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May 19 – Tuesday GNR [1]

['Chitown Kev', 'Belinda Ridgewood', 'Bill In Portland Maine']

Date: 2026-05-19  

Good Day, Newsies!

Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Oregon and Pensylvania all have primaries today. It’s going to be an interesting night. Check for the results at The Downballot

Tuesday is a big primary day. Here’s what you need to know, Stephen Fowler, NPR, May 18, 2026.

Tuesday will be the busiest primary election day of the 2026 midterms so far, with voters weighing in on key contests up and down the ballot in six states across several time zones. In several Republican primaries, President Trump’s grip on his own party will be tested, like the challenge GOP Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie faces from Trump-backed Ed candidate Ed Gallrein. Recent GOP primaries in Indiana and Louisiana have shown that Republican voters are willing to push out incumbents in their own party who Trump considers disloyal. Meanwhile, Democrats are setting their sights on November with the hopes of flipping Republican-held seats. And their primaries will shed light on the issues that are motivating Democratic voters. At the same time, Democrats continue to ride a wave of enthusiasm and voter turnout since Trump returned to the White House last year.

🤞🏼 One to watch: Liberals could make major inroads into Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Jeff Singer, The Downballot, May 18, 2026.

Justices Sarah Warren and Charlie Bethel, who were both appointed by then-Republican Gov. Nathan Deal in 2018, face high-profile opposition from the left in their quest for new six-year terms. Former Democratic state Sen. Jen Jordan, who was her party’s nominee for attorney general in 2022, is challenging Warren, while personal injury attorney Miracle Rankin, a former president of the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys, is going up against Bethel. Both races are statewide contests and, because no one else is running, there’s virtually no chance either will go to a runoff in November. None of the candidates is identified by party affiliation on the ballot—though Warren and Bethel are listed as incumbents—but the ideological lines are clear. Jordan and Rankin are campaigning as a team and running ads urging voters to back them both. They’re also getting assistance from the state Democratic Party as well as Planned Parenthood, which has aired commercials attacking Warren and Bethel as “politicians in robes” who upheld the state’s six-week abortion ban. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, likewise, is asking voters to reelect the two incumbents, and his allies are also running ads. History gives them reason to feel good about their chances: The last, and possibly only, time a sitting justice lost reelection was in 1922.

🚩 😠 Republicans in Disarray 😫 🚩

MAGA Revolt as 60 Rebels Gang Up to Confront Trump, Ewan Palmer, Daily Beast, May 18, 2026.

In a rare showing of MAGA backlash, more than 60 people, including WarRoom host Steve Bannon and 1776 Project PAC founder Ryan Girdusky, have signed a letter calling on the White House to rein in artificial intelligence.✂️ The letter, spearheaded by the conservative Humans First group, whose tagline is “technology should serve humans… not replace them,” also seemingly blasted leading AI figures such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, without naming them directly. “America did not become the greatest nation in the world by allowing unelected elites to experiment on the public without safeguards or accountability,” the letter reads.

⬆️ Obviously, nobody here is naive enough to believe that Bannon and his ilk actually care about the rest of us – or even that they would not be OK with AI that serves their purposes at the expense of the safety of the rest of us. But the fact that there is this pushback throws up a stumbling block in front the regime and its corporate backers, which is good news.

Ex-MAGA insider hammers JD Vance for ‘repulsive cult behavior’ after ironic attack, Travis Gettys, Raw Story, May 18, 2026.

A former MAGA congresswoman slammed Vice President JD Vance for his public criticism of Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY). Massie is fighting for his political life in Tuesday’s historically expensive Republican primary against President Donald Trump-endorsed candidate Ed Gallrein, and Vance criticized the Kentucky congressman as disloyal to the GOP.✂️ “Being independent, having your own opinions, is one thing,” the vice president added. “Voting against the party on every single issue, you’re eventually going to make too many enemies, and that is the problem that Thomas has had. It’s not one issue, it’s not three or four issues, it’s that every time that we’ve needed Thomas for a vote, he has been completely unwilling to provide it. That is why the president of the United States has trained his ire on Thomas Massie. It’s because we can never count on him for some of the most difficult votes.”✂️ “This is disappointing,” Greene posted on X. “JD Vance attacks Thomas Massie, claiming he always votes against ‘the party’ and he did it at a Turning Point event of all places.”✂️ “Thomas Massie is not the problem,” she added. “‘The Party’ is the problem. And demanding loyalty to ‘the party’ is the most repulsive cult behavior we’ve ever seen in American politics.”

🚩🚩 Other signs of trouble in trumpland 🚩🚩

Over the weekend, the obedient media covered the so-called “Rededication” event in Washington DC – which was “free” for attendees, but paid for on the taxpayers’ dime (naturally, this is TFG and his corrupt band of grifters after all). Even so, it was a sparsely attended affair, all the more ridiculous for the diehards who showed up to bake in the sun at an event to which neither TFG nor Rubio nor other “headliners” bothered to show up, instead phoning in a prerecorded video message. TFG’s message was even a recycled one from an earlier event meaning he couldn’t even be bothered to phone in an original message for the deadenders who sweated it out in DC for this shambolic “event”.

Trump Humiliated as Citizens Fail to Flock to His Free Event, Cameron Adams, Daily Beast, May 18, 2026.

Donald Trump’s recycled religious video message was broadcast to rows of empty seats at the president’s free event to “rededicate” America to God.✂️ The event was organized by the White House-backed Freedom 250, which is holding several events to celebrate the nation’s anniversary over the coming months. House Speaker Mike Johnson was the main Republican to appear in person, with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth pre-recording video messages screened at the event. Trump also only appeared on screen, as he was attending the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia on Sunday. He posted in all caps on Truth Social, “I HOPE EVERYBODY AT REDEDICATE 250 IS HAVING A GOOD TIME.”

🪧 While the MSM was busy trying to make that pathetic non-event in DC into something more, there were actually thousands of people gathering in southern cities and towns to protest unconstituional Republican gerrymandering:

Thousands attend protests in Selma and Montgomery for voting rights, Ralph Chapoco, Alabama Reflector, May 16, 2026.

Thousands of people joined demonstrations in Selma and Montgomery on Saturday to protest redistricting by southern Republican state legislatures targeting Black Democratic members of Congress. An afternoon rally in Montgomery that drew over 5,000 people featured politicians, activists and civil rights dignitaries as of the All Roads Lead to the South campaign, aimed at organizing voters to offset the advantages Republicans may gain from redistricting. “Our democracy is on the line,” said Victor Coar, who traveled from Birmingham to Montgomery. “Our rights are on the line. They are trying to take it all away. They are suppressing our vote, trying to keep us quiet, trying to silence our vote.”✂️ “People who don’t actually vote are not informed, they don’t know about the struggle that our ancestors went through,” Mason said. “I never thought I would be standing here today fighting for what they have already fought for me.” Religious and faith leaders expressed many of the same concerns when they led congregants in prayers prior to the morning march across the Edmund Pettus bridge. “What I realize is that it is just our turn, and freedom is not fought for once, freedom has been fought for many times,” Jones-Davis said. “We are here to do our part.”

⬆️ I encourage you to go to the link and read the whole story above in the Alabama Reflector. It’s much longer than what I could excerpt in the GNR.

🦹🏼 Epstein Epstein Epstein – Never Forget

Trump Humiliated as Epstein Past Haunts Him in Hometown, Laura Esposito, Daily Beast, May 18, 2026.

Activists, politicians, and New Yorkers of all kinds are gathering in Manhattan’s tony Tribeca neighborhood for a 24-hour marathon live reading of the Epstein files. Earlier this month, an art gallery was transformed into the “Donald J. Trump & Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Reading Room,” where every document the federal government has released related to Epstein—arguably the country’s most infamous pedophile—can be found. The free installation will close on May 20, but not without a theatrical farewell.✂️ “This is a refusal to look away,” a spokesperson for the collaboration wrote on the group’s website, where the event is being livestreamed. “Last week, survivors testified under oath at West Palm Beach City Hall, three miles from the mansion where many of the crimes occurred. The national press barely covered it.” The exhibit also highlights the bond between Trump and Epstein, who allegedly described Trump as his “closest friend” for a decade.

🗳️ Election News that will make Rs mad

If you don’t already read Strength in Numbers, you should start now. G. Elliot Morris delves into the polling numbers and makes sense of it all:

You can’t gerrymander a bad approval rating, G. Elliott Morris, Strength in Numbers, May 15, 2026.

The electoral arithmetic is unforgiving. Democrats lead the generic ballot by roughly 5 percentage points today, which (1) would very likely be enough for them to win control of the House of Representatives; and (b) will likely grow over the next 6 months (the opposition party tends to gain in the polls). Presidents below 50% approval have presided over an average House loss of 36 to 37 seats. You can run the numbers yourself with our Midterm Seat Loss Calculator. And that is exactly the context in which the GOP’s gerrymandering should be understood. A 5-to-7-seat redistricting advantage is real, and in a neutral environment, it would matter a lot. Via partisan gerrymandering — legalized cheating — Trump has tried to change how big a wave has to be to flip the House. But even these serious GOP gains would not be enough to overpower the current caused by a pro-Democratic wave election this November. And on this front, Trump’s catastrophic approval rating is a strong positive indicator for the Democrats.✂️ Donald Trump may not be paying attention to the cost of living for the average American. That much was, frankly, already evident. But you know who is thinking about their cost of living? The average American! And by and large, they are saying — across polls, questions, geographic questions, and the like — that they do not support what Trump is doing as president. That will cost him, regardless of all the rigging.

And for good measure, it’s worth your time to listen to or read thisconversation between Morris and Paul Krugman:

G. Elliott Morris on Vibes and the Midterms, Paul Krugman (substack), May 16, 2026.

Paul Krugman: Hi everyone. Returning today to G. Elliott Morris, my favorite polling and public opinion analyst. We’ve had an eventful time with redistricting and there’s a lot of stuff going on, so we’ll see where this goes. The big news is, of course, the Court leaving Democrats stunned by overruling the referendum with Virginia redistricting, which now gives Republicans a substantial lead. You’ve been doing some analysis. How should we think about how this changes November? G. Elliott Morris: Yeah. Big picture is: as long as Democrats are still winning the popular vote by four points, they’re still taking back the House of Representatives. A lot has changed over the last three weeks. First, the Supreme Court has invalidated section two of the Voting Rights Act. This was the portion of the law that prevented state legislatures or other state bodies from diluting the power of black voters.✂️ Morris: I think the 2026 election will be significantly pro-Democratic, and that the gerrymandering won’t matter. It won’t matter in terms of who wins the majority of the seats. Democrats will still be down six seats, at least, from where they should be. But if they’re gaining twelve, then, you know, they’re still managing to recapture the House because it was so close last time. Republicans only had three extra seats at the last election. So it’s a pretty easy wave election for the Democrats. But they’ll still be down seats, like they’re still deprived of representation in the South. And more importantly, in 2028, when we’re not expecting Democrats to have such a large wave—unless the country comes to its senses. I know you talk a lot about tariffs here. That’s a big example. Then we’re expecting a much closer election. And in that 2028 scenario, this gerrymandering could give Republicans the majority, even if Democrats win the popular vote.

⬆️ So, the message to us seems to be, let’s make the most of this wave election year so that a Democratic congress can pass voting rights legislation in time for 2028, if at all possible. Knowing what is likely coming helps us to prepare and make plans to thwart the authoritarians.

GOP’s tremendous own goal likely to haunt them in the midterms and beyond: expert, Robert Davis, Raw Story, May 17, 2026.

Michael Popok, a lawyer and host of “The Legal AF Podcast,” warned during a new episode on Sunday that the GOP’s redistricting efforts could also haunt the party going forward because it revealed an “openly racist” strategy that has destroyed the party’s brand with some voters. “Look at the damage you’ve done to your brand by being so openly racist,” Popok said. One group of voters the GOP’s policies seem to have turned off are Hispanic and Latino voters, who swung rightward toward Trump in historic fashion during the 2024 election. Since then, swaths of Hispanic and Latino voters appear to have flipped back to supporting Democrats, according to public polls. “This doesn’t win the game,” Popok said. “All this does is reveal that you are a demented, depraved, racist party. And not everybody in it. I’m not here to malign people who voted for him, because many of them regret having done so.” “It’s not like they’re going to be able to grab the 40 seats to counteract the number of seats that the Democrats are projected to obtain,” he continued.

Perfect storm threatens to rip deep red seat from MAGA’s grasp, Alexandria Jacobson, Raw Story, May 18, 2026.

By conventional measures, it’s a long shot to turn the seat in northeast Georgia blue. The last time a Democrat held the seat was more than 30 years ago, and the Cook Political Report rates the district solidly Republican. But, Doherty and other Democrats in the district running in Tuesday’s primary election say that circumstances are ripe for a flip come November. President Donald Trump’s approval ratings have hit record lows . The incumbent Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) is running for Senate , leaving the seat open. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which elects state-level Democrats, boasts flipping 30 seats across the country, compared to zero for Republicans during the special election cycle, which Democrats hope will be a bellwether for national races. “Especially in a year like this where we are expecting a wave — who knows how big — but also it’s an open seat … which will mean it’s easier to flip,” Doherty said.

⚖️ Court News that Rs won’t like

Judge blocks Pinal County Attorney’s rogue ICE deal, says he exceeded his authority, Gloria Rebecca Gomez, Arizona Mirror, May 18, 2026.

The permanent injunction ends Miller’s bid to turn his 10 investigators into de facto immigration agents A Maricopa County Superior Court judge on Friday shot down an attempt by Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller to use his office to help President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort, blocking a partnership that would have turned the county attorney’s 10 investigators into de facto immigration agents. After a nearly three-hour long hearing, Judge Michael Gordon issued his ruling from the bench, saying that Miller has no legal authority to enter into agreements with the federal government without permission from the Pinal County Board of Supervisors. “The county attorney has exceeded his authority,” Gordon said. The decision is a blow for Miller and other Republicans, who had been banking on a state law that bars local governments from “limit(ing) or restrict(ing) the enforcement of federal immigration laws” to open a path for immigration hawks to support Trump’s mass deportation campaign even in the face of opposition from governing bodies.

HUGE NEWS: ICE’s courthouse arrests have been STAYED by a New York district judge.That means that ICE will have to stop arresting our immigrant neighbors on the spot when they show up to court at places like 26 Federal Plaza, 290 Broadway, and 201 Varick. (1/2) — Brad Lander (@bradlander.bsky.social) 2026-05-18T22:10:03.597Z

🧑‍⚖️ LOL talk about a case with no good guys – but on balance, I think it is better that Elon was the bigger loser:

Elon Musk Loses Lawsuit Against OpenAI, Sam Altman, Kenrick Cai and Deepa Seetharaman, HuffPost, May 18, 2026.

OAKLAND, California May 18 (Reuters) – A U.S. jury on Monday ruled against Elon Musk in his lawsuit against OpenAI, finding the artificial intelligence company not liable to the world’s richest person for having allegedly strayed from its original mission to benefit humanity. In a unanimous verdict, the jury in Oakland, California federal court said Musk had brought his case too late. The trial began on April 28. It has widely been seen as a critical moment for the future of OpenAI and artificial intelligence generally, both in how it should be used and who should benefit from it, including financially. People use AI for myriad purposes such as education, facial recognition, financial advice, journalism, legal research, medical diagnoses, and harmful deep-fakes. Many people express distrust of the technology and worry it could displace people from their jobs.

🚙 Democrats Deliver 🚚

This is how electing Democratic majorities makes democracy stronger:

Hawaii Just Found a Way to Keep Corporations Out of Politics, Harold Meyerson, The American Prospect, May 18, 2026.

At a time when giant tech companies and other corporate behemoths loom over our economic, social, and political life, the state of Hawaii has just found a way to limit their hold. Last Thursday, Gov. Josh Green signed into law the first piece of American legislation that curtails corporations’ ability to engage in electoral politics. It doesn’t—because it couldn’t—undo the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United, which holds that corporations have the right to spend their resources on political campaigns. That would require another Court ruling striking down Citizens United, or a constitutional amendment banning such spending. Rather, the Hawaiian law is based on the fact that in the United States, corporations are created and given their powers by the charters of the individual states. Indeed, corporations simply are a legal creation of the state, everywhere they exist, by definition. The new law simply states that corporations doing business in Hawaii do not have the power to engage in local, state, or federal political campaigns, that that was not one of the powers enumerated in the state’s corporate charter. It further specifies a range of penalties—including losing the right to conduct any business in the state at all—if they do.



ICE officer charged with four counts of assault in Minnesota shooting of Venezuelan immigrant, Daniella Silva, NBC, May 18, 2026.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Christian Castro was charged with four counts of assault in the second degree and one count of falsely reporting a crime in connection with the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis in January during an attempted immigration arrest, Minnesota prosecutors announced Monday afternoon. The charges accuse Castro of shooting through the front door of a residence “with the intent to cause fear of immediate bodily harm or death to the four adults who were just inside the door,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said at a news conference Monday. There is a nationwide warrant for his arrest, she said.✂️ This is BIG. These are the first charges relating to an incident that occurred during an enforcement operation.* The officers involved were accused of lying under oath about this shooting, as the Trump admin admitted.*the previous indictment involved an ICE agent who road raged while on duty. — Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social) 2026-05-18T18:49:39.145Z

🪧 Democrats stand with the people

Elected Democrats and former office holders showed up to be with protesters in Alabama over the weekend:

“We won’t go back”: Still marching in Selma for voting rights in 2026, C K Smith, Salon, May 17, 2026.

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama, on Saturday in one of the largest voting rights mobilizations in the South in recent years, responding to a Supreme Court decision that civil rights advocates say significantly weakens key protections of the Voting Rights Act. The demonstrations, organized under the banner “All Roads Lead to the South,” brought activists, clergy members, students, union organizers, and elected officials to the historic sites associated with the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery marches. Protesters crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma before continuing events in Montgomery, where speakers framed the current political moment as a continuation, not a conclusion of the civil rights movement.✂️ Several high-profile political figures joined the demonstrations, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Senators Cory Booker and Dr. Rev. Raphael Warnock, and Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. Speakers repeatedly linked the current redistricting battles to earlier struggles against Jim Crow-era voter suppression, arguing that the rollback of federal protections has accelerated over the last decade.

☀️ To Your Good Health 🥗

In these unsettling times, we all need to find ways to take emotional and mental breaks from the chaos.

One way to do that is by allowing yourself to get lost in a good book, or a movie. Another way is to cook good food for yourself and maybe some friends.

Here are some resources to help out:

📚 The 24 Best Books of Summer 2026, Marion Winik and Charley Burlock, Oprah Daily, May 8, 2026.

Summertime. There’s no season that says “totebag full of books” quite so alluringly, and no riper moment to take a break from real life and plunge into an absorbing drama or escapade between two covers. Our picks include new works from literary heavyweights Dave Eggers, Colson Whitehead, Ann Patchett, and Elizabeth Strout, as well as debuts from first-time novelists Natalie Adler, Shannon Sanders, and Pemi Aguda. Other authors switch genres to brilliant effect: Lit fic queen Amy Bloom has written her first mystery, novelist Sigrid Nunez her first short story collection, and novelist Michael Cunningham has penned a memoir. Whatever your sweet spot—romance, domestic drama, social satire, or memoir—you’ll find something delicious to dive into here.

📽️ Are you in the mood for a movie? I just came across a review for a film that looks like its a cross between cozy murder mystery and social commentary. I’m going to check out this film if I can find it at my neighborhood cinema:

“The Sheep Detectives” cloaks an urgent message in woolly clothing, Melanie McFarland, Salon, May 17, 2026.

But where “Babe” is at once a story about respecting all creatures and an allegory for a community’s power to upend oppressive social structures, “The Sheep Detectives” is both a powerful story about mourning and a warning against the peril of mindwiping inconvenient histories.✂️ Sometimes sheep are merely sheep, and sometimes they’re stand-ins for a willfully credulous populace. “Forgetting was a tried-and-true way for sheep to get over their sorrows,” Swann observes in her book. “The stranger and more disturbing an incident was, the faster you needed to forget it again.”✂️ This is still above all a lovely, soft yarn about crime-solving farm animals, some of them voiced by Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, and the guy who plays Roy Kent on “Ted Lasso.” But even if we’re meant to view our woolly antagonists as sheeple, after a fashion, “The Sheep Detectives” culminates on an optimistic note for both the four-legged and the two. Sheep are not only intelligent, as someone observes, but they can be inspirational. If Lily, Mopple and the rest can set their part of the world right, there’s no reason we can’t find our way to better pastures, too.

🍔 Memorial Day/Victoria Day weekend is coming up soon for North Americans and many people enjoy gathering on that long weekend for a cookout. Here are some recipe ideas for BBQ and all the extras. The article is from CBC Life (Vicitoria Day – Canada) and the video is from Sam the Cooking Guy – USA.

20 barbecue recipes for the May long weekend

While the barbecue heats up, gather friends and family around a shareable snack, whether it’s a cheese board, a dip or a piping-hot fiddlehead tempura to celebrate the vegetable’s short local growing season. Next, mix up a fruity drink like watermelon-lime soda or pineapple-jalapeno margaritas — both feel summery and make use of delicious imported fruits while we wait for Canada’s homegrown crops to appear at the market. As for what to grill, chili dogs, ribs and jerk chicken are all crowd-pleasers (don’t stress about what to pick; whichever recipe you don’t make this weekend, you can save for one of the many gorgeous weekends to come). For a vegetarian option, consider making chickpea burgers topped with luscious roast tomatoes and halloumi cheese. (Go to the link for the 20 recipes from appetizers to delicious drinks to excellent entrées) And here is a video for MORE recipes:

🐩 💙 CG’s Picks 💙 🐩

Hello Everybody, it’s me Curlygirly! What a busy dog I have been this past few days! I have fetched you a whole bunch of stories about animals of all shapes and sizes!

🐦 FIRST…. fanfare please! 🎉 … good PIPING PLOVER news here in Chicago: Imani and Sea Rocket have started their 2026 family! Sea Rocket has laid one egg so far, and she will likely lay 4 eggs in total over the next week or so. Then she and Imani will share incubating duty and parenting duties when the eggs hatch. WE ARE SO EXCITED here in Chicagoland!

But even BETTER news has been reported from our neighbors to the north in Waukegan! Our former bachelor plover friend Pippin – who hadn’t found a mate yet the past two summers – has settled down with Blaze and they also have started a 2026 family! Blaze has laid two eggs so far!

I can’t tell you how excited me and Mama are about this news! Mama has been checking for sightings of the plovers since March and then checking every day to find out if plovers have paired up. Now we wait to see chicks hatching in 4-5 weeks and also there are still a few other unattached plovers on both beaches so 🤞🏼 for all of them to find mates soon!

First piping plover eggs of the season spotted at Montrose Beach and Waukegan, Kaitlin Washburn, Chicago Sun✶Times, May 18, 2026.

Two of Montrose Beach’s piping plovers, Sea Rocket and Imani, have laid their first egg of the year. It’s the third season the beloved birds have nested together at Montrose. The pair is able to lay up to four eggs a season. As of this weekend, one egg was spotted, said Tamima Itani, the lead volunteer coordinator for Chicago Piping Plovers, a volunteer group dedicated to protecting the birds.✂️ So far this season in Illinois, about 20 piping plovers have either passed through the state or stopped to breed, Itani said. “That’s really mind-blowing,” she said. “That speaks to the success of the recovery efforts for the birds.” Piping plovers nearly went extinct in the Great Lakes region. The birds have been on the federal endangered species list for 40 years. But conservation work in Michigan and across the Great Lakes has helped to rebuild the birds’ population. For the birds to no longer be considered endangered, there needs to be 150 breeding pairs in the region, 50 of which need to be outside of Michigan, Itani said. Last year, a record 88 nesting pairs were spotted in the area, according to the Great Lakes Piping Plovers. And more terrific news! Pippin is going to be a Papa Plover! 🤍🟢Our friends in Waukegan are not on Bluesky so they're letting us share the exciting news. — Chicago Piping Plovers (@chicagopiping.bsky.social) 2026-05-17T02:36:11.084Z

🐘 AN ELEPHANT STORY: Next I have an elephant story for you. A few years ago I started looking at the website of the Sheldrick WIldlife Trust because I like elephants and they rescue elephant babies who have been orphaned in the wild. They take care of the little ones and then gradually rewild them. Today, I have a story about an elephant who was almost killed by lions, but was rescued and raised at the Wildlife Nursery. She overcame the trauma of her horrible experience as a baby and grew up to be a fine strong mother elephant!

Orphan, Lion Survivor and now Mother: Ishanga Gives Birth to Imp, Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, February 22, 2026.

With time, her trauma subsided and Ishanga blossomed into a happy, confident young elephant. After two years at the Nursery, she graduated to our Ithumba Reintegration Unit and from there springboarded into her wild life. Ishanga has since been a wonderful nanny to her friends’ babies, learning the ropes from experienced mothers like Nasalot, Loijuk, Lenana, and Mulika. With each progressive visit home last year, her belly grew increasingly round, and we knew she was marching ever closer to motherhood herself.✂️ It had been nearly a month since Ishanga’s last visit. A week ago, we were inundated with elephants, but the rains have sent most elephants away, venturing further afield to enjoy the bounty of fresh greenery. Thus, Head Keeper Benjamin was wholly surprised when Ishanga strode up to the stockades this morning — and all the more so when he realised she had a newborn in tow! She had clearly remained in the area, knowing that she was imminently going to give birth. As so many orphans have done before her, Ishanga then returned home to share her joy with the human family who raised her.

🦛 A HIPPO STORY: Also from the Sheldrick WIldlife Trust, here is a story about a tiny little hippopotamus baby who was tragically orphaned when his mother died of natural causes (“natural” being probably in a fight over territory or to protect her calf). He is a snorty, grunty little fellow and he seems to really like cuddles!

The Rescue of Bumpy, Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, May 4, 2026.

On 2nd May 2026, the Kenya Wildlife Service Vet and Capture team received reports of an infant orphaned hippo at Oloiden Resort in Naivasha. They arrived to find a pint-sized calf nestled beside his mother’s lifeless body. He clearly didn’t understand the situation; he was calling out to his mother and nudging her with his blunt little nose, desperately hoping for a response. (😭)✂️ The KWS team did a heroic job rescuing the little orphan in a logistically challenging situation. Our SWT/KWS Rift Valley Mobile Vet Unit drove him down to Nairobi, where he was handed over to our care. We named him Bumpy.✂️ Kaluku is an excellent place to raise an orphaned hippo. The Athi River is home to several resident pods, and when he is old enough, we hope that Bumpy will join their ranks. But for now, he has a lovely pool to paddle in. True to hippo form, spends a lot of the day submerged — but never alone. A rather waterlogged Keeper is by his side throughout the day, in the water or on the ground. Bumpy loves to nap in the shade on his mattress, as long as there is a Keepers’ lap to rest his head in! We also got him a bulbous bean bag, which he adores — it must feel like mum. He is a very snuggly creature and is happiest when nestled on or against someone. One week with Bumpy! Like any baby, he sleeps deeply and often – especially snuggled up to his Keeper, with a tummy full of milk. Rescued last weekend after his mother died in a territorial fight, he now has a family with us and a wild future ahead.www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/orphans/bumpy — Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (@sheldricktrust.bsky.social) 2026-05-09T21:35:00.173Z

🦅 AN EAGLET STORY: We have our first baby eagles in more than 100 years! 😃 Can you believe it? Me and Mama like to watch the eagles on YouTube who live high above a big lake – Jackie and Shadow – but now we have our very own eagle nest with baby eaglets right here in Chicagoland! But remember everybody – we mustn’t go there and disturb the eagle family! We want those eaglets to grow and thrive and maybe hopefully come back to Chicago next year to start new families!

Chicago’s Eaglets Draw Too Much Attention, Park District Limits Access to Nesting Site, Patti Wetli, WTTW, May 12, 2026.

Chicagoans have gone perhaps a little too gaga over a pair of baby bald eagles, the first hatchlings said to have been recorded within city limits in more than 100 years. The Chicago Park District has erected barriers at the Southeast Side park where the eaglets and their parents are nesting. A popular trail is now closed to protect the family of eagles. Last fall, the Park District similarly had to block access to Montrose Pier to deter throngs from disturbing a visiting snowy owl. The Park District announced the eaglets’ arrival last week. Birders and district staff had been monitoring a nest over the winter and the first eaglet was spotted April 28. The presence of a second eaglet was confirmed days later.

🦬 A BISON STORY: And here is an exciting update on the bison group that was reintroduced to Kane County last winter! I put it in my section I think it was in December (🤔). Anyway! Not only are the bison doing well in the protected place under the stewardship of human Ruhter Bison, but one of them just had a baby!! Nobody knew that the mama bison was expecting a calf until some people began to suspect something a few weeks ago.

I am so excited about this project! And if you watch the video you will hear the forest man say, ” We are in the forever business at the forest preserve.” That makes me so happy!

Oh Baby, What a Surprise! Bison Calf Unexpectedly Born to New Herd in Kane County, Patti Wetli, WTTW, May 13, 2026.

Back in December, when six bison were released onto Burlington Prairie in Kane County, one of the newcomers was hiding a secret. Well, the secret is out. On May 9, one of the herd’s females gave birth to a calf, the first baby bison born on tallgrass prairie in the county in 200 years, officials estimate. “These things aren’t always planned, as you can imagine,” said Laurie Metanchuk, spokesperson for the Forest Preserve District of Kane County.✂️ “We knew it was possible that they could reproduce soon, but it was more likely that they’d have young, later,” Metanchuk said. “It was an incredible surprise when one of the bison recently started showing signs that it was expecting.” In a unique arrangement, the bison roam on land owned by Kane County forest preserves, but the Chicago-based American Indian Center owns the bison (though the center prefers the word “steward” versus “owner”). Woodstock-based Ruhter Bison is on board as the herd’s day-to-day caretaker.

That’s all I have for you for this week. Thanks for reading my section! Luv, CG 💙🐾

⚡️ Lightning RoundUp ⚡️

⚡️ 🤓 Lollapalooza awards $1.7 million grant to CPS for arts education, Kaitlin Washburn, CHicago Sun Times, May 17, 2026.

“The donation will go toward two initiatives. Part of the funds — $634,000 — is earmarked for All-City Performing Arts, an after-school program for music, dance and theater. The remaining $1.1 million is for the Lollapalooza Arts Education Fund, which provides grants to schools for in-school arts programs across artistic disciplines.”

⚡️ 🤓 Elon Musk loses court battle against Sam Altman and OpenAI after 3-week trial, Jeffrey Kopp and Lora Kolodny, CNBC, May 18, 2026.

⚡️ 🤓 Here’s a really good read: We Are Crashing Into the Future (Or It Is Crashing Into Us), Rebecca Solnit, Meditations in an Emergency, May 13, 2026.

“ The four main subjects of this piece –the decline of the oligarchs, the fossil fuel decline, the tech monstrosity, and the gender politics connected to all that left no room for what was going to be the fifth subject of this essay: the rise (or at least rise in visibility and impact) of progressive Christianity, which feels like another epochal shift, but I’ll get to it sooner or later. It’s kind of exciting and encouraging.“

⚡️ 🤓 Monopoly Round-Up: The Rage of the Billionaires Is Coming, Matt Stoller, Big Newsletter, May 17, 2026.

“If you’re not used to their level of anger, it can be surprising and scary. But over time, such threats diminish in power. Again saw this dynamic when Khan ran the FTC. The Wall Street Journal editorial page published an article criticizing her once every eleven days for her entire tenure. Policymakers generally get scared when a big newspaper attacks them, but it happened so often and in such constant bad faith that it became a joke and a point of pride. Other regulators began seeking to have the Wall Street Journal attack them.

And that’s how it’s going to happen as more populist political arguments emerge. It’s inevitable, Trump is wildly unpopular, and the superrich have tied themselves to him. As people start to fight about the post-Trump era, as Democrats organize some sort of governing agenda, with investigations and policies – even mild ones, they won’t even mean to antagonize the super rich. But just the idea that someone other than an oligarch gets to have a say in *anything* will prompt a level of backlash and rage that will seem scary, and then weird, and then just dumb.

Such is how an oligarchy ends, not with a bang, but with a bunch of whiny billionaires crying about taxes.”

⚡️ 🤓 And here’s another great read: The stirrings of a new Civil Rights era. Robert B. Hubbell, Today’s Edition, May 17, 2026.

“It has been less than three weeks since the US Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v Callais, but the stirrings of a new Civil Rights era are beginning to take shape. Last week, 150 Black leaders from business, labor, education, media, Congress, and grassroots activist organizations met in D.C. to discuss a coordinated response to Callais. See MSNOW, Inside the emergency meeting of Black leaders after the voting rights ruling.”

⚡️ 🤓 How the 120th Congress Can Crush the Gerrymandered Maps, Robert Black, Liberal Currents, May 16, 2026.

“If Republicans seek to contest the validity of delegations from blue states like New York or California, Democrats both can and should respond in kind. No, the problem is not that some states did follow the Voting Rights Act, but that some states did not. It is the latter, not the former, whose elections were unlawful, and whose delegations should be excluded, if any.”

⚡️ 🎧 Ken Burns on Trump ‘Authoritarianism’: We will repair and restore but ‘can’t be complacent’, The Best People with Nicole Wallace, MSNow (on YouTube), May 17, 2026.

“As our nation’s 250th anniversary approaches, (Ken Burns) joins Nicolle at the famed 92nd Street Y for an intimate conversation about the American experiment — how its failures and its successes inform each other and nudge the country forward. Ken understands that political turmoil is a hallmark of our democracy; fundamentally, we’ve been here before. He shares why he believes Trump’s “authoritarianism” will be defeated and why we’re going to make it, by looking at history.”

⚡️ 🎧 They may have really overshot this’: How redistricting could backfire on GOP, Ali Velshi, MSNow, May16, 2026.

The GOP are ahead in the redistricting war, but it may backfire nationally. MS NOW Elections Director Kabir Khanna says Republicans drawing out Democratic districts will, “add fuel to the fire in terms of engaging people and driving turnout,” when midterms usually have lower turnout. “There were in 2024 over 9 million skippers on the Democratic side in battleground states, not just southern states, but battleground states,” says Democratic pollster Celinda Lake. “Those voters are coming out.”

⚡️ 🎧 Obama, Oligarchy and Owning Our Own Data, Mike Madrid and Robert F Arnold, The Great Transformation, May 15, 2026.

“Class consciousness and an awakening is occurring that echoes social movements of the past but is being hindered by the peculiarities of the digital age. Mike and Robert explore what ownership, individualism and economics mean for working class people in the digital age and how it differs from the agricultural and industrial eras.”

⚡️ 🎧 Something has begun that they can’t stop., Parkrose Permaculture, YouTube, May16, 2026.

Video discusses the march in Selma over the weekend and includes clips of speakers including Justin Jones, Ayana Pressley, Justin Pearson…

“Where power originates(?)…in us. We are the source of power and collectively when we come together, we draw that power from the earth, we draw that power from each other and when we come together and we aggregate that power, we can leverage it to do amazing things. We can make significant progress. We can enact change. We can enact justice..”

⚡️ 🎧 Why are the far right doing so well? And can it be stopped? Gary’s Economics, YouTube, May 17, 2026.

“00:00 Intro 02:21 Falling living standards are driving this 07:38 What’s happening in the UK? 09:19 Left and Centre need to unite 15:41 This is the last chance 17:14 You need to act now 21:25 Learn to communicate 26:11 Do not look down on the public 31:52 Hatred will destroy us 35:00 Message to Reform supporters 38:57 Hope”

⚡️ 🎧 The Wealth Tax Problem Everyone Gets Wrong, Barry’s Economics, YouTube, May 17, 2026.

“The Wealth Tax Debate Rages On Back and Forth Up and Down But what does it miss? And Why Is It Always so Circular and Never Ending?”

⚡️ 🎧 This is pertinent to leaders everywhere re TFG: A Message To Every European Leader: This Is How You Stand Up To Trump, Vlad Vexler, YouTube, May 17, 2026.

“In this piece, I’ll name 5 mental blocks that stop European leaders from seeing the threat now coming from the United States. Then, I’ll give 9 practical steps Europe can take to face that threat without delusion or submission.”

🚧 🩷 How Can You Help Build a Better Democracy?❣️🚧

I am close to some people who are walking the walk here in Chicagoland — people helping their neighbors however they can — and here is what some of them told me the approach for ordinary people like us who care about justice and liberty boils down to:

Three steps for effective individual activism:

1. Find something you can do consistently in your community or neighborhood (join your block group, be a grocery deliverer, or a school watcher)

2. Pick a mutual aid cause you can contribute to outside your community (bail fund for protestors, supply fund, immigration rights funds etc) and

3. Badger the fucking feds daily (calling reps every day, postcards, supporting candidates in the upcoming elections with phone banking, etc)

YOU WILL FIND LINKS BELOW TO ORGANIZATIONS THAT CAN HELP YOU HELP OTHERS, ORGANIZE, OR WHO DO THE WORK YOU WANT TO SUPPORT ⬇️

➡️ Specifically for Minnesota, here is a website that looks like it has rounded up a lot of resources to which you can contribute, or to whom you can turn for assistance: Stand with Minnesota

🎩 GOODNEWSROUNDUP:

There are many ways to get involved. Everyone can find something that works for them.

Here are some ideas.

If you can, I strongly recommend going to an in person meeting in your area. One way is through indivisible: INDIVISIBLE

Election Response Center is a project hosted by Working Families Party, MoveOn Civic Action, Indivisible, and Public Citizen. They are organizing lots of events to get people fighting. J oin one at this link

is a project hosted by Working Families Party, MoveOn Civic Action, Indivisible, and Public Citizen. They are organizing lots of events to get people fighting. J The ACLU plays a key role in filing lawsuits that often stop voter suppression. Get involved with them at this link: ACLU

Get involved with the Democratic party. We aren’t perfect, but they are fucking evil. The Democratic Party

Get involved with the States Project. They are working on turning state legislatures blue. The States Project

Get involved with Swing Left. They are working on races right now!

They are working on races right now! People For the American Way is a national progressive advocacy organization that inspires and mobilizes Americans to defend freedom, justice, and democracy from those who threaten to take them away. Get involved with them here: People For the American Way

Center for American Progress Action Fund is an independent, nonpartisan policy institute and advocacy organization that is dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans through bold, progressive ideas, as well as strong leadership and concerted action. Get involved with them here:Center for American Progress (CAP).

Other Things You Can Do

‼️ Check your voter registration ‼️ ← Seems obvious, but super important.

📰 🗞️ SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL NEWS SOURCES!! 🗞️ 📰

If you are able to at all, lend your financial support to local newspapers, PBS and NPR stations and community newsletters.

📺 PBS

📡 NPR

📞 Call your Congress critters and register your concerns!

(202) 224-3121 is the main switchboard number for Congress. They will ask for your city and state or your zip code and connect you with your representatives. It’s easy and it does make a difference.

Jessica Craven at Chop Wood, Carry Water provides scripts to help you if you worry about what to say.

📞❗️ OR, check out 5Calls

📪 Write postcards to help Democratic candidates and progressive judges get elected: Postcards to Voters

Newsie Progressive Muse usually posts an update in comments each day letting us know what PTV campaigns are currently happening.

🚨❗️New❗️🚨 Here is a 123 page guide to ways that we can act to counter political violence:

Boycott the regime funders

Psycho Pete’s Living Guide to Boycotting the Big Orange Menace — this sub-stacker keeps this list updated and also explains how and what these actions can impact.

3️⃣ Check out Third Act Actions page — there might be something there that you can do.

⚖️ Support the ACLU!

🧑‍💼 ACLU

🙋‍♀️ League of Women Voters

🌲 National Parks Conservation Association ← Find out how you can help keep our national parks going strong through these tumultuous times!

💵 Donate 💳

❗️ New ❗️ bilboteach has set up a donation page for Democrats running for the Senate:

Win the Majority 2026

And here’s a link to Goodie’s fund raiser for Democrats for the House of Representatives:

Take the House in 2026

If you are able to donate, now is the time.

🧵 Remember: Share your favorite news sites, podcasts or vloggers in the comments! By spreading good news and action ideas, you help build that better world that we all hope to see. AND, the GNR comments section is a bonus reason to read GNR every day!!

💙 RoundUp WindDown 💙

That’s it from me and CG for another Tuesday! Holy smokes! This is over 7000 words! Sorry about that, folks!

I’ll just slip out the back here and leave you with some music. Happy Tuesday, Gnuville!

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