Good morning, Gnusies!
Sorry, pardon me (Mokurai) pardon me for interrupting arhpdx.
BREAKING: Trump and 18 others indicted in Georgia on 41 counts late last night. Fani Willis held a press conference afterward, at midnight. This will be all over everywhere today, but I wanted to get it in here. I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.
Thanks, Mokurai. I just woke up to the great news about tfg. But I’ll let my intro stand.
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The past few days have been especially challenging for many of us, and if you’re feeling heartbroken and overwhelmed by the devastation on Maui or by the dire effects of climate change in general, you’re not alone. But we Gnusies know to look for the helpers, and they’re out in force as you read this. You yourself can be one of the helpers, including by sending donations (more on that later on).
Hawaiians believe deeply in the power of ohana — family — which extends beyond blood relatives to their entire community. Truly, the whole world and every creature in it is part of our family. And there are many, many good people working hard to help our global family thrive.
As usual, I’ve found lots of good news, so pour yourself a big mug of your favorite morning beverage, settle into a comfortable chair, and let’s get started.
Opening music
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Good news in politics
Simon Rosenberg likes the new polls on Biden
From his Hopium Chronicles:
Presidential Poll Roundup - Part of the reason Tom Bonier and I got the election right last year was that we dismissed a lot of the junk polling out there and kept focused on higher quality, independent polls. Those polls showed a close, competitive election, not a wave. Applying that technique to our current moment, here is where the Presidential race stands today among polls I consider to be more reliable:
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Monmouth 47-40
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Quinnipiac 49-44
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Yahoo/You Gov 47-43
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NBC News 49-45
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Economist/You Gov 44-40
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Morning Consult 43-42
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NYT/Siena 43-43
This averages out to a 3-4 point lead for Biden. An AARP poll done in the House battlegrounds - not a national sample - also had Biden up 4, 47-43. So give Biden a slight advantage now.
I’m happy with this polling. Many voters have not checked in on the 2024 race yet, which is particularly true on our side as we have no primary campaign right now to engage people. So if anything Biden’s support may be a bit soft right now, meaning he’s got a bit more upside in the coming months. … Biden needs to keep improving his standing on the economy and his job approval overall (a doable thing), and we need to further degrade Trump and the GOP brand (also a doable thing).
It is also core to my understanding of the moment that given our really strong performance in the battleground states in both 2022 and early 2023, the battleground states are a little harder now for the Rs than they were in 2020, meaning it will be harder for Trump to squeak by with a 2-3 point Dem popular vote lead as he did in 2016. The battleground is tougher for them this time; we have many strong Dem govs in these states now; and our campaigns and grassroots are stronger, more mature, and more sophisticated than in 2020. It is also true that millions of young voters have turned 18 since 2020, making many of these states a bit more Dem than 4 years ago.
Putting all this together I am good with where we are now and will continue to argue that our path to victory is much clearer than theirs.
It’s Time to Give Kamala Harris Her Due
An excellent op-ed by David Rothkopf in Daily Beast. 🎩 to T Maysle for mentioning it in a comment on Sunday.
The bolding is mine.
From Daily Beast:
It appears that it is, at long last, time to acknowledge the extraordinary and vital role being played by Vice President Kamala Harris on behalf of the Biden administration and the United States. Finally, the narratives in the press that had for too long been colored by the political agenda, misogyny and racism of critics, have begun to change to reflect reality.
That said, there is still an aspect to Harris’ performance as vice president that remains underappreciated—the substance of her record as a full partner to the president, at the lead on domestic and international issues. That record not only makes her one of the most effective vice presidents in modern U.S. history, it has been part of President Joe Biden’s active effort to ensure that no one is better qualified to succeed him as President of the United States.
It is a subject that is especially significant to many voters given President Biden’s age, and it is one that should be addressed directly. That is both because it is our responsibility as voters to assess the issue carefully and because, in so doing, we see the real strengths Harris brings to her role.
Recently, positive stories about the role being played by Vice President Harris have become much more common in the media. The New York Times ran a major piece entitled, “Kamala Harris Takes on a Forceful New Role in the 2024 Campaign.” Bloomberg ran a piece citing the fact that she is now the most in-demand speaker at Democratic fund-raising events. Politico ran a piece arguing Harris “is a better VP than you think.”
What is more, you can tell this about-face in the press is real and not just the result of some White House press campaign because of the outsized attention Republican presidential candidates have placed on the vice president.
Team Biden: Ohio is our validation
From Politico:
Joe Biden’s team sees the bombshell Ohio election this week as proof that he is yet again being underestimated.
In a memo sent to the president’s allies Saturday and obtained by POLITICO, Biden’s campaign took partial credit for the results in Ohio, where voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly defeated a proposal intended to thwart abortion rights — and where the Democratic National Committee quietly invested in the race.
Democrats across the country were ecstatic by [sic] the election’s outcome, seeing it as evidence that more than a year after Roe v. Wade was struck down, voters are not any less frustrated by the elimination of abortion rights — not even in solidly red states like Ohio. Within Biden’s campaign, his aides also believe it shows that his strategy of empowering the DNC is paying off and that the party is performing strongly under his leadership.
“There are a lot of reasons we feel confident about this election, but this week alone, you’re seeing even more evidence that President Biden and Vice President Harris’ message is the right one for 2024,” wrote Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Biden’s campaign manager. “Our campaign is partnering with a stronger-than-ever national party that is already investing up and down the ballot, and organizing in communities year round.”
In First Year, President Biden’s Bipartisan PACT Act Delivers Care for Veterans in all 50 States and U.S. Territories
In contrast to the Rs’ hypocritical claims to support veterans, the Dems actually succeed in helping them.
From whitehouse.gov:
One year ago today, President Biden signed the landmark bipartisan Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act into law, enacting the most significant expansion of benefits and services for toxic exposed veterans in more than 30 years. Named in honor of Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson, a decorated combat medic who died from a rare form of lung cancer, this historic legislation is delivering timely benefits and services to veterans—across all generations—who have been impacted by toxic exposures while serving our country. ✂️
[On Thursday], the Biden-Harris administration [also released] new national and state-by-state data on PACT Act claims, which have been processed at record rates by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In the past year, the Administration has helped veterans in every state and territory receive the services and care they deserve by:
- Screening veterans for toxic exposures ...
- Delivering benefits to veterans and their survivors ...
- Prioritizing veterans with cancer ...
- Spreading the word to veterans and their survivors ...
- Increasing VA’s capacity to serve veterans ...
- Eliminating benefits delays for veterans ...
Low-Income Puerto Ricans to Get $450 Million for Rooftop Solar
From Mother Jones:
The Department of Energy announced last week that it will provide nearly to install rooftop solar and battery back-up systems on the homes of some of Puerto Rico’s most vulnerable residents. The funding could cover the installation of as many as 40,000 photovoltaic systems, providing a measure of energy security to an archipelago long burdened by frequent and prolonged blackouts.
The program, which Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm outlined at an event in San Juan, is part of the $1 billion Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund that Congress approved last December. The fund is intended to provide reliable and affordable energy to the highest-need households, many of whom endure power outages daily or weekly.
After Hurricane Fiona left the entire archipelago without power last September, President Biden put the Department of Energy in charge of a multi-agency effort to overhaul the US territory’s energy system, which is in disrepair and depends upon fossil fuels to generate 97 percent of its electricity. The campaign includes a two-year study to find the most effective path toward Puerto Rico’s goal of achieving a zero-emission grid by 2050, streamlining approval processes, and deploying the billions of dollars allocated for Hurricane Maria recovery that have not yet been spent.✂️
The $450 million that Granholm announced will be directed toward the lowest-income households. It will be reserved for people who are medically vulnerable and depend on plug-in medical equipment, and those who live in “last-mile” communities, mostly located deep in the main island’s central mountain ranges. After Maria, some of these municipalities lacked power for nearly one year. ✂️
The program’s structure was in large part shaped by a vigorous community outreach campaign led by Granholm. In the last year, she has been to Puerto Rico five times to gather input from Puerto Ricans at town halls and roundtables.
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🍿 Repellent Republicans Rushing toward Ruin 🍿
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp Sees Profits Plummet by Colossal 75 Percent
From The New Republic (🎩 to Ice Blue for sharing this terrific news in a comment on Saturday):
Rupert Murdoch’s media empire is slowly but surely disintegrating, as his News Corporation reported more than a 75 percent drop in profit.
News Corp on Thursday recorded just $187 million in net profit for the 2023 financial year, down from $760 million the previous year. The company has arms in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, including the Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Company, The Sun, and News Corp Australia. The plunge in profit was primarily due to lower print and digital advertising at News Corp Australia, as well as low print advertising in the U.K. News Corp said it was confident it could use AI going forward to create new content while also reducing overall costs.
News Corp is separate from Murdoch’s other notorious conglomerate Fox Corp, the parent company of Fox News. Murdoch split the companies in 2013. He briefly considered re-merging them in late 2022, but he abandoned the plan at the start of the following year because, according to The Economist,“some News Corp investors [were] unhappy at the prospect of being lumped together with Fox News, which they consider a toxic brand.”
Unlike the rest of News Corp, Fox profits seem to be surpassing expectations post–Tucker Carlson. But both of Murdoch’s news corporations, though, have been embroiled in costly legal battles.
Trump Allies Deliver ‘Incriminating’ Info on Conspiracy-Peddling Sidney Powell
Alas, poor Sidney! Looks like she’s being hung out to dry.
From Rolling Stone:
Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation appears to be zeroing in on Sidney Powell, a conspiracy-theory-obsessed lawyer who was a key figure in Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Four sources with knowledge of the matter, several witnesses, and Trump allies who’ve appeared before the special counsel — including at least one in the past few days — team [sic] seem to agree: Powell should be preparing now for Smith to bring criminal charges.
On Monday, Bernie Kerik — a longtime Rudy Giuliani associate and a Trump ally who worked on the Giuliani-led legal team challenging Trump’s 2020 defeat — sat with special counsel investigators for a roughly four-and-a-half-hour interview, according to his lawyer Tim Parlatore. (Parlatore previously served as a top attorney to Trump, advising the ex-president on Special Counsel Smith’s probes.)
“Based on the contents of their questions, and my understanding of criminal law, the main individual who was discussed who Mr. Kerik gave any information that could be incriminating would be Sidney,” Parlatore tells Rolling Stone on Thursday. Parlatore added that what Kerik told investigators included: “That there was no back-up for anything she said, that when she was asked to provide proof she didn’t produce anything, and when she was cut loose [from the official Trump legal team], how she kept trying to push her way in.” ✂️
Parlatore adds that during the investigators’ multi-hour interview with his client, the word “lunatic” was indeed used to describe Powell.
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The media misbehaving
Future Crunch took a look at the world’s headlines, and it wasn’t pretty
From Future Crunch:
Earlier this week we ran an experiment. On the 7th August 2023, a day we picked randomly in advance, we visited the top ten news sites in the world to see what stories were making the headlines. Combined, these websites receive over five billion visits a month, making them humanity's prime information-gathering apparatus - our most important tool for discovering what is happening beyond our immediate environment.
We had a few criteria. We didn't include anything about climate change or the war in Ukraine, because those feel like genuinely newsworthy events. We also didn't include any sport, celebrity or politics news, which is basically all Trump anyway (apparently journalists have learned nothing after seven years). Once that was all removed, here's what we found:
Screenshot of about 1/3 of the headlines
The news is supposed to tell us what's happening in the world. It doesn't. Instead, thanks to a combination of commercial pressures, cognitive biases and cultural habits, news organisations have become modern-day doom machines, showcasing the absolute worst of humanity. There isn't even a pretence at balance. That's why we think the biggest problem with journalism today isn't fake news, or filter bubbles, or polarisation, or elitism, or the ongoing obsession with the website formerly known as Twitter.
The biggest problem is bad news.
Media World, Part 1: Let Us See How the Sausage is Made.
An informative and insightful piece from James Fallows’ Substack “Breaking the News”:
The simple reality is this: how a story is presented can matter much more than what the story says. That part may be obvious. My point for now concerns the mismatch between the crucial importance of this step in the journalistic process—the decisions about play, presentation, and “framing” of a news story—and how opaque and unaccountable the process is to the outside world.
—At the grand scale, everyone knows who is ultimately responsible and perhaps accountable for decisions by a news organization. The names of the editors and publishers are there in the masthead. Usually we know about the owners too.
—At the granular level, everyone knows who reported and wrote a specific story. The names are there in the byline—as are the credits for photos, charts, illustrations, research help.
But in between is a black box. We generally have no idea who chose the page layout, who wrote or approved the headlines, who decided on the summary for the subheadline (known as the subhed or dek), who decided how to promote the story on social media.
Those decisions really matter. And it would matter for news organizations to expose them to more light.
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Good news from my corner of the world
Oregon secretary of state: Senators who walked out can’t run next year
🎩 to T Maysle for mentioning this excellent schadenfreudelicious news in a comment last Thursday!
Of course these RW extremist snakes are going to sue, based on a convoluted reading of the language of the statute, but I doubt they’ll prevail. Hey, guys, don’t let the Capitol doors hit you on the butt on your way out.
From Oregon Public Broadcasting:
Republican senators who walked away from this year’s legislative session will be barred from running for reelection next year, Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade announced Tuesday.
The conclusion, announced after months of speculation, might not be a surprise to voters who overwhelmingly voted last year to create consequences for legislative walkouts via Measure 113. But the decision drew an immediate promise of a court challenge from GOP lawmakers, who have said the measure was so sloppily worded that they are technically allowed to serve another term before consequences for a walkout begin. Ten conservative lawmakers ran afoul of Measure 113 this year, and six are up for reelection in 2024. The majority of those have said they plan to run. ✂️
Measure 113 sought to curtail legislative walkouts that have become increasingly common by imposing serious penalties for any lawmakers who accrue 10 or more unexcused absences in a single legislative session. As the measure was sold to voters, any such politician would be banned from running for reelection, or seeking election in the other chamber, once their current term expires.
No organized group opposed the measure, and it sailed through with more than 68% of the vote. But Republicans now say that it received so little scrutiny that a fatal flaw slipped past voters and government attorneys alike.
Under language the measure inserted into the state constitution, any lawmakers with at least 10 unexcused absences cannot hold office “for the term following the election after the member’s current term is completed.” Since elections in Oregon are held before a lawmakers term is completed — not after — Republicans say the constitution allows them to serve another term before penalties take effect. Democrats, including the attorney who drafted the measure, have argued that the wording matters less than what voters intended when passing the new law. They point to an explanatory statement, crafted by the Oregon Department of Justice, that explicitly told voters that a “yes” vote would ensure truant lawmakers can’t hold their seat for “the term following the end of the legislator’s current term.”
Federal judge orders redrawing of Yakima Valley legislative district
It’s about time for the large Latino community in the Yakima Valley to get the political power they deserve.
From The Washington State Standard (🎩 to DKos staffer Stephen Wolf for his diary on this on Friday, which is well worth reading):
A federal judge on Thursday ordered Washington to redraw a legislative district in the Yakima Valley region because its current boundaries undermine the ability of Latino voters to participate equally in elections.
U.S. District Court Judge Robert Lasnik invalidated the map for the 15th Legislative District drawn by the bipartisan state Redistricting Commission in 2021. The district encompasses parts of five counties in south-central Washington and is represented by three Republicans. “The question in this case is whether the state has engaged in line-drawing which, in combination with the social and historical conditions in the Yakima Valley region, impairs the ability of Latino voters in that area to elect their candidate of choice on an equal basis with other voters. The answer is yes,” Lasnik wrote in his 32-page decision.
Lasnik’s ruling calls for the state to reconvene the Redistricting Commission and draw up new boundaries. Those are due to the state Legislature by Jan. 8, 2024, for enactment by Feb. 7. But it’s unclear whether there’s support among lawmakers to bring the commission back. And, meanwhile, a separate but related court case adds yet another layer to the situation. Those involved in the process seemed mostly uncertain after the ruling about what would happen next. ✂️
“Regardless whether the State or the Court adopts the new redistricting plan, it will be transmitted to the Secretary of State on or before March 25, 2024, so that it will be in effect for the 2024 elections,” Lasnik concluded.
An attorney for the coalition of Latino voters that brought the suit challenging the district boundaries called the ruling “a definitive win. … For the first time, Latinos in the region will have the voice that they deserve in the Legislature,” said Simone Leeper, an attorney with Campaign Legal Center.
Oregon woman holds record for donating breastmilk to premature babies
This is an amazing story. And Elisabeth Anderson-Sierra shows extraordinary generosity and compassion in turning her challenging medical condition into a blessing for other moms and babies.
From KGW:
An Aloha [Oregon] woman is now in the Guinness Book of World Records for producing and donating a mind-boggling amount of breast milk.
Elisabeth Anderson-Sierra’s record is just over 54,000 ounces, but only accounts for donations she made to one milk bank over three years. It's just a fraction of the 350,000 ounces she’s produced over the last nine years and counting. ✂️
Anderson Sierra began producing milk five-months before her eight-year-old daughter was even born. Doctors diagnosed her with hyperlactation syndrome and said when she's ready, her most feasible treatment option would be a double mastectomy. In the meantime, Anderson-Sierra’s body continues to produce around two gallons of milk every day— much more than she needed for her two daughters and now her eight-month-old son.
Early on, Anderson-Sierra learned she could donate her milk, an option she embraced with great purpose. She ships it to moms all over the country and also shares some with a milk bank. They use it to create a product to sustain preemies and micro preemies.
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Good news from around the nation
World Central Kitchen: 16,000 meals served in week since Hawaiʻi fires
From WCK:
Wildfires on Hawaiʻi’s Big Island and Maui have devastated communities—tragically they’ve become the deadliest blazes in the United States in more than a century. WCK’s Relief Team arrived to each island on Wednesday, quickly mobilizing to the hardest-hit areas. So far the team has provided more than 16,000 meals to first responders and families in need. ✂️
Our teams arrived as firefighters were finally containing the flames and established three public meal distribution sites in the western Maui towns of Lahaina, Kaanapali, and Napili, the communities most heavily impacted. When we reached Lahaina, a centuries-old town steeped in history that was completely destroyed by the fires, we found residents had no access to electricity or water and very limited communication. First arriving with hundreds of sandwiches for rescue workers and residents in the area, we have returned with thousands of meals daily. ✂️
To meet meal needs on Maui, we are supporting Common Ground Collective and Chef Hui—two organizations who assembled a collective of local chefs to prepare thousands of hot meals out of the kitchen of a community college. Our team was connected to this group by WCK Chef Corps members Mark Noguchi and Amanda Corby from Chef Hui. Through this partnership, we ensure the meals we provide, like curry stew with roasted purple sweet potatoes, are nourishing and culturally appropriate. ✂️
WCK’s response in Hawaiʻi is continuing to evolve with the situation—and by working with local chefs and communities, we will keep adjusting our efforts to meet the changing needs. After setting up centralized distribution points in the first few days, we will now focus more resources on finding pockets of need wherever they exist and meeting people where they are to best support them as they begin to heal and build back.
The US is doing its biggest-ever survey of nature and wildlife
From NewScientist:
In an effort to better understand and protect its biodiversity, the US is taking stock of its natural lands and waterways, and the status of the country’s wildlife. This is the first-ever nature assessment conducted across the nation, and it will help researchers and lawmakers determine how to preserve habitats and species throughout the US. ✂️
It is the country’s biggest attempt at quantifying its natural wonders and offering a future road map for their protection. The report is expected to include data on different measures of the country’s biodiversity – the variety of life in the area – and predict how this may change in the face of climate change. This includes the number and distribution of certain plants and animals, as well as stories from various communities about their experience of changes in nature around them, and the role species or places play in their lives.
In addition to detailing the status of US waterways, lands and wildlife, the report will assign economic, social and cultural value to its various natural resources. Forests, for example, provide recreational opportunities for locals and capture climate-warming carbon dioxide. Coral reefs shelter coastal areas from storm surges while also supporting fisheries. ✂️
The report is currently in the early stages of development and is anticipated to be released in 2026. The effort is inspired in part by the US’s National Climate Assessment, which summarises current and future impacts of climate change on the country. Unlike previous climate assessments, however, the forthcoming nature assessment will not mandate changes. “We hope it will inform policy, but not dictate policy,” says Levin.
One Man’s Aerial Crusade Against West Virginia’s Coal Industry
The hero of this story is a native West Virginian who is a self-described atheist in a deeply religious area, despises Donald Trump, and calls himself “a big old queer.” He says, “It was easy for me to make the leap to do this work because I was already somewhat a pariah in the community. I already had a reputation as being different, being weird. I didn’t give a shit what people thought of me.”
Do click the link to read this inspiring story in full.
From Mother Jones [originally published in The Guardian]:
[Junior] Walk followed the path of many of his peers, as well as his father and grandfather, by working for the coal industry in its Appalachian heartland, doing jobs in security and maintenance. But as he saw the black rocks being clawed from the guts of the mountains and thought of the local people being sickened by this work, Walk began to see coal as an implacable foe.
“People are getting exploited, people are getting poisoned, people are losing their lives to the activities of this coal industry,” said Walk. “I’ve seen friends and neighbors getting sick and dying of cancer and heart disease and having babies with birth defects.”
Since he was 19 years old, Walk, who is now 33, has risked the wrath of his community by actively campaigning against coal, firstly through direct protest action and, more recently, in more novel ways. Standing as a lonely opponent of an industry that still holds the region in a tight grip, Walk is now fixated upon the destruction of his nemesis. “My ultimate hope is to shut down the coal industry,” he said. “In order to get anything else new here, you’ve got to burn it down first.”
He has a perfect weapon to do this: a drone. ✂️
Junior Walk of Coal River Mountain Watch in Naoma, West Virginia, prepares his drone to fly near a reclaimed surface mine in Edwight.
Walk’s aim is to document environmental violations on video, using a drone that completes soaring flights over mountains that are normally covered in lush forest but have been punctuated with mines that more resemble crumpled grey moonscapes. Occasional booms can be heard, the sound of explosions that decapitate the summits of the mountains to get to the coal within, a type of mining Walk considers particularly violent and ecologically ruinous.
Instacart now accepts EBT SNAP payments in all 50 states
This could be life-changing for single moms struggling to fit shopping trips into days that already include working two or three jobs and driving their kids back and forth to school and appointments.
From TechCrunch (🎩 to bilboteach for sharing this good news in a comment on Saturday):
Instacart now accepts Electronic Benefits Transfer for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (EBT SNAP) in Alaska, the company announced on Thursday. With this expansion, Instacart now accepts SNAP in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
Today’s announcement comes a year after Instacart committed to making EBT SNAP payments available nationwide. Instacart now offers online SNAP acceptance from more than 120 retail banners across more than 10,000 stores.
“Our mission is to create a world where everyone has access to the food they love. By expanding online SNAP acceptance to all 50 states, we’re delivering on our mission by modernizing access and connecting more communities to affordable and nutritious foods,” said Dani Dudeck, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Instacart, in a statement. “Now SNAP families in every state can enjoy the benefits of online grocery from a variety of local retailers that meet their unique tastes, needs and personal budgets.
Instacart first started accepting EBT SNAP payments back in 2020. SNAP participants can shop for groceries on Instacart from local retailers for delivery or pickup. Instacart offers 50% off an Instacart+ membership for SNAP participants. With Instacart+, users can access free delivery and pickup on orders over $35, 5% credit back on pickup orders, and reduced service fees on every order.
And in a related story:
‘It helps with my stress’: US basic income project shows signs of success
Considering the effect that a mother’s mental health has on her children, the benefits of UBI clearly go far beyond simply easing the strain on low-income budgets.
🎩 to T Maysle for mentioning this in a comment on Sunday.
From The Guardian:
...The In Her Hands initiative [is] the largest guaranteed-income pilot program in the southern US, and which focuses on Black women. ...the program – run by the Atlanta-based nonprofit organization the Georgia Resilience and Opportunity Fund (GRO Fund), in partnership with GiveDirectly, the largest backer of guaranteed-income projects in the US – has reached its halfway point.
For [La-Kingya] Singleton, this has meant she has lived a year in an Atlanta apartment, after becoming homeless when she couldn’t find a landlord to accept her city housing voucher during the pandemic. And for the pilot, it means preliminary data is now available showing the effectiveness of guaranteed income as a means of combating poverty in Georgia – slightly more than half the women have saved some money, compared to none at the project’s outset; three times as many women have been able to afford childcare; and the share of women whose cell phone service was interrupted due to unpaid bills dropped from 60 to 40 %.
These and other findings come as more than 100 projects centered on giving cash with no restrictions or requirements have started in the last several years, leading a group called Mayors for a Guaranteed Income to launch a nationwide speaking tour in recent weeks, screening a new documentary on these efforts called It’s Basic. ✂️
Outcomes in Georgia show that the 650 women enrolled have spent most of their monthly payments on utilities, food and rent. But program researcher Leah Hamilton, social work professor at Appalachian State University, said the pilot is also using surveys and other means to measure issues like mental health, and whether participants are more likely to reach goals with the help of guaranteed income. The idea, said Tyler Hall, communications director at GiveDirectly, is to determine “how did this change their life?”
Singleton said most of her monthly payments go to rent – $2,224. She works at three jobs to cover her costs – as a paralegal, as a realtor and as a shopper for Shipt. The program “helps with my stress”, she said. At the same time, her monthly costs don’t allow her to pay off past debts, and she worries what will happen when the program ends. “I can’t plan for the future – especially with my rent being as high as it is,” she said.
Family of Henrietta Lacks Settles With Biotech Company That Used Her Cells
This reparation payment to the Lacks family is long overdue.
From The New York Times (gift link):
Henrietta Lacks, a Black mother of five, was dying of cervical cancer in 1951, when doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore took a sample of her cells without her knowledge or consent. The invasive procedure led to a revolutionary discovery: Her cells were the first to reproduce in a laboratory, which no human cells had done before, allowing researchers to develop vaccines for polio and the coronavirus and treatments for disease including cancer, Parkinson’s and the flu.
But it would be more than two decades before her family knew that the cells were fueling research in laboratories all over the world, and even in space, creating an unparalleled medical legacy.
On [August 1], which would have been Ms. Lacks’s 103rd birthday, some of her descendants gathered at a news conference after reaching a settlement with a biotechnology company that they had accused in a lawsuit of profiting from the cell line named for her, HeLa. ✂️
The family’s lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland in October 2021, accused the company, Thermo Fisher Scientific, of selling the cells and trying to secure intellectual property rights on the products the cells had helped develop without compensating the family or seeking their permission or approval. The terms of the settlement are confidential, lawyers for both parties said in a statement. ✂️
Most cells die within days, but because Ms. Lacks’s cells continued to multiply, researchers and scientists could use them to do things such as test how the polio virus infects cells and causes disease. Ms. Lacks’s family was not told about the world-changing discovery and did not find out about the cell line until 1973, according to “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” a book by Rebecca Skloot.
Here’s a portrait photo of Lacks from the early 1940s:
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Good news from around the world
This Mexican entrepreneur builds houses out of bricks made from invasive seaweed. Then he gives them away.
What an ingenious win-win-win: get rid of sargassum, build something useful, then give it away to those in need.
From Business Insider:
Millions of tons of sargassum wash up on beaches across North America every year. Exposure can lead to breathing problems, and it costs millions to clean it up. Now, one Mexican entrepreneur is building houses out of bricks made from the invasive species.
Barcelona’s ‘Bold Strategy’ to Quell the Tourism Crisis
I hope other over-visited tourist destinations will follow Barcelona’s lead.
From Reasons to Be Cheerful:
The meteoric rise of tourism in Barcelona dates back to when the Catalan city hosted the Olympic Games in 1992, according to Ko Koens, professor of New Urban Tourism at Rotterdam’s Inholland University of Applied Sciences. “The city decided to open up,” says Koens, who authored a report into overtourism for UNWTO. “Barcelona reinvented itself as a tourism city, a city for the visitor economy, and introduced much more tourist-friendly policies.”
But in recent years that stance has begun to change. Ada Colau, who served as the city’s mayor from 2015 to June of 2023, took a number of steps to curb overtourism, such as limiting the number of hotel beds permitted in the city, banning the opening of new hotels in the historic center and opposing an extension of the Josep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat Airport that would have increased capacity from 50 to 80 million arrivals a year. In addition, landlords wanting to rent out their apartments on Airbnb must first obtain a tourist license issued by city hall. Guided tours must also now follow sanctioned, one-way routes, provide headphones rather than using loud megaphones, and their numbers are now capped at 30 people, or 15 in Ciutat Vella, the city’s oldest neighborhood.
More recently, the city introduced a tax for cruise passengers – in addition to the nightly tourist tax already in place for all visitors. Those funds are being channeled into local development projects as well as efforts to study the carbon footprint of tourism to the city. In March, city hall announced €5 million from the tourist tax would be invested in 39 projects, including a “panoramic” bus service to show heritage sites and the natural environment, resources to help people with disabilities enjoy guided tours, funding for several local culture festivals and the construction of public restrooms at beaches. ✂️
Although improvements in the impact of tourism are difficult to quantify, some statistics suggest progress has been made. In 2022, Barcelona received 12.4 million tourists, significantly fewer than the record year of 2019, yet the amount spent by each visitor increased. The number of temporary contracts in the labor market also fell from 88.4 percent in 2019 to 54.7 percent in 2022, in a sign that workers’ rights could be advancing.
‘A win for nature and those who love it’: the Dartmoor ruling
Not only is this good news for nature lovers in England, it’s a welcome punch in the nose to an entitled billionaire. Let’s have more of that, please!
From Positive News:
On 13 January a high court ruling in London ended the right to wild camp in open countryside without a landowner’s permission. Dartmoor was the last place in England where this was permissible. The case was brought by wealthy hedge fund manager, Alexander Darwall, who owns a large Dartmoor estate. The ruling prompted condemnation from access rights campaigners.
Wild camping occurs outside of formal campsites. It requires following the national park’s code of conduct: a brief stay overnight in a small backpacking tent pitched out of sight of any dwelling or road. Under canvas, miles from civilisation, campers will experience the exhilaration of Dartmoor’s wild elements blowing their way. There’s also an economic perspective, says Nick Hayes, who co-founded the Right to Roam campaign with author Guy Shrubsole. “Wild camping is this amazing opportunity for people that cannot afford Airbnb or hotels to still experience the beauty of nature.”
In May, hundreds of right to roam campaigners took part in a mass trespass and picnic in Devon.
The first judgement turbocharged interest in the ongoing campaigns of the likes of Right to Roam and the Open Spaces Society, which are fighting for greater access and recreation in the English countryside. It quickly led to a protest rally of 3,000 campaigners around Darwall’s estate akin to mass trespasses of yesteryear. ... The strength of public outrage undoubtedly emboldened Dartmoor National Park Authority to appeal against the initial judgement with their lawyers arguing against Darwall’s legal team’s claim that camping in a tent does not constitute ‘open-air recreation’.
On 31 July Dartmoor National Park’s appeal against the ban was successful, with Lord Justice Underhill saying wild camping ‘plainly does’ come under the definition of open-air recreation. ... It marks a victory in a long-held battle between landowners and the public regarding who gets to enjoy some of our most beautiful countryside. ✂️
In the aftermath of January’s ruling, the Labour Party, if elected, committed to extending the right-to-roam in England on a model akin to Scotland’s, where wild camping is permitted on most unenclosed land. It also signalled a positive future for activities on Dartmoor that enable young people to build self-confidence outdoors through navigation and wild camping.
Rebuilding Notre Dame Cathedral Takes Leap Forward as the Majestic Spire Is Pieced Together
I have to say I really didn’t think the spire would be replicable. This is really wonderful news.
From Good News Network:
Out in the French countryside of Briey, massive planks of oak wood are being fitted together for a very, very special purpose. They are forming the new spire for the resurrection of the Notre Dame, and by using a marriage of master woodworkers and expert computing, all the pieces of the spire’s central and chief component—the shaft—fit together perfectly.
The spire, which collapsed through the lead roof of the famous cathedral in the fire, was built in the 19th century by architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc, and the drafts for its construction were kept. With them, the team has been able to remake all 60 feet of structure exactly as before.
For the 286 specifically carved pieces of wood needed to create the shaft, which really is the wooden heart of the spire, only the tallest and straightest oak trees were used, donated for posterity in use for the Notre Dame by private landowners and public forests, some of which were owned by past kings of France, or the Catholic church.
In late July, a crane lowered the final piece of the shaft into place where it stuck fast.
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Good news in medicine
Scientists reverse hearing loss in mice
This is an exciting step toward reversing hearing loss in humans. Fingers crossed that clinical trials will be successful!
From ScienceDaily:
New research from The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London has successfully reversed hearing loss in mice.
The research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, used a genetic approach to fix deafness in mice with a defective Spns2 gene, restoring their hearing abilities in low and middle frequency ranges. Researchers say this proof-of-concept study suggests that hearing impairment resulting from reduced gene activity may be reversible.
Over half of adults in their 70s experience significant hearing loss. Impaired hearing is associated with an increased likelihood of experiencing depression and cognitive decline, as well as being a major predictor of dementia. While hearing aids and cochlear implants may be useful, they do not restore normal hearing function, and neither do they halt disease progression in the ear. There is a significant unmet need for medical approaches that slow down or reverse hearing loss.
Researchers in this study bred mice with an inactive Spns2 gene. Mice were then provided with a special enzyme at differing ages to activate the gene after which their hearing improved. … Professor Karen Steel, Professor of Sensory Function at King's IoPPN and the study's senior author said, "Degenerative diseases such as progressive hearing loss are often believed to be irreversible, but we have shown that at least one type of inner ear dysfunction can be reversed. We used a genetic method to show this reversal as a proof-of-concept in mice, but the positive results should encourage research into methods like gene therapy or drugs to reactivate hearing in people with a similar type of hearing loss."
We’re on the cusp of another psychedelic era. But this time Washington is along for the ride
The American medical establishment’s bias against psychedelics has hampered research for far too long. This is very refreshing news.
From Politico:
There’s a new cause in Washington that’s uniting Republicans, Democrats and Biden health officials: psychedelics as a cure for America’s mental health crisis.
Long derided as counterculture party drugs, psychedelics are gaining new resonance 56 years after psychologist Timothy Leary urged 30,000 hippies in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park to “turn on, tune in and drop out.” This time, it’s not about breaking free of staid convention, as Leary urged, but healing intractable psychic wounds.
The Food and Drug Administration has already approved one psychedelic to treat depression. The nation’s top drug regulator and Congress are pushing for more study of psychedelics’ potential to treat mental illnesses that now afflict more than a quarter of Americans. Advocates still must overcome stigma associated with 1960s drug culture and concerns about side effects, but they’ve never enjoyed such strong support inside government.
“The results that are coming out are just groundbreaking — earth-shattering,” said Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-Texas), a former Navy SEAL who credits therapy and two psychedelics, ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT, with helping him overcome the trauma he suffered after his Black Hawk helicopter went down during a 2009 training mission. “D.C. actually is getting their head around it.” … Elected last year to represent Houston’s northern exurbs, he now wants to change the drugs’ legal status.
Federal agencies are signaling a willingness to cooperate.
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Good news in science
Earendel, the Most Distant Known Star, Reveals Its Secrets to JWST
From Scientific American:
This image from the James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument reveals new details about the most distant known star in the universe, Earendel (the dot of light in the zoomed-in inset). Earendel’s color shows it to be a massive B-type star more than twice as hot as our sun, and also hints at the presence of a smaller companion star.
Astronomers have begun measuring of the most distant star ever detected, thanks to the powerful eyes of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
That star, known as Earendel, was discovered last year by the Hubble Space Telescope. It has taken 12.9 billion years for Earendel's light to reach Earth, meaning the star was shining less than a billion years after the Big Bang spurred our universe into existence. However, Earendel doesn't lie a mere 12.9 billion light-years away from us. Because the universe has been expanding at an accelerating rate since the Big Bang, the star now lives a whopping 28 billion light-years from Earth.
Hubble was able to spot Earendel thanks to a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing, in which the gravity of a massive foreground object sort of acts like a lens as it warps the very fabric of space and time, bending and brightening light from a more distant body as that light passes by. The JWST team employed this same strategy by harnessing the space-warping power of a gravity cluster called WHL0137-08 that just so happens to line up with Earendel. ✂️
...JWST's NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument "reveals the star to be a massive B-type star more than twice as hot as our sun, and about a million times more luminous," NASA officials wrote [Aug. 9] in a statement announcing the new Earendel observations. ✂️
"The discoveries have opened a new realm of the universe to stellar physics, and new subject matter to scientists studying the early universe, where once galaxies were the smallest detectable cosmic objects," NASA officials wrote. "The research team has cautious hope that this could be a step toward the eventual detection of one of the very first generation of stars, composed only of the raw ingredients of the universe created in the Big Bang — hydrogen and helium."
Plastic Waste Can Now be Turned into Soap Thanks to Eureka Moment from Virginia Tech
I love this story, not only for how ingenious Liu’s research was, but also because the idea came to him while he was gazing into the fireplace. There’s abundant evidence that the human brain requires leisure to spur creativity. We all need to do more idle gazing!
From Good News Network:
Polyethylene, one of the most common plastics used today, is actually very similar in chemical structure to the chief fatty acid in soap, and a scientist at Virginia Tech has discovered a long-sought-after way to convert one into the other. … Guoliang Liu, a researcher at VA Tech, felt that there must be some way to divide the long polyethylene chains into shorter, but not too short, fatty acid chains that could be used to make soap. ✂️
Having considered the question for some time, Liu was struck by inspiration while enjoying a winter evening by a fireplace. He watched the smoke rise from the fire and thought about how the smoke was made up of tiny particles produced during the wood’s combustion. ...Liu began to wonder what would happen if polyethylene could be burned in a safe laboratory setting. Would the incomplete combustion of polyethylene produce “smoke” just like burning wood does? If someone were to capture that smoke, what would it be made of? ✂️
Two Ph.D. chemistry students in Liu’s lab aided the curious researcher in building a laboratory oven for the experiement, where they could heat polyethylene in a process called temperature-gradient thermolysis. At the bottom, the oven is at a high enough temperature to break the polymer chains, and at the top, the oven is cooled to a low enough temperature to stop any further breakdown. After the thermolysis, they gathered the residue—similar to cleaning soot from a chimney—and found that Liu’s hunch had been right: It was composed of “short-chain polyethylene,” or more precisely, waxes.
This was the first step in developing a method for upcycling plastics into soap, Liu said. Upon adding a few more steps, including saponification, the team made the world’s first soap out of plastics. To continue the process, the team enlisted the help of experts in computational modeling, economic analysis, and more. “Our research demonstrates a new route for plastic upcycling without using novel catalysts or complex procedures. In this work, we have shown the potential of a tandem strategy for plastic recycling,” said Zhen Xu, lead author on the paper published in Science, and one of the Ph.D. students. “This will enlighten people to develop more creative designs of upcycling procedures in the future.”
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Good news for the environment
MOMENTOUS NEWS! Judge sides with youth in Montana climate change trial, finds two laws unconstitutional
It’s impossible to overstate the importance of this historic ruling. Take a good look at these kids — every one of them is a hero.
From the Daily Montanan:
Eleven of the 16 youth plaintiffs in the Held v. Montana case pose for a photo after Day 5 of the trial on Friday, June 16, 2023. Top row (left to right): Lander Busse, Badge Busse, Grace, Rikki Held, Olivia. Bottom row (left to right): Kian, Mica, Claire, Eva, Taleah, Sariel.
The state of Montana’s failure to consider greenhouse gas emissions from energy and mining projects violates the state constitution because it does not protect Montanans’ right to a clean and healthful environment and the state’s natural resources from unreasonable depletion, a judge ruled Monday in a victory for the 16 youth plaintiffs who sued the state.
Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Kathy Seeley sided with the young plaintiffs in her decision in the Held v. Montana trial, striking down as unconstitutional the so-called “limitation” to the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA), which was amended by the legislature this year, as well as another portion of law surrounding greenhouse gas emissions that was changed this past session.
Seeley permanently enjoined the 2023 version of the MEPA limitation, passed via House Bill 971 more than halfway through the session, as well as a portion of Senate Bill 557, saying both were unconstitutional and the latter “removes the only preventative, equitable relief available to the public and MEPA litigants. … Plaintiffs have a fundamental right to a clean and healthful environment, which includes climate as part of the environmental life support system,” Seeley wrote in her decision.
The Held vs. Montana case was the first case challenging state and national climate and energy policies to make it to trial in the U.S., and is now the first in which the plaintiffs, 16 Montana youth now ages 5 to 22, were victorious. Julia Olson, the chief legal counsel and executive director for Our Children’s Trust, the group behind the lawsuit, called Seeley’s decision “a sweeping win” for Montana, the youth plaintiffs, and the climate, and said more court victories would be coming.
Fight Fire With — AI? Artificial Intelligence Tackles Wildfires
This is a very encouraging advance in wildfire detection, which is a major need here in the Northwest.
From Clean Technica:
...a company called Pano AI is using new data models and continuous surveillance to help catch fires as soon as they start, and before they run wild.
Pano AI is currently building out the largest blaze-detecting network in the Pacific Northwest, monitoring some 2.4 million hectares (about 6 million acres) of land across California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana and using real-time fire hazard detection and assessment to alert of response teams, early, potentially saving time that could mean the difference between containment and tragedy.
The system uses 360-degree-scanning cameras (as seen, above) installed in high vantage points that continuously survey the surrounding areas for signs of smoke. The cameras, which can see 15 miles in every direction, record high-definition video and apply “deep learning” to recognize fires. Once a fire is detected, the AI model assess the threat, pinpoints their location, and reports on the fire’s expected spread’s speed and direction, enabling response teams to properly triage the situation.
Mangrove Forest Thrives Around What Was Once Latin America's Largest Landfill
Mangroves are environmental superstars at the moment, thanks to their amazing capacity to store carbon.
From VOA News:
A view of an area that was once part of the Gramacho neighborhood landfill, then considered one of the largest in Latin America, backdropped by a recovered mangrove forest, in Duque de Caxias, Brazil, July 25, 2023.
It was once Latin America's largest landfill. Now, a decade after Rio de Janeiro shut it down and redoubled efforts to recover the surrounding expanse of highly polluted swamp, crabs, snails, fish and birds are once again populating the mangrove forest. ✂️
The former landfill is located right by the 148 square miles (383 square kilometers) Guanabara Bay. Between the landfill's inauguration in 1968 and 1996, some 80 million tons of garbage were dumped in the area, polluting the bay and surrounding rivers with trash and runoff.
In 1996, the city began implementing measures to limit the levels of pollution in the landfill, starting with treating some of the leachate, the toxic byproduct of mountains of rotting trash. But garbage continued to pile up until 2012, when the city finally shut it down. ✂️
The landfill, where mountains of trash once attracted hundreds of pickers, was gradually covered with clay. Comlurb employees started removing garbage, building a rainwater drainage system, and replanting mangroves, an ecosystem that has proved particularly resilient — and successful — in similar environmental recovery projects. ✂️
Experts say mangroves can bury even more carbon in the sediment than a tropical rainforest, making it a great tool to fight climate change.
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Good news for and about animals
Brought to you by Rosy, Nora, and Rascal.
Ice cream van helps dogs stay cool serving up frozen treats
From The Independent (UK):
An ice cream van serving frozen treats for dogs is touring the UK, helping the nation’s pets and their owners prepare for the rumoured heatwave later this month. The van is currently rolling through 10 towns and cities across the UK ... to dish out dog-friendly frozen yoghurts free of charge.
Hosted by Pets at Home, the take on the traditional vehicle will have experts onboard to help owners understand the best ways to keep their beloved pups cool and relaxed when temperatures are high.
It comes after research found 63 per cent of dog owners worry about their four-legged friend overheating, but 41 per cent don’t know how to safely help them cope in the heat. To try to keep them cool, 35 per cent would let them swim in open water and 21 per cent would pour ice cold water over their head, feet and toes - two approaches pet experts advise against.
An expert from Pets at Home, which commissioned the research of 2,000 dog owners, said: “We love our pets and want to do the right thing by them. But it’s clear from this research that many owners aren’t sure on the best way to help keep their dogs cool during hot summer weather. “Dogs don’t sweat like humans and instead cool themselves down by panting – but on really hot days, they’re likely to need extra help to bring their temperature down and avoid overheating.The best way to do this is to make sure they have cooling mats, and shaded areas and that they’re regularly drinking cool water. It’s fine to cool this using ice.”
Feeling lonely, she got a kitten. He became U.K. Cat of the Year.
From The Washington Post (gift link):
Genevieve Moss at home with Zebby.
Genevieve Moss has profound hearing loss, and she was feeling lonely and isolated as she flipped through the local newspaper at her home in Chesterfield, England. “Being in a silent world and living alone without any human support caused a lot of distress and anxiety,” Moss said in an email interview with The Washington Post.
Then something stopped her as she read the paper that day in April 2021, deep in the pandemic. “I saw a photo of a tiny black and white ball of fluff, and I fell in love with him then and there,” said Moss, 66. A family had placed an ad, hoping to find a home for the last kitten in their cat’s litter. When Moss reached out to them, the family arranged to bring by the two-month-old domesticated shorthair with tuxedo markings. Soon, the deal was sealed. ✂️
Moss had heard of studies showing that pets can help to alleviate loneliness for people who live alone, but she had no idea the cat would turn into her helper and her ears, even grabbing her mail and slippers for her.
And last month, about 2½ years after Zebby leaped into her life, Moss was stunned when her cat was named Britain’s National Cat of the Year by Cats Protection, the country’s largest feline welfare charity. … “He’d had no training at all,” Moss said, “but his cat instincts and curiosity seemed to tell him that I needed his help — that I wasn’t able to hear anything at times when the hearing aids were out of my ears.” ✂️
Zebby helps bring in the mail each day.
After several weeks [living with her], Moss noticed that whenever her phone rang or somebody knocked on the door, he would tap her with his paw or pace in front of her to alert her. When security lights came on outside, she said, her cat would scratch at the glass and run around the room until she woke up. ...It wasn’t long before Zebby took on another task: picking up Moss’s mail. “He heard the rattle of the letterbox being opened, and he stretched up on his back legs and pulled the letter from the flap as a hand posted it through,” she said. “I thought at first it was a ‘one off’ game, but he continued to do it every time the post arrived.”
Crow Believes He’s a Rabbit After Being Fostered With Broken Leg by Couple With Five Bunnies
I chose this story partly because I know how much fellow GNR writer Chloris Creator will enjoy it! Crows are continually amazing.
From Good News Network:
A crow hand-reared by a couple believes he’s a rabbit—hopping around their hutch and eating their food—after being adopted by their five bunnies.
The crow was rescued by Andrew Silverwood in England after he was found in the middle of a busy road with a broken leg when he was around two weeks old. The 57-year-old and his wife Suzanne brought him into their home in West Yorkshire. Now he’s staying in the hutch with their rabbits.
His recovery with the family was meant to be temporary but they’ve decided to let him stay and named him Jake. … “The rabbits have accepted Jake as one of their own,” said Andrew. “He really does think he’s a rabbit. … Jake has taken on the characteristics of the rabbits, and he is so funny when he hops around with them.” ✂️
Andrew, who owns a dairy business, said: “When we first rescued him, we kept hand feeding him. He then kept going to the hutch every time he wanted food and we realized it was because he thinks the rabbits are his parents.”
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