This is a really good article about the consequences of people who refuse to vaccinate.

I like this quote: "Looking back over human history, rationality has been the anomaly. Being rational takes work, education, and a sober determination to avoid making hasty inferences, even when they appear to make perfect sense."

Vaccinations are one of the most significant advancements in human history, and one of the primary reasons for our current longevity. Refusing to vaccinate is akin to becoming overwhelmed with paranoia and outrage at the thought of washing your hands with soap. But I suppose this is what happens when we lose sight of the cultural importance of learning history, science, and critical thinking.

Read the article here: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/10/ff_waronscience/

So, here it is, and six weeks after my unemployment application with the CA EDD, and I still don't even know if I'm elligible for unemployment! Six weeks! And it looks like it will be longer still until I find out. I discovered the wrong phone number on my interview appointment notice, with instructions to call EDD if this was the wrong number. So I tried to call. Oh I tried to call. I called for several hours a day, repeatedly hitting redial for days on end. And no, I did not get through to a person. Not once. So I sent emails, to which I received bizarrely irrelevent responses.

Did I receive my interview phone call at the shiny new phone number I made every effort to get to them? I did not. If I was in an apartment I wouldn't have to worry about all that because I'd be living under a bridge right now.

Nope!

The motto E Pluribus Unum, Latin for "One from many" suggested by Thomas Jefferson, was approved for use on the Great Seal of the United States in 1782, five years before the Constitutional convention. It was never legally established as the national motto but considered to be the de facto motto. While the phrase “In God We Trust” first appeared on certain coins starting in 1864, well after the Founders debated the fine points of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, it wasn’t made the national motto or added to all currency until 1956.

The adoption of “In God We Trust” as a national motto was in response to anti-communist sentiment. Excerpt from Wikipedia; “A law was passed by the 84th United States Congress (P.L. 84-140) and approved by the President on July 30, 1956. President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved a joint resolution declaring In God We Trust the national motto of the United States.^[2] The same Congress had required, in the previous year, that the words appear on all currency, as a Cold War measure: "In these days when imperialistic and materialistic Communism seeks to attack and destroy freedom, it is proper" to "remind all of us of this self-evident truth" that "as long as this country trusts in God, it will prevail." ^[10] 

Full article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_God_We_Trust

The phrase “So Help Me God” has been a part of oaths, including oaths of office and oaths for military service since The Judiciary Act of 1789. However, even before the First Amendment to the Constitution, the Framers crafted the “No Religious Test Clause,” in order to establish a definitive wall between church and state. Wikipedia excerpt: “The no religious test clause of the United States Constitution is found in Article VI, section 3, and states that:

“The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” U.S. Constitution

Full article regarding the "no religious test clause"; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_religious_test_clause

Full article regarding the Judiciary Act of 1789; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judiciary_Act_of_1789