The Revolution Will NOT be Televised
Feb. 23rd, 2025 07:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatThe Revolution will Not be Televised is a song by a jazz musician that later became a 1960s rallying cry. I have it on my Apple Music account.
Here it is The Revolution Will Not Be Televised by Gil Scott Heron (I think I have the version by Fifth Dimension.)
And Gil Heron explains what he meant HERE.
But I think it mainly means - that people are protesting and standing up, you just may not see it in the media or the news or on the television set. And what he states is people change their minds, and realize it bit by bit. And via social media sources such as Dreamwidth - we can share what is happening on the ground.
"We all need good news, and good news is especially soothing when so much of the news creates concern. It is worth noting that much of the good news comes from folks responding to the bad news and pushing back, of fighting for democracy, and to preserve our civil rights. Turning a blind eye to what is going down in our country, contributes to more bad news. [I'm not - I'm just not reading all of it and blocking out a lot of the news sources. But I definitely know what is happening.] If we want more good news, we must pay attention to what is happening, so we and others can make some good news come out of it."
Here's the "good news" from the ground in the US - shared by a friend on FB:
100 Good News Items
1.The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will NOT allow the Trump admin to end birthright citizenship for certain children of immigrants.
2.The Manitoba First Nation welcomes a herd of bison back for the first time in over a century.
3.The U.S. District Court of DC issues a temporary restraining order halting the current administration’s attempt to put 2,200 USAID workers on leave.
4. A Vaccine For Pancreatic Cancer Continues To Show Promise
In a small trial, nearly half of pancreatic cancer patients who received an mRNA vaccine had no signs of relapse after three years.
5. Senators held the Senate floor overnight in protest of the president’s inappropriate nominee to lead the White House budget office and others.
6. Following public backlash, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield backs down on a plan to cap insurance coverage of anesthesia during lengthy procedures.
[Side note? Over one million dollars has been raised for the legal defense of the individual who killed the CEO of United Healthcare because of medical insurance costs.]
7. Quaker groups file suit over the revocation of a policy that restricts ICE from arresting people in houses of worship. [Got to love the Quakers.]
8. GLAAD sets up Alert Desk, a tool that allows Americans to report anti-LGBTQ+ violence, hate, and extremism.
Go HERE
9. Thousands of New Yorkers rallied in support of transgender, nonbinary, Two-Spirit, and gender nonconforming youth, and to protest the denial of gender-affirming care by healthcare organizations. [They protested NYU Langone and other Hospitals removal of gender-affirming care practices.]
10. Roller derby leagues across the U.S. emphasize their inclusion of athletes of all genders.
11. A second person convicted for participating in the January 6 Capitol insurrection turns down their presidential pardon. Jason Riddle says he rejected pardon because “It’s almost like Trump was trying to say it didn’t happen. And it happened. I did those things, and they weren’t pardonable. I don’t want the pardon. And I … reject the pardon.”
12. Kendrick Lamar’s visionary Super Bowl performance becomes the most watched halftime show in history. The Apple Music-sponsored show on Sunday (February 9) brought in a whopping 133.5 million viewers – up three percent from last year’s show with Usher.… See more
13. The Proud Boys, a hate group, loses control of their trademarked name to the Black church the group vandalized in 2020.
14. More than 50 organizations representing authors, publishers, booksellers, and librarians sign a joint letter objecting to any executive orders that will lead to censorship of reading materials.
15. Abortions are set to resume in Missouri after a judge blocked regulations that had restricted providers even after voters approved enshrining abortion rights into the state’s constitution
16. Leonard Peltier is home. Native American Activist Leonard Peltier is freed from prison and returned home to North Dakota
17. The left-leaning podcast MeidasTouch has just dethroned Joe Rogan to become the country’s most popular podcast.
18. Due to concerns about retaliation from the administration, FBI agents file suit to block the Dept. of Justice from compiling a list of 6,000 employees who investigated the Jan. 6 insurrection.
19. Dozens of major news organizations, including CNN, The Washington Post and Fox News, wrote to the White House this week urging the Trump administration to immediately lift its ban on The Associated Press. [Side note: And the AP sued 3 folks in the White House over it all. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised!]
20. MA Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell leads a statement from 15 state AGs in support of gender-affirming care, in opposition to a harmful order from the president.
21. UT’s voters respond positively to a ranked-choice voting pilot program.
22. Thousands of Coloradans protested in solidarity with their aspiring American neighbors in response to a series of raids by ICE.
23. After that plane literally flipped upside down after smashing into the runway and 100% of people survived, I hope every person who ever said “what’s even the point of seatbelts on a plane” feels like a real doofus.
24. WA’s state House considers legislation that would clarify the rules and create guidelines for local governments considering ranked-choice voting.
25. Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration protects aspiring American residents by refusing to participate in federal immigration enforcement.
26. Students at UNC Chapel Hill put up a sign on campus that reads: “Tell us something good that happened to you today.” It’s an effort to focus on the bright spots in such dark times, and it worked. Video below
You have to go Instagram but it's there
27. Bedaquiline, a critical drug used in the fight against tuberculosis, just got 54% cheaper. [Important news - there has been a TB outbreak in some plains states (Kansas and Michigan are two of them)].
28. More solar and battery storage were added to Texas’ grid than any other power source last year.
29. Bernie Sanders launched a “Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go From Here” tour, beginning in Omaha and Iowa City.
30. A federal court orders that Hampton Dillinger be reinstated to his position as leader of the Office of Special Counsel—which protects the federal workforce from politically motivated retaliation—while a lawsuit proceeds against the president for illegally firing him.
31. A coalition of U.S. cities and counties filed a lawsuit challenging Trump's executive order seeking to force so-called sanctuary jurisdictions to cooperate with his immigration crackdown and mass deportations.
32. The sun won’t set before 5 PM again until October!
33. Seattle voters approved funding for a social housing agency
34. Democrats held the county executive position in a special election in New York's Westchester County.
35. Destany "Sky" Pete, a high school student from the Shoshone and Paiute Tribes, made a groundbreaking discovery at the 2017 Elko County Science Fair by scientifically proving the cancer-fighting properties of a traditional Native American recipe, chokecherry pudding. Sky noticed her tribe’s health issues were linked to a lack of traditional foods, including toishabui, or chokecherry pudding. With the help of Dr. Ken Cornell, a biochemistry professor, Sky tested various chokecherry samples on uterine sarcoma cancer cells. Remarkably, the traditional chokecherry pudding, made with crushed chokecherry pits, successfully inhibited cancer cell growth, causing the cells to die within 24 hours. Sky’s discovery earned her the First Grand Prize at the science fair, beating over 440 projects. She believes modern health problems, like diabetes, are due to the loss of traditional foods. Sky plans to further investigate the pudding’s effects on other types of cancer cells and continues to explore the medicinal value of ancestral remedies, offering hope for natural cancer treatment and traditional medicine.
36. Virginia Senators Kaine and Warner held a telephone town hall and 55K people were on the line. [An aside? They weren't the only ones, per Mother, this happened in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, and across the South.) Virginia has a LOT of ex-federal employees, and elections this fall. The revolution may start there. [Their Governor is supporting Trump at the moment, but that may change if the public outcry gets larger. It's worth noting that Virgina has a lot of federal employees and major defense contractors, all of which adversely affected by the current orders by Trump and his Republican Administration.].
37. Indivisible [Progressive Left Democrat Activist Group] Rockland in NY state had their first-ever meeting. So many people showed up—over 300!—that they had to create a Zoom overflow room for the people they turned away.
38. Inspectors general fired by President Trump in late January filed a lawsuit against the administration alleging their termination violated the law.
40. A federal judge blocked parts of two executive orders issued by President Trump that collectively seek to restrict gender-affirming care.
41. Trump’s and Musk’s approval ratings continue to decline.
42. A new roster of grocers has signed up to receive SNAP benefit payments through local delivery app DoorDash.
43. New testing backed by Michael J. Fox Foundation could detect Parkinson's well before symptoms appear
44. A court temporarily blocks the administration from sending three people in immigration detention to Guantanamo Bay.
45. Ellen Weintraub, chair of the Federal Election Commission, refused to step down from her position following an unlawful attempt by the president to fire her.
46. The National Treasury Employees Union sues the acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") for halting much of the CFPB’s work protecting American consumers, and for allowing rogue actors access to secure CFPB systems.
47. The House introduces the Taxpayer Data Protection Act, which would protect users of the U.S.’s payment system from unlawful interference by a presidential administration.
48. A judge temporarily blocked Musk and Trump from firing top officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB").
49. In a major win for trans students, the New Jersey Superior Court’s Appellate Division issued two unanimous rulings blocking forced outing policies in school districts across Morris and Monmouth counties.
50. 200,000 people marched against fascism in Germany [Go Germany!!!]
51. A judge ruled that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must restore online access to websites with data and guidance on HIV monitoring, health risks for youths and assisted reproductive technologies.
52. Singer-songwriter Victoria Canal played the Kennedy Center and, at the end of her set, donned an “Anti-Trump AF” shirt. She got huge applause, and her set broke the record for highest viewership of any Kennedy Center livestream. She also gave 100% of She also gave 100% of her fee to a trans rights org. [Trump put himself on the board of the Kennedy Center and added his cronies - the push back included mass protests, resignations, cancellations and the above.]
53.A man got swallowed by a humpback whale and then the whale spat him back out! And yes, they got it on camera.
Go HERE
54. On climate, remember how much power states have. While Trump has withdrawn from the Paris agreement, states can and will continue transitioning to clean energy—some more and some less, for sure, but the direction the country—and the world— is going in is clear. Clean energy is cheaper. It’s abundant. And it’s popular. Trump can posture as much as he wants, but he can only do so much to slow the inevitable. Remember, much of the money for Inflation Reduction Act programs is already out the door. The projects being funded are largely bringing jobs and economic stimulus to red states. Trump can try to stop them, but doing so will be politically costly. Meanwhile Blue states can and will work to make up the losses we suffer on a federal level. [This is true. Trump can't change the anti-frakking legislation in NY, nor the removal of gas stoves. I've had my gas stove removed, and my electricity is 100% clean energy. This is true of the majority of NY State. Also my finances are in clean energy.]
55. The first ever Super Bowl ad making a plea for immediate climate action was seen by millions.
Go Mom's Clean Air Force Ad
56. Senate Democrats launched a whistleblowers intake form for federal employees.
57. Organizations and companies that contract with USAID announced a legal challenge to the Trump Administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency.[The American Bar Association who does a lot of work overseas training attorney's in US law, and aiding via US AID - filed legal challenges to Trump's attempts, and have managed to obtain an injunction.]
58. The National Treasury Employees Union has now filed two lawsuits against the (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) CFPB’s acting director, Russell Vought.
59. More than 19,000 people have signed up with Run For Something to consider running for local office just since Election Day - 6000 of them just in the last three weeks.
60. Democrats Dan Cruce and Ray Seigfried were elected to the Delaware State Senate in two special elections.
61. A joint venture co-founded by some of the world’s leading automakers will move forward with plans to deploy 30,000 EV charging stations around the U.S. by 2030, despite Trump’s attempts to freeze billions in federal charger funding. [We already have many in NYC alone.]
62. As an alternative to calling the police, Inclusive Therapists offers a “warm line” list of organizations that responds to crises in marginalized communities. [This is already true in NYC - with various community or Next Door Neighbor online support groups, both on FB and via other sites.]
Go HERE
63. Houstonians get creative while having fun in the snow.
Go HERE
64. The NAACP has published a spending guide for Black consumers showing companies that have rolled back their DEI initiatives and others that have maintained their commitment.
Go NAACP lists companies that dump DEI in its tactical spending guide for Black Americans.
[Note: AP News is a reliable source and the main one for everything listed here.]
65. Sound of Meteorite Striking Earth Captured for First Time by Ring Camera: Joe and Laura Velaidum’s Ring doorbell camera happened to capture the impact, which shows the meteorite darting to the ground and exploding in an impact near his front door. According to the time stamp on the footage, the incident took place on July 25, 2024. [I knew about this one - ever since, I've been praying one will land on the heads of Trump, Musk and Vance.]
Go HERE
66. Activists have purchased land in Kentucky with plans to rewild the site and prevent a prison from being built. A coal mine was the first to wreck the land. Now activists want to keep another extractive industry from taking root there: prisons.
Go Here HERE
67. OpenAI’s board has unanimously rejected Elon Musk’s takeover offer. [I saw this on Bluesky a while ago.]
68. Women dominated in Iron Age Britain: Husbands moved in, wives inherited land. Ancient DNA suggests the existence of a matrilineal society in the British Iron Age – where descent and inheritance were traced through the mother’s line.
69. 11,000 Twins Helped Illustrate the Importance of Making Cities Walkable: A new analysis of nearly 11,000 twins made use of this advantage to determine how a person’s environment affects the amount of walking they do. Walkability is a coveted alkability is a coveted characteristic: Being able to hoof it means spending less time in traffic and less money on gas. And per the new research, living in a more walkable neighborhood is also linked to increased physical activity. They found that subjects who lived in more walkable areas reported more physical activity than their siblings in less walkable locales. And when an area became 1% more walkable, people walked 0.42% more each week. Scale that up, and a 55% increase in walkability would result in around 23% more walking — or about 19 minutes a week for every resident in the area. In other words, when investments are made in changing public infrastructure to support walkability — like adding more sidewalks and crosswalks — people walk more. These results could inform policy and encourage cities to take action and that could be a really good thing for public health.
70. House Democrats have formally established a Rapid Response Task Force and Litigation Working Group.
71. Trump’s policies are deeply unpopular. Americans elected him by a slim margin because they wanted cheaper eggs. [Eggs have risen in the US by a huge margin since his election due to the Avian Bird Flu, and aren't available in some locations. They cost me $12.95 a dozen recently.] Not a single EO Trump announced yesterday will meaningfully accomplish that goal. Mass deportations will achieve the opposite. So will tariffs. Ending birthright citizenship is unpopular. Pardoning the January 6 rioters is deeply, deeply so. Trump is assuming he can do whatever he wants and maintain Americans’ support. He is wrong. [Yup. And remember? The Revolution Will NOT be Televised.]
72. New Yorkers protested outside of the Tesla showroom in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District to rage against Elon Musk and his meddling in the U.S. government. Similar protests happened all across the country.
73. Amazon has agreed to pay nearly $4 million to settle charges that they subsidized their labor costs by taking tips their delivery drivers received from customers.
74. The US’s largest solar cell factory is now online in South Carolina.
75. Detroit is on pace to record the fewest criminal homicides since 1965, while carjackings have plummeted to the lowest level since the Detroit Police Department began tracking the crime in the 1990s.
76. Sheryl Crow sold her Tesla, and donated funds to NPR, which is under attack by the new Republican regime.
77. Target's shareholders lost $15 billion of net worth in their holdings of Target common stock when Target announced they were dropping DEI initiatives
78. An international resistance formed to counter Trump and his dark vision for America and the world. Canada helped lead the way, as Canadians of all political parties (with minor exceptions) united in solidarity against Trump, who has continued to threaten them with annexation. A grassroots boycott of American products and tourism is underway in Canada. [Per Mother - many aren't going to Florida any longer or visiting the parks for example.] Prime Minister Trudeau has essentially become a “wartime prime minister” and has struck the perfect tone in standing up to Trump. Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum also stood up to Trump and did not blink at his antics. [Mexico refused to let the plane with deported immigrants land and sent it back to the US.] Sheinbaum not only defended Mexico but also the sovereignty of Latin American countries that Trump has threatened and insulted. There is nothing Trump fears more than a powerful woman. At the end of the week, European democracies stood together after JD Vance’s humiliating and offensive speech at the Munich Conference. [Pope Francis condemned Vance (a devout and long time Catholic] words and explained why he misinterpreted the Bible and the Church's dictates reminding folks that Jesus was an immigrant and so were his parents, fleeing a regime that wanted him dead.] European nations made it clear they will support Ukraine at all costs and never capitulate to Putin, as Trump did this past week. European leaders condemned JD Vance’s speech and showed Trump they were not afraid of him. We’ve also seen federal courts—led by judges from both political parties—block some of Trump’s most egregious actions. We are also seeing fierce attorneys general from blue states bringing powerful lawsuits against the Trump regime.
79. Democratic endorsed candidate Steven Tyler ousted the conservative incumbent in the mayoral race of Norman, Oklahoma, defeating the Republican incumbent by a whopping *26 POINTS*!
["The combination of all these developments has slowed the Trump/Musk takeover. In some ways, it parallels Putin’s failed plan to take Kyiv in three days—only to be repelled by Zelenskyy and the forces of good. Trump and Musk thought they could do the same to America. They were wrong. The march of MAGA has been slowed. Make no mistake—MAGA is still an indiscriminate wrecking ball that has already caused major destruction and will continue to weaken and isolate America. However, Trump is now taking hits, suffering losses, and facing challenges that intimidate him—and could ultimately sink him. I say we keep it up. our democracy and the rule of law are worth defending.']
80. In Bethany, OK, Democrat Amanda Sandoval also won her mayor’s race. She will become the first Latina mayor in Oklahoma!
81. The Trump administration’s passport policy and trans girls in sports policy are both facing new legal challenges.
82. Federal judges have temporarily blocked several of Trump’s sweeping executive orders and stalled Musk’s pillaging of some federal agencies, pending further judicial consideration. The president has been stopped from unilaterally ending birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment; freezing up to $3 trillion in domestic spending that was authorized by Congress, to which the Constitution gives the power of the purse; purging the U.S. Agency for International Development and immediately putting its 2,200 employees on leave; imposing an impossibly tight deadline for a questionable “deferred resignation” offer to most civilian federal workers; and enacting other radical measures.
83. A blockbuster ruling in Wisconsin hands vote suppressors a big loss. A victory for voting rights! In a 4-3 ruling, the Wisconsin Supreme Court dismissed a right-wing legal challenge that sought to limit the authority of municipalities to designate early absentee voting locations and prevent future use of a mobile voting van deployed by the city of Racine during the 2022 election cycle.
84. A private company has saved purged government data on health, climate vulnerability, chronic illness etc. and is making it accessible.
85. Whatever else emerges in time about the Delta crash in Canada, one thing is certain: the importance & amazing professionalism of flight attendants who safely evacuated the plane in a matter of seconds.
86. Deforestation levels in Colombia last year were among the lowest in over two decades.
87. Shark attacks declined last year by a lot. According to recent data from the Florida Museum of Natural History, 2024 turned out to be an exceptionally calm year for shark bites.Breaking down the numbers, there were 47 unprovoked attacks last year, nearly 33% reduction compared to 2023. This figure comes in well below the 10 year average of 70. There was also a significant drop in fatalities.
88. Female protagonist in top grossing films rose to a historic high in 2024, reaching parity with men.
89. There is a rare super pod of more than 1500 dolphins frolicking in Monterey Bay.
90. Physicists detected a subatomic particle in the Mediterranean that may be the most energetic of its kind and scientists have no idea where it came from. It is the most energetic neutrino ever recorded on earth. It is the most energetic neutrino ever recorded on earth. No neutrino captured previously has resembles anything quite like this one. They estimated that the neutrino Cary 220 million billion electron volts of energy.
91. A DC Circuit panel rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to overturn a temporary order reinstating ethics watchdog Hampton Dellinger after his dismissal by Trump. The decision was 2-1.
92. Amazon has agreed to pay nearly $4 million to settle charges that they subsidized their labor costs by taking tips their delivery drivers received from customers.
93. Shopify has officially taken down Kanye West’s website for violating its terms and selling t-shirts with a swastika on them.
Go HERE
94. Clean energy contributed a record 10% of China’s GDP in 2024
May be an image of text that says 'Clean energy contributed a record 10% of China's GDP in 2024. Go HERE.
95. More than 1,000 DOJ alumni supporting those who are standing up for the non-partisan administration of law. The oath we all took is to uphold the Constitution, not to advance a president’s political agenda.
Go HERE for their letter to the career Federal Prosecutors supporting them in standing up to Trump.
96. EBONY Magazine is celebrating Black love this February by highlighting nine incredible Black couples whose love reflects the strength and beauty of the culture they come from. The feature includes diverse stories of Black love, including Black gay love, showcasing the resilience, passion, and shared experiences that define these relationships. Thank you, EBONY, for being inclusive and sharing Black queer love as well. [I actually met with EBONY Magazine back in the 1990s early 00s to get them to provide content to HW Wilson Company's electronic databases and I convinced them to sign a deal. Go me. Ebony has content in various searchable Library electronic databases because of me.]
97. Phone calls to congressional phone lines in the U.S. have increased by 4,500%. [Not surprising, people are phone banking. I know my church is doing it.]
98. In the Amazon, One Woman’s Ingenious Canopy Bridges Are Helping Monkeys Cross the Road Safely.
99. The MTA and the Governor of NYS rejected the USDOT and Trump Admin halt to Congestion Pricing. They are fighting it in Court.
100. Federal Labor Unions and Agencies have stepped forward and told employees to ignore and not open Musk's emails "Multiple agencies and unions have reportedly told federal workers not to respond to a new email demanding that they account for their work over the last week — despite Elon Musk's threat they'll lose their jobs if they don't."
Whew..that went on forever.
The revolution will NOT be televised. It will happen in the streets, at workplaces, in yards, at barbecues, in churches, on social media sites, chat rooms, in retail establishments, at parties, at family gatherings, in voting booths, in marches, during walks, and hikes. It happens when people slowly and gradually change their minds and work to love and care for each other, and stop the hate however and wherever they can.
Here it is The Revolution Will Not Be Televised by Gil Scott Heron (I think I have the version by Fifth Dimension.)
And Gil Heron explains what he meant HERE.
But I think it mainly means - that people are protesting and standing up, you just may not see it in the media or the news or on the television set. And what he states is people change their minds, and realize it bit by bit. And via social media sources such as Dreamwidth - we can share what is happening on the ground.
"We all need good news, and good news is especially soothing when so much of the news creates concern. It is worth noting that much of the good news comes from folks responding to the bad news and pushing back, of fighting for democracy, and to preserve our civil rights. Turning a blind eye to what is going down in our country, contributes to more bad news. [I'm not - I'm just not reading all of it and blocking out a lot of the news sources. But I definitely know what is happening.] If we want more good news, we must pay attention to what is happening, so we and others can make some good news come out of it."
Here's the "good news" from the ground in the US - shared by a friend on FB:
100 Good News Items
1.The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will NOT allow the Trump admin to end birthright citizenship for certain children of immigrants.
2.The Manitoba First Nation welcomes a herd of bison back for the first time in over a century.
3.The U.S. District Court of DC issues a temporary restraining order halting the current administration’s attempt to put 2,200 USAID workers on leave.
4. A Vaccine For Pancreatic Cancer Continues To Show Promise
In a small trial, nearly half of pancreatic cancer patients who received an mRNA vaccine had no signs of relapse after three years.
5. Senators held the Senate floor overnight in protest of the president’s inappropriate nominee to lead the White House budget office and others.
6. Following public backlash, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield backs down on a plan to cap insurance coverage of anesthesia during lengthy procedures.
[Side note? Over one million dollars has been raised for the legal defense of the individual who killed the CEO of United Healthcare because of medical insurance costs.]
7. Quaker groups file suit over the revocation of a policy that restricts ICE from arresting people in houses of worship. [Got to love the Quakers.]
8. GLAAD sets up Alert Desk, a tool that allows Americans to report anti-LGBTQ+ violence, hate, and extremism.
Go HERE
9. Thousands of New Yorkers rallied in support of transgender, nonbinary, Two-Spirit, and gender nonconforming youth, and to protest the denial of gender-affirming care by healthcare organizations. [They protested NYU Langone and other Hospitals removal of gender-affirming care practices.]
10. Roller derby leagues across the U.S. emphasize their inclusion of athletes of all genders.
11. A second person convicted for participating in the January 6 Capitol insurrection turns down their presidential pardon. Jason Riddle says he rejected pardon because “It’s almost like Trump was trying to say it didn’t happen. And it happened. I did those things, and they weren’t pardonable. I don’t want the pardon. And I … reject the pardon.”
12. Kendrick Lamar’s visionary Super Bowl performance becomes the most watched halftime show in history. The Apple Music-sponsored show on Sunday (February 9) brought in a whopping 133.5 million viewers – up three percent from last year’s show with Usher.… See more
13. The Proud Boys, a hate group, loses control of their trademarked name to the Black church the group vandalized in 2020.
14. More than 50 organizations representing authors, publishers, booksellers, and librarians sign a joint letter objecting to any executive orders that will lead to censorship of reading materials.
15. Abortions are set to resume in Missouri after a judge blocked regulations that had restricted providers even after voters approved enshrining abortion rights into the state’s constitution
16. Leonard Peltier is home. Native American Activist Leonard Peltier is freed from prison and returned home to North Dakota
17. The left-leaning podcast MeidasTouch has just dethroned Joe Rogan to become the country’s most popular podcast.
18. Due to concerns about retaliation from the administration, FBI agents file suit to block the Dept. of Justice from compiling a list of 6,000 employees who investigated the Jan. 6 insurrection.
19. Dozens of major news organizations, including CNN, The Washington Post and Fox News, wrote to the White House this week urging the Trump administration to immediately lift its ban on The Associated Press. [Side note: And the AP sued 3 folks in the White House over it all. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised!]
20. MA Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell leads a statement from 15 state AGs in support of gender-affirming care, in opposition to a harmful order from the president.
21. UT’s voters respond positively to a ranked-choice voting pilot program.
22. Thousands of Coloradans protested in solidarity with their aspiring American neighbors in response to a series of raids by ICE.
23. After that plane literally flipped upside down after smashing into the runway and 100% of people survived, I hope every person who ever said “what’s even the point of seatbelts on a plane” feels like a real doofus.
24. WA’s state House considers legislation that would clarify the rules and create guidelines for local governments considering ranked-choice voting.
25. Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration protects aspiring American residents by refusing to participate in federal immigration enforcement.
26. Students at UNC Chapel Hill put up a sign on campus that reads: “Tell us something good that happened to you today.” It’s an effort to focus on the bright spots in such dark times, and it worked. Video below
You have to go Instagram but it's there
27. Bedaquiline, a critical drug used in the fight against tuberculosis, just got 54% cheaper. [Important news - there has been a TB outbreak in some plains states (Kansas and Michigan are two of them)].
28. More solar and battery storage were added to Texas’ grid than any other power source last year.
29. Bernie Sanders launched a “Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go From Here” tour, beginning in Omaha and Iowa City.
30. A federal court orders that Hampton Dillinger be reinstated to his position as leader of the Office of Special Counsel—which protects the federal workforce from politically motivated retaliation—while a lawsuit proceeds against the president for illegally firing him.
31. A coalition of U.S. cities and counties filed a lawsuit challenging Trump's executive order seeking to force so-called sanctuary jurisdictions to cooperate with his immigration crackdown and mass deportations.
32. The sun won’t set before 5 PM again until October!
33. Seattle voters approved funding for a social housing agency
34. Democrats held the county executive position in a special election in New York's Westchester County.
35. Destany "Sky" Pete, a high school student from the Shoshone and Paiute Tribes, made a groundbreaking discovery at the 2017 Elko County Science Fair by scientifically proving the cancer-fighting properties of a traditional Native American recipe, chokecherry pudding. Sky noticed her tribe’s health issues were linked to a lack of traditional foods, including toishabui, or chokecherry pudding. With the help of Dr. Ken Cornell, a biochemistry professor, Sky tested various chokecherry samples on uterine sarcoma cancer cells. Remarkably, the traditional chokecherry pudding, made with crushed chokecherry pits, successfully inhibited cancer cell growth, causing the cells to die within 24 hours. Sky’s discovery earned her the First Grand Prize at the science fair, beating over 440 projects. She believes modern health problems, like diabetes, are due to the loss of traditional foods. Sky plans to further investigate the pudding’s effects on other types of cancer cells and continues to explore the medicinal value of ancestral remedies, offering hope for natural cancer treatment and traditional medicine.
36. Virginia Senators Kaine and Warner held a telephone town hall and 55K people were on the line. [An aside? They weren't the only ones, per Mother, this happened in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, and across the South.) Virginia has a LOT of ex-federal employees, and elections this fall. The revolution may start there. [Their Governor is supporting Trump at the moment, but that may change if the public outcry gets larger. It's worth noting that Virgina has a lot of federal employees and major defense contractors, all of which adversely affected by the current orders by Trump and his Republican Administration.].
37. Indivisible [Progressive Left Democrat Activist Group] Rockland in NY state had their first-ever meeting. So many people showed up—over 300!—that they had to create a Zoom overflow room for the people they turned away.
38. Inspectors general fired by President Trump in late January filed a lawsuit against the administration alleging their termination violated the law.
40. A federal judge blocked parts of two executive orders issued by President Trump that collectively seek to restrict gender-affirming care.
41. Trump’s and Musk’s approval ratings continue to decline.
42. A new roster of grocers has signed up to receive SNAP benefit payments through local delivery app DoorDash.
43. New testing backed by Michael J. Fox Foundation could detect Parkinson's well before symptoms appear
44. A court temporarily blocks the administration from sending three people in immigration detention to Guantanamo Bay.
45. Ellen Weintraub, chair of the Federal Election Commission, refused to step down from her position following an unlawful attempt by the president to fire her.
46. The National Treasury Employees Union sues the acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") for halting much of the CFPB’s work protecting American consumers, and for allowing rogue actors access to secure CFPB systems.
47. The House introduces the Taxpayer Data Protection Act, which would protect users of the U.S.’s payment system from unlawful interference by a presidential administration.
48. A judge temporarily blocked Musk and Trump from firing top officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB").
49. In a major win for trans students, the New Jersey Superior Court’s Appellate Division issued two unanimous rulings blocking forced outing policies in school districts across Morris and Monmouth counties.
50. 200,000 people marched against fascism in Germany [Go Germany!!!]
51. A judge ruled that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must restore online access to websites with data and guidance on HIV monitoring, health risks for youths and assisted reproductive technologies.
52. Singer-songwriter Victoria Canal played the Kennedy Center and, at the end of her set, donned an “Anti-Trump AF” shirt. She got huge applause, and her set broke the record for highest viewership of any Kennedy Center livestream. She also gave 100% of She also gave 100% of her fee to a trans rights org. [Trump put himself on the board of the Kennedy Center and added his cronies - the push back included mass protests, resignations, cancellations and the above.]
53.A man got swallowed by a humpback whale and then the whale spat him back out! And yes, they got it on camera.
Go HERE
54. On climate, remember how much power states have. While Trump has withdrawn from the Paris agreement, states can and will continue transitioning to clean energy—some more and some less, for sure, but the direction the country—and the world— is going in is clear. Clean energy is cheaper. It’s abundant. And it’s popular. Trump can posture as much as he wants, but he can only do so much to slow the inevitable. Remember, much of the money for Inflation Reduction Act programs is already out the door. The projects being funded are largely bringing jobs and economic stimulus to red states. Trump can try to stop them, but doing so will be politically costly. Meanwhile Blue states can and will work to make up the losses we suffer on a federal level. [This is true. Trump can't change the anti-frakking legislation in NY, nor the removal of gas stoves. I've had my gas stove removed, and my electricity is 100% clean energy. This is true of the majority of NY State. Also my finances are in clean energy.]
55. The first ever Super Bowl ad making a plea for immediate climate action was seen by millions.
Go Mom's Clean Air Force Ad
56. Senate Democrats launched a whistleblowers intake form for federal employees.
57. Organizations and companies that contract with USAID announced a legal challenge to the Trump Administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency.[The American Bar Association who does a lot of work overseas training attorney's in US law, and aiding via US AID - filed legal challenges to Trump's attempts, and have managed to obtain an injunction.]
58. The National Treasury Employees Union has now filed two lawsuits against the (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) CFPB’s acting director, Russell Vought.
59. More than 19,000 people have signed up with Run For Something to consider running for local office just since Election Day - 6000 of them just in the last three weeks.
60. Democrats Dan Cruce and Ray Seigfried were elected to the Delaware State Senate in two special elections.
61. A joint venture co-founded by some of the world’s leading automakers will move forward with plans to deploy 30,000 EV charging stations around the U.S. by 2030, despite Trump’s attempts to freeze billions in federal charger funding. [We already have many in NYC alone.]
62. As an alternative to calling the police, Inclusive Therapists offers a “warm line” list of organizations that responds to crises in marginalized communities. [This is already true in NYC - with various community or Next Door Neighbor online support groups, both on FB and via other sites.]
Go HERE
63. Houstonians get creative while having fun in the snow.
Go HERE
64. The NAACP has published a spending guide for Black consumers showing companies that have rolled back their DEI initiatives and others that have maintained their commitment.
Go NAACP lists companies that dump DEI in its tactical spending guide for Black Americans.
[Note: AP News is a reliable source and the main one for everything listed here.]
65. Sound of Meteorite Striking Earth Captured for First Time by Ring Camera: Joe and Laura Velaidum’s Ring doorbell camera happened to capture the impact, which shows the meteorite darting to the ground and exploding in an impact near his front door. According to the time stamp on the footage, the incident took place on July 25, 2024. [I knew about this one - ever since, I've been praying one will land on the heads of Trump, Musk and Vance.]
Go HERE
66. Activists have purchased land in Kentucky with plans to rewild the site and prevent a prison from being built. A coal mine was the first to wreck the land. Now activists want to keep another extractive industry from taking root there: prisons.
Go Here HERE
67. OpenAI’s board has unanimously rejected Elon Musk’s takeover offer. [I saw this on Bluesky a while ago.]
68. Women dominated in Iron Age Britain: Husbands moved in, wives inherited land. Ancient DNA suggests the existence of a matrilineal society in the British Iron Age – where descent and inheritance were traced through the mother’s line.
69. 11,000 Twins Helped Illustrate the Importance of Making Cities Walkable: A new analysis of nearly 11,000 twins made use of this advantage to determine how a person’s environment affects the amount of walking they do. Walkability is a coveted alkability is a coveted characteristic: Being able to hoof it means spending less time in traffic and less money on gas. And per the new research, living in a more walkable neighborhood is also linked to increased physical activity. They found that subjects who lived in more walkable areas reported more physical activity than their siblings in less walkable locales. And when an area became 1% more walkable, people walked 0.42% more each week. Scale that up, and a 55% increase in walkability would result in around 23% more walking — or about 19 minutes a week for every resident in the area. In other words, when investments are made in changing public infrastructure to support walkability — like adding more sidewalks and crosswalks — people walk more. These results could inform policy and encourage cities to take action and that could be a really good thing for public health.
70. House Democrats have formally established a Rapid Response Task Force and Litigation Working Group.
71. Trump’s policies are deeply unpopular. Americans elected him by a slim margin because they wanted cheaper eggs. [Eggs have risen in the US by a huge margin since his election due to the Avian Bird Flu, and aren't available in some locations. They cost me $12.95 a dozen recently.] Not a single EO Trump announced yesterday will meaningfully accomplish that goal. Mass deportations will achieve the opposite. So will tariffs. Ending birthright citizenship is unpopular. Pardoning the January 6 rioters is deeply, deeply so. Trump is assuming he can do whatever he wants and maintain Americans’ support. He is wrong. [Yup. And remember? The Revolution Will NOT be Televised.]
72. New Yorkers protested outside of the Tesla showroom in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District to rage against Elon Musk and his meddling in the U.S. government. Similar protests happened all across the country.
73. Amazon has agreed to pay nearly $4 million to settle charges that they subsidized their labor costs by taking tips their delivery drivers received from customers.
74. The US’s largest solar cell factory is now online in South Carolina.
75. Detroit is on pace to record the fewest criminal homicides since 1965, while carjackings have plummeted to the lowest level since the Detroit Police Department began tracking the crime in the 1990s.
76. Sheryl Crow sold her Tesla, and donated funds to NPR, which is under attack by the new Republican regime.
77. Target's shareholders lost $15 billion of net worth in their holdings of Target common stock when Target announced they were dropping DEI initiatives
78. An international resistance formed to counter Trump and his dark vision for America and the world. Canada helped lead the way, as Canadians of all political parties (with minor exceptions) united in solidarity against Trump, who has continued to threaten them with annexation. A grassroots boycott of American products and tourism is underway in Canada. [Per Mother - many aren't going to Florida any longer or visiting the parks for example.] Prime Minister Trudeau has essentially become a “wartime prime minister” and has struck the perfect tone in standing up to Trump. Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum also stood up to Trump and did not blink at his antics. [Mexico refused to let the plane with deported immigrants land and sent it back to the US.] Sheinbaum not only defended Mexico but also the sovereignty of Latin American countries that Trump has threatened and insulted. There is nothing Trump fears more than a powerful woman. At the end of the week, European democracies stood together after JD Vance’s humiliating and offensive speech at the Munich Conference. [Pope Francis condemned Vance (a devout and long time Catholic] words and explained why he misinterpreted the Bible and the Church's dictates reminding folks that Jesus was an immigrant and so were his parents, fleeing a regime that wanted him dead.] European nations made it clear they will support Ukraine at all costs and never capitulate to Putin, as Trump did this past week. European leaders condemned JD Vance’s speech and showed Trump they were not afraid of him. We’ve also seen federal courts—led by judges from both political parties—block some of Trump’s most egregious actions. We are also seeing fierce attorneys general from blue states bringing powerful lawsuits against the Trump regime.
79. Democratic endorsed candidate Steven Tyler ousted the conservative incumbent in the mayoral race of Norman, Oklahoma, defeating the Republican incumbent by a whopping *26 POINTS*!
["The combination of all these developments has slowed the Trump/Musk takeover. In some ways, it parallels Putin’s failed plan to take Kyiv in three days—only to be repelled by Zelenskyy and the forces of good. Trump and Musk thought they could do the same to America. They were wrong. The march of MAGA has been slowed. Make no mistake—MAGA is still an indiscriminate wrecking ball that has already caused major destruction and will continue to weaken and isolate America. However, Trump is now taking hits, suffering losses, and facing challenges that intimidate him—and could ultimately sink him. I say we keep it up. our democracy and the rule of law are worth defending.']
80. In Bethany, OK, Democrat Amanda Sandoval also won her mayor’s race. She will become the first Latina mayor in Oklahoma!
81. The Trump administration’s passport policy and trans girls in sports policy are both facing new legal challenges.
82. Federal judges have temporarily blocked several of Trump’s sweeping executive orders and stalled Musk’s pillaging of some federal agencies, pending further judicial consideration. The president has been stopped from unilaterally ending birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment; freezing up to $3 trillion in domestic spending that was authorized by Congress, to which the Constitution gives the power of the purse; purging the U.S. Agency for International Development and immediately putting its 2,200 employees on leave; imposing an impossibly tight deadline for a questionable “deferred resignation” offer to most civilian federal workers; and enacting other radical measures.
83. A blockbuster ruling in Wisconsin hands vote suppressors a big loss. A victory for voting rights! In a 4-3 ruling, the Wisconsin Supreme Court dismissed a right-wing legal challenge that sought to limit the authority of municipalities to designate early absentee voting locations and prevent future use of a mobile voting van deployed by the city of Racine during the 2022 election cycle.
84. A private company has saved purged government data on health, climate vulnerability, chronic illness etc. and is making it accessible.
85. Whatever else emerges in time about the Delta crash in Canada, one thing is certain: the importance & amazing professionalism of flight attendants who safely evacuated the plane in a matter of seconds.
86. Deforestation levels in Colombia last year were among the lowest in over two decades.
87. Shark attacks declined last year by a lot. According to recent data from the Florida Museum of Natural History, 2024 turned out to be an exceptionally calm year for shark bites.Breaking down the numbers, there were 47 unprovoked attacks last year, nearly 33% reduction compared to 2023. This figure comes in well below the 10 year average of 70. There was also a significant drop in fatalities.
88. Female protagonist in top grossing films rose to a historic high in 2024, reaching parity with men.
89. There is a rare super pod of more than 1500 dolphins frolicking in Monterey Bay.
90. Physicists detected a subatomic particle in the Mediterranean that may be the most energetic of its kind and scientists have no idea where it came from. It is the most energetic neutrino ever recorded on earth. It is the most energetic neutrino ever recorded on earth. No neutrino captured previously has resembles anything quite like this one. They estimated that the neutrino Cary 220 million billion electron volts of energy.
91. A DC Circuit panel rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to overturn a temporary order reinstating ethics watchdog Hampton Dellinger after his dismissal by Trump. The decision was 2-1.
92. Amazon has agreed to pay nearly $4 million to settle charges that they subsidized their labor costs by taking tips their delivery drivers received from customers.
93. Shopify has officially taken down Kanye West’s website for violating its terms and selling t-shirts with a swastika on them.
Go HERE
94. Clean energy contributed a record 10% of China’s GDP in 2024
May be an image of text that says 'Clean energy contributed a record 10% of China's GDP in 2024. Go HERE.
95. More than 1,000 DOJ alumni supporting those who are standing up for the non-partisan administration of law. The oath we all took is to uphold the Constitution, not to advance a president’s political agenda.
Go HERE for their letter to the career Federal Prosecutors supporting them in standing up to Trump.
96. EBONY Magazine is celebrating Black love this February by highlighting nine incredible Black couples whose love reflects the strength and beauty of the culture they come from. The feature includes diverse stories of Black love, including Black gay love, showcasing the resilience, passion, and shared experiences that define these relationships. Thank you, EBONY, for being inclusive and sharing Black queer love as well. [I actually met with EBONY Magazine back in the 1990s early 00s to get them to provide content to HW Wilson Company's electronic databases and I convinced them to sign a deal. Go me. Ebony has content in various searchable Library electronic databases because of me.]
97. Phone calls to congressional phone lines in the U.S. have increased by 4,500%. [Not surprising, people are phone banking. I know my church is doing it.]
98. In the Amazon, One Woman’s Ingenious Canopy Bridges Are Helping Monkeys Cross the Road Safely.
99. The MTA and the Governor of NYS rejected the USDOT and Trump Admin halt to Congestion Pricing. They are fighting it in Court.
100. Federal Labor Unions and Agencies have stepped forward and told employees to ignore and not open Musk's emails "Multiple agencies and unions have reportedly told federal workers not to respond to a new email demanding that they account for their work over the last week — despite Elon Musk's threat they'll lose their jobs if they don't."
Whew..that went on forever.
The revolution will NOT be televised. It will happen in the streets, at workplaces, in yards, at barbecues, in churches, on social media sites, chat rooms, in retail establishments, at parties, at family gatherings, in voting booths, in marches, during walks, and hikes. It happens when people slowly and gradually change their minds and work to love and care for each other, and stop the hate however and wherever they can.
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