Laugh of the Day

From Timothy Noah’s NYT review of a new biography of Nelson Rockefeller*:

“Impressed by a Thomas Aquinas quote he came across in a newspaper editorial, Rockefeller asked a staff aide to arrange a meeting with this astute theologian.  Rockefeller’s grasp of science didn’t inspire much confidence either.  After being briefed on the harm aerosol products were doing to the ozone layer, he asked: ‘How do all those spray cans get up there?'”

And you thought Dan Quayle was our dumbest Veep.

* On His Own Terms:  A Life of Nelson Rockefeller, Richard Norton Smith

Stories We Didn’t Read

“Why Don’t Woodpeckers Get Brain Damage?” at Mental Floss

More Target Trouble

Okay, first Target got into big (no pun intended) trouble for calling a plus-size dress “Manatee gray.”

Now they’ve had to remove their “Orina” women’s sandals.  Orina means urine in Spanish.

Headline of the Day

“How Much Is Your Startup Acquisition Worth in Peeps?”

The Atlantic Wire

Fun (and Funny) Fact of the Day

Chris Hayes has a new show starting Monday night on MSNBC.

He’s calling it “All In.”

You’ll recall that’s the title of Paula Broadwell’s biography of Gen. Petraeus, which took on an, um, somewhat ironical meaning after their affair was revealed.

Your Daily Crazy

Some Tennessee state legislators freaked out about a new floor-level sink in a men’s room at the Capitol.  They thought it was — oh the horror — so that Muslims could wash their feet before prayer.

Actually, the sink is so that custodial staff can wash their mops and fill their buckets more easily.

Do As I Say

Last year, Republican assemblyman Steve Katz of New York voted against legalizing medical marijuana there.

He just got stopped for doing 80 mph in a 65 zone, and the police found — you guessed it — marijuana in his car.

Why are these hypocrisy stories always about Republicans?

Cute Conservative Headline

I’m always magnanimous in victory, so I had to smile at this Washington Free Beacon headline sorrowfully announcing Chuck Hagel’s confirmation:

We’re Chucked

Quote of the Day

NEW RULE You can’t run for president if you don’t know how old the world is. Quizzed recently, Marco Rubio answered, “I’m not a scientist, man.” As if you have to be Galileo to Google, “How old is the earth?” And when asked his thoughts on evolution, Chris Christie said, “None of your business!” Which is what you say when someone asks you if you made a baby with the maid. Fellas, if you and your party want to be taken seriously, you don’t have to recite the collected works of Stephen Hawking — just stop regurgitating the Facebook page of Sarah Palin.

Bill Maher, NYT

Quote of the Day

“One of the drawbacks of working in a bookstore, something I did for many years, is that it can be like working in a small-town pharmacy.  You learn things about people you might rather not know.  What sort of face do you put on when your new girlfriend’s mother comes to the counter with a Newt Gingrich novel, a scented candle and a copy of ‘The Herpes Survival Guide’?”

Dwight Garner, Books of the Times, NYT

You put on your gotta-find-a-new-girlfriend face.