Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Oct. 27th through Nov. 2nd

October 26, 2019 JanF Community 96

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?

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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!
 

 

37 Comments

  1. Good “morning”, Motley Meese! The week begins …

    Morning low of 41 degrees in Madison WI with an expected daytime high of 54. Sunny skies are in the forecast.

    Have a great day, all y’alls!!

  2. Good Sunday morning Meese

    54 and raining here in Saugerties, NY going up to 59.

    Ugh.

    • Unfortunately, the people who are elevating him to relevancy in Iowa and New Hampshire don’t care about this topic – the people in those 95%+ white states with no large cities rarely have to live those experiences and can conveniently ignore those issues, focusing instead on free college and purity positions on health care. Iowa got MAGAt infested in 2016 and embraced the culture of bitterness and New Hampshire is the birthplace of Gadsdenism and has always been willing to believe that “multi-culturalism” treads on them. I wish young people could see how hopelessly out of touch he is.

  3. Puerto Rico

    • May Sekhmet the Blood Drinker haunt Ben Carson’s horrid dreams, and may the evil djinn inflict him with disgusting infestations. He deserves it all for what he’s inflicted on PR and VI.

  4. Good morning, Moosekind! It’s not a “sun” day at all here in Ashburn, quite the opposite in fact. We are receiving blessed, beautiful rain that’s moisturizing our dry skin and washing the grass. Good. Although the current temp. is 65 F., on its way up to 78 F., who says it will actually reach that temperature? Weather forecasters lie a lot. Anyway, whatever the temperature is, we are having Mediterranean Seafood Soup tonight with hot rolls and butter, followed by fresh apple-walnut cake that I can whip up in no time without even using a mixer.

    Actually had quite a good night’s sleep without any other aids than lavender oil and magical sleep cream—until 5 a.m. At 5:30 I was reluctantly forced to get up. The newspooper was late this morning and quite depressing. We all know that Thing is ruining this country. His minions are actively campaigning against scientific research, per the sad account written by an ex-environmental research scientist who has now reluctantly left the EPA and moved to Pennsylvania.

    There is NO common ground to be found with devotees of Thing. To me they’re like another species from a different planet, seemingly devoid of even the most elemental decency. They are as unlike the Jesus they profess to “worship” as it’s possible to imagine. Their only concern is for the well-being and unlimited sexual license of white male capitalist “Christians.” May the crusty curse of Oliver Cromwell fall upon their poxy penises.

    Well, enough of this political chitchat. Hope everyone will have a nice, peaceful day as far away from the news as possible. The Nats were soundly beaten last night, which does not surprise me at all. It’s the Washington, DC, curse.

    P. S. I shouldn’t read the newspaper in the morning. It throws me into a fit of rage.

    • There was an opinion piece in the NY Times by Nicholas Kristof pointing out that the right-wing evangelicals have so trashed religion that it is being rejected by more and more Americans.

      Perhaps for the first time since the United States was established, a majority of young adults here do not identify as Christian.

      Only 49 percent of millennials consider themselves Christian, compared with 84 percent of Americans in their mid-70s or older, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center.

      Well, for crying out loud, of course they reject religiousity – they are being told by the charlatans on the right that a serial sex abuser who lies and cheats and steals is the second coming of Christ! Why would anyone want to follow such a gross belief, why would they reject what they see with their own eyes: the worthiness of people of different religions – or no religion – of people of color, of women, of people who struggle to make ends meet.

      “Pompous right-wing political chest-thumping, and an unwillingness to listen on matters like climate change or racism, has contributed to a perception by millions that Christianity is irrelevant, or worse yet, a threat to progress,” the Rev. Richard Cizik, the leader of a group of self-described “new evangelicals” with moderate views, told me. “That’s a real burden to carry going into the 21st century.”

      Until the god-people who believe in humanity wrest control of their religion from the demagogues, their numbers will continue to decrease. Kristof:

      It would be difficult to imagine a president more at odds with Jesus’ message than Trump, a serial philanderer and liar who has persecuted refugees, divided families, exploited the poor and allegedly committed sexual assaults. When Trump in 2016 was asked to name a favorite part of the Bible, he muttered “an eye for an eye” — a reference to an Old Testament passage that Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, specifically renounced.

      That is the opposite of the Christianity whose heroic side I’ve often praised: A Catholic doctor in Sudan’s Nuba mountains … a missionary doctor in Angola … nuns everywhere. If they were the face of Christianity, its reputation would be golden.

      This can’t be laid at the feet of Trump, although he has accelerated it. The unholy alliance between the right-wing evangelicals and the Republican Party was well underway long before he appeared on the scene. But the total rejection of the teachings of their founder, Jesus Christ, in 2016, may make it difficult – if not impossible – to stem the bleeding. Good. We should not be a Christian nation, we can be a nation that includes Christians but we should first and foremost be a secular nation governed by laws that protect all religions and all races and all genders equally.

      • Well said, Jan! Completely agree, especially with this:

        We should not be a Christian nation, we can be a nation that includes Christians but we should first and foremost be a secular nation governed by laws that protect all religions and all races and all genders equally.

  5. Made it to the gym — actually twice — yesterday. I did 20 minutes on the elliptical, bought groceries, then came home & watched an astronomy show. It ended at 5, the gym closes at 6, so I went back & did a session on the treadmill. I had a podcast to listen to, so I needed the extra time. Today: church, make tea & a stirfry for lunch for next week, and maybe the gym again or a walk outside. I opened a tab for youtube to get music — and today’s the Dublin marathon, so I’m watching that instead of the Terrible Toddler talking.

  6. It’s 49-feels-like-45 in Fay., AR and going up to (maybe) 70 but it’s sunny which makes a whole lot of difference. I’m definitely not doing a fire all day and I’m not sure about in the evening. It will depend on how quickly the temps drop after sundown. Blessings that next Sunday we’ll be back to natural/sun/god’s time where “getting up with the sun” won’t be late and a fire in the evening won’t fill the house with smoke because it was still too warm outside. That will be very good indeed. Yesterday was another “hair under 3 KWHs” day and the m-t-d is 217.5 – so the 250 goal is possible if not likely.

    I was more concerned about earicicle/Amelia yesterday than whatever twitler was doing – or Twitter for that matter. Thank all that’s good for MVgal – she got Amelia moved but more than that. She supported Amelia during the long, hard day. Amelia told me this morning that thanks to MVgal’s support she was able to eat (& hold the food down) and actually get some sleep – and no longer in or on the edge of an anxiety attack. It won’t last of course – she’s got 5 days paid for and then…- but for now she’s calm and that’s good. Seriously MVgal is a blessing.

    If Xtianity was ever what it pretends to be it was only that (as a system/religion/organization) briefly. Maybe during the first century or so. Once the Roman power elite took it over as a replacement for the dying empire, well, it became a vehicle for the power elite. Codify & solidify “scripture” into a single, sacred, to-be-thumped book. Create a hierarchy with them at the top. Convince the manipulable 1) Romans had nothing to do with “killing Jesus”, 2) Jews “killed Jesus”, 3) Xtians following the Roman rules were the new “elect”, 4) those who don’t are evil, 5) Xtians following the Roman rules are entitled to whatever they want belonging to those others, 6) Xtians following the Roman rules are always the victims and must always fight/kill others to protect themselves. The hundreds of sects who broke off from Roman Catholicism over the centuries never changed the core of that. Just the trappings. Which is why white people “own” the lands they stole from Indigenous the world over and we’re still having legal rulings based on the Doctrine of Discovery. Yes the teachings of Jesus are good. And there are good people who follow them, whether or not in his name. I know many of those good people. I know more who are not. The structure itself is like any/every other system created to concentrate power in the hands of the few. And just like any/every other system that concentrates power in the hands of the few…power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. (rant over)

    Bobby and Amelia have checked in with me this morning and things are calm. I like calm. Calm is good. So I will go get more coffee and then read the internet stuff I’m interested in. I’ve got some financial records to update today – and need to do the floors, I’m almost ankle deep in cat fluff – but that’s for later. Healing/Helping Energy to everybody who accepts it, shaped to their need. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  7. Good morning, 41 and sunny in Bellingham. tRump angst is high this morning, so I’m going to do my best to avoid national news and keep my focus close to home. If my grand girls want to go with me we’ll see a live performance from the Bolshoi Ballet today. If not I’ll prune the salal growing around the upper patio. I’ve also got my Christmas sewing underway so I’ve got choices, just need to keep my focus.

    Best wishes to all.

      • There was so much disinformation going on about how Kamala ended up speaking at Benedict College after her boycott of the sponsors of the ass-kissing award. And a terrible MSNBC host was attacking Kamala calling it a “reversal.” Where do they get those people, is it weekend hosts trying to make a name for themselves by showing their “chops”? We see your chops, stupid little man.

  9. Monday Meese

    51 going up to 64 here in the NY Catskills

    Puerto Rico

  10. Good morning, meeses! Monday …

    It is 41 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 45. Mostly cloudy with a chance of mixed precipitation this evening. Snow is expected on Wednesday into Thursday and thank goodness I have no workweek travel plans. The first snow is always a ginormous mess as people need to remember how to drive and new snow drivers have to experience it.

    I laughed to see that fans at the Nationals game booed tRump and that he did not expect it! He really does not know how despised he is, living in his cocoon of coocoo and having no interactions with people other than those at his hate rallies and the sycophants in his political party. The chants of “lock him up” were especially hilarious. May it be so – looking at you, NY Attorney General Tish James.

    I was sad to see that rising star freshman Congresswoman Katie Hill resigned rather than subject herself and her constituents to the ugliness of the attacks being orchestrated by her abusive ex-husband. She made a mistake and there should be repercussions for that (how hard is it to just not date your employees??!!?) but the horror of the revenge porn and complete inability to fight it must feel awful. She said that what he did was a crime – my guess is that it will involve a $500 fine; attacks on women via social media are not treated very seriously in the law and by law enforcement.

    It was difficult to avoid the All Trump media frenzy related to ISIS over the weekend but I was able to find some local sporting events to watch on TV and I got my time-sensitive project 98% completed – I will finish it up this morning and start putting together a list of what I need to do before the calendar page flips again – November, holey mackeral!

    See all y’all later!

    • If this tweet is accurate, a $500 fine is not nearly enough:

      • I have no idea what the penalty is for revenge porn and most states probably don’t recognize it as a crime; I just know that the seriousness of these things is always minimized. Just like calling assault and battery in the home “domestic violence” instead of just “violence” allows people to click their brains over to “oh, she probably deserved it, not listening to her husband or burning his toast.”

        The people saying that she should have stayed and fought it are insane. You can never fix something like this.

      • $1,000 max, 6 months in jail. But if you are a public figure, it is news and protected under First Amendment.

        In California, where both Hill and Heslep reside, that fact of the crime isn’t enough — the victim has to prove that they’ve suffered distress. Cyber exploitation law is only classified as a misdemeanor in California and carries a maximum fine of $1,000 and six months in jail for a first time offense.
        https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/amberjamieson/katie-hill-vows-fight-revenge-porn-cyber-exploitation?bfsource=relatedmanual

      • There should be an underground women’s resistance movement getting revenge on these porners: cows left unattended on their front lawns, banshee wails echoing through their houses at night, and most of all, hidden cameras recording THEIR doings.

  11. Good Moon Day morning, Moosekind, and we do have a clear day coming up. I can’t believe it’s already 67 F.—when I took the dog out at 5 :30 it was 55 F. As it’s going to be sunny today I’ll put the charcoal cushions out to absorb sunlight before restoring them to their normal perches around our flat. Fighting SMELLS is a large part of everyday life here.

    Had another decent night’s sleep that ended too soon, but, hail, it’s what one expects these days. I might get a nap today.

    Today’s agenda: writing and exercise, followed by the afternoon school bus meet-and-greet. Last evening I rang Younger Son, which I hardly ever do, and asked him to please look for an alternative arrangement for Mr. Kindergartener. He may enroll Mr. K. in one of those after-school Tae Kwon Do programs. The little bus picks up the children at school, takes them to the studio for instruction, and keeps them until a parent can pick them up.

    It’s not that I don’t adore the grandchildren, I do, but this after-school biz is putting 75 miles a week on the odometer and it takes a 9-hour chunk out of my waking hours. I’m very behind on correspondence and writing as it is, and the after-school thing doesn’t help. I have canvassing duty on Saturday and sample ballot duty on Tuesday, but after that I may have more time.

    Going to try not to pay much attention to Thing today. He’s so blatantly a Russian asset it’s outrageous! But he’s made of Teflon, even more so than Ronnie Ray-Gun and Dub-yuh, so nothing will happen.

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.

    • This “It’s not that I don’t adore the grandchildren, I do, but this after-school biz is putting 75 miles a week on the odometer and it takes a 9-hour chunk out of my waking hours.” You should not have stress when you are retired, the reason we retire is to be able to choose our own pace!

      I hope you can work something out.

      • Thanks, Jan, I hope so too. At any rate, it looks as if I’m getting them Monday afternoon until Tuesday evening. They’re out of school those days.

  12. I walked before work, just 15 minutes but better than nothing. There’s a hill that is deceptive — doesn’t look like much, but it is a butt-kicker. I watched the Dublin marathon yesterday rather than Trump’s speech & the endless analysis of it. (hey y’all — the running screaming down a tunnel, crying, etc — that’s fiction; you should start scanning Tom Clancy novels for this scene) Depressed & angry about Rep. Hill’s resignation. So many male congressmen & senators have done so much worse and stayed in office. Anyway, happy Monday y’all. Here’s the song I was walking to: Discotheque

    Looking for the one
    But you know you’re somewhere else instead.
    You want to be the song
    The song that you hear in your head
    Love, love, love, love.

  14. Getting a slow start this morning. Which of course won’t be all that slow of a start once we’re back on “sun time” instead of “government time”. It’s 53 heading for 63 and more cloudy than not. The rain (& possible snow on Thursday) got shifted back a day which loses us the last fully sunny day of October. sigh. Yesterday we got 8.3 KWHs and the m-t-d is 225.8 – 4 sunny days would get us over 250, 4 cloudy ones will not. We shall see what we shall see.

    Only if applied to Kamala (or Hillary of course) could – “You were doing something evil. I refused to be a part of it and left. You stopped doing that evil so I came back” – be considered a “flipflop” or any kind of negative thing. That they stopped doing the evil to get her back – & only her since the others didn’t join her in leaving- shows just how much power she has. And how much the Rs & the MSM (or rather their owners) fear her. The only thing Kamala has going for her that Hillary didn’t is the MSM on the orders of that “vast right-wing conspiracy” (Birchers) haven’t been after her for as long so don’t have as many lies about her to string together for hit pieces.

    Worried about Amelia, critically. Worried about Aji, intensely. Worried about Fineena, seriously. Nothing I can do right now but listen if they wish to talk. & pray. A lot. But so far, so good, on Bobby’s situation. He’s in a safe (& beautiful) space and if the food is “meh” there’s at least enough of it. MissyLu is with him (& he’s already attracting the neighborhood cats 😹😹) His medical insurance has been extended to March and he’s up to date on all his meds. & he’s already on the waiting list for housing in one of the few areas where housing is actually safe. (He says it’s across the street from the police station.) So that’s a relief. But I’ll keep praying anyway.

    Need to get some coffee – when Cloud gets off my lap – and tour the internets. Healing/Helping Energy to everybody who needs it and accepts it. Shaped to your need. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  15. Good morning, Meesefolk; 36 when I got up and headed to 63. I’m not quite sure I believe that, but it’s pleasant at least, which is unlikely to be said about Wednesday or Thursday. I feel sorry for the trick-or-treaters on Thursday, but it will probably save me quite a bit of money, since I’ll cut back on the number of bags of candy…I’m hoping 15 will be enough.

    I made a really stupid mistake last week. I missed not one, but two, email notifications about taking a prerecorded, online screening interview. I did the interview on Thursday, but since that was 5 working days after receiving the “final notification,” I rather doubt it was even listened to. It’s not the end of the world, and the job was beyond my preferred driving radius, but I was still in a tailspin for Thursday and a good portion of Friday. I ended up just logging off (after carefully checking my email!) and staying away from everything except occasional glances at Twitter. It was a painful, but necessary, reminder that I need to “measure twice, cut once” on everything I do, because I’m far more unsettled from getting kicked out of my job than is obvious on the surface. My gut has been telling me loud and clear (as has the increased intake of antacid tablets), but there was a definite disconnect between gut and head. It’s a new week, so I’m starting fresh…and checking my email very, very carefully.

    Good day to and for all!

    • {{{DoReMI}}} – lists. Old-fashioned, hand-written, lists. And check off the items as they’re done. That’s my way to handle the brain dysfunction brought on by stress. (Have you tried peppermint tea, ginger tea or candied ginger for the gut? If any of them work for you, it’ll be a lot easier on your system than the antacid tablets.) Holding the Good Thought for you. Sending Helping/Healing Energy & more {{{HUGS}}}

  16. Good morning, 37 and light clouds in Bellingham. Emma and I enjoyed the live performance of Raymonda yesterday. The screening includes watching the audience enter the theatre, backstage shots of the dancers warming up, film from the rehearsal studio, interviews with the dancers and their teachers as well as the performance. Seeing the rich tradition and artistry of the Bolshoi was a nice counterpoint to my tRump angst, and sharing the moment with Emma was even nicer.

    So now it’s Monday and I’ve got a long list of chores to do, including pruning the salal growing by the upper patio. It needs to be cut way back and I want to save the cuts for future flower arrangements so I’ll need to think about what I’m doing. And that’s another relief from tRump angst. Taking it one day at a time here!

    Best wishes to all.

  17. Tuesday Meese
    57 and cloudy here in the Catskills going up to 60.

    Am hoping my husband will be transferred to intense rehab in the next two days – which will be about 10 or 15 minutes away from my house. Very frustrating to not be able to visit with him (for him and me) in the hospital 2 hours away.

    Was glad to see Kamala take this stance at the candidate forum most candidates skipped

    • It is an unfortunate name “Justice_Votes” because it gets confused with “JusticeDems” who are not Democrats and not for justice – they are for making sure that only the purity candidates get elected thus insuring a Donald Trump second term. Plus Cenk and TYT. I posted something about the forum yesterday and people wondered if I had lost my mind. :(

      @Justice_Votes: “We are a network of formerly incarcerated people. We want to use our stories to help drive the conversation around #CJReform.”

    • Holding the Good Thought your husband gets transferred sooner than later. Sending more Healing Energy. & {{{HUGS}}}

  18. Puerto Rico

  19. Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …

    It is 30 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 39. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast. The mixed precipitation expected in the overnight hours manifested in about an inch of snow on the ground this morning which was not predicted. It appears as though it did not stick to streets and sidewalks so the morning commute (which I am thankfully not part of!) shouldn’t be too bad. I do hope to get out today to get my flu shot – I have put it off too long – but I can control when I leave and the place I go is 5 minutes away.

    House Democrats will be holding a full House vote Thursday to formalize the impeachment inquiry in order to take that completely bogus right-wing talking point off the table. There is nothing wrong with how they approached it and a judge reaffirmed that fact last week. I hate that they are reacting to the bs that the Republicans are peddling but if it expedites getting the courts to uphold subpoenas, fine. I suspect leadership is in a bit of hurry to get this vote in since they are down two seats with Elijah Cummings’ seat vacant and Katie Hill’s seat about to become vacant; the vote will be held before she leaves. In case anyone thinks there will be suspense, Speaker Nancy Pelosi would not hold a vote that she did not expect to win. It will be interesting to see if any Republicans – maybe some of those retiring? – choose to vote to investigate. My guess is that they won’t – partisanship runs deep.

    Kamala Harris put the “revenge porn” story in a bit of perspective yesterday. Katie Hill was one of her endorsers – she did not hide that – but she made it clear that the crime committed is one that needs addressing. First, she said “revenge porn” is a terrible label because “revenge” suggests that the person did something to deserve retaliation and “porn” suggests that the person was a willing participant in the images.


    She may not have a binder full of plans – that will never pass Congress – but she has a lot of well-thought out positions on a lot of important issues.

    See all y’all later!

  20. I didn’t get in my walk this morning — running just a little late & it’s trying to rain. Which is a shame because I had the best song for walking stuck in my head, courtesy of Guardians of the Galaxy: Come & Get Your Love. And the performance I found on youtube will blow your mind. I had no idea they were Native Americans. I’m sure there’s stuff going on in the world, but really — check this out & some sweet, happy 1974 music.

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