Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Feb. 12th through Feb. 18th

February 11, 2017 JanF Community 208

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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45 Comments

  1. 27 degrees in Rochester and snowing–a lot! (Why didn’t it snow on the weekend when I had plans to try x-country again after a 20+ year hiatus.)

    I hope the Flynn scandal brings down a lot more people than just Flynn,

    • Mike Pence was either part of the cover-up or a willing dupe. I lean towards the latter – he has been willing to overlook a lot for the opportunity to gain power over those who aren’t straight white christianist men.

      MIKE PENCE: What I can confirm, having spoken to him about it, is that those conversations that happened to occur around the time that the United States took action to expel diplomats had nothing whatsoever to do with those sanctions.

      JOHN DICKERSON: But that still leaves open the possibility that there might have been other conversations about the sanctions.

      MIKE PENCE: I don’t believe there were more conversations.

      JOHN DICKERSON: Okay. Okay. Okay. Let’s move on. Okay. Got it–

      MIKE PENCE: I can confirm those elements were not a part of that discussion.

      Well, there you have it. He was either lying or lied to. If he was lied to and doesn’t demand that his boss fire Flynn, he has no integrity. If he is lying, he should be removed from office.

      • Well, it would be lovely to get rid of Pence, too.

        Who do you think would be worse–a Pres. Pence or a Pres. Ryan? (Both such abysmal possibilities!)

        • This is why removing Pence first is the better path – then the Veep would be replaced by someone (that’s how we got Jerry Ford) who would then become 46 when pvl45 quit – because he’s much more likely to quit than be impeached.

          • But Trump seems to have a talent for finding the very worst people–if there is someone worse than Pense or Ryan out there, he’ll find him (and of course, “him” will be the correct pronoun).

          • Should we be able to pull that off (highly unlikely), he wouldn’t have a say in the matter. Both houses of Congress would pick and approve.

          • If Pence becomes president, he nominates a Vice President who has to be approved by a majority of both Houses of Congress. To find someone who passes muster will take a while and in the meantime the Senate is short a tie-breaker vote meaning we would only need to peel off two Republicans to block the budget reconciliation.

            There is no clear path to Pence being removed from office – there is no hue and cry for that and he is unlikely to be charged with a crime based on Flynn’s say-so. It is more likely that the orange sh*tgibbon can be convinced to resign if it is presented properly. He is clearly not having fun – he found out that the office of the president does not bring respect – the person in the office has to earn it. Sad!

  2. Good morning, Meese! It’s 37 F. here in NoVa with sunny skies and irritable winds, going up to 44 F. later. The winds howled around our house last night, tearing off one the lower shutters, hurling a plastic bag of doggy-doo into the driveway, and the newspaper under my husband’s truck.

    Just as well the roofers are coming tomorrow with new shutters (free, if you please), as well as the new roof.

    Have to drive through the howling winds today to the neighboring county to look after Mr. NewBaby from noon until 5. Hope I don’t get blown off the road.

    Does everyone here wake up each morning with a feeling of utter dread while reaching for a device to check the morning news? I always wonder whether Thing will have tweeted us into a war with someone at 3 a.m.

    For the record, after Thing has disappeared, I don’t think TupPence will be any better. He may not be crazy, but he is evil.

    • Pence will be no better in many ways but he will be closer to the parameters of Awful Republicans we have come to expect. He would probably get us into a war of choice but he is unlikely to nuke someone who simply got under his skin. And he at least gives lip service to some of the institutions that our form of government depends upon.

      One big problem is that Pence will sign the repeal of the Affordable Care Act without caring if there is a replacement and will sign any bill voucherizing Medicare and any bill privatizing Social Security. The butthead in chief promised his Basket of Gullibles that he would leave those untouched and they would turn on him if he reneges. Pence will welcome their scorn in order to toe the Ryan Republican Party line.

      • I agree – in a more just world we’d find a way to get rid of Pence first. (Is there anybody sane left in the R party to replace him with a la Jerry Ford?) pvl45 is so crazy that I think the rest of the world is actually less likely to go off the deep end at an insult from him. From Pence (or someone like Tom Cotton) would be a different story. At this point, I’m not sure the “nuke codes” pvl45 has are the real nuke codes. He’s certainly not getting any of the real intel that could be harmful to us if it fell into Russian hands.

  3. 39 feels like 31 and sunny at the moment. Nippy NNE wind. Heading for mid 50s but clouds are supposed to move in – I’ll cross my fingers and hope for after sundown. The rain isn’t supposed to start until just before midnight. Got 11.3 KWHs yesterday – last night’s monthly to date was 111.2 – and I would love to get the same today. Especially as it looks like we’re gonna be socked in with rain tomorrow.

    Just put my weekly postcards in the mail. And dropped a Village open thread at DK since there wasn’t one. Not a lot in the Resistance vein, but it’s what I can do right now. (I suppose I should count my on-going monthly donations – I keep forgetting those.) Need to get to work. Brain’s fuzzy this morning which doesn’t help. I hate sinusitis. This goofball weather makes the cedars kick out pollen most of the time. sigh

    Anyway – off to work so I can get a few official things done before the Monday meeting (which thankfully got pushed back an hour or I’d be in it right now). Bright the day and wind to thy wings, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  4. Good morning, Meese!! It’s Monday…

    Not directly affected yet by the Oroville Dam spillway, but need to check later this morning on updates.

  5. Good morning, 34 and partly sunny in Bellingham. My family has all returned to their homes so we have a quiet house this morning, and lots of laundry to keep me busy later! It was a very intense weekend, but so nice to be together.

    I enjoyed reading about the background of this young attorney……

    After block of Trump travel ban, Washington Solicitor General Noah Purcell adjusts to spotlight

    The ideals of Washington state Solicitor General Noah Purcell, who helped bring a halt to President Trump’s travel ban, were formed by a diverse community in the heart of Seattle.

    • Good morning, Ms. Denise! I should be in bed, but I’m not. Was uploading some videos from a music recital I took part in… I might share the link if there is interest. :)

    • I didn’t know that. Thank you for sharing it, Denise. And Happy Birthday Frederick Douglass!

    • Happy birthday, Frederick Douglass! Blessed be your memory.

      Denise, thanks for the reminder! Must go Wiki him when I have a minute. I devoutly hope his later life went some way toward compensating him for his miserable early life.

    • I saw this comment and had to race over to Twitter and see what was going on.

      It appears that the Basket of Incompetents running the White House could skate untouched until they embarrassed Mike Pence. We may have found their Achilles Heel. NOW if the Russians would just leak what they have on tRump – and it is recent and involves animals or children – Pence will resign in disgust and the Unified Republican Government will descend into chaos.

  9. Good morning, meese! Tuesday …

    It is 34 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 43. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.

    I hope the unfolding Flynn story does not take people’s eyes off of two things that are happening in Congress right now: the confirmation vote on Andrew Puzder for Labor Secretary and the fast track vote just announced on the OMB director, Mick Mulvaney. Mulvaney is the point man for making up the numbers that will be used to lie to people about the ACA repeal and Medicare phaseout and to set the stage for turning Social Security into welfare, instead of earned benefits, so that it can be drowned in Grover Norquist’s bathtub. On Puzder, there appear to be four Republican defections – his glaring flaws may be too much for even Republican locksteppers. The only question is whether tRump would choose a replacement even worse, an act of dominance like his aggressive handshake, or whether we would get a Labor Secretary that actually believes in Labor. In the meantime, the department is being run by career government workers who will continue enforcing the rules and that is good news for America.

    I have to avoid the shiny object that the Internet will be today because I have some things that need to be done by the 15th – which is tomorrow!

    See all y’all later!

    p.s. I noticed a few Admin requests in the comments and will get to them shortly. Watch this space!

      • If only one could show them some Twitter love!

        If I ever get a spare five, I’ll write to Twit’s HQ and ask them why I can’t get to my political account. Once I’m able to get in, perhaps I will also know the latest that’s happening.

        In the meantime, the good news is that I can concentrate on the stuff I need to concentrate on.

        • First, you have to log off your other account. Then go to the Twitter.com site again and attempt to log into your political account. Unless you told your browser to always remember you, you should have the login screen appear. From there, you should be able to have it send you a password reset. Be prepared to have to give them your cell phone number for them to call and/or text you a verification code. Once you are in, you can delete the cell phone so that they don’t have personal information.

          You can only have one account open per browser session and if you have two accounts, you need to log out then log back in to switch (I only have one but that is because my business has no reason to be on social media).

          I have my Twitter account always logged in via my cell phone so that I can pick it up and get the latest news. It can be a time sink but it is also the best way to find the latest news and the hottest takes. Plus Dee’s Tweets!!! :)

          • Never give up and never give in to the hounds of technology!!!

            If this does not work, send me an email and we will work it out offblog. Someday, there may only be Tweeted news and you should be tapped into it.

  10. Raining & chilly. I had to wear real shoes (which was actually nice, because I have Valentine’s socks & I got to wear them) and a sweater. Wonder how many more Februarys we’ll even need sweaters?

    I’m sort of glad Flynn resigned but I’ve been reading Malcolm Nance & Naveed Jamali’s twitter feeds, and I don’t think this puts a stop to Russian influence in the White House. In fact. Mr. Nance re-tweeted something by Moby of all people…. anyway, here that is:

    https://twitter.com/MalcolmNance/status/831376794360152065

    Earworm report: it’s really California, but that’s not a romantic song (U2 doesn’t really do romance), so I’m also putting in a link to an acoustic version of Just Say Yes by Snow Patrol (this is much better than the dance-y, poppy version they released) because it’s Valentine’s Day & my earworm should be romantic even if I don’t have a sweetie.

  11. Still above freezing but a chilly, drizzly Valentine’s Day – clouds moved in yesterday afternoon which is why it didn’t get below freezing – got 7 KWHs yesterday, unless it clears off later today (which doesn’t look likely) I’ll be doing good to get 5, with 2.5 more probable. sigh.

    Got to deal with my community needs stuff at DK – not sure what else I can do as part of The Resistance as phone calls while I’m at work are verboten (or however you say that in Russian) and of course their offices aren’t open when I’m not at work. I sent my weekly postcards yesterday. Need to get more postcards. sigh.

    Anyway, work calls. I’ve got a couple of projects I need to get off my desk now I’ve finally gotten the information I need to do them. Bright the day and wind to thy wings, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  12. Good morning, Moosekind! It’s 32 F. here in NoVa under cloudy skies, going up to 49 F. today. The Moose is skittish this morning, I see—had to “clear history” in order to be able to comment.

    Was sitting here at the keyboard typing sedately, still in my dressing gown, when I suddenly noticed a stepladder against my office window. It occurred to my Thinking Self that it might be a good idea to get dressed for the day. The roofers are stamping about overhead, doing their thing. The dog is safely stowed away at doggy play care, we’ve had breakfast, I’ve thrown a load of laundry into the machine, and am getting ready to have coffee with Darling Niece at her house. After that, must run to the credit union, come home and make lunch, skip out of here to go to the dentist and get the new crown, pick up Miss Pink Cheeks from school and stay with her at her house until it’s time for the Brownie troop meeting, take her home at 6:30, and then out to dinner with Dearly Beloved. Told him I refuse to cook after a day like that.

    Yesterday Mr. NewBaby objected in the strongest possible terms to being kidnapped by a strange, wild-haired old woman, stuffed into a car seat in an unfamiliar car, and taken home. A pacifier stopped the screaming but he refused to eat his lunch, attempting to feed it to me and the Labrador instead. He did eventually cheer up, I’m glad to say. Mommy, meaning DIL, suddenly appeared an hour earlier than she was supposed to, having thrown up in the conference room wastebasket at her office and deciding afterwards that she’d be better off at home.

    Every morning we wake up to the old Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.” Hope there’s a domino effect, and that Flynn’s fall will be followed by others.

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

  13. Good morning, 41 and partly cloudy in Bellingham. I have a lovely bouquet of flowers to enjoy and valentine fun to share with the family so today should have some nice moments. My tRump outrage can’t spoil everything!

    Good riddance to Flynn……who wil be next?

    The Wind Is Sown

    This is not some ill-considered discussion by Michael Flynn. The role of Russia in the 2016 election and the President’s relationship to Russia has been the un-ignorable question hanging over President Trump for months. Flynn’s resignation does not come close to resolving it. It is highly likely that the Flynn/Russia channel was authorized by the President himself. There’s much more to come.

    Happy Valentine Day to all!

  16. This is good news to folks for whom the civil rights issues simply can’t be set aside to cater exclusively to white working class voters. Old plus new …

    @jeneps: Tom Perez says he has support of 180 DNC members for chair. Winner needs 224, making it pretty tough for the many others in race to win.

    There are 470 total, leaving only 290 to be split among the other candidates.

  18. DREAMer :'(

    “U.S. authorities have arrested an immigrant from Mexico who was brought to the United States illegally as a child and later given a work permit during the Obama administration in what could be the first detention of its kind under President Donald Trump.

    Daniel Ramirez Medina, a 23-year-old with no criminal record, was taken into custody last week at his father’s home in Seattle by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.”

    [Exclusive: U.S. arrests Mexican immigrant in Seattle covered by Obama program | Reuters]
    http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN15T307

  19. Good morning, meese! Wednesday …

    It is 27 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 32. Sunny this morning and partly cloudy this afternoon. Tomorrow we are in the 30s then we give way to a string of 50 degree days! Sum-sum-summertime!!

    “Republicans In Disarray” has now reached the point where it is unlikely they will be able to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Their hardliners in the House Freedom Caucus declared that unless there are dead stacked up like cordwood – especially children and the poors! – they will not go along with Paul Ryan’s plan. Essentially, they want repeal with no replacement, period, which will not pass in the Senate even with the 51 vote threshold. For those in the Democratic Party who say we need to embrace the fringes of our party – and jettison pragmatism for purity – that is exhibit A for what happens to your party when you give the cranks too much of a voice. We have a solid platform based on Democratic Party values and we can win on that – making the case at the state level with new energy and good candidates. And Democrats will not bail out Republican Speakers of the House like they did in the past – they will own whatever happens with the ACA and they will have to run on it in 2018.

    I am beyond disheartened that the government reneged on their promise to the DREAMers and are scooping them up in the ICE raids. It sounds like the young person in Seattle has a legal team ready to fight. I am going to try to find out more.

    See all y’all later!

  20. Good Wednesday morning Meese
    29 here in Saugerties NY.

    I’m with you Jan – about the ICE raids.
    bbl – need coffee

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