Welcome
Greetings to all you Gnusies, Gnewbies, occasional drop-ins, silent regulars, and first-timers! Come sit with us to find and share messages of hope and to celebrate all the ways good people are triumphing over the evil-doers in power. These are difficult days, but the worse the situation around us becomes, the harder we strive to find hope.
As always, this roundup is a pot-luck, so please share your own contribution in the comments, which we consider to be The Best Comment Section on the Internet™.
It’s on us to fix this
Another horrifying, gratuitous act of fatal violence against a black American has ignited our cities. We’ve been here far too many times before. The foundational institutional racism in this nation has persisted despite countless moments in our history when outrage and demands for change have erupted. Attention is briefly paid, then we’re back to “normal.” My hope is that this time, at this moment when more Americans than ever are focused on progressive social policies and the need for systemic change, we might succeed in beginning to truly reform our nation’s police departments, and to move on from there to a wider response to the racism that pervades every aspect of American life.
Black Americans murdered for the crime of having dark skin are too numerous to even begin to list. But as many protestors and some of our leaders have urged, we need to remember their names. Quoting Joe Biden’s remarks on Friday, “We’ve spoken their names aloud. We chisel them onto our long-suffering hearts.” Here are a few names of recent victims of racist violence. Speak them aloud, chisel them onto your heart, then use them as motivation to do everything you personally can to fight systemic racism:
- Freddie Gray
- Eric Garner
- Tamir Rice
- Sandra Bland
- Philando Castile
- Botham Jean
- Ahmaud Arbery
- Breonna Taylor
- George Floyd
If you don’t know their stories, look them up. Then use your outrage to fight the racism in your own community.
I headed this introduction “It’s on us to fix this” because we are seeing that truth more clearly than ever. I think it’s one of the examples of “bad news as good news” that we so frequently highlight in these posts. The absolute lack of any pretense of leadership from the White House, highlighted yesterday by NNNE in the intro to his roundup, has made it obvious that if anything is going to be done to heal this wound and to prevent more racist murders, we are the ones who have to do it. Not many of us are in a position to sway scores of others to join this fight – though some are, and they should certainly use their platforms now. Most of us can change only our own hearts and our own actions, and we should pledge to begin that today.
One easy place to start is to send financial support to one or more of these organizations or others like them, especially any organizations working for racial justice in your own community:
These two organizations work in Minneapolis:
These organizations are working nationally:
And you can also learn more about the issues, especially from the viewpoint of black Americans. As 2thanks always reminds us on Sundays, it’s enlightening to follow Black Kos. Read this diary. And this diary. Other resources are listed here.
Finally, as Goodie reminded us so emphatically on Saturday, we need to GOTV: “Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing is more important than winning in November. Nothing. Because if we don’t win in November, none of our other important goals can be accomplished.”
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
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This moving song by 12-year-old Keedron Bryant was posted on Instagram, highlighted by President Obama in his newsletter, and then shown on “Good Morning America,” which supplied this video to YouTube. This beautiful young man is one of the precious souls we’re fighting for.
Yes, may God protect you, Keedron, and may all of us do what we can to protect you, too.
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Now on to the news.
Good political news
Biden
Biden is speaking up like a true leader. Here’s the photo and part of the statement he posted on Instagram on Sunday (hat tip to Jessiestaf for directing us to this):
The only way to bear this pain is to turn all that anguish to purpose. And as President, I will help lead this conversation — and more importantly, I will listen, just as I did today visiting the site of last night's protests in Wilmington.
And here’s a piece published in Mother Jones drawing the contrast between tRump and Biden:
As Trump Threatens Violence, Biden Offers Empathy and a Promise of “Real Police Reform”
Joe Biden made a promise to the family of George Floyd, the African American man killed by a police officer in Minneapolis last weekend: As president, he will seek justice and enact “real police reform.”
In remarks streamed on YouTube Friday afternoon, the former vice president ...drew a line from Floyd’s death to those of Eric Garner, a Black man killed by New York City police officers who placed him in a chokehold; Breonna Taylor, a Black woman shot to death by police in her home; and Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was killed by white men while jogging in Georgia. “We’ve spoken their names aloud,” Biden said. “We chisel them onto our long-suffering hearts.”
Then Biden drew a longer arc. “It’s a list that dates back more than 400 years,” he said, calling upon the history of slavery, which he described as “the original sin of the country” that “still stains.” The consequences, he said, are “the norm black people deal with.” And he promised to “hold bad cops accountable” as part of an effort to address the systemic racism Black Americans experience.
Jennifer Rubin continues to hit the nail on the head. I’m blocked by WaPo’s paywall, but I can quote from this summary from Raw Story:
Trump has become the ‘invisible president’ as his poll numbers collapse with ‘breathtaking’ speed
Combining both the decision to sequester Donald Trump in a secure underground White House bunker due to the George Floyd protests outside the White House gates, along with his collapsing poll numbers, Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin said Trump is quickly becoming the “invisible president.”
According to the conservative, Trump’s polling collapse is “breathtaking” in light of an election that is just months away.
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The conservative columnist added, “…violence in the streets may deepen the two other crises occurring on Trump’s watch: the pandemic and the economic collapse,” before adding that we may not see the end of Trump’s freefall since he will likely make things even more problematic for himself.
“It is entirely possible that Trump’s performance will get even worse. A massive and disproportionate reaction from law enforcement, God forbid, may result in even more prolonged, destructive demonstrations. The longer Trump is viewed as overwhelmed by the explosion of racial animus and violence that he helped ignite, the greater the thirst for change,” she advised before warning voters to not become complacent.
Of course, since this column by Rubin was published on Monday, tRump’s performance has gotten worse, by a whole lot. And yes, our thirst for change is greater than ever.
More anti-tRump commentary from the punditry
Too late, but not too little: George Will is also weighing in, unusually powerfully. That WaPo paywall is blocking me from getting to the original op-ed, so here’s the summary from the CNN column by Chris Cillizza. I’m not fond of Cillizza, but it looks like he’s on the right page, too.
For the better part of the last four decades, George F. Will has been at the intellectual center of American conservatism. Now he is calling for a full-blown rout of the Republican Partyat the ballot box in November.
While Will has harsh words for Trump -- "this low-rent Lear raging on his Twitter-heath has proven that the phrase malignant buffoon is not an oxymoron" -- he saves his true condemnation for the members of Congress who have enabled the President.
"In life's unforgiving arithmetic, we are the sum of our choices. Congressional Republicans have made theirs for more than 1,200 days. We cannot know all the measures necessary to restore the nation's domestic health and international standing, but we know the first step: Senate Republicans must be routed, as condign punishment for their Vichyite collaboration, leaving the Republican remnant to wonder: Was it sensible to sacrifice dignity, such as it ever was, and to shed principles, if convictions so easily jettisoned could be dignified as principles, for ... what? Praying people should pray, and all others should hope: May I never crave anything as much as these people crave membership in the world's most risible deliberative body."
That is an absolutely stunning paragraph from anyone. That it is from one of the longtime leading minds of the conservative movement is all the more devastating.
It’s not surprising that Robert Reich has some extremely strong words about the *Resident, but they should have pretty wide impact given that they appear in Newsweek:
Trump's Presidency Is Over
You'd be forgiven if you hadn't noticed. His verbal bombshells are louder than ever, but Donald Trump is no longer president of the United States.
By having no constructive response to any of the monumental crises now convulsing America, Trump has abdicated his office.
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In reality, Donald Trump doesn't run the government of the United States. He doesn't manage anything. He doesn't organize anyone. He doesn't administer or oversee or supervise. He doesn't read memos. He hates meetings. He has no patience for briefings. His White House is in perpetual chaos.
His advisers aren't truth-tellers. They're toadies, lackeys, sycophants and relatives.
Since moving into the Oval Office in January 2017, Trump hasn't shown an ounce of interest in governing. He obsesses only about himself.
But it has taken the present set of crises to reveal the depths of his self-absorbed abdication—his utter contempt for his job, his total repudiation of his office.
Trump's nonfeasance goes far beyond an absence of leadership or inattention to traditional norms and roles. In a time of national trauma, he has relinquished the core duties and responsibilities of the presidency.
He is no longer president. The sooner we stop treating him as if he were, the better.
And I love this comment on the Conman-in-Chief’s faux photo-op by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), from a story on NBC:
Addressing Trump directly about the police tear-gassing peaceful demonstrators, Sen. Cortez Masto tweeted, "The Bible can’t help you if you don’t open it."
"He handled the Bible like the ape handled the bone in '2001:A Space Odyssey.'"
It’s an insult to apes, of course, but beautiful nonetheless.
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Musical break
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A classic photo, updated
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Good news from Portland
Portland does have a history of police killing black Portlanders, but this is definitely a hopeful sign:
Portland police officers kneel with protesters
From KGW Channel 8:
Some of the protesters got up to shake hands and high-five officers.
Ryan Ao said he was trying to get to his car which was parked in the area where a large, peaceful protest was happening on Sunday afternoon. He heard a lot of noise and went to see what was happening.
"I'm hearing a lot of cheering and all of a sudden I see some people hugging a police officer, and I'm like, 'What?'" Ao said. "So I come running down here to document this and I was just blown away.
"I think we saw a historic moment happen just now, where all kinds of protesters were hugging and high-fiving police officers, who took a knee with the protesters," Ao said.
And Portland had its first entirely peaceful demonstration on Monday night, which we all hope will continue Tuesday night (I won’t be up long enough to find out before this roundup is published). The Proud Boys and the other white supremacist criminals seem to have gone back to their lairs.
Other hopeful signs are these statements from Portland’s Police Chief Jami Resch and from Daryl Turner, the president of the Portland Police Association, as reported in Willamette Week:
“The actions and tactics displayed on the video do not represent our profession's values and are contrary to our fundamental duty to protect and serve," Resch said in a statement. "This incident strengthens our resolve to work even harder to earn the trust of our community, especially with persons of color."
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"What happened to George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of a police officer is revolting, incomprehensible, and unacceptable," Turner said in a Facebook post on Thursday. "What we saw in that video—Mr. Floyd pleading for his life—should send chills down the spine of every law enforcement officer and citizen in this country. This tragedy is inconsistent with our oath to protect and serve, it is inconsistent with the job entrusted to us by our communities, and it is in complete opposition to everything we are trained to do.”
Talk is cheap, so we’ll see if any real change happens.
A powerful gesture from Nike:
As Nike Released Its New Anti-Racism Ad, Its CEO Sent Out This Memo to Employees
From Willamette Week:
In a shift from its last three decades of advertising, [Nike] is imploring consumers to just not do it—in this case, that means not shying away from conversations about race.
In the ad, created by Portland firm Wieden + Kennedy, a series of phrases appear against a black background, inverting the sportswear giant's famous slogan: "For once, Don't Do It. Don't pretend there's not a problem in America. Don't turn your back on racism. Don't accept innocent lives being taken from us."
AdWeek compared the spot to other brands' attempts to address the unrest happening right now, calling it "the boldest step so far." Forbes praised the company for "sharing an honest and hopeful message with a country looking for some glimmers of optimism." The ad currently has 6.4 million views on Twitter.
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The morning Nike released the ad, its CEO sent a memo to all employees explaining the company's decision to take a political position. … "Let me be as clear as I can: Nike is opposed to bigotry," [John] Donahoe wrote. "We are opposed to hatred and inequality in all its forms, indirect and overt. While Nike cannot solve injustice, I believe we have a responsibility to work toward addressing it to the best of our ability."
Here’s the ad:
Good news from around the world is just a click away on a map created by a Portland man
From The Oregonian:
Worn out from the onslaught of bad news in the era of COVID-19, a Portland man set out to scour the world for good stories that lifted his spirits.
He found stories over the past few months and then created a website that features nothing but good news from places as far away from Portland as Mongolia, China and Angola.
When he launched the free site – Good stories from the pandemic – a few months ago, Mark Lawton considered it nothing more than a hobby. He hoped, at best, he might get 50 or so hits on his page.
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As of Thursday, his map at oneworld-stories.org had received more than 100,000 visitors from nearly every country in the world. He said stories on his map are now linked to 150 countries.
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Good news from Oregon
Oregon Worker Relief Fund Begins Distributing Cash to Immigrants Harmed by COVID-19
From Willamette Week:
A coalition of advocacy groups, including Causa Oregon, PCUN, the Latino Network, Innovation Law Lab, and the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon, announced today the distribution of $750,000 to workers financially harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic but not eligible for federal or state benefits because they are undocumented.
"Thousands of immigrant families in Oregon are facing economic hardship as a result of COVID-19," says Ricardo Lujan-Valerio, advocacy director at the Latino Network. "State reports show that Latinx people in Oregon have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic."
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In April, the Oregon Legislature appropriated $10 million for the fund; foundations have committed $1.5 million and the city of Portland $250,000. The money will go to workers infected with the coronavirus and to families who demonstrate the greatest need through an application process.
And the Governor took further action:
"Oregon's agricultural workers are on the front lines during this COVID-19 crisis, working to provide food for Oregon families," Brown said in a statement. "This investment will bring essential resources to agricultural producers and farmworkers, providing critical resources to keep workers safe and mitigate COVID-19 outbreaks while protecting the food supply chain."
Film about well-known Astoria homeless man brings community together during pandemic
From KGW Channel 8:
Here’s a link to the video, which I’m unable to embed: kgw.com/…
And here’s the accompanying story:
This is the unlikely story of how a man known as "Helmet John," for the red motorcycle helmet he sometimes wears for protection from unseen forces, is helping his community [in Astoria, OR] rediscover what home is.
...Under Gov. Kate Brown's stay-home order, people were sheltering in their houses.
For John Albert Wedell, a man without a house who sleeps on the city streets, he was home.
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The 73-year-old Wedell has been offered shelter, but has chosen to live life his own way for now... How exactly he ended up homeless, no one really knows. But, there's a lot more to Wedell than his current circumstances.
"I have a master's in physics at Berkeley, a master's of business at New York University Business School, so I have enough theoretical background to know what's going on here," he said.
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[Filmmaker Jeff] Daly followed Wedell for weeks, day and night, chronicling his life during the coronavirus outbreak, in a 30 minute-documentary.
The documentary was projected onto the blank wall of a building next to an abandoned parking lot in which Astoria’s homeless population often congregates. John’s homeless friends attended, as well as a large crowd who watched from their cars. Volunteers sold candy and accepted donations, keeping their distance using a basket on a pole. Three screenings over three weekends raised $6500 for the local chapter of United Way. As an Astoria police officer interviewed in the film put it, “Astoria is John's home. Home is where you're loved.”
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Good news from around the nation
This is excellent news, and Wonkette’s Robyn Pennacchia puts it in the appropriate context:
Keith Ellison Prosecuting George Floyd's Murderer
From Wonkette:
There are a lot of things that make it difficult to send police officers to prison for "misconduct," such as killing unarmed black people. There's racism in general, there's the fact that police officers are often not particularly inclined to arrest and charge one of their own, and then there's what happens in court, if and when they ever get that far. You've got a jury full of people who have very good reason to be scared that if they find the officers guilty, they will suddenly find themselves and their families being targeted by the police. Then you've got the prosecutors. District attorneys who, far more often than not, are on the side of police officers and who need to work with them and have a relationship with them in order to do their job. A district attorney who does not go along and get along with cops is going to have a pretty tough career.
Thus, it is a pretty good thing that Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a man whose street cred and reputation very much do not depend on making racist police officers happy, will be taking the lead in prosecuting Derek Chauvin, the now former Minneapolis police officer who killed George Floyd. Governor Tim Walz said he appointed Ellison at the request of Floyd's family and community activists — who were damn smart in pushing for it. Sometimes you just need a wartime consiglieri.
BTW, I haven’t seen this pointed out anywhere: Chauvin, the officer who murdered George Floyd, shares the name of the man who inspired the word “chauvinism,” defined as “extreme patriotism and nationalism and a belief in national superiority [and] the superiority or dominance of one's own group or people.”
Chief Art Acevedo continues to be a model for police chiefs everywhere:
[Houston] Police chief Acevedo wants to give police escort for George Floyd's funeral
From ABC13:
The Houston Police Department wants to give George Floyd's funeral a police escort, said Chief Art Acevedo.
"Give us that honor," Acevedo said during a rally on Sunday for the Houston native who died in police custody.
The department will use a high level of security to transport Floyd's body, comparable to when an officer dies in line of duty, the chief said.
He said he will provide more details at a rally scheduled for Tuesday, June 2 where protesters will march to City Hall.
Floyd's body will be laid to rest in Houston, Mayor Sylvester Turner said in a press conference on Saturday.
"This is the same city that George Floyd grew up," Turner said. "And his body will be returning to this city -- to his city.”
And in an interview on Monday, Chief Acevedo had the perfect retort to tRump’s rant to the governors: “If you don’t have something constructive to say, keep your mouth shut.” Amen!
This is a powerful statement from a sitting Congressman. Let’s have more of this kind of courage! I’m quoting it in full because every word counts.
‘Lay down your arms’: Bronze Star-decorated veteran in Congress urges military to ‘be on the right side of history’
From Raw Story:
The United States military received a message from a decorated Congressman that would have seemed unthinkable just a week ago.
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) served four tours of duty in Iraq, receiving the Bronze Star Medal and the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for valor.
Since 2015, Moulton has served as a member of Congress. On Monday, he made a plea to his former colleagues in uniform.
“We are a nation founded in dissent, birthed in freedom, committed to equality, and yet regularly reminded that we struggle to achieve all three,” Moulton tweeted.
“The President has made it clear that the fight for these Constitutional principles is a fight against himself,” he explained. “We must therefore, with every ounce of conviction, every commitment to peace, and every glimmer of hope, join in lawful protest to overcome his tyranny.”
“And if he chooses to abuse the military as a tyrant would do—to stifle dissent, suppress freedom, and cement inequality—then I call on all our proud young men & women in uniform, as a veteran and a patriot, to lay down your arms, uphold your oath, and join this new march for freedom,” he urged.
“Be on the right side of history: the side of patriots, of our Constitution, of our flag, and of our freedom,” Moulton explained.
I’m a very enthusiastic fan of the Internet Archive and I’m a music lover, so this story warmed my heart.
A happy ending for Seattle’s Bop Street Records: [The Internet Archive] buys up the entire collection
From the Seattle Times:
When Dave Voorhees, owner of Seattle’s Bop Street Records, announced last month that the store was closing at the end of June in part because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to sell his enormous collection of 500,000 recordings, sales he had hoped would fund his retirement.
This past Sunday, Voorhees stopped worrying. A San Francisco nonprofit called the Internet Archive agreed to purchase the entire collection, sight unseen.
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Bop Street Records opened in 1979 and has been in Ballard since 1984. In 2011, it was named by The Wall Street Journal as one of the five best record stores in America.
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...the Internet Archive is not another record store or collector looking to turn a profit, but a library that intends to digitize the recordings and put them online, where they can be streamed for free. Founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle, who pioneered internet publishing before the advent of the World Wide Web, the Internet Archive is a nonprofit library of free books, movies, software, music and websites that, according to its homepage, has already archived 4.5 million audio recordings, 20 million books and 330 billion web pages.
From homeless refugee to chess prodigy, 9-year-old dreams of becoming youngest grandmaster
From ESPN:
The first day of the 2019 New York State Scholastic Chess Championship had just ended, and [8-year-old Tani Adewumi] finished with three wins in as many matches, surprising a former champion and two other seeded players.
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The next day, Tani won his fourth match, no sweat. In the semifinal, Tani did something unorthodox: He purposely sacrificed his bishop for a pawn. … It appeared to be a blunder, but Tani knew exactly what he was doing. He remembered studying a 19th-century chess game played by the legendary Paul Morphy, and he knew if he could bait his opponent into taking his bishop, he could win the game.
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Tani is no ordinary chess player. And his journey isn't ordinary, either. Fifteen months earlier, his family had settled into a New York City homeless shelter after fleeing Nigeria. Thirteen months earlier, he couldn't tell a rook from a pawn. That March day, after drawing in the final, he was crowned a state champion. They didn't know it then, but Tani's 8-year-old brain and its ability to think 20 moves ahead on an 8-by-8 chessboard were about to change the Adewumis' lives forever.
"That moment was everything," [Tani’s coach Shawn] Martinez says. "I knew then he was meant for greatness.”
The full story is really inspiring – I encourage you to read it all the way through.
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Good news from around the world
People all over the world are standing with us as we express our outrage:
‘We Are All George Floyd’: Global Anger Grows Over a Death in Minneapolis
From the NY Times:
On the streets of Berlin and Vancouver, in halls of power in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Beijing, a chorus of criticism has erupted alongside the unrest in the United States over the death of George Floyd. … Paired with the global anger at American police violence in some cities has been another demand: that lawmakers heed the signs of racism and police abuse in their own countries.
Demonstrators in London, Paris, Berlin, and Toronto drew connections between Floyd’s murder and similar incidents in their cities. It’s good news any time racism is called out anywhere in the world.
EU Plans to Raise $22 Billion Annually to Protect 30% of Land and Oceans for Biodiversity
From Good News Network:
The European Commission (EC) has made a concrete pledge to enshrine 30% of the EU’s land and oceans as protected zones by 2030. To reach this end they plan to raise 20 billion euro ($22 billion) every year for the next 10 years from private and public sources—both the EU climate fund and national budgets.
The EC believes that recovery from COVID-19 with biodiversity in mind will be key to restoring the health of both the environment and the economy.
The proposed strategy focuses on establishing binding targets to restore damaged ecosystems and rivers and bringing back pollinators to agricultural land, while reducing pollution, greening its cities, enhancing organic and biodiverse farming.
In its effort to improve forest health, part of the plan is to implement stricter protections and restoration projects for the remaining primary and old growth forests of Europe as early as next year.
Spotlight on soil: farming returns to its roots [in the UK]
From Positive News:
[Farmer Fred] Price is part of a growing wave of farmers who are swapping conventional, chemical-heavy farming practices for regenerative agriculture: a system of farming that prioritises soil health, helping to boost biodiversity as well as sequester carbon back into the ground.
If Price’s experience is not yet familiar to other UK farmers, it could be soon. The new agriculture bill, currently going through parliament, pledges to reward farmers for environmental benefits, such as improved air and water quality, higher animal welfare standards or measures to reduce flooding.
“Until about two years ago, the UK was not really on the bandwagon [of regenerative agriculture],” says Abby Rose, who is part of the team that produces the Farmerama podcast and a co-founder of Vidacycle, which uses tech to support small-scale farmers. “But since the idea of public money for public goods came in as the alternative option for farmers getting paid their subsidies, it’s completely turned around.
“It’s quite a radical moment, I would say, in the UK farming community today. And it’s really exciting. Many farmers are asking, ‘How is my business going to go forward?’ and the answer in many people’s minds is: I have to be building soil health. That is the root of regenerative agriculture.”
What I find most exciting is the replacement of farm subsidies with payments for improving the environment and animal welfare. It would be wonderful if that could happen here!
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Hot lynx
www.businessinsider.com/...Bus drivers and their unions are refusing to transport protesters arrested by police.
www.nytimes.com/...How a Minnesota Bail Fund Raised $20 Million. “Everyone around the world is ready for justice,” Tonja Honsey, the executive director of the fund, said on Friday. “They’re ready for real change, and they’re supporting that.”
www.newyorker.com/...Soundtrack to a lost New York. A sweet story about how the NY Public Library put together a soundtrack of the sounds silenced by the pandemic lockdown.
www.bbc.com/...Coronavirus: 'Galapagos wildlife getting me through lockdown' I can’t imagine a more idyllic place to be during the pandemic! One lucky Scotsman is spending lockdown on Isabella Island in the Galapagos.
www.nytimes.com/… A Boy, a Bear and a Close Call in the Mountains of Italy. A 12-year-old boy shows amazing presence of mind after he startles a large bear. Includes video!
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Closing music
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Thanks to each and every Gnusie for your smarts, your hearts, and your faithful attendance at our daily Gathering of the Herd.
❤️💙 RESIST, PERSIST, REBUILD, REJOICE!💙❤️