Spontaneous Musings

On the day that a wannabe king held a military parade (allegedly) in favor of his seventy-ninth birthday [in reality it was for the Army's 250th Birthday and the army was in very poor spirits, shuffling down the road - they also protested in their own way by marching to Creedence Clearwater's Fortunate Son] - across the United States, in all fifty states and territories, and in and around Europe inclusive of London, Paris, Frankfurt, Berlin, etc, people marched and protested against the wannabe king, and all dictatorships, fascism and kings, peacefully, side by side, carrying signs and singing songs in protest. Shouting so all could be heard: This is what Democracy Looks Like!

Over 11 million [ETA: actual headcount is now 12.1 Million] or 3.5% of the overall population showed up in the US alone [as reported by Alt National Parks and those who counted on the ground and provided reports as they happened - they use drones, and handcounters apparently, and multiple by size of crowd and square footage of the area], more than any other protest on record in the United States. They marched in solidarity and peacefully. Waving signs. They marched in the rain. It was pouring in New York City and in the sixities. They marched in scorching heat, across the Southwest and in California and in Florida, and Mississippi, and Texas. Veterans marched up the Capital Steps, and elderly women from nursing homes came out in their wheelchairs and canes and walkers, to march in their small communities. They stood on sidewalks in Metropolitan DC waving signs, and along highways, in towns. They formed signs with their bodies along the beaches of California. And in Mountain Towns they shouted down the slopes. They came out in droves. Filling city blocks for as far the eye could see.

All chanting. No Kings. Impeach. Remove. This is What Democracy Looks Like.

From sea to shining sea. Every single State across the country showed up and protested the wannabe king. Every one.

While very few attended the military parade, which had prepared for 200,000 and got maybe 10,000 [ETA:8,900 was the official count, don't trust the broadcast news media - they are lying. It was 8,900.] if that. And many were people protesting it, discreetly.

NYC outdid itself, with about 25,000 by 9 am, after noon, it had risen to well over 50,000, among the largest protests in its history astonishing those who've gone to them. San Francisco got creative and made Human Banner that can be seen from the sky ...



The police stood silently by. Some helped and marched with them.



They protested in small towns across America. They protested on Long Island. They protested in Alaska. They protested in Boise, and they protested in Grand Rapids. They protested in Arizona and in Texas. They protested in Nashville, Tennessee, and Talahassee, Florida. They protested in Red States and in Blue States. They came out rain or shine.

The people came and stood shoulder to shoulder, shouting and waving signs.
No Kings! No Kings! No ICE! Everyone is legal here! This is what true Democracy Looks Like!

And those of us who watched, cheered them on, and were there in spirit if not in body.

Links:

NBC NEWS - No Kings Day Protests

ABC NEWS - No Kings

https://www.lohud.com/story/news/2025/06/14/livestream-video-of-no-kings-protests-from-across-the-us-how-to-watch/84200645007/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/no-kings-day-demonstration-protest-rally-trump-military-parade/

ETA:Mid-year estimates: U.S. pop is 345,275,807. Which puts 12 million at 3.5 percent. (If 3.5% of the population protests continuously, studies state they win. )

ETA:*Note a No Kings Rally wasn't held in Washington DC - and held instead in Philly, which had over 100K show up. Also people did protest in DC, they stood on the sidewalks holding signs in the Metropolitan Area, and some went to the parade to protest discreetly, but bravely, making their voices heard.

ETA: per the headcounters in their towns - posting on FB, it's reliable. They were on the ground and counting and got it from their local outlets.
( the headcount in various cities, towns and villages across the US for the protests - pretty much all the towns and cities came out to protest on Saturday, regardless of weather. Do not trust the broadcast networks - they are run by corporations. )

As always, the good news depends on your perspective, and mileage may vary on this.

To the tune of We're Accentuating the Positive, Eliminating the Negative...and Hanging on to the Affirmative but Don't Mess around with Mr. in Between...sung by Aretha Franklyn (mainly because her version is the only one I like.)

A lot of it is just showing the positive results from non-violent resistance via the courts, etc. But basically as my source states: "We the people are pushing back and making good news." However, there's also a lot of positive environmental news - showing that progress happens regardless, and we are globally making progress in regards to managing climate change and preserving the environment.

1.The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction that will block the Trump administration’s unlawful reorganization of the federal government while the case proceeds.

( Read more... )

https://democracyforward.org/updates/massive-coalition-of-unions-non-profit-groups-and-local-governments-file-omnibus-challenge-to-unconstitutional-reorganization-of-federal-government/

The court filing can be found HERE

2.This week was the deadline for Congress to act on a resolution that could have overturned the ban on TCE [not to be confused with ICE, this is a toxic chemical]. But thanks to your voices, your stories, and your pressure—Congress didn’t act. The ban on TCE stands.

( Read more... )

https://toxicfreefuture.org/blog/we-finally-won-a-ban-on-toxic-tce-now-some-in-congress-are-trying-to-roll-it-back/

3. Calling for “freedom from partisan interference in programming,” administrative staffers at the Kennedy Center went public with a push to unionize following an overhaul of the institution by the Trump clan.

Go HERE

4. The MeidasTouch Podcast, a show critical of Trump, won Podcast of the Year at the Webby Awards.

https://www.newsweek.com/medias-touch-podcast-webby-award-donald-trump-democrat-2071984?emci=c60a435f-ab32-f011-a5f1-6045bda9d96b&emdi=d3638486-ab32-f011-a5f1-6045bda9d96b&ceid=417324

5. Trump’s support among Latino voters, including those who voted for him in 2024, is fracturing.

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/exclusive-trump-losing-the-latino-voters-he-won-in-2024-equis-poll-survey-registered

6.Democrat Sam Sutton defeated his Republican opponent to win New York’s 22nd State Senate District special election — a district Trump won by 55 points in 2024.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5310726-democrat-sam-sutton-wins-new-york-seat/

7. New record for batteries in California (CAISO) On May 20, 2025, battery discharge crossed 10 GW for the first time. That was enough meet a third of evening peak demand. Solar moved fast, but batteries are moving even faster.

https://energycentral.com/c/em/batteries-hit-new-heights-californias-energy-mix

8. In 2019, California's state wide battery capacity was 770 MW. California’s Energy storage has surge to 15,700 MW - including 2300 MW added since last September. That means a clean resilient energy grid to meet peak demand.

https://energycentral.com/c/em/batteries-hit-new-heights-californias-energy-mix

9. Fusion overtakes scission April 2025: for the first time ever, solar power generated more electricity than nuclear worldwide.

https://environmentamerica.org/center/updates/theres-now-five-times-more-solar-than-nuclear-power-in-the-world/

10. For the first time, a surge on China's renewable energy output has led to a 4.7% drop in the countries carbon and missions despite a 2.5% increase in power demand. This marks is major mile stone and China's energy transition.

https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-clean-energy-just-put-chinas-co2-emissions-into-reverse-for-first-time/

( the rest )

There you have it. This weeks list of how people helped slay their monsters and change the world peacefully and without violence. Slayers every one.

And an advertisement.

"Three weeks from right now, people will be taking to the streets across the United States on No Kings Day. Over 1,000 events are planned in all 50 states. Find an event near you: Click on the link and enter your zip code to see all the gatherings near you."

https://www.nokings.org/?SQF_SOURCE=indivisible

Join us on June 14th, all across this country, when we all show up and say NO, we have no kings, we are a representative democracy and we the people have a say in how our lives are run. Let's stand up for those being harmed by these policies, let's take care of our communities, let's take care of each other."

[No pressure, I'm not doing it - I can't physically and mentally do it. I do this instead. But if you can - please do.]

And here's a picture:

[Not only was I out on a much needed vacation last week, but I also couldn't find any good news on FB or my other sources while I was out. It didn't pop up on my news feed until yesterday and today. (I'm thinking my sources took a break for Mother's Day?)

It was quite distressing, not helped by Mother - who likes to watch CNN, ABC News, and occasionally FOX to see what a lot of her friends and neighbors are digesting news wise and to try and understand them better. Mother is 82, and an information junkie. She and my father spent most of their dates debating politics in bars to the wee hours of the night while they were in college. Every time I'd try to be optimistic or bring up good news, Mother would discount it and play devil's advocate, mainly because she watches CNN, Fox, NPR, ABC News, and all their discussions of it. I read it - in the Atlantic, New York, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker. Although now, I'm overwhelmed with magazines. So not reading as many articles as I'd like. I'm trying to support a free press. Not everybody has one - after all. And I'm not taking mine for granted.]

That's clearly not necessarily good news? Or it is depending on one's perspective? Good news much like beauty and humor is more often than not in the eye of the beholder.

Good News from the American Resistance and It's Global Allies

[As always this is in the eyes of the beholder.]

1. Supreme Court extends block on some Alien Enemies Act deportation flights. Go Here.

The gist:

Supreme Court rules 7-2 AGAINST Trump on Deportations.
No, they cannot deny due process
No, they cannot remove these people under Alien Enemies Act.
And of course Alioto and Thomas were the dissenting votes. [Sigh.]

( Read more... )

2. The GOP suffered a stunning election loss in Omaha, Nebraska, where Democratic candidate John Ewing Jr. will go on to win defeat the longest serving incumbent Republican mayor in the United States former Mayor Jean Stothert. The election swung 20 points over to the Democrats.

3. New York’s Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul signs a law that will require fossil fuel companies to pay for climate damage repair. The new state law requires the companies responsible for the bulk of emissions produced between 2000 and 2018 to pay out roughly $3 billion a year for the next 25 years. ( Read more... ) GO HERE.

4. A federal court denies the Trump administration’s request to stay an injunction blocking its ban on transgender military service members. [Source: Lambda Legal & Human Rights Campaign.]

5. US District Court mandates that ICE restore 133 international student visas and halts deportation proceedings. Go HERE

6.ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero is named to the TIME100 list for his commitment to America’s civil-­liberties tradition. Go HERE

7. ProPublica wins 2025 Pulitzer for Public Service for reports on deaths of pregnant women in abortion-restricted states. Ann Telnaes, who quit The Washington Post in protest, wins the 2025 Pulitzer for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary. The Pulitzer Prize board soundly rebuked Jeff Bezos by awarding the former Washington Post cartoonist who quit after her cartoon was scrapped. Book on Soviet dissidents wins Pulitzer Prize. "To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement" by Benjamin Nathans won a Pulitzer Prize on May 5. Percival Everett won the award for fiction for his novel James, a powerful re-imagination of Huckleberry Finn. [Oh lovely, Wales gave me that book for my birthday (at my request), looking forward to reading it after Parable of the Sower.]

8.The Associated Press wins reinstatement to White House events after a judge rules that the government cannot bar its journalists. Go HERE

9.In a win for voters, North Carolina settled with voting rights groups and the DNC to permanently block part of a law that required officials to reject some voters' ballots due to address verification issues and offered no remedy to fix the problem. Go HERE.

10. Harvard refuses to comply with a list of extraordinary demands from the Trump administration, asserting its academic independence and constitutional rights.

( the rest )

As always, good news is in the eye of the beholder.

Hope you found something to smile about or to relieve anxiety. I know I did.

It's late, off to bed. Have a good night. Or Good Night and Good Luck - Edward R. Murrow (historic newsman during the McCarthy Hearings in the 1960s, who reported against the Blacklist and the McCarthy Hearings.)

Also, here's another pretty picture...

I know I do. So, found some and it made me smile today. As did the lovely blue sky, and the tulips I saw at lunch time, and the warm weather. Outside my window, it is quiet and peaceful, the trees are green and golden, with a smattering of red. And the sky is hazy blue with streaks of clouds fading slowly into twilight. Although we should still have light until at least 8pm.

It's the little things that make life worth living, I think? Not the big ones. Considering how many places around the world are war torn and struggling, I am reminded once again...there but for the grace of god, go I. I forget occasionally. I was reminded again today, by an unexpected source, who in an odd way provided me with the courage to send out the first of my cards to the US Federal Government for Project Snail Mail. Then hunted down more cards and stationary provided over the years by various charitable institutions in order to send more. (I don't know about anyone else? But I get a lot of stationary items from charitable foundations, even ones that I never give money too.)

It's scary writing these posts and making them public - since I do not know who is reading? One really never does when posting on social media. It's akin to posting on a bulletin board in the middle of Times Square. But I hope in some small way by posting them - I've made at least one person's day a little brighter? Or happier? Or put a smile on someone's face? There's a song about this, from the musical Pippin: Spread a Little Sunshine.

I can't do the rallys, protests, marches or the phone calls - that's not my bailiwick, but I am a good writer - and can write, or so I've been told. So I will do that. I can also draw and paint. And take photos. So I will do that too.

So, I'll be brave and continue...to post these lists in unlocked posts.

As always, the good news is in the eye of the beholder. With any luck some of it has brought a smile to your face or a sense of a relief, or at least a spark of hope however small in this crazy mixed up world.

Without further ado, Hopefully Spreading Sunshine and Tulips...with some Good News from the US Resistance and It's Global Allies

(  Eighty-Eight Items )

Whew. Most of that was folks standing up, pushing back and resisting. There are a few non-political, non-court related links up there - mainly environmental related.

Hope you found something above to make you smile?

If not? Here's a photo of Tulips.

Believe it or not? There has actually been some good news on the Climate Change and Environmental Front and a few other fronts...it's not all grim out there.

1. A partnership between the Miccosukee Tribe and Pinecrest, FL converts food scraps into compost for the tribe’s community garden, improving soil and reducing landfill waste. Go HERE

2. The Iñupiat community of Elim, AK protests a proposed uranium mine during the Iditarod dogsled race to protect their subsistence way of life and the biodiversity of Norton Sound. Go HERE

***

And apparently on the immigration front? So a break from our scheduled programming into that...which is an on-going battle:
( Immigration Legal and Political Battles )

***

Back to the environment:

5.A federal appeals court revives a civil rights lawsuit challenging polluting industries in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley,” opening the door for justice in historically harmed Black communities. Go HERE

6. Climate activists are increasingly suing governments and companies to take action against climate change — and WINNING. Go Here

( excerpt )

7.In 2024, a record 112 million Americans rode bikes, the highest participation rate since 2014, with youth ridership jumping from 49% to 56%. Go HERE

8.The U.S. and China both show significant growth in renewable energy, outpacing traditional power sources. Go HERE

9.Despite budget cuts, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center continues to provide critical climate information. Go HERE

10. Attorneys general in four states—CA, IL, ME, and MN—sue the EPA and Citibank for unlawfully withholding funds from state green banks meant to support climate solutions. Go HERE

( the rest of the 25 items )
***

Non-climate change related, academic law suit:

26. Harvard takes the counter-offensive and sues the Trump administration for freezing billions of dollars in federal funding.

Spent too much time hunting for good news...and got a bit lost. I'm exhausted by the news, my workplace, and striving for...a better tomorrow.

And I stumbled upon this on Dreamwidth ... A Series of Gentle Reminders by Rudy Francisco

Which I felt the need to share with practically everybody. You ever stumble upon something that moves you so much - that you want to share it with everyone? Also, it hit me at just the right time. It's something the scared and lonely little kid inside of me needed desperately to hear. And I'm sharing it with you, dear readers, in case you need to hear or read it too.



( words beneath the cut - swiped from common poetry )

***

* Scientists find the Strongest Evidence Yet of Life on an Alien Planet

Cool. Maybe they'll come and save us from ourselves? Like in the movie - The Day the Earth Stood Still?

* Spring hits Manhattan with a flourish:

The sun came out after three-four days of rain. It was warmer. I walked around Battery Park at lunch, looked out at the harbor, stopped and smelled or rather took pictures of the flowers, and managed to circumnavigate the insane number of tourists. (Foreign tourists are still visiting NYC at least and in droves, apparently they didn't get the memo? Because they were here in droves. I know they were foreign because they either didn't speak English, or with a heavy accent, and I know they were tourists because they were all standing in an insanely long line to go see the Statue of Liberty. New Yorkers - know they can do it whenever, and do not stand in line. )

And yes, my knees ache still (stupid arthritis) and I've a dull headache that I can't seem to dislodge (I blame the barometric pressure drops - which I kind of blame for the arthritis flare up as well - what can I say? I'm a humane weather vane. My body knows it's going to rain tonight).

Anyhow, without further ado...the Good News Report:

There's over 100 items, so I'm going to try and split them up into sections, for easier viewing - well to the extent that I can? That way you can pick and choose, as opposed to scanning down a huge list. As always, this may well be in the eye of the beholder? So your mileage may vary on the level of good news some of these items are?

Scientific and Medical Research, Animals, Space, National Parks, Climate Change, Environmental issues [Note this category includes court cases and legislation that involve environmental or medical issues, along with research advances, discoveries, educational programs, and position bits on the above. This is the first 46 items.]

1.Sequoia National Park’s caverns are having a moment right now. The stunning Crystal Cave has been closed for four years. No more. The sprawling subterranean landmark will be open again this summer. There are about 275 known caves in Sequoia and neighboring Kings Canyon National Park, but Crystal Cave is the only one accessible to visitors. The park offers 50-minute guided tours through mineral formations and rare geology.

Go Here

2. Construction begins for 40,000-square-foot women’s medical center in Mt. Pleasant, SC. Go HERE
The Center for Women’s Health at East Cooper Medical Center will be a two-story facility and serve as a central hub for women’s health services in the Lowcountry. ( Read more... )

3.Genomes of the apes Go HERE

After more than two decades of work, researchers have sequenced the complete genomes of six ape species. ( Read more... )

4. Coho Salmon swam up the Navarro river for the first time in decades this Winter in response to the gift of rain, years of river restoration work, and dedication to remembering to giving everything on behalf future generations. Go HERE

5. Manzanita generously burst open hearty late winter blossoms - precious nectar for local hummingbirds. Go HERE

( the rest below the cut )

News from the Courts, Legislative Bodies, and the Political Resistance in both the US and Globally against The Doofus Administration [Includes court cases (on migrants, free speech, transgender.. seriously there is a long list), mainly court cases, and political news (mainly voting suppression cases among other things political), along with financial news/business news in regards to tariffs.]

1. Newsmax defamed Dominion Voting Systems, Delaware judge rules. Newsman settled a similar defamation case with Smartmatic last year.

2.In an unexpected win for antitrust, one of the Republican commissioners remaining on the Federal Trade Commission will save the agency’s investigation into pharmacy benefit managers by unrecusing himself from the case.

3. Hold on to hope (accompanied by action): Four countries—Brazil, Thailand, Zambia and Poland—have successfully reversed democratic decline in recent years.

4.A judge finally blocked the White House’s Associated Press ban. [That just keeps going back and forth...LOL!] Go HERE (Trump banned them from covering White House events for refusing to call the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of America, and this has been going back and forth in court since February. )

5.Sen. Brian Schatz is placing holds on over 50 Trump nominees. He has also placed holds on all nominations at the State Department, bringing his total to over 300 positions. Also Sen. Richard Blumenthal announced that he plans to place a hold on ALL Trump nominees going forward.[ I think they must have decided this after the last group proved to be well...a disaster is an understatement? Note this is important, since it prevents Trump for doing a lot of things.]

6. This public resource tracks legal challenges to Trump administration actions. They are currently tracking 171 cases filed against Trump and his Administration. Tracker of Trump Administration Legal Challenges.

( The rest of the 37 items under the cut )

Items about social media, and other oddities that I can't slot into a category easily.

1. Bluesky’s Quest to Build Nontoxic Social Media
X and Facebook are governed by the policies of mercurial billionaires. Bluesky’s C.E.O., Jay Graber, says that she wants to give power back to the user. Go HERE

2.More than 100 people in need are expected to attend Passover dinners this weekend, offered by Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe Chicago at its synagogue in West Ridge in collaboration with Bubby Firas Food Bank. Despite rising costs, they served eggs and matzoh.
( rest beneath the cut )

Whew. For all the bad news, of which there is plenty, there is a lot of good news, which is reassuring at least. I'm trying to just post the Good News, since you can pretty much get the bad from well everywhere?

1. The Hands Off Protests - had an estimated turn out of anywhere between 10-20 million. It is estimated the 5 Million people turned out on the West Coast and Big Cities alone, and we already know the East Coast was even bigger - since the biggest turn outs were in DC, NYC, Boston, and Florida, but also in the Midwest - with Chicago, Detroit, and Minneapolis, not to mention the Southwest. Please believe me when I state that I am not exaggerating when I inform you that every single state, plus the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico came out en mass to protest in HANDS OFF yesterday. Cities, towns, suburbs, and even rural areas - along highways, came out in all the states. Places with just under 2000 residents, came out with over a thousand. People who had never protested in their lives, protested. They did in the rain (Kentucky has had flooding and is in emergency crisis - but protested anyhow, NY it rained most of the day - and was in the forties and fifties, and over 200,000 protested in NYC, and that's not counting the thousands across the state), they did it Vegas, in LA, in Oklahoma City, in Topeka, Kansas, in Kansas City, in Indiana, in JD Vance's home town of Middletown, Ohio, they did it Fort Myers Florida, and in Alabama, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Main, Wisconsin, Arkansas, every single state. They protested and flooded DC. They protested in Canada, and in Europe. They protested in Mexico and the US Virgin Islands.

It was huge.

Hmmm...they even showed up in Conservative Heavy Long Island... Mineola had 2,000 people show up (it has a population of about 4,000 if that).

[See previous post for links]

I told Bro.

Bro - glad someone went, I don't go to protests, I'm too tall - they'd point the laser canon at my head. [Bro also has to stay home with his cat.]

[I didn't go either - I can't handle massive crowds of people. I did the Women's March and decided, yeah, no, not doing that ever again. I'll do other things.]

2. On the heels of terminating 10,000 jobs from the Department of Health and Human Services this week, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told ABC News on Thursday some programs would soon be reinstated because they were mistakenly cut.

Go Here

3. The list of famous auto industry flops is long and storied, topped by stinkers like Ford’s Edsel and exploding Pinto and General Motors’s unsightly Pontiac Aztek crossover SUV. Even John Delorean’s sleek, stainless steel DMC-12, iconic from its role in the “Back To The Future” films, was a sales dud that drove the company to bankruptcy.
Elon Musk’s pet project, the dumpster-driving Tesla Cybertruck, now tops that list.

AND The just-released production and delivery report was Tesla’s worst in three years. Dan Ives of Wedbush said in a note to clients that Tesla is seeing soft demand in the United States and China, as well as facing pressure in Europe. “The brand crisis issues are clearly having a negative impact on Tesla...there is no debate,” he said. Ives said that Wall Street and analysts alike knew that the first-quarter figures were likely to be bad, but that it was even worse than expected. “We are not going to look at these numbers with rose-colored glasses...they were a disaster on every metric,” he said.

Go Here


4.The global under-five mortality rate has fallen by over 50% since 1990 according to a new report by the United Nations. The report highlights five “exemplar” countries - India, Nepal, Senegal, Ghana, and Burundi - that, despite resource constraints and diverse contexts, have surpassed global declines through a common cocktail of strong governance, data-driven policies, expanded immunization, and innovative health financing.

5. Illinois has returned stolen land to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation The federal government ceded the land to Potawatomi Chief Shab-eh-nay in 1829, but then sold it to white settlers 20 years later. Governor JB Pritzker has now signed a law restoring the 1,500-acre Shabbona Lake State Recreation Area back to Potawatomi ownership. The land will stay open to the public as a park.

6. Thailand prohibits all corporal punishment of children. Thailand has enacted full prohibition of all corporal punishment of children, making itself the 68th state worldwide to protect children from violent punishment. With a child population of 14,131,000, prohibition in Thailand brings the total number of children worldwide protected by law from corporal punishment to approximately 343 million, or 15% of the global child population.

7. California pilots a solar-over-canal system to combat drought. Project Nexus will cover canals with solar panels, generating clean energy while preventing water evaporation. The $20 million pilot follows UC Merced research showing potential for 13 GW of annual energy—one-sixth of state capacity—while saving 50,000 acres of land. There's more solar canals coming, too. Go HERE

8. Research shows that community groups and small farmers restore land 6 to 20 times more effectively than international NGOs or governments and deliver more sustainable and equitable results.From Mexican fishers who have planted 1.8 million mangroves to locals in Guyana that are protecting a rare bird, here are 10 community-led conservation solutions that are working around the world.

9.In the U.K., “Safe Spaces” in banks and pharmacies give domestic abuse victims a lifeline to seek support — and start again. QT gas stations have safe spaces in the US. Signs posted near the pumps and indoors. Ask the managers and they will shelter you and get help.

10. Every generation in the United States has a lower risk of dementia than the last. While previous projections estimated U.S. dementia cases would double by 2050, a new analysis finds that age-adjusted prevalence has dropped by 67% over the past 40 years. If this trend continues, total cases may rise by only 25% instead of doubling.

( 59 items )

And repost it here.

Lack of sleep due to being woken up in the middle of the night with severe gas pains/IBS, and pain radiating down the leg to the toes. I did everything to relieve it. ( Read more... )

Mother called to let me know that niece has taken a job in Whiskeytown National Park in California, that specializes in wildfire recovery efforts. Niece is interested in working in the recovery of wildfires or aiding in wildfire efforts.

Anyhow? Some good news from The American Resistance & It's Global Allies.

1. Costco has seen a net gain of 7M additional shoppers as Target loses 5M shoppers after adhering to Trump’s anti-DEI policies.

2. The cost to insure a Tesla has skyrocketed versus its peers, and some high-end insurers will no longer write policies on new Teslas.

3.The First Cougar Cubs Seen in the Michigan Wild in 100 Years: To see a cougar in the wild is rare, but to see a cougar cub is another level.( Read more... )

4. At their show in Boston, the Dropkick Murphys spoke against Trump and Elon and it appears in retaliation, Elon suspended their Twitter account, because free speech. Except they insist - that they deactivated it first on their own.

Dropkick Murphys is a Punk Rock Band (in case you aren't really into punk (like me) and never heard of them).

5.Arizona has permanently blocked a 15-week abortion ban in a major victory loop under the Arizona Abortion Access Act.

6. Elon Musk's trans daughter outs him for sex-selective IVF. For someone obsessed with gender Musk seemingly has no clue how it works.

7. David Gottfried won his Special Election to the Minnesota House restoring a 67-67 power split in the lower chamber. 1,967 of you mailed 32,179 postcards to help make sure MN Republicans couldn't take majority control.

8.Marlene Shaw will serve as Gulfport’s Ward II council member after winning 59.8% of the vote. Her victory flips the council to Democratic majority. 302 writers reminded 4,440 voters to help secure this outcome.

9. About 1 billion people are deficient in selenium, but genetic engineering could change that. In the right amount, selenium provides essential health protections, so scientists are developing crops that suck up the mineral from soil.

10. No, it's not a circus. Acrobatics and tumbling, a mashup of gymnastics and cheer, is booming
( the rest of the 37 items listed )

March Memage

15. It’s Red Nose Day – a day to raise funds for those in need, particularly for ending poverty in children. Have you ever taken part in a Red Nose Day event? Have you ever bought a red nose to wear?

I watched it once. But no. I do other charitable things, just not Red Nose Day.

16. Do you regularly eat breakfast? What’s your favourite thing to eat?

Yes. I'm diabetic and have always had low blood sugar issues. Also I prefer breakfast to lunch for the most part. And have been known to have breakfast on weekends and skip lunch.

Poached egg over greens, with some lemon juice and pepper every morning. Weekends, I tend to have either an omelet, scrambled eggs and bacon, with a gluten free english muffin or muffin, or gluten free mini-waffels with bacon or sausage and just skip lunch.

17. Do you add things to your ‘to-do’ list just so you can cross them out immediately to say you’ve done them?

Yes, assuming I remember to do the list or where I put it. I'm not an organized thinker.

18. Have you got a dedicated place to keep your shoes?


Yes - two places, one at the entry way, and one in my bedroom. And I have too many shoes, all of which appear to be mainly black in color. I do have a pair of purple sneakers.

19. Do you like scented candles?

Depends on the scent? But yes. I like fresh ocean scent and orange scented candles, also lemon. And pine. I can't do floral or cinnamon - since I'm allergic.

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From AP News Wire: "U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C., ruled that Trump’s order to exclude transgender troops from military service likely violates their constitutional rights. She delayed her order by three days to give the administration time to appeal." Go HERE

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams return to Earth after 9 months stuck in space. Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico in the early evening, just hours after departing the International Space Station. Splashdown occurred off the coast of Tallahassee in the Florida Panhandle, bringing their unplanned odyssey to an end.

And on a purely personal note? My niece and brother are visiting my Mother in South Carolina. Niece (who has been doing cold plunges in Montana) went swimming today. The water is somewhere in the 50s-60s and it was in the upper 60s today on the beach. Anyhow, she went swimming in the ocean, and below her head, and came face to face with a jelly fish. A box jelly fish.
She leapt up screaming, and raced to shore.

The jelly fish had wrapped around her face.

Needless to say - I freaked out when I heard this story.

Me: Is she okay?
Mother: seems to be, no issues at all.
Me: Are you sure?
Mother: (to niece) Tell your Aunt that you are okay.
Niece: I'm fine, it was nothing. My eyelids still sting, but other than that...
Me: So not a man of war?
Niece: no it was small and I think a Box Jelly Fish.
Me: I thought it was too cold for Jelly Fish?
Niece: do did I, but apparently not. There were a ton on the beach, so I probably should have realized they'd be in the water. No one else was out swimming.