Daily Kos’s own Wizard of Wit Bill in Portland Maine hides his eyes when I rip off lets me repeat the results of his research. He stacked the following items in his popular Who Won the Week? poll in Friday’s Cheers and Jeers. About 3,500 people voted in that poll. Please enjoy Bill’s on-point analysis and wit, vote in his poll, Rec his diaries, get on his bandwagon, send him a donation, and earn his blessing.
Cheers and Jeers archive and future editions here. Way, way more than 2 thanks to The One, our Wicked Wizard of Wit and writer of Who Won the Week, Willhelm von kosland!
Personal note for Billeh only: Lord Love a Duck, Billeh, thank you for finding good news every week for 10 billion years! Muchas gracias! May all the joy and healing ships heading toward your Port land safely, that's the Maine thing. ~2t
- The businesses that have closed due to the pandemic but are still paying their employees, and those setting special hours for seniors to shop
- Marie Newman, who will be the new representative of Illinois' 3rd District after vanquishing her right-wing primary opponent and ending the 38-year Lipinski dynasty
- Israel, as corrupt Trump-hugging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opponent, Benny Gantz, is given the first crack at forming a new government
- All the workers keeping us afloat right now: utilities, ISPs, ridesharers, supermarket employees, waste collectors, pharmacists, drive-thru food servers, teachers etc.
- The doctors, nurses, scientists, first responders and medical support staff confronting the growing pandemic fallout with skill, intelligence, compassion, and dedication
- Joe Biden, who handily won the primaries in Arizona, Florida, and Illinois, bringing him closer to locking up the 2020 Dem nomination for president
- The governors and state & local government officials doing their best to compensate for the ineptitude and "you’re on your own" mentality of the Trump stooges
- Sweet justice, as former Rep. Duncan Hunter, the 2nd GOP member of Congress to endorse Trump in 2016 (after now-jailed Chris Collins), goes to prison for campaign finance fraud
- James Taylor, who becomes the first recording artist to earn a top 10 album spot on the Billboard 200 chart in each of the last six decades
- All of the above
Spoiler Alert … Top Results of Bill’s poll
- All of the above — 52%
- The doctors, nurses, scientists, first responders and medical support staff confronting the growing pandemic fallout with skill, intelligence, compassion, and dedication — 23%
- All the workers keeping us afloat right now: utilities, ISPs, ridesharers, supermarket employees, waste collectors, pharmacists, drive-thru food servers, teachers etc. — 8%
Hanging out and playing with far-away family and friends
Looking for ways to have fun with distant relatives and friends during this period of social isolation while we prepare for another baby boom? My daughter recently sent my wife and me the link to a website called Kast.gg. (Note that the domain name, the last part of the URL, is .gg and not .com.)
My daughter, my wife, and I watched an online movie while being able to chat with each other. Two of us were in the same room, and the other was miles away. It was a lot like being in the same room, we could pause and joke and laugh together. We could even pause the movie at the same time to make a pit stop or popcorn. We also played our favorite online game together, Text Twist, which is available on different websites and probably apps. (Not all of the sites are compatible with all devices.)
What is Kast? Kast is a real-time, easy-to-use video sharing app with screen capture, voice, text, and video chat technology that makes it easy to connect with friends wherever they are.
How to process groceries when you bring them into your home: An assortment of sources
The top sources are the most recent. Mokurai found these links for me.
My wife and I are sheltering at home. We found a friend of a friend to shop for groceries for us. She’s in her 20s, and she had wanted to volunteer to help people in this way by shopping for them. Presently this is a one-off situation, but our shopper is an activist and an organizer, and we are discussing finding, helping, joining, and/or starting a group of people supporting each other by grocery shopping.
An apology: I commented yesterday “Based on my experience as a surgical assistant for decades and as a caregiver of an immunocompromised wife for decades, I plan to share some of the (perhaps hyperprotective) procedures I have developed to protect her” from pathogens that might come into our home on groceries. I’m sorry, but due to my wife’s health issues, I have not had time to expand on this subject.
Sewing face masks for local hospitals
Maybe you saw kos’s blog on Friday: Do you have a sewing machine, and can you use it? You can be a hero and save lives.
You can be a hero to your local hospital or nursing home by sewing face masks and donating them locally.
These obviously won’t be N95 masks, but they are useful for many medical tasks that don’t require that level of protection. Don’t believe me? Here’s the CDC: “In settings where face masks are not available, HCP might use homemade masks (e.g., bandana, scarf) for care of patients with COVID-19 as a last resort.” We are definitely in “last resort” territory. But also, not every medical need requires N95, so anything that can help medical providers save their N95 masks for coronavirus patients is incredibly helpful. See directions for making these masks below.
My wife and I own a sewing machine we have not used for many years, and we have no plans to use it. Therefore, we are looking for a local group of volunteers who are sewing face masks for hospitals to donate it to. I find that Nextdoor.com is a good way to reach out to neighbors.
Rashida Tlaib is helping her constituents organize
I hope your Representative is doing the same. She sent us an email recently via her campaign office which included the following section:
Here’s how you can get involved in mutual aid work with your neighbors:
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In Michigan, people are picking up and dropping off groceries for those at high-risk for contracting COVID-19. If you’re in Michigan and high-risk, sign up here—or if you want to help, sign up to volunteer here.
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You can also check out this resource toolkit with links to mutual aid projects around the country, resources for educators and workers, and resources for coping with emotional effects of the crisis.
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If you’re already starting a mutual aid network, here’s a Slack team for coordinating and sharing best practices.
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Many communities are forming online, including this Facebook group for discussing responses to COVID-19.
Note in particular to the link to the extensive resource toolkit. Extensive is a major understatement.
I’ve copied the entire email to this Google Doc. If your Rep is not building community in this way, they certainly could. If they won’t, maybe you should consider hiring electing a different Rep.
Our map of Gnuville: About 370 of us have shared our locations.
To leave your mark, please respond to our mappers in the comments or send them a kosmail: tljdk, silverfoxcruiser, keepiru, djbodhi. Please include city and state only, NOT street number and street.
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Good News Roundups 7 x 7: These Gnusies lead the herd @ 7 a.m., 7 days a week:
How to Resist: Do Something …
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The 6 R’s of the Resistance
- Resist: Protest on the streets, call senators and representatives, etc.
- Rebel: Run for office, GOTV (Get Out The Vote), support a progressive.
- Revolt: Change the laws, change the culture, build your communities.
- Rely: Trust that millions of others are fighting the good fight.
- Rejoice: Joy promotes resilience and gives rise to hope.
- Rest: Take care of yourself, we are in this for the long term.
The absence of visible fingers represents rest, the sixth R.
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2thanks (he, his)