Tea Party

Tea Party tomorrow evening at the State Capitol in St. Paul from 5 to 8. It promises to be a fun event, one of many such that will take place around the country to protest the federal government's excessive and wasteful spending, endless bailouts, tax increases, and the crushing debt that the administration intends to run up for years to come. I'll be covering the event for Power Line and Pajamas Media and will post photos and video when it's over.

Today’s the day! It’s Nationwide Tax Day Tea Party day, and Michelle Malkin’s going to be in the thick of things all day. Make sure you check in at her blog often for updates on the goings on all across the country, including pix, video, etc. And don’t forget the official site for the Tax Day Tea Party, which will have updates all day as well. You can also visit that site to see if a Party will be held in your area, for those who decide at the last minute that they’d like to attend. Fellow North Carolinians, click here to find out where Tea Parties are being held in NC.

And so it goes with today's Tax Day Tea Parties, which harken back to the Boston Tea Party when Americans rebelled against British rule. Then, the impetus for the protest was for unfair taxation. Now, the cause is what protesters say is wasteful federal spending, such as the bailout money offered to companies such as A.I.G. and G.M.

Ota Benga

Ota Benga was a Congolese man caged in the Bronx Zoo’s monkey cage in 1906. Ota Benga was “exhibited” in New York’s Bronx zoo monkey cage in 1906 to “address” human evolution. The New York Times editorial said of the display at the time: We do not quite understand all the emotion which others are expressing in the matter… It is absurd to make moan over the imagined humiliation and degradation Benga is suffering.

Benga was thereafter allowed to roam the grounds of the zoo as a sort of interactive exhibit. In response to his general situation and to verbal and physical prods from the crowds, his behavior became at first mischievous and then somewhat violent. The pygmies…are very low in the human scale, and the suggestion that Benga should be in a school instead of a cage ignores the high probability that school would be a place…from which he could draw no advantage whatever

The person responsible for this exhibition degrades himself as much as he does the African,” said Rev. Dr. R. MacArthur of Calvary Baptist Church. “Instead of making a beast of this little fellow, he should be put in school for the development of such powers as God gave to him. It is too bad that there is not some society like the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. We send our missionaries to Africa to Christianize the people, and then we bring one here to brutalize him.

Tax Day Freebies

Tax day freebies, special discount deals and even free food. I don't know where this tradition of tax day freebies and deals is coming from, but the fact is that it's here. Let's take a look at some of the tax day freebies and deals and see what they entail in their essence.

According to Roanoke.com some local restaurants are offering tax day free food. "MaggieMoo's Ice Cream & Treatery: Win a free single scoop serving of ice cream today, which the chain calls its "e-cone-omic ice cream stimulus package." Seattlepi.com lists the following tax day freebies and discount deals.

"T.G.I. Friday's: Diners today will receive $5 Bonus Bites gift cards to be used for beverage and food purchases, excluding alcohol, valued at $15 to $25. Those who spend more than $25 will receive $10 gift cards. Members of the restaurant chain's frequent customer program also will get double points this month." Seattlest.com in its yesterday's issue writes about today's tax day freebies and discount deals pointing to Taco Del Mar that will be offering up a free taco to anyone who goes to their website and fills out the form to get a coupon via email.