Welcome 🌻 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News!
It’s the Ides of March, the day when Julius Caesar was stabbed to death in the Senate by guys who did not want to lose their republic.
Thanks to President Biden and the blue majority, I don’t think we’re going to lose our republic. But we are seeing that tRump is taking down the Republican party. There are examples down below.
But why? Why do they let themselves go through this?
It is because they have allowed themselves to choose hatred and lies as opposed to truth and love.
When we choose truth and love, it gives us strength. While the other side seems to be disintegrating into chaotic cowardice.
Come on in, dear gnusies, and see what the good guys, the brave guys, are doing.
Regular Scheduled Programming
No one here is naïve; 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. We are furious with them for what they are doing and we are letting them know. Remember:
💙 There are more of us than there are of them.
💛 They are terrified when we organize. THERE IS LOTS OF EVIDENCE THAT THEY ARE TERRIFIED!
💔 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.
🗽 Biden as President! 🗽
Biden, Harris and their administration have been hard at work. Here are the last week’s posts at the White House briefing room. Note I am experiencing internet issues so may not be able to complete this.
- Thursday, March 14, 2024: President Biden Announces Key Nominees
- Thursday, March 14, 2024: Statement from President Joe Biden on Nex Benedict
- Thursday, March 14, 2024: Readout of White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention Briefing with Local Leaders, Public Safety Officials and Violence Intervention Organizations on President Biden’s Budget Proposals Aimed at Reducing Gun Violence and Violent Crime
- Thursday, March 14, 2024: Remarks by President Biden at a Campaign Event | Milwaukee, WI (March 13, 2024)
- Thursday, March 14, 2024: Remarks by President Biden on How His Investments are Rebuilding Our Communities and Creating Good-Paying Jobs | Milwaukee, WI
- Thursday, March 14, 2024: FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Takes Action to Protect Communities from Dangers of Ethylene Oxide Pollution and Secure America’s Medical Supply Chains
- Wednesday, March 13, 2023: Readout of White House State Legislative Convening on Access to Fertility Care
- Wednesday, March 13, 2023: Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre En Route Milwaukee, WI
- Wednesday, March 13, 2023: Remarks by President Biden, President Andrzej Duda, and Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland Before Bilateral Meeting
- Wednesday, March 13, 2023: FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Launches the White House Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose
- Wednesday, March 13, 2023: FACT SHEET: President Biden Announces Over $3 Billion to Reconnect Communities That Have Been Left Behind and Divided by Transportation Infrastructure
- Tuesday, March 12, 2023: Readout of President Biden’s Meeting with President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland
- Tuesday, March 12, 2023: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan
- Tuesday, March 12, 2023: Memorandum on Delegation of Authority Under Section 614(a)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961
- Tuesday, March 12, 2023: On-the-Record Press Call with OMB Director Shalanda Young and Council of Economic Advisers Chair Jared Bernstein on the President’s Budget
- Tuesday, March 12, 2023: Remarks by President Biden at a Campaign Event | Manchester, NH
- Tuesday, March 12, 2023: Remarks by National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard on President Biden’s Bold Plan for Housing
- Tuesday, March 12, 2023: Remarks by President Biden After Air Force One Arrival | Joint Base Andrews, MD
- Tuesday, March 12, 2023: Press Release: Notice on the Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Iran
- Tuesday, March 12, 2023: Message to the Congress on the Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Iran
- Tuesday, March 12, 2023: FACT SHEET: On Equal Pay Day, the Biden-Harris Administration Announces Actions to Continue Advancing Pay Equity and Women’s Economic Security
- Tuesday, March 12, 2023: Statement from President Joe Biden on the February Consumer Price Index
- Tuesday, March 12, 2023: Statement from President Joe Biden on Itay Chen
- Monday, March 11, 2024: Remarks by Vice President Harris at a Campaign Event | San Francisco, CA
- Monday, March 11, 2024: Remarks by President Biden on Lowering Healthcare Costs for American Families | Goffstown, NH
- Monday, March 11, 2024: Press Gaggle by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton En Route Manchester, NH
- Monday, March 11, 2024: A Proclamation on National Equal Pay Day, 2024
- Monday, March 11, 2024: Sequestration Order for Fiscal Year 2025 Pursuant to Section 251A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as Amended
- Monday, March 11, 2024: Remarks by President Biden at the National League of Cities Congressional City Conference
- Monday, March 11, 2024: Remarks by President Biden at a Campaign Event | Atlanta, GA (March 9, 2024)
- Monday, March 11, 2024: The American Rescue Plan (ARP): Top Highlights from 3 Years of Recovery
- Monday, March 11, 2024: Statement from President Joe Biden on Secretary Marcia L. Fudge
- Monday, March 11, 2024: FACT SHEET: The President’s Budget Creates Good-Paying Clean Jobs, Cuts Energy Costs, and Delivers on the President’s Ambitious Climate Agenda
- Monday, March 11, 2024: FACT SHEET: The President’s Budget Improves Customer Experience to Better Serve the American People
- Monday, March 11, 2024: FACT SHEET: The President’s Budget Cuts the Deficit by $3 Trillion Over 10 Years
- Monday, March 11, 2024: FACT SHEET: The President’s Budget Secures Our Border, Combats Fentanyl Trafficking, and Calls on Congress to Enact Critical Immigration Reform
- Monday, March 11, 2024: FACT SHEET: The President’s Budget Creates Opportunity, Advances Equity
- Monday, March 11, 2024: FACT SHEET: The President’s Budget Protects and Increases Access to Quality, Affordable Healthcare
- Monday, March 11, 2024: FACT SHEET: The President’s Budget Cuts Housing Costs, Boosts Supply, and Expands Access to Affordable Housing
- Monday, March 11, 2024: FACT SHEET: The President’s Budget Tackles Crime, Keeps Americans Safe at Home
- Monday, March 11, 2024: FACT SHEET: The President’s Budget Protects and Strengthens Social Security and Medicare
- Monday, March 11, 2024: FACT SHEET: The President’s Budget Cuts Taxes for Working Families and Makes Big Corporations and the Wealthy Pay Their Fair Share
- Monday, March 11, 2024: FACT SHEET: The President’s Budget Delivers on His Commitment to Tribal Nations and Native Communities
- Monday, March 11, 2024: FACT SHEET: The President’s Budget Advances President Biden’s Unity Agenda
- Monday, March 11, 2024: FACT SHEET: The President’s Budget Cuts Wasteful Spending on Big Pharma, Big Oil, and Other Special Interests, Cracks Down on Systemic Fraud, and Makes Programs More Cost Effective
- Monday, March 11, 2024: FACT SHEET: The President’s Budget Confronts Global Challenges and Defends Democracy
- Monday, March 11, 2024: FACT SHEET: The President’s Budget Lowers Costs for the American People
- Monday, March 11, 2024: FACT SHEET: The President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2025
- Monday, March 11, 2024: Statement from Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on the Visit of Prime Minister Petr Fiala of Czechia to the White House
- Sunday, March 10, 2024: Statement from President Joseph R. Biden on the Occasion of Ramadan
- Saturday, March 9, 2024: Statement from President Joe Biden on the Helicopter Crash in Texas
- Saturday, March 9, 2024: Message to the Congress on the Designation of Funding as an Emergency Requirement in Accordance with Section 6 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024
- Saturday, March 9, 2024: Press Release: Bill Signed: H.R. 4366
- Friday, March 8, 2024: Remarks by President Biden in Press Gaggle | Rose Valley, PA
- Friday, March 8, 2024: Readout of White House Meeting with RSV Immunization Manufacturers
- Friday, March 8, 2024: Remarks by President Biden Before Air Force One Departure | Joint Base Andrews, MD
- Friday, March 8, 2024: Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre En Route Philadelphia, PA
- Friday, March 8, 2024: Press Release: Bill Signed: H.R. 7454
- Friday, March 8, 2024: President Biden Announces Key Appointments to Boards and Commissions
- Friday, March 8, 2024: Readout of White Houvvse Meeting with the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict
- Friday, March 8, 2024: Remarks by President Biden in State of the Union Address
- Friday, March 8, 2024: FACT SHEET: President Biden’s Unity Agenda for the Nation
- Friday, March 8, 2024: Statement from President Joe Biden on the February Jobs Report
- Friday, March 8, 2024: A Proclamation on U.S. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day, 2024
- Friday, March 8, 2024: Joint Statement from the European Commission, the Republic of Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States Endorsing the Activation of a Maritime Corridor to Deliver Humanitarian Assistance to Gaza
👎 Out with the Bad, In with the Good 👍
👍 VA expanding IVF services covered Filip Timotija, The Hill
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) said that it would provide in vitro fertilization (IVF) for same-sex couples and single veterans, extending the benefit to members regardless of marital status.
The VA announced the expansion of the benefit on Monday. VA Secretary Denis McDonough said the expansion has long been a priority of the department and they are working on having it available imminently nationwide.
⚡️ JP Morgan did an analysis of energy, and determined that the US, for the first time in 40 years! has achieved energy independence. It’s a pdf. Note the Rs are out there lying and saying that this is not true.
X text: Ukraine reopens Black Sea shipping lanes as Russia retreats after significant naval losses
Note that Ukraine doesn’t really have a navy…
Federal judge rejects Republican Texas lawsuit against some of President Biden’s immigrant policies Camilio Montaya-Galvez CBS News
A federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit by Republican officials in Texas that sought to shut down a federal program that has allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants to fly to U.S. airports, preserving for now a policy central to the Biden administration's immigration agenda.
The dispute centered on a Biden administration program that allows up to 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter the U.S. each month if they have American financial sponsors. Those permitted to fly to the U.S. under the policy have been granted two-year work permits under an immigration authority known as humanitarian parole that President Biden has used at an unprecedented scale.
The Biden administration has argued the policy discourages would-be migrants from those four crisis-stricken countries from journeying to the U.S.-Mexico border and entering the country illegally. The program was announced in January 2023 in conjunction with a bilateral agreement in which Mexico agreed to accept the return of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who crossed into the U.S. illegally.
President Biden is tackling the immigrant problem the same way he’s tackling student debt and Ukraine funding. When he can’t do it one way, he does it another. Anyway, on the above I listened to a podcast (MTN) about it, and the judge is very tRumpy. But still sided with Biden.
💣 Republicans: Party of Crimes and Chaos 💣
The words of Lindsey Graham never get old: ”If we nominate Donald Trump, we will get destroyed… and we will deserve it.”
With tRump’s takeover of the RNC, the old Republican party is circling down the drain. And although I did not usually agree with old Republican party, arguments can be made for less government and less regulation. Now it’s the tRump party, and the tRumps plan to siphon off all the money. As Jaime Harris, chair of the DNC says, I’m all for it.
RNC fires dozens of staff Steve Peoples Associated Press
“MAGA is now in control of the Republican Party!!” Greene wrote on X, referencing Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement. “We will continue to need everyone’s help all the way across the finish line! Do not grow weary.”
Trump’s lieutenants telegraphed major changes late last week as Republican National Committee members gathered in Houston to approve his hand-picked leadership team, which includes his daughter-in-law Lara Trump as the committee co-chair. Michael Whatley, a former North Carolina GOP chairman, replaced Ronna McDaniel as the chair.
Great idea! Get rid of the people who know what they are doing — in an election year. Apparently (heard on a podcast) it’s about one-third of the staff. The chair of the DNC, Jaime Harrison, can’t stop chortling.
Also out: the RNC is getting rid of its minority outreach program Roger Sollenberger The Daily Beast
After years of accusations of financial mismanagement, the Republican National Committee is overhauling its 2024 election operations—a full-on MAGA makeover that the RNC claims will curb excessive spending and steer as much money as possible to supporting Donald Trump’s campaign.
But it appears that one of those strategic spending moves may have a profound effect on a successful minority outreach program, which two people with knowledge of the plans characterized as self-defeating, potentially erasing gains with groups of gettable new voters who have cooled on the Democratic Party.
As one of the sources put it to The Daily Beast, the tagline might as well be “Make the RNC White Again.”
The program at issue is an initiative from the 2022 midterms where RNC field staff engaged voters through gatherings and events held at community centers in areas with heavy minority populations, most specifically Latino communities.
Gee, Jaime Harrison, I hope you’re aware of this!
GOP Rep Ken Buck, who isn’t really MAGA, isn’t waiting to be primaried. He’s leaving early, leaving Mike Johnson with even one less vote. Also, it hurts Lauren Boebert:
It does seem that when they don’t get shivved, they decide to pick up the knife and shiv themselves. And something in the GOP is so awful that they can’t bear to stick around. (Ken Buck in interviews talked about receiving 4 death threats for not supporting Jim Jordan for speakership, and also talked about how the landlord of his office, I guess in Colorado, is evicting him because he does not agree with his votes. Ugh.)
Really, the Rs should just turn over the speakership to Jeffries now and save themselves all the trouble.
🚚 💙 Democrats Deliver 💙 🚚
Hot streak in great jobs numbers continues Steve Benen Maddow Blog
Expectations heading into this morning showed projections of about 198,000 new jobs having been added in the United States in February. As it turns out, according to the new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job market managed to do much better than that. CNBC reported:
Job creation eased slightly in February though still topped expectations and pointed to a vibrant U.S. labor market, even though the unemployment rate moved higher. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 275,000 for the month while the jobless rate moved higher to 3.9%.
✂️ What’s more, in addition to the top-line data, we also learned that wage growth continued to outpace inflation. While the unemployment rate inched higher, the jobless rate has nevertheless been below 4% for 25 consecutive months — a streak unseen in the United States since the 1960s.
President Biden gets endorsement from 15 major youth organizations:
Endorsements from different groups:
An endorsement from the Boss (Bruce Springsteen):
💜 Unity? 💜
President Biden clinches D nomination! No need to cite anything, but it shows we’re unified.
Ilhan Omar says she will support President Biden in November Tara Suter The Hill
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said policy differences toward Israel between her and President Biden won’t stop her from supporting him in the November general election.
“Of course,” Omar said Tuesday, when asked by CNN’s Abby Phillip on “NewsNight” whether she would vote for Biden if the election were held that day, in a clip highlighted by Mediaite. “Democracy is on the line, we are facing down fascism.”
Election departments partner with police ahead of 2024 election to deal with threats Khaya Himmelman Talking Points Memo
The incident highlighted to Kelley, a former police officer himself and now current chair of the Committee for Safe and Secure Elections, that there was a way for election officials to partner with law enforcement, by making it easy for law enforcement, who might not be familiar with election violations and election processes, to identify violations of a state’s election code.
For example, a California guide outlines that it is a criminal violation under the state’s Election Code to threaten or coerce voters in a polling place, or to falsely represent oneself as an election worker.
These pocket guides were quickly adopted in all 34 cities in Orange County. But after the 2020 election, following a barrage of violence, harassment, and intimidation to election workers, the guidebooks grew in popularity, and have now been adopted by elections departments in 30 different states.
InXweet: “The only message we should send to Moscow is that the West is more united than ever when it comes to Ukraine,” Polish PM @donaldttusk tells reporters after meeting with @POTUS.
📥 Actions You Can Take 📤
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 they’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 — American Civil Liberties Union
Democracy Docket — founded by Marc Elias, so important in fighting the challenges after the last election.
Fair Fight — founded by Stacey Abrams
🌱Grass roots. Biden and Harris can do the top-down stuff, but we have to support from the bottom. I don’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.
🏃 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 you’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.
👎 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 — 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.
🔎 Want to check out what’s going on with campaign contributions? Check out this diary. 👀
🐍 Schadenfreude 😈
This is fun (of course it’s also a reason Musk would support tRump, because he could quash this, while President Biden is not corruptible):
Peter Navarro told to report to prison on March 19 Martin Pengelly, The Guardian
Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro must report to prison on 19 March to begin a four-month sentence for defying the House January 6 committee, his lawyers said.
Navarro, 74, is an economist turned trade adviser who became closely involved in attempts to overturn Donald Trump’s defeat by Joe Biden in the 2020 election, efforts that culminated in the deadly attack on Congress of 6 January 2021.
Navarro openly
boasted of his role in an election subversion plot he called the “Green Bay Sweep”. The House committee subpoenaed him. He refused to cooperate, claiming executive privilege covered interactions with Trump as president.
Confirmation:
Crumbley found guilty of involuntary manslaughter Selina Guevera and Erik Ortiz NBC News
PONTIAC, Mich. — A jury on Thursday convicted James Crumbley of involuntary manslaughter in connection with his teenage son’s deadly school shooting in 2021, in step with his wife, who was found guilty last month on the same charge.
The jury's decision after about 10 hours of deliberations caps a landmark case that for the first time in the U.S. held the parents of a mass school shooter criminally responsible. James and Jennifer Crumbley’s son, Ethan, who was 15 when he opened fire at Oxford High School in suburban Detroit, pleaded guilty as an adult and was sentenced in December to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Not fun news, but important, as this will may get parents not to let their kids get access to weapons.
📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️️
This week we honor independent journalists. We all know that much of the MSM is owned by corporations and billionaires, and that often introduces a bias. Also, a lack of funds has forced many local organizations to cut back. Still, there’s a demand for real, honest reporting and genuine investigations. Some people have stepped forward, literally shooting out of their kitchens, but doing real work.
This week we want to give a shout-out to Jonathan Katz, who was the first to report on the lies in the Katie Britt response to the SotU:
🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️
Loving the planet so much that you clean it up! And, if you can’t do Xwitter, or you choose not to, it’s the story of Boyan Slat. When he was 16 he went scuba diving and saw more plastic and garbage than fish. He wondered why no one was cleaning it up, then decided he would clean it up. Raised a tiny amount via crowdsourcing, and then went viral, and is making a difference. With The Ocean Cleanup. Which is still accepting money.
Also, such a great bus driver! ( 🎩 BeeD)
Not all bus drivers have the strength to do this, but so many of them have good hearts.
📎Odds & Ends 📎
🐱 March Meowness at the Worcester Public Library in Massachusetts
Felines for fees forgiveness
Got fees for lost or damaged Worcester Public Library items?
Show us a picture of a cat (any cat)* and we will forgive your fees.
We want you back at the library, so we are offering one month of fee forgiveness for lost or damaged items from the Worcester Public Library! Show us a picture of your cat, a famous cat, a picture you drew of a cat, a shelter cat - any cat, and we will forgive WPL fees on your library account.
We understand accidents can happen, and sometimes fees might hold you back from fully using your public library. We hope that you will join us as we celebrate March Meowness at all of our Worcester Public Library locations.
Note there is some fine print. But I like Worcester. My favorite great-uncle lived there.
🌙 Liverpool is building largest tidal power project, to power a million homes Andy Corbley, Good News Network
Schemes to harness the predictable power of the tides in Liverpool Bay date back to 1924, and with one of the largest tidal ranges of any coastal city in the UK, government utility Mersey Tidal Power believe that they can power 1 million homes and protect the city from floodwaters, all without disturbing the local estuarine ecosystem.
Mersey Tidal Power have released precious little information on the plans thus far, but Eletrek reports that a large dam would be a barrier between the Irish Sea and a tidal basin. Underneath the dam would be large turbines and sluice gates which would open as the tide comes in, pulling water onto the turbines to generate energy.
The gates would close as the 10-meter-high tide finishes, and as the gravity of the moon begins to pull on the water four hours later, the gates would open, causing it to rush past the turbines a second time, generating more clean energy.
Study finds coral reef restoration can do “full recovery” within 4 years Cristen Hemingway Jaynes EcoWatch
One of the most visible indicators of ocean surface temperature warming due to climate change is the bleaching of coral reefs. Environmental changes like warming waters can cause corals to expel the algae that live on them and provide them with nutrients, turning the corals white.
A new study has found that, while most of the world’s coral reefs are currently damaged or under threat, efforts to restore them can revitalize important ecosystem functions remarkably quickly.
“We found that restored coral reefs can grow at the same speed as healthy coral reefs just four years after coral transplantation,” lead author of the study Ines Lange, an associate professor of marine conservation and management at University of Exeter, said in a press release from Cell Press. “This means that they provide lots of habitat for marine life and efficiently protect the adjacent island from wave energy and erosion. The speed of recovery that we saw was incredible. We did not expect a full recovery of reef framework production after only four years.”
🐦 I do a lot of other writing. A recent offering: the Crow Nickels (chronicles), a trilogy about crows who want to save birdkind from extinction: Hunters of the Feather, Scavengers of Mind and Familiars of the Flock (They’re really good! They’re really cheap! Buy and review or rate positively! And Hunters is also available on Audible!) Other stories, based on Jane Austen novels — such as The Meryton Murders — and others based on history and Greek mythology, such as Jocasta: The Mother-Wife of Oedipus, can be found here. All titles are available through Kindle Unlimited, but I only get paid if you turn the pages.
💙 What You Can Do to Rescue Democracy 💙
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 Muse’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. We need to win some back.
You can share your ideas below.
🌻
💙 “Our 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.” 💙
President Joseph R. Biden
🌹 🌹 🌹
TRUTH MATTERS. LOVE MATTERS.