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Hi, all, and happy Sunday!
I’ve got another long list of wins for you! Yes, the news this week has been awful, as always, but wow have we also made more headway! We’re beating back fascists, stopping data centers, blocking ICE warehouses, and so much more, just by showing up and standing together in solidarity.
So if you’ve spent the week doomscrolling it’s time for you to take a break to bask in the fact that good things are also happening. It matters. Please spread the word, and thank you all for allowing me to bring you this happy news.
The Supreme Court dealt a major blow to Trump’s economic policy, ruling that he had exceeded his authority when he imposed tariffs on nearly every U.S. trading partner.
Gov. Andy Beshear ordered flags at all state office buildings to be lowered to half-staff on March 7 to honor the life and legacy of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson.
U.S. school districts are boosting climate curriculum.
Planned Parenthood locations across Massachusetts are now offering vasectomies. The nonprofit said it moved to offer the surgeries that sterilize male reproductive organs after it saw a jump in requests for them after Trump’s election in 2024.
U2 released a new EP featuring songs that push for peace and unity, beginning with a tribute to Renee Good.
Department of Justice prosecutors across the US have suffered a string of embarrassing defeats in their aggressive pursuit of criminal cases against people accused of “assaulting” and “impeding” federal officers.
A federal judge issued a scathing ruling accusing the Trump administration of ‘terror’ against immigrants.
A court ruled that body cam footage of the DOGE raid on the US Institute of Peace must be released.
New moms in Wisconsin finally got an extension of postpartum Medicaid benefits after the GOP Assembly Speaker Robin Vos ended his years-long obstruction of the bipartisan bill. (Vos also announced his retirement that same week! Good.)
The Department of Education has ended their directive that attempted to restrict DEI efforts in schools nationwide. A huge victory for academic freedom and education equity!
GOP angst over voter turnout is building as their losses pile up.
A New York appellate court allowed a redraw of the state’s congressional map to move forward.
Maryland banned local law enforcement from being part of ICE's notorious 287(g) program. New Mexico did the same last week.
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore a slavery exhibit it had removed at George Washington’s former home in Philadelphia.
On Presidents’ Day, hundreds of protestors gathered outside Trump Tower in NYC, holding up middle fingers in a massive repudiation of Trump and everything he represents.
About 50 protesters gathered in Oregon Park on Presidents’ Day calling for Enterprise Rent-A-Car to end its contract with DHS and stop renting vehicles to ICE agents.
A group called Haven Watch continues to support people being released from Whipple detention center in MN in the freezing cold. An amazing, all volunteer effort.
Cardi B. is sparring with DHS online, and Cardi is winning.
Christian clergy are deploying spiritual infrastructure — from organizing prayer circles to acting as human shields — to resist the Trump administration's immigration agenda.
The AI firm Anthropic says it will donate $20M to political groups and candidates supporting AI regulation policies. Anthropic’s donation puts it in opposition to the ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which has advocated for less stringent regulation of AI.
Virginia lawmakers passed a bill to expand collective bargaining rights to public workers.
A federal judge ordered the release of a Filipino man from an ICE detention facility in Washington, noting a "pattern of failures" in his medical care that "more likely than not resulted in extreme pain and permanent disability."
The Baltimore County Council passed an emergency bill that would prohibit the opening of an ICE detention center in Hunt Valley.
Virginia Governor Spanberger has signed a constitutional amendment that would repeal the state’s ban on same‑sex marriage and enshrine marriage equality in the Virginia Constitution, putting the measure before voters this November.
Billionaire Hyatt Chair Thomas Pritzker stepped down over his connections to Epstein.
The owner of a Hutchins, TX warehouse announced it would not sell or lease its building to DHS, amid concerns from the community about a potential ICE detention facility there.
Tricia McLaughlin, Kristi Noem’s spokesperson, left the DHS this week.
More than a dozen health and environmental justice non-profits have sued the EPA over its revocation of the endangerment finding.
Stephen Colbert’s full interview with James Talarico has now been viewed 7.5 million times —more than any other interview he’s done in years. Clips from it have garnered 85 million views across YouTube and social media.
After Republicans sought to remove roughly 250,000 people from North Carolina’s voter registry, more than 70,000 voters will now get additional time to correct missing or incomplete information.
Bruce Springsteen announced a “No Kings”-themed arena tour this spring, “in celebration and in defense of America.”
James Talarico raised $2.5 million after CBS spiked his Colbert interview.
Approval of Trump’s immigration policies fell to the lowest level since his return to the White House — 37% — amid signs he is losing support among American men on the issue.
Colorado Democrats launched a redistricting effort, which, if successful, would move their delegation from 4-4 to 7-1 in advance of the 2028 and 2030 elections.
In the first few days since early voting started, the most populous counties in Texas are seeing a higher turnout than the past two primaries.
The number of workers covered under union contracts increased to a 16-year high in 2025, despite ongoing attempts by the Trump administration to wipe out collective bargaining agreements for tens of thousands of federal workers.
AMC Theaters will refuse to screen an AI short film after an online uproar. Good.
A U.S. citizen and Army veteran who was taken into immigration custody during an ICE raid in Camarillo last summer is suing the federal government.
Pope Leo has declined Trump’s invitation to participate in the Board of Peace, believing the U.N. should be the one to handle international crises, not the Trump-chaired board.
Some of the bead strands being thrown at Mardi Gras this year will be biodegradable!
Members of the Georgia State Elections Board voted to issue a formal letter of reprimand to Musk’s America PAC over the billionaire technocrat’s illegal efforts to get Trump elected.
The FDA reversed its decision on Moderna’s flu vaccine and has agreed to review it for possible approval.
Illinois residents have seen more than $1.1 billion in medical debt erased, with the help of a state program that launched less than a year-and-a-half ago.
Alysa Liu became the first U.S. woman to win a gold medal in figure skating in 24 years. And the story of how she came to this moment is…everything.
World No. 5 tennis player Coco Gauff spoke out about immigration crackdowns happening in the U.S., saying, “I don’t think people should be dying in the streets for just existing.”
The European Parliament approved a resolution stating that trans women are women. Amazing!
A federal judge ruled that Kilmar Abrego Garcia cannot be re-detained by immigration authorities.
A coalition of Winter Olympians and other athletes delivered a petition with 21,000 signatures to the International Olympic Committee, urging the IOC to consider ending fossil fuel sponsorships.
Investors poured a record amount of money into the energy transition last year: $2.3 trillion worldwide, according to new figures from research firm BloombergNEF.
Mike Lindell, who is currently running for Minnesota governor, is in hot water after his campaign spent nearly $200,000 of contributions on copies of his own book.
Heat pumps outsold fossil gas–fired furnaces in the U.S. yet again last year.
A massive new battery has entered service in southern Maine, providing a much-needed boost to the Northeast’s efforts to expand clean and affordable energy.
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson has come out strongly against ICE, announcing a ban on agents using city property to conduct operations and ordering the police department to investigate their activities.
In a 4 to 1 vote, the Davis, CA City Council just approved a resolution ending city engagement with companies controlled by Elon Musk (except for Starlink) and formally urging California’s public pension giants--CalPERS and CalSTRS-- to divest from Tesla stock and related securities.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested for misconduct in public office in relation to his dealings with Jeffrey Epstein.
Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life in prison after he imposed martial law in December 2024.
An elderly Pennsylvania man turned down an offer of more than $15 million to sell his land to data center developers.
The Kentucky Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the state’s charter school funding law violates the Kentucky Constitution, dealing a significant blow to school choice advocates and affirming strict protections for public education funding.
The University of Oregon has approved the use of medication abortion, often prescribed with mifepristone and misoprostol, at University Health Services starting in fall 2026.
Watch this amazing dance activism piece choreographed by Matthew Steffens for the First Amendment Troop. It honors Renee Good and Alex Pretti. It was performed and filmed live on President’s Day in DC in front of the Lincoln Memorial and Kennedy Center.
cahwyguy
[Note: The Wordpress plugin that did autoposting is broken. If someone has a recommendation for a replacement plugin, please let me know. Otherwise, I'm going to have to do these manually for now. The original post for this is: “Amadeus” (you may have seen the motion picture) tells the story of the rivalry between Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart… or should I say imagined rivalry, for Mozart didn’t see Salieri as a rival, whereas Salieri saw Mozart as a rival in God’s eyes. The story is told in flashback, from Salieri’s point of view, as Salieri is dying. He is attempting to confess to killing Mozart by relating the story of how he did the deed. He begins by telling how he dedicated his life to praising God through music, but when he saw Mozart’s music, realized that God had forsaken him and chosen Mozart to be his voice. Further, Salieri saw that Mozart was a base and callow fellow, a pottymouthed, childish prodigy, further cementing the notion that the gift must be from God. At the moment of that realization, Salieri vows to make God abandon his chosen voice. Much of the play is Salieri relating how he believes his actions created the situations that drove Mozart deeper into poverty, dispair, and eventual destitution. At the end, Mozart is dead in his 30s, but Salieri lives on another 25 years being elevated in fame, only to know that everlasting fame and retribution will be Mozart’s, for it will be Mozart’s music that survives. Salieri eventually commits suicide so that his name will at least live in infamy, but fails in that as well.Given how well known the play is, there are two things that distinguish one production of Amadeus from another: the performances and the production. The production we saw back in 2010 was an exemplar of creativity on limited budget: a small production in an 81 seat black box, with outstanding performances by mostly local performers that were part of the regular Rep East ensemble team. I still remember the harpsicord/piano they built for that production, which remained in the Rep East lobby for years after, until the company folded a few years later. I have no idea what the replacement theatre, The Main, did with it. The Pasadena Playhouse, on the other hand, is more at the other end of the spectrum. They have a larger donor base, and there was significant additional philanthropic support for this production. They were also able to draw from a different actor pool: unlike the intimate theatre scene in Los Angeles, the PP is able to draw from (and pay for) Equity actors (although I should note that the Rep production did have three Equity actors, including Lench in the lead role). It shows. The Los Angeles Times has a great article on the production aspects of this show. The article notes the design aspects of the stage created by the Pasadena Playhouse's on-site scenic design shop. This includes "the forced perspective of scenic designer Alexander Dodge’s set, which makes a royal room seem to disappear into the distance" and "An electric keyboard programmed to sound like a fortepiano is also embedded in a handcrafted instrument, which actors with musical training can play." The costumes are quite extravagant, and the LA Times noted "Linda Cho designed the costumes and L.A. Opera fabricated the extravagant 18th century garments". L.A. Opera also provided additional training for the performances of the opera snippets within the production. And yet, this production is an example of what can be done with traditional stagecraft: there are no electronic tricks; there is no projected scenery (although there are some projected tapestries). Construction is flats and trapdoors and hidden stairs. It shows the power of theatre, without the mechanical and electrical supports that productions these days seem to rely upon far too heavily. But I think what really made this production of Amadeus stand out was the work of Jefferson Mays as Salieri. He just drew you into the performance, capturing well the inner obsession had had all of his life: with his music, with being known, with wanting to be the voice of God... and how that obsession turned from the creation of art to revenge when faced with the upstart and contradiction that was Mozart. For Mozart had the talent; he was a child prodigy that was composing from his youngest days. Music just poured from him. But he also remained childish, with few people skills, a potty mouth, and (according to the play) a childish obsession with sex and bums (asses). Sam Clemmett captured that contradictory nature well, and it played well with the growing infuriation showed by Mays' Salieri at how God bypassed and mocked him in the talent department. The two performances played well off of each other. There were a few other notable performances. Jennifer Chang and Hilary Ward were outstanding as the Venticellis (the aides to Salieri), with great facial impressions. Lauren Worsham was fun as Constanze Mozart, especially in her scenes with Salieri. Matthew Patrick Davis was a hoot as Joseph II, especially as the very tall Davis had to fit through the very small forced perspective doors at the back of the stage. Lastly, note that the Playhouse cast some real opera talent as the performers in the Mozart opera snippits: Michelle Allie Drever and Alaysha Fox have been in quite a few operas. Note that it looks like the Playhouse (now that it owns the building) has finally giving up on its restaurant space ever being a stand-alone success, and has turned it into a bar and lounge, and perhaps a small concert performance space. This is a wonderful idea and a great use of the space. However, the concessions are far too expensive: $9 for a box of cookies or $12 for a chocolate chip cookie is poor form, when one can just walk across the street to The Stand and get cookies for $3.50 or a large brownie for $4.50. A dollar or two markup to support the theatre is tolerable; doubling the price (especially for something that is pre-packaged) isn't. Amadeus has had its run extended: It now continues until March 15. You can get tickets through the Pasadena Playhouse website. You might be able to get discount tickets from the Today Tix website, but Today Tix really is not as good as their predecessor, Goldstar Events.
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