Good Day and happy Thanksgiving Eve! We’ve got a lot to be thankful for this year, even as we are all still coping with the pandemic and PTS from covid and TFG’s 4 dark years. But friends, this year was so much better in so many ways and signs point to things continuing to improve in many important ways. Check out this post from earlier this month:
President Biden’s remarkable record of accomplishment under nearly impossible circumstances, Rob Schofield, NCPolicyWatch, November 9, 2021.
under the President’s coherent, sober, and science-based leadership, the nation has aggressively locked horns with the pandemic by undertaking one of the largest and most successful mass vaccination campaigns in human history – a campaign that, despite persistent sabotage efforts from some on the political right, has saved millions of lives.
Meanwhile, thanks in large measure to Biden’s aggressive and on-the-mark stimulus policies, the economy has revived at a record pace and huge strides have been made in slashing poverty – especially child poverty.
And then there is the climate emergency, where, thanks to the President’s vision and simple common sense, the U.S. has rapidly transformed its role from that of science and reality-denying roadblock to a global leader. There are still miles to travel in this realm, but the massive infrastructure legislation finally approved this past weekend by small bipartisan majorities in both house of Congress further cements this vitally important policy 180.
Now add to all this the literally thousands of talented and diverse appointees Biden has named to the judiciary, the ambassadorial corps, and the leadership of numerous regulatory agencies – most of whom have already effected huge and positive federal policy shifts in everything from student loansto toxic chemicals to human rights – and the magnitude of his administration’s accomplishments in less than 300 days looms even larger.
Since that was written, Joe’s Build Back Better bill has been passed by the House (thank you, Nancy Pelosi!) and although there is likely to be a tussle in the Senate, Leader Schumer will get it passed there. If they send a slightly altered BBB back to the House, you can be sure Nancy Pelosi will get it passed and then President Biden will sign it and American life will be changed for the better for a good long time.
Meanwhile, most of the worries some people have had that the crooks and liars and cheats and extremists were going to get away with it all have gradually been proving to be overblown. Justice takes time. This week pharmacies have been held accountable for their role in the opioid crisis, white supremacists have been held accountable for their violent conspiracies, TFG and associates are in increasingly hotter water and the January 6 investigation is speeding up the publicly facing subpoenas while we also learn that they have already interviewed more than 200 people — many of them insiders in the last administration — and have thousands of documents and other materials already.
I’m only mentioning the things that spring immediately to mind, but there is so much going on that I suspect it’s a bit like when you are in the water, it is hard to sense that the tide is turning. But it is.
Today’s GNR will have hard good news, but also some fun stuff and fun music. Starting with this lively Thanksgiving Song.
🎶 Thanksgiving Song 🎶
⚖️ Law and Justice ⚖️
First we have a story about a civil lawsuit brought on behalf of 9 people who had been injured or traumatized by the white supremacists who terrorized Charlottesville, VA in 2017. Note: the two claims that left the jury deadlocked were based on the KKK Act (and their lawyers plan to file them again).
Jury awards $26M in damages for Unite the Right violence, Denise Lavoie, AP, November 22, 2021.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — A jury ordered 17 white nationalist leaders and organizations to pay more than $26 million in damages Tuesday over the violence that erupted during the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017.
After a nearly monthlong civil trial, the jury in U.S. District Court deadlocked on two key claims but found the white nationalists liable on four other claims in the lawsuit filed by nine people who suffered physical or emotional injuries during the two days of demonstrations.
Attorney Roberta Kaplan said the plaintiffs’ lawyers plan to refile the suit so a new jury can decide the two deadlocked claims. She called the amount of damages awarded from the other counts “eye opening.” ✂️
During their testimony, some of the defendants used racial epithets and defiantly expressed their support for white supremacy. They also blamed one another and the anti-fascist political movement known as antifa for the violence that erupted that weekend.
Significant verdict in opioid case
Jury holds pharmacies responsible for role in opioid crisis, John Seewer, AP, November 23, 2021.
CLEVELAND (AP) — CVS, Walgreens and Walmart pharmacies recklessly distributed massive amounts of pain pills in two Ohio counties, a federal jury said Tuesday in a verdict that could set the tone for U.S. city and county governments that want to hold pharmacies accountable for their roles in the opioid crisis.
Lake and Trumbull counties blamed the three chain pharmacies for not stopping the flood of pills that caused hundreds of overdose deaths and cost each of the two counties about $1 billion, said their attorney, who in court compared the pharmacies’ dispensing to a gumball machine.
How much the pharmacies must pay in damages will be decided in the spring by a federal judge.
It’s the first time pharmacy companies completed a trial to defend themselves in a drug crisis that killed a half-million Americans over the past two decades.
The counties convinced the jury that the pharmacies played an outsized role in creating a public nuisance in the way they dispensed pain medication into their communities.
“The law requires pharmacies to be diligent in dealing drugs. This case should be a wake-up call that failure will not be accepted,” said Mark Lanier, an attorney for the counties.
“The jury sounded a bell that should be heard through all pharmacies in America,” Lanier said.
January 6 Investigation
This next story is significant because if the Appeals court determines that it doesn’t have jurisdiction, then they won’t hear the case, their stay will expire and Judge Chutkan’s order to hand over the material to the Jan 6 committee will stand:
Appeals court order in Jan. 6 documents case may be bad news for Trump, Pete Williams, NBC, November 23, 2021.
WASHINGTON — An order from a federal appeals court late Tuesday may be a worrisome sign for former President Donald Trump in his effort to assert executive privilege over documents sought by a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. ✂️
U.S. District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan this month ordered the Archives to hand over the material, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia granted a brief stay of her order, in order to take a longer look at the issue.
Late Tuesday, the appeals court ordered the lawyers in the case to be prepared to address the jurisdiction issue. The fact that the court is wondering about its own authority to take up the case is telling: Courts are typically protective of their jurisdictions.
Proud Boys, Oath Keepers receive subpoenas in congressional Jan. 6 probe, Claudia Grisales, NPR, November 23, 2021.
In all, the panel issued five new subpoenas, which includes demands for records and testimony. Subpoenas were also issued for Henry "Enrique" Tarrio, who on Jan. 6 was chairman of the Proud Boys; Elmer Stewart Rhodes, president of the Oath Keepers; and Robert Patrick Lewis, chairman of 1st Amendment Praetorian, which provided security at multiple rallies leading up to Jan. 6. The groups and individuals have been asked to turn over documents and testify by early December.
For his part, Tarrio, who was recently revealed to be an FBI informant, is serving a five-month prison term for burning a Black Lives Matter banner and bringing high-capacity firearm magazines to Washington, D.C. ✂️
"The Select Committee is moving swiftly to uncover the facts of what happened on that day and we expect every witness to comply with the law and cooperate so we can get answers to the American people," Thompson said.
So far, the committee has met with about 200 unnamed witnesses voluntarily, received 25,000 pages of documents and received more than 200 tips through a hotline.
At least 650 Insurrectionists arrested so far
...and they can’t hide in the US Military, either:
He Attacked Cops At The Capitol Riot. Then He Went To Air Force Basic Training. Ryan J. Reilly, HuffPost, November 23, 2021.
The FBI has arrested a supporter of former President Donald Trump who sprayed cops with pepper spray, smashed out a window and broke into the U.S. Capitol before he went to basic training for the U.S. Air Force.
Aiden Bilyard was arrested in Raleigh, North Carolina, according to court records. He faces a host of charges, including felony civil disorder, assaulting officers with a dangerous weapon, destruction of government property, entering and remaining in a restricted building with a deadly or dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct with a deadly or dangerous weapon, and several other misdemeanors. ✂️
The FBI has made more than 650 arrests in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, roughly one-fourth of the total number of individuals who engaged in chargeable criminal conduct that day. The FBI is still looking for more than 350 individuals who engaged in violence, including more than 250 members of the pro-Trump mob who assaulted cops.
Investigation is wide-reaching and there are consequences
Some people have been fretting that the various law enforcement services that failed to respond quickly on January 6 might not be held accountable. That appears not to be the case:
House Jan. 6 committee intensifies focus on law enforcement failures that preceded Capitol attack, Aaron C. Davis, Carol D. Leonnig and Tom Hamburger, Washington Post, November 23, 2021.
The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is increasingly focused on law enforcement failures that preceded the insurrection, scrutinizing in particular multiple warnings of possible violence that went unheeded by the FBI, according to people familiar with its work and individuals who have been contacted by the committee.
Donell Harvin, the former head of intelligence for D.C.’s homeland security department, said he has met twice in the past two weeks with committee investigators, who he said appeared intent on understanding how information was shared between agencies in the weeks before the attack. ✂️
The interviews indicate that along with efforts to assess the role of President Donald Trump and his allies in spurring on the mob, the panel is pursuing a significant review of the intelligence and national security failures that is similar to the one undertaken by the 9/11 Commission in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
The committee is examining the failures of various government agencies to recognize, share and elevate critical early warnings of extremists discussing violence in the run-up to Jan. 6, according to two people familiar with the panel’s work, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the investigation.
🎶 Turkey Thanksgiving Song for R Turkeys 🎶
Lawyers who filed frivolous “stop the steal” lawsuits held accountable
Lawyers Who Challenged 2020 Election Ordered To Pay $187,000 Legal Fees, Nina Golgowski, HuffPost, November 23, 2021.
Two attorneys have been ordered to pay nearly $187,000 in legal fees after unsuccessfully challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election in a lawsuit that a federal judge called “defamatory,” an “abuse of the legal system” and a means to foment violence.
In a ruling issued Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge N. Reid Neureiter ordered attorneys Gary D. Fielder and Ernest John Walker to cover the legal fees incurred by Facebook, the voting company Dominion, the nonprofit the Center for Tech and Civic Life, and officials with the states of Pennsylvania and Michigan.
“Counsel should think long and hard, and do significant pre-filing research and verification, before ever filing a lawsuit like this again,” Neureiter said. “This lawsuit has been an abuse of the legal system and an interference with the machinery of government.”
Justice catches up with WV Gov Jim Justice, and could result in more new jobs
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice faces justice for coal crimes in Kentucky, Adam Mahoney, Salon, November 23, 2021.
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice used coal to propel himself into public office in the coal-friendly state, but a few hundred miles away his association with coal is not so positive. Earlier this month in Kentucky, the billionaire politician and his son-turned-business partner were personally fined $2.9 million by the state for failing to reclaim three of their Eastern Kentucky mines, a process that makes them environmentally safe for redevelopment. ✂️
This most recent fine adds to more than $15 million in taxes and safety penalties he has owed state governments for his coal mines across six states, according to a 2016 NPR investigation. That analysis revealed Justice's mines as a hotbed for workplace injuries, holding the most unpaid safety violations of any American-owned coal operator. ✂️
Not only will it ease the taxpayers' burden by forcing the Justices to foot the bill, it'll also create hundreds of jobs. Kentucky, one of the poorest states in the country, has nearly a dozen counties with a poverty rate above 30 percent, nearly triple the national average. An analysis by Appalachian Voices found that reclamation work at Justice's mines alone would employ 220 to 460 workers for five years. A big boost is expected soon, at the hands of the recently passed Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. According to the Reclaiming Appalachia Coalition, the $11.3 billion earmarked in the law for abandoned mine cleanup will result in nearly 3,000 jobs and $7.45 billion in economic output across Appalachia.
And TFG has other legal concerns besides Jan 6
New York Prosecutors Zeroing In On Trump Properties' Incredibly Variable Valuations, Doktor Zoom, Wonkette, November 23, 2021.
According to the Washington Post, the Trump Organization is under investigation by the Manhattan district attorney and New York attorney general for allegedly offering extremely different estimates of its properties' values, depending on whether the company was seeking to lower its taxes or use the properties to make money. This appears to be a new branch of the investigations already underway into a boatload of possible financial crimes by Donald Trump's business. WaPo reports specifically on the insane fluctuations in values on four properties, including a Trump golf course in California, which New York Attorney General Letitia James said is under her office's purview because Trump was a New York resident at the time. ✂️
Former Trump fixer and consigliere Michael Cohen testified to Congress in 2019 that Trump's use of highly creative and variable valuations of his properties is an important feature of his dogvomit financial genius. At the time, Cohen said "Mr. Trump is a cheat," in response to which Trump insisted that Michael Cohen was a lying liar who lied all the time. (Especially when he was doing it for Trump, which Trump didn't say, but COME ON.)
As part of the investigations, WaPo reports, James's office has "commissioned its own appraisals of some Trump properties, to provide a standard to which they could compare Trump's valuations," and both her office and the Manhattan DA have collected assloads of documents concerning the claims Trump Org made about the four properties in the new investigations, including…. (sorry, fair use — go to the link for the whole thing!)
Republicans in Disarray
Where Things Stand: Governor’s Mansion Is Apparently The GOPs Only Safe Perch For Trump Criticism, Nicole Lafond, TPM, November 23, 2021.
Maryland’s Republican Gov. Larry Hogan threw himself into the small chorus of GOP governors willing to distance themselves from former President Trump this week. ✂️
Even before he was an outgoing governor, Hogan vocalized his ire toward Trump, calling out the former president for his Big Lie crusade as he prematurely and falsely broadcast his 2020 “win.” Hogan also went after Trump for his role in inciting the insurrection. But it seems the GOP governors’ perch might be shaping up to be one of the only safe places for Republicans willing to criticize Trump, or at least softly distance the party from the Trumpist movement.
Over the weekend, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) openly criticized Trump and other Republicans who have gone after colleagues who helped Democrats pass the bipartisan infrastructure package in the House, sending it to President Biden’s desk for a signature earlier this month. (Sununu recently announced he is not running for Senate next year, a huge break for Democrats who were anticipating a possible Republican flip, and is instead running for a fourth term as governor.)
That vast RW conspiracy wasn’t supposed to bite MY face!
Mike Lindell Blames a Vast GOP Conspiracy for His Supreme Court Failure, Zachary Petrizzo, Daily Beast, November 23, 2021.
MyPillow chief and 2020 dead-ender Mike Lindell has long promised that he would file an election-fraud complaint with the Supreme Court on Tuesday morning. But now he claims to have missed that goal because he was silenced by Republican National Committee Chairperson Ronna McDaniel. ✂️
With a poor WiFi connection marring his live-streamed rant, Lindell blasted McDaniel, alleging she orchestrated a vast Republican conspiracy against him when she finally acknowledged late last week that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
“How dare the RNC try and stop this case from getting to the Supreme Court. Shame on you, RNC! You are worse than Fox [News] now!” he stated, referencing his
claims that the cable giant has silenced him. “You can’t tell me why Ronna McDaniel, the head of the RNC, made a statement saying Biden won three days before this Supreme Court complaint was supposed to go to the Supreme Court.”
💉 Health News 💉
White House to invest $1.5 billion in nation's health care workforce, Brigid Kennedy, the week, November 22, 2021.
The Biden administration will invest $1.5 billion from the COVID-19 aid package in addressing the shortage of health care workers in underserved communities, The Associated Press reports.
The funding, which was announced Monday by Vice President Kamala Harris, will go to the National Health Service Corps, Nurse Corps and Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery programs — "all federal programs that offer scholarship and loan repayments for health care students and workers if they pledge to work in underserved and high-risk communities," per AP.
The money will support over 22,700 providers, which marks the "largest number of providers enrolled in these programs in history," and will use funds from the American Rescue Plan as well as other sources.
How COVID shots for kids help prevent dangerous new variants, Laura Ungar, AP, November 22, 2021.
Scientists agree. Each infection — whether in an adult in Yemen or a kid in Kentucky — gives the virus another opportunity to mutate. Protecting a new, large chunk of the population anywhere in the world limits those opportunities. ✂️
Vaccinating kids also means reducing silent spread, since most have no or mild symptoms when they contract the virus. When the virus spreads unseen, scientists say, it also goes unabated. And as more people contract it, the odds of new variants rise. ✂️
Getting kids vaccinated could make a real difference going forward, according to estimates by the COVID-19 Scenario Modeling Hub, a collection of university and medical research organizations that consolidates models of how the pandemic may unfold. The hub’s latest estimates show that for this November through March 12, 2022, vaccinating 5- to 11-year-olds would avert about 430,000 COVID cases in the overall U.S. population if no new variant arose. If a variant 50% more transmissible than delta showed up in late fall, 860,000 cases would be averted, “a big impact,” said project co-leader Katriona Shea, of Pennsylvania State University.
🎶 Sweet Thanksgiving Song for Ds and CG 🎶
🐩💙 CG’s Picks 💙🐩
Hello everybody! It’s me, Curlygirly! Happy Yummy Food week! Here are my contributions to Mama’s GNR today:
Labrador kayaker rescues snowy owl from raven attack, CBC, November 22, 2021.
Gauthier and his paddling partner watched in horror as the attack unfolded before their eyes. Eventually, the group of ravens — the collective noun for which is fittingly an "unkindness" — pushed the owl so close to the water's surface that she fell in.
"A couple of days before I watched a YouTube video on how owls, crows and ravens are basically mortal enemies," Gauthier said.
The owl, now bobbing in the frigid water, didn't appear to be fending off her attackers, he said.
"It was so beautiful looking. Yet I was thinking, this poor animal is not even struggling. She's going to drown."
Gauthier drifted closer, gently trying to lift the owl up out of the water with his paddle and guide her toward the bow of the kayak. She grabbed onto the boat, and hauled herself out of the lake.
I picked this story because it has 3 elements that I like to find in a story: it is about animals (✔️- although they are dead — sorry about that, moose); it is educational (✔️it’s a science story! (); and I like the story to be exciting or funny and this one is kind of funny (✔️) because it is about a smelly subject and the story writer’s name is Smellie (that tickles my funny bone — I’m a dog, so sue me! 🐾)
Decades worth of festering moose jawbones have much to say about N.L. ecology, Sarah Smellie, the Canadian Press, November 22, 2021.
Fifty years of flesh-specked, festering jawbones pried out of moose by hunters and dropped in bins all over Newfoundland and Labrador have led to what biologist Don Keefe says is among the richest wildlife data sets in North America.
Keefe, an ecosystem management ecologist with the provincial government, said his team is expecting to measure, boil, pick apart and analyze more than 3,000 jaws from this year's drop-off program.
"I mean, there can be some smells, I'm not gonna lie," he said in a recent interview from the western Newfoundland town of Corner Brook. ✂️
From each jawbone, Keefe and his team will remove two central incisors, which are the teeth at the front of the mouth. One gets sent to a lab in the United States that prepares slides of the tooth material for the ring counting, and the other is archived. All the information goes into the massive database that can be used to project populations and make mortality estimates, among other things, said Keefe.
No, I did not write this — but I could have!! I really like my vet but Mama blanches sometimes when she sees the bills (like the time I had to spend 3 days in hospital after eating half a fruitcake having my blood and kidneys flushed — raisins are dangerous for dogs!! Who knew? Alls I wanted was the tasty butter all over the outside!) . I’m a pretty healthy dog and still I have occasion to visit the vet a couple of times a year for one thing or another, like vaccinations and the odd tummy upset or my recently developed arthritis. I don’t know how some of my friends’ humans manage, as some of them have quite challenging health issues! Some of my friends’ humans have insurance policies for vet bills, but those only pay for emergency stuff or catastrophic injuries. The real vet bills mount for vaccinations, yearly checkups and routine care and those are not covered, which makes no sense to me. Mama says it is like insurance before Obamacare which did not cover pre-existing conditions or preventative care. ANYWAY, I like this writer’s argument.
It Should Be Free to Take Your Dog to the Vet, Margret Grebowicz, Slate, November 22, 2021.
Like many health preventatives, dogs are expensive. Dog food prices are on the rise. Group classes for basic obedience training average around $50 per hour. Training a dog for support or therapy purposes—that is, turning a dog into an specialized intervention for a health ailment—is even more expensive. The highest expense, though, is the one over which owners have the least control: vet care. Routine visits can cost between $700 and $1,500 per year, between doctors’ fees and vaccines. And then there are emergencies. The majority of American dog owners today cannot afford emergency vet care. It’s no wonder that emergency pet surgeries are such a popular GoFundMe category.
It’s increasingly clear just how much dog owners get out of having their dogs always nearby. People are buying high-tech pet cameras in order to stay connected while apart, and the dog portrait industry is booming. Some are buying homes just to give their dogs better lives. Many are fighting for more and more dog-friendly environments, from the workplace to college dorms to subways (and who can forget the short sliver of time when emotional support animals were allowed on flights?). Many people refer to their pets as family, and see themselves as their pets’ parents. Affordable veterinary care should be the next frontier of dogs’ expanding importance in our lives.
Yes, there are many expenses when it comes to dogs—from kibble to dog walker services— and we don’t all need that pet portrait or the latest fancy dog food delivered to our door. But those who want to live with dogs shouldn’t ever have to lose sleep worrying about how to cover their beloved pets’ medical bills. Life with a dog should not be a luxury.
Maybe we can’t get universal vet care, but reform to the pet insurance industry similar to Obamacare would be excellent! Affordable coverage for annual checkups and vaccinations and those awful (expensive!) dentals would sure be helpful! Then the lady I showed you last week would have less work to do, but I think she would like that!
Chicago Lit Up for the Holidays
Here is the story of today’s picture. This past weekend, Chicago lit all the lights for the holidays and downtown was wall to wall humans! I like the lights and the decorations and there was a parade and I don’t mind all that noise and commotion.
However.
Golly gee willikers, was there EVER a lot of humans wanting to say “hello” to me and by “say hello” I mean they swooped in with their hands outstretched and they were already grabbing me even before they asked Mama if it was OK.
Now, I am a very good dog and I am well-trained to accept attention from humans, even if they grab at me or reach straight over my head to pet me. I will accept grown up humans ok and I LOVE little humans and I don’t even mind if they pull my ears or anything! It’s like dogs; I’ll accept a greeting from a polite adult dog (but I will put a rude dog in its place right quick!) but puppies? Awwwww puppies! I have endless patience for them and they can jump on me or bite my ears or anything and I will play with them and only correct very gently with “talk to the paw”.
So, little humans are adorable and I don’t mind them one bit for as long as they want to play.
ON Saturday night, though, it was almost all grown up humans — hundreds of them! And it seemed like Mama and I could not walk ten steps without some of them — strangers! — grabbing me and screeching, “Oh let me pet your dog!”. I put up with it for quite a while and Mama tried to run interference a bit because she knew even a patient, well-trained dog like me can eventually get overwhelmed with unceasing attention from strangers. Finally, I had had it, though and I reached up and put my paws around Mama’s waist, gazing beseechingly into her eyes and willing her to read the message in them: “Can we puhleeze go straight home? If one more of these strangers grabs me I am not going to be answerable for my behavior!”
Meanwhile, the gaggle of humans surrounding us at that moment were all shrieking, “Oh LOOK how much she loves you!” to Mama, and Mama calmly replied, “No, she’s showing anxiety behavior. There’s been a LOT of meeting strangers tonight and she has had about all she can take. Thanks so much for greeting her, and now we must go.” I could have HUGGED my Mama! She understands me!
So, we went off the main drag and onto a quieter street and there was this tunnel of lighted trees and at the end was a group of people practicing singing some songs, Mama called “carolers” and she asked me if I wanted my picture taken and of course I obliged! I am a very good girl!
🦃🥧 Bonus Section — Happy Thanksgiving! 🥧🦃
Target to keep stores closed on Thanksgiving for good, Anne D’Innocenzio, NPR, November 22, 2021.
U.S. holiday sales last November and December rose 8.2% in 2020 from the previous year, according to The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group. The trade group predicts 2021 could shatter that record, growing between 8.5% and 10.5%.
Americans, able to get the same offers over a broader timespan and relieved from some of the stresses that go hand in hand with the holidays, appeared to embrace the change, which has also resonated with workers, Target said.
“What started as a temporary measure driven by the pandemic is now our new standard — one that recognizes our ability to deliver on our guests’ holiday wishes both within and well beyond store hours,” Target CEO Brian Cornell wrote in a note to employees. “You don’t have to wonder whether this is the last Thanksgiving you’ll spend with family and friends for a while, because Thanksgiving store hours are one thing we won’t ‘get back to’ when the pandemic finally subsides.”
Here’s a Nifty Dish to Save oven space and Time on turkey day
If you have a slow cooker/crock pot, you can throw this together on Thursday morning or early afternoon (depending on what time you want to sit down to eat) and there’s nothing else to do but serve it! I devised this recipe by smushing together 4-5 recipes I found which were not quite right. This one works:
You can use a 2.5-3 quart crock pot for the recipe as is, or double the recipe for a bigger crock pot
Slow Cooker Maple-Pecan Sweet Potatoes
2lbs (about 6 medium) sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1in cubes
½ cup applesauce (unsweetened)
¼ cup brown sugar (lightly measured, not packed)
¼ cup pure maple syrup
1 Tablespoon butter, melted
salt and pepper to taste (you can also add a pinch of cinnamon and ginger if you like)
¼ cup chopped toasted pecans
1. In a small bowl combine the applesauce, brown sugar, maple syrup, melted butter and spices.
2. In a 3 qt crock pot, toss the sweet potato cubes with the maple syrup mixture to coat all the pieces thoroughly.
3. Cover and cook on low until sweet potato cubes are fork tender but not mushy (usually about 2-3 hours)
4. Sprinkle the pecans on top and serve!
This can be mashed and put in another serving dish before sprinkling with the pecans, too!
Also, if you don’t have/like maple — you can still make this easy recipe. Just omit the syrup and increase the sugar to ½ cup. Toast the pecans in the morning or night before to save time later. 4-6 minutes at 350F. You can also use walnuts if you prefer. 😋
⚡️ Lightning RoundUp ⚡️
⚡️More helpful tips: Welcoming family into your home for Thanksgiving? Here's how to keep COVID out, Allison Aubrey, NPR, November 20, 2021.
⚡️ What is happiness? Read on! How to Identify What You Enjoy, Rebecca Rashid and Arthur C Brooks, the Atlantic, November 23, 2021.
⚡️ Comfort cookbooks: These 5 cookbooks help keep Thanksgiving simple — and focused on family, T. Susan Chang, NPR, November 23, 2021.
⚡️ Want to make tastier, prettier pies? A baker tells us where to tart, Shereen Marisol Meraji and Sylvie Douglis, NPR, November 19, 2021.
⚡️ And for every other question: How big a turkey should I buy? That and other Thanksgiving FAQs answered. Matt Brooks, Becky Krystal and Kara Elder, Washington Post, November 19, 2021.
⚡️ The ‘Great Resignation’ is in Fact … Well, Great! Josh Marshall, TPM, November 22, 2021.
⚡️Here’s hoping: Republicans Will Be Sorry If the Supreme Court Overturns Roe, William Saletan, Slate, November 22, 2021.
💗 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:
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.
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 the Curlygirly for another Wednesday!
Stay safe if you are driving to visit family or friends this week (there’s a great article in the Lightning Roundup for tips on how to enjoy a covid-safe Thanksgiving, too). Vaccination has made it possible for a much better holiday season for many of us this year — THANKS, JOE!
WIth all the hustle and bustle this week and on into the December holidays, it can be harder to look after your own needs. Try to remember its like that airplane safety advice — secure your own mask before trying to assist others. Take care of your own health and well-being so that you can have the strength and energy you need not just to make the holidays nicer for others, but to enjoy them yourself.
So, eat nutritious food, get some rest and even though you’ve got a To Do list as long as your arm, try to get outdoors every day for a breath of fresh air and a few moments to gaze at the sky.
I wish every gnu in Gnuville a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Here’s some relaxing music to play while you bake and cook (or order in!). 🧡