Apocalypse Now 2: Who's Afraid of Virginia Foxx?

Forgive the biased political humor, but I think if Republican members of the House of Representatives in the U.S. Congress vote for a government shutdown this evening, they should clean up the elephant dung at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. (for those of you in Dubai, the elephant is the symbol of the Republican Party).

Alas, a family of six from Winston-Salem, NC, or Knoxville, Tenn., who were hoping to visit the National Zoo during a weekend trip to Washington, DC, will have to make alternate plans. Perhaps, they can tour the Dutch Embassy?! (yes, that is a joke, but it gives us a reason to post a photo of windmills).

And, this brings us to Cong. Virginia Foxx (R-NC, pictured top) who was at one time considered to be most conservative Congressional member of the North Carolina Republican delegation. But, those were in the grand ole days of 2009.

Here are 10 tweets regarding the mess in Washington, DC:

1) HuffPost Politics: Unless Congress acts, the govt will shut down in 4 hours.

2) David Frum (a conservative who has been critical of GOP): "Just to put things in context: tomorrow, the Italian government will be open for business as usual."

3) E.J. Dionne: "Great Edward Gluce column: It makes more sense for Obama to talk to the leader of Iran than the GOP in Congress."

4) WashDCNews: "WUSA9 speaks to DC Mayor Vincent Gray about government shutdown."

5) The Daily Edge: "Republican extremists dig in their heels 'We remain determined to kill as many Americans as possible."

6) Huffington Post: "Michele Bachmann compares being dependent on health care to being addicted to crack cocaine."

7) Talking Points Memo: "Senate will reject House's latest Obamacare gambit before midnight."

8) WashingtonPost: "Man arrested at the National Zoo after police find white powder, shards of glass at zoo exhibit." (This is our one tweet not related to a govt shutdown, but it caught our attention).

9) Amanda Terkel: "Ted Cruz, whose wife works at Goldman Sachs says he'll give up his salary in shutdown."

10) LOLGOP: "If you judge House Speaker John Boehner by all the laws he's repealed rather than the laws he's passed he's even worse."

http://www.rollcall.com/

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/

http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com

http://www.visitholland.com

Billy Bragg on the Death of Margaret Thatcher

On April 10th, Billy Bragg, an English left-wing folk/rock singer whose political anthems made him a recognized voice in the mid 1980s, will play in Winnipeg, Canada. He made a statement regarding the death of England's first female prime minister Margaret Thatcher, who was known for her right-wing politics.

Here is a condensed version of his statement: "This is not a time for celebration. The death of Margaret Thatcher is nothing more than a salient reminder of how Britain got into the mess that we are in today.................Raising the glass to the death of an infirm old lady changes none of this. The only real antidote to cynicism is activism. Don't celebrate---organise."

David Frum (pictured center), a center-right conservative figure in America who is actually a Canadian, posted many tweets about the woman who also helped Meryl Streep win her well-deserved second Best Actress Oscar.

One of them read as follows: "When people told Thatcher to jump, she did not say 'how high?' She said: 'Well, watch.'

SIDEBAR: We are currently listening to the BBC which is asking young people in South Africa if they are concerned about the ramifications of what they might post on a social media site like Facebook or Twitter. As one might expect, some of these tweenagers are concerned and use caution while others don't fret too much. But, one of the interviewed subjects states that she will remove Facebook posts of her drinking alcohol when she looks for a job.

http://www.billybragg.co.uk

http://www.frumforum.com

Pre-Election Day Tweets_Should Election Day Be a Holiday?

Before we begin, let's congratulate Marsha Line, the 2012 Cave Spring High School (Roanoke, Va.) homecoming queen; we presume that even though my home state is a swing state which reportedly the closest one in the country, along with perhaps Colorado, that neither President Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney has sought out her endorsement.

The 9th district of southwest Virginia has a fairly interesting Congressional race between Cong. Morgan Griffith (R), who is from Salem, Va., and his opponent Anthony Flaccavento, a successful organic farmer from Abingdon, Va., which is 2.5 hours from Salem and 7 hours from Washington, DC.

Coal has been one of the hot topics in the race in which Griffith is favored as coal miners, normally reliable Democratic voters, have been voting more Republican because of cultural issues and fears of environmental regulations, though climate change/global warming was the issue which made New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the most recognized political independent endorse Obama.

We have tweets from both candidates in this final round-up of Pre-Election Day tweets, taken from last night:

1) @Slate (Slate.com): "Latest polls show President Obama ahead of Mitt Romney in Ohio and Florida."

2) @CNNPolitics (CNN Politics): "Washington Redskins lose, San Francisco Giants win, election still unclear."

3) @lmcnelly (Lucas McNelly, a liberal activist): "I'm spending way too much time cursing at Republican attack ads."

4) @afor9th (Anthony Flaccavento, pictured bottom): "Thought telling truth and standing up for working people would rally folks. And it has. #Flaccavento in Wise County."

5) @MorganGriffith (Morgan Griffith, pictured top): "At the Dickenson County GOP Dinner. We've made over 40 stops and traveled more than 3,000 miles. Two days to go." (John McCain narrowly won the far southwestern Virginia county over Obama in 2008 according to "The Roanoke Times").

6) @CrowleyTime (Michael Crowley, a reporter for "Time" who previously worked for "The New Republic"): "Even weirder if Mark Warner hadn't bailed out in '08, Obama would likely be in the Senate or making first WH bid now." (Comment is in reference to Virginia's Democratic Senator Mark Warner).

7) @DavidFrum (David Frum, a center-right pundit and former George W. Bush speech writer): "Why isn't election day a national holiday?/Aka The Nightmare Before Christmas." (This is why we have a Charlie Brown Christmas tree image)

8) @NeilDiamond (Neil Diamond, the one and only iconic singer): "Working the phones for Obama. If I call you, don't hang up, it's me and I need you."

http://www.flaccaventoforthe9th.com

http://www.morgangriffithforcongress.com

Tweets of the Day_ Politics, Weather and Halloween Zaniness

Trick or Tweet! We are surprised that our other blog "The Daily Vampire," which turns four years old today, is popular in Israel and Algeria at the moment?!

36 years on this date, I dressed up as Underdog for Halloween back home in Salem, Va.; it should be pointed out that I was six years old in 1976.

Here are today's tweets:

1) @washingtonpost ("The Washington Post"): Skeleton from Colonial times found when #sandy uproots historic tree (the tree is in New Haven, Conn.).

2) @severeplains (Jayson Prentice, a Kansas City meteorologist): "Fact: In the 12 hours before & after landfall, there were nearly 2.7 mentions of #Sandy on Twitter (including retweets)."

3) @NadiaNeopytou (she is a South African journalist living in New York): "Limited subway service in New York to resume on Thursday."

4) @motherjones ("Mother Jones" is a liberal magazine): "Supreme Court Catch 22: Can the government violate your rights as long as it does so in secret?" (Yes, that is the reason why we have an image of Justice Clarence Thomas, the most arch conservative member of the Supreme Court).

5) @davidfrum (David Frum is a center-right pundit who used to be George W. Bush's speech writer): "How much of the white vote will show up on Nov. 6?"

6) @HuffingtonPost (Huffington Post): "Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on climate change: I don't think the federal govt. has done enough. A group of people in Wash. right now deny the truth."

7) @capitalweather (Capital Weather Gang, a Washington, DC-based weather outlet): "Due to #sandy, our winter outlook release- scheduled for Nov. 1_ delayed until after the election. Who is disappointed?"

8) @UWGymnastics (University of Washington gymnastics, former Huskies' gymnast Haley Bogart is pictured above): "Happy Halloween! Show us your costumes? Anyone a gymnast for Halloween! Go Dawgs!"

Tweets of the Night_ Politics, Sports and Religion

For those of you who are are yak herders in Mongolia or Buddhist monks in Bhutan, the first image is of Cong. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) who is Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's arch conservative running mate. The other two images are of a college volleyball player (there was lots of college volleyball action tonight) from the University of South Florida and a Serbian priest, who to our knowledge has not endorsed either Romney or President Barack Obama, that is not the case with certain reality tv show 'stars.'

Let's jump in the pool:

1) @uncgsports (UNC-Greensboro Athletics): Women's soccer takes down Davidson on Senior Night 1-0.

2) @GatorZoneVB (University of Florida Gators Women's Volleyball): "No.11 #Gators Earn Ninth Sweep of 2012 with 3-0 Victory over Ole Miss."

3) @uncvolleyball (University of North Carolina Women's Volleyball): "Carolina Holds off Virginia 3-2 as the Tar Heels improve to 14-4, 5-3 (in ACC play) on the season," (the game was played in Charlottesville, Va.)

4) @AlexSemin (Carolina Hurricanes hockey player Alex Semin, a Russian national formerly with the Washington Capitals): "He may only be a teenager, but until Bryce Harper goes to Russia to play hockey for his grandmother, his accomplishments are miniscule." (Semin is referring to one of the star players for the Washington Nationals, a team that lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the playoffs by a 9-7 score tonight).

5) @TerryMoran (Terry Moran of ABC News): "Some idiot fired shots into Obama's field office in Denver.  Let's all try to calm down and respect each other."

6) @LOLGOP (LOL GOP): "If the math behind Mitt Romney's tax plan worked, George W. Bush would have spoken at the Republican Convention."

7) @theOnion ("The Onion," a faux news publication): "Joe Biden: I'm a flawed man, but there's love in my heart."

8) @VT_Volleyball (Virginia Tech Women's Volleyball): "Hokies drop 3-1 decision to NC State: Kathryn Caine knocked down 13 kills."

9) @MLBJesus (Major League Baseball Jesus): "Some of my best friends are Cardinals," this satiric statement made in reference to the St. Louis Cardinals.

10) @SecretCabDriver (Secret Cab Driver): "GOP: Vote for us because we have guns. And, remember we're not afraid to use them." (this tweet was meant to be satiric in nature)

11) @HuffPostPol ("Huffington Post Politics"): "Democratic Brad Sherman regrets grabbing Howard Berman during debate." (This is a tweet regarding the Congressional battle which actually pits two Democratic Congressional reps from the Los Angeles-area against each other; we have a special interest in this because the Armenian-American lobby sponsored one of the debates and Turkey was mentioned throughout the forum. Turkey and Armenia do not have diplomatic relations in spite of being neighboring countries due to a very ugly and controversial historical dispute).

12) @davidfrum (David Frum, a conservative pundit who has been critical of the current state of the Republican Party; he was actually profiled in an excellent article in "The Nation," a liberal magazine): "Message of the debate poll: Twitter loves politics, is bored with government."

GOP Pre-Convention Tweets: I Am Not a Republican Because....

Before we run down our tweet log from a busy night on Twitter, in which one trending topic was #IAmNotARepublicanBeacuse, here is a list of the images above:

1) Donny Osmond. The '70s icon from Utah who is a Mormon is a strong supporter of Mitt Romney. To his credit, unlike country singer Hank Williams Jr., Osmond has not made disparaging comments about President Barack Obama or the Islamic faith. We learned than in recent years, he has been a game show host?!

2) A Tampa Bay Buccaneers cheerleader: We tried to find an image that would not get our blog banned in Qom, Iran, well, it probably is any how.

3) A Chow Chow puppy: Today is/was National Dog Day in America, and this breed is worth $3,000-8,500. Perhaps, with a hefty tax break that Romney would give rich Americans, that demographic will indulge in lots of expensive pets.

The GOP Convention is reportedly delaying its first day due to Tropical Storm Isaac.

Here are tonight's tweets:

1) @amazingatheist (The Amazing Atheist): "#IAmNotARepublicanBecause: "I'm not tricked into focusing on my pseudo-moral indignation over social issues to the detriment of all else."

2) @OlivierPortugal (Benjamin Button): "#IAmNot......I Don't Blame Teachers for a Recession Caused by Bankers."

3) @HuffPostPol (Huff Post Politics): "Seniors, Occupy movements protests GOP convention."

4) @KatrinaNation (Katrina vanden Huevel, she is the managing editor of the liberal journal "The Nation"):
"Will Huckabee Defend Akin in His RNC Speech?"

5) @lobsterpajamas (Michelle Morgan): "IAmNot.....I have a soul. Common sense helps too."

6) @LOLGOP (LOL GOP): "I blame Obama for creating 4 million jobs, getting bin Laden and ending the Iraq War. Things used to be so awesome."

7) @davidfrum (David Frum, the former George W. Bush speech writer has become a leading advocate for moderation in the conservative movement): "I want a modern Republican party precisely because I am a Republican. If I weren't, I wouldn't care."



 http://www.nationaldogday.com

http://www.donny.org

http://www.mormon.org

http://www.visttampabay.com

http://www.gopconvention2012.com

http://www.frumforum.com

http://www.atheists.org

http://www.thenation.com

http://www.islam-guide.com

For a link to our other blog, which features an image of a toy version of Tampa Bay Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier, go to "The Daily Vampire:"

http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com

Monday Morning Tweets_ The Agony of Swedish Defeat

The images are of 1) Spiro Agnew- Richard Nixon's first vice president who resigned over scandal 2) The Swedish handball team and 3) A debate between Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Ross Perot in 1992.

Here is a rundown of some eye-catching tweets we saw one hour ago:

1) @PamGrier (actress Pam Grier): "Missy Elliott Had 'No Clue' About Aaliyah album" (This is in reference to swimmer Missy Elliott of the United States who several gold medals at the Olympics).

2) @Todayszaman ("Today's Zaman" is an English-language newspaper): "Number of Syrian refugees in Turkey nears 60,000."

3) @DailyNewsEgypt: "Iranian President in significant visit to Saudi Arabia" (Iran and Saudi Arabia have ironically been political rivals).

4) @RadioSweden: "Sweden's not so shabby Olympic performance" (The link indicated there were some pleasant surprises for Sweden at the games, but that the men's handball team 22-21 loss to France in the gold medal game was a profound disappointment; handball is very popular in Scandinavian countries).

5) @Electionate (Nate Cohn): "Instead the Ryan plan produced movement among the 'rising American electorate and independents."  (Cohn is a writer for the center-left American magazine "The New Republic," in case you were in the Andes Mountains of Bolivia over the weekend, Mitt Romney chose Paul Ryan as his running mate).

6) @DavidFrum (David Frum): "Shouldn't congressional Republicans propose some pilot programs to test whether premium support will control costs effectively?" (Frum is a former speech-writer for George W. Bush who coined the term 'axis of evil.' He has been critical of the fringe Tea Partiers within the Republican Party. Ironically, he was given a seemingly friendly profile in the very liberal magazine "The Nation").

7) @KatrinaNation (Katrina vanden Heuvel): "Great that first time a woman will moderate presidental debates, but will we tough questions? That's what debates should be about." (She is the managing editor of "The Nation").

8) @LOLGOP: "Ryan is the most extreme GOP nominee in a century. The most extreme GOP VP nominee in 4 years is scary enough." (This tweet is why we chose Spiro Agnew; there were too many for Paul Ryan and most were unusable).

http://www.tnr.com

http://www.frumforum.com

http://www.thenation.com

http://www.svrigesradio.se

http://www.todayszaman.com

http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com

Highlights from My 24 Things to Improve My Life List

It seems to be a slow Saturday night, and I can tell that from Twitter where I saw that people as diverse as right-wing evangelical acivist Nathan Tabor, from Winston-Salem, NC, moderate conservative pundit David Frum and liberal journalist Suzy Khimm were all watching the Republican debate from Michigan tonight.

So, perhaps this will mean more blog traffic than normal.

A funny thing happened the other day as my mom and I were browsing through an independent bookstore in Roanoke, Va. I stumbled across a copy of a self-help book entitled "Clean Like a Man" by Tom McNulty. I saw on the back jacket that comic/actor Richard Lewis ("Curb Your Enthuiasm") had strongly endorsed it as he confessed to being an Oscar Madison-type.

My mom looked when I showed her the book, which I should probably read_twice, and said (paraphrase): "Oh come on. You know you'll never read the thing; sorry son, but you are a hopeless cause."

So, with that, here are highlights from a list I made today on ways I could improve my life:

1. Lose weight

2. Get a good-paying job

3. Write a short story or even a short, short story

4. Clean house (hence, the reason for the vacuum cleaner image)

5. Try to get more hits on the two blogs; surely there is someone in a hut in the jungles of Burundi who cares about what I have to say.

6. Develop more confidence around attractive women; some guy found a way to ask Anne Hathaway out on a date.

7. Go on more long walks

8. Read Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace" or at least the first chapter.

9. Watch more Jean-Luc Godard films (we would've gone with Ingmar Bergman, but his films make me feel very depressed, especially "Fanny and Alexander," it's more gut-wrenching than "Schindler's List").

10. Listen to more Turkish psychedlic music from the 1970s.

11. Save up money to buy a $500 antique Swiss cuckoo clock.

12. Drink more Counter Culture* coffee instead of Starbucks.

*-Company based in Durham, NC. Reportedly, they use beans from farms in Rwanda and/or Uganda.

Quote of the Week- Mark Twain

Today, we conclude with our month-long quips from cultural radicals and subversives from Mark Twain. Though he is considered a mainstream author today, there have been various times when Twain's works have been considered controversial. The use of the n-word vernacular that was used quite often at the time of publication (1885) of Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" has caused a stir at times for some local schoolboards even though no could rationally suggest that Twain was a racist.

The Mark Twain House in Hartford, Conn., is among the most popular tourist attractions in the Nutmeg State.

Here is Twain's quote:

"A person who won't read has advantages over a person who can't read."

SIDEBAR ONE: Though I am a Democrat, David Frum, a former speechwriter for George W. Bush, is among my favorite politically conservative pundits as he talks in terms of broad pictures as opposed to the likes of Rush Limbaugh who today proclaimed that Barack Obama 'wanted Hurricane Irene to be a huge disaster.'

Of course, like most liberals, my favorite conservative pundit is (of course!) David Brooks, but Frum, who is also keen and objective in his commentary, is a close second.

Yesterday, Frum tweeted the following regarding how Hurrican Irene affected his weekend: "Side benefit from Irene: taking my daughter to see Declaration and Constitution at National Archive with no line at all. Unprecedented."

SIDEBAR TWO: Speaking of Hartford, I actually saw a Hartford Whalers bumper sticker in Roanoke, Va., today. This was interesting to me because the Hartford Whalers have not existed since the team left for the Tarheel State and became the Carolina Hurricanes.

As the 'Canes, the team won the Stanley Cup in 2006, which actually made some people in North Carolina pay more attention to hockey than NASCAR-racing. But, of course, since racing legend Richard Petty is from Randleman, NC, and the late Dale Earnhardt hailed from Kannapolis, NC, that didn't really last. Of course, their offspring is involved in the sport as well.

But, I found out some interesting information while googling the Hartford Whalers. The current minor league hockey team in Hartford renamed themselves the Connecticut Whale last year to honor the Hartford Whalers. And, ironically, the team's previous name was the Hartford Wolf Pack, which is the same nickname for North Carolina State University in Raleigh, where the Carolina Hurricanes now play (they temporarily played in Greensboro).

The Hartford Whalers existed from 1979-1997. And, they left, in part, because the likes of then-governor of Connecticut John G. Rowland, a Republican, didn't want to spend tax payer money on a new hockey arena for the team.

But, there is still an active group that wants to bring the Hartford Whalers back in one way or another (perhaps having a new team with that name, such as what happened with the Cleveland Browns in the NFL). And, The Whalers Watchers, as they are called, will meet in Hartford on Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m.

As for the Connecticut Whale, they have their home opener on Oct. 15