Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Jan. 28th through Feb. 3rd

January 27, 2018 JanF Community 112

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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– Page One of Comments is HERE!
 
– Page Two of Comments is HERE!


 

39 Comments

      • Transcript: Joe Kennedy State of the Union rebuttal speech transcript. Snippets:

        Many have spent the past year anxious, angry, afraid. We all feel the fault lines of a fractured country. We hear the voices of Americans who feel forgotten and forsaken. […]

        This administration isn’t just targeting the laws that protect us – they are targeting the very idea that we are all worthy of protection.

        For them, dignity isn’t something you’re born with but something you measure.

        By your net worth, your celebrity, your headlines, your crowd size.

        Not to mention, the gender of your spouse. The country of your birth. The color of your skin. The God of your prayers.

        Their record is a rebuke of our highest American ideal: the belief that we are all worthy, we are all equal and we all count. In the eyes of our law and our leaders, our God and our government.

        That is the American promise. […]

        Bullies may land a punch. They might leave a mark. But they have never, not once, in the history of our United States, managed to match the strength and spirit of a people united in defense of their future.

        Politicians can be cheered for the promises they make. Our country will be judged by the promises we keep.

        THAT is the measure of our character. That’s who we are.

        Out of many. One.

        Ladies and gentlemen, have faith: The state of our union is hopeful, resilient, enduring.

  2. Good morning, meese! Wednesday …

    It is 28 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 41. Clouds this morning, sunny skies this afternoon.

    I woke up early to the sound of ice pellets hitting the windows so the chance of seeing any of the moon phenomena are slim to none. I will check again at 4:31am CST when the lunar eclipse, supermoon, and blue moon is supposed to manifest and maybe it will have cleared by then.

    I think I will stay away from the hot takes from SOTU this morning and check the news later. Last night I was tweeting everything but SOTU because, really, anything this president says is simply empty words – blatherings scripted by his Goebbels and put on a teleprompter for him to read. He will have forgotten it as soon as he reads it and, based on his personal history, any plans or promises will be cast aside after the accolades from the mainstream media he pretends to scorn but cannot live without rain down upon him.

    I did find and view the Joe Kennedy III video and will hunt down a transcript. I hope a majority of Americans believe in their hearts what he said about the state of our country “This is not right, this is not who we are.” Time to set the stage for the next Republican SOTU – the one with Nancy Pelosi sitting behind whoever is in the Oval Office next January.

    See all y’all later!

    • The sky cleared a bit and I was able to see the full moon at around 4:30am. But there was a cloudy veil over her when the eclipse began about 20 minutes later and you could just see shining behind the cloud and no discernible “missing moon parts.” But a super bright full moon is always a treat!

  3. Good Wednesday Meese
    17 degrees here in Saugerties NY going up to 32.
    We have some black ice on the roads atm – hope it is removed before I head to get my car inspected.
    I went to sleep last night before the SOTU – wasn’t going to watch the Orange Bigot anyway.
    Reading the news – glad I didn’t have to watch him do the vile stereotyping of immigrants as gang members which was to be expected.

    and this:

    • I scanned the headlines and there were no surprises. Erik Loomis over at LGM summed it up last night:

      Seriously, why would you watch this? First, if you really want to know what is said, you can just read the thing in like 10% of the time, tops. Second, you already know what is going to be said. Third, it doesn’t matter. It will take up the next 48 hours of news media, then Trump will tweet something about the NFL or something, and all the takes that “Trump’s presidency is on the right track!” will be once again replaced with noting that he is an old monstrous fascist.

      Even under a Democratic administration, these displays of political theater are useless and I refuse to watch. They get pumped up in the 24-hour news cycle as Major Events. They are not. They never are. Even if you wanted to watch Obama give SOTU addresses because you admired the man, there is zero reason to watch Donald Trump spew drivel about immigrants.

      Just. Don’t. Watch.

      Didn’t! And won’t!

  4. Good morning, Moosekind! I did see the big beautiful supermoon when I got up a little after 6 this morning. It wasn’t red. It sank behind the trees as soon as it could.

    Last night I watched some of the alleged speech while on Twitter and a liveblog elsewhere. The liveblog was better than the speech. The smugness on the faces of the Rethugs made me feel sick.

    Had a most unpleasant time yesterday with my root canal but the dimples of the endodontist went a long way toward ameliorating the awfulness. He only did Part 1 yesterday. Part 2 will take place tomorrow. After I arrived home, I was horrified to find that one side of my face was higher than the other and that my mouth was deformed when I spoke! Dr. Dimples rang up during dessert and told me that a night’s sleep would cure that. Hope so. Haven’t dared to look yet.

    In my tradition Imbolc begins at sunset this evening, so I’ve posted an Imbolc story in the hope of distracting Moosepeeps from the unlovely national scene.

    Income taxes this morning, off to the doctor this afternoon at 4. (Yes, this is turning out to be a week of Little Miseries acting up.)

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!

    • Thank you! “Roses at Imbolc”

      I discovered yesterday that I am still missing a 1099 for interest. I have the “year to date interest” from the last statement and that is usually accurate but I better wait for the official document before I file. I went to my bank site and it is not ready yet – I will check again later.

  5. No moon event here, we’re shrouded in fog. I only saw the beginning of young Joe’s speech last night — it was past my bedtime by the time he started speaking. People seem to have liked it, though. Reading the transcript, I like it. Sleepy, and I have to squeeze in doing bills today. Turning up the U2 playing in my head louder.

  6. 44 windchill 36 – gonna get up to the mid 60s today and then a minor front’s moving through and will take us back down to highs in the 40s and lows below freezing for the foreseeable future. sunny which is good. yesterday gave us a new high for the month with 9.8 KWHs – be funny if the last day of the month was the highest. :) Anyway m-t-d- is 216.6 so definitely should reach 220 and might even reach 225 total. I didn’t see the moon event. I woke up around 3:45 and opened the curtains figuring the moon light would keep me awake – it usually does – but instead it seems to have put me soundly to sleep for almost 3 hours. Sorry I missed the event but the almost 3 hours of solid sleep was definitely a gift.

    Didn’t watch any of the speeches. Since that seemed to be what everybody was “talking about” in the Villages and on my twitter feed I just got offline and did a couple of hours visit with a friend (I am so glad I have unlimited minutes with my voip/landline). I’m not sure I want to do more than check in today either as I expect everybody will still be talking about it.

    Need to get my oil changed anyway – it’s about 3 months overdue – and I really need to get out of the house. I’m getting cabin fever and today seems to be the best day to do it. I also need to see if I need anything else before doing my tax returns. That should take up a chunk of the day anyway. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  7. Good morning, 37 and cloudy in Bellingham. RonK was hoping to photo the moon early this morning, but the clouds just allowed a brief moment of moonlight. I slept long and well so I missed the moment.

    It was so nice to just avoid the STOTU hoopla last night. We even talked about other things!

    Time for the pool. Take care everyone.

  9. Good morning, meeses! Thursday …

    It is 30 degrees in Madison with the daytime high plummeting to 10 degrees and below zero windchills. The wind started up about 45 minutes ago and I couldn’t sleep through it.

    So FEMA blinked: emergency aid to Puerto Rico will not be abruptly cut off. That can be attributed, I believe, to the outcry from concerned people and the millions who are watching. Folks are not going to let Puerto Rico’s crisis be buried under the daily news dump and the shiny-new-object chasing.

    I did a quick scan of the news and the SOTU “buzz” seems to be gone except for a few lingering mockeries. Joe Manchin was livid that Mike Pence went to West Virginia to attack him less than 24 hours after his boss called for bipartisanship.

    Manchin retorted later Wednesday that Pence had pushed legislation “in a divisive and partisan way” and now continued “his partisan attacks” even after President Trump “called for unity and bipartisanship” in Tuesday night’s State of the Union address. “I was shocked that after the Vice President worked for almost a year in a divisive and partisan way to take health care away from almost 200,000 West Virginians, bankrupt our hospitals, and push tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and huge corporations that he would come to West Virginia and continue his partisan attacks,” Manchin tweeted.

    Good. An angry-at-Republicans Joe Manchin is a good person to have on our side as we go into the next round of government shutdown talks. And now it turns out that the treasury depleting tax cut has depleted the treasury and the debt ceiling needs to be raised ahead of schedule! No wonder Republicans are retiring from Congress in record numbers – none of them wants to face their tea party voters after passing a bill that, unlike the ebil TARP which actually included repayments, simply hands the money to big banks and corporations. The tax cut is resulting in layoffs and factory closings. Good job, Republicans who don’t understand economics and write tax law on the back of an envelope at 2am!

    See all y’all later!

  10. Good Thursday morning Meese
    30 degrees here in Saugerties NY – going up to 43.
    Sitting here waiting for the Geek Squad to get back to me to figure out why my printer is claiming to be “offline” Grrrr – have tried everything – nada. Geek Squad agent tried everything – nada. Now waiting for a Lev 2 person to try – wait time – up to 8 hours.

    The so-called FEMA reversal (after loud outcry) is a con game – they have never done what they were supposed to do and are now claiming that they aren’t pulling out – when in actuality private groups, individuals and citizens have been doing the bulk of the work.
    Tooo much of the coverage is taking FEMA at its word.
    This at least points out the contradictions

    Booher’s statement to the Times on Wednesday echoed what FEMA spokesman Daniel Llargues told HuffPost the day before.

    He said the information the FEMA official provided NPR was not false but also “not completely accurate.”

    “Nothing is changing on the 31st,” Llargues told HuffPost on Tuesday. “If it’s changing in days or weeks to come, it’s because it has been requested with local officials”

    “Some municipalities don’t need it any longer,” he continued. “Some that don’t have running water or power, we’ll continue to supply commodities to them, always in coordination with state and local officials.”

    In a somewhat unclear statement to HuffPost on Tuesday, the agency said both that “FEMA provided commodities are no longer needed for emergency operations” and that “FEMA will continue to support any identified needs.”

    “The commercial supply chain for food and water is re-established and private suppliers are sufficiently available that FEMA provided commodities are no longer needed for emergency operations,” Booher said in the Tuesday statement. “FEMA will continue to support the Government of Puerto Rico to meet the needs they identify.”

    “FEMA will continue to support any identified needs and will provide supplies to volunteer agencies and other private non-profit organizations who are working with households in rural, outlying areas to address ongoing disaster related needs as power and water is gradually restored,” he added.

    FEMA’s Wednesday statement does not explicitly say whether there will be any changes in distribution or quantity of aid for the island.

    This is absolute bullshit “Some municipalities don’t need it any longer”
    They are making it sound like only a handful of people need aid. If it wasn’t for the volunteer chefs – some people would have been eating FEMA snack packs (if they got them – for 4 months.
    It’s easy for them to say – just go and buy water – with what may I ask? If your car died, if roads are closed, if the place you worked shut down – where the hell are people going to get money to buy imported water?
    I’ve been searching for updated Dept of Labor info – haven’t found anything yet – just an old story from the end of Oct

    “I don’t have food in my house, nothing,” he said. “Please, I need help.”

    Like thousands of Puerto Ricans who have suddenly found themselves without work, Ferrao’s only options are to leave the island or apply for a meager unemployment check — at most $133 a week.

    Since the Department of Labor reopened its offices on Oct. 6, at least 10,000 people have applied for unemployment benefits. That number is expected to keep growing. In just one week, from Oct. 19 to Oct. 26, the total number of new unemployment claims doubled from 5,000 to 10,000.

    Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/article181906421.html#storylink=cpy

    Official unemployment rate for PR – back in 2017 was 11.5% – doon’t know what it is now

  11. Good Thor’s Day morning, Moosepeeps. Still gloomy outside, but the current temp. here in NoVa is 37 F., going up to 53 F., which is not bad. Rain is predicted for tonight.

    Reading Jan’s and Dee’s posts, I can see the news is as bad as ever. It is slightly good news that Manchin is on our side, though, and that something just might possibly be done for PR.

    Dee, you are beleaguered by computer devils! Hope your printer problem can be fixed. For many years I bought HP printers; the last time I did, I found myself spending countless three-hour chunks of time with someone in India. Threw out the HP printer, bought a Xerox printer, and have experienced so little trouble that the machine is now way out of date. As long as Xerox keeps making cartridges for it, however, that’s how long I’ll keep it.

    Facing another lousy day, with gym in the morning and Root Canal, Part 2, this afternoon. I’m sore this morning from the last one, so just took a pain pill. This is my third rootie in 12 months! (Oh, well, first-world problem.)

    Wishing all at the Pond a good day and let’s hope for better news from Puerto Rico.

  12. So glad for the good news about Ono. Home will be better. Not so good news about my friend. She was in the hospital because she’s lost the use of her legs. They’re releasing her to home hospice care today. Her daughter is here, this is her last semester at MIT so I don’t know if her profs are giving her a pass or what. She is one of 2 people outside my family who I’ve known since childhood (well, high school). We moved so much that I lost track of people. I feel like I’m moving through jello, don’t really know what to do.

    • Glad to hear that about Ono – last I heard yesterday they were keeping her for observation! –

  13. Forgot to say Happy First Day of Black History Month
    We need it more than ever!

    • That story reminds me of that MASH episode, with the guy who didn’t want to get blood from….. Anyway, in the world of TV, he learned his lesson & became a better man. Would that it was so easy irl.

  14. 41 windchill 31 going up to 47 today and very cloudy at the moment which I hope will clear off as it’s been doing so far this week. Yesterday generated the 2nd highest for January at 9.7 KWHs with Tuesday’s 9.8 the highest. Total January 2018 is 226 so exceeded my goal. As to February, 2016 was 320.9 KHWs, 2017 was 261.9 – so while I’d love to meet or beat the 320, if I get 300 I’ll be happy. :)

    As to FEMA in Puerto Rico – are they even doing enough to make a difference whether they go or stay? That’s a serious question – they aren’t delivering real food or apparently getting the grid power back up, just counting generators as “power” without accounting for the fuel needed for that power to actually be there. Charitable efforts cannot do the job FEMA is supposed to do, but FEMA isn’t doing the job it’s supposed to do. If the comforting myth of FEMA being there doing stuff was gone, would charitable efforts step up and get a little more done? Wish I knew. Meanwhile, I’ll do what I can on twitter to help get the word out about the one Bobby’s helping. Community is always stronger together – and there is so much manual labor cleanup to be done that every person helped get back on his/her feet means another person is now able to help with the mess.

    So glad Ono is going “home” – just wish it could actually be home and not just a home area hospital – but it’s still very good news. So very glad Aji is going to get that portable O2 concentrator probably next week! Being more mobile will help her frame of mind – and since she’s decided to “breathe through” those frightening episodes, well, good that she’ll be hooked up to O2 no matter when/where they occur. Gonna do a “quick” (Ha!) tour of the internets then do some house stuff. And coffee. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

    • It makes a diff if they stay – since they have the power to write checks to people with destroyed homes – even if what they pay doesn’t match what people lost

      • Thank you – I really was beginning to think we weren’t doing anything at all officially. Not that they’re actually doing this, but the way FEMA is set up they pay 75% of the disaster/rebuilding costs, the state (or in this case territory) pays 12.5% and the local government (city or county) pays the other 12.5% – but Puerto Rico has been in such bad financial shape that there’s no way the territory and local governments could come up with the 25% even if FEMA were actually paying 75% – the few numbers I’ve seen kicked around looks like FEMA’s paying more like 25% when it pays at all. But that is better than nothing – as long as it lasts.

  15. Good morning, 45 and raining in Bellingham. I am finally recovering from the dreadful flue, now to gain some stamina back. Yesterday’s pool session and a few basic chores here were all I could manage before shaky fatigue set in. And then I rested, but unfortunately reading twitter stirred up my tRump angst leaving me even more exhausted! He is a tiring despicable man :(

    Take care everyone.

  16. Good Friday Meese
    27 degrees here in Saugerties NY going down to 25

    Day 2 – Black History Month
    This should make you smile

  17. Good morning, meese! Friday …

    It is 0 in Madison with an expected daytime high of 16. Sunny skies are in the forecast.

    I was delayed because I needed to get my Imbolc post rebuilt due to the lingering effects of the deactivation of Photobucket last July. I downloaded the hundreds of files I had there but decided to wait and update my WordPress posts as needed rather than all at once. This morning’s task was two Imbolc posts in my personal blog and one here.

    One of my favorites: “Spring is in the Air”

    Owl leave it there and spend the rest of the morning immersed in the hopefulness of the earth’s quickening – and catch up on the news later. p.s. no one who has been watching politics for the past 25 years should be surprised that Republicans are craven opportunists, careening from respect to disdain for law enforcement institutions when it suits their political purposes.

    See all y’all later!

    • I saw last night that he ruled the Florida method of “reinstatement” unconstitutional (in a scathing rebuke of both Rick Scott and Jeb! Bush) but I had not seen any injunctions issued. I will have to go chase down the links.

      His ruling does not declare felon disenfranchisement unconstitutional, just the method of reinstatement. This should help people become aware of the awfulness of the process – making governors kings who deem who is worthy of beneficence and who is not – and will vote to repeal the law in the fall election. In the article I read, Jeb Bush’s “process” was particularly obscene where he picked the types of crimes and whether he thought the felons had “repented”. JHC, the freaking states became theocracies while people nodded and said “this is fine”! Ari Berman from Mother Jones pointed out in a tweet that 22,000 people who weren’t felons were turned away at the polls in Florida in 2000 – the state the Bush “won” by 487 votes that put him over the top in the Electoral College. The vestiges of Jim Crow kicked off the 00’s with the first of two democracy destroying presidencies. This is a big huge deal and a way to start rebuilding.

  19. Good Freya’s Day, Meese. As I write the big, beautiful Super Moon is still high in the sky, although one edge is slightly fuzzy. We had a little rain last night before bedtime but no snow. Someone said we’re in a “snow hole” here—although areas around us are hit with tons of it, we rarely get any. Current temp. is 36 F., going up to 40 F. Can’t decide whether to have fish and chips tonight or chicken pot pie.

    Yesterday I had the second visit with the endodontist. Dear Goddess, it was unpleasant. At the end, when he asked me if he could do anything else for me, I said yes, take a selfie of yourself smiling. He has SUCH dimples! He laughed and did that. The protagonist of the new book I’m going to write will have dimples exactly like Brian’s.

    While I was lifting weights yesterday Kaiser Permanente rang and asked me to come in for a dermatology appointment this afternoon. Evidently the photo the nurses took of the place on my arm indicated further investigation is necessary. By the COB today I shall have visited a medical facility every single day this week!

    Found my two sets of Black History cards but the Langston Hughes book of poetry is tucked away somewhere…blast. Perhaps I can look up his poems on line. At the Saturday evening salon during the writers’ retreat a week ago, I read my story, “Collette,” which combines blackness with romance during Black History Month. People really liked it.

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond and beyond, with no bad news of any kind.

    • I recall that the second root canal visit was the worst – for a “dead” tooth, they sure put up a fuss. When you can plan them, they can be done in one sitting but for an emergency, they usually take two because the process is too long to just fit into someone’s schedule.

      I hope that the dermatology test turns out to be a false alarm. You need a break!!

    • {{{Diana}}} – Healing Energy and holding the Good Thought for today’s appointment. If “Collette” is the one I’m thinking of I enjoyed it very much. (Well, enjoy them all but in different ways.) Will have to see if I can pilot my way to it again before the month is over. moar {{{HUGS}}}

  20. Sigh.

    Hubby got up and turned right around to go back to bed – looks like he’s got flu – am going to cancel my classes and stay home to take him to the Emergency Health office
    I hate to drive – we had snow and there is still black ice.

    • Denise, may Goddess Asphalta be with you during your journeys to and from the doctor, and may Brigid watch over your husband during his illness. Hope the Tamiflu will help. Can you persuade him to sleep sitting almost upright? I read that this helps lessen the possibility of getting pneumonia.

      Please let us know how it goes, and take care of YOURself!

    • {{{Denise}}} – Healing Energy to your husband – and to you to keep you from getting it – and safe travels to and from the clinic. moar {{{HUGS}}}

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