The "this day in history" cupboard is pretty darn bare, so my absolute giddiness at BEING ON VACATION will have to help supplement. :D
One birthday for today doesn't quite deserve THE cake, but it comes pretty darn close. So, let's just say I'm feeling charitable. ;D Former Senator Phil Gramm ($$$ - TX) is 68 today. Yea, you don't get THE cake, but you do get a Yoda smackdown!
Long - time Jack Nicholson "squeeze" and actress Anjelica Huston is 59 today. She's been in so much GREAT stuff, so here's a couple clips from my personal favorites.
She was also the Stonehenge "designer" in Spinal Tap, but I couldn't find a clip with that, dammit! ;D
Finally, my bestest bud's birthday is today! I know there are Indianapolis - area F.O.O. here, and she just happens to have her own cake business! They are pretty, gorgeous, and YUMMY! :D
Let's Countdown...
#5 "Court Allows Resumption of New Offshore Drilling" AKA "Breaking News: There will be No Moratorium on Off – Shore Oil Drilling" AKA "BP Oil Leak: Day 80" - Drilling can continue, and any further court hearings won’t be until the end of August. Oil companies might wait to begin drill, baby, drilling until all court options are exhausted. The relief well might NOW be done by the 27th of this month, according to BP/BS. Now, on one hand, we all are painfully aware of how accurate their predictions have been over the last 80 days. BUT, in a baffling coincidence of timing, BP/BS’s next profit revelations are on...wait for it...THE 27TH OF THIS MONTH!
Bob Dudley, the new Tony Hayward, told the Wall Street Journal that containment efforts would ideally be reached on that day, as well, because Prime Minister David Cameron is going to be in the states that day. Rep. Ed Markey is DYIN’ to know why the sudden change in deadline. And, as has been discussed before, BP/BS has a great financial interest in not capping the well because scientists will then be able to accurately get a read on the spill rate which could determine what kind of "punishment" gets heaped on them from the EPA.
BP/BS has literally cleaned beaches by kicking sand over oil on the beaches. AND, Transocean doesn’t exactly have a stellar safety or tax record in other parts of the world. Here’s the Honorable Rep. Markey. The 3 judges to just said "no" to the moratorium have ties to...wait for it again...THE OIL INDUSTRY. Again, this moratorium would affect only around 30 wells out of the thousands in the Gulf. OK, Keith is talking again about how some insurance companies’ policies dictate that claims must be filed within 80 days of the event. This is DIFFERENT from the escrow fund established; there is no "statute of limitations" for people seeking monies from this fund. The director of that fund, Kenneth Feinberg, was on Diane Rehm’s show this morning and made that point very clear. Rep. Markey doesn’t think that relief well will be ready to go by the 27th. Bob Cavnar is on deck, too. BP/BS is actually just a couple hundred feet away from a relief well being ready. A sturdy cap, again, will make determining flow rate much easier to determine. Dispersants may have also helped crude stay below the surface enough to reach the lake surrounding New Orleans. The rigs subject to the moratorium use the EXACT SAME blow – out preventers that failed at Deepwater Horizon.
#4 "Palin Camplaign" AKA "GOP Filibuster, Via West Virginia" - We have another St. Sarah from Wasilla rant via her little PAC. Y’all will forgive me if I have to jam ice picks in my ear drums & don’t catch all this, yes? OK, I got through maybe half of it then HAD TO BAIL!
A GOP "media consultant" thought the ad was great; it had to have been Rich Lowry! ;D Alex Wagner is a new face – welcome! In the first quarter, SarahPAC had over $900K in the bank; $7500 was spent to support House GOBPers. Well, having minions costs money! Bendy straws cost money! Refrigerator magnets cost money! ;D
Ms. Wagner made a great point; all the "pink elephants" in her little video shtick were WHITE – just like at tea bagger rallies. A special election for that WV Senate seat can be held in November, according to that state’s AG.
** Another parliament in another country is misbehaving. YIKES! Australian possums are ugly! Where’s a cute koala bear? The psychic octopus thinks LeBron James will end up in...Buffalo. ;D **
#3 "Beck to School" AKA "Debunk You" - Someone at Countdown actually ponied up the $79 for the first day at LRU?! THAT PERSON NEEDS A BONUS IN THEIR CHECK THIS WEEK! OK, now, remember, I work & teach in higher education. It is customary at the beginning of a new academic year for the president of a university to do a "welcoming speech" to the new incoming freshmen class. So, that’s what Lonesome Rhodes did today (?). The hour – long class lasted only 35 minutes? $HIT! He’d actually be a hero with some college students! Getting out of class that early every day?! HA!
He’ll eventually get in trouble with his department chair or dean, though. Oh...wait...he’s probably both, isn’t he. Maybe, the professor just wanted to get a jump start of office hours! David Barton was the professor of record today; he thinks that whole "separation of church & state" thing is bull pucky. Huh...so when Thomas Jefferson was writing the Declaration of Independence, he was just crib noting a bunch of sermons? DAMN! Oh good gawd, there’s an animated Lonesome Rhodes in front of an animated chalkboard.
Ya’ know how many classes actually have chalkboards in them these days? DIDDLY POO! LRU even has an online bookstore to get shirts & beer steins & such? OK, I may have to get one just to deface the sucker & wear it in public. HA! Here’s Chris Rodda to do an "accreditation" for LRU! 29 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were ministers? DAMN AGAIN! All my previous history professors had it all damn wrong. All the Constitution conventioneers also went to church for 3 days. It sounds like Ms. Rodda gave Beck U a "spark you!" accreditation score. ;D
"Tea Time" Sharron Angle is talking the escrow/slush fund shtick again. So, was Sue "Chicken Lady" Lowden the SANE one of this pair? Soon after, she tried to take a few physical steps from that comment. And, remember, no abortions for anyone – not even a girl being molested by a male relative & ends up pregnant.
WPITW – Mel Gibson is ranting against another minority. Man oh man...he used to be such a stud muffin. Has he been this racist all along & just used to hide it better? Is he drinking again? And, what does Danny Glover think about all this?! Senator Jim DeMint has a Senate in his twisted little noggin. Lonesome Rhodes just can’t imagine why there’s no film of Robert Byrd tarrantinoing the Civil Rights Act. HA! Wow...that was RICH.
#1 "Solar Plane" AKA "Ray of Flight" - A plane flew on solar power alone for 26 hours & at 20,000 feet at a blinding speed of 26 mph. Jason Paur is talking planes. The plane weighs only 3500 lbs. I don’t want a solar plane; I don’t want no stinkin’ flying car. I’M HOLDING OUT FOR MY JET PACK! ;D