(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Cheers and Jeers: Tuesday [1] [] Date: 2023-08-22 Let’s Check the DK Ukraine Relief Tote Board As we do every few weeks or so, let’s check in on the Daily Kos relief fund for the Ukrainian civilians—and their furry friends—affected by Russia’s daily war crimes. As of this morning, you’ve contributed: $3,466,407.30 If you'd like to support the four chosen groups—the World Central Kitchen, AmeriCares, Razom for Ukraine, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare—click here and ActBlue will guide you through the rest. As the armchair generals continue their Gomer Pyle-like whining about how President Zelenskyy should do this, that, and the other thing to succeed with the counter-offensive, Ukraine’s military continues sticking to the plan that is leading to liberation slowly but surely. (The F-16s will come in handy.) In the meantime, Russia is still doing its worst, and our help is still essential for the civilians caught in the middle. So thanks for your continued support. It all helps. Cheers and Jeers for Tuesday, August 22, 2023 Note: Remember back in October of 2006 when I said “Hold that thought”? You can let it go now. Turns out I didn’t need it. Something silly about Donald Rumsfeld, I think, totally out of date by now. You can claim your nickel at the thought desk. —Mgt. - By the Numbers: 4 days!!! Days 'til Labor Day: 13 Days 'til Dessert Wars in Charlotte, North Carolina: 4 Years since a tropical storm hit California: 84 Estimated amount of fire damage to Lahaina on Maui: $6 billion Time that Russia's Luna 25 spacecraft lost contact with Russia's space agency after crashing into the moon Saturday: 2:57pm (Moscow time) Year that Lake Geneva, Wisconsin's mail boat jumpers began delivering mail: 1916 Number of jumps they make per day: 45-60 - Puppy Pic of the Day: In Grand Rapids, Michigan, some waggin' and some wadin'… - CHEERS to Democratic leadership so strong even conservatives are impressed. It's good news, so naturally President Biden's Camp David summit with the leaders of Japan and South Korea got buried in the weekend news cycles. And even though 90 percent of Americans can't find either country on a map, Biden's breakthrough still gets a gold star from even his critics, like the editors at National Review: [W]hile Japan and South Korea, both U.S.-backed democracies in a dangerous neighborhood, should be natural allies, they have had a strained relationship owing to long-standing historical controversies related to Japan’s decades-long occupation of Korea. That hist ory has stood in the way of building a united front of America’s allies in the region capable of countering Beijing. But Biden’s attention to this dynamic and the political courage of both Yoon and Kishida might have just ushered in a new relationship between the countries. x Today we began the next era of our cooperation with Japan and the Republic of Korea at Camp David, a place defined by new possibilities. We will continue to seize those possibilities together – Unwavering in our unity. Unmatched in our resolve. pic.twitter.com/882upWIOIy — President Biden (@POTUS) August 19, 2023 - [T]he statements out of Camp David Friday reveal a series of new commitments, including plans to consult each other on international crises and to carry out joint military exercises going forward and work together on anti-missile defense. Drawing upon my fine and nuanced command of the English language, I can only conclude that IN YER FACE CHINA HA HA HA HA SUCK ON IT THREE AGAINST ONE NOW YOU SUCK SO HARD HA HA HA HA YOU EAT BOOGERS!!! My thanks to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary for the free consultation on my syntax. JEERS to sin and depravity. I'm sorry, but those are the only reasons I can come up with for why God decided to smite southern California with a wet noodle, a wet blanket, and a wet dish rag in the storm of the century. A shame, really, as I thought the state was back on the road to atonement. Dammit, you lefty coasters, keep this up and you're gonna get us all in trouble… Hilary strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane before weakening to a tropical storm prior to making landfall Sunday, then was downgraded to a subtropical cyclone early Monday morning. The system was expected to dissipate later in the day but still produce heavy rainfall, significant flooding and gusty winds across the western U.S. Flooding was already impacting many areas and numerous rock and mud slides were reported. To make matters worse, look at the deluge of Twinkie filling that got splattered all around. Hilary was the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years. It dumped more than half the average annual rain on some desert and mountain areas, including Palm Springs, which saw nearly 3 inches of rain by Sunday evening. UPDATE: I've just been handed a note informing me that the actual cause of the storm was "meteorological stuff happening" and to shut the hell up if I can't write anything constructive. If you need me this morning, I'll be in my trailer sobbing into my Bible. CHEERS to booting a babbling baddie. One year ago this week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose brain checked out from reality a long time ago, finally got disappeared from the venues where his anti-vax misinformation has spread like wildfire among the ignorant: Even his family thinks he’s nuts. Instagram and Facebook suspended Children’s Health Defense this week after the anti-vaccine group led by Robert Kennedy Jr. repeatedly violated rules prohibiting misinformation about COVID-19. A nonprofit, Children’s Health Defense is one of the most influential anti-vaccine organizations active on social media, where it has spread misleading claims about vaccines and other public health measures designed to control the pandemic. Today he’s running to be president of all our children—no, thank you. By the way, you know how you can tell the difference between Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and a virus that wreaks havoc around the world? No, seriously. I'm asking. - BRIEF SANITY BREAK - x When the hydrangeas bloom Hydrangeas act as natural pH indicators. Their flowers turn blue when the soil is acidic, and pink when the soil is alkaline. Because of this, the Hydrangea is also known as the “Change Rose”pic.twitter.com/vKhbZvkFN0 — Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) August 21, 2023 - END BRIEF SANITY BREAK - CHEERS to tea and bragging rights. 172 years ago today, in 1851, the schooner America outraced a small fleet of British ships belonging to the Royal Yacht Squadron off the English coast to win the trophy that came to be known as the America's Cup. I believe I speak for all Americans today when I say: [Pulls down pants] "Kiss me bum, codgers!" (With all due respect. And bless yer hearts.) CHEERS to nothing. Here's a full transcript of yesterday's press conference at the Bedminster resort where the 45th president, a Republican, announced he would reveal a "large, complex, detailed but irrefutable report on the presidential election fraud which took place in Georgia," a Democratic scheme so devious that, upon release of the report, the entire party would collapse and pave the wave for a glorious MAGA Reich to emerge for a hundred…nay, a thousand years: Well now. That's disappointing. Shall we all blame the deep state together, or do you prefer we take turns? - Ten years ago in C&J: August 22, 2013 CHEERS to righting a wrong in the history of perfection. President Richard Nixon was too busy floundering under the rising tide of the Watergate scandal, so an official White House welcome for the 17-0 Super Bowl-winning Miami Dolphins got pushed onto Ford's plate, who pushed it on to Carter's, who pushed it on to Reagan's, and etc. etc. etc. all the way to the current occupant. Finally, 40 post-Super Bowl years later, the '72 Dolphins got their due: They clambered gingerly up the riser behind President Barack Obama in the East Room of the White House, white-haired, bespectacled, their coach in a motorized chair, former athletes there to receive an accolade 40 years late. Members of the Miami Dolphins, whose undefeated 1972 season culminated in a Super Bowl victory in January, 1973, stood smiling behind the president on Tuesday, blinking in the TV lights and basking in the applause of the crowd and the praise of the First Sports Fan. It is the only National Football League team to have gone undefeated or untied all season since the National and the American Football Leagues merged in 1970. Obama asked the team to stick around long enough to successfully teach House Republicans how to pass a bill, and was politely informed they they may be old, but they're not crazy. - And just one more… CHEERS to the birthday pootie. Ending on a personal note this morning. Fourteen years ago today, my partner Michael and I visited our local shelter to adopt a feline fuzzball, and we chose the one that was kind enough to recognize that our ankles weren't hambones to be gnawed on. We named her "Fantom" because she has a black "mask" across her face and loves to skulk around in the basement. Fantom is a petite thing as cats go, a tiny tortie weighing in at around six pounds with stubby li’l legs. Official pootie of C&J for 14 years. Over the past few years, since my bouts with cancer, she's become downright nurse-like, and there isn’t a night that goes by now where she doesn’t come to bed with me and lay across my legs for ten minutes or so before padding off to guard the house from her living room chair command center. It's been, as they say, a rewarding bonding experience. Otherwise, her days are filled with typical cativities: eat, sleep, drink out of the faucet, have stare-downs with squirrels on the porch roof (they know she won’t catch them so they've basically adopted her as their beloved Aunt Scowlypuss—sometimes she’ll even playfully bat them on the head as if playing a pootie version of “Duck, Duck, Goose”), teach our dog Haley who's boss, de-wing houseflies, purr when skritched, phone-bank on behalf of down-ballot Democrats, and turn down any food not topped with beluga caviar. So today the world once again prostrates itself at the altar of Fancy Feast to wish Fantom another Happy Barfday. With one exception: the patients down at the Housefly Wing Reattachment Clinic and Convalescence Center. Have a tolerable Tuesday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today? - Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial Cheers and Jeers Fans Are More Likely To Trust Information Coming From Bill in Portland Maine Than From Their Own Family and Friends: CBS Poll —Mediaite - [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/22/2188506/-Cheers-and-Jeers-Tuesday Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/