The Weekly Good News Report from the American Resistance & Its Global Allies - Tuesday July 22

[shadowkat]

As always, good news like comedy and beauty is more often than not in the eyes of the beholder, and mileage will most likely vary on the below.


1.A federal judge in Manhattan has dismissed a $50million lawsuit brought by Trump against journalist Bob Woodward and a publishing house over the release of interview recordings from his first term in office for publishing tapes from interviews for his 2020 best-seller “Rage” as an audiobook.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-18/trump-s-suit-against-bob-woodward-over-recordings-is-tossed?embedded-checkout=true

2. Andry Hernández Romero, a gay makeup artist who sought asylum in the U.S. due to persecution in Venezuela but was deported to a prison in El Salvador, has been released as part of a prisoner swap. He was sent to Venezuela, not returned here, so he is by no means out of the woods yet. But it’s a start.

https://www.advocate.com/news/andry-hernandez-romero-released-venezuela

3. The Trump administration has been ordered to restore $6.2 million in grant funding to nine LGBTQ+ and HIV-related non-profits.

https://www.them.us/trump-restore-funding-lgbtq-hiv-nonprofits

4.The Miccosukee Tribe in Florida joined environmental groups to sue the federal and state agencies that constructed an immigrant detention center known as the “Alligator Alcatraz” and located in the Everglades National Park.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/07/miccosukee-florida-tribe-lawsuit-alligator-alcatraz-immigrant-detention-environmental-impacts-everglades-national-park/

5.The ACLU of Louisiana successfully secured the release of two Iranian LSU students who were unlawfully detained by ICE without justification.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/aclu-of-louisiana-iranian-lsu-students-detained-by-ice-were-released/ar-AA1IMM9E

6.The immigrant father of three U.S. Marines was released from federal custody, three weeks after being violently detained by immigration agents while working his landscape job in Santa Ana, California.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/gardener-seen-hit-immigration-agents-june-video-released-detention-rcna219251

7.A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a federally funded newsroom that provides independent reporting in countries with limited press freedom, such as Russia, Iran and Afghanistan.

https://archive.ph/MW83A

8.The Department of Veterans Affairs announced it is reversing course on planned mass layoffs, allowing 30K jobs to be eliminated “through attrition,” but backing off of the previously announced 80K firings.

https://substack.com/redirect/c2b2b35c-7b0a-4f8e-b861-50d4e47e35f7?j=eyJ1IjoibnA1eSJ9.K2lOaa6Gvtf7P98tMIWVaYWXnNM86xM6RTssZA6AddE

9.Zohran Mamdani responded to Andrew Cuomo’s announcement video on staying in the NYC Mayoral race with a link to his donation page. His post earned over 150,000 more likes than Cuomo’s announcement video. He also reportedly brought in a LOT of money from it.

[He's firing up everybody from 18-45 like you would not believe. Also, the three men running against him are either crooks or insane, so it's not like we have any choices here. It's either Zohran or a sexual harasser/bully who scammed nursing homes and used state funds to write a book, or a guy who gave every family member a job and was bribed by the Turkish consult, or the idiot who ran a racist vigilante group in the 1970s alleged to protect the subways, decisions decisions. Seriously everyone who is remotely sane and has half a brain is going to vote for Zohran unless someone else pops up.]

https://x.com/ZohranKMamdani/status/1944832025652871492

10. New data shows that California was powered by two-thirds clean energy in 2023, a historic first.

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5400025-california-power-grid-clean-energy-milestone/?ck_subscriber_id=2496857656

11. The Writers Guild asked the New York state attorney general, Letitia James, to investigate Paramount over ‘potential wrongdoing’ after the company announced the cancellation of the Late Show on Thursday. [Both the West Coast Guild and the East Coast requested it. Note the Late Show resides in New York City, so New York has jurisdiction.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/jul/18/writers-guild-stephen-colbert-investigation

12.George Retes, a disabled Army Veteran and US citizen who was disappeared by ICE at a raid in Camarillo has been released!

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/us-citizen-and-army-veteran-spent-three-days-in-jail-after-being-arrested-in-california-immigration-raid/ar-AA1IKdul

13. Climate activists called on Gov. JB Pritzker to enact legislation that would make the fossil fuel industry — instead of taxpayers — responsible for funding green, resilient infrastructure and disaster response in the face of climate change.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/07/20/aspen-climate-chicago-rally/

14.The White House seems to be backing away from plans to abolish FEMA.

https://archive.ph/CF6nU

As the president visits Texas to see the impact of last week’s deadly flash floods, the White House has backed away from plans to abolish the agency, officials said. [ So basically, we have the Texas floods to thank for that?]

15. The President of Brazil, known as Lula, said no to Trump’s demand that the country drop charges related to former President Bolsonaro’s failed coup attempt, despite Trump's threats to bury Brazil in high tarrifs if they didn't drop it.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/17/americas/trump-not-emperor-world-lula-intl

16.John Caravello, a CSUCI professor and US citizen who was swept up in an ICE raid, was released from detention.

https://www.kcbx.org/government-and-politics/2025-07-15/csu-channel-islands-professor-released-after-arrest-during-immigration-raid

17.A new website, TrumpTax.com, has been launched with a state-by-state breakdown of all the ways that Donald Trump and Republicans are selling out the American middle class to enrich the wealthiest 1%.

https://democrats.org/trump-tax/

[Eh - remember my disclaimer - mileage varies on good news? This is good news because someone thought to set it up and track it. Disproving the lie that Trump's bill helps people.]

18.Shareholders of large US companies overwhelmingly backed diversity, equity, and inclusion programs this year, despite Washington’s staunch resistance to such initiatives. An analysis found that across 24 companies, including Amazon, Disney, and Apple, anti-DEI shareholder resolutions were defeated by a margin of 98% to 99%.

[Basically everyone who doesn't care about the Trump Administration, isn't in the midst of a big merger, and doesn't require federal approval - which is a lot more companies than you realize. Add Talbots, Netflix, NBC (General Electric), Sony, HBO Max, Costco, etc to the list.]

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-money-talks-why-98-shareholders-still-back-dei-laurie-battaglia-gh1ic/

19.Trump’s approval rating is 42.6%, versus a 53.5% disapproval — a new low for his second term. [It's plummeting, particularly among his supporters, and those who voted for him - basically because he's done the exact opposite of everything they wanted him to do. They wanted him to end the Wars and not continue to support them or fund them, they wanted him to fix the economy and fix inflation, he increased inflation and made it all worse, they wanted him to decrease government - he's increased government spending and on the wrong things...and they wanted the Epstein files released, and now...well they are done.]

https://www.gelliottmorris.com/p/trumps-approval-hits-new-low-as-epstein?publication_id=6273&post_id=168607167&isFreemail=false&r=2fku&triedRedirect=true&lctg=27193028

20.California lawmakers removed provisions from a proposed bill that would have slashed rooftop solar net metering compensation when customers sold their homes.

https://www.canarymedia.com/newsletters/california-lawmakers-back-off-on-anti-rooftop-solar-legislation


21. In preparation for Donald's state visit to the UK, people all over are posting pictures of Trump with Jeffrey Epstein on bus stations. [LOL! Gotta love the UK. Why not? They had to deal with Epstein/Prince Andrew scandal. I find the Trump/Epstein scandal hilarious - mainly because I knew that was going to come back and bite him eventually. He ran on the whole thing - MAGA cult was hyper about human trafficking, they had movies out about it, they voted for him because he convinced them it was the evil Democrats not him involved. Now it's blown up in his face.]

22. Trump was in New Jersey to present the FIFA Club World Cup to tournament winners Chelsea. The audience loudly booed him mercilessly. But the attention needy Donald would not leave the stage when he was supposed to and forced his way into the front center of the group photo of the team. The team tried to push him away. But the best part was after he photobombed their victory picture they airbrushed him out! [People are getting creative, I'll give them that.]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/2025/07/13/trump-chelsea-club-world-cup-trophy-celebration/85173092007/?lctg=27193028

[Remember the disclaimer - above.]

23. JD Vance was “welcomed” by protesters outside of Disneyland in Anaheim, CA. [Basically booed. The poor guy can't take a vacation - everywhere he goes he gets booed and jeered at.]

https://www.msn.com/en-au/travel/family-travel/hundreds-turned-out-to-protest-jd-vance-s-family-vacation-to-disneyland-the-next-day-the-park-shut-down-rides-for-his-visit/ar-AA1IuD40

"After news that Vice President JD Vance had a family visit planned to Disneyland, hundreds of people turned out to protest his trip to the Happiest Place on Earth while Trump administration’s immigration policies result in ICE raids across Los Angeles.

“No family vacation while we deal with family separation,” read one protester sign, adorned with Vance’s face."

They had to shut down parts of the park for him and add security - upsetting folks even more.

24.Signs were spotted in State Department bathrooms boldly urging remaining staff to uphold their oath to “RESIST FASCISM.” This as the Trump administration fired 1,300 State Department workers on Friday.

25. 69 of the 110 DoJ lawyers tasked with defending Trump’s horrendous policies have resigned.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/two-thirds-doj-unit-defending-trump-policies-court-have-quit-2025-07-14/


26.Many workers are opting to stay home out of fear during immigration operations. Many people in the communities are finding ways to help. For example, Marisol Magaña, her partner Andrew Roa and their daughter are buying out street vendors’ carts or working their shifts in Los Angeles. What started as a simple act of kindness by the family has now raised more than $10,000.

https://www.threads.com/@nbcla/post/DMOS-l2h_Pk?xmt=AQF0YLwY5Gte9wj300fRXFPuc_vCr-up3-cz9Se10AQgWQ


27.Ready to climb into the trees nominated for the U.K.’s Tree of the Year contest? The 2025 shortlist includes a 300-year-old cedar (pictured) renowned for being scaled by The Beatles, as well as a tree thought to have inspired Virginia Woolf and the ancient oak that served as a muse for a Radiohead album.
​
While only one tree can win, the Woodland Trust’s annual competition is designed to highlight the environmental and cultural importance of all rare, ancient, or at-risk trees. This year’s theme is “rooted in culture,” to celebrate how trees have inspired the creative minds of authors, poets, musicians, filmmakers, and even politicians.
​
“Our oldest trees hold more stories than Shakespeare,” actor Judi Dench, who is a patron of the Woodland Trust, said in a statement. “Some were putting down roots long before he began writing, more than 400 years ago. They are as much part of our heritage as any literature.”
​
You can vote for your favorite now through Sept. 19 — check out all the trees and cast your ballot here. The winner will represent the country in the European Tree of the Year finals.

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/tree-of-the-year/?ck_subscriber_id=3259884285

28.It sounds like the plot of a children’s book: A small opossum befriends a much larger ocelot. But this unlikely bond is real as can be. Members of the two distinct species have been seen trotting through the Amazon rainforest together “like two old friends walking home from a bar,” Isabel Damas-Moreira, senior author of a study on the surprising friendship, told The New York Times.
​
Researchers at the Cocha Cashu Biological Station in Peru had set out to study bird behavior, but instead captured unlikely footage of an ocelot and a common opossum walking alongside each other, challenging the typical predator-prey dynamic. It turned out the pairing wasn’t a fluke, as the team reached out to researchers across other regions of the Peruvian Amazon and gathered a total of four examples of ocelots and opossums partnering up in different locations between 2019 and 2023.
​
“This suggests that such interspecific associations are likely non-random events,” scientists wrote in the paper, published last month. As for the “why,” the researchers suspect the opossums use ocelots as a form of chemical camouflage to hide their scent from other predators. Opossums, on the other hand, may help ocelots with foraging prey they couldn’t get on their own.
​
Whatever the reason, the ocelot-opossum bond is just one of the many unexpected pairings in the animal world. “We tend to underestimate how much cooperation there is in nature,” Erol Akçay, a theoretical biologist who was not involved in the research, told the Times. Watch footage of the dynamic duo.​

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/video-reveals-an-unlikely-bond-between-ocelots-and-opossums-in-the-amazon-walking-together-like-old-friends-180986994/?ck_subscriber_id=3259884285

29.When the clock strikes midnight, most baseball diamonds are empty, the final inning likely long over. But during one special summer night in Fairbanks, Alaska, the game is still in full swing at this time, as the players go to bat under a never-setting sun.
​
This is the Midnight Sun Game: a 120-year-old tradition celebrating the sun being visible all day and night from mid May to late July (thanks to Fairbanks’ proximity to the Arctic Circle). Every June, on the summer solstice, locals and visitors from all over the world gather in the middle of the night to watch a baseball game unfold under a golden glow, no stadium lights needed.
​
It’s technically a two-day experience, as the first pitch is thrown around 10 p.m. and play wraps up around 1 a.m. Regardless of how the game goes, it’s a time-warping wonder that can’t be found anywhere else in the world. “There’s not anything like it,” Bob Eley, former longtime sports editor for the Fairbanks Daily Miner, previously told the MLB. “If you’re a baseball fan, you have to do this once in your life.”
​
​See photos from this year’s Midnight Sun Game — complete with live music and cultural traditions to celebrate the resurgence of light in summer.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/29/us/baseball-fairbanks-alaska-midnight-game.html?unlocked_article_code=1.YE8.-4o1.31wGGqgHFeVx&smid=url-share&ck_subscriber_id=3259884285

30. Puffin found 110 miles from home returned to the wild.

https://www.aol.com/puffin-found-110-miles-home-171337082.html?
guccounter=1&ck_subscriber_id=3259884285


“The planet is everybody’s. All it offers is the grass, the sky, the water, the ineluctable dream of peace and fruition.”
​
– E.B. WHITE

Whew...here's a flower:

Comments

[house_wren]

Thank you again!!

[kazzy_cee]

No one I know wants Trump to visit. There will be many protests...

[shadowkat]

I'm not certain the government or the King want him....but hey, from my end? We're willing to let you keep him, free of charge? We'll even pay you to do it? That Tower of London has been empty for a very long time....

[trepkos]

That's so interesting about the ocelot and possum!

[yourlibrarian]

Hah! That would be a good use of it alright.

[shadowkat]

Certainly better than just as a tourist attraction...