Good morning! I am your substitute host for today, and yes, I am taking names to report back to iriti any infractions (I used to deal with high school students without benefit of body armor – I can handle this)
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:
In 1661, Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, was ritually executed two years after his death, on the anniversary of the execution of Charles I, the monarch he deposed. Can you say “overkill?”
In 1847, Yerba Buena, California was renamed San Francisco, though it is said you can still buy good herb there.
In 1933, Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany.
In 1948, Indian political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi was murdered by a Hindu extremist.
In 1956, the home of Martin Luther King Jr. was bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
In 1969, the Beatles made what proved to be their last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The police broke it up (bastards!).
In 1972, thirteen Roman Catholic civil rights marchers were shot to death by British soldiers in Northern Ireland on what became known as “Bloody Sunday.”
In 2003, Richard Reid, a British citizen and al-Qaida follower, was sentenced to life in prison by a federal judge in Boston for trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic jetliner with explosives hidden in his shoes.
In 2007, Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating system, also known as “F—ing Vista,” went on sale.
Born on This Day
1814 – Jérome Thompson, U.S. painter (d. 1886)
1841 – Carl Sundt-Hansen, Norwegian-Danish painter (d. 1907)
1845 – Bernard Blommers, Dutch painter (d. 1914)
1873 – Georges Ricard-Cordingley, French seascape painter (d. 1939)
1882 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States (d. 1945)
1890 – Bruno Kastner, German actor (d. 1932)
1899 – Martita Hunt, English actress (d. 1969)
1902 – Elise Cavanna, American actress (d. 1963)
1906 – Greta Nissen, Norwegian actress (d. 1988)
1909 – Saul David Alinsky, radical (d. 1972)
1911 – Roy Eldridge, American musician (d. 1989)
1912 – Barbara W. Tuchman, American historian (d. 1989)
1914 – John Ireland, Canadian actor (d. 1992)
1914 – David Wayne, American actor (d. 1995)
1915 – Dorothy Dell, American actress (d. 1934)
1915 – John Profumo, British cabinet minister (d. 2006)
1920 – Delbert Mann, American film director (d. 2007)
1922 – Dick Martin, American comedian (d. 2008)
1925 – Dorothy Malone, American actress
1930 – Gene Hackman, American actor
1935 – Richard Brautigan, American writer and poet (d. 1984)
1936 – Patrick Caulfield, British painter and printmaker (d. 2005)
1937 – Vanessa Redgrave, English actress
1937 – Boris Spassky, Russian chess player
1941 – Dick Cheney, evil personified and former Vice President of the United States
1942 – Marty Balin, American musician (Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship and KBC Band, Grootna, Bodacious DF)
1947 – Steve Marriott, English musician (Humble Pie and The Small Faces) (d. 1991)
1951 – Phil Collins, English musician (Genesis and Brand X)
1951 – Charles S. Dutton, American actor
1959 – Mark Eitzel, American singer and musician (American Music Club)
1959 – Jody Watley, American singer (Shalamar)
1974 – Christian Bale, English actor
Died on This Day
1584 – Pieter Pourbus, Flemish painter (b. 1523)
1652 – Georges de la Tour, French painter (b. 1593)
1836 – Betsy Ross, American seamstress (b. 1752)
1881 – Felice Schiavoni, Italian painter (b. 1803)
1891 – Charles Joshua Chaplin, French academic painter (b. 1825)
1905 – Hermann David Salomon Corrodi, Italian painter (b. 1844)
1926 – Barbara La Marr, American actress (b. 1896)
1929 – La Goulue, French dancer (b. 1866)
1941 – Heinrich von Zügel, German livestock painter (b. 1850)
1948 – Orville Wright, American aviator (b. 1871)
1951 – Ferdinand Porsche, Austrian automotive engineer (b. 1875)
1958 – Jean Crotti, Swiss artist (b. 1878)
1961 – John Duncan Fergusson, Scottish painter (b. 1874)
1976 – Mance Lipscomb, blues musician (b. 1895)
1980 – Professor Longhair, American musician (b. 1918)
1982 – Lightnin’ Hopkins, American musician (b. 1912)
1984 – Luke Kelly, Irish singer (The Dubliners) (b. 1940)
1991 – John McIntire, American actor (b. 1907)
1999 – Huntz Hall, American actor (b. 1919)
2006 – Coretta Scott King, American activist; widow of Martin Luther King, Jr. (b. 1927)
Fierces on the Weather Critter Comment are obligatory welcome.
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.
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.)
In 1834, President Andrew Jackson ordered the first use of federal soldiers to suppress a labor dispute.
In 1845, Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven” was first published, in the New York Evening Mirror.
In 1861, Kansas was admitted as the 34th state.
In 1900, the American League, consisting of eight baseball teams, was organized in Philadelphia.
In 1995, the San Francisco 49ers became the first team to win five Super Bowl titles when they beat the San Diego Chargers 49-26 in Super Bowl XXIX. (also, though it’s too late this year: Go Niners!!!)
In 1998, a bomb exploded at an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Ala., killing an off-duty policeman and severely wounding a nurse. The bomber, Eric Rudolph, was captured in May 2003 and is serving a life sentence. Unfortunately he is idolized by the “right to life” crowd.
In 2006, ABC “World News Tonight” co-anchor Bob Woodruff and a cameraman were seriously injured in a roadside bombing in Iraq.
In 2009, the Illinois Senate voted to remove Governor Rod Blagojevich from office.
In 2010, abortion opponent Scott Roeder was convicted of murder by a jury in Wichita, Kan., in the shooting death of Dr. George Tiller, one of the only doctors to offer late-term abortions in the entire country.
Born on This Day
1475 – Giuliano Bugiardini, Florentine painter (d. 1554)
1627 – Jan Siberechts, Flemish painter (d. 1703)
1737 – Thomas Paine, English-born American patriot (d. 1809)
1767 – Anne-Louis Girodet, French painter (d. 1824)
1801 – Horatia Nelson, daughter of Emma Hamilton and Horatio Nelson (d. 1881)
1817 – John Callcott Horsley, English painter (d. 1903)
1843 – William McKinley, American politician, 25th President of the United States (d. 1901)
1860 – Anton Chekhov, Russian writer (d. 1904)
1866 – Julio Peris Brell, Spanish painter (d. 1944)
1867 – Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, Spanish writer (d. 1928)
1868 – Albin Egger-Lienz, Austrian painter (d. 1926)
1872 – Sir William Rothenstein, English painter (d. 1945)
1874 – John D. Rockefeller Jr., American entrepreneur (d. 1960)
1880 – W. C. Fields, American actor (d. 1946)
1905 – Barnett Newman, American painter (d. 1970)
1910 – Colin Middleton, Irish artist (d. 1983)
1913 – Victor Mature, American actor (d. 1999)
1915 – Bill Peet, American children’s book illustrator (d.2002)
1918 – John Forsythe, American actor (d. 2010)
1936 – James Jamerson, American bass guitarist (The Funk Brothers) (d. 1983)
1939 – Germaine Greer, Australian writer
1942 – Claudine Longet, French singer and dancer (also murderer)
1944 – Katharine Ross, American actress
1944 – Andrew Loog Oldham, English rock and roll producer
1945 – Tom Selleck, American actor, screenwriter, film producer, NRA member
1946 – Bettye Lavette, American soul singer-songwriter
1947 – David Byron, English singer (Uriah Heep and Spice) (d. 1985)
1952 – Tommy Ramone, Hungarian-born musician and record producer (The Ramones)
Dedicated to the Tea Party:
1953 – Peter Baumann, German musician (Tangerine Dream)
1953 – Louie Pérez, American songwriter, percussionist and guitarist (Los Lobos and Latin Playboys)
1954 – Richard Manitoba, American singer aka Handsome Dick Manitoba (The Dictators and MC5)
1960 – Greg Louganis, American diver
1970 – Paul Ryan, American politician, failed VP candidate, maker of unworkable budgets
1975 – Sara Gilbert, American actress
1976 – Chris Castle, American singer-songwriter
1982 – Adam Lambert, American actor and singer
Died on This Day
1632 – Jan Porcellis, Flemish-born Dutch marine painter (b. 1584)
Tonight, this chamber speaks with one voice to the people we represent: it is you, our citizens, who make the state of our union strong. Here are the results of your efforts: The lowest unemployment rate in over five years. A rebounding housing market. A manufacturing sector that’s adding jobs for the first time since the 1990s. More oil produced at home than we buy from the rest of the world – the first time that’s happened in nearly twenty years. Our deficits – cut by more than half. And for the first time in over a decade, business leaders around the world have declared that China is no longer the world’s number one place to invest; America is.
That’s why I believe this can be a breakthrough year for America. After five years of grit and determined effort, the United States is better-positioned for the 21st century than any other nation on Earth.
For several years now, this town has been consumed by a rancorous argument over the proper size of the federal government. It’s an important debate – one that dates back to our very founding. But when that debate prevents us from carrying out even the most basic functions of our democracy – when our differences shut down government or threaten the full faith and credit of the United States – then we are not doing right by the American people.
In the coming months, let’s see where else we can make progress together. Let’s make this a year of action. That’s what most Americans want – for all of us in this chamber to focus on their lives, their hopes, their aspirations. And what I believe unites the people of this nation, regardless of race or region or party, young or old, rich or poor, is the simple, profound belief in opportunity for all – the notion that if you work hard and take responsibility, you can get ahead.
Today, after four years of economic growth, corporate profits and stock prices have rarely been higher, and those at the top have never done better. But average wages have barely budged. Inequality has deepened. Upward mobility has stalled. The cold, hard fact is that even in the midst of recovery, too many Americans are working more than ever just to get by – let alone get ahead. And too many still aren’t working at all.
… what I offer tonight is a set of concrete, practical proposals to speed up growth, strengthen the middle class, and build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class. Some require Congressional action, and I’m eager to work with all of you. But America does not stand still – and neither will I. So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that’s what I’m going to do.
The point is, there are millions of Americans outside Washington who are tired of stale political arguments, and are moving this country forward. They believe, and I believe, that here in America, our success should depend not on accident of birth, but the strength of our work ethic and the scope of our dreams. That’s what drew our forebears here. It’s how the daughter of a factory worker is CEO of America’s largest automaker; how the son of a barkeeper is Speaker of the House; how the son of a single mom can be President of the greatest nation on Earth.
We know that the nation that goes all-in on innovation today will own the global economy tomorrow. This is an edge America cannot surrender. Federally-funded research helped lead to the ideas and inventions behind Google and smartphones. That’s why Congress should undo the damage done by last year’s cuts to basic research so we can unleash the next great American discovery – whether it’s vaccines that stay ahead of drug-resistant bacteria, or paper-thin material that’s stronger than steel.
Finally, if we are serious about economic growth, it is time to heed the call of business leaders, labor leaders, faith leaders, and law enforcement – and fix our broken immigration system.
The bottom line is, Michelle and I want every child to have the same chance this country gave us. But we know our opportunity agenda won’t be complete – and too many young people entering the workforce today will see the American Dream as an empty promise – unless we do more to make sure our economy honors the dignity of work, and hard work pays off for every single American.
Today, women make up about half our workforce. But they still make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. That is wrong, and in 2014, it’s an embarrassment. A woman deserves equal pay for equal work. She deserves to have a baby without sacrificing her job. A mother deserves a day off to care for a sick child or sick parent without running into hardship – and you know what, a father does, too. It’s time to do away with workplace policies that belong in a “Mad Men” episode. This year, let’s all come together – Congress, the White House, and businesses from Wall Street to Main Street – to give every woman the opportunity she deserves. Because I firmly believe when women succeed, America succeeds.
In the year since I asked this Congress to raise the minimum wage, five states have passed laws to raise theirs. Many businesses have done it on their own. Nick Chute is here tonight with his boss, John Soranno. John’s an owner of Punch Pizza in Minneapolis, and Nick helps make the dough. Only now he makes more of it: John just gave his employees a raise, to ten bucks an hour – a decision that eased their financial stress and boosted their morale.
Tonight, I ask more of America’s business leaders to follow John’s lead and do what you can to raise your employees’ wages. To every mayor, governor, and state legislator in America, I say, you don’t have to wait for Congress to act; Americans will support you if you take this on. And as a chief executive, I intend to lead by example. Profitable corporations like Costco see higher wages as the smart way to boost productivity and reduce turnover. We should too. In the coming weeks, I will issue an Executive Order requiring federal contractors to pay their federally-funded employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour – because if you cook our troops’ meals or wash their dishes, you shouldn’t have to live in poverty.
Today, most workers don’t have a pension. A Social Security check often isn’t enough on its own. And while the stock market has doubled over the last five years, that doesn’t help folks who don’t have 401ks. That’s why, tomorrow, I will direct the Treasury to create a new way for working Americans to start their own retirement savings: MyRA. It’s a new savings bond that encourages folks to build a nest egg. MyRA guarantees a decent return with no risk of losing what you put in. And if this Congress wants to help, work with me to fix an upside-down tax code that gives big tax breaks to help the wealthy save, but does little to nothing for middle-class Americans.
One last point on financial security. For decades, few things exposed hard-working families to economic hardship more than a broken health care system. And in case you haven’t heard, we’re in the process of fixing that.
A pre-existing condition used to mean that someone like Amanda Shelley, a physician assistant and single mom from Arizona, couldn’t get health insurance. But on January 1st, she got covered. On January 3rd, she felt a sharp pain. On January 6th, she had emergency surgery. Just one week earlier, Amanda said, that surgery would’ve meant bankruptcy.
That’s what health insurance reform is all about – the peace of mind that if misfortune strikes, you don’t have to lose everything.
Now, I don’t expect to convince my Republican friends on the merits of this law. But I know that the American people aren’t interested in refighting old battles. So again, if you have specific plans to cut costs, cover more people, and increase choice – tell America what you’d do differently. Let’s see if the numbers add up. But let’s not have another forty-something votes to repeal a law that’s already helping millions of Americans like Amanda.
Finally, let’s remember that our leadership is defined not just by our defense against threats, but by the enormous opportunities to do good and promote understanding around the globe – to forge greater cooperation, to expand new markets, to free people from fear and want. …
My fellow Americans, no other country in the world does what we do. On every issue, the world turns to us, not simply because of the size of our economy or our military might – but because of the ideals we stand for, and the burdens we bear to advance them.
America has never come easy. Our freedom, our democracy, has never been easy. Sometimes we stumble; we make mistakes; we get frustrated or discouraged. But for more than two hundred years, we have put those things aside and placed our collective shoulder to the wheel of progress – to create and build and expand the possibilities of individual achievement; to free other nations from tyranny and fear; to promote justice, and fairness, and equality under the law, so that the words set to paper by our founders are made real for every citizen. The America we want for our kids – a rising America where honest work is plentiful and communities are strong; where prosperity is widely shared and opportunity for all lets us go as far as our dreams and toil will take us – none of it is easy. But if we work together; if we summon what is best in us, with our feet planted firmly in today but our eyes cast towards tomorrow – I know it’s within our reach.
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.
A Moose in my neck of the woods right now would look like this:
The morning 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:
MONTGOMERY, Alabama — The U.S. Department of Justice said today that conditions at Julia Tutwiler Prison violate the Constitution, citing what it called “a history of unabated staff-on-prisoner sexual abuses and harassment.”
“The women at Tutwiler universally fear for their safety,” the report stated.”They live in a sexualized environment with repeated and open sexual behavior, including: abusive sexual contact between staff and prisoners; sexualized activity, including a strip show condoned by staff; profane and unprofessional sexualized language and harassment; and deliberate cross-gender viewing of prisoners showering, urinating and defecating,” the report stated. DOJ said the conditions violate the Eighth Amendment right to be protected from harm. It said problems go back almost two decades. The DOJ also said it will expand its investigation to look into medical and mental health care for inmates and other issues.
Rape is a terrible and violent crime with long lasting physical and emotional effects. Most women (and men) who survive the ordeal can-with help-learn to live with the scars and the memories. But imagine being locked up with your abusers, knowing that you face years and years of abuse, with little or no recourse. When your rapist has the power of the state behind him. When he is your guard, hired to keep you in line, and punish you with his power. Knowing the the world outside of the prison walls, and barbed wire has basically wiped its hands of you, since nothing is viewed as lower in our society than female felons. Imagine the repercussions of being impregnated by your abuser.
Such is the case with the women who are doing time in Julia Tutwiler Prison in Alabama, ironically named for a noted prison reformer. This is not to say that rape doesn’t take place in other penal institutions. But Tutwiler has a reputation for exceeding the bounds of brutality. Mother Jones placed Tutwiler on its list of America’s 10 worst prisons.
From 2009 through 2011, six Tutwiler employees were indicted on charges of custodial sexual misconduct or custodial sexual abuse. (All pled guilty, but only two served time.)
Several Tutwiler prisoners have become pregnant after being raped by guards. And women who complained about staff abuse were often placed in solitary. The women of Tutwiler, EJI executive director Bryan Stevenson told Birmingham TV station WBRC, live with “this fear that you’re always at risk, that it’s not safe to take a shower, that it’s not safe to go to sleep when certain officers are in the dorm, that you can be extorted, that you can be manipulated into sexual favors, it’s really horrific.”…
Interviews conducted at the prison for a November 2012 Justice Department report (PDF) supported the pattern of sexual abuse alleged by EJI. Some of the prisoners said they “do not feel physically or sexually safe in this facility,” the report noted. Among other things, the women said they were “forced to shower shoulder to shoulder in full view of an elevated officer’s station” where male staffers sat and watched. “The women and staff report that Tutwiler is a repressive and intimidating environment,” the report states. “Inmates reported being in fear of retaliation by staff if they reject staff’s sexual advances. Additionally, they report that they feel that they cannot bring their complaints to the administration, as they will be locked down if they annoy or anger some administrators.”
The smarmy head of the Alabama Department of Corrections, Kim Thomas is in full “cya” mode, splainin’ all this in an op-ed, and recently replaced the warden of the facility, with another jailer. As my grandmother was known to say he’s “closing the barn door after the horse got out”. The warden whose watch presided over the daily abuses was not fired, or charged with culpability, simply switched to another facility. Reminds me of all those priests who simply got transferred to a different diocese.
Thanks to the Equal Justice Initiative, for their tireless work, defending the rights of the incarcerated, and to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for taking an aggressive stance.
You can support the women of Tutwiler on this facebook page.
In 1754, Horace Walpole coined the word serendipity in a letter to Horace Mann (at least it is the first known usage of the word).
In 1813, Pride and Prejudice was first published. Austen had sold the entire copyright to the publisher, so missed out on some considerable profits.
In 1915, the Coast Guard was created by an act of Congress.
In 1916, Louis D. Brandeis was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson to the Supreme Court, becoming its first Jewish member. Some of his fellow justices treated him shabbily due to his faith.
In 1958, the Lego company patented the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today, and just as painful to step on.
In 1959, Vince Lombardi was named head coach of the NFL’s Green Bay Packers.
In 1986, space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, killing all seven crew members.
In 2003, President George W. Bush lied in his State of the Union address that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had sought uranium from Africa. (The claim was later disputed by former ambassador Joseph Wilson, who had been asked by the CIA to investigate, which of course opened up that can of worms leading to the conviction of Scooter Libby.)
Born on This Day
1225 – Saint Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274)
1674 – Jean Ranc, French painter, (d. 1735)
1688 – Jan Maurits Quinkhard, Dutch painter (d. 1772)
1719 – Johann Elias Schlegel, German critic and poet (d. 1749)
1749 – Jacques Sablet, Swiss-French painter (d. 1803)
1761 – Marguerite Gérard, French portrait and genre-scene painter (d. 1837)
1813 – Johannes Hilverdink, Dutch painter (d. 1902)
1853 – José Martí, Cuban revolutionary (d. 1895)
1863 – Ernest William Christmas, Australian painter (d. 1918)
1864 – Charles W. Nash, American automobile entrepreneur (d. 1948)
1873 – Colette, French writer (d. 1954)
1882 – Mary Boland, American comedienne/actress (d. 1965)
1887 – Arthur Rubinstein, Polish pianist (d. 1982)
1890 – Robert Stroud, American convict, the Birdman of Alcatraz (d. 1963)
1892 – Ernst Lubitsch, German actor, producer and most notably, film director whose style was dubbed the “Lubitsch Touch.” (d. 1947)
1900 – Alice Neel, American artist (d. 1984)
1906 – Harry van Kruiningen, [Henri A Janssen], painter/graphic artist (d. 1996)
1912 – Jackson Pollock, American painter (d. 1956)
1927 – Per Oscarsson, Swedish actor (d. 2010)
1927 – Ronnie Scott, British tenor saxophonist and club owner (d. 1996)
1929 – Acker Bilk, English clarinetist
1943 – Dick Taylor, English guitarist (The Pretty Things)
1944 – Susan Howard, American actress
1945 – Robert Wyatt, English musician. (Soft Machine, Matching Mole)
1947 – Jeanne Shaheen, American politician, senior senator of New Hampshire
1948 – Charles Taylor, 22nd President of Liberia and convicted war criminal
1951 – Brian Bilbray, American idiot politician
1954 – Rick Warren, American pastor and author and homophobe
1955 – Nicolas Sarkozy, former President of France
1959 – Randi Rhodes, radio personality
1959 – Dave Sharp, Welsh guitarist (The Alarm)
1962 – Sam Phillips, American singer
1963 – Dan Spitz, American musician, guitarist (Anthrax)
1968 – Sarah McLachlan, Canadian singer and songwriter
1968 – DJ Muggs, American DJ and producer (Cypress Hill)
1968 – Rakim (William Michael Griffin Jr.), American rapper (Eric B. & Rakim)
1977 – Joey Fatone, American singer (*NSYNC)
1980 – Nick Carter, American singer (Backstreet Boys) (what, is it National Boy Band Day???)
1981 – Elijah Wood, American actor hobbit
Died on This Day
814 – Charlemagne (b. 742)
1547 – King Henry VIII of England (b. 1491)
1667 – (burial) Jacob Duck, Dutch painter (b. 1600)
1831 – Wybrand Hendriks, Dutch painter (b. 1744)
1839 – Sir William Beechey, British painter (b. 1753)
1882 – Alexander Hugo Bakker-Korff, Dutch genre painter (b. 1824)
1893 – Gustave de Jonghe, Belgian painter (b. 1829)
1905 – Lemuel Maynard Wiles, U.S. painter (b. 1826)
1922 – Elizabeth Jane Gardner, American ex-pat painter (b. 1837)
1927 – J. Ottis Adams, American Impressionist painter (b. 1851)
1939 – William Butler Yeats, Irish writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1865)
1960 – Zora Neale Hurston, American author (b. 1891)
Fierces on the Weather Critter Comment are obligatory welcome.
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.
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.)
From the White House, an email from Dan Pfeiffer, Senior Advisor:
We’re now just [one day] out — and the President wanted you to get the first preview of what this speech is all about. As always, he’ll be working on it right up until game time, but three words sum up the President’s message on Tuesday night: opportunity, action, and optimism.
The core idea is as American as they come: If you work hard and play by the rules, you should have the opportunity to succeed. Your ability to get ahead should be based on your hard work and ambition and who you want to be, not just the raw circumstance of who you are when you’re born.
On Tuesday night, the President will lay out a set of real, concrete, practical proposals to grow the economy, strengthen the middle class, and empower all who hope to join it.
In this year of action, the President will seek out as many opportunities as possible to work with Congress in a bipartisan way. But when American jobs and livelihoods depend on getting something done, he will not wait for Congress.
President Obama has a pen and he has a phone, and he will use them to take executive action and enlist every American — business owners and workers, mayors and state legislators, young people, veterans, and folks in communities from across the country — in the project to restore opportunity for all.[…]
With some action on all our parts, we can help more jobseekers find work, and more working Americans find the economic security they deserve. That’s why, in the week following the speech, President Obama will travel to communities across the country — including Prince George’s County Maryland, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, and Nashville, before returning to the White House to outline new efforts to help the long-term unemployed.
On Tuesday, January 28th at 9pm ET, President Obama will deliver his State of the Union Address. Ahead of the speech, White House staff took to Instagram to give you a behind the scenes look at the process.
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Income Inequality News and Views, Found on The Internets:
The survey finds that more people think that circumstances beyond an individual’s control (50%) – rather than a lack of hard work (35%) – are generally to blame if a person is poor.
Similarly, more say that factors beyond an individual’s control have more to do with someone being rich. About half (51%) say having greater advantages than others generally has more to do with why a person is rich, while 38% say it is because they worked harder than others.
Moreover, by a 60% to 36% margin, most Americans feel the economic system unfairly favors the wealthy, as opposed to being fair to all.
That survey also found that 73% supports raising the minimum wage from the current level of $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour. 71% of independents, 90% of Democrats, 71% of “independents” and 53% of Republicans.
The survey is interesting because Pew is now providing a breakdown of Republicans into non-teaparty and teaparty, recognizing, perhaps that the teaparty point of view is an outlier:
Among Republicans and those who lean toward the Republican Party, 70% who agree with the Tea Party oppose an extension of unemployment benefits and nearly as many oppose raising the minimum wage (65%). Yet 52% of non-Tea Party Republicans favor a one-year extension of unemployment benefits and an even higher percentage (65%) supports increasing the minimum wage.
Extreme inequality, it turns out, creates a class of people who are alarmingly detached from reality – and simultaneously gives these people great power.
The example many are buzzing about right now is the billionaire investor Tom Perkins, a founding member of the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. In a letter to the editor of The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Perkins lamented public criticism of the “one percent” – and compared such criticism to Nazi attacks on the Jews, suggesting that we are on the road to another Kristallnacht.
You may say that this is just one crazy guy and wonder why The Journal would publish such a thing. But Mr. Perkins isn’t that much of an outlier. […]
And there are a number of other plutocrats who manage to keep Hitler out of their remarks but who nonetheless hold, and loudly express, political and economic views that combine paranoia and megalomania in equal measure.
Krugman points out that the 1% are indeed “worse off” financially than they would be if Romney had won in 2012. Tax rates on the top earnings have risen. But he addresses their reaction to the being on the losing end of the last two presidential elections:
Normal people take it in stride; even if they’re angry and bitter over political setbacks, they don’t cry persecution, compare their critics to Nazis and insist that the world revolves around their hurt feelings. But the rich are different from you and me. […]
They’re accustomed to being treated with deference, not just by the people they hire but by politicians who want their campaign contributions. And so they are shocked to discover that money can’t buy everything, can’t insulate them from all adversity.
It is difficult for me to reconcile the word “adversity” with being a billionaire in America. I suspect that they would have less angst if they would focus on gratitude that they live in a free country instead of how much more wealth they would have accumulated if the 99% were not persecuting them.
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Feel free to leave links to other news and opinion pieces in the comments.
