Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Dec. 13th through Dec. 19th

December 13, 2015 JanF Community 154

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 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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47 Comments

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

    It is 44 degrees in Madison WI, on its way up to 58. Rain is in the forecast.

    Have a great day, all y’alls!!

  2. Good Mornin’ Meese

    Just poppin’ in for a short hi and bye – doing orange duties atm :)

  3. Mellow morning. Got next week’s breakfast made yesterday, quinoa is making, all I need to do is add vegetables and reheat, and I’m done with food for the week. Will take another long walk this afternoon & clear out dvr.

  4. Good morning! It’s 51 F. currently on a day when white clouds are veiling a pale blue sky, going up to 71 F. This will be a day of housework and cooking. Chicken pot pie for dinner, and then I’ll bake applesauce cake with pecans and raisins, and cheese- and-celery bread to give away in Christmas bags tomorrow.

    See you later!

  5. Good morning, 43 and raining in Bellingham. Spending the day with Ava was good for us yesterday, and today we’re going to an open house so we’ll have fun meeting our friend’s grand kids. And Ron will have lots of home baked goodies to enjoy because the hostess is a wonderful cook.

    So today I’ll wrap the gifts for our Oregon grand girl and when they are in the mail on Monday I’ll be relieved!

    This article on the Seattle Times address the question I’ve been asking myself…..

    Young women not as fired up as their moms about Hillary Clinton

    That Clinton’s candidacy has not yet sparked among young women the kind of excitement about making history that Obama generated among black voters in 2008 speaks to the progress women have made, said Erin Gloria Ryan, 32, formerly managing editor of the feminist website Jezebel.

    “The younger generation” — of which Ryan counts herself a member — “just thinks the pipeline will magically fill up with women who are qualified enough to run for president,” she said.

    ~snip~

    For women near her in age, Clinton represents “the apex of that generation’s aspirations for itself,” said Ryan, the writer and editor. Ambivalence about her among their daughters and granddaughters can be maddening.

    “They haven’t experienced the kind of barriers that their mothers and grandmothers did — the kind of exclusions from areas of accomplishment,” Mary L. Shanley, a political-science professor at Vassar who specializes in gender studies, said of women born after 1980

    .

    • Groan, princesspat! This kind of thing drives me crazy. My daughter-in-law’s sister from California is one of these. She has a good education and a responsible job. I’m sure it’s never occurred to her that she shouldn’t have had a good education nor even been considered for the job of company comptroller.

      In the Late Cretinous, when I was an eighth-grader, my “guidance counselor” recommended that I study business math rather than algebra in the ninth grade. “After all, honey, when you graduate from high school you’ll work in a department store until you get married. You don’t need algebra.”

      And so brainwashed was I, born in the mid-1940s and growing up in the Benighted Fifties, that it never occurred to me to question this pronouncement.

      • Too bad these girls can’t vote! They certainly get it …

        Although we might have to dissuade them from “working for candy” because that would send the wrong message. :)

    • I think it did not help that the word “feminist” and the fight for women’s rights was trashed by the right-wing and, really, a significant number of men who have a vested interest in keeping women from breaking through the glass ceiling. It is no coincidence that the right does not want birth control to be readily available because when women can plan when … and if … they want to have children, they control their future.

      I am less concerned that young women don’t embrace the historic nature of Secretary Clinton’s candidacy; I just hope that they see that we need to continue Democratic Party principles and that she is our best hope to do that. I will also suggest that those women, who feel that they have not personally experienced sexism or been held back because of their gender, are about to have their eyes opened. The 2016 general election is going to be about whether women are fit to lead and it will be ugly. They might find it harder to be on the sidelines.

  6. 67 at dawn or what passed for dawn – it’s been raining since just after dark last night – 60 at the moment and slowly heading down. Not sure what the heck is going on with my computer or DK5 but I can read and rec but not comment right now. Read Denise’s diary – it was great as usual, very informative in a way and not at all in another (no, I’d never heard of the women she reported on – yes, I knew black women as well as white women have/had been serving in the U.S. military pretty much since there was a U.S. to have a military) – but couldn’t comment. The Moose is slow, but at least I can comment. I was planning on reading the Climate Accord diary but I think I’ll wait until I’m at work tomorrow. The living room – where my computer lives – is chilly and my toes are cold.

    I used to ask people – my older son included – how we could teach our children the responsible behavior we have without them having to go through the deprivation we did to learn it. For years the answer I got back was, “you hate children.” Then my son had a son. And when his son was about 5 I asked my question again. He said, “Mom, you can’t.” And I hugged him because he was now mature enough to understand what I was asking. Young women – and young men – who have not been through it, or even see it when it was happening to their parents or older siblings, mostly don’t understand even what we are saying. Never have been sure how to address that.

    {{{HUGS}}} to everyone in Moosylvania. Stay warm and/or comfortable.

  7. Good morning, Meese! Monday …

    It is 58 degrees in Madison, dropping to a daytime high of 55. It has been raining, at some times quite strong, pretty much since yesterday midday and will continue most of the day today. Mid to upper 50s with thunderstorms … NOT a typical December day in Wisconsin.

    Mike Huckabee joins the kiddie table, Rand Paul pouts and gets a spot at the main debate Tuesday night on CNN … Chris Christie rejoins the “Bigs”.

    A reminder to religious minorities that you cannot count on the Republican Party base knowing the difference between your religion and the currently vilified Muslim religion. Most of them can’t read and/or get all their news from Fox News so why is this a shock?:

    Pardeep Kaleka spent several days after 9/11 at his father’s South Milwaukee gas station, fearing that his family would be targeted by people who assumed they were Muslim. No, Kaleka explained on behalf of his father, who wore a turban and beard and spoke only in broken English, the family was Sikh, a southeast Asian religion based on equality and unrelated to Islam.

    But amid a new wave of anti-Islamic sentiment since the terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Kaleka is vowing to take an entirely different approach.

    “For us it does not matter who they’re targeting,” said Kaleka, a former Milwaukee police officer and teacher whose father was one of six people killed in 2012 when a white supremacist opened fire at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. “This time we cannot differentiate ourselves; when hate rhetoric is being spewed we cannot be on the sidelines.”

    Across the U.S., Sikhs and Muslims are banding together to defend their respective religions. Someone bent on harming Muslims wouldn’t understand — or care about — the distinction between the two faiths, they say, and both also deserve to live in peace.

    “First they came for the Muslims, but I was Sikh”? Bigotry and intolerance does not stop to fact-check – and the reality is that the issue for these folks is people being Not Like Them – the specific target is not really important. Religious, ethnic, and racial minorities need to come together with other people of good will and fight back against all bigotry.

    Busy day here … see all y’all later!

  8. You can leave messages of support on the facebook page of the fire-bombed Palm Springs Masjid

    https://www.facebook.com/CoachellaValleyMasjid/

    I don’t do facebook much – but looked for their page to leave a comment. They are getting supportive posts – but assholes have also showed up

    comments like:

    Veronica Lyn Maybe they were making bombs and something caught fire???
    Like · Reply · December 12 at 12:30pm

    Glad they caught the person who did this – Carl James Dial 23
    http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/local/coachella/2015/12/11/structure-fire-coachella-may-mosque/77166120/

    Wonder if it will be called “terrorism”

    • They need to throw the book at that guy and then charge the RNC with accessory to the crime. This news piece made me laugh out loud:

      Republican presidential candidate Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) says GOP front-runner Donald Trump is doing so well in the polls because nearly half of Republican primary voters think President Obama is a Kenyan-born Muslim.

      “Well there’s about 40 percent of the Republican primary voter who believes that Obama was born in Kenya and is a Muslim,” Graham told Boston Herald Radio on Friday. […]

      Graham said Trump will not get 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency if he doesn’t grow support with the Hispanic community.

      “He can’t grow this party,” Graham said. “He represents a level of intolerance and … cartoon policy that won’t sell.”

      Good lord, man, do you not have a mirror!!?? Your entire party has been running on vilifying The Other for about 40 years!!! “Obama is a Kenyan Muslim” would not sound an alarm if your party had not been telling the base that Muslims are alarming. You can’t unring that bell just because you see the electoral landscape changing. Meh.

      • The guy is a “loner” who spends a lot of time on “social media”….clearly disturbed so no one is at fault …yadda yadda …here we go again with dismissing the impact of hate speech.

        • This is a powder keg set to explode:

          At least two mosques – one in Phoenix and the other in suburban Virginia – are working with the Department of Homeland Security to check up on the security their facilities provide for worshippers in recent weeks. Others report taking a range of steps, including hiring armed guards, because of fears that an American mosque could be a target for an attack. […]

          Given the rising tensions, some mosques say they have struggled to hire and keep security guards. In Dulles, Virginia, a suburb of Washington with a large Muslim community center, security guards abruptly quit after the San Bernardino attacks, said Rizwan Jaka, chairman of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society.

          “Security guards resigned because they were fearful of getting hurt in the backlash,” Jaka said. “People were concerned.”

          The mosque has now hired armed guards and the imam of the mosque, Mohamed Magid, said security had been increased for programs in which children take part. “We are concerned about the feeling in the larger community about Muslims,” he said.

          Great. Armed guards at our places of worship just like we have reinforced doors at our women’s health facilities.

          Maybe it is time for someone to roll up all these “lone wolves”. They have one common denominator: anti-governmentism. Start with the ghost of Ronald Freaking Reagan and don’t forget to scoop up Cliven Bundy on your way.

  9. Good morning Meese

    Today is final exam day for one of my classes – Thursday is the other one, I don’t give exams – students have to submit 15 page research papers. Grades are due in Dec 23rd but I hope to get them in by the end of the week.

    Scanning the news – drinking coffee, and listening to NPR at the same time. 50 degrees here going up to 60. Very weird for December.

    Glad to see the results of French second round election. Marine Le Pen and the National Front inspired French people to get out and vote – against her/them.

    Here’s hoping that Americans will do the same to stop Trump and Company.

    • That was very good news from France. If people of good will pushed back against the far-right even after the horrific attacks in Paris, then there is hope for us.

      That vote represents a coming together of left and center left forces. Hollande’s coalition withdrew some candidates rather than split the vote, something that we should learn how to do here. In Maine in both 2010 and 2014, the despicable Paul LePage was elected governor because an independent left-wing candidate refused to get out of the race. In Minnesota back in 1998, wrestler Jesse Ventura won the governorship because the DFA, a more “pure” Democratic Party, felt the need to field their own candidate. People on the left need to realize that the power of their ideas is not enough and that real power, and the potential to make people’s lives better, comes from not only winning elected office but blocking the path of the rightwing.

        • I know real people from both states who were hurt by the purists insisting on purity.

          It is like unilateral disarmament in the money race: Russ Feingold in Wisconsin lost his U.S. Senate seat in part because he refused to take DSCC money and national Democratic Party money. His opponent had no problem taking anyone’s money and used the money advantage to blanket the airwaves with lies and half-truths. Russ’ purity hurt me … I was denied representation.

          Until you can clean out the swamp, you have to have an alligator of your own to do battle against the other sides alligators. To do otherwise is foolhardy.

          • I am engaged in “debate” with a Progressive Purist who insists on characterizing voting for Hillary as negative. He writes ““The other guy is even worse” is not exactly a rousing campaign message”

            I am so tired of those people – I wish there was a way to make people look at a black perspective, or at least empathize with it – but there isn’t.

            I responded (sorry for the long quote from orange – but I’m so fucking tired _

            I have no idea how much American History you know, or if you are an ex-pat — and unless you are Aboriginal doubt you can understand how many black people look at this countries’ rulers — we have been voting (after we were “allowed” to) for the best of the worst for a very long time — to survive. There has never been a President who has been “our champion” — simply because we are dependent on white folks who are the majority to ensure we survive. You can’t name me a President who has been a fierce anti-racist …..simply because there haven’t been any. heh — 12 of them actually owned slaves…and when we bring that up we often get told to shut -up …because “Jefferson was a great man.”

            Yes — we were pleased to see Barack Obama elected — but we know all too well how he is hamstrung — and so we do what we have always done — we will pick a Presidential candidate who might just put another person on SCOTUS who is not out to get us.

            And yes — small groups of us have called for and fought for “revolution” since slavery. Check the history — from Nat Turner to Fred Hampton. We know that we usually wind up dead — and forgotten by the so-called left. Tell me when the last mass march of white people, millions strong took to the streets demanding that Leonard Peltier be freed? How long have y’all ignored The Angola 3.

            Excuse me if I inject some black reality at your comments.

            You can’t walk in my shoes — and won’t. We’ll keep doing what we’ve been doing — fighting, organizing and yes “voting” . We won’t vote for David Duke clones, and we won’t throw our votes at white candidates who talk good game after being prodded, but aren’t gonna get elected.

            We pick D’s who might win — it used to be R’s (till the Southern strategy flipped the roles ) and we had no illusions about FDR (who rounded up Americans and put them in camps) or any who followed him.

            So yes — white privilege allows some folks to take “principled” white stances.

            We will do what we have always done — moving forward very very slowly, one crumb at a time.

            There have been, and still are a few white folks who have had out backs — kudos to them, but unless they can organize a large group of other whites (which ain’t happening) out of white racism — we’ll keep on doing what we’ve been doing.

            So I’ll vote for Hillary — and whichever Democrat follows her, and I don’t have to hold my nose. If we had held our noses repeatedly over the decades we’d have died from lack of oxygen. and we are about stayin’ alive….perhaps in the future when Latinos become the majority — things will change — but I ain’t holdin’ my breath. I won’t be alive by that time anyway.

            The only reason I’m responding to you — since I’ve seen your comment history — is that you have made comments like the one I’m responding to — repeatedly.

            And folks who have your perspective will gladly rec them.

            So be it.

            I have no animus towards Bernie Sanders – he’s a solid left-of-center vote (most of the time) in the Senate.

            No way if he got the nomination I would make statements declaring “I’ll vote for Trump to bring on the revolution” which is being asserted by a few idiots.

            I’m tired of people insinuating that black people are idiots. Oh I’m sure a few of us are – every group has em – but for the most part we’ve expended a huge chunk of our energy just surviving and being able to laugh at the same time.

            Sorry for dumping :) I needed some vent space

          • Excellent rant! And I appreciate you posting it here where it is not surrounded by naysaying and words that make my brain hurt.

            This is just sad but so true: “we will pick a Presidential candidate who might just put another person on SCOTUS who is not out to get us.” I shudder to think about who would be an acceptable Supreme Court nominee on the other side. They literally have no scruples, no respect for history. They will find someone who will turn back the clock on every gain we have made and vote with the Scalia-Thomas-Alito-Roberts bloc every time. Wipe out Voting Rights Act? That is nothing compared to overturning Roe v Wade, wiping out every EPA ruling, choosing the bible over the Constitution and the oligarchs over the people.

            I like that you say you “won’t hold your nose and vote for Hillary”. I won’t either … I am proud whenever I vote for a Democrat.

          • I let one of my students have it – who asked me “what has she ever done?”

            I said “Try CHIP for starters”
            Got a blank look.

            Said – you have a smart phone – google “CHIP” or “SCHIP”

            I added “a lotta kids aren’t dead because of CHiP…and many more not born with major issues because of perinatal care”

            Grrrr…I’m home but still pissed off

          • That’s a good/simple one to start with. Hillary’s done so damned much I have to stop to think where to start.

  10. Hello, Meese! It’s another misty, moisty morning in NoVa. Although the rain is supposed to start in late afternoon, to my lying eyes it looks pretty damp outside already. It’s 58 F. now, going up to 68 F. The gray skies will encourage me to stay in today.

    Am appalled and heartsick by the difference between Canada’s acceptance and treatment of Syrian refugees and our own. When did this country turn into the land of the hateful? Don’t tell me, let me guess—it was when the Fairness Doctrine went the way of the buggy whip and when people got completely Foxed Up by the new network.

    The flaming idiot who works for the WaPo has a big feature story on why Ted Cruz will be the Rethug nominee. To me, Cruz’ last name should be Torquemada. All he talks about is the auto-da-fe he plans to create in the Middle East by nuking all them durn Ay-rabs.

    Going to concentrate on the season today. It’s time for Miss Pink Cheeks and me to make up our little holiday gift bags and deliver them to the neighbors this afternoon before her mother picks her up. Hope all in Moosylvania will have a good day!

    • The WaPo came out “forcefully” against the candidacy of Donald Trump last week. You wonder if it was to clear the way for Cruz?

      Cruz is no better than Trump and in many ways he is worse. I had a conversation with friends about the visceral reaction that so many people, especially women, feel about Cruz. His face, demeanor and voice remind women of every smirky boss or co-worker who made their lives miserable. He is unprincipled, or rather has one principle – to amass power for himself, personally. No one he went to school with liked him, no one who has worked with him likes him. If he gets the nomination the only people who will vote for him are those who reflexively vote Republican because they have been poisoned by the lies or scared spitless by the right-wing media.

      And he will be crushed in the general election.

      The race is shaping up as Trump v Cruz for the unhinged vote and Rubio v Bush for the establishment vote. I am not going to “hope” for any of them … they are all awful … but I will never hope that the worst possible person be selected as one of the only two people running for president. If something happens to our candidate, we, meaning humanity, would be in a lot of trouble.

  11. Wow that alarm was early. Time to get back in the routine. Eating oatmeal with berries & almonds, drinking tea. Work computer’s fan is awfully noisy. Hmmm. I didn’t get in a walk yesterday, but I took out the trash & recycling & got this week’s food all container-ed.

    Listening to Christmas music. 1st song in the mix is Wachtet Auf. I don’t know if this is considered a particularly “Christmasy” song, but the organist at my church played it as a prelude either at our Lessons & Carols service or during Advent years ago & it’s stuck with me as a Christmas song ever since.

    Hope I can deal with how loud & busy work is, after a week of relative peace & quiet. Yes, theme parks seemed quiet & calm to me, that’s how loud my workplace is.

  12. Good morning, 39 and cloudy in Bellingham. Yesterday’s pouring rain resulted in more water in the basement so I’ll be waiting for the plumber again today. We had the gutters cleaned on Friday and I suspect debris was washed into the sewer line . Fortunately we caught this one in time to move things so the indoor cleanup wasn’t as difficult as last time, but I’m concerned about the outdoor fix. When this house was built in 1910 the storm drain and the sewer line were connected and there’s no easy way to fix it. The city has given us a variance, but it’s a maintenance challenge.

    We’ve dug perimeter drains to catch the storm water before it reaches the foundation but short of diverting the roof water with gutter extensions there’s not much more we can do. We’ve grown accustomed to a relatively dry basement so indoor floods are disruptive! Oh well, life does go on and Christmas packages will get wrapped and mailed regardless.

  13. 40 at what passed for sunrise, 41 now and heading for 55 – presupposing the sun actually comes out like it’s supposed to. Still misty and moisty, but it stopped drizzling about an hour ago. Got all kinds of papers on my desk that I hope to process today. Just means catching the right people at the right time to get the signatures I need, right? :) Thinking good thoughts about Canada. Wish I could think them about my own country. There’s always been a hater/fascist strain of folks here – well, always since white folks invaded. The Pilgrims were Xtian extremists who weren’t allowed to practice their version of Xtianity in Anglican G.B., but were too “British” to tolerate having their kids become Dutch even though their religion fit right in. Sigh.

    The number of supposed liberals who pay no attention to what Hillary has done all her adult life, her overall “liberal” voting record in the Senate, the progress she made for women, people of color, and LBGT folks while SoS, and the progress she is trying for should she (please, goddesses) become president and keep playing their R-funded memes record over and over and over again is almost as depressing as the Rs attitude. They’re supposed to be on our team. Sigh. “Hold my nose?” Hell no! I am rejoicing that she finally is in a position to let her progressive self loose and move us farther toward those American goals we seem to have been sliding backwards on.

    Hope everyone has a lovely wherever they are, totally independent from the weather which truthfully is mostly uncomfortable. {{{HUGS}}}

  14. Morning (barely) all! Denise, that is an A+ rant! I cannot believe people who call themselves progressives are willing to contemplate another result like we had in 2000 – they are just NUTS! I am alarmed at the headline I saw on Google late last night that Hillary would trounce Trump but would be beaten by Rubio or Carter – that also seems just nuts to me, but it’s early days yet, I guess.

    I too am so disheartened by the contrast between our response to Syrian refugees and Canada’s – I seriously wish, for the first time, that I could really move to Canada. Probably not in the cards, but I might do some research on it, just to see.

    Have a good day everyone!

    • She’s not going to be defeated by any of those A-holes. The headline makers want an exciting horse race.

  15. Hi – I used to being too the old motley moose site; I’d like to join the new site with my old username. Thanks!

    • Hi, Avilyn! Nice to see you! Watch for a signup email from wordpress at motleymoose.net with your temporary password. Once you are logged in, you can more easily comment and will be given Fiercing power. :)

      Things are a little different here in the WordPress version of the Moose but we are still dedicated to “progress through politics” and civil discourse. Welcome aboard!!

    • Hi! I can’t find that you had a user account on the old Moose and because your requested user name is the same as a contributor on DK, we will need to make sure you are who you say you are. I hope so!

      Meese, could one of you check with Eric at the GOS to see if this user signup came from him? Thanks!!

        • Thanks! I want to make sure that people’s cross-site usernames are protected from slamming. When I can match the user to a previous login, it is a no brainer. Otherwise, I would like verification.

          For what it is worth, these words are found on many faux signups: “Hey. I would like to join [yoursitename]! Thanks – looks like a great site.”

          We are a great site but many a Russian Bride and Nigerian Prince have told us the same thing. ;)

    • Welcome to the Moose, ericlewis0!!

      You will be getting an email from the admin with a link to reset your password. When you log in, you can Fierce the other comments.

      See you later!

  17. Good morning, meese! Tuesday …

    It is 36 degrees in Madison, on its way up to 40. Mostly cloudy skies are in the forecast.

    If it looks like I am up in the middle of the night … I am!! I think there is a disturbance in the air because I woke up at about 1:30 and couldn’t get back to sleep – figured I may as well stay up and get something done.

    Tonight the GOP presidential candidates will debate in Las Vegas. I will follow it via Twitter and count on my Tweeps to tell me if there is anything I should care about. We are still a month and a half away from the first votes being cast in the Iowa caucuses and any “winnowing” is mostly an illusion. This election cycle will answer two questions: what role does money play when all the candidates have megabucks and will Iowa once and for all seal their role as Least Bellwethery State in the Nation.

    Congress is getting closer on a budget deal. They have until midnight tomorrow and seem unlikely to finish. We are told that Congressional leadership “stayed and worked through the weekend”. Well, considering that they only work about 90 days a year, color me NOT impressed by their sacrifice. Here is where they are, according to Politico (so take it with a grain of salt):

    The House will process the package first, likely with separate votes on the spending bill and the tax package, while senators will need to secure cooperation from rock-ribbed conservatives who will hate the deal to finish up the chamber’s work this week. Democrats are expected to carry the majority of the votes in both chambers for the spending bill, which is based on a landmark two-year budget agreement sealed this fall by Ryan’s predecessor, John Boehner.

    The spending and tax bills are separate proposals, but they are being negotiated together, and if lawmakers hit a snag on one, it could impact the other. McConnell said on Monday afternoon that negotiations were still ongoing but a “lot of progress” had been made. […]

    If clinched, the deal would score a major win for congressional Republicans by lifting the decades-old embargo on exporting oil from the United States while likely delivering to Democrats several years of tax credits for wind and solar energy, expanded child care tax credits and the reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, in addition to fending off abortion riders and language aimed at labor unions. […]

    Reid is testing out his leverage given the expectation that Senate Democrats will provide most of the votes for the omnibus; a senior aide said the Senate’s top Democrat is still prepared to walk away from the deal if he senses McConnell and Ryan are asking for too much. President Barack Obama will sign another short-term spending bill on Wednesday, but only if there’s a large end-of-the-year framework already in place.

    See all y’all later!

  18. Good morning Meese –

    I see the French teacher who claimed to have been attacked by Isis is a liar.

    Reminds me of the people here who claim they were attacked by “spooky black men” – and were liars.

    53 here in Saugerties – our local economy depends a lot on tourism – Hunter Mountain and other big ski areas are very worried

    • Did you see the ridiculous chart that National Review posted about climate change? It developed quite a following:

      NRO chart:

      Here is what a math teacher translated that as:

      To put it in perspective, one wag showed how that same way of graphing would yield his height change since birth:

      I am not sure how we will ever convince the right-wing that climate change is real and can not only kill us but do damage to things they supposedly care about, like businesses. The COP21 showed that businesses do care about climate change suggesting that the right-wing response is simply stubborn idiocy.

      • Sigh. The embrace of “teh stoopid” by the right-wing anti-science crowd is hard to even look at.

        I really don’t even know what to say – except we need to elect politicians, officials and people on school boards who are not science illiterate.

  19. Good morning, Meese! Looks as if it’s shaping up to be a sunny day in NoVa, 55 F. now, going up to 61 F. later. Think I might put on my capris and stripy stockings.

    Not much going on today except Moah Housework and oh, dear, Christmas newsletter and cards! Because I didn’t get a nap yesterday I was too tired to watch “Childhood’s End” on Sy-Fy last night, so will have to catch it this afternoon or tomorrow night.

    I touted the Moose last night on Puddytat’s diary on GOS. She’s right, a lot of people have left and those who are there aren’t commenting much. I spend less and less time there.

    Hope everyone will have a good day!

    • Aha! That may explain the INFLUX of visitors!! All two of them!!!! ;)

      I enjoy visiting with like-minded folks to start my day. I hope others join in.

  20. I was just getting back to sleep from my 3:30 wake-up when my alarm went off at 5. Ugh. Anyway, at my desk, eating oatmeal & drinking tea. Brain is playing Carol of the Bells at me — well, it was, till I went to youtube for video & saw Hozier singing God Rest You Merry Gentlemen; because, wow. Gorgeous Irish boy.

    Bosses are buying us pizza tomorrow, 3 of us get a veggie one together. Also we’re closed one day more for the holidays than I thought (we were going to be open the 31st, now we’re not) so Tuesday is starting out well. Except for the not sleeping part.

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