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, 56 cloudy and windy in Bellingham. I’m listening to Emmylou Harris sing and talk about her favorite country songs, gazing at the emerging leaves on my old maple trees, and trying to find a focus for my day. Yesterday’s tRump news was exhausting so I need some quiet regrouping time.
Take care everyone.
Tuesday’s tRump news was even more so! I hope you got a break.
Good morning, meeses! Wednesday …
It is 39 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 43. Partly cloudy skies are in the forecast.
Yesterday’s news day was exhausting! I had no interest in Senators grilling Facebook and from the sounds of it, it was not very productive in terms of getting better controls on who is hacking our democracy. And really, what it boils down to is getting smarter people. If you are really so stupid that you believe Hillary Clinton is running a sex slave operation in the basement of a Maryland pizza parlor then you are too stupid to be part of society. We need to dilute their power by expanding our coalition. Every day thousands of Americans who grew up on social media, and know bs when they see it, turn 18. They care about the planet, have friends who are multi-cultural and ethnically diverse and are unlikely to vote for Republicans.
Do you ever wonder what Robert Mueller and Rod Rosenstein think about all the fire and fury swirling around them? Last night the shitgibbon met with his TV lawyers and today he will meet with Republican leadership – likely to get their assurance that they will stand strong behind him while he destroys the rule of law. I have no doubt that he will get those assurances – they are terrified of his power over the Republican base. I saw a poll yesterday that showed that Republicans have come home – there is no significant NeverTrump group in the party now a 80% of Republicans are now firmly behind Trump. That is movement from 57% at the beginning of his presidency to the present. He is their party and they can’t – and won’t – cross him.
Busy day here – my end-of-quarter accounting projects are beckoning to me (actually screaming at me).
See all y’all later!
Wednesday Meese
24 here in NY going up to 49 with rain.
Feeling exhausted – every day Trump finds new ways to attack poor people
And the situation in PR continues ….
I wish Jamil Smith had not gone to work for Rolling Stone. I miss his writing but I have few things that I can boycott and not giving clicks to terrible publications is one of them. I always have to hover over his links to make sure I don’t click a Rolling Stone story – just as I have learned to hover over and watch for Salon and, now, The Atlantic. I know that they cut the woman-hater loose but they did not do it because they disliked his woman-hating. Permanent blemish.
I hope NY Daily News keeps their interactive going. I think that the front page body counts during the Vietnam War and the height of the Iraqi invasion had a lot to do with turning the tide against those wars. Literally out of sight, out of mind.
Good morning, Moosekind, and happy Woden’s Day. It’s cloudy and 38 F. here in Ashburn this morning, giving way to sunshine and 60 F. later today.
Feeling exhausted with TrumpyNews this morning—this “Will he or won’t he?” speculation is wearing on one’s nerves. Today I’ll try to concentrate on unpacking more boxes. The desk has never arrived, so Dearly is going to get on the phone with eBay and ask for my money to be returned.
Today I have an appointment with a doctor at the Kaiser facility here in Ashburn. Although I liked my doctor in Reston well enough, that facility is 10 miles away. One of the points of moving here is less driving.
We went to an estate sale yesterday but the pieces were too big to fit into our apartment. Tomorrow we’ll put the dog in day care and shop for a desk and other things. There’s a shopping shuttle here that leaves every hour on the hour and goes to three different stores every day. I might start taking that one when we’re down to one vehicle. I think Dearly plans to sell the truck on Friday. Sniff.
Will…it…ever…be…spring? Gray skies and biting wind don’t seem like a bright new season. Wishing all a nice, quiet day.
Another chilly morning — in the 50s, but it’s supposed to be cloudy overnight & in the 60s tomorrow morning. Soon enough it won’t get below the 80s so I should enjoy this while I can. 1.34 miles this morning.
So Granny Killer Ryan doesn’t want to be a backbencher, probably well aware that payback for the heavyhanded way his party ruled the House for 8 years will be a bear.
His district is still R+11 and because the berners in Wisconsin will torch that race with their flames of purity, it will likely stay Republican.
as with the Deplorables & twitler, the berners don’t care if their candidate shoots someone on 5th Avenue – not even a “live boy or a dead girl” will sway them. They’re the flip side of the same coin.
Dear goddess, I hope not. The current R candidate (that I’m aware of) is an avowed white supremacist and anti-Semite. Looking at the voting patterns in presidential years for WI-01 makes me think a lot of folks there are suffering from “economic anxiety”, just as they do here in Macomb County. But I sure hope they’re not so far gone that a guy who shows the heads of Hasidic Jews on pikes as a “joke” is acceptable for them.
Is Myers really trailing Bryce by that much? I haven’t found any polling data, and I keep hoping that Myers is a sleeper candidate, letting Bryce make the big national splash while she corrals the local [voting] support.
54 heading for low 70s and more or less sunny. I should be able to get another walk in today. I gotta find something to do about the allergens though. They’re seriously messing with my eyes. Took me an hour and a half to tweet out Denise’s Black Kos twitter roundup yesterday and I’m not moving very fast this morning. Of course I got slammed with Aji posting early and also a fundraiser on DK for Fineena (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/11/1755116/-EVERYBODY-LOVES-GOING-TO-THE-DENTIST-RIGHT-KOSSACK-NEEDS-HELP-W-500-MATCH – r,r,t,c would help) so I’m running behind anyway. Got a W00T! for electricity production yesterday – 23.2 KWHs, highest for day-month-year to date. The m-t-d is 122.2 so while it will take some doing, 400 is still possible.
Eyes were in too bad a shape to pay even as much attention as I usually do to twitler and all the OMGHOF – at this point I’ll believe it when it happens. Until then, let’s work on winning special elections now and the lot in November. It takes a lot of groundwork to make a blue wave happen. But I’ll still heading back to twitter to RT stuff. :) As soon as I get some coffee. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
54, partly sunny and still morning in Bellingham. Another night of tRump disturbed sleep means another slow start for my day. By sleeping later I’m getting enough rest but my sleep/wake schedule doesn’t seem normal. I’ve read around the news but my thoughts are in the garden so I hope to actually be there soon. I did manage to get the essential desk work done yesterday so I can be outside today.
We have planted many PNW native plants in the garden and salal, salmon berries, red current and native crab apple are blooming now. Everything looks scruffy from the winter, but it’s good to see the blooms of spring.
Indigenous knowledge is critical to understanding climate change
{{{princesspat}}} Tricia used to say “normal’s just a setting on a washing machine” :)
Thank you for that link. The writer is absolutely correct and I hope to goddess we will some day soon get a government who will pay attention to that critical body of knowledge. moar {{{HUGS}}} and Healing Energy
Thursday Meese
29 degrees here in NY – going up to a rainy 60 – which is a more normal temp for us this time of the year – perhaps we now haz spring
Have to finish my Sunday writing – so heading back to keyboard pounding
Before I go ….
Trump is making us great again – by putting us in the record books – World’s second largest blackout
Dee, I don’t know what to say. I don’t see any real hope for total power to be restored in PR until we get the Rethugs out of there and elect some people who aren’t driven by prejudice and greed. If my U.S. Senator Kaine, who speaks Spanish, had the power, he’d straighten out that situation all right!
Just think, he coulda been Veep.
I know nothing will change until we get Trump and his minions out of power.
My only sanity these days is refusing to stop talking about it.
{{{Denise}}} – as long as you and folks like you keep talking about it, people will cobble together some sort of lifeline help to extend until we can get the evil ones out of power. The job is too big to be done with that cobbled-together help, but progress is being made, lives are being saved. You and everyone who keeps talking about Puerto Rico are saving lives. I know it doesn’t feel good enough – but ask Don Feliberto about that. moar {{{HUGS}}}
And a good thing too! Remember the Bible story about the widow…
Good Thor’s Day morning, Meese! Where is everyone? Here in Ashburn it’s cloudy, with a current temp. of 39 F., going up to 73 F. Tomorrow we may actually be able to sit on our screened porch for the first time, as the high is predicted to be 80 F.
Well, guess what happened yesterday, back at the ranch: after Dearly Beloved got on the phone with eBay to ask for my money back (he’s a lot nicer and more courteous than I am), he was suddenly given a NEW tracking number! Every time we clicked on the old tracking number we received the message that it was “not a valid number.” (Why wasn’t it, pray? We didn’t make it up. It was copied right from the email.) Anyway, the person on the other end of the line clicked on the number and announced that the boxes were on the truck, heading for delivery!
Naturally, I refused to believe it, but when I came back from visiting my new doctor, there the two boxes were, propped up against the wall of the hallway. They’re far too heavy for Dearly to shift, so two men are coming at 1:30 to heave them into our den. So now we have the desk, delivered a mere two weeks and 1 day later than it was supposed to arrive.
Now Hubby can assemble the desk and I can set up my laptop, full-size keyboard, and printer. I hate the laptop keyboard! Yesterday evening I spent 45 minutes composing a long, whiny email to a good friend, when one wrong touch sent the whole thing flying out into cyberspace, never to return. It hadn’t even saved itself in the “Drafts” folder. My friend will just have to do without my epistolary grumblings.
With regard to the outside world, I’m still reeling not only from Paulie-Poo’s decision not to run again, but Bannon’s attempt at interference. The big problem is that if Thing fires Rosenstein and Mueller, no one will stop him from doing whatever he wants and we really will be a fascist country. I read that Putie is urging the Russian people to stock up on gas masks and food such as dried milk, oatmeal, rice, and beans—all stuff that keeps a for a long time.
Is anyone besides me planning to watch the Comey interview Sunday night? I absolutely refuse to buy his book and make him rich, but I’ll listen to the interview, even though I can’t stand that puny pipsqueak, George Step-in-Awfulness. He’s so smug, so sure he’s right and everyone else is wrong. Ugh!
Wishing a nice, quiet day to all at the Pond and Beyond!
Your poor friend will surely be sad about this: “will just have to do without my epistolary grumblings”!! I have no confidence in computers and when I am composing anything I save it frequently unless I see indisputable evidence that it has been saved for me.
LOL at George Step-in-Awfulness! The quality of our cable and television “news” is ghastly and I refuse to watch any of it. I read about it the next day if it seems interesting but I have no patience for people’s words coming at me. The only value of the Comey interview and book is that it peeves Trump – James Comey is as complicit as Putin in defrauding the American people of a fair and honest presidential election in 2016. I wish there were a way to undo the terrible damage being done to the federal court system by this crime but they get to keep the stolen goods! Did you see that the Republicans think that Diaper David’s wife – who thinks Brown v Board of Education was a bad decision – is a suitable person for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals? JHC!!
Oh, my GODDESS! I wondered whether they were related! What shall we call her, “Mrs, Diaper Dave”? We’ll all be very Vitter if she’s appointed.
Imagine (gulp, choking on mid-morning tea) not backing Brown v. Board of Education!
Good morning, meeses! Thursday …
It is 39 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 59. Sunny skies this morning giving way to clouds and light rain towards evening.
I am enjoying the political demise of Paul Ryan. Our country is better off with him in a place where his “ideas” can’t harm people and, for me personally, not having to see his smirking insincerity on my TV and in my newsfeeds. I am wondering a little how he expects to insert himself into his children’s lives after being a part time parent: “hey, wanna do something with me?” His kids are 16, 15 and 13 with the two youngest being boys so they probably have some manly huntin’ and fishin’ things they will do with him. My hope for them, and for anyone who has a terrible human being as a parent, is that they reject his philosophy of hatred for those unlucky enough to be born Not-Paul-Ryan and instead embrace the values of their peers (other Wisconsin teenagers) – respecting diversity and cultural and religious differences, passionate about caring for our planet. The policies of Paul Ryan and Republicanism reflect a different world, a greedy grab everything for yourself world that a lot of the teenagers I meet here want nothing to do with.
I will watch it unfold and try not to overdose on schadenfreude as I read tweets and articles. His congressional district is in our TV market and our local paper covers it closely so I will be watching the drama unfolding as Republican officeholders jockey for position in the now open Republican primary.
See all y’all later!
Elated being able to say “Bye Felicia” to Ryan – and celebrating with y’all!
1.06 miles this morning. I was somehow running later than usual. Got to do my taxes — yes, I know I’m late, it’s not like I’m getting a refund so it doesn’t really matter. I hope everyone saw Rachel again last night, it’s really amazing the work Mueller & team are doing: https://twitter.com/MaddowBlog/status/984248050096001026
Also, she just tore apart that “Ryan is a wonk” myth. That was awesome.
61 heading for 77 today and sunny so far. The chilly weather is expected back for the weekend but I’m enjoying what we’ve got now. Got 20 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d is 143 – we’re already cranking at above 1-KW/H this morning and if this keeps up will get another 20 or so today. 400 is still doable and I’d certainly like it to be done. :)
Spent little of yesterday even looking at politics. Fineena’s fundraiser met the $500 match, then a couple of somebodies called in new matches – one for $100 and another for $500 – which haven’t been met yet. She needs $2600 by Monday since that’s when the surgery is scheduled & her oral surgeon doesn’t take partial payments. Meanwhile Aji’s started a Patreon site (having given up on getting the IgnitionDeck software to interface properly with her WordPress site) and I spent a certain amount of the day RTing the link. (here’s the link if anybody has $5 or so a month they’d like to invest in her writing https://www.patreon.com/AjiWings/posts?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=tyshare2) – last I looked she has 6 patrons of whom I am one. I still managed to RT or tweet out a few slams on Lyin’ Ryan though. :)
I need to do my Village visit, check on some fundraising statuses, and RT Aji’s stuff out again. And coffee. Then some outside work and a walk. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Thanks for the Patreon link! I will share it with friends who have large megaphones.
Thank you – large megaphones are exactly what’s needed. {{{HUGS}}}
Morning, Meeses. Started the day at 39 with a projected high of 66, but of course, we’re also expecting high winds and lots of rain. You can tell that spring is starting to arrive (if the invasion of the box elder bugs wasn’t enough proof), because now I’m grumbling about it not meeting my precise specifications!
Prepping for the MI Democratic convention on Sunday; I’ve now decided on who I’m supporting for AG, although I think it’s unlikely he’ll receive the party endorsement. In MI, if the party endorses, the unendorsed drop their campaigns, and then in July-August (not sure when yet), we’ll hold our nominating convention, and the candidate will be officially on the ballot. Once again, I found myself as convinced by the ugly tactics and smears of supporters of one particular candidate as I was by the qualifications of “my” candidate. I thought maybe the MI OR folks had weakened in the past year, but from what I’m seeing, they’re still about, as loud and obnoxious as ever. It really saddens and even angers me that we have stellar candidates, but there are supporters who can’t let go of their purity demands. They’re handing the Rs oppo material if my candidate wins the endorsement, and it’s ridiculous and infuriating. I suspect I’ll be a wreck by the end of the convention on Sunday.
I hope that things go better for you than you expect!
By the way, Wisconsin CD 01 will not be left in the hands of the literal nazi – probably. A whole bunch of Republicans are ready to jump into the fray including the current Assembly speaker. Here is a pretty good explanation of what the district looks like now. Before 1994, there was a 25 year period of time when the district was blue. But now there is a billionaire Republican sugar-mama in that district plus this complete transformation:
The author falls into the same trap a lot of online pundits are falling into – assuming that celebrity berner candidate Randy Bryce is the only choice. He isn’t and his primary opponent, Cathy Myers, is actually a better fit for the district than a man supported by TheirRevolution and their purity agenda. I have not seen any polling – I think that the Conventional Wisdom has made it not very attractive to spend money polling – plus now that Ryan is not running, there very well may be more Democrats interested. No one wants to lose by 50 points but depending on who the Republicans put up, it could be a close race. We will watch from our librul perch here in CD02 and root for whichever Democrat survives.
I’ve had a visceral dislike for Bryce since Day One; when everyone was jumping on board and hailing him as The Next Best Thing, I held back. I have no idea why I reacted that way, but it hasn’t gone away. If the Rs put up a more conventional (for them) candidate, and Bryce is the D opponent, I suspect Bryce will struggle mightily. I hope I’m wrong.
I like this woman – she gets a lot less attention than Bryce, but she’s a better Dem & a better candidate, imho
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/12/17227612/cathy-myers-ironstache-randy-bryce-congress-paul-ryan
He reminds me of several unpleasant men I have known over the years. That isn’t his fault, of course, but his in-your-face braggadocio is. He refuses to debate Cathy Myers, thinking that if the Twitter fans like him, he has passed muster. Er, no. Cathy points out that the mustache guy has lost 3 elections in the district by 40% or more and that she has won elections there. I think that with Paul Ryan not running it will become a local race again and his money – which his FEC reports show he is burning at a very high rate – will dry up. I hope that is the case. Primary by Twitter is not good for democracy because it is not tailored to the local district and reflects only a tiny part of the electorate – and often unhinged. There will be a big sorting for a while (Reince Priebus has decided not to run, the local Assembly member and Senator are still thinking about it) and then the race will begin in earnest. The primary is in August which seems like 40 years from now!
Yes, his attitude – and that of the berners who loudly support him – plus the total dismissal of the more-qualified woman candidate is 2016 all over again. The only thing Cathy has going for her that Hillary didn’t is the lack of 30+ years of attacks and hatred. And that might just be enough of a difference for her to win. Holding the Good Thought for her.
{{{DoReMI}}} – holding you in my heart and sending Golden Energy to your shaping – and a whole lot of Good Thoughts about the berners being less troublesome. And definitely that they not be loud enough to get their purity candidate over someone with decent qualifications. (Why is it the purity candidates don’t seem to be qualified to actually get anything done?) moar {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 46 and mostly cloudy in Bellingham. I’ve basically been asleep for the last 12 hours so I hope I feel rested when I’m fully awake! Recovering from my last round of cold/flue/pneumonia/asthma seems to be difficult, so I hope sleeping so much will help me do so.
It was cold and wet yesterday so I wasn’t out side for long. I’ll try again to day because fresh air might help cure what ails me as well.
Best wishes to all.
Good morning, meeses! Lucky Friday the 13th!!
It is 39 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 41. It is raining now and is expected to rain all day. A front is moving through and is expected to bring severe storms – local sporting events have been rescheduled or cancelled already.
I watched some of the Comey book reaction on Twitter and it is was stomach churning. He is claiming that he released the Oct. memo because he wanted to make sure that poor President Hillary Clinton would not have to deal with questions about her legitimacy if it came out later! I call bs. There was also an investigation into the Trump campaign that was being slow walked and he was willing to keep that under wraps. He hated Loretta Lynch and chafed at being told to adhere to the rules of the Department of Justice, he despised the Clintons and had wanted to harm them since the bogus Whitewater investigations found no evidence of a crime. History will not be – and should not be – kind.
My Inbox has no BREAKING NEWS that we got into a war in Syria. Apparently Bolton is firing everyone who won’t admire his mustache and ramping up a war council. Even SecDef Mattis is getting a little concerned – the bags under his eyes are getting their own bags! Mattis is the only person left in the cabinet that Trump seems to listen to – I hope that stays true because I think he is the only one who appreciates the horrors of war.
See all y’all later!
I love Friday the 13th – good luck day for us and our 3 black cats :)
45 going up to 65 here in NY
Haven’t seen much coverage of Hillary in Chicago
The mess in Puerto Rico continues – with the major blackout yesterday
#ApagónPR (BlackoutPR)
Meese. It’s a soft, gray, cloudy morning here in Ashburn. I couldn’t believe how warm it was when I took the dog out. Currently it’s 63 F., going up to 82 F. later. That’s fine with us!
Feeling a little cross because I can’t have early morning tea. In less than an hour I have to make my way to the doctor’s office to visit the lab for a cholesterol test. The beautiful young doctor thinks I should take a statin; I told her I’d consider it if the test indicates that I should, and if she can find one that’s compatible with grapefruit. Why should I have to give up grapefruit just because of a stupid drug?
I finally got to talk to a real live Democrat on the phone yesterday! As all the seats are taken for the stupid Progressives Luncheon next Friday, I’ll have to rely on other ways to meet Progressives here. The woman I talked to used to be the precinct captain in this community; she admitted that the Dems here are in disarray. Why, I wonder? I’d like to give them a good shaking up.
In other news, Dearly is making progress on the desk and has even watched a video on YouTube about it. For an 87-year-old guy, he’s pretty savvy.
It’s interesting what you said about Comey, Jan, and thanks. It will keep me from feeling too sympathetic toward him. Why do Washington insiders hate the Clintons so much? Is it because they were from Arkansas or because they have higher IQs than most people? I wish I understood it.
Wishing a peaceful day to all at the Pond and Beyond and no Friday news dumps!
Good luck shaking up the local Dems :)
I am not sure why they hate the Clintons so much. They are smart, one of them is a smart woman. I think that the rich and powerful have a natural bias against all Democrats maybe because we tend to care more about people than money. When Democrats do get money, like the Clintons did, they often turn it over to good causes.
Get your Democrats back in array, please! We need Tim Kaine to get re-elected and keep the blue wave going there.
Warm & humid, like a summer morning. Did my 1.34 miles in shorts & it’s supposed to get near 90 this afternoon. Cold front & thunderstorms coming, though. Watched Rachel read us excerpts of Comey’s book last night. Nicole Wallace’s theory about the possible Libby pardon is that it’s to pave the way for pardons of Flynn & others. Ugh. The other Irish band I like (ok, Scottish & Northern Irish) released this beautiful, lush, sweet video yesterday — Life On Earth. Sorry about the swears – the Scots & Irish have different views about swearing than Americans, it’s a lot more common there.
This is not love you’ve had before
This is something else
This is something else
This is not the same as other days
This is something else
This is something else
Shouldn’t need to be so fucking hard
This is life on earth
It’s just life on earth
It doesn’t need to be the end of you, or me
This is life on earth
It’s just life on earth
Good morning, 47 and cloudy in Bellingham. A breeze is blowing through the branches of my old maple trees so the garden may be less soggy later today. I was awake listening to pouring rain last night.
But thanks to the magic of the internet I wasn’t bored because YouTube was live streaming a Brandie Carlile Austin City Limits concert. Thanks to the magic of the internet I shared the experience with people watching in Europe, South America, and places in between. I never comment but it was fun to listen, read and share the magic of her music.
Her daughter came on stage to give mama a kiss…..