Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: July 26th through Aug. 1st

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?

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.

63 Comments

  1. Good morning, meese! Wednesday …

    It is 75 degrees in Madison, on its way up to 83. It is raining now but the forecast calls for partly cloudy skies later today.

    I was heartbroken and then enraged over the killing of Cecil the Lion by a Minnesota dentist with too much money and time on his hands and a need to pump up his manhood by killing beautiful creatures. I know he won’t be extradited to Zimbabwe to face the criminal charges filed against him but I hope he is shunned.

    The GOP Debate which will take place August 6th is generating a lot of interest and angst. The idea of imprecise polls deciding the first winnowing of the presidential field may not be the smartest idea. As it stands now, if Margin of Error were a person, they would be on stage with Trump, Bush, Walker, Cruz, Rubio, Paul, Carson, Huckabee, and Christie … bumping Rick Perry.

    More news of unarmed black people being killed by cops in traffic stops, this time from Cincinnati. The police chief won’t release the video because “it’s not good” and might incite a riot. Hey, here’s an idea: start firing some of those cops instead of protecting them from their actions. What’s the worse that happens: you get sued by the cop? The police go on strike? Fine, fire the lot of them and start over.

    See all y’all later!

      • The white cop in Cincinnati was indicted for murder. NY Times breaking news:

        A University of Cincinnati police officer was indicted on murder charges on Wednesday in the fatal shooting of a motorist this month.

        In the indictment handed down by a grand jury in Hamilton County, the officer, Ray Tensing, is accused of killing the driver, Samuel Dubose, during a traffic stop near the campus on July 19.

        Baby steps.

        • Necessary baby steps. We must follow rule of law even more when dealing with those who don’t. Rule of Law says: indict, try, if the evidence warrants convict. Maybe someday we will mature/evolve from “punish” to “make restitution in whatever way possible”- but at this point just getting a certain class or subset of people indicted is making progress.

      • The lion story really peeves me. I was reading more this morning and Cecil was particularly special because he had a black mane. Now, because a new lion will be taking over the pride, his cubs will be killed so that the new leader’s bloodline becomes dominant. :( I don’t know much about what the options are but I hope the authorities can relocate those cubs. It would be a shame to lose the Cecil bloodline.

        The dentist claims that he did not know the hunt was illegal and “assumed” that his guide paid all the fees blah blah. So he considered it normal to sneak into a nature preserve in the dead of night, attach an animal carcass to the back of a pickup truck, lure a lion OUT of the preserve so that the “hunting” would take place in a legal environment and then kill it? Was he sleeping during all that? Sheesh.

          • A guy who has paid numerous fines for cheating, including one for killing a black bear in Wisconsin a few years ago, has used his mulligan.

            I suspect that he is a Republican … his attitude reeks of entitlement.

        • J find it very distressing. And he took Cecil’s head. Disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting.

    • The voting rights trial is still taking place in North Carolina. The plaintiffs rested last week and now the state is trying to justify the disenfranchisement of hundreds of thousands of legitimate voters.

      We need national standards for voting, period. It is too important to leave this in the hands of each individual state. We will never wrest control away from the teaparty until we can have honest elections – they will keep moving the goalposts until we are back to only white male landowners being allowed to vote.

    • That was a very nice story on Rev. Barber. It is sad that his family has gotten death threats and he can’t speak publicly of them. :(

    • Very good article on Rev. Barber. Interesting his refusal to “go national” – but I think he’s right. He’s trying to get everyone to follow his lead, not follow him. Visit, talk, encourage – absolutely. Then you folks start your own local Moral Monday (or whatever you want to call it).

  2. Good morning, Meese. Another ‘ot, ‘umid, and ‘orrible day here, made bearable by air conditioning. It did rain yesterday evening and during the night, which kept the temperature down. It’s 72 F. under cloudy skies in NoVa, going up to 85 F. today.

    Only half an hour to finish making Miss Pink Cheeks’ lunch and skedaddle out of here to pick up her and Babylicious. Grandpa drives her to math camp.

    Will basically be on tenterhooks all day, waiting for news of Grandchild No. 5. Hope we can go to the hospital tonight to see mother and child.

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond and Beyond!

  3. Didn’t walk this morning because I have PM workout today. I put water in my camelbak bladder & put it in the freezer, so I’ll have a cold thing against my back in our 100 degree workout.

    Weirdly, this morning’s earworm is Snow Patrol’s Weight of Love even though what I was listening to in the car was U2’s California. I’ve been listening to my half-marathon soundtrack because I think I’ll be training on my own this year. I wrote to the coach of that group a week ago & said that I can’t cope with the fundraising requirement — they had to carry me last year, because I just didn’t raise anything. My ability to raise money for AIDS Services just doesn’t translate into also being able to do so for the Children’s Shelter. Anyway, I haven’t heard back, so I’m assuming that my absence is fine with him. Which is a bummer because I like the group, and having a meeting place/staging area on race day is really great. Actual bathrooms…. I wish I could think of a way to raise $750 for the Shelter, but I couldn’t last year, so I can’t see why this year would be different. Anyway, long story short, I have to listen to my half-marathon soundtrack to get myself motivated to train. And yes, it’s 80% U2.

  4. Checking in from Fay, AR – air temps in the upper 80s, heat index just hit triple digits at 10:05 CDT. Walked in – before 8 being the only really safe time to do so. I don’t know how the folks who work outside are managing. When I worked for Informix in KS (over 20 years ago) the line workers got 15-minute breaks in A/C every hour and lots of company-provided gatorade – and the shifts started at 6:30 because nobody could safely go into the stacks after 8. But road/construction workers and groundskeepers don’t have a breakroom to go to.

    Like Jan, I hope the Zimbabwe folks can relocate Cecil’s cubs – and that incompetent, psychopathic S.O.B. who shot Cecil gets hit with a fine large enough to keep him from affording his sick amusements. The bastard didn’t even kill Cecil, just wounded him. The guide had to track Cecil all day and finally kill him with a rifle so “mighty hunter” could take the head and skin for trophies.

    Holding the good thought for Diana’s new grandbaby – and a relatively unstressful entrance into the bigger world. Will read the Rev. Barber link when I get a minute. anotherdemocrat be careful in the heat – be sure you’re getting enough salt (and other electrolytes). And to all Meeses – {{{HUGS}}}

    • I have an electrolyte drink for when I get home. It’ll be really yummy.

      • This is good. I remember Austin summers being about what I’m dealing with in Fayetteville now – and what you’re dealing with in Austin now being much more like what I grew up with in Houston, without the “benefit” of the occasional hurricane to cool things down.

  5. Good morning, 62 and sunny in Bellingham today. I’m hoping a gentle hour in the pool this morning will help be recover from yesterday’s ivy clipping marathon. We have three ivy covered fences that screen the garden from the alley and create a parking space, a steep ivy covered embankment with a lovely rock wall at the base, and ivy also grows on the slope behind the upper patio…..lots of ivy to clip! I can now see the rock wall, the steps are no longer ivy festooned, the bank seems much smaller, the fences are nearly done, and the slope is waiting for me to recover! It was a good day in the garden.

    Fortunately RonK can load the truck with all the trimmings and help me finish the task.

  6. Good morning, meeses! Thursday …

    It is 65 degrees in Madison, on its way up to 85. Sunny skies are in the forecast.

    NPR covered the Bronx Museum Young Lords exhibition:

    At the Bronx Museum’s exhibition, black-and-white photos from street protests hang across from a wall of pages from the group’s bilingual newspaper.

    “There was no YouTube. There was no Twitter. So the paper was the backbone of the organization,” recalls Denise Oliver-Velez, the first woman elected to the Young Lords’ central committee. “We not only communicated with it, but we also financed ourselves on sales of the newspaper everyday.”

    Wut?!?? No blogs?!!?? :)

    The killer cop in Cincinnati, caught on video, was indicted and fired. THAT is what needs to happen. If he is not convicted and sues to get his job back, whatever authority is sued needs to fight it as far as it needs to go. The murders have to stop and that will require accountability. Guns and badges should only be given to people who understand and respect the responsibility that comes with them … not cowboy cops and people who should be in anger management not squad cars.

    I know it shouldn’t surprise me but how come the Republicans are falling all over themselves to demand that the media drop Trump stories from “a long time ago” but are quiet as that same media ratchets up stories of Hillary Clinton from the 1990’s. Linda Tripp hitting the interview circuit, are you f-ing kidding me??

    Here is a palate cleanser – Germany Just Got 78 Percent Of Its Electricity From Renewable Sources:

    Renewable sources accounted for 27.8 percent of Germany’s power consumption in 2014, up from 6.2 percent in 2000. The expansion of renewables and another weather phenomenon — a relatively mild winter — led to Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions falling for the first time in three years in 2014, a 4.3 percent year-over-year drop. Greenhouse gas emissions are now down to their lowest level since 1990, according to analysts at Agora Energiewende.

    I will be only lightly online for the next few days. PLEASE stay out of trouble, all y’all!

    • There is still work to be done. I just finished reading the account in the Cincinnati newspaper and here is a quote from the City Manager:

      “This officer was wrong. And when we’re wrong, we have to be held accountable,” said Cincinnati City Manager Harry Black. “People are provocative and they’re filming us, and it’s a tough job.

      “It’s the most difficult policing environment in the history of our nation

      Hey, guy, what’s difficult (deadly in fact!) is to be black without a front license plate while driving in your city. And the only provocation was law enforcement, bored and looking to extend a traffic stop to demonstrate his power-over, killing a man for being irritated by that.

      • Why do some many have to die so that racial justice will be accomplished? It’s very depressing and infuriating to see the growing roll of martyrs.

        • It is infuriating!! I couldn’t believe that he would say such an insensitive thing … it shows me that the indictment is a one-off rather than A Big Change. Someone pointed out that it was a freebie for the prosecutor to indict because the campus cops are not his bread and butter for getting criminal convictions like the city police department is. That is one of the biggest problems with how police shootings are dealt with, something that was highlighted in the Michael Brown case: the local prosecutors won’t go after the people they work with on a daily basis and need the cooperation of. There needs to be an independent prosecutor law, something that will require that the handling of these cases is done in an impartial way by people whose only goal is justice.

    • I was left scratching my head after reading the NPR story! They got some of the history wrong and, like most NPR pieces, ended abruptly. I use NPR as a “gateway”: it tells me what is in the news then I go look for the facts elsewhere.

      Thanks for the link … saved for later. Ari Berman at The Nation is also doing a series on voting rights (he wrote a book recently on the subject). Yesterday I read his description of the 2000 Presidential Election and the disenfranchising of Florida voters that made George W. Bush president. It ripped the scab off that still suppurating wound as the reminder that the 12,000 voters purged was 22 times Bush’s margin of “victory”. The right-wing was able to steal a presidential election and it emboldened them to step up their efforts to return us to white male landowner voting:

      The 2000 election in Florida forever changed American politics and kicked off a new wave of GOP-led voter disenfranchisement efforts. “Other people began to see that in very competitive elections, you could make a difference by keeping certain voters from participating,” Hailes said. Bush’s election empowered a new generation of voting-rights critics, who hyped the threat of voter fraud in order to restrict access to the ballot, and remade a Supreme Court that would eventually gut the centerpiece of the VRA.

      When the rewards are so great, there is no risk in going all out to disenfranchise anyone and everyone who could end your lock on power. I am not sure how we fix this because control of Congress may not be possible for another generation.

  7. Good morning, Meese! It’s 75 F. here on a steamy morning, going up to 87 F. with thunderstorms this afternoon—or so they say.

    No baby yet! Poor DIL went to the hospital at 9:30 yesterday morning but the “inducement” didn’t work. Pitocin is the last resort, so they gave that to her early this morning and are hoping the baby will be born tonight.

    Feeling so sick of the outside world right now. Going to buy some frozen bread loaves today, thaw them overnight, and bake bread for Lammas tomorrow.

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!

    • Eeek!! Lammas!! I completely forgot. Fortunately I have a few days yet to get into a Lammas mood (thankful for the first harvest).

      We will have a very bright moon that night.

  8. Was hoping to hear news of the baby. Poor DIL! Hope you holds the baby in her arms soon.

  9. Walked for an hour last night. OMG, it was so hot. My phone wasn’t charged up enough for Map My Walk, so I don’t know how far, but my heart rate monitor says over 600 calories. Yay! And yet I still slept lousy.

    Eating breakfast (quinoa, broccoli, spinach, tahini & yogurt), drinking tea. At least it’s Thursday, otherwise known as Friday Eve. Earworm is actually what I was listening to in the car, California, but even U2’s bounciness isn’t helping me stay awake.

  10. Good morning, it’s 59 and sunny in Bellingham, and a high of 83 is predicted which is warm for us. The grand girls will be here soon so the day will be busy but Ron and I are both moving slowly because we finished the ivy pruning yesterday. This was a deferred maintenance trimming, so my hope is that we can just keep up with the growth now.

    We met some more old friends for dinner last night and enjoyed seeing their newly renovated condo. They have moments of missing their former garden, but then they water the pots on their new deck and get over it!

  11. Actually a little cooler in Fay, AR this last Thursday in July – didn’t hit 80 until now (almost 9:30 am CDT) – it’ll still be heat index in the triple digits by this afternoon but later starting and shorter ending. Netroots Nation will be in St. Louis next year which is actually close enough for me to drive to (10 hours but still doable). Anybody have thoughts good, bad, or indifferent about NN? Originally I was thinking “go” since it’s close and I would be able to meet people I’ve been blogging with for years. Now I’m thinking “no” as I don’t want to get hit with spittle from Hillary Haters. Thoughts? (Of course I’ve got to find out how much it will cost – but I’m used to doing stuff on a shoestring and I’ve got a large credit card thing that will be paid off by then.) Hope everybody’s day goes well and Diana’s grandbaby gets here today, safe and sound. {{{HUGS}}}

    • By next July the primaries will be over and I would hope that everyone at a gathering of liberals would be solidly for whoever the voters have chosen to represent the Democratic Party.

      I am about 90% sure I will go simply because I can drive to St. Louis and will not incur the expense of an airplane ticket. NN has changed since I was at the one in Providence in 2012 and a person like me who is a GOS ex-pat will be able to find plenty of things to do.

      • If you’re going that’s a very strong reason for me to go – just so I can meet you! :) I’m not sure about the Hillary Hate people pulling together behind the candidate if Hillary is the candidate. When I remember all the things they said she and Bill would do to destroy the Party if Obama won, it basically tells me what they would have done and will probably do now. But hopefully that will be a small enough group as to be easily avoided. I’m also going to check with the pootie peeps and see who might be there, but I’m now leaning towards “go”. So. Now all I have to do is find out how much the trip will cost to see if it’s doable from that aspect. :)

        • If you and Jan will be there, I’m strongly tempted to go myself. Problem is, I’m not much of an activist. It’s true I hope to work on a local campaign this year, but other than that all I do is give little dribs and drabs of money and vote.

          It would be so great to meet blogging comrades in person!

          • I’m mostly going to meet people I’ve blogged with for years. I’ll probably volunteer for the Registration Desk or something like that. I won’t turn down tips for working the campaigns of course but I’ve been staffing Dem HQ every election cycle for almost 20 years – and give my little dribs and drabs of money and vote – and I really don’t see that changing.

            I’d really love to actually meet you!!

        • Most people are not mean in real life, something about a keyboard and a computer screen brings out the worst in some folks. And the best in others!! I am not nearly as comfortable communicating in real life as I am in the blogs. Here, I can read and re-read my words until I am satisfied with them and then “say” them. And when I am communicating, no one is looking at the spinach between my teeth … just at my words. The other side of that is that there is no body language and so it is much more difficult to determine what is behind the words.

          When I went to NN, I was a bit wary, concerned that the people who took pleasure in tormenting me enblog would harass me in person. It didn’t happen – but then I didn’t go to seminars like “How to Be A Bigger AHole Online”. :) I did go to a seminar on the Supreme Court that had a panel which included Dahlia Lithwick and Debo Adegbile.

    • Don’t worry, I am not going and, besides, I never spit! :-) Go and have fun!!

      • Ha!! I cannot see you as one of the spitters, Portlaw, you are so civil. I am told by my friends who still frequent The Orange Place that the rec list has dueling love-hate diaries and there is quite a bit of shouting in the comments … in other words, a typical DKos Democratic primary “conversation”. :)

        I hope we can keep the shouting (and spitting!) off the moose. One of the things that made it a nice place to post in 2008 was the commitment to civility. Maybe time to find the old moose civility FAQ and make sure it is part of the new site. My focus was on getting the new site up and running and some of the backgrounders did not get ported.

        • You are so right about what’s going on over on GOS – and the haters invade diaries meant to calm things down (many a Bernie supporter over there isn’t a berniebot – they’re trying to get folks to remember our ultimate goal of hanging onto the White House and maybe make some progress with Congress) to just stir things up again. In fact, the haters are invading diaries that aren’t even rox-sux diaries to try and force them into rox-sux diaries via the comments. It’s one of the reasons I read stuff here if it’s cross-posted rather than there. I can comment and even if you folks disagree the comments will be civil.

      • heh……the nonstop coverage of Trump is making me spitting mad…..I’m yelling at the tv and feeling very cranky!

        I can’t travel yet so I won’t be attending NN, tempting as it will be to meet everyone.

  12. Good morning, meese! Friday …

    It is 69 degrees in my undisclosed location, on its way up to 94. Sunny skies are in the forecast.

    Is anyone else nervous that Donald Trump has now been given access to the RNC’s database of 250 million voters? Watch out for new spam with the subject line “This is YOOG!”

    And this: Ted Cruz, after being criticized by Romney for calling Obama a sponsor of terrorism, retorts that the reason the Mittster got “clobbered” was because he wouldn’t tell the truth! Keep telling the “truth”, Tail Gunner Ted! The damage you are doing to the Republican Party brand is worth millions in free advertising.

    See all y’alls later!!

  13. Good morning, Meese. It’s going to be another hot one here.

    Is there any word on Diana’s new grandchild?

    Am going to physical therapy, which is right next to a doggie day care center so the barking sometimes blocks out my groans when stuff is just too hard. Most patients there are young guys, a mix of black and white, banker and creative types, all with sports injuries . The way they attack the exercises and machines is just amazing. They read the Wall Street Journal, Fortune and a zillion sports magazines. There I am timid, nonathletic, and reading about ancient Rome. But, am getting better and stronger.

    Now for the news. It has not been good this week. Will look for something cheerful!

    Hope it’s a good day for the Pond and Beyond and hope to hear about a new grandchild in the Pond.

    • Portlaw, you are priceless!

      …the barking sometimes blocks out my groans when stuff is just too hard.

      And reading about ancient Rome when the other clients are reading the White Male Organ known as the WSJ—love it!

    • Good luck in PT! I have not been able to read much of the news yet because I am on a slow speed Internet connection and it is like molasses to have more than one tab open. I thought it was more important to chat with friends. :)

      I did see that some activists suspended themselves from a bridge in the PNW to block the Shell oil drilling vessels from leaving. Even if it turns out to be just a symbolic gesture it is important to make folks remember what is at stake. I am still not sure how they got permission to damage the arctic but I have to assume that the administration ran out of legal options to block them. Contrary to Fox News, President Obama is not a dictator.

      • The protest delayed the Shell ship’s departure…..

        PORTLAND – After law-enforcement officials removed three of 13 roped Greenpeace activists from a bridge, a Shell icebreaker early Thursday evening was able to begin its journey down the Willamette River en route to the Chukchi Sea.

        The MSV Fennica passed under the bridge shortly before 6 p.m., capping a tumultuous day of protest here by activists opposed to Shell’s efforts to explore for oil off Alaska’s North Slope.

        Two of the activists were lowered onto boats on the river after law enforcement took control of the bridge where they had anchored their rope gear, according to Cassady Sharp, a Greenpeace spokeswoman. A third was lowered by authorities.

        http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/icebreaker-turns-back-as-protesters-trying-to-block-it-dangle-from-portland-bridge/

  14. Walked again – 1.23 miles. 207 calories. Had a very restless night of sleep.

    I was playing California at myself to keep myself awake, but when I went to youtube to get a link for it, it suggested this Hozier cover of Sweet Thing and now my cheeks are all wet & I can barely breathe. It is rare that someone can make me like their version of a Van Morrison song better than the original, but that boy can really sing. If you’re at home, he’s on Good Morning America this morning.

  15. Good morning, Moosekind! It’s a beautiful day, this Lammas Eve (Juliet Capulet and Harry Potter were born on this day), and the humidity will be LOW. This means Dearly and I won’t melt into puddles on the way to the hospital to see Grandchild No. 5, we’ll melt with sentimentality when we set eyes on him.

    After waiting all day I frantically texted Elder Son yesterday about 7:30 p.m. “Heir, what’s happening?” He texted back with a reply, “Ethan is here.” He later texted a couple of pics. We have absolutely no idea of the exact time of birth, how much Ethan weighs, how long he is, and so forth. We’re hoping to find that out today.

    Bought some frozen bread loaves yesterday, will defrost them overnight and bake bread tomorrow morning. I like the house to smell of baking bread at Lammas. Might look for some ripe strawberries too in the strawberry bed out back, berries being traditional at this time of year.

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond and Beyond!

    • Congratulations!! It must be a relief to have your grandson make his much anticipated appearance. How is his mother doing?

    • Congratulations on the new grandkid – apparently hale and hearty. Looking forward to some particulars :) And the smell of baking bread used to be a heart lifter for me at just about any time. Now unfortunately all it does is remind me I can’t eat it. :( Hope you find your strawberries.

    • Wonderful news about Ethan! Am sure you and Dearly will melt with love when you see and hold him! I just love good news!

    • Hugs Diana! A new baby to love is one of life’s great pleasures. My very best to you and your family.

  16. Actually felt cool in Fay., AR at 6 a.m. CDT – it was something like 68F but comparatively speaking, that’s cool. :) Not sure I’ll be online this weekend so just in case I’ll wish everyone a Happy Lammas now. We’ve always (well, as much as I know about NW AR “always”) had a break in the weather around Lammas. I remember my first full summer here (1983) – the temps hit 105 every single day for the last week of July, then dropped to 95 on the 1st of August and stayed in the mid-90s for a week. Not a situation I’d experienced in San Francisco (which never reached the mid-80s my entire 3 years there) or in Texas (where we got no breaks until Halloween, if we were lucky). Hope everyone has a lovely day. {{{HUGS}}}

  17. Good morning……64 and sunny in Bellingham, headed to the low 80’s again this afternoon. I especially love the shade and shelter our trees provide on hot days. The patios are in the sun and the pavers hold the heat, making the contrast with the shady areas even more apparent. All the plants I’ve tried to grow between the pavers failed but the birds finally found plants that thrive……native strawberries and violas. I mutter a thank you when I clean up the droppings!

  18. Good afternoon – my mouse died last night and had to rush out this morning to buy a new one – in order to meet my story deadline – finished and am now blissfully reading orange meta :)

    ta-ta

    • Well, there’s plenty of it to read. I’m mostly staying out of the diaries, mostly, but the latest flap – people arguing with the guy who wrote Crashing the Gate that Bernie is crashing the gate – is almost funny. And largely providing Kos’ point about them.

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