Welcome 😄 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News!
Let me first thank arhpdx for taking over for me last week. I was traveling, and so couldn’t do the Friday GNR. I also really enjoyed having a week off, and stepping back a bit from the news.
But now my sleeves are rolled up, because we have lots of work to do.
The quote above is from Suzanne Collins’s trilogy, The Hunger Games, the second book, Catching Fire. It’s a reminder that the real enemy consists those who want to repress us, and not each other. In fact, the real enemy will try to sow division and get us to fight each other instead of standing up and taking back our power.
Vote blue 💙 no matter who. Because whoever the nominee is, remember, we’re a team. And the other side is truly our enemy.
If you have trouble finding the GNRs — which many need to find to keep their sanity — follow me and the other GNR authors.
Regular Scheduled Programming
No one here is naïve; we are aware of the very bad stuff that is happening. Some of us expected it: the cheating, the lying, the chaos, and yes, even the attempts to cling to power despite the clear will of the people. But we are here to read the efforts and the positive results of those (including us and our fellow gnus) who are working so hard to save our country from those very bad people. We are furious with them for what they are doing and we are letting them know. Remember:
💚 There are more of us than there are of them.
💛 They are terrified when we organize. THERE IS LOTS OF EVIDENCE THAT THEY ARE TERRIFIED!
💔 They want us to be demoralized. We have to keep demoralizing them. Name, blame and shame! IT IS WORKING! WE HAVE EVIDENCE THAT THEY ARE DEMORALIZED!
💙 The best way to keep up your spirits is to fight. So, take the time to recharge your batteries, but find ways to contribute to the well-being of our country and our world.
💙 Toxic 🍄 Trump Matters 👎 & Russia, Russia, Russia 🐻
Lev speaks. And wow, does he have a lot to say.
And this...
From the Daily Beast
“It was never about corruption,” Parnas said. “It was strictly about Burisma, which includes Hunter Biden and Joe Biden.”
The Justice Department charged Parnas last year with a number of election-related crimes. He has maintained his innocence and is in the process of sharing materials with congressional investigators about Trumpworld’s efforts to secure political favors from Kyiv.
Parnas detailed a conversation with Serhiy Shefir, an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Parnas said Vice President Mike Pence would cancel a planned trip for Zelensky’s inauguration unless the incoming Ukrainian government announced it would investigate the Bidens. Parnas said that when he learned the Ukrainians were not going to announce a Biden probe, he told Giuliani.
VP Pence implicated. Apparently so is AG Barr. And tRump, of course. And several others: Pompeo, Bolton (maybe that’s why he hasn’t come forward), Nunes (Raw Story).
Rep. Devin Nunes was one of the many people Lev Parnas said was linked to President Donald Trump’s Ukraine scandal.
“We don’t have too much of a relationship,” Parnas said of Nunes. “We met several times at the Trump Hotel, but our relationship started getting — basically where it expanded was when I was introduced to his aide, Derek Harvey, and the reason why Derek Harvey I was told because Devin Nunes had an ethics — something to do with the Ethics Committee, he couldn’t be in the spotlight. He was kind of shunned a little bit and that he was looking into this Ukraine stuff also, wanted to help out. And they gave me Derek Harvey to deal with.”
Oh, and the Ukrainians are finally opening an investigation! Just not the investigation tRump and his minions want:
We owe a lot to the Ukrainians, for throwing out that corrupt government and making things more difficult for tRump and those minions. Also, Parnas isn’t completely trustworthy. I don’t think we can take him at his word that the talk between him and Hyde was a drunken joke. Parnas has been involved in violence before.
Oh, an impeachment is taking place…
House managers delivers impeachment articles; Senate to formally accept them on Thursday Washington Post
The House on Wednesday delivered articles of impeachment against President Trump to the Senate and approved seven Democrats to serve as prosecutors in the third trial of a U.S. president.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) signed the articles at a ceremony in the Capitol, hours after she named a team of managers led by two trusted lieutenants, Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.). ✂️
The crux of the case is the allegation that Trump tried to leverage a White House meeting and military aid, sought by Ukraine to combat Russian military aggression, to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to launch an investigation of former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, as well as a probe of an unfounded theory that Kyiv conspired with Democrats to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
And here the Senators are being sworn in by Chief Justice Roberts. I admit, when I hear his name, I often think of The Princess Bride and the Dread Pirate Roberts, as it has the same cadence.
White House hold on Ukraine aid broke the law Washington Post
The White House violated federal law in its hold on security aid to Ukraine last year, according to a decision by a congressional watchdog released on Thursday and reviewed by The Washington Post.
The Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan agency that reports to Congress, found the Trump administration violated a law that governs how the White House disburses money approved by Congress.
The GAO decision comes as the Senate prepares for the impeachment trial of President Trump, a process set to begin Thursday.
We all knew it was illegal but it’s good to get official confirmation.
Oh, and Pelosi threw some allegations in Barr’s direction during her weekly presser:
Maybe Barr will be impeached next?
In case you were wondering why I still have “Russia” up in the section title…
And that war we may or may not be having with Iran...
Senator Tim Kaine predicts many R defections on Soleimani assassination The Daily Beast
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s briefing to legislators last week went so badly that it may have galvanized Republican support to restrain President Trump from war with Iran, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) told The Daily Beast on Tuesday.
Kaine, who will soon introduce a resolution to require Congress’ approval before any such escalation of hostilities, now believes there are as many as a dozen potential GOP votes in the Senate—far more than expected, and also far more Republicans than were willing to vote on a similar initiative to get the U.S. out of the Saudi-led war in Yemen in 2018.
“I wish I could say that the getting sponsors has been because I'm so persuasive,” Kaine told The Daily Beast. At last Wednesday’s briefing to senators, the senator said there was “an air of dismissiveness about the role of Congress” from Pompeo and the other briefers.
If this is true — and given how Senator Mike Lee reacted afterwards, it very well may be — it’s interesting on several counts. First, because I heard that one reason that tRump ordered the assassination was because he wanted to win the approval of some R senators before the impeachment trial. If so, then tRump badly, badly miscalculated (tRump is a terrible negotiator). Second, Pompeo is rumored to have presidential ambitions himself. So it’s good to see him losing support among his own party members.
🐊 Draining the Swamp 🐊
💙 Democrats Are Great 🌊
Republicans 🐘 Got Nothing 👎
From the Maddow Blog
A new EPIC-MRA poll in Michigan tested Donald Trump against leading Democratic presidential hopefuls, and the incumbent trailed each of them. Michael Bloomberg, oddly enough, had a seven-point advantage over the Republican, while Joe Biden led Trump by six, Bernie Sanders led by five, Pete Buttigieg led by four, and Elizabeth Warren led by three.
It’s not just Michigan, but Florida too (thanks MrMuni12) Newsweek
A poll of Florida voters shows Trump behind three potential Democratic nominees, while a Michigan polls indicates the president could lose to five potential general election opponents. Trump won both the states by thin margins in 2016 and they are likely to play a crucial role in the upcoming election.
The Florida poll, conducted by Florida Atlantic University, showed Sen. Bernie Sanders topping Trump by a margin of 53 percent to 47 percent. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden both had smaller leads of 51 percent against Trump's 49 percent. Sanders was the only Democratic candidate with a lead greater than the poll's 2.6 percent margin of error. Pete Buttigieg tied with Trump at 50 percent. The poll sampled 1,285 voters between January 9 and 12.
BEYOND THE BELTWAY
The stories below will remind you why we want to be blue, through and through.
Governor Mills (ME) to announce new incentives for high-efficiency heat pumps News Center Maine
AUGUSTA, Maine — Governor Janet Mills will visit F.W. Webb Company in Augusta to announce new financial incentives designed to expand the use of high-performance, energy-efficient heat pumps in Maine on January 14. ✂️
According to Efficiency Maine Trust, a high-performance heat pump can help an average Maine home reduce its oil consumption by 270-540 gallons per year; reduce its carbon emissions by an estimated 3,600-7,250 pounds per year per home per high-performance heat pump; and, when the initiative is fully realized, can save Maine people between a total of $30-$60 million annually, providing an important boost to the local economy.
Growing the heat pump business in Maine will replace high-carbon fossil fuels with cleaner electricity while lowering heating bills and creating jobs.
Governor Whitmer (MI) fighting to fix Michigan’s pot holes Michigan Radio
Governor Gretchen Whitmer says she thinks it will take a mixture of funding sources to come up with enough money to fix Michigan’s roads and infrastructure.
That’s after her call last year for a 45-cent per gallon fuel tax increase went nowhere in a Legislature controlled by Republicans.
“The fuel tax was the smartest way to do it. It was dedicated to actually fixing the infrastructure problem so that no one would play games with it in the future and it’s a user fee,” Whitmer says. “That’s what made it a superior choice. But at this juncture, it’s the only thing that’s really been put out there.”
The governor said Monday the condition of roads and infrastructure in Michigan is getting worse. And she says she’s willing to put toll roads and bond sales on the table for discussion.”
Judge blocks attempt by WI Republicans to purge voters American Independent
A Wisconsin appeals court on Tuesday put on hold an order to immediately remove up to 209,000 names from the state's voter registration rolls, handing Democrats who had fought the move a victory in the battleground state.
The appeals court sided with the bipartisan state elections commission in putting the brakes on removing any voters while the court fight continues. It also put on hold a ruling from Monday in which a judge found the commission and its three Democratic members in contempt for not proceeding with removing the voters.
The orders came as the commission was meeting in a closed session with attorneys from the state Department of Justice to discuss the case.
Kentucky governor ends war on women’s right to choose Daily Kos
Pro-choice Democrat Andy Beshear defeats Matt Bevin!
And Democratic Governor Andy Beshear ends lawsuit against the lone abortion provider in state AND gives nod for Planned Parenthood to apply for license to perform abortions.
What is the world coming to?
Kentucky legislators seeking to end conversion torture American Independent
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle condemned the practice, with one Republican referring to it as 'conversion torture.'
Twice a week for four years when he was in high school, gay student Zach Meiners underwent "conversion therapy," a practice that attempts to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.
Once the sessions ended, it took almost 10 years before he started "to heal and learn to love" himself, Meiners said Tuesday during a rally to promote bills that would effectively ban conversion therapy in Kentucky.
Yep, this has got bipartisan support. In crimson Kentucky! Cool!
Vermont legislators propose bill to give kids universal free lunches at school Daily Kos
Every few days there is a story about someone, a child, an adult, or an organization figuring out a way to pay off some child’s or set of children’s lunch “debt.” The stories are feel good only in as much as they show how caring and thoughtful and selfless some people can be in the face of shaming children, and more over-arching anti-child and anti-family policies. The Republican Party, under Donald Trump, has continued putting pressure on families by cutting budgets to food assistance programs. Vermont legislators have proposed Senate Bill 223 which, if passed, would make the state of Vermont the first to have a universal free school meals program for public schools.
🐍 Schadenfreude 🍎
Florida felons are getting their voting rights back — in Democratic 💙 counties! WLRN
On an afternoon in November, 17 people from across Miami-Dade County gathered in a Miami courtroom to have their voting rights restored. The hearing would be an early indication that party politics are playing a role in how a controversial state law is being rolled out. ✂️
But now the group was gathered, waiting to receive a document from the court that would clear them of the only obstacle that stood between them and the voting booth: A declaration from the court that they no longer owed money for their crimes, and they could now register to vote. ✂️
In one section of the law, it explicitly allows the courts to modify the original criminal sentences to “no longer require completion” of things that were originally required. Under that law, money owed can be waived or lowered, and other requirements like community service hours can be reduced. ✂️
Out of the four counties across the state that have launched similar programs, every one of them is Democratic leaning. Those include Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Hillsborough counties, together which include more than a third of the state’s total population. All of those counties voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, and for Democrat Andrew Gillum in the 2018 governor’s race.
The one above is a lot of fun! I couldn’t copy more, but it shows how eager some of these people are to vote — and especially to vote out tRump.
Note there was a ruling by the FL Supreme Court that might interfere with this — but I don’t think so.
📣🏅 Let’s Honor Truth 🏅☀️
Sometimes picking the honoree is difficult. The biggest truth bomb this week has been the information coming out from Lev Parnas. Should I honor him? He’s a pretty unsavory guy, but he is releasing a lot of material. Should I honor Rachel Maddow, who scooped the first interview? I’ve put her in this section before. Is it OK for me to honor someone a second time? Does anyone, including me, care if I have rules for this section?
Still, truth is truth (disagreeing with Giuliani), no matter how it emerges. Lev Parnas’s reasons for coming out with so much information may be self-serving. According to his words, he’s not trying to make money or to lessen his sentence, but he is trying to stay alive. Given what has happened to Epstein and to many journalists in Russia and Khashoggi in Turkey, this fear isn’t so far-fetched.
And Maddow has been working on getting this interview for months. It happened when it happened because the information had finally been delivered to the House, so Parnas (and Parnas’s lawyer) felt it was time to speak out. Still, until Maddow sat down with Parnas, she was sure it would be canceled.
So, this week’s winners are Lev Parnas and Rachel Maddow, and all the people who helped arrange for that interview.
🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️
Altruism is good for you! Good News Network
Have you ever felt warm and fuzzy inside after doing something compassionate for someone else? Well, this impressive new study shows there might be a lot more serious science behind that warm and fuzzy feeling than we originally thought. ✂️
Devising a number of tests, the researchers were able to measure charitable actions—mostly altruistic giving—in parallel with pain sensitivity and management. Their work, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), reveals some startling insights into different reasons why we may choose to give or help others at the cost of our own livelihood.
Notably, the scientists found that “acting altruistically relieved not only acutely-induced physical pain among healthy adults, but also chronic pain among cancer patients”.
This woman, who fostered 600 kids in 50 years, should be very healthy! Good News Network
75-year-old Linda Herring from Johnson County, Iowa has been tirelessly providing food, clothing, love, and medical care to hundreds of foster kids since the 1970s.
When Herring first began fostering kids, she was also running a home daycare and working as a night custodian in a local high school. Additionally, she volunteered as a first responder for 50 years of her life, according to CNN.
Out of the hundreds of foster kids that Herring has taken under her wing, many of them experienced a range of medical conditions and special needs—but that never deterred Herring.
📎📎Odds & Ends 📎📎
Peru planting 1 million trees to protect Machu Pichu Good News Network
The sanctuary of Machu Picchu, one of the most incredible wonders of the medieval world, is about to get a much-needed eco-friendly makeover.
Last week, Peruvian President Martin Viscarra launched a reforestation campaign to plant one million trees around the 86,000-acre (35,000-hectare) complex of the iconic archaeological site and surrounding hills.
“We’re here to begin the planting of a million trees in the protected zone around the Machu Picchu sanctuary … [as] a commitment from the government, the region, the municipality and all the citizens who want to protect this world wonder,” said Vizcarra, according to the AFP.
Murdochs are fighting each other about climate change Talking Points Memo
Rupert Murdoch, owner of media giant News Corp, is getting heat from his son James over the climate change denialism that’s being churned out by the mogul’s right-wing news outlets.
The Daily Beast reported on Tuesday that James and his wife Kathyrn, both outspoken advocates of climate action, are upset by how the news organizations controlled by News Corp, such as Fox News and especially newspapers in Australia, have cast doubt on the existence of the climate crisis as bushfires ravage Murdoch’s native Australia.
“Kathryn and James’ views on climate are well established and their frustration with some of the News Corp and Fox coverage of the topic is also well known,” a spokesperson for the couple told the Daily Beast. “They are particularly disappointed with the ongoing denial among the news outlets in Australia given obvious evidence to the contrary.”
Sorry for linking to TPM instead of DB, but I subscribe to TPM and not DB — one can’t support all of them — and the DB story is exclusive. And I am reminded that the actuarial tables skew in our favor.
BlackRock makes climate change central to investment policy Washington Post
BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager, will make sustainability and climate risks key tenets of its investing strategy, a move that its chief executive said should push financial institutions to prioritize climate change issues.
But activists noted the firm’s lackluster history on this front and the need for it to push further.
“Climate change has become a defining factor in companies’ long-term prospects,” BlackRock chairman and chief executive Larry Fink said in his annual letter to chief executives. “But awareness is rapidly changing, and I believe we are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance.”
Repurposing oil platforms Wonkette
And in the meantime, assuming Donald Trump can't personally force the construction of new offshore oil production before he's shitcanned, plans are already being kicked around to put the detritus of the carbon economy to a better use. In Long Beach, California, this weekend, the Aquarium of the Pacific hosted a conference to explore how California's 27 offshore oil platforms might be used for good, not evil and oil slicks. A dozen of the things are likely to be retired in the coming decade, and since their underwater pilings have already created artificial reefs, there might be opportunities to repurpose the platforms for wind power, or as hotels for divers.
💙 What You Can Do to Rescue Democracy 💙
It turns out that participation in democracy is not just an every-four-years event but requires active participation, like, whenever you can find time. However, given that we have taken back the House, the tactics moving forward need to be different. Indivisible has ideas to share.
Indivisible 2.0
This Guide is for what comes next. The 2016 Indivisible Guide was about using constituent power to defend our values, our neighbors, and our democracy. This Guide is about using our constituent power to go on offense.
Offense is exciting, but it’s more complex than defense. We have the opportunity to use congressional oversight to hold Trump and his cronies accountable. We can set the legislative agenda with a bold progressive vision rooted in inclusion, fairness, and justice. But none of this is automatic — we have to demand it of Congress.
And some other ideas:
You can relax and recharge.
You can join protests and freeway blog.
You can help register new voters.
You can smile.
You can get out the vote for special elections.
You can reach out to upset Republicans. Remember, a lot of them crossed over in the midterms! Get them to feel good about being blue.
You can share your ideas below.
🌻
🍀 “My experience has been that work is almost
always the best way to pull oneself out of the depths.” 🍀
Eleanor Roosevelt
🔥 If you’re going through hell, keep going! 🔥
Winston Churchill
🌹 🌹 🌹
TRUTH MATTERS. LOVE MATTERS.