Let the Show Begin

Paris prepares for Olympics opening ceremony spectacle along River Seine | Paris Olympic Games 2024 | The Guardian

More than 1 billion people are expected to watch live on TV and social media.

The idea of performing a show of this magnitude along a large stretch of river in a city under its highest terrorism alert was so outrageous that even Emmanuel Macron at first thought it was “a crazy and not very serious idea”. But this week at the Elysée, the French president said: “We decided it was the right moment to deliver this crazy idea and make it real.”

[…]

As the athletes sail, a show will unfurl around them, described by its organisers as revolutionary and irreverent, as well as full of surprises.

Historical monuments, rooftops, bridges, the sky and the water will provide simultaneous settings for overlapping dance, music, acrobatics and light shows that explore the history of Paris in all its diversity as well as its tradition of rebellion. Tightrope walkers will cross the river on high wires, the star French ballet dancer Guillaume Diop will perform on a rooftop and BMX freestyle bikers will backflip over the water. The French pop star Aya Nakamura, who faced a racist backlash earlier this year over the possibility that she would sing, will perform – and is expected to sing hits by the singer-songwriter Charles Aznavour. Céline Dion is thought to be singing Édith Piaf, and Lady Gaga is also expected to appear.

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craigcrawford
5 months ago

OBAMAS ENDORSE KAMALA

Barack, Michelle call Kamala to endorse her..

Barack: “We called to say Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office”.

Michelle: “Im so proud of my girl, Kamala. Barack and I are so excited to endorse her as the Democratic nominee because of her positivity, sense of humor, and ability to bring light and hope to people all across the country. We’ve got your back”.

https://x.com/kylegriffin1/status/1816763084477775941?t=BKucmsQafXGpk85vzexBzA&s=19

Bink
5 months ago

all aboard, we’re going to space (or possibly Harrisburg) 🤷‍♂️ 🚀 🇺🇸 

Harris for President 2024!

(omg the lyrics are so appropriate, let’s gooooo)

craigcrawford
5 months ago

Starting Sunday the Harris SuperPac is spending $50 million on this bio ad during the Olympics in battleground states, also spending $250 million for digital distribution online..

craigcrawford
5 months ago

Vance backs a federal ban against women traveling for abortions. In leaked audio he says,

“every day, George Soros sends a 747 to Columbus to load up disproportionately Black women to go have abortions in California. And of course, the left will celebrate this as a victory for diversity. Uh, that’s kind of creepy, right? If that happens, do you need some federal response to prevent it from happening? Because it’s really creepy. And you know I’m pretty sympathetic to that actually.”

https://www.rawstory.com/j-d-vance-2668817441/

Pogo
5 months ago

And the kids chime in.  Axios. 

Vice President Kamala Harris is significantly more popular among America’s youngest voters than President Biden, a new Axios/Generation Lab poll shows.
Why it matters: Former President Trump appeared to be chipping away at Democrats’ decades-long hold on the youth vote. But Harris could be extending the gap once again.
By the numbers:The survey — fielded entirely after Biden stepped aside on Sunday — asked respondents which candidate they’d support in Biden-Trump and Harris-Trump matchups.

In a Biden-Trump race, the split among 18- to 34-year-olds was 53% for Biden and 47% for Trump, giving Biden a 6-point lead.
But in a Harris-Trump contest, the same respondents split 60% for Harris and 40% for Trump — a 20-point lead for Harris.

45% of young peoplesay they have an extremely or somewhat favorable opinion of Harris.

33% say the same for Biden, along with 34% for Trump.

Zoom in:Gen Z and millennial voters were key to Biden’s 2020 victory, turning out in huge numbers and favoring him by 20 points in 2020, per a Pew Research Center analysis.

Young voters will be a key componentof Harris’ path to the presidency as well.

The bottom line: It’s not just the memes. “[T]his data actually does suggest that Harris could run up the score with young voters in a major way,” says Cyrus Beschloss, CEO of Generation Lab.

Doesnt strike me as a surprise. The gap sort of reflects the age difference between the candidates. Way to go kids. 

Bink
5 months ago

lol 20pt lead with the 18-34 set 🤯
 
Now they just need to get to the polls, ain’t won nuthin’ yet 😐
 
i feel like Kamala is bigger than the Obamas tho (like i thought i would want Michelle, just to win, but now it feels like Kamala is the right person in the right place at the right time)

ok pardon me, i’m a little excited, i was ready to start swimming to New Zealand a week ago, let’s send Peter Thiel there, instead!

🤐✌️ 🇺🇸

Slava Ukraine also

Jamie
5 months ago

Who Do You Think Should be Kamala’s Veep

Six question quiz that comes up with your pick while showing all the possibilities.

 

Jamie
5 months ago

La Vien Rose you say:  Think Pink

 

craigcrawford
5 months ago

Vice President Kamala Harris is set to appear on the season finale of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” this Friday, urging audiences to mobilize ahead of the election in a teaser clip. “Each day we are seeing our rights and freedoms under attack, including the right of everyone to be who they are, love who they love, openly and with pride,” the presidential candidate said. VIDEO.. https://x.com/i/status/1816521866057842893

craigcrawford
5 months ago

They must have done a lousy job vetting this guy, or maybe they’re just stupid..

Vance argued for higher tax rate on childless Americans

— ABC News reports.. https://abcnews.go.com/US/vance-argued-higher-tax-rate-childless-americans-2021/story?id=112284318

craigcrawford
5 months ago

Harris Campaign Rapid Response Director Jackson Peel:

JD Vance went from VP announcement to “Late Stage DeSantis” in less than one Scaramucci

craigcrawford
5 months ago

A MAGA online influencer with a million followers

Sturgeone
5 months ago

Gene Trevino
5 types of black trump supporters. Warning for totally harsh language.
 

https://x.com/GenoVeno73/status/1816630791859839459

blueINdallas
5 months ago

 
 
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/24/sport/olympic-opening-ceremony-striking-dancers-spt-intl/index.html
 
“Hundreds of dancers threatening to disrupt the Olympic Games’ Opening Ceremony over pay have called off strike action after reaching an agreement with Paris 2024, according to a statement from the union representing the dancers.”
“FSA-CGT union said on Wednesday that it received a “final offer” from Paris 2024 and their employers, proposing to increase payment for broadcasting performance rights for everyone.”
 
The French know how and when to strike.  I wonder what else is in store as the world watches? 
 
“On Monday, some 220 dancers stopped a rehearsal along the banks of Paris’ River Seine – along which the Opening Ceremony is due to take place – to protest inequalities in pay and housing conditions between the dancers.”

blueINdallas
5 months ago

https://allinchallenge.org/wp-content/uploads/ALL-IN-Out-of-State-College-Student-Voting-Guide.pdf
Those who will/have registered and will be at college need to know how to vote. 

IvyGreen
5 months ago

Wouldn’t it be awesome to have Gabby Giffords as Second Lady?!

Sturgeone
5 months ago

Semi-Fun fact: On “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis”  50’s sit-com, Chatsworth Osborne Jr was played by Al Franken’s cousin Steve.  

Pogo
5 months ago

Bink, I agree, getting the “youth” to vote is key to that shift having any significant effect, and historically that has been very difficult.  But there’s been voter participation growth in younger demos over the past two presidential election cycles. (Tufts, Circle) Half of Youth Voted in 2020, An 11-Point Increase from 2016 April 29, 2021 Our analysis of youth voter turnout nationwide finds wide variation between states and underscores the importance of electoral laws and policies that help grow voters. We estimate that 50% of young people, ages 18-29, voted in the 2020 presidential election, a remarkable 11-point increase from 2016 (39%) and likely one of the highest rates of youth electoral participation since the voting age was lowered to 18. Our new estimate is based on newly available voter file data in 41 states—AK, DC, HI, MD, MS, NH, ND, UT, WI, WY do not have reliable vote history data by age. This analysis replaces our earlier estimate, released immediately after Election Day, which estimated a 5 to 11 point increase in youth voter turnout compared to 2016 based on data available in that moment. In recent weeks, we released youth voter turnout in all available states by region: West/Southwest, South, Midwest, and East/Northeast. Those analyses offer more details on several notable states and have now been updated with the latest data. Our estimates of youth voter turnout rates in more than 80% of states are in some ways a tribute to young people’s commitment to political engagement and action in 2020, and their impressive ability to navigate a changing electoral landscape during a global pandemic. The data also allows us to zoom out, look at trends in youth voter participation, and draw some conclusions about what is and isn’t working to broaden and diversify the youth electorate. We pay special attention to laws and election administration policies that affect the ease of casting a ballot in each state—from voter registration to vote-by-mail, which can always impact youth voter turnout but may have had especially large effects in 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic shifted election processes across the… Read more »

Sturgeone
5 months ago

Those 4 pictures, Hope, Hate, Heal, and Rise; the need to add one for W Bush: WAR, BUST, or DEATH

RebelliousRenee
5 months ago

today’s meme…
 
 

Blue Bronc
5 months ago

I am still unhappy about what happened to President Biden.  It was nasty and dirty even in the political lens.  To balance the first act is the emergence of a presidential Harris.  She has stepped up to blast through the constant media coverage of sfb, so much so that you would not know he was still alive at times.  The good thing is the media thirst for shiny new objects was so needy.  Her breakthrough also diverted all of the attacks on Joe to the “who cares” file. 

  The big question is how long will the honeymoon last.  The magat crowd keeps trying to find things to dent it, but are unsuccessful, so far.  I think one of the ways the Harris campaign is handling things is to ignore, absorb and keep the dance going. 
 
With a DNC convention coming up the question of who will be the top level entertainment is floating around.  Oh could it be someone named Swift?  The magats do not have anyone like her, anywhere, even in orange.  Entertainment like her would seal the Dems generation change.  Remember former Speaker Pelosi stepped down to pass the gavel to the younger generation.  I am sure she and Joe talked about that, probably a lot.  Boomers are dying off, young are the large number of voters now, and the U.S. is not a majority white country (or close to it).

RebelliousRenee
5 months ago

Go, Kamala…. GO!
 
 

RebelliousRenee
5 months ago

just want to share…
 
 

blueINdallas
5 months ago

REM Orange Crush 
 
 
(It’s about something else, but it works. Also, a beverage for election celebrations.)

Dexter
5 months ago

Yeah, lots of polls showing what young voters think and who they favor, but it proves meaningless.  Why? Because they don’t vote. The turnout is pathetic, always has been since the 18 year olds could vote. I firmly believe Harris can only beat the rapist if every woman headed to the polling place takes 2 other women with her who were just not interested enough to make the effort to vote.   Any woman who votes for Trump is a brainwashed idiot. White men are going to vote for Trump for many reasons and I and like-minded men can’t even talk to them.  Also, James Carville pissed off Simone today on Morning Joe when James said Democrats have to calm down with the joyous celebrating and get ready for the fight of Democracy’s life. He meant this literally.  This total elation is draining, and can plummet quickly when, as James said, “they will come after us.”  Dig in, trench warfare is what we need.  Exactly what the hell all this means, I do not know.  

Jamie
5 months ago

For a 96 year old man, George Soros is spending a huge amount of time waltzing through MAGA minds.

Jamie
5 months ago

Taking the torch through the catacombs and sewers with an assist from the phantom was fun.

Sturgeone
5 months ago

JD is the gift which keeps on giving.  He’s so beautifully inept.  

craigcrawford
5 months ago

It was nice of Vance to come out and apologize to cats today for having to live with miserable childless women. He really knows how to do damage control.

Sturgeone
5 months ago

All of them are going to become total Zombies  right in plain view.  It’s going to get worse and worse for them.  This is the part where the hubris begins to become more and more evident. We get to watch.  Thats the reward for all the misery. 

They’re already totally and outlandishly cartoonish. Look at Alito and Thomas. “Speakrr” Johnson. “Judge”Cannon. They really think they’re home free with all this Nazi shit.

The don’t realize they’ve already lost. .

craigcrawford
5 months ago

Vance on Megyn Kelly’s show… “Obviously it was a sarcastic comment. I’ve got nothing against cats.” And then he adds, “I know the media wants to attack me and wants me to back down on this Megyn, but the simple point that I made is that having children, becoming a father, becoming a mother, I really do think it changes your perspective in a pretty profound way…I don’t think we should back down from it Megyn. I think we should be honest about the problem.”

IvyGreen
5 months ago

Any woman who votes for Trump is a brainwashed idiot.

 
Or Mayella Ewell
 
 

Sturgeone
5 months ago

Vance is so puppy-new  at this politics gambit he hasn’t a clue what a hole of humiliation he’s digging.  He’s a babe in the woods, and you can’t learn what Pelosi and Biden know in 4 months.  

IvyGreen
5 months ago

I think we should be honest about the problem.

 
The problem for JD is Dan Quayle already did this schtick. Honestly, how’d that work out for him?

craigcrawford
5 months ago

All this protesting just keeps the “No Bullet” Theory in the news, but they still won’t release the emergency room records.

Sturgeone
5 months ago

Anytime you say this;

“ shouldn’t back down from it Megyn”

and everybody knows you’re a weasel, 

Better start studyin’on the best way to back down.

craigcrawford
5 months ago

Recap of J.D. Vance ideas we know about so far:

— Menstrual surveillance

— Interstate travel bans for abortions

— Brood-based voting rights

— Higher tax rates for childless people

— Childless cat ladies “bad”

— Couches “good”

— Diet Mountain Dew “yum”

And it’s only Friday.

Sturgeone
5 months ago

Swing Min Kim
Over the course of his 39 years, Vance’s first, middle and last names have all been altered in one way or another.”

Pogo
5 months ago

JD ain’t talkin’ to  us.
 
Mayella Ewell. Bless her heart.

craigcrawford
5 months ago

Not taking polls seriously for another week or two until things gel but could not overlook this: 0% of the Black vote??? Donald Trump gets NO BLACK VOTES vs. Kamala Harris in new Detroit News MI poll.. https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-no-black-voters-michigan-poll-kamala-harris-1930542

RebelliousRenee
5 months ago

republican family values…
 
 

IvyGreen
5 months ago

IvyGreen
5 months ago

Refreshing to realize how many headlines for two weeks or more will likely have nothing to do with “you-know-him.”  Maybe he’ll use this free time to “get some work done.”

Sturgeone
5 months ago

Well, Joe dropping out at least caused the media to get past the “age” problem.  

blueINdallas
5 months ago

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/kamala-harris-trump-election-07-26-24/index.html

“Defending prior comments about childless adults that have resurfaced and faced backlash this week, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance said his criticism was directed at the Democratic Party for becoming “anti-family” — not at those who don’t or can’t have children.”
 
The “anti-family” party is the MAGAt/Republican Party whose governors rejected funds for summer food programs while children are out of school, whose members of Congress try to diminish SNAP and want to kill ACA healthcare, as well as destroy Social Security and Medicare for Grandma and Grandpa.    

Anti-family is as anti-family does.  
Look in the mirror Jumbo Douche.

blueINdallas
5 months ago

Nikki Hayley was banking on a future run when she kissed orange ass at the RNC.

So, if Adolf somehow forces JD to drop out to make Hayley veep nom, what do her tRUMPsky-hating voters do?

Pogo
5 months ago

BiD, IF that happens (I doubt it) her tRUMPsky-hating voters will do what they do – vote against the Democrat.
 
The Olympics opening ceremony pics seem like it was a great one – rain and all.

Bink
5 months ago

…having a trumper over for the weekend, gotta pretend i don’t have Kamala Fever 🤫

RebelliousRenee
5 months ago

HA!…
 
 

Jamie
5 months ago

Celine Dion sang the Edith Piaf classic Hymne a l’amour or  If You Loved Me in French.  Piaf did a pop English version as did several other singers.  It was beautiful.  

Bink
5 months ago

i’d post some of the stories that i’m reading about how bad Peter Thiel’s anointed VP candidate is, but they’re all over the internet, ya can’t miss ‘em 😆 

blueINdallas
5 months ago

In the country. No dish, no cable, no WiFi.  NBC is the one network that’s MIA.  
Watched a bit of the boat ride on the NBC app on my phone (thank you unlimited cellular data).  I’m not paying for Peacock, and used up a free trial on something else. 
 

Bink
5 months ago

You either make it a hobby finding European feeds or pay hundreds of dollars to watch people row.  All good, you can see the fun stuff on youtube 

No one goes to Paris anymore it’s too crowded

IvyGreen
5 months ago

Steve Schmidt has had his ups and downs, but I always look forward to what the guy has to say. 

There are many things that can be said about Donald Trump, starting with the fact that he was found liable for raping a woman. He is a convicted felon and a scumbag of extraordinary dimensions, who has desecrated the American presidency, the truth, decency and the concept of integrity. His awfulness is beyond debate — just as his unfitness is. Now, he has relieved John McCain from the record books for worst pick ever with his bearded Palin. The amazing difference is that McCain made HIS reckless decision when he was behind, facing the worst possible political environment. Trump made his pick when he was winning decisively.

https://steveschmidt.substack.com/p/the-worst-vp-pick-ever
 

Katherine Graham Cracker
5 months ago

Wow biggest insult to Vance yet.. worse pick  than Sarah Palin  (Steve Schmidt)

Bink
5 months ago

…everyone forgets Adm. Stockdale
 
…who we were about to run against King Dippy 😮‍💨 

Dexter
5 months ago

Le Tour de France couldn’t finish on the Champs de Elysses because of the damn Olympiad and had to finish in Nice. Bah Humbug!
JK. But I don’t know of many athletes in Paris for these games so I am just not on fire to watch much of it. Have at it homies.

Dexter
5 months ago

Goodbye Mark Kelly, adios Cooper.  Josh Shapiro is in. Like Flynn. “Trump !  Stop shit-talking America!…”—Josh Shapiro on Friday.
It’s one of these 3 says MSNBC.  We still have days for this.  Opinions change daily.