There is a new series called “Political Animals” premiering on USA Network Sunday night….
I heard an interview with Sigourney Weaver on NPR this morning and I’m intrigued…
It also stars Ellen Burstyn….
Hard to tell how it’s going to turn out from what I’ve seen and heard so far, but I’m going to try to watch and find out….
It’s probably either going to be total trash or extremely good….or both!
Filed under Entertainment, Politics, Television, Uncategorized
Really cute new video from Cheyenne Jackson- one of my Broadway favorites- for his new Pop Song Single:
What a nice way to start the weekend!
Filed under Broadway, Entertainment, Television
Today seems to be weird news day….
I hate fireworks. Probably because my Mother always screamed about the possibility of them blowing off your fingers…
Somehow, she didn’t cover this risk…..
Back in those days, well-breed Southern Ladies did not discuss penises, so that was probably the reason.
But this would have really been a deterrent!
From Huffington Post:
Let this be a warning to those who take firework safety lightly.
Authorities told MLive that a Michigan man blew off part of his genitals with fireworks last Monday.
Assistant Chief Terry Flynn of the Grand Traverse Metro Fire Department told The Huffington Post that his men responded to the scene and discovered the unidentified man “bleeding profusely from the genitals.”
Flynn said the man lit a mortar and, when it didn’t go off, he walked towards it only to have it blow up between his legs.
Flynn declined to give the man’s name or release his medical condition, citing medical privacy laws.
Filed under Entertainment
Well, I’ve seen Taco Bell’s in Gas Stations, but nothing like this….
Personally, if you are going to combine food and beverage services with a Funeral Home, I would prefer a bar…
From The Huffington Post:
EASLEY, S.C. — A funeral home in northwestern South Carolina will be offering what it calls the Starbucks experience to those needing comfort, or just a cup of coffee.
Robinson Funeral Home in Easley is building a coffee shop attached to the funeral home.
The Coffee Corner will feature Starbucks coffee and food and also will be open to those who don’t need services from the funeral home. Chris Robinson says the Coffee Corner will include a fireplace, TV and Wi-Fi.
Starbucks employees will train employees at the funeral home later this month before the shop opens.
Robinson says there’s nothing like food or coffee to help comfort those who’ve experienced a loss.
via Funeral Home In South Carolina To Sell Starbucks Coffee.
Filed under Entertainment, Food
Books, that is….
Her tell-all about her relationship with John Edwards is officially a flop-selling only about 6000 books…
I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to read this trash and I’m glad to see my instincts were correct….
There is some hope that the American Public still has a minimal level of standards remaining….
The only shock here is that you can make the NY Times Best Seller list by only selling 6000 books….
Now if Rielle and John will just shut up and go away….
From the NY Post, Page Six:
Rielle Hunter has gone quiet after less than hoped-for sales of her memoir — she’s scheduled no additional tour dates to promote her tell-all about her relationship with John Edwards, “What Really Happened.” After a serious media blitz, which included interviews with ABC’s Chris Cuomo and appearances on “The View” and “Piers Morgan Tonight,” Hunter, the mother of Edwards’ daughter, Quinn, has sold 6,000 copies of her story, Bookscan told Page Six — enough to crack the New York Times best-seller list but “not big enough to make the major New York houses sorry” for not choosing it, Publishers Weekly said. A rep for Hunter told us: “Rielle’s book tour has not been canceled. She completed her scheduled media appearances, and there are still requests that she’s considering.” But the rep added that no other tour appearances are currently planned. Hunter reportedly got a small advance from boutique publisher BenBella Books because larger publishers feared women would not buy it.
via Rielle Hunter finally silenced as her book flops – NYPOST.com.
And these are just to obvious ones…
From ThinkProgress.org:
1. Filibustering the American Jobs Act. Last October, Senate Republicans killed a jobs bill proposed by President Obama that would have pumped $447 billion into the economy. Multiple economic analysts predicted the bill would add around two million jobs and hailed it as defense against a double-dip recession. The Congressional Budget Office also scored it as a net deficit reducer over ten years, and the American public supported the bill.
2. Stonewalling monetary stimulus. The Federal Reserve can do enormous good for a depressed economy through more aggressive monetary stimulus, and by tolerating a temporarily higher level of inflation. But with everything from Ron Paul’s anti-inflationary crusade to Rick Perry threatening to lynch Chairman Ben Bernanke, Republicans have browbeaten the Fed into not going down this path. Most damagingly, the GOP repeatedly held up President Obama’s nominations to the Federal Reserve Board during the critical months of the recession, leaving the board without the institutional clout it needed to help the economy.
3. Threatening a debt default. Even though the country didn’t actually hit its debt ceiling last summer, the Republican threat to default on the United States’ outstanding obligations was sufficient to spook financial markets and do real damage to the economy.
4. Cutting discretionary spending in the debt ceiling deal. The deal the GOP extracted as the price for avoiding default imposed around $900 billion in cuts over ten years. It included $30.5 billion in discretionary cuts in 2012 alone, costing the country 0.3 percent in economic growth and 323,000 jobs, according to estimates from the Economic Policy Institute. Starting in 2013, the deal will trigger another $1.2 trillion in cuts over ten years.
5. Cutting discretionary spending in the budget deal. While not as cataclysmic as the debt ceiling brinksmanship, Republicans also threatened a shutdown of the government in early 2011 if cuts were not made to that year’s budget. The deal they struck with the White House cut $38 billion from food stamps, health, education, law enforcement, and low-income programs among others, while sparing defense almost entirely.
There have also been a few near-misses, in which the GOP almost prevented help from coming to the economy. The Republicans in the House delayed a transportation bill that saved as many as 1.9 million jobs. House Committees run by the GOP have passed proposals aimed at cutting billions from food stamps, and the party has repeatedly threatened to kill extensions of unemployment insurance and cuts to the payroll tax.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, those policies — the payroll tax cut, food stamps, unemployment insurance, and discretionary spending for low-income Americans — have the highest multipliers, meaning more job boosting potential per dollar.
via 5 Ways Republicans Have Sabotaged Job Growth | ThinkProgress.
Filed under Politics, The Economy, Uncategorized
You can always tell when Mitt Romney is lying….
It’s anytime he opens his mouth….
Sounds like he’s trying to gloss over all the bad coverage for getting booed at the NAACP speech today…..
From TalkingPoints Memo:
After his speech to the NAACP national convention Wednesday, Romney said he connected with black leaders in private and was assured that the loud and sustained booing he got for promising to repeal the health care reform law didn’t represent the feelings of all African American voters, even if they can’t say so in public.
“I spoke with a number of African-American leaders after the event and they said, you know, a lot of folks do not want to say they will not vote for President Obama but they are disappointed in his lack of policies to improve the schools,” Romney told Fox, according to a rush transcript. “The president has not been able to get the job done and people want to see someone would can get the economy going so I expect to get the African American votes, and at the end of my speech having a standing ovation was generous and hospitable and I believe we disagree on some issues like ‘Obamacare’ on a lot of issues people see eye to eye, they want someone getting the economy going.”
Polls show Romney has made no inroads with the African American electorate. He’s pulling single-digit support among black voters in the PollTracker Average. But by Romney’s account, it’s possible black voters are simply afraid to tell pollsters their real feelings.
I’m sorry, but I think Nancy Grace is evil….
She is the most uptight, white woman who ever lived…
And, god knows, that is saying a lot…..
This woman had big problems. She made some big mistakes. But Nancy, aka, God, judged her in the Court of Public Opinion and cause Her judgement to be rendered…
I’m sorry, but someone needs to remind Nancy her name is Nancy and not Jehovah…..
The best thing CNN could do to start to regain respect would be to dump this crazy uptight woman…but then, I’m sure she does bring in some cash…
Judge not, least ye be judged…..
From the Examiner:
The 29-year-old mother was drunk when she rolled over on her 3-week-old baby. The incident had her facing charges and looking at facing judicial consequences. However friends say the mother became distraught after Nancy Grace, the HLN talk show host mentioned on her show that she was the “Vodka Mom” and questioned why the mother wasn’t being charged with first degree murder. Using a vodka bottle as a prop and carrying on, Grace brought pressure to the case of maximum proportions.
Filed under Journalism, Television
Edina Monsoon, of “Absolutely Fabulous” fame, is 54 today….
Only a few months older than me….
Jennifer Saunders is a comic genius…
And not just because she so accurately portrayed me in my 30’s and early 40’s….
And I had several friends trying out for the role of “Pats”….
One was more successful than others….but wait for the book!
Filed under Entertainment, Gay, Television
It’s nice to see some positive news from Virginia…
And for people to see just how the Private Sector tries to use anti-Gay Republican legislation to discriminate, not just against Gay people, but their children…
The good news is that, thanks to a Change.org petition with over 80,000 signatures-multiplying by the moment- they can also be persuaded to change. But it seems they only change once there is enough Public Pressure to do so…
Wouldn’t it be nice if they did the right thing to begin with?
From the NewCivilRightsMovement.org:
A young boy with two gay dads will now be allowed to swim in a Virginia health club pool after a Change.org petition went viral, garnering as of this writing almost 80,000 signatures in a few days — and escalating by the thousands every few minutes. As The New Civil Rights Movement reported Tuesday, a same-sex couple who have a two-year old son had been denied access to the Roanoke Athletic Club‘s swimming pool, which is owned by the regional Virginia medical provider, Carilion Clinic, which revoked the membership of the family after they realized the family was headed by two gay dads.
The petition, by LGBT activist Mark Lynn Ferguson, noted that two men, Will Trinkle and his “partner Juan Granados wanted to take their 2-yeard-old son [sic] Oliver Trinkle-Granados to the gym’s outdoor pool during the summer months.”
Only children on family memberships are allowed to use the pool, so Trinkle signed up for a family plan. His application was accepted and processed, clearly listing him, his same sex partner, and their child as members.
Nine days later, a representative from the gym contacted Trinkle and told him that his application was processed by mistake. According to Trinkle, the representative said that the company was “‘tightening policies’ so no families like us would ever ‘get as far’ as we had.” The representative went on to claim that Roanoke Athletic Club is following Virginia state law, which does not recognize same sex marriage.
Now, just moments ago, Change.org wrote via Twitter that “The Carilion Clinic announced they will change their family policy so children with gay parents can swim in the pool!”
Filed under Gay, Social Justice, The South, Uncategorized, Virginia
Lost in the 21st Century 