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Good News Roundup for Friday, Dec 8, 2023: Progress through Persistance [1]

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

Date: 2023-12-08  

Welcome 🌻 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News!

Sometimes it’s hard to keep going. Even when we’re making real progress, we don’t always feel like we’re making progress.

I think there are several reasons for this. The MSM has been really quiet about our successes (like, how great the US economy has been, or the fact that Biden has been ahead in a whole bunch of polls). Also, we still have some PTSD from the tRump years. And, in the time when you can call door dash to get a meal delivered, we’ve been trained to need instant total gratification to feel like we’re making progress.

Here are some quotes to help you persist:

“It always seems impossible until it is done.” – Nelson Mandela “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill “A bend in the road is not the end of the road… unless you fail to make the turn.” – Helen Keller “It’s always too soon to quit!” – Norman Vincent Peale “The only guarantee for failure is to stop trying.” – John C. Maxwell “Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.” – Walter Elliot “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up.” – Thomas Edison “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” – Henry Ford “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” – Pele “Fall seven times and stand up eight.” – Japanese Proverb

Come on in, dear gnusies, and see how the good guys are persisting and progressing. And how some of the bad guys are giving up or simply imploding.

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 👍

Crime in Detroit at a 60-year low (and other good news) Andy Corbley Good News Network

After a special task force was created to address a criminal case backlog in Detroit, the city is on pace for the lowest homicide rate in 60 years, with violent crime in general falling at combined rates of 56%. By the end of the government-enforced lockdowns of the criminal justice system in Wayne County which includes Detroit, there were 4,000 felons awaiting trial; the special task force has reduced that number to 1,400. As a result of their various efforts, which really just amounted to budget increases and allowing judges and others to work from home, three metrics of violent crime from the first 11 months of 2023 compared with 2022 went down dramatically, with the homicide rate down 18%, and carjackings down 36%.

What a simple solution.

👍 Taylor Swift named Time’s Person of the Year Sam Lansky Time

Swift’s accomplishments as an artist—culturally, critically, and commercially—are so legion that to recount them seems almost beside the point. As a pop star, she sits in rarefied company, alongside Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, and Madonna; as a songwriter, she has been compared to Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, and Joni Mitchell. As a businesswoman, she has built an empire worth, by some estimates, over $1 billion. And as a celebrity—who by dint of being a woman is scrutinized for everything from whom she dates to what she wears—she has long commanded constant attention and knows how to use it. (“I don’t give Taylor advice about being famous,” Stevie Nicks tells me. “She doesn’t need it.”) But this year, something shifted. To discuss her movements felt like discussing politics or the weather—a language spoken so widely it needed no context. She became the main character of the world. ✂️ Her epic career-retrospective tour recounting her artistic “eras,” which played 66 dates across the Americas this year, is projected to become the biggest of all time and the first to gross over a billion dollars; analysts talked about the “Taylor effect,” as politicians from Thailand, Hungary, and Chile implored her to play their countries. Cities, stadiums, and streets were renamed for her. Every time she came to a new place, a mini economic boom took place as hotels and restaurants saw a surge of visitors. In releasing her concert movie, Swift bypassed studios and streamers, instead forging an unusual pact with AMC, giving the theater chain its highest single-day ticket sales in history. There are at least 10 college classes devoted to her, including one at Harvard; the professor, Stephanie Burt, tells TIME she plans to compare Swift’s work to that of the poet William Wordsworth. Friendship bracelets traded by her fans at concerts became a hot accessory, with one line in a song causing as much as a 500% increase in sales at craft stores. When Swift started dating Travis Kelce, the Kansas City Chief and two-time Super Bowl champion, his games saw a massive increase in viewership. (Yes, she somehow made one of America’s most popular things—football—even more popular.) And then there’s her critically hailed songbook—a catalog so beloved that as she rereleases it, she’s often breaking chart records she herself set. She’s the last monoculture left in our stratified world.

My granddaughter and I watched this together:

Apparently Taylor has a number of detractors but she refuses to talk about them. I heard on a podcast (sorry no link) that she says: “trash takes itself out.”

Here’s an example of trash taking itself out:

👎 🎁Kevin McCarthy is leaving Congress! Juliegrace Bruftke Axios

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced Wednesday he will step down from Congress at the end of the year, leaving the House GOP with an even slimmer majority until a special election to fill his seat can be held. Why it matters: McCarthy's exit comes in the wake of a group of conservative hardliners successfully ousted him from his leadership position in a historic vote in October, placing the California Republican in an awkward position within his conference.

Imagine his position if he had not betrayed the country by rehabilitating tRump. Also, it’s telling how the Rs leave the speakership - Boehner and Ryan and now McCarthy — they don’t just leave the speakership, but they leave Congress altogether. And it’s not just to make money as a lobbyist. It’s because they see how awful everyone is.

Compare that to Speaker emirata, Pelosi, who is planning to run again. Because there’s work she wants to do.

💣 Republicans: Party of Crimes and Chaos 💣

You probably heard about the major crimes and chaos. Here’s some minor stuff:

x Yet again, someone was found guilty of voter fraud in the 2020 election.



And yet again, it was a Trump supporter from The Villages. https://t.co/fX3aIHMncn — Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) December 7, 2023

The GOP can’t even get along with itself. Rep Nancy Mace’s staff are quitting — and they’re taking the popcorn machine Matthew Chapman Raw Story

Mace, one of a small handful of Republicans who voted to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as Speaker of the House, has faced mounting criticism over her inconsistent voting record, as well as a staff handbook demanding that her aides schedule her a minimum "quota" of TV appearances to maintain her celebrity status. Now, she is also facing allegations of a toxic work environment. "Her three senior staffers include her former chief of staff Dan Hanlon, who was fired on Friday, her deputy chief of staff Richard Chalkey, who resigned, and her legislative director Randal Meyer, who resigned effective the end of the month," wrote congressional reporter Reece Gorman. All three previously worked for the Donald Trump administration. "The source claimed that working in Mace’s office is a 'toxic work environment' and there could potentially be complete staff turnover by January," the report continued. "One source with direct knowledge of the matter said Hanlon took the popcorn machine on his way out."

The problems run deep. Not a surprise. No character. In the meantime, the good guys:

🚚 💙 Democrats Deliver 💙 🚚

Lowering prescription drug prices through competition plan: fact sheet White House Briefing Room

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a new action to support lowering prescription drug costs and increase Americans’ access to life-saving medications: Promoting equitable access to lower-priced taxpayer-funded drugs. Taxpayers have spent hundreds of billions of dollars on research catalyzing the discovery and development of new prescription drugs. The Biden-Harris Administration believes taxpayer-funded drugs and other taxpayer-funded inventions should be available and affordable to the public. When an invention is made using taxpayer funds, under certain circumstances march-in authority under the Bayh-Dole Act enables the federal government to license the invention to another party. The prior Administration proposed a rule preventing the government from exercising this authority on the basis of high price alone. The Biden-Harris Administration decided not to finalize that proposal earlier this year, consistent with President Biden’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy. Today, the Department of Commerce (DOC) and HHS released a proposed framework for agencies on the exercise of march-in rights that specifies for the first time that price can be a factor in determining that a drug or other taxpayer-funded invention is not accessible to the public. DOC and HHS invite public input on how this framework can promote access to taxpayer-funded inventions, including treatments for patients, while promoting innovation.

Lots more at the link. I’m so glad that they won’t be able to use taxpayer funds to develop stuff to gouge us.

More student debt forgiven White House Briefing Room

This brings total approved debt cancellation by the Biden-Harris Administration to $132 billion for over 3.6 million Americans Today my Administration is approving another $4.8 billion in student debt cancellation for 80,300 people. This relief is thanks to my Administration’s efforts to fix Public Service Loan Forgiveness, so teachers, members of the military, nurses, and other public service workers get the relief they have earned. And it’s because of actions my Administration took to make sure that borrowers who have been in repayment for at least 20 years – but didn’t accurately get credit for student loan payments – get the relief they are entitled to. This brings the total debt cancellation my Administration has approved to $132 billion for over 3.6 million Americans through various actions.

💜 Unity? 💜

Nearly 120 nations agree to triple renewable output by 2030 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch

At the COP28 climate conference on Saturday, nearly 120 nations pledged to triple the output of renewable energy on the planet by 2030. In Dubai, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, along with 118 countries and COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber, launched the Global Pledge on Renewables and Energy Efficiency at the World Climate Action Summit, a press release from the European Commission said. “With this Global Pledge, we have built a broad and strong coalition of countries committed to the clean energy transition – big and small, north and south, heavy emitters, developing nations, and small island states,” von der Leyen said in the press release. “We are united by our common belief that to respect the 1.5°C goal in the Paris Agreement, we need to phase out fossil fuels. We do that by fast-tracking the clean energy transition, by tripling renewables and doubling energy efficiency. In the next two years, we will invest 2.3 billion euros from the EU budget to support the energy transition in our neighbourhood and around the globe.”

📥 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 😈

Wisconsin fake electors admit Biden won 2020 election Patrick Marley Washington Post

MADISON, Wis. — In a legal settlement Wednesday, the 10 Republicans who signed official-looking paperwork falsely purporting Donald Trump won Wisconsin in 2020 have agreed to withdraw their inaccurate filings, acknowledge Joe Biden won the presidency, and not serve as presidential electors in 2024 or in any election where Trump is on the ballot. ✂️ The Biden electors are continuing their lawsuit against two attorneys who assisted the Wisconsin Republicans — Jim Troupis, a former Dane County judge who led Trump’s recount efforts in the state, and Kenneth Chesebro, who advised Republicans around the country and pleaded guilty in October to conspiring to overturn Biden’s win in Georgia.

Yes, just a civil lawsuit.

But in Nevada the fake electors were just indicted:

x Today, Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford announced that six Nevadans have been indicted due to their actions in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. pic.twitter.com/YulYdCWhFu — NV Attorney General (@NevadaAG) December 6, 2023

An R rep introduces legislation to strip pension benefits from ousted members Nicole Lafond Talking Points Memo

Today (Wednesday) we learned that expelled-Rep. George Santos (R-NY) is using the website Cameo to sell videos for cash now that he no longer has a congressional salary and has been accused of, among many other things, misappropriating campaign funds to bankroll his expensive taste. Inspired by Santos’ shamelessness, it appears a former colleague in the House may be taking legislative action to cut off some financial benefits for expelled members in the future. Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA), one of 100-plus Republicans who voted to expel Santos from Congress last week, introduced the Congressional Pension Accountability Act on Monday, which would block lawmakers who are expelled from Congress from accessing a congressional pension. While Santos is not entitled to a pension because a member, typically, must serve five or more years to be eligible, Nunn said it was necessary to have a “road map” for the future.

Still sentencing creeps!

x Ex-police chief who brought hatchet to Capitol on Jan. 6, sentenced to 11+ years in prison....... after unfurling series of conspiracy theories and invoking the words of Vivek Ramaswamy at sentencing today



Just filed to @CBSNews ======> https://t.co/QoMqfhcWza — Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) December 7, 2023

The West may be sick of putin’s war in Ukraine. But the Russians are even more sick of it. Julia Davis The Daily Beast

In recent months, Sergey Mardan, one of the hosts on Vladimir Solovyov’s channel, Solovyov Live, started to wonder out loud why his boss’s relentless coverage of the war and its “heroes” isn’t gaining traction on social media or being picked up by other state TV channels. Solovyov himself noticed the waning public attention and mentioned it last week on his morning show, The Full Contact. He complained that “people are psychologically tired of this topic” and asked his viewers to let him know what they’re actually interested in. Tired or not, any dreams of a potential reprieve were extinguished when Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree boosting Russia’s troop numbers by 15 percent or some 170,000 people. This will bring the overall number of Russian military personnel to about 2.2 million, including 1.32 million troops. The Russian Defense Ministry blamed NATO for the required increase and claimed that it would be achieved solely through the recruitment of volunteers and not through conscription or mobilization. The wives of those who were mobilized in the beginning of the invasion have recently started to express their outrage—not with the evils of a genocidal war against the neighboring nation, but with the fact that their husbands are yet to be relieved through rotation. The women authored a petition and disseminated stickers that said, “Bring my husband back. I’m fucking tired of this.” This movement is currently being strangled, with participating military wives being taken in for questioning and threatened with being potentially charged for “discrediting the army.” Putin’s decree wasn’t meant to address these complaints but merely to fill the gaps created by Russia’s massive casualties, while the true extent of the losses remains taboo within the country. During his Saturday show on Solovyov Live, Mardan did his best to dispel the notion that the new infusion of manpower was meant to replenish the 300,000 dead—a number he also denied.

📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️️

Usually we just consider US politics, because the world is a large place and we can’t look at everything. But for once, let’s take a wider view. This week we’re honoring Reporters without borders, or reporters sans frontières (like the doctors, or rather, the médecins).

As disinformation about the war between Israel and Hamas spreads like wildfire and millions of social media accounts continue to relay Russian propaganda, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is unveiling its new campaign video. Devised and produced by the Paris-based advertising agency BETC, this powerful video quickly demonstrates journalism’s importance in combatting disinformation.

One thing they do is rank freedom of the press by country. In case you’re wondering, Norway is #1, the United States is #45, and, at the bottom, #180, is North Korea.

And — hey, we’re honoring Taylor Swift today! — here she is talking about how horrible Marsha Blackburn is. Sorry for the Xweet. But she’s choosing to speak truth, despite her team and family.

x When Taylor Swift decided to take on extreme right TN Sen Marsha Blackburn even though her team/family thought it would cost her fans. pic.twitter.com/S248fEByph — Warren (@swd2) December 6, 2023

🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️

88-year-old woman has been protecting ocean “hope spots” for decades Michaela Haas Reasons to Be Cheerful

Despite celebrating her 88th birthday last August, Sylvia Earle seems to whirl around the globe faster than a hurricane gathering strength. She still travels about 300 days of the year and just returned from the Cayman Islands, Brazil, Mozambique, Mexico, Antarctica and Europe. “I feel like an octopus with all arms fully engaged,” she says about her workload. “If a child is about to fall off a 10-story building and you are in a position to catch it, you’ll do everything in your power to be positioned just so you can save it. You don’t look away and have a cup of tea in the meantime.” Earle’s sense of urgency is due to her unique position in history. The first woman to dive with scuba gear in the early 1950s, the first person to walk on the ocean floor 1250 feet under the surface in 1979, the first female chief scientist of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 1990, she has explored the oceans deeper and longer than any other woman on the planet. This gave her a front-row seat to the changes occurring below the surface, long before women were welcomed in marine sciences. Now, when she returns to spots that once brimmed with fish and vibrant corals, she often only finds a gray underwater desert. While about 12 percent of the land around the world is under some form of protection, less than three percent of the ocean is protected. “Which means 97 percent are open for exploitation,” she says. “We have lost about 90 percent of sharks, tuna, and other fish, and 50 percent of coral.” “Her Deepness,” as the world’s most renowned marine scientist is lovingly called by friends and fans, has been working to change that. In 2009, she started the nonprofit Mission Blue with 19 Hope Spots, defined as “areas critical to ocean health in that they have a significant amount of biodiversity.”

Now we’re up to 158 hope spots. Well done, Her Deepness!

📎 Odds & Ends 📎

Adjusting temperature could save food and energy Cristen Hemingway Jaynes EcoWatch

According to a new report, an adjustment of three degrees Celsius to the standard temperature of frozen foods could lead to a yearly reduction in carbon emissions equal to taking 3.8 million automobiles off the road, while still maintaining food product safety, a press release from Cranfield University, which contributed to the research, said. Academia and industry are calling for modification of the current standard temperature, which dates from the 1930s. “Food saved is as important as food produced,” the report said. “12% of global food production is lost annually due to the lack of cold-chains. If saved, this is enough to feed one billion people a year.” The report, Three Degrees of Change, by an international team of researchers proposes raising the frozen foods standard temperature from minus-18 degrees Celsius to minus-15 degrees Celsius.

World Bank pledges climate financing Cristen Hemingway Jaynes EcoWatch

President of the World Bank Ajay Banga has announced that the international development lender will devote 45 percent of its yearly financing budget to climate-related causes for the fiscal year July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, a press release from the World Bank said. The financial institution added that, in the event of climate disasters, it would extend debt repayment pauses. “We’re putting our ambition in overdrive and putting to work more than $40 billion per year – around $9 billion more than the original target,” Banga said, as Reuters reported.

The litter-picking world cup! EuroNews with Reuters

Britain won the inaugural litter picking World Cup in Tokyo on Wednesday. Participants from 21 countries, such as Japan, the United States, Australia and France, gathered in the Japanese capital to compete for the title by picking up the most litter within 90 minutes. The aim of the ‘Spogomi World Cup’ is to raise awareness on environmental protection, and in particular reducing plastic waste flowing into the ocean.

What a brilliant idea!

🐦 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

🌹 🌹 🌹

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