Energize an Ally Tuesday
So what have we learned about white supremacists, class? If you said many think it was neato that a bunch of white racist crybabies waged war to destroy the United States of America in order to preserve the ownership and torture of black human beings, and then got let off the hook when they failed, but would like to try it again sometime, give yourself a gold star. Extra credit if you said others are down with the Nazi extermination of Jews during World War II.
But one group of ex-white-supremacists has shown that it's possible to help lead these lost souls out of their white supremacist life. And now Samantha Bee and the crew at Full Frontal are pointing as many eyeballs as they can to Life After Hate, because our racist-in-chief decided that having fewer racists among the American people is, doggone it, just a bridge too far:
Life After Hate is the only organization dedicated to bringing people out of the white supremacist movement. Unfortunately, the Trump administration has cut the$400,000 [Obama administration] grant Life After Hate was to receive from the Department of Homeland Security. This funding would go towards Life After Hate's far-right counter-radicalization program, which includes efforts to "counter the escalating number of people who are radicalized online."
Sam (I call her Sam 'cause we're tight) will show Life After Hate in action when Full Frontal returns to TBS next month. Here's a preview:
In the meantime, she's asking for donations, big or small, to make up for the funding that Lord Dampnut stupidly yanked. It's especially important now because of how the bad guys are stepping up recruitment via the internet. You can chip in through this link. (As with all our featured Tuesday allies, C&J is in for $25.) They're 70 percent of the way to reaching their $400k goal, and by shining our Energize An Ally spotlight on Life After Hate, hopefully we can bump 'em up a few notches. Thanks!
Follow Life After Hate on twitter here and on Facebook here.
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold...
Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, August 22, 2017
Note: (To avoid NSA surveillance, write all sensitive information in parentheses.) Ha Ha nothing to see here! (Trust me, it works.) We're just crocheting! (The revolution starts at 9 sharp.) Puppies and rainbows! (Bring your own pitchfork.)
-
By the Numbers:
Days 'til Labor Day: 13
Days 'til the Minnesota State Fair: 2
Percent of Tennessee voters who approve of Trumpcare, according to a PPP poll: 32%
Portion of TN voters who think allowing insurance companies to discriminate on the basis of pre-existing conditions is a good thing: 1-in-4
Percent chance that Maine Gov. Paul LePage refuses to put up road signs pointing the way to the new Katahdin Woods National Monument because it was created by Barack Obama: 100%
Minimum number of companies/organizations that have canceled events at Trump's Mar-A-Lago resort: 9
Rank of vanilla, mint chocolate chip, and cookies & cream among most popular ice cream flavors: #1, #2, #3
-
Your Tuesday Molly Ivins Moment (We won't be here Thursday, so we're delivering it to you today):
George Will saw fit to include in his latest Newsweek column this joke: “How many Frenchmen does it take to defend Paris? No one knows, it's never been tried.”
That was certainly amusing. One million, four hundred thousand French soldiers were killed during World War I. As a result, there weren’t many French-men left to fight in World War II. Nevertheless, 100,000 French soldiers lost their lives trying to stop Hitler.
On behalf of every one of those 100,000 men, I would like to thank Mr. Will for his clever joke. They were out-manned, out-gunned, out-generaled and, above all, out-tanked. They got slaughtered, but they stood and they fought. Ha-ha, how funny. In the few places where they had tanks, they held splendidly.
---Feb. 2003
-
-
JEERS to more "Over There!" over there. Yup, the Yanks are coming, alright, seeing as keeping the Afghanistan War percolating now seems to be a permanent part of an American president's job description. Trump read words written by his advisers off of a teleprompter last night, and even though he didn’t say it outright, the message is clear: we're escalating. Again. And it ain’t gonna be popular...
After more than 15 years of war in Afghanistan, Americans don’t believe the U.S. is making significant progress, and they've soured on keeping troops in the country, polls show.
And in recent years, a majority of Americans has said the Afghanistan War---which began in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks---was a mistake in the first place. [...]
Previously, on his now-famous Twitter account, Trump’s views on the Afghanistan War appeared unequivocal.
“We have wasted an enormous amount of blood and treasure in Afghanistan. Their government has zero appreciation,” Trump tweeted in November 2013. “Let's get out!”
As always, the government urges you to please continue supporting our troops in the usual manner: keep shopping!
CHEERS to a dark, dark day in America. Well, that was fun. Just as it did on January 20th, darkness descended on the country starting around noontime yesterday, and eclipse watchers reveled in the eclipsiness. Here at Casa Billeh we planned to watch our partial (58%) eclipse using our homemade pinhole box outfitted with beer holders, AC and a barcalounger, but we got too distracted by Judge Judy on the widescreen TV. Oops! Up next in the wondrous world of cosmic events: an asteroid is going to smash into earth in eleven days, plunging our world into chaos and destruction, immediately after which Donald Trump will tweet: "Hey universe! Quit stealing my act."
P.S. Of course he looked right at it “despite shouted warning”…
-
JEERS to shoveling, shoveling, shoveling. Speaking of shit falling out of the sky, the tree bark readers at the Farmer's Almanac are out with their winter forecast---their 200th if you believe what you read in the Farmer's Almanac---and it looks like I may be forced to wear clothes in a few months:
Northeasterners, keep your mittens, boots and snow shovel handy. The Farmers' Almanac that goes on sale this week predicts a snowy winter from Maryland to Maine with five coastal storms to bring winter misery to the region.
The 2018 edition dubbed this winter: "The cold, the dry, and the wet, and the wild." Its reclusive weather prognosticator, who works under a pseudonym, suggests colder-than-normal temperatures for eastern and central regions, wetter-than-normal weather for southeastern states and drier-than-normal conditions for the nation's western third that was pummeled by snow last winter. It also predicts "wild" winter variations for the area where Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma meet.
Also in the forecast: a 100% chance of idiots shouting "Global cooling!" at the sighting of the first snowflake. (Take your heart pills, Senator Inhofe---you know how excited you get.)
-
-
Gong! Gong!! BuddaBuddaBudda… GONG!!!
This is another edition of The One Word Answer Man. Lauren Duca asks: How can you doubt the bravery of women when we are constantly applying eyeliner on the subway?
Dunno.
Now back to Cheers and Jeers.
Gong! Gong!! BuddaBuddaBudda… GONG!!!
-
-
CHEERS to tea and bragging rights. 166 years ago today, in 1851, the schooner America outraced a small fleet of British ships belonging to the Royal Yacht Squadron off the English coast to win the trophy that came to be known as the America's Cup. I believe I speak for all Americans today when I say: [Pulls down pants] "Kiss my bum, wankers!" (With all due respect. And bless yer hearts.)
JEERS to definitive signs of the apocalypse. I went to the DMV to renew my driver's license. The line moved quickly. The people were friendly.The process was easy. The fee was reasonable. I was in and out in 15 minutes. And my new license arrived in the mail a mere three days later. Conclusion: this can only mean civilization is on the brink. Nice knowin' ya.
-
Ten years ago in C&J: August 22, 2007
JEERS to numbing-down America. Holy mackerel...sales of prescription painkillers have skyrocketed:
More than 200,000 pounds of codeine, morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone and meperidine were purchased at retail stores during the most recent year represented in the data. That total is enough to give more than 300 milligrams of painkillers to every person in the country. Oxycodone, the chemical usedin OxyContin, is responsible for most of the increase. Oxycodone use jumped nearly six-fold between 1997 and 2005.
Also skyrocketing: sales of ACME shoe weights to keep people from floating off and getting tangled in power lines.
-
And just one more…
CHEERS to the return of a beloved buggy. Volkswagen really screwed the pooch when they got caught making up bogus emissions test results. What were you thinking, dummkopfs?!! Not only are they forking over billions of dollars in fines and settlements, but they also created an unforced PR nightmare for themselves. So they needed to do something pretty nifty to start getting back in their customers' good graces, and what better way than re-introducing a spruced-up and electrified version of an old VW favorite…
Designed as a throwback to the old microbus that was among the most recognizable Volkswagens in the German brand's 1960s hippie heyday, the I.D. Buzz will be available in North America, Europe and China.
It seeks to capitalize on a trend on social media of young adults promoting their road trips in old-school vans under the hashtag #vanlife.
With its batteries and electric motor positioned underneath the floor, the vehicle has a "massively spacious interior and great proportions," VW bragged. It "looks like a compact commercial van on the outside, even though it offers the generous interior space of a large SUV," Diess said.
The bad news: we'll have to wait until 2022 for the new hippiemobile . The good news: that oughtta be just enough time fore me to grow a new set of knee-length dreadlocks.
Have a nice Tuesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
-
Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
Brian Stelter Opens Reliable Sources By Seriously Questioning Bill in Portland Maine’s Mental Fitness
---Mediaite
-