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Good News Roundup for November 16, 2022: Do You Feel Your Spirits Lifting? And Lift-off!! [1]
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Date: 2022-11-16
Welcome 🌻 to Friday’s Wednesday’s Roundup of Good News!
Note: I’m subbing for niftywriter today and she’ll be doing Friday.
We’re all breathing easier these days!
So many good things from the election! Here’s one, that comes up as President Bien is traveling: putin, Xi, and MBS are all depressed that we rejected authoritarianism (don’t you wonder how much they spent? Certainly, MBS raised oil prices on us, and putin did not withdraw from Kherson until after the election).
Think how happy the Ukrainians are! And so many other democracy lovers around the world!
And the Mainstream Media! Complete fail! I, and many others here, have been righteously pissed at the MSM in the run-up to the election. When the pundits kept blathering about the red wave, based on inaccurate polls the Rs conducted in order to depress our vote.
However, I also remember 2016, when all the pundits said Clinton would win, and she did not. Pundits are batting 0.000, but I like them getting it wrong this way rather than the other way. Maybe we needed to be scared to win (however, I did not enjoy it).
I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but as we know, democracy is not something we can only do every four years. So, even as you rest up — everyone here deserves it, think about what more we can do, or what we can do better. Especially in the 🍑 state. Everyone needs to do what they can to re-elect Raphael Warnock!
Come on in, gnusies, and see what we have in store today.
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 5 days’ posts at the White House briefing room.
👎 Out with the Bad, In with the Good 👍
Liftoff! (I am sure Mokurai will have more to say.)
x We are going.
For the first time, the @NASA_SLS rocket and @NASA_Orion fly together. #Artemis I begins a new chapter in human lunar exploration. pic.twitter.com/vmC64Qgft9 — NASA (@NASA) November 16, 2022
Ohio was better than many predicted:
x Did u know that OH just ADDED a Dem and subtracted 2 Rs from its US House delegation?
Against all odds.
After gerrymandering the hell out of OH, ignoring voters who passed 2 ballot measures demanding constitutional maps & defying court orders, Rs expected to GAIN 2 seats.1/4 — Katie Paris (@katiebparis) November 12, 2022
🌻 Many cheers for Ukrainians
x Remember these past wrong predictions when we’re told next that Ukrainians can not liberate their rest of their country. I don’t know if they can or not. But I listen to the naysaying military experts with a lot more skepticism now. You should too. 2/ END. — Michael McFaul (@McFaul) November 12, 2022
NBC News suspends reporter for retracted Paul Pelosi story Lachlan Cartwright, The Daily Beast
NBC Today show correspondent Miguel Almaguer has been suspended pending an internal investigation after NBC News had to retract his reporting that inflamed right-wing conspiracy theories about the brutal assault on Paul Pelosi, Confider has learned. In an on-air report that went viral soon after it aired Almaguer suggested Nancy Pelosi’s husband was not in danger when cops arrived at their San Francisco home.
NBC “doesn’t comment on personnel matters” but it’s good to see not everyone is getting off scot-free when they push conspiracy theories.
Fighting-age men are hiding in Russia Mary Ilyushina, Washington Post
Although Russian President Vladimir Putin and his defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, proclaimed the completion of their mobilization of 300,000 new soldiers, many fighting-age Russian men remain in hiding — still fearful of being seized by military recruiters and sent to fight, and die, in a failing war. While records of border crossings to neighboring countries documented more than 300,000 who left Russia in the weeks after the start of mobilization, there is no data on the number of men who hid inside the country, but the number is also believed to be in the thousands. ✂️ “I feared that I’d get drafted if I go to the store or that someone will come to my house,” the IT worker, who shares his experiences on a Telegram blog under the pseudonym Adam Kalinin, said in a phone interview. He requested anonymity because he is hiding from the authorities. The Washington Post interviewed five other men who have spent recent weeks hiding in rented apartments, country houses, and even a music studio. Some were interviewed by phone, others agreed to be visited by a photographer in their places of hiding. Although they come from different backgrounds, professions, and family circumstances, they expressed an identical goal: to avoid killing, or being killed, in Ukraine.
💣 Republicans: Party of Crimes and Chaos 💣
Why is tRump running? Money and ego are actually secondary reasons. He’s running because he is desperate to avoid prosecution. Raw Story
However, all of this is secondary to something else, wrote Aftergut: Trump is "scared witless at the possibility of prosecution" — and thinks being a presidential candidate will shield him from charges. "It seems likely that indictments are on their way from Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis (over Trump’s interference in the 2020 election in Georgia) and from Attorney General Merrick Garland (over Trump’s purloined national security secrets taken to Mar-a-Lago)," wrote Aftergut. "By formally becoming a presidential candidate, Trump thinks he’ll get an edge on prosecutors. He craves his narrative: 'Dems are trying to take down an announced Republican candidate for President. UNPRECEDENTED!'"
Note the announcement was scheduled for after the election, when he expected to be buoyed by the red wave. Thanks to us, it did not happen.
tRump’s Magic is gone Dana Milibank, Washington Post
“In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” he informed to his guests — an announcement that surprised no one and delighted only slightly more. Trump aide Jason Miller promised a 35-minute, “very forward-looking” speech. Instead, it was interminable, meandering and, well, low-energy, as Trump kept departing from the teleprompter into gibberish. ✂️ As Trump rambled, the planned 35-minute speech eventually passed the 65-minute mark. Along the way, the crowd of about 600 grew listless. Even Sean Hannity cut away on Fox News. Karl Marx, of all people, anticipated the Donald Trump of 2022, when he noted that great personages of history occur twice, “the first time as tragedy, the second as farce.”
Lindsey Graham is already fawning (what kompromat does tRump have on him?) but Fox has said it won’t support tRump for his next presidential run
x Rupert Murdoch has now told Trump that he and Fox News will NOT back Trump for president.
Fox News just cut away from Trump’s announcement. — Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) November 16, 2022
We don’t have any faith in Fox, but it shows the chaos in the R party.
The Jan 6 Committee is still around! At least until Jan 3, 2023. I bet Liz Cheney is working overtime on it until then. And AZ election fakers are in trouble:
x 🚨BREAKING: The United States Supreme Court has *DENIED* AZ GOP chair Kelli Ward’s appeal to block the 1/6 committee from accessing her phone records. — Spiro’s Ghost (@SpiroAgnewGhost) November 14, 2022
Gee, nothing like losing badly! Hello, circular firing squad!
x Mo Brooks says Trump ‘dishonest, disloyal, incompetent, crude’
Some of his biggest former sycophants are attacking him now.
https://t.co/DUlNiCESQg — Spiro’s Ghost (@SpiroAgnewGhost) November 12, 2022
We thought those adjectives were features, not bugs, in the GOP. Sure looks like it.
McConnell could have shivved tRump. Now tRump is shivving the GOP. Liz Dye, Wonkette
For the second time in two years, Donald Trump has denied Senator Mitch McConnell the speaker's gavel. The supposed mastermind of the GOP is discovering that the only thing worse than weeks of shitting yourself from anti-parasitic medicine is being devoured from the inside by a ravenous orange worm and its million MAGA-tty spawn. ✂️ Trump's interference was most destructive to his own party in Arizona, where Democrats may have swept every statewide office besides treasurer. Sitting Governor Doug Ducey and AG Mark Brnovich got crosswise with Trump for failing to overturn the election results in 2020, depriving the GOP of two people who'd have been able to mount a serious challenge to Democratic Senator Mark Kelly. Ducey never declared at all, and Brnovich lost the Senate primary to Peter Thiel's sock puppet Blake Masters. Hey, Politico, tell us how shitty a candidate Masters was: During the summer, STEVEN LAW, the head of a McConnell-aligned super PAC, told the financier PETER THIEL, who had spent millions supporting Mr. Masters, that Mr. Masters had scored the worst focus group results of any candidate he had ever seen, according to people familiar with the conversation. Mr. Law’s group later canceled all of its Arizona television reservations. Having seen Blake Masters's ads for ourselves, can confirm!
You’d think tRump sending an armed mob after McConnell and the rest of Congress should have given him the gumption to shiv tRump. But no, and he’s paying for it.
💙 Democrats Deliver 💙
Remarks by Biden on the producer price index
There’s more good news for our economy this morning, and more indications that we are starting to see inflation moderate. Today’s news—that prices paid by businesses moderated last month—comes a week after news that prices paid by consumers have also moderated. And, today’s report also showed that food inflation slowed—a welcome sign for family’s grocery bills as we head into the holidays.
The bottom line is this: my economic plan is showing results, and we face global economic challenges from a position of strength. As I said last week, it will take time to get inflation back to normal levels—and we could see setbacks along the way—but we will keep at it. And I want to repeat that I will work with anyone—Democrats or Republicans—who have ideas on how we can provide more breathing room to middle-class and working families.
Here’s some food for thought:
x If the polls lied about the midterms they are lying about President Biden's approval numbers — Henry Djoutsa 🇨🇲🇺🇸 Supports🇺🇦 (@D_jeneration) November 13, 2022
And there’s this:
x Biden Job Approval:
Approve 50%
Disapprove 50%
African American Research Collaborative, 12,208 LV, 10/26-11/7
https://t.co/QLEMMwalQb — Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) November 15, 2022
US is getting homeless vets into homes Good News Network
In February, the US Department of Veterans Affairs established a new goal to prevent and end homelessness among military vets, after seeing progress towards earlier goals stall out in 2016. The new goal to house 38,000 veterans this year is close to being realized—and could bring the number to near zero. As of September 30, the department had achieved 30,914 permanent housing placements, meeting 81.35% of the goal to ensure at-risk veterans are safeguarded from the crisis of homelessness.
Democrats and the campaign on crime Samantha Michaels, Mother Jones
In many races, Rs tried to campaign on the idea of law and order and being tough on crime (they might fare better if they did not have so many criminals as candidates). While “defund the police” is a terrible slogan, “reform the police” is more palatable. Many progressives ran on this and won.
In more locally watched races, too, reformists performed well. Progressives won notable prosecutor elections in Texas (Hays and Dallas counties) and in Oklahoma City, where a former public defender who led the Oklahoma Innocence Project will soon be district attorney. In Los Angeles, though results are still coming in, a reform-minded sheriff candidate on Thursday held a sizeable lead over Alex Villanueva, the tough-on-crime incumbent, who was criticized for failing to crack down on violent “deputy gangs” within his department, among other scandals. And the city’s next controller, tasked with overseeing the local government’s coffers, will be a 32-year-old activist and accountant who put up billboards revealing bloat in the police department’s budget. Meanwhile, in Massachusetts’ Bristol County, a Trumpist sheriff whose brutal jails earned him the nickname Arpaio of the East—a nod at the former strongman mayor of Arizona—was booted from office after a quarter century in power. So, too, was the judge in Louisville, Kentucky, who signed the falsified search warrant that led to Breonna Taylor’s death. And voters elsewhere approved progressive ballot measures: In Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont, they amended or removed language in their state constitutions that previously allowed slavery as a punishment for crime. In Maryland and Missouri, they legalized the possession of marijuana. I could go on with results, because progressives notched plenty of other wins.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal has been around for a year now, and things are happening! The White House released a fact sheet. Or rather, a set of fact sheets as each state and each territory has one:
Since signing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law one year ago, the Biden-Harris Administration has hit the ground running to make major progress. Today, the White House released updated state and territory fact sheets that highlight the nationwide impact of the law, the largest long-term investment in our infrastructure and competitiveness in nearly a century. In addition to announced funding to date, the fact sheets include key project highlights.
Here’s just a tiny excerpt from the fact sheet for Arizona:
Internet: High-speed internet is necessary for Americans to do their jobs, participate inschool, access health care, and stay connected. Yet nearly 22% of Arizonians do nothave an internet subscription. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests $65 billion toprovide affordable, high-speed internet to every American. Arizona will receive aminimum allocation of at least $100 million to help ensure high-speed internet coverageacross the state. Additionally, experts estimate that as many as 1,075,000 householdsin Arizona are eligible for the Affordable Connectivity Program, which cuts internet billsby up to $30 per month, or $75 for households on Tribal lands, and provides a one-time$100 discount off a connected device. The Biden-Harris Administration is providingfurther cost savings by working with internet providers to offer high-speed internet plansthat are fully covered by the Affordable Connectivity Program — meaning most eligiblehouseholds can now get high-speed internet without paying a dime. ● Progress to date: To date, over 326,000 households in Arizona are enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program, with more signing up every day. Households can check their eligibility, sign up, and find fully covered internet plans at GetInternet.gov.
This information is something every D in Congress and the Senate should be sharing with constituents, once a week. Not all at once, but in digestible bits.
💜 Unity? 💜
Election deniers lost everywhere Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post (note piece is from a few days ago so not all winners were known; the good guys won in NV and AZ)
One big factor for the Democrats’ performance: Up and down the ballot, voters demonstrated that they’ve had enough of election deniers and authoritarian bullies. Again and again, they chose candidates who take their oaths and commitment to democracy seriously. The group of Republican nominees for secretary of state who banded together under a banner of election denial were soundly drubbed. Kristina Karamo (Michigan), Kim Crockett (Minnesota) and Audrey Mendonca-Trujillo (New Mexico) all lost. Arizona nominee Mark Finchem is trailing. And Nevada nominee Jim Marchant is barely ahead as of this writing but running behind the Republicans’ gubernatorial and Senate nominees. By contrast, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the key Republican who upheld President Donald Trump’s loss in his state in 2020, won reelection easily.
This is so important for the 2024 election!
Nearly kept this under the Democrats Deliver section, but Ossoff touts it as bipartisan, so there you go!
x NEWS: My bipartisan bill to investigate unsolved lynchings and civil rights cold cases just passed the House.
Next to @POTUS desk for his signature. — Jon Ossoff (@ossoff) November 14, 2022
Later today there should be a Senate vote on protecting gay marriage. It appears that Kyrsten Sinema, along with Tammy Baldwin, may have actually helped this get through. Well, Sinema is bi, so that would explain it.
📥 Actions You Can Take 📤
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. Defund the seditionists. This is a list with companies that sometimes have donated to 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 😈
I really enjoyed this!
x New: That fake verified Eli Lilly account sparked a panic inside the pharma giant, and senior execs decided they'd had enough, freezing all Twitter ad campaigns in a huge blow to @elonmusk. "For $8," they lost out on "millions of dollars in ad revenue"
https://t.co/1RSKo5e3ec — Drew Harwell (@drewharwell) November 14, 2022
Eli Lilly is charging $275 a vial for medicine that costs less than $10 to make. So, no tears.
Twitter is in trouble with Europe Natasha Lomas TechCrunch
Helmed by erratic new owner Elon Musk, Twitter is no longer fulfilling key obligations required for it to claim Ireland as its so-called main establishment under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a source familiar with the matter has told TechCrunch. Our source, who is well placed, requested and was granted anonymity owing to the sensitivity of the issue — which could have major ramifications for Twitter and for Musk.
Musk fired the people responsible for meeting the privacy requirements. And Europe takes this very seriously.
💰 💰 💰 💰 💰 Money wasted:
x They spent BILLIONS to take the Senate.
BILLIONS with a B.
For the love of hell, this is magnificent.
Also, Laxalt was a GENUINELY bad dude. — Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) November 13, 2022
📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️️
Today let’s honor a Trump — the creep’s niece, Mary Trump, who had greatness thrust upon her. She’s handled it well, and at some cost. She had to break off from her family, and she has been instrumental in getting many documents to the public. More importantly, she has a lot of insight to share. Sarah K Burris, Raw Story
The worst thing that Donald Trump can be called in his mind is a "loser," but after Tuesday's election losses, the former president is being called the "biggest loser." Speaking to Mehdi Hasan on Sunday, his niece Dr. Mary Trump said that the losses that her uncle experienced are by far the worst thing that could happen to him. "We cannot overestimate the extent and size of the narcissistic injury Donald has just suffered," said Dr. Trump, who is a psychologist. "I think it's probably the most debilitating one he's ever experienced in his entire life. Not simply because he performed poorly in terms of endorsement and in terms of the candidates he picked, but because he can always explain that away, he can always blame somebody else. But the rhetoric that is coming from not just the party that supported him, but that essentially is responsible for him, it's impossible to ignore."
🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️
Teaching science with love — how can we not celebrate?
x Tatiana Erukhimova is a professor of physics at Texas A&M who shares the joy of science with elementary school children.
She's the teacher we all need in our lives.pic.twitter.com/cskfGZ74UL — Goodable (@Goodable) November 13, 2022
📎 Odds & Ends 📎
This is adorable:
x Baby elephant disrupting a TV reporter is the best part of today. pic.twitter.com/DseqitxoG9 — Desert Frogger (@BT0731) November 14, 2022
DOTUS opinion on the last week:
x 🐾 Paw to paw
🐾 And heart to heart
🐾 The “red wave”
🐾 Was a big f💨rt pic.twitter.com/kkiyzIkNcV — The Oval Pawffice® 🇺🇸 DOTUS Fans (@TheOvalPawffice) November 13, 2022
Restoring the land in India Siba Arasu, AP via Yahoo News
ANANTAPUR, India (AP) — Ramesh Hanumaiya digs a few inches into his field with his hand and examines the soil. There is movement in the thick, brown earth: Tiny earthworms being disturbed from their homestead. A handful of dirt filled with earthworms might not seem like much, but it's the result of seven years’ work. “This soil used to be as hard as a brick,” said 37-year-old Ramesh. “It’s now like a sponge. The soil is rich with the nutrients and life that's needed for my crops to grow on time and in a healthy way.” Like Ramesh thousands of other farmers in Anantapur, a district in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, have taken to what's known as regenerative agricultural practices. Techniques like using natural fertilizers and planting crops alongside trees and other plants have been successful at combating desertification, the process of once-fertile ground turning into dust. Climate change is exacerbating the loss of arable land as temperatures rise and rainfall becomes more irregular.
🌊 Cleaner water is good for the entire planet!
x The Ocean Cleanup, the company that removed more than 100,000 KG of plastic from the Pacific Ocean, just launched a cleanup operation in Ballona Creek in California.
Trash goes in, clean river comes out.pic.twitter.com/XUNTIdmWrd — Goodable (@Goodable) November 11, 2022
🐦 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]
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