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From the GNR Newsroom: Its the Monday Good News Roundup [1]

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Date: 2023-03-20

Its that time once again friends. Its the Monday Good News Roundup, where your devoted GNR Newsroom (Myself, Killer300 and Bhu) Get you the good news to start your week off right. Spring is right around the corner! And so is the Trump Indictment so it seems. It seems sometimes like neither one will come, but I think they are closer than we think!

But until then, pleas enjoy this weeks humble offerings.

The future of the four-day work week is looking brighter after the results of a major new study were released last month. Nearly 3,000 workers at over 60 organizations took part in the latest trial of reduced working time — and the findings surpassed most expectations. A large majority of workers reported significant improvements in their quality of life. And it wasn’t just employees who preferred the shorter working week: more than 90% of employers who participated opted to continue the arrangement.

Speaking of things right around the corner. Hopefully this works out for people.

The Michigan Senate approved a bill on Tuesday to repeal the state’s right-to-work law that allows employees in unionized jobs to opt out of membership and paying dues in a victory for organized labor, sending the bill to the state House. The bill, which narrowly passed along party lines in a 20-17 vote, would remove language from the state’s Employment Relations Commission Act that has allowed individuals at unionized workplaces to not be required to become a member of a union or pay any fees or dues to the union.

Work to right is a blight on this country, glad to see it take one on the chin for a change.

And now… you hear that in the distance? That distinct rumbling. A storm is coming, and with it, another GNR LIGHTNING ROUND!

Over diagnosing democratic decline

Insecticide regulations have worked says researchers

New idea for sucking up CO2 from air shows promise

The storm has passed, back to our normal Good News.

A federal court in Florida has denied an attempt to block an injunction issued against Governor Ron DeSantis' flagship "Stop WOKE Act" which prevents it from being implemented at universities. On Thursday, a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a request from the DeSantis administration to overturn a previous ruling which blocked the Individual Freedom Act, also known as the Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act, being used in higher education institutions.

Ugh this guy. Anything that sets him back is good news for me. We cannot let this cretin become president. He’s bad enough as a Governor.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.) this week signed landmark legislation to protect the state’s LGBTQ community. In the process, she and her allies sent a message about the kind of state they want Michigan to be ― and how they hope to fend off the agenda of the far right, both within Michigan’s borders and beyond. The new law amends the Elliott-Larsen Act, Michigan’s civil rights law, to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. In practical terms, that means everything from ensuring landlords can’t turn away LGBTQ renters to guaranteeing that employers can’t fire workers in same-sex marriages.

I always thought New York was the Anti Florida. But I guess this is alright. Good job Michigan.

In the nine months since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, pregnant patients in red states across the country have had their lives imperiled by abortion bans. Many post-Roe laws are actually harsher than their 19th-century counterparts, reflecting the anti-abortion movement’s conviction that exceptions for a patient’s life should be as vague and narrow as possible. As an inevitable consequence of these draconian laws, many doctors refuse to provide emergency abortions until an individual is actively dying—a sadly rational decision, given the lengthy prison sentences they will receive if they cannot persuade a jury that they made the right call. On Thursday, however, the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled that doctors and patients within its state lines would not face these awful choices: In a unanimous decision, the court declared that its state constitution protects abortion “where it is necessary to preserve her life or health,” blocking a ban that criminalized such procedures. It’s the first post-Roe decision of its kind, but it’s likely not the last. As more Americans suffer the near-lethal consequences of modern abortion bans, conservative state courts will have to decide whether the government can value the life of a fetus over that of a patient.

Nice to know there are some Republicans who still have a conscience. Or at least understand the war against abortions is a losing one. We will not go back.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has galvanized Ukrainian society in many unexpected ways, but perhaps one of the most remarkable is how it has advanced the rights of LGBTQ people. On Tuesday, in a move that would have been nearly unthinkable a year ago, a Ukrainian lawmaker introduced legislation in the country’s parliament that would give partnership rights to same-sex couples. This legislation, along with a prohibition against anti-LGBTQ hate speech abruptly adopted in December, reflects a sharp rejection of Russia’s effort to weaponize homophobia in support of its invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said repeatedly that he attacked Ukraine last year partly to protect “traditional values” against the West’s “false values” that are “contrary to human nature” — code for LGBTQ people. Perhaps he hoped this would rally conservative Ukrainians to Russia’s side — it’s a tactic Kremlin allies have tried repeatedly over the past decade. But this time, it instead appears to be convincing a growing number of Ukrainians to support equality and reject the values Putin espouses.

There’s no better way to say “Fuck you Putin” than to say Gay and Trans rights.

Late last Saturday in New York, exhausted negotiators reached a landmark agreement on protecting life on Earth: the high seas treaty, the second big environment deal in just three months after Cop15, the biodiversity summit in Montreal. The moment, nearly two decades in the making, overwhelmed the president of the conference, Rena Lee, who cried as she announced that a deal had been done. On paper at least, countries nearly have a complete strategy for action on the three planetary crises of our era: the climate emergency, biodiversity loss and pollution. Governments are still negotiating a UN agreement on plastics pollution, with another round of talks scheduled in Paris this year. But world leaders, business heads – all of us – know what we must do in the next decades to avoid disaster. More urgently than ever, governments must stick to their word, and get on with what they have pledged. Maintaining a livable planet for future generations is on the line, says the UN acting biodiversity chief, David Cooper, who voiced cautious optimism that momentum was building, while also noting not enough is being done.

So far so good, but we still need to do better. Lets keep it up.

But on Wednesday, after an almost decade-long campaign by environmental NGOs, Vjosa was declared the first wild river national park in Europe. Environmentalists described it as a historic decision that has placed the tiny Balkan nation at the forefront of river protection. Albania’s prime minister, Edi Rama, announced the park at a ceremony at Tepelena castle overlooking the river, attended by stakeholders and ministers. He described the creation of the national park as a “truly historic moment” for nature as well as social and economic development.

One of Europe’s last wild rivers is safe at last.

And on that note, we draw this weeks edition of the Monday GNR to a close. I hope you all have a good week, with the hope that Spring is right around the corner.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/20/2159190/-From-the-GNR-Newsroom-Its-the-Monday-Good-News-Roundup

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