Can we please just celebrate Goodie? Really this is her birthday because if it was not for her where would we have all connected. I know I have told my story before. I, like many of you, freaked out, tuned out, hid under the blankets after the orange idiot won the election, okay stole it, either way...THEN I came back here, slowly, trying to find anything that made sense of this mess. Then there she was, Good News Roundup, what is that? I started to read. I started to look for it on a regular basis and was angry with myself when I “missed” it. The comments were as spot on as the writing, and still are BTW. I lurked, oh boy, I lurked for a quite of bit of time, but then I participated and that was the game changer for me. Oh I remember volunteering to write here. Holy cow, I thought, are you nuts Kari? And boy, I was pretty bad at it in my opinion. Thank goodness for Goodie’s and all the writers encouragement. The community that has been built here is unlike any other. That would not be possible if not for one person, Goodie, who took the time to say hey, we will not give up, we will not let this orange arseh*le take OUR country away. And she gave us a place to communicate and share and love. Thank you Goodie, you saved my life! You saved many lives and along the way created something so special. {{{{{{Goodie}}}}}!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay tearing up now, love you Goodie, stated that yet?
Onward, the news never waits!
I know we were hopeful for a decision today about the subpoenas for the financial documents the Dem’s would like to have a lookity look at but there was no closure today...OTH it does not look good for the orange turd:
Federal Judge CANNOT EVEN With Trump Lawyers' Trifling Horsesh*t
Last week, we told you about a hearing that was to happen today, the first major court test in the war between Congress and the Trump administration over whether Congress is actually a co-equal branch of government that's allowed to do things. It was regarding the lawsuit Trump and his company filed against their own accounting firm, Mazars USA LLP, to keep it from complying with Elijah Cummings and the House Oversight Committee's lawful subpoena of Trump financial records and tax records. It's a legitimate subpoena, not least because Congress absolutely 100 percent has the power to conduct investigations and oversight, and also because this specifically goes to the question of whether the president has committed crimes, has unlawfully benefitted from his office, and that little nagging question of whether he is under the influence of a FUCKING HOSTILE FOREIGN POWER.
The hearing was LIT, y'all. Trump's lawyers had argued in a filing yesterday that please, your honor, let's not fast-track this lawsuit, because -- we are not kidding -- they've just had a lot going on and couldn't possibly be ready to argue this case today. The judge heard that request and responded with judge words that read to our layman's ear like "LOL!"
Once they were off, you almost had to feel sorry for Trump's attorneys, because really, what the fuck were they going to say? But don't feel sorry for long, because they're the dinguses who agreed to represent President BrainStupid in the first place.
We imagine Judge Mehta got really funny "what even the FUCK are you talking about" looks on his face throughout, as he tried to grapple with a lawyer who was literally arguing, against the Constitution and shitloads of Supreme Court precedent, that Congress's only job is to sit there and look cute and pass laws.
Clearly, and in general, Mehta just wasn't buying it:
Mehta [suggested] at one point that investigations of such financial violations are "strictly" under Congress' purview and that the courts have "very little, if any" discretion over Congress' asks.
"I almost wonder whether I have no role," Mehta told Consovoy at one point.
Reading what this Judge said really is hysterical and you should read the whole thing. I think dumpster better sleep with his binkie and bankie tonight.
The House keeps keeping on:
House Intel to probe whether lawyers for Trump family interfered in investigation
The House Intelligence Committee is investigating whether attorneys representing both President Trump and his family obstructed the panel’s investigation into Russian interference by shaping or editing false testimony.
Documents show that the panel, led by Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), sent requests for documents and testimony from the president’s personal attorney Jay Sekulow and three others earlier this year in connection with the investigation into whether they edited or shaped former Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s 2017 false statements to Congress about the Trump Tower Moscow proposal.
The committee is particularly interested in hearing from Sekulow; Alan Futerfas, Donald Trump Jr.'s attorney; Alan Garten, the Trump Organization's top lawyer; and Abbe Lowell, Ivanka Trump's attorney.
And more:
Lawmakers seek investigation of company operating Homestead shelter for unaccompanied migrant children
Three South Florida congresswomen are calling for an investigation into the company that operates the nation's largest facility for unaccompanied migrant children, in Homestead, Florida. The shelter can hold as many as 3,200 children.
Democratic Representatives Donna Shalala, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell asked in the letter sent Tuesday for the inspector general of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) to investigate a recent no-bid contract given to the shelter operator, Comprehensive Health Services.
"As representatives of Miami-Dade County, where the shelter is located, we are deeply concerned with the conditions surrounding the contracting, particularly as this for-profit company continues to financially benefit from the prolonged detention of children," they wrote.
Good on them!
In kind of a shocker that anything could be supported by both parties:
Exclusive: the new bipartisan House bill to stop surprise medical bills, explained
Congress is ramping up its push to stop surprise medical bills.
Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Greg Walden (R-OR), the top Democrat and Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, have jointly released a draft bill that would prevent patients from facing unexpected charges after they go to the emergency room or receive other non-emergency medical care.
The draft legislation, shared exclusively with Vox, is the most robust proposal yet as lawmakers from both parties and President Donald Trump say they want to end surprise billing. The plan would prohibit surprise charges not only for emergency care when a patient ends up at a hospital that is out of their insurance plan’s network, but also for non-emergency care when the facility might be in network but certain providers are not.
“The Energy and Commerce draft is the strongest proposal at the federal level to date,” Loren Adler, the associate director of the USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy, told me. “It clearly eliminates the problem of surprise billing in both emergency and non-emergency situations.”
Like many, if not all of you, we have had medical emergencies. We are lucky here in this household as the hubby is retired Air Force. It does not solve all the issues but we suffer less than those on the health insurance market. So fingers crossed here.
It just keep getting worse for the NRA and no one deserves it more, no thoughts, no prayers:
NRA Board Members Say New President Lied About Disclosing Financial Troubles
The National Rifle Association continues to implode amidst accusations of financial mismanagement by its highest-ranking officials. Now two board members are speaking out against the gun rights group.
West said changes to the NRA need to include removing LaPierre from his longtime position, reducing the number of board members from 76 to 30 or fewer, and limiting board members to four terms.
“I do not support Wayne LaPierre continuing as the EVP/CEO of the NRA,” West wrote. “There is a cabal of cronyism operating within the NRA and that exists within the Board of Directors. It must cease, and I do not care if I draw their angst.”
Guess little waynie needs his binkie and bankie too.
Bahahaha, Bwahahaha….
Trump Tower Condos Selling at More Than 20 Percent Losses
Trump Tower is rapidly becoming one of the least popular luxury apartment blocks for in New York City, Bloomberg News reports, with some owners being forced to sell their condos at more than 20 percent losses.
“The name on the building became a problem,” said Michael Sklar, who sold a tower apartment at a loss last year.
Ya think??
Let us move on from the orange toddler sucking his thumb and watching faux news because he cannot read, does not understand how “things” work, war mongering, fliptard in OUR house. Geesh.
Good news presented without much comment because it is just that, all good news:
'Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month' Is Now 'Sex Ed For All Month'
When talking about "sex education for all," could we please start with male state legislator Republicans who think they know enough about lady parts to regulate them (badly)?
Setting that aside, Planned Parenthood made a re-branding announcement for the month of May:
Reproductive health and rights groups dedicated to improving sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice for all, [have] launched Sex Ed For All Month: Accessing Power, Information and Rights. The effort will focus on the sexual health information, access and rights young people need and deserve in order to make healthy decisions for themselves and live life on their terms. Sex Ed For All Month replaces Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month and focuses on working toward all young people having the power and right to access the education and health care they need to achieve the best positive outcomes for themselves.
Kids’ TV rarely shows same-sex marriage. PBS’s Arthur just did — and it was, wonderfully, no big deal.
Arthur was the bread and butter of a certain generation of kids’ cartoon consumption. The story of a glasses-wearing aardvark, his many animal classmates, and their elementary school adventures was a staple of PBS’s kids programing in the mid-’90s. But the show is still on the air, and it just kicked off its 22nd season with a major milestone: the wedding of Mr. Ratburn, Arthur’s longtime third grade teacher, in an episode that touchingly portrayed same-sex marriage.
On May 13, PBS premiered an episode called “Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone,” which progressed the show’s threadbare backstory in a significant way. Mr. Ratburn, seemingly a bachelor for the past 22 years, was engaged, as Arthur and his friends discovered. But the identity of his betrothed remained a mystery.
“Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone” doesn’t draw much focus to Mr. Ratburn’s romantic relationship with a man; the episode refreshingly avoids presenting it as “different” or “non-traditional,” and simply shows that it is worthy of celebration, just like any happy marriage.
High school track star overcomes homelessness, receives college scholarship
A high school athlete from Arkansas is proving that strength comes in more than one form. Not only has Anya Sifuentes pushed herself as a track star, she also pushed herself to overcome a major life obstacle: homelessness.
"It was late September that things just started getting strange," Sifuentes told CBS affiliate KFSM-TV. "On October 1, I went home right after I went after school and realized that I couldn't get in my home anymore."
Not only was Sifuentes prevented from going inside her house again, but her mother made the situation more difficult.
"My mom started really acting weird and you could tell that she was late on all of her bills and she wasn't acting the same anymore," Sifuentes said. "My mom said that 'I'm not gonna stay with y'all.' I thought, 'Why?'"
The teen was left to take care of her two siblings and nephew all alone. "To think that we'd be separated — I did not like the feeling," she said. "I knew it wasn't going to be the same anymore."
Sifuentes found a release in running and started doing it more and more. And not only was she was running, she was running fast — so fast that she caught the eye of college recruiters.
The high school senior was offered a scholarship to run at the University of the Ozarks, which she signed last month.
This one I have to comment on. I know this will probably not hold up in the long run but screw Monsanto, they are awful and I am not sure how they sleep at night…
Monsanto Loses Another Roundup Cancer Trial, With Jury Awarding Over $2 Billion
Monsanto Co. lost a legal battle over its massively popular Roundup herbicide on Monday to the tune of $2.055 billion, with a jury in San Francisco ordering the court to pay out the stunning sum to a couple that said it caused their non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
The plaintiffs in the case, Alva and Alberta Pilliod of Livermore, California, said they used Roundup once a week for nine months of the year for more than three decades before being given their cancer diagnoses in 2011 and 2015 respectively, according to BuzzFeed News.
Let them appeal, it is called chip away. Eventually they will lose.
‘World’s First Eco-Sensitive Cooler’ Brings Us One Step Closer to Ditching Polystyrene
We are now one step closer to ditching harmful polystyrene products thanks to this new cooler than is made entirely out of biodegradable materials.
Up until now, polystyrene – more commonly known as “styrofoam” – has been a popular material for disposable coolers, but it is quickly being eliminated from product supply chains because of how toxic it is for people and the environment.
That’s why cooler company Igloo has just released the “RECOOL”, a biodegradable container which they are calling the “world’s first eco-sensitive cooler”.
Cool Igloo!! Lame of me right?
I am on the butterfly subject again:
To Save the Butterflies, Put Them In Cities
One of the exhibits on view at the Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial, which just opened at the Smithsonian’s design museum in New York, is a full-scale section of an architectural facade. For butterflies.
Designed by the Brooklyn-based architecture and design research group Terreform One, this is a piece of a larger Monarch Sanctuary, representing a “vertical meadow” that could envelope a building. “It has a double-skin system, where the central inner space is a sanctuary to allow monarchs to procreate and re-wild local surroundings,” said Mitchell Joachim, director and co-founder of Terreform One. This cavity contains milkweed vines and flowering plants to feed the butterflies at all stages of their life cycle. A special mortar mixture forms the lattice-like design of the habitat, which includes alternative materials to replace some of the Portland cement for a smaller carbon footprint.
“Urban areas have great potential for pollinator habitat,” said Katie-Lyn Bunney, education coordinator for the Monarch Joint Venture, a national partnership of over 70 federal and state agencies, environmental groups, and universities. “Every stem adds up, so by planting even small gardens, urban areas can have great collective impact.”
Youth climate group sets its sights on 2020
On a damp Monday evening, more than 1,000 people arrived at Howard University to watch a movement of young climate activists lay out their vision for the future.
Whether its detractors like it or not, however, rhetoric around the Green New Deal and climate change more broadly is likely to play a major role in the election — as is Sunrise.
A year ago, Sunrise was relatively unknown on a national level. But that changed dramatically with the 2018 midterms, as the group allied with popular new lawmakers like Ocasio-Cortez. After a Sunrise sit-in outside the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) went viral, the group catapulted to national attention, playing a key role in the crafting of the Green New Deal and in its subsequent marketing to the public.
Now, Sunrise is looking to next year’s presidential election.
On Monday, Sunrise activists and other partners offered an idea of what they might be seeking in a candidate. Rhiana Gunn-Wright, who works with the New Consensus think tank that is crafting the Green New Deal’s policy components, emphasized that “intersectionality” will be a key component.
“If you’re talking about climate and climate alone, you’re doing it wrong,” she said.
Gunn-Wright also advised pushing for candidates that show “a willingness to put the full might of our country behind” climate action.
Climate change and it’s consequences scare the bejesus out of me but I cannot imagine being a young person taking in this issue and wondering, what the heck, will there be anything left for us? So good on them, make waves, speak up and I hope they use the ballot box.
Speaking of climate change:
All These Idiots Have Broken Bill Nye
Bill Nye has had it with you jerks who keep ignoring science, OK? The popular teevee personality and science educator capped off one of John Oliver's excellent deep-dive infocomedy segments on "Last Week Tonight" this weekend with an important message: The climate crisis has driven him to cuss. That's what happens when you combine an existential crisis and widespread denial with premium cable.
You know when Bill Nye is ticked off it means holy cow, do something!!
I have so much love for this space. I am not sure how everyone else found each other, it would be a great story to hear. Goodie and her positive and inspiring attitude, Chloris and her uplifting words, NNNE and his amazing snark, Nifty with her positive and calming way, pr0gressivist (sp, sorry), the humor but the realness and organizational tips :), 2thanks, what can I say, no words, {{{OHD}}}, wisdom, whit and always the call for patience, gratitude and peace, jessiestaf, the music, the words, and for all the new and substitute writers here you are amazing, I cannot thank you enough for the camaraderie and the support.
So it is with that that I wish the GNR the happiest birthday ever! Gnusies you are all the best, whether you write, read, comment or lurk, this is the place to be.
As always:
Your 5 weekly to-dos
- The proper solution for a president who obstructs justice is impeachment. Whether it’s his actions to obstruct the Mueller investigation or his demands that members of his administration stonewall Congressional investigations, Trump has committed acts that should be addressed in an impeachment investigation. Write a letter to your MoC, or make a call, to make sure that your MoC knows you want them to support Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s resolution, H.R. 257, to open an impeachment inquiry.
- It’s time to take a stand on the Dream and Promise Act. House Democrats already delayed their markup of H.R. 6, the Dream and Promise Act, once before. Now it’s time for them to make passing this legislation in its current, strong form a priority. Members on the House Judiciary Committee especially need to hear from you that protecting immigrants is an urgent concern.
- Tell your MoCs to prevent a new war with Iran. Trump and his war cabinet are dialing up the escalations to a 10, including deploying additional military force to the region. Noted war enthusiast, John Bolton, has called this a “clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime” in response to secret, ill-defined “threats.” MoCs can co-sponsor H.R. 2354 / S. 1039 to explicitly deny Trump the authority he needs to start a new war.
- Democrats need to hold strong on prescription drug prices.Rep. Lloyd Doggett’s bill, H.R. 1046, would guarantee that Medicare could negotiate prices for all drugs while protecting patient’s access to their medications. This bill has the support of huge majorities of the public, along with co-sponsorships from every corner of the Democratic caucus, yet House Democratic leadership is working with the White House on bad proposals that would delegate the authority to make a final call on drug prices to unaccountable, third-party arbitrators. Use our call script here and make sure your MoC knows that the Doggett bill is the best option for bringing drug prices down.
- Sign up early for the June National Call. Mark June 6 for the monthly Indivisible National Activist Call! All group leaders, group members, and other Indivisible activists are welcome.
Peace peeps!!