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Good News Roundup for Tuesday, March 28, 2023 — "Once we start to act, hope is everywhere." [1]
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Date: 2023-03-28
Opening music
x YouTube Video
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Good news in politics
Kamala Harris Africa trip: Can US charm offensive woo continent from China?
The Biden administration is moving proactively to strengthen our ties to African nations, an urgent priority.
From BBC News:
First it was the US secretary of state who went on a trip to Africa, now it is the vice-president and later in the year the president himself is expected to come. This flurry of visits by top figures in the US administration reflects a growing awareness that the US needs to deepen its engagement with the continent. This all comes in the face of growing competition from other global powers, especially China and Russia. Vice-President Kamala Harris started her nine-day trip in Ghana on Sunday, where she was greeted by drummers and dancers at Kotoka International Airport. She will later go to Tanzania and Zambia. ✂️ Her trip, according to an official statement, is intended to "build on" December's US-Africa summit in Washington where President Joe Biden said the US was "all in on Africa's future". But it is that future, boosted by a youthful and growing population as well as the continent's immense natural resources, that have attracted a lot of other powerful nations vying for influence. While Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's recent visit to Ethiopia and Niger focused on these countries' security challenges, the vice-president's tour will take her to nations facing serious economic problems.
Biden administration tackles racial bias in home appraisals
This is a long-overdue policy initiative. And it’s appropriate that Kamala has been given the lead in rolling it out.
From CNN:
The White House on Wednesday announced new actions to counter racial and ethnic bias in home valuations. Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled a 21-point plan that seeks to help homeowners impacted by bias in the appraisal process during an event with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge and Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice. The plan was developed by a recently formed inter-agency task force called Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE). ✂️ President Joe Biden announced the formation of the PAVE task force last June as part of a series of initiatives that seeks to fix inequities in the US. The task force worked with independent appraisers, appraisal management companies, lenders, advocacy groups and philanthropic organizations to come up with the reforms. The plan includes enhancing oversight and accountability in the home appraisal industry, educating homeowners on steps to take when a valuation comes in lower than expected, insuring automatic valuations avoid bias in appraisal, boosting diversity in the appraiser workforce and expanding federal data to inform housing policy and research. ✂️ Home appraisals fall within the scope of fair housing and fair lending laws. More than 50 years after the passage of the Fair Housing Act, the racial homeownership gap is wider than ever. In 2021, for example, the Black homeownership rate was 44% while the White homeownership rate reached 74%, according to the Census Bureau. Homeownership is the primary contributor to multi-generational wealth building for Black and Brown households, according to research highlighted in the report.
Biden’s Billionaire Tax and Budget Proposals Enjoy Widespread Voter Support
Large majority of Americans support $60,000 minimum salary for public school teachers
x Last week, @SenSanders released the Pay Teachers Act, which would ensure that all public school teachers in the U.S. earn at least $60,000 per year.
We find that voters overwhelmingly agree with Sen. Sanders' proposal — including 67% of Republicans.
https://t.co/D49Fe3RUhJ pic.twitter.com/w5gmKlNIB0 — Data for Progress (@DataProgress) March 16, 2023
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🍿 Repellent Republicans Rushing toward Ruin 🍿
Trump makes suckers of House Republicans. Again.
A witty piece with lots of tasty schadenfreude. Needless to add, normalizing the payment of hush money to porn stars is unlikely to appeal to many voters.
By Dana Milbank in The Washington Post (this is a gift link):
In the race by MAGA World to circle the wagons around Donald Trump in the Stormy Daniels case, a special prize must go to those who not only attack those investigating the former president but also defend his behavior with the adult-film actress as totally and completely normal. “Settlements like this, whatever you think of them, are common both among famous people, celebrities and in corporate America,” one of our winners, Fox News’s Tucker Carlson, misinformed his viewers. “Paying people not to talk about things, hush money, is ordinary in modern America.” ✂️ It would never be just Carlson, of course. Elected Republican officials also collectively decided this week that it was in their interest to bring Trump back from the political dead. Once again, Trump used a fabrication to revive his flagging standing. And once again, congressional Republicans fell for it. Just a week ago, leading Republicans were daring to hope that Trump’s sway was ebbing, as Ron DeSantis and Mike Pence took him on directly. Then Trump changed all that with just one post on his social media site Saturday morning. He announced his expectation that he “WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY.” He wrote: “PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!” In reality, he wasn’t arrested Tuesday. Or Wednesday. Or the rest of the week. Maybe he’ll yet be indicted in New York, Georgia or Washington. Maybe he won’t. Regardless, he already notched a significant victory. House Republicans didn’t wait to see whether Trump was speaking the truth about his imminent arrest. They did as he commanded, leaping to his defense — and, in the process, returning him to his previous place of dominance atop the Republican Party. It’s all about Donald Trump — again.
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Good news from my corner of the world
Metro purchases a 92-acre natural area in Clackamas County
The more natural areas the better!
From KOIN:
Metro, the government agency for the greater Portland area, announced its purchase of a 92-acre property in Clackamas County that will give locals another natural area to explore once it’s restored. According to Metro, the new natural area was acquired using funding from a previous Parks and Nature Bond measure. In November 2019, Portland residents voted in favor of a $475 million bond measure that set out to preserve clean water, rehabilitate fish and wildlife habitats, and encourage more people to connect with the outdoors. Of that $475 million, $155 million were allocated for protecting and restoring land, while $92 million were allocated for local parks and nature projects. “This is a new focus area for Metro in the 2019 bond measure, and with this property as a meaningful starting point, additional conservation investment around it can create a large, regionally significant anchor for the conservation of priority habitat types and their associated species,” Conservation Program Director Dan Moeller wrote in a memorandum sent to Metro Council. ✂️ Program director Moeller added that the natural area’s size and habitat diversity are especially important since it’s on a side of town that doesn’t often receive funding for conservation.
Safe parking site for unhoused people coming to Portland’s Montavilla neighborhood
In the absence of appropriate housing, this will at least keep people who have to sleep in their vehicles safer than they’d be on the street. And it includes an array of services as well.
From The Oregonian:
A safe parking site that will allow unhoused people to sleep in their vehicles is slated to open in Portland’s Montavilla neighborhood this year. The site at 333 S.E. 82nd Ave., formerly an RV dealership, will allow passenger vehicles but not RVs. The outdoor shelter will provide on-site services 24 hours a day including showers, bathrooms, laundry, a shared kitchenette, trash pick-up and caseworkers who will connect people to housing opportunities, behavioral health care and other supportive resources. The parking site will be fenced with room for 30 vehicles and will only be available through reservations. The capacity will be around 35 people, allowing some vehicles spots for couples. The project is part of the shelter expansion led by the joint city-county Office of Homeless Services. Since 2020, the joint office has opened 17 new shelters including alternative models like tiny home villages and motel shelters. This site will be funded by the Metro Supportive Housing Services tax revenue. The site will be one of two similar alternative shelters planned along 82nd Avenue within less than a mile of each other. The second site, also a joint office project, will be located at 1818 S.E. 82nd Ave.
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Good news from around the nation
Good news you might have missed
Future Crunch is a great source of good news, and I’ve used several of their stories today. Their one-paragraph summaries like this one are especially helpful.
From Future Crunch (bolding mine):
Feeling negative about the United States? Michigan just passed a law protecting LGBTQ citizens, Minnesota has become the fourth state to provide free meals to all schoolchildren, Illinois has become the third state to enact mandatory paid leave, New Mexico has passed a law that prohibits life imprisonment for juvenile offenders, Arizona has pioneered an urban food forest that's become a model for climate action, and California just announced a program to cut the number of unsheltered people by 15% in the next two years. Oh, and all of those stories are from the last two weeks.
8th Circuit delivers climate blow to Big Oil
This is momentous news! And keep in mind that citizen activism played a major role in getting local governments to bring these suits against Big Oil. 🎩 to T Maysle for posting this in a comment on Saturday.
From E&E News:
Oil and gas companies on Thursday lost what may have been their best shot at creating disagreement between federal appeals courts — a key consideration for Supreme Court review — on a jurisdictional issue that has the potential to quash a broad set of climate challenges launched by local governments that want industry to pay up for the impacts of a warming planet. The finding from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Minnesota’s case belongs before state, rather than federal, judges is the sixth such ruling from courts across the country in nearly two dozen climate liability lawsuits. Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and other companies have attempted to remove the cases to federal court, where industry lawyers believe they are more likely to prevail. ✂️ Oil companies could be on the hook for hundreds of billions of dollars if they lose the climate liability cases. The 8th Circuit noted that allowing Minnesota to recover damages for injuries caused by climate change “may have the practical effect of impacting the energy companies’ ability to produce and sell fossil fuels, thereby affecting any federal interest that relies in part on the availability and affordability of energy.” But the court quoted a similar ruling from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to say that those types of arguments would be raised once the case is heard on the merits, not during a dispute about the proper venue for the lawsuit. The 8th Circuit also rejected the energy companies’ argument that the activity causing injury in the case is not the production of fossil fuels, “but rather the alleged ‘misinformation campaign’ carried out via false advertising and misrepresentations in Minnesota.” The decision by the three judges — all Trump appointees — comes as a blow to the fossil fuel industry, which had hoped the court would rule in its favor, creating a “circuit split,” or disagreement between appellate courts, that could help the oil industry attract the attention of the Supreme Court in its bid to dismiss the climate litigation.
‘Ending San Quentin’: plan would turn prison into ‘Norwegian style’ rehab center
I think it’s perfect that the first major trial of the Norwegian incarceration system will be taking place at such an iconic U.S. prison.
From The Guardian (🎩 to Future Crunch):
The California governor, Gavin Newsom, has announced a plan to transform the state’s oldest prison into a center for rehabilitation, education and training, modeled after Norwegian incarceration systems, which are much less restrictive than US facilities. Newsom told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday that his goal was “ending San Quentin [prison] as we know it” and working to “completely reimagine what prison means”. San Quentin, located on a peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area and established in 1852, houses nearly 4,000 people, including hundreds on its infamous death row, the largest in the US, which is on track to be dismantled. The Democratic governor said that by 2025, he plans to transition the massive penitentiary into a final stop of incarceration before individuals are released, with a focus on job training for trades, including plumbers, electricians or truck drivers, the LA Times reported. His recently released budget proposal includes $20m to start the effort. ✂️ Scandinavian models of incarceration that have garnered increasing attention from some US lawmakers are less focused on punishment and are meant to give imprisoned people support and a sense of normal life behind bars so that they are prepared to reintegrate into society. That can mean access to personal computers, televisions and showers, consistent classes and programming, fresh food, more freedom of movement and stronger connections with the outside world. “Do you want them coming back with humanity and some normalcy, or do you want them coming back more bitter and more beaten down?” Newsom told the LA Times.
Size discrimination may limit job prospects. New York City may ban it.
Bit by bit, we’re chipping away at long-standing prejudices.
From The Washington Post (this is a gift link):
The New York City Council is poised to pass legislation that would prohibit discrimination based on height and weight in the workplace, housing and public accommodations. The bill advanced through its final hearing in late February and is expected to go up for a vote in the coming weeks. State legislatures in New York, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Jersey could follow suit, with all four bodies currently considering similar policies. That would extend size-based discrimination protections to millions of Americans, marking a major shift in the country, where such protections currently only exist in two states, Michigan and Washington. The New York City bill, with 33 co-sponsors on a council that requires 26 yes votes to pass legislation, would add height and weight as protected classes under the city’s human rights law, alongside gender, race, age, national origin and more. Mayor Eric Adams has indicated support for the bill as well, said councilman and bill sponsor Shaun Abreu. The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, an advocacy group, backs it as well. “This was long overdue as a civil rights issue,” Abreu told The Post. “It’s super important that we treat everyone with the dignity and respect they deserve. At the end of the day, this is about job security, this is about housing security. If someone looks a certain way, if someone is of a different body size or has higher weight, who cares?” More than 40 percent of adults in the United States report experiencing weight stigma at some point in their lives, and studies show that its impacts could go far beyond self-esteem, like lower wages and fewer workplace opportunities. Women are particularly impacted, with some data stating that a woman’s hourly pay can drop by almost 2 percent for every one-unit increase in BMI.
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Good news from around the world
Netanyahu delays judicial overhaul plan, backtracking after unprecedented strikes and protests
Good news up to a point, but obviously this appalling plan needs to be taken off the table entirely. Also, Bibi’s smarmy statement is disgusting. I hope that politically this move will be “too little, too late” for him and that his governing coalition will fall apart.
From The Washington Post (this is a gift link):
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Monday that he would delay his government’s plan to overhaul Israel’s judiciary, an effort that has spurred months of mass protests and led to unprecedented nationwide strikes on Monday, including a shutdown of the international airport. “Out of national responsibility, from a desire to prevent the nation from being torn apart, I am calling to suspend the legislation,” said Netanyahu, adding that he reached the decision with the agreement of the majority of his coalition members.“When there is a possibility to prevent a civil war through negotiations, I will give a time-out for negotiations.” he said. The plan to remake the courts — which would give Netanyahu’s government greater power to handpick judges, including those presiding over Netanyahu’s corruption trial, in which he is charged in three cases and faces potential prison time — has pitted liberal and secular Jewish Israelis against more right-wing and religiously conservative citizens, along a fault line long in emerging. Here’s what to know Even diplomats abroad were set to join striking government workers Monday. Tens of thousands of protesters flooded Jerusalem.
One of Netanyahu’s far-right allies, Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, warned the prime minister by tweet not to “surrender to anarchy.”
The crowd of anti-Netanyahu demonstrators near his residence erupted in cheers on hearing that the court overhaul plan had been delayed.
The Slum-Inspired Apartment Complex Designed by Its Own Residents
This is a great example of a successful solution that’s truly grassroots, not top-down and “expert”-driven.
From Reasons to Be Cheerful:
Kampung Akuarium, a set of white apartment blocks on the waterfront of Indonesia’s capital Jakarta, looks much like you’d expect accommodation in a modern city to be: in its five-story towers, staircases connect corridors lined with doors on each level. But the building has some subtle design aspects that offer clues to its ulterior purpose. In front of each apartment door, there’s a two-foot deep space where residents can sell goods, and the sets of stairs are shallow, so inhabitants can see and talk between the “half floors” directly opposite them. “It’s made so that the residents can live in close proximity like they did previously,” says Amalia Nur Indah Sari, an architect for the Rujak Center for Urban Studies, a Jakarta-based nonprofit that supported the development of the apartments. In front of each apartment door, there’s a two-foot deep space where residents can sell goods. This so-called “collective housing” model, where residents actively participate in upgrading their communal living spaces in a way that respects their ways of life could be a blueprint for quickly-growing cities across the globe like Delhi, Lagos, Nairobi and Jakarta. More than one billion people now live in slums or informal settlements — one in eight of the world’s population — and an additional three billion will require adequate and affordable housing by 2030, underlining the need for a housing model that works. ✂️ “Professional experts aren’t the sole authority when it comes to finding the best solution to the community’s needs,” says Sari. “In fact, they aren’t even the most important. The residents know what is best for them.”
Italian mayor invites ousted US principal to Florence following Michelangelo 'David' statue controversy
Yes! Mille grazie, Signor Nardella!
From CNN:
The mayor of Florence has invited Hope Carrasquilla, the former principal of a Florida school embroiled in controversy over a sixth-grade lesson on Michelangelo's "David," to visit Italy after she was forced out of her job last week. Writing to Twitter on Sunday, politician Dario Nardella said he would "personally invite" the American educator to Florence, where the statue is located, to "give her recognition on behalf of the city," adding that "art is civilization and whoever teaches it deserves respect." The move comes after Carrasquilla resigned from her position at Tallahassee Classical School following complaints over a lesson that featured Michelangelo's famous nude sculpture of the biblical figure David. Although the former principal told a local media outlet that one parent had complained the lesson was "pornographic," the school insists she was reprimanded for failing to follow procedure — alongside other unspecified disagreements — and not because the 500-year-old statue itself was considered indecent.
A "globe-spanning surge of benevolence"
From the World Happiness Report (🎩 to Future Crunch):
There was a globe-spanning surge of benevolence in 2020 and especially in 2021. Data for 2022 show that prosocial acts remain about one-quarter more common than before the pandemic. ✂️ During 2022, benevolence grew sharply in Ukraine but fell in Russia. Despite the magnitude of suffering and damage in Ukraine, life evaluations in September 2022 remained higher than in the aftermath of the 2014 annexation, supported now by a stronger sense of common purpose, benevolence, and trust in Ukrainian leadership. ✂️ New data show that positive social connections and support in 2022 were twice as prevalent as loneliness in seven key countries spanning six global regions. They were also strongly tied to overall ratings of how satisfied people are with their relationships with other people. The importance of these positive social relations helps further to explain the resilience of life evaluations during times of crisis.
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Good news in medicine
A single injection of stem cells slashes risk of heart attack or stroke by 58%
The way this therapy works is hard to summarize, so do click the link for details.
From FreeThink:
A new stem cell therapy slashes the risk of heart attacks and strokes in people with heart failure, cutting the rate by more than half — a discovery that could give doctors an entirely new way to treat heart failure. “We’ve made an enormous step to be able to harness the real power of adult stem cells to treating the heart,” co-principal investigator Emerson Perin from the Texas Heart Institute told CNN. “This trial really is a signal of a new era.” ✂️ There’s no cure for heart failure. If the situation is dire, patients may be eligible for a heart transplant, but donor hearts are in short supply. Otherwise, medications, lifestyle changes, and surgery are used to slow its progression and alleviate symptoms. ✂️ “For the first time, we’ve discovered that stem cells can successfully treat the inflammation that causes heart failure,” Perin told the European Pharmaceutical Review.
World’s first mRNA vaccine against deadly plague bacteria is 100% effective
Good news now and the promise of more good news in the future, as mRNA-based vaccines are developed to target other bacterial diseases, especially the antibiotic-resistant ones.
From Interesting Engineering:
Researchers from Tel Aviv University and the Israel Institute for Biological Research developed the world's first messenger mRNA-based single-dose vaccine that is 100 percent effective against a lethal bacteria. Published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances, the study suggests that this paves the way for developing more vaccines for bacterial diseases, including diseases caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The study, conducted on mice, demonstrated that all vaccinated animals were fully protected against the bacteria that causes the plague. Caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, plague is not a thing of the past. Every year, cases are reported in Africa, some parts of Asia, South America, and the U.S. Known for killing millions in the Middle Ages, people get infected with the plague after coming into contact with a rodent flea or being bitten by one infected with the plague. Most mRNA vaccines being developed today are for viral infections, with pharmaceutical companies from all over the world rushing to address the need for a vaccine to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Not much work has been done on addressing mRNA-based vaccination against bacteria. ✂️ Most vaccines out there have a dead or weakened version of a bacteria or virus in them. The mRNA technology doesn't use actual bacteria or viruses.
Majority of trans adults are happier after transitioning, survey finds
I hope surveys like this one will begin to change the minds of people who think transitioning is dangerous or unnecessary.
From The Guardian:
A large majority of transgender adults say that transitioning has made them more satisfied with their life, according to a new survey. The survey conducted by the Washington Post and KFF, a nonprofit focusing on health issues, is the largest nongovernmental survey of transgender adults that uses random samplings. It asked more than 500 transgender adults questions around their childhood, family and other life experiences. The questionnaire found that a majority of transgender adults are happier after transitioning, with 78% of respondents noting that living as a gender outside the one assigned at birth has increased their satisfaction in life, reported the Washington Post. More than four out of 10 adults noted that they are “a lot more” satisfied. ✂️ While overall rates of life satisfaction among trans adults were lower than the general population, many survey participants said that was largely due to discrimination facing trans people.
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Good news in science
Northwest scientists unlock new insights into deep-sea thermal vents, fusion, ...and more
Some interesting local science news.
From Oregon Public Broadcasting:
NASA's Artemis astronauts will likely 3D print batteries on the Moon
Well, this is pretty mind-blowing.
From Interesting Engineering:
A team of researchers at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and Youngstown State University (YSU) are collaborating to develop 3D-printed batteries for future lunar astronauts. They have teamed up with NASA in a $2.5 million project aimed at creating a new method that will allow astronauts to develop batteries from their lunar bases, a press statement reveals. The new effort is a big step toward utilizing 3D printing technology on the moon for NASA's upcoming Artemis missions, which aim to establish a permanent colony on the lunar surface. ✂️ The new project is investigating the use of two 3D printing methods. One of these is called "material extrusion", where the required form is fully printed in the process. The other "vat photopolymerization”, or VPP, where a vat of liquid photopolymer resin is used to gradually construct an object layer by layer. NASA has also partnered with Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin to deploy a method that can 3D print solar panels on the moon. Those panels may be used to power its 3D-printed batteries, which likely won't be standard lithium-ion batteries used on Earth. Lithium isn't abundant on the Moon and Mars, so NASA is considering sodium-ion battery technology for its future lunar missions. To this end, the UTEP research team will be studying sodium-ion battery chemistry and possible printing solutions.
How does this daisy create 3D fake flies? Decades-long mystery solved
The more we learn about evolution, the more amazing it becomes.
From Interesting Engineering (BTW, this is a really cool website — I’ve used three of their stories today):
Male fly jiggling around fake female fly The only daisy that makes a three-dimensional fake female fly for enticing male flies into pollinating it is the Gorteria diffusa from South Africa. For decades, scientists have been enthralled by the mechanism underlying this impressive deception which is complete with realistic hairy lumps and white highlights. Now, researchers have discovered three sets of genes that are involved in creating the fake fly on the daisy's petals, according to a new study published in Current Biology on March 23. The biggest surprise, according to the researchers, is that each of the three sets of genes already serves different purposes within the plant. For example, one set regulates when flowers are produced, while the other two transfer iron around and create root hairs. ✂️ "This daisy didn't evolve a new 'make a fly' gene. Instead, it did something even cleverer - it brought together existing genes, which already do other things in different parts of the plant, to make a complicated spot on the petals that deceives male flies," said co-author Professor Beverley Glover in a press release, from the University of Cambridge's Department of Plant Sciences.
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Good news for the environment
After the dams: Restoring the Klamath River will take billions of native seeds
I love that the restoration of this land is being done by the indigenous tribes that live there.
From Oregon Public Broadcasting:
Resource Environmental Solutions, or RES, [is restoring] the banks of the Klamath River in the wake of dam removal. Late last year, PacifiCorp transferred ownership of four hydroelectric dams — three in Northern California, one in Southern Oregon — to the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, which is managing the dam removal. Drawdown of the reservoirs is scheduled to begin as early as next January. Iron Gate is a sinuous, skinny reservoir tucked into the folds of the Siskiyou Mountains. Draining it will expose about 900 acres of wet mud. “It’s our job to make sure it’s revegetated. We want that to be revegetated with a healthy native plant ecosystem,” says Joshua Chenoweth, senior riparian ecologist for the Yurok Tribe who is leading the replanting effort. Phase 1 is to check the march of exotic invasive plants. For the last two years, Chenoweth’s crew has been mowing a wide ribbon around the shoreline, carefully working around native plants like silver lupine. Last fall, they seeded the strip with a mix of native grasses and flowering plants. Now, they’re installing young shrubs and trees: buckbrush, serviceberry and Oregon ash, along with the Klamath plum. Collectively, these plants will create a “wall of green,” taking up space that would have otherwise been overrun by non-native plants… ✂️ The revegetation of the Klamath River has been called the largest river restoration project in American history. Collecting, propagating and growing enough seeds and plants to populate the reservoir footprints — approximately 2,200 acres in all — is a staggering task. RES launched the effort in 2019, recruiting and training crews from area tribes to collect seed and prepare the ground, and partnering with commercial nurseries to propagate plants and seeds. Their planting design includes 96 different species: culturally significant plants like yampah and lomatium, important pollinator species like milkweed, and tens of thousands of oak trees. In total, RES aims to plant 250,000 trees and shrubs and 40,000 to 60,000 pounds of seed — enough to plant the reservoirs twice. “We’re up to 13 billion seeds approximately,” says Gwen Santos, regulatory and ecology director for RES. “We’re trying to get to 17 [billion] to 19 billion.”
Plastic paving: Egyptian startup turns millions of bags into tiles
This is a big deal, considering that Egypt has been labeled the worst polluter in the Mediterranean region. It’s also a great example of one person creating major change.
From Reuters:
An Egyptian startup is aiming to turn more than 5 billion plastic bags into tiles tougher than cement as it tackles the twin problems of tonnes of waste entering the Mediterranean Sea and high levels of building sector emissions. "So far, we have recycled more than 5 million plastic bags, but this is just the beginning," TileGreen co-founder Khaled Raafat told Reuters. "We aim that by 2025, we will have recycled more than 5 billion plastic bags." At the company's factory, on the outskirts of Cairo, workers carry large barrels loaded with mixed plastic waste to be melted down and compressed. The resulting tiles are sold to real estate developers and contracting companies for use in outdoor paving.✂️ The North African country, which hosted the United Nations COP27 climate summit last November, has in recent years banned the use of single-use plastics in several provinces. x YouTube Video
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Good news for and about animals
Brought to you by Rosy, Nora, and Rascal.
Spain passes law against domestic animal abuse
Instead of individual stories about dogs, cats, and birds, my co-editors have chosen some good news about all the animals in Spain. And they hope that animal rights activists here in the U.S. can make similar progress.
This legislation doesn’t go far enough, since it excludes bullfighting and the treatment of farm animals. But it’s likely that more protections will come in the future.
From EuroNews:
Spanish lawmakers passed a law on animal welfare on Thursday, accompanied by a reform of the penal code which increases prison sentences for those mistreating animals. "It is a very important day because Parliament has definitively approved the first law on animal rights (since the restoration) of our democracy," Ione Belarra, Minister of Social Rights and leader of the radical left Podemos party said. The law "will put an end to the impunity of people mistreating animals" and it represents a "progress which corresponds to the sensitivity of our fellow citizens who want, for the most part, to protect" animals, she added. This law will require “compulsory” training for dog owners, who will also be prohibited from leaving them alone for more than 24 hours. It also makes the sterilisation of cats compulsory, except on farms, with animal rights associations stressing the importance of birth control in order to avoid abandonment. The reform of the penal code, which accompanies the law, increases the penalties for mistreatment which can land offenders with up to a year and a half in prison, if the animal requires veterinary care. This sentence increases to two years if the animal dies, or even three in the event of aggravating circumstances. Until now, the maximum penalty in case of death of the animal was 18 months in prison. ✂️ The law also reinforces supervision of pet breeders. Spain has granted the right to joint custody for pets since the beginning of 2020, who are now considered "living beings endowed with sensitivity" and no longer simply "things". Several European countries have already modified their civil codes to recognise the living and sensitive nature of animals.
Rare wolverine sighting recorded near Portland
This one’s for you, Wolvie!
From Oregon Public Broadcasting:
A wolverine spotted near Portland this week became the first of its kind seen in western Oregon in more than 30 years. Two people photographed the wolverine while they were fishing on the Columbia River Monday and shared the images with staff from Cascadia Wild and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. An ODFW team then confirmed the animal’s tracks in the area the next morning. “I could hardly believe my eyes,” state biologist Kaly Adkins said. “The thought of having a wolverine inhabiting the Cascades is something that we have definitely known is not out of the realm of possibility, but hasn’t really been documented since the 60s.” Until this week, just one wolverine had been seen in Oregon in the last 12 years, and that was in the Wallowa Mountains near the state’s eastern border. Adkins said the wolverine spied near Portland likely won’t stick around long. It was probably moving between higher and snowier habitats. “They need alpine areas with pretty dense snowpack,” she said. “They need that because that’s how they feed the kits, or the young, in the winter months. They actually cache food in snow banks. It kind of serves as a freezer so that they can pull out the leftovers and eat them in the months where life is really rugged.”
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Art break
From My Modern Met:
Artist Ard Gelinck has figured out time travel… sort of. Through his ongoing “then and now” series, he features current-day celebrities posing with their past selves. His masterful use of Photoshop makes the portraits look seamless. It's as if Gelinck discovered some sort of wormhole that allowed the two ages to stand side by side. Matching the tone, scale, and shadows, his patchwork of images feel cohesive as a single picture.
The ones of Michelle and Barack are my favorites:
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Hot lynx
www.yesmagazine.org/… Research Shows This Is How to Prevent School Shootings. An interesting and (unfortunately) very timely piece by two sociologists at the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
lithub.com/… Nefarious Intentions and Persecuted Victims: On the Rise of Conspiracy Theories. A fascinating deep dive into the formation of conspiracy theories and how to “spot the conspiracy effect in everyday life” from a professor of social psychology at the University of Cambridge.
www.theatlantic.com/… How Did America’s Weirdest, Most Freedom-Obsessed State Fall for an Authoritarian Governor? A keen and witty British eye on Florida’s profound strangeness and DeSantis’s ultimate failure to be a real “Florida Man.”
www.rferl.org/… 'How Did He Turn Into What He Is Now?' Former Putin Speechwriter Reflects. A fascinating interview with a man who has a deep understanding of Putin and Russia.
electrek.co/… A new study about seabirds and offshore wind turbines may surprise you. A scientific study that puts to rest one of the most common arguments against offshore wind farms. Good news for green energy!
mymodernmet.com/… This Rare Vintage Typewriter from the 1950s Lets You Type Sheet Music. This is definitely one of the coolest machines I’ve ever seen.
* * * * *
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:
Closing music This isn’t part of my hope and activism theme, it’s just a delightful mini-concert from a couple of very talented brothers. I love the vibe — reminiscent of Ennio Morricone’s western movie soundtracks. I hope you enjoy it! x YouTube Video
❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
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! 💙❤️
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