From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
"Hey. Love yer sig…"
Every now and agin' C&J drops in on random posts looking for signature lines (links, quotes, or other words of wisdom that automatically appear when you post a comment---you can create a "sig" at your user profile page). It's fun because it gives me a chance to explore posts I might not otherwise visit. And it's addictive because of "potato chip syndrome"---once you start it's hard to stop. (But unlike potato chips, fewer sig lines end up between the sofa cushions.)
Here are some "sig"nificant (Ha Ha Ha! He played with a word funny) brain candy from you, the unwashed but well-coiffed orange rabble:
Gandhi's Seven Sins: Wealth without work; Pleasure without conscience; Knowledge without character; Commerce without morality; Science without humanity; Worship without sacrifice; Politics without principle (tmservo433)
fact does not require fiction for balance (proudly a DFH) (mollyd)
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Most people say that what some people say is pretty stupid. (nullspace)
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Cake or DEATH? Oh, I'll have cake, please. (wmtriallawyer)
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Oregon: Sure...it's cold. But it's a damp cold. (Keith930)
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"Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don’t pretend to understand." ~-Atticus Finch, "To Kill a Mockingbird" (SottoVoce)
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Please sign the petition to pardon Gov. Don Siegelman (One Pissed Off Liberal)
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GOP Agenda: Repeal 20th Century. (NormAl1792)
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REMINDER: California now has a balanced budget.
All they had to do was get rid of most of their Republicans. (smileycreek)
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"This is the best bad idea we have by far..." ~Argo (MsGrin)
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Impeach Norquist! (kitebro)
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You can't make this stuff up. (David54)
As always, I bow to your superior sigging ability.
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Note: The cost of mailing a first-class letter just went up a penny to 46 cents. But if you deliver it yourself it's only 40. Have a nice day. ---Mgt.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til Groundhog Day: 3
Days 'til the 2013 Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival in Des Moines, Iowa: 10
Number of registered Kossacks as of yesterday morning: 650,271
(Source: jotter)
Rank of Knoxville, TN and Providence, RI among most Bible-minded cities in America: #1, #96 (last place)
Rank of Portland, Maine on the list: #93
(Source: Barna Group/American Bible Society)
Percent of adult respondents in an AARP survey who say they have 5 or more social media accounts: 15%
Percent who say they have 1-2 social media accounts: 65%
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Mid-week Rapture Index: 184 (including 4 Supernatural Events and one of those days). Soul Protection Factor 8 lotion is recommended if you’ll be walking amongst the heathen today.
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Puppy Pic of the Day (via kossack Simple): In Westbrook, Maine, dogged determination.
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CHEERS to State'ing the obvious. As if it needs to be said, John Kerry aced his Secretary of State confirmation yesterday:
"Shut yer pie hole, Putin!"
Kerry has spent the last twenty-eight years in the Senate representing Massachusetts, all of them serving on the Foreign Relations committee, the last four as Chairman.
Kerry will have a full diplomatic plate, including pending negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, managing a rising China, limiting fallout from the Arab Spring in the Middle East, and advancing international action on climate change. In meeting these challenges, Kerry will find himself working closely with his replacement as Chairman on the Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ).
It's a fitting cap to a career in public service that began in Vietnam and included a valiant attempt to dislodge the Bush administration in the 2004 election. By the way, there's a big difference between being Secretary of State and a Senator. One involves working with unruly blowhards with weird accents and huge egos from strange places who are hellbent on getting the most booty for the least effort, and the other involves doing the same thing except you're Secretary of State.
JEERS to the Catholic Rules. Today's rule is very simple: Fetuses are people…unless you're a Catholic hospital and there's a lawsuit against you involving fetuses who may have died on account of your negligence and could cost you a bundle of joy money, in which case fetuses are definitely not people. We trust this clears up any confusion.
CHEERS to "32." Happy birthday to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 131 years old today. Says William Ridings and Stuart McIver in their book Rating the Presidents (where FDR sits at #2, just below Lincoln):
FDR with his prized microphone collection
Roosevelt is praised most often for his role in preserving the American capitalist system at a time when many countries were opting for fascism. Given the dire crises he was forced to confront, perhaps the highest praise from the poll is "the right man in the right place at the right time." [...] Others praise him for stopping Hitler---and shudder to think what might have been if a less-effective president had been at the helm in those dangerous days.
The lunatics on the right try mightily to rewrite history by insisting that the New Deal was a failure...never mind that laws enacted in the 1930s helped prevent our recent Great Recession from turning into an all-out depression. Pay your respects here. And never forget that we have nothing to fear but fear itself. Which, now that I think of it, kinda sucks if your last name happens to be Fear.
P.S. It's also Dick Cheney's birthday. He turns 666 again.
TTFN to James Carville and Mary Matalin. They've been booted from CNN. Apparently, viewers switched channels whenever they came on because they couldn’t understand what he was saying and they could understand what she was saying.
CHEERS to pulling the trigger on efforts to get fewer crazy people to pull the trigger. Couple quick gun-safety tidbits. The U.S. Conference of Mayors has endorsed (pdf) the Obama-Biden gun safety task force suggestions, as has the group Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Here's what Portland, Maine's Michael Brennan had to say as a member of MAIG, which is now up to 830 member mayors:
"Since the shooting in Newtown just over a month ago, our coalition and more than a million grassroots supporters have joined forces to press Washington for a plan to end gun violence. This announcement shows that our voices have been heard, and the President has demonstrated that he's ready to make changes and address the public outcry surrounding this important issue."
Meanwhile Gabrielle Giffords' husband, Mark Kelly of
Americans for Responsible Gun Solutions, will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee today---he'll promote the need for universal background checks and a ban on high-capacity magazines. Also testifying: NRA mouthpiece Wayne LaPierre, who---SPOILER ALERT---won't.
JEERS to Lance al-Link: Secret Iranian Space Chimp. Iran's space agency says it just launched a monkey into space.
"Ham," the chimp who went up
in a Mercury capsule in 1961,
beating Iran's chimp by 52 years.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has sent a monkey into space aboard an indigenous bio-capsule as a prelude to sending humans into space,” IRNA posted on its website. Reuters, citing an IRNA report, said the capsule reached an altitude of 75 miles, or 120 kilometers, and then “returned its shipment intact.”
“The Islamic Republic’s state-run English-language Press TV said the monkey was retrieved alive,” Reuters reports.
"Golly, that's really awesome," said NASA. Almost as awesome as when we did it. In
nineteen fricking sixty one." Nerds are snarky.
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Five years ago in C&J: January 30, 2008
CHEERS to nail-biting suspense. We're so preoccupied with the U.S. election that we forgot to mention the results from Cuba---the first "vote" since Fidel turned over the reins to his hottie brother Raul. Anyway, 614 Communist party candidates ran, and 614 Communist party candidates won. I give credit to the yard signs.
CHEERS to getting eaten alive in Alligator Alley. Yesterday John McCain, the "Ooga Booga!!!" candidate who, if you listen to the conventional wisdom, will decimate the Democratic candidate in a 95%-5% LANDSLIDE this November, barely squeaked out a win over Mitt Romney in the Florida GOP primary. The game continues, but not for Rudy 911 who, if you listened to the conventional wisdom six months ago, was going to decimate the Democratic candidate in a 95%-5% LANDSLIDE this November. At this rate it looks like Ron Paul may end up being the last man standing.
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And just one more…
CHEERS to saving the America dream. Thank the Flying Spongecake Monster, kids---it really does get better:
Seriously.
Hostess Brands is close to picking a preferred buyer for its iconic Twinkies brand, a move that would be a key step in the eventual return of the snack cake to grocery shelves. A source familiar with negotiations says that two private-equity firms, Apollo Global Management and C. Dean Metropoulos & Co., are the likely winners of this round of negotiations to buy Twinkies.
"It's likely," said the source. "It's moving very fast."
Phew! I was down to my last semi-trailer load. Oh, and this is interesting: Apollo also owns Pabst Blue Ribbon. I see brand extension possibilities here. If you need me, I'll be in the kitchen experimenting.
Have a nice Wednesday. And keep that mojo comin' for GreenMountainBoy02 and Leaves on the Current. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
Do exactly the opposite of what Bill in Portland Maine tells you
---David Atkins
1/28/13
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