Welcome 🌻 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News!
Happy Hallowe’en! Yeah, it seems as if there have been more tricks than treats lately.
Three reasons we can still have hope for America Garrett Graff, Doomsday Scenario
1. People — There are more of us than there are of them.
It’s easy to lose sight of how weak this administration’s popular support actually is. Two-thirds of Americans are not Trump voters — and even many who did support him are beginning to question or turn against what it’s like to live in Donald Trump’s America. ✂️
2. History — America’s progress has always been imperfect.
Ironically, the second pillar of hope I have is that the history of the United States is filled with dark chapters — sometimes, even long dark chapters.
We are a country founded on a deeply imperfect premise, “all men are created equal,” that at that time excluded enslaved Blacks, women, indigenous people, and even white men who didn’t own property. America has many stories and the one that I choose to believe is the one where we are a country that strives, generation by generation, decade by decade, to be better. That viewed across 250 years, America is a country where each generation has strived to hand off a country more just, equal, and prosperous than the one they inherited from their parents and grandparents. ✂️
3. Actuarial — Trump won’t last forever, which means “Trumpism” will fall.
Trump may want to be a dictator and emulate Franco and Orban, and — who knows — maybe the ridiculous White House ballroom he’s building is an indication he doesn’t plan to leave peacefully on January 20, 2029, but time tells us that he’s never going to be Franco, the dictator who reigned in Spain from 1939 until 1975. The reality is Donald Trump is 79 and not well — and probably less well than the media is willing to dig into — and his reign as president and America’s would-be king will be measured in years, not decades.
OK, I had to use the bit above because of the word actuarial. I know that simply waiting for the felon to die is sort of a cop-out. But it’s also a reality. There’s already evidence he’s being propped up.
Anyway, we can make a difference. We are making a difference. Let’s make a bigger difference!
Come on in and see what the good guys are doing!
Additional note: Internet was down in my area for 8 hours or so, and if it vanishes again, well, so do I. But you know what to do!
Regular Scheduled Programming
No one here is naïve; we are aware of the many who are fighting to destroy our country. Some of us expected it: the cheating, the lying, and the chaos. But we are here to read the efforts and the positive results of those (including us and our fellow gnus) who are working so hard to save our country and the planet from those very bad people. We are furious with them for what they are doing and we are letting them know.
Remember:
💜Although they lie all the time, reality matters. And our goals — based on reality — are more popular.
💙 They want us to be demoralized. The best way to keep up your spirits is to fight. So, take the time to recharge your batteries, make sure to protect yourself, your family and your friends, but find ways to contribute to the well-being of our country and our world.
🗽 Reports on Resisters🗽
The numbers were much greater than originally reported. We wanted to hit 3.5%. Looks like we did!
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Economist/YouGov Oct 24-27: No Kings protests
8% of Americans — including 16% of Democrats and Independents who lean towards the Democratic Party — say they participated in a No Kings protest on October 18
today.yougov.com/politics/art...
— YouGov America (@today.yougov.com) 2025-10-29T17:23:25.889Z
Well done!
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Republicans can't get Chicago's peaceful protestors to be violent.
Even when they toss tear gas cannisters at us.
#PeacefulProtest will break them, they look like the liars they are.
www.themirror.com/news/us-news...
#RepublicansAreTheViolence but you knew that.
#BoycottRepublicanBusiness
— Confunctionist (@confunctionist.bsky.social) 2025-10-29T20:54:04.258Z
Also, an action item for resisters:
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Do you use Spotify Premium? Cancel your subscription until Spotify stops running ICE ads. There are other streaming options that don’t profit from exploiting artists while recruiting for ICE: indivisible.org/cancel-spoti... #CancelSpotify
— Indivisible ❌👑 (@indivisible.org) 2025-10-29T19:06:09.336Z
🌵 Another action item if you’re in the place where I vote (Pima County, AZ). Look for things you can do locally by checking with your local dems!
💣 Republicans: Party of Crimes, Chaos and Cowardice💣
They are not popular, especially not the felon The Economist/YouGov
- 39% of Americans strongly or somewhat approve of how Trump is handling his job as president, while 58% disapprove — a net approval of -19
- This is the lowest net approval Trump has received in any Economist / YouGov Poll in Trump's second term, and lower than all but one poll in his first term ✂️
- Just 20% of adults under 30 approve of Trump's job handling, while 75% disapprove
- This 20% approval among adults under 30 is a 30-point drop from February, when 50% of 18- to 29-year-olds approved of Trump and 42% disapproved
- Trump's net job approval has declined in all age groups since the start of his term, but no other age group has registered as big a change as adults under 30
Farm-state Republicans reach their breaking point Meredith Lee Hill Politico
For President Donald Trump, it was a brief musing to reporters on Air Force One about his plans to import beef from Argentina. For dozens of farm-state Republicans who have held their tongues as key Trump policies battered their constituents, it was the final straw.
GOP lawmakers in cattle-producing states unleashed a flurry of calls over the following days to the White House and the Agriculture Department. A small group of Republican senators, including retiring Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, cornered USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins in a private meeting less than 48 hours after the Oct. 19 comment. ✂️
But it has exposed the limits of GOP lawmakers’ tolerance for policies that have especially tested states heavy on agriculture. Some of the president’s staunchest Hill allies watched for months as Trump’s tariffs devastated farmers. More recently, they begged his deputies to reopen key farm offices during the shutdown. Then came the beef beef, with one GOP senator granted anonymity to speak candidly calling it a “a betrayal of America First principles.”
Even in the Trump-loyal House, key Republicans are pushing back.
Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and Reps. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), and Greg Steube (R-Fla.), along with 11 other House Republicans, warned against Trump’s beef move, according to a letter sent Tuesday to Rollins and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer that was obtained exclusively by POLITICO.
Still, so many of them are cowards:
From the article in Raw Story (link above), Jim Jones at Idaho Capital Sun — Commentary
Len Jordan was the epitome of courage, having stood up to a president of his own party numerous times. He spoke out and voted against Nixon’s two segregationist U.S. Supreme Court nominees – Clement Haynsworth and G. Harrold Carswell. He led the Senate floor fight in 1972 to force Nixon to spend funds lawfully appropriated by Congress. He supported the president when he thought he was right and opposed him when he was wrong.
With Jordan’s example in mind, it is frightening to see the craven cowardice of Idaho’s top politicians – Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo, Reps. Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher and Gov. Brad Little. When Donald Trump acts against the interests of farmers, we don’t hear a peep from these officials who are supposed to represent our interests.
When Trump announced to Californians a year ago that he wanted to send them Columbia River waters, our politicos remained silent. His Jan. 24 executive order meddling with irrigation water in federal storage did not elicit a peep. We can only hope he doesn’t try that in Idaho, as it does not appear our elected heroes will push back.
Our congressional delegation is afraid of telling Trump that the constitutional power to set tariffs is theirs, not his, and that his tariffs are raising farmers’ costs for fertilizer, machine parts, lumber, chemicals and practically everything they buy.
Sen. Crapo should take a particular interest in the tariff problem because he is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which is responsible for setting tariffs. Somebody should probably wake him up and let him know that Trump tariffs are hurting folks on the farm.
So many cowards!
But not all of them. Senator Paul is objecting to taxing without proper authority.
Americans blame the felon and the cultish GOP more for the shutdown than the Dems. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it has shifted a bit. We need to be louder about our message. Jacob Bogage, Riley Beggin and Scott Clement, Washington Post
More Americans blame President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress than Democrats for the nearly month-long government shutdown, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll.
More than 4 in 10 U.S. adults — 45 percent — say Trump and the GOP are mainly responsible for the shutdown that may lead the government to cut off anti-hunger benefits, has caused air traffic delays and has furloughed hundreds of thousands of federal workers.
Yet the share saying Democrats are at fault has grown slightly, from 30 percent in a Post flash poll when the shutdown began to 33 percent in the latest poll. Among registered voters, 37 percent now blame Democrats, while 46 percent blame Republicans.
🚚 💙 Democrats Deliver 💙 🚚
Finally, more people believe that Ds are better at the economy. Yes, this is more than a week old, but repetition is good!
Again, more than a week old but still really important. Repetition is good!
Again, the states step up — well, at least the blue states:
Note Capito is, of course, a Republican. The people really working on the problem are the Dem AsG, while Rep AsG, such as TX AG Ken Paxton, is busy suing Tylenol. (Yeah, I know this doesn’t really belong in the Dems deliver section but it just flowed and it’s such a good contrast)
💜 Unity?💜
Most people hate the demolition of the White House Tom Sanders, The Daily Beast
A clear majority of Americans oppose President Donald Trump’s demolition of the White House East Wing to construct a 9,000 square foot ballroom, new polling data has shown.
Fifty-six percent of Americans are against the demolition plan, a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos survey revealed on Thursday, with 45 percent stating they “strongly” oppose it.
In contrast, just 28 percent of the public supports tearing down the East Wing and replacing it with a ballroom, which is being financed by $300 million in private donations.
The issue, as with most hot-button topics, reveals a stark partisan divide that breaks down largely along party lines. A staggering 88 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of Independents oppose the project, with the vast majority of support coming from Republican voters, 62 percent of whom favor constructing the ballroom.
The intensity of the support, however, is vastly asymmetrical, with 78 percent of Democrats strongly opposed to the plan while just 35 percent of GOP voters strongly support it. ✂️
“Let’s be clear: Trump’s not just wasting money, he’s sending a message: No health care for you. A ballroom for him,” Sen. Chuck Schumer said following the East Wing’s destruction.
Excellent news in the Netherlands
📥Actions You Can Take 📤
Tax-exempt organization complaint referrals. 13909. You can fill this out for the NRA and lots 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?
Voting rights. This may be the biggest issue threatening our democracy right now. Besides contacting your representatives at the state and federal level to do the right thing (depending on who they are),you can support and contact these organizations:
ACLU — American Civil Liberties Union
Democracy Docket — founded by Marc Elias, so important in fighting the challenges after the last election.
Fair Fight — founded by Stacey Abrams
🌱Grass roots. Join with local communities to make a difference. It could be your local Dems. It could be your school board or your library. Reach out to people. We all need each other these days.
🏃 Run for something. If you want to run for something, but have no idea what to do, these people will help you. They also like money and volunteers to help those people who are running, so even if you’re not in a position to stand for office, you can help.
👎 Defund the seditionists. This is a list with companies that sometimes have donated to the seditionists. The list is long. You will recognize many of the corporations, and you probably have a relationship with some — either you are a customer, a shareholder, or maybe even an employee. Contact them and compliment or complain, but let them know you are watching. Forward it to others.
🐍Schadenfreude 😈
Prince Andrew is now just Andrew Mountbatten Windsor
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Buckingham Palace has announced that it is removing all remaining styles, titles and honours of Prince Andrew:
"Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor."
He is also being evicted from his accommodation at Royal Lodge.
Correct action, but it should never have taken this long.
— Adam Schwarz (@adamjschwarz.bsky.social) 2025-10-30T19:18:26.082Z
Well done, King Charles! And Prince William, who seems to be behind it.
Why young men are turning on the felon Julia Ornedo, The Daily Beast
Even the young men supporting President Donald Trump are tapping their feet impatiently on the release of the notorious Epstein files, a prominent pollster revealed on the Daily Beast Podcast.
John Della Volpe, founder of the youth-oriented opinion research firm SocialSphere, said the Epstein files came up as one of the promises that Trump supporters are holding the president to during a focus group conducted over the weekend.
The Chinese have no respect for many in the GOP
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Very moronic Tom Cotton doesn't seem to get that his personal savior and dear leader Trump is the one who SCREWED the farmers in his district. Screwed them with TARIFFS! It's a cult.
'Less intelligent than a cow’: MAGA senator's smear earns brutal putdown in China www.rawstory.com/tom-cotton-2...
— Jane E. D. 🫘 🍸 (@guanadu.bsky.social) 2025-10-30T15:49:59.555Z
Kristi Noem could go as her prior self for Hallowe’en!
The Daily Show compared the felon to a dog at a show, especially as the felon wandered off from his handler (sorry, includes felon footage)
📣 Let’s Honor Truth☀️️
🎩 Front Toward Enemy, to letting me know about Robert Arnold. I admit I don’t know much about him, and there wasn’t much at the link, but I love how people are just stepping up — or sitting down in front of their cameras — to raise their voices, to speak truth to power, and to fill the void when the voices of the pundits are misguided, silenced, or spouting fascist rhetoric.
This was so inspirational, so much truth to power, almost poetry.
* opening sentences:
If a government must raise its sword against its people, it has already fallen in spirit. It has already declared itself the enemy of those it swore to serve.
🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love❤️
Halo and other deminers are love in action Andy Corbley Good News Network
In northern Sri Lanka, an area largely avoided by the 2 million tourists who visit the island every year, an organization has safely removed its 300,000th landmine leftover from the island’s civil war.
Those mines and unexploded bombs were cleared across an area 33% larger than the island of Manhattan, and their removal allowed for the repopulation of a quarter-million people to their lands and homes. ✂️
Sri Lanka’s civil war lasted for more than 30 years, as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil fought the forces of the central government across the northern and eastern provinces. When the war ended in 2009, The HALO Trust, a British nonprofit that works to clear landmines from conflict areas, was already on the ground helping to remove the unexploded ordnance from the country.
Over the years, in the districts of Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Mannar, and Vavuniya, work continued slowly to safely detonate or disarm mines and ordnance where people used to live and farm.
16 years later, on June 18th, the trust announced it had reached a milestone of 300,000 mines removed, and 120 square kilometers of land rendered safe and useable again.
Love is patient, love is kind. (Corinthians)
Love works hard, love persists. (Me)
📎Odds & Ends📎
AI may be a mixed bag, but it may reduce the amount humans get ripped-off The Economist
IF YOU KNOW how to use artificial intelligence, it can save you a lot of time and money. Leasing a new car? Be sure to upload a photograph of the contract to ChatGPT first. Need help with a leaky tap? AI often understands the issue—and at a lower cost than a handyman. Parents with a fussy baby can now use chatbots to answer questions in seconds, rather than waiting for a doctor’s appointment. Giving Claude a PDF of a wine list is a great way to find the best-value bottles.
These examples add up to something bigger. As AI goes mainstream, it will remove one of the most enduring distortions in modern capitalism: the information advantages that sellers, service providers and intermediaries enjoy over consumers. When everyone has a genius in their pocket, they will be less vulnerable to mis-selling—benefiting them and improving overall economic efficiency. The “rip-off economy”, in which firms profit from opacity, confusion or inertia, is meeting its match.
🐴 🐍 🐘 Celebrating animal inspiration
🐦 I do a lot of other writing. Newest offerings: Messing with the Myths — two books so far in this series. Older offerings: the Crow Nickels (chronicles), about crows who want to save birdkind from extinction (Hunters of the Feather). Mysteries based on Jane Austen’s novels, such as The Meryton Murders. Others based on history and Greek mythology, e.g., Jocasta: The Mother-Wife of Oedipus. All titles also available through Kindle Unlimited. Want to support me but not interested in my books? Buy one and donate to a library.
💙 What You Can Do to Rescue Democracy 💙
It turns out that participation in democracy is not just an every-four-years event but requires active participation, like, whenever you can find time.
I know it’s tough to see the path forward. And I can’t guarantee that there is a path forward. But people who are smarter and braver than I have seen ways to move ahead.
Their (the fascists’) plans really are dark, but many of them are also dumb, in the sense that they don’t make sense. So many of them cannot succeed.
Here are some quick hits.
- Stay involved. Yeah, that’s tough. I want to look away too, but by taking simple actions you can make a difference. Keep contacting your representatives, both in DC and at home.
- Support causes that will fight. Send money if you can. Also, spread their news with clicks and conversation.
- Slow them down. Oppose and block at every turn.
- Make tRump unpopular. Doing this weakens him. And it should not be that difficult. The GOP made a lot out of Biden is old and eggs cost too much. Well, tRump is older than Biden was at the beginning of his term and tRump has no policies that are going to bring down inflation. And a host of other problems, like he’s a convicted felon.
- Divide the GOP from each other. They are a coalition based on contradictory promises, so there’s plenty to work with.
- Keep telling the truth and showing love.
- Make sure to pace yourselves in this marathon and to practice self-care.
Current projects:
- We need just 3 seats to take back the House. GoodNewsRoundup (a.k.a. Goodie or Madam Mayor) has put together a page for donations via ActBlue. Note you can opt out of emails.
- bilboteach has another fundraiser: Win the Majority 2026 – and here you can also opt out of all those fundraising emails.
- Look in the comments for Progressive Muse’s report on Postcards to Voters
And Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny Lessons:
(1) Do Not Obey in Advance; (2) Defend Institutions; (3) Beware the One-Party System; (4) Take Responsibility for the Face of the World; (5) Remember Professional Ethics; (6) Be Wary of Paramilitaries; (7) Be Reflective if You Must Own a Gun; (8) Stand Out (this means, speak up, even when others do not); (9) Be Kind to Our Language; (10) Believe in Truth; (11) Investigate; (12) Make Eye Contact and Small Talk; (13) Practice Corporeal Politics; (14) Establish a Private Life; (15) Contribute to Good Causes; (16) Learn from Peers in Other Countries; (17) Listen for Dangerous Words; (18) Be Calm When the Unthinkable Arrives; (19) Be a Patriot; (20) Be as Courageous as You Can.
🌻
💙 President Joseph R. Biden: “Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we all are created equal and the harsh ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart. The battle is perennial, and victory is never assured.”
💙 Sir Winston Churchill: When you’re going through hell, keep going.
🌹 🌹 🌹
TRUTH MATTERS. LOVE MATTERS.
