Good Day, Gnusies! It’s great to be with you all on the first Tuesday in December!
I was so inspired by Jessiestaf’s GNR intro yesterday and I wanted to carry on in a similar theme here today because I think this is a topic worth repeating (and you’ll see I do repeat it in the GNR 😊). As is my habit, I gathered stories and outlined my GNR and put it all together while leaving my intro for last. I just work like that, for some reason. But sometimes I still have trouble putting together the words for an intro.
Last night I didn’t even have to try! Because a Gnusie here in Gnuville wrote something great in a comment to Jessistaf’s Monday GNR!
One of yesterday’s stories was about how some people were dismissing various progressive movements as failures for one reason or another (basically because they didn’t achieve instant, total success in all their goals), but the article Jessiestaf cited pointed out that actually, those movements have all quietly spearheaded changes for the better.
Gnusie martydoc commented on that and on the general theme of Jessiestaf’s diary. Their comment is so good that I am going to quote it here for my intro:
And related to the piece on three movements not coming close to achieving their aims. Sigh. And then a report that hey, actually, all those climate change reports and warnings DID have an effect! It took a while, but the message finally sank in. Well, guess what? It’s the same with those three movements!
Let’s aim high like Joe’s moonshot.
Why people expect magic wands to be waved and everything be all better immediately is beyond me, but evidently, that’s what people expect. Of movements. Of Biden. But the reality is different. And I suspect those three movements (and the ones for gun safety measures, voting rights, abortion rights, immigration reform, and on and on and on) know the truth, and young voters and organizers are learning the truth, too, just as every generation has to learn it: moving the needle takes time and effort and lots and lots of dedication.
You keep pushing, you keep thinking you’re speaking into the void, you keep at it anyway, and then finally, the chink in the opposition appears. Then it widens. And then change happens. It won’t be all the change you want, and the fight will need to be renewed over and over again. But the change happens. Look at Obamacare, for heaven’s sake! Decades in the making. Setbacks galore. But eventually, it became a law. And we’re all the better for it.
We all need to keep setting our aims high, but then celebrate every time we reach even a small step along the way. No, movements should not fold up their tents and go home, say “well, we didn’t reach all our aims yet,” and basically say it isn’t worth it because we haven’t got all we wanted right away! Balderdash. Take every “yes” you can for an answer, and then start fighting for the next “yes.”
To me, that’s what re-electing Biden means, fighting for the next “yes.” Give him the House, give him the Senate, and then let him and other Democrats “finish the job”! Even though we know it will never be finished . . . The forces of good and kindness and equality and democracy can never, ever think they are finished. But that doesn’t mean we think what we have achieved is a failure. Or badmouth it because it’s not enough. It’s another step forward in the fight for the common good . . . And that’s success in my book, and gives us hope to re-energize and take on the next battle.
Thanks for this wise and well-crafted intro, martydoc!
🎶 Opening Music to Energize You 🎶
💙 🤜🏻🤛🏽 Democrats Deliver 🤜🏿🤛🏼 💙
President Biden tells Republicans to fund Ukraine aid
I’m constantly relieved that we have a competent and no-malarky Commander in Chief, Joe Biden!
Biden To Mike Johnson And His MAGA Creeps: Ukraine Money. Give It, Weirdos. Evan Hurst, Wonkette, December 4, 2023.
The Biden administration sent congressional leaders a letter today with a simple message: Ukraine money. Now. Stop dicking around and displaying your tailfeathers for Fox News. The adults are busy trying to protect the world from Russia. Get out of the way.
I want to be clear: without congressional action, by the end of the year we will run out of resources to procure more weapons and equipment for Ukraine and to provide equipment from U.S. military stocks. There is no magical pot of funding available to meet this moment. We are out of money—and nearly out of time.
The letter explains that cutting off funding and resources will “kneecap Ukraine on the battlefield” and threaten to give Vladimir Putin all kinds of victories. (Don’t threaten House Republican traitors with a good time, right?) It also gently explains that our aid for Ukraine is helping American military readiness, as when we send things to Ukraine, we replace it in our own stockpiles, and that this is in turn goosing our own economy. (In a hell of a lot of red and purple states, it very loudly scream-whispers.)✂️
It concludes by reminding lawmakers that helping Ukraine fight keeps the fight from spreading to NATO countries, and keeps Putin from getting any ideas for further expansion.
Democratic Senators have a smart plan Re: guns
Democrats continue to deliver in the Senate. This story shows cooperation between a Democrat and an Independent (who usually caucuses with the Democrats) — both of whom hail from states where gun rights are big priorities. And yet, they have come up with a smart way to achieve a major progressive gun safety goal. We need to spread the word that Democrats and our allies ARE making progress on our priorities:
How two gun-friendly senators are turning the tide on gun safety, EJ Dionne Jr, Washington Post, December 3, 2023.
Last week, Sens. Angus King (I-Maine) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), who have both opposed an assault weapons ban, introduced a bill that would have much of the same impact but without banning a particular style of weapon.
Instead, their legislation, which impressed leading gun-safety groups and advocates such as Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), focuses on the engineering of guns. It would limit the rounds their magazines can contain and require those magazines to be permanent. Also crucial, King says, is making “lethal conversion devices like bump stocks and Glock switches” unlawful. The goal: to make it impossible to convert lawful firearms into what effectively become fully automatic weapons like machine guns, which have been subject to stringent limitations since 1934.
Reflecting the view of some critics of assault weapons bans, King told me in an interview that such bills “have been based on what the gun looks like, on the cosmetics of the gun” and that “manufacturers can modify the appearance, and you still end up with a substantially similar weapon.” He said his and Heinrich’s proposal would instead regulate how guns are manufactured and limit weapons “to a 10-bullet fixed permanent magazine that can’t be enlarged.” ✂️
King and Heinrich have yet to find Republican co-sponsors, and — no surprise — the National Rifle Association wasted no time in coming out against the proposal. But the gun lobby’s power is slipping, and pollsters have found that parents’ worries about the safety of their children in school are increasingly driving the gun debate. One sign of change was passage last year of modest reforms in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first gun-safety measure enacted in nearly 30 years.
🏔🌲 Thanks National Parks Service. gov! 🌲🏔
6 days national parks are free to visit in 2024, Natalie B. Compton, Washington Post, December 4, 2023.
To help with your 2024 travel planning, the National Park Service has announced its annual list of free entrance days. The six days are split between seasons and offered as a way of giving Americans cost-friendly vacation options. Normally, entering one the 63 national parks in the U.S. costs between $10 to $35.
“If an entrance fee is a barrier to anybody visiting, we want to be able to take that away on certain days throughout the year to encourage people to go and visit a park maybe they’ve never been to before,” said National Park Service spokesperson Kathy Kupper.
In 2024, the entrance fee-free dates will take place on what Kupper calls days of celebration and commemoration, from national holidays to park-specific ones. Here’s the list:
🎶 Music for Dems 🎶
💪🏾＄💪🏼 Good News in Labor and Economy 💪🏻＄💪🏽
Economic Outlook for 2024 — Bullish?
We all know that the guys at Goldman Sachs are all cock-eyed optimists when it comes to the economy under a progressive, labor union-friendly president….hahahahahahahahaaaaa sorry, I can’t sustain that sarcasm! 😅
What we actually know is that Goldman Sachs and similar outfits are gimlet-eyed pessimists any time they think that labor may make gains which — in their zero-sum view of the economy — means that management and shareholders will lose (profits made off labor cuts).
And yet!
Reality has come calling and it has been showing these wall street denizens that maybe the US doesn’t have to push unemployment up, wages down, and make workers desperate in order to tame inflation and build the economy. Maybe supply side/trickle down/cut workforce to maintain profits/economic policies are wrong. Just like progressives have been saying for ages!
And the Biden Boom is proof that there is value in this new bottom up/middle out/made in America approach. Not only is it a better deal for workers, but look at that stock market! Look at those profits! It’s win-win for everyone (though hopefully, the wins will grow for labor so working people can enjoy a fairer share of the profits brought in due to their amazing productivity).
Anyway, here is the Goldman Sachs outlook for 2024 (I recommend you go read the whole thing as it is full of cool information and charts that even CG and me could understand!):
The global economy will perform better than many expect in 2024, Goldman Sachs Intelligence, November 10, 2023.
Goldman Sachs Research expects the global economy to outperform expectations in 2024 — just as it did in 2023.
That outlook is based on our economists’ prediction for strong income growth (amid cooling inflation and a robust job market), their expectation that rate hikes have already delivered their biggest hits to GDP growth, and their view that manufacturing will recover. Central banks, meanwhile, will have room to reduce interest rates if they’re concerned about the economy slowing. “This is an important insurance policy against a recession,” Goldman Sachs Research Chief Economist Jan Hatzius writes in the team’s report titled Macro Outlook 2024: The Hard Part Is Over.
Worldwide GDP is forecast to expand 2.6% next year on an annual average basis, compared with the 2.1% consensus forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. In fact, Goldman Sachs Research’s forecasts for GDP growth in 2024 are more optimistic than the consensus for eight of the world’s nine largest economies, as of Nov. 8, 2023. And notably, our economists expect US growth to outpace its developed market peers again.
EV sales are way up, and prices are falling!
More economic news that defies the old economic theories — high demand isn’t keeping prices high for EVs. This is partly because of the well-known phenomenon whereby new technologies start out very expensive and then get more affordable (think televisions, computers etc). Bidenomics is helping with this, too.
Electric vehicles and hybrids grow to a record-high 18% of U.S. light-duty vehicle sales
Sales of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery-electric vehicles (BEV) in the United States rose to 17.7% of new light-duty vehicle sales in third-quarter 2023, according to data from Wards Intelligence. Sales of hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and BEVs have accounted for 16.0% of all new light-duty vehicle sales in the United States so far this year, compared with 12.5% in 2022 and 9.0% in 2021.
The share of total light-duty vehicle sales for hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and BEVs rose due to both a decline in sales of non-hybrid gasoline- and diesel-fueled vehicles as well as an increase in sales of several existing BEV models. BEV prices declined across the most popular models, contributing to the rise in third-quarter sales. The average transaction price for BEVs dropped 5% during the third quarter to $50,283, bringing the price 24% lower than at the price peak in the second quarter of 2022. The average price paid for all light-duty vehicles fell less than 0.5% during that same time. BEV prices are now within $3,000 of the overall industry average transaction price for light-duty vehicles.
UAW: Let’s Dial Labor Organizing up to 11
This autumn, the UAW made thrilling and historic gains for its members (and incidentally also for non-unionized workers in competitors’ plants — as those corporations hope to prevent unionizing in their own ranks by offering temporary — oh yes, it will be temporary (recall the 1990s) — matching benefits to what the unions had won for their members).
Now they intend to keep building the labor union movement while the wind is at their backs. They know — we all know from history — that labor gains only last as long as workers are united in common cause; for fairer wages and working conditions for everyone.
The time is right for organizing and the UAW is not going to waste the moment. The writer in the article below goes on to urge other unions to likewise set their sights on organizing non-unionized workers in their various trades and professions.
This is an exciting time for labor in the USA, and with a little luck — and a lot of hard work — we just might see some solid and lasting change for the better:
The UAW Just Challenged the Entire Labor Movement to Get More Ambitious, Hamilton Nolan, In These Times, November 30, 2023.
Regular people who are not directly involved in the labor movement often find it hard to get interested in stuff that is happening at unions. Here is the short chain of reasoning I use to explain why they should care: What is the biggest underlying problem in America? Inequality. What is the single most potent and plausible weapon against inequality? Labor unions. What do labor unions need to do to actually roll back inequality in a way that would improve your life? They need to organize millions of new working people. ✂️
Joe Biden is the most pro-union president — maybe ever. Thanks, Joe!
That is why yesterday’s announcement from the United Auto Workers that they are launching a campaign to unionize more than a dozen non-union automakers at once is so important. The UAW knows that the biggest threats to its long term industrial power are the rise of big non-union auto companies like Tesla, and the fact that the auto industry has long been able to move plants to anti-union southern states in order to operate union-free. If left unchecked, those two trends will drain the UAW like a vampire, leaving it a hollow shell of a once-mighty institution.
To truly beat back those trends will take organizing at an unprecedented scale. It will take organizing 150,000 new workers into a union that only has 400,000 active members today. That is the sort of challenge that union leaders would traditionally regard as a vague, long-term problem, like “solving climate change,” to be addressed with small gestures in the present, in the hopes that maybe somehow something will happen down the road to make the whole thing easier.✂️
The UAW is seizing opportunities that unions too often squander. It is coming off a major strike win at the Big Three automakers, a strike that was itself hugely ambitious. Instead of coasting on that victory, UAW leader Shawn Fain is using it as an advertisement for the union, to pull in workers everywhere. When I interviewed Fain a week ago, I asked him which company would be his next organizing target, and he gave a kind of vague answer about how he didn’t care because the union wants to organize everyone. I thought that he was just avoiding the question. But it looks like he was being honest. They’re going after everyone.
Support for unions is the highest it has been for decades. Now is the time to rebuild.
These results proved accurate in Nov 2022, and the support appears to be as strong today (if not stronger), which will be helpful for pro-union Senators like Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in 2025.
🎶 Music Time! 🎶
😩🫠 Republicans in Disarray (as usual) 😡😵
🥾 Moms for Liberty Get the Boot 🥾
Last week it was the fabulist, George Santos, they booted out of Congress. This week, Republicans want to jettison the scandal-wracked fascist-friendly Moms for Liberty as quickly as they possibly can.
Republicans see the writing on the wall: it’s beginning to dawn that their revolting alliances, despicably oppressive goals and utter inability to govern has finally registered with enough voters to seriously threaten their electoral chances in 2024. Unfortunately for them (and luckily for the rest of us), it may very well be too late for them to stuff that toothpaste back in the tube. As Mokurai often says — once people know, they can’t really unknow the truth. Now it’s up to us to keep the truth in front of voters.
Note at the end of the article linked below that it was regular people waking up and pushing back against the likes of Moms for Liberty that got the GOPs attention. That’s the kind of action Democrats need to applaud and encourage. The overreach of these authoritarian groups woke people up, and it’s our job to keep them awake. I think we can do that!
The GOP gives Moms for Liberty the Boot, Amanda Marcotte, Salon, December 4, 2023.
But what is genuinely startling — downright shocking, even — is there are signs that these revelations could result in bona fide political consequences for the Zieglers. Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose support of Moms for Liberty played a huge role in the group's skyrocketing to national prominence, didn't mince words when asked about the allegations Thursday night. He called on Ziegler to resign, saying, "He’s innocent till proven guilty, but we just can’t have a party chair that is under that type of scrutiny." ✂️
this looks like a proper political defenestration with DeSantis hitting the eject button. It's not hard to guess why: Moms for Liberty has bad mojo. The group's political agenda of banning books and bullying LGBTQ students and teachers turned out to be politically unpopular. Being publicly linked to Moms for Liberty hurt Republicans in the midterms. This was most evident in school board races, where Democrats won big in swing districts that Moms for Liberty had targeted for takeovers. But even beyond that, analyses by Sarah Jones at New York and Dave Weigel at Semafor show that the entire Moms for Liberty strategy of drumming up hysteria about "wokeness" in schools backfired on the Republican Party. ✂️
What they didn't count on was how this outrageous and falsified moral panic would create a backlash, especially once the book banning frenzy started to affect the quality of education kids could get in school. As I reported in October, parents in suburban Pennsylvania really began to rise up when Moms for Liberty-aligned politicians started to rewrite social studies curricula away from historical facts to peddle right-wing propaganda. People don't like hearing false accusations that beloved teachers are "groomers." They especially don't like it when that's used as an excuse to deprive kids of lessons they need to get into good colleges and get good jobs in an increasingly diverse country.
Congressional Rs are failing to smear Biden
These yahoos are not getting any traction on this actual “witch hunt”, which is great news for democracy. Think back to 2015 and the Benghazi /But her emails political smear theater: that nefarious nonsense worked back then. But not any more. Obviously, the threat is still there (and we know what we have to do — keep the truth out there, repeated constantly), but the tide has turned on the Republican strategy of abuse of their power to smear political opponents. We can keep the current flowing in the righteous direction with our work:
Comer’s Latest ‘Evidence’ of Biden Corruption Fizzles Out, AJ McDougall, Daily Beast, December 4, 2023.
In what might just be a new record, House Republicans were able to parade around their latest proof of President Joe Biden’s purported corruption for all of a few hours on Monday before it was unceremoniously debunked. Earlier on Monday, House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) announced that subpoenaed bank records show Biden had received “directly monthly payments” from his son Hunter Biden’s business account, most notably three “recurring payments” of $1,380 in late 2018. Barring the fact that Joe Biden was not in political office in 2018, The Washington Post and other journalists quickly verified that the $1,380 transfers actually showed Hunter repaying his father for a 2018 Ford Raptor truck. (What’s more, the New York Post reported on their existence more than a year ago.) Abbe Lowell, an attorney for Hunter Biden, jabbed at the congressman in a statement confirming as much. “There Chairman Comer goes again—reheating what is old as new to try to revive his sham of an investigation,” he said. “The truth is Hunter’s father helped him when he was struggling financially due to his addiction and could not secure credit to finance a truck. When Hunter was able to, he paid his father back and took over the payments himself.”
🙄 Better Late Than Never, I Suppose 🙄
Seems like Rs are shooting for a “we had no idea these people were like that” approach. Which is not gonna fly with any thinking people with two eyes in the heads and ears to hear the horrors coming from their darlings over the past several years. But hey, the stampede away from the likes of TDG and the Moms for Fascism Liberty (above) shows that they are feeling worried about next year. GOOD!
Former Trump White House official "stunned" at his visible "decline" in Iowa speech, Gabriella Ferrigine, Salon, December 4, 2023.
"It's kind of remarkable, I've been watching the clips from Trump's visit to Iowa and I'm stunned having spent a lot of time with him in 2020 and years before—he is slowing down," Farah Griffin, the former White House director for strategic communications, told CNN. "There's a lack of sharpness in what he's saying and a lack of kind of clarity," she added. "There's another clip where he basically says he's going to overturn Obamacare, but also says that he'll fix it, just complete inconsistencies and for Republicans our strongest case against Joe Biden is the age and the decline that some of us have seen. And if I'm being honest, head-to-head, I'm not sure which is struggling more."
🙄 Yeah, it’s TFG, Alyssa. TFG is the one who is struggling and always has struggled with cognitive fog. He is a deeply stupid man, and psychologically distorted to an astonishing degree. This is not news to anyone not in the authoritarian cult.
💙😊🧬 Of Interest to Humans 🧬😃💙
💍😢 Strangers Help Recover Man’s Lost Wedding Ring 😞💍
He lost his wedding ring. A group of strangers showed up to find it. Sydney Page, Washington Post, December 3, 2023.
When Joseph Novetske finished raking leaves in his backyard a few weeks ago, he suddenly stopped as he was walking back toward his house.
His handcrafted wedding band — which he wore for 42 years — had slipped off. Worried, he began to look for it.✂️
That afternoon, eight people showed up at their home — five of whom were strangers, and the other three were neighbors — to look for the ring. A few of them had brought metal detectors.
They searched the large backyard, which Mary Ann Novetske estimates is about the size of half-a-football field. It was filled with several tall piles of leaves her husband had raked the day before.
“They didn’t know us, but here they were, willing to help,” said Mary Ann Novetske. “It was exciting to see so many people care about this.”
(( 3 Hours Later...))
“I saw the band reflecting light because it was a beautiful sunny day,” he said. “There it was!”✂️
Mary Ann Novetske was also emotional — not only because her husband’s ring was no longer lost, but also because a group of strangers cared enough to spend their Sunday afternoons searching for it. The story was first reported by WLNS 6 News.
💉🐈 Mood, Sleep, Diet and Exercise May All Affect Vaccine Uptake 💉🐈
Go ahead and watch that funny cat video — if you are feeling cheerful, your covid or flu vaccine may be more effective! Healthful sleep, exercise (especially exercising the arm you got the shot in!) and keeping your “gut” healthy with probiotics can all help you produce the maximum antibodies your body can achieve after vaccination.
Why your mood could affect your flu shot, Marta Zaraska, Washington Post, December 3, 2023.
Not all people respond to vaccines in the same way. Some develop better antibody protection than others, while immunization may fail for an unlucky few.
“The response induced by a vaccine can vary tremendously between individuals,” says Bali Pulendran, an immunologist at Stanford University. Age is part of the reason, he says, with older people generally responding less effectively than younger ones.
Genetics also play a role. Studies of twins show that for some vaccines, such as measles, almost 90 percent of the variation in antibody response is due to our genes (for other vaccines, these numbers are lower — for mumps, for instance, the variation in antibody response due to genes is 39 percent).
Yet even if you are older and didn’t win the genetic lottery, you can still improve your chances of a good vaccine response, experts say.
🌌 Geminid Meteor Showers and more — this month! 🌌
I am putting a gift link to this lovely article about the night sky in December and all the wonders it will hold. Who knows? This month’s stargazing might even make the short days and colder weather worth it!
It’s the month of the year’s best meteor shower. Are you ready? GIFT article, Washington Post, December 1, 2023.
The night sky highlight of the month and possibly the year is the annual Geminid meteor shower, which peaks on the night of Dec. 13. These meteors are associated with an asteroid, 3200 Phaethon, which is likely the dusty remnant of an extinct comet nucleus. It is the year’s most consistently prolific shower, and a single observer at a dark site should see upward of 60 “shooting stars” per hour before midnight with up to 150 per hour between 2 and 3 a.m. local time.
This year conditions are close to ideal, with no moon to brighten the sky. Geminids are usually quite bright with a yellowish tint, and their relatively slow speeds allow them to persist for a few seconds.
A winter wonderland of stars
The long nights of winter play host to some of the best stargazing of the year. Nine of the 25 brightest stars in the sky seem to gather around the constellation of Orion, which hosts two of the nine…
Saturn fades while Jupiter rules the night
🎄 Natural or Artificial? 🎄
Both have benefits to the environment and for humans (safety, etc) and here’s some great news for those of us who really love a natural tree at Christmas:
When it comes to picking sustainable Christmas trees, here's why actual plants may beat plastic, Nicole Karlis, Salon, December 3, 2023.
CG walking in front of a tree from Christmas past 😊
Jill Sidebottom, a horticulturist and spokesperson for the National Christmas Tree Association (N.C.T.A) told Salon via email that people can feel good for buying real Christmas trees for several reasons that favor the environment. First, she said Christmas tree farms help sustain wildlife.
“To me the biggest thing is that Christmas tree farms keep land from being developed,” she said, providing habitat for birds, rabbits and their predators. “I always saw more wildlife working in trees than I did hiking.”✂️
“People coming into areas to cut their own Christmas trees may also visit restaurants or go shopping in nearby towns,” she said. “That’s a big boost to the economy and prolongs the tourist season.”
When it comes to real Christmas trees and their sustainability, it all boils down to buying and recycling locally. Most communities collect trees after Christmas and mulch them so they don’t end up in landfills. This also lowers the carbon footprint of real trees. Of course, it’s up to consumers to make sure they participate in these events.
CG and I used to cut our tree at a tree farm near our old place. Then we bought trees from a lot in the city and carried it (yes! on foot!) back to the apartment and brought it to the recycling lot after the holiday (Chicago has these collection lots in several locations around the city — yay Chicago!). This year, we are ordering from a tree delivery service which will also take it away for recycling after. This is the priciest option but we are treating ourselves this year, what with moving right in the middle of the holidays and all the confusion that entails.
(Speaking of moving, our move was postponed from last week to tomorrow — 😱😅😂 — so I’ll soon be dashing off to pack again! But don’t worry, we have things well in hand, having had this move coming up for a month and delayed twice. Now we just cannot wait to get moving! 🤣)
PSA: Also, while on the subject of holiday trees, I’d like to post a recipe for fireproofing grog for natural trees. This stuff is easy to make, and it will greatly reduce flammability of a natural tree and may help prolong its freshness:
Fireproof Grog for Natural Trees
You’ll need:
2 gallons hot water
2 cups karo syrup (corn syrup)
2 oz liquid bleach
2 pinches epsom salts
½ teaspoon Boraxo (I use 12 mule team Borax)
Combine all of the above in a large bucket
Saw 1- 4 inches from the bottom of the tree (immediately before you’re ready with the grog — it must be immersed while the cut is fresh) and stand the tree in the bucket overnight so it can drink its fill.
Put some of the grog in the tree stand when you put up the tree, and add more as needed, so the bowl stays full over the holidays,
This grog helps needles stay green, too! Sit back and enjoy your safer tree and listen to a lovely tune:
🎶🎄 Musical Break 🎄🎶
💙 🐩 CG’s Picks 🐩 💙
Hello Everybody, it’s me Curlygirl! I am so excited to be able to show you cool things again! Me and Mama have been sooooo busy all year and we still are a little bit busy, but not as much as before. So, now we can write GNRs again! YAY!
Today I have for you two stories about wild animals and a video about two smart dogs.
🦌 A Moose Story 🦌
The first story is about a moose who is a bit lost up in Minnesota. Mama and I want to let our Minnesota gnusies know that a bull moose — even a juvenile — is a big wild animal and don’t get too close! The article says they grow to 6 feet tall but that is not accurate. Moose grow to about 8 feet tall! They are huge!
But it sounds like the people in Minnesota have been fascinated with this northern visitor — and, happily, he seems to be making his way safely back up north. So all in all, I think it’s an interesting and good story for today!
A moose is on the loose in Minnesota. Thousands are tracking him. Cathy Free, Washington Post, November 28, 2023.
Rutt the moose appears to be a juvenile bull and is heading back up north where he will be happier and safer!
Brenda Johnson was confused at the notifications she started getting last month on a dormant Facebook page she created years ago.
People were commenting on the page “Central MN Moose on the Loose” and posting photos of their sightings of a young bull moose one resident had named Rutt. They said they’d seen the massive creature slowly walking alone across south-central Minnesota farmland, to their great surprise. This was hundreds of miles outside of a natural moose habitat.
“It’s like seeing polar bears in Texas,” one excited resident wrote.✂️
Rutt appears to be healthy, so wildlife officers do not plan to intervene and relocate him, he said.
“We’ll let it be a moose and go back to wherever he’s going,” he said. “Moose are nothing to mess around with, so for the welfare of the public and the animal, I wouldn’t get too close.”✂️
“We all took a deep breath on November 19th when Rutt was spotted again and we realized he had safely made it across the interstate and was still heading north,” Johnson said. “Pretty soon, he’ll be in the forest, closer to moose territory, and we won’t see him as much.”
Rutt’s Facebook followers say they are thankful they’ve had the opportunity to watch him virtually on his journey north.
🐘🐘 Update on the Elephant twins in New York 🐘🐘
Last year, I told you about Asian Elephant twins who were born at Rosamund Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, NY. They were called a miracle because (so I hear tell), elephant twins do not often survive. Elephants are the sort of animal that is meant to produce singleton babies — not like dogs! We like having entire families all at once! — and so when elephant twins happen, the odds tend to be against them surviving.
But, it was such good news last year because Yaad and Tukada DID survive! Not only did they survive, but they have been thriving. And everyone at Rosamund Gifford Zoo is pretty proud of them! People like to go visit the elephant twins at the zoo, too, and apparently the zoo has encouraged the public to follow their progress with fun activities and even a fan club!
Here is some information from the zoo’s website: Rosamund Gifford Zoo
JOIN THE OFFICIAL ELETWIN FACEBOOK FAN CLUB!
If you want to keep up with the miracle twins, but can’t visit the zoo in-person, we’ve got you covered! Head over to the Official EleTwin Fan Club on Facebook for free access to daily updates on the twins as they gain weight and height, and develop trunk dexterity. Keep up with the twins’ growth and with all their antics! Yaad and Tukada grab sticks, chase bubbles, and explore their seven-acre playground everyday, so visit the Eletwin Fan Club to have a look at the latest Miracle Twin mischief!
Here are twins, Yaad and Tukada, standing underneath their bemused mum, Mali.
🐶 Two funny, smart dogs! 🐶
That’s all I have for you today. I hope you enjoyed my GNR! Happy Tuesday, Everybody! Luv, CG 🐾💙🐩
⚡️ Lightning RoundUp ⚡️
⚡️ Holidays can be stressful! (gift article): 8 Things You Should Never Say to Your Partner, According to Therapists, Jancee Dunn, New York Times, December 2, 2023.
⚡️ Gosh, there’s more about stress: 9 tips to fend off holiday stress, Mayo Clinic Health, December 3, 2021.
⚡️ Jessie had this in yesterday’s GNR, and I really want to give everyone another chance to read it: How to become news-resilient, Oliver Burkeman, Positive News, March 21, 2022.
⚡️ The 10 Best Books of 2023, New York Times Book Staff, November 28, 2023.
⚡️ Quelle surprise! Turns Out a New Speaker Didn’t Solve the House GOP’s Problems, Riley Rogerson, Daily Beast, December 3, 2023.
⚡️ Another article on Johnson: Mike Johnson claims to hate the devil. Maybe he should look in the mirror, Nathaniel Manderson, Salon, December 3, 2023.
⚡️ Guest Column: Thankful for a resurgent labor movement, Juan Carlos Ordonez, the Astorian, November 30, 2023.
⚡️ Reality Check for Putin as Russians Get Damn Tired of War, Julia Davis, Daily Beast, December 4, 2023.
⚡️ Boys deserve better (and society does, too!): THE MISEDUCATION OF THE AMERICAN BOY, Peggy Orenstein, the Atlantic (new GIFT article feature!), Jan/Feb 2020 issue.
💙 RoundUp WindDown 💙
Well that’s it from me and CG for this Tuesday, Gnusies! I am still working on an updated list of things to do to save democracy, so look for that in a couple of weeks.
Meanwhile, I hope everyone remembers to take good care of yourself. Get as much rest and fresh air as you can, eat nutritious food and try to do one small thing to feed your spirit every day. Read a poem, listen to a beautiful piece of music, pull up some art and immerse yourself for 5-10 minutes. Believe it or not, little breaks like this to take in timeless treasures can help restore our belief in the better angels of human nature, and refresh us for the rest of our day.
Thanks for reading Gnusies — I am glad to be back! Have some gorgeous music!
HAPPY TUESDAY, GNUVILLE!
