Good News: We bring it, we make it.
The Good Gnus group is a community of readers, writers, activists, supporters, community builders, and patriots. We begin gathering every day at 7 a.m. ET to celebrate national good news. Our most active members are of course a subgroup of members of Daily Kos, whose Front Pages celebrate “News, Community, Action.” However, you don’t have to be a member of Daily Kos to be a Gnusie.
We are realists, not fools, idiots, or ostriches. We seek the truth. We know we live in a world where active, nefarious, and evil decision-makers do very bad things, and create stress and anxiety in us, our loved ones, our friends, our neighbors, and our allies, and destroy people and systems we hold dear. However, we choose to focus on the good news that people create around the country.
Sometimes we ourselves create Good News. Together we are strong and resilient. We return regularly to these pages to revitalize.
In a Good News Roundup, the weight of bearing good news is not borne by the author alone: Gnusies can be counted on to adorn the comment section with good news. Often commenters create three times as many comments as Recommendations! If you cannot linger with us for hours, I recommend you return in the mid or late afternoon, learn who your favorite commenters are, and Find their names on return visits. We count on certain favorite Gnusies to bless us in the comments with humor, hope, history, and analysis every day.
We bring good news, and we create good news.
As I see it, these are our goals:
Gnusie Bill in Portland Maine lets me repeat the results of his research. He arrayed the following items in his popular Who Won the Week? poll in Friday’s Cheers and Jeers . Many people already voted in that poll. Please enjoy Bill’s on-point analysis and wit, vote in his poll, Rec his diaries, get on his bandwagon, send him a donation, and earn his blessing.
Cheers and Jeers archive and future editions here. Way, way more than 2 thanks to The One, our Wicked Wizard of Wit and writer of Who Won the Week, Willhelm von kosland!
Bill’s Friday poll is here.
Which item did you vote for? Why?
Who made a winning move after Bill's deadline on Friday?
Denise Oliver Velez for the Daily Kos Community Contributors Team: The applause for Vice President Kamala Harris was thunderous as she walked onto the stage of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida on Thursday. The 13,000-plus Black women gathered—and another 12,000 or so watching virtually—were expressing their joy at seeing “one of their own,” who had risen to the height of vice president of the United States. Yet Harris is also a woman they know as their sorority sister.
The joyful women are members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (AKA), the oldest of the Black sororities. Founded in 1908 at Howard University in Washington, D.C., the AKAs have a long history of political activism and community service, forming part of a membership of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, Inc. (NPHC), a group of nine Black fraternal and sororal organizations often referred to as “The Divine Nine,” who in total number about four million members—a constituency unto themselves.
After WineRev posts his G&G comment, I’ll post a link here. His G&G comments are small but worthy Good News Roundups with a welcome, a good-news tidbit, another bold-faced and centered welcome, and his this-day-in-history notes. You can find all his comments here, in case you have a hankerin’ and missed one. Meanwhile:
WineRev, last week: “YAY! The UP is being Rounded (Squared; Cube-Rooted) here at this ease-full (coinage!) corner of the InterTubes, and all of us in Gnuville are grateful. These have NOT been the easiest of weeks for many of us on the national news level, so daily doses of Good News we can nibble at as Optimistic Granola throughout the day is always welcome. Thanks to you, 2thanks, for opening up shop!”
The Two Most Important Things to Know About Joe Manchin: Saturday's GNR GoodNewsRoundup
You might not have guessed it, but Biden’s not the one with the approval problem
Biden administration says hospitals must provide abortions in emergencies
Statue honoring Black educator replaces Confederate general at U.S. Capitol
Biden gets the jobs report he wanted
Webb Telescope Can Inspire Hope When We Need It Most
NASA’s new images represent humanity — and government — at its best
Good News Roundup for Friday, Ides of July, 2022: Reach Out chloris creator
Thursday GNR: What was Once Unthinkable... Mokurai
[What was once unthinkable] … is often Good News. All progress in politics and science and religion depends on thinking the unthinkable, overthrowing what everybody knew that turned out not to be the case. But 9/11 and 1/6 were also unthinkable until they happened. Intelligence and law enforcement and airline officials and Congress thought they were unthinkable, until somebody sufficiently deranged thought of them and made them happen. And Global Warming, and covid and much more dread diseases, and innumerable wars, and overturning Roe, and you name it.
It’s what you call a Failure of Imagination, coupled with massive Failures to Communicate, abetted with Massive Wrong-Wing disinformation.
We have found out, over and over, that we have to call a spade a damned shovel, early and often, no matter who says us nay. Domestic Terrorism. White Patriarchal Christianist Supremacist hypocrisy from the Generation of Vipers/sons of snakes (John the Baptist) and Whited Sepulchers (Jesus God Himself, to the blasphemers in question).
We are in good company. There is a lot of it about.
J6 Hearing Recap, Infrastructure and More! - July 13 Good News Roundup niftywriter
The Senate confirmed ATF director (tweet):
This won't get a ton of media coverage, but will have an outsized impact in tackling on daily gun violence. Only with a Senate-confirmed director is the ATF fully empowered to go after rogue gun dealers who are flooding streets with illegal guns.
The Senate just confirmed Steve Dettelbach to run the ATF by a vote of 48-46. Portman & Collins joined Dems in favor For the first time since 2015, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will now have a Senate-confirmed leader
This won't get a ton of media coverage, but will have an outsized impact in tackling on daily gun violence. Only with a Senate-confirmed director is the ATF fully empowered to go after rogue gun dealers who are flooding streets with illegal guns.https://t.co/NhPQNVFgpF
Biden and the Democrats made the largest investment in railroads since Amtrak was created (tweet)
The White House: In the largest investment in passenger rail since Amtrak was created, President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will help create safe, efficient, and climate-friendly transportation alternatives for people and freight.
In the largest investment in passenger rail since Amtrak was created, President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will help create safe, efficient, and climate-friendly transportation alternatives for people and freight.
We Have Miles to Go Before We Sleep - GNR for Bluesday, July, 12th NotNowNotEver
Instant gratification and political change don’t exist on the same Venn diagram. As much as we’d like to snap our fingers and magically fix all the legislative and judicial dumbfuckery republicans have perpetrated over the last 60 years, that’s not the way the system was designed to work. No matter how much we twitch our noses and expect to disappear every redhatted enemy of decency and compassion, that’s not going to happen either.
We need to keep in mind that actual real world problems cannot be resolved in 44 minutes plus commercials. Quick fixes and easy answers for complex systemic problems are a myth. We have words like strive and persevere for a reason. So the next time you hear someone complaining about Merrick Garland or Joe Biden not doing enough, fast enough for their liking, remind them that politics is not about whining and moaning; it’s about doing the hard work, organizing and building support, one voter at a time.
We often repeat stirring words like: “In order to form a more perfect union,” “Eyes on the prize,” “We shall overcome,” “I have a dream,” or “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” They all phrases that counsel patience; that invoke a sense of purpose; an unwavering commitment to a future that shines brightly, unencumbered by the failures of today. They are messages from those that came before us that our work is not yet done. We still have miles to go before we sleep.
So, let’s get going.
We have the power. We have the ability. We can and we will do this.
From the GNR Newsroom: its the Monday Good News Roundup Jessiestaf, Bhu, and Killer300
Biden signs executive order safeguarding abortion rights
What will the first federal gun control law in three decades do?
Medication abortion now accounts for over half of all abortions in US
Sunday Good News ¤ WineRev! ¤ 2 Polls: WWtW? AND How do you support Democratic candidates? 2thanks
After WineRev posts his G&G comment, I’ll post a link here. His G&G comments are small but worthy Good News Roundups with a welcome, a good-news tidbit, another bold-faced and centered welcome, and his this-day-in-history notes. You can find all his comments here, in case you have a hankerin’ and missed one. Meanwhile:
WineRev, last week: “YAY! The UP is being Rounded (Squared; Cube-Rooted) here at this ease-full (coinage!) corner of the InterTubes, and all of us in Gnuville are grateful. These have NOT been the easiest of weeks for many of us on the national news level, so daily doses of Good News we can nibble at as Optimistic Granola throughout the day is always welcome. Thanks to you, 2thanks, for opening up shop!”
Please share good science news with us! (Especially JSWT*, health, environment.)
* = I refer to that telescope as the JSWT out of respect for my LGBTQ+ relatives, friends, and allies. See Smithsonian article.
… arhpdx posted a list of good news sites toward the top of a recent Roundup, or you can find that same list in my comment: Good News Sources. Thank you, arhpdx and Mokurai!
[On a desktop, you could open that comment in a new Tab by clicking the timestamp, and then you could Bookmark that page or save it to your Favorites.]
Our map of Gnuville: 763 of us have shared our global locations!
To leave your mark, please Reply in the comments to tljdk or the map-building comment. Please include your city and state only, NOT street number and street. (Please persist, we are volunteers.)
Image: Two maps of the United States, one above the other. The maps indicate the approximate locations of members of the Good News Roundup community in 2019 and 2021. The lower map contains many more blue pin-markers than the upper map. Upper image: A map of Gnuville from February 15, 2019 with about 50 Gnusie pins. Lower image: A map of Gnuville from March 21, 2021 with 582 pins across our orb.
If you join us regularly, are you Following us? More than 400 Kosacks Follow us.
Morning Good News Roundups at 7 x 7: These Gnusies lead the herd at 7 a.m. ET, 7 days a week:
Sun-High Good News Roundup: It’s a long dry trek between 7 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. ET. About half way between is noon or 1 o'clock. If you'd like to create a midday oasis post a Good News Group diary regularly at about that time, please let me know via kosmail. The team will support you. If morning is a better time for you, Mokurai says he can trade times.
hpg posts Evening Shade diaries at 7:30 p.m. ET every day! After a long day, Gnusies meet in the evening shade and continue sharing Good News, good community, and good actions. Find Evening Shades here or on the Trending List.
oldhippiedude posts Tweets of the Week on Sundays at 6 p.m. CT. Our second evening Gnusie hangout zone! In search of a TOTW diary? Look here or here or on the Trending List.
For more information about the Good News group, please see our detailed Welcoming comment, one of the first comments in our morning diaries.
Joe Biden is now our President. However, we continue to stay vocal and active, we continue to pull Joe to the left, and we continue resist the GQP.
Our poll last week asked “Some people have time, some have money, some have both. How do you tend to support Democratic candidates?”
Results showed that about 30% of our readers and members only donate, about 30% donate and volunteer, and about 15% only volunteer for various reasons.
If you are in that last category, you are not alone. You are not alone.
Whatever you do, whatever you can do, we appreciate you! ❤
Some of our Good News writers regularly post a panoply of fantastic action steps in every one of their Good News Roundups. If you don’t see a way to become active that suits your personality, your funds, or your time, please review their most recent diaries for many different options to volunteer and donate:
As you may have noticed, recently I’ve been posting three suggestions in the comments:
Whatever it is you can do on any day is good with us, even if it’s only recommending that day’s Good News Roundup diary. Empowering the Good News group’s diaries to remain on the Rec list is not nothing, and we appreciate you! ❤
Most important, we don’t give away our hope. The kleptocrats want you to lose your courage and determination. This is a giant and important fight for all of us but, win or lose, we keep fighting and voting and organizing and spreading truth and light. We never give up.
We welcome comments in Roundups every day regarding:
In my Sunday smorgasbord Roundups, I especially welcome the following types of comments:
In the comments of all Roundups, we do not welcome Grammar Police or Debbie Downers.
Top Image: A quite detailed sketch of a gnu drawn in brown, green, and black on white. A happy and dynamic gnu dances on its left hind leg in a classic heraldric rampant pose. Joyful letters prance above and behind the mane: “Happy Dance.” Signature: Nick Korolev, 2021. — Thank you, Starhawk, for creating the top image of a dancing gnu and for giving it to us Gnusies!
Thank you for fighting for truth and justice with all us Gnusies! 40% of our Readers don’t visit every day, 50% of us do, and 10% are here for the first time! We all do what we can. For 4 years, we’ve shared positive news, laughed, organized, resisted, rebelled, revolted without being revolting, relied, rested, mentored, created, crossed rivers, chewed our cud, puffed methane out both ends, and laughed. Here’s looking at you, kid, and standing upwind!
As always, please share more Good News than I can find or provide.
This is a group diary, and by my power I declare this Good Gnus Salo(o)n open! Let the good-news sharing and community building begin!
Power with, not power over ❤️ ✊ ❤️
For technical reasons, I am repeating last week’s poll with the addition of the following line:
Please take the poll (again).