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Libertarian Saturday
Author: TriSec    Date: 02/09/2008 13:56:59

Good Morning!

We're doing a little better here in quarrantine this morning...fevers broke across the board in the past 24 hours, and all that generally remains now is some congestion and long-term tiredness. 'twas a tough week for many. In case you didn't see it last night on the blog, here's my commentary on the entire affair:
Comment by TriSec on 2/8/2008 9:2:25 PM
Evening folks. Recovering TriSec here, instead of at my first Blue & Gold banquet as Cubmaster...

Which now gives me an interesting observation on our new friend influenza and the alleged "vaccine".

The Waltham Public School system has been ravaged by it this week; anectodal reports indicate between 1/4 and 1/3 of students affected in the Bright, Fitzgerald, and Wittemore schools.

This has affected our Cub Pack to the same rate, roughly 1/3 of the expected participants called the chairman to cancel this evening.

And Athena has also had a rash of patients, though not at the same percentage. I have heard of at least one co-worker that has been out and has suffered to the same degree as we have on this one.

I'm surprised more by the achiness of this one...I was never really congested, never really had a cough, but my temp had skyrocketed earlier in the week (I reported 102º once, but upon further review of our inaccurate digital thermometer, that may have been as high as 104º)...and I've had such a general pain that it hurts to sit or recline in any one position for any length of time. And now I've got some low-grade abdominal/chest pains that had better damn well be muscular instead of cardio-vascular..

But in any case, Javi got his vaccine from his pediatrician; Maria got hers at the same time. Waltham Public runs a clinic for all their students, and AthenaHealth also does an annual free vaccine clinic...

So why did we all get it, and why did we get it so hard?

Either the vaccine was completely the wrong strain this year...or the formula was botched and it was completely ineffective.

Or maybe some of those predictions are right, and the virus is mutating too fast for us to react to it anymore...



Anyway...on to the news at hand. The National Libertarian Party is showing it's cojones in a clever way; they've just sent a funeral wreath to the RNC to mark the 'death of limited-government values within the Republican Party.'
Washington, D.C. - Following a solid McCain victory in the Super Tuesday primaries, the Libertarian Party has sent Republican headquarters a funeral wreath marking the death of limited-government values within the Republican Party. The wreath was hand-delivered to the D.C. offices of the Republican National Committee. "We simply felt the need to express our heartfelt sympathy for the Republican Party as they undergo this tough time within their party," says Libertarian Party National Media Coordinator Andrew Davis, who delivered the wreath.

"Given that it has become readily apparent that Senator McCain will soon be the presidential nominee for the Republican Party," reads a card that accompanied the wreath addressed to RNC Chairman Mike Duncan, "we, the staff of the Libertarian National Committee, send our condolences to you upon the death of small-government principles within the GOP."

The note continues:

Libertarians encourage competition within both the free-market and politics. Unfortunately, with the rise of John McCain and the big-spending practices of the Bush administration, the two-party system has emerged as representing only one philosophy - big-government liberalism.

With your loss, the Libertarian Party will continue to move forward to represent those American patriots who still believe in smaller government, lower taxes and more individual freedom.

"McCain's Super Tuesday win marks the death of limited government values within the Republican Party, which had struggled with its principles throughout the Bush administration," says Shane Cory, executive director of the Libertarian Party. "It is a day of mourning for the few remaining small-government Republicans."

For pictures of the wreath and its delivery to the RNC headquarters see below. For more information and interview requests, please call Andrew Davis at (202) 333-0008 during normal business hours, or at (202) 731-0002 during any other time.

The Libertarian Party is America's third largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party by visiting www.lp.org. The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom.


http://www.lp.org/main/uploads/rnc3.jpg




Although Ron Paul has been generating some buzz as an alleged Libertarian, he's not the official standard-bearer for the party. Like the Republicrats, the Libertarian Party also has a procedure to pick a national nominee...but there's not a long, drawn-out primary process. This will be decided by the delegates at the National Convention later this summer. But you can start finding out about the candidates now. The National Libertarian Party has just unveiled their Candidate Tracker for the season...
Liberty Decides '08 is a new program to promote our pre-nomination presidential candidates as they engage in a competitive process. To participate in the program, candidates must cross three thresholds: meet the LP bylaws requirements; file with the FEC; and raise at least $5,000 for the LP or LP state parties for ballot access.

Once qualified, candidates will be ranked by the funds they have raised for the program and promoted through the Internet, mail and LP publications.

To help out your favorite candidate by making a donation to the LP on their behalf, click on their picture below or on the donate link and help increase their rankings through this program!

Please note that, 40% of all donations to this program will be set aside in a special fund to be used for expenditures coordinated with the candidate who does eventually win the LP nomination in convention. The remainder of the funds will be used to help the LP move forward with core issues such as media, ballot access and member recruitment.

For more information about this program, click here. Regular updates will be made to this page so please check back often!



Looking over at Lew Rockwell this morning, there's another attack on our favorite foil, the TSA. But they've come up with a new term...want to live in "Mcainistan"? head for the airport!
Ah, the Nazis. Modern America knows few epithets more vile. You can insult a man’s mother, wish rape on him, liken him to the hinder part of the alimentary canal. But don’t compare him to Germany’s totalitarians, even if he works for their contemporary counterparts, unless you want a fight – and a frisk from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Darron Derrick was "very late" for his flight out of Tampa International Airport to Detroit. How late? "He checked in 38 minutes before the scheduled departure…"

Back when America was free, passengers who arrived 38 minutes prior to "scheduled departure" were early. But the TSA’s warrantless searches impede travel now, and we serfs are expected to revise our schedules accordingly. Our Rulers "recommend" we waste "at least two hours" in the airport; it’s our own fault if we flout their orders and miss our flight.

Ergo, when our 39-year-old engineer huffed into the airport, he "found a long, snaking line to the security checkpoint…" So he approached "a line attendant."

Imagine that as resume fodder: "2006–2008 Line attendant. Stand around in uniform; look fat, dumb, and hippy. Pretend passengers are terrorists. Scowl and yell in bullying tones while disregarding individuals seeking assistance. Plan best route for own escape in case real terrorists actually show up some day." Anyway, poor Darron asked this cretin "if he could move ahead of others. She ignored him." Of course. She’s too busy doing nothing.

Eventually Darron made it to "the X-ray machine," where "he placed his laptop inside its case on the belt and went through the metal detector. An officer informed him the computer and case had to go through again separately." Those wimpy rays don’t see through Christmas paper either, prompting the TSA to command, "Travel with unwrapped gifts. If a wrapped gift sets off an alarm, TSA security officers will need to unwrap the gift to resolve the alarm." Lois Lane must have hoped Superman’s vision was this feeble.

Our hero had endured enough nonsense by now. He "told the supervisor that screeners were going to make him late for the plane by using ‘Nazi-style, police-state tactics.’"

Darron may not realize it, but he was paraphrasing a Supreme Court justice who knew something about Nazis. Robert Jackon had represented the United States at the Nuremberg Trials; four years later, when deciding Brinegar v. United States (338 U.S. 160, 180 [1949]), he extolled the Fourth Amendment: "These rights, I protest, are not mere second-class rights but belong in the catalog of indipensable [sic] freedoms. Among deprivations of rights, none is so effective in cowing a population, crushing the spirit of the individual and putting terror in every heart. Uncontrolled search and seizure is one of the first and most effective weapons in the arsenal of every arbitrary government." Or, as Darron succinctly put it, "police state."



OK....now let's change gears. How's this for odd?

The 6 cutest animals that can still destroy you Sure, it's from "Cracked" magazine (remember them?) but I think there's a grain of truth in these stories...

http://cdn-www.cracked.com/articleimages/wong/cute/hippocute5.jpg


So...I hope everyone has managed to avoid the inlfuenza wherever you are...
It's a bright winter day here, with about a half-inch of new snow. It sure looks pretty out there.

 

25 comments (Latest Comment: 02/10/2008 07:38:33 by livingonli)
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