Welcome 🌻 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News!
“Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.” — Billy Graham
Yes, well, apologies for quoting Billy Graham, even though the quote is apt. Here are some others:
- “Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently.” — Maya Angelou
- “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” ― Lao Tzu
- “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.” ― Mark Twain
We all can admire the incredible bravery of the Ukrainians 💙 💛, and we can witness how it has inspired others. I mean, even the Swiss (!!! 🐮 !!!) are hunting oligarchs.
When we show courage, we encourage others. They learn they are not alone in their outrage at injustice.
If you have a story to share about how you were encouraged, or how you encouraged, others, please include in the comments about your experience (I will include one).
Now, come on in dear gnusies, and see how so many are being brave.
Regular Scheduled Programming
No one here is naïve; we are aware of the many who are fighting to destroy our country. 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. 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.
🗽 Biden as President!🗽
Biden, Harris and their administration have been hard at work. Here are the last week’s posts at the White House briefing room.
- Thursday, March 24, 2022: President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Approves Alaska Disaster Declaration
- Thursday, March 24, 2022: Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy, 2022
- Thursday, March 24, 2022: Joint Readout by the United States and the European Council
- Thursday, March 24, 2022: Joint Statement by President Biden and President von der Leyen
- Thursday, March 24, 2022: Remarks by President Biden and European Council President Charles Michel Upon Arrival at the European Council
- Thursday, March 24, 2022: Remarks by President Biden in Press Conference
- Thursday, March 24, 2022: G7 Leaders’ Statement
- Thursday, March 24, 2022: The White House Announces 2022 Springtime Events
- Thursday, March 24, 2022: Background Press Call on President Biden’s Meetings with the G7 and the European Council
- Thursday, March 24, 2022: Statement from President Joe Biden on Unemployment Insurance Claims
- Thursday, March 24, 2022: Statement from President Biden on the Extraordinary NATO Summit
- Thursday, March 24, 2022: Background Press Call on President Biden’s Meetings at NATO
- Thursday, March 24, 2022: FACT SHEET: The Biden Administration Announces New Humanitarian, Development, and Democracy Assistance to Ukraine and the Surrounding Region
- Thursday, March 24, 2022: FACT SHEET: United States and Allies and Partners Impose Additional Costs on Russia
- Thursday, March 24, 2022: Readout of President Biden’s Meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
- Thursday, March 24, 2022: Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration Releases Report on Native American Voting Rights
- Thursday, March 24, 2022: Statement by Press Secretary Jen Psaki on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s Ballistic Missile Launch
- Thursday, March 24, 2022: Statement by Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Daleep Singh on Russia’s Plans to Partially Re-Open Stock Market
- Wednesday, March 23, 2022: Press Gaggle by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan En Route Brussels, Belgium
- Wednesday, March 23, 2022: Press Briefing by White House COVID-19 Response Team and Public Health Officials
- Wednesday, March 23, 2022: A Proclamation on the Death of Madeleine Korbel Albright
- Wednesday, March 23, 2022: Statement of President Joe Biden On the Passing of Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
- Wednesday, March 23, 2022: Statement from Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Idaho Law Restricting Women’s Access to Health Care
- Wednesday, March 23, 2022: President Biden Announces Appointments to Federal Salary Council
- Wednesday, March 23, 2022: President Biden Announces Key Appointments
- Wednesday, March 23, 2022: Remarks by President Biden Before Marine One Departure
- Wednesday, March 23, 2022: Statement by President Joe Biden on the 12th Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act
- Wednesday, March 23, 2022: Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration Releases Action Plan to Address Racial and Ethnic Bias in Home Valuations
- Tuesday, March 22, 2022: Press Briefing by Deputy Press Secretary Chris Meagher and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, March 22, 2022
- Tuesday, March 22, 2022: Statement from Press Secretary Jen Psaki
- Monday, March 21, 2022: Remarks by President Biden Before Business Roundtable’s CEO Quarterly Meeting
- Monday, March 21, 2022: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki and Deputy NSA for Cyber and Emerging Technologies Anne Neuberger, March 21, 2022
- Monday, March 21, 2022: Readout of the Administration’s Briefing of CEOs on Russia’s War against Ukraine
- Monday, March 21, 2022: Press Release: Nominations Sent to the Senate
- Monday, March 21, 2022: Readout of President Joe Biden’s Call with President Macron of France, Chancellor Scholz of Germany, Prime Minister Draghi of Italy, Prime Minister Johnson of the United Kingdom
- Monday, March 21, 2022: Statement by President Biden on our Nation’s Cybersecurity
- Monday, March 21, 2022: FACT SHEET: Act Now to Protect Against Potential Cyberattacks
- Monday, March 21, 2022: A Proclamation on National Agriculture Day, 2022
- Sunday, March 20, 2022: Statement by Press Secretary Jen Psaki on President Biden’s Travel to Poland
- Sunday, March 20, 2022: Statement by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Houthi Attack Against Saudi Arabia
- Sunday, March 20, 2022: Statement by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden Marking Nowruz
- Saturday, March 19, 2021: Readout of Homeland Security Advisor Dr. Liz Sherwood-Randall’s Visit to France
- Saturday, March 19, 2021: Readout of Homeland Security Advisor Dr. Liz Sherwood-Randall’s visit to Kosovo
- Saturday, March 19, 2021: Statement by President Joe Biden on the Passing of Congressman Don Young
- Friday, March 18, 2022: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki, March 18, 2022
- Friday, March 18, 2022: Bills Signed: H.R. 189, H.R. 1667, H.R. 2497
- Friday, March 18, 2022: Background Press Call by a Senior Administration Official on President Biden’s Call with President Xi Jinping of China
- Friday, March 18, 2022: Remarks by President Biden Before a Discussion with Researchers and Patients on Advanced Research Project Agency for Health (ARPA-H)
- Friday, March 18, 2022: President Biden Announces Key Nominees
💉 This is where I have been showing the number of US adults with at least one jab, showcasing the Biden administration’s remarkable vaccination rollout. But it hasn’t moved much lately, at 88.2%, and at the moment the CDC page is down. You can get one if you want one, but unless the news changes, I’m planning to retire this feature.
👎 Out with the Bad, In with the Good 👍
The Rs have been completely disgusting during their questions directed to Ketanji Brown Jackson. But when/if she gets to SCOTUS, she will be fantastic! And what we should do is concentrate on how Senator Cory Booker approached it: don’t let them destroy your joy.
👎👎 Oz and Herschel Walker have been told to resign their positions on a presidential committee Zoë Richards, NBC News
The Biden administration threatened Wednesday to remove Dr. Mehmet Oz and Herschel Walker from a federal advisory committee if they didn't resign, setting the stage for a public fight with two high-profile GOP Senate candidates.
Oz, the celebrity doctor, and Walker, the former football star, were each sent a letter Wednesday asking them to resign from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition by the end of the day, warning that failure to step down would result in termination, a White House official said. President Donald Trump reappointed Oz and Walker to two-year terms on the committee in December 2020.
The Biden administration doesn’t permit candidates for federal office to serve on boards and commissions, the White House official said.
And here’s at least one absolutely fantastic replacement:
And in Ukraine:
💣 Republicans in Disarray 💣
Ginni Thomas and Mark Meadows are text message buddies Bob Woodward and Robert Costa Washington Post
Virginia Thomas, a conservative activist married to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, repeatedly pressed White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to pursue unrelenting efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in a series of urgent text exchanges in the critical weeks after the vote, according to copies of the messages obtained by The Washington Post and CBS News.
The messages — 29 in all — reveal an extraordinary pipeline between Virginia Thomas, who goes by Ginni, and President Donald Trump’s top aide during a period when Trump and his allies were vowing to go to the Supreme Court in an effort to negate the election results.
On Nov. 10, after news organizations had projected Joe Biden the winner based on state vote totals, Thomas wrote to Meadows: “Help This Great President stand firm, Mark!!!...You are the leader, with him, who is standing for America’s constitutional governance at the precipice. The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History.”
And, of course, Clarence Thomas was the only one to vote against releasing these texts to the J6 committee. Seems like he should have voted for in order to save his skin.
Convicted J6er not happy with the fringiest Cristina Cabrera Talking Points Memo
On Tuesday, a federal judge found Couy Griffin, the leader of the Cowboys for Trump group who also serves as an elected New Mexico county commissioner, guilty of trespassing on Capitol grounds during the Jan. 6 attack. And Griffin would like to know why the Republican lawmakers who claim to be champions of the Jan. 6 “political prisoners” didn’t show up at his trial.
- He specifically called out Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Louie Gohmert (R-TX). The three of them “think they’re too good to come down here to the federal courthouse where all this has taken place,” Griffin grumbled after his hearing.
- Griffin was the second Jan. 6 defendant to go to trial–and the second to lose. The first one was convicted earlier this month.
Tennessee R subpoenaed — more to follow. Bob Brigham Raw Story Corruption is a feature and not a bug for Rs.
"Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton has been subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury as part of an ongoing FBI investigation into Capitol Hill corruption. Legislative sources said they believe that as many as 10-12 other House Republicans were also served Tuesday with grand jury subpoenas," WTVF-TV reported Tuesday. "This dramatic development follows the recent guilty plea of now-former Rep. Robin Smith, R-Hixson, to federal wire fraud charges relating to a shadowy company that provided mailing services to Republican lawmakers, using both campaign money and taxpayer funding."
In a statement released to WSMV-TV, Sexton suggested other members of his caucus would be subpoenaed.
"“We have been fully cooperating with the federal authorities since I became Speaker in 2019. It is not unexpected that I and other members would be called to appear before a grand jury to provide factual statements as part of this ongoing investigation,” Sexton said.
Eric Greitens mad at Mitch McConnell Summer Concepcion Talking Points Memo
Sheena Greitens, the ex-wife of Missouri Senate GOP candidate Eric Greitens (R), said Tuesday that “I stand by my sworn statements” alleging domestic abuse against her ex-husband as he continues to deny her claims — and to claim the abuse allegations are simply part of a conspiracy to oust him from the race driven by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
A day after her domestic abuse allegations against the Missouri Senate candidate surfaced in court records, Sheena Greitens said in a statement that her sworn accusations are true and were filed as part of an ongoing child custody dispute in Missouri state court. In her affidavit, Sheena Greitens detailed a series of disturbing allegations against her ex-husband, including accusing Eric Greitens of physical violence towards her and their children. She described her ex-husband’s behavior as “unstable and coercive” toward the end of their marriage.
Sheena Greitens also pushed back on her ex-husband’s conspiracy theory, stating that she did not discuss the contents of her affidavit with anyone outside of her counsel and her immediate family.
Did Madison Cawthorne commit the unforgiveable political sin? Sam Brodey, The Daily Beast
If the worst thing Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) did this month was call Ukraine’s President “a thug,” or get caught speeding multiple times with a revoked license, or accuse Speaker Nancy Pelosi of being an alcoholic, the 26-year-old MAGA-influencer would probably be just fine in his re-election bid.
But Cawthorn did something far worse, at least for his own political prospects, and it may cost him his seat: He left his constituents—and then was forced to return to them, hat in hand, after the courts predictably struck down the state’s new map, and eliminated the district he left to run in, on Feb. 23.
The about-face opened up a more damaging line of attack than anything Cawthorn has said or done. It showed, at least briefly, that he was less interested in representing the voters who first elected him than he was in just being in Congress.
The numerous candidates challenging Cawthorn in the GOP primary, slated for May, do not intend to let voters in North Carolina’s 11th District forget it.
⚡️ R Congressman Fortenberry (NE) convicted of lying to Feds MTmofo Daily Kos⚡️
💙 Democrats Deliver 💙
🌷 The White House announces springtime events 🐰
Today, the President and First Lady are pleased to announce plans for the following springtime events: Spring Garden Tours and the White House Easter Egg Roll.
SPRING GARDEN TOURS
The President and First Lady will continue the annual tradition of opening the White House gardens and South Grounds to members of the public for Spring Garden Tours. This season’s tour weekend is scheduled for 10:00 AM ET to 4:30 PM ET on Saturday, April 9 and Sunday, April 10. ✂️
WHITE HOUSE EASTER EGG ROLL
The White House Easter Egg Roll will take place on the South Lawn on Easter Monday, April 18, continuing one of the oldest traditions in White House history.
Maybe the above is not a big deal, but after covid and tRumps, I think it matters.
Working to solve problems:
New Mexico: Money for infrastructure in the Borderplex Press release
SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday announced the delivery of over 60 million dollars for infrastructure investments in New Mexico’s Borderplex, further supporting economic development and global trade in New Mexico and building on prior investments in the Santa Teresa area.
Funding recently enacted for the state’s border region includes:
- Approximately $40 million for the Border Highway Connector, a new roadway connecting the Santa Teresa Port of Entry and the Santa Teresa Industrial Park directly into the City of Sunland Park, streamlining cross border traffic flow into the Sunland Park area and increasing new development opportunities while reducing commute times for workers in Doña Ana County;
- $20 million to expand the Doña Ana County International Jetport to accommodate heavy cargo, enabling flight transport of goods and materials manufactured in the area; and
- Over $4 million for an elevated water storage tank in Santa Teresa to support business expansions and supplement existing water infrastructure.
💜 Unity? 💜
The photo is not new — leaves are full, because they are magnolias that leaf early (🎩 mspicata). And the message is clear.
Others support Ukraine as well:
📥 Actions You Can Take 📤
Voting rights. This may be the biggest issue threatening our democracy right now. Besides contacting your representatives at the state and federal level to do the right thing (depending on who they are), you can support and contact these organizations:
ACLU — American Civil Liberties Union
Democracy Docket — founded by Marc Elias, so important in fighting the challenges after the last election.
Fair Fight — founded by Stacey Abrams
🌱Grass roots. Biden and Harris can do the top-down stuff, but we have to support from the bottom. I don’t know how to deprogram 75 million people, but some things have been written about, such as deep canvassing, and lots of people are talking about this. If you know someone (who did not storm the Capitol), then see if you can be pleasant. Instead of trying to reason with them (logic is obviously not their strong point) distract them with something else. We need to remove the sources of lies and to take down the temperature. If we get more of the Rs to wear masks and to get vaccinated and to vote for Ds, the country will be a better place. We need to coax some of them out of the rabbit holes and diffuse the anger and the crazy.
🏃 Run for something. If you want to run for something, but have no idea what to do, these people will help you. They also like money and volunteers to help those people who are running, so even if you’re not in a position to stand for office, you can help. Note: they are especially planning to target the 57 Rs in local governments who participated in the insurrection.
👎 Defund the seditionists. This is a list with companies that sometimes have donated to the seditionists, and their current approach to supporting or not supporting the seditionists. The list is long. You will recognize many of the corporations, and you probably have a relationship with some — either you are a customer, a shareholder, or maybe even an employee. Contact them and compliment or complain, but let them know you are watching. Forward it to others.
🐍 Schadenfreude 😈
Some Russians are refusing to fight in Ukraine:
Russian soldiers are turning on each other Allison Quinn The Daily Beast
Two Russian soldiers have been caught venting about Putin’s “bullshit” war against Ukraine in an intercepted phone call as devastating losses reportedly led one soldier to drive over his colonel with a tank.
“Basically, it’s a shitshow here, I’ll put it that way,” an unnamed soldier near Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine can be heard telling a colleague in a recording released by Ukraine’s Security Service late Tuesday.
After telling his friend that Ukrainian forces “tore apart” a column of Russian forces sent along with his own unit, he described complete disarray among the Russian military, with 50 percent of the unit suffering from frostbite on their feet.
“But they don’t plan to treat them in the [field] hospital,” he said.
And some Russian missiles are missing the mark — lots of them, in fact:
Seems like the stupid convoy, whose original stated goal was to protest measures to protect against covid, may have been infected with covid:
See also Walter Einenkel’s DKOS diary about a man who regrets giving up his life savings to attend this stupid convoy.
Conviction and consequences. See more here (PvtJarHead, Daily Kos)
📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️️
Civilians recording interactions with police. Tana GanevaThe Daily Beast
In a press conference last week, Mayor Eric Adams scolded citizens for shooting video of “his police officers”—which sometimes includes the recording of those officers engaged in abuse of citizens. ✂️
Thankfully, Adams’ creative interpretation of the First Amendment was recently blown to smithereens, thanks to a citizen’s video recording of a recent incident involving police.
When 16-year-old Camrin Williams’ gun discharged during an altercation with police, the teenager was deemed a brutal “cop shooter” by the city’s largest police union and right-leaning media. After he was released on bail, the tabloids and Mayor Adams went into conniptions about a bail system broken by reforms.
But when Williams went before a judge this month (demonstrating the bail system working exactly as it should) Bronx Supreme Court Justice Naita Semaj, after viewing a video of the encounter, excoriated the two officers for illegally searching Williams and then lying about the stop under oath. Judge Semaj called the officer’s testimony “incredible and unreliable” testimony with “no value.”
I admit I’m not very good at knowing how to record events. We should all practice, so we can do it in an emergency. Adding to my list of things to do today. Sigh.
Which gnusie out there has recorded the police or an event that might have been dangerous?
🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️
Someone who belongs in both the truth and love section:
📎Odds & Ends 📎
Unlikely allies who saved Costa Rica’s forests Reasons to Be Cheerful
These days, Costa Rica is renowned for its lush landscapes and stunning biodiversity. But the country’s future looked very different in the 1970s, when industrial agriculture saddled Costa Rica with one of the world’s highest rates of deforestation. By the end of that decade, forest cover had plummeted to 25 percent of the country’s land.
How did Costa Rica turn things around? Much of the credit goes to a landmark 1996 law that banned deforestation and introduced an innovative payment system for farmers. The payment system encourages “agroforestry,” the integration of trees and shrubs into productive crop and livestock farming systems. Now, farmers grow crops like cacao and vanilla among towering trees, which provide healthy shade to the crops and attract the bugs that pollinate the plants. The farmers get better crop yields, the increase in tree cover benefits the ecosystem, and the abundant tropical vegetation helps Costa Rica maintain its perch as a destination for eco-tourism.
Today, the country’s forest cover has rebounded to 52 percent as Costa Rica regenerates seven trees for every one it cuts down. Meanwhile, farmers are earning more than they did when they clear-cut the land. “We need the interaction of the species,” said one of the farmers of the agroforestry model. “It’s magic.”
🎁 How cardboard shredding is helping Hawaii businesses and the environment. Libby Leonard, EcoWatch
In Hawaii, while some cardboard inevitably ends up in overstuffed landfills, most cardboard is packaged and sent thousands of miles to Asia due to a lack of their own recycling facilities, which, while better than the alternative, is costly and leaves a pretty hefty carbon footprint.
Because of this, some residents have taken it into their own hands to find better solutions.
Circle Pack, a mobile grassroots cardboard shredding organization located in Hawaii County (also known as the Big Island) has been stepping in with solutions that are not only sustainable for the environment, but also bring Hawaii more self-reliance, and communities together in the process.
Founded in 2020 by 29-year-old Evan Lam, the company travels to several partner organizations, where residents and area businesses drop off hundreds of pounds of clean cardboard to be shredded by community volunteers and either used for packaging or given away as mulch or composting materials for farms and gardens.
Someone making an investment:
🚗 Could we make cars out of petroleum residue? MIT, Science Daily
As the world struggles to improve the efficiency of cars and other vehicles in order to curb greenhouse gas emissions and improve the range of electric vehicles, the search is on for ever-lighter materials that are strong enough to be used in the bodies of cars.
Lightweight materials made from carbon fiber, similar to the material used for some tennis rackets and bicycles, combine exceptional strength with low weight, but these have been more expensive to produce than comparable structural elements made of steel or aluminum. Now, researchers at MIT and elsewhere have come up with a way of making these lightweight fibers out of an ultracheap feedstock: the heavy, gloppy waste material left over from the refining of petroleum, material that refineries today supply for low-value applications such as asphalt, or eventually treat as waste.
Not only is the new carbon fiber cheap to make, but it offers advantages over the traditional carbon fiber materials because it can have compressional strength, meaning it could be used for load-bearing applications. The new process is described in the journal Science Advances, in a paper by graduate student Asmita Jana, research scientist Nicola Ferralis, professor Jeffrey Grossman, and five others at MIT, Western Research Institute in Wyoming, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.
🐦 I do a lot of other writing. A recent offering: Hunters of the Feather, a story about a thinker-linker crow who wants to save birdkind from extinction, and the sequel, Scavengers of Mind. (They’re really good! They’re really cheap! Buy and review or rate positively! And Hunters is also available on Audible!) Other stories, based on Jane Austen novels — including a new one for lovers of Pride & Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet’s Advice to Young Ladies — and others on Greek mythology, can be found here.
💙 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.
Current projects:
Look in the comments for Progressive Muse’s report on Postcards to Voters
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. We need to win some back.
You can share your ideas below.
🌻
💙 “Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we all are created equal and the harsh ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart. The battle is perennial, and victory is never assured.” 💙
President Joseph R. Biden
🌹 🌹 🌹
TRUTH MATTERS. LOVE MATTERS.