Two Quick Netroots Nation Convention Updates
After going all-virtual last year, Netroots Nation is bringing back the live, in-person convention this year, although scaled-back in size (and also attendable virtually like last year). For the first time, it's an autumn event—October 7-9 in Washington D.C. Two updates to report:
1) Tickets go on sale tomorrow. The convention is limited this year to 1,000 attendees, so these will go fast.
2) Time is ticking down to the July 2nd deadline for panel, workshop and screening submissions. Details on how you can submit yours below the fold…
Executive Poobah Mary Rickles adds meat to the bone:
The link for all the panel submission info is here. If you have a panel in mind but you want some live assistance, there's a webinar this Wednesday at 3pm ET, for which you can register at this link. Deadline is 11 days from today. I'm hoping they accept my panel. It's called How to Promote Netroots Nation Panel Submissions in Cheers and Jeers Without Really Trying. I’m told I’m reasonably competent at it.
Others disagree. :-(
Follow NN on Twitter here and on Facebook here.
And now, our feature presentation…
Cheers and Jeers for Monday, June 21, 2021
Note: Look at how cleanly my Miracle Blade sliced through this coconut like a hot knife through butter: % Amazing!!!
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By the Numbers:
13 days!!!
Days 'til Independence Day: 13
Time (EDT) at which summer started last night: 11:31
Estimated number of Americans who won't lose their health insurance because the Republican attempt to get the Supreme Court to kill the ACA failed last week: 31 million
First-time jobless claims last week, up a bit from the previous week: 412,000
Percent of the time that viewers watched network or cable TV in May, according to Nielsen, versus 26% who watched stuff via streaming services: 64%
Retail sales of oat milk in the U.S., which have risen 1,200% over the last two years, for the year ending May 29: $316 million
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Farewell, Champ...
Pets are family.
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CHEERS to an important seal of approval. Radio stations have ended their 24/7 Juneteenth carol marathons. The Juneteenth mattress sales are over. The half-empty Juneteenth nog carton will now spend the next year in the back of the fridge. And now, everybody, it's back to the post-Juneteenth grind. We hope you felt appropriately honored to be alive and kicking on Planet Earth when it was celebrated as a national holiday for the first time. The 94-year-old Grandmother of Juneteenth, Opal Lee, sure did. She was at Thursday's signing, and here's a follow-up from the White House to start your Monday on a happy note, including her joy at getting a pen President Biden used to seal the deal…
I know the feeling. It’s the same one I get when the Pulitzer Committee sends me the pen they’ve used to reauthorize their latest restraining order.
CHEERS to takesie backsies: senseless war edition. The so-called "Authorization for the Use of Military Force"—approved by Congress in 2002—was stupid on steroids, effectively giving the president a "Wage War Free" card without the messiness of actually declaring war. So George W. Warcriminal used it to attack Iraq based on the Big Lie that Saddam Hussein was on the brink of unleashing weapons of mass destruction against the United States, when in fact searches by weapons inspectors were turning up bupkus. That stupid AUMF has been on the books for nearly 20 shameful years. And now it's finally going bye-bye:
The repeal now moves to the Democratic-led Senate Foreign Relations Committee for a vote. It'd be nice if they could slip in an authorization for a one-way ticket to The Hague for You-Know-Who (and also You-Know-Who and You-Know-Who).
CHEERS to making it safe to eat Butterballs. 239 years ago, Congress approved the bald eagle over the turkey as the U.S. symbol. They decided it just didn't taste as good with mashed taters and cranberry sauce.
CHEERS to today's edition of Hey Let's Roll Down Our Car Window And See What Benjamin Netanyahu Is Up To:
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!! This has been today's edition of Hey Let's Roll Down Our Car Window And See What Benjamin Netanyahu Is Up To.
CHEERS to seals that can’t balance a beach ball on their nose. 239 years ago this week, in 1782, the Great Seal of the United States was finally adopted by Congress. They sure took their sweet time getting there:
Taking inventory: it has 13 stars, 13 stripes, 13 arrows in the eagle’s talon,13 letters in the mottos "e pluribus unum" and "annuit coeptis," 52 total letters on it (which is divisible by 13), 13 olive leaves, 13 olives on the branch, 13 levels in the pyramid, and 13 sides showing on the ribbon. But designer Charles Thomson stopped short of including a black cat walking under a ladder. That would've been considered unlucky.
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Ten years ago in C&J: June 21, 2011
JEERS to taunting the primal forces of nature. Well, golly, ain't the nuclear biz just hummin' right along these days. Fukushima is apparently no longer "not as bad as Chernobyl." Over here we got a couple plants surrounded by floodwaters in Kansas. Officials say they "think" they've taken all the precautions they need to, which ain't exactly reassuring. Oh, and the agency tasked with keeping the public safe from nuclear disasters is instead keeping the public safe from keeping the public safe. Gold star goes to the AP for this:
The good news: the #1 threat to our nuke plants is no longer al Qaeda. The bad news: the #1 threat to our nuke plants is once again…us.
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And just one more…
JEERS to the Night of A Thousand New Coronavirus Cases. Feel free to skip this—it has to do with "him." But there's no way we can't revisit June 20, 2020, a date which will live in infamy. One year ago our COVID death toll stood at 122,000 on its way, thanks to dithering and moronic Republican cult management, to 600,000+. And what did our face-painted moron-in-chief decide would be a great idea in the middle of all the chaos and death? Of course—a MAGA rally with no mask mandate or social distancing rules. Trump flew Air Force One down to Tulsa, having pre-boasted of "a million ticket registrations," only to discover that a few thousand bothered to show up. (The outdoor overflow areas were quickly and quietly dismantled when it became obvious that they wouldn’t be needed.)
Among the few in attendance for Trump's sweaty, nonsensical hour of gaslighting was former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, whom Trump rewarded for joining his merry band by exposing him to COVID and killing him. What a friend. Only the best thoughts and prayers, believe me.
All hail the conquering hero.
As a disheveled and depressed Trump slumped across the White House lawn and back to his room for a night of rage-tweeting while the world laughed at his pathetic spectacle, this guy—Mike Brooks—was deemed the smartest one in the arena:
Seven months to the day later, Trump would again slump across the White House lawn, this time to board Marine One as the roundly-defeated one-term, twice-impeached ex-president whose approval never reached 50 percent and who almost died from COVID himself. And we all lived happily ever after. Except Herman Cain and 599,999 other Americans. The End.
Have a tolerable Monday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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After going all-virtual last year, Netroots Nation is bringing back the live, in-person convention this year, although scaled-back in size (and also attendable virtually like last year). For the first time, it's an autumn event—October 7-9 in Washington D.C. Two updates to report:
1) Tickets go on sale tomorrow. The convention is limited this year to 1,000 attendees, so these will go fast.
2) Time is ticking down to the July 2nd deadline for panel, workshop and screening submissions. Details on how you can submit yours below the fold…
Executive Poobah Mary Rickles adds meat to the bone:
As always, our goal is to highlight the work and issues at the center of the progressive movement. You can submit on any topic, but here are some of the topics we want to emphasize this year:
- Conversations about how to enact a progressive agenda and hold our elected officials accountable
- Discussions about what worked—and what didn't—in 2020, and how we can apply those lessons to future election cycles
- Sessions on protecting our democracy, both now and for the long haul
- Content on how to build community power, invest in new leaders, and sustain a healthy and inclusive movement that centers those closest to injustice
- Trainings that help new activists grow into successful organizers
- Advanced trainings that focus on cutting-edge tools and techniques
- For sessions held in person, all presenters must be present in Washington D.C. Otherwise, the session will be conducted virtually as a webinar. You’ll need to indicate if your session is for in-person or virtual presentation.
The link for all the panel submission info is here. If you have a panel in mind but you want some live assistance, there's a webinar this Wednesday at 3pm ET, for which you can register at this link. Deadline is 11 days from today. I'm hoping they accept my panel. It's called How to Promote Netroots Nation Panel Submissions in Cheers and Jeers Without Really Trying. I’m told I’m reasonably competent at it.
Others disagree. :-(Follow NN on Twitter here and on Facebook here.
And now, our feature presentation…
-
Cheers and Jeers for Monday, June 21, 2021
Note: Look at how cleanly my Miracle Blade sliced through this coconut like a hot knife through butter: % Amazing!!!
-
By the Numbers:
13 days!!!
Days 'til Independence Day: 13
Time (EDT) at which summer started last night: 11:31
Estimated number of Americans who won't lose their health insurance because the Republican attempt to get the Supreme Court to kill the ACA failed last week: 31 million
First-time jobless claims last week, up a bit from the previous week: 412,000
Percent of the time that viewers watched network or cable TV in May, according to Nielsen, versus 26% who watched stuff via streaming services: 64%
Retail sales of oat milk in the U.S., which have risen 1,200% over the last two years, for the year ending May 29: $316 million
-
Puppy Pic of the Day: Farewell, Champ...
Pets are family.
-
CHEERS to an important seal of approval. Radio stations have ended their 24/7 Juneteenth carol marathons. The Juneteenth mattress sales are over. The half-empty Juneteenth nog carton will now spend the next year in the back of the fridge. And now, everybody, it's back to the post-Juneteenth grind. We hope you felt appropriately honored to be alive and kicking on Planet Earth when it was celebrated as a national holiday for the first time. The 94-year-old Grandmother of Juneteenth, Opal Lee, sure did. She was at Thursday's signing, and here's a follow-up from the White House to start your Monday on a happy note, including her joy at getting a pen President Biden used to seal the deal…
I know the feeling. It’s the same one I get when the Pulitzer Committee sends me the pen they’ve used to reauthorize their latest restraining order.
CHEERS to takesie backsies: senseless war edition. The so-called "Authorization for the Use of Military Force"—approved by Congress in 2002—was stupid on steroids, effectively giving the president a "Wage War Free" card without the messiness of actually declaring war. So George W. Warcriminal used it to attack Iraq based on the Big Lie that Saddam Hussein was on the brink of unleashing weapons of mass destruction against the United States, when in fact searches by weapons inspectors were turning up bupkus. That stupid AUMF has been on the books for nearly 20 shameful years. And now it's finally going bye-bye:
The House of Representatives voted Thursday to repeal the 2002 legislation that permitted the invasion of Iraq.
Let’s not do this again, shalln’t we?
It was a win for anti-war lawmakers and activists, who are now ready to secure an even bigger victory: killing the controversial measure and limiting presidential war powers.
[T]he Senate and President Joe Biden are expected to help end the authorization this year. Doing so would remove one of the legal justifications that officials cite for moves like airstrikes. It would also affirm that lawmakers are increasingly wary of hawkish policies and their proponents—and prepared to play a bigger role in matters of war and peace.
The repeal now moves to the Democratic-led Senate Foreign Relations Committee for a vote. It'd be nice if they could slip in an authorization for a one-way ticket to The Hague for You-Know-Who (and also You-Know-Who and You-Know-Who).
CHEERS to making it safe to eat Butterballs. 239 years ago, Congress approved the bald eagle over the turkey as the U.S. symbol. They decided it just didn't taste as good with mashed taters and cranberry sauce.
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BRIEF SANITY BREAK
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BRIEF SANITY BREAK
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END BRIEF SANITY BREAK
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END BRIEF SANITY BREAK
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CHEERS to today's edition of Hey Let's Roll Down Our Car Window And See What Benjamin Netanyahu Is Up To:
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!! This has been today's edition of Hey Let's Roll Down Our Car Window And See What Benjamin Netanyahu Is Up To.
CHEERS to seals that can’t balance a beach ball on their nose. 239 years ago this week, in 1782, the Great Seal of the United States was finally adopted by Congress. They sure took their sweet time getting there:
On July 4, 1776,the same day that independence from Great Britain was declared by the thirteen states, the Continental Congress named the first committee to design a Great Seal, or national emblem, for the country.
The eye, of course, is Hillary Clinton’s. (She sees you, Q-Anon. Ooga Booga!)
Similar to other nations, The United States needed an official symbol of sovereignty to formalize and seal (or sign) international treaties and transactions. It took six years, three committees, and the contributions of fourteen men before the Congress finally accepted a design (which included elements proposed by each of the three committees) in 1782.
Taking inventory: it has 13 stars, 13 stripes, 13 arrows in the eagle’s talon,13 letters in the mottos "e pluribus unum" and "annuit coeptis," 52 total letters on it (which is divisible by 13), 13 olive leaves, 13 olives on the branch, 13 levels in the pyramid, and 13 sides showing on the ribbon. But designer Charles Thomson stopped short of including a black cat walking under a ladder. That would've been considered unlucky.
-
Ten years ago in C&J: June 21, 2011
JEERS to taunting the primal forces of nature. Well, golly, ain't the nuclear biz just hummin' right along these days. Fukushima is apparently no longer "not as bad as Chernobyl." Over here we got a couple plants surrounded by floodwaters in Kansas. Officials say they "think" they've taken all the precautions they need to, which ain't exactly reassuring. Oh, and the agency tasked with keeping the public safe from nuclear disasters is instead keeping the public safe from keeping the public safe. Gold star goes to the AP for this:
When valves leaked, more leakage was allowed [by the NRC]—up to 20 times the original limit. When rampant cracking caused radioactive leaks from steam generator tubing, an easier test of the tubes was devised, so plants could meet standards.
What could go wrong?
Failed cables. Busted seals. Broken nozzles, clogged screens, cracked concrete, dented containers, corroded metals and rusty underground pipes—all of these and thousands of other problems linked to aging were uncovered in the AP's yearlong investigation.
And all of them could escalate dangers in the event of an accident.
The good news: the #1 threat to our nuke plants is no longer al Qaeda. The bad news: the #1 threat to our nuke plants is once again…us.
-
And just one more…
JEERS to the Night of A Thousand New Coronavirus Cases. Feel free to skip this—it has to do with "him." But there's no way we can't revisit June 20, 2020, a date which will live in infamy. One year ago our COVID death toll stood at 122,000 on its way, thanks to dithering and moronic Republican cult management, to 600,000+. And what did our face-painted moron-in-chief decide would be a great idea in the middle of all the chaos and death? Of course—a MAGA rally with no mask mandate or social distancing rules. Trump flew Air Force One down to Tulsa, having pre-boasted of "a million ticket registrations," only to discover that a few thousand bothered to show up. (The outdoor overflow areas were quickly and quietly dismantled when it became obvious that they wouldn’t be needed.)
Among the few in attendance for Trump's sweaty, nonsensical hour of gaslighting was former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, whom Trump rewarded for joining his merry band by exposing him to COVID and killing him. What a friend. Only the best thoughts and prayers, believe me.
All hail the conquering hero.
As a disheveled and depressed Trump slumped across the White House lawn and back to his room for a night of rage-tweeting while the world laughed at his pathetic spectacle, this guy—Mike Brooks—was deemed the smartest one in the arena:
Seven months to the day later, Trump would again slump across the White House lawn, this time to board Marine One as the roundly-defeated one-term, twice-impeached ex-president whose approval never reached 50 percent and who almost died from COVID himself. And we all lived happily ever after. Except Herman Cain and 599,999 other Americans. The End.
Have a tolerable Monday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
-
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