Marty’s photo of the day #2203: This elk walked by the motion-sensing camera in my backyard earlier this week.
Backyard Elk
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Year: 2017
No, I cannot find common ground with repugnant people
The other day a conservative Democrat passionately criticized me because of my snarky treatment of Republicans. Instead, he said, I would be more effective if I tried to find “common ground” with them. I thought about it—for about a second—and rejected the idea. Montana’s special election is a good example of why I reject such […]
Fake news and alternative media
Yesterday I posted a rant about how Republicans have co-opted the term “fake news” for nefarious purposes. In response, someone suggested that mainstream news sources could not be trusted because they were all owned by a small number of huge corporations. While I agree that giant media conglomerates are troubling, that does not automatically make […]
Montana embarrasses me
So Republican Greg “The Body Slammer” Gianforte won the special congressional election over Democrat Rob Quist in Montana. How embarrassing for the state I live in. Even though I have lived in Montana for 20 years, I’ve never quite been able to bring myself to call Montana my home state. I moved here because of […]
Republican cult behavior
When my wife, Deb, ran for the Montana State Senate several years ago, I did exit polling to get a feel for whether or not she would win. It was a rainy day, so it was easy to bundle up and make sure no one would recognize me. When I counted just the people who […]
Greg Gianforte’s body slamming increased the Republican vote
Did Republican Greg Gianforte’s body slamming, punching, and choking a liberal reporter actually help his standing with Montana Republicans? I say yes, and here’s my proof: I live in Ravalli County, and on the front page of today’s Ravalli Republic is a story about how the last-minute voter turnout was much higher than expected due […]
Montana . . . how could you?
Marty’s photo of the day #2197: Last night I dreamed that whip scorpions were attacking me. That was okay, I’ve had worse dreams. Then I woke up and realized that I live in a country that elected Donald “The Pussy Grabber” Trump, and in a state that elected Greg “The Body Slammer” Gianforte. Now that […]
Collide interview with author Marty Essen
Streaming services, such as Pandora and Spotify have made life difficult for all but the biggest acts in the music industry. The CD-buying public has become the song-streaming public, with artists making a quarter of a penny or less per streamed song. But streaming services do provide one advantage over the days when artists needed […]
No matter the vote count, the Republicans lose tonight’s election
Today, without a doubt, Montana has its most watched election in history. And since Republican congressional candidate Greg Gianforte chose to body slam, choke, and punch a reporter from the Guardian, a British newspaper, the election is now even huge international news. When I posted on this last night, I was surprise by how many […]
Yes, it’s better to be liberal than conservative
Sometimes I feel like we live in Opposite World. Time and time again Republicans use the word “conservative” like a badge of honor, while Democrats shy away from using the word “liberal.” I don’t know about you, but I would much rather be known as a liberal (which is someone who is broad-minded, tolerant, and […]
Victoria Falls
Marty’s photo of the day #2190: I have a lot of Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) pictures, as during the time of our visit, the water level was ideal for photography. Here’s one I haven’t posted before.
If only Libertarian candidates had the brains God gave an animal cracker
One of the major problems with the Libertarian Party is that none of their candidates have the brains God gave an animal cracker. Remember Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson, who couldn’t name even one living foreign leader? Well, in the race for U.S. Congress in Montana, the Libertarians have another genius: “President Trump has appointed […]
If this is a repeat, it’s not my fault
Marty’s photo of the day #2189: I try to never repeat my photos of the day, but I’m sure I screw up every once in a while. I photographed this moose in our front yard several years ago. If it’s a repeat, I’m sorry. It’s not my fault. It’s the liberal media’s fault—because Donald Trump […]
Trump voters Make America Vulnerable Again
What is the biggest surprise of Donald Trump’s presidency? Not the bigotry, the hatred, the incompetence, the instability, or the Russian connections. Before the election, all of that was on full display for Americans to see. Except, of course, for the 63 million clueless people who couldn’t tell fact from fiction, and therefore voted for […]
Blue Morpho
Perhaps the Russians do have that Trump tape
Now that Donald Trump has given classified information to the Russians, I have to ask all the people who shouted “lock her up,” why aren’t you now shouting “lock him up”? Sure, as president, Trump legally and instantly declassified the information the moment he spilled the beans. But if you add that to Trump’s botched […]
A vulture’s wingspan
Marty’s photo of the day #2187: Yesterday I posted a photo and story about the six turkey vultures that are cleaning up a deer behind my house. Today I have a solo shot for you. Turkey vultures have wingspans up to six feet wide. This photo from my motion-sensing camera really shows off that wingspan, […]
The vultures get you in the end
Marty’s photo of the day #2186: Back on March 11 and March 12, I posted two photos from my motion-sensing camera: one of a coyote, and one of a fox. Both were checking out a dead deer that was two hundred feet below my house. I thought for sure that I would soon get photos […]
My front yard elk and possible poachers
Marty’s photo of the day #2081: This was the scene in my front yard yesterday. For the last few days, we’ve had a herd of elk hanging around. At this time of year they are a bit scraggly, as they are losing their winter coats. They were also quite skittish, so I had to be […]
The rain in Borneo . . .
Marty’s photo of the day #2080: Deb’s and my first stop, before leaving on our Borneo backpacking trip with the Iban tribe, was the city of Kuching. This short excerpt from my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, explains the scene: Hand in hand, we strolled across the street to the […]