Extra! Extra! 7/27

It's. Not. All. Bad. (Here's proof.)

Found in the always awesome “Just for Skeets and Giggles” by Jay Kuo.

Hi, all, and happy Sunday!

Here’s your list of everything good that happened this week while we were simultaneously being dragged through a continuing Trumpian hellscape.

Enjoy, share, and celebrate them. Remember, it does no disservice to those who are suffering to focus for a moment on something positive. In fact, it strengthens us so that we can keep up our fight for justice.

Also? What we focus on gains power.

So take a few minutes this Sunday to dwell on this list of wins.

Thanks for all you do to help make the good stuff happen!

P.S. — It’s been a long time since I’ve publicly thanked my paid subscribers. Yet I literally couldn’t do what I do without you. You make all of this work possible and I’m staggeringly grateful. THANK YOU!

Celebrate This! 🎉

A former Louisville police officer convicted of violating Breonna Taylor’s civil rights during a police raid in which she was killed was sentenced to 33 months in prison.

A man who admitted to being a fascist during a debate with Mehdi Hasan was fired from his job.

Almost every late night host showed up at Stephen Colbert’s first show after being cancelled in order to show their support.

The DNC is up with billboards calling out Trump’s betrayal of rural hospitals.

Despite the national extension shutting down, Illinois is keeping its dedicated 988 lifeline for LGBTQ+ youth.

The United Nations reported a global shift toward renewable energy, passing a “positive tipping point” where solar and wind power will become even cheaper and more widespread.

Todd Koehnke and Tim Macklin, cofounders of the Collective Oyster Recycling and Restoration, have set out to restore the health of Connecticut’s overfished oyster beds by collecting shells from about 50 seafood restaurants in the state and dropping them back where they came from.

Conservationists and AI are successfully teaming up to help save the California red-legged frog.

Missouri has ended its luxury tax on period products and diapers, becoming the 31st state to do so.

There are now about 11,400 high-speed, public charging stations in the US, and hundreds more are being added every few months. Driven by the private sector, the rapid expansion has continued despite the Trump administration’s freezing of construction subsidies.

A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration shall not take Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly removed from the U.S. earlier this year, into custody should he be released from pretrial incarceration on immigrant smuggling charges.

Greece revealed the boundaries of two planned marine parks in the Ionian and Aegean seas, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis saying they will be the largest in the Mediterranean region.

People in New York prisons will be able to use their tablets and facility phones without charge starting Aug. 1; the move by Governor Kathy Hochul’s administration makes New York the first state to mandate free prison calls through executive action.

A House subcommittee voted to subpoena the DOJ for files in the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein after Democrats successfully goaded GOP lawmakers to defy Trump and Republican leadership to support the action.

Liberal group Protect Our Care is launching a $525,000 radio ad campaign attacking Republicans for threatening Medicaid coverage for rural Americans. The ads are running in Arizona, Florida, California, Georgia, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Washington.

‘South Park’ excoriated Paramount and humiliated Trump in the premiere episode of the show’s 27th season.

President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognize Palestine as a state in pursuit of what he called the historical French commitment “to a just and durable peace in the Middle East.”

House office buildings will now stock overdose reversal kits next to emergency defibrillators in an effort to stop preventable deaths on Capitol Hill.

Enbridge announced it will invest $900 million on a 600 megawatt solar power project in Texas.

National Guard troops in L.A. are growing demoralized. Here’s why that’s a good thing.

New York city’s public hospital system is joining the “food as medicine” movement, offering “prescriptions” for free boxes of fresh produce delivered to patients’ homes each month for six months.

Six hours after Louisville Public Media lost $376,000 in annual funding, it held an emergency pledge drive. The organization’s president and CEO says it raised more than $500,000.

In general, donations to NPR and PBS stations have surged since Trump’s cuts were signed into law.

Congo and Rwanda-backed rebels signed a declaration of principles to end decades of fighting, commit to a comprehensive peace agreement, and commit to “building trust” through various measures.

According to Democratic governor Katie Hobbs, $429 million in medical debt has been erased for more than 352,000 Arizonans as part of a partnership between her administration and national nonprofit Undue Medical Debt.

A diverse group of faith leaders, college students, grandmothers, retired lawyers and professors has been showing up at immigration courts across the nation to escort immigrants at risk of being detained for deportation by ICE agents.

Tree planting in England is now at its highest recorded rate in over 20 years.

A third federal court blocked Trump’s restrictions on birthright citizenship.

A district court judge ruled that information showing how the Office of Management and Budget directs agencies to spend taxpayer money—which the Trump administration removed from the OMB website—must be restored for public access.

Chappell Roan will donate $1 per ticket to trans youth charities on her mini fall tour.

After Democratic AGs and other groups sued, the Trump administration is releasing 6 billion in grants for education it had previously blocked.

Thousands of protestors gathered in Edinburgh and other parts of Scotland to protest Trump as he arrived on his 10M golf trip.

In a landmark ruling, the International Court of Justice declared that failure to act on climate change can be an “internationally wrongful act”—meaning countries could face legal consequences for harming the planet.

Roy Cooper, the popular Democratic former governor of North Carolina, is running for US Senate! This makes that seat VERY winnable.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has announced a new program to deliver hot meals, groceries and prescription medicines to immigrant parishioners amid ongoing ICE raids.

Alan Cumming took over 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' this week and used his opening monologue to speak out for trans and immigrant rights.

Tesla’s net income dropped 16% in the second quarter.

JD Vance and his family went to Nantucket on vacation and were greeted by booing protestors, lots of mocking signage, and a pink blow-up couch.

UCLA has teamed up with USC and civic partners to create ShadeLA, a coalition which aims to expand urban tree canopy and shade infrastructure, building heat resilience for Angelenos.

The Republican Accountability Project dropped a huge billboard in Times Square asking ‘Why won’t Trump release the Epstein files?’

Trump’s approval rating dropped to its lowest level of his second term—37%!—a shift fueled by a huge decline in support among independents.

Democratic Rep. Greg Casar is introducing legislation to ban "surveillance pricing," whereby companies use personal data to charge consumers different prices for the same products.

Renewables like solar and wind are now crushing fossil fuels on price. More than 90% of renewable sources are now cheaper than their available carbon-emitting alternatives.

George Santos reported to prison.

Twenty-eight countries including Britain, Japan and a host of European nations issued a joint statement Monday saying the war in Gaza “must end now”

The Supreme Court halted an appeals ruling that prevents private groups from challenging election maps under the Voting Rights Act in seven states.

UnitedHealth Group revealed it is facing Department of Justice investigationover its Medicare billing practices.

Every Tuesday this summer at the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., fired federal employees and their children will share personal stories and pen letters urging lawmakers to protect public service jobs and uphold democratic norms — they’re calling it “Camp Democracy.” [H/T

Democracy Docket

]

A group of voters launched a new lawsuit on Tuesday saying that Wisconsin’s congressional map violates the state constitution by discriminating against Democrats.

Ozzy Osborne’s farewell show, held a couple of weeks before he died, became the highest-grossing charity concert of all time, bringing in over $190 million for Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Acorns Children’s Hospice and Cure Parkinson’s.

Homicide rates are hitting record lows in major U.S. cities.

​An anonymous donor gave $52,500 to help clear Colorado’s rape kit backlog.

Senegal is the 9th African nation to eliminate trachoma, once its leading infectious cause of blindness.

Operation Green Shield just took place across the Amazon in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru with 350 coordinated raids to stop illegal mining, logging, and wildlife trafficking, recovering $64 million of assets.

As sustainability initiatives in other industries stall out, big acts like Coldplay, Dave Matthews, and Billie Eilish are pushing live music to go green.

The Department of Defense sent home about 700 U.S. Marines deployed to Los Angeles.

After pushback from Sen. Warren, the Social Security Administration said it will continue issuing paper checks to the retirement program's beneficiaries, backing away from a previously announced plan to switch all payments to electronic deposits after Sept. 30.

L.A. grand juries are refusing to indict ICE protestors.

Gavin Newsom said he plans to see Fox News host Jesse Watters in court despite an on-air apology from the host after he falsely claimed Newsom lied about a phone conversation with Trump.

On Monday, protesters gathered outside the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City to shout “Colbert Stays! Trump Must Go!”

A Scottish newspaper went viral as Donald Trump prepared to visit by using its front page to declare a “convicted felon” was “to arrive in Scotland.”

A federal judge threw out a lawsuit filed by the Trump administration against Illinois, Cook County and Chicago sanctuary policies that ban assisting in immigration-related matters.

Awful Oklahoma state superintendent (and so-called Christian) Ryan Walters accidentally displayed porn on his office TV during a board meeting and now everyone knows he’s a hypocrite.