IMPORTANT ALERTS
Posted Monday April 21, 2008 at 8:41 PM
Sender Michael Peterson
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Chris Danielsen
Public Relations Specialist
National Federation of the Blind
(410) 659-9314, ext. 2330
(410) 262-1281 (Cell)
<
mailto:cdanielsen@nfb.org>cdanielsen@nfb.org
Wal-Mart to Serve as Title Sponsor of the NFB March for Independence
Wal-Mart's Donation Will Support Blind People Across the Country
Baltimore, Maryland (April 21, 2008): The
National Federation of the Blind (NFB) announced
today that Wal-Mart will be the title sponsor of
the NFB's second annual March for
Independence. Wal-Mart made a donation to
support blind people and those losing vision
through the programs and initiatives of the
National Federation of the Blind (NFB) Jernigan
Institute. The March for IndependenceA Walk
for
Opportunity will take place on the morning of
Wednesday, July 2, as part of the convention of
the National Federation of the Blind to be held this year in
Fifteen hundred blind citizens from across the
nation will march from the Hilton Anatole Hotel
to the
benefit blind people all over the
and to raise awareness about the capabilities of blind people.
"As a company that strives to help people live
better, Wal-Mart is proud to sponsor charitable
causes important to our customers and associates,
such as the annual March for Independence," said
Scott Williams, vice president of E-Commerce,
Sam's Club, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. "Wal-Mart is
proud to support the NFB in its tireless efforts
to improve the lives of blind people throughout the country."
Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National
Federation of the Blind, said: "We are pleased to
have Wal-Mart as the title sponsor of our March
for
generous partners like Wal-Mart, we will be able
to change what it means to be blind and once and
for all eliminate the 70 percent unemployment
rate among the blind in the
For more information about the March for
how to sponsor a marcher, visit
<
http://www.marchforindependence.org>www.marchforindependence.org
.
To learn more about the National Federation of
the Blind, visit <
http://www.nfb.org>www.nfb.org
.
###
About the National Federation of the Blind
With more than 50,000 members, the National
Federation of the Blind is the largest and most
influential membership organization of blind
people in the
blind people's lives through advocacy, education,
research, technology, and programs encouraging
independence and self-confidence. It is the
leading force in the blindness field today and
the voice of the nation's blind. In January 2004
the NFB opened the National Federation of the
Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and
training center in the
Posted Tuesday April 15, 2008 at 11:38 PM
Sender David Andrews
Fellow Federationists:
Members of the House and the Senate
are currently working to resolve the
differences between H.R. 4137 and S.
1642, the
Higher Education reauthorization bills
that
>passed last year. We expect that the floor
action on the final Higher Education
legislation will take place by the first of
May. As you all know, the House
version (H.R.
4137) includes provisions to create a
commission to study the problem of
inaccessible
textbooks in higher education, as well
as to
propose legislation to solve this
problem. This language is found in Section 766
(A), (B), and (C). We now need to
ensure that
this language is included in the final
Higher Education bill.
Below is a list of the House and
the Senate committees that are working on this
legislation. If your Senator or
Representative
appears on this list,
please call him or her,
and ask that they include the House
language in
Section 766 (A), (B), and (C) in the
final
version of the Higher Education
legislation. If you are not
represented on the
below list, please contact the House
Committee
on Education and Labor, and the Senate
Committee on Health, Education, Labor,
and
Pensions, and urge them to include this
language. We need to make these
phone calls by
this Friday, April 18. You may be
connected to
your member, and the two
Committee offices by
calling the Capitol switchboard at (202)
225-3121. Thank you all very much
for your work on this important matter.
Jesse Hartle
Government Programs Specialist
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
House Committee on Education and Labor
Rep. George Miller (D-CA), Chair
Rep. Dale E. Kildee (D-MI)
Rep. Donald M. Payne (D-NJ)
Rep. Robert E. Andrews (D-NJ)
Rep. Robert C. Scott (D-VA)
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)
Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX)
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
Rep. John F. Tierney (D-MA)
Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH)
Rep. David Wu (D-OR)
Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ)
Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA)
Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-IL)
Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva
(D-AZ)
Rep. Timothy H. Bishop (D-NY)
Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-CA)
Rep. John P. Sarbanes (D-MD)
Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA)
Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-IA)
Rep. Mazie K. Hirono (D-H)
Rep. Jason Altmire (DPA)
Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY)
Rep. Phil Hare (D-IL)
Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY)
Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT)
Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH)
Rep. Howard P. Buck McKeon (R-CA), Ranking Minority Member
Rep. Thomas E. Petri (R-WI)
Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI)
Rep. Michael N. Castle (R-DE)
Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN)
Rep. Vernon J. Ehlers (R-MI)
Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL)
Rep. Todd Russell Platts (R-PA)
Rep. Ric Keller (R-FL)
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC)
Rep. John Kline (R-MN)
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)
Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-TX)
Rep. Tom Price (R-GA)
Res. Comm. Luis G. Fortuño (R-PR)
Rep. Charles Boustany Jr. (R-LA)
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC)
Rep. Randy Kuhl (R-NY)
Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT)
Rep. David Davis (R-TN)
Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI)
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), Chair
Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT)
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD)
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)
Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI)
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL)
Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-VT)
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Sen. Michael B. Enzi (R-WY), Ranking Minority Member
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Sen. Richard M. Burr (R-NC)
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT)
Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS)
Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO)
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Posted Saturday April 12, 2008 at 11:15 PM
Sender Shawn Clark
20/20/20
Step I
After every 20 minutes of looking into the computer screen,
turn your head and try to look at any object placed at least 20 feet away. This
changes the focal length of your eyes, a must-do for the tired eyes.
Step II
Try and blink your eye for 20 times in succession to
moisten them.
Step III
Time permitting of course, one should walk 20 paces after
every 20 minutes of sitting in one particular posture. Helps blood circulation
for the entire body.
Circulate among your friends if you care for them and their
eyes!
Posted Saturday April 12, 2008 at 10:13 PM
Sender David Andrews
Fellow Federationists:
It pleases me to write to you
announcing that our silent car
legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives. Ed
Towns, Democrat of New York, and Cliff Stearns, Republican of Florida,
has introduced H.R. 5734, the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2008.
Therefore, your help is needed to gain cosponsors of this important
legislation.
This
legislation assures that blind and other pedestrians
will receive the information needed to make proper judgments regarding
the presence of vehicles, in order that we can travel safely. It does
so by:
a.. Requiring the Department of Transportation to convene a study
within ninety days of its enactment;
b.. Requiring the study to determine whether a minimum sound
standard
or some other approach will provide blind and other pedestrians the most
accurate information regarding speed, location, and direction of travel
for the vehicles;
c.. Requiring that, when making this consideration, the study must
evaluate the cost of each method examined, including the cost of
providing all pedestrians any technology they must possess under each
approach; and
d.. Requiring that the study consider which approach permits the
greatest amount of independent spontaneous travel for blind and other
pedestrians.
Once the study reaches its
conclusions, the Department of
Transportation must report its findings to Congress, and within ninety
days of the study's end, the Department of Transportation must establish
a vehicle safety standard that implements the results of the study.
Finally, two years after the safety standard is implemented, all new
cars sold in the
This legislation is under jurisdiction
of the House
Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection of the House
Committee on Energy and Commerce. This subcommittee and its full
committee are the most important members for this bill, though we want
all the members that we can get to cosponsor this legislation. Both of
our original sponsors are members of the subcommittee, and Stearns was
its chair when republicans controlled the House of Representatives.
Now that the bill has been introduced,
we need cosponsors.
This is so because the attention gained will push Committee and House
leadership to conduct hearings that will help us get out the message
that, if solutions are not promptly found and implemented, silent cars
will place the independence of blind Americans in real peril. To help
with this task, it is critical that you get your representatives to sign
on to H.R. 5734. Recall that you can reach the Capitol switchboard by
calling (202) 225-3121. I am providing lists of the subcommittee
and
full committee members, but you are urged to get all members of the
House to join as cosponsors. Thank you for all you do. Let us now
make
a difference in assuring that we can hear cars now and in the future.
Most cordially,
James McCarthy
Government Programs Specialist
National Federation of the Blind
FULL COMMITTEE on
Energy and Commerce
John D. Dingell (MI), Chairman
(Ratio: 31-26)
Henry A. Waxman, CA
Joe Barton, TX, Ranking Member
Edward J. Markey, MA
Ralph M. Hall, TX
Rick Boucher, VA
Fred Upton, MI
Edolphus Towns, NY
Cliff Stearns, FL
Frank Pallone, Jr., NJ
Nathan Deal, GA
Bart Gordon, TN
Ed Whitfield, KY
Bobby L. Rush, IL
Barbara Cubin, WY
Anna G. Eshoo, CA
John Shimkus, IL
Bart Stupak, MI
Heather Wilson, NM
Eliot L. Engel, NY
John Shadegg, AZ
Gene Green, TX
Charles W. "Chip" Pickering, MS
Diana DeGette, CO, Vice Chair
Vito Fossella, NY
Lois Capps, CA
Roy Blunt, MO
Mike Doyle, PA
Steve Buyer, IN
Jane Harman, CA
George Radanovich, CA
Tom Allen, ME
Joseph R. Pitts, PA
Jan Schakowsky, IL
Mary Bono Mack, CA
Hilda L. Solis, CA
Greg Walden, OR
Charles A. Gonzalez, TX
Lee Terry, NE
Jay Inslee, WA
Mike Ferguson, NJ
Tammy Baldwin, WI
Mike Rogers, MI
Mike Ross, AR
Sue Wilkins Myrick, NC
Darlene Hooley, OR
John Sullivan, OK
Anthony D. Weiner, NY
Tim Murphy, PA
Jim Matheson, UT
Michael C. Burgess, TX
G. K. Butterfield, NC
Marsha Blackburn, TN
Charlie Melancon, LA
John Barrow, GA
Baron P. Hill, IN
Vacancy
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
COMMERCE, TRADE, AND CONSUMER PROTECTION
(Ratio: 16-13)
Bobby L. Rush (IL), Chairman
Jan Schakowsky, IL, Vice Chair
Ed Whitfield, KY, Ranking Member
G. K. Butterfield, NC
Cliff Stearns, FL
John Barrow, GA
Charles W. "Chip" Pickering, MS
Baron P. Hill, IN
Vito Fossella, NY
Edward J. Markey, MA
George Radanovich, CA
Rick Boucher, VA
Joseph R. Pitts, PA
Edolphus Towns, NY
Mary Bono Mack, CA
Diana DeGette, CO
Lee Terry, NE
Charles A. Gonzalez, TX
Sue Wilkins Myrick, NC
Mike Ross, AR
John Sullivan, OK
Darlene Hooley, OR
Michael C. Burgess, TX
Anthony D. Weiner, NY
Marsha Blackburn, TN
Jim Matheson, UT
Joe Barton, TX (Ex Officio)
Charlie Melancon, LA
John D. Dingell (Ex Officio)
Posted Saturday April 12, 2008 at 3:33 PM
Sender Shawn Clark
Everybody should be
aware of this.
New Kind of Breast Cancer
New kind of Breast Cancer - DO NOT DELETE
Please forward to all of the women in your lives
.. Mothers,
daughters, sisters, aunts, friends, etc.
In November, a rare kind
of breast cancer was found. A lady
developed a rash on her breast, similar
to that of young mothers who
are nursing.
Because her mammogram had been clear, the doctor treated her with
antibiotics for infections. After 2
rounds, it continued to get worse,
so her doctor sent her for another
mammogram. This time it showed a
mass.
A biopsy found a fast growing malignancy. Chemo was started
in
order to shrink the growth; then a
mastectomy was performed; then a
full round of Chemo; then radiation.
After about 9 months of intense
treatment, she was given a clean bill of
health.
She had one year of living each day to its fullest. Then the
cancer
returned to the liver area. She took 4
treatments and decided that she
wanted quality of life, not the after
effects of Chemo. She had 5
great months and she planned each detail
of the final days. After a
few days of needing morphine, she died.
She left this message to be
delivered to women everywhere:
Women, PLEASE be alert to anything that is not normal, and
be
persistent in getting help as soon as
possible.
Paget's Disease: This is a rare form of
breast cancer, and is on
the outside of the breast, on the nipple
and aureole It appeared as a
rash, which later became a lesion with a
crusty outer edge. I would
not have ever suspected it to be breast
cancer but it was. My nipple
never seemed any different to me, but
the rash bothered me, so I went
to the doctor for that. Sometimes, it
itched and was sore, but other
than that it didn't bother me. It was
just ugly and a nuisance, and
could not be cleared up with all the
creams prescribed by my doctor
and dermatologist for the dermatitis on
my eyes just prior to this
outbreak. They seemed a little concerned
but did not warn me it could
be cancerous.
Now, I suspect not many women out there know a lesion or rash
on
the nipple or aureole can be breast
cancer. (Mine started out as a
single red pimple on the aureole. One of
the biggest problems with
Paget's disease of the nipple is that
the symptoms appear to be
harmless. It is frequently thought to be
a skin inflammation or
infection, leading to unfortunate delays
in detection and care.)
> > What are the symptoms?
1. A persistent redness, oozing, and crusting of your nipple
causing it to itch and burn (As I
stated, mine did not itch or burn
much, and had no oozing I was aware of,
but it did have a crust along
the outer edge on one side.)
2. A sore on your nipple that will not heal. (Mine was on
the
aureole area with a whitish thick
looking area in center of nipple).
3. Usually only one nipple is effected. How is it diagnosed? Your
doctor will do a physical exam and should suggest having a mammogram
of both breasts, done immediately. Even though the redness, oozing and
crusting closely resemble dermatitis
(inflammation of the skin), your
doctor should suspect cancer if the sore
is only on one breast. Your
doctor should order a biopsy of your
sore to confirm what is going on.
This message should be taken seriously and passed on to as many
of
your relatives and friends as possible;
it could save someone's life.
My breast cancer has spread and metastasized to my bones after
receiving mega doses of
chemotherapy, 28 treatments of radiation and
taking Tamaxofin.
If this had been diagnosed as breast cancer in the
beginning, perhaps it would not have
spread...
TO ALL READERS:
This is sad as women are not aware of Paget's disease. If, by
passing this around on the e-mail, we
can make others aware of it and
its potential danger, we are helping
women everywhere.
Please, if you can, take a moment to forward this message to
as
many people as possible, especially to
your family and friends. It
only takes a moment, yet the results
could save a life.