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Good News Roundup for Tuesday, October 17, 2023 — Go outside and stop the rain [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-10-17  

Good morning, Gnusies! I’m going to start off today with one of my favorite statements about political activism. It’s by Jill Lepore, a brilliant writer and historian whom I quote a lot. In fact, I’ve already used the quote below in an earlier GNR, but The New Yorker just republished it online, and I was struck by how perfectly it speaks to the situation we’re in right now.

From Jill Lepore in The New Yorker, January 27, 2020, in a piece titled “The Last Time Democracy Almost Died”:

In 1937, The New Republic, arguing that “at no time since the rise of political democracy have its tenets been so seriously challenged as they are today,” ran a series on “The Future of Democracy,” featuring pieces by the likes of Bertrand Russell and John Dewey. “Do you think that political democracy is now on the wane?” the editors asked each writer. The series’ lead contributor, the Italian philosopher Benedetto Croce, took issue with the question, as philosophers, thankfully, do. “I call this kind of question ‘meteorological,’ ” he grumbled. “It is like asking, ‘Do you think that it is going to rain today? Had I better take my umbrella?’ ” The trouble, Croce explained, is that political problems are not external forces beyond our control; they are forces within our control. “We need solely to make up our own minds and to act.” Don’t ask whether you need an umbrella. Go outside and stop the rain. Here are some of the sorts of people who went out and stopped the rain in the nineteen-thirties: schoolteachers, city councillors, librarians, poets, union organizers, artists, precinct workers, soldiers, civil-rights activists, and investigative reporters. They knew what they were prepared to defend and they defended it, even though they also knew that they risked attack from both the left and the right.

I think it’s helpful to know that our nation has been on the verge of losing democracy before, and that it was the actions of ordinary citizens who brought us back from the edge. We have also witnessed horrific violence before, both within our own country and around the world, and we have seen ordinary citizens come together to bring comfort to victims and to change the policies that promote violence.

So let’s go out there and stop the rain! (If you need some suggestions about what you can do, check out the “Do Some Good!” section at the end of this GNR.)

Opening music

x YouTube Video

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Good news in politics

President Joe Biden will visit Israel in high-stakes trip

This is a risky move in many ways, but it has the potential to do a great deal of good. Personally, I trust Biden to use his moral gravitas and his diplomatic smarts to convince Netanyahu to see reason. I believe this trip is also a political necessity.

From CNN:

US President Joe Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced in the early hours of Tuesday from Tel Aviv. ✂️ The risks of a presidential visit to Israel are not small. On Monday, as Blinken met with Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, air sirens blared, forcing the two men to shelter in place. The United States and Israel “have agreed to develop a plan that will enable humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organizations to reach civilians in Gaza,” Blinken said, adding that the president during the trip “will hear from Israel how it will conduct its operations in a way that minimizes civilian casualties and enables humanitarian assistance to flow to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not benefit Hamas.” … The top US diplomat noted that the US shares “Israel’s concern that Hamas may seize or destroy aid entering Gaza or otherwise preventing it from reaching the people who need it. ...If Hamas in any way blocks humanitarian assistance from reaching civilians, including by seizing the aid itself, we’ll be the first to condemn it. And we will work to prevent it from happening again,” he said. Blinken said the agreement to work on the plan was done at the US’ request, and they “welcome the government of Israel’s commitment to work on this plan.” ✂️ Biden and Blinken, advisers say, have upheld a moral high ground and cemented credibility with the Israelis by remaining sympathetic to civilian and humanitarian needs, while reinforcing their commitment to the security state. Traveling to Israel in person may provide Biden — who has long espoused the importance of face-to-face meetings — a better opportunity to convey those views to his Israeli counterpart, a leader with whom he believes he has a deep understanding.

Court settlement would bar separating migrant families as Trump did

We’ve been waiting for this good news for a long time. And Judge Sabraw, who has been overseeing family reunifications, is the right judge to be handling the final chapter of this shameful story.

From The Washington Post (gift link):

The Biden administration on Monday agreed to a court settlement that would bar U.S. authorities from referring migrant parents traveling with children for criminal prosecution for illegally entering the United States, a largely condemned practice used by the Trump administration. If approved by a judge, this provision in the proposed settlement would remain in effect for eight years, preventing an administration during that time from restoring a “zero tolerance” prosecution policy. That Trump policy forced the separation of thousands of parents and children at the southern border in 2018. The proposed settlement, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in San Diego, would wrap up a class-action lawsuit that compelled the Trump administration to reunite thousands of family members forced apart during his term. The settlement also would grant temporary benefits to separated families such as housing aid, work permits, health care and a fresh start for their asylum claims. ✂️ U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw, a Republican appointee who declared the separations unlawful in 2018 and has overseen family reunifications, would determine whether to approve the settlement after a hearing, possibly in December.

Biden-Harris Administration Invests Over $200 Million in Youth Mental Health

One more much-needed initiative from the Biden-Harris administration.

From GoodGoodGood:

President Joe Biden is prioritizing mental health initiatives through The Unity Agenda. First discussed in his 2022 State of the Union address, the Unity Agenda confronts a number of topics — including cancer research and the opioid epidemic — and includes three objectives related to supporting mental health. These objectives are: creating healthy environments, strengthening system capacity, and connecting more Americans to care. Building on the Unity Agenda, the Biden-Harris administration recently announced $206 million in grants dedicated to supporting youth mental health and community-based behavioral health care and treatment. “Combined, these awards will help expand access to mental health services for students in schools, bolster the behavioral health workforce, and improve access to mental health prevention and treatment for children and youth in communities across the country,” an HHS press release states. This will all be accomplished through the following investments across multiple government agencies: Develop infrastructure to promote the mental health of youth in Native American communities

Build school-based, trauma-informed support services

Improve life trajectories for youth with serious mental disorders

Expand substance abuse treatment capacity in adult and family treatment drug courts

Increase training and education to prevent youth overdose

Expand family counseling and support for LGBTQ+ youth and families

Increase funding to 77 HRSA-funded health centers

Supply 25 states and territories with the resources to train pediatricians and mental health care

Provide funds to 23 organizations to train more behavioral health providers who serve children, adolescents, and young adults in underserved and rural areas

Create the first National Center to Support Mental Health Services in the Child Welfare System

To rein in climate change, Biden pledges $7 billion to regional 'hydrogen hubs'

This item has come up in GNR comments, but I wanted to give you a larger overview. BTW, Oregon is excited to be involved in developing the cleanest version of hydrogen fuel production, which uses water electrolysis.

From NPR:

Seven regions across the U.S., from Pennsylvania to California, will share $7 billion to build the country's first regional hubs to develop hydrogen as an alternative fuel to oil and gas. President Joe Biden announced the projects Friday during a stop at the Tioga Marine Terminal in the Port of Philadelphia. Biden touted hydrogen as a way to create thousands of new jobs and cut carbon dioxide pollution that contributes to climate change. "Those hubs are about people coming together across state lines, across industries, across political parties to build a stronger, more sustainable economy and to rebuild our communities," Biden said. ✂️ Hydrogen, an odorless and highly combustible molecule, is largely produced from natural gas, but it can also be made from water by using electricity. That could mean no carbon emissions. The administration claims the majority of projects would fast track commercial-scale "clean hydrogen" production. The Department of Energy selected the seven hubs, which involve 17 states, in a competitive process that began with 79 applications. Hubs include California, the Gulf Coast of Texas, the Ohio River Valley, a Midwest hub encompassing Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, as well as a region that includes North and South Dakota, and Minnesota. [Other hubs include The Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub, the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub, and a Pacific Northwest hydrogen hub that will produce hydrogen fuel using water electrolysis, leaving only oxygen as a byproduct.] The funding comes from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The IRS can do its job at last

The Inflation Reduction Act is finally funding government so it can do its job. Thanks, Biden!

This is from a comment that Ice Blue made last Thursday. Thanks, Ice Blue!

x We finally started to fund the IRS. And it's working. https://t.co/XLD8iD2iKJ — Robert Reich (@RBReich) October 11, 2023

FTC Proposes Rule to Ban Junk Fees

More good things happening with Biden in charge. 🎩 to our good news sleuth extraordinaire, T Maysle, for mentioning this in a comment on Thursday. And it also made Goodie’s absolutely epic list of Biden’s accomplishments on Saturday (if you haven’t read it, READ IT NOW!).

From FTC.gov:

[On Wednesday,] the Federal Trade Commission...announced a new proposed rule to prohibit junk fees, which are hidden and bogus fees that can harm consumers and undercut honest businesses. The FTC has estimated that these fees can cost consumers tens of billions of dollars per year in unexpected costs. ✂️ As the public comments made clear, consumers are fed up with hidden fees for everything from booking hotels and resort fees to buying concert tickets online, renting an apartment, and paying utility bills. Many consumers said that sellers often do not advertise the total amount they will have to pay, and disclose fees only after they are well into completing the transaction. They also said that sellers often misrepresent or do not adequately disclose the nature or purpose of certain fees, leaving consumers wondering what they are paying for or if they are getting anything at all for the fee charged. ✂️ The proposed rule would ban businesses from running up the bills with hidden and bogus fees, ensure consumers know exactly how much they are paying and what they are getting, and help spur companies to compete on offering the lowest price. Businesses would have to include all mandatory fees when telling consumers a price, making it easier for consumers to comparison shop for the lowest price. The proposed rule would also have enforcement teeth, allowing the FTC to secure refunds for harmed consumers and seek monetary penalties against companies that do not comply with its provisions.

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🍿 Repellent Republicans Rushing toward Ruin 🍿

Trump ‘does not have the right to say and do exactly what he pleases,’ Judge Chutkan says, issuing gag order

...aaaaaand good luck avoiding those sanctions!

From CNN:

The order restricts Trump’s ability to publicly target court personnel, potential witnesses, or the special counsel and his staff. The order did not impose restrictions on disparaging comments about Washington, DC, – where the jury will take place – or certain comments about the Justice Department at large, both of which the government requested.“This is not about whether I like the language Mr. Trump uses,” Judge Tanya Chutkan said. “This is about language that presents a danger to the administration of justice. ...His presidential candidacy does not give him carte blanche to vilify public servants who are simply doing their jobs.” Chutkan noted that any violation of her orders could result in sanctions. ✂️ “He does not have the right to say and do exactly what he pleases. Do you agree with that?” she asked Trump attorney John Lauro, who responded: “100%.” ✂️ “When you start to use a word like ‘thug’ to describe a prosecutor doing their job, that wouldn’t be allowed by any other criminal defendant,” Chutkan said. “Just because the defendant is running a political campaign does not allow him to do whatever he wants.” She added: “If the message Mr. Trump wants to express is ‘my prosecution is politically motivated,’” he can do so without using “highly charged language.”

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Good news from my corner of the world

Albina Vision Trust leaders show visiting architects a vision for Black joy in Portland

I love that the phrase “Black joy” is appearing in the news more and more. Survival and equity really aren’t enough — Black Americans deserve joy.

From The Oregonian:

Chandra Robinson (left), a Portland architect, and JT Flowers with Albina Vision Trust led a group of two dozen architects, civil engineers and developers from across the country to share their plans to redevelop a 94-acre section of the Albina neighborhood. About two dozen visitors to Portland stood at the intersection of North Vancouver Avenue and Broadway on Saturday and imagined what could be. The group of architects, civil engineers and developers came from across the country as part of the National Organization of Minority Architects’ annual conference, and they were there to see Albina Vision Trust’s ambitious plans to redevelop nearly 100 acres of Portland’s historic Albina neighborhood, decimated by decades of anti-Black redlining and gentrification. ✂️ Albina Vision Trust...wants to return the surrounding area near the Rose Quarter to its former self: a vibrant and community-driven neighborhood to uplift Portland’s Black community. Students and practicing architects alike joined the tour to glean insight from the project in the hopes of bringing similar projects to their cities. ✂️ The overall project is one of the largest restorative redevelopment endeavors in the country, Flowers said. Despite its size, there are only 12 property owners in the area, making the project less complicated, Flowers said. “Our project is the largest in scope, the most audacious in scope, but in many ways it’s one of the most feasible.”

Native jazz artist Jim Pepper’s Portland home added to National Register of Historic Places

My jazz bassist husband and I knew Pepper. He was a truly amazing person — incredibly talented, charming, funny, a pleasure to hang out with. I’ve tried to preserve the high points of this story while still respecting Fair Use, but I couldn’t fit in all the wonderful details it contains. Please do click the link to read the whole thing. And do listen to “Witchi-Tai-To,” the closest Oregon will ever come to a state anthem.

From The Oregonian:

Sean Aaron Cruz, 75, remembers the exact moment he first heard Jim Pepper’s iconic song “Witchitai-To.” … Cruz said the song, saturated with the unique “eagle tone” of Pepper’s instrument, reverberated through him. ✂️ In 2002, in a coincidence that seemed almost magical, Cruz stood in Pepper’s former Northeast Portland home holding a bootleg CD of the 1971 debut album, “Pepper’s Pow Wow,” gifted to him by Pepper’s mother, Floy. That moment changed Cruz, who purchased the home and now devotes himself to honoring the legacy of Pepper, who was of Kaw and Muscogee Creek heritage. Cruz also celebrates the contributions of Pepper’s parents — Floy, a renowned educator, and Gilbert, a Kaw dancer and frequent musical collaborator with his son. The Jim Pepper house at 10809 N.E. Fremont St. in Portland. Jim Pepper, jazz saxophonist, composer, and singer. Cruz’s journey culminated July 24 with the news that Pepper’s home had been added to the National Register of Historic Places, which protects it from demolition and recognizes it as a place of significance to contemporary Indigenous history. It also fulfilled a promise to Pepper’s mother, who died in 2010 and to whom Cruz promised he would do anything he could to preserve her son’s legacy. Even after Cruz’s death, the home will remain the headquarters of the Jim Pepper Native Arts Council, a nonprofit Cruz created in 2014 to improve culturally relevant music education statewide and lower suicide and drop-out rates among Indigenous students. x YouTube Video

The unique story behind Hood River Valley’s reign as Oregon’s pear capital

A great example of citizens joining together to save their livelihoods and their environment.

From Columbia Insight:

A remarkable thing happened in Oregon in 1973. The Oregon Legislature sent a bill to Governor Tom McCall creating the nation’s first statewide land use program. It aimed to protect farmland and stop urban sprawl. … Travel other states and you’ll see the difference: productive farmland just across the “urban growth boundary” from condos, apartments and subdivisions. In other states, houses sprawl across the rural landscape and render farming impossible or impracticable. ✂️ Some tourists find the valley’s beauty irresistible. They want to enjoy it more intimately, to buy a tract of land and build a house among the orchards. … They drive up land prices and make acquisition of parcels out of the question for orchardists. The conflict broke into the open in 1977. Developers proposed a “planned unit development” near Parkdale in the upper valley, acre and half-acre residential lots. The county planning commission put the question to voters: development or farm zoning? The pending vote spawned one of Oregon’s first county citizens’ organizations devoted to protection of farmland: the Hood River Valley Residents’ Committee (now Thrive Hood River). ...The committee roused support for agriculture, which prevailed in the referendum. [After another large developer gained approval for a similar project,] the Residents’ Committee went to the new state Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) to upend the county decision. Turning to the new statewide land use planning goals, LCDC overturned the county decision in 1979. ✂️ Pears and the growers had prevailed: today, there is no resort in the upper valley.

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Good news from around the nation

Kaiser Permanente labor deal shows why short, disruptive strikes are becoming more common

I found this analysis very interesting and compelling.

From CNN:

The largest health care strike in US history produced a tentative labor agreement for a coalition of unions at Kaiser Permanente. ...the cost of the three-day strike earlier this month, and the threat of another, even larger strike next month, brought about a deal with one of the nation’s largest health systems. And the union’s win is just the latest reason why short strikes are happening more and more. Americans often think of a strike as starting with workers walking out and not returning to work until there’s a deal, sometimes weeks or months later. … But the short duration strike, which starts with an end date already scheduled, is becoming a more frequent tool of US labor unions. ✂️ Long-duration, open ended strikes are costly not just to employers but also to strikers, who lose their income during the work stoppage. The short duration strikes pain on employers while not forcing union members to give up as much. “Strikes of this kind are a tactical tool,” said Todd Vachon, professor of labor studies at Rutgers University. “They might be building towards a larger future action. I think a lot of activists are discovering the effectiveness of these strikes. I think we’re going to increasingly see these short strikes as a tool.”

California Passes Right-to-Repair Act Guaranteeing Seven Years of Parts for Your Phone

As California goes, so eventually goes the nation. So this is great news for all of us.

From Good News Network:

...California state government has passed a landmark law that obligates technology companies to provide parts and manuals for repairing smartphones for seven years after their market release. Senate Bill 244 passed 65-0 in the Assembly, and 38-0 in the Senate, and made California, the seat of so much of American technological hardware and software, the third state in the union to pass this so-called “right to repair” legislation. On a more granular level, the bill guarantees consumers’ rights to replacement parts for three years’ time in the case of devices costing between $50 and $99, and seven years in the case of devices costing more than $100, with the bill retroactively affecting devices made and sold in 2021. Similar laws have been passed in Minnesota and New York, but none with such a long-term period as California.

Exxon, Apple and other corporate giants will have to disclose all their emissions under California’s new climate laws – that will have a global impact

Another example of a California law that will ultimately affect everyone around the world.

By Lily Hsueh, Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Arizona State University, in The Conversation:

Many of the world’s largest public and private companies will soon be required to track and report almost all of their greenhouse gas emissions if they do business in California – including emissions from their supply chains, business travel, employees’ commutes and the way customers use their products. That means oil and gas companies like Chevron will likely have to account for emissions from vehicles that use their gasoline, and Apple will have to account for materials that go into iPhones. It’s a huge leap from current federal and state reporting requirements, which require reporting of only certain emissions from companies’ direct operations. And it will have global ramifications. California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two new rules into law on Oct. 7, 2023. Under the new Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, U.S. companies with annual revenues of US$1 billion or more will have to report both their direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions starting in 2026 and 2027. … The second law, the Climate-Related Financial Risk Act, requires companies generating $500 million or more to report their financial risks related to climate change and their plans for risk mitigation. As a professor of economics and public policy, I study corporate environmental behavior and public policy, including whether disclosure laws like these work to reduce emissions. I believe California’s new rules represent a significant step toward mainstreaming corporate climate disclosures and potentially meaningful corporate climate actions.

Kentucky has the second fastest growing clean energy sector in the U.S.

News like this from a state whose economy was formerly so dependent on coal is especially encouraging.

From Louisville Public Media:

More than eight times as many people worked in clean energy than coal mines in Kentucky last year, according to the 2023 Clean Jobs America report by the nonpartisan group E2. The state added nearly 2,200 new jobs in the sector last year. “That’s a real win,” said Sandra Purohit, E2 federal advocacy director. “In fact, it’s one of only five states in which clean energy employment grew by more than 6%.” In total, more than 37,000 Kentuckians work in the state’s clean energy economy. The jobs span a wide variety of talents and sectors — including careers in energy efficiency, battery storage and transmission grids, biofuels, electric vehicles and renewable energy.

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Good news from around the world

Feeding families impacted by the conflict in Gaza and Israel

WCK is always among the first NGOs on the ground when war breaks out. Note that José Andrés is donating $1 million of his own money to help the innocent victims of this war.

“We need longer tables, not higher walls.” Amen.

x I’m heartbroken at the loss of life..families, children, in Israel & Gaza💔 @WCKitchen has been working to start operations..feeding in both Gaza & Israel today. To support these efforts for innocent families, I’m giving $1 million..I’ll share more about our work here everyday. pic.twitter.com/MUQi5FRSop — José Andrés 🇺🇸🇪🇸🇺🇦 (@chefjoseandres) October 14, 2023 Innocent people are caught in the middle of this volatile and escalating situation in both Gaza and Israel. In the midst of this violence, access to food and the means to cook for their loved ones is hampered. Members of WCK’s Relief Team have arrived in the region and are forming a network of new connections and working to provide critical food support. In Gaza, we are working with Anera, a local organization that WCK has partnered with during previous emergency responses. They are preparing food kits to be distributed to families in the region where access to food is extremely limited. In Israel, we have begun working with local restaurants, serving meals to people who have been displaced from their homes. WCK teams are also set up in border countries, should we see large numbers of refugees fleeing home. We are trying to grow our efforts—scaling up to feed more people in the coming days—while also prioritizing the safety of our partners and our teams.

Polish election: Right-wing ruling party to lose majority - exit poll

This is huge, and has already been the subject of a DKos diary (Elections in Poland are kind of a big deal...) plus comments in yesterday’s GNR. May Civic Coalition, Third Way, and Lewica succeed in forming a left-center ruling coalition! 🙏

From BBC:

The right-wing populist Law and Justice party is on course to win most seats in Poland's general election, exit polls suggest, but is unlikely to secure a third term in office. Pollsters Ipsos suggest the party, known as PiS, has 36.1% of the vote and the centrist opposition is on 31%. If the exit polls are correct, then Donald Tusk's Civic Coalition has a better chance of forming a coalition. He is aiming to end eight years of PiS rule under leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski. … With 80.27% of votes counted, the National Electoral Commission says Law and Justice has 36.27% of the vote. Civic Coalition is on 29.41% while the Third Way has 14.45%. ✂️ ...election officials said later that turnout was probably 72.9%, the highest since the fall of communism in 1989. …A larger proportion of 18-29 year-olds had turned out to vote than over-60s, Ipsos said. ✂️ Civic Coalition leader Donald Tusk has described the vote as Poland's most important since the fall of communism and vital for its future in the European Union. He has vowed to improve relations with the EU and unlock €36bn (£30bn) of EU Covid pandemic recovery funds frozen in a row over PiS judicial reforms that led to staffing top courts with judges sympathetic to the ruling party. Mr Tusk's party is now most likely to be able to form a broad coalition, with centre-right Third Way and left-wing Lewica.

The long-distance train revival gathered pace

From Positive News:

Rail passengers will be able to bed down in Brussels or Amsterdam and wake for breakfast in Dresden or Prague under plans to expand Europe’s night train network. European Sleeper’s overnight service started up in May, connecting the Belgian and Dutch capitals with Berlin. Starting the journey in the UK on Eurostar means London-Berlin takes just 16 hours. From March next year, European Sleeper will continue to Prague with stops along the way in Rotterdam, Antwerp, Germany’s Saxon Switzerland national park and Děčín in the Czech Republic. The Belgian-Dutch cooperative is also planning a winter night train linking Amsterdam and the French Alps, while its service to Barcelona is on track to launch in 2025. Elsewhere, new startup Evolyn is planning a London-Paris route rivalling Eurostar, which is also slated for the year after next.

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Good news in medicine and science

Woman Becomes First Human to be Fitted with Nerve and Bone Fused Bionic Limb

From Good News Network:

A Swedish woman named Karin has become the first person to ever receive a below-the-elbow prosthetic that fuses bone with metal and electrodes. ✂️ Karin using a screwdriver. Mechanical attachment and reliable control of prosthetic limbs are two of the biggest obstacles in artificial limb replacement, with many amputees opting to reject even the most sophisticated, commercially available artificial limbs due to fears of painful and uncomfortable attachment and limited, unreliable control. ✂️ A multidisciplinary group of engineers and surgeons from Sweden, Australia, and Italy aimed to solve these problems by developing a remarkable interface that fuses human and machine to allow the limb to be comfortably attached whilst enabling electrical connection with the nervous system. Called ‘osseointegration,’ it’s a process where bone tissue embraces titanium creating a strong mechanical bond and enabling connection with the nervous system via electrodes implanted in the nerves and muscles. Karin, an engineer, says her groundbreaking bionic arm has reduced the terrible phantom pain she used to feel, and has been ‘life-changing’ in returning her capabilities in everyday life and regaining her independence.

Emergency medical association rejects ‘excited delirium,’ used to describe some deaths in police custody

This is great news. “Excited delirium” was used to cover up the murders of George Floyd and Elijah McClain, among too many other Black people arrested for minor violations (or for no reason at all besides being Black).

From CNN:

An emergency physicians group is disavowing “excited delirium,” a controversial term that some police officers, clinicians, medical examiners and court experts have used to explain how an agitated person could die in custody through no fault of any force used to subdue them. Dr. Michele Heisler, medical director for Physicians for Human Rights, says that the American College of Emergency Physicians’ (ACEP) move will take excited delirium off the table in court cases. “This is the final professional medical or psychological or psychiatric association to repudiate the term,” she said. Excited delirium has been described by other medical associations as “associated with racism” and disproportionately used in the deaths of Black people. It was cited in one of the most high-profile cases of recent years: the death of George Floyd in 2020. ACEP’s Board of Directors confirmed Thursday that its 2009 white paper on excited delirium syndrome is “outdated and does not align with the College’s position based on the most recent science,” according to a statement on the organization’s website. “The term excited delirium should not be used among the wider medical and public health community, law enforcement organizations, and ACEP members acting as expert witnesses testifying in relevant civil or criminal litigation,” the statement says. This decision officially withdraws the board’s approval of the paper.

This is the first crash test dummy modelled on the female body. Will it make cars safer for women?

From EuroNews:

Crash test dummies for cars are typically based on average male bodies, which could explain why women are 73 per cent more likely to be injured in frontal road collisions. Researchers and engineers have just unveiled a prototype of what they hope will lead to safer vehicles for women. The SET 50F is the first car crash dummy modelled entirely on a female body. ✂️ In recent years, studies in the US have attempted to shed light on the discrepancy between men and women when it comes to injuries sustained in road collisions. A 2019 study from the University of Virginia, for example, reported that women were 73 per cent more likely than men to be injured in a car accident. Another study in 2021 by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in the US, suggested that there are a number of factors that could be playing into this statistic. ✂️ ...Linder and the team behind SET5OF also believe that crash testing vehicles with dummies that properly account for the female form could lead to the development of safer seats and features for both men and women. “The muscles in the neck are weaker normally in a woman, so if you compare it with a male dummy, this neck is more flexible and has more movements if you perform exactly the same crash test at the same speed and acceleration, " said Tommy Pettersson, a research engineer on the project. "The aim, hopefully, is to make it possible to make better seats both for women and men...”

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Good news for the environment

Cranberry Growers Are Bringing Wetlands Back from the Dead

From Reasons to Be Cheerful:

Cranberry bogs — naturally swampy areas infused with sand to create the ideal growing conditions for the iconic North American fruit — have been a staple of the Massachusetts landscape and economy for centuries. At the turn of the new millennium, the industry was in a tough spot. An overabundance of cranberries on the market from higher-yielding new cultivars in Wisconsin and Quebec had caused prices to crash and then swing wildly, even after the federal government started paying growers for surplus production. Some Massachusetts cranberry bogs no longer made financial sense, and for farmers who had exhausted every option to stay in operation, development was the only reliable way out. But it wasn’t a fate those farmers wanted for the land they loved. ✂️ It was well-understood at the time that most cranberry bogs in Massachusetts were situated within natural wetlands but had been made more hospitable for cranberries — and stripped of other, undesirable plants — by putting down a fresh layer of sand every few years. Researchers already suspected that many of those wetlands were originally Atlantic white cedar swamps, an ecosystem that’s rare today. Yet evidence was mounting that cranberry bogs that were taken out of production grew into sandy pine and maple forests instead of reverting to the wetlands they were before. ✂️ [After removing sand from a bog at the headwaters of Plymouth’s Eel River,]“It wasn’t absolutely clear-cut what was going to happen,” says Christopher Neill, a senior scientist at Falmouth’s Woodwell Climate Research Center who studies the effects of cranberry bog restoration. ...The Eel River project razed about 60 acres at a cost of roughly $2 million — and revealed, to researchers’ delight, that the seeds left by those bygone swamps were still alive beneath the cranberry bogs. The researchers planted thousands of white cedar saplings in the seemingly lifeless piles of mud the project left in its wake. It wasn’t long before a thick carpet of native mosses, rushes, sedges and wildflowers sprouted around the young trees. ✂️ The Eel River Headwater Preserve, a former cranberry farm, in 2023, 13 years after wetland restoration. In 2010, the year the Eel River project was completed, the eastern portion of Tidmarsh Farms went out of production. ...“We brought 20 organizations together, and it was a five-year adventure then, from start to finish, to get that project built,” says Alex Hackman, a restoration ecologist who...oversaw the evisceration and resurfacing of Tidmarsh’s larger eastern farm. Its size — several times that of Eel River — added to the complexity, but the experience he and others brought from the previous restoration helped. In 2016, eastern Tidmarsh became the second cranberry farm in Massachusetts to be converted back into a self-sustaining wetland. Mass Audubon, the state’s largest conservation group, bought the land the following year and opened it to the public as the 481-acre Tidmarsh Wildlife Sanctuary.

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Good news for and about animals

Brought to you by Rosy, Nora, and Rascal.

Wiener Dog Gives Birth to So Many Puppies it Might Be a World Record: ‘She’s Such a Great Mum’

Rosy admits that this is a lightweight story, but she enjoyed it too much not to post it.

From Good News Network:

Rayma Jones with 3-year-old Winnie and her her 11 pups A dachshund has given birth to what could be a world record litter for her species—11 puppies at one time. Three-year-old Winnie bore the huge brood at home near Leicester, England in September. ...the short-legged but long-bodied hound normally gives birth to a litter of between one and six babies, due to its small size. Another dachshund, Cheesecake, gave birth to 10 puppies in September 2021, which made headline news. But Winnie has beaten that number and her owner thinks it may be a world record, although Guinness World Records does not keep records for individual dog breeds. “I was amazed by the litter,” said stay-at-home dog mom Rayma Jones. “I just kept counting them over and over.” ✂️ “Winnie’s a natural. She even has ten nipples so she can nearly feed them all at the same time. It’s very sweet to watch. ...She never wants to leave them... She’s the best mum ever.”

A live duck was at Autzen Stadium for Oregon’s game against Colorado. Whether Quacktavious can return is to be determined

Rascal is now an enthusiastic Duck fan! And he’s counting on U of O to do the right thing and “Keep the duck!”

From The Oregonian:

Oregon sophomore Jeremy Jackson and his pet duck, Quacktavious. The [University of Oregon mascot] Duck had a feathered friend in the student section of Autzen Stadium for Oregon’s game against Colorado last month. Whether Quacktavious, the pet and registered emotional support animal of UO sophomore Jeremy Jackson, can return to the Autzen Zoo and other university sporting events is to be determined. Jackson, who is from Saltillo, Mississippi and transferred to UO from Mississippi State this summer, bought a duckling [in] Mississippi last year. The biology major and member of the Army National Guard drove to Eugene this summer with Quacktavious, who he registered as an ESA via the website Pettable — Jackson says he had a medical emergency in June 2022 that was originally diagnosed as a seizure and later believed to be myocarditis. He decided to bring the fowl to the Sept. 23 game. “I had him in his carrier and once I got inside I was just walking around with him,” Jackson said. “I thought someone was going to say something at first, then no one did. ... Then later on I held him up and that’s how the (sheriffs) came up to us. The (sheriffs) get up there and they said if you let the duck go, you can come back but the duck has to go. I’m like, ‘it’s my duck, I can’t just let him go.’” ✂️ “(They said) they’ll leave it up to the athletic department,” Jackson said. “During the whole process you hear the people around me saying ‘keep the duck.’ I’m like, oh my gosh this is wild. The (sheriffs) left and all you heard was ‘show the duck, show the duck.’ So I held him up again and everybody lost their mind. I said, well I guess we’re staying.”

Minnesota Cat Sanctuary Unveils New Outdoor Playground for Feral Rescues: “People care about them”

Nora lived on the street for a couple of years, as far as her rescuers could tell, and it did take her some time to learn to trust us completely. So she would have applauded these kind cat-lovers working to help feral cats learn to live with people.

From Good News Network:

Rescued feral cats at Furball Farm in Minnesota This is the outdoor cat shelter at Furball Farm, in Faribault, Minnesota. The staff and volunteers built this impressive outdoor structure to allow their dozens of feral rescues a place to play and learn to be around humans. Most of the cats at Furball Farms were once unapproachable and definitely untouchable, ...but now the majority love human visitors. Founder Julie Maverts, who started the farm in her separate garage 6 years ago, says the outdoors is where most feral cats will have grown up, but allowing them to enjoy nature, wind, sun, and birdsong with love, gentleness, and affection has been a great sort of rehabilitation.“We will only accept cats from clinics/rescues/impound/humane societies that are deemed unadoptable due to behavior,” the site states. Julie has taken in hundreds of strays and gotten hundreds adopted. Thanks to donations, she’s able to provide low-cost spaying and neutering as well as flea and de-worming treatments. “People care about them. They’re not just nuisance cats trying to struggle outside,” Maverts said.

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Art break

This is the most charming story I’ve found this week.

Photos Reveal 19-Month-Old Boy’s Point of View After Photographer Dad Gives Him His Old Camera

From My Modern Met:

19-month-old Stanley Jones with his dad’s camera The world looks very different through the eyes of a 19-month-old, which we can now see thanks to the pictures taken by Stanley Jones, the son of British Army photographer Timothy Jones. One bright and summery day, Jones shared his old Canon G12 with Stanley and taught him how to press the shutter and shout out “say cheese.” Jones writes, “He wandered round the house and garden snapping away saying ‘cheese' at everything. He even managed to switch the settings to ‘sepia' at one point.” ✂️ [Here are some of Stanley’s photos:]

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