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Ridiculous Puffery
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Wednesday, December 31st, 2024 Today, the US Departments of Treasury and State have slapped sanctions on Russia and Iran for interfering in the 2024 election; the son of a Republican Senator has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for killing a police officer in a car crash; the Connecticut attorney general says he will be among the first to sue if Trump tries to end birthright citizenship; Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to ignore the law in a recent filing about the looming TikTok ban; President Biden announces a flurry of new wilderness protections; and Allison and Dana delivers your Good News.
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- [00:00]
Allison Gill
MSW Media hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Wednesday, January 1, 2025. Today, the U.S. departments of treasury and State slapped sanctions on Russia and Iran for interfering in the 2024 election. The son of a Republican senator has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for killing a police officer in a car crash. The Connecticut attorney general says he will be among the first to sue if Trump tries to end birthright citizenship. Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to ignore the law in a recent filing about the looming TikTok ban. And President Biden has announced a new flurry of wilderness protections. I'm Allison Gill.
- [01:00]
Dana Goldberg
And I'm Dana Goldberg.
- [01:04]
Allison Gill
Hello, my friend. It's good to see your smiling face.
- [01:06]
Dana Goldberg
And yours. We are recording this, obviously, in the last day of 2024. You are listening to this on the first day of 2025. So happy new Year, everyone. Happy New Year.
- [01:17]
Allison Gill
Yes. Walking out of one dumpster fire and into another. We just have to put on our armor and hunker down and protect each other and stick up for each other and be there for each other and find solace in our communities, which, first of all, I absolutely love the Leguminati. So thank you for listening because this community is huge and impressive and amazing and wonderful and supportive, and it's, you know, it's why I get out of bed in the morning. So thank you all for listening.
- [01:47]
Dana Goldberg
Absolutely. I second that. That's it.
- [01:49]
Allison Gill
And I also just want to send out big hugs to. To folks who generally don't feel very good around the holiday season. And, you know, we see.
- [01:58]
Dana Goldberg
Absolutely.
- [01:58]
Allison Gill
And we're here for you, and we will continue to be here for you. And if you need to take a break, take a break. We got the watch. This community is so huge. It's like, I don't know. I remember I was in, like, I'm a huge choir nerd. Right. So I was in. You. You did band, right?
- [02:13]
Dana Goldberg
Yes, I did. I was section leader of the drum line all four years in high school. Center snare.
- [02:18]
Allison Gill
What? What? Second chair, alto regional state choir.
- [02:21]
Dana Goldberg
What?
- [02:22]
Allison Gill
And so we always, like, the cool thing about being in a choir is that if you needed to take a breath, other people in the choir were still singing. So everyone could take staggered breaths and staggered breaks and come back in and, you know, one. One band, one sound, one choir, one sound. And that's kind of how I feel about, you know, this community and all of the communities that we work to support. I know, Dana, you're going to have a bunch of work coming up in the new year to support LGBTQ community LPAC Human Rights Campaign and that work will continue in earnes.
- [02:53]
Dana Goldberg
Absolutely. It will brings me joy. I'm glad I can give back to the communities that support me and that I care deeply for.
- [03:00]
Allison Gill
Thank you so much for all the work you do everybody. We have a lot of news to get to today, plus some good news. And let's let's kick it off with the hot notes. Hot notes. All right, first up from Raquel Coronel Uribe at NBC News. The U.S. announced Tuesday that it's leveling sanctions on entities in Iran and Russia over attempted election interference. The Treasury Department said the entities, a subordinate organization of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a Moscow based affiliate of Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU, attempted to interfere in the 2024 elections. Quote, as affiliates of the IRGC and GRU, these actors aimed to stoke sociopolitical tensions and influence the U.S. electorate during the 2024 U.S. election. That's what the Treasury Department said in a news release Tuesday. They went on to say the governments of Iran and Russia have targeted our election processes and institutions and sought to divide the American people through targeted disinformation campaigns. That's acting under Secretary of the treasury for terrorism and Financial Intelligence. Bradley T. Smith, in a statement, went on to say the United States will remain vigilant against adversaries who would undermine our democracy until January 20th. No, he didn't add that last part. I just did. A spokesperson for Iran's mission to the United nations in New York said that Iran has denied interfering in the U.S. elections on multiple occasions, citing past statements that denied the allegations and calling them devoid of any credibility and legitimacy, fundamentally unfounded and wholly inadmissible. Inadmissible to who? Our reaction remains the same. That's Ali Karimi Magham, a mission spokesperson. Russia's embassy in Washington didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. The treasury sanctions announced Tuesday said that the named Cognitive Design Production center, acting on behalf of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, planned operations since at least 2023 to incite socio political tensions among the US electorate. The treasury also announced that the Moscow based Center for Geopolitical Expertise at the direction of and with the financial support from the gru, directed and subsidized, quote, the creation and publication of deepfakes and circulated disinformation about candidates in the US 2024 general election that included disinformation was, quote, designed to imitate legitimate news outlets to create false corroboration between the stories, as well as to obfuscate their Russian origin. A US Intelligence official said in September that propagandists in Russia, Iran and China were using artificial intelligence in efforts to deceive Americans and interfere in the 2024 presidential election. Though none of the entities sanctioned by the Treasury Department Tuesday are affiliated with China, the department said in a separate letter Monday computers had been hacked in a state sponsored Chinese operation in a quote, unquote, major incident. Of course, China denies that allegation. Now that's all from NBC News, and I just want to remind everyone these folks have been indicted. By the way, you'll remember, alongside that indictment of the Russians that were influencing Tenant Media, for example, there was a huge outline of all these deep fake sites that, that were used to, to trick us. And they were all in favor of Donald Trump. They don't really go into that here because I don't know if they're trying to both sides it or do their corporate media thing where they don't want to upset Donald Trump. But I would like to see our representatives object to the electors on January.
- [06:29]
Dana Goldberg
Absolutely.
- [06:30]
Allison Gill
Based on this interference or at least based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
- [06:35]
Dana Goldberg
That would be nice.
- [06:36]
Allison Gill
We know the Supreme Court ruled this year that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment is not self executing, which I think is wrong in the law. But now they're requiring Congress to pass legislation declaring Donald Trump ineligible to assume office. That would require 60 votes in the Senate because of the filibuster. And while I don't see that happening, I think the Dems are duty bound by the Constitution to at least try bring it to a vote at least. You may lose, but you know, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. And knowing that Mitch McConnell wouldn't vote to convict Trump in the Senate after impeachment, that didn't stop us from impeaching him in the House because it was our job to impeach him in the House. So there's a lot of unanswered questions about this. Because of the updated Electoral Count act that was passed in 2022, we now would need one fifth of each chamber to object to electors instead of just one Senator and one representative. And then we would need a majority in each chamber to confirm it. A simple majority vote. Again, probably not going to happen. And I know a lot of people say, well, we can't object to electors or we look like maga, but nothing could be further from the truth. We have the ability to object to electors for a reason. And if this isn't the reason. Then what is?
- [07:49]
Dana Goldberg
Seriously.
- [07:50]
Allison Gill
And for those who say Republicans will just accuse us of election interference, they're going to do that anyways. Trump is going to instruct his weaponized Department of Justice to investigate the 2020 election and claim Biden stole it. They're going to do all of that shit whether we exercise the right to object or not. And if we haven't learned that lesson, I don't know that we ever will. It's just my two cents. But why do we have an ability to object if, if we're not going to do it? You know, if we say we, if we're going to say we can't ever object to the results of an election, why, why have the mechanism there in the first place? I don't understand.
- [08:26]
Dana Goldberg
I think that's well said and I agree with you. This next story is from the Guardian. The adult son of the Republican North Dakota US Senator Kevin Kramer. He's been sentenced to serve 28 years in prison in connection with a wild chase in which he fled from a hospital and drove into a deputy's vehicle and killed the deputy in that crash. Ian Kramer, 43 years old, pleaded guilty in September to all of the charges against him, including homicide while fleeing a peace officer, preventing arrest, reckless endangerment, fleeing an officer and drug and driving related offenses. Those charges related to the chase and crash in December last year that killed the Mercer County Sheriff's deputy, Paul Martin. He was 53. The state court judge, Bobby Wheeler, handed down the sentence of 38 years with 10 years suspended, three years of probation and credit for more than a year served in jail. He also included recommended treatment for addiction and mental health, but he likely will not serve the full 28 years. This is what the judge said. Ian Kramer, who wore orange and sat quietly next to his public defender. He apologized to Martin's family. When asked if he would like to speak, he added, quote, I had no intention to do any of this. It was an accident. And I just hope that someday they can forgive me. And I think the best thing for me to do is to go to a hospital and just get more help. Bismarck police said Ian Kramer's mother had taken him to a hospital because of mental health concerns. Court documents say he crawled into the driver's seat of his parents vehicle after his mother got out and smashed and reversed through the closed garage door of the hospital's ambulance bay. He let her fled from deputies when one confronted him in Hazen, about 70 miles from Bismarck. This is what authorities said Kramer hit speeds of more than 100 miles an hour. He kept going even after a spiked device flattened two of the tires. That's according to court documents. More spikes were set up and Kramer swerved and then crashed head on into Martin's patrol vehicle and launched him about 100ft. This is what authorities said. Martin was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Kramer pleaded not guilty in the homicide case in April. He was initially charged with manslaughter, later changed to the homicide offense, which carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. He has been held at the McLean County Jail in Washburn on a $500,000 cash bail. All of the offenses to which he pleaded guilty carry a maximum sentence of just over 38 years in prison, according to prosecutor sentencing brief filed earlier in December. In March, Ian Kramer pleaded not guilty to separate felony charges of theft, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment in connection with the events at the Bismarck hospital. A jury trial that's scheduled for January. Kevin Kramer has said his son, quote, suffers from serious mental disorders which manifest in severe paranoia and hallucinations. The senator, his dad won reelection to a second term in November. It's just a sad story all the way around.
- [11:28]
Allison Gill
I really hope that he gets the help that he needs.
- [11:31]
Dana Goldberg
I do, too.
- [11:33]
Allison Gill
And, you know, if not for the absolute onslaught of attacks against Hunter Biden from Republicans, you know, the hypocrisy again is mind boggling. We are all here like this. This man needs help.
- [11:48]
Dana Goldberg
Absolutely.
- [11:49]
Allison Gill
And of course, we get, you know, gun and tax charges against Hunter Biden and Republicans screaming in chorus that, you know, he's, he's a giant, you know, Marjorie Taylor Greene showing naked photos of him in Congress.
- [12:03]
Dana Goldberg
Horrible, horrible people.
- [12:04]
Allison Gill
Come on, guys, these folks need help. Doesn't matter what party they're from.
- [12:08]
Dana Goldberg
That's exactly it. The empathy we have that this is not my party, this is not the people who represent me. This is a man's son. He's hurting and he, he ended up killing someone because of some of the issues that he has. It's, it's just a sad story.
- [12:20]
Allison Gill
Yeah. All right, next up from Lawrence Hurley at NBC. For Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, President elect Donald Trump's pledge to end birthright citizenship is more than just a provocative anti immigrant policy likely to be blocked by the courts. It is personal. Tong, who's 51, a Democrat who has served as the state's top legal official attorney general since 2019, is the son of immigrants who came to the United States from China and Taiwan. He is the first member of his family to have been born in the United States on US Soil and is the first Asian American to be elected to statewide office in Connecticut. Quote, I grew up working side by side with my parents in our family's Chinese restaurant, and in one generation I've gone from that Chinese restaurant kitchen to be the Attorney General of the state of Connecticut. That's what he said in an interview. He went on to say, that only happens one place in this world, and that's America. On the campaign trail, Trump promised to take action to end birthright citizenship on day one of his second term in office, a move that would immediately prompt legal challenges. Trump, quote, I would be the first to sue. That's what Tong said. He is one of 23 Democratic state attorneys general who are likely going to be regular opponents of Trump on various issues, ranging from immigration and LGBTQ rights to environmental policy and abortion, just as many were during the first Trump administration. Likewise, Republican attorneys general routinely sued to block President Joe Biden's policies, notching up major victories on issues like student debt forgiveness and a COVID vaccine or test mandate for businesses. Things that help people. The fight over birthright citizenship might be the one that challengers have a good chance of winning. Even with the conservative Supreme Court that includes three justices appointed by Trump, the vast majority of legal scholars think there is no genuine legal dispute over the guarantee of birthright citizenship as enshrined in the Constitution's 14th Amendment. I'd like to remind everyone that the supreme court misinterpreted Section 3 of the 14th Amendment when it overturned Colorado Supreme Court's decision to keep Trump off the ballot and when it tried to say that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment is not self executing. And they also went against our entire founding principles when they decided to grant President Trump and future presidents presumed immunity and Official Acts evidence immunity. So I used to think that I, I would be able to confidently say the Supreme Court won't end birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment, but boy, sure howdy are they going to try. I'm sure all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States. That's what the amendment says. James Ho, now a Trump appointed judge in the fifth Circuit Court of Appeals who is considered a contender for the Supreme Court. If Trump gets a vacancy, which he will, he'll get two. He wrote an article in 2006 rejecting the claim that children of undocumented immigrants should not be considered citizens. Quote, birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. That birthright is protected no less for children of undocumented persons than for descendants of Mayflower passengers. That's what he wrote. Now, Ho himself was born in Taiwan and immigrated to the United States with his parents. So for me, but not for thee, right? But that of course, is why he's pro birthright citizenship. But if Trump puts him on, the Supreme Court replaces Thomas or Alito, who are probably against it. That's why I think the legal scholars are like, I'm not sure the Supreme Court is going to overturn birthright citizenship.
- [15:47]
Dana Goldberg
Right?
- [15:47]
Allison Gill
Trump has said he'll sign an executive order that would ensure children born to parents who don't have legal status will not be considered U.S. citizens. At least one parent would need to be a citizen or legal resident for a child to receive birthright citizenship, Trump said in a video announcing the plan last year. He indicated the policy would not apply retroactively so his kids are safe. A Trump spokesman he's also a citizen, so if he has the one parent must be rule, then that, you know, even if it's not retroactive, that would spare his children. A Trump spokesperson didn't respond to requests for comment about the brewing plans. To counter his efforts, the administration could try to implement the policy, thereby kicking off a legal fight by ordering federal agencies to prevent people from obtaining passports or Social Security numbers. Supporters of limiting birthright citizenship say the language in the 14th Amendment referring to citizenship being awarded to people, quote, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, does not include children of undocumented immigrants. Conservatives have embraced the idea of declaring the act of migrants crossing the southern border as a form of invasion, a move that could have them treated more like enemy combatants than migrants. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has taken that approach, leading to conflicts with the Biden administration. We've gone over those stories quite a bit. A declaration along those lines by Trump could be used to defend a policy seeking to end automatic birthright citizenship, an approach Judge Ho outlined in remarks made after the November election that seemed to backtrack on his earlier view. So Judge Ho is backtracking and he said birthright citizenship obviously doesn't apply in case of war or invasion. So Judge Ho changed his tune. And I've long said, Dana, he's going to use the invasion at the southern border to use to declare emergency powers and do things like this. Cecilia Wang, a legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union, which is also gearing up to sue Trump on birthright citizenship and other policies, said calling immigration a form of invasion reflects a white nationalist view that is not supported by the facts. Quote, I don't think that anyone's theory about so called invasion should fly in the courts, she said. From Tong's perspective, any limitation on birthright citizenship would be a violation of the 14th Amendment. He says it's beyond clear what the law states, he said, and it will get real when people's lives and communities are impacted or worse, destroyed. If Trump's plan goes into effect, he was quick to cite the experience of his parents who ran for their lives before reaching the United States and settling in Connecticut. Quote, let's just cut the crap and acknowledge that we're Americans. Everybody is as American as anybody else. That's what he said. He went on to say, I mean, it strikes to the core of our constitutional foundation, the 14th amendment.
- [18:35]
Dana Goldberg
Well said. Well said. All right. This last story is from Brendan Bordelon at Politico. President elect Donald Trump, he's seeking the Supreme Court to exceed its authority yet again with his unprecedented request in the case over the federal TikTok ban. This is what legal experts are saying. Trump filed a brief Friday asking the high court to suspend the law's critical January 19 deadline until after he takes office. The law, if the justices allow it to take effect, will effectively ban TikTok in the United States if the social media platform fails to cut ties with its Beijing based owner. By that date. Experts said Trump had no grounds to ask to pause the TikTok law before he takes office as president. And they faulted him for requesting a stay of the law without taking a stance on whether the law is unconstitutional. Yep. And I quote the fact that the law goes into effect the day before Trump is inaugurated. It's just too bad for Trump. But a future president cannot ask a court to delay a law. This is from Alan Rosenstein. He's a former official at the Department of Justice who now teaches at the University of Minnesota Law School. He said the Supreme Court, quote, does not have the authority to pause a law that was written by Congress and enacted without considering its constitutionality. In high Court, of course, is weighing a constitutional challenge from TikTok, which says the law violates the First Amendment. But legal experts criticize Trump's unconventional attempt to intervene in the dispute before taking office. Trump filed his amicus brief in the Supreme Court ahead of its expedited hearing on the TikTok law. The justices are going to hold their oral arguments on January 10th. John Sauer, he's President Trump's excuse me, what is it? Nominated Trump. What is the guy now? President ELECT TRUMP PRESIDENT yeah, we're just leaving that president guy. That guy. His nominee for Solicitor General. He authored the brief. He asked the justices to indefinitely delay the law until the incoming president can work to save TikTok while also addressing security concern raised by the app's ownership. Quote, President Trump alone possesses the consummate deal making expertise.
- [20:46]
Allison Gill
Oh, it gets better, huh?
- [20:47]
Dana Goldberg
The electoral mandate and the political will to negotiate a resolution to save a platform while addressing the national security concerns expressed by the government. This is sour, really. Does he. Does he have all that? Although Rosenstein called the brief silly, he said he expects the justices will seriously consider any legal request from an incoming president, quote, but I hope they don't act on it. That's what he said. It would be pretty lawless of them, too. Well, they're not above it and they're not below it, that's for sure. The brief is Trump's latest move to shield TikTok, which is promised to save during his campaign. It's a major shift when Trump unsuccessfully tried to ban the app himself in 2020 because it helped him lose that election.
- [21:28]
Allison Gill
Yeah, well, he met with that Yass guy, right? A huge 15% investor in TikTok and another billionaire investor in TikTok who, you know, like, probably gave him a shitload of money.
- [21:40]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah, I would think so. Now, TikTok and its owner, that's ByteDance, they brought their case to the Supreme Court after a lower court upheld the constitutionality of a law Congress passed in April to force the sale or ban of the app. Congress and the Biden administration warned that if TikTok possesses a national security threat because Beijing could demand US user data from ByteDance under Chinese national security law or use the app's algorithms to push propaganda. TikTok and ByteDance, well, they denied the app as a threat and said banning it would suppress free speech for its 170 million U.S. users. Stephen Vladek, a professor at the Georgetown University Law center, called Trump's TikTok brief a quote, not terribly auspicious start for the incoming Solicitor General and President Elect. In a substack post on Monday, Vladek wrote Sauer's request that the supreme court pause the TikTok law, quote, without any constitutional determination is without legal basis, and asked for the law to take a backseat to the politics altogether. Vladek also took aim at Sauer's description of Trump as, quote, powerful, commanding, and resoundingly successful, which she called ridiculous puffery. Yep. And I quote, this kind of ego stroking, navel gazing, writing in the government's brief will have significant and, in my view, significantly deleterious long term implications for the government's relationship with the court. That's what Vladek wrote. And despite Rosenstein's claim that it would be lawless for the Supreme Court to grant Trump's request, he said there's no way to reverse such a decision. And I quote, there's no legal recourse for what the Supreme Court does. That's what Rosenstein said. And he closed with it's the Supreme Court.
- [23:24]
Allison Gill
Which is why I posted on Blue Sky a while ago that we need an extra Supreme Court that we can appeal the Supreme Court decisions to. Yep, we had a super Supreme Court, but we won't get it. I laugh because I don't want to cry. We'll let you know what happens there. But yeah, the ridiculous puffery was certainly present in that filing. All right, we have some good news that we need to get to, but we have to take a quick break. If you have good news to send us, you can do it@dailybeanspod.com and click on Contact. We'll be right back with it. Stick around after these messages. We'll be right back. Everybody. Welcome back. It's time for the good news, everyone. Then, good news, everyone. The first Good news of 2025 is here. And if you have any good news you want to send to us, all you have to do is is pay your pod pet tax by submitting a photo of your pet and going to DailyBeansPod.com, clicking on Contact and sending us your good news. And if you don't have a pod pet, you can send us an adoptable pet in your area. Don't have an adoptable pet in your area. Send us any animal photo. Really? And if you don't have that, send us a baby photo. You're a baby photo, a random baby on the Internet. We love baby photos. And then of course, if you have a shout out to a government program that's helped you or a loved one, we want to really get all that good news out about our government programs and just make a huge giant pile of evidence by about how important they are to us as we go into these next four years when they're going to diligently try to reduce and or eliminate our government programs. So whether it's the Affordable Care act or Social Security or Medicare or great VA healthcare that you've received your VA benefits like through the PACT act or the GI Bill, maybe the GI Bill has helped you or somebody in your family get an education or anything from like SNAP to WIC to Head start to section 8. Send it all to us daily being Click on Contact. First quick bit of good news before we get into a correction and some more listeners submitted good news. The Biden administration today they proposed two rounds of new environmental protections for sites in the western United States on Monday, beginning a process that would extend into the forthcoming Trump administration. The first protections announced apply to Nevada's Ruby Mountains and would protect the range from mining for 20 years, beginning with a two year segregation period during which no new mining claims would be allowed on an area spanning about 264,000 acres. The department also announced permanent protections in Grand Teton national park and the $100 million purchase of a 640 acre parcel of land from Wyoming. Prior to the sale, it was the biggest unprotected swath of land within the national park. The land includes the beginning of a key migration corridor for the pronghorn, which is an antelope like mammal with a habitat range spanning from Canada to parts of Texas. And that's a huge important migratory path. So good on you, Deb Haaland and the Department of the Interior and the Biden administration for trying to protect these lands before Trump takes office. All right, so just a little correction here from Kim. Herbert Hoover was the president. J. Edgar Hoover was at the FBI. Turns out I was on a rant, I was on a tear about why there are only 10, why there are 10 year terms for FBI directors. And I said, I was trying to say that, you know, J. Edgar Hoover spent decades there doing the bidding of presidents. And I accidentally said Herbert Hoover. So my apologies. It is J. Edgar Hoover. And I should know that because you know of the movie Clue where J. Edgar Hoover calls the house and the butler played by Tim Curry, it's like, well, he's on everybody else's phone. Why shouldn't he be on mine? So I do apologize for that mistake. Thank you so, so, so very much.
- [27:30]
Dana Goldberg
All right, this is Teresa Pronoun. She and her hello ladies and legumes. I'm writing a shout out to my daughter, oh sweet Megan and her friend group from college. They met their freshman year at the University of Missouri. They have forms an incredible bond through the years and are an amazing group of young ladies. Megan is an incredibly loving and sweet person who sometimes doesn't realize how wonderful she is. These ladies helped her find who she was and realize how special she is. On their recent trip to Chicago, they requested a bird pic from their trip. I love these girls. They all gave it to her. And look at this.
- [28:07]
Allison Gill
Oh My God, Teresa. So this is recent and you did this for our bird watching segment. You said, my wonderful daughter Megan and your beautiful college friends who help Megan realize what an amazing person she is, please flip off the Trump Tower in Chicago and send me a photo.
- [28:23]
Dana Goldberg
And they did so good.
- [28:25]
Allison Gill
Oh, thank you so much for that, Teresa. What a wonderful shout out. Next up, Katie in Madison, Wisconsin. Pronoun she and her. Hi, AG and dg. I was so grateful to hear you cover the closure of Camp One Heartland. I was close to tears until you explained the reason for the closure. I know you mentioned the founder. Neil got the idea when he was a Wisconsin college student. He's an alum of UW Madison, where I also attended and now work. When I was a student, I was in a sorority, and we took part in a huge fundraiser fundraiser every year where sororities and fraternities wrote and performed short musical comedy shows as a competition. And all of the proceeds were to benefit Camp One Heartland. It is an organization that has been close to my heart. And although I'm sad the camp is closing, I'm so grateful that the numbers of affected children have dwindled so much. The fundraiser event continues, benefiting other great organizations. Now what the mutt? As my dog is pretty obviously a husky, but here are some pet tax photos of my girl Pixie. The snow is now melted, but we got to get out in the snow over Christmas and skewer dog pulling me across my country skis. And she was the happiest wannabe sled dog. Skijore Ski. I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly. There's a link. Where does this link take me? Skijoring. Skijor.
- [29:48]
Dana Goldberg
Huh?
- [29:49]
Allison Gill
Is a winter sport in which a person on skis is pulled by a horse or a dog or dogs or another animal or a motor vehicle. Do you think that maybe an axolotl could take you skijoring?
- [29:59]
Dana Goldberg
Now you're just jumping the shrub.
- [30:00]
Allison Gill
I don't know if I'm pronouncing that right. And Katie, Pixie is adorable. And thank you for teaching him about skijoring, if I'm pronouncing that properly. And Dana, were you here when I covered One Heartland?
- [30:14]
Dana Goldberg
I don't think so.
- [30:16]
Allison Gill
So camp that's been around for three decades for kids with HIV aids.
- [30:21]
Dana Goldberg
Oh, my goodness.
- [30:22]
Allison Gill
So that they could be themselves and not be bullied and. And talk about it and. And be just, you know, go out and be silly and have fun and. The camp is for sale. It's closing. But the reason it's closing is because so few children are impacted by AIDS because of antiretrovirals that. But it's not needed anymore.
- [30:40]
Dana Goldberg
Wow.
- [30:41]
Allison Gill
So, you know, everybody's sad, but they're also very, very happy.
- [30:46]
Dana Goldberg
So I love that.
- [30:47]
Allison Gill
Yeah. Thank you so much, Katie.
- [30:49]
Dana Goldberg
Double double good news.
- [30:50]
Allison Gill
All right.
- [30:50]
Dana Goldberg
This is her, Mary Pronoun. She and they longtime listener, first time writer. I'm a huge fan of all your work you both do and how much strength I feel I gain from knowing you're out there. After listening to another podcast, American Hysteria cover another podcast, the Alley DC's 8th and H case, I felt the need to bring it to the Beans att the cases about the murder of Catherine Fuller in 1984 and the eight young black men, boys at the time that were convicted and sentenced to life in prison for a crime they did not commit. Even though some of the men are now out of prison, they're unable to re enter society with conviction on their records, and they're seeking to be pardoned by President Biden. Listening to the news through the lens of your collective lived experience makes me a bit bolder in asking for this information to be spread and hopefully make a difference. My pod pet tax is Mabel, my cranky little lady who will only wear what my stepdaughter makes her long enough for a photo.
- [31:47]
Allison Gill
Look at this beautiful baby. Aw. And hey, Mary, I have good news. I interviewed the Host of the 8th and H case podcast, Shannon lynch, on Christmas Eve.
- [32:00]
Dana Goldberg
Amazing.
- [32:01]
Allison Gill
So you're probably doing Christmas Eve stuff. And, you know, we took the week off, but we still put out some content. So, Mary, yeah, I had an incredible discussion with the host of that podcast, so I hope you get a chance to listen to it. We aired it on the Beans in the feed on Christmas Eve. So thank you very much for bringing it to our attention. We had several people, Mary, right in, just like you saying you should be checking out this podcast, and we did. So I hope you enjoyed that conversation. All right, next up from Linda Pronouns, she and her. Ooh, more bird watching. I forgot to mention this in the introduction to the Good News, but something else you can submit to the Good News is what we call bird watching photos, which is you and your friends and your family flipping the bird to Trump Properties. First, thanks for everything you do. I listen to your show every day and appreciate getting all the important news of the day from you. The Good News and everything else. I was in Chicago today having holiday tea with my sisters. I love that. Looked out the cab window just in time. To see the tower owned by he who I will not name. Managed to get a bird shot in on the way past and wanted to share it with you. And for tax, my new pup, Stell. She's 12 weeks old, first posing and then passed out post holiday. Keep up the great work together, we'll get through this great bird photo. This puppy is fricking adorable.
- [33:26]
Dana Goldberg
Oh my gosh. It looks like the never ending. The never ending dragon. Listen to me.
- [33:30]
Allison Gill
It does.
- [33:30]
Dana Goldberg
It looks like the good luck dragon from the Never Ending Story.
- [33:33]
Allison Gill
It looks like Falcor, my midlife crisis convertible. I named Falkor because he was white. And I would go woo hoo and put my arm up as I drove down the road.
- [33:45]
Dana Goldberg
Oh my goodness.
- [33:46]
Allison Gill
Oh, what a beautiful puppy.
- [33:48]
Dana Goldberg
Absolutely. Thank you, Ag. This one's from Susan. No pronouns given. Thank you, President Biden. Forgiving 28,000. Forgiving 28,000 of student loan debt has given me a glimmer of hope of retiring someday. After my divorce at 40, I decided to get my degree and become a teacher. The debt was worth it because I had the honor of being a teacher for hundreds of junior high humans. President Biden released the noose of student debt and I can breathe again. Wow. What a great fucking sentence, right? Yep. The pet tax is my new friend, Apollo. This summer, a feral cat had kittens. Apollo is one of those kittens. I always tell him to thank his testicles because if they had dropped months ago, he would have been fixed and adopted to another family like his brothers and sisters. I had to keep him for two months. I couldn't possibly give him up up after that much time. He's my little buddy and he's definitely home with me.
- [34:40]
Allison Gill
Oh, what a sweetie. Yeah. One of the cats I rescued when I was out looking for my tuxedo, Bruce Willis I took to get like stray cat Tom, big puffy cheeks, bruh. And I took him to get his vaccinations and to get him neutered. And they were like, it was like a zillion dollars to neuter him. It cost so much money because they couldn't find one of his testicles. It was up in there somewhere and they had to go hunting. And so he. I nursed him back to health and I was able to find him a forever home. And he's still living the good life. But yeah, thankful there. You'd be thankful there, Apollo. Wonderful. Thank you so much everybody for your good news stories. Thanks for your student debt relief stories. Dana, I'm with you. I can't get over that. That sentence about so good about. What does it say? Oh, President Biden released the news of student debt and I can breathe again. Wow. All right, everybody, send your good news to us dailybeanspod.com click on Contact. Happy New Year. Yeah, and I know it's not the year we were hoping for, but it is the year we will make of it.
- [35:47]
Dana Goldberg
Indeed. Well said.
- [35:49]
Allison Gill
Do that together. Any final thoughts, my friend?
- [35:51]
Dana Goldberg
No, just wishing everyone a very happy beginning to this 2025.
- [35:56]
Allison Gill
All right, we'll be back in your ears tomorrow. Because it doesn't stop. Stop.
- [36:01]
Dana Goldberg
Nope.
- [36:03]
Allison Gill
No, it doesn't stop. 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.
- [36:09]
Dana Goldberg
I've been AG and I've been dg.
- [36:11]
Allison Gill
And them's the Beans.
- [36:12]
C
The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Alison 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.