Welcome back friends to the Monday good news Roundup. That time of the week when your intrepid GNR Newsroom (Myself, Killer300, Bhu, and the good folk at the GNR discord) Bring you all the good news to start your week off right.
A pretty significant week for the resistance last week, because, well, ELON MUSK IS GONE. Yep, Ol Captain Ketamine is exiting the White House, leaving with nothing but a big Ol Shiner and half his sizeable fortune down the tubes. I’m not saying that things are gonna get better from here on out, but at least its one less thing for us to collectively worry about.
Oh, and I checked, and Steve Bannon made it to August. Congrats there Elon, you got outlasted by a guy who runs phishing scams on WoW.
So let that victory set the tone for this weeks GNR: Take it away Hall and Oates: She’s gone.
There is a common phrase in left-wing activist circles, “when we fight, we win.” To be honest, I have never liked this phrase. Personally, I have lost a lot of campaigns that I fought damn hard on, and I don't appreciate the implication that the reason I lost is because I didn't actually fight. Further, any student of history who knows that when you look over the grand course of thousands of years of human civilization, lots of bad things have happened that lots of people have fought against.
That said, I do agree that you can't win if you don't fight. Over the last week, it is becoming increasingly obvious that, while there is no guarantee you will win if you fight back against Trump and defend your rights instead of caving to his demands, there is a very real chance that you might win. Here are three good examples of that from the past eight days:
We have been accused by some of being not unlike ostriches with our heads in the sand. But that is not true; we are very acutely aware of the dire nature of our present situation, and the sad fact of the matter is sometimes you can do everything right and still lose. But you know what else is a losing strategy? Doing nothing. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, So we continue to fight, we may not win in the end, but at least we tried.
Top officials at the Department of Government Efficiency are set to leave their roles following the departure of DOGE head Elon Musk.
Three officials – adviser Steve Davis, adviser and spokesperson Katie Miller, and attorney James Burnham – are leaving the administration, a White House official told The Hill.
Davis served in a leadership role at DOGE and has worked with Musk at several of his companies, including the Boring Company, SpaceX, and X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Serving as DOGE’s “chief operating officer,” Davis spoke to Fox News in March, calling the work an “inspiring mission” that was “worth doing.”
Davis also appeared at a briefing alongside Musk at the White House with a small group of reporters, when Musk spoke about DOGE’s work and its future.
As I said, Elon leaving doesn’t solve all our problems, but it does mean we have less things to worry about.
In a show of support for a sustainably financed World Health Organization, WHO Member States today approved a 20% increase in assessed contributions (membership dues) as they endorsed the Organization’s 2026–27 budget of US$ 4.2 billion.
This is the second such 20% increase in assessed contributions to WHO, the previous being agreed as part of the 2024–25 budget. It comes as governments are facing financial constraints and economic headwinds and demonstrates Member States’ fundamental support for global health solidarity and the critical role of WHO.
Hey, I found a group more deserving of money than a bunch of entitled billionaires (You know alongside literally everyone else).
Trump’s strategy of aggression and chaos is one source of harm. But it’s not the only one.
The news and media landscape has always exploited our fears to serve power and profit. Now, the tactics to keep us reactive and alone are supercharged — and super profitable — during Trump 2.0.
Trump and Musk - apex predators and partial owners of the outrage-and-fear industrial complex - are locked in a hellish symbiosis with the news and social media platforms, each amplifying the other’s worst aspects for mutual gain.
The more I try to “stay informed,” the more I feel “deformed.” Pulled away from myself, from others, from any solid sense of what matters.
And the way I reach, like a junkie, for that hit of outrage at Trump, or “those stupid MAGA people”? That’s not who I want to be.
But I’ve been conditioned to perform that outrage and bad othering on cue - like Pavlov’s dog, salivating when the bell rings.
So what the hell do we do?
Tuning out completely doesn’t feel right. Digital minimalism appeals to me about as much as renouncing electricity. The digital commons is also where I find local events, remember birthdays, and share pics with friends.
On the other hand, burning myself out on endless hot takes and trying to “understand what’s really happening to our country” just depletes motivation and focus.
So I’m trying something else. Something that helps me stay in motion without losing my mind.
These 80 “tiny moves” are my experiments with ways to navigate the terrain between tuning out and burning out.
These came out of the lived experience of myself, colleagues, friends and the community organizations and leaders I consult with. Some were adapted from conversations with readers. Others emerged through teaching, organizing, reflection, or reading. This list is emergent, not closed.
I feel like a lot of us need to hear this right now.
Though Pope Leo XIV is on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, the pontiff’s supporters will get to hear from him at a Mass and celebration of his election next month at Rate Field.
Pope Leo will offer a “special video message to the young people of the world,” at the event, which is scheduled for June 14 at 333 W. 35th St., home of the White Sox, the Archdiocese of Chicago announced.
So the new pope is turning out to be pretty okay.
A federal judge on Thursday extended a temporary order blocking the Trump administration's revocation of Harvard's ability to enroll international students.
The extension came after the Trump administration said it would give the university 30 days to challenge the revocation, according to a letter attached to a Wednesday night court filing.
Once again Trump gets his hand slapped and is shown just how limited his power actually is.
Students across America are standing up and speaking out against the unhinged Trump regime. Protests have recently erupted on Harvard’s campus, in response to Trump’s war on the university. And yesterday, more than 500 students from dozens of New York City high schools walked out of class to protest ICE’s abuse of power.
Since GOP Rep. Scott Perry refuses to host town halls, around 100 of his constituents showed up to hand-deliver letters to his district office. They were protesting cuts to Medicaid, among other issues. Luckily, Perry is facing one of the most targeted House races in the country, giving Dems a real shot at winning this seat in 2026.
Yesterday, Trump was actually confronted during one of his weird press gaggles in the Oval Office. CNBC’s Megan Casella showed reporters how it’s done: “Wall Street analysts have coined a new term. They call it the ‘TACO trade.’ They're saying Trump always chickens out (TACO) on the tariff threats … What's your response to that?”
Can I just say I am really loving the whole TACO thing?
A proposal to end the addition of fluoride from public drinking water in Louisiana failed Wednesday in the legislature following passionate testimony from health care and dental professionals.
Senate Bill 2 by Sen. Michael “Big Mike” Fesi, R-Houma, would have required localities that want fluoride added to their water to have their residents petition for an election and vote on the issue. It failed in the House Committee on Health and Welfare in a 10-5 vote.
Louisiana law currently mandates the addition of fluoride to drinking water systems with 5,000 or more service connections.
“Water fluoridation is a safe, effective and equitable public health intervention that has been proven for over eight decades to reduce dental decay significantly,” Dr. Kimberly Smith-Bibbins, chief dental officer for SWLA Center for Health Services, said during committee testimony.
“We can replace our teeth,” Fesi said in a text message after the bill was voted down, sharing his doubts about the ability for utilities to regulate the amount of fluoride people consume. “I don’t think we can replace our thyroid or pineal gland.”
I just can’t even with these guys. Like can they stop being so stupid and evil for five minutes? Like is there nothing that helps people they don’t oppose for some stupid reason?
Some big news from the tech world.
Anyway time for another music video, so lets continue giving everyone’s least favorite billionaire a proper sendoff. Green Day’s time of your life.
I’m really enjoying the whole TACO thing, lets have some more of it.
I know some of my readers don’t want to see Trumps big dumb face in the GNR, but I think in this case we can make an exception.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday issued new instructions to COVID vaccine manufacturers regarding the next round of updated COVID shots.
In a document posted on the FDA website, the agency said COVID-19 vaccines used in the United States starting in fall 2025 should be based on JN.1 lineage strains, preferably the LP.8.1 strain, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, currently accounts for 70% of US COVID cases.
More good news about fighting COVID.
A sweeping proposal to crack down on abortion pills is likely dead after it failed to meet a key deadline in the Texas House. The bill, which had support from state and national anti-abortion groups, was seen as the most aggressive attempt yet to stop the flow of abortion pills into the state.
Senate Bill 2880 passed the Senate easily last month despite concerns from Democrats, but had languished in the House State Affairs committee before it passed out at the last minute. The report didn’t make it to the committee that schedules bills to come to the House floor in time to meet the Tuesday deadline
We wont go back, even in a GOP stronghold (which may be bluer than you think)
Belgium on Thursday, May 15, officially abandoned plans to phase out nuclear power, with parliament voting to scrap a two-decade-old pledge, allowing for the construction of new reactors. Lawmakers in Brussels backed the new conservative-led government's plan to revive the country's nuclear industry with 102 votes in favor, eight against and 31 abstentions.
Great news, Nuclear power is an important transitory energy source to help get us off of fossil fuels, so this will help us do that faster while we work on getting wind and solar going.
A federal court on Wednesday ruled that President Donald Trump overstepped his authority to impose sweeping tariffs that have raised the cost of imports for everyone from giant businesses to everyday Americans.
This is the other big news from the previous week. I mean Elon leaving was big news, so was this.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was hit with a hail of boos and chants of “You suck!” as he attended WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event in Tampa over the Memorial Day weekend.
The former Republican presidential candidate, 46, appeared ringside at the Yuengling Center to wave to the crowd but was not greeted with the warm reception he had evidently been expecting.
Instead, he found himself having to grin and clap along awkwardly as the animosity rained down from local wrestling fans, who made it abundantly clear what they thought of him, a moment captured in a number of videos filmed in the arena and shared on social media.
I still cannot believe this loser is still a thing, like every time we see him these days he’s getting another pie in the face.
One last video to tide you over.
Anyway, time for Pokemon
And now for the lightning round.
Cities of Yes: Six places opening to more housing
What could go right? US says “I don’t” to child marriage
They just can’t help themselves
Six reasons Seattleites should be proud of their Democracy vouchers
Trump will withdraw NASA nominee
And now, the cute corner:
I think this will do for this week. Have a good week and stay strong.
