Thomas Jefferson Part II

"When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe."-- Thomas Jefferson

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."-- Thomas Jefferson

"It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world."
-- Thomas Jefferson

"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."-- Thomas Jefferson

"My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government."
-- Thomas Jefferson

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms."-- Thomas Jefferson

"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."
-- Thomas Jefferson

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
-- Thomas Jefferson

"To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical."-- Thomas Jefferson

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.
-- Thomas Jefferson

If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property - until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."-- Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson Part 1

Thomas Jefferson was a very remarkable man who started learning very early in life and never stopped.

At 5, began studying under his cousin's tutor.

At 9, studied Latin, Greek and French.

At 14, studied classical literature and additional languages.

At 16, entered the College of William and Mary. Also could write in Greek with one hand while writing the same in Latin with the other.

At 19, studied Law for 5 years starting under George Wythe.

At 23, started his own law practice.

At 25, was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses.

At 31, wrote the widely circulated "Summary View of the Rights of British America, and retired from his law practice.

At 32, was a Delegate to the Second Continental Congress.

At 33, wrote the Declaration of Independence.

At 33, took three years to revise Virginia's legal code and wrote a Public Education bill and a statute for Religious Freedom.

At 36, was elected the second Governor of Virginia succeeding Patrick Henry.

At 40, served in Congress for two years.

At 41, was the American minister to France and negotiated commercial treaties with European nations along with Ben Franklin and John Adams.

At 46, served as the first Secretary of State under George Washington.

At 53, served as Vice President and was elected president of the American Philosophical Society.

At 55, drafted the Kentucky Resolutions and became the active head of Republican Party.

At 57, was elected the third president of the United States .

At 60, obtained the Louisiana Purchase doubling the nation's size.

At 61, was elected to a second term as President. 

At 65, retired to Monticello .

At 80, helped President Monroe shape the Monroe Doctrine.

At 81, almost single-handedly created the University of Virginia and served as its first president.

At 83, died on the 50th anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence along with John Adams.

Thomas Jefferson knew because he himself studied the previous failed attempts at government. He understood history,the nature of man and the nature of religion and its potential for mischief. That happens to be way more than what most under-stand today. Jefferson really knew his stuff. A voice from the past to lead us in the future:

John F. Kennedy held a dinner in the white House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. He made this statement: "This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

VA Expedites Access to Housing Grants for Veterans with ALS!

This afternoon, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that veterans with ALS and those on active duty automatically are eligible for Specially Adaptive Housing (SAH) Grants. The grants provide veterans with up to $68,000 to adapt their homes. 

This is a significant change to the SAH program that will enable veterans with ALS to access these grants much sooner than under the current system. In fact, the VA estimates that the change willreduce the time it takes to obtain a grant by approximately 12 months!

This latest action builds on previous VA policies that The Association has championed, including establishing ALS as a service-connected disease and providing a minimum 100% disability rating for those service-connected with ALS.

The Association worked with several Chapters, including the DC-MD-VA Chapter and the Evergreen Chapter, to advocate to the VA the need to change the SAH program so that it could respond to the needs of veterans with ALS, who too often would lose their fight with the disease before they could complete the lengthy SAH grant process.

The Association applauds the VA for continuing to serve our military heroes with ALS.

Five resolutions to help cope with ALS

Five resolutions to help cope with ALS - By Barbara Bronson Gray, RN, MN

Nancy Sterling, a 58-year old Maryland physical therapist with ALS, suggests five resolutions for others with the disease:

1. Plan for some fun. It doesn’t have to be anything major, Nancy says. Gathering friends and family for just about any reason can be fun. For example, she has friends come over for a “dinner and a movie” night every month. The meal is pot luck. Although she gets her nourishment through a PEG (stomach) tube, she enjoys seeing and smelling the food.

Nancy has a friend with ALS who had a leaf raking party. He’s a singer, so many of his friends serenaded him while they gathered leaves. Nancy, who was a singer, too, enjoys having four friends rehearse at her house on Sundays after church, giving her caregivers a chance to get out for a while. The quartet asks her for coaching, which she loves to give – through her DynaVox (a speech-generating device).
Nancy says she loves to go to the theater:  “I feel normal there.” She can sit and watch the movie just like everyone else, she adds.

And don’t forget to consider travel.  “Your ALS Association care coordinator can help you contact the local chapter at your destination and may be able to help you borrow equipment to use while you’re there,” she suggests. “I was able to borrow scooters in Dallas, Calgary and Ft. Lauderdale.” When Nancy went to Hawaii, she brought her own power chair but borrowed a commode/shower chair and a walker. She was also careful to reserve handicapped-accessible hotel rooms.

2. Read the books and watch the movies you’ve always wanted to get to.  Whether opening up a valued tome or using an e-reader or a computer, reading is relaxing, stimulating, eye-opening, and a terrific diversion, Nancy says. You can also enjoy books on tape, get a book on your DynaVox, or control a CD player with the speech-generating machine. Or have a friend come and sit by the fire, and read to you the old-fashioned way, for a little fellowship!

Nancy uses a special pillow to prop a book or an e-reader up on her lap at just the right angle. She recommends one made by Hog Wild. “It holds the book up for you so your arms don’t get tired, something that's especially importantPillow Book Holder for a reader with ALS,” Nancy says. The pillow is available at amazon.com.

For movies, she suggests scouring the offerings on Redbox, Netflix, Amazon, and local cable stations. Whether you prefer musicals, comedies, dramas, mysteries or even documentaries, there are literally thousands of options.

Pillow Book Holder3. Plan ahead. Nancy recommends that people with ALS strongly consider “banking” their voice in case they lose the ability to speak.  If you bank your voice, you’ll be able to say what you’d like – in your own voice – with the help of a speech-generating system. Talk with a speech therapist or your ALS Association technology specialist about how to record your voice.

4. Practice gratefulness.  That can be tough to do when you’re dealing with a condition like ALS, Nancy admits, but she finds actively giving thanks helps her keep her perspective. “There is always something to be grateful for,” she says. Some people keep a gratefulness journal to help remind them of the good things happening in their lives when they’re blue, she notes.  “I thank God every day for the gifts I have been given: my ability to communicate with the speech-generating device, my family, my caregivers, the beauty of a full moon, the birds that come to the feeders just outside my window, and the friends who have helped me adapt to the many changes ALS brings and still love me anyway!”

Nancy has also started writing to people who have influenced her life: her high school principal, to thank him for her education; a fellow swimmer who once befriended her; her swimming coach, to tell her how much her encouragement means to her now; and others. “Those emails have a ripple effect, sending good wishes back to me. You never know how much other people might need to hear what you say to them!”

5. Give back. Whether you decide to participate in the ALS registry, form a Walk to Defeat ALS® team, or find a clinical trial you could be part of, doing something to help understand and fight ALS not only allows you to make a big difference, but it is rewarding, Nancy says.

A Budget Without Vision - By Dana Milbank, Published: March 4

A Budget Without Vision - By Dana Milbank, Published: March 4

When White House press secretary Jay Carney led a quartet of President Obama’s top advisers into an auditorium for the annual rollout of the budget Tuesday, only 40 of the room’s 120 seats were occupied — and several of the reporters there had come to ask Carney about Ukraine.

It didn’t take long to exhaust questions about the budget. “Way in the back there!” Carney called out, spotting a raised hand in the very last row. “It’s okay,” the press secretary quipped to the questioner. “There were no seats up here.”

“Budget Day,” the annual rollout of the president’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year, is usually a big deal in the capital. But not this year. By universal agreement, Obama’s budget is dead on arrival on Capitol Hill — and the White House wasn’t really pretending otherwise. Instead of offering a proposal that would be the basis for negotiations with lawmakers, White House officials drafted a document that would do Democrats no harm in the 2014 elections.

Gone was the proposal from a previous Obama budget to restrain the growth of Social Security costs. Missing was any major proposal to fix the huge long-term deficits in Medicare. Included: $1 trillion in tax increases on business and the wealthy over 10 years, and a wish list of government initiatives, with names such as “Opportunity, Growth, and Security Initiative,” “ConnectEDucatos ” and “Climate Resilience Fund.”

Gene Sperling, who is stepping down this week as Obama’s top economic policy adviser, announced: “This is a pro-growth and pro-opportunity budget.”

The problem is, it’s also a pro forma budget.

There is logic to the White House’s approach: If any budget Obama produces isn’t going to be taken seriously in Congress, he might as well propose one that won’t be a liability in this fall’s midterm campaigns. But this approach is also a surrender — an acknowledgment that the president isn’t even going to engage.

To be sure, Obama has little control over many of the factors causing his budget to be irrelevant this year. The budget deal negotiated by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) in December sets spending limits for 2015 — and Murray’s Senate Budget Committee isn’t even going to draft a budget this year, which means there can be no congressional budget resolution.

Yet Obama’s budget confirmed his irrelevance by retreating from any serious attempt at reforming entitlement programs. Those programs are swelling and will grow exponentially in coming years, crowding out everything else government does, including defense spending and social programs.

The Obama plan floated the possibility of spending an additional $56 billion in 2015 beyond the Ryan-Murray accord. But even if all of the White House spending requests and tax increases were enacted, discretionary spending as a percentage of the budget would still be at a 50-year low.

At the briefing, The Post’s Zachary Goldfarb asked budget director Sylvia Mathews Burwell whether she thought that 50-year low is a success or a failure. “The proposed president’s budget is the right level over the 10-year period,” she replied.

That means Obama has essentially embraced as permanent the spending cuts forced on him by congressional Republicans — and has abandoned the sort of tough choices on entitlements that would free up more funds for the domestic programs he would like to see.

Last month, a group of liberal senators asked Obama not to cut entitlement benefits in his budget. He listened — and his political base will no doubt be pleased with that short-term victory. But it comes at the cost of abandoning other things liberals would like to see.

At Tuesday’s briefing, the Obama advisers spoke of his “vision” so much that they might have been at an ophthalmology convention: “the president’s vision of making access to high-quality preschool available ... the president’s vision for moving the country forward. ... a down payment on that vision ... the president’s vision for high-school redesign ... the president’s vision with respect to higher education ... a budget [that] is going to represent the president’s vision.”

CNBC’s John Harwood asked Sperling to speculate about when the next budget negotiations would take place. “Clearly, they’re not going to take place this year,” Harwood said. “Do you expect that that will happen next year? Or is that something for the next” president?

Sperling declined to say, instead referring again to “what you see in the vision of the president’s budget.”

But the president’s visions will remain only that if his budget isn’t taken seriously.The Obama plan floated the possibility of spending an additional $56 billion in 2015 beyond the Ryan-Murray accord. But even if all of the White House spending requests and tax increases were enacted, discretionary spending as a percentage of the budget would still be at a 50-year low.

At the briefing, The Post’s Zachary Goldfarb asked budget director Sylvia Mathews Burwell whether she thought that 50-year low is a success or a failure. “The proposed president’s budget is the right level over the 10-year period,” she replied.

That means Obama has essentially embraced as permanent the spending cuts forced on him by congressional Republicans — and has abandoned the sort of tough choices on entitlements that would free up more funds for the domestic programs he would like to see.

Last month, a group of liberal senators asked Obama not to cut entitlement benefits in his budget. He listened — and his political base will no doubt be pleased with that short-term victory. But it comes at the cost of abandoning other things liberals would like to see.

At Tuesday’s briefing, the Obama advisers spoke of his “vision” so much that they might have been at an ophthalmology convention: “the president’s vision of making access to high-quality preschool available ... the president’s vision for moving the country forward. ... a down payment on that vision ... the president’s vision for high-school redesign ... the president’s vision with respect to higher education ... a budget [that] is going to represent the president’s vision.”

CNBC’s John Harwood asked Sperling to speculate about when the next budget negotiations would take place. “Clearly, they’re not going to take place this year,” Harwood said. “Do you expect that that will happen next year? Or is that something for the next” president?

Sperling declined to say, instead referring again to “what you see in the vision of the president’s budget.”

But the president’s visions will remain only that if his budget isn’t taken seriously.

Nervous System Support Cells are Toxic to Motor Neurons in Sporadic ALS Model

Washington, D.C. (February 21, 2014)—In work supported by The ALS Association, scientists have discovered new insights into the causes of motor neuron death in ALS. The findings are likely to lead to testing of new therapeutic strategies to slow the progression of the disease. The study was published in the journal Neuron.

ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects neurons (nerve cells) in the brain and the spinal cord. Eventually, people with ALS lose the ability to initiate and control muscle movement, which often leads to total paralysis and death within two to five years of diagnosis. There is no cure and no life-prolonging treatments for the disease. 

Previous work has shown that an unknown toxic property of supporting cells, called astrocytes, contributes to the death of motor neurons in ALS. Much of that work has been done in a disease model with artificially elevated levels of the ALS-causing protein, superoxide dismutase (SOD). To test whether a similar mechanism was at work without that protein elevation, researchers grew astrocytes from ALS patients with the sporadic (non-familial) form of the disease and exposed them to human motor neurons from healthy embryonic stem cells. This is one of the first times that such a “fully humanized” model of sporadic ALS combining astrocytes and motor neurons has been produced.

The researchers found that motor neurons succumbed to the toxic effects of the astrocytes, through a specific process of cell death called necroptosis. Because this process is at least partially understood on the molecular level, it should be possible to design treatments to interrupt it, which may be therapeutic.

The research was performed by Diane Re, Ph.D., and Virginia Le Verche, Ph.D., under the leadership of Serge Przedborski, M.D., Ph.D., all of Columbia University in New York and was funded by The ALS Association, Greater New York Chapter.

“These exciting results shed new light on the interaction between motor neurons and astrocytes,” said Lucie Bruijn, Ph.D., Chief Scientist for The Association. “The finding that astrocytes from sporadic ALS patients exert toxicity will strengthen the focus on understanding this interaction more closely and point out possible new targets for therapy.”

In Sporadic ALS Model, Nervous System Support Cells Are Toxic to Motor Neurons

February 21, 2014

Scientists at Columbia University in New York have discovered new insights into the causes of motor neuron death in ALS. These findings are likely to lead to testing of new therapeutic strategies to slow the disease’s progression.

Past work has shown that an unknown toxic property of supporting cells known as astrocytes contributes to the death of motor neurons in ALS. Much of that work has been done in a disease model with artificially elevated levels of the ALS-causing protein, superoxide dismutase (SOD). To test whether a similar mechanism was at work without that protein elevation, the researchers at Columbia grew astrocytes from individuals with ALS who have the sporadic (non-familial) form of the disease and exposed them to human motor neurons from healthy embryonic stem cells. This is one of the first times that scientists have produced a “fully humanized” model of sporadic ALS that combines astrocytes and motor neurons.

The researchers discovered that motor neurons succumbed to the toxic effects of the astrocytes, through a specific process of cell death called necroptosis. Because this process is at least partially understood on the molecular level, it should be possible to design treatments to interrupt it, which may be therapeutic.

The research was performed by Diane Re, Ph.D., and Virginia Le Verche, Ph.D., under the leadership of Serge Przedborski, M.D., Ph.D., and was funded by The ALS Association, Greater New York Chapter. The study appears in the journal Neuron.

“These exciting results shed new light on the interaction between motor neurons and astrocytes,” said Lucie Bruijn, Ph.D., Chief Scientist for The Association. “The finding that astrocytes from sporadic ALS patients exert toxicity will strengthen the focus on understanding this interaction more closely and point out possible new targets for therapy.”

The Califor(five,six)nia Proposal

By: Hannah Turner

Could new states be on the way?

It seems as if wildfires and earthquakes will face unexpected competition in the process of disfiguring California.  Tim Draper, venture capitalist and co-founder of Draper Fisher Jurveston, recently launched a campaign to divide California into six separate states, irrevocably altering the “Fifty Nifty United States”.  The California native has commenced the initial steps to have his proposal included on the November 2014 state ballot.

Draper is the alleged culprit behind leaking a draft of the proposal in December, as identified to be authored by a group of venture capitalists.  The contents of the proposal begin by stating the issues leading to their call for action.  First, the writers state California’s population of 38 million is six times the national state population average.  While this statistic is difficult to interpret due to population dispersion, it’s true that California alone makes up 12 percent of the U.S. population.  Additionally, the proposal claims the state’s geographic enormity and its spectrum of diversity from North to South are matters of great consideration.  The writers also document that in 1859, a vast majority of the voters were in favor of splitting California into two states.  In reaction to disproportionate taxes favoring the North, Ranchero Don Andres Pico proposed the Pico Act to split the state into two at the 36th parallel.  His plan won state Legislative and Executive approval in less than one month, leaving only a need for the national government’s assent.  However, the significance of the Pico Act quickly diminished due to the eruption of the Civil War.  Thus, the proposal died federally as quickly as it thrived regionally.

Hoping for success where history once failed, Draper’s motion calls for a six-way divide of the state.  From North to South, the states would be as follows: Jefferson, North California, Central California, Silicon Valley (Draper’s native land), West California, and South California.  To guarantee the success of implementation, Draper proposes the establishment of a 24-member Board of Commissioners who would be responsible for dispersing California’s funds and property among the newly created states within two years.  And finally, in striving for a favorable outcome, Draper deems himself the “appointed ‘agent of the State of California’” in the process of defending the initiative against legal backlashes.

Because the proposal is so radical, it faces strong resistance by contenders even in its earliest stages of development.  First and foremost, many argue this is a clear violation of Article 4, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution, which states, “No new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State”.  The counterargument, though, is to point to the secessions of West Virginia and Nevada from Confederate states during the Civil War.

Allowing that this is legally plausible, then, the argument becomes whether it is possible for this severance to occur neatly and fairly. For example, certain legalities exist uniquely under California law, which need to be addressed concerning the transition period.  Matters of concern include water rights, distribution of state universities, and the new interstate commerce that would arise out of what is currently state commerce.  From the perspective regarding social policy, the question arises: would each individual state be allowed to choose their stance on the legalizations of same sex marriage and marijuana, or would they immediately assume California’s single-state stances?  The eastern border of the state is largely conservative, so the latter could cause a serious setback in actualizing the proposal.  In fact, conservatism is a major cause of concern for Californian Democrats.  Considering two senators would represent each new territory, this could expand Republican representation beyond its current bounds and, in effect, cause problems gaining Democratic congressional support for the severance.  But according to Draper, this hindering political divide is exactly what his proposal warrants against.  In an email he sent to TechCrunch in December, Draper claimed the state is “ungovernable” given its current borders.  His solution is to gain what he considers fair representation within in the Senate for all Californians.

Despite Draper’s good intentions, a December poll revealed only 25 percent of California residents support his proposal while 59 percent are in opposition.  Expectedly, the majority of his support derives from less populous areas of California who actively fight against large cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco gaining political domination despite little geographic representation.  While the proposal addresses this issue by improving legislative representation, other size concerns aren’t being addressed.  Because the proposal suggests state funds should be dispersed based on population, legislative analysts have predicted the formation of two wealthy states and four poor.  The result, then, is the current problem: underrepresentation as a Californian entity for rural areas.

Do the consequences of the proposal outweigh the benefits?  Draper certainly doesn’t think so and is devoting his deep pockets to prove it.  His six-state petition requires one million signatures in order to even be presented on the upcoming autumn ballot, so promotion of the idea will certainly require his financial backing.  Fortunately, his million dollar successes in starting up Hotmail, Skype, and his own venture capitalist firm provide him with the legitimacy required to tackle such a tremendous task.  So far, public advocacy is limited to periodic news interviews and a website currently in beta, but Draper has plans to increase awareness in hopes of convincing his fellow Californians and, in the long run, his fellow Americans that it is best to be united citizens of the 55 states of America.

I Fought For You

http://www.youtube.com/v/AgYLr_LfhLo?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0

Congress Funds ALS Research!

Congress Funds ALS Research!

Dear Bill,

We are excited to let you know that last night, Congress passed legislation that included an additional $7.5 million for the ALS Research program at the Department of Defense and an additional $6.5 million for the National ALS Registry. The funding for the Registry is an 11% increase over last year! The legislation now heads to President Obama who is expected to sign it into law.

Thank you to everyone in the ALS community who reached out to their Members of Congress over the past year in support of these two important research programs. Your efforts continue to make a difference. The fact that Congress increased funding for the Registry in a year when cuts were the norm is a testament to the effectiveness of your advocacy.

Since the ALSRP was created in 2007 and funding for the Registry began in 2006, Congress now has appropriated a total of nearly $81 million for the two programs combined! This funding has enabled the ALSRP to support nearly 30 ALS drug development projects.  Funding for the Registry has helped to identify ALS cases across the country and has advanced more than 25 research projects investigating potential causes of ALS and ALS incidence and prevalence.

Thank you for helping to advance the fight against ALS!!