The CNN/ORC poll released Thursday found that a Republican candidate leads a Democratic candidate on the generic ballot, 49 percent to 44 percent. The new findings from the mid-December poll are a switch from two months ago when Democrats had the advantage over Republicans on the generic ballot. Back then, the same polling outlet found Democrats leading Republicans on the generic ballot, 50 percent to 42 percent.
So a person who does not exist will lose to another person who does not exist in an election 311 days from now. Sigh. Perhaps the wildly fluctuating polls had something to do with this?
Or maybe because the right-wing and mainstream (is that redundant?) news sites are pounding the “Obamacare is a failure!!” story and ignoring any good news?
Karl “Math Guy” Rove is predicting a big year for Republicans. And that is good news for John McCain Democrats if we run on the Affordable Care Act and the minimum wage and Heartless Republicans:
Before it was shut down this week, the McResource site had advised McDonald’s workers to avoid holiday debt by selling their Christmas presents for cash, and warned them not to eat fast food. McResource also advised workers to break their food into small pieces as a way of tricking themselves into feeling full, and suggested that workers “sing away stress.”
“Unwarranted scrutiny”, aka, EPIC cluelessness.
Please proceed, rich minimum-wage corporations getting rich because your workers are kept alive via government safety nets. Please proceed.
Good morning, Moosekind. TGIF! Hope it has been a good week for everyone.
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:
In 1799, a mere 4,000 people attended George Washington’s funeral (adjusted for inflation, that would be at least 100,000 today).
In 1825, equality loving Russian soldiers and officers, called the Decembrists, rose in rebellion against Czar Nicholas I, who brutally suppressed them, and made the country even more oppressive.
In 1846, the first instance of cannibalism in the Donner party took place, with the people “averting their faces from one another and weeping.”
In 1871, the first collaboration of Gilbert & Sullivan, Thespis, premiered at the Gaiety Theatre in London. It ran for 63 performances. The original songs, except for two, are now lost.
In 1898, Pierre and Marie Curie announced that they had isolated radium.
In 1919, Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees.
In 1963, the Beatles’ single I Want to Hold Your Hand, with the b-side of I Saw Her Standing There was released in the U.S. It was a massive hit, and the screaming disease called “Beatlemania” spread rapidly across the country.
In 1966, Black Studies professor Maulana Karenga celebrated the holiday he had created, Kwanzaa, for the first time.
In 1982, Time Magazine had it’s first non-human (I think Hitler was the first in-human) on the cover – a personal computer – as Man of the Year.
In 2004, following a 9.3 earthquake, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maldives, and other coastal areas around the Indian Ocean were struck by a monster tsunami, which killed in excess of 230,000 people.
Born on This Day
1615 – Jean Nocret, French painter (d. 1672)
1633 – Charles E Biset, Flemish painter (d. ca. 1691)
1734 – George Romney, British portrait painter (d. 1802)
1755 – Balthasar-Paul Ommeganck, Flemish landscape with animals painter (d. 1826)
1759 – Johann Georg von Dillis, German draftsman, painter, engraver (d. 1841)
1784 – Antoni Brodowski, Polish painter (d. 1832)
1883 – Maurice Utrillo, French artist (d. 1955)
1891 – Henry Miller, American writer (d. 1980)
1893 – Mao Zedong, Chinese military leader and politician (d. 1976)
1902 – Anatoli Lvovich Kaplan, Russian painter (d. 1980)
1903 – Elisha Cook Jr., American actor (d. 1995)
1907 – Al Gore Sr., American Politician (d. 1998)
1914 – Richard Widmark, American actor (d. 2008)
1935 – Abdul “Duke” Fakir, American singer (The Four Tops)
1939 – Phil Spector, American music producer
1948 – Candy Crowley, American journalist and traitorous debate moderator
1955 – Evan Bayh, American politician, 46th Governor of Indiana, and United States Senator from Indiana
1956 – David Sedaris, American essayist
1963 – Lars Ulrich, Danish-born drummer (Metallica)
1971 – Jared Leto, American actor who always seems to get beaten up in every movie
Died on This Day
1676 – Domenicus van Tol, Dutch painter (b. 1635)
1686 – Henri Mauperché, French landscape painter (b. 1602)
1909 – Frederic Remington, American artist (b. 1861)
1911 – Renato Guttuso, Italian painter (d. 1987)
1916 – Janis Rozentals, Finnish painter (b. 1866)
1953 – David Brown Milne, Canadian painter (b. 1882)
1962 – Nikolay Milioti, Russian painter (b. 1874)
1968 – Weegee aka Arthur Fellig, photojournalist (b. 1899)
1970 – Emilio Centurion, Argentinian artist (b. 1894)
1972 – Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States (b. 1884)
1973 – William Haines, actor turned interior designer (b. 1900)
1974 – Jack Benny, American comedian (b. 1894)
1977 – Howard Hawks, American film director and writer (b. 1896)
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 800, Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
In 1066, William the Conqueror was crowned King of England.
In 1868, President Andrew Johnson granted unconditional pardon to all Civil War Confederate soldiers.
In 1989, Nicolae Ceauşescu, former communist President of Romania and his wife, First-Deputy Prime-Minister Elena were condemned to death and executed after a summary trial.
In 1990, they had the first successful trial run of that which we now call the World Wide Web.
In 2009, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, aka the Underwear Bomber (I knew we shouldn’t have made those jokes after the shoe bomber) made an unsuccessful terrorist attack aboard a flight to Detroit Metro Airport. My own personal recollection of this was that if not for the extra security necessary at airports, we would have missed our flight from Paris to Rome because our connection was a bit slow. As it was our flight was very delayed.
Born on This Day
1137 – Saladin, Sultan of Egypt and Syria (d. 1193)
1564 – Abraham Bloemaert, Dutch Mannerist painter (d. 1651)
1628 – Noël Coypel, French painter (d. 1707)
1642 – Isaac Newton, English scientist and mathematician (d. 1727)
1667 – Ehrengard von der Schulenburg, English royal mistress (d. 1743)
1745 – Chevalier de Saint-Georges – “Black Mozart”, African-French Swordsman, Soldier of Fortune, and Composer (d. 1799)
1771 – Dorothy Wordsworth, English diarist and sister of William Wordsworth (d. 1855)
1777 – Thomas Christopher Hofland, British painter (d. 1843)
1806 – Kaspar Kaltenmoser, German genre painter (d. 1867)
1834 – Anders Monsen Askevold, Norwegian painter (d. 1900)
1852 – Lionel Noël Royer, French painter (d. 1926)
1870 – Helena Rubinstein, Polish-born American cosmetics industrialist (d. 1965)
1874 – Carl Fahringer, Austrian landscape and history painter (d. 1952)
1875 – Manuel Benedito Vives, Spanish painter (d. 1963)
1884 – Evelyn Nesbit, American model (d. 1967)
1887 – Conrad Hilton, American hotelier (d. 1979)
1899 – Humphrey Bogart, American actor (d. 1957)
1907 – Cab Calloway, American bandleader (d. 1994)
1908 – Quentin Crisp, English author (d. 1999)
1918 – Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, Nobel laureate (d. 1981)
1924 – Rod Serling, American television writer (d. 1975)
1937 – O’Kelly Isley, Jr., American singer (The Isley Brothers) (d. 1986)
1943 – Hanna Schygulla, German actress
1945 – Noel Redding, English musician (The Jimi Hendrix Experience) (d. 2003)
1946 – Jimmy Buffett, American singer and songwriter
1949 – Sissy Spacek, American actress
1949 – Joe Louis Walker, American musician
1950 – Karl Rove, former American presidential advisor
1952 – CCH Pounder, Guyana-born actress
1954 – Annie Lennox, Scottish singer
1957 – Shane MacGowan, British/Irish musician (yes, this song again, sorry!)
Died on This Day
1669 – Giovanni Andrea de’ Ferrari, Italian painter (b. 1598)
1784 – Yosa Buson, Japanese painter (b. 1716)
1861 – Jakob Joseph Eeckhout, Flemish painter (b. 1793)
This song, while maybe overplayed and considered cliche by the hipster types (I am sooo not one), really speaks to me and I’ve been meaning to post about it because it does so …
When I was in the third grade I thought that I was gay,
‘Cause I could draw, my uncle was, and I kept my room straight.
I told my mom, tears rushing down my face
She’s like “Ben you’ve loved girls since before pre-k, trippin’ ”
Yeah, I guess she had a point, didn’t she?
Bunch of stereotypes all in my head.
I remember doing the math like, “Yeah, I’m good at little league”
A preconceived idea of what it all meant
For those that liked the same sex
Had the characteristics
The right wing conservatives think it’s a decision
And you can be cured with some treatment and religion
Man-made rewiring of a predisposition
Playing God, aw nah here we go
America the brave still fears what we don’t know
And God loves all his children, is somehow forgotten
But we paraphrase a book written thirty-five-hundred years ago
I don’t know …
And I can’t change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
And I can’t change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love
My love
My love
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
If I was gay, I would think hip-hop hates me
Have you read the YouTube comments lately?
“Man, that’s gay” gets dropped on the daily
We become so numb to what we’re saying
A culture founded from oppression
Yet we don’t have acceptance for ’em
Call each other faggots behind the keys of a message board
A word rooted in hate, yet our genre still ignores it
Gay is synonymous with the lesser
It’s the same hate that’s caused wars from religion
Gender to skin color, the complexion of your pigment
The same fight that led people to walk outs and sit ins
It’s human rights for everybody, there is no difference!
Live on and be yourself
When I was at church they taught me something else
If you preach hate at the service those words aren’t anointed
That holy water that you soak in has been poisoned
When everyone else is more comfortable remaining voiceless
Rather than fighting for humans that have had their rights stolen
I might not be the same, but that’s not important
No freedom till we’re equal, damn right I support it
(I don’t know)
And I can’t change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love
My love
My love
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
We press play, don’t press pause
Progress, march on
With the veil over our eyes
We turn our back on the cause
Till the day that my uncles can be united by law
When kids are walking ’round the hallway plagued by pain in their heart
A world so hateful some would rather die than be who they are
And a certificate on paper isn’t gonna solve it all
But it’s a damn good place to start
No law is gonna change us
We have to change us
Whatever God you believe in
We come from the same one
Strip away the fear
Underneath it’s all the same love
About time that we raised up… sex
And I can’t change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
And I can’t change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love
My love
My love
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
Love is patient
Love is kind
Love is patient
Love is kind …
The last few days have seen court decisions that bring a lovely rosy hue to a wonderful year that saw equality spread to Rhode Island, Delaware, Minnesota, New Jersey, Hawaii, Illinois, New Mexico, and (for now) Utah.
The 10th Circuit Court on Tuesday refused to grant an emergency stay:
Having considered the district court’s decision and the parties’ arguments concerning the stay factors, we conclude that a stay is not warranted. Accordingly, we deny Defendants-Appellants’ emergency motions for a stay pending appeal and for a temporary stay. In addition, we direct expedited consideration of this appeal. The Clerk is directed to issue a separate order setting deadlines for briefing. http://thinkprogress.org/defau…
According to Twitter UT is going to ask SCOTUS via Justice Sotomayer (!) to grant a stay. I can only assume that since she doesn’t seem a likely candidate to be chosen by opponents of same sex marriage that she’s the only choice they have.
Jeffrey Toobin, writing for The New Yorker, makes a few interesting observations:
There was really very little fuss made by the Mormon Church other than a rather tepid statement …
“The Church has been consistent in its support of traditional marriage while teaching that all people should be treated with respect,” the Church statement said. “This ruling by a district court will work its way through the judicial process.”
It this because the Church is trying to mend its reputation after Prop 8 or has the Church, as Toobin suggests, figured out that continuing to fight marriage equality is a lost cause?
Toobin also sees the much-less-heralded decision in Ohio has a much bigger deal as it relates to states who have bans on same sex marriage recognizing out-of-state marriages.
In anticipation of [John] Arthur’s death, the couple petitioned the state of Ohio for Arthur to be listed as “married” on his Ohio death certificate, and to record [James] Obergefell as the “surviving spouse.” Ohio, which does not allow same-sex marriages, refused, but federal judge Timothy S. Black ruled against the state and in favor of the couple. The judge said it was “not a complicated case.” Throughout Ohio’s history, Ohio has treated marriages solemnized out of state as valid in Ohio. “How then can Ohio, especially given the historical status of Ohio law, single out same-sex marriage as ones it will not recognize?” Black asked in his opinion. “The short answer is Ohio cannot.”
The Ohio decision is crucial because people in the United States tend to move from state to state. Like Obergefell and Arthur, people in same-sex marriages may well end up living in states where such marriages are illegal. Once they are in those states, these couples will become enmeshed in the legal system in the way that heterosexual married couples do. They will have children; they may divorce and dispute child custody; they will seek to file joint tax returns; they will visit each other in the hospital; they will want to be with each other when they die. Their lives will intersect with the legal system in scores of ways at those junctures. In light of this, many judges will face dilemmas similar to the one Black just resolved.
And these judges will almost certainly decide their cases the same way. It would be a disorderly mess to have separate spheres of law for gay married couples and straight married couples-and, more important, there is no moral or legal justification for doing so. When it comes to marriage, states have granted each other reciprocity since the dawn of the republic.
Justice Scalia saw the writing on the wall when the Windsor decision was handed down. And Robert Shelby, the judge in the UT case, knew that Scalia knew it; he took great delight (I’m hoping) in pointing it out. And oh by they way, Shelby was originally the choice of Orrin Hatch and enjoyed the backing of Mike Lee.
What Shelby and all these judges are seeing is that it is impossible to offer gay people some rights and not others. They are either full citizens, or they are not. In case after case, and now state after state, judges are drawing the only principled conclusions they can. So, increasingly, is the broader citizenry. Gay people are winning-as are we all.
So, it’s almost Chinese Food Day again (also known as December 25). While most Americans will be celebrating with their families, many of us will be going to the movies and eating Chinese food. Yes, it’s cliché, but it is what it is. I don’t know what movie I’m going to see tomorrow, so I am open to any suggestions people might have (I just saw The Hobbit on Sunday night, though). I do know, however, that I’ll be eating Chinese food, although somewhat complicated by the fact that the Chinese place I usually eat out in has apparently closed.
This, ironically, is also a time for me to be thankful to be an American. This is a country where I can openly practice my religion and embrace my culture. I am free to be a Jew and do not have to worry about whether the government will decide it’s a good time to stir up some violence against me. I don’t have to worry about being consigned to the ghetto or the shtetl. I’m free to go to see the movie I want to see and eat the Chinese food I want. Those actions might seem irrelevant, but they mean that I am free to embrace my Jewishness.
As Marc Tracy writes of our Christmas traditions in The New Republic:
So what I’m dreaming of is a truly Jewish Christmas, a day on which most American Jews never feel more Jewish, and never understand more clearly why their Jewishness is important to them. A day on which we derive more enjoyment-schep more naches, if you will-from standing apart than from blending in; from being unconventional, not conventional. Helpfully, unlike living in ghettos, Christmas is voluntary and, as the saying goes, only comes once a year.
For American Jews, Christmas is a day to wallow in difference without being threatened. At its worst, such an identity-holiday can be a theme-park ride, a shallow and consumerist experience-which, ironically, is exactly what many devout Christians fear the day has become. But with a little work, it can be much more meaningful. As American Jews recline in their seats at the cinema, awaiting the previews, mourning their decision to eat those extra two egg rolls, they can find themselves reflecting not just on the fact of their difference, but on the substance of it, and what about it they treasure. It’s almost religious.
Also writing in Tablet Magazine, Tracy further expounds about our experiences with chicken soup with kreplach (for what it’s worth, I actually don’t like wonton soup – I much prefer egg drop soup):
Whether they have fully thought it through or not, Jews who eat Chinese food on Christmas are proclaiming that, for them, Jewishness is what philosophers call a second-order value. In contrast to valuing Judaism on the first order-enjoying the rituals themselves, sincerely adhering to the tenets themselves-they value the fact of their Jewishness. They go out of their way to do it. They may or may not enjoy General Tso’s Chicken, but if they are eating it on Christmas, their prime motivation is not the general’s sweet, spicy deliciousness, but rather the knowledge that they are doing something that in some adapted way reinforces their Jewishness. They are moved by their hearts, not their tastebuds.
So, yes, as odd as it might seem, this is a way for us to embrace our Jewishness. We embrace the fact that we are unique and we are different. We embrace the fact that while December 25 is just another day of the year for us, yet it also different and a time to embrace the fact that we are different.
To my fellow Jews, Happy Chinese Food Day! To those celebrating that other holiday, Merry Christmas.
Do you have a big day planned for tomorrow? Are you staying put or going somewhere?
Did you get anyone a gift that you can’t wait for them to open?
How good were you at manipulating your parents? Any examples? How good are your kids at manipulating you (or nieces and nephews, if you don’t have kids)?
Did you get your pets anything for Christmas?
The Twitter Emitter
Using the government to silence people is oppression. Boycotting a business because someone said something stupid publicly is capitalism.
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.)
