Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: July 24th through July 30th

July 24, 2016 JanF Community 151

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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50 Comments

  1. Good morning, 66 and sunny in Bellingham. I have a vascular scan today, which means no food or coffee until it’s over. So my sleepy brain is even more challenged this morning!

    Much to Ava’s delight we used the sewing machines yesterday……finally! They can’t manage threading the machines yet, but did very well with practice stitching on both the serger and the straight stitch machine. After so many days of sewing basics, such as pattern fitting and making tailor tacks they needed to do something more exciting.

    Our day ended with a lakeside community college dinner, and then home in time to see President Obama’s speech. Nancy Letourneau is more articulate than I am this morning.

    The Passing of the Baton

    I couldn’t help but recall something Obama said to David Remnick almost two years ago.

    “I think we are born into this world and inherit all the grudges and rivalries and hatreds and sins of the past,” he said. “But we also inherit the beauty and the joy and goodness of our forebears. And we’re on this planet a pretty short time, so that we cannot remake the world entirely during this little stretch that we have.” The long view again. “But I think our decisions matter,” he went on. “And I think America was very lucky that Abraham Lincoln was President when he was President. If he hadn’t been, the course of history would be very different. But I also think that, despite being the greatest President, in my mind, in our history, it took another hundred and fifty years before African-Americans had anything approaching formal equality, much less real equality. I think that doesn’t diminish Lincoln’s achievements, but it acknowledges that at the end of the day we’re part of a long-running story. We just try to get our paragraph right.”

    If future historians write this part of our story accurately, I suspect that they’ll focus on the fact that – for the most part – Barack Obama got his paragraph right. And then he passed the baton to let Hillary Clinton take it from there.

  2. Good morning, meese! Friday …

    It is 64 degrees in Madison on its way up to 72. Light rain is in the forecast.

    Wow! Just wow.

    I stayed up for the whole convention and I was so glad to see the acceptance speech live. I was worried, though, that our nominee would disappear forever in a veritable tsunami of balloons just as we have her poised to win the White House! I am glad she got safely out of there. :)

    I am going to post the acceptance speech with the first rush transcript and then put the other speeches that moved me in the Day Four post. Khizr Khan, Muslim Gold Star father had me alternately sad, angry, and proud. Trumpism must fail to honor his strong words and the sacrifice of his son.

    But my oh my …. Primetime Rev. Barber III really brought it.

    “When we fight to reinstate the power of the voting rights act, and we break the interposition and nullification of the current Congress, we in the South especially know, that when we do that we are reviving the heart of our democracy,” he said. “The heart of our democracy is on the line this November and beyond.”

    “Now, my friends, they tell me that when the heart is in danger, somebody has to call an emergency code, and somebody with a good heart will bring a defibrillator to work on the bad heart. Because it’s possible to shock a bad heart and revive the pulse. In this season, when some want to harden and stop the heart of our democracy, we are being called like our foremothers and fathers to be the moral defibrillators of our time. We must shock this nation with the power of love. We must shock this nation with the power of mercy. We must shock this nation and fight for justice for all.

    “We can’t give up on the heart of our democracy, not now, not ever,” he said, to thunderous applause. “And so, and so I stopped by here tonight to ask, is there a heart in this house? Is there a heart in America?”

    “Then stand up. Vote together. Organize together. Fight for the heart of this nation.”

    It was great to see the reaction, in the audience and on Twitter, to the words of a man who we already know as the greatest civil rights leader of our time.

    And “foremothers”? Wow. Just wow.

    See all y’all later!

  3. Ha! Just posted the clip of Rev Barber to the other thread. Leslie posted the transcript over at Orange

    Good evening. My brothers and sisters.

    I come before you tonight as a preacher, the son of a preacher. A preacher immersed in the movement at five years old. I don’t come tonight representing any organization, but I come to talk about faith and morality.

    I’m a preacher and I’m a theologically conservative liberal evangelical biblicist . [Cheers] I know it may sound strange, but I’m a conservative because I worked to conserve a divine tradition that teaches us to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. [Cheers]

    I’ve has had the privilege of walking with many influential people. As we are working together in the revival and calling for a revolution of values, and as we travel the country and see things, that is why I’m so concerned about those that say so much, about what God says so little, while saying so little about what god says so much. [Cheers]

    In my heart, I’m troubled. And I’m worried about the way they do cynically used by some to serve hate, fear, racism and greed. We need to keep the bar of the scriptures. We need to heed the voice os the scriptures. The prophet Isaiah cries out, what I’m interested in, the nation, pay people what they deserve. [Cheers] Share your food with the hungry. Do this and then your nation shall be called a repairer of the breach. [Cheers]

    Jesus, a brown skinned Palestinian Jew called us to preach good news to the poor, the broken, and the braised in all those who are made to feel unaccepted.

    Our constitution calls us to commit our government to establish justice, to promote the general welfare, to provide for the common defense and to ensure domestic tranquility. [Cheers]

    Now, to be true, we’ve never lived this vision perfectly. But this ought to be the goal at the heart of our democracy. And when religion is used to camouflage meanness, we know that we have a hard problem in America — heart problem in America. [Cheers]

    There have always been forces that want to harden and even stop the heart of democracy. There have also always been people who stood together to a stir what sister Dorothy gave called the revolution of the heart and what Dr. King called a radical revolution of values. [Cheers]

    I say to you tonight, some issues are not left versus right, they are right versus wrong. We need to embrace our deepest moral values and push for a revival at the heart of our democracy. When we fight, to reinstate the power of the voting rights act. [Cheers] And we break the nullification of the current congress. We especially note that when we do that, we are reviving the heart of our democracy. [Cheers] When we fight for $15 minimum wage and a union, [Cheers] and universal health care and public education and immigrant rights, and lgbtqt rights, [Cheers] We are reviving the heart of our democracy. [Cheers]

    When we develop tax and trade policies that no no longer funnel our prosperity to the wealthy few, we are reviving the heart of our democracy. [Cheers] When we hear the legitimate disconnect — discontent of black lives matter and become together — we come together to renew justice in our criminal justice system, we are embracing our deepest moral values and reviving the heart of our democracy. [Cheers]

    When we love the jewish child and the Palestinian child, [Cheers] the Muslim and the Christian and the Hindu and the Buddhist and those who have no faith but they love this nation [Cheers] We are reviving the heart of our democracy.

    When we fight for peace and when we resist the proliferation of military style weapons on our street. [Cheers] And when we stand against the anti-democratic stronghold of the NRA, we are reviving the heart of our democracy. [Cheers]

    In times like these, we have make some decisions and I might not know — normally I’d be here as a preacher, an individual, but when I hear Hillary’s voice and her positions, I hear and I know that she is working to embrace our deepest moral values and we should embrace her. [Cheers]

    But let me be clear, let me be clear, she, nor any person can do it alone. The watchword of the democracy in the watchword of faith is we. The heart of our democracy is on the line this November and beyond. [Cheers]

    My friends, they tell me that when the heart is in danger, somebody has to call an emergency code. And somebody with a good heart will bring a defibrillator to work on the bad heart. [Cheers] Because it is possible to shock about heart and revived the polls. In the season, when someone to harden and stop the heart of our democracy, we are being called like our poor mothers and fathers to be the moral defibrillator of our time. [Cheers]

    We must shock this nation with the power of love. We must shock this nation with the power of mercy. We must shock this nation and fight for justice for all. We can’t give up on the heart of our democracy, not now, not ever! [Cheers]

    And so, and so I stop by here tonight to ask, is there a heart in this house? [Cheers] Is there a heart in America? [Cheers] Is there somebody that has a heart for the poor, and a for the vulnerable? [Cheers] Then stand up. Vote together. — Vote together. Organize together. [Cheers] Fight for the heart of this nation. [Cheers]

    While we are fighting, revive us again. Find the love. Lead with love. May each soul be rekindled with fire from above. Hallelujah!

    Find the glory. [Cheers]

    • Thank you for the transcript! I was so pleased to see the campaign give Rev. Barber 11+ minutes in a prime speaking spot. I was grinning from ear to ear at the thunderous applause in the convention hall.

      • He was in-town for the revival tour – and the campaign reached out. So glad they found a really good spot for him to speak.

        I was watching faces in the audience – it was clear that this was a first exposure to him – for many. I’m sure it won’t be the last.

        • As I watched Rev. Barber I was moved, I was heartened, I was grinning – and I was wishing we could have watched it together! {{{HUGS}}}

  6. Good morning! Are we all tired yet?

    What a night! What about those speeches! And what about her speech? Feeling tired but pumped.

    Unfortunately, Dearly’s recording of Bill’s speech did not “take,” so I will have to find it elsewhere. That’s the problem with falling asleep too early.

    We had amazing thunderstorms here last night with lots of rain. Thank Goddess the electricity stayed on. M!ore heat and possible showers expected today, and lots predicted for the weekend.

    The media are still up to their old tricks. If they can find a poll showing that Hillary’s support is down compared to Trump’s, they show it. They never, ever show any favorable polls or have anything good to say about Hillary. I wish my husband wouldn’t insist on turning on the TV in the morning. We lived for four years without turning it on in the morning, but then 9/11 happened and we had no idea until the news started filtering in when we were at work.

    Wishing everyone a good day!

      • Oh, thank you, Sister Denise! I will watch it before dinner—unlikely to have free time until then.

        Very nice of you to save me the search. :)

    • I just made my Twitter rounds and I was wondering what speech some of those folks were watching. Did they not like it because it wasn’t delivered by a half-wit standing on an aircraft carrier?? I thought the speech was very good … and very Hillary.

      Here are the insta-polls from the speech:

      Instant Poll on CNN among those that watched the speech.
      71% Very positive
      15% Positive
      60% More likely to vote Hillary

      She is going to get a ginormous convention bounce and then it will settle into about a 9 point lead for the rest of the election contest. I haz spoken.

      • Don’t know if the Nielsen data is out yet – even though it is for mainstream tv and does not include PBS or C-span (or those who viewed live-stream) it is still useful to compare to Trump numbers.

        • That’s the thing, Dee. So many people were sickened by the MSNBC and CNN coverage that they flipped over to CSPAN or watched it on YouTube. I am sure those don’t hit Nielsen or are even quantifiable. Everyone I knew was watching! ;)

    • The DNC Convention Moose posts have a lot of the videos posted in the comments. If you like to read the speeches also, there are a few with transcripts. I think there was one for Bill Clinton’s linked as well.

      CSPAN.org also has many of the speeches and the DNC Convention YouTube channel has all of them although some from last night have not been uploaded yet.

      • Thanks, Jan! As long as I have hearing aids in, I’ll be able to watch it. However, I love reading transcripts in case I don’t quite get everything. :)

  7. Wow, last night was…. I could still giggle/cry at the drop of a hat. It was just everything. I’m sure there’s stuff going on in the world, but my brain can only process that. And play Brave at me.

    • Well, you know it’s true! Donald Trump sees “tall black guy” and is too lazy to bother trying to figure out which sports figure it is. Great shade.

  9. BTW – for any of you who are polling junkies – don’t forget to check in frequently at Princeton Election Consortium.

    They don’t do “horserace” they do Electoral Votes – based on state polling.

    I love the discussion over there – and have followed Sam Wang for a long time – a lot of people don’t realize he too is a Kossak – mindgeek – not just Nate Silver

    • Reading at the PEC steadies my nerves. I don’t have the math education to understand the statistical analysis but I love reading the reality based discussions.

  10. Basic YEAH! last night – so much America’s promise while not attained is attainable if we work together. So much looking at things from all sides instead of taking sides. And the strategy for dealing with the Busters was so Hillary. (Welcome them into the big tent, let them yell whatever they want to – and have folks close by primed to not only out yell them when they started something disruptive but join them when they started yelling something good. Like “love is love” or “Black Lives Matter” – the Hillary people joined the Busters and their “protest” was lost in the entirety.) So much optimism which our nation is in such desperate need of. Honestly recognizing that we have problems to fix, but knowing we can fix them if we listen to each other and work together.

    On the other hand the media – including the supposedly left media – are still using Clinton rules. Thank goddess for C-Span. If I had to depend on these jerks I’d still be in despair. And thank you, Jan, for the link or I wouldn’t have known how to find it. Now to work. Here in the office right now, and for the election through November. Dem HQ opens Monday. On the 6th I’ll show up and staff it. And I’ll either be staffing HQ or registering voters until we get ‘er done. The day’s so bright, we need shades. {{{HUGS}}}

    • Bfitz, this:

      (Welcome them into the big tent, let them yell whatever they want to – and have folks close by primed to not only out yell them when they started something disruptive but join them when they started yelling something good. Like “love is love” or “Black Lives Matter” – the Hillary people joined the Busters and their “protest” was lost in the entirety.)

      Whoever is planning and executing her campaign is BRILLIANT. As we are a polite group here, I won’t say a well-known adjective beginning with “f” in front of brilliant, but take it as read. :)

  11. Good morning, 65 and sunny in Bellingham. I was surprised with my emotional reaction last night, as I was moved to tears so many times. Watching the convention, following on Twitter and on line, and talking with my family was intense, so of course I had trouble sleeping and feel especially foggy this morning. But I’m smiling!

    I’m going to the pool soon, then I’ll find a birthday gift for our Emma, who is now 14 yrs old, how can that be! She will be old enough to vote in the next presidential election.

    Seattle-area women: Clinton nomination an emotional milestone, but double standard endures

    Whatever their position on the Democratic spectrum, women across the Puget Sound area viewed Hillary Clinton’s acceptance of the party’s presidential nomination as a moment that will redefine American ideas about the nation’s highest office, carrying significance far beyond the emotion of the moment.

    “The presidency has always been constructed as a very masculine thing — the father of our country, a general, a war hero,” said Margaret O’Mara, an associate professor of history at the University of Washington and author of “Pivotal Tuesdays: Four Elections That Shaped the Twentieth Century.”

    “With Hillary, it’s always, ‘What side of the street does she walk on — is she commander-in-chief or is she the mother-in-chief?”

    O’Mara, who worked for President Bill Clinton’s administration during the early 1990s, has watched the former first lady navigate a difficult, sometimes treacherous, path between her various roles: first spouse and policy expert, tireless campaigner and devoted grandmother.

    “In the political arena, it’s been a dangerous game for women to present oneself as both a strong leader and human. So this is a really big deal,” O’Mara said.

  12. Morning all! I stayed up watching and then tweeting afterward, so I slept really late today!!! SO PROUD!

    Hillary just nailed it, I could care less what the so-called pundits say – I’m very happy, like all of you, that I watched it on the convention stream and C-Span, unfiltered. As I said in a tweet last night, I was friends with Sally Ride in college, and the last time I remember feeling the way I did last night watching Hillary was when I watched as Sally went into space in 1983 – it’s just indescribable. Hillary is brilliant, tough, and to me, very endearing with her big laugh and smile. I intellectually understand the Hillary-hate – it’s been orchestrated over decades – but emotionally I just don’t get how people could watch her last night and still think she’s some sort of devil. But it doesn’t matter – we just have to work like hell to get her elected and then let people see what she can do.

    It’s hard to pick out a favorite moment apart from Hillary, but for me it’s a tie between Rev Barber and the Khans – Rev Barber is such a powerful speaker, his words just about lifted me up out of my chair involuntarily! And the picture of those lovely, grief-stricken parents alone would have stuck with me even without Khizr Khan’s words – I’m not sure why just the sight of Mrs. Khan standing there wordless moves me so much, but it does. And then the searing words “Have you even read the Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy…..You have sacrificed NOTHING and NO ONE.” The contrast with Donald Trump and his son who went overseas all right…to kill elephants in Africa and display trophies for pictures simply is devastating.

    As an overall political strategy, what the Democrats have achieved this week in taking the themes of patriotism and support for the troops clean away from the Republicans is simply remarkable – and all in the context of the most liberal party positions of any convention of my lifetime. Think of the contrast with 1988 or 92 or heck even 2008, and it’s breathtaking. The mere fact that we’re not afraid to use the word “abortion” any more is so striking to me. So proud to be a Democrat!

    I was so worried that the Bernie brats were going to ruin Hillary’s big night, but the combination of moving them out of the front, for the most part, and then, most effectively, countering their chants with “HILLARY” chants worked quite well. I read a tweet from a reporter who said she talked to a Bernie supporter who was in tears because they didn’t succeed in disrupting Hillary’s speech – said they felt marginalized. Good, because they ARE the margin. Those people, whatever their age, need to grow up and try to use that political energy to do some real political work – go get your progressive candidates on city council or in the district attorney’s office, in the legislature, do some real good folks. Bernie was never worthy of your worship, time to leave the cult and do some good in the world.

    Ok, slept so late but now I have stuff to get done – everyone have a great day!

    • The Hillary people in the hall did a great job of nullifying the berners attempted disruptions. A friend who was there said that they were on top of every outburst.

      Now, I hope they go home. A friend shared this last night:

      “The house is on fire … stop crying because we are not putting it out with YOUR HOSE!”

  13. This is a BHD … in a battleground state with a Senate race!

    “Today the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit invalidated these restrictions, which it said “targeted African Americans with almost surgical precision” in violation of the Voting Rights Act and the 14th Amendment. It reversed a 485-page decision by the district court upholding the law.

    This is a huge victory for voting rights—the most significant in the country since the Shelby County v. Holder decision—that will make it easier for hundreds of thousands of voters to cast a ballot this November. ”

    [The Country’s Worst Anti-Voting Law Was Just Struck Down in North Carolina | The Nation]
    https://www.thenation.com/article/the-countrys-worst-anti-voting-law-was-just-struck-down-in-north-carolina/

    • I cheered when I saw this – the NC NAACP, and so many other groups have fought tirelessly against the law

      From Mother Jones

      The court’s decision notes that North Carolina’s law was initiated by state Republicans the day after the Supreme Court gutted a key portion of the Voting Rights Act in 2013. That decision, Shelby v. Holder, ruled that the mechanism used to determine which states needed pre-clearance for voting law changes due to a history of racial discrimination was outdated. This ruling cleared the way for states like North Carolina—which previously had to have all voting law and procedural changes reviewed by the US Department of Justice or a federal judge—to enact any voting changes they wished.

      ACLU

      The ruling is a stinging rebuke of the North Carolina legislature’s attempt to undermine African-American voter participation, which had surged over the last decade. In 2013, state legislators with surgical precision tried to eliminate voting practices disproportionately used by Black voters. The appeals court declared that the challenged provisions “constitute solutions in search of a problem.”

      “Faced with this record,” the court held it could “only conclude that the North Carolina General Assembly enacted the challenged provisions of the law with discriminatory intent.”

      NC NAACP

      “The Circuit Court’s ruling today is a people’s victory and a victory that sends a message to the nation,” said Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, president of the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP. “The court found— under the sensitive inquiry required by law — that how the law was enacted and its impact made crystal clear that discriminatory intent impermissibly motivated this General Assembly. Under our constitution, and under the core principles and dictates of the Voting Rights Act, these provisions have no legitimacy under the law.”

      “Based on the ruling today,” Barber explained, “North Carolina voters will not have to show a discriminatorily motived voter ID in the state of North Carolina in November or in any future election. North Carolinians will enjoy the full scope of early voting opportunities previously available, and will not be denied needed safeguards to protect the ability to exercise the right to vote including the option of same day registration. We know that this decision is a step closer to a freer, fairer electoral system in our state and in the nation. It is our duty to continue this fight until barriers based on race are swept away as ancient history.”

      “The Court’s decision reinforces that race-based decision-making in the electoral system will not stand,” said Penda D. Hair, lead attorney for the NC NAACP. “We know that voters of color rely most heavily on these voting measures, and that, without this decision, they would have borne the brunt of the burden this November. Today’s decision is the culmination of a long and grueling fight to fully restore the rights of North Carolina voters and renew the integrity of democracy in the state. We believe the plaintiffs’ fight for justice received vindication today.”

      • The stakes couldn’t be higher – hundreds of thousands of voters:

        President Hillary Clinton (D), Senator Deborah Ross (D), Governor Roy Cooper (D).

  15. BIG voting victories today – not only NC, Wisconsin(! yay Jan!), Kansas too I think? Plus Texas last week? Really great day for democracy.

    • Texas last week, Ohio on Thursday, Kansas, North Carolina, Wisconsin (two separate cases) Friday. I would like to think that the pendulum is swinging back in favor of a right to vote. We really need to protect voting rights in an ironclad statute since the constitution is a patchwork of maybe-rights cobbled together from the various amendments to the original constitution which was designed for white male landowners. That each state gets to decide how people vote in elections is insane and the original authors of the VRA knew that it would lead to the disenfranchising of minorities, so they put limits on what states could do … and what states with a history of discrimination could do. Now we have a political party with a history of discrimination and the courts are swamped with gerrymandering lawsuits, felony rights lawsuits, voter id lawsuits, voting restriction lawsuits. Terrible waste of time and energy and terrible optics for the supposed Greatest Democracy on the Face of the Earth.

  16. Good morning, meese! Saturday …

    It is 63 degrees in Madison on its way up to 77. Mainly sunny skies are in the forecast.

    I am still a little hungover from the DNC convention. When I turned on my TV yesterday afternoon and realized that there was not going to be 7 hours of Democrats, telling me how wonderful our party is, I had a moment of sadness.

    As I mentioned above, big day yesterday for voting rights. Poor McCrory left to harumph AGAIN about how the terrible laws his teaparty government passed are being disrespected in the courts. He was whining yesterday about how losing these cases is the fault of the Attorney General, a Democrat who refused to defend discrimination. No, you crafted a discriminatory bill to purposefully disenfranchise black voters and the federal courts would have none of it. It is unlikely that the Supreme Court will take this case up unless Chief Justice John Roberts wants to protect his legacy as the man who declared we are post-racial and refused to understand that lifting pre-clearance would give carte blanche to begin discrimination anew.

    The president (remember him?) will have posted a Weekly Address while I was sleeping in so I best get to it.

    See all y’all later!

    • Was looking at this:
      Federal judge strikes down parts of Wisconsin voter laws

      A federal judge on Friday struck down a string of Wisconsin voting restrictions passed by the Republican-led legislature and ordered the state to revamp its voter identification rules, finding that they disenfranchised minority voters.

      U.S. District Judge James Peterson, ruling in a legal challenge to the laws by two liberal groups, said he could not overturn the entire voter ID law because a federal appeals court had already found such restrictions to be constitutional.

      But Peterson, in his 119-page ruling, said the requirements that Wisconsin voters show either a photo identification or go through a special petition process had unfairly burdened minorities and needed to be reformed or replaced before the November presidential election.

      “To put it bluntly, Wisconsin’s strict version of voter ID law is a cure worse than the disease,” the judge wrote.

      Peterson left the voting rules intact for the Aug 9. primary elections for federal, state and local offices, saying to change them less than two weeks in advance would be disruptive.

      But his ruling was expected to impact the November presidential election in Wisconsin, which could prove a crucial battleground state for Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump.

      Was wondering what activists are doing to assist people with complying with the ID portion of the rules.

        • HAHAHA!! Indeed it would!

          We have some strong organizations working to get folks ids. But we also have the other Wisconsin voter id case which was remanded to Federal District Judge Lynn Adelman by the 7th Circuit. Judge Adelman, a few weeks ago, established affidavit voting so if anyone cannot get an id, they can sign an affidavit saying they are who they are. The state requested that the order be stayed and yesterday he refused to issue the stay. They can appeal to the 7th Circuit but since that is where the original order came from, they are probably SOL. Judge Adelman also include in his remedies that voter education begin so there will be money to get out the word on how people can vote who don’t have ids and how to get ids.

      • Dee, the funniest part of Peterson’s ruling was the burn he put on Gov. Walker. When he said that the state does have a duty to protect voter fraud, he included the note that the one case of voter fraud they found was a guy voting 14 times for Gov. Walker. HAHAHA!! Yes, we have voter fraud … by white Republicans!!

  17. Happy Saturn’s Day, Meese! It’s 74 F. under cloudy skies in Nova, going up to 84 F. today. This morning will be largely dry, so I’ve got to skip to the gym after breakfast, but this afternoon there will be thunderstorms and heavy rain. Our poor dog! He’ll be here by himself while we’re at the birthday party. He hates loud noises.

    Feeling very cheered by the reversal of the discriminatory voter ID laws. Hope this keeps up.

    Events leading up to the convention, plus the convention itself, have completely derailed my writing career. Tomorrow is Lammas Eve and I’m supposed to post my new story on Monday—yikes! Will post Part II today because otherwise Part III will make no sense. Done with three-parters for the year!

    Mr. NewBaby—well, I suppose since he’s a year old today he’s now Mr. OldBaby—will be the star attraction at his birthday party this afternoon. Because of the lousy weather 26 persons and one loving Labrador will crowd into Elder Son’s tiny Arlington house. And it’s going to be Mexican instead of barbecue.

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond and Beyond!

    • It struck me yesterday that Lammas is Monday. Fortunately the wheel of the year, being circular and all, allows me to re-cycle each year’s holiday post when we come back around to it. Copy/paste/publish! :)

      100 days.


  18. I stayed up late last night to watch all of Lawrence O’Donnell’s show because he had the Khans on for an extended interview. They are the most amazing people.

    Plan for today: do bills, buy groceries, go to the gym. And my training group is having a party this evening.

    • I posted the video of that interview in comments in the Weekly Address. They are remarkable people.

  20. Good morning, 64 and sunny in Bellingham. Between convention overload and my throbbing knees I had a lousy night so this morning isn’t so cheery either. I’d best quietly sip my coffee and read awhile.

    Thanks to all for the camaraderie and interesting reading.

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