Extra! Extra! 10/13

A week of wins! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

From the always fantastic “Just for Xeets and Giggles” by Jay Kuo

Hi, all, and happy Sunday!

Hope you’re all having a great evening! Sorry this is out so late. I’ve been on my front porch greeting postcard volunteers all day—including some of you!—and it slowed my work progress a bit (in the nicest possible way). On that note, you’ll be delighted to hear that after I put out the call for help with my overabundance of postcards the response was so overwhelming that I almost worried I wouldn’t have ENOUGH for everyone coming. I have distributed almost all of the 11K cards I had, and the rest will go easily in the next week. In fact, I’ve ordered more!

When all is said and done it looks like volunteers who come to my little stoop depot will have written around 75K postcards for this election cycle. Amazing!

Now on to more amazing news, because as usual there’s been quite a lot of it this week. The negative voices are always the loudest, but when you look at what’s HAPPENED you see far more wins than losses. These victories are everywhere—they’re just quieter by nature…because they’re true!

So please, take in the items on this list. Read them slowly. Then read them again! They only happened because people exactly like you refused to give up when the going got tough.

And because of people like you we can look forward to more long lists in the near future. Thanks for that! You are simply amazing.

P.S. — Sorry there’s no audio today—Mike just left to visit his mom for a week so I’m on my own and don’t have time to record. Hope the Substack AI fills in adequately until he returns.

P.P.S. — As usual I’ve popped an 🪓 next to every item that everyday activists like you helped make happen, and a 🪣 next to every one that got done by lawmakers or administrations that we helped elect.

Read This!

This is a good argument for why early voting data is more predictive of election outcomes than polling. And the early voting data is looking GOOD!

And THIS! “This Diné leader is using horses to bring ‘the greatest Native turnout ever’ to the polls” YESSSS!

Celebrate This! 🎉

The U.S. DOT has announced a grant of $5.69 billion to Texas in Fiscal Year 2025 to help fund infrastructure projects across the state. These funds come from the Biden-Harris Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which passed in 2021, (with little to no support from Texas Republicans). 🪣

A Texas man who sued three women for allegedly helping his ex-wife obtain abortion pills has dropped his claims.

Inflation has slowed to its lowest level since February 2021, per a new report from the Labor Department. 🪣

The Wisconsin Farm Bureau endorsed Tammy Baldwin for U.S. Senator. This is the first time in 20 years that they have endorsed a Democrat running for statewide office.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 400 points to a record high this week, while the S&P 500 closed above 5,800 for the first time. 🪣

Amazon has removed all plastic air pillows from its delivery packaging used at its global fulfillment centers as of October 2024, according to a new announcement from the company. 🪓

The U.S. Supreme Court issued an order denying a request for review of a San Francisco campaign-ad law that requires political advertisements to disclose their major funders. 

Women CEOs at top companies made more money ($16.5 million median) than their male ($15.6 million median) counterparts this year, according to new data. 

Claudia Sheinbaum is now officially Mexico’s first female president and she’s a climate scientist who pledged in her opening speech to increase renewables by nearly double and impose the nation’s first limit on oil production. 🪓

The campaign to decertify the Trader Joe’s United local in Hadley, MA was dismissed by a judge.

Hurrah! Composting organizations and the fresh produce industry have reached an agreement to accelerate the transition to certified compostable price look up (PLU) stickers. 🪓

Team Harris-Walz just launched Hunters and Anglers for Harris-Walz, a grassroots coalition of hunters, fishers, conservationists, and responsible gun owners. (They’re hosting a national kick-off call TOMORROW AT 6 p.m. ET.) 🪓

After a protracted legal battle, AT&T has agreed to pull 8 miles of lead cables out of Lake Tahoe. A remnant of an old telecommunications system, the lead cables were forgotten for decades. 🪓

Former Conservative radio talk show host Charlie Sykes endorsed Kamala Harris.

On the day before Trump visited Detroit the DNC flew a plane banner over the Detroit Tigers home playoff game that read: “Trump is an anti-union scab. Vote Kamala!”

Kamala Harris announced a new proposal to expand Medicare to help cover the costs of home health aides for seniors. 🪓

A group of porn actors announced on Monday that they’re launching a $100,000 ad campaign on porn sites warning about the far-right Project 2025 agenda, which aims to ban adult films and those who make them. 🪓

President Joe Biden is setting a 10-year deadline for cities across the nation to replace their lead pipes, finalizing an aggressive approach aimed at ensuring that drinking water is safe for all Americans, the AP reports. 🪣

Atmospheric mercury concentrations declined by 10% between 2005 and 2020, thanks to a reduction in human-driven emissions. 🪓

The Atlantic endorsed Kamala Harris for president.

In a win for voters, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an Alabama law severely limiting who can help voters with disabilities cast absentee ballots will remain blocked for elections this year.

North Carolina election officials announced steps to make sure people in counties hit hardest by Hurricane Helene can still vote safely and securely. Officials in Florida are doing the same in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton. 🪣

Millions of Christians in the US indicated in a study released on Monday that they are not likely to vote in the upcoming election, signaling a potential problem for the Republican Party. Their reason for not voting? They don’t trust the election will be fair. Karma, baby!

Donald Trump’s contributions from small-dollar donors have plummeted since his last bid for the White House.

Australia’s government is finalizing protections for a 300,000-square-kilometer expansion of a sub-Antarctic marine park, and once it does, it will officially have protected more ocean territory than any other country in the world.

The EPA awarded Youngstown, OH $1.2M in funding to purchase equipment in its ongoing efforts to replace lead waterlines. The program was funded through the bipartisan infrastructure law. 🪣

The New York Times FINALLY released a story on Trump’s “cognitive decline.” 🪓

Planet-heating and health-harming pollution at the Port of Los Angeles is at its lowest levels since records began in 2005, according to the latest data. The Port of Long Beach also saw similar reductions.

Republican former Tarrant County, TX Judge Glenn Whitley endorsed Colin Allred and Kamala Harris.

Starting this fall, all incoming first-year students at UC San Diego — no matter their major — will be required to take a climate class.

Pennsylvania's Luzerne County restored ballot drop boxes for the November election after its county manager was sued for completely eliminating them last month.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a case from Pennsylvania GOP lawmakers seeking to revive the right-wing independent state legislature theory and challenge President Biden's 2021 executive order expanding voter registration. ¹

Watch This! 👀

Fantastic. (Found it here.)

And this! (Found it here.)

1. This and the one above from

Democracy Docket