Allison Gill (0:00)

MSW Media. Hey everybody, it's Ag. And welcome to Refried Beans where we play an episode of the Daily Beans podcast from the same week either one, two or three years ago so we can see how far we've come. So please enjoy this episode from days gone by and note the date in the intro. Refried beans. I like refried beans. That's why I want to try fried beans because maybe they're just as good and we're wasting time swearing. Daily beans. Daily beans. Daily beans. Daily Beans. Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Monday, December 11, 2023. Today, the Texas Supreme Court blocks a woman's hard fought battle to receive life saving health care. President Zelensky is set to meet with Senators Mike Johnson and President Biden on Tuesday to discuss Ukraine funding. Donald Trump chickens out and will not testify today in the New York Attorney General's $250 million civil fraud trial. Kevin McCarthy is caught spending PAC money on personal expenditures. Dominion wins access to Newsmax journalist text messages in their defamation suit, the police are investigating a woman who vandalized the home of Martin Luther King Jr. The FDA approves a cure for sickle cell disease. Biden funds high speed rail and the new jobs report exceeds expectations. I'm your host, Allison Gill. Hey everybody, Happy Monday. I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I hope you enjoyed this weekend's episode of the Jack podcast and of course, the Patron bonus episodes of cleanup on aisle 45. And the Daily Beans. We hope that you loved them. I'm so glad you're here today sticking with me as I take a solo while Dana is on a well deserved vacation. I have a lot to cover today, but there's a couple of quick hits. First, in an 11th hour reversal, chicken coward. Former President Donald Trump announced Sunday he will not go back on the witness stand in the $250 million civil fraud trial against him and his company. Of course Pete Strzok and I will laugh about this. I mean, we will cover this in more detail on Wednesday's episode of cleanup on aisle 45. We will also be joined by Olivia Troy, who recently testified behind closed doors to Jim Jordan's weaponization committee. I look forward to speaking with Olivia. And Jack Smith has filed an opposition to Trump's ridiculous motion to stay all aspects of the D.C. coup trial. Andy and I will cover that and all other filings in next week's episode of Jack. And of course, there is a brand new episode out just yesterday and in it, Andy and I cover the reinstatement of Judge Chutkan's gag order and we compare special counsel David Weiss to special counsel Jack Smith. You don't want to miss it if you haven't heard it yet. It's out now, free wherever you get your podcasts. All right, we have a lot of news to get to. Let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right, first up, and this is going to make you angry from the Texas Tribune. The Texas Supreme Court on Friday night, late Friday night temporarily blocked a lower court's order that would have permitted a pregnant Dallas woman whose fetus has a lethal abnormality to get an abortion. The order came in response to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's request a day earlier that the high court step in and intervene. The Supreme Court did not rule on the merits of the case. The court said it would rule on the temporary restraining order, but did not specify when. Paxton's office submitted its petition just before midnight Thursday, after a Travis county district judge granted a temporary restraining order allowing Kate Cox, who's 31, to terminate her non viable pregnancy. Paxton also sent a letter to three hospitals threatening legal action if they allowed the abortion to be performed at their facility. While we still hope that the court ultimately rejects the state's request and does so quickly in this case, we fear that justice delayed will be justice denied. That's Cox's lawyer, Molly Duane, in a statement on Friday evening. This is the first time an actively pregnant adult woman has gone to court to get an abortion since before Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973. A similar case was recently filed in Kentucky that that was on Friday. Abortion has been illegal in Texas ever since the Supreme Court overturned Roe in June of last year, making leaving the state the only option for women seeking an abortion unless her life is at risk. Texas also has a law, though, that allows any citizen to sue someone who helps perform or facilitate an abortion after around six weeks of pregnancy. Paxton has warned that even if the courts allow an abortion in this case, the hospitals and doctors would be liable under that law. In the petition, Paxton asked the Texas Supreme Court to rule quickly, saying that each hour the temporary restraining order remains in place is an hour that plaintiffs believe themselves free to perform and procure an elective abortion. So it's not an emergency. It's not a rush thing because she needs to get this procedure or her life could be in jeopardy. It's a rush because that gives her more time to get the to get the health care that her and her doctor have decided she needs. The Texas Supreme Court is currently also considering a similar case in which 20 women claim they were denied medically necessary abortions for their complicated pregnancies due to the state's new laws. The state has argued those women do not have standing to sue because, unlike Cox, they are not currently seeking abortions. Wow. Now, in the initial lawsuit, Cox's attorneys with the center for Reproductive rights argued she can't wait the weeks or months it might take Texas and the Supreme Court to rule. Now, the high court must consider many of the same arguments as Those in the one with the 20 women, but on a much tighter timeline. The central question is whether a lethal fetal anomaly qualifies a pregnant patient for an abortion under the narrow medical exceptions to the state's near total abortion ban. Cox's lawyers argue that continuing this non viable pregnancy poses a threat to her life and her future fertility, thus necessitating an abortion. Travis County District Judge Maya Garra Gamble agreed, saying it would be a miscarriage of justice. And that's her words to force Cox to continue the pregnancy. The state disagreed, telling the supreme court that Garra Gamble's ruling, quote, opens the floodgates to pregnant mothers procuring an abortion beyond the scope of the medical exception. Basically opens the floodgates for women to make their own medical decisions, and they don't like that. Separately, Dwayne sent a letter to Garra Gamble asking her to bring Paxton in for a hearing on his letter threatening legal action against hospitals that allow Cox to have an abortion. Quote, the repeated misrepresentations of the court's order, coupled with explicit threats of criminal and civil enforcement and penalties, serve only to how the hospitals from providing Ms. Cox with the health care she desperately needs. And she went on to say, plaintiffs respectfully request the court hold a hearing so defendant Paxton can explain to your honor why he should not be sanctioned. Texas Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, on behalf of president Joe Biden's reelection campaign, condemned Paxton's comments on Friday, saying a Texas woman was just forced to beg for life saving health care in a court. And now any doctor who provides her the care she urgently needs is being threatened with punishment, including a lifetime prison sentence. This story is shocking, it's horrifying, and it's heartbreaking. Now, a lot of people have asked me, why not just seek the abortion out of state? Well, first there's that Texas vigilante law that would punish anyone who helped her get an abortion. But also I'm thinking of all the women in Texas and elsewhere who don't have the means to fight this battle in court. When I survived my military sexual assault. My claim was adjudicated mostly because I appeared in an Oscar nominated documentary about rape in the military. But it weighed on me that there were so many other people who didn't appear in a movie and what would happen to them. And that's why I went to work for the VA. And I was there for over 10 years until the Trump administration removed me over my podcast about the Mueller investigation. And I told my story because I wanted to fight for those people without voices. And I think that that's what Kate Cox is doing here. Without her, this wouldn't be getting the national attention it is. But with her fight, she's showing God knows how many people that they are not alone and she's bringing the fight to the courts to be the change that she wants to see. I think it's brave, I think it's selfless and I think it's important. Now. Next up from the post, President Biden will host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House this week. That's according to the White House announcing on Sunday as Congress looks increasingly unlikely to pass additional funding for Ukraine. Zelensky will also meet with some congressional leaders. On Tuesday, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, minority leader Mitch McConnell invited Zelensky to speak to senators Tuesday morning. House Speaker Mike Johnson will also meet with Zelensky, according to his spokesman, Roz Shah. And Biden will host Zelensky on Tuesday, quote, to underscore the United States unshakable commitment to supporting the people of Ukraine as they defend themselves against Russia's brutal invasion. That's White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre. In a statement, she went on to say, as Russia ramps up its missile and drone strikes against Ukraine, the leaders will discuss Ukraine's urgent need and the vital importance of the United States continued support at this critical moment. But the key hurdle for more Ukraine funding is the Republican controlled House of Representatives, where Zelensky has not yet been invited to speak to the full House. The debate over Ukraine funding has also been mired in a broader battle over $110 billion National Security Supplemental that the White House requested. That includes about 61 billion for Ukraine, as well as funding for Israel, humanitarian aid for Gaza and money for the US Mexico border. Senate Republicans last week blocked a procedural vote to advance the national security bill because it didn't include changes to border policy. And by changes to border policy, they want to put kids back in cages. They want to completely shut down our asylum program. On Sunday, the Guardian reported that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who's a we know a fascist, will meet with Republican lawmakers in Washington to discuss an end to US Military funding for Ukraine. The meeting, according to the Guardian, will be hosted by the Heritage foundation, that conservative think tank. It's as part of a two day event that will start Monday and include members of the Hungarian Institute of International affairs and Hungarian embassy staffers. Orban is a and Putin are our buddies. I hope when Biden meets with Zelensky and I hope when Zelensky meets with members of Congress, they discuss a way, like a plan B. There's got to be a way to circumvent Republicans in Congress to get Ukraine the aid that they need. There has to be a legal way to do it. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the emergency arms sale thing that we're allowed to do. Pompeo did it for Saudi Arabia. Circumvented Congress to get arms to Saudi Arabia, but Saudi Arabia paid for those arms. Maybe we can use seized Russian assets like that yacht we just got in San Diego from an oligarchy, stuff like that, to help pay. Or the frozen $350 billion in rubles that we've got. Maybe we can use that. That would be more than enough. I don't know. There's got to be a way and I hope they find it. Next up is from Jane Timm at NBC. Dominion Voting Systems is entitled to review personal communications and text messages of Newsmax Media Journalists in its defamation suit against the conservative media company. And that's a Delaware judge ruling last week. You can, you can have them, you can have the texts and comms. The ruling is a blow to Newsmax, which successfully avoided such a mandate in a similar case sought to allow its employees to voluntarily offer up any relevant communications. Dominion sued Newsmax for $1.6 billion with a B in 2021, claiming that the conservative news network defamed its company and falsely claimed it rigged the 20. The case is one of more than 10 suits brought by voting machine companies against media companies and individuals who made stolen election claims. We already saw what happened to Fox. A trial in this lawsuit is scheduled to begin in September 2024, same time Jorge Santos's trial goes off. Hmm. In legal filings, Newsmax said it was unable to obtain and deliver employees private communications on personal devices, arguing it had no legal right or practical ability to obtain the data. It also argued it shouldn't be required to give smartmatic access to personal cell phone. And that's a similar case and it shouldn't be forced to do so in this case. But Judge Eric Davis, Delaware Superior Court judge who oversaw Dominion's case against Fox News and Fox Corp. Earlier this year, same judge, disagreed with their argument and ruled on December 1 that the company did in fact have to comply with a court order requiring those materials be handed over. These materials could play a key role in litigation. I'm sure they will quote the Dominion suit against Fox News showed us exactly how significant those kinds of opportun for discovery can be. That's Ron Nell Anderson Jones, a professor at the University of Utah College of Law who specializes in the First Amendment. In that case again, 787.5 million was awarded moments before trial was set to begin. That's the settlement that happened right as as they were about to start. Dominion, quote will be combing the records and try to find out what it might call state of mind evidence. She said they will be looking for exchanges that suggest they had knowledge of the falsity of the claims they were permitting people to make on air or a high degree of awareness of the probable falsity. And you'll remember in the Fox suit they got a prejudgment, a pre a summary judgment saying that they don't have to prove falsity in the case that they had already done that through those kinds of communications. Next up from the LA times as McCarthy exits Congress two months after his historic ouster is speaker, political obituaries tout McCarthy's skills as prolific front fundraiser on behalf of Republican candidates. But also setting him apart from other Congressional leaders was his roughly decade long pattern of using his majority committee PAC to spend lavishly on hotels, private jets and fine dining establishments. And that's according to an LA Times analysis of campaign finance records on file with the FEC. From 2012 to this past June, McCarthy's PAC shelled out more than $1 million on hotels, private air travel, eateries, all kinds of private stuff. And that's according to the FEC records. That's more than double the combined total spent by the leadership PAC of the seven other lawmakers who've held the top House and Senate positions for their parties during all or part of that period. According to the times, leadership PACs are subject to fewer spending controls than other campaign accounts. In fact, the FEC determined earlier this year that these political action committees are free to use their money on personal expenses without limits. Even before the ruling, good government advocates complained to the FEC that politicians were using their leadership pack as a personal slush fund to subsidize expensive lifestyles. Now these advocates fear the problem will grow worse. And here's a quote. Unfortunately it's a little bit of the Wild West. That's Michael Beckel, a research director for Issue One, which has a nonprofit org that studies the role of money in politics. He said the group has, quote, deep concerns that politicians could use leadership PAC funds for their own personal enrichment. There are straightforward rules for how money from non leadership campaign committees can be spent and penalties for breaking them. Siphoning off dollars for personal use from campaign accounts that are not leadership PAC tax is illegal and violations have led to criminal convictions of former members of Congress, including Duncan Hunter from San Diego, a Republican. I don't have to tell you that Last week former Rep. George Santos was expelled from Congress after House investigators determined he spent tens of thousands of campaign dollars on rent only fans, Botox and other luxury goods. But the regulations for leadership packs like McCarthy's had been ill defined since the FEC authorized those types of committees in the late 70s. Critics contend that the prohibition on personal use of campaign money outlined under the FEC Campaign act also applies to the leadership committees. But the regulation for leadership PACs, which is what McCarthy's is here, has been ill defined since the FEC authorized the committees in the late 70s. Critics contend that the prohibition on personal use of campaign money outlined under the Federal Election Campaign act also applies to the leadership committees, but they've been unable to persuade a majority of the FEC to take that position. All right, next up from WSB TV in Atlanta, Atlanta police are investigating after a woman attempted to burn down Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. S birth home. Police told Channel 2 Action News they were called to King's birth home on Auburn Avenue near the King Center Just after 5:45pm when they arrived, they found two off duty NYPD officers who'd been visiting the center and they had detained a suspect until the cops could arrive. Police said they've arrested 26 year old Lanisha Chantrice Henderson and charged her with criminal attempt arson and criminal attempt interference with government property. Police say two tourists from Utah who were in the area saw Henderson pouring gasoline on the home and interrupted her quote, that action saved an important part of American history tonight. That's Atlanta Police Chief Darren Scheierbaum. In a statement, video from a witness shared with Channel 2's Michael Dodna shows a woman dressed all in black pouring gasoline on the windows and in the bushes of the home. Atlanta Fire Department Battalion Chief Jerry DeBerry said had the witnesses not intervened, the house could have been burned to the ground in moments, quote, it could have been a matter of seconds before the house was engulfed in flames. All right. We're going to take a quick break, but I have some pre good news, good news that I want to share with you. And we're going to do that in the next segment. But I've got to take a break for sponsors. So everybody stick around. We'll be right back after these messages. We'll be right back. Hey, everybody, welcome back onto that pre good news, good news. This is from NBC. The Department of Transportation has announced more than $6 billion in grant funding for high speed rail projects this week. The money comes amid ongoing support for a technology that has also encountered concerns about its costs. Brightline west, an affiliate of Florida's Brightline intercity rail Service, was awarded $3 billion in federal funds for its proposed line between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, which would zoom passengers in between the cities in two hours. It's like a five hour drive or a ten hour bus ride, two hours. The California High Speed Rail Authority was awarded 3.1 billion to continue its work on the system, which will ultimately connect Los Angeles and San Francisco Francisco in less than three hours. That's incredible. Definitions of high speed rail vary but typically refers to passenger trains that travel at least 125 miles an hour and can reach more than 220 miles an hour. The technology has been around since the late 1960s when Japan inaugurated its line between Tokyo and Osaka. And since then, high speed rail projects have sprung up all around the world with China having built a network of almost 25,000 miles. This is incredible. It's good news. I'm really excited about it. High speed rail is finally here. Thank you, President Biden, also from CNN. The U.S. economy notched another solid month of job growth and with it, an added lift from actors and autoworkers coming off the picket lines. Employers added 199,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate, it dropped from 3.9% to 3.7%. That's according to by the way, the Bureau of Labor Statistics that was released on Friday. Quote, the economy's still humming along. That's Jane Oates, former Department of labor official who is president of the employment education nonprofit Working Nation. And she's talking to CNN here. For the past two weeks, all we've heard is doom and gloom about how this is going to be a terrible day. And it was so much better than was predicted. Economists were expecting a net job gain of 180,000 for the month and the unemployment rate to hold steady. The labor force participation rate also ticked up 0.1 percentage points to 62.8%, returning to its highest level since the onset of the pandemic. The participation rate increase is a positive underlying context to the unemployment rate decline. That's Daniel Zhao, Glassdoor's lead economist, in commentary issued on Friday. The continued strength in the labor market has helped fuel consumer spending and economic growth, but Federal Reserve officials believe slower demand and slower wage growth will help bring down inflation. Friday's job report shows that the average Hourly earnings rose 0.4% in November from the month before, showing a more accelerated pace of growth than the 0.2% uptick in October and the 0.3% that was expected by economists. Wages are outperforming what they thought, and they've been outperforming inflation for quite a while. And our final story from Berkeley, Lovelace and NBC the Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a powerful treatment for sickle cell disease that is a devastating illness that affects more than 100,000Americans, a majority of whom are black. The therapy called Casgevy, I hope I'm pronouncing that right. It's from Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Crispr Therapeutics. It's the first medicine to be approved by the US that uses the gene editing tool crispr, which won its inventors the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in Quote, I think it's a pivotal moment in the field. That's Dr. Alexis Thompson, Chief of the division of hematology at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia, who has previously consulted for Vertex. Quote it's been really remarkable how quickly we went from the actual discovery of crispr, the awarding of a Nobel Prize, and now actually seeing it be approved in a product. The approval marks the first of two potential breakthroughs for the inherited blood disorder. The FDA on Friday also approved a second treatment for sickle cell disease called Lyfgenia, a gene therapy from drug maker Bluebird Bio. Both treatments work by genetically modifying a patient's own stem cells. Until now, the only known cure for sickle cell disease was a bone marrow transplant from a donor, which carries the risk of rejection by the immune system. In addition to the difficult process of finding a matching donor case Gevi, or Casgevy, which was approved for people ages 12 and older, removes the need for a donor. Using CRISPR, it edits the DNA found in a patient's stem cells to remove the gene that causes the disease. Quote the patient is their own donor. It's a game changer, said Dr. Asma Ferjala, that's a pediatric hematologist and bone marrow transplant physician at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Quote to really reimagine and rediscus sickle cell disease as a curable disease and not as a painful and debilitating chronic disease, is hope. Enough with this news. Still, the new therapy is extremely expensive, 2.2 million per patient. That's according to Vertex. The pricing strategy, experts argue, may place it out of reach for many families. What's more, that price doesn't include the cost of care associated with the treatment, like the stay in the hospital or chemotherapy. Perhaps this is one of those drugs that Biden can seize the patent for, since we the taxpayers help fund its development. Now. Here's how it works in patients with sickle cell disease, red blood cells, which are usually disc shaped, take on a crescent or sickle shape. This change can cause cells to clump together, leading to clots and blockages in blood vessels, starving tissues of oxygen. Patients can experience excruciating pain, breathing problems and stroke. Caschevi works by editing the DNA in a patient's stem cells, which are responsible for making the body's blood cells so that they no longer produce sickle shaped cells. This is incredible. While technically a one time treatment, a number of steps that span months are required before the patient actually gets the modified stem cells. It begins with a series of blood transfusions over three to four months, after which the stem cells are extracted from the patient's bone marrow and sent off to a lab where they're edited. Before they can be reinfused into the patient, however, doctors need to make sure no flawed stem cells remain in the body. To do so, chemotherapy is used to destroy the patient's bone marrow. Only then can the edited stem cells be reinfused into the patient, followed by another month or two in the hospital to allow the cells to grow and for the patient to recover. Hannah said he's always cautious when telling families and patients about the one time treatment because they may have unrealistic expectations. There are multiple phases of this journey, he says. The clinical trial included 46 people in the US and abroad, 30 of whom had at least 18 months of follow up care for the treatment of those the treatment has been successful in 29. Larae Mourning, 29, of Phoenix was among the trial patients whose treatment was successful. Her doctors did not expect her to live past the age of 11. Her mother lost several jobs when Morning was a child and a teenager because of her frequent hospital visits. In April 2021, Mourning joined the clinical trial at Sarah Cannon Research Institute and HCA's Healthcare's the Children's Hospital at TriStar Centennial in Nashville. And that's a decision she initially regretted. Living in Phoenix, she had to fly to Nashville once a month for treatment. It included several blood transfusions, which lasted eight hours each, taking medication called plerixaphor, which she recalled causing her intense stomach aches. When she started chemotherapy, her hair began to fall out, her skin changed color, resembling the appearance of a chemical burn, and she also experienced nausea. It took about six to seven months for her to feel back to normal following the CRISPR treatment. Now, she says, she's feeling the benefits, going out to coffee shops, spending more time with friends and finishing her first semester of law School in D.C. quote now that I'm here, I am so happy that I did it, she said of the trial. I'm just like a regular person. I wake up and do a 5K. I lift weights. If I wanted to swim, I can swim. I'm still trying to know how far I can stretch it. Like, what are all the things I can do? And that's been the experience for several other patients in the trial as well, according to Dr. Monica Batia, Chief of pediatric stem cell transplantation at the New York Presbyterian Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Batia is a principal investigator at one of the clinical trial sites in New York City. Following the treatment, most patients were going back to school, going to the gym or resuming other activities, things that a lot of people take for granted, she said. And that took about three to four months. They're really able to live without restrictions, she said. Dr. Haidar Frangul, medical director of pediatric hematology oncology for the Sarah Cannon Research Institute, says he is hopeful the therapy will provide relief to more patients. Quote I think this is a huge moment for patients with sickle cell disease. That's what Fran Gould said. He was one of the lead investigators on the clinical trial. All right, everybody, we've got the listener submitted good news coming up, but we have to take another quick break. Stick around. We'll be right back after these messages. We'll be right back. Hey everybody, welcome back. It's time for the good news. Who likes good news? Everyone? Then good good news good news. And if you have any good news confessions corrections. You want to play what the mutt Opine on the bovine what the heck Wine? What the shell cat me if you can't anything you want me to guess? An animal? We'd be happy to take a stab at it, you know, figuratively speaking of course. If you have a shout out for a loved one or a small business in your area that you want to support or your kids or your parents or yourself. I love shout outs to the self. Please send them to us. Whoopi stories, blankie stories, stuffed animal stories. We love photos of those and the stories that go along with them. They're very touching. If you want to submit your dissertation and theses titles. Those are fun. They're so. They're so specific. And then it's, I don't know, it's entertaining to me and I hope it is to you. You can also give a shout out to an adoptable pet in your area if you can't pay pod pet tax. And of course we love any holiday photos that you want to send to us. Do it@dailybeanspod.com click on contact. First up from Fangirl pronoun she and her hello Beans crew. Since AG asked, I'll throw my suggestion into the mix. What the is that bug? Love you guys. No tax today. I'll pay double next time. Thank you. Thank you fan girl. That's right because I guess the Japanese beetle Next up from Sean Raymond. Pronouns he and him hello Beans team. Love the Daily Beans. Thanks so much for what you do. I want to give a shout out to my wife Marissa. She loves you too and listens to the Daily Beans. Well, daily and also clean up on aisle 45 and Jack we're American but live in Bordeaux, France, which is extra challenging during the holiday when we're far from our families and even more challenging given all the things going on in the world, especially in Gaza and Congress and with the climate crisis. Marissa decided to bring a ray of light into the world by writing a book about different holidays that take place throughout the year in variety of cultures. It's called Everybody Celebrates A Fun Family Guide to Discovering Holidays around the World. It contains descriptions of more than 50 holidays along with beautiful photos, mindfulness activities and yoga poses. It's fun for kids of any age and I thought it might bring a smile to some of your listeners faces. I hope you have a great day and thanks for making the world feel less shitty. P.S. we have no pets apart from fish. However, our neighbors an old woman has a friendly orange cat named Lewis that she walks around the block every day with no leash. On Wednesdays she walks into the local market and buys him a chicken breast. Okay, I love Lewis. Quote we might like a picture of that if you can manage Raymond, unquote. That is from our producer. Would love a photo of Lewis and your fish. Let me guess the fish. I can guess a fish that's saying thank you so much for the shout out. Hi Marissa and Sean all the way from over here to you in France. Next up from Carolyn Pronoun. She and her hey there. I'm a regular listener and an organizer with Netroots Nation, the largest annual gathering of progressive activists in the country. Let's just say this audience would be right at home at our event. We moved around the country and next year we'll be in Baltimore. From July 11th through the 13th, it's three days of drinking from a fire hose of progressive politics. We'll have panels on emerging issues, trainings to help you be more effective in the activism you take on, keynotes that will inspire you to keep going. At Netroots24. You'll make friends, you'll have fun. You'll be attending a national political convention of like minded people. In a presidential election year, Netroots is where we go renew our energy for the hard work of protecting democracy. Doesn't that sound good? Many of your faves from the MSW network will be there. Liz Winstead, Feminist Buzzkills team is definitely in. You should be there too. And we will have a link to Netroots Nation in the show. Notes and I had an incredible time at Netroots last year. I'm hoping to see if we can make it again this year in Baltimore for 2024. For Netroots 24 I it was incredible. I walked around, there was like a row of podcasters, all of my friends. I got to sit down with all these different podcasters that I had never been able to meet in person. Finally got to talk to Face to Face and spend some time on their shows. They spent some time on mine, walked around, did a panel with the feminist buzzkills that was incredible. Love Liz Winston and their whole crew and they aren't kidding. When Netroots talks about all the things that you can do to help your activism. There are so many things there to inspire you. So many things there that give you easy to do tasks that can help save democracy. It's totally amazing, super progressive, absolutely incredible. And I had such a good time at Netroots last year. I hope I get to go again this year. Carolyn, thank you so much for sending that in. Next up from Alan. Alan hello ag. As a longtime listener and fan, I wanted to give a shout out to my wife Mary, who owns the Dream Cafe in the Uptown neighborhood of Dallas, Texas. Not Only is she a powerful blue dot of kindness in what sometimes feels like a cruel red ocean, but she's been feeding delicious meals and delightful beverages to people of all persuasions for over 35 years. One of our daughters, Emma, has also joined the family business and hopefully will be willing to carry on the tradition of filtering coffee. Not people for another generation. They deserve all the kudos and warmth that you leguminous connoisseurs can spare for them. As we head into the holiday season for Pod Pet Tax, I've included a pick of our Blue Healer mix Blue in his under the table secret lair where he keeps an eye on things for the family. Thanks for all you do, Alan. Absolutely wonderful. And Mary, congrats. And Emma as well. Again, that's the Dream Cafe in the Uptown neighborhood of Dallas, Texas. Thank you so much. This is from Cassandra in North Carolina, pronoun she and her hello to my favorite town crier. Thank you for helping me get through the Trump administration and to the moment when President and Dr. Biden walked through the doors of the White House. I was never a big social media consumer until 2016 when Twitter ironically became one of the few things that helped me stay sane during an insanely corrupt, overly pro authoritarian administration. Access to independent journalists such as yourself, historians, attorneys, conservatives that hadn't sold their souls, veterans, especially senior officers, and so many others that realized the danger to our country, our very democracy kept me strong. I found your daily beans at some point and always had to start my weekday mornings with you. I listened to Jack and cleanup as well. I could go on forever, but will limit myself to shouting out my appreciation for Mark Elias and his constant legal efforts to keep democracy a thing in the United States. I'm particularly grateful for his recent filings in North Carolina. Cassandra MeToo also, thank you. The story you shared about the nuns will keep me smiling the rest of the day. Yeah, Mark Elias. I keep telling people he works so very hard to protect our votes. The least we can do is use them. And finally, a confession from Cassandra. I completely I appropriated your what the Mutt game. My children gave me a DNA test kit for our adopted rescue as a birthday present. We've each submitted a guess and the winner got a mug pictures attached. Here's to you, Dana, and everyone else who believes community should be built on love. And just in case anyone associates the term town crier with a negative connotation, the original town crier was a critical function dependent upon getting the most important news of the day. To anyone who would listen, thank you. Okay, this mug is fantastic. It says, what the Mutt? 2023 ultimate winner and official super genius. And there's the dog. And I'm gonna say there's definitely a German shepherd dog in there. The goofiness tells me, like, there's gotta be, like, some sort of a lab or, like, a golden. Right, like that goofy derpiness or maybe a wheaten, But I don't know. Let's see. Maybe some chow. Okay. German shepherd dog. Catahoula Leopard dog. That's the one I always leave out. Lab. There's the lab and super mutt. That covers the other ones that I said. I'm pretty sure. Absolutely beautiful. So who won? Who won the. Who won the what? The mutt game? I want to know. Let me know. All right, everybody, that is the good news that we had two batches of good news today. Thank you so much for sticking with me going solo while D is on vacation. I really appreciate it. All of the amazing messages of support means so much to me. Seriously. Thank you. You are keeping me going. And we are going to get our head. We're going to keep our head above water. We're going to get out of 2023, and we're going to march into 2024 and kick its butt. I'm very excited about that. I will be back in your ears tomorrow. So I'm looking forward to that, everybody. Until then, please take care of yourselves. Take care of each other, Take care of the planet, take care of your mental health, take care of your family. Boat Blue over Q. And take everyone with you. I'm ag. And them's the beans. Refried beans. I like refried beans.