Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Sept. 20th through Sept. 26th

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.

86 Comments

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

    It is 51 degrees in Madison WI, on its way up to 72. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.

    Have a great day, all y’alls!!

  2. Good morning Meese

    61 going up to 71 here in the Catskills

    Was watching POTUS speech at Congressional Black Caucus Dinner

    Obama pays tribute to female civil rights leaders

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama paid tribute Saturday to black women for their role in helping shape American democracy, calling them “the thinkers and the doers” who made things happen at the height of the civil rights movement half a century ago.

    Obama said black women did the behind-the-scenes work of strategizing boycotts and organizing marches while others got the credit. He said they have been part of every great movement in American history, and that every American has benefited as a result.

    “Women were the foot soldiers. Women strategized boycotts. Women organized marches,” Obama said in a keynote address to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual awards dinner. “Even if they weren’t allowed to run the civil rights organizations on paper, behind the scenes they were the thinkers and the doers making things happen each and every day, doing the work that no one else wanted to do.”

    “Women made the movement happen,” he said.

    But Obama said that while black women and girls have made progress and are opening more of their own businesses and graduating from high school and college at higher rates, they are still overrepresented in low-paying jobs and underrepresented in management.

    I don’t see a transcript yet. He talked about women being pushed to the side at the March on Washington – something that has always ticked me off.

    The cheers from women in the audience were very loud!

      • You have to paste the Embed code then you will have access to the width and height. I usually use 420 width for comments, 520 for posts.

        Great minds think alike!! I had just moments ago put up a post of the president’s remarks (waiting for the transcript).

        The president was also peeved that Fox News keeps reporting that he hates cops. Of course they would continue to report that!! It is how they keep their scared audience captive. If their viewers escape the bubble and realize that President Obama is not a Kenyan Usurper but someone who cares deeply about his country (America!) and all of her citizens, they would tune out the rest of the crap they are slinging.

        Someday their chickens will come home to roost. Their base of old white people will die off and they will be left trying to attract people like the young woman from Iowa at the Trump rally:

        Good luck with that.

        • Love that photo

          Thanks – am making a note of how to change.

          (putting a post-it on my monitor )

    • No transcript yet. White House interns must not work on weekends!!

      I have been trying to find a transcript generator program because I really need words and lots of video clips of candidates don’t include transcripts. If you hear of any during your Internet travels, let me know. I am going to experiment with having my smartphone do voice to text from a YouTube but I haven’t had time to test it yet.

  3. 4.35 miles. With stomach cramps. I went to the workout because sometimes, leaving the house can make my stomach straighten up. Coach gave me rides a couple of times because I was so far behind. Eating breakfast so I can have my tea. Hope this isn’t a mistake/ Off to church soon.

  4. Good Sunday morning, Meese! Oh, dear, WordPress is having fits again. I’ve just logged in and out about 20 times. Guess I’ll have to clear the cookies, but I won’t do that until tomorrow morning if WordPress does its housework on Sunday night.

    Another sunny day, blast it. It’s 67 F. right now in NoVa, going for a high of 76 F. If everything weren’t so brown, dry, and dead-looking, I’d be pleased with the weather.

    Feeling a bit more hopeful after yesterday’s visit from a wife-and-husband team of realtors. Instead of telling us how marvelous they were and how many awards they’ve won, they got down to business straight away. The amount of work Dearly Beloved and I have to do is quite overwhelming, but we’ll start right away. They told us exactly what we need to do to get a good price for the house. However, we’re not out of the woods yet—we still have to talk to the sales director of the retirement community on Tuesday.

    Enough about my bizness. Women always get pushed to one side in this society and their contributions are never acknowledged. That’s why women’s history courses are so important. On my Facebook newsfeed I constantly get items from A Mighty Girl, Suppressed Women’s Histories, and other feminist sites, and it always cheers me. I share those.

    Must rush off—got to talk to DIL about the Pope’s visit. Why do a Witch and a young woman of Jewish background need to talk about the Pope? You may well ask. Traffic is going to be HORRENDOUS on Wednesday morning, so in order to babysit, I’ll need to stay at her house on Tuesday night. Wishing a good day to everyone at the Pond and Beyond!

    • Actually, you should be talking about the Pope besides just about the traffic jam he will be causing. This Pope is not like the ones we have known in recent time … his purpose seems more in line with the teachings of the gospels and less in line with the hard-right.

      I remember the kindly face of Pope John XXIII and how he reached out to other religions and people and in school I learned about Pope Leo XIII who wrote the encyclical Rerum Novarum, “Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor” which upset the oligarchs of his time.

      The right-wing hates Francis because he is upsetting the current oligarchs and because he wants to be a good steward of the earth as well as treat people decently. It is interesting how one book, the Bible, can be interpreted in so many different ways, some to harm and some to heal, some to subjugate and some to free. The dissonance on the right is interesting to observe.

      • Jan, I acknowledge the truth in what you say about this Pope being rather different from the others. However, I’ll start talking about him when he admits that women are human beings with full dignity and rights. So far he hasn’t indicated that the Church views women as anything but the dirt in which new life grows, whether voluntarily or not.

        • I have not seen much on his views on women, possibly because his views on climate change and the problems of capitalism suck most of the oxygen out of the room.

          The views of the Church have always been troubling on the role of women. I recall when women were asking to be priests (which they are in many other christian churches) the answer was “you are the mothers of priests … that should be good enough for you!!!” “Dirt in which new life grows”, indeed.

          There is some controversy about one of the new saints he wants to make: Junipero Serra. He was a California missionary who “saved” the savages from eternal damnation:

          Serra, a Spanish missionary in the 18th century, founded a series of missions in what is now California and is credited with the conversion of thousands of natives to Christianity.

          But Native American groups in California and nationwide say Serra is not deserving of sainthood because his missions subjected natives to corporal punishment and would not allow them to leave.

          Beyond that, they argue, the arrival of Spanish explorers and the Catholic missionaries who accompanied them led to the destruction of native cultures and the deaths of thousands — many from the diseases Europeans brought with them.

          Hardly worth celebrating. The article points out that the pope apologized earlier this year for the Church’s colonialism … but then he turns around and, literally, canonizes a guy who practiced it.

          I won’t rush out and re-up as a Catholic. ;) But I am enjoying the cognitive dissonance from Catholic right-wingers over the pope’s climate initiatives.

          • I follow them on Twitter. Catholic nuns are amazing women: in the face of institutionalized misogyny, they firmly and forcefully continue to advocate for the poor and women and income equality. I think this pope won’t defund them like the last pope did but he still has a “nun problem”:

            Then, though the church in Cuba has long been persecuted under the Castros, he saw fit to call out…nuns? Yes: “May God spare us grey nuns, those who are always lamenting things,’’ he said, speaking directly to the religious sisters at the vespers service.

            The Catholic Church is the ultimate good ol’ boy club, from protecting their criminals to rising above by standing on those below. It will take more than a pope speaking Spanish and calling for attention to be paid to climate change to turn it around. But anyone who enrages George Will earns a couple of brownie points.

    • Holding the good thought on your retirement community meeting. As to talking about this Pope – well the man didn’t take Francis of Assisi’s name for grins and giggles. He knows well how we need to treat Mother Earth and what is due Brother Sun and Sister Moon.

  5. Morning all – newbie here and so glad Denise invited me into your house! I’m a newly retired law professor, living in north central Florida and wishing I could relocate back to the Seattle area where I taught for several years before moving here. Or DC where I lived for many years. But hey, it’s not expensive to live here and the winters are nice, so not all bad – it’s just the politics that get to me.

    It’s about 80 here, looking to get close to 90 – gets more like Miami in climate every year, thanks climate change!

    • Hi! Welcome to the Pond. I’m really busy right now so won’t be visiting here that much but look forward to seeing you here!

      Greetings to all the Meese. It’s seventy here headed for seventy nine. Am off to look for some good news. Hoping that things are well with all of you,.

    • Good morning!

      princesspat, one of our meese, lives near Seattle and will be glad to find a fellow PNWer (even former). I am looking forward to your take on news and politics from your legal bent.

      Weekends are busy offline for me so I can’t stay … see you later!

    • Greetings from the PNW, Bellingham to be exact. We arrived here as young ones 45 years ago, and now we are retired and young at heart :)

    • Hi Geordie – welcome to the Moose Pond, a peaceful and polite place to visit and air your views. My brother lives in the Tallahassee area, trying to get a handle on sustainable farming. Since we grew up in Houston, he doesn’t have any problem with the climate there. :)

    • Since Florida is going to be a heavily contested state (as always) look forward to your insights.

      I will trade weather with you (heh) it’s starting to get pretty nippy in the mornings here in the Catskills.

  6. Good morning, 63 windy and raining in Bellingham today. I fell into my book last night and my thoughts are still wandering around the Malazan world. It’s an engrossing story and a welcome relief from thinking about the latest toots from the R clown car.

    Today I’m going to pack away some the toys and games the grand kids have now out grown. Do I keep them for their kids, or is it time to part with them? Sentimental me has a dilemma! And too much stuff……

    • If you have room, keep one toy for each child. Then it might be a good idea to donate them to Goodwill. (I prefer Goodwill because of the Salvation Army’s position on marriage equality.)

      • The Salvation Army is not just against marriage equality, they actively discriminate against gays or at least did back in the 80s and 90s. I am not sure a lot of people realize that and I try to tell them so that they don’t give money to their bellringers. There are plenty of secular organizations who help people … one does not have to give to religious and religious affiliated groups whose mission is muddled by biblespeak.

        • You’re right, Jan. I haven’t given to the bell ringers for years. I used to believe the SA was a good organization until I learned about all this. I don’t care for deities that discriminate.

  7. Good Afternoon, Meese. Sitting at today’s high of 67 in Fay., AR – some rain earlier but I’m still going to have to go out and water because less than .1″ – still damp and overcast. My friend is doing better, wishing it was 3 days instead of 3 weeks to recover but the pain meds keep her sleepy/sleeping enough to only vaguely notice time. Fortunately no side effects, at least nothing that can be pointed to as specifically caused by the meds and not the surgery itself. At least she was awake enough to let me use her dryer this morning – today is too warm for a fire and too damp for the clothes to dry without one.

    Got my winter boots yesterday. Muck Arctic line, first pair I tried on fit like they’d been made for me! I’ve never had a pair of footwear feel that good before. I didn’t want to take them off – didn’t for a couple of hours, but they really are winter boots. My feet got too hot. :) I don’t know if they’ll be good walking boots – and the temps will have to drop at least 20 degrees before I find out – but even if I can’t walk the two miles to work (or from work in the winter), they will most certainly be fine for getting to and from the bus stop or parking lot. And only $130.00 – local vendor, too.

    Got some stuff I need to do but hopefully will have enough time to come back and listen to President Obama’s speech. Glad he’s pointing out the role of women in just about everything. Civil Rights, of course, but everything else too. Women are the foundation of society. Without us, it’s just a boys club. If not, maybe things will be quiet at work tomorrow. As long as I use earphones I can listen to it but if I’m doing something that really takes my attention it’s not a good idea.

    Take care and have the good week – Equinox this week so must be a good one, right? {{{HUGS}}}

    • Equinox, indeed!

      I had to look it up and it is late this year. The 23rd … early Wednesday morning at 3:20 our time. I am already seeing the light disappearing in big chunks. I don’t really mind, my brain works best in the quiet of the early morning when it is dark and cool. I must be a mushroom!

      • I enjoy the “off” seasons -Spring and Fall – both because they are more “temperate” than Summer and Winter and my H/VAC system is mostly off, and because the amount of daylight is “just right”. But it’s already getting too dark in the mornings for me to walk in. I started taking the bus instead as of last Friday. I may walk home a couple of days this week – not today as I’ve a bunch of stuff I forgot to take home last week and need to take it home today, but I still need the exercise no matter what the climate or weather happen to be doing. Guess it’s being a Libra – I like balance. :)

    • Congrats on the boots! My feet would melt — still sandals weather here. 77 as I drove in to work, and highs all week in the mid-90s. I hate when I have to start wearing real shoes – with socks. Otoh, it’ll be nice to not be hot.

      • Thanks and know what you mean. The nicest part of summer is that my hands and feet don’t hurt from the cold. Even Spring and Fall, which I otherwise love, are chilly enough in the mornings to cause problems with my hands. As to boots, I’ve only owned one other pair of winter boots in my life – when I lived in WI – and they didn’t fit well, just kept the muck off my feet for the short amount of time I could stand to wear them. Coming from TX, boots meant “cowboy” to me :)

  8. Good morning, meese! Monday …

    It is 53 degrees in Madison, on its way up to 74. Sunny skies are in the forecast. A perfect September day.

    Ben Carson says that a Muslim should never be allowed to be president because their religion is contrary to our constitutional principles. I think that fundamentalist christians should never be allowed to be president because their religious beliefs are contrary to constitutional principles, particularly the separation of church and state. Here, let’s let the constitution decide!

    Article VI, paragraph 3 of the United States constitution states “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”

    Darn! I guess we have to let fundamentalist christians run for president. p.s. Donald Trump announced at the Iowa Is For Pigs conclave that he “brought his bible”. So there, naysayers! The Donald: ” ‘see, I’m better than you thought.’ “. Carrying Bible=Christian … reading the bible and following the teachings about caring for the sick, homeless and hungry is optional.

    Best headline ever: Walker at 0% in new national poll. Not a typo!

    The CNN/ORC poll released Sunday shows there were five candidates who received less than one percent of support from likely Republican voters. Walker was among them, joined by former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, and former New York Governor George Pataki.

    I am trying to resist an early celebration but indications are that America has dodged a bullet. My Wisconsin peeps were worrying about him coming back to the state and wreaking more havoc but I am not sure he can. His national campaign threw his Republican state legislature under the bus and when the national press fact-checked him it make our state look foolish for believing his lies and re-electing him. He needs to burnish his resume for a think tank job: fortunately right-wing think tanks do not require actual thinking!

    See all y’all later!

    • I was elated that people aren’t clamoring for Scott Walker – was afraid he would hoodwink the general Republican public into thinking he is sane.

      Not that any of the choices are good ones – but Scotty scared me.

      • A lot of people were worried about his candidacy. David Atkins at WaMo:

        [Walker] is an economic royalist above all, which should endear him to the billionaire class that wants all the money while impoverishing everyone else. He’s also nasty, vindictive and mean-spirited, willing to insult and attack teachers, college professors, women, minorities and just about anyone else on the ‘politically correct’ hit list.”

        “But instead of overlapping nicely with the GOP establishment and its base, he turned out to be not establishment enough for the billionaires, and not charismatic and aggressive enough for the base.”

        “Walker would still probably be one of the GOP’s most dangerous general election candidates—and one of their most vicious and destructive presidents.”

        I agree.

          • The kittens are making life hectic :)

            They have discovered “paper surfing” (jump onto piles of paper on my table and scatter them everywhere)

            One ate my mouse (severed the cord to my laptop mouse)

            A third one has found shoes (shoes are fun to chew)

          • Putting the Pootie People message/request in 2 place for visibility :) – they extend sympathy for your loss, thanks for getting kittens – especially black kittens – from the shelter, and ask that you post pictures of the kittens in the pootie diary. Thanks. And that kind of hectic is fun (mostly).

          • He won’t be anyone’s veep. He can’t deliver Wisconsin any more than Paul Ryan could in 2012. Plus he is still stupid and charisma free.

            Trump/Rubio
            Bush/Fiorina
            Carson/Huckabee
            Fiorina/Christie
            Kasich/Rubio

            HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! This game is fun!

  9. I don’t understand how I can be coherent at all with how little I’m sleeping. And I’m exercising – 4.3 miles yesterday fer cryin’ out loud. I’m not having hot flashes, but I’m constantly hot. Like – I turn the a/c down to 71 at night & still wake up hot.

    Still trying to make sense of yesterday’s news. David Cameron. Wow. Just, um, wow. And the U2 show in Stockholm. They haven’t found the guy. Or the gun. Who hates rock stars or concert fans so much that you’d bring a gun to a concert? In Sweden?

    After leaving the funeral yesterday, this song came up next in my mix. Joe wasn’t a rock fan, but he’d’ve liked the words: “In the end, in the end, there’s nothing more to life than love, is there?”

    Everyone, stay safe & well. As my favorite philosopher says, “We get to carry each other”.

    • Coherent/functional with lack of sleep is what I refer to as “autopilot” – not something a kid can do, but anybody who has years of established functioning patterns can depend on muscle memory to carry them through when the brain is idling. Have you checked out a trace mineral imbalance? Those things are sneaky and because they are trace minerals most folks don’t even think about it. (Of course you have to have a doctor who accepts nutritional imbalances as valid before you can check – a problem that pretty much keeps me away from doctors.)

      • I haven’t looked in to that, though at my last check up, they said my potassium was too high — but I had been eating a lot of Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes. I think of myself as eating a healthy diet, though I do eat the same things for a while. Like, I’ve been having black beans with spinach & ro-tel tomatoes for breakfast for…..hmm, since August……

        • I was kind of freaked at that “potassium too high” – potassium and sodium have to be in balance for the body to function properly and most of the time too much potassium means too little sodium. Too little sodium is another of those conditions most modern doctors miss because “normal” American diets have so much of it the problem is getting enough potassium to balance it. But your diet isn’t the “normal” American diet. You don’t eat meat or much if any processed food at all and unless you’re adding one boat load of salt to the food you prepare at home, I’d be more concerned that you’re going to fall over from adrenal exhaustion caused by lack of sodium. (Not a doctor, don’t know your health issues – speaking generally as a person with 3 credit hours in nutrition and a life-long interest in it.)

          • well, I eat cheese & that’s pretty salty… but I don’t add salt to anything I cook, which is 75% of what I eat…. I’ve just been avoiding high-potassium foods

          • The human body needs about twice as much potassium as sodium, but can work reasonably well within a range of Na:K of anywhere from 2:1 through 1:5. Unless you’re eating 4 or more ounces of cheese a day, if that’s your only source of sodium, you need more salt. Get your sodium intake (salt and also baking soda/other sodium containing foods) up to 1-2g/day and I think your potassium “overload” will take care of itself.

  10. Morning all – it’s almost cool here this morning, in the 70’s as I get up earlier than usual to face a long and expensive day. I have a plumbing leak someplace – first realized when I looked at the water usage in my utility bill on Saturday, after which I found a wet place outside near the driveway. Plumber is coming this morning, I’m bracing myself – I just hope I’ve caught it before too much damage has been done, as I fear sinkholes. Then, at 1:30, I have dental surgery – an implant, and while my dentist is great and I’m sure will spare me as much pain as possible, ugh and double ugh.

    I sincerely hope Walker is toast, but I’ve given up predicting anything in the Republican race, as the TeaPartiers appear determined to go as low as possible in picking their candidate – never would I have thought Trump would still have this much support. I worked on Capitoi Hill for years in the 80’s and I thought I was dealing with troglodytes THEN, like Bill Archer – he looks like a positive liberal compared to these guys today.

    OK, plumber just called, so time to go take a shower and be ready when they get here. Have a great day everyone!

    • The GOP presidential nominating contest is certainly entertaining. I am wondering if there is anyone who they haven’t offended yet. First impressions are difficult to overcome and I think the initial reaction to the GOP field is abject horror.

      Good luck with the plumber and surgery! I had an implant done last year and it was actually not as bad as I expected. The new Frankentooth is very sturdy and works much better than what I had there before.

    • 70s as the early morning low is why I walk to work in the summer rather than walking home. :) Good luck with the plumber and the dentist. As to the RWNJs, I gave up on them some time ago. I’m not sure there is a bottom to their evil, but I am sure they’re seriously looking for it.

    • Hope your plumbing issue gets fixed and good luck with the dental visit.

      Heh – troglodytes is such an apt term – for then and now!

  11. Good morning, Moosekind! It’s a soft, gray morning here in NoVa, 60 F. now, going for a high of 66 F. We’ve had a few drops of rain and are supposed to have more. Please, Goddess, let us have rain! Jan, I love Mabon—it’s one of my favorite times of the year. A Witch friend on FB spent yesterday in the woods, picking up acorns, hickory nuts, leaves, and pinecones. I might do the same for a little Mabon altar.

    Isn’t it lovely about Walker, that troglodyte? And anotherdemocrat, sorry about your sleeplessness. I know how ghastly that is. However, I must have missed a lot of news—haven’t heard what David Cameron did, nor about the concert in Sweden. Popped over to GOS for a quick look and found it’s still Bernie, Bernie, Bernie.

    On a personal note, haven’t seen Babylicious for two whole weeks. Grandpa and I are going to ask if we can pick him up early from day care one day this week so we can have some time with him. We received more disquieting news this morning from the latest realtor team. Our backup plan is that we do not have to sell the house at all. We could perfectly well stay here (albeit with changes). It’s all going to come down to what we learn from the sales director tomorrow.

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

    • I love Mabon also!! I wish all holidays were on weekends, though, because we are having perfect weather for an outdoor fire on Tuesday night but Wednesday is a school day. :(

      It is early yet in the Democratic nominating contest. Here is a snapshot of the 5-day rolling average for polls. What no one knows is where the ceiling is for Bernie and what Joe Biden will do. When those 16% have to make the choice of someone actually in the race, where will they go? My guess is the majority will go to Secretary Clinton because they appeal to the same voters. We shall see!!

      The strangest narrative I am seeing now is that somehow the anti-Washington teapartiers are setting a new anti-Washington tone in both parties. I don’t sense that at all. If anything, the Democrats I follow are anxious to continue the policies of President Obama, not burn it down and start all over. Whoever successfully conveys their willingness to do that will earn the vote of the Obama coalition.

  12. 59 and clear in Fay., AR this moon day morning. Another 10 degrees and I’ll start wearing my boots to work :) Haven’t checked any news anywhere yet and probably don’t want to. sigh. Got paper all over my desk but most of it is fairly routine so shouldn’t have a problem dealing with it, even with the skullbanger I’m currently experiencing. If caffeine doesn’t settle it down, I’ll take some ibuprofen with my 2nd cup o’ joe.

    Not sure what I will do about/for Mabon – having already done my “household” Mabon things (turning the mattress and replacing the candle on my altar) – but I’ll come up with something. :) So Happy Mabon Week to the Meese. {{{HUGS}}}

  13. Good news! The plumber determined that I don’t have a leak at all! He thinks the extra water usage I noticed on my bill was probably from my sprinkler system going off without my noticing. And the water puddle I noticed is accumulated water in the sprinkler head system, so I am SO relieved! Cost me $200 to find that out, basic service charge, but I don’t mind, based on what I feared lol.

    I agree Jan, I think this is the “window shopping” period for Dems – we love a fighter and that’s what Bernie is, but in the end I still think it will come back to Hillary. And I love Joe Biden – I knew people on his Senate staff in the early 80’s, and he’s exactly as advertised – but for his and his family’s sake, I hope he doesn’t run. They’ve been through enough this year, losing their son, and he’s given enough to his country.

    • Good news re the plumber! I hope the dental surgery goes well too. I had an implant several years ago and the most painful part was paying for it. Major dental work needs to be part of our cobbled together health insurance system.

    • Wonderful about the plumber – basic service charge seriously beats massive repair job! I pretty much agree with you (and Jan) on what’s going on with the Dems and also on the hoped-for results. I mean, I’m a serious Hillary supporter but I think highly of Bernie and love Joe. I hope Bernie stays right where he is raising h*** in the Senate and introducing solid progressive legislation. And I really hope Joe decides not to run – this has been a very painful year for him but that will not stop the media from attacking him at every turn if he does. But they’re all good people and I will support the nominee.

    • Ahh – missed this while scrolling – that is good news. I often forget that people pay water bills – since we have a well.

      The majority of Democrats that I know who are people of color will go with the candidate they feel has a shot at continuing Obama’s achievements.

      They are leery of anyone who they think may not have a shot at winning the General. That I think is a huge part of the reason Hillary gets so much of our support.

      • I read a troubling article about women’s reproductive rights yesterday.

        The Republicans will not have much luck passing special abortion bans and defunding women’s health care and repealing the contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act AS LONG AS WE HAVE A DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENT TO VETO. And if we don’t have a Democratic president, the Supreme Court will flip to a Republican majority and Roe v Wade will be struck down.

        There are a lot of reasons that Republicans simply must not be allowed to win the presidency but that one should drive every woman to the polls.

  14. Good morning, 55 and cloudy in Bellingham today. The fall rains have arrived so it’s time to clean up the garden and mulch the beds. I hope the tree firm can come this week to prune the hedge and remove the branches in the trees that were weakened with the windstorm several weeks ago. And I’m still hoping to plant some winter pansies but if I don’t that’s ok too.

    My focus is shifting indoors to my sewing room. Before the last round of major health issues we had started a new paint and carpet project for the basement study and sewing room but that had to be put on hold. So yesterday I finally measured and taped off the outline so our son can help me make a template for the carpet. It has to be cut to fit around two radiators, an alcove and the stairs. My mind just wouldn’t do the math on paper so it was a hands on project…..me on the floor with a ruler, metal tape measure, and masking tape. No wonder the carpet store didn’t want to make the template, as it wasn’t easy!

  15. Good morning, meese! Tuesday …

    It is 54 degrees in Madison, on its way up to 78. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.

    Scott Walker dropped out. His campaign is a poster child for hubris: he believed that the national press would be as willing to cover up his lies as the Wisconsin press and that the billionaires giving him money would continue to give him money even when his flaws were exposed. America dodged a bullet … and a wary Wisconsin waits to see what new havoc he wants to wreak on us. Will he use us to plump up his resume for 2020 or 2024 (Reagan lost twice!) or will he try to repair the bridges he burned in Wisconsin in order to gear up for a 2018 re-election bid? We are hoping that the campaign left him personally strapped for funds and that he will resign and go on the dole at the Bradley Foundation, a right-wing hate tank that has been supporting his candidacies for the past 22 years. Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleifisch is awful but she is not evil (I hope!).

    Ben Carson’s campaign said that inventing a new religious test for the presidency plays well with the Republican base (80% support) and so he will continue his anti-Muslim crusade. This statement, by Carson, a fundamentalist christian who believes that his bible takes precedence over our constitution is jaw dropping … does he own a mirror?

    “Muslims feel that their religion is very much a part of your public life and what you do as a public official, and that’s inconsistent with our principles and our Constitution.”

    Fundamentalist christians who want “religious freedom” to ignore the laws of the land and who vow to protect public officials who refuse to serve those who offend their god get a mulligan?

    Today is National Voter Registration Day … find a person who turned 18 this year and get them registered!! Elections matter and next year our votes will be the only thing saving us from the Ben Carsons.

    See all y’all later!!

    • In case you missed Harry Reid’s floor speech on Ben Carson’s remarks:

      “Ben Carson unilaterally disqualified every Muslim in America from becoming president of the United States,” Reid, D-Nev., said in a speech on the Senate floor. “Shame on Dr. Carson. Shame on any person who spews such hateful rhetoric.”

      Reid, who displayed a photograph of the gravestone of a 20-year-old Muslim soldier who died fighting for the United States in Iraq in 2007, called on every Republican to denounce Carson’s “disgusting remarks.”[…]

      “Dr. Carson’s remarks are just another example of a Republican candidate’s refusing to speak for three million Muslim Americans,” Reid said. “We saw it last week with Donald Trump as he refused to denounce bigotry at his own campaign rally. If these Republican candidates are incapable of going to bat for America’s Muslim community, they shouldn’t be running for president of the United States.”

  16. Good Tiu’s Day morning, Moosekind! Still beautifully overcast in NoVa this morning, and the streets are still wet from yesterday’s sprinkles. It’s 58 F. now, going up to 76 F.

    We had planned to drive Babylicious to day care but he’s feverish and will stay home with Mommy. She’s telecommuting today and for the next two days because of The Visit. I have to eat breakfast and get out of here to take Miss Pink Cheeks to school. I won’t have to trek over to Arlington tonight after all—DIL’s mother is arriving from Long Island tonight and will stay with DIL and Mr. Newbaby until Saturday, when my son will return from California.

    We turned on the PBS News Hour during dinner last night, which was the wrong thing to do as it sent my blood pressure soaring. Some smug newschick was talking about the candidates. “Well, of course Hillary isn’t the most exciting candidate in the world.” I wanted to grab a bullhorn and scream at her, “She’s exciting to ME, bee-yatch! She might be the first woman president in the White House!” I wonder whom that person would consider exciting—George Clooney? Lady Gaga?

    Of course, I’m delighted that Scotty is out! Every time I see those cold, dead eyes on the telly I shiver. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond and Beyond.

    • That is probably the biggest bonus of Walker dropping out: every day I opened my newsfeeds to photos of his dead eyes or his smirk. It was physically upsetting to me!! And the local right-wing rag will now have to lay off the right-wing sycophants they hired to follow the Walker campaign … with their “reports” breathlessly filling me in on every bowel movement Walker had on the campaign trail. Good riddance to bad trash. I am sorry that they lost their jobs but not sorry that I will never hear from them again.

      The Visit is going to be interesting. I read an article this morning about Iowa Catholics and their “struggle” with Pope Francis’ call to care for the poor. Yikes! What gospel stories did they grow up on? The Republicans think that abortion is a litmus test and every other Catholic issue like the death penalty, wars of choice, immigration, justice, stewardship of the earth, and poverty must be ignored. They risk alienating the 90% of Catholics who like this pope if they come out too strongly against him. If there is a Catholic litmus test, I would think it would be how you care for the post-born.

  17. Only 1.3 miles this morning – got a PM workout, too. I got my going upwards song stuck in my head, so I’m playing California at it to make it stop.

    Shocked at the hedge fund guy who raised the price of the AIDS drug. Bastard. I should do a Walk diary soon. And I can see I’m going to have to stay away from Twitter & FB because of the Afghanistan story. Playing music louder in my head “la la la, I can’t hear those news headlines”.

    • I don’t even want to know about the Afghanistan story and will stay away from Twitter. There is so much awful in the world that we can do nothing about … I have to focus my mental energy on the things I can impact.

      That hedge fund guy has a face that TBogg would call “made for punching”:


      Asked why the huge increase in cost, Shkreli explained that the old companies who owned the drug were “practically giving it away almost,” and he needs to turn a profit.

      Noting that the pill sold for $13.50 and the course of treatment “to save your life was only a $1,000,” Shrkeli said he had to make a change.

      “We know, these days, in modern pharmaceuticals, cancer drugs can cost $100,000 or more, whereas these drugs can cost a half of a million dollars,” he explained. “Daraprim is still under-priced relative to its peers.”

      The pill costs $1 to make and he is essentially saying “hey, you want to live? pay up!”.

      Hillary Clinton was all over this:

      Hillary Clinton @HillaryClinton

      Price gouging like this in the specialty drug market is outrageous. Tomorrow I’ll lay out a plan to take it on. -H
      9:56 AM – 21 Sep 2015

      She already had a plan ready:

      Hillary Clinton on Tuesday will roll out a plan to rein in prescription drug costs by forcing pharmaceutical companies to reinvest their profits into research and allowing for more generic and imported drugs.

      The proposal, which she’ll outline in a speech in Iowa later today, would also allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug costs and cap out-of-pocket expenses, according to details of the plan sent out by the campaign.

      • He doesn’t have to make a profit, he’s a gazillionaire. He could make it free, and get good publicity….

      • Well, she is certainly not alone in this. It’s a Democratic issue
        Sanders has also spoken up about drug prices. He is not covered, however, by the mainstream media so I will just add this. It’s a very important issue for all Americans and it’s one our party cares about.

        Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is calling on a drug company to justify a dramatic spike in the price of a 62-year-old drug that was reported Sunday.

        One day before rival Hillary Clinton is set to propose a plan to rein in high costs for specialty drugs, Sanders in a letter to Turing Pharmaceuticals demanded an explanation for why the price of a drug used to treat dangerous parasitical infections leapt from $13.50 per tablet to $750 after the company acquired the drug from a competitor.

        The price hike followed the sale of the drug, Daraprim, to Turing in August for $55 million, the New York Times reported.

        “The enormous, overnight price increase for Daraprim is just the latest in a long list of skyrocketing price increases for certain critical medications,” wrote Sanders and Rep. Elijah Cummings, who are investigating sudden jumps in the costs of older, generic medicines.

        Sanders was the first presidential candidate to propose a plan to combat high prescription drug costs, which recent polls have found to be Americans’ top health care priority, outranking Obamacare even among Republicans and independents

        .

        http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/bernie-sanders-drug-prices-213904

  18. Good morning, 43 and still dark in Bellingham today. Yesterday was sunny so we enjoyed lunch at a park by the water. It was a nice break from errands and house maintenance projects.

    Xi Jinping, the President of China, arrives in Seattle today for a two day visit so the Seattle Times has several interesting articles…..

    Chinese officials and business tycoons know Washington state well. They view the stop before Xi’s first state visit to Washington, D.C., as a chance for him to shore up relations with United States companies and burnish his image as his regime copes with an economic slowdown Beijing planners are calling the country’s “new normal.”

    “Seattle is one of the best examples of how the China-U.S. relationship can benefit (each country),” said Ruan Zongze, an adviser to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, citing long-held trade ties between the Pacific Northwest metropolis and China.

    http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/xis-visit-to-sleepless-seattle-may-update-citys-profile-in-china/

    • Missed his visit completely in all the papal visit news. Thanks – just visited the Seattle Times to read more.

    • Our relationship with China is full of contradictions. On the one hand, we are intense competitors but on the other hand because of the power of both of our countries we need to work together on certain global concerns.

      I am glad that Scott Walker will not be president because on Day One, he was going to go back in time and retroactively disinvite Xi Jinping from visiting here!!!

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