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Good News Roundup on Tuesday, September 12, 2023: Our flag is still there [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-09-12
Welcome 🌻 to Friday’s Tuesday’s Roundup of Good News!
Friends, I’m filling in for arhpdx today, but I won’t be here on Friday because I will be traveling.
During the last Friday White House Deadline show, Nicolle Wallace made an observation: that people like us are stepping up all the time with quiet resolution, as poll workers, as secretaries of states, to protect our democracy. It seemed to strike her that maybe she should talk to more of us than the typical mainstream media approach of going out to interview dedicated maga folk.
I understand why the MSM has done this. Clickbait. And curiosity. We wonder how such people can be.
But Wallace’s observation was right. There are more of us and we are working to save democracy. The MSM needs to talk to us and hear our stories.
As Nancy Pelosi said, and which must have been so important to her during the wee hours of the 7th of January 2023, our flag is still there.
Come on in, gnusies, and see what the good guys are doing, and don’t get confused by the Friday offering on Tuesday.
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 few days’ posts at the White House briefing room.
👎 Out with the Bad, In with the Good 👍
I’ve been celebrating the IRS, because they’re doing what we want them to do. Here’s some more good stuff:
x BREAKING: The IRS is gearing up to audit 1,600 millionaires and 75 corporations—like hedge funds and real-estate firms—who owe hundreds of millions in unpaid taxes.
This is what happens when you give the IRS the funding it needs to catch rich tax cheats.
https://t.co/TQrGlzmkco — Americans For Tax Fairness (@4TaxFairness) September 8, 2023
If you want to collect more money, go where the money is! In fact, they plan to weaponize AI in doing it. Jacob Knutsen, Axios
Why it matters: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said it will start using AI and other tools to detect tax violations by high-income earners and large business partnerships The IRS said Friday it leveraged AI to open investigations into 75 of the largest partnerships in the U.S. that each have more than $10 billion in assets on average.
Machine learning tech helped identify the targets, which include hedge funds, real estate investment partnerships and law firms, while seeking threats to the tax system in a segment that's historically seen limited scrutiny, the service said. Driving the news: The IRS is prioritizing cases involving taxpayers with incomes above $1 million but tax debts of more than $250,000. It said around 1,600 taxpayers fall under this category and "owe hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes."
💣 Republicans: Party of Crimes and Chaos 💣
McCarthy’s best selling point for Speaker is his willingness to be humiliated Matt Lewis, The Daily Beast
With a razor-thin Republican majority, it’s hard to see how McCarthy can thread the needle of funding the government without enduring a challenge from the right to his speakership. Indeed, these two things may be mutually exclusive. What we are left with is a chaotic situation with no clear outcome in sight—and no obvious exit strategy. And the more you learn about the situation, the more fraught it appears. Consider the conundrum. ✂️ When these demands are predictably not met, it seems more likely than not that Freedom Caucus members—who seem to be itching for a fight—could bring a motion to “vacate the chair,” which would force a vote on removing McCarthy as speaker. ✂️ The best thing McCarthy has going for him is the fact that there isn’t another House Republican who is more popular within the GOP conference—or wants a job where they won’t let you lead, and they can threaten to shoot you at any moment. (This is even truer now that Steve Scalise has been diagnosed with blood cancer.) As long as McCarthy is willing to endure the humiliation in pursuit of his only true goal, remaining speaker, he will likely survive. Again.
The article covers what the Freedom Caucus wants and what the Ds would probably do, which is not support McCarthy.
Big donors don’t want to give tRump their money Rebecca Davis Ob’Brien, New York Times
On Labor Day, Eric Levine, a New York lawyer and Republican fund-raiser, sent an email to roughly 1,500 donors, politicians and friends. “I refuse to accept the proposition that Donald Trump is the ‘inevitable’ Republican nominee for President,” he wrote. “His nomination would be a disaster for our party and our country.” Many of the Republican Party’s wealthiest donors share that view, and the growing sense of urgency about the state of the G.O.P. presidential primary race. Mr. Trump’s grip on the party’s voters is as powerful as ever, with polls in Iowa and New Hampshire last month putting him at least 25 percentage points above his nearest rivals. ✂️ One Texas-based Republican fund-raiser, who has not committed to a candidate and insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations, said he regularly told major donors that like it or not, Mr. Trump would be the nominee. “Intellectually, their heads explode,” the fund-raiser said. He said many donors were “backing off” rather than supporting a candidate, reflecting a fundamental belief that nobody can defeat Mr. Trump.
tRump gets one-finger salute at Iowa football game Brett Meiselas, Meidas Touch
Donald Trump received a frosty reception during a hot September day at the Iowa - Iowa State football game on Saturday — and he wasn't the only one to feel the wrath amid a sea of thousands of angry football fans. Attendees showed their disdain towards the Republican candidates vying for the Iowa primary vote and the photos have since went viral. As previously reported, upon leaving his carefully staged events and entering the stadium, Trump was welcomed with mostly boos. Sure, some applauded. But you can hear for yourself how the boos outweighed those showing the criminally indicted ex-president support. x Yep, he sure felt the love today pic.twitter.com/zVlxV2zKHc — John Q (@johnz5150) September 10, 2023
Poll shows battleground voters aren’t keen on GOP plan to impeach President Biden Ja’an Jones, MSNBC News
Voters in key battleground districts, where Republicans will fight to maintain their slim House majority in 2024, are deeply skeptical of the GOP’s effort to impeach President Joe Biden, a new poll finds. ✂️ The Democrat-aligned Congressional Integrity Project commissioned a poll from Public Policy Polling asking voters in the 18 Republican-held districts won by Biden in 2020 about the legitimacy of the GOP’s impeachment plans. And the returns ought to concern McCarthy and Co. About 56% of people polled in these districts said an impeachment inquiry would be “a partisan political stunt," compared with 41% who said it’d be “a serious effort to investigate important problems.”
Remember, these are districts the Rs won. So, the prospect of 56% calling it “a partisan, political stunt” is damned siginificant.
Just a few of the lies of George Santos Gary Legum Wonkette
Anyway, what potential scandals did the report flag that then came out after the election? Let’s see, Green Card-married to a woman while living with a man? Check. Was threatened with eviction from multiple dwellings in Queens? Check. Worked for a company that the SEC later accused of being a Ponzi scheme? Check. Claiming to be a personal finance expert who makes wealth grow while not actually investing and making his wealth grow? Check. Owes thousands of dollars to creditors? Check. Lied about attending Horace Mann and Baruch College and the NYU business school? Check. Lied about being Jewish and having family who fled the Holocaust? Check. Claimed to work for big financial firms when he did not work for those big financial firms? Check. And these were just a sample of the top problems bullet-pointed on the first four pages of the report. And the report is over 100 pages long. Of course with the way this story has gone, there is a good likelihood Santos will tell us he’s been a woman named Frieda. Oh wait, he almost already did.
🚚 💙 Democrats Deliver 💙 🚚
Finally, some polling numbers that make sense:
x A central reason I'm bullish on Biden/Dems:
"An analysis from FiveThirtyEight found that in 38 special elections held so far this year, Democrats have outperformed the partisan lean .....of the areas where the races were held by an average of 10%"
https://t.co/CrkM88zl0t — Simon Rosenberg (@SimonWDC) September 10, 2023
What they are reading in the states about how people are saving on their student loans WH Briefing Room. Am including this because
Illinois Governor Pritzker celebrates the start of a new health and science building on an Illinois campus Effingham Radio
Governor JB Pritzker recently joined local and state officials along with Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) leadership to announce the beginning of construction on a new health science building on campus. Situated at the intersection of South University Drive and University Park Drive, the $105 million building will provide groundbreaking educational opportunities in a state-of-the-art facility. The building construction, which is set to be completed by summer 2025, will seamlessly connect two existing facilities at 200 and 220 University Park Drive into one structure, weaving together the School of Nursing and the School of Pharmacy. Funding is made possible by the bipartisan Rebuild Illinois Capital program, the largest capital plan in the State’s history.
Health and science are good, and although this is in the D section, we note that it comes from a bipartisan program.
A poll on Harris:
x WHOA. 62% of young voters are enthusiastic/satisfied with Kamala Harris & 55% view Kamala Harris being on the Biden ticket "as a good thing," according to a new CBS poll today. That's more than ANY age group by huge margins. Do NOT underestimate the power of Kamala Harris in 2024 — Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) September 10, 2023
Nancy Pelosi is running again! Here she is talking about it with Nicolle Wallace. She is a great fundraiser, and as capable as ever.
Also:
⚡️ If you’re feeling nervous because of bad polling, check out Michael Moore’s podcast: Self-help for frightened liberals. It will calm you down. I’m not always a Moore fan, but this episode was excellent.
💜 Unity? 💜
Remarks by President Biden in India about economic corridors WH Briefing Room
THE PRESIDENT: Well, ladies and gentlemen, thank you all. My colleagues, this is — someone once said in a similar domestic action that was positive: This is a big deal. This is a real big deal. And I want to thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. One Earth, One Family, One Future: That’s the focus of this G20 Summit. And in many ways, it’s also the focus of this partnership that we’re going to — that we’re talking about today: building sustainable, resilient infrastructure; making quality infrastructure investments; and creating a better future — a future of a greater — that’s — represents greater opportunity, dignity, and prosperity for everyone. Last year, we came together as one to commit to this vision. And this afternoon, I want to highlight the key ways in which the United States and our partners are working to make this a reality. Economic corridors — you’re going to hear that phrase more than once, I expect, over the next decade. Economic corridors. As we work to address infrastructure gaps across low- and middle-income countries, we need to maximize the impacts of our investments. That’s why, a few months ago, I announced that the United States will work with our partners to invest in economic corridors. And, today, I’m proud to announce that we’ve finalized a historic agreement for a new India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. As — as a key part of this corridor, we’re going to invest in ships and rail that extends the India — that extends from India all the way to Europe, connected by the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Israel; bridging ports across two continents; unlocking endless opportunities, including making it far easier to trade, export clean energy, expand access to reliable clean electricity, lay cables that will connect communities that secure a stable Internet, contributing a more stable, more prosperous, and integrated Middle East. And I want to thank the sponsors. And I particularly want to thank Prime Minister Modi and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman and President von der Leyen and the European Commissions. In Sub-Saharan Africa — we’re working in a private-public partnership as well to invest in a Trans-African Corridor. That includes a new partner, the European Union. President von der Leyen, thank you for making this very possible. Together, as part of this corridor, we’re going to invest in a new rail line that will extend from the western port in Angola, to the — the DRC, to Zambia, and, ultimately, the Indian Ocean. It’s a project that’s about — far from just laying tracks. It’s about creating jobs, increasing trade, strengthening the supply chains, boosting connectivity, laying foundations that will strengthen commerce and food security for people across multiple countries. This is a game-changing regional investment. And the — both of these are huge — huge steps forward, but they’re far from the only ones. We’re continuing to make big investments in infrastructure around the world. That includes a solar energy site, an insulin manufacturing facility, an electricity project right here in India. We’re continuing to develop economic corridors across Africa, Asia, and the Americas. And together with our partners, we’re working to mobilize the trillions of investment needed to close the infrastructure gaps around the world, including the formation of a new investor forum that the United States will host in a couple of weeks. Let me close with this. The world stands at an inflection point in history. A point where decisions we make today are going to affect the course of our future — our future — all of our futures for decades to come. A point where our investments are more critical than ever. So, together, let’s continue to work as one to seize this moment in history and max- — maximize our collective investments, to find new partners, to unlock new capital. Because when we invest in low- and middle-income countries, all countries benefit. When we invest in emerging economies, all economies benefit. And when we invest in the future of people anywhere, people everywhere benefit. So, I want to thank you, again, for being here. I look forward to working with all of you. And I’m going to turn it back to the prime minister. Thank you.
🚋 The US and the EU working to improve train transportation in parts of Africa WH Briefing Room
Today, on the margins of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) event at the G20 in India, the United States of America and the European Union welcomed the recent commitment by Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to develop the Lobito Corridor connecting southern Democratic Republic of the Congo and northwestern Zambia to regional and global trade markets via the Port of Lobito in Angola.
To accelerate this work in partnership with the three African countries, the European Union and the United States are teaming up to support the development of the Corridor, including by launching feasibility studies for a new greenfield rail line expansion between Zambia and Angola. This represents a powerful evolution of the Partnership element of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment with a collaborative approach that could be replicated in other strategic corridors around the world.
The U.S.-EU partnership will upgrade critical infrastructure across sub-Saharan Africa to unlock the enormous potential of this region. We are excited to join forces to generate economic benefits with our partners in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia.
President Biden really is a train guy!
And some news out of Italy:
x BREAKING:
At the G20 summit in India, Meloni to the Chinese that Italy will be leaving China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Italy is the only G7 nation to be a member. Major blow to China’s foreign policy plans in Europe! pic.twitter.com/hyL8AA14o1 — Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) September 10, 2023
📥 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 😈
Finding out time for Peter Navarro:
x Sentencing set for January for newly-convicted Peter Navarro. He was found guilty of two counts of Contempt of Congress, for defying subpoena from House Select January 6th Committee
Judge Amit Mehta will handle sentencing pic.twitter.com/uEGSw9slqP — Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) September 9, 2023
More finding out time:
x Bureau of Prisons report says Jan 6 defendant Doug Jensen is imprisoned at fed. prison in Fort Worth through April 2025 (beyond the next election & electoral certification count)
Jensen, who was at front of mob that confronted officer near US Senate, was found guilty of felonies pic.twitter.com/f2zAABfDjJ — Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) September 10, 2023
This guy is also finding out:
x WEDNESDAY: Feds will seek 14 years prison in Capitol riot case of Joseph Padilla, arguing he assaulted 2 officers, stated he wanted to overthrow democracy, talked of "revolution", pushed barricades into officers
Would be one of the longest sentences issued so far in Jan 6 cases pic.twitter.com/XuN7rF9kmy — Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) September 11, 2023
📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️️
This week I want to highlight Ali Velshi, who currently seems to be one of the hardest working hosts on MSNBC. He’s gone more than once to Ukraine. He seems to be doing hurricanes, too. He’s got weekend shows and he’s a frequent sub for other hosts. He read alouds indictments and you can download them as podcasts.
He’s also started the Banned Book Club, which I can highly recommend. I listened to Margaret Atwood discuss The Handmaid’s Tale, and I plan to listen to other episodes. It’s a great way to remind ourselves of the truths of great literature — and also to step back a bit from the crazy clickbait of the headlines.
x whenever Ali Velshi mentions the Velshi Banned Book Club, my mind leaps first to an image of Ali as frontman for the Velshi Band#AliVelshi pic.twitter.com/JSXUDnnCLf — barking (@m_dicey) February 4, 2023
By the way, Velshi is the real deal: a genuine Kenyan-born Muslim.
🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️
I have difficulties with many aspects of organized religions, but I admire it when it helps those in local communities — even the animals.
x This priest in Brazil takes abandoned dogs off the street, cleans them, and gives them food.
Then he includes them in his weekly sermon to help them find new owners.
He's already helped dozens of dogs find their forever homes.
🇧🇷 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/rWPXr2vkEq — Goodable (@Goodable) September 8, 2023
📎 Odds & Ends 📎
Pulling trash out of the rivers Andy Corbley Good News Network
In Indonesia, the worsening plastic pollution crisis has led young Sam Benchegjib to start Sungai Watch – an environmental organization dedicated to keeping Indonesia’s waterways clean by installing river barriers to prevent plastic and other trash from entering the ocean. ✂️ With his two siblings, Benchegjib started Sungai Watch, in October 2020. They experienced many setbacks throughout the almost three years of building Sungai Watch, from the technology and equipment used in their barriers to staff shortages to learning how to scale the project. He says they’re still learning new things every day and continually improving our processes. Sungai Watch has successfully cleaned several of Indonesia’s most polluted rivers and revived mangrove ecosystems that have been damaged because of plastic pollution, using a system similar to litter booms. So far, over 1.2 million kilograms (over 2.6 million pounds) of plastic waste has been collected from river systems and bodies of water.
Researchers are discovering why exercise helps prevent Alzheimer’s. Good News Network
The reason exercise can prevent Alzheimer’s disease has been discovered and it could lead to new treatments for the currently incurable condition. Experts have found that a hormone called irisin released during a work-out is associated with the plaques and tangles in the brain thought to cause Alzheimer’s. Physical exercise has been shown to reduce amyloid beta deposits in various mouse models but the mechanisms involved have remained a mystery. Now the team from Massachusetts General Hospital have published the results in the journal Neuron, which appear to solve the puzzle.
I’m not from Portland, but as I’m subbing for arhpdx, I’m including this story about how Portlanders are decarbonizing. Hannah Wallace, Reasons to Be Cheerful
✂️ Not everyone is as motivated about decarbonizing as Howard and Wright. That’s why groups like ElectrifyPDX and its national counterpart, Rewiring America, have popped up in recent years. They help educate consumers about why decarbonizing their homes is an urgent necessity, and at the same time, make them aware of all the rebates and tax breaks for doing so in President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). ElectrifyPDX also sponsors educational events, webinars and open houses, where Portlanders who have electrified their homes happily answer questions and recommend local contractors. In addition, there is a Facebook group for people to ask and get answers to home electrification questions. One question many people have is: “What if your electricity is still coming from coal-fired power plants?” Not all states have as much renewable electricity as Oregon does (in 2020, over 50 percent of the state’s electricity came from renewable resources). In Oregon, all utilities have to get all their energy from clean sources by 2040; in Portland the timeline is even more aggressive: by 2030. But even those who live in a state that doesn’t have such a goal should electrify their homes, say climate experts. (Especially if solar panels are an option.) ✂️ In Oregon, residents can also join a Community Solar project, which is a program even renters can take advantage of that generates clean power for the utility grid while providing savings on electricity bills. Oregonians can also opt for 100 percent renewable power on their energy bills, and the amount of electricity they consume will be replaced in the Northwest power grid by renewable resources. ✂️ If this all sounds expensive, the truth is, it can be. But it depends on household income. With Rewiring America’s IRA Savings Calculator, those interested in decarbonizing their home can plug in their information and get an estimate of what sort of rebates and tax credits they would qualify for. Low-income households — those that make 80 percent of the area median income (AMI) — qualify for 100 percent of the costs to electrify a home. Moderate-income households — those that make 80 to 150 percent of AMI — qualify for 50 percent of costs. These point-of-sale consumer discounts in the IRA cover installation and labor costs, not just purchase costs. (Some of these rebates won’t be ready until early 2024, Musser says, but it’s good to be aware of when they’ll roll out.)
I’m sure there are many local organizations that can help with this.
🐦 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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