From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Only >>> 10 <<< Weeks 'til Netroots Nation
Yupper---70 days 'til the July 14-17 convention in St. Louis. Some tidbits to know:
• As the NN16 poobah committee gets tantalizingly close to signing off on the final list of panels they've selected for this year, here are some of the ones that were green-lighted by the progressive community during open voting at the Netroots Nation web site last month:
> Changing the Face of Criminal Justice: Why Women of Color are Crucial to Criminal Justice Reform
> Bold Strategies for Achieving Political Equality through a New Supreme Court
> Fear Trumping Reason: Reclaiming America's Brain from Right-Wing Media Manipulators
> The Future of Collaborative Data: How We'll Continue Beating Republicans
You can see all the voters’ picks plus the 40 training sessions that were announced last week by clicking or tapping here.
• We're up to 60 RSVPs---a veritable who's who of the DKos community---for the annual Daily Kos/Connect-Unite-Act/C&J Eat-'n-Greet at the Peruvian-style restaurant Mango which is right near the convention hall. To add your name to the list, email Navajo and then circle Wednesday, July 13 on your calendar. We'd love to see you there for our traditional pre-convention kickoff party.
• Great timing: last month St. Louis became the official home of the 23,000-square-foot, $14 million National Blues Museum, within easy walking distance of the convention center. Say the curators: "Throughout its existence, the essence of the Blues has remained constant, reinforcing basic elements that connect artists from different eras, geographies, and stylistic approaches. That’s because, above all, the Blues is a feeling as much as a form---and as universal as life itself." Click here to explore their web site.
• The Great Netroots New Tools Shootout is returning for its fourth year with partner New Media Ventures. If you have a technology solution that can make voting, organizing, communicating, campaigning or cloaking your starship faster and more efficient, this is for you. Selected presenters will have 5 minutes to make a live pitch, which attendees will vote on. Deadline to get your application in is May 23rd. You can send it via your basement teleporter, or by clicking here.
• Among the VIPs who’ll be at NN16: Kossack Chris Reeves, who was just appointed (first ballot!) to the DNC and its rules committee. Congrats, Chris.
• Volunteers are needed for a variety of jobs before and during the convention. Drop Eric Thut an email at volunteers [at] netrootsnation.org.
• Registration info is here and official hotel room info is here. Get yours soon before registration prices go up and/or the No Vacancy sign gets turned on.
• Follow Netroots Nation via Facebook here and Twitter here.
Meanwhile, Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Thursday, May 5, 2016
Programming Note: Tis cottage-opening season…that glorious time of year when we help various friends do battle with a winter's worth of cobwebs, moth balls, dust and dead flies in a tradition dating back millennia. So we're using some saved-up vacation days (yes, we got them approved by our tail-wagging HR director) as follows: there will be no C&J this Monday (May 9), next Friday (May 13) or the following Monday (May 16). During these absences we will think of no one but you. Well, you and also "Ick! Dead flies! Dead flies!" But mostly you. ---Mgt.
-
By the Numbers:
Days 'til the start of the Memorial Day weekend: 22
Days 'til the Charlotte Dragon Boat Festival: 9
Percent chance that March construction sales are the highest in eight years, according to the Commerce Department: 100%
Number of cruise ship visits scheduled this year to Maine, according to The Portland Press Herald: 377
Number of passengers expected to arrive on those ships: 106,000
Number of people who have signed up to dine at the nude restaurant Bunyadi's in London: 32,000
Weight Triple Crown winner American Pharoah has gained since entering retirement, according to FiveThirtyEight: 170 pounds
-
Your Thursday Molly Ivins Moment:
I have no objections to anyone breaking into the guild of journalism without the credentials of journalism school or experience on a print daily (though I highly recommend especially the latter).
I do object to those who jump from political hackery to flackery and expect respect. Truly, if you can't cover a five-car pile-up on Route 128, you should not be covering a presidential campaign. The danger of the blogosphere is reading only those you agree with. While there are right-wing blogs that are entertaining freak shows, it's hard to find substantial journalism there. I hate to list bloggers I like because I'm bound to leave out so many, but here goes: Daily Kos, Eschaton, Altercation, Political Animal and Media Matters.
---May 2006
-
Puppy Pic of the Day:
-
CHEERS to a leader with a great set of pipes. Once again…[sigh]…once again, the president goes to the right place at the right time and says the right things in the right way for the right reasons. Yesterday Barack Obama jetpacked off to Flint, Michigan, where he met with residents, community leaders, scientists, politicians and health officials to assess the status of the lead-poisoning crisis. Yes, he drank some Flint water. And yes, I wish I could’ve been a fly on the wall when he and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder had a few moments together inside the president's limo (aka "The Beast"). Then he spoke in a packed gymnasium about the importance of channeling anger constructively and the insanity of the right-wing's obsession with shrinking government so much that tragedies like Flint's are the inevitable consequence. What struck me as I watched him on my little computer machine was: he brought all the gravitas of the presidency with him, but he delivered his remarks more as a---yes---community organizer, and a really good one. You sure he can't have four more years? No, I didn’t think so. Rats.
CHEERS to pandemonium under the panderdome. The Republican party, which is currently in no mood to party these days, is now officially in a state of what's known in psychological circles as "mindfucked." It all started Tuesday night when pro-spanking government-shutdown freak Ted "Lucifer" Cruz dropped out of the race after getting shellacked by Donald Trump in Indiana. Then, after releasing a Star Wars parody video in which he called himself the GOP's only hope in November, John Kasich evacuated his campaign death star yesterday afternoon, leaving Trump---the only candidate who didn’t claim God told him personally to run via a late-night apparition above his bed---as the last member of Team R's "deep bench" still standing. And, well, I'll let Glenn Beck deliver the coup de grâce:
With Trump as the face of the GOP, Beck declared, the Republican Party is now the party of racists and liars and he wants nothing to do with it, warning that Republicans will “never elect another GOP person to high office ever again.”
I guess that can only mean one thing: they're going back to being Whigs.
CHEERS to previews of coming attractions. With Trump officially behind the wheel of the Republican jalopy, Hillary Clinton gave us a taste of how she intends to pop his tires, and it stars a cast of thousands…of Republicans:
Let's remember this at Oscar time, Academy.
JEERS to Mother Nature in the Great White North. Wow---what a time firefighters are having in Alberta getting that inferno under control around Fort McMurray (pop. 88,000):
During a morning update Alberta Forestry spokesman Bernie Schmitte said the blaze has grown to 10,000 hectares [18,500 acres], and that all efforts to fight the fire have failed.
He added that police are still patrolling to look for to get stragglers, and said that Timberlea and Draper are priority areas. However, it’s believed the city has been emptied. […]
Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo Mayor Melissa Blake also addressed the media, and commended citizens of Fort McMurray for “staying strong”. “Be the brave people that I know you are,” the mayor said.
Meanwhile, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley also spoke about the wildfire situation from Edmonton, and said Cabinet has approved upfront funding for Red Cross, and that the government will be matching donations. […] The premier said that 1,600 structures have been destroyed in the blaze so far. She said a memorandum of understanding has been signed with the military, and that resources are now being organized.
The United States says it's prepared to offer assistance via personnel, vehicles, supplies and, if absolutely necessary, airlifting Dick Cheney in to stare at the area until it turns back into a frosty wasteland.
CHEERS to connecting the docs. The American Medical Association was formed 170 years ago today. Medical professionals from 22 states and 28 medical schools attended to hear such topics as: "How to Smoke a Stogie Properly Over an Open Wound," "Why Drugs Will Never Replace A Good Arsenic Tincture" and Ether: Your Trusted After-hours Frenemy. On their first day they unanimously approved the association's motto which is still in place today: "E pluribus 3 O'clock tee time."
CHEERS to the roofs over our heads. A couple of American landmarks are getting the VIP treatment this spring. President Obama is expected to designate the Stonewall Inn---site of the famous ‘69 riots---a national monument in the next month (June is LGBT pride month). And this happened:
Morgan State University, one of the nation’s oldest institutions founded to provide a college education to black students, was named a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. […]
Morgan State, the largest historically black university in Maryland, was founded in 1867, and its Baltimore-area campus includes 20 buildings eligible for listing on the National Register. Many were designed by black architects, and styles range from classical to brutalist.
“The National Trust believes historically black colleges and universities tell an important and often overlooked American story,” Stephanie Meeks, president and chief executive officer of the National Trust, said in a release. She added that she hopes the partnership will show how the preservation of older buildings can touch off growth.
Coincidentally, the C&J kiddie pool was recently cited for its growth. Sure, they were talking about the algae. But the health code violation sure does look purty framed above the lava lamp.
-
Ten years ago in C&J: May 5, 2006
CHEERS to the overwhelming majority. Latest USA Today/Gallup poll has President Bush at 34%. C&J puts it in perspective: If you were having, say, 16,000 of your neighbors over for a kegger, the Bush supporters would be outnumbered 10,560 to 5,440. And 5,400 nimrods divided by 75 wedgies per hour means we could keep the party goin' for 72 hours. So we'll be over to your house early Friday. Leave the key under the mat.
-
And just one more…
CHEERS to Cinco de Mayo. Today is the one day a year when we can legally re-enact the Battle of Puebla using live ammunition. At Casa de C&J we'll observe our usual custom of planting a Mexican flag in our neighbor's yard and then taking them prisoner. Finally, after beating our Archduke Maximilian piñata (now on sale at Costco in convenient 1862-packs) senseless, we'll dig in to some nachos so we can revel in, of course, “an authentic Irish experience.” To mark the occasion, Donald Trump will vow to make his wall ten feet higher while Rep. Steve King walks around with cantaloupes strapped to his calves. “And that's why we call the GOP the Subtle Party,” said no one.
Have a nice Thursday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
-
Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
Few things suck quite as much as Cheers and Jeers. It’s like brain constipation, and no amount of coffee, alcohol, walking around, or finger drumming is going to fix it.
---Gizmodo
-