Public Service Announcement

A little something non-political for your Friday afternoon:

Serious Journalists!

This was too funny not to share...

The Huffington Post describes itself as "The Internet Newspaper." If current trends continue, they may want to change that to "The Internet Tabloid."

Are we going backwards?

Yesterday was Barack Obama's second inauguration as President, and the celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as well. As expected, the festivities of the day included a number of references to Dr. King as well as our sixteenth President, Abraham Lincoln.

America's first black President, elected to a second term, sworn into office on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, taking the oath with the Bible of the President who freed the slaves. It should have been a triumph for civil rights...but is it really?

Rubio responds to Obama's gun policy announcement

After President Obama had his press conference earlier today announcing his ideas for gun control policies, Senator Marco Rubio's office sent out the following statement in response, "reiterating his support for the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens:"

"Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking"

Scarecrow: I haven't got a brain... only straw.  

Dorothy: How can you talk if you haven't got a brain? 

Scarecrow: I don't know... But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking... don't they?  

Dorothy: Yes, I guess you're right. 

- The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Oh, Scarecrow, how right you are.

Marco Rubio demands end to "Washington's reckless spending"

Senator Marco Rubio published an op-ed in USA Today yesterday, emphatically stating that any increase in the debt ceiling must be accompanied by real and significant spending cuts, as well as entitlement reforms:

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings wants to use drone planes

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings

Privacy-schmivacy. Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings wants to use drone planes to spy on us:

Orlando Sentinel | Sheriff's Office wants to fly drones over Orange County skies

The Orange County Sheriff's Office is experimenting with two surveillance drones that it hopes to turn loose over Metro Orlando skies this summer.

The blind squirrels at the FCC found an acorn!

Credit where credit is due...just as a blind squirrel find an acorn once in awhile, sometimes a government agency gets something right...

Awww. Good job, buddy. You did it.

Earlier this week, Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski announced that the FCC would be increasing the amount of unlicensed spectrum available for Wi-Fi internet networks.

Without getting too bogged down in all the scientific details, this means that next time you're at the airport or at a conference, the wireless internet (hopefully!) will be faster.

My plans for world domination are proceeding nicely

Forgive me this little bit of bragging, but I can't help but think this is pretty cool:

SocialSphere | The #MAPoli Top 25 of 2012

Ouch, that's harsh: Congress less popular than head lice and Nickelback

Having a bad day? Take comfort in the fact you're not as hated as Congress.

According to a recent poll by Public Policy Polling, Congress just dropped to their lowest approval rating in American history, a brutal nine percent.

Hey Congress, check this out!

"Honey Boo Boo"

I have done my darnedest to avoid learning what exactly this "Honey Boo Boo" phenomenon is all about. I certainly never planned to blog about the show.

Now, I'm not claiming that my television viewing is any more intellectual than anyone else's, but every time I've seen that annoying kid screeching and making weird faces in the commercials, all I want to do is grab the remote control as fast as I can.

Turns out, however, that maybe we should all be paying a little more attention to this Honey Boo Boo kid...

High Five to Texas, Part II

When I visited Austin in November, I wrote a post about how Texas was great about its dedication to Tenth Amendment principles. It should come as no surprise that the Lone Star State is also strong on the Second Amendment.

Greg Abbott, the current Texas Attorney General, posted a tweet last night that will put a smile on the face of every Second Amendment fan:

Here's what your smaller paychecks get you, America!

I present the bang-your-head-on-the-wall news of the day...

New poll shows Scott Brown in "strong position" for special election

New reasons to smile

Boston's NPR radio station, WBUR, conducted a poll earlier this week that shows Scott Brown is in a "strong position" to rejoin his colleagues in the Senate, assuming John Kerry is appointed to be Secretary of State, triggering a special election.

The poll was conducted with 500 registered voters on Monday and Tuesday, and Brown's favorables are very high, even though it is less than two months after he lost a brutal campaign battle against Elizabeth Warren. 

God is not dead, nor doth He sleep

Watching the news these past few days has been tough. The elementary school in Connecticut where those teachers and children were murdered is just a little more than two hours away from my apartment in Massachusetts. I have never been to Newtown, but it looks like so many of the idyllic New England small towns through which I have traveled this year, and it seems inconceivable that such a horror could happen there.

I cannot even imagine the pain for those families, losing a loved one so close to the holidays. And even for the many of us whose only connection to Newtown is through our televisions, there may be other reasons to have heavy hearts this year. A newly empty chair at the table, dreams that turned into disappointments, ongoing economic struggles, and so on. 

And yet there is always reason for hope. I believe that very strongly, and the Christmas season is a excellent time for all of us to take a few moments to find ways to renew hope in ourselves.

In praise of simplicity

'Tis the gift to be simple,
'Tis the gift to be free...

- lyrics from "Simple Gifts," traditional Shaker folk song written and composed in 1848 by Elder Joseph Brackett

I'm writing from a coffee shop in Washington, D.C. this morning and my online news feed is full of discussions about this fiscal cliff mess: what the President is proposing, how the Republicans are reacting, whether there is any chance of a deal, how bad it will hurt our economy if we go off this fiscal cliff, whether it's even remotely possible to avoid it, and so on.

What frustrates me is that, as usual, the debate in this town misses the main point - neither side is taking any steps to address why we're in this mess in the first place.

Yawn. The news we all knew was coming.

Democrats, you can have him.

It's official. Our former governor and World's Tallest Oompa Loompa, Charlie Crist, became a Democrat today. 

Anyone who posted this news on Twitter as "BREAKING" as anything other than tongue-in-cheek should be thoroughly mocked, as this was one of the most predictable moves in politics since dinosaurs crawled the earth.

As the Tampa Bay Times reported earlier tonight:

Rubio-sponsored amendment to protect military voting rights passes unanimously

Senator Marco Rubio's office just sent out a press release, touting an amendment he co-sponsored with Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) to the NDAA bill that is designed to streamline the process for getting absentee ballots to military personnel deployed overseas. The amendment passed the Senate unanimously. 

This is the type of issue that should be a no-brainer: the men and women who are literally putting their lives on the line to protect our country should have their rights to vote protected as well. 

Ain't that the truth!

Best depiction of the fiscal cliff negotiations I've seen so far:

High Five to Texas

I'm spending a few days in Austin, Texas and while I was in the Capitol earlier this week, I came across this sign in a hallway: