Welcome 😄 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News!
I have sensed more despair lately. There’s been more exhaustion, too, among the GNR writers (we have private communications, mostly to deal with scheduling). Some of this has nothing to do with the news. A few have had health issues and have needed to drop out. Others needed a break, because they have been doing this for more than four years.
But the other problem has been because the news has been, well, not always as good as we would like it to be. In fact, I think some of us have felt disappointed — or even betrayed, as we sense the vast corruption behind so much. Here are some of the things that have been bothering me.
- The DoJ. Why haven’t they arrested tRump yet? Or at least his lieutenants? They are still out there, criming in plain sight!
- Climate problems. Fires, floods, droughts, crop failures.
- Manchin and Sinema who are stopping everything from voting rights to climate change. I am especially disappointed in Sinema. About all I can say about her is that she is better than McSally. That is a very low bar.
- We have enough vaccines for everyone, yet we have gone through another wave, thanks to the super-infectious delta, and the huge pockets of antivaxxers.
- The Rs who are trying to lead the country over a cliff so they can say, look how bad the Ds have done, and run on that. Denying elections. Encouraging antivaxxers. Refusing to raise the debt ceiling. And behaving, not just like jerks, but criminals and thugs, sending nasties to intimidate school boards and poll workers.
- The media! (AT&T is behind OANN!) And even media on our side, have made things worse by overhyping items that were not real problems.
And you may be wondering, what the heck is this list (which is incomplete) doing in the Good News Roundup?
Well, Truth is one of the virtues I espouse, and I thought it was important to acknowledge these problems. Because most problems need to be tackled before they can be conquered, and it’s hard to tackle problems if you pretend they are not there (some problems, surprisingly, actually do disappear on their own).
The other thing I want to emphasize is that it is usually much harder to move forward than to do nothing or to destroy (what the Rs are doing).
And progress is happening, on many, many fronts. We have such a mess before us that the progress can be hard to see, especially as we have to move on to the next thing immediately. Come in, dear gnusies, and take a rest in the good news before you roll up your sleeves and resume the fight.
Regular Scheduled Programming
No one here is naïve; we are aware of the many who are fighting to destroy our country. Some of us expected it: the cheating, the lying, the chaos, and yes, even the attempts to cling to power despite the clear will of the people. But we are here to read the efforts and the positive results of those (including us and our fellow gnus) who are working so hard to save our country from those very bad people. We are furious with them for what they are doing and we are letting them know. Remember:
💚 There are more of us than there are of them.
💛 They are terrified when we organize. THERE IS LOTS OF EVIDENCE THAT THEY ARE TERRIFIED!
💔 They want us to be demoralized. The best way to keep up your spirits is to fight. So, take the time to recharge your batteries, but find ways to contribute to the well-being of our country and our world.
🗽 Biden as President!🗽
Biden, Harris and their administration have been hard at work. Here are the last week’s posts at the White House briefing room.
- Thursday, October 14, 2021: Statement by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. on the United States Election to the Human Rights Council (HRC)
- Thursday, October 14, 2021: Statement by NSC Spokesperson Emily Horne on National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s Meeting with Brazilian Secretary for Strategic Affairs Admiral Flávio Rocha
- Thursday, October 14, 2021: Remarks by President Biden and President Kenyatta of the Republic of Kenya Before Bilateral Meeting
- Thursday, October 14, 2021: Remarks by President Biden on the COVID-19 Response and Vaccination Program
- Thursday, October 14, 2021: Background Press Call by Senior Administration Officials on President Biden’s Meeting with President Kenyatta of the Republic of Kenya
- Thursday, October 14, 2021: President Biden Announces Key Nominations
- Thursday, October 14, 2021: Joint Statement of the Ministers and Representatives from the Counter Ransomware Initiative Meeting October 2021
- Thursday, October 14, 2021: FACT SHEET: The Biden-Harris Administration Advances Equity and Opportunity for Latino Communities Across the Country
- Thursday, October 14, 2021: Statement of President Joe Biden on Unemployment Insurance Claims
- Thursday, October 14, 2021: Statement by Press Secretary Jen Psaki on the President’s Travel to Italy, Vatican City, and the United Kingdom
- Thursday, October 14, 2021: A Proclamation on Blind Americans Equality Day, 2021
- Thursday, October 14, 2021: Statement by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on the Global Health Security Agenda Annual Report
- Wednesday, October 13, 2021: Statement by NSC Spokesperson Emily Horne on National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s Meeting with Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam of Singapore
- Wednesday, October 13, 2021: Remarks by President Biden on Supply Chain Bottlenecks
- Wednesday, October 13, 2021: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki, October 13, 2021
- Wednesday, October 13, 2021: Second Letter from Dana A. Remus, Counsel to the President, to David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, dated October 8, 2021
- Wednesday, October 13, 2021: Press Briefing by White House COVID-19 Response Team and Public Health Officials
- Wednesday, October 13, 2021: Bills Signed: H.R. 2278 and S. 848
- Wednesday, October 13, 2021: Readout of Virtual Roundtable on Collective Efforts to Address Global Supply Chain Bottlenecks
- Wednesday, October 13, 2021: FACT SHEET: Biden Administration Efforts to Address Bottlenecks at Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Moving Goods from Ship to Shelf
- Wednesday, October 13, 2021: FACT SHEET: Ongoing Public U.S. Efforts to Counter Ransomware
- Wednesday, October 13, 2021: Background Press Call on the Virtual Counter-Ransomware Initiative Meeting
- Wednesday, October 13, 2021: Background Press Call on Global Transportation Supply Chain Bottlenecks
- Tuesday, October 12, 2021: Statement by NSC Spokesperson Emily Horne on National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s Meeting with ROK National Security Advisory Suh Hoon
- Tuesday, October 12, 2021:Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki, October 12, 2021
- Tuesday, October 12, 2021: Letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate on the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Significant Narcotics Traffickers Centered in Colombia
- Tuesday, October 12, 2021: Notice on the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Significant Narcotics Traffickers Centered in Colombia
- Tuesday, October 12, 2021: Statement by NSC Spokesperson Emily Horne on National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s Meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid
- Tuesday, October 12, 2021: President Biden Announces Key Regional Appointments for EPA, HHS, and USDA
- Tuesday, October 12, 2021: Statement by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on the Bilateral Meeting between President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. and President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya
- Tuesday, October 12, 2021: Letter from Dana A. Remus, Counsel to the President, to David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, dated October 8, 2021
- Tuesday, October 12, 2021: Readout of President Biden’s Meeting with G20 Leaders
- Tuesday, October 12, 2021: FACT SHEET: Biden Administration Makes Climate Information and Decision Tools More Accessible
- Monday, October 11, 2021: Executive Order on the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Native Americans and Strengthening Tribal Colleges and Universities
- Monday, October 11, 2021: Statement by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. on National Coming Out Day
- Saturday, October 9, 2021: Statement of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden on the Passing of General Raymond Odierno
- Saturday, October 9, 2021: Fact Sheet: The Biden-Harris Administration’s Historic Investments and Support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities
- Friday, October 8, 2021: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki, October 8, 2021
- Friday, October 8, 2021: Statement by President Joe Biden Congratulating Nobel Peace Prize Winners
- Friday, October 8, 2021: Statement of President Joe Biden on Signing the K-12 Cybersecurity Act Into Law
- Friday, October 8, 2021: Remarks by President Biden on Restoring Protections for National Monuments
- Friday, October 8, 2021: Remarks by President Biden on the September Jobs Report
- Friday, October 8, 2021: FACT SHEET: U.S.-Mexico High-Level Security Dialogue
- Friday, October 8, 2021: Joint Statement: U.S.-Mexico High-Level Security Dialogue
- Friday, October 8, 2021: Memorandum for the Secretary of State on Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2022
- Friday, October 8, 2021: President Biden Announces Key Nominations
- Friday, October 8, 2021: A Proclamation on Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
- Friday, October 8, 2021: A Proclamation on Bears Ears National Monument
- Friday, October 8, 2021: A Proclamation on Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument
- Friday, October 8, 2021: President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Approves New York Disaster Declaration
- Friday, October 8, 2021: Statement by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. on the Unprecedented OECD Agreement for a Global Minimum Tax
- Friday, October 8, 2021: Bills Signed: S. 1828 and S. 1917
- Friday, October 8, 2021: Bill Signed: S. 189
- Friday, October 8, 2021: Statement of President Joe Biden on Signing HAVANA Act Into Law
- Friday, October 8, 2021: A Proclamation on National School Lunch Week, 2021
- Friday, October 8, 2021: A Proclamation on General Pulaski Memorial Day, 2021
- Friday, October 8, 2021: A Proclamation on International Day of the Girl, 2021
- Friday, October 8, 2021: A Proclamation on Leif Erikson Day, 2021
- Friday, October 8, 2021: A Proclamation on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, 2021
- Friday, October 8, 2021: A Proclamation on Columbus Day, 2021
- Friday, October 8, 2021: Memorandum for the Secretary of State on Presidential Determination and Certification with Respect to the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008
👎 Out with the Bad, In with the Good 👍
One of those problems that has been reported on sporadically but could have given ammunition to the annual FOX reporting on the “war on Xmas” has been supply chain problems. Well, Biden and his administration have been working on that. Here are some of his remarks from Wednesday:
President Biden: Los Angeles and Long Beach are home to two of the largest point — ports in America. And together, these ports are among the largest in the world.
And the best way to make that point is that 40 percent — 40 percent of shipping containers that we import into this country come through these two ports.
And today, we have some good news: They’re going to help speed up the delivery of goods all across America. ✂️
Twenty-four/seven system — what most of the leading countries in the world already operate on now, except us, until now. ✂️
And here’s why it matters: Traditionally, our ports have only been open during the week — Monday through Friday — and they’re generally closed down at nights and on weekends. By staying open seven days a week, through the night and on the weekends, the Port of Los Angeles will open — over 60 extra hours a week it will be open. In total, that will almost double the number of hours that the port is open for business from earlier this year.
Now, part of an important discussion from the October 13 edition of The Last Word.
WAGNER (Alex): This isn`t about masks. This is about a way of life. This is a pushback against what they see as an encroaching liberal majority that believes in science and the social compact but that is fundamentally out there to end a white Christian way of life, the quote -- unquote, "American way of life". And masks are just a proxy for that.
And that belies another truth, which is that rage is central to the Republican Party right now. It is, in fact, the ideology of the Republican Party. It doesn`t matter what the issue is, whether it`s immigration or whether it`s COVID or whether it`s, you know, infrastructure. ✂️
MAXWELL (Zerlina): Yes, Lawrence, but one of the things that does help me, I don`t know, wake up every day and put one foot in front of the other is that this is the minority of the American public. This is a small minority of the American public.
They are very loud. They are angry, as Alex said. She is right about that, but they are not now, nor will they be the majority of American voters. Now, will Republicans be able to rig the election process in their favor despite the math? That I think is the question for the Democrats in the senate, namely Senator Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema right at this moment.
But I think in the big picture, we have to remember that they are not the majority of the people. Donald Trump lost two elections, the popular vote and two elections, and in the second one it was by about three times the amount as the first time. [I checked and it was more like 2x]
💣 Republicans in Disarray 💣
Republicans are privately terrified of tRump Matthew Chapman Raw Story
"You heard Liz Cheney condemn fellow Republicans for selling Americans what she called the fraud, the Big Lie," said anchor Wolf Blitzer. "How worried are Republicans behind the scenes ... about a possible Trump 2024 run."
"On a scale of one to ten, a 12-plus," said Gangel. "They think this is a nightmare scenario. I spoke to one very senior Republican strategist who said to me that this is a slow-motion tsunami. That democracy as we know it is over. The question, obviously, is, is there a way to stop it? When I talk to my Republicans, some think that absolutely Trump is running and that you know, he could win... the big concern that I hear over and over again, Wolf, is that this fact that democracy is in peril is real. They consider it a five-alarm fire and they are really worried that too many Americans are in denial about how close to the edge we are."
Gangel then emphasized just how much GOP strategists fear a Trump run in 2024.
Gosh, if only there was something they could do about this…? Like, turn away from tRump?
Turns out they have good reason to be afraid. Because tfg kind of told R voters not to vote unless they somehow reverse the 2020 election for him. MSNBC hosts were having fun with that on Wednesday! Here’s Rachel Maddow:
He says, quote: “If we don`t solve the presidential election fraud of 2020, which we have thoroughly and conclusively documented, Republicans will not be voting in 2022 or 2024. It is the single most important thing for Republicans to do.” Ta-da!
Democrats and Republicans join hands and come together as one. Donald Trump says Republicans will not be voting in the elections in 2022 or `24.
Democrats, you good with that? Yes. Turns out Democrats are good with that. Republicans? Well, you`re going to tell Trump he is wrong? You`re going to break with Trump on this? Tell him, sir, admire you for so many things but on this, I disagree.
Really? You`re going to say that out loud in front of everybody including him? Break with Trump on this or on anything?
Notice, for all currently elected GOP officials, this means challenging elections that put them into office. It has to go against the grain...
And in the meantime, turning over that election is not going so well! Judge refuses an audit of Fulton County Kate Brumback Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP) — A judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit alleging fraud in Georgia’s most populous county during the 2020 election. The suit sought a review of some 147,000 absentee ballots to see if any were illegitimate.
The lawsuit was originally filed in December and alleged evidence of fraudulent ballots and improper ballot counting in Fulton County. It was filed by nine Georgia voters and spearheaded by Garland Favorito, a longtime critic of Georgia’s election systems.
Henry County Superior Court Chief Judge Brian Amero’s order dismissing the case says the voters who brought the lawsuit “failed to allege a particularized injury” and therefore lacked the standing to claim that their state constitutional rights to equal protection and due process had been violated.
In these days of short attention spans, will tfg’s supporters manage to keep up their ire? Or will they be too tired to vote, and choose the easier option and just not bother?
💙 Democrats Being Cool 💙
One of the things that has bothered me is the fact that so many criminals who were involved in Jan 6 are still out there. I don’t mean the foot soldiers who stormed the Capitol, but those who planned it. Is Garland’s DoJ doing anything?
I sometimes listen to Michael Cohen’s Mea Culpa podcast. I couldn’t find a transcript, so I will have to paraphrase. On October 10 he interviewed Tristan Snell, who explained how careful the DoJ would have to be. And I can personally think of several reasons you would want to work from the bottom up. He did not seem to believe that nothing’s happening. In other words, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Still, I would like to see more. Let them know!
In the meantime, here are some words from a pundit about the other pundits. Jennifer Rubin Washington Post
The punditocracy has repeatedly underestimated the House select committee on the Jan. 6 attempted coup.
When Republicans filibustered the formation of an independent commission to examine the monstrous act of domestic terrorism, many in the media chose to engage in a horse-race analysis (Pelosi loses! Republicans remain in Trump’s corner!), rather than focusing of the utter abdication of responsibility by Republicans, many of whom hyped the “big lie” about a stolen election.
When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) decided to reject two of the Republicans nominated for the select committee for having publicly denounced the role of the committee and fanning MAGA conspiracy theories, the pundits shook their heads. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), they insisted, had outplayed her. (Look how angry Republicans are! The committee will look too partisan!)
And Rubin goes on, with some great stuff, but I can’t, because of fair use. If you can access the Washington Post, it’s worth a read.
Adam Schiff was on The Last Word on October 12. This is from the transcript.
SCHIFF: Well, civil litigation, Lawrence, you`re absolutely, right. The civil litigation took us years, took us almost two years to get the testimony finally. The weight of a criminal prosecution, I think, has a very different impact on witnesses, and potential witnesses.
And you`re right, they could take even a long time to prosecute a criminal case. But you prosecute one criminal case, and every other witness that looks at that says, okay, the Department of Justice is serious. The Congress is serious. I better comply, because I do not want to face prosecution.
So, it`s a big club. And it`s necessary, because for four years, effectively the rule of law was undermined, by the leadership of that department. In those days are gone. To me, this will be a real test of the recovery of our democracy, if the Justice Department does not view anyone`s being above the law, and that`s fully my expectation that they will uphold that principle.
🎩 hpg:
💜 Unity? 💜
Biden’s statement on the unprecedented agreement for a global minimum tax (October 8, 2021)
Today’s agreement shows how American leadership and diplomacy is advancing the economic interests of American working families. For decades, American workers and taxpayers have paid the price for a tax system that has rewarded multinational corporations for shipping jobs and profits overseas. This race to the bottom hasn’t just harmed American workers, it’s put many of our allies at a competitive disadvantage as well.
Establishing, for the first time in history, a strong global minimum tax will finally even the playing field for American workers and taxpayers, along with the rest of the world. Secretary Yellen and the rest of my administration have rallied more than 130 countries representing more than 90% of the world’s GDP to bring us one step closer to finally ending that race to the bottom, to ensure that profitable corporations pay their fair share, and provide governments with the resources to invest in their workers and economies.
My Build Back Better agenda, now being considered by Congress, will build on this agreement. It will eliminate incentives to shift jobs and profits abroad, and ensure that multinational corporations pay their fair share here at home. This international agreement is proof that the rest of the world agrees that corporations can and should do more to ensure that we build back better.
I don’t know why the hell the media is not making more noise about that!!! Of course, the media is mostly owned by multinational corporations who will have to go outside those 130 countries to find new tax havens...
Workers going back to the office Peter Grant Wall Street Journal
A widely anticipated surge in employees returning to the office after Labor Day never materialized. But as Covid-19 infection rates fall again, workers are trickling back to the office at the highest rate since the pandemic began.
Office-building use has been slowly rising after a number of businesses required employees to return at least part of the week. In other cases, workers are returning voluntarily with summer vacations over and their children back in school.
The number of workers returning to traditional office space has been edging higher since the week of Labor Day, when an average of 31% of the workforce was back in the 10 major cities monitored by Kastle Systems. The average hit 35% during the week that ended Oct. 1 and 36% during the week that ended Oct. 8, a new high during the pandemic period, said the security company that tracks access-card swipes.
📥 Actions You Can Take 📤
Voting rights. This may be the biggest issue threatening our democracy right now. Besides contacting your representatives at the state and federal level to do the right thing (depending on who they are), you can support and contact these organizations:
ACLU — American Civil Liberties Union
Democracy Docket — founded by Marc Elias, so important in fighting the challenges after the last election.
Fair Fight — founded by Stacey Abrams
🌱Grass roots. Biden and Harris can do the top-down stuff, but we have to support from the bottom. I don’t know how to deprogram 75 million people, but some things have been written about, such as deep canvassing, and lots of people are talking about this. If you know someone (who did not storm the Capitol), then see if you can be pleasant. Instead of trying to reason with them (logic is obviously not their strong point) distract them with something else. We need to remove the sources of lies and to take down the temperature. If we get more of the Rs to wear masks and to get vaccinated and to vote for Ds, the country will be a better place. We need to coax some of them out of the rabbit holes and diffuse the anger and the crazy.
🏃 Run for something. If you want to run for something, but have no idea what to do, these people will help you. They also like money and volunteers to help those people who are running, so even if you’re not in a position to stand for office, you can help. Note: they are especially planning to target the 57 Rs in local governments who participated in the insurrection.
👎 Defund the seditionists. This is a list with companies that sometimes have donated to the seditionists, and their current approach to supporting or not supporting the seditionists. The list is long. You will recognize many of the corporations, and you probably have a relationship with some — either you are a customer, a shareholder, or maybe even an employee. Contact them and compliment or complain, but let them know you are watching. Forward it to others.
🐍 Schadenfreude 😈
Conservative lawyers steer clear of tRump and his current court cases Katelyn Polantz CNN
Washington (CNN)A number of high-powered lawyers who have represented Donald Trump in the past are sitting out his latest legal battle, as the former President prepares to assert executive privilege to block congressional investigators from getting information on the January 6 insurrection.
That's left Trump with a relatively small legal team without a lot of experience litigating issues of executive privilege as he readies for a court fight that could test major issues of presidential authority.
Some go-to attorneys have been spooked by Trump's reputation for sometimes not paying as a client, according to several people familiar with conservative legal circles. Others watched closely as lawyers fled Trump's prior teams,
frustrated by him as a client or facing their own ethical predicaments. Others still want themselves and their firms to stay far away from Trump's insistence that the election was stolen.
"It's not a 10-foot pole" for law firms distancing themselves from Trump, "it's a 1,000-foot pole," said John Yoo, a University of California at Berkeley law professor who held a senior Justice Department position in the George W. Bush administration.
At least 4 lawyers have said NO to him recently. tRump can always get Rudy, right? Oh, wait… But we haven’t had Rudy here for a while, so what’s going on?
Gaetz’s friends (he has friends?) afraid to text him, because they think the FBI is watching Matthew Chapman Raw Story
"Matt Gaetz's friends think twice these days before texting the Florida Republican congressman," reported Robin Bravender. "'They know that there's a massive investigation going on,' one Gaetz friend told Insider. 'That makes people hesitant to reach out.'" Another of Gaetz's friends agreed, saying, "It's a natural sort of reaction. No one wants to inject themselves into anything while there's 16 dozen people looking into everything that comes into that phone."
Gaetz has been caught up in a federal investigation into underage sex trafficking, with his former associate, Florida county tax official Joel Greenberg, cooperating with the Justice Department.
The congressman, an ally of former President Donald Trump, denies any criminal activity, and there is currently no indication that prosecutors are seeking an indictment against him — but that hasn't stopped those in his orbit from speculating.
niftywriter reported earlier this week how Gaetz had a fundraiser and hardly anyone showed up…. chortle, chortle
Here I must give thanks to Maru for posting this in a comment in an Evening Shade.
This may be the reason for the defenestration: Jeff Clark was just subpoenaed by the Jan 6 Select Committee! Summer ConcepcionTalking Points Memo
The House select committee investigating the events of Jan. 6 on Wednesday subpoenaed Jeffrey Clark, a former Trump administration Justice Department official who attempted to use department resources to bolster former President Trump’s election fraud falsehoods.
The subpoena requires Clark to produce documents and appear for a deposition on Oct. 29.
“The Select Committee’s investigation has revealed credible evidence that you attempted to involve the Department of Justice in efforts to interrupt the peaceful transfer of power,” the committee wrote in its letter.
Hopefully the first of many...
📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️
Hooray for the current administration!
And let’s honor Jennifer Jenkens, a woman elected to the school board in Brevard County, FL, who is standing up for sensible choices despite dangerous and illegal harassment by anti-maskers, etc. Here are some of her words from the October 13 edition of The Last Word.
JENKINS: It`s really difficult. The last protest where they came outside of my home, again, I`m not against people using their First Amendment rights. They`re on public property. That`s okay.
But I`m against them terrorizing my family. There was 25 individuals standing outside my home in a small beach town in Florida. They were there for hours. ✂️
I eventually went back inside, but they brandished their weapons in the parking lot in front of my neighbors, my daughter to this day at least twice a week, mommy are those mean people going to be outside again. It`s been really difficult.
Yeah, they did, they vandalized my property. They wrote obscenities in my grass with weed killer. They cut down some of my plants. They did the DCF claim which was really difficult for me. I had to take the DCF investigator to a play date of somebody who I am just an acquaintance of, I don`t even know very well.
So, here I am a school board member walking back to a play date I had just dropped her off to with a DCF investigator with no announcement for them to look underneath her clothes to see if she has burns. It`s a really uncomfortable position to be in, and unfortunately even though the police department is doing their best to have subpoenas sent to the state level to figure out who made that unfounded claim, there`s only so far they can go.
And so, currently, I still have a document that says I had an unfounded DCF claim against me. It`s not something that`s going to go away.
O`DONNELL: What did you tell your daughter about that incident with the DCF during that play date?
JENKINS: You know, the DCF investigator was fantastic. And so, she had no idea what was going on. I really appreciated that person understanding this was very unlikely an unfounded claim. The police department came with her and let her know what`s going on.
She handled it really, really well like a pro, and I was really happy that she was there.
🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️
Working over the years to make life better for a wild animal.
The wildlife officers could not saw through the steel in the tire, so they had to cut back the antlers. But antlers regrow every year. In the meantime, this elk must be feeling as light as dandelion fluff.
️📎Odds & Ends 📎
🐟 How America Is Winning the War on Overfishing David Byrne Reasons to Be Cheerful
Wait, really? I was under the impression that fish populations are dwindling and the oceans are being overfished like crazy. Is there actually some good news?
Answer: Yes, there is. Not everywhere — in some places it’s true that overfishing is rampant. But I was surprised to learn that in others, including the U.S., the effort to fight overfishing has been extremely successful.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 43 fish stocks have been rebuilt since the year 2000. Now, 84 percent of stocks are no longer overfished. And as we at RTBC have seen, a solution in one country or region can often be replicated in another. Step by step. Success breeds success.
Go, deep state!!! And see, after lots of hard work, sometimes milestones are met and things really do get better. But it doesn’t make headlines.
Diseases-carrying mosquitos neutralized Good News Network
In a first for the Southern Hemisphere, researchers have shown a bacteria can successfully sterilize and eradicate the invasive, disease-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito which is responsible for spreading dengue, yellow fever, and Zika.
The breakthrough could support the suppression and potential eradication of Aedes aegypti worldwide.
The landmark trial involved releasing three million male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Northern Queensland, sterilized with bacteria called Wolbachia, across three trial sites over a 20-week period during the summer of 2018.
Farmscraper in Shenzen? Andy Corbley, Good News Network
Combining a vertical farm and office space into a single 51-storey concept out of Chinese mythology, an Italian architect is completing the Shenzhen skyline with a stunning “farmscraper.”
With a façade that features a vertical hydroponic farm extending the entire height of the building, the Jian Mu Tower was designed for a leading Chinese supermarket to be a place where tenants can grow, sell, buy, or consume produce in the same place they work.
Located in the south Chinese city of Shenzhen, the Turin-based Carlo Ratti Associati has unveiled plans to build a 650-foot (218-meter) tower in which 100,000 square feet (10,000 sq. meter) of the glass exterior is dedicated to producing food—590,000 pounds of it per year, which would also contain around a million square feet for office space, a supermarket, gardens, and food court.
They can’t grow everything — yet. And it does not exist — yet. But it will be so cool!
Catalysts could convert CO2 into fuel Science Daily
The goal of tackling global warming by turning carbon dioxide into fuel could be one step closer with researchers using a supercomputer to identify a group of "single-atom" catalysts that could play a key role.
Researchers from QUT's Centre for Materials Science, led by Associate Professor Liangzhi Kou, were part of an international study that used theoretical modelling to identify six metals (nickel, niobium, palladium, rhenium, rhodium, zirconium) that were found to be effective in a reaction that can convert carbon dioxide into sustainable and clean energy sources.
The study published in Nature Communications involved QUT researchers Professor Aijun Du, Professor Yuantong Gu and Dr Lin Ju.
Professor Kou said the research was conducted by modelling the experiments using the National Computational Infrastructure at the Australian National University, looking at how single atoms of the metals would react with two-dimensional pieces of "ferroelectric" materials.
🐦 I do a lot of other writing. A recent offering: Hunters of the Feather, a story about a thinker-linker crow who wants to save birdkind from extinction, and the sequel, Scavengers of Mind. (They’re really good! They’re really cheap! Buy and review or rate positively! And Hunters is also available on Audible!) Other stories, based on Jane Austen novels — including a new one for lovers of Pride & Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet’s Advice to Young Ladies — and others on Greek mythology, can be found here.
💙 What You Can Do to Rescue Democracy 💙
It turns out that participation in democracy is not just an every-four-years event but requires active participation, like, whenever you can find time.
Current projects:
Look in the comments for Progressive Muse’s report on Postcards to Voters
And some other ideas:
You can relax and recharge.
You can join protests and freeway blog.
You can help register new voters.
You can smile.
You can get out the vote for special elections.
You can reach out to upset Republicans. We need to win some back.
You can share your ideas below.
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💙 “Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we all are created equal and the harsh ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart. The battle is perennial, and victory is never assured.” 💙
President Joseph R. Biden
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TRUTH MATTERS. LOVE MATTERS.