Top Comments 5-10-08 -- Keeping Score Edition

Tonight’s diary was going to be more focused. Actually it was going to be on an entirely different topic. However, Mother Nature had other plans. In the past 3 hours, I have seen:

• 20 minutes of hail the size of quarters or larger


• 45 minutes of torrential rain (1+ inches)


• reports of 14 tornados within 5 miles of my house

And despite the usually stellar performance of the weather service here, there was no warning. The only heads-up I got was from my dog, who suddenly freaked out. About 20 seconds later a wall cloud descended and it started to hail. It was another 4-5 minutes before an alert was issued and another 10 minutes before the sirens sounded. By then, I had already seen one funnel cloud. Given that there was a girl killed by a tornado about 15 miles from my house last Sunday, this is turning into a really bad spring for storms.

Some day -- perhaps next Saturday -- I'll find the diary I had written for tonight. But for now, let’s talk about climate. Or, more precisely, let’s talk about ClimateCounts.

I’m a real believer in voting with my wallet and ClimateCounts is a non-profit organization that helps people make climate-conscious purchasing and investing choices that put pressure on the world's most well-known companies to take the issue of climate change seriously. They publish an annual scorecard that  rates companies according to their efforts to moderate the negative impact companies have on the earth.

Green is the new marketing tool and companies far and wide are advertising the "green" aspects of their products. However, the vast majority of the environmental impacts of many products  -– whether in the resources used or toxics created or energy expended -- occur before they are purchased, not during their use. For many product - the kind where use-phase is dwarfed by upstream impacts - the negative impact a huge multinational company can have on the environment will, in the end, greatly outweigh the positive cumulative impact that consumers can have in using the products they sell.

It is this larger impact that ClimateCounts tries to address. Their scorecard rates dozens of companies using 22 criteria, awarding a possible 100 points in four areas:

• Review (22 possible points)–Have they measured their climate footprint?,


• Reduce (56) – Have they reduced their climate pollution or established clear goals to reduce?


• Public Policy (10)– Have they supported or suggested intent to block progressive climate policy initiatives at the local, state, or federal level?


• Reporting (12)– Have they publicly disclosed their climate actions clearly and comprehensively to consumers and stakeholders?

A complete listing of the criteria, as well as the scores for the rated companies are on the ClimateCounts  website. You can also download a handy pocket guide (pdf) to carry with you.  

The ClimateCounts Scorecard, which was released this week, was covered fairly heavily in the press largely because of the score of one company – Apple. Its score – 11 out of 100 – placed Apple squarely at the bottom of the list of electronics companies – exactly the same position it occupied last year. MacWorld reported on it without comment, but I was a little surprised to find a band of climate change deniers out in force in the comments on macnn.com.

ClimateCounts looks at nine market sectors: Apparel/Accessories,  Beverages-Beer, Consumer Shipping, Electronics, Food Products,  Food Services, Household Products, Internet/Software, and Media. Max and the Marginalized diariedabout it on Wednesday, writing about four or five companies on the list. While most companies didn't surprise me, one thing did: the Food Services sector, which was the only area where no company scored above 50 and the majority of companies achieved a ZERO. You won’t believe who has the highest score in that category.

If you find an unbelievably good comment, nominate it by sending a link, along with your Dkos screen name to:

                                            topcomments at gmail dot com

Tonight’s Top Comments:

From A Siegel:

Sigh ... the FPers often don't have the time to 'deign' to join in diary discussions ... sigh, the burdens of fame and responsibility. Today, Darksyde made the time and it was truly worth it.  He provided a   path for shutting up, quickly, global warming deniers in what could be considered a TC of the month (rather than day) ... Worth the read and worth developing your own equivalents.  The comment became part of my diary on Global Warming deniers.

From Ear icicle:

In Asinus Asinum Fricat's scorching diary about John McCain's unmaverick-y, ethically-challenged career, Yellow Canary sketches a brilliant one-sentence history of Republican values , and Happy Days  proposes a pithy slogan comparing Obama and McCain .

kate mckinnon minces no words making the case against John McCain in dancing in a field of yellow flowers' diary But You Have Had A Lot of Birthdays.

From sardonyx:

A couple of comments from slippytoad's diary on Ronald Reagan:

kt in seattle says This is the History We Need to Pay Attention To.

LamontCranston is old enough to remember...

In Teresa Heinz's mother's day diary, paige has some thoughts that to me resonated well with LamontCranston's.

DBunn points out that health care reform must go beyond insurance.

From me:

Deoliver47 channels Donna Brazille in plainborwn1's fantastic diary For White Girls who Have Considered Fratricide When the Rainbow is Enuf. Do not miss this diary!

kbee214 gives a little history of the suffragist movement that is amazingly pertinent today.

Tonight’s Top Mojo:

Top Mojo excluding search-identifiable tip jars, first diary comments, and C&J comments:

1 - thank you.....eve.....528
2 - Good idea--will get it up.....Teresa Heinz.....166
3 - one thing that really impresses me about Barack.....nailbender.....163
4 - yes that is the bottom.....eve.....146
5 - Putting politics aside........D Wreck.....132
6 - Cool. This is exactly what this election.....sick of it all.....130
7 - I'm not numb but it is difficult to keep pushing.....leema.....127
8 - In all honesty.....Michiganliberal.....125
9 - According to this brooklyn feminist.....brooklynliberal.....122
10 - So many crimes.....MadRuth.....120
11 - Nope.....slippytoad.....117
12 - Paraphrasing........Penman.....117
13 - Greatest title ever!.....psilocynic.....116
14 - EMERGENGY!.....overlander.....97
15 - I called the local Obama.....eve.....95
16 - any such wins are already discounted.....teacherken.....93
17 - Happy Mother's Day To You, Mrs.Kerry.....mattman.....91
18 - and John Kerry pulled him.....NYFM.....90
19 - Great post.....Hamsun.....86
20 - His judgement day is coming.....Jeff Y.....79
21 - wow.....AlteredFrenzy.....77
22 - good job!.....choosinghope.....76
23 - People like you.....RoCali.....74
24 - Kyl/Lieberman showed she wasn't truly.....lgcap.....74
25 - This feels better than anything........JeffLieber.....72
26 - Yes......kestrel9000.....72
27 - You are an angel.....Sidhe.....69
28 - It seems obvious to me.....Urizen.....69
29 - He pulled me in with the speech he gave in 2004.....cmnh.....69
30 - Hmm...I think you violated........David Kroning.....66

Top Mojo with No Exclusions:

1 - Tips for History.....slippytoad.....605
2 - thank you.....eve.....528
3 - offered for your consideration and discussion.....teacherken.....513
4 - tips........plainbrown1.....500
5 - Nice Story.....there will be blood.....339
6 - Tip offs.....GregMitch.....321
7 - Tip.....Carnacki.....295
8 - "Sen. Obama brings a speech he gave in 2002".....organicdemocrat.....261
9 - Tips / Mojo: 9 May 08.....A Siegel.....255
10 - After a while you get numb.....NewDealer.....238
11 - tip jar.....LightningMan.....219
12 - Let's all take a deep breath, stretch........JeffLieber.....218
13 - Tip Jar.....Teresa Heinz.....195
14 - Good idea--will get it up.....Teresa Heinz.....166
15 - one thing that really impresses me about Barack.....nailbender.....163
16 - Tip Jar.....Oreo.....156
17 - yes that is the bottom.....eve.....146
18 - Putting politics aside........D Wreck.....132
19 - Cool. This is exactly what this election.....sick of it all.....130
20 - I'm not numb but it is difficult to keep pushing.....leema.....127
21 - In all honesty.....Michiganliberal.....125
22 - According to this brooklyn feminist.....brooklynliberal.....122
23 - So many crimes.....MadRuth.....120
24 - Nope.....slippytoad.....117
25 - Paraphrasing........Penman.....117
26 - Greatest title ever!.....psilocynic.....116
27 - EMERGENGY!.....overlander.....97
28 - I called the local Obama.....eve.....95
29 - Good morning gardeners!.....Frankenoid.....93
30 - any such wins are already discounted.....teacherken.....93

•  Tonight's Tip

  Starbucks, with a score of 48, tops the Food Service sector. Next highest -- McDonalds, with a score of 27. Third place is Yum!Brands, which scored a 1. Everyone else was a 0, including Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Wendys, Burger King, etc.

  by carolita on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:07:30 PM PDT

  •  Wow! Sounds like an excess of weather to me

    and don't anyone say "whether what". :)

    Check the mailbox; there's a surprise there... ;-)

    by sardonyx on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:09:01 PM PDT

    •  Got it, thanks

      and posted it. But you do understand why I was a little distracted this evening. We've had two more tornado warnings since I started this two hours ago.

      by carolita on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:17:33 PM PDT

      •  Absolutely!

        I doubt I'd have been able to publish within an hour of deadline under those circumstances; I'm amazed that you were on time, and with such a good diary. Tornado warnings are serious stuff; I'm not even sure I'd leave the computer on. (Okay, first I'd try to find someone to take over the diary for me. Then I'd turn off the computer.)

        Thanks for including them! I was late, after all, even if I'd technically asked for an extension. ;-D

        by sardonyx on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:25:25 PM PDT

    •  I was told earlier...

      that you posses the ability to tell anyone their sign-up date, as well as how many comments they've posted during a given period of time (presumably without using the search feature).

      Is this true?

      by Trix on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:20:34 PM PDT

      •  I already know my sign-up date (thx to MissLaura)

        So we can use that as a test.

        :-)

        by Trix on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:22:23 PM PDT

        •  In case anyone's wondering...

          I joined on 10/20/03... 6 days after the site switched to Scoop, and 6 days before MissLaura joined.

          :-)

          by Trix on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:31:12 PM PDT

          •  Things really slowed down, then

            The first flush of memberships was slowing down, but that means 254 in three days (17th through 20th), when it had taken about 28 hours from the 16th to the 17th.

            by sardonyx on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:35:35 PM PDT

            •  DHinMI told me earlier...

              that the first 1500 UIDs were issued on the day the site switched to Scoop, and the next 1000 within a week of then.

              by Trix on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:38:49 PM PDT

              •  I suppose it could be

                I had to base my information on who commented when. It seems to me, though, that some people would have registered in order to comment, so looking at every comment in every post and diary, not to mention getting every diarist's userid, would be a reasonably approximation. Here's what I found, remembering that the site's DNS number was handed out at 9:17pm on October 13, 2003.

                With the Movable Type site having locked its doors as of 9:26am eastern time on the morning of October 15, all the Daily Kos action was now on Scoop. Members had continued pouring in during the testing period, and now, after 36 hours, registrations had hit the 1256 mark, of which at least 761 had registered by 9:23am the day before. Another 501 members signed up in the following 25 hours (October 16 at 10:27am), but the rate slowed dramatically after that: Userid 2001 didn't appear until 2:12pm on October 17, nearly 28 hours later.

                If DHinMI is saying that 1500 users had signed up in the 24 hours between 9:26pm October 13 and the same time October 14...well, I'm skeptical. If he's saying that number was hit by 11:59pm on October 15th, the day the Movable Type site shut down, that's definitely possible...but users had been signing up for over 48 hours at that point.

                by sardonyx on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:50:04 PM PDT

                •  I think he was just guesstimating

                  And it's worth noting that some of the early UIDs were reserved for hotshots like John Kerry (#52).

                  by Trix on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:52:12 PM PDT

                  •  In that case

                    I'll trust my researched numbers more than his guesstimation/memory. :)

                    by sardonyx on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:57:29 PM PDT

          •  Octoberfest

            That tracks, since my sign-up date was later in that same month, IIRC (my C: drive's disappearance a couple of years ago cost me easy access to my 2003-era e-mail archive, alas).

            by Ray Radlein on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:43:21 PM PDT

            •  You're about halfway between me & MissLaura

              and she reg'd 6 days after me, so you probably signed up in the last couple of days of October or first couple of days of November.

              by Trix on Sat May 10, 2008 at 08:16:51 PM PDT

              •  Errr...

                I meant that MissLaura is about halfway between you and I.

                :-)

                by Trix on Sat May 10, 2008 at 08:17:56 PM PDT

      •  I'm omniscient?

        Someone's been telling tales again.

        I can estimate a sign-up date, and one of the ways I do that involves using the search feature. Search is absolutely crucial in determining how many comments a person posted in what period.

        For userids in the first couple of thousand, I don't need to do that, as it was obvious who was first commenting when on those first few days. No idea where my sheet is with that data at the moment, though. My diary says userid 2001 showed up on October 17, so with no other data point, I'd guess you were October 18, 2003, or maybe the 19th. I could do more checking, but with MissLaura having provided date and time, I'm off the hook. :)

        Someone has graphed actual signup dates, but I don't remember whom, or whether they provided a link to the data behind the graph.

        by sardonyx on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:32:49 PM PDT

        •  2001 is a great UID :) n/t

          by Trix on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:34:51 PM PDT

        •  It was me

          I still think you are omniscient on that front.

          by gloryous1 on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:42:53 PM PDT

          •  I know more than enough to be dangerous :)

            by sardonyx on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:50:46 PM PDT

    •  Whether

      "Whether it's cold, or whether it's hot, we're going to have weather, whether or not."

      by Ray Radlein on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:25:07 PM PDT

      •  At least it gives us something to talk about

        besides the primaries. At least we can usually agree about some aspect of the weather.

        by carolita on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:31:58 PM PDT

      •  I was thinking of a line

        from The Real Inspector Hound by Tom Stoppard. Mrs. Drudge says that line I didn't want said...

        by sardonyx on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:38:53 PM PDT

  •  Love the Olive Garden.

    by Sam Loomis on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:09:15 PM PDT

    •  I've never been to an Oloive Garden...

      I've never been to a Red Lobster either, though I really want to try it (despite having been warned numerous times that it's not worth it)

      by Trix on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:17:31 PM PDT

      •  Olive (n/t)

        by Trix on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:17:46 PM PDT

      •  Olive Garden

        ...has good bread sticks. No, great bread sticks. They're, like, garlic crack.

        As for the rest of their menu... have I mentioned the great bread sticks yet?

        by Ray Radlein on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:26:41 PM PDT

        •  The rest of the menu is immaterial...

          as I'm wont to fill up on bread sticks.

          by Trix on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:28:03 PM PDT

          •  They usually have really good salads, too

            and wine ... good wine.

            by carolita on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:32:57 PM PDT

  •  For anyone like me who doesn't/didn't know...

    Yum! Brands owns/operates Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut and Long John Silver's.

    by Trix on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:16:14 PM PDT

    •  Yum!

      ...and is making a play to buy out Arby's, last I heard.

      by Ray Radlein on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:27:14 PM PDT

      •  Trying to corner the cholesterol market?

        by earicicle on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:30:50 PM PDT

        •  I'm addicted

          to Arby's chicken pecan salad wrap -- chicken, apples, pecans, grapes, and a very light dressing, in a wrap (you can also get it as a sandwich but the wrap saves a few carbs/calories).

          And if you absolutely have to have a beef fix, the Arby's roast beef is leaner and far less greasy than your average hamburger.

          by Cali Scribe on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:37:41 PM PDT

          •  I'll take your word for it

            We don't have Arby's in VT. And I haven't had beef since I was in 9th grade!

            I do have to admit: the Taco Bell 7-layer burrito isn't half bad, and not deadly (calorie-wise) if you get them to omit the cheese and sour cream. Years ago, they used to sell a version w/light s. cream, cheese & beans; don't know why they stopped marketing this. It tasted the same as the regular burrito, and had something like half the calories.

            by earicicle on Sat May 10, 2008 at 08:55:33 PM PDT

    •  Can you imagine the focus group

      it took to come up with that corporate name?

      by carolita on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:34:02 PM PDT

      •  They sure as hell weren't eating the food

        Not-so-Yum would be more accurate.

        by earicicle on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:35:33 PM PDT

  •  Problem scoring so many with "0"

    is that there is no room to get worse. Anyone want to be that they can't figure out ways to get worse?

    In any event, thank you ...

    And, whooppee ... higher than Theresa in the comments list ... Party time!

    by A Siegel on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:55:26 PM PDT

•  Grr...

  Mets lose the nightcap.

  by ek hornbeck on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:13:24 PM PDT

•  carolita, glad you're safe.

  I am SO glad that I live in the mountains - no pesky tornadoes - knock wood.

  Next time, call me and I'll take the diary - should you even be online now???

  by va dare on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:17:25 PM PDT

  •  I hate to tell you

    but I live in the mountains, too. Tornados follow water, so if you have sufficiently large rivers and lakes in your mountains, you too can have tornados.

    Fortunately, I think the worst has passed me. You can tell by the feel of the air. It was a very fast-moving storm front, which accounts for much of the violence. Just heard there have been 6 moer confirmed tornados east of here.

    by carolita on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:23:13 PM PDT

    •  Hasn't been a tornado in my area in...

      the history of weather record-keeping. But, at the rate that mountaintops are being sheared off for the underlying coal, it's only a matter of time.

      My theme song? 'It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Kansas' - sung to the theme of the Christmas song with a similar title.

      by va dare on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:28:06 PM PDT

      •  Sadly, I suffer from a proximity to Kansas

        and that's a big factor. Storms have no impediment so they can pick up a lot of steam rolling across the prairie. I happen to live on the western slope of the first elevation, so storms can make it fairly far up into the mountains, particularly along the rivers. (Did I mention I live on a bluff above a great canoing river? Most of the time that is an advantage. This spring, not so much.)

        by carolita on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:40:15 PM PDT

  •  Also glad you are safe

    Too far north for tornados here in VT. Gladly put up with six months of snow instead--twisters and hurricanes scare the bejeebus out of me.

    Thanks for doing such a great job with the diary anyway! I feel a little less guilty about indulging in the occasional $4+ Starbucks frappuchino every once and awhile. They do give you a discount for bringing in your own mug, which I like, and sell some very good reusable ones. (You don't have to bring in a Starbucks brand mug to get the discount.)

    by earicicle on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:25:15 PM PDT

•  I vote with my wallet every day...

  And I avoid chain stores like the plague that they are.

  I have 2 (nasty coffee serving) Starbucks locations within 5 blocks of me in either direction, but why would I ever consider supporting them when I have Gladstone Coffee 100 feet from my front door?

  Here in inner SE Portland, we take it as a point of pride in constantly kicking corporate chain-store ass...

  by Hardhat Democrat on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:21:29 PM PDT

  •  Good on you, HHD

    I'll have to check out the Gladstone Coffee. Although I am a MAJOR coffee drinker, I have never been in a Starbucks. For some reason, they have always seemed like a glorified Dunkin' Donuts.

    by carolita on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:25:49 PM PDT

    •  They're terrible...

      and to top it off, they burn their beans.

      I've never understood the Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts phenomenons...

      Starbucks coffee is a great cure for constipation, and Dunkin Donuts coffee tastes like industrial chemicals.  And not to mention that they source their beans from slave labor...

      Gladstone Coffee is an independent locally-owned shop that serves Stumptown Coffee; as well as pretty good bagels and local microbrews after 4 PM...

      Maybe I can introduce you and yours to same?

      :)

      by Hardhat Democrat on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:35:30 PM PDT

      •  I will confess to frequenting Starbucks

        but not for the coffee, since I can't drink it (the acids do a number on my digestive tract). I prefer the Tazo Chai Tea they serve over most other places; the other places I go seem to skimp on the spices, so it doesn't have the same zip.

        They also have a nice collection of baked goods too -- but today at Peet's (local coffee chain) I had a reduced fat pumpkin ginger muffin that was to die for. :)

        I will definitely add Gladstone to the list if spouse and I make it up to Portland this year...not sure if that's in the cards, depends on some other things happening.

        by Cali Scribe on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:43:47 PM PDT

        •  It would be fun if you could make it

          while I'm there. Not sure of the dates yet, but I'm headed that way in July. Aren't you in northern CA?

          by carolita on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:49:44 PM PDT

        •  Well, let me know!

          We'd love to have youze up here, this year or any other...

          :)

          by Hardhat Democrat on Sat May 10, 2008 at 08:02:18 PM PDT

      •  Sounds good to me

        I'm not much of a beer drinker anymore, though, and I seldom drink more than a gallon or two of coffee after 4 PM.

        by carolita on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:47:04 PM PDT

•  Surprise!

  Last night while I was noodling around on my computer, I heard a sudden, loud boom of thunder outside. I flipped on the Weather Channel, and caught the local radar: It went, "nothing... nothing... nothing... green blob yellowblobredblob!" right over our area.

  It took, like, two more commercial breaks before news of the bad weather came on the Weather Channel, which is kind of embarrassing considering the fact that they're also located right here in Atlanta.

  by Ray Radlein on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:31:57 PM PDT

  •  I was happy that my dog warned me

    He's only 6 months old, so this is his first time with severe storms. I didn't know exactly what was wrong, but he was suddenly very scared, which is unusual. I never heard thunder or saw lightening. The first thing I saw/heard was hail, and lots of it. I turned on the TV, but it was several minutes before the NOAA warning. We're now up to 16 confirmed funnels.

    by carolita on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:54:09 PM PDT

  •  John Coleman (former owner of Weather Channel)

    doesn't believe in global warming and has sued Al Gore for fraud... or so some people were reporting.  Little wonder that the channel can report accurately.

    But, Coleman doesn't own it anymore and it seems the Weather Channel is a "hot commodity" amongst some of the big media players.

    Oh man... check out this lawsuit (Brief in Support of Motion for Judgment) against the management of the Weather Channel.  The co-anchor (male) would ask the other co-anchor (female) "Will you lick my swizzle stick?"  

    Our... constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds. Thurgood Marshall

    by bronte17 on Sat May 10, 2008 at 08:00:04 PM PDT

    •  Oh, no! NOT the Weather Channel.

      One of my guilty pleasures... it always felt so - innocent. Sigh.

      They have had some good series on global warming recently, though.

      by vox humana on Sat May 10, 2008 at 08:09:53 PM PDT

    •  Holy Cow! Bob Stokes?

      No wonder he isn't around anymore. Not only leering and crude remarks to the female co-anchor, but he

      followed her into the women's dressing room. He also allegedly questioned her "over and over again, non-stop" about her sex life

      And management couln't see anything wrong with that? OMG

      by carolita on Sat May 10, 2008 at 08:23:10 PM PDT

      •  He was totally juvenile with all of it

        I mean... "lick my swizzle stick..."  Uh-huh.  

        It almost reads like an Onion parody.

        Our... constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds. Thurgood Marshall

        by bronte17 on Sat May 10, 2008 at 09:38:10 PM PDT

        •  Read No Evil

          I can't bear to read that, so please: Tell me that Jim "Hurricane Magnet" Cantore was not involved in any of that crap.

          by Ray Radlein on Sat May 10, 2008 at 09:57:23 PM PDT

          •  No, no, not Cantore

            Bob Stokes -- the one with vaguely Asian featurea and weird hair. He'd been around a long time, though. Apparently  Andrews wasn't the first co-anchor to quit because of his behavior and management's unwillingness to do anything about it.

            by carolita on Sun May 11, 2008 at 12:40:59 AM PDT

•  That's a lot of rain!!

  Hope you continue to avoid the tornados.

  by Elise on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:43:00 PM PDT

  •  Thanks, I'm pretty good at ducking

    I live on a serious slope and we never have standing water, but it was coming down so fast my driveway was completely under water -- first time I have ever seen that in the 10 years I've lived here.

    by carolita on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:56:38 PM PDT

•  Oh, and...

  a quick plug.

  I posted a diary earlier this afternoon on our US Senate race here in Oregon; please stop by and check it out if you get a chance -

  OR-Sen: Bush Republican Gordon Smith Is Panicking

  The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Oregon voters finds Smith leading Jeff Merkley by just three percentage points, 45% to 42%. In late March, he enjoyed a thirteen point lead. In February, he was ahead of Merkley by eighteen points.

  by Hardhat Democrat on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:45:17 PM PDT

•  When you find yourself in dangerous weather

  Huddle together

  

  by gloryous1 on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:48:39 PM PDT

  •  Birds

    That reminds me — when I went out to get the mail today, I found that a very young bird had taken quite a liking to our garage. It kept flitting around from one end to the other, running into walls and stuff, and landing wherever and staying very still.

    Mainly, I think it was just a little bit new to this whole "flying" thing.

    I went up and got my good camera, and found that it was still there, huddled under the utility sink. I took a few pictures, and it just sat there.

    I began to wonder if it somehow couldn't fly at all any more; it let me grab it, and put it in a little wicker basket that was under the sink, at which point it flitted off again into the very far corner under the sink. I used am old paint stirrer to move it a little bit, grabbed it again, and set it somewhat straight; it then flew into an old broken automatic litter box that we keep for spare parts. So finally, I turned the litter box around to face the open garage door, at which point it flew out and up and away into the trees. Silly thing. I hope it learns its way around soon; I'd hate to have to keep rescuing it from our garage.

    by Ray Radlein on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:59:45 PM PDT

    •  Fledglings are much like toddlers

      They must learn all of the intricacies of flight on their own.

      Another bird story.  There is a robin absolutely smitten with my neighbor's car's driver's-side side mirror.  When i leave for work in the morning, he is generally pecking and chatting away with himself standing on the door, looking in the mirror.  For some reason, he only does it with this particular car mirror.  Not sure what is going on there, but it is hilarious.

      by gloryous1 on Sat May 10, 2008 at 08:04:55 PM PDT

    •  Not every day you get to be a hero...n/t

      by carolita on Sat May 10, 2008 at 08:05:39 PM PDT

  •  Cool! I love the pic...

    and your sig line. I wish I knew more about animal weather indicators. I've read the Chinese can predict earthquakes from animal behavior. I went to the bank earlier today and on the way home I noticed that all of the cows were laying down in the middle of the fields. That usually indicates severe weather, so I was expecting thunderstorms. (If there is going to be a lot of lightening the cows won't lay down anywhere near trees.)  But there was no indication from NOAA that we would have anything like this severe.

    by carolita on Sat May 10, 2008 at 08:03:12 PM PDT

    •  Nova did a film on this

      After the 2004 tsunami.  Scientists looked at why so many animals escaped unhurt.  Somehow they knew well ahead of time to get to higher ground.  It is a remarkable film.  The biologists analyzed other documented instances where animals made the correct choices. For example, elephants have super-sensors in their feet.

      I live in CA. I was in both the Loma Prieta quake and the Northridge. My cats would not come in the house for many days after Loma Prieta in 1989.  There must have been aftershocks I could not feel or was too exhausted to notice.  They simply sat on my deck railing and looked in the sliding glass window at me.  They wanted to come in but would not.  Talk about giving me the heebee geebies.  I nearly moved out there with them.  They did the same thing to a lesser extent in 1991 after the Northridge quake.  

      by gloryous1 on Sat May 10, 2008 at 08:12:47 PM PDT

      •  Dang, now you are talking scary

        Tornados I'm accustomed to dealing with, but earthquakes...that's a whole 'nother thing. And I work in the Mississippi Delta, so I spend about half of my time in and around the New Madrid fault. It has been shaking lately, too. They are reporting several 6+ temblors, but they have all been while I was not there. FEMA and  DRA have been holding earthquake readiness workshops, but I haven't gone to one yet.

        by carolita on Sat May 10, 2008 at 09:00:13 PM PDT

•  I got a new sig line. I love Helen Thomas.n/t

  by flumptytail on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:56:17 PM PDT

  •  Excellent

    I love Helen Thomas, too. I sometimes wonder how she can restrain herself from just smacking Li'l Dana in the head. It would do all of us a world of good if she would.

    by carolita on Sat May 10, 2008 at 08:07:41 PM PDT

    •  Ooh, I'd pay to see that.n/t

      by flumptytail on Sat May 10, 2008 at 08:10:42 PM PDT

•  youtube video of the day

  by guyermo on Sat May 10, 2008 at 07:57:27 PM PDT

  •  What a great movie that was.n/t

    by flumptytail on Sat May 10, 2008 at 08:02:43 PM PDT

    •  i agree completely

      although I can't say the same about the spin-off

      by guyermo on Sat May 10, 2008 at 08:06:43 PM PDT

      •  Ha ha, oh that's awful.n/t

        by flumptytail on Sat May 10, 2008 at 08:09:32 PM PDT

        •  yes. yes it is.

          almost painful

          by guyermo on Sat May 10, 2008 at 08:17:14 PM PDT

•  Are you sure you should be online

  in the midst of a storm? Or are you laptopping it?

  by vox humana on Sat May 10, 2008 at 08:03:31 PM PDT

•  I love storms, but I've never been in a bad one.

  That would change my mind in a hurry, I'm sure.

  by flumptytail on Sat May 10, 2008 at 08:13:06 PM PDT

  •  I like to sit out on the porch

    and watch lightening storms. I really prefer to be where I can watch the sky when the weather is volatile -- I have a pretty good feel for when it is time to duck and cover. I've never gotten hurt in a storm, but a tornado did take the roof off of our house at 5:20 am on the morning of my 12th birthday. Fortunately, my father was a real "knowledge is power" guy, so he used it as an opportunity to teach me about understanding storms instead of being afraid.

    by carolita on Sat May 10, 2008 at 08:54:47 PM PDT

    •  Stormwatching

      I grew up in Tampa, where aesthetic appreciation of thunderstorms is pretty much mandatory (you're going to get one every day, so you might as well start holding up judge's score cards as they go by). Our house got damaged by tornadoes twice, but never while I was actually there (ironically, in both cases, one of my parents was outside in the yard at the time and got to look straight upwards into the funnel as it passed directly overhead).

      by Ray Radlein on Sat May 10, 2008 at 10:02:34 PM PDT

      •  Another benefit of growing up in Hawaii...

        no thunder and lightning. You have to have your cold air mass meeting your warm air mass, I guess, and we just don't get the cold air masses very often.

        But as a consequence, because they're so unfamiliar to me, they scare me sh*tless! Even after 10 years in VT, me still no likey!

        I do see the aesthetic beauty in a nice bolt of lightning...off in the distance, but I always wonder what it's hitting on the ground.

        Love the image of judges' scorecards, RR!

        by earicicle on Sat May 10, 2008 at 10:09:02 PM PDT

        •  Sometimes it is just the ground

          sometimes it is a tree, and sometimess it is a power pole. Last May lightening hit one of our trees, splitting it in two. Half fell onto the deck and when I got home, I couldn't get into my house. Last month lightening hit the power pole next to the house on my farm and took out everything from the pole to the breaker box in the house. We had to put in a new exterior panel and run new underground lines to the house and rewire the interior panel. I wasn't home then, either, and I'm really happy about that.

          by carolita on Sun May 11, 2008 at 12:47:57 AM PDT

          •  Very scary

            I run around unplugging everything I can when a storm is nigh. It often seems the worst of the storms go just north or south of where I am--I think it has something to do with the Adirondacks, which are just to the west of the little chain of islands where I live, and how the mountains direct the flow of the weather.

            Stay safe!

            by earicicle on Sun May 11, 2008 at 09:25:47 AM PDT

•  Thank you for selecting kbee214's comment

  this is a part of the history of the women's suffrage movement that doesn't get discussed enough.
  Lucy Stone and Frederick Douglass versus Susan B Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

  And thanks from me too -  giggled when I visualized myself channelling Donna B.

  by Deoliver47 on Sun May 11, 2008 at 03:28:52 AM PDT