(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . GNR for Tuesday, August 18th — Pushback works! [1] ['Chitown Kev', 'Thom Hartmann', 'Belinda Ridgewood', 'Bill In Portland Maine'] Date: 2026-08-18 Good morning and happy Tuesday, Gnusies! As usual, I’ve found a bumper crop of good news, most of it showing the power of strategic pushback, whether by individuals or groups. We’re learning that pushback really does work, so let’s encourage more of it!! Settle into a comfortable chair with a mug of your favorite morning beverage, and we’ll dig in! NOTE: Trigger warning for an image of the felon’s face in the first of my favorite memes today. Sorry, but it’s just too hilarious, and I couldn’t resist. Opening music “I know we can make it if we try!” Yes, we can can! Good news in the Resistance I think anger over data centers will wind up being one of the main drivers of a Progressive Blue Wave in November. Data centers are the perfect example of oligarchs enshittifying everyone else’s lives . From Data Center Opposition Report: In the past three months, 192 groups were created in 92 days. This is more than 2 new groups per day on average. Membership in opposition groups has more increased by 7x since December. It is now at over 525,000 people. Opposition to data centers is a nationwide phenomenon, with groups in at least 40 states. This includes red and blue states, as well as over 100,000 people in swing states. READ THE REPORT More evidence of the power of grassroots anger against data centers. From Politico: XAI’s Memphis-area data centers are two of thousands that have been built across the country in just the past few years in support of the nation’s burgeoning artificial intelligence industry. …It’s all part of a race to develop a technology that the CEOs of some of those same companies have said poses a “risk of extinction” to humans if it isn’t developed by the right people in America. But increasingly, Americans are less worried about a potential future threat from AI than the harm they say data centers are already causing their communities — sometimes right next door to their homes. Concerns about air pollution and water use top the reasons that seven out of 10 Americans now say they opposed the facilities coming to their area, according to a March Gallup Poll. ✂️ The nascent pushback against data centers is reminiscent of the Luddites of 19th century Britain. Though today the term is often used as a slur for someone who eschews new technology and progress, the Luddite movement was actually a working class rebellion opposing how factory technology of the Industrial Revolution was being used to reduce wages, take away skilled work and degrade air quality. ✂️ There is now something of what could be called a “New Luddite” movement sweeping Congress and campaign trails across the country, with mostly Democratic pols staking their seats on an anti-data center message. I haven’t had a chance to read through this, but it looks extremely informative and helpful. From their homepage: …we remain steadfast in fighting back, supporting each other, building our communities, educating, and ensuring every immigrant is treated with compassion and humanity. This solidarity guide is designed to help everyone continue to fight back with practical guidance to help protect your immigrant neighbors, your community, and yourself. You do not need to have experience or be an expert. If you want to help but aren’t sure how, this guide is for you. Another new tool for resisters. Find out what kind of tech your police department is using. Here’s an image of their homepage: Atlas of Surveillance homepage atlasof surveillance.org Good news in politics This is an excellent overview of all the The Felon’s failed attempts to rig the midterms. It should make you breathe a bit easier. From The Brennan Center for Justice: The Trump administration has expended significant resources trying to meddle in elections ahead of the midterms. This coordinated campaign includes attempts to limit who can vote, wrestle away states’ authority over elections, and undermine public confidence in election outcomes. So far, virtually everything the administration has tried has been blocked by courts, failed in Congress, or simply fizzled out. Currently, the administration is 0–21 in its court cases seeking to amass state voter data. ✂️ Both of Trump’s executive orders aiming to overhaul election rules have also failed in court. These cases are on appeal, but courts have consistently held that the Constitution gives the president no authority to regulate elections. ✂️ So far, [the] effort [to pass the SAVE Act] remains stalled in the face of nationwide public opposition. Another prong of the administration’s attack on elections is to demonize and prosecute election officials who refuse to go along with its schemes. …Attempted prosecutions of political adversaries have failed in other contexts. …The crumbling of the cases against James and Comey shows the emptiness of Trump and his allies’ similar threats against election officials. ✂️ During Trump’s second term, the courts, election officials, Congress, and the people themselves have shown the strength to stand up to a president who wishes to trample the election system and cement his power. In the months to come, we must keep up the fight. This is a good cogent overview of the strategy of Dems supporting an Independent in states where the Dem label is toxic. From the Philadelphia Inquirer: South Dakota is a prairie state that voted more than 63% for Donald Trump in 2024, so it’s not the first place you’d look to find a wave of discontent over GOP rule. But deep under the state’s expansive corn and soybean fields grow the invasive roots of political rage. There’s the trade war that’s dried up demand for farmers’ crops while driving up the costs of essential items like fertilizer. Disdain for Trump has slashed the flow of Canadian tourists who once flocked to Mount Rushmore. There’s the same high gas and supermarket prices as in the other 49 states. And farmers who had liked the president’s border policies are now scared of losing workers to immigration raids. ✂️ In this brutal climate…the mostly pro-Trump GOP Sen. Mike Rounds, a former governor, [is] seeking reelection to the Senate in November. And on Tuesday, Democrats hoping to oust Rounds from Capitol Hill got the big news that a lot of them were hoping for. The only Democratic candidate dropped out of the race. Huh? That’s right. In what may be the most counterintuitive political strategy in U.S. political history, liberal anti-Trump activists in politically red states west of the Mississippi have been pleading for obscure, long-shot Democratic candidates to abandon their races — so that spunky independent candidates can challenge the GOP one-on-one instead. When ex-state trooper and longtime Democratic activist Julian Beaudion told South Dakotans that, feeling pressure, he’s quitting the race, it cleared the path for independent Brian Bengs to consolidate the anti-incumbent vote in November. Polls suggest that [he] is already within striking distance of an upset. And he’s not alone. Democrats are also not running a Senate candidate in Nebraska — where a well-funded and well-known independent, labor leader Dan Osborn, is running again — or in Idaho, where Todd Achilles, a one-time Democratic lawmaker who left the party, is on the ballot. In Montana, an independent Senate hopeful is also hoping that a Democrat will drop out, but unsuccessfully so far. Casual political observers probably know that Democrats…are hoping Trump’s unpopularity will help their candidates run the table in five to six key contested states from Maine to Texas. But much less attention has been paid to this stealth backup plan — the notion that a few prairie populists can end the GOP majority. As usual, Buttigieg gets it. From Politico: Pete Buttigieg’s efforts to help Democrats regain power are taking on a new focus: state legislatures. The former Transportation secretary and South Bend, Indiana, mayor is starting by backing a crop of mostly long-shot, down-ballot Democrats in his former backyard. The slate of endorsements in the Indiana state House and Senate…is the first move in what his team say will be a number of state-by-state endorsements. “This is an area where Democrats should learn from Republicans who spent many years patiently and cleverly building up power all the way up from the school board level,” said Buttigieg, fresh off endorsement wins, including Rep. Rebecca Cooke in Wisconsin and former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin in Connecticut, who defeated Rep. John Larson (His preferred candidate for Minnesota Senate, Angie Craig, lost.) ✂️ It’s not just Indiana. Buttigieg held a Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee virtual fundraiser on Monday and just last week headlined the Democratic legislator lunch at the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Legislative Summit in Chicago. Earlier this year, he helped Michigan House Democrats launch a canvass and campaigned in a Michigan state Senate special election that broke for his party. In July, he raised money for Democratic state lawmakers in Florida. A wonderful Progressive victory. Let’s hope that Vermonters vote her in and give themselves a Dem trifecta! From Vermont Public Amanda Janoo reacts to her primary victory Kyle Ambusk/Vermont Public Amanda Janoo, a political outsider whose progressive platform captured the imagination of primary voters, is Vermont’s Democratic nominee for governor. Janoo, a 38-year-old economist who previously worked internationally for the United Nations, entered the race in March with virtually no name recognition. Her pledge to deliver “free healthcare” by taxing high earners, and to restructure Vermont’s political and economic systems, mobilized a groundswell that propelled her to victory over Aly Richards, her lone competitor in Tuesday’s primary. At her election night party at a mixed-used art space in Burlington, Janoo told an ebullient crowd that “as an economist, I know that money is power, but as a Vermonter, I know that money is not the only kind of power.” “Knowledge is power, trust is power, democracy is power, and community is power. And you should never underestimate the power of a group of Vermonters who decide to do something together,” she said. Aside from being ridiculously cute, Brendan has a solid grasp on his responsibilities as a commissioner. Here’s a quote from his candidate profile: I’m not going to tell you that I have more experience being on a commission board than someone who is triple my age and has been on there for years. What I can tell you is that as a person who is dealing with the same struggles as you right now- I will demand the change that WE all deserve.” From News Channel 5 Nashville: Brendan Doughti Brendan Doughtie for Rutherford County Brendan Doughtie, 22, won the District 13 County Commission race. The Tennessee Young Democrats celebrated his victory in an Instagram post, calling him the youngest commissioner in Rutherford County history. Doughtie received 890 votes, or 55.94%, defeating Republican Brian Stoll, who received 698 votes, or 43.87%. The District 13 seat was open after Paul Johnson chose not to seek reelection. Shortly after learning he had been elected, Doughtie posted, “We’ve proven what the people want and it’s to be heard and cared for.” Doughtie said Rutherford County has been home to him since 2010. He graduated from Siegel High School and now works at his family’s small business, Boro Bagel. A renter in Murfreesboro, he said rising costs and rapid development helped motivate him to run. I’m finding it’s just not possible for me to post political good news without a Mamdani story! From Meidas Touch Network: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Thursday that his administration will eliminate out-of-pocket child care costs for approximately 22,000 low-income families across the city, the latest step in his push toward universal child care. Beginning in September, families who receive subsidized child care through the city’s Child Care Assistance Program will no longer be required to pay the sliding-scale fees that currently accompany their assistance. The city will instead pick up those costs, effectively making child care completely free for those families. The Mamdani administration says the change will cover approximately $5.2 million in annual costs currently paid by families. Funding for the program has been baselined at $6.24 million beginning in fiscal year 2028. And just in case you haven’t seen it, here’s arguably the funniest political ad ever. And the slogan at the end is chef’s kiss: Good news from my corner of the world Portland continues to struggle with homelessness, which hits marginalized folks especially hard. This much-needed refuge for them was started by a couple of friends who brainstormed a way to help. From The Oregonian: [Good Circumstance], which opened July 21, offers women and other people of marginalized gender identities, especially those experiencing homelessness, with a place to spend time during the day. It provides books, computers, art supplies, musical instruments, classes and peer support. The selection of quiet activities differs somewhat from other day centers around the city that are often more focused on providing showers, mailboxes and support services. ✂️ Annie Barry, founder and executive director of Good Circumstance library and day center Allison Barr Executive Director Annie Barry said the idea grew from a conversation with a friend about what was missing from existing services for people experiencing homelessness. “What we ended up developing was a library that would be different from a regular library in that it would intentionally be built for people who are often excluded from libraries to provide a home away from home where they could rest and regroup,” Barry said. In Multnomah County, public libraries are open to unhoused individuals who can use them to access computers, read, find resources and escape poor weather. But the presence of homeless people at libraries, specifically the Central Library in downtown, has drawn criticism from patrons and nearby business owners. Good Circumstance…operates from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays, filling a gap during the time the Salvation Army Female Emergency Shelter, known as SAFES, an overnight-only shelter a block away, is closed. The library is entirely funded through donations and private support, said Barry. Labor and supplies to renovate and establish the library were mostly donated from the Oregon Tradeswomen nonprofit and Lowe’s donation program. There’s no more quintessentially Portland way to raise funds than by selling craft beer. From The Oregonian: As Oregon’s wildfire season rages on, a Gresham brewery is using a lavender wheat beer to help fight wildfires. MadCow Brewing Company will release its new beer, Firehouse Wit, next weekend. The beer is a Belgian-style wheat beer brewed with locally grown lavender, according to a news release from the brewery. And part of the proceeds from every pint sold will be donated to Oregon’s wildfire relief effort. ✂️ After the campaign ends, MadCow Brewing said it “will direct the donation to one or more organizations based on where the need is greatest.” Good news from around the nation 🎩 to T Maysle for mentioning this excellent news in a comment on Sunday. From Reuters: A U.S. judge has ruled that Idaho’s near-total abortion ban is unconstitutional because it provides exceptions when abortions are ​life-saving and not for broader risks to pregnant women’s health. U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill in Boise said ‌in an 81-page ruling issued late on Thursday that the right to a health-preserving abortion is protected by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees due process and equal protection under the law. The ruling is the first by a federal judge to recognize a constitutional right to abortion in ​certain circumstances since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade, …according to lawyers for the Idaho doctor who sued over the state laws. …The Supreme Court in 2024 reinstated a decision requiring Idaho to allow abortions when women ​are having medical emergencies, but did not weigh in on the merits of the case. Winmill blocked enforcement of two Idaho laws to the extent that they prohibit doctors from providing abortion care to patients with serious medical conditions, including mental health conditions that can raise the risk of self-harm and ​suicide. “A pregnant woman’s health is not a state resource to be allocated at the legislature’s whim,” wrote Winmill, an appointee of Democratic ​former President Bill Clinton. This is truly an amazing union victory. Click the headline to read the whole piece. From Phenomenal World: In the union world…success or failure can be measured…by the ratification of a union contract. A contract between a union and an employer does not simply lay out the terms of employment at a particular worksite. It is also a symbol of the begrudging respect that an employer has for the collective organization of its employees. Until this year, Walmart had not put pen to paper on a union contract in Canada or the US. As the largest employer in North America (with a headcount of 1.6 million in the US alone, it is still larger than Amazon) and with annual gross profits last year of $171 billion, Walmart has tremendous resources with which to fight off unions, and has developed a sophisticated playbook for doing so. It is not surprising that the company that labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein has called the “template organization” of neoliberal capitalism should have been, for most of its existence, an impenetrable anti-union fortress. This is why we should appreciate the weight of some recent news from Canada’s warehousing sector: on May 7, 2026, eight hundred workers at a Walmart Regional Distribution Center in Mississauga, Ontario (in the greater Toronto area) won a two-year contract after certifying their union with Unifor Local 252 in 2024. Though it has received relatively little coverage in the left-labor world, it is a truly historic victory, and a story that ought to be studied for its broader implications. No union gets a contract with a company as imposing as Walmart without there being lessons for organized labor to take from the strategy, tactics, and conditions that enabled the victory. The lumbering corporate retail giant that has for so long set the industry standard for working conditions has finally conceded to the union. Why now? ✂️ I would boil down the key factors in this historic victory to four: location, resources, regulatory constraint, and leadership. Click the link for details. It’s a long piece, but it’s full of valuable info and is very engagingly written. I stumbled onto this site, and I love it! Type in a famous brand to see if Worse on Purpose has examined its current quality so you can avoid buying a trashy Chinese product being sold under a formerly reliable label. Some of the brands they recommend avoiding: Hoka, Pyrex, CorningWare, Tupperware. And some of the ones that are still worth buying: New Balance, Lodge, Cutco, Snap-on. “The Brand Ledger tracks 345 brands, from the tools in your garage to the pans in your kitchen. Who owns them, what they used to be, whether they’re still worth buying. Updated as things change.” Want to be on their mailing list? Here’s the link: https://www.worseonpurpose.com/ Musical break This is a song that my husband’s band loves to play, and it’s one of my favorites. Last Sunday was the 49th anniversary of Elvis’s death, so this feels like a good time to share this brilliant, touching elegy with you. Good news from around the world Unlike the Green Party in the US, the Greens in Britain have good ideas. I love the idea of using a social-media levy to fund “independent, local and cooperative-owned media.” From Byline Times: Green leader Zack Polanski has backed a campaign for a fundamental overhaul of Britain’s media ownership, in order to prevent billionaires buying newspapers in order to “literally buy democracy”. …The petition promoted by the Green Party of England & Wales leader calls on the Government to “pass [a] law to ban foreign and offshore ownership of UK media” and enact a social-media levy to “distribute media ownership across society & fund independent, local and cooperative-owned media”. It also backs new reforms to ensure “all media” in the UK are members of a statutory regulator, a call vociferously resisted by many publishers. And it would require think tanks to report who their funders are in real time. The campaign was founded by activist and former Independent columnist Donnachadh McCarthy. For several years in the 1970s, I volunteered at the Oregon Zoo’s nursery and got to interact with a lot of adorable baby animals. One of my favorites was a baby orangutan who’d been stolen from the wild and sold to a sailor. It was confiscated from the sailor when he arrived in Portland, and the zoo nursery cared for it until it could join the resident orangs. I’ve never known a sweeter creature, and I’ve loved orangs ever since. This is one of the most encouraging stories about rewilding orangs that I’ve seen. From Mongabay: Bulan and Badar Andi Saputra/YEL-SOCP Seven years after being returned to the forests of northern Sumatra from a rehabilitation facility, a female orangutan rescued from traffickers has been found nurturing a baby in the wild, giving new encouragement that reintroduced apes can establish breeding populations. ✂️ Fieldworkers confirmed the birth of the Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) on May 22 this year after seeing Bulan moving across the forest canopy cradling a male infant believed to be about a month old. Indonesia’s forestry minister named the baby Badar, a Malay word with Arabic origin meaning “full moon.” The mother’s name, Bulan, also means “moon” in Indonesian. ✂️ Indonesia established the Jantho Orangutan Release Area within the Jantho Nature Reserve in Aceh province, on the northern tip of Sumatra, in 2011. It serves as a reintroduction site for rehabilitated Sumatran orangutans recovered from the illegal wildlife trade and instances of conflict with humans. …The program aims to establish self-sustaining wild populations by returning healthy animals to a reservation habitat. ✂️ Castri Delfi Saragih, spokesperson at the Lestari Ecosystem Foundation–Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme, said Badar was the 10th confirmed birth in the Jantho Orangutan Release Area since the program began 15 years ago. My favorite recent quotes, memes, videos, cartoons, etc. Apologies for showing his face. This made me laugh so hard I just couldn’t resist! Now you deserve an antidote: From a Bluesky post I couldn’t embed unknown Theo Moudakis cartoon from the Toronto Star Theo Moudakis From a Bluesky post I couldn’t embed unknown Good news in medicine We need as much reliable info about the effectiveness of vaccines as we can get, especially for pregnant women. These stats are impressive. From UK Health Security Agency: …the respiratory syncytial virus ( RSV ) annual report…shows around 50% fewer infants under 6 months being admitted to intensive care with RSV disease in England. The data demonstrates the annual impact of the NHS RSV maternal vaccination programme for the first time. Last winter (2025-26), in the 20 NHS trusts taking part in the surveillance there were 63 infants under 6 months age admitted to intensive care units (ICU) or higher dependency units (HDU) with confirmed RSV chest infection. …The previous year, 2024-25, the same 20 trusts reported 131 aged under 6 months were admitted to ICU or HDU. This 50% reduction in infants under 6 months during 2025-26, compared with the previous season, demonstrates the strong impact that the first full year of the maternal programme has had in protecting newborns from severe RSV disease. While the maternal RSV programme started in September 2024, the full impact of the programme on reducing the number of cases and severity of RSV in infants wasn’t expected to be seen until last winter, 2025-26, as more pregnant women became eligible over the course of the past year. The maternal vaccination programme is offered to women from 28 weeks of pregnancy to protect newborns, who are at higher risk of severe illness from RSV. It’s great news that something as accessible as daily exercise can help us avoid joint pain. From Science Daily: As we age, the joints that once handled every bend and fall start to weaken. This is because the amount of cartilage…and fluid in your joints decreases over time. This may lead some people to avoid activities such as exercise. But with the right approach, exercise can actually help protect your joints. …Each joint is cushioned by articular cartilage, a type of specialized tissue that covers the ends of bones, …protects the joints and creates a smooth surface for motion. A thick liquid known as synovial fluid…[reduces] friction between your cartilage and joints…[and] also supplies cartilage with key nutrients. ✂️ The body distributes synovial fluid through motion. So exercise helps gets this fluid, and the nutrients it contains, to cartilage. Meanwhile, muscles around your joints act as shock absorbers. So strengthening your muscles, including through exercises such as weightlifting, helps to reduce the pressure placed on your joints. ✂️ Exercise may also help maintain proprioception, the body’s ability to sense its own position and movement. However, proprioception declines with age. So as you get older, your brain is less able to register these signals and may cause your joints to bear weight unevenly. This wears down your joints quicker. …Walking on uneven terrain, such as on grass, gravel or bush trails, can help maintain proprioception. One 2026 study found unstable surface training significantly improves postural control, or the ability to remain stable, in older adults. Good news in science You all know what a sucker I am for good news from materials scientists. This looks like a significant breakthrough. From Science Daily: A team at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) has developed a new type of stainless steel that could overcome a major limitation of conventional stainless steel and potentially lower the cost of producing green hydrogen. Led by Professor Mingxin Huang of HKU’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, the researchers created stainless steel for hydrogen (SS-H 2 ), a material designed to resist severe corrosion under conditions that ordinary stainless steel cannot withstand. ✂️ SS-H 2 is particularly promising because of its resistance to corrosion. That property could make it useful in systems that produce green hydrogen using seawater, an area where researchers are still searching for practical and sustainable technologies. Hydrogen can be produced through electrolysis, a process that uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. When that electricity comes from renewable energy, the resulting fuel is often described as green hydrogen. However, the equipment used for electrolysis must withstand demanding chemical and electrical conditions, especially when salt is involved. In a salt water electrolyzer, the new steel delivered performance comparable to titanium structural components currently used to produce hydrogen from desalinated seawater or acidic solutions. The key difference is cost. SS-H 2 is considerably less expensive. …The researchers have applied for patents covering the technology in several countries, and two patents have already been authorized. Assuming that the sensors don’t bother the sharks, this looks like a terrific idea. From Positive News: A year after successfully transmitting ocean data from a shark for the first time, scientists are pushing ahead with an unusual experiment that could eventually help predict the strength of hurricanes. Researchers from the University of Delaware, US, first revealed the project last summer after fitting sharks with sensors that measure conductivity, temperature and depth as they swim through the Atlantic. The researchers are continuing to test whether sharks could become roving, near-real-time ocean observers, gathering information from parts of the Atlantic that are difficult and expensive to monitor. Of particular interest is the heat content of the ocean’s upper layer, which can influence how powerful a hurricane becomes before it reaches land. Until now, researchers have relied partly on robotic ‘gliders’ – mini submarines that gather similar measurements – but the machines are expensive, relatively slow-moving and cover limited areas. Sharks, by comparison, can travel vast distances. Researchers have identified shortfin makos, blue sharks, smooth hammerheads and juvenile great whites as promising candidates because they regularly surface, allowing sensors on their fins to transmit data to satellites. The researchers stress that the idea is still being tested, but hope shark-gathered data could eventually supplement existing observing systems and help forecasters better predict hurricane intensity. Good news for the environment I had no idea that a city as large as Kolkata could treat its wastewater with wetlands alone. From Reasons To Be Cheerful: Wetlands with the city of Kolkata in the background suprabhat / Shutterstock East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW) [is] a roughly 12,500-hectare (6,178-acre) Ramsar Site of international importance. A mosaic of sewage-fed ponds, marshes, channels and farmland, it recycles roughly 900 million liters of the City of Joy’s wastewater every day. “This is a purely natural wastewater treatment system, which saves Kolkata from having to build and operate significantly larger, high-tech and expensive sewage treatment plants,” says Susanta Kumar Chakraborty. His 2023 book, Wetlands Ecology: Eco-biological Uniqueness of a Ramsar Site, details the ecological – and economic – services provided by what he describes as “the largest natural waste recycling system in the world.” Located on a gradient that slopes lower than the heart of the bustling Bengali metro, the wetland is fed by underground pipes connected to pumping stations in East Kolkata. From here, in age-old sewage canals, nature works to purify the water. The solid waste settles into a carbon-rich sludge, which is composted into a potent fertilizer. The sun treats and oxygenates the water, while aquatic plants, plankton and microbes feed on the organic matter, and, in turn, become food for the fish reared by local farmers. The wetlands also absorb floodwater during heavy rains, and by the time [a farmer] pumps water from the canal [into his fish pond]…, it looks clear and smells fresh. This is a long, beautifully written article with gorgeous illustrations. Do click the headline to read it all. From Atmos: Artist’s rendering of sea life on the base of an offshore wind turbine artwork by Natalie Liu The concept of energy infrastructure may not immediately conjure images of wildlife habitats, but certain examples of such infrastructure have lately been recognised as unexpected havens for biodiversity. Scientists now routinely document marine creatures visiting or living within offshore wind farms, ranging from microscopic organisms such as oyster larvae to much larger animals, including seals, sharks, and porpoises. This colonization has happened largely by accident. Researchers and the wind industry have spied an opportunity. These massive energy projects, which inevitably come with some negative ecological impacts—including risks for seabirds that fly into them, as one example—could also provide marine animals with a foothold in seas damaged by centuries of human activity. ✂️ The ocean ecosystem ultimately depends upon the smallest organisms, at the bottom of the food web, explained Boze Hancock, senior marine restoration scientist at The Nature Conservancy. At the base of that web, microscopic creatures support progressively larger life forms all the way up to dolphins and whales. Some fish feed on oyster larvae, for example, and seals in turn feed on those fish. This is known as a trophic pyramid. However, oyster beds in the Atlantic and North Sea—once vital components of the marine habitat in those areas—have suffered massive damage from trawler fishing and dredging. “These are the coral reefs of the north,” said Hancock. “My focus is getting the bottom of that trophic pyramid established again.” There is hope for those reefs, he added, because wind farms may be giving oysters and other bottom-dwelling creatures a chance to recover. Most offshore wind turbines are anchored below the water’s surface to seabed foundations. To prevent strong currents from eroding the surrounding seabed, those foundations are usually covered with piles of rocks or rubble known as scour protection. The lumpy mounds, full of crevices and crannies, can serve as nurseries for young oysters, lobsters, and sea stars. Art break As one of the commenters on Bluesky put it, “Nice to start the day with reassurance of how amazing human creativity can be.” One of French puppeteer Raphaël Gromy’s most recognizable performances features a puppet painting real artworks on canvas, blending puppetry, live performance, and visual art into a unique theatrical experience. 😊IG: @artistsuniversum @raphael_gromy — Luca (@lucagalletti.bsky.social) 2026-08-17T14:36:33.937Z Good news for and about animals Rascal, Margot, and the sweet spirits of Rosy and Nora arhpdx Rascal is happy that ospreys are thriving in Britain, but judging from this photo, he’d rather not meet one in person. From Positive News: Osprey KaroGraphix Photography Ospreys have bred on an RSPB reserve in England for the first time since the Victorian period. Persecution and egg collecting eventually drove the species to extinction as a breeding bird in the UK in the early 20th century, before ospreys returned naturally to Scotland in the 1950s. There are now an estimated 316 breeding pairs across the UK, and one of them is rearing three chicks at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds’ Campfield Marsh reserve in Cumbria, northern England. The adult birds paired up after arriving at Campfield Marsh in April and are believed to be first-time parents. Staff at the reserve said they had been on tenterhooks since the eggs were laid in early May. The chicks, named Ash, Bowness Bobbi and Beau by local schoolchildren, hatched in mid-June and are expected to fledge this month before beginning their migration towards Africa in September. “Ospreys are frequently site and partner faithful, so we’re hoping to see more of them and their offspring in the future,” said site manager Mhairi Maclauchlan. “It will be exciting to know when and where the chicks are next seen and find out where they choose to breed in a few years’ time.” Margot loves any story about big cats, and she thinks that Umit is gorgeous. From Mongabay: Umit, a female Amur tiger, is released into the wild in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources Kazakhstan has released its first tiger into the wild more than seven decades since the last confirmed sighting of the big cat in the country. On July 31, 2026, an adult female Amur tiger called Umit, which means “hope” in Kazakh, leapt from her cage on the back of a pickup truck, as she was released into the wilderness of the 450,000-hectare (1.1 million-acre) Ile-Balkhash State Nature Reserve in southeastern Kazakhstan. …Umit is fitted with a satellite tracking collar to monitor her movements and behavior in real time. “Today we are truly witnessing a historic event,” said Kazakh Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Yerlan Nyssanbayev… “For the first time in over 70 years since tigers were wiped out in Kazakhstan, a tiger has been reintroduced to its historic range.” The area of the Ile-Balkhash Reserve where Umit was released was once inhabited by the extinct Caspian (Turian) tiger. Its last confirmed sighting in Kazakhstan was recorded in 1948. Umit is an Amur tiger, …native to the Russian Far East and northeastern China. ✂️ The reserve was established in 2018 to create the necessary conditions for the tigers’ return to the wild, including efforts to increase the population of their natural prey, such as Bukhara deer (Cervus hanglu bactrianus) and kulan (Equus hemionus kulan). The Kazakh government chose Amur tigers after research showed their genetic makeup was almost identical to that of Caspian tigers, which went extinct owing to habitat loss and hunting by humans. Well, of course dogs read our emotions in our faces! Duh!! But some people need scientific proof, so this research is valuable. From Positive News: Ever had a dog greet your smile with a wagging tail? There could be a reason why, scientists have discovered: happy human faces appear to trigger a distinct response in their brains. Researchers from the University of Vienna scanned dogs’ brains while showing them pictures of strangers with happy or neutral expressions. One of the canine subjects of the research, looking relaxed. Laura Cuaya Happy faces triggered increased activity in parts of the temporal cortex extending into the caudate nucleus, a region associated with reward processing. In further experiments using photos displaying fear, anger and sadness, only happy images elicited the same response, suggesting dogs can distinguish smiles from negative expressions. Whole-brain scans also showed patterns of activity suggesting dogs can distinguish fear from anger and sadness, the researchers found. Senior author Laura Cuaya said the research provides the first brain-scan evidence that happy human faces hold “emotional significance” for dogs. The team plans to expand on the work to compare how human and canine brains respond to the same emotional signals. “I would like people to see dogs as emotional beings,” says Cuaya. “They have evolved with us to understand our expressions and cooperate with us, and recognising that can change how we communicate with and care for them.” Hot lynx Hot lynx in the sunshineunknown unknown The Enshittification of Everything (Part 2). The second part of Robert Reich’s three-part series on the rise of the new American oligarchs and the shrinking of the middle class. Indispensable reading! (I’ll have part 3 next week.) The Moronic Bullshit of the “Third Way”. More from Reich, at his most brief and devastating: “There’s no “middle” between neofascist corporatism and democracy.” The surprising upside of asking people to use less energy. “New research complicates the long-held belief that climate policy is a trade-off between cost and carbon, adding a third factor: it might make daily life better, too.” Draw Me Like One of Your French Girls. A charming and moving essay by a 54-year-old woman who found the courage to pose nude for her life drawing class. Morning Good News Roundups at 7 x 7 These Gnusies lead the herd at 7 a.m. ET, 7 days a week: Evening Shade diaries at 7:30 p.m. ET every day: Sundays girasol. Mondays kraigo. Tuesdays Nanny Ogg. Wednesdays Momma O. Thursdays Nanny Ogg. Fridays girasol. Saturdays kraigo.After a long day, Gnusies meet in the evening shade and continue sharing Good News, good community, good actions, and many cats. Find most Evening Shades on the Trending List. For more information about the Good News group, please see our detailed Welcoming comment, one of the first comments in our morning diaries. Good News Sources My personal choices — YMMV. The ones in bold are the ones I use most. Please support the following Daily Kos authors. Follow the Democratic Party Spotlight Group here to find these stories easily in your Stream (DK Inbox for diaries). Dems, Dems, and More Dems , Sundays and Wednesdays at 9 a.m. ET, by Janesaunt . , Sundays and Wednesdays at 9 a.m. ET, by . Congressional Black Caucus , Thursdays at 9 a.m. ET, by lpeacock . , Thursdays at 9 a.m. ET, by . Rainbow Roundup: LGBTQ lawmakers and journalists , Saturdays, by T2 . , Saturdays, by . Hispanic Elected Democrats, Sundays at 8 a.m. ET, by bilboteach. Heads Up for Activists Postmark change could impact getting ballots, bills in on time 🎩 to Robert de Loxley for boosting this in a Daily Kos diary. From USA Today (bolding by arhpdx): The U.S. Postal Service is making new changes in 2026, including adjustments to the postmark process, which could result in late fees and penalties for anyone mailing time-sensitive documents such as tax returns or bill payments. For decades, the postmark – an official mark that shows where and when mail was accepted by the Postal Service – has been used in law as proof that an individual met a deadline, such as submitting a ballot by Election Day. A USPS postmark used to indicate the date when mail was dropped in a mailbox or submitted at the post office counter. Now, USPS is clarifying in a new rule that the postmark will reflect the date an envelope is first processed by an automated USPS sorting machine, potentially days after it was dropped off – not the actual drop-off date. ✂️ For a long time, Americans have assumed that mail will be postmarked the day it is mailed and may not be prepared to account for the extra days. Tax payments, charitable contributions, legal filings, rent payments and other bills or items that rely on postmark dates for deadlines can be impacted by later postmarks and risk late fees, penalties, or delinquency. Many states also accept ballots that are postmarked by Election Day. Time-sensitive mail should be mailed several days before the deadline. People can also go inside their local post office and ask for a hand-stamped “manual postmark” on the date, or use certified mail. TOP PRIORITY: Fundraisers for the midterms Thanks to bilboteach for this handy overview, with donation links. BTW, signing up through these links should keep you off the individual candidates’ email and text message lists. GNR DOWNBALLOT: this is Shira’s newest fundraiser for PACs that help with local races. Out of all of these, this one is the most critical to add. Local races are criminally underfunded and it is the best bang for people’s donation bucks. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/gnrdownballot WIN THE HOUSE MAJORITY: this is my newest fundraiser that consists of the top 26 House challengers in our quest to flip the House of Representatives. It’s not as important as the one above as many of these challengers have resources. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/winthehousemajority2026 WIN THE SENATE MAJORITY: this is my older fundraiser meant to help the top 10 Senate candidates. Honestly, they don’t need the money which is why it is lower in priority. The reason I keep it (and the one above) is to give people options to donate without the spam texts and scam PACs. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/winthemajority2026 And here are the latest totals! Fundraisers for Gnuville, USA: Downballot: $10,347.97 House: $65,157.23 Senate: $31,457.18 Grand Total: $106,962.38 Weekly Gain: $3,121.38 (Updated through 08/15/2026) Action Steps to Take Now Are you sure you’re registered to vote? This takes just 30 seconds. Pass the link along to family and friends! https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote Write postcards for Troy Jackson in Maine — get rid of Collins! Activate America https://www.activateamerica.vote/postcards Sign up for 50501 updates Make sure you know when there’s a 50501 event near you! Here’s the link: The Digital Drumbeat “Action Alerts” from DemCast This “weekly roundup of opportunities for activism” is hooked into a lot of local activist organizations. Check it out: www.digitaldrumbeat.com/ And if you want to sign up for their posts, which are very informative, here’s the link: The Big List of Protests You can filter this list by state or date, and you can add to it. Because it’s crowd-sourced, information about any particular protest needs to be confirmed directly with the event host. That said, it looks useful and is certainly inspiring to scroll through. Chop Wood, Carry Water If you haven’t already signed up for the daily newsletter from Chop Wood, Carry Water, by Jessica Craven, do it!! Here’s how she describes what she’s up to: I started sending these emails right after Trump’s election in an attempt to help bolster my own spirits and those of my devastated friends. “Chop Wood Carry Water” is a saying I learned from my dad; the idea is: when the going gets tough, put your head down and focus on simple actions. This newsletter offers such actions; they’re easy, but they’ll also help build a better democracy (and keep you sane). As we head into the biggest election of our lives, also, the danger from MAGA Republicans is more real than ever. Our engagement and simple actions have never been more important. SO THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE! What’s in the newsletter: Each weekday I post: A short pep talk A call script for your two Senators A call script for your House rep An “extra credit” action A Resistbot letter [Jessica provides complete info on this] Sometimes a strategic donation suggestion A way to help win an election An invitation to a politics-related webinar It should take you about 5-7 minutes to take the actions. I find her pep talks genuinely effective and her actions easy to accomplish and very satisfying! She also does a GNR-style summary of the best news stories of the week every Sunday, which is a wonderful gift. I always use several of the stories she highlights on Sundays in my GNRs. Goodie’s action steps No surprise, our founder has put together a terrific list of actions for us. Do one, do two, do as many as you’re drawn to! What can you do to save democracy? Despite all the good news this is not going to be easy because they suck AND they cheat. But we can win. And if we all fight hard, we will win. Remember, the good news happens BECAUSE we fight! So let’s do this. What can you do? First, continue to find joy in your life! Don’t let that fuckface live rent free in your mind! This is your life!!!!! Second, if you can, it is time to start donating. I set up a fundraising page! It splits our donations among the 15 seats held by Republicans in swing districts. These are seats that were either won by a margin of 4% or less or were won by Harris in 2024. In other words, these are seats we can win in 2026. None of them are in CA or TX (and thus likely to be redistricted). Any money you donate will go directly to whomever our candidate will be in 2026. We only need to flip three of these! Here is the link: Some other ways to get involved Looking for something more specific? Want to focus on the ENVIRONMENT: Southern Environmental Law Center https://www.southernenvironment.org/… Earth Justice https://earthjustice.org/… Natural Resources Defense Council https://www.nrdc.org League of Conservation Voters https://www.lcv.org Sierra Club https://www.sierraclub.org Center for Biological Diversity https://biologicaldiversity.orgw/… Want to focus on CIVIL RIGHTS: HUMAN RIGHTS – GENERALLY: Physicians for Human Rights https://phr.org/… Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org The Leadership Coalition on Civil and Human Rights https://civilrights.org LGBTQ+: The Campaign for Southern Equality/Trans Youth Emergency Project https://southernequality.org GLAAD https://glaad.org LGBTQ+ centered news Lambda Legal https://lambdalegal.org Folx Health https://www.folxhealth.com/… National Black Justice Coalition https://nbjc.org/… Glad Law https://www.glad.org WOMEN: National Women’s Law Center https://nwlc.org National Organization for Woman now.org/… Huge thanks to DKos user dabug for help with this list. Don’t let the options overwhelm you! Try to pick one thing and see if it calls to you. If it doesn’t find something else. There are so many ways to get involved and help! Closing poem A New National Anthem By Ada Limón The truth is, I’ve never cared for the National Anthem. If you think about it, it’s not a good song. Too high for most of us with “the rockets red glare” and then there are the bombs. (Always, always, there is war and bombs.) Once, I sang it at homecoming and threw even the tenacious high school band off key. But the song didn’t mean anything, just a call to the field, something to get through before the pummeling of youth. And what of the stanzas we never sing, the third that mentions “no refuge could save the hireling and the slave”? Perhaps, the truth is, every song of this country has an unsung third stanza, something brutal snaking underneath us as we blindly sing the high notes with a beer sloshing in the stands hoping our team wins. Don’t get me wrong, I do like the flag, how it undulates in the wind like water, elemental, and best when it’s humbled, brought to its knees, clung to by someone who has lost everything, when it’s not a weapon, when it flickers, when it folds up so perfectly you can keep it until it’s needed, until you can love it again, until the song in your mouth feels like sustenance, a song where the notes are sung by even the ageless woods, the short-grass plains, the Red River Gorge, the fistful of land left unpoisoned, that song that’s our birthright, that’s sung in silence when it’s too hard to go on, that sounds like someone’s rough fingers weaving into another’s, that sounds like a match being lit in an endless cave, the song that says my bones are your bones, and your bones are my bones, and isn’t that enough? ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ 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! 💙❤️ Important reminders from our GNR admin, 2thanks: Gnuville Community Projects GNR Downballot Local races are criminally underfunded, and this page provides great bang for your donated bucks. Win the House Majority For the top 26 House challengers in our quest to flip the House of Representative Win the Senate Majority Helping the top 10 Senate candidates. Take Back the House Donations to four different House races. Postcards To Voters (Progressive Muse): In the comments. Gnuville Has Suburbs! Building Gnuville Please support our Roundups in the usual Kosack ways. Join the GNR Discord, which powers our Monday Morning Newsroom. How to find Good News Roundups: Tags and your bell! Follow these tags, this group: Search on the Front Page Search the FP for “GNR” or “Good News Roundup.” Click your Daily Kos Liberty Bell in the upper right corner to find whom and what you have Followed. (We’ve been asking all Roundup writers to add these words and projects to their titles, tags, and articles for quite some time. But … you know … herding gnus!) Notes: * = Bookmark AND Follow: Pages of Daily Kos that you Follow can be found by clicking the bell in the upper right corner of every Daily Kos page. We recommend that you also Bookmark the starred items. Please look for this, our Welcome Section, in every Roundup, since Daily Kos migrated to a new platform and comments do not remain chronologically sorted on our new platform, and Welcome Comments no longer sit at the top of the comments. ~ 2thanks [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/8/18/800084495/community/gnr-for-tuesday-august-18th/ 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/