(C) Daily Kos
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Good News Roundup for Tuesday, October 11, 2022 [1]
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Date: 2022-10-11
Other good political news
Swing State Voters Convinced to Vote for Democrats When Told of GOP Plans to Gut Social Programs to Fund Tax Breaks for the Wealthy
Keep spreading the word!!
The claim that Republican tax cuts help Americans is just as unbelievable as the claim that Elon’s Cybertruck can “serve briefly as a boat.” Republicans are taking a leaf out of Ol’ Elon’s book and trying to gaslight Americans into believing that tax cuts for the wealthy are good for everyone. A new survey from Data for Progress and Priorities USA reveals that they aren’t having it! Democratic messages on Social Security, healthcare, and taxes are seen as the most convincing reasons to vote for Democrats over Republicans in the midterm elections. Among all likely swing state voters, the most convincing message details the Republican plan to cut Social Security and Medicare in order to give tax breaks to the wealthy, just like they did in 2017.
There’s new optimism the $300 monthly child tax credit checks can be renewed — but the relief may look different
Fingers crossed that the Dems can get this passed without work requirements. Work requirements and means testing are the last policy refuges of conservatives who believe that people are poor by choice. A hateful political philosophy.
From CNBC:
The child tax credit was temporarily expanded through the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021. The existing credit of $2,000 per child under age 17 was increased to $3,600 per child under 6 and $3,000 per child ages 6 through 17. ✂️ Democrats had hoped to renew the more generous credit this year. But key legislation they hoped to pass through a one-party majority — Build Back Better — fell apart. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia opposed renewing the payments without additional work requirements. Now, Democrats and advocates are hoping to get one more go at renewing the enhanced child tax credit this year. “I feel better about it than I have at any point in 2022,” said Adam Ruben, campaign director at the Economic Security Project, an advocacy organization that promotes extending economic power to all. A number of signs are pointing to new momentum, according to Ruben. ✂️ Recently released Census data shows the credit expansion helped reduce child poverty by more than 40%. That prompted Democratic lawmakers such as Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Cory Booker of New Jersey to call for extending the enhanced credit before year-end. ✂️ Work requirements may be a sticking point in the negotiations between the parties. Republican Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah and Marco Rubio of Florida have each put forward proposals that come with income rules. The full child tax credit benefit per Romney’s plan would be available to families who meet a $10,000 earnings threshold. Rubio’s bill makes it so the credit cannot exceed a family’s payroll and income tax liability.
”Dads on the Doors”
WineRev published a DKos diary about this wonderful ad on October 4th, and I thought it deserved to be repeated. Thanks, Rev!!
x YouTube Video
🍿 Repugnant Republicans Rushing toward Ruin 🍿
Trump lawyer Christina Bobb speaks to federal investigators in Mar-a-Lago case
🎩 to hpg for publishing a tweet about this in last night’s Evening Shade.
From NBC News:
Christina Bobb, the attorney who signed a letter certifying that all sensitive records in former President Donald Trump's possession had been returned to the government, spoke to federal investigators Friday and named two other Trump attorneys involved with the case, according to three sources familiar with the matter. The certification statement, signed June 3 by Bobb, indicated that Trump was in compliance with a May grand jury subpoena and no longer had possession of a host of documents with classification markings at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, according to the three sources who do not want to comment publicly because of the sensitive nature of the sprawling federal investigation. ✂️ Bobb, who was Trump’s custodian of record at the time, did not draft the statement, according to the three sources who do not want to comment publicly because of the sensitive nature of the sprawling federal investigation. Instead, Trump’s lead lawyer in the case at the time, Evan Corcoran, drafted it and told her to sign it, Bobb told investigators according to the sources. ✂️ Before Bobb signed the document, she insisted it be rewritten with a disclaimer that said she was certifying Trump had no more records “based upon the information that has been provided to me,” the sources said of what she told investigators. Bobb identified the person who gave her that “information” as Corcoran, the sources said.
Donald Trump’s base is out of gas
🎩 to T Maysle for linking to this article in a comment in Sunday’s Evening Shade:
From Bill Palmer, The Palmer Report:
On Saturday, Donald Trump gave a speech at a rally which was fairly poorly attended, given that this is the height of the 2022 election cycle. That same day Trump supporters held what was supposed to be a massive rally of their own, but it reportedly only had 27 attendees. That’s not a typo; twenty-seven people. Trump’s supporters barely turn out for his speeches anymore, and don’t turn out at all for their own planned events if Trump isn’t personally attending. They’re out of gas. Their spirit is broken. They’re done. Trump’s supporters won’t do anything when he’s arrested. Individual disturbed people might act on their own when Trump is arrested, and that’ll be a job for law enforcement. But the notion of some kind of organized… well, anything organized, just isn’t in the cards. These are the kinds of bully-cowards who were only willing to storm the Capitol on January 6th because they knew Trump had control of federal law enforcement and could run interference for them. These are the kinds of losers who hide under their desks when the odds aren’t artificially stacked in their favor. It’s the latest reminder that for all of the near-constant hype that the entire mainstream media has given Trump’s base over the past seven years, that base has never particularly been relevant at any point. They’re not why he won in 2016. They couldn’t save him in 2020. They’re too busy pouting to turn out for him or his candidates in 2022. There’s nothing they can do to keep him from going to prison, or help him with his 2024 pipe dream.
New Florida records raise more questions about DeSantis’s migrant flights
From The Tallahassee Democrat:
When Gov. Ron DeSantis sent nearly 50 migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, last month, it appears to have gone against the program guidelines laid out in its bidding process, according to records obtained by the USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida. The program was designed “to relocate out of the State of Florida foreign nationals who are not lawfully present in the United States,” according to the documents released by the governor's office Friday evening after a public records request. The records include a “request for quotes” document that the state used to locate bidding companies to take on the program. It too states that the unauthorized immigrants transported should be in Florida. ✂️ The price tag for the Massachusetts flights was initially put at $615,000, but the latest state records show that Florida paid another $950,000 to the Vertol Systems Company, a Destin, Fla.-based aviation firm, bringing the total spent by taxpayers so far to more than $1.5 million.
Alabama GOP chairman used fake voter ID in last couple of elections
I would hate for anyone to miss this gem of sleaziness from last week, so here it is again.
By Walter Einenkel on DKos:
Being the Alabama GOP chairman, Wahl is a big supporter of voter ID laws. It is this fact that made a story about retired TVA supervisor at a power plant, Clyde Martin—who had been fired from being a volunteer poll worker—gain traction. Martin was relieved of his duties shortly after asking Wahl and his family to present their proper voter identifications. In Alabama, a proper ID means federally issued or state-issued identification like a passport, driver’s license, military ID, or college student ID. Wahl’s excuse at the time was that he and his family have a religious exemption. “Amish, Mennonites, and other Anabaptists are well known for their concerns about pictures or the way pictures are used. ....” Of course, according to MSN, “Wahl regularly posts his own photos on social media, including at least one photo of himself shortly after he voted.” More importantly, Martin says that the issue with Wahl wasn’t that he didn’t show a photo ID. The issue was that the photo ID he showed the poll worker was some made-up badge. It gets better. According to a brand new report from AL.com, this “ID” Wahl presented to Martin at the polls was one the Alabama Republican Party chairman has used the “last few times” he has been at the polls. According to reports, the identification badge with a barcode and a picture of Wahl claims to show Wahl is “a media representative for State Auditor Jim Zeigler.” Here’s the twist! The Alabama Department of Finance, the department that issues identifications for Ziegler, told Al.com they a) never issued one to Wahl, and b) don’t have Wahl on any of their previous rolls of employees. This fact has led Wahl to tell reporters that he created this identification card himself! But, no worries, this very not legal not official identification card—the one Wahl tried to pass off as a valid voter identification card—was made with “Ziegler’s permission.” Would you like to know how little of a shit election law gives about Wahl’s fake identification? Secretary of State John Merrill told Al.com that it “does not meet the standard of any voter ID requirements listed under 17-9-30.”
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Good news from my corner of the world
Seen in my neighborhood
Some hopeful signs for the midterms!
A trash can in my local park. Rosy approves!
An encouraging message written in chalk on a sidewalk near where I live
Program that pays people experiencing homelessness to pick up trash in Portland proves successful
I hope this program keeps running and spreads further.
From KGW:
The city of Portland and local nonprofit Trash for Peace launched a pilot program in February of last year to assist people experiencing homelessness. The program is Ground Score Association and it pays people to pick up trash in Portland for $20 an hour and has proven to be successful. "I didn’t want to have to go beg people for help or ask people for help," explained Angela McGuire. "So it was really hard for me at that point I was hitting rock bottom." That’s when McGuire first heard about the work program that involves picking up trash in different parts of Portland. McGuire meets up with her crew about twice a week. They gear up for the day equipped with trash bags, litter grabbers and more before they get to work. "We pick up furniture, seats out of cars, shopping carts, you name it, it’s out here," said McGuire. ✂️ People work in coordinated shifts to pick up trash in neighborhoods across Portland. They focus on public pathways near or around homeless camps and campers can pick up shifts to help clean up the area. ✂️ Since its launch, the city of Portland has spent approximately $445,000 on the program. It's run by the city's Homeless and Urban Camping Impact Reduction Program. Staff have requested the city council approve funds to keep the program running through the next fiscal year.
Tiny Oregon town hosts 1st wind-solar-battery ‘hybrid’ plant
When the headline describes the town, Lexington OR, as “tiny,” they mean it. According to the 2020 census, the population is 238.
From AP:
A renewable energy plant in Oregon that combines solar power, wind power and massive batteries to store the energy generated there officially opened Wednesday as the first utility-scale plant of its kind in North America. The project, which can generate enough electricity to power a small city at maximum output, addresses a key challenge facing the utility industry as the U.S. transitions away from fossil fuels and increasingly turns to solar and wind farms for power. Wind and solar are clean sources of power, but utilities have been forced to fill in gaps when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining with fossil fuels like coal or natural gas. At the Oregon plant, massive lithium batteries store up to 120 megawatt-hours of power generated by the 300-megawatt wind farms and 50-megawatt solar farm so it can be released to the electric grid on demand. At maximum output, the facility can produce more than half of the power that was generated by Oregon’s last coal plant, which was demolished earlier this month. ...The Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility in Lexington, Oregon, ...is the first in the U.S. to combine integrated wind, solar and battery storage at such a large scale in one location, giving it even more flexibility to generate continuous output without relying on fossil fuels to fill in the gaps.
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Good news from around the nation
DOJ reports that violent crime is declining
Of course, you’d never know it from RW talking points parroted by the media. The fact is that sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault declined from 26.1 incidents per 100 people in 2012 to 16.5 incidents per 1,000 people in 2021.
Here’s a graph, 🎩 to Future Crunch, who commented “Wouldn't it be nice if this data from Department of Justice appeared in any news outlet other than this one?”
California law forces most companies to provide salary info in job ads
This kind of transparency is long overdue.
From The Washington Post:
California companies with more than 15 employees will be required to list salary ranges for jobs and make that information available to existing employees thanks to a new law signed last week by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). The law represents a major win in the growing push for pay transparency, which experts say is a critical lever for countering the wage gap. In California, women lose $87 billion to the pay gap each year, according to Newsom’s office. ✂️ Peter Bamberger, scholar with the Academy of Management and a professor in the Coller School of Management at Tel Aviv University, said that the law represents “the strongest legislative effort for pay transparency in the U.S. to date. For employees, this legislation takes a good part of the guessing game out of pay negotiations and levels the playing field in such negotiations,” Bamberger said, noting that it is similar to the type of pay transparency regulations seen in much of the European Union. Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Nevada, Rhode Island and Washington have enacted some form of pay transparency laws. New York City has a law taking effect Nov. 1, while New York state’s law is awaiting the governor’s signature. But while other state measures tend to require posting salary ranges in ads, only California’s law gives existing employees the ability to access the same information
How Hawaii brought its population of girls in prison to zero
Addressing trauma rather than meting out punishment — what a concept!
From NBC News:
Hawaii reached the milestone earlier this year of having no girls in its only youth correctional facility — a first in state history, officials say. It was a jubilant moment for the facility’s administrator, Mark Patterson, who has worked to reduce the youth prison population for nearly eight years.✂️ For Patterson, who came to the youth facility after running Hawaii’s Women’s Community Correctional Center, reducing the girls population required decreasing the number of young people put on probation, as violators often got sent to his facility. It also meant addressing the fact that they were the “most vulnerable of the high-risk” and often had suffered heavy trauma related to things like sexual exploitation, abuse at home or exposure to drug addiction, he said.“When I talk about zero girls in the system, it’s because it was a conscious effort to focus on a particular profile of girls in our systems,” Patterson said. Patterson and other state officials and juvenile justice reform advocates set out to keep at-risk youth from engaging in behaviors that get them sent into the system in the first place, an effort that, when applied broadly, helped reduce overall female probation sentences by more than two-thirds from 2014 to 2021, according to the state Department of the Attorney General. Experts say Hawaii can be a model for other states on how to institute alternatives to the more traditional punitive models of justice for girls and boys. ✂️ With Project Kealahou, Hawaiian for "the new pathway," the state’s Department of Health aimed to address prevalent trauma in “at-risk” girls through community-based services like peer mentoring and therapeutic intervention focused on repairing family relationships. The six-year, federally funded effort was modeled on an earlier program, Girl’s Court, that sought to address the needs of at-risk girls and juvenile offenders by providing them with a supportive environment and positive role models, including in recreational settings. Project Kealahou also used youth development programs to offer activities, like hula dance groups and paddling classes, as part of its “trauma-informed care” — a model that recognizes the impact that trauma has had on incarcerated youth and how coping mechanisms and criminal activity often intersect.
Surprising good news from the NYTimes
The NYTimes Book Review, that is. Gnusie Mrmuni12 brought this to our attention in a diary last Tuesday — The New York Times Book Review took on a spectacularly progressive veneer this week — and it’s so cool I just had to repeat it today:
I wonder how many Kossacks and other progressives noticed what happened in the non-fiction section of the New York Times Book review this week: --8 of the 10 books on the list were on for the very first time; --Many of the new books on the list were either moderately or spectacularly progressive in their underpinnings; and --NONE of the new eight titles had a right-wing lean—e.g., no new books by Bill O’Reilly and his buddies. --My last point before citing many of the terrific titles on the brand new list is that it clearly is a sign as to where the more intellectual aspects of our society are headed—miles and miles away from MAGATism and the hard right. In my view, this is an extraordinarily important signal. And, I do not believe that it ever happened before in the annals of the Times Book review. ✂️ ...the fact that 8 new books showed up as Best Sellers at once, and none of them support the wacko, hard-right Trumpist agenda, is a pretty big deal—especially this close to the election.
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Good news from around the world
🎩 to kos for this tweet from his Ukraine Update this morning:
x Ukraine’s spirit is unbreakable.
Residents of Kyiv sing in a metro station during an air raid alert. pic.twitter.com/xLd8nPK7T4 — Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) October 10, 2022
Hundreds of people took part in the Warsaw march to save animals from the war in Ukraine
If you’d like to pitch in to help UA Animals rescue more animals, here’s their link on Patreon: www.patreon.com/...
From CableFreeTV:
Hundreds of people took part in Warsaw on Saturday in the march to save animals from the war in Ukraine, organized by the NGO UAnimals and Euromaidan-Warsaw. At the outset of the action, organizers talked about the crimes committed by Russians in Ukraine against animals, and later a procession took place in the center of the Polish capital in support of animals suffering from Russian aggression, a Ukrinform correspondent reported. Many came to the event with their pets. During the event, the participants unfurled Ukrainian and Polish flags, as well as numerous posters. In particular, the participants of the action had posters with the inscriptions “Protection of the weak is the cause of the strong”, “Save animals in Ukraine”, “More than 20 thousand dolphins died in the Black Sea as a result of the aggression of the Russians”, “1 million pets were killed during the war”, “Russia kills all living creatures”, “Russia killed my pets in Mariupol”, etc. ✂️ [Operations Director and co-founder of UAnimals Olga Chevganyuk] noted that UAnimals’ database contains thousands of shelters large and small, and many caring people who are now helping distressed animals during a very difficult time. She said that in more than six months, with the help of the organization, about 200,000 animals were rescued, fed, evacuated and given shelter.
Poland’s Gain, Ukraine’s Loss: A Hot Job Market Welcomes Refugees
The article, which fair use prevents me from quoting in more detail, also makes it clear that although this is good news for the Ukrainian refugees and good news regarding Poland’s willingness to welcome them, the loss of so many families could potentially damage Ukraine’s future economy.
From Bloomberg, via Future Crunch:
Whether [displaced Ukrainian] families...find jobs, return home, or move on carries enormous stakes for Poland. It rose out of communist-era poverty to achieve one of the highest living standards in Eastern Europe. Today the country has a labor shortage and an aging population. Its jobless rate in May was only 2.7%, the second-lowest in the European Union after the Czech Republic. As cruel as it is, the war in Ukraine could turbocharge Poland’s $670 billion economy. The country is accommodating more than 2 million refugees, an astonishing number for a nation of 38 million. It’s as if the entire city of Houston suddenly pulled up stakes and drove to California. In the first weeks of the war, the population of Warsaw alone swelled by more than 15%. And Poland’s government , as well as its employers, want as many people as possible to stay for good. The newcomers have sought-after skills. ✂️ Researchers and business groups estimate that 20% to 50% of the Ukrainian refugees could remain after the war. That would amount to as many as 1 million people, equal to the number of Ukrainians who resettled in Poland in the eight years before the war. ✂️ The latest Pew Research Center survey, conducted from March 25 to May 5, showed that 8 in 10 Poles now support taking refugees from countries where people are fleeing violence and war, up from 49% in 2018.
Finland Leader’s Solution for Ending the War in Ukraine Goes Viral
Sanna Marin telling it like it is.
From Daily Beast:
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin Finland’s uber-cool Prime Minister Sanna Marin was once again going viral on Friday, this time for a mic-drop moment about Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine. Marin, 36, was asked by a reporter for her thoughts on President Joe Biden’s comments about trying to find Putin’s “off-ramp” to avoid continuing along a road toward nuclear armageddon. Marin asked for clarification of the term “off-ramp,” to which the reporter explained: “A way out of the conflict.” “The way out of the conflict is for Russia to leave Ukraine,” Marin answered. “That’s the way out of the conflict.” She then laughed and walked away. [Here’s a video link (I can’t embed it): youtube.com/...]
Happy Birthday, Vlad!
🎩 to kos, who included this gem in his Ukraine Update on Friday:
Comment on Iran by a brilliant artist
Marco Melgrati is a freelance illustrator who shows his work on Instagram. If you would like to purchase a print of this stunning image, here’s a link: society6.com/...
Highlighted in a newsletter from Onward Oregon:
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Good news in medicine
Holy Mackerel! Fish Really Is Brain Food – Even if You Only Eat a Small Amount
From Good News Network:
Could eating salmon, cod, tuna, herring, or sardines keep your brain healthy and your thinking agile in middle age? This study says emphatically, YES. Eating cold-water fish and other sources of omega-3 fatty acids may preserve brain health and enhance cognition in middle age, according to new evidence from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. In fact, healthy volunteers whose red blood cells contained higher concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids were found to have better brain structure and cognitive function than others who were aged 40-60. Studies have looked at this association in older senior citizen populations, but this study seems to show that, even at younger ages, if you have a diet that includes some omega-3 fatty acids, you are already protecting your brain for most of the indicators of brain aging that we see at middle age, says Claudia Satizabal, PhD, assistant professor with the Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases at UT Health. Satizabal is the lead author of the study. Volunteers’ average age was 46. The team looked at the relation of red blood cell omega-3 fatty acid concentrations with MRI and cognitive markers of brain aging. Researchers also studied the effect of omega-3 red blood cell concentrations in volunteers who carried APOE4, a genetic variation linked to higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease. The study of 2,183 dementia- and stroke-free participants found that higher omega-3 index was associated with larger hippocampal volumes. The hippocampus, a structure in the brain, plays a major role in learning and memory. Consuming more omega-3s was also associated with better abstract reasoning, or the ability to understand complex concepts using logical thinking.
Indigenous midwifery center aims to revitalize birth practices in Pacific Northwest
From Oregon Public Broadcasting:
Pregnancy-related traumas can be not only physical, emotional and spiritual, but also intergenerational, particularly for Indigenous people who have endured a history of colonization, genocide, assimilation and forced sterilization. Thanks to the efforts and programs of the Center for Indigenous Midwifery, however, Native families and birthing people in the Pacific Northwest have access to culturally centered care and wellness, which promotes healing and community support. The center, a nonprofit based in Olympia, Washington, focuses on culturally specific practices for pregnancy and birth. Since its founding in 2016, it has provided midwifery care and birth keeper training services at no cost to participants. In 2021 alone, the center hosted more than 100 events and served thousands of people, from families to doulas, through a variety of trainings, support circles and workshops, both in-person and via Zoom. Rhonda Lee Grantham, an Indigenous midwife and herbalist, founded CFIM to strengthen and reclaim care for tribal communities while restoring traditions. Previously, she spent decades as a midwife and doula, including stints with a prison doula project and with a nonprofit that worked with teen moms, which is where she first saw the need for more Indigenous birth keepers and services. “My goal has been to help people understand that birth is a sacred ceremony,” Lee Grantham, an enrolled citizen of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, said. “It is not just a physical experience; it’s a time for us to begin our child’s life in a good way, to honor and celebrate them but to also begin the healing for this generation.”
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Good news in science
Ukraine’s Ongoing Tragedy Inspires Teenage Inventor To Locate Landmines
From Science Friday:
Igor Kymenko Igor Klymenko is a 17-year-old inventor from Ukraine, and he recently won the Chegg.org Global Student Prize—a $100,000 award given to a young change-maker. Klymenko won it for his invention, the Quadcopter Mines Detector, which is designed to locate underground landmines. The issue of unexploded landmines cannot be understated—some estimates show there could be about 100 million of them scattered across the globe. Igor’s winning drone Klymenko is a student at both the University of Alberta in Canada and the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in Ukraine. He joined Ira [Flatow] [on September 23rd] to talk about the Quadcopter Mines Detector, and how he’s trying to help his home country, Ukraine, through engineering.
Chicago scientists are testing an unhackable quantum internet in their basement closet
From The Washington Post:
The secret to a more secure and powerful internet — one potentially impossible to hack — might be residing in a basement closet seemingly suited for brooms and mops. Laser heads, bottom, and laser controllers, top, at the quantum computing lab at the University of Chicago’s Eckhardt Research Center. The 3-foot-wide cubby, in the bowels of a University of Chicago laboratory, contains a slim rack of hardware discreetly firing quantum particles into a fiber-optic network. The goal: to use nature’s smallest objects to share information under encryption that cannot be broken — and eventually to connect a network of quantum computers capable of herculean calculations. The modest trappings of Equipment Closet LL211A belie the importance of a project at the forefront of one of the world’s hottest technology competitions. The United States, China and others are vying to harness the bizarre properties of quantum particles to process information in powerful new ways — technology that could confer major economic and national-security benefits to the countries that dominate it. ✂️ The closet hardware connects to a 124-mile fiber-optic network running from the university’s campus on Chicago’s South Side to two federally funded labs in the western suburbs that are collaborating on the research — Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The team is using photons — which are quantum particles of light — to dispatch encryption keys through the network, to see how well they travel through fibers that pass under highways, bridges and toll booths. Quantum particles are extremely delicate and have the propensity to malfunction at the slightest disturbance, such as a vibration or temperature change, so sending them over long, real-world distances is tricky.
Breakthrough Means Polyethylene Bags and Jugs Can Finally be Upcycled to Solve Several Problems at Once
The idea that the propylene harvested from this process might be used to make more difficult-to-recycle plastic products like single-use bags is definitely a downside to this otherwise encouraging piece of news. It would be good if the propylene were used for longer-lasting items like furniture and carpets.
From Good News Network:
Polyethylene plastics are used to make plastic bags, shampoo bottles, and many products that are extremely difficult to recycle. In fact, only 14 percent of all polyethylene plastic are currently able to be recycled—and, then, only for certain products such as garden furniture. They make up about one-third of the entire plastics market worldwide—all manufactured using massive amounts of fossil fuels. But this may be changing thanks to scientists at the University of California, Berkeley in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. They have found a way to break the sturdy polymers into the three-carbon molecule called propylene—a valuable molecule that can then be used to make new plastics, including polypropylene, which is used in ropes, twine, tape, carpets, upholstery, clothing, and camping equipment. Not only that, the discovery will allow them to do it with very minimal fossil fuels. “You can’t take a plastic bag and then make another plastic bag out of it with the same properties,” said John Hartwig, UC Berkeley Chair in Organic Chemistry. “But if you can take that polymer bag back to its monomers, break it down into small pieces and repolymerize it, then instead of pulling more carbon out of the ground, you use that as your carbon source to make other things — for example, polypropylene.”
Wax Worm Saliva Is the Unlikely Hero of Fighting Plastic Waste
One of the many things I love about this story is how random the discovery was. I’m always intrigued by the question of how scientists come up with surprising breakthroughs — this one is truly amazing.
From The Smithsonian Magazine:
In a study published [last] Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, researchers discovered that enzymes in the saliva of wax worms can readily degrade polyethylene, a common form of plastic used in bags and other packaging materials. Wax worms, or moth larvae that live in the honeycombs of beehives, have two enzymes in their saliva that break down the plastic at room temperature within just a few hours, according to the study. The initial discovery came about as an accident in 2017, when Federica Bertocchini, a study author and amateur beekeeper, was tending to her hives. “My beehives were plagued with wax worms, so I started cleaning them, putting the worms in a plastic bag,” Bertocchini, a molecular biologist at the Center for Biological Research in Spain, tells The Guardian’s Damian Carrington. “After a while, I noticed lots of holes, and we found it wasn’t only chewing—it was [chemical breakdown]. So that was the beginning of the story.” Building on that realization, the new study pins down what researchers didn’t understand before: how exactly the insects accomplish this feat. The key was in the wax worms’ saliva. Their enzymes, or proteins that speed chemical reactions, allowed the insects to chemically break down the polyethylene. ✂️ The finding could...be applied to large plastic waste management plants as well as contribute to the development of at-home kits that allow people to recycle their own plastic waste, Bertocchini tells BBC News’ Matt McGrath. Still, using wax worms to recycle plastic at scale has some drawbacks. For one, billions of plastic-metabolizing insects would release carbon dioxide, per Reuters. Study co-author Clemente Fernandez Arias, an ecologist and mathematician at the Spanish National Research Council, tells the Guardian that more research needs to be done to develop the discovery into a tangible way to combat plastic pollution.
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Good news for the environment
Renewables met 100% of the rise in global electricity demand in the first half of 2022
From Electrek:
Renewables met all of the rise in global electricity demand in the first half of 2022, preventing any growth in coal and gas generation, according to a new report published by London-based energy think tank Ember. The rise in wind and solar generation met over 75% of the demand growth in the first half of 2022, while hydro met the remainder, preventing a possible 4% increase in fossil-fuel generation and avoiding $40 billion in fuel costs and 230 Mt CO2 in emissions. Malgorzata Wiatros-Motyka, senior analyst at Ember, said: Wind and solar are proving themselves during the energy crisis. The first step to ending the grip of expensive and polluting fossil fuels is to build enough clean power to meet the world’s growing appetite for electricity. The report analyzes electricity data from 75 countries representing 90% of global electricity demand. It compares the first six months of 2022 to the first half of 2021 to show how the electricity transition has progressed. The report finds that global electricity demand grew by 389 terawatt hours (TWh) in the first half of 2022. Renewables – wind, solar, and hydro – increased by 416 TWh, slightly exceeding the rise in electricity demand.
The Climate Economy Is About to Explode
From The Atlantic:
Late last month, analysts at the investment bank Credit Suisse published a research note about America’s new climate law that went nearly unnoticed. The Inflation Reduction Act, the bank argued, is even more important than has been recognized so far: The IRA will “will have a profound effect across industries in the next decade and beyond” and could ultimately shape the direction of the American economy, the bank said. The report shows how even after the bonanza of climate-bill coverage earlier this year, we’re still only beginning to understand how the law works and what it might mean for the economy. The report made a few broad points in particular that are worth attending to: First, the IRA might spend twice as much as Congress thinks. Many of the IRA’s most important provisions, such as its incentives for electric vehicles and zero-carbon electricity, are “uncapped” tax credits. That means that as long as you meet their terms, the government will award them: There’s no budget or limit written into the law that restricts how much the government can spend. ...In fact, so many people and businesses will use those tax credits that the IRA’s total spending is likely to be more than $800 billion, double what the CBO projects. And because federal spending tends to catalyze private investment, that could send total climate spending across the economy to roughly $1.7 trillion over the next 10 years. ... Second, the U.S. is “poised to become the world’s leading energy provider,” according to the bank. America is already the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas. The IRA could further enhance its advantage in all forms of energy production, giving it a “competitive advantage in low-cost clean electricity and hydrogen production, infrastructure, geologic storage, and human capital,” the report states. ... Perhaps rosiest of all was the bank’s view of major risks to the IRA. The bill passed with not even a single Republican vote, but the bank concludes that the GOP is relatively unlikely to repeal the law, even if they take the White House in 2024. That’s because it would hurt their own voters most: “Republican-leaning states are likely to see the most investment, job, and economic benefits from the IRA,” the report claims.
New Florida Community Survived Hurricane Virtually Unscathed After Being Designed for Resilience
This story is proof that it’s possible to build structures and communities to withstand at least some of the effects of climate change.
Gnusie ericlewis0 wrote an excellent DKos diary about this, and Jessiestaf also highlighted it in yesterday’s GNR. But it’s such an important story, I think it needs to be amplified as much as possible. Pass it on!
From Good News Network:
Even as two million Floridians lost power during the recent Hurricane Ian, one unique community survived intact. Despite being located around 20 miles from Fort Myers, the heart of the devastation, Babcock Ranch’s blend of solar power, native flora, and built-to-code construction has meant that apart from ripped up pool coverings, broken fence posts, and a missing shingle or two, they never even lost power. An uprooted tree in Babcock Ranch after Hurricane Ian. Roughly 4,600 residents live in Babcock Ranch, billed as a storm-resilient and 100% solar-powered town. ✂️ Built around 25-feet higher on average than surrounding communities, Babcock Ranch is beyond the reach of storm waters, and with buildings specified for Cat 4 hurricane winds of 145 mph, Babcock passed the test… Built in 2018 specifically for climate resiliency, the town has its own wastewater plant and water system that penetrates deep into an underground aquifer. Drinking water wasn’t contaminated and never shut off. 700,000 solar panels owned by Florida Power & Light provide every home with electricity, and despite covering an area of 900 acres, they remarkably sustained minimal damage. Neither power nor internet ever went out. ✂️ Residents have organized several donation drives to help out communities less-fortunate that them. “It [is] a constant outpouring of support from Babcock Ranch residents who know how incredibly fortunate they are to have homes and community still intact,” [Lisa] Hall, [a community representative] said.
Making a Desk with 10,000 Recycled Chopsticks
“Sometimes you have to start very small.”
From Reasons to Be Cheerful:
Felix Böck remembers the evening five years ago when the solution popped into his mind while he was having dinner with his girlfriend at a sushi restaurant in Vancouver. The engineer and carpenter had just returned from a conference with 60 representatives of the biggest international woodworking companies, where he had presented sustainable solutions for wood waste. He had garnered applause for his presentation. “I expected people to queue up after my talk, eager for more information about how we can log less timber and use more recycled wood instead,” Böck says, “but after they applauded, they all went for dinner.” While he was venting his frustration, “My girlfriend said, Felix, sometimes you have to start very small.” Still irked, he watched the waiter swipe the used chopsticks into the trash when the idea hit him: “What if I start really small, with chopsticks? Suddenly, I understood that I had to show people how circular economy works instead of just talking about it,” Böck says passionately. “What if I could build a profitable, sustainable business based on something as small and insignificant as chopsticks? I immediately got going the next morning because as an engineer, I already knew it would work.” ✂️ Böck’s 35 employees now collect 330,000 chopsticks from restaurants in Vancouver every week, including from the food malls at Vancouver International Airport. ...They build shelves, desks, wall panels, dominos, stairs and more. For a desk, Böck needs about 10,000 sticks. x YouTube Video
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Good news for and about animals
Brought to you by Rosy, Nora, and Rascal.
Rosy, who has an excellent nose herself, applauds these smart German shepherds who can sniff out poachers.
India Deploys Super-Sniffer Dogs to Protect Newly-Introduced Cheetahs from Poachers
From Good News Network:
It’s been more than 70 years since Cheetahs sprinted across the hot plains of India, and now that they’re back, the Indian government is taking no chances on their safety. That’s why they’re hiring specialists—six German shepherds to patrol the grounds of the 80,000 acre Kuno National Park for signs of poachers. Asian News International reported that the dogs are undergoing a 7-month training program at the Tibetan Border Police Force’s National Training Center for Dogs, where they will hone their tracking skills and obedience. Released on the 17th of September, five male cheetahs and three females were flown to India from a game reserve north of Windhoek, Namibia, in the first-ever international translocation of the animal. Declared extinct in India in 1952 mainly due to over hunting, the cheetah’s great stronghold lies in Namibia thanks to its open flat ground, sparse populations, and rich game numbers. “Today the cheetah has returned to the soil of India,” said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a video address. “The nature loving consciousness of India has also awakened with full force,” he added. “We must not allow our efforts to fail.” South China Morning Post reports that Ilu the German shepherd and her teammates will also be taught to sniff out tiger bones, elephant tusks, and other highly-trafficked wildlife parts. “Dogs trained at the ITBP dog training center have a high rate of wildlife crime detection,” Ishwar Singh Duhan, inspector general of basic training at the Tibetan facility, told ASI. “There are scores of success stories where dogs have helped in the arrest of poachers and recoveries of wildlife species and their remains.”
Nora is delighted that she can share some good cat news from her very own neighborhood! She’s never met Lewis and Clark, but Rosy has — we often run into them on our walks, especially when we’re in the neighborhood park.
From The Oregonian:
Jory Olson and his Siberian Forest cats, Lewis and Clark, explore the Pacific Northwest, including their Westmoreland neighborhood on the bluff overlooking Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge. Jory Olson and Lewis and Clark take off for hikes from Olson's Westmoreland home on the bluff overlooking Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge. Olson takes the cats ... to the ocean, to trek the Lewis and Clark Trail and Tryon Creek, then posts photos and videos, often with music, on their Instagram page, lewis.clark.explorer.cats. “Cats are way more adaptable than we give them credit for,” says Olson. “They just need more experiences to gain the confidence that dogs seem to have naturally.” Olson introduced Lewis and Clark to a cat backpack the day they arrived as kittens at his home during the pandemic, and they have been comfortably sleeping and playing in it ever since. ✂️ The first two times the cats were escorted out to the backyard on a leash, the sky freaked them out, he says. There were also insects, birds and the sound of the wind blowing, followed by car noises, and bikes and people going by. The adventure sessions lasted about 15 minutes. Within a week, the cats were calmly spending an hour twice a day underneath bamboo on a quieter side of the house. They were hidden, elevated from the street, but they could see out. After 10 weeks, Lewis headed down the street with Clark and Olson trotting along. They made it around the block, and the range kept extending. “As far as they’re concerned, they own this place and we’re all just living here,” Olson says. A trust bond is key. They have to know if an unleashed dog approaches or they fall off a canoe in the river, both of which have happened, Olson will have their back.
Rascal chose this story about parrots being rescued. He’s very grateful to everyone who came together to save them. ❤️🦜
'Operation Noah's Ark': 275 parrots stranded by Hurricane Ian rescued by boat
From Sky News:
Around 275 exotic birds including some of the world's rarest parrots have been rescued from a Florida wildlife sanctuary after their owners refused to evacuate without them in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. The mission, dubbed Operation Noah's Ark, also saw two lemurs transported to West Palm Beach from Pine Island. All the animals will remain there until a collapsed bridge is repaired and life returns to normal on the island. Volunteers caught and caged the birds - from macaws to cockatoos and rare specimens of king parrots - then ferried them to Fort Myers using a small fleet of boats. The birds had been relying on food donated by wildlife officials since Ian hit, but concerns about supplies grew because of the downed bridge and the scarcity of fuel on the island. ✂️ Will Peratino and his partner Lauren Stepp refused to leave their Pine Island compound, despite authorities urging residents to abandon their homes. In the days leading up to Ian, they packed their birds into their home to shield them from the storm. Ms Stepp said: "We would not abandon them. I would never leave them. Never. If they cannot be fed or watered, they will die. And I can't live with that." "To have every bird safe is a huge undertaking. I mean, it's almost impossible to do. So the kind of help we've gotten has been invaluable,” Mr Peratino said.
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Art break
An exquisite way to honor the nameless victims of slavery. You may need to click on the blue bird to open the tweet before you can play the video.
x To pay tribute to all the enslaved people buried in cemeteries with no name, artist Craig Walsh put a face in the trees to honor their souls in an installation in Charlotte, North Carolina, called "Monuments" [read more:
https://t.co/eNvkocjub7] pic.twitter.com/9nAywnrpmC — Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) August 19, 2022
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Hot lynx
www.newyorker.com/… The Post-Roe Abortion Underground. A vitally important and absolutely riveting report on how a network of expat American women in Mexico and activists in the US are supplying abortion pills to women in forced-birth states. PLEASE READ THIS!
www.newyorker.com/...How Iran's Hijab Protest Movement Became So Powerful. ”Four decades after the Islamic Revolution, simmering tensions have come to a head. What sets the current wave of protests apart from those that came before?”
snyder.substack.com/… How does the Russo-Ukrainian War end? Yale historian Timothy Snyder tackles the question. “The war ends when Ukrainian military victories alter Russian political realities, a process which I believe has begun.”
www.washingtonpost.com/… Alexei Navalny: This is what a post-Putin Russia should look like. “Russia needs a parliamentary republic. That is the only way to stop the endless cycle of imperial authoritarianism.”
wagingnonviolence.org/… How undocumented immigrants won driver’s licenses in Massachusetts. An inspiring story about the successful collaboration between an immigrant rights group and a group of Jewish activists.
www.noemamag.com/...The Disappearing Art Of Maintenance. “The noble but undervalued craft of maintenance could help preserve modernity’s finest achievements, from public transit systems to power grids, and serve as a useful framework for addressing climate change and other pressing planetary constraints.”
www.theatlantic.com/… Our Food System Could Have Been So Much Different. “The global food system that we have now is based on just a tiny fraction of all the plants on Earth. But other paths were always open.”
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Wherever is herd…
A tip of the hat to 2thanks for creating this handy info sheet for all Gnusies new and old!
Morning Good News Roundups at 7 x 7: These Gnusies lead the herd at 7 a.m. ET, 7 days a week:
Closing music Willie performing his great election song on October 2nd with his son Micah, while Beto claps in the background. Here’s to voting out all the MAGAts, bigots, and idjits! If it's a bunch of clowns you voted in
Election Day is comin' 'round again
If you don't like it now
If it's more than you'll allow
If you don't like who's in there, vote 'em out! x YouTube Video
❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
Thanks to all of you for your smarts, your hearts, and
your faithful attendance at our daily Gathering of the Herd.
❤️💙 RESIST, PERSIST, REBUILD, REJOICE! 💙❤️
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