(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Good News Roundup for Friday, Ides of July, 2022: Reach Out [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']
Date: 2022-07-15
GNR 259 écrit par moi
Welcome 🌻 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News!
The Ides means the 15th, and it’s long known for date on which Julius Caesar was stabbed to death in the Senate. We can’t draw an exact parallel to the events of our time. Jan 6 was when our Caesar-wannabe sent a mob to our Capitol to murder members of the government (hearing the hearings, I am amazed the day had as little bloodshed as it did).
The hearings are shining a bright light on so much! It is painful to realize how much corruption exists, but until we do, we can’t clean it up.
There’s a lot of bad in the world these days. But there’s also a lot of good. And people are working to make the world a better place.
Even if you don’t feel as if the world has enough pie, reach out to someone and try to make them feel better. It turns out these gestures are appreciated more than we realize (Andy Corbley, Good News Network).
If you’re down, reach out to someone who might make you feel a little better. Reach out to those you could help, to those who could help you, and just for a pleasant time. We’re all in this together, but together, we can do so much!
Come in, dear gnusies, and see what the good guys are doing!
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.
👎 Out with the Bad, In with the Good 👍
ATF Director confirmed. Mark Berman Washington Post
The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Steve Dettelbach, a former top federal prosecutor, to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, boosting the agency as the country struggles with rising gun violence. Dettelbach was confirmed by a 48-to-46 vote that split mostly along party lines; Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) voted with Democrats. The vote marks the first time the Senate has confirmed an ATF leader since 2013. ATF, which is tasked with regulating the firearms industry, has long lacked resources and steady leadership, operating under a string of acting directors while multiple nominees failed to win confirmation. The bureau, which has more than 5,000 employees, has also been a punching bag for the firearms lobby and other opponents, stumbling into self-inflicted wounds including the botched Obama administration gun operation known as “Fast and Furious.”
Note niftywriter had this news nugget too, but I thought it deserved to be repeated. Here’s what President Biden said on the confirmation.
As I’ve made clear time and time again, the answer to the rise in crime my administration inherited is not to defund law enforcement; it’s to provide law enforcement with the resources and support they need to succeed in working effectively with the communities they serve. The Senate just took an important, bipartisan step by confirming Steve Dettelbach, an extraordinarily qualified and decorated career prosecutor with strong support across the law enforcement community, to be the first permanent head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in over 7 years.
I don’t know if having someone at the head of the ATF will make a difference, but I don’t think much could be done without someone there.
ALSO I hope we clean out the Secret Service, but that’s not really a GNR story until it happens.
💣 Republicans: Party of Crimes and Chaos 💣
Mark Meadows believed in the coup Nicole Lafond Talking Points Memo
Former White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah Griffin resigned from the White House after Trump lost the election. But when she informed then-chief of staff Mark Meadows of her impending departure, he told her to stick around. That’s all according to her interview with CNN Tuesday following the Jan. 6 Committee’s latest hearing. Griffin has become a staple on CNN during the hearings and even provided the panel with a taped deposition as part of their probe. ✂️ “I suspect it was Mark Meadows,” Griffin offered on CNN when the panel was discussing who might’ve let the group of outside Trump allies into the White House on the day of that chaotic December 18, 2020 meeting. “And I say that because I can tell you before I resigned, I said, ‘Sir, I’m planning to move on — I want to put in my notice.’ And he said to me, ‘What if I could tell you we’re actually going to be staying?'” she said. “You can interpret that as hypothetical, but there were people around the president telling him that, and that’s what led to this absolute insanity.”
Tina Peters arrested for trying to cross state lines Jesse Peters Colorado Sun
A judge Thursday ordered indicted Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters to be arrested for violating the conditions of her bond by traveling to Las Vegas this week without first notifying the court and prosecutors. Mesa County District Court Judge Matthew David Barrett issued a warrant for Peters’ arrest and for her to be held in jail pending a hearing. He also revoked her $25,000 cash bond. Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein on Wednesday asked Barrett to revoke Peters’ bond because she is prohibited from leaving Colorado without court approval.
Republican indicted for insurance fraud Department of Justice Press Release, no issue with fair use
MINNEAPOLIS – A Brooklyn Center man has been indicted for wire fraud after filing fraudulent insurance claims for a staged arson, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger. According to court documents, on September 23, 2020, Denis Vladmirovich Molla, 29, falsely reported to law enforcement that someone had lit his camper on fire. Molla reported that his garage door was vandalized with spray painted graffiti stating, “Biden 2020,” “BLM,” and an Antifa symbol, and that his camper was targeted because it had a Trump 2020 flag displayed on it. In reality, Molla started his own property on fire and spray painted the graffiti on his own garage. According to court documents, Molla submitted multiple insurance claims seeking coverage for the damage to his garage, camper, vehicles, and residence caused by the fire. When Molla’s insurance company denied some of those claims, Molla submitted written complaints to the insurance company claiming that it was defrauding him and threatened to report the company to the Department of Commerce and to the Attorney General. Molla also created and allowed others to create two GoFundMe accounts to benefit Molla and his family. In total, Molla submitted more than $300,000 in fraudulent insurance claims, and he received approximately $61,000 from his insurance company. Molla also received more than $17,000 from individual donors via GoFundMe. Molla is charged with two counts of wire fraud. He made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court earlier today before Magistrate Judge Tony N. Leung. This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI and the Brooklyn Center Police Department.
Oh, and as someone who has worked in the insurance industry, I am sure they’ll be demanding their money back. Does anyone know what happens in the case of a fraudulent GoFundMe situation?
💙 Democrats Deliver 💙
Feds warn pharmacists Dan Diamond Washington Post
Federal officials Wednesday warned pharmacies to comply with civil rights law amid reports of pharmacists turning away women seeking to fill prescriptions for abortion medication and other treatments following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services. “As our nation faces another significant health care crisis, this guidance is to remind the roughly 60,000 retail pharmacies in the United States of the unique role pharmacies play in ensuring access to comprehensive reproductive health care services,” according tofrom the Department of Health and Human Services. The officials highlighted recent news reports and legal filings that detail how pharmacists in states including Louisiana and Texas have refused to fill prescriptions for medication abortion, citing the high court’s decision on Roe and new state abortion restrictions taking effect
Blue polls in Nevada Julia Manchester The Hill
Nevada Democratic incumbents Gov. Steve Sisolak and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto lead their Republican challengers, according to a KLAS TV-The Hill-Emerson College poll released Wednesday. Forty-four percent of Nevada voters said they plan to support Cortez Masto, while 41 percent said they planned to support Republican Senate nominee and former state Attorney General Adam Laxalt. Nine percent said they were undecided, and 6 percent said they planned on supporting someone else. ✂️ Meanwhile, in the governor’s race, Sisolak leads his GOP rival Joe Lombardo 44 percent to 40 percent. Nine percent said they plan to vote for another candidate, and 7 percent said they were undecided.
Even the looks-like-they’re-always-eating-lemons NYT admits that all is not lost (sorry I don’t have a link, it was in my morning report but I don’t subscribe) Nat Cohn
With President Biden’s approval rating sagging into the low 30s and nearly 80 percent of voters saying the country is headed in the wrong direction, the ingredients would seem to be in place for a Republican landslide in this year’s midterm elections. But the first Times/Siena survey of the cycle shows something else: a close, competitive race for Congress. Overall, voters prefer Democrats to control Congress over Republicans by one point among registered voters, 41 to 40 percent. Once we exclude those people who are unlikely to vote, Republicans lead by one point, 44 to 43 percent.
Still, we have to do a lot better. There’s anecdotal evidence saying we are doing much better. People, after Roe and the Jan6 committee, are not planning to sit out the midterms. Governor Whitmer (MI) signs executive order to protect physicians and patients Veronica Stracqualursi CNN
(CNN)Michigan's Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order on Wednesday that limits her office from extraditing people to or from Michigan if they're facing criminal charges for obtaining, providing or assisting an abortion. The order signed by Whitmer, who has been supportive of abortion rights, aims to protect women who travel to Michigan seeking an abortion and Michigan abortion providers "who will not have to fear being extradited for prosecution in another state for offering abortion services," according to a news release from her office. A provider who conducts a telehealth visit from Michigan for a patient in another state and prescribes a medical abortion will also not be extradited, Whitmer's office told CNN. The order, however, would not apply to a person who performs an abortion while in a state where it is banned.
Governor Kelly brings battery jobs to Kansas Press Release
TOPEKA – Today, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly announced that Panasonic Energy Co., Ltd. , plans to build one of the largest electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing facilities of its kind in the United States in Kansas. Pending approval by Panasonic Holdings Corporation Board of Directors, the company has identified a site in De Soto for the potential project. The planned project is expected to create up to 4,000 new jobs and result in an investment of up to $4 billion, which represents the largest economic development project in Kansas history. The development will have ripple effects throughout the regional and state economy, supporting an estimated 4,000 additional jobs created by suppliers and community businesses and 16,500 construction jobs as cited in an independent Wichita State University economic impact study. “As the largest private investment in Kansas history and one of the largest EV battery manufacturing plants of its kind in the country, this project will be transformative for our state’s economy, providing in total 8,000 high-quality jobs that will help more Kansans create better lives for themselves and their children,” said Kansas Governor Laura Kelly. “Winning this project shows that Kansas has what it takes to compete on a global scale — and that our pro-business climate is driving the technological innovation needed to achieve a more prosperous and sustainable future.”
⚡️ Governor Newsom signs Firearm Responsibility Act Daily Kos. At long last, the gun industry will be held responsible.
And there’s this. Hope it can get through the Senate. Seems unlikely.
x We just voted to combat neo nazis in our military and every single republican voted no. pic.twitter.com/lUF1NRGiXg — Bill Pascrell, Jr. 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@BillPascrell) July 14, 2022
💜 Unity? 💜
Why would anyone vote against this? Oh, yeah, money and the NRA. Still, progress — of sorts:
x In a 260-169 vote, lawmakers approved the Active Shooter Alert Act, which was sponsored by Reps. David Cicilline, D-R.I., and Fred Upton, R-Mich. The bill now heads to the Senate.
https://t.co/m2NuWG3z76 — Bruno J. Navarro (@Bruno_J_Navarro) July 14, 2022
Actually, there is a reason that 168 Rs voted against this: they’re afraid that people will be bombarded with messages, hence becoming “afraid” of the second amemdment.
Ex-cultists deliver the most effective message for Rs Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post
Two rather sad characters conveyed this “you don’t have to keep following Trump blindly” message at the House Jan. 6 select committee’s hearing on Tuesday. One was former Oath Keepers spokesperson Jason Van Tatenhove; the other was Stephen Ayres, who illegally entered the Capitol on Jan. 6. Both appeared deflated, diminished and embarrassed by their association with insurgents based on the “big lie” of a stolen election. Still, they served two critical roles that those outside the MAGA world have not fully appreciated. First, they showed that a person can admit to being conned. Second, they warned that unless others break free from the violent cult, the United States will remain in deep trouble.
📥 Actions You Can Take 📤
DONATE TO GNR SAVES DEMOCRACY!
newish!!! Tax-exempt organization complaint referrals. 13909. You can fill this out for the NRA and lots of other organizations. How about if some of us white folk go into some of the MAGA churches and video record what they’re saying?
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 😈
Plans to make Meadows the fall guy Asawin Suebsaeng and Adam Rawnsley Rolling Stone
Trump’s inner circle increasingly views Meadows as a likely fall guy for the former president’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Members of Trump’s legal team are actively planning certain strategies around Meadows’ downfall — including possible criminal charges. Trump has himself begun the process of distancing himself from some of his onetime senior aide’s alleged actions around Jan. 6. Meadows’ already bleak legal prospects could get even worse. Rolling Stone has learned that the Jan. 6 committee has been quietly probing his financial dealings, and any new revelations would add to an already long list of unethical and potential illegal actions he’s accused of taking on behalf of Donald Trump.
Even without a push from the tRump lawyers in the direction of the bus, Meadows is in trouble:
x BREAKING: Jan. 6th Committee has been looking into the finances of former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows as part of its investigation. — PoliticsVerse 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@PoliticsVerse) July 13, 2022
the tRumps are scheduled to give depositions in NY real estate scam today! Aaron Ketersky ABC News — BUT PROBABLY CANCELED BECAUSE OF IVANA TRUMP’S DEATH
New York's highest court declined to take up an appeal by former President Donald Trump and two of his adult children, a decision that obligates the Trumps to sit for depositions next month in the ongoing civil investigation into how they valued their real estate holdings. ✂️ Former President Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump have now exhausted their appeals and must sit for depositions beginning July 15, according to a previous stipulation filed in the case. The New York Attorney General's Office has been investigating potential discrepancies in how the Trump Organization valued certain assets when seeking loans or when pursuing tax breaks.
We’ve been wondering about this guy’s role for a while:
x The Army is now acknowledging that Lt. Gen. Charles Flynn, the brother of President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn, was in the room for one of the key January 6 phone calls in which DC government and US Capitol Police were asking for National Guard pic.twitter.com/uP72JmB7f6 — Jack Mobley (@Greenerpalmbea) July 12, 2022
Note that they admitted this in January 2021, but this is resurfacing. I bet we learn more next week.
📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️️
Truth matters. That’s at the end of all of my GNRs, but sometimes believing in that has been a bit difficult these last few years. Still, it does.
One thing about the Jan 6 hearings is that they really are encouraging others to come forward, and encouraging those who have already spoken to share more. Sarah K Burris, Raw Story
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA), a member of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, revealed that since former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson appeared in a public hearing, more evidence has been gathered by witnesses willing to come forward. Speaking to Raw Story, Aguilar explained that not only have they had more people willing to come forward, but "people who we had previously heard from have shared more."
One person stepping forward is Kelly Jones, the ex wife of InfoWars guy Alex Jones:
x I'm #AlexJones' ex-wife, & I lost my kids for exposing infowars, even while he was under subsequent Federal Investigation. I have insider info I believe is relevant to the #January6thCommitteeHearings. Pls share," Kelly Jones tweeted more than 40 times…
https://t.co/TozS6vLm4Q — Miss Marcella Sends Her Regrets (@marcelladba) July 14, 2022
🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️
Sometimes, people really join in.
x At a high school basketball game in Michigan, both teams and the entire audience went completely silent — all to help a blind player make a shot.
Life is a team game. pic.twitter.com/BahMIVLp2g — Goodable (@Goodable) July 10, 2022
📎 Odds & Ends 📎
❤️ Major step forward in heart fabrication Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Science Daily
Heart disease -- the leading cause of death in the U.S. -- is so deadly in part because the heart, unlike other organs, cannot repair itself after injury. That is why tissue engineering, ultimately including the wholesale fabrication of an entire human heart for transplant, is so important for the future of cardiac medicine. To build a human heart from the ground up, researchers need to replicate the unique structures that make up the heart. This includes recreating helical geometries, which create a twisting motion as the heart beats. It's been long theorized that this twisting motion is critical for pumping blood at high volumes, but proving that has been difficult, in part because creating hearts with different geometries and alignments has been challenging. Now, bioengineers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed the first biohybrid model of human ventricles with helically aligned beating cardiac cells, and have shown that muscle alignment does, in fact, dramatically increases how much blood the ventricle can pump with each contraction.
Milley reaches out to Gonell. Gonell is Capitol police, and was injured Jan 6. He has not recovered sufficiently to return to work and so was told to do something else.
x Sgt. Gonell told me that this moment meant the world to him. Milley thanked Gonell for his service, and for his testimony — calling him a patriot.
He gave Gonell, fellow veteran, his challenge coin and contact information for whatever he needs in the future.
https://t.co/cXNRXfQSXs — Julie Tsirkin (@JulieNBCNews) July 14, 2022
🐳 In comeback moment, fin whales seen feeding off Antarctica Olivia Rosane EcoWatch
In 1982, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) voted to ban the practice of commercial whaling that had driven several species to the brink of extinction, as The New York Times reported at the time. Now, a new study published in Scientific Reports Thursday shows how that decision has borne fruit. The study reported the first scientifically documented observation of fin whales feeding en masse off Antarctica’s Elephant Island. ✂️ “They were reduced to 1 or 2% of their original population size,” Herr said, as The Guardian reported. “We’re talking about a couple of thousand animals left for the whole southern hemisphere area.” Now, however, the whales are making a comeback. Herr and her research team conducted two expeditions to Antarctica in 2018 and 2019 and observed more than 100 different groupings of fin whales. In 100 cases, the gatherings consisted of one to four whales, according to The New York Times. But the researchers recorded eight times in which the number of whales reached as high as 150.
⚡️ News you can use: How to Keep Cool without Air Conditioning Linnea Harris EcoWatch
🐦 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. All titles are available through Kindle Unlimited, but I only get paid if you turn the pages.
💙 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
🌹 🌹 🌹
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/15/2109608/-Good-News-Roundup-for-Friday-Ides-of-July-2022-Reach-Out
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
