what was your first bird?

I've been on DU for a while, but didn't realize they had a birding group until just now.

Random question for fellow birders - what was your first bird? I don't necessarily mean the first bird you ever saw (probably house sparrow or pigeon for most of us) - I mean the bird that got you started in the avocation.

I can still clearly remember the bird that did it for me - white-breasted nuthatch. During my freshman year in college, I was snowed in with my grandparents (who lived in the same town as my university) for Thanksgiving break. They had feeders set up in their back yard. I was struck by the handsome blue-gray and white bird that scooted along tree trunks and came in for suet. My grandparents had an old copy of Peterson's field guide, so I looked it up. A red-breasted nuthatch showed up later that day, and the fact that two such striking birds could be found in a populated area really grabbed me.

Is this a thing?

I came to parenthood late - I'm 50, and my daughter is 2.

All three of us ended up with the flu last week. And my daughter insisted on watching one show - and only one show - for the two days she was down.

It was Moana. I actually liked it at first. The animation was stunning. Interesting approach to Polynesian enthography (basically making a fictional community by borrowing aspects from several real ones), and enough biology and geology to keep a scientist like yours truly interested. And who knew the Rock could sing?

Two days later, I was ready to confess to pretty much anything.

Is this a common feature of children that age - to fix onto a single movie or tv show and watch it repeatedly?

Anyone else try to get a copy of Fire and Fury?

I showed up at a local Barnes and Noble this morning. They'd sold out of the book before it was even on the shelves.

I need to find a way to piss off Lord Dampnut in one of my academic papers. My citation rate will skyrocket.

who should read the audiobooks?

Recently, some people have recommended that Hilary Clinton narrate the audiobook version of Fire and Fury.

I think that's an excellent idea. But other books will be forthcoming from the current crisis. Who should narrate them?

For example, on another thread, I suggested that Gilbert Gottfried read any book written by Bannon.

I also think that if Kellyann Conway or Sarah Huckabee Sanders write a book, it should be narrated by Fran Drescher.

Other ideas?

I'm a birder, so I take this one personally...

New title for Steve Bannon

My local NPR station is having a discussion about the Alabama election. One of the commentators stated that the results are a bump in the road toward regarding Steve Bannon as a "kingmaker."

I hereby propose that, from now on, Bannon be known as the losermaker.

It's the hypocrisy, stupid.

The Al Franken news from earlier today bothers me. Nevertheless, I see two serious differences between the Franken and Moore situations that should be borne in mind.

1. The two men reacted very, very differently to the allegations. Franken came out immediately with what I regard as a sincere apology. He does state that he remembers things differently, but he took ownership of what happened. He even joined the call for an investigation of himself. Moore is digging his heels in; worse, his supporters are using some horrific arguments to excuse it away, as though the Biblical story of Mary and Joseph justifies pedophilia.

2. Most importantly - Al Franken is, as far as I can tell, an honest, decent, hard-working human being, but he has never held himself up as a paragon of Judeo-Christian moral virtue. He worked in comedy and television - not exactly the national hatchery for moral behavior. He used illegal drugs. I've read his books; he uses words that would normally not be associated with religious conservatives, and some of his humor is crude. He's honest and, as a public servant, patriot, husband, father, and grandfather, the Al Franken of today is a role model - but no one would look to his entire life as an example of Biblical purity. More importantly, I don't think he would ever ask us to.

Moore? He drapes himself in religion. That he was removed as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court twice is because he put Fundamentalist Christian interpretations of morality above the laws he was charged to uphold. Moore is a class A hypocrite with the moral authority of a tapeworm, but he would have us see him as a paragon of virtue. He reminds me of the elderly woman in the movie Airplane; she's offered a drink from a flask, says "Certainly not!," and then surreptitiously snorts a line of coke.

Other differences mean less to me: that only one person has leveled allegations against Franken, versus the 9 (so far) against Moore, along with having been banned from a local mall for his predatory behavior; that at least one of Moore's victims was 14; even, for that matter, that the photo being circulated is open to interpretation. Inappropriate sexual behavior is inappropriate sexual behavior, and if it turns out that Franken groped women, he should go, ally or not. But we should avoid drawing equivalencies between Franken and Moore.

My thoughts, anyway. This whole thing is making me remember colleagues who were caught behaving in an inappropriate sexual manner, and how I responded differently to the situations depending on my perceptions of the severity of the crime and on how the accused themselves responded. One tried to rape his graduate student, and the other left cameras in bathrooms. The former remained recalcitrant and refused to admit he'd done anything wrong; the latter turned himself in to the police, then went home and committed suicide. Neither committed victimless crimes, but I still struggle with the fact that I see them differently. Maybe it's because one of them (the one who committed suicide) was a close friend, and the other an acquaintance. I'm human and want the world to conform to my own ideals.

Serious question - what if the election results were influenced by hacking?

We don't yet know if Russian hackers actually changed the outcome of the election. We might not even be able to prove that they did, even if we can demonstrate that they successfully hacked into voting machines.

But serious question here - what if we CAN prove it? And what if their actions DID change the outcome of the election in favor of Lord Dampnut?

Is there a legal mechanism to void the election results? I suspect the answer is "no," but would like input from someone who knows the legal ins and outs more than me.

thanks.

Follow-up question added on edit: are there examples in US history of elections being overturned for fraud?

It's time for members of Congress to ask for the president's resignation.

His behavior was unpresidential when his administration began. I didn't think he would actually grow into the job, but if anything, he's getting worse.

The latest twitter tantrum should be a turning point for members of Congress. He threatened a private citizen. Describing this as "unpresidential" is like calling calling the bottom of the ocean "damp." In fact, most of us would probably face charges if we tried to pull something like that.

Of course Trixon won't resign. It's not in his character, insofar as he can be described as having character. But it's way past time for members of the Legislative Branch - or the Democratic and not-so-rabit Republican members, anyway - to ask that he do the right thing, whether he does it or not.

Donald Trump is a small, spiteful little man.

Nothing more need be said.