We've rounded third base and are heading for home! ☼ Who Won The Week? ☼ Poll ☼ Sunday Good News

Ruminations, Revelations, and Reflections

Good News: We bring it, we make it.

We are abiding and determined patriots.

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 know we live in a world where active, nefarious, and evil decision-makers do very bad things, slow testing, withhold medical supplies, and create stress and anxiety in us, our loved ones, our friends, our neighbors, 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, and we pledge to Never. Forget. Election Day is less than four months away. Sometimes we 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 Search for them. Certain favorite Gnusies bless us in the comments with humor and hope every day.

We've rounded third base and are heading for Home!

We selected Joe, he selected Kamala, and Democrats are uniting behind them, including the candidates who ran against them. 

My two polls (August 9th and August 12th) demonstrated a clear shift in enthusiasm of readers, members of Daily Kos, and Gnusies: “Please select the item that most closely approximates your feelings and plans regarding Joe Biden and Kamala Harris”. 500 people participated in the first poll and 800 in the second. Look at the results! The first four categories all decreased, and the lasted doubled to 71%. 91% of participants chose the two top-enthusiasm categories in the second week.

Enthusiasm Level:	Not at all	Slightly	Somewhat	Moderately	Extremely
August 9	7	9	10	35	36
August 16	4	2	3	20	71

Joe Biden of course selected Kamala Harris to be his running mate in the intervening week. As you can see, the polls show a huge jump in enthusiasm in readers and members of Daily Kos who participated in the poll. I’m pleased. Personally, I went from slightly to moderately enthusiastic. I’m expecting my enthusiasm to rise later. Did your enthusiasm go up since Joe announced his selection? 

Gnusies will stamp out bullies this week 

A cornucopia spills a harvest of fruits and vegetables including small orange pumpkins, red apples, dark purple plums, various colorful and oddly-shaped squashes, and nuts.

As I said in a comment yesterday, I plan to avoid directly watching this week’s Republican clusterf. I’m sure that if we want to, we will be able to find many headlines, stories, and videos about the Republican National con.

Leisler: “While for me not watching is a given at this point, I’m wondering if I even want to read about it.”

2thanks: “I know what you mean, leisler. I’m now wondering if we should make the Good News Roundups an NRC-free zone. What say you all?”

DoctorStrange: “I said that too. I’m sure someone here at Kos is going to watch. God bless them. It would be like watching a torture-porn-horror movie. Do not have the stomach for a single second of it.”

WolverineForTJatAW: “With you there.  I don’t watch torture OR porn OR horror. All three at once? No freaking way.” And “I’m sure the dregs will be so well published that I can’t miss them, and I really don’t want to be exposed to anything I can avoid.”

buglady99: “If you’re going to peek, I’d suggest doing it through The Lincoln Project — ought to be some snappy repartee.” And “Here’s their YouTube channel. Hit subscribe, then the bell to the right and you’ll be notified when it starts — if you’re signed in to YouTube.”

Summary: Based on the many replies to that comment, I think we should treat the convention like we treat the delusional toad every day — No images of him and none of his tweets. The groping death cultist and his flappers will bully many groups, and I do not think we need to bring that into Gnuville.

A couple of writers suggested that scenes such as that of a has-been actor talking to a chair might be okay to bring to Roundups because they might be funny, but I am not sure how we draw that line, or if we should draw a line there. What say you all?

~ Power with, not power over, 2thanks      

Who Won the Week?

Our friend Bill in Portland Maine lets me repeat the results of his research. He arrayed the following items in his popular Who Won the Week? poll in Friday’s Cheers and Jeers. About 1,450 people voted in that poll. Please enjoy Bill’s on-point analysis and wit, vote in his poll, Rec his diaries, get on his bandwagon, send him a donation, and earn his blessing. 

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!

1. Anderson Cooper, for destroying Trump BFF and My Pillow cultist Mike Lindell on live TV as he tried to peddle, with Trump's blessing, poisonous oleandrin as a miracle covid "cure."
2. The all-hands-on-deck responders to the Postal Service crisis, including Speaker Pelosi, the lawsuit filers, NBC Montana reporter Maritsa Georgiou, and the army of whistle-blowing postal workers
3. The throngs of Belarus protesters putting their lives on the line to stop their long-time dictator from stealing yet another election
4. The stars of the Democratic convention, including Joe, Barack, Michelle, the new generation of resistance leaders, and first Black woman on a major party ticket VP nominee Sen. Kamala Harris
5. Federal Judge Frederic Block, for thwarting the Trump administration's plot to roll back Obama-era regulations prohibiting discrimination in health care against transgender patients
6. The Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee, for releasing the Rubio Report proving that the Trump campaign 100% colluded with Russian government saboteurs to swing the 2016 election
7. The quick-on-their-feet organizers of the hugely-successful 2020 Netroots Nation "At Home" convention, which drew nearly 3,000 online attendees and shattered all expectations
8. Southern District of New York prosecutors and the Postal Service police, for arresting Trump campaign adviser and all-around shitbag Steve Bannon for “defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors" with his border wall grift
9. The first responders and emergency & relief personnel helping Iowa recover from the Derecho and fight the wildfires out west
10. Russian mayor-turned-artist Alexander Donskoy, for using rainbow-colored helium balloons to float a giant LGBTQ pride flag over the Kremlin

Spoiler Alert … Top Results of Bill’s poll —

• The stars of the Democratic convention, including Joe, Barack, Michelle, the new generation of resistance leaders, and first Black woman on a major party ticket VP nominee Sen. Kamala Harris — 37%
• Southern District of New York prosecutors and the Postal Service police, for arresting Trump campaign adviser and all-around shitbag Steve Bannon for “defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors" with his border wall grift — 17%
•  The all-hands-on-deck responders to the Postal Service crisis, including Speaker Pelosi, the lawsuit filers, NBC Montana reporter Maritsa Georgiou, and the army of whistle-blowing postal workers — 16%

Sunday, Mapday: Pin Dropping 

Screenshot taken when we had less than 50 pins. Now we have four in Asia, three in Europe, and two mid-Pacific.

Our map of Gnuville: About 430 of us have shared our global locations.

To leave your mark, please drop a comment or send a kosmail to: tljdk, silverfoxcruiser, keepiru, djbodhi. Please include city and state only, NOT street number and street. (Persist, we are volunteers.)

Tech Talk for Kosacks (members of Daily Kos)

• Got a Daily Kos tech question? Let us know.
• Answered a DK Tech-Talk question this week? Please repeat it in the comments.

Good News Roundups 7 x 7: These Gnusies lead the herd @ 7 a.m., 7 days a week:

• Jessiestaf — Mondays.
• Alternating Tuesdays: NotNowNotEver and niftywriter.
• Alternating Wednesdays: karij and arhpdx.
• Thursdays: pucklady the 1st Thursday, Mokurai the 2nd, oldhippiedude the 3rd, MCUBernieFan the 4th, and Mokurai the 5th (when there is one).
• chloris creator — Fridays.
• GoodNewsRoundup — Saturdays.
• 2thanks — Sundays — A brief roundup of Roundups, a retrospective, a smorgasbord, a bulletin board, an oasis, a watering hole, a thunder of hooves, a wellness. 

Primates Share

Ape Sees A Magic Trick pic.twitter.com/rbf6kVobPC

— Nature is Lit?? (@NaturelsLit) August 18, 2020

Science

In case you needed another reason to practice antiracism. https://t.co/MKK0qZzoUu

— Mic (@mic) August 22, 2020

Systemic racism has long disadvantaged people of color. These inequalities are often in full display in cities, where racist practices like redlining relegates Black people and members of other marginalized communities to certain areas while restricting their ability to purchase homes and build equity. But the harms of these discriminatory behaviors built into our institutions extend beyond the human toll. According to a new study published in the journal Science, systemic racism is actively damaging environmental health in cities, adversely affecting the plants and animals that live there.

The 6 R’s of the Resistance

I’ve added Refresh to #5:

1. Resist: Protest on the streets, call senators and representatives, etc.
2. Rebel: Run for office, GOTV (Get Out The Vote), support a progressive.
3. Revolt: Change the laws, change the culture, build your communities.
4. Rely: Trust that millions of others are fighting the good fight.
5. Rest and Refresh: Take care of yourself, nourish yourself well, exercise appropriately, and rest well. 
6. Rejoice: Joy promotes resilience and gives rise to hope.

How to Resist: Do Something …

• Time to Rebel! Biden & Harris Campaign — Volunteer — Donate — Take-Action Center. To send text messages for Joe. (Thanks, AZ Cookie Monster!)
• Click Here to support organizations that are fighting every day for racial justice.
• JoeBiden.com — Volunteer — Donate — Take-Action Center.
• Indivisible: A 50-State plan to promote progressive Democratic ideals.
• Postcards To Voters: Volunteers hand write reminders to targeted voters, giving Democrats a winning edge in close, key races coast to coast.
• Please phone Bank with Beto. We can flip Texas Blue this year!
• Jen Hoffman at Americans of Conscience sends a free weekly email on Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. ET.
• Find and support a local progressive candidate (and meet your neighbors).
• On Daily Kos:
  • Follow Renewable Fridays and support Mokurai’s diaries.
  • Yosef 52: Great ideas. Many diaries.
  • Mrmuni12: Popular comments in Roundups as well as diaries.
  • The Black Kos Community posts diaries on Tuesdays and Fridays at 5 p.m. ET. Diaries here. This white guy is very, very grateful to the Editors and commenters of The Porch!
  • How to find Kosacks near you: The persistent mettle fatigue provides:

    • Where the Daily Kos Groups Are: Links to Daily Kos’s 280+ Local, In-Real-Life, Political, and Geographic Groups, Organized by State and Beyond, 2011-202 

• VoteForward. “Proven Effective: In multiple randomized trials, voters who received a letter were significantly more likely to vote.”
• Green New Deal (pdf).

… Say Something

Looking at you, listening for your comment. (Click here for huge image)

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.
• Highlights from The Rachel Maddow Show.

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.

Thank you for fighting for truth and justice with all us Gnusies! Although 40% of our Readers don’t visit every day, that’s okay, we all do what we can. For 3 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! Moo if you are proud of us!

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, his)

[If you can read this parenthetical, I’m probably having tech issues. However, I’ve scheduled publication so this diary will appear if I have problems. ]

If you enjoy my work on Daily Kos, I’d appreciate a gnusie bump, large or small, via PayPal or CashApp ($ipaywill). Gifts from supportive Kosacks help me pay for my wife’s medicines. If you’ve sent me a gift already: Thanks!