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GNR for Friday, March 14, 2025: Happy Pi Day - Math Matters [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-03-14
Welcome 🌻 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News!
Happy pi day! You can celebrate it however you like: eating pie, throwing pie, or reciting pi to as many digits as you can.
Pi is a reminder that math is relentless. Yes, you can try passing a law to make it 3 instead of the irrational beauty that it is — something attempted by the Indiana legislature once upon a time — but that will lead to incomplete circles.
Math and science are on our side — or rather, we are on the side of math and science, because math and science do not pick sides. They just are.
The other side can only lie so long.
Some people will notice.
People, after the measles breakouts, decided to get their kids vaccinated after all.
Mass deportations cost a lot of money and have not been funded. Also, they are impossible if you fire all the workers and if you shut down the government.
The GOP is so incompetent that despite having both chambers in Congress and the presidency, can’t pass a new budget. Instead they are doing continuing resolutions, which I understand are based on the last new budget passed by Nancy Pelosi.
The news is flip-flopping so much I can’t track it all.
So come on in and see what the good guys — the people who respect math and reality — 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, and the chaos. 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 and the planet from those very bad people. We are furious with them for what they are doing and we are letting them know.
Remember:
💜 Although they lie all the time, reality matters. And our goals — based on reality — are more popular.
💙 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, make sure to protect yourself, your family and your friends, but find ways to contribute to the well-being of our country and our world.
🗽 Reports on Resisters 🗽
Maddow makes a short on the resisters: we ARE making a difference:
*
This is thanks to us. And the courts. And all the other fighters:
x BREAKING: A federal judge ordered multiple government agencies, including Veterans Affairs, Treasury and the USDA, to offer fired probationary federal workers their jobs back — Axios (@axios.com) 2025-03-13T16:31:30.312Z
💪 Some Things You Can Do to Fight 💪
If you can’t bear to look — if you can’t bear to spend all your time on this era of dumb and dark — try to do a few actions every day, or every couple of days. Write a few postcards. Make a donation. Contact your representatives, to urge them to do something or to scold them or even to praise them.
And, sometimes there are other ideas. Jamie Raskin is getting people to complain to DOGE. See this diary on the rec list. Jamie Raskin wants everyone to send a FOIA request to DOGE. Since they stole data from so many agencies it is likely they have stuff on everyone of us. Yes, the letter you print out is dated March 11, but that won’t matter. Print it out, fill it out and send it in anyway.
💣 Republicans: Party of Crimes and Chaos 💣
If this is how musk does math, no wonder his rockets are exploding
x Nobody remotely mathematically literate can believe this hogwash. Just start with the base rate. The US population is ~340 million. That's almost $2k each in fraudulent claims annually to get to "10% of federal expenditures" ($6.8 trillion in 2024). — Jake Williams (@malwarejake.bsky.social) 2025-03-11T00:31:58.050Z
Also, mass deportation and imprisonment are expensive…
x The most incompetent collection of dipshits to ever enter government service. — Ron Filipkowski (@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social) 2025-03-13T01:09:45.247Z
I don’t know the story behind this, but it’s a sign of incompetence and chaos:
x Is he hoping for someone worse? BREAKING White House pulls CDC director nomination on day of confirmation hearing www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru... — 💙❤️💙Mia💙❤️💙 (@mommamia.bsky.social) 2025-03-13T13:28:43.752Z
Apparently he is known for claiming that vaccines cause autism. Perhaps some pushback from Big Pharma? Or people who don’t want more measles in their communities?
🚚 💙 Democrats Deliver 💙 🚚
Special Elections: Key victory in Minnesota and massive overperformance in Iowa Troy Matthews MeidasNews
Democratic-Farm-Labor (DFL) candidate David Gottfried won a special election for Minnesota House Tuesday, restoring a 67-67 split in the chamber between Democrats and Republicans. Gottlieb [Gottfried] dominated the race with 70% of the vote, ending a short lived GOP majority and forcing the Republicans to come to the table on a state budget in a power sharing agreement. “David Gottfried’s victory tonight restores a tie in this ultra-competitive state House chamber and puts the DLCC and the DFL a step closer to our shared goal of taking back the majority in 2026," Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) President Heather Williams said in a statement. ✂️ On the same night in Iowa, Democrat Nannette Griffin came within three points of beating her Republican opponent in a district that Trump won by 27 points in November. Griffin's massive overperformance comes on the heels of a stunning upset victory in the same state by Democrat Mike Zimmer, who flipped an Iowa Senate seat in a district that Trump won by 21 points. [earlier victories] Democrat Sean Faircloth also recently won a special election for Maine House District 24 with 72% of the vote, trouncing Republican challenger Carolyn Fish who walked away with 28%, a 44 point victory. Kamala harris won the district by 23 points in November. Democrats have also secured one-seat majorities in the Minnesota Senate and the Virginia House and Senate; protecting against a MAGA takeover, and most recently held on to two key seats in the Delaware Senate.
In Illinois, Gov Pritzker is making a commitment to higher education
x Education should be accessible and affordable. In Illinois, we’re taking action to make college more affordable and to encourage our young people to build their lives and careers in their home state. www.myradiolink.com/2025/02/24/g... — JB Pritzker (@jbpritzker.bsky.social) 2025-03-10T18:09:31.687Z
💜 Unity? 💜
tRump is unifying world leaders everywhere else: (This is from an email forwarded to a friend, the author is Lauren Jackson and it’s the New York Times)
Trump is fracturing America’s alliances. But the world leaders involved? They’re doing fine. Trump imposed global tariffs on metal and announced a 25 percent levy on all goods from Mexico and Canada. He fought with Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office. Soon after, the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, welcomed Zelensky in London with a hug. Mr. Starmer has continued to back Ukraine. In each of these cases, the leaders and parties who stood up to Trump saw a lift in their domestic approval ratings, as my colleague Mark Landler has noted. Canada: The governing Liberals were set for a major election defeat. But in the last few weeks, as Trump instituted tariffs, the party’s polling has rebounded by at least 10 points. In the race for prime minister, Carney is now tied — and running ahead in some polls. The escalating trade war may simply induce Canadians to dig in. Mexico: President Claudia Sheinbaum, the country’s leftist leader, saw her support rise to 80 percent in one poll as she negotiated with Trump on tariffs. Tens of thousands rallied in Mexico City last weekend to celebrate her success in delaying the levies. Britain: Starmer has been careful to stay close to Trump. He hasn’t retaliated on tariffs. But he loudly backed Zelensky after Trump withdrew support for the war. As a result, the prime minister’s ratings rose. British voters now see Starmer’s Labour Party as better at dealing with foreign policy and defense challenges than the Conservative Party is. (Voters usually regard the Conservatives as better at defense.) Ukraine: Zelensky’s fight with Trump may have saved his job. As the war dragged on, his political opponents saw an opportunity to oust him. After his trip to Washington, his approval ratings rose, according to two recent polls, and his opponents have said publicly that now is not the time for elections. Why this is happening People don’t like to ditch their leaders in a crisis, research shows. The rallying phenomenon can shift the balance of power both within and between countries. Several current spats qualify, said Matthew Baum, a public policy professor at Harvard: “Is national honor challenged? Check. Is a country’s security threatened? Check. Has a single adversary emerged? Check.” The inverse is also true in cases of weak leadership. In Colombia, President Gustavo Petro sparred with Trump over deportation flights. His decision to send back planes full of deportees surprised even his inner circle. Then Trump retaliated, ordering a 25 percent tariff on all Colombian goods and threatening to tank the country’s economy. Petro folded. His handling of the crisis fractured his governing coalition. “It’s hard for him to spin that he’s a strong leader standing up for the national honor,” Baum said. Perhaps Petro’s example offers Trump a way to overcome his most stubborn opponents. In Canada, for instance, Trump could eventually make it too costly for Carney to fight. In Brazil, a target of the metal tariffs, the government signaled that it would not retaliate. “President Lula said to remain calm at this time,” Brazil’s economy minister said. “We’ve negotiated under worse conditions than this.”
Hmm, our own Democrats should learn from this. Heck, so should our Republicans.
Funny to think that meeting in the Oval Office may have saved Zelenskyy’s position.
📥 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. Join with local communities to make a difference. It could be your local Dems. It could be your school board or your library. Reach out to people. We all need each other these days.
🏃 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 😈
🎩 Maru!
x EU 🇪🇺 French satellite company Eutelsat is replacing Starlink and plans to send approximately 40,000 communication terminals to Ukraine. Their stock has rocketed 390% in the last 3 days as Tesla Starlink SpaceX and X continue their freefall. www.marketwatch.com/story/shares... — Aibo - Zonny (@aibo-zonny.bsky.social) 2025-03-10T22:53:30.593Z
And:
x Tesla vehicles are no longer eligible for provincial EV rebates in British Columbia. — Paris Marx (@parismarx.com) 2025-03-13T19:51:28.851Z
Sigh:
x So this was a campaign promise not an observation. — Anonymous (@youranoncentral.bsky.social) 2025-03-11T00:41:07.518Z
Sigh:
📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️️
Kudos to Senator Sanders, who calls out the lies:
x There is a reason Elon Musk and Donald Trump LIE about Social Security. — Senator Bernie Sanders (@sanders.senate.gov) 2025-03-12T15:57:25.408Z
Mexico’s president stands up
x I love her too! (Yo también la amo 🥰♥️) 🇲🇽 Claudia Sheinbaum is a strongWOMAN compared to spinless DICKtator licker felon 🍊💩! We need more women in our government! Men, you failed your job, now step aside & give us a chance!! ♀️💪🏋️♀️ — Hope T. (@xtrahope1515.bsky.social) 2025-03-10T22:38:10.801Z
🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️
🚌 Bus driver saves the day on PJ Day Rachel Paula Abrahamson Today
Normally when I pull up, he’s standing there waiting for me with a big smile, but on this day, he was sitting on the ground with a jacket over his head,” Farrish Jr., 35, tells TODAY.com. “I asked him, ‘Hey buddy, what’s going on? What’s wrong?’” That’s when Levi, a first grader at Engelhard Elementary School, explained through tears that he didn’t have pajamas for Pajama Day. Farrish Jr. closed the doors, and watched as Levi slid into a seat away from his friends. Farrish Jr. says knowing that Levi wanted to participate, but couldn't, filled him with sadness. “I thought, ‘I gotta fix this,” Farrish Jr. says. After Farrish Jr. finished up his morning routes, he headed to a Family Dollar store and purchased two pairs of pajamas for Levi. Then he headed over to Levi’s school to make things right. “I said, ‘You were hurting this morning, you were crying, so I got you these pajamas,” Farrish Jr. recalls. “He was so excited — you should’ve seen how his face lit up.”
Of course, here it’s not PJ day — well, you may be in your pjs as you read this, but you’re probably planning to get dressed later. No, it’s PI Day! So here are examples of math-based pickup lines Readers’ Digest
Are you a Venn diagram? Because I see a lot of overlap between you and me.
Talking to you is as easy as pi. What’s your favorite flavor?
Go on a date with me and we can make our own math equation: 1+1= <3. (Editor’s note: <3 is texting shorthand for a heart!)
(Editor’s note: <3 is texting shorthand for a heart!) I promise: Say yes to a date with me, and I’ll make all your worries polygon(e).
Want to meet up for coffee? I promise to be a perfect tangentleman!
If you were a triangle, I know what kind you’d be: acute one.
You must be the square root of –100 … you’re a solid 10, but too good to be real!
At the risk of sounding Fibbonacheesy, you’re a cutie-pi and I’d love to take you out.
Without you, my heart is like a null set: empty. You and I must be parallel lines, because we have so much in common … but unlike parallel lines, I hope we get to meet up eventually. How about Friday?
You remind me of statistics: What is revealed is interesting, but what is hidden is the important part.
I’ve memorized the first 100 digits of pi—and that was still easier than forgetting you.
Hey, do you like algebra? I’m looking for someone who will replace my eX without asking Y.
My name is X, but you can call me “pi.” Why? Because I just can’t act rational when I’m around you.
📎 Odds & Ends 📎
Heat pumps are taking off! Hannah Wallace Reasons to Be Cheerful
Electric heat pumps, one of the most energy-efficient ways to heat and cool homes, perform a feat of seeming magic. In the winter, they extract heat from the outside air (even when it’s below zero), run it through a compressor, and then pump it indoors. During the balmy days of summer, a heat pump reverses this technology, essentially turning the heater into an air conditioner. (To do this it pulls heat from inside a building and releases it outside, leaving indoor spaces cooler.) If that’s not awesome enough, electric heat pumps are also safer for human health than fossil-fuel-burning furnaces. In addition to contributing to global warming, these older technologies also release smog-forming nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter that increase the risk of heart attack, asthma and many other health issues. Finally, heat pumps, once they are installed, result in lower energy bills. The U.S. has jumped on the heat pump bandwagon: In 2024, heat pumps outsold gas furnaces for the third year in a row — by 27 percent. Surprisingly, the states with the highest penetration of residential heat pumps are not known for leadership in the fight against climate change. According to the most recent data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, these states are Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina. As of 2020, more than 40 percent of the homes in these three states had heat pumps. Compare that to California, where only five percent of homes in 2020 used heat pumps. “Some of this is a legacy of cheap electricity prices, especially as it relates to the price of gas,” says Pierce. This is part of why the South is more dependent on electricity than other parts of the country. At the same time, states with pre-World War II housing stock tend to have legacy oil or gas distribution networks, and therefore fewer electric homes. Finally, earlier models of heat pumps worked better in moderate climates, which meant there was greater adoption in the South. In recent years, there have been big innovations with cold climate heat pumps, which can deliver efficient heating even at outdoor temperatures as low as negative 22° Fahrenheit. This is why heat pumps are now being widely adopted in places with brutal winters like Maine and Colorado.
But Maine has been making great strides.
As if I needed an excuse to drink more coffee! Turns out it’s great for gut health! Roxana Ehsani For Food & Wine via Yahoo News
Known for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, coffee has long been touted for its many health benefits. In fact, thousands of compounds are packed into every cup, helping to improve mental alertness, reduce inflammation, support heart health, and even ease post-workout pain. A recent study published in Nature Microbiology reveals a new benefit of coffee: It supports the growth of beneficial gut bacteria. ✂️ In this study, researchers analyzed stool samples from 22,867 participants to understand the impact of coffee on gut bacteria. They categorized participants into three groups: the “never” group (those who drink fewer than three cups per month), “moderate” coffee drinkers (those who consumed at least three cups per month up to three cups a day), and “heavy” coffee drinkers (those who drink three or more cups per day). The researchers found that coffee drinkers had high levels of one specific bacteria strain, L. asaccharolyticus. The results suggest that drinking coffee can have a positive effect on your gut by helping the growth of good bacteria — an exciting win for coffee drinkers. ✂️ Dr. Chaplan points out that it’s actually not only the caffeine that boosts the beneficial bacteria, as even drinking decaf coffee has a positive effect on our gut. The key contributors are likely the polyphenols, including chlorogenic acid and quinic acid, found in coffee, which help boost the growth of this beneficial bacteria. Science suggests that polyphenols act like prebiotics. They feed and encourage the growth of beneficial gut bacteria.
I’m really lucky in that my indulgences — coffee, mostly — turned out to be good for me, and I didn’t get hooked in drugs. I once enjoyed a couple of morphine doses in the hospital after a serious accident, but I didn’t get hooked.
And, I thought this was amusing:
🐦 I do a lot of other writing. Newest offering! Messing with the Myths: The Maxotaur. Older offerings: 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.
I know it’s tough to see the path forward. And I can’t guarantee that there is a path forward. But people who are smarter and braver than I have seen ways to move ahead.
Their (the fascists’) plans really are dark, but many of them are also dumb, in the sense that they don’t make sense. So many of them cannot succeed. Here are some quick hits. Stay involved. Yeah, that’s tough. I want to look away too, but by taking simple actions you can make a difference. Keep contacting your representatives, both in DC and at home.
Support causes that will fight. Send money if you can. Also, spread their news with clicks and conversation.
Slow them down. Oppose and block at every turn.
Make tRump unpopular. Doing this weakens him. And it should not be that difficult. The GOP made a lot out of Biden is old and eggs cost too much. Well, tRump is older than Biden was at the beginning of his term and tRump has no policies that are going to bring down inflation. And a host of other problems, like he’s a convicted felon.
Divide the GOP from each other. They are a coalition based on contradictory promises, so there’s plenty to work with.
Keep telling the truth and showing love.
Make sure to pace yourselves in this marathon and to practice self-care.
Current projects:
Look in the comments for Progressive Muse’s report on Postcards to Voters
Chop Wood, Carry Water from Jessica Craven will give you little things to do nearly every day.
And Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny Lessons:
(1) Do Not Obey in Advance; (2) Defend Institutions; (3) Beware the One-Party System; (4) Take Responsibility for the Face of the World; (5) Remember Professional Ethics; (6) Be Wary of Paramilitaries; (7) Be Reflective if You Must Own a Gun; (8) Stand Out (this means, speak up, even when others do not); (9) Be Kind to Our Language; (10) Believe in Truth; (11) Investigate; (12) Make Eye Contact and Small Talk; (13) Practice Corporeal Politics; (14) Establish a Private Life; (15) Contribute to Good Causes; (16) Learn from Peers in Other Countries; (17) Listen for Dangerous Words; (18) Be Calm When the Unthinkable Arrives; (19) Be a Patriot; (20) Be as Courageous as You Can
🌻
💙 President Joseph R. Biden: “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.” 💙
Sir Winston Churchill: When you’re going through hell, keep going.
🌹 🌹 🌹
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