Tuesday at the Flickers
Just a heads-up that a new tub-o-popcorn-worthy movie about the presidency of 96-year-old Jimmy Carter—Carterland, directed by Jim and Will Pattiz—debuted Saturday in Atlanta, and will be going wider soon. You can read more about the film and Carter’s legacy here in The Guardian:
A clip below the fold:
YouTube Video
The official publicity description:
It’s about time Carter’s presidency got a fresh looksie, particularly now that we have four disastrous Republican presidencies that came after him to compare it to. Details on the rollout are still being finalized, I believe, and we’ll keep you up to date as we learn more. Because, like Jimmy, I, too, am selfless and moral. Well, selfless, anyway. Sometimes. Oh, and hot off the press:
And now, our feature presentation…
Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, May 4, 2021
Note: Happy Star Wars Day. May the Fourth be with you...
YouTube Video
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By the Numbers:
2 days ‘til the National Day of Hypocrisy & Wishful Thinking.
Days 'til atheists alternately facepalm and laugh themselves silly over the "National Day of Prayer": 2
Number of executive orders President Biden signed in his first 100 days: 63
Percent of the world’s new covid cases that are breaking out in India: 40%
Return in tax revenues on a $100 billion investment in IRS staffing and resources over the next 10 years from high earners or businesses who have been eluding payment, according to Senator Angus King (I-ME): $1 trillion
Seaweed harvest in Maine in 2019: 275,000 lbs
Expected seaweed harvest this year: 800,000 lbs
Minimum number of chocolate chip cookies that have been given out in the Oval office during the Biden administration: 4,200
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Puppy Pic of the Day: Fido's revenge…
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CHEERS to patching up alliances. After slicking back his hair and strapping on his diplomat's sash, Secretary of State Antony Blinken flew to the United Kingdom yesterday, and boy are his arms tired. It's the first leg of a trip during which he'll continue assuring our allies that the pudding-brained nutbag in the orange face paint is no longer in charge. On his itinerary:
While he's in London he'll also discuss weighty matters with Boris Johnson. Very slowly, so the prime minister can keep up.
CHEERS to sending the vermin scurrying. Funny thing happens when you identify a group of terrorists as terrorists and then inform them that they'll be treated like terrorists: they suddenly find other things to do with their time…
We'll file this under: Worst Fourth Reich Ever, Eh.
The victims’ memorial at Kent State.
JEERS to itchy trigger fingers. Fifty-one years ago today, National Guard troops fired on Vietnam War protesters at Ohio’s Kent State University, killing four students and injuring 12 in 13 seconds. (The site is now designated Ohio’s 76th National Historic Site.) The question that may never be answered: what possessed the Guard to use live ammo when they could've pacified the crowd with a plate of hash brownies? A permanent blemish on my home state's record.
P.S. Imagine if all the students had been walking around with concealed (or even open-carry) weapons—like the “Proud Boys” above—so they could “stand their ground,” a concept that makes Republicans salivate every time they think about it. That would've worked out swell that day, huh. Real swell.
JEERS to non-snappy answers to non-stupid questions. The CNN headline blares: When To Stop Drinking Caffeine To Get A Good Night's Sleep. Phew—I rely on caffeine (pills) during the day to boost alertness, so I'd love to know exactly when to start throttling down on "The Precious." And the definitive answer is…
Terrific. Now instead of losing sleep to caffeine, tonight I'll lose it by cursing out CNN.
JEERS to HELLO URGENT MESSAGE KIND MADAM 7 PLEASE RLPY V&i*GR#A HOT SEXY LOVER NEED ASSISTANCE!! We can't let May go by without acknowledging the 43rd anniversary of spam. It had a fascinating beginning. Via Geekosystem, here's how it started back in 1978:
Aren't we lucky. Now if you'll excuse me, I just got an email I have to attend to from "Íâó¾Àí/½ø³ö¿Ú¾Àí " with the subject line"|Íâó½Óµ¥Ó뺣Í⩵ ¥»ñÈ¡²ßÂÔ|" It might be news from my favorite Nigerian finance minister. Or his widow. (Thoughts and prayers.)
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Ten years ago in C&J: May 4, 2011
JEERS to getting pummeled in the provinces. Ugh…apparently you Canadians aren’t paying close enough attention to the U.S. in terms of where conservatism eventually leads. [Circles ear with index finger.] But, what the hell, it's your country and you can break it if you want to, I guess:
I just hope the NDP isn't the same as Blue Dogs here, cuz that would be not good. Meanwhile Stephen Harper will remain Prime Minister, which means, I believe, that a bunch of investigations against him can proceed forthwith. But the bottom line seems to be: conservatives have an outright majority. Oh, Canada. [Facepalm] Have we taught you nothing?
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And just one more…
CHEERS to the highest-impact High Impact Guy whoever roamed the Great Orange Satan. Dammit, cancer, stop taking our most valuable Daily Kos members. This time the Big C got jotter, aka Glenn Hammonds, creator of the outrageously useful and innovative "High Impact" diaries and frequent attendee/drinking buddy at our Netroots Nation conventions.
Day in and day out, for over a decade, jotter employed sophisticated computer technology to rank the day's most popular diaries and keep track of the ongoing 19-year downward spiral of "The" Daily Kos by keeping count of the ever-swelling number of new user registrations. In 2006 he laid out his reason for his daily mega-project:
In a weird yet literal way, a little piece of jotter's soul will always be mine. I keep it in a shot glass covered with tinfoil encased in cement and securely stowed in a safe deposit box at the Portland Savings & Loan over at the corner of Flannel and Chowder Streets. It was my price for his use of the "bharns"—short for Bill Harnsberger (that's me)—as the metric for determining the "impact" of each Daily Kos post relative to the enormous popularity of Cheers and Jeers. One "bharns" is equivalent to the impact of the average C&J in early 2005, back before Kos, in his most catastrophic decision ever, promoted it to the front page. (Jotter explains it here in our 2008 interview.) Or, as it looks numerically on a random day in practice:
Meteor Blades interviewed jotter nearly a dozen years ago—today it’s a fascinating trip in the daily Kos wayback machine and you can read it here.
Unless he had some secret double life as a beard-stroking James Bond villain, jotter was one of the most authentic liberal gentlemen you'll ever meet, and his post will always be a godsend as a research tool and a part of the Daily Kos historic archives.
They say only the good die young. Glenn was only 70. The maxim still holds.
Have a tolerable Tuesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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-
Just a heads-up that a new tub-o-popcorn-worthy movie about the presidency of 96-year-old Jimmy Carter—Carterland, directed by Jim and Will Pattiz—debuted Saturday in Atlanta, and will be going wider soon. You can read more about the film and Carter’s legacy here in The Guardian:
A clip below the fold:
YouTube Video
-
The official publicity description:
It’s about time Carter’s presidency got a fresh looksie, particularly now that we have four disastrous Republican presidencies that came after him to compare it to. Details on the rollout are still being finalized, I believe, and we’ll keep you up to date as we learn more. Because, like Jimmy, I, too, am selfless and moral. Well, selfless, anyway. Sometimes. Oh, and hot off the press:
And now, our feature presentation…
-
Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, May 4, 2021
Note: Happy Star Wars Day. May the Fourth be with you...
YouTube Video
-
-
By the Numbers:
2 days ‘til the National Day of Hypocrisy & Wishful Thinking.
Days 'til atheists alternately facepalm and laugh themselves silly over the "National Day of Prayer": 2
Number of executive orders President Biden signed in his first 100 days: 63
Percent of the world’s new covid cases that are breaking out in India: 40%
Return in tax revenues on a $100 billion investment in IRS staffing and resources over the next 10 years from high earners or businesses who have been eluding payment, according to Senator Angus King (I-ME): $1 trillion
Seaweed harvest in Maine in 2019: 275,000 lbs
Expected seaweed harvest this year: 800,000 lbs
Minimum number of chocolate chip cookies that have been given out in the Oval office during the Biden administration: 4,200
-
Puppy Pic of the Day: Fido's revenge…
-
CHEERS to patching up alliances. After slicking back his hair and strapping on his diplomat's sash, Secretary of State Antony Blinken flew to the United Kingdom yesterday, and boy are his arms tired. It's the first leg of a trip during which he'll continue assuring our allies that the pudding-brained nutbag in the orange face paint is no longer in charge. On his itinerary:
» Attending the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers’ Meeting in London, United Kingdom, May 3-5, 2021. The Secretary has said wherever the rules for international security and the global economy are being written, America will be there, and the interests of the American people will be front and center. …Tackling the COVID-19 and climate crises will feature prominently on the agenda, as will advancing economic growth, human rights, food security, gender equality, and women’s and girls’ empowerment.
Secretary Blinken arrives in London Monday. How nice that we have cabinet members again who visit other countries to make the world a better place, instead of plotting to steal elections.
» The Secretary will then travel to Kyiv, Ukraine, May 5-6, where he will meet with President Zelenskyy, Foreign Minister Kuleba, other officials, and representatives of Ukrainian civil society to reaffirm unwavering U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression. He will also encourage continued progress on Ukraine’s institutional reform agenda, particularly anti-corruption action.
While he's in London he'll also discuss weighty matters with Boris Johnson. Very slowly, so the prime minister can keep up.
CHEERS to sending the vermin scurrying. Funny thing happens when you identify a group of terrorists as terrorists and then inform them that they'll be treated like terrorists: they suddenly find other things to do with their time…
Proud Boys Canada, a far-right group that Ottawa named as a terrorist entity earlier this year, has dissolved itself, saying it has done nothing wrong, according to a statement by the organization on Sunday.
Proud boys? More like spoiled brats who think they can do anything they want except, apparently, take a bath.
In February, Canada said the group posed an active security threat and played a "pivotal role" in the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol in January by supporters of then-President Donald Trump. U.S. authorities have charged several members of the Proud Boys in connection with the Jan. 6 assault. […]
Founded in 2016, the Proud Boys began as an organization protesting political correctness and perceived constraints on masculinity in the United States and Canada, and grew into a group that embraced street fighting.
We'll file this under: Worst Fourth Reich Ever, Eh.
The victims’ memorial at Kent State.
JEERS to itchy trigger fingers. Fifty-one years ago today, National Guard troops fired on Vietnam War protesters at Ohio’s Kent State University, killing four students and injuring 12 in 13 seconds. (The site is now designated Ohio’s 76th National Historic Site.) The question that may never be answered: what possessed the Guard to use live ammo when they could've pacified the crowd with a plate of hash brownies? A permanent blemish on my home state's record.
P.S. Imagine if all the students had been walking around with concealed (or even open-carry) weapons—like the “Proud Boys” above—so they could “stand their ground,” a concept that makes Republicans salivate every time they think about it. That would've worked out swell that day, huh. Real swell.
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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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JEERS to non-snappy answers to non-stupid questions. The CNN headline blares: When To Stop Drinking Caffeine To Get A Good Night's Sleep. Phew—I rely on caffeine (pills) during the day to boost alertness, so I'd love to know exactly when to start throttling down on "The Precious." And the definitive answer is…
Terrific. Now instead of losing sleep to caffeine, tonight I'll lose it by cursing out CNN.
JEERS to HELLO URGENT MESSAGE KIND MADAM 7 PLEASE RLPY V&i*GR#A HOT SEXY LOVER NEED ASSISTANCE!! We can't let May go by without acknowledging the 43rd anniversary of spam. It had a fascinating beginning. Via Geekosystem, here's how it started back in 1978:
Gary Thuerk, a marketer for the Digital Equipment Corporation, blasted out his message to 400 of the 2600 people on ARPAnet, the DARPA-funded so-called “first Internet.” Naturally: He was selling something. (Computers, or more specifically, information about open houses where people could check out the computers.)
He annoyed a lot of people. And he also had some success, with a few recipients interested in what he was pushing. And thus, spam was born.
Aren't we lucky. Now if you'll excuse me, I just got an email I have to attend to from "Íâó¾Àí/½ø³ö¿Ú¾Àí " with the subject line"|Íâó½Óµ¥Ó뺣Í⩵ ¥»ñÈ¡²ßÂÔ|" It might be news from my favorite Nigerian finance minister. Or his widow. (Thoughts and prayers.)
-
Ten years ago in C&J: May 4, 2011
JEERS to getting pummeled in the provinces. Ugh…apparently you Canadians aren’t paying close enough attention to the U.S. in terms of where conservatism eventually leads. [Circles ear with index finger.] But, what the hell, it's your country and you can break it if you want to, I guess:
I just hope the NDP isn't the same as Blue Dogs here, cuz that would be not good. Meanwhile Stephen Harper will remain Prime Minister, which means, I believe, that a bunch of investigations against him can proceed forthwith. But the bottom line seems to be: conservatives have an outright majority. Oh, Canada. [Facepalm] Have we taught you nothing?
-
And just one more…
CHEERS to the highest-impact High Impact Guy whoever roamed the Great Orange Satan. Dammit, cancer, stop taking our most valuable Daily Kos members. This time the Big C got jotter, aka Glenn Hammonds, creator of the outrageously useful and innovative "High Impact" diaries and frequent attendee/drinking buddy at our Netroots Nation conventions.
Day in and day out, for over a decade, jotter employed sophisticated computer technology to rank the day's most popular diaries and keep track of the ongoing 19-year downward spiral of "The" Daily Kos by keeping count of the ever-swelling number of new user registrations. In 2006 he laid out his reason for his daily mega-project:
I think this is Netroots Nation Pittsburgh, and I’m using a wooden spoon to steal some of jotter’s beer. Loooong story, I’m sure.
I'm very pleased and honored to have been given the opportunity and the access required to make possible these lists, whose only real justification for existence is as an aid for people who can't or don't wish to spend all their waking hours reading diaries and who may, through the lists, find diaries they might have otherwise missed.
Each person contributes what they can when they can—diaries, comments, recommendations, and I hope I have helped make the fruits of their labors, accessible to all.
In a weird yet literal way, a little piece of jotter's soul will always be mine. I keep it in a shot glass covered with tinfoil encased in cement and securely stowed in a safe deposit box at the Portland Savings & Loan over at the corner of Flannel and Chowder Streets. It was my price for his use of the "bharns"—short for Bill Harnsberger (that's me)—as the metric for determining the "impact" of each Daily Kos post relative to the enormous popularity of Cheers and Jeers. One "bharns" is equivalent to the impact of the average C&J in early 2005, back before Kos, in his most catastrophic decision ever, promoted it to the front page. (Jotter explains it here in our 2008 interview.) Or, as it looks numerically on a random day in practice:
Meteor Blades interviewed jotter nearly a dozen years ago—today it’s a fascinating trip in the daily Kos wayback machine and you can read it here.
Unless he had some secret double life as a beard-stroking James Bond villain, jotter was one of the most authentic liberal gentlemen you'll ever meet, and his post will always be a godsend as a research tool and a part of the Daily Kos historic archives.
They say only the good die young. Glenn was only 70. The maxim still holds.
Have a tolerable Tuesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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