GOP Boulder Blogathon...........Round One (of 3): Where the Buffaloes Roam

Tonight at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo., one of our favorite places in America, the Republicans went at each other live on CNBC. The debate went up against Game Two of the World Series and American Pickers on History. But, even though we are not in Boulder and we didn't even watch the debate on tv, we did follow it closely on Twitter.

Left. Right. Center. Non-Partisan. Here are seven tweets about the debate and one about a college volleyball game as well as one about the weather forecast for Raleigh, NC:

1) Hillary Clinton: In the past two debates, no one said a word about equal pay. Maybe the third time's the charm.

2) Peter Sagal (NPR program host): These guys on CNBC are talking unaware that America is screaming at the them to shut up. They're living a nightmare.

3) Tom Tomorrow (liberal cartoonist): Most of the political cartoonists I know would have more interesting things than these chuckleheads.

4) Josh Kraushaar (National Journal): Rubio shakes Trump's hand, Jeb doesn't shake Rubio's hand.

5) Texas Volleyball: Early in the second set, TCU takes a 7-3 lead.

6) Chris Hohmann (TV weather person in Raleigh): Showers with heavy rain are moving into the Triangle and the Sandhills.

7) Patton Oswalt: Hey CNBC anchors, they're bringing the candidates out. CUT TO THEM. enough of your Fraggle Rock yapping.

8) Joan Walsh (The Nation): This commentary is stunningly conservative.

9) David S. Bernstein (Boston politico): Mork and Mindy was set in Boulder. CNBC could be showing some clips from it rather than this painfully bad routine.

http://www.colorado.edu

http://www.visitbouldercoloradousa.com

Noon Rush Hour Tweets: No More Garden Yeti Statues

Greetings to our blog readers in Canada, Kuwait and Japan........

We took down some tweets from the noon hour on the east coast, which was three hours ago, but perhaps those of you joining us from San Jose, Calif., have time to read this on your lunch break. Did you get Chinese take-out? Just wondering.

Congrats to Ghana for its 1-0 win over Algeria at the Africa Cup of Nations in Guinea, the winning goal came from Asamoah Gyan in the 91st minute. Our favorite Turkish team (well, we like Galatasaray too) Bursaspor also won 3-2 at the last minute, as Brazilian international Fernando kicked in the game-winning goal over Konyaspor in the 92nd minute.

The images above are of 1) Big Ben Clock in London, which actually has a Twitter account; 2) A Garden Yehti statue; and 3) Hillary Clinton, who is the current favorite to win the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 2016.

Here are the tweets:

1) Big Ben: BONG BONG BONG BONG BONG

2) WDBJ Weather (tv station in Roanoke, Va.): Snow now falling across the Roanoke Valley and Salem area. We'll see a mix with sleet this afternoon.

3) NPR News: Goodbye, Garden Yeti....in-flight catalog SkyMall files for bankruptcy

4) Karia Pacheo: Legitimately more upset about SkyMall than any celebrity death I've about on Twitter.

5) Sean Lemon (Guitarist for Room 94):........... (hashtag MakeSexAwkwardin5Works): Can my friends watch please?

6) Chris Cillizza (aka The Fix, a Washington Post political columnist): I am taking August off! DNC says Dem convention will be held week of July 25, 2016, back-to-back with GOP convention (Yea, this is the reason why we have an image of Hillary)

7)  What the F*** Facts: None of the menu items on the McDonald's menu are certified vegan or vegetarian. Even French Fries, which use natural beef flavors.

8) The Guardian (UK newspaper): Laura Deas takes World Cup skeleton bronze in St. Moritz (Switzerland).

9) Felix Salmon: I wanted to cover a protest event, but, it's scheduled to last 3.5 hours. No one has that kind of time in Davos (Switzerland).

10) Nona WillisAronowitz (contributor to The Nation): Sorry, old white Republican dudes; tweeting like a teen won't make us vote for you. (Perhaps, she has Cong. Bob Goodlatte in mind........we always make fun of him on this blog)

11) DCist: Maryland once again tops list of most millionaires per capita.

http://www.washingtonpost.com

http://www.visitlondon.com

http://www.dcist.com

http://www.thenation.com

The Next Ten Films We Hope 2 Watch: We Just Love Goldie Hawn and Charlton Heston Flicks

1) "The Story of Louis Pasteur" (1936. dir-William Dieterle) 7.4 (IMDB rating)

2) "Enter Laughing" (1967. dir-Carl Reiner) (see top image) 6.5

3) *"Breathless" (France. 1960. dir-Jean-Luc Godard) 8.0

4)* "L'Enfant" (Belgium. 2005. dir-Jean-Pierr and Luc Dardenne) 7.4

5) "No" (Chile. 2012. dir-Pablo Larrain.) 7.5

6)* "Climates" (center image)  (Turkey. 2006. dir-Nuri Bilge Ceylan) 7.3

7) "West of Memphis" (doc. dir-Amy Berg) 7.9

8) "Butterflies Are Free" (bottom image) w/Goldie Hawn (1972. dir-Milton Katselus) 7.2

9) * "Soylent Green" w/Charlton Heston (1973. dir-Richard Fleischer) 7.1

10) * "My Dinner with Andre" (1981. dir-Louis Malle) 7.7

*-Films we've previously watched

http://www.imdb.com

The Olympic Lists (5 of 10): Athletes from the European Union Nations

Yes, we are buried in snow here in Virginia as our folks in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, West Virginia, Washington DC, New York City..............in fact, we may get at least 24 inches........maybe even up to 32 inches by day's end! The Weather Channel is reporting 14 inches in my hometown of Roanoke, Va., at this hour.

But, for those of you not watching the live figure skating from the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics with commentators Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski, we have a list of Olympic athletes from 10 of the 28 European Union countries:

1) Tina Maze (pictured) 30. Women's Slovenia. Women's Alpine Skiing. Has won gold and bronze.

2) Viktor Roanenkov. 20. Estonia. Men's Figure Skating.

3) Lelde Priedulena. 20. Latvia. Women's Skeleton.

4) Matthias Mayer. 23. Austria. Men's Alpine Skiing. Won gold.

5) Coline Mattel. 18. France. Women's Ski-jumping. Won bronze.

6) Zoltan Kelemen. 27. Romania. Men's Figure Skating.

7) Ireen Wust. 27. Netherlands. Women's Speed-skating. Won gold and silver. (She is the lesbian athlete who got a surprising hug from Russian premiere Vladamir Putin).

8) Felix Loch. 24. Germany. Men's Luge. Won gold.

9) Andrea Kesler. 24. Hungary. Women's Short-track Speed-skating.

10) Marcus Kruger. 23. Sweden. Men's Hockey. Plays for Chicago Blackhawks. His team bat the Czech Republic 

http://www.weather.com/

http://www.nbcolympics.com/

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

http://www.rnw.nl/english (Radio Netherlands)

Little Thinker Quotes (12 of 16): We're Not Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

"You cannot find peace in by avoiding life."

Ironically, this is a quote from Virginia Woolf, who alas committed suicide.

SIDEBAR: According to "Mental Floss" magazine, at some point and place in time, people used to say: "It's colder than a brass toilet seat in the Yukon."

With that in mind, here are some look at temperatures across America and around the world:

48 degrees in Sochi, Russia

37 degrees in Greensboro, NC

37 degrees in Bergen, Norway

29 degrees in Portland, Maine

21 degrees in Kars, Turkey

14 degrees in Port Huron, Michigan

http://www.mentalfloss.com

http://www.virginiawoolfsociety.co.uk

Polar Vortex Tweets: Homeless in DC; Pipes Burst in Atlanta

An NHL hockey game in Buffalo, NY, against the Carolina Hurricanes from Raleigh, NC, scheduled for tonight was postponed due to blizzard conditions. But, things were not much better south of the large city near the Canadian city. NPR reported that homeless were seeking shelter in Nashville, Tenn., as was the case in Washington, D.C.

Pipes burst in Atlanta, record-low or near record-laws were reported in Charlotte, NC, and Roanoke, Va., with the Charlotte record dating back to 1884!

Here is a look at ten tweets which tell the story:

1) Roanoke County (Va) Schools: Roanoke County Public Schools will open two (2) hours late tomorrow (Jan. 8th) due to continued cold conditions.

2) Mike Mac (a Weather Channel correspondent): You know it's bad when they cancel a Buffalo Sabres game and the police are called on snowmobiles.

3) Politics and Prose (indy bookstore in Washington, DC): DC readers if you see a person in need call 1-800-535-7252 for shelter hotline.

4) WSOC Weather (CBS tv station in Charlotte, NC): Today's low of 6 degrees breaks record set in 1884.

5) ABC_11_WTVD (tv station in Raleigh, NC): Duke Energy is asking customers to reduce their usage for the next 24 hours due to high demand for electricity because of the cold weather.

6) Capital Weather Gang (Washington, DC): Anchorage, AK, currently 19 degrees. Dulles is 10 degrees. Anchorage high is headed to the 30s.

7) Mother Jones: Temperatures ranked worst to best_ 5) Blistering heat; 4) Freezing cold; 3) A bit chilly; 4) a little warm; 5) just right.

8) Jonathan Chait (columnist for "New York" magazine): How many polar vortexes have we had before we decided to label it a 'polar vortex?' This can't be the first one.

9) National Weather Service (Blacksburg, Va, bureau): "Readings this morning were so cold, all climate sites set new record low temperatures!"

10) CBS Atlanta: "Marietta_ watch out for ice due to water main burst at Powder Springs Rd."

http://www.wunderground.com/

http://www.weather.com

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

http://www.motherjones.com

Colder than Siberia: A Look at Temps Around America (plus some around the globe)

Martin Short is shown here as Jack Frost, one of the few good things about the Tim Allen Santa Claus movie sequel that this antagonist appeared in.

Today, the whole east coast of America from Buffalo to Jacksonville, Fla., felt like Jack Frost was nipping at their collective noses.

Here is a look at some of these temps; additional ones will be on our sister blog: http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com


All temps are Fahrenheit:

1) Warsaw, Poland: 42

2) Tromso, Norway (near the Arctic Circle): 30

3) Huntsville, Alabama: 25

4) Anchorage, Alaska 25

5) Greensboro, NC: 24

6) Atlanta: 24

7) Danville, Va. 24

8) Asheville, NC: 20

9) Roanoke, Va. 19

10) Lynchburg, Va. 19

11) Washington, DC 18

12) Knoxville, Tenn. 17

13) Baltimore, Maryland 14

14) New York 10

15) Wytheville, Va. 10

16) Chicago 6

17) Buffalo, NY 5

18) Novosibirski, Russia (Siberia) 5

19) Fort Wayne, Ind. 1

20) Winnipeg, Canada -11

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

http://www.weather.com

http://www.wunderground.com/

Top 10 Comics of the Sunday Roanoke Times: Doonsebury is Flying High

Greetings to our blog-readers in Canada, Canada and Canada..........and, Kazakhstan!

It may actually be warmer in Toronto or Alma-Ata right now, as it freezing across the state of Virginia today. But, that gave a chance to read an unholy number of comic strips, including ones in our local paper "The Roanoke Times."

Ironically, we are using the image of Lucy from "Peanuts" for "Speed Bump." the single panel comic strip by Dave Coverly which features a skunk talking to a psychiatrist or psychologist, which is a common gag in many comic strips, including "Candorville" by Darrin Bell, which is not in "The Roanoke Times."

The middle image of a pilates exercise is in reference to today's Stephan Pastis strip "Pearls Before Swine," in which rat finds out there is a hidden fee for the work-out room. Of course, this gives us a chance to plug our sponsors Fusion Pilates in Asheville, NC (just kidding, we don't know any pilates instructors in Asheville).

But, the cream of the crop (ok, pun intended), is a marijuana-themed episode of "Doonesbury," in which Garry Trudeau lampoons the legalization of marijuana in Colorado (which is the reason for the top image of the '70s kids tv show "H.R. Pufnstuf," which many have concluded to be a covert reference to reefer madness).

Ironically, Trudeau mentions "The Denver Post" in today's strip. That newspaper is perhaps one of the very few major city newspapers which does not carry "Doonesbury."

Here is our top ten from "The Roanoke Times"

1. "Doonesbury"

2. "Pearls Before Swine"

3. "Speed Bump"

4. "Garfield"

5. "Get Fuzzy"

6. "Dilbert"

7. "Jump Start"

8. "Agnes"

9. "Funky Winkerbean"

10. "Blondie"

http://doonesbury.slate.com/

http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine#.Usnz_zYo6Uk

http://www.dilbert.com/


http://www.fusionpilatesasheville.com

http://www.tehfarmco.com (Marijuana outlet in Boulder, Colo.)

Weather in the Mid-Atlantic: Snow, Ice and Rain

With this snowy image of the Humpback Covered Bridge in Covington, Va., a town that is one hour northwest of Roanoke, which is seeing inclement weather tonight, we present a look at the weather in this region. We are looking at areas from southern Pennsylvania to northern South Carolina.
The city of Frederick, Maryland, reportedly had three inches of snow today:

1. Covington, Va. 21 Light Snow

2. Frederick, Md. 25 Ice Pellets

3. Winston-Salem, NC 33 Overcast

4. Fort Mill, SC 31 Overcast

5. Shippenburg, Pa. 26. Light Rain

6. Martinsburg, W.Va 25 Overcast

7. Dover, Delaware, 32, Light Freezing Rain

8. Charlottesville, Va. 29 Overcast

9. High Point, NC 33 Light Drizzle

10. Marion, Va 30 Overcast

11. Arlington, Va. 29 Light Freezing Rain

12. Asheville, NC 35 Light Rain

http://www.weather.com

http://www.covington.va.us/

http://www.wdbj7.com/weather (Roanoke)

http://www.wxii12.com/weather (Winston-Salem)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/ (Washington, DC metro area)

An Ice Storm in Any Language

Greetings to our blog-readers in Kazakhstan, Italy and Guatemala. We hope the weather is better where you are. Here in the mid-atlantic part of the United States we are experiencing ice storms, especially in Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland.

So, we thought we'd google the various words for ice storm in other parts of the globe; our personal favorite terms are isstorm (Norwegian and Swedish), which we actually put into Google and buz firtinasi, which is the Turkish word for ice storm.

Here is the list:

1) eisstrum (German)

2) tempete de glace (French)

3) buz firtinasi (Turkish)

4) tormenta de nieve (Spanish)

5) isstorm (Norwegian and Swedish)

6) gradobice (Polish)

7) snezha burya (Bulgarian)

8) isslag  (Danish)

Top 10 More Things To Do List

Well, as it turns out, there are some more 'things to do' that we were not aware of:

1. Buy groceries

2. Decide on Cat's Cradle shows (music venue near Chapel Hill, NC)

3. Look up comic books values

4. Read, compare and contrast "The Nation" and "National Review"

5. Read, compare and contrast "The Weekly Standard" and "Mother Jones"

6. Make some Counter Culture Coffee

7. See what the weather in Istanbul, Turkey, is like

8. See what the weather in Trenton, New Jersey, is like

9. Avoid Blacksburg, Va., at all costs, as Virginia is having commencement this weekend

10. Let the freaking cat in

Friday Night Tweets: Terror Suspect and Major Storms

With so much chaos going on in Boston and the fact that a major rain storm struck our mid-Atlantic part of the country from Greensboro, NC, to Philadelphia, which got particularly nasty in Washington, DC, Baltimore and Annapolis (Maryland), we were more or less stuck inside.

We should point that image one, a recreational boat in Smith Mountain Lake, Va., (near Roanoke) was used because the Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokar Tsarnaev, a son of Chechnyan immigrants, was hiding inside one such boat. The second image is because it is raining in Baltimore, where major league baseball's Baltimore Orioles play. And, the third image is for the four victims of the bombing and police shoot-out. Boston University student Lingzi Lu (her name has also been spelled Lu Lingzi) was among the three killed in Monday's blast.

So, here is a look at some of the more interesting tweets we saw tonight as a real-life episode of "The Fugitive" unfolded before our very eyes. Some tweets have been reworded to avoid confusion:

1) Boston Globe News @GlobeMetro: BREAKING NEWS: Police have taken the cover off the boat; the man believed to be the Marathon bombing suspect is inside.

2) Capital Weather Gang @capitalweather: "Wow, a gust of 70 mph clocked near Charles Co., MD, as storms roared thru.

3) Will Wheaton @Wilw: New York Post reporting, CNN confirming: D.B. Cooper is in the boat (not to point out the obvious, but this is a joke)

4) Boston College @BostonCollege: "Also thanks to all students and parents who tweeted appreciation. It did not go unnoticed."

5) Politico @politico: "Injured man (Jeff Bauman) who helped ID Boston suspects is uninsured."

6) Jake Updegraff @OnAirJake: "Poor Dzhokar Tsarnaev, apparently he never watched Disney movies or any movies at all. The bad guy always loses."

7) The Boston Globe @BostonGlobe: "BREAKING NEWS: Police appear to be preparing a robot with a camera to approach the boat."

8) Nicholas Kristof @NickKristof: "And our awareness of geography is such that Czech Republic has to explain that it's not Chechnya." (Chechnya is a part of Russia)

9) Lucas McNelly @lmnelly: "This is generally the part of the story where I start wondering if I could have gotten away."

10) The Fix @TheFix ("Washington Post" political reporter Chris Cillizza): "Serious Q: More reporters or more cops on the scene in Watertown?"

Friday Night Tweets, Contd_ The Bard is Back

Yes, it's a snowy night here in Coffin Gulch, Nebraska.....well, that is a fictional town in the tv version of Lucky Luke aka the French cowboy and we are pretty far from the Cornhusker State, but it is snowing here in the Mid-Atlantic part of America.

So, we thought it was a good time to post some new entries and look at tweets from the college gymnastics world, pro hockey and PBS, which we imagine Mitt Romney is watching right now with his grandchildren (forgive the political humor); here are the tweets:

1) Alabama Gymnastics @BamaGymnastics: Sophomore Kayla Williams just tied her career best on the balance beam with a a score of 9.9

2) IlliniGymnastics @IlliniGym: #Illini women vs. #spartans tomorrow at 4. #PinkMeet RT @ MSUGymnastics: We have arrived in Champaign.

3) Washington Capitals @WasCaps: Ilya Kovalchuk scores Devils goal in overtime: Final score: Devils 3 Caps 2 OT

4) AngelicaAlvarez_WTVD @Alvarez_wtvd: Car having trouble getting up a hill on Wade Ave in Raleigh.

5) UK Gymnastics @UK Gymnastics_ Kentucky is facing Alabama tonight on the road: Kenzie Hedges and Shannon Mitchell post solid scores for UK both earning 9.85

6) Pete Cashmore @mashable: Exxon Mobil Passes Apple to Become World's Most Valuable Company.

7) PBS @PBS: If you're watching Shakespeare Uncovered tonight let us know what you think please use hashtags #PBS


http://www.womenslacrosse.com

http://www.unc.edu

http://www.ncat.edu

http://www.wdbj7.com

http://www.gopack.com

http://www.cornellsun.com

Tweets for a Snowy Friday Night

Since there is a major SEC women's gymnastics meet between the University of Florida Gators and the Auburn Tigers tonight, we thought we'd go with this image of an alligator; our apologies to Auburn fans as we would also post an image of a tiger but we want to get this entry up before 5:00 a.m., Dubai time (they are nine hours ahead of New York); here we go!:

1) Auburn Gymnastics @AuGymnastics: "Florida native Abby Habicht scores a 9.775. Megan up now."

2) Washington DC News @wasdcnews: "Obama Heaps Praise on Hillary Clinton in Joint Appearance."

3) Gator Gymnastics @GatorZoneGym: "Ashanee Dickerson scores a 9.925 on vault! Go #Gators! #LinktoPink

4) Sundance Channel @SundanceChannel: "@ItsDakotaFannin stopped by #Sundance Channel HQ to tell us a secret and discuss Very Good Girls."

5) AnthonyWilson @AWilsonABC11: "Downtown Raleigh, a ghost town. The ice u cant see can hurt you, so avoid the roads and #dont drive."

6)Hartford Courant @hartfordcourant: "Legislators Hear Calls for More Mental Health Services in Schools, More Police Officers."

7) Post Sports @PostSports: "Nats name William Howard Taft new racing president."

http://www.auburngymnastics.com

www.gatorzone.com/gymnastics

http://www.sundancechannel.com

http://www.sundance.org/festival

http://www.courant.com

http://www.washingpost.com/nationalsfans

This Blog Will Go On....

Yes, there have been way too many distractions as of late, but we are hoping to continue this blog in 2013, though in all probability not with the fervent frequency we've posted with in recent years.

One of our hopes this year is to post a Weekly World Weather Update on Wednesdays, starting on Jan. 23, and we are also going to attempt to post Sports Desk Updates on Mondays, hopefully with the start of Mon., Jan. 21.

Today, we are going to provide a sneak peak of our proposed world weather series with a look at the temperature in Bursa, Turkey, which is the country's fourth largest city.

Bursa is also the hope of our good friends Haviat and Karagoz (he's the dude with the beard on the right); all temps are Fahrenheit:


Athens, Georgia* 73 (sunny, slear)

Bursa, Turkey 49 (cloudy)

Chapel Hill, NC* 67 (partly sunny)

Dubai, United Arab Emirates 65 (clear)

London, England, UK 37 (rainy)

Provo, Utah* 18 (cloudy)

Utrecht, Holland 30 (cloudy)

*-American cities, each of them are also college towns.

Sunday Comics Dialogue- Study Hard

Greetings to everyone around the world. We are tempted to mock my alma mater WUVT (90.7-FM, Blacksburg), the student-run radio station of Virginia Tech which proclaims to be the 'greatest radio station' in the world, but we have to much respect for them, and we're not sure that the gloating is meant to be serious. But, I can say we are very popular in Russia for reasons we aren't sure of ourselves.

Before we get to dialogue from the Nov.18th edition of the Sunday "Washington Post," let's take a look at weather temps around the country: Los Angeles 55 degrees with fog; St.Louis is 52 and mostly sunny; Boston is 38 and mostly sunny; Washington DC is 40 and cloudy.

Now, let's jump in the pool:

1) "I've figured out why a lot of American cities are in decline" (from "Candorville")

2) "I know; my mom tends to hover over me during midterms" (from "Zits")

3) "When I was in high school, a test like that steered my future" (from "Frazz")

4) "....And, no more tv till your spelling improves" (from "Family Circus")

5) "I'm having second thoughts about my pre-Thanksgiving regimen" (from "Foxtrot")

6) "Think about someone you love" (from "Reply All")

7) "I'm thankful for good friends" (from "Dennis the Menace")

8) "But daddy I'm on Facebook" (from "Blondie")

9) "Don't you pay attention to the news?" (from "Sherman's Lagoon")

10) "Where do you keep the turkey baster?" (from "Garfield")

11) "First I have t finish stirring these dirty clothes" (from "Hagar the Horrible")

12) "I'll look forward to it," (from "Judge Parker")

13) "I have a huge lip gloss problem" (from "Agnes")

14) "Unfortunately, doc I live my life with no regrets" (from "F-Minus"*#)

*-Not a strip "The Washington Post" carries

#-Strip ran on Nov. 18th (today)


http://www.wuvt.vt.edu

http://www.weather.com

http://www.blondie.com

http://www.slagoon.com

http://www.garfield.com

http://www.foxtrot.com

http://www.fminus.net

Friday Night Tweets- Abortion and Billboards in Ohio

Today, we are posting tweets from the 6:00 p.m. hour, most of which are politically focused as we edge closer to Election Day here in the United States. One of the most interesting races is between far-right Tea Party favorite Cong. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) and Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War combat veteran who lost both of her legs in 2004. Duckworth ran for Congress in 2010, and she is profiled by Adam Weinstein in the current issue of the liberal magazine "Mother Jones."

Here are some tweets from the night:

1) @SunDC (The Sun in DC): Sunrise 6:22 a.m.; Sunset tomorrow 6:24 p.m.

2) @tnr ("The New Republic"): "It's getting ugly. check out those Ohio billboards trying to scare minority neighborhoods."

3) @Chuck Todd (MSNBC news analyst Chuck Todd): "Mitt Romney just added Boston to his New Hampshire TV buy. Had avoided it for weeks. First sign that they are more serious about NH."

4) @TeaPartyCat (Top Conservative Cat, actually a hilarious liberal satirist): "Obama ad says Romney will ban abortion. Mitt says no: I'll appoint judges who will. But, I will not ban it myself."

5) @HuffPostPol (Huffington Post politics): "John Kerry's daughter launches swift boat-inspired pro-Obama super PAC."

6)  @capitalweather (Capital Weather Gang): "Nasty storms continue around Baltimore vicinity. Intensity of storms diminishing around DC, but rain to last inside beltway, up to another 30 minutes."

Rainy Days and Sundays and Weather Around the World

 

We got pretty much rained out of our beach vacation and Tropical Storm Isaac is heading for Cuba and the Florida coast with the possibility of threatening the Republican convention in Tampa. Out of respect to our 'Republican friends' we will hold off on the Paul Ryan jokes until...well, tomorrow.

 

Here is a look at weather conditions around the world (we are using Fahreinheit, apologies for those of you who use Celsius):

 

Ankara 61 cloudy

 

Amsterdam 61 rain

 

Baku, Azerbaijan 73 cloudy

 

Buenos Aires 48 clear

 

Dubai 90 sunny

 

Frankfurt 61 partly cloudy

 

London 61 cloudy

 

Moscow 55 rain

 

Nairobi, Kenya 59 cloudy

 

Nassau, The Bahamas 84 cloudy

 

Singapore 84 sunny

 

Sydney 64 sunny

 

Tokyo 88 partly cloudy

 

Toronto 75 clear

 

http://www.weather.com

 

Happy 100th Birthday, Gene Kelly and Weather Around America

The late great actor/singer/dancer/ film director Gene Kelly (1912-1996) would have been 100 earlier this week. His great films included "Singin' in the Rain" (1952), which is celebrating its own 60th anniversary re-release this year.

And, with that, we give you the blog-reader a look at some weather around the nation as Florida is barcing for Tropical Storm Isaac:

Atlanta75 clear

Baltimore74 cloudy

Chicago 81 partly cloudy

Denver 72 clear

Greensboro, NC 66 clear

Hartford, Conn. 70 clear

Houston 77 clear

Los Angeles 70 clear

Miami 83 cloudy/rain

Salt Lake City, Utah 85 cloudy

Seattle 73 sunny

http://www.weather.com

Quote of the Week- John F. Kennedy

Today, we continue with quips from famous New Englanders with a quote from the legendary Democratic President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963). The 'forever young' president who was 46 when he was assasinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Tex., would be 94 today.

Here is his quote:

"A man may die, nations may rise, but an idea lives on."

Kennedy was born in Brookline, Mass., on May 29, 1917, and the JFK Library is located in Boston.

SIDEBAR ONE: Gazooks! It was 107 degrees today in Little Rock, Ark., today where the Bill Clinton Library is located.

SIDEBAR TWO: PBS will air the first episode of "Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided" tonight, local times may vary.

SIDEBAR THREE: Michelle Goldberg of "The Daily Beast" is reporting that far, far-right Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, who is currently a congresswoman from Minnesota, is the first GOP candidate to sign a pledge to fight pornography and 'find a cure' for homosexuality!