Good News anyone?
Mar. 22nd, 2025 06:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatI don't know about you, dear friends and readers? But I'm feeling kind of depressed and a little surreal...it's sunny outside, a pinkish haze to the clouds, crisp and in the upper fifties, although with the breeze feels like the forties outside. Earlier it felt like the sixties. Crocuses are in bloom here and there, and violets sprouting in little clusters almost hidden from view. The weeping willows have threads of green - and there are buds on the trees. The air smells like spring, with just the right buzz in the air. Yet, the national and world news is grim, and getting grimmer, with the ever encroaching creep of totalitarian fascism on the horizon, coming closer and closer as we speak.
I also feel frozen. Unable to move. Stuck in place. Yet, I am doing things. I donated to a lot of places in the fall. And my work is of course furthering diversity, inclusion, equality, accessibility, and equal transportation for a low cost. As does my art. So, there's that at least.
My family and friends are furthering the cause as well in their own ways.
Or to the extent that they can.
It's overwhelming, all of it. I'm overwhelmed with reading material. I have stacks of books, magazines, and digital forms of reading everywhere it seems. That said, if you want a comforting and uplifting read - that is also inspiring, and meditative, Rick Rubin's The Creative Act: A Way of Being is worth a look. Here's a little excerpt:
"Turning something from an idea
into a reality
can make it seem smaller
It changes from unearthly to earthly
The imagination has no limits
The physical world does
The work exists in both."
Also.."The object isn't to make art, it's to be in that wonderful state that makes art inevitable". The book calms me in a way I can't quite describe - it seems to reflect my own views regarding art and the creation of art in a way or form, I've yet to find anywhere else?
Anywho...I've subscribed to some newsletters that provide "good news" because I feel overwhelmed with the negative and it makes the muscles tight, and leads to eating the wrong things (like, ahem, too much chocolate).
News from the American Resistance and it's Global Allies
1. Resistance is alive and well in the US - in a new report from Erica Chenoweth, Jeremy Pressman, and Sohoa Hamman, shows that protests are actually more numerous and greater in number than in 2017.
"In February 2025 alone, we have already tallied over 2,085 protests, which included major protests in support of federal workers, LGBTQ rights, immigrant rights, Palestinian self-determination, Ukraine, and demonstrations against Tesla and Trump’s agenda more generally. This is compared with 937 protests in the United States in February 2017, which included major protests against the so-called Muslim ban along with other pro-immigrant and pro-choice protests. Coordinated days of protest such as March Fourth for Democracy (March 4), Stand Up for Science (March 7), rallies in recognition of International Women’s Day (March 8), and protests demanding the release of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil suggest little likelihood of these actions slowing down. These are all occurring in the background of a tidal wave of lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s early moves.
Historically, street protest and legal challenges are common avenues for popular opposition to governments, but economic noncooperation — such as strikes, boycotts and buycotts — is what often gets the goods. Individual participation is deliberately obscure, and targeted companies may have little interest in releasing internal data. Only the aggregate impacts are measurable — and in the case of Tesla, Target and other companies, the impacts so far have been measurable indeed.
Consider the protests against Tesla in response to Elon Musk firing federal workers and blocking federal funding. The multifaceted campaign has a quite specific goal: punish Tesla, Musk’s signature company. In addition to protests at Tesla showrooms and charging stations, people have also sold their Teslas. Others have called on mutual funds to divest from Tesla stock. The stock price has dropped significantly in the last month, perhaps in part due to Musk’s DOGE work."
The article points out that it isn't just street protests, and sit in's but also legal actions, and economic non-cooperation that gains results. If you think about the Civil Rights Movement - it was the combination of the three that resulted in desegegaration, the Civil Rights Act, and Voting Rights Act. A protest accomplishes nothing by itself. What is shutting down Telsa is the fact that people are selling their stocks and not investing in it, not just the protests.
2. Serbia's Government Resigned after it saw the largest public protests in decades
Serbia’s government, led by Prime Minister Miloš Vučević, resigned Wednesday, with President Aleksandar Vučić saying he may call fresh elections in early June.
Although Vučević announced his intention to resign in late January, the Belgrade parliament confirmed the resignation only weeks later, shortly after the country saw its largest protests in decades.
Vučić said Sunday that if a new government is not formed within 30 days of Vučević’s resignation, he will call early elections, likely to be held on June 8 — just a year and a half after Serbia’s last general election.
3. Thousands protest in Turkey despite a ban on street gatherings over what they called the undemocratic detention of Istanbul's mayor
4. Judge Rules that the National Park Service Must Reinstate All Fired Employees
"A federal judge in San Francisco has ordered the National Park Service and five other federal agencies to immediately reinstate probationary employees who were fired en masse last month, ruling that the Office of Personnel Management had no legal authority to mandate their terminations."
5. Federal Court Ruling that Over 25,000 illegally fired Federal Workers must be Rehired
"US President Donald Trump's administration is working to bring back nearly 25,000 fired federal workers after judges ruled their terminations were illegal, court documents show.
Officials at 18 departments and agencies have submitted documents to a federal court detailing their efforts to rehire the laid off probationary workers to comply with the court orders.
Last week, two federal judges said the mass layoffs of the recently hired workers was illegal and ordered them to be reinstated pending further litigation. "
6. Judge rules DOGE’s USAID dismantling likely violates the Constitution
"WASHINGTON (AP) — The dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency likely violated the Constitution, a federal judge ruled Tuesday as he indefinitely blocked DOGE from making further cuts to the agency.
The order requires the Trump administration to restore email and computer access to all employees of USAID, including those put on administrative leave, though it stops short of reversing firings or fully resurrecting the agency. "
7. Federal Judge Blocks Trump's Trans Military Ban
8.In addition, public backlash forced the Trump-controlled Department of Defense to reinstate content on Black baseball legend Jackie Robinson,
the Tuskegee Airmen, and
the Navajo Code Talkers after they were removed from DOD websites and military trainings in an anti-DEI purge.
9. A U.S. District Judge also ruled against Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act and ordered immigrant deportation planes to be turned around. [This is the ruling that Trump ignored and tried to impeach the judge on.]
"However, the Trump administration is ignoring parts – and sometimes all – of the conditions of these legal rulings."> They put thousands of rehired federal workers on administrative leave and refused to obey the order to stop planes and immigrant deportations to El Salvador. It seems that a showdown between this administration’s lawlessness and the courts is heightening. The fate of things like rule of law and the separation of powers might depend on what the rest of civil society is willing to do to make sure Trump complies with the courts – or what people will do if he continues to flout their orders. Stay tuned."
10. The US Supreme Court on Wednesday denied the Trump administration's request to block a lower court's order for the administration to pay nearly $2 billion in foreign aid money delivering a near-term reprieve to international aid groups and contractors seeking payment for previously completed projects.
11. Hundreds Protest Against Trumps Takeover Plans of Greenland
12. ‘Danish Viking blood is boiling.’ Danes boycott US goods with fervor as others in Europe do so too
13.Tesla removed as participant in 2025 Vancouver International Auto Show
14. Venezuela Demands Immediate Repatriation Of Detained Migrants
"The Venezuelan government has promised that it will “fight until it frees all its compatriots. They have been imprisoned and deported without evidence thanks to an 18th-century US law. Thousands of Venezuelans rallied in Caracas on Tuesday, March 18, to protest the deportation of Venezuelan migrants from the United States to a high security prison in El Salvador. Family members of the deported migrants addressed Venezuelan officials and fellow citizens to demand the immediate return of their loved ones, with many insisting that their relatives are not criminals or members of the infamous Tren de Aragua as Donald Trump claims."
15. Per FB :" A UK church in a small village in Britain rang out We Shall Overcome to give people hope. " [They stated that they wanted their friends in the US "resistance" to know they have allies in unexpected places and there is hope.]
16. Canadians on Facebook made a hilarious parody of the I Will Survive song (you know, the one that starts with “first I was afraid, I was petrified …”) that now has over a million views. [Sigh. We are calling this the stupid coup for a reason. Honestly? I wish more people would study history and civics instead of math and business or ugh, computer science. Folks, you can teach yourselves math, business and computer science - just take a few courses here and there. It's not that hard. I've met so many ignorant MBA's and math majors, I've lost count. )
17. Warning?
Let's Be careful out there.
18. 34,000 people packed Civic Center Park to fight back. Not for a candidate. Not for a party. But for the idea that billionaires shouldn’t run this country. We’re done with billionaires buying our democracy.
We’re done with fascists pretending to be patriots. We’re done waiting for someone else to save us.
19. A woman escaped a Tesla that caught fire Thursday after hitting debris on US-19
20 Thousands of people are ditching Tesla. Here’s one of them with a message you can see from space. Location: Black Rock Sands, Wales, UK
21.NYSNA nurses marched with labor and community allies through downtown Manhattan to protest federal cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, public education, and enforcement of workers' rights. The $800+ billion in cuts to Medicaid will decimate care for children, seniors, people with disabilities and low-income New Yorkers. Extreme Medicaid cuts will cause hospitals to cut staff and services, and entire hospitals to close. NYSNA members were out in force to defend our healthcare, jobs, and communities. We will continue sending the message that we will not accept cuts to the services that we all depend on to fund tax cuts for billionaires!
22.Thousands of educators, parents, students, and community allies rallied at the Capitol today to demand fully funded public schools. With NEA President Becky Pringle standing with us, we sent a clear message: A cut is a cut—our students pay the price. This fight isn’t over—we’ll keep pushing for the fully funded schools our communities deserve.
23. Carter, a 92-year-old Korean War veteran, and his son, Larry, joined a crowd of nearly 3,000 for a two-hour national veterans’ rally Friday on the National Mall to protest cuts by President Donald Trump to veterans’ federal jobs, services and benefits. https://www.stripes.com/veterans/2025-03-14/veterans-rally-national-mall-17143611.html.
24. Postal workers rally against possible privatization of USPS. https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/03/20/postal-workers-rally-against-possible-privatization-usps/
25. Thousands of people also took action in New York City, Boston, Portland, OR; Portland, ME, Fayetteville, Washington, DC; Chiricahua National Monument, AZ, and many other places.
26. Victoria Canal - a UK Musician performing at the Kennedy Center Performance - put on a T-Shirt condemning Trump at her curtain call
27.In response to Trump calling #TeslaTakedown an ‘illegal boycott’, people are sticking post-its that read “i buy junk cars’ on Teslas.
Apparently they are right - since In latest blow to Tesla, regulators recall nearly all Cybertrucks. U.S. safety regulators on Thursday recalled virtually all Cybertrucks on the road, the eighth recall of the Tesla-made vehicles since deliveries to customers began just over a year ago. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s recall, which covers more than 46,000 Cybertrucks, warned that an exterior panel that runs along the left and right side of the windshield can detach while driving, creating a dangerous road hazard for other drivers, increasing the risk of a crash.
28. Outside the US Embassy in London - the Bus Stop has a clever installation of a paper shredder
29. Economic resistance is having noticeable impacts. Target – under pressure from the 40-day Target Fast against anti-DEI policies – saw its stock price tumble, losing $12 billion in market value.
30. Tesla Takedown has led to a 40% drop in Tesla stock prices and are preparing for their biggest day of action ever on March 29. Amidst acts of arson, vandalism, and destruction of Tesla cars and showrooms, the Tesla Takedown campaign put out clear statements against violence and property destruction.
Distancing themselves from the acts of vandalism happening at other times/places than their protest actions may help the growing movement survive Trump’s accusations of domestic terrorism and threats to send Tesla vandals to El Salvadoran prison camps. (An utterly illegal suggestion, btw.)
31. Speaking of illegal deportation threats, Jewish Voice For Peace occupied Trump Tower with sit-ins opposing the detainment of pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil. Kahlil’s statement from a detention center evoked parallels to Dr. King’s Letter From a Birmingham Jail. Colombia students workers rallied against expulsions, arrests, funding threats, and the revocation of student visas for pro-Palestinian activists. Other large demonstrations filled Times Square in New York City and called for an #ArmsEmbargoNow in the San Francisco Bay Area. Pro-Palestinian actions also took place in Hollywood, multiple sites in Bristol, UK; and Harvard University. Around 2,500 Jewish academics denounced Trump for using antisemitism as a ‘shield’ as he erodes protest rights and cracks down on pro-Palestinian organizing against the genocide in Gaza. Tens of thousands of Israelis protested against their government’s violation of the ceasefire and renewed attacks on Gaza, calling for a new ceasefire. [I have lots of links - but not the energy to post all of them.]
32. In February, it was in front of the industry ministry’s annex building, just a stone’s throw away from the plum blossoms unfurling in pink and white at Tokyo’s Hibiya Park. A small but passionate group of three dozen people — young and old alike — lifted a vibrant banner that read in Japanese: “The Climate Crisis is a matter of life and death!” The group is Fridays for Future, a climate activist organization originally inspired by Greta Thunberg’s 2018 school strike. They have branches in 20 regions across Japan, with the shared mission of raising Japanese voices in favor of tackling climate change.https://www.japantimes.co.jp/environment/2025/03/16/climate-change/climate-activists-search-breakthrough/
33.Today at 12:00, six individuals showered members of the House of Lords with 1,000 handbills and dropped a banner reading ‘PEOPLE IN – LORDS OUT’. from the viewing gallery. They were calling for a House of the People to completely replace the House of Lords, and inviting members of the public to take part in the inaugural House of the People in Summer 2025. https://mailchi.mp/825a06583e91/house-of-lords-disrupted
34. The Popular Support for the Right to Housing in Romania
35. Long COVID Survivors Plastered Pillow Cases Outside a Vancouver Art Gallery in Protest for Better Support
36. Hugh Jackman is teaming up with producer Sonia Friedman to launch Together, a new theatre company focused on making live theatre more intimate and affordable. With director Ian Rickson, they’ll stage fully rehearsed plays, readings, and discussions in small venues worldwide - offering audiences a fresh way to experience powerful storytelling at accessible prices. [Go Hugh Jackman].
Whew. Some good news, at least? I mean I feel like something is happening?
Oh Wales did a "die-in" protest - basically they did performance art as part of a protest, where they acted as if loss of Medicaid was killing them. Because it will kill people.
I also feel frozen. Unable to move. Stuck in place. Yet, I am doing things. I donated to a lot of places in the fall. And my work is of course furthering diversity, inclusion, equality, accessibility, and equal transportation for a low cost. As does my art. So, there's that at least.
My family and friends are furthering the cause as well in their own ways.
Or to the extent that they can.
It's overwhelming, all of it. I'm overwhelmed with reading material. I have stacks of books, magazines, and digital forms of reading everywhere it seems. That said, if you want a comforting and uplifting read - that is also inspiring, and meditative, Rick Rubin's The Creative Act: A Way of Being is worth a look. Here's a little excerpt:
"Turning something from an idea
into a reality
can make it seem smaller
It changes from unearthly to earthly
The imagination has no limits
The physical world does
The work exists in both."
Also.."The object isn't to make art, it's to be in that wonderful state that makes art inevitable". The book calms me in a way I can't quite describe - it seems to reflect my own views regarding art and the creation of art in a way or form, I've yet to find anywhere else?
Anywho...I've subscribed to some newsletters that provide "good news" because I feel overwhelmed with the negative and it makes the muscles tight, and leads to eating the wrong things (like, ahem, too much chocolate).
News from the American Resistance and it's Global Allies
1. Resistance is alive and well in the US - in a new report from Erica Chenoweth, Jeremy Pressman, and Sohoa Hamman, shows that protests are actually more numerous and greater in number than in 2017.
"In February 2025 alone, we have already tallied over 2,085 protests, which included major protests in support of federal workers, LGBTQ rights, immigrant rights, Palestinian self-determination, Ukraine, and demonstrations against Tesla and Trump’s agenda more generally. This is compared with 937 protests in the United States in February 2017, which included major protests against the so-called Muslim ban along with other pro-immigrant and pro-choice protests. Coordinated days of protest such as March Fourth for Democracy (March 4), Stand Up for Science (March 7), rallies in recognition of International Women’s Day (March 8), and protests demanding the release of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil suggest little likelihood of these actions slowing down. These are all occurring in the background of a tidal wave of lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s early moves.
Historically, street protest and legal challenges are common avenues for popular opposition to governments, but economic noncooperation — such as strikes, boycotts and buycotts — is what often gets the goods. Individual participation is deliberately obscure, and targeted companies may have little interest in releasing internal data. Only the aggregate impacts are measurable — and in the case of Tesla, Target and other companies, the impacts so far have been measurable indeed.
Consider the protests against Tesla in response to Elon Musk firing federal workers and blocking federal funding. The multifaceted campaign has a quite specific goal: punish Tesla, Musk’s signature company. In addition to protests at Tesla showrooms and charging stations, people have also sold their Teslas. Others have called on mutual funds to divest from Tesla stock. The stock price has dropped significantly in the last month, perhaps in part due to Musk’s DOGE work."
The article points out that it isn't just street protests, and sit in's but also legal actions, and economic non-cooperation that gains results. If you think about the Civil Rights Movement - it was the combination of the three that resulted in desegegaration, the Civil Rights Act, and Voting Rights Act. A protest accomplishes nothing by itself. What is shutting down Telsa is the fact that people are selling their stocks and not investing in it, not just the protests.
2. Serbia's Government Resigned after it saw the largest public protests in decades
Serbia’s government, led by Prime Minister Miloš Vučević, resigned Wednesday, with President Aleksandar Vučić saying he may call fresh elections in early June.
Although Vučević announced his intention to resign in late January, the Belgrade parliament confirmed the resignation only weeks later, shortly after the country saw its largest protests in decades.
Vučić said Sunday that if a new government is not formed within 30 days of Vučević’s resignation, he will call early elections, likely to be held on June 8 — just a year and a half after Serbia’s last general election.
3. Thousands protest in Turkey despite a ban on street gatherings over what they called the undemocratic detention of Istanbul's mayor
4. Judge Rules that the National Park Service Must Reinstate All Fired Employees
"A federal judge in San Francisco has ordered the National Park Service and five other federal agencies to immediately reinstate probationary employees who were fired en masse last month, ruling that the Office of Personnel Management had no legal authority to mandate their terminations."
5. Federal Court Ruling that Over 25,000 illegally fired Federal Workers must be Rehired
"US President Donald Trump's administration is working to bring back nearly 25,000 fired federal workers after judges ruled their terminations were illegal, court documents show.
Officials at 18 departments and agencies have submitted documents to a federal court detailing their efforts to rehire the laid off probationary workers to comply with the court orders.
Last week, two federal judges said the mass layoffs of the recently hired workers was illegal and ordered them to be reinstated pending further litigation. "
6. Judge rules DOGE’s USAID dismantling likely violates the Constitution
"WASHINGTON (AP) — The dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency likely violated the Constitution, a federal judge ruled Tuesday as he indefinitely blocked DOGE from making further cuts to the agency.
The order requires the Trump administration to restore email and computer access to all employees of USAID, including those put on administrative leave, though it stops short of reversing firings or fully resurrecting the agency. "
7. Federal Judge Blocks Trump's Trans Military Ban
8.In addition, public backlash forced the Trump-controlled Department of Defense to reinstate content on Black baseball legend Jackie Robinson,
the Tuskegee Airmen, and
the Navajo Code Talkers after they were removed from DOD websites and military trainings in an anti-DEI purge.
9. A U.S. District Judge also ruled against Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act and ordered immigrant deportation planes to be turned around. [This is the ruling that Trump ignored and tried to impeach the judge on.]
"However, the Trump administration is ignoring parts – and sometimes all – of the conditions of these legal rulings."> They put thousands of rehired federal workers on administrative leave and refused to obey the order to stop planes and immigrant deportations to El Salvador. It seems that a showdown between this administration’s lawlessness and the courts is heightening. The fate of things like rule of law and the separation of powers might depend on what the rest of civil society is willing to do to make sure Trump complies with the courts – or what people will do if he continues to flout their orders. Stay tuned."
10. The US Supreme Court on Wednesday denied the Trump administration's request to block a lower court's order for the administration to pay nearly $2 billion in foreign aid money delivering a near-term reprieve to international aid groups and contractors seeking payment for previously completed projects.
11. Hundreds Protest Against Trumps Takeover Plans of Greenland
12. ‘Danish Viking blood is boiling.’ Danes boycott US goods with fervor as others in Europe do so too
13.Tesla removed as participant in 2025 Vancouver International Auto Show
14. Venezuela Demands Immediate Repatriation Of Detained Migrants
"The Venezuelan government has promised that it will “fight until it frees all its compatriots. They have been imprisoned and deported without evidence thanks to an 18th-century US law. Thousands of Venezuelans rallied in Caracas on Tuesday, March 18, to protest the deportation of Venezuelan migrants from the United States to a high security prison in El Salvador. Family members of the deported migrants addressed Venezuelan officials and fellow citizens to demand the immediate return of their loved ones, with many insisting that their relatives are not criminals or members of the infamous Tren de Aragua as Donald Trump claims."
15. Per FB :" A UK church in a small village in Britain rang out We Shall Overcome to give people hope. " [They stated that they wanted their friends in the US "resistance" to know they have allies in unexpected places and there is hope.]
16. Canadians on Facebook made a hilarious parody of the I Will Survive song (you know, the one that starts with “first I was afraid, I was petrified …”) that now has over a million views. [Sigh. We are calling this the stupid coup for a reason. Honestly? I wish more people would study history and civics instead of math and business or ugh, computer science. Folks, you can teach yourselves math, business and computer science - just take a few courses here and there. It's not that hard. I've met so many ignorant MBA's and math majors, I've lost count. )
17. Warning?
Let's Be careful out there.
18. 34,000 people packed Civic Center Park to fight back. Not for a candidate. Not for a party. But for the idea that billionaires shouldn’t run this country. We’re done with billionaires buying our democracy.
We’re done with fascists pretending to be patriots. We’re done waiting for someone else to save us.
19. A woman escaped a Tesla that caught fire Thursday after hitting debris on US-19
20 Thousands of people are ditching Tesla. Here’s one of them with a message you can see from space. Location: Black Rock Sands, Wales, UK
21.NYSNA nurses marched with labor and community allies through downtown Manhattan to protest federal cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, public education, and enforcement of workers' rights. The $800+ billion in cuts to Medicaid will decimate care for children, seniors, people with disabilities and low-income New Yorkers. Extreme Medicaid cuts will cause hospitals to cut staff and services, and entire hospitals to close. NYSNA members were out in force to defend our healthcare, jobs, and communities. We will continue sending the message that we will not accept cuts to the services that we all depend on to fund tax cuts for billionaires!
22.Thousands of educators, parents, students, and community allies rallied at the Capitol today to demand fully funded public schools. With NEA President Becky Pringle standing with us, we sent a clear message: A cut is a cut—our students pay the price. This fight isn’t over—we’ll keep pushing for the fully funded schools our communities deserve.
23. Carter, a 92-year-old Korean War veteran, and his son, Larry, joined a crowd of nearly 3,000 for a two-hour national veterans’ rally Friday on the National Mall to protest cuts by President Donald Trump to veterans’ federal jobs, services and benefits. https://www.stripes.com/veterans/2025-03-14/veterans-rally-national-mall-17143611.html.
24. Postal workers rally against possible privatization of USPS. https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/03/20/postal-workers-rally-against-possible-privatization-usps/
25. Thousands of people also took action in New York City, Boston, Portland, OR; Portland, ME, Fayetteville, Washington, DC; Chiricahua National Monument, AZ, and many other places.
26. Victoria Canal - a UK Musician performing at the Kennedy Center Performance - put on a T-Shirt condemning Trump at her curtain call
27.In response to Trump calling #TeslaTakedown an ‘illegal boycott’, people are sticking post-its that read “i buy junk cars’ on Teslas.
Apparently they are right - since In latest blow to Tesla, regulators recall nearly all Cybertrucks. U.S. safety regulators on Thursday recalled virtually all Cybertrucks on the road, the eighth recall of the Tesla-made vehicles since deliveries to customers began just over a year ago. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s recall, which covers more than 46,000 Cybertrucks, warned that an exterior panel that runs along the left and right side of the windshield can detach while driving, creating a dangerous road hazard for other drivers, increasing the risk of a crash.
28. Outside the US Embassy in London - the Bus Stop has a clever installation of a paper shredder
29. Economic resistance is having noticeable impacts. Target – under pressure from the 40-day Target Fast against anti-DEI policies – saw its stock price tumble, losing $12 billion in market value.
30. Tesla Takedown has led to a 40% drop in Tesla stock prices and are preparing for their biggest day of action ever on March 29. Amidst acts of arson, vandalism, and destruction of Tesla cars and showrooms, the Tesla Takedown campaign put out clear statements against violence and property destruction.
Distancing themselves from the acts of vandalism happening at other times/places than their protest actions may help the growing movement survive Trump’s accusations of domestic terrorism and threats to send Tesla vandals to El Salvadoran prison camps. (An utterly illegal suggestion, btw.)
31. Speaking of illegal deportation threats, Jewish Voice For Peace occupied Trump Tower with sit-ins opposing the detainment of pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil. Kahlil’s statement from a detention center evoked parallels to Dr. King’s Letter From a Birmingham Jail. Colombia students workers rallied against expulsions, arrests, funding threats, and the revocation of student visas for pro-Palestinian activists. Other large demonstrations filled Times Square in New York City and called for an #ArmsEmbargoNow in the San Francisco Bay Area. Pro-Palestinian actions also took place in Hollywood, multiple sites in Bristol, UK; and Harvard University. Around 2,500 Jewish academics denounced Trump for using antisemitism as a ‘shield’ as he erodes protest rights and cracks down on pro-Palestinian organizing against the genocide in Gaza. Tens of thousands of Israelis protested against their government’s violation of the ceasefire and renewed attacks on Gaza, calling for a new ceasefire. [I have lots of links - but not the energy to post all of them.]
32. In February, it was in front of the industry ministry’s annex building, just a stone’s throw away from the plum blossoms unfurling in pink and white at Tokyo’s Hibiya Park. A small but passionate group of three dozen people — young and old alike — lifted a vibrant banner that read in Japanese: “The Climate Crisis is a matter of life and death!” The group is Fridays for Future, a climate activist organization originally inspired by Greta Thunberg’s 2018 school strike. They have branches in 20 regions across Japan, with the shared mission of raising Japanese voices in favor of tackling climate change.https://www.japantimes.co.jp/environment/2025/03/16/climate-change/climate-activists-search-breakthrough/
33.Today at 12:00, six individuals showered members of the House of Lords with 1,000 handbills and dropped a banner reading ‘PEOPLE IN – LORDS OUT’. from the viewing gallery. They were calling for a House of the People to completely replace the House of Lords, and inviting members of the public to take part in the inaugural House of the People in Summer 2025. https://mailchi.mp/825a06583e91/house-of-lords-disrupted
34. The Popular Support for the Right to Housing in Romania
35. Long COVID Survivors Plastered Pillow Cases Outside a Vancouver Art Gallery in Protest for Better Support
36. Hugh Jackman is teaming up with producer Sonia Friedman to launch Together, a new theatre company focused on making live theatre more intimate and affordable. With director Ian Rickson, they’ll stage fully rehearsed plays, readings, and discussions in small venues worldwide - offering audiences a fresh way to experience powerful storytelling at accessible prices. [Go Hugh Jackman].
Whew. Some good news, at least? I mean I feel like something is happening?
Oh Wales did a "die-in" protest - basically they did performance art as part of a protest, where they acted as if loss of Medicaid was killing them. Because it will kill people.
no subject
Date: 2025-03-23 07:58 pm (UTC)I should hope so. Given the careless disregard for damage done and the contempt shown for the broad range of services provided by the Federal government, I can't imagine that many people haven't either been affected directly or know of someone who has.
no subject
Date: 2025-03-24 04:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-03-24 03:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-03-24 04:40 pm (UTC)