From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Dear CBS News/60 Minutes,
To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful. It is as simple as that.
And...
The speed of communications is wondrous to behold. It is also true that speed can multiply the distribution of information that we know to be untrue.
And...
One of the basic troubles with radio and television news is that both instruments have grown up as an incompatible combination of show business, advertising and news. Each of the three is a rather bizarre and demanding profession. And when you get all three under one roof, the dust never settles. The top management of the networks with a few notable exceptions, has been trained in advertising, research, sales or show business. But by the nature of the corporate structure, they also make the final and crucial decisions having to do with news and public affairs. Frequently they have neither the time nor the competence to do this.
And...
All I can hope to teach my son is to tell the truth and fear no man.
Good night and good luck with your credibility,
Edward R. Murrow
CBS News
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Thursday, November 14, 2013
Note: World goes mad. Film at 11. And 12. And 1 and 2 and 3, 4 5,6,7,8, 9 and 10 plus the half-hours, too. But first these messages for penis pills and shitty car insurance…
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Only 35 weeks to go!!!
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By the Numbers:
Weeks 'til the
Netroots Nation Convention in Detroit July 17-20:
35
Days `til "Eat It Even If The Sell-By Date Has Expired" Day:
3
Current approval rating of Congress:
9%
(Source: Gallup)
Percent of 4th and 8th graders, respectively, who are at or above proficiency level in math in the latest Nation's Report Card:
42%, 35%
Percent of 4th and 8th graders, respectively, who are at or above proficiency level in reading:
35%, 36%
Amount the U.S. government spent to curb Afghanistan's opium production, the result of which was a 36% increase in the
opium poppy harvest in Afghanistan:
$7 billion
(Source:
NBC News)
Year the word "Vacationland" first appeared on Maine license plates:
1936
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Your Thursday Molly Ivins Moment:
I realize the "liberal elites" are not allowed to even quote the word "dumb" lest we be accused of "cultural condescension" toward our salt-of-the-earth red-state compatriots. Since I'm a populist happily living in the midst of a quite red state (some of my best friends are named Bubba), I never pay any attention to such horsepoop. But I do resent it when the people running the country think we're so dumb they can rip us off and then tell us to pray.
---November, 2004
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Puppy Pic of the Day: "One giant leap for dog-kind…"
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CHEERS to seizing a moment to get real. As the situation in the Philippines turns from awful to hellish, one man is pointing fingers. At climate-change deniers. And he has damn good reason to:
Seasoned climate negotiators from around the world were moved to tears as Naderev “Yeb” Saño, head of the Philippines delegation, made an emotional statement to the UN Climate Change Conference on the disaster in his country caused by Typhoon Haiyan on the weekend. […] Sano announced that he would not eat until delegates made meaningful progress, mounting a hunger strike in solidarity with the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda. […] “To anyone who continues to deny the reality that is climate change, I dare you to get off your ivory tower and away from the comfort of your armchair,” Sano urged.
Watch a portion of it here…and pass it on:
He got a standing ovation. Two days later I'm still on my feet.
CHEERS to grilling Miss Moneybags. The Senate Banking Committee holds a confirmation hearing today for Janet Yellen, who is the president's nominee to be the Federal Reserve Chair. This is the freaky part: she'll be doing it from a "chair" owned by the government and therefore a "federal" chair…that they will "reserve" exclusively for her. I ain't no expert, but I say that's good karma right there, bub.
Proud native son.
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CHEERS to progress sealed in indelible ink.
'ohana, yo!!! Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie celebrated a major win in his fight for LGBT equality in the Book 'Em Danno State yesterday by signing a marriage equality bill into…
Gimme an L!...Gimme an A!...Gimme a W! What's that
spell??? (Um…it’s a three-letter word, I think you can figure it out yourself.) Anyway, Hawaii scooped Illinois to
become the 15th state in which same-sex couples can marry:
Sen. Clayton Hee (D, Heeia-Laie-Waialua), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary and Labor Committee who steered the bill through the special session of the Legislature, told the crowd, "I could have never imagined playing a role in such a profound yet, in my mind, such a simple thing to do: Bring justice and equality to all of us."
A bit of advice from one whose state passed marriage-equality last year: don’t panic when the sky starts falling. The treetops hold it up real nice once it settles. Think of it as an equality tarp!
TALLY HO! to the man who would be king…or, at the rate his mom is going, perhaps not. Happy birthday to Britain's Prince Charles, who turns a bonny 65 today and is now eligible for a pension of $175 a week for groceries and rent and whatnot. I got him his usual present on behalf of all of us at C&J: a pair of commemorative Battle of Yorktown socks.
Usually great papers.
Just not this time.
JEERS to spinning class. As with almost every newspaper in the country,
The Portland Press Herald republishes articles from other newspapers, most notably
The Washington Post. They often buy the article, edit for space as they see fit, and add their own headline. This week they ran a
decent article on how the Senate and House are currently functioning (or not)---namely, the Senate is passing some bills (e.g. ENDA and immigration reform) by leaping a high hurdle of at least 60 votes including, by default, some Republicans, while the House is ramming through bills (e.g. repealing Obamacare 41 times) with Republican-only support. The gist of the article is that infighting among Republicans is causing the gridlock. Well, this is how the headline writers at the
Press Herald chose to frame it in their dead-tree edition:
Both sides guilty with policy-making taking back seat to posturing.
Both sides do it, amiright?!! Yeah---other than being completely wrong, you're a freaking genius.
CHEERS to America's first shusher. 281 years ago today, on November 14, 1732, the first paid librarian, Louis Timothee, took his place behind a desk after getting hired for the job by none other than Ben Franklin. Other than that, all I know is what Wikipedia tells me:
Oldest known photo
of Louis Timothee.
Timothee was born (in 1699) in Holland to French Huguenot parents. Franklin arranged for Timothee to serve as a part-time librarian for the Library Company of Philadelphia, one of Franklin's first philanthropic projects. Franklin started the library July 1, 1731. There was no librarian until November 14, 1732, when Timothee was hired as the first salaried librarian in the American colonies. He was paid three pounds sterling every trimester.
He worked every Wednesday from two to three o'clock and every Saturday from ten to four.
Or as John Boehner calls him: a workaholic.
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Five years ago in C&J: November 14, 2008
CHEERS to gravity defiance. The space shuttle Endeavour is lifting off just as soon as the flight attendants brief the crew on the locations of the exits and how to use their seat cushions as a flotation device. They'll spend 15 days at the International Space Station, where guest passenger Joe the Plumber will install a new bathroom and then be jettisoned into deep space, where the Hubble telescope will mistake him for the star baby in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Science rocks! 11/14/13 Update: Last year Endeavour rode out to California on top of a 747 and settled down at the California Science Center:
They're expecting a baby Cessna any day now.
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And just one more…
CHEERS to lessons left behind. There's no way to sugarcoat where Obamacare is at the moment: Clusterfuck City. And who's responsible for the failure of the world's GREATEST and most EXCEPTIONAL country to drag its health care system up to, oh, half the efficiency of European countries and other advanced nations? Let's see: Republicans, Democrats, the Legislative branch, the Executive branch, the Judicial branch (remember they're the ones who said states didn’t have to expand Medicaid), the insurance companies, the "anything to gin up a scandal" media, the billionaire industrialists, and a huge chunk of noisy Americans with teabags hanging off their tricorn hats. God only knows if the healthcare.gov web site will be fixed in---[checks watch]---16 days. But if not, we may have to haul in the only one who actually gets the internet. Yes---the ghost of Senator Ted Stevens:
Pray it doesn't come to that. He was one ornery sumbitch.
Have a nice Thursday. Practice random acts of apathy. Together we can make an indifference. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
"Call me Bill in Portland Maine. Some years ago---never mind how long precisely---having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the bloggy part of the world..."
---Moby Dick
First published on November 14, 1851
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