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Good News Roundup for Friday, February 3, 2023: We Beat Them Before, Let's Beat Them Some More [1]

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Date: 2023-02-03  

Welcome 🌻 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News!

Repetition is good. Repetition is good. I say that a lot around here, because we Dems tend not to repeat ourselves (out of politeness, mostly, as we expect people to get it the first time, and we don’t like to usurp the credit of others). But sometimes, you have to wonder about repetition. The Rs, despite having done poorly in the last several election cycles, are staying with the same leadership. They are doubling down on restricting reproductive rights.

Maybe they believe in these leaders, or maybe they realize their alternatives are worse. Sure, Rona Not Romney may be a loser, but the pillow guy is probably not an improvement. And, as they have no actual platform, well, making life difficult for seniors / trans people / women who need health care may be all they have.

Maybe they think repetition and persistence will work for them. Sometimes it does work. Or maybe they’re trying these things again because they have nothing else and because they hope we’ll stop paying attention.

Or — just maybe! — their repetition will work for us!

We have beaten them before. It’s time to beat them more. Ds seem to be doing better at messaging these days (I’m still high on the Hakeem Jeffries alphabet speech). We cannot take anything for granted, of course, because they are cruel, corrupt, and they cheat, but we now have some experience in this fight.

We have lots to do, but our team is hard at work. Come in, dear gnusies, and see some of what the good guys are doing. Also, I hope all of you stay warm this weekend; much of the US will be extra cold.

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 (longest list in a while). Here are the last week’s posts at the White House briefing room.

👎 Out with the Bad, In with the Good 👍

👎 DOJ arrests men trying to murder a journalist DOJ Press release and Garland remarks

(LAST FRIDAY) This morning, a federal court in New York [unsealed] an indictment charging three individuals for their roles in a conspiracy to assassinate a United States citizen. These charges arise out of an ongoing investigation into the Government of Iran's efforts to assassinate, on U.S. soil, a journalist, author, and human rights activist who is a U.S. Citizen of Iranian origin. All three defendants are currently in custody. In July of last year, one of the defendants, Khalid Mehdiyev, was found with an assault rifle, two ammunition magazines, and approximately 66 rounds of ammunition not far from the victim's home in Brooklyn, New York. He was arrested by NYPD officers and charged with a federal firearms offense. As detailed in the superseding indictment unsealed today, Mehdiyev was not acting alone. We allege that Mehdiyev and his co-conspirators, Polad Omarov and Rafat Amirov, are members of an Eastern European criminal organization with ties to Iran. As alleged in the indictment, the Government of Iran has previously targeted dissidents around the world, including the Victim, who oppose the regime's violations of human rights.

👍 Tech workers flocking to climate-change start-ups Erin Griffith, New York Times

When Arebeth Pease was laid off from the tech start-up MasterClass last year, she could have had her pick of jobs. But so many tech companies’ missions rang hollow, she said, and many were creating more problems than they were fixing. ✂️ As tech companies slash perks and cut jobs, the downturn has spurred a wake-up call among many workers, causing them to question whether their company’s role in society — selling ads or selling stuff, often — was actually making the world a better place. The result? More are now flocking to climate start-ups, just as investors pour money into the field. Last year, climate start-ups in the United States raised nearly $20 billion, topping 2021’s high of $18 billion and nearly tripling 2020’s $7 billion, according to Crunchbase, a data provider. At least 83 climate-focused companies around the world are worth more than $1 billion, according to HolonIQ, a research firm.

Dr. Phil FINALLY going off the air Robyn Pennacchia, Wonkette

Twenty-one years after it first premiered, "The Dr. Phil Show" is going off the air, and I can't say I'm mad about it. Not because Dr. Phil is not a licensed doctor, not because it was a trashy talk show — I've got a bit of a soft spot for trashy talk shows, particularly when they include incredibly bad "makeovers" — but because within the last few years it has become a platform for rightwing nonsense, frequently of the "Wokeness has Gone Too Far!!!!" variety. Just last week an episode aired called "The Demise of Guys" featuring Rollo Tomassi, a weird misogynist who calls himself the "Godfather of the Manosphere," and some other guy I've never even heard of who called himself a "sexual energy coach." ✂️ McGraw, who has a doctoral degree in clinical psychology but has not had a license to actually practice since he started appearing on "Oprah" in the 1990s, says the reason he is quitting daytime is because he's got his eye on primetime. He says he has "grave concerns for the American family" and that he is "determined to help restore a clarity of purpose as well as our core values" — but it seems pretty unlikely that anyone actually wants or needs that. "The Dr. Phil Show" ending is the end of an era, not just of his show, but of the daytime talk show centered more around interpersonal and social issues than celebrity interviews and news. It would be nice if there were a less toxic way to do that kind of show, in order to show healthy ways of resolving dilemmas or to talk about issues people are facing that are not otherwise getting enough attention, but sadly we haven't really seen it yet.

Alas, he wants to go on to prime time, which would not help us. However, with the problems at OANN and NewsMax, there may be fewer options.

Oprah also elevated Dr. Oz. Don’t think she’s been very good about her choices in doctors.

Signs that Special Counsel Jack Smith and the DOJ are hard at work:

x "A potential sign today that the work of Special Counsel Jack Smith and the two probes into the conduct of the disgraced, twice impeached, ex-president, are moving full speed ahead. Spotted at a DC courthouse today... conservative activist Tom Fitton" - @NicolleDWallace pic.twitter.com/GsRFpAhzfw — Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) February 2, 2023

💣 Republicans: Party of Crimes and Chaos 💣

Rs busy doing nothing about their tRump problem Stephen Robinson, Wonkette

Donald Trump is running for president again. He's officially launched his 2024 campaign, and he's even started campaigning, which is an important next step in the process. But what if Trump wasn't running at all? This is the apparent magical thinking that's animating the Republican Party's putrefying corpse. McCay Coppins at The Atlantic reports that "Republican officials—even the ones with MAGA hats in their closets and Mar-a-Lago selfies in their Twitter avatar—will privately admit that Donald Trump has become a problem." They sound like aging Phish fans in the 1990s who realized they've wasted their lives. Coppins describes the obvious reality: Aside from being a corrupt treason-fascist, Trump is a big loser who presided over three horrible, no-good election cycles for Republicans. Dumping him is the obvious move, but it's just so hard. Republicans are struggling to act like they're in a production of Hamlet but with more Nazis. But ask them how they plan to [move on from Trump], and the discussion quickly veers into the realm of hopeful hypotheticals. Maybe he’ll get indicted and his legal problems will overwhelm him. Maybe he’ll flame out early in the primaries, or just get bored with politics and wander away. Maybe the situation will resolve itself naturally: He’s old, after all—how many years can he have left?

“Maybe he’ll just die” is their strategy. Which pretty much seems to be their approach to governing in general.

In the meantime, the Rs are trying to be even more horrible. We have to make sure people know and are angry about it.

x He's finished. Period. — George Conway🌻 (@gtconway3d) February 3, 2023

Suspicious cash:

x Who knew that Tina Forte, the Republican stunt artist who ran against AOC last year, had a checking account stuffed with between $25 million and $50 million? With no reported income or other assets https://t.co/pnVoHURr3x pic.twitter.com/jMFNlgo5pE — Roger Sollenberger (@SollenbergerRC) February 2, 2023

I think we need to find out more about the campaign contributions of other GOP members, and not just George Santos. I don’t think the Santos corruption is singular. Perhaps we could arrange a subgroup here to work on this stuff? Please put ideas in the comments.

🌵 And you may have already seen it, but it’s from the state where I vote, so it matters more to me:

x Adrian Fontes, SOS, sent letter to Chris Mays, AG, referring Kari Lake for criminal prosecution for publishing signatures of voters against AZ law violating privacy rights while spreading the Big Lie!#DemVoice1 #Dems4USA #VoteBIGblue #LiveBlue https://t.co/R2W5ZjQpRN — Brenda💙46 - Build Back Better 🚗🚕🚙 (@kinley_brenda) February 1, 2023

🚚 💙 Democrats Deliver 💙 🚚

President Biden’s aim to transform the economic of the USA The Economist

...In the past two years Congress has passed three bills, on infrastructure, semiconductor chips and greenery, that will make $2trn available to reshape the economy. The idea is that, with government action, America can reindustrialise itself, bolster national security, revive left-behind places, cheer up blue-collar workers and dramatically reduce its carbon emissions all at the same time. It is the country’s most ambitious and dirigiste industrial policy for many decades. In a series of articles beginning this week, The Economist will be assessing President Joe Biden’s giant bet on transforming America. Mr Biden is taking an epoch-making political gamble. He is acting on so many fronts because he had no choice. The only way to build a majority in Congress was to bolt a Democratic desire to act on climate change on to hawkish worries about the threat from China and the need to deal with left-behind places in the American heartland. On its own, each of these concerns is valid. But in terms of policy, the necessity to bind them together has led America into a second-best world. The goals will sometimes conflict, the protectionism will infuriate allies and the subsidies will create inefficiencies. To grasp the scale of what is under way, follow the money. The Infrastructure Act makes $1.2trn available over ten years for roads, bridges and cables for a new green grid. The chips Act, which promotes making semiconductors in America, contains $280bn of spending. The Inflation Reduction Act contains $400bn in subsidies for green tech over ten years; some analysts suggest the true figure will be $800bn. The money is only part of the picture. With it comes a plethora of rules, from requirements that batteries be made in North America, to restrictions on tech imports and exports on grounds of national security.

Note The Economist has some caveats. But it’s ambitious and bold and it may help save the planet.

President Biden praises his Chief of Staff, Ron Klain, on his stepping down. White House Briefing Room

He assembled the most diverse and most talented White House team in history and led — led them to solve some of the really difficult problems. With Ron’s leadership, just look at what we’ve gotten here over the years — over the last two years alone: fighting COVID, reviving our economy, rebuilding the infrastructure, protecting our planet, fighting for gun — fighting against gun violence, advancing civil rights, winning confirmation of nearly 100 federal judges, including the first Black Supreme Court justice in history. (Applause.) And playing a major role in reasserting America’s place in the world. Maybe most important of all, helping restore faith in our democracy. The list will be the — the legacy of the White House team under Ron’s leadership.

I listened to Lawrence O’Donnell interview Klain on The Last Word earlier this week, O’Donnell said Klain lasted longer than other COSs under D presidents and was more effective. Also, Klain pointed out that the staff was older, more experienced, more diverse, and more female than any other WH staff.

The new COS is Jeff Zients.

The second gentleman is fighting against rising anti-semitism Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post

Until recently, second gentleman Douglas Emhoff was a trailblazer merely by virtue of his gender. The first male spouse of a president or vice president, a role model for gender equality, he has dutifully fulfilled his role as supportive helpmate. But of late, and culminating this week in his visit to Poland and Germany, he’s become something much more: the most visible public figure in the battle against rising antisemitism. Certainly, President Biden and Vice President Harris have spoken out forcefully against hate crimes, the fearful normalization of hate speech on social media and the alarming rise in antisemitism. But no one can miss the power and emotion generated by a grandson of European Jews returning to Poland, and specifically to Auschwitz, where more than 1 million of the 6 million Jews were murdered. ✂️ But the far greater challenge is to sustain a level of active opposition commensurate with the ongoing threat. As Emhoff said, it requires us to challenge antisemites and those who look the other way. It demands we confront social media platforms to take responsibility for what their algorithms amplify and magnify. And it should spur us to include the Holocaust in high school history curriculum.

And AOC speaks up about what was done to Omar Ilhan:

x Don't miss this. AOC is amazing! https://t.co/kHERn4Bcnj — Joyce Glennon - FL Gal (@jglennon1) February 3, 2023

💜 Unity? 💜

🐬 Fisherman and dolphins working together Asher Elbein, New York Times

Every summer in waters off the town of Laguna in Brazil’s southeast corner, fishers wade out into estuary canals to cast their nets in hopes of catching migratory mullet fish. The water is murky, and the fish are difficult to spot. However, the fishers have help from an unexpected quarter: bottlenose dolphins that push the prey toward the nets. ✂️ In research published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, a team of Brazilian scientists reported that dolphins might benefit from the cooperation as much as their terrestrial mammal counterparts did. Those that fish with humans seem to live longer than other dolphins in the area do. “Human-wildlife cooperation in general is a rare phenomenon at a global scale,” said Mauricio Cantor, a biologist at Oregon State University and an author of the paper. “Usually humans gain the benefit, and nature pays the cost. But this interaction has been happening for over 150 years.”

📥 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.

🐍 Schadenfreude 😈

The tears of insurrectionists are so sweet:

x Capitol rioter breaks down crying in court — gets hit with 68-month prison sentence https://t.co/HkL4iNQWDz — #TuckFrump (@realTuckFrumper) February 1, 2023

Time to really investigate the “investigators”!

x BREAKING: Hunter Biden’s attorneys have asked DoJ NATSEC division and the Delaware US Attorney to investigate trump allies including RUDY GIULIANI for trafficking in and manipulating stolen information from his laptop. https://t.co/x74StCm45E — Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) February 1, 2023

Judge allows lawsuit against Rittenhouse to proceed Scott Bauer, AP via PBS

The father of Anthony Huber, one of two men shot and killed by Rittenhouse, filed the lawsuit in 2021, accusing officers of allowing for a dangerous situation that violated his son’s constitutional rights and resulted in his death. Anthony Huber’s father, John Huber, also alleged that Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of the shootings, conspired with law enforcement to cause harm to protestors. John Huber is seeking unspecified damages from city officials, officers and Rittenhouse. ✂️ In allowing the case against Rittenhouse and the others to proceed, the judge said that Anthony Huber’s death “could plausibly be regarded as having been proximately caused by the actions of the governmental defendants.” Rittenhouse had argued that the case against him should be dismissed because he wasn’t properly served with the lawsuit. Adelman dismissed that, saying that Rittenhouse “is almost certainly evading service.”

More on this very schadenfreudy story:

x Rittenhouse tried to hide from process servers, who finally tracked down his sister in Florida after over 100 hours of work in 7 states.



The judge rules that Rittenhouse was evading service — and that the service here was sufficient. — Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) February 2, 2023

📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️️

Iranian journalist (now in US) Masih Alinejah. She is the one whose life was targeted by assassins who were stopped by our good guys.

🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️

Giving back:

x Senegalese football star Sadio Mane was born in a village with 2,000 people. So far, he has:



🏥 Built a $693,000 hospital

🏫 Built a $350,000 school

💰 Gives each family €70 monthly

📶 Provides 4G internet

💻 Gives laptops to students



Never forget where you came from.



🇸🇳 ⚽ pic.twitter.com/RPQ9ahzW6Y — Goodable (@Goodable) January 29, 2023

📎 Odds & Ends 📎

Using grass instead of trees for building can capture much more carbon! Andy Corbley, Good News Network

A startup looking to find better ways to mass-produce lumber for construction has swapped trees for grass. It turns out that with sophisticated laminating and molding machines, the fibers of certain grass species can be just as strong as wood, but lighter, and orders of magnitude faster to produce. Entrepreneur Josh Dorfman founded Plantd with two former SpaceX engineers. Their flagship product is a seemingly-regular pressed wood panel for homebuilding, but one that’s made from a fast-growing species of grass which nevertheless can absorb 30 tons of carbon dioxide via photosynthesis throughout its lifetime.

✈️ Emirates successfully test Boeing 777 on sustainable jet fuel Paige Bennett, EcoWatch

The airline Emirates has successfully tested flying a Boeing 777-300ER airplane with one of its two engines using sustainable fuel. The flight flew from Dubai International Airport along the United Arab Emirates coastline for about an hour. According to the airline, the demonstration flight, commanded by Captain Fali Vajifdar and Captain Khalid Nasser Akram, is part of the aviation industry’s larger goal to reduce carbon emissions. The demonstration could also help future certification to approve 100% drop-in sustainable aviation fuel, which is currently available for all aircrafts to use but only in 50% blends with conventional jet fuel. Emirates and partners GE Aerospace, Boeing, Honeywell, Neste and Virent created the fuel blend. The sustainable aviation fuel blend included hydro processed esters and fatty acids and synthetic paraffinic kerosene (HEFA-SPK) from Finnish firm Neste and hydro deoxygenated synthetic aromatic kerosene (HDO-SAK) from Wisconsin-based Virent. The plane’s second engine was fueled with conventional aviation fuel as a safety precaution, The Associated Press reported.

Pallas cat, just for fun. Recently discovered also living on Mount Everest. Don’t know where this individual cat lives:

x What a privilege to watch this magnificent curious earthling in nature

🔊 pic.twitter.com/P2lQRP1WAb — Hakan Kapucu (@1hakankapucu) January 24, 2023

Study says we have enough rare earth minerals for the renewable revolution Cristen Hemingway Jaymes EcoWatch

A mother who will have to both celebrate one son and cheer up the other:

x This is Donna Kelce.



One of her sons plays for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles. The other plays for the Kansas City Chiefs.



At Superbowl LVII, she will officially become the first ever mother with two sons playing against each other in the same Superbowl.



🏈 ♥️ pic.twitter.com/0DooxvNBEM — Goodable (@Goodable) January 31, 2023

🐦 I do a lot of other writing. A recent offering: Hunters of the Feather, a story about a thinker-linker crow who wants to save birdkind from extinction, and the sequel, Scavengers of Mind. (They’re really good! They’re really cheap! Buy and review or rate positively! And Hunters is also available on Audible!) Other stories, based on Jane Austen novels — including a new one for lovers of Pride & Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet’s Advice to Young Ladies — and others on Greek mythology, can be found here. All titles are available through Kindle Unlimited, but I only get paid if you turn the pages.

💙 What You Can Do to Rescue Democracy 💙

It turns out that participation in democracy is not just an every-four-years event but requires active participation, like, whenever you can find time.

Current projects:

Look in the comments for Progressive Muse’s report on Postcards to Voters

And some other ideas:

You can relax and recharge.

You can join protests and freeway blog.

You can help register new voters.

You can smile.

You can say something nice to friend or a stranger.

You can get out the vote for special elections.

You can reach out to upset Republicans. We need to win some back.

You can share your ideas below.

🌻

💙 “Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we all are created equal and the harsh ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart. The battle is perennial, and victory is never assured.” 💙

President Joseph R. Biden

🌹 🌹 🌹

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