Good morning, Gnusies! As usual, there’s lots of good news out there if you look for it — and also as usual, you won’t find much of it in mainstream sources. And you definitely won’t find it by doom scrolling on your phone at night!
So, also as usual, we’re going in a different direction here in Gnuville, seeking out good news from all over and encouraging you to share it far and wide. Ready? Make yourself comfortable and see if you can trade some agitation for some inspiration.
Opening music
Michael Franti is always good for a dose of inspiration to start the day.
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Good news for and from Biden
Voters overwhelmingly know what is to blame for inflation: Corporate greed
ICYMI, this is a very encouraging antidote to the crap being pushed by the MSM, whose corporate masters require them to blame Biden for inflation. Abe Lincoln’s old truism about how many people you can fool at the same time proves true yet again.
By Joan McCarter on DKos:
Polling trends suggest that voters don’t believe inflation is President Joe Biden’s fault. Corporate greed is to blame—in a very big way. Navigator Research issued new results this week finding that since the beginning of May “there has been a 5-point increase in the share who say they are ‘very concerned’ about inflation, with the greatest increase coming from independents (9-point increase, from 51% to 60%).” They identify gas and grocery prices as particular areas of concern.
What’s really significant is the 8-point increase since January in the share “who say corporate greed is a cause of inflation (from 73% to 81%).” Yes, 81% say that it’s corporate greed running up prices. That’s a “7-point increase among Republicans (from 64% to 71%), a 13-point increase among independents (from 67% to 80%), and an 8-point increase among Democrats (from 82% to 90%).” ✂️
While voters overwhelmingly say corporations are to blame, they do differentiate a bit among those corporations. When it comes to oil and gas companies, a plurality of 44% call it “price gouging.” When it’s big pharmaceutical companies, 54% call it “corporate greed.” “Corporations exploiting consumers” is also a popular description among Navigator’s survey group.
Respondents are also very open to hearing more from President Joe Biden on the economy and very supportive of what they think might be in his plan. “Just half (51%) report hearing ‘a lot’ or ‘some’ about Biden and Democrats’ economic plan, but majorities of Democrats (89%), independents (57%), and every racial group support it, along with a plurality of Republicans (47%).” ✂️
“By wide margins, voters say corporations are raising prices simply because they can—and they want lawmakers to put a stop to it.”
EPA moves to give states, tribes more power to protect water
From AP via The Telegraph Herald [links to stories copied directly from AP tend to fail]:
The Biden administration on Thursday proposed undoing a Trump-era rule that limited the power of states and Native American tribes to block energy projects like natural gas pipelines based on their potential to pollute rivers and streams.
The Clean Water Act allows states and tribes to review what effect pipelines, dams and some other federally regulated projects might have on water quality within their borders. The Trump administration sought to streamline fossil fuel development and made it harder for local officials to block projects.
The Biden administration’s proposed rule would shift power back to states, tribes and territories.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement that the agency’s draft regulation would empower local entities to protect water bodies “while supporting much-needed infrastructure projects that create jobs.”
Thursday’s action is the latest move by the Biden administration to tighten water regulations loosened under the Trump administration.
And in a related story:
EPA allocates millions under Biden infrastructure law for tribal water access projects
From The American Independent:
The Environmental Protection Agency announced on [June 1st] that $154 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will be used to improve drinking water infrastructure on Native American tribal lands across the United States. ✂️
The agency noted that it had released a new funding memorandum that sets forth government requirements and recommendations for how projects related to water delivery issues will be allocated resources.
In its announcement, the Biden administration noted the "disproportionate impact of environmental pollution on Native Americans" and described the policy announcement as part of the administration's ongoing focus on fighting for environmental justice. Tribal communities have historically had poor access to consistently clean drinking water: Colorado public radio station KUNC reported in December that 49% of tribes across the country lack reliable access.
Wisconsin uses $22 million in federal relief funds to expand emergency response programs
It’s great to see money from Biden’s American Rescue Plan being used for popular programs in swing states.
From The American Independent:
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers announced on [June 1st] that the state will invest $22 million in local fire stations and emergency medical services, using funds from the American Rescue Plan. ✂️
The Evers administration said the funds will be available for local first responder departments for "whatever help they need the most," whether that means training first responders, increasing support for staff, or purchasing new ambulances and medical equipment. Grants will also be available to public ambulance service providers, including volunteer fire departments, nonprofits, counties, and municipalities.
Wisconsin's Neighborhood Investment Fund and Healthcare Infrastructure Grant program, both funded by the American Rescue Plan, will administer the grants. ✂️
All of Wisconsin's Democratic members of Congress voted for the legislation and all Wisconsin Republicans voted against it.
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Good news in politics
Dems are getting really fired up. Good!
Cisneros asks for recount in Democratic primary runoff against incumbent Cuellar
From The Washington Post:
Attorney Jessica Cisneros will request a recount of the runoff election between her and Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar.
“Our community isn’t done fighting, we are filing for a recount,” Cisneros said in a statement. “With just under 0.6 percent of the vote symbolizing such stark differences for the future in South Texas, I owe it to our community to see this through to the end.”
As of Monday night, Cuellar was leading Cisneros by 187 votes, or 0.4 percentage points, according to the Associated Press. Because the contest was so close, however, the AP did not project a winner. Under Texas rules, there are no automatic recounts. But the second-place finisher can request — and pay for — a second tally if the margin of victory is less than 10 percent of the winner’s total.
Cuellar declared victory Monday night and called on Democrats to “come together,” even while acknowledging that Cisneros “has every legal right to call for a recount.” ✂️
In her statement Monday, Cisneros said her campaign and movement were “never just about one politician. It was about taking on an unjust system that rewards corruption and corporate profits at the expense of the needs of working people.”
Charles Booker airs a no-holds-barred political ad
It looks like Dems might be starting to refuse to be cowed into “civility” (or worse, “collegiality”) when fighting against asshole GQP obstructionists like Rand Paul. Some people are finding this ad to be over the top, others think it’s just what’s needed. What’s your opinion?
Democratic Senate hopefuls call for ending filibuster to pass gun laws
Ending the filibuster is a winning message.
From The Washington Post:
Democratic candidates in high-profile Senate races are renewing a push to squash the filibuster, this time to pass stricter gun laws. They say that if elected, they would not let Republicans, or even some Democrats, stand in the way of acting on an issue with wide public support.
The massacres at a supermarket in Buffalo and an elementary school in Uvalde, Tex., and then a shooting Wednesday at a medical building in Tulsa that killed four people have again shined a light on Congress’s inaction on the nation’s gun violence epidemic. With Democrats in control of the White House and both chambers in Congress, many activists say the only thing preventing gun-related measures is the filibuster.
But party leaders and some Senate incumbents are wary of a fight they’ve already lost over voting rights and abortion, and they aren’t interested in revisiting the filibuster debate, much preferring to keep their energy focused on the Republican opposition to gun-control laws. Democratic candidates, looking to rev up voters in the midterm elections, are planning to keep the pressure on Senate incumbents and President Biden... ✂️
Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D), who is running in a crowded primary to face Republican Sen. Ron Johnson in November, said Democrats should end the filibuster to pass their most pressing policies. “I will never let archaic Senate procedure stand in the way of our basic human rights, whether it’s the right to live free from gun violence, abortion access or the right to vote,” Barnes said in an interview on Wednesday.
Mark your calendar: the January 6 committee will hold its first televised hearing this coming Thursday!
👀 Tune in at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, 5:00 p.m. Pacific time. 👀
🌊🌊 Don’t forget our Gnusie donation link to support great Dem candidates! 🌊🌊
If you haven’t donated yet, please send whatever you can. And if you’ve already donated, it would be great if you could do it again! As of last night, Gnusies have raised just over $18,500!
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Political deep dive
Here’s a new category, which will appear in my GNRs whenever a worthy article shows up on my radar. The debut article is a doozy, as its author would likely say. Jim HIghtower is a longtime hero of mine, former Texas Ag Commissioner under Ann Richards, author, public speaker, and all-around indefatigable opponent of the plutocracy. Do yourself a favor and subscribe to his “Hightower Lowdown” newsletter (there’ll be a link when you click to open the full article).
Meet Leonard Leo: The capo behind the Supreme Court coup
By Jim Hightower in The Hightower Lowdown (bolding from original article):
You’ve probably never heard of Leonard Leo, but this obscure, far-right ideologue is a major capo in the tight little world of the anti-democracy extremists who hold an iron grip on today’s Republican leadership. A lawyer, Leo is a fanatic devotee of the plutocratic fiction that our Constitution was intended not as a founding document for democracy, but as a legal structure for enshrining property rights as supreme over all others and protecting the wealthy from the democratic majority. ✂️
Three big factors boosted Leo’s star:
- His quasi-religious devotion to property-rights supremacy squares perfectly with the ambitions of laissez-fairyland billionaires (including the Koch family) who are major GOP money players. Leo proved to be an ace schmoozer of these self-entitled egos.
- He came with a readymade group of litigious warriors who, in the 1990s, took over and weaponized the Federalist Society (FedSoc), transforming this small, conservative legal education outfit into a nationwide force of reactionary lawyers eager to generate court cases, shop for judges, and sue-sue-sue to undermine everything from civil rights protections to labor law.
- Leo had a BIG plan: Use huge sums of dark money, deceitful media campaigns, and a cluster of front groups to pack the Supreme Court. ✂️
All six members of the Alito-Barrett-Gorsuch-Kavanagh-Roberts-Thomas supermajority of donor-approved, anti-democracy jurists are spawn of the scheme. Unsurprisingly, all six are also active participants in Leo’s Federalist Society. Moreover, under Leo’s clandestine White House influence, 86% of Trump’s nominees to the upper levels of our nation’s democratically unaccountable federal judiciary (the Supremes, plus the judges in our 11 appellate courts) are products of his FedSoc organization.
Click the link to read the whole fascinating, infuriating story. This is the kind of information we need if we’re going to fight back successfully against the Dominionist plutocracy.
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Good news from my corner of the world
Oregon nonprofits ask for $100M federal investment to address white supremacy
We have a very dangerous proliferation of white supremacist groups in the Northwest, so this effort is welcome. I hope it succeeds. And it’s past time for the Oregon legislature to pass laws regarding domestic terrorism and violent extremism.
From Oregon Public Broadcasting:
Oregon nonprofits are asking the Biden administration to invest $100 million to address white supremacy in the state.
The nonprofits — including the Latino Network, Unite Oregon, PCUN, Causa, Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization, Verde and APANO — provide services to communities of color. In a joint letter addressed to President Joe Biden, they say Oregon is susceptible to domestic terrorist attacks against people of color.
They are asking the administration to invest in two areas: federal agencies that can increase surveillance and prosecutions, and community-based organizations that can increase social and health services. ✂️
The letter notes that Oregon ranks sixth in the nation in the number of violent extremist attacks between 2011 and 2020, according to an advisory report by the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office. The report, published in March, suggests new laws and policies that could help the state prevent extremist attacks.
Oregon is one of only 16 states that doesn’t have a law defining and outlawing domestic terrorism and violent extremism. These cases are usually handled by the federal government, but the report recommends Oregon lawmakers come up with state laws that can help cases where federal laws fall short.
Oregon mental health services to get over $500M spending boost this year
From Oregon Public Broadcasting:
Oregon health officials announced Friday how they will spend more than half-a-billion dollars set aside for behavioral health services in the state.
The $517 million spending package is divided into three main areas. About $132 million will pay for grants to help behavioral health providers with staffing shortages. Another $155 million will pay for rate increases for service providers. The remaining $230 million will go toward supportive housing and residential treatment programs.
The ambitious spending package is the result of legislative initiatives to help the state improve its behavioral health services. Oregon has the fifth-highest unmet need for mental health services, according to federal data, with more than 10% of adults saying they can’t get the help they need.
[The shortage of mental health workers will be addressed with] grants to 159 organizations to hire and retain employees. Most of the money will go toward wages, benefits and bonuses. Meanwhile, the $155 million for provider rate increases will put an extra $109 per Medicaid member into the behavioral health system. ...
The money for supportive housing services includes $100 million in direct awards to counties, then $112 million toward a competitive grant program for residential mental health and substance use services. ... The remaining funds will go to federally recognized tribes to fund housing and residential treatment projects.
A Decade of Successes Against Fossil Fuel Export Projects in Cascadia
Some great examples of “When we fight, we win.”
From Sightline Institute:
Since 2012, fossil fuel executives from dozens of companies, including Kinder Morgan, Pembina Pipeline Corporation, and Enbridge, have schemed more than 50 large projects to export coal, oil, gas, or their derivatives from Cascadia’s coast in British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington.
But local communities, Tribes, environmentalists, and local governments rejected calls to turn Cascadia into a fossil fuel export terminal. Thanks to a combination of local opposition, see-sawing energy prices, and regulatory hurdles, project backers canceled 40 of those projects—a whopping 73 percent. Just 6 of all the proposed projects have been completed and are operational today.
Had all the once-proposed 55 projects gone ahead, it would have spelled disaster for the climate. Extracting, transporting, and burning the fuel associated with all the Cascadian fossil fuel export proposals would have spewed the equivalent of 2,095 million metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere annually, roughly 30 percent of the entire annual greenhouse gas emissions of the United States and nearly three times the annual emissions of Canada. Instead, Cascadia averted 1,717 million metric tons of annual greenhouse gas emissions.
Cascadia cannot claim victory just yet. Nine projects are not yet canceled, eight of which are in British Columbia... If a livable future is something leaders in Cascadia are serious about, they will also relegate these remaining projects to history’s trash can.
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Good news from around the nation
With LA’s Vote, America’s Two Largest Cities Have Said No New Fossil Gas
From Clean Technica:
The Los Angeles City Council voted on Friday to prohibit fossil fuels in new construction. The Council directed departments to develop a plan over the next six months “that will require all new residential and commercial buildings in Los Angeles to be built so that they will achieve zero-carbon emissions.” The plans are expected to be phased in over the next several years and will lead to widespread electrification in new buildings. This motion was presented by council member Nithya Raman, a progressive who was elected in 2020 in what was described as a “political earthquake.”
The city’s Mayor, Eric Garcetti, summed up the rationale and significance of this vote in an LA Times interview saying basically that the electrification movement is unstoppable. “Our forests are burning, the days are hotter, our floods are more extreme. … Do you want to fight the inevitable, or co-author the necessary?”
LA joins America’s biggest city, New York, which mandated all-electric new construction a short 6 months ago. It also comes shortly after the State of Washington Building Code Council moved last month to require all-electric space and water heating in commercial and multi-family buildings, becoming the first in the nation to enact this type of legislation statewide.
Colorado law gives LBGTQ+ parents rightful custody over their children
From The Optimist Daily:
The “Marlo Law” has just been signed by gay Colorado Governor Jared Polis to resolve an unfair legal issue that previously denied same-sex parents legal custody over their own children. The bill was named after Colorado House Majority Leader Daneya Esgar’s child. Esgar gave birth to Marlo using Heather’s (her wife’s) genetic material. To gain legal custody over their daughter, both women had to legally adopt her.
Esgar commented on this ridiculous kink in the law in a speech earlier this year: “[My wife] realized she actually has more rights to the embryos we still have frozen than she actually has to our daughter. Heather has to adopt her own daughter.”
This issue has impacted a countless number of families, with courts making same-sex couples jump through hoops for their parental right over their own child. Just one example is Megan Anderson, the Coloradan told the state senate that her wife underwent a child abuse background check, was fingerprinted at the police station, paid legal fees of $1,567, then had to plead for her and her partner’s parental rights of her before a judge.
Formally known as H.B. 22-1153, the new law will help streamline same-sex parent’s custody process whose children were conceived by assisted reproduction. LBGTQparents can now declare a “voluntary acknowledgment of parentage,” which will hold up in court the same as any other parental right. This law change will allow for a more dignified process and removes complicated, expensive, and unfair steps that were previously in place.
AP-NORC poll details rift between lay Catholics and bishops
I’ve long suspected that the conservative bishops don’t speak for most Catholics. The poll also showed that attendance at Mass is dropping, so it looks like the Church’s inflexibility on issues like gay rights, women’s rights, and abortion may be driving them into irrelevance.
From AP via The Detroit News:
The hardline stances of many conservative Catholic bishops in the U.S. are not shared by a majority of lay Catholics... according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The poll, conducted in mid-May, shows a clear gap between the prevalent views of American Catholics, and some recent high-profile actions taken by the church’s leaders.
For example, leaders of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops recently called on Catholics nationwide to pray for the U.S. Supreme Court to end the constitutional right to abortion by reversing its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. According to the new poll, 63% of Catholic adults say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and 68% say Roe should be left as is. ✂️
The poll was conducted just after the leak of a draft Supreme Court majority opinion that would strike down Roe v. Wade. The views of U.S. Catholics, as expressed in the poll, were in line with the overall American public, both in regard to supporting abortion’s legality and preserving Roe.
However, there were sharp differences among major religious groupings. While 63% of Catholics said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, that stance was held by 74% of mainline Protestants and only 25% of evangelical Protestants.
Beau tells a personal story illustrating that the children of bigots don’t necessarily become like their parents
Beau takes the long way round in this video, but because he’s a good storyteller, he keeps you engaged until the punch line. I thought of Mokurai’s frequent observation that the Wrong-Wingers drive their children away, giving us more and more Progressive-minded voters in the long run. And the slogan on his t-shirt — “Given a long enough timeline, we win. Guaranteed.” — is worth keeping in mind during dark times.
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Good news from around the world
Insurance ban to tighten squeeze on Russian oil shipments
This could be the game-changer, since ports worldwide will refuse to allow ships without insurance to dock.
From Financial Times:
...the UK and Brussels agreed to ban insurance on ships carrying Russian oil as they ratchet up sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. The move threatens to shut one of the world’s biggest crude producers out of large parts of the maritime export market. Ships carrying Russian oil would rush to find alternative insurance, without which they would face being turned away from global ports.
Russia’s oil exports have largely held up despite western sanctions on its financial system. Industry executives say a co-ordinated insurance ban could change that and address the fundamental problem with the EU’s seaborne oil embargo: Russia can simply redirect its crude elsewhere. “The impact of a UK and EU maritime insurance ban on ships carrying Russian oil cannot be overstated,” said Leigh Hansson, sanctions partner at law firm Reed Smith. “We’ve seen the impact the insurance ban had on Iranian oil a decade ago, and this could well send Russian oil trade down the same path.” ✂️
Shipping industry figures believe that an insurance ban would have a serious impact on Russia’s oil industry. “It’s very substantial,” said Dag Kilen, global head of research at Fearnleys, a shipbroker. “I would expect an immediate drop of Russian oil exports because the sanctions affect long-term contracts. It does not look good at all for Russian exports and the [domestic oil] industry six to eight months from now.”
Boris Johnson survives no-confidence vote, but is left politically wounded
Well, damn. I was really hoping we could bid goodbye immediately to him, his rat’s nest hair, and his rat-infested administration. But it’s going to take a while longer.
BTW, there’s an eye-roll-inducing NYTimes euphemism in this story: “ethically flexible.” Can we please say “amoral” or perhaps “mendacious and hypocritical”?
From The New York Times:
The vote, 211 to 148, fell short of the simple majority of Tory lawmakers needed to oust Mr. Johnson as party leader. But it laid bare how badly his support has hemorrhaged since last year, when a scandal erupted over reports that he and his aides threw parties at 10 Downing Street that violated the government’s lockdown rules.
Mr. Johnson vowed to stay on… History shows, however, that Conservative prime ministers who have been subjected to such a vote — even when they win it — are usually drummed out of office, if not immediately then in a few months. ✂️
On Friday, Mr. Johnson was booed by the crowd at St. Paul’s Cathedral when he and his wife, Carrie, attended a thanksgiving service for Queen Elizabeth II. That moment may have crystallized the loss of public support for Mr. Johnson, an ethically flexible journalist-turned-politician whose peccadilloes were forgiven more often than not by a charmed public.
Still, for now, Mr. Johnson remains in power and the odds of removing him depend on several wild cards.
- Will his Cabinet rebel against him, as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s did in 1990, precipitating her swift resignation, even after she survived a vote challenging her leadership?
- Will the party threaten to change its rules to hold a second no-confidence vote, as it did in 2019 after Prime Minister Theresa May prevailed in the first vote? That persuaded her to negotiate her exit six months later.
- Will Mr. Johnson gamble by calling an early general election, seeking a mandate from the public that he could not get from his party?
For some yucky details of the partying at 10 Downing Street and some insightful commentary comparing Australia’s Scott Morrison, recently voted out, and BoJo, here’s a clip from Australian TV:
Spanish parliament approves ‘only yes means yes’ consent bill
This is legislative language that should be used everywhere, including in the U.S.
From The Guardian:
Spain’s parliament has approved a bill that makes consent a key determinant in sexual assault cases, freeing survivors of having to prove that violence or intimidation was used against them.
The bill, popularly known as “Only yes means yes”, seeks to tackle the nebulous definition of consent in Spanish law. In the absence of a codified definition, the law had long relied on evidence of violence, resistance or intimidation to decide whether a criminal sexual act occurred.
The new bill defines consent as an explicit expression of a person’s will, making it clear that silence or passivity do not equal consent. Non-consensual sex can be considered aggression and subject to prison terms of up to 15 years.
The change was welcomed by the minister for equality, Irene Montero. “From today, Spain is a freer, safer country for all women,” she told parliament. “We are going to swap violence for freedom, we are going to swap fear for desire.”
The bill had long been championed by the Spain’s leftwing coalition government, with only the conservative Popular party and the far-right Vox party voting against it. The draft will now face a vote in the Senate before it can become law.
Male TV presenters in Afghanistan are wearing face coverings to show solidarity with women
From Positive News:
Male TV presenters in Afghanistan are wearing face coverings on screen to show solidarity with their female colleagues, after the Taliban decreed that all women must cover their faces in public.
In a protest dubbed #FreeHerFace, male anchors on news channels have been donning masks to veil their faces.
Mina Lawangeena Sharif, a women’s rights activist, wrote on Twitter: “Afghan men showing up for Afghan women is not just a gesture. It’s a turn in the story that will change everything. Brave brothers.”
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Good news in medicine
Protein Destroys ‘Hard to Treat’ Cancers, Could Become ‘One Size Fits All’ Pill
From Good News Network:
A protein that destroys hard-to-treat cancers has been discovered by scientists, offering hope of effective new treatments.
Experiments on mice and human tissue found it is effective against the most aggressive tumors.
They include those of the breast, pancreas, ovaries, and brain. The compound, known as ERX-41, leaves healthy tissue unscathed.
It is one of the most promising breakthroughs to date—offering hope of a ‘one size fits all’ pill that was once thought impossible.
Results were so encouraging that clinical trials are expected to begin in the next few months.
“We identified a critical vulnerability in multiple cancers and have validated our findings in multiple cancer cell types and animal models,” Lead author Professor Ratna Vadlamudi, of the University of Texas said. “The range of cell lines and xenografts in which the compound has been shown to work is compelling and indicates that it is targeting a fundamental vulnerability in cancer cells.”
Xenografts are human tumors grown in mouse models for research purposes. The findings could lead to exciting drugs for cancers that have few effective treatments.
New Invention Could Help People Swallow Pills
From WedMD:
Children and adults who have trouble swallowing pills could benefit from an invention that helps the medicine go down, according to a recent update in Science Advances.
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brigham and Women’s Hospital developed a gel made of plant-based oils, which can be mixed with medicine, to make it easier to swallow. The gels are stable without refrigeration and can be prepared as a variety of textures, such as a thickened beverage, yogurt, or pudding.
“This platform will change our capacity for what we can do for kids, and also for adults who have difficulty receiving medication,” Giovanni Traverso, the senior study author who also teaches mechanical engineering at MIT and works as a gastroenterologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said in a statement.
“Given the simplicity of the system and its low cost, it could have a tremendous impact on making it easier for patients to take medications,” he said. ✂️
The gels could be useful for children of all ages and in different locations, study authors wrote, particularly in developing nations that may need stable medication without refrigeration. The gels could also help older adults who have difficulty swallowing pills, especially strokepatients.
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Good news in science
Super-Absorbent Gel Pulls Fresh Water Out of Thin Air
From Gizmodo:
Researchers have developed a super-absorbent gel, made from affordable materials, that can suck moisture out of low-humidity air. When heated, the gel releases that moisture as fresh water. One kilogram of gel can theoretically produce nearly 6 liters of water at 15% relative humidity and more than 13 liters of water at 30% humidity, according to a study published in the journal Nature Communications. For reference, the Southwest’s Mojave desert generally ranges between 10% and 30% humidity.
“This new work is about practical solutions that people can use to get water in the hottest, driest places on Earth,” said Guihua Yu, one of the researchers, in a press release. Yu is a materials engineer at the University of Texas at Austin. “This could allow millions of people without consistent access to drinking water to have simple, water generating devices at home that they can easily operate,” he added in the statement.
The researchers made the gel from a derivative of the compound cellulose (which is found in all plant cells), a specific fiber extracted from an edible tuber known as konjac, and absorbent lithium chloride salt. The liquid materials were mixed, poured into a mold, left to set for 2 minutes, and then freeze-dried into a thin sheet. All the materials needed to make 1 kilogram of the dried gel would cost under $2, according to the study. ✂️
Once set and dried, the thin gel sheets became saturated with moisture in about 20 minutes. To extract that water as actual, drinkable liquid, the researchers then heated the gel in a closed chamber and collected the condensation. They found that about 70% of the captured water was released within 10 minutes of heating the gel at 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lower Yakima Valley dirt to hitch a ride to space this week
Science news from my neck of the woods.
From Oregon Public Broadcasting:
...soil [from Prosser, WA] – and eight types of bacteria in the soil – will hitch a ride to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s SpaceX CRS-25 resupply mission now planned to blast off Friday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
These...soil microorganisms could be key to growing food in space or on Mars or the moon, said Janet Jansson, a laboratory fellow at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, and experiment lead. ...scientists still know very little about these microorganisms that carry out essential functions for life on Earth, Jansson said. Even less is known about how the microorganisms will help plants grow in space, a key to feeding astronauts on long-duration expeditions or cultivating food on the moon or Mars. ✂️
Prior to launch, scientists will inoculate the soil with eight types of bacteria from the Prosser field that they’d like to study. Scientists plan to send 52 test tubes each packed with 20 grams of the soil to the Space Station.
After the soil heads to space, the scientists will perform the exact same experiment with 52 test tubes of the same soil on Earth. That way they can compare conditions on the Space Station and at home. ...Scientists will incubate both soil experiments for up to three months.
Then, a SpaceX spacecraft will return the Space Station samples to Earth, said Kirt Costello, NASA’s chief scientist for the International Space Station program research office. Once the samples return home via a refrigerated truck, scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will analyze the soil incubated in space to learn which microorganisms survived and how that differs from the Earth-bound samples.
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Good news for the environment
California Court Bans State-Run Pesticide Spraying for Failure to Consider Adverse Impacts
This is a huge step in the right direction. Now the EPA needs to improve its flawed process for evaluating and analyzing the effects of pesticides on endangered species nationwide.
Personal note: I’ve fought for years to get the Portland Department of Parks and Recreation to stop spraying Roundup in city parks where kids and dogs play. This should be a no-brainer, but they continue to dig their heels in, claiming it’s the only way to get rid of invasive species. Grrrrr…
From Beyond Pesticides:
A California judge ordered state-run pesticide spraying to cease on public, agricultural, wild lands, and private properties. The judge states that government officials fail[ed] to consider and minimize the potential health and environmental risk associated with pesticide use. Moreover, officials failed to notify the public on the risks of pesticide spraying. The suit was brought by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), the City of Berkeley and ten other public health, conservation and food safety organizations, including Beyond Pesticides. ✂️
On May 19, 2022, the Superior Court of California – County of Sacramento ruled to remove an environmental impact report allowing California’s Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to spray pesticides at any time and any place. Removal of the environmental impact report also brings an end to chemical pest management under the CDFA pesticide spray program. State and local agencies must provide research on how pesticide spraying projects may affect the health of humans, animals, and the environment while finding solutions to eliminate the potential threat.
Moreover, the law requires CDFA to research and reveal environmental and health threats from 75 pesticides used across California. However, the geography and ecosystem of regions in California differ, and CDFA failed to analyze the adverse environmental and health effects in specific locations. The geography (e.g., lowland) and ecosystem (e.g., temperature, light exposure, moisture) of a region can significantly affect the severity of pesticide toxicity. Moreover, CDFA’s pest management program used pesticides known to be toxic to pollinators like bees, butterflies, bats and birds, and aquatic organisms. The impact of pesticides on wildlife—including mammals, bees and other pollinators, fish and other aquatic organisms, birds, and the biota within the soil—is extensive. Many studies document how exposure to these toxic chemicals causes reproductive, neurological, renal, hepatic, endocrine, and developmental damage and cancers in various species. Although there are policies to protect wildlife from harm, such as the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, a 2013 report by the National Academy of Sciences identifies shortcomings in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) evaluation and analysis of pesticides on endangered species. Like CDFA, the agency regularly disregards discussing how to take precaution to protect threatened and endangered species from pesticide harms.
Army Corps blocks strip mine near Okefenokee wetlands after opposition
Note the important role that Jon Ossoff played in this decision, proving once again that who we elect makes a big difference.
From The Washington Post:
The Army Corps of Engineers is blocking a proposed strip mine for titanium set outside the fragile Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia, reversing an earlier decision, after the project drew opposition from environmental groups and political leaders.
Environmentalists and federal agencies had previously cited the harm that the mine would inflict on the wetlands. But after the Trump administration rolled back various regulations, millions of acres of wetlands were no longer subject to federal environmental oversight.
Those rules, however, were thrown out by a federal judge last year, affording renewed protections to streams, marshes and wetlands.
The Army Corps, a unit of the military, said in a memo Friday that the previous decision allowing the project to move ahead was no longer valid because the corps had failed to properly consult with tribal stakeholders.
The Army Corps decision came after Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) sought to block the proposed mine, focusing on threats to Okefenokee’s environmental, cultural and economic integrity.
Environmental activists were celebrated in global prize
From Positive News:
Activists who helped defund coal, hold big oil to account and launch landmark climate lawsuits are among the winners of this year’s Goldman environmental prize, an international award for eco activism, dubbed the ‘Green Nobel prize’.
Highlighting the power of individual action, the winners were: Alex Lucitante...and
Alexandra Narvaez, who led a movement to protect indigenous land from mining in Ecuador; Nalleli Cobo, who helped shut down a toxic US oil-drilling site; Julien Vincent, leader of a successful campaign to defund coal in Australia; Marjan Minnesma (pictured), who took the Dutch government to court over climate inaction (and won); Niwat Roykaew, whose actions halted an environmentally destructive shipping project in the Mekong; and Chima Williams, who helped hold Shell accountable for an oil spill in Nigeria.
“While the many challenges before us can feel daunting, and at times make us lose faith, these seven leaders give us a reason for hope and remind us what can be accomplished in the face of adversity,” said Jennifer Goldman Wallis, vice-president of the Goldman Environmental Foundation.
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Good news for and about animals
Brought to you by Rosy, Nora, and Rascal.
New York Lawmakers Pass Groundbreaking Bill to End the Retail Sale of Dogs, Cats, and Rabbits in Pet Stores
As our chief spokes-critter, Rosy gets the honor of bringing you this story, though it applies to cats and rabbits as well as dogs.
From ASPCA via PR Newswire:
[On June 3rd,] animal welfare groups commended the New York State Legislature for passing the Puppy Mill Pipeline Bill, groundbreaking legislation that will end the retail sale of dogs, cats and rabbits in pet stores across the state. ...[the] bill now heads to Gov. Kathy Hochul. If signed into law, it would stop the flow of cruelly bred puppies into New York. ✂️
Right now, out-of-state puppy mills ship their puppies to New York pet stores, where they are marketed as healthy puppies from responsible breeders, which is far from the truth. Puppies sold in pet stores come from commercial breeding operations that are designed to prioritize profit over the well-being of the animals. Breeding dogs in these facilities are often kept in crowded cages their entire lives without adequate shelter, veterinary care, food or socialization. They are not pets; their only value is to produce puppies who are shipped and sold to pet stores. These puppies can suffer severe health and behavioral issues – and families are often unprepared for the financial loss and heartbreak that come with buying a sick puppy.
This cruel and broken system is made possible because it's still legal to sell dogs in New York pet stores, leaving New York to become one of the puppy mill industry's largest markets. When the Puppy Mill Pipeline Bill is signed into law, New York will shut down this pipeline and deny cruel mills access to New York's communities.
Nora has chosen a favorite piece of music for her offering today: “Fred the cat,” by composer Alan Hovhaness, commissioned by a friend who had just lost his beloved cat. The subtitle for this brief piano sonata is “Give a cat a twig and he takes a tree.”
Urban Forests Create a Birdlife Boom in New Zealand Cities – Even Species Absent for Generations
Rascal was very happy to find out that his friends in New Zealand have such a beautiful place to live where people can come and admire them.
From Good News Network:
Just ten minutes beyond the center of Wellington lies a wild paradise, where the birdsong of as many as 40 species ring out above hikers.
The massive urban forest of Zealandia is helping prove that if you restore native forest in cities, native species will come back, and for a place with as unique an ecology as New Zealand, that’s all the more important.
The park, described as an eco-sanctuary, is delightful on its own, but it’s having a halo effect on bird communities in suburban, and even urban areas of the nation’s capital.
Opened in 1999, native birds have since increased during annual counts by 50%, while for some species that aren’t rare but shy away from cities, those figures are much higher. The numbers of kākā had increased by 250%, kererū by 186%, and tūī by 121% (the Māori accents denote a long vowel, i.e. “too-ee.”)
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Art break
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Hot lynx
www.theglobeandmail.com/… After fleeing to Latvia, exiled Russian journalists deal with how to cut through the Kremlin’s propaganda. How the exiled journalists from Meduza, Novaya Gazeta, and other banned media outlets are managing to keep reporting the real news from Russia.
meduza.io/… Who is Putin really fighting? Maxim Trudolyubov on the Russian president’s ruthless war of generations. “Putin’s contemporaries are afraid to relinquish power and bequeath it to those who should be their successors.”
www.yesmagazine.org/… Gardening Advice from Indigenous Food Growers. Some history, some inspiration, and some really great practical advice for home gardeners.
www.scientificamerican.com/… A New Dimension to a Meaningful Life. A study by a couple of psychologists found that appreciating small moments of beauty can be enough to make our lives meaningful.
reasonstobecheerful.world/...“You Are Watching the Power of Music Changing Brain Chemistry”. A fascinating and inspiring story about the creation of a nonprofit called Music Mends Minds and how making music helps people with dementia.
www.nytimes.com/… Where Lawns Are Outlawed (and Dug Up, and Carted Away). Las Vegas has gotten serious about saving water.
nautil.us/… What is Time? “Almost all of us very strongly believe that spacetime really doesn’t exist.” If you feel like giving your brain an extreme stretch, here’s a brief but very gnarly meditation on the nature of time.
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Wherever is herd…
🎩 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 …
The following invaluable list was put together by chloris creator:
Indivisible has created a Truth Brigade to push back against the lies.
Propaganda, false characterizations, intentionally misleading messages, and outright lies threaten our democracy and even our lives. We can effectively combat disinformation, despite the well-funded machines that drive it. They may have money, but we have truth and we have people.People believe sources they trust.When we share and amplify unified, factual messages to those who trust us, we shift the narrative. When we do this by the thousands--we’re part of the Indivisible Truth Brigade, and we get our country back. Join us.️
Our own Mokurai is a member. You can see all of the diaries in the Truth Sandwiches group on DK here.
From GoodNewsRoundup (aka Goodie):
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From GoodNewsRoundup (aka Goodie):
Most important: DON'T LOSE HOPE. This is a giant and important fight for us but, win or lose, we keep fighting and voting and organizing and spreading truth and light. We never give up.
And I’ll add a recommendation for you to check out Activate America (formerly Flip the West), which is recruiting people to send postcards to Dem voters.
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Closing music
I hope this sends you into your day with some extra energy and determination.
❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
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! 💙❤️