Scrabble

In my house, with my Scrabble game, "truthiness" is always a word.

You're Here, You're Clear

Finally I get a chance to get to my computer. I have been stuck in Moscow, in the airport for days, riding the escalators and people watching. I was starting to get kind of bored.

Now I'm home and Stephen is on a two week break. That's okay, it gives me a chance to get caught up. Too bad I wasn't paying more attention when I was over in Moscow. It seems that Edward Snowden was or is at the Moscow airport. It would have been great to get a few photos of him, maybe get an interview that I could post here. I guess the airport is just too big and it's hard to keep track of everyone who is there.

Anyway, Stephen was concerned about the whereabouts of Edward Snowden and just a bit confused about what he looks like. For a short time, he was ready to believe that Jay the Intern was in reality Edward the Snowden (i.e. a white guy with glasses). Until Jay the Intern pointed out to Stephen that first of all, "No, I'm Jay," and secondly that he (Stephen) was also a white guy with glasses. Quick thinking, Jay.

In news that's happening, the Tea Party is unhappy. I should clarify since no one seems to know exactly what or who the Tea Party is. A bunch of people showed up to vent anger, and considering the amount of hot dogs and beans being eaten, to vent a lot of other stuff. They are mad at the IRS. Luckily, Michele Bachmann was there to tell them, "You're Here. And you're Clear. With your message." Stephen added that "if you happen to be queer my husband runs a camp that can cure you with Jesus."

Darrell Issa, apparently one of the richest Congressmen as evidenced by all the extra letters in his name, is one of the people heading the charge for the Tea Party. He investigations showed that, "Certain things are true." Elijah Cummings released all pertinent information which is not what Darrell Issa wanted done. He only wanted the truth, but then Elijah Cummings had to go and release the whole truth. Darn. That showed that it was a conservative Republican at the IRS looking into the Tea Party.

Stephen, as you all know, invented truthiness. Now, with the help of a human centipede, he has invented truthinews. Simply put, the media ask the vast audience out there in TV Land or Radio Land or Internet Land what they think they know, then the media reports it back to them. It's great. For example, Bill O'Reilly has found out that 75% of the people who believe it's a good idea to watch his show, believe what he tells them. I can't help but think that number should be higher. Why would you watch the Factor if you thought it didn't have the appropriate amount of truthiness? For the comedic relief???

Andrew Solomon was the guest on Stephen's show way back on, when was that (?), June 24. Both Stephen and Andrew paid attention to the calendar and dressed appropriately for "Light Blue Shirt Yellow Tie Day." They discussed Andrew Solomon's newest book, "Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity." And I know I say this about a lot of books, but this one really does seem very interesting. So, yes, go out and buy it. It's not Tek Jansen, but I think you will find it a good read just the same.

All Night Long (All Night, All Night) All Night Long

I'm back after having spent time out of the country, I mean, hiking along a famous trail. No, just kidding. But I will have to decide whether to go back and look at the episodes I missed, watch them and then give my take on what happened, or just throw in the towel and move on. Time will tell, probably in a few days.

Moving on.

Stephen is angry and I don't blame him. As a result he is turning his back on South Carolina. This is because Mark Sanford beat up, I mean won the Congressional seat in South Carolina meaning that Elizabeth Colbert Busch lost. (You're still a winner to me, Lulu.) You may remember that Stephen is from South Carolina. No more. He's now from North Carolina. Wait, no, he's changed his mind again and he is from South Carolina because he loves it so much.

Why or why did his sister lose the race? What is wrong with the political landscape? There were a whole lot of things said or implied about his sister that were as far from truthiness as Pluto is from the sun. (Oh stop it blogger. Don't underline truthiness and try to tell me it's not a word. Can't you see I'm just as angry as Stephen is?)

The analysis continued with Stephen admitting that the First Congressional District of South Carolina (the Fighting First) is solidly Republican and lots of times, people just vote the way they always have without paying attention to the candidates. However, partisanship is hurting all of us. Congress can't decide if they are gridlocked or deadlocked. Some people are blaming the Republican Party because it's kind of splintered, or in a rift as Stephen said. Here's some proof. The GOP controlled House took two days to pass legislation that helped save helium. The Democrats would have been fine with just a unanimous voice vote.

Pause here for some commentary from Stephen about a voice vote about helium and also a suggestion for the next Representative from South Carolina. Just think balloons, helium balloons and you'll understand.

I thought I understood what partisanship was, but Stephen made me realize how really crazy it is. And how absolutely funny it sounds.

If anyone is hip, it is Stephen Colbert. And he should know. But enough about that. Diapers. (Insert you own quirky pun here, mine were all too gross to use.) Apparently some parents have decided against using diapers. It will help save the environment by not having all those discarded disposables. It won't use endless amounts of water washing cloth diapers. Forget about annoying diaper rash. I can see no down sides to this plan. The plus side is parents will be able to figure out when the kid is going to go and hold them over the sink of toilet. Okay, I can think of one down side and that one think is now sitting in the bottom of the sink at that public restroom at _____ . (Please.... fill in the blank here and not with some favorite store or place that I frequently go to for books, groceries or fast food.)

This seemingly perfect system actually does have a down side. It's called the crib, in that the baby is going to be there all night long and of course you're not going to wait all night ready to hold the baby over the sink or toilet. Do I need to tell you that Stephen has the solution? Do I need to tell you that it's Kiddie Litter?

I'm going to go out here on a limb and say that there may be a few people who can see disadvantages to hordes of babies roaming the street with no diapers. Parents who are thinking this is a good idea, listen to some advice, please. "It stinks." There, I said it. You may think this is a loving thing to do to your wonderful child, but you are not really doing anyone a favor. You are going to have to clean up a lot of messes when neither baby or parent communicated or understood about the need now for a toilet. You are going to clean up that mess, right? Even if you are able to never show disappointment at accidents, you can't stop other people from being astounded. Read some books on child development, and not just by one author. Read a diverse group of authors about a diverse range of theories of how to raise a happy healthy child. Don't fall for the latest craze. Listen to that lady on the bus that tells you to put a diaper on that baby. She is obviously smarter than you.

Sure this may be a tried and true practice that is centuries old and done in many cultures. But is your day care mom going to be able to do this with the four kids she is taking care of? I mean, no one can hold four kids over the toilet at the same time if they are all on the same schedule. What this turns out to be is toilet training Mom to be ready to hold baby over the toilet a lot. If that is all you have to do each day, this may just work. If you have other things to do, such as cleaning, cooking, driving the dog to the vet, then this may not be the path you want to take. Here's something I found with a little bit more info about what really is involved.

Here's something that is kind of nice. Stephen had a doctor on the show - Dr. Richard Besser - Chief Health and  Medical Editor for ABC News. He had good advice for all of us, maybe not for Stephen who is such a perfect specimen, but for the average Joe. Diet to help lose weight, exercise to build a strong heart. So, do both regardless of the advice Stephen is trying to give us. Now we see the benefit of having experts on for the guest portion of the show. Stephen found out from Dr. Richard Besser, that, for example, supplements that claim to improve parts of your day to day life don't have to be approved by the FDA. Dr. Besser is not a big fan of everyone taking multi-vitamins, pregnant women, yes, but as Stephen was quick to point out, he (Stephen) is not a pregnant woman! Yearly check-ups? Also not a fan of that. He says it is better to be in tune with your body so you know when something is wrong and then can go to the doctor. Stephen brought up several good points. Good for you, Stephen.

And here I go out in a limb again. It goes without saying that a doctor would be in tune with his body and know when something was wrong. But the average Joe does not know, perhaps, what is normal an what is not normal. Stephen had an example. A doctor would most likely know the range of normal for blood pressure, weight, hearing, and a whole bunch of other health conditions. Some people just don't know what makes a body tick. Here's an example. Surely you've heard the joke with the punchline, "You want me to put that large pill where?


Next, Stephen wanted to talk about doctors on TV. (I wonder where this is headed because I think Dr. Richard Besser is a doctor on TV, or at least he was while he was on The Colbert Report, right? (Zing!) They had some nice chit chat about doctors on TV. Should we trust them? Should we believe them? Ah... Dr. Richard Besser told Stephen that some doctors on TV may be just trying to sell you something. "I assume you are giving this book away." (Double Zing!) Oh, yeah. Stephen just scored a free copy of the book "Tell Me The Truth, Doctor."

Now if only they would have had time to talk about diapers. sigh...

I Have No Idea Who Casey Kasem Is

This is upsetting. The FDA says that people (and by people I mean female people) as young as 15 years old can now get the Morning After Pill (Plan B) at their pharmacy without a prescription. Of course this is upsetting to Stephen and also to so many conservative men in their sixties. Surely these conservative men in their sixties know what is best for the reproductive health for people (and by people I mean female people) who are 15 years old (or 25 or 35 or 45). "Manny" worries that soon we will have to give the pill out to babies. Stephen reminded us that it has probably already begun. Have you ever seen a pregnant baby???

Stephen talked guns and gun control. Which brings us to tonight's word: N.R.A.-vana. And it also brought a bit of nostalgia as Stephen talked about his first show when he coined the word truthiness. Truthiness is that natural human desire to ignore facts, and to go with what you feel in your gut. Stephen had a quote for us from Kevin Williamson from April 18, 2013. "... it should be noted that being shot in the head by a lunatic does not give one any special grace to pronounce upon public-policy questions ..." Stephen noted the medical problem that Kevin Williamson suffers from.

Another quote that Stephen shared with us is from Bob Davis on April 12 of this year from the radio gig he does with former Republican gubernatorial candidate, Tom Emmer. That would be "Davis & Emmer in the Morning." Bob Davis said, "I'm sorry that you suffered a tragedy but you know what? Deal with it and don't force me to lose my liberty which is a greater tragedy that your loss." Surely we don't want to make Bob Davis have to fill out some form at a gun show. ("Top That, Westboro Baptist!") Stephen continued with the continuation of what Bob Davis said. "I'm sick and tired of seeing these victims trotted out, given rides on Air Force One, hauled into the Senate well and everyone is just afraid, they're terrified of these victims. I would stand in front of them and tell them "Go to Hell."

A Sandy Hook resident offered to fly Bob Davis to Newtown to actually tell them to go you-know-where, but he has not responded to that offer of a free plane ride.

There has been no reply from Bob Davis. And that's the Word.

Stephen's guest tonight was plural. So it was guests and they were Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Stephen is a fan and yet he has a beef with them. They released their album independently. This is bad for corporations and isn't that really what music is all about?

Why would anyone do that? Well, they get to do it their way and they get more money. Can't argue with that logic.

Stephen talked about the older days of Rock and Roll and mentioned Casey Kasem. (Who?) They talked about celebrity status and the need for wearing wigs, baseball caps, and sunglasses when going to the local plant store to buy some mulch.

Of course here was a performance of Same Love from The Heist. Also there to sing with them was Mary Lambert. And of course it was great. And of course there is a bonus song (not yet, but soon) over at Colbert Nation. Of course.

You're Gonna Make It After All

Stephen started out honoring Michele Bachmann for her unrelenting search for people who are different from her. See more about that in previous post about John McCain.

Speaking of Minnesota, Stephen is getting caught up with Better Know a District. The 67th Installment was the Fighting 5th District in Minnesota, the area that includes Minneapolis. There you can find the Hennepin Avenue Bridge crossing the Mississippi (and the Ippississim), the Walker Art Center, the Spoon Bridge, and the home of Prince. We got to see some typical winter wear for Minnesota cold winters. And Stephen sat down, in a room, with three term Congressman Keith Ellison.

Keith Ellison is a Muslim, in fact, he is the first Muslim elected to Congress. Stephen called him the very first secret Muslim. Congressman Ellison told him he is not a secret Muslim, at which point Stephen said he is the first openly secret Muslim in Congress. He then asked the Congressman to say to his friends, "Stephen's cool." Keith complied and said, "Steve's cool."

The discussion turned to Michele Bachmann and her recent hunt for the aforementioned people who are different than her. "How much infiltration is there?" asked Stephen. "None," replied Congressman Ellison. But then, apparently, Stephen caught him in some sort of weird logic trap. And I only say weird because in college I learned that when something is illogical, you can not use it to prove something logically. But I digress.

"Are you a Muslim?"
"Yes sir."
"Do you have siblings?
"Yes sir."
"So you are literally a Muslim brother."
"I guess."
"I just caught you."

Stephen went on to say that a little witch hunt never hurt anyone, however, the Congressman disagreed. "It hurts a lot of people." He believes it is better to be fair.

So, who is Congressman Keith Ellison supporting for president? He was asked three times and answered each time, "Obama." Stephen tried a different tactic to get him to change his mind. What about if Mitt Romney called Keith Ellison and asked him to be the Vice President candidate? To make it easier for the viewers, Stephen had the two of them act out the phone call between Mitt Romney and Keith Ellison. Stephen played the part of Mitt, and Keith played the part of Keith. Even so, Keith turned Mitt down. That did not seem to register with Stephen/Mitt who seemed to think that the answer had been yes. Truthiness, perhaps?

Anyway, Minneapolis is also home to Mary Tyler Moore. There was a great sing-along of the theme song from the Mary Tyler Moore Show. And then, to conclude the interview, Stephen convinced Keith Ellison to toss a hat up in the air. 

It is not easy being interviewed for the Better Know a District segment, but Congressman Ellison did a fairly decent job answering Stephen's questions. I imagine we can be looking for Congresswoman Michele Bachmann to show up soon on the show. Stephen must have so many questions he would like to ask her. I can hardly wait.

Who's honoring him now? Or as Stephen would say, who's honoring me now? Apparently, well he's not really being honored, more like mentioned. But, psychologists in Canada and New Zealand have found truth in truthiness. And, people are more likely to say something was true if there was a decorative picture to go along with a statement. Stephen believed the research. After all, there was a picture of him. He was uncomfortable that science was used to prove this. He would have preferred that truthinessiness proved the truth about truthiness.

Stephen's guest was Woody Harrelson. He has written and directed the off-Broadway play, "Bullet for Adolf." Lest you think he just came on the show to promote this, let me reassure you. He didn't. He just shamelessly sucked up to Stephen and then casually unbuttoned his shirt a bit where we notice  what looks like a huge tattoo for "Bullet for Adolf." Stephen assumed this was the sequel to "The Sound of Music," but no, it is not anything like that show. Stephen doesn't often get gifts from the guests, but Woody Harrelson was kind enough to give him a T-shirt. And it just happened to be a "Bullet For Adolph" shirt. What's the chances of that happening, right?

Truthiness

If you are sad because Stephen is on some secret, special mission this week and you cannot watch new episodes of The Colbert Report on the TV machine, you can go over to Los Angeles Times and see his smiling face and read about his #InMyHeart tweets. It's a good reminder about being true and being true to your heart. (Turns out, being true and being true to your heart may not actually be the same thing.)

And then, you can go to Huffington Post to see what others are doing about Truthiness. It's very impressive because it is about people at Harvard and people at MIT, so it is about smart people. Smart is something Stephen knows a lot about! It's also about Truthiness, specifically, Truthiness in Digital Media. There's a "photo" of Stephen although it's not quite as big or handsome or flattering. (I take that back. I concede there is no such thing as an unflattering photo/picture/drawing of Stephen. This one just doesn't have him smiling, that's all I really mean.) Anyway, it is good to see how many other people and organizations share Stephen's quest for the truth.

Stephen Colbert: Rick Santorum refuses to put his left hip in during the Hokey-Pokey. #InMyHeart

Once Upon a Time

It is Day Two of what's come to be known as the Colbert SuperPAC Hostage Crisis. Jon Stewart has the money and took off in his Zeppelin to avoid having to give it back to Stephen. The only possible solution is for everyone to send money to Colbert Super PAC and to give recklessly.

Politics continues to be a favorite topic. In last night's show, Stephen mentioned the possibility of a wet t-shirt contest. He was convinced that Newt Gingrich would win that contest.

Stephen ventured into the world of children's literature (Kiddy Lit as it is sometimes called). He thinks he should get into that venue since so many celebrities are writing books. And Stephen is a celebrity, so he should be able to write a children's book and make lots of money.

We had the pleasure of seeing Stephen interview Maurice Sendak, well-known author of children's books. He now has a new book out - Bumble-Ardy. Stephen and Maurice had a very lively discussion. Although Maurice has kept busy writing children's books, he still has time to closely follow the career of Newt Gingrich. He shared some of his observations of Gingrich. Stephen and Maurice went on to talk about another of Maurice Sendak's book, "In the Night Kitchen." Stephen approved of that book so much, he improved it.

Be sure to keep watching The Colbert Report to see the conclusion of Stephen's interview with Maurice Sendak.

Stephen also mentioned that he is a huge fan of Rick Santorum, because the name Santorum is synonymous with leadership. If you have been paying attention to the news you will know that Rick Santorum was in a bit of a sticky spot recently. A woman in the audience at one of the events Santorum was at said this:

"I never refer to Obama as President Obama because legally he is not. He is an avowed Muslim. He has no legal right to be calling himself President."

When asked about this on Morning Joe, about why he did not correct the woman who said that, he had an excuse. "This was an elderly lady. She was there leaning on a cane. She was quite wobbly. Uh, and I'm not going to sit there and, and slam an older lady, uh, because she has some way-out, you know, some, some bizarre beliefs."

"Bravo," said our fearless host. "You cannot correct an old person every time they say something offensive." Well, as luck, or maybe misfortune, would have it, there just happened to be an elderly lady with a cane in the audience. And she spoke her mind with no opposition from anyone.

"I know for a fact that Rick Santorum runs a white slavery ring." She seemed to have the facts to back it up, and even if she was wrong, she had a cane, no wait, 2 canes. Stephen was very hesitant to correct her until she said something that was way out of line. She then received prompt and courteous assistance of two men who were willing to help her walk off into the sunset.

The actual real sit-down guest was Andrew Sullivan of The Daily Beast. He wrote the cover article in the January 23 issue of Newsweek entitled "Why are Obama's Critics So Dumb?" That did not sit well with Stephen.The discussion became so lively and yes, even loud some times. Here's some of what the two men said:

"Checkmate."

"It is the truth."

"Who cares what's true?"

"Let's go with what feels right."

Stephen was willing to repeat things he (Colbert) said so that they could then be considered to have more truthiness. If anyone would know about truthiness, it is Stephen Colbert.

877-897-9953

Troy called. I was excited at first thinking it was Troy from Community, but no, it was a professional fundraiser that called me. Typically with these types of calls, the person talks quite fast and this was no exception. I think he was going to send out some pledge forms and I should mail that back with a donation.

I always say "No" to phone solicitations like this because I get too many requests for donations anyway. There are plenty of local places I can donate to. There are plenty of well-known places I can donate to. And think about it. If you don't like getting these calls but you agree to donate, I guarantee you will get even more calls.

Details. It was to help out animals. That's good. But there were red flags, you know, things that seemed kind of hinky.

I asked for a website and he rattled the URL off but then said they don't take donations on the website. That seemed strange. Most charities, organizations, foundations, etc. are anxious to get funds in whatever way people are willing to donate. Perhaps he was just looking out for himself (a professional fundraiser) rather than the organization he was hired to get money for. Most likely he gets a commission and if the donation comes via the website, well no commission for him. And yet, there were plenty of "Donate Now" opportunities at the website he gave me, so yes they do actually accept donations at the website. I don't think he had the truthiness I would have expected from a good solid charity.

I did look at the website and that seemed a little hinky too. It seemed quite new based on the copyright date - 2011 - and some pages were "Coming Soon." I also found at least one instance of what seemed to be a note to the webmaster that should have been removed before that page went up live on their website.

They supposedly help animals and yet I could not find any place that I could tell them about animals that needed help. There's no details. I could not find their address listed on the website. I could not find them when I Googled them. (I did find similar sounding names, hmmm.)

Lots of photos but probably photos that you could get off the internet or purchase from those kind of services that provide generic photos for your website.

As I mentioned, their name is very, very similar to lots of other groups that showed up on Google. After the small amount of information on the phone, plus looking over their website, I realized that I still didn't know anything about them. Who are they? Not a single person's name. No board members. No staff members. Where are they? There's a map that shows where they are, but that could be a mailbox store or someone's apartment or office. Why no address where I could mail a check?

So, I'm not even going to give them publicity by saying what the name of the group is. Just the phone number. 877-897-9953. If they call you, beware. I do not give them the Colbert Bump.

Try these instead. There's a list over at Charity Navigator of many Animal Charities. You can look through the list, check the scores and websites of the groups and donate there. Or donate to your local animal charity.

I Was a Drum Major

First off, let me say that I sincerely hope Cinnabon accepts Stephen's apology.

That being said, Stephen discussed the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial in Washington D.C.

Stephen mentioned that he was in Washington D.C. for the March on Washington back in August of 1963. Some might wonder how that is possible since he wasn't even born until about 8 1/2 months after the March. Well, his mother was there, and so by the mathematical principle of association, so was he.

I have not seen the Memorial yet, but hope to see it next time I am in Washington D.C. But sadly there is controversy. One of the quotes is actually not what Dr. King said. The quote that is chiseled there says, "I was a drum major for justice, peace, and righteousness."

Many people would agree with that. He is remembered for exactly those things. But what he actually said was this, "If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter."

It seems like not a day goes by that some prominent politician, actor, or business leader is demanding that some news source issue a correction about an incorrect quote. People who make speeches spend a lot of time working on the speech to get every word just the way they want it so that it says exactly what they mean.

So, while it may not seem like it's worth making a fuss over, you would surely think that if all that time and money was going to be spent making the Memorial, that it would be done correctly. What I get out of the original quotation is that he knew he had played an important part in the history of this nation, but he hoped people would remember the work that was done and not focus on the man. What the quote on the Memorial seems to suggest is that he was boasting. That's my take on it.

The quote should be corrected on the Memorial. Restore Truthiness.

Moving On.

TV Good. As you may remember, the Colbert Super PAC ran an ad in Iowa suggesting that voters in Ames write in Rick Parry's name. That's Parry with an "A". Well many people did write in Parry's name, but the Iowa GOP will not release the results to say whether or not all the names were spelled Parry. Stephen's good friends over at WOI tried to find out, but the short and long answer was the same - NO. The Iowa GOP would not release the results. So, again, Truthiness loses.

Stephen's guest tonight was Robin Wright. They talked about the political situation in the Middle East. She said that the people there had made such a difference in a short time for making dramatic changes in the politics and governments. After some more discussion, she said that debt could actually be our biggest enemy. Stephen suggested invading VISA.

Her book is Rock the Casbah - Rage and Rebellion Across the Islamic World. As Stephen would say, "Go buy it."

10 Signs Your Child May Be Gifted

You know how it is. You check your email and then you see a news story that is interesting and then you Google something from that story and before long, you are way off topic and have spent a lot of time at the old computer.

Today I glanced at a story about Gifted Children and their characteristics. If you spend a lot of time with a lot of children, it should become clear to you that some do seem to have lots going for them. Some of the characteristics include:

Retain Information
Wide Spectrum of Interests
Is Musically or Artistically Talented
Has an Advanced Vocabulary
Acts as His Own Critic

I don't know who the original writer of the story is. You can Google it and find the same story in a lot of different places. (Search for "10 Signs Your Child May Be Gifted") The first thing I noticed was in the part about Wide Spectrum of Interests. It said this:

"Gifted kiddos display an interest in a wide variety of topics. They may like dinosaurs one month, space the next month, and so fourth."

Oops, not so gifted in spelling. And the word "fourth" was spelled that same way in all the sources I looked at. In this day and age of instant everything, it seems jokes and misspellings travel around the world in the blink of an aye, oops, eye.

But this all brings up a very important point. I looked again at those characteristics and do you know who I immediately thought of? I think you do. Can we all agree that most likely when Stephen was a little kiddo in school, his teachers all thought he was gifted?

Think about it.

Retain Information - Stephen is a storehouse of information. And if he doesn't know something, he can easily make it up.

Wide Spectrum of Interests - Just think of all the guests he has on, all the places he visits, all the interests he demonstrates. From speed skating at the Olympics, to running for President of the United States, to wrestling with Jason Chaffetz, to writing poetry about Paul Revere, to learning proper etiquette when meeting the Queen, to sailing the Atlantic Ocean... the list is endless.

Is Musically or Artistically Talented - Hello!?!? Have you ever listened to him sing? Have you ever watched him dance? Have you seen how well he can draw Snoopy?

Has an Advanced Vocabulary - One word: Truthiness

Acts as His Own Critic - Stephen constantly is evaluating himself. Just think back on how many times he told us about his many awards.

So, yes. I think we can all agree. Stephen was most likely a Gifted Child in his younger years and he hasn't lost any of his gifts.

And if by chance you are looking for more information about Gifted Children, you can go the the National Association for Gifted Children website.

Tune in Next Week

So much happened on tonight's show that I can only briefly mention selected segments.

First of all, Sir John Lithgow was on and you just have to watch him at Colbert Nation if you didn't watch the show tonight. Is it any wonder he's a Sir?

Next Stephen solved a host of problems with his Clergy-Matic Ecclesi-Action Center 3:16. Just a simple Do this and Don't do that and problems solved.

Tonight's guest was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to talk about his documentary "On the Shoulders of Giants."

Stephen had a quick reminder to all of us to adjust our clocks this Saturday. And more importantly an announcement that he will be on the "Spirit of Juno" for the Charleston Bermuda Race this Saturday. You can follow his progress online.

Stephen ended the show with a very brief history of humanity, including the hula hoop, David after Dentist and Truthiness.

Tune in next week for more of The Colbert Report and be sure to keep reading The Colbert Bump blog. We'll be back and hope to see you too. Only problem is that the race is expected to take about a week. So, does that mean our only updates from Stephen will be just about the race and nothing about the national and international news? Will we be watching reruns? Time will tell. Just be patient and hang in there. More shows soon.

Stephen Already Has an iPad 2

I don't know what to think. Last night Stephen revealed that he got an iPad 2 on the first day! It sounds like he actually went out and paid money for it. At least he didn't make a big deal about it, so one can only assume that there was no special deal worked out.

So now we can evaluate the Poll about when he would get it. I'm not even sure whether or not to say someone correctly guessed the correct time when Stephen would get his iPad 2. We can review the answers offered to see which ones were selected.

One person guessed he would have it the next time he did a show. One guessed he would get it after Jon Stewart got one and one person guessed Never. No one guessed that he would get it for his birthday, so everyone who did not vote that way was correct since his birthday is, oops, I better not spill the beans on when that is. (I'm planning a surprise about something or for someone, but can't say what.)

And I don't know if Jon Stewart got an iPad. So it is possible that Stephen got an iPad 2 after Jon Stewart got an iPad 2, but at this point in time, we just can't say if that was the correct answer. And since he had his iPad but didn't tell us, well it gets really murky trying to figure out if anyone was correct on their guess for the Poll.

I will have to redo my thinking on what to ask for the next Poll. It will need to have answers that are more likely to be either right or else wrong. The Poll needs to have a much better truthiness quotient than my first Poll had.

The Dilemma

The Dilemma:

Stephen Colbert is famous and has won many awards, most of which are because of his Truthiness. For example, he recently was awarded the coveted and first ever "Golden Tweet" which was bestowed upon him by Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter.

"In honor of oil-soaked birds, 'tweets' are now 'gurgles'."

He has won Emmys.

He has won the "Gutsiest Move" award.

He ran for president. He has appeared in Spider-Man comics.

He has been in movies (with almost top billing but not quite which I guess translates into bottom billing).

He has been on TV shows.

He has held a Rally with Jon Stewart to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.

All of these involved facts.

Here's where The Dilemma starts coming into play.

I have in past posts, (not to be confused with pissed pests past posts which will be a future post) compared or contrasted Stephen Colbert with Brad Rodu. Rodu has a blog about Tobacco Truth which of course, of course ... right?... involve facts. You remember Dr. Brad Rodu - University of Louisville, Endowed Chair of Tobacco Harm Reduction research, recommends that people stop using tobacco by starting to use tobacco in a different form such as cigarette substitutes, snus, chew, smokeless tobacco, vapor cigarettes, etc.

Now some might wonder if he is biased because his endowed chair is paid for by Tobacco companies. But he says he is not biased, so you know he isn't because he uses Truth in the title of his blog and he says that he has "no conflict of interest" due to Tobacco paying him. You can read about him at any number of his blogs and websites. He has them all linked together, like some sort of web. (Yikes... Brad Rodu - web. Stephen Colbert - Spider-Man! What a connection these two men have!)

Anyway, here's my point.
Dr. Brad Rodu, Endowed Chair has had his "smokers only" website since 2005. On it he says lots of stuff.

Dr. Stephen Colbert has had his nightly show since 2005.
Every night he tells the audience many things.
And, IMHO, Stephen Colbert is Endowed.
With many fine qualities.

Only one of them can win my Truthiness Award. Which one will it be?

The Dilemma continues.

Sue's Noose Goose Snus Snooze

Yep, that's a tongue twister I'm using for the title of this post. Does it make sense? Well, not exactly, but it's fun to try to say it ten times. (Betcha you can't do it!)

Moving on.

Fans of truthiness are troubled when they encounter bogusivity. But how can you even tell which is which?

Case in point. Snus. Electronic Cigarettes. Dip. Vapor Stick. Chewing Tobacco. Snuff. Dissolvable Tobacco. Cigarette Substitutes. Smoking Alternatives. All will get you the nicotine you are addicted to. But are they healthy? Are they a good idea? Should you try them? Should you buy them?

Dr. Brad Rodu, D.D.S. is making a career out of promoting tobacco and nicotine via delivery systems other than smoking. He even advocated that Senator Barack Obama (now President Barack Obama) use smokeless tobacco.

Dr. Brad Rodu is a Professor of medicine at the University of Louisville. He holds an endowed chair (more about that in a future post) in tobacco harm reduction - or THR as he calls it.

(Clarification Note or Full Disclosure as they call it in journalism and politics):

His research, and thus the
lifestyle that he's become accustomed to,
is supported by tobacco manufacturers.

So, I'm wondering. Is he really concerned about all this tobacco and chew and snus and snuff, or is this just a prelude to his launching his career on some competing television channel (such as FOX) as an alternative to Stephen Colbert's "The Colbert Report" (TCR)?

There are so many similarities it's just uncanny.

* Both are doctors.
* Both use statistics.
* Both document their sources.
* Both talk about pharmaceuticals.
* Both use the internet to get their point or points across to a wide segment of loyal followers.
* I could go on and on but I won't.

Funny note here. Some would suggest that Stephen Colbert of "The Colbert Report" often talks with tongue in cheek. Ha ha ha. Ha ha. Ha. People who use smokeless tobacco would talk with tobacco in cheek. Both of those would be called TIC. Tongue In Cheek. Tobacco in Cheek. Get it?

Anyway, what makes me think that Dr. Brad Rodu may be trying to take over the late night conservative pundit job that Dr. Colbert is doing so well is that he uses similar tactics to push his agenda. Dr. Brad Rodu is very good at using truthiness as I have explained in in a previous post. (See November 30, 2010 post entitled, "The Truthiness, the Whole Truthiness, and Nothing But the Truthiness.")

Dr. Rodu tells you some of the story, but not the rest of the story, just as Dr. Colbert often does. I mentioned in that previous post on "The Truthiness, the Whole Truthiness, and Nothing But the Truthiness" about Dr. Rodu talking about our life expectancy being better than it used to be. But it's 14 years less for smokers than for non-smokers, so that's the rest of the story.

And then it gets all confusing when people try to make other people think that it's the smoking that's the problem and not the tobacco that's the problem. There's been so much emphasis on quitting smoking, when it really probably should have been an emphasis on quitting tobacco.

"I wish I could quit you." How many smokers have said that? And how many times have they said that?

Dr. Colbert has his Cheating Death segments [here] and Dr. Rodu seems to be saying that smokeless tobacco can help tobacco users cheat death. But again, is that all tongue in cheek talking by one or both of these doctors?

It's a new year and anything is possible. For now I will leave you with some sources to check out [here] and [here] and [here]
and [here] and [here].

Also [here] and [here] and [here] and [here].

Interestingly enough, on a Wikipedia entry, Dr. Rodu's blog was listed under NON-medical blogs and commentary. That is yet another indication that there is a potential of a possibility that perhaps, maybe, a competitor to Dr. Stephen Colbert and The Colbert Report (TCR) is in the planning stages or at least in the "thinking about it" planning stages.

FOX, are you interested? We need more comedians in these tough times.

The Truthiness, The Whole Truthiness, and Nothing But the Truthiness

Previously I posted about Brad Rodu, Professor of Medicine at the University of Louisville. He holds an endowed chair in tobacco harm reduction research. You really do have to admire someone who employs the same scientific rigor that Stephen Colbert uses.

For example, on his blog he has a graph that shows how the Life Expectancy in the United States has gone up. It's at almost 78 years now. Think how great that is if you are 20 years old! Of course, it's not so great if you are 79 years old. Yowza.

But, for the most part, we are living longer. And that is the Truthiness of Brad Rodu (or should I say, Dr. Brad Rodu, D.D.S.) that Stephen Colbert, inventor of Truthiness, would approve of.

Here's where the Whole Truthiness and Nothing But The Truthiness comes in. According to CDC, i.e. Center for Disease Control, life expectancy for smokers is 14 years less than for non-smokers.

So, hurray for Dr. Rodu for using Truthiness to his advantage. Use the parts that you like and those other parts, well they can just be ignored. Never mind that CDC says that an average dose of smokeless tobacco contains at least twice the amount of nicotine found in the average cigarette. And never mind that nicotine is an addictive drug. Just stick to Truthiness. It is ever so much easier.

Truthiness is a Word

Stephen announced on Monday's show that the word "truthiness" is in the Oxford American Dictionary. And what's more, credit is given to Stephen Colbert for coining the word on his very first show.

Congratulations Stephen. This is your special day. Nothing can Rain on your parade now.

Bogusivity

So, I have found a few other websites with the word "bogusivity" on it. But I don't care. I'm going to claim the word as mine. Stephen, don't you dare steal the word from me. The only other reference I found on Google to bogusivity was about juggling and it was a very, very long time ago.

Bogusivity is basically the opposite of truthiness. But it is not just the opposite of truthiness, it is worse than the opposite of truthiness. You see, truthiness has a sort of ambiguity about it whereas bogusivity is absolute, sort of like negative 273.15 degrees Celsius.

Truthiness is a goal, something you want to always try to achieve, like Stephen does. Bogusivity is to be avoided at all times and in all circumstances.