shadowkat | Entries tagged with links

Baking Apple Cinnamon Muffins for the week ahead and watching S6 of Call the Midwife on Netflix.

Below is the Good News Report from The American Resistance & It's Global Allies - because we all need a little good news? As always, good news is in the eye of the beholder or mileage may vary on this.

1. The Conservation Fund purchases North America’s largest blackwater swamp, saving over 350,000 acres of designated wilderness from a mining company.

https://augustafreepress.com/news/conservation-funds-purchase-of-georgia-florida-wildlife-refuge-saves-land-from-mining-company/?sh_kit=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40

( Read more... )

2.California takes steps to protect school and college students, school staff, and hospital patients from unjust ICE enforcement activity.Governor Newsom signed the nation’s strongest protections into law to limit tactics being used by Trump’s federal “secret police,” protect children at schools, and patients in public hospitals from Trump’s lawlessness.

https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/09/20/governor-newsom-signs-laws-to-protect-school-children-and-hospital-patients-and-limit-fear-tactics-used-by-trumps-secret-police-force-to-terrorize-communities/

3. California’s Supreme Court unanimously rules that state regulators were given undue deference in the decision to roll back rooftop solar panel credits for homeowners.

https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/california-supreme-court-rooftop-solar-credits-cpuc-environmental-groups/

4. Maine fast-tracks plans for renewable energy projects before climate-friendly government incentives are removed under the budget passed this summer. The state is prioritizing projects built on PFAS-contaminated land as it looks to kickstart installations that can help it reach 100% clean energy by 2040.

https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/clean-energy/maine-fast-track-tax-credits

5.Three chemical and materials companies will pay the state of New Jersey up to $2B in a settlement over the environmental hazards of PFAS. "DuPont and two other companies will settle environmental claims concerning PFAS, commonly referred to as "forever chemicals," and pay New Jersey up to $2 billion, the companies announced Monday."

https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/dupont-pfas-settlement-chemours-corteva-new-jersey-repauno-parlin/

6.Walmart said it is planning to remove synthetic dyes from all its private label store-brand foods by the start of 2027 (Wall Street Journal).

7.Australia funds solar microgrids to replace diesel in First Nations communities.

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/08/20/australia-funds-solar-microgrids-to-replace-diesel-in-remote-first-nations-towns/

8. NIH races to spend 2025 grant budget

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) is on track to dole out its entire US$48-billion budget by the end of the fiscal year on 30 September, despite the administration of Donald Trump laying off thousands of the agency’s workers and delaying meetings to review research grants. The agency’s staff banded together to “clean up the mess”, an NIH programme officer told Nature, and ensure that the funds were invested in science. Although the agency’s budget will be spent, many fewer new projects will be funded because of a government directive to award large sums to research projects upfront.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03168-4

9. Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. have decreased by 20 percent since 2005.

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/energy-co2-carbon-emissions-falling-states-natural-gas-renewables/760374/

10. The city of San Francisco moves to ensure that substantial renovations to existing buildings are all-electric.

https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/carbon-free-buildings/san-francisco-renovations-gas-ban
( the rest of the forty-six )

Here's a flower:

Good News From the American Resistance and Its Global Allies

Disclaimer: As always, Good News like beauty and humor is often in the eyes of the beholder, hopefully something makes you smile, even if its just a picture at the end.

1. Amazon will pay $2.5 billion to settle claims that it tricked customers into signing up for Prime, then made it hard to cancel.

How to determine you are eligible and how to get your refund

It's really just for folks who signed up in 2019, and it's no more than $51.

2. "Prototype device controlled by silent speech
( Read more... )

Alterego - https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03084-7

3.The health and economic benefits generated by vaccines against COVID-19 in the first year alone — a return of $60 to $475 on the dollar.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2496200-covid-19-vaccine-benefits-worth-up-to-38-trillion-in-first-year-alone/

4. "Podcast: an AI health oracle
( Read more... )

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03026-3

5. Colorado pastor and wife ordered to repay $3.4M to victims of their crypto scam

( Read more... )

https://www.friendlyatheist.com/p/colorado-pastor-and-wife-ordered?publication_id=95153&post_id=173867959&isFreemail=true&r=335kz&triedRedirect=true

6. New research on nature’s effect on focus is so compelling.
( Read more... )

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/nature-walk-focus-attention-1.7109264

7. "With dementia rates expected to double by 2060, it’s normal to think about ways to stay sharp. Unfortunately, many popular brain-training apps and games don't produce lasting memory benefits, but there’s a simpler approach that doesn’t even require a screen.

( Read more... )

https://www.mdpi.com/2079-3200/12/11/114

8.New research reveals a connection between grip strength and mental health.

https://www.askmen.com/fitness/mental-health/the-surprising-connection-between-grip-strength-and-mental-health.html

9.Remember the race to cure HIV? We're closer than you think. Remember the race to cure HIV? We're closer than you think.
A new clinical trial in South Africa delivered a rare but extraordinary outcome: One young woman may be cured of the virus.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/08/25/g-s1-84393/whatever-happened-to-the-race-to-cure-hiv-theres-promising-news

10. The Dutch are quietly shifting towards a four-day work week
Opponents say they make us less productive. Fans say they give us freedom. What do the results really say?

https://www.ft.com/content/7b61e52c-93fc-4634-b9ad-fdacac5d6538
( mostly situations of resistance and medical health improvements like above - 46 in all )

Environmental Good News from the US Resistance and Around the Globe

[Disclaimer: As always, good news is often in the eye of the beholder.]

1. The United Nations confirmed that the ozone layer is on track to make a full recovery by mid-century, crediting swift action and international agreements for sharply reducing the use of ozone-depleting chemicals and slowing the annual growth of the Antarctic ozone hole.

https://www.france24.com/en/environment/20250916-un-says-ozone-layer-is-healing-hole-could-disappear-within-decades?sh_kit=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40

2.California officials and industry insiders say the state is sticking with its goal of developing 25 gigawatts of floating offshore wind energy by 2045 despite expiring federal tax credits and Trump administration hostility.

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-09-18/despite-federal-setbacks-california-is-staying-the-course-on-offshore-wind?_hsmi=381366794#:~:text=The%20Trump%20administration%20canceled%20nearly,efforts%20to%20support%20wind%20development

3.The Iowa Utilities Commission approved a settlement that authorizes the largest utility-scale solar project in the state’s history.

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/18092025/inside-clean-energy-iowa-solar-potential/?_hsmi=381366794

4.In August, global electric vehicle sales increased 5% month-over-month and 15% year-over-year.

https://rhomotion.com/news/global-ev-sales-grow-by-5-m-o-m-and-by-15-y-o-y-in-august-2025/?sh_kit=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40

5.A landmark legal settlement will require a plastics facility in Pennsylvania to clean up the tiny plastic pellets — known as “nurdles” — that were found to be spewing out of its stormwater and wastewater pipes.

https://grist.org/solutions/plastics-settlement-pennsylvania-raccoon-creek-nurdles-styropek/

6.In the first six months of this year, the world built 64% more new solar energy capacity than it did in the first half of 2024.

https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/global-solar-power-energy-installations-booming?amp%3Butm_medium=email&%3Butm_campaign=canary&_hsmi=381366794

7.After Trump administration cuts forced the popular climate.gov website to shut down, experts re-launched it independently to help boost climate literacy.

https://www.dw.com/en/fired-climate-scientists-crucial-extreme-weather-data-cut-us-president-donald-trump-v3/a-73977766

[It's a lot harder to regulate and censor the internet than it is radio or broadcast television channels. I'm grateful for that at least.]

8.A new nature preserve in Ohio will protect 3,000 acres of Appalachian foothills.

https://www.statenews.org/section/the-ohio-newsroom/2025-09-11/a-new-ohio-nature-preserve-protects-3-000-acres-of-appalachian-foothills?sh_kit=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40

9.EU lawmakers have given a final green light to a law that aims to slash the mountains of food wasted in Europe each year, and curb the environmental impact of fast fashion.

https://www.dw.com/en/eu-to-slash-food-and-fast-fashion-waste/a-73933529?ck_subscriber_id=2496857656

10. EV Realty, a San Francisco-based charging site developer, broke ground on what will be one of California’s biggest fully grid-powered, fast-charging depots for electric trucks so far.

https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/ev-charging/ev-realty-funding-build-truck-depot-california?amp%3Butm_medium=email&%3Butm_campaign=canary&_hsmi=381203897
( for the rest of the 37 items )

Sorry, it's been a while, and I don't know about anyone else? But I've found the news to be a bit tiring. And have emotionally distanced myself from it for the most part - for my own mental and emotional and physical health. Every time I look at it - I feel like I'm watching an absurd ping pong match to the death, between all the States, Federal Courts and Social Activists vs. the corrupt and ineffectual wannabee fascist Federal Government & their cronies. But hey, it is entertaining from a Civics/Student of Government perspective, also if you are a litigation attorney specializing in constitutional law and civil rights law, and anyone who is into political satire and not currently living in the US or affected by its policies. Basically if you are living on a remote island in the China Sea, and in which case, you're probably clueless.

Anyhow, despite all that, here's a list of good news items that I've found.
As always, keep in mind good news is in the eye of the beholder, and mileage may well vary on the below.

Good News Report from the Resistance and their Global Allies

( 100 Good News Items )
***

Quotes

* " “If something really matters to you,” Beverley Fehr, a University of Winnipeg psychologist, told me, “there’s a vulnerability in sharing it with someone else.” When we declare a favorite book, movie, or album and introduce it to others, Jeffrey Hall, a communications-studies professor at the University of Kansas, told me, “what we’re doing is saying, ‘This is an aspect of my identity that I’m willingly putting out there in order for other people to know me. And if you reject this thing, you reject me.’” Tom Vanderbilt, the author of You May Also Like, said that recommending something to someone can be like giving a gift, in that “it says something about you, but you’re also trying to anticipate what they might like.”
- The Atlantic

*“When things go wrong, don’t go with them.” – ELVIS PRESLEY

* "Hike your own hike." - Sleep Story (Calm).
***
Lusting after a Vacation

Ah, something to lust after: Skillcations to exotic places...such as photography in Uganda, Knitting in Iceland, cooking in Italy...
***

Nice News Book Rec: The Call of the Honeyguide: What Science Tells Us About How to Live Well with the Rest of Our Life by Rob Dun

( brief description )

***

Music Rec

In 1975, “Bohemian Rhapsody” became an instant classic. While countless covers (from The Muppets to Glee) have paid tribute to what’s considered one of rock’s most enduring anthems, Queen has never authorized a translation of the song — until now. Fifty years after the single was released, a new version is delighting fans, this time in the Zulu language and performed by South Africa’s acclaimed Ndlovu Youth Choir.
( Read more... )
We’d say mission (above and beyond) accomplished: Watch the music video to decide for yourself.

https://nicenews.com/culture/queen-bohemian-rhapsody-zulu-version/

( Music Video of Zulu Translation of Bohemian Rhapsody )

I was going to post a quote of the day, but I can't remember it? So probably not that important.

After a bit of a lull, here is the return of the Good News Report, which is mainly about the environment, and not for once, about a hundred different litigation disputes. (In case you didn't already know that that US is a highly litigious country, with an insanely complicated court system - 2025 has managed to educate you on that point with interest, and in less than six months. 2025 is providing litigation attorneys with a lot of work.)

Anyhow, this post is mostly about environmental good news, although I'm certain there will be court cases resolved and otherwise in the middle of it, because that's how we roll.

Disclaimer: As always, good news much like humor and beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. So mileage may vary on this?

1. The United Nations reported a global shift toward renewable energy, passing a “positive tipping point” where solar and wind power will become even cheaper and more widespread.

https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-solar-wind-power-fossil-fuels-6aca4846e594ea8405f91edda39a03ad?sh_kit=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40

2. Todd Koehnke and Tim Macklin, cofounders of the Collective Oyster Recycling and Restoration, have set out to restore the health of Connecticut’s overfished oyster beds by collecting shells from about 50 seafood restaurants in the state and dropping them back where they came from.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/used-oyster-shells-connecticut-long-island-sound/?ck_subscriber_id=2496857656

3.Conservationists and AI are successfully teaming up to help save the California red-legged frog.

https://www.npr.org/2025/07/19/g-s1-78230/ai-california-frog-science-conservation-threatened-species?ck_subscriber_id=2496857656

4. Despite the national extension shutting down, Illinois is keeping its dedicated 988 lifeline for LGBTQ+ youth.

https://khqa.com/news/local/illinois-to-keep-988-suicide-crisis-lifeline-for-lgbtqia-youth-after-national-extension-hangs-up-federal-funding-cuts-trump-administration-governor-jb-pritzker-idhs-secretary-dulce-m-quintero-mental-health-behavioral-services-counseling-support-teens?sh_kit=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40

5. There are now about 11,400 high-speed, public charging stations in the US, and hundreds more are being added every few months. Driven by the private sector, the rapid expansion has continued despite the Trump administration’s freezing of construction subsidies.

https://archive.is/

6.President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognize Palestine as a state in pursuit of what he called the historical French commitment “to a just and durable peace in the Middle East.”

https://archive.ph/CcnmN

7.Enbridge announced it will invest $900 million on a 600 megawatt solar power project in Texas.

https://archive.ph/Z9ARd#selection-1309.20-1319.206

8.In general, donations to NPR and PBS stations have surged since Trump’s cuts were signed into law.

https://archive.ph/vc5ex

9.Congo and Rwanda-backed rebels signed a declaration of principles to end decades of fighting, commit to a comprehensive peace agreement, and commit to “building trust” through various measures.

https://apnews.com/article/congo-m23-rebels-peace-qatar-rwanda-f80166117d557991896ef89d4cd3a324?user_id=66c4cab45d78644b3acfbcde&sh_kit=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40

10.Tree planting in England is now at its highest recorded rate in over 20 years

https://forestrycommission.blog.gov.uk/2025/06/27/a-year-of-growth-tree-planting-rates-hit-their-highest-level-in-over-20-years/?sh_kit=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40

( the rest of the 30 items of note )

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.

( mainly political resistance items - showing small political and legal strides in the fight against fascist bigotry and fascism in general )
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

( political resistance stuff )

( nice news about nature and stuff )

“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:

Disclaimer: As always, good news is often in the eye of the beholder and mileage may vary on the below. Hopefully you'll find something to make you smile.

1. Only about a quarter of medical schools include training on how to discuss safe gun storage and firearm injury prevention with patients. Scrubs Addressing the Firearm Epidemic is working to change that — and ensure that future doctors play a role in preventing gun violence.

https://www.thetrace.org/2025/07/medical-school-gun-violence-prevention/

2. Great land protection story from the Port Townsend Leader about the exciting recent purchase of 81 acres of forest and wetlands by our friends at the Northwest Watershed Institute (NWI)! The land will be permanently protected and stewarded as part of NWI's 500-acre Tarboo Wildlife Preserve in the Quilcene area. Jefferson Land Trust is proud to have played a facilitation role in this project by working with the U.S. Navy to secure matching funds through the Navy’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program. The Navy’s funding purchased a restrictive easement on the land that prevents development (but does not grant any rights to the military for use of the property).

https://www.ptleader.com/stories/northwest-watershed-institute-purchases-forest-for-addition-to-tarboo-wildlife-preserve,215813

3.Senator Chris Van Hollen’s amendment in the Senate Appropriations Committee to "retain, preserve and compile" any records related to Jeffrey Epstein passed unanimously. On that note, the Epstein files are proving to be a real thorn in Trump’s shoe, and I’m here for it.

https://www.ksby.com/politics/senate-committee-unanimously-approves-amendment-that-would-preserve-jeffrey-epstein-files

[The fight over the Epstein files and release of the client list is amusing, partly because it's one of the many platforms that the Doofus ran on, and right now, his base, Magna is furious at him. Over on Twitter, Stephen King got into trouble with his fans - for stating that the Epstein Client List was about as real as the Tooth Fantasy and Santa Claus. ]

4.L.A. Mayor Karen Bass has signed an executive order to provide cash cards worth several hundred dollars—funded by philanthropy—to undocumented immigrants who miss work due to fear of ICE raids.

https://mayor.lacity.gov/news/mayor-bass-issues-executive-directive-support-immigrant-communities

5.US District Court Judge Nina Wang has fined two of Mike Lindell's attorneys $3,000 apiece for their error-riddled AI-generated legal brief. Lindell, of My Pillow, lost the defamation case and is on the hook for $2.3M in damages.

[Yeah, don't use AI to write things folks. It's a computer code created by IT - and IT can't write that well, and some can't write to save their lives.]

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5389852-mypillow-ceo-mike-lindells-attorneys-fined-for-inaccurate-ai-generated-brief/

6. Poland generated more power from clean energy sources than coal for the first time in June.

https://www.ft.com/content/ae920241-597e-49d9-a4b9-bfdfa9deabb6?accessToken=zwAGOQFSub4YkdOukgJBWX5J2dOkub_fqd6rtg.MEUCIC7wxgJShKjVR3u717YcwKFA3kRvRTs4yUanM49uZ5ZYAiEAiv7r4PrLesRguLHgvVlrgsCiItG8QsBG5GNgqjqgj5A&sharetype=gift&token=4a8b6641-d698-4252-8c2f-e667b96f2351&ref=climativity.com

7.Michael Jordan opened his fourth free clinic for people who are uninsured or underserved in North Carolina, his home state.

https://www.newsweek.com/sports/nba/michael-jordan-opens-another-free-health-clinic-native-north-carolina-2050274?sh_kit=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40

8.NEW ORLEANS FINANCIAL COLLAB GETS $1M GRANT TO INVEST IN LOCAL START-UPS
The Financial Wellness Collaborative received the $1 million grant to help small businesses manage their financial health and scale-up.

https://www.blackenterprise.com/new-orleans-financial-collaborative-grant-invest/

9.Mexico sent water rescue teams and firefighters to help in Texas after the holiday weekend floods.

https://www.newsweek.com/mexico-sends-help-texas-floods-2095878

10.A new Gallup poll taken over the month of June shows Trump support on “handling the immigration issue” now stands at 35% with 62% opposing.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/692522/surge-concern-immigration-abated.aspx
( the rest of the 44 beneath the cut - the science stuff is towards the end of the list. )

And just in case you found zip in that list to smile about? Here's a photo of flowers.

Confusing day at work, and the muggy weather plus sleep issues is making me irritable? Also, people, sigh, can be annoyingly headache inducing, can't they?

Anyhow, grumble, grumble...I'm grateful for my mother (who continues to be lovely), Gregory's Coffee - it has great Matcha Lattes, and Decaf Cappucinos, and is no more than five minutes from my desk - plus I can pre-order, and get discounted deals. I'm also grateful for flowers. Trees. And New York City.

Plus? Very grateful for the lovely folks who provided the good news items below, and continue to do so - basically, I'm grateful for the American Resistance and it's Global Allies, thank the universe you exist.

Disclaimer: As always, good news like humor and beauty is more often than not in the eye of the beholder and your mileage may vary on this.

I only share them, because they give me hope and make me feel better - and I hope they do the same for anyone else who may stumble upon this journal entry. If I can bring a smile or a tear of hope to someone...today? Than I'll feel I accomplished my aim or at the very least attempted it. All I can do is try.

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

1. More than 600 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees, scientists, and academics signed a declaration of dissent from the agency’s policies under the Trump administration, warning that they “undermine the EPA mission of protecting human health and the environment.”

https://www.standupforscience.net/epa-declaration

[Gotta give the poor federal agency employees credit? They keep fighting and speaking out against the evil new administration.]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/30/epa-employees-declaration-dissent-trump?emci=4eedb4a7-9958-f011-8f7c-6045bdfe8e9c&emdi=66805beb-ef58-f011-8f7c-6045bdfe8e9c&ceid=24376453

2. I think this one is a repeat? But just in case, it's not, here we go again: The Miccosukee Tribe is partnering with the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation to safeguard lands as part of a ‘moral obligation.’

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/15/miccosukee-tribe-florida-wildlife-corridor-foundation?sh_kit=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40

Now, as the Trump administration continues its wholesale slashing of federal funding from conservation projects, the Miccosukee Tribe is stepping up to fulfill what it sees as a “moral obligation” to return the favor.

The tribe is looking to buy and protect environmentally significant lands, including some that once provided refuge, in a groundbreaking partnership agreement with the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation. The corridor is an ambitious project to connect 18m acres (7.3m hectares) of state and privately owned wilderness into a contiguous, safe habitat for scores of imperilled and roaming species, including black bears, Key deer and Florida panthers.

3. A coalition of 20 states has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for sharing personal health data with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/CA%20v.%20HHS%2C%20Complaint%207.1.25.pdf

4.Key West City commissioners voted 6-1 to void the 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

https://www.keywestislandnews.com/2025/06/key-west-city-commission-voids-agreement-with-ice-and-reaffirms-its-status-as-a-welcoming-city/

[Apparently Key West is not in agreement with the Governor of Florida?]

5.Tesla’s new delivery numbers are in, and they’re worse than expected.

https://gizmodo.com/teslas-numbers-are-in-and-theyre-not-good-2000623670?emci=4eedb4a7-9958-f011-8f7c-6045bdfe8e9c&emdi=66805beb-ef58-f011-8f7c-6045bdfe8e9c&ceid=24376453

6.E. Jean Carroll says she plans to give away the millions Donald Trump was ordered to pay her—just to annoy him. [This is the woman who won the defamation case and civil sexual assault case against him - when he claimed she lied when she said he raped her - and went on to vilify her in the media.]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/e-jean-carroll-reveals-why-shell-give-away-her-80m-from-trump-to-p-him-off/?emci=4eedb4a7-9958-f011-8f7c-6045bdfe8e9c&emdi=66805beb-ef58-f011-8f7c-6045bdfe8e9c&ceid=24376453

7. Terminated NIH grants are being reinstated almost entirely in blue states. [These are the science and research grants that the Trump Administration attempted to terminate.]

https://www.statnews.com/2025/07/03/nih-cuts-grant-restoration-complicated-by-limits-to-court-order-trump-dei-restrictions/?emci=4eedb4a7-9958-f011-8f7c-6045bdfe8e9c&emdi=66805beb-ef58-
f011-8f7c-6045bdfe8e9c&ceid=24376453

8.A federal judge in Washington ruled that the Trump administration can’t categorically deny asylum claims from people crossing the southern border.

https://archive.ph/7gw1e

9.A government ban on Hungary’s annual Pride parade backfired when more than 100,000 people marched through the Hungarian capital, far more than have taken part in previous such events.

https://archive.ph/kzI5C#selection-4467.0-4467.195

[The internet makes authoritarianism kind of difficult to enforce.]

10.Tuesday’s election of Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre to fill a vacant seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors put Democrats back in control of San Diego’s most powerful governmental agency.

https://voiceofsandiego.org/2025/07/02/aguirres-win-puts-democrats-in-charge-at-pivotal-time/?emci=4eedb4a7-9958-f011-8f7c-6045bdfe8e9c&emdi=66805beb-ef58-f011-8f7c-6045bdfe8e9c&ceid=24376453

11.An iPhone app called ICEBlock is alerting users to nearby ICE sightings. Its designer said he wanted to do something to help in the face of what he sees (correctly) as rising fascism.

[Technology also makes authoritarianism more difficult to enforce - than many sci-fi writers apparently realized. I'm looking at you, Philip K. Dick.]

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/30/tech/iceblock-app-trump-immigration-crackdown?emci=4eedb4a7-9958-f011-8f7c-6045bdfe8e9c&emdi=66805beb-ef58-f011-8f7c-6045bdfe8e9c&ceid=24376453

12.Catholic bishops from Asia, Africa and Latin America penned a first-ever joint ecological appeal ahead of the next U.N. climate conference in November.

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/07/01/climate-justice-bishops-asia-africa-latin-america-251045

13.Singer Angélique Kidjo became the first African performer to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqx2g5znggpo

14.A Tennessee man pardoned by Trump for taking part in the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6 is back behind bars, for life, convicted of plotting to kill the law enforcement officers who had investigated his case.

https://archive.ph/dXNaQ#selection-517.23-517.112

15. Thanks to Mayor Brandon Scott’s focus on violence intervention programs, Baltimore has seen a nearly 23 percent drop in murders from this time last year.

https://archive.ph/3ajyY

16. Six months into congestion pricing in New York City traffic is down and business is up. Also, the revenue generated by the program is funding critical transit upgrades that will benefit millions of New Yorkers.

https://www.threads.com/@govkathyhochul/post/DLu_bqUxRJO?xmt=AQF0ZAWwIBQtTEin6rbwpHCXtAp3OGNzp92OIOiamSxIgQ

[That's actually true - the funds are going to various state of new repair, climate resilancy projects, and critical improvements across the MTA. And the financial district is pleasant to walk around.]

( the rest of the 37 items )

And here's a few flowers...life is always better with flowers.

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 - 8 are basically courts striking down Federal actions that are considered unlawful )

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.

( Read more... )

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
( the rest of the thirty behind the cut )

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

Yes, it's time again for the weekly good news report bringing hope and sanity to all or at least attempting to do so? Seriously, the media (in all its forms (Social media in particular) makes it difficult at times). I've inserted a filter for my own mental and emotional health (it's manual, since the automatic ones elude me).

As always, good news is often in the eye of the beholder, and mileage may vary on this.

1.The Senate Parliamentarian had blocked some even worse provisions
( Read more... )

2. The sell of Public Lands and the ban on state regulation of AI were both removed from the Bill by the Senate - there was a lot of push back, and the Senate removed them by majority vote.
( Read more... )

3. California Gov. Gavin Newsom filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Fox News, accusing host Jesse Watters of defamation by falsely claiming that Newsom lied about a phone call with President Donald Trump during the dispute over the use of the National Guard in Los Angeles. A demand letter from Newsom's lawyers says if Fox News doesn't "issue a formal retraction and on-air apology," the lawsuit will proceed. ( Read more... )

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/gavin-newsom-targets-fox-news-787-million-lawsuit-rcna215522

4.A carbon-negative concrete made from seawater and bacteria just outperformed cement in strength tests

( Read more... )

https://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxU78tkZBbdOCYup4qav0DavcF1FfwbrVZ?app=desktop

5.The largest 100% supportive housing development in LA opened! 600 San Pedro is a 17-story mixed-use building with 302 units, all designed for people in interim housing transitioning to permanent housing. ( Read more... )

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/biggest-homeless-housing-facility-in-los-angeles-opens/

6.A new Colorado law includes requirements that dozens of cities provide multilingual ballots during local elections, bridging a major gap in access for voting in those races.

https://boltsmag.org/colorado-language-protections-in-voting-rights-act/

7.The British government plans to extend a ban on bottom trawling to around 30,000 square kilometers across 41 marine protected areas.

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/uk-seeks-extend-ban-bottom-trawling-fishing-english-seas-2025-06-08/

8.Kendrick Lamar quietly funds college tuition for 25 Black students from Compton—identities revealed after four years. During a UCLA graduation ceremony, a student emotionally shares: “I wouldn’t be here without a scholarship from an anonymous donor… now I know it was Kendrick Lamar.” Media later uncovers he secretly funded full tuition for 25 students from Compton, where he grew up. The beauty in this is he did it w/o broadcasting across social media. Someone else shared the blessings he gave.

9.In a historic first, a Southern Ute Tribe member was elected to chair the Colorado water policy board.

https://coloradosun.com/2025/05/28/southern-ute-tribal-leader-colorado-water-board-historic-first/

10.Kseniia Petrova, the Russian scientist who spent four months in detention after failing to declare scientific samples she was carrying into the country, was freed on bail from federal custody by a magistrate judge in Boston.

https://archive.ph/FeSOQ

12. The FDA just approved a long-lasting injection to prevent HIV.

https://www.wired.com/story/fda-finally-approves-lenacapavir-preventive-hiv-treatment-gilead/?utm_brand=wired&utm_mailing=WIR_Daily_062125_PAID&bxid=5bd670ae2ddf9c619438d7ca&cndid=25074173&hasha=a22cdf50ee78026aeb03bece73c2433c&hashc=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40&esrc=OIDC_SELECT_ACCOUNT_PAGE

( the rest of the 30 items )

There's more, but I got tired and want to do other things.

So how about a picture of flowers from yesterday's walk?

1. I feel I need to explain in detail how a Bill becomes a Law in the United States. Since a lot of people think now that the Senate passed the Big Beautiful (more like Butt-Ugly) Bill - it will now go to the House and voila, signed into Law. Uh, no, this is not how it works, folks.

But wait, another lawyer did it for me! To the tune of I'm only a Bill, just a little old bill...via School House Rock, which oversimplified it.

How A Bill Becomes a Law by Anne P. Mitchell

First and foremost: In order for a bill to be sent to the president to be signed into law the House and the Senate MUST pass *identical* versions of the bill! This is what we are seeing happen right now with the budget bill, the House originally passed their version and sent it to the Senate. The Senate made massive changes to it, then voted on that changed version just now, so now it goes back to the House. If the House makes ANY changes, then it goes back to the Senate for them to either vote on or make additional changes.

( Here is How a Bill Becomes a Law )

The process gives me hope. It did have a lot gutted from it. Also the Senate added 800 billion to the national debt. Meanwhile various States are in the process of passing laws to withhold federal taxes, since the federal government is not representing them in a fair and reasonable manner.

2. What is in the Big Butt-Ugly Bill aka the Big Beautiful Bill that the Senate Passed? (Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder apparently?)

Here's What got in and What got cut from the Big Butt-Ugly Bill

It went from 1000 pages to 940 pages.

In the bill: ( what stayed in the Bill )

On the Medicaid Cuts, what got in and got cut out of the bill:
( Read more... )

What is left out of the bill or was cut:

Public land sales
( what they were trying to do and why it was cut )

Excise tax on wind and solar, State AI provisions (The Senate stripped a provision barring states from regulating artificial intelligence (AI). )

For a more precise and total breakdown? Go HERE - The link is NY Times article via remove pay wall.

This tells you exactly what the Senate removed from the bill, changed, altered and left in and why.

Note they removed everything that wasn't budgetary related and broke the rules.

Example?

Measure to limit court contempt powers

The parliamentarian rejected a measure in the bill that would have made it harder for courts to enforce lawsuits against the Trump administration. The measure targeted preliminary injunctions and temporary restraining orders issued by federal judges against Trump’s executive orders and other directives. MacDonough argued that limiting courts’ ability to hold Trump in contempt violates Senate rules.

Go HERE for complete list of no-gos that can't be in the Bill at all

Note, it's still a controversial bill.

3. Want a way to help either in the US or out of the US?

We The People Defend provides information on how.

It's a non-profit site that provides emails with contact information, and instructions on how to go about contacting Senators, White House, Congress, Etc.

You don't have to do everything or anything at all. There's no pressure. But it helps explain how the law works and how to help change what is going on in a pro-active way.

So far, folks have managed to change a lot of things by doing this, so it is working.

If however, you are too pissed off like myself to rationally call and explain in a calm manner, you might want to hang back for a bit or do something else?

4. [ETA: Folks? Be mindful of my blood pressure and please knock off the defeatist talk or keep it out of my journal. I get we're all worried, scared and angry. But it does nobody any good, including you. And I honestly have enough troubles sleeping as it is. I'm on medication for anxiety. So be mindful and keep it to yourselves?]

Actually, Jay Kuo states all of this better than I can - so I'm reposting his words below:

"Folks, some real talk.
( Read more... )

What he said.

[Hopefully to drag me out of my apathy, if not the brain fog.]

The Good News Report....and as always, good news is often in the eye of the beholder.

1.Appeals Court blocks Louisiana law forcing Ten Commandments displays in classrooms. Separation of church and state is the law of the land. Shoving Christianity in kids' faces through their public schools is still, for now, illegal.

NBC News

Honestly, it's not as if the idiotic Republicans are following the commandments anyhow, why are they insisting on wasting money fighting for them to be taught in public schools?

2. A fundraiser organized to protest Colorado’s 568-day backlog for processing sexual assault forensic exams resulted in a $6,000 award to the state this week to urge faster action.

Denver Post

3. Washington D.C. residents honor Juneteenth with a Jubilee and Freedom Walk on the very path where enslaved people once escaped to freedom.

Washington Post

4.Barrington, Rhode Island : Members of the Town Council vote unanimously to adopt a resolution declaring it a sanctuary town for transgender people and all members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community.

East Bay Rhode Island

5.New York, NY: More than 75% of the city’s municipal vehicles—about 21,500—are now green (hybrid, electric, or running on renewable biofuel).

https://gothamist.com/news/some-positive-climate-news-for-once-nycs-vehicle-fleet-is-75-green

6.Communities in Los Angeles, New York, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Charlotte, San Diego, Boston, Houston, San Antonio, Minneapolis, Worcester, MA, and other cities show up publicly in support of their neighbors facing unjust ICE raids, detainment, and deportation.

7.Four top lawyers leave the Paul Weiss law firm to start their own firm in protest of its leader’s deals to dodge an executive order that would have limited its business.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/more-partners-leave-paul-weiss-join-new-law-firm-2025-06-09/

8.Dementia prevalence among older adults was significantly lower among individuals born more recently (1944-1948) compared to those born earlier (1919-1923), with a more pronounced decline in women, a new study conducted in the US, Europe, and England showed. - SOURCE: This study was led by Xiaoxue Dou, Centre for the Business and Economics of Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2834750#google_vignette

9.Dan Mancina, a blind skateboarder, creates the world’s first adaptive skatepark in Detroit, Michigan.

https://www.goodgoodgood.co/articles/adaptive-skatepark-dan-mancina

10.The EU will provide emergency funds to pro-democracy media outlet Radio Free Europe after the U.S. president cut its grants.

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/05/20/eu-to-provide-55mln-in-emergency-funds-to-help-keep-radio-free-europe-afloat

( the rest of the 49 )

Good night and Good Luck, and in case you didn't find anything good enough to make you smile above?

Here's a picture of some flowers on my walk today to the grocery store.

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. )

Yes, it's that time again - for the weekly Good News Report from the American Resistance and it's Global Allies in the War against Fascism, Cancer, Disease, and Climate Change, or just trying to fight for kindness and general well-being overall.

As always, mileage may vary on what is good news, or good news may well be in the eye of beholder. You can also call it the Hope Report if you prefer.
Whatever floats your boat, as my father used to say.

( the Good News Report )

***

Reading: When Leaders Attack Judges as Enemies, the Global Authoritarian Play Book and How to Stop It

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:

Good news, depending on one's perspective? It also shows how the courts check the executive branch or how the system of checks and balances works.

Prior to going into this? A nice little video about how a "bill" becomes a "law" in the US, which shows how the Legislature and Executive Branch interact and check each other. The US is a democratic Republic with a system of Checks and Balances, it's not a Parliamentary System, although the system did borrow heavily from it.

I'm Only a Bill...via School House Rock.

[For those who don't already know? School House Rock along with the Afterschool Special was ABC's response to the Children's Television Act of the 1970s and 1990s, which required American Broadcasting to provide television shows aimed at educating children and were "child" appropriate. And specifically the creation of advertising executive who decided cartoons would be a cool way to teach kids.
( Read more... )

( I'm Only a Bill..Just a Bill )

And a fun little one about our Checks and Balances known as the 3 Ring Circus, it explains in simple terms what each branch of the US government is responsible for:
( checks and balances )
Both are rather oversimplified explanations. It's more complicated than that, and if we add in the State Legislatures, Executive Branches, and Courts, it gets even more so. There's a reason you can't practice law in the US without passing both the individual State Bar Exam and the Multi-State Bar Exam (Federal). Also not every State recognizes every other State's Bar, since the regulations and laws per state vary.

So, its not just a check and balances between the Executive (enforces the laws), the Legislative (creates the laws), and the Courts (interprets the laws and determines if the newly created laws or their enforcement contradicts the US or State Constitutions and are invalid, and how they should be enforced) - it's also a checks and balances between the States vs. Federal, States vs. States, and States vs. Local, and add to all of that other countries or what is known as International Law, and International Trade and Treaties. This type of law is practiced and taught under Administrative Law (which has various regulations and policies in place to enforce the laws), and Constitutional Law, also Civil Law, Criminal Law, and Procedural Law.

Hopefully the above will give anyone who wasn't taught all of this in law school or civics courses or isn't a legal professional working with administrative laws and regulations daily - a simplified road map towards understanding what is currently happening? (shrugs)

Now, for the good news, or a demonstration of how all of this is actually working to beat back fascism and uphold our civil rights in a peaceful and non-violent manner. [As always, mileage may vary on whether this is good news and it's in the eye of the beholder.]

1.A federal court temporarily blocks the president’s unconstitutional executive order attempting to require proof of citizenship to register to vote.

https://www.votebeat.org/2025/04/24/trump-executive-order-elections-preliminary-injunction/

2. Mohsen Mahdawi, a college student arrested by ICE following his citizenship interview, is released from detention by order of a federal court while his immigration case proceeds.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/lawyers-columbia-student-detained-ice-seek-release-case/story?id=121317902

3.19 states and Washington, DC sue the Dept. of Health and Human Services and its leadership over the unconstitutional dismantling of various federal programs vital to Americans’ health.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/05/health/states-sue-trump-administration-hhs-rfk

4.A U.S. district court rules that the presidential administration cannot use an 18th-century wartime law to deport people from Venezuela living in the U.S. ( explanation of what is happening here )

5.Colorado passes a bill to uphold public school students’ access to diverse reading materials.

https://coloradonewsline.com/briefs/colorado-limit-school-library-book-bans/

( the rest - not just court cases )

"Since day one of the new administration, We The People have fought in the courts, legislatures, and the streets to defend our civil rights against any attack:
( Read more... )

As stated earlier in this post - the US does have things already in place and historically embedded over 200 years, that enable us to fight back and to do so peacefully.

Another School House Rock Ditty... No More Kings - which I think explains the American character rather well, even if it leaves a lot out, unfortunately.

Also these:

* Electoral College - Send Your Vote to College

* The Constitution - the Preamble

* Declaration of Independence - Fireworks

And finally, a new protest song by Joan Baez and Janis Ian:

Watch on YouTube

[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 feel battered by the news. To date, I've sent cards, subscribed to The Atlantic, New York Magazine, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair (Vanity Fair is by the way the cheapest at $18 a year (it's a special deal), after that it is $30 dollars a year, includes unlimited digital, print, and a tote bag. Everybody gives out tote bags. I now have more tote bags than I know what to do with. Also given to various charitable and non-profit organizations.

So finally a little good news from my sources on other social media platforms that you may not have access to.

As always, the good news may well be in the eye of the beholder, your mileage may vary on some of it.

Good news from the American Resistance and its Global Allies

1. Australia and Canada elected liberal Prime Ministers. ( Read more... )

https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/03/australia/australia-election-results-albanese-dutton-intl-hnk?cid=ios_app

***

Trump’s administration is facing more than 200 lawsuits over his immigration policies, his ill-advised tariffs, his revenge against law firms, his attempts to shut down government agencies, and many more actions. Trump appears to be in deep denial. [Honestly, sometimes I think the man is either a frustrated litigator or just likes to be sued? At least we are winning most of them.]

An unprecedented in history legal blitz against the Trump Administration (No President in the History of the US has faced this many lawsuits within their first 100 days.)

The below includes items like political rallies and actors speaking out against the Doofus politically. I didn't number them, because it would require renumbering and that leads to all sorts of issues.

( The Resistance wins lots of legal cases against the Trump Administration, along with a lot of lawsuits and court cases being filed )

Non-Court and Non-Political Related Good News

11. The Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony honored the “Six Triple Eight,” an all-Black, predominantly female unit of the Women's Army Corps (WAC) during World War II.

( Read more... )

Learn More About the 6-Triple 8 Here

12.In the “groundbreaking” results of an immunotherapy clinical trial, most cancer patients saw their tumors disappear.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/27/health/cancer-immunotherapy-solid-tumors.html?unlocked_article_code=1.C08.XEHY.yLYIErw8VKKE&smid=url-share&ck_subscriber_id=2454664808

13. Dozens of miniature horses galloped for a good cause in New Zealand - their own.
( Read more... )

https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2025/apr/23/great-northern-gallop-new-zealand-miniature-horses-race-in-pictures?ck_subscriber_id=2454664808

14.“A City in a Park”: Chattanooga, Tennessee, Is North America’s First National Park City.

( Read more... )

https://nicenews.com/environment/chattanooga-tennessee-first-national-park-city-north-america/

( the rest regarding environmental, the arts, animals, science, etc.. )

I hope you found something in there to smile about? If not, here's a pretty tree?

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.

As always this may depend on your point of view or your mileage may vary. I'm getting the news via verified social justice advocates on FB, I have several that I follow.

On a purely personal note? I wrenched my back last night struggling with IBS issues in the middle of the night. So was up for about two hours dealing with that. Went to work at 6:50 am, and for the most part was okay - outside of getting on and off the subway, on and off the toilet, and up and down from my chair. I had a heat pad on my back throughout most of the day. And alas, I'm working off of 4 hours of sleep. So suffice it to say? I am cranky. Proceed with caution. I'm not my best self when I'm cranky.

1. 12 states sue the Trump administration claiming tariffs cause illegal tax hikes. CNN and AP News Wire. Actually it's Thirteen, California is suing too. Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York and Vermont are the others. I have a feeling more will join. (I'm right: "Gov. Gavin Newsom and CA state Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the Trump administration over Trump's sweeping tariffs, arguing that it was illegal for him to use emergency powers to impose them." Newsom gave everyone else the idea, and when New York found out, they jumped on board immediately. Go Here [This is probably what happened? Newsom came up with the idea, and the other State Governor's and Attorney Generals - thought, wait? We can do that? Yes, we can! Let's do that!]

2. A new satellite, launched in March 2025, will detect and monitor wildfires globally, providing near-real-time data to improve wildfire response and management. Go HERE

On the same link:

3. Last month, world leaders came together at a U.N. conference in Rome and finally opened their wallets. ( Read more... )

4. It may still be foggy in London Town, but that fog is now a lot cleaner. A study found that vehicle emissions in London have dropped 27% since a 2023 expansion of a clean air program that charges the most polluting vehicles. ( Read more... )

5. The U.S. power grid added 50 gigawatts of solar energy in 2024. That's more energy added in a single year from any source in more than two decades. ( Read more... ) [On a personal note - I switched to Clean Energy about ten years ago, as did many New Yorkers. We have both Wind and Solar available. Mine is 100% wind, although my building is equipped with Solar.]

6. A devastating Tesla earnings report came out Tuesday… Net income fell 71%. Total revenue slid 9% from $21.3 billion a year earlier.
Tesla stock down 41% so far in 2025, suffered their worst quarterly drop since 2022.[Although from what I've seen, the stock seems to go up and down as does Amazon's, but it's been mainly going down.]

7. Speaking of stocks? I figured out why the "Trump's" preferred Bitcoin went down yesterday. Go Here and HERE.The Swiss National Bank has rejected holding bitcoin reserves, citing concerns over cryptocurrency market liquidity and volatility. ( Read more... )

8.Yellowstone’s bison herds reunite into a single group for the first time in a century due to successful conservation efforts. Go HERE

9.In 2024, global renewable energy capacity grew by 50%, the fastest rate in two decades. Go HERE

10.At Marjorie Taylor Greene's town hall, a protestor with a “Jail 4 Insider Traders” sign was removed. [People are protesting her at least. Although whether this is good news or not...]

( the rest )

Okay off to bed.

There's some hope in all of this. Also talking to mother tonight, who is a news junkie, fascism has been pushed back in various countries because of Trump. Canada which was on the verge of electing an ultra-conservative leader, and fascist, flipped the other way. As has Australia, and Great Britain. Also, France.

China denies being in any negotiations with Trump and wishes he'd stop lying about it. Meanwhile other countries are beginning to do trade negotiations with China which hadn't previously.

Also ...in the wake of Judge Duggan fighting back on the immigration issue?
"An immigration or administrative warrant is *not* a judicial warrant. You are not obliged to obey it. Indeed, you can let the person out the back door." Go HERE

And..for your weekend reading pleasure: Non-Violent Resistence Beats Violent Force in Effecting Social Political Change (I strongly believe this is true. Violence only results in more Violence. No good comes from it. All you are doing is giving the enemy what they want.)

Profile

shadowkat

Syndicate

Page Summary

Losing hope with world events? A little Good News..
Return of Good News Report...
Environmental Good News Report from Around the Globe
The "very" belated return of the Good News Report...
The Return of the Weekly Good News Report
The Weekly Good News Report from the American Resistance & Its Global Allies - Tuesday July 22
The Weekly Good News Report from the American Resistance & It's Global Allies..
Grumble Grumble...here's some good news, and a flower?
Anybody else need a Little Good News?
Believe it or not? There's some good news happening
Everything you wanted to know about the Big Ugly Bill and were afraid to ask?
Sigh...Finally Some Good News
No Kings Day...2025
Anyone ready for some good news? Because, here's the Weekly Good News Report
The Weekly Good News Report from the American Resistance & It's Global Allies
Good News Report - We are One in a Million Strong
The Return of the Good News Report
Anyone need a little Good News?
Anyone want some good news?
Some good news ...outside of it being Friday...

Style Credit

Style: Sea and Salt for Nouveau Oleanders by branchandroot
Resources: OpenClipart and Oceanside Twilight

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated Dec. 24th, 2025 09:25 am

Spontaneous Musings

from a curious soul

Entries tagged with links

Losing hope with world events? A little Good News..

Return of Good News Report...

Environmental Good News Report from Around the Globe

The "very" belated return of the Good News Report...

The Return of the Weekly Good News Report

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

The Weekly Good News Report from the American Resistance & It's Global Allies..

Grumble Grumble...here's some good news, and a flower?

Anybody else need a Little Good News?

Believe it or not? There's some good news happening

Everything you wanted to know about the Big Ugly Bill and were afraid to ask?

Sigh...Finally Some Good News

No Kings Day...2025

Anyone ready for some good news? Because, here's the Weekly Good News Report

The Weekly Good News Report from the American Resistance & It's Global Allies

Good News Report - We are One in a Million Strong

The Return of the Good News Report

Anyone need a little Good News?

Anyone want some good news?

Some good news ...outside of it being Friday...

Profile

Syndicate

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags