The Great Pandemic: 1918-1919

The Great Pandemic: 1918-1919 relates the background of one of this nation's biggest pandemics.

Obama Says No to Vouchers

Dr. Condoleeza Rice at Stanford University

In this recent informal interview at Stanford University, former Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleezza Rice is queried by a student on enhanced interrogations and Abu Ghraib: how are we supposed to "win hearts and minds" in the world as long as we continue with these actions?"

Budget Cuts Visualized

The Deadly Flu Pandemic of 1918

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Air Force Veteran Interviewed at Philadelphia Tea Party

Russian Times Reports on American Tea Partys

New York City Tea Party

Thomas Paine (Bob Basso) on the Tea Party's

Thomas Paine Tea Party Revolution April 15

Dr. Alan Keyes: Keynote Speech at the Pittsburgh Tea Party

Dr. Alan Keyes' keynote speech at the Pittsburgh Tea Party:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Tea Bags! Thomas Paine Speaks to Contemporary Americans

The videos are from a man who created two phenomenally successful "We The People" YouTube videos urging Americans to stand up against Congress and reclaim their republic now – or perhaps lose it forever.

Bob Basso, who posts videos under the name funbobbasso on YouTube, has created videos in which he portrays Thomas Paine, author of the "Common Sense" pamphlet that made the case for independence during the American Revolution.

A former award winning news director for NBC TV and visiting professor at UCLA, Basso has a PhD in communications.

Doyle's distinctive repertoire includes former Wall Street insider, TV star and jet pilot. He has starred in many made-for-TV movies, but is best known as the character Michael Garibaldi on the Emmy winning Sci-fi television series "Babylon 5," which ran for five years.

Bowing Before King and Keeper of the Holy Sites at G20

Tea Party 4 April 2009

Graphic source: A natural born citizen of the United States of America

Video source: filmed with a Flip Mino HD

"American Tea Party Song" by Lloyd Marcus

The Founders on Liberty

Happy Nowruz Greeting to Iran

Nowrūz (Persian: نوروز /noʊruz/ ↔ [noʊɾuːz]; with various local pronunciations and spellings, meaning 'New Day') is the traditional Iranian new year holiday celebrated by Iranian peoples, having its roots in Ancient Iran. Since the Achaemenid era the official year has begun with the New Day when the Sun leaves the zodiac of Pisces and enters the zodiacal sign of Aries, signifying the Spring Equinox. Apart from the Iranian cultural continent (Greater Iran), the celebration has spread in many other parts of the world, including parts of Central Asia, South Asia, Northwestern China, the Crimea, and some ethnic groups in Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo and the Republic of Macedonia.

Nowruz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the year in Iranian calendar. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox, which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. As well as being a Zoroastrian holiday and having significance amongst the Zoroastrian ancestors of modern Iranians. The moment the Sun crosses the equator and equalizes night and day is calculated exactly every year and Persian families gather together to observe the rituals.

Kent State and "Ohio"

On 4 May 1970 the National Guard was called to the Kent State University campus. Troops squared off against a gathering crowd of protesters. When the students ignored orders to disperse, the guardsmen opened fire. Nine students were injured and four were killed; people who were there reminisce about their experiences and students have researched these events.

"Ohio," Neil Young

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.

The lyrics are quoted here for educational purposes alone; the original copyright remains with the artist.

House Bill Indicating Young People Will Engage in Mandatory National Service

The House passed H.R. 1388: Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act yesterday which includes language indicating young people will engage in mandatory national service programs as a fulfillment of Obama’s promised “civilian national security force.”

Candidate Obama addressed youth service on 2 July 2008 when he suggested national security could be entrusted to a civilian force.

"We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that is just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded," Obama stated during a Colorado Springs rally.

H.R. 1388, known as the GIVE Act, was passed by a 321-105 margin and now goes to the Senate. The Senate has been considering a similar piece of legislation.

Under section 6104 of the bill, entitled “Duties,” in subsection B6, the legislation states that a commission will be set up to investigate:

“Whether a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people could be developed, and how such a requirement could be implemented in a manner that would strengthen the social fabric of the Nation and overcome civic challenges by bringing together people from diverse economic, ethnic, and educational backgrounds.”

Section 120 of the bill also discusses the “Youth Engagement Zone Program” and states that “service learning” will be “a mandatory part of the curriculum in all of the secondary schools served by the local educational agency.”

The White House is Watching You

A White House decision permitted the use of persistent Internet cookies in YouTube video files embedded on the redesigned WhiteHouse.gov Web site. Letting third-party cookies be placed on the site is a deviation from established executive-branch policy that leaves site visitors open to being tracked and profiled without their knowledge.

There are two types of cookies: persistent cookies and session cookies. Session cookies are temporary and can be easily deleted. Another type of cookie are persistent cookies.

"Persistent cookies can exist for many years in a user's browser cache, repeatedly identifying the user to the issuing web site across many visits. . . Usability aside, however, persistent cookies are specifically designed to uniquely identify users on return visits to web sites, often over the course of years. In terms of anonymity, this is bad. Advertisers have found innovative ways to exploit cookies to track users as they visit web sites that contain their ads or other content. The larger the advertising network, the greater the risk (p. 73)," states Greg Conti, security researcher and Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) questioned a waiver that was issued by White House counsel concerning the use of cookies on the WhiteHouse.gov site. The waiver, which is now part of the site's modified privacy policy allows the use of persistent cookies by "some third-party providers to help maintain the integrity of video statistics."

Privacy advocates said visitors to federal Web sites should be able to view official information without fear of being tracked either by the government or by third parties such as YouTube, which is owned by Google Inc. That expectation is consistent with the government's own stance on the use of cookies, according to a memorandum issued in June 2000 by the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Google and the new administration are intertwined. With no experience in government, Google product manager Katie Jacobs Stanton will be the new President’s “director of citizen participation.” Google has been actively involved in the Obama White House, starting with Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s endorsement of Obama during the campaign and Google’s role in powering the Obama Weekly Video Address. Google Inc. donated $701,099 to the Obama campaign (Cf. http://www.opensecrets.org/index.php).

Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Washington-based Center for Digital Democracy, is concerned. He said that the decision to allow the use of persistent cookies in embedded videos is worrisome.

Tools such as YouTube's Insight software could be used to conduct in-depth analysis of the data collected from WhiteHouse.gov visitors, Chester said. And it isn't just third parties that could potentially use the tracking data, according to Chester.

Such information could "give the Obama White House a tremendous amount of insight into public behaviors," he said. "Do we really want the government to sanction the use of a consumer-profiling application that links our commercial behaviors with our civic behavior?"

How the White House responds to the concerns bears watching, Chester added. "This will be a litmus test on how to balance the interest in using new-media tools with privacy concerns," he said.

"Google is not just a benign corporate entity. It has a variety of special interests," said Chester, who has sparred with Google over data-privacy issues. "They're in a great position to push their agenda through with the support of the president and the Democrats in Congress."

John C. Calhoun

Term in Office: April 1st, 1844 - March 10th, 1845

Succeeded by: James Buchanan

* Born at “the Long Canes settlement”, in what became Abbeville County, South Carolina, March 18, 1782;
* Graduated from Yale College in 1804 and from Litchfield Law School in 1806;
* Admitted to the bar in 1807 and practiced law in Abbeville, South Carolina;
* Married Floride Bonneau Colhoun in 1811;
* Gave up the practice of law and established himself as a planter;
* Member of the State House of Representatives, 1808-1809;
* Representative from South Carolina, 1811-1817;
* Secretary of War in President Monroe’s Cabinet, 1817-1825;
* Vice President of the United States 1825-1832, when he resigned; was a Senator from South Carolina 1832-1843;
* Secretary of State in President Tyler’s Cabinet from April 1, 1844 until March 10, 1845;
* As Secretary of State, signed an abortive treaty for the annexation of Texas and aided in accomplishing annexation by joint resolution of Congress;
* Delegate of South Carolina to, and presiding officer of, a railroad-and-waterway convention held in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1845;
* Again a Senator from South Carolina 1845-1850;
* Author of voluminous writings and speeches;
* Died in Washington, DC, March 31, 1850.