Good morning! There’s been a lot of good news recently, so today’s roundup is a long one. Pour yourself a cup of your favorite morning beverage, find a comfortable seat, and settle in for a big dose of hope and cheer.
Opening music
A fun flash mob video to get you moving this morning:
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Good news in politics
U.S. kills al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in drone strike in Kabul
As national security lawyer Bradley Moss noted in a tweet (quoted in an article in Raw Story): “Trump was taking Saudi blood money to host a golf outing this weekend. Biden was killing terrorists.”
From The Washington Post:
The United States has killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda and one of the world’s most-wanted terrorists, who oversaw the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, alongside the group’s founder, Osama bin Laden, announced President Biden.
Zawahiri was killed in a CIA drone strike in Kabul over the weekend, according to U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence.
When U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan last August, Biden administration officials said they would retain capability for “over-the-horizon” attacks from elsewhere on terrorist forces inside Afghanistan. The attack against Zawahiri is the first known counterterrorism strike there since the withdrawal.
Speaking in a live television address from a balcony at the White House, Biden announced that days ago he had authorized a strike to kill Zawahiri. “Justice has been delivered, and this terrorist leader is no more,” Biden said. ✂️
Intelligence personnel...constructed a model of [Zawahiri’s] safe house, which was used to brief Biden on how a strike could be carried out in such a way that it lessened the chances of killing any other occupants or civilians, the official said, adding that intelligence agencies have concluded that Zawahiri was the only person killed in the strike.
“The United States continues to demonstrate its resolve and capacity to defend Americans from those who seek to do it harm,” Biden said, making it “clear again [that] no matter how long it takes, no matter how you hide … the United States will find you and seek you out.”
Manchin to Sinema: Believe in this bill
Sinema is the definition of a loose cannon, but let’s hope that Manchin can nail her down.
From Politico:
As [Kyrsten] Sinema (D-Ariz.) weighs whether to support the party-line energy, tax, deficit reduction and health care legislation, [Sen. Joe Manchin] fanned out across all five Sunday shows to make the case for his deal. The moment reflected how intensely Manchin is now pressing to pass a package that only a few weeks ago he was lukewarm on, at best — and why he thinks Sinema should support it.
And Manchin had plenty of work to do during his quintet of appearances, with hosts pressing him whether the bill really fights inflation and how imposing a new minimum tax on large corporations might affect the economy. Faced with those questions, Manchin said simply on “Fox News Sunday": “We did not raise taxes. We closed loopholes.”
He also made sure to credit Sinema with cajoling Democrats into that tax-skeptic position after many in her party weighed surtaxes on high earners and pushed for rate increases. Though Sinema’s stayed quiet since Manchin and Schumer announced the deal on Wednesday, Manchin said that he “would like to think she’d be favorable to it.”
“Kyrsten Sinema is a friend of mine, and we work very close together. She has a tremendous, tremendous input in this legislation,” Manchin said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “She basically insisted [on] no tax increases, [we’ve] done that. And she was very, very adamant about that, I agree with her. She was also very instrumental” on prescription drug reform.
McDonough says VA looking at abortion care options in states with new restrictions
Despite the lack of a definite statement from the Secretary, it’s clear that this suggestion is being taken seriously.
From The Hill:
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough on Sunday said his department is examining how to best protect abortion access to veterans after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, but he declined to provide a specific path forward.
CNN “State of the Union” co-anchor Jake Tapper asked McDonough to respond to a letter from 24 Senate Democrats calling on the department to allow abortion services at veteran hospitals. “We’re going to make sure that they have access to the full slate of that care, because that’s what we owe them,” McDonough said.
The letter, led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), argues that the VA has statutory authority to provide abortions. The senators said the department should immediately begin a rulemaking process to change current regulations, which prevent it from providing abortions and abortion counseling as part of its medical benefits package.
When asked on Sunday if the VA would pay for veterans living in states with abortion restrictions to fly to areas where they can receive an abortion, McDonough declined to say. “We’re looking expressly at these questions about how we guarantee the life and the health of our veterans, our women veterans, those 300,000 who rely on us for their care,” McDonough said.
Congress takes aggressive stance against foreign spyware
A good step toward more robust cyber security.
From The Hill:
Congress is seeking to ramp up U.S. defenses against the evolving threat of foreign spyware following recent incidents exposing its use on government officials, journalists and dissidents.
Last week, the House Intelligence Committee passed the Intelligence Authorization Act, which included a provision authorizing the Director of National Intelligence to prohibit the U.S. intelligence community from buying and using foreign spyware. The bill would also allow the president to impose sanctions on foreign government officials and firms that target U.S. officials with spyware.
At a Wednesday hearing, Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) shined a light on foreign government use of the Pegasus spyware, which was developed and sold by the Israeli company NSO Group, to monitor domestic and foreign officials, journalists, human rights activists and political opponents. ✂️
U.S. officials, including diplomats, have reportedly numbered among the victims of the spyware.
US approves treatment of wounded Ukrainian soldiers at US military hospital in Germany
Another example of the Biden administration doing the right thing.
From CNN:
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has approved the treatment of wounded Ukrainian soldiers at a US military hospital in Germany, according to a memo obtained by CNN and confirmed by two US defense officials.
The plan would allow Ukrainian troops to be treated at a US military hospital for the first time since Russia invaded the country in February. It allows for the treatment of up to 18 wounded soldiers at a time a Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the massive hospital in Germany where the military has for years treated US service members who suffered injuries in combat.
Austin offered verbal guidance on May 26 to begin offering treatment to wounded Ukraine soldiers, according to the memo. On June 29, Austin formalized the verbal guidance in a memo entitled "Guidance for Medical Treatment of Wounded Ukrainian Service Members." ✂️
The official said the purpose of the memo was to remove any red tape that would slow down the process of offering treatment if the need arose. The plan would permit treatment if there was no facility available in Ukraine or in a closer country. Landstuhl is approximately 700 miles from the Ukrainian border.
AOC gets it
This is a quote from an email that I received from AOC on Sunday. She totally nails what’s wrong with most online political fundraising.
...tonight is a big end-of-month fundraising deadline for many campaigns, so we’re guessing your inbox might look something like this:
| Senate Polling Update please?!?!?! 8:04 AM |
| DEMOCRAT ALERT [5x match pending] ⚠️ ⚠️ 7:38 AM |
| Rep. Jane Doe I’m begging you: 6:12 AM |
It’s sad how so many politicians and organizations treat their supporters like ATMs — especially before big deadlines.
This shouldn’t set us apart, but Team AOC is committed to treating you and your fellow supporters with respect, Amelia. That means we follow some (we think!) pretty basic rules:
- NO to panicky subject lines, fear mongering, fake donor matches, clickbait petitions, or basically any tactic that makes you want to hit the “report spam” button.
- YES to sharing volunteer opportunities and emergency funds, supporting up-and-coming progressive candidates, providing informative content, sending out real petitions with real targets, and (only when we need it) respectfully asking for your donation.
Today is one of the days where we’re going to ask you to give, if you can. We have our own end-of-month fundraising deadline, and like a lot of campaigns, donations to emails like this one are a top source of revenue.
But we’re not going to beg, scare, or guilt-trip. In fact, our goal isn’t even a dollar amount — it’s 15,000 grassroots donations before midnight. No matter if you give $1, $10, or $100, you’ll be helping support the movement we’ve been building since Alexandria’s election in 2018.
ICYMI, the hilarious “Honest Government” folks from Australia weighed in on SCOTUS with one of their inimitable ads. 🎩 to
Pakalolo for highlighting it in a
diary last Wednesday.
🍿 Repellent Republicans Risking Irrelevance 🍿
There are so many recent news articles about how fucked the Rs are that they could fill up the remainder of this roundup. But since most of you have seen most of them, I’ve chosen just a few of my favorites.
First Jan. 6 defendant convicted at trial sentenced to more than 7 years
The sentencing in this trial was widely seen as a prediction of how other rioters will fare in court. Welp, it’s not looking good for them...
From The Washington Post:
The first U.S. Capitol riot defendant convicted at trial was sentenced to more than seven years in prison Monday, the longest punishment handed down to date in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress.
Guy Reffitt, a recruiter for the right-wing Texas Three Percenters movement, was convicted March 8 of five felony offenses, including obstruction of Congress as it met to certify the 2020 election result, interfering with police and carrying a firearm to a riot, and threatening his teenage son, who turned him in to the FBI. Prosecutors said Reffitt led a mob while armed at the Capitol and asked a judge to sentence him to 15 years after applying a terrorism sentencing penalty.
U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich condemned Reffitt’s conduct in handing down an 87 month sentence, saying at a five-hour hearing that his views espousing political violence were “absurd,” “delusional” and “way outside of the mainstream.” ✂️
However Friedrich refused to apply the discretionary terrorism sentencing enhancement, agreeing with the defense that prosecutors had not asked judges to do so for other defendants who like Reffitt had made “extremely disturbing” statements, but who unlike him committed violence.
RNC warning to Trump: If you run for president, we stop paying your legal bills, says official
Tune up your tiniest violin.
From ABC News:
Republican leaders who worry that Donald Trump could hurt their midterm chances by announcing a presidential run too soon are hoping he'll be dissuaded from doing so by the prospect of losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal payments, according to an RNC official.
Since October 2021, the Republican National Committee has paid nearly $2 million to law firms representing Trump as part of his defense against personal litigation and government investigations.
But an RNC official told ABC News that as soon as Trump would announce he is running for president, the payments would stop because the party has a "neutrality policy" that prohibits it from taking sides in the presidential primary. ✂️
The Republican Party committee has described the legal payments for Trump as support for the former president against political attacks against him. But at least two of the three firms that have been paid on behalf of Trump are involved in legal work on behalf of the former president regarding investigations against his personal businesses by the New York attorney general and Manhattan district attorney. ✂️
The RNC is reportedly not covering Trump's legal bills related to the House special committee's investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. But as previously reported by ABC News, Trump's leadership PAC, Save America, and his presidential committee-turned-PAC Make America Great Again PAC have been footing legal bills for witnesses involved in legal battles related to the events of Jan. 6, which has raised concerns about witness coercion from Jan. 6 committee members and legal experts.
Gaetz among 20 House Republicans who voted against anti-human trafficking bill
Hypocrisy is their badge of (dis)honor, of course, but Gaetz really does deserve a special badge.
From The Hill:
Gaetz, who is currently under investigation by the Department of Justice for sex trafficking allegations involving a minor, was among the Republicans who opposed the bill that aims to bolster programs including shelters, mental health care, education and job training for victims of human trafficking.
Gaetz was joined by GOP Reps. Brian Babin (Texas), Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Mo Brooks (Ala.), Ken Buck (Colo.), Andrew Clyde (Ga.), Louie Gohmert (Texas), Paul Gosar (Ariz.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Andy Harris (Md.), Jody Hice (Ga.), Thomas Massie (Ky.), Tom McClintock (Calif.), Mary Miller (Ill.), Troy Nehls (Texas), Ralph Norman (S.C.), Scott Perry (Pa.), Chip Roy (Texas) and Van Taylor (Texas).
The bill calls for allocating more than $1.1 billion over five years to reapprove and bolster programs that were created under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.
But wait! Gaetz has some serious competition for that special hypocrisy badge:
GOP lawmaker attended gay son's wedding 3 days after voting against same-sex marriage
From Yahoo News:
A Republican lawmaker attended his gay son’s wedding just three days after joining the majority of his GOP colleagues in voting against a House bill that would codify federal protections for same-sex marriage.
The gay son of Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., confirmed to NBC News on Monday that he “married the love of [his] life” on Friday and that his “father was there.” NBC News is not publishing the names of the grooms, neither of whom is a public figure.
Thompson’s press secretary, Maddison Stone, also confirmed the congressman was in attendance. “Congressman and Mrs. Thompson were thrilled to attend and celebrate their son’s marriage on Friday night as he began this new chapter in his life,” Stone said in an email, adding that the Thompsons are “very happy” to welcome their new son-in-law “into their family.” ✂️
In an email last week to the local newspaper Centre Daily, Stone called the Respect for Marriage Act “nothing more than an election-year messaging stunt for Democrats in Congress who have failed to address historic inflation and out of control prices at gas pumps and grocery stores.”
Police Called as Rival Right-Wing Convoy Groups Duke It Out in D.C.
My favorite recent story featuring pure uncut RW asininity.
From Daily Beast:
Rival right-wing convoy groups protesting non-existent COVID-19 mandates have turned on each other in Washington, D.C., leaving pepper spray deployed and police called early Thursday morning on the National Mall. In recent days, right-wing YouTube live streamers “Freedom Squirrel” and “Defender of Ants” traveled into town to counter-protest the 1776 Restoration Movement, formerly the People's Convoy, over accusations that the latter and larger group has members among its ranks that are “pedo'[s].” It didn't take long for things to boil over. By 2 a.m. on Thursday morning, police were called after a member of the 1776 Restoration Movement, a self-appointed “security” officer, pepper-sprayed a rival in the face.
As a footnote to this story, here’s a perfect tweet that OHD published in Sunday’s Tweets of the Week:
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Good news from my corner of the world
Portland Teenagers Are Finding Nature—and Themselves—on a Former Landfill
I love this story. I encourage you to click the link and read further about the kids’ experiences.
From Willamette Week:
...the Youth Conservation Crew [is] a program for 14- to 18-year-olds run by Portland Parks & Recreation that sends five teams to plant trees, clear trails and yank unwanted plants in city parks starting at $14.75 an hour. This group, which tends community gardens, is the newest in the city, established just last year within the YCC.
If you hear echoes of the New Deal in that name, you’re not wrong: Like the Works Progress Administration of another century, this city program is trying to mend an unfair society by putting young people to work.
Yeah, from one point of view it’s just a summer job: These teens are following in the footsteps of anybody who’s ever spent a few hot months in a lifeguard chair or behind the counter of a Hot Dog on a Stick.
But as Portland grows hotter each summer—especially in East Portland—Adrian and his crewmates are tending gardens in a place where relief from the sun is hard to come by: their own neighborhoods.
Oregon researchers propose innovative path forward for farming’s water woes
I’m delighted that agrivoltaics is making an impact in Oregon.
From Oregon Public Broadcasting:
...agrivoltaics pairs agriculture (including grazing) and solar power production on the same plot of land. OSU agriculture professor Chad Higgins’ research is showing ways of doing both together that could increase the efficiency of that land significantly. The panels’ shelter could protect from frost and heat and reduce water use.
“What they do is what we do when we’re out in the sun: we sweat. Plants do something similar where they use water to keep their leaves cool enough for photosynthesis,” Higgins said. “So, if you take that stress off them, now they’re using less water.”
With temperatures in Oregon expected to increase by an average of 5 degrees over the next 30 years under the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions and precipitation expected to come more and more when farmers can’t use it, this would be a huge advantage.✂️
A 2020 paper, co-authored by Higgins, calculated that the United States could meet 20% of its electricity demand by converting 1% of the country’s farmland into agrivoltaics.
The upfront investment to do this would be $1.12 trillion over the 35 years of their proposed project — a steep price tag. But those systems would pay back that investment in green electricity production in just 17 years.
At Hillsboro’s Library of Things, patrons can check out an experience
Such a great idea!
From Oregon Public Broadcasting:
Libraries have long offered more than just books: Patrons can often find movies, music, or games at their nearest branch, too. Public libraries have also offered other non-traditional items for checkout in the past, like puppets or toys. But in recent years, some libraries have built entire collections of even more unconventional items: Libraries of Things. One of the first collections of its kind in the United States is right here, in Hillsboro, Oregon.
“Our motto for the library is ‘for everyone,’ and I think this collection really epitomizes that thought,” said Brendan Lax, a collection development librarian at the Hillsboro Public Library — or our librarian of things.
Years ago, Lax had already been stretching the bounds of what the library system could offer its patrons, including video games and board games. Then he found inspiration from a 2014 trip to a few unconventional collections in California. Lax visited public libraries in Berkeley and Oakland to see their expansive tool libraries. He also stopped by the first American Library of Things in Sacramento, which had adopted its name from a nonprofit collection in London. He was particularly excited about the array of musical instruments he saw there. It seemed like a great way to pique patrons’ interest and curiosity. ✂️
Lax decided to try some new things out in Hillsboro’s collection, like educational STEM toys for kids and kitchenware. “And when kitchen gadgets come back, and they’re still looking clean, and all these board games and parts and pieces are coming back, and nothing’s missing, we get the sense that we can pretty much try anything,” Lax said.
Since then, Hillsboro’s Library of Things has grown to feature over 1,200 items, including nearly 600 board games. It’s helped inspire similar collections in the Portland area, across the state and around the country.
Good in my neighborhood
What a nice thing to offer in the middle of a heat wave!
That’s Rosy’s tail bottom left!
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Good news from around the nation
World Central Kitchen Activates in Response to Kentucky Flooding
Wherever in the world people need food after a disaster, WCK is there.
From a WCK email:
Late Wednesday night, pouring rains triggered severe flooding across eastern Kentucky. Entire homes were destroyed and at least 28 deaths have been confirmed. Families were trapped on their rooftops as washed out or impassable roads and bridges have left communities isolated and cut off from support. Adding to this increasingly difficult situation, thousands are now without access to clean, running water.
Mobilizing WCK chefs and logistics experts, our team arrived quickly, spreading out across the impacted area to identify needs. This weekend, we began cooking.
Hazard, Kentucky—a city with a population of about 5,200—has quickly become a center for supply donations and support for families affected by the flooding. A school gymnasium has been turned into a relief hub with diapers, clothing, dry goods, and more. Out front, there's drive-through water distribution.
WCK joined the local community working around the clock to begin cooking. On our first day of service [Saturday], WCK chefs prepared 1,000 plates of Appalachian soup beans with onions and cornbread for lunch and then almost doubled that with more than 1,700 plates of pasta and meatballs served for dinner. On top of hot meals, we've been distributing sandwiches on the fly as we continue to assess need and identify affected communities.
Today, WCK's chef team prepared plates of chicken and dumplings paired with mixed vegetables. These meals were served at distribution points including in Isom and Buckhorn with some door-to-door deliveries in the hardest-hit neighborhoods. ✂️
WCK's work in Kentucky is just beginning. ...We've heard from many families that this is the worst damage they have ever seen. We'll do our best to be here with comforting meals as families begin to rebuild.
To support our work, please donate here, and to keep up with the latest from around the world, follow WCK on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Delaware will give free solar panels to low-income residents
Other states need to do the same.
From Canary Media:
[A] two-year pilot, which launched this month [in Delaware], aims to bring the benefits of home solar to a wider range of people by dramatically lowering costs for moderate-income residents — and getting rid of costs altogether for low-income families.
“All the way from the governor’s office to the secretary, down to my level, we’re really excited about launching this program,” said Underwood, energy programs administrator in the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC). “It allows us to offer residential solar to Delawareans who traditionally were not able to afford the upfront costs.”
That includes people whose credit scores aren’t high enough to obtain a conventional loan to install solar or those who pay too little in taxes to be able to harness one of home solar’s major incentives: the federal solar Investment Tax Credit. The tax credit lowers a new solar owner’s tax bill by 26 percent of the cost of a solar installation, but that carrot doesn’t work if your tax liability is tiny.
And yet those low- and moderate-income households have the most to gain from solar on their roofs. Low-income households in the U.S. have an energy burden — the percentage of their income spent on energy — that’s up to three times higher than high-income households, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.
Delaware’s Low- to Moderate-Income Solar Pilot Program will make solar accessible to 50 households annually via two pathways. For low-income residents, the program provides solar installations of up to 4 kilowatts with no out-of-pocket costs. For moderate-income residents, the program covers 70 percent of the cost of systems of up to 6 kilowatts, leaving homeowners to pay the remaining 30 percent.
Massachusetts poised to ban child marriage after years of effort
This headline gobsmacked me. It’s hard to believe that a state as blue as MA is only just now banning child marriage! Judging from the final sentence in the quote below, this had more to do with legislative inertia than active opposition. There are a few more details in the full story, but no satisfactory explanation for why the ban wasn’t passed earlier.
From WBUR:
State Rep. Kay Khan said she was stunned when she first learned that Massachusetts was one of the few states with no minimum age to get married. Indeed, the state recorded nearly 1,200 marriages involving children under 18 between 2000 and 2018, including some as young as 13, according to data from the Department of Public Health.
"I just sort of jumped at it and said, 'Oh my gosh, I had no idea,' " said Khan, Newton representative and chair of the Committee on Children and Families.
People under 18 currently just need permission of a parent or a judge to marry. But after almost six years of effort, Khan and others appear to finally be on the verge of changing that.
Both the House and Senate have included language banning marriages involving children under 18 in the state budget. And it is now sitting on Gov. Charlie Baker's desk for final approval.
Still, it took years of effort, illustrating the challenge of passing any non-controversial legislation on Beacon Hill.
Community steps up to save beloved bookstore in SW Detroit after losing $35K in scam
This is the second time in a couple of weeks I’ve been able to report good news about an independent bookstore. Be sure to support your own neighborhood bookstore — they’re the gems in the crown of any community’s culture.
From WXYZ, via GoodGoodGood:
A beloved bookstore in southwest Detroit will keep its doors open, thanks to a lot of community love and support. ✂️
27th Letter Books has everything you'd expect from a bookstore, but also plenty of authors you might not see everywhere else. “There’s a lot of diversity and inclusion in the titles that we choose," [co-owner Jazmine] Cooper said. ✂️
In late May, less than a year after opening its brick and mortar store, 27th Letter Books fell victim to online credit card fraud. “Someone reached out, pretending to be a legitimate customer, and was ordering different books and established a relationship with us. And then we came to realize what had been ordered had been done using fraudulent cards," said fellow co-owner Erin Pineda.
The loss was more than $35,000, she said. ✂️
For a small local business, the loss was enough to force a closure. So Pineda, Cooper and their partners started a Go Fund Me Page in hopes of making some of that money back. What they received blew them away. ...More than $35,000 was raised by community members, eager to save the store. Much of the generosity coming in small increments of $10 or $15. ✂️
The outpouring of support means the store will keep its doors open, and continue its programming as well, which includes weekly bilingual story-time for kids, events with local artists, open mic nights, and a book club.
Amazon union organizer wins over a couple of police officers
This is my favorite recent feel-good story.
Meet the Jane Goodall Barbie
Mattel doing some good.
From GoodGoodGood:
Mattel, the toy-making company that creates Barbie, unveiled the Jane Goodall Barbie as part of its Inspiring Women Series — and the best part? It’s made of recycled ocean-bound plastics.
In addition, Goodall’s Barbie was introduced with Barbie’s “2022 Barbie Career of the Year Eco-Leadership Team,” which is a doll set that includes dolls representing a conservation scientist, renewable energy engineer, a chief sustainability officer, and an environmental advocate. ✂️
“Kids need more role models like Dr. Jane Goodall,” Lisa McKnight, Mattel's executive vice president and global head of Barbie and dolls, said in a statement. “We hope that this collection and homage to a groundbreaking pioneer for women in science and conservation inspires kids to learn more about green careers, how they can protect the planet, and act out sustainable stories through doll play.”
And fans of books, movies, and comics also doing good:
Fandom Forward: How Fan Communities Make a Difference
From GoodGoodGood:
Fandom Forward is an international nonprofit with a goal to “turn fans into heroes by using the power of story and popular culture to make activism accessible and sustainable.”
For 15 years, Fandom Forward was known as The Harry Potter Alliance. In 2021, thanks to J.K. Rowling’s fear-based transphobic messaging — and years of progress and activism leading to a much-needed change — the organization rebranded to Fandom Forward, to better include folks beyond a single story or fandom, and to be inclusive of the communities it serves.
Through experiential training and real-life campaigns, Fandom Forward develops compassionate, skillful leaders who learn to approach the world’s problems with joy, creativity, and a commitment to equity. The organization has had a major impact in countless areas, from LGBTQ+ equality, education and libraries, voting, and climate change, and they’re just getting started.
Fandom Forward is an excellent case study of the power of fandom and how ordinary people who love a movie, comic book, or series can become empowered activists who have critical conversations, create new solutions, and uplift one another in the fight for a better world.
[For examples of what fans are doing, click the link to read the entire short article.]
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Good news from around the world
The first Ukrainian grain ship leaves Odesa after months of Russian blockade
This is great news, but as a farmer interviewed later in this article notes, there is skepticism that this will continue: "I don't see this shipping corridor lasting into the new year unless there are big security guarantees,"...like NATO guarding the ports.
From NPR:
A cargo ship loaded with 26,000 tons of Ukrainian corn left the country's largest port Monday for the first time since Russia's invasion on Feb. 24.
The milestone comes after the United Nations and Turkey signed agreements with Russia and Ukraine on July 22 to re-open Ukraine's Black Sea ports and resume exports of grain, cooking oil and fertilizer. The U.N. had pushed for a deal to address a growing global food shortage.
Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov filmed the ship, the Sierra Leone-flagged Razoni, as it departed and declared the U.N. deal "a great success for providing global food security." ...Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also noted the ship's departure, calling it "very positive." Russia signed a separate agreement with Turkey so it could export its grain and fertilizer, which remain grounded because of Western sanctions on banking and transportation.
The Ukrainians need this deal to work to keep their economy from falling apart.
"Ukraine used to earn 45 percent of its general income from the agriculture sector," Alla Stoyanova, the Odesa region's agriculture chief, told NPR. "Since the Russian invasion, practically every other sector has crumbled. So agricultural exports are now our money, our economy, our life."
Young Ukrainians use techno parties to rebuild villages
We often say here in Gnuville that it’s important for activists to remember to have fun. This is a great example.
From AP News:
In a village in northern Ukraine that was devastated by Russian occupation only months ago, a techno party is in full swing.
In a bombed-out building, more than 200 young people have found a novel way to help rebuild their country. The daytime “clean-up rave” in Yahidne was organized by young Ukrainians who have been using dance parties as a way to contribute to recovery efforts in the country’s north, which has suffered major damage from Russian bombardment.
Shovels in hand, the volunteers tackle the remnants of a village cultural center that was destroyed in March by a Russian rocket strike, tossing piles of debris onto a tractor’s loader. A DJ, his turntables mounted on a stack of ammunition boxes, spins techno and house dance music as the volunteers work. Some even take a break from their labor to dance.
“Volunteering is my lifestyle now,” said Tania Burianova, an organizer with the Repair Together initiative. “I like electronic music and I used to party. But now it’s wartime and we want to help, and we’re doing it with music.”
Ukraine’s vibrant club scene was brought to an abrupt halt with the Russian invasion on Feb. 24. Now, with a nighttime curfew in effect in Kyiv, the capital, and the threat of more Russian rocket attacks ever present, adherents of Ukraine’s party culture have sought to combine the fun and freedom of a music festival with rebuilding the country they love.
Kazakhstan Defies Vlad
The more former USSR nations that stand up to Putin’s bullying, the sooner he’ll crash and burn.
From Diane Francis, Substack:
This newsletter is about an obscure country to most people, but represents a significant geopolitical development in the War against Russia that the mainstream media has missed. In January, Kazakhstan’s new President asked Putin and other former Soviet republics to send a few thousand peacekeeping troops to quell a violent uprising mounted by a former dictator. But in June, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said on Russian Television with Putin sitting beside him that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was unjustified. One outraged Russian politician later warned that such defiance could result in Ukrainian-style consequences. Undaunted, the Kazakh leader publicly offered on July 4 to increase its oil shipments to Europe, and Moscow immediately shut down the Kazakh pipeline through Russian territory that delivers oil to Europe. The Kazakh leader then announced new export options will be explored by his government.
Kazakhstan is now the third, and biggest, former Soviet republic to openly defy Putin. Ukraine’s attempt to do so in 2014 resulted in an invasion and now all-out war. Belarus’s 2020 pro-democracy street protests resulted in its recapture. Now Kazakhstan, the biggest and most resource-rich of the former Republics, is doing so. During the Cold War, all three possessed nuclear arsenals but in 1992 all were pressured to sign the non-proliferation treaty and give their weapons to Russia. Defanged, they continued to be under Russian influence but what distinguishes Kazakhstan is that it is in Central Asia, not Eastern Europe, and its government has built closer ties with China and Turkey than with Russia.
The country is the world’s ninth biggest exporter of oil, and has huge stores of natural gas that it ships to Central Asian neighbors and then onto China. It is also a mining giant, with more than 300 world-class mines, and produces more than 40 percent of the world’s uranium. But it lacks a huge military and is the world’s biggest landlocked nation -- a fact that still gives Russia some leverage over its distribution system. But this is changing and a new all-Kazakh pipeline to the Caspian Sea will give direct access to European markets via Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.
Sierra Leone backs bill to legalise abortion and end colonial-era law
Good for Sierra Leone’s President for making it clear that the U.S. is more of a third-world nation than Sierra Leone is when it comes to abortion laws.
From The Guardian:
Ministers in Sierra Leone have taken a major step towards decriminalising abortion and overturning the country’s colonial-era law, in a move hailed by campaigners and women’s rights activists.
President Julius Maada Bio said his cabinet had unanimously backed a bill on risk-free motherhood, which would expand access to abortion in a country where terminations are only permitted when a mother’s life is at risk.
After years of work by government officials and a broad coalition of women’s rights groups, the provisions of a safe motherhood and reproductive health bill have been approved by cabinet ministers. Campaigners hope the bill, which is now being drafted, will be submitted to parliament by September and passed this year.
“At a time when sexual and reproductive health rights for women are either being overturned or threatened, we are proud that Sierra Leone can once again lead with progressive reforms,” said President Bio, referring to the US supreme court’s decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion, which has drawn criticism around the world.
Kenya: UN expert hails historic reparations ruling in favour of indigenous peoples
This is one of a surprising number of recent victories for indigenous peoples.
From UN News:
An independent UN human rights expert on Monday hailed a decision by the African Court on Human and People’s Rights, to award reparations to the Ogiek indigenous peoples, for harm that they suffered due to “injustices and discrimination.” The historic ruling follows a landmark judgment delivered by the Court on 26 May 2017, finding that the Government of Kenya had violated the right to life, property, natural resources, development, religion and culture of the Ogiek, under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The Court ordered the Government of Kenya to pay compensation of 57,850,000 Kenya Shillings (approximately $488,000), for material prejudice for loss of property and natural resources, and a further 100,000,000 Shillings for moral prejudice suffered by Ogiek people, “due to violations of the right to non-discrimination, religion, culture and development”, according to a statement issued by the UN human rights office, OHCHR.
In addition, the Court ordered non-monetary reparations, including the restitution of Ogiek ancestral lands and full recognition of the Ogiek as indigenous peoples.
The Court also requires the Kenyan Government to undertake delimitation, demarcation, and titling, to protect Ogiek rights to property revolving around occupation, use and enjoyment of the Mau Forest and its resources. Furthermore, the court ordered Kenya to take necessary legislative, administrative or other measures to recognise, respect and protect the right of the Ogiek to be consulted with regard to development, conservation or investment projects in their ancestral lands.
They must be granted the right to give or withhold their free and informed consent to these projects to ensure minimal damage to their survival, the ruling said.
Indigenous communities in Colombia’s Amazon move closer to self-governance
More good news for indigenous peoples.
From Mongabay:
Rincon Vitina and other communities in the neighboring Amazonian departments of Amazonas and Vaupés are at last getting closer to fully governing themselves.
A man paddles down a waterway in the Rincon Vitina community in a traditional boat made from a single tree trunk.
Four years after Colombia’s government passed a law to formally recognize Indigenous governing structures in the three departments and give them financial autonomy, Guainía, Amazonas and Vaupés will soon be home to Indigenous territorial entities, or ITEs. In an area roughly three times the size of the Netherlands, the 14 proposed ITEs are home to 43 Indigenous peoples speaking 40 languages, representing some of the most culturally diverse parts of Colombia. An ITE is an administrative unit similar to a municipality, but whose functioning is more aligned with how Indigenous communities govern and manage their land and the environment. As part of an ITE, Indigenous communities also receive direct funding from the national government, which allows them to govern themselves fully.
In 1991, Colombia revised its Constitution, recognizing for the first time the country’s ethnic and cultural diversity and the need to formalize Indigenous lands. But since then, about 37% of Colombia’s Amazon has stayed in a legal vacuum, with Indigenous lands lacking administrative status. Only in 2018 did the government pass regulation, Decree 632, which legally enabled Indigenous communities in the eastern Amazon to create ITEs on non-municipalized land.
Last year, a U.N. report recognized Indigenous and tribal communities in Latin America and the Caribbean as the best guardians of forests in the region. Implementing Decree 632 could mean an enormous boost for conserving the environment and Indigenous culture in these territories, which cover more than 10 million hectares (25 million acres) of almost entirely intact native forest.
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Good news in medicine
Vitamin B6 supplements could reduce anxiety and depression
This seems like a safer option than pharmaceuticals.
From Science Daily:
Taking high-dose Vitamin B6 tablets has been shown to reduce feelings of anxiety and depression by new research.
Scientists at the University of Reading measured the impact of high doses of Vitamin B6 on young adults and found that they reported feeling less anxious and depressed after taking the supplements every day for a month. The study, published in the journal Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental, provides valuable evidence to support the use of supplements thought to modify levels of activity in the brain for preventing or treating mood disorders.
Dr David Field, lead author from the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences at the University of Reading, said: "...Vitamin B6 helps the body produce a specific chemical messenger that inhibits impulses in the brain, and our study links this calming effect with reduced anxiety among the participants." ✂️
The new study focused on the potential role of Vitamin B6, which is known to increase the body's production of GABA (Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid), a chemical that blocks impulses between nerve cells in the brain. In the current trial, more than 300 participants were randomly assigned either Vitamin B6 or B12 supplements far above the recommended daily intake (approximately 50 times the recommended daily allowance) or a placebo, and took one a day with food for a month. The study showed that Vitamin B12 had little effect compared to placebo over the trial period, but Vitamin B6 made a statistically reliable difference.
New breath-driven concept set to transform access to hand prosthetics
This is amazing and could be life-changing for low-income prosthetics patients.
From Medical Xpress:
A revolutionary new hand prosthesis powered and controlled by the user's breathing has been developed by researchers at the University of Oxford. The simple lightweight device offers an alternative to Bowden cable-driven body-powered prosthetics initially developed in the early 19th century—particularly for those too young or anatomically unsuited to an uncomfortable harness and cable system. ✂️
Although several different prosthetic options exist (suitability dependent on the level of upper limb difference amongst other factors) little progress has been made in developing new approaches to power and control of body-powered devices compared to sophisticated externally powered prosthetics. The most widely used functional upper-limb prosthesis remains the cable-driven body-powered system—which can be prohibitively expensive to own and maintain in low-resource settings because of the costs associated with the necessary professional fitting and maintenance.
The new approach, published in the journal Prosthesis, provides an alternative body-powered device for users in situations where cost, maintenance, comfort and ease of use are primary considerations.
By regulating their breathing, users power a small purpose-built Tesla turbine that can accurately control the prosthetic finger movements. The volume of air needed to power the unit can be achieved by young children and the gearing in the unit determines the speed of the grasping action.
Seeking Superpowers in the Axolotl Genome
This looks like a long shot, but anything that might help regenerate human organs is worth researching.
From The NY Times:
In a paper published Thursday in Genome Research, a team of researchers has reported the most complete assembly of DNA yet for [axolotls, a Mexican salamander]. Their work paves the way for advances in human regenerative medicine.
Many animals can perform some degree of regeneration, but axolotls seem almost limitless in their capabilities. As long as you don’t cut off their heads, they can “grow back a nearly perfect replica” of just about any body part, including up to half of their brain, said Jeramiah Smith, an associate professor of biology at the University of Kentucky and an author of the paper. To understand how they evolved these healing superpowers, Dr. Smith and his colleagues looked to the axolotl’s DNA. ✂️
Ultimately, knowing how DNA is positioned along chromosomes “allows you to start thinking about functions and how genes are regulated,” Dr. [Randal] Voss [an author of the study] said. For instance, much of the genome consists of noncoding DNA sequences that turn genes on and off. Often, these noncoding sequences occur on the same chromosome as the genes they interact with. “Once these relationships are known, then we can ask questions about whether the same kind of controls happen in other animals, like humans,” said Jessica Whited, a professor and limb regeneration expert at Harvard Medical School who was not involved in the study.
Over all, she added, that will help scientists understand whether there are predictable ways to “render humans more like axolotls,” fantastic regenerators of the animal kingdom.
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Good news in science
A paper battery with water switch
This is truly one of those “indistinguishable from magic” accomplishments in science.
In the intro to the piece, the Science Daily writer notes that the battery “could be used to power a wide range of low-power, single-use disposable electronics -- such as smart labels for tracking objects, environmental sensors and medical diagnostic devices -- and minimize their environmental impact.”
From Science Daily:
The battery, devised by Gustav Nyström and his team, is made of at least one cell measuring one centimeter squared and consisting of three inks printed onto a rectangular strip of paper. Salt, in this case simply sodium chloride or table salt, is dispersed throughout the strip of paper and one of its shorter ends has been dipped in wax. An ink containing graphite flakes, which acts as the positive end of the battery (the cathode), is printed onto one of the flat sides of the paper while an ink containing zinc powder, which acts as the negative end of the battery (the anode), is printed onto the reverse side of the paper. Yet another ink containing graphite flakes and carbon black is printed on both sides of the paper, on top of the other two inks. This ink makes up the current collectors connecting the positive and negative ends of the battery to two wires, which are located at the wax-dipped end of the paper.
When a small amount of water is added, the salts within the paper dissolve and charged ions are released, thus making the electrolyte ionically conductive. These ions activate the battery by dispersing through the paper, resulting in zinc in the ink at the anode being oxidized thereby releasing electrons. By closing the (external) circuit these electrons can then be transferred from the zinc-containing anode -- via the graphite- and carbon black-containing ink, the wires and the device -- to the graphite cathode where they are transferred to -- and hence reduce -- oxygen from ambient air. These redox reactions (reduction and oxidation) thus generate an electrical current that can be used to power an external electrical device.
Proof of concept: a sustainable energy source for low-power electronics
To demonstrate the ability of their battery to run low-power electronics, Nyström's team combined two cells into one battery to increase the operating voltage and used it to power an alarm clock with a liquid crystal display. Analysis of the performance of a one-cell battery revealed that after two drops of water were added, the battery activated within 20 seconds and, when not connected to an energy-consuming device, reached a stable voltage of 1.2 volts. The voltage of a standard AA alkaline battery is 1.5 volts.
After one hour, the one-cell battery's performance decreased significantly due to the paper drying. However, after the researchers added two extra drops of water, the battery maintained a stable operating voltage of 0.5 volts for more than one additional hour.
Simplifyber Secures $3.5M Seed Investment to Reinvent How Clothing is Made, with Sustainable, Advanced Manufacturing
From Cision PR Newswire:
Simplifyber, Inc., creator of the world's first fully-molded garment and shoe uppers made directly from a cellulose-based liquid, announced today the closing of a $3.5M round of seed funding…
The company has developed a novel approach to clothing and accessory manufacturing that removes traditional spinning, weaving, cutting, and sewing and replaces it with a sustainable, less resource-intensive process, and fully biodegradable solution – cutting out 60% of the steps and reducing the 35% of materials in the fashion supply chain that ends up as waste.
Simplifyber's soft, fabric-like shoe uppers are created from a cellulose-based liquid, and are fully biodegradable and recyclable.
"I saw how additive manufacturing (e.g., 3D printing) was disrupting nearly every other industry, but not in fashion. I set out to find the people that could make this a reality," remarked Simplifyber co-founder and CEO Maria Intscher-Owrang, who led a 20+ year career as a fashion designer and director at leading fashion houses… ✂️
Simplifyber's cellulose formula is 100% natural, derived from a combination of wood pulp and other plant-based material and non-toxic additives, so the result is a fully biodegradable product that can be easily returned to nature, recyclable as paper and as clothing.
"With its single-step process for clothing making, Simplifyber has the potential to beat the unit economics of polyester, becoming an economically and environmentally viable solution against plastic waste," said Laurie Menoud, Partner, At One Ventures. "We're looking forward to partnering with the team to bring this solution to scale. We believe Simplifyber could be the apparel of the future: They are not only beautifully designed but have a low carbon footprint and are price-accessible, which is a significant differentiation from other sustainable clothing brands."
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Good news for the environment
Colombia is first in Western Hemisphere to protect 30% of ocean
From Axios:
Colombia's outgoing President Iván Duque has announced that the country became the first in the Western Hemisphere to make 30% of its ocean territory a protected area, banning fishing and oil exploration.
Why it matters: Ocean degradation caused by overfishing, coral reef bleaching, pollution and other factors, along with rising sea levels and temperatures caused by climate change, increases the likelihood of death, flooding and a loss of food sources, scientists say.
- It also destroys the ocean’s biodiversity.
- Oceans produce half of all the world’s oxygen and absorb 31% of human-produced carbon dioxide.
Background: Over 100 countries have joined a pact to protect 30% of the oceans by 2030.
- Less than 8% of the world’s oceans are protected areas, according to the Marine Conservation Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Seattle.
Details: Duque made the announcement during the United Nations Ocean Conference in Portugal on Monday.
- It includes the creation of four new protected marine areas at the UN conference. Almost a third of its oceans will now have preservation measures, and extractive activities will be forbidden in many areas.
The big picture: Nine countries with Pacific coasts — the U.S., Mexico, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Canada, Panama, Costa Rica and Colombia — signed a declaration at the Summit of the Americas this month promising to work faster toward protecting ocean areas and to collaborate more.
Romania Fast-Forwards Coal Exit to 2030
Coal is on a fast track to oblivion all over the world.
From Beyond Coal:
The Romanian government has published an emergency law for the phase out of coal by 2030. It is expected to be approved within a month. It constitutes a two year acceleration of the country’s original coal exit plan announced last September, and clears the way for Romania to exploit its enormous solar and wind energy potential.
“Romania has long been home to some of the dirtiest coal plants in Europe. Under a year ago we had no coal exit plan to speak of. Now we’re a matter of formalities away from becoming the seventeenth European country to have a 2030 coal phase out plan. It really goes to show that quitting coal takes on a momentum of its own once you get the ball rolling,” said Alexandru Mustață, coal campaigner at Europe Beyond Coal. ✂️
“Today’s announcement is an important step in Romania’s energy transition. We have been campaigning for a well-managed coal phase out that is aligned with the goals of the UN Paris climate agreement for many years. This is a big success. Now more than ever, coal communities are relying on the government to ensure there are decent plans in place to smooth the transition away from coal to a fossil-free, renewable energy-based future. That means rapidly investing in retraining opportunities, job creation, and green infrastructure,” said Ioana Ciută, president of Bankwatch Romania.
Global faith institutions announce divestment as oil and gas companies threaten 1.5°C climate goal with reckless expansion plans
This kind of activism makes a significant impact.
From Operation Noah:
In a challenge to the fossil fuel industry’s dangerous expansion plans and increasingly empty rhetoric on climate, 35 faith institutions from seven countries today announced their divestment from fossil fuel companies.
Organised by the World Council of Churches, Operation Noah, Laudato Si’ Movement, Green Anglicans and GreenFaith, this latest divestment announcement comes from faith institutions in Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Italy, the UK and the US. It comes just three weeks before Anglican bishops from around the world gather for the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, UK.
Participating institutions include five Church of England dioceses (the Diocese of Birmingham, the Diocese of Durham, the Diocese of Leicester, the Diocese of Newcastle and the Diocese of Worcester); two Catholic dioceses (the Archdiocese of Armagh and the Diocese of Leeds); a Church of England cathedral (Leicester Cathedral); the Methodist Church in Ireland; two United Reformed Church Synods; 11 Catholic religious orders, including the Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph in Canada, the Religious Institute of the Sacred Heart of Mary in Brazil, and the Jesuits in the United States East Province; the Catholic Theological Society of America; two Jesuit universities in the US (Marquette University and Loyola University, Chicago); and several local churches.
The global divestment announcement follows an investigation by The Guardian into the world’s largest fossil fuel firms and the scores of planned ‘carbon bomb’ oil and gas projects which would push the world past the goal of limiting global heating to 1.5°C, with catastrophic impacts that could lead to the displacement of hundreds of millions of people.
US College Students Are Shunning Oil-Industry Degrees
Another trend that will have a big impact on the fossil-fuel industry.
From Yahoo News:
[In] an alarming trend for the top US petroleum-engineering programs, ...enrollments are dwindling despite the surge in crude prices that historically prompted more aspirants to join the industry.
This year, the number of new petroleum-engineering graduates in the US is expected to total about 400 -- an 83% decline from 2017, when they peaked at more than 2,300, according to Lloyd Heinze, a Texas Tech University professor who tracks annual enrollments at more than three dozen petroleum schools around the world. ✂️
“Personally, I think we are heading to a bit of a crisis,” said Jennifer Miskimins, who leads the petroleum-engineering department at the Colorado School of Mines, one of the world’s premier oil universities. “As petroleum engineers age, the industry will need to replace a retiring cohort of Baby Boomers. But we are not seeing enough petroleum engineers to fill the demand.” ✂️
The reason why enrollment numbers no longer correlate with oil prices, according to ...Miskimins, is partly due to the energy transition. More students and parents are turned off by the sector not necessarily because they are environmental advocates, but because they have concluded the switch will make oil and natural gas obsolete in five or 10 years, she said.
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Sara Bareilles wrote this song as a fundraiser for groups working for environmental justice and sustainability organized by Playing for Change. If you want to contribute, open the video in YouTube.
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Good news for and about animals
Brought to you by Rosy, Nora, and Rascal.
Real-Life “Lassie” Leads Rescuers to Owner Who Fell 70 Feet in Tahoe National Forest
Rosy raises a high-five paw to Saul. What a good, good boy!
From Outdoor Life:
One man’s best friend saved the day—and possibly his life—by running for help when the man fell and injured himself in Tahoe National Forest last week. Saul, a black border collie, was hailed as a “true Lassie” by Nevada County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue after he led a search-and-rescue crew 200 yards through the forest to where his owner was lying with broken ribs and a broken hip.
Saul, a hero dog.
The 53-year-old man, whose name has not been released, was hiking in the national forest on July 13 when he fell approximately 70 feet from atop a ridge. He was then able to crawl back to his camp, where he had enough of a cell signal to call 911 and alert authorities. A search-and-rescue team comprised of 25 volunteers took to the woods soon after, and about seven hours later, they stumbled upon Saul.
“The dog jumped up and down, spun around in circles, and ran 20 feet ahead of them,” said Sgt. Haack, who was communicating with the team from a nearby command post. One of the volunteers radioed Haack and told him they were going to follow the dog as they believed he was trying to lead them somewhere. ✂️
Not only did Saul lead the team directly to his owner, but he did it so quickly that the man was airlifted to a hospital within eight hours of when he first called 911. The dog spent the night in the care of a nonprofit in Grass Valley, where he received a “well-deserved dinner,” Haack said. He was reunited with his owner the following day.
In much of Asia, tiger populations are rebounding
Nora considers herself a tiger at heart, so she’s very pleased by this news.
From The Washington Post:
Tigers are having a good year.
Tigers at Bardiya National Park in Nepal.
Nepalese officials announced Friday that the top predator’s numbers within the country’s borders have more than doubled in a bit more than a decade. Across Asia, there are as many as 5,500 tigers prowling jungles and swamps, a leading wildlife group said last week, a 40 percent jump from its 2015 assessment.
The slow but steady rise in the big cat’s estimated population comes as biologists get better at tracking the animal and marks a high point amid a deepening extinction crisis that may see as many as a million plants and animal species disappear worldwide because of habitat loss and climate change.
Tiger researchers, while optimistic, warn that the fierce hunter remains under threat from both poaching and encroachment into its remaining habitat. And nations are struggling to reach their collective goal of doubling the population of wild tigers worldwide between 2010 and 2022, the last two years assigned to the tiger in the Chinese zodiac. ✂️
But a combination of expanding protected areas and targeting poachers who sell tiger parts for use in traditional medicine has allowed tigers to stabilize or recover in China, India and Thailand.
Bonus dog and cat story!
Bill in Portland Maine found this gem and published it in last Friday’s Cheers and Jeers. Both Rosy and Nora insisted that I include it.
And there’s a happy update from Goodable:
Songbird can keep time with the best of them
Rascal assures me that he’s not in the least surprised by this. He routinely sings along — and sometimes dances — to whatever music is playing, whether it’s jazz or classical.
From Science Daily:
When it comes to keeping time, an unassuming species of songbird is on a par with professional musicians, according to new research led by scientists at The University of Texas at Austin. The study is the first to investigate natural time-keeping ability of an animal in the wild rather than under observation in the lab, with scientists examining the song of the scaly-breasted wren, a small brown bird in Central and South America known for its whistle-like chirps.
The song of the wild birds demonstrated better time-keeping skills than those of mammals and birds trained in captivity. The results underscore the importance of studying animals in both the lab and in nature to get an accurate view of their abilities, said lead author Carlos Antonio Rodriguez-Saltos. ✂️
Birds don't have songbooks. But some species sing the same tune, chirping notes in an identifiable pattern. For the scaly-breasted wren, the pattern goes like this: an opening blast of chirps followed by alternating intervals of chirps and pauses, with the pauses between each chirp getting progressively longer.
Rodriguez-Saltos...realized that a unique feature of the wren's song -- the steadily growing pauses between the chirps -- presented a unique opportunity to delve into the bird's time-tracking abilities. ✂️
...for the wild wrens, 43% of the songs (10 out of the 23 songs that met the requirements for evaluation) consistently kept time for the duration of the song, with the intervals holding the established pattern even as the pauses increased in length. For two of those songs, the accuracy of the wren was higher than that of the average professional musician.
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Art break
Graffiti Artist Creates Amazing Street Art Illusions Using Only Spray Paint
BTW, if you want weird and wonderful art stories like this in your inbox, sign up for My Modern Met’s newsletter. I’ve been enjoying it immensely.
From My Modern Met:
Portuguese graffiti artist Vile wields his spray cans like a laser cutter, expertly “carving” his name into concrete and stone. His amazing technical abilities allow him to create stunning optical illusions whereby his name appears as a window cut into the side of a wall.
Vile has been painting graffiti since he was a teenager and honed his artistic skills via coursework in animation and illustration. His training has clearly paid off, as executing such convincing illusions takes time, preparation, and patience. The most challenging part of his creative process is color matching, as the palette must be selected carefully in order to make the final product convincing.
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Hot lynx
aflcio.org/… Executive Paywatch. A very cool interactive site that gives you a deep dive into the gap between the earnings of CEOs and the earnings of their employees. You can search by company name, industry, or state.
slate.com/… The Single Most Important Thing to Know About Financial Aid: It’s a Sham. “Colleges claim to award scholarships based on merit or need. In reality, they’re just charging the most they think families will pay.”
www.theatlantic.com/… The Gun Industry Created a New Consumer. Now It’s Killing Us. A fascinating, disturbing look behind the scenes of the gun industry: “Over my years as a rising executive with a successful gun manufacturer, I became more and more disturbed by the sort of firearms the industry was selling, how it was selling them, and to whom.”
www.cnet.com/… Chasing Ghosts: Unlocking the Mysteries of Human Hibernation. A surprising research journey starting from the case of a Japanese hiker who survived extreme hypothermia, through “zombie dogs” and “Q neurons,” to the possibility of human hibernation.
www.nationalgeographic.com/… Beloved Chincoteague ponies' mythical origins may be real. The discovery of a fossil horse tooth in Haiti has given credence to the theory that the horses escaped from a 1750 Spanish shipwreck.
www.theguardian.com/… Why are the younger Trumps so awful? Did you hear the speeches at Ivana’s funeral? Spoiler: it’s even worse than you think. Prepare to laugh, prepare to cringe.
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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 …
Abortion assistance
Here’s an easy action you can take RIGHT NOW:
Donate to two organizations providing support to people in no-abortion states who need assistance getting abortions.
National Network of Abortion Funds
The Brigid Alliance
Both of these organizations provide help with transportation, medical fees, hotel stays, etc., for those who have to travel out of state for an abortion. NNAF is a central clearing house for that assistance, The Brigid Alliance does that work directly.
Get the truth out
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.
Call out tax exempt organizations whose political stance violates IRS regulations
A suggestion from chloris creator:
new!!! Tax-exempt organization complaint referrals. 13909. This has been filled out for the NRA, but, hey, you can use it for a lot of other organizations. How about if some of us white folk go into some of the MAGA churches and video record what they’re saying?
“The process to get the NRA's tax-exempt nonprofit status revoked has become simpler. All you need to do is save this form and email it to eoclass@irs.gov. It's all filled out for you. You just need to click send.” Allen Glines
Note that the IRS protects your anonymity: The appropriate checkbox is already checked: "I am concerned that I might face retaliation or retribution if my identity is disclosed."
Get creative with sticky notes or labels
This suggestion comes from Kossack Ocean Rain (bolding mine):
My friends and I are carrying around pens and sticky notes and/or big mailing labels (things with adhesives that don't cause property damage when removed) and writing messages such as:
- Defend Choice — Defeat Republicans in the Midterms Nov. 8
- On Nov. 8 Vote Blue — or else the GOP will take your right to birth control too
-Vote Pro-Choice in Midterms Nov. 8
- Roe, Roe, Roe Your Vote — Midterms Nov. 8
You can also include state-specific primary date voting info. if applicable (like for the NO vote in Kansas on the abortion question). In red states, people are including abortion access website links.
We're placing them in public restrooms, highway rest stops, transit stations, shopping malls — any high-visibility place. We'd love it if some DailyKos-ers would do the same and spread the idea far and wide on social media. Thank you!
Goodie’s action steps
Woo hoo!! We’re up to $36,093.52! If 21 of us each toss in $10, we can push it over $36,300 this morning!!
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.
* * * * *
Closing music
Allen Toussaint was one of my all-time favorite musicians, but I only recently became aware of this beautiful song. May his gift for infectious melody and powerful messages lift your spirits and make your day happier.
❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
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! 💙❤️
