(CNN)As they ate breakfast after a long night shift, a group of EMTs was brought to tears by a heartwarming surprise: Their meal had been paid for.

The six volunteers were dining at an IHOP in Toms River, New Jersey, on Friday when an anonymous woman paid their bill, leaving a moving message on the receipt.

"Paid, thank you for all you do! Have a great day!" the note said. It was simply signed: "Recovering Addict."

Alyssa Golembeski, captain of the Toms River First Aid Squad, said the general manager of the IHOP came to the EMTs' table to inform them that a woman had paid for their meal.

"EMTs do not eat light," Golembeski said. "We racked up a $77 bill."

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/23/health/recovering-addict-emt-breakfast-bill-trnd/index.html?utm_content=2018-07-24T18%3A30%3A03&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twCNN&utm_term=image

"I'm simply doing what I wish someone would have done when I was trying to figure things out, being a woman of faith and a mother with a gay son."

This is Sara Cunningham, she's a mother of two from Ohio who works at an architecture firm.

She's also an ordained minister, and an LGBTQ+ advocate. Cunningham told BuzzFeed News that having a gay son has directed her activism.

"I thought 'if my son is going to hell for being gay I'm gonna fight for him like my hair is on fire,'" she said. "Since then I've gotten educated and no longer believe that- so now I've fighting for him and the LGBTQ community like my hair is on fire because I've seen the power of what fear and ignorance can do."

Since 2016, Cunningham has married people all over Ohio, including lots of LGBTQ+ couples.

On Friday, Cunningham shared a post on Facebook volunteering to attend the weddings of any same-sex couples who don't have support from their parents.



https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hanifahrahman/this-woman-has-offered-to-be-a-stand-in-mom-lgbt-weddings?bftwnews&utm_term=4ldqpgc#4ldqpgc

The Democratic Party’s steady move to the left in recent times, particularly in the past year and a half, is one of the most important developments of this era in American politics. And inevitably, the concern trolls are out, telling the party that it will waste an opportunity if it goes too far to the left.

For instance, here’s former Republican James B. Comey, sharing his political insights about what does and doesn’t affect elections:

Democrats, please, please don’t lose your minds and rush to the socialist left. This president and his Republican Party are counting on you to do exactly that. America’s great middle wants sensible, balanced, ethical leadership.
— James Comey (@Comey) July 22, 2018

Here’s Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center, telling liberals that they’ll never beat President Trump with a bunch of leftist policy ideas. And it’s not just Republicans; the group Third Way held a gathering of moderate Democrats so that they could wring their hands about where the party is going. “The Democrats, in my opinion, would make a big mistake if they decide to run a base election and just say, ‘Our base is bigger than your base,’ ” said former New Orleans mayor and possible presidential candidate Mitch Landrieu.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/07/23/republicans-are-telling-democrats-to-move-right-its-dreadful-advice/?utm_term=.c6a003383486&tid=sm_tw

Nevadans could soon make history by electing the nation’s first female-majority state legislature.

Women already make up nearly 40 percent of those elected to serve in Carson City and — after winning a record number of primary contests in June — could make up nearly two-thirds of the statehouse by Nov. 7.

'The difference is women are finding their voices'

All of which helps explain why national media have descended on the Silver State in recent weeks to proclaim it the nation’s best chance to close the state legislative gender gap in 2018.

https://www.rgj.com/story/news/politics/2018/07/23/nevada-legislature-elect-first-female-majority/801728002/

OAKLAND — Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland, one of the party’s most outspoken progressive voices, will formally launch her campaign Monday to chair the House Democratic Caucus — a post that would make her the first African-American woman to hold a leadership spot in either major political party.

“When you look at the history of the Democratic Party and the Democratic leadership, African-American women...we’ve been the backbone of the Democratic Party — we should be in the face of leadership also,’’ Lee told POLITICO in an interview Sunday. Whether it comes to grassroots issues, or voter mobilization and political activism, she said, black women have long proven they can “lead not only our communities, but lead our country, on the very tough issues facing us.”

Lee, first elected to Congress in 1998 in one of the nation’s most liberal bastions, argues she has a long record as a coalition-builder who has dedicated her career to issues of concern to both poor urban and rural voters. As the party prepares for the 2020 election cycle, the California congresswoman said, “these are issues that we can all unify around, like jobs and economic growth,’’ poverty, education and health care.

“The strength of our caucus lies in our diversity of experiences and ideas,’’ Lee said in a letter to be released Monday to her congressional colleagues announcing her bid. “Whether it’s working across the aisle to enact HIV/AIDS laws, or bringing the Sanders and Clinton campaigns together behind a cohesive and progressive Democratic platform, my career has been dedicated to finding common ground and delivering results.”

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/23/barbara-lee-house-democrats-735616

Democrats, please, please don’t lose your minds and rush to the socialist left. This president and his Republican Party are counting on you to do exactly that. America’s great middle wants sensible, balanced, ethical leadership.

On treadmill with 6 year old keeping me company again - today’s questions all about “Vanderby Putin” - he wants to know if Putin is a robber...if Poo-tin is a bathroom word and if he should arrest Vanderby Putin.
https://twitter.com/NicolleDWallace/status/1021041916652281858

All answerable with Yes.
https://twitter.com/MalcolmNance/status/1021114502606131200