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Nifty is p*ssed off and so is CG - July 2 GNR [1]

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Date: 2024-07-02  

Good Day, Gnuville. I’m so p*ssed off with the state of everything right now. How about you? I don’t even know if I can find the right words for this GNR intro, but I’ll try.

I had a theme prepared for today — not what you might expect from ol’ Nifty, either! Neither a pep talk nor a gentle chastisement nor anything like that. Instead, I had planned to say, Yeah there was a general freakout over the “debate”, yes people had big feelings and you know what? We are all human and our fears get the better of us from time to time. People are finally calming down, thank dog and I, for one, am moving on! Thank you, next! And then I was going to present a bunch of good news.

I almost got away with it, too! If it wasn’t for those darn ki— Supreme Court justices!

Because, just as people were regaining their bearings after the general freakout over that *whatever it was* last Thursday night, a whole new freakout has commenced around yesterday’s SCOTUS opinion on presidential immunity.

The radical right wing majority on the SCOTUS — handpicked to do exactly this, remember — has concluded the term by concentrating almost unlimited power into the hands of the President (Barr’s and Federalist Society’s beloved “unitary executive” otherwise known as dictatorship), while also grabbing some power for themselves. It’s horrendous, but it’s what we knew they would do.

And now all those hair-trigger freaker-outers are freaking out again. Understandably, mind you, because these conservative hardliners are doing scary things to our country and everyone is anxious and worried — but dang, can we slow the freakout roll a little bit?

Really, SCOTUS?

We’ve got a country to save! Can these people just stop freaking out for once and just get steely-eyed and determined to beat the extremists?

I am p*ssed off! 😡 I’m pretty sure CG is p*ssed, too. She was totally giving the news the side eye.

Gnusies, trying to cope with this constant freaking out is exhausting! Are you feeling that way, too? It’s bad enough that we have to defeat the fascist Republicans, but it’s bloody awful to arm wrestle with our own side, too! Dang! 🤬

How about if we here in Gnuville decide not to be blown about by all that hot air? We cannot control other people — least of all people who cannot help themselves nor control their anxiety and panic. We all understand what that is like (even if we are not melting down constantly, there’s not one of us who hasn’t lost it at least once in our lives) and we all know that when someone (or a dozen someones) is in the grip of that sort of panic, there’s no reaching them.

So, how about if we don’t try? How about if we just put our heads down and keep doing the work? We can understand that people freak out — there’s plenty bad going down, it’s natural to feel worried — but we don’t have to waste energy participating in it! In fact, I think it is vital that we refrain from giving oxygen to anyone’s freakout. Wait 12 hours for things to settle a bit after upsetting news. Avoid media to dial down the anxiety. The initial intensity of emotions will ease, allowing us to think a bit more clearly and feel a bit calmer.

And then, let’s just keep doing the work.

The threat to our freedom and democracy will be there whether we freak out or fight it, but fighting it will at least give us a chance to defeat the threat.

I am not saying this will be easy to do. We are all human and we are all trying to cope with a huge onslaught of psychological stress. Many of us have been struggling already with PTSD since 2016 so the veneer of calm for some of us is reeeeeeally thin. I get it. I’ve been there, too. I discovered that the remedy — as above — is to do something.

And gnusflash, my friends. It’s likely to get worse/scarier/darker before it gets better. I don’t like saying that in a GNR, but we have to acknowledge the enemy to effectively fight it and to be able to anticipate these setbacks. By the same token, obsessing over how evil they are could render us paralyzed with fear. We don’t need to be told in 20 different diaries how this is the end, doom and gloom etc. We KNOW the danger. What we need is to gather our courage and press onward to a big win in November.

We are in a real fight for liberal democracy and the fascist forces arrayed against us are desperate. They know that they are a minority. They know that they are losing their grip — that is why they are rushing to consolidate power now by hook or by crook. They know that if they competed fairly, they would lose for good and their benighted ideology would be kicked into the garbage bin of history where it belongs. This is their extinction burst. They are going to fight tooth and nail. They will fight dirty, they will try to incite violence, they will welcome help from enemies of the USA.

If conservatives become convinced that they can not win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. The will reject democracy. The main benefit of controlling a modern bureaucratic state is not the power to persecute the innocent. It is the power to protect the guilty. (David Frum — GWBush advisor/speechwriter)

So, now we know. Let’s not keep expecting ethics and decency from people who have shown they have none. There is no scenario where Republicans and radical right wing extremists come to their senses and act reasonably within the boundaries of civil democratic discourse.

Let’s not stay stuck focused on conservative extremists and their nefarious deeds, let’s focus on what we need to do to get them out of power.

So gird your loins. Don’t react to people on our side who are freaking out. We have to remember the goal and not allow this entirely predictable sh*tshow to keep throwing us off stride.

His enemies will try to define him by his worst hour. But why not learn from their example? If tens of millions of Americans can pretend Donald Trump is Jesus, Lord and Savior, then I can act like Joe Biden has the most vital constitution in America. If 34 felony convictions didn’t make support for Trump flicker — it got stronger — then Biden having a terrible night on live TV can be treated with shock, a dropped jaw, a horrified day after and then a return to the fight. The stakes are too high to do otherwise. The election isn’t about Biden, the man, but what he represents — decency, honesty, compassion, democracy. The odds don’t look good right now. That’s OK. Even if it’s a lost battle, that doesn’t mean you stop fighting. Biden is faltering, but what he represents remains strong, Neil Steinberg, Chicago Sun✶Times, June 30, 2024.

Darn it. He’s right.

I am p*ssed. I am tired and fed up and I don’t want to be fighting this battle anymore. I bet some of you are feeling the same way.

But darn it, he’s right. This is the battle of our lifetime, and I will be damned if I let fascism win without even putting up a fight!

So, get back to it, Nifty. Get back to it, CG. Get back to it, Gnusies! I know we can do this together! I thank my lucky stars for all of you. 💙

P*ssed Nifty is switching it up today. Let’s start with our To-Do list:

Because nothing helps calm down jitters and nerves like doing something. Doing something useful and helpful and directed toward positive change is the remedy for freakoutitis. I recommend we all take a double dose of doing something every day for the next few months. Then when people around us start in with the freaking out AGAIN, we will keep on doing what needs to be done and hopefully avoid the worst of the emotional roller coaster personally, while helping to actually save the country.

💗 How Can You Help Build Our Democracy Back Better? 💗

Simon Rosenberg: As Lawrence mentions, we know about 30% of those likely to vote this fall watched or streamed the debate on Thursday night. The historically small audience that checked in was likely very hard partisans on both sides, particularly given that CNN allowed Fox to run a simulcast of the debate on its network, giving Trump supporters a safer way to watch. That so few undecided or persuadable voters checked into the debate could explain why a new 538/Ipsos poll taken yesterday, entirely after the debate, found almost no movement (and well within margin of error) from a previous poll of the very same people. Note Biden leads here today by 3.2 pts, 47%-44%. Other early data suggests the debate did not hurt Biden. A new Morning Consult poll - a credible, independent pollster - taken entirely after the debate has Biden leading 45-44, which is a 1 point gain for Biden since their last poll earlier this week. A CNN focus group done on Thursday night of 15 undecided voters in Macomb County, Michigan found them splitting 7 for Biden, 7 for Trump and 1 remained undecided. Biden is at 271 Electoral College votes in the 538 forecast today, and slightly more favored to win.

P*ssed Nifty on SCOTUS

When we win the election in November, may we have such a landslide that we gain healthy majorities in both chambers of Congress. And then I expect that SCOTUS reform must be the top priority because that body has gone rogue, and has set itself up as an unelected ultimate ruler of all of us.

To that I say: No. Absolutely not. I will not sit idly by and allow those religious extremists to force me or those I love back into the dark ages.

If you’re worried, put your head down and work like heck to get Democrats elected in every place you can, so that we can get that unelected panel of radical right wing extremists back under the peoples’ control — and not the other way around.

President Biden has our back

'History-making': Biden praised for 'decisive' and fiery speech aimed at Supreme Court, Matthew Chapman, Raw Story, July 1, 2024.

President Joe Biden delivered a short, sharp, and forceful speech Monday evening, tearing into the Supreme Court's decision to grant immunity to presidents on official acts — a decision that cleared the way for former President Donald Trump to continue delaying his election conspiracy case, and placed new restrictions on how special counsel Jack Smith can charge him and use evidence.✂️ CNN commentator Van Jones appeared impressed by the speech. "Well, if he was weak and uncertain last week, he's the opposite this week," said Jones. "That was strong, that was clear, that was decisive. And was history-making in its own way, it is very unusual for a president to be that direct — 'I dissent' in the face of a Supreme Court decision — but I think he's pointing to a fear and an alarm that exists in this country right now because it does look like the Supreme Court just handed a license for lawlessness to whoever happens to be in the Oval Office." "I think that Joe Biden that we just saw, talking about character, talking about judgment, talking about American tradition, talking about George Washington, is the Joe Biden that deserves to win," he added.

Hold off on the immunity panic for a sec

'This is not a Trump victory': Eric Swalwell says Jack Smith can skirt immunity ruling, David Edwards, Raw Story, July 1, 2024. "Don't panic on Trump immunity case," Swalwell wrote on X. "Jack Smith will argue Trump's actions were not 'official acts.' There's precedent on this from a J6 civil case *that I know a thing or two about* that was unanimously upheld by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals." "This is not a Trump victory," he observed. Swalwell acknowledged that the case would not go to trial before the November election. "But Smith can articulate for the Court what the official acts are and then proceed," he explained. "Of course, Trump can take that back up to SCOTUS. *Civil side cases have rejected that what he did was an official act." And that cr*ptastic ruling last week isn’t a slam-dunk for TFG either:

"Narrow ruling": Legal scholar says Supreme Court Jan. 6 decision won't save Trump, Marina Villeneuve, Salon, June 28, 2024.

Under the court's ruling, prosecutors could still bring the charges against Fischer as well as Trump— if they prove the conduct involved "attempts to impair the availability or integrity of evidence," UNC School of Law professor Carissa Byrne Hessick told Salon.✂️ Specifically, the law prohibits corruptly "alters, destroys, mutilates or conceals a record, document, or other object, or attempts to do so, with the intent to impair the object's integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding."✂️ "That official proceeding plainly used certain records, documents, or objects—including, among others, those relating to the electoral votes themselves," Jackson wrote in her concurrence. "And it might well be that Fischer’s conduct, as alleged here, involved the impairment (or the attempted impairment) of the availability or integrity of things used during the January 6 proceeding in ways other than those specified" in the federal law. She concluded: "If so, then Fischer’s prosecution under §1512(c)(2) can, and should, proceed. That issue remains available for the lower courts to determine on remand." And DOJ data suggests the court's ruling could be limited: an analysis by JustSecurity found the obstruction charge "materially affects at most only 5.9% of all Jan. 6th cases. Hessick said it's the latest example of the Supreme Court issuing narrow interpretations of federal criminal laws — a trend she said predates the Trump appointees.

🎶 Music for all of us fighting fascism 🎶

🌏 🌱 Good Earth News 🌱 🌎

Two Meteor Showers Peak in the Same Region of the Sky on the Same Night This Month, Andy Corbley, Good News Network, July 1, 2024.

Meteors are cool! In a fairly rare cosmic occurrence this month, two annual meteor showers will appear to ‘peak’ at the same time on the night of July 30th. Both will appear in the southern sky, and though they will radiate out from different constellations, it will be difficult to tell which shooting stars belong to which constellation. At its zenith, some writers are suggesting you should be able to see 25 shooting stars per hour under a clear sky. To see them, look to the southeast region of the sky toward the constellation Aquarius.✂️ On the same night, the α-Capricornid shower will also peak, and as just mentioned, Aquarius and Capricornus sit beside each other. The Capricornids should produce an additional 5 per hour for a total viewing pleasure of around 1 every two minutes—perhaps just enough to keep the attention of a young child. The best viewing will come from either the Southern Hemisphere, or the southerly latitudes of the of the Northern Hemisphere.

Recovery of Pacific Bluefin Tuna Achieves Major Goals–A Decade Ahead of Schedule, Andy Corbley, Good News Network, July 1, 2024.

The NOAA reports that overfishing in the late 1990s and 2000s reduced the estimated bluefin biomass to a historic low of 2% of its potential unfished level in 2009–2012.✂️ At first the goal was to rebuild to at least 20% of the spawning stock biomass by 2034. In 2016, the NOAA Fisheries bureau received a petition to put the bluefin tuna on the Endangered Species List because of this collapse, but opted not to, reasoning that the 1.6 million fish were enough to prevent extinction. This allowed fishing of the Ferrari of Tuna to continue, and during a recent population assessment, it was found that the 2034 target of spawning stock biomass had already been reached and exceeded. The number of spawning bluefin reached 23.2% of the potential unfished spawning stock.✂️ “The recovery of Pacific bluefin tuna shows what we can achieve when scientists, managers, and the fishing industry work together in the international arena in pursuit of a common objective,” said Ryan Wulff, Assistant Regional Administrator for the NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region. “We’ll continue this effort to ensure the sustainable harvest of bluefin for decades to come.”

Fisheries Canada cautiously reinstates the northern cod harvest

This is a story near to my heart. The collapse of the north Atlantic cod stocks was a catastrophe for Newfoundland. In the decade after the moratorium was declared, the province lost 10% of its population — mostly its youth — because of the devastating impact on the economy and on job prospects. The cod stocks have not fully recovered yet, but hopefully with a greatly reduced commercial fishery there will be a way to sustain a harvest for fishers AND allow the stocks to continue to recover and grow.

Canada ends cod moratorium in Newfoundland after more than 30 years, AP, June 26, 2024.

ST. JOHN’S, Newfoundland (AP) — The Canadian government has ended the Newfoundland and Labrador cod moratorium, which gutted the Atlantic coast province’s economy and transformed its small communities more than 30 years ago. The Fisheries Department announced Wednesday it would reestablish a commercial cod fishery in the province, with a total allowable catch of 18,000 tons for the 2024 season. “Ending the northern cod moratorium is a historic milestone for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians,” said federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier in a news release. “We will cautiously but optimistically build back this fishery with the prime beneficiaries being coastal and Indigenous communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.”✂️ Last year, Fisheries Department scientists announced they had used new modelling showing the cod stock was out of the “critical zone” for the first time in decades. When a species is in the critical zone, scientists recommend it be left alone as much as possible and that catch limits remain small. Now the stock is in the “cautious zone,” which means fisheries decisions should still prioritize regrowth. The total catch of 18,000 tons for the 2024 season is just a fraction of what it was — 120,000 tons, according to a government website — in February 1992, just months before the moratorium.

🎶 Music for Recovering Fish Stocks 🎶

🐩 💙 CG’s Picks 💙 🐩

So. Mama and me are really mad. A bunch of bad things have been happening in the news and they have been happening one on top of the next thing in a sort of gish glop of badness. I don’t like glop and a gishy one sounds even worse!

Mama says it might be a stinky outburst or something like that and I must say that sounds kind of yucky. I think that means it’s the death throes of a really stinky creature that has been terrorizing people for far too long. I mean — sure, it definitely deserves to go! But the process sounds like no fun at all for anybody.

Anyway, this means that I must do what me and Mama always try to do when we get really mad because of glops of bad gish happening all around us. I must get to work bringing you some good news stories about animals, so I can remind you (and myself!) that even as the glop thing is stinking up the place with it’s rotten, gishy bad actions, there is still and always were good things happening because of good people doing the work.

🐦 Piping Plover chicks at Montrose Beach!

First of all, the top news story I have for you….da da da DAAAAAAA!!!! Imani and SeaRocket’s chicks have hatched! A full clutch of 4 chicks!!!

For people who didn’t see my earlier stories about Imani (and SeaRocket) or about Monty and Rose (Imani’s parents), this is a very important thing that is happening. Imani was one of the last hatchlings at Montrose — Monty and Rose’s last clutch — and Monty and Rose were the first pair of nesting piping plovers in the Chicago region since 1955! That’s since before Mama was even born!

This isn’t one of our Illinois plovers, but I really like the picture. This little fellow is by Lake Huron!

People worked hard to provide a safe place for Monty and Rose and they were able to successfully raise several clutches of chicks before they died in 2022. Since then, we have all been anxiously watching Imani’s progress and we hoped so hard the past two summers that he would find a mate. And at last, he has found a mate! It’s SeaRocket!

SeaRocket was hatched in Michigan I believe, but her parents disappeared and so she and her siblings were raised by humans and then when they were big enough, three of them were released on Montrose Beach in hopes that they would consider it home and maybe come back here to mate in future. SeaRocket was spotted leaving for her migration south at the end of last summer dragging a fishing line that was tangled around her foot and everyone was aghast and worried that she would perish over the winter. 😱

But lo and behold! SeaRocket turned up at Montrose this springtime! Somehow she got rid of the fishing line and her foot is fine. 🙏🏼 She must be a very clever and resourceful plover! Anyway, she and Imani became mates and now they have four chicks! (The article also mentions that another nesting pair are being protected in Waukegan, and they have hatched 3 chicks! That is 2 nesting pairs in Illinois after decades of none at all.)

What a story! We are all so happy here in Chicago! 🥰

4 piping plover chicks hatch at Montrose Beach, Sun-Times wire, July 1, 2024.

Three of the chicks hatched Sunday at the Montrose Beach days after another trio of plovers hatched in Waukegan. A fourth chick hatched Monday morning. “It’s something we’ve been waiting for for the last couple of years,” said Matt Igleski, executive director with the Chicago Bird Alliance. “I think it’s a really good, hopeful step forward for piping plovers in the Great Lakes region.”✂️ “Having not only one but two pairs of plovers with young right now in Illinois is very significant,” Igleski said.✂️ Imani was hatched at Montrose Beach in 2021, an offspring of the piping plovers Monty and Rose. Searocket, a captive-reared chick, was released at Montrose Beach in July 2023. Piping plovers had disappeared from Illinois beaches around 1955, and the first chicks since then hatched in 2019 at Montrose Beach. The bird species is still considered endangered in the Great Lakes region.

🐈 Cats Do like you — but you knew that!

Tut! I cannot believe that anyone needed to do a research to find out that cats like their humans. Come on! Even I know that and I am a dog! My cat friends are the best!

A Feline Scientist Explains Why Your Cat Might Actually Like You, Emily Anthes, New York Times, June 27, 2024.

I like black cats. But even as canine cognitive science flourished, few researchers bothered to probe the social skills of cats. After all, dogs were descended from the social gray wolf and had been intentionally engineered to perform specific roles alongside humans. Cats, on the other hand, were descended from the solitary African wildcat and had not been under the same selective pressure from people. They were viewed as antisocial and also, for good measure, uncooperative, making them unappealing research subjects. ✂️ Cats have to experience socialization with humans within a key time period of their lives in order for healthy social behavior toward people to develop. So if you have a cat that has never encountered a person before, especially early on as a kitten, they’re going to grow up fearing humans, because they never learned that humans were something that could be a source of good things. When given the right experiences, we do see that companion cats can definitely form bonds with their owners, these bonds can be strong, and they can be stable over time.

🐴 Horses and therapy

Here’s a really nice video about how a group in Texas is employing horses to help people recover from injuries or mental health challenges especially PTSD. I think this is really a good idea. Horses are a bit different from the animals most people are used to and so maybe they help people forge new pathways in their brains to work on their challenges.

🐭 A mouse in the house!

This video is very surprising. I thought mice were nuisances, but it turns out that sometimes they can be very helpful! Look at this little fellow go!

🐦 Another white animal spotted!

Remember a few weeks ago I fetched you the story about the white bison calf? Well, now here is a story about a white (or kind of grey and white) loon!

Photographer captures rare white loon in Canada, Jeff Wagner, CBS, June 20, 2024.

"If you go out looking for something in my experience, you're not going to find it. It's kind of the surprise," he said. That's precisely what happened on a spring morning. Whitty did his typical weekend trip to a lake. "I'm like, 'oh there's a couple loons' and then I'm like, 'oh my god it's the white one'," he said.✂️ Dale Gentry, the director of conservation for Audubon Upper Mississippi River, said it's shocking to see a loon with such a color. "I've never seen one in person, and I've only seen pictures on the internet," said Gentry. "Albinism and a leucistic bird, they have some sort of genetic change that influences the genes that code for a pigment in their feathers called melanin." When an animal is albino it cannot produce melanin, which gives an animal its color. Therefore, it's white. Leucism is when an animal lacks some melanin, making it partially white or gray. "It's much more common for birds to have little patches of white feathers," said Gentry. "But for the entire bird to be in sort of leucistic plumage is less common." x YouTube Video

That’s all for today. Bye for now! Luv, CG 💙 🐾

⚡️ Lightning RoundUp ⚡️

⚡️ Four things to remember about post-debate polls, Philip Bump, Washington Post, July 1, 2024.

⚡️ Pundits are calling for Biden to drop out. They've got the wrong guy, Mark Sumner, Daily Kos, July 1, 2024.

⚡️ The New York Times wants Biden gone — but they seem OK with a convicted felon, Brian Karem, Salon, June 29, 2024.

⚡️We Are Fighting for Democracy, Freedom And Our Future - And Cannot Let Up, Simon Rosenberg, Hopium Chronicles, July 1, 2024.

⚡️ I Have NEVER Been More Determined to Fight Back. NEVER. Yosef 52, Daily Kos, July 1. 2024.

⚡️ A superb overview of the world situation that ends on a well-founded hopeful note: The World Is Realigning, Jonathan Rauch, the Atlantic (gift link), July 1, 2024.

⚡️ A Captive and Corrupted Court, Robert Kuttner, The American Prospect, July 1, 2024.

⚡️ Federalism for Dummies: How to survive Supreme Court stupidity without losing your mind, Sabrina Haake, Raw Story, June 30, 2024.

⚡️ How dangerous is it really to have a baby in America? Anna North, Vox, July 1, 2024.

⚡️ You’re a liberal and you don’t even know it, Zack Beauchamp, Vox, July 1, 2024.

💙 RoundUp WindDown 💙

Well, that’s it from me and CG for another Tuesday.

Keep doing as much as you can to protect your mental and physical health. These are trying times and the pressure is likely to increase over the next five months. Be prepared. We will need to pace ourselves.

Get some rest. Eat nutritious food. Get outdoors every day if you are able. Now more than ever, we all need to protect ourselves and each other.

Stay hopeful: We can win this fight.

Wishing everyone a Happy Independence Day on Thursday!

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