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Thursday 9/28 Good News Roundup Pointing and Laughing, Chortling, Schadenfreudeliciousness [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-09-28

😂👉 Federal government shutdown, GOP debate lowjinks, Dark Brandon on picket line vs. TFG at anti-union plant, Losing Lewsers in court. With an egg on top and Spam. 👈😂

Democrats want to be kind in all directions, as we were discussing in yesterday’s GNR. We want to provide the best of everything to everybody, even to those that hate people being nice to everyone with the fire of a thousand suns, and don’t mind who knows it. Compare their backward and benighted states with ours, on voting, jobs, education, health, and all other human rights. Look at their elevated death rates, and their loss of a third of their children to our side, most consequentially in all of the swing states. Look at the results of Bidenomics in their states, with their politicians rushing to take credit for everything they voted against.

Then look at the losers they put in charge of their affairs.

Sing!!!

Schadenfreude, Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium…

Good News for Us

Facts, Truth, Trust ⋙ Fear, Anger, Hate

My Good News (=Gospel) text for today comes from Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa. She has been a champion of truth in the Philippines, and consequently a target of vicious personal attacks and government persecution. She recently was acquitted of bogus tax charges, and has left the country. Some in the media, have interviewed her on air on her current book tour, and (at least on MSNBC) recommend her books highly.

Seeds of Terror: An Eyewitness Account of Al-Qaeda's Newest Center of Operations in Southeast Asia. The Free Press. 2003. ISBN 978-0743251334.

How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future. Harper. 2022. ISBN 978-0063257511.

Journalist and Activist Maria Ressa on ‘Facts, Truth, Trust’

In the annual Annenberg Lecture, the Nobel Peace Prize winner discussed being the target of online attacks and what it will take to ensure that truth prevails. Social media have become the new gatekeepers, Ressa said. Here, she returned to the point she’d previously made about the spread of disinformation, citing a 2018 MIT study. “Lies spread faster than facts, at least six times faster. And especially my generation, we [are] prone to spread it at least six times more,” she said. “A tweet that’s a lie, especially if laced with anger and hate, you are more prone to retweet it 70% of the time.” What results, she said, is that these lies then become the facts. “In the end, [this] changes how you feel, because it weaponizes your fear, anger, hate. It changes the way you look at the world.”

It can take a while, but the truth always wins out in the end.

You will know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

John 8:32

Dark Brandon

Bad News for Them

But Rs tell Menendez not to admit anything, because it would look bad for them if we accept accountability for our own.

Our voters are not the droids they are looking for

To Recap the Week

House Republicans finally advance four budget bills

Far too late to avert a temporary Federal government shutdown. You can read about the House and Senate and other maneuvering elsewhere.

Dem Rep. Auchincloss: ‘Speaker McCarthy Is Afraid of His Own Shadow — More Precisely, He’s Afraid of Donald Trump’s Shadow’

He has a crocodile caucus, someone who feeds the crocodile hoping it will eat him last.

Rupert Murdoch Retirement from Fox Board

Opinion: Rupert Murdoch’s arrogant farewell says it all

"Our companies are in robust health, as am I," Murdoch wrote in an open letter to his employees. "Our opportunities far exceed our commercial challenges. We have every reason to be optimistic about the coming years." The facts suggest a less rosy future for Fox. Murdoch's decision to appoint his eldest son, Lachlan, as his successor is likely to continue the network's more blatant white supremacist turn since the Murdoch heir took over as CEO of Fox Corp. in 2019.

UAW president slams Trump: ‘He serves a billionaire class'

After CNN host Wolf Blitzer rattled off thoughtless big-business talking points, Fain responded that “any time working class people stand up for themselves, there's always this mantra of fear being put out there that if we pay the workers this, it's going to hurt the economy, it's going to raise the car prices. All these things have happened when we've went backwards in wages.” Blitzer then asked if Trump’s planned Wednesday speech meant anything to the UAW. Blitzer neglected to mention that this speech will occur at a nonunion auto parts manufacturer, but Fain was quick to point that out. “I find the pathetic irony that the former president is going to hold a rally for union members at a nonunion business.” he said. And from there, Fain gave a history lesson about Trump’s opinions on the working class—and the UAW, in particular.

Trump lost bigly in New York after one of his idiot lawyers forgot to request a jury trial. Judge has found Trump guilty of fraud, and revoked the organizing documents for some of his operations. The case will proceed to a bench trial, with the same judge, to determine damages.

Yesterday

Trump legal brief: Judge Chutkan rejects Trump’s request that she recuse herself from Jan. 6 case

The debate was carried only by Fox in English, and Univision with simultaneous Spanish translation. I couldn’t watch the Fox pre-debate show with Hannity mouthing off to Kudlow about the Biden Crime Family.

I’m sorry. I can’t fact check this farrago of bushwah and Dog Whistles. The moderators (Fox News host Dana Perino, Fox Business Network host Stuart Varney and Univision anchor Ilia Calderón) and candidates lied non-stop. They only occasional mentioned any facts such is income inequality, health care bankruptcies, or fentanyl being brought in by citizens through legal points of entry. The candidates also interrupted each other and talked over each other constantly.

Everybody: “Spending”; cut taxes: rampant inflation; unconstitutional regulations; punish essential immigrant workers; China is evil; destroy public education.

Scott: Finish the wall (to keep out the fentanyl that comes in through legal crossing points.) We must honor the commitments that we make, by never promising anything. “Build Back Broker”. Supports child tax credit. End birthright citizenship for “illegal” immigrants; slavery was evil, but racism is over; Johnson’s Great Society destroyed Black families; degrading Russian military capability for cheap is good; “Balanced Budget Amendment”; bring back coal, oil, and gas; brags about Trump tax cuts.

Ramaswamy: Victimhood; Dems a fringe minority; burn coal; militarize the border; end birthright citizenship for children of “illegal immigrants”; transgenderism is a mental health disorder; we are driving Russia into China’s arms; Ukraine “is a country that has banned 11 opposition parties”; not enough people work; Fed gone rogue; cut Administration staff by 75%; unconstitutional anti-market regulation; Trump was an excellent President; we can unite this country around our ideas, even though Democrats are reaching young people 3 to 1 (actually, no more than 2 to 1).

Pence: Class warfare; Rs brought 12,000 factories back to the US; Biden’s Green New Deal good only for China; Right-to-Work; expedited death penalty for mass shooters; shut down Dept of Education; return all health care funding to states; Biden “War on Energy”; champion of American Dream for everyone, “so help me God”, but Federal ban on gender transitioning.

Haley: Flat tax; illegal immigrants bringing in fentanyl; defund sanctuary cities; let border agents “do their job”; no foreign aid to countries where immigrants come from; “tort reform”; “school choice”=vouchers; no DEI or CRT; send Special Operations forces to deal with drug cartels.

Burgum: Subsidies for EVs, Oh, Noez; Therefore the UAW strike is Biden’s fault; US health care is too expensive only because of Federal meddling; Biden “appeasement”; folly of climate policy.

Christie: Trump added $7 trillion to deficit, Biden $5 trillion; Joe Biden and “Donald Duck” are in hiding; Law and Order; more “school choice”; vetoed funding for Planned Parenthood 14 times; lots of talk about drug deaths, be we need to talk about treatment; throw Trump off the island of candidacy.

DeSantis: Dems print money and thus cause inflation; Trump MIA; Back the Blue; fire Soros-funded prosecutors; send the military into Mexico to attack drug cartels; more oil to support gas guzzlers; racism-based education; end the Ukraine war; don’t fund the Ukrainian government; more oil to lower gasoline prices; make fraudulent, bankrupt colleges repay students; “parents’ rights”; pro-lifers not to blame for abortion defeats; “We’re better off if everybody counts.”—until they are born; admits that Rs lost in the last three national elections, but claims he can take his Florida win country-wide.

No mention of the shutdown, J6, the Big Lie, Trump’s legal troubles or threats of revenge, systemic racism, gun safety, covid, home insurance (especially in Florida).

Aah, no, it’s Hannity in the Spin Room! With Kelly-Anne Conway and Larry Kudlow!

Quick, over to MSNBC on the DVR.

OK, Rachel can’t stop laughing at what just went down. Quite right.

Two big questions:

Does this matter? Will it actually impact the race? So what? What does all this mean? Why are we here?

Nikki Haley told Vivek Ramaswamy that every time she hears him, she feels a little bit dumber.

Pence vows to protect everyone just before threatening all trans children and their parents.

Chris Hayes talked about making a sandwich by saying something nice, then something critical, then something nice. So there were some good questions, and something recognizable as politicians talking about politics. But

The whole thing was a complete waste.

Joy Reid agrees with Nikki Haley, in that she does

feel dumber after experiencing that debate. None of them came across as having the stature to be an executive.

Next we heard from Ari Melber, noting that none of Trump’s crimes matter to these seven. It sounded as though

the worst thing he has ever done to these Republican candidates was not showing up.

The entire panel cracked up at this.

Stephanie Ruhle characterized the whole event as a pivot party. This was a free opportunity to talk to the public, unlike 30-second paid advertising. But on every question, they pivoted.

It was stunning to me how many good questions were asked, and how few were actually answered.

There was a lot of Cognitive Dissonance on display last night—the inability to deal with the fact of failure, such as losing multiple times on abortion as an election issue in various states, with more and worse in the offing. The panel didn’t name the disorder, but they did note the behavior.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom was at the debate, and in the Spin Room afterwards, where he joined the MSNBC panel.

It was the XFL, it was the JV team. I thought it would be more of a Vice-Presidential debate, but I wasn’t even convinced that we saw the next Vice-Presidential nominee. I really believe the big winner tonight was the Biden agenda.

On Pence proposing an expedited death penalty for school shooters, Newsom correctly pointed to their online manifestoes, in which they commonly wrote about getting killed by police or killing themselves afterwards. The idea that the death penalty would be a real deterrent, and a solution to the gun problem, is sickening.

The post-debate show went on for quite a while longer, but I thought that the initial reactions were the most important ones, so I’m going to leave it here.

Thanks, guys. I can’t tell you how much that helped my sanity level after, well, whatever that was at the St. Ronnie Library and Airplane Hangar.

Our LGBTQ Friends

The ACLU is tracking 496 anti-LGBTQ bills in the U.S.

including an interactive map that I can’t reproduce here.

Canada warns LGBTQ residents of the risks of traveling to the US due to some state laws

Science! Animals! Weirdness!

Overnight Science News: Politically motivated bullies want to 'tear down the fabric of science'

The Union of Concerned Scientists published Attacks on Science in 2017 (updated 03/23) with examples taken from their study. They just published the full study earlier this year, documenting 206 government attacks on science from January 2017 to November 2022: An equity and environmental justice assessment of anti-science actions during the Trump administration. The study noted that Trump’s attack on the EPA, in particular, “led to a culture of fear and censorship among thousands of EPA scientists.” Of course, the assault isn’t solely from the government. The media trained up howling mobs of ideological anti-science bullies. x Michael Mann..said Murdoch had been “one of the most destructive forces in modern history...has wielded his global media empire as a cudgel to sow confusion and doubt about the science and the solutions...will go down in history as one of the greatest climate villains”. https://t.co/LtERgF109G — Prof Michael E. Mann (@MichaelEMann) September 23, 2023

x A #snailfish that lives over 20,000 feet deep in the Izu-Ogasawara Trench in the northern Pacific Ocean. The University of Western Australia https://t.co/LYwNtcze0n — ann marie (@annmarie309) September 24, 2023

Groundbreaking innovation could extend EV range to over 3,000 miles on a single charge

In the rapidly evolving world of electric vehicles (EVs), a significant leap has been made in battery technology, promising an unprecedented boost in energy storage capacities. At a time when the electric vehicle industry is experiencing explosive growth, this discovery couldn't have been timelier. Pohang University of Science & Technology (POSTECH) have unveiled a groundbreaking technique to amplify the energy storage capacity of batteries tenfold. This development not only advances battery technology but could also reshape the entire electric vehicle landscape. Researchers from(POSTECH) have unveiled a groundbreaking technique to amplify the energy storage capacity of batteries tenfold. This development not only advances battery technology but could also reshape the entire electric vehicle landscape.

x This planthopper nymph shoots wax out of its bottom to distract & confuse predators.

(Photo David Reed) pic.twitter.com/VKAmsOmMzR — Weird Animals (@Weird_AnimaIs) September 26, 2023

Thank you, Rise above the swamp, for the recent Overnight News Digest, Science Edition - Faster EVs, Mini Solar Arrays

Topics in this edition include: Reducing meat and milk consumption in half will cut agricultural emissions by one third

Pumping groundwater causes huge fissures in US southwest

Depressing reality of urban development

Swiss EV does 0 to 100 (62 mph) in less than a second

Astronomers discover the first “bounce” in our universe

Egyptian shipwreck proves Greek historian, Herodotus right

We’re thinking about climate risk all wrong

EV innovation could increase range to 3,000 miles on a single charge

Mini plug-in solar panels selling out in Europe

How to beat anxiety

x The goliath frog of West Africa is the largest frog in the world. It can grow to 33cm in length & weigh up to 3kg. pic.twitter.com/IhSLFAAiEE — Weird Animals (@Weird_AnimaIs) September 26, 2023

EVs are cutting the world demand for oil, but not in the way you may think

EVs are already cutting demand for gas and diesel by about 3%, but the biggest impact comes from a factor many might not expect. Even when you add up all the cars, buses, and trucks that have gone electric in the last decade, that’s only a third of all the oil that’s being saved by EVs. So where is the rest? It’s in vehicles that are rarely seen on American roads.

Lithium Discovery in Crater in Nevada Could Be Biggest Deposit Ever Found

If even half of the lithium that’s estimated to exist in the McDermitt caldera is mined, it would change the world. Full stop. Early this year, GNN reported that massive lithium reserves totaling 5.9 million metric tons were discovered in the Indian mountains near Kashmir which put them among the highest known lithium reserves on Earth by country. The McDermitt caldera reserves are almost 700% larger—40 million metric tons, 13 million more than the known reserves of every lithium-producing mine on Earth.

x Denmark, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands plan to build four artificial islands to quadruple offshore wind in the North Sea – the equivalent of 30 nuclear reactors.

We have so many solutions. Implement them. #ActOnClimate #ClimateCrisis #climate #energy #tech #GreenNewDeal pic.twitter.com/qePTdtdVPw — Mike Hudema (@MikeHudema) September 8, 2023

x The extraordinary jewelled chameleon.

(Photo Jorn Kohler) pic.twitter.com/oVSqOt9vbp — Weird Animals (@Weird_AnimaIs) September 25, 2023

Already Scrapped Wind Turbines Turned into Footbridges Capable of Supporting 30 Tons

x A transatlantic research network is finding ways to repurpose decommissioned wind turbine blades as footbridges. The Re-Wind Network is a partnership between @GeorgiaTech , @CUNY , @QUBelfast and @UCC

Full story: https://t.co/UBhnUdwBuK #bridge #CivilEngineering pic.twitter.com/oDYy1d3I7C — New Civil Engineer (@ncedigital) August 2, 2023

x Baby hippo making friends with a giraffe.. 😊 pic.twitter.com/3VZibzrZfV — Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) September 26, 2023

x Why haven't we acted more quickly to slow climate change?

In a new presentation, @algore argues it’s not b/c the technology to reduce carbon isn’t ready.

It’s because the people who profit from carbon aren’t ready—and never will be, until we make them.https://t.co/883GZD8jjA — Emily Atkin (@emorwee) September 6, 2023

President Biden has proposed to cut out direct fossil fuel subsidies, and of course Republicans are having none of it. We’ll get there.

x Zebra striped sea anemone (Nemanthus annamensis).

(Photo Nhobgood) pic.twitter.com/marFAPTaAl — Weird Animals (@Weird_AnimaIs) September 23, 2023

x This electric car was built in 1912 and got a #solar power upgrade in 1960. It isn't for lack of solutions that we haven't solved this crisis.

No more delays. No more excuses. #ActOnClimate#ClimateEmergency #Climate #energy #renewableenergy #renewables #GreenNewDeal pic.twitter.com/puShHVMbMb — Mike Hudema (@MikeHudema) August 27, 2023

Funny or Fuggedaboudit

Support your local cartoonists and the various strikers working to make our whole economy work.

x Well,… if tomorrow is the last day, I’m pretty positive I’m not on the list, so just wanted to tell everyone, no regrets, it’s been a blast.🎉🎉🥳🥳🍾 https://t.co/791IzSomJz — Dave- We’re only custodians (@Dave_H64) September 21, 2023

x Ah yes, I love my job working at the National Radio Astrology Observatory (that’s not photoshop- we got pranked by our summer students… I wonder how they got up there…) pic.twitter.com/QTQ0ykEe5G — Rebecca Charbonneau (@StellarHistory) July 24, 2023

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