Yes that’s a lot of metaphors in the headline, but to thoroughly kick 2020 into the abyss, we need to reframe and that requires the energy of multiple metaphors. Finally, we’ve staggered out of 2020, although the year’s crash course in coping with adversity continues. I see possibilities in this new year, new President, and am anticipating the changes we can seek from an administration more attuned to our values and ethics. Beginning Jan 20, we can invest our energies in pushing for more and better policies instead of desperately trying to pull back the atrocities, as we’ve done in the past four years.
This week I have 12 great stories and a poll for you. As Community member citisven says in his rescued story, “(R)ight now really is the time to pitch not only another movie, but a radically new franchise with the capacity to tell an entirely different story of what it means to be successful on Earth.” It’s time to shift gears from reverse to forward—to push for what we wish to achieve.” Today’s poll invites you to do just that.
“Disasters … shatter the status quo and make it possible to change more substantially and more rapidly than might otherwise have been possible; they untether people from their sense that things cannot change because they have already,” Rebecca Solnit writes. Rapid substantial change was my 2018-19 crash course, thanks to the Camp Fire. By time the pandemic shook us up, I had honed the habit of not futilely grasping for what was instantly lost when catastrophic wildfire swept through my community. I’ve negotiated changes and figured out how to thrive in new circumstances. Then, 2020 brought everyone a lesson in embracing a new reality as the pandemic shattered the status quo. Perhaps our 2021 crash course is how to untether from the horrors of the past four years and refocus on substantial beneficial changes we can achieve together.
In March 2020, I wrote about my hopes that the election would bring an end to this war on nature administration. I asked readers to imagine what might be accomplished if our energies weren’t diverted to opposing regulatory assaults. Instead, we could push for legitimate regulatory reform, expanded environmental policies, and conservation. My heart beat syncs with ecosystem protection and restoration. I’m looking forward to pushing for more and better conservation actions this year, instead of blocking devastating environmental policies.
Let’s be excited about what we wish to create instead of ranting about what we need to defeat. What are you looking forward to in this year’s new circumstances? What changes or causes are closest to your heart? I’ve suggested some options in the poll below and invite you to add others in the comments.
Rescued stories 4PM EST Friday, Dec. 25 to 4PM EST Friday, Jan. 1, 2021
Over the past week, we rescued Community stories addressing the recent election and how teachers are faring in pandemic classrooms, plus two anecdotal tales—a power outage meditation and a recollection of the best ever New Year’s Eve. Other rescues include a pitch for Daily Kos members to work together on a NASA challenge, how to refinish old tools, and more. Four of these stories are the authors’ first rescues, while one is the first story from a new member.
Community Spotlight’s Rescue Rangers read every story published by Community writers. When we discover awesome work that isn’t receiving the attention it deserves, we rescue it to our group blog and publish a weekly collection—like this one—each Saturday. Rescue priorities and actions were explained in a previous edition: Community Spotlight: Rescuing your excellent stories for over 14 years. You also can find a link in Meteor Blades’ “Night Owls” series, which publishes nightly between 10-11PM EST.
Movie Review: Executive Action (1973) and JFK (1991) by disinterested spectator examines conspiracy theories as movie topics. The author begins by differentiating between two types of conspiracy theory popular in movies. "It may seem that, by definition, all conspiracy theories are fictional. However, by ‘real conspiracy theory,’ I mean a conspiracy theory that a lot of people believe to be true, whereas by ‘fictional conspiracy theory,’ I mean a conspiracy theory that is made up simply for our entertainment in the form of a novel or a movie, usually bearing some similarity to a real conspiracy theory." Disinterested spectator, who joined in 2010 and has written 284 stories (with 44 rescued), is from Houston Texas.
'Twas what 'Twas (or) A Surprisingly Silent Night by Abinold is a meditation about the small comforts and joys that add up to a happy life. A power failure in winter, when seasonal depression is a real risk, spurs the author to think about past holidays, evoking memories of a time "before Christmas was forever soured by a terrible and unfortunate event … when we were young enough not to really know or understand what was going on around us. When nothing had been ruined yet. No dark tragedies had befallen us personally." Abinold joined in 2014 and has written 12 stories (with two rescued). They are a culinary school graduate living a minimalistic lifestyle in Maine.
NASA Challenge Scenario: Part 1 Please tear it apart by Judeling considers various possible technical solutions to the NASA Break the Ice Challenge. Judeling hopes to form a team recruited, at least in part, from Daily Kos members. The Break the Ice Challenge is an open contest from NASA seeking innovative solutions to mining water on the Earth's Moon. On the Moon, water is trapped in icy regolith at the lunar poles, particularly inside permanently dark and cold craters. NASA has two main goals; first to "maximize water delivery and minimize energy" used to obtain it. Second, to minimize the mass of equipment required to be transported to the lunar surface. Judeling joined in 2007 and has written 101 stories (with one rescued).
How We Won In A RED District - North Carolina House District 63 - Ricky Hurtado by NBBooks reports on Elaine Berry’s presentation given to the Progressive Caucus of North Carolina’s Democratic Party. Berry was the Campaign Manager for Ricky Hurtado, the “first Latinx legislator elected to the North Carolina general assembly … he defeated a Republican incumbent, making this one of only two races that the Democratic Party was able to flip in the general assembly.” NBBooks joined in 2005 and has written 426 stories (with 22 rescued). The user name references their business, Nation Builder Books. In pre-pandemic times, they sold books at 30 events a year, mostly antique machinery shows.
Adventures in Japanning by Enoch Ro0t describes, step by step in great detail with photo illustrations, the process of re-japanning old tools. “Japanning is the shiny, durable black finish found on many older tools and metal items. Despite the name, the coating was developed in Europe during the 1600s to mimic the hard, glossy black lacquer used on Japanese furniture and craftwork, which were all the rage among Europe’s upper classes at the time.” Enoch Ro0t, who has a B.S. in engineering and lives in Michigan, joined in 2015 and has written 34 stories (with eight rescued).
Me and Joe and our ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ by melainoman describes the value of a close relationship with a childhood friend who is become full blown MAGA. “Honestly, if Joe wasn’t my life-long friend, I probably wouldn’t have been able to get past his politics to establish a bond. But, it’s like we share a brain lobe. He remembers things I don’t and I remember what he’s forgotten. Neither Joe nor I were politically active when we were younger … But something shifted for him in 2016. He started frequenting Republican headquarters (and) got involved in all kinds of online shenanigans.” Melainoman joined in 2020 and this is their first story.
The (real) number one issue of the 2020 presidential election by Ron24 explores the consequences of challenges to people's unspoken belief that “the reason why this country exists is because God himself wanted there to be a place for white Christians of European descent to thrive.” As the non-white, non-Christian population in the United States grows, there has been increasing anxiety among certain white Americans as to what the future will bring. “(P)eople who experience White Anxiety are subconsciously sensing a threat to the one thing which is most precious to them (and to anyone): happiness.” Ron24 joined in 2016 and has written 10 stories (with one rescued).
Space 2021: What a year it's going to be by skralyrx is just what the headline promises, an overview of the new year’s “fun astronomy and space exploration events.” For example, Feb. 18 brings what the author calls “most assuredly the Big Dog of the whole year” when Perseverance lands on Mars. On Oct. 31 another big event occurs. “NASA (finally!) launches the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). If Perseverance is the Big Dog of 2021, then this is the Big Cat. The JWST will be the largest-ever space telescope, with even greater capabilities than the Hubble.” Skralyrx joined in 2005 and has written 403 stories (with 38 rescued), many describing astronomical and NASA events.
Have Pity on the Teacher - The School Year from HELL Part 1 by bilboteach is an insider’s story about what’s happening with teachers during the pandemic. “I still keep in touch with (the education) world … While I have not personally experienced this year from hell for teachers, I feel like I know enough to imagine it based upon what they tell me … They begged me to write this.” This story covers school option 1: “The fully open school’s hamster wheel.” Bilboteach joined in Dec. 2020 and has written four stories (with one rescued). He is a COVID-19 longhauler who “went from Lincoln Project Never Trump to Squad-adjacent in the span of three months.”
Defining the enemy by vjr7121 warns against pressure for Democrats to move left or center. "The fight within the party has little to do with direction, it has to do with purpose." Vjr7121 acknowledges underlying problems the Democrats hope to correct, such as assaults on voting rights, and offers an alternate to addressing these problems piecemeal. “Either their party or our democracy will prevail—the two at this point cannot coexist.” Vjr7121, a retired educator, joined in 2017 and has written 161 stories (with 22 rescued).
Feels like we’ve been in the wrong movie. Let’s make a better one together! by citisven offers an extensive rant about “this moronic remake of All the President’s Men” that has us “feeling a crushing void after being forced into a soul sucking alternate reality for several precious years of our lives.” Citisven is ready to flip the script and suggests how we might do so. “(I)f we are to refocus on depicting the true challenges and opportunities of our time, we have to begin to unspool the creepy clown show from our mental reel and reclaim our own storyline.” Citisven joined in 2008 and has written 300 stories (with 54 rescued). A “writer, musician, ecologist, free spirit, and planter of seeds,” he’s originally from Germany and has been a U.S. citizen since 2005.
Kitchen Table Kibitzing 12/31/20: Best NYE Ever by boatsie relates a trip to Paris when she was 20 years old and accompanied by her 14 year old brother. “He was counting on me to be able to navigate our way around the city, but it was my first time, too, and after taking the hydroplane across the channel I succumbed to deep culture shock. We arrived at St Pancras just as the sun set. In my memory, that night the lights of Paris were suspended like stars flung randomly here and there across the skyline. I was equally enchanted and intimidated.“ Boatsie, who joined in 2006 and has written 662 stories, is a “climate warrior” living in NorCal. This probably is not her first rescued story, but I’m not crawling back through 662 stories one by one to count previous rescues.
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT is dedicated to finding great writing by community members that isn’t getting the visibility it deserves.
- To add our rescued stories to your Stream, click on the word FOLLOW in the left panel at our main page or click on Reblogs and read them directly on the group page.
- You can also find a list of our rescued stories by clicking HERE or using the link in Meteor Blades’ Night Owls open thread that publishes daily between 7-9PM Pacific time.
An edition of our rescue roundup publishes every Saturday at 1 PM ET (10AM PT) to the Recent Community Stories section and to the front page at 6:30PM ET (3:30PM PT).
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*References for answer 5 in the poll: attack squirrels, dog-sized omnivorous lizards, and dancing robots.