Good day, Gnusies! We are in the thick of probably one of the worst years any of us have ever experienced and still we have music, humor, friendship and hope. And good news, too! At the bookstore a few weeks before the shutdown started, I noticed how many WW2 era books were out — histories yes, but also novels. Dozens of novels set during the war. Also tv shows. And I thought (at the time) well, things are bad but at least they are not that bad!
And, well, now a couple of months into a pandemic, with the same benighted “leader” and even more challenging months stretching out ahead of us, I am not so sure if the comparison is so far off. We are living through a time that is like the 1918 pandemic and the Great Depression smushed together. And with the ever present threat of geopolitical conflict hanging over our heads, not to mention civil unrest. It’s pretty daunting.
And I think of how anxious people must have been in WW2 or during the Depression and also how they endured it and eventually rebuilt.
It is human nature to feel anxious as world events seem to be spinning out of control. And it is also human nature to survive and avoid catastrophe if at all possible. Not only us, but people all over the world want to survive and thrive. That’s a basic truth that we ought not to forget. So, on a basic human level, we are allied with billions all over the world who want to survive and thrive, and who do not want war or economic disaster.
Remembering that fact is one step toward recapturing confidence that we can get through this awful time together (but apart! 😅) and with hard work and determination, we will not only survive this but thrive after, as we repair and rebuild and make things better.
Goody posts a picture with some words of wisdom that I love (found it! pictured above). It pinpoints exactly why I am so hopeful and even excited about the future, even when I am anxious and sad about what we are going through right now. There will be no going back to the way things were before. The curtain has been completely ripped away to reveal that none of the cruelties we have been living with were “fiscally necessary” and the people who really are essential are often the lowest paid ones (which must change). People see the lies that kept us quiet as inequality grew and more and more was taken from the public purse to line private interests’ pockets. We won’t be going back to that like before. There will be changes, just as life and society changed after the Depression and WW2.
There is another way that we can take inspiration from people who lived through WW2. Their leadership encouraged them to carry on with as much good cheer as possible, have courage, show faith in one another and be prepared to make sacrifices in the effort to secure a better, safer world. We don’t have that leadership today in the White House, but we have it among ourselves. People have reserves of strength they never knew they had, and it is times like these which tap those reserves. This movement is strong and we are millions strong. Together, we will ride out this “war” we are enduring and we will prevail.
Let’s start off with a musical offering from the WW2 era (and which, in this time of isolation, really seems to have dual meaning).
Here’s another version (recent, ensemble) of the classic song below, but I prefer the original:
👾 Dumpy is Decompensating 👾
Dumpy has been experiencing stress and pressure in the extreme (nearly all caused by or exacerbated by his own actions) — in addition to repeated narcissistic injuries (ie, blows to his ego) also a result of his own actions and peoples’ reactions to them— and he is now showing signs of decompensating.
When a person with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) like Drumpf is stressed, they begin to lose the ability to mimic “normal” behavior and their masks slip a little to reveal the disordered individual underneath the fake persona. If the stressors are severe and if the pressure becomes unrelenting (commonly a string of failures in work or personal life) the NPD individual might begin the psychological breakdown called “decompensation”. Decompensation means that due to stress, the NPD person can not keep up his usual defenses (ie. the tricks he uses to “compensate” for his deficiencies: alternate reality; lying to himself and others, etc) to calm himself. With the false self-image crumbling, he is unable to hide the personality disturbance and instability.
A Total Mess: WH Suddenly Backpedals And Decides Trump Will Hold Briefing After All, Cristina Cabrera, TPM, April 27, 2020.
After President Donald Trump declined to hold any coronavirus press briefings over the weekend, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said during a Fox News interview on Monday morning that Trump also would not be holding a briefing later in the day.
Then in a sudden whiplash, McEnany announced several hours later that Trump would do a briefing on Monday evening after all.
“UPDATE: The White House has additional testing guidance and other announcements about safely opening up America again,” the press secretary tweeted. “President @realDonaldTrump will brief the nation during a press conference this evening.” ✄
Shortly before the press secretary made the announcement, Trump fired off several tweets ranting about the “hostile Lamestream Media” being “THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE” on Monday morning.
Coverage like the story below — honest coverage of real things the Pretender has done and real words he has uttered — are helping push the narcissist-in-chief toward emotional collapse.
Trump’s Disinfectant Remark Raises a Question About the ‘Very Stable Genius’, Matt Flegenheimer, New York Times, April 26, 2020.
No modern American politician can match Mr. Trump’s record of false or illogical statements, which has invited questions about his intelligence. Insinuations and gaffes have trailed former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Dan Quayle and Joseph R. Biden Jr., now the presumptive Democratic nominee, among many others. But Mr. Trump’s stark pronouncement — on live television, amid a grave public health crisis, and leaving little room for interpretation — was at once in a class of its own and wholly consistent with a reputation for carelessness in speech. ✄
Carlos Curbelo, a Republican former Florida congressman who clashed at times with Mr. Trump and did not vote for him, said the president’s comments on disinfectants were likely to resonate precisely because he was running a race premised largely on Mr. Biden’s mental capacity.
“Given Joe Biden’s gaffes and mistakes, I think the Trump campaign had a strong narrative there,” he said. “At the very least, that advantage was completely erased.”
Mr. Curbelo said a friend had suggested recently that Mr. Trump’s toxic virus idea was “the craziest thing he ever said.”
“I said, ‘I don’t know,’” Mr. Curbelo recalled. “‘Maybe. I’d have to look back and check.’”
And this: The Latest Injection of Trump Tweets Won’t Cure His Embarrassment, Dave Gilson, Mother Jones, April 26, 2020.
As Americans continued to roll their eyes at his comments about injecting disinfectant to kill the coronavirus, President Donald Trump mainlined a fresh dose of misinformation and grievance into his Twitter stream yesterday.
First, he continued to try to relitigate his widely mocked press briefing on last Thursday, claiming his widely mocked suggestions were not directed at Dr. Deborah Birx, the response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, but William Bryan, the Department of Homeland Security undersecretary for science and technology. ✄
Next, Trump suggested that he’d soured on press briefings because the media “refuses to report the truth of facts accurately.” (By the way, the quotes in the previous paragraph are verbatim from the White House website.) Nearly a month ago, he’d bragged that his daily briefings had made him “a ratings hit.” Now Republicans are worried that his briefings are hurting them politically; one senator told the New York Times “the nightly sessions were so painful he could not bear watching any longer.”
And never forget how much legal jeopardy Dumpy is in. He hoped to pack the SCOTUS to be his last line of defense in case he could not fend off congress, the federal justice department or state justice departments with his usual feints, fixers and now Barr. However, a surprise order from the SCOTUS on Monday has possibly dire implications for Dumpy — maybe now that they are securely ensconced on SCOTUS, his handpicked top court fixers are not inclined to step in to protect him:
The Supreme Court Just Issued an Unexpected Order in the Trump Taxes Case, Russ Choma, Mother Jones, April 27, 2020.
On Monday, the Supreme Court issued a new ruling, asking that all of the parties in the case submit new arguments on the issue of “the political question doctrine or related justiciability principles”—a fancy way to say the Court wants to know whether this is a real legal question or just a political bickering match that doesn’t deserve a Supreme Court decision. It was an odd request, and not one that had been widely expected—and it’s not clear exactly how it would play out. The Court may well determine that it is not a political question and that it can go on to address the president’s appeal. But if the court does decide to step back—and among the early reactions to the latest ruling, some have suggested that the Court is looking for a way out of having to answer the question—it might not be great for Trump.
For starters, Trump is the one arguing that the Supreme Court step in to help him. If it backs away from this case, it means the Court is refusing to interfere with the Congressional subpoenas. Also, the banks being targeted by congressional investigators have indicated they will comply with legal subpoenas; a spokesman for Deutsche Bank reaffirmed Monday that “we remain committed to cooperating with authorized investigations.”
I think you can reliably expect that if SCOTUS declines to rule on his case (leaving in place the lower court ruling enforcing the subpoenas), the pResident will lash out against the justices and in particular against the two that he ensconced therein, for failing to protect him. That could be something to behold.
For a quick review of the cases coming up regarding Dumpy’s finances, here is a helpful thread (click on the blue bird):
Should We worry As Dumpy Decompensates?
Some people worry a lot about Dumpy somehow masterminding some sort of machiavellian coup over all of us, congress and the entire country if he is backed into a corner. I think it’s important to balance these understandable fears with knowledge of this man’s remarkable intellectual limitations and his utterly predictable behavior. He is not capable of strategy nor is he able to rally allies to his side. He is incapable of behaving in any coherent way to help himself, because of his severe personality disorder.
The only reason he has not been ousted yet is because he is being propped up by the egregiously corrupt Greedy Obstructionist Plutocrats who thought they could use him indefinitely to bring about the theocratic autocracy they long for. But now they, too, are getting uneasy and they, too, have much to lose as this house of cards comes tumbling down. PLUS they are, in turn, propped up by Putin and the Russian oligarchs (as is the liar-in-chief). But the Russians, also, are in deep doo-doo and are scrambling as their economy tanks due to Putin’s miscalculation in the oil market and now covid-19 is ravaging Russia’s people, too. It’s a mess and although it will get messier (be strong and carry on!), we are going to emerge from this with an opportunity to rebuild this country better than ever, and hopefully the rest of the world will likewise have a chance to reset.
Remember: no one is superhuman. These are all dirty rotten crooked bad news boors. But they are still only human. They cannot wield magic and somehow supernaturally vanquish us. It’s important to remember that when, in our darkest moments, it seems that they hold all the power and can somehow manage to win every battle. They don’t, and they won’t. We are the majority. People who want justice are the majority. We will defeat them at the polls in a vast blue tsunami and then we will hit the ground running to repair the damage they’ve done.
‘TV cameras are oxygen to Donald Trump’: CNN’s John Harwood reveals why the president flip-flopped on briefings, Bob Brigham, Raw Story, April 27, 2020.
“Of course he can’t stay away, TV cameras are oxygen to Donald Trump,” Harwood said.
“He was chastened by what happened last Thursday when he made that crazy statement about disinfectants and injecting them into the body and light and all that sort of stuff. He was made a figure of mockery, he walked out on Friday without taking questions and didn’t appear at briefings over the weekend,” he explained. “But Donald Trump’s ego is such that he thinks he can talk himself out of these situations and so he was out there again today, having said he wasn’t going to be.”
🎶 We Know Drumpf 🎶
Late Addition: For a historical perspective, check out FrankDiPrima’s diary on the Jon Meacham interview with Brian Williams last night:
Presidential Historian jon Meacham Nails It: Trump Admin is a “Mad, Disfunctional Kingship”
... in every chapter, the burden of Meacham’s argument is that our nation has risen above forces of intolerance before (though they keep returning) and has overcome crises as bad as Trump.
In its analytical section on the foul, lying, slanderous Senator Joe McCarthy, The Soul of America argues that what really did McCarthy in was overexposure. As I personally well remember, there was a 24 hour news cycle then, as now, but back then it was mainly the daily morning papers and the network evening news (this was pre-Huntley-Brikley and pre-Crokite). Generally, both these media — morning newspapers and evening news — had deadlines, and they were both at about 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
McCarthy would put out something outrageously slanderous just in time for the deadline, saying he was going to investigate it or him or her. The reporters never got to ask what happened to the previous day’s slander because by the next day McCarthy was making up something entirely different. That is what Trump does; when things get bad enough, he changes the narrative by saying or doing something worse. Meacham believed, and even quotes McCarthy’s (and later Trump’s) vile ex-lawyer, Roy Cohn, as saying that the public just got sick of McCarthy from over-exposure. The Army-McCarthy hearings were the culmination of that over-exposure, not the sole cause.
🐘 Republicans in DIsarray 🐘
Click through on the link to read this article about the chaotic back and forth between the tRump campaign and the NRSC (Republican Senate campaign org). Republicans are in disarray. They tried to distance themselves — and advised their candidates to do so — which drew the Dumpian ire and then they bowed and scraped and fell in line (at least outwardly). Meanwhile, Parscale and company insist that the Pretender “enjoys unprecedented support among Republican voters” which may be true but it may not be equally true that “everyone on the ballot in November will want to tap into that enthusiasm”, since diehard Republican voter support is not enough to actually win the election — and these guys want to win. Good luck with walking that plank, boys!:
Trump campaign lashes out over 'Don't defend Trump' memo, Alex Isenstadt, Politico, April 27, 2020.
On Monday — just days after POLITICO first reported the existence of the memo — Trump political adviser Justin Clark told NRSC executive director Kevin McLaughlin that any Republican candidate who followed the memo’s advice shouldn’t expect the active support of the reelection campaign and risked losing the support of Republican voters.
McLaughlin responded by saying he agreed with the Trump campaign’s position and, according to two people familiar with the conversation, clarified that the committee wasn’t advising candidates to not defend Trump over his response. ✄
The memo urged GOP Senate candidates to stay relentlessly on message with attacks against China, where the coronavirus originated, when pressed about the pandemic on the campaign trail. When asked about Trump’s response to the pandemic, the document advised candidates to pivot to an attack on the authoritarian country rather than offer an explicit defense of Trump’s response.
But the Trump team didn’t take kindly to the guidance…
“Candidates will listen to the bad advice in this memo at their own peril,” he added. “President Trump enjoys unprecedented support among Republican voters and everyone on the ballot in November will want to tap into that enthusiasm. The president’s campaign, the RNC, and the NRSC are firmly on the same page here.”
Kansas Republicans in Panic Mode, too
Kansas Republicans are petrified that if Kris Kobach wins the primary, they will lose the Senate seat to Democrat state Sen Bollier. Concerned that having several candidates running in the primary would split the vote and allow Kobach to win, they tried to get two of them to drop out.
Kansas GOP chair asks Wagle and Lindstrom to drop out of Senate race for good of party, Brian Lowry, Kansas City Star, April 23, 2020.
In nearly identical April 23 letters to Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle and former Johnson County Commissioner Dave Lindstrom, Kuckelman cited poor fundraising and polling data to argue that the candidates lack a viable path to the Republican nomination to replace retiring GOP Sen. Pat Roberts.
Kuckelman told the candidates that continuing their campaigns will endanger the party’s ability to hold the seat in November after eight decades of dominance in Senate races. ✄
Golden said the decision to ask the candidates to drop out was partly motivated by Bollier’s strong fundraising. The Johnson County Democrat, who left the Republican party in late 2018, raised nearly $2.4 million during the first three months of 2020, a record for candidates of either party in the GOP-leaning state.
🇺🇸 Democratic Governors Filling the Leadership Vacuum 🇺🇸
Once again, Dumpy and his sycophants have punted to the states — because they are incompetent — and that’s only good news because we are better off having states in charge than this incompetent trainwreck of a maladminstration controlling all of this:
White House issues coronavirus testing guidance that leaves states in charge, Mike DeBonis, Chris Mooney and Juliet Ellperin, Washington Post, April 27, 2020.
Pressure mounted Monday on the White House and Congress to develop a national strategy to test Americans for exposure to the novel coronavirus, as health and economic experts said the current patchwork of testing efforts is insufficient to allow the economy to reopen safely.
State governors, congressional leaders and public health officials have pressed for a robust testing plan from the federal government, insisting that frequent and widespread testing is crucial to ending the stay-at-home orders that have idled businesses across much of the country.
President Trump responded Monday by announcing what the White House called a “blueprint” for increasing testing capacity. But it leaves the onus on states to develop their own plans and rapid-response programs. A White House document said the federal role would include “strategic direction and technical assistance,” as well as the ability to “align laboratory testing supplies and capacity with existing and anticipated laboratory needs.”
Gov. Whitmer in Michigan is blunt about the reality of federal dereliction of duty, as she rises to meet the challenge:
We really are on our own here’ in fight against coronavirus, says Michigan governor, Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post, April 27, 2020.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.) is among the many governors trying to balance her state’s economic well-being and its public health. After instituting one of the strictest stay-at-home orders in the country, she relaxed some of the restrictions but extended the order through May 15. But Whitmer isn’t being reckless.
“I took actions to keep people safe, and they’re more restrictive than other states, but I thought that it was absolutely essential,” Whitmer told me during an interview for my podcast “Cape Up” the day before her announcement. “After a few weeks of the stay-at-home posture, we have seen our trajectory really start to flatten. We’ve saved lives.” When we spoke last Thursday, she pointed out that Michigan had the third-highest covid-19 death count in the nation. ✄
Whitmer’s decisive actions and the ire it earned from Trump and his supporters now has her name bandied about as a possible vice presidential candidate with former vice president Joe Biden, who said his running mate would be a woman. The latest Fox News poll of the Michigan electorate shows that a Biden-Whitmer ticket would beat Trump by six percentage points. Unlike other potential contenders, such as Stacey Abrams of Georgia, the first-term governor and long-time Great Lakes State politician wouldn’t take the bait.
As we move ahead in dealing with the threat of the corona virus, we all understand that we cannot lock down society indefinitely. The way forward to restarting life outside of our homes is not yet clear, and Democratic governors will lead the way there, too, with thoughtful plans. In New York, Gov. Cuomo today announced the plan for a phased-in, gradual reopening:
As NY COVID-19 deaths drop, Cuomo outlines regional restarts, Marina Villeneuve, Karen Matthews and Michael Hill, AP News, April 27, 2020.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo outlined how stay-at-home restrictions could be eased for parts of the state. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that city-run health clinics will soon use a testing procedure that lets people collect samples themselves at a health care worker’s direction. The city also will close 40 miles of streets to cars next month to give pedestrians more room to move outside.
Regional officials aiming to re-open their economies next month should make sure testing is up to speed and that there are enough local hospital beds available, Cuomo said.
The governor outlined re-opening guidelines as statewide hospitalization rates and deaths continue to decline from peaks earlier this month. The 337 deaths recorded statewide Sunday was the lowest daily tally this month and down from a high of 799 on April 8. More than 17,000 people have died in New York since the start of the outbreak.
Meanwhile, Gov. Cuomo is also addressing the appalling waste of farm products while food banks face unprecedented demand:
N.Y. farmers cheer Cuomo plan to send excess milk to food banks, Denis Slattery, New York Daily News, April 27, 2020.
The governor is connecting overburdened food banks with New York farmers who have been forced to dump excess products as the coronavirus outbreak has dampened demand for dairy. ✄
The COVID-19 crisis has wreaked havoc on the economy and left thousands of state residents out of work, which has increased demand on food banks. At the same time, the shuttering of schools and restaurants to help stem the spread of the deadly virus has led upstate dairy farmers to toss surplus milk, cheese and yogurt.✄
The state will work with farmers to purchase products and send them to food banks while upstate-based companies such as Chobani and Cabot Cheese have agreed to distribute their excess products to food banks and those in need, the governor said.
🎶 Thank You, Dem Governors 🎶
Sadly, Bill Withers passed away in early April of heart disease. I’d like to honor him by playing this live version of him performing one of his beautiful songs.
⚖ Justice ⚖
Supreme Court To Government: Pay Obamacare Insurers, Nina Totenberg, NPR News, April 27, 2020.
The U.S. Supreme Court has told the federal government that it has to pay $12 billion to insurance companies, money that was promised in the Affordable Care Act as part of the start-up costs of Obamacare in the first three years of its existence.
The law, as enacted, promised to limit profits and losses for insurance companies in the first three years of the Obamacare program. Some companies made more money than allowed by the formula, and had to pay some back to the government, and other companies lost money and were owed money by the government under the formula.
But in 2014, the first year that the ACA's plan was in place, the Republican-controlled Congress reneged on the promise to appropriate money for the companies that had lost money. It did the same for the next two years as well, adding to appropriation bills a rider that barred the government from fulfilling the promise in the statute. After President Trump was elected, his administration supported the GOP-led refusal to pay.
In 6-3 decision, Supreme Court Throws Out Gun Rights Case, Mark Sherman, AP News, April 27, 2020.
The justices threw out a challenge from gun rights groups. It ruled that the city’s move to ease restrictions on taking licensed, locked and unloaded guns outside the city limits, coupled with a change in state law to prevent New York from reviving the ban, left the court with nothing to decide. The court asked a lower court to consider whether the city’s new rules still pose problems for gun owners.
The anti-climactic end to the Supreme Court case is a disappointment to gun rights advocates and relief to gun control groups who thought a conservative Supreme Court majority fortified by two appointees of President Donald Trump, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, might use the case to expand on landmark decisions from a decade ago that established a right to keep a gun at home for self-defense.
Gorsuch joined Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas in dissenting from the dismissal. Kavanaugh wrote a brief concurring opinion in which he agreed with the result, but also said the court should take up another guns case soon.
☁️ From the Silver Linings Department ☁️
Still, maybe Gorsuch won’t be totally bad after all. I mean, yes, he’s bad (see above decision, plus I am pretty sure that given the chance he would vote to overturn Roe)), but maybe not TOTALLY bad. If we are stuck with him, I’m going to look for the silver lining:
Here is an excerpt in his own words (Justice Gorsuch wrote the decision for the majority):
And in good news for JUSTICE writ large, Justice Sotomayor reminded everyone that we have yet to “grapple” with the history of racial bigotry in the justice system (now that’s an understatement, Sister Prejean, but glad to see it!).
💲Business News 💲
I saw this story and then I ordered some pictures books for my grandbaby! Bonus: it looks like their standard shipping is via USPS. 😊
The little book sellers that could: How indie stores managed to take a slice of Amazon business, Sindya N. Bhanoo, Washington Post, April 24, 2020.
In January, before life in America was upended by the coronavirus, a start-up called Bookshop.org launched a beta site to sell books online. Its goal was simple: to slice off a sliver of Amazon’s giant share of book sales and push it toward indie bookstores, which have long struggled to maintain footing in the business.
In its first month, Bookshop brought in about $50,000 in revenue, and distributed a modest $10,000 to member bookstores. That number changed radically in March, when hundreds of bookstores shuttered their physical doors and signed up with Bookshop. Total sales are at about $4.5 million, with more than $870,000 of that going to stores, said Andy Hunter, Bookshop’s founder. ✄
These businesses may not beat Amazon at its own game, but with some creativity and customer goodwill, they might survive the crisis and come out with some much-needed upgrades. (Amazon chief executive and founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post).
“We don’t have to beat Amazon. We don’t even have to come anywhere close to Amazon,” said Hunter, who has other jobs as the publisher of a small press called Catapult and the book website Literary Hub. “My goal is to get just 1 percent of Amazon’s sales.”
🌎 International News 🌍
New Zealand is beginning a phased exit from lockdown, thanks to a strategy that has successfully flattened the curve of covid-19 cases in the country.
Coronavirus: New Zealand claims no community cases as lockdown eases, BBC News, April 27, 2020.
With new cases in single figures for several days - one on Sunday - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the virus was "currently" eliminated.
But officials have warned against complacency, saying it does not mean a total end to new coronavirus cases.
The news came hours before New Zealand moved out of its toughest level of social restrictions. ✄
"We are opening up the economy, but we're not opening up people's social lives," Ms Ardern said at the daily government briefing.
New Zealand has reported fewer than 1,500 confirmed or probable cases of coronavirus and 19 deaths.
Meanwhile, lucky lucky Belgians are being urged to eat more fries — for the good of the country! Yes, it is their duty as patriots to eat more fries! Lucky ducks!
Coronavirus: Belgians urged to eat more chips by lockdown-hit potato growers, BBC News, April 27, 2020.
Belgians are well known for loving chips (frites), often with a big dollop of mayonnaise, but hard-up farmers now want them to eat chips twice a week.
Romain Cools of the potato growers' union Belgapom presented it as a matter of survival, as a major export sector fears ruin in the coronavirus crisis.
About 750,000 tonnes of potatoes are piled up in Belgian warehouses, as the lockdown has sent orders plummeting.
"Let's all eat chips twice a week, instead of just once," Mr Cools urged.
(nifty: YES PLEASE!! 😜)
💐 Regular People Being Excellent To Each Other 💐
Chicago Florist Brightening Peoples’ Day
Here’s my local news contribution for today!
In the Near North Side neighborhood of Chicago there is a longtime flower shop (closed right now, obviously, but still doing online and curbside business), LaSalle Flower Shop. By their front door they’ve set up a small table and a box with a sign saying “Take one for you and a friend”.
Inside the box was potpourri (which is a lovely scented product made from the petals of flowers). According to a person at the shop, everything is so hard for everyone right now that the shop wanted to give a little something to the community to brighten peoples’ day. The box was empty by the time they were finishing up for the day at 2:00, but they expect to have more on offer tomorrow.
I called them to find out more about this and I learned from Margot, who was working in the office still, that they’ve been doing this for awhile and they plan to continue as long as they can. Indeed, LaSalle Flowers is also planning to deliver flowers to nurses at local hospitals next week for Nurse’s Day. (Wednesday, May 6). I asked if this was something they are doing on their own or have they done a fundraiser or perhaps have a sponsor? No sponsor, Margot said. It is just something the shop wants to do to support our nurses.
They are also working on something special to do for Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day is, of course, one of the biggest days of the year for florists but this flower shop also wants to give back this year, even as business is so curtailed due to the pandemic. I was so delighted by this story that I decided I had to share it with you all today. If you happen to be local in Chicago or know someone in Chicago you’d like to send flowers to, I encourage you to consider sending some business their way.
Thanks to Margot and David and everyone at LaSalle Flower Shop for being excellent to your neighbors!
Thanks to buglady99 for this next lovely story:
Florida Keys Couple Making a Difference
They wanted to help Key West locals hurt by the COVID-19 crisis, so they dug deep, Gwen Filosa, Miami Herald, April 25, 2020.
Scott and Sonja Miller wanted to help people in Key West who are among the hardest hit by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
So the couple on Friday paid the May rent for 52 residents who call the ocean home.
“We’re blessed to have the resources to do it,” Scott Miller said on Friday. “More importantly, we did it to hopefully inspire others to do so.” ✄
“I have a job, I have lots of work,” said Miller, 60, a civil engineer who relocated his firm from Arkansas to Key West about a year ago.
“But this whole town effectively is shut down,” he said. “A lot of people need some help. Why not share? It’s one of the reasons we moved here, that’s the beauty of this place.”
🎶 Pluto Sending All Her Lovin’ 🎶
⚡️ Lightning RoundUp ⚡️
⚡️ Salon writer/Congressional Candidate Makes Powerful Case for Expanding SCOTUS, MrMuni12, April 26, 2020.
⚡️ Yer Wonkette: Let's Check On President Bleach-The-Pain-Away And See How He's Feeling! Evan Hurst, Wonkette, April 27, 2020.
⚡️ Ideas article: The New Politics of Care, Gregg Gonsalves and Amy Kapczynski, Boston Review, April 27, 2020.
⚡️ Uh-oh! Sen. Richard Burr Is Not Just a Friend to the Health Care Industry. He’s Also a Stockholder. Robert Faturechi and Derek Willis, ProPublica, April 27, 2020.
⚡️ ! Conservative New Yorkers Trust Cuomo Over Trump On State Reopening, Poll Finds, Lynsey Jeffery, NPR News, April 27, 2020.
⚡️ A Judge Sided With Native American Tribes Challenging How The Trump Administration Is Handling Coronavirus Relief Money, Zoe Tillman, Buzzfeed News, April 27, 2020.
⚡️ Georgia, Tennessee, And Alaska Want Restaurants To Reopen — McDonald’s, Chick-Fil-A, And Dunkin’ Are Saying Not So Fast. Venessa Wong, Buzzfeed News, April 27, 2020.
⚡️ The Enduring Delusion of a Chastened Trump, David Roth, April 3, 2020.
⚡️ Michelle Obama will be the focus of the upcoming Netflix documentary ‘Becoming’, Sonia Rao, Washington Post, April 27, 2020.
⚡️ Space Telescope Director Says Best Is Yet to Come for Hubble, Lee Billings, Scientific American, April, 27, 2020.
⚡️ Yes, there’s video: Guy imitates every type of Zoom user perfectly - no one is excluded, Annie Reneau, Upworthy, April 23, 2020.
🔗 Helpful Links 🔗
Good News: You can still help save the world in self-isolation!
Here’s a bunch of links to help you stay involved at home:
Act Blue — fundraising for Democratic candidates in one easy site.
Vote Forward — currently organizing an effort to encourage voter registration, including providing addressees with voter registration forms! This is one of several “do it at home” projects through which many of us can really make a difference. Voter to voter initiatives have a track record of increasing voter turnout. The Vote Forward letter system is ideal for those who want to contribute but can’t write too much. The letter templates are provided and all you do is put in a line or two of your own and make sure the letters get to the voters on your list!
Postcards to Voters — Our own gnusie, Progressive Muse posts most days with information about PtV and updates on current campaigns and progress. This is the ideal “do it at home” contribution especially suited to those who enjoy getting a little creative and connecting with fellow voters around the country.
Fair Fight — Stacey Abrams’ initiative which has already made a difference in several elections! Find out how you can help out at this link.
Spread the Vote — wonderful organization which works hard to help eligible voters obtain valid ID so they can register and vote.
From Kat at Spread the Vote:
There are a few ways you can help from home (please stay home!!!!!):
- Buy an item or two from our AMAZON WISH LIST. These items are going to our partners on the ground (shelters, food banks, etc.) who are still serving our clients and communities.
- Donate to Spread The Vote so that we can keep working today and, most importantly, have the funds we need to hit the ground running when this crisis is over.
- If you live in one of our 12 states, sign up to volunteer! We’ll be hosting regular training sessions and we’re moving up our bi-annual Volunteer Virtual Summit so that everyone is ready to go on day one.
- If you don’t live in one of our states, follow us at @spreadthevoteus on all of the social media channels and help spread the word about how this pandemic is affecting the most vulnerable people in the country.
I can’t thank you enough for always standing by us and I really really beg you to please stay home, #flattenthecurve, and watch as much Netflix as humanly possible. We will get through this together.
And finally, for one-stop all-purpose voter information:
Everything you need to know to vote — This site covers everything any eligible voter needs to know, from how to register, how to check that you are still registered, how to obtain an absentee ballot and what to do if your right to vote is challenged or you are stopped from voting.
💙 RoundUp WIndDown 💙
Time for the curlygirly and me to get some shuteye, so it’s time to wish everyone a good day. Remember to look after yourself and those you love. We are in this for the long haul and the roller coaster is likely to continue right up to and even after the election, so you need to keep up your strength. Eat nutritious food, get your rest and, if you can safely do so, try to get some time outdoors every day to replenish your spirit. We’ve got a lot of work to do and we will prevail.
♒︎ Just for fun, I’m going to close with a reprise of a song I used last year in a GNR. I remember when I was a girl, this song from the musical “Hair” was popular and I always wondered what does the age of Aquarius even mean? Thinking of it recently, I googled it and it turns out that the 5th Dimension was a bit premature. In astrology, it turns out that the Age of Aquarius is only now dawning and in fact will begin this year — in December — after a tumultuous and extremely trying astrological year. Well, we already know it’s been and will be a difficult year, but it is really cool to learn that on the day of the December solstice the new age of Aquarius will officially begin, and with it (allegedly!) a new era:
The 20-year cycle of Jupiter and Saturn is one of the most important markers representing a new rise of structure, new leadership, and new systems, on a personal and social level; it sets the tone for the “new order” we will all respond to. This cycle occurs in signs of the same element three consecutive times, then changes to the following element, and then reverts to the previous element one last time...From 2020, this conjunction will occur in similar sequence in Air signs for the next 200 years.
The new conjunction will take place at the solstice on December 21, 2020, at the beginning degree of Aquarius and in a new sequence of elements (air), so we can anticipate that the combination of the conjunction, in a new Air cycle, on the Solstice point will seed a new dawn, a new paradigm for humanity to unfold. It symbolizes a breakthrough to “another side,” a shift of consciousness. The sign of Aquarius flavoring this cycle hints at the need to come up with new solutions and elevate global consciousness. While the earlier earth cycle drew attention to practical and financial matters, the Aquarius cycle will ideally bring a stronger focus on culture, AI, scientific and technological progress, and global emancipation.
from Evolutionary Astrology with Maurice Fernandez
So, there you have it! In addition to all of our hard work and resilience throughout these awful 4 years, we now have the stars aligning to bring us a better world! 😊 (It will mostly be us, though)
Happy Tuesday, Gnusies!