Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Jan. 29th through Feb. 4th

January 28, 2017 JanF Community 390

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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63 Comments

  1. Looking for shelter from another political site on which partisan grandstanding seems to be preempting focused political action — so many familiar faces here already. Am off the front lines right now with a back injury but am gearing up via keyboard for the battles ahead, which I think are going to be wide-spread & fierce. We so need these gathering spots to share information, ideas, plans, support & encouragement — my thanks to moose everywhere :-)

    • Take care of your back. My mom had decades of back problems. Definately (sic) not fun.

  3. Good evening! Logged in from home at the moment; dunno if I’ll be able to get past the firewall at work to log in from there but I’ll try it tomorrow. If not, you’ll only see me around in the evenings. {{{{hugs}}}} to all!

  4. Welcome, new moose! I usually do individual greetings but there are a lot of you! I hope to get to know you all better as time goes on.

    Sorry for the delay getting your comments released – I generally only check the “First Comment” moderation queue a few times a day and then once again before I turn off my computer for the night.

    Next steps: I will set up a Subscriber account for each person who left a comment. The Motley Moose will send you an email with your username and a temporary password. Watch for an email from “wordpress @ motleymoose.net” with sign in information. Don’t forget to check your spam folder! If you don’t get one or something goes wrong, you can comment with your email address in the meantime. You can’t write or “Fierce” until you are a Subscriber.

    If you click on The Moose on the main menu, you can see the FAQs. The documentation for the site is still a work-in-process (two years later) as in “I started then got busy with other stuff”. Bellow at any moose if you get lost …

    FAQ: Getting Started
    FAQ: How to Log in

    I hope I got everyone! I “author”ized those who expressed an interest in writing – if I missed you, let me know. I am generally online in the early morning for check-in and then periodically throughout the morning. I try to check the comment queue 3 or 4 times a day.

    I set up a new Category “It Takes A Village” for posts that reflect your former community’s point of view. No buses here! :) We respect everyone’s right to have an opinion and when we disagree, we are not disagreeable.

    I will have more later on how to navigate the site.

    Welcome to the Pond!

      • Watch for the new user email from the Motley Moose. Once you log in, you will be able to post without an email address and can Fierce (Like) posts and comments.

    • Thank you so much JanF for welcoming us refugees! I feel tension draining from my shoulders already! I’m interested in writing, don’t know if I’m “authorized”, how do we tell? #BlessTheMoose

    • Thank you for letting us hang out in Moose country. I love the smell of fresh air (and moose droppings…)

  5. Good morning, meese! Wednesday …

    It is 30 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 27. Clouds this morning giving way to sunshine this afternoon.

    Blessed Imbolc to you all! I will be recycling my post from last year after I get a few site admin projects done. Welcome to all the new meese!

    I hope the Democrats in the Senate slow walk the Gorsuch nomination. A stolen Supreme Court seat being filled by an illegitimate president doesn’t deserve any institutional respect. But right now we need to focus on stopping Sessions and keeping Paul Ryan from killing us all.

    See all y’all later!

  6. Good morning, Meese! The sky is a pale, dim blue at this hour of the morning, not quite eight o’clock. Current temp. here in NoVa is 30 F., going up to 47 F. later.

    Feeling excited by all the new Meese joining us at the Pond—welcome, Skookum, rubyr, and Avilyn! Will look for other newcomers in the older comments. I’m dismayed by what’s going on at dk with the banning of Village people. If the purpose of that site is to elect more and better Democrats, I don’t know why the admins are such determined Bernie lovers: he’s not a Democrat.

    Jan, thank you for setting up “It Takes a Village” place.

    My head is spinning, I don’t know what to try to do first for the Resistance. There’s a lot going on in my personal life, including the fact that I’ll have to call my dentist today and ask her why the temporary crown is still causing such dreadful aches.

    The theory of the day is that all these awful events are being implemented for a reason: complete shock and paralysis value. It’s to confuse us to the point that we won’t do anything. As bfitz says, we need to pick one area of pushback and stick to it rather than trying to resist everything at the same time. Other people will pick their own areas. Wish we could be organized into teams, such as Supreme Court, Immigration, Repro Rights, Medicare and ACA, and Social, just to name a few.

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!

    • It’s difficult to know where to start!

      Here is a WaPo story from this morning, talking about Democratic women stepping up and getting more active:

      The poll finds 40 percent of Democratic women say they will become more involved in political causes this year, compared with 25 percent of Americans more broadly and 27 percent of Democratic men. Nearly half of liberal Democrats also say they will become more politically active, as do 43 percent of Democrats under age 50. Interest in boosting activism is far lower — 21 percent — among independents and Republicans alike.

      The breadth of activist leanings from the left follows a deeply divisive election in which Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton, the first female nominee of a major party to vie for the presidency. His treatment of women became an issue for his campaign.

      We have to educate people about voting. I have no illusions that people will say “Wow, this sucks! Let’s vote in the midterm.” without strong grassroots organizing. I feel sad that the 23 year old woman in the article who did not vote is going to lose her healthcare but what on earth did she think the election was all about?? Education … education … education.

      I can’t do much to greet the new people yet because I have to deal with a messy desktop and Inbox. I don’t know the format of the village posts or I would do a sample for them. I guess we have to hope that someone with WordPress skills can get something going.

      • I feel sad that the 23 year old woman in the article who did not vote is going to lose her healthcare but what on earth did she think the election was all about?? Education … education … education.

        So true! My son worked on GOTV in Iowa and he successfully got some young friends of his to vote. This is the argument he used. Unfortunately we did not get the person who will actually follow through.

        BTW, thanks, JanF, for activating my membership here!

      • It is happening across the board, even in red state or red districts, the sleeping giant has awaken. I am also into Espresso and all kinds of coffee, the Gods.

      • I just joined my local Democratic club- Canyon Democrats. We’re going to be focusing on getting more voter registrations. I know that seems like coals to Newcastle, but here in Orange County, Ca Republicans have ruled the roost for decades. Getting Democratic into government city by city and school board by school board.

  7. Leaving work early today to get in that 10 mile walk I didn’t do on the weekend. Doing bills this morning, so depressing. I need to cut my spending even more & I already never eat out or buy anything……Will have to think about a 2nd job, after the race in 3 weeks. Ok. Well I’m going to play some U2 really loud in my head. Salome is always a good one for driving out all thought.

  8. Morning guys!

    Thanks for the hospitality again! To our outnumbered but not defeated democrats in the Senate: make McConnell go nuclear to get that pick confirmed. I know this is a cliche, but leave it all on the field and the voters got you come 2018. Sherrod Brown was first to come out against the new pick..encouraging. If he survives 2018, he should be on the short list to be on a 2020 ticket.

    • {{{rto}}} – so glad you are here. If you have the time to do it, it’d really appreciate it if you’d get with Jan to work out how to do Village diaries on this platform. Your diaries (and comments) tend to be the most graphic heavy so if you and Jan can figure out how to do them, we’ll know the rest are possible. moar {{{HUGS}}}

    • Hey all, dawgflyer13 from DK here. DoReMi told me this was the new hip happenin’ place to be, so I thought I would jump on over here and join my peeps. I haven’t been around for a while, the daily bernout victimhood/ poutrage was old and tiresome so I quit going. I am definitely looking forward to seeing old faces, having new (and some old) arguments (NOT about he-who-shall-not-be-named) and building a new community.

      • So glad you wandered over; we’ve missed your comments and your ahem pithy way with words.

    • Hi Reese!

      I agree. Make Mitch go nuclear. I say make the GOP own the whole mess. I notice they just changed the rules because the Dems skipped committee meetings and pushed through Mnuckin and Price. Fine ….then them own the mess. The easier it will be to motivate voters in 2018.

  9. Jan has a lovely Imbolc post up on the front page, including a song. The hovers are so funny!

    While we’re on the subject of Imbolc, if anyone’s interested, I have a story, “The Glamor of a Witch,” up on my website. You can find it at:

    goddessfiction.com

    Happy reading if you want a respite from President Bannon’s doings!

  10. Hi Meeses/Village Peeps – I am so glad everybody’s here. It’s gonna take a little time to learn the new “system” of generating posts/diaries/stories but there are enough of us to keep at least one daily Village Resistance community thread going once we get started.

    Jan, the “format’ for Village posts since the election has been: title, graphic with a Resistance theme, a block of links to Resistance sources and/or activities (like to contact info for congresscritters or upcoming meetups or marches), then “annotated” tweets or other online items usually dealing with who was responding to which bombshell how. The comments are pretty “community open thread” ranging from pet health to ball games to what we’ve done as part of the Resistance and how it worked out – with some additional “what’s going on tweets, a pootie or birdie pic or two, and sometimes a music video. (Folks who actually write them – especially reesetheone as you use so many graphics in yours – please add some detail so Jan can better help us to get set up.)

    I’ll be posting both places unless somebody decides I’m too cen-dem to have around. I kind of doubt it simply because of how much of what I do is in the community fundraiser, street prophets, and pootie peeps communities. But it’s possible since I am the originator of the Village community. I am seriously looking forward to the Village at the moose pond. Where as long as we keep it polite, venting can be done without worrying about who might report us, and there will be much less to vent about (from our own team – there will always be stuff to vent about from the Rs) in first place.

    Happy Imbolc to those who celebrate it, Candlemass to those who celebrate that, and just the sun coming up to those who celebrate that. :) Got 181 KWHs for Jan. 2017 – less than Jan. 2016 and about the same as Jan. 2015. Starting the new month so no real data yet. We shall see what we shall see. Got to take the car back to the shop – need to call them in a minute – the “workaround” they gave me to shut of the alarm system is very temporary – like the alarm resets 2 minutes after the engine’s turned off – it goes off again the next time you open the door for anything. So meanwhile, my friend/co-worker and I will be coming to work in her husband’s rattly truck. Speaking of work, I gotta get to it. Be back when I can. Bright the day and wind to thy wings, Meeses new and old. {{{HUGS}}}

    • If you can give me a link to a recent diary, I will generate a template for you so that your peeps have a starting point. Sometimes the setup of the pictures and links from DK to WordPress can get a bit hairy. If you have something you can copy, it makes life easier. I will set it up in your name.

      I can do something later this morning but have to get a few left over end of month things done. Plus, I want to read about the new SCOTUS nomination – I am hoping that the Giant Toddler has gotten enough attention from this to stop destroying everything we hold dear for at least one day! It is exhausting!!

    • Hi Arkansas ceo! Graphics will be scaled down going forward… links to articles with the graphics probably works best :)

      • I’m not technically savvy, but I figure there are enough in the Village by the Moose Pond with those skillsets to get us going. And well, if we’re not battling the extremists of our own party, you’re right – they can be scaled back a bit. :)

    • {{{{bifitz}}}} Thanks for gathering up us little chicks and helping us land in a good home.

      • Thank you but I bless the folks who created the good home and kept the lights on so it’s here when we need it.

    • “But it’s possible since I am the originator of the Village community.”

      The Hillary community diaries were established for well over a year–three each day–every day–I don’t remember seeing even one written by you. After the election, you formed a group, which takes ten minutes. Then you proceeded to tell people what they could and could not say, like a dictator. Enjoy bragging on yourself here and making people like me feel that this is not a place they want to be, just like you did on Daily Kos. Your self aggrandizement above is obnoxious. Carry on.

      Sorry to all of the people I see here and love, but I cannot stomach this person taking credit for the very, very hard work that people like Scan, Sjohnson, starbucksgirl, reesetheone, rugbymom and so many others did for over a year as if she did it all, when she did very little. It’s absurd.

      Sorry, Motley Moose, I had to say this.

      • Ruby – I think you misunderstood what bfitz wrote. She is not taking credit for Hillary diaries.
        She’s my friend – you are my friend so please – take that back.

      • Haven’t changed a bit I see…You read into things that only you see and when anyone tries to mend fences with you over your perceived hurts or disagreements you won’t bend one bit…Have fun with your obvious hatred for people that only love you ruby.

        • Batch…. it’s cool. Arkansas ceo has the right to have some power and have sway and if you wanna call it ownership or hunger because she Did put Vutb together… it was the the scooping up of Hillary News and views Arabian’s hangout and Sj’s evening thread.

          lysis hasn’t logged on since 11/9 Arabian was hurt and Sj is still cranking out the hits. Arkansas ceo kept it together. Did it make me a target being vutb? Yes. In fact I feel responsible and think if I wasn’t a member or writer of that group hammer doesn’t get dropped.

          Ruby and I had our battles lol! And one thing I do know is she’s strong in her convictions and stands by them. I like that about her the most.

  11. Just checked my email…. got the link to set up my password…. keep getting message that link is invalid and to request new link, so haven’t set up password yet. Whenever you get a chance, no hurry, please advise.

    Thanks!

    • If the link says password is invalid, look and see if there is a lost password link to click on (says the woman who needed 3 tries to login successfully) Keep going till you get in. We need you here!

  12. Good morning! 25 degrees here, so a typical MI winter day, but WE HAVE SUN!!! This is actually newsworthy; we were on a long streak of grey, overcast days. Today there is sun and blue skies, and after so much gloom, my mood has taken an immediate boost.

    JanF, thank you so much for opening your doors to us wayward pragmatists. I’ll try to remember to wipe my feet before entering and keep them off the furniture, but please be forewarned: if I notice their are chocolate chip cookies in the cookie jar, all self-control is lost.

    To my family from the Village: I’m going to be keeping a foot in the orange place for awhile, in part to invite other Villagers to check out the new digs and inform them how to ask JanF for an invite. If any of you are able to do the same, please K**mail folks and let them know where we are. This morning, I mailed Captain Black Dog. If my work schedule allows (1st of month…AAAAAHHHHH crazy!!!), I will also contact MichaelHolmans. If you prefer, just list names of people that you want contacted, and I’ll get to them as time allows.

    Now it’s time for me to do a little exploring. Wait, is that a pond I see…

        • Well, she’s not set up to receive DMs on Twitter. I sent her a regular tweet, but I didn’t want to give the name of this site on Twitter. Hopefully, my message is not too cryptic, and she’ll either check the old haunt or tweet me back with ??? so we can figure something out.

  13. Hellooooooo, Villagers – and Mooses! I used to hang out here in the olden days but migrated back to the GOS. I think my user name here was the same as it is at DK – mikidee – but what the heck do I know.

    Anyhoo, can I be reinstated, please, JanF? See info below ….

  14. Hello.
    Thanks for accepting my request to join, and I’m look forward to our collaborations against the cheeto regime.

  16. Good morning, 35 and mostly sunny in Bellingham. So nice to welcome new visitors to the moose pond! I live in the PNW so I’m on lazy left coast time and usually the last to check in.

    More than 21,000 Washington residents are from countries banned by Trump

    “We are fearful,” said Mehdi Nakhjiri, of Kirkland, who was born in Iran. He has lived in the U.S. since 1973, and is a dual citizen.

    “We are not used to this language,” he said of some statements on Muslims by the current administration. “This new narrative is very scary.”

    Nakhjiri, a structural engineer for Boeing, is one of more than 7,000 state residents who were born in Iran. Of the seven banned countries, only Somalia has a larger representation in the state, at about 7,800 people.

    ~snip~
    rump says his executive order is an anti-terrorism measure intended to keep America safe. He blames the media for reporting it as a Muslim ban.

    Nakhjiri disagrees.

    “In my judgment, this is religious persecution, pure and simple,” he said. “It contradicts the core of American values.”

  18. Hi Jan and VUTB peeps :)
    I, too, am a refugee seeking a new gathering place to lay my battle-weary head, refresh and restore my spirit, and hear about everyone’s pooties, woozles, floks and lives!!!

    Don’t think I can face the never-ending multiple-vehicle pile-up that is life in Bannonstan without community.

    The day here, BTW, is sunless and chilly, like my mood :( But both will improve, I’m a Gemini and quite truly mercurial!!

  19. Boy…. oh boy….. Sessions got through committee. That’s not surprising but awful.

    He’s going to be the enforcer to roll us back to leave it to beaver days and looking at what happened today, gop breaking committee rules and getting his cabinet picks through.

    In short, they’re playing for keeps and It’s gonna be hard to stop this freight train. The right to assemble and protest will come under fire before June…. right around the time SCOTUS make country changing decisions.

    Trumpworld…. buckle up folks. Can’t give up.

  20. Hi folks- it’s 59 degrees here in sunny Mission Viejo, CA.

    Jan- I got your email for joining and the new password but I have flubbed the login twice and my now on my 3rd password reset. Which goes to show you should never do things before you’ve had caffeine. I really do want to join!

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