Motley Moose – Archive

Interrogatories

What would YOUR Olympic gold medal be for?

It’s open bar, every beverage in the world, alcoholic and non-alcoholic represented. What are you having?

Do you have anything expired (like an unplanned science project) in the back of your refrigerator?

The Twitter Emitter

It's not even March yet, and I've already given 45% fewer fucks this year than I did last year.

— That Damn Calvin. (@phive0phor) February 21, 2014

NEW STUDY: People who study online trolls are masochists.

— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) February 21, 2014

The NSA has harvested our personal information from FaceBook for 4 years. They now have the largest collection of cat pictures in the world.

— RUTH BUZZI (@Ruth_A_Buzzi) February 21, 2014

If Facebook gets anymore invasive with your personal data, congress is gonna propose you have an Ultrasound before you sign on.

— Lizz Winstead (@lizzwinstead) February 21, 2014

That awkward moment when Rand Paul says Ted Nugent should apologize for a racist comment and Nugent got the slur from a Ron Paul newsletter.

— Top Conservative Cat (@TeaPartyCat) February 21, 2014

Don't argue we should have #voterID like other countries unless you're ready to discuss death penalty, universal healthcare, gun control too

— The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) February 21, 2014

If there were a Nobel War Prize, John McCain would suddenly make sense.

— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) February 21, 2014

The man who foisted Sarah Palin into the body politic is calling other people naive? Shut up John McCain.

— Nostradeptus (@adept2u) February 21, 2014

If elected to the U.S. Senate, Steve Stockman vows to be the first Senator to primary himself.

— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) February 21, 2014

@owillis Businesses that serve Erick Erickson are aiding and abetting assholes.

— ginalou (@ginalou) February 21, 2014

Ted Nugent: "I don't apologize to Obama for calling him a subhuman mongrel, I apologize to @GregAbbott_TX for making him look like a douche"

— The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) February 21, 2014

On This Day

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar, thus messing up dates and timelines for future historians.

In 1803, the Supreme Court established the principle of judicial review in the case of Marbury v. Madison.

In 1821, Mexico declared independence from Spain.

In 1863, Arizona became a territory. They are still pretty territorial these days. Maybe they should all just spray along the border like wolves instead of building a fence.

In 1868, the House of Representatives impeached President Andrew Johnson after he attempted to dismiss Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. The Senate did not agree and Johnson was acquitted.

In 1920, the Nazi party was founded (under the name of the German Workers Party).

In 1945, in WW2, American soldiers in the Philippines liberated the capital city of Manila from the Japanese.

In 1981, the engagement of Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer was announced.

In 2006, NASA announced that the previous year was the warmest year in more than 100 years of record-keeping.

In 2011, Space Shuttle Discovery was launched for the very last time.

Born on This Day

1463 – Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Italian humanist (d. 1494)

1500 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1558)

1613 – Mattia Preti, Italian painter (d. 1699)

1619 – Charles Le Brun, French painter (d. 1690)

1753 – Henri-Pierre Danloux, French painter (d. 1809)

1788 – Johan-Christian-Clausen Dahl, Norwegian landscape painter (d.1857)

1815 – Jules Achille Noël, French sea and landscape painter (d. 1881)

1835 – Jan Evert Morel, Dutch landscape painter (not to be confused with the still life painter of the same name) (d. 1905)

1836 – Winslow Homer, American artist (d. 1910)

1844 – Raffaelo Sorbi, Italian painter (d. 1931)

1863 – Franz Stuck, German painter (d. 1928)

1874 – Honus Wagner, American baseball player (d. 1955)

1884 – Josef Stoitzner, Austrian landscape painter (d. 1951)

1885 – Chester Nimitz, U.S. admiral (d. 1966)

1885 – Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Polish writer and painter (d. 1939)

1890 – Marjorie Main, American actress (d. 1975)

1891 – Hermann Winterhalter, German painter and brother of the more famous Franz (b. 1808)

1914 – Weldon Kees, American poet, musician, artist (d. 1955)

1914 – Zachary Scott, American actor (d. 1965)

1921 – Douglass Watson, American actor (d. 1989)

1922 – Richard Hamilton, English painter (d. 2011)

1922 – Steven Hill, American actor

1928 – Barbara Lawrence, American actress (d. 2013)

1932 – Zell Miller, American politician, 79th Governor of Georgia

1933 – David “Fathead” Newman, American saxophonist (d. 2009)

1938 – James Farentino, American actor (d. 2012)

1940 – Pete Duel, American actor (d. 1971)

1942 – Paul Jones, English singer (Manfred Mann and The Manfreds)

1942 – Joe Lieberman, weasel

1944 – Nicky Hopkins, British musician (d. 1994)

1945 – Barry Bostwick, American actor

1948 – Tim Staffell, English singer (Smile)

1950 – George Thorogood, American singer and guitarist

1954 – Plastic Bertrand, Belgian singer and songwriter

1955 – Steve Jobs, American computer pioneer (d. 2011)

1962 – Michelle Shocked, American musician turned whackjob

Died on This Day

1732 – Colonel Francis Charteris, known as “The Rape-Master General”. (b. 1675)

1825 – Thomas Bowdler, English physician and editor, famous for “Bowlderizing.” (b. 1754)

1910 – Osman Hamdi Bey, Turkish painter (b. 1842)

1911 – Jules-Joseph Lefebvre, French Academic painter (b. 1836)

1920 – Paul Albert Girard, French painter (b. 1839)

1930 – Jacobus van Looy, Dutch painter (b. 1855)

1970 – Conrad Nagel, American actor (b. 1897)

1982 – Virginia Bruce, American actress and singer (b. 1910)

1990 – Malcolm Forbes, American publisher (b. 1917)

1990 – Johnnie Ray, American singer (b. 1927)

1994 – Dinah Shore, American actress and singer (b. 1916)

1998 – Henny Youngman, English-born comedian (b. 1906)

2006 – Octavia Butler, American author and MacArthur Foundation Fellow (b. 1947)

2006 – Don Knotts, American actor (b. 1924)

2006 – Dennis Weaver, American actor (b. 1924)

Today is

National Tortilla Chip Day

Estonian Independence Day

Flag Day (Mexico)

National Cupcake Day (Canada)

World Bartender Day

  Good morning Motley Meese! Hope your weekend was lovely.

The check-in is an open thread and general social hour. Come back when time allows through the day – the conversation continues.

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?

I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in “Cheers & Jeers”.

OK, you’ve been warned – here is this week’s tomfoolery material that I posted.

ART NOTES – an exhibition entitled Papier Français: French Works on Paper is at the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Museum of Art to May 25th.

HAIL and FAREWELL to the guitarist Bob Casale, from the band Devo who has died at the age of 61 …. next, to the veteran NBC News reporter/anchor Garrick Utley at age 74 … and finally, the last surviving Medal of Honor recipient who came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944, Walter Ehlers at age 92.

BUSINESS NOTES – since the end of the telegram era, Western Union has specialized in small international cash remittances … and has endured constant regulatory scrutiny as a result.

THURSDAY’s CHILD is Pickles the Cat – a twenty-one lb. kitteh (nicknamed Catasaurus Rex) who was adopted by a young Massachusetts couple chosen (from around 50 people who had applied to adopt Pickles).

BRAIN TEASER – try this Quiz of the Week’s News from the BBC.

LEST YOU THINK that only the US has budgetary battles … Canada has to jump through hoops to pass one, as well.

FRIDAY’s CHILD is Abby the Cat – a Michigan kitteh reunited with her family after going missing for fourteen months … due to her microchip.

CONTINUING a series of essays during the run-up to the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I … assigning culpability is one of the more contentious aspects of reflection.

SEPARATED at BIRTH – “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer and comedian Louis “C.K.” Szekely.

   

…..and finally, for a song of the week …………… the history of American popular music in the post-war era is replete with tragedy and early deaths but – along with Buddy Holly – there may be no greater tragedy than the fate of Tammi Terrell the soul singer. Musically talented, photogenic and intelligent, her future seemed limitless before a cruel illness took her life (a few weeks shy of her 25th birthday) forty years ago. Mercifully, she left an amazing body of work in only a short time.

Born as Thomasina Montgomery in Philadelphia, she won some talent shows in her youth and by age thirteen in 1958 was a regular opening act for singers such as Gary “U.S.” Bonds and Patti Labelle. She was signed in 1961 to the local Scepter label and released songs such as “The Voice of Experience”. James Brown caught her live act and signed her to his Try Me Records label as an eighteen year-old in 1963, where she released “I Cried” and “If I Would Marry You“. And if that wasn’t enough: she did all this while a pre-med student at the Ivy League’s University of Pennsylvania.

But she left Penn after two years 1965 when she was discovered by Motown’s Berry Gordy while performing with Jerry Butler. At first, she recorded solo as Tammi Montgomery, after the 1957 Debbie Reynolds song Tammy – releasing tunes such as “I Can’t Believe You Love Me” and “Come On and See Me”. And it’s quite possible she could have had a successful solo career over the long haul, but her Motown recordings were not big-sellers …. and Gordy had a different idea in mind, that catapulted her into stardom.

And this was her pairing with Marvin Gaye as a duet singer (as well as Gordy’s switching Montgomery to Terrell as a stage name). They clicked right away and – especially with the Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson husband-and-wife songwriting team on their side – released songs you may well remember. “Your Precious Love” and “If I Could Build My Whole World Around You” made the Top Ten …. Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing was a hit before it became a Coke advertising jingle ….. and their best-known tune Ain’t No Mountain High Enough spawned numerous cover versions by others.

Tammi had a tempestuous romance with singer David Ruffin (as shown in the Temptations Forever mini-series) that ended due to his drug use. All along though, Tammi Terrell began to suffer severe migraine headaches – which nonetheless failed to prepare everyone for what lay ahead.

While the two performed at the October, 1967 homecoming concert at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, Tammi Terrell collapsed in Marvin Gaye’s arms, and an examination at a nearby hospital revealed that she was suffering from a brain tumor. And it was all downhill for here from there (for the remaining 2-1/2 years of her life) as she underwent eight operations, enduring some loss of memory as well as being confined to a wheelchair.

But though she never performed live again, Tammi was determined to record what she could. For their first full duets album United – in some cases, Marvin Gaye overdubbed his voice onto some previous solo recordings of Terrell’s. In others, he and the band worked to complete the basic recording, and it was she who grafted her vocals later.

One controversy arose over the recording of their final duets album Easy in 1969. Valerie Simpson maintains that she had been brought in to provide guide vocals (temporary, not intended for final release) but Marvin Gaye later told his biographer David Ritz that Valerie Simpson’s vocals were in fact used (and merely uncredited) at the suggestion of Berry Gordy when Terrell’s condition had deteriorated to a certain point. Tammi Terrell’s sister wrote a book siding with Simpson’s account, claiming it was in fact her sister’s voice.

Tammi Terrell finally succumbed to that brain tumor in March, 1970 (just a few weeks short of her 25th birthday). Marvin Gaye was so distraught that he left touring for two years, and that the turmoil that was an integral part of his landmark 1971 album What’s Going On was in part a reaction to the loss of Tammi Terrell.

She has several compilation albums of note: one a personal retrospective that leans more heavily on her solo recordings …. another featuring the best-known of her duets with Marvin Gaye and – for completists – a comprehensive album of Marvin Gaye-Tammi Terrell duet recordings. All are fitting tributes.

   

Of all of their work, I’m partial to You’re All I Need to Get By – another Ashford & Simpson composition. It was recorded in July, 1968 when Terrell was recovering from her first few brain surgeries and – since it was produced by Ashford & Simpson themselves – it featured a more mature, soulful sound than a traditional Motown youthful pop arrangement.

It has been covered by everyone from Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin to Michael McDonald, and a duet version by Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams in 1978 reached #47 on the charts. And below you can listen to it.

  Make sure you let your peeps

  know where to find you!  

The morning check-in is an open thread posted to give you a place to visit with the meeses. Feel free to chat about your weather, share a bit of your life, grump (if you must), rave (if you can). The diarist du jour sometimes posts and runs, other times sticks around for a bit, often returns throughout the day and always cares that meeses are happy … or at least contented.

On weekends (and holidays), you may find the check-in thread earlier or later than normal because … it is the weekend! Moosies need their beauty rest:

For those new to the Moose, Kysen left a Moose Welcome Mat (Part Deux) so, please, wipe your feet before you walk in the front door start posting.

The important stuff to get you started:

– Comments do not Auto-refresh. Click the refresh/reload on your tab to see new ones. Only click Post once for comments. When a diary’s comment threads grow, the page takes longer to refresh and the comment may not display right away.

– 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)

– Ratings: Fierce means Thumbs Up, Fail means Thumbs Down, Meh means one of three things: I am unFailing you but I can’t Fierce you, I am unFiercing after a mistaken Fierce … or Meh. Just Meh. (p.s. Ratings don’t bestow mojo, online behaviour does).

– The Recommended list has a prominent place on the Front Page because it reflects the interests of the Moose. When people drive-by, we want them to see what we are talking about: news, politics, science, history, personal stories, culture. The list is based on number of recs and days on the list. Per Kysen: “The best way to control Rec List content is to ONLY rec diaries you WANT to see ON the list.”

– Finally, the posting rules for a new diary: “Be excellent to each other… or else”

(Some other commenting/posting/tending notes for newbies can be found in this past check-in and, of course, consult Meese Mehta for all your questions on meesely decorum.)

You can follow the daily moosetrails here: Motley Moose Recent Comments.

~

Let the greetings begin!

~

A look at the different levels of needs/wants people have for Pope Francis’ tenure, following the jump.

The title of this essay refers, obviously, to the line uttered by the fictional boot camp Sergeant Hulka in the Bill Murray film Stripes – where in response to a paranoid new recruit (who threatens all of his compadres if they do certain things to him or his stuff) he utters “Lighten up, Francis”. And this is what I hope that Pope Francis will achieve during his tenure: to first, lighten-up the institution from its adversarial ways the past few decades … with all else following.

Regular readers know that I seldom wade-into hot-button topics … or ones that have covered by numerous other diarists on this site. And I would not be doing so now, but for a recent essay in The Week magazine (which is helpful to me in compiling my recurring Who Lost the Week?!?! poll) … where I think I can answer the question posed by its author.

Damon Linker writes for the New Republic and I gather is something of a social conservative (though probably not a full-fledged right winger). This was pointed out by the blogger Ed Kilgore – whose postings, by the way, are an excellent read each weekday – who seems to indicate they worked together at one time but takes exception with the Religious Freedom angle Linker seems to cite.

Anyway, in the matter of Pope Francis, Linker was of the opinion that liberal practicing Catholics would like the tone that Francis has taken, but feel upset at the lack of change he is likely to effect. Here are some passages – and then his surprise.

Liberals would therefore have to settle for a moderation of papal rhetoric, and little else. I concluded by noting that although rhetoric matters in religion, this was far less than most liberal Catholics were hoping for. But now I’m not so sure ……

Describing herself as a progressive Catholic, she dismissed my skepticism about the likelihood of Francis reforming church doctrine. “Doctrine for a Catholic, now, is not even an issue,” said Trish from Kentucky. “Catholics do not care about doctrine,” she said, adding, “It’s irrelevant. It’s a non-issue for Catholics.”

For all I know, many or even most liberal Catholics hope and pray for doctrinal reform. But what if Trish is right? If so, the question I’d want to ask these liberals is: Why do you continue to attend church and think of yourself as a Catholic?

(What’s) the point of staying put when you’re utterly indifferent to so much of what the Catholic Church (and on contraception at least, pretty much only the Catholic Church) proclaims to be true?

If Trish is the future of American Catholicism, we appear to be left with a puzzle: When does a church without a doctrine cease to be a church at all?

He may be puzzled since many reviews of Francis tend to be quite pronounced. Many fall into what I refer to as “The 360’s” – people who are practically spinning around; amazed at the lack of judgment he ascribes to people’s private lives, his moves to curb clerical excess (such as the Bishop of Bling in Germany), passing over some culture warriors, his own modest means and background (i.e., that he worked as a bouncer in his youth), and especially his attempts to re-assert Church practices on treatment of the poor (in particular) and criticism of laissez-faire capitalism (in general).

I, too, like these things … but ascribe them (in no small part) to his being a Jesuit – and I’m amazed that in all the history of the Church, he is the first Jesuit to be elected to that post. Still, it’s what one might expect of someone from his part of the world, and the delight many “360’s” get from seeing so many conservatives (Rush, Sarah Palin, et al) grumble over him is more like a sugar high.

At the other end of the spectrum is what I refer to as “The 180’s” – those who briefly acknowledge the above but reply, “Until he does a 180 on female priests, permitting gays to marry, allowing divorce, etc.” then they’ll abstain from any praise. Given the slowness in how this organization works, even if Francis wanted to change numerous policies – and there is no evidence he does, as Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley notes – it is unrealistic for him to be able to effect these changes by himself, though I suspect he may start the process on one or two internal policies (and leave it to his successors to work on).

Suffice it to say: we do not know how his tenure will shake out. I was one of those who saw promise in John Paul II: given his being the first non-Italian to be elected Pope in 450 years, his skills at dealing with the Nazis in his youth (and the Soviet establishment as an older man) plus his willingness to revisit some past mistakes (such as its condemnation of Galileo 350 years earlier). I saw his motorcade when he visited Manhattan (when I was working there) back in 1979; looking back I was amazed at how close he passed by and without any bullet-proof glass (which would prove to be later necessary). Still, it was exciting.

Yet we now know that his administration also moved backwards (in many, many ways) that was not possible to see from afar, all those years ago. I am reminded of the remark (possibly apocryphal) attributed to then-Chinese premier Zhou En Lai about the significance of the French Revolution: “It is too early to tell”.

——————————————————————————————-

Before I return to the issue that Damon Linker raised, I should probably fill-in some details as to my vantage point on this. I grew-up as a Catholic and – while I drifted away in my 20’s – I still identify as one.

Phil Donahue once said (and I can’t find an online reference) that if you grew-up as one and had more than a casual relationship (i.e., attended a Catholic school or university, knew members of the clergy, etc.) and do not convert (and actively practice) a different religion … you will probably be a Catholic all your life (at least in a sort of mindset).

That does not apply to the many people who had bad experiences with the Church (let alone those who had horrific ones) I realize.

Yet mine was fairly good – and after the leather goods firm he worked for went out of business in 1965, my father worked for the Chancery office in our Long Island, NY diocese …. so I got to meet many higher-ranking church officials. When my father died, the Bishop paid a visit to his wake … and an auxiliary bishop led his funeral Mass (which annoyed the local pastor, I later came to learn). And that’s why I still identify with the faith, albeit as an inactive member.  

I devoted a prior Top Comments diary to my experiences attending a Catholic elementary school for a few years, then a public elementary (and junior high) which definitely had its advantages … yet I had trouble with a bully in junior high. Then I attended a Catholic …actually a (progressively-run) Jesuit high school, where I had a chance to heal and grow-out of my shell. It was an excellent academic environment, largely due to our principal (whom I have been in touch with). And the event I am looking forward to most this year is our 40th anniversary class reunion this July. It will prevent me from attending Netroots Nation … but I wouldn’t miss this for the world.

Still, I drifted away for philosophical reasons in my 20’s. I have attended other church services (Methodist, Anglican and Unitarian) and while I had an interesting time (especially in the UU church) none satisfied me. Truth-be-told: I no longer have any interest in becoming an active member of any church now (not even if the Catholic church fixed every single problem I have with it). Still, I wind-up attending 2-3 services/year due to weddings and (alas, more frequently) funerals … and feel as if I belong, if only for that day.

Someone who – unlike myself – seems to be a practicing member is the sportswriter/blogger Charlie Pierce (whom many of you undoubtedly follow). A few years back he wrote an essay in the Boston Globe, explaining his rationale in What I Believe – which is a tad long, but which I would urge you to read at some point. His explanation (as to why he stays) cites his life experiences and observations (which frequently mirror mine) and here are some passages from it.

The institutional Catholic Church, for me, has no concrete form, no physical structure, no hierarchy except that of ideas. Even my attendance at Mass is largely contemplative, the priest presiding in a supervisory capacity, his authority dependent wholly on the primacy of my individual conscience. For it’s not really about celibacy, or female priests. It’s about the source of the authority exercised by a hierarchical priesthood based in Rome.

As for the great mass of other churches, I don’t get that same experience from their rituals. That’s not their fault, nor is it mine. It doesn’t make my church the One True one and theirs not. My experience is my own.

Which brings me to the most fundamental rule of my Catholicism – nobody gets to tell me that I’m not a Catholic. Those of my fellow Catholics who remain loyal to the institutional structure of the Church don’t get to do so.

Bill Donahue, he’s looking at you. And so I think he gets at the heart of the matter of this essay:

a) There are wants and there are needs (as the philosopher Mick Jagger once sang). I think the needs being first and foremost the line from the famous dictum: First, do no harm. Immediately after that, work on the wants.

b) What many liberal Catholics are seeking, I believe, can be summed-up as: “Bring back the 70’s, man!” That was a time when there was a peaceful co-existence among members of the faith ….. that was later torn apart … and what may have a chance of being restored, if we’re lucky.

c) And thus, to achieve the title of this essay.

Damon Linker appears to think that a religion with a lax attitude may not be worth attending. Indeed, my best friend’s brother once asked me about what I thought a congregation should do for people. I answered that it could provide you with the tools to make ethical decisions, whereupon he thought it should answer those questions for you. I don’t think he is a fundie, but his religious need is for that type of church … and before he moved west, I think he attended such a congregation.

Part of the reason why the Church went down the path of confrontation was in reaction to the changes brought about by John XXIII’s Vatican II. In a review of a 2011 conference organized by right-wing fanatic Charles Murray on the State of White America, reporter Adam Serwer noted that he tried to note the decline of many parts of White America by shooting down the usual complaints … yet someone at the conference actually cited Vatican II as a possible cause of “moral relativism”.

By contrast, I think many liberal Catholics would say that the concept of free will is central to their faith. And which is why the attitude of the 70’s suited many liberal Catholics fine: preach whatever you want from the pulpit, as long as they did not try to legislate from the pulpit. Alas, we know that many did … in league with the conservative movement. And worse, the legislation did not apply solely to members of the faith … but to all Americans, whether they signed-up for religion or not. Several years ago, then-congressman Barney Frank – whose district had a large Catholic population – said that he agreed with many of the public policies that his local diocese advocated. But he never cited them, because he felt it was dishonest to do so when he had some major political differences with the diocese he could not agree with.

And so, while I am not a practicing member of the Church: I feel comfortable in saying what I believe that Charlie Pierce (and other Catholic liberals) need from Pope Francis. Besides (a) cleaning-up the corruption in the church administration and other organizational matters, then proceed to (b) make the necessary reforms to atone for (and prevent) the criminal acts that were perpetrated, enabled and tolerated by the hierarchy … and finally, (c) end the adversarial relationships beyond the pulpit that apply to Catholics and non-Catholics, too. (The “First, do no harm policy”).

Then, get to work on the wants: allowing female priests (and married priests), getting out of the contraception war, changing its policies on gays, divorce, etc. As mentioned before, what I have outlined above is woefully inadequate for many (especially those the Church harmed).

Yet if Francis is able to achieve the needs listed above: then I think the initial response he has received – becoming Time Magazine’s Person of the Year and even making the cover of Rolling Stone – will prove to have been justified. For now: in the words attributed to Zhou En Lai: … “It is too early to tell”.    

Let’s close on a less-dogmatic note: the original “Lighten up, Francis” from 1981.

The President’s Weekly Address post is also the Weekend Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comment threads.

From the White House – Weekly Address

In this week’s address, President Obama says this is a year of action, and he will do everything he can to restore opportunity for all. The President already lifted the wages for federal contract workers, and he calls on the American people to tell Congress to finish the job by boosting the federal minimum wage for all workers to $10.10 and give America a raise.

Transcript: Time to Lift the Minimum Wage and Give America a Raise

Hi, everybody.

Restoring the idea of opportunity for all requires a year of action from all of us.  Wherever I can act on my own, I will – and whenever I can ask more Americans to help, I’ll do that too.

In my State of the Union Address, for example, I asked more business leaders to take action to raise their employees’ wages.  Because even though our economy is growing, and our businesses have created about eight and a half million new jobs over the past four years, average wages have barely budged.

So it’s good news that, earlier this week, one of America’s largest retailers, The Gap, decided to raise wages for its employees beginning this year.  Their decision will benefit about 65,000 workers in the U.S.  That means more families will be able to raise their kids, finish their studies, or keep up on their bills with a little less financial stress and strain.

Gap’s CEO explained their decision simply – he said, “[It’s] right for our brands, good for our people, and beneficial to our customers.”  And he’s right – raising Americans’ wages isn’t just a good deed; it’s good business and good for our economy.  It helps reduce turnover, it boosts productivity, and it gives folks some more money to spend at local businesses.

And as a chief executive myself, that’s why I took action last week to lift more workers’ wages by requiring federal contractors to pay their employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour.

In the year since I first asked Congress to raise the minimum wage, six states have passed laws to raise theirs, and more states are working on it as we speak.  But only Congress can finish the job and lift Americans’ wages across the country.

Right now, there’s a bill before Congress that would boost America’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.  That’s easy to remember – “ten-ten.”  That bill would lift wages for more than 16 million Americans without requiring a single dollar in new taxes or spending.  But even though a majority of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans across the country support raising the minimum wage, Republicans in Congress don’t want to give it a vote.

Hardworking Americans deserve better than “no.”  Let’s tell Congress to say “yes.”  Pass that bill.  Give America a raise.  Because here in America, no one who works hard should have to live in poverty – and everyone who works hard should have a chance to get ahead.

Thanks, and have a great weekend.

Bolding added.

~

  Make sure you let your peeps

  know where to find you!  

The morning check-in is an open thread posted to give you a place to visit with the meeses. Feel free to chat about your weather, share a bit of your life, grump (if you must), rave (if you can). The diarist du jour sometimes posts and runs, other times sticks around for a bit, often returns throughout the day and always cares that meeses are happy … or at least contented.

On weekends (and holidays), you may find the check-in thread earlier or later than normal because … it is the weekend! Moosies need their beauty rest:

For those new to the Moose, Kysen left a Moose Welcome Mat (Part Deux) so, please, wipe your feet before you walk in the front door start posting.

The important stuff to get you started:

– Comments do not Auto-refresh. Click the refresh/reload on your tab to see new ones. Only click Post once for comments. When a diary’s comment threads grow, the page takes longer to refresh and the comment may not display right away.

– 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)

– Ratings: Fierce means Thumbs Up, Fail means Thumbs Down, Meh means one of three things: I am unFailing you but I can’t Fierce you, I am unFiercing after a mistaken Fierce, or Meh. Just Meh. (p.s. Ratings don’t bestow mojo, online behaviour does).

– The Recommended list has a prominent place on the Front Page because it reflects the interests of the Moose. When people drive-by, we want them to see what we are talking about: news, politics, science, history, personal stories, culture. The list is based on number of recs and days on the list. Per Kysen: “The best way to control Rec List content is to ONLY rec diaries you WANT to see ON the list.”

– Finally, the posting rules for a new diary: “Be excellent to each other… or else”

(Some other commenting/posting/tending notes for newbies can be found in this past check-in and, of course, consult Meese Mehta for all your questions on meesely decorum.)

You can follow the daily moosetrails here: Motley Moose Recent Comments.

~

Let the greetings begin!

~

Interrogatories

Did you have a favorite Beatle? Which one?

Do you still keep the phone book around since the advent of the internet? Back in the olden days when phone books were actually useful, did you use the phone book, or call Information?

When walking or driving past lit windows at night, can you resist looking in?

The Twitter Emitter

Out of curiosity, where were you all thinking of moving after you're done destroying the Earth? 'Cause I assume you've thought that through.

— God (@TheTweetOfGod) February 19, 2014

Hi, I oppose Hillary Clinton b/c I'm a good Christian & don't much care for the way she forgave her husband & kept her family together. #p2

— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) February 20, 2014

I'm Christian, and I'll be your server this evening, unless you're gay.

— Chris Dashiell (@cdashiell) February 20, 2014

Florida has just approved the “Mom, She’s Looking At Me” law, which permits an 8 year old to shoot his sister in the back of a station wagon

— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) February 20, 2014

BuzzFeed should get into funeral planning. "22 Lemurs That Will Miss Bob", "Which Type of Mourner Are You?". Ripe for disruption.

— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) February 20, 2014

You've reached the #RNC. For racist hate press 1, #Benghazi fantasies 2, Christian califates 3, #Birthers 4, War On Women 5… #gopvoicemail

— The Right is Wrong (@therightswrong) February 21, 2014

Ted Cruz was named Republican Statesman of the Year, which he earned by not compromising on anything.

— Top Conservative Cat (@TeaPartyCat) February 21, 2014

If Buzzfeed & Politico escalate their war to the point where bombs are flung & society collapses, i call dibs on posting the apocalypsticle.

— Jason Linkins (@dceiver) February 21, 2014

As a general rule, any statement that includes "take this country back" can be safely ignored.

— Kelsey D. Atherton (@AthertonKD) February 21, 2014

There's an old saying in politics: If you're explaining Donald Trump and Ted Nugent, you're not actually in politics.

— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) February 21, 2014

New Georgia license plate features Confederate flag, “but not for racist reasons. It’s just to honor men who died protecting black slavery.”

— Top Conservative Cat (@TeaPartyCat) February 21, 2014

On This Day

In 1245, Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, was granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery. But they can’t do the same in the present day for child molesters?

In 1848, former President John Quincy Adams suffered a stroke on the floor of the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. (He died two days later.)

In 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published The Communist Manifesto.

In 1874, the Oakland Daily Tribune published its first edition.

In 1878, the first telephone directory was issued, by the District Telephone Co. of New Haven, Conn.

In 1885, the newly completed Washington Monument was dedicated.

In 1925, The New Yorker magazine made its debut.

In 1947, Edwin H. Land publicly demonstrated his Polaroid Land camera, which could produce a black-and-white photograph in 60 seconds.

In 1948, NASCAR was incorporated.

In 1965, former Black Muslim leader Malcolm X was shot and killed by assassins identified as Black Muslims as he was about to address a rally in New York City; he was 39.

In 1972, President Richard M. Nixon began his historic visit to China.

In 1975, Former Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman were sentenced to 2 1/2 to 8 years in prison for their roles in the Watergate cover-up.

Born on This Day

1575 – Maarten Pepyn, Flemish painter (d. 1642)

1621 – Rebecca Nurse, English colonist executed during Salem witch trials (d. 1692)

1630 – Cornelis Droogsloot, Dutch painter (d. 1673)

1686 – Frans Xaver Hendrik Verbeeck, Flemish painter (d. 1755)

1728 – Tsar Peter III of Russia, husband of Catherine the Great (d. 1762)

1815 – Ernest Meissonier, French painter and sculptor (d. 1891)

1830 – Henry Wallis, English Pre-Raphaelite painter (d. 1916)

1865 – Grace Carpenter Hudson, U.S. painter who specialized in portraits of Native Americans (d. 1937)

1876 – Pyotr Konchalovsky, Russian painter (d. 1956)

1882 – Jean-Théodore Jean Dupas, French Art Deco painter and designer (d. 1964)

1885 – Sacha Guitry, Russian dramatist (d. 1957)

1893 – Celia Lovsky, Russian-born actress (d. 1979)

1893 – Andrés Segovia, Spanish guitarist (d. 1987)

1900 – Madeleine Renaud, French theater actress (d. 1994)

1903 – Anaïs Nin, French diarist (d. 1977)

1903 – Scrapper Blackwell, American blues guitarist and singer (d. 1962)

1909 – Hans Erni, Swiss painter

1915 – Ann Sheridan, American actress (d. 1967)

1917 – Lucille Bremer, American actress (d. 1996)

1924 – Robert Mugabe, dictator of Zimbabwe 1987-present

1927 – Erma Bombeck, American humorist (d. 1996)

1927 – Hubert de Givenchy, French fashion designer

1933 – Nina Simone, American singer (d. 2003)

1936 – Barbara Jordan, American politician (d. 1996)

1940 – John Lewis, American politician and civil rights activist

1943 – David Geffen, American record producer

1945 – Paul Newton, British musician (Uriah Heep)

1946 – Alan Rickman, English actor

1947 – Olympia Snowe, American politician

1949 – Jerry Harrison, American musician (Talking Heads and The Modern Lovers)

1951 – Vince Welnick, American musician (The Grateful Dead and The Tubes) (d. 2006)

1952 – Jean Jacques Burnel, British musician (The Stranglers)

1955 – Kelsey Grammer, American actor

1958 – Jake Burns, Irish singer (Stiff Little Fingers)

1958 – Mary Chapin Carpenter, American singer

1960 – Steve Wynn, American singer/songwriter (Dream Syndicate)

1962 – Chuck Palahniuk, American writer

1964 – Mark Kelly, American astronaut

1973 – Justin Sane, American musician (Anti-Flag)

1975 – Wish Bone, American rapper (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony)

1982 – Chantal Claret, American singer (Morningwood)

1987 – Ellen Page, Canadian actress

1996 – Sophie Turner, English actress (Game of Thrones)

Died on This Day

1513 – Pope Julius II (b. 1443)

1624 – Dirck van Baburen, Dutch painter (b. 1595)

1665 – Michel Dorigny, French painter, draftsman, and printmaker (b. 1616)

1668 – John Thurloe, English Puritan spy (b. 1616)

1677 – Baruch Spinoza, Dutch philosopher (b. 1632)

1730 – Pope Benedict XIII (b. 1649)

1921 – Karl Wilhelm Anton Seiler, German painter (b. 1846)

1824 – Eugène de Beauharnais, son of Napoleon’s wife, Josephine (b. 1781)

1894 – Gustave Caillebotte, French painter (b. 1848)

1911 – Isidre Nonell, Spanish painter (b. 1872)

1920 – Vladimir Makovsky, Russian painter (b. 1846)

1972 – Bronislava Nijinska, Polish-Russian ballet dancer (b. 1891)

1982 – Murray the K, American impresario and disc jockey (b. 1922)

1982 – Gershom Scholem, German-born Israeli Jewish philosopher and historian (b. 1897)

1985 – Louis Hayward, British actor (b. 1909)

1985 – Ina Claire, American actress (b. 1893)

1991 – Dame Margot Fonteyn, English ballet dancer (b. 1919)

1999 – Gertrude B. Elion, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1918)

2008 – Sunny Lowry, first British woman to swim the English Channel (b. 1911)

Today is

International Mother Language Day

Feralia

National Sticky Bun Day

Card Reading Day

Good morning, Moosekind. TGIF!

Friday Coffee Hour and check-in is an open thread and general social hour. Come back when time allows through the day – the conversation continues.

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?

(Cross posted by author from the Daily Kos)

(Written by an American expat living in the European Union)

German magazine Der Spiegel reports,”Nine months after the NSA affair, the German government is steering towards a serious confrontation with the US”

In the wake of the Snowden affair, whistler blower Edward Snowden revealed that Angela Merkel’s telephone had been spied on by the NSA. Please let’s understand according to Forbes magazine Angela Merkel as the Chancellor of Germany which has become the richest and most powerful country in the European Union (the number 2 exporting nation in the world) has according to Forbes magazine rated Angela Merkel as the most powerful woman in the world. So as you can well imagine, to reiterate the Snowden revelation that Angela Merkel’s phone had allegedly been spied on by the NSA sent shock waves through the capitals of the great social democracies of Western Europe and sent shock waves through the German capital, that if the chancellor’s private cell phone had been illegally wiretapped, then no one was safe from an illegal alleged NSA wiretap. The very real anger and humiliation this produced throughout the European Union, which as a population of 500 million people is larger than the population of the US, and whose economy is likewise larger than the US and of course the Euro rivals the US dollar in power. So it is that Europe has taken a very dim view of the NSA alleged spying matter on millions of its citizens, to include the head of the European Union’s most powerful country, German chancellor Angela Merkel.

So it is that in the recently published Spiegel article which this diary attempts to review, we see that Germany appears to be on the road to declaring a defacto sort of counter-espionage war against the United States on German soil. This turn of events has alarmed diplomats, scholars and statesmen/statespersons around the world. As such I invite you to give a very careful reading of the review of the Spiegel article whereupon I invite you to read in full for yourself the Spiegel article being reviewed entitled “Striking Back: Germany Considers Counterespionage Against US”.

“Unsatisfied with the lack of answers provided by Washington in the NSA spying scandal, officials in Berlin are considering a new approach. Germany might begin counterespionage measures aimed at allies.”…….”In other words: Germany intends to defend itself against all spying efforts in the future,”.…”While the minister’s words may have sounded innocuous, they marked nothing less than the start of a political about-face. Away from the public eye, the German government is moving toward implementing plans to turn its own spies against partner countries like the United States, putting allies on the same level as the Chinese, Russians and North Koreans”.

To reiterate, diplomats, scholars and Statespersons the world over are alarmed and indeed dismayed at this turn of events. Whereupon we should ask how did it ever come to this and why has this been allowed to happen? Whereupon this diary asks you to write to your member of Congress today to ask them these very questions so as to provide their leadership for a diplomatic solution before matters in this sad, retrograde state of affairs are allowed to progress any further.

“When whistleblower Edward Snowden first went public with his revelations about the NSA’s efforts to spy on Europe and other parts of the world. In response to the allegations surrounding the documents he leaked,…..after months of waiting, no satisfactory answers have been provided”.

Aren’t we as American voters legitimately allowed to ask our members of Congress why it is that the NSA to date has not provided the German government and other allied governments with the answers that they reasonably seek in the matter of the whistler blower Edward Snowden’s disclosure. Shouldn’t we be allowed to ask our members of Congress this question before the US is dragged into an expensive counterespionage new Cold War. Shouldn’t we as American voters hold our members of Congress responsible for providing the public with this information in a transparent democracy, wherein government is held accountable to the people who have voted them into office.

Humiliating Revelations from the Wild West!

“The stubbornness of the Americans, who have answered few relevant questions from Germany during the National Security Agency spying scandal…Now, pressure is growing for Germany to find its own answers to the questions Washington has been ignoring.”………..  “They’re like cowboys who only understand the language of the

Wild West,” sources in Merkel’s party say, referring to the Americans’ intractability. Two government agencies are at the center of the strategy to restore respect that has been lost over months of humiliating revelations that the US has been spying on Germany: the Office for the Protection” of the Constitution and the Federal Prosecutor’s Office.”

Honestly as American voters, shouldn’t we be alarmed at the NSA’s conduct in humiliating our allies into declaring a counterespionage war against the United States, but more to the point shouldn’t we as American voters be allowed to ask our members of Congress, whose taxes do they intend to raise in order to pay for the NSA’s declared new cold espionage war. Or perhaps we should hold a national referendum asking for tax payers to volunteer to pay for this latest NSA undertaking produced in our name.

In America today, we have 59 million people who don’t have medical insurance, 133 million people who don’t have dental insurance, over 45 million people who are on food stamps, 60 million Americans get no paid sick leave. The United States is the only major industrialized nation in the world that by law doesn’t provide job protected paid maternity leave by right of law. As such, please excuse us for asking just who the hell is going to pay for the NSA’s self-declared new counterespionage cold war? And exactly whose taxes do you intend to raise (and whose benefits do you intend to cut) in order to pay for it, now that the Europeans have been humiliated into defending themselves, their people and their leaders through counterespionage defensive measures. Because in the mind of this reviewer, this Spiegel article seems to be telling us along with other European press sources that the Europeans have undertaken exhaustive diplomatic measures to resolve the matter and the US government has simply ignored them. Aren’t these questions something that we should reasonably ask our members of Congress who we voted into office?

Diplomats Leave Washington Empty-Handed

“A number of high-level German delegations have traveled to Washington on fact-finding missions, but they have also returned empty-handed for the most part”. ……….”And no progress whatsoever has been made on a “no-spy agreement.”Last week, US President Barack Obama himself rejected any form of a “no-spy agreement”. “There’s no country where we have a no-spy agreement,” Obama said in a press conference during a visit by French President François Hollande.The French leader, who had expressed similar wishes to those of the Germany, was forced to travel back to Paris empty-handed”.

I must say having voted for President Obama twice, I really find his statement in this regard to be a real disappointment as it relates to an unwillingness for a diplomatic solution in the matter.

Teaching the US a Lesson

“The changes mean that, nine months after the NSA affair, the German government is steering towards a serious confrontation with the US. …… “Increased monitoring of allies could trigger unforeseen consequences and potentially cause damage to existing intelligence partnerships”.

The trading relationship that we have established with the European Union is vital to the American economy, vital to a strong American dollar, vital to the future of America’s children. I therefore ask and urge you today to take the time to write to and call your member of Congress on this important issue. To stand up and be counted and tell them how you feel and most importantly ask them exactly how much they intend to raise your taxes to pay for a counter intelligence espionage cold war that will only benefit NSA bureaucrats and contractors.

PS: I’d like to invite you to another diary that maybe of interest to you. Thank you for your support of progressive issues.

Switzerland far right party of hate declares war on European immigration

http://www.dailykos.com/story/…