From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE
Little Gay Billy's BIG Gay Newsapalooza
This and that from LGBT Land…
• Frankly, I'll be amazed if the Supreme Court can push open the front door when they get back to work, what with all the petitions and briefs and requests and god knows what else that have been shoved through their mail slot over the last several weeks demanding a ruling on same-sex marriage. Says SCOTUSblog:
Together, the petitions raise two constitutional questions: do states have power to refuse to allow same-sex couples to marry, and do states have power to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states? In all of the federal appeals courts’ decisions being challenged in these cases, state marriage bans of one or both of those kinds were struck down under the federal Constitution, either under equal protection or due process guarantees, or both.
They'll wade through the stack on September 29th. As usual, Clarence Thomas and Sam Alito will say no to everything up front and then go raid John Roberts' office mini bar.
• The Smithsonian Institution announced its expanding its collection of LGBT-related artifacts, and, of course, the snake oil salesmen who practice "ex-gay therapy" are demanding that they get representation, too. The Smithsonian will happily include them because, as Joe Jervis says at his Joe My God blog, "Just like any African-American history exhibit includes materials about the KKK, the story of our people should include examples from the campaigns of the oppressors of LGBT Americans. In this one rare instance, I agree with PFOX." Me too!
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• Via rserven, a new study reveals that an estimated
24,000 transgender American voters will be disenfranchised because of unnecessary voter ID laws. "Especially affected would be transgender people of color, transfolk with low incomes, young transpeople and people with disabilities." Every time I read something like this, my appreciation for countries where the goal is to make voting as easy and inclusive as possible goes up by another few notches. Our country sucks at it, thanks exclusively to Republicans.
• Finally, the kind of story that drives the fundy wingers crazy, because how do you criticize something this beautiful? Congratulations are pouring in for Vivian Boyack, 91, and Alice Dubes, 90, who rushed headlong into marriage in Iowa
after the briefest of 72-year courtships. They met in 1942. If you want to get 'em a gift, I'm told they've got a registry down at the Harley dealership. I'm thinking we should all chip in on a sidecar?
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Note: Oh no!!! I forgot that I signed up to teach a crisis management class on Tuesday mornings and I'm late! What'll I do??? WHAT'LL I DO??!!!
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7 days!!!
By the Numbers:
Days 'til the
People's Climate March in NYC:
5
Days 'til the
Florida Keys Birding and Wildlife Festival:
7
Percent of Americans who viciously hate the Republican party:
72%
Percent who think it would be a bad thing if Republicans take back the Senate:
25%
(Source:
WaPost-ABC News poll)
Daily amount the government threatened to fine
Yahoo! for if it didn't turn over user information as part of their warrantless surveillance ridiculousness:
$250,000
Percent by which sales at the Market Basket supermarket chain have rebounded just two weeks after its ousted CEO was reinstated due to a massive boycott by both employees and customers:
100%
(Source: AP)
Percent of adults who think they're better cooks than their parents:
33%
(Source:
Parade magazine survey)
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Tuesday Words of Wisdom from the Right-wing Blogosphere:
Barack Obama (President) Best: Con-Man, Best Liar in chief, Best Communist in Chief, Best Closet Moos-slime in chief. -- Worst President in American History. Worst "Shovel Ready jobs" creator, Worst Economist, Worst Commander in Chief. Worst friend to America's allies. Worst Racial Peacemaker, Worst Choices of Cabinet and "advisors", Worst choices of Supreme Court Justices. --- Biggest single threat to America and modern civilization. -- Barack Obama, the poser, fraudster, back-stabber, deceiver, incompetent. The enemy within, The Manchurian President.
---Commenter Culturecub at dead Andrew Breitbart's site
All together now: 1…2…3…
Classy!
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Today's Best mom in the world
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CHEERS to visions of future sanity. Yesterday Maine's Democratic candidate for governor, who is trying to unseat the tea party loon installed during the madness of 2010, unveiled his plans for improving health care here. And guess what Rep. Mike Michaud's top priority is? Yup---fully implementing Obamcare by expanding Medicaid (i.e. MaineCare):
Maine's next governor.
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Michaud said expanding MaineCare to an additional 70,000 people, which LePage has vetoed five times, would save the state more than $600 million over the next decade and bring in an additional $3 billion in federal funds, while adding 3,000 jobs. …
The plan also includes paying for the quality of care, rather than the volume of care; focusing on preventive and oral health; investing in substance abuse programs; and studying whether allowing small businesses to buy into the state employee health plan would save money and preserve quality for both groups.
Governor LePage has his own plan to save money on health insurance costs: bake sales and volume discounts on bone saws.
JEERS to the least-surprising news of the day. Ready for this shocker? Senate Republicans just voted "NO!!!!!" to making it more difficult for employers to
pay women less than men:
Et tu, GOPootie?
The Paycheck Fairness Act was introduced by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), and would prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who talk to coworkers about their salaries. It would also require more data collection of employee salaries from businesses.
If you breathe into a paper sack for a few minutes, it should clear up your hyperventilating.
CHEERS to circling the wagons. The elitist Omega watch-wearing leadership of ISIS is probably doing a little extra looking over their shoulder this morning, now that a large and diverse coalition of nations have been marshaled to go after the rats. And for that you can thank...whoa, really?...the French, apparently:
Twenty-six countries, including the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and 10 Arab states, as well as representatives of the Arab League, EU and UN, yesterday vowed to support the new Iraqi government against the extremist group Islamic State “by any means necessary, including appropriate military assistance.”
The conference on peace and security in Iraq was convened in Paris at the initiative of French president François Hollande, who traveled to Baghdad and Erbil on September 12th.
ISIS is
so bad that even freakin' Russia is on board. What's more, we hear that Kim Jong Un is thinking of taking them off his Christmas card list.
JEERS to Reason #1970 for why you should never hold a product development meeting while knocking back shots of Jagermeister in a bar late at night. This:
In fairness to Urban Outfitters, their idea for a Sandy Hook Snuggie never made it off the cocktail napkin.
JEERS to today's boring cancellation. The 2009 love emails of then-governor of South Carolina Mark Sanford to his soulmate in Argentina, including this one…
I could digress and say that you have the ability to give magnificent gentle kisses, or that I love your tan lines or that I love the curve of your hips, the erotic beauty of you holding yourself (or two magnificent parts of yourself) in the faded glow of the night’s light - but hey, that would be going into sexual details.
…have been cancelled because, in Maria Belen Chapur's words,
“I think that I was not useful to him anymore." Sanford---now a congressman thanks to the infinite wisdom of South Carolina's awesome voters---would appreciate it if you would please return your blenders to Bed, Bath & Beyond and forget this ever happened.
CHEERS to memorable moments in attempted comedy. Forty-six years ago today, in 1968, Richard Nixon appeared on Laugh-In and uttered the immortal words: "Sock it to me???" Here's the whole segment for context:
Yeah, I wish we'd gotten the chance to sock it to him after he quit in '74. Thanks a lot, Gerald.
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Five years ago in C&J: September 16, 2009
JEERS to hailing the conquering heaver. Okay, okay, we get it. Muntadhar al-Zeidi threw his shoes at Bush in December and we all had a good laugh over it. But now that he's out of jail (as of yesterday), he's being lavished with gifts: like "a fully furnished two-story villa in a posh section of Baghdad," an offer of "$10 million for the famous shoes," free health care for life, and even a tribal leader who wants to send him "a young woman from his family 'loaded with jewels and gold'" Um, Sheiks and Sheikettes? Don’t forget: he missed. Twice. Oh-for-two. Frankly, I'm surprised he hasn’t been recruited by the Washington Nationals by now.
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And just one more…
C&J is donating this
framed Harvey Milk
Stamp keepsake.
CHEERS to a unique shopping experience. The annual Netroots Nation auction (which, coincidentally, is how Sean Connery pronounces "oxen.") is
now open for your auctioning pleasure. As always, there's something for everyone---a NN 14 program autographed by Elizabeth Warren, vintage Eugene McCarthy campaign buttons, a fivfe-night stay in a studio apartment in freakin' Tokyo, some nice-looking jewelry, and more. Proceeds go to fund the annual NN convention and the New Media Mentors project. Go look around! I have two items in the "collectibles" section and one in the "nude floor buffing" section. (Disco ball and barrel of Pine Sol included. And tips are appreciated---I put on a good show.) Bid early, bid often!
Oh, and today is "Collect Rocks Day." Or, as Michele Bachmann calls it, "Replace Your Old Brains With New Ones Day." Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
Tony Perkins: US Constitution Doesn't Protect Bill in Portland Maine
---Right Wing Watch
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