Motley Moose – Archive

Pat Toomey confirms it: Obama is right about GOP

Wapo; Greg Sargent

Having a Republican on record confirming this is useful. As Steve Benen notes, it makes all the suggestions that Obama needs to “lead” and “twist arms” look pretty silly. Indeed, Toomey’s concession is particularly relevant to the ongoing debate over Obama’s remarks at his presser yesterday. Here’s the bit that has all of the Green Lanternites out there slapping their knees and laughing uproariously:

   “I cannot force Republicans to embrace those common-sense solutions…It’s tough. Their base thinks that compromise with me is somehow a betrayal. They’re worried about primaries. And I understand all that. And we’re going to try to do everything we can to create a permission structure for them to be able to do what’s going to be best for the country. But it’s going to take some time.”

But is this materially different from what Toomey said about his own party? No, it isn’t.

Just a reminder:  The GOP in general and in specificity cannot stand to do one single thing that might possible make Obama look good.  

By Ilkka Hamalainen

Arch of Titus – Arco di Tito

Like most triumphal arches, this one celebrates a victory of war.

The Arch of Titus has provided the general model for many of the triumphal arches erected since the 16th century.

All The News Fit To Share:  Add your own in the comments!  

If media covered America the way we cover foreign cultures

DATELINE APRIL 21, 2013

IT HAS HAPPENED AGAIN, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:

   Yet another massacre has occurred in the historically war-torn region of the Southern United States – and so soon after the religious festival of Easter.

   Brian McConkey, 27, a Christian fundamentalist militiaman living in the formerly occupied territory of Alabama, gunned down three men from an opposing tribe in the village square near Montgomery, the capitol, over a discussion that may have involved the rituals of the local football cult. In this region full of heavily-armed local warlords and radical Christian clerics, gun violence is part of the life of many.

   Many of the militiamen here are ethnic Scots-Irish tribesmen, a famously indomitable mountain people who have killed civilized men – and each other – for centuries. It appears that the wars that started on the fields of Bannockburn and Stirling have come to America.

   As the sun sets over the former Confederate States of America, one wonders – can peace ever come to this land?

I selected the example, however, the rest of the writing is very interesting.  

The Making Location is the Motley Moose community spot for all things handmade, homemade, created, from any material using any technique.  You are all welcome to share what you have been making.  In progress, planning, UFO’s, or finished items all welcome.  

The legwarmers I started during early March are finished, and I wove in the ends during a kid-appointment yesterday.

NASA’s photo.  

Three international journalists asked to leave Bahrain

The Bahraini government ordered three journalists from the British television network ITV to leave the country today, according to news reports citing an ITV spokesman. The journalists, who were also briefly detained on Thursday, are in the process of leaving the country.

The ITV crew was composed of correspondent Rageh Omaar, and a cameraman and producer, who have not been identified, according to news reports. The journalists were covering the political unrest in Bahrain that coincided with a major Formula One race this coming weekend, the reports said.

An ITV spokesman said in a statement on Thursday that police stopped the crew from filming on Thursday and took them to a local police station. She said the police held “discussions” with them before saying they could continue to film. The ITV journalists filed a story on the protests later that day.

Committee to Protect Journalists:  14 dead journalists in 2013.  

Because now that’s it’s over in Boston, we need cute critter pix.  Imho.  

Photo credit: Margaret Bourke

Jan F and others and I are bringing you mooselings the news, whether you like it or not!  

I tend to look at newspapers’ web sites around the world and country.  Use links from my twitter feed sometimes.  Lots of twitter tonight.

20 Photos That Change The Holocaust Narrative

PopChassid.com, h/t to Little Green Footballs

Victims. Helpless. Downtrodden.

That’s the narrative that’s been spread about Jews for the last 70 years since the Holocaust. We’ve embraced it to our detriment. We can’t seem to address antisemitism without running to the world and screaming that we’re being persecuted, rather than standing up strongly in defiance, aware of our own inner strength.

The Holocaust has scarred us, a yetzer hara (sneaky bastard of a voice in our heads), that keeps trying to tell us how we are defined by our past, controlled by events that happened to us, instead of using those moments as points of growth.

This came up in a local column today.  

Capitol police call citizen

Elise Lazar, who lives in Salt Lake County, called Sen. Orrin Hatch’s Salt Lake City office March 25 to inquire if the senator would be in town over spring break and if he scheduled any town hall meetings.

The receptionist asked why she would want to know that. Lazar said she had concerns on certain issues that she would like to discuss with him and she had friends who might want to attend the meeting as well.

Ms. Lazar was contacted by Capitol Police.  

But the next day Lazar received a call on her cell phone from the Capitol Hill Police in Washington, D.C., telling her they had received a complaint about her from Hatch’s office and that they felt she might be a suspicious person.

My new representative is Chris Stewart, who seems to the right of Glenn Beck.  How do I make my voice heard?  

Here is your latest open news thread.  Each unique commenter will be rewarded with an easter photo.  

Given the ages of Nelson Mandela, and Pete Seeger, I know we will not have them with us much longer.  And of course we never know how much time we really have left.  I am touched not only by the two great men I mentioned, also this woman here:  

Viola Liuzzo, Ally

At age 35 Liuzzo, a high school dropout, trained for a career as a medical laboratory assistant at the Carnegie Institute of Detroit, 1961-62. In 1963, to further enhance her education, she enrolled in classes at Wayne State University.

Liuzzo was also active in local efforts on behalf of reform in education and economic justice. Twice she was arrested, pleaded guilty, and insisted on a trial to publicize the causes for which she was an advocate. Evans said of her friend, “Viola Liuzzo lived a life that combined the care of her family and her home with a concern for the world around her. This involvement with her times was not always understood by her friends; nor was it appreciated by those around her.”

In 1964 Liuzzo began attending the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Detroit, two blocks from the Wayne State campus, and, through Evans, became active in the Detroit chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). That same year Evans and Liuzzo drove to New York City to attend a United Nations Seminar on civil rights sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA).

Liuzzo’s spiritual journey included putting hands to work. Unchurched as a child, she had converted to Roman Catholicism when she married Jim. Drawn to Roman Catholic mysticism for a time, she was later interested in Protestant evangelicalism. She sought personal relationship with a God active in the events of human history and herself wanted to make a difference in the world. At First Unitarian Universalist Liuzzo found a faith matching both her ideas and her longing to be of service. She became a full member on March 29, 1964. Many members of the church had been Freedom Riders. Daughter Penny attended the young adult group’s discussions.

I met this woman, who had an ordinary life and chose to do incredible things, during Melissa Harris-Perry’s show yesterday.  I encourage you to watch this segment.  It is empowering.  

One of my favorite women.  Photo: me.

Jan F, Laura and I are bringing you NEWS.  Please use as an open new thread until the next “All The News” is posted.

FEATURE ARTICLE

The Triggers of Economic Inequality

Bill Moyers.com; Troy Oxford and Lauren Feeney

In recent years, the rich have seen their wealth grow dramatically while the poor and middle class have basically flatlined. It’s no accident, argue Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson in their book Winner-Take-All Politics. The infographic below, which draws from Hacker and Pierson’s book, explains how our politicians – on both sides of the aisle – fell under the spell of corporate dollars and re-engineered our economic system to favor the wealthy. The dark green line shows the income trajectory for the top 1 percent since 1970, while the light green line shows the bottom 90 percent. Click the orange triangles to learn about critical turning points that helped create the skewed system we have today.

This is the most amazing chart, illustrating the path our country took to today’s inequities.  Social/economic/etc.  Please visit this site and explore.  Also, how can we make this better for all of our citiizens and everyone who lives in our country?

Welcome to the Making Location, the Moosely place for all things hand-made, home-made, crafted, fashioned, done yourself, hobbified, cooked, written, etc.  This is where we share, admire, and we can try to problem-solve too.  

I have a few things from around the tubes to share, and updates to my Lenten project, described in my previous WAYWO.  

Daughter, in her newer, better, fuller pioneer skirt.  I must love her a lot for letting her use that beatiful Northcott-Monarch fabric from Jennifer Wheeling’s Victorian collection.  😉

I also want to apologize for my lapse.  Baseball season started, and it has thrown the carefully  balanced chaos in Casa Jenn for a horrible loop.  Beading has all but stopped.  Suppers around the table are rare.  I am hoping the scheduling gets a teeny bit better after Easter, but this next week will be challenging.