From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Little Gay Billy's BIG Gay Roundup!
Happy Pride Month! Even though much is left on the to-do list (pass ENDA, nix DOMA, cure AIDS, reduce hate crimes, expand marriage rights, unionize the fashion police), there's plenty for the LGBT community and its straight allies to celebrate this year:
Mr. Gardner goes
to Washington
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• One of the heroes of the successful marriage campaign in Maine last year was a 90 year-old W.W. II vet from up around Machias who
appeared in a TV ad with four generations of his family---including his lesbian daughter and her partner---that immediately went viral. My partner Michael and I met Harlan Gardner last spring at the annual Equality Maine dinner---he's sharp as a tack and you'd swear he was twenty years younger by the way he was sprinting around the place. Over the weekend Harlan
was a VIP in the Washington, D.C. Capital Pride Parade and got invited to the White House. Well-deserved accolades.
Speaking of marriage equality, the pride events in states where same-sex nuptials were approved over the last year will be extra special this year. Click on the links for Pride info in Minnesota, Maryland, Washington, Rhode Island and Maine. Anyone know what Delaware's planning? My search came up empty.
• To commemmorate the recent decision by the Boy Scouts to allow gay youth in its ranks, Michael and I are going to try and squeeze into our old Boy Scout uniforms---circa 1982 and including our Ronald Reagan-issued Eagle badges---this weekend for the Southern Maine pride parade. We apologize in advance to whoever ends up on the receiving end of any popped buttons that fly into the crowd with the force of a Howitzer shell.
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• President Obama's
Proclamation on LGBT Pride Month is as eloquent as you'd expect. It's always worth reminding ourselves one more time that had Mitt Romney or any of the GOP candidates won last year, they'd be commemorating God Hates Fags month. Of course, they'd put a happy spin on it like Faith, Morality and Family Values month. But it always boils down to the same thing with them: God Hates Fags and send us a generous check so we can continue our battle to stomp the sinners into the dirt for freedom.
• It'll be fascinating to see how the Supreme Court wriggles and jiggles its way through pretzel-twisted logic to arrive at decisions on Prop. 8 and DOMA that will move the ball forward, but still deny us full, constitutionally-guaranteed equality. That's my prediction, anyway. There are three Mondays left in June---they'll probably wait 'til the last minute and then run for the hills.
• Oh, Canada! As France ushers in marriage equality and Britain stands on the brink of doing the same, you've been gay-marrying couples for ten years now and the fires of hell haven't opened up and swallowed you. (The tar sands madness in Alberta comes close, but that's strictly due to heterosexual marriage. Look it up.) Y'all have a Molson on me. Put it on that wacky Toronto mayor's tab.
We don’t say it enough: progress toward equality for LGBT Americans---so simple in concept but so maddeningly difficult to achieve in reality---simply wouldn't be possible without the support of "you straight people" (including our open-minded political leaders and advocacy groups like PFLAG). So thank you. We're adding another gold star to your feather boa.
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Note: Whirling Dervishes are not responsible for the outbreak of tornadoes in the Midwest. But nice try, AccuWeather.
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By the Numbers:
Days `til Canada Day: 20
Days 'til Tabor Czech Days in South Dakota: 9
Percent chance that a conservative Republican at the IRS was the manager who put in motion the review of tea party groups: 100%
(Source: Rep. Elijah Cummings, ranking member on the House Oversight Committee)
Percent of personal income the average American making more than $200,000 gives to charity: 4.2%
Percent the average American making between $50,000 and $100,000 gives to charity: 6%
(Source: Harper's Index)
Year in which the Royal Hawaiian Band, which is playing again in Honolulu's Kapiolani Park, started playing by order of King Kamehameha: 1836
Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of a white t-shirt that's dry and wet, respectively: 7, 3
(Source: Details)
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Tuesday Words of Wisdom from the Right-wing Blogosphere:
There will be war in the streets and the blood will be on Obama's hands he deserves to go back to Kenya where they will not care he did wrong he has to pay. A proven lier for a president is the biggest ponzi scheme ever. Kills more everyday than any disease ever. Obama says his modest listening of privacy is okay. Columbia University does not know he went to school there. HOW COULD THAT BE NOT EVEN ONE CLASSMATE WILL SAY HE WAS THERE.
---Commenter BKandrvi at World Net Daily
All together now: 1…2…3…
Classy!
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Puppy Pic of the Day: And the winner of the Greenwich Kennel Club's 81st dog show is…..here.
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CHEERS to keeping the party going. Netroots Nation may be the Big Kahuna of progressive sleepovers, but there are plenty of more modest meetups that bust out all year long. The next meetup here in Maine is at Mayim's scenic cottage by the lake about an hour northwest of Portland on Saturday, July 6 from 11:30a to 5:30p:
I’ll gladly cook and have beer/non-alcoholic beverages. Lake should be warm enough for fun if anyone wants. Dogs (well-behaved! which definitely includes the adorable Haley and her Commonmass-aimed sticks...{grin}...) welcome, but Hobbs and Penn prefer to be the only kitties ;-) If anyone wants to spend Friday and/or Saturday night (for fun or because it's a long drive), I've got room for several, plus some tenting space. For more information (directions, etc.) or to RSVP, email mayim at killearnan [at] gmail.com or send a Kosmail."
It's a gorgeous location---quintessential Maine. Michael and I (and Haley the pup, who's eager to start whacking shins with tree branches) will be there along with other local Kossacks and we hope you'll be able to join us. As a special bonus, we promise we'll keep the black flies leashed at all times.
Edward Secrethands
CHEERS to rebels with a cause. Not meaning to influence anyone else's vote, but I gave NSA/Borg whistleblower
Edward Snowden a "Hell yes" in today's C&J poll. A good point was made last night (I forget by who) on
The Rachel Maddow Show that our intelligence operations have gotten by just fine despite the occasional ray of sunlight that gets cast on them. What I worry about more is electing another dumbass president who gets solid intelligence marked "Terrorist X Determined to Strike Inside U.S." and does nothing…or, worse, fabricates his own intelligence and uses it to start a war that kills or maims or displaces a million people and, when caught in the deception, walks free for the rest of his life while someone like Snowden has to skulk around the caverns and underground canals of Hong Kong like the Phantom of the Fucking Opera. So we'll all be just fine, and the leaks may lead to some kind of reform in Washington. We'll all be dead of old age by then, but still…progress!
CHEERS to a good start. On June 11, 1776, the Continental Congress formed a committee to draft a Declaration of Independence. Here are three of those members---Adams, Franklin and Jefferson---hashing out the particulars in the HBO miniseries John Adams:
The Declaration itself was nice, but what really floors me is: a committee actually did something useful.
CHEERS to NEW SHINY OBJECT!!! Can't…breathe…so...excited...Apple…got...mojo...back…
Now powered by a single
Higgs Boson particle
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Apple's latest and greatest is exactly what Apple needed to fend off the competition---and bring the cool factor back. "This is probably the biggest news since the [first] iPhone came out," Gene Munster, a senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray told NBC News.
Beyond the functionality that iOS 7 brings---not just improved controls and notifications, but new ways to share files with nearby users, stream music from the Internet, browse open tabs on the Web and more---the system helps Apple catch up with the razzle and dazzle of the competition. Skinny fonts and bold primary colors interact on layered visual planes that drift gracefully in and out of view…these are all hallmarks of the new design.
Meanwhile Windows 8 users got some good news today. It turns out that their systems weren't crashing, freezing, melting, flickering, sputtering and lacking functionality because of a massive global virus caused by eastern European hackers. It was just Windows 8 running normally.
JEERS to lies and the lying liars who tell them. I bet you remember this bit of nonsense as much as I do: shortly after Bush's installation in January, 2001, White House staffers accused Bill Clinton's outgoing team of tearing the White House apart before they left---even going so far as to remove the "W" keys from all the computers. Remember that? That was our first concrete clue that assholes were truly running the show. Well, it was 11 years ago today that Congressional investigators released a report on the "scandal." Their conclusion: Don’t you have anything else to do besides wasting our time? Tragically, they did: hire incompetent cronies, invade Iraq, ram No Child Left Behind through, give no-bid contracts to Halliburton and free passes to polluters, run up record deficits, authorize torture...and etc.
CHEERS to women's rights. On this date in 1973, women were licensed to box and/or wrestle in Pennsylvania following a ruling by the PA Justice Department. Funny how it just happened to coincide with a sudden increase in husbands being helpful around the house.
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Five years ago in C&J: June 11, 2008
More like her, please.
CHEERS to the Maine team. The Democratic primary happened yesterday. Rep. Tom Allen (no surprise) will face Susan Collins in the Senate race. And please give it up for your new nominee for congresscritter from Maine's 1st District:
Chellie Pingree!!! A woman lady of the female persuasion!!! Hooray!!! Chellie will be a fabulous progressive voice in the House, a steward of our state, a humble servant, a guardian of our republic, and a faithful earmarker of a new $20 million
Cheers and Jeers think tank. Anyone know where I can get a good deal on granite spires?
[6/11/13 Update: Now in her third term, Chellie is turning out to be a fabulous progressive voice in the House, a steward of our state, a humble servant and guardian of our republic. And I've been assured by her office that my think-tank check is in the mail. Every day since January, 2009.]
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And just one more…
CHEERS to those darn kids…
…they're going to save us all.
Enjoy your Tuesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
Texas couple finishes 'bucket list' with visit to Bill in Portland Maine's house
---The Portland Press Herald
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