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GNR for Friday, April 18, 2025: Group Power [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-04-18
Welcome 🌻 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News!
Near the bottom of this GNR is a list of the chapter titles from On Tyranny, Timothy Snyder’s book describing specific actions to take in order to effectively resist tyranny.
One of them is “Remember Professional Ethics.”
This phrase may seem boring, but in reality it is so important.
Obviously, there are institutions that are failing, such as certain law firms. There are media outlets that have bent the knee. There are billionaires — despite having immense power themselves — who have lowered themselves to kiss the ring.
But there are many examples of institutions and individuals who have resisted. Many courts, many individual judges. The Associated Press. Individual journalists such as Jennifer Rubin and Eugene Robinson, leaving the Washington Post, and Paul Krugman departing from the New York Times.
Professional associations give you the opportunity to bond with others and to push against tyranny together.
Think of the doctors refusing to harm. Even some of the finance people refusing to lie. Or this week, Harvard refusing to bend the knee.
What organizations do you belong to? Are you helping it take a stand?
Also, a reminder: tRump and his minions can be beaten. He caved on tariffs. Unfortunately he damaged the US in the process, but he was always going to do that.
Every time a law firm has stood up to tRump in court, they win (that’s what Maddow reported in her Tuesday evening broadcast).
Come on in, dear gnusies, and see what some of the good guys are doing.
Regular Scheduled Programming
No one here is naïve; we are aware of the many who are fighting to destroy our country. Some of us expected it: the cheating, the lying, 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 🗽
Just some people, doing important freeway blogging.
x We were out making good trouble in the Philly burbs again today! @visibilitybrigade.bsky.social @maddow.msnbc.com — (@kathleenpolarb.bsky.social) 2025-04-16T03:35:17.465Z
People going to the fight the oligarchy tour being held by Bernie and AOC.
x ‘It’s a dire time’: Bernie Sanders, AOC draw 12,000-plus to Idaho rally www.idahostatesman.com/news/northwe... — StrictlyChristo 🦋🇺🇦🌻 (@strictlychristo.bsky.social) 2025-04-15T05:26:23.685Z
AOC raised a lot of money.
🌵 And even in Tucson!
x Senator Cory Booker held a town hall in Tucson, with Sen Mark Kelly, Rep Gabby Giffords, & Mayor Regina Romero. All inspiring. With 2k folks in a low-income neighborhood high school auditorium, lots of questions about Medicaid, Medicare, Veterans Affairs, and Social Security concerns. — Peter Sherman Crosby (@pscrosby.bsky.social) 2025-04-16T18:47:29.093Z
Admiration for the whistle blower at the NLRB who has been exposing how DOGE has apparently been opening up all our data to Russia Jenna McLaughlin NPR
The DOGE employees, who are effectively led by White House adviser and billionaire tech CEO Elon Musk, appeared to have their sights set on accessing the NLRB's internal systems. They've said their unit's overall mission is to review agency data for compliance with the new administration's policies and to cut costs and maximize efficiency. ✂️ The employees grew concerned that the NLRB's confidential data could be exposed, particularly after they started detecting suspicious log-in attempts from an IP address in Russia, according to the disclosure. Eventually, the disclosure continued, the IT department launched a formal review of what it deemed a serious, ongoing security breach or potentially illegal removal of personally identifiable information. The whistleblower believes that the suspicious activity warrants further investigation by agencies with more resources, like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency or the FBI. ✂️ The whistleblower's account is corroborated by internal documentation and was reviewed by 11 technical experts across other government agencies and the private sector. In total, NPR spoke to over 30 sources across the government, the private sector, the labor movement, cybersecurity and law enforcement who spoke to their own concerns about how DOGE and the Trump administration might be handling sensitive data, and the implications for its exposure. Much of the following account comes from the whistleblower's official disclosure and interviews with NPR. "I can't attest to what their end goal was or what they're doing with the data," said the whistleblower, Daniel Berulis, in an interview with NPR. "But I can tell you that the bits of the puzzle that I can quantify are scary. ... This is a very bad picture we're looking at."
Daniel Berulis was on Maddow earlier in the week. Not hiding, despite the threats, because he knows many workers in the federal government are scared. He hopes courage is contagious.
Also, as Maddow reported, sometimes when you fight, you win.
💪 Get Ready to Fight 💪
Here’s an example of how the Big 10 (which has 18 schools) are getting together to fight back:
x Rachel Maddow highlights the efforts by Big Ten schools and others to join forces in a "mutual defense compact" against Donald Trump's attacks on higher education. — dharmalee3 (@dharmalee3.bsky.social) 2025-04-16T11:57:18.037Z
I hope people here will join with their groups in order to fight.
💣 Republicans: Party of Crimes and Chaos 💣
People are discovering how awful right-wing policies are when put into practice Michelle Goldberg New York Times
Kaschuta is not alone; several people who once appeared to find transgressive right-wing ideas scintillating are having second thoughts as they watch Donald Trump’s administration put those ideas into practice. The writer Richard Hanania once said that he hated bespoke pronouns “more than genocide,” and his 2023 book, “The Origins of Woke: Civil Rights Law, Corporate America, and the Triumph of Identity Politics,” provided a blueprint for the White House’s war on D.E.I. But less than three months into Trump’s new term, he regrets his vote, telling me, “The resistance libs were mostly right about him.” Nathan Cofnas, a right-wing philosophy professor and self-described “race realist” fixated on group differences in I.Q., wrote on X, “All over the world, almost everyone with more than half a brain is looking at the disaster of Trump (along with Putin, Yoon Suk Yeol, et al.) and drawing the very reasonable conclusion that right-wing, anti-woke parties are incapable of effective governance.” (Yoon Suk Yeol is South Korea’s recently impeached president.) Scott Siskind, who blogs under the pseudonym Scott Alexander, has been an influential figure in Silicon Valley’s revolt against social justice ideology, though he’s never been a Trump supporter. Last week, he asked whether “edgy heterodox centrists” like himself paved the way for Trump by opening the door to once-verboten arguments. In an imaginary Socratic dialogue, he wrote, “We wanted a swift, lean government that stopped strangling innovation and infrastructure. Instead we got chain-saw-style firings, total devastation of state capacity in exactly the way most likely to strangle innovation more than ever, and the worst and dumbest people in the world gloating about how they solved the ‘grift’ of sending lifesaving medications to dying babies.” It is too early to know what these small cracks in the dissident right mean and whether they presage more substantial defections. They suggest to me, however, that not everyone can sustain the level of cognitive dissonance necessary to rationalize away this administration’s destructiveness. One reason some people reacted so furiously against wokeness is that they felt as if they were being pressured into dishonesty; trans women in sports became a major flashpoint not just because of perceived unfairness, but also because people felt bullied into denying the existence of sex differences. A term of high praise on the dissident right is “based,” short for “based in reality.” But never has an administration been more divorced from reality, and more determined to shove insulting ideological fictions down our throats, than Trump’s.
Florida governor’s former spokesman accused of exposing himself Tiffany Razzano Patch
SARASOTA-BRADENTON, FL — A New College of Florida official and former spokesperson for Gov. Ron DeSantis faces multiple charges for exposing himself, according to reports. Frederick Joseph Piccolo Jr., 47, was arrested Tuesday for exposure of sexual organs in Manatee County, jail records show. He faces three similar charges from October in Sarasota County, according to records.
Not a drag queen… blaming it on medication, which could be true, for all I know.
I really think Murkowski should declare herself independent and caucus with the Ds
x “We are all afraid,” Murkowski said... “It’s quite a statement. But we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been here before. And I’ll tell ya, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right.” www.adn.com/politics/202... — Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur.bsky.social) 2025-04-17T12:58:39.315Z
We also need to recognize that the “good” Rs are being terrorized, probably more than we suspect.
Which is why they need the power of groups.
Senator Murkowski, it’s time to find a way out of being terrorized.
🚚 💙 Democrats Deliver 💙 🚚
Well done, Senator Van Hollen:
x Senator Van Hollen has met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia. MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas has the latest. — MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) 2025-04-18T01:59:19.622Z
Helped by the huge outcry here, and perhaps tRump’s perceived weakness abroad
Telemedicine makes abortion more popular than ever in red states The Economist
ANGEL FOSTER has a vision of a patient. “Imagine you’re a 23-year-old woman in rural Texas”, the doctor and public-health researcher says. This patient is pregnant and wants an abortion. For years, she’s been told that it is illegal in her state, with almost no exceptions. But then, with a bit of Googling, “you find out that there’s this group of people in Massachusetts that will send you FDA-approved medications in the mail.” The ordeal will be over in a few days and will cost $5. “It sounds absolutely bananas, right?” she asks “How could it be legal? How could it be safe?” Yet it is safe and legal. Dr Foster is one of the founders of the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project (the MAP), a telehealth abortion provider outside Boston. It sends between 2,000 and 3,000 packages of abortion pills a month, 95% of them to states where the procedure is banned. Massachusetts is one of eight states that protects abortion providers from criminal and civil litigation, regardless of where pills are sent (see map). Such “shield” laws are legal novelties that have sprung up since 2022, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade. In the first six months of 2024, there were nearly 10,000 abortions a month under these provisions—10% of all legal abortions in America. That number is probably even higher now. Partly due to telemedicine abortions, Mississippi women—and those in nine other ban states—now have more abortions than before the procedure was outlawed. ✂️ Anti-abortion activists are incensed by the workaround. In December Ken Paxton, Texas’s attorney-general, filed a civil suit against Maggie Carpenter, a New York doctor, for sending abortion pills into the state. Louisiana followed in January, indicting the same doctor with criminal charges for sending pills to the mother of a pregnant teenager. So far, though, the shields are holding. Kathy Hochul, New York’s governor, has refused to extradite the doctor and courts in the state are not enforcing Texas’ $113,000 penalty. Mr Paxton has promised to press on, claiming that “New York is shredding the constitution.” A challenge in federal court is likely. ✂️ Anti-abortion activists are incensed by the workaround. In December Ken Paxton, Texas’s attorney-general, filed a civil suit against Maggie Carpenter, a New York doctor, for sending abortion pills into the state. Louisiana followed in January, indicting the same doctor with criminal charges for sending pills to the mother of a pregnant teenager. So far, though, the shields are holding. Kathy Hochul, New York’s governor, has refused to extradite the doctor and courts in the state are not enforcing Texas’ $113,000 penalty. Mr Paxton has promised to press on, claiming that “New York is shredding the constitution.” A challenge in federal court is likely. “There’s no patient who’s come forward to say: ‘I was shipped the wrong pills… I’ve suffered these consequences’,” says Rachel Rebouché, a dean of Temple University law school, and one of the architects of shield laws. In a hunt for such harm, lawyers are reportedly looking for would-be fathers to bring a suit. So far the action against Dr Carpenter has simply succeeded in publicising the option, triggering an uptick in the use of abortion pills. The shield laws are “probably going to end up before the Supreme Court, it is just a question of when” says Mary Ziegler, a legal historian.
Note this would not be possible without the strong shield laws of blue states, such as New York and Massachusetts and California (which is why this is in the Ds deliver section).
Also, abortions have gone up because later pregnancies carry risks, and women don’t want to risk their lives in the rural red states that will let women die because (1) attitudes towards abortion and (2) no health services.
Of course, there are things to worry about, but at least women are getting treated today. IMHO, women in these red states should stock up on these pills.
💜 Unity? 💜
Cooperation:
x Excellent news from Geneva, where a first consensus on the Pandemic Agreement was reached last night. We have learnt the lessons of COVID. To beat a pandemic, you need tests, treatments and vaccines. And you equally need solidarity and global cooperation. Statement ↓ europa.eu/!fkNJ9y — Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu) 2025-04-16T08:45:45.713Z
🚢 Landmark international shipping agreement reached, set to reduce carbon emissions Cristen Hemingway Jaynes EcoWatch
After nearly a decade of negotiations, nations have come to a “landmark” global shipping agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The new International Maritime Organization (IMO) Framework introduced a carbon pricing mechanism that will require ships with high emissions to pay for the excess pollution they release, reported UN News. It also sets mandatory fuel standards for the shipping industry. “Ships must reduce, over time, their annual greenhouse gas fuel intensity (GFI) – that is, how much GHG is emitted for each unit of energy used,” a press release from IMO said. “Ships emitting above GFI thresholds will have to acquire remedial units to balance its deficit emissions, while those using zero or near-zero GHG technologies will be eligible for financial rewards.” The framework was agreed upon during the meeting of IMO and the Marine Environment Protection Committee in London. It aims for net-zero shipping emissions by 2050.
📥 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.
👎 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.
🐍 Schadenfreude 😈
It turns out that being anti tRump can be good for media:
And it can be good for liberals, at least in other countries:
x Looks like Australia is following Canada: a Trumpy right-wing leader is losing ground to Labour. The Trump brand does not seem to be playing well internationally (or increasingly in the US?). on.ft.com/3YzWXTf — Miles Kahler (@mileskahler.bsky.social) 2025-04-16T15:04:32.543Z
And being pro-tRump is not always good for business:
x BLOOMBERG: “.. The company’s share of EV sales in the state fell to 43.9% in the first quarter, from 55.5% a year ago.” @bloomberg.com $TSLA www.bloomberg.com/news/article... — Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) 2025-04-17T11:45:26.555Z
And
More evidence that tRump is simply terrible for the economy
x JUST IN: Mortgage rates see largest one-week hike in nearly a year, reaching their highest level in two months as Trump tariffs rock markets — CNN — MeidasTouch (@meidastouch.com) 2025-04-17T16:13:03.401Z
Almost did not include this as it’s not such good news
📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️️
This week we’re honoring Harvard University and its refusal to bow down to tRump.
x Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions - rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking steps to make sure students can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect. Let’s hope others follow suit. — Barack Obama (@barackobama.bsky.social) 2025-04-15T03:52:35.523Z
If you want more, you should listen to Lawrence O’Donnell on the matter
🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️
British woman gives birth after receiving transplanted womb and pro bono surgery Andy Corbley Good News Network
A woman has spoken to the media for the first time after becoming a mother to the UK’s first child born from a transplanted womb. Grace Davidson was able to have that opportunity thanks to her sister, who donated her womb in what Davidson called “a huge act of sisterly love.” Born in February, little Amy Isabel was named after her aunt who donated the womb she was conceived in, and given a middle name of the leader of the team that led her surgery.
I mean, I think I would ask for a surrogate mother, but this was a huge act of love on the part of the sister who gave up her uterus. Because you usually have just one. And giving it up can cause other problems, too. So although I don’t think it’s wise, it is an act of love.
📎 Odds & Ends 📎
NYC begins mandatory composting enforcement Paige Bennett EcoWatch
New York City’s mandatory composting went into effect at the start of this month, and the city has already issued hundreds of tickets. According to the New York City Department of Sanitation, curbside composting is now available city-wide, and all residents are expected to separate organic waste from trash destined for landfills. All compost waste can be placed in a department-provided brown bin or in a 55-gallon or smaller bin that is labeled and lined and has a secure lid. The bin can then be placed on the curb for pickup on the same day as recycling pickup. For those who don’t properly compost their organic waste, the city has started fining property owners. Owners of buildings with up to eight units face fines of $25 (first offense), $50 (second offense) or $100 (each additional offense), while owners of buildings with more than nine units could receive fines of $100 (first offense), $200 (second offense) or $300 (each additional offense).
Composting in my little Swiss village is really easy. And the recycling center is adorable and effective and a place where they play loud cheery music while you toss away your bottles and your cans. Nearly always run into neighbors.
🐦 I do a lot of other writing. Newest offerings! Messing with the Myths: The Maxotaur and Messing with the Myths: The Book of the Living. 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 all 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
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.
🌹 🌹 🌹
TRUTH MATTERS. LOVE MATTERS.
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