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Good News Roundup - Jan 22, 2025 - GNR [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-01-22
No one here is naïve. Just making a choice to at least one time a day focus on something other than the awfulness of the current timeline. The bad news will be there when you leave.
This is a chance to take a moment to breathe, get a cup of your favorite beverage, show yourself and others some kindness and grace.
Today may be short — I admit I’m on the struggle bus this week, I think the sad grief stage finally hit. I know there are so many ways to fight back, and so many people are doing so, and it won’t be so easy and most of Trump’s bluster is just that and will not stand.
And so relying on the greatest comment section on the interwebs if I missed anything.
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I also have a sore paw for the last two weeks, finally broke down and got a same day appointment, appears to be nothing serious, but got a referral to Physical Therapy, if it is what it seems to be (Cuboid Syndrome). Some sources indicate it doesn’t tend to pop back into place on its own, so that got me to see the doc a lot sooner than I would have otherwise. I will say the compression sock and topical NSAIDs help, but this is not making my mood better. Hopefully I will get relief soon.
Well with my foot I may be crawling for awhile.
Oh and for all my Gulf and Southern Atlantic Coast Friends. This is what we call Snow, and stay home and enjoy your snow day. I know this seems strange and unusual.
x Remarkable to see a storm with the heaviest swath of snow on the northern Gulf Coast and eastern North Carolina.
[image or embed] — Ian Livingston (@ianlivingston.bsky.social) January 20, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Swing Left's Five Organizing Principles for the Future of the Democratic Party
#1 Support Year-Round Voter Engagement:
#2 Prioritize Organizing Infrastructure:
#3 Reimagine Partnership with Outside Groups that Power the Work:
#4 Act on Grassroots Feedback:
#5 Invest Wide and Deep in State Parties for Sustained Wins:
FWIW, there seems to be quite a bit of this going on with the NC Democratic party with a focus on they need to see us all the time and as they said on the Red Wine and Blue Call, “when they go low, we go local”.
Note that most of this is not what makes big news stories nor will it be seen by a lot of the folks that just know there can’t be any resistance of any kind.
x I love this so much! At the inauguration, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wore a distinctive collar adorned with cowrie shells, which are believed to offer protection from evil in African traditions. This choice mirrors the late Justice Ginsburg’s practice of using collars to convey a message.
[image or embed] — Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) January 20, 2025 at 8:19 PM
NC’s Jeff Jackson, 17 other attorneys general challenge Trump’s citizenship order in federal court
Yes, I stan Jeff Jackson, get used to it, no matter what he gets elected to. I’m hoping he’s the next on
Jeff Jackson (D) — AG of North Carolina
the AG to Governor pipeline and then Senator or President.
The lawsuit, joined by the District of Columbia along and the City of San Francisco, was filed a day after Trump signed an executive order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship to children born in the U.S. to at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. “This executive order is a straightforward violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to all people born on U.S. soil. For over a century, this principle has been upheld by the Supreme Court and remains a bedrock of our constitutional framework,” said Jackson in a statement. “The Constitution leaves no room for executive reinterpretation on this matter—it is clear, settled, and binding. This order seeks to undermine that clarity, creating legal uncertainty and denying fundamental rights to children born in this country. “
Medical Advancements
Good news for green tea drinkers
Steven Allder, MD, a consultant neurologist at Re:Cognition Health, who was not involved in this study, commented to Medical News Today that “The observed link between green tea and fewer cerebral lesions highlights its potential as a preventive strategy against age-related cognitive decline. However, the results should be interpreted cautiously, as confounding variables like lifestyle and dietary habits may contribute to these outcomes.”
Kindness
x Not everyone can fight Trumpism and Trumpists directly. But remember this: kindness, decency, and fidelity to American values are defiance in the face of Trumpism. So be kind, decent, and faithful, particularly to the many kinds of people despised and attacked by Trumpists. That’s revolutionary./1 — Domestic Enemy Hat (@kenwhite.bsky.social) January 20, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Worth clicking for the whole thread
Resilience
Developing resilience is a personal journey. The key is to identify ways that will work well for you as part of your own strategy for fostering resilience. Deliberate practice combined with self-awareness is critical to enhancing resilience. Resilience activities are ways we can develop it like a muscle, as it needs to be worked in order to get stronger.
Through activity, these skills can be developed through small, incremental wins. It is the habits that form the foundation of our mental beliefs that matter when the going gets tough.
The resilience tools suggested in this article are intended to be a starting phase for your journey of building resilience and mental toughness.
https://positivepsychology.com/resilience-activities-exercises/ There is a lot in there, some will seem silly or overwhelming, but then those aren’t for you at this point in time. Find something, from Mr. Roger’s look for the helpers, or while you are doing some routine activity, just do that activity, or commit to reading the GNR regularly, maybe find one thing to post about in the comment section every week, check out one of the links and spend some time with something that interests you.
Education
New $25 million grant will boost NC public middle schools in rural, distressed areas
Why paying attention up and down the ballot matters. We elected Mo Green over Mrs Public Schools are destroying our Children let me run a huge education department!
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction on Wednesday announced a Mo Green (C) NC Superintendent of Instruction $25 million initiative aimed at improving student achievement in rural and economically distressed communities across the state. Funded by the Golden LEAF Foundation, the grant is one of the largest governmental gifts the agency has received, according to DPI officials. “This is a game-changer for North Carolina,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Maurice “Mo” Green said during a brief speech to the state board of education. “It is an important step towards achieving the vision for North Carolina’s public schools, which is ensuring that every child in North Carolina public schools achieves educational excellence, ” Green said. “In order for North Carolina’s public schools to become the best in the country, we must rethink how we approach teaching and learning, and we must provide our schools with the appropriate support to do so.”
I also stan Mo Green, y’all get used to that as well.
One thing that I got out of being more involved in my local Democratic Party and the Democratic Women is I got to hear from a lot of the candidates, local and statewide directly. Made me even more motivated to vote.
Community Development
NC AG Jeff Jackson Early focus
From the newsletter he sends out (yep he made my diary twice) You can subscribe here www.jeffjacksonnc.com
There’s a company that sells a piece of software that uses artificial intelligence and private data from major landlords to tell those landlords what rents they should charge. It’s called RealPage and it essentially tells major landlords, “Sign up with us, give us your private data every day about rental rates, occupancy, and trends, and we’ll tell all of you what rents you should charge.” According to RealPage, the whole idea is about “driving every possible opportunity to increase price” and “avoid[ing] the race to the bottom in down markets.” In other words, to replace competition with collusion. One of their executives said that, “there is greater good in everybody succeeding versus essentially trying to compete against one another in a way that actually keeps the entire industry down.” Another said that this could help landlords to “have a $50 increase instead of a $10 increase for the day.” And landlords responded. One of them said, “I always liked this product because your algorithm uses proprietary data from other subscribers to suggest rents and term. That’s classic price fixing…” RealPage itself has already been sued by NCDOJ and many other states. My first major action was to expand that lawsuit to also include six mega-landlords who, we believe, used this software to unlawfully collude with each other to raise rents.
Helene Recovery
FEMA extends hotel stays for eligible Helene survivors by two months
The program that allows disaster survivors to be housed in temporary, short-term accommodations when other housing options are not available was scheduled to end in March. State officials said the extension will help more than 2,700 households impacted by Hurricane Helene to remain housed in hotels, so long as they have a need. “Today’s decision will help eligible disaster survivors stay safe and sheltered as we continue the hard work of rebuilding in western North Carolina,” Stein said in a statement. “FEMA’s decision to extend the Transitional Sheltering Assistance Program for two months is a positive step forward and frees eligible disaster survivors from worrying about being kicked out of the program in March.” Last week, Stein asked FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell to extend the agency’s TSA program for eligible North Carolinians for an additional six months. Stein said his administration will “continue to pursue solutions to cut red tape and get people into housing faster, including our temporary travel trailer program.”
Your reminder that natural disasters take years to recover, and may never fully recover.
List of Helene Relief and resources vetted by the Alamance County Democratic Party
Transylvania County (ACDP has pledged to adopt this county & is in communication with the Transylvania County Democratic Party):
https://www.sharinghouse.org/the-need-and-our-response Official NC Donation Website:
https://pay.payitgov.com/ncdonations Western NC Latino Neighbor Outreach: English Version
Spanish Version Official State of NC Helene Information Website:
https://www.ncdps.gov/our-organization/emergency-management/hurricane-helene
Resources
I really need to build up this section, likely will borrow from other GNR authors, if that is OK.
Red Wine and Blue redwine.blue. Some states have their own organizers for the state (NC does) and there are many local groups of Trouble Nation. Their webinar a couple of days ago was really inspiring.
When they to low, we go local. Find something where you live, doesn’t have to be political, just anything that builds community with those around you.
Final Words
One of the reasons I love being raised Episcopalian is we have Bishops who will say this sort of thing with a President sitting in the audience. Mariann Edgar Budde is also one of my favorite people. She
called him out after the march to the church with the upside down bible. She will keep calling him out.
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde at the national prayer service at Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images “In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” said Budde, who was looking directly at the president. “There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families. Some who fear for their lives.” She added: "They may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues.
I read this on NBC, not linking to any sources as they all have to show his face, or add in his commentary about her sermon.
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