Good morning, everyone! I'm Phoenix Woman, and the fine folks at FDL have invited me to do some posting. My normal watering hole is a blog called Mercury Rising, but I've been known to hang out at Eschaton, DailyKos, FDL, and a whole host of other sites. If you want to know what I'm all about, you could do worse than check out MR. Our topics of interest include, but are not limited to, vote suppression (both here and elsewhere), Mexico, Haiti, Iraq, Our Sucky Media, and of course cats.
For my initial FireDoggy post, I'd had planned to do this really long grandiose epic on my Grand Unified Field Theory of Why Big Media Sucks So Badly, but it just wasn't coming together. So I thought I'd shelve that for another day and share this picture with you instead. Really is worth a thousand words, isn't it?
Isn't that a lovely view? That's a shot of a quiet spot along the North Shore of Lake Superior, just off Highway 61 north of Duluth, on a rare October day when Superior was as still as glass, in that ethereal calm of the year when the summer and its storms have passed and winter is still a ways off, and there was quite a bit of color remaining on the trees. One could hop into a canoe and explore the craggy shoreline from a boater's eye, but it would be such a pity to disturb that exquisite mirrored sheet of water, wouldn't it? I took that in the fall of 2004, and though the composition leaves a bit to be desired, I still like how it makes me feel. (Come to think of it, that sort of thing could be said about my writing, much of the time.)
So go get a cup of hot cocoa or the beverage of your choice and feel free to ask me about anything and nothing. What's on your mind? Got any questions for me? Got anything to share? It's all the same to the lovely lake.
(Quick update: I've got another post coming up today around 4:00 pm Eastern, 3:00 Central. Hope to see you there, too!)
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Since I live near the South Shore of Lake Superior, this picture really speaks to me!
Fitz!
Welcome, Phoenix Woman – are you a fellow Minnesotan? If so, a photograph of the North Shore today might show an equally-still Lake Superior, albeit because it is frozen solid and covered with snow!
Welcome up above the fold, PW!
The North Shore of Superior is something unto itself. We were coming back from visiting my bro-in-law last summer and stopped to take the kids on train ride (the Pizza Train!) and the route followed the shoreline. Outstanding stuff and welcome to FDL!
lectric lady @ 0
MN or WI? WI here, on the Michigan border and on Lake Michigan.
nice place up there … the north woods.
the best vacation I ever took was a week backpack on Isle Royal in Lake Superior.
we saw moose.
Where’s my fishing pole? I know I left it around here somewhere . . . and I can just see the northern pike swimming under the surface.
‘morning, everyone! Looks like the Minnesota FDL contingent is present and accounted for!
How is everybody this fine snowy morning? I’m looking at about three inches of sleet outside right now. Makes me glad to be inside!
I see nothing in today’s Courant about the jr. Sen today.
http://www.courant.com/
And this is just around the bend in the craggy shoreline depicted above:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2901186
Whazzup?
lectric lady @
1
Oh ho! That’s how you do it, eh? Toss a period in there to grab first spot, THEN go back and edit in the content… I learn at the feet of the master…
mightymouse @ 7
Isle Royale is gorgeous, isn’t it? There are more moose there right now than in Minnesota itself (the warming and drying of our climate is putting a strain on our moose population).
I’m going to brew up some coffee, but I’ll be back in a few minutes, I promise!
Phoenix Woman @ 9
Lucky you! Down here in Iowa City, we’re already getting freezing rain. I’m having serious doubts about going anywhere today.
Well, I’m a bit further south (hi Noonan!) in Wisconsin…got 6 inches of snow overnight and they tell us we’ll get another foot tonight with blizzard warnings to boot. Ick. Well, more than ick, but…
I love your picture. It also looks like many of crags and inlets of the lower Wisconsin River too…
Welcome!
Blank Kludge @ 10
Whaaazzup? Standard BushCheneyCo abuse of power. This is all of a piece with their abuse of signing statements (which were never intended to be used the way they’re used by Bush) and pretty much everything else they do.
Peterr @ 8
Oh, yeah. They’re good eating, but watch the bones!
Hey did you see Split Rock while you were there?
EPU-ed from last thread:
Another tidbit from the Dept. of “Learn”: from the Newsweek website:
Demolition of the Willing
Newsweek’s heading for this online-only commentary says it all. [And why are there some commentaries, some news that’s segregated from the Merken non-Internet people…nevahmind….]
“Demolition of the Willing” — Dubya and Co are bent on not only sowing chaos within [think Katrina, Building 18] but also without…and not just the Middle East. They’d happily destroy all of Western Civilization for their have-more corporatist agenda.
George W. Bush/Dick Chee-knee
The Reapers = Worst Presidents Ever. Worst “leaders” of Western Civ.
Boy, that reminds me of my childhood in Bemidji. Just beautiful, but dang those mosquintos!
Here in Texas, we’ve got 40 mile an hour winds, dozens of tumbleweeds zipping down the street, blowing sand, and the kids have figured out that they can lean into said wind and let it support them at an impossible angle. Real live science going on here….
Terry Olson @ 18
Childhood in Bemidji — me, too.
Just a few blocks from Paul and Babe.
Peterr @
8
I remember fishing with Uncle Howard before breakfast and then eating walleyed pike with potatoes and eggs. Yummy!
Is there any chance that Suze Orman will be helping Tim Hardaway with his financial problems?
-GSD
Thanks Phoenix Woman. Nice to see you over here :)
That’s a wonderful drive up 61. I drove up to Thunder Bay to visit family around 1994 and took 3 days wandering that area. Just beautiful.
martha @ 14
Hi Martha! It’s lightly snowing here right now — the sleet is over, but it’s coated the roads and sidewalks pretty thoroughly. Everyone loaded up on supplies last night — grocery stores were jammed.
Prairie Sunshine-Wow! Grandma lived across the street from Paul and Babe. What great memories. Blackduck too.
Bemidji? As in Leech Lake? My mother was there summers, in her childhood. Loooong time ago. She still talks about it.
Warm and sunny here in San Diego county…sorry.
bg @ 26
Heavens yes! Had to check between the toes for leeches after swimming at Diamond Point right near Bemidji State.
Hey, Phoenix Woman — great to see you here. I remember you well from Table Talk and have missed you since I left that forum. It’s also good to see cats making their way to FireDOGlake. My cat’s hair went into a static salute when I clicked over to that picture. I think that’s a good thing.
Reminds me of a canoeing trip I took through the boundary waters when I was 16. Great memories.
Welcome, PW!
Cold and clear here in NH.
Although it is starting to feel as though spring is on the way.
Hopefully that process won’t get pre-empted by a Cheney inspired nuclear winter.
-GSD
Phoenix Woman @ 15
Hey now! Just so.
And, hi there, too.
This image intrigued me some time ago and inspired a very juvenile attempt with watercolor pencils. Turned out a nice piece, but the strength was in the ‘abstract’ aspect.
*g*
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/image/viz_sce1.html
Wonderful pic Phoenix Woman, being a Yooper originally here in MI that picture immediately resonated with me, the Great Lakes are magnificent.
A shoutout to Rayne and Marcy at the Dem convention in Detroit, I have the grandson today afterall and can’t make it over, tomorrow is still up in the air. Love the updates from the blogger caucus you are providing and wish I was there.
Prairie Sunshine @ 17
Hey did you see Split Rock while you were there?
Yup — we’ve seen Split Rock many times. Spouse took a pic of the lighthouse in the fog; I’m looking at it right now.
EPU-ed from last thread:
Another tidbit from the Dept. of “Learn”: from the Newsweek website:
Demolition of the Willing
Well, I’m glad that the media arm of the GOP/Media Complex is finally starting to rebel. I think it’s because of the popularity of sites like FDL and of shows like The Daily Show and Keith Olbermann’s Countdown, more than any sign of conscience. But I’m glad all the same.
Coffee’s up — back in a sec!
Pachacutec @ 30
Oh man, and the animals don’t hear anything when you ride in a canoe so you see them in their habitat so realtime.
I put this link up last night but I think it is worth a repeat..this, along with the Walter Reed mess, is sickening. The systematic denial of benefits is so typical of Republican morals.
http://rawstory.com/showarticl…..ney070222/
One of my fondest memories of Phoenix Woman: when Air America made its debut she pulled a Wheeler and posted in real time at lightning speed, letting all of us without access to AR know what was said. It was the first time I’d ever “listened” to the radio via text. To coin a phrase, it was the best text I ever had.
The “Reading First Program” another Bush scam.
http://www.citizensforethics.org/pres…..p?view=204
Liberal Heart @ 37
Awww, geez! I’d forgot about that!
Thanks, LH! (And thanks for reminding me that I need to hustle over to TT again soon.)
Evil Dr. Puma,
Ice coming down in beautiful NE Iowa with 35 mph winds and 13-20 inches tomorrow which will give(hopefully) this professor a day off on Monday to watch Libby go down!
Welcome to the lake Phoenix Woman, am looking forward to ypur later post.
Hey Phoenix Woman, thanks for the post.
Balrog checking in from Stillwater, home of crackpot Michelle Bachmann.
Hrmph. I never voted for her.
Steve @ 36
That’s not surprising. Not at all.
In fact, many of these disabled people are being shoved right back into the meatgrinder in Iraq and Afghanistan, because Bush and the Republicans don’t dare back a draft. They know full well that if they called for a draft, the Democrats would own the White House and Congress for the next decade.
Terry Olson @ 34
Yep. And you see more stars than you ever thought there could be on a moonless night.
If only I could have gotten some nookie.
Balrog @ 42 sayeth unto all:
Oooh, then you’ll like my next FDL post coming up @ 3:00 pm our time, 4:00 pm Eastern. It’s all about our favorite whackaloon. :-)
Hi, Phoenix Woman!
It’s good to talk of peaceful things on this fine morning! You’re flat there, aren’t you? I’m in the Western North Carolina Mountains, close to Lake Summit where I walk/run almost every day. It’s an artificial lake, really, by grace of Duke Power, but it’s very old, and supports much wonderful native life, with woods all around. Makes you want to preserve and protect, doesn’t it? Life is a sort of sandwich. Vote in the Feingold candidate project, check in on THE trial, walk, run, write, check in on FDL. . . balance. Bit like the lake – cool and fire, all in the same frame!
shez at 33
Can we see a link to the MI blogger caucus? If they’re public.
The pic reminds me of Lily Pond in Maine where my family used to go for summer vacations. We were all on swimming team, and my parents swam for exercise, so we used to amaze the other vacationers by swimming across the lake and back (it was about a quarter mile across.) We’d spend a few weeks rowing around the lake, exploring the woods, catching toads, and training chipmunks to eat peanuts out of our hands. The best years were when we were there during the Perseid meteor showers — you could lay out on the dock in the lake with the huge dark sky, and see dozens of them.
Pachacutec @ 44
Check the stars in Costa Rica if you get the chance.
Phoenix Woman @ 45
You probably already know about DumpBachmann.
If not, take a gander. There’s a pretty good history of all things Bachmannalia.
Whackjob.
Your photo reminds me of this from Gibran:
“Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.”
Thanks PW, for great memories of the North Shore, visiting my Aunt at Silver Cliff. Is Naniboujou Lodge still up there by Grand Marais? Haven’t been there since the seventies. Did taconite processing cause much damage to the Lake? I will look for MR and more connections with you.
AP – Americans are keenly aware of how many U.S. forces have lost their lives in Iraq, according to a new AP-Ipsos poll. But they woefully underestimate the number of Iraqi civilians who have been killed.
I wonder why this is the case? Is it perhaps the basic, and base concept operating here, that some humans are perhaps more equal than others? To say ‘I am ashamed of those Americans who maybe feel this way’, grossly underestimates the sentiment.
Phoenix Woman @ 43..It’s not surprising..but the thing that continues to baffle me is that the majority of the people being screwed by the Republicans come from the “base”. ~70% of the killed and wounded in Iraq are white and I suspect a majority of these come from the demographic that form the Republican base. (Utah excepted)
hesikastor @ 46
Sounds lovely, H!
Yeah, most of Minnesota is fairly flat, though the plains slowly rise the farther west you go and we do have the Iron Range up in northern Minnesota, where this picture was taken. Superior’s about 600 feet above sea level, but the Range isn’t very far away, and there are spots in it with actual mountains (tiny ones, but still technically mountains all the same).
Highway 61 Revisited!
I spent my grade school years in Duluth and the rest of my childhood all over upper Michigan. In the springtime in Marquette we used to go down to the beach and climb around on what felt like little glaciers while the water crashed around us.
Duluth was where I shook Jack Kennedy’s hand when I was not quite 8 years old and he was campaigning for the presidency. He was doing some kind of rally near my school (Lowell elementary) and a bunch of us were down there running around trying to see what the fuss was about.
He was smiling in our direction, so my friend Judy and I dashed up and stuck out our hands like Jem Finch running up to touch Boo Radley’s door–except without the creepy factor.
Later my dad made me watch the debate with Nixon on our creaky Zenith black and white television. Sigh. I was a goner from that moment, a junkie for all things politic.
Here’s a cool place if you’re ever up the far North Shore of Minny.
Devil’s Kettle is a freaky place. As shown the waterfall splits, one path going on to the lake but the other going straight down to who-knows-where?
jayackroyd @ 47
Not sure jay, Rayne had some comments in the last thread, live from the caucus. I just checked at Mich Liberal and her site but no live blogging posts there (yet!?). Were you planning on going?
SEATTLE — Republican presidential hopeful John McCain said Friday that British Prime Minister Tony Blair has sacrificed his career to support the Iraq war, and the Arizona senator acknowledged that he could face the same fate.
So McCain thinks Iraq could end his career. That WOULD be nice, wouldn’t it Hillary?
And if you’re the hearty type that likes a little CC skiing, Bearskin Lodge is heavenly.
Jim Clausen @
40
I don’t know if you ought to get your hopes up, since ice is predicted for DC on Sunday. If we get our famous “wintry mix”, the city will probably close for the day.
Welcome Phoenix Woman!! I don’t know how many of the firepups are interested, but we have more anti-war demonstrations scheduled in DC (and elsewhere) on March 16-18. There is going to be a nice event at Washington Cathedral on Mar. 16 with Jim Wallis and other clergy, followed by a march to the White House. It should be an excellent evening.
SYDNEY, Australia (Feb. 24) – Vice President Dick Cheney on Saturday renewed Washington’s warning to Iran that “all options” are on the table if the country continues to defy U.N.-led efforts to end Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
Obviously this is code for we’re going to bomb you. Once again, why isn’t this lunatic’s daughter serving on the front lines in Iraq?
Some great vacationing in NE Minn: Lake Vermilion, BWCA, the town of Ely, Duluth, etc.
Bachmann, one of Minnesota’s greatest embarrassments. I think she is rapidly joining Jean Schmidt and Katherine Harris as republicans that even the gop would like to muzzle, if she hasn’t already.
hi!! :)
I hope you weren’t up here scouting for water for your Phoenix, the city that shouldn’t exist because it has no water. Nice pic,though.
Karen @ 52
Superior is actually in the best shape of all the Great Lakes; taconite mining itself didn’t damage it much, that was more of a problem onshore than off, and in other lakes. The biggest problem for Superior was having crud dumped into it, mainly sewage, and that’s been addressed (in Duluth, anyway) since 1979 by the use of various systems to keep sewage and other nasties out of the lake:
coldH2Owi @ 65
Heh! I don’t live in Phoenix; my user name has a different meaning altogether.
But yes, we could talk for ages about how the desert Southwest is riding for a fall and how the Colorado River is slowly being choked to death.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 59
Even though it could end McCain’s career (because it is an unpopular war) it was still the right decision for McCain to support it (though not its execution per se), b/c the world is better off without Saddam and Iraq makes good fly paper so we can fight them over there so we don’t have to fight them here. Something like that – right Mr. McCain and Hillary?
Oklahoma kiddo @ 59
Don’t get me started on “Keating Five” McCain.
PW @ 66:
Glad to see the progress with zero-discharge to Lake Superior.
I now live close to Hood Canal in WA, and our legislature is just this year addressing the same problems. Our Democratic governor, Chris Gregoire, is solidly behind the efforts.
Another Minnesotan checking in here – from Minnetonka, a western suburb of Minneapolis. (Snow is picking up – we’re supposed to get 6-14″ by Monday morning.) Speaking of Michelle Bachmann, I miss Wendy Wilde who used to be a talk show host for Air America Minnesota until she quit to run against Jim Ramstad, my rep, who used to be a moderate until he started drinking the Bush Kool-Aid. Wendy used to do these hilarious bits on the foibles of Bachmann when she was a state rep.
I bet Balrog remembers some of the idiotic things MB did!
lectric lady @
1
We have visited the area, long ago.
This beautiful picture reminds me we MUST go back. ;->
If your posts become a regular feature here, will they be called Firecatlake?
Hi Phoenix Woman! Beautiful picture. I fell in love with Minnesota when I took a friend to the Mayo Clinic and drove from Madison to Rochester. If I could make a living there I’d be there in a heartbeat.
Could you take up two questions?
1. Can Al Franken win?
2. Should he? (are there better candidates)
Thanks loads for the earwom [from your title], PW.
MEC @ 76
Heheheheh! Glad to oblige.
And thank you — sincerely! — for this kickass post on MR this morning, MEC.
heh – another Bachmann Moment:
http://www.startribune.com/587/story/1022623.html
“U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann claimed two weeks ago to know of an Iranian plan for the partition of Iraq in which Iran would control half the country and set it up as “a terrorist safe haven zone” and a staging area for attacks around the Middle East and on the United States.
The existence of such a plan has not been suggested publicly by the Bush administration or other officials.
But on Friday, after her claim was highlighted on the Star Tribune’s Big Question weblog, Bachmann issued a new statement asserting her earlier comments had been “misconstrued.” The second statement in effect retracted the first in several important respects.” -snip-
Oh, lordy!!!!
john in california @ 75
Honestly, I dunno. Much is being made of a recent poll putting Coleman ahead by a fifteen-odd-point margin, but honestly, most outstate Minnesotans really don’t know who Franken is (something he’s trying to remedy by visits there) and they’re being bombarded by the local arms of the Republican Noise Machine telling them in codespeak that Franken’s a (GASP!) New York Jew — without mentioning, of course, that so is Norm Coleman. (And unlike Norm, Franken was born here.)
That’s unknown at this point. There are other candidates, including at least one with more money (namely Mike Ciresi). Franken’s currently making the rounds of the local progbloggers, so we’ll get a better handle on him soon.
hackworth @
68
Saddam H was a louse and a lout. But his regime was secular. 3 things to weigh against this: the big oil companies now own Iraq. They’ve carved it up. The stuff you read about the Iraqis dickering over who owns what is…fog. The second is you now will have a religiously driven government, regardless who “wins.” And women, who have less now than when this all started, will retreat into metaphorical or even physical burquas. You’ve lost half the population. Call that a democracy? That monster at least kept the bits cobbled together and a lid on. As for “fighting them here,” meaning Iraqis, if it ever comes to that, it will be because of this war, not in spite of it.
KathieinMN @ 78
Oh, yes, that’s our whackaloon, all right. I’m going to have an FDL post on this later today at 1:00 pm Pacific/2:00 pm Mountain/3:00 pm Central/4:00 pm Eastern.
MEC @ 77. Great story. We were lucky enough to have your father in these parts years ago. He’s an amazing journalist.
Ahhh, What a perfect little snapshot for a rainy morning on the banks of the Kings River here in NW Arkansas. With it’s 90 miles north bound flow, avg. 16 feet drop per mile with crystal clear to emerald green waters cutting through the Ozark mountains. I am in hillbilly heaven both at home and on a kayak. I took a gamble yesterday with a float trip (would I miss the big verdict?), anyway, the bald eagles were hardly disturbed by our presence nor the elk or wild turkey. We found fresh bobcat and black bear tracks. I forgot about catching a smallmouth in such a perfect pre spring day.
With the rains today it’s so peaceful and I can hear the river rise as I type. It’s so soothing it makes the wait for another float easy.
Welcome aboard Phoenix Woman. I enjoy your blog when I find the time to stop by. This place just gets better and better.
Fool Zero @ 73
Meow!
Gotta go for now — spouse is home and it’s lunchtime here. I’ll be back around three-ish Central time! Talk amongst yourselves — I’m veklempt!
I guess with the Bushies that unless you are willing to kill people you can’t work for them.
My watery haunt, in beautiful Western Washington state
http://home.comcast.net/~johang/Reflection3.JPG
OT: Nutmeggers need to get going on the recall LIEberman campaign. They owe to us, the owe to themselves to get him out of a position to influence anything.
.
shez at 58
Not going. In NYC. I think the big state conventions are going to be important over the next two years. The netroots are working their way into the party structures, and I’m interested in how that all works out.
Also, myDD reports that there are net neutrality issues at stake, with the telcos pressuring the CWA union.
Hey, everybody! Howie has a real live progressive democrat upstairs! Come and welcome him to the lake!
Phoenix Woman @ 81
Oh goody! Can’t wait!
Noonan @ 5
Wisconsin, in Douglas County
hitchhiker @
56
Oh good lord I probably know you! I stood along the road (near Endion school) and waved at the motorcade as JFK went by. The bubble top was up and it was dark but lit inside and JFK looked right at me — a moptopped 7 yr old with a handmade sign that said WELCOME — and flashed me the grin of a lifetime. But wait, he was president by then. Do you remember his visit to Duluth as President Kennedy?
Louis Armstrong once said “If it sounds good, it is good” from which I would take out “sound” and insert “looks”
Your image looks good, Phoenix Woman, and so far as composition goes, the little bit of land at the lower right adds the right amount of balance.
So, not to worry, or especially, apologize!
Hey PW….
You’re making me homesick for Chequamegon Bay and those nights staring up at the “billions and billions” of stars…and the occassional satellite.
I wasn’t into canoeing but did a lot of sailing around the Apostle Islands….
sigh…
looking forward to your posts..
hizzhoner
From the department of “Support”—
Thanks for your first post, and looking forward for the next one!
And from the department of “Follow”—I vaguely remember CHS asking me to pull together a post on the Russian children’s hospital stuff. Ow. That seems to be my conscience speaking.
———————–egr
Lead. Follow. Support. Teach. Learn.
The Phoenix has landed!
I grew up in central Minnesota, but our family often drove up to the North Shore of Lake Superior for summer vacations.
I’ve always thought it odd that the enormous and magnificent Great Lakes region occupies so little of the national consciousness. It takes up a good portion of our border with Canada, has five huge freshwater lakes, and is connected to the rest of the world via the St. Lawrence River.
hizzhoner @ 94
Ah, the Apostles. Next time I might run a pic of the water caves hollowed out under those islands. You know the ones, and how they glow when the sunlight hits them just right?
Boston1775 @ 82
I think maybe you think I’m somebody else. My father was never a journalist.
I am eager to read the Grand Unified Field Theory of Big Media. Since yours is apparently not quite ready for publication, I might as well offer my own. Fortunately it is neither long nor complicated.
— BEGIN THEORY —
We find ourselves exactly where we should expect to be after having sold off our country’s broadcast (one-way communication) apparatus to the highest bidder. When big money interests control all mass information diffusion, literally anything is possible. No crime or abuse can come as a surprise.
The only conceivable cure would be to transfer control over broadcast media (radio, television) to the populace, using some sort of popular voting to control the management.
Of course, such a transfer of control is impossible once huge corporate interests control all of broadcasting. The definition of reality is already in their hands! Beyond that point, no change is possible. Nothing useful can be achieved. Only profound social and economic ruin, which no sane person could wish for, might shake the foundations of such an arrangement.
— END THEORY —
Any questions?
I’m glad to see you here (and kudos to resident matriarchs for bringing in best of the best bloggers!!!)
I read MR several times a week, especially appreciated your x’cellent coverage of Mexican election. MR: very, very good blog!!!
Welcome.
We love the Phoenix…