A few words about moose.
We have a minor moose story unfolding in the U.P.: Authorities shot and killed a female of the species Monday. It had wandered into the bustling metropolis of Ishpeming, and after failing to drive it safely out of town, the DNR and local police said they had no choice. They also said their efforts were thwarted by gawkers who surrounded the animal, taking pictures and confusing it. The crowd was also, shall we say, highly critical of the execution. To get a sense of the mood in Ishpeming:
“People are yelling that we should be fired,” (DNR moose biologist Brian) Roell said, “but we had to make a tough, unfortunate decision.”
Police Chief Jim Bjorne said: “We would not have had to kill that cow moose if the public did not act like the paparazzi, chasing it around like it was some type of Hollywood movie star.”
Plenty of residents say the officials made an unconscionable decision. And their anger appears to be spreading.
Take Richard Tyynismaa, 64, a longtime resident. “The police are taking a lot of heat,” he said. “We would like them to explain the hows and whys of what happened. I find this totally offensive. There is absolutely no reason for putting that cow down. If she was acting erratic, it’s probably only because she was just trying to protect her calves.”
Yes, calves, plural. The cow had two spring calves at her side, which disappeared into the woods after the shooting. Moose customarily stay with their weaned young until the following spring, so their chances of surviving winter just went down a bit.
As you can imagine, this incident has spread ripples throughout the state, although, to be sure, it’s also generated some totally awesome headlines, like, ohhhh, “Chief Bjorne speaks out about moose” and Does one moose’s death undermine Michigan’s reintroduction initiative? (DNR says no. The public, however, is furious.) The Free Press outdoors writer knows where to point the finger: Gawkers to blame for U.P. moose debacle, he thunders. Ahem:
A lot of the criticism of the police and DNR was based on sheer ignorance. One writer couldn’t understand why the cops didn’t just lasso the moose and lead it away. I wish I could give that person a lasso, get him to within throwing range of a 1,000-pound, panicked moose and stand back to watch the fun.
People have been killed by moose cows that were protecting calves from what the moose viewed as potential predators. A moose’s hooves are big and sharp, and being kicked by one would be like being hit by a baseball bat swung by the Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera.
As for me, I think it’s pretty amazing when a town in the U.P. — a land where rifles surely outnumber people — can generate a) 100 – 200 mooseparazzi; b) enough people defying direct police order to reach critical mass; and c) animal lovers willing to speak up against the death of a large ungulate. Towns like Ishpeming are kept alive in large part by hunting, after all; one of the best stories I ever read in the Free Press was 20-some years ago, a magazine piece that sketched the weirdness of deer season Up North. (The party stores lay in extra supplies of Juggs and Hustler; entrepreneurs sell freshly killed bucks from pickup beds at bar-closing time, for hunters too loaded to be trusted with a weapon.) In three minutes or so, you can get the same sense from Da Yoopers:
But moose aren’t deer, and are a fairly recent phenomenon in the U.P. The stories mention the DNR’s reintroduction efforts with the species, importing them from Canada. I guess it has been going pretty well; twin calves are usually a sign of good health in the mother and a supportive environment. I guess the Case of the Executed Moose Cow can be chalked up to collateral damage.
A couple years ago, during the annual Brownie camping trip, one of our number was a military wife, who recalled giving birth in a remote Alaska clinic where her husband was stationed. A moose cow took up residence outside her window and proceeded to lick the window glass for hours on end, and no, I don’t know why, either, but she said this was very common in Alaska, that everyone’s windows were smeared with moose saliva. Huh. She also said moose delays were a fact of life, when one or two would wander into your yard and decide to stay a while, and if one was between you and your car, it was a perfectly acceptable reason to call in late to work, as it wasn’t safe to come too close to them.
I saw my first moose up close and personal on Isle Royale. Alan was off fishing and I was taking a little nature walk around our campsite when I came around a bend in the trail and there she was — about as close as my driveway to my neighbor’s, chewing her cud. We looked at one another for a long moment. I looked around for a calf and didn’t see one, and relaxed a bit. We looked at one another a little longer. She went back to ruminating. I turned around and went back. Later that week we passed one standing just off the trail, having a pee. It sounded like a bucket being poured out onto dead leaves. There was another one in Yellowstone Park when I was camping alone, and when I looked out the tent flap without my glasses and saw a large brown thing at the edge of the lake, I nearly had an unscheduled pee myself, but I got my specs on before I let loose and relaxed.
And that’s all the moose I have been privileged to know. There were many spotted from the car in Yellowstone, some of which had calves. There is nothing cuter than a baby moose, and here I am including puppies, kittens and bunnies. They have brown eyes the size of grapefruit and cute floppy ears and comical Bullwinkle noses. The idea of leaving not one but two without their mother is a crime against cuteness, and that can never be tolerated, not in this country.
Where am I going with this? To the bloggage, I hope:
Why even professional-journalist bloggers need editors, so they don’t write ignorant-ass shit like this.
Watching “Red Dawn” and laughing uncontrollably at it is one of my peak memories of the ‘80s. David Plotz looks anew at John Milius’ paranoid fantasy and finds it less funny today.
Be the first one on your block to get a ThatOne’08 T-shirt.
I’m off to the gym to get myself in tip-top shape for the coming depression. I should just take up smoking and hope for an early death instead.
(Order your Amazon through me and I earn 4 percent. Click the “powered by Amazon” logo.)
Dwight said on October 9th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Er…
So tell me, Queen of the Straw Man Lead, what exactly is wrong with a blog open discussion about using stock photos for smear purposes?
brian stouder said on October 9th, 2008 at 10:12 am
errrr, uhhhhh, I thought she was referring to the inane “Can’t you shoot your foot off like that?” with a weapon that is clearly disabled…but, errr, uhhhh, I don’t know bupkis about shootin’ irons, and if,errrr, uhhhh, I was gonna write something about ‘em, an editor would help!
Err, by way of saying, uhhhh — I don’t think the issue that the Proprietress was raising was the, errrr, stock photo, but rather the, uhhhhh, inane comment about the open stock of the weapon!
derwood said on October 9th, 2008 at 10:13 am
I had to look up ungulate. I’m not sure why I didn’t know it.
That One website is hilarious.
d
Julie Robinson said on October 9th, 2008 at 10:13 am
We saw a herd of moose on a remote road in Colorado several years ago. Very dark and great for star gazing. No so great for seeing moose. Fortunately our son has eagle eyes and we barely avoided hitting them. We were in our daughter’s Escort and I’ve no doubt it would have crumpled like aluminum foil. They are massive and impressive. If you spend your life in urban and suburban areas, it’s easy to forget that you don’t have control over such forces of nature.
Kirk said on October 9th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Hell, it’s a shotgun, not a rifle. Even I know that. Ignorance of weapons is one of the problems that just won’t go away among reporters and editors at our paper and many other periodicals other than Outdoor Life.
Andrea said on October 9th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Palin was featured on the cover of Newsweek on 9/8 & 9/15 and now on the latest 10/13 issue. The latest cover is the newest “scandal du jour” — the too-close, untouched photo of Palin. That LA Times blog post is woefully old news since the rifle/shotgun cover was from 9/15 and they just posted about it on 10/8, the same day everyone was talking about the 10/13 cover instead.
Catherine said on October 9th, 2008 at 11:11 am
I’m possibly the original arugala-eating, gun-hating, too much grad-school attending suburbanite, and even I know that’s a shotgun, not a rifle, and it’s deployed safely. Probably that’s why the pile-on in the comments.
nancy said on October 9th, 2008 at 11:23 am
I don’t think Dwight likes me. [Pout.]
I thought the point was obvious: Not only is that weapon not a rifle, Palin is holding it precisely according to Hoyle — breech open, impossible to fire. I’m still unsure if the writer/blogger was being stupid on purpose.
The new Newsweek arrived yesterday, and I winced, even as I immediately got the point: It’s the warts-and-all story. Just goes to showya (as Palin might say), even beautiful women have their flaws. They have pores, anyway.
Jolene said on October 9th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Some inspiration for late-stage political volunteerism: The Really Busy Person’s Guide to Political Activism: Life-Hacking for Partisans
Kirk said on October 9th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Some yahoo called the paper this week to complain that the ads for Oprah’s TV show that we’ve been running at the bottom of the front page, featuring her mug, are part of our conspiracy to subliminally promote the candidacy of Barack Obama. Yesterday, we had a front-page ad for Mattress Mart that featured an attractive white woman wearing glasses. Don’t think we’ve heard from anyone ripping us for subliminally promoting Sarah Palin’s candidacy.
moe99 said on October 9th, 2008 at 11:34 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjxzmaXAg9E
interviews w/ McCain Palin supporters in Strongsville, OH. Ugly.
Jolene said on October 9th, 2008 at 11:37 am
You have my sympathy, Kirk. In my occasional forays to the loonier outposts of the Internet, I’m amazed to see what people use as evidence of one kind of conspiracy or another. “The polls”, of course, are clearly biased, or so say some McCain supporters. Unfortunately, they don’t have an explanation for why the same polls showed that McCain was doing well for a brief period after the convention. That bias, I guess, just cropped up in the past couple of weeks.
John said on October 9th, 2008 at 11:56 am
“Look at his blood line.”
Thnx Moe.
caliban said on October 9th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Miss Sarah junts moose from an airplane. Another circle in hell for unmitigated yahoos that pull that sort of merde and act like it makes them the one with the nads in the family.
And how many times can McCain have TIA’s and claim that’s what he meant in the first place?
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14414.html
And if you can look at the accompanying photograph and claim he isn’t a dead ringer for the gluttonous green ghost at the Hotel Sedgewick, you may be having a sundowner moment of your own. Screw the Scary black man meme. How about the terminally dyspeptic rictus?
moe99 said on October 9th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/10/body_of_lies.php
A list of sleazy McCain ads. Because we need to list them.
and on McCain’s rage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAyK-enrF1g
nancy said on October 9th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
I don’t think she hunts moose from the sky. No need to waste the fuel. You just walk into the woods, find one and take aim. It’s like hunting cows.
MichaelG said on October 9th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
I think it was wolves she was hunting from a chopper.
Derwood, isn’t “ungulate” what a stripper does? Right? So meese are a species of stripper.
beb said on October 9th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
I was thinking that if that town had just flown in Sarah Palin she could have shot the moose from her plane, because, doncha know, “it’s OK if you are a Republican.”
John said on October 9th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
from the Connecticut State House:
In chatting about the debate this morning, Speaker Amann said “it looked like You Tube versus feeding tube.”
beb said on October 9th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Nancy wrote: I’m off to the gym to get myself in tip-top shape for the coming depression. I should just take up smoking and hope for an early death instead. which reminds me of a line from the British show Absolutely Fabulous. When reminded that smoking kills, the friend snarls, “Not reliably!”
It’s been said that Oil Companies always drive down the price of gas just before an election so that people will vote Republican. Others disagree. I saw gas in Detroit today at $3.09, over a dollar less than it was a month ago. NowI understand than winter gas is cheaper than summer gas because the companies don’t have to refine out all the low-weight molecules. (Which during the summer evaporate and create smog.) But with all the hurricane related damage on the gulf, to platforms and refineries, I can’t imagine the price of gas dropping by over as dollar. It just don’t make sense. Conspiracy? We’ll know for sure after the election.
Jolene said on October 9th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
John, that is hysterical. Great line. I’ve heard a lot of similar comments. Someone on some TV show referred to McCain “hobbling” around the stage. That seemed a little strong, but there is no doubt that Sen. Obama’s physical grace and dazzling smile are wonderful political assets.
But, really, I am getting nervous. McCain’s desperation and meanness and the gullibility of the “low-information voter” are not a good combination.
Kirk said on October 9th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
We are using a logo with election stories that says VOTE 2008, with a star where the O is. Some Obama nut called and claimed that the star was the exact same one used on McCain posters, and we were trying to get people to vote for McCain. We actually changed the star to one more “neutral.”
And after we endorse (probably McCain, maybe this weekend), that will set them all off again — both sides.
brian stouder said on October 9th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
pssst! Indiana gets another post at fivethirtyeight.com
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/
an excerpt:
Obama moved into high gear in the Hoosier State in mid-June, only a few weeks after the May 6 primary, and the ability to have a late primary allowed Obama to essentially continue operating at full bore right from the getgo. With unemployment in Indiana at its highest rate since 1987 and average wages down $4,000 since Bush took office in 2000, Swain said,
IndianansHoosiers are hungry for change. [Note: Swain didn’t say “Indianans,” I did. Sorry everybody.]Still, Swain acknowledges it’s an uphill fight. “History was not on our side” when the campaign decided to work a large campaign here. When the polls were a little tighter, many criticized the Obama effort, arguing that Indiana couldn’t possibly go blue, and that working the ground here is a waste of resources. Instead, we have a race that, in Dan Rather-speak, is as tight as a tick. Recent polls have showed the race within the margin of error, and the Obama campaign is confident that in a coin flip race — a better ground game can make the difference.
and another shot at Belmont University -
My smashed laptop in tow (and really, what a great debate hosting effort by Belmont University, once again, it was awesome to have five different people flatly refuse us access to even a restroom after we’d had to sit for hours behind a 14-car pileup on I-65), we’re already at Barack Obama’s Dayton, Ohio rally, and we’re headed toward the Palin rally in Wilmington later this afternoon.
caliban said on October 9th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Thanks to HL, we don’t call them strippers. They’re ecdysiasts. Baltimore Bard had a word for those voters Jolene is worried about, too. Booboisee. The astonishing thing is that they think they’re in on the joke.
My fellow prisoners?!?!
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters/370334
Gidge thinks “He meant to say that.”
It really is reasonable to wonder whether McCain is suffering transient ischemic events, or if he’s terminally woolgathering. Alzheimers presidents let Ollie North run the country and the Constitution gets trampled. I’ve got a friend that’s a neurologist, and when she saw this
http://suzieqq.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/urgent-check-out-mccains-face/
she said “TIE”. Perhaps the tragic moose hunting accident won’t be necessary. Despite his closet racism (howzabout palling around with Evan “Pickaninny” Mecham?) and the apparent honorectomy, I don’t wish McCain ill. (Smirking W, another story.) But a McCain vote seems a likely Palin vote. She believes God told her Alaska is bigger than Biden’s Congressional district, and the anointed last refuge in end times. McCain’s old, these things happen. His running mate’s a nitwit, who exceeds debate expectations by not pulling a Freddie Rumsen on TV.
brian stouder said on October 9th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
caliban — fascinating link, regarding McCain’s sudden facial change, and disorientation.
Wow.
Jolene said on October 9th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Wow, an Evan Mecham reference. Now that’s reaching back, caliban.
Gasman said on October 9th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Dwight,
You epitomize the conservative version of an intellectual response. The irony seems to have eluded you; y’all just don’t get it.
For those of you who have not seen it yet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfssaAe6ir0
What exactly did McCain mean by “that one”? Was he just doing his usual smart-ass schtick? Was this a not so subtle hint that Obama is “one” of “THEM” and we know we can’t trust THEM?
By injecting the specter of white racism into the contest, McCain has reached a new low even for his campaign from the gutter. McCain is an amoral coward that will do, say, eat, or kiss anyone or anything that he think will serve the cause of advancing his presidential ambitions. He has shown no decency or honor at any point in this campaign. He, along with his idiot sidekick, deserve to go down in ignominious defeat. They should be remembered as models for how decent people do not behave when running for public office.
They are SO going to lose.
John said on October 9th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
IMHO, I did not read any racism in the “that one” comment. McCain was posing a rhetorical question where the presumed answer would be “This one” (meaning McCain himself) or “That one” (Obama). Was this a clumsy sentence? It sure was, but I do not feel there was any deeper meaning than that.
Jolene said on October 9th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
I agree. Not racist. Disrespectful, but not racist.
brian stouder said on October 9th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I cannot imagine W referring to Algore or Kerry as “that one”; nor can I imagine GHWB referring to Dukakis or WJC as “that one”; nor can I imagine RR referring to President Carter or Walter Mondale as “that one”.
Not racist; but gassy condescension from the same presumptuous swamps that breed racism and racist-style ignorant attitudes, imo.
Whereas Obama has been unfailingly colleagial and (dare we say it?) presidential, McCain has been unfailingly disrespectful (as Jolene says), dismissive, and rude. (and yes — the inability to at least appear to be polite is a demerit, when one is seeking the sort of raw power that a President of the United States is entrusted with)
caliban said on October 9th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
“That one” sounded distressingly like Poppy assuring the nation that he loved all his grandchildren, including “the little brown ones”.
http://www.pinkthunder.com/pinkthunder/2003/12/bush_and_the_li.html
Yup, outdated link, but germain. If this were Miller Analogies, I’d say Republicans:clueless racism::shit:stink.
John said on October 9th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
I still disagree. I’m certainly not defending McCain’s poorly chosen words, but listen to the gist of what he said. He asked “Which Senator … ” and if he had simply responded to his question with “That Senator”, then there would have been no controversy. But he chose to use the pronoun “One” instead of repeating the use of the word “Senator”. I interpret this as a reference to an equal and not condescending nor disrespectful. Just an incredibly awkward phrase.
Gasman said on October 9th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
John,
I totally disagree. He did NOT refer to himself as “this one” which he should have done for your version to make any sense. McCain has consistently shown that no tactic is too loathsome for him to try. This remark is also concomitant to the right’s new version of who is responsible for the financial meltdown: those crafty minorities who forced those benevolent rich bankers into giving them mortgages that the latter knew the former could not afford. Add to that charges from Palin that Obama is sympathetic to terrorists and the continued attempt to label Obama a non-American, Muslim, effete, out of touch hyper-liberal who wants nothing more than to enslave us with oppressive taxes and big government. Oh, and he’s a baby killer, too.
The racism card fits right in with the legion of dishonest and dishonorable tactics that McCain has already employed. As McCain falls inexorably in the polls, why should it come as a surprise that he would desperately introduce an even sleazier tone to his campaign? He hasn’t been even remotely honorable up until now.
Gasman said on October 9th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
As I love a good sing-a-long:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DIc8jdra0o
Everybody sing:
“Hey Sarah Palin, just because you’re good at shootin’
doesn’t mean you have the ammo to negotiate with Putin,
Are you on coke?
This fuckin’ country’s up in smoke.
Oh, what a joke.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
alex said on October 9th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
“That one” struck me, at the moment of its utterance, as condescension and also as deliberate. I knew right then that it would become the most memorable phrase of the evening.
Kirk, say it ain’t so. The Dispatch could still endorse McCain after all this?
paddyo' said on October 9th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Late to the conversation but wondering, Julie — did you really see a “herd” of moose in Colorado? They live here but are rare and far-flung. Rarer still are moose that actually herd up. They’re pretty solitary critters except, of course, when mating or with a couple of calves along, like this unfortunate one in Michigan. I’m wondering if, rather, you saw a herd of ELK.
BTW, an interesting twist on those words:
In Norway, you know what they call moose?
Uh-huh: ELK.
Go figure.
LAMary said on October 9th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Paddyo’
I was wondering about the Colorado mooses myself. Elks, yes, but I never saw any moose in my years in the Centennial State.
Kirk said on October 9th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
If I were a betting man, I’d bet that, yes, McCain will get it. I do not have any inside information. I steer as clear of that operation as possible. In fact, I argue that editorial pages have been outmoded for decades. Those endorsements just make life even more complicated for us.
joodyb said on October 9th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
benefit-of-the-doubt view of tired old candidate’s assertion: maybe not consciously racist. but realist says those such expressions emanate at the very least from the crotchety great-grampa everyone stays away from cuz he’s a little crayzee.
oh, and what kirk says.
Gasman said on October 9th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
I too, was doubtful about the herd of moose. I suspected it was elk instead. However, the proper term for a bunch of elk is not “herd” but rather, “gang.” The largest gathering of elk gangs is right down here in New Mexico, just a short drive from my home.
moe99 said on October 9th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Obama’s bought a half hour of prime time for Oct. 29 from CBS:
http://www.thrfeed.com/2008/10/obama-primetime.html
Jolene said on October 9th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Several years ago, I visited relatives in Boulder in the fall, which is mating season for elk. They wanted me to hear the elk “bugling”, which is the term used for the rutting call of the males.
So we went to a park and perched on rocks above a big open area – a meadow, i suppose. As dusk fell, several dozen elk came down out of the hills. We hadn’t seen them at all, so it seemed as if they were emerging in response to a signal that only they could hear. Then the bugling began. We stayed as long as we could, just watching and listening. Quite an experience to observe a social system that is, at once, so similar to and so different from ours.
LAMary said on October 9th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
The gangs I saw were in CO not far from you Gasman, in the southern part of the state. Do you know the narrow gauge train that goes to Chama? I was camping one fall near the other end of that line and found myself in the middle of elk hunting season. Luckily, I don’t have antlers or I might have fallen victim to some weekend bowhunter.
Gasman said on October 9th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
LAMary,
I’ve taken that train ride a couple of times. It runs from Chama, NM to Antonito, CO. I’ve done the run once during early October and the foliage was stunning. It is kind of amazing how an animal that large can disappear into the woods, or more alarmingly, appear right beside the road at dusk.
I try and stay the hell out of the woods during hunting season. I think they are far too many hunters like Da Yoopers in the video in Nancy’s initial comments. Cheney’s lawyer friend didn’t have antlers either, but Cheney shot him anyway.
MaryC said on October 9th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
What kills me about that blog featuring the shot of Sarah with the gun? The comments start a little after 5 PM and at 10 AM the next morning they are still pointing out that this is a shotgun not a rifle and yes this is a safe way to carry it you doofus. I started counting the number of comments that said this and gave up at about 30. Then I started counting the number of comments that quoted that old saw about better to be thought a fool than open your mouth and prove you’re one. How about proving you can read the comments before you post one?
Catherine said on October 9th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
The Cumbres & Toltec is the narrow gauge train, and a must do in Northern NM (back to that conversation about where you’d like to travel).
And, count me among the mooseparazzi, in fact most any wild animalparazzi. We had a teenage bear visitation at a recent retreat in our local LA mountains, and you could not tear me away from it. If a ranger had tried anything more than shouting to move him along, I probably would have harshed on the ranger, just like the folks in Ishpeming.
nancy said on October 9th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
How about proving you can read the comments before you post one?
Mary, you’re asking for restraint and common sense…from the internet? Ha ha ha ha ha.
whitebeard said on October 9th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Ah, an angry moose, 1,500 pounds of fury running at 35 mph is something not to mess with. In Northern Ontario years back, a moose heard the horn from an early diesel locomotive and thought it was a triumphant moose boasting of his conquest of a female. What is one to do but charge the other moose.
The charging moose died of his injuries but he killed the locomotive on the spot, probably antlers through the radiator, and the train had to wait until a new locomotive was sent up as a replacement. The solution was to change the sound of the diesel horn.
Moose are extremely short-tempered and thus are unpredictable; does that remind you of a certain presidential candidate?
alex said on October 9th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Scrolling through quickly, I couldn’t tell if anyone linked it above, the the McCain-Palin Mob video has been updated with a new one. Amazing this shit’s not making the six o’clock news:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/09/mccain-palin-rally-attend_n_133240.html
Edit: This stuff ought to be juxtaposed with the footage from the high school in Little Rock. The similarities are eerie.
Julie Robinson said on October 9th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Paddyo and LAMary, it’s entirely possible they were elk. As I said, it was really dark!
joodyb said on October 9th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
i can’t believe someone named keating would stick his neck out right now. talk about pulling out your last-hour ammo.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/09/mccain-co-chair-calls-oba_n_133369.html
there seems to be no way to tell if these two are related. odd.
joodyb said on October 9th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
well, at least there’s this (from mcclatchy):
ANCHORAGE, Alaska _ The Alaska Supreme Court on Thursday rejected an attempt by a group of six Republican legislators to shut down the state Legislature’s investigation of Gov. Sarah Palin.
The ruling means that Steve Branchflower, the investigator hired by the Legislative Council, will release his report as scheduled on Friday. Branchflower is looking into Palin’s dismissal of her public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, and whether she improperly pressured him to fire a state trooper divorced from her sister.
Jolene said on October 9th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
In the new issue of TIME, David von Drehle adds to the chronicles of competing anxieties over race and economics that we’ve been seeing (i.e., Anne Hull on Michigan and George Packer on Ohio).
Writing from Miissouri where things are not quite so desperate, he still finds lots of Republicans looking for a new direction. Interestingly, several of the people he spoke with mentioned McCain’s “the fundamentals of the economy are strong” remark as a kind of “last straw”.
moe99 said on October 9th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Wroj0FLvzs
more Barack detractors. One continues to support Hillary.
Deborah said on October 9th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Driving from Chicago to our place in Abiquiu, New Mexico we saw a moose running along the woods next to the highway near Granby Colorado. We always like to drive down along the western slope of the rockies even though it is out of the way. The eastern side from Denver through to Pueblo and beyond is just ruined now. If you want to see wildlife forget it. We are going to Abiquiu this coming weekend, staying for the week but flying not driving because we don’t have much time. usually this coming week is full fall color along the Chama river in Abiquiu, hoping it is that way again this year. The most vivid gold you have ever seen.
bo-regard said on October 9th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Years ago a buddy and I flew a small airplane, a Beechcraft Bonanza, from Schaumburg IL to Alaska and followed the Yukon River north to the Arctic Circle and back. Took a nice picture of a moose and two calves going for a swim in the river. At 100 feet in the air, didn’t seem too risky, but from what I’ve read here, maybe we shoulda climbed to about 200 feet before snapping the picture.
moe99 said on October 9th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
My one moose reminiscence.
We were staying at Lone Mountain Ranch (it later became Big Sky when Chet Huntley bought it) but at the time we were there it was a working cattle ranch that hosted dudes in the summer to make money. We were on a day ride and ran into a moose and her calf. Sam, the owner of the ranch, got down and took a chunk out of the calf’s ear with his knife, said he was branding it as belonging to his ranch. As a kid, I didn’t think anything about it, but thinking back it seems like an unnecessary infliction of pain on a small animal. I assume the calf was reunited with its mother after the herd of us left.
whitebeard said on October 9th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Wait a minute, how can Short-Tempered Moose McNasty accuse Obama of associating with terrorist Bill Ayers, when the charges against Ayers were dropped as per Wikipedia “Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers turned themselves in on December 3, 1980, in New York, with substantial media coverage. Charges were dropped for Ayers. Dohrn received three years probation and a $15,000 fine.“
Can you still be considered a terrorist if you are not convicted as such, do not serve jail time as such and have the charges dropped?
On the true moose of this posting, I remember a buddy in the army in The Soo would head north on Algoma Central Railway each year, hunt and kill a moose for winter food for his family. The southbound train would stop wherever a hunter had hauled the moose along the tracks and have a special car in which to hang the moose to bring it back to The Soo.
Gasman said on October 10th, 2008 at 12:24 am
The Huffingtonpost.com footage of the McCain/Palin supporters outside the rallies in Ohio and Pennsylvania should make us all ashamed that these buffoons are fellow American citizens that have the right to vote. Ignorance and stinking bigotry are not virtues to be celebrated. Unfortunately, these folks seem to fairly typify the views of far too many McCain/Palin supporters.
I have yet to hear a sensible, cogent, rational argument that explains the McCain/Palin platform or an individual’s support for the same. Every McCain/Palin supporter that I have encountered in person, in print, or on TV or radio gives voice to such abominable tripe. Cries of “He’s a Muslim,” or “He’s a terrorist,” or “He’s a babykiller” seem to predominate. Slightly less offensive are the assertions that “He is socialist” (i.e., Communist), “He will tax us to death,” or “He wants big government.” I find the last especially amusing as the present Republican administration is responsible for the biggest, most expensive government in our history. But let’s not the facts get in the way of our mindless passions.
If the McCain/Palin ticket and the Republican Party are so vastly superior, why do they rely so heavily on negative personal attacks? If their ideas and their record is so compelling, why not just make the campaign one of issues and let the voters decide? Why the need for cartoonish hyperbole? Why the fear mongering? Why do so many McCain/Palin supporters seem to feel that calls for violence against Obama are justified? They had better temper their remarks by the second week of November, because after that the Secret Service will take a dim view of any publicly uttered death threat toward a President Elect.
This type of behavior is simply un-American to the core. If they cannot support their party’s candidate without impugning the patriotism, the citizenship, or the very humanity of their opponent, what does that say of them and their party? Is this really something to be proud of?
I found the McCain/Palin supporters in the videos to be no less offensive than those southern racist bigots from the 50’s and 60’s who thought nothing of directing violence and hatred toward children. The few thoughts that seem to rattle around the skulls of these modern bigots seem to come straight from Limbaugh, O’Reilly, Hannity, or increasingly the McCain/Palin campaign itself. Why would any thinking, patriotic citizen be attracted to such mindless and violent rhetoric?
For those of you who doubt that the events that lead to the Holocaust could ever happen again or that they could happen here: think again. If what I heard was not fascism, what is? The folks in those videos would proudly don their brown shirts and jack boots and do their party’s bidding. Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil! The McCain/Palin fascists are on the march.
I am a patriotic American and I will proudly cast my vote for Barrack Obama.
Jolene said on October 10th, 2008 at 12:58 am
The Post has a moderately interesting account of Sarah Palin’s effort to become a national figure prior to her selection as the VP candidate. She’s a striver – no doubt about it.
moe99 said on October 10th, 2008 at 1:22 am
October 10, 2008
By: Hilzoy
Temper, Temper
Here’s a story about John McCain’s temper (h/t):
“McCain’s game is craps. So is Jeff Dearth’s. Jeff was at the table when McCain showed up and happily made room for him. Apparently there is some kind of rule or tradition in craps that everyone’s hands are supposed to be above the table when the dice are about to be thrown. McCain — “very likely distracted by one of the many people who approached him that evening,” Jeff says charitably — apparently was violating this rule. A small middle-aged woman at the table, apparently a “regular,” reached out and pulled McCain’s arm away. I’ll let Jeff take over the story:
“McCain immediately turned to the woman and said between clenched teeth: ‘DON’T TOUCH ME.’ The woman started to explain…McCain interrupted her: ‘DON’T TOUCH ME,’ he repeated viciously. The woman again tried to explain. ‘DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU’RE TALKING TO?’ McCain continued, his voice rising and his hands now raised in the ‘bring it on’ position. He was red-faced. By this time all the action at the table had stopped. I was completely shocked. McCain had totally lost it, and in the space of about ten seconds. ‘Sir, you must be courteous to the other players at the table,’ the pit boss said to McCain. “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? ASK ANYBODY AROUND HERE WHO I AM.”
This being Puerto Rico, the pit boss might not have known McCain. But the senator continued in full fury — “DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU’RE TALKING TO? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?”– and crisis was avoided only when Jeff offered to change places and stand between McCain and the woman who had touched his arm.”
There’s more:
http://tinyurl.com/3tvwzk
MichaelG said on October 10th, 2008 at 8:51 am
The war in Iraq is going nowhere. The war in A-stan is going down the tube at an alarming rate. The world economy is in a meltdown. Millions of Americans are facing the loss of jobs, savings, houses or all three and all this shitbird can talk about is who Obama may have had lunch with 20 years ago. Talk about taking yourself out of the debate.
caliban said on October 11th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
The war in Iraq isn’nt going abnywhere. FUBAR You’d have to be a fucking idiot. The war in Afghanistan, that’s just FUAR? Bush administration is such a spectacular liar, they make this shit up fpr the get go. If somebodedy cab tell they weren’t lyinf their ass off, they’re a serious lyar. If you say I’m bot telling the truth, you’r a liar.