From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE...
Happy Labor Day!
(More in the sense of "Happy it's a paid federal holiday and we can sleep in!" than "Happy everything's super awesome on the labor front!")
From that socialist/communist hive of scum and villainy, the United States Department of Labor:
The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. ... In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a "workingmen's holiday" on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.
The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During the year four more states---Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York---created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.
But Tsk Tsk to Democratic President Grover Cleveland, who signed the bill only as an act of political make-up sex during election season after his tough tactics backfired during the Pullman strike. And to think I set up an Act Blue page for him.
Today we salute the working men and women of America. All six of you.
Cheers and Jeers starts in There's Moreville... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Monday, September 6, 2010
Note: Abbreviated C&J today. The Full Billy returns tomorrow.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til Autumn: 17
Days `til the Sonic Circuits Festival of Experimental Music in D.C.: 12
Number of people 16 and older in the nation's current workforce as of May: 154.4 million
Average commute time: 25 minutes
Median number of years people have been with their current employer: 4.1 years
Number of workers who have more than one job: 7.6 million
Number of people who work from home: 5.9 million
(Source: Washington Post)
Amount BP spent on marketing and advertising from April through July: $93.4 million
(Source: TPM)
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Mondays with Mark Twain
In anticipation of the release of his autobiography this November, we're devotin' a swath of Mondays to the old man:
If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way.
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It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.
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It's no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.
Unless, of course, you’re talking about Sarah's tweets.
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Reunited
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Just one CHEER today...to SaraR, who is giving away one of her magnificent (I took six hours nailing down exactly the right adjective) quilts---bursting with autographs by a who's who of progressive fighters---in a drawing to raise money for Jack Conway's senate campaign in Kentucky. trust me...this is a piece of history:
Back in 2006, at the very first Yearly Kos convention (now known as Netroots Nation), we had a quilt available for signing – something that has since become a tradition and a symbol of progressive blogger community. That quilt is "From Red to Blue", a roman stripe patterned quilt designed by Aunt Arctic, pieced by Aunt Arctic, my sister and me, and hand quilted by me. This quilt really is an artifact of that first convention – and it contains some fabulous signatures. Here they are, listed by block number: ... It is 62" square, contains all cotton fabric, a fine cotton batting, and was hand quilted by me with tiny stitches. There is a sleeve on the back to make it easy to hang on a wall. ...
From now until September 15, every day you donate $10 or more to this Act Blue page, you will receive a chance to win the quilt---one donation per day will be counted.
OR, if you prefer not to donate, you can enter by writing an essay of 50 words or less on this subject: "What Jack Conway’s Run For the U.S. Senate Means to Me"---and send it to communityquilts (at) yahoo.com. If we find your essay to be topical, we will give you an entry in the drawing, one essay per person per day. The drawing will take place the last day in September.
I'm pledging ten bucks a day until the deadline. Partially because I'm a Jack Conway fan, but mostly because I'm a greedy maniacal bastard and I...WANT...THAT...QUILT. Try and stop me.
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Four years ago in C&J: September 6, 2006
ATTAGIRL! to Katherine Harris. Facing opposition from two well known challengers, Whatsizface and Whatsizface, the Queen of "She Didn't Really Say/Do/Eat That, Did She?" pulled out a win with 49 percent of the vote. Bill Nelson was so thrilled he poured the champagne at her victory party.
CHEERS to Cynthia Tucker. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist's take on the White House's "state of denial" over Iraq is today's must-read. Here she paints Bush into a corner:
Mr. Bush says we can't withdraw because the sacrifices of the men and women in uniform who have died there---more than 2,600 so far---would be in vain. More Americans must die, it seems, because so many have already died---a pernicious bit of circular reasoning.
And Bush wonders why his Nobel Peace Prize hasn't arrived in the mail yet.
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I'll be around in the comments throughout the day to answer your relationship, child-rearing and/or cooking conundrums at no extra charge. [Disclaimer: C&J is not legally responsible for the consequences of any advice dispensed in the comments, on account of I'm socially maladjusted and may not have your best interests at heart.] Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
Chuck Salter’s Fast Company article "Why America is Addicted to Cheers and Jeers" neither explains why America is addicted to Cheers and Jeers nor even establishes that American is, in fact, addicted to Cheers and Jeers.
---Matt Yglesias
9/3/10
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