From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
A Monumental Achievement
You may have heard that President Obama designated three new three new National Monuments last week that are designated "to protect objects of historic or scientific interest." They are:
Honouliuli Internment Camp (Link)
Honouliuli is nationally significant for its central role during World War II as an internment site for a population that included American citizens, resident immigrants, other civilians, enemy soldiers, and labor conscripts co-located by the U.S. military for internment or detention. While the treatment of Japanese Americans in Hawai'i differed from the treatment of Japanese Americans on the U.S. mainland, the legacy of racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and failure of political leadership during this period is common to the history of both Hawai'i and the mainland United States. It was not until 1998 that information about Honouliuli resurfaced. After 4 years of research and exploration, the site was uncovered in 2002.
Browns Canyon (Link)
The area is unique, towering over the Arkansas River, itself a beacon to white water rafters and anglers. The granite walls of the canyon stand like a series of a natural cathedral spires that change hues as the light of day wanes. Stretched between the communities of Buena Vista and Salida in Chaffee County, Colorado, Browns Canyon elevation ranges from 7,300 feet to 10,000 feet, offering a backdrop for and stunning views of the Arkansas Valley and the Sawatch Range of the Rocky Mountains. The range, formed more than 70 million years ago, is home to some of the highest peaks in the region, towering above 14,000 feet in elevation.
Pullman Historic District (Link)
The Pullman National Historic Landmark District in Chicago, Illinois, typifies many of the economic, social, and design currents running through American life in the late 19th and early 20th century, yet it is unlike any other place in the country. Industrialist George Mortimer Pullman built the model town to house workers at his luxury rail car factories. Although his goal was to cure the social ills of the day, the tight control he exercised over his workers helped spark one of the Nation's most widespread and consequential labor strikes. The remaining structures of the Pullman Palace Car Company (Pullman Company), workers' housing, and community buildings that make up the Pullman Historic District are an evocative testament to the evolution of American industry, the rise of unions and the labor movement, the lasting strength of good urban design, and the remarkable journey of the Pullman porters toward the civil rights movement of the 20th century.
Next year will be the last opportunity for President Obama to designate additional National Monuments. After eight years of being the target of outrageous disrespect, racism and slime, I wouldn’t blame him a bit if he chose to leave the right-wingers catatonic by selecting America's first arugula farm, Bill Ayers' house, and Kenya.
Your west coast-friendly edition of Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Friday, February 27, 2015
Note: Prepare yourself for the coming Billypocalypse. I regret to inform you that there will be no C&J Monday as we will be stuck in a bar with a priest, a minister and a rabbi. Back Tuesday with a hilarious punchline.
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15 days!!!
By the Numbers:
Weeks 'til the start of the Memorial Day weekend:
12
Days 'til the
San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering:
15
Percent of Republicans who support establishing Christianity as our national religion, First Amendment be damned:
57%
(Source: PPP poll)
Days of school missed by students during the 2011-2012 school year due to "out-of-school punishments":
18 million
Percent of suspensions across all grades levied against black, Hispanics and white students, respectively:
16%, 7%, 5%
(Source: UCLA's Civil Rights Project)
Amount the average consumer spends per trip to the supermarket when they don’t and do, respectively, include wine among their purchases:
$47, $75
Amount of the extra $28 spent that isn't spent on wine:
$13
(Source: Nielsen Research)
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Talking husky…
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Mignon Clyburn, Tom Wheeler and Jessica
Rosenworcel listened...and saved the internet.
CHEERS to the biggest exhale of relief ever. Yesterday Tom Wheeler and his fellow Democrats at the FCC
voted in favor of net neutrality. I'm still amazed at the crazy amount of pressure that had to be put on the commission just to persuade it to treat all internet users equally. So now the internet is officially just another boring old utility, and surfing will remain as mundane an activity as flicking a light switch. As for the telcos, they're not happy about this at all. They were salivating like a junkyard dog over the chance to gouge consumers by going all Chris-Christie-Traffic-Study-In-Fort-Lee on consumers. So now instead of offering crappy service at ridiculous rates that make them huge profits, they'll have to adjust to offering crappy service at ridiculous rates that make them huge profits.
CHEERS to helping hands. Oh, hey, speaking of Democrats doing good for humanity, next week is Peace Corps Week. The organization that Kennedy built turns 54 Sunday, and it's still crankin' out the good works:
JFK greets Peace Corps volunteers.
The Peace Corps has been a leader in international development and citizen diplomacy for more than 50 years across more than 139 countries. In an increasingly interdependent world, we tackle challenges that know no borders---such as climate change, pandemic disease, food security, and gender equality and empowerment. Although times have changed since the Peace Corps' founding in 1961, the agency's mission—to promote world peace and friendship---has not.
Fifty-four years later, it's still "The toughest job you'll ever love." Especially if you bring a few cases of Bacardi along. And limes. Without limes it's intolerable.
CHEERS to a guy who kept his phasers set on "Totally Cool." As if their winter hasn’t been enough of a crushing blow, the city of Boston lost a titan today---or, to be more precise, a half-human/half-Vulcan. Leonard Nimoy made his portrayal of Mr. Spock look easy, but there was a lot more to it than met the eye, and I can't imagine anyone who could've made his character's internal struggle between logic and emotion more compelling. Nimoy lived long and prospered, but today we found out he left us at 83. President Obama eulogized him this way:
Backatcha.
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Long before being nerdy was cool, there was Leonard Nimoy. Leonard was a lifelong lover of the arts and humanities, a supporter of the sciences, generous with his talent and his time. And of course, Leonard was Spock. Cool, logical, big-eared and level-headed, the center of Star Trek’s optimistic, inclusive vision of humanity’s future. I loved Spock.
In 2007, I had the chance to meet Leonard in person. It was only logical to greet him with the Vulcan salute, the universal sign for “Live long and prosper.” And after 83 years on this planet---and on his visits to many others---it’s clear Leonard Nimoy did just that.
The next time I hear thunder, I'm just going to assume it's Spock and Bones getting into their first spat in the hereafter.
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Gong! Gong!! BuddaBuddaBudda… GONG!!!
This is another edition of The One Word Answer Man. Kossack Shaun King asks: Did you know that Edmund Pettus was the Alabama Grand Dragon for the KKK?
No.
Now back to Cheers and Jeers.
Gong! Gong!! BuddaBuddaBudda… GONG!!!
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"One lump of paranoid
delusion or two, Colonel?"
JEERS to 72 months of fringe-clutching. As the entire conservative movement gathers in the American heartland of, um, Washington D.C. to
figure out ways to accelerate the rate at which America circles the drain, I feel the need to break out in song. And a one, and a two…
Crappy birthday to you [twitch twitch]
Crappy birthday to you [twitch twitch]
Crappy birthday, Teabaggers
Crappy birthday to you [twitch twitch]
Yes, the Tea Party has been treading on truth, common sense, and normal people for
six years as of today. Amazing---they don’t look a day over a two-year-old.
CHEERS to green-lighting the gals. On February 27, 1922, the all-male U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote. Shortly after, the justices' wives released them from their chokeholds.
Season 3 now streaming.
CHEERS to home vegetation. Not a hugely exciting weekend for TV, but needless to say we'll be using our tricorder to seek out
Star Trek reruns wherever we can find them. Otherwise, the big news is that the full third season of
House of Cards started streaming today. You can check out the new
DVD releases here---they include Oscar winners
Whiplash and the animated
Big Hero Six. The NBA schedule
is here and the NHL schedule
is here. (The Bruins will chase the Devils back to the pit of Hell Ha Ha Ha!) Dakota Johnson ("Fifty Shades of Grey") hosts SNL. Sunday on the season finale (already?) of
Downton Abbey, Congressman Aaron Schock pays a visit to the manor and turns his nose up at the lackluster furnishings. And later that night John Oliver slays another corporate and/or government sacred cow on
Last Week Tonight.
And here's your Sunday morning lineup. Needless to say, between the Ferenghi of CPAC and the Republicans lowering America's shields, it's going to be all fear all the time:
Meet the Press: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor Kevin McCarthy; Dr. Ben Carson; the Netanyahu brouhaha with Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and former professional back-stabber Joe Lieberman; roundtable with talking heads of varying density.
Boehner puckers up for Bob
Schieffer on Face the Nation.
This Week: Secretary of State John Kerry; roundtable with talking heads of varying mass.
Face the Nation: John Boehner takes his kissy-kissy act to Bob Schieffer's treehouse; popular grifter Mike Huckabee issues orders from God; Sen. Dianne Feinstein; roundtable with talking heads of varying height.
CNN's State of the Union: "Can't…Sorry…Oops" in glasses; Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA); Michael Oren, former Israeli Ambassador to the United States and Netanyahu opponent; roundtable with talking heads of varying width.
Fox GOP Talking Points Sunday: Scott Walker repeats his claim that "battling" protesters singing songs and holding signs is the same as battling terrorists involved in a complex Middle Eastern tribal dispute who lop off people's heads and burn them alive for sport; Congressman "David Duke without the Baggage" Scalise (R-LA); roundtable with talking heads of varying thickness.
Happy viewing!
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And just one more...
A lot of this in Haley's future.
CHEERS to C&J's woozy woozle. This morning's X-rays showed that our two-year-old Lab-mix Haley's right knee was, as predicted by our vet, tore up pretty good. So a couple hours later, she went sleepytime and a surgeon performed a
"Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy" that changes the weight distribution of the upper leg bone on the lower one. Happy to report that everything went fine and we'll pick up her up tomorrow, along with some good drugs, a cone of shame, and some kind of harness thingy that we'll use to support her hind end during pottytime and rehabilitation walks. Our #1 objective now, according to the vet: keep her from getting too excited and playful…for two solid months. No problem, really. Michael and I will just take turns reading Ayn Rand to her.
Have a great weekend! Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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