From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Brief Update
The 40-year-old Twinkie science experiment at George Stevens Academy (incorporated 1803) in Blue Hill, Maine is going well:
Stay tuned for our next update in 2056. Now back to your politics or whatever.
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Note: [Places friendship ring in catapult] [Fires catapult at England] [Declares Canada new BFF]
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til the USA turns 240: 6
Days 'til the Maine Potato Blossom Festival in Fort Fairfield: 11
Percent chance that Treasury Secretary Jack Lew believes the Brexit vote "doesn't look like the makings of another financial crisis" for the U.S., according to CNBC: 100%
Rank of Minnesota, Massachusetts and Iowa among the best states for raising a family, according to an Annie E. Casey Foundation study: #1, #2, #3
Rank of Louisiana, New Mexico and Mississippi on the list: #48, #49, #50
Percent of North Carolinians who believe their new anti-LGBT law is and is not, respectively, having a negative impact on the state's national reputation, according to a new PPP poll: 50%, 19%
Percent of North Carolina women who think the law has made them safer: 26%
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Tuesday Words of Wisdom from the Right-wing Blogosphere:
Let's see how the commenters at Fox Nation are reacting to conservative godfather George Will's announcement that he's leaving the GOP over crazy Donald:
"Good riddance ya yapping head."
"BTW George ... your support for killary won't be forgotten any time soon. Good luck with your declining career. Perhaps you should just retire now an avoid further embarrassment."
"Goodbye George. Take Krauthammer with you."
"George is going over to sit in the corner and suck his thumb with Jeb."
"Will has been a NutJob for years and now has become a full-fledged FruitCake...He's no more a Conservative than I'm the ToothFairy."
All together now: 1…2…3… Classy!
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Puppy Pic of the Day:
They say we've earned it. Who am I to argue?
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CHEERS to the revenge of the lady in the pink sneakers. Three years ago, Texas state Senator Wendy Davis filibustered a Republican-sponsored bill that would impose ridiculous staff-credential and building-code requirements on abortion clinics. The bill eventually passed, and clinics were forced to close as the appeals process dragged on. Well, yesterday the Supreme Court handed---in the words of this Dan Savage tweet---"lying anti-choice shits in Texas their asses" in what Planned Parenthood called "the biggest abortion case in decades." And the whole reality-based world let out a big "Whew!"
The law said clinics providing abortion services must meet the same building standards as ambulatory surgical centers. And it required doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. […]
Justice Stephen G. Breyer in writing the majority opinion said "neither of these provisions offers medical benefits sufficient to justify the burdens upon access that each imposes. Each places a substantial obstacle in the path of women seeking a pre-viability abortion, each constitutes an undue burden on abortion access, and each violates the Federal Constitution." […]
The court's decision will affect similar laws in twelve other states [or 23 according to Meteor Blades --BiPM], some now on hold because of court challenges. The restrictions in Texas represented a new front in efforts to restrict abortion by focusing on protecting the health and safety of the mother rather than the life of the fetus.
I don’t want to say the anti-abortion zealots are hopping mad right now, but their cats are all seeking asylum under the nearest liberals' back porch.
CHEERS to promises revisited. And speaking of the Highest Court: lest we forget, at 10:07am on this date four years ago the Supreme Court---including John Roberts, whom the right immediately branded a traitor---ruled that the Obamacare mandate was constitutional on "taxing authority" grounds, not Commerce Clause grounds. To mark the occasion, please enjoy reliving the moment when former Congresswoman "Mean" Jean Schmidt (R-OH) screamed with delight as she misheard the verdict and squealed thanks to her Lord and Savior for striking it down:
She wept salty tears of grief when she finally realized she was on the losing end of the ruling. But the Lord got a good chuckle out of it.
CHEERS to the dynamic duo. If it had been a naval battle, this is what you would've seen from shore yesterday along the Ohio River in Cincinnati: the U.S.S. Pantsuit and the U.S.S. Pocahontas positioning themselves on either side of the U.S.S. Moneygrubber and firing broadsides point-blank until Admiral Trump, his tweets bouncing harmlessly off their hulls, was forced to flee on a chunk of flotsam using a silver spoon from the galley as an oar. Their moment of triumph was captured for posterity:
They really should do that again sometime. Like, say, the next eight years.
P.S. Tomorrow Trump will bring his "Ahhhhh, I can't rememberrrrrr!" Tour to Bangor, Maine. He'll share a platform with part-time Governor and full-time human kielbasa Paul LePage. As usual, errand boy Chris Christie will be in charge of calling Uber to make the McDonald's run.
CHEERS to the other American revolution. On June 28, 1969, a ragtag gaggle of customers at a seedy Greenwich Village gay bar---the Stonewall Inn, now freshly-designated a National Monument---decided they'd had enough police harassment for one lifetime. So they got mad as hell, tipped over a police car, hurled some rocks and gave new life to the gay rights movement. As the deputy police inspector said: "For those of us in [the] public morals [division], things were completely changed ... Suddenly they were not submissive anymore."’
What a difference 47 years makes. A huge majority of Americans now embrace their LGBT family, friends, co-workers and neighbors. LGBTers can serve openly in the military. The vast majority of businesses support LGBT employees and many sponsor LGBT advocacy groups (and annual pride festivals around the country). When right-wingers pass anti-LGBT laws, there's almost always a severe backlash now. The entire executive branch has our back. Non-discrimination laws are in effect in tons of states and cities (although a federal law is still elusive because Republicans are allergic to equality). And now those aging protesters in New York who got mad as hell that hot June night and refused to take it anymore have the legal right---in every state, guaranteed by the Supreme Court---to take their fights where straight Americans have waged them since 1776: the institution of marriage.
CHEERS to booting the bad guys. It took 'em a while, but the Iraqi military---or whatever coalition the Iraqi military scraped together to make it happen---sent ISIS fleeing from Fallujah with their rat tails between their legs. The beleaguered city is now "fully liberated." But what a mess:
According to the U.N. refugee agency, more than 85,000 people have fled Fallujah and the surrounding area since the offensive began. The UNHCR and others have warned of dire conditions in the camps -- where temperatures are well over 40 degrees Celsius (104 F) and shelter is limited---and have called for more funds to meet mounting needs.
And in other news, this morning the hollandaise sauce on my eggs Benedict was totally bland and they served my mimosa at freaking room temperature. Life is so unfair.
CHEERS to Ol' Shortypants. James Madison, who at 5'4" holds the distinction of being the U.S. president with the lowest center of gravity, died in Montpelier, Virginia 180 years ago today. He was the chief architect of the United States Constitution, and he's rolling in his grave over the GOP's manhandling of it. The book Rating the Presidents (a survey of 700 historians and political analysts) sums up his legacy as one of "courageous leadership as president, guided by the principles of the Constitution, which he played so large a part in framing. All Americans owe him a great debt of gratitude." Pay your respects here. But don't call him short. Touchy subject.
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Eleven years ago in C&J: June 28, 2005
CHEERS to leading by example. Meanwhile, up in the land where oxygen actually reaches their politicians' brains, Canada's House of Commons passed a law last night that allows for gay marriage throughout the country. A few opponents on the far right were so outraged they actually raised an eyebrow.
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And just one more…
CHEERS to going where no numismatist has gone before. I'm not much of a coin collector, but I think many of the designs produced by the U.S. Mint are historically significant and/or artistically appealing. (Special shoutout to the state quarters series, which I do collect.) But I gotta say, I'm kinda jealous that pretty soon Canadians will be able to pay for stuff with a Kirk or a Spock or an Uhura:
Via The Trek Collective, the Canadian Mint has announced its plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Star Trek by releasing a line of coins that can actually be used in financial transactions…if you were so inclined.
Some of them are even reasonably priced. The $10 colored coins featuring Kirk, Spock, Uhura, and Scotty are only being sold for slightly over the face value, while the $20 silver coins featuring the Enterprise are being sold at face value.
Here’s where it gets dicey. The colored silver coins with the Enterprise are going for over $100 in Canadian dollars, even though it only has $20 in face value. But that pales in comparison to the pure gold Star Trek Delta Coin, which is based on the Starfleet insignia worn by the crew on the original series.
Check ‘em all out here. Technically the super-cool Delta coin is already sold out. But I have a plan: if you and I can outfit my Honda Civic with rocket thrusters and reach a sufficient orbit, we can use the earth's gravity to slingshot our way around the moon and then just close enough to the sun to use it as a reverse slingshot that would briefly cause a distortion in the time-space continuum, allowing us to travel back in time, order the Star Trek delta coins, and return to the present with nobody the wiser. On second thought, let's use your car. Our warranty just expired.
Have a nice Tuesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
Former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer calls Bill in Portland Maine "offensive." Yeah, that happened.
---Mother Mags
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