shadowkat: (Default)
shadowkat ([personal profile] shadowkat) wrote2025-07-06 05:22 pm

Anybody else need a Little Good News?

A little Good News from the American Resistance and it's Global Allies.

It's been a stressful "news" week for some of us, so I think we deserve it? Honestly, our media is annoyingly negative at times, isn't it?

Disclaimer: As always, mileage may vary on the good news listed below, and good news along with everything else is often in the eye of the beholder.

To the tune of ... All I Really Need is a Little Good News

1. The Miccosukee Tribe partners with the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation to protect environmentally significant lands.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/15/miccosukee-tribe-florida-wildlife-corridor-foundation

2.A coalition of civil rights groups plan “Good Trouble Lives On” demonstrations on July 17 honoring John Lewis’s legacy and opposing authoritarian rule.

https://www.citizen.org/news/good-trouble-lives-on-national-day-of-action-builds-on-momentum-against-authoritarianism-fight-for-civil-rights/

3.Citing “irreparable deprivation of…First Amendment rights”, a federal appeals court upholds a previous ruling that Louisiana public schools will no longer display the 10 Commandments in classrooms.

https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/federal-appeals-court-rules-against-louisiana-law-requiring-public-schools-to-display-ten-commandments-in-every-classroom



4.A federal district court strikes down directives cancelling research grants at the National Institutes of Health because they were “unlawful, arbitrary and capricious.”

https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/federal-district-court-strikes-down-nihs-unlawful-directives-that-led-to-the-elimination-of-critical-research

[Side note: The Supreme Court's ruling about injunctions has no bearing on this decision and doesn't affect it at all. That ruling was NARROW on purpose.]

5.Preserving the right to self-identification, a federal court in Massachusetts expands a nationwide injunction against efforts to restrict passport gender marker changes.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-judge-blocks-trump-passport-policy-targeting-transgender-people-2025-06-17/

[Also not affected by recent Supreme Court ruling - which solely effects those nationwide injunctions that go beyond complete relief to the plaintiff.]

6.A federal district court grants a preliminary injunction to temporarily stop the administration from conditioning transportation funding on states’ compliance with federal immigration enforcement policy.

https://www.nlc.org/article/2025/06/23/district-court-issues-preliminary-injunction-on-immigration-conditions-for-federal-transportation-grants/

[This is also not affected by the SCOTUS ruling. And yes, the Feds have to comply. What enforces that? The Federal Marshall Service which works for the Judicial Branch, not the Executive Branch.]

7. A federal district court temporarily blocks the administration from enforcing voter suppression directives.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-executive-order-elections-blocked-judge/

8.A federal district court issues a preliminary injunction temporarily preventing DHS from banning Harvard from participating in the State Dept.’s Student and Visitor Exchange Program.

https://www.hio.harvard.edu/news/update-court-issues-preliminary-injunction-against-revocation-harvard


9.The U.S. Navy will no longer perform research testing on cats or dogs
[I didn't know they were doing it? At least they stopped.]

https://www.military.com/daily-news

10.In honor of pride month, elected officials host a “Love Is Love” concert at Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., to oppose the administration’s agenda to change the venue’s programming. [That's kind of ballsy, considering how Trump took over the Kennedy Center.]

https://www.npr.org/2025/06/23/nx-s1-5442561/kennedy-center-pride

11. DE, MD, and NJ join a multi-state lawsuit against the presidential administration over its plan to redistribute firearm devices previously seized by the government due to their dangerous nature.

https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/maryland-new-jersey-delaware-federal-firearm-case-gun/?intcid=CNR-01-0623

12. ID: A federal court extends a temporary restraining order preventing local law enforcement from arresting or detaining anyone based on their immigration status.

https://www.acluidaho.org/en/press-releases/judge-extends-block-on-anti-immigrant-law-in-idaho-preventing-enforcement-statewide

13.Japanese researchers, led by Prof. Hiromi Sakai, at Nara Medical University have developed a universal artificial blood—a hemoglobin-based oxygen‑carrier encapsulated in a protective shell, derived from expired donor blood.

This artificial blood has no blood type, eliminating the need for compatibility testing, and can be stored at room temperature for up to two years (or even longer under refrigeration).

In March 2025, clinical safety trials began on 16 healthy adults, receiving between 100–400 mL doses of the blood substitute to evaluate safety and preliminary efficacy .

Early small‑scale tests in 2022 also showed no serious adverse effects .
This innovation aims to revolutionize emergency transfusions, especially in disaster zones, battlefield settings, and remote regions, by offering a longer-lasting, ready-to-use, virus‑free solution .

Japan hopes to complete all clinical testing and bring the product to real-world use by around 2030.

https://mededgemea.com/japan-to-begin-clinical-trials-for-artificial-blood-in-2025/

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/etimes/trending/japan-introduces-universal-artificial-blood-that-helps-save-lives-heres-how/articleshow/121825655.cms



14. VA’s election for lieutenant governor demonstrates how ranked-choice voting can strengthen voters’ voices in our electoral system.

https://fairvote.org/virginia-elections-show-value-of-ranked-choice-voting/

15. ME extends ranked-choice voting to gubernatorial and state legislative elections.

https://www.pressherald.com/2025/06/18/ranked-choice-voting-expansion-in-maine-sent-to-gov-mills/

16. Maryland's 2026 budget includes bills that will increase green energy, lower prescription drug costs, and prevent federal immigration enforcement actions at sensitive locations.

https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/maryland-new-laws-2026-budget-taxes/

17.Communities across the U.S.—from Port Arthur and Austin, TX to Lake County, IL and Boston, MA—celebrated Juneteenth, commemorating the end of U.S. slavery.

[We even had signs celebrating it in my apartment building, and workplace takes it off as a State Holiday.]

https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/port-arthur-s-juneteenth-sunrise-service-20383530.php

https://www.lakecountystar.com/news/article/lake-county-sheriff-celebrates-juneteenth-baldwin-20391414.php

https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/6/20/24451593/jaylen-brown-boston-celtics-community-741-performance-dorchester-boys-and-girls-club

18.Conservative advocates for AI guardrails won, revealing the influence of a segment of the GOP that has come to distrust Big Tech. They want states to remain free to protect citizens against potential big tech harms, whether from AI, social media or emerging technologies. [Keep in mind that conservatives traditionally are State rights advocates and do not want big government. AI would annoy most conservatives - more so than liberals, actually.]

https://www.mississippifreepress.org/how-a-gop-rift-over-tech-regulation-doomed-a-ban-on-state-ai-laws-in-trumps-tax-bill/

19.Chris Kluwe is running for the state legislature in California.

https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/story/2025-06-18/huntington-beach-activist-chris-kluwe-planning-state-assembly-district-72-run

[More and more social justice activists are running for elected positions.]

20. Flutes for Fido: Volunteers play music to soothe shelter animals. A 12-year-old keyboard player founded a nonprofit that recruits other musicians to give live performances in animal shelters.

https://apnews.com/article/animal-shelters-music-therapy-dogs-cats-badd87be4e39500e77c9230ad28ab9d4

21. SafeWalks has established a network of volunteers who will accompany anyone who doesn't feel safe walking alone in NYC.

https://secretnyc.co/safewalks-nyc/

22. Inside the Scrappy Network of Volunteers Protecting Their Neighbors From ICE

Paz, 31, is the founder of Fuerza, a volunteer group in Waltham that responds to ongoing ICE arrests. On that gray morning in May, he had been in the middle of a neighborhood patrol walk when he got the text messages. He did as he’s trained dozens of volunteers to do: He pulled out his phone and started recording, staying a few feet from the officers, and addressed the boy. “I was telling him to relax. I was telling him to breathe,” Paz says. “I was telling him his rights—like, don’t say nothing. You’re here. You’re fine with us.”

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/06/ice-deportation-trump-miller-homan-waltham-massachusetts-fuerza-volunteers/

23.In a country long marked by conflict, repression, and authoritarianism, the emergence of nonviolent resistance is not only a bold act–it is a revolutionary one. Sullam, a newly founded Syrian organization, is doing just that: promoting a culture of nonviolence, civic education, and social justice as the foundation for a democratic Syria.

https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/reclaiming_the_future_through_unity_and_nonviolence

https://wagingnonviolence.org/links/inside-the-scrappy-network-of-volunteers-protecting-their-neighbors-from-ice/

24.Critically endangered leopard caught on camera in Bangladesh forest: "Extremely rare and secretive species"

Conservationists are feeling hopeful about the fate of the critically endangered leopard population in Bangladesh thanks to a recent camera trap spotting. The nonprofit Creative Conservation Alliance released two photos of a leopard emerging from a forested area in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, providing “evidence that these elusive big cats still persist in the region.”

“As an extremely rare and secretive species, the latest sighting is very significant,” zoologist Monirul Khan told CBS News. “It highlights the importance of the remaining natural forest in the Chittagong Hill Tracts as a reserve of wildlife habitat.”

In a social media post, the alliance wrote that the photos are also an incentive to ramp up the protection of leopards in Bangladesh to secure their longtime survival. The organization added that its working with its partners “to protect these magnificent creatures and ensure a future where leopards and people coexist.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/leopard-caught-camera-bangladesh-forest-endangered-species/?ck_subscriber_id=3259884285

25. The Vatican Museums have officially completed a decadelong restoration project of the Raphael Rooms, a collection of ornately decorated reception rooms of the Apostolic Palace. And they saved the largest and reportedly most important room for last: the Hall of Constantine, featuring a grand work of art by Raphael Sanzio.

While restoring the room to its original grandeur, Vatican technicians discovered Raphael was implementing a novel mural painting technique that he never got the chance to finish. Rather than fresco painting (painting on wet plaster), the Renaissance artist used oil paint directly on the wall to depict two female figures.

The theory is that he wanted to give the images greater brilliance, per the Associated Press. That’s something he likely planned to execute beyond the two figures, as Vatican restorers discovered a grid of nails underneath the plaster. These nails are believed to have been drilled into the wall to hold the natural resin surface that Raphael intended to adorn with oil paints. But the artist died before the piece was completed, leaving students — who were not experts at the oil technique — to finish the job, thus explaining why the rest of the room is filled with frescoes.

“With this restoration, we rewrite a part of the history of art,” Barbara Jatta, director of the Vatican Museums, said during a presentation to the press last week.

https://apnews.com/article/raphael-rooms-restoration-vatican-museums-frescoes-renaissance-df8f19adfb4e33cad525887d493f4bd5?ck_subscriber_id=3259884285

26. Worksport is combining its solar truck covers with battery systems to launch a flagship mobile power system later this year. This could power everything from camping trips to emergency response.

https://invest.worksport.com/?ck_subscriber_id=3259884285

27.It’s tried-and-true advice to have a spoonful of honey to soothe a sore throat. And now, new research shows the sweet substance made by sugarbag bees may also help with wound healing and fighting drug-resistant bacteria.

Researchers from the University of Sydney analyzed the antimicrobial properties of honey produced by three Australian stingless bees commonly referred to as sugarbags. They found the samples could reduce a myriad of bacteria and fungi, including ringworm, MRSA, E. coli, and the yeast Cryptococcus neoformans, which can cause serious infections in the lungs and brain.

Known for having a unique citrusy flavor, the sugarbag honey could also be effective against drug-resistant infections — especially notable as antibiotic resistance becomes more pervasive.

In the long term, the goal is to use the honey to aid in healing skin infections and wounds. “We still have a way to go to figure out how we can safely emulate these honey into those kinds of treatments, but we’re very optimistic because of the way that the honey works,” lead researcher Kenya Fernandes told Australia’s ABC News.

https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2025/06/23/australian-native-bee-honey-shows-medical-potential-in-the-fight.html?ck_subscriber_id=3259884285

28.Historic US Railway Stations Are Getting a New Lease on Life
[They are revitalizing various railway stations across the midwest including Kansas City, Detroit, Denver, among others.]

https://nicenews.com/culture/historic-railway-stations-new-lease-life/

29.“Community Is the Heart of All of It”: How a Mom Entrepreneur Is Transforming Childcare for Working Parents

When Britt Riley had her first daughter, Harper, she took 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave from her remote marketing job. After returning to work, she felt like she was falling behind, both as a mom and in her career. When her second daughter, Zoe, was born less than two years later, it became even more apparent that Riley needed a type of support that didn’t seem to exist.

So she set out to create it herself. Enter: The Haven Collection, a unique, family-focused concept that’s helping reshape the way American society approaches childcare for working parents. Each Haven location features a fully licensed daycare facility, a coworking space, and a gym — all in one building. There are three locations across Rhode Island, where Riley lives, and New Jersey; the first opened in 2019 and the third in 2022.

https://nicenews.com/humanity/mom-created-haven-coworking-childcare-concept/

30.Through Games of Catch, Volunteer Dads Are Helping LGBTQ+ Pride Attendees Heal

https://nicenews.com/humanity/play-catch-with-a-dad-lgbtq-pride-attendees-heal/

After throwing a football back and forth with a fellow attendee at a Pride festival, John Piermatteo jogs over to give his new friend something they may have not received in a long time: a hug from a dad.

That simple but powerful interaction represents the ethos behind Piermatteo’s movement, Play Catch With a Dad. Launched as a counterpart to Free Mom Hugs, a nonprofit that offers hugs from mom volunteers to LGBTQ+ community members who have frayed relationships with their own mothers, Play Catch With a Dad aims to foster similarly meaningful exchanges, but with fathers instead. The mission is straightforward: “Help someone heal one toss at a time.”

​“For those who lost or never had a supportive, loving father, being told that they are a great kid, or how brave they are, or how proud we are of them, or that we love them can be overwhelming,” Piermatteo tells Nice News. “What started as a fun smile can quickly turn to outright sobbing.” In honor of the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising today, read the rest of our interview with Piermatteo.



Hopefully you all found something in that list that cheered you? If not? Here's a flower:



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