Greetings!
Greetings to all you Gnusies, Gnubies, occasional drop-ins, silent regulars, and first-timers! Come sit with us to find and share messages of hope and to celebrate all the ways good people are solving problems and triumphing over evil-doers. The task we have set ourselves here in Gnuville is to search out hope no matter how difficult the situation might be. We learned during TFG’s four years of error and terror that hope can be found even in the darkest times. And with the Biden era off to a roaring start, there’s a lot more good news, though there are also disappointments and challenges. Which means that our mission of bringing hope to our readers continues.
Don’t forget that the Good News Roundup is a collaborative effort. We warmly encourage you to add your own good news finds in our comment section, The Best Comment Section on the Internet™, where sanity reigns, Gloomy Guses and Debbie Downers are encouraged to see the light, and pie fights are forbidden.
Settle in with your favorite morning beverage and get your day going with some good news, eclectic music, videos, and food for thought. Sorry, folks, it’s a long one again! 😉
Introduction
I recently read a wonderful book, This is Happiness by Irish novelist Niall Williams, that a dear old friend recommended to me. It’s a coming-of-age story, a fond look at a rural society sliding into irrelevancy, and a convincing depiction of how we look at our younger selves from the vantage point of old age. And it’s simply beautifully written.
The hook that Williams uses to advance the plot is the arrival of electricity in a small rural Irish town. In this paragraph close to the end of the book, he uses the occasion of the final connection of the new electric grid as a metaphor for what connects us:
And it did not matter that all of this would pass, that's what occurred to me. It didn't matter this time and place would be gone, that these feelings would go to the place of all feelings once pure and complete. It didn't matter that [all the people I loved] would slip out of my life..., that all of them would be gone but would be like remembered music or the amassed richness of a lived life. Because at that moment I understood that this in miniature was the world, a connective of human feeling, for the most part by far pulsing with the dream of the betterment of the other, and in this case was an invisible current that, despite faults and breakdowns, was all the time being restored and switched back on and was running not because of past or future times but because, all times since beginning and to the end, the signal was still on, still pulsing, and still trying to love.
In these times when so much emphasis is placed on what divides us, I think it’s wise to remember what connects us: the “dream of betterment” for ourselves and others, and the need to give and receive love. The more we seek connection, the more we’ll find it.
As activists, we understand the importance of connection. We need to connect with each other for effective action, we need to attempt to connect with those whose opinions differ from ours if we hope to win them over, and most of all we share a belief that all human beings — indeed, all living creatures — are connected. The more we live that truth, the more we’ll accomplish and the happier we’ll be doing it.
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Good news in politics
The child tax credit is blowing up on TikTok. That should tell lawmakers something.
By Dylan Matthews on Vox:
I’ve been covering tax policy in the US for over a decade now, and I can confidently say that provisions in the tax code do not often go viral.
Enter the child tax credit, which was greatly expanded temporarily in President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan, with monthly payments hitting households starting on July 15. The sudden deposits — of up to $250 per child ages 6-17, and $300 per child under 6 — were such a delight to many parents that the hashtags #childtaxcredit and #childtaxcredit2021 blew up on TikTok, with tens of millions of views under each as of this writing. ✂️
This is a continuation of a trend we also saw with the stimulus checks of April 2020, December 2020, and March 2021 — when the government sends out cash like this, outside of the normal tax return process and to a larger population than those affected by programs like SNAP/food stamps or Section 8 housing vouchers, that policy penetrates the public consciousness. The checks get memed. People post dance videos about them.
Biden administration announces first transfer of detainee out of Guantanamo Bay
It’s about time!!
From CBS News:
The Biden administration on Monday announced it transferred its first detainee out of Guantanamo Bay to Morocco after he was recommended for repatriation under the Obama administration.
The transfer of the detainee, Abdul Latif Nasir, comes after the Biden administration said in February it would be launching an interagency review of the U.S. military prison, which President Biden intends to close by the time he leaves office.
With Nasir's repatriation, there are 39 detainees at Guantanamo Bay, according to the Defense Department. A senior administration official told reporters that 10 of the remaining detainees are eligible to be transferred, and two have been convicted. A second senior administration official said the administration "will apply all the necessary diplomatic resources to facilitate the transfer of detainees found eligible."
Indivisible Publicly Launches the “Truth Brigade” to Combat Online Disinformation
What a great idea! If you’re active on social media, do consider joining up.
From Indivisible:
Indivisible [has] announced the public launch of the Truth Brigade, a volunteer-driven program to counter disinformation. ✂️
Beginning as a pilot program ahead of the 2020 election, the Truth Brigade was first created in response to the growing alarm within the Indivisible network about the creep of disinformation at the national and local level. Building on research that showed ordinary people sharing specific types of content could be integral to fighting disinformation, the Indivisible Project created the Truth Brigade to give frustrated volunteers a way to channel their anger into action. ✂️
How The Truth Brigade Works:
- Signing up: Volunteers complete a form and are contacted to be taken through an intake process.
- Training: Volunteers first complete a training on how to write compelling, positive, persuasive messages in their own voices on a given issue, using tested techniques. They also learn the principles of algorithms and how bad actors spread disinformation; “do not click” is a central tenet of the program, one participants push out to like-minded people in their circles.
- Campaigns: Every two weeks, Truth Brigade volunteers receive a campaign explainer about a topic about which bad actors are circulating disinformation, as identified by expert monitors. Volunteers get out positive, truthful messages on the topic on social media, and amplify each others’ posts, collectively pushing out a wave of counter-messaging content.
- Assessment: After every campaign, Truth Brigade leaders assess and draw learnings from collected data, shaping future campaigns. Community: Volunteers participate in regular talks from experts in the field. They also become part of a lively online Truth Brigade community, sharing stories and successes with peers across the country.
- Local applications: Truth Brigade’s official campaigns are about national issues, but volunteers have started their own local projects applying the same skills to fight disinformation campaigns in local spheres and spreading best practices.
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Good news from my corner of the country
New York Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof Is Exploring a Run for Oregon Governor
I’m ambivalent about this. On the upside, Kristof is brilliant, has name recognition, and has impeccable cred on social issues. On the downside, we all know how badly amateur politicians can fail. The really good news buried in this story is that Kate Brown can’t run for re-election because of term limits. She really has been a disaster, despite being a Dem.
From Willamette Week:
In recent days, a poll includes Kristof’s name and asks voters how they would feel about a journalist who grew up on a farm running for office. The poll also includes other Democratic hopefuls. Kristof was raised on a sheep and cherry farm in Yamhill County, about an hour southwest of Portland.
Contacted about the poll, Kristof says his friends are attempting to recruit him.
“I have friends trying to convince me that here in Oregon, we need new leadership from outside the broken political system,” he tells WW. “I’m honestly interested in what my fellow Oregonians have to say about that.”
“All I know for sure is that we need someone with leadership and vision so that folks from all over the state can come together to get us back on track,” he adds. ✂️
The Democratic primary for governor, only the second in more than two decades not to include an incumbent or former governor, is wide open. Yet an outsider may still face an uphill battle.
Portland Releases List of Potential Sites for City’s “Safe Rest Villages”
This won’t be a panacea for homelessness, but it will help a lot of people now living on sidewalks.
From Willamette Week:
Portland City Commissioner Dan Ryan’s office released a list of 70 possible locations for the city’s “safe rest villages” on Friday afternoon. The sanctioned camping sites, a pivotal component of City Hall’s plans to relocate unhoused people camped on sidewalks, will include basic hygiene facilities, laundry, trash services, behavioral health resources and case management. ✂️
The list will eventually be whittled down to 10 or 15 locations in the coming weeks, says Ryan’s spokesperson Margaux Weeke.
The sites are in all five quandrants of the city and are owned or managed by city bureaus: the Portland Bureau of Transportation, the Bureau of Environmental Services, Portland Parks and Recreation, the Housing Bureau, Prosper Portland or the Office of Management and Finance.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon introduces bill to protect domestic violence survivors from gun violence
This story is national news as well as local news, but I like to celebrate the fact that Wyden is one of my Senators (Merkley is the other).
I had intended to include this story in my last GNR, but it got lost in the shuffle. The upside of posting it late is that I can include an encouraging update. Needless to add, this legislation is desperately needed and long overdue.
From The Oregonian:
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden has joined with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., to introduce a bill intended to protect domestic violence survivors from gun violence.
The bill is partly named after Nicolette Elias, a 46-year-old Portland woman fatally shot by her ex- husband Ian Martin Elias in her Southwest Portland home in 2014. A court had granted her restraining orders and a temporary stalking order against her former husband. ✂️
The Lori Jackson-Nicolette Elias Domestic Violence Survivor Protection Act bill, introduced last week, would close a loophole that allows domestic violence abusers to legally obtain weapons while a temporary restraining order has been issued against them. ✂️
The legislation also calls for the creation of a federal grant program to support state and local efforts to keep firearms out of the hands of domestic abusers while they are the subject of temporary or emergency restraining orders.
Update:
Bob Menendez and Cory Booker have signed on as sponsors.
From North Jersey News:
U.S. Sens. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker are among the prime sponsors of a new bill aimed at protecting domestic violence survivors from gun violence.
Introduced on June 24, the Lori Jackson-Nicolette Elias Domestic Violence Survivor Protection Act seeks to close a loophole that allows domestic violence abusers to legally obtain weapons while a temporary restraining order has been issued against them. ✂️
Policies include:
- Requiring a domestic violence abuser to surrender or sell any firearm or ammunition in their possession
- Revoking their permit or license to purchase, possess or carry a firearm or ammunition while the restraining order is in effect
- Requiring a background check before any firearm or ammunition is return to the person subject to the restraining order
Additionally, it would extend protections to domestic violence survivors who have been abused by dating partners.
And some good news from my neighborhood:
Lots of pollinators!! Definitely more than I saw last year.
And an item especially for you, BeeD: introducing my neighborhood goats!! Their human family put a lot of time, money, and effort into building that lovely house for them. There are chickens on the other side. It’s a fun place for the neighborhood kids to visit, especially since there are kibbles to feed the goats. But you have to get there early before the kibbles run out — they’re on a strict diet to make sure that too much attention doesn’t make them obese!
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Good news from around the nation
U.S. Attorney General issues broad ban against seizing media records
Merrick Garland has been getting a lot of flak lately from Progressives (not unjustifiably), but this move is great and long overdue. Note that although Trump’s attacks on journalists were more vicious, Obama also was guilty of prosecuting journalists for publishing leaked information.
From Reuters:
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland formalized a new policy on Monday that broadly prohibits prosecutors from subpoenaing reporters' phone and email records, an abrupt shift after the Trump administration secretly seized records from several major news outlets in an effort to root out leaks.
In addition to the new policy, Garland reiterated that the Justice Department would also throw its support behind new media shield legislation to make the policy permanent.
"A free and independent press is vital to the functioning of our democracy," the memo says. "The Department of Justice will no longer use compulsory legal process for the purpose of obtaining information from or records of members of the news media acting within the scope of newsgathering activities.” ✂️
A journalist who is the target or subject of a criminal investigation, for instance, can still have his or her records seized in matters not connected to their "newsgathering activities," as can someone who has used "criminal methods" to obtain the information. ...However, the policy makes it clear that prosecutors cannot subpoena a reporter's records merely because the reporter possesses or publishes classified information.
Nice Time! Three Good Things Happened In Law This Week!
I don’t know which one I like best — they’re all great!
From Jamie Lynn Crofts at Wonkette:
Illinois banned cops from lying to children to throw them in jail!
Yesterday, Illinois became the first state to ban cops from lying to kids while they're interrogating them. (Yes. The first state ever.)
It's a sad truth that, not only can police lie, they lie to people they're questioning all the damn time. Most people either don't know how common it is for police to lie or don't really think about it. But it is a huge problem and isn't part of the disclosures required when people are read their Miranda rights. ✂️
This is a great first step. We need to see more bills like this across the country — for children, people with disabilities, and, frankly everyone. If we didn't know better from watching the American criminal law system operate, it would be hard to believe that so many cops and prosecutors are strongly in favor of tactics that have been proven to put innocent people in prison. ✂️
Someone actually got a good jury verdict for police violence!
A jury awarded Jose Gomez $1.75 million in his civil rights suit against two Houston cops who beat the shit out of him in 2017. This is a huge deal, not because police brutally injured a Hispanic man, but because the case actually went to trial — and a man who was wronged by police got some justice for it. ✂️
The California legislature passed a guaranteed income plan for kids aging out of foster care!
On Thursday, the California Senate and state Assembly unanimously passed a bill that would create the first guaranteed income plan in the US. It would give monthly payments of up to $1,000 for kids who are aging out of the foster care system. ✂️
Unlike the vast majority of American government assistance programs, there are no rules requiring the recipients to use the money only on specific things. And since people, and not the government, are the best arbiters of what they need, that's exactly the way it should be.
Unprecedented California budget to usher in sweeping education changes
This needs to happen all over the country.
From EdSource:
Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Legislature have seized a once-in-a-generation deluge of state and federal funding to set in motion a sweeping and ambitious set of education programs that seemed implausible six months ago.
The 2021-22 state budget, which Newsom signed late Monday, expands the state government’s commitment to meet the needs of all students and redefines what constitutes an equitable education for low-income kids in a state with rising inequality.
Last week, Newsom called the budget “unlike anything we have ever done in this state. So many things we’ve promoted, so many things we dreamed of, we’re delivering.” It contrasts sharply with the state budget passed a year ago, when Newsom and the Legislature cut spending in anticipation of a yearlong Covid-precipitated recession.
The budget will provide billions of dollars to speed up movement on long-discussed goals: creating transitional kindergarten (TK) for all 4-year-olds and extending the school year and school day for all low-income elementary students. It includes enough funding to make a dent in — if not potentially eliminate — a teacher shortage through teacher residencies and other credentialing incentives. ✂️
The TK-12 budget also reflects how the Covid pandemic added urgency to accelerate priorities and to think big, said Ben Chida, chief deputy cabinet secretary for Newsom. [It includes]:
- A massive, improvised effort by school districts to provide grab-and-go lunches after schools shut down last year will be transformed into universal, state-funded breakfast and lunches for all students, starting this fall;
- Limited, sporadic funding for community schools, which provide health care, family services and after-school programs through local partnerships, will become a $2.8 billion investment to turn about a third of the state’s 10,000 schools into community schools;
- Evidence of a rise in student depression, anxiety and self-abuse during the pandemic has spurred a $4 billion plan for a mental health and behavior system that will provide screenings, counseling and therapy from birth through age 25.
I could have put this next story in the environment section, but since it has a lot to do with citizen activism, I prefer to put it here.
Company drops plans for Byhalia pipeline; Activists rejoice: 'Sometimes the good guys win'
From USA Today:
The company planning to build the Byhalia Connection pipeline on Friday announced that it is abandoning the project, bringing a sudden end to one of the biggest environmental controversies in recent Memphis history.
The project, which would have put a crude oil pipeline through mostly Black South Memphis neighborhoods, sparked a complex legal and public relations battle that was fought in multiple venues, from the Memphis City Council to the court of national public opinion.
Local opponents and celebrities such as Al Gore, Danny Glover and Jane Fonda voiced opposition — the former vice president visited Memphis and called the project "a reckless, racist rip-off.”
Opponents also raised concerns about oil spills and threats to the area's drinking water, which is drawn from wells deep underground from the Memphis Sand aquifer. ✂️
In rare move, Diocese of La Crosse removes controversial, defiant priest
This is a rare bit of good news in the context of the right-wing radicalization of the American Catholic Church. Of course, Altman plans to continue spewing garbage on RWNJ media.
From Madison.com:
The Diocese of La Crosse announced Friday that it was removing a controversial La Crosse priest from his role as pastor.
Father James Altman will no longer serve as pastor of St. James the Less, a Catholic church on La Crosse's north side, after he delivered a slew of political messaging and misinformation that has caused pushback. ✂️
In May, Altman was asked to resign by the Diocese after he shared a number of messages about race, political affiliation, sex and gender, and misinformation about COVID-19 and the vaccine over the course of the last year.
Altman refused the request to resign and stated during a sermon that he had hired a canon lawyer to fight his defense. ✂️
Last September the Tribune first reported on a video from Altman posted and produced by a right-wing media outlet where he claimed that Catholics could not be Democrats, calling them "Godless" imposters who are going to hell.
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Good news from around the world
Iceland ran the world's largest trial of a shorter work week. The results will (not) shock you.
From Mashable:
From 2015 to 2019, Iceland ran the world's largest trial of a shorter working week. An analysis of the results was finally published this week, and surprise! Everyone was happier, healthier, and more productive. Please pretend to be surprised.
The report was jointly prepared by the Association for Sustainability and Democracy (Alda) in Iceland and UK think tank Autonomy, who note that Iceland's experiment could be used as a blueprint for future trials around the world. ✂️
Iceland's test consisted of two trials run by Reykjavík City Council and Iceland's national government. The former involved over 2,500 people while the latter had 440, together making up more than one percent of the country's workforce. Workers were moved from 40-hour work weeks to 35- or 36-hour weeks with no reduction in pay, and a wide variety of workplaces took part, including offices, preschools, social service providers, and hospitals. Not all participants worked traditional nine-to-five jobs either, with workers on non-traditional shift times also included.
Regardless of these variables, the results of the trials were overwhelmingly positive. Productivity either remained the same or actually increased, and worker wellbeing was considerably improved. Perceived stress and burnout went down, while health and work-life balance went up, as employees were given more time for housekeeping, hobbies, and their families. Both managers and staff considered the trials a major success.
Making history: Chileans start work on first constitution equally drafted by women, men
From NBC News:
Seated alongside 154 elected members of Chile’s new constitutional assembly, young feminist Giovanna Roa, 34, and many other female delegates wore purple and green neckerchiefs bearing the slogan "Nunca más sin nosotras," meaning "Never again without us."
The words are linked to the fight for women’s rights, which has been intensifying in recent years in Chile and is achieving milestones in the wake of the protests that rocked the country in 2019.
Last Sunday, Roa attended the constitutional assembly’s first convention to begin creating the world’s first constitution to be drafted by an equal number of women and men. The historic moment is a direct result of the 2019 protests that challenged inequality in one of Latin America’s most socially conservative countries. ✂️
[Roa’s] membership in the body of 77 women and 78 men is emblematic of its makeup and the participatory spirit of the movement that started during the estallido (surge), as the protests are known, which in turn led to a referendum for a new magna carta, after the current one became a focus of the protests.
The results of the May elections for the assembly saw unprecedented outcomes, with delegates from the traditional ruling elite swept aside by political independents. Young progressives, Indigenous people and scientists campaigned successfully on diverse issues including gender, access to natural resources and environmental protection. The right-wing coalition backed by President Sebastián Piñera won just 37 seats, below the one-third it needs to block any radical changes.
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Good news for the environment
ECB to flex its financial muscle in climate change fight
From Reuters:
The European Central Bank will take greater account of climate change in its core policy decisions, in the latest move by one of the world's biggest central banks to curb carbon emissions.
Europe's most powerful financial authority made its announcement before the launch next week of a package of measures by the European Union, which is striving to lead the world in greening the economy.
ECB President Christine Lagarde, who has spoken passionately about the need for climate action and shared stages with green campaigners such as David Attenborough, has made it a priority to establish the bank's role in the field.
Setting out interventions that will make it substantially more forward-leaning on climate than the U.S. Federal Reserve, the ECB said on Thursday that climate change would be a factor in policy relating to disclosure of financial information, risk assessment, collateral and corporate sector asset purchases. ✂️
"Other central banks are going to be reading this and thinking hard about how they can show a similar commitment to greening monetary policy," Paul Diggle, deputy chief economist of Aberdeen Standard Investments, said.
I like this cartoon:
From Future Crunch:
The Yorkshire Dales landscape project that will be ‘a blueprint for restoration’
From Country Life [UK]:
An ‘alternative future’ for our uplands is being trialled at Wild Ingleborough, a new, 3,000-acre landscape restoration project in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, now under way, to capture carbon, reduce flooding, benefit wildlife and create woodland.
A collaboration between WWF, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Natural England, the University of Leeds, charity United Bank of Carbon and the Woodland Trust, the initiative hopes to replace bare, ‘lunar-like’ limestone pavement and intensively grazed pasture on land stretching from the River Ribble up to Ingleborough mountain (the second highest in the Dales and one of Yorkshire’s oft-trodden Three Peaks), with reconnected nature reserves and almost 100 acres of new native woodland within the next year — half through planting, half through natural regeneration.
It’s one of the first of such projects in England that hopes to reinstate the natural tree line, working closely with local landowners and farmers. Currently, only 4% of the Dales is covered in woodland, a lower proportion than any other national park.
Peatland, moorland and lichen heathland will be restored; plants such as juniper, bird’s-eye primrose, globeflower and the area’s nine species of fern should thrive; habitats will emerge for black grouse, red squirrels, cuckoos and curlews — at the moment, there are only two pairs of the latter in the area. Already, 3,000 native trees have been planted, including rowan, hawthorn and hazel, as well as hundreds of yards of drystone wall rebuilt.
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Good news in science
The First Flushable Pregnancy Test Is Here—and It's Completely Biodegradable
From Byrdie:
For obvious reasons, taking an at-home pregnancy test can be an overwhelming time—especially when taking into account how the outcome can alter her life forever. Outdated pregnancy detecting methods only increase the pressure.
Amongst some of the biggest complaints from people who need answers immediately are complicated instructions and unclear results. That, coupled with the worry of how to dispose of the test is enough to leave anyone flooded with emotion.
Unfortunately for the last 30 years, discretion has not been at the forefront of at-home pregnancy tests. On a mission to end privacy concerns and anxiety, LIA has created an ultra-thin design that not only fits into any purse or pocket, but is also completely flushable.
This non-traditional pregnancy test features the first (and only!) flushable design made with paper. This allows people to easily keep their experience private if they so choose.
While some may have hesitations about trusting a paper pregnancy test, the healthcare company reassures users that there is no need for concern. According to LIA, a special coating keeps the handmade test firm during use. However, once the test is disposed of in the toilet and submerged in water, the coating dissolves allowing it to soften and disintegrate. The USA-made pregnancy detector is also environmentally-friendly. Similar to 3-ply toilet paper once flushed, the test biodegrades in as little as 10 weeks.
Venom From Extremely Poisonous Caterpillar May Hold Healing Tonic That Saves Lives
From Good News Network:
The venom of [Doratifera vulnerans, common to large parts of Queensland’s south-east] shows promise for use in medicines and pest control, researchers say. ✂️
Dr [Andrew] Walker’s research found the caterpillar has venom toxins with a molecular structure similar to those produced by spiders, wasps, bees, and ants. The research also unlocked a source of bioactive peptides that may have uses in medicine, biotechnology or as scientific tools.
“We found that the venom is mostly peptides and shows stunning complexity, containing 151 different protein-based toxins from 59 different families,” [Walker said]. ✂️
Some peptides already produced in the laboratory as part of Dr Walker’s research showed very high potency, with potential to efficiently kill nematode parasites that are harmful to livestock, as well as disease-causing pathogens. ✂️
“… We need to work out what the individual toxins do, to inform us about how they might be used.”
Today’s cool science video
The tourist here is kind of an asshole, but if you can ignore that, you’ll enjoy this very cool demo of how draining water behaves in the northern hemisphere, the southern hemisphere, and directly on the equator. The flower is a nice touch.
Musical break
Inspired by the Coriolis Effect:
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Good news for and about animals
Brought to you by Rosy, Nora, and Rascal.
All three of my furry/feathered co-authors voted to include the first story.
Some Workers Are Choosing Their Pets Over Their Jobs as Offices Reopen, But Will Animal-Friendly Workplaces Catch On?
From Time:
Poll after poll has shown that [workers] are worried about how returning to the office will impact their furry companions, particularly after the COVID-19 crisis created a surge in pet adoptions and situations in which many people rarely left their pets’ side. In the summer of 2020, a survey of 3,000 pet owners found that 1 in 5 worried their pets would have separation anxiety. In the spring of 2021, as vaccinations augured a return to normal life, another survey found this fear shared by 69%.
What’s more, of 400 dog owners surveyed by the pet-product company Honest Paws, 67% said they would consider looking for a different job if their company no longer offered remote work; 78% said they would stay if they could bring their pets to work. That sentiment is widely shared among young people, according to a separate Banfield Pet Hospital survey of 1,500 pet owners, which found that nearly half of Gen Zers, ages 18 to 24, and a third of millennials, 25 to 40, said they would rather quit their jobs than be forced to leave their pets at home alone full time. ✂️
Now, companies are searching for solutions that make both workers and pets happy. In Banfield’s survey of 500 C-suite executives, half said they planned to start allowing pets in the workplace, joining major companies like Google, Amazon and Ben & Jerry’s, which have long touted their pet-friendly corporate spaces. At least 59% of the executives surveyed said they were implementing new pet-friendly policies because of employee requests.
Rosy chose this heart-warmer:
Man Gives His Terminally-Ill Dog One Last Walk Up Their Beloved Mountain in a Wheelbarrow
From Good News Network:
Ten-year-old Monty enjoyed exploring hills and walks all over Wales with his owner Carlos Fresco. … The pair have visited the Brecon Beacons many times over the years, and have even summited the three peaks. But after becoming aware the labradoodle wasn’t very well, Carlos decided to return to the beacons, staying with friends in Brecon, so they could share one last journey together.
Carlos and Monty travelled up to the peak of Pen y Fan—where many walkers stopped to say hello and meet Monty, who was helped to the top with the aid of a wheelbarrow.
Monty passed away on June 21 after an 18-month battle with leukaemia. ✂️
“He was truly a special boy,” Carlos said.
Nora chose this story. She’s miffed, however, that this animated 3D cat isn’t black. Hisssss!!
A giant 3D cat has taken over one of Tokyo's biggest billboards
From CNN:
A gigantic 3D cat has appeared on a billboard in Tokyo, where it looms playfully over one of the city's busiest railway stations.
Shown between advertisements, the hyper-realistic feline comes to life on a 1,664-square-foot curved LED screen in the Shinjuku district. The 4K-resolution display shows the cat walking around high above the Japanese capital as it audibly meows.
Rascal, whose ancestors came from Senegal, chose this story about an art history mystery featuring an expatriate cockatoo. It’s a long piece, so if the subject intrigues you, do click the link and read it all.
Where Did That Cockatoo Come From?
From The New Yorker:
When Heather Dalton, a British-born historian who lives in Melbourne, Australia, took a moment to examine [Andrea Mantegna’s “Madonna della Vittoria” in a reproduction in a book] ... Dalton noticed something that she well might have missed: perched on the pergola, directly above a gem-encrusted crucifix on a staff, was a slender white bird with a black beak, an alert expression, and an impressive greenish-yellow crest. Moreover, without the context of her own surroundings, Dalton might not have registered the bird’s incongruity. “If I hadn’t been in Australia, I wouldn’t have thought, That’s a bloody sulfur-crested cockatoo!” ... ✂️
Before Dalton put down the Mantegna book, she asked herself, “How did a bird from Australasia end up in a fifteenth-century Italian painting?” After researching the question for a decade, she published a paper in the journal Renaissance Studies, in 2014, about the cockatoo’s unlikely appearance. She argued that the bird’s presence on Mantegna’s canvas illuminated the sophistication of ancient trade routes between Australasia and the rest of the world, concluding that Mantegna’s cockatoo most likely originated in the southeastern reaches of the Indonesian archipelago—east of Bali, perhaps on Timor or Sulawesi. The revisionist force of Dalton’s work attracted attention from many news outlets, including the Guardian and Smithsonian.
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From the archives
Don’t Eat Before Reading This
The 1999 New Yorker article that turned Anthony Bourdain into Anthony Bourdain. Do yourself a favor and read it all. I’m giving you one paragraph to get you started.
From The New Yorker:
A year ago, my latest, doomed mission—a high-profile restaurant in the Times Square area—went out of business. The meat, fish, and produce purveyors got the news that they were going to take it in the neck for yet another ill-conceived enterprise. When customers called for reservations, they were informed by a prerecorded announcement that our doors had closed. Fresh from that experience, I began thinking about becoming a traitor to my profession.
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Hot lynx
www.washingtonpost.com/...The total health and climate consequences of the American food system cost three times as much as the food itself. “A new report provides a roadmap to creating a post-pandemic food system with greater fairness, fewer adverse climate impacts and better health outcomes.” This nails one of the issues I care about most, and it’s well worth reading.
www.takingti.me/… The Long Win, Resetting our Perspective on Success. A thoughtful and thought-provoking piece by a former Olympian. “In many cases across education, sport, business and politics, winning is defined in a temporary, short-term way that isn’t serving us well over the longer-term.”
www.technologyreview.com/… Why I’m a proud solutionist. ”To embrace both the reality of problems and the possibility of overcoming them, we should be fundamentally neither optimists nor pessimists, but solutionists.” And not always through technology.
www.vox.com/...Why do we buy what we buy? A sociologist on why people buy too many things.
www.nytimes.com/… Behind Zaila Avant-garde’s Win, a History of Struggle for Black Spellers. A history that is both inspiring and infuriating.
www.france24.com/...Black American chefs want credit for legacy of innovation. ”Black Americans have played a crucial role in shaping the nation's cuisine and yet they have rarely been given credit for their contributions -- some of which are considered among the country's most iconic dishes.”
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Wherever is herd…
A tip of the hat to 2thanks for creating this handy info sheet for all Gnusies new and old!
Morning Good News Roundups at 7 x 7: These Gnusies lead the herd at 7 a.m. ET, 7 days a week:
- The Monday GNR Newsroom (Jessiestaf, Killer300, and Bhu). With their five, we survive and thrive.
- Alternating Tuesdays: NotNowNotEver and arhpdx.
- Wednesdays: niftywriter.
- Thursdays: pucklady the 1st Thursday, Mokurai the 2nd, oldhippiedude the 3rd, MCUBernieFan the 4th, and Mokurai the 5th (when there is one).
- Fridays: chloris creator. Regular links to the White House Briefing Room.
- Saturdays: GoodNewsRoundup. Heart-stirring and soul-healing introduction and sometimes memes to succumb to.
- Sundays: 2thanks. A brief roundup of Roundups, a retrospective, a smorgasbord, a bulletin board, an oasis, a watering hole, a thunder of hooves, a wellness, a place for beginners to learn the rules of the veldt.
hpg posts Evening Shade diaries at 7:30 p.m. ET every day! After a long day, Gnusies meet in the evening shade and continue sharing Good News, good community, and good actions. In the words of NotNowNotEver: “hpg ably continues the tradition of Evening Shade.” Find Evening Shades here.
oldhippiedude posts Tweets of the Week on Sundays at 6:00 p.m. Central Time — New time! Our second evening Gnusie hangout zone! In search of a TOTW diary? Look here or here.
For more information about the Good News group, please see our detailed Welcoming comment, one of the first comments in our morning diaries.
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Closing music
This is a cut from Los Lobos’ newest album Native Sons, in which they perform the music of other Southern California artists. The song “Sail On, Sailor,” originally recorded by the Beach Boys, was released during 1973, the same year Los Lobos formed, and both have weathered the decades well. I chose it as today’s closing music because it’s about persistence in the face of danger and hardship. And also because it’s a super-catchy song!
❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
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! 💙❤️