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TGIF and Some Good News From the Resistance
Long week, slept poorly, looking forward to a three day weekend, and strongly considering taking the 14th and the 21st off, definitely the 21st.
I'm on mental overload at work, so keep forgetting stuff.
It's that time again.
For a bit of Good News from the American Resistance and its Global Allies. It's enough to make one want to burst into song...what problem, riddle, conflict can we not solve, if we do it together...what can't we do if we get it in it, we have to try, we'll pay the price, there's nothing we can't face together.." (I can't remember lyrics to save my life - but it may be time for a Buffy rewatch.)
50 Pieces of Good News from the Resistence
1. A federal judge in Seattle has blocked President Trump's effort to halt the nation's refugee admissions system.
2.Two members of a nonpartisan board that oversees the executive branch’s counterterrorism policies and protects civil liberties filed a lawsuit against Trump for moving to illegally fire them without cause.
3. The Department of Veterans Affairs has temporarily suspended billions of dollars in planned contract cuts following concerns that the move would hurt critical veterans’ health services.
4.Tesla’s sales plunged 45% last month across Europe. [Hee Hee, Musk isn't having a good week. Tesla stocks are plunging, and his rocket blew up. Also people are leaving Xitter in droves.] Telsa Protests Against DOGE and MUSK at TELSA showrooms in all 50 states
5.The Office of Special Counsel found that six federal civil servants from six separate agencies had been unlawfully terminated from their positions. Now the Merit Systems Protection Board has granted the request to halt those terminations. [The Doofus is discovering this is not the reality show the Apprentice nor his own private corporation and he can't just go around firing folks at whim.]
6.In a victory for voters, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling that blocked provisions of two Arizona laws seeking documentary proof of citizenship to vote in presidential elections. The Court called the challenged provisions “unlawful measures of voter suppression.”
7. Meanwhile..Apple announced plans to hire 20,000 workers and invest $500 billion in the United States over the next four years. [ Hmm, I bet my brother feels validated for being an apple household, as does a friend of mine. I kind of am too - I have all Apple devices at home - well for the most part.]
8. Backlash to Doofus’s early actions and statements is starting to erupt in a surprising place— on the phone lines of right-wing talk radio shows.
Media Matters reports that conservatives are calling right-wing radio shows to vent frustration with the Trump administration - "Backlash to President Donald Trump’s early actions and statements is starting to erupt at Republican town halls, local and national protests — and on the phone lines of right-wing talk radio shows. "
9.The American Federation of Teachers is pressuring some of Tesla's biggest shareholders and asset managers calling on them to review Tesla’s current valuation.
10.More than a dozen Republican state legislators in Minnesota publicly warned U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer and other Minnesota party members in Congress against making deep Medicaid cuts, writing in a pointed letter that “this is contrary to how we Republicans respect the aged and the vulnerable.”
11.More than 20 civil service employees resigned from DOGE, saying they were refusing to use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.”[ Hee Hee - Musk - he can't keep the employees he wants, and he can't fire the ones - he doesn't.]
12. Telsa Takedown Movement is Surging (it's also working, stocks for Telsa were diving today.)
13. Reliable independent and alternative media are growing. [It's the information age ? - it's to be expected.]
14. In Stockholm, Sweden, a portion of the fines collected from speeding drivers is put into a lottery. Drivers who don't have any offenses are automatically entered in the lottery and have the chance of winning some cash for driving safely. Motors have received checks up to $3000 and the scheme has encouraged road safety. [Okay, now I want to move to Sweden, although I don't drive.]
15. This is just weird? “A small way for the communities to heal”: Artist honors LA wildfire victims with free drawings of lost homes. The 27-year-old local is giving people beautiful illustrations of what they’ve lost — and helping herself heal in the process. [Idk - would you want a painting of the home you lost to a fire?]
Here's the Article
16. The latest University of Michigan survey finds that consumer sentiment plummeted 10 percent in February, largely due to concerns about Trump’s tariffs. Farmers who voted for Trump are nervous about the impact on their livelihoods.
17. The reaction to Trump’s abandoning Ukraine and siding with Putin has been more devastating, putting congressional Republicans on the defensive. Prominent Republican senators Roger Wicker of Mississippi and John Kennedy of Louisiana criticized Putin. Bill Kristol, a former official in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, noted that “Nato and the US commitment to Europe has kept the European peace for 80 years. It’s foolish and reckless to put that at risk. And for what? To get along with Putin?”
18.Multiple lawyers and law professors wrote a letter that gives give legal backing to universities to resist the anti-DEI executive order. It is one tool among many that could be used to push universities to fight resegregation and exclusion. Go HERE for the Memo
19.Pittsburgh Persad center is building senior housing for the LGBT+ population here, and SistersPGH just opened an additional transitional housing facility for trans people of color, they already had 1 and now have 2.
20.After weeks in the wilderness wondering if we were alone, we are now seeing clear signs that Trump’s efforts to destroy this country will not go unopposed. We were beaten in November, but we were not defeated. Just look at the fire and passion Americans are bringing to Republican town hall meetings in places like Georgia and Wisconsin. The pathetic kiss-asses who worship at the orange altar are on their heels as they try to defend their cowardice.
21.Betty White to be honored on newest USPS Forever Stamp
22.NY AG Letia James won a court ruling blocking DOGE and Elon from accessing private data and federal funds.
23.98% of Costco shareholders voted to reject anti-diversity proposal despite Trump threats of a civil rights investigation. Article here - makes me wish that I could shop at Cost-Co, I can't - I live in a city, we don't do superstores.
24.Elon Musk is now losing $2.11 billion a day.
This is a great start. Boycott, resist and fight Elon.
25.Children's Hospital LA lifts limits on hormonal therapy for transgender youth, after protesters rallied in support of Gender affirming care.
26.The Dow Jones is now lower under Trump than when Biden left office.
27.Jane Fonda receives the well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award at the SAG Awards. From her iconic roles in classic films like Klute and 9 to 5 to her fierce advocacy for social justice, Jane has inspired generations. As the daughter of the legendary Henry Fonda, she continues a legacy of excellence, grace, and strength. An icon in every sense.
28.Pro-democracy forces won German national elections
Disappointingly weak show by neo-Nazi AfD party supported by Elon Musk, JD Vance, and the Kremlin — they might again be SHUT OUT of the government
Wonderful news for Europe — and critical for supporting Ukraine [ Well, the conservatives or right wing won - just not the alt-right, and the alt-right didn't get enough seats, so it didn't go as bad as we feared. "The Conservative Party in Germany is not a rogue, anti-rule of law, imperial leader cult party, like the current U.S. Republican Party, and makes no common cause with MAGA. The far-right AfD (Nazi-adjacent) Party, which Elon and J.D. Vance championed, received 20% of the vote. Still too much, but the outcome of this election was a rebuke of Elon, J.D. and MAGA."]
29. In case you missed it: In the Senate, Angus King (I-ME) also reached back to the framers of the Constitution when he warned—again—that permitting Trump to take over the power of Congress is “grossly unconstitutional.” Trump’s concept that he can alter laws by refusing to fund them, so-called impoundment, is “absolutely straight up unconstitutional,” King said, “and it’s illegal.”
30.Washington state proclaimed Sasquatch its official state monster.
31.Arizona AG Kris Mayes, New Mexico AG Raul Torrez, and Oregon AG Dan Rayfield have begin holding Community Impact Hearings — a national series of townhalls "to hear from the public about the impact of federal firings and DOGE funding freezes across the country." The first was in Phoenix March 5th.
32.Two unions–National Treasury Employees Union and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility–are suing the president for his “Schedule F” executive order that would allow him to fire civil servants without due process.
33.Chicago communities provide “know your rights” information, legal support, and basic needs in response to ICE harassment in the city.
34. Faith leaders from churches and mosques offer support, legal aid, and even grocery runs for their members. Churches defy Trump's orders [NYC schools are defying it too - they keep talking about how area schools are finding ways to resist or fight back against ICE.]
35.WA pharmacists can now prescribe abortion medications to patients.
36.The city of Honolulu, HI can continue their lawsuit against oil companies for misleading the public about the dangers of fossil fuels.
37.NV’s Medicaid program covers abortion services in order to comply with the state’s constitution. [Most states have reproductive rights written into their constitutions - and state constitutional law trumps supreme court rulings and legislative laws and executive orders.]
38.All buildings owned by the city of Chicago will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy.
39. Residents vote to continue using ranked-choice voting for municipal elections in Bloomington, MN.
40.CVS pharmacies in MA begin offering birth control consultations and prescriptions.
41.A South Texas coal plant converts to a solar and battery power plant.
42.The Forestry and Fire Recruitment program empowers formerly incarcerated individuals and others from marginalized communities to become firefighters.
43.The Peabody, MA event space Olio offers free wedding services for LGBTQ+ couples in the face of uncertain legal rights.
44.College tuition costs fall significantly at schools across the U.S. [ Hmm, is this true? It is!!! "New research indicates students are paying significantly less to attend public universities than they were a decade ago. And tuition increases at private colleges have finally slowed after years of hefty rises."
45. The wall of China is getting a new birthday. The Great Wall of China wasn’t a single construction project, but rather a series of defensive and border fortifications linked over hundreds of years under the direction of multiple royal dynasties. Recent archeological discoveries in the nation’s Shandong Province, however, have pushed back the engineering marvel’s start date by around 300 years.
46.In a scathing court filing, lawyers for Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer, who was sued after the election over a poll that showed him trailing Kamala Harris in Iowa, call Donald Trump’s claims frivolous and liken it to suing a meteorologist for a wrong weather forecast. Selzer’s lawyers, however, say Trump misunderstands the legal concept of “fraud,” and the poll, the defendants stated in Friday’s filing, is political speech entitled to special protection under the First Amendment.
“In the United States there is no such thing as a claim for ‘fraudulent news.’ No court in any jurisdiction has ever held such a cause of action might be valid, and few plaintiffs have ever attempted to bring such outlandish claims. Those who have were promptly dismissed,” the filing states. Allegations about polls and news stories they dislike have nothing to do with fraud.
47.Over 75,000 have signed a petition to revoke Musk’s Canadian citizenship. Go here [Canada is trying to revoke Musk's citizenship. LOL! Now if the US could just do it too and kick him back to South Africa...where he could be eaten by a wild animal (there's so many over there to choose from). Although I don't think citizenship is revocable?]
48.We are starting to see tiny cracks in the Republican Party. Utah’s Republican senator admits that DOGE is chaos. Fourth paragraph is the one that matters most here. "I believe DOGE is moving so fast that it isn't fully factoring in the human element. These are real people with real families, and the uncertainty surrounding their jobs is creating tremendous stress--even for those whose positions are not being eliminated.”
"The public is starting to turn against the government cuts that are badly hurting American veterans, American farmers, and U.S. medical research. The courts keep ruling against their efforts and their claims of finding “waste, fraud, and abuse” are being widely debunked. Rather than rethinking their course in the face of opposition, they seem to be becoming more belligerent."
["Congress is the branch that is entrusted with using OUR power to hold the Executive accountable, to write laws that secure the rights and dignity of all people, and to manage OUR resources responsibly. Members of Congress use this power but it is not theirs. We lend it to them for these purposes, and if they instead use it to build personal or party power for its own sake, we hold them accountable."]
49. Rep Zephyr's speech flips 13 Republicans, trans bills die in Montana.The bill lost and did NOT get passed to become law.
50.In an act of resistance, park rangers are banding together to crowdsource terminations and catalog the number of National Park Service employees the Trump administration has fired in every park unit across the country. Article Here
Off to bed and hopefully sleep, unlike last night.
I'm on mental overload at work, so keep forgetting stuff.
It's that time again.
For a bit of Good News from the American Resistance and its Global Allies. It's enough to make one want to burst into song...what problem, riddle, conflict can we not solve, if we do it together...what can't we do if we get it in it, we have to try, we'll pay the price, there's nothing we can't face together.." (I can't remember lyrics to save my life - but it may be time for a Buffy rewatch.)
50 Pieces of Good News from the Resistence
1. A federal judge in Seattle has blocked President Trump's effort to halt the nation's refugee admissions system.
2.Two members of a nonpartisan board that oversees the executive branch’s counterterrorism policies and protects civil liberties filed a lawsuit against Trump for moving to illegally fire them without cause.
3. The Department of Veterans Affairs has temporarily suspended billions of dollars in planned contract cuts following concerns that the move would hurt critical veterans’ health services.
4.Tesla’s sales plunged 45% last month across Europe. [Hee Hee, Musk isn't having a good week. Tesla stocks are plunging, and his rocket blew up. Also people are leaving Xitter in droves.] Telsa Protests Against DOGE and MUSK at TELSA showrooms in all 50 states
5.The Office of Special Counsel found that six federal civil servants from six separate agencies had been unlawfully terminated from their positions. Now the Merit Systems Protection Board has granted the request to halt those terminations. [The Doofus is discovering this is not the reality show the Apprentice nor his own private corporation and he can't just go around firing folks at whim.]
6.In a victory for voters, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling that blocked provisions of two Arizona laws seeking documentary proof of citizenship to vote in presidential elections. The Court called the challenged provisions “unlawful measures of voter suppression.”
7. Meanwhile..Apple announced plans to hire 20,000 workers and invest $500 billion in the United States over the next four years. [ Hmm, I bet my brother feels validated for being an apple household, as does a friend of mine. I kind of am too - I have all Apple devices at home - well for the most part.]
8. Backlash to Doofus’s early actions and statements is starting to erupt in a surprising place— on the phone lines of right-wing talk radio shows.
Media Matters reports that conservatives are calling right-wing radio shows to vent frustration with the Trump administration - "Backlash to President Donald Trump’s early actions and statements is starting to erupt at Republican town halls, local and national protests — and on the phone lines of right-wing talk radio shows. "
9.The American Federation of Teachers is pressuring some of Tesla's biggest shareholders and asset managers calling on them to review Tesla’s current valuation.
10.More than a dozen Republican state legislators in Minnesota publicly warned U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer and other Minnesota party members in Congress against making deep Medicaid cuts, writing in a pointed letter that “this is contrary to how we Republicans respect the aged and the vulnerable.”
11.More than 20 civil service employees resigned from DOGE, saying they were refusing to use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.”[ Hee Hee - Musk - he can't keep the employees he wants, and he can't fire the ones - he doesn't.]
12. Telsa Takedown Movement is Surging (it's also working, stocks for Telsa were diving today.)
13. Reliable independent and alternative media are growing. [It's the information age ? - it's to be expected.]
14. In Stockholm, Sweden, a portion of the fines collected from speeding drivers is put into a lottery. Drivers who don't have any offenses are automatically entered in the lottery and have the chance of winning some cash for driving safely. Motors have received checks up to $3000 and the scheme has encouraged road safety. [Okay, now I want to move to Sweden, although I don't drive.]
15. This is just weird? “A small way for the communities to heal”: Artist honors LA wildfire victims with free drawings of lost homes. The 27-year-old local is giving people beautiful illustrations of what they’ve lost — and helping herself heal in the process. [Idk - would you want a painting of the home you lost to a fire?]
Here's the Article
16. The latest University of Michigan survey finds that consumer sentiment plummeted 10 percent in February, largely due to concerns about Trump’s tariffs. Farmers who voted for Trump are nervous about the impact on their livelihoods.
17. The reaction to Trump’s abandoning Ukraine and siding with Putin has been more devastating, putting congressional Republicans on the defensive. Prominent Republican senators Roger Wicker of Mississippi and John Kennedy of Louisiana criticized Putin. Bill Kristol, a former official in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, noted that “Nato and the US commitment to Europe has kept the European peace for 80 years. It’s foolish and reckless to put that at risk. And for what? To get along with Putin?”
18.Multiple lawyers and law professors wrote a letter that gives give legal backing to universities to resist the anti-DEI executive order. It is one tool among many that could be used to push universities to fight resegregation and exclusion. Go HERE for the Memo
19.Pittsburgh Persad center is building senior housing for the LGBT+ population here, and SistersPGH just opened an additional transitional housing facility for trans people of color, they already had 1 and now have 2.
20.After weeks in the wilderness wondering if we were alone, we are now seeing clear signs that Trump’s efforts to destroy this country will not go unopposed. We were beaten in November, but we were not defeated. Just look at the fire and passion Americans are bringing to Republican town hall meetings in places like Georgia and Wisconsin. The pathetic kiss-asses who worship at the orange altar are on their heels as they try to defend their cowardice.
21.Betty White to be honored on newest USPS Forever Stamp
22.NY AG Letia James won a court ruling blocking DOGE and Elon from accessing private data and federal funds.
23.98% of Costco shareholders voted to reject anti-diversity proposal despite Trump threats of a civil rights investigation. Article here - makes me wish that I could shop at Cost-Co, I can't - I live in a city, we don't do superstores.
24.Elon Musk is now losing $2.11 billion a day.
This is a great start. Boycott, resist and fight Elon.
25.Children's Hospital LA lifts limits on hormonal therapy for transgender youth, after protesters rallied in support of Gender affirming care.
26.The Dow Jones is now lower under Trump than when Biden left office.
27.Jane Fonda receives the well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award at the SAG Awards. From her iconic roles in classic films like Klute and 9 to 5 to her fierce advocacy for social justice, Jane has inspired generations. As the daughter of the legendary Henry Fonda, she continues a legacy of excellence, grace, and strength. An icon in every sense.
28.Pro-democracy forces won German national elections
Disappointingly weak show by neo-Nazi AfD party supported by Elon Musk, JD Vance, and the Kremlin — they might again be SHUT OUT of the government
Wonderful news for Europe — and critical for supporting Ukraine [ Well, the conservatives or right wing won - just not the alt-right, and the alt-right didn't get enough seats, so it didn't go as bad as we feared. "The Conservative Party in Germany is not a rogue, anti-rule of law, imperial leader cult party, like the current U.S. Republican Party, and makes no common cause with MAGA. The far-right AfD (Nazi-adjacent) Party, which Elon and J.D. Vance championed, received 20% of the vote. Still too much, but the outcome of this election was a rebuke of Elon, J.D. and MAGA."]
29. In case you missed it: In the Senate, Angus King (I-ME) also reached back to the framers of the Constitution when he warned—again—that permitting Trump to take over the power of Congress is “grossly unconstitutional.” Trump’s concept that he can alter laws by refusing to fund them, so-called impoundment, is “absolutely straight up unconstitutional,” King said, “and it’s illegal.”
30.Washington state proclaimed Sasquatch its official state monster.
31.Arizona AG Kris Mayes, New Mexico AG Raul Torrez, and Oregon AG Dan Rayfield have begin holding Community Impact Hearings — a national series of townhalls "to hear from the public about the impact of federal firings and DOGE funding freezes across the country." The first was in Phoenix March 5th.
32.Two unions–National Treasury Employees Union and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility–are suing the president for his “Schedule F” executive order that would allow him to fire civil servants without due process.
33.Chicago communities provide “know your rights” information, legal support, and basic needs in response to ICE harassment in the city.
34. Faith leaders from churches and mosques offer support, legal aid, and even grocery runs for their members. Churches defy Trump's orders [NYC schools are defying it too - they keep talking about how area schools are finding ways to resist or fight back against ICE.]
35.WA pharmacists can now prescribe abortion medications to patients.
36.The city of Honolulu, HI can continue their lawsuit against oil companies for misleading the public about the dangers of fossil fuels.
37.NV’s Medicaid program covers abortion services in order to comply with the state’s constitution. [Most states have reproductive rights written into their constitutions - and state constitutional law trumps supreme court rulings and legislative laws and executive orders.]
38.All buildings owned by the city of Chicago will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy.
39. Residents vote to continue using ranked-choice voting for municipal elections in Bloomington, MN.
40.CVS pharmacies in MA begin offering birth control consultations and prescriptions.
41.A South Texas coal plant converts to a solar and battery power plant.
42.The Forestry and Fire Recruitment program empowers formerly incarcerated individuals and others from marginalized communities to become firefighters.
43.The Peabody, MA event space Olio offers free wedding services for LGBTQ+ couples in the face of uncertain legal rights.
44.College tuition costs fall significantly at schools across the U.S. [ Hmm, is this true? It is!!! "New research indicates students are paying significantly less to attend public universities than they were a decade ago. And tuition increases at private colleges have finally slowed after years of hefty rises."
45. The wall of China is getting a new birthday. The Great Wall of China wasn’t a single construction project, but rather a series of defensive and border fortifications linked over hundreds of years under the direction of multiple royal dynasties. Recent archeological discoveries in the nation’s Shandong Province, however, have pushed back the engineering marvel’s start date by around 300 years.
46.In a scathing court filing, lawyers for Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer, who was sued after the election over a poll that showed him trailing Kamala Harris in Iowa, call Donald Trump’s claims frivolous and liken it to suing a meteorologist for a wrong weather forecast. Selzer’s lawyers, however, say Trump misunderstands the legal concept of “fraud,” and the poll, the defendants stated in Friday’s filing, is political speech entitled to special protection under the First Amendment.
“In the United States there is no such thing as a claim for ‘fraudulent news.’ No court in any jurisdiction has ever held such a cause of action might be valid, and few plaintiffs have ever attempted to bring such outlandish claims. Those who have were promptly dismissed,” the filing states. Allegations about polls and news stories they dislike have nothing to do with fraud.
47.Over 75,000 have signed a petition to revoke Musk’s Canadian citizenship. Go here [Canada is trying to revoke Musk's citizenship. LOL! Now if the US could just do it too and kick him back to South Africa...where he could be eaten by a wild animal (there's so many over there to choose from). Although I don't think citizenship is revocable?]
48.We are starting to see tiny cracks in the Republican Party. Utah’s Republican senator admits that DOGE is chaos. Fourth paragraph is the one that matters most here. "I believe DOGE is moving so fast that it isn't fully factoring in the human element. These are real people with real families, and the uncertainty surrounding their jobs is creating tremendous stress--even for those whose positions are not being eliminated.”
"The public is starting to turn against the government cuts that are badly hurting American veterans, American farmers, and U.S. medical research. The courts keep ruling against their efforts and their claims of finding “waste, fraud, and abuse” are being widely debunked. Rather than rethinking their course in the face of opposition, they seem to be becoming more belligerent."
["Congress is the branch that is entrusted with using OUR power to hold the Executive accountable, to write laws that secure the rights and dignity of all people, and to manage OUR resources responsibly. Members of Congress use this power but it is not theirs. We lend it to them for these purposes, and if they instead use it to build personal or party power for its own sake, we hold them accountable."]
49. Rep Zephyr's speech flips 13 Republicans, trans bills die in Montana.The bill lost and did NOT get passed to become law.
50.In an act of resistance, park rangers are banding together to crowdsource terminations and catalog the number of National Park Service employees the Trump administration has fired in every park unit across the country. Article Here
Off to bed and hopefully sleep, unlike last night.
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