Motley Moose – Archive

It was all over the news this morning. Obama’s second term cabinet lacks diversity, it’s rocky, it’s shaping up to be a boys club.  

Good morning, Bombers. Yesterday my news feed was all about the Baseball Hall of Fame (abbreviated HOF on Twitter, which to me means “Hair on Fire,” but that’s another controversy) and OMG, Obama doesn’t believe in diversity! (The two female Supreme Court Justices don’t count.)

Today’s REALLY IMPORTANT controversies are: Was the 1970s “disco sucks” movement racist? Coffee: dark roast or medium roast? African, Central/South American, Indonesian, Jamaican? Tapioca: Yummy or intrinsically creepy? Cats: Long hair or short hair? Wine: White or red? Homeowners’ Associations: Evil or just Nasty?

From canyourelate.com: The 10 best rape prevention tips you will ever see: http://canyourelate.org/2011/0…

Today’s Twitter Roundup:

Fox News: “Americans aren’t poor. 99% have refrigerators. And some of them have food inside.”

— The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) January 8, 2013

Lindsey Graham puts hold on appetizer order until waiter gives answers about Benghazi

— daveweigel (@daveweigel) January 9, 2013

I’d write a novel about a baker who casts spells by slicing dough in different shapes, but it would be dismissed as “cookie-cutter fantasy.”

— Eric James Stone (@EricJamesStone) January 9, 2013

Paul Ryan Sponsors Fetal Personhood Bill. Because abortion is murder, but shooting 6 year olds is constitutional freedom.

— Elayne Boosler (@ElayneBoosler) January 9, 2013

Highlight of the State of the Union? President turns around, says, “What’s that in your ear, Mr. Speaker?” & pulls out the trilion $ coin.

— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) January 9, 2013

I can’t believe the partisan fight Obama is picking with Republicans over whomever he appoints to Labor. Disgraceful.

— Jesse Taylor (@jesseltaylor) January 9, 2013

Sorry, Wall St.! No bonuses! That’d be “distributing the wealth,” and Eric Bolling says that’s pinko shit.

— David Waldman (@KagroX) January 9, 2013

People kill people. People with guns kill more people, faster.

— Peter Flom (@peterflom) January 10, 2013

Tomorrow on @morning_joe, a panel of ten white men and one woman will discuss the lack of diversity in Obama’s cabinet. Cc @joenbc

— Keith White (@Keethers) January 10, 2013

#EdShow If “mental health” is THE reason for gun violence, shouldn’t we worry about Michelle Bachmann heading the House Intel Committee?

— jawillie (@jawillie) January 10, 2013

Now, on to the history lesson!

  Make sure you let your peeps know where to find you!  

I like to write poems at times. I mostly do free verse, sometimes rhyming, and haiku.

I wrote this one the other day, for one of the First Nations groups that are part of my Facebook experience.

Small things at night

Beauty from the elders

Run and play, children. Your world is just beginning.

Remember these mysteries as you play and grow strong, children.

They are your heart.

An article in Science Daily caught my attention:

With more than 30,000 Americans killed by guns each year — 85 deaths per day — setting limits and regulations on gun ownership is just one aspect to be considered in curbing the violence

– source: Comprehensive Public Health Approach Urged to Curb Gun Violence in U.S at http://www.sciencedaily.com/re…

Eighty five gun deaths per day!  Over 30000 a year!  That is equal to a World Trade Center tragedy per month, or nearly four Newtowns per day!  If this many people were being killed by anything but guns, we would make it a number one priority to deal with it by any means possible.  We all remember what freedoms we were willing to sacrifice as a result of the World Trade Center, but we are not willing to sacrifice even the most egregious weapons – large magazines or assault weapons – in the face of these numbers.

So, yes, I’m back to writing again.  I know this is largely a political site and all, but this isn’t a political diary.  This is about the fact that the eligible members of the Baseball Writers Association of America did not elect a single member to the Baseball Hall of Fame this year.  Some of their vote certainly makes sense.  There are players on the ballot who do not belong in Cooperstown despite their gaudy statistics.  There are, however, victims too — players who never had their names linked to scandal and players that there were just whispers about, but no concrete evidence.

I write this diary about both those players.  These are the players of the Steroid Era.  These are the players from an era where many were artificially enhanced and where all the players — both clean and cheater — are tainted by that fact.  Some of those players will inevitably get into Cooperstown, while it is clear that certain players will not.  What is certain is that the bottleneck will only get worse as more and more candidates from that era come up for hall of fame consideration.  These words, however, aren’t specifically about those players, but, rather, about those players that were rejected today.

Note that this diary is only about first-ballot candidates and other players from the Steroid Era.  It is not about players such as Jack Morris or Lee Smith, who are part of an entirely different debate.

As a newcomer who is an inveterate animal-lover, I felt it would behoove me to become better acquainted with the totem of my new, purple

homeland: the moose (Alces alces). So I asked a lot of questions and came up with many delightful answers…

Happy hump day, F Troopers!  The weather report warns of lightning storms and flash flooding on the GOS (flooding undoubtedly caused by tears of impotent rage). It is recommended that you stay inside where it is safe and warm, and we argue about more important things, like…

Do you pronounce the ‘t’ in often? (Do you pronounce the ‘t’ in soften?) Utilize instead of use: a bad or good thing? Yes, you can utilize that room as an office, but when you have been treated badly by your date, do you feel utilized? Would you buy a utilized car? Where do we draw the line? Who is worse, Nickelback or Creed? If you like one or the other, are you willing to admit it? Does the imminent return of high waisted pants delight or terrify you? What is your favorite decade (or era) for movies?

Your Twitter Cavalcade:

I have serious issues and concerns with John McCrazy’s ability to fulfill the duties of his Senatorial post…I think he’s unfit for duty.

— GStuedler (@GStuedler) January 8, 2013

I’m not sure if we should have a national database of the mentally ill but I hope someone is keeping an eye on Allen West.

— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) January 8, 2013

Obama could cure cancer and people like Ron Fournier would say his cure wasn’t bipartisan enough.

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) January 8, 2013

I’d smoke weed today but I’m too disgusted that it would let itself be smoked by Bieber. #not

— Jesus Christ (@Jesus_M_Christ) January 8, 2013

Congress has a 9% approval rating and a 91% incumbency rating which equals a 100% cognitive dissonance rating.

— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) January 8, 2013

Coins are so boring. It should be a trillion dollar platinum SWORD, forged by elves schooled in the ancient ways.

— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) January 8, 2013

Last year was the hottest year on record, if you believe so-called “thermometers.”

— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) January 9, 2013

AIG puts the douche back in fiduciary duty.

— David Waldman (@KagroX) January 9, 2013

If the GOP wanted to pick the nominee for Secretary of Defense, they should have picked a better candidate for President.

— kara vallow (@teenagesleuth) January 9, 2013

Truth:

Now, time for our history lesson!