From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
They'll Be Brief
Right on cue, I missed the Webby Award acceptances speeches again this year. But I love 'em because they only get five words to say what they need to say (I think the orchestra starts playing 'em off after word #3). Here are some of the best of 2015's batch:
"Finally, being weird pays off."
---Fourclops
"750 million still need water."
---UNICEF TAP Project
"Collegehumor.com is one word, so..."
---CollegeHumor
"Five words. What the fractal?"
---IBM
"Speaking for women who can't."
---Amnesty International Australia
"Sold stock, pre-Verizon. Fuck."
---Huffington Post
"Careful—they are watching you."
---The Guardian
"I never learned how to count"
---WCP
"Spoiler alert: literature still matters."
---Y&R NY and Tool of NA
"Cheers! From brave little Belgium."
---LDV United
I believe this will also be the format of the upcoming GOP debates.
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Note: What's better than summer in Maine? A summer Kossack meetup in Maine! If you'll be in the vicinity of the western part of the state on Saturday, June 27, Kossack Mayim invites you to her cabin on the lake. For more info (with pics) or to RSVP, click here or email her at killearnan[at]gmail.com. Michael and I will be there with bells water wings on. Hope to see you there!
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5 days!!!
By the Numbers:
Days 'til summer:
5
Days 'til
Windjammer Days in Boothbay Harbor, Maine:
5
Daily cost the U.S. is spending to fight ISIS in Iraq:
$9 million
(Source: The Pentagon)
Drop in the overall number of vehicle-related fatalities between 2004 and 2013:
24%
(Source: Dept. of Transportation)
Size of the Planetary Society's
LightSail, which was successfully tested by NASA last week:
344 sq. ft.
Number of
people in space:
3
Age of the signed Magna Carta as of yesterday:
800
Stanley Cup Finals
Chicago wins the Stanley Cup, beating Tampa Bay 4 games to 2
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Tuesday Words of Wisdom from the Right-wing Blogosphere:
Fox Nation commenters react to Jeb!'s campaign announcement…
This is Fox Nation's guy.
I'll vote for Jeb as soon as he publicly shames Bristol Palin…Why isn't he using his last name??????
---Bagsoftea
Ted Cruz faarrts more knowledge of The Constitution and Bill of Rights than you
---Freddiekrug
Guy must have snuck out to Colorado for some of that Rocky Mountain High . At least that's what it seems like just about everytime he opens his mouth and gibberish pours out.
---Sgtsnuffy
All together now: 1…2…3…
Jebmentum!
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Wake up…
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JEERS to perpetuating a failed legacy. Yesterday a third Bush! decided to run for president of the United States. I forget his first name, but his last name is definitely Bush! Jim Newell at Salon offers as good a preview as any for how this Bush! Plans to win the nomination. Feel the altruism:
Jeb Bush is locked into a situation where he’s anathema to conservatives, moderates don’t seem all that fired up about George W. Bush’s brother, and leading figures in the party are concerned about his “rusty” performance. What does he do? He dumps a lot of money on everyone. […]
Bush’s campaign relies on plodding along until later in the year, when his super PAC can dump avalanches of cash on any opponent who appears to be gaining steam, and doing this over and over until, if necessary, nominating contests in all 50 states plus territories are held. It’s how Romney won in 2012, and that wasn’t an easy process. Jeb Bush can only pray that his path is as easy as Mitt Romney’s.
According to the wall clock, Bush
was late by an hour. According to karma clock, he was late by 15 years.
P.S. Donald Trump makes his ambitions clear today: he's running for Trump of the United States.
CHEERS to running out of room. The 2015 Netroots Nation convention in Phoenix starts one month from today, and Nolan Treadway has some updates for folks who haven't gotten their arrangements all locked down yet (via email). Sounds like it's going to be sold out as usual:
One month from today!
• One of our official hotels is sold out, but there are rooms still available at our second hotel, the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown. Those rooms are going fast, so click here to book your room now at the Netroots Nation group rate. These rooms will likely sell out very soon.
• Our current registration rate will go up today, but you still have time to register with a discount before prices increase. Click here to register now and save.
We have some big announcements coming your way, including special programming, keynote speakers and details on our direct action for Friday. Keep an eye out for more information in the coming days so you don't miss out on updates.
If you're really strapped for cash this year, you can join the group that will be staying for free at whichever of John McCain's houses he not in at that time. But pack light and be prepared to bug out
fast.
JEERS to the difference between then and now. 82 years ago today, Congress passed the bulk of FDR's ambitious "New Deal" program. When faced with his own economic calamity 75 years later (no thanks to his asleep-at-the-switch predecessor), our current president was met with a wall of GOP resistance in the pursuit of one goal: making him fail. But it was a bit different back in 1933:
Like Obama, FDR had
to clean up after an
incompetent Republican.
Raymond Moley, a member of FDR’s "brain trust," said many lawmakers "had forgotten to be Republicans or Democrats" as they dealt with the burgeoning crisis.
Sen. Hiram Johnson (R-Calif.) said: "The admirable trait in Roosevelt is that he has the guts to try. ... He does it all with the rarest good nature. ... We have exchanged for a frown in the White House a smile. Where there were hesitation and vacillation, weighing always the personal political consequences, feebleness, timidity and duplicity, there are now courage and boldness and real action."
The Democrat-inspired New Deal was necessary, visionary, humane, functional, morale-raising, and focused on the downtrodden. Or as the modern-day GOP leadership (Norquist, Rush, Koch & Koch) calls it: a stain on our nation's history.
CHEERS to hot times on a cold rock. The European Space Agency's Philae comet probe woke up from a seven-month slumber Sunday morning, demanding a terrycloth bathrobe, waffles, and a cold mimosa and keep 'em comin'. Now the ESA is scrambling to keep up with Philae's transmissions. The latest one is now being received:
They make a lovely couple.
"…I come all the way from Earth to live with you because your Match.com ad says you were Comet Prince Charming, and all you turn out to be is a rock hurtling through space giving me the silent treatment? If I wanted that I would've stayed with the Matterhorn. Don't get me started on that deadbeat. Never get romantically involved with the Swiss, honey, they'll drive ya crazy. Their answer to everything is, 'Eh, whatever, I'm neutral.' So do you get cable up here? I like to keep up on my stories. I hear Stefano tried to push Marlena out the window. I'd be lying if I said part of me doesn’t wish he'd done it. What kind of psychiatrist is she, anyway? Have you ever seen her give a patient a Rorschach test? I think she's a phony. A phony and a meddler! These chips are stale. Are you even listening to me?!!..."
They should have a baby.
JEERS to four more years of...him. On June 16, 1932, President Herbert Hoover was nominated for a second term at the Republican National Convention in Chicago. It was a lackluster affair, as evidenced by the convention's official slogan: "We're Screwed." (But it sure looked swell on the bumpers of their Packards.)
CHEERS to FLOTUS in flight. First Lady Michelle Obama Michelle jump-roped across the Atlantic yesterday to spend some time in Yurp promoting her Let Our Girls Learn initiative. Here's the schedule for the next couple days:
Arriving in London.
Today: England
• Meets with British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha
• Meets with Prince Harry
Tomorrow: Italy
• Meets with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his wife in Milan
• Visits the Milan Expo 2015 and participates in activities to promote efforts to support healthier families and communities. With the theme “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life,” the Expo Milan is promoting a global dialogue about the future of our food system.
Along for the ride are Michelle's mom and daughters Sasha and Malia, so get ready for a right-wing "Vacationgate" freakout in 3…2…1…
"Raaaahrrrrrr!!!" I'm glad the crazies are around. Otherwise I'd have nothing to set my watch by.
CHEERS to tummy ticklers. The world's first roller coaster---the Switchback Railway---debuted at Coney Island 131 years ago. Today we'll commemorate the anniversary in the usual way by throwing up on our neighbors.
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Ten years ago in C&J: June 16, 2005
JEERS to Bill Frist. Let me get this straight: to protect the knuckledragger wing of the knuckledragger party, he repeatedly prevented roll-call votes on an official Senate apology for not passing anti-lynching laws sooner. I think we've found the new spokesman for the Don't Drop Your Baby On Its Head Foundation.
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And just one more…
CHEERS to crack for headline writers. The #1 movie at the box office last weekend was the third sequel to Jurassic Park. And---surprise---the media had a field day with the clichés when the receipts were counted on its opening weekend:
It's Dino-mite! Ha ha ha!
• Dino-size debut for 'Jurassic World'
• 'Jurassic World': 5 Key Reasons It Was a Box Office Monster
• Jurassic World Runs Rampant with $511.8 Million at the Global Box Office!
• Jurassic World roars to biggest global opening of all time
• 'Jurassic World' rampages to global box office record
• 'Jurassic World' Tromps All Over the Box Office Competition
• 'Jurassic World' Stomps Its Way to Global Box-Office Record
• 'Jurassic World' Rumbles to Record $204.6 Million Opening
• Jurassic World Bites Deep Into Weekend Box Office
• 'Jurassic World' chomps off $204.6M
• Jurassic World´ eats box office alive
Not quite
Sticks Nix Hick Pix caliber. But 'A' for effort.
Have a stompy chompy Tuesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
"Listen, I don't need a job, I don’t need any money, but I've always wanted to learn how to put together and take apart Bill in Portland Maine. It's a bucket list thing."
---Scott Brown
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