(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Cheers and Jeers: Wednesday [1] [] Date: 2023-10-04 Unnecessary Censorship As long as there have been books there have been dumbasses trying to ban them, and American dumbasses are among the most obnoxious, Jesus-freaked, and delicate-fee-fee’d in the civilized world. According to the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), between January 1 and August 31, 2023, there were 695 attempts to censor library materials and services and documented challenges to 1,915 titles—up 20 percent from the same period last year and an all-time record, which is why the ALA has designated the first week in October Banned Books Week: Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in libraries, bookstores, and schools. The annual event highlights the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community—librarians, educators, authors, publishers, booksellers, and readers of all types—in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas. Continued... The next Banned Books Week will be held October 1 – 7, 2023. The theme of this year’s event is “Let Freedom Read!” By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship. The top 5 banned books last year were (cue the sound of conservative Christians grinding their teeth): 1. Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe 2. All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson 3. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison 4. Flamer by Mike Curato 5. (Tie) Looking for Alaska by John Green 5. (Tie) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky Kudos to you all, you’re definitely worth reading. Look ‘em up online, kids! See the various events scheduled for the rest of the week here. The closest I ever came to banning a book from our house was the time I almost tossed an Ann Coulter screed in the trash. How it got here in the first place is still a mystery, but we held on to it. Makes a great doorstop. And now, our feature presentation... - Cheers and Jeers for Wednesday, October 4, 2023 Note: Thanks to the strange bylaws and procedural rules that are only now being used for the first time in our nation's history, let me be the first to say...um...congratulations to new Speaker of the House Deez Nuts. Good luck—we’re all counting on you. - By the Numbers: 3 days!!! Days 'til Indigenous Peoples Day: 5 Days 'til the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta: 3 Estimated number of lives saved by the AIDS relief program PEPFAR, which the MAGA cult in Congress wants to defund: 25 million Increase in construction spending in September: 0.5% Number of older Americans who are treated in emergency rooms for fall-related injuries each year: 3 million Number of patients hospitalized because of a fall injury at an estimated cost of $50 billion annually: 800,000 Years since Major League Baseball's postseason didn't have a New York team in it, as it won’t this year: 9 - Mid-week Rapture Index: 187 (including 3 occult phenomena and 1 thwarted End Times plan). Soul Protection Factor 24 lotion is recommended if you’ll be walking amongst the heathen today. - Puppy Pic of the Day: Attack of the zombie kitteh… - CHEERS to finally fessing up. But JEERS for taking so long to do it. Trump's longest-serving White House chief of staff John Kelly—a supposedly brass-balled military guy the media insisted was the "adult in the room"—took the path so many others in that swampy administration did. Namely, witnessing the utter disregard for our democracy and our American heroes in real time, and doing nothing about it because he might get yelled at by the Adderall-addicted, draft-dodging psychopath in the orange clown makeup. But now he's finally admitting that, yeah, Trump really did shit on veterans every chance he got: His comments confirm a multitude of reports about Trump’s statements on service members, veterans and prisoners of war, both in and out of the White House. Only redeeming quality: he wasn’t quite as lily-livered as his successor Mark Meadows. The former president drew fierce criticism when he expressed his dislike for the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a prisoner of war in Vietnam, saying he liked “people that weren’t captured.” The statement also bolsters comments in a profile in The Atlantic last month from Gen. Mark Milley, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The piece included an anecdote in which Trump allegedly asked about a wounded Army captain who was singing “God Bless America” at an event. “Why do you bring people like that here?” Trump reportedly said. “No one wants to see that, the wounded.” […] “There is nothing more that can be said,” he concluded. “God help us.” Well, yeah, actually there is one more thing that could be said, John. Like, "I am so, so, so, so, so, so sorry." CHEERS to the eggheads who walk among us. More hot scientist-on-scientist Nobel Prize action yesterday, this time from the physicists' playpen. This year's international gaggle will each get a gift certificate from the Spiegel Catalog for, if I’m reading this correctly, baking the world’s largest baguette: The award went to Pierre Agostini, Hungarian-born Ferenc Krausz and French-born Anne L’Huillier for their work with the tiny part of each atom that races around the center and that is fundamental to virtually everything: chemistry, physics, our bodies and our gadgets. “Electrons” would be an awesome Atari video game. Electrons move around so fast that they have been out of reach of human efforts to isolate them, but by looking at the tiniest fraction of a second possible, scientists now have a “blurry” glimpse of them and that opens up whole new sciences, experts said. “The electrons are very fast, and the electrons are really the workforce in everywhere,” Nobel Committee member Mats Larsson said. “Once you can control and understand electrons, you have taken a very big step forward.” The entire scientific community was united in praise and adulation for this year’s winners. Well, almost. The guy who invented sharks with lasers is still sitting in his undersea lair going, "What does a demented genius have to do to get a little respect around here???” CHEERS to life the way they say it never was. On this date in 1957, Leave It to Beaver premiered on ABC. June Cleaver did housework in pearls, frilly dresses, and high heels. Or as I like to call it: me on gutter cleaning day. - BRIEF SANITY BREAK - x Sleepy sea turtle naps on a sponge. 📽: Jace Greenpic.twitter.com/7qYg0muCtQ — Wonder of Science (@wonderofscience) September 27, 2023 - END BRIEF SANITY BREAK - CHEERS to Quayle hunting. Thirty-five years ago today, in 1988, Democrat Lloyd Bentsen—Michael Dukakis's running mate—opened a can of whupass on Dan Quayle during their debate, and naturally the Republican whined like a little snowflake: x YouTube Video - It was one of the great zingers in campaign lore, and today it's a staple of debate-highlight montages. Four years later, of course, came the famous potato"e" gaffe, thus proving Quayle wasn't a very smart vice president. But ya gotta admit, he was a terrific warm-up act for George W. Bush. (And an Einstein compared to Trump.) JEERS to Captain Larry Leadfoot. Big drama here in Portland, Maine over the weekend. The Portland Jetport was shut down for nearly an hour after some yahoo drove his car through the fence surrounding the airport and then sped down the runway. Even worse, the passengers missed their connection when it landed 45 minutes late at LaGuardia and their bags ended up in Cincinnati. - Ten years ago in C&J: October 4, 2013 JEERS to today's boring correction. Yesterday President Obama met with House and Senate leaders from both parties. The original press pool reporter's account… Scowl, scowl, seethe, scowl, outburst, counter-outburst, hold breath 'til blue, pull hair, stony silence, simultaneous impatient sighs, rake fingers through hair in frustration, seethe, seethe, scowl. Adjourn. …should have noted that purple nurples and a wedgie were administered as the parties left the conference room. The error is regretted and the reporter has been given a swirlie. - And just one more… CHEERS to cool science. When all the death, doom and destruction get to be too much, there's always one place I can count on to restore my faith in humanity. I'm speaking of course about Hiram’s Chowder House and Lobster Pound in Harpswell. But when they're closed, the next-best place is, of course, NASA, a jewel in the federal government's crown and an agency worth every tax dollar we send its way. If you happen to live under a sky where you are, here's a preview of what you'll be seeing this month—including a ring-of-fire eclipse and our moon doin’ the tango with the planets—courtesy of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory: - Happy viewing. We now return you to your regularly-scheduled shit show in space known as life on Earth, where everyone can hear you scream because we have social media now. Have a happy humpday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today? - Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial If you enjoy the refreshing tang of Cheers and Jeers kiddie pool water—we have good news! It’s tasty, hydrating and a good source of important nutrients like potassium and vitamin C. —USA Today - [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/4/2196926/-Cheers-and-Jeers-Wednesday?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web 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/