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Sunday Good News Roundup [1]

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Date: 2023-02-26  

As you pour yourself your favorite beverage before settling in to read this morning’s GNR, here is a cool little article I found about my favorite morning beverage…

Happiness Is a Warm Coffee, Arthur C Brooks, the Atlantic, February 23, 2023.

Serious barista skillz! A kitten leaning over a fishpond, Caffeine is a gift in ways besides happiness. Combined with exercise, it can improve cognitive performance (that means it makes you smarter, in case you haven’t had your coffee yet), and if you’ve been sleeping less than optimally, it can enhance your reaction time and logical reasoning abilities. Remember this as you head out in traffic: The life your coffee saves could be your own. It is no exaggeration to say that caffeine is a boon to humanity. As Michael Pollan argues in his audiobook Caffeine: How Coffee and Tea Created the Modern World, caffeine’s arrival into the European diet in the 17th century transformed the economy through enhanced productivity, innovation, and safety. If it weren’t for coffee, you would probably spend your days shivering in a dark cave, and die after getting a splinter. So don’t be an ungrateful wretch: If you like electricity, running water, and lifesaving medicines, give thanks for the miracle of caffeine. Nothing in life is free, of course. Faced with the holy power of the Bean, adenosine’s malevolent forces fight back. As you consume more caffeine over time, adenosine receptors upregulate, increasing in number to accommodate the caffeine molecules and take in their intended guests as well. This leads to a state of tolerance, in which caffeine has a smaller effect after chronic use. However, this “problem” is really just an opportunity to enjoy more coffee.

This Week in Gnuville

Need more Good News? Missed a Roundup? Is this your first Roundup? Check out last week’s GNRs (I’ll include one item from each to give you a sample — but go read ‘em!)!

SUNDAY: Sunday Good News Roundup ☼ WineRev! ☼ 2 Polls: WWtW? + Do you support the Daily Kos staff union?, 2thanks, February 19, 2023.

Earth Matters: Biden administration announces plans on equity, renewables, environmental justice

Meteor Blades, Daily Kos staff, retired: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan Thursday announced plans for distribution via the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund of $27 billion in grants to promote renewable installations and environmental justice in underserved communities, a program of the Inflation Reduction Act. Reinforcing an effort he signed into action on his first day in office, the president on Thursday ordered federal agencies to provide annual plans to guarantee that underserved communities can actually benefit from their policies. They must also designate a senior leader to promote racial equity and foster environmental justice. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan announced that the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, part of the IRA, will give states, tribes, municipalities, and some nonprofits the opportunity to apply for $27 billion in grant funding. The money is meant to finance projects that push forward the nation’s transition to renewable energy with a focus on removing longstanding systemic injustices still afflicting underserved communities. And finally, on Monday, the departments of Treasury and Energy, together with Internal Revenue Service, issued guidance to encourage investment in underserved communities—in particular, coal communities—by means of $10 billion in tax credits for clean energy manufacturing and recycling, industrial decarbonization, and critical materials processing, refining, and recycling. The guidance sets aside at least $4 billion of the 30% tax credits for projects at closed coal mines or no-longer-in-service coal-fired power plants. Investments in solar and wind projects in low-income communities can qualify for an increase in the tax credit to 50%.

MONDAY: Kick off the week with the Monday Good News Roundup -February 20, niftywriter (sitting in for Jessiestaf — Jessiestaf and the GNR Newsroom of Bhu and Killer 300 will be back tomorrow, YAY!)

MORE BENEFITS OF BIDEN’S INFLATION REDUCTION ACT USDA Reveals How Nearly $1B in New Conservation Funding Will Be Spent, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, February 14, 2023. This week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced how his department would be rolling out $850 million in new conservation funding, the first round of investments made possible by last year’s Inflation Reduction Act. The TRCP applauds this move to help fund oversubscribed private land conservation programs at the Natural Resources Conservation Service that benefit fish, wildlife, habitat connectivity, and hunting and fishing opportunities in rural America. The once-in-a-generation influx of conservation spending will support a diverse range of voluntary activities, such as planting filter strips and grassed waterways, improving grazing management, and restoring wetlands. These practices are being prioritized for their carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas reduction benefits, in addition to co-benefits of wildlife habitat and water quality improvements. ✂️ The U.S. Department of Agriculture also unveiled a Western Water and Working Lands Framework for Conservation Action—a comprehensive, multi-state strategy under the NRCS to address key water and land management needs. This includes supporting conservation practices that protect groundwater and surface availability and enhancing resilience to droughtand other natural hazards. The USDA will also provide an additional $25 million in funding to support investments in more resilient water infrastructure in partnership with the Bureau of Reclamation.

TUESDAY: Take That, Foul Tyrant - GNR for Bluesday, February 21st, NotNowNotEver.

Gee whiz. This fellow is related to Ron Paul. Do you think it’s a family thing? Mother Jones: Russ Choma: GOP Operative Sentenced to 18 Months for Funneling Russian Money to Trump Campaign On Friday, a federal judge in Washington, DC sentenced a veteran GOP operative to 18 months in prison for funneling $25,000 from a Russian businessman to Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. Jesse Benton, a longtime aide to both Ron and Rand Paul, was convicted in November on six related charges. The court found that he and another GOP operative accepted $100,000 from Roman Vasilenko, a St. Petersburg-based influencer who wanted photos with Trump to display on his social media accounts. Benton kept most of the money for himself but donated $25,000 to the Republican National Committee as part of a plan to secure two tickets to a fundraising event for Trump in Philadelphia. At the event, Vasilenko was allowed to sit close to Trump at a roundtable discussion and later took a photo with him. Foreign nationals, like Vasilenko, are not allowed to donate to US political campaigns or committees, and it is illegal to make a donation on behalf of someone else. Benton, who is married to Ron Paul’s grandaughter, was previously convicted in 2016 of a scheme to pay an Iowa state senator to switch his endorsement from Michele Bachmann to Ron Paul ahead of the state’s 2012 republican presidential caucus. In that case, Benton, after pleading that he had reformed and had a family to support, was sentenced to home confinement. Just six days later, the Trump fundraiser at which Vasilenko met Trump took place. A few weeks after that, Benton was caught in an undercover sting orchestrated by the British newspaper The Telegraph, whose reporters posed as representatives of a Chinese businessman who wanted to donate $2 million to Trump’s campaign. Benton told them he could arrange it. He apparently violated the terms of his home confinement in the Iowa case to meet with the undercover reporters.

WEDNESDAY: Leadership, Elections and a CG Poll! - Wednesday Good News Roundup, niftywriter.

In the first month since President Biden took Executive action (using the humanitarian parole power of 1952), the number of illegal border crossings via Mexico dropped 42% overall (86% for the 4 countries covered by humanitarian parole 84,176 → 11,909) compared to the last month before the action was announced (December 2022). The difference has been that dramatic. Biden’s Plan to End the Border Crisis Is Already Working, David J Bier and Alex Nowrasteh, Daily Beast, February 19, 2023. The migrants must have a U.S. sponsor and meet health and security standards. Once here, they receive a two-year residency permit—which could be extended—and they can apply for a work permit. They have almost no access to public benefits. If the numbers admitted under humanitarian parole are anything close to 30,000 people per month and the program lasts for the rest of his administration, this will be the single biggest immigration liberalization since the Immigration Act of 1965. From a border security perspective, the goal of humanitarian parole is to incentivize migrants to apply from their home countries (or neighboring countries), get prior approval to enter, and then fly to the United States instead of paying smugglers to come to the border.✂️ The Biden administration has turned a massive flow of illegal immigrants into a smaller flow of legal immigrants using a 71-year-old legal power granted to him by Congress. Migrants on humanitarian parole are legal migrants, lawfully allowed to live and work in the United States. By extending humanitarian parole to other countries, increasing the numbers, attaching work authorization to parole, and reinstituting normal immigration fees, President Biden can be the first president to gain control of the border in generations.

THURSDAY: Good Gnus Roundup for Thursday, February 23, 2023, chloris creator (sitting in for MCUBernieFan who sat in for nifty on Feb 8).

(Check out cc’s diary for the big section on all of you wonderful citizens and visitors to Gnuville!) Department of Energy, with Jennifer Granholm as Secretary DOE announces new standards to save Americans billions for energy and water WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today proposed new energy-efficiency standards for refrigerators and clothes washers that will lower household energy costs and significantly reduce pollution. DOE expects the new standards, which have not been updated in over a decade, to save American consumers approximately $3.5 billion per year on their energy and water bills. These proposed rules are the Biden-Harris Administration’s latest steps in delivering savings through appliance efficiency, as directed by Congress. ✂️ Previous DOE rulemakings have substantially increased the energy efficiency of refrigerators and clothes washers while allowing manufacturers the flexibility to continuously improve their products. Today, the typical new refrigerator uses 75% less energy than its 1973 counterpart—while offering roughly 20% more storage capacity and more useful features. In that 40-year span, DOE raised the efficiency standard for refrigerators three times. Similarly, today’s clothes washers use 70% less energy than in 1990 and offer 50% more tub capacity. The new proposed rules will continue this trajectory of innovation and savings. The products covered by these rules currently account for 5% of annual residential energy use, which amounts to 8% of residential electricity use in the United States. If adopted within DOE’s proposed timeframe, the new rules will come into effect in 2027. DOE expects the new rules to save consumers more than $60 billion over the ensuing 30 years of shipments. Households using new refrigerators and clothes washers will save an estimated $425 on their utility bill over the average life of the appliance with these standards in place, on top of the benefits Americans are experiencing from prior improvements. Over the next 30 years, the two rules are expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 233 million metric tons—an amount roughly equivalent to the combined annual emissions of 29 million homes.

FRIDAY: Good News Roundup for Friday, February 24, 2023: Freedom Is Worth Fighting For, chloris creator.

Having Ds in power, working for the people instead of doing performative stunts, matters: x After Dems gained full control of the Michigan and Minnesota legislature in 2022, the Minnesota Senate and Michigan House passed more bills in the month of January 2023 than in the previous six January sessions.



Progress happens when we build Democratic power in states. pic.twitter.com/Jz11MH29Vz — Sister District (@Sister_District) February 22, 2023 ⚡️ Dems are consistently overperforming in the current special elections Kerry Eleveld, Daily Kos

SATURDAY: Good News Digest for Saturday February 25, 2021. Andrew F Cockburn (sitting in for Goody).

The five-day workweek is dead [T]here’s nothing inevitable about working eight hours a day, five days a week (or more). This schedule only became a part of American labor law in the 1930s, after decades of striking by labor activists who were tired of working the 14-hour days demanded by some employers… [O]ne of the largest and most high-profile recent experiments took place in Iceland, where local and federal authorities working with trade unions launched two trials of a shortened workweek, one in 2015 and one in 2017. In the trials, workers shifted from a 40-hour work week to 35 or 36 hours, with no cut to their pay… And perhaps counterintuitively, worker productivity generally stayed the same or actually increased during the trials.. Just having more rest may have helped people be more productive — as the Autonomy researchers note, overwork can lead to fatigue, which actually lowers productivity. It has never made sense to me that employers would want to overwork their employees if adding more employees and distributing the workload leads to greater productivity. There are some fixed costs associated with each employee but a big boost in productivity would outweigh that. Professional sports teams (sorry to bring this up again) are figuring this out. In the past they would have their best players play the entire game. Now they are realizing that a backup may play better than an exhausted star. It also reduces the risk of their best players being broken down from overwork in the playoffs.

ALSO:

hpg posts Evening Shade diaries at 7:30 p.m. ET every day! After a long day, Gnusies meet in the evening shade and continue sharing Good News, good community, and good actions. Find Evening Shades here or on the Trending List.

oldhippiedude posts Tweets of the Week on Sundays at 6 p.m. CT. Our second evening Gnusie hangout zone! In search of a TOTW diary? Look here or here or on the Trending List.

For more information about the Good News group, please see our detailed Welcoming comment, one of the first comments in our morning diaries.

How to Resist: Do Something … 1. Dis-credit Bad Banks Day of Action 3/21/23 The next big exclamation point in the work of TH!RD ACT to defund climate chaos is coming this Spring — “And we need you to join us, on March 21, 2023! Third Act has spent much of the last year collecting Banking on our Future pledges from thousands and thousands of people across America: pledges to move our money out of the big, dirty fossil-fueled banks – Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, and Wells Fargo – if they don’t move their investments out of fossil fuels. And we’ve learned more about how important this is: new data makes it clear that these banks are using your money to fund the climate crisis in a big way. If you have $62,500 in one of these banks, that amount loaned for pipelines, frack wells, coal, and oil exploration produces more carbon than all the driving, cooking, heating, cooling, and flying an average American will do in 6 months. In other words, your bank may well be the largest part of your carbon footprint. Together with partners and with all of you, we’ll be collecting thousands more pledges to cut up our credit cards or close bank accounts, and we’ll deliver them in person to bank branches and headquarters in February. It’s an important step, but no one expects that pledges to move our money will be enough to change the policies of these behemoths. Chase alone has 75 million credit card customers, and over the last months has been moving backwards—not forward—in its climate commitments. [more] 2. Unhoused Veterans When I see people asking for money at stop lights, I ask them if they are veterans and if they need housing, and if I get two yesses, I give them this phone number, 877-4AID-VET (877-424-3838). I think this information could be much more useful to them than my pocket’s folding money. Veterans experiencing homelessness or at risk for homelessness can call the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 877-4AID-VET (877-424-3838). Visit the VA Homeless Programs website to learn about housing initiatives and other programs for veterans exiting homelessness. The VA’s goal is to create housing for all vets as a first step toward health and jobs. 3. Other Action Steps from Gnusies Four of our Good News writers regularly post a panoply of fantastic action steps in every one of their Good News Roundups. If you don’t see a way to become active that suits your personality, your funds, or your time, please review their most recent diaries for many different options to volunteer and/or donate: GoodNewsRoundup — Saturdays

— Saturdays chloris creator — Fridays

— Fridays niftywriter — Wednesdays

— Wednesdays arhpdx — alternate Tuesdays On Daily Kos:

We welcome comments in Roundups every day regarding:

National or local Good News.

Links, stories, music, videos, quotes, tweets . (No tweets or images of the saffron chlamidiot, please.)

. (No tweets or images of the saffron chlamidiot, please.) Your resistance activity.

In my Sunday smorgasbord Roundups, I especially welcome the following types of comments:

Who won YOUR week?

Questions about Daily Kos tech issues or our map.

about Daily Kos tech issues or our map. Good News Roundups and you.

How are you resisting?

How are you supporting Democratic candidates?

Please let’s stick to Good News today, no mews or databases.

In the comments of all Roundups, we do not welcome Grammar Police or Debbie Downers.

Top Image: A detailed sketch of a gnu drawn in brown, green, and black on white. A happy and dynamic gnu dances on its left hind leg in a classic heraldric rampant stance. Joyful letters prance above and behind the mane: “Happy Dance.” Signature: Nick Korolev, 2021. — Thank you, Starhawk, for creating the top image of a dancing gnu and for giving it to us Gnusies!

Sunday, Mapday: Pin Dropping Our map of Gnuville: 806 of us have shared our global locations! To leave your mark, please Reply in the comments to tljdk or the map-building comment. Please include your city and state only, NOT street number and street. (Please persist, we are volunteers.) Image: Two maps of the United States, one above the other. The maps indicate the approximate locations of members of the Good News Roundup community in 2019 and 2021. The lower map contains many more blue pin-markers than the upper map. Upper image: A map of Gnuville from February 15, 2019 with about 50 Gnusie pins. Lower image: A map of Gnuville from March 21, 2021 with 582 pins across our orb. If you join us regularly, are you Following us? More than 450 Kosacks Follow us. Look how close we are to 1000 pins! Let’s see if we can get 1000 pins on our map!

That’s all for today from me and CG. I stink at making polls and I am definitely not letting CG make another one this week (she has not stopped pointing to last week’s results with speaking looks and deep sighs), so I’m sorry there won’t be one today — lucky for us, 2thanks will be back with polls next Sunday!

I’ve always wanted to say this so here goes!:

By the power vested in me by 2thanks, I now declare this Sunday Salo(o)n OPEN! 😃

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