March for Our Lives Event Map Link
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From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…
Happy International Women’s Day!
I’ll just shut up and let them do the talking…
"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal."
---Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Declaration of Rights and Sentiments (1845)
“It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union” ... “Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less.”
---Susan B. Anthony
“If you say, ‘I’m for equal pay,’ that’s a reform. But if you say, ‘I’m a feminist,’ that’s a transformation of society.”
---Gloria Steinem
"Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice, or representation."
---Abigail Adams
"When there are no ceilings, the sky's the limit. So let's keep going---let's keep going until every one of the 161 million women and girls across America has the opportunity she deserves to have."
---Hillary Clinton
“At present, our country needs women's idealism and determination, perhaps more in politics than anywhere else.”
---Shirley Chisholm
"I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life's a bitch. You've got to go out and kick ass.”
---Maya Angelou
Cheers and Jeers starts below the fold...[Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Thursday, March 8, 2018
Note: I'm thrilled I get to share my recipe for blizzard stew again. It's so easy. Mix one part snow with two parts snow, bring to a boil, simmer, add two cups of snow and then gently stir in half a tablespoon of snow. In a separate bowl, mix snow, snow, snow and snow, then add mixture to the snow. Add snowballs. Season with snow. Stir until snowy. If you feel daring, toss in a pinch of snow for a dash of "Zing!" Serves several million...whether they want it or not.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til spring: 12
Days 'til the National Cherry Blossom Festival in DC: 9
Number of women who hold seats in the U.S. House (19.3%) and Senate (19.8%), respectively: 84, 22
Number of those 106 women who are Democrats: 79
Amount U.S. women currently earn for every dollar men earn: 82 cents
Seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for women: 4%
Life expectancy for U.S. women & men, respectively, according to CDC: 81.3 / 76.3
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Your Thursday Molly Ivins Moment:
Women of America. This Sunday, April 25. Washington, D.C. The March for Women's Lives. Be there.
This is it. It's all on the line now. Everyone who thinks she's too old, too tired and has done this too many times before, be there. Everyone who has never been to a women's march, who thought all the rights had long since been secured, who thinks feminism is old hat and has nothing to do with your life, be there. Bring your daughters, mothers, nieces, friends, husbands, sons and significant others. If you can't be there, get in touch with a local women's organization and help raise money for a "scholarship" to send someone else to represent you. […]
Mountains of research show the quality of women's lives is directly connected to family planning. Our ability to get education, make money and participate as citizens depends on our ability to control the number of children we have.
---April, 2004
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Eleanor and Fala...
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CHEERS to the fairer equal sex. Happy International Women's Day! I don’t have enough fingers to count on, so I'll just take a wild guess that this is the eleventy billionth one since the first one in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland in 1911. There will be commemorations, marches and demonstrations around the world to remind the menfolk (you paying attention, husbands and bosses and politicians?) that this here planet don’t function so good without both sexes working equally. Organizers ask that you choose to wear something that's purple today. If, instead, you choose to mark the occasion by running around in a red MAGA hat, it’s no problem: a complimentary purple nurple will be dispensed free of charge.
CHEERS to expert shade throwage. This is a good reminder that the media has a ways to go, too, in equal treatment of women, especially when it comes to giving deference to men in headlines:
The junior senator from Minnesota shows how to gently correct bad behavior:
PolitiFact rates this claim: High-Heel-in-the-Tuchus.
CHEERS to supporting the troops. Happy 76th anniversary to Blue Star Mothers of America, a dedicated non-political, non-religious group of…
"…mothers, stepmothers, grandmothers, foster mothers and female legal guardians who have children serving in the military, guard or reserves, or children who are veterans.
We support each other and our children while promoting patriotism. Our organization focuses on our mission every single day and will never, ever, forsake our troops, our veterans or the families of our Fallen Heroes.
True fact: the Metthees family of Goodhue, Minnesota had the most children serving at one time: three in the Army, two in the Navy and two in the Air Force. (They all made it home safe.) I can guarantee you this: there will come a day when BSMA is no longer necessary because our country is no longer throwing our men and women into conflicts as cannon fodder for the comfort of the well-manicured political class. I hear the earth will be absorbed into the sun in 7.5 billion years. That’ll probably do it. (Although given the tenacity of our military-industrial compex, better make it an even eight billion.)
CHEERS to the original plastic diva. 59 years ago this week, the Barbie doll made its debut at the American Toy Fair in New York. Today she's a billion-plus-dollar-a-year industry, thanks in part to expanding the colors, shapes and sizes she comes in, and special collectible editions like the new “Shero” collection released this week for International Women’s Day:
The 14 new honorees of the brand's "Shero" program include:
Patty Jenkins, director of "Wonder Woman;" Chloe Kim, who won an Olympic gold medal in snowboarding last month at age 17; Bindi Irwin, the Australian conservationist; and British boxing champion Nicola Adams, among others.
[Mattel’s] new "Inspiring Women" series is honoring pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart; celebrated artist Frida Kahlo; and Katherine Johnson, the NASA mathematician who broke race and gender barriers. Johnson, who is now 99, was featured in the recent movie "Hidden Figures." These dolls come with educational information about the contributions each has made to society.
As I recall, when I was a kid my job was to distract Barbie so Ken and G.I. Joe could sneak off for some clandestine cuddle time. Their eventual coming-out and garden wedding was beautiful. Right up until the moment the barn owls snatched 'em.
JEERS to bad women. Bad, bad, bad women. Yes, they’re out there, and they’re ruining it for the good ones. Exhibit A: wholly-unqualified Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who thought it would be a good idea to parachute into Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida for god only knows why. Oh, wait, now I remember. Of course---she’s a gun nut. She wants armed teachers to take Rambo training so they can stop terrorists and, presumably, grizzlies. Her visit went exactly as well as you’d expect:
Students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and members of the press were frustrated Wednesday morning after Education Secretary Betsy DeVos allegedly dodged questions from students and abruptly ended a press conference after receiving hardball questions from The Daily Beast and other media outlets. […]
“Betsy Devos came to my school, talked to three people, and pet a dog. This is in case the press tries to say something else later,” one student wrote on Twitter. In a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student group text chat posted to Twitter, a student said, “Currently with Secretary of education aka besty Devos, and she barely answered my question.” […]
One reporter, frustrated with DeVos’ masterful display of political dodging, said to the secretary as she left: “Five questions---that’s it?”
In her defense, at least she didn’t write “I hear you” on a cheat sheet to help her remember to pretend like she cares. She had it tattooed on the inside of her eyelids.
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Ten years ago in C&J: March 8, 2008
JEERS to drama among the Dems. The traditional media keeps shouting at me that it's all Howard Dean's fault that a small group of idiots in Florida and Michigan screwed primary voters by breaking party rules, that Howard Dean should pay for do-overs with his own MasterCard, and that Howard Dean single-handedly caused global warming and started all the wars. I won't believe it until Wikipedia confirms it. [3/8/18 Update: Still waiting.]
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And just one more…
CHEERS to the queen and her new princess. America got hit with a badly-needed double case of the cutes this week when the photo (see the top of C&J, above the fold) of two-year-old Parker Curry standing in awe of First Lady Michelle Obama’s likeness in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, thinking she was literally a queen. Michelle saw the pic and invited Parker over for a dance party. It’s only four seconds long, but I’ve been playing it on auto-repeat for the last day-and-a-half just to give my brain a break from being assaulted by all the Trumpian chaos:
I now have a new reason to live to a ripe old age: I want to be around long enough to order a “Parker Curry 2052” bumper sticker.
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:
No one named Bill in Portland Maine won an Oscar on Sunday.
---AP
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