Good Day, Good Newsies! It’s another TACO Tuesday because EVERY day is TACO day in the U S of A!
Are you as sick as I am of hearing nothing but *rump every single minute of every single day? The sickness has oozed beyond our borders, beyond our (former) allies’ borders, and now the whole world seems to have been drenched in the stench of 24/7 obsession with that wretched man.
I’m so effing sick and tired of the *rump show. So bloody DONE with having that despicable whiny cowardly faker sucking up all the oxygen in the room. I know most of you are, too.
Sooooo sick and tired of TACOman!
We know we are stuck with it for a while, though, and the fact that so many of our fellow citizens voted for this and are happy about it does not help one bit. But that is the hard, cold reality with which we must come to terms. The dark, ugly side of human nature is laid bare and we have to face it. Not to let it defeat us, but to face the truth squarely.
There is a real seam of cruelty and hatred running through our citizenry. They weren’t fooled, they weren’t tricked into voting for a convicted felon who had shown in every possible way that he is morally bankrupt, a vicious sociopath, grossly demented with a severe personality disorder and openly out for bloody revenge. They wanted that.
Our challenge now is to find the humanity in those people who were (and still are) thrilled by the actions of this madministration. We can recognize a faint echo of it in our own desire to see Democrats break rules and flout the law in order to punish them and their benighted leadership. Turn it around and realize that the other side sees US as just as awful as we see them. They’re wrong, of course, but it is how they see us. Hopefully, that will help us tame some of the impulse to employ authoritarian methods against MAGA, and help us find the patience to stick with the long hard work of figuring out how to save this country.
We need to figure out a way, too, to help the other third of the country who have given up on voting altogether and/or checked out completely to feel that it is worth it to make the effort to vote.
We need everyone engaged in order to save the country.
That’s job 1.
After that, maybe we can think about how (or even if) to live with our MAGA neighbors again. I’ll be honest. I don’t know if I can. Maybe you feel like that, maybe you don’t. Maybe it won’t matter. If we get enough people together to save the country without them, maybe MAGA can go do whatever they want and leave the rest of us alone. I don’t know how things will turn out in that area, but I know what is Job 1 and I know that without saving the country, none of the rest will matter.
So. Let’s read some good news and prepare for another day. We’ve got a country to save!
🎶 Music for all of us 🎶
🌏 🇺🇸 News from around the USA and the world 🇺🇸 🌍
colorado
A natural carbon capturer? These researchers think the sludge in your home may help save the planet, Ari Daniel, NPR, June 2, 2025.
(I’m including more than I usually do in the quotes, because this is NPR and they WANT people to share their stories! But please do go to the site to read and support public broadcasting).
There are places where the Earth's inner rumblings burble to the surface — like Iron Spring, located just outside the bustling town of Manitou Springs in central Colorado.
Every few seconds, a burst of water surges out of a narrow pipe, splashing into a concrete basin that's partly dyed a bright orange.
This is just a random picture from Yellowstone, but it also has orangey water so...
"Whenever I see that color, I look very carefully because sometimes it's not chemistry that's forming that rust. It's biology — an entire world of unexplored and undiscovered microbes", says James Henriksen, an environmental microbiologist at Colorado State University.✂️
And Tierney thought, "Wow, I'll bet there are microbes there that are really good at consuming CO2." So he and a small team joined up with the Sicilian scientists to return to the bay to sample the water for microbes.
"We ended up almost immediately finding a microorganism that was remarkably efficient at consuming carbon dioxide," he says. They affectionately call it Chonkus.
"To put it very simply, it grows fast and it sinks," says Tierney. And that means that Chonkus absorbs more carbon dioxide and then drops to the bottom where it can be collected and disposed of easily. This made it an ideal candidate for scaling up to, perhaps, one day, suck down large amounts of planet-warming CO2 from the air.✂️
So he and Henriksen co-founded a non-profit called The Two Frontiers Project to search for microorganisms that might pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to help mitigate climate change, grow crops in hostile environments, help dying corals mount a comeback, capture rare earth metals for human use and clean up hazardous waste sites.
Their mission is straightforward. "We travel to sites all around the world where there is microbial life," says Tierney.
Illinois
Sorry, TACOman, Chicago has better things to do on June 14. Chicago’s Rate field /White Sox stadium (capacity 40k) event celebrating Pope Leo XIV sold out within a few hours:
Chicago celebration for Pope Leo sold out, Ethan Illers and Angelica Sanchez, WGN, May 30, 2025.
The Archdiocese of Chicago said 10,000 tickets were sold in the first 15 minutes of going live. They anticipate the Mass will soon be sold out.
The event will feature music, film, in-person testimonials and prayers from choirs and groups across the city, highlighting Chicago’s diversity. A Catholic Mass will then be held after the program.
There will also be a special video message from the pope himself, whose family confirmed is a fan of the Chicago White Sox.
☮️ Something to remember — and I think this is something faithful gnusies might consider taking deep into their hearts, minds and bones — Pope Leo XIV’s orientation is the Gospel (← link to a great podcast with Fr James Martin, SJ), rather than a liberal or conservative ideology. And it so happens that our progressive, liberal, Democratic values also align nicely with that orientation. MAGA values, not so much. (← link to read how Sen. Ernst (R-IA) tried to justify her murderous politics with her MAGA theology).
⚖️ It’s a drop in the bucket for the grifter, but if it helps restore the Chicago river, we’ll take the win. ⬇️
Trump Tower To Pay $4.8M for Environmental Violations, Funds Will Help Restore Chicago River Habitat, Patti Wetli, WTTW (PBS), May 22, 2025.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has announced a $4.8 million settlement with Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago, resolving environmental violations related to the building’s cooling system, which uses water drawn from the Chicago River.✂️
Chicago Riverwalk view from west looking east toward the lake. TACOman’s tower is (mostly) hidden behind our iconic Marina towers, thank goodness.
In September 2024, a judge found Trump Tower in violation of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act. The building had not obtained proper permits to pull in water or to discharge it, nor were the required studies conducted to minimize the impact on aquatic wildlife.
In his ruling, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Thaddeus Wilson also faulted Trump Tower for committing a continuing “public nuisance” by failing to comply with state and federal law dating back to 2008, including underreporting its discharges for more than a decade.
Raoul had filed suit against the building in 2018 and was joined by Friends of the Chicago River and the Illinois chapter of the Sierra Club as plaintiff-intervenors.✂️
In addition to the $4.8 million — the majority of which will fund habitat restoration on the Chicago River — the settlement also requires Trump Tower to:
— install flow meters to monitor the volume of heated water discharged into the river. A third party will audit the accuracy of the meters and share data monthly.
— make changes to its cooling system to prevent aquatic life from becoming trapped.
louisiana
Louisiana senators trim private education vouchers, expand Medicaid budget, Julie O’Donoghue, Louisiana Illuminator, June 1, 2025.
It’s cool how Louisiana is shaped like an “L”
The Republican-led Louisiana Senate Finance Committee has removed public money meant to expand the use of private education vouchers in spite of the initiative being a priority for fellow Republican Gov. Jeff Landry.
The committee agreed Sunday to cut $50 million from LA GATOR, Landry’s initiative launching in the 2025-26 school year. The reduction will leave $44 million for the program, enough to continue covering private school tuition for 6,000 students who already receive state-funded vouchers.
Landry and the Louisiana House wanted to put an additional $50 million into LA GATOR so the state could give out 5,300 new vouchers next school year, for approximately 11,300 overall.
This next one is a bit of a mixed bag: they want more Medicaid funding, but it’s a request for special treatment from the federal govt — a carveout for a red state that will benefit physicians and hospitals rather than create more services for the people — so it’s not the greatest. But the good news is that Louisiana is accepting Medicaid and trying for more of it. That will put pressure on the Republican congress to keep up Medicaid.
The Republican Senate leadership’s version of the budget also adds hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding to the state Medicaid budget. The money would be used to pay physicians and hospitals a higher reimbursement rate for treating Medicaid patients.
Landry asked the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services earlier this year to allow Louisiana’s medical providers to receive a rate for treating Medicaid patients closer to what private insurers provide. ✂️
Louisiana’s request for more Medicaid funding comes at a time when President Donald Trump and U.S. House Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, are pushing for ways to reduce the nation’s overall spending on Medicaid. But the reimbursement rates are not expected to be affected by changes Congress is considering.
Maine
Maine lawmakers give preliminary approval for student mental health funding, Eesha Pendharkar, Maine Morning Star, May 30, 2025.
As the state continues to grapple with its record of not providing adequate behavioral health support for young people, a proposal to make funds available for schools to hire licensed behavioral and mental health experts has received initial backing from the Maine Legislature.
I hear you, Cat, but mental health is important and that stupid walk WILL actually help keep you healthy!
The Maine House of Representatives passed LD 858 on Wednesday with 79 members voting in favor and 68 opposed. The Senate passed it without a roll call vote. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Lori Gramlich (D-Old Orchard Beach), will go back to both chambers for final enactment votes.
The bill establishes a program within the Maine Department of Education to provide grants to districts that contract licensed professionals for behavioral and mental health services. The funds can only be used to cover those not otherwise covered or reimbursable through MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program.
Proponents of the bill — including educators, administrators and medical professionals — say the grant program is much needed as Maine educators are not adequately trained to manage worsening student behavior issues, according to a 2025 Maine Education Policy Research Institute report.
Critics of the proposal said it infringes on a parent’s rights when their child seeks counseling at school, and raised concern about the limited information about what kind of services would be covered under the grants.
Nifty note: When this is all behind us, I hope to never hear the term “parents’ rights” used to justify laws that harm children, ever again. 😡
Committee backs clean energy credit reform estimated to produce $67M yearly in ratepayer savings, Annemarie Hilton, Maine Morning Star, May 30, 2025.
On Thursday night, the Maine Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee voted along party lines with the majority in favor of an amended version of LD 1777. The bill Democrats advanced to the full Legislature asks the Governor’s Energy Office to develop a successor program for front-of-the-meter net energy billing projects sometime next year. The Public Utilities Commission would need to approve the plan, but only if the benefits to ratepayers outweigh the costs.
Net energy billing is a policy program designed to encourage customers to install or participate in small-scale renewable energy projects like solar panels by offering credits to offset their electricity bills. It was expanded in 2019 so customers can use renewable energy generators located outside of their property but within the same utility service territory, such as a community solar project.✂️
“I hope that it will lead to the survival in a sustainable way and, perhaps, in a more economically just way for this really important set of programs and for the value that it has produced, as it certainly has,” said Rep. Sophie Warren (D-Scarborough), the bill’s sponsor.
Oklahoma
Tulsa’s new Black mayor proposes $100M trust to ‘repair’ impact of 1921 Race Massacre, Sean Murphy, AP, June 1, 2025.
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Tulsa’s new mayor on Sunday proposed a $100 million private trust as part of a reparations plan to give descendants of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacrescholarships and housing help in a city-backed bid to make amends for one of the worst racial attacks in U.S. history.
The plan by Mayor Monroe Nichols, the first Black mayor of Oklahoma’s second-largest city, would not provide direct cash payments to descendants or the last two centenarian survivors of the attack that killed as many as 300 Black people. He made the announcement at the Greenwood Cultural Center, located in the once-thriving district of North Tulsa that was destroyed by a white mob.
Nichols said he does not use the term reparations, which he calls politically charged, characterizing his sweeping plan instead as a “road to repair.”
🎶 Musical Break between USA and World sections 🎶
Papua New Guinea
A hopeful sign of species’ resilience: Some clownfish are shrinking, according to new study. Here's why, Kaity Kline, NPR, June 2, 2025.
Animals are changing their behaviors and bodies in response to man-made climate change.
In recent years, some birds have exhibited larger beaks that help them dispel excess body heat. Animals that migrate when the seasons change have been observed to seek higher latitudes.
Now, scientists have found that the clownfish, the saltwater fish featured in the hit Disney film Finding Nemo, has been observed temporarily shrinking in response to heat stress.✂️
Versteeg said it's not yet clear how the fish are shrinking or why they were significantly more likely to survive the heat wave. But the research team speculates that the fishes literally being smaller – by shrinking their body size – means needing less food, making their metabolism more efficient.
"Something about these shrinking fish was giving them a better opportunity to survive the heat wave compared to the ones that kept growing bigger in size," Versteeg said, adding that the fish grew again when water conditions improved.
Sweden
Tesla Sales Tank in Another Country as Musk Backlash Spirals, Leigh Kimmins, Daily Beast, June 2, 2025.
Sweden has become the latest country to sour on Tesla, with new data revealing a dramatic drop in sales—part of a broader backlash linked to CEO Elon Musk’s increasingly erratic behavior.
According to registration data from Mobility Sweden, a trade association for automakers and importers, Tesla’s sales in the country fell by 53.7 percent in May compared to the same month last year, totaling just 503 vehicles, Reuters reports.✂️
That followed an even steeper collapse in April, when sales plunged 80.7 percent year-over-year to just 81 vehicles—the lowest since October 2022.
Russia
Putin’s Whole Trump Strategy Is in Tatters After Epic Drone Humiliation, Marcel Plichta, Daily Beast, June 2, 2025.
Vladimir Putin might have thought he had succeeded in persuading Donald Trump that the Ukrainians had already lost the war against Russia. But an ingenious sneak attack targeting Putin’s most prized military assets proves otherwise and has dealt a blow to Russia’s nuclear deterrent.✂️
The strike, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said was 18 months in the planning, is a disaster for Russia as it seeks to promote a sense of strength ahead of another round of negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul beginning Monday.
Putin had a lot to brag about in theory: The new U.S. administration is seemingly scared of punishing Russia for its attacks on civilians, his forces are pushing to take more Ukrainian territory, and he has dramatically increased the scale of drone attacks against Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.
Now, the narrative of the conflict has temporarily shifted to Ukraine’s side. Even if an operation as complex as “Spider’s Web” cannot be replicated in the near term, Russia will still need to plan for contingencies and contend with Ukraine’s long-range drones, which routinely target Russian airfields.
Ukraine
Ukraine’s drone attack on Russian warplanes was a serious blow to the Kremlin’s strategic arsenal, AP, June 2, 2025.
Ukraine said over 40 bombers, or about a third of Russia’s strategic bomber fleet, were damaged or destroyed Sunday, although Moscow said only several planes were struck. The conflicting claims couldn’t be independently verified and video of the assault posted on social media showed only a couple of bombers hit.
But the bold attack demonstrated Ukraine’s capability to hit high-value targets anywhere in Russia, dealing a humiliating blow to the Kremlin and inflicting significant losses to Moscow’s war machine.✂️
Russia lost a significant part of its heavy bomber fleet in the attack “with no immediate ability to replace it,” said Douglas Barrie of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, noting that Moscow’s announced plan to develop the next generation strategic bomber is still in its early phase.✂️
The drone strikes produced an outcry from Russian military bloggers, who criticized the Defense Ministry for failing to learn from previous strikes and protect the bombers. Building shelters or hangars for such large planes is a daunting task, and the military has tried some impromptu solutions that were criticized as window dressing.
Satellite images have shown Tu-95s at various air bases covered by layers of old tires – a measure of dubious efficiency that has drawn mockery on social media.
🎶 Music to honor valiant, indomitable Ukraine 🎶
💪🏼 Resistance RoundUp 💪🏼
Hey Everyone! Let’s check out ways you can start one of those ripples of resistance that will cause a high tide in Antarctica — 🤔 — or something like that!
On June 14, No Kings Day, you can join a rally or march.
I almost love those red Japanese Maple leaves more than the ripples!
Other ways to resist:
x
What can one person do to resist authoritarianism? Plenty. Boycott. Troll snitch lines. Worship a noodle god. This is your playbook for disrupting tyranny— because democracy won’t save itself. #Velshi
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— Ali Velshi (@velshi.com) May 31, 2025 at 2:03 PM
👀 MAGA and Project 2025 are losing support from their big backers
They are losing due to their incompetence and competing evil agendas. Every day we see new evidence that their supporters are starting to peel off:
x
A conservative news outlet deliberately shivving the "This is about dangerous gang members" narrative with quotes from Miller that make it transparent this is, in fact, preferentially about the "good ones" indicates that internal institutional support is collapsing, BTW.
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— KANADI-Class NHP (@seed-corn-thoughts.bsky.social) June 2, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Some law enforcement orgs are beginning to suspect that maybe MAGAworld does not have their best interest in mind (🙄):
ICE Barbie’s List of ‘Sanctuary’ Cities Yanked After Furious Backlash, Jana Brancolini, Daily Beast, June 2, 2025.
Kristi Noem’s Department of Homeland Security has taken down a list of dozens of “sanctuary” cities and counties accused of hampering the administration’s mass-deportation efforts after even a pro-Trump law enforcement group denounced the list.✂️
In sanctuary cities, local law enforcement officers don’t routinely collect information about people’s immigration status, though they do turn undocumented people over to federal immigration agents if a federal arrest warrant has been issued, or if the person has been convicted of a serious crime.
Supporters say the policies reduce crime by fostering trust between police and the community.✂️
The published list included cities like Boston, Chicago, New York City, and Denver, whose mayors have defended the policy during congressional hearings, Reuters reported. But it also included a number of jurisdictions that had never adopted a sanctuary policy.
In a statement Saturday, the National Sheriffs’ Association—whose leadership has typically supported Trump—called the list “arbitrary,” while doing its best to distance Trump from his own policy.
x
NEW: The National Sheriffs’ Association(!) puts out a statement saying the Trump admin’s publication, with no feedback first, of a list of Sheriff departments alleged to be sanctuary jurisdictions “violated the core principles of trust, cooperation, and partnership with fellow law enforcement.”
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— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social) May 31, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Business leadership is starting to back away, too:
x
At a recent luncheon at Cipriani in Midtown Manhattan, a top lawyer for Citadel delivered a message to leaders of some of the country’s biggest law firms. Brooke Cucinella told them that the hedge-fund company likes to work with law firms that aren’t afraid of a fight.
www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...
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— Molly Jong-Fast (@mollyjongfast.bsky.social) June 1, 2025 at 8:22 PM
And look, there’s more! ⬇️
I hope our fight for a better country won’t turn out to be as bloody and brutal as the one the French endured in the 18th century. Then again, for most of our people — indigenous people, formerly enslaved people, all women (who have been reduced to reproductive chattel for most of our history) — it has already been brutal for far too long. I am hopeful that we will rise to this occasion and stand up for EVERYONE at long last, and finally move the country forward towards the ideal of the American Dream.
🎶 Music for the Moment 🎶
💙 🐩 CG’s Picks 💙 🐩
Hello Everybody! It’s me, Curlygirl! I had an extra week to look for stories for you because Mama and MCUBernieFan switched days a while back, so get ready! I found lots!
🐕 The DOG section!
🐻 Bears coming from Missouri to Illinois?!?! 😱
Black Bears Looking to Relocate Too? Southern Illinois Has a Furry Visitor, Wildlife Officials Confirm, Patti Wetli, WTTW, May 23, 2025.
Are the bears relocating to southern Illinois?
Black bears, that is.
Here’s a different bear in Illinois in 2023!
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) said it is monitoring a bear that’s been spotted hanging out all week in St. Clair County in the southwestern part of the state, just east of St. Louis.
The bear has had no interaction with humans but has damaged some bee hives on private property, IDNR said.
Although sightings of black bears in Illinois are rare, they’ve been occurring annually in recent years. The bears typically wander over from established populations in Missouri and Wisconsin, usually in the early summer months.
These visitors can be 1-year-olds dispersing from their birth ranges, adult males in search of a mate, or nursing females looking for food to feed cubs.
I asked Mama what will we do if we meet a bear while we are out walking? She doesn’t seem to think it is likely in the city, but I like to be prepared! So we looked it up and our state Department of Natural Resources says: “ “don’t run.” Stand your ground, make yourself as big as possible and slowly back away.”
*gulp*
Let’s move on to something less scary else.
🦜 Here is the BIRD section
I think Rascal might like this little video:
🪿 Two different kinds of geese pair up!
Here’s something cool and interesting. I used to wonder if other animals besides dogs can sometimes pair up with a mate from a different breed. And it turns out that sometimes they do!
An unusual pairing of geese draws a gaggle of Portland-area birders, April Ehrlich, Oregon Public Broadcasting, May 29, 2025.
There are a lot of geese at the Blue Lake Regional Park along the Columbia River in Fairview. So rangers weren’t surprised when they found a nesting Canada goose — large, with a black beak and black and white face — near some picnic benches early in the season.
But there was something strange about the other goose guarding the nest. It was small, grayish brown, with a yellow beak and white face.
“It piqued my interest,” said William McDonald, a park ranger doing his usual walkthrough of the park. “I started paying a little more attention.”
McDonald contacted wildlife specialists at Metro, the regional government agency that manages this park. It turned out the other goose was a greater white-fronted goose, a different species than the nesting Canada goose it was defending.
These are two totally different species of goose. But for some reason, they paired up – and they even produced eggs.✂️
It’s not unusual for animals of different species to produce offspring together — it’s called hybridization. Whether two species can successfully procreate depends on their gender, genes and other biological factors. For example, a male donkey and a female horse can produce a hybrid known as a mule, but it’s less common for a female donkey and a male horse to procreate.
Birders often report potential hybrids on websites like ebird.org, identifying them based on looks and behaviors. Rarely do people get to see the hybrids’ parents.✂️
Weil said it’s normal for geese to have a bad batch of eggs. And there’s still a chance these birds could try again this spring.
“So many people who love the park are keeping an eye out for them,” Weil said. “They’re rooting for them. We have park rangers doing the same.”
Geese typically mate for life. So, regardless of whether they can make a family, this unlikely couple will likely stay by each other’s sides.
🐈⬛ The Cat Section
Leonard the Cat is all right!
Me and Mama love black cats. we would have one live with us if so many people close to us weren’t allergic to cat dander. To tell the truth, those same people might also be allergic to my dander, but since I don’t really shed, they can come visit us without suffering any allergy symptoms as long as they don’t spend all day petting me and then rubbing their eyes. It’s a sacrifice I am willing to make so that Mama and me can see these dear humans as often as possible!
Anyway, back to cats. Apparently Mama had a black cat long ago before she became a mother to human babies (allergic ones among them). She thought he was a he, but he turned out to be a she, but (s)he was already named “Zeke” so that had to stay the same. Mama had mice in her first apartment, which was in an old house by a river (no word on whether she had other unpleasant visitors, but I once saw her shudder as a rat crossed our path on a walk, so I drew my own conclusions).
ANYWAY, Mama liked that black cat Zeke who totally kept the mouse population under control — but without violence. Mama said the mice took one look at the cat, squeeked “EEK! It’s ZEKE!” and skedaddled away to bother some other humans in a different apartment, I guess.
So the point of my story is that Zeke the black cat was one smart, efficient cat and here is a video about another smart black cat!
🐈🐈⬛🐈⬛🐈⬛ LOL!
It’s true! Look closely!
That’s all I have for you for today. I found plenty of good stories, didn’t I? Thanks for reading my section!
Bye for now! Luv, CG 💙🐾
⚡️ Lightning RoundUp ⚡️
⚡️ How to Lead Change Without Burning Out, Gaia Leadership Project, The Ripple Effect Institute.
⚡️ Yesterday, Jessiestaf posted “Stay Sane”; here is the one that went viral before that: Stay Human: 80 Tiny Moves for Everyday Resistance in the Authoritarian Harm Complex, Paul T Shattuck, Progressive Strategy Now, April 12, 2025.
⚡️ Watch for cc’s extra-GNR diaries! They often post on weekday afternoons (ET): Six Ways tRump and the Maga Movement Are Losing, chloris creator, Daily Kos, May 28, 2025.
⚡️ Trump 2.0 falls apart before our eyes, Brian Karem, Salon, May 29, 2025.
⚡️ TRUMP'S ‘BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL’ INVERTS BIBLICAL VALUES, Adam Russell Taylor, Sojourners, May 22, 2025.
⚡️ Senate Irresistible Forces Meet Immovable Objects, David Dayen, The American Prospect, June 2, 2025.
⚡️ Liberty Upsets Patterns—and Conservatism, Aaron Ross Powell, February 16, 2024.
⚡️ A twofer: an article and a podcast: What the Right Gets Wrong About Men, Aaron Ross Powell and Toby Buckle, May 27, 2025.
⚡️🎧 How to Find Your Purpose-- And Use It to Change the World, Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin, YouTube, June 2, 2025.
⚡️🎧 Live with Stacey Abrams, Rick Wilson, Intel and Observations Podcast, May 31, 2025.
⚡️🎧 Rachel Maddow on How to Fight Fascism in America, Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams, May 29, 2025.
⚡️🎧 How to Stop a Civil War | How To Fix It with John Avlon, The Bulwark, June 1, 2025.
⚡️🎧 Putin can't recover 'irreplaceable' losses in Ukrainian drone attack, Maj. Gen. Chip Chapman, Times Radio interview, June 2, 2025.
⚡️🎧 This is really good (The Senator spills the tea ☕️): Trump vs Leonard Leo, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, YouTube, June 2, 2025.
🥗 🍅 New Section! Resistance Recipes! 🍤 🥒
I figured — since I am always reminding everybody to “eat nutritious food” in order to stay fortified for this long, depleting fight — perhaps I ought to include a few recipes in my GNRs.
I’m going to include things I come across each week, not necessarily things I have already made at home. But things that sing, “This is food for your body and soul!”.
This week, I saw these and I think we should try them! First, something surprising. A great way to finish using up a bountiful tomato harvest and I bet it’s delicious!
🍅 Perfect summer tomatoes? Turn them into butter, Ashlie D Stevens, Salon, June 1, 2025.
But the recipe that stopped me, the one that made my mouth water for tomato season and mourn its eventual end in the same breath, was tomato butter. Not sauce. Not ketchup. Butter. A slow-cooked spread made from tomato pulp and sugar, spiced with ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and brightened with lemon juice. The summer cousin of apple butter, but richer somehow — silkier, sun-drunk. A condiment built for summer evenings, when everything feels a little overripe and golden at the edges.✂️
It’s outrageous on a BLT. Fabulous on a cracker with cream cheese. It turns a plain egg sandwich into something practically transcendent. And when the time comes — when the crates of tomatoes start to dwindle and I feel that first late-summer shiver in the air — I’ll settle on a recipe. I’ll make a full batch. I’ll jar it.
Then, one night, maybe in late October, when the wind has a little bite and the sky goes dark too soon, when the scent of the season shifts from sunscreen and basil to something earthier, lonelier — I’ll pop open a jar. I’ll spread it on a warm slice of cornbread, maybe with a little salted butter, and I’ll remember: that fleeting, perfect window when tomatoes tasted like time itself.
Ingredients
1 ½ lbs ripe tomatoes (about 3 medium), cored and roughly chopped
⅓ cup brown sugar (adjust to taste)
2 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground cloves
1 tsp white or yellow miso
1 tbsp lemon juice
Pinch of kosher salt
Directions
Simmer the tomatoes:
In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the tomatoes down until soft and juicy, about 10–15 minutes. Stir occasionally and mash gently to break them up.
Blend:
Use an immersion blender (or transfer to a blender) to puree until smooth. If you want a silky texture, strain through a fine-mesh sieve. If you're into rustic, skip it.
Return to pot and season:
Add the brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, miso, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Simmer over low heat, stirring often, until thick and glossy — about 20–30 minutes. It should mound up on a spoon.
Taste and tweak:
Add a splash more lemon if it needs brightness, or a pinch more sugar if your tomatoes are tart.
Cool and store:
Spoon into a jar and refrigerate. Keeps for about 1 week (if it lasts that long).
credit: Ashlie D Stevens, senior food editor, Salon.
🥐 The internet is obsessed with croissant bread — here's how to make it, Dylan Muñoz, CBC Life, May 15, 2025.
It all started when Kentucky-based recipe developer Amy Coyne, grated chilled butter into her sourdough, a method commonly used for pie crusts, scones and blitz or rough puff pastry.
Amy Coyne’s croissant bread. Yum!
"One day, while baking a batch of my sourdough-discard scones and grating the butter, I had a batch of sourdough dough fermenting at the same time," she said. "I had a thought: What if I added the grated butter to the dough?" Thus croissant bread was born.✂️
"Temperature is key," Coyne said. The dough needs to be cool enough so the butter doesn't melt, but not so cool that the dough stops fermenting and rising. "I've found 70 to 72 F to be a good dough temperature to shoot for," she said.
Then during the proofing, allow the dough to rise about 70 per cent of the way before shaping and cold-proofing.
"[When] laminating the butter, incorporate the grated butter during the stretch-and-fold process — not just before shaping," Coyne said. This helps to disperse the butter throughout the dough and prevent clumping.
For added flavour, she suggests mixing in ingredients like chocolate chips, frangipane or even ham and cheese.
Amy Coyne’s recipe for croissant bread
Bonus! Luay Ghafari’s recipe for (foolproof!) croissant focaccia
💙 RoundUp WindDown 💙
That’s it from me and CG for another Tuesday.
Remember Newsies, take good care of yourself. You are indispensable in this effort. We need everyone to be as strong and healthy as possible because we have a lot of work to do.
Mama, I think it’s time for bed, isn’t it?
HOWEVER
Take time to rest and restore yourself whenever you can. That is essential because this is likely to be a long haul.
Get some rest. Eat nutritious food. Try to get outdoors every single day if you are able to (if you are stuck inside, try to get stuck by a window if possible, at least for a few minutes every day). I cannot emphasize strongly enough how much time spent outside — in a green space if possible, but even in a parking lot you can look up and find the freedom of the sky — will revive your spirits and reset your perspective. That sky has been overhead for all of human existence. Let that fact ground you (ironically 😄).
CG is waiting patiently for her last evening outing, so I’m off. See you in the morning! ← that was last night 😁
Happy Tuesday, Good Newsies!
I leave you with some beautiful music for your morning routine...
![Colorful sketch of a wildebeest by Starhawk, a side view of a happy, dynamic gnu dancing on one hind leg. A classic heraldric pose of a beast in rampant position. Image bears a hand-written title, "Happy Dance,". The lettering is joyful. Image created by Starhawk of Daily Kos. Uploaded 03-07-2021. Presented as a gift to all members of the Good News Roundup team. Tags Good News Roundups Gnus Gnusies Newsies gnhap](https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/924811/story_image/GnuHappyDance.jpg?1615144457 "Colorful sketch of a wildebeest by Starhawk, a side view of a happy, dynamic gnu dancing on one hind leg. A classic heraldric pose of a beast in rampant position. Image bears a hand-written title, "Happy Dance,". The lettering is joyful. Image created by Starhawk of Daily Kos. Uploaded 03-07-2021. Presented as a gift to all members of the Good News Roundup team. Tags Good News Roundups Gnus Gnusies Newsies gnhap")
