From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Only 16 15 14 Weeks 'til Netroots Nation!
Here's the week's big announcement as we approach the June 20-23 convention in San Jose:
We’re excited to announce that House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi will be returning to Netroots Nation this year in San Jose! But we’re also really honored to introduce you to this year’s Ask the Leader moderator, Zerlina Maxwell.
Zerlina introduces herself:
Like many of you, I was captivated in 2008 by Barack Obama’s candidacy and campaign. When his primary victory became official, I decided to become a part of history, eventually moving to Virginia to work on the campaign. That experience was the beginning of my Netroots story.
[W]hen I heard about the Netroots Nation scholarship program, I applied and won a scholarship to Netroots Nation 2010. Since 2010, I’ve become heavily involved in the Netroots community, speaking on panels and being a part of their panel selection committee. So as a member of this community, I’m excited to moderate this conversation with Leader Pelosi.
You can follow her
on Twitter here. If you submit a question for Leader Pelosi, use the hashtag
#AskPelosi.
San Jose Fun Fact:
San Jose is leading the world in solar technology, alternative fuels, new transportation systems, efficient lighting and energy monitoring systems innovation. San Jose successfully pioneered many commonplace environmental activities, from curbside recycling to its urban growth boundary. In fact, San Jose is the number one recycler among the nation's largest cities, and in keeping with the City’s Green Vision, many of our meeting facilities, hotels, restaurants and wineries---even our airport---offer sustainable practices.
---via Sanjose.org
I guess that explains why CPAC is having their shindig in D.C.---as far away from San Jose as they can get.
Registration and Hotel info are here and here.
Follow NN13 on Twitter here.
Next week we hope to have more info on scholarships. Meanwhile Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Thursday, March 14, 2013
Note: What I'm hoping to hear from the famous Pennsylvania candy company before Easter: "Habemus Pope Peeps!!!"
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til Spring: 6
Days 'til the Savannah Music Festival: 6
Percent increase in advertised job openings in January: 2.2%
Number of people competing for each job these days: 3.3
(Source: Labor Dept.)
Days it took Richard Taranto to be confirmed by the Senate (91-0) as a judge after being nominated by President Obama: 484
Average wait time for Senate approval of Bush II's and Obama's circuit court nominees, respectively: 35 / 147
(Source: The White House via the Maddow Blog)
Size of the candy industry in America: $33 billion
(Source: AP)
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Your Thursday Molly Ivins Moment:
"There's never been a law yet that didn't have a ridiculous consequence in some unusual situation; there's probably never been a government program that didn't accidentally benefit someone it wasn't intended to. Most people who work in government understand that what you do about it is fix the problem---you don't just attack the whole government."
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Love at first bite
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CHEERS to the best bartender in the world. Unless he's pulling a huge prank on us all, the guy who shot the hidden-camera video of Mitt Romney's campaign-wounding "47% Speech" has his heart, his head and his motives in a perfect alignment of integrity. His name is Scott Prouty, and you can bet your butt the far-right haters are going to try and discredit him by making up any shit they can. But here's something that's actually true, and speaks to his character:
This is the guy who shot
the "47% Speech" video!
THIS...IS...THAT...GUY!!!
According to town records in Davie and Weston, Florida, a woman drove off I-75 at Griffin Road and landed in the canal. Prouty says he was working in the Honda dealership nearby and when he heard about the crash he ran to help. This section of road is part of Alligator Alley, which runs through the Everglades and, yes, is infested with alligators.
Prouty says he couldn’t get the driver’s seat belt off, so he called a co-worker and asked him to bring a knife. Prouty and co-worker Adriel Forbes dove into the water to cut the seat belt so they could free the driver. They carried her to shore where another former-co-worker, Lee Swasey, performed CPR. Prouty and Forbes then spotted a car seat floating in the water. Prouty dove repeatedly into the murky canal, looking for a child. Fortunately, the woman had been alone in the car.
Given the above story, I'm thinking Rush & Co. are gonna have to go all Solyndra Tesla "Agenda 21" Communist Muslim Benghazi Tax-and-Spend Brother Moocherhood on his ass. And if that doesn’t work they'll ditch the subtlety.
Happy Easter from the
Episcopalian Bunny.
JEERS to the changing of the brocade. Upon hearing the news that the new pope is "Francis I" from Argentina, an analyst on MSNBC summed him up by saying "This is a JP II guy," and another called him "a shadow of Benedict." But maybe Kossack
tmservo433 wrote it best: "[B]y selecting a 76 year old South American, the Catholic Church has made a play for the new world…with very old world ideas." I'm a lapsed Episcopalian so I had no dog in this pope fight. But I never pass up an occasion like this to remind the world that Catholics may have all the pomp and circumstance, but Episcopalians rule the world when it comes to pancake suppers. So what'll it be? Links or patties?
CHEERS to the greatest geek in Geekdom. Happy 134th birthday to Albert Einstein. You have the floor, sir...
The genius speaks: "Pfftftthhttt!"
"He who joyfully marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice."
"Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism---how passionately I hate them!"
"In order to be an immaculate member of a flock of sheep, one must above all be a sheep oneself."
Obviously a man familiar with the Republican Party.
JEERS to rude departures. Sorry to break the news, but Google Reader is going away in July. To mark the news, Google's "I Feel Lucky" button has been changed to "Me So Melancholy."
CHEERS to "Q." Composing and producing legend---like, the kind of legend that other legends look at and say, "Okay, now he's a legend"---Quincy Jones turns 80 today. Our favorite Q-tune is his junky-tonk theme for Sanford and Son and if you want to release some waterworks just go revisit his score for The Color Purple. For pop thrills there's Thriller. But for sheer mojo-rejuvenating goodness, no playlist should be without Soul Bossa Nova:
Groovy, baby, yeaaaaaah….
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Five years ago in C&J: March 14, 2008
JEERS to big bid'ness. So here's what I think happened over the last 24 hours: Bear Stearns had gobs of money lying around their offices, but they forgot to tell the new cleaning crew that they should just vacuum around it. And then...Vooooop! Money gone! So JPMorgan Chase and the gub'ment sent over several semi-loads of cash to replace the vacuumed cash and everything is okay!!! Yaaay!!!! Unless Bear Stearns doesn’t come up with its own replacement cash in 28 days, in which case its managers will start swan-diving out of their office windows. Personally I blame David Oreck---his vacuums leave nothing behind.
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And just one more…
CHEERS to going crazy irrational!!! Let's hear it for secular holidays! Yaaay!!! Today is 3/14, and at 1:59 this afternoon the world will erupt in slide-rule giddyness for Pi Day!
π is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter (i.e. π=C/d) and is approximately equal to 3.14159. … π is fascinating because of its importance in so many scientific calculations and because it’s an irrational number, meaning that its value cannot be expressed exactly as a fraction having integers in both the numerator and denominator. As a result its decimal representation never ends and never repeats. A lot of effort has been put into calculating it and the latest record is at 5 trillion decimal places.
Among other things, pi is comes in handy when you need to dstract mysterous entities who have hijacked your starship:
I admit I got mostly Cs and Ds in math, so I think I'll stick with regular pie today, thanks. Apple. With 3.141592653 scoops of ice cream.
Oh, and a reminder that tomorrow is the Ides of March. If your name rhymes with Bulius Baesar, watch yer back. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
CPAC is a professional event. If you would wear it in Cheers and Jeers DON'T WEAR IT.
---Republican Nanny State fashion guide
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