Quote of the Week- Mark Twain

Today, we conclude with our month-long quips from cultural radicals and subversives from Mark Twain. Though he is considered a mainstream author today, there have been various times when Twain's works have been considered controversial. The use of the n-word vernacular that was used quite often at the time of publication (1885) of Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" has caused a stir at times for some local schoolboards even though no could rationally suggest that Twain was a racist.



The Mark Twain House in Hartford, Conn., is among the most popular tourist attractions in the Nutmeg State.



Here is Twain's quote:



"A person who won't read has advantages over a person who can't read."



SIDEBAR ONE: Though I am a Democrat, David Frum, a former speechwriter for George W. Bush, is among my favorite politically conservative pundits as he talks in terms of broad pictures as opposed to the likes of Rush Limbaugh who today proclaimed that Barack Obama 'wanted Hurricane Irene to be a huge disaster.'



Of course, like most liberals, my favorite conservative pundit is (of course!) David Brooks, but Frum, who is also keen and objective in his commentary, is a close second.



Yesterday, Frum tweeted the following regarding how Hurrican Irene affected his weekend: "Side benefit from Irene: taking my daughter to see Declaration and Constitution at National Archive with no line at all. Unprecedented."



SIDEBAR TWO: Speaking of Hartford, I actually saw a Hartford Whalers bumper sticker in Roanoke, Va., today. This was interesting to me because the Hartford Whalers have not existed since the team left for the Tarheel State and became the Carolina Hurricanes.



As the 'Canes, the team won the Stanley Cup in 2006, which actually made some people in North Carolina pay more attention to hockey than NASCAR-racing. But, of course, since racing legend Richard Petty is from Randleman, NC, and the late Dale Earnhardt hailed from Kannapolis, NC, that didn't really last. Of course, their offspring is involved in the sport as well.



But, I found out some interesting information while googling the Hartford Whalers. The current minor league hockey team in Hartford renamed themselves the Connecticut Whale last year to honor the Hartford Whalers. And, ironically, the team's previous name was the Hartford Wolf Pack, which is the same nickname for North Carolina State University in Raleigh, where the Carolina Hurricanes now play (they temporarily played in Greensboro).



The Hartford Whalers existed from 1979-1997. And, they left, in part, because the likes of then-governor of Connecticut John G. Rowland, a Republican, didn't want to spend tax payer money on a new hockey arena for the team.



But, there is still an active group that wants to bring the Hartford Whalers back in one way or another (perhaps having a new team with that name, such as what happened with the Cleveland Browns in the NFL). And, The Whalers Watchers, as they are called, will meet in Hartford on Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m.



As for the Connecticut Whale, they have their home opener on Oct. 15

The Great Virginia Earthquake of 2011

Personally, I prefer the Turkish word for eathquake which is 'deprem.' My late father's country has had a number of devastating shakers, including one in the eastenr city of Erzincan in the 1960s and more recently a series of massive quakes in wetern Turkey, including a 1999 deprem which put Istanbul and surrounding areas into chaos.



Yesterday's 5.9 earthquake centered around the small town of Mineral, Va., which is between Richmond and Charlottesville, did create some problems for those around the epicentet. Various sources said that residents of Mineral felt the tremor for up to 40 seconds.



Diane Miller who works at the local Louisa County Animal Shelter told NPR that the cats were hiding in their litter boxes. And, at least one florist shop in the area received major damage to inventory.



The often-hilarious liberal talk show host Keith Olbermann gave a stirring commentary during his show on Current TV last night when he pointed that the earthquake occured in the district of Cong. Eric Cantor (R-Va.).



Cantor, who is the majority leader on the Hill and a member of Congress known for being uncompromising and arch conservative, had argued that federal funding for the United States Geological Survey needed to be cut. So, Olbermann was thus able to make him an easy target for ripe political humor.



But, much of the chat about the quake which I felt in North Carolina for 10-12 seconds some four hours from the epicenter has come to an abrupt halt on the Internet.



Though a tweet from WashDCNews asked the following question: "How could Virginia-quake be felt in Canada and crack the Washington Monument?"



The answer is apparently that there is a vast geological different between fault lines in Virginia and those in California.