Starbucks awkwardly takes sides in the #shutdown

I woke up this morning and found this email in my inbox from Starbucks, asking me to sign the "Come Together" petition:

#CaffeineAddict

Just in case anyone thought I was joking in my bio about being a "caffeine addict," here's some evidence from this weekend:

A Message for Monday

So I'm sitting here feeling cranky because I have one week left in this house before the big move to MA and of course nothing can just be simple and now there's some sort of something wretchedly wrong with the plumbing (this isn't my area of expertise, but I'm pretty darn sure that when you run the washing machine, sandy water isn't supposed to flow up into your bathtub) and my new buddy from Roto-Rooter is pulling freaking tree roots out of the pipes (yes, this is a real thing that happens in older houses, oh, such joy) and it's going to cost several hundred dollars, ugh...

And then I came across this photo, and, well, it put things in a little more perspective:

Give me coffee or give me death!

From Right Wing News

How the heck did I miss this?

Apparently the recent discussions about Obamacare's health care mandate and the whole kerfuffle surrounding Sandra "my law school tuition is $45,000 a year but I should get free birth control" Fluke have led some people to start examining whether the government should mandate other benefits:

Wall Street Journal | Coffee Is an Essential Benefit Too

Morning Coffee Reading for May 11, 2011

Here's your morning coffee reading (and a video) for today:

Some great tips for getting more clicks and "Likes" on your Facebook page: (hat tip: Bettina Inclan)

Mashable | 10 Proven Strategies for Greater Likability on Facebook 

Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) lays down the law for GOP candidate, stating unequivocally that he will not support any presidential hopeful who isn't tough on budget issues:

"I couldn't support a presidential candidate who did not say we have to have a balanced budget amendment pass before we support [raising the debt ceiling]," DeMint said. "I think we should go to the mat with Obama. I don't think there should be any compromise on that, and if Obama wants to be closing part of the government next fall because he's unwilling to balance the budget, I think we can win that argument."

Read more: Washington Examiner | DeMint demand: GOP hopefuls must hold line on budget

(P.S. You know who else supports a balanced budget amendment? Adam Hasner, that's who. Oh. Yeah.)

Here's another Washington Examiner article about hearings held by Congressmen Cliff Stearns (R-FL) and Darrell Issa (R-CA) regarding the Obama Administration's lack of transparency:

Washington Examiner | Obama's 'open' government hides behind closed doors

Also, if you're not already following Congressman Issa on Twitter (@DarrellIssa), you really should. Besides posting lots of great updates about his work as "chief watchdog" for the House GOP, his profile picture (or "avi," in standard Twitter parlance) is just great:

Darrell Issa is watching you.

Homefront Hugs USA is a unique charity that supports our military. They are collecting Legos, which will be used both as a way for our troops in Afghanistan to bond with local children, and also to assist with rehabilitation for injured veterans. The little plastic blocks are excellent practice for fine motor skills and reasoning abilities that can be affected by head or other nerve injuries. Here's a blog post about the charity and all the info you need to participate:

Semper Fi Momma | Homefront Lego Hugs for Our Troops and Some Very Special Kids

Looks like Donald Trump's flirtation with running for President may be coming to an end. Recent polls show his support taking a nose dive. Personally, my opinion is that the man can't even manage his hair competently, so I definitely don't want him having access to our nuclear codes!

Yid With Lid Blog | Trump's Done: Can We Concentrate on REAL Candidates Now?

A complete disaster. Also, his hair is a mess.

Our wonderful Senator Marco Rubio is teaming up with Senators Pat Toomey, Jim DeMint, Mike Lee and others to offer a proposal that would balance the federal budget within ten years. Jennifer "Cubachi" has an excellent write-up about the proposal, including a video of Rubio at a press conference at her blog, here:

Cubachi | Toomey offers proposal to balance the budget, with support from Rubio, DeMint, others

Sayfie Review editor Justin Sayfie interviewed Governor Rick Scott on a variety of topics, including the date of Florida's presidential primary, the GOP presidential candidates, his thoughts on this year's legislative session, Donald Trump (yes, really), and his decision making process regarding appointments:


YouTube | sayfiereview | Gov. Scott on presidential primary, GOP candidates, appointments

Get a cup of coffee, and read...

I send out a lot of links to great articles on my twitter account, and don't always remember to post them here. I'm going to try and collect them from my tweets and post them in groups here as "morning coffee reading" every now and then.

Anyway, here's some for today. Hope you enjoy:

An excellent, well-reasoned, and thoroughly researched article by Dan McLaughlin on some of the ridiculously illogical arguments being tossed around by the left since the news broke about bin Laden becoming shark food:

RedState | Inconvenient Facts About The Takedown of Osama bin Laden

Another RedState article, this one by Melissa Clouthier, addressing liberal hypocrisy with her usual wickedly sharp wit:

RedState | Osama Bin Laden's Death: Proving Liberals Don't Really Mean Their Rhetoric

Last RedState article for now. As usual, Erick Erickson is saying what needs to be said. This time, he addresses the unnecessary panic attack that Republicans are having about our 2012 presidential candidates:

RedState | The Winter of Republican Discontent

Apparently, Obama took 16 hours to make a decision about the raid to take out Osama bin Laden (as Dodd Harris put it, "15 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds too long"):

The Daily Mail | Obama took SIXTEEN HOURS to make up his mind about Bin Laden mission

A touching story from the Sarasota schoolchildren who were with President Bush on the morning of September 11, 2001:

Time.com | The Interrupted Reading: The Kids with George Bush on 9/11

A tongue-in-cheek article about how very, very awesome Navy SEALs are:

Guns.com | Behind the Balaclava: Getting to know Seal Team Six

Senator Bill Nelson, Florida's sole remaining Democrat in a statewide office, really jammed his foot in his mouth on Monday with a stupid and offensive comment trying to tie Osama bin Laden to one of the Florida Legislature's election bills (yes, really). Here's @diggrbiii's take:

The Right Sphere | Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL): Idiot

OK, let me know if you like lists of links like this and I might keep doing it. I'm going to go get some coffee now. Have a great morning, y'all.