“How was your weekend?”
Chris Rock, at the start of his latest comedy show in Boston Wednesday night
Category Archives: News
Worst Quotes of the Week – April 2, 2022
“It appears that you are unaware that [the statute] continues to exist as the law of Texas,” Cain said. “And you likewise appear unaware that your organization is committing criminal acts that are exposing everyone involved in your organization – including your employees, volunteers, and donors – to criminal prosecution and imprisonment.”
Texas State Representative Briscoe Cain, referring to Texas Senate Bill 8, which outlaws abortion
“Caitlyn’s story is an inspiration to us all. She is a trailblazer in the LGBTQ+ community and her illustrious career spans a variety of fields that will be a tremendous asset for our audience.”
Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott, announcing the network has just hired former Olympian and reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner
Either by design or by accident, Scott’s announcement came on Transgender Day of Visibility
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Best Quotes of the Week – April 2, 2022
“Attorney General Garland, do your job so we can do ours.”
Rep. Elaine Luria, to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on pursuing former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows over the January 6, 2021 insurrection
Meadows has refused to cooperate with investigators, but the U.S. Department of Justice has seemed reluctant to hold him in contempt of Congress.
“Ultimately, the momentary exchange between three wealthy and powerful celebrities pales to the systemic ills and public health crises and international war crimes we are daily immersed in, but it’s also a microcosm of what’s at stake as we face all of them.”
John Pavlovitz, about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at last Sunday’s Oscar ceremonies
“The Department of Justice has a duty to act on this referral and others that we have sent. Without enforcement of congressional subpoenas, there is no oversight, and without oversight, no accountability — for the former president, or any other president, past, present, or future. Without enforcement of its lawful process, Congress ceases to be a co-equal branch of government.”
Rep. Adam Schiff, in a statement to U.S. Attorney General Garland about Mark Meadows
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April 2022 Literary Calendar
Events in the month of April for writers and readers
D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read) Month
National Poetry Month
School Library Month
- 1 – Reading is Funny Day
- 2 – International Children’s Book Day
- 2 – National Children’s Picture Book Day
- 2 – Hans Christian Anderson’s birthday
- 3-9 – National Library Week
- 4 – National School Librarian Day
- 4 – Maya Angelou’s birthday
- 5 – National Library Worker’s Day
- 6 – National Library Outreach Day (formerly National Bookmobile Day)
- 7 – Take Action for Libraries Day
- 9 – National Unicorn Day
- 12 – Drop Everything and Read (D.E.A.R.) Day
- 12 – Beverly Cleary’s birthday
- 13 – Scrabble Day
- 14 – Celebrate Teen Literature Day
- 15 – Rubber Eraser Day
- 15 – World Art Day
- 16 – National Librarian Day
- 17 – International Haiku Poetry Day
- 18 – Newspaper Columnists Day
- 23 – William Shakespeare’s birthday
- 23 – World Book and Copyright Day
- 23 – World Book Night
- 24 – U.S. Congress approved the Library of Congress
- 27 – National Tell A Story Day
- 28 – Harper Lee’s birthday
- 28 – Great Poetry Reading Day
- 30 – Independent Bookstore Day
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Word of the Week – March 26, 2022
Enchiridion [eng-kə-RID-ee-ən]
Noun
Greek, 16th century
A book containing essential information on a subject. The ancient Greek ἐγχειρίδιος means “fitting in the hand”. An “enchiridion” came into English in the 16th century as a portable, hand-sized guidebook. The modern handbook has its roots in the enchiridion (related to the Greek word for “hand”), traditionally a small, portable manual widely used from early Greece through to the 19th century. Enchiridons were designed to keep useful information near at hand, including religious teachings, ethical advice, the rules of poetry, guidance for soldiers, and means of understanding the law.
Example: My decades of personal journals comprise an enchiridion of my ambitions, hopes and fears.
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Tweet of the Week – March 26, 2022
Kim Mangone, a 2020 California congressional candidate, is sponsoring a number of billboards in Florida to counteract the state legislature’s HB 1557, Parental Rights in Education. Known colloquially as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, its primary purpose is to eliminate discussion of sexuality in schools.
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Worst Quotes of the Week – March 26, 2022
“Do you agree…that babies are racist?”
Sen. Ted Cruz, to Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, repeatedly asking about her views on racism, children’s books and critical race theory (CRT)
He specifically asked if she agrees with a children’s book called “Anti-Racist Baby,” by Ibram X. Kendi, which is in the library at Georgetown Day School, a private school in Washington, D.C., at which Jackson was a board member. Cruz held up a copy of the book and described it as one of the “most stunning” taught at the school. He claimed it teaches children that babies are taught to be racist, not born racist, and that they are encouraged to admit if they have been racist and to talk about it.
In response, Jackson noted, “Georgetown Day School, just like the religious school that Justice [Amy Coney] Barrett was on the board of, is a private school.”
“On a scale of 1 to 10, how faithful would you say you are? Do you attend church regularly?”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, inquiring about Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s faith and how important it was to her
Jackson replied that, although faith played a big role in her life, she was reluctant to talk about it in detail because “I want the public to have confidence in my ability to separate out my personal views.” Jackson noted she is “Protestant, non-denominational”.
Graham conceded that judges could separate their religious beliefs with the way they rule. It must be highlighted, though, that Graham voted to confirm Jackson three times to other posts: her current seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, a court considered second only to the U.S. Supreme Court; her previous seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia; and her previous seat on the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
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Best Quotes of the Week – March 26, 2022
“You are worthy. You are a great American. I know what it’s taken for you to sit in that seat.”
Sen. Cory Booker, during Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Senate confirmation hearing
Booker chose to praise Jackson instead of asking her questions. Booker also railed against his Republican colleagues who highlighted specific cases from Jackson’s past. The senator referenced abolitionist Harriet Tubman and Constance Baker Motley, the first Black woman to serve as a federal judge in 1966, as role models in his life and who paved the way for Jackson’s historic path.
“That is the nature of a right. When there is a right, it means that there are limitations on regulation.”
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, in response to Sen. John Cornyn’s question whether a 2015 Supreme Court ruling establishing a right to same-sex marriage conflicts with the beliefs of some religions
Cornyn was referring to the High Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which compels states to recognize same-gender marriage under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“At some point, you have to follow the rules!”
Sen. Dick Durbin, to Sen. Ted Cruz, as the latter went beyond his time limit during the Jackson confirmation hearing
Frustrated with Durbin’s repeated gavel-banging, Cruz shouted, “You can bang it as loud as you want!”
“It shows considerable effort when somebody goes to that much trouble to create that many organizations to hide how much money they’ve spent to control the nominations process to the court.”
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, comparing the efforts of some conservative groups to the Republican Party’s recent attacks on progressive groups, such as Demand Justice, as well as Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson
Demand Justice supports Jackson’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. Whitehouse also specifically named The Federalist Society and Judicial Crisis Network among the conservative groups he claims encompass a vast network of secretive “dark money” groups that have played a major covert role in seating five of the Supreme Court’s current justices.
All told, he said, these groups have spent at least $400 million to help select and confirm Justices John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
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Happy Saint Patrick’s Day 2022
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Word of the Week – March 12, 2022
Corybantic
Adjective
Latin, 17th century
Wild; frenzied. Cybele, a goddess of nature from Greco-Roman mythology, had priests and attendants called “Corybants.” The term comes from the Greek “Korubantes.”
Example: Some of my stories appear corybantic upon initial reading, but there’s a reason behind the chaos.
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Chief Writing Wolf 