Hi, it’s arhpdx sitting in this Saturday morning. As you may already know, Goodie, our wonderful founder and bringer of Saturday inspiration and laughs, needs to take a break after posting here for 5 years straight. She hopes to be back soon after a well-deserved rest. I can’t fill her shoes, but I’ll do my best to start your Saturday with hope and humor.
Introduction
I don’t need to tell you that most headlines and commentary tend be negative and dispiriting. That’s why the Good News Roundup exists — to provide proper balance and show how much better things are than you may have been led to believe.
Swedish physician Hans Rosling spent his career showing people the actual statistics about various world problems, which turn out to be quite different from what we all assume. I highly recommend that you head over to Gapminder, the website he created, to discover how accurately (or inaccurately) you see the world. Here’s a sample question:
In low-income countries across the world, what share of girls went to school until at least age 11 (before the pandemic)?
- Around 20%
- Around 40%
- Around 60%
So what do you think the correct answer is? it’s around 60%. Surprising, isn’t it?
I loved niftywriter’s use of one of Goodie’s favorite formats for her Saturday roundup last week — a list of things to feel good about, backed up with facts from the news. So here’s mine. And I’m also copying Goodie’s custom of ending with an “On the Lighter Side” section.
So let’s dive into some ways that things have gotten better and promise to get better still, both here and around the world.
* * * * *
25 hopeful signs for the future
1. Although Biden’s popularity has taken a hit, his big plans remain very popular
New poll shows voters aren't buying GOP attacks on Biden's 'Build Back Better' plan (from The American Independent):
Data for Progress released polling on Tuesday showing that voters in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin support Biden's Build Back Better plan by at least a 15-point margin.
The data showed support for increased taxes on the wealthy and corporations, expanded caregiving infrastructure, investment to curb climate change, and a pathway to citizenship for children brought to the United States illegally as children and other undocumented immigrants working in the country.
A solid majority of Americans support Biden’s plans to crush COVID
Democrats' tax plan would cut bills for most Americans -congressional estimate (from Reuters):
When this news reaches more voters, it will definitely help Democratic candidates.
U.S. tax code changes sought by Democrats in the House of Representatives to help fund $3.5 trillion in domestic investments would cut annual tax bills for Americans earning less than $200,000 a year through 2025, a congressional estimate showed on Tuesday.
The bipartisan Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that expanded tax credits for children and earned income would mean people in lower-income brackets would pay far less in taxes in 2023 under the Democratic plan, which is being debated this week in the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.
2. Biden is proving that we can alleviate hunger and poverty with direct financial aid
This is a BFD. As voters begin to understand this, and as the Democratic party embraces similar progressive policies, we may be poised to achieve the Impossible Dream: Democratic administrations and majorities in both houses of Congress well into the future. Because Rethugs will never understand or endorse direct financial aid or tax reform that helps anyone but the super-rich.
Hunger rates plummet after two rounds of stimulus (from Politico):
The percentage of Americans struggling with hunger is now at its lowest level since the pandemic began, suggesting the recent flood in aid from Washington is making a significant difference to families struggling economically. ✂️
With all of this data, Washington is learning that if you give people money, they will feed their families.
America is substantially reducing poverty among children (from The Economist):
The Biden administration’s biggest success has not received enough attention
It seemed like a blustery overpromise when President Joe Biden pledged in July to oversee “the largest ever one-year decrease in child poverty in the history of the United States”. By the end of the year, however, he will probably turn out to have been correct. Recent modelling by scholars at Columbia University estimates that in July child poverty was 41% lower than normal.
3. Universal basic income is no longer a fringe idea
Another iteration of the item above.
California Program Giving $500 No-Strings-Attached Stipends Pays Off, Study Finds (from NPR):
A high-profile universal basic income experiment in Stockton, Calif., which gave [125] randomly selected residents $500 per month for two years with no strings attached, measurably improved participants' job prospects, financial stability and overall well-being, according to a newly released study of the program's first year.
Universal basic income seems to improve employment and well-being (from New Scientist):
The world’s most robust study of universal basic income has concluded that it boosts recipients’ mental and financial well-being, as well as modestly improving employment.
Finland ran a two-year universal basic income study in 2017 and 2018, during which the government gave 2000 unemployed people aged between 25 and 58 monthly payments with no strings attached. ✂️
When surveyed, people who received universal basic income instead of regular unemployment benefits reported better financial well-being, mental health and cognitive functioning, as well as higher levels of confidence in the future.
4. The GQP is falling apart: they’re stuck with a losing strategy, and now they’re turning on each other
The crazier they get, the more voters they’ll lose and the stronger we’ll get.
The Republicans just keep riding Trumpism to loss after loss (from The Palmer Report) — h/t to T Maysle for citing this in a comment on Wednesday:
Republicans keep relying on the Trump playbook, and they keep losing. That’s no surprise, given that the Trump playbook is such an idiotic joke, it cost Trump reelection. But the Republican Party remains convinced that making Trump-like moves is somehow magically going to turn things around. The longer they keep making this mistake, the better it’ll be for the Democrats.
Trump's House GOP enemies get boost from McCarthy's leadership team (from CNN):
The GOP leadership's effort to aid the campaigns of [h
alf of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for inciting the January 6 insurrection] has put them at odds with Trump while rankling some conservatives.
"McCarthy is talking out of one side of his mouth, saying that he supports the MAGA movement, Trump and President Trump's policies, but his money is supporting Jaime Herrera Beutler and four of the other impeachment voters," Joe Kent, a Trump-backed primary challenger to Herrera Beutler, told CNN. "It's just part of the GOP grift. So me and the rest of the base, we've kind of heard enough from them."
5. As GQP policies get more extreme and dangerous, we’re getting more energized
As Gnusie Edward Song commented on Wednesday “California tells us that the threat of a GOP dystopian world is galvanizing progressive voters.”
The GOP's strategy is galvanizing Democrats ahead of 2022 (from The Hill):
Democrats' win in Georgia during the 2020 general election, and subsequent runoff in 2021, was a blueprint on how to win Southern states with a progressive message and energetic turnout among communities of color. Winning one Senate seat in Georgia would have been a big deal for Democrats heading into a presidential election, but winning two Senate seats in Georgia would have been a bet that practically no Democrat would have taken this time last year; yet, here we are. Some of the credit for Republicans’ wipeout in Georgia certainly sits at the feet of former President Donald Trump and his mishandling of COVID-19. Changing demographics in the suburbs of Atlanta, coupled with Trump’s insistence that going to the polls was a wasted effort, undoubtedly played a role in Democrats' big win. But the most important takeaway for Democrats to implement around the country heading into the midterm elections is that year-round party infrastructure and organizing matters.
6. Rethug gaslighting and hypocrisy are increasingly unhinged and unlikely to convince voters
Anti-Newsom activists declare 'success' on Fox News after massive recall loss (from The American Independent):
On Wednesday, after the GOP effort to recall California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom officially came to an end in a resounding loss, Fox News hosted a roundtable of anti-Newsom activists who claimed they had achieved "success."
The recall results were not close. The vote against recalling Newsom received 64% of the vote and held a lead of over 2.5 million votes, with 70% of the vote counted.
7. A majority of Americans now support immigration reform
America’s biggest companies push for path to citizenship for ‘Dreamers’ (from CNBC):
- America’s biggest companies urged Congress on Wednesday to establish a permanent path to citizenship for “Dreamers” — undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children.
- The move comes as President Biden and Democrats in Congress look to immigration as one of their next major legislative priorities.
- Democrats on Feb. 18 unveiled a comprehensive immigration reform package backed by Biden that would provide a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants.
- The sweeping legislation faces an uphill battle in Congress, but the Dream Act could garner support as a stand-alone bipartisan bill.
Surprisingly, the Gallup poll info below was published on the website of the RW/Libertarian Cato Institute.
8. Women’s rights are increasingly being seen as vital
Just a few examples of a world-wide trend.
Birth Control Will Soon Be Free For Many People In France Until They're 25 (from NPR):
France will offer free birth control to all women up to age 25 starting next year, the health minister announced Thursday.
The measure will also include free medical visits about contraception, and will start Jan. 1, Health Minister Olivier Veran announced on France-2 television.
All contraceptive methods were already free for girls up to 18 years old, and that is being expanded to all women up to 25. Abortions in France are free for all women and girls.
Women in Pakistan finally brought into the financial system (from Future Crunch):
In Pakistan, an emergency cash program provided assistance to over 40% of the population, two-thirds of whom were women, bringing 10 million of them into the formal financial system for the first time (h/t to our friends at The Progress Network for this one).
Women are speaking up, even under the most repressive regimes:
Activists in Russia Push to Make Domestic Violence a Voting Issue (from The NY Times):
Alyona Popova … explained why domestic violence is at the center of her campaign for a seat in the Duma, Russia’s lower house of Parliament. ✂️
[She] implores women to turn against Vladimir Putin’s ruling party, United Russia, which has rolled back protections for women over the last several years. Leading up to this weekend’s election, she has presented the issue in urgent terms, and a proposal to make all acts of domestic violence subject to criminal penalties tops her campaign platform.
According to Ms. Popova’s analysis of data collected by Russia’s national statistics agency, there are more than 16.5 million victims of domestic violence every year. More than 12,200 women, or two thirds of those murdered in Russia between 2011 and 2019, were killed by their partners or relatives, according to one study.
And research is revealing the importance of women’s rights for a well-functioning society:
Why nations that fail women fail (from The Economist):
Researchers at Texas A&M and Brigham Young universities compiled a global index of pre-modern attitudes to women, including sexist family laws, unequal property rights, early marriage for girls, patrilocal marriage, polygamy, bride prices, son preference, violence against women and legal indulgence of it (for example, can a rapist escape punishment by marrying his victim?). It turned out to be highly correlated with violent instability in a country.
9. All forms of sexual violence against women are being taken more seriously
Most of us are less aware of FGM and “stealthing” than we are of rape, but they have serious impacts and are finally being addressed.
Banning FGM in Somalia (from Reuters):
Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region has taken a first step towards banning female genital mutilation (FGM) in a country where almost all women and girls are forced to undergo the internationally condemned practice.
California to Become First State to Ban Nonconsensual Condom Removal—or “Stealthing” (from Mother Jones):
California is on the cusp of becoming the first state to outlaw “stealthing,” the depressingly common practice of removing a condom during sex without verbal consent.
And the law is the result of an activist speaking up.
The Meaning of California’s Bill Against Nonconsensual Condom Removal (from The New Yorker):
Last week, the California legislature unanimously passed a bill making it illegal to nonconsensually remove a condom during sex, an act known slangily as “stealthing.” If the bill is signed into law, which Governor Gavin Newsom has until October 10th to do, the state will become the first in the U.S. to explicitly acknowledge stealthing as an illegal violation of consent. ... The bill, which was introduced by the assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, would amend the state’s civil code and allow victims to sue perpetrators for damages. ✂️
Garcia has credited her interest in addressing nonconsensual condom removal to a 2017 article written by the attorney Alexandra Brodsky, who was a third-year student at Yale Law School at the time. Brodsky’s paper, “ ‘Rape-Adjacent’: Imagining Legal Responses to Nonconsensual Condom Removal,” uses a combination of first-person interviews and legal analysis to make a case for stealthing as a transgression on par with other forms of sexual assault. It was published in the Columbia Journal of Gender & Law in the same year that Garcia introduced her first anti-stealthing bill. Uncommonly for a law-review article, it went modestly viral. “It will never stop surprising me that I wrote a term paper in law school, a bunch of people read it, and now there’s maybe going to be an actual law???” Brodsky tweeted last week.
10. LGBTQ acceptance is growing
LGBTQ acceptance grew globally over past four decades (from NBC News):
“One of the biggest misconceptions, even among people in the U.S., which has seen a notable amount of progress in LGBT acceptance, is the notion that attitudes have not changed or haven’t improved, but this report disputes that idea by showing us the opposite: Acceptance of LGBT people continues to grow globally,” Andrew Flores, a visiting scholar at the Williams Institute and the study’s lead author, told NBC News.
And more LGBTQ Americans are running for and winning public office. Here’s a headline from 2020:
‘Rainbow wave’ of LGBTQ candidates run and win in 2020 election (from The Conversation):
More LGBTQ candidates ran for office in the United States in 2020 than ever before – at least 1,006. That’s a 41% increase over the 2018 midterms, according to the LGBTQ Victory Fund. ✂️
Social acceptance of LGBTQ people is growing too, with over 70% of Americans saying transgender people should be protected from discrimination, according to polling by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, and a similar percentage supporting marriage equality. That has translated into ever more openly LGBTQ candidates running for office – and winning.
11. The kids are alright
There are so many examples of the ways young adults all over the world are working to make it better. Choosing careers that help the planet is one way.
For Gen Z, climate careers are the clear path to success (from The Optimist Daily):
Multiple surveys have found that overwhelming numbers of students and professionals under 25 are pursuing environmental-related degrees and careers.
This shift in career aspirations among the world’s youngest workers is a reflection of the heightened sense of climate awareness among Gen Z and even Gen Alpha.
More on young adults and jobs: The new disruptors: Gen Z and the future of work (from Fast Company):
If leaders thought millennials were changemakers, then they ain’t seen nothing yet, says this talent platform CEO.
Millennials were the first generation to disrupt traditional ways of working and introduce a more purposeful approach. … But for a generation — now the largest demographic in the workplace — that began entering the workforce in the early 21st century, hangovers from the previous era remained. While flexibility no doubt increased as technology accelerated throughout the 2010s, businesses’ cultures of presenteeism and profit persisted.
In 2021 however, it appears that approach is on its way out for good. Accelerated by the pandemic, a new era for work has begun.
The earliest members of Generation Z — born from 1995 onwards — began entering the labor force in around 2016. And like younger millennials, they demanded flexibility. They stepped into the office and questioned their relentless commutes, their suits and ties, their employers’ dedication to profit at any cost.
Unlike any cohort before them, this is a digital native generation and one whose formative years have been defined by the pandemic. And if these challenging two years have taught us anything, it should probably be that they were right. Traditional working models are no longer fit for the 21st century.
Even very young children are increasingly aware of the need to help others and want to take an active role. This story was highlighted yesterday on CBS Evening News:
Little girl has big idea to educate the world's forgotten children
[Paisley Elliot, a 9-year-old girl] from Texas will soon be packing for a special mission halfway around the world. Her goal is to change lives. ✂️
With help from some experienced adults, she plans to deliver do-it-yourself school desks made of 100% sustainable wood, interlocking pieces that can be transformed into a pop-up classroom. There's also a toolbox with pencils and learning kits made for hundreds of kids in a refugee camp.
What’s Good in the Hood
Some teens in Lawrence MA decided to fill the good news gap in their city. We Gnusies can relate!
And here’s a list of 10 Young People Who Changed the World (from Waterford):
1. Malala Yousafzai
2. Greta Thunberg
3. Jaylen Arnold, an anti-bullying activist
4. Marley Dias, founder of a campaign to collect and donate books that validate Black girls
5. Isra Hirsi, the daughter of U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar, created U.S. Youth Climate Strike to help youth get involved in the fight against climate change.
6. Sophie Cruz, immigration rights advocate, who first gained national attention when she gave Pope Francis a letter asking him to advocate for undocumented immigrants in the U.S.
7. Jasilyn Charger, co-founder of the International Indigenous Youth Council.
8. Jazz Jennings, LGBTQ advocate
9. Param Jaggi, a young inventor who created a device that can convert carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles into oxygen.
10. Abigail Lupi, founder of the CareGirlz organization, which matches nursing home residents with young volunteers who help them feel less lonely.
12. Police reform is beginning to happen at last
Justice Dept. unveils new rules on federal monitors overseeing local police reforms (from The Washington Post):
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday unveiled new rules governing federal monitors responsible for overseeing police reforms in local jurisdictions, including setting limits on the watchdogs’ tenure and budgets and requiring them to undergo more training.
Justice Department restricts use of chokeholds, no-knock entries by federal law enforcement (from CBS News):
The Justice Department said Tuesday it would be imposing strict limitations on when federal law enforcement officers can use chokeholds and "no-knock" entries, the latest in a series of steps undertaken by the Biden administration to bolster law enforcement accountability.
13. Unions are gaining support and strength
Nationwide Nabisco Strikes Demonstrate Growing Strength of the Labor Movement (from Truthout):
Confronted with management’s burdensome demands for contract concessions, Nabisco workers in Portland, Oregon, instigated a strike last month that has rapidly taken on national proportions. On August 10, around 200 members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers’ International Union (BCTGM) Local 364 walked off the job at the industrial bakery. Since then, the workforces of every Nabisco production and distribution facility in the country have followed suit, a coordinated action years in the making. The strikers have drawn on the radical energies of a recently resurgent labor movement in the United States — a momentous upswell in a key vector of working-class power.
Amazon hikes average U.S. starting pay to $18, hires for 125,000 jobs (from Reuters)
My take on this is that it’s pretty clearly a strategy not only to woo workers in a tight labor market but also to forestall further unionization attempts by Amazon workers, like the one in Bessemer AL earlier this year. In other words, management is taking unions seriously again.
Read more encouraging labor news here: Recent Union Organizing Wins (from the AFLCIO website).
14. Fewer Americans than ever are now in prison
We still have too many incarcerated people, and too many of them have been wrongly imprisoned, but this is amazing progress.
From Future Crunch:
Incarceration rates in the United States fell to a 24 year low in 2019 - and then plummeted again by 14% in 2020, to 1.8 million people. There are now half a million fewer people in prison in America compared to 13 years ago, thanks to largely unheralded changes in criminal laws, sentencing patterns and a decline in violent crimes.
15. Life is better for animals, thanks to new laws
Animal Law Update (from Animal Legal Defense Fund):
-
China Reclassifies Dogs from “Livestock” to “Companion Animals”
-
Spain Poised to Recognize Animal Sentience Within Civil Code, Clarifying Animals Are Not “Things”
-
New Arizona Law Distinguishes Companion Animals From Other Tenant Property
-
Islamabad High Court Holds that Animals Have Legal Rights
-
France to End Mink Farming, Use of Wild Animals in Traveling Circuses, and Captivity of Orcas and Dolphins in Marine Parks
-
Czech Republic Bans Cages for Hens
And much, much more! Click the link to read 9 pages of animal rights victories!
16. Science is making strides that were previously unimaginable
A couple of exciting examples:
The Greatest Technological Hurdle to Making Nuclear Fusion Possible – the Magnet – Surpassed All Expectations (from Good News Network):
The superconducting magnets which could be a key to powering an efficient nuclear fusion reactor were just turned on in the labs of an American firm.
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) generated an electrical field of 20 tesla—the most powerful ever created on Earth; 50,000 times-stronger than the magnetosphere—for five hours.
This gave scientists at CFS the confidence to say that a working prototype of their fusion reactor could be ready by 2025; a huge leap forward from a government paper that reckoned on a 2040 arrival time.
These bacteria clean up radioactive waste (from the National Science Foundation):
For decades, scientists suspected that bacteria known as Geobacter could clean up radioactive uranium waste, but it wasn't clear how the microbes did it. … Now, the U.S. National Science Foundation-funded team has the answer: Molecules called lipopolysaccharides coat the cell surface and soak up the uranium like a sponge. "This finding is significant in revealing the strategy for uranium detoxification and mineralization Geobacter sulfurreducens uses, and which may be applicable to other metals,” said Enriqueta Barrera, a program director in NSF's Division of Earth Sciences.
Published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, the results could create new ways to remediate dangerous pollution, and to recycle and reclaim increasingly scarce metals from electronic waste. The next step, Reguera said, is investigating whether Geobacter and its sponges can be encouraged to pull other toxic metals from waste streams.
17. Medical science is constantly breaking new ground
The most obvious example, of course, is the technology behind the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, which now promises breakthroughs in treating cancer. But there are countless other examples of new, more effective and less invasive treatments for a variety of illnesses.
Top 10 Medical Innovations For 2021 (from the Cleveland Clinic — click on the link to read explanations of each innovation):
- Gene Therapy for Hemoglobinopathies (like sickle cell anemia)
- Novel Drug for Primary-Progressive Multiple Sclerosis
- Smartphone-Connected Pacemaker Devices
- New Medication for Cystic Fibrosis
- Universal Hepatitis C Treatment
- Bubble CPAP for Increased Lung Function in Premature Babies
- Increased Access to Telemedicine through Novel Practice and Policy Changes
- Vacuum-Induced Uterine Tamponade Device for Postpartum Hemorrhage
- PARP Inhibitors for Prostate Cancer
- Immunologics for Migraine Prophylaxis
These are 7 of the most exciting breakthroughs in healthcare today (from World Economic Forum):
This list was compiled in 2019, but it points toward further advances.
1. Regrowing damaged body parts:
In the future, stem-cell technology might be able to help cartilage and other parts of the body to regrow. … Regenerative medicine is promoting the move towards 'cells as pills'. It refers to the branch of medicine that develops methods to regrow, repair or replace damaged or diseased cells, organs or tissues.
2. A pill that lets you know you have taken it:
A new pill has been created that contains a tiny sensor that records when it is taken – information transmitted to a patch worn by the patient and then sent on to a smartphone. Patients and doctors can ensure the medication is being taken as needed, an innovation already being used in the treatment of schizophrenia and other mental illnesses.
3. AI can detect skin cancer better than a doctor
4. Your phone will know if you’re depressed:
A Californian company says smart phones can diagnose mental health problems by analysing how people tap, scroll and click – behaviour that can predict range of cognitive traits and mood states. Phones can also deliver support to mental health patients via apps.
5. Helping the body’s immune system fight cancer:
Immunotherapy is the next big breakthrough in cancer treatment and, according to the report, “will become the cornerstone of oncology and, impressively, will likely apply to almost all types of cancers.”
6. Medicine that's tailored to fit:
“Precision” or “personalized” medicine – where treatments are tailored to consider the genetic and biological make-up, the environment and the lifestyle of each individual – will replace “one size fits all” therapies where the same amounts of the same drugs are prescribed for all patients. This is particularly promising in the treatment of cancers whose genetic makeup vary widely.
7. Fixing defective genes:
Genetic mutations are the cause of more than 10,000 diseases in humans – so techniques to correct faulty genetic information may be a way to tackle conditions previously considered incurable. … Phase 3 clinical trials now under way should help determine benefit/risk/cost ratios to hopefully move gene therapy towards clinical practice.
18. Low-tech solutions are also helping people and the planet
Water pump bikes (from Green Pedal, via Future Crunch):
Specially adapted bikes that create a manual water pump for farm irrigation, simply by pedaling. The water pump bikes provide permanent access to irrigation water helping low income families. The idea behind the water pump bike was to make getting water more efficient, so more time could be spent on the crops.
Green Pedal partners with the local community to construct the Water Pump Bikes. After construction, they then install the water pump bike for beneficiary families in Sofala’s Chibabava & Buzi districts where poverty, food insecurity and hunger are at the most staggering in Mozambique. Families can than irrigate their fields throughout the year helping them grow food for their own consumption and source of income.
Malawi Inventor Lights Up His Whole Village Basically for Free–Starting With a Bicycle and a River (from
Good News Network):
“To invent,” Thomas Edison said, “you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.”
Colrerd Nkosi had all the junk he needed—and the will to bring electricity to his small village in Malawi … Using a repurposed corn-shelling machine motor and a fast-moving river, Nkosi created an electric turbine that’s now lighting up homes for him and his neighbors for free in the town of Mzimba.
...In the beginning, he put a bicycle in the river and brainstormed about how the current moved the pedals, and how it might be turned into power. Then, he used an old refrigerator compressor that converted power for 6 homes. His neighbors were clamoring, so he continued to upgrade.
According to the self-taught inventor, his latest turbine has the potential to produce enough power to provide electricity to 1,000 homes and says another turbine can be installed downstream to expand the grid. The hydro power has the added benefit of lessening deforestation by negating the necessity for locals to cut down trees in order to obtain charcoal.
Bed nets to prevent malaria
Here’s a solution to a major problem that combines high tech
and low tech (from
Future Crunch):
Last year Benin, where malaria is the leading cause of death, created a new, digitized system for bed nets, distributing 7.6 million across the country in just 20 days.
19. We’re chipping away at longstanding ignorant beliefs
In the midst of fighting a seemingly endless battle against anti-vaxxers, it’s encouraging to know that progress has been made in changing some other long-held beliefs. Education is key.
Evolution now accepted by majority of Americans (From Michigan News, University of Michigan):
“From 1985 to 2010, there was a statistical dead heat between acceptance and rejection of evolution,” said lead researcher Jon D. Miller of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. “But acceptance then surged, becoming the majority position in 2016.”
Examining data over 35 years, the study consistently identified aspects of education—civic science literacy, taking college courses in science and having a college degree—as the strongest factors leading to the acceptance of evolution.
...“It’s hard to earn a college degree without acquiring at least a little respect for the success of science.”
20. We’re succeeding in forcing change through community organizing
There are so many stories illustrating this. Here are a few:
The Ban on Chlorpyrifos and the Power of Community Organizing (from Civil Eats):
Two weeks ago, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made history when it announced it was banning the use of chlorpyrifos, a neurotoxic chemical, and one of the most commonly-used pesticides in the U.S. But this victory didn’t arrive out of the blue; it was the result of decades of organizing, legal action, and advocacy. ✂️
Scientific research has been documenting the harms of chlorpyrifos for decades. Yet it was the lived experience, community expertise, and community organizing of farmworkers and their families that galvanized momentum at the local, regional, and state levels that led to the federal chlorpyrifos ban.
Locals Are ‘Interrupting Violence’ in Minneapolis – One Lawn Chair at a Time (from Good News Network):
As city officials wrangle under the pressure to reduce urban violence and deal with demands from police unions, homeowners’ associations, and gun lobbyists, residents in some of the most violent neighborhoods in the country have opted instead to pull up a chair, and have a sit down.
One such movement has been the 21 Days of Peace event in Minneapolis, a place which, even before the death of George Floyd, sometimes saw 11 homicides a month.
Here, community and church congregation members are simply seating themselves in lawn chairs on street corners in the most dangerous neighborhoods, and acting as “violence interrupters”—and police statistics show it’s working. ✂️
“The people sitting on these corners in their chairs are members of the community. We know our young people, and they know us.” ✂️
Similar movements of violence interruption have broken out with success in Nashville, where the groups Gideon’s Army and West Nashville Dream Center are working through community outreach to rebuild trust and using successful de-escalation to decrease crime by 40%, while arrests plummeted.
Chubb exits from covering tar sands projects (from Insurance Business Canada, via Future Crunch):
In the face of harsh criticism from environmental advocates, Chubb has confirmed that it has pulled out of insuring tar sands pipelines.
A spokesperson for the company recently told a Financial Times reporter that it does not “provide insurance coverage for any tar sands projects.” The statement comes right after citizen groups erected a 15-foot inflatable of Chubb CEO Evan Greenberg during the week of the US Tennis Open, which Chubb is a sponsor of. The citizen groups – which include Rise and Resist, as well as New York Communities for Change – called attention to Greenberg’s hypocrisy when he said he cares about climate change, yet Chubb continued to insure coal mines and oil pipelines.
Chubb’s confirmation that it no longer insures tar sands projects has been taken as a sign that it has dropped coverage for the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline – a move that environmental groups and other environmentally-conscious stakeholders have met with praise.
21. Innovative solutions are helping to fight climate change
Man-made cloudy skies may be the climate change solution we need (from Optimist Daily):
A team based from the University of Washington, the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), and the Pacific Northwest National Library are developing a climate solution inspired by an unexpected source: toxic emissions generated by ships traveling across the ocean. These bright white clouds that ships create produce a cooling effect through naturally occurring processes in the atmosphere. ✂️
The researchers are now working on methods to achieve this cooling effect without the greenhouse gases and pollutants that ships release. The researchers are now working on methods to achieve this cooling effect without the greenhouse gases and pollutants that ships release...
For peat’s sake: the race is on to save Britain’s disappearing moorland bogs (from The Guardian):
It may sound like the least sexy conservation scheme on earth but bog restoration is in vogue thanks to our increasing understanding of its huge environmental benefits, including large-scale carbon capture and desperately needed flood prevention. ✂️
Research by Dr Emma Shuttleworth and her colleagues at the University of Manchester found that restoring peatland in one area reduced the peak volume of water flowing off the moorland by 57% and made it three times slower. But this is not just about flooding – peat is one of the world’s most effective forms of natural carbon capture. It is estimated the Yorkshire Peat Partnership has already saved 48m tonnes of carbon from being released into the atmosphere through peat degradation.
If Left to Regrow, Brazil’s Atlantic Forest Could Recover Faster and Store More Carbon Cheaper Than Tree Planting (from Good News Network):
Naturally regenerated forests are much better ways of achieving climate targets than mass planting, and Brazil could achieve 150% more reforestation if the forests are left to their own schemes.
Home to a wealth of biodiversity that includes ocelots and golden lion tamarins, the Atlantic Forest biome is recognized as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and a Brazilian Natural Heritage site. ✂️
A report from Forest News finds that Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, the oft-ignored, great forest habitat in the country is a perfect site for natural reforestation.
Free public transportation in Barcelona for non-drivers (from Future Crunch):
Barcelona is giving citizens free, unlimited public transport for three years when they give up their private vehicles. Since the program began in 2017, more than 12,000 ‘T-green tickets’ have been awarded, reducing the city’s traffic by 10,613 cars and 1,735 motorcycles.
22. Indigenous tribes are fighting successfully for the environment
One example of many:
Indigenous Resistors Are Staving off Tons of Fossil-Fuel Emissions (from Mother Jones):
A recent report by Indigenous Environmental Network, or IEN, and Oil Change International, or OCI, found that Indigenous-led resistance to 21 fossil fuel projects in the US and Canada over the past decade has stopped or delayed an amount of greenhouse gas pollution equivalent to at least one-quarter of annual US and Canadian emissions.
This is despite an onslaught of attacks against Indigenous activists over the past few years.✂️
In the face of criminalization and demonization of those fighting to move beyond fossil fuel use, Indigenous resistance can show us a way out, says Dallas Goldtooth, an organizer with IEN...
23. Conservation efforts are working — animals are coming back from the brink of extinction
9 Iconic Animals Brought Back From the Brink (from Treehugger):
Certain species once considered at risk of extinction are actually recovering thanks to conservation efforts. Inspired by those success stories, Wildlife Conservation Society scientists in the Global Conservation Program put together a list of nine wildlife species that have seen a roaring resurgence in their native habitats. Impressively, some of these species have been able to bounce back from the brink of existence in only a few decades; they're proof that in the world of wildlife, it's not all gloom and doom.
24. Regenerative agriculture is gaining ground (pun intended)
The American farmers who are ploughing a regenerative new furrow (from Reuters):
...food companies like General Mills and Danone are encouraging US farmers to shift to practices that make agriculture more resilient and productive.
...These farmers represent the future of sustainable agriculture in the US, according to a growing number of food producers, companies, scientists, academics, conservation organisations and government bodies. They have all voiced support for a shift to farming practices that make American agriculture more productive and resilient while also helping to mitigate – possibly even reverse – climate change by drawing down CO2 from the atmosphere and improving the water cycle.
And some smaller producers are adopting regenerative practices on their own:
The Nation’s First Regenerative Dairy Works with Nature to Heal the Soil—at Scale (from Civil Eats):
At a time when large dairy companies ranging from Danone to General Mills and Stonyfield Organic are investing in regenerative practices for their farmers in hopes of reducing their industry’s sizable carbon footprint, [Alexandre Family Farm in Crescent City, CA] is among a small number of dairies that have embraced regenerative agriculture, boosting soil health and biodiversity, without access to corporate support.
25. We are proving we have the power to create the change we want.
When we work to GOTV, when we join with our neighbors to solve local problems, when we call or write our elected representatives, when we march and speak out against injustice, when we run for local office, or take any other positive actions, we are moving our communities and our nation further toward a better future.
Here’s Goodie’s very useful list of actions we can take:
Most important: DON'T LOSE HOPE. This is a giant and important fight for us but, win or lose, we keep fighting and voting and organizing and spreading truth and light. We never give up.
* * * * *
On the lighter side
I have a folder on my computer where I stash funny photos, cartoons, memes, and videos. Here’s a selection I hope you enjoy, starting with my candidate for the greatest ad of all time.
I have this one pinned up above my messy desk:
* * * * *
Let’s close with a song about using our power to change the world:
❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
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! 💙❤️