On Politics
Cheers to Republican Jon Huntsman for these words: “I will not be attending this year’s convention, nor any Republican convention in the future, until the party focuses on a bigger, bolder, more confident future for the United States — a future based on problem solving, inclusiveness, and a willingness to address the trust deficit, which is every bit as corrosive as our fiscal and economic deficits. … I encourage a return to the party we have been in the past, from Lincoln right on through to Reagan, that was always willing to put our country before politics.”
I enjoy listening to a radio station dedicated to politics (POTUS, XM). However, my channel-changing urge kicks in when I hear any of these voices: Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV, and White House Press Secretary Jay Carney.
Besides the campaigns for US president being too long, this one is quite boring.
This David Brooks’ column about opportunity ended with these words: “Political candidates will have to spend less time trying to exploit class divisions and more time trying to remedy them — less time calling their opponents out of touch elitists, and more time coming up with agendas that comprehensively address the problem. It’s politically tough to do that, but the alternative is national suicide.”
On Headlines from The Onion
Highest Blender Setting Drowns Out Angry Jamba Juice Customer
ESPN Poll Asks Readers if They Like Sports
Grandpa Used as Yard Sale Greeter
Roommate Eats Emergency Preparedness Kit
Washington Monument Set Up with Date with Eiffel Tower
Player Asks Stadium Crew to Turn Off Lights so Team can See the Stars
Interesting Reads
The Subtle Science of Scotch Whisky
Math and the musical genius of the Beatles
A high-performance electric car
Myths about the Financial Meltdown
Blogger Alisha about happiness
About Charles de Gaulle
50 years of Bond’s style – that’s James Bond
On Potpourri
The World Choir Games ends its first time run in the US run this weekend. It’s been a surprising success as tickets are difficult to get and one has to go early to get a seat at the free events.
Some readable potpourri about the God Particle
An infographic
Naming
A humorous look
Blogger Nancy chimes in
Artists to see who are connected to this blog in some way: African art and watercolors from Greece.
A reminder to everyone: Check your Spam folder on your dashboard to see if comments by regular visitors are unexpectedly going there.
While in the Spam folder, you may find some gems – like the one about Christmas music on my recent post about Education: Texas GOP Style.
I will have a classic cartoon post this weekend.
To send you into the weekend, here’s a tribute to the dedicated people of the U.S. Coast Guard. Have a safe weekend everyone. In the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.
A Frank Angle 
Beware treading on northern feet, my friend. My Canadian adoptive unit, the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, also use the motto “Semper Paratus”. 😉
Though the ESPN survey kinda sounds like modern-day politics in action (playing to the home team, to borrow from the “stadium lights off” bit), my personality speaks to the Jamba juice one. Though I might be … motivated … to use the blender ON the obnoxious customer, rather than just to drown them out! 😀
If you, or any of your friends, wants a hoot related to the Higgs, there is a clip on YouTube where Jim Parsons, in character as Sheldon Cooper, explains the Higgs. If you like “Big Bang Theory”, you’ll LOVE the clip!
Have a happy, and hopefully wet, Friday!
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John,
I trend into the military and get zapped 😉 … but the Canadian unit doesn’t the song. Meanwhile, I’m surprised you didn’t comment about the car article in the Interesting Reads … and I put it in for you! 😦 … Have a good weekend, meanwhile, is this the clip?
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I believe that’s it – I’ll compare it to the one I have, but I doubt there’s too many versions.
I’m sorry, I ignored the link ’cause it’s about Tesla, and I’ve been following them for quite some time – not only are they producing the only mass-production (so to speak) electric sports car, but their CEO, Elon Musk, also runs the group SpaceX that made that automated cargo pod that launched and docked with the ISS about a month ago. SpaceX is likely to be the first US-based commercial interest to put a human into orbit!
And if you want, the RHLI do have their own band, so I can try to find a video of them to challenge our Coast Guard folk. 😉
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Ha ha .. and should have known that it wasn’t new info for you. Dang it! 😉
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By the by, speaking of space, you hear that poor little demoted Pluto now has a fifth moon? NASA was trying to map a path for the New Horizons probe mission, and spotted what they believe to be moon #5. Not bad for a little ball of rock that the “experts” punted out of the planet category, eh? 😀
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John,
I had NOT heard that bit of info … so thanks for sharing. FYI: We’re getting some unexpected, but needed, rain on this Saturday morning.
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On the bright side (no, not really), comapaigns, which now start the day after election day, can’t get any longer.
Looking forward to reading the god Higgs Boson articles if the time presents itself.
Have a great weekend Frank!
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Guapo,
Brilliant assessment of campaign season! 🙂 Enjoy the articles and the weekend!
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Love that Coast Guard tribute, Frank. I’m sure they do a fine job. I always check my spam comments. Some of them are hilarious. 😉 Happy weekend to you.
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Paradise,
Cheers to the Coast Guard (and I like their march song). Ah ha … you glance through all the spam files too (Cheers to another person like me!) Meanwhile, you didn’t mention/notice the link to African art, so I’m crushed. Cheers to your weekend and you perpetual struggles in Paradise. Thanks for commenting.
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I did notice it, but omitted to go there. Silly me! Thanks so much for the publicity for my sister. You’re a star. Just goes to show, one must always read the small print. 😉
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Now I feel better. 🙂
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Phew!! I’m so relieved. 😉
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Good article about de Gaulle; ditto re coastguard. And this time I think we have clear onion winner – Highest Blender Setting Drowns Out Angry Jamba Juice Customer
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Fasab,
This week’s reads are quite the variety, so I figure the historians in the crowd will like the DeGaulle article. Meanwhile, Jamba Juice headline is already the leader of this pack. Thanks for commenting.
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Thanks very much for the link, I am honored to be featured!! Also, I like your list of channel-changing political blockheads… I’m not very big on tv or radio, but if the internet had channels, those would make me change them as well 😉
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Twixt,
You are very welcome – and I hope some stop by. (I know Starla did.) “Political blockheads” is right on! thanks for commenting.
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Good Morning Frank :+) I’m glad The World Choir Games was a success. I bet that would be really great to attend.
“Player Asks Stadium Crew to Turn Off Lights so Team can See the Stars”
“Roommate Eats Emergency Preparedness Kit”
I’m also thrilled that you have links to articles on the God Particle about what’s going on with Cern. Looking forward to checking out the links.
Hope you have a good weekend.
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Starla,
Today is the last day for the World Choir Games, and hopefully I can get a post together next week with a variety of videos. Meanwhile, the a national handbell convention comes to town starting on Wednesday. 🙂 Hope you enjoy the Cern articles. Thanks for commenting.
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Hi Frank, I look forward to seeing videos from the World Choir Games. The handbell converntion sounds like a lot of fun. I enjoyed checking out the CERN links. :+)
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Thanks for linking to my blog. My spam folder is a source of endless amusement.
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Nancy,
My pleasure … and cheers to another Spam folder reader! Thanks for stopping by.
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Frank I really enjoyed reading your link on Happiness! That was a great read! :+)
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Starla,
Great news … and I hope you let Twixt (Alisha) know I sent you. 😉 Thanks for letting me know!
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Thanks for the heads up on Jonathan Fenby’s biography of Charles de Gaulle. I plan to read it soon.
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Tim,
And I’m confident you will give me a full report. Thanks for commenting.
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I do think the lead-up to a US election seems to go on for an incredible amount of time. I like the one about the grandpa being used to greet people at a yard sale! xx
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Spiced,
The length of the US presidential election is not quite painful, but starts the day after Election Day. Then again, to quote Guapo, at least it can’t get any longer. Thanks for visiting and sharing your fav.
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Player Asks Stadium Crew to Turn Off Lights so Team can See the Stars–that’s a good one! I am eager to read the article about Math and the Beatles. I just posted with an inclusion from one of my Spam messages…it struck me so funny that I had to share it. Now that I’m checking my spam folder every day I actually read them. So funny! Have a good weekend, Frank! Hope it’s cooler than last weekend! Debra
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Debra,
Cheers to another who can find humor in the Spam folder. Enjoy the math/Beatles article. Thanks for commenting.
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The Stars The Stars!
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Ginger,
That headline could be applicable to many sports. 🙂 Thanks for visiting.
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As you might guess, Frank, I totally loved the article on math and the Beatles! Here’s a fun contribution to the God particle as reflected in music: “Scientists Set the Higgs Boson to Music: http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2012/07/11/scientists-set-the-higgs-boson-to-music/
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Lynn,
Knowing that I have several readers that would enjoy the math/Beatles article, I had to include it – so I’m glad you visited! Meanwhile, here’s the music you mentioned.
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