The Good Gnus group is a community of readers, writers, activists, supporters, community builders, and patriots. We begin gathering every day at 7 a.m. ET to celebrate national good news. Our most active members are of course a subgroup of members of Daily Kos, whose Front Pages celebrate “News, Community, Action.” However, you don’t have to be a member of Daily Kos to be a Gnusie.
We are realists, not fools, idiots, or ostriches. We seek the truth. We know we live in a world where active, nefarious, and evil decision-makers do very bad things, and create stress and anxiety in us, our loved ones, our friends, our neighbors, and our allies, and destroy people and systems we hold dear. However, we choose to focus on the good news that people create around the country.
Sometimes we ourselves create Good News. Together we are strong and resilient. We return regularly to these pages to revitalize.
In a Good News Roundup, the weight of bearing good news is not borne by the author alone: Gnusies can be counted on to adorn the comment section with good news. Often commenters create three times as many comments as Recommendations! If you cannot linger with us for hours, I recommend you return in the mid or late afternoon, learn who your favorite commenters are, and Find their names on return visits. We count on certain favorite Gnusies to bless us in the comments with humor, hope, history, and analysis every day.
We bring good news, and we create good news.
Peace! 20 Year War Ends! President Biden declares end to centuries of military adventurism.
Mark Sumner, Daily Kos Staff:
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden delivered an address that officially brought America’s 20-year war in Afghanistan to a close. There’s no doubt that conflict will continue in that country as the Taliban, ISIS-K, and other forces scramble to gain control in a civil war that has gone on over twice as long as the U.S. involvement in that country. It also seems likely that there will be more drone strikes or other military actions as the U.S. seeks retribution for the airport bombing that took the lives of 13 young service women and men who were days away from leaving. But the era of American “boots on the ground”—the era of America occupying Afghanistan and trying to remold that country into something it has never been—is over.
Perhaps more importantly, in a forceful speech that won’t get one tenth the attention it deserves, President Biden made it clear that occupation and “nation building” do not serve America’s interest, and that in a completive [Probably “competitive,” ~2thanks] world where both terrorism and other nations present an ever-shifting challenge, the last thing America needs is to be bogged down supporting thousands of troops deployed on decades-long missions. “This decision about Afghanistan is not just about Afghanistan,“ said Biden. “It’s about ending an era of major military operations to remake other countries.“
: 16h
Thank you, @JamesCarville
meme:
Gnusies met, cavorted, and shared at our wellspring over the past 7 days
In case you missed one … or two …
MCUBernieFan, Saturday: Roundup, 9/4/2021
chloris creator, Friday: The Best Way Out Is Through
Mokurai, Thursday: The Day the Dam Breaks for Real
niftywriter, Wednesday: Here Comes September!
arhpdx, Tuesday: How to cope when bad news is overwhelming
chloris creator called arhpdx’s introduction brilliant, and I agree. ~2thanks:
arhpdx: One of our faithful commenters, Edward Song, said this last Thursday: “In the back pages of the news, science is making progress in protecting the environment and combating climate change. Thanks for reminding us.” Thank you, Edward! Remembering to read the back pages is one of the keys to finding good news, not only on science and the environment but also on social and political progress. The belief in “if it bleeds, it leads” seems now to be baked into American journalism at all levels in all types of media. So finding good news takes work. Those of us who write these good news roundups do so not only for our community of readers but also for ourselves — I know my mental health would be a lot shakier if I weren’t focusing on good news and tuning out the cacophony of disaster headlines, finger-pointing, and ever-more-shrill political posturing.
Finding good news doesn’t mean falling into a state of denial about the bad news, however. We’re seeking balance, not numbness. Since the vast majority of the news we see is scary, depressing, and paralyzing, we need to search for good news to balance that out so we can persist in doing our vital work as activists.
The Progress Network published a brilliant piece by Emma Varvaloucas (How to Read the News Without Losing Your Mind: 5 things to remember before giving up on everything) that addresses exactly this issue. [More.]
Jessiestaf, Monday: From the GNR Newsroom
2thanks, Sunday: 2 Polls: Bill's + Evening Shade? ☼ Updated x2
7 a.m. ET, every day.
Aysha Qamar for Daily Kos:
- Educate yourself
- Follow and amplify Afghan voices
- How you can help now
- Donate
- Be present, show solidarity
Remember to always listen and amplify Afghan refugees. Do what advocates say they need not what you think they need.
Honestly, this thread is golden. It lists things to do and avoid in efforts to support Afghanistan. Take a look for yourself below—it's pretty extensive.
Poll #1: Who Won the Week?
Cheers and Jeers archive and future editions here. Way, way more than 2 thanks to The One, our Wicked Wizard of Wit and writer of Who Won the Week, Willhelm von kosland!
- The health of the planet and its inhabitants, as production of leaded gasoline ends, preventing a million premature deaths per year
- The rescue, recovery, utility, and government disaster-relief personnel working their butts off in the wake of monster hurricane Ida
- Renters in New York, as the state government extends the eviction moratorium until January 2022
- The democracy-loving patriots who took part in the voting rights marches around the country
- The Union, as the Virginia Supreme Court rules that the huge statue of confederate traitor Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue can (and will) come down
- President Biden, for having the guts to end the endless war in Afghanistan
- Federal Judge Rosemary Márquez, who struck down a Trump rule allowing pollution of millions of streams, wetlands, and marshes across the country in violation of the 1972 Clean Water Act
- Black homeowners (esp. in the South), as FEMA simplifies verification rules for disaster relief applicants who lack certain legal documents for inherited property
- Good-trouble makers on TikTok and Reddit, for flooding Texas's rat-on-your-neighbor "abortion vigilante" website with fake reports, Shrek memes, and porn
- Michigan's Taylor North, for defeating Ohio's Hamilton West Side to win the 74th Little League World Series---the first Michigan victory since 1959
Bill’s Friday poll is here.
Who won the week for you? Who made a winning move after Bill's deadline on Friday?
Our map of Gnuville: 655 of us have shared our global locations!
To leave your mark, please Reply in the comments to tljdk or silverfoxcruiser. Please include your city and state only, NOT street number and street. (Please persist, we are volunteers.)
Image: Two maps of the United States, one above the other. Both maps indicate the approximate locations of members of the Good News Roundup community. The lower map contains many more blue pin-markers than the upper map. Upper image: A map of Gnuville from February 15, 2019 with fewer than 50 Gnusie pins. Lower image: A map of Gnuville from March 21, 2021 with 582 pins across our orb. [Thanks Kluger2!]
If you join us regularly, are you Following us? More than 400 Kosacks Follow us.
Tech Talk for Kosacks
Where Ever is Herd
Morning Good News Roundups at 7 x 7: These Gnusies lead the herd at 7 a.m. ET, 7 days a week:
- The Monday GNR Newsroom (Jessiestaf, Killer300, and Bhu). With their five, we survive and thrive.
- Alternating Tuesdays: NotNowNotEver and arhpdx.
- Wednesdays: niftywriter.
- Thursdays: Mokurai the 1st, 2nd, and 5th (when there is one), oldhippiedude the 3rd, MCUBernieFan the 4th.
- Fridays: chloris creator. Regular links to the White House Briefing Room.
- Saturdays: GoodNewsRoundup. Heart-stirring and soul-healing introduction and sometimes memes to succumb to.
- Sundays: 2thanks. A brief roundup of Roundups, a retrospective, a smorgasbord, a bulletin board, an oasis, a watering hole, a thunder of hooves, a wellness, a place for beginners to learn the rules of the veldt.
hpg posts Evening Shade diaries at 7:30 p.m. ET every day! After a long day, Gnusies meet in the evening shade and continue sharing Good News, good community, and good actions. In the words of NotNowNotEver: “hpg ably continues the tradition of Evening Shade.” Find Evening Shades here.
oldhippiedude posts Tweets of the Week on Sundays at 6 p.m. CT. Our second evening Gnusie hangout zone! In search of a TOTW diary? Look here or here.
For more information about the Good News group, please see our detailed Welcoming comment, one of the first comments in our morning diaries.
The 6 R’s of the Resistance
Joe Biden is now our President. However, we continue to stay vocal and active, we continue to pull Joe to the left, and we continue resist the GQP.
- 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 …
From chloris creator:
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.
From GoodNewsRoundup
Most important: DON'T LOSE HOPE. This is a giant and important fight for us but, win or lose, we keep fighting and voting and organizing and spreading truth and light. We never give up.
On Daily Kos:
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 resisting?
Top Image: Starhawk created this diary’s top image of the rampant gnu and gave it to the members of the Good News Roundup group (Gnusies)! Thank you, Starhawk! This is a quite detailed sketch of a gnu drawn in brown, green, and black. A happy and dynamic gnu dances on its left hind leg in a classic rampant heraldric pose. Joyful letters prance above and behind the mane: “Happy Dance.” Signature: Nick Korolev, 2021.
Our 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 4 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, him)