6,666,666,666

From skippy the bush kangaroo …

the population of the earth is expected to pass 6,666,666,666 today

Run or go for pizza?

I’m voting pizza.

Rather Big News About News In Tennessee

This is a big deal.

The board of Cincinnati-based E.W. Scripps Co. has approved management’s plan to separate the media company into two public companies, effective July 1.

The board authorized management in October to pursue the separation.

One company, Scripps Networks Interactive Inc., will include the cable networks HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Fine Living Network and Great American Country and online comparison shopping sites Shopzilla and uSwitch. The other, E.W. Scripps, will have 10 broadcast television stations and newspapers in 15 U.S. markets, the News Sentinel, Rocky Mountain News in Denver and The Commercial Appeal in Memphis.

Read the rest here.

R. Neal says:

I’m not real good at math, but does this mean the Scripps board puts the value of their cable/interactive business at three times the value of their broadcast TV and print business?

Expenses

From Badger.

Did John Edwards Say Him?

A little bunch of nothing which started making the rounds this afternoon. Or is it something?

Did John Edwards say at the end of this clip from Morning Joe “I just voted for him on Tuesday?”

You decide.

No official endorsement but interesting.

18 Kids!?!

It’s gone beyond family. This lady is creating a nation.

It’s a happy Mother’s Day for an Arkansas woman — she’s pregnant with her 18th child.

Michelle Duggar, 41, is due on New Year’s Day, and the latest addition will join seven sisters and 10 brothers. There are two sets of twins.

From Silence

Lost: Cabin Fever

So, if your mom is named Emily then you get to choose an object, and if you choose the right object, you are to become the Island’s next Dalai Lama?

Okay, Carlton Cuse/Damon Lindelof have changed the rules again and my initial reaction is WTF? I’ve also been saying to myself that Destiny is a fickle bitch because that’s what this episode was about.

Let’s talk Lost after the jump.

News Soap Opera

As the stomach churns.

It’s like a soap opera. I’ve always thought that was why Nascar is so popular as well.

Boy Soap Operas.

Some background on Tuesday night’s primary coverage dust up between MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and David Gregory:

The twosome “have never” gotten along, says a reputable source. A year ago, Gregory bad mouthed Scarborough to somebody who, unbeknownst to Gregory, was a Scarborough friend/fan. It can be assumed the dis made its way back to Scarborough, who found reason to battle against his fellow newsie.

For some reason, I know this may shock you, I don’t care yet I’m amused nonetheless.

John Waters’ New Film: Fruitcake

I love me some John Waters.

Johnny Knoxville and Parker Posey are attached to star in John Waters’ Christmas film “Fruitcake.”

The plot is officially under wraps but is said to center on the title character, a boy named after his favorite dessert. He runs away from home during the holidays after he and his parents are caught shoplifting meat, then meets up with a runaway girl raised by two gay men and searching for her birth mother.

Shoplifting meat? Groovy.

Josh Brolin As George Bush

Josh Brolin is going to play George Bush in the new Oliver Stone film.

He’s got the grimace down, I’ll give him that.

Watching John Tanner

Just watching. Always watching.

“Some of us oppose creating a new entitlement program in an emergency spending bill, whether it’s butchers, bakers or candlestick-makers,” said Rep. John Tanner (D-Tenn.), a founding member of the Blue Dog Coalition who serves on the House leadership team as a deputy whip.

The so-called GI Bill of Rights, authored by Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), would give veterans money for college and cost $720 million in its first two years. But critics say that could grow to billions in future years.

House Democratic leaders attached it to the supplemental spending bill figuring Bush wouldn’t dare veto veterans’ benefits. If he did, Republicans would pay a steep political cost.

But that calculation is now causing heartburn for Blue Dogs, the same members who have generally supported war funding. The fiscally conservative coalition is split. Some members are willing to block the bill because “pay-as-you-go” budgetary rules — offsetting new spending with spending cuts or increased taxes — have been ignored one too many times. Others, like Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.), don’t want to oppose benefits for veterans.

“It’s a cost of the war,” Barrow said.

Just call me a political voyeur.

Related.

National Priorities Project Calculates Local Costs

Mike has this:

According to the National Priorities Project, the Iraq War has cost the State of Tennessee over $8 billion ($1 billion = $1000 million). President Bush’s new funding request for 08-09 will cost the Volunteer State over $2 billion, which according to NPP would buy Tennessee 21,714 afforable housing units, 41,906 elementary school teachers, or health care coverage for 435,808 adults.

I shake my head and sigh deeply. Here’s the calculator

So I ran District 8 ( Congressman John Tanner) and this is what I found:

Taxpayers in Congressional District 8 (Tanner) will pay $805.7 million for total Iraq war spending approved to date. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:

• 168,170 People with Health Care for One Year
• 596,557 Homes with Renewable Electricity for One Year
  22,381 Public Safety Officers for One year
• 15,078 Music and Arts Teachers for One Year
• 143,314 Scholarships for University Students for One Year
• 62 New Elementary Schools
• 8,379 Affordable Housing Units
• 281,606 Children with Health Care for One Year
• 111,920 Head Start Places for Children for One Year
• 16,171 Elementary School Teachers for One Year

In Tennessee, Gov. Phil Bredesen spoke yesterday about the elimination of a little more than 2000 jobs.

Jeez.

Gone Country To Tape In Paris

I’m speechless and sort of weirded out about this which is happening to the county next to mine.

Here’s some background, a show I’ve never heard of until yesterday called “Gone Country” which is going to be filming in Paris Saturday.

A demolition derby, mind you, featuring these people, from the press release, mind you:

• Jermaine Jackson, one of Michael Jackson’s older brothers who was a big part of the Jackson 5’s success in the early 1970s and has had a sterling career himself as a solo performer.

• Sebastian Bach, former lead singer of the rock group Skid Row, which had the hits “18 & Life” and “I Remember You” in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

• Irene Cara, a singer/actress who starred in the movie “Fame” and later sang the song “What A Feeling,” from the movie “Flashdance.”

• Mikalah Gordon, a former finalist on “American Idol.”

• Chris Kirkpatrick, a former member of the boy band ’NSync.

• Lorenzo Lamas, an actor who starred in “Falcon Crest” and recently in the soap opera “The Bold and The Beautiful.”

• Sean Young, an actress who has been in many films, including “No Way Out,” “Blade Runner,” and “Ace Ventura, Pet Detective.”

So, they send the presser out and ask for people to attend so they can have all that reality in reality television and screaming fans for these folks. I had to look two of ‘em up cause I didn’t know who they were.

A demolition derby? Listen, I get that they want to do the big stereotype thing and all, but I’ve lived a good portion of my life in rural America and I’ve never been to a demolition derby.

I have been to lawnmower races, but that’s a different thing indeed.

Consider this a shout out to Lesley and Lynnster who will most likely either enjoy this or be utterly appalled.

BBC Facebook Parody

Manbabies

More timewasters from the tubes with this new site that takes picture of fathers and sons and swaps their heads.

It’s sort of creepy.

H/T: Neatorama

Russia’s New President Names Putin PM

From CNN.

Russia’s new president Dmitry Medvedev wasted no time in knuckling down to work–naming his predecessor Vladimir Putin as his new prime minister two hours after he was sworn in Wednesday, agencies report.

Anyone surprised. Anyone?

John And Elizabeth Edwards

Nice interview at the Ticker this morning with John and Elizabeth Edwards. I thought it was interesting but they say a lot without saying anything.

When it comes to Hillary Clinton, John Edwards praised the New York Democrat for her tenacity, saying she “shows a real strength that’s inside of her.” But the former North Carolina senator also said Clinton represents a “lot of the old politics.”

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Edwards said she is a strong proponent of Clinton’s healthcare plan, though is disappointed the New York senator accepts donations from lobbyists.

As for Barack Obama, John Edwards said he wants to “see more substance under the rhetoric.” But he gave Obama praise for wanting to “bring about serious change and a different way of doing things.”

Elizabeth Edwards said she is impressed by the fact Obama has “motivated so many young people to be involved,” though she does not like his healthcare plan and said his advertisements on the plan have been “misleading.”

John Edwards later added he thinks it’s a “great symbolic thing to have an African-American who could be president.”

That sentiment, People reports, caused Elizabeth Edwards to roll her eyes:

“What about the great symbolic thing about a woman?” she asked.

I like the banter between them though. They seem very comfortable. I like that. In many ways, they have become the first couple of the Democratic Party. Not bad.

Gay Bigfoot

You know when I see the headline that screams Gay Bigfoot, I’m going to go and look.

Legend says that the beast known as Popobawa has been menacing the Tanzanian island of Pemba in his own unique style ever since the ’70s. He can be identified by his smell (reputed to be quite pungent), and also by the fact that he is a one-eyed flying ogre … He attacks only men, sneaking into their houses at night and buttburgling them for up to an hour, then–in an oddly familiar twist to anyone who reads superhero comics–demanding that they tell all their friends about him.

I realize this is completely unnecessary but, hell, that’s what you get here on the ‘tubes sometimes.

Of course, it’s from Cracked on the weirdest mythical creatures ever.

Annoying Autobiographical Pause #034

Last night I went to a third grade concert where Bear sang songs with her class. It was adorably sweet (shut up) and I found myself quite smitten with the whole thing.

This may sound weird but it was very NPR-like. I don’t know how to explain it any other way.

I know, I’m a softie. As it is tournament time for high schools here in America, Squirrel Queen walked in as the festivities were ending but we got Bear flowers which her older sis gave to her.

There isn’t anything nicer than seeing a kid beam with pride of a job well done.

I sometimes watch their lives from the sidelines. It’s funny that all the kids at the school call me “Tick” but I’ve noticed they have dropped the Aunt part. (For those of you who don’t know, my oldest niece started calling me Tick when she was a baby because I tickled her. Thus, Aunt Tick was born.) The amazing thing to me is that the other kids picked that up as well. I am secretly pleased about this and love it when my peers will hear this endearment and look at me bewildered. Oh, it’s fun to have an in-joke with kids.)

They are getting older. So am I. As they spiral towards their tweens, I sometimes feel like an accessory with them. But I think that’s just part of it being an Aunt. I’m not a mom or a grandmom, and I’m still somewhat of a playtoy for them, and that’s more than all right. Right now I see Homer running herself ragged to keep them involved in school, sports and their community. She is not only teaching them to be part of the world around them, but she’s also creating opportunities for them to learn discipline, tolerance and responsibility.

I salute Moms. You guys have a hard job.

I’m going through a period of time where I’m very tired but oddly content with the world around me. To quote one of my favorite bloggers which I have done before, it is what it is. I’m learning at my advanced age that things have to grow organically and that rushing my life is self-destructive. Bills still have to be paid, dogs have to be fed, laundry has to be done, I still have to go to work but with all of that said, I’m thinking a bit more optimistically. As you know, it’s easy to fall into the cracks and let the bad stuff eat at your soul.

Early morning ponderings from Hooterville.

Should She Concede?

I’m saying no.

Naaa.

Update: And yes, I’m talking about good old Mabel For President.

I Have My Own Newspaper Box

Left hand side.

Thanks Christian, that’s awesome.