Time to Update the DK Ukraine Relief Tote Board
It’s been a few weeks since we checked in on the fund set up shortly after Russia’s attack to help relief agencies in Ukraine. Seems like the blink of an eye here, but over there every day is a long, cold, dangerous, unpredictable slog, thanks to the madman who is rapidly running out of oligarchs to throw out of windows. So the need for basic survival essentials is still critical, thus the reason why Daily Kos set up this fund. Throughout the ordeal you’ve been very generous toward the chosen organizations that provide food, medical care, housing, education, financial aid, and animal rescue resources. The new total is...
$3,616,187.02
To support the five chosen groups—the World Central Kitchen, AmeriCares, Razom for Ukraine, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare—click here and ActBlue will help you take care of the rest. Thanks for your ongoing support as we help the Ukrainians get through the winter. All that snow, ice, and cold and they’re still turning Putin’s tanks into sunflower planters and his ships into submarines. Impressive.
Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, February 6, 2024
Note: A friendly reminder that February is officially designated as Bird Feeding Month. Please remember to fill your bird feeders all the way to the top every day with a fine assortment of nuts and seeds. Birds especially appreciate cashews, walnuts, and almonds. In fact, you can skip the seeds. Nuts would be perfect. In fact, you should go fill your feeder with them right now. Remember: birds love nuts! Thank you.
—The Squirrels, Who Just Want What's Best For the Birds
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By the Numbers:
Days 'til the Maine presidential primary: 28
Days 'til Death By Chocolate in Appleton, Wisconsin: 4
Percent by which drug overdose deaths dropped in Maine last year: -16%
Number of justices who have served on the Supreme Court: 116
Number of those justices who were/are white dudes: 108
Amount Trump's PACs have spent on the evil crook's legal bills: $50 million
Amount President Biden's PACs have spent on legal bills: $0
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Makes sense…
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CHEERS to the rumble in Reno. It's on! Today in the great state of Nevada (which you must pronounce correctly, especially the second syllable, or they'll get really mad: it's "East CAL-i-for-nia."), everyone will leave the comfort of their casinos and brothels for hard gymnasium bleachers to attend their local presidential caucus. Will it be Dark Brandon? Or Joe Biden? Or the Welcome To Las Vegas sign? Hell, given the glitches we saw at the last caucus, who knows? We could end up with President Penn and Teller.
But what I do know is, the Daily Kos Election Team will tap whoever draws the short straw to provide gavel-to-gavel coverage here on Channel Orange. I hate to put my thumb on the scale like this, but if Marianne Williamson doesn't win, God tells me and my bottle of Bacardi 151 that she'll take us out with a meteor disguised as a giant chakra crystal. I trust you'll do the right thing.
CHEERS to the Gipper’s flickers. Today is Saint Ronald Reagan’s 113th birthday. He appeared in some classic movies, including Kings Row, Knute Rockne: All American, The Killers (the 1964 version, in which he plays a real meanie), and Santa Fe Trail. Oh, and this:
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Other than that, I have no recollection of him. Well, except the tax-raising, deficit-ballooning, race-baiting, illegal-arms-trading, AIDS-ignoring, tan-suit-wearing, and bowing-to-foreign-leaders part. (And after 40+ years—[taps watch]—that trickle-down magic can start anytime now.)
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BRIEF SANITY BREAK
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END BRIEF SANITY BREAK
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CHEERS to Massachusetts. The commonwealth and somewhat influential original 13-Colonies colony officially became the sixth member of our kooky union on February 6, 1788. And once again I'd like to remind the right-wingers who bash it for being a den of anything-goes liberalism that:
a) the Salem witch trials were conducted by Trumpian ultra-conservatives, b) the freedoms you guys have to speak your evolution-denyin', LGBTQ-hating, deep-state-conspiracy-deluded minds are largely the result of a bunch of Massachusetts types who shed their blood to make it possible, c) the state has one of the lowest divorce rates in the country, d) it's the home of Romneycare, the genesis of Obamacare which you now love, e) it's also the birthplace of Necco Wafers, making it the cradle of all that is wholesome and chalky and civilized.
But we'll concede that Bay Staters (who I never refer to as "Massholes" until they’re safely back home after spending their money…er, I mean, spending their summer here) do act like fundies in one respect: they drive like they're all late to Second Coming.
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Ten years ago in C&J: February 6, 2014
JEERS to old habits. You've heard about the nuns in Colorado who won (for now) the ability to sidestep the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act. They're really happy with the decision. But isn't it ironic that, because of their own policy, they may be short-changing their time here on earth:
Nuns have a substantially higher risk of reproductive cancers than women who have children, in part because of their celibacy, which means a lifetime of uninterrupted menstrual cycles.
In 2011, my wife and I attended an obstetric conference in the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. The keynote lecture there recommended that nuns use oral contraceptives for two or three years after taking their vows, in order to benefit from a long-term reduction in reproductive cancers to which nuns are otherwise exposed by their celibate life.
But for now they want no one to have access to contraception. Nun shall pass. Bar nun. None for nun and none for all. We'll have nun of it. Sorry, I'm starting to sound renundant. I'll say no more and we'll be nun the wiser.
[2/6/24 Update: I find it ironic that when it comes to religion, today the fastest growing segment is—tee hee—the ”Nones.”]
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And just one more…
CHEERS to movin' and groovin'. Congrats to the winners of this year’s Grammy Awards, including Taylor Swift for Album of the Year (Midnights), Michelle Obama for Best Spoken Word (The Light We Carry), 91-year-old John Williams for Best Instrumental Composition (Helena’s Theme from Indiana Jones 5—his 26th Grammy), and Joni Mitchell for Best Folk Album (Joni Mitchell at Newport). And thanks to the Best Rap Performance award bestowed on Killer Mike, the world finally has its first Grammy-winning song with the words…
Back of the club, the immaculate thug, With bottles of bub' and some asses to rub
Look at me, bitch, look at me, look at me, bitch, Look at the crook in me, bitch
Look at me hit you with crooked D, Now I got you walkin' crookedly, they should be bookin' me, They should be bookin' me, know that they won't, I am Theolonius Monk in a donk
Mark my words, DJs. That's got "first wedding dance" written all over it.
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
"No, I mean it, Cheers and Jeers is the weirdest kiddie pool I’ve ever been in."
—President Biden
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