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Good News Roundup for July 21, 2023: Choosing Cheer, Not Fear [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-07-21
Welcome 🌻 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News!
Have you heard of set points? For example, we have them with weight: the weight our body is used to operating at. We tend to go back to it.
The same is true for emotional well-being. I’m lucky in that my emotional set point is generally cheerful. I don’t like being in a state of depression and alarm and I struggle to get out of it.
This is how I operate. I can’t speak for others, but I believe that many of the people who come here are similar. Because I simply don’t function well in the states of depression and alarm. I need to choose cheer and not fear, because I can do so much more when I have hope. Not only do I get more done, I’m happier and healthier, and so it is a win-win.
There are things to be alarmed about. Some of the headlines about our fellow Americans are just awful. Supporting criminals who want to destroy the country. Pushing children into a river. Ignoring science and truth. And the heat…!
But there are also so many good things happening! And they don’t get nearly enough attention! And they show us the way to make this world better for all!
Come on in, dear gnusies, and see what some of 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 👍
Gender pay gap now the narrowest on record Courtenay Brown, Axios
America's working women were feared to suffer the worst in the pandemic recovery. The opposite, however, has proven to be the case, with women serving as historic drivers of a labor market that remains surprisingly strong. Why it matters: The pay gap between full-time working women and male counterparts is now the narrowest on record. The dynamic has been long in the making — a reflection of discrimination's slow fade and other structural forces that have held women back on pay. ✂️ What they're saying: "Many women are coming back into the labor force at higher wage rates than before," says Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter. "What was a 'she-cession' in some ways appears to be turning into a 'she-boom.'"
Gen-Z voters may make 2024 very different from 2020 Celinda Lake and Mac Heller, The Washington Post, GIFT article!
.. things are very different this time, and here’s why: The candidates might not be changing — but the electorate has. ✂️ Which means that between Trump’s election in 2016 and the 2024 election, the number of Gen Z (born in the late 1990s and early 2010s) voters will have advanced by a net 52 million against older people. That’s about 20 percent of the total 2020 eligible electorate of 258 million Americans. And unlike previous generations, Gen Z votes. Comparing the four federal elections since 2015 (when the first members of Gen Z turned 18) with the preceding nine (1998 to 2014), average turnout by young voters (defined here as voters under 30) in the Trump and post-Trump years has been 25 percent higher than that of older generations at the same age before Trump — 8 percent higher in presidential years and a whopping 46 percent higher in midterms. ✂️ While American voters historically have tended somewhat to become more conservative as they age, no one should expect these voting patterns to change drastically. About 48 percent of Gen Z voters identify as a person of color, while the boomers they’re replacing in the electorate are 72 percent White. Gen Z voters are on track to be the most educated group in our history, and the majority of college graduates are now female. Because voting participation correlates positively with education, expect women to speak with a bigger voice in our coming elections. Gen Z voters are much more likely to cite gender fluidity as a value, and they list racism among their greatest concerns. Further, they are the least religious generation in our history. No wonder there’s discussion in some parts of the GOP about raising the voting age to 25, and among some Democrats about lowering it to 16!
🐊 The best and the youngest are leaving Florida Jennifer Rubin The Washington Post
Florida already is one of the states with the oldest average populations, and the MAGA culture wars risk alienating young people and the diverse workforce the state needs. In February, USA Today reported, “Florida may be the most moved to state in the country, but not when it comes to Gen Z. They are the only generation that chose to exit Florida, with an outflux of 8,000 young adults, while every other generation moved in.” In addition, evidence points to a brain drain from Florida universities and colleges, although data is hard to come by. Records show “an upward tick in staff departures at some of Florida’s largest universities. … Across the State University System, the murmurs are getting louder: Some Florida schools are having trouble filling positions,” the Orlando Sentinel reported. “At the University of Florida, 1,087 employees resigned in 2022 — the only time in the last five years that the number exceeded 1,000.” Record numbers of faculty are not returning to University of Central Florida, Florida State University and the University of South Florida. This is hardly surprising, given DeSantis’s assault on academic independence and his suggestion that students go out of state if they want to study topics such as African American studies. In addition, some businesses might be getting cold feet about spending convention dollars in the Sunshine State. The Sun Sentinel reported, “Broward County has lost more than a half-dozen conventions as their organizers cite the divisive political climate as their reason to stay out of Florida.” If the trend continues, the significant share of jobs and state revenue attributable to convention business could shrink. DeSantis and his supporters counter that tourism is still booming. They insist low taxes will continue to attract the wealthy and businesses. There is little sign that the rest of the country is enamored of censorship, book bans or anti-immigrant and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment. The question remains whether DeSantis’s act wears thin at home.
I have mixed feelings about this. It does show what we think of Florida’s current policies, but moving out makes it much harder to change them. On the other hand, it’s a bad place to be when the seas are rising.
There was a special election in Wisconsin, and the Rs won. But there is more to the story:
x Something incredible is happening in Wisconsin-- we just saw a 17 POINT SWING to the left in a WI special election. The GOP's extremism is finally catching up with them.
https://t.co/fHnqHkLAdC — Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) July 19, 2023
🌵 Federal law and HS transgender girls in AZ. Note Tom Horne is an R.
x BREAKING Federal judge issues preliminary injunction blocking Arizona School Superintendent Tom Horne from enforcing year-old law banning transgender girls playing girls HS sports. Horne says he'll appeal. RULING
https://t.co/2U0teGDsv7 pic.twitter.com/NxzVqpjxDC — Brahm Resnik (@brahmresnik) July 20, 2023
💣 Republicans: Party of Crimes and Chaos 💣
🌵 Ex governor Doug Ducey cooperating with Special Counsel Jack Smith Ja’han Jones The Reidout Blog, MSNBC News
A spokesman for Ducey told CNN that the former governor has been "responsive" to special counsel Jack Smith's team and "will do the right thing." The news follows a July 1 report from The Washington Post outlining allegations that Trump tried to pressure Ducey to find evidence of fraudulent votes in order to declare Trump the true winner. The Post report cited a GOP donor who alleged Ducey told him earlier this year that he was surprised Smith's team had not inquired about phone calls he had with Trump and then-Vice President Mike Pence in 2020 concerning the election. Ducey needn’t wait by the phone any longer. He appears to be in the mix now, which could spell more legal danger for Trump. Although he was largely loyal to Trump during his time as governor and vigorously supported Trump’s 2020 re-election bid, Ducey fell out of favor with the MAGA leader and his supporters after certifying Joe Biden's election victory in the state.
What we know about the fake electors charged in Michigan Marshall Cohen CNN News
State prosecutors in Michigan announced criminal charges Tuesday against the 16 Republicans who served as fake electors in 2020, a watershed moment in the still-ongoing federal and state investigations into the 2020 election aftermath. Some of the GOP electors in Michigan were local activists who were recruited to serve as “fake electors,” all while inaccurately believing there was still a chance that then-President Donald Trump might secure a second consecutive term. Others were well-connected GOP operatives. The group of 16 fake electors includes current and former state GOP officials, a Republican National Committee member, a sitting mayor, a school board member and Trump supporters who were the plaintiffs in a frivolous lawsuit that tried to overturn the 2020 results. ✂️ Meshawn Maddock, 55, was previously co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party and is married to a GOP member of the Michigan House of Representatives. CNN previously reported that she publicly bragged about the Trump campaign’s involvement in the fake elector scheme. The Maddocks spoke at a pro-Trump event in Washington, DC, one day before the insurrection on January 6, 2021, and Meshawn Maddock was in DC on the day of the attack, though she wasn’t at the US Capitol. Regarding the charges, she told CNN, “This is part of a national coordinated lawfare to stop Trump. (Michigan Attorney General) Dana Nessel and (Justice Department special counsel) Jack Smith are constructing a banana republic where political opponents are harassed, bankrupted and jailed and voter fraud has now morphed into their prosecutorial fraud.” ✂️ Kent Vanderwood, 69, is the current mayor of Wyoming, Michigan, a small city near Grand Rapids. He was previously a longtime member of the Wyoming City Council and won the mayor’s race last year. During the 2020 campaign, he was chair of the 2nd District Republican Party, according to local press reports. Stanley Grot, 71, is the Shelby Township clerk, in a small western Michigan town. He was appointed in 2012. Amy Facchinello, 55, was elected in 2020 as a member of the school board in Grand Blanc, which is a suburb of Flint, Michigan. She was previously vice chairwoman of the Genesee County Republican Party. CNN previously reported that she has repeatedly promoted QAnon-related material on her social media accounts. Kent Vanderwood, 69, is the current mayor of Wyoming, Michigan, a small city near Grand Rapids. He was previously a longtime member of the Wyoming City Council and won the mayor’s race last year. During the 2020 campaign, he was chair of the 2nd District Republican Party, according to local press reports. Stanley Grot, 71, is the Shelby Township clerk, in a small western Michigan town. He was appointed in 2012. Amy Facchinello, 55, was elected in 2020 as a member of the school board in Grand Blanc, which is a suburb of Flint, Michigan. She was previously vice chairwoman of the Genesee County Republican Party. CNN previously reported that she has repeatedly promoted QAnon-related material on her social media accounts.
Some are claiming ignorance, but I think that’s pretty hard to do. But isn’t that the choice for so many Rs? Stupidity or corruption. Anyway, think how much better off Michigan would be if these people were locked up instead of causing harm.
Update: Grot has been told to stop having anything to do with elections until his name is cleared. Which I don’t think will happen.
Defending tRump may hurt the Rs Brian Tyler Cohen MSNBC
… First off, I should note that these tantrums began before any indictment had even been unsealed, so in effect, these Republicans are positioning themselves against charges that don’t yet exist. That’s your first clue that all of the public theatrics may not be on the level. What I’d give for a reporter to ask, quite simply, which part of the nonexistent indictment they take issue with. More ridiculous is the assertion that Trump should be immune from prosecution because he’s the leading candidate for the Republican nomination. As if running for an office whose function is quite literally to faithfully execute the laws of the U.S. shouldn’t actually be subject to the laws of the U.S. Please, someone, make it make sense. But most perplexing is why they’ve chosen this hill to die on. The issue of Jan. 6 isn’t a winning one for Republicans. According to a CNN poll, 69% of Americans consider the Jan. 6 attack to be a crisis or a major problem for American democracy, and 79% of Americans feel that Trump acted either unethically or illegally, that he encouraged political violence in his public statements ahead of Jan. 6 (61%) and that he could have done more to stop the attack once it had begun (77%). Add that to Trump’s sky-high disapproval rating, and it would seem that Republicans are hellbent on tying electoral anvils around their necks.
There’s even more fallout possible from the current attempt to “expunge” impeachments, which seems to be the very important work being performed by the Rs in the House.
A few politicians are daring to distance themselves from tRump:
x Nikki Haley says the latest target letter shows it’s time for the GOP to dump Trump: “You’re going to continue to see lawsuit after lawsuit, indictment after indictment .. We’ve got the leave this chaos and negativity behind.” pic.twitter.com/jCTQf4bVcp — Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) July 20, 2023
Sorry for the Newsmax stuff, that’s where she is. The problem for the Rs is that tRump is certainly not going to go quietly (think Jan 6th). He will probably demand his voters stay with him, which would be enough to spoil any election for the Rs.
Standoff between Greene and Boebert is worse than you think Zachary Petrizzo The Daily Beast
“A fistfight could break out at any moment,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) told The Daily Beast. Burchett, who later clarified that he was serious, said he was enjoying the standoff as a “professional wrestling fan.” ✂️ Another Republican lawmaker who is close to both Greene and Boebert told The Daily Beast that the situation was a tinderbox.
🚚 💙 Democrats Deliver 💙 🚚
Even Marjorie Taylor Greene has noticed how well President Biden is doing!
x Holy shit. Biden just turned Marjorie Taylor Greene’s own words attacking him into a commercial. pic.twitter.com/0wVD0Buzia — No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) July 18, 2023
I am not sure she understands what it means to attack someone. It looks much more like an endorsement.
Also, the last I saw, the ad had more than 40 million views, and in a podcast, when it only had 39 million views, it was the second-most popular Biden ad. But I couldn’t find the most up-to-date information so I am not providing links.
Ds are doing better than Rs in the special elections Michael A Cohen MSNBC columnist
Democratic strength in special elections has become a consistent trend this year. According to the folks at Daily Kos Elections, who have put together a handy spreadsheet of special election results so far in 2023, Democrats are running 7 points ahead of 2020 presidential results and 11 points better than 2016. In 15 out of 21 special elections held this year, Democrats have outperformed Biden’s 2020 numbers. These numbers do not even take into account the results of a May Supreme Court election in Wisconsin, in which the Democratic candidate running on an unambiguously abortion-rights platform trounced her Republican opponent by 11 points in the same state that Biden won by less than a point.
This piece also goes through a whole bunch of things we’ve been told to worry about and why they’re not as dangerous as we think they are.
Team Blue appears to be working hard!
x “The Majority Project”: VA Dems Unveil the Biggest, Earliest Voter Turnout Project Ever; "We’ve already got people hitting the doors everyday hearing from Virginians which issues matter most to them, & we’re going to keep up that work & win in November.”
https://t.co/abpSiR5IZU pic.twitter.com/mmRL9yJ7ID — Blue Virginia (@bluevirginia) July 20, 2023
Note that team red is still suffering from the idea that tRump pushed: voting only on election day, which means that some voters will miss it. Also, he pushed the idea that the elections are rigged. If elections are rigged, why bother? Once you teach people not to do something — always easier to get people not to do something, unless it’s something like eating, drinking and sleeping — it’s an uphill battle to get them to do it again.
💊 Pipeline for doctors in Northeast funneling abortion pills into states with bans Caroline Kitchener, The Washington Post
The doctor starts each day with a list of addresses and a label maker. Sitting in her basement in New York’s Hudson Valley, next to her grown children’s old bunk beds, she reviews the list of towns and cities she’ll be mailing to that day: Baton Rouge, Tucson, Houston. A month ago, a phone call was the only thing the doctor could offer to women in states with abortion bans who faced unexpected pregnancies. Hamstrung by the laws, she could only coach them through the process of taking abortion pills they received from overseas suppliers. Then, all of a sudden, the whole system changed. Now she can legally mail them pills herself. A new procedure adopted in mid-June by one of the largest abortion pill suppliers, Europe-based Aid Access, now allows U.S. medical professionals in certain Democrat-led states that have passed abortion “shield” laws to prescribe and mail pills directly to patients in antiabortion states.
These are all blue states, delivering literally to the women trapped in red states.
And we’re fighting against the lies coming out of red states (un case you missed it, DeSantis is telling teachers to say that slavery was good for black people):
x NEW via @NBCNews: "Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to travel to Florida on Friday to deliver critical remarks in response to the state Board of Education's approval of new standards for how Black history will be taught in schools."
https://t.co/kpCjj6f57H — Ernie Apreza (@ErnestoApreza46) July 21, 2023
💜 Unity? 💜
☎️ Joint efforts to work against scammy telemarketers Department of Justice, Press Release
The Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced today a crackdown on telemarketing operations responsible for billions of illegal calls to U.S. consumers. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General and other law enforcement partners, including attorneys general from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, joined the announcement. Today’s announcement caps approximately a year of enforcement actions taken by federal and state agencies to combat the scourge of illegal telemarketing, including robocalls and scam calls. In the last year, the department has pursued approximately 90 cases against illegal telemarketing operations and those who facilitate those illegal calls. This initiative, “Operation Stop Scam Calls,” targets telemarketers, including those who use telephone calls to commit fraud, as well as those who facilitate illegal telephone calls. Enforcement actions targeted lead generators who deceptively collect consumers’ telephone numbers and then provide those telephone numbers to robocallers and others (falsely representing that these consumers have consented to receive calls), as well as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers who facilitate tens of billions of illegal robocalls every year. Significant actions also were taken against individuals and entities who unjustly profited by facilitating the movement of money from scam call victims to fraudsters. “Illegal telephone calls interrupt cherished time with family and friends and, when they are used to commit fraud, can be financially and emotionally devastating,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Arun G. Rao of the Justice Department's Civil Division, Consumer Protection Branch, who appeared at a press conference in Chicago announcing the initiative. “The department and its partners are committed to pursuing those who make and facilitate these calls.” “Today, government agencies at all levels are united in fighting the scourge of illegal telemarketing. We are taking action against those who trick people into phony consent to receive these calls and those who make it easy and cheap to place these calls,” said Director Samuel Levine of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The FTC and its law enforcement partners will not rest in the fight against illegal telemarketing.” “The FCC is committed to using every tool at its disposal to crack down on illegal robocalls and protect the US communications network,” said Chief Loyaan Egal of the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau. “We, alongside our partners, will not let up in tracking, prosecuting, and penalizing the bad actors in this space and protecting consumers.” Cases brought by the department targeted both foreign and domestic telemarketing operations. These cases ranged from actions targeting fraudsters who directly contacted victims to actions targeting those who provided scam call operators with the means to perpetrate their schemes. The department’s actions contributed to the collective actions, over 180, taken by the federal and state partners participating in Operation Stop Scam Calls. ✂️ Cases brought by the department also involved criminal charges against those alleged to have made illegal phone calls or facilitated such calls. Many of these cases involved foreign fraud operations that victimized older adults. The department prosecuted perpetrators of various lottery fraud schemes, in which consumers were falsely told they had won a large prize but must first pay money to receive that prize. In three separate matters brought by the Consumer Protection Branch, three individuals were extradited from Jamaica. Two have since pleaded guilty.
The Criminal Division’s Fraud Section secured a nearly 133-month sentence in a Costa Rica-based lottery scheme.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona secured a 160-month sentence for a leader of an international fraud ring who distributed lead lists containing the personal information of thousands of victims.
📥 Actions You Can Take 📤
⭐️OHIO SPECIAL ELECTION!!! LOOK FOR INFORMATION FROM PROGRESSIVE MUSE IN THE COMMENTS! ⭐️
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 😈
QAnon rioter doesn’t get his conviction vacated. Also, Tucker lied. Emine Yücel, Talking Points Memo
A federal judge slammed the Jan. 6 riot segment former Fox anchor Tucker Carlson hosted in March 2023 — after receiving exclusive access to the Capitol building security footage from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) — calling the broadcast “replete with misstatements and misrepresentations … too numerous to count.” Judge Royce Lamberth’s rebuke was part of a Thursday court decision denying QAnon Shaman Jacob Chansley’s motion to vacate his conviction. Chansley had argued that Carlson’s segment cast new light on his activities in the Capitol. “The Court would be remiss if it did not address the ill-advised television program of March 6, 2023,” the judge wrote in a 35-page opinion, referring to Carlson’s segment on the riot. “Not only was the broadcast replete with misstatements and misrepresentations regarding the events of January 6, 2021 too numerous to count, the host explicitly questioned the integrity of this Court — not to mention the legitimacy of the entire U.S. criminal justice system — with inflammatory characterizations of cherry-picked videos stripped of their proper context.”
tRump’s Truth Social partner charged with misleading investors Alan Sherter, CBS News
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday charged a so-called "blank check" acquisition company formed to merge with former President Donald Trump's social media company with fraud. In announcing a settlement with Digital World Acquisition Corporation, which is listed on the Nasdaq exchange, the SEC said the company misled investors and securities regulators by failing to disclose that it was planning to buy Trump Media & Technology Group before DWAC went public in 2021.
The House has been wasting its time by letting RFK Jr, the major hypocrite, speak:
x 'He vaccinated all his children': House Democrat blows a hole in RFK Jr.’s anti-vax arguments
https://t.co/JEV3CeVRCK — Jeffrey Levin 🇺🇦 (@jilevin) July 21, 2023
Brett Kavanaugh is the Supreme Court lightweight Mark Joseph Stern Slate
Justice Brett Kavanaugh is the most powerful and least influential member of the U.S. Supreme Court today. As the median justice, he is, in theory, the swing vote: He sits at the center, though he is not a centrist, and can create a majority with the four justices to his left or right. Yet, unlike past swing votes, Kavanaugh rarely authors important or notable opinions of the court. Actually, he doesn’t write very much at all, penning the fewest words of any justice over the most recent term. It is difficult to describe his ideology, or even attribute to him a clear legal philosophy. The best that can be said of Kavanaugh may be that he is a lot like Chief Justice John Roberts—the two men are the court’s most reliable pairing—minus the chief justice’s fluency, wit, and shrewdness. ✂️ Thomas, Barrett, and Gorsuch aren’t the only members of the court who are losing patience with Kavanaugh. Justice Elena Kagan memorably castigated him for treating “judging as scorekeeping,” whining about “how unfair it is” when he loses, and repeating the same bad arguments “at a higher volume.” Justice Sonia Sotomayor has repeatedly accused him of outright dishonesty by misrepresenting precedent and dangling false promises. In a fed-up dissent in just her first term, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson compared a Kavanaugh majority opinion to the children’s book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Alito’s rebuttal to Kavanaugh’s dissent in Sackett v. EPA consisted of exactly one sentence: Kavanaugh’s argument, Alito wrote, “cannot be taken seriously.” Justices argue fiercely all the time, and we should not read too much into any one opinion. The examples above, however, are no isolated incidents; they are a trend across his tenure on the bench. There are other signs that Kavanaugh’s colleagues do not hold him in particularly high esteem: He has formed no cross-ideological alliances, like the Jackson–Gorsuch axis on some civil libertarian issues, or the Kagan–Barrett partnership on structural federalism.
I wonder if Kavanaugh’s current problems stem from liking beer a little too much? Anyway, I thought the above was interesting. The Supreme Court must be less than happy these days, because so many of the justices are so thin-skinned.
Jan 6 rioters warn tRump against DC juries Michael Daly, The Daily Beast
However Donald Trump fares in the Mar-a-Lago documents case in Florida, he will face a much tougher fight if the target letter he received on Sunday is followed by an indictment for attempting to overthrow the 2020 election. Those charges would almost certainly be brought in Washington, D.C., where juries have convicted one Jan. 6 defendant after another. “If I was Donald J. Trump, the last place on earth I’d want to be tried other than Atlanta, Georgia, is Washington, D.C.,” Samuel Shamansky, attorney for convicted Jan. 6 rioter Dustin Thompson, told The Daily Beast. Shamansky said he based his opinion partly on pre-trial jury selection and the trial itself, but mostly on speaking with the jury after it returned a guilty verdict. The jurors made it clear that they were deeply offended by the storming of the Capitol.
Derek Chauvin’s appeal denied by Minnesota Supreme Court David McAfee, Raw Story
Derek Chauvin, who was found guilty on murder charges in 2021, appealed in a last-ditch effort to revoke his conviction. The news was posted by Supreme Court lawyer and former DOJ official Neal Katyal, who wrote, "In our case prosecuting the George Floyd murder, proud to say the Minnesota Supreme Court has just denied Derek Chauvin’s appeal."
🌈 US Ambassador holds big gay celebration in Hungary Dan Ladden-Hall The Daily Beast
David Pressman, the U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, has not shied away from calling out the anti-LGBT rhetoric and policies of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government. Since his arrival in Budapest last year, the gay human rights lawyer has been relentlessly criticized by the country’s state-controlled media for what they perceive as his provocative propagandizing of progressive Western values to a people who do not share them. His weekend plans seem likely to spark another round of invective. On Sunday, he will mark the end of Budapest Pride Month by hosting a picnic at his official residence for Hungarian LGBTQI+ families—a celebration of a community who, under Orbán, are being made to feel increasingly unwelcome in their homeland. “Candidly, we’ve been pretty overwhelmed by the interest in participation from Hungarian LGBT families and their allies—and I expect about 1,000 people there, making it what we’re told will be the largest event of its kind in history in Hungary,” Pressman told The Daily Beast. “And I think now’s a really important moment for the United States and the international community writ large to stand with this community that is increasingly being used in a divisive and political way that is in tension with the commitments this government has made to upholding international human rights.”
📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️️
This week we’re honoring Mike Chitwood, a sherriff in Florida, who is fighting all sorts of lies, violence and crazy Hunter Walker Talking Points Memo
Mike Chitwood is a second generation cop who doesn’t shy away from the spotlight — or from a fight. His swashbuckling and hard-nosed approach has clear echoes of his father, who was also named Mike Chitwood and drew comparisons to Clint Eastwood’s “Dirty Harry” during a more than half-century law enforcement career that started in the 1960s; he eventually became one of Philadelphia’s most famous and decorated cops. The elder Chitwood was known for making headlines, breaking down doors, cracking high-profile cases, and attacking criminals with colorful insults like “bum” and “scumbag.” ✂️ Along with sunshine, Chitwood’s new post found him engaged in what he calls a “war on anti-Semitism” against a hate group known as the “Goyim Defense League.” These neo-Nazis, who set up shop in Central Florida within the past year, are known for a high volume of rage-filled livestreams and vulgar, aggressive protests in front of Jewish institutions that have earned them a reputation as “the nation’s most prolific antisemitic propaganda group.” As the GDL has harassed Volusia’s residents with flyers at their homes and vile epithets hurled through megaphones outside their synagogues, Chitwood has fired back with the same kind of insults and sharp elbows that made his father famous. The fight has made Chitwood and his family the target of death threats and left him wishing federal law enforcement agencies would do more to take on extremism. And even after years facing violent crime, in interviews with TPM, Chitwood said the things he has seen in recent months have disturbed him. ✂️ “Maybe I’m getting old. It just seemed back then everything was straightforward,” he explained. “Now, with the weaponry, social media, this huge division of no common sense, people will read a blurb and it’s religion, and they’ll die on that hill of misinformation, of lies, of deceit.” ✂️ “These scumbags came to the wrong county,” Chitwood declared at the event. “We have unity in this county.” Chitwood, who said he hoped to confront the GDL with “unity and sunshine” invited an array of religious leaders to participate in the event, including rabbis, an imam, and members of a local Black clergy alliance. Many of the leaders present expressed gratitude towards Chitwood for his efforts to highlight the issue.
I also want to honor Miles Taylor, the guy who was the original “Anonymous” in the tRump administration. He’s got a new book out — Blowback — and he had a conversation with Allison Gill on The Daily Beans this week. In it he described one of the big reasons that the Rs have not abandoned tRump. It’s tribal. It means leaving everything and everyone behind. These people get shunned. They get yelled at and insulted and threatened. Sometimes their lives are in actual danger.
When he finally outed himself, he lost everything — relationships, jobs — and spent a lot of time drinking. He’s in better shape now, but it’s a tough thing to do.
You can hear him here, but obviously this is long and I don’t expect most people to do it.
🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️
Trainer opens up accessible, inclusive gym
x This is Javeno McLean.
He followed his heart by opening up a gym exclusively for people with dementia and disabilities.
The best part? It's 100% free.pic.twitter.com/pNZUpU8UfN — Goodable (@Goodable) July 15, 2023
📎 Odds & Ends 📎
What a great idea!
x In Sweden, blood donors receive a text message whenever their blood is used to save someone's life.
The program is designed to encourage donations and show the personal impact individual donors can have.
🇸🇪 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/71LL2s7COl — Goodable (@Goodable) July 20, 2023
🐶 🐱 🐦 Veterinary conference becomes free care clinic for pets for the homeless Andy Corbley, Good News Network
This year’s annual convention for the American Veterinary Medical Association has been turned into a medical care drive for the companion animals of the homeless in the Denver area. In partnership with the Street Dog Coalition and a number of corporate sponsors, the event held over last weekend allowed anyone to bring in an animal to receive a free health check, vaccinations, and essential supplies to take home with them. Social isolation is as deadly to human beings as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and a companion animal can almost entirely alleviate those maleffects.
Really saving babies:
x When he was a university student, James Roberts watched a documentary about the struggles many countries face to provide newborn care.
That's when he had an idea: a portable, battery-powered incubator.
Today, his invention has saved more than 1,500 premature babies in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/2MJjSEAjwx — Goodable (@Goodable) July 19, 2023
Linking patches of wildnerness is saving the wildlife of Borneo Jeremy Hance, The Guardian
In 2019, the RFF bought 65 hectares (160 acres) of land and gave it to the Sabah forestry department for conservation. Although RFF’s purchase was small, it represented the first dryland connection between the two parks in decades, providing wildlife with an 800-metre-wide corridor, large enough for elephants. As soon as they took the fences down, elephants began moving through the area again and previously disconnected populations were reunited. The region is home to several hundred Bornean pygmy elephants, which have been isolated from mainland elephants for 300,000 years and represent a distinct evolutionary population. RFF also began restoring the land by planting native trees and grasses, clearing invasive species and creating a small lake. “[In 2022], after working in the area for a full decade, we saw for the first time orangutan, proboscis monkey, red leaf monkey and Storm’s stork [considered to be the rarest of all storks, with probably fewer than 500 left worldwide] in our restoration site,” Risch says. Benoît Goossens, director of the Danau Girang field centre, a research facility managed by the Sabah wildlife department and Cardiff University, says restoring “connectivity” is one of the state’s key aims for many of its charismatic species. For example, there are about 1,700 critically endangered Bornean orangutans across the territory, but many are cut off from each other.
🐦 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.
Note that Hunters of the Feather is currently available free to those with US Amazon Prime. Also, everything is also available in dead tree format.
💙 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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