Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Feb. 21st through Feb. 27th

February 21, 2016 JanF Community 140

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.

…

43 Comments

  1. Good morning Meese – writing for deadline – so will be back later – have a working keyboard!

  2. Good Thor’s Day, all! Awful weather in Virginia last night, although Northern VA seemed to escape the worst of it. We did have heavy rain but at our house, mercifully, the electricity stayed on. Tragedy struck Waverly, Virginia, near the North Carolina border. Three people were killed in the tornado there—may they walk in peace in the Otherworld. Violent weather is the lead story every morning on the what-passes-for-news show that Dearly and I watch.

    It’s 39 F. and cloudy here at the moment, going up to a whopping 65 F. today. Jan, your item about the media’s finally noticing Rethug obstructionism is the best news I’ve heard since I opened my eyes this morning. And good old Al Franken! That’s tellin’ ’em, Al.

    The instant I heard about Obama’s Supreme Court pick, I assumed the guy was a sacrificial goat. He’s not the real nominee, his name is being floated to show how vile the Rethugs are. Delicacy forbids my saying what I would like to happen to Rethug senators, but you all know what I mean. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond and Beyond!

    • Are you talking about Gov. Brian Sandoval’s name being floated? I would not particularly want a Republican there – I think it would be impossible to not be damaged by having the R after your name – but he is not the worst Republican ever. I don’t know anything about his judicial chops but he was a federal judge so that means he went to law school. He is pro-choice NOW but I would feel better having a solid Democrat there. Conversely, we know absolutely nothing about Sri Srinivasan and how he feels about choice. We simply cannot afford having a justice who turns out to be anti-choice when Roe v Wade is hanging by a thread.

  3. I did still have a Hozier earworm, but then I opened Twitter & it’s George Harrison’s birthday, so Give Me Love is now playing in my head, to be followed by many other tunes from him. The Beatles were gone before I was aware of things, but I found them & loved them on my own, and boy did I have a crush on George. All that spirituality & altruism — the concert for Bangladesh happened about the time I started listening to music, in elementary school. I was convinced he was gonna wait till I was old enough & marry me.

    Still cold (for Texas) — some places nearby even froze! I had to wear gloves this morning. Sadly, the rain is gone. What happened to our “colder & wetter” El Nino winter? We’re back in drought status.

  4. Morning all. I woke up with a sore throat and no voice, so after trying hot tea with lemon, gargling with salt water, all to no avail, I gave up and cancelled my class today. I hate to do it, I’ll have to make it up which is always a pain, but I can’t whisper for two hours.

    I had not see anything about a real “Obama nominee”, Diana? Do you mean the gov of NV whose name was floated by the Reid people, I think? Haven’t seen anything from the White House itself, but maybe I missed something?

    Politico has a story this morning about the “coming anti-Trump onslaught” – I’m not sure how they’re going to pull that off. Trump’s supporters will not care about anything negative they can come up with, this is celebrity fandom masquerading as politics, and I doubt the Republican establishment has any effective ammunition against him. I think a lot of his votes are from people voting for their own imagined construct of him, not for Trump as he actually is – I mean 20% of them think slavery should not have been ended, they’re simply out of touch with reality. Unfortunately, they can still vote. Assuming, as I think I can, that Hillary wins the Dem nomination, she’s going to have to pull the Democratic majority to the polls, and perhaps try to convince progressive leaning independents that the Trump horror show must be stopped. Any reality based critique of him I fear will fall on deaf ears. And I think Republicans will fall in line behind him if he’s the nominee, no matter what they say now about how terribly embarrassing he is – because Republicans ALWAYS support their nominee. Well, maybe not Barry Goldwater, but since then anyway – this year may be a good test of the Reagan rule (never speak ill of another Republican or something like that.)

    Have a great day everyone!

    • The Republican establishment is deluded – they think that the endorsements piling up for Rubio will help him. If endorsements, and money, were the issue, Jeb! would be in the lead. Their base wants to burn the party to the ground. They compromised on Mitt Romney and were told that if they held their nose and voted for him that being in power with someone more moderate was better than being out of power. Now they will have their revenge.

      And, yes, the Republicans that have crawled out from under the rocks that Trump is lifting up are awful! Pro-slavery? JHC!!!

    • Hope your throat is better soon and vetwife over at GOS has a diary about the Rs – that they will vote R no matter who is on the ballot, they’d have voted R for Charles Manson if he was on the ticket – and our only hope of stopping Trump is to support whoever our Dem nominee is, in force, I think sanity is beginning to return to the Orange. (But keep the wreck list collapsed for the time being.)

  5. Geordie, so sorry about the sore throat! Hope you’ll feel better very soon.

    Please see my reply to Jan re Brian Sandoval’s being a test case, so to speak.

  6. 31 at dawn heading for 45 in Fay., AR this Thor’s Day. Still a bit overcast, but the sun is starting to peek through. Got my convoluted project done. Now back to trying to get paper off my desk. Hope the day goes well for everybody. {{HUGS}}}

  7. Good morning, 45 and cloudy in Bellingham. My phone was busy with family calls this morning and then Ron and I had to catch up with all the family business. He came home last night but we were both to tired to communicate. It’s been a rough week for Ryan, but with the help of his parents and grandparents, better communication and cooperation with his school, and working with the pt and acupuncture clinics he is exhausted but moving forward.

    A nap won yesterday so today I absolutely have to renew my drivers license……better find a 6 yr smile!

  8. Good morning, meese! Friday …

    It is 27 degrees in Madison on its way up to 35. Partly cloudy skies are in the forecast.

    I watched my first GOP debate last night. Now that it is down to a (literal!) handful, I figured it would give me a good idea what the candidates are all about. Holy mackeral! I have to admit that it was entertaining watching Trump pound on the Cruz (“you have no friends!”) and Rubio (“you’re a robot!) … kind of like when you watch a team you dislike beating the Dallas Cowboys. You aren’t really fans of the team beating them but you love seeing the Cowboys humiliated. It appears that Trump is now pivoting to the general election as he lays claim to the “I won’t let people die in the streets” vote. I know that that will not resonate with the GOP base so it must be a shoutout to non-Republicans.

    What I found interesting this morning were the headlines gushing about a “feisty” Marco Rubio going after Trump. The mainstream media, goaded by establishment Republicans, are really in the bag for Rubio. Sadly for them, the latest PPP poll shows Trump winning the Florida primary with 45% to Rubio’s 25%. A handful of schoolyard insults is not going to close that gap.

    The Rude Pundit ‏@rudepundit 8h 8 hours ago
    Rubio is so proud when he gets one of his lines in, smiling like the proudest doofus in 8th grade.

    Ted Cruz put a Senatorial hold on the Flint emergency relief bill. I guess he wants to put a downpayment on his plan to let people die in the streets.

    See all y’all later!!

  9. Good morning Meese. 30 degrees here in Saugerties.

    Watched a bit of the Klown Karnival last night but couldn’t keep my eyes open.
    Scanning my news feed found this:

    Behind The Video That Made Hillary Clinton’s Feminism Go Viral (In A Good Way)

    which has a video that should be watched – apparently it has been on facebook – but since I never check facebook I missed it :)

    I have school today – this weekend (Sunday) I’m going to the NYC Orange meetup since I have a ride there.

    • I saw that video! It is pretty good. I got a little itchy that they included some scenes from the 2008 campaign that had faint wiffs of Barack Obama bashing in them but, hey, it is part of the history. Along with the hairstyles. :)

      Did you see the awful video asking Sanders supporters standing in line at one of his “concerts” to describe Hillary Clinton in one word? Gak! No wonder the youngs don’t like Hillary … they obviously get all their information from Fox News soundbites. Emails? Benghazi? Liar? Scandals? But it was pretty easy to see where some of the men were coming from: “pantsuit” is a dog-whistle way to suggest that women should not be allowed to control the levers of power. “Bitch” and “whore” … a little less subtle.

      Have fun at the meetup!! I hope they are able to keep primary politics out of the conversation … it is fraying friendships all over the Internets.

      • Saw that video – which is being distributed by right wing hatchet group – Independent Journal Review

        The Independent Journal Review is a conservative American viral news website founded in 2012. It has over 19 million visitors a month according to Alexa. The website is owned and operated by two former Republican party staff and the editor is Bert Atkinson, a former waiter. The site has been described as a cross between BuzzFeed and RedState. and a cross between the Drudge Report and Upworthy.

        Disgusting.

        • Yikes! Nice credentials … Drudge Report, RedState.

          I wonder how many “single word descriptions” that were positive didn’t make the final edit.

    • His murder, and his killer going scot-free, pulled the curtain back on the inequities in our justice system, and really, our country. When President Obama said “that could be my son” it started a national conversation.

      I was listening to a radio talk show host talk (someone added as libertarian balance by the progressive radio station I have on when I am in my car) complaining about how much better black-white relations were 40 years ago. “Why, we all laughed at Flip Wilson and there were those great shows like The Jeffersons!” he said without a shred of self-awareness. JHC on a popsicle stick! He was talking about the “good old days” when blacks knew their place! Now that murdering young black men, and women, is reported and protested and talked about by presidential candidates and the focus of Justice Department investigations, he is upset by the “ugliness”.

  11. Still cold here — by our standards. But 70s expected this weekend.

    So the Rs yelled at each other last night. Hmmmm. I’m ready for both sides’ primaries to be over. And I woke up…. I think 3 times last night. Tireder of that than I am of the primary. Maybe the more concentrated exercise of weight lifting will help. If I ever get to the gym.

    Music in my head is my alarm — Bad by U2 (well, of course it’s U2, what other music would I use for my alarm? It’s just the guitar part, I don’t know where I got the snippet but I use it for everything. Because “U2”)

  12. Good morning, Meese, it’s 35 F. on a cloudy morning and there are white things whizzing past the window. We had stray snowflakes yesterday too, but I didn’t see them. It’s fireplace weather here, with the expected high to be a windy 39 F. today.

    Watched some of the debate last night but dozed off, so missed Ben Carson’s zinger. Never intended to watch the whole thing, just wanted to see whether the Donald would be entertaining. To think that some people want that in the White House!

    Lysis included a post this morning that was interesting: it said people hate it when women ask for power but are fine when the women in question get the power. That reminded me of Hatshepshut, female pharaoh of Egypt. Apparently she ruled the country competently (even put on a false beard to improve her street creds.), but after she died, all the misogynists busily chiseled her name off every monument and statue they could find. Patriarchy goes back a long way, people.

    Today’s agenda includes putting the final touch on the March Fiction Cafe story; searching for a plot for the April story; and possibly working some more on the final chapter of the novella. Tonight I’ll be taking Miss Pink Cheeks to the Girl Scouts’ “Thinking Day.” Her troop has chosen Germany as its country of study, so she’ll be modeling a dirndl. Wishing all Moosylvania a good day!

    • I turned if off after the first CNN break … it was past my bedtime! But I was cracking up when someone built a Fruit Salad of Your Life Twitter account in honor of Carson’s perplexing comment regarding the SCOTUS nomination. I was watching Carson as he was formulating answers and he always appears as if he is going to fall asleep before he gets them out. I wonder if he processes words visually and needs to sort of close his eyes and “see” them before he says them? Or maybe he is just low-energy. :)

  13. 25 at dawn heading for 55 and sunny this last Friday in February. Not sure yet but it’s entirely possible I’ll hit the 300 KWHs mark by the end of the month. Not bad for February. (Except we need the rain.)

    Didn’t watch the Klown Show – wouldn’t have even if I had a TV which I don’t. I’m not even going to interest myself in that squirrel fest. When we know which squirrel we have to keep out of the White House, I’ll start paying attention. A Bernie sign showed up at the college students’ house across the way. If they’re outside this evening when I get home I think I’ll go ask them “why Bernie?” – I’d like a real discussion with young men who aren’t going to “go off” on me as I’d get if I asked over at GOS – the sane ones would be nice and we could have a discussion, but the “bros” would interrupt that conversation with Hillary hate and I’m just not going to subject myself to that. (Of course if the young men say “free tuition” I’m going to just say “I’d have preferred debt-free college when I was going, but whatever floats your boat” and just leave it there – unless they ask questions, of course. heh)

    Hope everybody has a wonderful day – stay safe and warm (but not too warm). HUGS

  15. Morning all! Beautiful cool morning here – I fear the next few days will be our last cool weather till next winter, so trying to enjoy it while it lasts.

    I didn’t have the stomach to watch Hillary on Morning Joe, but I see in Lysis’ diary that folks think she did well, so I might look for a video of it. I also didn’t watch the Republican Horror Show last night, but I followed it on Twitter, and the shrieks of dismay from Melissa of Shakesville were enough for me – Insane Clown Posse is already taken, but I think that’s an apt name for that crew of candidates.

    Kos has put a lot of people on timeouts at GOS, a number of Hillary supporters but i hope also some of the most egregious of the Berners. It’s going to get a lot worse there before it gets better, I think – but I hope the primary race will be essentially over after March 1 or at the latest March 15th, and maybe then DKos can get to be tolerable again.

    I’m feeling a lot better today, thanks to cold medicine and sleep – mid day naps seem to be a good thing for me these days! Hope everyone has a great day!

    • Geordie, lad you’re feeling better! Wonder whom he put on timeouts? I noticed one of the most egregious Berners has popped up with another anti-Hillary diary. Do those people ever get tired of themselves? Evidently not.

      Off to have a nap of my own. Today is being a very trying day.

    • The Robert Kagan piece she links to is a must read: Trump is the GOP’s Frankenstein monster. Now he’s strong enough to destroy the party.

      It begins:

      When the plague descended on Thebes, Oedipus sent his brother-in-law to the Delphic oracle to discover the cause. Little did he realize that the crime for which Thebes was being punished was his own. Today’s Republican Party is our Oedipus. A plague has descended on the party in the form of the most successful demagogue-charlatan in the history of U.S. politics. The party searches desperately for the cause and the remedy without realizing that, like Oedipus, it is the party itself that brought on this plague. The party’s own political crimes are being punished in a bit of cosmic justice fit for a Greek tragedy.

      And concludes:

      So what to do now? The Republicans’ creation will soon be let loose on the land, leaving to others the job the party failed to carry out. For this former Republican, and perhaps for others, the only choice will be to vote for Hillary Clinton. The party cannot be saved, but the country still can be.

      It is fitting that the Southern Strategy, which gave the Republican Party new life after the Goldwater shellacking, would be what kills it. They embraced angry white voters and ginned up their anger at The Other; now The Other – and their allies – are the majority and the face of the Republican Party is mean, ugly, and hateful. What the echo-chamber of Republican primary politics selects will be unacceptable to not just Democrats but to independents and a large number of Republicans.

    • It is incredible to me how MSNBC turned from a place where liberals could go for news and commentary from the left into the Joe Scarborough network. I heard they hired the guy who was too much of an ahole to even work for Cruz, his spokesman who was fired last week. My take is that MSNBC wants a piece of the Trump News clicks and views and so those “boring” lefty liberal shows, especially with people of color, are easily jettisoned.

      Here is her letter to her peeps, worth reproducing in its entirety:

      Dearest Nerds,

      As you know by now, my name appears on the weekend schedule for MSNBC programming from South Carolina this Saturday and Sunday. I appreciate that many of you responded to this development with relief and enthusiasm. To know that you have missed working with me even a fraction of how much I’ve missed working with all of you is deeply moving. However, as of this morning, I do not have any intention of hosting this weekend. Because this is a decision that affects all of you, I wanted to take a moment to explain my reasoning.

      Some unknown decision-maker, presumably Andy Lack or Phil Griffin, has added my name to this spreadsheet, but nothing has changed in the posture of the MSNBC leadership team toward me or toward our show. Putting me on air seems to be a decision being made solely to save face because there is a growing chorus of questions from our viewers about my notable absence from MSNBC coverage. Social media has noted the dramatic change in editorial tone and racial composition of MSNBC’s on-air coverage. In addition, Dylan Byers of CNN has made repeated inquiries with MSNBC’s leadership and with me about the show and what appears to be its cancellation. I have not responded to reporters or social media inquiries. However, I am not willing to appear on air in order to quell concerns about the disappearance of our show and our voice.

      Here is the reality: our show was taken — without comment or discussion or notice — in the midst of an election season. After four years of building an audience, developing a brand, and developing trust with our viewers, we were effectively and utterly silenced. Now, MSNBC would like me to appear for four inconsequential hours to read news that they deem relevant without returning to our team any of the editorial control and authority that makes MHP Show distinctive.

      The purpose of this decision seems to be to provide cover for MSNBC, not to provide voice for MHP Show. I will not be used as a tool for their purposes. I am not a token, mammy, or little brown bobble head. I am not owned by Lack, Griffin, or MSNBC. I love our show. I want it back. I have wept more tears than I can count and I find this deeply painful, but I don’t want back on air at any cost. I am only willing to return when that return happens under certain terms.

      Undoubtedly, television nurtures the egos of those of us who find ourselves in front of bright lights and big cameras. I am sure ego is informing my own pain in this moment, but there is a level of professional decency, respect, and communication that has been denied this show for years. And the utter insulting absurdity of the past few weeks exceeds anything I can countenance.

      I have stayed in the same hotels where MSNBC has been broadcasting in Iowa, in New Hampshire, and in South Carolina, yet I have been shut out from coverage. I have a PhD in political science and have taught American voting and elections at some of the nation’s top universities for nearly two decades, yet I have been deemed less worthy to weigh in than relative novices and certified liars. I have hosted a weekly program on this network for four years and contributed to election coverage on this network for nearly eight years, but no one on the third floor has even returned an email, called me, or initiated or responded to any communication of any kind from me for nearly a month. It is profoundly hurtful to realize that I work for people who find my considerable expertise and editorial judgment valueless to the coverage they are creating.

      While MSNBC may believe that I am worthless, I know better. I know who I am. I know why MHP Show is unique and valuable. I will not sell short myself or this show. I am not hungry for empty airtime. I care only about substantive, meaningful, and autonomous work. When we can do that, I will return — not a moment earlier. I am deeply sorry for the ways that this decision makes life harder for all of you. You mean more to me than you can imagine.

      Yours always,

      Melissa

      Bolding mine.

      • Utterly outrageous and appalling! It just goes to show once again, that women, especially African-American women, are invisible.

        Damn all patriarchs.

        • I love “little brown bobble head”, btw.

          I wish there were a venue for the smart shows still left on MSNBC but I suspect that it would be impossible to build a new cable channel without mega-bucks or corporate sponsorship. It won’t happen and we will be the poorer for it.

      • This is just heartbreakingly outragreous. I don’t think I can bring myself to watch MSNBC again after this.

  18. Good morning, meese! Saturday …

    It is 30 degrees in Madison on its way up to … holy mackeral … 56! Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.

    Al Jazeera America is ceasing publication. I am sad because it was an excellent source of news about people and places that typically get short shrift … stories that didn’t fit into clickbites. Now I have to decide if I will replace it in my newsfeed or just consider it the goddess’ way to tell me to QUIT READING SO MUCH NEWS!!

    I found this survey interesting:

    I wonder if Democrats from the Democratic Party Wing of the Democratic Party started paying attention and saw that Sanders was running a campaign that dissed President Obama (popular with about 96% of Democrats). You will not win the Democratic Party nomination without the Obama coalition. Period. Or maybe it is something many people believed, that once the “never heard of him” turned into “holy mackeral, he said what?!” the numbers would change. Anybody But Hillary sounds good to some voters until they are forced to look more closely at the candidates.

    Today in South Carolina the polls close at 8pm Eastern. I expect that if Hillary does not win by 70 points, it will be reported as “disappointing” and if she only pulls off a double digit win, it will be a “narrow” victory. The press wants a horse race to fill their quota of “Democrats in disarray” pieces. Too bad! We need a nominee in place to start plotting how to defeat Donald Trump in the fall. Chris Christie and Paul LePage endorsed Trump yesterday adding a lot of heft to his candidacy. What!? It did!! Two despised governors from Northeastern bluish states; it certainly locked down the bully vote.

    Busy morning. I hope to be able to break to post the president’s weekly address in a timely fashion. I suspect that he will speak about the 7th anniversary of the Recovery Act. He was in Jacksonville FL yesterday, talking it up. I will include video of that speech in the comments.

    See all y’all later!!

  19. Good morning Meese.

    Early voting has already been heavy in SC – especially in heavily black precincts.
    Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wonder how much coverage it will get since the MSM seems to focus mostly on the Repubs.

  20. Good morning, Moosylvania! It’s 25 frostbitten Fahrenheit here in NoVa, going up to 47 F. today.

    Gawd, I advertised on craigslist for local Web development help and everyone in India replied. Now trying TaskRabbit. We’ll see how it goes.

    Try as I might I can’t think of a plot for my April story. It’s driving me crazy, especially as I have to start work on Political Granddaughter’s birthday story on March 1.

    Will be keeping an eye on the blogs today, which have more up-to-date news on Democratic coverage than the TV. As Denise says, the media are interested only in the Rethugs.

    Will be back later to say hi and read Jan’s Saturday post. Have a good day, all!

    • My post will probably not appear until after 9am as I have a project to get out the door that is time-sensitive.

      The President’s Weekly Address will be about ISIL. I don’t know if you saw the video of the president and the King of Jordan from early in the week. The king called ISIL “Daesh”, showing his disrespect for those who pervert Islam. I wish we would rebrand as well. I feel sad for people named Isis or who have an affinity for the goddess Isis. Kind of like people born on 9/11.

Comments are closed.