Happy Moon Day!

In light of the recent jingoism of the Pluto fly-by (which I had hoped we were bigger than — after all, what looks sillier than those getting the first view of our furthest “planet” standing around waving US flags?) it’s a good time to remember the wording of that plaque we left behind on all our Apollo missions:

“We came in peace for all mankind.”

The Apollo missions taught us that we were all spacemen huddled together on that one small blue marble whirling in the Stygian void of space. 

Cruz’s ‘A Time For Truth’ Belies Its Title. Surprised?

How do you promote a slick piece of GOPaganda, bash your arch-enemy, the New York Times, and manipulate an incompetent and credulous media that you DON’T own (yet) into carrying your (sewer) water for you?

Easy: Call up Dylan Byers at Politico.

Amazon: ‘No evidence’ of bulk sales for Ted Cruz book
Dylan Byers / Politico

The New York Times’ refusal to put Ted Cruz’s memoir on its bestseller list is once again being called into question — this time by Amazon, the largest Internet retailer in the country.  —  On Sunday, an Amazon spokesperson told …

This is, of course, the followup to the hilarious “HarperCollins disputes N.Y. Times on Ted Cruz book: ‘No evidence of bulk sales’
By DYLAN BYERS 7/10/15 2:10 PM EDT” article, in which the mice were exonerated by the mice for any depredations of the cheese factory they were guarding.

Kind of like “Bill Cosby refutes allegations of accusers, releasing statement that no evidence has been found.”

No Monkeying Around

We’ve sure as hell progressed, haven’t we?

Via the History Channel:

July 10, 1925 – 90 Years Ago Today
Scopes Monkey Trial begins

In Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called “Monkey Trial” begins with John Thomas Scopes, a young high school science teacher, accused of teaching evolution in violation of a Tennessee state law.

The law, which had been passed in March, made it a misdemeanor punishable by fine to “teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.” With local businessman George Rappalyea, Scopes had conspired to get charged with this violation, and after his arrest the pair enlisted the aid of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to organize a defense. Hearing of this coordinated attack on Christian fundamentalism, William Jennings Bryan, the three-time Democratic presidential candidate and a fundamentalist hero, volunteered to assist the prosecution. Soon after, the great attorney Clarence Darrow agreed to join the ACLU in the defense, and the stage was set for one of the most famous trials in U.S. history.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/monkey-trial-begins

Ooh. Ooh.

Courage.

Seasoned Greetings

A safe and glorious Fourth.

And no renditions of “Jingo Belles” either. Right? Right.

Courage.