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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Good “morning”, Motley Meese! The week begins …
Morning low of 72 degrees in Madison WI with an expected daytime high of 88. Variable cloudiness.
Have a great day, all y’alls!!
Good Sunday Morning Meese. 63 going up to 93 here in Saugerties NY.
Today – Loving Day is being celebrated in many locations – marking the 50th anniversary of Loving v VA
Liked this tweet from Peter Daou
It will be my Sunday topic at orange.
It still amazes me that the Republican Party is doubling down on their strategy of keeping power based solely on their appeal to white supremacy. At some point even the slave states will have a lot of voters who are not white and the Republicans’ electoral path will be blocked. I suspect that the 2016 election is not going to be very instructive because of the tampering with our election by James Comey and the Russians – and the impact of third parties where disgruntled voters had a place to cast their “protest” vote. But I had hoped that 2016 would be the point where the demographics of multi-racial multi-religion America would override the butthurt white vote. The electoral tsunami was further out to sea but it is coming. I hope it arrives soon enough to save our planet not to mention the lives of people whose safety nets will be ripped away.
Multi-ethnic impact in 2016 was watered down via both suppression and district gerrymandering.
This didn’t help either:
I saw that unfolding on Twitter yesterday and after a few frustrated tweets, I had to shut it down.
Today’s headline “Sanders says progressives need to win more elections”. JHC on a popsicle stick!! Of course we do! “Millions of people protesting will change Trump’s mind” was never a realistic way to power. And we can’t win elections with a one-size fits all national purity platform. We win when we tailor our message to the individual state and congressional districts, where we find Democratic candidates from those areas who understand the area. That does not have any place in his purity platform, a platform that rejects a Jon Ossoff and, even more unhinged, the east and west coasts.
It’s up
Thanks! Re-tweeted …
Good morning, Meese! It’s going to be another hot, beautiful day here. Current temp. is 64 F., going up to 90 F. As it’s Father’s Day, we’ll have my husband’s favorite summer meal, steak and corn on the cob on the grill. Hope the peaches I bought will be ripe enough to grill as well.
Felt impelled to buy a copy of The Lost Tycoon, a book written about Thing in the 1990s. Ugh. The author wrote an update to his book during the campaign last year, warning that Thing was just as awful as the book relates.
My day will be spent doing personal things—getting nails done, watering the garden, watching the Formula I race in Montreal this afternoon. Hope time will permit a look at interesting posts here and elsewhere.
Wishing all a peaceful Sunday!
On this! “Thing was just as awful as the book relates.”
I think that folks knew that he would be awful but few realized just how awful – and how quickly it would manifest in ways that affect our daily lives.
I was reading a post yesterday about how one institution that we had in place, the political party system, failed us miserably. One of our founding fathers (Washington?) suggested that having political parties with too much power could lead to ruin and he was right. Party power became more important than the best interests of the country and, combined with the landmines placed in our Constitution in order to placate the slave states, a political party beholden only to the wealthy appealed to the fears of people faced with the loss of their white male Christian privilege. A bunch of amendments were made to the Constitution and laws were passed but as a country we did not reconcile the flowery promise of our founding documents with the deeply ingrained notion of white male supremacy. When 62 million people choose White Male despite evidence that he is completely unsuited, the disease that was let to fester beneath the surface is now a stage 3 cancer on our democracy. I hope it is not inoperable but I could sure use some good news from the doctors. If we can’t stop the growth until January 2019, I am not sure the patient will survive.
Dear Goddess, just looked at the calendar and realized that it’s NOT Father’s Day! That’s next Sunday. I’d got it firmly into my head that it was the second Sunday of this month. Duhh… I’d blame it on age, but the fact that every other email in my inbox was screaming about Father’s Day threw me off.
Never mind. Dearly enjoyed his card and his small box of chocolates anyway. :)
Hahaha! I believe it is later than usual this year, I always think of it as around the 14th.
I am glad you said something. I almost commented to someone who recently lost their father about it being their first “fatherless” Fathers Day.
Another 3 day work week next week. Going back to 5 day weeks is going to be hard. But I need the rest, hadn’t taken vacation days in months. Today I have a meeting after church, then going to the gym. Don’t have to cook this week, will make oatmeal on Tuesday or Wednesday. Heard a song from the ‘90s at the gym yesterday (Not Gonna Work This Time), it’s been stuck in my head ever since. I liked that song, wonder what happened to her. This morning I’m playing Little Things, because I love it.
67 at dawn heading for mid-80s, sunny and relatively cool (75) at the moment. Got a little over 20 KWHs again yesterday and the m-t-d is sitting at 171 at the moment. For about the next 4 weeks it’s technically possible to get 25 KWHs in a day with my system but I’m not going to bet on it. My lavender is still blooming and the roses (courtesy of the rain a week ago) are at “petal drop” stage but still lovely color and pretty from a distance. Cocoa-peanut butter muffins this week.
pvl45 is crazy and evil, the rest of the Rs are just evil – and the Extreme Left is nudging the evil line. By their fruits shall ye know them. But we still outnumber them and we will overcome them – but it’s a war, not a game or even a series of games. When the U.S. entered WWII, Churchill said he went to bed and slept for the first time since he became Prime Minister – that as bad as everything was and with the blows he expected to come in the immediate future, he knew we would win. That between us all – all the Allies – we had the largest population and the largest amount and number of resources and we would win. Which we did. That is true of now. Despite how bad everything is now and with the blows that we know are coming, we still have the largest population and the blue states still have the largest amount and number of resources. We will win.
Just taking a coffee break to check in. Need to read the British Breakfast and Denise’s diary at DK (I’ve always loved the fact that their name is Loving – could there have ever been a more appropriate name for them and that Court case?) then get back to my Sunday stuff. Bright the day, Meeses. {{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 56 and partly sunny in Bellingham. It’s our daughters birthday today. She is going hiking with her family and Ron and I are remembering how our lives changed as we became parents 49 years ago. How can that be!
I’m going to be gardening with our son today, planting his containers and window box. He likes red flowers so we have geraniums, petunias, and begonias in various shades of red with some white dahlias and yellow accent plants to add some interest. If I can find some small gartenmeister fuschias for him the orange/red flower will add to the mix. It’s fun to plant with him because he does most of the work while I supervise :)
This article, at the Wa Monthly, is a reminder of how important it is to do all we can to preserve and protect health care for everyone in our troubled country.
The Best Health Care Money Can’t Buy
President Obama declared that access to health care is a right, not something reserved for those who have money and power.
If the ACA is repealed in the way the Republicans are proposing, it will be the worst outcome possible for our country. I will never forgive those who voted for tRump or stayed home in a purity peeve if that happens. This is not political strategy in smoke-filled rooms – it is literal life and death for many people.
Sad and funny…
A Number of Reasons I’ve Been Depressed Lately
And election night:
I am still saying that.
Oh, Goddess, yes. I believed. I believed everything I was reading, that she was such a shoo-in it was going to be a landslide.
And then…came the results around 9 p.m. EST.
I’ll never believe polls again. I don’t care what the polls in Atlanta are saying about Ossoff. I just don’t believe them.
Good Monday morning Meese
64 degrees here in Saugerties – continuing up into the 90’s today.
Grrr – MSNBC
On another note – I’ve more than had it with the people who want to change the Democratic Party – and ain’t Democrats.
I will now walk away from the keyboard – because I feel a spate of cursing coming on.
The Foxification of MSNBC is an ugly thing to see. I guess if you lack any imagination, the easiest way to put together a successful product is to emulate your successful rivals. But Fox was successful because they sold hate and pandered to haters and created and propagated hateful conspiracy theories to make the haters hate more. Heck, we could emulate the Republican Party’s success by jettisoning all decency and lie and cheat to gain power and wield power. But then we would not be Democrats.
Democrats needs to start ignoring Bernie Sanders and his band of destroyers. They were buoyed by the Labour non-victory and completely ignored the impressive win by Macron and his party – center-leftists. A socialism model will not work in America, by revolution or by election. Our type of democracy, and our type of economy, is pretty much set. We need to work within that framework and put in place safety nets for those who aren’t able to thrive and via regulation and taxation control the worst impulses of capitalism and level the playing field for people who are not born to wealth.
I noticed that Smartypants got peeved yesterday at the non-unity being promoted by a guy the Democrats sent on a unity tour. Someone needs to find Keith Ellison and sit him down and tell him that depressing the people over 50 who vote is not the way to win. They are going to have us around for at least another 20-30 years and they will need us to win elections. If he can’t get Sanders to STHU, then he is part of the problem.
Al Giordano recommended ignoring them and going quietly about the hard work of getting Democrats elected. I think Tom Perez is working on that and I see a lot of get out the vote organizations popping up. That is where the work is done, not by an old white man waving his finger at people telling them that if they aren’t pure any victory is stained. No. Losing kills people – we don’t have time for social experiments when we are cut off from every bit of power, the social safety net is straining, and our political enemies are unprincipled. Find candidates who fit their districts, for state legislatures and Congress, work to get them elected and when there are more Ds than Rs, start the hard work of fixing the mess created by purity.
boycott movement growing:
Good morning, meese! Monday …
It is 79 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 86. Chance of thunderstorms all day. The high heat will continue for the next 4 to 5 days.
I don’t sleep well with the windows closed and the air conditioning on. I know that I would not be sleeping at all without the a/c but I miss my night sounds.
Busy day here. See all y’all later!
Monday. Blergh. I have mapped out things to actually do on Tues & Wed (I’m taking 2 more days off), but I really hope that that “increased sleep” thing from exercising kicks in soon. Meanwhile: eating oatmeal, drinking tea. Urging boycott of NBC because Megyn Kelly (yeah, like that isn’t inherently enough) is going to have Alex Jones on her show next Sunday. Brain playing Trip Through Your Wires, a joyous, sexy love song.
Good morning, Meese! Woke up much too early, finally got up a little after 5 a.m., made a cup of tea, and pottered about, reading the news. It’s gorgeous outside, 69 F. going up to 90 F. or higher later. It will be polluted, too.
Got to get out and do some garden work this morning. Mr. Toddler will be here all day, and I’m hoping to get him to take a nap so I can take one.
Anne Frank would have been 88 years old today. Her diary has been one of the most profound influences in my life, along with my late parents. I think of her often.
I hear that Melania and Barron moved into the White House. This is very bad for my book. I’ll have to send them up to NY for a nostalgia weekend at the time of the climax.
Wishing all at the Pond a good day!
P. S. Princesspat, I wish you were here to advise me on a planting for my mulch bed. All I can think of is lavender, but I’m sure a low, spreading evergreen would work just as well. Perhaps better! In the fall I will plant loads and loads of snowdrops and daffodils around the other shrubs.
{{{Diana}}} – rosemary should would well in your area.
I wish we could share our gardens too Diana! A bed of lavender is lovely to see and to smell, plus you can dry the stems. My garden is so shady I’ve let moss, a native viola, native strawberry plants, lady of the valley and wild ginger spread as ground covers.
This site is my lavender inspiration http://www.pelindabalavender.com/
67 at dawn – 72 in the house – turned the fans on to try and bring in some cooler air, not particularly successfully in the kitchen area – heading for mid- to upper-80s. Humid which makes things less comfortable (if it weren’t humid the temps would drop into the 50s after dark). Did the “close the curtains but leave the windows open a bit at the top” routine. The a/c stays off until I can’t sleep without it. With the humidity haze and a bit of overcast we only go 19 KWHs yesterday. The m-t-d is 188 KWHs at the moment and I do expect to crest 200 by mid- to late-afternoon.
I’ve had my berner-receiver set on “ignore” for months. I know the yap that will come out of their mouths. But while it’s very irritating, it’s not as dangerous as the Extreme Right’s growling and snapping. I already stare down small dogs and could kick them into next week if I had to/wanted to. They are noisy and in the way but they’re only gonna be dangerous to me if the Extreme Right brings me down to a level the Extreme Left yappers can reach something important. Our work is organize at the precinct level – get Dems running for everything we can, help folks get whatever they need to register, register them, and GOTV – precinct level. We will take back the House, then the Senate, and later the White House precinct by precinct.
Need to check in with teh Villages then get back to work. Soloing this week. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 56 and cloudy in Bellingham. I’m sleepy and muttering this morning…..we’ve been awake since 2:00 am because that’s when Ron had to resume the dreaded purge for what is now an annual endoscopic and colonoscopy exam. He’s at the clinic now and I have to go get him soon.
We’re very fortunate to have proactive and relatively affordable medical care, but I’m muttering about how often we need to use it, and worrying about how long we’ll have it. We’re both feeling older this year.
I hate to praise Republicans but y’all Rick Wilson is just on fire
<blockquoteclass=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”>
1/ Fire Mueller. Do it. Fire Mueller.
Do it, because it's time for the final divorce between the clickservativesand any pretense they….
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) June 13, 2017
Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …
It is 66 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 84. Storms are getting ready to rumble through the area, skies will clear later this afternoon.
Just when you think there is slight break (adults in charge of Russia-Trump, strong polling for generic and real Democrats), reality hits with a thud. The shitgibbon is considering firing the Special Counsel and there is literally no one who will stop him. The founding fathers put a bunch of checks and balances into the constitution to make sure we would not have a king but they assumed that Congress would not be willing to look the other way in service to their party. I can’t look at it anymore. Please ping me when it is over.
Virginia will pick the Democrat and Republican who will face off in November to replace the term-limited governor. Some articles are saying it is NOT a Hillary v Bernie thing, that Perriello is not a wild-eyed berner and both candidates have ties to the base of the Democratic Party – I hope that is true. If we can’t get together on the need to elect Democrats in every state – and no more 2020 talk, please! – we are going to miss the opportunity to cash in on the national mood. Our only hope for the short term is to take back the House and set up a firewall.
See all y’all later!
Good morning, Moosekind, and it’s another hot, beautiful day in NoVa. Currently it’s 68 F., going up to 92 F. today. Yesterday it was 93 F. We have a blue sky with little lacy clouds scattered across it.
Yes, we are going to the polls this morning and voting for Ralph Northam and Justin Fairfax. In my opinion a Pierrello choice will lead to an Ed Gillespie (ugh) victory. Virginia is barely blue and then only up here in the north. Downstate it’s as red as can be. We prefer moderate candidates who can get things done.
Not that some of Northam’s behavior doesn’t give me pause—he voted for Dubya, previously my low watermark for “prez-dints,” twice. However, Northam knows how to work with a Rethug legislature, insofar as such a thing is possible. Justin Fairfax has experience and will be a good lieutenant governor. So we’ll see.
Bfitz and princesspat, thanks for the suggestions about the garden! I will look around to see what I can find for that last rather bare patch.
Tonight is the end-of-year party for the Brownies, involving swimming in someone’s private pool, followed by pizza and cake. Miss Pink Cheeks will not be in Brownies next year. Her parents want her to do soccer. That’s fine. We had three good years with Daisies and Brownies, so perhaps it’s time to let it go.
Hoping there is good news on the political front for the Democrats and also hoping the rumors of Thing’s firing Robert Mueller are NOT true.
I worry that a Sanders endorsement in any purple state will be the kiss of death whether Pierrello is a left-of-the left or not. We are going to have the same problem in Wisconsin. The vote suppression was an issue here but so was the butthurt berner vote. There are a lot of people who voted for Stein rather than “soil themselves” by voting for the best candidate who actually had a chance to win. The red parts of Wisconsin will not vote for someone who is not moderate and I fear that the old berner mayor of Madison will win the nomination. If he does, I will pack my bags rather than live another 4 years under Walker.
Good Tuesday morning Meese
Still in a heat wave here… will be 90 later. Hopefully rain will cool it down.
Joy Ann is being attacked by the Burnouts
Thread starts here
This crazy woman is pushing for open primaries here in NY
And claims her movement is 1/2 of the Democratic Party.
She has blocked Armando.
I’ll prolly get blocked too.
I have never understood the idea that people who are not in our party should choose who will be our nominee. Even assuming that there are no crossover shenanigans (a strong possibility in 2020 given that there will be an incumbent Republican running in their primary), how hard is it to decide which party you want to be in?
Even more troubling is that they want to have more caucuses. That is a terrible idea! They are tilted to those who have unlimited free time and the ability to yell and scream at your neighbors. No, thank you. Private ballot – vote and go home.
Slept in — not solidly, but it was restful-ish. Got a list of stuff to do today. Gym & groceries (baking oatmeal tomorrow). Brain not in gear yet, so I’ll sit here & watch the local news for a while.
69 at dawn which felt cool compared to the 79 in the house – I had to close up the house last night because the neighbors were enjoying their fire pit in their back yard – and all the smoke was coming straight into my bedroom window. Which shouldn’t even be possible considering they live to the east of me and the wind was blowing from the north west. Sigh. Opened up this morning and ran the fans while I dashed off to the Farmers Market to get this year’s supply of blueberries. (He gives me farm prices when I do a “bulk order”.) So now the house is down to 75 with fans off and the curtains closed (windows open slightly at top), there are 6 gallons of blueberries in my freezer, 1/2 gallon in my fridge to eat fresh, my neighbor has 3 gallons, and there are 4-1/2 gallons in the office kitchenette waiting for the faculty who requested them to come get them. :)
Political news now is like war news in 1942. Bad. Stressful. Seemingly overwhelming at times. Only thing we can do is keep on keepin’ on. Take care of ourselves, our families, our communities. Do our jobs. Adapt to whatever “war effort” we can make. See our duty and do it. Be grateful for whatever wins we get. Endure whatever losses we get. Mourn – say the names – of the people lost to this war. We outnumber them. We will prevail.
I need to check in on the Villages and then get back to work. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 55 and sunny in Bellingham. Yesterday was exhausting so we both slept late today. Seeing the sun shining on the blooming plants in the garden is making me want to be outside so I’m going to find a sweater, a cup of coffee, and enjoy the moment.
Lots to do today, but I’m in no hurry.