20-Word Fiction: The Bird Watcher

When I was with a bird-watching group in Highland County , Va., the smallest county in our state, we came across bird-watchers from Raleigh, NC, and Washington, DC. But, after the day was over with I realized my idea of bird-watching involved Woody Woodpecker cartoons on Youtube.

Here is tonight's 20-Word Fiction entry:

"The bird-watcher got obsessed with a yellow-billed oxpecker. That was before the bird crapped on his bald head."

The link below is for those who like to go bird-watching in Central Park in New York City:
http://www.birdingbob.com/

Our Favorite Comics from Sunday, Jan. 18th from Comics Kingdom: Bleeker Rules Again.....

Greetings to our blog readers in Switzerland, Malaysia and Zimbabwe as well as those of you who reside in Cong. David Price's (D-NC) congressional district, which I believe includes Chapel Hill, Durham and Fayetville, so Cong. Price represents Chapel Hill on Capitol Hill (Stephan Pastis might like the pun, well maybe not!)....

"Pearls Before Swine," which is Pastis' comic strip is not actually distributed by Comics Kingdom, but "Hi and Lois" is. Today, we take a slight departure from the norm,  and focus on our favorite comic strips from the distributor rather than a given Sunday newspaper. This gives us a chance to rank "Zippy the Pinhead," one of our favorite comic strips that has a loyal cult following but is not in many newspapers, especially those in small markets, like (presumably) Altoona, Pa, Dayton, Ohio, and Charleston, W.Va.

This week, Bill Griffith, who draws "Zippy" featured an homage to the old "Nancy" comic strip from yesteryear.

Our images for today are from 1) bread bowls, which are featured in the Sunday comic strip for "Six Chix" where a café is literally serving everything imaginable in a bread bowl, 2) "Are You Being Served?," an old English sitcom which our fellow blogger and friend Chris Knight from Reidsville, NC, adores for the comic strip "Retail" and 3) a shark for "Sherman's Lagoon."

Here is our Comics Kingdom top ten:

1) Bleeker the Rechargeable Dog

2) Bizarro

3) Zippy the Pinhead

4) Six Chix

5) Retail

6) Between Friends

7) Sherman's Lagoon

8) The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee

9) Take It from the Tinkersons

10) Piranha Club

http://bleekercomics.com/

http://tinkersons.com/

http://www.zippythepinhead.com

http://www.tnaqua.org/

http://www.ncaquariums.com/

http://scaquarium.org/

The DC List (3 of 3): Republican Membersof Congress...... and when they turn 103.....

Greetings to our beloved blog readers around the world in Germany, Serbia and Turkey.

This is the last installment in our look at when just re-elected Republican members of Congress will turn 103; the joke is that these will also be the years when their seats are competitive again, because Republicans have drawn up perfect politic maps to suit their interests across the nation.

It should be pointed out that Cong. Morgan Griffith (R-Va., pict. top) is a man I respect and admire despite personal political differences. It should also be  pointed that I think Cong. Mark Sanford (R-SC, pict, bottom) is a scoundrel and a hypocrite for having an affair on his wife with a woman from Argentina while he was governor of South Carolina. Amazingly enough, voters in that state sent him up to Washington, DC.

There were also some good Democrats who won last Tuesday, including Cong. David Price (D-NC) and Cong. Jared Polis (D-Colo).

Here are the years when these ten members of Congress will turn 103:

1. Cong. Morgan Griffith (R-Va) 2061

2. Cong. Mark Meadows (R-NC, pict center) 2062

3. Cong. Mark Sanford (R-SC) 2063

4. Cong. Steve Womack (R-Ark) 2060

5. Cong. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) 2081

6. Cong. Kevin Brady (R-Tex) 2058

7. Cong. Lee Terry (R-Neb) 2065

8. Cong. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) 2062

9. Cong. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) 2055

10. Cong. Tom Petri (R-Wisc.) 2043

www.foxnews.com/politics/ (Folks we disagree with)

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics

http://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/ (Link to columns from my fellow liberal Turkish-American Cenk Uygur)

http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com (for more GOP members and when they turn 103)

Sunday Comics Survey from Washington Post: Lincoln Wins!

Greetings to our fans in Seoul, South Korea, or where ever you may be today. Here is our weekly comic strips survey, today we are featuring comics from the Sunday "Washington Post" that ran on May 18th. Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos now owns the newspaper, and for $1.75 million, we will sell him this blog as well.

Among our favorites were "Pearls Before Swine," which takes the Abe Lincoln in McDonald's concept (a short story in which the 16th president takes a ride through a time machine) and examines what the 16th president would do in the age of Twitter. Stephan Pastis even dares asks the question about what Honest Abe would have tweeted right before going to see a play at Ford's Theatre, where he was assassinated.

Interestingly enough, the actual Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, now an active venue and museum (top image) has started a production of "One Destiny," a 35-minute one-act play about Lincoln's ill-fated visit to the theatre.

Similarly, "Brewster Rockit: Space Guy" featured a great satire that reminded us of "Doctor Who" (center image), "The Argyle Sweater" featured an audition for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (bottom image) and "Foxtrot" featured a siblings squabble over a printer which was running out of ink.

Here is our survey:

1) "Pearls Before Swine"

2) "Brewster Rockit: Space Guy"

3) "The Argyle Sweater"

4) "Foxtrot"

5) "Rhymes with Orange"

6) "Lio"

7) "Dustin"

8) "Sherman's Lagoon"

9) "Judge Parker"

10) "Knight Life"


SIDEBAR: The other day, we had an entry dedicated to college commencement speakers. Today we add three more: 1) Ed Helms, Cornell University; 2) Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, William and Mary and 3) John Legend, University of Pennsylvania.

http://www.gocomics.com


http://www.washingtonpost.com/comics

http://www.fordstheatre.org/

Quote of the Day: The Dalai Lama

His Holiness the Dalia Lama of Tibet made an appearance on Capitol Hill this week, of all places, to offer the opening prayer for Congress. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va) was among those who had photographs taken with the most recognized Buddhist in the world.

The Dalai Lama also came to Washington, DC, as CPAC 2014, a gathering of arch conservatives like Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) were essentially giving rough drafts of would-be TED Talks focusing on how wimpy President Barack Obama has allegedly been with regards to Russian head of state Vladamir Putin regarding the hostile takeover of the Crimean Peninsula in the Black Sea coast of Ukraine.

Of course, many Republicans, such as Rudy Giuliani have professed admiration for Putin, which lead center-left political columnist E.J. Dionne of "The Washington Post" to suggest on NPR that Republicans are suffering from Putin Envy.

His Holiness was also in Washington, DC, when the Washington Capitals were playing vital home games. The Caps were able to put away the Phoenix Coyotes last night 3-2; we imagine very few people in Tibet or Bhutan watch pro hockey games.

Here is our quote from the Dalia Lama:

"The true hero is one who conquers his own anger and hatred."

http://www.dalailama.com/

http://boulderzen.org/ (Boulder Zen Society in Boulder, Colo.)

http://www.politico.com/

http://thehill.com/

http://www.rollcall.com/

Top 10 Olympic Lists (4 of 10): Remember The Vikings...........

First of all, we are sending a 'gecmis olsun'/"may it pass closely" (Turkish expression) to Bob Costas, the NBC commentator for the 2014 Sochi Olympics; he is suffering from pink-eye.

Here is a list of ten Scandinavian athletes who are competing at the games; some of them have in fact finished competition. We hope we spelled everyone's name correctly as we don't want any angry emails from The Danish embassy in Washington, DC, which is enduring a major winter storm as is everyone residing from Atlanta to Portland, Maine!:

1) Ragmus Stjerne. 25. Denmark. Men's Curling.

2) Margaretha Sigfridsson. 38. Sweden. Women's Curling.

3) Einar Kristgeirsson. 20. Iceland. Alpine Skiing.

4) Julia Kykkaenen. 19. Finland. Women's Ski-jumping.

5) Andres Bardal. 31. Norway. Men's Ski-jumping. Won bronze.

6) Maiken Caspersen Falla. 28. Norway. Cross-country Skiing. Won gold (pictured)

7) Kjetil Jansrud. 28. Norway. Alpine Skiing.

8) Charlotte Kalla. 26. Sweden. Women's Cross-country Skiing. Won silver.

9) Aleksander Barkos, Jr. 18. Finland. Men's Hockey. Plays for Florida Panthers.

10) Michelle Karvinen. 23. Finland. Women's Hockey. Plays for the Univ. of North Dakota.

http://www.sochi2014.com/en

http://www.bbc.com/sport/winter-olympics/2014

http://usa.um.dk/ (The Danish Embassy in Washington, DC)

https://www.washdiplomat.com/

http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com (Our sister blog with more Olympics Lists)

College Basketball Teams by Area Code for Virginia and Washington, DC (1 of 2)

The mascot for the James Madison University Dukes in Harrisonburg, Va., may be our featured image, but there are seven teams from the nation's capital and our beloved home state of Virginia that we are featuring here (interestingly enough two Washington DC schools are hosting teams from Philadelphia this week and two Virginia schools head to Boston for games on Wed. night) :

202 (Washington, D.C)

1. American University Eagles (12-7, Patriot League): Next Game vs. Navy 7:30 p.m., Wed.

2. George Washington University Colonials (16-3, Atlantic-10): Next game vs. LaSalle (Philadelphia) @ 7:00 p.m. tonight.

3. Georgetown Hoyas (11-8, Big East): Next game vs. Villanova @ 9:00 p.m. tonight

4. Howard University Bison (5-15, MEAC): Next game @ Florida A & M on Saturday.

540 (Roanoke, Harrisonburg, Blacksburg)

1. JMU Dukes (7-13, Colonial Ath., pictured): Next game @ Northeastern (Boston, Mass.) on Wed. at 7:00 p.m.

2. VMI Keydets (10-9, Lexington, Big South) @ UNC-Asheville, Tues. at 7:00 p.m.

3. Radford University (13-8, Big South, our alma mater): Next game @ Winthrop (Rock Hill, SC on Wed. @ 7:00 p.m.)

4. Virginia Tech Hokies (8-11, ACC): Next game @ Boston College on Wed. @ 7:00 p.m.

http://www.jmusports.com/

http://www.gwsports.com/

http://www.ruhighlanders.com/

http://www.hokiesports.com/

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

Little Thinkers Quotes (7 of 16): Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Greetings to our blog-readers in Slovakia, Panama and Vietnam.

Tonight, we feature a special quote from Wolfgang Amadus Mozart, who has been the subject of the award-winning play and movie "Amadeus"as well as a '80s pop song by the late Falco, who also hailed from Mozart's Austria.

For those who enjoy listening to classical music on the radio, we highly recommend WETA, an NPR station in Washington, DC, dedicated virtually exclusively to classical music.

For those who want to see a symphony, as luck would have it, The Cleveland Orchestra in Cleveland, Ohio, is performing Mozart's 'greatest hits' this weekend (our words!).........

Here is the quote from Wolfgang Amadeus:

"There is no female Mozart because there is no female Jack the Ripper."

SIDEBAR: Brigham Young University's men's basketball team won a road game over San Francisco (university) last night; the final score was 83-76.

The visiting Cougars, which has a roster that includes former Wake Forest U stand-out Chase Fischer, were lead by Kyle Collingsworth (soph. guard who happens to hail from Provo, Utah, where BYU is located) who put in 19 points. His teammate and fellow Utah resident Skyler Hlaford Jr. added points for the Cougars (12-7, 4-2 in West Coast Conference). The home town Dons (yes, that is really the team's nickname!), which have a record of 12-7, 4-2 in the WCC, were lead by 26 points from Cole Dickerson. The game aired nationally on the ESPN networks.

Little Thinkes Quotes (2 of 16): Sigmund Freud

Greetings to our blog-readers in Guatemala, Greece and Germany.

Today, we are quoting the great Austrian psycho-analyst/philosopher Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), who is associated with the playful Freudian slippers, which are being sold through the "Mental Floss" magazine web site.

We imagine that if Freud were still alive and living in Bethesda, Maryland, he might jump on a Metro train and head down to Politics and Prose, an independent bookstore in Washington, DC. The book shop has actually copyrighted the term 'politics and prose,' which we means we can't open a bookstore in Blacksburg, Va., and call it Politics and Poetry.

Politics and Prose is hosting a reading from the great Russian emigre novelist and author Gary Shteyngart ("Absurdistan") tonight; he has just written a non-fiction book called "Little Failure: A Memoir."

Here is our quote from Freud:

"Time spent with cats is never wasted."

http://www.mentalfloss.com

http://www.politics-prose.com

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

No Blog Entry Today as I'm Sick as a Cat

Since I am under the weather today, we will feature this image of a Siamese cat roaming the streets of Sofia or Varna or some other Bulgarian city. We got this image from googling 'Cats in Bulgaria.'

We also want to mention that the great '80s independent rock band Big Head Todd and the Monster, which we believe are from Athens, Ga., will perform at the fabled 9:30 Club in Washington, DC, on Sat. Jan. 18th; the concert costs $27.50, which costs as much as a parking lot ticket in the nation's capital. Somehow, we can't imagine that Congs. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Bob Goodlatte (R-Va) will be there???!!!

Speaking of Goodlatte, though we are opposed to him politically, he is from my hometown of Roanoke, Va., as is cult film director Charles Cullen, who turns 50 today. His film "The Day the Whole $%#&*@ World Blew Up" is clearly influenced by the films of Akira Kurosawa and Ingmar Bergman (yes, we are kidding!).......but, Charles Cullen of Roanoke, Va., should not be confused with the other Charles Cullen.

The other Cullen, who is just three years older than our Charles Cullen, is the most notorious serial killer in New Jersey history!

http://www.930.com

http://www.bigheadtodd.com

http://www.catchannel.com

http://www.cullenstudio.net

Weather Temps in the Mid-Atlantic

With this image of the Snowshoe Ski Resort in Snowshoe, West Virginia. we look at weather conditions throughout the mid-Atlantic. In some places, such as the Carolina coasts, the weather is actually fairly decent for the winter time, but that it's not case in many areas, including metro areas in Virginia and Maryland.

1) Mount Jackson, Va. 25 Overcast

2) Bowie, Md. 30 Overcast

3) Chapel Hill, NC 33 Overcast

4) North Myrtle Beach, SC 42 Overcast

5) Danville, Va. 33 Overcast

6) Lewisburg, WVa. 27 Overcast

7) Oxford, NC 32 Overcast

8) Colonial Heights, Va. 33 Overcast

9) Roanoke, Va. 30 Light freezing rain

10) Fayetville, NC 37 Overcast

11) Eden, NC 34 Overcast

12) Hopewell, Va. 33 Overcast

http://www.snowshoemtn.com/

http://www.wv.gov/tourism/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/  (Capital Weather Gang)

Presidential Quotes (4 of 12): Woodrow Wilson

Today, we quote President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), who as of this writing does not have a Washington Nationals mascot. Wilson served in office for two full terms (1913-1921) and he died three years after he left office in 1924.

Wilson had four alma maters, in Davidson College, the University of Virginia, Princeton and Johns Hopkins. He also has at least four high schools named after him, including Woodrow Wilson High School in Beckley, West Virginia.

Wilson's birthplace in Staunton, Va., and his residency in Washington, DC, are historic sites open to the public. He is also buried at the National Cathedral in the nation's capital.

Wilson was the eighth Democratic president since Andrew Jackson, and he would be the only Democrat to hold the presidency until Franklin D. Roosevelt came to the helm in 1933.

Here is Wilson's quote, which makes one think of the problems that President Barack Obama has faced with regards to Obamacare:

"If you want to make enemies try to change something."

http://www.woodrowilson.org

http://www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org

http://www.millercenter.org/presidentwilson

Presidential Quotes (3 of 16): William Howard Taft

Today, we are quoting William Howard Taft (1857-1930), the 27th president of the United States, who also the governor of Cuba (?!) before becoming prez, and a Supreme Court Justice after he was prez.

Taft also became the fifth presidential mascot for the Washington Nationals baseball team. But, he finished tied for last in the Presidents Race with Teddy (Roosevelt) as both had 11 wins. But, George (Washington) topped the victories list this year with 25 wins. The other two presidents represented by the mascot are Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln.

Speaking of which, the Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, where Lincoln was unfortunately assassinated is performing their annual production of "A Christmas Carol" based on the famous novelette by Charles Dickens.

Triad Stage will also be producing their production of "A Christmas Carol;" the Greensboro, NC-based theatre company will have productions of the play at their new second stage in nearby Winston-Salem.

Here is Taft's quote, which makes us think of Clarence Thomas (forgive the political humor):

"Presidents come and go, but the Supreme Court goes on forever."

http://www.fordstheatre.org

http://www.triadstage.org

DC Week (7 of 8): Meet Rudolf Bekink and the Other Chief Diplomats

We are continuing our look at ambassadors who serve their respective countries in Washington, DC, the other chief diplomats at http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com

Here is our list, the year the ambassador began their American mission is in parentheses:

1. Netherlands/Holland, Rudolf Bekink (pict. top with Barack Obama) (2012)

2. Canada, Gary Doer (2009)

3.South Africa, Ebrahim Rasool  (2010)

4. Brazil, Mauro Vieria (2010)

5. Sweden, Jonas Hafstrom (2007)

6. Australia, (mr) Kim Beazley (pict. bottom) (2010)

7. France, Francois Delattre (2011)

8. Japan, Kenichiro Sasae  (2012)

9. Italy, Claudio Bisogneiro (2013)

10. Germany, Peter Ammon (2011)

http://www.washdiplomat.com/

http://dc.the-netherlands.org/

http://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/english/html/

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

DC Week (2 of 8): Washington DC Metro Area also Preps for the Rain

These three images above are of: 1) Cong. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), one of the few openly gay members of the House; 2) cats in the rain; 3) Cong. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), whose far right politics have made him a Tea Party darling.

Here are the tweets:

1. Washington DC News: "Ted Cruz the star of Values Voters Summit"

2. Cong. Jared Polis: "It is an enormous simplification to speak of the American. Every American has his own mind," Ludwig Von Mises.

3. Capital Weather Gang: "Flood warning extended thru 7:45 a.m. Sat. for much of DC metro area w/   rain continuing overnight."

4. The Nation (a liberal magazine): "Shutdown Politics: Support for Democratic Takeover of the House Spikes."

5. Washington Examiner ( a reportedly conservative-leaning  publication): "Senate GOPers push Obamacare delay as alternative to House plan requesting sequester."

6. Washington Blade (a gay political journal): "Still no action from Obama as Natl Guards deny benefits for gay spouses."

http://www.cruz.senate.gov/ (Not an endorsement)

http://polis.house.gov/constituentservices/colorado-flood-information.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/

http://www.thenation.com/#

http://washingtonexaminer.com/

http://www.washingtonblade.com/

DC Week (1 of 8): A quote from Thomas Jefferson

We begin our week-long salute to Washington, DC, America's capital (hopefully, we've taught a six-year-old child in Erzincan, Turkey, something new about the United States), with a quote from Thomas Jefferson:

"Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom."

There is a Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in the DC-suburb of Falls Church, Va. His historic home Monticello, located in Charlottesville, Va., is privately-owned (we believe) so tours are still open to the public.

Alas, the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC, is closed because of the federal government shutdown.

While in C'ville, one can also stop at Atlas Coffee; we're sure TJ would approve.

http://www.monticello.org

http://www.atlascoffeecville.com

DC Week Teaser (2 of 2) : So Much for a Political Fund-Raiser at the National Zoo

We are getting ready for DC Week, which will begin on Thursday. Our interview with Newt Gingrich has been postponed as has our interviews with Michele Bachmann and Clarence Thomas (yes, we are kidding, of course), but we hope to bring you an array of entries pertaining to Washington, DC, as the nation's capitals deals with lost tourism revenue due to the federal government shut down.

But, for right now, we leave you with this teaser, which features: 1) Chris Pontius, an American soccer player for DC United; 2) a giraffe to symbolize the National Zoo, which is closed due to shut down and 3) Cong. David Price (D-NC), one of the few Democrats in a 'safe district' in the increasingly right-wing Tarheel State (Price's district is in and around Chapel Hill and Durham, NC), which was the subject of a brilliant "Doonesbury" comic strip that was published yesterday. I'm sure at least one tea partier in North Carolina cancelled his subscription to the "Charlotte Observer."

http://price.house.gov/#dialog

http://www.dcunited.com/

http://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury

http://www.ncdp.org/ (NC Democratic Party)

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/