(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Good News Roundup for Friday, March 1, 2024: We the People [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-03-01 Welcome 🌻 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News! Dear Gnusies — I’m traveling today, one of several trips I’m making within the states over the next couple of months. I may or may not be able to check in. But, most of you are old-timers: you know what to do! Speaking of knowing what to do: do some of it today. A postcard or two. A donation. Sign a petition, or help someone else to sign a petition. After the Supreme Court ruling, it has become even more clear, that it’s up to us. The voters. We the People. And we are powerful. So keep at it, my friends. Also, I want to work on some freeway blogging this month. If you can give me an idea for a sign that is either positive for Biden / Democrats or negative for tRump / Republicans, please post it in the comments, which I will read eventually. Requirements: short, clear, and G-rated (the place I use is across from a church). As few words / numbers as possible. Happy Friday! 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. 👎 Out with the Bad, In with the Good 👍 Good inflation number Ines Ferré, Karen Friar and Josh Schafer Yahoo Finance An inflation measure closely watched by the Fed continued cooling last month, matching Wall Street's expectations. The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index grew 2.4% year-over-year in January, a decline from last month's 2.6% print. "Core" PCE, the measure most often mentioned by Fed Chair Jerome Powell, came in at 2.8%, down from 2.9% in the month prior. The looming release of the PCE index data — the Fed's preferred measure of inflation — had weighed on stocks all week. Policymakers have repeatedly stressed they want to see more signs of price pressures easing before committing to rate cuts. 👍 One more Dem Representative sworn in! Great news: Tom Suozzi has just officially been sworn in as a member of the House of Representatives, shrinking the Republican majority by another vote & adding a sensible, principled, and great leader. Let’s all send our congratulations to Congressman Tom Suozzi! x Great news: Tom Suozzi has just officially been sworn in as a member of the House of Representatives, shrinking the Republican majority by another vote & adding a sensible, principled, and great leader. Let’s all send our congratulations to Congressman Tom Suozzi! — Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) February 29, 2024 and more with a speech recorded on CSPAN x & here is Tom Suozzi delivering his first floor speech as a Congressman. He’s ready to get to work and serve his constituents. Thank goodness. We need to elect far more people like him and flip the House Blue in 2024. We can do this. /end. pic.twitter.com/B17vVTEQeZ — Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) February 29, 2024 👍 President Biden’s Department of Energy announces renewable projects in remote and rural areas Cristen Hemingway Jaynes EcoWatch The Biden administration has announced that the United States Department of Energy (DOE) will provide $366 million in funding for 17 renewable energy projects in remote and rural areas of the country to alleviate high energy bills and improve reliability. The funding supports the administration’s target of directing 40 percent of climate-related investment benefits to communities that have been subjected to a disproportionate amount of pollution or are underserved, reported Reuters. “These projects overall are going to create more affordable, more reliable energy sources, they will lower families’ energy bills, and they’ll create good paying jobs in their communities,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm told reporters, as Reuters reported. As part of the administration’s Investing in American Agenda, the funds will support clean energy projects in 30 Tribal communities and nations and 20 states, a press release from the DOE said. 👎 🌵 Thanks to a GOP defection, AZ anti trans bill dies Erin Reed Los Angeles Blade PHOENIX, Ariz. – In a stunning defeat for anti-trans activists in Arizona, a major bill targeting transgender people in schools has failed. The bill, Senate Concurrent Resolution 1013, would have banned transgender students from using bathrooms matching their gender identity. It also would have forced teachers to misgender their transgender students unless parental permission was received. Most importantly, the bill would have placed the issues on the November election ballot, bypassing Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs’ veto, which has been used against similar legislation. This represents the first major ballot referendum on transgender people that has been defeated in 2024 and could signal Republican hesitancy around the electoral impacts of such referendums. ✂️ In the Senate Education Committee earlier this month, over 500 people registered opposition to the bill, and only 32 registered in favor, one of the most lopsided testimony ratios in any bill this year nationwide. Speaking against the bill in the hearing, Democratic Sen. Marsh pointed out the negative consequences that hearing such a bill would have, stating, “This will become a debate on a statewide level harming god knows how many kids and forcing them into further isolation, harassment, bullying, victimization, and vulnerability that comes. I think the effect of that will be incalculable.” ✂️ Anti-LGBTQ legislation is not highly popular, especially in general election contests. In the most recent school board elections in 2023, Moms for Liberty lost 70% of their school board elections, having run primarily on anti-trans issues in schools. Meanwhile, Democrats took the House and Senate in Virginia after Gov. Glenn Youngkin pushed a party platform at rallies that targeted trans youth throughout the state. Anti-trans politics have also previously failed to help Republicans in Arizona. In the 2022 governor’s race, Republicans attempted to target Gov. Katie Hobbs’ husband for providing counseling for trans youth in the closing weeks of the campaign—a gambit that failed to swing results in their favor. Note that Ken Bennett is the name of the senator who defected from the GOP. 💣 Republicans: Party of Crimes and Chaos 💣 Although the GOP politicians are mostly coming “home” to tRump, signs of weakening among the R voters Matt Lewis The Daily Beast The weakness of the tRump candidacy Simon Rosenberg Hopium Chronicles, from last Monday Simon Rosenberg Hopium Chronicles, from last Monday Trump’s and MAGA’s Performance Problems - In my post yesterday I talked about how the GOP’s performance problems we’ve seen since Dobbs have been showing up in early 2024. While there has been broad across the board struggle for the GOP the data that has to have the GOP most worried is his repeated underperforming of public polls in the early primary states. Others have picked up on these warning signs for the GOP: Axios - “Trump’s demographic problem” The Bulwark - Haley Is Exposing Trump’s Electoral Weakness” Politico - “Warning signs in Trump’s South Carolina romp” NYT - “Three theories for why Trump’s primary results are not matching expectations. He has underperformed polls in each of the first three contests.” An excerpt: There is one reason the anti-Trump turnout might have relevance for general election polling: It’s consistent with other data showing Mr. Biden with the edge among the most highly engaged voters. This could yield a slight turnout advantage, even in a general election. It may also mean that the current polls of all registered voters slightly underestimate Mr. Biden compared with the narrower group of actual voters. This wouldn’t mean the polls today are vastly underestimating Mr. Biden, but it could make the difference in a close election. I think something is seriously wrong with polling these days. I think something is seriously wrong with polling these days. 🚚 💙 Democrats Deliver 💙 🚚 Dr. Jill Biden to lead campaign to get women to support Biden-Harris Darlene Superville, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden ‘s campaign on Wednesday announced it is launching “Women for Biden-Harris,” a new nationwide program to organize and mobilize female voters to give him and Vice President Kamala Harris a second White House term. Biden’s wife, Jill, will lead the effort. Women were a crucial part of the coalition that elected Biden in 2020 and his campaign aims to recapture that with the reinvigorated effort. The first lady was to kick things off on Friday, the start of Women’s History Month, with a weekend travel blitz through states that will be key to deciding November’s presidential election. At long last, MSM talking to some Biden supporters: x WOW. MSNBC interviewed a bunch of Michigan voters & they all said enthusiastically & emphatically they cast their vote for President Biden. One said “age is just a number,” another said Trump is an “asshole.” THIS is what we need to see more. Watch/share👇pic.twitter.com/tFjSQBfPtB — Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) February 28, 2024 President Biden appeared this week on Seth Meyers! I admit I caught one moment where he said 2020 when he should have said 2024, but he was sharp and smart and he knows the name of his wife. Note it appeared to really bug tRump that Biden knows tRump can’t recall the name of his wife, 🌵 Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs calling out the incompetence and possible corruption of the Arizona Board of Regents Press Release This story is local to where I vote and so I have been following it through local news and acquaintances. Basically, it’s a problem many years in the making, where the Arizona Board of Regents, appointed mostly by previous Republican governors, have been mismanaging the University of Arizona. Why? These are my theories: to gain funds by stacking the administration with highly paid administrators in their families, to hurt education, but also to punish Tucson, which has been an oasis of blue in a state that was red. Anyway, I don’t know if Governor Hobbs can solve the problem, but at least she’s calling them out. “It is crystal clear that the handling of the University of Arizona crisis is heading in the wrong direction. New facts have come to light that once again show the Arizona Board of Regents failed in their oversight role and highlight a university leadership that was clueless as to their own finances. In the past days, instead of addressing their failure of leadership, ABOR has told conflicting stories to me, the press, and the public about the purchase of Ashford University. And while I have not been given the facts and therefore cannot comment about the veracity of recent statements from faculty regarding ABOR board members potential conflicts of interest, I do know one thing: ABOR members attacking faculty, even going so far as threatening a lawsuit, is not leadership. “I cannot be more clear: because of Chair Duval and the Board’s actions, university employees are going to lose their jobs. Attacking faculty is not, and never will be, the answer. “Instead of taking any accountability and guiding with a steady hand, ABOR is circling the wagons and announcing they are litigating personal grudges during Board meetings. In the February 22nd meeting, an ABOR member openly called for President Robbins to overthrow the faculty's governing body. This behavior is appalling and unacceptable. Chair DuVal and members of the Board of Regents appear more concerned with saving face than fixing the problems they created. It’s time for them to come down from their ivory tower and realize this is hurting Arizonans and the university. “At some point, enough needs to be enough, and that time is now. People's livelihoods are at risk. College affordability is under threat. The state and the University of Arizona have suffered immense reputational damage as a result of this crisis. This lack of accountability and continued scapegoating can no longer continue. I am demanding an in-person meeting with ABOR leadership and President Robbins immediately where we will discuss next steps.” 💜 Unity? 💜 President Biden at the border on Thursday: x He is saying to Trump basically, there is a bill that would address border security and I’m giving you the chance to work together and call on members of Congress to get this passed. Now, the ball is with Trump. Watch here. This is really good. pic.twitter.com/zYKAJXbtNq — Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) February 29, 2024 Hungary voted to admit Sweden into NATO Andrew Higgins The New York Times The Hungarian Parliament endorsed Sweden’s admission to the alliance by a large majority, with only six members from a far-right party, Our Homeland Movement, voting against. The Fidesz party and mainstream opposition groups all voted in favor. ✂️ The overwhelming vote in favor of NATO’s expansion followed the visit to Budapest by Mr. Kristersson that Mr. Orban said had repaired strained relations between the countries and made it possible for Hungary to accept Sweden as a member of NATO. Hungary’s long delay in accepting Sweden puzzled and exasperated the United States and other NATO members, raising questions about Hungary’s reliability as a member of an alliance committed to the principle of collective defense. I have been to Hungary many times. It’s a country full of historical resentments (something that is true of several European countries) and regret over glory that has slipped away (due in part to always choosing the wrong side in conflicts). There’s also reasonable frustration with some EU regulations, which can be annoying. But at last they have done the right thing. 📥 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 😈 tRump could not post the bond for his appeal to the tRump org fraud case: x Trump has a massive cash problem looming. His lawyers just ADMITTED he'll have to sell buildings to put up the bond pending appeal of the $464 million judgment against him in NY AG civil fraud case. Trump bragged to E. Jean Carroll lawyer he had $400 million in cash. He lied. — Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) February 29, 2024 I have been watching the gofundme that has been put up to help tRump with his legal problems. You know what’s fun? Watching the amount they gather every day. Sorry I wasn’t tracking the amounts at the beginning, but here are the numbers each day, with the first entry being the average of the first set of days. Date Total Per Day 2/25/2024 1,233,056 137,006 2/26/2024 1,255,756 22,700 2/27/2024 1,271,312 15,556 2/28/2024 1,284,065 12,753 Also, it will be more reliable when it goes longer and I have the chance to cover a weekend. To collect from the liar Alex Jones, Sandy Hook families vote to liquidate his assets Brandi Buchman Law and Order In order to collect on the $1.5 billion in defamation judgments they won against Alex Jones, the families of the victims of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut have voted to liquidate the far-right conspiracy theorist’s assets. The unanimous decision was filed on the docket at the federal bankruptcy court in Texas where the Infowars host’s empire — which also includes the company Free Speech Systems — is being picked over more than a year after he first filed a petition for personal bankruptcy protection. He filed for bankruptcy for Free Speech Systems while he was on trial in July 2023. Ultimately, he was held liable for his defamatory comments about the 2012 mass shooting in Newton, including repeatedly calling the tragedy a “giant hoax.” ✂️ As part of the liquidation process, items like real estate, cars, cash and more are expected to be sold off. According to Bloomberg Law, there will be a hearing next month where a detailed plan for the liquidation will be sorted out. Boebert post about Biden crime family ages poorly when her son is arrested Brad Reed Raw Story Writing on Twitter on Tuesday, Boebert declared that "the Biden Crime Family will go down as the most corrupt political family in American history." Shortly afterward, her 18-year-old son Tyler Boebert was arrested and charged with four counts of criminal possession of a financial device, four counts of criminal possession of ID documents, and a count of conspiracy to commit a felony. Boebert has made some seriously bad choices in her life and has not been a good example to others. I admit I like her glasses, though. 📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️️ This week we’re honoring Jessica Denson, a woman I should have honored before, but who somehow slipped under my radar. If you are also ignorant, here’s a bit on her story Roger Sollenberger, The Daily Beast, October 2023 Former Trump campaign aide Jessica Denson scored a long-fought and sweeping victory over her ex-boss on Thursday, when a federal judge voided the 2016 campaign’s nondisclosure agreement as overly restrictive. In addition to awarding Denson her settlement—$450,000 in legal fees to her defense team, and a $25,000 incentive fee to Denson as the representative for the class action—the ruling frees every member of the 2016 campaign from the agreement, allowing 422 former employees to speak about their experiences without fear of violating their contract. (The order notes that during negotiations the Trump campaign voluntarily released those employees.) The legal muzzle the campaign placed on its employees was so sweeping that it was “invalid and unenforceable,” the judge ruled. Denson, who accused the Trump campaign of sexual discrimination, previously won a lawsuit focused on her personal NDA, then expanded the effort to include the full campaign. Here is a recent interview with her at Meidas Touch, because her case was important in Judge Engoron’s ruling. Just a footnote, but a key one, in which she fights for the truth and fot others to be able to tell the truth. 🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️ Help a neighbor and make the place more beautiful... x How it started vs how it’s going 😀 ICYMI, Rodney Smith Jr. is our newest addition to Goodable Plus! Learn about how a single idea has led to 15,000+ lawns mowed for free. Plus, when you use the code RODNEY to sign up, we’ll give $10 to help him help others. pic.twitter.com/M1MGRaYHdy — Goodable (@Goodable) February 23, 2024 📎 Odds & Ends 📎 Another view of the Supreme Court decision Jennifer Rubin Washington Post The court determined that the only question to be addressed is whether a former president enjoys “immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office.” The language is telling in a number of respects. Had the court entertained the possibility the answer would be yes (e.g., yes, he can order Seal Team Six to kill his enemies; yes, he can exile his opponent in his reelection bid), it would have had to address subsidiary questions such as “Was the president engaged in an official act?” or “What is the ambit of an official act?” Only if the answer is “no” — that is, affirming Judge Tanya S. Chutkan and the D.C. Circuit’s unanimous ruling — would there be no need for further inquiry. The presence of the single question tells us where the court is heading. Furthermore, if the court’s order is limited to considering official acts, then special counsel Jack Smith almost certainly could effectively argue that Trump’s attempt to overthrow an election for which he has no constitutional role must be deemed “unofficial” at the trial court level. That would allow Smith to proceed to trial. In other words, if the Supreme Court wanted to spare Trump, it simply would have asked, “Is a president immune from criminal prosecution?” In addition, the court framed the question with regard to a “former president” only. Again, this sets up the case to disadvantage Trump. After all, saying a president cannot be prosecuted either during or after his presidency would make him a king. As lower courts have held, no court has remotely approached this conclusion. To hold that a president could never be held to account for his actions, no matter how egregious, no matter if he had left office, would create a single class of individuals — criminal ex-presidents — immune from the law. Though that might attract support from right-wing, authoritarian-friendly Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr., it defies imagination that Trump could accumulate five votes for such an outrageous proposition. Insights into chemistry of life on our planet Kasha Patel Washington Post — note they’re looking at coenzyme A People have long scratched their heads trying to understand how life ever got going after the formation of Earth billions of years ago. Now, chemists have partly unlocked the recipe by creating a complex compound essential to all life — in a lab. Like making the ingredients of a cake, researchers have successfully created a compound critical for metabolism in all living cells, which is essential for energy production and regulation. The pathway, which has evaded scientists for decades, involved relatively simple molecules probably present on early Earth that combined at room temperature over months. The discovery provides support to the idea that many key components for life could have simultaneously formed early on and combined to make living cells. . These are “just the most fantastic questions we could possibly answer.” “Why do we have life? Why do the rules of chemistry mean life here looks the way it does?” said Matthew Powner, senior author of the research paper . These are “just the most fantastic questions we could possibly answer.” Switching from current plastics to biodegradable plastics could save tons in CO2 emissions Cristen Hemingway Jaynes EcoWatch A new study, “Replacing Traditional Plastics with Biodegradable Plastics: Impact on Carbon Emissions,” has found that using biodegradable alternatives to replace traditional plastic products would lead to a substantial reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. “In recent years, a great deal of attention has been focused on the environmental impact of plastics, including the carbon emissions related to plastics, which has promoted the application of biodegradable plastics,” the study, published in the journal Engineering, said. “Countries worldwide have shown high interest in replacing traditional plastics with biodegradable plastics. However, no systematic comparison has been conducted on the carbon emissions of biodegradable versus traditional plastic products.” The researchers looked at the four life-cycle stages of biodegradable plastic products (BPPs) and traditional plastics to calculate their respective carbon emissions. The stages include the acquisition of raw materials, plastics production, manufacturing of products and waste disposal, Engineering said. ✂️ An analysis of 1,000 traditional plastic products — like meal boxes, plastic bags, straws and cups — revealed carbon emissions ranging from between 52.09 to 150.36 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent. Meanwhile, the same number of similar BPPs emitted just 21.06 to 56.86 kilograms — a reduction of 13.53 to 62.19 percent. 🐦 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 🌹 🌹 🌹 [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/3/1/2225741/-Good-News-Roundup-for-Friday-March-1-2024-We-the-People?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/