Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Nov. 8th through Nov. 14th

November 8, 2015 JanF Community 152

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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41 Comments

  2. Good morning, meese! Friday …

    It is 39 degrees in Madison, on its way up to 42. Strong winds are still in the area and expected all day. It looks like they took the snow flurries out of the forecast.

    The GOP presidential primary is getting uglier and uglier: Trump v Carson, Cruz v Rubio, Republican Elites in Disarray … the wheels are definitely coming off the clown car. In historical terms, a front runner does not usually emerge 3 months before the first votes are cast in the nominating contest but the field shows no signs of shaking out which means that the news will be 12 guys (and a gal) barking at each other for the next several months. In the meantime, the president weighs in on the ridiculousness of deporting 11 million people and, besides the multi-billion dollar cost, suggests that the “images on the screen flashed around the world as we were dragging parents away from their children, and putting them in what, detention centers, and then systematically sending them out” would say terrible things about America.

    “Woman reading book at Trump rally” went viral. Trump’s handlers put her in the VIP section to lend a bit of “color” to the visuals and she read a book in silent protest of the ugliness of his rally:

    Idusuyi insisted she went into the rally with an open mind, but she took out her book and began reading after Trump demanded the removal of some protesters, and she said supporters cheered after a supporter removed a woman’s Obama hat and tossed it into the crowd.

    “I thought, ‘That’s bullying, that’s aggressive,’” she said. “I don’t think Trump handled it with grace. I thought, ‘Oh, you’re really not empathetic at all.’ That’s when the shift happened.”

    She decided to take out her book and read it conspicuously, realizing she was on camera behind Trump.

    “Why not use the opportunity to promote a great book?” Idusuyi said. “I didn’t expect to get in an argument with the people behind me.”

    Idusuyi gained online notoriety after video showed a white man sitting near her tapping her on the shoulder and angrily telling her to put away her book.

    Good for her.

    See all y’alls later!!

  5. Good Freya’s Day, Moosekind! It’s 51 F. on a beautiful blue-skied morning here in NoVa, going up to 55 F. today. However, it’s supposed to be very windy. I hate wind, even though I no longer wear contact lenses. Wind used to blow dust between them and my eyeballs and it was agony.

    Woke up to the news of Jihadi John’s presumed demise. Good. Ugh, looking at the photo of his actual face with its cold, dead black eyes is a stomach-churning experience. Also, apparently Trump castigated Ben Carson and all the other candidates. He’s so worried about losing the limelight he can hardly sleep.

    Presented the life cycle of the butterfly to the Daisies last night and helped them actually make a butterfly out of clothespins and coffee filters. Words cannot describe the noise 12 little girls aged six and seven can make. At one point I started getting a headache. Miss Pink Cheeks composed a song for the Daisies to sing but unfortunately we forgot to bring it with us.

    Hoping for a quiet Friday and weekend for all.

    • I was never so happy as when I got my contacts at age 16 … but just fine with dumping them when I turned 50ish and did not have to deal with grit in the eyes (I needed to go to tri-focals and the technology was not good enough to accommodate 8 hours a day sitting at a computer screen).

      I have only started reading the Trump meltdown (I put a bunch of posts up in tabs and then had to go do some early morning work). I thought this was interesting because it hit on something I had just seen – a petulant looking Barack Obama on a Reuters story. Here is what ThinkProgress said about “brute caricature”:

      Trump said that Carson — who has recently overtaken Trump in some state and national polls — had a “pathological temper” and was prone to violence. […] The depiction of a black man as uncontrollably violent and dangerous is an infamous racist trope known as the “brute caricature.” According to the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia “[t]he brute caricature portrays black men as innately savage, animalistic, destructive, and criminal — deserving punishment, maybe death. This brute is a fiend, a sociopath, an anti-social menace.”

      That is why President Obama has never gotten angry, although he certainly has every right to do so. He won’t play into the trope.

      I hope that Trump gives up. I hate that our politics looks like reality TV; it is embarrassing.

  6. Good morning Meese

    Hallelujah! I finally got internet back for my pc last night – approx 24 hours after we lost it up here.

    Using the cell/mobile was a band-aid, since I can’t really “write” on my phone.
    I’m just grateful I had already filed my Sunday copy before I lost the net – the new orange deadline is Thursday noon – and I had it in before then (phew)

    Students on my campus staged a walk-out yesterday –
    Hundreds of SUNY New Paltz students protest tuition increases

    Annual tuition in the state system rings up at $6,470; room and board is another $12,130 per year. Fees, books and other incidentals boost the total annual bill to $24,020, according to SUNY figures.

    While that is no way near the fees for many private schools – it is still a significant debt load

    Michelle Scaderi was handing out flyers at the protest Thursday. The 21-year-old senior from Hauppague is majoring in sociology and environmental studies. The price tag: $25,000 of her own debt; $80,000 for her mother, she said.

    • I came across this interesting post shared by NPR about campus racism and white cluelessness and the politics of “PC”:

      I graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism in 2011. While there, I TA’d for an undergrad class called “Cross-Cultural Journalism.” After being assigned a reading on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, one of my students complained that the writer was trying make her feel bad for poorer people in New Orleans, which she said was unfair because “natural disasters affect everyone equally.”

      Yikes!

      Blinded by the “white” privilege?

      Los Angeles Times reporter and Mizzou grad Nigel Duara wrote about his unwillingness to talk about his experiences of racial bias on that campus, for fear of interrogation. After admitting his lack of surprise about the recent accusations at Mizzou, Duara was questioned by a white friend: “He wanted to know what I was talking about. He, a white man, was there with me for most of it. If something truly terrible happened, the implication was, he would have seen it, or at least heard about it.”

      The author recounted a story about a housing discrimination “test”, where a white actress got shown an apartment after a black actress had been told there were no apartments left:

      The actress recalled a particularly genial landlord who told her the last available apartment had been recently taken. Later that same day, he told a white actress that an apartment would be available soon, and took her to look at it.

      “It’s jarring. It’s very jarring,” the black actress said. “It was just really confusing. I’m like, ‘Oh, maybe I should have done something differently.’ … It’s hard for my brain to realize that there was nothing that I could do.”

      That is what is so bloody unfair … there is nothing a person can do when the discrimination is based on skin color.

    • Hi Denise – I’m glad the students are protesting, beit the tuition and fees or anything else. It’s what students are supposed to do. (At least according to my mother – she taught me that the educated “younger generation” of every time should be looking at the problems and protesting them.)

      I have an OT question for you though. Is there anything a white instructor can do/say as a white woman to respond to a black student who is ranting about racial bias of showing a film about racial bias? On of my long-time professors regularly shows a film (I don’t remember the name of it but it was an “experiement” where a white family was made up to look black and a black family was made up to look white and showing the way each family was treated in society changed based on that racial perception) – and just received a total meltdown rant about “black face” and how she as a white woman was too stupid to understand the insult but she should have known the history. I’ve had the same kind of situation myself and never could come up with anything that reached the student in question. So I wondered if, from your side of the equation, you can think of anything we could have done differently in the first place (prior to the film) or said in the second place (after the film) to defuse that situation? Thanks, bf

      • Hard for me to answer that – haven’t seen the film – do you know the title?

        I might suggest not to use that film – and try some other things – there are quite a few – but can’t answer unless I’ve seen it.

        • I was afraid of that. The instructor has left for the day. Hopefully I’ll remember to ask her Monday.

          I hope it’s not one more example of “white privilege” to think there’s a difference between black face (Al Jolson, etc) and essentially disguising a white family as black to show how differently the same family is treated depending on their perceived race – and showing the resultant film to a mostly white sociology class to illustrate it for them. The chance that it might be is another reason why I wanted to run it by you.

  7. Morning all! A gorgeous day here in north Florida – in the 70s, crisp and clear, just perfect!

    I wonder how Trump’s meltdown plays with the new Republican teaparty base, though? I mean, we think all this stuff is terrible, but the reality TV aspect of his persona I think is what made him a leading candidate to start with, so I’m not sure his people will be particularly turned off. It’s a long campaign, I’m still afraid we’re going to see Rubio come out on top in the end, and he’s a bit dangerous as a candidate, although his gaffes might catch up with him too, who knows.

    Have a great day everyone! SO glad you got your internet back, Denise!

    • One account I saw suggested that the Iowans in the audience during his meltdown left feeling a bit uncomfortable. But I am sure the right-wing talk radio hosts who are running the Republican Party right now are just fine with it and will give Trump mad props for his “truth speaking”.

      I read an interesting take on Booman Tribune about how it is possible that GOP elites will dump the Republican Party in the general election if one of these yahoos gets the nomination. They may not like Democrats but they may be unwilling to turn over the country to someone completely unqualified to run it:

      … the political concern is in jeopardy of getting trumped by a basic responsible concern for the welfare of the country. I think we saw some of this back in 2008 when Barack Obama was able to capitalize on a combination of the complete implosion of the Bush administration on every level and concerns about the temperament and suitability of both McCain and Palin to peel off traditionally right-leaning elites. It wasn’t just Colin Powell who defected, but William Buckley’s son and the offspring of Dwight Eisenhower and many big-name investors and capitalists.

      There’s a point where folks will actually give up on the GOP and vote for the Democrat, and it’s really not that big of a leap to put your trust in the Clintons. You kind of know what you’re going to get and they’ve got a record of basic competence.

      I am hoping that appeals to competence will spread to the Congressional races as well. I am not sure how long our country can go without a functioning government.

  8. Good morning, 52, wind and rain in Bellingham today. I finally finished the china cabinet shuffle, but one thing lead to another so now some of the kitchen cupboards are clean too. I still have my great grandmothers silver serving pieces to polish, and then I’ll start sorting all the books that accumulated in the living room. I have a low centered table that has a tall plant and stacks of books around it, and while I love the feel of a room full of books teetering stacks are more overwhelming than charming!

    Timothy Egan has an interesting column re “…..the diminishment of a healthy, professionally trained free press.”

    Beat The Press

    Even if you don’t give a damn about what’s happened to the once- storied free press, consider the consequences to a once- storied political party. The main reason that Republican candidates sound so crazy of late is because they get their information, and validation, from the twisted world of partisan media outlets.

  10. I think I’m going to give up on DKos – I was just trying to read the comments on a diary about what Jennifer Lawrence said in Vogue about being raised a Republican but not being able to vote for a party that doesn’t support basic women’s rights, and the comment section is just a mess. They’ve really “HuffPoed” the main page – the diaries are treated like the sole thing to read, and the comments are so secondary, it’s like they’re hidden. And then that diary is FILLED with anti-abortion commenters, and when I looked to see who a couple of them are, it’s almost impossible to tell. I “flagged” one – I guess that’s the new HR, but then I gave up in disgust. Now I don’t want to go near the diary on the horror unfolding in Paris, ugh. So awful – I was reduced to watching CNN for a while, something I haven’t done in years, but I can’t stand any more.

    • Anti-abortion commenters?? Holy mackeral, how did that happen? If the site owner killed off the community moderation and didn’t replace it with site moderation they are going to soon become the Yahoo comments sections. Why? There is no reason to provide another place for awful people to post awful things.

      I was watching MSNBC until their security “expert” came on and said that it is France’s fault they got attacked because they won’t help bomb stuff that he thinks needs bombing. Where do they get these guys???

    • I was curious about what you had seen and went to look. I found the offensive comment and I think it may be related to the new format being more welcoming to drive-by commenters. The site owner mentioned that “new users”, those who sign up just to comment on one story, is up significantly. People are finding the story on social media, wander over to Yahoo-comment in a way that is completely out of touch with the site culture and leave … one and done.

      “Huffpoed” is a good description. I find the front page jarring (the images are simply TOO FREAKING HUGE – small images of Ben Carson and Ted Cruz and The Donald are bad enough but those big ones where you can count their face pores are ghastly) and not pleasantly laid out. Apparently they felt the need to keep the scrolling-story format even though more sites are going to a magazine style layout. Some of the old with some of the new creates cacophony. But that is just my opinion!

  11. Good morning, meese! Saturday …

    It is 27 degrees in Madison, on its way up to 55. Sunny skies are in the forecast. The sky is clear now and the stars are visible. Last night the waxing crescent was a thin strand of light hanging in the western sky.

    The attacks in Paris are another horrific reminder of how tenuous humanity’s claim to being civilized is. I watched it unfold on Twitter and then turned on the TV for a while (when Twitter got stupid – good for breaking news, terrible when it feels it needs to “fill in the gaps” in confirmed news). Just in case you did not know, 10 guys with concealed carry in the concert would have saved all those people … so says Newt Gingrich. And Judith Freaking Martin wants everyone to know that the events in Paris (caused by a war she helped start that destabilized an entire region) should shut up those whiney college kids protesting about safe space.

    Here is the president:

    Transcript: Statement by the President on the Situation in Paris

    See all y’alls later!

    • Morning Meese,
      Though I guess I could also write “mourning”. Prayers for the families.

      Here’s hoping that Intel folks can get a lead on the people that sent the suiciders in.

      I can’t bear to listen to the stupid responses of the R-clowns.

      • The R clowns are awful. Here is what BWD tweeted:

        Two groups celebrate tonight: terrorists and American conservatives. The rest of the world stands with Paris.

        The Republicans are looking for someone to bomb but the horrors unleashed by George W. Bush’s war of choice are not bombable. They are in people’s hearts and until and unless we change those hearts, we will see this same thing over and over again.

  12. No weather report this morning…simply horrified and saddened by the events in Paris.

    Death and destruction—that’s all Daesh knows. (They don’t like to be called “Daesh” so that’s why I call them that instead of ISIL.) From the destruction of the ancient Buddhas carved into stone in Afghanistan and the bombing of Palmyra to the slaughter of innocents in Beiruit, Sharm El-Sheikh, and now Paris, the terrorists have shown they’re experts.

    Feel very somber today, don’t know what to do, really. Hope everyone here is well and will stay that way.

    • I saw you use “Daesh” yesterday(?) and wondered what it was. If they do not like it, that is what I will use also. I have been using ISIL because Isis is a goddess who should not be associated with a terrorist organization. But I hate that ISIL tars all of Islam when it is a perversion of Islam.

      From an article in September 2014:

      The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is a bit of a misnomer, says France, as it lends the imprimatur of Islam to a group that the vast majority of Muslims finds despicable. “This is a terrorist group and not a state. I do not recommend using the term Islamic State because it blurs the lines between Islam, Muslims, and Islamists,” France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in a statement. “The Arabs call it ‘Daesh’ and I will be calling them the ‘Daesh cutthroats.'”

      The name Daesh, according to France24, is a “loose acronym” for “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” (al-Dawla al-Islamiya al-Iraq al-Sham). The name is commonly used by enemies of ISIS, and it also has many negative undertones, as Daesh sounds similar to the Arabic words Daes (“one who crushes something underfoot”) and Dahes (“one who sows discord”).

      Would you pronounce that “DAY-ish”?

      CAIR:

  13. So sad about Paris. Glad my group is meeting out at a state park today, which I always skip, and I could sleep in. I do have to walk 5 miles on my own today. I’ll definitely listen to music — I need distraction. Right now, I’m eating breakfast & watching the news.

  14. Good morning, 45 and raining in Bellingham. In my little world the combination of heavy rain and a slow sewer drain resulted in a nasty basement flood yesterday. The plumbers freed the drain, RonK loaded the rugs into the truck and got them clean, our son helped me toss the stuff that was too yucky and clean and dry what has to be saved, such as the old leather trunk full of Christmas decorations.But thanks to lots of clorox mopping and scrubbing it’s clean again……and I’m exhausted.

    And I’m heart sick re the big world…….I wish I could scrub it clean as well.

  15. Morning all, heavy hearts today. I listened to the French President Hollande call them Daesh in his address to his nation this morning, and I’m glad to read the explanation, JanF – I’m going to start calling them that too. I really think they are a new form of fascism, with an emphasis on oppression of women and a taste for torture. One of Dee’s and my friends in our game is French-Canadian – his parents emigrated from France to Canada, and he has a lot of family in Paris. He was too heartsick to play last night – I’m hoping I will see him in game this morning to hear if his family there is all ok.

    On Dkos, Jan, that explains what I saw – the comments looked more like comments on stories at general media sites, and the conversations I was used to seeing among mostly commenters I was familiar with are missing. I don’t understand why they’ve done this to DKos – it’s seriously driving me away, but I guess that’s the tradeoff. They may get a lot of traffic from these “drive by” posters, but long time regular posters like me (since 2004) may be less likely to show up. It’s sad.

    Well, it is a gorgeous cool day here – going to feel like fall all day long today and tomorrow, in the 70’s, before we slip back into the 80’s next week, ugh. Everyone have a good day – I know all our thoughts and prayers, if we pray, are with the people of Paris.

    • How did President Hollande pronounce Daesh? I want to get it right when I say it.

      Regarding the DKos site, I am not sure what the business model is now but it appears that the “stay and read other stuff” number is way down (I think this is called “recirculation”). So folks are reading a post that they found on Facebook or Twitter or a right-wing blog, dropping a “nugget” and leaving. I am really into the meta of web sites and online media so I find this fascinating to follow. It sounds like the culture of the site might become frayed but perhaps that (“electing more and better Democrats”) is secondary now. I still have a few friends who consider it their only online home and I hope they can still find safe places to visit.

  16. I think he pronounced it dai-esh, like dais but with an “esh” at the end. I can’t find the video of him speaking atm. And yeah, that seems a good description of what’s happening at DKos – out with the neighborhood pub Cheers model, “where everyone knows your name”, and in with the fast food model, I guess.

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