Bird of the Week – Light-mantled Sooty Albatross
If there is a family of birds that, to WC, epitomizes the ocean, it’s the Albatrosses. Coming ashore only to breed, this is a family of birds that lives on the wind and waves. And surely the most handsome of the albatrosses is the Light-mantled Sooty. It’s one of the smaller albatross species, but it isn’t a small bird. An adult is about three feet long and has a wingspan of more than seven feet. For a big bird, it is elegant and grateful in flight, its wingtips just fractions of an inch above the waves. Like far too many…
KXL Pipeline Fight Setback – From Steve Horn
US Court Denies Halt on Pipeline Set to Replace Keystone XL Northern Half (via Desmogblog) The ever-wise Yogi Berra once quipped “It’s like déjà vu all over again,” a truism applicable to a recent huge decision handed down by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. A story covered only by McClatchy News’ Michael…
JFK and My Grandmother
For as long as I can remember, there was an oil painting hanging at the top of the stairs at my Grandmothers house. It was of John F. Kennedy walking on the beach. We were an Irish Catholic family, my grandmother the matriarch. We weren’t conservative Christians, in fact my grandmother never liked them – she felt uncomfortable when, in her 80’s, our small local church started to take a turn for the evangelical. The change started when our priest, Father Guckert started to fall ill. He would take a Sunday off, and one of the local up-and-coming priests would…
Murkowski Slammed Over Filibuster Vote
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid finally went nuclear. Using a rare procedural move, Reid and a majority of Senators voted 52-48 to overhaul a filibuster rule which had largely worked for decades, but which Republicans had so abused since the beginning of the Obama administration, that judicial and cabinet appointments that once would have been routine, became dead in the water. The numbers speak for themselves. The vote was largely down party lines, with 3 Democrats breaking ranks. But at least one Republican we know, who had a history of supporting the concept of the up-or-down vote, cast her vote…
Thursday’s Shannyn Moore Show on BlogTalkRadio
Discover Politics Progressive Internet Radio with The Shannyn Moore Show on BlogTalkRadio Here’s your homework for the tonight! Begich blasts attack ad featuring actress pretending to be Alaskan http://www.adn.com/2013/11/20/3188655/koch-brothers-group-behind-new.html Oklahoma Drops National Guard Benefits For All Couples To Avoid Serving Same-Sex Couples http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/11/19/2970531/oklahoma-national-guard/ Swiss outrage over executive pay sparks a movement in Europe http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2013/11/15/swiss-outrage-over-executive-pay-sparks-a-movement-in-europe/ California Pastor Flips Out Over Costco Filing Bible Under ‘Fiction’ http://www.alan.com/2013/11/20/california-pastor-flips-out-over-costco-filing-bible-under-fiction/
Teddy Talks – A Palin Xmas, Pt. 3
OK, kids. Gather ’round, it’s story time again. The cognac is starting to warm my toes, and numb the part of my brain that gets all twitchy when things don’t make sense. That means I’m ready to dive back into Sarah Palin’s book. Before we get to the random series of words, let’s start off with a picture. Here’s my favorite. It’s little Sarah, and I’m not sure, but this photo of Christmas Past may hold a clue as to what went terribly terribly wrong with our young Sarah. Look deeply. And listen… Teddy: Yes. Yes, that’s it, Little Sarah….
Palin’s MayorMobile For Sale
Are you looking for a new ride? Don’t want to go through a car dealer? Need something that will fit the whole family… and even your kids’ kids? Looking for something that has an official seal of approval? Well then I’ve got the auto for you. A 1999 Ford Expedition with 74,188 miles needs new brakes and some other minor repairs. It’s tan and has got Air Conditioning, Cruise Control, Power Locks, Power Windows. Wow! I know? Right? I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of you clamoring for this vehicle based on that alone, but what if I told you…
UPDATE: “We are journalists, and we will continue to do what we do.”
Update [Wednesday 11pm AK Time]: A suspect placed in custody on Wednesday night has been identified as Abdelhakim Dekhar, and a DNA sample collected after the arrest matched with that collected on a crime scene. The shooter, currently hospitalized after being “in a semi-conscious state” – apparently due to medication- would have been suicidal, according to early reports. Dekhar is known to police for having been arrested in 1998 in connection to the Rey-Maupin case, and charged with criminal organization. However his arrest predated the DNA database, which didn’t allow for an immediate match. The photographer wounded during the shooting has resurfaced…
Good Tidings & Great Pain – A Palin Xmas, Ch. 1
Good tidings. Great joy! And the miracle of a baby’s birth. Not just a regular baby – the Prince of Peace, the Lamb of God. A baby who would grow into a man who communed with the poor, the outcasts, the wretched, the lost souls. A man who would save them, and heal them, and love them. A giver of second chances, and hope. A bringer of love, compassion, salvation and forgiveness. That’s what Sarah Palin’s book is all about, she says in the Introduction. “Good Tidings and Great Joy – Saving the Heart of Christmas.” It’s not about trivial…
Good Tidings & Great Pain – A Palin Xmas, Intro
Today, I walked into Barnes & Noble on a mission. A horrible, horrible mission. “Hahaha,” you say, “Did you buy Sarah Palin’s new book?” And then you wait to hear what I was really doing there. Awkward pause. That IS what I was really doing there. I had a tough choice, once I found myself actually holding her book. Because, to be honest “The Zombie’s Guide to the Holidays” in the impulse buy section by the register seemed like it would be a better read. And it had a cute little snowflake bookmark. But then it hit me… “A Zombie’s…