Motley Moose – Archive

In spite of what my little brothers claim I am taller than a Hobbit. However like Bilbo Baggins I am going on an adventure. I am leaving tomorrow for San Francisco. I will be in California for a week and than head back by train to North Carolina. I will spend at least one day in San Francisco a city I love and miss.

As many of you know we lost my oldest brother last year. I had the horrifying duty of burying him, cleaning up his financial mess, and cleaning and putting our parent’s home up for sale. With the sale of the house one of my younger brothers has decided to move out here to North Carolina to be close to me. Reid has severe diabetes and M.S. I want him closer so I can keep an eye on him. I ended up doing all of the work to get movers etc. to get him out here. He does not have Internet access and I unfortunately am more than familiar with moving.

So I am taking off on my adventure tomorrow and hopefully I won’t encounter any trolls or dragons. Now if Vigo Morthensen’s Aragon wants to show up that is a different story. He is more than welcome.

I should be able to log on for Sunday All Day Brunch over at Street Prophets. I have diaries up for next week but probably won’t have Internet access on the train for next Thursday or the following Sunday.

I have an early flight tomorrow and will be in San Francisco early afternoon. A BART ride will take me to Concord where I’ll rent a car and go to my hotel. I’m not sure what day I’ll be in San Francisco but if anyone wants to meet up let me know. I’ll take BART into the city.

I’m looking forward to seeing my favorite city again and getting this hopefully last major project done of getting my brother moved. After that the only thing I want to look forward to is The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. I want no more crises. I want to spend the rest of my life geeking out.  

Some midweek fluff for your enjoyment. 🙂

The sun has set, but night has not yet fallen. It’s the suspended hour… The hour when one finally finds oneself in renewed harmony with the world and the light. L’Heure Bleue is the moment when the sun disappears beneath the horizon and the sky is painted with night’s velvet. It is an atmosphere, an inexpressible rendering exceptional moments.

That’s from the website of parfumier Guerlain, which has been making a scent called L’Heure Bleue since 1912, and I think it’s a lovely description of the magic that happens at the end of the day, when the world holds its breath and, just for a moment, time stands still.

L’heure bleue in Venice.

This is the third part in a series of posts examining how to create super-packed districts of one race. The other posts in this series pack blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, and whites.

More below.

No really, that’s what he said:

Four years ago, I know that many Americans felt a fresh excitement about the possibilities of a new president. That president was not the choice of our party but Americans always come together after elections. We are a good and generous people who are united by so much more than what divides us.

Of course, on the day of Obama inauguration, the Congressional Republican leadership held a secret meeting where they agreed to oppose President Obama on everything (whether it was their idea or not), including every single economic proposal — all while the U.S. economy was crashing.

As President Barack Obama was celebrating his inauguration at various balls, top Republican lawmakers and strategists were conjuring up ways to submarine his presidency at a private dinner in Washington.

The event — which provides a telling revelation for how quickly the post-election climate soured — serves as the prologue of Robert Draper’s much-discussed and heavily-reported new book, “Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives.”

According to Draper, the guest list that night (which was just over 15 people in total) included Republican Reps. Eric Cantor (Va.), Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), Paul Ryan (Wis.), Pete Sessions (Texas), Jeb Hensarling (Texas), Pete Hoekstra (Mich.) and Dan Lungren (Calif.), along with Republican Sens. Jim DeMint (S.C.), Jon Kyl (Ariz.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), John Ensign (Nev.) and Bob Corker (Tenn.). The non-lawmakers present included Newt Gingrich, several years removed from his presidential campaign, and Frank Luntz, the long-time Republican wordsmith. Notably absent were Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) — who, Draper writes, had an acrimonious relationship with Luntz.

For several hours in the Caucus Room (a high-end D.C. establishment), the book says they plotted out ways to not just win back political power, but to also put the brakes on Obama’s legislative platform.

The logic is inescapable.  The Republican nominee for President of the United States thinks the leadership of his party are neither good, nor generous people.  Since Americans always come together after elections and Republicans plotted to do the opposite, and have in fact executed those plans, Republicans are not Americans.

Q.E.D.

While whiling away a late-March Saturday afternoon, I came across these results from a political compass quiz. The results seem to indicate more progressive participants than conservative ones. This makes some results stand out as a bit eyeopening. See if you can spot the ones that seem out of whack.

Currently, after 117538 submissions, the average Conservative/Progressive score is 6.04, the average Capitalist Purist/Social Capitalist score is 6.79, the average Libertarian/Authoritarian score is 5.58, and the average Pacifist/Militarist score is 4.43

1. Are our gun control laws too strict? – 27% said yes, 73% said no

2. Should gay marriage be legalized? – 66% said yes, 34% said no

3. Should we consider invading Iran? – 23% said yes, 77% said no

4. Should intelligent design be taught in public schools alongside evolution? – 52% said yes, 48% said no

5. Does the US need a system of universal health care? – 61% said yes, 39% said no

6. Should marijuana be legalized? – 58% said yes, 42% said no

7. Should we repeal [or substantially change] the Patriot Act? – 56% said yes, 44% said no

8. Does the US have a right to stop countries we do not trust from getting weapons? – 50% said yes, 50% said no

9. Should we end (or reduce the use of) the death penalty? – 40% said yes, 60% said no

10. Should there be a higher minimum wage? – 68% said yes, 32% said no

11. Does affirmative action do more harm than good? – 62% said yes, 38% said no

12. Is the United States spending too much money on defense? – 56% said yes, 44% said no

13. Should embryonic stem cell research be funded by the government? – 59% said yes, 41% said no

14. Should flag burning be legal? – 43% said yes, 57% said no

15. Should all people (rich and poor) pay fewer taxes? – 58% said yes, 42% said no

16. Should the US begin withdrawing from Iraq? – 80% said yes, 20% said no

17. Is it sometimes justified to wiretap US citizens without a warrant? – 34% said yes, 66% said no

18. Should the government be involved in reducing the amount of violence/pornography in tv/movies/games/etc? – 25% said yes, 75% said no

19. Should the United States only start a war if there is an imminent threat of being attacked ourselves? – 77% said yes, 23% said no

20. Should stopping illegal immigration be one of our top priorities? – 56% said yes, 44% said no

21. Is outsourcing of American jobs justified if it allows for cheaper goods? – 28% said yes, 72% said no

22. Are all abortions unethical? [with the exception of risk to mother’s health] – 37% said yes, 63% said no

23. Should social security be privatized? – 56% said yes, 44% said no

24. Should the United States ever go to war even if the UN is against it? – 50% said yes, 50% said no