D. All Of The Above

Again, more religion news. Do you have your own magazine? I didn't think so. Well the Pope does! A weekly magazine, "Il Mio Papa" is being published in Rome. How I wish I was in Rome now so that I could pick up the first magazine. Every week there will be a pullout centerfold. Of the Pope. (What were you thinking, for heaven's sake???)

There was also a short segment on the younger generation and a report in Huffington Post or Huff Po or Huffing Post. Seems like the name and aim keeps evolving...

Even as some things about the SAT keep changing, some things stay the same. To the dismay of older employees, employers are asking for SAT scores for upper management jobs. Stephen had a bit of help for those who will be taking the test. Just remember these words: SAT, Panic, Anxiety, Hysteria, Horror, Failure. And now my suggestions: Do your best and don't worry. It's just a test.

Ronan Farrow was Stephen's guest on Tuesday. Stephen mentioned his age (26) five times on the show. Lots of people are 26, but most people did not finish high school at 11, finish college at 15 and go to law school at 16. Also, most people do not have their own TV show on msnbc when they are 26 years old.

Ronan revealed that Stephen Colbert was his role model, basically his Papa Bear (not to be confused with Il Mio Papa). In addition to that, he studies Stephen's shouting technique, I suppose so that he can have a show that is more informative. Stephen offered up some of his ideas for producing real political change in our country.

War on Caterpillars

I happened to catch Reince Priebus on TV today. I was channel surfing and saw him on msnbc talking with Thomas Roberts. You can watch it here to see the two of them discussing caterpillars. It's just a little over the 3-minute mark when they start discussing what is actually the war on women, not really caterpillars. It was Reince Priebus that first started the whole caterpillar thing, by the way. They did talk about "family planning" a lot and also about the economy.

Seems like the problem for women, according to Reince Priebus, is the economy. And he should know because, as a conservative man, he feels comfortable speaking for women. Stephen said so last night, so it's true. But, (and I refer you to the previous post for more about this), the economy, family planning, Equal Pay, women's health decisions, ... it's all connected. Having a baby affects your health, your career, your earning potential.

When they talk about women being most concerned about the economy, that perhaps needs clarification. There is the economy in general and of course women are concerned about that. There is also their own personal economy, e.g. paying the rent or mortgage, buying groceries, paying the doctor and dentist bills, buying clothes and other necessities.

Children are expensive and I should know because I was one once upon a time. Having a baby and raising a child costs a lot of money. Having three children is going to cost approximately three times as much. Not exactly, because they can share a bedroom, so not much extra cost there. They can wear hand-me-downs, so that cuts down on some of the clothing cost. But they can't eat hand-me-down food. They can't use hand-me-down braces on their teeth.

If the child goes to day care, that costs money, a lot of money. If Mom is staying home instead of working, that means the income will go down for the family. It puts more pressure on Dad to earn more money to make up the difference. So, decisions on when to have children and how many children to have are key factors in a family's personal economic stability.

So, I hope Reince Priebus will read this and that it will help him understand what that whole war on women is about. It has something to do with women making their own decisions and not having Reince Priebus making those decisions. He should go back to playing with his caterpillars and leave women alone.

New Hampshire Primary Results Are In!

At least from Dixville Notch. Here's the numbers from the bottom of that page at Wikipedia:

Democratic Primary:
Barack Obama -- 3

GOP Primary:
Jon Huntsman -- 2
Mitt Romney -- 2
Ron Paul -- 1
New Gingrich -- 1

I figured if enough time went by, Jon Huntsman would pull ahead. (He is the candidate that puts country first ahead of party.) Huntsman hasn't been getting a lot of attention lately and I figured out why. His entry over at Conservapedia is very short. Perhaps now that he is doing so well in New Hampshire, the Conservapedia staff and editors will expand that entry and give us more background and accomplishments for Jon Huntsman.

It seems there's just never enough Republican debates. This past weekend there were only two debates. Stephen made the mistake of playing the "Contraception Game." That's where you take a shot of booze every time someone says "Contraception." Oh my, oh my. Stephen got wasted.

Stephen commented on Rick Santorum's recent quotes. Santorum has said that "Even fathers in jail who had abandoned their kids were still better than no father at all to have in their children's lives." Thus, according to Stephen (based on what Santorum thinks), Charles Manson would be better at parenthood than Rosie O'Donnell.

Tonight's guest was Melissa Harris-Perry, professor of political science at Tulane University, and frequent guest on msnbc. She also will soon have her own show on msnbc beginning in February. She has written a new book, "Sister Citizen - Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America." I think that it is probably a very good book. The cover is quite intriguing and patriotic looking, so Stephen will appreciate that. And you know what they say, you can't judge a book by it's cover, so I guess you just have to read the book to find out. But considering that Stephen had her on the show, it's probably a good book. Here's your chance to use that Barnes and Noble gift card you got and get a book for some 2012 reading.

Breaking News

Khaddafy --- Qadhafi --- Gadhafi -- Whichever way you spell his name, he seems to be on the way out. His location is unknown at this time. His eldest son has been captured as has his brother. State TV had been playing old footage of pro-Khaddafy rallies but switched to a soap opera.

Things are moving quickly. This will be the top story in the morning TV shows and the headlines in most newspapers.

As always, when something like this happens, details may be sketchy, and the story may be updated over and over. There is rejoicing in the streets for now. Hopefully the infrastructure and day to day necessities will be able to be coordinated so that it will be a smooth transition.

I'm watching msnbc now. You can watch what's happening there. Or read about it at Reuters here. President Obama, on vacation (although when is the POTUS ever really on vacation?) is constantly briefed by national security advisers.

History is being made in Libya. Stephen Colbert is on vacation, so we will have to wait for two weeks to hear his view on the events happening there.

Google "Vote for Rick Parry"

Here's some fun if you like looking at Stephen Colbert's smiling face. Just Google "Vote for Rick Parry" and then click on Images. You will see so many Stephen Colberts that it will make your head spin. And many of those images will take you to various media sources, such as this one that goes to msnbc.

The Best New Thing in the World Today

This really is different and way off topic, but it's also really cool. I happened to watch part of The Rachel Maddow Show on msnbc last night. At the end of the show she has a segment called "The Best New Thing in The World Today". Last night she talked a little bit about General Dempsey who might become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

And you know how you go to a wedding and someone's drunk uncle grabs a microphone and embarrasses everyone by singing some song and does a horrible job? Well Rachel played a video of General Dempsey singing at what looks like someone's wedding and he was GREAT! He sang New York, New York and you should give a listen. He's as good as Frank Sinatra. If he wasn't in the Army, he could have a successful singing career. (I also think it would be a good idea for Stephen to have General Dempsey on The Colbert Report and they could sing a duo.)

Impressive. General Martin Dempsey sings "New York, New York"