SOTU Tweets Blogathon (1 of 3): Enter Paul Ryan

With the new House Speaker Cong. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) getting a new job that 'nobody in Washington wants' according to Chris Cillizza of "The Washington Post" simply because both his Republican Party and Congress as a whole is a frigging mess.

Our images are of Cong. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.), Kermit the Frog (since "The Muppets" aired on ABC right before the SOTU), and Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC), who gave the GOP response to President Barack Obama's speech.

We must thank WNYC-FM, New York City's NPR station for airing the SOTU which was not aired on my local public radio station.

For those of you in Albania, SOTU stands for State of the Union.

Here are the tweets:

1) Tom Tomorrow (liberal cartoonist): "Guys, I think they drugged Paul Ryan."

2) Audra Sparks (progressive activist): You won't be remembered as the president who fought for the environment.

3) WBTV-News (Charlotte, NC): SC Governor Nikki Haley to deliver GOP response after SOTU.

4) Cong. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.): We need to continue our economy and make it work for everyone.

5) Cong. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC): Ok.....the first thing I can agree with. Figuring out ways to help people up and out of poverty should be a priority.

6) National Zoo (we couldn't resist): Orangutans are the largest tree-dwelling animals in the world.

7) Andrea Mitchell (NBC News): POTUS hits climate deniers saying when Russians beat us into space we didn't deny Sputnik was up there, we raced to the moon.

8) Zeke Miller (Time): Obama: We're every immigrant and entrepreneur from Boston to Austin to Silicon Valley racing to shape a better world.

9) Nerdy Wonka: Pres. Obama: 'Look if anybody still wants to dispute the science around climate change have at it,  you'll be pretty lonely.

10) Cong. Gerry Connolly (D-Va): POTUS tells GOP that their climate change denial will make 'em pretty lonely given business, military, science international consensus.

11) Katrina vanden Heuvel (chief editor of "The Nation"): YES__ We spend more on our military than the next 8 nations combined, but why?

http://www.wnyc.org

http://www.thenation.com

http://www.cq.com

Colorado Republican Debate Tweets: The DC Insiders Perspective (3 of 3)

Instead of focusing on strife in places like Afghanistan, Syria, and South Sudan, the BBC World Service will be giving live updates from the CNBC Republican Debate held tonight in Boulder, Colorado. Perhaps, that it is indeed quite fitting.

SPOILER ALERT: The Kansas-Iowa State college volleyball game we mentioned in earlier tweets resulted in a Kansas victory (3-1).

These tweets are from Washington, DC, media outlets as well as some partisan and non-partisan observers. Now, the BBC is saying that Google is trying to reach remote jungle areas in Indonesia, hmm....yeah, we can't imagine we get many hits from those areas.

The photo above is of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex), one of the Republican candidates, who bears a stark resemblance to the late "Dracula" actor Bela Lugosi.

Here are the tweets:

1) The Hill: "Ben Carson on homosexuality_ I believe our Constitution protects everybody."

2) The Onion (a satirical publication): Jeb Bush Inching Podium Closer to Center of Stage During Commercial Breaks.

3) Chris Cillizza (Washington Post): Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are just on a different level tonight.

4) Robert Costa (Washington Post): Bush muted. No more hits on Rubio for now.

5) Bernie Sanders (liberal presidential candidate): "It is an embarrassment that we have a major political party that rejects the overwhelming science on climate change."

6) Emily Stephenson (Reuters): Rubio: Democrats have the ultimate Super PAC, it's called the mainstream media.

7) Glenn Kenny (movie critic): One liners not withstanding Rubio's a goddamn fascist.

8) John Robinson (former  Greensboro, NC "News&Record" news editor): "You poor people watching the GOP Debate. You could be watching the Series or the NBA or Jane Seymour's Skin Care Secrets."

9) Tom Tomorrow (liberal cartoonist): Another hit on the media DRINK.

Polar Vortex Tweets: Lots of Chattering Teeth

We would add some commentary, but we want to be able to watch the local 6:00 p.m. news, which airs in 21 minutes, so here we go:

1) Shawn Reynolds (a Weather Channel correspondent): "As of 2 p.m., Texas is the only state in the lower 48 that is not below freezing."

2) WDBJ7 Weather (CBS station in Roanoke, Va.): Thankfully, not as windy tonight, but it will still be colder than ice. Warming to the 30s on Wed.

3) Digitriad (Channel 2, CBS station in Greensboro, NC): Flu death reported in Randolph County, 14th in NC

4) WXII (NBC station in Winston-Salem, NC): Feels like temperatures won't improve much this afternoon. 30s for highs late tomorrow.

5) Markos Moulitsas ("The Daily Kos"): I went on a training ride last night and was complaining that temps had dropped to 47F.

6) WRAL (NBC Station in Raleigh, NC): Trapped indoors by arctic blast? Here are some fun ways to avoid cabin fever from GoAskMom (refers to Sarah Hall, a contributor to the station's news).

7) Reagan Airport (Washington, DC): Water cleaning continues at bag claims #3 to #7. Bags are dry and have been relocated for pax.

8) 6abc (Philadelphia): Major delays on Amtrak Northeast corridor due to downed wires.

9) Tom Tomorrow: So 'cold weather' = no global warming is just another permanent fixture of the right wing landscape right now.

10) 11 News (NBC station in Atlanta): ICY CONDITIONS are being reported on I-20 West bound toward Turner Hill Rd.

http://www.weather.com

http://www.wunderground.com

Friday Night Tweets: Terror Suspect and Major Rainstorms

We have tweets. We have tweets. Did we say: "We have tweets."

Let's explain the images real quickly: 1) the famed Paul Revere statue in Boston; 2) a Boston Red Sox umbrella; 3) a bear sloth cub which might well look like the one at the National Zoo in Washington, DC, that we will be mentioning.

Here we go; of course, the emphasis here is on today's developments in the now successful effort to apprehend Boston Marathon bomber suspect Dzohkar Tsarnaev:

1. The Fix @TheFix ("Washington Post" reporter Chris Cilliza): "People trying to make jokes on this standoff. Just quit it."

2. Anderson Cooper 360 @AC360: "@BrianToddCNN says there are floodlights on the boat, police are yelling at suspect in #watertown."

3. WBEZ @WBEZ (NPR station in Chicago): "Update: Shots fired in Mass. as police seek second bomb suspect."

4. National Review @NRO ("National Review" is a conservative American journal; we usually disagree with them): "BREAKING: Dead suspect spent 6 months abroad last year, flew from JFK to Russia. Unclear what he did during trip."

5. Muslim Matters @MuslimMatters: "American-Muslim communities pls touch base with your local police depts and request extra patrols and a physical security assessment."

6. HuffPost Celebrity @HuffPostCeleb: "Boston attack survivor Jeff Bauman gets a star-studded visit at the hospital."

7. Chapel Hill Magazine @ChapelHillMag: "Good luck to everyone running the @Tarheel10Miler tomorrow morning!"

8. geneweingarten @geneweingarten: "Are there any Jews involved in this things? If so, I am so embarrassed."

9. Katrina vanden Heuvel @KatrinaNation: "Dzhokar Tsranev in custody, alive."

10. National Zoo @NationalZoo: "At 4 mos old, our sloth bear cub is quick and enthusiastic when it  comes to training."

11. @The Kansan: "Suspect in custody! Great police work!!"

12. Mayor Tom Menino @mayortommenino (the mayor of Boston): "We got him."

13. Tom Tomorrow @tomtomorrow: "Everyone in Boston: take a deep breath. Have a drink. Have two."

14. Jesus Christ @jesus: "Over and out." (We wonder if he's hanging out with the fringe preacher the Rev. Johnny Roberston in Martinsville, Va.)

http://www.thismodernworld.com

http://www.washington.org

http://www.vistimartinsville.com

http://www.visitchapelhill.org

We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties

Well, for starters, we are not working for a PBS station in Canton, Ohio, but tech-wise it has been a very messed up weekend so far. In fact, we feel like jumping up and down like Speedy Gonzales, but I'm not sure how much the librarian here in Princeton, WVa*, would appreciate that. But, I do share the frustration that West Virginia U feel to Kentucky in the NCAAs earlier this afternoon since Deniz Kilicli of WVU is one of our favorite players.

But, I was able to read some cartoon books by Keith Knight and Tom Tomorrow which helped cheer me up a wee bit. I especially like Knight's segment in his "Knight Life" comic strips where he talks about life's sweet moments. I had earlier today here in rural West Virginia* when I passed a right-wing pick-up truck with an anti-United Nations bumper sticker and waved to him in my center-left vehicle decorated with Obama-Biden '08 bumper stickers.

I also thought one of Tom Tomorrow's "This Modern World" strips was quite prophetic (hey, it's not often us liberals use that word!) in its prediction that once some far-right nut tried to do something dangerous then the likes of Glenn Beck would somehow find a way to blame the left. And, amazingly enough, with the Tucson, Ariz., tragedy that is exactly what happened!

In other news, we want to congratulate the Utah Utes women's gymnastics team for winning their meet over Brigham Young U in Provo, Utah, last night. The Utes were helped by stand-out performances from the likes of Stephanie McAllister, who won the all-around competition.

Other Utes gymnasts with strong nights included Nansy Damianova, a Canadian Olympian whose parents were outstanding athletes themselves in Bulgaria. Nansy had a solid bars performance. Similarly, Mary Beth Lofgren of the Utes had a remarkable routine on the balance beam.

All college gym teams will be preparing for regionals within the next two weeks.

The BYU men's basketball team faces another western team in Gonzaga today in March Madness action.

The answer to our question of how far apart Los Angeles and East Lansing, Mich., was B. The two zip codes are approximately 33 hours and 20 minutes from each other.

Lastly, we found out while Googling ourselves that the name of the editor of this blog Dennis Alexander** is linked to Chang Beer from Thailand.

*- I am not actually in West Virginia at the moment

**- My name is not Dennis Alexander, but we are linked to Chang Beer!