(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Cheers and Jeers: Thursday [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-13 A Public Service Message for Nitwits Tomorrow is Flag Day, a day set aside to mark the adoption—by the Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1777—of the “Stars and Stripes” as the official design of the flag of the United States. Since our fellow Americans in the red cult hats (and a certain spouse of a certain Supreme Court justice) appear to have forgotten their civics lessons, C&J presents a pre-Flag Day refresher on the proper way to fly the star spangled banner: Thank you for your attention. Oh, and also: grow up. And now, our feature presentation... Cheers and Jeers for Thursday, June 13, 2024 Note: Today is Thursday the 13th. No need to take any special precautions, except perhaps an extra dollop of hand lotion. And stay away from woodchippers. - By the Numbers: 7 days!!! Weeks 'til summer: 1 Days 'til Quahog Day on Cape Cod: 7 Current U.S. unemployment rate: 4% Width and depth of the now fully-opened shipping channel in and out of Baltimore Harbor: 700 feet, 50 feet Estimated amount by which new proposed Republican tax cuts for the rich would increase the U.S. deficit: $1 trillion Average price of gas, down a dime from a week ago: $3.44 Amount fetched at auction for a promotional Kenner rocket-firing Boba Fett action figure, a record for an action figure: $525,000 NBA Finals Update Boston leads Dallas 3 games to 0 - Your Thursday Molly Ivins Moment: We believe these truths to be self-evident, that all men (and women) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ... That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it ..." After 200 years, that statement is still so revolutionary people all over the world are willing to die for it. They died in South Africa, they died at Tiananmen Square, and they're dying today in Myanmar. A lot of Americans have died to preserve those ideas: Don't throw them away out of boredom or cynicism or inanition. "There's nothing I can do about it." If the last election didn't teach you that every vote counts, you may want to consider assisted living. Of course, you don't have as much say in this country as the people who give big money to the politicians—but that can be fixed. As an American living today, your one vote means you have more political power than 99 percent of all the people who ever lived on this planet. Think about it: Who ever had this much power? A peasant in ancient Egypt? A Roman slave? A medieval shoemaker? A French farmer? Your grandfather? Why throw power away? Use it. Leverage it. —November 2004 - Puppy Pic of the Day: Dinnertime… - CHEERS to Biden's cavalry riding to the rescue. The inflation monster—nobody thought it could be tamed. The experts threw up their hands. The public sold their children for pennies on the dollar just to afford pool-cleaning services through the summer. A pall fell upon the land as the price of a single can of chicken soup skyrocketed to 49-thousand dollars (plus tax, title, and destination charges—admittedly, it’s a rather large can). And then, in the distance, riding into the maelstrom astride a saddle atop a—[squints]—Corvette: DARK BRANDON!!! After knocking the dust off his boots and asking God to bless our troops, he reached for his six-shooter and, with nary a sound but the scrunch of his leather chaps, laid that inflation monster low: Consumer prices rose 3.3% on a 12-month basis in May compared to 3.4% in April, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. … On a monthly basis, inflation was 0%—the lowest since July 2022. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the monthly reading was 0.2% — the lowest since October. x You can really see the inflation cooldown at last Food +2.1% in past year -->smallest since 2020 Restaurants +4% in past yr-->smallest since 2021 Core inflation 3.4% -->smallest since 2021 Commodities -1.7% -->smallest since 2004 New vehicles -0.8% -->smallest since 2018 Pet… pic.twitter.com/aV2xUSv9cK — Heather Long (@byHeatherLong) June 12, 2024 - ”This was unequivocally a good report," said Olu Sonola, Fitch Rating’s head of U.S. economic research, in a note following the labor report's release. “The core services print of 0.2% was the lowest since September 2021 and that will definitely boost confidence if that trend continues over the next couple of months.” [...] Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist, declared, "Inflation has basically been defeated." Tonight in the No Malarkey Saloon: ice cream of course, duh. CHEERS to infrastructure week…again! Hey, remember that Baltimore bridge that got knocked down by a cargo ship and everybody panicked and said this was the end of civilization not only on Earth but throughout the galaxy except for certain outposts on the Outer Rim run by the Empire? It seems the doomsayers' predictions were a bit off. They weren't counting on the competence and round-the-clock dedication of Secretary of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott—Democrats one and all. Along with a dedicated crew of tireless engineers, welders, demolition experts and an A+ food service truck, the mangled bridge was dismantled and the shipping channel is now open for business. A helluva thing: The Port of Baltimore's federal channel was safely reopened to its original dimensions of 700 feet wide by 500 feet deep without any major injuries, The White House said. […] Beep beep! Around 50,000 tons of steel were cleared, equivalent to 3,800 fully loaded dump trucks, according to Major General Butch Graham of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Graham credited crane operators, divers, mariners, and salvage workers for their efforts, stating they have been working below, underneath, and on the Patapsco River since March 30. The White House released a statement early Wednesday commending the work of those in the Unified Command responsible for helping to reopen the full navigation channel to vessel traffic. Up next: deciding what kind of new bridge should be built to so that vehicle traffic can again cross the Patapsco River. My suggestion: the kind of bridge that's a tunnel. CHEERS to Things That Bounce for $400, please. During this week in 1844, Charles Goodyear got a patent for better rubber, which would prove wildly successful in the production of tires. When asked last week if the company could patent a similar substance that would give Marjorie Taylor-Greene something even slightly resembling an I.Q. bounce, a company spokesman said, "Hey, we're chemists, not miracle workers." - BRIEF SANITY BREAK - - END BRIEF SANITY BREAK - CHEERS to tummy ticklers. The world's first roller coaster—the cutest li'l thang called the Switchback Railway—debuted at Coney Island 140 years ago. Today we'll commemorate the anniversary in the usual way by throwing up on our neighbors. CHEERS to seeing the rainbow at the end of the tunnel. Happy Pride Month! 30 days of parades, festivals, tacky (but appreciated) corporate tie-ins, MAGA freakouts and, of course, LGBTQ-related polling. Sorry, haters in Hater Land, but Gallup's got some bad news for you oddballs: [M]ore than six in 10 U.S. adults oppose laws banning gender-affirming care for minors. In recent years, lawmakers in many U.S. states have attempted to limit or ban access to gender-affirming care for minors. These treatments generally can include psychological counseling, puberty blockers or hormone treatments. In all, 25 states have enacted laws or policies limiting minors’ access to gender-affirming care. Many of the states are facing lawsuits challenging these laws. [A] little more than one-third of U.S. adults favor laws banning gender-affirming care, and just over six in 10 oppose such laws. The slowpokes to the acceptance table? Of course—the conservative God Squad, for whom "love thy neighbor" and "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" are inviolable rules from God's lips to their ears…right up until the moment they develop a convenient case of hearing loss. They really should pray harder for one 'o them new Beltones. - Ten years ago in C&J: June 13, 2014 JEERS to turning your back on—[switches on giant echo machine]—THE LAND OF YOUR BIRTH! Ted Cruz finally did the deed yesterday. After pouring a ceremonial Molson into the toilet and vowing to never let the sound "eh" come from his mouth again (which actually changes nothing, since he talks out of his butt), the Harvard-educated elitist who plays the role of a country bumpkin in the U.S. Senate finally announced that he renounced his Canadian citizenship on may 14th. And in other news, Canada just announced that May 14th will henceforth become a national holiday known as Don't Let The Door Hit Ya Day. - And just one more… CHEERS to everyone's favorite Center Square. Today is late comedian and Hollywood Squares icon Paul Lynde's 98th birthday. Regular readers know I boast about him because he and I share the same hometown—Mt. Vernon, Ohio—and also a distrust of politicians: "They talk in generalities and lies, and I think they’ve caused all our grief." He was gay gay gay gay gay, but the marriage proposals from clueless middle-aged women rolled in by the truckload anyway. It’s no longer a secret that most of the jokes Lynde got credit for on Hollywood Squares were created by professional writers with a real knack for double entendres. But Paul’s campy gift for timing elevated them to comedy hall-of-fame material... Peter Marshall: The Great White is one of the most feared animals. What is the Great White? Paul Lynde: A sheriff in Alabama. - Peter Marshall: Paul, in what famous book will you read about a talking ass who wonders why it's being beaten? Paul Lynde: The Joy of Sex. - Peter Marshall: It is considered in bad taste to discuss two subjects at nudist camps. One is politics. What is the other? Paul Lynde: Tape measures. Mt. Vernon, Ohio’s finest. - Peter Marshall: According to the Constitution, what's the proper term for our form of government? Paul Lynde: At the moment? Shaky. Or will you accept Thppppppppttt!!! - Peter Marshall: Paul, why do Hell's Angels wear leather? Paul Lynde: Because chiffon wrinkles too easily. - Peter Marshall: True or false…research indicates that Columbus liked to wear bloomers and long stockings. Paul Lynde: It’s not easy to sign a crew up for six months… - Peter Marshall: What was your grandmother probably trying to do when she drank a mixture of kerosene, sugar and onion juice? Paul Lynde: We’ll never know. She blew up. And who can forget Uncle Arthur on Bewitched? Even 42 years after he died, everyone who knows of him remembers him fondly. Except, perhaps, Mount Vernon, Ohio, which I understand removed signs at the city limits touting my hometown as the "Birthplace of Paul Lynde." Still up, however, are the signs promoting Mount Vernon as the "Birthplace of Daniel Decatur Emmett," the composer of the minstrel ditty that would become the anthem of the Confederacy: "Dixie." As Paul would say: "Oh my goodness." Have a nice Thursday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today? - Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial “The more that Donald Trump is obsessed with someone like Bill in Portland Maine, the better it is for Democrats because I think we do know that he’s liberal and he may even come out and endorse Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and the Democrats before the November election, which I think would be the Republicans’ and Donald Trump’s biggest nightmare.” —Maria Cardona, CNN - [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/13/2246156/-Cheers-and-Jeers-Thursday?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&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/