Welcome back to the Monday Good News Roundup, that time of the week when your GNR Newsroom, myself, killer300, and Bhu, give you all the good news to start your week off the right way.
Before we get started, I want to do a little public service announcement. Its something that has been on my mind this past week, and its something that I think a lot of people need to understand.
As you all know, the presidential election is next year, and the stakes could not be higher. Donald Trump is gonna be the candidate again (assuming he doesn’t wind up in jail or die before then), and he has made no secret about the horrible shit he’s gonna do if he gets back in office. Now luckily, we are in a great position at the moment; the young people are voting in droves, abortion continues to be a stone around the GOP’s neck, and we have been kicking ass in every election since 2000. We defused a red wave in 2022, things are looking bright.
But its still a precarious situation, we can’t afford to mess this up. Not this close to the goal. So what I am asking of people is to maybe, just maybe, stop being so hard on the Democrats.
What do I mean? Well I see a lot of people who are on our side, who are voting democrat, who can’t stop talking about how much they hate voting for democrats, who say stuff like “Both sides are evil, but the republicans are way worse” or “I think of it like pulling teeth, its painful but it has to be done.”
I don’t think people realize that isn’t exactly the winning campaign slogan they seem to think it is.
When you tell people “Both sides are bad, but one side is way worse so vote for this side anyway.” The only part a lot of people hear is “Both sides are bad”, and then they stay home and don’t vote.
Like people talk about the Democrats having a messaging problem. This is the messaging problem. The messaging problem is democrats or left leaning people online who spend every waking moment shit talking democrats.
LIke I get it,the Dems aren’t perfect. Biden wasn’t your first pick for president. But as it turns out Biden has been a pretty good president, and I’m tired of people pretending he isn’t.
Like, this is the sort of thing that lost us the election in 2016, people who just couldn’t get over how much they hated Hillary and couldn’t shut up about how much they hated her. Its why The 2020 election was way, way closer than it should have been. This is why a large percentage of this country doesn’t vote. We seem to assume that people will look at Trump and his body of work and realize how terrible he is and just vote democrat out of a sense of obligation.
But it doesn’t work like that. I mean look, “Grab em by the pussy” didn’t stop Trump. The pandemic did not stop Trump, I can guarantee the Jan 6 capitol riots will not stop Trump either (Unless he gets thrown in jail for it). Trumps supporters will stick with him ride or die at this point, and people will not vote for Biden out of a sense of obligation or duty to stop Trump. They would vote for him because people think he’s doing a good job.
Like, I shouldn’t have to explain this, I shouldn’t have to say “If you want a guy to get elected, then tell people about what’s great about him, or at the very least don’t shit talk the guy.” But here we are, eight years later and we’re still making the same mistakes.
Like I’m saying this partly because its sound advice and partly because of my own mental health. I’m tired of dreading each presidential election and the fear that our nation will elect a literal monster who will spell doom for our democracy. I’m tired of spending all of October in near panic mode because I have anxiety issues and my brain always assumes the worst case scenario is upon us. I am 40 years old, I don’t want to DEAL with this shit anymore. I don’t think you guys do either. I just want our country to move forward, and for the remnants of the GOP to wither off and die. But that’s not gonna happen unless we actually pull together and get this done.
So I am asking, nay, begging, that when you talk online, at the very least try and find nice thing to say about Biden and the Democrats, and if you can’t bring yourself to do that, then at the very least coach your criticisms, like instead of saying “Democrats are evil but the GOP is worse” say something like, “Biden and the Democrats are not perfect but they are trying to make things better, as oppose to the GOP who consistently want to make things worse.”
And if you can’t even bring yourself to do that? If you can’t be that mildly complimenting to the Dems or Biden then… just don’t say anything. Like I’m not going to tell you not to hate the guy, but don’t poison the well for others. We have an entire generation of young voters out there, and its our duty not to discourage them from voting like previous generations have been. And part of that is dialing back the cynicism and making them excited about picking their leaders.
Sorry I know that was a longer intro than normal, I just…. wanted to get that off of my chest.
Anyway, onto the good news proper.
A Virgin Atlantic flight taking off this week from London to New York City will last about eight hours, span around 3,500 miles — and emit only a fraction of the planet-warming gases associated with a typical transatlantic flight.
On Tuesday, the British airline is set to pluck a Boeing 787 Dreamliner from its fleet and run the two powerful engines on 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, during the journey from Heathrow Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport. If all goes to plan, Virgin Atlantic will be the first commercial airline to fly a passenger plane across the Atlantic Ocean by burning only fossil-free jet fuel, marking an important milestone for the CO2-intensive industry.
Again and again, I love living in the future.
Happy Monday all. Hope you had a good break. Congress returns this week, and Democrats will attempt to pass Ukraine and Israel funding this month, and work to break the GOP Pentagon blockade in the Senate. The pause we’ve seen in the Israel-Hamas war - the return of hostages, the resumption of humanitarian aid - has been encouraging, and we will learn more, soon, perhaps today, if it will continue. As we discussed yesterday, a great deal will depend on whether Hamas can keep returning hostages as over 150 remain, including dozens of women and children.
Always nice to hear from Hopium, its great to know we aren’t the only ones fighting the good fight out there.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the European economy, particularly the energy sector, suffered as Russia steeply cut the supply of natural gas and prices rose dramatically. Since then, with the additional urgency from climate change, environmentalists teamed up with national security hawks to try to free Europe from dependence on Russian oil and natural gas.
The European Union’s power supply changed significantly in the year following the onset of Russia's war on Ukraine, while new measures to conserve energy and reduce reliance on Russia have furthered the continent's green goals.
The European Union managed to reduce its energy demand by 4.2 percent, or 113 terawatt hours (TWh), during the 12 months following Russia’s invasion. The supply of solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources increased by 5.6 percent, or just below 40 TWh, countering the similarly sized decline in EU hydropower production experienced during the severe drought of 2022. Coal production increased by 15 TWh, but it was balanced out by a drop in power production from gas and other fossil fuel sources.
There has not been a single aspect of the Ukraine invasion that has gone well for Putin. He has burned every bridge he has, and has made himself the laughing stock of the whole world.
A next-generation geothermal plant backed by Google has started sending carbon-free electricity to the grid in Nevada, where the tech company operates some of its massive data centers.
On Tuesday, Google and geothermal developer Fervo Energy said that electrons began flowing from the first-of-a-kind facility earlier this month. The 3.5-megawatt project, called Project Red, is now supplying power directly to the Las Vegas–based utility NV Energy.
Cool beans. Not much else to comment on really.
What difference did #MeToo actually make?
In 2017 and 2018, the viral hashtag became a global sensation that motivated millions to speak out about sexual assault and harassment. But more recently, critics have questioned whether the flurry of activity ended up leaving much of a legacy.
This questioning is hardly surprising. If there is one thing that is most consistent when it comes to mass protest movements, it is that these mobilizations will be dismissed by mainstream political observers as being fleeting and inconsequential. Time and again, they are labeled as fads, scolded for being too “confrontational and divisive,” and written off as flash-in-the-pan eruptions with little lasting significance.
The latest round of such dismissal came this fall with an article in the New York Times entitled “The Failure of Progressive Movements.” In it, columnist David Leonhardt notes that several movements have achieved prominence in recent years: Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter and #MeToo. However, “none of the three movements have come close to achieving their ambitions,” he argues.
Yeah those in power will always try to minimize the efforts of progressive movements, because they want us to feel small and powerless, but we have the real power not them.
Now for a little bit of GNR theater.
Yep, seems like DeScamtis is having trouble on the ol Campaign trail. Honestly watching the GOP drones fighting for silver medal may be the saddest thing I’ve seen all week.
Friends, got a few things for you today:
Biden Regains The Lead In National Polling - So, all 4 national polls out this week showing Biden leading Trump again:
-
44%-42% Economist/YouGov - Trump led 43%-42% in mid November
-
43%-42% Morning Consult - Trump led 44%-41% last week
-
39%-37% YouGov (this is a seperate poll by the same firm)
-
37%-35% Leger/The Canadian Press
Yeah I know we were all freaked out by the New York Times a few weeks ago, and polls are BS anyway, but this should put your mind at ease just a bit. We can win this, and we’re going to win.
I can’t copy and paste a quote from this one for some reason, but I am including it anyway because, seriously, fuck cryptobros. Fuck them and their environment destroying digital monopoly money.
Scanning a library of 27 million different molecules, a bi-institutional team identified some that work more effectively than the existing pain medications gabapentin and pregabalin.
Prescribed to nearly 50 million Americans in 2020, gabapentin is used to treat pain and dysfunction related to restless leg syndrome, epilepsy, hot flashes, and neuropathy or nerve pain, while pregabalin is prescribed to nearly 10 million Americans, but has even harsher side effects that can lead to death.
Calcium channels play a central role in pain signaling, in part through the release of neurotransmitters such as glutamate and GABA—“the currency of the pain signal,” according to Rajesh Khanna, director of the NYU Pain Research Center.
Improvement of pain meds is great news, I hope they find even more new medicines with this.
Something has changed in the United States, and not just the climate. State, local and tribal governments all around the country have begun to take action. Some politicians now actually campaign on climate change, instead of ignoring or lying about it. Congress passed federal climate legislation — something I’d long regarded as impossible — in 2022 as we turned in the first draft.
And while the report stresses the urgency of limiting warming to prevent terrible risks, it has a new message, too: We can do this. We now know how to make the dramatic emissions cuts we’d need to limit warming, and it’s very possible to do this in a way that’s sustainable, healthy and fair. The conversation has moved on, and the role of scientists has changed. We’re not just warning of danger anymore. We’re showing the way to safety.
I was wrong about those previous reports: They did matter, after all. While climate scientists were warning the world of disaster, a small army of scientists, engineers, policymakers and others were getting to work. These first responders have helped move us toward our climate goals. Our warnings did their job.
For the first time in a long time, people are taking climate change seriously. What we are doing does matter, and things actually are getting better. We need to keep that up.
And on that note, its time for a GNR Lightning round
Everybody is asking for their art back
89% of Finland’s electric is is fossil free
Ditching fossil fuels improves health
Rwanda on track to eliminate Malaria
World toilet day
What does a sustainable smartphone look like?
These states almost have universal healthcare
Indonesia invests 20 billion in renewable energy
Gender equality gains momentum in sub Saharan Africa
Great Lightning round! Now back to more good news.
Welcome to BIG, a newsletter on the politics of monopoly power. If you’d like to sign up to receive issues over email, you can do so here. This issue is co-authored by Lee Hepner and Matt Stoller.
Today we’re writing about a fundamental and often disdained way that Americans organize our industries and assert our rights. Plaintiff lawyers. For forty years, big business has demonized them as sleazy ambulance chasers, as a way of ensuring that ordinary business people and workers get no say in our society.
So what do these plaintiff lawyers do? Do they matter? And has this campaign succeeded? The answers may surprise you.
Always be suspicious when the mainstream media paints a group as being crooked or underhanded, they may have an ulterior motive for doing so.
Switching the global economy to run on clean energy instead of fossil fuels depends on a massive ramp-up in minerals extraction to supply batteries, solar panels, transmission lines and more. This has a lot of people worried that a lack of access to minerals will eventually hold back progress on clean energy. But the founders of new investment firm Kinterra Capital aren’t just fretting about it: They’re investing in projects to produce more of the minerals and chemicals that underpin crucial clean energy technologies.
Co-founders Cheryl Brandon and Kamal Toor set out to raise $500 million to put into the new mining and processing plants needed to supply the transition to clean energy. Last week, they announced that they ended up raising $565 million, which they will invest to acquire or buy controlling stakes in promising mining and processing projects that could expand the supply of critical materials. They’re targeting minerals like lithium, copper, nickel, cobalt and graphite, and the chemical compounds made by processing those minerals.
There are many hurdles to a green future, but we’re gonna get over them one by one.
Since the passing of the new contract, Panamanian society has erupted in protest. In the Globe and Mail, Niall McGee writes: “The contract was denounced by environmentalists, Indigenous groups, labour activists and religious groups, who opposed it both because of its financial terms and because of the impact the open-pit mine has on the environment.”
Protesters are blocking roads and ports, and disrupting major infrastructure. First Quantum, which denounced the protesters’ methods as “illegal and violent,” has seen its market value plummet by 40 percent. Meanwhile the Panamanian government claims the popular mobilizations are costing the state $80 million per day. This public pressure led President Laurentino Cortizo to halt new mining approvals and announce a public referendum on whether or not the contract with First Quantum should be repealed. The vote will be held on December 17.
Ordinary Panamanians, who are dealing with high inflation and unemployment, are sick of being excluded from decisions concerning their country’s extractive industry. They are also alarmed by the environmental risks, which include the contamination of drinking water and the deforestation of land on the mine’s thirty-two-thousand-acre plot. A rallying cry of the protests, “Panama is worth more without mining,” calls to mind the example of El Salvador, which banned metals mining outright in 2017.
People have had enough of the unchecked greed of capitalism, and are fighting against it on al fronts.
Days after unionized workers at the Big Three automakers voted to ratify their new contracts—secured after the United Auto Workers staged an innovative "stand up strike" that lasted six weeks—the union made clear on Wednesday it has no plans to stop its fight for economic justice for thousands of workers at car manufacturing plants across the United States.
Urging all autoworkers in the U.S. to "stand up," the UAW launched what pro-labor media organization More Perfect Unioncalled "the largest organizing drive in modern American history," aiming to bring 150,000 employees at 13 nonunion auto companies into the union.
The UAW announced its campaign with the launch of a new website detailing the skyrocketing profits and CEO pay at firms including Germany's Volkswagen and Mercedes; Japanese and Korean manufacturers Toyota, Hyundai, and Mazda; and U.S. electric car companies Tesla and Lucid.
Unions are back, there isn’t anything else to say really.
History, apparently, doesn’t believe in pacing itself these days. No sooner had it seemed as though Covid was finally beginning to slip into the past than Vladimir Putin began his invasion of Ukraine, killing thousands, displacing millions, and threatening the entire planet with his terrifying nuclear rhetoric.
I’ve no idea how any of this will unfold, of course. But there’s one prediction I feel confident in making: whatever happens, the news cycle isn’t about to become less panic-inducing, less filled with existential threat. Which means that figuring out how to consume news sanely is only going to become an even more critical skill for living a composed and purposeful life.
Alarming news is nothing new, but the central place the news has come to occupy in many people’s psychological worlds is certainly novel. Because of how digital media works – though also because the news developments themselves are legitimately huge – these global dramas start to feel like life’s centre of gravity, with the immediate worlds of family, job and neighbourhood relegated to the periphery.
This is something i had to learn myself; back in 2016 I was glued to the news sites and political threads, and the negative attitude really hurt me in more ways than one, but I’m in a much better place now and ready to weather whatever is thrown at me.
Barely an hour into Wednesday, November 29, 2023, one of the country’s earliest settled cities eliminated single-family zoning. Alexandria, Virginia, joins cities like Minneapolis, Walla Walla, and Arlington in the move to open up opportunities for a diversity of housing needs.
“The question we’re facing as a Council, and as a city, is whether we’re willing to commit the effort and resources to make Alexandria an inclusive city — one where low and middle-income families and seniors aren’t driven out by skyrocketing housing costs — or if we will continue down a path of exclusivity, where only those among us who have the most are able to remain,” said Council member Kirk McPike during the late-night vote. “My values, driven by my own life experience and my faith, demand the former.”
In the ongoing war for affordable housing we are winning on multiple fronts.
Last month, Ukrainian researchers and Politico correspondents revealed that they had identified nearly 200 Cubans who had joined the Russian military in recent weeks, with enlistees ranging in age between 19 and 69. In interviews, Cuban recruits reported a range of Russian tactics to secure new personnel. Many in particular cited monetary incentives and the prospect of Russian citizenship — an attractive draw for young men in a country beset by food insecurity and joblessness.
Other Cuban enlistees tell darker stories. Some have shared experiences of being lured to Russia under false pretenses, such as arriving for a job as a driver and being drafted for the frontlines instead. Subsequent reports out of Havana suggest more Cuban nationals have been forced or deceived into service than these revelations suggest. In September, the Cuban government went public with an announcement that it had identified and disrupted a human trafficking network amassing recruits for Russia’s war effort. While the Kremlin remained silent on Havana’s announcement, it signed a new trade and economic cooperation deal with Cuba in November — a move that could smooth ruffled feathers and potentially pave the way for continued recruitment in the future.
Once again, Putin’s war on the Ukraine has been a flaming disaster. He will never again be thought of as an evil mastermind or a clever chessmaster, only as an arrogant fool whose luck finally ran out.
By most standard measures, the American economy is going gangbusters. GDP grew at a nearly 5% annualized pace in the third quarter, the best since late 2021. Unemployment sits at just 3.9%. Inflation, which had peaked at a 7.5% annual rate in January 2022, has fallen to 3.2%. Joe Biden can trumpet the fact that just under 14 million jobs have been created since he took office, a record for an American president. Over the comparable period in Donald Trump’s term — before the Covid-19 pandemic — fewer than 6 million jobs were created.
And people are certainly acting like the economy is good: Consumer spending is strong, and Americans are starting new businesses at the highest rates since the Census Bureau began tracking this data in 2006. Yet when pollsters ask people how they think the economy is doing, they don’t just express concern. They say the economy is terrible.
Well of course they say that, its either that or admit Biden is doing a good job, and we can’t do that can we?
Like I don’t doubt a lot of them are detached from reality, but I think some of them might be LYING when they say that.
New York City is poised to get a lot more trees. Last month, the city council passed a measure calling for 30% canopy cover by 2035, up from its current cover of 22%; a recent tree census found there’s enough room in the city to plant an additional 250,000 new trees. .
More trees, with all their cooling benefits, is a clear win for the environmental justice movement, as cities around the world seek to adapt to hotter temperatures caused by the climate crisis. But where those trees should go – and which kind of trees to plant – is not so straightforward.
“It’s about not just planting more trees, but the right tree in the right spot,” said Alexander Kobald, a researcher at Cornell University. “It’s really focusing on what the spot calls for and making sure the people [who live near the trees] feel heard.”
Very proud of my home state right now.
And that I think is a good place to stop, I hope everyone has a good week, and at very least consider the point I made at the start of this weeks entry. We can win this if we work together.
