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The Public Interest
00:39:33
Thursday, December 11th, 2025 Today, the Pentagon considered sending boat strike survivors to CECOT to hide from US courts; Judge Breyer blocks Trump from deploying the California National Guard; Miami elects its first woman mayor and the first Democrat since the 90s; Democrats flip a Georgia state house seat Republicans won by 22 points last time; the DOJ responded to my Epstein files lawsuit arguing that there’s not any public interest in the Epstein case; the US plans to scrutinize visitors’ social media; Kushner and the Saudis are backing a hostile takeover of Warner Brothers for Paramount Skydance; Federal prosecutors in Chicago say a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer committed multiple “gunpoint sexual assaults”; and Allison and Dana deliver and your Good News.
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- [00:00]
A
Msw media.
- [00:24]
Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. Today, the Pentagon considered sending boat strike survivors to Seacote to hide from US Courts. Judge Breyer has blocked Trump from deploying the California National Guard. According to Donald, the US has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Miami elects its first woman mayor and the first Democrat since the 90s. Democrats also flipped a Georgia state House seat that the Republicans won by 22 points last time. The Department of Justice responded to my Epstein files lawsuit arguing that there's not any public interest in the Epstein case. The US Plans to scrutinize visitors social media. Kushner and the Saudis are backing the hostile takeover of Warner Brothers for Paramount Skydance. And federal prosecutors in Chicago say a U.S. customs and Border Protection officer committed multiple gunpoint sexual assaults. I'm Alison Gill.
- [01:19]
B
And I'm Dana Goldberg.
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A
Hello, my friend. I'm back home.
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B
I am glad you are safe and sound on the west coast and it was lovely having you in the east for a little while. The news sounds fucking horrifying today.
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A
It is fucking horrifying today.
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B
Jesus.
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A
Yeah, it's a lot of ups and downs. There's some good news and there's some really, really bad news. And we're kind of on this kick now of all these ICE officers and Customs and Border Protection people being criminals and getting arrested for domestic violence and DUI and all sorts of the horrific things. And we have another one of those stories today. We covered one yesterday on the Beans Talk, which is our new video podcast, which you can watch for free at the MSW Media YouTube channel. So check that out. Judge Breyer in California today blocked Trump from deploying the California National Guard and ordered control of the Guard restored to Gavin Newsom. Now I've written up all the reasons, including the court's findings on the definition of regular forces. Remember, the Supreme Court is waiting to rule on that definition as well.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Judge Breyer is with like what we think and what Marty Lederman thinks and you know, all these other scholars that regular forces means the military so that his deployment under this particular law is unlawful. So I've written that up over on substack mueller she wrote.com that's free for you to check out as well.
- [02:44]
B
Awesome. The US Military, by the way, has also seized an oil tanker off the Venezuela's coast. But this is according to President Trump, who sounded like he was having a stroke to through the entire press conference. We'll talk about that more later. He told reporters Wednesday as his Administration continues to escalate military activity in the region. And by the way, when I say that, I don't say it lightly. I'm not making fun of him. This is seriously concerning.
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A
Yeah, he's not well. He's really not well. That is bizarre. We seized an oil tanker now in one of the Alien Enemies act cases the DOJ just submitted that, you know, like we talked about. Trump thinks we're in a non international armed conflict with Maduro, but not Venezuela. But Maduro is kind of part of Venezuela and Maduro controls trend Aragua. So it's kind of Venezuela. Like, it is bizarre. It makes no sense. Nobody can make any sense out of it. So whatever is wrong with Donald Trump's brain has seeped down into the Department of Justice lawyers because it doesn't make any sense to me. What, they're even bothering arguing about Venezuela.
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B
But, but we do know that part of this we're going to war with Venezuela is about oil. So we'll, we'll see what this is. Yeah, we'll keep you posted, for sure.
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A
And we learned a lot of that from the Epstein files, too. They're like, we're gonna skip Venezuela. We're gonna get the rare earth minerals. It's got more oil than Saudi Arabia. Let's go get Venezuela. Like in the Epstein emails, back and forth.
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B
So, right, so make up drug problems. Make up. There's these, you know, the drug cartels that are coming from there and they're like. Cause we can't be like, we're over your country to steal your oil. That's not going to go over well. So, hey, we're fighting a drug war. That seems to be the COVID with this, from everything that we've seen.
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A
Yeah, it's the new weapons of mass destruction, right?
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B
Absolutely.
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A
So for those of our listeners that were around in the 90s, watching the news, that's we, we've been here. We've been here before. And that was also a lie. And of course, nobody went to jail. And that's why everyone thinks they can do it with impunity, which it seems that they can. But yeah, I've seized the biggest oil tanker ever that's ever been seized. I'm going to tell you why, but it's, it's a good reason.
- [04:56]
B
It's really interesting. Midas Touch has actually put out unclassified video. They filmed this whole thing and they're probably putting it out as some sort of an ad, but Midas Touch just posted the footage releasing this US Seizure of this oil tanker.
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A
My God, what is even happening? All right, we've got tons of news to get to today, as you can tell by the intro. So we're going to start with some quick hits.
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B
And to make a long story short. Too late.
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A
All right, so I want to talk about the Saudis for a second because they're going to buy CNN using Jared Kushner. And it's totally legal, by the way. Yeah. Judd Legume writes. Legum. Judd Legum. I'm not sure how to pronounce his last name. I'm always like, daily beans on the mind. I'm like, is it Legume? No. But he writes for Popular Information, and he says. On Monday morning, Paramount announced a $77.9 billion hostile takeover offer for Warner Brothers Discovery WBD. That's an American media conglomerate that owns HBO, the iconic movie studio, and CNN. The offer is meant to upend Netflix's bid and their deal to purchase WBD for 72 billion, which WBD accepted last Friday. Dana. Now, Paramount's press release announcing the offer says that the 40 billion in equity financing will be backstopped by Ellison family and Redbird Capital.
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B
Oh, boy.
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A
The CEO of Paramount is David Ellison, the son of Oracle co founder Larry Ellison, the second wealthiest person in the world. Huge fans, by the way. Redbird Capital is an investment fund based in New York. The rest of the cash for the purchase will be raised as debt from American banks. What's not mentioned in the press release is that while the equity financing is backstopped by American individuals and entities, the majority of the equity financing, 24 billion of it, comes from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar. The fact is buried on page 42 of of an updated SEC filing. Now, the 24 billion is a massive investment by foreign governments on Paramount's behalf. To put it in perspective, the current value of paramount is just $15 billion.
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B
Wow.
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A
Also participating in this deal is Affinity Partners, the private equity firm run by Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner. Nearly all of Affinity Partners assets come from the same sovereign wealth funds bankrolling the proposed Paramount takeover of Warner Brothers. Kushner collects tens of millions in fees from Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries annually. So he's like this go between for the Saudi Arabian takeover of cnn, hbo, Warner Brothers.
- [07:32]
B
I want to say unbelievable, but it's not. When we talked about the comedy festival, I told you this. They're coming for Hollywood. They want it. They're trying to rebrand themselves. It's unbelievable. And by the way, another criminal in the ranks of Trump's secret police. Not surprising. Chicago Sun Times is reporting federal prosecutors in Chicago say a U.S. customs and Border Protection officer committed multiple. And there's a trigger warning for this one, multiple gunpoint sexual assaults of four women in the suburbs who offered him money and referenced their children as they begged him to stop.
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A
Oh, my God.
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B
This is a horrifying story. This is what I meant at the top of the hour. The alleged assaults occurred in 2022 when word spread of Officer Luis Arribez, and I quote, rampant abuse of sex workers. An unnamed boss even dispatched someone to take Arribe's photo and bribe him with free sex in an unsuccessful attempt to end his attacks. Jesus Christ. Now Reba, who's 44, thank God, faces potential life in prison after a federal grand jury handed up an 11 count indictment made public Tuesday. Authorities arrested Aribe around 8:15am Tuesday, and he's being held in federal custody while awaiting a detention hearing next Monday. I hope he rots in prison for the rest of his life.
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A
Yeah. So we have now Customs and Border Protection agent who is sexually assaulting people. Mothers at gunpoint in suburbia. Only the best. Only the best people. All right, we've got more news to get to. Let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes.
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All right, first up, and this is a banana pants story. Again, shocking, but not surprising. We'll put it in that category. The Pentagon was in a bind. The military had plucked two survivors from the Caribbean Sea in mid October after striking a boat that US Officials say was carrying drugs and they needed to figure out what to do with them. This is after the double tap on September 2nd, which tells me, Dana, that they knew that that was wrong.
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B
Yeah.
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A
And they were trying to find another way to deal with survivors. Maybe Admiral Hulsey, who they fired, told them. Now, on a call with counterparts at the State Department, Pentagon lawyers floated an idea. They asked whether the two survivors could be put into the notorious prison in El Salvador to which the Trump administration had sent hundreds of Venezuelan deportees. That's according to three people who know about this. The State Department lawyers were stunned, one official said, and rejected the idea. The survivors ended up being repatriated to their home countries of Colombia and Ecuador. A little under two weeks later, on October 29, Pentagon officials convened another session about boat strike survivors, a video conference involving dozens of American diplomats from across the Western Hemisphere. The message was that any rescued survivors should be sent back to their home countries or to a third country. That's according to three officials. Who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity. Behind that policy was a quieter goal. And this is what we've been saying from the beginning, Dana. To ensure the survivors did not end up in the US Judicial system, where court cases could force this administration to show evidence justifying Trump's military campaign in the region, Pentagon officials largely kept State Department counterparts in the dark. Rubio in the dark about these strike operations. That's why he looks like he's melting into the couch whenever this comes up.
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B
His soul is, like, leaving his body. If he has any of it left.
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A
Why can't he do the right thing?
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B
I don't know.
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A
Then they scrambled to try to enlist diplomats to help deal with survivors, who military officials referred to by specific terms that included distressed mariners. The phrase is usually used in peacetime and civilian context.
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B
Wow.
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A
So they know they're not at war. The talks took place after that September 2nd attack, when the US military killed two survivors with a second strike. Again, it sounds like they knew they broke the law there. I would like to ask Admiral Halsey about this. Did you tell him, hey, that's illegal? And then they said, we should find out what to do with survivors next time, and we shouldn't take them into the courts, we shouldn't bring them to Guantanamo because they'll end up in the US Courts. And if we end up in the US Court system, it'll be like Kilmar, Abrego Garcia all over again. They'll take us to discovery, and we'll have to show them what we're really doing, probably.
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Now, Pentagon officials have not fully explained the process for handling survivors to other agencies or Congress, even as the campaign has continued, killing at least 87 people in 22 attacks. The very act of sending survivors to other countries, as the administration did after the attack in mid October, raised a fundamental question about the administration's premise for the strikes. If the administration has evidence to show that the people on the targeted boats are smuggling drugs and there are threats to Americans, then why is it not putting survivors on trial in the United States? Legal cases in the United States involving survivors would force the administration to present more information to try to back up its rationale for these attacks. On the Oct. 29 call, officials and lawyers from the Pentagon made it clear they didn't want any rescued survivors brought into the US Detention and US Legal system, even for short term holds that included the prison at Guantanamo. On a call soon after the October 16th attack, Pentagon lawyers proposed to State Department lawyers that the government send the two survivors to Seacote Prison, the terrorism confinement center in El Salvador that is known to have inhumane conditions that makes it illegal, and any lawyer that thought of that should be disbarred. Mark Nevitt, former Navy lawyer, said that it was strange that the Pentagon officials were using a term usually applied to civilians who required help at sea in peacetime, and that perhaps they were employing it to emphasize a need for repatriation rather than detention. So we're at war when they want to murder people and it's peacetime when we don't want to take them to court.
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B
Wow.
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A
Yeah, wow.
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B
That's unbelievable.
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A
That's a huge and this is a scandal. Like, I mean, I know we have 100 scandals every day, but this is massive.
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B
I hope this takes KECSEP down. I really hope it does. This one is from the Times. Travelers visiting the United States from countries like Britain, France, Germany, South Korea, well, they soon have to undergo a review of up to five years, five years of their social media history. It's according to a proposal filed on Tuesday by U.S. customs and Border Protection. The change would affect visitors eligible for Visa Waiver program, which allows people from 42 countries to travel to the United States for up to 90 days without a visa as long as they first obtain electronic travel authorization. In a document filed on Tuesday in the Federal Register, CBP said it plans to ask applicants for a long list of personal data, including social media, email addresses from the last decade and the names, birth dates, places of residence, and birthplaces of parents, spouses, siblings and children. This is insane.
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A
They're just trying to kill tourism in the United States.
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B
Absolutely. The travel industry has obviously pushed back on this visa integrity fee. In November, a coalition of more than 20 tourism and travel businesses signed a letter of opposition, citing concerns that the fee would discourage millions of prospective international visitors to the United States, including those traveling to events like next year's World Cup. And I'm sure they're also worried about the Olympics now. If the plans approve, CBP could enact the changes gradually over the following weeks and months, the immigration law firm Fragman said in an alert. Bo Cooper, a partner of Fragaman, called the department's new approach to social media screening a paradigm shift from when agencies use social media to verify specific facts such as criminal activity. And I quote, the new method involves looking at online speech and then denying travel based on discretion and policy about the kinds of things that get said. That's from Mr. Cooper. He added, it'll be interesting to watch the tourism numbers.
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A
Business travel is going to tank I mean, everything's gonna. Wow. Yep. All right. This is from me@muellershiroad.com.
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B
Well, hi. I know that source.
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A
Hi, source. So when I learned from multiple anonymous sources this past summer, and these were sources from the FBI, that there were training videos disseminated to the Information Records Management Division on how to find Flag and redact Trump's name from the Epstein files. There were videos in PowerPoint decks. I found that out. I held that story for about 20 minutes and filed a Freedom of Information act request real quick so that I would be the first person to file the Freedom of Information act request for these videos. And then I put the story out. I didn't. I decided, like, I wasn't going to Bob Woodward it and hold it for two years. I put it out just minutes later, but I submitted that Freedom of Information act request, followed by a lawsuit when they didn't comply and a motion for expedited processing. Recently, Jason Leopold at Bloomberg received dozens of pages of FBI emails that confirm the existence of the training materials that my sources told me about that I filed a FOIA request for our case was assigned to Judge Beryl Howell, who granted our unopposed motion for expediting briefing on summary judgment. So we filed our motion for partial summary judgment, and we asked for expedited processing of my FOIA requests. Hurry up. You have to hurry up and give me these videos because they're very important. The media is really into this. The public has a need to know. It's kind of urgent. And last night, while I was in a Broadway show, the government filed their opposition to my motion. Dana, their argument? They say that we failed to prove that there's widespread public interest in the Epstein materials.
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B
That's insane.
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A
Yes, you heard that right. In support of its. This is them. In support of its request for expediting processing, MSW cites two standards. First, it cites a portion of the Compelling Needs standard, which requires that MSW establish on the record before the agency that it is a person primarily engaged in disseminating information with an urgency to inform the public concerning actual or alleged federal government activity. Alternatively, MSW must establish on the record before the agency that its request seeks records for a matter of widespread and exceptional media interest in which there exist possible questions about the government's integrity that affects public confidence. MSW has failed to establish eligibility for EXPEDITION under either standard. The court should accordingly deny its motion for summary judgment. That's what they said. They also implied that my request for the Epstein training materials is paltry. They said you can't Just file a Freedom of Information act request. Judicial review prevents a requester from submitting a paltry request to the agency and then attempting to supplement that that fascially deficient request with additional non record submissions as part of a motion in federal court. Basically, we didn't give them enough media articles to show the court that people care about the Epstein files.
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B
Oh, dear.
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A
But here's one cool thing. They did concede that I am a real media outlet.
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B
Well done. Well done.
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A
They say, defendant, the government accepts for purposes of this motion that MSW is a person primarily engaged in disseminating information. But just for this motion. Fuck you guys. In a related story, Judge Berman has ordered the release of the 2019 Epstein grand jury materials. So all three judges for Maxwell and Epstein and the grand jury materials have ordered them to be released. I don't think there's anything new in these files. And the judges have pointed out that these orders do not in any way block the release of the actual Epstein files, the ones everyone's been waiting for. That DOJ has 300,000 pages, 300 gigabytes of information which they've been able to release at any time. But those are due under the law, the Epstein files Transparency act on December 19th.
- [19:41]
B
All right, thanks, Alison. And this one is a few good news all wrapped into one. This is from Politico. In a Tuesday runoff, Miamians elected Eileen Higgins as the mayor. Now, this is the first woman in the city's history to hold the job and the first Democrat in 28 years. Now, Higgins, a former county commissioner, defeated Republican Emilio Gonzalez. He's an ex city manager who had the endorsement of who? Trump and DeSantis with 60% of the vote. She beat him with 60 by 22 points. Oh, my gosh.
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A
We have that Trump and DeSantis endorsement. Do you ever see Mommie Dearest when she's got the ax at the Rose Garden and she's like box office poison? Yeah, that's. That's what they are.
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B
Oh, my God. Though Trump won Miami Dade county by 11 points in November, he narrowly lost Miami, a city of half a million people that has a slightly higher number of registered Democrats than Republicans. The circumstances of the race were also unusual given that Miami hasn't seen a runoff since 2001. From what I understand, Kamala won this in the last election by 1 point. This is a 21 point gain in this area. Okay. From the Associated Press, Democrat Eric Gisler. Is it Gisler? Geisler, do we think.
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A
I'm not sure how to pronounce his name.
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B
If anyone knows, please send in a correction. I'm sure there's someone listening who's from this district in Georgia. This person claimed an upset victory Tuesday in a special election in a historically Republican Georgia state House district. Democrats are winning and beating Republicans in places they have never in Georgia. Now, Geisler said he was the winner of the contest in which he was leading Republican Mack Dutch guest by about 200 votes. Everyone, if you don't think your vote matters, it matters. 200 votes out of more than 11,000 in final official returns. Geisler lost that same election by 22 points last time and Trump won that district by 12 points in 2024. Holy shit.
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A
Wow.
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B
That's another 22 point swing. I'm sure there's not much of a percentage point when you win by 200 votes, but. 200 votes.
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A
Wow. And the Miami Dade Mayor. Trump won that county by 11 points.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Wow.
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B
But I think Miami.
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A
Yeah, but Miami specifically. Yeah, the. The city and not the county. Wow.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Oh, my gosh. Well, that's really good news. That's amazing. I'm glad we could end on good news before we get to the listener submitted good news. So thank you for that. Well done. Well done, Georgia. Well done, Florida. Congrats, Miami, on your first woman mayor and your first Democrat since 1998.
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B
And everyone's talking about how like I'm now seeing articles like and not corrupt Miami is, but the legislature, how it's just pay to play. And we're about to see that. Hopefully to see that get fixed.
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A
Yeah, that'd be great. All right, everybody, we're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back with the good news. Stick around. We'll be right back after these messages.
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B
We'll be right back.
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A
Hey everybody. This holiday season I'm channeling my inner Gordon Ramsay. So I'm yelling at everyone and putting bread on the side of folks heads because I love this. Oh, wait, no. I think I'm gonna leave out the yelling in the kitchen. But Home Chef has teamed up with Chef Ramsay to bring five star stress free recipes straight to your kitchen between school nights, rehearsals, work deadlines. Any of us can cook like a pro, without pressure. Plate confidently and still have time to actually enjoy your dinner. Home Chef is rated number one by users of other meal kits for quality, convenience, value, taste and recipe ease. For a limited time, Home Chef is offering you 50% off and free shipping on your first box, plus free dessert for life. Just go to homechef.com dailybeans so choose how you want to cook tonight. Home Chef offers Gordon Ramsay co branded dishes across the culinary collection. The classic meal kits and the express options which are like my favorite. Each designed to make you feel like a chef in your own kitchen. Timelines are sensible, ingredients are fresh and the payoff is big. Without the stress of planning or shopping. Go into the store. There's over 30 weekly choices including a family menu for easy crowd pleasing dinners on busy nights. I recently tried their sweet potato casserole. It was amazing. Good comfort food, great for the winter, simple to make only a few ingredients and easy to follow instructions. Restaurant quality with minimal effort. Exactly what I was looking for and it was so delicious. So for a limited time, Home Chef is offering you 50% off and free shipping on your first box box plus free dessert for life. Just go to homechef.com dailybeans that's homechef.com dailybeans for 50 off your first box and free dessert for life. Must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert. Everybody, welcome back. It's time for the good news. Who likes good news? Everyone? Then good news everyone.
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Good news. And if you have any good news, little good news, big good news. It could be recent, it could be in the distant past. Any good story, feel good story you want to share with us? We would love to hear from you. We would also love to hear your favorite joke. Maybe you made up a joke or maybe you have a street joke. We'd like to hear that. Or maybe your favorite comedian's joke. Like Dana is my favorite comedian.
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B
So if you know one of my jokes, go for it. Tell me.
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A
Yeah, let's hear you tell Janus jokes back to her.
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And gosh, I mean we do shout outs. If you have a small business in your area that you want to give a shout out to, a self shout out a loved one, a spouse, a kid, a parent, a shout out to a government program, really anything, just send it to us. We need to microdose the hope and to get your stuff read on the air, all you got to do is pay your pod pet tariff which at this point means just really just attach a photo of anything. It doesn't matter really but you can attach your pet. We can try to guess the breeds in your shelter puppy. If you don't have a pet, send an adoptable pet in your area. If you don't have that, just grab a random animal photo off the Internet. You know our favorite animals, just send those in. Also we love baby photos, family photos, photos of what you're making and creating maybe what your holiday decorations look like. We would love to see that. Send it all to us dailybeanspod.com and click on contact. All right, first up is our good trouble. And our good trouble comes from Max pronouns he and him, hello, AG and DG and fellow leguminati. On December 10, 2020 five articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr were introduced in the House of Representatives by Haley Stevens from Michigan's 11th congressional district. The quack is endangering the health of so many residents and he's got to go. Dana, did you see recently he did. They took away the recommendation of hep B vaccines for kids.
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B
Yes.
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A
That's a 1 in 4 death rate. That's insane. So stand up for Science is supporting this action and they're trying to mobilize pressure to collect 200 votes. You can find an easy to follow action manual under the link. We'll have a link in the show notes for you. For the pod pet tariff, I give you Yuki, who is the grand dog currently living with my mom and her husband. She's a purebred. If you care to guess her breed. Looks like a whippet.
- [27:00]
B
Sure does. And a beautiful one at that.
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A
Let's see. Yeah, whip it. Whip it good.
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The that coloring, that brindle coloring, I love it on pitties. I love it on brindle, on whippets. It's just gorgeous. Us beautiful dog. Thank you for that good trouble.
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B
All right, next up for me, I want to wish my brother a very happy birthday. I know he listened to Dallas and didn't know I was gonna do that. Happy birthday, Jay. I love you. I hope you had a wonderful day. And that is my good news story.
- [27:29]
A
For happy birthday, Jay. How old is Jay?
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B
He's 56.
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A
Awesome.
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B
I hope he's okay with me saying that on the air because there we have it. Yeah, he's handsome. Brilliant man. I love him so much. He's also the other gay one in the family. So my sister is straight, but as long as she acts gay in public, we're okay with it. Our next good news story is from Alicia Van Sant Pronoun. She and her I love today's good trouble about the Massachusetts church's anti ice nativity scene. I thought you'd like to see what I sent to the diocese. My subject line was nativity on ice. What would Jesus do? Jesus would protect the immigrant, the refugee, the foreigner from the cheating, misogynistic, racist, Nazi pedophile. Do not Tell the church to remove its anti ice nativity. Do better. Do what Jesus would do. My photo one of the many goats I worked with when I was a zookeeper at the Turtle Back Zoo. One's a keeper, always a keeper. You're a keeper. By the way, two territorial male yellow shafted northern flickers, a ground feeding woodpecker species in my back backyard. And this is an adorable goat, a very curious goat, and two absolutely beautiful birds. Listen, I'm not a bird watcher. I'm a bird watcher watching birds go by. But I think woodpeckers, especially these breeds, are stunning. Actually, there's a lot of very beautiful birds, so I shouldn't say that these are stunning.
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A
These are really, really cute. They feed off the ground so they don't actually peck at the trees. I guess.
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Birds have the coolest names. Yellow shafted northern flickers.
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The bird the birding community. Naming the birds is like the best.
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B
I agree.
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A
Just. That's incredible. All right, next up from Jen Pronoun. She and her Georgia House District 121 is a gerrymandered district designed to dilute the voting power of nearby college town Athens, Georgia, by taking a slice of Athens and adding it to a largely rural area. On a map, the district looks like a big foot throwing up its hands in exasperation. District 121 has been occupied by a Republican forever. Well, yesterday it flipped for Eric Gessler. I can't tell you how big a deal this is. I've included a picture of our little Finn, AKA Captain Ears, who's also happy, mostly because our joy is making us generous with the cat treats. Oh, my goodness. Look at the baby.
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B
So sweet.
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A
That's really interesting because, you know, Dana, you and I talk about how this redistricting in Texas could backfire. It did here. Yeah, by taking a chunk of Athens. I mean, this is.
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B
That's fantastic. I hope Texas is freaked out right now. I really do. We'll see what shenanigans are going to pull.
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A
I swear, I'm sure that they really wish the Supreme Court would have thrown their map out, but they're like, nope, you got to use it.
- [30:23]
B
Oh, my God. All right, this is from Allison R. Pronounce. She and her hello beans Queens. I wanted to point you to an amazing local government government program to help people get relief from the medical debt. While the Trump administration is trying to make Americans sicker and poorer, Los Angeles county supervisors have set aside $5 million and is working with the county public health department. One of the country's best to retire more than half a billion dollars in medical debt for LA county residents. They're partnering with a nonprofit, Undue Medical Debt, and have already canceled $363 million in medical debt for over 171,000 residents. These are the kinds of program such a difference in people's lives and I'm so proud of my county representatives for stepping up with this innovative project. The program is ongoing and people can find more information here. We're going to have a link to this in the show notes because it's awesome for my pod Pet tariff, here's a pic of my kitties Aurora who's the Calico and Romeo? We're not sure for whom I am often merely a piece of furniture and happily so. Thanks for all you do. Onward.
- [31:27]
A
What great news, Alison. $363 million in medical debt forgiven.
- [31:34]
B
Amazing.
- [31:34]
A
For LA County. More of this please. All right, next up from Carrie Pronoun. She and her hi Beans Queens. I've been listening for over a year now. I appreciate so much getting my news from you. I spent the last two years developing a new business. After I closed my retail ART GALLERY In 2023, I also started making pottery again, setting up a small home studio. I've made what I call blessing tokens for about a decade. They're small coin sized porcelain tokens with words of positivity for affirmations stamped on them to balance out all the hope, love and gratitude. I also make spicy tokens such as Shut the fuck up, I don't give a fuck and for sake the abbreviation. My friends think they're hilarious and I'm having a blast making and selling them. I can even make custom tokens. So bring it on and say whatever the fuck you want to say. Here's a link to my shop, singingtree pottery myshopify.com for my podpet tariff. Here's my pair of 12 year old kitties, Desiree and Flash. Flash is the long haired cat. He's getting a little senile and sometimes wanders the house howling for company. Oh, even though my partner and I both work from home. Don't worry, he gets plenty of attention. Thank you so much for all. You both do and you both do so, so much.
- [32:50]
I love this when cats synchronize sleep like this.
- [32:53]
B
They're so cute. Look at that.
- [32:55]
A
Those tokens are.
- [32:56]
B
It's like a painting. They really are. All of this is wonderful. Thank you, thank you, thank you. All right, this next one's from Nancy K. No pronouns given. Hello Beanies I have a blankie story. But we have to go back to the 1950s. I was one of those kids who would puke. No nice way to say it. If I rode in the backseat of a car for more than three miles. Yeah, not fun for anyone. Now we go to when I'm in high school. The motion sickness has eased up a bit. My Spanish club decision to take up a road trip to Mexico by bus from Wisconsin. It was three days of misery. And the lamatil. I guess that's the drug I'm sure helped, but not that much. Any lomatil. I bet it's lomatil. Anyway, we went to some floating gardens where I fell in love with this pure wool blanket. I was so tired I slept all the way home on the bus. So I wasn't sick at all. As you can see, my blanket survived many moves. Two kids, several dogs and cats. It's on my bed every winter. My gosh. I have a dad joke too. My dad's favorite. Why do geese fly in a V?
- [34:03]
It's the only letter they know.
- [34:06]
Love your show.
- [34:09]
A
Look at the blankie. And a kitty.
- [34:11]
B
That's amazing. Blankets. 75 years old.
- [34:14]
A
Now that's a good wubby story. Yeah everybody. If you're pretty new to the daily beans. We used to have a very long introduction to the good news. It's pared down a little bit over time but we used to have have you send in your wooby stories and stuffy stories and we had some that were like 100 years old and people would send in pictures of the stuffed animals that they've had their whole life. And this is along those lines. So Nancy K. Thank you for that would be story. Oh my God.
- [34:43]
B
I started giggling. I didn't mean to because you were saying something serious but oh my goodness.
- [34:48]
A
This next picture is why we're why Dana was laughing and I'm just. Oh my gosh. I'm beside myself. This is from anonymous nurse here. And yes it's my profession would not be here if not for government funded programs used all to get where I am and keep my child alive. Also a little correction. The fish is called mahi. Mahi is a A dolphin. D A U P H I N not dolphin but still confusion. Attached is one of my tiny rescues. Kind of suits the feeling we're all having right now. She's a mixed breed of all five pounds of her. Five pounds. That's tiny. She's currently 11 years old. Second pick is her and her adopted sis who is purebred and Breeder release who is now diabetic and blind. Just love you guys.
- [35:34]
B
Oh, my God. I can't. I can't.
- [35:37]
A
So little Zoe has to be like a Yorkie cup something.
- [35:43]
B
I would just say Yorkie. Yeah.
- [35:46]
A
Let's see. Maltese and Yorkie. A morkie. Very cute. And the other ones. Or Sophie. It looks like just a pure Yorkie, right? Yeah, looks to me. Yep, that's what. That's what Sophie is. They're adorable. Oh, my goodness. Little princesses.
- [36:05]
B
All right, next up from Anonymous. Pronoun. She and her hello Ag and dg. A small self shout out with a build in pod pet tax. I accidentally became a foster mom this summer when five backyard kittens, an injured dad and a newly pregnant mom showed up unionized and demanded universal basic kibble.
- [36:29]
A
I'm. I'm pro ubk.
- [36:31]
B
Anonymous, thank you for this submission already. For being a great writer. Three months, 10 vet visits and a TNR certification later, everyone's healthy. The best part is this whole adventure brought me closer to my neighbors. And now we're building our own tiny backyard feline mutual aid network. Two still need their forever home. And I am hoping the Leguminati might know someone seeking a pair of Brooklyn boys ready to radicalize a household couch with snuggles. Eight months old. Obi Short for the white tip reef shark. Oh, boy.
- [37:03]
A
Trinity Trinodon, Trinidon, Trionodon, Tranodon.
- [37:12]
B
Tri. Anodon obesus is an extroverted himbo with a diesel engine purr. And slinky is this introverted but chatty emotional support noodle brother. I set up a simple page with all their info@amandasholz.com adopt thanks for keeping me sane, patient, and in good trouble. Always. Amanda. Amanda, I need you to get a job to write the the ads for animals that need to be adopted at shelters.
- [37:42]
A
Please.
- [37:43]
B
I mean, I'm sure you have a lot on your plate. You are so good at this.
- [37:48]
A
Yeah. Oh, my gosh. And where are you located, Amanda?
- [37:53]
B
I think Brooklyn.
- [37:55]
A
Brooklyn? Too far for me to come and just kidnap these cats.
- [37:59]
B
Well, if you had read this before you flew out, you could have taken him on the plane.
- [38:04]
A
Yeah, people love that when you bring cats on planes. Oh, everybody, thank you so much for the good news. After those first couple of stories in the A block, I really needed this. So keep sending us your good news. We all need it so very much and we really, really appreciate it it. We're going to go see you over on the Beans Talk video podcast and be back in your ears. Here tomorrow. Dana, do you have any final thoughts?
- [38:30]
B
No. That's it? No.
- [38:33]
A
We'll see you then. 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.
- [38:39]
B
I'm A.G. and I'm G. I'm. I don't know who I am because AG said something weird.
- [38:44]
A
I know. I didn't say I've been AG I said I am AG and I'm dg.
- [38:50]
I'm in myself today.
- [38:51]
B
What? I guess so. And I apparently am not.
- [38:54]
A
Them's the beans.
- [38:57]
Now we don't know how to end this show. Jesus Christ.
- [39:01]
B
Falling off the rails, people.
- [39:03]
A
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 Joel Reader with Moxie Design Studios. Music for the Daily Beans is written and performed by they Might Be Giant 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.