Good Day, Gnusies! I am still out of town and still working hard from dawn to dusk helping my family member, so this GNR will be a combo of potluck goodness preceded by some tasty hors d’oeuvres made fresh in yesterday’s news!
Let’s get to the table!
January 6 Committee Hearing Recap
The biggest surprise and notable item in a hearing full of notable news was this:
Cheney: Trump attempted to contact Jan. 6 witness, Lisa Mascaro and Farnoush Amiri, AP, July 12, 2022.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Abruptly raising the question of witness tampering, the Jan. 6 committee revealed Tuesday that Donald Trump had attempted to contact a person who was talking to the panel about its investigation of the former president and the 2021 attack on the Capitol.
“We will take any effort to influence witness testimony very seriously,” said Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. She said the committee had notified the Justice Department.
The person Trump tried to contact declined to answer or respond to his call, Cheney said. Instead the person alerted their lawyer who contacted the committee.
Here’s a good thread from Aaron Rupar including lots of clips of the hearing highlights:
Dramatic testimony from two former right-wing extremists at Tuesday’s hearing helps illustrate the point in a new way, one that implicates large swaths of the GOP in creating those conditions. What they said resembled the sort of introspection you sometimes hear from previously brainwashed, deprogrammed victims who escaped cults. ✂️
A full accounting must include the role of many mainstream Republicans in feeding the belief among countless Americans that the election actually could be procedurally reversed. This no doubt helped fuel rage when Trump’s procedural efforts failed, helping spark the violence.
This dereliction included the studied silence of countless elected Republicans. But it also included the noise made by GOP politicians such as Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.) and Ted Cruz (Tex.), who led an effort to object to Biden’s electors on Jan. 6.
Under the Radar
News About the Abortion Fight — It’s ON
Utah Abortion Ban Stays Blocked In Court—Here’s Where State Lawsuits Stand Now, Alison Durkee, Forbes, July 12, 2022.
Utah’s trigger law banning abortion will remain blocked as the challenge against it moved forward, a state judge ruled late Monday, as abortion providers file a string of lawsuits aiming to block state-level bans that took effect following the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
(go to the linked story above to see what’s happening in LA, MS, KY, OH and TX as well)
Minnesota!
IN Related News
Women in Afghanistan are quietly resisting the Taliban’s attempt to shove them back into the dark:
Secret schools enable Afghanistan's teen girls to skirt Taliban's education ban, Diaa Hadid and Fazelminallah Qazizai, AP, July 12, 2022.
Many Afghan girls aren't waiting for the Taliban government to change their minds. Nor are their teachers.
In Kabul, the rural province of Parwan and the western city of Herat alike, women are running secret schools like Nazanin's. They're also finding loopholes around the Taliban's ban on girls attending secondary education, by operating girls madrassas — religious schools — or tutoring centers that essentially replicate high school courses.
"The fact that people have found all of these different ways to try to work around the Taliban ban is an indication of how desperately people want education for themselves, for their daughters, for the for the girls in their families," says Heather Barr, who for Human Rights Watch closely tracks violations against women and girls in Afghanistan.
While some governments may let poor girls fall through the cracks of the school system or have educational or general policies that discriminate against girls, only Afghanistan has banned girls' secondary education outright, she says. "The Taliban should be deeply ashamed that they've made Afghanistan the only country in the world that's denying girls access to education based on their gender."
🎶 Music for Girls and Women of the World 🎶
Beyoncé demonstrates exactly what those small little men fear so much.
$📈 Economic News 📈$
No, We’re Not In A Recession Yet: Strong Job Market Keeping Economy Safe For Now, Goldman Says, Jonathan Ponciano, Forbes, July 11, 2022.
After the U.S. economy unexpectedly shrank in the first quarter, a decline in the second quarter would constitute a technical recession, or two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth, but the economists note they still believe the odds of a recession over the next year are only about 30%, and 50% over the next two years.
⚖️ Legal Tangles for the Best People ⚖️
Minnesota Trump supporter faces federal fraud charges after burning his own camper and blaming it on BLM: report, Matthew Chapman, Raw Story, July 12, 2022.
On Tuesday, Patch.com reported that a Trump supporter in Minnesota is facing multiple counts of wire fraud after allegedly committing vandalism and arson against his own property, then trying to blame it on Black Lives Matter activists and "Antifa."
"Denis V. Molla, 29, has been charged in federal court with two counts of wire fraud. Molla lied about being targeted by anti-Trump vandals, according to federal investigators," reported William Bornhoft. "On Sept. 23, 2020, Molla falsely reported to law enforcement that someone else had lit his camper on fire, authorities said. Molla reported that his garage door was vandalized with spray-painted graffiti stating, 'Biden 2020,' 'BLM,' and an Antifa symbol, according to investigators. Molla also that his camper was targeted because it had a Trump 2020 flag displayed on it, authorities said."
According to the report, Molla had actually committed the vandalism and arson himself — and then made $300,000 in fraudulent insurance claims for the property he destroyed, $61,000 of which was paid out by his insurance company after he threatened legal action against them.
EXPLAINER: How Trump allies may be pushed to testify in Ga. Kate Brumback, AP, July 13, 2022.
ATLANTA (AP) — As a Georgia investigation into potential criminal interference in the 2020 election heats up, prosecutors are trying to force allies and advisers of former President Donald Trump to come to Atlanta to testify before a special grand jury.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis opened the criminal investigation early last year, and the special grand jury was seated in May at her request. In a letter asking the county superior court chief judge to impanel a special grand jury, she mentioned the need to be able to issue subpoenas for witnesses who were otherwise unwilling to speak with her team.
For witnesses who live outside Georgia, the process of getting a subpoena is more involved than for in-state witnesses. Willis last week initiated that process for seven Trump associates, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Elon sued by twitter
OK, Gnusies. Y’all KNOW I called it right from the beginning. Anywho, here we are and there he was thinking he could waltz away and the Twitter board would be OK with that. Seriously? Ahem, nope:
Twitter sues Elon Musk, setting stage for epic legal battle, Elizabeth Dwoskin and Rachel Lerman, Washington Post, July 12, 2022.
Twitter filed suit Tuesday against Elon Musk to force the billionaire tomake good on his promise to purchase the company, issuing the first legal volley in what is expected to be one of most high-profile business trials in recent history. ✂️
Experts said they anticipated months of agonizing legal drama to play out in the Delaware Court of Chancery, a tiny, clubby court that has decided the outcomes of some of the biggest business squabbles in the U.S. The court has just seven judges — one chancellor and six vice chancellors — who have enormous discretion to force companies to take specific actions.
The process will likely submit Twitter to a grueling level of public scrutiny, forcing the platform to open up its books and expose internal deliberations in ways that might further damage its stock price and reputation, already-battered from the market downturn and months of sparring with Musk. ✂️
There’s a multitude of ways the disagreement could be resolved, legal experts say, though most doubt that Musk will be able to walk away without forfeiting some sort of payment.
🔭🧪 Science! 🧪🔭
I am such a selenophile 😍🌛🌕. If you’re reading early, look out your window quick and you may catch the moonset! If you miss it, don’t worry — this buck moon will appear full tonight, too.
A buck supermoon is rising on Tuesday. Here's what to look for, Wynne Davis, NPR, July 12, 2022.
"The full Moon in July is called the Buck Moon because the antlers of male deer (bucks) are in full-growth mode at this time," as The Old Farmer's Almanac says. "Bucks shed and regrow their antlers each year, producing a larger and more impressive set as the years go by."
What makes this particular buck moon a supermoon is something else. Supermoons by definition happen "when a full moon coincides with the Moon's closest approach to Earth in its elliptical orbit, a point known as perigee," according to NASA.✂️
Supermoons in general appear 17% bigger and 30% brighter than when the moon is at its farthest point away from Earth, according to NASA. Supermoons are slightly bigger and brighter than most full moons, too. Just because it's bigger and brighter doesn't necessarily mean you'll see it unaided, so binoculars may give you a better view. ✂️
And if you're looking for some photography tips to capture this event, NASA has you covered with these handy tips.
The best times to view the buck moon will be at moonrise and moonset. You can find your local times for those here.
James Webb Space Telescope PICTURES!
This AP story has a nice slide show:
Baby stars, dancing galaxies: NASA shows new cosmic views, Seth Borenstein, AP, July 11, 2022.
GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A sparkling landscape of baby stars. A foamy blue and orange view of a dying star. Five galaxies in a cosmic dance. The splendors of the universe glowed in a new batch of images released Tuesday from NASA’s powerful new telescope.
The unveiling from the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope began Monday at the White House with a sneak peek of the first shot — a jumble of distant galaxies that went deeper into the cosmos than humanity has ever seen.
🎶 Moonlight Music 🎶
🍱🍔🍕 Potluck Stuff! 🍔🍕🍱
Remember how the Rs promised Infrastructure until it became a joke? And then Joe Biden was elected and we actually got Infrastructure? YEAH, let’s remind ourselves about all that good stuff!
1. Biden is fixing aging bridges
$27 billion in new money aimed at fixing the nation’s aging bridges
The Biden administration urged states on Friday to get to work bringing thousands of aging bridges up to par, while improving safety and uncorking bottlenecks, with the help of $27.5 billion in new federal aid.
The White House announced the allocation of money to mark 60 days since President Biden signed the $1 trillion infrastructure bill. The bridge program is one of the largest new sources of federal spending in the package and one that encapsulates its bipartisan appeal.
“Modernizing America’s bridges will help improve safety, support economic growth, and make people’s lives better in every part of the country — across rural, suburban, urban, and tribal communities,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement.
2. Biden and the Democrats made the largest investment in railroads since Amtrak was created
3. Biden is modernizing our airports
FAA awards first $3 billion in new airport infrastructure funds
The Federal Aviation Administration announced Thursday how it will allocate the first $3 billion in new funds for airports from the infrastructure law, money that could spur upgrades in terminals and on the tarmac to help get passengers to planes more quickly and into the air on time.
It’s the first major new tranche of federal airport funding since the stimulus adopted after the financial crisis more than a decade ago. It also represents a new level of investment by the federal government in terminals — at an average of 40 years old — which could help airports update aging facilities by plugging gaps in existing funding sources.
4. Biden made Broadband more affordable
5. Biden oversaw one of the largest investments in semiconductor manufacturing in US history
6: Biden and the Democrats brought clean water for Flint
Flint has replaced over 10,000 lead pipes
The city’s effort to remove lead pipes shows what’s possible with funding and political
will.
Now, this once-poisoned city is on the brink of a milestone. A lead water pipe removal program, established under a 2017 court order issued as part of a massive lawsuit on behalf of Flint residents, is inching toward a close. Block by block, house by house, the city and its contractors have excavated and checked more than 27,000 pipes to determine what hidden risks remain under the ground.
The effort has led the city to replace more than 10,000 lead pipes so far, officials say.
7. Plan (and funding) in place to replace lead water pipes in America
After the Flint, Mich., lead contamination crisis, there is a renewed focus on ensuring U.S. water infrastructure gets upgraded. The bill includes $15 billion specifically for lead-pipe replacement. There is also $10 billion to clean up man-made chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The bill also sets aside money for clean drinking water for tribal communities.
8: Made Historic investments in busses and other public transportation
9. Democrats passed one of the largest industrial bills in US history
Making moves to protect our long term economic interests? ✅
10. Biden invested in cybersecurity
Another big behind the scenes move. This is just one example of all the Biden admin has done to increase cyber security
After big hack of U.S. government, Biden enlists 'world class' cybersecurity team
Biden is hiring a group of national security veterans with deep cyber expertise, drawing praise from former defense officials and investigators as the U.S. government works to recover from one of the biggest hacks of its agencies attributed to Russian spies.
“It is great to see the priority that the new administration is giving to cyber,” said Suzanne Spaulding, director of the Defending Democratic Institutions project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Cybersecurity was demoted as a policy field under the Trump administration. It discontinued the Cybersecurity Coordinator position at the White House, shrunk the State Department’s cyber diplomacy wing, and fired federal cybersecurity leader Chris Krebs in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s Nov. 3 election defeat.
Biden’s new cyber czar is pushing for collective defense inside government and out
The Office of the National Cyber Director wants to bring cohesion to efforts to strengthen computer defenses across a sprawling set of more than 100 civilian agencies even as it seeks to drive more robust cybersecurity in the private sector.
“This is the beginning, not the end” of the attempt to ensure that the United States enjoys a secure and open Internet, said National Cyber Director Chris Inglis in an interview Wednesday laying out a strategic vision for the federal government’s newest agency.
Part of that effort may eventually include cybersecurity mandates for critical infrastructure.
11. Biden’s smart actions saved us from a shipping disaster
This is one of MANY things the Biden administration is doing behind the scenes to make our country work. This, my friends, is what a functional government looks like!
Port of LA to go to 24/7 operations, Biden announces
President Joe Biden announced Wednesday morning, Oct. 13, that the Port of Los Angeles will begin operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, continuing months-long efforts from the White House and trade officials to clear supply chain disruptions that threaten the holiday shopping season and the nation’s economic recovery from the pandemic.
The federal push stems from a record-breaking cargo surge that’s lasted since mid-2020, creating huge backups of ships off the Southern California coast and maxing out warehouses in the Inland Empire.
Biden on Wednesday also announced major shippers and retailers, including Walmart, FedEx, UPS, Samsung, Home Depot and Target, have agreed to speed up operations to clear cargo out of the ports and free more space on the docks.
“The supply chain is essentially in the hands of the private sector,” the White House official said, “so we need the private sector to step up to help solve these problems.”
The above items and links came from Goody’s amazing One Hundred Things Biden and the Democrats Did in One Year! GNR. They’ve already achieved more great things — in Democratic led states and on a federal level.
Do you know of local, state or federal infrastructure initiatives that everyone should know about? Please share them in the comments! Links would be a very welcome bonus!
🎶 Music! 🎶
🐩💙 CG’s Picks 💙🐩
Hello Everybody! It’s me, Curlygirl! I am still in Chicago with my babysitter who I really like! I miss Mama, though and I can’t wait for her to get home. But meanwhile, I am having fun! We are going to go watch the buck moon rise over the lake!
Anyway, here are my picks for this week. First, in hot weather, there’s always two dogs like this in any crowd! haha!
These birds are so pretty!
I don’t have a little brother, but if I did, I would be just as patient as this St. Bernard!
And a bonus pick because Mama and I love foxes!
That’s all for me for this week. Bye! 💙🐾
⚡️ Lightning Roundup ⚡️
⚡️ With Roe Gone, Where Do We Go From Here? Jessica Mason Pieklo, Mother Jones, July 12, 2022.
⚡️ Here’s a little “originalism” for the Boofer: There Is No Constitutional Right to Eat Dinner, Matt Ford, The New Republic, July 8, 2022.
⚡️ The Incitement Paper Trail, Russell Berman, the Atlantic, July 12, 2022.
⚡️ Trump Was the “Central Figure” Who Set the Coup in Motion, John Nichols, the Nation, July 12, 2022.
⚡️ Jan. 6 takeaways: ‘Screaming’ and a Trump tweet never sent, MARY CLARE JALONICK, NOMAAN MERCHANT and FARNOUSH AMIRI, AP, July 12, 2022.
⚡️ January 6 hearing makes it clear: MAGA is a cult, Amanda Marcotte, Salon, July 12, 2022.
⚡️ Public education is critical to democracy: The Republican War on the Common Good, Michael Tomasky, The New Republic, July 11, 2022.
⚡️ Buffalo Community Activists Show How to Fight Gerrymandering, Geoff Kelly, the Nation, July 12, 2022.
⚡️ The Coolest Space Picture I’ve Ever Seen, Marina Koren, the Atlantic, July 12, 2022.
⚡️ Old Age, Ralph Waldo Emerson, the Atlantic, January 1862.
💗 How Can You Help Build Our Democracy Back Better? 💗
Put your beautiful bleeding liberal heart into it! 🥰
Democratic litigation hero, Marc Elias was the legal eagle behind the 60 Big Lie losses after the election. Here’s his website, Democracy Docket. You can find information about current cases he is fighting to defend voting rights around the country, as well as actions you can take to help fight voter suppression at the link!
Write to voters around the country with Postcards to Voters. Progressive Muse usually posts an update on current campaigns in the comments and you can also check out the website. It’s easy, fun and it really works to GOTV!
🎩 Also, Goody posted a great list of links and I am going to borrow it because it’s great! 🎩
The only way they can win is by keeping people from voting. They are working like heck to make that happen and we need to do all we can to keep 2022 from being a year when they grab the Senate and House back from us.
How do we do that? Fight voter suppression!
What can you do?
HERE’S HOW TO CONTACT CONGRESS:
U.S. House of Representatives:* Telephone: 202-225-3121
* Website: http://www.house.gov/
U.S. Senate:* Telephone: 202-224-3121
* Website: http://www.senate.gov/
Find your member of Congress and contact him or her:
Let them know what matters to you!
Contact your Representative
Contact your Senator
And remember, all politics is local and personal! Let’s work to flip state and local elected positions Democratic!
Sister District Project — organization that is working to help Dems win state legislature races.
NEW!! Goody set up this place to donate to elect Democrats in tossup House and Senate races:
Did you donate yet? C’mon… it’ll make you feel great! 😁
ALSO NEW!! The States Project
Finally, whenever you feel your hope fading, read this again:
The 3.5% rule: How a small minority can change the world — and recall that we are a majority.
Also check this out:
The Albert Einstein Institution’s 198 Methods of Non-Violent Action
There’s a multitude of people all over this country — in both so-called “red” states and “blue” — who feel just as strongly as you do about this world and its future. We can do this!
💙 RoundUp WindDown 💙
That’s it from me and CG for another Wednesday! I hope you are all taking good care of yourselves and gearing up to do what you can to move the country forward on the arc of human progress.
Happy Wednesday, Gnuville!