Motley Moose – Archive

Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

Wednesday Watering Hole: Check In & Hangout for the Herd

Tags:

Good morning, Moosekind.


  PLEASE Do Not Recommend the check-in diary! 

        Recs on the weather jar comment are still welcome.

The common Moose, Alces alces, unlike other members of the deer family, is a solitary animal that doesn’t form herds. Not so its rarer but nearest relative, Alces purplius, the Motley Moose. Though sometimes solitary, the Motley Moose herds in ever shifting groups at the local watering hole to exchange news and just pass the time.

photo moose2_zps78305346.jpg

The morning check-in is an open thread and general social hour.

It’s traditional but not obligatory to give us a weather check where you are and let us know what’s new, interesting, challenging or even routine in your life lately. Nothing is particularly obligatory here except:

Always remember the Moose Golden (Purple?) Rule:

Be kind to each other… or else.

What could be simpler than that, right?

photo butmom.jpg


Categories: Uncategorized.

/ 31 Comments

31 comments

  1. iriti

    Leaving us with about an inch and a half on the grass but clear streets. Enough already, Spring, I’m losing my sense of humor.

    *because I said it’s the last snow, that’s how I know!

    photo earmites.jpg

  2. JanF

    It is 11 degrees in Madison on it’s way up to 40 degrees. Yesterday was our last* daytime high below freezing. Now we are settling in for continuing warmth, abundant sunshine, and plants beginning to emerge.

    *because I said it’s the last one, that’s how I know! 🙂

    I am both shocked and relieved that it is Wednesday. Shocked because that means that I have only three days to finish getting organized enough to be able to pick up the threads of work after some planned days off. Relieved because I have been thinking it was Thursday on both Monday and Tuesday and now thinking that it is Thursday makes a little more sense.

    Interesting day at the Supreme Court yesterday. I have been reading the transcript and commentary and I have one question: how did we get to a point in our country where 5 Catholic men can decide, despite scientific evidence, that certain forms of birth control are abortifacients and that because of their own personal religious feelings they are willing to bend the laws regarding corporate personhood to allow a corporation to deny safe, effective birth control on religious grounds. That is simply embarrassing. The only way to return our country to a sensible, secular interpretation of the law is to put Democratic majorities in Congress where laws can be crafted that protect the reproductive rights of women. Period. And enshrine them in such a way that 5 high priests, literally, cannot take them away. We had the Religious Freedom Restoration Act passed by Congress in 1993 when people were offended by perceived legal attacks on their religion. How about a Women’s Reproductive Rights Act for very real legal attacks on women’s rights to decide when and if to get pregnant?

    That is not all I have to say about this but all I have time for this morning.

    Have a great day, meese friends. And PLEASE stay out of trouble.

  3. DeniseVelez

    temps going up into the 60’s the next few days -dare I hope that spring is finally here and will stay?

  4. DeniseVelez

    somehow this got through my filters yesterday

    “Please find attached bank slip for new payment on your account.

    Regards,

    Account Department.”

    with a zip file attached – I deleted it manually.

    Cisco has this report:

    Threat Outbreak Alert: Fake Account Payment Information Email Messages on March 25, 2014  


    Cisco Security Intelligence Operations has detected significant activity related to spam email messages that claim to contain payment information for the recipient. The text in the email message attempts to convince the recipient to open the attachment to view the payment advice. However, the .zip attachment contains a malicious .exe file that, when executed, attempts to infect the system with malicious code.

    http://tools.cisco.com/securit…

    I have noticed an uptick in this type of activity recently.

    I hate the amount of time I have to spend scanning for this stuff with different software but such is life in an internet world full of phishers and scammers.

  5. anotherdemocrat

    Breathtakingly awful night’s sleep. I’m going to talk to the doc about going back on ambien — I know it has a black box warning & all that, but I wasn’t experiencing any of the bad side effects. And not sleeping sucks.

    I did 2 miles worth of 1/2 mile repeats last night. Of course, after my shower, I had a snack — and Gibby Hayes & Jon Stewart were talking about the punk scene. I was mesmerized. So that’s my fault.

    I went to the Play Store to install the apps I use most that aren’t on the phone – Foursquare, Twitter, FB, Map my walk — and the sign in just spins & spins…. I’m too tired to figure out how to fix that.

    Anyway – I have a phone.

    It’s supposed to rain today. I was too tired to put the sneakers on, I just have my soft shoes. This may be a problem.

  6. rb137

    I am up early because I am thinking about conflict minerals, Dodd-Frank, what happened with the conflict mineral legislation at the time Dodd-Frank was passed, and a new documentary (funded by the Swiss Government among other sources) called Obama’s Law. I haven’t read anything of substance in English about it (only French and German, so I’m giving Babelfish a workout this morning) It’s purely disparaging to the law in Dodd-Frank, but I think it will be useful to watch. I might post a diary about some of the details I’m picking up.

    But, this thing they are criticizing isn’t Obama’s Law — it’s Sam Brownback’s Law. Jim McDermott had a bill in the House that included better language, but (my recollection from the day that part of Dodd-Frank got settled) McDermott’s version got stuck in a drawer, or they ran out of time, or something got in the way. In any case, it didn’t get amended to include any changes to the Brownback verbiage. Still, activists defined the law as a success because something about conflict minerals was included. Even though it wasn’t as good a law as it could have been.

    I was really sad that day. I felt McDermott’s language did more to actually stop conflict metal laundering, and gave more thought to the economic effects that the law could impose on the Congolese people.

    So, Brownback’s Law (I refuse to call it Obama’s Law, even though that’s what it’s popularly called by the people it affects), they claim, is imposing a de facto embargo on artisanal miners and making the militia movement stronger.

    I might agree with some of the documentary — probably not all of it, as I expect some blame-game stunts are at play, too. I’ll wait and see before I comment. But, I think it is a useful thing for us to see. For one, it probably will shed some light on the kind of things that happen when privileged people impose a simple solution onto a complex set of problems. (Oh, hey! Privileged people are making the documentary, too!)

    Are you still reading? Thanks for that. I’ll write a set of diaries about this topic as I have time.

    Here is the documentary’s website. If you’re interested, a trailer is included in this French Language article.

    The documentary is particularly critical of Hollywood A-list activists like Ben Affleck:

    where he is described as pressuring Congress to pass a conflict free law in the US.

    Anyway, I think it will be a useful experience to watch the film, whether I agree with it entirely or not. Keep an eye out, though, because it’s being picked up as yet another anti-Obama tool. And true to form, Obama’s critics are saying “Thanks Obama” for something that originated in the GOP. This is Brownback’s Law. Not Obama’s.

  7. bfitzinAR

    It’s supposed to get into the high 50s today with 40% chance of rain.  We shall see.  Have a great rest of the week/weekend.

Comments are closed.