Dear friends,
I used to know a guy who came from the Pacific Northwest. He was optimistic and upbeat. He used the phrase ‘sunny breaks’ to describe the little hints of clear blue in a cloudy sky. It occurred to me that his optimism was a weather-related adaptation: one can focus on the clouds and the rain, or one can watch for the sunny breaks.
I cannot sustain a grim outlook. It may not be entirely logical, but I can see the sunny breaks in our political climate even when the prospects for catastrophe are also visible.
The issue is staffing ratios, which have left nurses overextended and made it nearly impossible to do their jobs. Montefiore currently has hundreds of vacancies on its nursing staff. If the nurses win, we all win.
There are no sunny breaks yet at Mount Sinai, where management has declined to resume talks. A strike date of January 17 is set for Wyckoff Heights Medical Center if ongoing negotiations are unsuccessful. There are agreements in place at seven other hospitals.
USPS can deliver abortion pills! The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) found that mailing mifepristone or misoprostol is not a violation of the Comstock Act unless the sender knows that the pills will be used illegally.
The Justice Department’s finding is a sunny break in the post-Dobbs environment.
NYC will purchase more electric vehicles for the city’s fleet with a $10 million federal grant. The plan is to replace existing gas-powered vehicles with more than 900 electric vehicles and to use some of the federal money to install hundreds of electrical vehicle charging stations throughout the city.
When we talk about climate action, we often toggle between actions that are narrow — to prevent or shutter specific fossil fuel projects, to update the municipal fleet with EVs — and the broader initiatives that are designed to constrain environmental destruction and foster a just transition to renewable energy.
Yesterday, I offered a sort of mixed grill of quick actions, some of which are immediate and specific, like banning leaded airplane fuel, and some of which are broader in scope. If you missed them, it’s not too late!
The work that focuses on biodiversity also has this dual nature; we protect this species in that habitat AND we try to create a new way of living in the world that leaves space for other species.
Three years ago, three members of Congress introduced a resolution to call for a national biodiversity strategy. We still don’t have one, but we should. Congress is not required (yup, we’re working around them for the time being).
Call on the Biden Administration to develop a national strategy to protect biodiversity. This quick action is from the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
In a unanimous ruling, three federal judges threw out a South Carolina gerrymander that violated the Voting Rights Act. The district — and presumably at least one of its neighbors — must be redrawn before future elections. We’re going to be fighting each specific violation of voting rights for a while, since this Congress will not pass voting rights legislation.
There are potential areas of agreement with House Republicans, although it may be difficult to picture. Their constituents favor the expanded Child Tax Credit, too. Democrats are going to need to get better at repeating themselves. This is actually one of the president’s strengths.
Call on the president to keep talking about the importance of restoring the expanded Child Tax Credit. This action is from the Coalition on Human Needs.
I’m starting to enjoy leaving messages at George Santos’s office, calling on him to resign. It helps to have new information each day. I think we should continue.
A formal ethics complaint against Santos was filed with the Federal Election Commission yesterday. In addition to the charges that Santos illegally used campaign funds for personal expenses, the complaint alleges that Santos’s claim to have loaned his campaign more than $700,000 does not square with information on his financial disclosure reports.
Monday's FEC complaint also raised the prospect of international meddling in the election. It alleged: "The concealed true source behind $705,000 in contributions to Santos's campaign could be a corporation or foreign national — both of which are categorically barred from contributing to federal candidates."
Call George Santos and tell him to resign. The script is updated.
There has also been widespread international condemnation of the attack on democracy there. The Brazilian government has not yet charged Bolsonaro with a crime, but we will call for his extradition the moment that he is charged.
Meanwhile, it isn’t entirely clear what sort of visa Bolsonaro used to enter the US. If he doesn’t have a tourist visa, maybe DeSantis can load him onto a bus when he is discharged from the hospital; Bolsonaro checked in yesterday to be treated for stomach pains. I wish him a speedy recovery. . .and return trip home.
Judge Harriet Thompson, who was just a few years into a 14-year term on the Brooklyn Surrogate’s Court, has resigned her position, effective March 1. Thompson was facing a formal complaint related to her repeated use of bigoted ethnic and homophobic slurs.
In addition to her agreement to resign, Judge Thompson promised not to seek or accept a judicial position in the future and to stop pursuing litigation against the NYS Commission on Judicial Conduct.
Keep your eyes open for the sunny breaks!
with love,
L