Ruminations
- The source of my title, by the Mayor of Gnu Town: Ten Reasons This National Nightmare Is Going to End: Saturday's Good News. [5400 words, Recs 346, FaceBook Shares 2896, Comments 344]
Excerpt: “Yesterday was the darkest day of the year and man, it felt like it.
Today is the day when things should start to get brighter.
I always look forward to this time of year because I love the feeling that things are getting brighter every day. I love the feeling that things are improving.”
My seasonal affective disorder lifts abruptly with the first sunny days of early January, like clockwork. I can almost hear the clang as the metal door opens effortlessly. The darkening days beginning in November sit on my spirit like a heavy cat on my chest, like a tide undermining my feet and pulling me out to sea. Today I plan to celebrate the brightening days with my small family, gathering, eating, gifting, playing games, eating. My daughter plans to loan us her cat Justice for 7 days. Great name for a cat.
Speaking of Justice, the Senate this week unanimously made lynching a crime for the first time. History:
- deemeegee directed a brief diary to our authors: Thank you to those who write the Good News Roundup. However, without all members of the Good News community, our diaries would disappear in silence off the bottom of the Daily Kos Recent Stories list. (119 Recs)
Who Won the Week?
As usual and with his permission, I’ve borrowed all the outstanding weekly news items listed by Daily Kos’s favorite satyrist, Bill in Portland Maine. The following 10 items appeared in his Who Won the Week? poll in Friday’s Cheers and Jeers. Please enjoy Bill’s on-point analysis and wit, vote in his poll, Rec his diary, get on his bandwagon, send him money, and earn his blessing.
Bill is still undergoing chemotherapy, as you already possibly know. During chemo he’s been posting on Monday, sometimes Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. His Friday poll now has more than 2800 votes. C&J archive and future editions here. Way more than 2 thanks to the incredible Willhelm von kosland!
- Bragging rights for Nevada, as its legislature becomes the first in U.S. history to have more women than men in it (32 out of 63 seats)
- Mathematician Gladys West, 87, who was inducted into the Air Force Hall of Fame for her pioneering work in Global Positioning System technology
- Judge Emmet Sullivan, for threatening Michael Flynn with jail time if he doesn’t cooperate more with Mueller, then striking down much of Trump's asylum policy and ordering deported asylum seekers be returned here
- 15 year-old activist Greta Thunberg, who shamed the 190 countries represented at the United Nations COP24 conference in Poland: "You say you love your children and yet you are stealing their future in front of their eyes"
- The Financial Times, for choosing George Soros its Person of the Year for his promotion of liberal values around the world
- The Supreme Court (et tu, Roberts?)...for refusing to overturn a lower court order blocking Trump's new moronic asylum restrictions
- The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals panel that struck down construction of a 600-mile pipeline crossing two national forests and the Appalachian Trail on environmental grounds
- Industrial hemp growers, as new farm bill legalizes and regulates the plant ("including extracts") under Ag Dept, giving growers access to banking, crop insurance and federal grants
- Kansas state Sen. Dinah Sykes and state Rep. Stephanie Clayton, who announced they were switching their party affiliation from Republican to Democrat
- President Barack Obama: hands out presents/hugs at Children’s Hospital in D.C., gets L.A. highway named after him, and tops iTunes charts with starring role in Hamilton remix of "One Last Time"
If curiosity leads you to research any of the above items, please share a link with us in the comments.
Spoiler Alert! … 3 top items … Winner announced … Defocus your eyes … Judge Emmet Sullivan 40%, activist Greta Thunberg 13%, President Barack Obama 13%.
The First Step Act
On Friday, December 21, the president signed the bipartisan First Step Act into law. It overhauls our criminal justice system in the following ways.
‘The act expands rehabilitative opportunities, increases “good time”-served credits for most federal prisoners, reduces mandatory minimum sentences for a number of drug-related crimes and formally bans some correctional practices including the shackling of pregnant women.’ [The Guardian]
As an advocate for criminal justice reform, I hope this really is a first step.
Our 7 Good News Writers:
“This Guide is for what comes next. The 2016 Indivisible Guide was about using constituent power to defend our values, our neighbors, and our democracy. This Guide is about using our constituent power to go on offense.
“Offense is exciting, but it’s more complex than defense. We have the opportunity to use congressional oversight to hold Trump and his cronies accountable. We can set the legislative agenda with a bold progressive vision rooted in inclusion, fairness, and justice. But none of this is automatic — we have to demand it of Congress.”
How to Resist
From chloris creator:
- You can relax and recharge.
- You can join protests and freeway blog.
- You can help register new voters (especially if you are in Florida).
- You can smile.
- You can get out the vote for special elections.
- You can reach out to upset Republicans. Remember, a lot of them crossed over in the midterms! Get them to feel good about being blue.
- You can share your ideas below.
From me: The Daily Kos Black Kos Community
White people, we need to listen to black people, and white people need to discuss racism with white people. I‘m a white guy, and over the years I have learned a lot from the Black Kos community. They are a community much like our Good News community. They meet twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday afternoons. Without them, no me: They empowered me to become the snowflake I am. All the writers are black, and more than half of the commenters are white.
I encourage you to bookmark and explore the massive collection of stories published by that community in 2018: Black Kos, Year In Review. The managing editor of Black Kos, dopper, assembled that diary. Better take it in small bites — it’s over 26,000 delicious words long.
The Black Kos Editors take a well-deserved 3-week break as the year turns. Their archive is here for further exploration. When they return in January, you will be able to find the current diary there as well. If you want to offer a supportive comment in a BK diary, you can of course say “thanks,” or you can name a food item that you are “bringing” for a snack. Chocolate in any form is always welcome.
In their absence this week, JoanMar published a terrific story for Support the Dream Defenders: Wrestling While Black.
Can you say “Gnu Sum” out loud? Hey! You’re speaking French! “Nous sommes.” “We Are.” We are the gnus, what do YOU say?
- Please tell us YOUR take on Good national News.
- Please tell us what YOU are doing to create a better country.
- (Your comment could encourage a reader to hope or act.)
- Ask a geek: We’ve got geeky gnus grazing with us today.
- Feel free to post an upbeat video.
That’s it for today, very busy celebrating the return of light. If you need more good news, maybe you could make some of your own (and don’t forget to let us know about it).
Power with, not power over,
2thanks
Celebrating the Day and the Return of Light
Sunday Morning — Maroon 5
Lyrics
Here Comes The Sun — The Beatles
Lyrics
Light One Candle (25th Anniversary Concert) — Peter, Paul and Mary
Lyrics
Don’t let the light go out.
Edit: Removed the word “Traitor” from the title, based on this extensive comment by democratos. I am grateful for that comment