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Ballroom Byrd Bath
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Monday, May 18th, 2026 Today, a former judge weighs in on Trump's $1.7B slush fund for January 6th rioters in a court filing; the Senate parliamentarian has stripped the $1B ballroom provision from Republican’s budget reconciliation bill; Colorado Governor Jared Polis has commuted the sentence of voter data thief Tina Peters; the Federal Aviation Administration is going to sharply cut the number of air traffic controllers; a Texas hospital will create a detransition clinic as part of a settlement with AG Ken Paxton; Senator Bill Cassidy lost his primary as Democrat Jamie Davis advances in Louisiana; and Allison Delivers your Good News.
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Hi, I'm Frances Collier. And I'm Angela V. Shelton. And we're Frangela. You know what you mean in your life. The Final Word podcast. Yes, you do. That's right. It is the final word on all things political and pop cultural, where we make real news, real funny, where we inspire you so you can resist. Subscribe and get a new episode of the Final Word podcast each week. It's the news we think you need to hear. That's right. We think you need to hear it.
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Okay.
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Yeah. It's what we say.
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So.
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That's right. And because all we do is give. Every Thursday, you can listen to our hysterical podcast, idiot of the Week. We round up the stupid. Because you know what? Somebody has to.
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Okay? All we do is give. MSW Media. Daily beans.
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Daily beans.
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Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Monday, May 18, 2026. Today, a former judge weighs in on Trump's $1.7 billion slush fund for January 6 rioters. In a court filing, the Senate parliamentarian has stripped the $1 billion ballroom provision from Republicans budget reconciliation bill. Colorado Governor Jared Polis has comm sentence of voter data thief Tina Peters. The Federal Aviation Administration is going to sharply cut the number of air traffic controllers. A Texas hospital will create a detransition clinic as part of a settlement with Attorney General Ken Paxton. And Senator Bill Cassidy has lost his primary in Louisiana. I'm your host, Allison Gill. Hey, everybody. Happy Monday. Dana's out today. She's going to be back tomorrow. She's traveling, so she sends her love. Thank you for hanging in with me solo. Also, check out the latest episode of the Breakdown. I recorded it this weekend. It aired on the Midas Touch Network Sunday at noon. You can find it@muellersharerote.com or on the Midas Touch Network. We're also, I think, going to drop the audio into the beans feed here. I think we do that every Monday so you can hear the audio. But the video is pretty compelling. It's got a lot of clips and visuals from this actual brief filed by John Gleason, former federal judge, and several others in an amicus brief talking about whether the court has jurisdiction or not to even hear the case where Trump sued himself, sued his own IRS for $10 billion, and is about to settle for $1.7 billion that he gets to just dole out to his friends like January 6th insurrectionists, Oath Keepers, Rudy Giuliani, Kenneth Chesbrough, Boris Epstein, Sidney Powell, Jeffrey Clark, John Eastman, I mean, you name it. Every bad guy that he's co conspired with is going to be getting is they're be made millionaires from this slush fund. So again, we have an amicus brief from a judge who opposes that same guy, by the way, who filed an amicus brief opposing the dismissal of Michael Flynn's case and a couple of other ones as well. So anyway, check out the breakdown. And also Kash Patel is in more hot water. He's aside from polygraphing people when he's got bourbon bottles missing and all of his alleged drinking to the point of intoxication stories and all of that, there's more going on and we go over that Andy McCabe and I on the latest episode of Unjustified, which is out now as well. All right, everybody, we have tons of news to get to. Let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right. First up from the Times, Tina fucking Peters, perhaps the most prominent 2020 election denier who remains behind bars, is set to go free after Governor Jared Polis of Colorado, a Democrat, commuted her sentence on Friday. This remarkable development cuts short the roughly nine year, well earned prison sentence that Ms. Peters, a former county clerk in Mesa County, Colorado, was given after being convicted in 2024 for her role in a brazen plot to examine voting machines under her control in the 2020 election. Ms. Peters had tried to prove that the machines had been used to rig the election against Trump by stealing voter data and giving it to the pillow man, Mike Lindell. In an interview at the Colorado State Capitol, the governor said his commutation was not an attempt to placate Donald Trump, who has leveled a barrage of funding cuts and policy attacks at Colorado in a hostile effort to free Ms. Peters. Instead, the governor said he believes Ms. Peters, a nonviolent first time offender, has received too harsh a sentence because of her embrace of conspiracy theories about Trump's 2020 election loss. In weekend show interviews, Polis said he freed her because she was just expressing her First Amendment protected ideas, but that is not why she was put in prison. She stole voter data and gave it to Mike Lindell. Now the blowback on this decision is coming from both sides, colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said. It's mind boggling and wrong as a matter of basic justice. Colorado Secretary of State Jenna Griswold, who's been on the Daily Beans before, said that this is an affront to democracy, the people of colorad and election officials across the country. Mesa County DA Dan Rubenstein, who prosecuted Peters, said this was a misguided and misunderstood decision that undermined accountability and eroded confidence in the integrity of the system. Matt Crane, a Republican for the Colorado Election Clerks association, says he's furious, disgusted and deeply disappointed by the reckless and dangerous message this sends. And by the way, that Mesa County DA is also Republican, who said that this undermines accountability? It's misguided and misunderstood. Just unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable decision. If he was being pressured by Trump, if he was being extorted by Donald Trump, he should come out and say that. He should come out and say so. And not after he's out of office or term limited out or decides to not run again and spend time with his family like Senator Cassidy is now warning people about Trump now that he's lost his primary election. We'll talk about that in a minute. It just reminds me of that scene in Death Becomes her when she's like, now a warning. God, grow a spine before you retire. Jesus fucking Cri. All right. Sorry. Anyway, I know Trump is threatening to withhold stuff from Colorado. He's been vocal about it and that had to have something to do with it. But like, speak up, man. All right, next up from Reuters, how should we fix the issue of overworked air traffic controllers? They're stretched to the breaking point, working 60 hour weeks, 12 hour shifts, hardly getting a break, worked to the bone till they're bone tired. How should we fix that problem? Well, apparently the Federal Aviation Administration said Friday it's going to sharply reduce the number of air traffic control staffing as it vowed to modernize scheduling and increase the time employees spend managing traffic. The FAA says its new target is 12,500 certified controllers, down from 14,600. A National Academies of Sciences report last year said overtime costs for air traffic controllers have jumped by more than 300% since 2013 to over $200 million, citing a misallocated workforce and inefficient scheduling. Really? Is it misallocated and inefficient or are there not enough air traffic control controllers? Could it be because Ronald Reagan fired them all at the same time because they did a strike back in the 80s and all of the ones that they hired to replace them are all retiring now and we have a shortage? Could it be that? But this report said the time controllers spend on position managing air traffic has declined despite a 4% increase in traffic. It added it could increase time on position from around four hours per shift to more than five hours increased time. The FAA says deploying modern staffing models and scheduling tools will improve controller staffing efficiency. And reduce the need for excessive overtime. Tell you what, if it's really a scheduling issue, how about you implement that first, then assess to see if staffing levels are meeting requirements. Then if you're overstaffed, then you can move them off the air traffic Controlling Just a thought. The FAA says as of April, 11,000 certified controllers are deployed across more than 300 FAA air traffic facilities, with an additional 4,000 controllers in the training pipeline, including 1,000 who were previously a fully certified controller but are now training on new air traffic control facilities. The FAA says it will modernize scheduling and workforce management systems to improve efficiency. The FAA air traffic control workforce in 2024 logged 2.2 million hours of overtime, again $200 million. Annual overtime is up 308% or 126 hours per year since 2013 to 167 hours on average now. From 2013 to 2023, the FAA hired only 2/3 of the air traffic controllers called for by its staffing models and staffing fell by 13%, adding the agency has also been unable to implement a robust shift scheduling software package that it acquired in 2012. They've been unable to implement it. That may be making the issue worse. Controllers in many locations must often work six day work weeks in mandatory overtime. FAA administrator Brian Bedford said in December the Faa lost about four or 500 trainees that withdrew from training during a government shutdown last year. Sure, it's the government shutdown. Oh my God. All right. Boy, oh boy, I feel safe. And all of our money, by the way, all that money that's being saved is going to pay for Sean Duffy's road rules too as he takes the great American road trip that nobody can fucking afford right now. What an asshole. All right, next up from Houston Public Media, this makes my blood boil. Texas Children's Hospital will develop a detransition clinic and fire five physicians as part of a unique settlement with the State of Texas. That's according to the Office of the Texas Attorney General. Such a clinic would be the first of its kind because it's medically unsound and dangerous and will do harm, which is against the Hippocratic Oath. But I digress. First of its kind. That's what the Attorney General's office said it would focus on providing medical care to patients who had undergone gender affirming health care and work toward reversing the effects of that life saving health care. The Houston based hospital system is also required to pay $10 million for billing Texas Medicaid for prior gender transition treatments along with firing and permanently cutting ties with five doctors who perform treatments. Gotta get rid of the doctors who take the oath to do no harm if you want to start doing harm. I guess Texas Children's didn't provide specific information regarding the development of the detransition clinic, including when it might be in operation and what it might entail. I hope they fucking do everything to stop it from happening and slow that shit down. Death by a thousand paper guts. Grind the gears to a halt until we get a new president in office or we get to new leadership in Texas for God's sake. Now Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican who's running for Senate against John Cornyn, neither of whom have been endorsed by Trump yet, had announced the investigation into Texas Children's, the largest children's hospital in the United states. Back in 2023, just as the state legislature was passing a law that banned gender affirming health care for minors, the Texas Supreme Court upheld that law in 2024. Now Paxson stated his office secured the settlement in coordination with the U.S. department of Justice. Texas Children's will also agree not to provide gender affirming care to minors, implement ethics measures and amend its bylaws to trigger automatic relinquishment of privileges for any physician who violates Texas prohibition on medical interventions. To quote transition kids. All this from the AJ's office. What a pile of shit. An absolute piece of shit. People are going to die because of this. All right, next up from NBC, Senator Bill Cassidy, as I mentioned earlier, who voted to convict Trump on impeachment charges in 2021, has lost his Republican primary in Louisiana as two challengers aligned with Trump advance to a runoff. Rep. Julia Letlow, who had Trump's endorsement in the race, will face State Treasurer John fleming in a June 27 primary runoff. Now Cassidy's loss further cements Trump's grip on the GOP as the president looks to exact revenge against Republicans who have crossed him in the past. I take a little bit of a different view on this. Rather than cementing Trump's grip on the gop, I think it shows overall that the GOP is crumbling and I'll tell you why in a second. The story goes on to say it also means yet another Republican who voted to convict Trump during his 2021 impeachment will not be returning to Congress next year. Letlo was leading the primary field, winning 45% of the vote to Fleming's 28. Cassidy only got 25. He came in third. And since Letlow fell short of winning a majority of the primary vote, they had to. A runoff, an expensive runoff. This is what Trump does to these elections. Sure, Letlo got 45% of the vote, but Cassidy and Fleming combined got 53% of the vote. So Trump's candidate, well, I guess the other one is not so much endorsed by Trump, but Trump's endorsed Canada. Actually got fewer votes than the others. If you combine them. And you know that the fact that they have to go to an expensive runoff, that's a problem for the Republicans. They don't like that Trump is ruining their ability to win these elections outright because he's polling so low. And the other thing here, no elected Republican senator has lost a primary since 2012. Yet you're trying to tell me that the leader of the Republican Party and Republicans, Trump, has a grip on the Republican Party and he's doing great. When this is the first time this has happened since 2012, that's bad news. But Cassidy was dogged by some of his clashes with Trump, including his impeachment vote. He acknowledged in an interview last month that his impeachment vote might be a liability in the primary, but stressed that he's continued to support the president's policies. Cassidy, a physician, was also in the spotlight during RFK Jr. S confirmation as health secretary. Given their disagreements over vaccines and probably science and medicine in general. Cassidy voted to confirm Kennedy to the post and has since sought a delicate balance between criticizing HHS over issues like vaccines and trying not to antagonize Trump. How'd that work out for you? How embarrassing. You kowtowed by electing a raccoon penis collector to run our health systems in the United States in hopes that Trump wouldn't hate you and you fucking came in third place. If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything, sir. My God, have a spine now. Letlo, Trump's candidate, has been touting her endorsement on the airwaves with a boost from an allied outside group. Letlow also has the backing of the Republican governor, Jeff Landry, probably because Trump told him to do that. She's attacked Cassidy and Fleming as Never Trumpers and said when she launched her Senate run a state as conservative as ours, we shouldn't have to wonder how our senator will vote when the pressure is on. The Never Trumpers got more votes than you, girl. As for the Democratic nomination, Jamie Davis and Gary Crockett are heading to a runoff as well. Jamie Davis, a native of Waterproof, Louisiana, and a farmer, is projected to make the June runoff on the Democratic ticket. Crockett, a native of Tallulah, also a United States Navy veteran with a business background, also advanced to the runoff against Jamie Davis. The top vote getters from both of these runoffs will run against each other on the November ballot and we'll see how well Trump's endorsed candidates do then. It's like they, it's like the media completely forgot what happened in November of 2025. Sure, in the primaries you're going to have Trump, MAGA Republicans versus regular old school Republicans. Sure. But when they have to go up against somebody in a general election, look what happened in November of 2025. It was a fucking blowout. Are you kidding me? Sure, some of the Indiana folks who didn't do redistricting lost in the primary. They were running against other Republicans. Yeah. We'll see what happens next. Up from NBC, a Republican bill seeking a billion dollars for the Secret Service to help finance Trump's White House ballroom is in jeopardy. It has faced pushback from a top Senate official known as the Senate Parliamentarian. Her name is Elizabeth McDonough. She said Saturday that the budget bill, which aims to fund ICE and Border Patrol alongside a billion dollars for the ballroom, real popular bill with the people in a midterm election year. She says it needs to be rewritten to account for jurisdictional issues, quote. A project as complex and large in scale as Trump's proposed ballroom necessarily involves the coordination of many government agencies which span the jurisdiction of many Senate committees. That's what Senate Democrats said after their meeting with the parliamentarian. As drafted, the provision inappropriately funds activities outside the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee. So they did this, but this appropriations through the jurisdiction of the Senate Judiciary Committee. And the parliamentarian told the Democrats who told us it's more committees than that. The parliamentarian wrote that the bill would be subject to a 60 vote threshold to pass, meaning it cannot move forward with a simple majority, unlike similar bills advanced using budget reconciliation. Budget reconciliation is a parliamentary tool used to get around the 60 vote filibuster threshold, but it comes with restrictions on what provisions can be included in. This development is a blow to the Republican bill, but it's not the end of the efforts to include ballroom funding. Senate Republicans had already been redrafting the provisions language before Saturday's ruling, based on feedback from Senate officials and GOP leadership. A spokesperson for the Judiciary Committee Republicans told NBC News that conversations and revisions are continuing and they have been for days. So they're actually going to sit down and try to rewrite this to get as much money from taxpayers as they can for the ballroom. That's what they're spending their congressional time on. That is what Republicans in the Senate Senate are spending their time on. And I don't care how much you gerrymander, there's no gerrymandering for the Senate. So good luck funding ice, funding CBP and funding the ballroom with taxpayer money. Do it now. It's not clear if Republicans can rewrite the provision in a way that would fully resolve these parliamentarian issues. The budget resolution detailing what can be included in the bill only allows language to originate from the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee because if they go outside of those two committees, they have to vote again on the whole package and they don't want to have to do that. So they're kind of between a rock and a hard place. But if Senate officials find the ballroom project falls under the jurisdiction of a committee other than those, Republicans must be forced to leave that funding out of the bill and they likely won't find the 60 votes needed to overrule the parliamentarian. A Senate Budget Committee ranking member Jeff Merkley from Oregon said in a statement, the American people shouldn't spend a single dime on Trump's gold plated ballroom boondoggle. While we expect Republicans to change this bill to appease Trump, Democrats are prepared to challenge any change to this bill. We cannot let Republicans waste our national treasure on a mission of chaos and corruption while turning a blind eye to the needs of the American people. Ryan Rassi, a spokesman for the Senate Majority Leader John Thune, downplayed the setback. He said, redraft, refine, resubmit. None of this is abnormal during the Byrd process, okay? We also call this a birdbath. When the parliamentarian looks at your shit and says, you can't put this in a budget reconciliation bill, we call it a bird bath. The Byrd process refers to an informal process in which the parliamentarian reviews budget reconciliation bills to make sure they comply with the bird rule. That rule ensures provisions in a budget reconciliation measure are directly tied to federal spending and revenue without extraneous additions. Bobby Kogan, a friend who's been on the show before, senior director of the Federal Budget Policy for the center of American Progress, says first bird bath rulings are out. HSGAC text Huge congrats to Homeland Security and Government affairs and Budget Democrats. There was very little where we'd be able to win here, but Democrats did as well as possible. To be clear, all of the provisions that aren't allowed as currently written are fixable, no money's going to fall out, and their broad thrust will still be doable. But some Senate Republicans had already shown hesitancy toward the GOP plan to use the billion dollars to fund the ballroom from taxpayers, which Trump has repeatedly touted as costing no government funds. Republican senators were shown a proposal of the funding earlier this week that outlined 220 million to harden the White House complex, 180 million for visitors and screening facilities, 175 million for training, and another 175 million to enhance their security for Secret Service protectees. Quote, I still got some more questions, and they're going to send us more information. That's Roger Marshall, Republican from Kansas. I'm undecided. He says Rand Paul and Susan Collins both said that the project should be carried out with private funds, as Trump has promised. So even if they do rewrite this and get it past the parliamentarian, they may not have the votes for it again, especially in an election year where Americans are struggling economically. All right, everybody, we have some good news we have to get to, but we gotta take a quick break, so stick around. We'll be right back after these messages. We'll be right back. Hey, everybody. As you know, I've been sleeping on my Helix mattress for years, and honestly, it's one of the best things I've ever done for myself, because good sleep affects everything else. Sleep is my favorite, and before Helix, I was dealing with the kind of sleep where I could be in bed all night and still wake up feeling groggy. I would move around too much, I'd be sweaty, trying to get comfortable. I'd wake up sore, and I'd start the day already behind eight. But once I switched to Helix, I noticed a massive, massive difference. I was more comfortable at night. I stayed asleep, I slept deeper, and mornings got a whole lot easier. I even saw it show up on my Apple Watch sleep data, especially in the deep sleep cycles, which is always one of the numbers I like to pay attention to. A study found that 82% of participants increased their deep sleep cycle on a Helix mattress. And I believe it because it's true. For me. When your mattress supports you the way that it should, your body notices and you start to feel better right away. Another reason I keep recommending Helix. They've made the mattress buying process simple and risk free and easy. Their sleep quiz helps point you to the right mattress for your sleep style, which is much more helpful than trying to, you know, decode mattress jargon by yourself. Then they ship it directly to your door. Free shipping in the United States. They also offer the Happy with Helix guarantee. They also have a 120 night in home sleep trial and they also have a limited lifetime warranty. Combine all that with glowing reviews from Forbes and Wired and it becomes pretty easy to recommend them. So trust me, you're going to love your helix. Go to helixsleep.com dailybeans for 27% off site wide memorial Day Sale Best of Web this is exclusive for listeners of our show. That's helixsleep.com dailybeans for 27% off site wide helixsleep.com dailybeans okay, I have a new favorite thing. When the weather starts warming up, one of my cats turns into full time Sunbeam consulting. She moves from the window to another window. She follows it all day. She's checking checking lighting conditions and then she sprawls out dramatically and refuses to be disturbed. And I respect this commitment. But I also know that when you live with cats, the least glamorous part of the deal is the litter box. So anything that makes that whole situation easier gets my attention fast. And this podcast is sponsored by Boxy. Boxy is the last cat litter you'll switch to and their Boxy Pro Deep Clean is the best cat litter money can buy. For a limited time. You can get 30% off your first order plus free shipping. Just head to boxycat.com dailybeans or and use code Daily Beans so BoxyPro won me over immediately because it handled the exact part of cat ownership nobody likes, which is the smell. The probiotics in the litter go after odor causing bacteria so it eliminates it at the source. It's not just masking odors for a few days, it keeps the box fresh without fake scents, which I appreciate. And the cats, they love it as well. One less thing for them to avoid and one less reason for me to crack a window in self defense. And I also love that I don't have to do the full litter changes all the time. You know how once a week get a dump the whole box out and start fresh? Nope. You just scoop top it off with fresh boxy and you move on with your day. It's a huge quality of life upgrade. And the fact that it uses 100% US sourced clay and skips fillers makes me like it even more. So if you're tired of switching litters Looking for the one, get 30% off your boxy order at box I.e cat.com DailyBeans and use code DailyBeans. That's boxycat.com DailyBeans and make sure you use our code dailybeans so they know we sent you.
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History is messy. It's weird, wild and anything but boring. Rainy Day Rabbit Holes is a history podcast about unhinged stories that make you stop and ask, wait, is this real life? From crazy disasters and tasty scandals to enlightening and surprising heartwarming tales, we explore the moments where people behave badly and and sometimes beautifully. We've got naughty politicians, cultural chaos, and a deep love for the Pacific Northwest, including Bigfoot. It's thoughtful, irreverent, occasionally serious, and always entertaining. Let's fall down the rabbit hole.
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MSW. Everybody. Welcome back. It is time for the good news everyone. Then good news everyone. And if you have any good news or good trouble suggestions, maybe have a shout out to a loved one or some great activism in your community. A small business that needs a boost or you know, even a nonprofit you want us to know about. Maybe a government program, program that's helped you or a loved one. We also love self shout outs. Tell us why you're awesome. Share any fun story, anything that'll bring a smile to our face. It could be big. It can be small. It can be recently or from the distant past. Send it all to us dailybeanspod.com and click on Contact. And all you got to do to get your stuff right on the air is attach a photo. It can be a photo of anything. It can be your pet. It can be an adoptable pet, a random animal on the Internet. It can be family photos, baby photos. Your baby pictures. I know Dana's going to be back tomorrow. She loves baby pictures. So if you got some baby pictures, now's the time to send them in. Just anything. Maybe, you know, maybe a nice sunset or a funny meme, or maybe you made a quilt or you're crocheting something, or you've got some chickens or you've got some goats. Whatever it is, send us a photo dailybeanspod.com click on contact. First up is your good trouble. This is from friends in the Upper Valley Friends, Mohsen Madawi is again facing deportation. The Trump administration has fired the immigration judge who ruled there was no basis to deport him. A year ago, ICE detained Mohsen for his outspoken support of Palestinian rights. Mohsen is known for being a dedicated peacemaker and he's consistently championed dialogue, empathy and non violence. His commitment to human dignity and his focus on peaceful advocacy for equal rights have moved many to stand in solidarity with him to please sign the petition to stop the politicization of immigration law, stop the suppression of free speech and to protect Mohsen from deportation. While this is going to Vermont legislators, anyone can sign. There'll be a link in the show. Notes from the Action Network. Thank you Beans fam. And thank you for that good trouble from friends in the Upper Valley. All right, first up in your good news, Michelle and Preston pronouns she, her and he him. It was amazing to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. It's rejuvenating to be around such like minded people. We both were so grateful to meet our podcast heroes. This is somebody who was at California Rising. What was that a week ago Tuesday already? My goodness. And here's a selfie. An ussy with John Fugelsang and then one John and Preston and then one with Dana and Michelle and I. Look at that. Fantastic. Thank you so much for sending those in. I had such a great night that night. You guys are awesome. It was good to see you. Next up from Bruce pronouns he and him. Greetings Beans of the shutter aperture and ISO. Your comments on photography hit home. I'm purely an amateur photographer, but I do volunteer photography for events and for our church. I don't charge money, so they get exactly what they paid for. I got started at age 8 with a black and white Polaroid camera and a complete kit to make 5x7 black and white contact prints and develop them. As I got older, I went through 35 millimeter and various digital cameras till I landed on my current digital setup. I think the reason we like black and white, especially of musicians, is that it reminds us of old concert photos. Our church regularly has cultural celebrations which include foods and musics. So my photo tariff is a black and white render of one of the music lessons from last year. Love the shows. Oh, it's a beautiful picture. The wow. The lighting is amazing. Bruce. Thank you. And the composition is great too. That's so good. Thank you. All right, next up from Nick pronouns he and him Nick, Nick, Nick. Hello Beans Queens. Today I write with some unfortunate news. A while back I wrote in about an animal rescue called the Pipsqueakery and their spokes Beaver Agnes. I learned yesterday that they've lost their beloved Agnes to pneumonia. On top of that, it's her heartbroken carer's birthday. So I want to send out both public recognition to Alex and call to support them in this time of not just grieving Agnes, but also having several baby groundhogs to care for. You can find them on Facebook or their website thepipsqueakery.org to lighten the submission I present as my tariff chaos Gremlin baby and empty headed large boy Megatron keeping a very wary eye on Ozzy not pictured here. I also present Ozzy pictured this time with Grr following a trip to one of their favorite places, Home Depot. Thanks for all you do every day. Keep up the good work. This is Nick. There's Germany. There's Ozzy with Ger and then I see that we have Megatron and baby. Thank you Nick. Always good to see you. By the way, on the on the Patreon happy hour calls that we do on Zoom. So good to see these beautiful animals again. Next up, Abby Pronoun. She and her At 44, I went back to school to get an MBA. Last year they nominated me for and I was invited to Beta Gamma Sigma, the international business honors society. I finished my last class in December and walked the stage this past weekend. Woohoo. I was named the 2026 MBA Distinguished Student. Here's a picture of me on graduation day and a pic of one of my best friends, Bethany. Abby. Yeah, mba. I got one. We're MBA twinsies now. And I never got any distinguished. I was. You my friend, are amazing. And that is a beautiful photo. And the cat is adorable. Congratulations. That is so awesome, Abby. All right, next up, Julie pronounced she and her Good morning to the beans. As a Virginian, I'd like to offer a quick correction. It's pronounced Norfolk, not Norfolk with a long O. Here's a pic of a little dude who didn't want to be watered. And it's a little frog. Yeah. Julie, when whenever anybody else says Norfolk, they say Norfolk. When I say it, I say Norfolk because I was in the Navy and I know Norfolk is Norfolk. Thank you so much for that correction. I will make sure the the proper people get that. And I do love this little froggy. So cute. I want to know more about this frog. Where was this? Anyway, thank you all so much for the good news. We need a ton of it. Dana will be back tomorrow. Let's send all of our amazing cute animal and baby photos and baby animal photos and babies animals and baby animals for Dana and her return upon her return. Thank you again for hanging in with me solo. I'm going to go record some beans talk. We're going to talk about Trump tanking in the polls. It's bad. It's really, really bad for Republicans right now. It could be so much better for Democrats if they weren't suppressing the vote and taking us back to Jim Crow 2.0. But it's really bad for Republicans and we're going to talk about that over on Beans Talk again. Make sure to check out the breakdown from this weekend and unjustified from this weekend. Thank you all so much for supporting our work. We'll see you tomor tomorrow. Until then, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health and take care of your family. I've been ag and them's the Beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Allison Gill with additional research and reporting by Dana Goldberg. Sound design and editing is by Desiree McFarlane with art and web design by Joelle Reader with Moxie Design Studios. Music for the Daily Beans is written and performed by they Might Be Giants and the show is a proud member of the MSW Media Network, a collection of creator owned podcasts dedicated to news, politics and justice. For more information, please visit mswmedia.com MSW Media.
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It's no surprise that newsmakers try to manipulate the audience. They want you to believe that they are the one holding the line, and they'll use any trick they can to get you there. But don't let them fool you. Get Unspun I'm Amanda Sturgel. I've been a reporter and today I teach future reporters to cut the spin and think critically about what newsmakers say. My podcast, unspun, shows you how to know when you're being manipulated by the news, learn to spot the tricks, and how to make up your own mind about what's true. So if you're tired of being fooled by the news, subscribe to UNSPUN today. Unspun because you deserve the truth.