(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Good News Roundup for Tuesday, February 28, 2023 [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-28 Peter DeFazio tells it like it is Peter DeFazio is one of my political heroes. I was sad when he stepped down as a Rep. from Oregon (fortunately, Rep. Val Hoyle, also a Dem, won his old seat) but as I should have predicted, he’s speaking out as effectively as ever. This is from an email he sent to his supporters last Wednesday: In the early 90s, railroad executive E. Hunter Harrison instituted a plan he called "precision scheduled railroading," or PSR. I don't know if he brought together a committee to come up with the most misleading name or what, but let me tell you, it's a doozy. Essentially, Harrison's big "precision scheduled railroading" idea boiled down to: Lay a bunch of people off; make everyone else work longer hours. Cut back on maintenance and inspections of equipment. Dramatically overload freight trains (and, therefore, infrastructure). When people complain about the less reliable service, more frequent accidents, and higher costs, ignore them. Collect enormous paycheck and many pats on the back from the bandits on Wall Street. If that sounds like a lousy plan, then you understand it perfectly. It's just another instance of wealthy CEOs exploiting working people, then rewarding themselves with millions of dollars. In fact, just before I left Congress, railroad bosses testified to the Presidential Emergency Board that they couldn't give raises to workers because the industry's record profits "were not due to any contribution by labor." Instead, they spent millions to resist any effort to make the industry safer. The same genius CEOs who believe that trains run by themselves (and maintain themselves, and load themselves, and refuel themselves...) are simply shocked to learn that fighting safety measures leads to tragedy. As Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I worked to hold those executives accountable to the law and to the American people. (Check out my December speech.) Now PADPAC [Progressive Americans for Democracy, founded by DeFazio] is leading the effort to elect leaders who will stand up to the rail industry and put an end to the greedy exploitation of PSR. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a link to PADPAC. I’ll continue researching it. Meet the Democrat Who Thinks He Can Take Down Josh Hawley Lucas Kunce is an impressive guy who already has statewide name recognition after previously running in the 2021 primary. I think he definitely has a chance to defeat that sniveling worm Hawley. From Daily Beast: Missouri is, decidedly, a red state. It’s been years since the Show-Me state elected a Democrat statewide. And when Sen. Josh Hawley (R) is up for re-election in 2024, likely boosted by the headwinds of a presidential cycle, most would figure he’ll be in fine shape. But Lucas Kunce—a Democrat, marine veteran, and attorney—has a different perspective. And he’s trying to get others to join in. Like a number of Democrats before him, Kunce is running as an underdog candidate, trying to flip a red-state seat blue. He thinks a grassroots, populist approach can revitalize the Democratic Party in Missouri, betting his working-class background will connect with voters who’ve felt disenchanted by politicians. ✂️ “The difference is Josh Hawley and me, right? Like, the contrast I bring to him is so stark and so powerful, that it's something people will like,” Kunce said. ✂️ “For me, politics isn't left, right. For me, it's—it's bottom versus top. And so for me, it's going against the massive corporations that have too much power. It's going against the political class that kind of controls everything and leaves the rest of us just scrambling,” Kunce said, noting Americans’ frustration with corruption in Congress. Here’s Kunce’s ad: x YouTube Video New Hero Alert From Jordan Zakarin in Progress Report’s email newsletter on Saturday: All hail State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, the righteous shit-talker from Omaha, Nebraska. x NE State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh (D-Omaha) prepares to filibuster every bill on the legislative agenda unless Republicans pull their anti-trans bill. "If people are like, 'Is she threatening us?,' let me clear: Yes, I am. I am threatening you." pic.twitter.com/ccOeCJoGGa — Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) February 24, 2023 Raskin has been sporting a bandanna he got from his rock-and-roll idol A heartwarming story for all of us who love Jamie Raskin. From The Washington Post: Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.) is seldom seen without a bandanna on his head in recent days. The congressman is undergoing chemotherapy and started losing his hair this month. … He was diagnosed with diffuse large B cell lymphoma in December ... Raskin said his doctors have detected positive results already and he is feeling hopeful. “All I can say is, so far, so good,” he said, explaining that he just completed his third of six chemo sessions. ✂️ As he noticed his hair falling out, “I immediately thought about Little Steven, who I’ve always loved,” he said, referring to rock-and-roll musician Steven Van Zandt. “Little Steven was my inspiration.” ... When Van Zandt heard that Raskin had been crediting him for his own chemo head covering, he was touched. “That was an honor to me, and I wanted to reciprocate that wonderful gesture,” said Van Zandt, who is on tour and decided to send Raskin some bandannas from his own supply. … “I sent him five scarves from my personal collection here on the road, and when I get home in a few weeks, I’ll send him some more,” Van Zandt said. ✂️ “I was so blown away and moved,” [Raskin] said. ...”he realized that I needed a fashion upgrade.” And to end the politics section with another hero, here’s yet one more reason to love Jimmy Carter. Voyager Spacecraft Statement by President Carter From The American Presidency Project at UC Santa Barbara: July 29, 1977 This Voyager spacecraft was constructed by the United States of America. We are a community of 240 million human beings among the more than 4 billion who inhabit the planet Earth. We human beings are still divided into nation states, but these states are rapidly becoming a single global civilization. We cast this message into the cosmos. It is likely to survive a billion years into our future, when our civilization is profoundly altered and the surface of the Earth may be vastly changed. Of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, some--perhaps many--may have inhabited planets and spacefaring civilizations. If one such civilization intercepts Voyager and can understand these recorded contents, here is our message: “This is a present from a small distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts, and our feelings. We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours. We hope someday, having solved the problems we face, to join a community of galactic civilizations. This record represents our hope and our determination, and our good will in a vast and awesome universe.” * * * * * 🍿 Repellent Republicans Rushing toward Ruin 🍿 GOP Congressman Claimed He’s an Economist. He Took One Class—and Got a C. The non-apology apology is the crowning touch. What a twit. From Daily Beast: Freshman Republican Rep. Andy Ogles (TN) says he’s a trained economist, but in reality, he only took one community college course on the subject—and he got a C, a transcript obtained by NewsChannel 5 in Nashville revealed. Ogles’ congressional bio says he graduated from Middle Tennessee State University, “where he studied policy and economics.” However, a resume he used in 2009 said he got a degree in international relations, with no mention of economics. But both claims were false, according to the transcript, which Ogles had tried to keep sealed. Ogles actually majored in liberal studies. The congressman also enrolled in classes titled U.S. Presidency, Problems in Government, Political Theory and National Security Policy—failing all of them twice, once in 1995 and again in 1998. It took Ogles 17 years to attain his degree, graduating in 2007 with a 2.4 GPA, NewsChannel 5 reported. And the Freedom Caucus member has already admitted to his false claims, too, telling a conservative local paper, “When I pulled my transcript to verify, I realized I was mistaken.” “I apologize for my misstatement,” he added. Drag-Banning Tennessee Guv May Have Done Drag Himself I love watching these idiots tie themselves into knots in order to enforce their “it’s okay for us but not for you” world view. From Daily Beast: Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is set to sign a bill that will make drag performances illegal in the state—a crime he may have committed in high school. A photo emerged on Reddit over the weekend from the Franklin High Yearbook in 1977, where Lee attended, purportedly showing Lee dressed as a woman along with the caption “Hard Luck Woman.” But that’s different, Lee’s office told The Daily Beast on Monday, saying that “lighthearted school traditions” shouldn’t be “conflated” with the issue the state is banning. “The bill specifically protects children from obscene, sexualized entertainment, and any attempt to conflate this serious issue with lighthearted school traditions is dishonest and disrespectful to Tennessee families,” a spokesperson said. ✂️ However, the bill is vaguely worded and it’s unclear how it will be enforced, or if Lee wearing women’s clothing would be exempt from its felony categorization. The bill associates any form of dressing outside one’s gender as “adult” entertainment, using the wording “male or female impersonators.” 'Bashing, chatter and gossip': CPAC 2023 promises a cloud of scandal and division for conservatives CPAC has always been a sorry spectacle, but now it’s nothing but crazed howler monkeys throwing poop at each other. By Tom Boggioni in Raw Story: The annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) will open again this week in Maryland, and this year's meet-up will convene under a cloud of scandal involving its founder along with deep divisions among the attendees about the future of the Republican Party, the conservative movement and the 2024 presidential election. According to a report from the Guardian's David Smith, one of the biggest questions this year will be about founder Matt Schlapp amid allegations that he sexually assaulted a male staffer who worked on Herschel Walker's U.S. Senate campaign. ✂️ Kurt Bardella, a former CPAC attendee who has since parted ways with the Republican Party to become a Democratic activist, said CPAC has been headed down the road to extremism for years. “CPAC at one point in time thought of itself as the establishment conservative cattle call for presidential candidates and now it’s become completely overrun by the extremists and the fringe who are the new establishment of the Republican party." ... Internal chaos plagues Bannon-fronted $FJB cryptocurrency, critics say No kidding. 😉 This is a very long piece. Click on the link if you want, but I think you’ve already figured out that the problems are lying, grifting, CYA, and total dysfunction. From ABC News: When former Trump White House strategist Steve Bannon and Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn took control of a MAGA-branded cryptocurrency in December 2021, the venture seemed poised for success. A white-hot crypto market had set the stage for high returns. And in an industry that relies on promotion and marketing savvy, the two high-profile Trump associates quickly leveraged their enormous megaphones to attract throngs of buyers.✂️ But now, thirteen months on, the cryptocurrency has fallen on hard times. $FJB, now officially said to stand for Freedom Jobs Business, has lost 95% of its value, at least in part due to an industry-wide downturn. And some of those who say they bought the coin are flocking to social media with complaints about the fund's management and allegations that the coin's leadership and representatives have made false promises -- including accusations that they've failed in their commitment to continue to donate portions of the coin's proceeds to the Wounded Warriors Project and other charities. Compounding the coin's lackluster performance is a growing concern among self-identified buyers that Epshteyn and Bannon have, in effect, jumped ship. * * * * * Musical break Evil-doers will do evil, but we can call them out on it. x YouTube Video * * * * * The media misbehaving Uh-oh. The NYTimes finally broke the pitchbot. 🎩 to Kossack xaxnar for writing a stellar diary about this idiocy last Saturday. I had to hjighlight it today in case any of you missed it. x I can't top this. https://t.co/rgGHRbQxI0 — New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) February 25, 2023 It rather puts me in mind of John Mellencamp’s 1980 album title comment on the world: “Nothin’ matters and what if it did.” ✂️ This tweet from Weisman is an observation summing up his own comment on the story — which reads like a parody in its own right. x Democrats see East Palestine as action & consequences: Rail regulations were gutted, blame assigned. Republicans see a more operatic narrative, a forgotten town in a flyover state struggling against an uncaring mega-corporation and an unseeing government. https://t.co/zzE82xKNvT — Jonathan Weisman (@jonathanweisman) February 23, 2023 * * * * * Good news from my corner of the world Oregon lawmakers want to expand food stamps to all immigrants I long for the day when everyone believes that all human beings deserve enough food. From The Oregonian: A bill to expand food stamp eligibility to immigrant groups in Oregon goes further than similar existing measures in Washington and California, and comes as households in Oregon are poised to lose extra benefits under emergency pandemic provisions from the federal government. Senate Bill 610 ...would use state funds to open access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to those who don’t meet federal citizenship requirements but are otherwise eligible, including undocumented immigrants. SNAP generally requires that beneficiaries be citizens or residents of the United States for five years. SB 610 would reach an additional 62,000 Oregonians now locked out of the program, advocates said, including refugees, permanent residents who have been in the country less than five years, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients and people from Micronesia and the Pacific Islands under federal programs that allow them to travel to the U.S. for school and work. ✂️ Six other states, including California and Washington, have passed similar legislation, but no measure has been as comprehensive as what’s being proposed in Oregon, said Aldo Solano, strategic partnerships manager at Oregon Food Bank. Industry research and development spending in Oregon has strengthened without a tax credit Let’s hope this news influences other states. There are much better uses for state funds. From Oregon Center for Public Policy: Following the expiration of its research and development (R&D) tax credit, businesses in Oregon have spent more on research and development than their counterparts in nearly all states — adding further evidence that reinstating the R&D tax credit would be a waste of public resources. In 2017, the Oregon legislature chose not to renew the Qualified Research Activities tax credit. The legislature’s decision stemmed from the lack of sufficient evidence that this R&D tax credit resulted in companies undertaking activity that otherwise wouldn't occur. Since 2018, Oregon has had no R&D tax credit. Even without the tax credit, industry’s spending on research and development in Oregon, adjusted to 2020 dollars, has continued to strengthen. In 2017, the last year the Qualified Research and Activities tax credit was in place, businesses spent nearly $8 billion dollars in R&D in Oregon. In 2020, the year with the most recently available data, that figure had risen to over $10 billion, a 30 percent increase. US Senate confirms Oregon Justice Adrienne Nelson to a seat on federal bench Only JFK nominated more federal judges than Biden has nominated in the past two years. And a significant majority are BIPOC. Judge Nelson has a spectacular resume, including having been the first Black justice on the Oregon Supreme Court. From Oregon Public Broadcasting: In this screenshot from a video feed, Hon. Adrienne C. Nelson testifies during a nomination hearing before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary in Washington, D.C., Oct. 12, 2022. The U.S. Senate confirmed Wednesday the nomination of Adrienne C. Nelson, an associate justice on the Oregon Supreme Court, to serve as a federal district court judge. The 52 to 46 vote was bipartisan, though just barely, with Democrats voting to confirm Nelson and Republicans largely voting in opposition. President Joe Biden nominated Nelson last summer. Nelson is the first Black woman jurist in Oregon to become a federal judge. University of Oregon student workers fight for union, allege retaliation The way student workers at large universities are treated is shameful. Having a labor victory at a large state university like U of O could have a huge impact on state universities nationwide. From The Oregonian: Students launched a unionization effort in fall term in an attempt to unite student tutors, daycare workers, residence hall advisers and other student workers across campus to fight for pay raises, a shorter pay period, anti-harassment policies and more. Organizers estimate that some 3,000 students work on campus. They’ll need buy-in from just over half to get union efforts off the ground. As of Thursday, organizers say, 1,300 students had signed union cards signaling their support. ✂️ As students near the culmination of their card-collecting campaign, they’ve seen “union busting incidents becoming more frequent and severe,” organizers said in a news release. ✂️ If student organizers get the campaign off the ground, they think they’ll be the largest undergraduate student union in a growing national trend. Students at Ohio’s Kenyon College staged a strike in May in an effort to get their student union recognized, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported, following successful union campaigns at Grinnell College, Dartmouth and Wesleyan University. “I think they’re definitely the first in Oregon and one of the first in the country,” Nick Keogh, legislative director for the Oregon Student Association, said of the aspiring University of Oregon undergraduate union. “It’s pretty historic.” ‘Sidewalk Joy’ kiosks offer free toys, movies and art in Portland neighborhoods Portland has problems, but it hasn’t lost its playful creative spirit. My own neighborhood has a Little Free Plant Library, a Little Free Seed Library, and a Dog Treat Stop. From Here is Oregon: Little Free Libraries are no longer just for books. Throughout Portland neighborhoods, you can find street-side cubbies for free toy cars, Lego minifigs, seed packets, VHS tapes or art. There are dozens of kiosks offering exchanges, dioramas or interactive moments ­– many of which popped up during the pandemic. At the Poetry Pottery box near Southeast 48th Avenue and Lincoln Street, you can leave a poem and come back a few days later to receive a piece of pottery imprinted with your words. ✂️ What do you call these unexpected installations? Rachael Harms Mahlandt, creator of the PDX Dinorama and Dino Exchange, and Grant Brady of PDX Free Little Art Gallery, coined the term “Sidewalk Joy.” Last month they started mapping them, creating a list of 26 locations, and counting. You can view the map online at bit.ly/sidewalkjoy. x YouTube Video * * * * * Good news from around the nation After Ohio Train Derailment, Voters Support Strict Safety Regulations for Railroad Companies It’s good to see that these results hold true across party lines. From Data for Progress: Disrupting the Business of Bail Several states have eliminated cash bail, but in states where it still exists, initiatives like the Minnesota Freedom Fund are helping to blunt the injustices caused by cash bail. From Yes! Magazine: According to the Prison Policy Initiative, “More than 400,000 people in the U.S. are currently being detained pretrial – in other words, they are awaiting trial and still legally innocent.” A significant portion of these people are “jailed pretrial simply because they can’t afford money bail.” Increasingly, nonprofit bail funds, such as the Minnesota Freedom Fund (MFF), are stepping in to offer an alternative to the predatory bail bonds industry. ✂️ High on the list of issues that MFF tackles is “the criminalization of Black and Brown people” and “the automatic determination that because of how I look I must be guilty.” ✂️ “Our organization exists so that [prosecutors] aren’t able to use coercive practices like jailing in order to get people to plead guilty to offenses that they otherwise would not be guilty to,” [Elizer] Darris [MFF’s co-executive director] says. MFF makes bail payments on behalf of people who are jailed and who otherwise would be unable to afford the bail that buys them their freedom while they await trial or formal charges. ✂️ “Our organization isn’t just focused on bail funds,” Darris says. “It’s called the ‘Freedom Fund,’” because that name reflects a “broader definition that takes on the criminal justice system.” ✂️ As a nonprofit, MFF is prohibited from participating in political activism—so it has recently expanded its work into a second organization, a 501(c)(4) organization called MFF Action, whose function will be to “actually take action to put boots on the ground to door-knock within our community to not just support legislation, but to craft legislation. ...If you can’t change the policies, you change the policymakers, you change the people who will put community at the center of their decision-making,” Darris says. This High School Gave Spending Power to Students Yet more proof that people don’t need to be told by “experts” how to spend their money. From Reasons to be Cheerful: It was the first day of the 2021 fall semester and Ajah Johnson could not believe what her teachers were telling her. By the end of the course, the instructors said, she and her peers would get to choose how to spend $10,000 to upgrade their school however they decided was best. “I thought it was a lie,” Johnson said, figuring the classroom exercise involved make-believe money. “There’s no way they’re giving us $10,000.” But to her delight, the cash was real. Over the following months, she and her peers at Central Falls High School in Rhode Island received lessons in budgeting, survey techniques and local government, then eventually designed proposals for how to allocate the money. It was the first time Johnson, who grew up in Virginia and had moved to Rhode Island the previous year, ever remembers getting a say in how her school was run. ✂️ The elective, first offered in 2019, has served as proof-of-concept in Central Falls for a process called participatory budgeting, which gives stakeholders a direct say in how public funds are spent. Since then, the model has spread throughout the city and is beginning to take hold statewide. ✂️ Thanks to a partnership with the Secretary of State’s office, students selected a winning project — new bathroom mirrors to replace ones a teacher said resembled “tin foil” — by casting customized ballots using official voting machines. “Folks in power in that room came in and saw that. It helped them say, ‘OK, this does work.’ So we were able to expand and start thinking about what a citywide process looks like,” the [city] council president said. ✂️ Patricia Martinez, the school district’s chief equity officer, marvels at the swift progress. “It’s really taken on a life of its own,” she said. “It’s a new wave of democracy, especially for underserved BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) communities.” * * * * * Good news from around the world World Central Kitchen: #ChefsForUkraine: One Year & 200+ Million Meals Served From a WCK email: WCK remains deeply committed to the people of Ukraine—we arrived in Poland within hours of the initial invasion, quickly expanding in Ukraine to build one of the largest food relief operations in the country. And this effort continues to be led by Ukrainians helping Ukrainians, ensuring food is not yet another thing that families have to worry about. Today, WCK teams in Ukraine continue to adapt and refine our response to support frontline communities facing increasing attacks. To ensure people impacted by the conflict—now entering its second year—have enough to eat, WCK is directing our efforts to supporting recently liberated and frontline communities that lack basic infrastructure and struggle with food access. At the same time, our teams have the expertise to provide immediate relief through meals to families displaced and search and rescue crews working tirelessly in areas hit by missile attacks—often reaching the site of a blast within minutes. Attacks are expected to escalate as spring approaches, so WCK will continue to work shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine’s Food Fighters to provide hope, comfort, and love, one plate of food at a time. Support Our Efforts in Ukraine Protests in Russia denounce Ukraine invasion It takes immense courage for Russians inside the country to speak out against the war. From The Washington Post: As politicians and people worldwide marked the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of its neighbor on Friday, small sporadic protests broke out across Russia, where it is illegal to criticize the military or the conflict. ✂️ In Moscow, people brought flowers to the statue of a famed Ukrainian writer, Lesya Ukrainka, which became a makeshift memorial to Ukrainian victims of Russia’s invasion following a missile strike on a residential building in Dnipro in January that killed at least 46 people. Police in Moscow stand guard Friday as a person visits a monument of Ukrainian poet Lesya Ukrainka on the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, police detained several people as they tried to lay flowers near the statue of a 19th century Ukrainian poet, Taras Shevchenko, local media reported. In Kazan, a regional capital on the Volga River, people brought flowers, toys and pictures of Ukrainian cities destroyed by the Russian army, to a monument commemorating victims of political repression. Elsewhere, posters with the inscription “What’s it all for?” or bearing expletive-ridden denunciations of the war were placed on top of rows of red carnations near a memorial in Khanty-Mansiysk, in western Siberia. ✂️ Protests are virtually outlawed in Russia, and public opposition to the war poses great personal risks, including prosecution and long prison sentences, though pro-war hawks are generally permitted to complain that Russia is not winning fast enough, or to demand more brutal tactics. At least 19 people were detained across Russia on Friday, according to authorities. When demonstrations broke out last year at the beginning of the invasion, Russian law enforcement cracked down, making nearly 20,000 arrests to show that public outcry would not be tolerated. Meduza published more on these silent protests: ‘A year of diZgrace’ Antiwar protests and makeshift memorials spring up across Russia From Meduza: [On] the anniversary of the full-scale war in Ukraine ordered by Vladimir Putin, people across Russia are expressing grief, shame, and remorse, along with their indignation with an invasion launched in their name. As the Kremlin tries hard to suppress all demonstrations of public disapproval and protest against the war, photos from different Russian cities, published by the local media, reveal what many Russians cannot keep to themselves, in spite of the censorship and the brutal police practices. [Here are some of the images:] In Murmansk, a makeshift memorial to the victims of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine In Rostov-on-Don, activists express support for Ukraine and sorrow for war victims In Perm, ‘A year of diZgrace,’ a banner using the letter ‘Z’ as a symbol of the invasion * * * * * Musical break Here’s something very special that deserves repetition as the world enters the second year of Russia’s war against Ukraine. 🎩 to Gnusie Gareth for sharing this song with us in a comment last Friday. And thanks also to Progressive Muse, who added the folllowing, quoted from Billboard: Paisley is one of several celebrity ambassadors for Ukraine’s United24 crowdfunding effort, and has donated his time for other fundraising efforts to assist Ukrainians. But even he thought it would be a long shot to have the direct involvement of Zelenskyy, who has traveled the world advocating for Ukraine’s military and recovery efforts. ✂️ Zelenskyy didn’t just sign off on the song; he also suggested some changes to it, Paisley said. Paisley’s royalties for the song will be donated to United24 to help build housing for thousands of displaced Ukrainians whose homes were destroyed in the war, he said. x YouTube Video 🇺🇦 SLAVA UKRAINI !! 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 HEROIAM SLAVA !! 🇺🇦 * * * * * Good news in medicine This groundbreaking biomaterial heals tissues from the inside out This is one of those truly mind-blowing medical advances. From Science Daily: A new biomaterial that can be injected intravenously, reduces inflammation in tissue and promotes cell and tissue repair. The biomaterial was tested and proven effective in treating tissue damage caused by heart attacks in both rodent and large animal models. Researchers also provided proof of concept in a rodent model that the biomaterial could be beneficial to patients with traumatic brain injury and pulmonary arterial hypertension. "This biomaterial allows for treating damaged tissue from the inside out," said Karen Christman, a professor of bioengineering at the University of California San Diego, and the lead researcher on the team that developed the material. "It's a new approach to regenerative engineering." A study on the safety and efficacy of the biomaterial in human subjects could start within one to two years, Christman added. The team, which brings together bioengineers and physicians, presented their findings in the Dec. 29 issue of Nature Biomedical Engineering. There are an estimated 785,000 new heart attack cases in the United States each year, and there is no established treatment for repairing the resulting damage to cardiac tissue. After a heart attack, scar tissue develops, which diminishes muscle function and can lead to congestive heart failure. Spinal cord stimulation helps stroke survivors control arms again A friend of mine who’s a brilliant chef has been unable to work since having a stroke. This breakthrough sounds like it could help her. From Freethink: The challenge: A stroke occurs when the blood supply to the brain is disrupted, either by a clot or a rupture. This causes brain cells to begin dying, leading to damage that can affect the stroke survivor’s ability to walk, talk, and move their limbs. ✂️ Why it matters: One in four adults will have a stroke over the course of their lives, and 75% of survivors will have lasting problems with moving at least one of their arms or hands, affecting their ability to work, live independently, or enjoy a high quality of life. ✂️ How it works: For the first-in-human study, the researchers implanted a pair of thin electrodes along the surface of the spinal cord in the necks of two stroke survivors suffering from years of chronic upper limb impairments. Continuous electrical stimulation was then delivered to the participants’ spinal cords while they attempted certain movements and tasks. This enabled the patients to move their arms in ways they couldn’t previously, according to corresponding and co-senior author Marco Capogrosso. “[O]n the first day of testing, [subject 1], for the first time in the nine years since her stroke, immediately reacquired the capacity to fully and volitionally open her hand,” the researchers reported in the study, published in Nature Medicine. Stimulation also allowed her to raise her arm over her head, and her fine motor skills improved, too. She was able to draw a spiral, pick up a soup can, open a padlock, and even use a knife and fork to eat independently. ✂️ ...some of the gains in motor control persisted for weeks. “[W]e found that after a few weeks of use, some of these improvements endure when the stimulation is switched off, indicating exciting avenues for the future of stroke therapies,” said Capogrosso. * * * * * Good news in science Hidden Hydrogen I wasn’t aware of the abundance of natural hydrogen nor that it’s a renewable energy source. From Science: Contrary to conventional wisdom, large stores of natural hydrogen may exist all over the world, like oil and gas—but not in the same places. These researchers say water-rock reactions deep within the Earth continuously generate hydrogen, which percolates up through the crust and sometimes accumulates in underground traps. There might be enough natural hydrogen to meet burgeoning global demand for thousands of years, according to a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) model that was presented in October 2022 at a meeting of the Geological Society of America. ✂️ The enthusiasm for natural hydrogen comes as interest in hydrogen as a clean, carbon-free fuel is surging. Governments are pushing it as a way to fight global warming, efforts that were galvanized when Russia invaded Ukraine last year and triggered a hasty search, especially in Europe, for alternatives to Russian natural gas. At the moment, all commercial hydrogen has to be manufactured, either in a polluting way, by using fossil fuels, or in an expensive way, by using renewable electricity. Natural hydrogen, if it forms sizable reserves, might be there for the taking, giving the experienced drillers in the oil and gas industry a new, environmentally friendly mission. “I believe that it has the potential to replace all fossil fuels,” Zgonnik says. “That’s a very large statement, I know.” Critically, natural hydrogen may be not only clean, but also renewable. It takes millions of years for buried and compressed organic deposits to turn into oil and gas. By contrast, natural hydrogen is always being made afresh, when underground water reacts with iron minerals at elevated temperatures and pressures. In the decade since boreholes began to tap hydrogen in Mali, flows have not diminished, says Prinzhofer, who has consulted on the project. “Hydrogen appears, almost everywhere, as a renewable source of energy, not a fossil one,” he says. This startup can 3D print a battery into any shape you want How cool is this! From Fast Company: Inside the Silicon Valley factory of a startup called Sakuu, a new type of 3D printer is reinventing how batteries are made. The technique, which prints using thin layers of powder, can change what the batteries look like—imagine an e-bike battery that curves to fit the frame of a bike, or a cellphone battery that’s shaped to fill every gap around the circuit board, making the phone last longer before it needs another charge. But 3D printing also enables what’s often called the holy grail of the industry: Solid-state batteries. Current lithium-ion batteries, used in everything from electric vehicles to renewable energy storage, have challenges, including the fact that they can catch fire. They’re also still fairly expensive even though costs have dropped, and they’re hard to recycle. A “solid-state” battery that uses solid electrolytes, instead of the liquid inside batteries today, can eliminate the flammability problem, help the batteries work in freezing weather, add energy density, and make the batteries faster to charge, easier to recycle, and cut costs. But until now, they’ve been hard to manufacture. ✂️ Like other 3D printing, it also saves materials, since only the precise amount of that’s needed is used. “We’re able to use about 40% less material,” Bagheri says. “So that’s a huge cost reduction.” The equipment also takes less space, so future factories can be small. A new machine that sits in around 400 square feet will be able to produce around 100 megawatt hours of batteries in a year; older equipment takes up 16,000 square feet and can only produce 2.5 megawatt hours per year. That efficiency, and the fact that the process is also faster, cuts costs further. The startup claims that it can cut the cost of battery production nearly in half. * * * * * Good news for the environment How Zimbabwe’s Rainwater Harvesting Strategies Can Be Applied in the US This is one of those simple low-tech solutions that can make a difference even in our high-tech world. From Nonprofit Quarterly: Zimbabwe has dealt with recurring droughts and destructive floods for decades. But farmers there are adapting to the changing climate by implementing rainwater harvesting strategies. These same low-cost, scalable methods can be used to reduce the impact of droughts and floods by large- and small-scale farmers in the US. ✂️ Chitora, a sprawling small-scale farming community in Eastern Zimbabwe, was unable to sustain any meaningful rain-fed farming due to climate change. But a small thriving banana farm stands along the edge of a dusty road there. That’s because Blessing Zimunya, the farm’s owner and a local village leader, turned to rainwater harvesting in 2018 to access sustainable and reliable irrigation for his crops. Alongside Zimbabwe’s increasingly longer droughts, rainy seasons are becoming shorter and, in most cases, are accompanied by extremely heavy rains. Most of that rainwater is lost through surface runoff as there was little infrastructure to catch that water for when it is most needed: during dry spells. To combat this, Zimunya dug infield trenches alongside his crops to collect runoff, allowing the surrounding soil to retain moisture for longer periods of time and reducing reliance on rainwater. Besides minimizing water loss, the infield trenches reduce flooding by holding excess water and allowing that water to infiltrate the soil at a slower rate. To further his water collection efforts, Zimunya built a 95,000-liter underground water tank to hold rainwater for irrigation. Soon, the tank will be connected to water pipes that will push water from the tank to Zimunya’s crop field. But he didn’t stop there; Zimunya also installed plastic tanks on the roof of his home to collect rainwater for non-drinking domestic uses. How sea turtle poachers in the Philippines became protectors working to save endangered species Smart conservationists all over the world, including Jane Goodall in Africa and Wildlife SOS in India, understand that in order to prevent poaching, you need to find new ways for the poachers to earn a living. This is one more example. From Australian Broadcasting Corporation: [Coastal Underwater Resource Management Actions (CURMA)] … established in 2009, has transformed sea turtle poachers into allies, offering incentives and training to help save thousands of turtles and keep their eggs from ending up in markets and on plates. "We talked to the poachers, and it turned out poaching was just another means for them to earn a living," program operations director Carlos Tamayo says. "They had no choice." ✂️ Volunteers receive 20 pesos ($0.53) for each egg collected, which is four times what they might earn from selling them.The eggs are transferred to the hatchery to be reburied in protected areas. Former poacher Jessie Cabagbag, who grew up eating turtle meat and eggs, says the extra income from egg collection goes a long way for his family. "The incentives help us pay for our food and electricity bill," he says. "When I got lucky, I was able to save and use it to buy a tricycle which I use [to ferry passengers] when I could not go out to fish, so that's another source of income." Mr Cabagbag's wife and seven-year-old son accompany him to patrol the La Union beach of Bacnotan and they have handed more than 1,000 eggs to CURMA since October. "I stopped poaching when we underwent training and were taught that what we have been doing was illegal, and that these species of turtles are endangered," he says. An Old Railway Running Through Singapore Is Now a Thriving Nature Reserve I love the Rails to Trails movement. This is similar but with a lot more impact. From Bloomberg: Bukit Timah Truss Bridge on the Rail Corridor. A former railway line running through the heart of Singapore has turned into one of its biggest conservation success stories, marking a departure from the more manicured approach to nature that the city-state is known for. The 24-kilometer (15 miles) contiguous stretch of land was part of a rail track built by the British colonial government in Malaya and was returned to Singapore from Malaysia in 2011, more than four decades after the two countries parted ways. Singapore was now faced with a question: What should it do with the land? The Nature Society, Singapore’s oldest conservation group, submitted an audacious proposal to authorities: convert the railway into a green corridor that would connect existing green spaces from the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve in the north, through some of the city’s most exclusive neighborhoods, all the way to the central business district in the south. Since 2012, parts of the rail corridor have been accessible to the public. The government has refrained from parceling out land for real estate development, keeping it as a green spine that’s 10 times longer than the High Line in New York, from which it drew inspiration. Authorities are now committed to preserving it in the long term, and continue to enhance more parts of the corridor, reopening them in phases. * * * * * Good news for and about animals Brought to you by Rosy, Nora, and Rascal. Rosy isn’t a big fan of being dressed up herself, but she thinks these pups look pretty great in their Mardi Gras outfits, and she’d probably submit to wearing a costume if plenty of treats came along with it. Dogs in costumes take over at Rio Carnival street party Click the link to view the image gallery. From AP: As Rio de Janeiro kicked off its Carnival on Saturday, about 100 dogs barked and wagged their tails to the tune of samba music as they paraded in front of pet lovers in a canine costume competition. The “Blocao” — a mixture of “bloco” which refers to Carnival street parties and “cao,” or dog in Portuguese — brought about 300 people to Rio’s Barra da Tijuca. Dog costumes ranged from fairies, and superheroes to clowns and cartoon characters. ✂️ “Thirty years ago they lived in our backyard, now they live on our beds. It is good for them to be with the owner. When the dog sees the owner happy, he is happy too,” Vieira said. “Some people have worked on their dog costumes for three months,” Vieira said. “There’s nothing but happy people here.” Enkaz, the cat rescued from the rubble Nora wanted to share the happy update to the story of the Turkish firefighter and the cat he rescued and named Enkaz (“Rubble”). In case you need reminding, here’s the original tweet, followed by the update: x Update: The firefighter adopted him and named him Enkaz. It means "rubble." (📸: IG/jcaks_1) pic.twitter.com/CpdaoJhBmO — Goodable (@Goodable) February 19, 2023 Although he’s already posted a story about Flaco, Rascal wants to share this charming update about the New Yorkers who are rooting for Flaco to remain free to fly and hunt in Central Park. Evenings in the Park with Flaco Flaco flew out of his cage at the Bronx Zoo after it was vandalized, and since then has evaded capture. The zoo tried to recapture him almost immediately, but failed when he untangled his foot from the trap they’d set for him. From The New Yorker: On February 12th, the zoo issued a statement. Flaco, after ten days in the Park, had learned how to hunt. This was an extraordinary development, and explained his relative lack of interest in stunned lab rats. Raptors raised in captivity generally cannot hunt, because they have to learn from a parent. But Flaco was feasting. ✂️ “They won’t be able to catch him now, will they?” a birder named Hila Paldi asked at the band shell. “It’s going to be harder and harder,” [David] Barrett, [who runs the Twitter account Manhattan Bird Alert] said. “Flaco is developing greater flying endurance, ranging over a wider part of the Park.” A few minutes later, Alexandra Horowitz, an animal-cognition researcher who is the head of Barnard College’s Dog Cognition Lab, emerged from the crowd. … Horowitz explained that she used to be a docent at the zoo, and had always seen a tension between the caged wilderness within it and the freedom just outside. Flaco, she said, had come to represent that. ✂️ On [February 17th], the zoo threw in the towel: they would pause efforts to “recover” Flaco, for now. “As we noted previously, efforts at recovering the bird have proven more difficult,” they explained. “Great news,” Barrett tweeted. On Saturday, Flaco sat in an elm tree and hooted. On Sunday, more than a hundred people watched him fly out. Here’s a gorgeous image of Flaco. What a beauty! * * * * * Art break These exquisite iridescent clouds are called polar stratospheric clouds or nacreous clouds. The time-lapse video was taken over the course of four days in the polar regions of Norway and Finland by Adrien Mauduit of Night Lights Films and was published on The Watchers website. x YouTube Video * * * * * Hot lynx www.newyorker.com/… How Ukrainians Saved Their Capital. As we look back on the beginning of the war in Ukraine, some excellent articles from last March have been republished. This New Yorker piece is one of the best. www.motherjones.com/… The Awe-Inspiring Ukrainian Evacuation Effort that Started With a Group Chat. Another great piece, this time from Mother Jones. “Alexander Lyubishko… founded the group chat on messaging app Viber that helps refugees leave Russian occupation in Melitopol.” www.politico.com/… ‘Something Was Badly Wrong’: When Washington Realized Russia Was Actually Invading Ukraine. “A first-ever oral history of how top U.S. and Western officials saw the warning signs of a European land war, their frantic attempts to stop it — and the moment Putin actually crossed the border.” An excellent deep dive. www.nytimes.com/...When the Movies Pictured A.I., They Imagined the Wrong Disaster​​​​​.​​ “Instead of the chilling rationality of HAL in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” we get the messy awfulness of Microsoft’s Sydney.” www.motherjones.com/… Bing Is a Liar—and It’s Ready to Call the Cops. More on how far off the rails Microsoft’s AI chatbot can go. Hilarious and horrifying. www.smithsonianmag.com/… How an All-Black Female WWII Unit Saved Morale on the Battlefield. The story of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion—the first battalion of African American women ever to serve in the U.S. military overseas — who sorted and sent mountains of mail to GIs that hadn’t been delivered in several years. * * * * * 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: ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ 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! 💙❤️ [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/28/2154470/-Good-News-Roundup-for-Tuesday-February-28-2023 Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/