Tea Parties on Tax Day features people who aren’t aware their federal taxes went down last year, while state taxes went up

What a grand gathering of uninformed people as the

Tea party tour ends in the capital it loves to hate

Activists in several states also organizing anti-tax rallies Today

“Lost in the rhetoric was that taxes have gone down under Obama. Congress has cut individuals' federal taxes for this year by about $173 billion, leaving Americans with a lighter load despite nearly $29 billion in increases by states. Obama plans to increase taxes on the wealthy to help pay for his health care overhaul and other programs.”

A protester wears an American Revolution era flag and an Obama picture during the Tea Party Express rally in 2009 in Washington, DC.

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Related: A tea party group is demonstrating in the front of the Eureka Court House in Humboldt County today. No photos available at this time.

Taxation dates back to Mesopotamia

It's small comfort, but may help you put April 15 in perspective

Excerpt:

“During tax season, millions of us pore over paperwork, fill out forms and gripe about how much money we're putting in Uncle Sam's bank account.If it's any consolation, the history of taxes goes back at as long as there are written records, according to Tonia Sharlach, an assistant professor of history at Oklahoma State University who studies ancient Mesopotamian taxes. "I'm sure there were earlier taxes that we just don't know about because they didn't have writing," she says.”

To learn about seven taxes through the ages go here.

“One of the taxes that he thinks people complain about the most are the funeral parlor taxes — I guess some things don't ever really change," Sharlach says. "People would gouge people trying to bury people and he's trying to change those practices as well as some others.”

Retro-inspired Travel Posters: Visit Other Planets in Style

via, see a lot more here

Huckabee likens gay marriage to incest, drugs

If this is an example of the kind of candidate the “Party of No” is going to field for the next presidential election, Obama will be easily re-elected.

I don’t believe the majority of Americans revile gays and lesbians. In this day and age, most people realize sexual orientation is not a crime against anyone. 

Possible 2012 GOP candidate says some lifestyles too far outside 'the ideal'

Excerpt:

“Mike Huckabee, a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2012, says the effort to allow gays and lesbians to marry is comparable to legalizing incest, polygamy and drug use.”

 

Hoyer slams 'deniers' of racial incidents at Capitol

Well…well. Will the voice of reason reign over the violent rhetoric from all lawmakers?

Let’s stay tuned and see what happens shall we?

Excerpt: 

“House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) issued a plea for civility Tuesday, calling on his colleagues not to "incite the public" and criticizing Republicans who doubt whether much-discussed racially charged incidents during last month's health-care debate ever took place.

Returning from an Easter recess marked by heated partisan rhetoric over health care and a rash of high-profile threats against members of Congress, Hoyer suggested at his weekly press briefing that there was a link between what lawmakers say about each other and how their constituents behave in response.

Hoyer emphasized "the need for all public officials -- all members of Congress of either party -- to urge the American people and conduct ourselves in a way that provides an environment for civility.... That debate ought to be civil, ought to be constructive, and ought to be designed to educate the public, not incite the public." Read the rest here.

How many animals can you find?

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Parents may not recognize bullies

Many fail to see aggressive behavior in their own children

“Some common misconceptions may lull the parents of bullies into failing to recognize warning signs.

Bullies are often star athletes or popular girls considered charismatic leaders by peers and adults, experts say. What's often missed or passed over as minor is a consistent pattern of control and aggression against other kids — behavior that socially savvy bullies can sometimes slide under the radar of grown-ups.” Photo source

Vintage B-Movies that may bring back memories

Bizarre titles, even stranger storylines, cheesy effects and dead-serious acting.

 All this adds to the esoteric charm, and even to the addiction that some people feel toward vintage movies and posters -

here are some examples that might tickle your fancy:

Multiple tours of duty linked to PTSD

 I’ve been writing about PTSD in the military for years. Because of my own experiences, and the help I got in counseling, I understand the condition. There’s been numerous books on the subject. Numerous magazine and newspaper articles have talked about PTSD being prevalent in returning combat veterans for years now.

The thing that troubles me the most is everyone already knows what a problem it is to send a man or woman into combat for numerous tours. This headline almost makes you think it was a new discovery. More importantly, why hasn’t something been done about it? Back in my time, we only HAD to do one tour in Vietnam. This new generation is facing multiple tours. How can any human be expected not to come out of them unscathed? It’s unrealistic, and to my way of thinking unfair.

It’s time that we, those who believe this practice is wrong, stand up and tell President Obama and the Pentagon warmongers to stop sacrificing these men and woman on the altar of their ambitions. Iraq and Afghanistan is this century’s Vietnam. When will we realize that and tell out politicians (of all parties) to stop the madness?

Veteran: ‘I wanted everything to stop. I had no peace at all.’

“It wasn't his first tour in Iraq, but his second and third when Joe Callan began wondering how long his luck would last — how many more months he could swerve around bombs buried in the dirt and duck mortars raining from the skies.It was only natural, considering the horrors he'd seen: One buddy killed when a mortar engulfed his tent in flames.”

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NYT: Doctors ‘tune in’ to hallucinogens again

Scientists study use of psychedelics to treat depression, anxiety, addiction

"It was a whole personality shift for me," says Clark Martin, a retired psychologist, on his participation in an experiment with a hallucinogen.”

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Photo by Alan S. Weiner for The New York Times

As It Stands: Tea Party Utopia: no taxes, no government

Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 04/11/2010 01:27:11 AM PDT

Give me liberty! Or, at least a tea party.

No. Not that kind. Not a party where women gather to sip tea, munch sweet confections, and exchange lively conversation. I mean the kind our forefathers had when they dumped the British tea into Boston Harbor. They were fed up with paying taxes on the popular beverage.

Have you had the opportunity to go to a modern, political tea party? Perhaps you've seen one on TV. They're messy affairs attended by people holding up misspelled signs and posters that show President Obama painted like the Joker in the Batman movies and comics.

Tea Party members fear (in no particular order) that Obama is the Anti-Christ, he's not really an American citizen, and he's a Communist. I've yet to see persons of a minority race at a political tea party. I'm not sure why that is. It would be nice to see the mainstream media showing tea party rallies that include people of different races calling to “get their country back.” I don't think that's happened yet. I could be wrong.

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