The Progress Network

Trump's maneuvers to test the limits of his power are being met with immediate legal challenges.

🗳️Whole Foods workers voted this week in Philadelphia to become the first unionized store in Amazon’s grocery chain. “I would not be shocked if it had a snowball effect across different Whole Foods locations..." said labor law professor, Brishen Rogers. #unions #laborlaws #usa #wholefoods

"Global emissions of local air pollutants have probably passed their peak," writes Hannah Ritchie for Our World in Data . https://lnkd.in/eCGfK2XK

Already overwhelmed and exhausted by the onslaught of Trump-focused news? I wrote a guide for The Progress Network on how to navigate the chaos. Find a summary below, and the link to the full guide in the comments 👇 Put Guardrails on Your News Intake Many people consume news passively rather than actively. But it’s better to view your media diet as an intentional choice, just as you choose what you eat and drink. We don’t eat all day, and we shouldn’t be harassed by the news all day, either. Choose a medium—paper, email, podcast, television, and so on—and a time to consume the news that works best with your schedule. Restrict consumption to that medium and that time. Shift Your Perspective A line from Buddhist scripture is helpful: “A grain of salt cast into a small cup of water renders it undrinkable, but such is not the case if it be cast into a river.” In other words, our information environment is about to feel a lot like a lot of salt poured into a very small water glass. You can dilute the taste by widening your lens. The United States is not the whole world; consume some news from outside of it. Politics is not the whole of the US; follow items on technology, science, arts and culture, and so on. And federal policy is not the whole of politics; put some of your focus on local or regional goings-on. Focus on Action, Not Vibes Our current information environment has primed us to view nearly everything as an urgent, personal threat. Most things are not. Try to focus less on absurdities, outrages, and controversy, and more on concrete policy movement. One day into President Trump’s second term, we already had Melania’s hat, Musk’s salute, the Gulf of America, and other points of distraction, on top of a flurry of executive orders. Some of those will end up unenforceable or reversed, or will face legal challenge, but others have already caused trouble for lawful asylum seekers at the border. Be judicious about where you place your time, energy, and attention. Fortify Your Mind Our capacity to turn outward relies on our capacity to first turn inward. We must have practices in place in our own lives that steady and enrich us, so that we can call on that strength to face even the worst of the world constructively. For one of my colleagues, that is a daily morning run (before he goes online). For my partner, it’s volunteering to repair early 20th-century steam engines for a local museum. It might be dinners with your kids or a weekly get-together with friends. Whatever it is that enables you to build the psychological reserves you need, don’t neglect it. It’s a key component of clear thinking and energetic action.

How to endure the firehose of news that accompanies a second Trump term

⚡ Meet the micro-reactor, baby nuclear reactors the size of a shipping container that are being developed to replace diesel and gas generators in remote locations. https://lnkd.in/eG-Gtqpa

Millions seized from an alleged bribery scheme involving Nigeria’s ex oil minister will fund a solar-powered electrification project.

🌱What do you do when you've got the world’s most widespread invasive species, water hyacinth, covering your lake, choking fish, and leaving people stranded? 🛍️Turn it into an alternative for plastic packaging. #innovation

👅 A tongue implant that “zaps” the hypoglossal nerve has been placed for the first time in patients in the UK. 😴The app-controlled device is a potential replacement for CPAP machines, which allow people with sleep apnea to breathe overnight. https://lnkd.in/gUFAncu4

🤯Before the new year, Google announced that its quantum computer had performed a mathematical calculation in five minutes that would have taken traditional computers 10 septillion years...a length of time that exceeds the age of the known universe. https://lnkd.in/dmG5bvRR