Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: July 12th through July 18th

July 12, 2015 JanF Community 145

Welcome to The Moose Pond! The Welcomings posts give the Moose, old and new, a place to visit and share words about the weather, life, the world at large and the small parts of Moosylvania that we each inhabit.

Welcomings will be posted at the start of each week (every Sunday morning). To find the posts, just bookmark this link and Voila! (which is Moose for “I found everyone!!”).

The format is simple: each day, the first moose to arrive on-line will post a comment welcoming the new day and complaining (or bragging!) about their weather. Or mentioning an interesting or thought provoking news item. Or simply checking in.

So … what’s going on in your part of Moosylvania?

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NOTE: The comments page will now split off after 20 or so left margin comments with the most recent comments on the current page. To see the older comments, scroll to the bottom of the page and use the link.

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44 Comments

  1. Good morning, Motley Meese! The week begins …

    It is 63 degrees in Madison WI, on its way up to 85. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.

    Have a great day, all y’alls!!

  2. Good morning Meese

    68 here in the Catskills going up to a sunny 89.

    Just read excellent piece on Serena Williams in the Guardian
    Serena Williams transcends sport. We’re lucky to be living in her time

    Loved seeing Con. John Lewis at Comic-Con

    U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., just upped the game for cosplayers at San Diego Comic-Con.

    On Saturday, the civil rights icon dressed as a past version of himself, recreating the outfit he wore as he marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, 50 years ago.

    Keeping an eye on POTUS’ upcoming visit to a Federal Prison

    On Thursday, President Obama will become the first sitting president to visit a federal prison.

    Mr. Obama will travel to Oklahoma’s El Reno Correctional Institution, home to Jason Hernandez – a prisoner convicted on drug charges who had his life sentence commuted by Obama in 2013, reports Vice News.

    The trip, which will be recorded for a Vice documentary airing on HBO this fall, comes amidst the Obama administration’s broader efforts towards creating what it sees as a fairer US criminal justice system, mostly in response to tougher drug laws that disproportionately imprisoned minorities.

    Off to go get breakfast – then to do comment tending at orange at 9AM

    Seeya later – have a good day.

    • Twitter was on fire over Serena’s win and the awful comments being made about her body. She’s an athlete, peepuls! They need muscles to do what they do! The same people said that Michelle Obama should not have muscles on her arms because it is “manly”. JHC!

      ThinkProgress had a good takedown of the body shaming:

      Despite Williams’ undeniable athletic skill, however, there’s one “controversy” that’s persisted throughout her career: Endless scrutiny over what her body looks like, and messages about why it doesn’t fit into society’s expectations for female beauty.

      Just one day before Williams secured yet another Wimbledon title, for instance, the New York Times published an article that suggested other tennis players don’t want to look like her.

      The New York Times wrote that Williams “has large biceps and a mold-breaking muscular frame” and “her rivals could try to emulate her physique, but most of them choose not to.” Other (white) female tennis players were quoted as saying they try not to bulk up like Williams because they want to “be a woman” and don’t want to “feel unfeminine.” Maria Sharapova — described in the article as “a slender, blond Russian” — said that she wants to be even thinner than she is now: “I always want to be skinnier with less cellulite; I think that’s every girl’s wish,” she said.

      The article was widely criticized on Twitter for its central premise: Asking a bunch of white woman what they think about Serena Williams’ body in a society where black bodies are already undervalued.

      “Because Serena Williams is a wildly successful black woman in a white-dominated sport, she occupies a fraught space both within the sport itself and the society actively informing our perceptions,” Daily Beat writer Tomas Rios argued this week, in a piece making the case that Williams is paid much less than her rivals like Sharapova because of these issues. “She is an unprecedented affront to our collective notion of the beautiful female athlete.”

      I was glad to see that she accepts her body and has learned to understand that the criticism is utter bulldung.

      Williams has been open about her struggles with body image, saying that she’s had to come to terms with her “thicker” frame and learn to stop comparing herself to her sister. She used to want to be “long and lean,” but has since come to embrace the way she looks. “I realized that you really have to learn to accept who you are and love who you are. I’m really happy with my body type, and I’m really proud of it,” she told the New York Times.

      Time for the rest of the country to join her.

      Indeed.

      Here’s some John Lewis from Twitter:

      @repjohnlewis leads a Children’s March from his panel down to his book signing in #SDCC booth 1721

      • Thanks Jan

        I love that pic of John Lewis marching with the children!

        • I love John Lewis! He is so inspirational. From last week:

          John Lewis ‏@repjohnlewis Jul 6
          You are never too young or too old to get in good trouble, necessary trouble. #goodtrouble

  3. Good morning all from a most boring Moose. I have no idea what the weather is and haven’t looked at the news in three weeks. Hope all Meese are thriving, especially Diana and Another who have been ailing. Will check in later. This Moose is going back to bed.

    • The news is not much different than it was 3 weeks ago. A handful of GOP candidates have gotten into the nominating contest and Trump appears to have caught fire with the xenophobic racist element of the Republican Party (ie The GOP Base). The Greeks are trying to get another loan because the reality of managing their own currency has apparently shown them that they need the EU. Despite new concessions, Germany and France appear unwilling to buy in and speculation is that Germany simply wants to humiliate Greece by making them beg and then kicking them to the curb. The Confederate flag came down in South Carolina, removing an emblem of white supremacy but doing absolutely zero nothing nada zilch about the problem of too many guns in America. Wisconsin’s Republican legislature passed an education-crushing, wage-reducing, environment-destroying budget and a 20-week abortion ban so that Scott Walker can run for president as a Governor Who Welcomes The Hatred of the Libruls. The right-wing rag in Madison has a slobbery puff piece on the front page of today’s paper which I quickly put on the bottom of the stack (under the Local Section which also has a story about sewage!).

      I think that about does it. Have a good nap!!

  4. Eating breakfast, watching Up and Le Tour. Today is a team time trial, which is really pretty. And if his team does well, an American could be in yellow today.

    Me & my swollen face are going to church. That’ll be interesting. No bruising so far, just swelling. And then cooking this afternoon.

  5. Good morning, Moosekind (cough, cough). It’s a fairish day here, 69 F. now, going to 86 F. Yesterday it didn’t get as hot as it was supposed to, so Dearly Beloved turned off the air conditioning.

    Began feeling much better yesterday after taking the meds. Feel sufficiently better today to actually leave the house, although not for long.

    Haven’t looked at the news yet except to laugh at the coverage of Trump’s rally in Arizona. Will cruise the news when Dearly has brewed the cappuccinos.

    Last night being Vegetarian Night, we ate out of the garden! Dearly dug some potatoes, which were steamed and served with butter, salt and pepper. We also had a handful of runner beans, steamed, then sauteed with Sungold tomatoes, olive oil, fresh oregano, and pepper. Last but not least, we had a zucchini and a crookneck squash stir-fried with red onion. It was all delicious! Dessert was Ever-Easy Berry Crisp, for which I had to use frozen berries (sniff) as I couldn’t find enough berries in the garden.

    Hope everyone will have a good, relaxing Sunday with no worries!

    • The Trumpapalooza in Las Vegas (with the encore performance in Arizona) generated quite a bit of hilarity! It is clear that Trump appeals to the basest instincts of the already despicable Republican Party. The assembled masses in Phoenix booed John McCain who, apparently, is down by 12% to generic Any Other Republican. Even the party whose brand he wrecked in 2008 by choosing the half-term governor of Alaska as his running mate rejects him as not crazy and hateful enough! The other AZ GOP Senator, the aptly named Flake, is also not a fan of The Donald. The GOP hope is that the right-of-the-right will fall off a cliff and leave them with a national party capable of appealing to more than just white male southernors but alas, they will have to reap what they have sown for at least one more election cycle.

    • By the way, your Vegetarian Night supper sounds wonderful! My mouth watered when I saw “Ever-Easy Berry Crisp” because I am a berry lover from way back. I would not have even minded frozen! Sadly the “Easy” never turns out to be easy enough for me and I am left hoping to find something like that on a menu at a restaurant.

      I am glad you are feeling better! Do NOT overdue it and regress.

  6. one of my favorite authors – local (like, I think she lives in my neighborhood-ish), and writes fantasy – Stina Leicht – got a really good review on NPR:

    NPR Books ‏@nprbooks 4h4 hours ago
    ‘Cold Iron’ Asks: What If Tolkien Had Been American? http://n.pr/1KZvQq2

    so happy for her — NPR!!

  7. Good morning, it’s 63 and cloudy in Bellingham today. Our house is so quiet this morning! Our grandson left yesterday afternoon and while it has been a very full family time together the quiet and a rest from planning and preparing meals is most welcome. I’m actually looking forward to a day of just doing laundry changing the guest beds.

    If I still have some energy tonight I’ll go see this talented young group perform. I’ve enjoyed following their music via YT so it will be fun to see and hear a live performance. Hmmmm……maybe the grand girls would like to go with me. They are just home from a camping trip so I’ll call them later.

    http://www.thetuttleswithajlee.com/

  8. 90 with a heat index of 101 in Fay., AR at 2:46 CDT – and my backyard is full of some bug or other, probably fleas, that likes to bite me. And the bites are nasty – they go through a 2-week process of getting more and more red, swollen, and itchy for a week then slowly reversing the process. Since I worked in the yard yesterday, I have them pretty much from the waist down (mostly only from the knees down, thank goddess) and they had ratcheted the itchy up by last night enough to disturb my sleep. Oh well – not nearly as bad as what Portlaw, anotherdemocrat. or Diana in NoVa are dealing with. And I am delighted to note that everyone is getting better. But I’ll keep sending healing energy anyway. :) Hope everyone has a good rest of the weekend. {{{HUGS}}}

    • The Republicans are already on record as pre-hating any agreement. The good thing is that this is multi-lateral … there are parts that go in place even if Republicans in Congress don’t approve of it. They are NOT the boss of our European allies.

      Excellent job keeping the pressure on Iran. Earlier last week they made it sound like it was not going to get done (the president said there was only 50-50 chance of a deal).

      While the GOP is ginning up war all over the mideast, the Democrats are reminding people that there is still an anti-war party.

  12. Good morning, meese! Monday …

    Checking in from phone because of a massive t-storm rumbling through the area. 72 degrees here now on its way up to 90. Some of the winds north of here were close to 100 mph.

    Question: if high winds rip the roof off the Waukesha County Expo Center displacing Scott Walker’s presidential announcement, what would his god be telling him? Asking for 350 million people whose lives would be destroyed if he wins the presidency.

    No #GRexit it seems. Iran nuke deal it seems. Hillary speaking at The New School in NYC to fill in more of her economic platform. Confederate apologist Jim Webb says Democrats have moved too far to the left. I have an idea, Jim! Leave. The butthurt Southern white male vote is never going to vote for you if you are a Democrat. I hear Trump will need a VP.

    See all y’alls later!

  13. Today is the day of the Moral Monday march in Winston-Salem, North Carolina!

    Checked the weather down there and it’s going to be sunny

    I’m going to be watching the live stream

    About

    As the restriction of Voting Rights goes on trial in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Fusion Films will be streaming multiple events on both Sunday, July 12th and Monday July 13th, via this link. The schedule is as follows: SUNDAY, JULY 12 at 6pm FORWARD TOGETHER PRAYER & WORSHIP SERVICE MONDAY, JULY 13 at 8am VOTING RIGHTS MARCH & TRIAL NEWS CONFERENCE VOTING RIGHTS TEACH-INS 10am to 4pm Session 1: Voting Rights | A Moral Imperative – 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM Session 2: Racial Violence & Criminal (In)Justice | From Selma to Charleston – 12:45 PM to 1:45 PM Session 3: The Fight for Economic Justice & Living Wages – 1:45 PM to 2:45 PM Session 4: Building Coalitions To Sustain a Social Justice Movement – 2:45 PM to 3:45 PM MASS MORAL MONDAY MARCH & RALLY FOR VOTING RIGHTS at 5pm

    Just finished watching last nights mass meeting at the church which was packed and very lively.

    Forward Together!

    • There will be a lot of eyes on the trial this week. The Supreme Court refused to put a stay on the new voting rules which probably led to the election of teapartier Thom Tillis to the U.S. Senate in an extraordinarily close race. Having the rules overturned would be moral vindication even though it won’t change the makeup of the Senate. :(

      It is time for voting rights to finally win some of these court battles.

      • Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dissent in the October 8, 2014 stay denial:

        For decades, §5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, through its preclearance requirement, worked to safeguard long obstructed access to the ballot by African-American citizens. In Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U. S.___ (2013), this Court found the Act’s §4 coverage formula obsolete, a ruling that effectively nullified §5’s preclearance requirement. Immediately after the Shelby County decision, North Carolina enacted omnibus House Bill 589, which imposed voter identification requirements, cut short early voting by a week, prohibited local election boards from keeping the polls open on the final Saturday afternoon before elections, eliminated same-day voter registration, terminated preregistration of 16- and 17-year olds in high schools, authorized any registered voter to challenge ballots cast early or on Election Day, and barred votes cast in the wrong precinct from being counted at all. These measures likely would not have survived federal preclearance. See 2014 WL 4852113, *15 (CA4 2014). The Court of Appeals determined that at least two of the measures—elimination of same-day registration and termination of out-of-precinct voting—risked significantly reducing opportunities for black voters to exercise the franchise in violation of §2 of the Voting Rights Act. I would not displace that record-based reasoned judgment.[…]

        Accordingly, I would retain, pending full adjudication of this case, the preliminary injunction ordered by the Court of Appeals.

        Bolding mine.

  14. Good Monday morning! We’ve had a light rain shower this cloudy morning. It’s 68 F. now, going up to 77 F. This is the Summer of the Green Tomatoes. We have Early Girls, Romas, and cherry tomatoes, all of which hang there and refuse to ripen. Possibly, the fact that it rains every other day might have something to do with it.

    Oh, dear, more trouble with meta! Even though the top right corner says encouragingly, “Howdy, Diana!” and seems to indicate that I’m logged in, I can’t fierce anyone’s comment and had to fill in a form simply to do this comment. What a bummer.

    • The site logged me off when I tried to preview a comment. :(

      I think that Mondays are difficult everywhere!!

    • 2 things interfere with tomatoes ripening – not enough sun or overnight lows above 70 – sounds like you might be dealing with both.

      • Thanks for the tip about the tomatoes, bfitz! Jan, I started noticing this problem over the weekend. I get a complaint from WordPress that I have to enable cookies to use WordPress, which mystifies me. I’ve already gone to “Preferences” in Safari and enabled cookies. Can’t WordPress deal with Safari? If not, why not? Everyone on the West Coast uses Macs and appear to be unaware that there’s any other kind of computer.

        Well, Meese, know that I happily “fierce” your comments even though I can’t physically indicate it.

        I’ve got a Hillary diary appearing on GOS at 2 p.m. EDT. If I’m burnt at the stake because of it, remember that my last thoughts were of my family and the Meese!

        • Ha! They will surely not burn you at the stake! Just in case they do, please post a link so that I can see your last words. :)

          I think the problem might be overnight maintenance on WordPress cleaning up logins. I went back and looked at my history and my problems always occur on Monday mornings. There is a special backup I run automatically on Sunday overnight.

          I will log you out of the Moose and see if that helps. Even if it tells you that you are logged in, go to the Login Screen. If you are logged in, log out then log back in. If you are already logged out, log in.

          Login Screen

        • I’ll try to catch your Hillary diary so you’ll have at least one “rec” for the diary :)

  15. It is weird to be back at work. I know it’s going to seem really loud after most of last week off. Got U2’s Rise Up playing in my head. Slow & drift-y, but that’s ok.

    All the Pluto pictures in my Twitter feed, it is sooooooo cool. I’m going to watch NASA’s show tomorrow on my kindle (closest approach is during work hours, naturally).

  16. 85 with heat index of 93 already (9:54 CDT) in Fay., AR and very sunny. Got lots of stuff to get through today and tomorrow as I’m taking Wednesday off. Hope the day goes well for everyone. {{{HUGS}}}

  17. Good morning, it’s 60 and cloudy in Bellingham today. We did have some rain last night, but the garden is still dry. The air is moist thought, and that feels more like normal.

    We enjoyed the concert last night. It was presented by the Old Time Music Society so the musicians were the youngest people there! It was held in the ballroom of our local YWCA, which was built in 1915. So the setting was charming, but it was very warm as the old windows need repairs before they again.

    Time for the pool. ready or not……

  19. Good morning, meese! Tuesday …

    It is 68 degrees in Madison, on its way up to 79. Partly cloudy skies are in the forecast.

    The Iran deal has been reached and will be announced today. Here is the bottom line: Iran will curtail its nuclear program and allow inspections in return for lifted sanctions; if they backslide, sanctions snap back. Senate Republicans can scream all they want but they can’t block the unilateral deal … they can only choose to not be part of it and to expose their warlust And no, Scott “Stupidhead” Walker, the next president can’t cancel the deal on Day One, it is a deal that includes not just the United States and Iran but Britain, China, France, Russia, and Germany.

    Greece is being forced to accept another round of austerity. But the European Union has exposed its fatal flaw: a union requires either equal partners or a common vision. It has neither and its punitive treatment of one of its members underscores that. The only reason that the United States works is because of our common vision and common government (despite Southern resistance). When a state is devastated by a natural disaster, the federal government doesn’t tell them they are on their own because they don’t contribute to enough to the national coffers or they were reckless in the way they built or that their state’s governor is a tenther: they get federal disaster relief.

    Wow! Gloomy gus me, I guess. I will put up a post on the presidents commutation of 46 drug sentences as a palate cleanser.

    See all y’all later!

  20. Good morning Meese

    Ahhhh – the Iran deal – can’t wait to hear from my friend in Iran to get the on the ground reactions there – not the official take from The Tehran Times

    Historic deal on Iran’s nuclear program
    Tehran Times Political Desk

    Finally after more than two years of intensive negotiations Iran and great powers agreed on a historic accord on Iran’s nuclear program, Iranian and Western diplomats announced on Tuesday.

    The details of the pact are going to be released in minutes.

    The deal marks a milestone in the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

    Some diplomats and analysts even consider the success of nuclear talks with great powers even more important than the nationalization of the Iranian oil industry in 1951.

    The Iranian people are filled with a feeling of great joy as they heard that Tehran’s nuclear negotiators succeeded to safeguard their rights for a peaceful use of nuclear technology.

    I realize the Rs and Bibi will be up in arms – but frankly I’m more interested in laughing at the D Obama-hater crowd – who can add this to the list of all the things he hasn’t accomplished in his failed Presidency – HAHAHAHAHA (need Bubbanomics)

    Amazed that Diana survived the orange onslaught yesterday – handing her a medal for bravery

    • The reaction to the Iranian deal was as expected. My favorite Tweet:

      People who supported the Iraq War are calling this treaty awful and delusional, so that’s a good sign.

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