http://picasaweb.google.com/mattymoo/Boston09#
here are the pics, most have comments if you scroll down a bit.
I went to Boston for 4 days
4/29/2009
1976 swine flu panic commercial - let's hope we get a repeat of this actually
andrew sullivan quotes someone else's rundown of the history:
The story goes like this: in February 1976, a soldier at Fort Dix died of the virus, and the Ford Administration, fearful of an outbreak, ordered immunization of the entire American population (only the United States chose this course of action, rather than “watching and waiting”). The Centers for Disease Control got to work immediately, manufacturing enough vaccine to begin inoculation by the end of the year, but, essentially, no one showed up. Fears arose as to possible debilitating side effects of the vaccine (some claimed that it caused a neurological condition called Guillain-Barré syndrome), and the government proved unable to offer reassurance (you can watch amazingly propagandist public-service commercials—from both camps—on YouTube). The affair ended ironically—swine flu never materialized in the general population.
Texas Seccesion Update
Half of Texas Republicans favor secession
On its own, Texas Gov. Rick Perry's endorsement of the idea of secession just sounded crazy. But a new poll suggests the governor knows his constituents, and what he'll have to do in order to win a Republican primary against likely challenger Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.
A survey conducted by Research 2000 -- and commissioned by Daily Kos -- shows that 48 percent of Texas Republicans think their state would be better off as an independent nation than it is as part of the U.S. The same number disagreed. And 51 percent of them approve of Perry's comments, compared to 44 percent who disapprove.
Overall, secession fever isn't nearly so high. 61 percent of total respondents think Texas is better off as part of the U.S., compared to 35 percent who think it would do better if it were independent, and 58 percent disapproved of what Perry said, while 37 percent approved. http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/04/23/texas_secession/index.html
Dear Rick Perry, If You Don't Like This Country, Leave
It's a Bit Pre-Civil War Up in Here
how does Texas rank?
1) 49th in teacher pay
2) 1st in the percentage of people over 25 without a high school diploma
3) 41st in high school graduation rate
4) 46th in SAT scores
5) 1st in percentage of uninsured children
6) 1st in percentage of population uninsured
7) 1st in percentage of non-elderly uninsured
8) 3rd in percentage of people living below the poverty level
9) 49th in average Women Infant and Children benefit payments
10) 1st in teenage birth rate
11) 50th in average credit scores for loan applicants
12) 1st in air pollution emissions
13) 1st in volume of volatile organic compounds released into the air
14) 1st in amount of toxic chemicals released into water
15) 1st in amount of recognized cancer-causing carcinogens released into air
16) 1st in amount of carbon dioxide emissions
17) 50th in homeowners' insurance affordability
18) 50th in percentage of voting age population that votes
19) 1st in annual number of executions
Why we will be seeing more of Susan Boyle
from buzzfeed:
Susan Boyle’s ‘Cry Me A River’Music Buzz Someone found a 1999 recording of YouTube star Susan Boyle singing “Cry Me A River” on a charity album. Sadly, it is not the Justin Timberlake “Cry Me A River,” though someone should really make that cover happen. Someone should also make a reality show with Susan and Paul Potts, while I'm throwing out free ideas.
I DO NOT approve of Obama -
4/16/2009
Obama's decision to appeal the recent court decision that granted habeas corpus rights to Bagram detainees. "He's just following the long-standing principle of American justice: guilty until proven forgotten about."
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Obama Denies Habeas Corpus | ||||
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"Do You Or Do You Not Have Six-Pack Abs Congressman?"
27-year-old Republican Congressman Schock rose to fame after being voted 'Hottest Freshman in Congress' by Huffington Post readers. He has since become a TMZ favorite.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Better Know a District - Illinois' 18th - Aaron Schock | ||||
| ||||
Secession! It's not just for Vermont academics and Sarah Palin's
Glenn Beck makes a point:
GLENN BECK: Does the individual have any rights anymore? Does the state have any right any more? And I know, because I've heard it, from all of the conservative, uh, you know, uh, historians...and scholars, and everything else. But you can't convince me that the founding fathers wouldn't allow you to secede. The Constitution is not a suicide pact. And if a state says, I don't want to go there, because that's suicide, they have a right to back out. They have a right. People have a right to not commit economic suicide...I sign into this Union, and I can never get out, no matter what the government does? I can never get out? Well that leaves only one other option. That doesn't seem like a good option.
and Jesse Berney makes a reply:
It's not even hard. All you have to do is travel to a foreign country, visit a U.S. embassy or consulate, and sign a paper declaring that you're no longer a citizen.
Secession is illegal, and suicide is drastic. So if you're too lazy to work for what you believe in, if you really believe that a modest tax hike on the wealthiest Americans is tantamount to destroying our nation, please feel free to get out while the getting is good.
I promise, we won't even miss you.
Love,
Jesse
I guess the love-it-or-leave-it crowd has a little something to think about now...
Glenn thinks that if he and his fellow travelers can't secede from the United States, than the only other option is suicide. But that's a little melodramatic. In fact, U.S. law gives Beck an easy way to jump ship: renounce his citizenship. According to the State Department, all he has to do to officially cut his citizenship ties with the United States is to make:a formal renunciation of nationality before a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States in a foreign state, in such form as may be prescribed by the Secretary of State
That's right, Glenn -- you can leave any time you want to. Just head off to a foreign country, visit a U.S. embassy, and sign a piece of paper renouncing your citizenship once and for all. You don't even have to pretend to cry when you do it.
If you honestly believe that the United States has been put on a path of certain destruction, if you think it's so bad that you think your only options are secession or suicide, and if you don't love America enough to work within the system created by our founding fathers, then take a hike. I think we'll get by just fine without you. http://www.renounceglennbeck.com/
- Second Vermont Republic (SVR) is a secessionist group within the U.S. state of Vermont which seeks to return to the formerly independent status of the Vermont Republic (1777–91)
- Palin's secession flirtation
In a country that made it's name seceeding from the Motherland where does treason begin?
On the other hand, if Texas and her quite numerous electoral college votes do decide to cloister themselves away and secede would that might be a temporary victory for the Teabaggers and Glenn but would mean a more or less permanent victory for the Democratic Party over the next few decades.
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