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 36 degrees in Madison WI, on its way up to 38. Rain is in the forecast.
Have a great day, all y’alls!!
The gold standard Iowa poll was released yesterday at 5:45pm CST (to much fanfare and dismay). It shows Trump with a narrow lead over Cruz (Cruz had led the last Selzer poll so that was a big shift) and Hillary with a slight lead over Bernie. It turns out that enthusiasm for both of our candidates is high but that 83% of Hillary voters are solidly committed and only 69% of Bernie voters. That should make for a “lively” caucus night.
Everything hinges on turnout. High turnout favors Trump and Sanders, low turnout favors the non-Trumps and Clinton. The poll suggests that turnout will be low. Lots of people like to answer polls, some don’t mind going to the polls but you really wonder what will happen when a 19 year old shows up at a caucus place and realizes he is stuck there for 4 hours talking with old people about who they will collectively cast their caucus vote for. He is more likely to decide to go home and Tweet misogynistic attacks on Hillary supporters. Sorry, it bothers me no end that the MRA movement has found an accepted way to bash women on Twitter: declare your allegiance for a candidate and spew vile rhetoric under cover of politics.
Iowa is for bragging rights – it is not going to winnow anyone who already has a pot of money available to them. I don’t see anyone dropping out after Iowa
Well, if Hillary has the most solidly committed, I’d say either way – high or low turnout – favors her. But yeah, bragging rights mostly. It’s closer to make or break for Bernie, but just closer. I’d Bernie a whole lot better if he’d have shut down the misogyny – or at least strongly disavowed it.
Good Sunday Morning folks.
Will be talking about why we still need Black History month this morning over at l’orange.
President Obama has issued his proclamation
Presidential Proclamation — National African American History Month, 2016
(excerpt)
In other POTUS news
Obama to make first visit of his presidency to a U.S. mosque next week
Seen on twitter – It ain’t just Flint
It is a nationwide crisis brought about by ignoring our aging infrastructure. Teaparty governors coupled with deficit-firsters in Congress have denied states and municipalities money needed to provide even basic services like potable water and safe roads.
I am confused about why the have-mores want to turn us into a third world country. Their refusal to support the commons seems short-sighted. Even if you hate humanity, you would think you might not want the poors dying and their bodies stacked up like cordwood in our cities. Our country will never get right-tracked until the top .1% buy into (literally!) the need to work together to keep our country great.
The states, much less the cities, have never really been able to afford it. Many of these aging water systems were installed by the WPA – some by the CCC – on the federal dime in the 1930s. They’ve been extended and sort of maintained on an “as broken” basis, but haven’t been replaced because it’s too expensive. Especially for the anti-government/anti-tax crowd of course, but even with the best will in the world (which the Rs don’t have and wouldn’t know it if it bit them) it would/will be difficult to replace/upgrade the system without federal help.
Madison did it:
Madison’s always been different. :) And of course, Madison – unlike chunks of the rest of the state – has never had problems with actually paying for the services they want.
Dane County has always had residents who don’t mind paying taxes for good government. Sadly, even that is under fire now. We tried to get a pipeline company to buy extra insurance to cover the cost of pipeline “spills” and the state legislature passed a special law saying that we couldn’t. “Local control” is apparently only operative when it means “local control letting polluters and destroyers free rein”. Otherwise, the state has to control it. :(
Okay – I’m prejudiced. I’m a FLOTUS Michelle fan. I admit it.
I couldn’t believe this dreck that showed up in my twitter stream
America Needs a First Lady Who Actually Represents Them
Say WHAT??????
I saw that and nearly puked. The BernieBros have jumped an oceanful of sharks. I am pretty sure that they don’t even see facts any longer because it is processed through a prism of white male privilege. It is like all the anti-Obama folks, on the left and the right, have found the perfect vessel for their butthurt.
Did you see this denunciation of the Obama legacy in his endorsement of Bill Press’ take on the Obama years? (right across the top of the cover)
A Democrat cannot win in 2016 without the Obama coalition. Period. The Des Moines Register poll showed approval of President Obama at 90%. You would be insane to run away from that kind of love.
Yes – I saw that
I’m not a Bill Press fan – and doubt that few people in my community other than committed bloggers/blog readers even know who he is.
The problem with certain parts of the white left – is that they are still in denial about that Obama coalition.
heh – in denial about it before Obama too.
There are some good charts in this article
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2012/11/08/president-obama-and-the-white-vote-no-problem/
We, people of color – just don’t count in their thinking.
Much of the “white vote” goes to Republicans.
Obama Coalition:
Oh, fer Gawd’s sake!
I wish I didn’t know the sort of person making that kind of comment. And talk about being oblivious to facts! If there’s one thing they really don’t want to do, it’s shine the light on Jane Sanders.
OK, bfitz, you’ve got me curious. Why don’t we want to shine the light on Jane Sanders?
Jane Sanders was the head of Burlington College and resigned in a scandal having to do with purchasing land for a whole lot more than she said it would cost – and stiffing the students with tuition increases to pay for it. As Hillary supporters, the short-sighted thing would be to flog that horse to knock Bernie out – but the long view is let it drop in case Bernie wins the nomination and not give the Rs any ammunition.
She also seems to lack a certain connection to reality:
I understand wanted to pump up your spouse and certainly that is the only administrative experience he had but to equate a contentious common council and the U.S. Congress stretches things a bit.
That reply was meant for the putrid tweet about Michelle, Laura Bush, and Hillary. I do wish replies would stay in their rightful position.
Ha!! They do slide around a bit, don’t they? The lines pointing to where you are replying are very thin. If I could design my own commenting theme, it would have less white space framing each reply so that we could focus on the words and images we have posted. But a “Theme” comes as a package and changing the commenting within a theme is not a good idea.
When I get some free time, probably in April, I will be looking at a solution to my pet peeve – that there is no way to show replies to my comments. If someone takes the time to reply to me, I want to acknowledge their words with a Fierce or a return comment. I have some tools downloaded to do that … just need time to play.
A fast “good morning” before I go downstairs to cook breakfast for Dearly Beloved. Back later to check in!
Don’t miss that Geordie replied to your request for information about law offices in last week’s welcomings!
I have to go eyes forward on some projects now so I will see all y’alls later!
Thanks, Jan, will look that up in last week’s welcomings!
Had a nice night’s sleep. Watching the news. Ok, mostly on mute because Rand Paul and Bernie bros. (and now, omg — an anti-choice group… seriously, MSNBC???) I’m going to a lecture on literature & the 1916 Irish Uprising at the consulate next week. Should be interesting. I have to figure out parking — downtown evening parking is….ugh.
Today: church, cooking (that baked oatmeal is now my favorite breakfast, so easy), and clearing out the dvr. Next week is the big thing at church & the endorsement meeting I’m not going to. So I have to figure out the state rep race for my area by myself. I don’t know any of the candidates. One has been on the school board, but not having kids, I don’t pay that much attention. I’ll check their resumes & if any is a past or present Planned Parenthood board member, that may tip the scale. Next session, it will get really ugly here.
Glad you had a good night’s sleep, another! Have a good day.
Good morning, Moosekind! We have a fair, cold day in store this Imbolc Eve.
What a pleasant relief it is to come here and feel that one is among friends. Just dipped my big toe in the poisonous waters at Bernie Central—wanted to read our Sister Denise’s diary on Black History Month. Some of the diary titles boggle the mind, my favorite being the one that celebrates Bernie’s rise in the Selzer poll, because after all, last July the Selzer poll showed Hillary 57/Bernie 17, or something like that. Sheesh!
Was just thinking how much I like Michelle Obama and how I’d quite like to see a presidential run from her one day; then I thought, “But no one wants dynasties, not in this country.” My next thought was, “If it weren’t for patriarchy, Hillary and Michelle would be presidential candidates in their own right, whether they were married or not.” My view is that Secretary Clinton, by virtue of her credentials, is more qualified than anyone else to lead the country. Yet, if her last name weren’t Clinton, would anyone even give her the time of day? I don’t know. I just hope that in this forthcoming election the glass ceiling shatters for once and all, and that we can look forward to a black Jewish lesbian president one day. Oh, and she should be married to a practicing Muslim with an adopted daughter who’s Wiccan.
That said, I need to get busier. Cooked the breakfast, stripped the bed—the sheets are currently ruminating in the washer—and now I need to listen to a belated Christmas present, a CD by Wendy Rule, while I catch up on correspondence. Yesterday I was seized by the desire to make a Victoria Sandwich, so I did that. It looks very appropriate for Imbolc Eve, being red and white.
Wishing a good Sunday to all!
I think that in all areas of our patriarchal society, getting a chance to demonstrate your worth is the biggest barrier. Did Hillary Clinton get her entry pass punched because she was once First Lady? Without a doubt. But given that chance, she acquitted herself well – and is now running on her own credentials. I think the next generation of young Democratic women won’t have that barrier – look at Kamala Harris in California and Tammy Duckworth in Illinois. I don’t even know if they are married or who their fathers are, because it doesn’t matter!
The glass ceiling for the highest office in the land will (I hope and pray) be broken this November and while that won’t end sexism (any more than Barack Obama’s election ended racism) it will assuredly change the narrative of what is possible.
Actually we’ll never know – but Hillary Rodham was starting to make a name for herself working on Barbara Jordan’s team on the Nixon impeachment and she was still going by Rodham when President Carter tapped her for some pretty important stuff. If Bill hadn’t been a politician himself, and in a state that would (and did) hold it against him if his wife didn’t take his name – basically if she hadn’t done the “womanly” thing of supporting her husband’s career ahead of her own, we might still be working out tails off for her right now – but it would be for President Rodham.
Good morning, 41 and raining in Bellingham. Thanks to a modem/router snafu we lost internet connection yesterday, but thanks to the MiFi device I had forgotten about I was able to go on line with my laptop and the Comcast live chat person helped me sort it all out. Still seems magical to me!
I had a sewing project underway yesterday, but I lost my focus and needed a nap. And then the garden called, so I clipped a few stems of blooming salal, budded camellia, ivy, hellebore blossoms, and red twigs from the dogwood and made a winter bouquet. If I can manage the lure of Reapers Gale (Malazan book #6) I’ll try to cut the fabric for some new pillows for the library sofa today. Digging through my stash and finding the fabric and trim was as far as I got yesterday.
My domestic bubble is helping me stay sane with the primary voting news frenzy :)
I love reading about your sewing projects – I have a neglected sewing room filled to the brim with partly done quilting projects and fabric and notions galore. Since my mother died 7 years ago this month, I just haven’t much felt like getting back into it, but you’re giving me some incentive to “get back in the game”. I just need someone to make things for – but I have a precious great-nephew up in Indiana who I think would love the children’s prints and quilt patterns I have lying around in there. Just need to get the sewing machine tuned up a bit, and I may give it a try this week. Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks Geordie….good to know I’m not boring everyone with my sewing room reports! The creative process of planning and sewing a project is both stimulating and relaxing for me, but I seem to plan more than I can actually sew. I was much more disciplined when sewing was my work.
Princesspat, I also enjoy hearing about your sewing projects and your beautiful flower arrangements. I’m not talented in either area, so people who can do those things fascinate me.
Morning all! First, for anyone to diss Michelle Obama for, what was it, “polished demeanour inherent in an affluent lifestyle” is beyond stupid. Michelle Obama came from a working class family, worked her ass off for everything she’s accomplished, and, oh by the way, as our first African-American First Lady, has demonstrated nothing but grace, kindness and determination to make a difference in the causes she was allowed to champion as First Lady (after the buzz saw Hillary ran into in her husband’s first term when they both tried to give her the chance to influence health care policy, no Democratic First Lady could dare try anything like that again). Her focus on children’s health and diet, encouraging healthy eating and exercise, was great! And EVEN THEN, all she got from the right wing was racist slurs and complaints about “how dare she tell us what to eat”, even in the wake of the children’s obesity epidemic. Sheesh!!!
Lysis has a HNV diary up today, instead of waiting until tomorrow, and it’s chock full of good stuff, highly recommended reading, as long as you don’t let your eyes slide right to the Rec List. One thing I learned in there that just shocked me is that FirstAmendment’s nice diary yesterday on Gabby Giffords’ endorsement of Hillary prompted a sneering first reponse from OPOL, which shocked even other Bernie supporters as well. Seriously, dude, get a grip – and I was glad to see other Bernie supporters saying the same in the diary in response to him. That was a positive coming out of a negative, for sure.
It’s very interesting to me that I’ve made the same political journey since last fall as one of the commenters in the HNV diary has done – I started out kind of lukewarm about Hillary, although I never supported Sanders (again, NAD, Not A Democrat, and too damned old to boot), but basically saying I’ll vote for whoever the party nominates. I will still do that, but I’ve become much more enthused about a Hillary Clinton presidency, and I am now genuinely excited by the prospect. And also fearful of the mysogynist reaction a woman President will get, although after being shocked and dismayed over the wave of poisonous racism that has washed over us throughout President Obama’s terms, I won’t be surprised.
Have a great day everyone!
I saw Ted Cruz bragging yesterday about how his wife (as First Lady) would bring back French Fries for school kids!!
As one Twitter wag said, “oh great, let’s cheer for childhood obesity”.
They hate Michelle Obama for more than her stand on childhood obesity but it is a convenient dog whistle.
I read this story (“I Was One of the Most Ardent Hillary Haters on the Planet…Until I Read Her Emails”) a couple of days ago and kept meaning to post it. Now, with a sliver of time, I will do that.
This is not an uncommon feeling because 2008 was a very divisive campaign:
The author goes on to explain her “conversion” came about because of Hillary’s emails of all things (thank you, Trey Gowdy!):
Here is something for you, Diana:
I recommend reading the entire piece.
Will do, Jan, and thanks!
Happy Imbolc Eve – got here late – like 5 pm CST late – something kept happening every time I thought I had a minute to check in. Got the laundry done – and hung out in this lovely but about to be gone late Spring weather of mid-60s and mostly sunshine – and all my other cleaning and Sunday stuff. Cinnamon muffins for the week to come, chicken-veggie-pasta soup for the next 3 work weeks (that’s the last of the leftover holiday meats I had in the freezer), and oatmeal cookies to go with semi-frozen blueberries for dessert this next week. Enjoyed reading everybody’s stuff – well, appreciated might be a better word. Some of the things you’re commenting about are not enjoyable. Hope the rest of the day and evening are good for you. {{{HUGS}}}
Testing to see if this will embed
I read that last week (while you were travelling). I first caught her Tweets in real time and hoped she would Storify. And she did! She is on fire, isn’t she?
Do we know her from any of the lefty blogs, Dee? Seems like we should.
I don’t have a clue who she is – but she sure doesn’t pull her punches.
Checked over at the The Obama Diary – they don’t seem to know either
http://theobamadiary.com/2016/01/30/propane-jane-brings-the-fire-and-the-truth/
I didn’t know how to read a Storify thingee – took me a while to see the arrow on the right to turn the pages.
Storify embeds very nicely. It is a tool designed to capture a person’s Tweets in story book form. Sometimes people use Twitter as almost a blog post, tweeting a stream of consciousness (or planned story) about a specific topic. It is often difficult to follow unless you go directly to that person’s timeline and then scan through, and skip the unrelated Tweets. Following it in real time is even more difficult because your stream has a lot of stuff going on and you also get the responses to the Tweets which are often less than helpful.
So for people who create a Story on Twitter, there is Storify. I am glad that whoever she is, she is techie enough to be tapped into the tools.
Here is her Twitter bio:
Pretty impressive!
I saw some of her stuff, because I follow Grabthar’s Hammer & he was re-tweeting her. I’ll follow her, too.
Good morning, meese! Monday …
It is 28 degrees in Madison, on its way up to 36. Cloudy skies in the forecast. We are under a Winter Storm Watch for Tuesday 6am until Wednesday 6am. They are expecting 6 to 10 inches of snow although they aren’t quite sure where the heaviest bands will be yet.
Tonight is the Iowa caucuses. It is a great example of retail politics but a poor bellwether because Iowa does not reflect the nation in any way shape or form. It is interesting because Iowa more accurately reflects the Republican Party, old, white, hyper-religious, but it has actually done a better job of predicting the eventual Democratic Party nominee than the GOP nominee. I am sure the winner will claim all sorts of things, some of them might even be true!
The DNC has agreed to 4 more debates after the candidates pushed for them. Hillary’s campaign wants one in Flint Michigan and that set off a dustup because the Bernie campaign screamed “we said Michigan first!!!”. Sigh. I hope they do a debate there and I hope Rachel Maddow is one of the moderators.
Busy morning … I will check back after I finish my early morning work.
See all y’alls later!
Really thick fog today — glad I drive in early before traffic gets bad. Very few thoughts in my head. Can’t even count how many times I woke up last night — at least 5. When the alarm went off, I was dreaming about being in a creepy big house & I was trying to keep a TV on in every room I went into because it was so big I wanted noise to not feel creeped out…. Head is just playing the last song I had on in the car, Snow Patrol’s In the End.
What a horrible dream, anotherdemocrat! I hate when that happens.
A couple of weeks ago I dreamed that Paul Ryan cornered me in the supply room at the office and kissed me! (Of course in the dream I was considerably younger.)
It was, to put it mildly, a 5,000-ugh dream.
Good morning! It’s 48 F. here in Herndon, with mixed sun, clouds, and blue sky. Looks as if we might get some rain along with our 55 F. later.
For once I am fully dressed at this hour of the morning—8:20 a.m. In about ten minutes I’m expecting Miss Pink Cheeks and the girl next door to come to my house. School is on a 2-hour delay, so I’ll drive them up there after 10. They can’t walk, because a lot of people haven’t bothered to clear their sidewalks. The snow is melting, however. We can see great patches of grass now.
Haven’t dared to dip my toe into the Poison Pool yet this morning. Yesterday it was quite sickening. Just saw BS on telly—he was advising people to kidnap nonvoters and bring them to the caucus! Way to go, Bernie. My Facebook feed said that the Swedish people are full of contempt for Marco Rubio, who allegedly said that BS would make a good “president of Sweden.” Sweden happens to be a constitutional monarchy with a king and a prime minister. The Swedes contend that anyone that ignorant about other countries shouldn’t be in La Maison Blanche, and I agree. But the Rethugs think it’s a badge of honor to be stupid! Goddess help us.
If you’re sick of Iowa, why not stop by http://goddessfiction.com and read my February story, “Collette”? (She appeared briefly in “Chosen of the Orishas.”) Once I saw the most beautiful girl in the world in a Kaiser Permanente TV commercial, of all things, and ever since then I’ve wanted to write a story about her. So I did. :)
I also agree with the Swedes!! Sadly, we have no IQ test for the presidency, a bitter reminder of the period of time from 2001 to 2008.
I am sick of Iowa also. But once we recover from that, it will be New Hampshire 24/7. I am looking forward to March – it will all be over by March 15th.
Loved “Collette” – I’ve noticed over the years the nicest “heros” are created by women :)
Also agree with the Swedes.
Thanks, bfitz! Well, perhaps that’s because women writers know that 70 percent of book-buyers are women, so they give the readership what they want. :)
how my mind works – I read your comment about the Poison Pool & my brain started playing (of course) a U2 song – they grew up in a rough neighborhood & not all their friends made it, this is a song about friends who got caught in the tidal wave of heroin that hit Dublin in the 90s
here’s the verse you made me think of
Sweet the sin, bitter the taste in my mouth.
I see seven towers, but I only see one way out.
You gotta cry without weeping, talk without speaking
Scream without raising your voice.
You know I took the poison, from the poison stream
Then I floated out of here, singing
Ah la la la de day
Ah la la la de day.
here’s the full lyrics:
http://www.u2.com/lyrics/111
My boy write lots of songs that have too much pain for me to listen to – some that I literally can’t because they cause me physical pain, like Iris from the latest one, it’s about his mother’s death & just no, no, no. (I can’t believe my mom has been gone 4 years, it seems like last week) If you go to the link above, at the top go to albums & Songs of Innocence & look for Iris. A lot of people love it. There’s another song on the same album with this song, called One Tree Hill, about a friend who died in a traffic accident (he had borrowed Bono’s motorcycle….) that I’ve never been able to listen to at all, because the pain in his voice actually knocks me to my knees.
Just checked Twitter — and #StandWithHillary is trending in Austin. No idea why, and no other political tag is. I thought that was cool. I tweeted Karen Finney, one of her spokes people to tell her. She had a show on MSNBC for a short time & I started following her then. I hope she gets to be a White House Communications muckety-muck.
Happy Imbolc Week Meeses – it’s 42 heading for 63 and partly cloudy in Fay., AR. This is (predicted to be) the last above 60 for the next 10 days (most of which will top out in the 40s and bottom in the 20s). Haven’t been to the Orange yet – have collapsed the wreck list and mostly just head straight for my “stream” – there are people over there I’ve respected for years and will probably meet at NN who are currently posting things I do not want to have stuck in my memory when I meet them so I just avoid them right now.
They took Trish’s gall bladder out Friday afternoon, but she’s in a lot of pain and still barfing up her meals so she’s still in the hospital. Marti organized pootie diaries for the week – and then her router went out, so someone had to step up and cover her diary for today. But just in case you need a little brain bleach in the form of cute animal pictures in a meta-free zone, they will post as usual.
Will try to get over and read Denise’s Sunday diary and Diana’s short story but am soloing today and not sure how my time is going to run. Stay safe and warm everybody. {{{HUGS}}}
Morning all! Beautiful and warm here, very pleasant, but I hope we haven’t seen the last of our cool weather – it’s way too early for summer even in Florida!
I’m not looking forward to tonight and tomorrow – I’m going to try to not pay attention to caucus news till it’s all over and we know one way or the other. Not that it means anything much, I know, but the insufferability of the Berner crowd will be hard to take if he wins.
I’ll check in later, I have to get some stuff in the mail today so I’ll get to it. Have a great day everyone!
The caucuses start at 7pm but there is no exact end time because there is a lot of back and forth, at least on the Democratic Party side. I am not going to stay up for returns but will find out in the morning who won and have it explained to me what it means. ;)