Many have expressed concern about the DOJ — are they working to indict tRump, Giuliani and Eastman? — but I think the hearings make it much easier for them. The DOJ has to work in secret, and then can’t talk too much about things until the case is in court. A serious problem for the DOJ is that a substantial portion of the citizenry could be angered by any indictments / arrests and that could lead to riots and threats. (And they have gone after Jeffrey Clark!)
The J6 committee, however, can lay it out, and is softening the public. Some people are changing their minds, my friends. Sometimes it seems impossible, but other times it does not. And by making the case so well, expectations of charges have been raised.
I am so grateful that the Rs refused to play ball, so that we don’t have stupid congresscritters interrupting, lying and posturing (thanks so much, Pelosi, for refusing McCarthy’s nominations). So that there’s no quashing of evidence (the original version gave the Rs veto power over subpoenas). So that the hearings can take the time they need (they were originally supposed to be finished by the end of 2021).
And those hearings are so substantial and so much more information is coming in that the J6 committee is taking a little break to work through it all. So Thursday’s (yesterday’s) hearing will be the last for a few weeks, but then, more hearings than originally planned will happen! In other words, so successful that they have been renewed for an additional season!
Of course, there are still forces we need to fight against. SCOTUS is corrupt as can be. But this is the Good News Roundup, where we take a break from Doom and Gloom, because good news exists and merits attention and encouragement.
Come in, dear gnusies, and see what a difference we are making.
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, Harris and their administration have been hard at work. Here are the last week’s posts at the White House briefing room.
🔥 Increasing firefighter pay White House Briefing Room
President Biden: Firefighters are some of the bravest men and women among us, and the backbones of our communities, protecting our homes, businesses, schools, and families from catastrophe.
Federal firefighters used to get paid $13 an hour – but that ended in my administration. Last summer, we bumped up wildland firefighter pay to $15 an hour, a critical first step. I also fought for and secured historic investments in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to give America’s federal firefighters the pay, respect, and dignity they deserve. Today, my administration is announcing additional steps to increase pay for our nation’s federal firefighters, as well as expanding access to mental health support and creating more career pathways in wildland firefighting.
Today’s new steps, already paid for by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will temporarily put back pay into firefighter’s pockets, increasing their bi-weekly checks by up to 50% of their annual base salary for two years. But we know there is more work to do, especially as climate change fuels more wildfires. I will do everything in my power, including working with Congress to secure long-term funding, to make sure these heroes keep earning the paychecks – and dignity – they deserve.
👎 👍 One of the horrible things about the threats on election workers is that many have left. However, some good guys are stepping up. Alas, I don’t have a link to this — it was mentioned by MI SOS Benson on MSNBC this week.
💊 💉 I just read Empire of Pain about the bloodsucking Sackler family, who, through the introduction of OxyContin, are largely responsible for the opioid crisis. But then there are the good guys, too!
People searching for cheaper alternatives to high-priced prescription drugs have a new and unexpected option — an online pharmacy founded by @mcuban. @GeoffRBennett spoke with Cuban about his direct-to-consumer company, Cost Plus Drugs. pic.twitter.com/cMvCNgWzSp
"Our approach at Cost Plus Drugs — which is we'll show you our actual cost, we'll mark it up 15%, we'll add $3 pharmacy handling fee and $5 shipping, and that's all you ever pay — that simplification and transparency has really had an impact," Cuban told PBS' Geoff Bennett.
Well done, Mark Cuban! I hope these actions influence the market and that other drug companies lower their prices (if anyone has reports on these matters, please say).
By the way, you know who was involved in defending the Sacklers for a while? Rudy Giuliani. Gosh, that man’s stinky, sticky thumbs are in everything.
We learned, thanks to J6 committee, the names of the reps who asked tRump for pardons Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post
We also finally learned the identities of the Republican members of Congress who requested pardons from Trump: Reps. Mo Brooks (Ala.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Louie Gohmert (Tex.), Steve Perry (Penn.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.).
Why did they want them? Well, there’s this:
After being told repeatedly that there was no election fraud, Trump told DOJ leaders, “Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and Republican Congressmen.” Aren’t we done here?
FBI making progress on the fake elector scheme David Charns 8 News Now
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — FBI agents served a search warrant Wednesday on Nevada’s top GOP official, sources told the 8 News Now I-Team’s George Knapp.
Agents seized the cell phone of state Republican chairman Michael McDonald, reportedly as part of an investigation into the fake elector scheme initiated at the end of the 2020 presidential election.
A second search warrant was issued for state party secretary James DeGraffenreid, who also signed the document, but FBI agents could not locate him Wednesday, sources told Knapp.
🚌 Mo Brooks loses Senate primary after tRump bus rolls over him Jill Colvin and Kim Chandler Washington Post
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Katie Britt won the Republican nomination for Senate in Alabama Tuesday, defeating six-term Rep. Mo Brooks in a primary runoff after former President Donald Trump took the unusual step of rescinding his initial Brooks endorsement.
Hey, we caught an R congressman! An R congressman has seen the light!
JUST IN: Moderate House Republican Rep. Don Bacon tells CNN’s @mkraju that after watching the January 6th committee hearings he “will not be supporting” former President Donald Trump in the 2024 Republican primary if he announces he is running.
If one of them is saying it, many, many more are thinking it.
⚡️ GOP discovers too late that Ukrainian Americans are a key voting block in US Daily Kos
New Yor k will fight the SCOTUS ruling
On @thelastword just now, NY Gov. Kathy Hochul said she is calling back the legislature tomorrow to write a new gun law to protect New Yorkers from the Supreme Court's right wing majority. It will define "sensitive places" to exclude guns from places like schools and the subway.
✈️ From the 10th Operation Fly Formula mission White House Briefing
Today, President Biden is announcing that his Administration is sourcing trucking,
facilitated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), for Operation Fly Formula to transport Gerber infant formula from Mexico to Fort Worth, Texas starting on June 24. This delivery will include approximately 1 million pounds of Gerber Good Start Gentle infant formula, the equivalent of approximately 16 million 8-ounce bottles. The product will be available through retail channels.
In May, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that the agency is exercising enforcement discretion so that Nestlé can export additional infant formula into the U.S. Nestlé plans to export approximately 42 million 8-ounce bottle equivalents into the U.S. market.
President Biden launched Operation Fly Formula to speed up the import of infant formula and start getting more formula to stores as soon as possible. Under Operation Fly Formula, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the Department of Defense (DOD) are partnering to pick up overseas infant formula that meets U.S. health and safety standards, so it can get to store shelves faster. By June 26, Operation Fly Formula flights will have completed 32 flights and imported almost 19 million 8-ounce bottle equivalents of infant formula.
And in the Rocky Mountain state:
BREAKING NEWS: Thousands of Colorado Democrats register as unaffiliated to vote against Trumper Congresswoman Lauren Boebert In Tuesday’s Republican Party primary election. RT TO THANK COLORADO DEMOCRATS!
From the podcast (no link, sorry) for the Rachel Maddow recap of the Jan 6 hearing: more than 98% of those who have gone to speak to the Jan 6 committee have cooperated.
President Biden on the bipartisan passage of gun legislation in the Senate
Tonight, after 28 years of inaction, bipartisan members of Congress came together to heed the call of families across the country and passed legislation to address the scourge of gun violence in our communities. Families in Uvalde and Buffalo – and too many tragic shootings before – have demanded action. And tonight, we acted.
This bipartisan legislation will help protect Americans. Kids in schools and communities will be safer because of it. The House of Representatives should promptly vote on this bipartisan bill and send it to my desk.
Yeah, it’s not enough. But it’s something.
The EU has granted candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova
Sincerely commend EU leaders’ decision at #EUCO to grant 🇺🇦 a candidate status. It’s a unique and historical moment in 🇺🇦-🇪🇺 relations. Grateful to @CharlesMichel, @vonderleyen and EU leaders for support. Ukraine’s future is within the EU. #EmbraceUkraine https://t.co/o6dJVmTQrn
Working together for wind energy White House Briefing Room
Today, the White House is joining with eleven governors from up and down the East Coast to launch a new Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership that will accelerate the growing offshore wind industry. The partnership will support efforts to provide Americans with cleaner and cheaper energy, create good-paying jobs, and make historic investments in new American energy supply chains, manufacturing, shipbuilding, and servicing. As a first step of this Partnership, the White House and governors are announcing commitments to collaborate on expanding key elements of the offshore wind supply chain, from manufacturing facilities to port capabilities to workforce development. The Administration is also announcing steps to advance a National Offshore Wind Supply Chain Roadmap and designating offshore wind vessels as Vessels of National Interest to facilitate more offshore wind construction. After years of Americans facing energy uncertainty, President Biden has taken decisive action to jumpstart the American offshore wind industry. He set a bold goal of deploying 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2030, enough to power 10 million homes with clean energy, support 77,000 jobs, and spur $12 billion per year in private investment in offshore wind projects. Since then, the Biden Administration has approved the first large-scale projects, established new wind energy areas, and held record-breaking wind auctions—signature achievements that advance the President’s commitment to tackle the climate crisis and strengthen American energy security. These bold actions have unleashed historic private sector investments to expand an American-made wind energy supply chain. In 2021 alone, investors announced $2.2 billion in new funding, including commitments to develop nine major manufacturing facilities to produce the foundations, towers, cables, and blades of offshore wind turbines. Supplier contracts to provide materials and services to offshore wind projects more than doubled. And historic project labor agreements are helping to grow a diverse union workforce and support training programs.
Finally, I want to highlight something I heard when listening to the podcasts about the Jan 6 committee: the DOJ, in the last few days under tRump, mostly joined together when they all threatened to resign when tdfg was trying to install Jeffrey Clark. The scandal would have overshadowed anything Clark said. This unity, this defiance, was key to saving our democracy.
DONATE TO GNR SAVES DEMOCRACY!
newish!!! 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?
PLEASE RETWEET! The process to get the NRA's tax-exempt nonprofit status revoked has become simpler. All you need to do is save this form and email it to eoclass@irs.gov. It's all filled out for you. You just need to click send. pic.twitter.com/xw5MGEJZEk
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. This is a list with companies that sometimes have donated to the seditionists, and their current approach to supporting or not supporting 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.
Jeffrey Clark gets raided by feds Josh Kevensky Talking Points Memo
Federal agents searched the home of former Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark on Wednesday, bringing the focus of federal law enforcement squarely onto a
high-ranking official who tried to help former President Donald Trump stay in office after losing the 2020 election.
A spokesman for the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office told TPM that “there was law enforcement activity in the Lorton area yesterday. We have no comment regarding the nature of that activity.”
Russ Vought, a former Trump administration official who runs a foundation that employs Clark, tweeted that on Wednesday, more than a dozen “DOJ law enforcement officials” searched Clark’s home in a “pre dawn raid,” leaving the onetime pretender to the position of attorney general “in the streets in his pjs.”
Clark has had a really bad week. Good.
Feds want to sentence Ghislaine Maxwell for 30 yearsThe Daily Beast
So much for that light sentence her lawyers were pushing for. Federal prosecutors
on Wednesday pushed for a sentence of between 30 and 55 years for former socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted in December of helping disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein prey on young girls. In a sentencing memorandum in which prosecutors called her actions “shockingly predatory,” they wrote: “Her practice of targeting vulnerable victims reflects her view that struggling young girls could be treated like disposable objects.” And they downplayed her lawyers’ argument that her supposedly rough treatment in a Brooklyn detention center made her deserving of a lighter sentence: “Going from being waited on hand and foot to incarceration is undoubtedly a shocking and unpleasant experience.”
Heh, heh! So, some Rs who say they would support tRump again just might be lying...
The Jan 6 cmte hearings had this gem- GA Sec of State Raffensperger saying Trump lost GA bc 30,000 people who voted for Republicans left the presidential vote blank. Trump underperformed the Republican ticket while Biden’s turnout was high. Trump revulsion factor in play.
I can sort of understand the lie. If you are high up in the R party — e.g. the GOP Speaker of the House in AZ — you may not want to signal you’re planning to vote against your party. Of course, Bowers was under oath when he said he would support tRump again, but it’s something that cannot be checked.
Lordy, Lordy, there are tapes! And video!
NEW: More evidence is emerging in the Jan. 6 investigation, including dozens of hours of footage from filmmaker Alex Holder, from which CBS News has obtained two images. The photographs show former President Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump being interviewed. https://t.co/eJCAp28VPF
This week, let’s honor three election workers from 2020 who had the guts to come forward and testify: Rusty Bowers, Shaye Moss, and Ruby Freeman. Shawna Chen Axios
The honorable speaker from Arizona
Rusty Bowers fought back tears as he testified that it is now a "pattern in our lives" to worry about what will happen on Saturdays because so many different groups have set up shop outside his home and caused public disturbances with their protests.
We have featured Bowers before. This is not the same article I linked to earlier, but recently from CNN; however it covers the same point: He refused to allow a bill that would let the AZ legislature overturn elections. Frederika Schouten, CNN
Back in Arizona, Bowers long has been known as a maverick willing to buck the increasingly extreme elements of his own party -- sometimes with wry dismissals or a sly brand of showmanship.
Georgia election worker Wandrea’ ArShaye "Shaye" Moss testified Tuesday that the threats of violence she faced in the aftermath of the 2020 election "turned my life upside down" as she and her mother Ruby Freeman struggled to escape unwanted visibility spurred on by attacks from former President Trump and his allies.
Why it matters: At the Jan. 6 select committee's fourth hearing, multiple election officials spoke about the intense harassment and protests targeting them in the aftermath of the election.
What they're saying: After then-Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani released a video claiming Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman were colluding to commit voter fraud, the two Black women became targets of threats and hateful messages, many of which were racist, Moss testified.
Many are horrified by what these women have gone through. Evidently, someone has set up gofundme accounts to help them:
Yesterday's testimony by GA election workers had me alternately crying and cursing. I've located GoFundMe accounts for both Shaye and her mother, Ruby, if you'd like to send them some love. 1/3
Here’s the gofundme for Shaye Moss.
Here’s the gofundme for Ruby Freeman.
Good News Alert: A Russian journalist's Nobel Peace Prize has fetched a record $103.5 million dollars at auction, with all proceeds going to help Ukrainian children displaced by the war. Dmitry Muratov decided to auction off his prize medal shortly after the conflict began. pic.twitter.com/C46BUb3d35
☀️ 💊 Vitamin D supplements and/or sunshine can reduce dementia Good News Network
Sunshine could ward off dementia and strokes after scientists have shown a direct link between vitamin D and the conditions in a world-first study.
A new study based on British people said that cases of dementia could drop by nearly a fifth if people who were deficient in the vitamin took supplements to bring them up to healthy levels. ✂️
The team from the University of South Australia looked at nearly 300,000 people from the UK Biobank examining the impact of low levels of vitamin D and the risk of dementia and stroke.
They found that low levels of vitamin D were associated with lower brain volumes and an increased risk of dementia and stroke.
Further genetic analyses supported a causal effect of vitamin D deficiency and dementia.
😄 Scientists are working on an exercise pill Baylor College of Medicine Science Daily
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, Stanford School of Medicine and collaborating institutions report today in the journal Nature that they have identified a molecule in the blood that is produced during exercise and can effectively reduce food intake and obesity in mice. The findings improve our understanding of the physiological processes that underlie the interplay between exercise and hunger.
"Regular exercise has been proven to help weight loss, regulate appetite and improve the metabolic profile, especially for people who are overweight and obese," said co-corresponding author Dr. Yong Xu, professor of pediatrics- nutrition and molecular and cellular biology at Baylor. "If we can understand the mechanism by which exercise triggers these benefits, then we are closer to helping many people improve their health."
"We wanted to understand how exercise works at the molecular level to be able to capture some of its benefits," said co-corresponding author Jonathan Long, MD, assistant professor of pathology at Stanford Medicine and an Institute Scholar of Stanford ChEM-H (Chemistry, Engineering & Medicine for Human Health). "For example, older or frail people who cannot exercise enough, may one day benefit from taking a medication that can help slow down osteoporosis, heart disease or other conditions."
🐟 Scientists develop robotic fish that consumes microplastics Olivia Rosane EcoWatch
One of the dangers posed by microplastic pollution in the oceans is that fish and other marine life might eat it by mistake. But could a solution to the problem involve a robot designed to consume it on purpose?
Researchers at Sichuan University in China have developed a proof-of-concept for a robotic fish that can absorb microplastics through its body.
“It is of great significance to develop a robot to accurately collect and sample detrimental microplastic pollutants from the aquatic environment,” study co-author and Polymer Research Institute of Sichuan University researcher Yuyan Wang told The Guardian. “To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of such soft robots.”
Town in Illinois paying some reparations Peter Yeung Reasons to Be Cheerful
...That prejudice against the Black community was deeply entrenched across the country as Burton grew up. Some say that while aspects of equality have improved and discrimination has reduced, much of it remains. But in a pioneering effort to begin the healing process for decades of racial injustice, last year Evanston became the first city in the US to offer Black residents reparations.
“We hope this will lay the tracks and foundations for a better future,” says Peter Braithwaite , 2nd Ward Councilmember and Chair of the City’s Reparations Committee. “But there’s a long way to go. This process will take generations.”
Under the “ Restorative Housing Program ,” the first of the reparations initiatives, Evanston City Council has given an initial 16 qualifying Black households $25,000 for home repairs, down payments or mortgage payments. In order to qualify, residents must either have lived in — or be a direct descendant of a Black person who lived in — Evanston between 1919 to 1969 and suffered a form of discrimination related to housing because of city ordinances, policies or practices.
June 21 was World Refugee Day. Goodable celebrated several who contributed to their new countries (more at site):
In 2015, Yusra Mardini fled her Syria with her sister. When the boat they were in broke down, they got out and started swimming, pulling the entire boat of refugees along with them. They swam for more than three hours. In 2021, she became an Olympic swimmer and flag bearer. pic.twitter.com/WJQPBShvGP
Seattle installs EV chargers on telephone poles Paige Bennett EcoWatch
More and more people are making the switch to electric vehicles to reduce their emissions. But for some homeowners and apartment dwellers, driving an EV gets tricky without charging infrastructure available at home. Seattle is hoping to make it easier for EV owners to get power for their vehicles by installing chargers to local utility poles.
The new Curbside Level 2 EV Charging program provides EV chargers to Seattle residents who don’t have chargers at their own residence, although the service will be publicly available to anyone and will operate on a first-come, first-served basis.
Residents can even request for a new charger to be installed near their home, so long as they meet all of the necessary requirements. EV charger location requirements include (but are not limited to) having existing street parking, being within Seattle’s city limits and not restricting or blocking existing or planned bike or transit lanes.
🐦 I do a lot of other writing. A recent offering: Hunters of the Feather, a story about a thinker-linker crow who wants to save birdkind from extinction, and the sequel, Scavengers of Mind. (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 — including a new one for lovers of Pride & Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet’s Advice to Young Ladies — and others on Greek mythology, can be found here. All titles are available through Kindle Unlimited, but I only get paid if you turn the pages.
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.
Look in the comments for Progressive Muse’s report on Postcards to Voters
You can relax and recharge.
You can join protests and freeway blog.
You can help register new voters.
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.” 💙