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Good News Roundup for Friday, May 31, 2024: Thanks, New York

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Welcome šŸŒ» to Fridayā€™s Roundup of Good News!

On the Friday after the 2020 November election, the presidential race was not yet called. That was the hardest GNR I ever wrote. I wanted to hide under the covers.Ā 

I didnā€™t know if this week was going to echo that. Now, I did not think there would be acquittal ā€”Ā that means 12 jurors finding tRump not guilty ā€”Ā but there was the possibility of a hung jury. Well, that would not happen before Friday, because a hung jury takes more time.

But, on Thursday: Guilty x34!

Thanks, New York!

To be honest, I think New York should have indicted and imprisoned this person a long time ago. We would have been spared this nightmare. He has surely been criming for decades.

Sentencing is July. The pundits are saying that he wonā€™t get any prison time, just probation. Please, Judge Merchan, lock him away. Remember the damage he has done and keeps on doing. By these crimes, tRump stole an election. How about 34 months? 34 months without this felon holding pressers and fake rallies.

It is possible to hold a former president to account. More people are celebrating than are mourning.

Come on in, dear gnusies!Ā Letā€™s celebrate!Ā Letā€™s see what the good guys are doing, and share your good news too. How are you celebrating? Also, my offerings are a little lighter than usual

And then, when you are fortified with the GNR, find some way to make the world a better place. Because we still have work to do.

Regular Scheduled Programming

No one here is naĆÆve; we are aware of the many who are fighting to destroy our country. Some of us expected it: the cheating, the lying, the chaos, and yes, even the attempts to cling to power despite the clear will of the people. But we are here to read the efforts and the positive results of those (including us and our fellow gnus) who are working so hard to save our country from those very bad people. Ā We are furious with them for what they are doing and we are letting them know. Ā Remember:

šŸ’™ There are more of us than there are of them.

šŸ’› They are terrified when we organize. Ā THERE IS LOTS OF EVIDENCE THAT THEY ARE TERRIFIED!

šŸ’” They want us to be demoralized. The best way to keep up your spirits is to fight. So, take the time to recharge your batteries, but find ways to contribute to the well-being of our country and our world.

šŸ—½ Biden as President! šŸ—½

Biden, Harris and their administration have been hard at work. Here are the last weekā€™s posts at the White House briefing room.

šŸ‘Ž Out with the Bad, In with the Good šŸ‘

šŸ‘Ā āš”ļøĀ Sweden sending important weapons to UkraineĀ Daily Kos

šŸ‘Ā NASA launches satellite to help predict climate change by studying poles Cristen Hemingway JaynesĀ EcoWatch

For the first time, a NASAĀ satelliteĀ has been launched with the purpose of improving the ability to predictĀ climate changeĀ by measuring theĀ heatĀ that escapes from Earthā€™sĀ poles.

The satellite ā€” the first of a pair ā€” is in orbit following lift-off fromĀ Rocket Labā€™s Electron rocketĀ in Māhia, New Zealand, on Saturday, a press release from NASA said.

ā€œThis new information ā€” and weā€™ve never had it before ā€” will improve our ability to model whatā€™s happening in the poles, whatā€™s happening inĀ climate,ā€ saidĀ Karen St. Germain, Earth sciences research director at NASA, as AFP reported.

The two cube satellites in NASAā€™s Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment (PREFIRE) mission ā€” called CubeSats ā€” are each the size of a shoebox, the press release said. They will measure how much heat our planet radiates from two of its coldest and most remote regions.

šŸ’£ Republicans: Party of Crimes and Chaos šŸ’£

the GOP presumptive nominee was just convicted of 34 felony counts

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I donā€™t know what this does to them. I would imagine, you know, chaos. They will scream and pretend all is well but you know they must be sick in their stomachs. Because the cameras may have trained on the red-tie brigade, but many of those who tried to support tRump were shouted down.

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Also, they couldnā€™t get a hung jury. Not one juror. Nor could Manafort. Bannon is being sentenced next week.Ā 

Champagne sold out!

Some reports of tears, but no riots: Can someone send me clips of the hundreds of thousands of people protesting Trumpā€™s convictions? I was told that there would be mass mobilizationā€“ even a revolutionary uprising ā€” should this happen, but I canā€™t find any reporting on such riots.

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Tudor Dixon campaign asked to explain half million it sent to stafferā€™s questionable ā€œnon-profitā€ CraigĀ MaugerĀ Detroit News

LansingĀ ā€” The Michigan Secretary of Stateā€™s Office is requiring Republican Tudor Dixonā€™s campaign for governor to provide more information about $502,518 it gave to a nonprofit organization managed by one of Dixonā€™s former consultants.

The Detroit NewsĀ revealed on May 20Ā the Dixon campaignā€™s expenditures potentially conflicted with a state law that permits candidates to shift leftover funds to ā€œa tax exempt charitable organization.ā€

However, Dixonā€™s campaign reported sending $502,518 to Education Action Group, a social welfare nonprofit organization that is tax exempt but isnā€™t covered by the section of federal law forĀ traditionalĀ charities, according to a filing with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. āœ‚ļøĀ 

The Secretary of Stateā€™s Office asked Dixonā€™s campaign to clarify whether the money actually went to a charitable nonprofit. If not, the Dixon campaign must ensure the money is reimbursed by Education Action Group, according to the letter.

šŸšš šŸ’™ Democrats Deliver šŸ’™ šŸšš

On Saturday, President Biden addressed the graduating class at West Point. Reading the whole thing is worth your time, as he covers many challenges around the world. But these words struck me in particular.

West Pointers know better than anyone: Freedom is not free. It requires constant vigilance.

From the very beginning, nothing is guaranteed about our democracy in America. Every generation has an obligation to defend it, to protect it, to preserve it, to choose it. Now, itā€™s your turn.

Itā€™s their turn, and itā€™s also our turn, to do whatever we can. The dark forces are increasingly desperate, which is good in a way, but it also means they will be fiercer and angrier and more prone to do terrible things in order not to lose.

A million vets helped by the PACT actĀ Jennifer Shutt, Idaho Capital Sun

WASHINGTON ā€” President Joe Biden announced in New Hampshire on Tuesday that 1 million claims have been granted for benefits under the toxic exposure law that Congress approved less than two years ago, following the militaryā€™s use of open air burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The law, approved with broad bipartisan support following years of advocacy by veterans, their families and service organizations, has also led to more than 145,000 people enrolling in health care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

As of May 19, more than 10,200 PACT Act benefit claims from Idaho had been received by the department, while 6,454 claims had been granted. In Idaho, there are 1,071 new VA health care enrollees specifically related to PACT Act authority.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough told reporters on a call ahead of the announcement that the law has made ā€œtangible, life-changing differences forā€ veterans and their survivors.

Helping those in red states such as Idaho, too. President Biden is a president for all the people.

Democrats are organizing, even though itā€™s hard to get the MSM to notice!Ā Victor Shi:Ā VERY exciting news: The Biden-Harris campaign now has a presence at 270+ college campuses across the country in 38 states and DC. Our support among young people remains strong & we are working every day to turn out Gen Z to re-elect President Biden in November!

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šŸŽ©Ā Carla in Sequim People feeling better about the economyĀ Bryan Mena,Ā CNN

WashingtonCNN ā€”Ā Americansā€™ attitudes toward the economy improvedĀ this month for the first time since January, thanks to better perceptions of the job market.

The Conference Boardā€™s Consumer Confidence Index for this month climbed to a reading of 102, up from 97.5 in April. Americans of all age groups felt better about the economy, the survey noted. Thatā€™s after consumer confidence declined in each of the prior three months.

ā€œConsumersā€™ assessment of current business conditions was slightly less positive than last month. However, the strong labor market continued to bolster consumersā€™ overall assessment of the present situation,ā€ Dana Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board, said in a release.

šŸ’œ Unity? šŸ’œ

People want to hold big oil accountable Cristen Hemingway JaynesĀ EcoWatch

A newĀ Data for Progress pollĀ shared with The Guardian finds that most voters supportĀ litigation against big oil, while nearly half would also back the filing of criminal charges.

On May 3 and 4 of this year, Data for Progress and nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen surveyed 1,206 likely voters in the United States, asking the question of whether respondents believed that ā€œoil and gasĀ companies should be held legally accountable for their contributions toĀ climate change,ā€ including impacts onĀ extreme weatherĀ and public health.

[V]oters strongly want to see companies held accountable for their harmful actions,ā€ saidĀ Grace Adcox, Data for Progress senior climate strategist with Fossil Free Media, as The Guardian reported.

Lawsuits against big oil have been ramping up all over the world. Communities across the U.S. have been suing fossil fuel companies for allegedlyĀ misleading the publicĀ regarding theĀ climate crisis, and just last weekĀ FranceĀ brought the first-ever criminal lawsuit related to climate.

šŸ“„ Actions You Can Take šŸ“¤

Tax-exempt organization complaint referrals. 13909. You can fill this out for the NRA and lots of other organizations. How about if some of us white folk go into some of the MAGA churches and video record what theyā€™re saying?

Voting rights. This may be the biggest issue threatening our democracy right now. Besides contacting your representatives at the state and federal level to do the right thing (depending on who they are), you can support and contact these organizations:

ACLU ā€” American Civil Liberties Union

Democracy Docket ā€” founded by Marc Elias, so important in fighting the challenges after the last election.

Fair Fight ā€” founded by Stacey Abrams

šŸŒ±Grass roots. Biden and Harris can do the top-down stuff, but we have to support from the bottom. I donā€™t know how to deprogram 75 million people, but some things have been written about, such as deep canvassing, and lots of people are talking about this. If you know someone (who did not storm the Capitol), then see if you can be pleasant. Instead of trying to reason with them (logic is obviously not their strong point) distract them with something else. We need to remove the sources of lies and to take down the temperature. If we get more of the Rs to wear masks and to get vaccinated and to vote for Ds, the country will be a better place. We need to coax some of them out of the rabbit holes and diffuse the anger and the crazy.

šŸƒ Run for something. If you want to run for something, but have no idea what to do, these people will help you. They also like money and volunteers to help those people who are running, so even if youā€™re not in a position to stand for office, you can help. Note: they are especially planning to target the 57 Rs in local governments who participated in the insurrection.

šŸ‘Ž Defund the seditionists. Defund the seditionists. This is a list with companies that sometimes have donated to the seditionists. The list is long. You will recognize many of the corporations, and you probably have a relationship with some ā€” either you are a customer, a shareholder, or maybe even an employee. Contact them and compliment or complain, but let them know you are watching. Forward it to others.

šŸ”Ž Want to check out whatā€™s going on with campaign contributions? Check out this diary. šŸ‘€

šŸ Schadenfreude šŸ˜ˆ

Still more are Finding Out!Ā Scott MacFarlane:Ā Yet another Jan 6 defendant pleads guilty to felony charge of assaulting/resisting police. Ā  Kyler Bard of MissouriFeds said he ā€œturned directly toward the police line, and, as he yelled, ā€˜Letā€™s push!ā€™ took several steps and shoved a police officerā€

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And:Ā 20 months prison for Jan 6 defendant Joseph Fisher of Massachusetts. Ā Justice Dept argued ā€œFisher grabbed a chair, hid behind a pillar.. Fisher chose his timing carefully.. just as the officer & a rioter ran by, Fisher rammed the chair into the officerā€

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More FO: Jenna Ellis has struck a deal with Colorado authorities to be suspended from practicing law for three years, the result of her guilty plea in Georgia.

No wannabe dictators! tRump booed at LNC David SmithĀ The Guardian

Donald Trump, the former US president, has suffered the rare humiliation of getting booed and heckled during a raucous speech to the Libertarian National Convention.

Trumpā€™s rocky ride at a Washington hotel on Saturday night, including cries of ā€œBullshit!ā€ and ā€œFuck you!ā€, underlined the challenge that the Republican presidential nominee faces to broaden his appeal both left and right on the political spectrum. āœ‚ļø

The appeal went down like a lead balloon as delegates booed, jeered and shouted insults. It was a stunning rebuke for a man who has become accustomed to cult-like rallies where his every word is cheered to the echo.

I know many posts have already been made about this, but there were some points I want to repeat. First, tRumpā€™s appeal is not as broad as they pretend. In fact, many, many Americans hate him.Ā Second, information that came out showed how the tRump campaign tried to stuff the audience with tRump supporters and failed. We should remember they try to do this every time, busing people in, then lying repeatedly and ridiculously about crowd size.

But, to me, the really interesting and encouraging bits were when tRump begged for the votes of the Libertarians. That signals to me that he and his campaign knows that he is not doing well in the polls. It also may mean they donā€™t have a good way to steal the election.

Also, I just love this.Ā 

šŸ“£ Letā€™s Honor Truth ā˜€ļøļø

We must honor Bragg, the jurors, and the prosecutors in the New York trial ā€”Ā and also the Founding Fathers!Ā Jennifer RubinĀ Washington Post

The flock of pundits who insisted trying Trump was constitutionally untoward and strategically unwise nowĀ look foolish and, worse, clueless about the importance of holding Trump accountable for his crimes. One cannot defend the rule of law while simultaneously pleading for a different standard of prosecution for former presidents. Disregarding the naysayers, Bragg upheld his oath and struck a blow for accountability in delivering what may be the only criminal verdict against Trump before the election. (Even if the scandal-plagued Supreme Court were to extend immunity to Trump in the Jan. 6, 2021, case, the ruling would be inapplicable to the Manhattan case concerning personal matters that took place before Trump took office.)

Especially when the federal courts are paralyzed with partisan judges, a state criminal court verdict reaffirms the Foundersā€™ wisdom in devising a system of government with two sets of courts. On the federal side, Trump toady and U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon and the right-wing partisan majority on the Supreme Court (besmirched by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.ā€™s unforgivableĀ breach of impartiality) seem to have ground the courts to a halt.

Federalism is designed precisely for this dilemma: If justice is thwarted in one system, it can be pursued in the other. Bragg has bolstered democracy with one guardrail ā€” the state courts ā€” in the face of the collapse of another, the federal courts. (The Fulton County RICO case, meanwhile, is hopelessly bogged down, the result of District Attorney Fani T. Willisā€™s decision to file a sprawling, unmanageable case against nearly 20 defendants.)

I donā€™t think the problems are Willis but some issues with the Georgia GOP.Ā 

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The jurors were much braver than the GOP reps.

This week we honor Nina Jankowicz, working against disinformationĀ Steven Lee Myers and Jim RutenbergĀ New York Times

Two years ago, Nina Jankowicz briefly led an agency at the Department of Homeland Security created to fight disinformation ā€” the establishment of which provokedĀ a political and legal battleĀ over the governmentā€™s role in policing lies and other harmful content online that continues to reverberate.

Now she has re-entered the fray with a new nonprofit organization intended to fight what she and others have described as a coordinated campaign by conservatives and others to undermine researchers, like her, who study the sources of disinformation.

Already a lightning rod for critics of her work on the subject, Ms. Jankowicz inaugurated the organization with a letter accusing three Republican committee chairmen in the House of Representatives of abusing their subpoena powersĀ to silence think tanks and universitiesĀ that expose the sources of disinformation.

ā€œThese tactics echo the dark days of McCarthyism, but with a frightening 21st-century twist,ā€ she wrote in the letter on Monday with the organizationā€™s co-founder Carlos Ɓlvarez-Aranyos, a public-relations consultant who in 2020 was involved in efforts to defend the integrity of the American voting system.

I heard an interview with her on a podcast; sheā€™s been smeared a lot while fighting against the lies, often from Russia.

šŸŒ¹ Letā€™s Celebrate Love ā¤ļø

Sharon superviser fulfills dying veteranā€™s last wish Melissa KlaricĀ Sharon Herald

SHARON ā€“ When Sharon schools Superintendent Justi Glaros found out that a 98-year-old veteranā€™s last wish was to hold his high school diploma, she went above and beyond the duties of her job.

After researching the requirements for issuing an honorary high school diploma to a veteran and looking for Remp in old yearbooks, Glaros found out that a veteran must have been honorably discharged and must have served in either one of the three wars ā€“ Remp served in all three. āœ‚ļø

A couple weeks went by when Remp fell and the hospital found he had stage 4 prostate cancer that was aggressively attacking his liver. He was put on hospice care and was not expected to have long to live. āœ‚ļøĀ 

So Glaros jumped into her car on Friday, with some Sharon swag in hand, drove 4Ā½ hours to Maryland and hand-delivered the diploma to Remp during a graduation ceremony in his living room.

ā€œThe last thing he remembers is the fact that she came down and gave him the diploma,ā€ said American Legion Post 247 Commander Julian Singh. ā€œThat was his last waking moment.ā€

šŸ“ŽOdds & Ends šŸ“Ž

šŸ’ŠĀ Use omega 3 to reduce aggression?Ā Erica Moser, Penn Today

People who regularly eat fish or take fish oil supplements are getting omega-3 fatty acids, which play a critical role in brain function. Research has long shown a basis in the brain for aggressive and violent behavior, and that poor nutrition is a risk factor for behavior problems.

Penn neurocriminologistĀ Adrian RaineĀ has for years been studying whether omega-3 supplementation could therefore reduce aggressive behavior, publishing five randomized controlled trials from different countries. He found significant effects but wanted to know whether these findings extended beyond his laboratory.

Now, Raine has found further evidence for the efficacy of omega-3 supplementation by conducting a meta-analysis of 29 randomized controlled trials. It shows modest short-term effectsā€”he estimates this intervention translates to a 30% reduction in aggressionā€”across age, gender, diagnosis, treatment duration, and dosage. Raine is the lead author of a new paperĀ published in the journalĀ Aggressive and Violent Behavior,Ā with Lia Brodrick of theĀ Perelman School of Medicine.

ā€œI think the time has come to implement omega-3 supplementation to reduce aggression, irrespective of whether the setting is the community, the clinic, or the criminal justice system,ā€ Raine says. ā€œOmega-3 is not a magic bullet that is going to completely solve the problem of violence in society. But can it help? Based on these findings, we firmly believe it can, and we should start to act on the new knowledge we have.ā€

Maybe we can market some under the name ā€œivermektinā€ and get some of the over-aggressive tRumpies to calm down.

Indoor gardening can help boost immune systems Paige BennettĀ EcoWatch

Researchers from the University of Helsinki, Natural Resources Institute Finland and Tampere University have uncovered the benefits of microbial exposure that happens during urban indoor gardening.

Previous studies have unearthed the benefits of exposure to natural materials rich in microbes, like soil, on the human microbiota, but the researchers in this study looked specifically at whether urban, indoor gardening could have any similar impacts.

When using a microbially rich gardening soil for their indoor gardens, the study participants experienced an increase in microbiota diversity on the skin, plus some anti-inflammatory benefits. The findings wereĀ publishedĀ in the journalĀ Environment International.

šŸ’™ What You Can Do to Rescue Democracy šŸ’™

It turns out that participation in democracy is not just an every-four-years event but requires active participation, like, whenever you can find time.

Current projects:

Look in the comments for Progressive Museā€™s report on Postcards to Voters

And some other ideas:

You can relax and recharge.

You can join protests and freeway blog.

You can help register new voters.

You can smile.

You can say something nice to friend or a stranger.

You can get out the vote for special elections.

You can reach out to upset Republicans. Ā We need to win some back.

You can share your ideas below.

šŸŒ»

šŸ’™ ā€œOur history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we all are created equal and the harsh ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart. The battle is perennial, and victory is never assured.ā€ šŸ’™

President Joseph R. Biden

šŸŒ¹ šŸŒ¹ šŸŒ¹

TRUTH MATTERS. LOVE MATTERS.

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