Welcome one and all! All the Gnus of Gnuville (that is, the seekers, partakers---birdie takers, bogie takers, 3-putt-takers, ----spreaders, enhancers, elaborators, assemblers, add-ers-on to) the Good News in our corner of the Internet who come here daily bid you welcome! (Suspected etymology: Good News...Good Newsies….G’News-ers…...Gnus.) The Gnuville Breakfast Brunch and Prayer Chapel (“Feed the body, Feed the soul”) is open, so pick out a promising table and sit right down.
Today we have a collection of Good News for your consolation, encouragement, pondering and general balancing of mind, body and soul in the midst of the often dust-devil-ish swirl of gloom, doom, downers and bummers that keep popping up in your news site feeds. I am WineRev, your once-a-month host for this cozy spot. Since I post a daily collection here of Good News Events that happened on a given day from History, I like to incorporate these into my monthly turn here (even if it takes a crowbar, pulleys and 14.73 grams of lard-based candlewax to do it.)
Good News From Politics
This is a political website, looking at and cheering on and working on public issues and candidates from the Left side of the street. With all the HELL that’s been going on the last 6 years around the Screaming Carrot Demon of Mar-a-Lago (coined by Samantha Bee), we all need a lot of stuff in the Other Pan of Lady Justice’s scales to balance things out (and stay sane.)
>>>>>Warming up with an Imported Item: The fascist/trumpist/Orban-ian/Duda-esque/Le Pen wave of crapola is still with us in way too many countries. Great Britain has finally sacked Boris Johnson but his replacement in Liz Truss even worse. Fortunately, Truss is proving to be singularly inept and in mere weeks has said the quiet parts out loud, sacked her Chancellor of the Exchequer (typically the #2 leader in the government) for proposing a full scale sell-out to the 1%, and otherwise proven to be a craven fool. The British public has NOTICED and THIS BRITISH POLL lays out the bleeding in delicious detail. (Nothing like have a negative approval rating, Liz…..of negative 61!)
>>>>>Ever wanted to INVENT Rites or Rituals to mark certain days? Well its time to get to work. TODAY is Jail Bannon Eve. Yes, the utterly reprehensible and ever-disheveled Steve Bannon, human megaphone/MAGA phone for all sorts of Fascist crap is a CONVICT. Well THAT Steve Bannon gave the January 6th Committee the legal middle finger and refused to testify to them, even under pain of a subpoena. (Sub: Latin, “under” Poena Latin, “pain”) The Committee bounced him to the Department of Justice for Criminal Contempt of Congress and Bannon was so arraigned, tried AND CONVCTED of said contempt.
TOMORROW the Baneful Bannon gets SENTENCED in Federal court for the contempt. Rumors here on the EVE are a fine of $200K and JAIL TIME of maybe six months (could go as high as 2 years.) YAY!!! I think for noisemakers at the parties tonight the sound effects should include a judge’s gavel banging down with the Law & Order series sound effect, the clang of a cell door clanging shut, and the jingle of keys in the lock as the tumblers tumble and the bolt shoots home with a click of “BUSTED.” But that’s just me……(Don’t worry about the mere months on this sentence. While Steve-O is cooling his heels with some of his new best friends, he will more than likely been indicted by the State of New York on some much more serious fraud charges----if I recall, stemming from his Build the Wall scam.)
>>>>>>Mary Trump by accident of birth is DJT’s niece. She managed to escape most of the toxicity of the family brand and went into psychology. She gets interviewed from time to time for thoughts and insights into her pathological uncle. Just last week radio guy Thom Hartman had a chat with her and YouTube has it, giving us food for thought and a 9 minute, semi-inside look at things.
WineRev Predicts!
Alright friends and neighbors, with 3 weeks to go until the midterms, who’s gonna win? Nearly every American political writer will tell you “It’ll be close!”----since these people can ONLY “report” political election campaigns as a horserace. ONLY. (Case in Point: how many breathless, fire-breathing stories have you read about Chuck Shumer’s campaign??? Yes, the Majority Leader of the Senate is up for re-election in New York. But, since there is no way to make that into a horserace, his ideas/plans/hopes for a fresh term are utterly unknown and un-reported…..)
Meanwhile…..the Polls are Tightening! Yeah…..and? SINCE, every single election year, in October or so, the polling firms switch from “Registered Voters” to “Likely Voters” as their lead sentence in their press releases, this is ALWAYS TRUE. (Did you know that according to polls, Chuck Shumer’s race is…..TIGHTENING? Wow! “Dems Doomed!”) This meme is even more useless than ever this year: THIS STORY notes how pollsters are finding it harder than ever to get anything like a representative sample of voters…..making them even guess-ier than ever. (And “polls are tightening” because if they all end up near or in the “margin of error” whichever way a given contest turns out, the polling companies can say with a straight face “Our best information showed it could have gone either way….so please hire us again….”)
Well, for your amusement, your ever-lovin’ Lunatic with a Laptop WINEREV has predictions for the Senate and some Governors. In addition to reading the pawprints of Rascal the cat leaving his #3 Litterbox (the one with the best poll results if he uses it BEFORE 10am on odd-numbered days….if its sunny….) I think a) there are a LOT more first-time/infrequent/newly registered voters who will vote this time, which puts the pollsters in a bind since by definition these voters are UNLIKELY. b) women are hacked off! c) senior voters (esp. significant in Florida and Arizona statewide) are more likely than many to vote on the basis of DEFENDING DEMOCRACY, since a lot of them know first hand what lack of democracy means d) the partisan death rate from COVID will reduce GQP numbers in lots of races, and the GQP often starts from behind in many locations, so this makes it even tougher for them. Putting all this together in the blender, my off the wall idea (since I left the top off the blender) is reduced to “Whatever numbers a poll is showing, automatically add +3 to the Democrat’s percentage.”
SO, for the US Senate WineRev PREDICTS: Masto (NV) gets back in. Fetterman (PA) Ryan (OH), Barnes (WI)---after a long night, Beasley (NC) all force winning flips, so +4 net for the Democrats in the Senate, ending the SineManchin Blockade. ALSO, while not another Democratic vote, Mullin (IND) takes Lee (UT!) off the GQP pile, so for some bills, Shumer gets another vote. Demings (FL) I think will be a pure Tossup (but there is still 3 weeks left.) And, since every election has to have a few Upset/Never would Have Thought it Surprises, I will take a sip of the Bourbon Smoothie and add: Franken (IA) sends Grassley to his cornfield.
Governors: WineRev PREDICTS: Democrats Re-elected: Walz (MN), Evers (WI), Kelly (KS!). PA elects Shapiro to keep that seat Democratic. AZ has enough sense to give Hobbs the takeaway/flip for the Democrats and keep Kari Lake fitted with her supervised release, GPS ankle bracelet from her mental health facility. These following will be close enough to be Election night Tossups: Crist in Florida, Abrams in Georgia, Beto in Texas. (What a Southern sweep THAT could be if everything breaks toward hope!) Upset specials: Smith in SOUTH DAKOTA will make that state a longer than usual night of counting. And, supported by THIS DIARY from last week, Democrat Hoffmeister pulls off the Wednesday-morning-after shocker by winning in Okla-Freakin’-homa.
Thus spaketh WineRev……..FWIW.
Good News from Arts, Letters & Music
1632 East Knoyle, England Birth of Christopher Wren, astronomer, architect. Born into a family with royal connections and income, the Puritan Civil War starting in 1640 made for a tense childhood. Still, Wren received a good education. He showed real talent in drawing and some of his anatomical works became medical textbook standards for years. Made contributions to astronomy and studies on geomagnetic properties of the earth that could be adapted for navigation.
In the early 1660s St. Paul’s Cathedral had fallen into disrepair. Wren visited Paris to view Notre Dame and met several Italian architects visiting there at the same time. The Great Fire of London of 1666 destroyed better than half the city. Wren was hired by the Crown to oversee the rebuilding, especially of churches and public buildings. The current St. Paul Cathedral was his design, finished in 1711, as were 51 other churches around London.
1874 Danbury, CT Birth of Charles Ives, composer. From a prominent family, his father had been a Union Army band master and taught instruments, music theory and conducted various musical groups. Charles graduated from Yale, and then was a church organist for a few years. He then worked for an insurance company, and later set up his own firm for the rest of his life. Had creative financial ideas and almost single-handedly invented the field of estate-planning for ordinary people. Produced symphonies, songs (“Three Places in New England" ) and dozens of ”tone poems” all between 1908 and 1927. One morning in ’27 he came downstairs with tears in his eyes and said to his wife, “I can’t compose anymore. I can’t hear any music.” Not another note on paper for last 27 years of his life.
1885 New Orleans Birth of Ferdinand Lamenthe, jazz pianist, composer and singer. Jazz and blues have tangled roots and several claimants as the key person in this genre. WC Handy was one such figure, rivaled only by Lamenthe. Ferdinand could play piano at an early age and had the ear and talent to use classical melodies and tunes and improvise them to acclaim in saloons, brothels and other non-concert hall settings. During World War I and into the 1920s and 1930s, the Red Hot Peppers, led by Lamenthe (stage name Jelly Roll Morton) invented the early jazz practice of re-orchestrating and ad-libbing on well-known standard works.
You can hear a classical TANGO underneath the jazz ad-lib in the right hand as played by Lamenthe/Morton himself:
1973 Sydney, Australia In 1957, after an international architectural design competition, Jørn Utzon, a 38-year old Dane was declared the winner. After controversy, funding issues and then 11 years of construction, Australia welcomes Queen Elizabeth II for a state visit. On this day, she dedicates the Sydney Opera House. The striking, interlaced shell design has become THE signature of the Sydney skyline.
Good News from Big Names in History
If you read History at all you know there are certain names that stick out that you’ve just gotta learn and gotta know. Well here on prior October 20ths of years gone by, some American Big Names did Big Name things.
1803 Washington DC Back in the spring, Napoleon, needing cash to conquer Europe, offers to sell the Louisiana Territory to the United States for the low, LOW price of $15 million (about 2 cents/acre.) President Thomas Jefferson, champion of small government and prudent spending and allergic to national debt, takes a deep breath and agrees. (Sort of an early version of “Only Nixon could go to China.”) On this day the US Senate voted to ratify Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase. It was a BIG deal for several reasons, chief of these: $15 million was 2X the entire federal budget for a year, so this was one MASSIVE vote for MAJOR deficit spending (the US borrowed the money.) Also, President Jefferson had to be almost hysterically relieved----he had pledged his word, and if the Senate didn’t back him, likely HE would have been on the hook for 15 big ones. (His sigh of relief still stirs the leaves of Washington’s city trees every October 20th…..)
1864 Washington DC After a Presidential proclamation the year before, urging the observance of the (heretofore mostly New England) holiday of Thanksgiving, this day President Lincoln proclaims it again, this time setting the fourth Thursday in November as the annual day. (Sarah Josepha Hale, influential editor of the very influential Godey’s Ladies Journal, (and someone who richly deserves to be a Big Name in History) has campaigned more than 20 years for such a national holiday, pestering every President personally since Tyler. Last year Lincoln agreed, and this year is a repeat, so its becoming a thing/habit/custom, and the Widow Hale is quite pleased.)
1944 Leyte Beach, Philippines. 2 ½ years earlier a Japanese invasion had overwhelmed American forces in the colony, and General Douglas MacArthur has been spirited away. He famously promised, “I shall return.” On this day MacArthur makes good his promise. He comes ashore to the cameras, flanked by president-in-exile Sergio Osmena, and Philippine General Carlos Romolo, who became foreign minister after independence in 1946.
Good News from Science
Brainy, creative people keep coming up with creative ideas for the living of life on earth that are worth noting. This is the kind of thinking that may yet save us all!
How about a little historic, applied science, with an assist from brainy engineering?
1866 Washington DC Pierre Lallemont, a mechanic from France, legally protects an idea he has developed for the velocipede, the 2-wheeled “long stepping” contraptions young men would straddle on a center beam, steer with a pivoting front wheel, and propel by taking long steps on either side. Lallemont this day was granted a US patent for a velocipede that featured a rotary crank near the bottom, and driven by foot pedals. Kept working on the idea and in 1892 (26 years later!) patented the “safety bicycle” (both wheels the same size, instead of the “penny farthing” high wheeler; pedals connected with chain drive to the rear wheel).The beginning of the modern bicycle…..so pedal on!
>>>>>>>Ah, Britain! British charm and British hospitality! I mean this is a country that was a major site for the invention and nurturing of the idea of the B&B….the Bed and Breakfast for an overnight stay. Cozy room; comfy bed; a common spot for chatting with fellow guests; a tasty, homemade breakfast…...ahh. But how about going Green with it? THIS STORY notes the first known B&B that is powered by the guests’ E-vehicles! Pull into the car park, lug your luggage out of the car’s boot, and then plug in your wheels to help power up your overnight quarters!
>>>>>>>>Now look…...deserts have a LOT of solar energy, right? But, being deserts, nobody wants to live near them, not in any numbers. So we have the world’s largest desert, the Sahara….potentially the home of the greatest solar panel array in this solar system apart from the planet Mars. AND we have Europe, with people, money, engineering expertise and a pressing need to get off of Russian energy supplies. Put those two facts next to each other and bring in the engineers! THIS STORY tells the tale of a giant electrical cable in the final stages of being laid to connect Solar Panels in Egypt’s part of the Sahara UNDER the Mediterranean Sea to Greece, and from there onto the European grid. Watts….kilowatts…..megawatts…..gigawatts….the power is about to flow!
Good News at random
>>>>>>>>The news from Ukraine is still hard but improving. We of the Eastern European background snatch up any signs and scraps of bad news from among the Russians. Well, in a despicable move, Putin has combed the Russian prisons and promised convicts a chance at freedom IF they will go into the army and go to Ukraine to fight/die. With growing Trumpian talent (“Everything Trump touches dies”), Putin’s convict idea is backfiring. THIS STORY recounts the convict idea but also that the cons are taking the weapons….and deserting….and forming into gangs…..and going on crime sprees in RUSSIAN towns and cities. Bad News for Vlad is Good News for Us!
>>>>>>>>On the GREAT Other Hand, our own Joe Biden keeps showing he knows how to govern and
defend America and democracy and our economy and our knowledge base. Mostly lost in the flurry of stuff going on the Biden Administration has dropped a dump truck full of hammers on the Chinese. Using certain tools, diplomacy and a high-tech form of carrot-and-stick, THIS STORY recounts a dramatic and sudden “restructuring” of the global semi-conductor industry IN FAVOR OF THE U.S.
Good News from all of You….TO all of you!
The floor is open, the server booted up, the hay baler kick-started, and the blender row stands ready for mimosas! Come one, come all and bring your uplift, your stories, your comments, your pictures of four-pawed friends, your Good News accounts, your reactions, your thoughts, your digressions and your links in the Comment section below.
May all your News be Good, comforting and inspiring.
Shalom.
Very Truly yours,
WineRev