| + The Austinist and the Statesman discuss a report card just released by the United Way Capital Area's group Success by 6 that gives Travis County low marks on child services. Results of the report card include:
•D for "happy," which looked at criteria such as kindergarten retention rates, the number of child abuse victims and children's access to mental health services;
•C for "healthy," which looked at criteria such as the percentage of low birth weight babies, immunization rates and obesity rates in young children;
•D for "smart," which looked at criteria such as the education level of child care workers and the number of licensed, regulated child care facilities.
+ Matt Bors' Idiot Box comic strip on the Campus Progress site pokes fun at the debate over illegal immigration by looking at "Undocumented War Profiteers"
+ The Immigrant Solidarity Network has compiled a list of events taking place across the nation on April 10th. However, the events planned for Austin are noticeably absent, so I'll list them here:
Student Walkout: 11am - 2 PM at the MLK Statue on UT Campus
Citywide Rally and March: Meet at 4 PM at the Capitol, March begins at 5 PM
+ The conservative band The Right Brothers have a new song out entitled "Bush Was Right." You can watch their video here. I couldn't help but laugh. These guys obviously haven't kept up with the news lately.
+ Last but not least, NYT just published an article declaring that, with DeLay's resignation, the "Contract with America" era of Republican rule is officially over. The architects of this decade-long nightmare are finished and the country's better for it. Good riddance!
In some ways, the national political mood is similar to the one in 1994, when voters turned out the Democratic majorities in the House and the Senate. Vin Weber, a former Republican House member and lobbyist, said of Mr. DeLay: "He was the leader of the Republican Party at a time of maximum ideological polarization between the parties, and he was successful in that era. I think that era is coming to an end. What will replace it, I don't know." |
