(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Good News Roundup for Friday, December 22, 2023: You Are the Light [1]

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

Date: 2023-12-22

Welcome 🌻 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News!

From now through the beginning of summer, in the northern hemisphere, we will have more light each day.

Light makes such a difference. Sometimes it’s metaphorical. Shining a light on lies is making a difference, as liars who did the FA are now experiencing FO. There’s Alex Jones (defamed Sandy Hook families); there’s tRump (E Jean Carroll, also his fraudulent businesses, we can go on and on); there’s FOX (payout to Dominion and others and more coming); there’s Rudy Giuliani (the election workers in Georgia and now his bankruptcy) and we can hope that more, such as Kari Lake, will also FO.

Sometimes it’s not just lies, but ignorance and indifference. Example: now that abortion is banned in many places, some people are learning just how difficult and dangerous pregnancies can be. I really think many people simply had no concept. Learning this won’t change all minds, but it has changed some, and that’s enough to make a difference.

Light is essential for Truth. And Truth is essential for Love. If we can’t see where the problems are, if we can’t see where people are hurting, how can we fix them, how can we help them?

Here, too, in Gnusville, our own “nicest spot on the internet,” I have seen people working to promote Truth and Love. All of you here, you are part of the light. I hope you are willing to shine even brighter in 2024.

Pour yourself a drink, read about other bright lights, and share your own glow. May your day be radiant.

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 👍

I think this is important. It’s not brand-new news, but she’s sharing it now. This is the link:

x Tonight feels like a good time to tell you all that, for me, the absolute lowest moment in the post election battle we endured to protect Michigan’s accurate and legitimate election results in 2020 was not when armed protestors stormed my home. It was the night of the Wayne… — Jocelyn Benson (@JocelynBenson) December 22, 2023

Here is the complete text:

Tonight feels like a good time to tell you all that, for me, the absolute lowest moment in the post election battle we endured to protect Michigan’s accurate and legitimate election results in 2020 was not when armed protestors stormed my home. It was the night of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers meeting. I distinctly remember coming home that evening feeling completely defeated. We knew about the pressure not to certify (though until tonight I did not know about the recording). We were prepared to go to court to successfully ensure certification at the local and state level - and we were confident we’d win in court. But blocking certification in Wayne County and pushing this to the courts would still delay and create enough doubt and uncertainty to enable the Trump campaign to push Pennsylvania, which was certifying the next week, to delay as well. And we knew other dominos would fall after that. How could we overcome the pressure of the then-President of the United States on local and state officials? Were the facts and law not enough? Well, then something I’ll never forget happened. Hundreds - hundreds (!) - of citizens showed up to the meeting of the Wayne County Canvassing Board to remind them of their duty under the law to ensure their votes counted. Their voices mattered. Their votes mattered. In my view that turned the tide. Citizens and election officials in Wayne County and statewide didn’t flinch, stood firm, and demanded their votes be certified as required under the law. And in the end, the Wayne County Canvassing board fulfilled their legal duty, followed the law and certified the election. What started as the lowest moment of the post election melee became the most inspiring. The voters won. Facts and the rule of law carried the day. Democracy prevailed.

👎 Crime is down. No, really. Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post

Crime, which spiked during the coronavirus pandemic, has dropped — fast. The results represent evidence that despite perceptions that crime is “soaring,” the end of the pandemic has seen violent crime plunge. Additional money for police departments supplied through the American Rescue Plan Act might have helped. (The administration has asked for $35 billion more for the Safer America Plan to address crime-fighting and the root causes of crime.) , “The FBI’s crime statistics estimates for 2022 show that national violent crime decreased an estimated 1.7% in 2022 compared to 2021 estimates.” As NPR pointed out, though property crime increased from 2021, data showed that “the homicide rate fell significantly last year, by slightly more than 6% compared with 2021.” Overall, violent crime, including rape and aggravated assault, also dropped from 2021. In late October, the FBI reported , “The FBI’s crime statistics estimates for 2022 show that national violent crime decreased an estimated 1.7% in 2022 compared to 2021 estimates.”out, though property crime increased from 2021, data showed that “the homicide rate fell significantly last year, by slightly more than 6% compared with 2021.” Overall, violent crime, including rape and aggravated assault, also dropped from 2021. However, we now have strong evidence the trend has continued in 2023. The FBI’s crime tracker for the first three quarters of 2023, compared with the same period in 2022, shows violent crime down 8 percent and property crime down 6 percent, NBC News reported, using analysis from criminologist Jeff Asher. Rape was down nearly 15 percent, and robbery dropped roughly 9 percent. The only exception to the positive trend was car thefts, which were up about 10 percent.

👍 Steps to launch the American Climate Corps Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch

The Biden administration has announced new steps and unlocked funding to launch its new federal program, the American Climate Corps, that aims to employ thousands of young Americans in the conservation, clean energy and climate resilience sectors. Seven federal agencies — the Departments of the Interior, Labor, Commerce, Agriculture and Energy; AmeriCorps; and the Environmental Protection Agency — are commiting to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to advance the climate corps, a press release from AmeriCorps said. The MOU details the goals, priorities, mission and next steps for implementation of the initiative. “The American Climate Corps presents us with an opportunity to address the urgent climate crisis while training and preparing young people for good-paying union jobs in clean energy and climate resilience. From record heat to extreme flooding, we know we need to act now — and through the American Climate Corps, that’s exactly what we are doing,” said AmeriCorps CEO Michael D. Smith in the AmeriCorps press release. Starting next month, senior officials from the administration will begin a series of sessions to hear from implementing partners — such as local, state and Tribal governments; educational institutions; and labor unions — as well as prospective applicants to the climate corps.

👍 Statement from President Biden on the launch of the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database White House Briefing Room

As part of my Administration’s executive order on policing, we committed to create a first of its kind database to track records of law enforcement misconduct so that agencies are able to hire the best personnel. Today, I am fulfilling that promise by launching the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database. This database will ensure that records of serious misconduct by federal law enforcement officers are readily available to agencies considering hiring those officers. We are also working to allow and encourage state, Tribal, local, and territorial law enforcement agencies to make available and access similar records as part of their hiring processes. In May 2022, I signed this executive order to help rebuild trust and deliver the most significant police reform in decades. Since then, we’ve taken critical steps towards effective, accountable policing, including by requiring that federal law enforcement agencies ban chokeholds, strengthening use-of-force policies, restricting no-knock warrants, and directing other measures to advance effective, accountable policing that increases public safety. Protecting public safety depends on trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. By building trust, we can strengthen public safety and we can more effectively fight crime in our communities. The executive order is a measure of what we can do together to heal the very soul of this nation; to address the profound fear and trauma that particularly Black Americans have experienced for generations; and to channel that private pain and public outrage into progress on behalf of all communities. But we know implementing real and lasting change at the state and local levels requires Congress to act. I urge Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to advance accountability, transparency, and public trust in law enforcement across the nation. Send it to my desk and I will sign it.

💣 Republicans: Party of Crimes and Chaos 💣

Unsurprise, unsurprise! Current Congress least effective in YEARS, thanks to chaotic GOP-led House Andrew Solender, Axios

A judge has ordered a Republican congressman to share more than 1,600 messages to federal prosecutors who are investigating Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. US District Judge James Boasberg ordered Scott Perry to release 1,656 out of 2,055 records. The BBC has contacted the Pennsylvania lawmaker for comment. Mr Perry, whose phone was seized in 2022, has avoided sharing the records with investigators multiple times. Gosh, I want some of the GOP bastards in Congress to pay.

🚚 💙 Democrats Deliver 💙 🚚

Getting Americans home out of Venezuela Joshua Goodman, Eric Tucker, Regina Cano Garcia AP

MIAMI (AP) — The United States freed a close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in exchange for the release of 10 Americans imprisoned in the South American country and the return of a fugitive defense contractor known as “Fat Leonard” who is at the center of a massive Pentagon bribery scandal, the Biden administration announced Wednesday. The American detainees were back on U.S. soil late Wednesday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said. Six of them arrived at Kelly Airfield Annex in San Antonio. ✂️ The deal represents the Biden administration’s boldest move yet to improve relations with the major oil-producing nation and extract concessions from the self-proclaimed socialist leader. The largest release of American prisoners in Venezuela’s history comes weeks after the White House agreed to suspend some sanctions, following a commitment by Maduro to work toward free and fair conditions for the 2024 presidential election.

It was a really good year for Democrats. Now we just need to make sure people know!

x 2023 ending on upbeat note for Joe Biden/Dems:

- Economy booming, Dow breaking records

- Inflation, crime, rents, gas down

- Consumer sentiment rising sharply

- Nov elections were blue wave

- 15 polls now w/Biden tied/leading (below)

- GOP is an historic shitshow https://t.co/Jt1TCRZLrS — Simon Rosenberg (@SimonWDC) December 21, 2023

This is from Rosenberg’s email letter, sorry no link:

A Positive, Upbeat End to 2023 - Dow in record territory. Inflation running below the Fed target rate. Interest rates coming down next year. GDP growth 4.9% last quarter, looking close to 3% for this one. Best job market since the 1960s. The lowest uninsured rate in history. Crime has fallen across the US this year, rents are coming down too. Consumer sentiment is spiking. Wage growth and new business formation in historically elevated territory. Best recovery in the G7. US setting records for domestic oil and renewable production. $130b in student debt forgiven. The good news just keeps coming. Democrats are also seeing improvement in national polling. A majority of the independent polls taken in recent weeks have Biden tied or ahead. The influential NYT poll, which had Biden trailing Trump two months ago, now has Biden up 47%-45% with likely voters. Dems have picked up 3 points in 538’s Congressional Generic tracker in recent months, and Navigator’s recent House battleground tracker polling found Republicans losing ground, and Democrats now with a clear advantage. The two most recent large sample Hispanic poll and youth polls found Biden running at or above his 2020 numbers - 57%-33% (+24) with 18-29 year olds in the Harvard/IOP poll, and 58%-31% (+27) in the bi-partisan Univision poll. The Economist/YouGov weekly tracker this week found Biden’s approval on the Israel-Hamas war 37%-32% (+5) approve w/18-29 year olds, the best of any age cohort, and 59%-23% (+36) w/Democrats - so no clear, sustained backlash there.

The kids are all right:

x What the media won’t tell you today: Young people will vote for President Biden over Donald Trump by *18 points* according to a new national Quinnipiac poll that just went live. Stop with all the negative talk about Gen Z. We DO support Joe Biden & we WILL re-elect him in 2024. — Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) December 21, 2023

💜 Unity? 💜

I’m actually going to report stuff from Fox here, because reality is sinking in over there, and if some of them are seeing the light, that’s great news for us all.

x O’Leary to Fox host: We’ve got inflation slowing down, we’ve got the soft landing, stocks are rising. This is a fantastic holiday season. Rudolph the reindeer has arrived pic.twitter.com/PyyXdSm5M5 — Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) December 22, 2023

I know, polls. But still interesting:

x Even Fox News is admitting that despite the Russian disinfo barrage to the contrary, US voter support for Ukraine is now only increasing. pic.twitter.com/wVz2DeMrPy — Jay in Kyiv (@JayinKyiv) December 18, 2023

More rational stuff from FOX as Cavuto mocks election deniers William Vallaincourt The Daily Beast

Fox News host Neil Cavuto reacted to angry fan mail from several diehard supporters of Donald Trump during his afternoon show Thursday, mocking those who won’t accept the 2020 election results unlike “every rational human being on the planet.” ✂️ One commented that it is “sad to watch an intelligent man proudly display his ignorance when Neil Cavuto insists with moral certitude 2020 election rigging did not occur.” Another wrote: “So Neil Cavuto the omnipotent one has concluded the last election wasn’t stolen. Says who, fat head?” Cavuto’s response: “Well, says every rational human being on the planet. That includes 38 investigations, scores of recounts, and then recounts of recounts, and dozens of more court cases often led by Trump-appointed judges,” he said, exasperated. “Outside of that, take your pick.”

📥 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 😈

Woman uses bumble dating app to snare insurrectionists Ryan J Reilly NBC News

WASHINGTON — Nearly three years ago, a young professional in the nation's capital was sitting in her apartment after the Jan. 6 attack and saw that the FBI was looking for help identifying the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol. So she opened up the Bumble dating app, changed her political beliefs to conservative and got to swiping. The woman reached out to several Donald Trump supporters who the app showed were in the Washington area, hoping to elicit confessions from those who had flooded into the city because they believed his lies about the 2020 presidential election. On Wednesday, one of the Bumble users she turned in to the FBI pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement officers with chemical spray and a metal whip. ✂️ The woman referred to as "Witness 1” in Taake's FBI affidavit has previously recalled how "comically minimal ego-stroking" from her led Trump supporters to give her information about their activities on Jan. 6. “I felt a bit of ‘civic duty,’ I guess, but truthfully, I was mostly just mad and thinking, f--- these guys,” she said, speaking anonymously for fear of online reprisal. Her strategy, she said, was to say, "Wow, crazy, tell me more,” on repeat until guys gave her enough to send their information to the FBI.

Another insurrectionist sentenced:

x ⚖️🚨 SENTENCED 🚨⚖️#Consequences #Jan6thInsurrection



After pleading Guilty to assault, JONATHAN MELLIS ⤵️, 35, of Williamsburg, VA, was SENTENCED to 51 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $20,000 in fines for his CRIME at the Capitol on #Jan6 pic.twitter.com/UrgUHOn3e9 — Walter Klingler (@WalterKlingler) December 21, 2023

NRA is not doing well! Roger Sollenberger The Daily Beast

The NRA’s most recent tax return, filed in November of this year for 2022, reveals dramatic declines along almost every conceivable metric: revenue, assets, member dues, lobbying, and political spending—with conversely sharp increases in legal costs and deficits. And as the NRA’s power and influence has waned, gun violence has perversely soared, particularly suicides, especially in the wake of the pandemic. In one view, the NRA’s decline might be seen as a consequence of its own “success,” as its gargantuan lobbying efforts in the early to mid-2010s effectively froze the national gun control debate, diminishing the advocacy group’s utility. Still, that might be changing. In 2022, 15 GOP senators repudiated the NRA, passing the first meaningful gun control package in decades. That could be a signal of the NRA’s demise, but it also could be interpreted as a reaction to the surging gun violence that continues to this day in part because of the lax gun laws that the NRA advocated for and won over that time. ✂️ The roughly $211 million that the NRA reported in income last year is still, of course, an enormous figure—more than double that of its handful of gun-rights competitors combined. But it’s also less than 60 percent of the NRA’s 2016 revenue high of $367 million.

Rudy must pay defamed election workers at once, judge rules Sareen Habeshian, Axios

Rudy Giuliani must immediately pay the $148 million in damages he owes for defaming two Georgia election workers, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. The big picture: The judge's order doubles down on the multimillion-dollar penalty Trump's former lawyer will have to pay in a case related to lies about the 2020 election, as he faces financial troubles including mounting legal fees from other cases. Driving the news: Judge Beryl Howell wrote in the order that Giuliani was unlikely to have his jury verdict overturned or reduced in an appeal. Howell said the former New York City mayor could try to hide his financial assets to avoid paying the penalty if she didn't make this ruling

Justice department is hard at work! Press Release, December 15

Two Florida men were sentenced today for their roles in a multi-state scheme to defraud insurance companies by using rural hospitals to bill for urine drug testing that was not reimbursable and not medically necessary.

Jorge Perez, 63, of Miami, was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison. Ricardo Perez, 60, also of Miami, was sentenced to six years and three months in prison. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Jorge Perez, an owner and manager of hospitals and the owner of a billing company, and Ricardo Perez, the manager of a billing company, conspired with each other and other individuals to unlawfully bill for laboratory testing services, primarily urine drug tests, that were medically unnecessary and that were fraudulently billed through rural hospitals in Florida and Missouri rather than the independent laboratories where much of the testing took place. Jorge Perez and Ricardo Perez targeted and obtained control over financially distressed rural hospitals, and then used them for billing in order to take advantage of private insurance contracts that provided higher reimbursement rates for these hospitals than for out-of-network laboratories. The claims were submitted to falsely appear that the hospitals themselves did the laboratory testing when, in most cases, it was done by testing laboratories controlled by others, including a co-conspirator. The evidence further showed that much of the testing was for vulnerable addiction treatment patients and patients of pain clinics, with samples often obtained through kickbacks paid to recruiters and substance abuse treatment facilities. The tests billed by Jorge Perez and Ricardo Perez were often not medically necessary — testing was performed at a frequency that far exceeded what would be needed for patient care, including performing repeated screening and definitive testing before results from prior tests could have been reviewed or used by the ordering providers.

📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️️

The kids are all right!

x Holy cow. A student directly confronted a founder of Moms for Liberty for getting involved in a threesome after attacking his “sexual immorality” as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. THIS is why we love Gen Z. He made her find out bad. So freaking good.



pic.twitter.com/Z5uTZvqqbv — Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) December 18, 2023

A kid wants Bridget Ziegler to resign /quit / be fired, not because she had a threesome, but because she is terrible at her job. Well done, Zander!

🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️

x This is Darius Brown.



At the age of 12, he started making bowties for shelter animals to help them get adopted.



He's already helped hundreds of pets find their forever homes.



Full story on the Goodable app. pic.twitter.com/7qONVgJHy3 — Goodable (@Goodable) December 14, 2023

📎 Odds & Ends 📎

Mountain restoration works! Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations

In the snowy peaks of Kyrgyzstan’s Tien-Shan mountains, a group of people hike to a remote area, checking and relocating camera traps that monitor wildlife, like the elusive snow leopard – the “ghost of the mountains”. Formerly hunters and fishers, these locals now work as community rangers, patrolling the Baiboosun Nature Reserve. Established by villagers in collaboration with the local non-governmental organization, Central Asian Mountain Partnership (CAMP) Alatoo, this micro-reserve was established to conserve local flora and fauna. Following consultations with local communities, the reserve protects 14 000 hectares of pastures and glaciers, with strict regulations on activities such as hunting and grazing. Since then, snow leopard and ibex populations are increasing within the reserve. Community members have embraced the new economic opportunities that this offers, from running guest houses to producing cheese and crafting felt souvenirs. Sustainable tourism and green businesses based on yurt homestays, organic products, nature trails and horse-riding have also emerged. “If not us, who will have a heartache for these uniquely beautiful places,” asks Baatyrbek Akmatov, Director of the Baiboosun Nature Reserve. “That’s why all local residents supported this idea – to make a valuable gift to future generations.” The established Baiboosun Nature Reserve in Kyrgyzstan is part of a multi-country flagship to restore ecosystems in mountain regions of Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Rwanda and Uganda. Coordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Mountain Partnership Secretariat of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Carpathian Convention, it is a large-scale, long-term ecosystem restoration initiative of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. For its success in reviving habitats and species – such as snow leopards, mountain gorillas and brown bears – the initiative was honoured as one of the first ten United Nations World Restoration Flagships. By sharing and building on the lessons of the four mountain countries, the initiative demonstrates what can be accomplished when countries work together to protect their mountain landscapes.

✈️ Denmark introducing green tax on plane flights Cristen Hemingway Jaynes EcoWatch

Denmark’s government announced that it is introducing a green tax on air travel, to be phased in starting in 2025. The tax will be added to plane tickets, and the country is encouraging other European Union member states to follow its lead, reported AFP. “The transport sector is currently undertaking a rapid green transition, and with this agreement, this also concerns aviation,” said Thomas Danielsen, minister of transportation, in a statement, as AFP reported. “It will still be possible to fly, but it must be possible to do this in an environmentally friendly way.” The tax will apply to flights leaving from Denmark but not those connecting through the country.

Even though I fly a lot, I am glad this is being done. Necessary.

Hey, a nice gesture in Poland!

x Good News Alert:



Poland's parliament is hosting a Christmas dinner for immigrants, the homeless, refugees, and people in need.



The dinner will take place inside the Parliament building and will host hundreds of guests.



🇵🇱 pic.twitter.com/0FJlIlcjN3 — Goodable (@Goodable) December 21, 2023

✈️ Many global business firms reduced air travel because of the pandemic Paige Bennett EcoWatch

According to a new analysis by Travel Smart, a campaign by the European Federation for Transport and Environment, about half of over 200 global business firms reduced their business-related travel emissions by over 50% from 2019 to 2022. Much of this reduction in emissions could be attributed to less air travel since the pandemic. The Travel Smart campaign analyzed travel of 217 global firms from 2019 to 2022. Of the total firms analyzed, 104 were found to reduce travel emissions by at least 50%, in part thanks to virtual meetings that reduced the need for corporate travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic. ✂️ “Overall it’s a positive picture to see so many companies not returning to pre-2019 levels of flying. Lessons from the pandemic have been learnt: the way forward is collaboration with more online meetings, more travel by train and less by plane,” Denise Auclair, Travel Smart campaign manager, said in a statement.

☀️ ⭐️ Happy winter solstice to all who celebrate! A day late, I know, at least for those in North America.

🐦 I do a lot of other writing. A recent offering: the Crow Nickels (chronicles), a trilogy about crows who want to save birdkind from extinction: Hunters of the Feather, Scavengers of Mind and 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 — such as The Meryton Murders — and others based on history and Greek mythology, such as Jocasta: The Mother-Wife of Oedipus, 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]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/12/22/2212344/-Good-News-Roundup-for-Friday-December-22-2023-You-Are-the-Light?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/