This Week: Roundup of Sunday Funnies - U.S. Kept Copies of Keys to Iraq, Statue of Liberty Reopens, Maine Gets Gay Friendly

Photo by Tansan @ flickr

From Denny: In this summer heat we all can use a good laugh! Here's the latest from the late night show comics.

This Week's roundup of the Sunday funnies.

The Daily Show

Jon Stewart: The United States gave the Iraqis the key back to their own cities. Don't worry, we made a copy.

The Late Late Show

Craig Ferguson: The show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" is returning to prime time. But due to the recession, it's being renamed "Who Wants Five Bucks and a Taco?"

Late Show

David Letterman: Here is good news for Bernie Madoff: Only 149 years, 50 weeks to go.

The Colbert Report

Stephen Colbert: [Clip from CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" show] "Tonight, connecting with one of Michael Jackson's old friends and perhaps one of the oddest, Bubbles, the chimp." Colbert: Congratulations, Anderson. This is even bigger than your 2006 sit-down with Saddam Hussein's beloved pet, Khalid Sheikh Mohamster. [Screeb shows hamster dressed as Saddam Hussein.]

And the week I missed somehow... Statue of Liberty Reopens

The Tonight Show

Jay Leno: It was hot today. Wasn't it? I tell you. Oh, I was sweating like John Edwards waiting to watch his wife on "Oprah."

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

Jimmy Fallon: The crown at the top of the Statue of Liberty will reopen on the Fourth of July for the first time since 9/11. Isn't that cool? Visitors will now be able to touch Air Force One as it flies right past them.

The Late Show

David Letterman: Here's a public service announcement now from Joe Biden. Remember that the sun's rays can cause painful sunburn and long-term skin damage. To be safe, between now and October, do not leave your home. Message from Joe Biden, "Time to Panic."

The Late Late Show

Craig Ferguson: The state of Maine today legalized gay marriage. Maine became comfortable with the idea after years of touching Canada.

Saddam Hussein Joe Biden Michael Jackson Anderson Cooper John Edwards Late Night with Jimmy Fallon The Tonight Show The Late Show The Late Late Show

* * *  Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - contributing to fund efforts to help homeless female military veterans come home.  Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  And a special thanks to those of you supporting this effort!  You rock!

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Fourth of July Quotes: Serious and Funny

Photo by Morgan Frederick @ flickr

From Denny: I just love the fireworks on this day. I also like to remember all the soldiers over the centuries who lost their lives preserving our freedom, whether they voted Democrat, Republican or not at all.

Courage is always to be respected and admired. We may not agree on whether there should be a war at all, how to conduct a war once started or how to end it. What we can agree on is to respect those who were sent to fight as our first line of defense. They paid a hefty price for the rest of their lives for those wars were always with them.

Here are some very serious awesome quotes and a few light-hearted ones as well to give you pause and a grin on this solemn national holiday.

Serious Quotes

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.” – President John F. Kennedy

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it." ~ Thomas Paine

"He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself." ~ Thomas Paine

"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave." ~ Elmer Davis

"Liberty is always dangerous, but it is the safest thing we have." ~ Harry Emerson Fosdick

"Let freedom never perish in your hands." ~ Joseph Addison

Image by photobunny via Flickr

"Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed - else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die." ~ President Dwight D. Eisenhower

"In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved." ~ President Franklin D. Roosevelt

"May the sun in his course visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely, than this our own country!" ~ Daniel Webster

"We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls." ~ Robert J. McCracken

"Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves." ~ Abraham Lincoln

"If our country is worth dying for in time of war let us resolve that it is truly worth living for in time of peace." ~ Hamilton Fish

"I prefer liberty with danger to peace with slavery." ~ Author Unknown

"Without freedom, no one really has a name." ~ Milton Acorda

"Where liberty dwells, there is my country." ~ Benjamin Franklin

Funny Quotes

The United States is the only country with a known birthday. ~ James G. Blaine

“You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.” ~ Erma Bombeck

"There, I guess King George will be able to read that." -
John Hancock, after signing the Declaration of Independence with a huge signature well flourished to stand out from the crowd!

Stay safe this holiday; Happy Fourth of July! Thanks for visiting!

* * *  Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - helping homeless female military veterans come home.  Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  And a special thanks to those of you supporting this effort!  You rock!

 Subscribe in a reader to A Truth Journal

* Check out Dennys News Politics Comedy Science Arts & Food - a place where all my other 20 blogs link so you can choose from among the latest posts all in one place. A free to read online newspaper from independent journalist blogger Denny Lyon. * 

*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

Libations Friday! Coffee Recipe and Michael Jackson Poem Tribute 3 July 2009

Featured this week is a poem about Michael Jackson’s life, a writing exercise of how to write a poetry version of a favorite person’s biography and a coffee recipe.

Coffee photo by once and future @ flickr


Pot-Brewed Coffee with Raw Sugar and Spices (Café de Olla)

From: by Rick Bayless with Deann Groen Bayless @ Epicurious.com

This recipe is from the Rick Bayless cookbook - "Authentic Mexican: Regional Cooking from the Heart of Mexico" (found under the Coffee section of The Social Poets Amazon store or just click on this book link)

Yield: Makes 4 - 5 servings

Commentary from author Rick Bayless: “Today, Mexico's best coffee is ripened and dried along the roadways in the cloud-blanketed highlands of Chiapas and over through Veracruz and Oaxaca. The prime beans are usually roasted a little darker than ours — almost a Viennese roast — and they brew a nice, medium-bodied liquid with some spunk. They tell me it's the second-class beans that get roasted darker, to a mahogany black with a shining sugar coat.

The steam-powered espresso machines in the city cafeterías extract a trio of ethnic brews: espresso, straight, foamy and Italian; café con leche, mixed with hot milk, French-style (but so common one would mistake it for purely Mexican); or Americano, simply diluted with water. The more rural brew leans toward the Spanish, the history books say, but it seems like a Mexican-flavored campfire version to me.

Café de Olla at its best is pot-boiled in earthenware with molassesy piloncillo sugar and spices like cinnamon, anise or cloves. These days, many traditional city restaurants offer the dark, delicious drink more regularly, served in old-fashioned earthenware mugs at the end of the meal.”

Ingredients:

• 4-5 ounces piloncillo*, roughly chopped or 1/2 to 2/3 cup packed brown sugar, plus 1 teaspoon molasses

• 2 inches cinnamon stick

• A few aniseeds (optional)

• 2/3 cup (2 ounces) Viennese-roast coffee, medium to coarse grind


• *Unrefined sugar that is pressed into cone or disk shapes. Also called panela.

Directions:

Boiling and steeping: In a noncorrosive pan, combine 1 quart water, the sugar, cinnamon and optional aniseed. Bring slowly to a boil, stirring to melt the sugar. Stir in the coffee, remove from the fire, cover and steep for 5 minutes.
Straining: Strain the coffee through a fine-mesh sieve into cups or mugs and serve immediately.

A few reviews from the Epicurious site on this recipe:

"I made this for our dinner club and it was delicious. Just don't burn anyone pouring the coffee through the sieve! by A Cook from Alaska

"I needed a Mexican drink for a coffee where I demonstrated Mexican Appetizers. I put Starbucks in my pot's filter basket, added 2 Teaspoons whole anise seed and a few teaspoons of cinnamon. The smell was fantastic and they drank more coffee than Sangria! I also had dark sugar cubes for those who wanted it! by petitti from Memphis

"Very authentic. The only change I make is to omit the sugar and allow each person to add his own, as this is quite sweet for most North Americans, and nearly undrinkable for those who don't normally sweeten their coffee. Do use dark brown sugar in either case, and piloncillo if available. If you're accustomed to sweetened coffee, follow the recipe,playing with the amount of sugar. by A Cook from Jackson, NJ

"I used the brown sugar with ground Starbucks, and it was extremely sweet. You may want to tone down the sugar to 1/3 instead of 2/3 Cups. Other than that, very nice after dinner type coffee drink. by Tony from Philly"

Cheeky Quote Day! Women, Cockroaches and Journalism 1 July 2009

Photo by I'm Fantastic @ flickr

From Denny: Summer heat has set in and July has arrived!

Thinking of the bizarre turn of events lately: Obama disinvited the Iranians from our Independence Day festivities on the Fourth. The Canadians followed suit. The Iranian regime has been exhibiting "bad form" lately with promoting a dictatorship, imprisoning and torturing their election protesters. Hmmm... I doubt they wanted to come anyway as they don't believe in independence, democracy or free speech. Guess we will have to catch them next year for the invite. Can the news get any stranger?

Well, while we agonize over the serious problems of the Iranian people we still need to laugh to keep our sanity and balance, so the Cheeky Quote Day goes on. These folks do have a way with words!

This Week: Roundup of Sunday Funnies - Sanfords GOP Outreach and More!

Mark Sanford -- He's Back! (Photo credit: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com)

From Denny: With so much seriousness in the world these days, we all can use a good laugh. Besides, who can stay up late to watch these guys when we have to start our work week? :)

Here's a roundup of the late-night comics, enjoy. Also, was laughing over at YouTube yesterday and included this little video gem.

Update April 2013:  Since Mark Sanford is crazy enough to step back into politics after trespassing and snooping around in his now four years later ex-wife's home, we might as well give another round of the jokes that drove him out of office in the first place.  This guy is such a loser and, women, well, we have no use for such a manipulative loser.  What was this guy thinking?  Really?