RIP Neil Armstrong

The astronauts in NASA's space program meant so much to our country, and inspired the boomer generation to create everything from MTV to Cellular Phones to the Internet to the Mars Curiousity. We need more heroes like this, who literally could "boldly go where no one had gone before," especially in these times when things seem to be crumbling here on earth and we can't agree on anything.

President Obama paid homage today:

From USA Today

As he stepped off the lunar module and set foot on the moon's surface, he said "that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,'' underscoring a centuries-old fantasy among human kind and a high point in the Cold War era space race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. An estimated 600 million TV viewers watched the event, engrossed by the surreal, grainy black-and-white footage.

Saturday, President Barack Obama hailed Armstrong as one of "the greatest American heroes — not just of his time, but of all time.''

"When he and his fellow crew members lifted off aboard Apollo 11 in 1969, they carried with them the aspirations of an entire nation,'' the president said in a statement. "They set out to show the world that the American spirit can see beyond what seems unimaginable — that with enough drive and ingenuity, anything is possible. And when Neil stepped foot on the surface of the moon for the first time, he delivered a moment of human achievement that will never be forgotten."

Goodbye, Newt

Newt Gingrich is finally leaving what the Guardian UK calls his Awe-Inspiring Presidential Campaign.

For someone so boastful, surreally ambitious, condescending, compulsively philandering and just generally preposterous, it's always been oddly hard to truly dislike Newt Gingrich. If I had to guess the reason, I'd say it has something to do with the boastfulness, the surreal ambition, the condecension, the compulsive philandering and the general preposterousness.

I think about the only people who will miss Newt are the cartoonists, comedians and pundits.

I gathered up some of the Moon Madness about his farewell speech and posted them on my political quotes blog Snark Amendment

Rumor has it that Romney is gaining Newt's endorsement by paying off his huge primary campaign debt. Yeah, there's nothing like buying a good endorsement, or paying off a huge mountain of debt created by a fellow-Republican who complained for the past year about Obama and the Democrats wasting money.

I think Newt and Mitt prove one important fact: all the money in the world probably can't buy the Republicans this election. Yes, they can close the gap with Obama before November, but look at how much they've wasted in the primary just to try and defeat Santorum. And that guy would still be in the race if he hadn't sabotaged himself by opening his mouth once too often. So what did they prove? Obviously that talk is cheap, and they are hypocrites and narcissists willing to spend anything to buy the White House, while telling underprivileged children to become baby janitors so the good white wealthy children (like Newt's grandchildren) will fly to the moon.

Newt reminded us all that the moon is the root of the word "lunatic."







From Comedy Central's Indecision 2012

Happy Place Diversion ~ La Bella Luna

The moon was nearly full last night! So gorgeous!
The Old Farmer's Almanac gives facts about the April Full Moon:

Full Pink Moon, heralds the appearance of the moss pink, or wild ground phlox—one of the first spring flowers. It is also known as the Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and the Fish Moon.