Health Care & the Piece-Work Economy

The following is a quote from Kristi Vogel of The Gulf Stream in late 2008:

Piece work is a term that dates to the 16th century, in the context of the guild system for master craftsman, and is perhaps the oldest type of performance-related pay. The concept is quite simple: the worker is paid a fixed rate for each item or part produced, or for each operation or task performed. In the US, many assume that the piece rate pay system is linked with low wage jobs in which the workers may be exploited, such as garment assembly in sweatshops, or field laborers in agriculture. However, this pay system also applies to craftspeople in the modern economy, e.g. those who produce custom furniture, handmade clothing or jewelry, and artwork. As a teenager, I learned the hard way that this latter path to financial independence can be very difficult, perhaps impossible . . .

In academic science, at least in the US, most of us are paid neither by the piece, nor by the hour. Calculations for hourly pay can, in fact, lead to temporary depression, especially when compared to those for other professionals. But what if researchers could be paid a fixed rate for each item produced or task performed? Imagine for a moment that you could charge your boss or your collaborators for certain assays or computational analyses or microdissections or imaging techniques at which you’re particularly skilled … how much would you charge for each “piece”? Would such an economy benefit anyone . . .

I can state now that many of my friends in academia already have resorted to participating in a piecework style economy. Mostly they are doctoral students with strong math or economic skills. I also have friends who make their living by blogging (usually for clients, sometimes blog-for-pay), and many Washington colleagues who work for themselves as consultants, strategists, event planners or lobbyists. My point is that this is becoming more common in white collar jobs and some have predicted it is direction that our economy is evolving - most people paid for piecework and few permanent jobs except for a shrinking elite. As an aside, in 1995 Newsweek dubbed the then-likely emerging elites as the "Over Class.'

If our society is moving towards a piecework economy, then it is crucially employment and health insurance be de-linked from each other. Otherwise, continuity of health care coverage becomes almost as greater a problem than lack of insurance itself. To adapt to this new economy, health care either needs to be made radically cheaper for individual purchasers through the tax code and market incentives, or we need to establish dome type of national health system, again based on the free market. The single payer, government program many desire just isn't feasible for a nation with $52 Trillion in unfunded obligations, regardless of its merits.

Oh, and complaining about health insurance anti-trust exemptions just reveals a lack of understanding of math. Health insurance costs are based on actuarial science - variations of risk and expense based on population characteristics. Two companies competing for the same pool of customers will arrive at the same cost for insuring that population. Without anti-trust exemption, you could have the ironic result of one insurance company dominating so much of the American market, that their market power would allow them the ability to dictate payment terms to doctors, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies.

British Fraud Investigator Agrees: It Was About the Benjamins

Lord Monckton was Margaret Thatcher's equivalent of a Special Prosecutor for Scientific Fraud. He has a lot of credibility exposing past scientific frauds, and has been a consistent critic not of global warming, but of how the data was used.

In the article below, he discusses the evolution of the climate fraud, as well as the financial resources that have been dedicated to climate research.

link

Climate Fraud: It was all about the Benjamins

My take on how the scientific fraud started is simple. I simply listen to Woodward and Bernstein and follow the money. The greatest beneficiaries of climate change hysteria and research have been university professors. You may ask why and how these professors had an incentive to create a global climate hysteria. The answer is simple: they had been right about ozone layer problems caused by chlorofluorocarbons and had goaded the world into collective action which stabilized the ozone layer, which is now repairing itself.

However, by solving one problem for humanity, the scientists had created a new problem for themselves. Governmental funding of climate scientists declined while governments focused on other priorities. This left many graduate students and professors needing new sources of grant money simply to survive if they wanted to remain employed. What were they to do?

Later, a few of these same climate scientists whom we had trusted previously, and whom had been proven right, decided to abuse that trust to gin up a new climate crisis to maintain their funding. Fortunately for them, the new age Gaia movement was growing and the climate “crisis” became infused with a semi-religious fervor. It is this same fervor which lead scientists like those at the Climate Research Unit located at the University of East Anglia to act like the Medieval Catholic Church: punishing those who challenged then-current knowledge, sometimes by acts of violence similar to those threatened in some of the stolen emails, and suppressing this same inconvenient knowledge. We are now told that the original data records, from which CRU claims to have derived its results was destroyed decades ago. We are told to accept on faith by those who committed fraud that the original data was transferred correctly. But now no one can ever check CRU’s results against all the original data.

The other financial beneficiaries of the global warming hysteria: third world, less developed nations of the South want a portion of the wealth of the successful, industrial Northern Nations. The Southern nations know that the most effective way of getting this money or technology is through playing upon liberal, Northern guilt. And the best way to do that is through Northern created institutions such as the United Nations.

Identity, Memory Technology & Pop Culture

It's officially a trend. During the past three television seasons, there have been at least three different shows that deal with the topic of personal identity, how it constructed/defined, whether it must be organic, and whether it can be molded, suppressed or permanently modified without the active participation of the identity. These are important issues because medical science is developing drugs which can affect memory, and other enhancements from nanotechnology to genetic-specific performance enhancers may be around the corner. The specific shows I am referencing are: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Dollhouse, Heroes.

These themes were explored by Gibson in the characters of Johnny Mnemonic and others. Bret Easton Ellis explores the topic most deeply in American Psycho and Glamorama though it can be argued these themes emerged first in Less than Zero and Rules of Attraction. Millions of people have read the novels of Gibson and Ellis. Millions more have seen the three television shows listed above.

Descartes said "Cogito Ergo Sum" (I think therefore I am. But he could never resolve what he was through reason alone. Quato (from Total Recall) tells Quaid "A Man is What He Does," implying that memories do not define an individual's identity and that all you have to do to be different is to act differently. John Locke and the school of Virtue Centered Ethics also have strong opinions on the matter. Then there is the historical of case of Martin Guerre - was the impostor who returned immediately from war with more accurate memories "more Martin Guerre" than the "real" Martin Guerre who returned later with blurrier memories and whose wife disavowed him?

In Dollhouse, the characters have custom designed identities implanted onto a tabula rasa created once the original identity is scanned, downloaded and stored. Each individual person has multitudes of identities downloaded into them over the course of their five year contracts. The Sarah Connor Chronicles plays with ideas of predestination and fate, and whether John Connor is allowed to have an identity separate from that given to him from the future. More importantly, HOW does he develop the identity he will need to lead the human resistance in the future. Heroes deals with the concepts of how identity changes along with abilities, as well as similar issues of predestination when Hiro Nakamura returns to the past and tries to convince his historical childhood idol to become the person celebrated in stories to this day.

It will be interesting to see how long popular culture continues to wrestle with these issues in television, and whether shows that do remain successful.

V: 1983 and 2009 Part Four: The Shadow Government , One World Government & Nazi Allusion

From the very beginning, the Nazi allusions are right in your face right from the name of the Jewish Resistance Fighter (Abraham) down to the brown shirts and youth brigades, though at the time many Americans also associated youth brigades and secret police (brown shirts) indicative of the Soviets. Only this time instead of “The Jews” its “The Scientists” with the evil conspiracy against the powers that be. The Visitors use a false flag conspiracy to justify rounding up scientists, and then eventually stage "Wag the Dog"-type false flag attacks around the world, similar to what some "Truthers" believe really happened on 9/11.

All of this occurs after the Visitors claim to want to honor all the covenants of the United Nations Charter (revealed in the first 25 minutes), which itself is interesting because it implies the Visitors will be co-equal to one individual nation-state instead of co-equal to an entire planet (Step 1 - Fool' em). Obviously, they really see themselves as occupying the latter position when they ask to (or imply they should be)treated as co-equal to the U.N. or entire world (Step 2 - Set your stage under smokescreen). Because they are co-equal to the planet their very presence begins to gradually transform the U.N. into a de facto governing body of the earth - or at least one empowered to negotiate on behalf of all of us. The Visitors then intimidate the U.N./NWO into acting as its surrogate ruling apparatus.

Interestingly, this progression of elements could be sued to demonstrate the left- leaning inclinations of the V writers (so-called Coastal Elites).

However, in the 2009 version, instead of working through the UN as much, the Visitors want to establish embassies on the ground, directly establishing themselves as a potential nation-state. Additionally, in the 2009 V but the Hitler allusions are less pronounced. Perhaps this is because the newer generation doesn’t identify as much with this epochal event 25 years later than the original and 65 years after the event was revealed to the world.

The Shadow Government and Alien Infiltration meme also emerge explicitly during the 2009 pilot. These memes are nowhere present in the original miniseries. These are both revealed during of the nascent Resistance; the second when Erica, the female FBI protagonist, is attacked by her own Visitor infiltrator partner at the end of the Resistance formation meeting.

V: 1983 & 2009 Part Three: 2009 Pilot Summary, Characters and Emerging Memes

The 2009 V starts with a comparison of 9/11, JFK’s assassination, and the arrival of the Visitors, as a means of foreshadowing for the generation that didn’t see the original. This version describes the state of Obama’s America with opening scenes discuss the ongoing housing crisis. However, the most important cultural aspect of V 2009 is the prevalence of terrorism and terrorist investigations in the show. In the first place, the show is set in New York City instead of Los Angeles like the original, and 9/11 is the second phrase shown during the introduction. Of course, it’s easy to see that the one terrorist cell that increases its chatter post-visitor arrival instead of dropping off like the others will turn out to be the beginnings of what becomes the Resistance. But this is not an Islamic terrorist group, it is composed of Visitor sleeper agents who disrupt the beginnings of the Resistance’s formation.

From the first scene it looks obvious that African-American buying the engagement ring will be the 2009 version of Dr. Ben, but this time he’s a Federal Agent, former militia member, and likely future Counter Revolutionary. It seems they’ve consolidated the two brothers into one this character, which makes a certain amount of sense because Dr. Ben was only in the miniseries for the first hour or so and Elias was in all 10.5 hours of the V marathon on SyFy. And the meme regarding struggles and competing visions seems to be resolved, at least in the writers’ minds.

The falling of the Catholic Crucifix inside the first 4 minutes represents two memes not especially present in the 1983 version, but which have gained increasing currency among conspiracy culture insiders. We’ll call Meme A the Fallen Christ Meme and Meme B the Questioning Christianity’s Legitimacy meme. The Fallen Christ Meme is common among those who continue to suggest that the arrival of an extra terrestrial alien species would pose an existential threat to all religions, thereby causing mass chaos. It sometimes is cited as a reason justifying government suppression of any real evidence of alien visitation. The Questioning Christianity’s Legitimacy Meme really didn’t emerge in America until after the publication of Graham Hancock’s Holy Blood, Holy Grail and the emergence of websites and books on Mary Magdalene as the wife of Jesus and mother of Merovee, the founder of the Merovinginian line of French Kings.

The “Question Authority Meme,” always favored among the now-empowered left until the Democratic Party has power in Congress and/or the Presidency, emerges 11 minutes into the pilot. This comes from the youngish priest character, whose doppelganger in the original version had served with anti-communist guerillas in Angola, but whose credentials on this front in the 2009 version are still in question.

Illustrative of women’s success in the intervening 25 years between the two series is that the sympathetic, ambitious reporter who becomes the Visitor’s spokesperson is no longer a woman using feminine wiles, but is now portrayed by a metrosexual male. Additionally, this character seems to have less backbone, and be much more compliant with the Visitors and their requests. Moreover, one primary protagonist is a female FBI counter-terrorism operative,

Significantly, the 2009 version's Hitler allusions are less pronounced. Though interestingly, the neighborhood kid who signs up as a Visitor "Brown Shirt" is driven to it due to maternal neglect by the FBI agent (thus reprising the "Law Enforcement is Hard on Families" Meme. In the original series, the character who joins is much like the guard in The Bridge at Andau: someone who is generally a loser, but has ambitions above his abilities. I preferred the 1983 motivation better because it puts the onus squarely on the child's decisions. Perhaps in our post-Columbine world they were afraid to portray similar a high-school character with these psychological motivations. The other explanation is that the "Bad Mother Meme" has picked up cultural relevance due to the ongoing culture wars.

Post-Modernism in V

My favorite POMO moment in the 1983 version the intentionally ironic scene of Visitor Bryan playing Space Invaders on an Atari 2600 with Robin, the soon-to-be-pregnant girl.

Of course since the 2009 version is completely self-aware of its status as a media creation, it's amusing when when one character's quip “Dude, this is Independence Day,” prompts his companion to wryly remark “Which was a rip off of numerous alien invasion predecessors.” It also illustrates the show is already relevant in popular culture, and the kids are not alright: they’re much more interested in discussing abstract cultural relevance of the Visitors arrival, than the more likely impacts on reality.

V: 1983 & 2009 Part Two: 1983 Summary & Memes

The protagonist in the 1983 version is Donovan, a a foreign affairs correspondent whom we first encounter covering anonymous, admirable revolutionaries against a Central American dictatorship (Contras anyone?). He later shares the stage with Ham Tyler in V: The Final Battle. Ham is an American guerilla/ arms dealer he runs across in his work. In the 2009 version, the protagonist seems to be a synthesis of Donovan and Tyler. The pains of the reporter's divorce and conflict with his ex over his seeming upper hand in the competition for his child’s affection reflects the then-prominent "Divorce is Hard on Families Meme" in the 1983 version which seems absent from the new series, largely because as a society I think we're over divorce as a social issue.

Another meme prevalent through the first few hours of the miniseries is the conflict in the black community between “the streets” and “selling out,” epitomized by the conflict between ne'er do well Elias Taylor and his brother Dr. Ben Taylor over life and their father’s affection. The show resolves this conflict by having Ben die, which ultimately leads Elias to declare that it should be him not Ben because Ben had made something with himself. However it is Elias's skills and contacts from “the streets” that help the Resistance obtain shelter, useful intelligence and necessary supplies. This may reflect the inability of the writer to resolve the issue satisfactorily for himself or us.

V is also one of the first sources for the meme of illegal immigration in California in the mid-80’s, and the issue of “visitors” taking Californian jobs is even addressed explicitly within the first 45 minutes of the show. In fact, during that scene, Caleb explicitly complains about job competition from “honkeys” and Mexicans since this was produced before political correctness craziness became the norm.

The meme of environmental catastrophe, in this case on the Visitors planet, began to emerge into political and pop culture around this time, and the environmental "disaster" on the Visitor's home planet (their cover story for coveting our water) is mentioned in the first 30 minutes. The meme is not referenced explicitly again, and may explain why the show has emerged now: we have a major environmental bill working its way through Congress, which many on the left who tend to include television writers support. In fact the New America Foundation recently hosted a briefing in Washington, DC titled "Go West Young Policy Wonk" focusing on whether those interested in policy making should head to Hollywood instead.

The Nazi allusions are right in your face right from the name of the Jewish Resistance Fighter (Abraham) down to the brown shirts and youth brigades, though at the time, many Americans also associated youth brigades and secret police (brown shirts) with the Soviets. Only this time instead of “The Jews” it's “The Scientists” with the evil conspiracy against the powers that be. The Visitors use a false flag conspiracy to justify rounding up scientists, and then eventually stage “Reichstag bombing” attacks around the world, using means similar to those in Wag the Dog. In the 2009 version, the Hitler allusions are less pronounced. Perhaps this is because the newer generation doesn’t identify as much with this epochal event 25 years later than the original and 65 years after the event was revealed to the world. Additionally, in the 2009 series, the Visitors seem to be setting up the foundations for a religion as a means of Social Control. This fits into the "All Religions Are Shams" meme that has emerged forcefully in the past decade.

The "Abortion is Completely Acceptable" meme appears early on V: The Final Battle,when the Catholic Priest's moral objections are dismissed out of hand, and represents a different cultural era. 1982's Fast Times at Ridgemont High and The Last American Virgin both showed the really problem with getting an abortion was having the guy pay for it. This is before the deluge of shows in the 1990s and 2000s, including Friends, in which the potentially pregnant character ends up not having to make a decision /resolve the conflict because the test was wrong or their was a miscarriage, "getting them off the hook" for having to make a decision. I expect that in the new series, this will be replaced with teh "Abortion is a Serious Issue" meme and there will be a more weighty debate about the potential abortion of the hybrid fetus. If I'm correct on this, it will reflect the ascendancy of the Christian Right during the past 25 years. Whether they are now on the decline is a debatable point.

V 1983 & 2009, Part One: Reptilian Aliens & Conspiracy Culture

I watched the V and V: The Final Battle this weekend in anticipation of the debut of tonight’s series. It was ten and a half hours of my life extremely well spent, and the 25-year-old show has held up well though the special effects leave a bit to be desired. I believe it speaks much to the cultural state of Reagan’s America in 1984and will point out the cultural memes prevalent in the two mini series and I’ll compare these with what I observe in the first few episodes of the 2009 V series.

V and the Conspiracy Culture
In terms of conspiracy culture, V 1983 marks the first time the MSM-Entertainment Complex used Reptilian aliens as the main galactic villains, a meme prevalent, but debatable among conspiracy culture insiders. This introduction of the Reptilian meme comes just 6 years after Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind , and two years after his E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial introduced mainstream culture to what have become known as the Greys.

Obama's Sept 9 Health Care Speech

Below is something I blogged for another site last month

President Obama gave his health care speech tonight. It's primary goal is to help rebuild momentum for health insurance reform after a strong battering over the 5-week August recess. Sen. Harkin's assumption of the HELP Committee Chairmanship (post Sen. Kennedy's death) will also provide a strong hand to help steer the bill.


Policy Advocacy
He explicitly stated that he wanted to build upon what we have now and not upend what people have now. This is a huge blow to the liberals who are demanding a single-payer public option. He statement means that they're just going to have to suck up what they can get because the President won't expend his own political capitol on behalf of the single-payer (government takeover) health care option.

He also came out in support of an individual health insurance mandate (requirement). This is excellent policy because it will expand the actuarial pool, making it younger and healthier thereby making it cheaper.

He also wants a public option (not single-payer) in the insurance exchange. Only open to the uninsured. Decent fall-back, face-saving position.

He'll get a bill he can sign, if only to say he got one.

The Nefarious Company's Many Tentacles

Mrs. Uneven and I were discussing the merits of the various Prison Break seasons the other day when I was brought up short by her comment that she had really enjoyed the show up until they were going after "The Company." She went on to complain that The Company had been showing up on more and more shows and that she found the whole thing boring. How many people do they have working for them that they're on a bunch of different shows.

She was jesting, but the concept of the "The Company" being behind several nefarious plots/operations has been an omnipresent and mutating meme in the collective unconscious for decades. Until that conversation it had never occurred to me that The Company in Burn Notice could be the same as the one in Prison Break. Does Carla work for the General too, and is he only one part of MANAGEMENT? What other shows and characters does the Company manipulate and harass? Are they the shadowy group leading and misleading Fox Mulder too? How deep is their reach?

Is this the way the Illuminati reveal themselves in the Information Age? They take control of all mass media and then produce entertainment which blatantly depicts hidden power manipulating events to its own ends? Isn't that what the conspiracy memes tell us? What better way than for the hidden group to call itself by one name repeated over and over in many different fictional tales. The fact they keep referring to themselves as "The Companay" simply produces the same ironic enjoyment of James Garner's dog named Dog and horse named Horse. BTW The Company as shadow government meme originally started out at the CIA before moving to FEMA. Presumably this movement of the meme's signifier was due to exposure of the CIA's utter incompetence during Congressional hearings in the 1970s. This of course begs the question of where The Company moves to now.

No Flu Vaccines for Creationists pt. 2

A few years ago . . . Of Cabbages and Kings wrote the following when we were all afraid of bird flue . . .

"No one wants bird flu to turn into a pandemic but if it does, I kind of hope it strikes first at the creationism and "intelligent design" folks not lethally mind you, just enough to put them in bed for a few days so when their heads clear they might wonder. You see, the pandemic, whether it comes or not, is living proof of evolution. In fact, influenza viruses are superb examples of how evolution works in quick time."

As I wrote at the time:

I have to agree with this. No vaccines or anitbiotics of any kind should be given to folks who don't believe in evolution. If evolution were false, there would be no need for new antibiotics to replace penicillin or amoxicillin since these organism would not evolve resistances to anitbiotics through the mutation and survival of the fittest processes. For the same reasons, flu shots wouldn't have to be updated every year if evolution were false and therefore one shot at anytime should be sufficient.

Let's see these people put their health where their beliefs are.

Recent work by the CDC further validates the evolutionary process, by tracing the genetic history of the new flu strain. I still believe the other statements above even though there is no vaccine for the recent flu outbreak at this time(which really isn't swine flu despite having that time), and there may not be one developed in time for the Northern Hemisphere flu season. If you don't believe in evolution, you shouldn't be allowed a shot. It's a great way to ration them out and also weeds the religious whack job christianists out of the populations.

(Poor spellers and people who blog drunk should not be prevented from obtaining future vaccines though.)

So Obama Got One Right - Let's Hope it's the first of Many

Some have pointed out that comments I made about the Obama Hostage Crisis make me look like an ass now. I'll avoid the whole ad hominem attack issue and just say this:

The SEALS did an excellent job, and Obama outperformed Carter in this situation.

However, Obama didn't authorize the attack until after I posted my blog entry. Not that I had anything to do with it, but he did take too long to make the decision. It should've been a no-brainer from the start. It shouldn't have taken that long to get the SEAL team into position (they're all over the world, with a plethora of special forces right there in the region - Afghanistan and Iraq - who could've been there within hours if he'd had the balls to make the call immediately, instead of hemming and hawing like a good liberal.

Hopefully this has given him the cojones to take on the Congressional Democrat Out of Iraq Caucus and Progressive Caucus on military matters. I want him to succeed and be a good leader, but I'm still afraid he's like past Democrat Presidents who have been afraid to make, or made ill-advised, military decisions.

Obama's Hostage Crisis (Carter in a dress)

At least Carter attempted to rescue the American hostages.  It's just that his complete incompetence led to its failure).  Obama hasn't even bothered to try, making him Jimmy Carter in a dress.  The pirate threat has been a well known, growing threat for months now, yet Obama is the first President since THOMAS JEFFERSON to let pirates take Americans hostage.  And Jefferson went to war over it - hence the "Shores of Tripoli" in the Marines Hymn. Even Jimmy Carter, a good Navy man, wouldn't tolerate piracy threatening U.S citizens or business interests.

If George W. Bush were still President ,or Hillary Clinton were elected President instead, a SEAL team already would've rescued the Americans and killed all the pirates. And the pirates should be killed. I'd like to see the part of the Geneva Conventions that allows piracy.

The lack of action to date makes it obvious Obama doesn't know what to do about this. He doesn't want lose World Opinion by authorizing a military action so soon after succeeding George W. Bush in office. And if he does, he doesn't want to alienate World Opinion by killing the pirates.

So he'd have to imprison them somewhere for their unnecessary trial.Piracy isn't like other crimes. When you beat/capture the bad guys, you know they're guilty. There's no need for a trial to determine that. All that's left is to determine their punishment/fate.

Traditionally, pirates have been executed. But Obama doesn't have the balls to do it. So he'll have to find something to do with them. There's not really anyone to turn them over too, so he'll have to stick them in a military prison. But if you bring them to the states, the obviously guilty pirates get a trial which uses U.S. taxpayer resources.  He really should just execute the pirates.

Then again, some pan-European Court (the International Criminal Court) may decide his allowing their execution is some kind of war crime and try to indict him. Life is so much harder when you care if the Europeans to like you more than you care about doing the right thing by your own citizens . . .

Oh, and I guess he'd alienate he hippie-peacenik supporters too. That mike make his approval ratings plunge. Can't risk losing a little political capital to rescue American hostages, can he? Not if he wants to push his radical leftist agenda. But then, the longer range view should be that NOT acting will diminish his political capital and ability to lead even more in the long run.

Shamrock Festival Tomorrow!

HiBall Events
Social Media Release
03.05.2009

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ShamrockFest '09 Happening All Day March 14 at RFK Festival Grounds
50+ Musical Acts to Perform, including Flogging Molly, Junior Sanchez, Carbon Leaf, Aggrolites, Burnt Sienna, Scythian, Mr. Greengenes, Joel and Benji Madden

Twitter Pitch
ShamrockFest 09 March 14 RFK Grounds 50+ Musical Acts Flogging Molly Junior Sanchez Burnt Sienna http://xrl.in/1onl
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Summary
ShamrockFest '09 will take place March 14 from 1pm until 9pm at RFK Festival Grounds. More than 50 musical acts will perform, including Irish rockers Flogging Molly and Scythian, Aggrolites, regional favorites Burnt Sienna, Mr. Greengenes, and Flip Like Wilson, local standouts Practically Einstein and Scott's New Band and DJ's Junior Sanchez and Joel and Benji Madden. With 10 stages, an "authentic" Irish village, rides and amusements, food, crafts, NCAA hoops viewing areas and lots of Bud Light, this event offers something for everyone. Advance VIP and General Admission tickets on sale now-- http://ShamrockFest.com

Media and Bloggers seeking credentials or interviews contact sallyingforth@gmail.com or Twitter DM "AlbrightDC"
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News Facts

* Tickets: General Admission currently $19.99; VIP currently $79.99. Prices will increase at any time and without notice.
* Detailed information and advance tickets can be purchased through the event web site: http://www.shamrockfest.com
* Portion of proceeds to benefit Stop Child Abuse Now.
* Rain or Shine. All Ages. Must be 21 to Drink.

Abstract Show full release

Full Lineup: Flogging Molly, Carbon Leaf, Aggrolites, Burnt Sienna, Mr. Greengenes, Scythian, Dr. Fu, Scott's New Band, Flip Like Wilson, Sick Feed, Practically Einstein, Ceann, Icewagon FLU, Lost in Paris, Overdrive Superthruster, Junkfood, The Godshites, O'Neil James, Flatfoot, Donegal Express, SMZB. Pubcrawlers, Maple School of Dance, Status Green, Dub Trio, Passafire, Minus One, Rome in a Day, Charm City Saints, Girls Girls Girls, Culkin School, Justin Trawick Group, Flying Cows of Ventry, McGrath Academy, DCFD Pipes and Drums

o VIP Ticket Price: Currently $79.99, $129+ at door. + You must be at least 21 to enter VIP areas and receive VIP benefits. + Tickets only available through ClicknPrint, via the methods listed below
+ There is a very limited supply of VIP Tickets + VIP Ticket includes access to all Main Event party areas, as well as access to multiple VIP areas featuring: # All your beer is included in the VIP ticket price featuring: Bud Light, Budweiser American Ale & Bass # Premium viewing areas of all major performance stages # Private VIP band stage with special performances by major acts # Hot 99.5 Club VIP tent featuring famous international, as...

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Full Release Show abstract

Full Lineup: Flogging Molly, Carbon Leaf, Aggrolites, Burnt Sienna, Mr. Greengenes, Scythian, Dr. Fu, Scott's New Band, Flip Like Wilson, Sick Feed, Practically Einstein, Ceann, Icewagon FLU, Lost in Paris, Overdrive Superthruster, Junkfood, The Godshites, O'Neil James, Flatfoot, Donegal Express, SMZB. Pubcrawlers, Maple School of Dance, Status Green, Dub Trio, Passafire, Minus One, Rome in a Day, Charm City Saints, Girls Girls Girls, Culkin School, Justin Trawick Group, Flying Cows of Ventry, McGrath Academy, DCFD Pipes and Drums

o VIP Ticket Price: Currently $79.99, $129+ at door. + You must be at least 21 to enter VIP areas and receive VIP benefits. + Tickets only available through ClicknPrint, via the methods listed below
+ There is a very limited supply of VIP Tickets + VIP Ticket includes access to all Main Event party areas, as well as access to multiple VIP areas featuring: # All your beer is included in the VIP ticket price featuring: Bud Light, Budweiser American Ale & Bass # Premium viewing areas of all major performance stages # Private VIP band stage with special performances by major acts # Hot 99.5 Club VIP tent featuring famous international, as well as local DJs
# Exclusive NCAA hoops viewing areas # NEW: VIP "Sideshow" Tent - Gotta see it to believe it. Too wild for words! # New: VIP food vendor area # A complimentary, limited-edition ShamrockFest '08 mug # Separate VIP entrance # Additional bathrooms # VIP seating areas

o Main Event Ticket Price:Currently: currently $19.99, $39+ at door.
+ Access to ELEVEN Main Event party areas + Entertainment by over THIRTY-THREE spectacular bands and DJs + EIGHT kilt-raising performance stages + Ginormous college basketball viewing area + Acres of amusements, rides and games + The Main Event areas feature Bud Light Beer

Washington DC-- Get ready for the most exciting festival on the East Coast. Munich has Oktoberfest, Tennessee has Bonaroo, New Orleans has Mardi Gras, Brazil has Carnival…and now ShamrockFest, which rocks the Nation’s Capital, has joined the party elite. After eight years of extraordinary growth, the 9th annual ShamrockFest has now graduated to an entirely new level AGAIN. Taking place at a massive, spectacularly-crafted festival grounds, with a multitude of entertainment areas, dozens of incredible performers, and much more, the National ShamrockFest is now recognized as one of America ’s premier festivals. So get your green on and get ready to party like never before – at SHAMROCKFEST `09!!

Brought to you by: Bud Light, DC101, Hot 99.5 & HiBall Events

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@AlbrightDC posted to Twitter: #ShamrockFest Mar 14 RFK 50+ Acts Flogging Molly Junior Sanchez Burnt Sienna http://xrl.in/1onl http://pitch.pe/5558 Media Passes Available

AlbrightDC
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AlbrightDC
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AlbrightDC
@AlbrightDC posted to Twitter: ShamrockFest 09 March 14 RFK Grounds 50+ Musical Acts Flogging Molly Junior Sanchez Burnt Sienna http://xrl.in/1onl http://pitch.pe/5558

AlbrightDC
@AlbrightDC posted to Twitter: ShamrockFest 09 March 14 RFK Grounds 50+ Musical Acts Flogging Molly Junior Sanchez Burnt Sienna http://xrl.in/1onl http://pitch.pe/5558

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Uneven Steven's 2008 Political Wrap Up

Just to close some loose ends from the election:

Barack Hussein Obama proved that America truly is moving past its racist past, and Americans will get over his middle name, though pockets of racism still persist. He also achieved election by being as hopeful and direct as Reagan, and being FOR something as opposed to being against something.

Nancy Pelosi won the Battle of the Alpha Females by using her lieutenants to push Sen. Clinton out of the Presidential race and getting President Obama elected. Though given Hillary's predominance on Foreign Policy as Secretary of State now, I'd say Hillary ended up ok.

George W. Bush finished the dismantling of the Reagan Coalition which he started by imposing tariffs on foreign steel early in the decade and accelerated by using the federal government to intervene in the Terri Schiavo case in 2005. Of course firing Don Rumsfeld at two years too late and getting new management at DoD didn't help; neither did his failure to override the poor decisions of Louisiana Democratic Governor Kathleen Blanco.

John McCain was doomed by his "Mavricky" past (thank you Tina Fey) which had alienated most of the GOP's campaign foot soldiers; everything. He will now return to being a thorn in the side of conservatives of all stripes.

Sarah Palin became an instant Rock Star with her speech at the Republican National Committee. She then imploded in a manner which will haunt her future ambitions. This implosion was caused either because (a) she's an idiot; or (b) she listened too much to her McCain campaign handlers, depending on whom you believe. I opt for option (c): Steve Schmidt didn't give her enough notice she would be the VP nominee and she was unable to get up to speed on the issues she needed to.

A Woman WILL become president in the near future. Both major parties have now nominated women as Vice Presidential candidates, and Sen. Clinton ran an amazing campaign that could've been won with better strategy and if Mark Penn had actually understood the nominating process.

Republicans continued to lose Congressional seats, further retreating towards being a regional (Southern) party; this is not good for Republicans or the nation. Arguments over rebuilding the party essentially now pit social conservatives (whose positions have driven away the moderate middle) against libertarians and others whom the party has marginalized, and whom the social conservatives can't tolerate. IMHO leaving the social conservatives ascendant will doom the party for years to Minority status.

The Democrat Party became more ascendant by becoming a somewhat bigger tent (most of their gains in the last two cycles came from electing more conservative Dems in Congressional Districts that usually go Republican). However, these conservative Dems will be rolled repeatedly by Speaker Pelosi and her liberal California allies in their quest to rollback every conservative achievement from the Reagan-Gingrich era.