Good Day, Newsies! I’m writing fresh off a family birthday weekend and a long flight last night, so just a wee bit tired. There’s lots of good news and I trust that there will be even more in the comments below from this community! I encourage you once again to provide one item of local good news in the comments. It not only brightens the day for others but it will really lift you up, too, to realise how much good your immediate neighbors are doing in the world! But don’t just take my word for it — RunawayRose, our most reliable bringer of local Good News had this to say recently:
This community of Gnusies really is the best. Many thanks to sweetthesound whose comments the other day were so inspiring that I lifted a phrase from one of them for my title:
Before I get to the news, I’d like to say a few words about the awful situation we are up against in this struggle to save the country. Whenever there is a setback, there is some understandable fear that the bad guys can somehow control everything. I’d like to remind you that the bad guys (ie, most Republicans and their crooked backers) are in a fight for their wretched lives; they know they have done terrible things, even illegal things — and they will do almost anything to avoid exposure and prosecution. They are not going to lie down and let proper legal procedures take their natural course. They are scared and desperate. Remember that — for many of those rotten people, their crimes would mean long prison terms, perhaps the rest of their lives. They’ll fight hard and dirty to avoid it. We need to remember that and we ALSO need to remember that there are even more of us -citizens, lawyers, congresspeople and Intelligence community — who are working just as hard and just as smart and with righteousness on our side — not to mention actual patriotism! We will fight HARD and with persistence and we will not give up until the foul criminals and their putrid networks of influence have been yanked out of our government by the roots. Then, we’ll salt that ground and keep it out!
“In your face, darkness! We are the light and we outnumber you!”
(quote via commenter “Dogs are Fuzzy” — Love this, thanks!)
⚖ Justice and Court News ⚖
Important criminal justice reform news from Oregon! Gov. Kate Brown signed legislation Monday that will overhaul policy in the juvenile justice system in that state. According to Daniel Nichanian, editor of The Appeal’s Political Report, “This is big reform, & it's hard to describe what a tight-rope it had to walk. It survived lobbying from the Oregon District Attorneys Association (surprise, surprise). It needed a supermajority to pass -- & it got it (bipartisan votes) without a vote to spare in upper-chamber.”
This is why state politics really matters!
Governor signs sweeping juvenile justice bill into law, Noelle Crombie, The Oregonian, July 22, 2019.
Gov. Kate Brown on Monday signed into law a slate of policy changes to Oregon’s juvenile justice system, saying the reforms “will serve troubled youth in our community for generations to come, reshaping lives and putting them on a path towards success.”
The new law ends a decades-old practice of automatically sending youths accused of serious crimes to adult court. ✂️
“Young people have a remarkable capacity for change," ACLU of Oregon Policy Director Kimberly McCullough said in a statement. “The vast majority of youth who commit crimes age out of criminal behavior and no longer pose a threat to society in adulthood.”
Mueller spin off cases still ongoing...
The criminals, frauds and oligarchs inside or backing the G(reedy)O(ligarch)P(erverts) party are naturally fighting tooth and nail to lie, cheat and obstruct their way out of trouble. But, as I said above, the good guys are fighting hard, too, often behind the scenes because of the complexity of the crime scene- this is literally a global crime racket. Evidence:
Judge Says Spinoff Manafort Probes Still Active, Adam Klasfield, Courthouse News, July 22, 2019.
MANHATTAN (CN) – A New York reporter has been exploring reporting over Ukraine-related lobbying from many dimensions, but a federal judge forestalled one of the avenues of his research on Monday, warning that journalistic scrutiny “could reveal the existence of law enforcement proceedings that are not officially acknowledged or publicly known.”
Much has changed since New York Times reporter Ken Vogel filed a Freedom of Information Act request in August 2017, seeking communications between the U.S. Department of Justice and the Ukrainian Party of Regions, the pro-Kremlin political party that paid former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort millions for lobbying work. ✂️
“DOJ maintains that releasing the records reasonably is likely to cause interference with pending or prospective law enforcement proceedings,” he added, agreeing with the government’s claim that “that premature disclosure of the withheld records could reveal the existence of law enforcement proceedings that are not officially acknowledged or publicly known.”
And this analysis of a possible path to stopping Barr obstruction
It’s Time for a Special Counsel to Investigate William Barr for Perjury, Ryan Goodman and Elizabeth Holtzman, Slate, July 22, 2019.
Based on the available public record about the Russia investigation, it’s clear that the attorney general has repeatedly deceived Congress in a manner that appears to have crossed the line established by federal criminal law. It’s a federal offence if anyone intentionally “falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact” or makes a “materially false” statement before Congress. The cautious Speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, accused Barr of committing a crime when questions first arose two months ago about the truthfulness of his testimony concerning the Mueller report. Even more evidence of Barr’s misconduct has emerged since then.
After Mueller testifies, the House should consider transmitting Barr’s multiple testimonies to the Justice Department, and since Barr cannot investigate himself, call for a special counsel to do so. ✂️
Though Congress should wait for Mueller’s testimony to see if it reveals further incriminating or exculpatory evidence against Barr, it is sobering to consider the current record: right now, there is a strong and sufficient basis for Congress to call for a criminal investigation of our attorney general for deception.
🇷🇺 Russia, Russia, Russia 🇷🇺
Russia's Secret Intelligence Agency Hacked: 'Largest Data Breach In Its History', Zak Doffman, Forbes, July 20, 2019.
Red faces in Moscow this weekend, with the news that hackers have successfully targeted FSB—Russia's Federal Security Service, making off with 7.5 terabytes of data which exposed secret projects to de-anonymize Tor browsing, scrape social media, and help the state split its internet off from the rest of the world. The data was passed to mainstream media outlets for publishing.
A week ago, on July 13, hackers under the name 0v1ru$ reportedly breached SyTech, a major FSB contractor working on a range of live and exploratory internet projects. With the data stolen, 0v1ru$ left a smiling Yoba Face on SyTech's homepage alongside pictures purporting to showcase the breach. 0v1ru$ then passed the data itself to the larger hacking group Digital Revolution, which shared the files with various media outlets and the headlines with Twitter—taunting FSB that the agency should maybe rename one of its breached activities "Project Collander." ✂️
BBC Russia broke the news that 0v1ru$ had breached SyTech's servers and shared details of contentious cyber projects, projects that included social media scraping (including Facebook and LinkedIn), targeted collection and the "de-anonymization of users of the Tor browser." The BBC described the breach as possibly "the largest data leak in the history of Russian intelligence services."
Reproductive Rights
Just as the AMA finally took a stand against the forced birth TRAP laws, declaring that the physicians’ association objects to being forced to lie to patients, so more and more state and federal lawmakers are beginning to speak up in support of reproductive rights. It’s probably just a coincidence that the board of the AMA is an all female one, and that most of the elected officials speaking out against forced pregnancy also happen to be of the female persuasion. Totally coincidental, I am sure! Anyway, according to Rewire.com: “A Michigan state legislator calls out the theocratical thinking from abortion rights opponents who neither understand science, nor believe in human rights.” Go, Sen.Geiss!
‘Pro-Life My Ass’: Anti-Choice Lawmakers Don’t Value People, Erika Geiss, Rewire News, Commentary, July 18, 2019.
Michigan’s Republican-controlled legislature and executive branch had every opportunity to ban abortion over the past eight years, but they didn’t. Instead, they chose to substantially underinvest in roads and infrastructure, communities, and public education. The very issues and policies that would improve the lives of individuals, their families, and communities continue to be neglected and dismissed, all while they wear their pro-life veils.
Well, pro-life, my ass. Let me be absolutely clear: Anti-abortion measures are not about preserving or respecting life. They are about controlling the lives of others and their access to reproductive health care. They are about the elephant in the womb: far-right Republicans and their donors, who are more interested in banning abortions than they are in ensuring that public schools are adequately funded; that people have access to quality, affordable, comprehensive health care throughout their lives; that folks are paid living wages; and that everyone has access to fresh air and clean drinking water.
So-called pro-life lawmakers continue to focus their efforts on regulating the bodies of people with a uterus and interfering with the professional guidance of trained medical professionals. If we, as legislators, are willing to meddle in the judgment of doctors and restrict access to reproductive health care, where does it stop?
Election News
Wendy Davis, the Texas legislator who made headlines several years ago for her marathon defense of abortion rights, and who challenged the Republican Abbott in Texas’ 201? gubernatorial race, has announced that she is running for Congress in TX_21, challenging NRA darling Chip Roy.
BTW: Everything you need to know to vote is here: Vote.org Pass it on!
💕 Humanity Break 💕
A sweet little (true) story to restore your faith in humankind (click on the tweet to see the whole thread. It’s worth it) :
🐋🐠 Environment News 🐟🐡
Great news for Canada and the world. (And check out the even better news in the last quoted paragraph! The USA has already been a leader in this area!)
Canada Passes Most Progressive Fishery Act Yet, Requiring the Rebuilding of Fish Populations, Good News Network, July 22, 2019.
Last month, a modernized Fisheries Act became law in order to set the stage for rebuilding the abundance of fish in Canada’s oceans.
For the first time since its inception in 1868, rebuilding plans are now required for depleted fish populations. The Act also ends the import and export of shark fins in Canada.
These changes, among others, unlock tremendous potential for renewed ocean health. ✂️
“Rebuilding fish populations can increase revenue and jobs in coastal communities. The United States has some of the most stringent and effective legislation in the world mandating fisheries rebuilding. It has successfully rebuilt a total of 45 fish stocks resulting in more resilient ecosystems and greater economic opportunities for the fishing industry,” says Laughren.
Meanwhile, From the Schadenfreude File, This Assh*le...
Kathy Zhu, Miss Michigan 2019, stripped of her title over 'offensive' social media posts, Ella Torres, ABCNews, July 20, 2019.
Executives with Miss World America told Kathy Zhu, the Miss Michigan 2019 winner, that her “offensive, insensitive and inappropriate” posts on social media were in violation of the organization’s rules and conditions, according to email screenshots posted by Zhu on Thursday.
“Therefore, and effective immediately, MWA does not recognize you as a participant of any sort or in any capacity as it relates to any and all events of MWA,” the email read. ✂️
Zhu, a Donald Trump supporter and the vice chair of the University of Michigan’s College Republicans group, pushed back at the organization, saying she was discriminated against. She said the tweets were "statistics and facts."
And this assh*le
Congregation walks out of service amid church sign controversy, Taylor Coleman and Laura Taylor, ABC 13 News, July 21, 2019.
APPOMATTOX, Va (WSET) -- The congregation at a local church walked out of the service on Sunday, July 21. ✂️
Pastor E.W. Lucas put up the sign "America: Love it or leave it" at Friendship Baptist Church in Appomattox.
Some support his stance but he's also facing backlash from people across the country and from people in his own congregation.
These two assh*les, too
2 officers fired for Facebook post suggesting Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez "needs a round", Christopher Brito, CBS News, July 22, 2019.
Gretna Police Department officer Charlie Rispoli shared a fake news story with a headline that quoted Ocasio-Cortez as saying U.S. soldiers are "getting paid too much." Snopes.com disproved the story as completely fabricated, but Rispoli went ahead and shared it on his Facebook page with a threatening comment.
"This vile idiot needs a round ... and I don't mean the kind she used to serve," he wrote, referring to the freshman congresswoman's previous job as a bartender, while also insinuating Ocasio-Cortez should be shot.
Rispoli and Angelo Varisco, a fellow officer who reportedly liked the post, have since been fired, CBS affiliate WWL-TV reported Monday. During a press conference, Gretna Police Chief Arthur Lawson called the incident "an embarrassment to our department."
💕 Mental Health Break 💕
Mark your calendars! The much-anticipated film about Fred Rogers’ (“Mr. Rogers”) later years is scheduled to hit theaters on November 22. Some of us grew up watching Mr Rogers’ Neighborhood and many others of us have (now adult) children who grew up with the comforting and loving voice of Fred Rogers in their TV time. Here is the first trailer:
⚡️Lightning RoundUp ⚡️
⚡️More good sense from Oregon: Feeling Blue? Oregon Students Allowed To Take 'Mental Health Days', Dani Matias, NPR News, July 22, 2019.
⚡️Law prof and co-author of emoluments amicus briefs has some tips for Dems: How Congress Can Exploit Mueller’s Legal Mistakes, Jed Shugerman, Politico, July 22, 2019.
⚡️Useful tips: How to Talk Effectively about Climate Change, Max Boykoff, Scientific American, July 22, 2019.
⚡️Good. End fat-shaming, too: Macy’s Removes Plates From Stores After Complaints They ‘Promote Eating Disorders’, Jenna Amatulli, Huffpost, July 22, 2019.
⚡️Miller is a horror, so let;s laugh at him: Chris Wallace Sh*ts All Over Stephen Miller, So That's 'Sad', Michael Mora, Wonkette, July 22, 2019.
⚡️ What the hell; have another Wonkette: It's Mueller Week, And SOMEBODY Is Already Sh*tting His Bathrobe!, Evan Hurst, Wonkette, July 22, 2019.
⚡️ A good idea: Japanese charity turns empty homes into housing for single mothers, Gavin Haines, Positive News, July 22, 2019.
💗 RoundUp WindDown 💗
It’s quite late, so I’ll wrap this up. Take good care of yourselves and your dear ones. Get enough rest, eat good food, get outdoors if you can, every day.
Please bring your own news to the comments!
Sorry for no music today — I’ve run out of time!
Happy Tuesday, Newsies!