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?
…
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.
…
– Page 1 of Comments can be found at this link.
- Page 2 of Comments can be found at this link.
Good morning, 60 and mostly sunny in Bellingham. I finally focused on the projects that have stacked up in my sewing room, so between cutting fussy, stretchy, sun protective fabric into scarves and keeping my leg up yesterday was busy and today will be more of the same. My daughter’s Etsy shop keeps selling things, so that means we have to keep making things!
Adam Jentleson has an interesting twitter thread re McConnell’s leadership and his waning power.
https://twitter.com/AJentleson/status/887137073785909250
I just got finished reading that thread (I had it up in a tab)! It was excellent. I hope he is right that McConnell choosing to destroy the institution to protect his own power has made it impossible to keep his members in line. The new Republicans who the teapartiers voted into the Senate have no respect for traditions or government; McConnell is a victim of his own destructive ways – he thumbed his nose at the traditions to block Merrick Garland and now he is expecting his members to respect him? Sheesh.
Good morning, meese! Wednesday …
It is 70 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 82. The forecast calls for mostly sunny skies with a chance of thunderstorms later tonight. Yesterday was as hot as it was expected to be – stifling with the heat index at 105. On days like that, I thank the goddess I have air conditioning and that I can afford to run it.
So we went from Repeal and Replace to Replacing is Too Hard Let’s Just Repeal to Just Let Obamacare (and the individual insurance market) Die. They can’t just repeal and they can’t figure out how to replace a program that millions have come to rely on and I am pretty sure that it is illegal to “just let Obamacare die”. There will be lawsuits and huge amounts of industry pressure if the CSRs are simply cancelled. The only reason they haven’t been cancelled already is because of that pressure. Today the shitgibbon has called all the Republican Senators to the White House to wave his tiny, er, fists at them. The ads are already starting against Capito. I really wish that 10 Senators, all the waverers, had come out as a group against Repeal with No Replacement because it would be harder to target a bigger group. It is no shock that the NOs are all women and the cowardly waverers are all men.
The repeal is NOT dead until Republicans lose their majority in one of the Houses of Congress. Period. When they bring the 2015 bill to a vote next week, if it gets voted down Congress will go on recess on the 28th and we will have a brief respite during the rest of August. That is as good as it will get, I’m afraid. No one said resisting would be easy.
See all y’all later!
Now Ohio Senator Rob Portman has rejected Repeal with No Replacement. I hope the rest of the waverers join him before today’s meeting.
By the way, fk this guy!
What elitist bullcrap! There is nothing wrong with going to community college – I went to one and spent two years picking up college credits while learning a tech skill that earned me enough to go part time to a 4-year college where I got my degree. Your kids will have a disadvantage though, Caputo, because they have a parent who has no scruples or morals and whose head is firmly up his ass.
Hot Wednesday here in Saugerties -67 going up to a muggy 92.
Some herstory for today
Today is writing day – so will head back to my task.
Have a good day folks
Have a good writing day, Dee!
I was sad to see that the PPP 2020 presidential preference poll from yesterday showed that “old white men” are the choice for 2020 and that no women or people of color even broke 50% in a matchup with tRump. People are already pre-hating Kamala Harris as a corporate shill and “neolib”, apparently the new pejorative. First, it is 3 years away and second, if Democrats are scared to nominate a woman or a person of color, they are fools. In 2020, children who were 6-years-old when Barack Obama became president – and who only know a kind decent president who cared about our country and all Americans – will get to vote for president. Kids who grew up with President Obama and decency and democracy but were not old enough to vote in 2016 will be in the voting pool and they are going to join the Obama Coalition, not the freaking Bern It Down Revolution that rejects civil rights and womens rights and embraces white identity politics in the hopes that bigots will like them. Screw that!
Frankly I think that poll is essentially meaningless at this point in time. I’d like to wait and see polling when there are actually people running.
Indeed. It is meaningless except as it tests the temperature of the Democratic Party right now. One side benefit of early 2020 polls is that they will expose the early fault lines in the party. I hope that someone finds a way to marginalize the cadre who thinks that chasing the white working class vote is the answer to what ails us. The answer to what ails us is to get all hands on deck to fight vote suppression. Millions of people did not vote because they couldn’t vote. Since 2000, when Republicans in the state of Florida purged voter rolls of thousands of minorities whose names looked like the names of felons – and we lost by 465 votes – the plan has been to steal the vote then steal elections and steal power. We will never fix what ails us until we come to terms with what happened to the franchise when Republicans discovered that decent people hate their policies and the only way to win is to cheat. And to find a way to restore it and then protect it.
Good morning, Meese! Here in NoVa the windows are still covered with raindrops and condensation from the rainstorm that good old Yemaya sent our way at dinner time yesterday. We didn’t lose power, thank Goddess, so I was able to keep on with my chores. Although our little storm got off to a very slow start, it kept up enthusiastically for an hour. There was still lightning when I was in my office last night writing in my journal. Right now skies are clear, with a temp. of 70 F., going up to 92 F.
Have been following the news with interest, of course. Hope the ACA will stay in place with sufficient protection so as not to jeopardize anyone’s health care.
Feeling much better owing to finally getting a decent night’s sleep, so I’m ready to start the day. Hope it’s a good one for all at the Pond and beyond.
1.44 miles this morning. I will eventually stop hating this, right? 59 days till the concert. I can do this for 58 days (not working out the day I fly out). Also, the more I think about diet, exercise & weight loss, the less time there is to think about how the Rs are looting the country. Turning up the U2 playing in my head even louder.
69 at dawn, mid 70s already and heading up – how up I’m not going to guess and the paid prognosticators have been wrong for months, but hot. I watered the nursery stock and herbs this morning. Ground is rock hard – you could drive a truck over it and not make a rut. got just under 22 KWHs yesterday, m-t-d is 332, hoping for the same or better today.
As to the Kill Americans First bill, i’ve been calling and the staffers have been polite – but Tom Cotton was one of the behind-closed-doors-secret-authors of that bill. He’s an End Timer and just doing his little best to bring about the conditions of the Apocalypse. Now I’ve got to go back to calling Womack (R-WalMart) and telling him to keep his paws off my Social Security – remind him there’s something about not stealing in those 10 commandments he loves so much. (Not that it will do any good – pseudo-Xtians every single one of them.) Meanwhile nothing seems to be moving at all on the community needs list – not even my 4 urgent ones – but one of the urgent ones (Mufftootuff) has a job interview today so any Good Thoughts anyone has to send in her direction (IN, if you need the actual direction) would be greatly appreciated.
Need to get to work as soon as I check in with the Village diaries. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 63 and sunny in Bellingham. Were going to be busy with visiting family for the next few weeks. Our grandson arrives today, my sister tomorrow, and when she leaves our Oregon daughter and her family arrives. I love seeing everyone, but I hope I can keep my BCH leg under control.
I did finally get the scarves, blankets and pillows for my daughters Etsy store cut and ready to sew. She will be here this afternoon to help so most of the items will go home with her. I haven’t done production sewing for a long time….made me tired!
Hope everyone has a good day.
Good Thursday morning Meese
66 here in the Catskills going up to 92 – muggy muggy muggy
For years people in my communities have been talking about cops planting drugs on suspects
I’m elated to see that body cam footage has now documented an example of this odious practice
Good morning, Meese! Thursday …
It is 66 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 84. Thunderstorms that chained through the area all night are expected to finish up this morning and give way to mostly sunny skies.
The ACA repeal is not dead. Senate Republicans met with the shitgibbon for lunch yesterday to be threatened with primaries – most of them were just re-elected to 6 year terms but, hey, don’t expect him to know that! Someone on Twitter yesterday suggested that the first presidential debate should have the moderators ask each person 10 questions from the citizenship test. tRump really has no idea how constitutional government works. Anyway, Senate Republicans also met last night, without Susan Collins who was not invited, to hash out a how to fix last week’s rejected bill. Their margin went down by one as their effective majority is now 51 with John McCain unavailable to vote. The best laid plans and all that – I would like to think that forces beyond the earthly plane are putting their thumb on the scale in favor of humanity.
I have a very busy 2 days and will be scarce. See all y’all later!
Good morning, Meese, and happy Thor’s Day. Fair and clear here in NoVa, with a current temp. of 75 F., going up to 94 F. or higher today.
Busy day planned as usual, and just as busy tomorrow. Still feeling gobsmacked by the news about John McCain. I wouldn’t wish such a fate as that on anyone. At the same time, I know he’s rich and will receive the best of care. Among our population there will be people with the same diagnosis who won’t enjoy nearly the same care as he will.
Things are always bad in the Trumpiverse. Hope it won’t get any worse today.
I requested today & Monday off, so I slept in today. Even stayed in bed for half an hour of the Tour de France. Going to spend the afternoon at the gym, but for now, resting. Bummer about McCain, but he & his party are trying to take away health insurance from my friend with the same kind of cancer. So, I will express a wish that he & his best friend Lindsey Graham learn from this situation. And I’ll turn up the U2 song in my head even louder.
69 at dawn so I opened up again. So far only a couple of days this summer when I couldn’t do that. We got a lot more summer to get through though. Generated just over 20 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d is currently 352. Sunny days are good for more than lifting spirits. :)
The war is still raging, we’ve managed to protect a few things – they haven’t breached the walls on healthcare although it’s taken some damage. Hopefully we can prevent them from even getting close to Social Security and Medicare. I’ve been more concerned about my community needs list folks – especially Aji and the 4 on my “urgent” list. Healing Energy all around since I can’t send them anything else.
Gotta get to work but will check the Villages first. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 60 and cloudy in Bellingham. I enjoyed sewing with my daughter yesterday afternoon. We listened to music, visited, and were productive. The scarves are finished, pressed and ready to go, the fleece blankets are ready for her to add the crochet trim, and the pillows are ready to be finished. Our time together was a needed antidote to the tRump upset of the day.
Our grandson is recovering from gum replacement surgery so his hungry 16 yr old body is at odds with his incredibly sore mouth. I just woke him up for his instant breakfast and antibiotics. He’s recovering nicely but this will be a low key visit.
Best wishes to all.
Good morning, meese! Friday …
It is 66 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 84 – heat index 100. Chance of thunderstorms this afternoon into the evening. Looks like this will be the weather until Sunday when it cools down.
I couldn’t sleep last night – the latest tRumpian “hijinks” has me on edge. I read a couple of articles about the expansiveness of the presidential pardon and a few opinion pieces on the chances that the Republicans would even care if the shitgibbon pardoned the entire shitgibbon family including himself, all of his White House aides, and his campaign advisors. One of the tweets struck me as having more than a germ of truth – his agitation came about when he discovered that Trump Organization finances would be investigated and that Mueller could subpoena his tax returns without him even knowing it. There is a strong chance that he committed income tax fraud which is how all the crime bosses get taken down. If that is true, by the way, it is likely that he defrauded the State of New York also and crimes against states are not subject to a presidential pardon. Paging Eric Schniederman!
The ACA Repeal is still alive and one or more of the versions will be voted on next week. Republicans appear to be vacillating in the face of right-wing pressure. :(
See all y’all later!
Good Friday Meese
67 here in the Catskills – going up to 90
Have company coming this afternoon – will be busy much of the weekend
Will post this to Black Kos twitter roundup today:
Isn’t there a referendum on the ballot related to ending felon disenfranchisement in Florida? I remember seeing something about it last year. When George W. Bush “won” Florida by 400 or so votes, over 20,000 non-felons with names like felons were purged from the rolls so the law by its very existence tilted the vote. What a different world we would have if Al Gore had become president! No Roberts, no Alito, no Citizens United, a 17 year head start on mitigating climate change impacts. Jim Crow has a very long reach.
1.38 miles this morning. Which is weird because I thought I did the same route as Wednesday. Oh well, I’ll figure it out Tuesday — my next work day. One of our people left — got a job in Colorado, so who can blame her? — so we are short staffed for a while. And T is planning on lots of pardons. Great. I really wish he & all of his people would Disappear (though this is a sweet, sappy love song by INXS, talking about how the world disappears when he sees his girl)
I keep forgetting to talk about the weather – 78 this morning (yep, that hot at 7am — it was 83 at 2am, no I wasn’t up, that’s what my phone said before it updated) headed to yet another 100+ degree day.
Some very blessed but anonymous Villager (according to Aji) bought one of Wings’ Warrior Woman pins for me! I got it last night and am wearing it at the moment. :) I am very blessed in and by my online friends.
71 at dawn – I opened up but as I’m “home” today I’m not sure how long the A/C will stay off. Got 21 KWHs yesterday, m-t-d is 374 at the moment. Still perking along. Am staying home today to try and get some information from Social Security about when and how to apply so my checks start when I plan them to, whether I need to delay applying because of the last “vacation payout” check I’ll get in January 2018, how my TiAA-Cref account will effect my Social Security (I’m not planning on drawing it if I don’t have to – want to use that as my “large maintenance/appliance repair/replace” savings), and how much I can expect the actual net deposited in my bank monthly to be.
Have posted WYgalinCali’s Village diary over at DK and added all my usual “lynx” community needs and political info comments. Need to visit the Moose Village for a minute. But I’ve discovered I don’t have any coffee in the house (I usually get mine at work) so I need to remedy that ASAP. :) I’m not going to even try to deal with the Social Security Administration without coffee. Bright the day, Meeses. {{HUGS}}}
Hi, bfitz! Social Security doesn’t care how much you’ve saved up—you’re entitled to a certain amount of Social, and that’s what you’re going to get. You’re wise to start planning early. I went to see about SS in January 2006 because I was planning to retire on March 17, 2006. It was May before I received my first check. Luckily I had my last paycheck-plus-unused vacation pay, so that tided me over. Everyone gets Social at a different time. My husband gets his on the 3rd of the month. My friend S. gets hers on the 8th. I get mine on the third Wednesday of the month, and believe me, it’s quite trying at times.
I have state and federal income taxes deducted from my Social because if there’s one thing I hate, it’s filing estimated quarterly taxes! January, April, June, September. It makes no sense. Having the taxes deducted makes my life much simpler and also means we get a tax refund each year. Financially savvy people try not to get a refund (or owe), but my husband regards refunds, wrongly, as manna from heaven. It’s really silly, because we’re lending the government our money without interest, but, hey: ensuring domestic tranquility is my number one priority.
So good luck with it all! Let us know how you get on.
about pardons – interesting thread
<blockquoteclass=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”>
(THREAD) Tonight it was revealed that Trump and his attorneys are busy creating a "pardonstrategy." Want to know what it is? I'll tell you. pic.twitter.com/kP8czrbsmW
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) July 21, 2017
Good morning, 64 and partly sunny in Bellingham. Maggie, our grand puppy who hates camping, is staying with us for a few days, my sister arrived via Amtrak last evening, and Ryan is sleeping in…..feels like a summer house!
Best wishes to all.