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From the GNR Newsroom: Its the Monday Good News Roundup [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-07-31
Welcome back to the Monday Good News Roundup, that magical time of the week where your GNR Newsroom (Myself, Killer300 and Bhu) get you the good news stories to start your week off right. So lets cut with the preamble and jump right on in.
New apartments and homes built near city bus routes will no longer need new parking spots, under rules approved by the Spokane City Council on Monday. The council voted 5-1 to implement a pilot program eliminating minimum parking requirements for new housing constructed within a half mile radius of Spokane Transit Authority corridors. “This is about addressing the housing crisis we’re in and providing another tool addressing housing affordability,” Councilman Zack Zappone said on Monday. Under the new rules, developers are given the option to not construct parking but are allowed to do so if they choose. Additionally, the ordinance only concerns new housing projects, and does not apply to commercial developments.
More good news from the world of affordable housing. I hope that there will be affordable housing for all within my lifetime.
In the grand tapestry of human history, we find ourselves at a unique time. Despite the persistence of daunting challenges such as war, famine, immigration, and racism, it is essential to acknowledge and appreciate the tremendous progress humanity has achieved. This post aims to shed light on the myriad reasons why we are living in a golden age compared to the majority of our past, encompassing significant advancements in child mortality, healthcare, education, technology, and environmental stewardship.
Don’t get me wrong, we got a long ways to go yet, but lets take a moment and enjoy the progress we’ve made thusfar.
The merganser ducks and egrets at the Whalen Lake bird sanctuary near Oceanside, California, don’t know it, but they’re trendsetters, swimming in water that has been purified by state-of-the-art technology. Pure Water Oceanside, the sprawling water reclamation facility next to the lake, still looks brand new with its Santorini-white buildings and indigo-blue arches under cloudless skies. Up to five million gallons of the city’s wastewater are pumped every day through thick pipes, filters and chlorine tanks in the warehouse-size buildings flanked by blooming purple jacaranda trees. There is no detectable smell in the ultra-clean facility; mechanical engineer Lindsay Leahy, the energetic young water utilities director, calls it “the best-smelling wastewater plant I’ve ever been to.” It’s also the most modern. Palm-dotted Oceanside invested $70 million in the drink of the future: purified wastewater. It is turning water from the residents’ dishwashers, showers and toilets into potable water — or, to call a spade a spade, toilet to tap. The pivot to reusing wastewater is badly needed: Potable water is an increasingly precious resource. Worldwide, already 26 percent of the global population or two billion people live in water-stressed areas, according to UN Water, which projects this figure could double by 2050.
I’ll drink to that!
A conversation with the town’s staff revealed that one of Brattleboro’s strengths is its openness to change. When the town—and the entire state of Vermont—opened itself up to an assessment by the Congress for New Urbanism (CNU) through The Project for Code Reform, Brattleboro was forced to confront the barriers in its land-use regulations. In a place where the population has stabilized around 12,000 for nearly five decades and major influxes are neither predicted nor anticipated, Brattleboro could’ve easily delayed zoning reform. Unlike cities in Idaho, Montana, and Utah, where populations surged during the pandemic, Brattleboro wasn’t in the throes of an acute housing crisis. “But we don’t have to wait until we’re in crisis mode to make good decisions,” Steve Hayes, the town’s planning technician, remarked. “The momentary and minor uptick in population we did experience exposed how fragile our housing situation could be.” Brattleboro’s champions aren’t only preparing for a problem that doesn’t yet exist. Hayes shared that despite the static population, household sizes have been steadily decreasing with fewer options available for changing lifestyles, appetites, and budgets. With that in mind, the town updated its zoning code and according to Planning Director Sue Fillion, lifting restrictions is already producing more housing options. “For example, a four-unit home can now legally accommodate a fifth room, which would’ve been illegal prior to these changes,” she explained.
Here’s hoping we can all be a little more like Brattleboro.
Governments start wars in pursuit of various objectives, from conquering territory to changing the regime of a hostile state to supporting a beleaguered ally. Once a war begins, the stakes are immediately raised. It is one of the paradoxes of war that even as its original objectives drift out of reach or are cast aside, the necessity of not being seen as the loser only grows in importance—such importance, in fact, that even if winning is no longer possible, governments will still persevere to show that they have not been beaten. The problem with losing goes beyond the failure to achieve objectives or even having to explain the expenditures of blood and treasure for little gain: loss casts doubt on the wisdom and competence of the government. Failure in war can cause a government to fall. That is often why governments keep on fighting wars: an admission of defeat could make it harder to hold on to power. All of these dynamics are evident in Russia’s war against Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin set as his objectives the “denazification” and “demilitarization” of Ukraine. By the first, he presumably meant regime change, in which case the war has clearly been a failure. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s position is as strong as ever. As for demilitarization, Ukraine is on its way to becoming the most militarized country in Europe. Many of the Russian speakers in Ukraine on whose behalf Putin claimed to be acting now prefer to speak Ukrainian, while the Russian-speaking areas of the Donbas have been battered, deindustrialized, and depopulated because of this ruinous war.
The chickens are coming home to roost for Putin, and he’s the one whose gonna have egg on his face.
Far-right activist Ammon Bundy, who led the takeover of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, an associate and three of their groups must pay over $50 million in damages for accusing a hospital of child trafficking and harassing medical staff, a jury has decided. The lawsuit brought by St. Luke’s Regional Health accused Bundy and Diego Rodriguez of making defamatory statements against the hospital and its employees after Rodriguez’s infant grandson was removed from his family for several days and taken to St. Luke’s amid concerns for his health. The emergency room physician, Dr. Rachel Thomas, testified that the 10-month-old baby’s stomach was distended, his eyes were hollow and he was unable to sit up, reminding her of severely malnourished babies she had treated in Haiti, according to the Idaho Statesman newspaper. Police said at the time that medical personnel determined the child was malnourished and had lost weight.
Nice to see some actual justice meted out against this asshole.
(WASHINGTON) – Today, the Teamsters reached the most historic tentative agreement for workers in the history of UPS, protecting and rewarding more than 340,000 UPS Teamsters nationwide. The overwhelmingly lucrative contract raises wages for all workers, creates more full-time jobs, and includes dozens of workplace protections and improvements. The UPS Teamsters National Negotiating Committee unanimously endorsed the five-year tentative agreement. “Rank-and-file UPS Teamsters sacrificed everything to get this country through a pandemic and enabled UPS to reap record-setting profits. Teamster labor moves America. The union went into this fight committed to winning for our members. We demanded the best contract in the history of UPS, and we got it,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “UPS has put $30 billion in new money on the table as a direct result of these negotiations. We’ve changed the game, battling it out day and night to make sure our members won an agreement that pays strong wages, rewards their labor, and doesn’t require a single concession. This contract sets a new standard in the labor movement and raises the bar for all workers.”
Worker rights win! And this is only the beginning.
Some 8,000 miles of federally owned canals snake across the United States, channeling water to replenish crops, fuel hydropower plants and supply drinking water to rural communities. In the future, these narrow waterways could serve an additional role: as hubs of solar energy generation. A coalition of environmental groups is urging the federal government to consider carpeting its canals with solar panels. The concept was pioneered in India a decade ago and will soon be tested in California for the first time. Early research suggests that suspending solar arrays over canals can not only generate electricity in land-constrained areas but may also reduce water evaporation in drought-prone regions. Last week, more than 125 climate advocacy groups, led by the Center for Biological Diversity, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Interior calling on the agency to deploy solar over its 8,000 miles of canals and aqueducts. The agency’s Bureau of Reclamation owns and operates the infrastructure, often in partnership with local irrigation and water districts.
Neat. More Solar Panels is always good.
Speaking outside Amazon Studios in Culver City, California last week to a crowd of striking actors, writers and Amazon delivery drivers, Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien spotlighted the growing prominence of cross-union solidarity in the United States. “The great thing that’s happening right now in the labor movement, we are for one time — and I’ve been a Teamster for 33 years — collaborating with each other in a power collaboration to truly effectuate change,” O’Brien said. Citing Amazon’s powerful role in both the logistics and entertainment industries, O’Brien called the tech behemoth a “common enemy.” (This spring, 84 Amazon drivers in Southern California unionized with Teamsters Local 396 and have been on strike since June 24 over alleged unfair labor practices.) “We can have our arguments amongst ourselves right here and that’s okay,” the Teamsters president said to the assembled picketers from multiple unions. “But… we identify who our common enemies are and… we make certain they understand that you take one of us on, you take all of us on.” Since July 14, 160,000 film and television actors with the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) have been on strike alongside 11,000 screenwriters with the Writers Guild of America (WGA), who themselves have been on strike since May 2. The two unions are fighting to secure new contracts from the big studios and streamers that include improvements around job security, healthcare and residuals, as well as protections from the use of artificial intelligence. The Teamsters and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) — the unions representing Hollywood’s “below-the-line” workers such as camera operators, gaffers, costumers, makeup artists, mechanics, drivers and others — have repeatedly expressed solidarity with the striking writers and actors.
Its time we remind the wealthy just who are responsible for their wealth. The Boss needs us we don’t need the boss.
Spain’s election results this past Sunday night brought a sigh of relief. The right-wing parties did not achieve an absolute majority and Santiago Abascal’s far-right Vox will not enter national government. This is no small feat, considering the left-wing parties’ defeat in local elections just eight weeks ago and the climate of opinion created by polls predicting a right-wing tsunami. The result in Spain can be seen as a major victory in a Europe today engulfed by a dark reactionary wave. After Rome, Stockholm, and Helsinki, the conquest of Madrid was meant to be the next stage in an operation promoted by far-right Italian premier Giorgia Meloni and European People’s Party leader Manfred Weber, who sought to create the conditions for a stable alliance between their wings of the Right in the European parliament. The silence of both figures, the day after the vote, was symptomatic — as were the satisfied smiles of many in the corridors of power in Brussels. The Spanish result marks an important, perhaps decisive, setback for this operation ahead of next year’s EU elections.
We will never give up, we will never give in, and we will win in the end.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed two bills into law on Wednesday, banning the use of conversion therapy on LGBTQ+ minors — both of which are set to take effect in 90 days. Per The Advocate, House Bill 4617 defines the practice itself as something that "seeks to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity," while House Bill 4616, "bars licensed therapists from subjecting minors to the practice and lays out penalties for violation, including discipline by public health regulators." "Today, we are banning the horrific practice of conversion therapy in Michigan and ensuring this is a state where you can be who you are," Whitmer said in a statement. "As a mom of a member of the community and a proud, lifelong ally, I am grateful that we are taking action to make Michigan a more welcoming, inclusive place." Both of these bills were approved by the Michigan Senate last month in a 21-15 vote, winning over Republican naysayers who worried that "the legislation could interfere with the work of mental health professionals," Per AP News. Sarah Warbelow, vice president of legal at HRC, praised Whitmer for her work in protecting LGBTQ+ youth saying, "So-called conversion therapy is a dangerous and discredited practice that will hopefully never see the light of day again here in Michigan."
It should be illegal everywhere, but at least progress is being made.
Up next, I think we’re overdue for a GNR Lightning round!
What could go right? The end of AIDS
A Vast untapped source of green energy beneath your feet
First cargo ship powered by green methanol begins journey
Why mainstreaming psychedelics isn’t making a fuss
Wesleyan ends legacy admissions
Biden’s enhanced background checks seem to be working
Washington state performs first robotic liver transplant in US
Economy is doing better than we thought
Gender pay gap at all time low
One college finds a way to get students to degrees quickly, simply and cheaply
Lights out for Incandescent bulbs
Court strikes down limit on filming police in Arizona
And that does it for this week’s lightning round
Toplines: Dems are having a good summer, the Rs bad summer is about to get a lot worse, and every day there is more evidence that Ron DeSantis is a malevolent extremist. David Pepper today at 1pm EST - Hope you will join us today at 1pm EST for a live discussion with former Ohio Democratic Party chair David Pepper. We will be talking the all important upcoming elections in Ohio and his new book, Saving Democracy. You can RSVP here and learn more about David here. A recording of the event will be here on Hopium later this afternoon. Join us - will be a good one!
Its turning into a real summer of love (Unless you are in the GOP, in which case its a real summer of Loss).
A state that braves some of the most frigid winters in the country has not only enthusiastically adopted heat pumps — it’s also stepping up its commitment to the clean-heating tech. In 2019, Maine embraced heat pumps as part of its climate strategy, setting a goal to install 100,000 of the machines by 2025. But a few days ago, Maine Governor Janet Mills (D) announced that the state had surpassed that target two years ahead of schedule, deploying at least 104,000 heat pumps in homes and businesses. Now, the state has set a new goal: installing another 175,000 heat pumps by 2027. “We are setting an example for the nation,” said Mills at the announcement event. “Our transition to heat pumps is creating good-paying jobs, curbing our reliance on fossil fuels, and cutting costs for Maine families, all while making them more comfortable in their homes — a hat trick for our state.”
Seems like Heat Pumps are really taking off, I may have to see about getting one for my apartment.
And on that note this weeks Monday GNR comes to a close. I hope you all have a good week.
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