Quote of the Day: Abraham Lincoln

Greetings to our blog readers in Lithuania, Thailand and South Sudan, actually I'm pretty sure we never had a hit from there.

Today, we quote Abraham Lincoln, the 16th American president, who was assassinated at the Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC.

Today, the Ford's Theatre offers both tours and stage productions. Starting on Jan.24th (until Feb. 23rd), Ford's Theatre will be producing the musical "Violet," which is based on "The Ugliest Pilgrim" by Doris Betts.

There is also the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois.

Here is the quote from Lincoln, who has reportedly been the third person who has the most books written about him, behind Jesus Christ and William Shakespeare:

"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."

http://www.fordstheatre.org

http://www.alplm.org

Presidential Quotes: Dwight D. Eisenhower

We are keeping it simple tonight, but we do want to tell blog-readers that we had the opportunity to visit the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas, last year, and it's a very neat place. The center also has Ike's childhood home and his grave. It should not be confused with the Eisenhower Public Library District, which is located a few states over in Harwood Heights, Illinois.

Here is Eisenhower's quote:

"Any man who wants to be president is either an egomaniac or crazy."

http://www.eisenhowerarchives.gov/

DC Week (3 of 8): Escape from DC............but, Skyline Drive is Closed Too

With images of 1) Cong. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah, who is one of the most social media savvy members of the House), 2) The Metro line map for Washington, DC, the Red Line is the one used to get to Washington Capitals games and 3) Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who will be appearing on at least one Sunday morning talk show tomorrow.

Here are the tweets:

1) The Hill: "John Boehner spokesman takes flack for calling House Dems 'hostage takers..'"

2) Huff Post Politics: "Conservative shutdown architects hosting fancy fundraiser on debt ceiling day" (which was yesterday).

3) Washington DC News: "Ted Cruz wins religious conservatives 2016 straw poll."

4) Mother Jones (a liberal publication): "Demonstrating the lies of pundits is sort of like shooting fish in a barrel."

5) Politico: "Ken Cuccinelli's campaign released its most brutal ad yet in the very nasty Virginia governor's race." (he is running against Democrat Terry McAuliffe).

6) DC United (the local pro soccer team): "Tailgate is underway. Pick up your tickets and visit the food trucks in Lot 8 as well as Nocha Latina festivities!"

http://chaffetz.house.gov/

http://www.wmata.com/

http://www.durbin.senate.gov/public/

http://thehill.com/

http://www.motherjones.com/

http://www.politico.com

Vintage Harvey Comics Covers_Casper the Friendly Ghost #99

Since Free Comic Day will be celebrated here in America and perhaps around the world on Sat., May 4th, 2013, at places like Acme Comics in Greensboro, NC*, we thought we'd post this cover of "Casper the Friendly Ghost" #99 which came out in (to our knowledge) 1966. Assuredly, it's worth more than 12 Cents now!

*- We just found that there is an Acme Comics in Peoria, Ill., as well. We presume this is just a coincidence.

http://www.acmecomics.com

http://www.acmecomicspeoria.com

Virtual Postcard from Illinois- The Sears/Willis Tower

I'm not actually in Chicago, but since Illinois is one of the 8 states we've been through on this mammouth roadtrip, we thought we'd send you 'a virtual postcard from there.'

Apparently, the Sears Tower is now called the Willis Tower; I guess I should thank the kids working at Google's regional office in Boulder, Colo. (yes, that place does exist) or Javier the Intern, which is a long-running gag on my two blogs.

http://www.theskydeck.com

http://www.willistower.com

It's Election Day in America

One of the most interesting U.S. Congressional races is actually between Cong. Howard Berman (D-Calif., top) and Cong. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.). Since the district includes the city of Glendale, Calif., which has the largest Armenian-American population in the country (it should pointed out that I'm a Turkish-American, though also a Democrat, so much for trying to be as objective as Jim Lehrer or Charlie Rose, both of PBS), the Armenian-American actually sponsored a debate between the two candidates. This has lead us to come up with the satirical label "Berman Sherman Armenians," alas, we don't have the monetary funds to copyright the term!

I suppose it is best for me not to make an endorsement in this race, and as it is, it is very easy to get the candidates mixed. In fact, we almost misidentified Berman for Sherman. 

Another interesting Congressional race, in an election being overshadowed by the close presidential election, is between Cong. Jim Matheson (D-Utah), perhaps the most conservative Democrat on The Hill and his challenger Mia Love, an African-American Republican Mormom who is the mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah. Local newspapers in Utah said that Love actually has a slight polling lead in the race.

There is also the high-profile race between Cong. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) and his challenger, Tammy Duckworth, 44, a Democrat, who is a double amputee from serving a combat mission she was serving in the Iraq War in November of 2004, just days after George W. Bush edged John Kerry, another war veteran, for the presidency. Duckworth was recently profiled in "Mother Jones," a left of center publication.

Lastly, we want to commend the Langley High School  12th grade government class in McLean, Va., a suburb of Washington, DC. They project that President Barack Obama will win over Mitt Romney by a tally 290-248 electoral college votes. The school, which is nicknamed the Vikings, the same nickname as Northside High School in my hometown of Roanoke, Va. (not my alma mater) and their political forecast was published in the Sunday edition of "The Washington Post."

There is no report, to our knowledge, on whom the Northside Vikings think will win the race, but the school is in Roanoke County, which is considered a swing jurisdiction that slightly favors Republicans.

http://www.howardberman.com

http://www.bradsherman.com

http://www.motherjones.com

http://www.reason.com (a conservative/libertarian publication)