Motley Moose – Archive

Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

Archive for July 2013

Senate Filibuster Watch (Update: Richard Cordray sworn in as first director of CFPB)

Today, votes on the confirmation of 7 of President Obama’s executive nominees will take place in the Senate.

Update: Cloture vote expected at 11am Eastern

Update 2: Cordray nomination advances. Senate to vote on other nominees now.

Update 3: Other nominees to be voted on “next week or the week after”, per Harry Reid

Update 4 (7-17): Richard Cordray confirmed and sworn in. President Obama spoke from the White House this morning (White House live stream)

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) was in the audience.

THIS is a BHD:

Update 5 (7/17): Tom Perez nomination for Labor advances on a vote of 60-40.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), has told the Republican minority that if they attempt to block the vote on these confirmations, he will change the Senate rules to only require 51 votes to end cloture on executive nominations.

What Flags Do Russia’s Protestors Use?

By: inoljt, http://mypolitikal.com/

Russia has recently had a number of protests against President  Vladimir Putin. The protests constitute a challenge of urban Russians  against Putin’s rule.

If you’ve ever seen pictures of these protests, one interesting thing  stands out. This is the fact that the protestors don’t wave Russia’s  national flag. Instead, they always wave different flags:

What are these flags? What do they represent? I’ve done a bit of digging to get at these answers.

More below.

The Daily F Bomb, Tuesday 7/16/13

Interrogatories

Have you been to Washington DC? If so, what was the best thing about it?

Have you been to San Diego? If so, what was the best thing about it?

How long has it been since you read “Catcher in the Rye?”

If JFK Jr. hadn’t died so tragically 14 years ago, do you think he would have eventually ended up in politics?

Are you you now or have you ever been a fan of Martha Stewart?

The Twitter Emitter

Tisha B’Av – The Saddest Day on the Jewish Calendar

Tisha B’Av begins tonight at sundown.  It is the saddest day on the Jewish calendar and marks the traditional anniversary on which both the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed.  Along with Yom Kippur, it is one of two 25-hour fasts on the calendar.  Three years ago, I fasted on Tisha B’Av for the first time and wrote a diary about it afterwards discussing my experience.  This year, I am fasting once again, with the fast having begun here in New York just before 8:30 p.m.

Protect Me From My Gun

The Trayvon Martin murder case occupied an enormous amount of attention while it proceeded from a shot fired to a case of second degree murder being dismissed. The reasons it so captured American attention will be examined for years to come. Initially, as well as after the verdict, the racial aspects of the case drew the majority of attention. But intermixed in that complex sociological issue was a ruling that is as shocking in its simplicity as it is frightening in its implications.

I used my gun to protect me from my gun.

This is now a valid defense.

The Daily F Bomb, Monday 7/15/13

Interrogatories

On this day long ago, Alois Alzheimer got a certain disease named after him. Would you want a disease named after you, even as a scientist?

What disease or condition would you name after yourself? (For instance, Floja Roja’s disease would be where the sufferers eat the entire carton of ice cream straight out of the carton without stopping.)

Did your ancestors fight for the North, the South, or both?

Gummi candies: For or against?

When was the last time you were in the doghouse?

The Twitter Emitter

This was one of those weekends where the twitter stream was like a fire hose. Today it’s all Trayvon, with more tweets on Trayvon and other subjects in the comments:

Motley Monday Check in and Mooselaneous Musings

Good morning Motley Meese! Hope your weekend was lovely. Remember to let your peeps know where you are!


  PLEASE Do Not Recommend the check-in diary!
 

        Recs on the weather jar comment are still welcome.

Here’s today’s Motley Monday Shot of the Week. I took this at Catoctin, MD on Saturday.

Catoctin Zoo Trip-1

 

All The News, Sunday: Who Is Your Neighbor

michaelbeschlossjackierobinsondavid

Jackie Robinson with his son David at the March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom, August 28, 1963. Photo credit from @BeschlossDC .

This is your Sunday night news.  Look for more news in MOTs and any open threads from JanF.  

FEATURED STUFF

Mandela Day

 Following the success of Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday celebrations in London’s Hyde Park in June 2008, it was decided that there could be nothing more fitting than to celebrate Mr Mandela’s birthday each year with a day dedicated to his life’s work and that of his charitable organisations, and to ensure his legacy continues forever.

The Mandela Day campaign message is simple: Mr Mandela gave 67 years of his life fighting for the rights of humanity. All we are asking is that everyone gives 67 minutes of their time, whether it’s supporting your chosen charity or serving your local community.

Mandela Day is a call to action for individuals – for people everywhere – to take responsibility for changing the world into a better place, one small step at a time, just as Mr Mandela did.

Sometime this week, please spend 67 minutes doing something for a neighbor.  

Diary title refers to this parable from Jesus:

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'[b]”

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Notes:  v. 27 is found in the Hebrew scriptures of Leviticus and Deuteronomy.  

It’s easy to be a news junkie.  Refresh, look at other sites, look at twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc.  After this week, I wanted to share this passage.  And with Mandela Day coming this week, I wanted to ask all of you to be a neighbor.  Whatever that means to you.  

 

Odds & Ends: News/Humor

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”. For example …..

SEPARATED at BIRTH – incoming Bank of England governor (and Canadian native) Mark Carney and film star George Clooney.

   

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