RE: The recently overturned vaccination edict of Texas Governor Rick Perry. Governor Perry unilaterally issued an "executive order" mandating the HPV vaccine to be administered to all girls going into their sixth grade year. The vaccine, for those living in a cave, is supposed to prevent SOME types of HPV that have been shown to cause cervical cancer. Governor Perry recently won a hotly contested re-election bid. One of his biggest contributors? Merck, the manufacturer of this vaccine. ...
Governor Rick Perry announced today that he will not veto the bill put forth by the legislature revoking Perry's executive order that would have mandated all incoming sixth graders receive the HPV vaccine. In a rare case of doing something right, the legislature was reacting to overwhelming public pressure opposing the order. The executive order was cronyism at its finest; vaccine manufacturer Merck had spent a lot of good money on the Perry campaign; money that would have netted them a prett...
Tonight's soundtrack provided by Neil Diamond: Far, we've been traveling farWithout a homeNot without a STARFree, only want to be freeWe huddle close, hang on to a dream I was born in 1970. While it is a distant memory, I do remember America's bicentennial and the patriotism it inspired. The halcyon days of Bruce Jenner, Mary Lou Retton, and Mohammed Ali. The days when Pete Rose was a hero, not a national disgrace, and when Roger Staubach and Terry Bradshaw were the subject of many schoolyar...
As we begin working towards the 2008 primaries, attention has focused almost exclusively on Barak Obama and Hillary Cklinton, the media darlings of the DNC. While Obama's star might not fade, I believe I can say without exception that Hillary Clinton will not win the Democratic Party's nomination in 2008. The reason why can be found with a close scrutiny of most major news sources: Barak Obama is a member of an untouchable minority, Hillary Clinton is not. Don't believe me? Walk into a com...
I hate living in the future, but sometime's it's a necessity. Since the beginning of the year I have been searching for anyone who endorsed my campaign in 2006, and for Libertarian and independent activists in my district. I'm pleased to report I'm hitting score after score. The legislature's in session right now so activists are a little more out and about than at most times during an "off year". This also means they're invariably a little ticked off that things didn't go their way in the...
In the wake of the demand that we triple federal spending and tax those bastard rich to pay for it, I thought I'd offer you the other side...the primary reason why I believe that EVERY government department, EVERY program, could stand at least a 10% cut. It's also a reason why I've come to loathe the way our bureaucracy so often works. For 5 1/2 years, as you all know, I was the manager of a group home for the developmentally disabled. I'd get to see the budgets "from the inside". Our...
Ok, This was so outrageous, I had to blog on it immediately. Oscar night comment (on Hurricane Katrina): "An event that brought home both the threat AND the impact of global warming" WHAT? global warming caused Hurricane Katrina? So, let me get this straight: there were no Hurricanes (or at least no Cat5's) prior to global warming? It's bad enough that Hollywood has spent the last 7 years gnawing on Al Gore's rectum. I mean, the Oscar win for "An Inconvenient Truth" was the biggest NONs...
I've already established a distrust of our federal government. Now I can add the American Medican Association to the list of organizations that I take issue with, because of their position on vaccination. See, the AMA's not too hot on religious freedom. Witness the resolution posted on their website ( Link ): Since religious/philosophic exemptions from immunizations endanger not only the health of the unvaccinated individual, but also the health of those in his or her group and the comm...
I hate getting into endless arguments about abortion. For one, it's not likely to change any minds, but mostly because my views on abortion cannot be summed up in a simple yes or no answer. Abortion disgusts me. Period. So does war, so does the death penalty, so does poverty. But I also realize we live in an imperfect world, and sometimes we must accept the consequences of that. If there were no murder, no hate, there would be no need for the death penalty. If there were no human conflict, n...
We were sitting in class today. It's late enough in the semester that we've gotten back the "extra" money from our grants, scholarships, and stuff that allows us to eat, and pay transportation and living expenses. So, generally a pretty happy day for all, right? Wrong. One of the people in the class came in with a sour look on his face. He was upset because he was "only" getting $700 cash back. Now, normally, this would have meant a double jet of heavily agitated Dr. Pepper launching from ...
As the debate (?) rages on about Bush and Cheney's need for impeachment, I can think of one compelling reason why it should never be allowed to happen: President Pelosi.
A news story in our local paper comments about complaints by the Mexican consulate that illegal immigrants are being profiled. To that, I have only one word: Duh. See, here's the thing. They're illegal. That's "not here legally" to you lay people. Which means that by their very existence they are breaking the law. And, umm, unless I'm sorely mistaken, profiling criminals is not wrong. In the time I've lived in Nevada and Texas, I've been frustrated by the mountains of extra paperw...
Link I like compact flourescent light bulbs. I really do. In fact, you will not find traditional incandescent bulbs in our house for that reason. And our nominal electric bill (average bill between 30-50 bucks a month) reflects that and other energy saving options that we implement around our house. But I'm going to readily acknowledge that good flourescent light bulbs do not come cheap. The cheapest ones aren't worth buying, frankly, and you have to go somewhere in the $2-3 a bulb r...
In the past election, I was often asked about my position on term limits. The Libertarian Party, like many groups, is split on the issue, and it's not uncommon to find a wide variety of positions. I, for one, am solidly against them, for a number of reasons. First, we already have term limits. It's called, the vote. If the people want a candidate out of office, there's a means to remove them, with varying term lengths (except for certain judicial positions...we can revisit that as a sepa...
As I was perusing Wikipedia, I noticed something rather interesting. For some time in the past election cycle, we had a bio posted for me on Wikipedia. The bio was removed, with no mention of why, although I recently found their reasoning (while I saw it, I can't say I agree with it...but it's their site, their rules). But while my bio is absent, that of my opponent is easily available. Why? Because he's considered noteworthy by virtue of holding public office. This is something to conside...