6/29/2007

The WeekEnder: June 29-July 1, 2007

Welcome to the premiere edition of The WeekEnder! The WeekEnder is a weekly series that will provide a hodgepodge of information to fill your soul, make you laugh, make you cry, and inspire you. Highlights of The WeekEnder will include:

  • Some good news;
  • Some bad news;
  • A funny or unusual news item;
  • A highlight from the blogosphere;
  • A Link of the Week;
  • A Photo of the Week;
  • A Video of the Week;
  • A Quote of the Week;
  • A joke; and
  • A random thought from yours truly.
In this week's WeekEnder:

  • A Democratic pickup opportunity in Michigan
  • Scalia et. al. v. Common Sense
  • A rather interesting way to solve the AIDS epidemic
  • A personal reflection on stem-cell research
  • Vice Presidents: America's Second Bananas
  • Old Glory
  • Michigan Democratic chair reaches out
  • William Sprague motivates you
  • How Jesus cools off
  • Where I think Bigfoot really is

Good news:
If you want Congress to do more, the Democratic majority will have to grow. Jordan discusses one race in Michigan where we Dems have the potential to knock off a long-time GOP incumbent despite a GOP-gerrymandered map.

Bad news:
Adam discusses the just-completed Supreme Court term:

In one full term, this Court has severely curbed local efforts to promote racial diversity in schools, upheld a right-wing ban on a necessary medical procedure for women, curbed students' free speech rights, crippled Congress' ability to keep corporate money out of political advertising, prevented taxpayers from challenging the constitutionality of Bush's faith-based initiatives, made it almost impossible for women to prevail on claims of longterm sex discrimination . . . and they're just getting started.
Downright un-American.

Forget Mr. Right - how about Mr. Condom?
Anything to combat AIDS:

India, struggling to promote greater condom use among its population, is looking to hire its own "condom man" to follow the example of a former Thai cabinet minister who successfully pushed for safer sex.

National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) chief Sujatha Rao said that India needed to find someone like Mechai Viravaidya, famous for getting Thais to talk about sex, condoms and AIDS.

{snip}

"He has to feel passionately about the cause as Mechai does ... have a dynamic personality to change both government policy and public perceptions about HIV/AIDS, sex and condoms," Rao was quoted in The Times of India as saying.

Mechai became famous in Thailand as the "Condom King" for actions such as taking condoms to World Bank talks as well as for the name of his Bangkok restaurant "Cabbages and Condoms," where condoms are a major part of the decor.



Blog highlight of the week: The people who matter to us
Talk about one brace woman. LiberalLucy has been affected by Crohn's disease, requiring countless hospitalizations. Yet she remains a tireless advocate of progressive causes. In one of her latest blog posts, she discusses her suffering and that of a friend of hers whom she lost. Reflecting on his death:

Just as with all things in life, I will not let Dave's life or death go unnoticed. He will be sorely missed by many, many people. I will remember his light, his smile, and his kindness. There are so many things that we can and must take from every single experience, good, bad, and the tragic, otherwise, they are all in vain and we're left asking ourselves 'what's the point?'

Dave was worth more than that, and so are we.

Link of the week
Believe it or not, eight months from now, the crowded field of 19 presidential candidates will be narrowed down to just two... and one year from now the speculation as to whom the nominees pick as running mates will be in full force. Whomever the nominees pick for the #2 slot will vouch for the right to hold an office held by such greats as George Dallas, Thomas Hendricks, James Sherman, and Charles Dawes.

VicePresidents.com has almost everything you want to know about our nation’s 46 Vice Presidents, including biographies, trivia, and news items surrounding Deadeye Dick.

Photo of the Week: Old Glory on Flag Day
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In honor of our nation's 231st birthday, I give you the Stars and Stripes, here shown at my house two weeks ago.

Video of the Week: Michigan Dem Chair reaches out
In his fifth video podcast, Michigan Democratic Party Chair and DNC Vice Chair Mark Brewer tells us how he is reaching out to young Michigan Democrats on Facebook:



Quote of the week: William B. Sprague
"Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking."

Joke of the Week: Lie-Clocks
A man died and went to heaven. As he stood in front of St. Peter at the Pearly Gates, he saw a huge wall of clocks behind him.

He asked, "What are all those clocks?" St. Peter answered, "Those are Lie-Clocks. Everyone on Earth has a Lie-Clock. Every time you lie the hands on your clock will move."

"Oh," said the man, "whose clock is that?"

"That's Mother Teresa's. The hands have never moved, indicating that she never told a lie."

"Incredible," said the man. "And whose clock is that one?"

St. Peter responded, "That's Abraham Lincoln's clock. The hands have moved twice, telling us that Abe told only two lies in his entire life."

"Where's President Bush's clock?" asked the man.

"Bush's clock is in Jesus' office. He's using it as a ceiling fan."

Final thought
Researchers are looking for evidence of Bigfoot in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Hey guys (and gals) - let me save you the trouble: If you’re looking for any kind of foot, try Detroit News columnist Nolan Finley’s mouth.

1 comment:

LiberalLucy said...

Thank you for your kind words, Scott. It means a lot to me.