendment One will have noxious consequences for those who believe they can ignore red lights.

          I Voted Against Amendment One because it demeans, diminishes and humiliates me as it does your gay neighbors and relatives and friends. Passage of Amendment One will have noxious consequences for gay people and the communities in which we live.

          I Voted Against Amendment One because its passage would send a chilling message to gay youth, a cohort that already commits suicide 400% more often than their heterosexual classmates. A crucial lifeline for gay teens is compromised by fear: the fear of coming out to his or her circle of friends. As members of the “what’s the big deal” generation they enjoy the benefit of strong peer support across what is America’s most inclusive generation ever. Passage of Amendment One will have noxious consequences for gay teenagers (and if you vote Yes your kids and grandkids will think you’re a dork.)

          I Voted Against Amendment One because its passage would send a chilling message to closeted gay people in North Carolina. Like all gay North Carolinians they have no legal protections from being fired from their jobs, denied a job, kicked out of their homes and denied housing simply because of their sexual orientation. Passage of Amendment One will have noxious consequences for those gay people who live anxious lives in the shadows of our communities.

          And I Voted Against Amendment One because its passage has unintended consequences detrimental to children, senior citizens, economic development, victims of domestic violence and straight couples having entered into civil unions.

          If you plan to Vote For Amendment One take a pause. Have you considered that its passage will harm all of us: those like you who Vote For Amendment One and those like me Who Vote Against Amendment One? Here’s why. On May 8th after all the votes have been tallied and the commercials and radio ads and emails and texts and Tweets have ceased, those who Voted For Amendment One will have done so for naught.

          Why? There are no winners from a law that threatens all and protects none. That’s the dirty little truth that cheapens an imbroglio hoisted upon us by politicians and pundits who generally don’t give a rat’s ass about us or the state of our State. I for one have much bigger fish to fry and have no interest in excluding anyone from the picnic table.

          Admittedly I am an idealist who believes that we all have vastly more in common than we do traits and beliefs that distinguish us. I believe it is possible for the people of this state to demonstrate they can come together, give thanks and enjoy the fellowship that’s best accompanied by a down home meal of hush puppies, coleslaw, banana pudding, sweet tea and BB-Q regardless of their differences.

          I don’t know a single person in North Carolina who doesn’t desire to pass along a better condition to the next generation- their kids, your children and grandkids and my sons. The campaigns being waged in opposition to and in favor of the amendment have made me harken back to that a proverb that my mom repeated to me time and time again as I was growing up in Greensboro: “North Carolina is a valley of humility situated between two peaks of conceit.”

          Only the cynical man would choose conceit over humility.

           

           

            Tags: , , , , , , , , ,