Motley Moose – Archive

Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

Archive for February 2013

Thursday Morning Check In: There’s No Snoozin’ for the Moozin’

Good Morning Purple People!

.

It’s time to wake yourselves up.

There’s no snoozin’ for the Moozin’.

cassandracarolina and I will be hosting the

Thursday thread so scribble a few thoughts and

Make Sure Your Peeps Know Where You Are!

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We would like to welcome you if you are new to the Moose. Feel free to walk around and check out your new purpleiscious digs. You can post a comment, continue lurking,

(We see you out there)

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or try your hand at penning a diary,

it couldn’t possibly be any worse than this.

Diary Templates can be a little challenging,

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so we’ve listed some helpful hints below.

Before we get started JanFab has  

some instructions that should help.

The Big Stuff:

Comments

Comments do not Auto-Refresh.

Click the Refresh/Reload on

your tab to see new ones.

To check for replies to your comments, click the

“My Comments” link in the right-hand column

(or go to “My Moose”). Comments will be listed

and a link to Recent Replies will be shown.

(Note: Tending comments builds community)

Here is a great link to have open in a tab:

Motley Moose Recent Comments

Ratings:

‘Fierce’ means Thumbs Up,

‘Fail’ means Thumbs Down,

‘Meh’ means one of three things:

I am un’Failing’ you but I can’t ‘Fierce’ you,

I am un’Fiercing’ after a mistaken ‘Fierce’

or ‘Meh’. Just ‘Meh’.

Diaries

When creating a new diary, remember to choose the

Draft option while you are working on it.

Choose the Public option when you want to publish.

(located at bottom of template)

If you are an established Moose, you know the drill

so pull up a chair, get yourself comfy and a cuppa.

The Rulz

The most important rule around here is…

Be kind to each other… or else.

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Seriously though, if you don’t want it said to you, then don’t say it to someone else. Respect is an important thing. If you feel the need to not be respectful, then step away and take a breather. Political debate can be both spirited and respectful.  

Visit, Share Some Recent News and Your Opinions.

All The News Fit To Share: Midweek Challenge  

For those of you lurking and being shy, no reason to be nervous. If a perpetual corner dweller like me can publish a diary like this, you can feel safe too. Drop us a comment and start making your own Moose Tracks, there’s no time like the present.

Don’t make us come looking for you.

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Woozle Wednesdai

Those of you who already either know me or know of me know that I am a massive pootie person. We  moved into an apartment and now have a pootie, named Princess Ashley, who is currently missing; however I grew up with both cats & dogs and I love both. I do not discriminate against any animal & love animal photos of all kinds. Please enjoy the following and add any photos that you think the community would like to see. Now, enjoy the photos & have some fun.





The Daily F Bomb, Wednesday 2/20/13

Good morning! Happy Love Your Pet day. It’s nice to have a break after hating the miserable creatures the other 364 days, lemme tell ya…

Interrogatories

Are you usually early, late, or right on time? What is your favorite epithet that would not get you fined if you said it on TV? If you could make up your own coat of arms, what would be on it? Do you still have all your marbles? Who is the best teacher you ever had? What is your favorite bread or bread-type product? What is your favorite sandwich?

The Twitter Emitter

What are you reading? Feb 20, 2013

For those who are new … we discuss books.  I list what I’m reading, and people comment with what they’re reading.  Sometimes, on Sundays, I post a special edition on a particular genre or topic.

If you like to trade books, try bookmooch

I’ve written some book reviews on Yahoo Voices:

Book reviews on Yahoo

“You Killed everyone, You Failed”

Cross Posted at The Progressive Zionist

Those were the words softly spoken in my ear… “You Killed Everyone, You Fail”.

Simple… to the point. Everyone: Dead.

Let me go back to the beginning…

This last weekend I was taking another course (I had one seminar in already – this was another basic course) in Israeli Tactical Point Shooting with Pistols. We were working on Targeting, target identification, shooting accuracy, shooting and moving and other basic tactical skills with handguns.

My instructor was a decorated member of the Israeli Special Forces and Security professional who flew over here to give a series of seminars in the above mentioned skills.

In this particular phase we were working dealing with clearing rooms and making sure that we were firing from maximum covered positions. For this drill our guns were not loaded and all Ammunition was carefully out of the way.

So.. what happened? Well, the instructor told us to turn our backs while he set up a room with various targets inside. Then on his call: “Shots Fired”, we were to race to the room and shoot whoever was a threat (the targets had various pictures of people on them, some with weapons, some who just looked suspicious). I was second in line.

The First person broke for the room – his trigger clicks signalling the shots. I heard the instructor say “Sorry, but you are dead” to him at the end. Then it was my turn.

On the call “Shots fired” – I broke for the room, drawing my pistol and charging for a point to not only have cover, but, for a point that could give a clear firing solution. I got that – hit my first target, and entered the room, going to one knee and firing as I went. With the Instructor yelling “FIRE, FIRE, FIRE” in my ear (to simulate pressure) I opened up on everything and anyone. They all died. I didn’t even think twice about it – in that moment and in that second I was going to shoot anything that moved. Then after successfully firing on everyone, I yelled “Room Cleared”. And that is when I heard my instructors voice softly telling me… “You Killed Everyone – You Failed”

I was dumbfounded… I couldn’t imagine what I did wrong. I used my cover to perfection, dropping in the middle of the shots gave me an advantage, what… what had I done wrong? AND THEN IT HIT ME… I looked at the targets… Two of them (out of five) didn’t have visible weapons. They had their hands in suspicious poses and in clothing BUT they were unarmed as far as I could tell. I would have killed potential hostages, I would have been just like the terrorists.

All of us… each one of us had failed the test by either killing the hostages (me and three others) OR by being shot not killing a terrorist. And this made me think… Here I am, training with police (there were a couple in class), ex-military, at least one security professional and a host of other people and I would have been almost as bad people doing the hostage taking. Because no matter what my intent… the hostages would have been dead anyhow.

And then I thought … “My G-d, how can anyone not be in favor of Gun Control??? How can anyone ask that kids and teachers be slightly trained and then allowed to carry loaded weapons into a school?” I thought, “That is insane”. I mean I have 32 hours of seminar time with active handling of a loaded weapon PLUS 3 years of martial arts and I would not have made the right decisions. I need a lot more training before I can even come close to addressing this situation.

YET, the NRA, their supporters and Conservatives seem to think that they, or their poorly trained but heavily armed citizens would never make those kinds of mistakes. It’s all one thing when you see it on T.V. or see it in movies. You can pick out your targets. BUT.. in real life it’s different. The pressure is enormous AND in this drill I wasn’t firing live rounds OR being shot at. I just wanted to be successful and “save the day”.

But Guns and being hero are not like you see on T.V. Handguns are notoriously inaccurate beyond 10 meters (give or take). Even the best operators make mistakes with loaded guns. Imagine a pressure situation with people running everywhere, screaming, shots flying…. How would some non-professional make any kind of sound decision?

Might they stop a massacre from happening? It certainly is possible. Probably though, while they might shoot the gunman, they would also probably shoot a few other people as well. Not always, but, I would bet that the numbers would be high.

Guns are not toys and they are not for people who want to play “John Wayne”. They may or may not help you in a home invasion, and if you have a gun in that situation you might just as easily shoot a family member as well as or instead of a robber.

I realize from this class the awesome power of a gun in the hands of someone who knows how to use it (I am just beginning). This is not something that should be widely available to just anyone without severe controls, as well as checks.

Maybe in our heads we are that brave hero from stage and screen and we all think we would do the right thing. We all want to be that person and honestly, there is nothing wrong with that… BUT, real life has a way of telling us that we might NOT be that “Hero”.

One day, we might wake up and hear: “You killed everyone. You Failed”.  

All The News Fit To Share: Midweek Challenge

chinawaiting

People in China standing in line for a civil service exam.  

Welcome to your nearly-nightly news diary that we leave open throughout the weekend! JanF and I are combining forces for an open news thread we hope will please all of you.  

Please comment on any of the stories in the diary or comments, or share any news stories you like from anywhere!  I tend to share lesser-known stories, and especially look for stories from original journalists w/ byline credits.  And I frequently highlight my home state of Utah.  

News stories may be added in comments throughout the day and night, so please stop back if you are inclined.  

Hubris — if only it were just a bad dream

Last night, I watched the much-awaited documentary Hubris, narrated by Rachel Maddow, which laid out for us all how the Iraq war was sold to the American public. I had to watch this show, not to help me make more sense of a war that has deeply and probably permanently affected/afflicted me, but to fill in some of the blanks, and there are many, because I was very disinterested in politics at the time I was deployed. I was just a happy Reservist, enjoying my Microsoft career and my weekend drills (along with the special interpreter missions that occasionally sent me to France, ooh la la!).

After 9/11, everybody knew we’d be going to war. I was just as surprised as my Microsoft teammates and managers when I showed up for my next shift — we all kinda suspected that anybody in the military would be immediately ordered to duty or something. But that’s not how it happened — I know now that Bush and company needed time to prepare their lies case for invading. And I just wasn’t paying attention to all that. I knew I’d be proud to serve my country in that way if called upon, but all that politics stuff was boringgg, and I trusted that those in positions of power were doing the right thing, protected by all the checks and balances our wonderful system of government puts in place. I didn’t even own a TV set, only listened to contemporary French music, not radio, got all my news via the Internet, but glossed over anything pertaining to Congress, the President, all those people up there doing Very Important Work.  

The Daily F Bomb, Tuesday 2/19/13

Good morning! Grab some coffee and join us!

Interrogatories

When faced with aggression or vitriol, do you turn the other cheek, or fight back? What kind of volunteer work do you do? Are you tidy or untidy? What is the worst smell you ever smelled? What is the best smell in the world? With fiction, do you prefer realism or something more fantasy oriented?

The Twitter Emitter

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