Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Feb. 10th through Feb. 16th

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.


 

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24 Comments

  1. This made berners angry. Fk them.

      • Any time a person of color supports a NotBernie, it is “identity politics run amok” not that Bernie Sanders’ policies and persona are unattractive, doncha know? They are making a laughingstock of themselves.

      • Same ol’ same ol’ – it’s what they did with everyone who endorsed Hillary. That’s how the Village Under the Bus came into being. And got so big. Remember we used to joke about it really being a Tardis? So much bigger on the inside – I remember at least 2 pubs, a coffee shop, and a spa. They’re trying to push us under the bus again. Ain’t gonna happen. Not this time. {{{HUGS}}}

  2. Friday Meese. 34 here in NYS going up to 51 – but snow in the forecast for next week…

    I’m celebrating!

    also watching rose twitter hypocrites now throwing Barbara Lee under the bus.

    Puerto Rico

    • The National Emergency declaration will be a test of our democracy. If the Republicans allow their president to spend unappropriated funds essentially on his re-election campaign, we will have entered a new phase. I don’t have much faith in the courts because eventually it will get to SCOTUS which is filled with Federalist Society hacks. This needs to be solved politically – somehow.

      • Good morning, Moosekind! Quite cloudy here in Ashburn, although blue sky is trying to show through in parts. The temperature now is 51 F., going up to 60 F.! And yet tomorrow they’re predicting a wintry mix.

        My unending quest for a good night’s sleep is not meeting with much success. I’ve eliminated blue light-emitting gadgets for an hour before bedtime and started reading actual books again. Need to keep this up for at least a week.

        Yesterday was weird because just as I was writing the chapter set in Srinagar, in real life a horrible incident happened on the highway leading there. A truck containing Indian paramilitary troops was suicide-bombed. At least 44 were killed and many more were wounded. Why anyone thinks this helps, I don’t know.

        Today is the Progressives’ luncheon, then I have to help host the first floor party. Feel overwhelmed by what’s happening not only on the national scene, but also here in Virginia. It never ends! How I long for the days when the news was about someone’s cow escaping the meadow and ending up in the corn. Or was that the sheep?

        Wishing all a quiet day.

  3. So the Republicans can’t dissuade the Cheeto from declaring a national emergency? Even Nancy Pelosi saying “hey, the next Democratic POTUS should declare gun violence a national emergency” isn’t enough? I suppose it’s too much to hope this is 25th Amendment territory? Sigh. I’m just gonna eat my overnight oats, drink my tea & turn up the Snow Patrol even louder. (and I went in search of a video, and Head Full of Dreams just seemed like the song for today, because of the anti-fascist speech at the beginning)

    Our weather is nuts. It’s going to be in the mid 80s today. “Compressional warming” they said. Because of 2 cold fronts that are coming. I hope my friends running the marathon on Sunday have good weather for it.

    • The gun crisis is a national emergency, killing more people in a day than migrants crossing the border have killed since we have been a country.

      I am trying to figure out if there is a long-game for Republicans in allowing their president to run roughshod over the rule of law. I can’t think of it unless it is setting the stage for a declaration of martial law when they are voted out in November 2020. There is a certain “scorched earth” element in this latest abdication of their civic duty.

  4. A front moved in last night. It’s just over freezing and drizzling. It’s also expected to do that the entire day. The PV system is on but that’s about it. Current reading is 103 watts for the day – and 103 KWHs for the month. Today is not helping us get to 200 but if we can keep the average up we’ll make it. Which would be nice as we haven’t made 200 for the month since last October.

    Our nation really is in peril. We’re running a race to get back in control before the Deplorables get enough power to pull off a Hitlerite takeover. I think we’ll make it. But it’s gonna be close. They own the propaganda machine. And communist bots and shills are fighting us from the Left. We “Cen Dems” – the pragmatic progressives who keep working to make things better – outnumber them but while we have a perfectly fine message we don’t have the apparatus to get it out. This is gonna come down to boots on the ground and precinct-level organizing and communication because most of the modern media has been locked away from us. Even social media is overrun by bots from both sides and the owners of the platforms are just as owned by the 5-RW corporations as the MSM is. But I still think we’ll do it. Our team learned a lot about grassroots organizing (maybe I should say re-learned) and about working together. And that’s what it takes.

    Meanwhile I’ve made my monthly bank visit, visited the grocery store (treated myself to a Udi’s GF pizza for today’s lunch – & probably dinner as those things don’t keep all that well), got the fire going, have the laundry washed and on the racks to dry. Now I need coffee. Healing/Making Things Better Energy to everybody everywhere to your shaping. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  5. Good morning, 36 and raining in Bellingham, yay! There’s still a lot of snow on the ground but the neighborhood roofs are looking less white and the icicles outside my bedroom window have melted away. The side streets and sidewalks are still a slushy mess so I’ll stay indoors today.

    I glanced at twitter, smiled at a tweet saying we have a banana peel republic prez, then turned on the music. I’m listening to a Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings acoustic concert on YouTube and it’s much more peaceful.

    Best wishes to all.

  6. Good morning, Meesefolk; 30 when I got up this morning and 27 now; we’re definitely headed in the wrong direction.

    Kiddo’s MIL will be moved out of ICU in the next day or so (if she hasn’t been already; haven’t checked), and then sometime next week the plan is to move her to an inpatient rehab facility. The sigh of relief from OH could be heard here in MI; Kiddo was afraid MIL was either going to have to move in with them and with them being the PT-enforcers. Or MIL was going to go back home, and SIL would have to take off work to stay with him mom and be the PT-enforcer. Neither of those is going to happen, although SIL may still end up spending a few days helping his mom get settled once she’s done with her rehab. So good news all around on that front…

    I wandered into an #ADOS discussion on Twitter last night (I think after seeing a response from Dee), and while I have no place or say as a white person in the “debate,” I will say that it helped clarify some of the stuff that’s being thrown at Sen. Harris from the self-described Leftiest-Leftists. I don’t know if the ADOS proponents I was reading are also berners, but they certainly sounded as if they could be if they wanted…quite a bit of emphasis on purity politics. I did see a book recommendation from the chair of the Afro American Studies department at Howard (who considers himself a proponent of Pan-Africanism, so on the opposite side of the ADOS debate), and I went ahead and ordered it. I may be an outsider looking in, but it seems like it’s an area where some background and knowledge will come in handy.

    Good day to and for all!

    • What is the ADOS debate (I would google it but it sounds scary!)? I saw some mention that Kamala Harris can’t call herself African-American because her father is Jamaican which made no sense to me – she was born black in America, for one thing, and it seems like black Jamaicans are not likely native but were brought there from — Africa! I read a couple of tweets in the thread you are probably talking about and I wasn’t able to parse the acronyms. Maybe Dee will point us to – or better, write! – a post on the subject.

      • I’m FAR from knowledgeable on this, but I can provide some basics. ADOS=American Descendants of Slavery. And yes, because Sen. Harris comes from folk that are not from the United States slave experience, I gather the ADOS people don’t believe she can claim the name African-American. Some of the rancor appears to come from their demand for reparations and who should receive them. By this thinking, those who are descendants of enslaved people from other parts of the Americas have different, separate claims. Again using Sen. Harris as an example, the ADOS folks I’ve run into believe she should label herself as Jamaican-American because she doesn’t have the lineage to claim African-American heritage. In general, it seems they reject pan-Africanism as a unifying approach to the struggle for equality.

        Because I am white and because this is a new concept for me, I’m really, really hesitant to say much more. Obviously, from my perspective as part of the dominant, privileged, white supremacist culture, I see pan-Africanism as making more sense, because white bigots don’t care who your daddy was. But that’s apparently not quite the point either, and I’ve seen Black folk who make that argument accused of embracing a slaveholder or plantation mentality. That’s about where it all gets murky for me, so that’s where I’m going to stop. I totally don’t get it, but it’s definitely being used against Harris, and it looks like Cory Booker may be considered “non-ADOS” too (I have no idea what his family tree looks like).

        • Thank you! Knowing what the acronym stands for helped a lot. This: “white bigots don’t care who your daddy was” or in the case of Barack Obama, “who your mommy was.” I remember vaguely that Barack Obama having a white mother and a father who was an African and therefore had no American-enslaved ancestors bothered some people back in 2008. They ignored that he was married to a woman who was ADOS and therefore that his children were ADOS – something that is not trivial in his life story.

          It makes no sense to call Kamala Harris Jamaican-American because she is also Indian-American. I wonder if this is why people eventually decided that Black American was a better “label.”

  7. Good morning, meeses! Saturday …

    It is 0 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 23. Sunny skies with a few clouds creeping in then snow starting later tonight. We are expecting snow tomorrow – a short break – then another winter storm Tuesday. :(

    The national emergency created by low-information, berned, and butthurt white voters in 2016 has culminated in a constitutional crisis. Our federal judiciary will hold the line for the first few passes – district courts in several states – and the Circuit Courts if it reaches the 9th Circuit or the DC Circuit – but the Supreme Court will likely give Trump what he wants just like they did in Korematsu II, the Muslim ban. Dahlia Lithwick had a good piece on it “Trump Isn’t Just Defying the Constitution. He’s Undermining SCOTUS.” (I disagree that the court is not already undermined) where she was brought short on his boast that, essentially, his boys will cover for him:

    According to the president’s current calculus, [Neil Gorsuch] is one of five guys who are about to let the commander in chief steal home, just because they are on the same team. […]

    The integrity and authority of the judicial branch is eroded every single time Donald Trump puts an unfit jurist on the bench. It’s further eroded when he announces that an entire federal circuit is corrupt and biased. But when he stands and promises that he has the current Supreme Court in his pocket, so nothing really matters, that might be the greatest threat to the legitimacy of the judiciary, period. And if that high court ultimately stands by and rubber-stamps his fake data and tawdry impresario “invasion” porn, the real national emergency will be at the court, not the border.

    There is no doubt that a president can declare a national emergency for any reason whatsoever (thanks for nothing, Congresses past!). But if the court allows Article I powers to be eroded to the point where an executive can defy a Congressional rejection of the use of federal funds (they gave him $1.4 billion for barricades) we will be in uncharted territory. My hope is that it gets bottled up in the courts for so long that by the time SCOTUS approves it, there is no time to build anything before we take over on January 20, 2021.

    I can’t find the Democratic Party Weekly Address so the Fighting Back will likely just be Nancy Pelosi’s Thursday presser and the push back to the national emergency.

    See all y’all later!

  8. Good Saturday morning, Meese! There is no wintry mix this morning; there may be rain tomorrow. Currently it’s partly cloudy here in Ashburn and the temperature is 38 F. Later it will climb to 47 F.—quite a change from yesterday’s high of 65 F.! A nasty strong wind saved yesterday from being too pleasant.

    After reading Jan’s comment above, I can only say I no longer recognize this country. America, land of freedom and opportunity? It’s now America, the kakistocracy. I can’t believe all our traditions have been brought down by one vile person and his vile political party.

    Today is Miss Pink Cheeks’ 10th birthday. I can hardly believe it! Apparently there will be a laser tag party, whatever that may be, with her friends.

    Hoping for a nice quiet day at home after yesterday’s exhausting schedule of errands, the Progressives’ luncheon, and the building party for all floors, which I co-hostessed. Apparently Birch Point, our building, has a reputation as “Party Central.”

    It’s nearly 8 a.m., so time to start my day. Wishing everyone a nice, quiet Saturday.

    • She’s 10 already? Heavens, where does time go? Happy Birthday to her. 🎂💕🎶✨🎁👍🎉

    • Ten?! How did that happen?!!! And I envy her day of laser tag; I’ve played a few times and had so much fun. But I also suspect it’s one of those things that I would find less enjoyable as I am not-so-stealthily approaching my dotage. 😄

  9. Slept in, watching the news — the early morning show on MSNBC is fun & informative. I think we’re supposed to get a cold front today, but since I have a 3 day weekend I don’t have to get all my errands run just today. I will get in a walk. Must get back into the fitness thing.

  10. It’s 23 feels like 13 and cloudy at the moment. I hope it clears off. We only got 2.4 KWHs yesterday, m-t-d is 105, and we need to get back to 6 or better per day to cover what I use. Besides cloudy is also gloomy and I don’t need any more of that.

    On the political front I’m hoping #45 bragging that “his boys” on SCOTUS will approve anything he wants them to will make them not for the rest of his run. I’m sure they’d be happy to do whatever he wants and definitely would if he’d kept his mouth shut but they have to pretend it’s on merit and not that they are following the mob boss orders. On a closer to home front Callum & Kim’s gfm met it’s goal last night which is a serious W00T!!! And Aji’s doctor got back into the office and did the biopsy referral which Aji immediately scheduled for Monday. That’s a W00T! too – although it would have been more of one if this had happened sooner. Like 14 months ago sooner. But it’s being done now so all manners and methods of Energy channeled for “best outcome” are greatly appreciated. Malignant or benign, the mass will have to be removed, but benign is better. Much better.

    I’ve got some internet stuff to do and some house stuff to do so I’d best get to it. I think coffee first though. heh. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  11. Good morning meese. It’s 42 degrees with a high of 50. There was a lot of excitement yesterday as both I-80 and US 50 were closed due to snow drifts and slides, making it very slow going across the Sierra. The CHP had to advise people repeatedly on Twitter NOT to use trails, forest service roads and other “detours” even if their GPS indicated it was.

    There’s another storm coming in which may close both highways again, but for now things seem to be ok. I’m going to have to go in to work for a few hours today since Monday is a holiday.

    See y’all later!

  12. Good morning, 33 and cloudy in Bellingham. The snow continues to slowly melt, but what remains is now packed slush and ice so I’m being very careful. It’s good to see the plants in my garden again but they look somewhat bedraggled from the unexpected snow.

    Slush and icy streets permitting we are planning a birthday brunch at our son’s house tomorrow, so I have flowers to arrange and a blueberry coffee cake to bake. It will be fun to be together so I hope the streets on this hill will be safely passable.

    Best wishes to all.

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