Political maps create increased perceptions of polarization
Sommer Woods stood in front of the doors to the absentee-ballot counting room at Detroit's TCF Center on a mix of anger and adrenaline.
Captured on the Free Press' Wednesday live stream, Woods, a Detroit consultant and election worker, stands at the glass doors as a mass of GOP challengers descended, demanding entry to the room where, many were convinced, bad things were happening. Woods patiently explains to the crowd that there are set limits for the number of challengers from each party, and nonpartisan observers, who can enter the room, and that capacity had been reached. The crowd doesn't accept Woods' answer; in fact, she is interrupted so many times that she has to repeatedly demand quiet so that she can explain the rules.
It felt like a playbook she's seen before. But this time, she was at the center.
"All she wanted to do was go to school. All these people wanted to do is count the votes," she said. "And what did they do? The same tactics they’ve been using for years, to try to be an agitator to try to (mess) up democracy."
I can make the case for you with history and quotes and stories that how Detroit's decisive role in this election is being cast by President Donald Trump, and that what happened at Detroit's TCF Center this week, are about white people fearful and skeptical of Black power and authority, and about the corresponding urge to suppress Black votes.
But we white people need to start by believing Black people when they tell us about their lives. There is no more powerful expression of what this moment felt like than the accounts of Woods and other volunteers, Black and white, who say the disrespect inside and outside of that room was palpable, and that it wouldn't have happened — didn't happen — in white Democratic enclaves. (~2t, white guy)
Lifting Rashida
Thank you for helping me Support Rashida during the primary! As you may recall, we crowd-sourced about $1,300 for her campaign. Michigan’s 13th Congressional District is overwhelmingly Democratic, so the real contest for the seat takes place in the primary.
Read the whole thread, it’s delightful. One tweet in the thread shows the image of Rashida as a super hero.
(For gnubies, you don’t have to be a member of Twitter to read a Twitter page or thread.)
Up from the Comments
nancyjones: I want to thank everyone who took up the challenge of the 2016 disaster and worked their asses off for four years. All those letters and phone calls and blog posts and conversations and every little thing you did mattered. With margins this tiny, it’s very clear to me that it took all of us to save our country. The writers and commenters of the Good News Roundup especially have my eternal respect and gratitude.
GoodNewsRoundup: Thanks for being here and for all YOU did! WE DID THIS. It is hard for it even to feel real yet. [From GoodNewsRoundup’s Roundup yesterday: Take a Moment to Enjoy This]
Ditto what you both said!
Science
Nasal spray prevents COVID infection in ferrets, study finds
A nasal spray that blocks the absorption of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has completely protected ferrets it was tested on, according to a small study released Thursday by an international team of scientists. The study, which was limited to animals and has not yet been peer-reviewed, was assessed by several health experts at the request of The New York Times.
If the spray, which the scientists described as nontoxic and stable, is proved to work in humans, it could provide a new way of fighting the pandemic. A daily spritz up the nose would act like a vaccine.
✂
Before a virus can inject its RNA into a cell, the spike must effectively unzip, exposing two chains of amino acids, in order to fuse to the cell wall. As the spike zips back up to complete the process, the lipopeptide in the spray inserts itself, latching on to one of the spike’s amino acid chains and preventing the virus from attaching. “It is like you are zipping a zipper, but you put another zipper inside, so the two sides cannot meet,” said Matteo Porotto, a microbiologist at Columbia University and one of the paper’s authors.
One of my favorite images of the week
David Dayen published this essay in September 2019:
The Prospect has identified 30 meaningful executive actions, all derived from authority in specific statutes, which could be implemented on Day One by a new president. These would not be executive orders, much less abuses of authority, but strategic exercise of legitimate presidential power.
Without signing a single new law, the next president can lower prescription drug prices, cancel student debt, break up the big banks, give everybody who wants one a bank account, counteract the dominance of monopoly power, protect farmers from price discrimination and unfair dealing, force divestment from fossil fuel projects, close a slew of tax loopholes, hold crooked CEOs accountable, mandate reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, allow the effective legalization of marijuana, make it easier for 800,000 workers to join a union, and much, much more. We have compiled a series of essays to explain precisely how, and under what authority, the next president can accomplish all this. [h/t Meteor Blades]
Our map of Gnuville: About 470 of us have shared our global locations!
To leave your mark, please drop a comment or send them a kosmail: tljdk, silverfoxcruiser, keepiru, djbodhi. Please include city and state only, NOT street number and street. (Persist, we are volunteers.)
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Tech Talk for Kosacks
- Got a Daily Kos tech question? Let us know.
- Solved a tech question recently? Please feel free to repeat in the comments.
Good News Roundups 7 x 7: These Gnusies lead the herd @ 7 a.m., 7 days a week:
- Jessiestaf — Mondays.
- Alternating Tuesdays: NotNowNotEver and niftywriter.
- Alternating Wednesdays: karij and arhpdx.
- Thursdays: pucklady the 1st Thursday, Mokurai the 2nd, oldhippiedude the 3rd, MCUBernieFan the 4th, and Mokurai the 5th (when there is one).
- chloris creator — Fridays.
- GoodNewsRoundup — Saturdays.
- 2thanks — Sundays — A brief roundup of Roundups, a retrospective, a smorgasbord, a bulletin board, an oasis, a watering hole, a thunder of hooves, a wellness.
And we plan to continue posting Good News Roundups past the inauguration! Whew!
The 6 R’s of the Resistance
I recently added Refresh to the Rest line and bumped them both to #1, because of their importance during the home stretch. It’s been an exhausting 4 years, and we don’t want you to drop by the wayside.
- Refresh and Rest: Take care of you, the hero: Eat well, exercise, and rest.
- Resist: Protest on the streets, call senators and representatives, etc.
- Rebel: Run for office, GOTV (Get Out The Vote), support a progressive.
- Revolt: Change the laws, change the culture, build your communities.
- Rely: Trust that millions of others are fighting the good fight.
- Rejoice: Joy promotes resilience and gives rise to hope.
How to Resist: Do Something … Next Week
As noted above,
Feel free to add resistance actions in the comments.
… Say Something
We welcome comments in Roundups every day regarding:
- National or local Good News.
- Links, stories, music, videos, quotes, tweets. (No tweets or images of the saffron chlamidiot, please.)
- Your resistance activity.
In my Sunday smorgasbord Roundups, I especially welcome the following types of comments:
- Who won YOUR week?
- Questions about Daily Kos tech issues or our map.
- Good News Roundups and you.
- How are you campaigning?
The Roundup is almost open!
Thank you for fighting for truth and justice with all us Gnusies! 40% of our Readers don’t visit every day, 50% of us do, and 10% are here for the first time! We all do what we can. For 3-1/2 years, we’ve shared positive news, laughed, organized, resisted, rebelled, revolted without being revolting, relied, rested, mentored, created, crossed rivers, chewed our cud, puffed methane out both ends, and laughed. Here’s looking at you, kid, and standing upwind!
As always, please share more Good News than I can find or provide.
This is a group diary, and by my power I declare this Good Gnus Salo(o)n open! Let the good-news sharing and community building begin!
Power with, not power over ❤️ ✊ ❤️
2thanks (he, his)