Happy Graduation, Grads! Here is a List of Commencement Speakers

Here is a list of commencement speakers who gave commencement addresses at various public and private colleges and universities across the United States over the course of the last three weekends.

After CEOs, both active and former politicians were the most sought after speakers. Most schools went with governors from their own state, but Liberty University, the arch-conservative Christian college founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, once again sought a Republican speaker as Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-La.) arrived in Lynchburg, Va., fairly far from his home base of Baton Rouge, La.

Here are the speakers:

1) Gov. Terry MacAuliffe (D-Va., pictured top). Virginia Tech. Blacksburg, Va.

2) Susan Wojiciccki, CEO of Youtube. Johns Hopkins U. Baltimore, Md.

3) Peyton Manning, quarterback of the Denver Broncos. UVA. Charlottesville, Va.

4) Dr. Atul Dawenda, UNC. Chapel Hill, NC.

5) Gov. Martin O'Malley (D-Md, pict. center). Univ. of Maryland. College Park, Md.

6) Katie Couric. American University. Washington, DC.

7) Vice President Joe Biden. Univ. of South Carolina. Columbia, SC.

8) Gen. Martin Dempsey. Duke University. Durham, NC

9) Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-La., pict. bottom). Liberty University. Lynchburg, Va.

10) Gov. Mike Beebe (D-Ark). Univ. of Arkansas. Fayetville, Ark.

11) David Ferriero. Archivist. NC State. Raleigh, NC.

12) Anne Holton. Sen. Tim Kaine's wife. Radford Univeristy. Radford, Va.

13) Jill Abrahamson, former executive editor of "New York Times." Wake Forest. Winston-Salem, NC.

14) Mary Barrra. CEO of General Motors. Univ. of Michigan. Ann Arbor, Mich.

15) Thomas H. Kean, former governor of New Jersey. Rutgers U. (He was a replacement for Condi Rice)

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Quotes from The Little Thinkers (1 of 16): Jesus Christ

Greetings to all our blog-readers in Bhutan, Israel and Pakistan (we couldn't resist!)....but, perhaps there will be lots of people who read this in Serbia and Poland instead.

Today, there is actually a one-percent chance that the Rev. Jonathan Falwell from the Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va., started by his father Jerry Falwell, will glance at this liberal, secular blog, since we will be quoting Jesus Christ.

This entry marks the first in our Little Thinkers series, dedicated to some very creative novelty puppet-makers called the Unemployed Philosophers Guild.

As it turns out, Thomas Road Baptist  has moved into the high tech era and now offers streams of its sermons live online. In fact, they have a countdown clock to Sunday at 9:00 a.m. (EDT), which is 4:00 p.m. in Istanbul, Turkey, where one, maybe two people might tune in to the broadcast. A second sermon begins at 11:15 a.m.

Edgewood Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, NC, also known as The Edge, was an overt opponent to gay marriage in the Tar Heel State, and it is a very large church as well, but there was no mention of simulcasts on their web site. But, this month, they are focusing on the Ephesians.

Of course, there are liberal churches as well. In fact's there's even a Unitarian Church in Lynchburg, where there is also one least one synagogue and one mosque!

Here is our quote from Jesus Christ:

"If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give them to the poor, and you will have the treasure of heaven."

http://www.trbc.org/

http://www.theedgebc.com

http://www.philosophersguild.com/LittleThinkers

Special Quote of the Week- George Orwell

Today, we conclude our month-long series (yes, we know today is actually June 1, 2011) from novelists with a quip from the great English writer/essayist/novelist George Orwell (1903-1950) who died young at age 46.

On our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time," we are quoting Albert Camus (1913-1960) who also died at age 46. Both men were also born in colonized territory as Orwell was born in India and Camus was born in Algeria. And, both writers, of course, are still well-known around the world for their highly political works.

Orwell has the distinction of being admired by both the right and the left. This is emphasized by the fact that his staunchest supporter in the modern day is the atheist intellectual Christopher Hitchens, who has drfited from the left to the right to the middle, or wherever he is/may be at the moment. Hitchens wrote a book entitled "Why Orwell Matters" in 2002, and Hitchens also has the distinction of having spats with both left-wing philosopher Noam Chomsky and the late evangelical extremist Jerry Falwell.

According to Wikipedia, Orwell's works were written with regard to an awareness of social injustice and a concern for totalitarism. The terms Orwellian and Big Brother derive from his works. Due to his short life, Orwell is most regarded for just two novels, "Animal Farm" (1945) and his last and most famous work "1984" (1949).

Orwell's works also inspired the film director Terry Gilliam with his famous critically acclaimed film "Brazil" (1985) which is also about totalitarianism.

Here is Orwell's quote:

"All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who not fighting."

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Let's Go Bowling?!

We are continuing our look at summer jobs with the profession of bowling teacher. We were initially going to use the famous 'Nixon Bowling' poster which was featured in the film "The Big Lebowski," but we thought this might be more hip/clever. Well, you decide!

Our feature city with this series this month is Lynchburg, Va., where one can find the Fort Hill Bowling Center on 6015 Fort Ave. (Phone: 434-239-9261). The bowling alley has college nights from Monday-Wednesday for those of who attend Lyncburg College or Liberty University which was founded by Pat Robertson (no, that's not right? Well, we doubt members of the Falwell family read this blog!).

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Lynchburg Hillcats' Mascot

We continue our series within a series that focuses on summer jobs with Southpaw, the mascot of the Lynchburg Hillcats. They are a minor league baseball team in Lynchburg, Va., where the late Rev. Jerry Falwell (one of the main reasons I became a Democrat) once preached his morality and imposed his judgment from the pulpit (we couldn't resist).

The Falwell family has actually been closely linked with minor league teams in Lynchburg- in fact they play at Calvin Falwell Field, but since we love SouthPaw we won't hold that against them!

The Hillcats are currently in the middle of a homestand against the Potomac Nationals who play in the DC suburbs of Virginia. The Nationals won last night's game 6-4, and the two teams play again tonight at 7:00 p.m.

The 'Cats have several promotions coming up, including a fireworks display on Aug. 14when they host to the Kinston Indians from Kinston, NC, and on Aug. 16, there will be a 50-Cent Hot Dog Night when the team plays The Myrtle Beach Pelicans.

As for our local team, The Greensboro Grasshoppers lost a road game to The Kannapolis Intimidators 7-4 in the South Atlantic League. The Intimidators' pitcher Cameron Bayne retired 14 'Hoppers in a row.

SIDEBAR: In Danville, Va., an hour and a half south of Lynchburg down Route 29 a maricahi band will play at Los Tres Magueyes Mexican Restaurant during dinner time on Monday, Aug. 9.

SIDEBAR TWO: I recently 'lost my virginity' (term they give first-time diners) at The Texas Tavern in my hometown of Roanoke, Va. There used to be a Texas Tavern in Lynchburg as well. I had the establishment's speciality which is a bowl of chilli for a mere $1.60. It was definitely worth the proverbial price of admission.

Special Quote of the Week by Jerry Falwell

Since yesterday was both May Day, a day attributed to socialism around the world, and the National Day of Prayer, we thought we'd quote Ernesto "Che" Guevara (1928-1967) and the Rev. Jerry Falwell (1933-2007) on our two respective blogs.

I am neither a Christian or a socialist, so this should be fun!

We'll quote the Ayatollah of Lynchburg, Va., here (well, ok maybe he wasn't quite that bad, but close!).

However one feels about the man preached hate and intolerance as well as homophobia towards Tinky the Teletubby from the pulpit of Thomas Road Baptist Church, he did have a good knack with words.

Here are two examples of that.......and look what this loving Christian said about his fellow tv evangelist Billy Graham (yes, I couldn't believe it either!):

Quote One_ "Grown men should not be having sex with prostitutes unless they are married to them."

Quote Two_ "Billy Graham is the chief servant of Satan in America."

As the old cliche goes, with 'friends' like these, who needs enemies!