A holiday wreath in our favorite color!
Good morning, Gnusies, and a good one it is!! The J6 Committee has made its referrals to the DOJ, and we have strong reason to hope that tfg and his minions will at last be held accountable under the law for their treasonous actions.
I’m leaving it to others to do a deep dive on this most important story of the day. Instead, I’m focusing, as usual, on the eclectic good news I’ve found on the back pages. And, also as usual, there’s a lot of it! So make yourself comfortable in a cozy spot with something warm to drink, and let’s share some good news!
Opening music
To get us into a holiday mood, here’s a lovely rendition of the Ukrainian song "Shchedryk,” which we know as the Carol of the Bells.
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Good news in politics
Jan. 6 committee votes in favor of criminal referrals for Trump, others
Of course, the overwhelmingly important news today is the J6 committee’s referral of charges yesterday against “Donald J. Trump and others” for their roles in the attempt to overturn the 2020 election. As I mentioned in my intro, I’ll leave the analysis and predictions of the fallout from this momentous action to the skilled political writers on DKos and elsewhere. But if you were unable to watch the proceedings, here are a couple of video clips that I found especially powerful.
Although all the committee members and Chair Thompson have done heroic work, Jamie Raskin gets my vote as the most amazing of all of them. It’s never far from my mind that the funeral for his 25-year-old son, who killed himself after suffering for years from crippling depression, happened on January 5, 2021, and that Raskin was at the Capitol on January 6 with his daughter and her husband — “The reason they came with me that Wednesday, January 6th, is they wanted to be together with me in the middle of a devastating week for our family,” he said. I truly can’t imagine anyone surviving the twin blows of the sudden loss of a beloved child and experiencing the terror of January 6th in person. But when asked about his feelings, what Raskin said was this: "I'm not going to lose my son at the end of 2020 and lose my country and my republic in 2021. It's not going to happen."
Here he is laying out the charges:
And here are the final votes:
Democrats will seek to return more than $2 million from Bankman-Fried
Rs got money from SBF, too. See Prosecutors Contact Dem, GOP Recipients Of Money From FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried: Report. What do you think the odds are that they’re going to return any of it?
From The Washington Post:
The three major Democratic campaign groups said Friday they would set aside more than $2 million they received from Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, and eventually seek to return the money to the exchange’s customers.
The announcements — from the Democratic National Committee and two groups that help elect House and Senate Democrats — came days after Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas and charged with violating securities and campaign finance laws. A federal prosecutor described the matter as “one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.”
The Democrats’ decision adds to the pressure on a wide variety of other political organizations, many of which have not yet said how they will proceed after accepting the FTX founder’s generous contributions during the 2022 election cycle.
Biden team planning a dramatically expanded digital strategy for 2024
Biden’s team has shown itself to be very good at using digital platforms, much to many people’s surprise. Now it looks like they’re planning to boost their presence significantly, so they can continue wooing younger voters.
From The Washington Post:
President Biden’s political advisers are preparing a strategy for his likely 2024 reelection campaign that would dramatically expand efforts to organize content-sharing between supporters and their friends on digital platforms, including TikTok and WhatsApp, where political advertising is not allowed, according to people involved in the effort.
The new plans, which build upon lessons from the 2020 campaign, are just one part of an expansive research effort funded by the Democratic National Committee to prepare for Biden’s expected campaign launch next year. Top advisers have been testing ways to reactivate volunteers and donors, and they completed a review this summer of the shifts in how voters consumed political information over the last two years. ✂️
...much of the focus of party strategists has been on groups of voters who are increasingly spending time consuming information in private digital environments, mostly through their phones, or on public platforms where paid political advertising is not available, including chat threads and other smaller communities built around nonpolitical interests, like fitness. Democratic strategists have concluded that in many cases, volunteers can have more impact by creating or distributing content to their digital communities than by spending their time on more traditional canvassing operations.
“The idea is not just to meet people where they are, but it’s to meet people everywhere they are,” said Jen O’Malley Dillon, a senior Biden adviser, speaking about the shifting media environment. “And that’s complicated and hard.” ✂️
Biden advisers emphasize that the new techniques will not replace traditional field programs. Investments in door-to-door canvassing, for example, are expected to increase over what past Democratic campaigns did before the coronavirus pandemic.
Meet the woman steering Biden’s bipartisan winning streak on Capitol Hill
Terrell sounds a lot like Pelosi — savvy, strategic, and indefatigable.
From CNN:
The Biden administration managed to rack up a long list of major legislative wins in its first two years despite facing one of the most closely-divided Congresses in history. From bipartisan action on infrastructure, gun safety and same-sex marriageto party-line bills tackling climate change and expanding health care coverage, it’s a record President Joe Biden and Democrats on the ballot were all eager to tout on the campaign trail during the midterms.
But far from the spotlight is a woman who helped make all that happen: Louisa Terrell.
As the director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs, Terrell, 53, leads a team that is the president’s collective eyes and ears in Congress. “Making sure we’re responding, making sure we’re being proactive, figuring out what’s happening here in this building,” Terrell told CNN...
She describes her role as a conductor for moving Biden’s agenda through Congress.
“You want to be talking to committees, caucuses. Who’s talking to leadership? Who are the up-and-comers? What’s the floor action? What’s running quickly? What’s slowing down? And you need all these sort of tentacles out there, and then bringing that back every day.”
But unlike an actual conductor who is front and center of an orchestra, Terrell operates very much behind the scenes.
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🍿 Repellent Republicans Rushing toward Ruin 🍿
🎩 to Maru for posting this great cartoon in a comment in the Evening Shade last Tuesday:
Here’s Beau on the dynamic between McCarthy and McConnell. Spoiler alert: McCarthy is likely to be crushed like the spineless worm we all know he is.
'Dimwitted' Republicans buried by Wall Street Journal over post-midterm chaos
It’s just delicious to see the WSJ start skewering Rs.
From Raw Story:
After writing, "A handful of other backbenchers say they’ll also oppose Mr. McCarthy, which could lead to multiple ballots and perhaps even a Democratic Speaker," the editors added, "What’s bizarre is that the dissenters don’t have major policy differences with Mr. McCarthy or a plausible alternative candidate for Speaker. Mr. Biggs has no chance. He and his rump group also don’t seem to have any constructive reason to oppose Mr. McCarthy beyond a desire to grab the media spotlight or blow everything up."
They continued, "... a narrow GOP majority of only 222-213 requires a leader who can enforce party discipline. That’s how Nancy Pelosi has been able to govern with the mirror-image majority in the last two years. Too many House Republicans are too dimwitted to understand the uses of power and how to wield it. They’d rather rage against the machine to no useful effect."
Also swept up in the WSJ editorial attack are the Republicans in the Senate who are working on an omnibus deal with the Democrats that the editors said is not helping McCarthy's cause.
"[Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell and the Senate GOP don’t trust that Mr. McCarthy can deliver in January, or so they say. They won’t even give him the chance," they wrote before adding, "Senate Democrats and the White House will have a united front and could roll over a divided GOP."
The editors then lamented, "The GOP dysfunction since Election Day won’t matter if it teaches Republicans that their only chance of influencing policy is to stay united. On the evidence so far, however, Republicans are the gang that couldn’t shoot straight—except at one another."
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The media misbehaving
My new motto for this section: “When News Breaks, We Fix It!”
Just Like Elon Musk, the New York Times Can’t Stop Trolling the Libs
I just became aware of Press Watch, and I immediately subscribed to their email newsletter. This excerpt shows why.
From Press Watch:
The pathologies of the New York Times newsroom have rarely been laid out as clearly as they were on [December 10th], when it published an article by Jeremy Peters headlined “Critics Say Musk Has Revealed Himself as a Conservative. It’s Not So Simple.”
What Elon Musk stands for, Peters wrote, “remains largely unclear.”
And it wasn’t just Peters adopting this ridiculous argument. His editor, and their editor, and a whole slew of other editors either actively approved of the article or chose not to say anything and let it get published.
How, you might well ask, could the nation’s most influential and celebrated newsroom bring forth something so laughably, ludicrously wrong?
I think I know:
- By valuing contrarianism over common sense.
- By valuing smugness over humility.
- By valuing savviness over wisdom.
- By valuing unflappability over sounding the alarm.
- By valuing trolling the libs over sounding like one.
- By valuing “balance” even where there is none.
In short, by valuing reporters like Jeremy Peters.
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Quote of the week
“Twitter is an important part of how we disseminate and process news, and it’s now in the hands of an irritable and unpredictable child. This is one more step in the infantilization of American life, in which we must accommodate and work around the behavior of grown men and women who not so long ago would have been pushed out of public life either by our collective political disgust or by responsible shareholders who would insist that their corporate leaders get back to work instead of making a spectacle of themselves.”
— Tom Nichols, The Atlantic Daily, 12/16/2022
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Good news from my corner of the world
Oregon reaches nearly $700M settlement with Monsanto over PCB contamination
It’s always good news when Monsanto loses a lawsuit and has to pay up.
From Oregon Public Broadcasting:
Oregon’s attorney general announced a nearly $700 million settlement Thursday with the biotech giant Monsanto for its alleged role in polluting the state over the course of decades with toxic compounds known as polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs.
It’s the largest pollution settlement in Oregon’s history and by far the largest Monsanto has paid out to address the forever chemicals that polluted wide swaths of the state. ✂️
...from the 1930s to just before they were banned in 1979, Monsanto was the sole manufacturer of PCBs in the United States. Since at least 1937, the company knew they were harmful. The chemicals were distributed throughout Oregon in a variety of products, including paint, caulking and electrical equipment. ✂️
“Even when Monsanto had overwhelming evidence of the hazards that PCBs create, Monsanto continued to flood the country with these toxic materials,” according to the state’s complaint. “Monsanto’s own internal documents show that it was not interested in protecting people or the environment; rather, its only concern was in protecting its balance sheet.”
Monsanto admitted no wrongdoing as part of the settlement agreement.
Multnomah County votes to support more rent assistance
There’s a very interesting battle currently going on between Portland’s Mayor and the County Board of Commissioners on the subject of the proper use of funds to help solve our homelessness problem. It’s too long to go into here, but if you’d like to read about it, here’s a link: www.oregonlive.com/…
My sympathies are with those who believe that using rent assistance to prevent further homelessness is a moral imperative and that creating massive encampments is not a viable way to help those who are homeless. So the following story is a good news in my opinion.
From The Oregonian:
The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved an additional $28.6 million to largely fund rent assistance to prevent homelessness for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends in June.
Thursday’s board approval comes at the end of County Chair Deborah Kafoury’s tenure and following a controversial request from Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler to divert $21 million to the city to support his plan to
ban homeless camping and force people into large city-run encampments. The city approved nearly $27 million last month to
kick-start the development of their tent sites.
Kafoury pushed back on that request in an October letter to Wheeler and others, and Thursday’s vote seals her desire to snub Wheeler’s plan and continue funding existing programs through the city and county’s Joint Office of Homelessness Services.
Kafoury thanked county workers who worked to center the voices and experiences of homeless individuals at the heart of their work and policy making.
Sale of flavored nicotine products in Multnomah County to be banned in 2024
It’s about time these products were banned.
From The Oregonian:
Sales of flavored nicotine products will be forbidden in Multnomah County starting in 2024 under a new ordinance county commissioners approved Thursday, capping a multi-year effort to make a dent in youth vaping and health disparities.
“This is going to save people’s lives,” County Chair Deborah Kafoury said shortly before the board voted unanimously to approve the ban.
The county’s effort toward banning flavored tobacco and nicotine products most recently escalated with presentations and discussions in 2019, amidst a national vaping scare driven by cases of severe lung disease that were in many cases found to be connected to illicit cannabis vape products. That work was cut short by the pandemic. ✂️
Unless the ban is blocked in court, starting Jan. 1, 2024, Multnomah County retailers will be barred from selling any cigarettes, vape products, chewing tobacco or synthetic nicotine products that have any flavor besides tobacco. Notably, the ban includes menthol cigarettes, which health officials say are especially popular — and damaging — among Black people.
Man convicted of hate crime against Portland refugee center ordered to write reports on genocide, Ta-Nehisi Coates book
I love creative sentencing. This example is especially satisfying.
From The Oregonian:
A man who stuck a racist sticker to the outside of a Portland refugee agency was sentenced this month to probation — and anti-racist reading.
Jarl J. Rockhill admitted to affixing the sticker, which showed a male figure making a Nazi salute above the word “pure,” to a fence at the Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization… ✂️
Judge Christopher Ramras sentenced Rockhill to 50 hours of community service and ordered him to write a letter of apology to the organization and to write reports on “Between the World and Me,” by acclaimed author Ta-Nehisi Coates, and the 2018 documentary “Myanmar’s Killing Fields.” ✂️
“Between the World and Me” explores the violence inflicted on Black people throughout American history. It won the National Book Award in 2015. The 2018 PBS documentary “Myanmar’s Killing Fields” depicts how security forces have waged a deadly campaign of ethnic cleansing against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims. ✂️
Ramras imposed $100 in attorneys fees and warned Rockhill that he would impose as much as 150 hours of additional community service if the reports and apology letter weren’t sincere.
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Seasonal Special: Last-minute DIY gifts
Five days out from Christmas and two days into Hanukkah, I thought you all might appreciate a few ideas for DIY gifts you can make in a hurry.
Peppermint Bark
From Dinner at the Zoo:
This recipe for classic peppermint bark is layers of white and dark chocolate topped with crushed candy canes. A holiday favorite that’s quick to make and perfect for parties and gift giving.
Ingredients:
- 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips or chopped semi sweet chocolate
- 16 ounces white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate [Guittard brand, see below]
- 1/2 teaspoonpeppermint extract
- 3/4 cup crushed candy canes
Instructions:
-
Place the semisweet chocolate chips in a medium bowl and microwave for 30 second increments until melted. Stir until smooth.
-
Spread the chocolate into a roughly 9″x 13″ rectangle on a piece of parchment paper. Place the chocolate in the fridge for 15 minutes to set.
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Place the white chocolate chips in a medium bowl and microwave for 30 second increments until melted. Add the peppermint extract and stir until smooth.
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Spread the white chocolate over the semisweet chocolate layer. Top with candy canes. Let harden in the fridge for about 20 minutes or until the chocolate is completely set. Remove from the fridge and let the bark sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Cut or break into pieces and serve.
Notes:
- I find that the easiest way to crush the candy is to place it in a resealable bag, then use a meat mallet or rolling pin to break it into small pieces.
- This recipe only has 4 ingredients which means quality really counts. Use the highest quality chocolate you can find, and look for white chocolate that contains real cocoa butter and not just palm oil. My favorite brand is Guittard. [My bolding. I made the mistake of using Ghirardelli white chocolate chips once, and the white chocolate layer refused to stick to the dark chocolate layer.]
- Using white chocolate with palm oil may cause your layers of bark to separate. [That was the problem with the Ghirardelli white chocolate.]
- For best results, chill the bark completely to let the layers fuse together, then bring it back to room temperature for cutting. I find using a knife produces nicer results than breaking the bark apart with your hands.
Chai Spice Mix
For quick homemade chai, add 1 to 1½ teaspoons of this spice mix to a mug of half black tea and half hot milk.
Makes about ½ cup spice mix.
From The Toasty Kitchen:
Ingredients:
- ¼ cup ground ginger
- ⅓ cup ground cinnamon
- 4 teaspoons ground cloves
- 4 teaspoons ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions:
To give it as a gift, put the mix in a decorative spice jar, tie a ribbon around the jar with a tag, and pair it with tea (preferably Assam) and/or a mug.
Chile-Lime Salt
This is delicious on just about anything savory — red meats, poultry, fish, eggs, you name it!
From Mommypotamus:
Makes about ½ cup.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unrefined salt (coarse or fine)
- 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon fresh zest from an organic lime [if it’s not organic, there are pesticides on the peel]
Instructions:
- Using a microplane zester or cheese grater, remove the outer zest from the lime. Make sure not to peel off the bitter white pith, just the outside will do.
- Lay zest on a towel and allow to air dry for a few hours, then combine with salt and crushed red pepper flakes.
- Optional Step: If the consistency is more coarse than you’d like, you can pop 2-3 tablespoons at a time in a clean coffee grinder and pulse until your desired texture is reached. Continue the process until all the salt has been ground.
- Pour your finished salt into a pretty jar. It’s now ready for use!
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Good news from around the nation
New penalties for companies that illegally fire workers who unionize
It’s wonderful to see the NLRB doing what it’s supposed to be doing! It makes a real difference to have a pro-labor President.
From The Washington Post:
Companies that illegally fire or demote unionizing workers can now be held responsible for workers’ financial demise — including credit card late fees, lost housing or cars and health-care costs — in a move that could help some workers who have been fired from Starbucks and Amazon, labor activists say.
In a big win for labor unions, the National Labor Relations Board ruled on [December 13th] to expand the fees and penalties the agency can collect from employers that illegally terminate workers for labor activism, both union and nonunion, in a move long sought after by the labor movement.
“Employees are not made whole until they are fully compensated for financial harms that they suffered as a result of unlawful conduct,” said labor board chair Lauren McFerran in a statement.
For decades, employers that fired workers for their involvement in labor organizing — a legally protected activity — have only had to pay for the employee’s reinstatement and lost wages. But labor advocates say that has amounted to little more than a slap on the wrist, especially for major employers with deep pockets such as Amazon and Starbucks. ✂️
The ruling arrives under the recommendation of the labor board’s top legal counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, appointed by President Biden, who has expanded the agency’s tool kit in some unprecedented ways and could be the president’s best shot at being the most pro-labor president in U.S. history.
Decades After the Central Park Jogger Attack, a City Marks Its Mistake
Kudos to NYC for, as the article puts it, “formally memorializing its colossal mistake” in this wonderful way.
From The New York Times:
They entered the northeast corner of Central Park one night in 1989 and were later falsely prosecuted for the brutal attack and rape of a woman who was jogging. Now five Black and Latino men, who went to prison as teenagers and spent years behind bars for a crime they did not commit, are being honored by the city, which is renaming a gate to the park for them.
“The Gate of the Exonerated,” it will be called.
The men, who came to be known as the Central Park Five, were cleared in 2002. Ever since society has tried to understand and make amends for a mistake that cannot be undone. The men received $41 million in a settlement with New York City. Their case was the subject of a 2012 documentary, a Pulitzer Prize-winning opera and a 2019 Netflix mini-series exploring how so much could have gone so wrong.
The designation of the gate is a rare instance of a municipality formally memorializing its colossal mistake, acknowledging the error in sandstone, etched onto the wall at the point where the teenagers entered the park that evening.
The project began three years ago when members of the local community board and members of the Central Park Conservancy, the nonprofit group that administers the park for the city, began discussing possible ways to recognize the injustice in a public way. Final approval came [December 12] in a vote by the Public Design Commission, the New York City panel that oversees the city’s art, including its public monuments.
[Pittsburgh] City Council resolution could forgive up to $115 million in public medical debt
RIP Medical Debt is getting noticed by more and more cities, which is great news. Of course, what we really need is universal health care so that no one is burdened with exorbitant medical bills, but in the meantime this is a very effective solution.
From Pittsburgh City Paper:
A resolution introduced to City Council today would forgive up to $115 million in medical debt for up to 24,000 Pittsburghers.
Pittsburgh City Councilmember Bobby Wilson introduced the bill, which would have the city partner with national nonprofit RIP Medical Debt to purchase and discharge eligible healthcare debt. The organization has determined that 24,000 Pittsburghers meet the criteria for debt relief under the terms of the bill, which requires recipients have accrued at least some of their debt since the onset of the pandemic. ✂️
The proposed effort would be funded by $1 million of the city’s American Rescue Plan Act allocation. Pittsburgh has received $335 million in total through this federal COVID-19 relief funding allocation. ✂️
Mohammed Burny, Wilson’s chief of staff, tells Pittsburgh City Paper the resolution is patterned after successful initiatives in Toledo, Ohio and Cook County, Illinois that used ARPA funds to discharge medical debt.
Kentucky Supreme Court strikes down school choice provisions
🎩 to first-time DKos diarist Anthony H in Ky for alerting me to this story in a diary on Friday.
From AP:
In a bitter defeat for school choice advocates, Kentucky’s Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a Republican-backed initiative to award tax credits for donations supporting private school tuition — a program that opponents said would divert money from public schools.
The high court said in its unanimous decision that the 2021 provisions violated the state’s constitution. The justices upheld a lower court ruling against the program more than a year ago.
The measure sparked heated debate in narrowly winning passage from the state’s Republican-dominated Legislature over Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto. The contentious debate continued as advocates on both sides of the policy battle weighed in on the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Eddie Campbell, president of the Kentucky Education Association, a labor association representing tens of thousands of educators, hailed the ruling as a victory for public schools.
He was harassed for the Black Santa on his lawn. Now, he’s a professional Black Santa.
What a perfect response to racist hatred.
From The Washington Post:
It’s been two years since Chris Kennedy received a racist letter demanding that he remove the seven-foot inflatable Black Santa on his front lawn in North Little Rock.
“Please remove your negro Santa Claus yard decoration,” the letter, signed by an anonymous “Santa Claus,” read. “You should try not to deceive children into believing that I am negro. I am a caucasian (white man, to you) and have been for the past 600 years.”
Not only did Kennedy keep his Black Santa in place, but he also added a second one. His neighbors stood in solidarity, adorning their own front lawns with Black Santas.
Although Kennedy was deeply touched by the show of community support, he decided there was more he wanted to do to increase representation — and put the letter-writer, whose identity was never uncovered, in their place. He became a trained Santa Claus, saying he’d never seen another professional Black Santa in Arkansas.
“I couldn’t let hatred win,” said Kennedy, 35, who is a data verification analyst. “You don’t like me having a Black Santa in my front yard? I will go and be the Santa Claus for the entire city.”
Little Girl Gets Approval for State License to Own a Living Unicorn (If She Can Find One)
I love this story of a city bureaucrat recognizing an opportunity to do a good deed. I’ll bet it made her as happy as it made the little girl.
From Good News Network:
California just granted the first ever state license for Unicorn Husbandry, provided the young applicant can find one, and ensure it has appropriate exposure to sunlight, moonbeams, and rainbows. Department of Animal Care and Control added that its horn needed polishing every month with a soft cloth.
“Dear LA County, I would like your approval if I can have a unicorn in my backyard if I can find one,” wrote a girl named Madeline. In response, DACC sent an emblazoned “Permanent Unicorn License,” in fuschia-colored metal, alone with a white unicorn plushie with pink hooves and a silver horn.
DACC Director Marcia Mayeda praised Madeline’s “sense of responsible pet ownership to seek permission in advance” and for thoughtfully considering “the requirements of providing a loving home to animals.”
The agency posted images of the correspondence, the license, the medallion and the stuffed toy on its social media accounts.
The agency added that if the unicorn needed a topical treatment of sparkles and glitter, that they be exclusively non-toxic and biodegradable.
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Musical break
When my Catholic-raised mom married my Jewish stepdad, we began celebrating both Christmas and Hanukkah, so the holiday season was always extra-special for me. Here’s a sweet Hanukkah song — “We Came to Drive Away the Darkness” — which I chose in honor of my beloved stepdad, who brought light with him always.
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Good news from around the world
Nearly Every Country Signs On to a Sweeping Deal to Protect Nature
This is truly world-changing. Despite the fact that Republican obstructionism prevented the U.S. from signing on, I think we can be sure that President Biden will do all he can to support this agreement.
From The New York Times:
Roughly 190 countries early on Monday approved a sweeping United Nations agreement to protect 30 percent of the planet’s land and oceans by 2030 and to take a slew of other measures against biodiversity loss, a mounting under-the-radar crisis that, if left unchecked, jeopardizes the planet’s food and water supplies as well as the existence of untold species around the world.
The agreement comes as biodiversity is declining worldwide at rates never seen before in human history. Researchers have projected that a million plants and animals are at risk of extinction, many within decades. While many scientists and activists had pushed for even stronger measures, the deal, which includes verification mechanisms that previous agreements had lacked, clearly signals increasing momentum around the issue. ✂️
Overall, the deal lays out a suite of 23 conservation targets. The most prominent, known as 30x30, would place 30 percent of land and sea under protection. Currently, about 17 percent of the planet’s land and roughly 8 percent of its oceans are protected from activities like fishing, farming and industry.
While the United States sent a team to the talks, it could only participate from the sidelines because the country is just one of two in the world that are not party to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Republicans, who are typically opposed to joining treaties, have blocked United States membership. The only other country that has not joined the treaty is the Holy See.
The UK changed its tune on childcare
If the austerity-loving Tories can do this, the U.S. should be able to do it, too. But don’t hold your breath.
From Positive News:
In a move welcomed by many parents, the UK government has agreed that childcare is a critical national infrastructure, like schools, hospitals and public transport.
As the levelling-up and regeneration bill headed to the Commons for its final reading on Tuesday, Labour MP Stella Creasy tabled an amendment calling for childcare to be defined as national infrastructure.
Her amendment received cross-party support and the government accepted the new definition. It means that childcare provisions should qualify for money from a local infrastructure levy, which can be imposed on developers building new homes.
Rising nursery fees and a shortage of places means that many parents (but mostly mothers) are unable to go back to work after having children. The levelling-up and regeneration bill will now go to the House of Lords for consideration.
New Zealand bans future generations from buying tobacco under new laws
If a country is truly serious about becoming smokefree, this is the way to do it.
From Reuters:
Future generations of New Zealanders will be banned from purchasing tobacco as part of a package of new anti-smoking laws that passed parliament on Tuesday and are among the most strict in the world.
The suite of new laws include bans on selling tobacco to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, punishable by fines up to NZ$150,000 ($95,910). The ban will remain in place for a person's whole life.
The legislation will also reduce the amount of nicotine allowed in smoked tobacco products and cut the number of retailers able to sell tobacco by 90%. ✂️
Already boasting one of the lowest adult smoking rates among the 38 countries of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, New Zealand is further tightening anti-smoking laws as part of a government push to make the country "smokefree" by 2025.
Only Bhutan, which banned cigarette sales in 2010, will have stricter anti-smoking laws.
Ukraine General Staff posts Russian how-to video for guided surrender using quadcopter drone
This is a clever way to make these surrenders safer for Ukrainian troops.
From Meduza:
The Ukraine General Staff has published a video instruction for the Russian troops on how to surrender using a Ukrainian quadcopter drone. The video, with detailed instructions in Russian, is posted on the General Staff Facebook page.
Russian troops looking to surrender must notify the coordinators of the Ukrainian I Want to Live program, who will give them a time window for the drone’s arrival. Once the quadcopter appears, servicemen must confirm their intent to surrender by raising their arms, and then follow the drone towards a meeting point with the Ukrainian troops.
The Ukrainian side thinks that using drones to mediate surrenders will help make the procedure safer.
Ukrainians are celebrating Christmas even in bomb shelters
🎩 to quaoar for embedding this tweet in a diary on Sunday:
London’s theatres pledged to give away unsold tickets
This is such a great idea! I hope it’s widely copied.
From Positive News:
A cultural initiative based on the food bank formula will offer disadvantaged families free tickets to see shows in London’s West End.
Leading institutions, such as the Barbican, Roundhouse and National Theatre, have agreed to take part in the Ticket Bank project. Rather than leaving seats empty, participating venues will offer unsold gig and theatre tickets to people struggling with the cost of living.
“Access to art and culture are essential to the human condition,” said Chris Sonnex, artistic director at Cardboard Citizens, the charity behind the project. “[Ticket Bank] will give many people, who couldn’t otherwise, the opportunity to be entertained, to see other worlds, to escape and most importantly to dream.”
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Good news in medicine
Novel blood cancer treatment effective in three-fourths of trial patients
This is very exciting news.
From Optimist Daily:
According to new findings from an ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical research trial, a novel investigational immunotherapy resulted in successful response rates for 73 percent of patients with multiple myeloma, a lethal form of blood cancer. Based on these encouraging findings, an application to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to bring the drug to market has been submitted.
Talquetamab, the immunotherapy being tested, is a kind of treatment known as a bispecific T-cell engager antibody. It is a fairly unusual type of immunotherapy technique.
Bispecific antibodies, as opposed to typical monoclonal antibodies, are designed to bind to two distinct antigens. Talquetamab binds to CD3, a receptor on immunological T cells, and GPRC5D, a receptor identified in high concentrations on malignant plasma cells.
The purpose of bispecific antibodies is to create a link between immune cells and cancer cells. They simultaneously put a target flag on cancer cells and provide a guide to that target for immune cells.
Although the technology has been in development for decades, bispecific antibodies have just recently entered clinical trials. There are now three FDA-approved bispecific antibody therapeutics on the market (mostly for cancer), as well as more than 100 potential antibodies in clinical trials (for everything from Alzheimer’s to diabetes).
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Good news in science
Engineers use sticky tape to generate electricity
When I read stories like this, I always wonder what prompted the scientists to try the experiment in the first place. 😉
From Anthropocene Magazine:
Got some double-sided tape to hang up your holiday decorations? You could use it to generate enough electricity to light up those LED strings. A new study outlines a way to make a simple, cost-effective generator from tacky tape that converts friction into electricity.
The device is a type of triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), devices that harvest mechanical energy through the same phenomenon that causes static electricity. Compared to previous ones that are more complex, however, this tape-based generator packs almost 50 percent more energy by weight, researchers report in the journal ACS Omega. ✂️
Mechanical and aerospace engineering professor Gang Wang at the University of Alabama and his colleagues came up with a simple design that would be easy to make. One side of their TENG is a piece of store-bought double-sided tape with an acrylic glue layer. The other is a plastic film coated on an aluminum layer. Pressing these two materials together and pulling them apart builds up opposite charges on their surfaces, creating a spark of electricity. More pressure produces more power. Wang and colleagues say that the stickiness of the tape enhances the energy that is generated compared to previously reported devices.
In the laboratory, a generator about the size of a matchbox could power a string of 476 LED lights when pressed. It could also light up a laser diode. When attached to the bottom of a shoe, the device could power the lights with a single step, showing that it can be easily adapted to real-world applications. The TENG is also robust, and could endure over 100,000 press and release cycles.
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Musical break
Three more lovely carols, this time from Bulgaria.
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Good news for the environment
World’s First Hovering Robot That Collects Rare Minerals From Sea Floor Allows Industry to Ditch Dredging
This is a very clever alternative to current destructive methods of mining for the minerals needed for batteries.
From Good News Network:
With the need for critical battery minerals growing, a company has proved that sustainable ocean mining is possible with a discriminating robot miner. ✂️
Impossible Metals recently proved that it’s possible to harvest [“polymetallic nodules”] with precision and smart learning rather than dredging with large destructive plows. Their method is the Eureka 1, the world’s first undersea selective mining robot.
Full of lithium, nickel, and cobalt, the nodules could provide battery manufacturing with a more sustainable supply that doesn’t involve carbon-intensive mining, and avoids the geopolitical difficulties associated with pursuing these minerals in conflict zones or unstable states.
“Our harvesting machines don’t touch the seafloor,” said Renee Grogan, Chief Sustainability Officer and Co-founder. “What we’re designing is a fleet of underwater robotic vehicles. And they are not tethered to the vessel. They don’t make contact with the seabed. They hover above it.”
Once hovering above an area of seabed, an AI-powered computer will pick out nodules from other matter, and command a host of horseshoe crab-like grabber arms on the underside of the robot to pick them up and feed them through a hose into a collection chamber.
In November, the Eureka 1 dove to depths of 25 feet, successfully differentiated nodules from rocks, and utilized a special buoyancy compensation engine to bring them back to the surface.
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Good news for and about animals
Brought to you by Rosy, Nora, and Rascal.
Six Rescue Dogs Graduate as Life-Changing Assistance Dogs
Rosy chose this sweet story of rescue dogs and veterans helping each other.
From Good News Shared:
Six rescue dogs adopted from Dogs Trust recently enjoyed a celebratory night to remember as they graduated at Service Dogs UK’s annual accreditation event.
The super six assistance dogs have now formed life-changing partnerships with veterans from the Armed Forces and Emergency Services who have a clinical diagnosis of post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The internationally accredited PTSD assistance dog charity, Service Dogs UK, runs a programme where carefully selected rescue dogs are partnered with a veteran. Most of the dogs are adopted from the UK’s largest dog welfare charity Dogs Trust, so a close working relationship has developed between the two charities. ✂️
For up to 12 months, the veteran and their new dog work together to train and bond with the ultimate aim of successfully completing the programme to become a fully-fledged assistance dog partnership. The dogs typically assist by waking their handler from nightmares, fetching medication, interrupting anxiety attacks and depressive behaviours, taking them to the nearest exit when overwhelmed and positioning themselves to provide tactile comfort and support when needed.
“My assistance dog Ollie has helped transform my life, no doubt about it.” – Martin
“We see veterans change before our eyes as they go through the challenging but rewarding programme,” said Garry Botterill, founder and Operational Director of Service Dogs UK. “There is a real sense of ‘saving each other’ as the veteran and dog work together as a team towards accreditation. The training is a hugely positive experience for both, especially when there is that eureka moment and the unique and special bond is made.”
England Team Players Adopt ‘Big Dave’ the Stray Cat Who Made Himself a Social Media Star Like a Mascot
Nora says, “Good for the English National Football team! Good work, Dave!!!”
From Good News Network:
Football isn’t coming home for England, but the Three Lions are adding a fourth, albeit a small one, for the journey home.
The English National Football team is bringing Dave the Cat home from Qatar with them. The cat began to appear in players’ social media feeds, as the stray had taken to eating with the team and became their unofficial mascot. ✂️
England defender Kyle Walker said that Dave would come home if England won the World Cup, but as it turns out he’s coming home all the same.
A member of the traveling support staff for the team was eventually charged with taking Dave to the vet, ensuring he receives vaccinations and that his paperwork is in order to come home to England, where it’s not been revealed which team member will be adopting him.
At this Oregon raptor center, birds of prey take flight again
Rascal loves watching the bald eagles who frequently cruise over the wildlife area across from our house, so he also loves this story of raptors being rehabilitated.
From Oregon Public Broadcasting:
Over the last 32 years, the Cascades Raptor Center in Eugene has taken in more than 7,200 birds that have been injured, orphaned or fallen ill. Many have since been released back into the wild. Demand for the center’s services has taken off as well, as its profile and reputation have grown. ✂️
[The CRC] has come a long way in its 32 years. It’s most recent net assets have shown a rebound (roughly $1 million for 2021, compared to $822,000 for 2020; GuideStar gives the CRC a gold rating on its charitable ranking system). It’s also now a top destination for Eugene tourists, as well as a major resource for rescue and release operations.
“We have such a strong, supportive community, and we seem to be in a relatively strong financial position,” said [Louise] Schimmel [the nonprofit center’s founder and director emeritus]44j. “Altogether that means that we’ll be here for the long haul. That we’ll be in service to the community and to the birds for a long time.”
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Art break
Estonian Artist Uses a Chainsaw to Carve a Fantastical Dragon Bench
Click the link to see photos of this masterwork in progress. Absolutely amazing!
From My Modern Met (one of my favorite email newsletters):
Estonian artist Igor Loskutow is an award winning master of chainsaw art. Based in Germany, he's part of the Husqvarna chainsaw sculpture team, which travels to events across Europe in order to show off their cutting skills. One of Luskutow's newest pieces, an incredible dragon bench, is a masterpiece of the art form.
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Hot lynx
www.newyorker.com/… What Kevin McCarthy Will Do to Gain Power. I haven’t yet had a chance to read this New Yorker profile of McCarthy, but it looks well worth diving into. “His main strength has always been his malleability. There are no red lines, core policy beliefs, or inviolable principles, just a willingness to adapt to the moods of his conference.”
www.nytimes.com/… They Fought the Lawn. And the Lawn’s Done. “After their homeowner association ordered them to replace their wildlife-friendly plants with turf grass, a Maryland couple sued. They ended up changing state law.” (🎩 to T Maysle for posting this delightful story in the Evening Shade last Wednesday.)
lithub.com/...Part Bear, Part Bird, Part Monkey, Part Lizard: On the Deep Weirdness of Beavers. A fascinating excerpt from a new book on beavers by Leila Philip.
www.oregonlive.com/… The last Blockbuster video store in Bend inspires a Netflix show, nostalgia-loving customers, and more. A sweet story about “the last Blockbuster video rental store on the planet.”
mymodernmet.com/… Intimate Animal Portraits Capture Unique Quirks and Personalities of Cats, Dogs, and Horses. “’The idea for this project has been to capture close and telling portraits of the animals we are most familiar with, in an attempt to cast a fresh but honest gaze their way,” the photographer [said].’”
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Wherever is herd…
A tip of the hat to 2thanks for creating this handy info sheet for all Gnusies new and old!
Morning Good News Roundups at 7 x 7: These Gnusies lead the herd at 7 a.m. ET, 7 days a week:
- The Monday GNR Newsroom (Jessiestaf, Killer300, and Bhu). With their five, we survive and thrive.
- Alternating Tuesdays: NotNowNotEver and arhpdx.
- Wednesdays: niftywriter.
- Thursdays: Mokurai the 1st and 2nd Thursdays, WineRev the 3rd, MCUBernieFan the 4th, and Mokurai the 5th (when there is one).
- Fridays: chloris creator. Regular links to the White House Briefing Room.
- Saturdays: GoodNewsRoundup. Heart-stirring and soul-healing introduction and sometimes memes to succumb to.
- Sundays: 2thanks. A brief roundup of Roundups, a retrospective, a smorgasbord, a bulletin board, an oasis, a watering hole, a thunder of hooves, a wellness, a place for beginners to learn the rules of the veldt.
hpg posts Evening Shade diaries at 7:30 p.m. ET every day! After a long day, Gnusies meet in the evening shade and continue sharing Good News, good community, and good actions. In the words of NotNowNotEver: “hpg ably continues the tradition of Evening Shade.” Find Evening Shades here.
oldhippiedude posts Tweets of the Week on Sundays at 6:00 p.m. Central Time — New time! Our second evening Gnusie hangout zone! In search of a TOTW diary? Look here or here.
For more information about the Good News group, please see our detailed Welcoming comment, one of the first comments in our morning diaries.
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Good News Sources
And two more from Mokurai:
And another recommended by commenter lynnekz:
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How to Resist: Do Something …
I’m replacing my usual list of actions with just one this week: take all the time you need this holiday season to enjoy the company of family and friends, share festive food, have fun, and get rested up for 2023. I end all my GNRs with “RESIST, PERSIST, REBUILD, REJOICE!” This week, just REJOICE, celebrating all the good things we’ve accomplished this year.
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Closing music
This is my favorite contemporary carol. A musical group my bass-player husband frequently works with added it to their holiday repertoire a few years ago, and I fell in love with it immediately.
❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
Thanks to all of you for your smarts, your hearts, and
your faithful attendance at our daily Gathering of the Herd.
❤️💙 RESIST, PERSIST, REBUILD, REJOICE! 💙❤️
![President Joe Biden (L) reacts with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky upon his arrival at the Mariinsky Palace in Kyiv on February 20, 2023. - US President Joe Biden promised increased arms deliveries for Ukraine during a surprise visit to Kyiv on February 20, 2023, in which he also vowed Washington's "unflagging commitment" in defending Ukraine's territorial integrity. (Photo by Evan Vucci / POOL / AFP) (Photo by EVAN VUCCI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)](https://images.dailykos.com/images/1163469/story_image/D4878B6F-BBD5-47DF-9FE0-F4B99306F6E2.jpeg?1676893457 "President Joe Biden (L) reacts with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky upon his arrival at the Mariinsky Palace in Kyiv on February 20, 2023. - US President Joe Biden promised increased arms deliveries for Ukraine during a surprise visit to Kyiv on February 20, 2023, in which he also vowed Washington's "unflagging commitment" in defending Ukraine's territorial integrity. (Photo by Evan Vucci / POOL / AFP) (Photo by EVAN VUCCI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)")
