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 (dated 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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– Page One of Comments is HERE!
– Page Two of Comments is HERE!
78 degrees at 6am, it’s gonna be another hot one. More reading & practicing today. But all the data checks were good yesterday, so I fear we’ll get less of a break from calls than I hoped. I brought my iPod yesterday & listened to music. Kept it at low volume so I could still hear my co-workers talking about stuff they were doing. Even so, listening on headphones, I heard depths to songs that I hadn’t before. This morning, my brain woke me up to Heal Me before my alarm went off. At least its a sweet, happy, bouncy love song.
Seriously quick check in – I’m waiting for the Computer store to open (like in 2 minutes) so they can run some diagnostics on a random problem I don’t want to become a persistent problem. RT’d what I could. Will get back to that as soon as I can. Healing Energy to everyone everywhere – especially those poor kids stolen from their parents. Healing for them starts with returning them to their parents! Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning meese. 55 going up to 90. I wonder if I’ll need a vacation from my vacation when this is all over. Heard last night that my piano teacher when I was in Seattle has cancer and a celebration is being organized for some time next month (she is not going to pursue aggressive chemo).
Oh, sorry to hear that, basket. That is so sad. I hope she’s had a satisfying life, and that you’ll be able to go to Seattle to say goodbye.
Good morning, 58 and cloudy in Bellingham. It’s 8:30 am (Pacific time) and I’m already done with today! A quick read of the news tells me I need to find another focus or triple my BP meds :(
So time to find my coffee, see if I can win the daily solitaire challenge games, and then find something interesting to do with my day.
Take care everyone.
Good morning, Meesefolk. My plans for gardening all weekend were disrupted by ongoing rain that showed up as suddenly in the forecast as it did in the sky. At the rate things are going, I’m going to have to weed by flashlight since the skies only seem to clear after 9pm.
The civility “debate” would amuse me if it weren’t just more cover for white people to evade responsibility, and the fact that the pundit class doesn’t get that just confirms that too many value access and privilege over morality. This is nothing more than the same impulse, writ large, to look away when crazy old Uncle tells a racist joke rather than confront him in any way. As someone who’s been working hard at inculcating myself with a “see something, say something” ethos, I don’t need to be lectured by white folk who care more about their status in polite society than the lived experience of people who are being hurt on a daily basis. This misguided and immoral interpretation of turning the other cheek angers me, so no, I won’t be civil. I may be a bit, um, irked by this ridiculous distraction.
Oh — I forgot to tell y’all: that church complaint filed against Sessions? My pastor was one of the people who signed! So very proud!
Excellent!
Good morning, meeses! Wednesday …
It is 66 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 77. Mostly cloudy skies are in the forecast. As expected, yesterday was rainy and stormy. A tornado was spotted in south central Wisconsin and I got an emailed Tornado Warning but nothing close enough to sound the alarms. Some parts of the area got heavy rain and flooding.
The Roberts Court will go down in history as one of the worst. From disenfranchising voters with a shrug to allowing dark money to flood our elections to upholding a travel ban that is clearly based in animus against a single religion, they have proven themselves to be a perfect handmaiden for their party. I was encouraged to see that the travel ban story my right-wing rag picked up from AP included the fact that the Gorsuck seat was stolen from President Obama. It adds another layer of illegitimacy to every 5-4 decision from this court. I only saw snippets (and reaction) related to Justice Sotomayor’s fiery dissent (some called it uncivil!) and will settle in to read it later.
I followed some of the election news and then it came in too fast to follow especially in states where I don’t know the races. Benjamin Jealous won the Democrats nod for Maryland and will have an uphill battle running as a berner. A Democratic Socialist beat a 10 term incumbent and House leader in NYC. I think the takeaway there is that in liberal bastions, center left Democrats will have an uphill battle. I really don’t care unless she decides not to caucus with the Democrats or votes like Bernie Sanders did – with a purity position that enables Republicans to block good-enough legislation in the House. We really need a majority committed to working together.
One more day of opinions from the Supreme Court today. The Janus decision is the last big case and will likely make all states right-to-work-for-less states by destroying the last bit of power for unions – the right to collect dues in order to carry out their work on behalf of its members. Someone on Twitter suggested that the Supreme Court has actually always been pretty bad for liberals with a few good cases scattered like gems among the horse nuggets. I think it is possible that is true. I did take heart that nothing the court does cannot be undone with well-crafted legislation. So we take back Congress, then win the presidency then clean up this mess despite the conservative lean to the court. They rule, we sweep their dung into the gutter – like we did with Lily Ledbetter – and continue on.
See all y’all later!
I bet we’ll be back to taking calls today. Boo. It was nice having 2 days to learn & let them check the new system. Our old one was programmed in the ‘80s & there is no one who supports the programming any more so we had to change. Some things are better, some things are much more complicated, and some things we do every day don’t exist in this at all. But really, the 2 quiet days were so nice.
Not talking about all the horrific SCOTUS news from yesterday. Just, ugh. And with Trump appointees all throughout the judiciary, I don’t know how we’ll ever fix this. Ok, I’m gonna play Empress, to give me some hope.
Wednesday Meese
I’m celebrating here – my guy won
Yay!
Good morning, Moose Kindred! The Moose is really jumpy today: could it be the weather, or simply an evil spell? It’s cloudy here in Ashburn, with rain expected on and off all day. The current temperature is 70 F., going up to 79 F. The porch furniture is duly covered.
Interesting results for the elections, although I was sorry to see the Bernie-oriented Ben Jealous winning the nomination over Rushern Baker. Trone the Drone got in by heavily outspending his primary opponents. I’ve said before that I despise candidates who “buy” political office rather than working their way up. If he wins in November, I hope we see decent behavior from him.
This morning the Washington Poop mentioned Jennifer Wexton’s “narrow 10-point lead” over her opponent, The Woman Comstock. Narrow? Hail, if Comstock had a 10-point lead over Wexton, they’d be chortling about Comstock’s landslide lead over Wexton! The WaPoop is so republican-leaning it makes me sick.
Off to coffee this morning with friends, then will try to stay awake long enough to run some errands. I have a ton of paperwork to get through but feel terribly disinclined to do it. Yesterday I went out with the Walking Club for almost an hour, then came back and walked the dog for 45 minutes. I don’t feel the need to exercise this morning.
The Supreme Court decision yesterday was a travesty. I wish McTurtle all kinds of ill, no matter how “uncivil’ that may be. Thing is ruining this country with help from the kakistocracy. Yes, I do feel gloomy this morning. Hope it’s a good day for the Pond-dwellers!
The 10 point lead is nice and certainly not narrow by any definition. However, it is also a 10 point lead 100 days before voting starts and should be taken with a grain of salt. As we learned in 2016 DO NOT BELIEVE POLLS – GO TO THE POLLS. I am convinced that “Hillary will win, look at the polls – my vote is not needed” had as much to do with tRump’s “victory” as “Russians placed ads that said mean things about Hillary” did.
I am still not caught up on projects set aside at the beginning of May due to end of school year obligations. I am desperate to get them done this week before it becomes July!
That’s true. We’re still four months out from the election. We don’t know what’s going to happen.
If the thought of Roe v. Wade’s being overturned by a 6-3 Supreme Court doesn’t get women to the polls, I don’t know what will. And that’s only if the current Dems refuse to confirm a rightwing nutjob pick/
Good morning, Meesefolk; currently 70 and raining with an expected high of 75. I wish the forecast for the rest of the week had similar temperatures. Instead, we’re getting a heat wave with a high of 95 for Saturday. That’s making me nervous about the protest on Saturday, because I don’t do heat well in the best of circumstances. I’ll be keeping an eye on it, but since the protest is in the morning and near the water, it should be doable. Note to self: take water.
It probably won’t be a busy day at work due to the weather, but at this point, I’m just happy that my unexpected coworker from the other day has not made a return appearance. Somehow (and I have no idea how, which is unsettling) a groundhog made its way into our building on Monday; I didn’t even know it until after I left and the owner sent me a text with a photo of it. How I missed the presence of a groundhog is beyond me, but I think I’ll count it as a blessing that we didn’t run into each other.
Good morning, 60 and partly sunny in Bellingham. I enjoyed some easy time in the garden yesterday and tried to stay partially aware re the news. My 2 x’s a month house keeper will be here today to do the deep cleaning and I’ll stay busy just puttering around!
I’ve been dozing and reading so it’s time to find my coffee and commit to the day. Take care everyone.
Wednesday’s most important tweet.
Good middle-of-the-night-can’t-sleep, meeses!
It is 64 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 86. Sunny skies are in the forecast. Today is the start of a heat wave with temperatures into the 90s again.
“Anthony Kennedy is a terrible person” stories are viral right now; since his children are friends of the Trump family (one in NYC real estate and one a member of the Federalist Society), they won’t care and probably welcome our scorn. Kennedy abandoned his signature issue – gay rights – to hand his seat over to a man who he knows will put in place someone who will roll back those rights. Or maybe he doesn’t know that will happen, his Citizens United opinion about the decency of the donor class was the height of naivete. His support of abortion rights came reluctantly as he was persuaded by Sandra Day O’Connor and felt compelled to stick with it. Everything else he has done has been partisan Republican hackery, intended to help his party and hurt Democrats – dark money, voting rights, gerrymanders – the real Kennedy, not the mythical swing vote hero was exposed this term culminating in the horrific New Korematsu ruling in Trump v Hawaii. His legacy will be one that his Republican children will admire – and decent people with shrink from in horror.
I am going to gather the stories into a post so I can find them later for some hate-reading and then roll up my sleeves to get ready for the midterms. A terrible Supreme Court has been a feature for the past 46 years – we survived that and we will survive the Roberts Court, a court installed by the democracy-crushing Bush v Gore ruling and one that will rival the worst courts in history for their naked partisanship. We can fix this by taking back Congress, winning the presidency and then passing laws that override the court’s rulings. We are right and they are wrong and that still matters. #WeCanFixThis.
See all y’all later!
Good morning Jan and Meese
Got up in the middle of the night and threw out what I was writing for Sunday – inspired by John’s tweet – decided to impart some lessons from a black perspective. Fuck giving up – vote :)
Seeya later.
That tweet this morning has 45,001 Retweets and 109,710 Likes. It resonated with a lot of people.
Jan and Dee—y’all need a nap!
I do need a nap! I am in the middle of two projects and when I finish I am going to lay down.
Well said, Jan! Any thoughts on who’s going to run for POTUS? Don’t tell me Uncle Joe, I can’t bear it. (Loud sniff)
I think things are still sorting out. Biden has anti-woman baggage that he can’t hide from PLUS I am not going to vote to nominate an 80 year old man!! My favorite is still Kamala Harris, she is on the correct side of issues and is inspirational. They didn’t like a black man or a woman – I say go right at them with a black woman! Some people disagree with me and would rather go with a safe pick like a Chris Murphy. He would be okay, too, but boring. :)
Kamala Harris would be my pick too, and what about the veep? Oh, well, we’ll worry about that later.
So this is just a fantastic day. My computer won’t connect to, well, anything. No work email, no internet, nada. Perfect. At least I have my kindle so I can say hi to y’all.
What gremlin is attacking Democratic devices? Denise, bfitz, and now yourself, another!
A pox on Rethug gremlins and thank Goddess you have a Kindle! Mine won’t do anything but display books. What kind do you have?
It’s a Kindle Fire. A couple of years old, but it’s good. I’m waiting for someone else to get in, to see if it’s everyone or just mine.
Good Thor’s Day morning, Moosekind! Partly cloudy here in Ashburn, with a current temp. of 69 F., going up to 86 F. Good thing I’m joining the Walking Club in half an hour! We need to get it over with before the heat strikes. Yesterday, although it looked as if it were going to rain any minute, it didn’t. However, every time the Beagle Boy and I stepped out, a few raindrops would fall, sending us scurrying back indoors. He hates getting wet. We never did get our walkies.
Can’t wait to read the “Justice Kennedy is a Terrible Person” post. Yesterday I felt really depressed, unable to focus. Today is a little better.
On the home front, there is trouble with Comcast AGAIN. If we had known how difficult it was going to be for Dearly Beloved to watch telly, we’d have jolly well stayed in the house. The guy’s going to be 88 years old in six weeks and can’t walk very fast. One of his few remaining pleasures is watching the World Cup and various races on TV. Oh, well, I know this is a first-world problem, but, like Queen Victoria, we are not amused.
Rant over, I will now go back to worrying about the awfulness of Kiddie Koncentration Kamps, people having the police called on them for going about their daily business while black, and the looming certainty that abortion will soon be illegal. Shortly after that, contraception will be banned. We’ll revert to the 19th century. If only a spaceship would descend, scoop up all Rethug politicians, and whisk them away to another galaxy in order to perform delicate operations on their nasal membranes. That would serve them jolly well right.
Wishing a better day to all!
P. S. The Moose was skittish yesterday. When I finally got back in, I discovered that the ability to edit comments had disappeared. Why?
Is the edit button still missing? It is present for me but I cleared cookies on the web site this morning because it kept losing my password. I think I need to do the queued up maintenance – I have been busy on Saturdays so it fell off my to-do list.
Good morning, 57 and cloudy in Bellingham. I planned an easy day yesterday, but thanks to tRump angst I went to work with my pruning saw and clippers. The yew trees had outgrown the pots and couldn’t be saved so they are gone. And the rhodie that was growing to tall in front of the library window is now allowing some light to shine through. Fortunately for my garden my aching joints won’t allow another day of pruning!
Time for coffee and to see what today brings my way. Take care everyone.
Hi Meeses – I got my computer back late yesterday evening. Did my best to catch up but with the Kennedy hand grenade tossed out I didn’t manage too well. Kennedy is a white male catholic. He’s almost always voted with the white male catholics. Pope Benedict was his kind of pope. Rarely he was convinced to vote for the good of somebody not a white male catholic, but that was very rare indeed. I think folks got misled by the fact that sometimes (again very rare indeed) what was good for white male catholics was also good for most of the rest of the country.
Anyway, 76 with 85% humidity and heading for 93. Over the last 2 days I got 39 KWHs and the m-t-d is 489.5 – we should crest 500 today and have 2 more days’ production on top of that. Gonna to a protest tomorrow (it’s a weekly thing) although I really don’t think it’s a worthwhile activity. We’re waving signs on a major street – not showing up in masse at one of the congresscritters’ offices (which considering my congresscritters is also fairly useless). But I hoping I’m making contacts that will lead to something more effective later. I need to make my sign today. (Return ALL The Stolen Children) That & twitter are unfortunately my “resistance” – I just hope I’m helping somehow. Sending Love Energy to support folks while they get by if nothing else. Need to get the house closed up and get my walk in before it gets any warmer. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good afternoon, Meesefolk. John Lewis’s tweet yesterday pulled me out of depths I didn’t even know existed; there’s no doubt things are going to get a lot worse, but his experienced perspective really helped.
I’ve reached a similar point as bfitz re marching; I’m still mostly a go for Saturday (but I’ve reserved the right to renege if the heat index goes much higher), but I’m not sure it’s more than a feel-good moment for the participants. DHS agents showed up at the CBP office in Detroit and ordered the removal of all the tents from the folks who were attempting to occupy the grounds; they complied because they lacked numbers and hadn’t gone in with a plan for legal representation. I get that, but it also makes me think that any sustained movement is going to need more training, more planning, more bodies, and more legal expertise. I’m still trying to figure out where I fit in that.
Friday Meese
63 going up to 90 here. The way the weather has been going here it is hard to know what to expect.
Haven’t looked at the news yet – except to look for Puerto Rico stories. People don’t give a damn about PR – makes me angry and sad. They don’t care about Flint either.
— Denise Oliver-Velez (@Deoliver47) June 29, 2018
In our 10 minute news cycle society, stories that last more than an hour get lost under the avalanche. A story that lasts 281 days – or like Flint several years – don’t even get a click any longer. :(
Do you think the primary victory of the Puerto Rican woman from NYC will help? She seems very strongly advocating for Puerto Rico aid. She is an interesting woman – her causes are definitely not berner, she cares about racial justice and gun control, for example – but she sports some of the political naivete of TheirRevolution. I was itchy watching her weigh in with endorsements for primary challengers to sitting Democrats in purple congressional districts. If we come up short in the House because a purity candidate won a primary in a D+2 / R+2 district, and then lost the general election, that would suck.