From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
> > > 3 < < < Weeks 'til Netroots Nation Atlanta
Time to get your bootie in gear if you're still on the fence about attending the hottest, wildest, brainiest gathering of moonbats on the planet. Here are the latest updates and vital links:
► Just announced VIPs attending NN17: Senator Elizabeth Warren joins the all-star cast, along with “Iron Stache” Randy Bryce (who’s challenging Paul Ryan in 2018), a special training session with the Indivisible team, and a DFA-sponsored "meet the candidates" happy hour. All in addition to previously announced speakers Al Gore, MLK's daughter Bernice King, Rep. Keith Ellison, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI), Georgia House Minority Leader and gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, and civil rights advocate and scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw. For updates on future speakers and events, sign up here.
► Squeee!!! The mighty Daily Kos Elections team is hosting a panel at #NN17. If you haven’t seen them in action, you're in for a jaw-dropping treat. They are walking congressional district encyclopedias.
► Grammy winner Killer Mike, the only rapper who has a huge 400-foot earth-boring drill named after him, will perform Thursday night, August 10th. Mike is also a social and political activist, focusing on social inequality, police brutality, and systemic racism. Opening for him will be five-time Grammy nominee Ashanti Floyd "The Mad Violinist." Word to the wise: stay on his good side.
►You can check out the complete list of Netroots Nation panels and workshops by clicking here.
► ZOMG you guys!!! Downtown Atlanta has its very own Waffle House! Just three blocks from the convention. Add a 9oz. orange juice to your order for only a buck! Open 24 hours! "Madam, we must all have waffles forthwith!"
► Public transportation (aka MARTA) info is here.
► Sign up for volunteer discounts and the scholarship program here.
► Official hotel room info is here. Tomorrow is the last day to get the special Netroots Nation discounted rate.
► Follow Netroots Nation via Facebook here and Twitter here.
21 days and counting. Time to tighten the lug nuts on the Tucker.
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold...[Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Thursday, July 20, 2017
Note: Back from surgery. It was successful. They removed my Mediport from my chest and, surprisingly to us all, Amelia Earhart from my gallbladder. She says hi!
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til “Happy Holidays!”: 158
Days 'til the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland: 13
Trump's current approval rating, according to an ABC News poll, the lowest of any president six months into his first term in 70 years: 36%
Drop in opioid prescriptions in Maine between 2013 and 2016, according to The Portland Press Herald: 21.5%
Average value of New York City taxi medallions in 2014 and today, respectively: $1.3 million / $300,000
Percent chance that "[Russia-Trump campaign] collusion as a desperate Democratic fiction designed to explain away a lost election is dead," according to Charles Krauthammer: 100%
Percentage of weddings where the entire discography of Justin Bieber is banned at the reception, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis: 6%
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Your Thursday Molly Ivins Moment:
The long-awaited and much-heralded Barack Obama did not disappoint, and when you consider the burden of expectation that had been placed on the poor man, that's almost miraculous. I did not think he was as effective a speaker as Mario Cuomo was in 1984, but at least an A-minus.
He uses a wonderful rhetorical device the late senator from Texas, Ralph Yarborough, had down to perfection---topping one applause line with another, then again and again, until the crowd is roaring with approval. A political star is born, always an exciting moment.
---July 2004 from the Democtaic convention in Boston
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Good girl...
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CHEERS to epic failure. Republicans control the legislative and executive branches, and yet they still couldn’t "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act. They just couldn’t overcome massive public pressure to simply improve the ACA, nor could they squash GOP infighting or Trump's complete lack of interest in selling it (or even finding out what was in it). The epic collapse of the right-wing's raison d'etre for the better part of a decade was shocking if not entirely surprising. (Spoiler alert: they’re terrible at legislating.) Perhaps my favorite reaction to Mitch McConnell's Hindenberg Moment was this little tirade by snowflake Sean Hannity:
“I, and so many of us in the country, we have run out of patience with you. You are the do-nothing GOP lawmakers. And up to now---and to be very very honest, and it’s really sad---you’re pretty useless. And all you have now is excuses and broken promises. … This is beyond pathetic.”
For the first time ever, PolitiFact rated something Hannity said: TRUE!
JEERS to the danger of ignorance, part I. I swear to god I wanna strangle these anti-vaxxers. Especially when their lunacy hits close to home…
The number of Maine children entering kindergarten without required vaccines increased in 2016-17, alarming public health advocates because it means there’s a higher chance of infectious disease outbreaks, such as measles, pertussis, or chicken pox. […]
“This is extremely distressing,” said Peter Michaud, associate general counsel of the Maine Medical Association and chair of the Maine Immunization Council. Michaud is also a nurse. “People are not only putting their own children at risk of diseases, but others as well.” […]
In Maine, parents can opt out of vaccines simply by signing a form objecting on philosophic or religious grounds, and Maine has one of the most lenient laws in the country allowing parents to opt out. Attempts to make it more difficult for parents to forgo vaccines failed in 2015 when the Legislature was unable to override a veto by Gov. Paul LePage.
If only there was a vaccine against stupidity.
P.S. And in other idiot news, some guy in New Hampshire spent six hours wandering around Hampton Beach while he had a full-blown case of measles, which can be transmitted through the air. I hope he got sand in his shorts.
JEERS to the danger of ignorance, part II. Florida, once again leading the way in creating a lawless society in which you can shoot anybody for just about anything, has made it so now you can officially challenge facts in school:
A new Florida law would let anyone in the state challenge, and possibly change, what kids are learning in school. […]
The Florida Citizens' Alliance, a conservative group that supports individual rights and limited government, advocated for the bill and gathered testimony from at least 25 people in favor of the legislation.
One woman took issue with evolution being taught as a "fact," arguing [falsely] that the "vast majority of Americans believe that the world and the beings living on it were created by God as revealed in the Bible." Another person complained that history classes were making students "subservient" by teaching them about the president's ability to issue executive orders.
I can't wait for the first challenge from the conservative christian (I won’t dignify them by capitalizing the c) knuckledraggers. Because all the "unbiased hearing officer" has to enter the room with is one request: “Using accepted scientific methodology, prove that God exists.” I'd even give 'em access to a blackboard and chalk. Because that's just what a swell guy I am.
CHEERS to smiling with the enemy. Despite overwhelming opposition---including from the almighty business community and even the state House speaker---Texas governor Yosemite Yeehaw Abbott has called a special 30-day session of the state legislature because it's gol'durned time to take a stand against them dastardly transgenders using our restrooms. Why, Abbott is so appalled that he wouldn’t even want to be seen with one. Oops, too late, Dr. Clueless…
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More on Ashley Smith's photo coup via Joe My God. The governor wants her to use the men's bathroom. That is absolutely---pardon the pun---nuts.
CHEERS to the giant leap for mankind that I got to witness with my own 5-year-old eyes. Forty-eight years ago today, at 10:56 pm eastern time, John Kennedy's vision to put a man on the Moon by decade's end was realized when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on a heavenly body not named Earth. (It almost turned tragic when they nearly landed inside a boulder-strewn crater, but quick-thinking Armstrong switched the controls to manual and guided the module to a flatter surface. Whew!) The entire world was united in awe that day---the kind of awe that our next phase of human space exploration has to match, now that the shiny shuttles have been mothballed. My verdict so far: the SpaceX rockets look promising and are generating a real "gee whiz" factor, and we hope Elon Musk and NASA keep it up. For your enjoyment of the anniversary, today the C&J cafeteria is servin' up as much Tang as your tummy can hold:
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True fact: in space, nobody can hear you belch.
CHEERS to round things that rule our world. Even if you don't give a caddie's p'tootey about golf, chances are you'll take the occasional cursory look at the British Open leader board. The event starts today at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club course in---wild guess here---Britain, where all the sand traps have stiff upper lips. C&J had ambitions of turning pro once until we hit one little snag. If I remember correctly, the technical term is sucking at golf.
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Ten years ago in C&J: July 20, 2007
JEERS to dashed hopes. Tuesday we read about an amendment---offered by our freshman Senators---that would've created a modern day Truman Commission to investigate waste, fraud and abuse among military contractors. Thanks to the Republican obstructionists, the commission remains---for now---just a gleam in Jim Webb's eye. But yesterday we saw an encouraging sign: Halliburton executives buying Pepcid AC by the case.
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And just one more…
CHEERS to fresh images from outer space. Forget about NASA's images of Jupiter's red spot, this is the real discovery of the month: NEW STAR WARS EPISODE VIII BEHIND THE SCENES FOOTAGE!!!
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Opens in 147 days. Chewie, I've got a good feeling about this.
Have a nice Thursday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial:
"If your competitor is rushing to build an Artificial-intelligence Bill in Portland Maine and you don't, it will crush you."
---Elon Musk
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