The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph

The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection.

Thomas Paine

A couple if items for today.

The first...Tea Party Renaissance

Tea Parties are today's protest medium for the conservative class. Did you realize that the first tea party was a protest over a Reduction in taxes? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Act

It's a shame that the Boston Tea Party museum is closed for renovations, especially in light of the surge in interest. Seems like a waste of a decent museum: http://www.bostonteapartyship.com/

Stop the Pike Hike is a citizen group in Massachusetts that has organized to fight Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposed toll hikes.

Gov. Patrick has a Twitter account.

In addition to supporting Tea Parties throughout Massachusetts, the people at Stop the Pike Hike are asking Twitters to participate in what is believed to be the first “Twitter Protest”
If you’re on Twitter, you’re asked to tweet “STOPTHEPIKEHIKE @massgovernor” any time tomorrow.

The intersection of tea party and twitter is twilight zone like...

The second...I Twitter Immoral?

Twitter and Morality

Social networks such as Twitter may blunt people's sense of morality, claim brain scientists.
New evidence shows the digital torrent of information from networking sites could have long-term damaging effects on the emotional development of young people's brains.

A study suggests rapid-fire news updates and instant social interaction are too fast for the 'moral compass' of the brain to process. The danger is that heavy Twitters and Facebook users could become 'indifferent to human suffering' because they never get time to reflect and fully experience emotions about other people's feelings.

US scientists from the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California (USC) say the brain can respond in fractions of seconds to signs of physical pain in others.
But they show it takes longer to activate processing of social emotions such as admiration and compassion, which are critical for developing a sense of morality.

The study raises questions about the emotional cost of heavy reliance on a rapid stream of news snippets obtained through television, online feeds or social networks such as Twitter. The impact could be most damaging for youngsters whose brains are still developing.USC researcher Mary Helen Immordino-Yang said 'For some kinds of thought, especially moral decision-making about other people's social and psychological situations, we need to allow for adequate time and reflection. 'If things are happening too fast, you may not ever fully experience emotions about other people's psychological states and that would have implications for your morality.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1169788/Twitter-make-immoral-claim-scientists.html?printingPage=true

If you aren't familiar with Twitter, it is one of those things, like MySpace, that sounds totally ridiculous and stupid when you first hear about it. But once you start using it, you realize how much fun it is.

Eric Nuzum, Author of The Dead Travel Fast

But once you start using it, you realize how totally ridiculous and stupid it is, no matter what other self centered, immoral, vacuous people think. Kind of like blogs...

Quotefish, driven to distraction