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Good News Roundup for Friday, June 30, 2023: We're Making a Difference [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-06-30
Welcome 🌻 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News!
“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half.” John Wanamaker, long-dead businessman
Sometimes it feels as if we’re agitated and agitating without accomplishing. Now, I know, thanks to comments from so many readers, that the GNRs matter to the people read them. But sometimes I wonder our efforts in other areas are making a difference.
But at other moments, we see results. I’ve been complaining to MSNBC that they are not showing enough of President Biden. I even complained in a tweet to Nicolle Wallace that for a show called “Deadline: White House,” they hardly ever talk about the actual White House. Well, on the Wednesday edition of that show, Wallace promised a Thursday interview with President Biden, and even used a paraphrase of my comment, that the show would be earning its name. Now, similar to the quote at the top, I’m not sure that it was my tweet to Wallace that mattered. I don’t even know if it reached her. I think the idea was obvious, so certainly another may have had it.
But I can say that by joining and steering the conversation, by shining a light on certain issues, by voting and encouraging others to vote, we do make a difference.
We may not enjoy the instant gratification of someone telling us that they suddenly changed their mind because of us. It can take a bit of time.
But our efforts do matter. Those postcards, The freeway blogging. The comments you send to friends and to media and to the government.
And, yes, the current Supreme Court sucks big time, but we’ll work to deal with it.
Come on 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 👍 👎 US announces charges in $2.5 billion health care fraud take down Sarah N Lynch Reuters via Yahoo News WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday announced federal and local criminal charges targeting 78 defendants across 16 states as part of a law enforcement action involving $2.5 billion in alleged healthcare fraud schemes targeting elderly and disabled people, HIV patients and even pregnant women. The cases range from allegations of falsely billing the federal Medicare insurance program for elderly and disabled Americans and paying illegal kickbacks, to the illicit diversion of expensive prescription medications and the improper dispensing of highly addictive opioid pain killers. Among those facing charges include 24 doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals, as well as healthcare executives including the current and former CEOs of a durable medical equipment online platform accused of falsely billing $1.9 billion in fraudulent claims. 👍🌴 🌻 🐟 One huge problem in the world is greenwashing, how corporations pretend they’re being good to the environment when they are not. The International Sunstainability Standards Board is trying to do something about it. Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch Under new rules for businesses set by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and backed by the Group of Twenty (G20) nations, companies will be required to disclose their contributions to climate change, reported Reuters. The previous lack of clear standards has led large companies to understate their carbon emissions and overstate their climate credibility, a tactic called “greenwashing.” The new standards will provide universal climate and sustainability standards, but ISSB Chair Emmanuel Faber said it will be up to individual countries to require their use by companies in their annual reports beginning next year.
💣 Republicans: Party of Crimes and Chaos 💣
McCarthy scrambles to apologize after questioning tRump’s strength Emine Yücel, Talking Points Memo
No matter what you do, the anvil always gets you! House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) rushed to declare Donald Trump the “strongest political opponent” against President Joe Biden on Tuesday, hours after suggesting the former president might not be the “strongest” candidate to win the 2024 presidential elections. “Trump is stronger today than he was in 2016,” McCarthy told Breitbart later Tuesday after reportedly contacting the far-right, Steve Bannon-founded news site to offer an exclusive interview. McCarthy’s swift clean up came just hours after he said he wasn’t sure if Trump was the strongest to win the 2024 elections during a CNBC interview Tuesday morning, referring to the mounting legal troubles the former president is facing.
🐊 DeSantis refuses to work with federal government and costs Florida residents hundreds of millions Doktor Zoom Wonkette
Republican presidential candidate and part-time Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pulled a truly genius move earlier this month when he used his line-item veto power to reject a couple of smallish federal grants that would have provided $29 million to Florida's budget, presumably because federal money is bad and who needs Washington, yay fiscal conservatism! He wasn't about to let Florida be oppressed by that relative pittance from Joe Biden's woke big spending agenda, so the hell with it. DeSantis may or may not have been aware, however, that rejecting one of the block grants — for $5 million — actually led to Florida's withdrawal from a federal program that would have provided another $346 million to provide tax rebates to Florida residents who upgraded to energy efficient appliances, smart thermostats, and the like.
Affairs among North Carolina Republicans Matt Young, The Daily Beast
North Carolina’s House Speaker Rep. Tim Moore has been accused of “an egregious abuse of power” in a lawsuit filed June 18 by the husband of a woman the Republican legislator allegedly engaged in an extramarital affair with. The filing says Moore’s affair lasted three years with Jamie Liles Lassiter and that Moore “used his position as one of the most powerful elected officials in North Carolina” to entice Lassiter, then-executive director of the NC Conference of Clerks, into a relationship and even “persuaded her to engage in degrading acts to satisfy his desires.”
Ohio: Ex GOP Speaker of the House sentenced to 20 years in prison Julie Carr Smyth Associated Press
CINCINNATI (AP) — Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison for his role in the largest corruption scandal in state history and taken immediately into custody, a judge declaring that “the court and the community’s patience with Larry Householder has expired.” The 64-year-old Republican tensed only slightly as U.S. District Judge Timothy Black meted out the punishment, the maximum under the law, and appeared somewhat disoriented as U.S. Marshals placed him in handcuffs. He glanced back briefly at his wife, Taundra, who exited the courtroom with his Perry County Ducks Unlimited ball cap folded in her hands.
Infighting among the Rs:
x Send them migrants instead.
Iowa GOP leader sends Ron DeSantis 'cease and desist' letter for busing in supporters
https://t.co/aRVW4LX9GQ — Frank Mitman (@frankdpi) June 29, 2023
🚚 💙 Democrats Deliver 💙 🚚
Interview with Nicolle Wallace:
President Biden on the SCOTUS decision:
x We cannot let the Supreme Court's decision on affirmative action be the last word.
Here's what my Administration is doing: pic.twitter.com/QnfPrPLwET — President Biden (@POTUS) June 30, 2023
President Biden was interviewed on MSNBC’s Deadline White House. And then some reactions:
x "The thing about Joe Biden that has always been fascinating in a way.. is that they are team normal and they are team institutions...and he still thinks...that Americans are mostly team normal and he has won on that bet." - @JoyAnnReid w/ @NicolleDWallace pic.twitter.com/ElnmRsuaso — Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) June 29, 2023
Democracy, not authoritarianism
x "[Biden] is talking about standing up to Putin, but the broader thing that he is talking about...is democracy vs authoritarianism...he is saying what we stand for democracy" - @maddow w/ @NicolleDWallace pic.twitter.com/WmsC79FlqX — Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) June 29, 2023
We need more coverage of President Biden.
x As well as covering anti-semitism, the deficit, jobs, junk fees, expansion of wireless internet. You and I couldn’t have covered what @POTUS covered while standing for an hour at 80. To be clear: he has done a tremendous job and I’m 💯 confident in his abilities and acuity./END — @JulieZebrak 🌻 (@JulieZebrak) June 28, 2023
Economy doing pretty d— well:
x Oh, and blue-collar real wages — which were very distorted by composition effects for a while, but less so now — appear to be higher than they were on the eve of the pandemic (PS: they fell under Reagan) 6/ pic.twitter.com/iBWCMFSbpJ — Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) June 28, 2023
I’m not the only one who has been frustrated:
x Do you think if MSNBC spent just half as much time covering the Biden economy as it does the Trump scandals, more Americans might be attuned to the true nature of the Biden economy? There's a show I watch and like called Deadline White House but Biden is hardly ever mentioned.
https://t.co/4wSIeab1kO — Dan Riley (@DanPostino) June 29, 2023
President Biden is finally talking about it too! Michael D. Shear and Jim Tankersley, New York Times
President Biden began a concerted campaign on Wednesday to claim credit for an economic revival in America, powered by policies that he said represent a fundamental break from the Republican approach “that has failed America’s middle class for decades.” Flanked by blue signs with the word “Bidenomics,” Mr. Biden delivered what aides called a cornerstone speech of his presidency. In it, he hailed the impact of his economic agenda as the 2024 campaign cycle heats up. “The trickle-down approach failed the middle class,” he told an audience of about 200 supporters in Chicago, referring to economic policies favoring lower taxation for the wealthy that were popularized by Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. “It failed America, it blew up the deficit, it increased inequity and it weakened our infrastructure. It stripped the dignity, pride and hope out of communities, one after another.” By contrast, Mr. Biden asserted that his willingness to plunge the American government more directly into supporting key industries like silicon chips has revitalized manufacturing. He said investments in rebuilding crumbling infrastructure have begun to pave the way for growth. And he insisted that spending billions of dollars on programs like student debt relief will let more people find their way to a comfortable, middle-class life. Of course the Rs were lying about Biden taking bribes, but now the Ds have evidence Isabella Ramirez, The Daily Beast The evidence is stacking up against Republicans’ (thus far unfounded) claims that President Joe Biden was the recipient of a foreign bribery scheme while serving as vice president. House Oversight Committee Democrats on Thursday unveiled a document filled out by Mykola Zlochevsky—who their colleagues across the aisle allege may have handed Biden a $5 million kickback—in which the Ukrainian oligarch says he never interacted with Biden when he was vice president.
The repair of I-95! 🎩 Progressive Muse
💜 Unity? 💜
You may have seen this before, but you may have missed it. Bipartisanship in the senate: they’re working on a bill to make bank execs from failed banks give back their salaries Mary Whitfill Roeloff, Forbes, June 21
The latest attempt to hold executives accountable for bank failures was approved by members of the Senate Banking Committee Wednesday as it passed a bill that would let regulators claw back compensation for executives of failed banks and institute penalties for misconduct. The Recovering Executive Compensation from Unaccountable Practices Act, or RECOUP Act, would allow the FDIC to to take back all or part of the compensation received by bank executives during the two years before a collapse and would strengthen regulators’ ability to ban or remove executives who fail to appropriately oversee and manage their bank. wrote in an op-ed Wednesday. Bank CEOs or other executives would be subject to fines and penalties if they were found to have ignored warnings and enforcement actions from regulators, and banks would have to adopt corporate governance and accountability standards “that promote responsible management,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)in an op-ed Wednesday.
📥 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 😈
tRump maybe about to get 30 or 45 bonus indictments for being suuuuuch a good criminal Evan Hurst, Wonkette
Special Counsel Jack Smith doesn't seem to understand (stupid) that Donald Trump was drinking Diet Coke (refreshing) when he spilled national military secrets all over that lady at Bedminster (fake news), and that moreover the recording of Trump doing that was a perfect recording (Trump did nothing wrong). Jack Smith also apparently doesn't read laws as good as Tom Fitton (beautiful biceps, right out of central casting) and therefore doesn't understand that the Presidential Records Act is just a picture of Donald Trump sitting on the toilet next to the pool at Mar-a-Lago looking at the nuclear diagrams he personally owns (only he knows how to read them). And now news comes out that Special Counsel Trump Derangement Syndrome and his Trump-hating wife Mrs. Special Counsel Trump Derangement Syndrome are planning to indict Trump maybe 30 or 45 more times. And no, this is not (mostly) about the January 6 case. That's all still to come. This would be a superseding indictment on top of the 37 federal indictments he already has for stealing America's military and nuclear secrets and hiding them from the feds for God knows what treasonous purpose. (You know, on top of the really sad, pathetic, needy, loser, going to die by himself did we mention loser purpose, which is obviously his desperate need for someone, anyone to think he's cool and has a life worth envying.) Andrew Feinberg reports in the Independent the following things (some of them are just our wise-ass comments, full disclosure):
🎩 WineRev Giuliani drinking binge Bill Palmer Palmer Report
On Monday, former Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas revealed on Twitter that according to his sources, Giuliani has recently been “drinking heavily” and “fears that he is about to get indicted and doesn’t [know] who to turn to for help.” Then on Tuesday, CNN reported that Giuliani actually met with DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith a few weeks ago. When you put these two stories together, they make for a remarkable timeline. The only reason such a meeting would take place was if Jack Smith told the highest level criminal targets that they were welcome to come in and defend themselves ahead of indictment. Such a meeting rarely goes well for even the savviest of criminals, and defense attorneys usually advise guilty clients not to take such meetings. Yet Giuliani went ahead and took the bait.
This was tweeted yesterday:
x It was previously reported that Jack Smith's deadline for plea deals is June 30th – which is TOMORROW. So it's not surprising that we're now seeing the wheeling and dealing that we're suddenly seeing. 1/6 indictments are dropping and everyone knows it:
https://t.co/KbSQXfb7At — Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) June 29, 2023
People hoping for justice were made nervous when tRump got Aileen Cannon as the judge down in Florida. Her rulings before were dreadful (and overturned). But look, randomness sometimes can work for us. In Manhattan case, tRump gets a judge he doesn’t like. Jose Pagliery, The Daily Beast
A federal judge on Tuesday resoundingly rejected former President Donald Trump’s desperate attempts to pluck his porn-star-hush-payment indictment away from New York’s state courts, ensuring that the case will remain before the same local judge who sentenced the Trump Organization for tax fraud earlier this year. Capping a three-hour hearing that included a surprise witness, U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said he’d heard enough—and indicated he would issue a ruling against Trump in the coming days. That means Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr. can continue his historic case—the first for a local DA against a former American president—at the very same downtown courthouse where he recently scored a victory against Trump’s family company. And it all comes down to a point that’s been made in court again and again: Trump can’t hide behind the White House podium any longer.
the former guy complains that FOX is making him ugly Justin Baragona, The Daily Beast Justin Baragona, The Daily Beast
After praising a MAGA lawmaker’s appearance on Fox, revealing he was tuned into the channel on Wednesday morning, Trump wrote on his Truth Social site that “Three people in New Hampshire asked me why FoxNews uses such ‘horrible’ pictures of me when doing or promoting a story. The coloring, distortions, everything are just so bad. They must sit and look at 100 different shots, and then take the 10 absolute worst.”
I think it’s likely that FOX is using the best photos and that the problem is simply that tRump is ugly. But I also love the idea that viewers of FOX are getting an ugly tRump. Because looks matter.
The Truth Social scam
x News hit today that three people were charged with insider trading on Trump’s pump and dump stock market scam Truth Social/DWAC. Remember, Trump himself illegally pumped the stock. Billions of investor dollars were lost in this scam.
https://t.co/eykd4erDda — Tom Joseph (@TomJChicago) June 29, 2023
📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️️
This week we’re honoring the lawyer Neal Katyal and Common Cause, who saved democracy by fighting against the idea that state legislatures should be able to throw out the votes of their people. Here’s the reaction of Common Cause:
We just WON our major Supreme Court case Moore v. Harper, fending off the far-right’s plot to upend the American system of democracy. Make no mistake: we may have stopped these power-hungry politicians today, but they know their only path to victory is to lock in oligarchy at the expense of democracy.
They also ask for money, which I don’t include here, but it’s a good cause.
Here’s the reaction of Neal Katyal.
I’m pleased by the result, and no, we can’t take it for granted. And a 6-3 victory is not the 9-0 ruling it should have been.
🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️
We’ve had discussions of “deep canvassing” in the GNR, and some people here have experience in it. Today we’re celebrating you, because it takes a lot of patience, tolerance and even love to talk to people sometimes. But it’s so important for healing our nation. Build solidarity across difference Sonali Kolhatkar, Yes!
He says people “are not born with” racist attitudes. These are “learned behaviors.” “What we’re advocating is for people to figure out how to go about these conversations,” says Higdon. According to him, there are certain conditions that must be met. First, “you can’t begin to enter the process of constructive dialogue unless you have reciprocity.” One example of this is for both parties to agree upon what sources of information are considered reliable. If people disagree on what constitutes a fact, there’s little hope for dialogue. Second, the venue for discussion is also important, and social media platforms are not appropriate for fostering constructive dialogue. In-person interactions in social settings are more conducive, instead, at family gatherings during the holidays, for instance. Third, “rather than lampooning people or trying to own them, simply asking questions” can be effective, says Higdon. He offers the example of how conversing with a vaccine skeptic might be best met with questions like “Are you opposed to all vaccines, or are you just opposed to vaccine mandates?”
It turns out that sometimes we can reach these people, if we talk to them instead of just berating them.
📎 Odds & Ends 📎
“Optimism doesn’t mean that you are blind to the reality of the situation. It means that you remain motivated to seek a solution to whatever problems arise.”
— The Dalai Lama
Reviving the lost waterways of India’s city of lakes Geetanjanli Krishna, Reasons to Be Cheerful
It was the autumn of 2022 in Bengaluru, in the southern state of Karnataka. Drum beats punctured the air and over a thousand people in traditional attire, carrying platters of flowers, sweets and fruit thronged the banks of Kyalasanahalli Lake, which had overflowed for the first time in 23 years. A ripple of excitement arose as the local deity was placed ceremoniously on a boat and taken for a spin. Amid this scene, it was hard to believe that merely six years earlier, this lake did not exist. In its place was a wasteland of sewage, industrial waste and water hyacinth. Kyalasanahalli’s restoration is part of the growing revival of India’s City of Lakes. When it was built in the 16th century, Bangalore — or Bengaluru, as it is now known — had about 1,500 interconnected bodies of water, big and small. These absorbed rainwater, kept groundwater levels high and helped maintain the land-locked city’s uniquely moderate micro-climate. But in the last 50 years, Bengaluru’s lakes and other bodies of water have degraded and shrunk as its urban area has increased ten-fold, transforming a once-rural landscape into India’s fourth-largest city. Sewage and water infrastructure have not been able to keep up with this explosive growth, leading to two diametrically opposed but equally acute urban woes: flooding and water scarcity.
This is really stepping up!
x At the European Championships, two hurdlers from Team Belgium were injured and couldn't compete.
Without any runners, Team Belgium would have been disqualified, so a shot putter stepped up and took their place.
This is what team spirit looks like.pic.twitter.com/BS3zAcCKeo — Goodable (@Goodable) June 25, 2023
🍉 I know it’s hot and even hazy or worse for a lot of people — if you can, take a moment to share a watermelon with friends:
x Eating a watermelon together.. 😊 pic.twitter.com/Jx6N10G58i — Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) June 29, 2023
🐦 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
🌹 🌹 🌹
[END]
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