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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Good morning, Motley Meese! The week begins …
It is 34 degrees in Madison WI, on its way up to 49. Partly cloudy skies are in the forecast.
Have a great day, all y’alls!!
Hillary Clinton’s speech from last night, pivoting to the general election. If you were watching MSNBC last night, you would have missed most of this because the boys had to cut it short to return to the studio to complain that they hate the sound of Hillary Clinton’s voice. Sigh.
Tonight the Democratic Party debate will be in Flint MI on CNN at 8pm Eastern.
D-D-Dana Milbank says Hillary’s speeches are boring. I think it’s quite exciting to hear a woman making a speech that men aren’t interrupting. Regardless of what The Boyz think, I shall continue to be as excited as I please.
I gather that a Clinton-Warren ticket is being contemplated at Secretary Clinton’s headquarters in Brooklyn. That sounds pretty good, but I’d rather see Warren continue in the Senate, where she could wield some power. As Veep, her power would be limited to breaking a tie vote in the Senate.
And attending foreign funerals.
I don’t think that removing a Democrat from the Senate is a good idea (Republican governor in Massachusetts would appoint any replacement). Plus Elizabeth Warren is almost as old as Hillary Clinton – I want the VP pick to highlight the next generation of Democratic leaders and position him or her for 2024. Yes, I am looking that far ahead.
True, Jan. I’m thinking Julian Castro. ‘Tis a pity he’s a boy. I’d like to see more women in the White House and the Naval Observatory.
I think Secretary Castro will be an asset to the ticket. He is already doing a lot of campaigning for Hillary – his biography is the biography of so many Latinos and his candidacy would be wonderful outreach to one of the groups being Trumped on this year.
Plus, I want right-wing heads to explode when the ticket is Clinton-Castro 2016.
A lot of people are concerned about how young he is. And that by being veep he’ll sort of dead-end himself (the likelihood of Dems continuing to win the White House after 3 or hopefully 4 successive terms being considered slim). But I still think he’d be the best pick. I was more worried about the name – Castro has been an evil name in America for decades and I don’t know if the unconscious association can be overcome. But then, that’s mostly a “white folks” issue – and we are no longer the “base” of the Party.
About the name – Barack Hussein Obama won two terms. I think if people can get past that, Castro is nothing. He just needs to win Democratic votes anyway … the people who won’t be able to get past the name are all Republicans, and old ones at that.
I actually think that the likelihood of 20 or more years of Democratic presidents is pretty high. We laugh at “Republicans in disarray” but they really are. The establishment wing of the party, the guys who held together the religionist wing, the tenther wing, the libertarian wing, the nativist wing, the KKK wing, and the Wall Street wing have been kicked to the curb. Not just kicked to the curb but kicked to the curb, doused with gasoline and set on fire. I am not sure how long it takes them to rebuild: after the Goldwater fiasco, they had some sensible Republicans who righted the ship and they were only out of power for 8 years. I am not sure who rights this flaming mess.
I have seen some pundits suggess that we are in a major party realignment much like the 70s and 80s and that what comes out of it is anyone’s guess. I wouldn’t mind working with a Republican Party that wanted to govern as partners with Democrats but right now it is winner-take-all and a bloody death to the loser. With that specter hanging over us, every election is a Fear Election and it is stressing out our country.
Hope you’re right about Castro. I like the fact that he’s young. We need to get the next generation deeply involved. We Boomers are getting long in the tooth. Even the late Boomers will be in their 60s by 2024. But Obama’s last name may be funny, but it’s not Hussein. I doubt he would have managed to pull off even the nomination if it had been. Hillary was close enough that it wouldn’t have taken much of a shift in the early stages for her to have won. Still both the Castros are very good politicians and very popular in TX, so as the older “Castro=Stalin” people die off…
The longest stretch we’ve had of the same party holding the White House is the FDR-Truman lash up and Truman didn’t run in 1952 although he legally could have (term limits wouldn’t have applied to him) is because he knew he couldn’t win. I hope you are right – we need a balancing party, power has always corrupted, but the Rs right now can’t balance themselves and would do nothing but destroy civilization as we know it at the very least if they get their hands on power.
Good morning, Moosekind! It’s 35 F. here in NoVa on a sunny morning after overnight rain, going up to 49 F. And this week it’s going to be in the 70s—yay!
Very pleased that Hillary won Louisiana, hoping for a good showing at the Maine caucuses today. If memory serves, it’s Michigan on Tuesday.
Today I’ve planned a slow cooker dinner so I can read the printout of Long, Long Way to run and put in the edits. I’d love to get it off to the publisher this week. Thinking about the next book, the April story, and of course, Political Granddaughter’s birthday story, due April 7th.
Wishing everyone a nice, peaceful Sunday!
The delegate math is such that Bernie’s wins actually put him behind on the trajectory he needs to win. Nate put together an interactive web page that shows what each candidate needs and where they will get it from. Here is how Harry Enten explained last night’s results:
In Michigan, Secretary Clinton is up by 20 points. Mississippi is also voting that day and she probably leads there by 70 points. It may be over by March 8th.
Aha—isn’t March 8 International Women’s Day? We could make something out of that! :)
Good Sunday morning Meese.
33 here in Saugerties. Drinking my coffee and getting ready to celebrate Barbara Jordan over at orange.
Fell asleep waiting for Louisiana results to come in (I was sure Hillary would win in a blowout – thanks to those pesky black folks – lol) – so thanks for the video clip. Still have not seen any exit polls. I doubt I will watch the debate tonight…will look at clips tomorrow,
Seeya latah.
Going to keep an eye out for your Barbara Jordan diary, Sis!
Thanks, Dee! Here’s the link: Barbara Jordan: ‘She always did sound like God’.
Barbara Jordan was a remarkable person. I learned a lot about her when I wrote a Great Speeches series a few years back and spotlighted her speech to the Democratic National Convention in 1976: Sharing and shaping our future
And here is Ann Richards’ eulogy,
stolen from Dee’s diaryFound on the Internets:steal anything you like :)
I did very little yesterday. Did go grocery shopping & got breakfast cooked & container-ized. Might get in a walk this afternoon since I have no cooking to do. Sunday mornings are still awkward without MSNBC. Local news till I can’t stand it any more, then CNN, but they’re talking to Mitt Rmoney — I thought we were done with him??
Was having a dream when the alarm went off, about using Uber to get to work… weird.
Good morning, 48 and cloudy in Bellingham this morning. A new week is most welcome……March 5th is the anniversary of my parents death, and even though it’s been 21 yrs now it’s still an emotional day for me. I had planned to spend more time outside yesterday, but between family phone calls and time online my day took it’s own path. So today is a fresh start, and I’ll see what happens!
Ron is planning a slow cooker dinner for tonight’s last Downton Abbey Sunday supper. We’ve watched every episode with our son and the various dogs. We’ll miss our visits to Highclere Castle, but reading the website helps. This entry from Lady Carnarvon is an amusing and interesting look at real life at the castle…..
Balancing The Books
That must have been sad seeing that date on the post all week (well, not all week, I usually put the ending date up on Tuesday or Wednesday once everyone knows where to meet).
Some dates simply stick in our brains. For you, that was so sudden and so shocking, it is not surprising that it still has that power over you.
Now, on to the rest of the month … it’s March and some of the best people you know are born in March, right, Diana? ;)
Mais oui, naturellement, Jan! ;)
Heading for 70 and sunny today – now that I look yesterday was sunny enough I generated 17.7 KWHs, highest since last September. Need to get back to my diary at DK – Bubba’s diary cratered me yesterday, I just went into lurker mode, but there are hundreds of people who haven’t logged in at DK for years who came to pay their respects and I need to go back in and acknowledge that. Scout’s Honor I will read the Barbara Jordan diary – I’ve been looking forward to it – but it may not be today. Fortunately I’m following Dee, so I’ll be able to find it whenever I get the time/energy to read it. Glad Hillary had a good day. Trish didn’t talk about it on DK of course but she was a Hillary supporter – Friday I had been planning to see if she’d gotten her absentee ballot yet. Damn the NC governor and legislature! If they hadn’t blown off expanded Medicaid, Trish might have gotten diagnosed and treated early enough… blood on their hands, deaths on their heads. OK, need to get myself together. Love you folks. {{{HUGS}}
Thanks for checking in, Bfitz. I was worrying about you. Pace yourself – my orange peeps tell me that new diaries are still being added; I think someone put together a digest of them, kind of like the old motherships they used to do for the BP oil disaster.
{{ HUGS )) back!
Doing my best. I’ll answer a few, start crying again, go visit somebody else’s memorial since I’m crying anyway, then go back to my own. And yes, someone did put together a “mothership” – mostly I think so people didn’t have to open their rec lists but also so the ones that have scrolled off the side bar could still be found. I truly hope Trish knew how much she was loved and appreciated. She knew the safe space she created was important – I think she stayed here as long as she did in the hopes of making it something that could and would go on once she left (which we are damn-sure working on although I really shouldn’t say we as I need to get a dependable computer and then learn how before I can actually write one). But I don’t know if she realized how much she was loved for it.
{{{Hugs back at ya, bfitz!}}}
I don’t know if you remember Norbrook. He was a P&W guy who left the GOS because he couldn’t abide the purity politics.
He wrote a very moving tribute to the Pootie Queen on his own blog. Bring tissues!
https://cendax.wordpress.com/2016/03/06/goodbye-triciawyse/
Good morning, meese! Monday …
It is 44 degrees in Madison on its way up to 60. Mostly cloudy skies in the forecast.
I watched the debate last night because I was interested in how the Flint crisis was being addressed. Gak! Bernie Sanders is really obnoxious. The woman-shushing, the finger jabbing the hand-raising – even when Secretary Clinton just started speaking! – now I know where the BernieBros got the idea that they could treat people with complete disrespect on their way to the goals. One thing is clear, Bernie Sanders definitely believes that a pure vote is more important than compromising. Bail out for banks and the auto industry? Throw them both under the bus!! I hope Hillary crushes him in the March 8 primaries because I am sick of this. She needs to be able to pivot to the general election. Sadly, two more debates are scheduled and they will only get uglier as Sanders realizes he can’t win but can damage our candidate and our party, a party he made clear that he was not part of.
Busy day here. See all y’all later!
Some reactions to the shushing are here: Women React to Bernie Sanders Telling Hillary ‘I’m Talking’ .
There were also some reactions to Bernie’s claim that the “black experience” was pretty much ghettos and prison.
I was floored – clearly all of us blahs live in “The Ghetto” (tell that to my white farmer neighbors, and to many of the poor white people in my county)
His whole stance on guns – guns “good” in Vermont (white people who hunt) bad in “the Cities” (those black/latino gang bangers) has ticked me off for a while.
Am also amazed that he had not a clue black folks (of all classes and status) have problems hailing a cab…till he got to Congress. Didn’t he live in NYC before going to Vermont?
Grrrr – I wasn’t going to watch the debate …but I did.
I wasn’t going to watch either but I am glad I did because it really brought home the differences between the two candidates: one has a varied experience including working closely with business leaders and community leaders and the other was mayor of Burlington and congressional gadfly, taking purity votes rather than dirty his hands with consensus building.
Sanders’ campaign manager, after the win in Maine, claimed that Hillary was a “regional candidate” unable to win outside the South. HAHAHAHAHAHA! Bernie is a “white candidate” unable to win outside his race.
Did you see the Tweet that Ben Jealous tweeted out and then deleted? He wants Bernie to go after Hillary’s support for Barry Goldwater when she was in high school. Here is something more current: Bernie’s big endorser last night was a former Senator from Michigan, a lobbyist who was part of the Keating 5. But he is anti-NAFTA which gives Bernie the opportunity to go after Hillary on trade and her husband’s policies. Grrrr.
yes – I tweeted back an admonishment to Jealous as soon as he posted it.
Didn’t know he deleted it.
He got a slew of pushback.
The one main thing that registered for me about the debate is that Bernie made it clear he is not a Democrat.
Yes, I caught – and noted – his distancing himself from the party, rather forcefully at times. His rejection of the party may have more to do with his failure to win in strong Democratic states than his cluelessness about race and his hyperfocus on reining in Wall Street as the solution to every problem in America. At one point he blamed the Flint water crisis on Wall Street! JHC!!
Good morning Meese.
Have been invited to guest lecture today at a class on women in politics this morning so am not going to be able to laze around today:)
32 here today. I am trying to get in gear…moving very slowly due to staying up watching debate and twitter at the same time.
Good morning, Meese! It’s 39 F. here in NoVa on a lovely, sunny day, going up to 64 F. later. I might walk up to the school today to fetch the girls home for tea instead of driving. So happy we’re going to have a week of 70-degree temperatures, because Daughter-from-Austin is flying in on Wednesday to be with me for my birthday. Warm weather will be good for walks. We love to go on long walks together, talking a mile a minute.
Busy day here. Need to put in the edits to the manuscript, read it over one more time, then get it ready to send off. Also need to clean the downstairs fridge so that Daughter, who plans to store her special diet food in it, won’t think I’m a slob. (I am, but I don’t necessarily want her to know that.)
Watched the debate with Dearly last night and was totally turned off by The Berning Man. He is just as much in love with himself as the Trumpet is with himself. Mah Gawd, when asked a question that has nothing whatever to do with Wall Street, he finds a way to answer with Wall Street. He reminds me of a parrot that has been trained to say “corporations, one percent, billionaires, economic inequality, and working class.”
Like the rest of you, I can’t wait until this is OVER! Please, Goddess, let it be clearly defined after March 8, and let the Trump battle it out with Cruz Missal. Wishing everyone a good day!
We are supposed to get rain this week. It was misting on my way in, so maybe it’s true. I sorta watched the debate last night. Really — I read twitter with the TV on & muted most of the time. I was waiting for Don Lemon to ask if black holes were involved in the Flint mess.
Anyway, my head is playing Magnificent: Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love can heal such a scar (full lyrics here)
Some folks on Twitter thought it pretty ironic that Don Lemon asked whether black people should trust Hillary Clinton – they said maybe he should have asked black people if they trusted him!
Good morning, Meese! It’s 39 F. here in NoVa on a lovely, sunny day, going up to 64 F. later. I might walk up to the school today to fetch the girls home for tea instead of driving. So happy we’re going to have a week of 70-degree temperatures, because Daughter-from-Austin is flying in on Wednesday to be with me for my birthday. Warm weather will be good for walks. We love to go on long walks together, talking a mile a minute.
Busy day here. Need to put in the edits to the manuscript, read it over one more time, then get it ready to send off. Also need to clean the downstairs fridge so that Daughter, who plans to store her special diet food in it, won’t think I’m a slob. (I am, but I don’t necessarily want her to know that.)
Watched the debate with Dearly last night and was totally turned off by The Berning Man. He is just as much in love with himself as the Trumpet is with himself. Mah Gawd, when asked a question that has nothing whatever to do with Wall Street, he finds a way to answer with Wall Street. He reminds me of a parrot that has been trained to say “corporations, one percent, billionaires, economic inequality, and working class.”
Like the rest of you, I can’t wait until this is OVER! Please, Goddess, let it be clearly defined after March 8, and let the Trump battle it out with Cruz Missal. Wishing everyone a good day!
Morning all! Lovely and sunny here today, spring break is over and 6 weeks left in the semester, and I am SO BEHIND! I’ve got a lot to do this week.
I didn’t watch the debate but kind of wish I had, as I followed it on Twitter while I was working on makeup lecture notes, and I got so mad I actually tweeted some myself (about poverty statistics in Vermont)! This Twitter addiction I have now is all Denise’s fault btw. I lived in Vermont, it is FILLED with poor white people, and I just cannot imagine how Bernie let that “White people don’t know what it is to be poor” crap slip out. It’s as if he has a bifurcated reality firmly stuck in his head – black people are poor and live in ghettos, white people are either working class or Wall Street. I’ve seen a couple of clips now of the ‘I’m talking now!’ stuff, and man if that doesn’t turn off some women Bernie supporters, they’re just not paying attention. I was active in leftist politics (very minor) in the early 70’s, and I knew white lefty guys like Bernie – and they didn’t want women anywhere near the power structure of leftist movements. He hasn’t changed.
But I think it was the auto bailout issue that Hillary really nailed him on and very cleverly too – she hasn’t raised his vote against it at all in her campaigning in Michigan and was clearly saving it for this debate. He thought he’d have her in a vice on NAFTA (which had nothing to do with the decline of Detroit and Flint, btw – Michael Moore made Roger and Me about GM abandoning Flint and it all happened in the 80’s, long before NAFTA), and she just sprung the trap of his own vote against the auto industry perfectly! Do not fool with Hills, guys, she can make mincemeat of you while smiling all the time!
Ok, back to getting something done – have a great day everyone!
This: “black people are poor and live in ghettos, white people are either working class or Wall Street” is not just a bifurcated reality … it is what happens when you develop an ideology, dig in your heels for purity and close yourself to learning anything new.
Here is the auto-industry bailout radio ad from Soundcloud: Came Through | Hillary Clinton
I won’t watch the town hall tonight but at least that format, unless Fox changes it out to try to embarrass the Democratic Party, will be less shouty.
twitter is really having fun with that black=ghetto thing…… If you’re on twitter & you don’t follow PropaneJane, you really should, she is something
Good morning, 43 and raining in Bellingham today. It’s a pool morning for me and I hope the exercise clears my foggy brain. I watched as much of last night’s debate as I could, followed along on twitter and Facebook, watched the Trudeau interview on 60 Mins, and then the Downton Abbey finale…..sensory overload!
I need to turn off the devices today and just do something. Best wishes to all for a pleasant day.
Hi Folks 60 heading for 66 and partly cloudy this Monday – rain supposed to move in tonight, possibly for the rest of the week. We need it, but the gray is depressing which I don’t need right now. If anybody is interested, here’s the link to the “Mothership of Memorial Diaries:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/03/06/1496700/-The-Pootie-Queen-Digest#comment_60149374
I’m not sure I’ll ever manage to acknowledge everyone who came into my diary and commented, but I discovered very quickly I’m not going to do it from work!
Didn’t watch the debate – cannot stand Bernie’s voice, never mind his attitude and rhetoric. Will probably try to find a video of Hillary’s comments or at least a transcript – but I probably know pretty much what she said anyway. There are some points she is not going to let fade into the woodwork just because they don’t fit Bernie’s mantra.
Hope everyone has a good 1st Monday – things are flowering here, wild cherry in my backyard did Saturday morning and the Bradford pear is going to just burst with flowers within the next day or so. Saw some Japonica and Forsythia blooming on the way to work and a couple of spirea bushes are getting ready to pop as well. The mid-season daffs are opening up – other bulbs around town as well. And a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker joined the group at my feeding post last Friday. {{HUGS}}
Your spring sounds beautiful, bfitz! Hope you get some sunshine!
Ozark Springs are beautiful – but I’m probably not getting any sunshine this week. Fits in with Bubba’s diary, but not helpful. Hope your Spring sproings soon. :)
Rep. John Lewis is “livetweeting” Bloody Sunday – 51 years ago today:
@RepJohnLewis
Happy International Women’s Day Meese!
Thanks for the Doodle! I was just about to hunt down Hillary Clinton’s 1995 speech and post it here. It seems to be a week for historical things. Maybe tonight history will be made – the defacto nomination of the first woman to run for the president on a major party ticket.
Thinking of all the young girls around the world today.
Instead of watching the news this morning ..enjoying my twitter stream
Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …
It is 55 degrees in Madison on its way up to 65. Morning rain is in the forecast. Window open for the first time this year … it feels good!
Anyone who thought that Secretary Clinton’s appearance at a Fox News town hall would be used to ask questions about her vision for the future of our country was foolish. They used it, as she knew they would (and why she resisted), to make a big deal about her email server. I am angry that Sen. Sanders bullied her into going but Fox is preaching to their choir. No one who watches Fox is going to vote for a Democrat whether they are pure as the driven snow or once had an email server in their home.
Today, Michigan and Mississippi. Two very different states that have one thing in common: they will give Hillary Clinton enough delegates to make it mathematically impossible for anyone but her to be the nominee.
Gak! Our state Supreme Court race just got interesting. It turns out that Walker appointee Rebecca Bradley is a homophobe, and not only a homophobe but an all around vile person. She is in a tight race to keep the seat gifted to her by Scott Walker (her third judicial gift in 3 years). We vote April 5th and the only question is if saying that people with AIDS deserve to die pumps up her base or pumps up ours.
Michael Bloomberg is not going to launch a third party bid. The sound you heard was millions of Democrats heaving a sigh of relief. He was considering running if Sen. Sanders were the nominee but he sees the same numbers we do and realizes that simply won’t happen. By the way, the electoral projections by his experts on a Sanders v Trump run was Sanders crushed in a landslide, eking out only 190 electoral votes.
See all y’all later!!
Looking at International Women’s Day history, and celebrations around the globe today.
Won’t be cross-posting Black Kos here today – too many links to try to reformat, but will be celebrating Sheroe Sistan’s from the South – given the recent spate of sneers about the southern black voters.
Pop over to orange at 4PM EST and give us a shout-out.
Will do, Dee!
squeeeeeeee!
Ava DuVernay liked your Tweet
Mar 4:
@hillharper thrilled – if I could buy a ticket right now, I would, I think her imagination is perfect for this
Hill Harper tweeted out asking what people thought of her directing Wrinkle in Time, so I replied….. and omg. I think I might die.
Good morning, Moosekind! It’s going up to 75 F. this partly cloudy morning. Very interested in the races today, but must limit my social media time because I have so much to do.
Finished putting in the edits for my novella, now must ready the mss. by formatting it for BookBaby. That’ll take the morning. It’ll be a relief to have that project out of the way so I can start on the other projects. People seem to like my redesigned Web site! The FB page has earned 20 new likes.
Very pleased about International Women’s Day. Just saw a TV commercial in which Microsoft kindly allowed that women have invented a whole lot of things (not that women ever get credit for them). If we ever incorporate the history of indigenous peoples, women, and African-Americans into so-called “American History,” that subject would take up most of the school day. :)
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond and far beyond!
If I get my work done early, I am going to hunt down some of the great stories I found about International Women’s Day in my Twitter stream and post them in the HRC speech post. There were a lot of “did you know that a woman …” stories yesterday. I heart the Internets!