Welcome to The Moose Pond! The Welcomings posts give the Moose, old and new, a place to visit and share words about the weather, life, the world at large and the small parts of Moosylvania that we each inhabit.
Welcomings will be posted at the start of each week (every Sunday morning). To find the posts, just bookmark this link and Voila! (which is Moose for “I found everyone!!”).
The format is simple: each day, the first moose to arrive on-line will post a comment welcoming the new day and complaining (or bragging!) about their weather. Or mentioning an interesting or thought provoking news item. Or simply checking in.
So … what’s going on in your part of Moosylvania?
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NOTE: The comments page will now split off after 20 or so left margin comments with the most recent comments on the current page. To see the older comments, scroll to the bottom of the page and use the link.
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Morning all! The filibuster last night was truly remarkable, not least because it apparently has achieved some results, as McConnell has agreed to two gun control amendment votes – background checks on all guns, eliminating the gun show loophole, and no sales of guns to those on the no- fly list. Sen. Murphy from Ct led the effort, but most Democratic Senators and a couple of Republicans joined for the 15 hour, “Mr Smith” style filibuster – but guess which Dem Senator was not there? Go ahead, guess, I’ll wait – ok, neither Feinstein nor Boxer were there, but the amendment is Feinstein’s and presumably they were on the other side of the country and couldn’t get back.
Ok, I’ll tell you – Sen. Bernie Sanders, who was IN DC until mid-day, flew off to Vermont and did not participate. Certainly seems to show his allegiance is with the NRA as we have surmised all along, although he did send an encouraging tweet of support to Sen. Murphy, so there’s that. He’s getting a lot of flack for missing this historic and inspiring effort – and of course, his die hard supporters are fighting back, with tweets asking, I kid you not, “Oh yeah, well where is Hillary? Why isn’t she at the filibuster?” The ignorance is gobsmacking.
I’m with you Jan on being tired of this crabby and destructive old man – he cannot admit or even recognize that he’s lost. His endorsers are moving over to Hillary – his few union endorsers, for example, will mostly vote to endorse Hillary in the AFL-CIO vote today. Sanders seems determined to try for some sort of spoiler role – apparently at the meeting with Hillary Tuesday night, she told him he could have a big speaking spot at the Convention but he had to concede the race before the Convention happens. Looks like we’ll find out tonight if he’s ever going to do that. What a putz – he could have had a seat at the table, influence in the Senate, acceptance by Dems if he only acknowledged the reality of the situation. Instead, he throws it all away to be some sort of quixotic loner – and it is no coincidence, I believe, that he’s doing this to undermine the first woman candidate for a major party.
Ugh. well, enough of that, I’m so tired of Sanders I could scream. Time to focus on the future and getting Hillary elected in a landslide that will sweep in Democrats in the House, Senate and state and local races. Have a great day everyone!
The “old man” part of it is probably the only thing that is somewhat petty of me but grumpy old men tick me off mainly because they are very often toting some pretty heavy misogynistic baggage, the kind nurtured over a lifetime of unchallenged privilege.
Good morning, 56 and partly sunny in Bellingham. Maggie (the grand puppy) is staying with us for a week so she is on my lap, telling me that the computer is in her space. She will stay close to me all day, and will let me know Ron’s every move :)
A long nap interfered with my garden plans yesterday so I’ll try again today.
What I missed most about traveling was my early afternoon nap. I was either in the car (ill-advised!) or visiting with relatives (rude!) so I struggled through being WIDE AWAKE. And the night after the attack in Orlando, I was up late talking to my daughter about politics and inclusiveness and the awful thing that is Trumpism and really needed a nap the next day. By the way, she would be put on that suspicious persons list because she is an immigrant – from a country that has many Muslims.
As expected, Hillary Clinton’s campaign has taken over the DNC:
Excellent choice since the unions have been a key part of our party’s ground game in the last two national elections.
This is not a concession to Sanders but simply the way things work:
Good morning, meese! Friday …
It is 58 degrees in Madison on its way up to 86. The forecast calls for morning fog and afternoon sun.
John McCain! Bernie Freaking Sanders! The vulgar talking yam! We are surrounded by angry old fact-challenged men! Twitter was ticked about the no-concession speech by Sanders last night. Al Giordano calculated that 94% of Sanders’ followers have already moved on anyway so he will, quite literally, be an old man waving his fists at the clouds going forward.
I am looking for some good news but the closest I can find is that Mitch McConnell will allow a vote on the bill that merges the no-fly-list with the no-buy-list. But, sadly, that is the worse of the bills they had hoped to pass. The no-fly-list is problematic (Al Gore was once on it) and can be abused. I think they are also going to get a vote on the expanded background checks but that one will die in the House. So the filibuster will just be “feel good” because one of our political parties is owned by the gun lobby. Sucks to be us.
See all y’all later!
Here is more information on the “terrorist watch list”. Apparently it is NOT the “Do Not Fly List” as has been widely reported, it is a list of people previously investigated or under investigation by the FBI for terrorist related activities. It appears to have some appeals processes built in and is under the control of the Attorney General. I am sure it will never satisfy the Greenwaldians but I am finding it difficult to get worked up about a guy not being able to buy an assault weapon without having to prove he is not a danger to society.
Hillary released some new ads. I like this one for a number of reasons, one being that it shows that she “existed” before she became First Lady of Arkansas and after she stopped being FLOTUS. I think that is important for many people.
Also, this ad is part of an ad buy in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia. Notice that list: except for Virginia, those states have competitive, and critical, Senate races. THAT is how you do downticket party building.
This one is good too. Grainy videos of Trump screaming and acting out, soft images of Hillary and the people she cares about: us!
Good morning, Moosekind! Thanks for the ads, which I’ll look at later. It’s cloudy here in NoVa: 63 F. now, going up to 73 F. late. Despite the fact that TV programming was preempted by weathercasters yesterday evening, droning nonstop about possible tornadoes, all we had was a downpour at 10 p.m. We didn’t even lose electricity!
Busy day coming up—the painter is arriving at 9 a.m., the cleaners at 1:30 or so. I have to buy an Amazon gift card today to present to our troop leader at the end-of-year party tomorrow. Many Daisy mothers were supposed to contribute, but few did, so I’ll have to kick in the rest. (Never again will I volunteer to collect for anything.) After the swim party tomorrow afternoon, Miss Pink Cheeks and I will be going with Grandpa to Uncle’s house in Arlington. Uncle is holding a barbecue in honor of Father’s Day, so I’ll be seeing all three local grandchildren at once!
Just read an interesting article on Google News to the effect that Hillary’s shortlist has leaked. Sorry I don’t have the link, I was reading it on the iPad. It gave the pros and cons of each. The one that came out best, to my mind, was Cory Booker. A couple of the aging white guys were antichoice, so I do NOT want them! Tim Kaine was one of the them.
It’ll be so nice to see the walls of the downstairs sitting room covered with the pale yellow I chose instead of the ick color the realtors chose. Wishing all a good day!
Sounds like a busy day! Pace yourself!!
Many years ago I was involved with the parents group for our neighborhood school and I had to deal with many levels of cluelessness related to how money was needed for projects (“everyone will just contribute!”) and reality. I put in my time but I was glad when it was over.
Got here really early to walk — that car was in the spot I like yesterday, so I thought “5:30, surely I’ll beat him/her if I’m there at 5:30”. Nope. So I walked the longest time this week, 35 minutes, 1.71 miles. And fastest 1st mile this week, too. Something to be said for having frustration to work off. It is hot already even early in the morning — 45 minutes inside & I’m still hot.
Hoping for something good & happy to happen in the world today. Anything. I do love the new Hozier song, that might have to do.
Good morning Meese
And we keep wondering, after every “THIS will surely change things!!!” what kind of THIS would make a difference. :(
I remember seeing a Tweet last year after the Charleston killings that said essentially that if we were not going to be moved by 20 first graders getting their faces blown off, we were never going to be moved. Sadly, I fear that is the case.
Maybe I will rerun the post with President Obama’s beautiful speech honoring the victims of the Charleston massacre.
OMG, what a sad reminder of that awful day.
And it keeps on happening…
You know what it would take to turn this around, but I dare not even put it into printed words. :(
I will say it. It would turn around if it happened to people who Republicans cared about. Not school children, not Sikh worshipers, not Black churchgoers, not gay people.
Although maybe they don’t care about any group of people enough to defy the NRA.
They don’t care about any group of people. Period. It would have to happen to them personally or close personal family. They have no understanding of the concept “No man is an island…”
Well, it’s hot. Surprise. :) Didn’t get below 75 overnight and heading for air temp 90, heat index/105 heat advisory still in effect. The afternoon threat of showers just means cloud cover and no rain – reducing my electricity generation (just under 19 KWHs yesterday) as it’s clouding up during the most productive hours. sigh.
The Hillary ads are great and where she’s targeting them is greater. Considering how canny Robby Mook is, I’m not sure the “leaked” list is the real list, but I could be wrong. At this point I’m perfectly happy if B.S. doesn’t endorse. If he goes to the convention as a rival candidate rather than a member of the team the only speaking slot he’ll get is something like 15 minutes just prior to the floor vote, if that. His vendetta against our party in general and DWS in particular says a lot about him, none of it good. I’ll go back to ignoring him now.
Still trying to wrap things up for end of fiscal 16 as I try to get things ready for fiscal 17 and the new academic year. Healing Energy to all the victims of all the hate crimes. May we please find some viable way to contain the hate. We may not be able to get rid of it, but rendering it harmless will do just fine. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{{HUGS}}}}
yep, it was 80 with the heat index when I was walking at 5:30-6am (depressing that there’s a heat index before dawn)
Morning all – cloudy here which is good, gives us a break from the scorching heat we’ve had. It’s still hot, but 80’s are better than 90’s.
I refused to watch BS’s video show last night – it was on MSNBC for a while, but apparently even they switch away from it as it was clear no straight up concession was going to be made. Sounds like a trash fire of irrelevance what from I read on Twitter, and from now on, I would like to just ignore Bernie – he’s out of the picture, and we need to concentrate on electing Hillary. But just one more thing on these “reforms” he wants – open primaries are invitations to mischief from the other side, and I’m adamantly opposed to them. Caucuses, however, need to be eliminated – they are anti-democratic, requiring huge expenditures of time that lots of good Democrats can’t afford or are simply not able to make. Moreover, they are invitations to bullying and silencing, particularly of women who are likely to be less comfortable, as a group, speaking up in an atmosphere where they are likely, as happened in many caucuses this year, to be shouted at or intimated by male supporters of the other side. We need to stick to closed primaries – Democrats should be able to pick our own candidates without sniping from non-Democrats, in my opinion.
Ok, on a personal note, I am currently struggling with trying to control heartburn/indigestion – I never had a problem in my life until a couple of years ago I started waking up feeling kind of queasy. A friend recommended Prilosec, which I started taking, and it fixed the problem – but I had to keep taking it, as every time I didn’t take it, the problem came back worse than before. Then, a few weeks ago, I read some recent research that demonstrated, at the cellular level, the bad effects of Prilosec/Nexium type drugs on mental deterioration in old age. I knew there had been studies about other side effects, particularly kidney problems, but this study really alarmed me as it seemed to show an actual mechanism, not just a correlation. So now, I’m trying to do without the Prilosec, and man, it’s pretty awful – I’m taking Zantac before dinner, and Tums tablets periodically during the day, but it’s hard for me to eat anything without triggering real heartburn which I had not really experienced before. I looked for what kinds of foods I could eat – seems like oatmeal, bananas, rice, plainly prepared meat and fish, some vegetables are supposed to produce less acid, but sadly, coffee seems to have a very bad effect on me now. Sigh. I love coffee, but I may have to give it up altogether. So, anyone here have any experience with this or have any advice on how to control it? The good side effect is that I’m losing some weight because I just can’t eat very much!
Ok, everyone have a great day!
Gods, Geordie, how awful. I have what is weirdly termed as “gastric reflux disease,” which made me cough all night long. I also have an esophagus that is too small, so I’ve had two operations to enlarge it. After the second one, some time ago, the gastroenterologist (is that what he’s called) said I’d have to take Nexium for the rest of my life.
Well, dear, I started taking it after the procedure, when I was at home again, and it was disastrous! After a few days I contacted my regular doctor and told him that no way was I ever taking it again. He now has me on Zantac twice a day. I get it more cheaply at Costco and take it morning and evening.
Haven’t changed my eating habits except for concentrating on low carbs. But that was to lose weight, not to avoid the other thing. As of today I’m off low carbs. No more egg and bacon breakfasts for me!
Hope you can find some relief, Geordie.
Eeek!!! ” I love coffee, but I may have to give it up altogether”
Oh dear – so sorry to hear Sis – I had acute gastroenteritis when younger – diet is the key – I gave up orange juice and other very acidic foods like raw tomato – have you seen a nutritionist?
Hi Geordie……I found relief from the indigestion/anti acid dilemma by taking a probiotic 20 mins before eating anything. I did that for several years, but now I just keep portions small, avoid most prepared foods, eat a bland diet when i need to, and drink lots of water. When I do need an anti acid pepto bismal tablets work but I don’t use them very often. It’s important to keep the digestive system”normal” and regular use of anti acids seems to disrupt that.
Good luck…..it takes time to get things calmed down.
You’re describing acid reflux. Which unfortunately is a descriptor and while there are a lot of guesses out there, we really don’t know what causes it. Anything you can think of that’s stress-reducing, start doing that. And don’t eat anything for at least 2 and preferably 3 before getting horizontal (naps, bedtime, whatever). Although the research was done for IBS, the fodmaps elimination diet has been successful helping folks figure out what their bodies’ are reacting to. This is an elimination diet for testing purposes and while it may lead to a permanent change in your eating habits, this isn’t meant to be that change.
https://stanfordhealthcare.org/content/dam/SHC/for-patients-component/programs-services/clinical-nutrition-services/docs/pdf-lowfodmapdiet.pdf
Good luck and Healing Energy heading your way.
Good morning, 51 and sunny in Bellingham today. Maggie is still not pleased the computer is taking up “her” lap space but she’s adjusting. Fortunately she is small (under 20 lbs), doesn’t shed (poodle/pom mix), and was just groomed because she is staying as close as she can.
And now she needs to go out, and I need some coffee. Have a good day everyone!
Hi, princesspat! Just read RonK’s nice diary on sea stars at The Other Place. He writes beautifully and takes wonderful photos. Perhaps he’ll repost here.
Have a good day!
^^^ THIS!!
Thanks Diana and Jan…..he’s working on a Moose version of his post. I’ll nudge him along!
Just posted at Orange
FLOTUS and Oprah—a conversation.
That is one great conversation. um, um, um!
Thanks everyone for the tips on my indigestion issues – I’ll check out that Stanford thing, see if it tells me more, thanks for the link! I drank hot tea this morning in lieu of coffee, seemed a bit better. I will try bland diet (rice does seem to go down pretty well) and if all else fails, go to the doctor lol.
Good morning, meese! Saturday …
It is 60 degrees in Madison on its way up to 89. Sunny skies are in the forecast.
One hundred and forty-two days until the election. I guess that is too long for a nap, eh? I am having serious Trump fatigue, although I guess it would be worse if I were a Republican because the fatigue would be coupled with high anxiety and anger . The press is finally reporting on Donald Trump’s failures and failings but now the news is All Trump. Or Paul Ryan trying to provide cover for Republican officeholders.
The president’s weekly address is on the Orlando massacre. I am worn down by the murder and mayhem and yet another senseless act of violence that our “arm everyone” political climate has produced. Add that to the toxic mess emanating from the Republican Party in this election year and it is almost too much to bear. Maybe a 142 day nap is worth a try.
See all y’all later!
Moose Technical Update:
Now that we have a nominee, I am going to rework the web layout of the Moose to provide more places for election related posts. The “Editors’ Choice” will still be at the top and the “Featured Posts” on the right sidebar but the front page will be broken into sections that line up with new/repurposed categories.
If you look at the new look of the Washington Monthly, that is what I am going to try to achieve. “Top Stories” will be “Editors’ Choice” then each category will be a section with the last one highlighted and then a list. If I can’t do that with our current theme, I will look around for another one.
The categories, besides the two I mentioned, will be “Election 2016”, “In The News”, and the “Motley Megaphone” for rants. All posts will still continue to show further down on the front page.
All of this is subject to change – but I wanted to warn everyone as there will likely be some hiccups. Please share your feedback!
Also, if the Countdown Clock I put in this post is interfering with anyone’s browser or commenting, let me know and I will remove it.
No problems so far, Jan! Thanks!
The only thing the Moose occasionally still does to me is make me sign in all over again, sometimes even forcing me to go to Safari “Preferences” to clear all Web data. Then I have to sign in to every site I visit, which is a real nuisance. But thankfully, since you updated WordPress, it happens far less often than it used to!
It happens to me a few times a week. I now always do a right-click, Select All, Copy for my comments before I preview or post because I hate losing my words.
I think it has to do with how WordPress shares cookies and the number of sites that now use it, even some of the bigger sites. Maybe someday someone will care enough to fix it for us!
I actually slept through the night! No 3am wake-up. Just amazing. Got to find a way to work out later, outside will not do, we’re under a heat advisory. Right now, looking forward to Joy Reid’s show on MSNBC.
Good morning, Meese! Weather for the Father’s Day weekend: perfect. Today through Monday will be clear and sunny, with humidity so low we’ve turned off the a.c. until Tuesday.
The painter couldn’t come yesterday because his basement flooded owing to Friday night’s storm. He’s coming tomorrow instead, which is good because we’ll be home tomorrow. Today we’ll be out all day.
Daisy swim party at 1, family barbecue at 4, and I have to scurry to the gym so I can work off the half-pound I’ve put on since yesterday. I bought Monty Beagle a new, smaller bed in a leopard print and he hates it. Thought he wouldn’t mind because we discovered he’s a “curler,” not a “stretcher,” like some dogs. Well, in the two days we’ve had it he keeps getting it in his teeth and trying to drag it out through the dog flap of the door of the screened porch! Crud. I thought the leopard print wouldn’t show the dirt. I might have to rub slices of deli beef on it.
Wishing everyone a good day!
heh – I like the “Motley Megaphone” for rants.
I have no problems with changes – I still get logged out a lot and have to log back in – but that is not major.
Have to go look for past posts – tomorrow is Juneteenth. Father’s Day tomorrow too.
Have been following tweets from Peter to get a better understanding of the murder of Jo Cox, and also of Brexit.
Beautiful day here so am going to spend it outside on the porch.
Peter seems to be in a minority as supporting “Remain”. That would be sad; I think that many don’t understand that repercussions of a Brexit. As we have seen, xenophobia is not just an American problem. President Obama called Jo Cox’s husband from Air Force One yesterday. Sad for anyone to be killed by an extremist but doubly sad as MP Cox was such a force for good.
about her good work – she worked for Oxfam, and the One Campaign, and was helping with the refugee crisis. Here’s a statement from One:
A leading light who used her effervescent time on earth to fill it with joy and justice. She was a close friend to many of our team at @ONECampaign. We pray for her family and for the blessing she was to those who knew her and to the millions of people she never met, but to whom she devoted her life –
Morning all! Drinking peppermint tea (well, it’s regular black tea with spearmint leaves in there too) instead of coffee, trying to get used to that. Overcast this morning, which is good, keeps it a bit cooler anyway.
Where can I sign up for that nap till November?!! I am discouraged by all the negativity towards Hillary out there – it’s an enormous hill for her to climb, a combination of sexism, belief in 25 years of brainwashing from the right wing, and leftover resentment of Bill Clinton’s personal pecadillos which for some reason she is going to continue to answer for. Clearly, Trump is a much worse alternative even for people who don’t like Hillary, but I do worry that if the Republicans manage to dump Trump and get Cruz or Rubio or Kasich into the nomination, we’ll have a much tougher road. I don’t know how you get people to listen to good things about her – but maybe the campaign will figure that out.
OK, another rare opera broadcast today, an early Verdi opera that normally I’d be tempted to skip, but the huge attraction is Placido Domingo singing as an aged doge of Venice Francesco Foscari in I Due Foscari (not sure what the title translates into). The opera’s story is based on the historical figure of Foscari, who ruled Venice for 30 years in the mid 15th century. It’s a production from Barcelona, recorded sometime during the last year I imagine. Domingo has been my favorite singer since his career began in the 70’s – he’s 75 now, and while his voice is not what it was in his prime, he’s still force to be reckoned with and sounds fabulous particularly given his age. So, an afternoon to look forward to!
Ok, everyone have a great day!
Not quite as hot but more humid Saturday – Happy Almost Solstice! The heat index is high but the air temp is low enough I’m going to have to dial the A/C down to get it to come on. Sigh. How the heck did last week of July weather managed to sneak into the 3rd week of June? (I know, global weirding. Sigh.)
My goal of ignoring B.S. is being tested at GOS where BoBcats keep coming into positive Hillary diaries to crap. But I will persevere – this election is too important to waste energy on gnat attacks. Addison’s series on Hillary’s policy is great. Very informative and Bernie Dems are starting to come in, read, and ask honest questions which is all to the good. I think shifting the Moose Pond into General Election mode is a good idea. I haven’t had any problems with anything (other than that weirdness last weekend) – aside from the occasional insistence that I log back in. Now that I remember to copy my comment before I go do that, it’s a minor nuisance and not a major irritation. :) Bright the Day, Meeses. {{{{HUGS}}}}
Hugs right back atcha, bfitz!
Will email you this weekend. Today looks impossible.
Good morning, 53 and raining in Bellingham. I think I have a head start on the 142 day nap. My eyes are glazing over the political news, I’ve no energy for my do to list, my garden is still waiting for me, Maggie is curled up beside, and I’m ready to doze off again.
The rain is welcome today…..the lawn is getting watered and I can be in my sewing room without thinking I should be outdoors.
Yosemite welcomes Obama, the first family
The president spoke in front of a majestic backdrop of natural beauty. I posted it in the Weekly Address.