Good News: We bring it, we make it.
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 and create stress and anxiety in us, our loved ones, our friends, our allies, and our neighbors, and destroy people and systems we hold dear, yet 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.
I look around me and I see heroes.
I see the Detroit bus drivers who went on strike because COVID-19 and their safety. Within 24 hours, Detroit buses had returned to limited, weekend schedules (since many are sheltering at home), riders enter buses now only via the back doors, and bus rides are free.
I see Jeffrey Vanwingen, MD, a family physician in Michigan, whose PSA: Safe Grocery Shopping in the COVID-19 Pandemic – UPDATED!!!” — posted on Mar 24, 2020 — now has 18 million views:
Many of our readers and members of Daily Kos have already seen this video. If you are one of our many once-a-week visitors, have at it.
I mentioned last week that I worked for several decades as a surgical assistant, and that experience has influenced my methods of getting groceries and other items into my house in a way that protects my immunocompromised wife. The above video delineates a lot of the methods and principles I use.
I see the author of the following essay, whose voice and viewpoint and experience and wisdom I amplify here and highly recommend. This essay reminds me of many ways I have had to compensate to protect my wife.
I had no immune system for months after my bone marrow transplant. Here’s how I avoided viral illness, and how you can, too. It’s easier than you think. (Less than 3000 words, but Medium warned that I had only 2 free articles left this month).
Everyone is scared of COVID-19 (the disease caused by novel coronavirus). I get it. I’ve been in the hospital a lot in my life, and I definitely don’t want to go back. But a lot of the advice that I’ve seen lately about how to stay safe is pretty ridiculous. I’ll address some specific myths at the end, but first — let me tell you how I know what works and what doesn’t.
I have a genetic defect, one that I was born with. Because of it, my immune cells weren’t good at combating infection or illness. It meant I got sick a lot more often than most people.
I had a bone marrow transplant in 2017. Most people don’t really know what that is. In the simplest possible terms, it means that my doctors gave me a new immune system, by replacing my sick bone marrow with healthy bone marrow from my sister.
The transplant process is basically a blood transfusion, but instead of blood cells, I received new immune cells from the bone marrow, which then took over my body and made it their new home, thus giving me a new immune system that worked normally.
In order for the transplant to work, I had intensive chemotherapy to kill off my original defective immune cells. For a month before and for many months after my transplant (until the new immune cells fully took over), I did not have a functioning immune system. This means I was vulnerable to EVERYTHING. [more]
I see the woman who worked at the carry-out window of my local pharmacy, the last place I shopped (14 days ago). I could see how glum and burdened and tight and stressed-out she was to be thanklessly helping yet another customer by passing prescriptions out her pharmacy window. After we were done with the transaction, I told her how thankful I was that she was working there, and I told her I thought she was a hero, and that I thought everyone working in her pharmacy was a hero. She leaned forward on her elbows toward me, her affect brightened, her face became red, I could see tears in her eyes, and I felt tears in my own eyes. I then crossed my right hand over the fingers of the left, like a time-out signal in football or basketball, and I said “This T is for Thank you!” — She laughed at that — 2thanks had accomplished his mission.
I look around me and I see heroes.
Who Won the Week?
Daily Kos’s own Wizard of Wit 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 3,000 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!
- The NYU Medical School students volunteering to graduate early (with permission), and older medical professionals coming out of retirement so they can help out in hospitals
- Lake Worth Beach city commissioner Omari Hardy, for exploding with righteous anger at the do-nothing mayor during a public meeting over her electricity shut-off campaign and lack of preparedness
- The "masked crusaders" --- volunteers sewing hand-made masks for medical workers as fast as they can
- The First Circuit Court of Appeals, for telling AG William Barr to take his attempt to cut off funding for states & cities with laws protecting undocumented immigrants from deportation and stuff it
- The Democratic governors (esp. Cuomo of NY & Beshear of KY), senators, and reps who are running rings around the Republican leadership in their efforts to help the poor and middle class during the pandemic
- Harbor Freight, for donating all of their N95 face masks, face shields, and Nitrile gloves to hospitals, and 3M for diverting 90% of the 35 million respirators its making per month to healthcare workers.
- Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D), for making his state the 22nd to abolish the death penalty since the Supreme Court re-authorized it in 1976
- National Public Radio in Washington state, for doing what every media outlet should: not airing Trump's daily propaganda "briefings" until they've fact-checked them
- The scientists and epidemiologists working 24/7 to track the Covid-19 spread, warn of its impact, and fast-track a vaccine
- All of the above
Spoiler Alert … Top Results of Bill’s poll —
- All of the above — 70%
- The Democratic governors (esp. Cuomo of NY & Beshear of KY), senators, and reps who are running rings around the Republican leadership in their efforts to help the poor and middle class during the pandemic — 11%
- National Public Radio in Washington state, for doing what every media outlet should: not airing Trump's daily propaganda "briefings" until they've fact-checked them — 6%
A five-minute, point-of-care coronavirus test could be coming to urgent care clinics next week, and experts say it could be "game-changing." The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued Emergency Use Authorization to Illinois-based medical device maker Abbott Labs on Friday for a coronavirus test that delivers positive results in as little as five minutes and negative results in 13 minutes, the company said. ✂
The new test comes in the form of a small cartridge that fits in the palm of your hand, said John Frels, Abbott's vice president of research and development. The test runs on the company's ID NOW platform, a 6.6-pound portable device the size of a small toaster. There are currently about 18,000 ID NOW instruments in the U.S. – the most widely available molecular point-of-care testing platform in the nation, Frels said.
Aldous The problem with plutocrats like Romney, Donald Trump, Charles Koch, and others is they think (or at the very least pretend) that their success is due almost entirely to their own efforts—when, in fact, they’ve largely made their billions off the backs of the government, their employees, and their customers.
Without those reviled 47% (or 99%, or 99.99%) the Kochs and the Trumps of the world are nothing. They’re chronically blind to their privilege and can only see less-wealthy people as parasites trying to steal from them. In the case of Trump—who was born on third base and throughout his business career has seemed determined to steal second—this pathology is particularly pronounced. But even if you’re not a silver-spoon dumbass—if, say, you really did start with very little and built your business from the ground up, like Mike Bloomberg or Bill Gates—you didn’t make a billion dollars. Not remotely. And our tax structure should reflect that.
Did you finish your Census yet?
It only takes 10 minutes. My wife just completed our census form online. She said it’s “short and simple (unless, of course, you're gender non-binary). Have you done your census? The dates in the form all refer to April 1, so I imagine they would prefer you submit it by then so they don't have to hunt you down. Just a friendly reminder.” Census.gov probably sent you a letter already, but even if you’ve lost or buried the form, you can respond to the 2020 Census without a Census ID (PDF).
Maryland state senators voted to send more than a half-billion dollars to four majority-black institutions of higher learning, settling a 13-year-old lawsuit in which federal courts repeatedly found the state guilty of systematically discriminating against historically black colleges and universities. ✂
In 2006, a coalition of black college alumni alleged that the state had essentially created an unequal playing field by stealing innovative educational techniques from black universities and duplicated them at white colleges (Or, as America calls it, “inventing”). ✂
The historically black institutions had created some of the state’s first programs for green sustainability studies; computer sciences; aging studies; and health care facilities management, many of which were later duplicated by Maryland’s white state schools.
The governor is a Republican, but the bill is veto-proof.
Staff writer Aysha Qamar: Social withdrawals have resulted in many relying on technology to interact with their friends, family, and significant others. As in-person gatherings are being discouraged, the era of technology has enabled many to gather and connect online instead. Outside of video calls, technology allows us to watch movies in sync, coordinate workouts, play games together, and even make visits to the zoo! (Virtually, of course. Don’t forget we’re staying indoors!)
For sharing movies, she recommends Netflix Party (a Chrome extension) and Squad for screen sharing, but I’ve had great fun with the website Kast.
Our map of Gnuville: About 350 of us have shared our locations.
To leave your mark, please respond to our mappers in the comments or send them a kosmail: tljdk, silverfoxcruiser, keepiru, djbodhi. Please include city and state only, NOT street number and street.
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:
How to Resist: Do Something …
The 6 R’s of the Resistance
- 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.
- Rest: Take care of yourself, we are in this for the long term.
- Rejoice: Joy promotes resilience and gives rise to hope.
… Say Something
We welcome comments in all Roundups regarding:
- National or local Good News.
- Links, stories, music, videos, quotes, tweets. (No tweets 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.
- What methods have you invented to protect yourself from COVID-19?
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 almost 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!
As always, please share more Good News than I can find or provide.
This is a group diary, and by the power vested in me, I declare this Good Gnus Salo(o)n open. Let the herd thunder over the plain. Let the community building and good-news sharing begin.
Power with, not power over ❤️ ✊ ❤️
2thanks (he, his)
Donovan, The Lullaby of Spring #2 (Lyrics):