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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Morning all – chilly morning here in Florida, I actually love it and my dogs do too – they race around like crazy in cool weather!
Oregon might have been the only Western state that enshrined racist exclusions in its constitution, but the first “western frontier” after the Revolution – Indiana, Missouri, etc – was settled by white people with pretty much the same ideas. It’s not an accident that Indiana was a KKK stronghold early in the 20th century.
These “Y’all Quaeda” idiots need to be hauled off to jail forthwith – and the comparison with the Move atrocity 3 decades ago could not be more stark.
Well, despite all that, Pres. Obama is doing all he can about gun violence, and it will certainly call out the Republicans to show what they really are, tools of the gun industry, once again. And I watched Bill Clinton’s speech in New Hampshire – what a great speech, making such a strong case for Hillary’s values and experience and intelligence. I really doubt the Trumpet (love that name) talking about past indiscretions of other candidates will do much other than give the press an opportunity to bring up his own – if they do their jobs, which is always a big if.
Ok, have a great day everyone!
Here is a link to that Bill Clinton speech if it is the one in Exeter NH. From CSPAN: Former President Bill Clinton Campaigning in Exeter, New Hampshire
The President’s Address post is up – YouTube and some links to the White House fact sheets:
I will try to liveblog it if I am still online.
Good morning, meese! Wednesday …
It is 26 degrees in Madison, on its way up to 33. Mostly cloudy skies are in the forecast.
The reaction to the president’s speech on his executive actions on gun reform were … interesting. The Republicans each issued the NRA penned press release on their own letterhead, the right-wing rabid mob immediately started with “tear truthing” mocking the president’s tears when he spoke about the babies in Newtown who were brutally murdered and whose deaths could not reach the cold hearts of the puppets of the gun makers lobby. Here is a clip of that piece. It starts a little late because it is important to go through the entire litany of constitutional rights that are being trumped by the right to keep and bear arms, a right expanded by courts and legislation until it now allows people to carry AK-47s into restaurants and clearly unhinged people to amass arsenals (my block quote includes that part). If you have 45 minutes, you should watch the entire video (posted on our front page). I will add the full transcript there later:
See all y’alls later!
Good morning Meese. For the second morning in a row it is 8 degrees here in Saugerties, wind chill -8.
Am back to my winter routine of leaving water dripping in the sink to keep our pipes from freezing, and have water boiling on the stove – to offset dry skin problems.
Working on a piece to remind folks there is a movement going on – still ignored by major media – in North Carolina – Moral Mondays. The big march on Raleigh this year will be on the day before Valentines Day – Feb 13th.
The message will be about Love and Justice:
Brain completely empty this morning. Well, except for the music. My head is playing Wachtet Auf for me. Seriously no other thoughts. Not on the gun thing, not on North Korea, just nothing.
Good morning, all! It’s a frosty 15 F. today, going up to 39 F. There’s frost on the tops of the cars and all over the grass.
Just got out of bed so haven’t looked at the news yet. Will look at Jan’s post on the President’s speech. Denise, thanks for the reminder about the Moral Mondays, completely ignored, as you say, by the traditional media.
Still so befogged by sleep can’t think of anything to say. Wishing a good day to all in Moosylvania!
It’s warmer here (35 instead of 24) but the rain that wasn’t supposed to move in until after midnight tonight started (very lightly but still water out of the sky) at 7:30 just as I left the house. Sigh. Oh well – I’ve got over 40 KHWs already. That’s a good start to the month. As long as it’s just the start!
As to N. Korea, even if they aren’t lying the likelihood of them blowing up their own people rather than anybody else is both tragic (because they’ll do it) and reassuring (they won’t become a terrorist power player because whether or not they have an H bomb, they still don’t have a delivery system). For the gun issue – I think it started when America traded John Wayne for Dirty Harry. There are many things I don’t like about John Wayne and about his movies, but there was a respect for law in them. And anytime there was a problem going down, it was “check your guns with the sheriff” when you rode into town.
Hope there is some good, or at least comforting, stuff going on in everybody’s world today. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 38, cloudy and still very dark in Bellingham. We’ve made progress with packing Christmas away, but given the dark I’m still enjoying a few bright lights. The pine cone lights on the patio will stay up because I found a clicker to turn them on and off, but the big wreath on the garden trellis and the decorations and lights on indoor tree will be put away today. And then we will have a relatively less cluttered house and I can go back to trying to have a relatively less cluttered life!
Reading responses to the President’s speech yesterday makes me wonder if our country is really ready to elect someone so different from the compassionate man he is. The overall R message is so mean spirited and angry I wonder and worry about how broadly it will appeal to those who do vote.
Morning all – not much to add to the great comments above, although I too wonder how can there possibly be a broad acceptance of the mean spirited brutality of the right wing message. I really hope not.
Have a good day all.
Good morning Meese – Thursday and 16 toasty degrees here in Saugerties.
Scanning the news – making coffee and will be back later.
Glad to see you were here early! I had and still have early morning projects that are calling to me. This time of year is busy with end of year/beginning of year projects added to an already busy schedule.
Today’s news is pretty much like yesterday’s news. The Cruz birther story is hilarious (Ann Coulter and Rand Paul and John McCain have jumped on the pile). Since truth is optional in right-wing world, Cruz has no way to fight back … because when you repeat the lies, they become the truth! HA! Hoisted on his own petard.
yes – they started this crap – and threw it at POTUS – now let them eat their own.
Good morning, meese! Thursday …
It is 32 degrees in Madison with an expected high of 34. A wintry mix is on its way and with temperatures hovering near freezing it could make travel dangerous.
The United States Congress passed a bill to take health care away from millions of Americans, many of whom would have died without the expanded coverage from the Affordable Care Act. I hope the president does not quietly veto this bill but makes it a production, complete with stories of people whose lives were saved and who were saved from medical bankruptcy. Have it in a big stadium, filled with people who benefited from the ACA. And then challenge Congress to also repeal Social Security and Medicare, two other Democratic Party initiatives that the GOP has hated for decades … and veto those bills. Make this a campaign issue: one party wants you to be able to afford to care for your sick loved ones and one party wants you to die and die quickly.
See all y’all later!
Jan, would it be too late for him to do this in his State of the Union message?
I don’t know, Diana. This is definitely one he would not want to miss the deadline on.
It sounds like he has his theme set for the SOTU; he will be sending us off to continue the work he started. I am not ready to let him go. :(
Super thick fog this morning. Getting out of my neighborhood, I couldn’t see the intersection a block away — not even the traffic light, just nothing. Leaving work early because I have not been getting in any evening walks & I need to do something. We’re so busy, I’ve been just going home & huddling on the couch. It’ll be warm this afternoon — 70. I almost packed a short sleeve shirt in my gym bag, but that might be a bit much.
I started listening to my marathon mix again & had a song from it in my head, until I went to youtube & one of the suggested videos was Hozier’s cover of Sweet Thing. I almost never like a cover better than the original, especially when the original is….well, Van Morrison. But this is seriously amazing.
We shall walk & talk and God is all wet with rain
And I shall never grow so old again
Even typing that, my eyes get all misty. That song has always just socked me right in the heart.
Good morning, Moosylvania! The gray skies of early morning seem to be turning blue here in NoVa. It’s 29 F. now, going up to 42 F. later.
I, too, am enjoying the Cruz birther story. I love it when karma socks it to the worthless.
My nephew Darren called last night from Australia through Facebook Video Messenger. This time his wife, my niece Jeanette, was present. She’s recovering from a knee replacement and has been in a lot of pain. She said she was feeling better, thank Goddess.
The last couple of times we went to London, it wasn’t the same without Darren there. He and Jean lived in London for a while and when Hubby and I came over, Darren would whisk me off for a rapid journey on foot through narrow, winding streets until we came to the antique bookstores he wanted to explore. He teaches English at a girls’ school in Melbourne. I really miss those little excursions!
Time for breakfast. Will check back later to get everyone’s news. Hope it’s a good day for all Moosekind!
Morning all! Super early for me, and a short post again today as I’m going in to teach class for the first time since last April. ugh. Oh well, I told them I would do it to help out, and it won’t kill me to see students once a week, I guess.
Trump is like a drowning man at this point, flailing around to hit every sour note he can think of on all his opponents – I think Cruz is a dangerous man and don’t want him anywhere near the White House, but Trump has so degraded the political campaign process this season, I wonder if it will ever get back to issues of any kind. Double ugh.
Ok, time to get ready and get going, have a great day everyone!
I worry that there are people who will look at Cruz and not realize how dangerous he is. Trump is alienating a lot of people who reflexively vote R but who are waking up (finally!) to the fact that the Republican Party is insane.
The brand will be damaged … how badly is anyone’s guess.
Yesterday’s high of 43 is what we’ve had since then and are expected to have until tomorrow morning at which time the sun is supposed to come back and the temps go up in the day and down after dark like they’re suppsed to. :) Been raining since the wee hours, very lightly, but is supposed to stop in the next couple hours. No sun, just not rain.
Some nimrod unplugged the coffee maker overnight (we’ve got one of those big restaurant types) – which I didn’t notice until it tasted the not even lukewarm coffee. So no coffee for a bit. We’re running plain water through the system to convince the water heater to come on and heat the reserve tank. Brain function is not at the best right now. As to the Cruz birtherism, we laughed about that possibility back when Obama was running – that and McCain’s not “great 48” birth place – but never thought it would actually be used by the Rs considering Cruz is a white male. So at least they’ve being Equal Opportunity A**holes this time around. (Yes, I’m rather fond of Karma. Why do you ask? heh). Hoping I can get some stuff off my plate today. This pick up something, can’t do it because… routine has passed boring and is approaching maddening. Hope everybody is safe and warm (or at least comfortable) this 1st Thursday of 2016. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 29 and partly cloudy in Bellingham. Now that Christmas is packed away I’m feeling a sense of “what’s next”. It’s nice to entertain the possibilities and not have to commit to any of them!
Inslee calls for strengthening background checks of gun buyers
I hope Gov Inslee will continue his efforts and his focus on the public health aspect of gun control will be effective.
The things I am reading suggest that change will come at the state level. But that leaves red states like mine screwed PLUS some things need to be federalized. Guns are portable and the laws need to account for their movement.
Spent the morning digging through the history of the Flint water poisoning – it’s even worse than current coverage makes us aware of.
Will be writing something about it not for this Sunday – but the following one. :(
Horrified that this has happened .
Michael Moore is saying whatizface should go to jail for it. I agree. Wish I thought it would happen.
I agree with Moore. – but I know it won’t happen.
Also, Detroit schools will run out of money in April. Snyder really screwed up his state … too bad people couldn’t be bothered to take the time to vote him out of office. :(
Bill McKibben calls it “environment racism”:
Denise, you probably already know there’s a movement afoot to arrest Rick Snyder. Probably won’t come to anything, but he should suffer in some way.
Good Friday morning Meese
I’ve been up since 3AM – woke up to the sound of blaring TV (fell asleep with MSNBC on) and people shouting Trump Trump Trump – the cable news channels give more time to Trump than they do to POTUS.
It’s 17 degrees here – going up to 38.
Looking at the news – am still following the termination of tenured professor Dr. Larycia Hawkins from Wheaton college. It is interesting to observe the split withing the evangelical community
Here’s a clip from a rally in her support.
This whole story is important politically – since our perception on the left is often that “evangelical” means right-wing. It doesn’t – I always remind people that Rev. Barber of Moral Monday’s is Evangelical. Many of the speakers point to the fact that “Jesus” would not be promoting bigotry and hate.
She made the “mistake” of wanting to reach out to those being persecuted for their religion. Apparently, there is a question about which “god” Christians and Jews pray to and which “god” Muslims pray to (something to do with Abraham). So instead of seeing her comments as an all encompassing affirmation of our shared humanity and our right to express our religion without fear of attacks, it was seen as disrespect for Christianity. Can’t have that!
Wheaton is also one of the religious schools suing the government over the birth control mandate so they believe that their religiosity trumps all laws and, apparently, tenure.
Christians have a difficult time with the concept of multiculturalism. Their teachings tell them that they are the only true religion and that everyone else will go to hell. So when the words of their Christ suggests that they should love one another and be welcoming, they can’t get past their awful history of wars against non-believers. The Crusades continue.
Organized religion is the cause of so much conflict in our world and these sorts of actions simply make matters worse. Jesus would, literally, weep to see this manifestation of his teachings. And probably Muhammad would also.
The tenure issue is one that jumps over religious lines – I noticed that part of the discussion was about academic freedom.
I haven’t paid much attention to religious schools – even though I’m a graduate of Fordham – where most of my Jesuit professors seemed to be socialists – or at the least followed liberation theology.
My one class there of a religious nature was taught by a Presbyterian minister who embraced world religions.
I went to a Jesuit college and found my teachers to be pretty ecumenical (I am sure it has changed because of the political climate). Pope Francis is a Jesuit which explains why he cares about the things that Church he inherited had no interest in as they pretty much sucked up to the right-wingers in our country and turned a blind eye to wars of choice.
The last good pope was Pope John XXIII. He wanted to break down the barriers between religions and initiated discussions to do that when he opened the Second Vatican Council.
He was only pope for 4 1/2 years but the changes he brought were far reaching. There are still rogue priests who refuse to adhere to his edicts, much like the current church (and Catholic Republican presidential candidates) are choosing to ignore Pope Francis.
Good morning, meese! Friday …
It is 35 degrees in Madison, on its way up to 37. Showers are in the forecast. The icy precipitation bypassed us yesterday but we still have some slick spots from the last storm. Our driveway still has ice on it that I will try to scrape off later today. We are expecting subzero temperatures on Sunday into the beginning of the week.
I glanced at the news and it is ugly. Paul LePage blames Maine’s drug epidemic on traffickers who come into Maine, guys named “D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty”, who sell drugs, “impregnate young white girls” and then leave. His spokesman said there is nothing racist about that comment. I have an idea, Governor. Why don’t you help people find jobs and let them have government sponsored health care and do some things to improve their lives and make them give a damn. Tea party governments, starving the beast with their tax policies and anti-Obama ideology are killing their own citizens.
Palate cleanser needed!!!
Owl leave you with this: Snowy owl spotted soaring by Montreal traffic camera
See all y’all later!
I feel for my friends in Maine.
The Oxycontin addiction epidemic has a source – the Sackler family. Salon reposted this back in July:
Black drug dealers go to prison. White drug dealers become billionaires
I saw that the Maine legislature will be considering articles of impeachment for LePage:
LePage is what happens when third parties, puristas, split the vote with Democrats – unpopular, truly awful people get elected. There are two parties in America and in our winner-take-all form of government you have to work within one of those parties to get things done. Anything else is suicide.
yes – they got him while selfish Democrats/”leftists” split their votes.
I hope that doesn’t happen to us nationally.
Good morning, all! It’s another grey, drizzly, moisty morning here—the kind that would drive our sister bfitz crazy. It’s 37 F. now in this patch of NoVa, going up to 44 F. later. Thank Goddess I get to stay in this morning.
Have just been reading that Bernie supporters disrupted the Trumpet’s speech in Burlington yesterday, which is a nice thought. What gets me is that nothing the Trumpet says brings him down, nothing! And the media seem to think he’s the only one running for POTUS. He gets all the coverage.
It worries me that he’s dredging up 20-year-old scandals about Big Dawg. This won’t affect my intention to vote for HRC, but I’m worried it might put off some “make up their minds at the last minute” people. It also bugs me that the Trumpet is hypocritically decrying Bill’s infidelity when he himself has been guilty of it more times than anyone could ever count.
Aside from that, will work on living up to New Year’s resolutions today: limit my Facebook time, go to the gym, eat more porridge, write more. Think I’ll write this morning. Hope it’s a good day for everyone at the Pond and beyond!
Did you read
To Donald Trump, the thrice-married hypocrite: Let’s look at your history and teach you what sexism really is
Few of us in NY will forget Marla Maples
Thanks, Sis, this article by Marcotte is spot-on!