Misty Watercolor Memories…
Remember back when previous president said that the “typical timeframe” for development of a vaccine was somewhere between two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, twelve or “infinity” years? Kimmel’s crew does, in the latest installment of...
And we all lived happily ever after.
Cheers and Jeers for Thursday, December 16, 2021
Note: Reindeer run over by revenge-seeking zombie grandma with hair matching color of blue and silver candles. Film at 11.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til Festivus: 7
Days 'til 2022: 16
President Biden's approval rating in the latest Morning Consult poll: 49%
Percent effectiveness of Pfizer's new covid pill at keeping people out of the hospital or dying: 89%
Rank of the most recent polar year (Sept. 2020 to Oct. 2021) among the warmest on record, according to a new NOAA report: #7
Factor by which beaver ponds are increasing in western Alaska because of climate change: 2x
Amount of THC in the 850-pound pot brownie baked by Massachusetts company MariMed: 20,000 mg
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Your Thursday Molly Ivins Moment:
Here's to all the Americans on both sides of this year's unusually peppy fights over the allowability of religious symbols on public property.
This annual battle, in which the American Civil Liberties Union strives once more to make itself as popular as the Grinch, is over the part of the First Amendment that says the government cannot sponsor religion.
I always liked what former Gov. Ann Richards said when informed there were demands that the large star on top of the state capitol come down. "Oh, I'd hate to see that happen," she drawled. "This could be the only chance we'll ever have to get three wise men in that building."
—December, 2004
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Dog evolution…
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CHEERS to confirming the obvious. Lord knows I have occasional issues with AP reporting. But when they go big, they really knock it out of the park. Yesterday they released their analysis of an audit—a legitimate one, not a Cyber Ninjas one—they did on the votes cast in six states (AZ, WI, PA, MI, GA, NV) that The Thing From Mar-A-Lago claims Democrats stole from him last year. Conclusion: less than 500 "potential" cases of voter fraud out of over 25-million votes cast:
The AP review, a process that took months and encompassed more than 300 local election offices, is one the most comprehensive examinations of suspected voter fraud in last year’s presidential election. It relies on information collected at the local level, where officials must reconcile their ballots and account for discrepancies, and includes a handful of separate cases cited by secretaries of state and state attorneys general. […]
“There is a very specific reason why we don’t see many instances of fraud, and that is because the system is designed to catch it, to flag it and then hold those people accountable,” said Amber McReynolds, a former director of elections in Denver and the founding CEO of the National Vote at Home Institute, which promotes mail voting.
The AP’s review of cases in the six battleground states found no evidence to support Trump’s various claims, which have included unsupported allegations that more votes were tallied than there are registered voters and that thousands of mail-in ballots were cast by people who are not on voter rolls. Dozens of state and federal courts have rejected the claims.
And just to make sure this tidbit doesn’t slip through the cracks:
The cases are bipartisan. Some of those charged with fraud are registered Republicans or told investigators they were supporters of Trump.
I'm sure The Thing's apology to the hard-working election volunteers and officials, not to mention the honest American voters he smeared for over a year, will be forthcoming sometime around the first of never.
CHEERS to today's edition of So That Happened. I make a point to go out and sweep the gutters of our street at least once a week. (The neighbors love me.) Yesterday morning I was doing the curb across the street when an intense-looking middle-aged guy suddenly pulled up in front of our house, parked, and proceeded to have a yelling match with a woman (his wife?) at FULL VOLUME on his speakerphone. Nasty, nasty. Lots of cuss words. So anyway, I get done sweeping the curb and bagging the leaves and the dirt, and as I'm crossing the street to head back inside he rolls down his window and says, gruffly, before driving off:
"I applaud your civic nobility. You don’t see it anymore."
This has been today's edition of So That Happened.
JEERS to lame attempts at swaying the tin-foil hat crowd. 52 years ago this week, in 1969, the U.S. Air Force closed its Project "Blue Book" by concluding there was no evidence of extraterrestrial spaceships behind the thousands of UFO sightings they'd investigated:
The Air Force supplies the following summary of its investigations:
1) No UFO reported, investigated, and evaluated by the Air Force was ever an indication of threat to our national security;
2) There was no evidence submitted to or discovered by the Air Force that sightings categorized as "unidentified" represented technological developments or principles beyond the range of modern scientific knowledge; and
3) There was no evidence indicating that sightings categorized as "unidentified" were extraterrestrial vehicles.
It might have been more credible if the spokesperson delivering the news, Captain Blurp Oorksplorg, hadn't been speaking out of his tentacle.
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BRIEF SANITY BREAK
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END BRIEF SANITY BREAK
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CHEERS to order in the courts. So. Here's where we stand during the last two weeks of 2021. The Build Back Better bill and voting rights legislation are dead because Joe Manchin doesn’t want to sour cocktail hour with Republicans aboard his yacht. The omicron variant of COVID-19 is slamming all the hospitals. Women's bodies are poised to become the property of their rat-fink neighbors looking for a quick $10,000 bounty. Climate change is officially beyond our control for at least the next thousand years. But here's a nugget of good news: our judicial benches are becoming slightly less white and male:
Biden announced his intent to nominate nine district court nominees, bringing the administration's total for the year to 73 -- one more than former President Donald Trump nominated in his first year in office. […]
Biden's efforts have been closely coordinated with Senate Democrats and have resulted in 28 confirmations, with at least two other nominees expected to win confirmation before the end of the year. That number also exceeds Trump's first year in office, which has served as an unofficial benchmark of sorts for an administration keen on emphasizing its focus on the courts. […]
The President's selections have included 53 women, making up 73% of all judicial nominees, as well as 20 African Americans, 15 Hispanics and 13 Asian American Pacific Islander picks. They also include 21 public defenders, 16 civil rights lawyers and five labor lawyers, as the administration has sought to elevate nominees with more diverse professional backgrounds.
"What a wonderful achievement that we finally have so many diverse judges on federal benches whose decisions we can overturn," said conservatives on the Supreme Court.
CHEERS to civil disobedience...with pinky extended. Don't forget to throw a few bags of Earl Grey into the nearest body of water today, the 248th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. That was the day in 1773 when rebellious colonists dumped a few hundred chests of tea into Boston Harbor, an act of defiance against the British Crown for imposing taxation without representation. Which is exactly what the modern day "tea party"—now the MAGA Cult—is all about, plus racism, birtherism, secessionism, misogyny, Islamophobia, homophobia, and making the rich as comfortable as possible...but minus the taxation without representation part since they do have taxation with representation—they’re called representatives. And for those of you represented by Marjorie Taylor-Greene, we have just one thing to say: thoughts and prayers.
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Ten years ago in C&J: December 16, 2011
JEERS to suckitude in Sioux City. Time now for our latest edition of Useful Things I Learned From Watching Last Night's Republican Debate. This concludes our latest edition of Useful Things I Learned From Watching Last Night's Republican Debate.
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And just one more…
CHEERS to the Fabulous Ludwig B. When I was 10 (circa 1974), me and a busload of 5th grade classmates went to see the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. It was the first time I'd ever heard classical music played by a live orchestra. When the opening notes of Beethoven's 6th 'Pastoral' symphony started playing, it was love at first downbeat and I've been waving my lighter and throwing my underwear on the stage at concerts ever since. Today the world is celebrating Beethoven’s 251st birthday. For the occasion, Ludwig got us a present: goosebumps (still the best start of a flash mob ever)...
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No need for presents. Ludwig doesn’t really celebrate birthdays anymore. After last year’s 250th hullabaloo, He’ll just spend the day quietly decomposing.
Have a nice Thursday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial
"We are not Cheers and Jeers kiddie pool splashers, as the gentlelady from Georgia suggested. That’s just the friends of Bill in Portland Maine who you lionized like the dictator of Daily Kos who he loves."
—Rep. Jamie Raskin
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