I have been watching a lot of “true crime” series via Netflix. I love that stuff … always have. Apparently the Investigation Discovery channel has a bunch of it. But I’ve noticed myself getting annoyed by the things folks on those types of shows say (or not), do (or not), assume (or not).
I carry my laptop around streaming real life cop shows on my wi-fi. (Yes, I’ve taken it to the bathroom while I’m taking a bath ’cause I can.)
Anyway, I began to wonder early on what is the appropriate age for an acceptable victim? I understand that people need to say something about the victim and getting into your 80s should make you murder-proof. So should not getting out of diapers. Watching these kinds of show really made me realize victims are always too young too die or too old. Seriously. So, that really doesn’t annoy me as much as make me go, “Hhhmmmmm …”
There recently was a story on Rawstory.com, if I recall correctly, where one of the EMS responders had actually responded to a car accident that involved his daughter (who was killed). Someone who knew them both referred to the daughter as either “immaculate” or “impeccable” (I tried to find the article but can’t to verify which word) to say that she was a really great person who didn’t deserve to die. This drives me crazy! What are the criteria that determines whether someone is worthy of a particular form of death. I really don’t like some people but I truly wouldn’t wish a horrible death on them. Not sure how that relates to the fact that “cruel and unusual” is not a persuasive argument against the death penalty for me, though. And, yes, I oppose the death penalty and we’ll discuss that in a bit.
Good morning, Moosekind. TGIF! Temperature is supposed to be well above freezing here for the first time this week. I think we should all get matching “I survived the Polar Vortex of 2013” shirts. Except you live somewhere warm. Unless your wind chills went below zero, no T-shirt for you.
PLEASE Do Not Recommend the check-in diary!
Recs on the weather jar comment are still welcome.
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:
So I have a milestone birthday on Saturday. And it is time to start training for the Hill Country Ride for AIDS, which will be in April. And fundraising for it, too. So for my 50th birthday — can I get the Mooses to donate to my 15th Ride? How many $50 donations can I get? There will be music & stuff below the fold, but if you want to skip that part & just donate, here’s my Hill Country Ride page
As I train, I’m looking for a new workout mix. [I never, ever, under any circumstances, wear headphones out in the world on my bike – that is insanely dangerous, and Austin is a dangerous enough place to bike with all your senses, I would never hamper my sense of hearing. This mix is for indoor workouts only]. I’m looking for happy, positive music. Yes, mostly silly pop stuff, I find pop is best for workouts. I’ve found several songs I’m calling “body-positive”:
of course I’d never have a mix without my boys and this is the perfect song to start this particular mix, because it is totally true
and I love this one by India Arie:
I don’t know about including this one, only because it makes me cry every time – working out while sobbing is probably not going to work:
I can’t use Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” because that Nietzche quote has always pissed me off. Frequently, what doesn’t kill you leaves some pretty damn sore spots and/or limping badly. But I really like this by Sara Bareilles:
with all the fuss about Beyonce’s latest, I was going to include “Flawless”, but I can’t seem to get that to work (also, it’s a little slow for a workout mix, so is Brave — but if there’s something else from Beyonce I should include, let me know)
anyway, I’m looking for happy music, I’ll include Katy Perry if I must…. and I guess I have to include Born This Way, but I’m just looking for some happy, positive music to work out to. Amanda Palmer probably has something… And donations for my Hill Country Ride page
If you could play God for a day, who would you strike with lightning? Making the punishment fit the crime, what creative punishments would you devise for your favorite Republicans?
Have you ever flown in a hot air balloon? Do you have any desire to?
The Twitter Emitter
"May all your vortices be polar." (Old Inuit curse.)
In 1793, Jean-Pierre Blanchard was the first person to fly a hot air balloon over the U.S.
In 1861, Mississippi seceded from the Union, the second state to do so.
In 1903, Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota was established.
In 1908, Muir Woods National Monument (where the trees are definitely the right height) in Marin County, California, was established.
In 1956, Dear Abby, the syndicated advice column, first appeared in newspapers.
In 1979, the Supreme Court struck down (6-3) a Pennsylvania law requiring doctors performing abortions to try to preserve lives of potentially viable fetuses.
In 2007, the iPhone was announced by Steve Jobs.
Born on This Day
1590 – Simon Vouet, Parisian Baroque painter (d. 1649)
1671 – Jean-Baptiste Vanmour, Flemish painter (d. 1737)
1830 – Arthur Nikutowski, German painter (d. 1888)
1854 – Jennie Jerome, American socialite and mother of Winston Churchill (d. 1921)
1859 – Carrie Chapman Catt, American suffragist leader (d. 1947)
1886 – Albert Baertsoen, Flemish painter/etcher (d. 1922)
1875 – Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, American socialite (d. 1942)
1898 – Vilma Banky, Hungarian actress (d. 1991)
1898 – Gracie Fields, English music hall performer (d. 1979)
1911 – Gypsy Rose Lee, American burlesque entertainer, dancer, actress, and author (d. 1970)
1913 – Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States (d. 1994)
1914 – Kenny (Klook) Clarke, American jazz drummer and composer (Modern Jazz Quartet) (d. 1985)
1915 – Fernando Lamas, Argentine actor (d. 1982)
1915 – Anita Louise, American actress (d. 1970)
1925 – Lee Van Cleef, American actor (d. 1989)
1939 – Susannah York, British actress (d. 2011)
1941 – Joan Baez, American singer and activist
1944 – Jimmy Page, British musician and producer (The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin)
1944 – Ian Hornak, U.S. realist painter (d. 2002)
1965 – Eric Erlandson, American musician (Hole and RRIICCEE)
1965 – Joely Richardson, British actress
1967 – Steve Harwell, American singer and musician (Smash Mouth)
1967 – Dave Matthews, South African singer and musician (Dave Matthews Band)
1982 – Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
1987 – Paolo Nutini, Scottish singer-songwriter
Died on This Day
1645 – François de Troy, French portraitist and father of painter Jean-Francois de Troy (d. 1730)
1677 – Aert van der Neer, Dutch painter (b. 1603)
1805 – Noble Wimberly Jones, American Continental Congressman (b. 1723)
1821 – Pierre-Alexandre Wille, French painter (b. 1748)
1851 – Michel Martin Drolling, French painter (b. 1786)
1858 – Anson Jones, 5th and last President of Texas (suicide) (b. 1798)
1877 – Alexander Brullov, Russian painter (b. 1798)
1891 – Johan Jongkind, Dutch painter (b. 1819)
1898 – Henry Stacy Marks, English painter (b. 1829)
1908 – Wilhelm Busch, German illustrator and painter (b. 1832)
1916 – Tadeusz Ajdukiewicz, Polish painter (b. 1852)
1936 – John Gilbert, American silent film star (b. 1897)
1972 – Ted Shawn, American dancer (b. 1891)
1975 – Pierre Fresnay, French actor (b. 1897)
1982 – Thyra Knut-Ekwall, Swedish painter (b. 1881)
1995 – Peter Cook, British actor and comedian (b. 1937)
Taking a page from the Moral Monday Movement in North Carolina, that has now spread to Georgia, activists in South Carolina have declared “Enough is enough!” and are heading to the SC statehouse on January 14th with these demands:
Expand Medicaid
This year, some 1,300 South Carolinians will die because state lawmakers pushing an extreme agenda refused a federal grant to expand Medicaid.
Fund education
In 2013, K-12 funding was nearly $500 million below what is required by law. Higher education funding is 40% less than in 2002, and tuition at our state colleges is among the nation’s highest.
Protect voting rights
South Carolina has the least-competitive elections in the US, with 80 percent of lawmakers facing no major opposition in general elections. And instead of trying to make voting easier and more accessible, SC’s political elite keep making it harder and less inclusive.
They are asking demonstrators to wear black:
We will wear black as a symbol of mourning, in honor of the 1,300 who will die this year in South Carolina because the state refused to use our tax dollars to expand Medicaid.
Progressive activists across South Carolina will gather at the State House in Columbia next week for ‘Truthful Tuesday’ – an event styled after a series of protests at North Carolina’s capital dubbed Moral Mondays.
“It’s to really put lawmakers on notice regarding the need to expand Medicaid and protect voting rights and to fully fund public education,” says George Hopkins, a College of Charleston history professor and Charleston chapter president of the S.C. Progressive Network. “Hopefully on Wednesday the 15th the headlines across the state will read ‘Citizens Descend on Columbia’ to demand legislators take action on these issues.”
Legislators will return to Columbia on Jan. 14 to begin the second of a two-year legislative session. During the week the Legislature is in session Tuesday through Thursday. Last session, South Carolina became one of several states that chose not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act healthcare law. Lawmakers have also passed a Voter ID bill, and the last session saw efforts to curb early voting.
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.)
For those of you who have been following and supporting the growth and development of the North Carolina grassroots political movement and Moral Monday protests, there is good news for 2014. The movement is moving forward and is now expanding its efforts into neighboring Georgia.
The first major protest of Moral Monday GA will be taking place next Monday, January 13th.
Moral Monday Georgia is a multiracial, multi-issue coalition of citizens working for positive change for the public good. For too long, many elected officials in Georgia have ignored the moral implications of their actions and inactions with respect to the neediest among us. Our coalition stands against all forms of discrimination and amplifies the voices and ideas of folks in marginalized circumstances.
Together we are building the collective voice of the people to be heard over the voices of big business, corrupt money and repressive government by fighting for legislative and public policy issues to improve ordinary people’s lives. In practice, we seek to contribute to the creation of a more just and peaceful society where dialogue, debate and discussion prevail, and will work to achieve consensus in our group without silencing minority voices.
Gov. Nathan Deal is going to have some visitors to the Gold Dome on Jan. 13, and they won’t be there to compare recipes.
The first Georgia-based event of the grassroots social justice movement Moral Mondays will occur, organized by the new group Moral Monday Georgia. The issue of the day will be the governor’s decision not to accept federal funds to expand Medicaid [see accompanying article on Medicaid expansion], and the schedule includes legislator visits, a workshop and a rally outside the capitol featuring numerous speakers.
Moral Mondays started in North Carolina in 2012 to protest controversial laws passed by their Republican governor and legislature. Typically it is a civil disobedience protest, marked by a mass entrance into the capitol where many are peacefully arrested. Thousands of people showed up on Mondays to disrupt the legislative session with more than 900 willing to be arrested as part of their civil disobedience.
In 1790, the first State of the Union address was given by George Washington in New York City. The first SOTU drinking game consisted solely of chugging whenever he clicked his wooden teeth(yes, I know that’s a fictional story).
In 1867, African American men were granted the right to vote in Washington, D.C. over President Andrew Johnson’s veto.
In 1835, the United States national debt was at zero for the first and only time.
In 1964, LBJ declared a “War on Poverty,” which has somehow morphed into the “War on Poor People.”
In 1975, Ella T. Grasso became the first female U.S. governor who didn’t succeed her husband, but was elected in her own right.
In 2002, the so-called No Child Left Behind Act was signed into law by George W. Bush, planting a foot squarely in the Left’s behind.
In 2011, in a suburb of Tucson, Arizona, Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was wounded when a disturbed young man wielding a semi-automatic pistol loaded with a high capacity magazine shot up a crowd at an appearance by Giffords at a local grocery store. 6 were killed and 13 (including Giffords) were wounded.
Born on This Day
1638 – Elisabetta Sirani, Italian painter (d. 1665)
1822 – Samuel Bough, English painter (d. 1878)
1823 – Florent Willems, Belgian genre painter (d. 1905)
1824 – Wilkie Collins, British novelist (d. 1889)
1830 – Albert Bierstadt, German/American painter (d. 1902)
1836 – Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Dutch artist (d. 1912)
1843 – Nathaniel Sichel, German painter (d. 1907)
1864 – Henri-Gaston Darien, French painter (d. 1926)
1867 – Emily Greene Balch, American writer and pacifist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (d. 1961)
1872 – Charles Hawthorne, American painter (d.1930)
1874 – Oskar Laske, Austrian landscape/cityscape painter (d. 1951)
1879 – Charles Bryant, British actor and film director (d. 1948)
1883 – Pavel Filonov, Russian painter (d. 1941)
1888 – Matt Moore, Irish-American actor (d. 1960)
1891 – Bronislava Nijinska, Russian choreographer (d. 1972) (she’s on the left)
1904 – Tampa Red, American blues musician (d. 1981)
1908 – William Hartnell, British actor who was the very first Doctor in the Doctor Who series. (d. 1975)
1912 – José Ferrer, Puerto Rican actor (d. 1992)
1926 – Soupy Sales, American comedian (d. 2009)
1931 – Bill Graham, German-born American music promoter (d. 1991)
1931 – Chuck Metcalf, American jazz double-bassist (d. 2012)
1935 – Elvis Presley, American singer (d. 1977)
1937 – Dame Shirley Bassey, Welsh singer
1938 – Bob Eubanks, American game show host
1941 – Graham Chapman, British comedian (d. 1989)
1942 – Yvette Mimieux, American actress
1944 – Terry Brooks, American fantasy writer
1946 – Robby Krieger, American musician (The Doors and The Butts Band)
1947 – David Bowie, English musician
1959 – Paul Hester, Australian drummer (Crowded House and Split Enz) (d. 2005)
1966 – Andrew Wood, American singer (Mother Love Bone and Malfunkshun) (d. 1990)
1979 – Torry Castellano, American musician (The Donnas)
Died on This Day
1324 – Marco Polo, Italian explorer (b. 1254)
1337 – Giotto di Bondone, Italian artist who went by the name Giotto. (b. 1267)
1666 – Adriaan Bloemaert, Dutch painter (b. 1609)
1825 – Eli Whitney, American inventor (b. 1765)
1857 – Nicholas Condy, British marine and genre painter (b. 1793)
1880 – Joshua A. Norton, aka Emperor Norton: “Emperor of the United States, Protector of Mexico” (b. 1811)
1888 – Josephus Laurentius Dyckmans, Dutch genre painter (b. 1811)
1896 – Paul Verlaine, French poet (b. 1844)
1916 – Ada Rehan, Irish-born American actress (b. 1860)
1921 – Marie-François Firmin-Girard, French genre painter (b. 1838)
1948 – Kurt Schwitters, German painter (b. 1887)
1996 – François Mitterrand, President of France (b. 1916)
2007 – Yvonne De Carlo, Canadian-born actress (b. 1922)
Good morning, Moosekind. Greetings from the frozen Northlands of Virginia.
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.
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:
