Good Day, Gnuville and Happy Wednesday! 😃 I am back and I am ready to talk GOOD NEWS!
But first, I’d like to thank arhpdx for sitting in for me last week (and what a GNR she brought us!). I’ve been tied up a fair bit since January helping out a family member in another state, and I want to thank Andrew Cockburn and chloris creator as well. I appreciate you!
I won’t cover the primaries from yesterday because 1) I’ll probably be too tired to process by the time the results are all in, sorry! and 2) NO DOUBT there will be diaries all over DK on the subject, especially the DK Election section. Go check them out!
And now let’s get right to the news.
Biden’s Govt Signaling It’s Find Out Time
In addition to the J6 hearings set to start tomorrow evening in prime time (who says Dems can’t message?), and the hearings today regarding rampant gun violence, various agencies within the Biden administration have made public announcements letting us (and the bad guys) know that the net has been cast wide and will now be tightening around criminals both domestic and foreign.
January 6 Committee Hearings Commence Thursday
The January 6 committee is about to show its work. Here’s what you need to know. Paul LeBlanc, CNN, June 6, 2022.
The House select committee will hold its first public hearing this week, on June 9 at 8 p.m. ET. Sources told CNN this hearing will be a broad overview of the panel’s 10-month investigation and set the stage for subsequent hearings, which are expected to cover certain topics or themes. ✂️
“The committee will present previously unseen material documenting January 6th, receive witness testimony, preview additional hearings, and provide the American people a summary of its findings about the coordinated, multi-step effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and prevent the transfer of power,” the panel said. ✂️
“There will be, I think, substantial evidence that really demonstrates the coordination and the planning and the effort, despite the fact that they understood that Donald Trump lost the election and even once the insurrection began and the violence began, there were ongoing efforts to persuade the former President to stop the violence and call on folks to go home, and he refused to do it,” Cicilline told CNN.
The lawmaker added: “I think the American people are going to learn facts about the planning and execution of this that will be very disturbing.”
The Republicans in congress are in a pickle, though. Word on the hill is that TFG expects them to “defend” him loudly. Trouble is, they don’t know what to expect and cannot prepare lies talking points in advance because:
But part of the challenge for Republicans — especially after they decided to boycott the select committee — is that they have little insight into what the investigation has uncovered and what might be revealed in the public hearings, making it harder for them to settle on a precise strategy.
Oops! Looks like Rs F’ed Around and now they may be about to Find Out. 🤞🏼
And there’s more: Pro-Trump GOPers facing major roadblock to their plan to push back at Jan 6th hearings: report, Tom Boggioni, Raw Story, June 5, 2022.
CNN is reporting that Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is heading up the diversionary antics, with Trump communicating "to some of his most loyal acolytes on Capitol Hill that the former President wants people vigorously defending him and pushing back."
Among those expected to take part in the counterprogramming are Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Jim Banks (R-IN), each of whom have been asked by the bipartisan committee to appear and answer questions.
As CNN reports, "Trump’s insistence that his allies defend his honor has mobilized Republicans both on and off the Hill into action, with a broad range of plans to protect him. This despite the belief by some Republicans that they should draw attention away from January 6 and instead continue to beat the drum of the present day economic and cultural issues that have resonated with voters."
The belief that the GOP should ignore the hearings is borne out by the fact that, while Stefanik and company plan a major pushback, they have no idea what is coming because House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy pulled all of his nominees to the committee leaving no Trump loyalist to tip-off GOP House members what has been uncovered.
DHS Readies Country for RW/MAGA reactions to J6 hearings and more
Some people have been unsettled by this bulletin (understandably!), but I think it is good news. This is the Biden administration telling the extremists among us — both organized and so-called “lone wolves” — We SEE YOU and we are ready for you. The bulletin was specific about domestic terrorism threats, online incitement and the factors which experts have been saying for years have been contributing to a growing radicalization among vulnerable people in the USA. In issuing this bulletin, the Biden administration is ensuring that law enforcement across the nation will be ready (and unable to claim “surprise” if they are not ready) for domestic violent extremism, as well as for the usual foreign threats. This names the threat at long last, and acknowledging the threat is a big step towards addressing it. Now national, state and local law enforcement have been officially warned and tasked with addressing these threats. A giant step forward:
Homeland Security warns of heightened extremist threats, Uvalde copycats, David K Lee and Austin Mullen, NBC, June 7, 2022.
"The United States remains in a heightened threat environment, as noted in the previous Bulletin, and several recent attacks have highlighted the dynamic and complex nature of the threat environment," according to a Homeland Security statement.
"In the coming months, we expect the threat environment to become more dynamic as several high-profile events could be exploited to justify acts of violence against a range of possible targets." ✂️
"If you look at the 2015-16 time frame, the were largely worried about ISIS and Al Qaeda — and now they're still worried about those those things — but now they got far-right extremism, single-issue (extremists) and then you have people who just want to watch the world burn."
Biden’s ambassador to Ukraine warns war criminals —> FAFO
(I am paraphrasing Ambassador Brink, naturally!)
Biden’s newly confirmed ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget A. Brink, wasted no time getting there to Kyiv and sending word that war criminals will be prosecuted:
🎶 Musical Break 🎶
I love men’s choruses (especially with good bass sections — two of my boys are true basses and sang in an a cappella men’s chorus) and this Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus sings this traditional song beautifully. Have a listen!
✶✶✶✶ Good News from Chicago ✶✶✶✶
Illinois, like many states with a big anchoring city (hello New York State), is actually pretty conservative and even MAGA in its rural central and southern counties. But thankfully, we have Chicago (and to a lesser extent, Champagne, Rockford and Springfield) where our midwest liberal light shines brightly. Here’s some local news from my adopted city which shows why Chicago is a great American city and my kind of town 🥰:
CPD expanding drug treatment program
‘It’s going to save lives’: Chicago Police Department expands eligibility for drug users to get treatment instead of jail, Frank Main, Chicago Sun✶Times, June 6, 2022.
More drug users in Chicago are expected to get help for their addictions rather than go to jail now that the Chicago Police Department has expanded eligibility for diverting drug users into treatment instead of charging them with felonies for drug possession.
Under a change approved by police Supt. David Brown, people caught with up to two grams of narcotics are eligible — up from one gram under a previous policy.
In the past, the program included only those who were caught with heroin and cocaine. The revised policy also includes other substances, such as fentanyl. That drug often is mixed with heroin and cocaine to boost their potency and has caused thousands of overdoses in Cook County in recent years.
When they say “a cardinal”, they mean Chicago’s Archbishop, Cardinal Blaise Cupich
The American Roman Catholic Church has not covered itself in glory lately (nifty, a cradle Catholic, says with sadness), but I am proud of our Chicago Archbishop (who happens to be a Cardinal, too) for speaking out about gun violence. (He has also spoken out regularly on most other liberal/progressive causes — which are historical Catholic concerns, too — such as hunger, poverty, wealth inequality, social and racial justice, etc):
Pope Francis and a cardinal say it's time for the U.S. to act on guns, Bill Chappell, NPR, May 25, 2022.
People should be working now, the pope said, to ensure a similar tragedy can never happen again. In the U.S., his sentiment was shared by another senior Catholic leader: Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago.
"The Second Amendment did not come down from Sinai," Cupich said via Twitter. "The right to bear arms will never be more important than human life. Our children have rights too. And our elected officials have a moral duty to protect them."
The cardinal noted that research has shown the expired federal ban on certain rifles was effective in preventing the terror of mass shootings.
"As I reflect on this latest American massacre, I keep returning to the questions: Who are we as a nation if we do not act to protect our children? What do we love more: our instruments of death or our future?" Cupich asked.
More here: Chicago archbishop adds his voice to the calls for gun safety legislation
CTA’s Pride Train Back in Service for Summer
CTA Red Line train gets new design in honor of Pride Month, Jordan Perkins, Chicago Sun✶Times, June 6, 2022.
This year, the Chicago Transit Authority’s popular Pride Train has made its way back to the city with a new style in honor of June’s Pride Month celebration.
The train started running Monday on the Red Line and features a design that covers all eight cars. It features the transgender flag for the first time along with the Philly flag, a newer style of the traditional pride flag that was created in Philadelphia — it has black and brown stripes added to represent the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community.
The CTA’s Pride Train has run each year since 2017, when, at the time, it was the first public transportation agency to have this kind of train. The agency wanted to highlight its commitment to diversity and inclusion and to promote ridership during pre-pandemic times over Pride Weekend, when the Pride Parade saw the highest number of riders.
“The Pride Train is a colorful reminder that transit is for everyone,” said CTA President Dorval Carter Jr. in a news release. “We want all our riders to know that no matter who they love or how they identify, they are welcomed at the CTA.”
🎶 Musical Break 🎶
You know I have to...😇🤣
Random Stuff
Messaging, messaging, messaging.
Republicans have Fox and hate radio and others. Well, two can play at that game. Democratic-led groups are going to fight back against RW media empire:
Ethics boards mean something
Sad that they had to resign en masse, but the message was received and this harassment machine project has been shelved (at least for now):
Axon halts its plans for a Taser drone as 9 on ethics board resign over the project, NPR via AP, June 6, 2022.
WASHINGTON — Axon, the company best known for developing the Taser, said Monday it was halting plans to develop a Taser-equipped drone after a majority of its ethics board resigned over the controversial project. ✂️
The board had voted 8-4 a few weeks ago to recommend Axon not proceed with a pilot of the Taser drone and had concerns about introducing weaponizing drones in over-policed communities of color. ✂️
"We wish it had not come to this," the statement said. "Each of us joined this Board in the belief that we could influence the direction of the company in ways that would help to mitigate the harms that policing technology can sow and better capture any benefits."
"We tried from the start to get Axon to understand that its customer has to be the community that a policing agency serves, not the policing agency itself," one of the board's members, Barry Friedman, a New York University law professor, said in an interview. "It has been a painful struggle to try to change the calculus there."
You can support The companies not funding sedition
Of the 249 companies that originally committed not to give to members of the Sedition Caucus, less than half—85—have stood fast in their promise. Hopefully, with the leadership of corporations like PepsiCo, Nike, and Zillow—who are among those that halted their giving—the future political landscape of corporate giving will look different than it does today. (CREW — May 12, 2022).
You can find the full list at the link and a really good breakdown of why democracy is GOOD for business! It is in the interests of these corporations to have a stable, egalitarian society within which to operate — even if some of the wannabe oligarchs seem to be pushing for feudalism. 🙄
Promises kept: The companies not funding sedition, Robert Maguire and Caitlin Moniz, Citizens for Ethics (CREW), May 12, 2022.
Democracy is good for business
Corporate executives have a number of reasons to take seriously the decision of whether or not to give money to members of the Sedition Caucus. First, on a fundamental level, we should all want to live in a free country with equal representation and rule of law. Unfortunately, we currently find ourselves fighting forces who would attempt to disqualify the votes of entire states with large minority populations and push baseless, anti-democratic lies in the face of repeated failed court challenges and audits that expose the unfounded nature of these theories. We are at an inflection point in American history, and it is not clear that we can take the security and freedom that we and our families are accustomed to for granted.
But businesses themselves also depend on these values—chief among them the stability, continuity, and rule of law fostered and protected by the U.S. government. Standing up against lawlessness and attempts to undermine the fundamental underpinnings of our democracy is in the long-term interests of companies whose success has been bolstered by a government that protects intellectual property, enforces contracts, and protects American business interests at home and abroad. These systemic risks threaten individual Americans and businesses alike.
Corporate leaders, like the rest of America, have long been able to take American democracy and stability for granted, but this can no longer be the case. As former Thomson Reuters CEO Tom Glocer told TIME last year, recounting a meeting of corporate executives held shortly after then-President Trump began laying the groundwork for the lies that led to the insurrection in the days after the 2020 election, “The market economy works because of the bedrock foundation of the rule of law, the peaceful succession of power and the reserve currency of the U.S. dollar, and all of these things were potentially at risk.” He continued, “CEOs are normally hesitant to get involved in political issues, but I would argue that this was a fundamental business issue.”
Some companies you might be surprised to find on the list: Mastercard, Republic Services (the trash hauler), Allstate and State Farm, Vanguard Group (big retirement investment fund). Check the list out at the link! I’m pleased to see many of the companies I do business with are on the list (Hello, Albertson’s/Safeway/Jewel-Osco!) and the list makes it a bit easier to find businesses to use that do not support insurrection. Check it out!
Again...messaging
A big shift in household wealth
The pandemic did something good — as hoped! — it shifted the ground underneath our economy and society and may have begun the end of gross wealth inequality. The household wealth of the bottom 50% of our population grew 55%! Paired with the surge of unionization, full employment and higher wages, I like our chances for narrowing the wealth gap.
😖 Meanwhile, from the FAFO file, these assh*les 😖
Trump is now under investigation for foreign gifts that weren't reported or disappeared, Sarah K Burris, Raw Story, June 7, 2022.
When a president accepts a gift from a foreign country it is tracked and reported and ultimately belongs to the United States, not to the individual. The reason is to maintain transparency and ensure that no country could buy off a president or top US official. Trump's White House apparently didn't work that way.
Last year, the inspector general reported that the Trump administration allowed tens of thousands of dollars in gifts to go "missing." The report cited a 30-year-old Suntory Hibiki bottle of Japanese whiskey that was given to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. It was worth $5,800. Another gift was a 22-karat gold commemorative coin valued at $560 given to a different State Department official. There were also "monogrammed commemorative pewter trays, marble trinket boxes, and leather portfolios," the Timesreported. While readying for the change-over for the new administration, State Department appointees were also spotted taking gift bags meant for foreign leaders with them.
By April it was discovered that it wasn't merely the State Department, the West Wing also didn't give an accounting of the foreign gifts. In 2020, Trump traveled internationally and welcomed foreign leaders to the U.S. when gifts were exchanged. At least three items from his India trip were observed like a bust of Gandhi, a sculpture of Gandhi's famous "three monkeys" metaphor and a spinning wheel. None of the items were listed by the White House.
And of course the loser, grifter who stiffs everyone has still not paid his rally bills! Some cities are having second thoughts about providing extra security:
“The beginning of the end” for BoJo
Here’s hoping...
Doubts hang over UK’s Johnson though bid to oust him fails, Jill Lawless, AP, June 7, 2022.
Lawmakers voted by 211 to 148 to support him as leader, beyond the 180 he needed to stay in power. Johnson described the win as “convincing”— but the rebellion was larger than some of his supporters had predicted. It was also a narrower margin than his predecessor, Theresa May, secured in a 2018 no-confidence vote. She was forced to resign six months later.
“It will come as a big blow,” said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London. “The reality is that these contests have a habit of exposing quite how weak the authority of a prime minister is.”
Most British newspapers were in little doubt that it was bad news for Johnson. The Conservative-supporting Daily Telegraph announced: “Hollow victory tears Tories apart.” The Times called Johnson “a wounded victor,” while the left-leaning Daily Mirror said bluntly: “Party’s over, Boris.”
As Predicted, Musk Trying to back out of Twitter Deal
CG and I called it back in April…
Inside Elon Musk’s new legal strategy for ditching his Twitter deal, Scott Never, Quartz, June 7, 2022.
Elon Musk has buyer’s remorse. On April 25, the billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO agreed to buy Twitter for $44 billion, but since then the stock market has tanked. Twitter agreed to sell to Musk at $54.20 per share, a 38% premium at the time; today it’s trading around $40.
That’s probably the real reason Musk is spending so much time talking about bots. On May 13, he claimed the Twitter deal was “on hold” because of a discrepancy over how much of the platform’s user base is made up of bots—a catch-all term for automated accounts. On June 6, Musk’s lawyers sent a letter to Twitter and the US Securities and Exchange Commission, asserting his right to terminate the contract if the company doesn’t share information that would let Musk conduct his own analysis of the Bot Situation, analysis that Musk says is necessary to secure loans for the deal. ✂️
Lipton: I think he’s been looking for a way out, but possibly to negotiate a lower price. And I assume it’s because of the churn in the market. But maybe not, because originally it seemed as though his interest in the company wasn’t financial. If Musk wants [Twitter] because he likes the company, but not because he plans to make it more profitable, he’s going to have trouble getting in other investors to pick up the slack. So yeah, it seems like a buyer’s remorse situation.
🎶 Humble Therapy 🎶
(the good kind — after all, this is Beau!😅)
🩺 Health and Environmental News 🌱
Abortion is necessary healthcare. Extremists are trying to limit access or outlaw it completely. Luckily, some smart people are working on preparing for this awful outcome:
At-home abortion pill startups gain interest and funding as laws increasingly target access, Jennifer Korn, CNN Business, June 7, 2022.
Hey Jane launched in 2021 with goal of leveraging telemed technology to address the ever-shrinking access to abortion in several states. The startup offers abortion pills and peer-to-peer counseling for women up to 10 weeks pregnant.
"We were seeing digital health companies primarily focusing on stigmatized issues in men's health, such as hair loss or erectile dysfunction," Freedman said. "I started thinking: Is that a model for safe, discreet, affordable abortion access?"
Now working in six states, Hey Jane's growth reminds Freedman of the early expansion of Uber, where she worked for four years.
At "Uber — a place that faced a lot of regulatory complexity as it grew — I learned how to scale a business while navigating regulatory complexities," she said.
Good News for people with type 2 diabetes who need to lose weight
I’m not convinced that being “overweight” necessarily correlates to being “unhealthy” (and at least one study backs up the point), but it does seem that people with type 2 diabetes do better if they can lose a little weight. So this next story is good news because even study participants with type 2 diabetes — who have less positive outcomes with most weight loss strategies for unknown reasons - managed to lose a helpful per centage of “excess” weight. And for people who are considering surgery to lose weight, this drug may be a far less invasive and/or dangerous option:
Overweight people lost 35 to 52 pounds on newly approved diabetes drug, study says. Sandy LaMotte and Virginia Langmaid, CNN, June 7, 2022.
"The middle range of weight loss for people in this new study was 49 pounds -- 49 pounds is a lot," he said. "It's the range of weight loss that we typically think only possible through surgery."
All in all, people without diabetes lost an average of 15% to 20.9% of their starting body weight over the course of the 72-week double-blinded, randomized clinical trial, which was published Saturday in
The New England Journal of Medicine. Participants who got a placebo lost between 2.4% and 3.1% of their body weight, on average.
In comparison,
studies on people with diabetes who used tirzepatide found they lost an average of 15% of their starting body weight, Gabbay said.
"This is a not uncommon observation," he said. "The impact of previous weight loss medications are less effective in people with diabetes, and we honestly don't know exactly why."
However, the impact of tirzepatide on people with diabetes is still "profound," Gabbay said, "providing much more than other tools that we've had."
Another Covid vaccine nearing approval
Last week, we learned that a vaccine for children under 5 could be approved before the end of June — welcome news for many parents — and today came news that another vaccine, the Novavax Covid vaccine may soon be approved. That will mean people will have another option for immunization along with the Pfizer, Moderna and J&J vaccines.
Advisers to the FDA back Novavax COVID vaccine, Scott Hensley and Rob Stein, NPR, June 7, 2022.
By the same regulatory criteria, he said, "it's not that difficult a decision now" to recommend authorization. Nonetheless, he said he was disappointed that there wasn't more data about how the Novavax vaccine performed against current variants of the coronavirus. "We're looking at efficacy against strains that don't exist any longer," he said.
An FDA summary found the Novavax COVID vaccine had 90% efficacy in protecting people against mild, moderate and severe disease. The main study that the agency used to evaluate the Novavax vaccine's efficacy included about 30,000 patients in the U.S and Mexico. But data collection ended in late September 2021, months before omicron was detected in the U.S.
The Novavax vaccine uses copies of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein produced in a factory rather than snippets of genetic code to instruct the body's cells to make the protein that prompts an immune response. Both approaches have proved succesful against COVID-19.
Nifty note: I finally was able to get my second booster shot on Monday. I opted for the Moderna this time as I had had the Pfizer for my first 3 doses. With the first three I had nearly no reaction (a slight arm tenderness at the injection site with the first injection, but not even that with shots 2 and 3). But this Moderna shot! Whoo-wee! I don’t feel sick (no fever, cough, or nausea), but boy does my arm smart! And not just the arm that got the injection — both of my arms ache and my shoulders too. Also other muscles and joints. Pretty much like flu body aches. But thankfully nothing else. I’d be interested in the experiences of other people. I was really taken by surprise since I almost never have reactions to any shots and that held true for the first 3 covid shots, too. OTOH, in a weird way I am almost relieved. My immune system was compromised by chemo and radiation in 2018-19 and I was a bit concerned that no reaction meant no immune response. Those fears are now put to rest! 🤣 OWIE ZOWIE! 😂 Immune system reporting for duty!!
NASA is cool
NASA has always worked on cutting edge research, experimenting with technology to try to find better ways to do stuff. Now they’re putting that spirit of future questing research and development to work on the problems facing humanity today, like global warming, dependence on fossil fuels and so forth.
NASA Wants Its All-Electric Plane to Transform How We Fly, Kurt Loft, Daily Beast, June 5, 2022.
NASA has sent people to the moon, launched probes to distant planets, and glimpsed ancient galaxies with telescopes sitting in space. But these days, the agency is putting more focus on problems here at home. That’s why a sleek new plane will take to the sky this fall, an all-electric vehicle that could make the future of aviation cleaner, cheaper and quieter. ✂️
The X-57 uses a modified body of a four-seat airplane built by the Tecnam corporation of Italy. The advantage of employing an existing design is that data from the baseline model, which is powered by traditional combustion engines, can be compared to data produced by the same model that runs on electricity. So instead of starting from scratch, engineers piggyback on proven aerodynamic numbers to measure efficiency.
This is more than a plane: It’s a platform to test the boundaries of electric propulsion and wing design. NASA will share this information with the private sector and with academia, as part of a larger industry effort to develop pathways for future electric aircraft. ✂️
The X-57 is part of a sweeping, $3.7 billion effort within NASA’s $22 billion budget to focus on Earth-bound issues, specifically how electric-powered craft can counter such growing concerns as air pollution and global warming.
🐩💙 CG’s Picks 💙🐩
Hello, Everybody! It’s me, Curlygirly! I am so happy to be here sharing my picks with you again. Mama was away sooooo much this spring and even though I really like my dog-sitter Mallory, I really missed Mama (and she really missed me! 🥰🐩💞). Anyway, we are BACK and we have stories!
This first story I want to share with you is very cool because it is about an Iditarod dog up in Alaska! Did you know that there was once a musher who raced in the Iditarod with a team of poodles? It is true! I told Mama that’s the job for me, because I love the cold and I am strong and love to run run run!
Anyway, where was I? Oh yes! THIS Iditarod dog, Leon, ran ran ran — away! And he got lost! But the story is a happy one because some humans found him and now his papa is taking him to the vet just to make sure he is ok and then bringing him home. YAY!
Iditarod dog found months after disappearing from checkpoint, Yvonne Gonzalez, AP, June 4, 2022.
Leon went missing in March after what the trail committee said was his “escape” from the Ruby checkpoint. In May, residents of the Alaska city of McGrath, over 120 miles south of the checkpoint, reported to Race Director Mark Nordman that they’d seen Leon frequently near a cabin.
The resident of the cabin and another musher left food for Leon in the hopes of catching him, according to the trail committee. He was captured early Saturday morning and was safe, alert and “understandably skinny but seemingly healthy,” said Iditarod spokesperson Shannon Markley.
Leon was expected to see a veterinarian in the coming days and needs a health certificate before he can fly back to France, Markley said.
What’s that? What about the Iditarod POODLES, you wonder? I am glad you asked! Here is their story!
Once upon a time, poodles raced in the Iditarod. They weren’t half bad. Karin Brulliard, Washington Post, March 17, 2016.
“If you fall off the sled, the huskies will keep running down the trail,” said Suter, who’s a stevedore at the port in Anchorage. “The poodles will turn around to see if you’re there and do a U-turn and come pick you up.”
Poodles and dog-sledding is not necessarily as ridiculous a combination as it might sound. Although it classifies standard poodles as “non-sporting” dogs, the American Kennel Club says they’re “enthusiastic walkers, runners and swimmers.” But they’re also athletic retrievers and and hunting dogs, and their thick coat provides ample protection from water when not trimmed into circus-style orbs.
On Suter’s team, they needed that coat. The Iditarod often passes through blizzards and subzero temperatures (conditions that, among other things, cause animal rights groups to say the slog amounts to dog abuse). Suter’s poodles’ fur was so thick that Alaskan village kids would ask him if the dogs were sheep, he said. Sometimes he had to spray their paws with Pam to keep ice from sticking.
By 1998, he and his poodles had done hundreds of races – including a 500-miler in Minnesota that was chronicled by Sports Illustrated – and Suter entered the Iditarod.
I’ve been trying to persuade Mama to let me have a kitten, but I don’t think I will succeed. Still, I have a plan! I will show her this video and I just bet she will be tempted! (Nifty: No, CG, I won’t be tempted. I love kittens too, but right now it’s just me and you, you and me, that’s the way it is meant to be! 🥰 That puppy is adorable and the mama cat is so chill, though! 😍).
That’s all the stories I have for today! See you again another day! Bye for now! Luv, CG 💙🐾
🎶 Musical Break 🎶
In honor of Leon!
⚡️ Lightning RoundUp ⚡️
⚡️ Highly recommend this article: Activism can be joyful. How to work for change and avoid burnout, Andee Tagle and Mansee Khurana, NPR, June 7, 2022.
⚡️ Democrats Can Win This Fall if They Make One Key Promise, Josh Marshall, New York Times (opinion), June 6, 2022.
⚡️ J6 Hearings: “Witnesses with Baggage” — Anticipating the Jan 6 Hearings and Related Investigations, Barbara McQuade, Just Security, June 6, 2022.
⚡️ One of “the Janes” speaks out: I Was Arrested For Helping Women Obtain Illegal Abortions, Sheila Smith, HuffPost, June 7, 2022.
⚡️ Cities need to get in CAHOOTS with this idea: The Alternative to Police That Is Proven to Reduce Violence, Samantha Michaels, Mother Jones, June 7, 2022.
⚡️ Putin’s stupid war still going great /s: Tapped Calls Catch Russian Troops Plotting Fake Marriages to Ditch War, Allison Quinn, Daily Beast, June 7, 2022.
⚡️ Baldly honest assessment: The Supreme Court and the Originalist Fallacy, Garrett Epps, Washington Monthly, May 31, 2022.
⚡️ “The summer’s best novels for the politically minded reader”: New Fiction to Help Us Reenvision Real Problems, Mother Jones staff, July-August, 2022.
⚡️ Hey, maybe you can use up your bumper zucchini crop (deliciously)! Stop spiralizing zucchini — a peeler works better, Christopher Kimball, AP, June 6, 2022.
⚡️ Here, have a space break: We Don’t Know Neptune at All, Marina Koren, the Atlantic, June 7, 2022.
💗 How Can You Help Build Our Democracy Back Better? 💗
Put your beautiful bleeding liberal heart into it! 🥰
Democratic litigation hero, Marc Elias was the legal eagle behind the 60 Big Lie losses after the election. Here’s his website, Democracy Docket. You can find information about current cases he is fighting to defend voting rights around the country, as well as actions you can take to help fight voter suppression at the link!
Write to voters around the country with Postcards to Voters. Progressive Muse usually posts an update on current campaigns in the comments and you can also check out the website. It’s easy, fun and it really works to GOTV!
🎩 Also, Goody posted a great list of links and I am going to borrow it because it’s great! 🎩
The only way they can win is by keeping people from voting. They are working like heck to make that happen and we need to do all we can to keep 2022 from being a year when they grab the Senate and House back from us.
How do we do that? Fight voter suppression!
What can you do?
HERE’S HOW TO CONTACT CONGRESS:
U.S. House of Representatives:* Telephone: 202-225-3121
* Website: http://www.house.gov/
U.S. Senate:* Telephone: 202-224-3121
* Website: http://www.senate.gov/
Find your member of Congress and contact him or her:
Let them know what matters to you!
Contact your Representative
Contact your Senator
And remember, all politics is local and personal! Let’s work to flip state and local elected positions Democratic!
Sister District Project — organization that is working to help Dems win state legislature races.
NEW!! Goody set up this place to donate to elect Democrats in tossup House and Senate races:
Did you donate yet? C’mon… it’ll make you feel great! 😁
Finally, whenever you feel your hope fading, read this again:
The 3.5% rule: How a small minority can change the world — and recall that we are a majority.
Also check this out:
The Albert Einstein Institution’s 198 Methods of Non-Violent Action
There’s a multitude of people all over this country — in both so-called “red” states and “blue” — who feel just as strongly as you do about this world and its future. We can do this!
💙 RoundUp WindDown 💙
That’s it from me and CG for another Wednesday!
Be sure to take good care of yourself, Gnusies, as the challenges continue and the desperation of the wrong wing grows more intense. The J6 Hearings start tomorrow night and there are signs all around us that the good guys (the J6 Committee, the DOJ, our intelligence services, our civil service and our excellent Democratic administration) may be approaching the finale of their painstaking work to bring the criminal cabal of Republicans, white supremacists, violent militias and their foreign supporters to justice.
Chances are it won’t be easy or straightforward. Something this massive and far-reaching could never be simple or quick to prosecute. I sense a lot of signals lately pointing to a many-pronged approach to these criminal conspiracies — which was exactly what was needed. I am hopeful for an enlightening and (for some people) earth-shaking summer. I am also realistic that the bad guys won’t go down without a potentially awful last stand. Think cornered rats. Humans who are cornered can be just as vicious. Be prepared. We can withstand that if we stay strong, stay united in purpose and keep our eyes on the prize: Saving our democracy.
So get some rest, eat nutritious food and try to get outdoors every day if at all possible. Even if you’re going to be watching the J6 hearings (completely understandable!), make an effort to tear yourself away for a few minutes every so often to grab a breath of fresh air. We all need to nurture our mental and physical health right now. This has been a long slog and it isn’t over yet. Let’s finish strong.
And speaking of rest and physical health — my poor arms and muscles and joints are yelling at me to stop blabbing and go to bed, already!
So, I’ll listen to my body and see you all here in the morning in the comments!
Happy Wednesday, Gnusies!