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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Hello, Meese. It’s 59 F. degrees on a cold, overcast morning here in NoVa, high today expected to be 65 F.
What can I say about the horrors—first, the murder of Lt. Richard Collins by a neo-Nazi criminal, and second the awful carnage in Manchester. The Occupant has made it “okay” to voice racism openly. Lt. Collins was guilty of nothing more than breathing while black. What’s it going to take to shake this country out of its racism? Sometimes I do wish the country would break into two—the losers could live in the racist part and the decent people in the other part.
Dearly Beloved and a friend are now down with what I’ve had. M’daughter said I have the ‘flu, and after I Googled the symptoms I think she’s right. The lassitude, muscular aches, nausea—I’ve got the lot.
More child care in the middle of the day but I hope to get Younger Son to pick up Miss Pink Cheeks after school. We’re both under the weather. Also, I woke up from a nightmare at 4 a.m. and was unable to go back to sleep.
Wishing for a better day for all!
Wishing for a better day for you and yours!
I sometimes wonder if there is a plot to drive us all insane from the 10 minute news cycle. I had hoped that the vulgar talking yam’s Embarrass America Tour, because it is in a different time zone, would offer a respite from the constant barrage. But instead he insisted on releasing his budget – and the assault on the poor and helpless – while he was traveling so we have to deal with all that. I saw a headline on a news aggregation site that said “President Obama could have delivered Trump’s Muslim speech”. NO NO 1,000 times NO! There is nothing presidential or reflective or intelligent about the orange shitgibbon and there never will be.
58 at dawn – rain at 4 am – heading for 67 and overcast. Not as bad as it could be, I’m getting some generation – but if we get from the 353 KWHs we ended yesterday with to over 360 today I’ll be surprised. Grateful, but surprised. This time of year I really get the urge to garden but I know better. I can’t keep up with it, anything edible (except herbs which I have planted a couple of) would be killed by the fungus in the yard anyway, and the porch is out because the cats would dig everything up. So I do fantasy gardens in my fantasy safe space – helps prevent nightmares, too. :)
Evil does, or tries to do, what Evil does. Our job is to Resist, block it if possible and reduce the impact if not – and take back Congress in 2018. So good news on voting rights is good news for 2018. Meanwhile, I’ve got a couple of folks needing to get on my community needs list but haven’t gotten me the information yet and of course Aji got that super-blow yesterday more than doubling her already high expense septic system. And I’ve been – politely, via kosmail – requested to quit posting the community needs list in KTK. Ironic sort of since the same person a few days back thanked me for bringing someone’s issue to her attention. Only reasons I even started posting in there 1) 2 of the writers are on the build Aji’s home team and 2) a couple of the folks on my list are members of KTK. But I will stop. People who are pissed at the list being there at all aren’t going to read it to see if somebody they’d like to help is on it. sigh.
Anyway, as you can see by my late posting, I’ve got a bunch of stuff to do at work. Just taking a quick coffee break to check in. Be back when I can. Bright the day and wind to thy wings, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Why did they ask you to stop posting in KTK? If it’s ok to ask…
She said it was because people with mobile devices were having trouble loading. OK, I’m not a techie so she may be correct. But when i look at how many graphics there are in the diary and how many tweets and other graphics are posted in the comments, well, I have a problem with that rationale. Especially since I don’t post my “full line” in KTK anyway, just the first “Kossacks in Health and Financial Need” one. They’d have cause to complain if I put all 9 lengthy and link-filled comments I put in The Village diaries. (Which of course i don’t because most of those are political – they only go in The Village diaries.) Not gonna say this doesn’t upset me because it does. But that’s life. {{{basket}}}
That seems like a very weak excuse. And I’m disappointed because KTK is (or is supposed to be) about community, which includes caring for everyone. {{{bfitz}}}
Heard this morning that one of my aunts (dad’s eldest sister) passed away of a massive heart attack. Kind of numb at the moment while I’m at work.
{{{basket}}} – Healing Energy to you and your family. My faith say’s your aunt’s fine – taken ship for the Isles of the West and will be waiting when you get there. I hope your faith gives you comfort. moar {{{HUGS}}} and Healing Energy.
Good morning, 63 and sunny in Bellingham. My eyes aren’t used to this bright light, but I welcome the fresh air from the open windows.
I had forgotten about a lunch invitation yesterday when I was day dreaming about some quiet reading time in the garden. Fortunately I remembered where I was supposed to be and got there on time. I think I have a quiet day today but I had best check the calendar asap!
Good morning, meeses! Wednesday …
It is 50 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 59. Cloudy with showers expected in the morning. We will warm up a bit over the next couple of days but not by much.
For anyone who thinks that this Republican Congress will impeach and remove the orange shitgibbon from office, look no further than the hearings going on in the various committees “investigating” Russian interference in our election. Yesterday, Trey “Sweatboy” Gowdy interrogated former CIA Director John Brennan and tried to get him to clear the Trump campaign of any wrongdoing. Brennan would have none of it and later made a statement that shows just how close the Republican Party’s Win at Any Costs strategy comes to treason. If you think that the Republicans in Congress will throw not only their president but their leadership under the bus you have not been paying attention to what the Republican Party has evolved into since Eisenhower was president.
We need to focus on winning elections and getting power back. Period. People will die from Republican Unified Government and we need to resist, run for office, and regain power.
See all y’all later!
Jan, I think you’re right. I’m going to crawl back into my hole. No matter what evidence of treason is uncovered, Thing and his minions will continue to flourish.
Well, we shouldn’t let up on the investigations – every minute that the Republicans are working on protecting their president is a minute that they are not spending trying to find new ways to destroy everything that is decent in America and the world.
I am still taking in how horrifying the Republican budget is and the incredible damage it would do. I worry that they are showing us the worst so that they can “improve” it and then point to that as something great: “look how much better it is, now!” I would hope that no one would be tricked by that. This budget is the horrifying face of Modern Republicanism – attached to the horrifying face of a man so unfit that it is painful to see him operating on the world stage.
Good morning (yawn)
Finished grading papers – (except for 2 students who got Incompletes)
I’m Freeeeeeee!
Yay for freedom!!
Do you have any plans for the summer – seminars, book writing, resisting?
Am doing some speaking events – am going to start writing my “book” which has been delayed – by me – for decades – and will be doing some work with my goddaughter who is running an environmental program for kids
Good morning, Moosekind! The wet streets are beginning to dry out after the overnight rain. Current temp. is 59 F., going up to 65 F. Yesterday we had to put the electric fire on.
Jan, thank you for the good wishes. Speaking for myself, I’m feeling a bit better today, but Dearly has the gravelly voice that comes with this nasty ‘flu. I urged him to visit his doctor yesterday, so he did: she prescribed a couple of meds. and he’s feeling a bit better as well.
It’s a weird feeling to be retired and yet not have time to look at the newspaper at all. That happened yesterday. I was out weeding the front garden and planting wildflowers. The two apple trees in front have fire blight, so our tenant took the shears and cut the bad bits out. I know it’s a “First World” problem, but I’m sad at the thought of losing our Fuji and Suncrest apple trees. They’ve given such lovely fruit. However, I’ve been given to understand that our area is hopeless for gardening.
Darling Niece is coming over at 10 for coffee, and I’ve lots to do to get ready. Wishing a better day to all at the Pond and Beyond!
Chilly this morning — 50s! The weather guy said this is likely the last cold morning till fall. By Saturday, morning lows will be in the mid-70s. Sigh. I walked around after I got downtown, just to have a memory of being cool. Anyway, drinking tea, eating oatmeal & hoping the day brings minimal new horrors. Playing Ultraviolet in my head:
Oh, sugar, don’t you cry.
Oh, child, wipe the tears from your eyes.
You know I need you to be strong
And the day it is dark, as the night is long
so, today’s Wednesday not Monday but still
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Good morning! Was it the kind of Monday where you collapsed face first in your porridge? https://t.co/BUnaGbTVJ4
— Shetland Library (@ShetlandLibrary) May 22, 2017
Started the day at 49 – low 60s in the house so I turned the furnace on – heading for low 60s but sunny so far. If it stays sunny the house should be warm enough that I will be OK tonight without a fire (but will need to turn the furnace on again in the morning) and we’re heading back towards Summer (or at least late Spring) after that. only got 10.5 KWHs yesterday but that was more than expected – m-t-d is 364 at the moment. Hoping for at least that much (10.5 KWHs) and even more hoping for double by the end of day.
The Rs are Evil. I don’t know which is the worst kind of Evil. I’ve never been into creating circles of Hell that different levels of Evil were to be assigned to. In the Rs and their Deplorable supporters we are looking at obvious Evil that Hates and takes pleasure in hurting those they hate. But in the Rs of randian faith we are looking at a quieter but even more deadly in the long run Evil of totally discounting other human beings as human. That Evil sees other people as just another commodity or natural resource to mine for wealth – that such mining for wealth kills people is no more material to them than using up potable water or mining for coal – they are the only people, their wealth and the increase thereof is the only important thing. We could be animated warriors in a video arcade game – if we die, they grudgingly drop in another coin for another batch of warriors and go on. But I don’t need to know which kind of Evil is worse – I just need to fight them both. Resist, persist, insist, enlist – community strong together fighting Evil. Register and GOTV on the one hand, do community needs on the other.
Need to get back to work after I check in on the Village diaries and see if Mufftootuff is online for an update (her last comment in the diary last night she said we’d raised almost half of the $1,000 needed by Monday as of 11:15 eastern) but I know she was going to a job fair today so might not have had time before she left considering how late she was up. Bright the day and wind to thy wings, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
just got Mufftootuff’s update – raised $700 yesterday/early this morning – only $300 to go!
Good morning, 53 and cloudy in Bellingham. I’ve cleaned the screens and opened three upstairs windows so I’m enjoying the cool breeze. I finally focused on my desk yesterday so bills are paid, more files are sorted, and my box full of papers to be shredded is growing. Today I hope to take some of my better home decor magazines to the library for the free reading table. And I have another fabric donation ready for Ragfinery. Progress!
So my bribe/reward for being so diligent was a trip to a nursery for a viburnum to replace the one that died and a smaller cypress tree to replace the yew tree on the front porch. The yew tree has outgrown the pot so it will be planted by the dining room bay window where it will screen the not so charming view of my neighbors new satellite dish. I’ve got the plans, but RonK will man the shovel :)
Time for some coffee and then the pool.
Best wishes to all for a pleasant day!
Good morning, meese! Thursday …
It is 52 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 68. Scattered clouds are in the forecast. The next three days will be in the 70s!
Today, Montanans go to the polls and vote for their at-large Congressman, a seat vacated by the current Interior Secretary. Last night the Republican candidate body slammed a reporter from the Guardian and Twitter lit up. Really, though, folks who think that Republicans in a Trump+50 state are going to be put off by a candidate who body-slammed a reporter have not been paying attention. That is Trumpism in action! Democrats and other decent people make a mistake when they think that disgusting – and illegal – behaviour is off-putting to the vile people who have elevated a literal pig to the presidency.
Speaking of vile, the CBO for Trumpcare 2.0 is worse than the last one. Yes, a million fewer people will lose their coverage over the next 10 years but it is still a shocking 23 million people. I am sure that the 1 million people not in the first estimate are heaving a sigh of relief unless they are in the 60-64 age bracket where premiums are projected to go up 800% because of the change in pre-existing conditions. Many of those people will skip health insurance and hope they can make it to Medicare – and probably arrive at age 65 with more acute medical needs than if they had had healthcare for the prior 5 years. Republicans intent on giving a $989 billion tax break to the top 2% have trouble with basic math and, really, common sense. Maybe they hope they can kill Medicare too so that those chickens never come home to roost. :(
See all y’all later!
Three major Montana papers revoked their endorsement of Gianforte
However according to WaPo a big chunk of votes have already been cast
“It’s also the case that Montana early voting had already wrapped up. By the end of the day on Sunday, Decision Desk HQ reports that 226,554 votes had already been tallied, slightly more than were cast in early voting in 2014, the most recent non-presidential-year House contest in the state. (TargetSmart’s Tom Bonier noted that the party split of the 2017 votes was about the same as during the election three years prior, which Zinke won by 15 points.) In 2014, only about 368,000 votes were cast in total. What turnout will look like in a special election is hard to predict, but if it’s similar to 2014, that means that 62 percent of votes have already been cast early.”
I saw that about the early voting last night. It is impossible to say exactly whose votes those are.
Maybe people will be put off by the lies – the statement that was released before the Gianforte campaign realized that there was audio of the assault and Fox News reporters willing to back up Ben Jacobs’ version. Oops!!
(how did you do that with the sliding bar quote???)
I have no idea what happened – I cut and pasted from a comment I had made at Dkos, the wapo link was in it – it came out weird here so I deleted and put in “”
It must have had hidden html code embedded in it! Very cool. :)
Thursday and 58 with rain here in Saugerties NY
On Trump and Pope Francis – lots of folks on twitter weighed in on The Hypocrite-in-Chief gifting the Pope books by MLK
I was amused to see that Pope Francis trolled the shitgibbon by giving him a copy of his encyclical on climate change. I am sure he laughed his holy ass off at the notion that someone with a 12-second-attention-span would ever read it.
They were wrong yesterday, one more cool morning — 64 on my way in. Tomorrow & through the weekend — lows in mid to upper 70s. Of course, Memorial Day in Austin means rain. There is a rule. We have to stop saying that things can’t get crazier, because the universe hears us & says “oh yeah?” Brain is playing The Little Things That Give You Away, I love the transition to the outro (that’s what one of my musician friends called it — the part around 3:30, the guitar just picks up my heart & runs with it)
this thread from Brianna Wu (among other things, she a candidate for Congress, in Massachusetts I think)
https://twitter.com/Spacekatgal/status/867715535794036736
it didn’t work, let me try this
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1/ I wish the average man knew just how strongly most feminists want to fight for you. We know you are harmed every day by patriarchy.
— Brianna Wu (@Spacekatgal) May 25, 2017
Good morning, Moosekind, and happy Thor’s Day! We may get some thunderstorms this morning but I hope the heavy rain of overnight is on its way out. I hate to complain about the rain, considering that June through August means drought in our area, so I will simply remark that the grass is a dazzling emerald and we have lots of weeds and worms.
Dearly Beloved had a rotten night because of the illness. The first thing it attacks is the head and the voice—in other words, it starts with a bad headache and a gravelly voice. He’s cancelled his physical therapy appointment this afternoon and will spend the day resting.
I’m feeling better but thinking of changing my name from Diana in NoVa to Diana McMucus. Believe me, I am single-handedly responsible for the rise in the value of Kleenex shares. That I can tell you.
Flabbergasted or gobsmacked by the assault in Montana. You see, THIS is what The Occupant has made acceptable: someone asks a question you don’t like, you whack him. Wonder what the reaction would be if the reporter had been a gurrrl?
Speaking of gurrls, a 4.0 student at a Christian school who has transgressed Christian values (all by herself, apparently) will not be allowed to walk across the stage in her graduation gown to accept her diploma. So much for “Christian” love and understanding! The gurrl was “immoral” for having sex outside marriage and it shows. This is one of the reasons women choose abortion: the female gets all the shame and all the blame. Screw patriarchy!
We have some of this as well!
We have had rain for the better part of the past week and it shows in the GREENS everywhere. We have had drought although it is not a typical summer thing but I always welcome rain. Contrary to popular belief, witches do not melt when they get water on them!!
I wondered about the “girl reporter” versus Ben Jacobs, who appears, though, to be a smallish man. Remember when the shitgibbon was riling the crowds up against Katy Tur from NBC? She was actually physically threatened. If I recall, Corey Lewandowski assaulted a reporter at a Herr Twittler rally and was never charged – in fact he got a lucrative gig at CNN from it. I was laughing at Morning Joe’s bleat that somehow there will be a price to pay for assaulting a reporter. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! There are NEVER consequences for Republicans Acting Badly and he has been front and center in the protection of them. And [bad word] Chuck Todd for calling it “our politics” instead of Republican thugs.
Our television media is disgraceful.
45 at dawn and heading for upper 70 on a bright sunshiny day. Only got 15 KWHs yesterday but I’m close enough to 400 for the month that today should put us over – if it stays as bright and sunshiny as it started. If may not be “normal” summer here, but the bugs are out anyway. Bugs are the number one reason why I don’t like summer. I’m gonna put humidity in second. If I could somehow escape biting bugs and “sweat don’t dry’ humidity, i’d love summer – but the otherwise lovely heat makes itchy bug bites itchier. sigh.
The Rs are Evil. just no way around it. They hurt people for fun. They lie with every breath – mostly so they can exacerbate whatever hurt they’ve just committed by blaming the victim. They chortle over taking food from the hungry – especially children. Taking granny’s life savings for fraudulently jacked up electric bills is just hysterically funny. Killing is a game to them. We must Resist, block, push back – and take back Congress. We must. Our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor depend on doing that. But we must also Resist, block, and push back the Hate that gave them Power. Only Love can conquer Hate – every act of kindness, of courtesy, of support – of Love – is an act of Resistance. (Still $202 to go for Mufftootuff’s rent, darn it.)
i need to get back to work. There is an ungodly convoluted mess on my desk that could have been prevented if the faculty member who made it had just asked me what the procedure was before she did it “her way” – but I’ll visit the Villages first. Bright the day and wind to thy wings, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Joyous dancing on the ceiling in my mind update – Mufftootuff just got the last of the funds needed! W00T!!! Celebrate, Celebrate, Dance to the Music! :) :) :)
Yay! Good news. :)
{{{Diana}}} – really. And I always feel responsible when people come to me for help, even though I know better, so it’s such a relief as well as a rejoicing.
Good morning, 50 and sunny in Bellingham. I seem to be having a mini rebellion re keeping my calendar up to date and I can’t remember where I’m supposed to be without it. So I was late for the dentist yesterday but they were nice about it and I can finally get my missing tooth replaced, yay! And today I see a hematologist with the hope I can take an arthritis med along with the blood thinner. Anti inflammatory drugs work best for my aching joints, but they can’t be combined with Coumadin, and the newer blood thinners may be to risky. So I don’t have high hopes, but my quality of life would certainly improve if I can find some relief from the arthritis in my joints, especially my spine.
I thought the appointment was next week but fortunately Ron was here to take the courtesy call. Now I’ve got to hurry and fill out the paperwork I was supposed to have mailed in :(
Healing Energy – I’m still at the point that heat, especially moist heat, is all I need to help my creakiness. Holding the Good Thought for you. {{{HUGS}}}
Friday morning and it’s raining.
Just finished reading this at Der Spiegel
He is a horrible embarrassment. I was glad to see that NATO leaders did not suck up to him but reflected what decent people all over America feel. This clip of Macron greeting Angela Merkel first was great. The orange-hued vomit-sack tried to do that handshake thing where he asserts his male dominance. Someone needs to punch him in the nads.
I love J.K. Rowling’s commentary: “Macron greets the leader of the free world first”!
Here’s the video, from Macron’s account:
Good morning, meeses! Friday … finally! I have been having what felt like a week of Fridays beginning on Wednesday.
It is 55 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 70. Cloudy with showers possible this afternoon.
I am not surprised that the body-slammer won the special election in Montana. The state was Trump+21 only 6 months ago and the free advertising he got as a Manly Man willing to beat up reporters probably brought new voters out of the woodwork to show their fLaming tRumpian assholery. If I were Quist, I would not have invited Bernie Sanders to stump with me but I am also not a straight white male and Sanders’ rejection of identity politics probably appealed to him. I doubt it appealed to Montanans who have elected Democrats but not guys who think you can flip the country to support single-payer and free college simply by finger jabbing and looking angry at people who disagree with you. By the way, the Republican Party spent $7 million on this contest and sent in very big gun they had. They will not be able to protect all of their seats like that in 2018. On to GA-06 – a better opportunity for a pickup than blood red Kansas and Montana.
The Senate is going to recess and will not be back until June 5th. Rumor has it that the gang of 13 men are having a difficult time reaching a consensus on ACA repeal and that if there is enough pressure from constituents, they will shelve the project and move to tax “reform”. I am going to contact Ron Freaking Johnson’s office to make sure that he knows I am NOT okay with my health insurance premium going up 800%.
The shitgibbon is such a horrible embarrassment. I am going to go find Barack Obama’s Berlin speech as a salve.
Hillary Clinton will be addressing Wellesley graduates today at 10:30am Eastern. Links are here:
See all y’all later!
Good thread here from Al re Montana
Ha!! Great minds think alike – I just posted that same Tweet (it ended up on the next page of comments). It has some excellent advice for candidates – to use local resources and quit trying to nationalize these races. It is tempting because the Big Blue National ATM will pay for a lot of ads but you have to have policies that match your district.
We will do better in Georgia CD06 because that district is a true swing district. Georgia has the right mix of people and politics to become a blue state in the not so distant future and our candidate there is a good fit.
Friday before a long weekend. Yay! I’m going to catch up on Handmaid’s Tale and start on American Gods. It’s going to be hot — heat indexes over 100 all weekend, till it rains on Monday. When I opened a tab for youtube, I was looking for a U2 song, but it had this INXS song sitting there. Sweet, happy, fun. Wish he was still here. Please let the weekend pass with no fresh horrors. Or only routine political/financial ones.