VOTE.

Dear US friends, if you have not voted already, GO DO IT NOW. This is your right, your responsibility, and your duty to your fellow citizens.

Whomever you support,

PLEASE VOTE.

Time is Running Out

Here it comes.

Oh boy...

Have you voted yet? :3

We Aren't ND... (updated: ...or maybe we are!)

EDIT: Within hours of receiving news that a large right-wing protest was on the rise to shame the University of Notre Dame into retracting an invitation to President Barack Obama to give the commencement speech for the class of 2009, I got this from a former professor:

Thank you for standing with Notre Dame and supporting its decision to host President Obama. In less than 24 hours we collected more than 20,000 signatures.

Click here to tell your friends and family about the ‘We Support Notre Dame’ campaign. After we launched our petition drive on Thursday, the Notre Dame administration announced that they were not backing down. The far right isn’t letting up either. Those attacking Notre Dame are claiming more than 190,000 signatures.

We need all hands on deck to spread the word about www.WeSupportNotreDame.org and to put the brakes on this latest effort to misuse the language of faith for political gain. Please help build the momentum and share this link with your friends and family.

Our nation's colleges and universities are meant to be places that embrace open dialogue about the issues of our day. Don't let Notre Dame cave to political pressure. Help send a clear message that we welcome President Obama's appearance at Notre Dame by encouraging others to join the campaign.

Good on you, ND. Maybe I will hang my diploma on the wall, after all. :D

Please join the cause if you agree. No affiliation with the university or Catholicism is necessary - we will be grateful for the support of anyone and everyone:

We Will be Honored to Have President Obama at Notre Dame | Facebook

iPetitions.com - Let's Have Obama at ND

Original post follows:

Well, I was going to post a new pattern, but I'm too miffed to do it right now.

My alma mater has decided to invite the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, to give the commencement speech for the class of 2009.

I find this awesome.

Other people do not find this so awesome. In fact, they are actually bitching out the current and former presidents of the university for even considering such an affront to their religious sensibilities (or lack thereof).

What the hell?

President Obama has reversed a BushII policy that restricts federal funds from being used to further embryonic stem-cell research which uses newly developed cell lines. Shorter version, "Now all the stem-cell scientists can use the money for their projects, not just the ones using the old cells." This research is (now) considered worthy of federal funding because of it's potential to develop treatments for the most challenging and serious diseases of our time, and yes, I am going to list them, because no matter how many times you hear the lineup, it is critical to remember that each one is still a raging epidemic out there.

Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, Lou Gehrig's Disease. Leukemia and lymphoma. Bone disorders, blood disorders, and immunological disorders. Paralysis, blindness, deafness.

Diabetes. Heart disease. Brain damage.

Cancer.

People suffer from these. They die from these. Not just theoretical people somewhere else in the world whom you will never meet, but your mother. Your father. Children. Sisters and brothers. Best friends. Your girlfriend, your boyfriend, your husband, your wife. Anyone and everyone you love.

Now, there are many perfectly healthy people who have dedicated their lives and their careers to stopping this from happening. They are not famous, they are not rich. They bend over microscopes, beside MRI machines, under blacklights, at the bedsides of the ill, with families who know they will lose that mother or father, son or daughter, unless the work of these dedicated people should soon succeed.

They have sought to find the cures for decades. They are still struggling today. Not to gain anything for themselves, but to save.

To save others. To save parents and children, best friends and lovers. To save the lives of theoretical people somewhere else in the world, whom they will never meet.

How is this disregard for life?

How is this a sin?

Bring the stem-cell researchers to the commencement. Let them give speeches. Maybe then the class of 2009 will learn what the honest "sanctity of life" is.

New pattern later, maybe after a few people finally come to their senses.

>w<

Seven days~

...no no no, I meant this:

Gonna be a bit nippy. Also, can I get some extra security on that pizza? Thanks.

If you're one of the lucky 240,000 at the swearing-in, please take a moment to remember the rest of us: the unfortunate millions who will have to stay at home, inside, and watch the proceedings on television, while we eat party snacks and drink warm delicious drinks with our friends. :D

And then we will play Wii while you are stuck in traffic. >w< (Just kidding; have a great time out there!)

Since 1968

Selvidge Middle School, Nov 4th, 7:00AM: Missourians gather to cast their votes.

Despite long waiting times and a cold morning, we watched for an hour and a half as not one person left the line. An old man came in a folding chair and sat just beyond the limits of the no-electioneering zone, wearing Obama pins and handing out leaflets to anyone who showed interest. "I've been waiting for this day since 1968," he told us.

I have never been so proud of my nation as I am today.