Barack Obama State of the Union Speech 2010 – TRANSCRIPT

President Barack Obama gave his first State of the Union address last night, on 27 January 2010.  The speech ran for an hour and nine minutes — unusually long for a State of the Union talk.

PETA: Replace Punxsutawney Phil With a Robot!

We would like to present you with an exciting, innovative proposal — one that would benefit both Punxsutawney and Punxsutawney Phil. Please… make the compassionate decision to use an animatronic …..

Howard Zinn Dies

American historian and critic Howard Zinn has died of a heart attack. The author of the influential history book A People’s History of the United States, Zinn was 87.His obituary from the Boston Globe recounts his career and his influence on modern historians and students, and includes details of his run-ins as an agitator at Boston University.

Happy Anniversary, Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy!

It was on this day back in 1998 that Hillary Rodham Clinton, at the time the First Lady of the United States, defended her husband on NBC’s Today show and used the term “vast right-wing conspiracy” to explain why we were hearing all about Monica Lewinsky.

Famous Literary Drunks and Addicts

LIFE magazine has this terrific gallery of Famous Literary Drunks and Addicts — and it holds a few (though not many) surprises.By far “alcohol” is the most popular form of addiction here (although for Ernest Hemingway they call it “booze”).

John Updike +1

Author John Updike died of lung cancer one year ago today.

Bessie Coleman, You Wonderful Aviator, Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to Bessie Coleman, who was born on this day in 1892.With Black History Month coming up, it’s only natural to toss Coleman an extra salute. She was a rare bird.