Netroots Nation '22 Update
After successfully going all-virtual the last two years due to the pandemic, the Netroots Nation organizers are bringing back their live, in-person event this year. It's a late-summer shindig—August 18-20 in Pittsburgh.
Everything that makes the convention one of the wonders of the modern world is still scheduled: A-list keynoters and blue-ribbon panels featuring experts with an amazing amount of smarts between their ears. Below the fold are the latest links and updated as we hit T-minus 37 days and counting:
Continued…
» The overall schedule of the convention can be found here. After-hours events and keynoters are on the cusp of being announced.
» The panels—covering everything from living in a post-Roe nation to the hottest midterm races—are now in place, and you can check ‘em out here. Mary Rickles adds:
“We track our speaker demographics from year to year so we can ensure that we're reflecting the full diversity of the movement. This year, 70 percent of our selected speakers are people of color—30% are Black or African-American and 13% are Hispanic or Latino—and 64 percent are women.”
» You can register for the convention here. Once you do, you’ll have access to the convention app, which is already up and running so you can plan your days and stay updated on all the events.
» Yes! If you can't make it to Pittsburgh but still want to join in on the action, virtual-only tickets will go on sale July 18. It’ll get you access to about 40 hours of select content, plus you'll be able to connect with other attendees (both virtual and in-person) and our great sponsors via our app.
C&J will keep you in the loop as more speakers and events are announced. In the meantime, you can follow NN on Twitter here and on Facebook here.
And now, our feature presentation...
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Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, July 12, 2022
Note: Stand by for a big announcement.
Supplemental Note: Sorry. False alarm. It was just the neighbor yelling at me to get my zamboni out of her driveway. She never fails to disappoint me.
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til National Mango Day: 10
Days 'til Burger Fest in Hamburg, New York: 4
Number of consecutive days during which overall gas prices have dropped: 28
Current official unemployment rate in the U.S.: 3.6%
Number of gun violence-related deaths in Japan in 2021: 1
Estimated number of gun violence-related deaths in the U.S.: 45,034
Age of the Hollywood Bowl as of this year: 100
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Puppy Pic of the Day: True…
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CHEERS to another turn of the screw. With the July 4th recess behind us, it's time for the Jan. 6th Committee to gavel in its 7th hearing on this fine July 12th. Co-chairs Bennie Thompson and Liz Cheney will present another slate of witnesses who will confirm what the other witnesses have already revealed: the 45th president of the United States—shockingly, a Republican—and his inner and outer circle plotted to violently overthrow the government and install themselves as a one-party dictatorship. This morning's proceedings will…
…zero in on how the violent mob came together and the role of extremist groups in the deadly insurrection. "We are going to be connecting the dots during these hearings between these groups and those who were trying -- in government circles -- to overturn the election. So, we do think that this story is unfolding in a way that is very serious and quite credible," Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California said of Tuesday's hearing. […]
Jason Van Tatenhove, a former spokesperson and self-described "propagandist" for the Oath Keepers, is expected to testify on Tuesday, a source familiar with the hearing plans confirmed to CNN on Sunday. […]
[Rep. Stephanie] Murphy also suggested that the January 6 panel may present video from Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone's interview last week with the committee as part of its hearing Tuesday.
The start time has been moved. Instead of 10am, things will now kick off at 1pm. After opening remarks, chairs will start flying at Mar-A-Lago around 1:05.
P.S. If Steve Bannon shows up to testify, he’ll be placed behind an opaque screen to prevent the committee and viewing audience from vomiting at the sight of him. Very thoughtful.
JEERS to that pesky little microscopic sumbitch. Did you hear the exciting news? The Covid-19 pandemic is over and the coronavirus is completely out of ideas! If you'd like to keep that idea in your head without cluttering it up with what I'm about to copy and paste from The Washington Post, please skip down to the next jeer:
America has decided the pandemic is over. The coronavirus has other ideas.
The latest omicron offshoot, BA.5, has quickly become dominant in the United States, and thanks to its elusiveness when encountering the human immune system, is driving a wave of cases across the country. …
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the past week has reported a little more than 100,000 new cases a day on average. But infectious-disease experts know that wildly underestimates the true number, which may be as many as a million, said Eric Topol, a professor at Scripps Research who closely tracks pandemic trends.
Antibodies from vaccines and previous coronavirus infections offer limited protection against BA.5, leading Topol to call it “the worst version of the virus that we’ve seen.”
Sorry to break it to ya, but I think we’re gonna need to up the wattage on our tuchus UV light bulbs.
JEERS to getting scooped. Thanks a lot Joe Biden President of the United States!!! Yeah, I said that with sarcasm because I was supposed to be the one—God's chosen one, if that means anything which IT SHOULD—to unveil the first photos from the James Webb Space Telescope this morning. Instead, it was Joe Biden and the nerds at NASA seizing the moment yesterday, and I'm sure they did it just to humiliate me in front of all of you. So do I post the image they unveiled yesterday or not? Does my pettiness and insecurity get the best of me, or do I suck it up and "take one for the team"? While I'm trying to decide, please enjoy this photo taken from the James Webb Space Telescope and released yesterday by NASA and President Biden:
More pics will be released this morning at 10. I hope one of 'em is God wagging Her finger in disapproval. This photo dump was rigged.
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BRIEF SANITY BREAK
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END BRIEF SANITY BREAK
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CHEERS to a man who knew his way around a one-room cabin in the woods. Happy birthday to Henry David Thoreau, born 205 years ago on July 12, 1817. He told the world to "Simplify! Simplify!" And his writings on civil disobedience influenced many, including Martin Luther King,Jr., who wrote in his autobiography:
I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. No other person has been more eloquent and passionate in getting this idea across than Henry David Thoreau.
As a result of his writings and personal witness, we are the heirs of a legacy of creative protest. The teachings of Thoreau came alive in our civil rights movement; indeed, they are more alive than ever before.
Whether expressed in a sit-in at lunch counters, a freedom ride into Mississippi, a peaceful protest in Albany, Georgia, a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, these are outgrowths of Thoreau's insistence that evil must be resisted and that no moral man can patiently adjust to injustice.
By the way, if you're looking to buy the perfect housewarming gift for a Walden lover, we still say you can't go wrong with a Thoreau rug.
JEERS to today's edition of No Shit, Sherlock. Courtesy of CBS News:
The top watchdog at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) found that the DHS "could do more to address the threats of domestic terrorism."
This has been today's edition of No Shit, Sherlock.
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Ten years ago in C&J: July 12, 2012
JEERS to the tin-eared Congress. Yesterday Republicans under John Boehner voted to strip 3.1 million Americans under the age of 26 of their health insurance. They voted to restore pre-existing-condition penalties on countless millions more of all ages. They voted to restore the "doughnut hole" in the Medicare prescription drug program, forcing seniors to pay more for their meds. In short, they voted to let insurance companies walk all over their customers again, potentially denying 30-million Americans the opportunity to get health insurance. And then, moments after they'd repealed Obamacare (again), they got down to more important business. Actual transcript:
Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-FL): "I've been asked to report the results of a competition that took place on Monday at the Columbia Country Club. The competition is called the Congressional Challenge Cup. It's an event where a team of golfers from the Democratic side of the House play a team of golfers from the Republican side of the House. And I wanted to report to the House that this year's winner of the Congressional Cup is the Republican team!"
Republican colleagues: [Hip Hip Hooray!!!!!]
So the takeaway message here is: President Obama is an out-of-touch elitist who lives in a bubble. Film at 11.
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And just one more…
JEERS to "Second Amendment remedies." 218 years ago today, Treasury Secretary, Founding Father and Boy Wonder Alexander Hamilton died after dueling in Weehawken, New Jersey, directly across from Manhattan. With Hamilton mania a seemingly perpetual thing, you're probably expecting me to post some video clip from the 300-Tony-Award-winning Broadway smash. Ha ha, fooled ya. I never miss a valid excuse to opt instead for Michael Bay’s smash hit Advertising-Hall-of-Fame commercial with the killer setup one more time:
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Bwahvo.
Have a tolerable Tuesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial
Bill in Portland Maine never gets it quite right, as the longer Cheers and Jeers goes on the more steam it loses.
—Dennis Schwartz
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