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Good News Roundup for Friday, March 10, 2023: Try, and Again Try [1]
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Date: 2023-03-10
We're Going to Keep on Trying!
Welcome 🌻 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News!
Democracy depends on a couple of assumptions about humans, and not all of those assumptions are rooted in reality. At the very least, those assumptions don’t apply to everyone. Not everyone operates from the same facts. Not everyone uses logic. Not everyone votes in their own self-interest. Not everyone wants the responsibility of making their own choices and participating in government.
That’s why organizations and campaigns succeed so often with their falsehoods. They use the flaws in the brains of many humans to get them to do what they want. They have no shame.
Nevertheless, enough of us do want a better world. We do want democracy.
Others, with enough repetition and coaching, can learn to see things as we do. However, to reach them we need to understand how their brains work, so we can reach them better.
We have to be in it for the long haul. We have to try, and again try, until we win or until we die.
Come in, dear friends, 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 👍
🌵 Governor Hobbs cancels (or at least postpones) an execution Robyn Pennachia, Wonkette
Democratic Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs announced on Friday that she will not allow the state to execute death row inmate Aaron Gunches, despite the state Supreme Court having put him on the schedule for next month. This goes along with her previous promise to pause executions until the states can figure out why it keeps botching them in horrific and unbelievably disturbing ways and figure out a way to not do that. “Under my administration, an execution will not occur until the people of Arizona can have confidence that the state is not violating the law in carrying out the gravest of penalties,” Hobbs said on Friday in a statement. The thing is, this is not an Arizona-specific problem. It's not just Arizona that is botching lethal injections. It's every state that has them. In fact, right now, it is not likely that anyone is going to figure out a way to do them that is not 'cruel and unusual,' that is not going to involve hours of suffering for the victims of these bizarre chemical experiments. The reason executions keep getting botched in Arizona and everywhere is well-known — these states can't get the usual drugs used for executions because the fiercely anti-death penalty EU has barred the export of goods "for the purpose of capital punishment or for the purpose of torture," and many companies simply will not make the drugs or will not allow them to be used for capital punishment due to public pressure. Thus, states that are truly dedicated to killing people have to keep experimenting with other drugs that they can get, and that keeps going very, very wrong.
Several people seem to be in a race to see who indicts tRump first. Also, some bad poetry:
x Jack be nimble
Bragg be quick
Fani smack Trump with the scandal stick#Trumpfecta — Salim Yaqub (@salimyaqub63) March 10, 2023
💣 Republicans: Party of Crimes and Chaos 💣
Evil forces try to divide us. By evil, I mean Putin and his minions, such as tRump. When we’re divided, we’re much weaker. MTG is promoting secession, for crying out loud!
However, it works the other way as well. When the Rs are divided, they are not as strong. We need to remember, they consist of several groups that would not get along, except they are united in their hatred of us libs.
For example, there are the groups who are pro Putin. Then there are those who are hawks. If you are getting your campaign money from defense contractors, you’ll want to send more tanks and bombs to Ukraine. There are the very rich, and then there are those who oppose handouts while getting handouts (I think they enjoy cognitive dissonance, as it’s the only time they feel their brains working).
I’m not going to do a deep dive into the many factions, but we can see that the coalition is cracking. For example, tRump is telling them the truth about one thing: many of the Rs want to cut Social Security. Well, that statement reaches more maga Rs when tRump says it. Or, the texts from FOX News hosts show how much they despise their viewers.
CPAC stumbles on its first day John Knefel, Media Matters
As reporters milled around the back of the Potomac Ballroom at National Harbor just outside Washington, D.C., waiting for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference to begin, there was one thing on everyone’s mind: The WiFi wasn’t working. “They know it’s out. They’re working on it,” a CPAC volunteer told a journalist, and then another, and then another. It was a fitting beginning to an event struggling to remain relevant amid a rapidly radicalizing, fracturing conservative movement. There were rows and rows of empty seats at the conference, which runs through Saturday, and few newsworthy or memorable moments throughout the first day. The lifeless atmosphere may be a consequence of CPAC’s internal turmoil, as the organization's chairman, Matt Schlapp, faces a report that he sexually assaulted a staffer on Herschel Walker’s senate campaign. He avoided a reporter’s question about the alleged incident in the hallway outside the main stage. Schlapp’s leadership is also under increased scrutiny, with massive staff turnover in recent years and an expected lawsuit from a former employee who says she was fired “in retaliation for complaining about a co-worker’s sexist and racist comments,” according to The Washington Post.
We now know what Tucker really thinks of tRump:
x 2/And, Tucker continued, speaking of Trump’s presidency: “We’re all pretending we’ve got a lot to show for it, because admitting what a disaster it’s been is too tough to digest. But come on. There really isn’t an upside to Trump.” — Jill Wine-Banks (@JillWineBanks) March 8, 2023
I know you’ve probably seen the quote above, but it’s just so wonderful! Because it shows how much FOX people hate tRump. And they do. They probably hate him more than we do, because they have to spend more time with him than we do. Also, the above is a way to get tRump-loving viewers to stop watching FOX.
Oh, and some Rs hate George Santos Emine Yücel, Talking Points Memo
While New York Republicans can’t force Rep. George Santos (R-NY) to resign on his own – or get the rest of the House GOP’s thin majority to push him out – they are trying to ensure that Santos at least can’t profit off his lies. In a Tuesday morning press conference, freshman Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) — alongside Reps. Brandon Williams (R-NY) and Nick LaLota (R-NY) — introduced the “No Fortune For Fraud” Act, aimed at ensuring current or former members of Congress convicted of fraud can not make money from book or TV deals. “This legislation is about ensuring that elected officials who break the public’s trust are held accountable for their wrongdoings,” D’Esposito said during the press conference. “It’s very simple. If you are defrauding the American people, if you are making a mockery out of the people’s House or violating campaign finance law, you should not be able to turn it into a payday,” he added. “Should fraudsters, like George Santos, be indicted or convicted of crimes listed in my legislation, or legislation, they won’t be able to make money from a book deal, a TV movie, ‘Dancing With The Stars’ or the next Netflix special.”
I don’t see how this can pass a court challenge — the 1st Amendment — but it shows how much they hate him.
House Rs are not doing well in their hearings:
x Preparation and a Clue.
Yeah, that's a hard day at work.
https://t.co/GaD1VgvFxr — Michael Steele (@MichaelSteele) March 10, 2023
Meanwhile, Rs keep on criming:
x Larry Householder, a former Ohio House speaker, was found guilty by a federal jury of participating in a racketeering conspiracy that involved nearly $61 million in bribes and a $1.3 billion bailout for two nuclear power plants, the authorities said.
https://t.co/iepddhtDf8 — The New York Times (@nytimes) March 10, 2023
Senate Dems point out Rs have not agreed on economic priorities Kate Riga, Talking Points Memo
While Senate Democrats spent Thursday eager to applaud the President’s budget, they were equally keen to exploit the contrast and poke at Republicans for their struggles to produce their own list of economic priorities. “This is the difficulty: They want to cut Medicare and Social Security and then they got embarrassed when we said so,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) told TPM. “And so now, they want to cut food assistance and Medicaid. But I imagine they will probably deny that — and so they’re not gonna put together a budget.” House Republicans are reportedly groping for programs to cut to make good on their vows to slash spending, a more difficult task since President Joe Biden strong-armed Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) into taking cuts to Social Security and Medicare off the table.
🚚 💙 Democrats Deliver 💙 🚚
President Biden and his team have just presented us with a budget. There’s too much from the WH Briefing Room to include here, but here’s some of it:
The President’s FY 2024 Budget lays out President Biden’s plan to invest in America, lower costs for families, protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare, and reduce the deficit. Alongside major reforms to the individual and corporate tax codes to ensure that the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share, the Budget cuts wasteful spending on Big Pharma, Big Oil, and other special interests, cracks down on systemic fraud and identity theft, and makes programs more efficient and cost-effective—saving taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. Congressional Republicans have so far rejected this approach to reducing the debt, just as they have rejected reducing the debt by asking the wealthy and big corporations to pay their fair share in taxes. In fact, Republicans have run ads opposing the reforms President Biden signed that will cut federal Medicare spending and lower prescription drug costs for seniors. Meanwhile, Republican members of Congress continue to propose cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and other programs critical to seniors and middle-class and working families. ✂️ Cutting Wasteful Spending on Big Pharma Building on the prescription drug reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Budget will: Expand Medicare’s Ability to Negotiate Drug Prices. ✂️ Expand the IRA’s Requirement that Drug Companies Pay Rebates When They Increase Prices Faster than Inflation. ✂️ Strengthen the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program. ✂️ Cutting Other Wasteful Spending on Special Interests The Budget proposes to eliminate wasteful corporate subsidies, whether these are delivered through federal programs or through the tax code: Eliminate Tax Subsidies for Oil and Gas. ✂️ Lower Medicaid Spending by Addressing Excessive Payments to Medicaid Managed Care Organizations. ✂️ Eliminate Tax Subsidies for Real Estate. The Budget saves $19 billion by closing the “like-kind exchange” loophole, a special tax subsidy for real estate. This loophole lets real estate investors – but not investors in any other asset – put off paying tax on profits from deals indefinitely as long as they keep investing in real estate. This amounts to an indefinite interest free loan from the government. Real estate is the only asset that gets this sweetheart deal. Cracking Down on Bad Actors, Systemic Fraud, and Identity Theft The Biden Administration and the oversight community have already made substantial efforts over the last two years to punish and prevent Pandemic fraud – including restoring anti-fraud guardrails, restoring the use of checking Do Not Pay and Tax Transcripts, committing $2 billion of American Rescue Funds to helping states modernize and prevent Unemployment fraud, furthering identity theft prevention, and setting up at the Department of Justice an Interagency Pandemic Fraud Task Force and a Chief Prosecutor with three new Strike Forces. Building on that progress, the Budget includes significant new proposals to crack down on systemic fraud and identity theft, hold bad actors accountable, and cut or recoup spending stolen by the most sophisticated criminals. Each dollar spent on enforcement and oversight saves well over $10 for the taxpayer and often dramatically more.
Isn’t it great when Ds use their power for good?
Governor Newsom cancels cowardly Walgreens Gregory Krieg and Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN
California will cease all its business with Walgreens, the retail drugstore chain, Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Monday, days after the company announced it would not dispense abortion medication in 21 Republican-dominated states. “California won’t be doing business with @walgreens – or any company that cowers to the extremists and puts women’s lives at risk,” the Democratic governor tweeted. “We’re done.” ✂️ The state is currently “reviewing all relationships between Walgreens and the state,” said Newsom spokesman Brandon Richards. He also accused the company of giving in to “right wing bullies.” Newsom’s office announced Wednesday that California would be “pulling back” a renewal of a $54 million contract with Walgreens that would have taken effect May 1, 2023.
Some more about this from Evan Hurst, Wonkette
So Walgreens is being a fuckin' coward right now. Quick pop quiz: What is historian and authoritarianism expert Timothy Snyder's FIRST RULE of fighting back against fascists? "Do not obey in advance." Those are the first words of the first chapter of his book On Tyranny. "Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts to this way is teaching power what it can do." Despite the scaremongering lies of the religious Right, most abortions in America involve taking a pill, or to be specific, one mifepristone pill and 24 to 48 hours later, four pills of misoprostol. It is safe, and mifepristone, the drug that gets the abortion started, has been FDA-approved for over 20 years.
Minnesota working to help voters vote Deena Winter, Minnesota Reformer
Despite a dozen hearings in the Minnesota House and Senate, lawmakers have scarcely mentioned a key provision of a major elections bill that would make it a crime to spread election misinformation to try to stop people from voting. The Democracy for the People Act, (HF3), includes a provision that would make it a gross misdemeanor — punishable by up to a year in jail and a $3,000 fine — to knowingly spread materially false information with the intent to impede or prevent people from voting. It would apply before 60 days an election. It would be illegal to spread false information about the “time, place or manner of holding an election,” qualifications for or restrictions on voter eligibility, and threats to physical safety associated with voting. ✂️ Now that the state is restoring voting rights for over 50,000 people on parole or probation, Greenman anticipates disinformation that might say, “You’re a felon and you can’t vote.”
💜 Unity? 💜
Do you remember how February 25 was planned as an antisemitic day of hate? And how nothing happened? It’s because most people don’t want to do that. Times of Israel
No major antisemitic incidents were immediately reported in the United States on Saturday, despite widespread alert over a “national day of hate” that had been planned by white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups. Instead, officials issued statements of solidarity and demonstrations of unity were held in Washington, DC, and elsewhere, while Jewish communities defied the threats by sticking to their normal Shabbat activities. Law enforcement and Jewish groups had urged vigilance ahead of Saturday after the white supremacists called for followers to distribute antisemitic messaging with banners, stickers, fliers and graffiti. ✂️ Summarizing the day, the Anti-Defamation League tweeted Saturday evening that “Increased law enforcement presence as well as heightened community awareness helped to ensure this was a Shabbat of peace, not hate.”
In fact, it was such a damp fizzle that the white supremacists have been saying they never planned to do anything and that ADL was making it up. Of course, hate is a serious problem, but maybe fewer people want to sacrifice their Saturdays for it these days.
And from Arnold, who may reach some who we may not reach:
x This is my message to anyone who has chosen the path of hate. Please listen. pic.twitter.com/P0VCDqPeb6 — Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) March 6, 2023
🌊 International agreement to protect the high seas Olivia Rosane, EcoWatch
The accord reached by the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction establishes a mechanism for sharing the benefits of scientific discoveries from marine life, enforces environmental impact assessments for new human activities in international waters and makes it possible to create protected areas in the open ocean. “It’s going to provide first-time protections ever for half of the planet that has not ever had that,” Greenpeace USA senior oceans campaigner Arlo Hemphill told EcoWatch in an email. “And that makes it the largest conservation agreement in the history of the world.” It’s also not one that was reached easily. The final agreement is the work of more than a decade of formal negotiations and two decades of political mobilization. Hemphill spoke with EcoWatch about why it took so long and what finally eased its passage through the rough waters of international discord. ✂️ The breakthrough came with a proposal from the Global North to offer money from any potential discoveries up front to fund the implementation of the treaty, help poorer nations establish marine sanctuaries and pay for their delegates to attend future meetings.
🎩 T Maysle. Democracy seems to be strengthening worldwide Michael Abramovitz and Arch Puddington, Washington Post
After years of relentless bad news, Freedom House’s latest annual global report on the health of democracy offers hope. This year’s “Freedom in the World” survey notes that the number of countries suffering declines in 2022 was the lowest in 17 years, and was nearly matched by the number of countries experiencing improvements. Whether this represents a genuine turning point in the competition between democracy and authoritarianism remains to be seen. The answer will depend to a large degree on the willingness of leaders and voters to take a strong stand for a free press, honest elections and a society where law prevails. Last year, democracies such as Brazil, Colombia and the United States held elections that demonstrated their resilience in the face of internal threats, while Ukrainians showed the world that murderous aggression must be opposed — and can be defeated. The difficulties faced by major authoritarian powers — including Russia, China and Iran — exposed the limits of a model that relies on censorship and brute force. This year’s report, the 50th in its series, also makes an important point about the long-term prospects for democracy. At the time “Freedom in the World” was launched, only 44 of 148 countries were classified as free; today, despite nearly two decades of erosion, 84 of 195 countries are still considered free. This “stickiness” of the free designation is a testament to democracy’s core durability.
📥 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.
🔎 Want to check out what’s going on with campaign contributions? Check out this diary. 👀
🐍 Schadenfreude 😈
putin’s troops threatening to turn weapons on bosses Allison Quinn, The Daily Beast
A group of Russian troops sent to Ukraine to fight for the Kremlin’s “new” territory is threatening to raise absolute hell over what they describe as pointless suicide missions—and they’ve made clear they’re willing to turn their weapons on members of their own team if necessary. The draftees from Kaliningrad have already appealed directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin to complain of ancient weapons, lack of training, and people dying “for nothing.” In a video released publicly earlier this week, they shamed top military brass by saying there appears to be no battlefield strategy whatsoever and declaring that “this is no way to fight a war.” Now, a video has leaked capturing the aftermath of their complaints. In a five-minute clip released by the independent outlet Ostorozhno, Novosti, the men can be seen surrounding a commander sent out from Kaliningrad and warning him they will put up a fight if they are not heard. “You can jail us all! How many years is it, 5, 7, 10? We don’t give a fuck!” one soldier yells after the commander tries but fails to convince them to obey orders and storm Ukrainian positions.
Alas, the person they need to stop is putin, and they can’t reach him.
The DOJ is still rounding up J6 terrorists:
x Justice Dept reached 1,000 cases in its Jan 6 prosecutions.
They've released many, many videos pic.twitter.com/nQbZBxo53c — Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) March 7, 2023
We have better people on our side:
x Haha, @FoxNews doesn't have anyone with a quality resume. They heap praises on Marc Elias. They sob that they only have Lin Wood and Powell.
That's who they hire to bring bullshit to their viewers. pic.twitter.com/ybiITxNzc8 — Weezie Proud Resister (@itsweezie) March 9, 2023
Why do we have better people on our side? Because we’re dealing in truth and love, instead of lies and hate. Now on to truth:
📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️️
This week we’re honoring Media Matters, the left-leaning organization that monitors the lies and drivel and incendiary talk on the right. I admire them for doing that, because being around such toxic talk can make you sick to your stomach. I mean, we’re all here in the Good News Roundup because we need a break from the depressing stuff. Media Matters monitors these things so we don’t have to.
They do a lot of stuff, and I can’t possibly highlight it all here, but here’s an example: they filed a complaint with the FEC about FOX sharing information with Jared Kushner:
Media Matters has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission regarding Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch providing confidential material to the Trump campaign in 2020. The revelation was included in recently released court filings regarding Dominion Voting Systems' lawsuit against Fox Corp. and Fox News. The complaint alleges that Fox Corp. made an illegal corporate contribution to the committee when Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch provided confidential information about then-candidate Joe Biden’s advertisements to Trump’s campaign. It reads: Here, Fox Corporation was not acting as a press entity when Murdoch provided the Committee with the Biden advertisements. Murdoch’s actions fail both parts of the Commission’s two factor test for whether Fox Corporation was acting in its legitimate press function. First, the Biden advertisements had not aired at the time that Murdoch provided information about it to the Committee and, therefore, the material was not available to the general public. Second, Murdoch provided the Biden advertisements and information to the Committee through a private, and secret, direct communication. This “distribution” is diametrically opposed to Fox Corporation’s regular press activity broadcasting news programming through television and radio outlets and online publications. Murdoch’s secret conveyance of the Biden advertisement is even less like press activity than a cablecasting company sending campaign flyers in its bills – and neither can be protected by the press Exemption. Fox Corporation, through Murdoch, appears to have engaged in the exact type of campaign activity to which the Commission has repeatedly affirmed the press exemption does not apply. Therefore, Fox Corporation cannot try to exploit the press exemption to avoid the consequences of making an illegal corporate in-kind contribution.
Note that on Sunday I plan to post an updated diary on things we can do to take on FOX News.
We also need to acknowledge the 65 Project, which this week forced tRump lawyer Jenna Ellis to admit she’s a liar:
x Ellis signed a legal acknowledgment that “she made a number of public statements about the November 2020 presidential election that were false” and did so with a “reckless state of mind” and with “a selfish motive”.
https://t.co/cwr4VIsKoe — The 65 Project (@The65Project) March 10, 2023
The 65 Project is working against many of the lawyers involved in the coup attempt, but it’s a really slow process. Thanks to them for keeping up the pressure!
🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️
🐶 A service dog saves his human 20 minutes, translated by Google but checked by cc
A great story with a happy ending was told on the Bernese rescuers' Facebook page. A woman recently walked with her dog in the vicinity of Bern. At one point she felt unwell. His service dog, Merlin, immediately alerted other passersby to attention. The emergency services could thus be quickly alerted. They got the patient to safety and wheeled her to the ambulance with a wheeled stretcher. No doubt Merlin received plenty of hugs, as well as a double portion of kibble for his brave act.
Enjoy!
x This is seven-year-old Ellison. He has down syndrome and struggles with sensory overload.
His parents used to dread haircuts until they met Vernon Jackson, a local barber.
Best 30 seconds you'll see all day. pic.twitter.com/oJdy6HpTAk — Goodable (@Goodable) March 7, 2023
📎 Odds & Ends 📎
🌵 Fighting election denialism in Cochise County Michael Daly, The Daily Beast
A former high school art teacher is leading a bipartisan effort to recall an elected official for shirking his lawful duty and perpetuating a Trumpian fiction about voter fraud in Cochise County, Arizona. “It’s the far-reaching effects of ‘The Big Lie,’” Eric Suchodolski, 53, of Sierra Vista, told The Daily Beast. “It’s basically seeped into the fabric of a nice place like this.” ✂️ Suchodolski lives in Crosby’s district and he wrote a letter to the editor of a local newspaper proposing a non-partisan, multiparty effort to recall his representative. Suchodolski is himself an independent who admired the late Sen. John McCain, who was known as a “compassionate conservative.” He likes to think that the crazies are in the minority and there is a reasonable majority that shares his outrage, especially when everybody’s ballot was placed in jeopardy over compounded falsehoods. “What happened here affected all the votes, “ he said. Suchodolski repeatedly checked with the county elections office to see if anybody had filed to mount a recall. Nobody had. He decided he would have to set things in motion.
92-year-old helps his Mumbai neighbors save electricity and water Andy Corbley Good News Network
In the year 2000, Navin Chandra moved into the Sealine Housing Society but was “appalled” to see how much money residents paid for the delivery of water from large tanker trucks. Expensive and “not even clean” the truck water orders made no sense to Chandra considering that Mumbai lies right in the path of the mighty monsoon rains. He convinced every member of the housing society to invest in a rainwater harvesting facility, solar panels, a windmill, and a composting pit, all in order to transform the unassuming apartment block into a hub of green civic-mindedness. Part of Chandra’s pitch was that the residents would recover their investment in a few years thanks to water and electricity savings, and by 2012 the community was in the green, financially speaking, thanks to nearly 200,000 liters of water (2 lakh) gathered up by their rainwater system every monsoon season.
🎶 Musicians to credit Earth as collaborator and share royalties with environmental causes Paige Bennett, EcoWatch
A group of musicians will start naming planet Earth as a collaborator on the music, which will send some of the royalties to environmental causes. Artists including Brian Eno, Fraser T. Smith, Jacob Collier and Anna Calvi will include a credit to Earth as a co-writer for upcoming music. The artists can choose a percentage of royalties to go to EarthPercent, a charity founded by Eno. Additional artists joining the movement include Mount Kimbie, Erland Cooper, Rostam Batmanglij and Aurora. ✂️ According to EarthPercent, the funds are diverted to various causes, including toward people at the frontlines of climate change, scientific solutions to climate change, actions to change cultural norms and system-wide changes like policy-making and economic incentives. The organization’s vision includes making the music industry more sustainable, protecting and restoring nature and contributing toward more sustainable and equitable communities. EarthPercent has a goal of raising $100 million by 2030.
🐦 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 sequels, Scavengers of Mind and the brand-new Familiars of the Flock (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 say something nice to friend or a stranger.
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
🌹 🌹 🌹
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