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Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Sunday, Sept. 7 through Sept. 10

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New Moosings —> Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania (Part Deux): Thursday, Sept. 11

Welcome to The Moose Pond! The Welcomings diaries 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.

In lieu of daily check-ins, which have gone on hiatus, Welcomings diaries will be posted at the start of each week (every Sunday morning) and then, if necessary due to a large number of comments, again on Wednesday or Thursday to close out the week. To find the diaries, 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?

…


Categories: Uncategorized.

/ 129 Comments

129 comments

  2. JanF

    This video of his visit to Stonehenge makes me think he might have some goddess energy in him. 🙂

    “There’s something here … it’s wonderful … there is something elemental about it”.

    (p.s. I love how the General Manager of Stonehenge, yes: cool title, pronounced “dagger”.)

  3. DeniseVelez

    and it is really humid/muggy – ugh!

    Tried looking for good news. Nothing in my morning headlines.

    For those of you who may be “polling addicted” head over to visit Sam Wang at The Princeton Election Consortium who is predicting that Democrats will hold the Senate

    http://election.princeton.edu/

    Of course GOTV will be the most important decider.

  4. Portlaw

    pretty miserable here.

    Am going birdwatching in a bit, when the tide starts to roll back.  It’s migration season and was going to go to one of the big bird watching spots for a few days but don’t have the time.

    Am trying to drag people to the polls on Tuesday to vote for Teachout and Wu for Gov. and Lt. Gov.. Only convinced two people so far. Apathy or cynicism is what I get.

  5. Diana in NoVa

    We had dark, threatening clouds yesterday, thunder, flashes of lightning, but no rain. After tea it became so dark I rushed everyone out to the patio because I wanted photos of our Montreal friends’ visit.

    They packed up their car and drove off early this morning to stay in D.C. for three days. It was so wonderful to see them again! Many memories and much good conversation and food were shared.

    About to cook Dearly Beloved’s breakfast, watch the Formula I race that  I hope my man Hamilton will win, and catch up on answering e-mails and writing.

    Hope nothing too awful will happen in the world today–hope that THING in Iceland doesn’t blow its top–and hope that Meese everywhere will have a peaceful Sunday!

  6. anotherdemocrat

    Only supposed to be 90 today. Compared to 98 with a heat index of 104, that’s cool.

    Eating breakfast, watching Up. Good segment on immigration.

    Today: church, take my friend a tofu sandwich, do next week’s food. I’m supposed to do an ice bucket thing with a bunch of friends for our friend who has ALS, but I don’t think I can squeeze that in.

  7. princesspat

    We had a fun day celebrating our sil’s 50th birthday yesterday. The car was full of flowers…here’s a photo of my garage floral shop. The hydrangeas, ivy, some of the dahlias, and the rose hips are from my garden. The sedums and burgundy branches are from my son’s yard, and the sun flowers and the rest of the dahlias are from Joe’s Gardens. I love shopping there. I waited on the edge of the field while the sun flowers were cut for me, so fresh and so beautiful!

    Birthday bouquets, August 7, 2014

  8. Diana in NoVa

    in Italy today–good!

    Apologies to Jan and Denise for inadvertently misrating their comments or diaries. Pray overlook the stupidity of my fingers–have yet to see a comment on the Moose that deserves a “Fail.” One of the reasons I keep coming back is because of intelligent diaries and civilized discourse–not to mention that I like everyone here! 🙂

  10. DeniseVelez

    those of you with young children who live in these areas – Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, Kansas, Colorado

    Please follow the breaking story on EV-D68 – an enterovirus that is hospitalizing children across the US

    State departments of health have information like this:

    http://health.mo.gov/emergenci…

    There is no vaccine.

    http://afludiary.blogspot.com/…


    Although lab confirmation is still awaited in some areas, the outbreak of severe respiratory illness in kids that we saw pop up N.W. Missouri a little over a week ago (see Kansas City Outbreak Identified As HEV 68), and then a few days later in St. Louis (see Missouri Health Alert On Enterovirus 68), has now been reported in at least four more states.

       This week we’ve seen media reports of hospitals being slammed with (mostly young) patients with respiratory infections in

    , Missouri, and most recently Colorado.  While test results haven’t come back for all of these locations, local doctors are pointing their fingers at the emerging EV 68 virus.

  11. JanF

    It is 57 degrees with an expected high of 76. Partly cloudy skies.

    The moon is gorgeous this morning!! The Harvest Moon will show herself at 8:38pm here (9:38pm Eastern) and she will be spectacular as we will have clear skies tonight. The earth bathed in moonlight always seems calmer.

    I just did a quick scan of the news and I see that the Economist apologized for their hideous review suggesting that not all slaves were unhappy:

    “Slavery was an evil system, in which the great majority of victims were blacks, and the great majority of whites involved in slavery were willing participants and beneficiaries of that evil,” the apology read. “We regret having published this and apologise for having done so.”

    When you read that and then place it in contrast to the sneering reviewer’s comment that the book engaged in “advocacy” by pointing out that slaves were victims, you wonder how the original review passed muster. There is a sort of tone deafness for those who are immersed in the stereotyping of blacks and the dismissal of the history of oppression, both physical and economic. You wonder about what kind of history they teach in elite prep schools that cater to white boys.

    Off to start my week! Have a great day all y’alls!!

  15. anotherdemocrat

    Back at work. It actually wasn’t as hard to get up today as I feared. We’ll see how I feel this afternoon.

    It’s supposed to stay hot till Friday – even 100 on Wednesday, but then a cold front is coming & it’ll go down to the upper 80s. Saturday morning, when I’m in the park for my workout, it’ll be in the 60s. Brrr.

    I had to see why Stephen Hawking was in the “trending news” on FB: He says subjecting the Higgs to too high energy could end the universe. Though a collider big enough to do that would be the size of the earth, so we’re good.

    There may or may not be a new U2 single, or album, tomorrow. It may or may not be tied to the iPhone announcement. The fan groups I subscribe to are all trying to figure stuff out.I just got a Galaxy & I still have several installments on it, so I am unlikely to buy another phone. But it is nice to have all those pictures of my boys showing up in me feed, as each new rumor & denial comes out.

  16. Diana in NoVa

    It’s overcast and cool, and we may get rain. Right now Mr. Baby is asleep in a sling across my chest. Walked Big Sister to school this morning. Watching her nervously because she was coughing and sneezing.

    Wish I could have seen the moon, Jan!  No news to speak of this morning.  On GMA it was the spreading epidemic in the Midwest and the new royal pregnancy.  One does get so bored with celebrity worship.

    Hope Meese everywhere will have a good day!

  17. bfitzinAR

    Still dealing with the lodger who was raised by wolves (nothing against wolves – they do good work in the world keeping The Balance – but if I could find her pack, I’d give her back) and also have QC tonight (Personnel Committee and Jails/Courts Committee).  Operating on 4 hours of sleep – sinus issues – so maybe it’s just as well I won’t get home until late.  I might say something in a less than tactful way (trying to hang onto my temper has had me not saying anything at all and that’s not working) if I were home when she takes over my kitchen again.  Sigh.  Anyway, the cool is good and the rain we’ve gotten is very needed (even though it’s cutting into my electricity production this month big time).  {{{HUGS}}} to the meeses.

  18. princesspat

    Easing into Monday…..My to-do list is alarming and my motivation to just read the next book in The Dresden Files seems to be stronger!

    Hopefully I’ll do some of both today.

  19. JanF

    The temperature is 60 degrees in Madison with an expected high of 78 degrees. It says partly cloudy but the radar shows a line of something to the west of us. Possibly they expect it to break up? Possibly the forecast is wrong??

    I am upset this morning about yesterday’s news. I am glad that the Baltimore Ravens football club finally did the right thing by firing Ray Rice. But the problem is summed up in this Tweet:

    @Edwerderespn: Given a choice, the #Ravens defended Ray Rice. Given no other choice, they released Ray Rice

    And the Wonkette headline: NFL Fires Ray Rice After Realizing Beating Up Women Is Bad, At Least If It’s On Video

    The right thing in corporate America is rarely done because it is the right thing; it is mainly done when the coverup/whitewash/PR fails.

    But what disturbs me more is the reaction of the media: Fox News laughs and says “stay out of elevators!”. Victim blaming … again. The hashtags #WhyIStayed and #WhenILeft tell the story (although I am sure they are by now polluted by the trolls who ruin hashtags with their vile comments).

    Michael Brown was a thug and Janay Rice is stupid for staying with an abuser. Wrapped up nice and tidy for those who can’t deal with the truth about the disrespect for people of color and women in our country.

    Off to work. See all y’alls later!

  20. Diana in NoVa

    75 F. today, perhaps some rain.

    Haven’t checked the news yet–what about the volcano in Iceland? On the home front, hope today will be less tiring than yesterday. Got to think about dinner so we can start defrosting whatever it is.

    Will stop by later. Meanwhile, Early Morning Tea is waiting for me on my nighstand!

  22. anotherdemocrat

    upper 90s with a heat index of 104. again.

    Laryngitis is better this morning – I sang along with the music in the car as I drove in. We’ll see how it is this afternoon.

    I have a tab open with U2.com. Really hoping there’ll be new music today. Can’t wait till noon!

    Goals for today: do not lose my voice, wolf down lunch super fast & run back to my desk to see the Apple announcement, walk 1/2 hour.

    Oh – on the Walk front — good news: I broke the $900 barrier, annoying news (remember, I’m not the least bit competitive): I’ve been knocked down to 3rd place.

  24. DeniseVelez

    head to my polling station after work to vote for Teachout and Wu.

    Wu might just have a chance to pull off a win.

    Am going to continue to exhort my students to vote – most have no clue there is an election.

    Jan – I’m going to post Tuesday’s Chile here early – before I leave for school – I’m not sure if I’m going to make it back here by 4 – will add a cross-post link later.

    54 here, a bit chilly going up to 77.

    The number of states reporting enterovirus has gone up:

    http://www.freep.com/article/2…

    Ten states have contacted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for help in investigating enterovirus – Colorado, North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Kentucky, according to WXIA-TV.

  25. bfitzinAR

    and Autumn is moving in.  Expect 90+ tomorrow’s high but the night temps start dropping and cooler day AND night temps are coming Thursday.  QC Personnel meeting ran long last night – I really wish people wouldn’t mix personal animosity with politics – the LieberDem on the Court hates the Judge who has been asking for an upgrade in position and pay for her assistant (currently styled “law clerk”) since the Drug Court has grown so much and we’ve added Vet Court to her load.  (Both are diversion programs to help people who are willing to work and meet certain requirements stay out of jail – where we can’t afford to keep them anyway right now.)  Said LieberDem has protested the change, blathered about her time as a law clerk, and wasted time talking about the nature of a judicial law clerk (fresh out of law school, sort of an apprenticeship, high turnover and cheap), etc.  If she didn’t hate the judge in question she would have had no problem with “the program’s changed, the work has changed, the job description and pay need to change to keep up” concept.  And has run a 15-minute process into 2 months worth of meetings.  Sigh.

    As to my lodger – passive-aggressive strikes again.  She unloaded the dishwasher for me while I was at QC last night – and put everything either upside down (stacked the plates smallest to largest instead of largest to smallest), in the wrong place, or both.  Sigh.  I left a note on the table for this morning to move her truck (mowing guy is coming) and when she puts it back, put it on the parking pad (instead of in the middle of the front yard).  I expect blowback from that.  Double sigh.

    C.C. bless the peace of the Purple Place and all the folks who so reside or even just visit.  {{{HUGS}}} bf

  26. princesspat

    Today is a medical day for both Ron and me…..some out patient surgery for him ( a squamous cell growth on his scalp) and a CT Scan for me (a follow up for the kidney stones I had last spring). Not my favorite kind of day!

    Oh well, we’re fortunate to have both insurance and excellent care so let’s hope for good results.

  27. DeniseVelez

    35.5 percent for Teachout here- with almost zero cash she managed to get a over third of the votes from Democrats who showed up.

    Will have to see if any of our leftie outrage will have an affect on Andrew the Obnoxious.

  28. DeniseVelez

    over at Orangw

    Six black kids from #Ferguson, MO bluntly and sarcastically educate white America about the racist reality in 2014. Recruited from the very block where unarmed black teen Michael Brown was gunned down by a white police officer, these kids ranging in age from 6 to 13 years old, use sometimes uncomfortable humor to show white people the continued racism their generation faces. Armed ONLY with statistics (hands up, don’t shoot) these articulate and adorable kids are not having it while much of white America would rather pretend racism is over.

    Sporting charity benefit T-shirts that read “Racism Is Not Over. But I’m

    Over Racism.” these kids from #Ferguson are helping raise funds for five different anti-racism causes. For every tee or hoodie sold at

    http://FCKH8.com $5 is donated to make a difference (details @ http://FCKH8.com) with the bold tees that make a statement starting at $13.

  29. JanF

    67 degrees in Madison with an expected high of 72. The severe thunderstorms predicted for the wee hours lost intensity and  split to the north and the south; we will get light rain in about 20 minutes. That is a relief as I needed a good night’s sleep.

    There is a lot of stuff in the news.

    Tonight President Obama will make a prime time address laying out his strategy to isolate and destroy the ISIL terrorist group. I have an idea! Make the world less dependent on fossil fuel and you will not only save the earth but shut off the funding that allows those kind of groups to have the means to terrorize.

    Primary night yielded few surprises. A sitting Democratic congressman in Massachusetts was successfully primaried from the left in what should still be a safe seat for us. A woman, Gina Raimondo, won the Democratic nomination for Rhode Island governor. She would be the first woman in that office. But Democratic RI elects Republican governors so this is not a gimme.

    And all eyes in Wisconsin are on the 7th Circuit which yesterday heard arguments by the prosecutors in John Doe II that they be should allowed to continue their investigation into the breaking of campaign financing laws in Wisconsin. The 3 judge panel, two Republicans and a Democrat, seemed skeptical of Judge Rudolph Randa’s decision to turn this into a first amendment case and to insinuate the federal government into state campaign finance laws. The Club for Growth and AFP will appeal any ruling that goes against them but any day that “under investigation” linked with “Gov. Scott Walker” is in a news story is good for us. Keeping this story in the news might just convince a few leaners to decide that the Walker administration has passed its expiration date and needs to be dumped.

    Portlaw! I did not realize the president’s address was at night. That is past my bedtime so the Moose News Network will not cover it live. I will, however, find the video and transcript and post it tomorrow morning. Along with some bloviating. If I have time late this morning, I will put up a news diary and include the conjecture about what we will hear. It will NOT include an interview with John McCain. 🙂

    See all y’alls later!

  30. Portlaw

    Thanks for the round up, Jan, and I will look for the President’s talk tomorrow morning!

    I had hoped that Teachout would win, even though I knew it as unlikely. But, she, an unknown, did very well against horrid Cuomo and I hope she stays in politics.

    Have decided to take a two week vacation in October!!! Am qu8te excited. This summer was not a good one. I was/am looking after people who are sick, my knee wasn’t working, projects were niggling, and my mood was bad. So am going for only two weeks to visit my French relatives. They are all back in Paris now that summer is over so I will go there and some of us will go someplace else for a few days. Am now frantically thinking of gifts to bring.

    An off to acupuncture but first the news and coffee. Hope it’s a good day for all. Will check in later to see how everyone is and how the world is. Diana, how is that volcano doing? I am anxious about Syria.

  31. anotherdemocrat

    upper 90s for today & tomorrow, then they promise a cold front & highs in the 80s

    I am, of course, listening to the new U2 album. Interesting title: “Songs of Innocence” – wonder if that means there’s a 2nd album coming soon, to complete the pair. If anyone else has iTunes, did you download your copy (’cause they gave it to everyone on iTunes), and if so, what do you think? You’ll be stunned to know I’m totally over the moon.  The chorus to one of the songs has already engraved itself on my heart:

    “If there is a light

    You can’t always see

    And there is a world

    We can’t always be

    If there is a dark

    Within and without

    And there is a light

    Don’t let it go out”

    Also last night, Rachel Maddow interviewed Wendy Davis & it was great.

    So I’ve had a pretty good past 12 hours.

  32. princesspat

    Yesterday was a long medical day for all of us as Heide (our son’s dog) spent the day at the vet…..no cancer (yay!) but she did have a toe nail removed, x-rays for her spine and back legs, and meds for her foot infection and the arthritis developing in her spine.

    She had extensive surgeries as a puppy (a truck ran over her) so we were warned she would have some aging complications but it’s still hard when the dogs we love are in pain. And 8 yrs goes by too fast!

  33. Diana in NoVa

    It’s very humid. We’ll have to turn on the a.c. tomorrow morning. Baby is blessedly asleep for a bit.

    Too much news to keep up with! Portlaw, delighted to hear you’re going to that belle Paris next month! I’m saving up for Miss Pink Cheeks’ French class field trip to Paris ten years from now. So far have got half the air fare saved.

    We kept Miss Pink Cheeks home with us yesterday as she had a cold. However, after some of Grandma’s magickal homemade chicken noodle soup and a long afternoon nap, she appeared to be right as rain! Walked her to school this morning.

    Way behind on all my projects–wish the New Day of regular morning and afternoon naps would begin. Naps sleeping by himself, I mean.

    Portlaw, haven’t checked on the Iceland volcano lately. Yesterday’s volcano was happening on an island off the coast of Australia. There has been volcanic activity in Hawaii, I understand. Are Gaia’s zits popping all at the same time?

    Hoping to work on my blog tonight and hope everyone in Moosylvania will have a good day!

  34. bfitzinAR

    The good news is we passed to the full QC Judge Beaumont’s assistant position change and salary increase.  The bad news is the salary increase may not pass.  It was going to be a squeaker anyway – needing 10 votes and having 10 votes so everybody was going to have to be there – but we may lose one or more of the Rs on this due to the other bad news – our 2015 revenues are projected to be $5 million under this year’s.  Of course they are.  The Rs rammed through a millage cut a few years back and it’s finally caught up to us.  (For us ordinary folks the difference is $5 to $15 a year, but for the fewer than 100 big property owners (Can you say “slum lords? I knew you could.”) it’s several grand to $75K.  You know the likelihood of us reversing it.)  The 2 departments the General Fund is underwriting are Jails and Roads so you know the cuts won’t come there (and shouldn’t actually).  It’s going to be interesting to watch the Rs try to figure some way to increase salaries for Law Enforcement while cutting everybody else so they don’t have to put that half mil back in the mix.

    On the home front not much has changed.  Do not expect ordinary courtesy like “do you need to put something up?” and stepping aside when she’s cooking (and just about barricading the entire stove end of the kitchen) and I’m standing there with a canning jar in my hand.  She has no problem with taking the courtesy I extend to anyone else in my house when I am doing anything.  All the barriers are for other people, none for her.  Sigh.  At least she’s started turning off the lights when she leaves.

    Happy Woden’s Day to all the Purple People and {{{HUGS}}}.

  35. DeniseVelez

    have been up for a while – still flagging racist sewer remarks – now I need more coffee and a bath 🙂

    Today is a home – writing day.  

    Had a good day in school yesterday – students discussing “Killing Us Softly” – film on the impact of advertising on women and self-esteem..as well as its portrayal of violence against women as acceptable and sexy.

    Version 4 is available online

    http://www.dailymotion.com/vid…

    Killing Us Softly: Advertising’s Image of Women is an American, feminist[1] documentary by Jean Kilbourne, distributed by Cambridge Documentaries. The documentary was first released in 1979 and has since been updated and re-released several times, most recently in 2010, with added and revised footage and commentary. The documentary focuses on images of women in advertising, in particular on gender stereotypes, the effects of advertising on women’s self-image and the objectification of women’s bodies.[2]

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K…

    The film has a powerful impact on the young women (and men) in our class and sparks a lot of discussion.

  36. JanF

    It is 47 degrees here in Madison WI on its way up to 60. Fall!!

    I put up a diary with the president’s speech and will do my bloviating on it there. I have not read any of the “reviews” yet but I was following the reaction on Twitter for a while and I am not sure that it matched what the president said. Perhaps they were listening to another speech? Or perhaps they only heard what they wanted to hear?

    Yikes! How did we get to 124 comments??

    I will post a new Welcomings diary shortly as long as everyone promises to read both until we finish our conversations here.  

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