Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Jan. 6th through Jan. 12th

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 (usually Saturday night with a Sunday date). 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?

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.

  • Page One of Comments is HERE!
     

  • Page Two of Comments is HERE!
     

27 Comments

  1. Good morning, meeses! Friday …

    It is 19 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 32. The forecast calls for partly cloudy skies.

    Sheer cruelty:

    The White House has directed the Army Corps of Engineers to find money is its own budget that could be used to fund the president’s desired border wall under a national emergency declaration, multiple sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

    The White House has specifically asked the Army Corps of Engineers to examine what funds could be redirected to the border wall from a $13.9 billion February 2018 emergency supplemental that was designed to fund more than 50 disaster relief projects, including in California, Florida, Texas, and Puerto Rico, among other states, according to a congressional aide with knowledge of the matter.

    The Senate adjourned after unanimously passing a bill to provide back pay to workers who will not be paid today – and the months and years that the shutdown continues. The literal pile of dung in the Oval Office said he would sign it but his word is not worth much. Maybe we should have a provision that when there is a Republican in the White House and/or at least one of the houses of Congress is under Republican control, there would be a Federal Payday Lending Bank so that workers impacted by a shutdown can borrow money against their promised paychecks. Or better yet, STOP ELECTING REPUBLICANS. We need to find a way to end the hostage taking of our federal government by nihilists.

    The latest “solution” to the shutdown being floated is that Trump declares his National Emergency, claims victory, signs the government funding bills and then Congress (and eventually the courts) decide what to do with the specific funding allocations under the National Emergency Act (they can deny the funding with a simple majority in both houses). Assuming that the Senate will not deny their party’s leader his wall, someone would have to sue. But in the meantime the government reopens, people don’t lose their homes or starve – tax refunds are sent out – and we live to fight another day – September 30th, specifically. I am fine with this – we have to trust the courts to hold the line until we can vote these terrible people out of office.

    See all y’all later!

  2. Friday Meese. 19 degrees here in Saugerties NY, going up to 27.

    The Wall

    Rumors of Kamala Harris announcing…

    I will not hide my preference for KH as a candidate. I will of course vote for any Democrats who win the primaries.

    The knives have already come out to go after her – and they will find that there is going to be harsh push-back online.

    My position.

    • Ha! #YesWeKam? :)

      She is my preferred candidate as well and it is not just bots, trolls and bros – Dianne Feinstein (whose back we had in 2018 against bros) said she was “too new”. Bull. Barack Obama ran for president four years after being elected to his first statewide office in Illinois, a race that he ran against a carpetbagger rolled into place at the last minute when his original opponent had to drop out due to “personal issues.” Kamala Harris has won three statewide races, two for Attorney General and one for Senate, and ran a major governmental agency for six years before becoming a United States Senator. And she looks like Real America, not Steve King’s America. I refuse to listen to people who say “too new” or “too Black” or “too female” – or that she is unelectable. You know who is unelectable? Republican-lite old white males trying to appeal to the racist white vote. The racist white vote has a champion – Donald J. Trump. They are not going to vote for Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders.

      Bring it on!

      • I’m also cheering cause a group of her supporters have named themselves the #KHive (a play on Beyonce’s fan queendom)

        • Some of the media misogybros have been kicked to the curb (Halperin, Lauer) but too many are still around. I am waiting to hear their excuses about why a woman can’t be president now that “married to Bill Clinton” is no longer their go-to excuse.

  3. Good freezin’ Friday, Meese! There was a bitterly cold wind blowing through the courtyard when I took Monty out. Luckily he held his business meeting to a bare minimum, after which we galloped back into the building. It’s clear with a silvery light in Ashburn this morning—current temperature is 26 F., going up to a whopping 36 F. Ugh.

    Dearly Beloved has a cold and really is in no shape to have a four-year-old visitor, so we will have to defer Mr. Paw Patrol’s sleepover until next week. I want Dearly to stay in and stay warm.

    Still heartbroken over the shutdown. The government workers demonstrated all over the country yesterday. Has there EVER been such a heartless so-called “leader” of this country? Words cannot describe what I wish would happen to Thing and his minions.

    Like Jan and Dee, I’m firmly in Kamala Harris’ camp. I do not want another white male at the top of the ticket. I want to push back on Twitter against the berniebots and bros, as well as all the white male privileged journos who hate all women that aspire to serve their country.

    Finished Chapter 17, now waiting for my characters to tell me what’s going to happen in Chapter 18. Have begun researching the Kashmir-India border—it does not look as if happiness prevails in that region.

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond and for someone to shut down the shutdown.

  4. Slept in, and watching the news & Stargate Atlantis. It is cold, high is only supposed to be mid-50 and chance of rain starting this evening. I got in a 3 mile walk yesterday, planning on walking today, maybe a 5 miler for my 55th. Otherwise, just a relaxing, mellow day.

  5. WordPress Upgrade Coming!

    WordPress has been pestering me to update to version 5.0 since early December; when it was version 5.0.0, it was easy to resist – no one wants to be the first site on a new release! A few weeks ago they released 5.0.1 then last week they released version 5.0.2 and Wednesday 5.0.3. This means that the first set of bugs were fixed and the new bugs introduced by the first set of fixes have been fixed. :)

    So that I don’t get too far behind, I am going to be installing the upgrade sometime over the weekend, probably late morning on Saturday. If you try to log in and the site is unavailable, try again after 30 minutes. Most of these updates take about 10 minutes at the most but I will run backups which might cause a few hiccups (they normally run at 2am when things are pretty quiet).

    The biggest change is the introduction of a new editor. Since most of the bugs seem to be related to the new editor, I will probably opt to keep the Classic Editor. Here is the link to the release: WordPress 5.0 “Bebo” (named after Cuban jazz musician Bebo Valdés.)

  6. Good morning, Meesefolk; cold and colder today and still no sun or snow. ‘Nuf said.

    I have never been an early adopter of candidates, but Sen. Harris is the closest I’ve come; I’ve definitely been waiting for her announcement. I watched Sen. Warren on Rachel a week or so back and tried to set aside being miffed at her for throwing Hillary under the bus. I watched, I listened, and I was underwhelmed. Her message was so 2010 and didn’t hit the sweet spots I need to hear. Joe Biden…nope. He was a good right-hand man for President Obama, but as a leader during the #MeToo era? I’ll pass. There’s a lot to love about Pete Buttigieg, but I don’t see him as ready for the presidency. Maybe at HUD? Beto can be inspiring, but that’s not a train I’m ready to ride (and I’m not 100% sure why). Sherrod Brown is the only white guy I can see as a contender, but I don’t see him as having what the base is looking for. Now Connie Schultz as press secretary? I’d be all-in with that. So that brings me to Sen. Harris, and I can’t see what’s not to like. Even though I see many of Team D being a bit weak on foreign experience, Harris, as AG in a state with an economy larger than many countries, brings more to the game than most. I guess I’d better start preparing my ears for the chorus of skee-wees that will be greeting her, because I think she’s the real deal.

    Good day to and for all!

    • I generally sort through the candidates and give most of them a chance when none of them stands out. In 2008, I was not a Barack Obama fan because I found his attitude towards non-Christians a bit patronizing (“what’s wrong with praising the Christian God in the pledge of allegiance that all school children are forced to stand and recite?”) I was drawn to John Edwards’ Two America’s message (thank goodness, he did not get the nomination!). I was not a Hillary supporter for several reasons.

      This time around, Kamala Harris checks all the boxes I have for “president” and I see no reason to not support her from the get-go. After the Obama years and two years into the Trump years, it is painfully obvious which qualities are needed in a president.

      I wanted Pete Buttigieg to get the DNC job and was disappointed when he didn’t get more interest! He is the real deal and I hope that our next Democratic administration has a meaningful job for him.

  7. 32 and feels like 24 on a cloudy, rainy day in Fay., AR. So much for catching up towards the goal for the month. We generated 4.6 KWHs yesterday, will be lucky to get that much today, and the m-t-d is 54. At least the system is on. Not by much but on.

    I don’t really care what Putin has on McConnell but obviously he has something. A lot of people are being hurt, some are going to be dead, before we can rid the Senate of the traitors – but the more obvious their traitorous activity the bigger the next Blue Wave. There are some 800,000 families who didn’t get paychecks today. Some 800,000 households that may or may not be able to buy groceries much less pay the rent and keep the utilities on. Rs don’t care. Their firm belief, article one of their racist faith, that only BIPOC live paycheck to paycheck (just like their faith that only BIPOC use public assistance) means they are doing what their base elected them to do. Of course their base is also having a fit about the damage being doing to them and not just BIPOC, but that’s apparently immaterial. I’m Holding the Good Thought govt gets open again soon and the damage already done can be ameliorated. You can’t fix dead. Holding the Good Thought for my friends living on, at, and sometimes over the edge.

    My feeling about Kamala Harris is that she’d be a great president for 8 years and I’d prefer to have her in the Senate for 30. But I will most certainly work, contribute, and vote for her just as I did for Hillary. There certainly isn’t anyone else I’ve got in mind instead. So. Healing Energy to everybody everywhere shaped to their need. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

    • I’m so happy you wrote this; somehow even in my White Girl Life, I was aware of this, and both angry and embarrassed by the reporter using the word “screeching.” Sadly, I fully expect some form of appropriation in 3-2-1…

  8. Good morning, 43 and cloudy in Bellingham. We’re meeting some old friends for lunch at my favorite bookstore cafe today so that will be fun. Then I’ll get serious about finishing the laundry and packing for our trip. We will have internet, but both cell and wifi are spotty. I’m going to be in twitter withdrawal! I’ll check in when I can.

    To be honest, I think a week away from my fast internet connections will be good for me. I’ve got several articles tabbed to read this morning but my eyes are glazing over and my brain says, “no more, please.”

    Best wishes to all.

    • Enjoy your time away from the news firehose! I know how to turn if off when I need to – November 8, 2016 showed me how, I was news free for almost a month. I may have to do that soon because the pain from the government shutdown news is starting to seep into my subconscious and is disturbing my sleep. There is really nothing I can do – my Democratic Senator wants to re-open government and Wisconsin’s Republican Senator is a lame duck whose lips are firmly affixed to Trump’s ginormous orange ass. He could not care less about what I think or want and has no empathy gene to understand the suffering of anyone in Wisconsin or America.

  9. Good morning, meeses! Saturday …

    It is 28 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 34. Mostly cloudy skies are in the forecast.

    The shutdown continues with a new twist – Individual 1 decided that if he declares the national emergency that he won’t reopen the government because then if the declaration fails in the courts, Democrats win. I was trying to think of a way out of this but I can’t; the last chance was the emergency declaration fig leaf allowing bills to be passed in the Senate. In the olden days, business leaders would put pressure on their members of Congress because a shuttered government is bad for the economy. But now, because members of Congress are more afraid of the Republican base – and they know that business won’t abandon them after the ginormous gift they gave them – there is no one applying pressure. It was distressing to read that some business owners lobbied – and got – special deals with Treasury to keep things essential to them open. Something needs to change with the way we fund government – federal workers should never be held hostage to a political party’s failure to govern.

    And when will Senator Tim Scott realize that the Republican Party is Steve King? His op-ed saying “this is not us” got tweeted into my timeline as though it is some big breakthrough. No, it is the same Clarence Thomas Republicanism that denies reality and embraces a party that hates them because they think they are safe from the effects of racism (or misogyny, in the case of Republican women).

    The Democratic Party Weekly Address is by a Congressman from San Diego talking about border security. I will post our Fighting Back after I get a work project done.

    See all y’all later!

  10. Saturday Meese.
    16 degrees here in Saugerties NY …brrrrrr, going up to 31

    We are headed into Manhattan later today to attend a memorial service.

    Lots of people visited Black Kos yesterday for its return after the break – for the first time in a long time it got quite a few recs.

    Puerto Rico

    The Tulsi Gabbard announcement —ugh. She really should run as a Republican.

    • I don’t understand where people like Gabbard get money to mount a campaign (Putin? Cenk?) and I will never EVER understand how Blue Hawaii elected someone who hates Democratic Party values as much as she does. And that is the last bit of attention I will give to her and her campaign. :)

  11. Good Saturn’s Day, Moosekind! The sky is gray, there was neither bitter cold nor wind when I took Mr. Monty out this morning, so we’re just sittin’ and waitin’ for the dreaded four-letter word to start falling this afternoon.

    Thank Goddess it’s happening on the weekend! Most people did their emergency shopping either yesterday or will do it this morning before the first flake falls. For myself, I welcome the snow. I want two days of doing nothing but writing and catching up on the laundry.

    Dearly Beloved continues to be under the weather. I hope if he stays in and stays quiet, he’ll recover. It’s probably just as well we’re staying in, because apparently the ‘flu is rampant in Virginia. The current temp. in Ashburn is 26 F., going up to 33 F.

    Still furious about the shutdown. What, oh, WHAT will become of these families in particular and the country in general? Could anyone ever have predicted the disaster this administration has become? And we thought it was bad before!

    Wishing a nice, quiet day to all at the Pond.

  12. Slept in, watching the news — yesterday was really nice, I went up to 33% of my goal reached for the Ride, yay! I only got in one mile walked, not sure where a chunk of the day went. Hope I’ll get in a longer walk today. Tomorrow morning during my group workout time, it’s supposed to be 39. So I’ll set out my longjohns & wool socks. Definitely hat & gloves.

  13. Welp, all the temps have done in the last 24 hours is rise slightly to 38, highs & lows almost the same. On the other hand it’s so dark the PV system is still in night mode. Not that it was much better yesterday – we didn’t get a whole kilowatt the entire day – but at least it was on. The m-t-d is 54.98 KWHs. Most definitely not on track and losing ground. sigh.

    I have no idea what kind of pressure can be put on the Rs to reopen govt. #45 needs to become irrelevant – which is a horrible precedent and totally goes against why we have this form of govt in the first place. We tried 9 years without an executive and it didn’t work well. But we can limp along for 2 if we can get Congress back to work at least enough to pay the bills (including salaries) and keep offices open. But that’s gonna require not only peeling off enough Rs in the Senate to get the job done but also having some mechanism to bring bills to the floor for vote if McConnell refuses to do so. I know there is one for the House but I don’t know if there is one for the Senate.

    I hope it will get a bit lighter soon. I need to do some grocery shopping and it’s too dark to drive right now. I’m hoping to visit the Winter Market and get some beeswax candles as well – there are some “intents” that work better with candles and I’ve been out of them for over a month. The Winter Market is in the same strip mall as the Co-op which is where I’m going today but it closes at noon. I hope the national and world situation gets lighter soon too. Healing Energy for everybody everywhere shaped to the need. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  14. Good morning, 36 and will be clear when daylight comes. It’s very dark outside my window now, making me want to pull the covers over my head go back to sleep!

    The NYT article last night re the tRump/Russia investigation is long overdue, and I hope won’t be lost in the propaganda fog that will spew out of the White House. Martin Longman, at the Wa Monthly, has been writing in depth articles re tRump and the Mueller investigation, and this one is a good summary.


    The Intelligence Community Has Long Suspected Trump of Being Under Russian Influence

    I’ve been arguing for a long time that people are underestimating how strong the case for impeachment will be and that even the Senate Republicans will not be able to shrug it off. With this new reporting from the New York Times, you’re beginning to get a sense of what I’ve been talking about.

    It’s gratifying to see things starting to come to fruition, but it’s still frustrating to see people acting surprised after all the effort I’ve put in to make the case that this is an inquiry that began as an investigation into Russia but has long sought to prove, and will prove, that the president is acting as an agent of a foreign power.

    • I haven’t been able to spend a lot of time on the NY Times article, and the articles it spawned, yet. I will probably catch up later today while watching sporting events on TV. It is distressing to find out how vulnerable our democracy is to ratfking. :(

  15. 41 and fog in Folsom, with a weak weather system expected this afternoon. Continuing with unpacking and getting my roommate settled in. We’ll be assembling her bed this afternoon.

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