Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Let’s finish the job.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

The willow is too close to the house.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: There Are Good People Out There

Open Thread: There Are Good People Out There

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As a few of you know, I’ve been struggling this past week. It was one of those weeks I could not get past everything. And the video John posted below was one of the first things I saw yesterday. Just awful.

So I’ve made a conscious effort to walk away for the coming week from obsession over the disaster-in-chief. And work to direct my attention to more positive endeavors.  Me, broken down and in the fetal position in the corner will help no one.

Steve Hartman does very positive stories of ordinary people and I’ve been known to search them out here.  Call them puff pieces, saccharine sweet, or whatever, I call them life preservers in an ocean of miserable news.  I thought I’d share in case anyone else needs a break.

Open thread

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73Comments

  1. 1.

    Major Major Major Major

    I’ve been looking for exactly something like this; thanks so much for sharing a source!

    Starting tonight it drops into single digits, and the short story I’ve been working on is resting right now, so I’m excited to spend some energy on other creative efforts/watching horror movies we’ll See.

  4. 4.

    zhena gogolia

    I hope this would qualify, an op-ed by two Polish democracy advocates who counsel against the Masha Gessen/Sarah Kendzior catastrophizing (although they don’t name them). They’re talking about Poland, but I think it’s helpful for us American liberals to read (op-ed page of NYT, Dec. 31, 2018):

    In Poland, as in many countries these days, we live somewhere between liberal democracy and illiberal authoritarianism. This status must neither be disregarded nor exaggerated, but carefully diagnosed — and gradually dismantled. Too many liberals try to call people to action by oversimplifying the diagnosis, limiting the range of possibilities: Either everything is fine or democracy is dead. But this makes it impossible to see that more strategies are possible, and in effect it makes liberals similar to their opponents in their radicalism and their blunt language. It also makes liberals focus only on the elections without creating a broader vision of what defeating illiberals means for the future. Liberalism means belief in the freedom of the individual; therefore it demands trust in the people. It also requires optimism. In order not to fall into dangerous determinism or counterproductive defensiveness, we have to remember that the greatest successes of liberal democracies emerged from hope.

  6. 6.

    H.E.Wolf

    Thank you, Tamara (HFG), for shining a light on some of the positive endeavors. Much appreciated!

  8. 8.

    West of the Rockies

    Awesome, TaMara! So nice to see good people making difficult choices that require sacrifice. Ask not what… Well, you all know the rest.

  9. 9.

    WaterGirl

    @TaMara (HFG): Interesting that the fellow featured in the top story looks so much like the hateful boy from the MAGA story. You really can’t tell a book by its cover.

  14. 14.

    Brooklyn Dodger

    @Major Major Major Major: What’s your, ah poison in terms of horror? Started watching Haunting of Hill House on Netflix just because Shirley Jackson is in there somewhere. A lot of card shuffling of her ideas but I kind of like it.

  18. 18.

    MagdaInBlack

    Apropos of nuthin: This time of year my little grocery store has pallets of 1 lb packages of buckwheat. Obviously it’s popular, so I bought some and am now googling recipes.
    I welcome your suggestions, personal experience is better than anonymous google recipes. ☺️
    My personal experience extends as far as pancakes.

  19. 19.

    oldgold

    Wayyyy baaack when I was younggold, my mom used to reassure me, when there was a spate of bad news, that it was news because it was outside the norm – that the world was generally filled with good people trying to do well by one another. At the time, I found considerable comfort in this pollyannish view.

    So, now in the spring of my dotage, this dystopian view that good news is news, is a bit disheartening, but not necessarily at variance with our present reality.

  26. 26.

    Mandalay

    Since it’s a There Are Good People Out There thread, the Dave Matthews Band deserve a mention. I don’t know a single thing about their music, but their good deeds are astounding:

    The Bama Works Fund of Dave Matthews Band is administered by the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation. Established in 1999, the Bama Works Fund supports charitable programs primarily in the Charlottesville, VA area but has also responded to a wide variety of needs both nationally and internationally. The fund has raised over $52M and has made over 2000 grants since its inception.
    https://www.davematthewsband.com/bamaworks/

    And most recently, just last month:

    The Dave Matthews Band has donated $5 million dollars to Charlottesville, Virginia, the band’s origin. Singer-songwriter Dave Matthews announced that they will be donating $5 million to help revitalize public housing in Charlottesville, as well as bring assistance to people in need in the community there.

    The funds will be used to help improve multiple public housing properties in the area, and will also help the city find and build new affordable housing.

    Their business model for raising the money is simple: every time someone buys a ticket for one of their concerts, a chunk of the money goes directly to the band’s Bama Works Fund, which then funds the charities they support.

  28. 28.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @zhena gogolia: Thank you for re-posting this. It very much reflects my views (sometimes inartfully expressed) that we cannot given in to despair or negativity. I understand, as any sentient being does, that we are in a shitty place right now as a country, but all is not lost and the Trumpies are not all powerful.

    I stayed in a mostly lurking mode here for about a month because the negativity on the blog was almost overwhelming.

  29. 29.

    Brachiator

    @zhena gogolia:

    I hope this would qualify, an op-ed by two Polish democracy advocates who counsel against the Masha Gessen/Sarah Kendzior catastrophizing (although they don’t name them). They’re talking about Poland, but I think it’s helpful for us American liberals to read…

    This takes on added urgency in Poland in the light of recent sad events there, the recent murder of a respected mayor. What is hopeful is the refusal to give up or to fall into despair.

    From Reuters news reports.

    Murdered Polish mayor’s funeral draws crowd of 45,000 in Gdansk

    Murdered Gdansk mayor Pawel Adamowicz’s funeral drew tens of thousands of people in the Polish Baltic coast city on Saturday amid outrage over his murder six days ago.

    The murder of a liberal critic of Poland’s ruling party’s anti-immigrant policies highlights the charged atmosphere in parts of eastern Europe where populist leaders have fanned nationalist sentiment.

    As well as encouraging migrants to seek refuge in Gdansk, Adamowicz was known for backing a campaign to defend the rule of law against what activists consider efforts by the ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party to increase political control over the judiciary and other bodies.

    A sad story, but a reminder of the importance of opposing malign forces.

  31. 31.

    J R in WV

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    That is a great and uplifting story, seeing the missile silos being blown to bits, taking major industrial destruction tools to the business end of an ICBM, chopping the nose off a Backfire. Sweet.

    Thanks.

    I’ve had a crummy week too… Prep work for a molar crown Thursday, complete with bruises on my face, then steep downhill on Friday.

  36. 36.

    A Ghost To Most

    @Cheryl Rofer:
    Nice. I have neighbors who militantly shoot off fireworks, even in droughts. I’ve held fire for a decade, but one of these 4ths of July, ima gonna buy me some black powder, and introduce them to a blank load from my Civil War musket.

  37. 37.

    Fair Economist

    I’m all for uplifting stuff, but I am feeling quite hopeful already with the Democrats looking to have effective strategies against the Orange Maroon, Pelosi’s popularity soaring, Trump’s crimes increasingly likely to be punished and (internationally) May’s Brexit blackmail flopping. Am I crazy?

  38. 38.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Yarrow:
    Kasha Varnishkas.
    All kinds of good stuff, I am finding.
    My Polish great grandmother is so ashamed of me right now.

  39. 39.

    pamelabrown53

    @MahdaInBlack:

    You could make “kasha and bows”. I prefer the mini bow tie pasta. Also, in order for your whole grain buckwheat to be kasha, you have to toast the buckwheat. Then just find the recipe you like best.

  41. 41.

    Barbara

    @MagdaInBlack: Is it the whole grain, or buckwheat flour? If it is the whole grain, you can make it like barley or farro, and use it for grain bowls or side dishes. IIRC, buckwheat is hardier or earthier than, say, speltberry, so you could also mix it with quinoa or rice to give dishes made with those things a nuttier flavor and more robust texture.

    For the flour, you would mix it per your preference to make pancakes or bread. It is a staple of Eastern European cooking. It is apparently very hardy so grows in more marginal climes.

  44. 44.

    Yarrow

    @MagdaInBlack: She would be upset with those who didn’t teach you. It’s not your fault that someone didn’t pass on the knowledge. You are learning now and she would be happy about that.

    @Fair Economist: Nope, not crazy. I’m relentlessly optimistic. So much good stuff happening even though many bad things are also happening. I don’t hope anymore, though. I gave up on it in 2016.

  45. 45.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Yarrow:
    That is a very kind and beautiful thought.
    My ancestors came at a time when it was better to assimilate quickly. My mother was not allowed to learn Polish and the Chicago Catholic school she attended “frowned” upon anyone speaking it.
    Funny how nothing really changes with immigrants.

  46. 46.

    Barbara

    @Yarrow: I think buckwheat is like oats and cabbage, things that are so associated with subsistence that many people saw not having to eat them as a sign of progress or success. My father refused to eat cabbage as an adult because he ate so much of it during the Depression, harvested from his father’s garden.

  47. 47.

    Yarrow

    @MagdaInBlack: Same as it ever was. Food traditions were one of the ways people could keep their culture and over time those foods became “traditional” in their new homes. Like why Betty Cracker has to make a butter lamb at Easter.

    @Barbara: I have a friend who grew up poor and in a Catholic family with lots of kids. They ate lots of cabbage because it was cheap. She refuses to eat it now.

  49. 49.

    Aleta

    @TaMara (HFG): They’re beautiful. The togetherness of each photo and words is kind of a rare art (when it reaches art) and your art in this form comes through so strongly to me. Separated they’re beautiful as well. Excuse my awkward words. The whole of reading several together gives me a beautiful deep dream.

  50. 50.

    zhena gogolia

    @MagdaInBlack:

    I follow the directions on the box that is sold in the kosher section (can’t remember the brand). It involves first toasting the kernels in the pan with some egg before you cook them (kind of the way you would cook rice). Sorry I don’t have the exact recipe (husband doesn’t like it, so I haven’t made it in a while), but the pre-toasting is key — it deepens the flavor. Grechnevaia kasha is the staff of life!

  52. 52.

    MomSense

    Ok here is an offering of the feel good variety. It was one of the performances at our new governor’s inauguration. One of the best things about it was how excited our Governor was – the whole audience. We were all on our feet cheering.

    Governor Mills met these girls not at a Boys and Girls Club she visited during the campaign and wanted them to be a part of her swearing in ceremony.

    This Girl Is On Fire

  54. 54.

    West of the Rockies

    @Yarrow:

    My mom used to speak (with horror) about something (phonetically) called “chodnina”. It was duck’s blood soup. Don’t know if it included cabbage.

  55. 55.

    MagdaInBlack

    @West of the Rockies:
    My mother was born in 1915, in what I think is now the Logan Square area….I think.
    Her father was a Chicago fireman, beyond that I’d have to dig out old photos to jog memory ?

  60. 60.

    Raoul

    John Pavlovitz is touring on his new book and preached this morning at a nearby church. I’m UU but comfortable with progressive congregationalist folx, so I went.
    He spoke about these turbulent times, how to find sources of resilience, and cautioned (via a sweet story about thunderstorms and how his dog and his six year old each react) that we all need rest sometimes.
    His broadest message was “Are you a creator of peace, or a bringer of fear?” It was pretty obvious what he thinks of Trump. (On twitter and his blog where there’s fewer constraints, he’s more obvious).
    Anyway, TaMara, rest up, recharge. It’s a long haul and we all need to step up/step back to stay sane in this effort to banish fear.

  61. 61.

    West of the Rockies

    @MagdaInBlack:

    I think I have seen one photograph of my mother as a child. She was one of ten children. Only her father worked (as a machinist). I’m guessing there wasn’t a lot of spare cash for a camera and film.

  62. 62.

    West of the Rockies

    @raven:

    I don’t recall my mother mentioning that area. She left in about 1952, shortly after high school graduation. Moved to the orange groves of Orange County, CA. Must have been quite a transition.

    Dad dropped out of 10th grade (his parents only completed 4th grade). He was a car by for a time before eventually landing a job as a forklift operator (where he met my eventual mom).

  63. 63.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    @MagdaInBlack: Google buckwheat pilaf/Natasha’s Kitchen. Her site has a beef and carrot stew with buckwheat and a yummy roasted head of garlic.

  69. 69.

    PJ

    @zhena gogolia: Probably it’s her Soviet upbringing, but at a discussion in May 2017, Gessen seemed to relish telling the audience that democracy in America was doomed because of all the Trump supporters and that Mueller’s investigation woudn’t change anything.

  70. 70.

    HeleninEire

    @MagdaInBlack: My Grandmother, a first generation Pole in Johnstown PA went to Catholic school. She was left handed and the nuns beat her left hand with a ruler and forced her to write with her right hand.

  72. 72.

    opiejeanne

    @West of the Rockies: That sounds like the blood soup served to the suitor who did not get the girl (the other guy with more money did) in Michener’s book “Poland”. It was a very bitter soup served to both acknowledge his loss while also humiliating him. In the book, the poor man ate it all, every bit of this horrible soup in his bowl. He did his weeping in private afterwards.

    Oh wait, Czernina is the bitter blood soup, I think.

  73. 73.

    Mnemosyne

    CBS This Morning did a similar short piece about a group I volunteer with through work called Young Storytellers. If you’re located in or near one of the cities where they have programs, it’s a super fun thing to do. If there isn’t one near you but it sounds like something you could recruit people for, they have a website where you can get more information.

    The CBS This Morning piece:
    https://youtu.be/Tqc9W3vt1bY

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