Welcome 😄 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News!
Sometimes I get mad at the media, because the reporting strikes me as so unfair. Biden has been flayed for the way the Afghanistan war is ending, all the while the media ignores the fact that Bush started the war, and skipped the chance to end it honorably. tRump actually surrendered, freeing the Taliban prisoners who have marched through the country. And although many have said the Afghanis were not willing to fight for their country, they were mostly shut out during the tRump negotiations, giving the Afghanis little reason to trust the US. (And, yes, Obama should have left as well.)
The Afghan government asked the Biden team NOT to start evacuating people earlier, because it would start a panic (which we have seen). The Biden team did warn Americans to get out anyway, over and over.
The Biden team needed a few days to ramp up, but they have ramped up the evacuation.
And now there is this terrible suicide bombing and more than a dozen soldiers have died (there have been lots of bombings in this country; that’s one of the reasons we’re leaving). Because the Ds actually try to get stuff done, and it doesn’t always run perfectly, while the Rs make messes and ignore their responsibilities. Governing is hard, if you care about it.
Still, we have gotten out many tens of thousands.
And there has been wonderful news this week about movement on many matters of justice.
And more people are getting vaccinated, finally, and those who aren’t are getting pushback.
Come on in and read about some of the good news bits that are happening, to fortify yourselves to fight the bad.
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, August 26, 2021: Statement by Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Eviction Moratorium
- Thursday, August 26, 2021: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki, August 26, 2021
- Thursday, August 26, 2021: Remarks by President Biden on the Terror Attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport
- Thursday, August 26, 2021: A Proclamation Honoring the Victims of the Attack in Kabul, Afghanistan
- Wednesday, August 25, 2021: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki, August 25, 2021
- Wednesday, August 25, 2021: Bills Signed: H.R. 1448 and H.R. 3642
- Wednesday, August 25, 2021: FACT SHEET: Biden Administration and Private Sector Leaders Announce Ambitious Initiatives to Bolster the Nation’s Cybersecurity
- Wednesday, August 25, 2021: President Biden Announces Elizabeth M. Allen as Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs
- Wednesday, August 25, 2021: Background Press Call by Senior Administration Officials on President Biden’s Official Working Visit with Prime Minister Bennett of the State of Israel
- Wednesday, August 25, 2021: Remarks by President Biden on Collectively Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity
- Wednesday, August 25, 2021: President Biden Announces His Intent to Nominate Two Leaders in U.S. Foreign Policy and Aid
- Wednesday, August 25, 2021: FACT SHEET: Biden Administration Takes Additional Steps to Prevent Evictions as the Delivery of Emergency Rental Assistance Continues to Increase
- Wednesday, August 25, 2021: FACT SHEET: Strengthening the U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership
- Wednesday, August 25, 2021: Background Press Call by Senior Administration Officials on the President’s Upcoming Cybersecurity Meeting
- Tuesday, August 24, 2021: Remarks by President Biden on the Ongoing Evacuation Efforts in Afghanistan and the House Vote on the Build Back Better Agenda
- Tuesday, August 24, 2021: President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Approves California Disaster Declaration
- Tuesday, August 24, 2021: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki, August 24, 2021
- Tuesday, August 24, 2021: Background Press Call by Senior Administration Officials on Afghan Arrival Processing
- Tuesday, August 24, 2021: Press Briefing by White House COVID-19 Response Team and Public Health Officials
- Tuesday, August 24, 2021: Statement by Press Secretary Jen Psaki on President Biden’s Meeting with G7 Leaders
- Tuesday, August 24, 2021: Remarks by Vice President Harris on the Indo-Pacific Region
- Tuesday, August 24, 2021:President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Approves Tennessee Disaster Declaration
- Monday, August 23, 2021: Remarks by President Biden Welcoming the WNBA Champions, the Seattle Storm
- Monday, August 23, 2021: Remarks by President Biden on the COVID-19 Response and the Vaccination Program
- Monday, August 23, 2021: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, August 23, 2021
- Monday, August 23, 2021: Readout of President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Call with Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom
- Monday, August 23, 2021: President Biden Intends to Appoint Members to the Federal Labor Relations Authority Federal Service Impasses Panel
- Monday, August 23, 2021: President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Approves Vermont Emergency Declaration
- Monday, August 23, 2021: FACT SHEET: Strengthening the U.S.-Singapore Strategic Partnership
- Sunday, August 22, 2021: Remarks by President Biden on Tropical Storm Henri and the Evacuation Operation in Afghanistan
- Sunday, August 22, 2021: President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Approves the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Emergency Declaration
- Sunday, August 22, 2021: Statement by Press Secretary Jen Psaki on President Biden’s Meeting with G7 Leaders
- Sunday, August 22, 2021: President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Approves New York Emergency Declaration
- Sunday, August 22, 2021: President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Approves Connecticut Emergency Declaration
- Saturday, August 21, 2021: Readout of President Biden’s Call with Speaker Pelosi on Afghanistan Evacuations and the Build Back Better Agenda
- Saturday, August 21, 2021: Readout of President Joe Biden’s Call with President Pedro Sánchez of Spain
- Saturday, August 21, 2021: Readout of President Joe Biden’s Call with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed
- Saturday, August 21, 2021: President Biden Announces Presidential Delegation to the Republic of Zambia to Attend the Inauguration of His Excellency Hakainde Hichilema
- Saturday, August 21, 2021: President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Approves Rhode Island Emergency Declaration
- Saturday, August 21, 2021: Readout of President Biden Call with Northeastern Governors in Advance of Hurricane Henri
- Friday, August 20, 2021: Readout of President Joe Biden’s Call with Amir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar
- Friday, August 20, 2021: Statement by Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Eviction Moratorium
- Friday, August 20, 2021: Readout of President Joe Biden’s Call with Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy
- Friday, August 20, 2021: Remarks by President Biden on Evacuations in Afghanistan
- Friday, August 20, 2021: President Biden Announces His Intent to Nominate Three Individuals to Serve as Ambassadors
- Friday, August 20, 2021: President Biden Announces Presidential Delegation to Ukraine to Attend the Crimea Platform Summit and 30th Anniversary of Independence
- Friday, August 20, 2021: Letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate on Blocking Property with Respect to Certain Russian Energy Export Pipelines
- Friday, August 20, 2021: Executive Order on Blocking Property with Respect to Certain Russian Energy Export Pipelines
- Friday, August 20, 2021: President Biden Intends to Appoint Maria-Elena Giner as Commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission
CDC: 365,767,674 vaccinations administered as of August 26, 2021 9 am.
This really is a pandemic of the unvaccinated. See this piece at Washington Post for a comparison between states.
these have been normalized for population, with Biden states in blue. Can see ICU and deaths
👎 Out with the Bad, In with the Good 👍
Out with the bad: Lying lawyers recommended for disbarment The Rachel Maddow Show 8/25/2021
Lawyers, as I said, for Michigan and the city of Detroit brought this case, not because they were in any risk of losing, right? The judge had already dismissed the case, had laughed it out of court very shortly after it was filed after the election. They went back to that judge and asked for this additional action by the judge to persuade the judge to punish the Trump lawyers who did this for a very specific reason.
In their closing arguments to the court, the lawyer for Detroit asked the judge in this case to, quote, let the world know that attorneys in this country are not free to use our courts to spread lies and undermine our democracy. Detroit`s lawyers asked the court to sanction the Trump lawyers, require them to pay the costs of the court case, including the other side`s attorneys` fees. They asked the court to refer these lawyers for disbarment, in part as a determent against any other lawyers that might try to use the court system in the same way.
And tonight in this ruling, this federal judge agreed with every one of those points. The judge in her ruling even cited Detroit lawyer David Fink`s memorable contention that the Trump lawsuit was, quote, the dangerous product of an online feedback loop derived not from a serious analysis of case law but from the rantings of conspiracy theorists, sharing amateur analysis and legal fantasy in their social media echo chambers.
The judge quoted that from David Fink today approvingly in her ruling. And indeed, she agreed with what fink and his colleagues were asking for. The Trump lawyers have now all been referred by the court for potential disbarment in their home states. Wow.
👶 And this is good, even great:
More bad rejected
💣 Republicans in Disarray 💣
Jan 6 commission “asks” for documents John Wagner Washington Post
The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection issued its first sweeping requests Wednesday for records from federal agencies pertaining to the attack on the Capitol and President Donald Trump’s efforts to subvert the election.
In letters demanding materials from the National Archives and seven other agencies,
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), the committee chairman, signaled that an expansive investigation is underway, touching not only on what happened Jan. 6 but also on matters such as “the former President’s knowledge of the election results and what he communicated to the American people about the election.”
Thompson gave the agencies a two-week deadline to produce materials and asked Archivist of the United States David Ferriero to use his authority under federal regulations to swiftly address the request for records from the Trump White House.
The demands include a lot of people and are satisfying. They also go into some other matters, such as tfg’s mental state, as we see here: Transcript from the ReidOut, 8/25/2021
Here`s some of what the committee is requesting. And this is possible material related to militias and conspiracy theorists, including all documents and communications referring and relating to QAnon, the Proud Boys, Stop the Steal, Oath Keepers, the 3 Percenters, or concerning the -- I mean, all concerning the election 2020 results.
But here`s another thing they`re requesting, all documents and communications related to the mental stability of Donald Trump or his fitness for office.
The panelists warn not all will be readily available, but this should be interesting. Here’s another look:
trumpworld deserting capitol rioters Kelli Weill and Asawin SuebsaengThe Daily Beast
D.C. police are on high alert ahead of a planned September rally in support of imprisoned Jan. 6 riot suspects, but those close to the ringleader of the original rally want nothing to do with it.
Playing on popular pro-Trump talking points, the rally scheduled for Sept. 18 calls for the release of alleged Capitol rioters currently held in a Washington, D.C., jail, whom it characterizes as “political prisoners.” The event has the city’s police planning a “full activation,” with all officers ready to respond.
But despite its popularity with Proud Boys, and its origin with a former Trump campaign official, in the upper ranks of Trumpworld the event isn’t even on the radar. Of the eight individuals—close associates of the ex-president, as well as former Trump White House officials and 2020 campaign brass—most of them hadn’t even heard of the Sept. 18 rally until The Daily Beast contacted them this week. Almost all of them said they wanted nothing to do with it. “I hadn’t heard [about it],” said a former senior aide on the Trump re-election campaign. “I think Jan. 6 defendants are being massively abused, for sure. But doubt I’d partake in any event.”
Maybe Gaetz and Empty Green will show up.
Cyber Ninjas ordered to preserve their records Cristina Cabrera Talking Points Memo
An Arizona judge on Wednesday ordered Cyber Ninjas, the company Arizona Republicans hired to run a shoddy review of the 2020 elections, to preserve documents of its audit for public release.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Hannah’s decision marks the first time Cyber Ninjas has been ordered directly to keep its records amid multiple lawsuits seeking transparency in the politicized and largely secretive operation.
The judge’s order is part of the Arizona Republic’s lawsuit against Cyber Ninjas and the GOP-controlled Arizona Senate for documents about the audit.
I hope we get some clarity as to the funders as well as those who participated. Oh, I guess this will have to wait until they get over from covid.
And, there are signs that the factions in the R party are not always happy with each other:
⚡️ GOP congressional intern resigns after his boss likens vaccination passports to the Holocaust Raw Story
⚡️ GOP leader quits after controversial fundraiser with MTG Raw Story
💙 Democrats Being Cool 💙
🔎 Something important in the John Lewis Voting Rights Act Greg Sargent Washington Post
But the act also seeks to limit the court’s ability to uphold measures making voting harder and to strike down measures making voting easier. It requires the court, in hearing cases on election rules, to put greater weight on the “public’s interest in expanding access to the right to the vote.”
And it bars the court from overturning lower court rulings that expand voting access unless it determines that this places burdens on the public interest that “substantially outweigh” its interest in expanding that voting access.
Pelosi is awesome
Note polls have been wrong before. But this is so much better than the other direction...
It helps to have a good governor:
💜 Unity? 💜
Afghanistanis welcome, response to ending the war: example from Fort Bliss KVIA
FORT BLISS, Texas -- El Paso Congresswoman Veronica Escobar visited with Afghanistan evacuees at the Fort Bliss Army post during a tour of the refugee housing area on Wednesday evening.
She said she talked with some Afghans who told her they had "lost everything" as they fled their homeland, but were grateful to be in America. ✂️
"Every single service member told me how proud they were to be a part of this mission," she told the media at a news conference at the conclusion of her visit. "I told service members they are taking part in an important part of history."
Fort Bliss is one of multiple military facilities across the nation being used to house Afghanistan refugees.
📥 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 😈
Delta fighting delta Ivana Saric Axios
Delta Air Lines will impose a monthly $200 surcharge on unvaccinated employees enrolled in the company's health care plan, CEO Ed Bastian announced in a memo Wednesday.
Why it matters: The move makes Delta the first major U.S. company to impose a monetary penalty on workers who choose to remain unvaccinated, according to Bloomberg.
Driving the news: While 75% of Delta employees are vaccinated, the move is intended to increase vaccination amid heightened concern over the "very aggressive" Delta variant, Bastian said in the memo.
I understand a lot of flight folk are unvaccinated, so this is a great move.
And this is excellent:
Note the guy above is co-operating. This means others can expect many more years.
Some more good news in Michigan:
Anti-vax lawyer on ventilator John Wright Raw Story
Attorney John Pierce, who has represented Kenosha, Wisconsin, shooting suspect Kyle Rittenhouse [Ed: who fired him!] as well as more than a dozen Capitol rioters, reportedly is on a ventilator after contracting COVID-19. ✂️
"Mr. Pierce is in the hospital, we believe, with COVID-19, on a ventilator, non-responsive," the attorney from his office reportedly told a judge.
Now, I am not wishing this man death. However, I don’t mind that the Capitol rioters are having to scramble for representation.
Yeah, no tears here
👢 Wellstar Tech employee no longer has a job after comparing vaccine to Holocaust WSBTV
COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Hospital officials in Cobb County say a surgical tech is “no longer an employee” after she posted a video comparing the hospital’s vaccine mandate to the Holocaust.
Jessica Renzi was a surgical technologist with the Wellstar Healthcare System, according to her social media accounts, which she has since deleted.
Renzi posted a video to TikTok in which she showed off a hand-drawn “tattoo” with her vaccine lot number. The fake tattoo is reminiscent of tattoos given to prisoners at concentration camps during the Holocaust. The “numbers” actually spell out a vulgar phrase.
📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️
Indivisible has created a Truth Brigade to push back against the lies.
Propaganda, false characterizations, intentionally misleading messages, and outright lies threaten our democracy and even our lives. We can effectively combat disinformation, despite the well-funded machines that drive it. They may have money, but we have truth and we have people. People believe sources they trust. When we share and amplify unified, factual messages to those who trust us, we shift the narrative. When we do this by the thousands--we’re part of the Indivisible Truth Brigade, and we get our country back. Join us.️
Our own Mokurai is a member. You can see his diary on the California recall here.
🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️
This friendship is so unlikely I had to share it: Teenager makes friends with a bumblebee Good News Network️
not Betty
It all started two weeks ago when Lacey Shillinglaw, 13, spotted the large bumblebee lying in the road while walking her dog. She scooped up the bee and noticed it had a crumpled wing.
She tried to put it in a safer spot, on some flowers in a nearby park, but it refused to stay put, buzzing back over to Lacey and crawling all over her, and after an hour she gave up and headed home with the creature perched on her shoulder.
Despite repeated attempts to leave the insect outside, the buzzy friend has refused to leave Lacey’s side. Now recovered and named Betty, it follows her to the shops and even stayed with Lacey during games at the bowling alley with 14 friends.
The bee gets fed, goes in and outside with Lacey, and sleeps in an open jar by her bed.
📎Odds & Ends 📎
Renewables doing well in US Climate Nexus EcoWatch
New renewable energy installations are on record pace this year, new industry data shows.
The Q2 report from the American Clean Power Association shows more than 2 gigawatts of solar energy were installed in April through June, along with nearly 3 gigawatts of wind capacity. Battery storage installed this year almost matches the storage installed throughout all of 2020.
Texas, by far the leading state in terms of installed clean power capacity, installed almost 1.5GW of clean power in QW2 alone, nearly triple runner-up California. Despite the industry's robust growth, both it and the White House agree new policy is needed to ensure the president's goal of achieving 100% carbon-free power by 2035 is met.
Cleaning up the rivers to clean up the ocean Michaela Haas Reasons to Be Cheerful.
Note Marcella Hansch first worked on the oceans, but there were problems.
But Hansch wasn’t ready to give up. “I’m thick-headed,” she declares with a laugh. She researched where plastic cleanup could be a more feasible solution and found her answer in a different sort of water: rivers. “About 80 percent of trash reaches the oceans through the rivers,” she says. “They are basically the spigots that carry the debris into the seas.” Together with the biologist Tilman Peter Flöhr, who had already analyzed debris flows in the Chinese Yangtse and the Indian Ganges, and the journalist Clemens Feigl, she founded the everwave foundation in 2018.
In cooperation with the German boatmaker Berky, the trio designed and built specialized boats with a conveyor ramp that can skim up to 20 tons of trash per day from rivers and lakes — a less spectacular solution than the original concept, but arguably more effective.
“That is more useful for the solution than devoting yourself to the Herculean task of cleaning the ocean of plastic waste,” says Thilo Maack. For instance, a ten-day run in the German Danube this spring sponsored by the environmental foundation of automaker Audi yielded more than 7,000 pounds of pure plastic. After local test runs, the indigo blue CollectiX-boats had their first big deployments in Slovakia and at the Drina dam in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where vast patches of debris even shut down hydroelectric plants. “We go where we are needed the most,” Hansch explains. “Especially in the border regions, nobody feels responsible for the trash.” And when her home state in Northern Germany experienced catastrophic flooding in July, she quickly deployed one of her boats to help clear a nearby river of wood and debris.
⚡️ Sierra Leone is turning roadway vibrations into energy Reasons to Be Cheerful
”Access to energy is a human right. We cannot function in an energy-less society.”
Those were Jeremiah Thoronka’s thoughts as he looked back on his childhood in war-torn Sierra Leone. Even today, only six percent of rural residents in Sierra Leone have access to electricity, relying instead on expensive batteries or kerosene.
So, when he was 17, Thoronka founded Optim Energy, a startup that harnesses the kinetic energy of objects in motion and converts it into emissions-free electricity. The device he developed can be installed underneath busy roads, where it generates electrical currents from the vibrations of cars and even pedestrians. So far, Optim’s pilot programs have proven to be successful. In Kuntoluh, the area where Thoronka lives, the startup has provided free, clean energy to 150 households and 15 schools with over 9,000 students.
“The Sun is not always shining, water is drying up, fossil fuels are not always going to be used,” Thoronka told the BBC, “but people are always moving.”
Germany is also working on this, using the road vibrations to charge EV stations. Recycling energy! This was in yesterday’s GNR.
🐦 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.
🌻
💙 “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
🌹 🌹 🌹
TRUTH MATTERS. LOVE MATTERS.
