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Good News Roundup for Wednesday, November 1, 2023 — Try to remain humane [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-11-01
So how do we reconcile this data with both reality, and the far happier data above? It’s not easy to reconcile it, which is why I think we need a big rethink in how understand the economy and our lives together. Things are better here in America than we understand, and we have to have the courage to say it, loudly, again and again. Together, we need to keep drowning out the voices of pessimism, the voices that keep talking down America. We need to be loud and proud, aggressive info warriors for our democracy, proud patriots and keep talking up America, Joe Biden and the Democratic Party. It’s how we win.
So only 22% know the economy is growing, 58% don’t know jobs are increasing, and 64% think the economy is fair/poor. Ugh.
Are the number of jobs in the United States…. Increasing 42%, staying the same 36%, decreasing 22% . Under Biden 14m new jobs have been created, and we’ve had the fastest job growth rate of any President since WWII.
How would you describe the current state of the American economy? Excellent/good 30%, fair/poor 64% . Strongest recovery in G7, fastest job growth perhaps ever, very strong GDP growth, inflation is way down, wage growth is very strong, deficit is way down from Trump…..
Do you think the economy is shrinking or growing? Growing 22%, staying the same 25%, shrinking 37%. The economy has grown at 3% on average under Biden, the highest for any President since Clinton.
But look at what happens when you ask questions about the overall economy:
So, not big angry, or dissatisfaction with life, work, income, and not an expectation that things will get worse next year. It’s consistent with this data I’ve been sharing in recent months showing that last year despite it all we had the highest job satisfaction ever recorded in one influential survey:
Do you consider yourself paid fairly or underpaid in your job? Paid fairly 56%, Underpaid 38%.
Do you think your family income will increase or decrease in 2024? Increase 45%, stay the same 41%, decrease 15%.
How happy would you say you are with your current job? Great deal/somewhat 80%, A little/not at all 19%.
Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the way things are going in your life today? Satisfied 64%, Dissatisfied 35%
[it’s] hard to reconcile all this encouraging data with the persistent doom and gloom about what continues to be one of the strongest economies in American history. In a recent post I wrote about the urgent need to rethink how we poll and talk about the economy. Check out this data I pulled from a recent YouGov/Economist poll (all results are from registered voters):
Simon Rosenberg always brings good news. If you don’t get his Hopium Chronicles every day in your inbox, go sign up now — it will do wonders for your sanity.
That is a trap. We must keep this in mind even as we witness the worst of what humanity has to offer
Times of crisis make it difficult to think clearly. They invite us to give in to our anger, hate, and fear. They lie to us that such a reaction makes the suffering of the world easier to bear.
This is the reply that safeguards against another common one, and which has appeared in recent days, which calls for genocide, or justifies terrorism, or unwittingly props up the same evils it protests.
We all have a duty to respond first with humaneness. Watching Israeli civilians being butchered by Hamas is painful. Seeing the suffering of Palestinians now caught in the military response is painful. It is normal and right for our hearts to reply with compassion to those entangled in this web of violence.
I’m opening with a quote from Emma Varvaloucas, who edits The Progress Network and always provides sane and compassionate commentary.
Good morning, Gnusies! As usual, despite all the horrors trumpeted by mainstream media, I’ve found lots of overlooked good news to share with you. So settle into a comfortable chair with your morning beverage of choice, and let’s get started.
🍿 Repellent Republicans Rushing toward Ruin 🍿
Beau nails what’s happened to the Republicans and why it’s time for anyone who isn’t in the MAGA cult to abandon them. He also has a great metaphor to explain why appeasing and “compromising” with the extremists doesn’t work: “You don’t turn a tiger into a vegetarian by continuing to feed it steak.” Do watch the whole thing — it’s spot on.
x YouTube Video
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Spurned by moderates and MAGA: How DeSantis’s coalition has deflated
We knew this would happen, but it’s nonetheless satisfying to see it. Republicans still can’t see that there’s no path to satisfying both moderates and MAGAs — an impossible situation for which they have no one to blame but themselves.
From The Washington Post (gift link):
Some moderate Republican voters here recoiled at ads that Ron DeSantis’s allies started running last month broadcastingthe Florida governor’s vows to use deadly force at the southern border. “I don’t like the fact that we’re going to start murdering people,” said Becki Kuhns, 71, who is eager for an alternative to Donald Trump and brought up the commercials unprompted. Down the road at a cigar bar in Nashua, where regulars talk politics and watch debates together, a different DeSantis problem came into focus: Trump supporters were unmoved by DeSantis’s pitch that he’d deliver the former president’s agenda more effectively. ✂️ DeSantis began the year widely viewed as the Republican with the best chance to build a winning coalition against the former president — the Trump alternative who could entice Trump critics yet was also in many ways a continuation of Trump’s “America First” platform. But DeSantis’s support has shrunk dramatically since then, eroding on both ends of the party spectrum, interviews with dozens of early state voters, as well as pollsters and strategists, show. ✂️ DeSantis’s average support in national polls of the GOP primary dropped from more than 30 percent in March to 24 percent in May, when he officially joined the race, to 14 percent today.
Kevin McCarthy gets MAGA primary challenger
Karma never sleeps.
From The Hill:
Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is getting a primary challenger in his reelection race for his House seat representing the state’s 20th congressional district. David Giglio, who previously lost a congressional bid for the state’s 13th District, is running as an “America First Republican” who will “fight alongside President Donald Trump in 2024 as he WAGES WAR against the corrupt uniparty,” according to Giglio’s campaign website. ✂️ Shortly after his removal as Speaker, McCarthy shot down reports that he would vacate his seat early, saying he planned to run for reelection. “I’m not resigning. I got a lot more work to do,” McCarthy told reporters.
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The media misbehaving
As Republicans embrace theocratic authoritarianism, the political media is tongue-tied
This piece nails the cowardice and wobbly moral compass of the MSM.
By Dan Froomkin in his Press Watch blog:
Corporate media seems to lack the vocabulary to accurately describe the modern Republican Party. The latest example, of course, is the election of a new Speaker of the House: Mike Johnson, an insurrectionist anti-gay right-wing extremist Trump proxy. Those words accurately describe the little-known congressman from Louisiana. In fact, they’re quite restrained. It would be even more accurate to call him a bigoted Christofascist member of the Trump cult willing to end democracy as we know it. Any of those descriptions, of course, are way too blunt for the dignified editors of our top newsrooms — all of whom believe in balance more than accuracy. But consider how poorly the words they choose describe the reality of the Republican Party and its current leadership. In their lead stories, Johnson’s political views were summed up with words like “staunch conservative,” (AP) “conservative hardliner” and “religious conservative” (New York Times), and “lesser-known conservative” (Washington Post). ✂️ Johnson, like the party he now represents, is an extremist and a reactionary. By calling him a conservative – a “staunch” one at that – the mainstream media coverage normalizes him. It even glamorizes him. Here are some terms that accurately describe Johnson and the modern Republican Party (in alphabetical order): Anti-democratic
Authoritarian
Bigoted
Christofascist
Cultish
Dictatorial
Fascist
Know-nothing
Misogynistic
Nationalist
Racist
Reactionary
Theocratic
Totalitarian
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Good news from my corner of the world
GOP senators’ challenge to walkout penalties lands before Oregon Supreme Court
I have a good feeling about this case. It’s based on the kind of absurd twisting of language that the Rs love to indulge in. And all seven of the justices were appointed by Democratic governors.
From Oregon Public Broadcasting:
The Oregon Supreme Court has accepted a legal challenge by five Republican senators who say they should be allowed to seek reelection despite walking away from the Legislature for six weeks this year. The decision, announced [October 24], means one of the more pressing legal questions in Oregon politics will be taken up by the state’s high court, rather than working its way through the appeals process. Impacted lawmakers – and those thinking of running for their seats – should have clarity before the March 12 deadline to file for office. At issue is the actual meaning of Ballot Measure 113, the popular 2022 proposal that created new consequences for lawmakers who accrue 10 or more unexcused absences during a legislative session. [The measure was approved by 68% of Oregon’s voters.] In news coverage, promotional materials and an official explanatory statement, the measure was touted as barring lawmakers who walk away to block legislative action from seeking reelection. That’s the meaning that state elections officials have chosen to adopt. In a rule issued earlier this year, Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade announced that 10 conservative senators who walked away from this year’s legislative session would be prohibited from seeking reelection. But five of those senators...have objected. In a legal challenge to Griffin-Valade’s ruling, they argue that the convoluted wording of the measure contained a loophole that went unnoticed last year. That wording, they believe, allows them to be reelected for one more term before penalties kick in.
Oregon's new bee-themed license plate celebrating pollinators set to debut
Hooray for pollinators and the people who fight for them!
From The Statesman Journal:
Marek Stanton created the artwork for the new custom Oregon pollinator license plate. A new license plate will soon be available to Oregonians, designed by a 16-year-old bee enthusiast. The plate, through Oregon State University's Extension Service, will be available Nov. 1 to purchase through the Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division of Oregon Department of Transportation. The artist, Marek Stanton, of Estacada, was tasked with designing the Pollinator Paradise plate over a year ago through OSU's Master Melittologist program, according to the OSU Extension's website. The final product shows a honeybee and a native bumble bee hovering over a field of red clover with a mountainous blue sky backdrop. The specialty plate has a $40 specialty surcharge when initially ordered, along with the regular title, registration and plate fees. To give back to OSU's research of pollinators like the honeybee and yellow-faced bumble bee, $35 of the surcharge will go toward the extension's Pollinator Health Lab and Honey Bee Lab programs. ✂️ Stanton is the youngest ever participant in the Master Melittologist program, which trains participants to become volunteers to identify the state's more than 600 bee species. He hopes to major in biology with an emphasis on entomology in college.
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Good news from around the nation
Three Young Activists Who Never Worked in an Auto Factory Helped Deliver Huge Win for the UAW
One of the lessons here is that widespread publicity works. I hope Democratic leaders are paying attention to that!
From MSN:
In hard-nosed negotiations, the United Auto Workers in recent weeks shocked Detroit automakers with public swipes at CEO pay, a renewed focus on the rank-and-file and a bold plan for sudden strikes. The aggressive strategy was driven by a band of young outsiders—who have never clocked in a day of work at an auto factory. The three 30-something labor activists were brought in by new UAW President Shawn Fain to remake the union into a more independent, media savvy and creative challenger to car companies. They included a communications specialist who helped craft campaigns for Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York labor attorney who once wrote on progressive labor issues and a former reporter who later would help win major concessions from the New York Times for the NewsGuild of New York. ✂️ Fain, a former electrician who made an unexpected ascent to the top role this spring, and his team deployed a pugnacious strategy that hit directly at criticism that the UAW has long been too chummy with carmakers. “I thought it was important to bring in people that weren’t ingrained in the system,” Fain told The Wall Street Journal in August. ✂️ New communications director Jonah Furman, 33, coordinated a publicity campaign to make Fain and coverage of the strike ubiquitous in the media. Fain shared details of the contract talks on weekly livestream updates, a tactic that stunned auto executives accustomed to behind-closed-doors discussions.
Huge growth in Black and Hispanic business ownership
From Simon Rosenberg’s Hopium Chronicles:
Look at this new data — huge growth in Black and Hispanic business ownership in recent years. So encouraging.
The latest data on crime from the FBI
🎩 to Future Crunch for these graphs. As FC says in their intro, “There are a lot of people with very large microphones still talking about the US crime wave. Somebody should probably show them the latest data from the FBI. Homicides in 2022 were down 6.1%, and the murder rate is now below 2020 levels. The violent crime rate fell by 1.7% last year, reaching it's lowest level since 2014.”
California’s newest law will make it easier to delete personal online data
This is a great idea that I hope takes hold around the country. If you want to read the full text of the bill, here it is.
From The Verge:
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Delete Act [on October 10], making it possible for Californians to either ask data brokers to delete their personal data or forbid them to sell or share it, with a single request. Right now, Californians have similar rights under a 2018 state law, but they had to ask each company individually, and that’s a tall order given the almost 500 data brokers operating in the state. The California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) must create a way for people to make this request by January 1st, 2026. The CPPA was established in 2020 by the California Privacy Rights Act. By August 1st, 2026, data brokers will have to check for and honor new requests every 45 days. After removing the data as requested, brokers can still gather data but will have to delete it at the same 45-day interval. However, since people in the state can make a persistent request to have their data deleted or kept private, they won’t be able to sell the data without permission. Starting January 2028, independent audits every three years will verify brokers’ compliance.
Philadelphia becomes safe haven for trans people seeking gender-affirming healthcare
This needs to happen in more cities with Democratic leadership.
From Pink News:
On [Tuesday October 17], mayor Jim Kenney signed an executive order at City Hall, giving anyone who goes to the state access to treatment. The executive order prohibits the local government from using any resources to assist states seeking to investigate or punish people for providing or receiving gender-affirming care in the Pennsylvanian city, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Ahead of signing executive order 4-23, Kenney said: “We won’t help those who seek to discriminate against trans people.” Sultan Shakir, the president and executive officer of the Mazzoni Center, a not-for-profit LGBTQ+ health care provider in Philadelphia, said patients visiting the centre want to be treated in a way that allows them to live their authentic lives. “Today’s executive order also sends a message that we respect and value our medical providers here in Philadelphia,” Shakir said. Other Democratic-led cities have adopted similar protections for trans people.
Bill banning 'gay/trans panic' defense advances in Michigan
Another legislative idea worth copying.
From Yahoo News:
Michigan is closer to outlawing the use of a person's sexuality or gender as an excuse for harming them. A bill banning the "gay panic" or "transgender panic" defense is advancing in the Legislature. Currently, a person accused of a crime can claim a victim's sexuality, gender expression, or gender contributed to the crime. This could include a suspect saying that they acted in self-defense after receiving unwanted advances from an LGBTQ+ person. House Bill 4718 states that knowing or discovering this about a person "is not a justification for using force against them and does not meet criteria necessary for the act to be considered voluntary manslaughter (as opposed to murder) or to raise a defense of insanity." This includes when a victim makes "an unwanted nonforcible romantic or sexual advance" toward the suspect. The House passed the bill along party lines earlier this week, with Democrats voting for it and Republicans voting against it. This bill now heads to the Senate.
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Good news from around the world
Decrease in wildlife crime: Malaysia's OBK operation nets 175 arrests and millions in seizures
This is definitely not sufficient, but it’s an important step in the right direction.
From New Straits Times:
In this year's nationwide operation codenamed Khazanah Integrated Operation (OBK) from January to September, authorities arrested 175 people, including poachers, and seized wildlife and items worth approximately RM40.28 million. ✂️ Last year, from January to September, [Federal police Internal Security and Public Order Department director Datuk Seri Hazani Ghazali] added that 206 cases led to the arrest of 243 individuals and the seizure of wildlife and forest products valued at RM85.9 million. "The Customs Department also confiscated RM50 million worth of elephant tusks at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. These seizures aim to raise awareness about ongoing poaching activities threatening endangered wildlife. Since the inception of OBK until September this year, 56 investigation papers were initiated, 53 cases were resolved, and three cases remain under investigation," Hazani explained during a post-OBK meeting press conference...✂️ The OBK, which has been conducted in several phases since September 2019, aims to combat activities such as encroachment, illegal logging, theft of national forest products, wildlife hunting, and other offences under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010. Hazani noted that eagles, parrots, elephant tusks, tigers, magpie bird stones, leopard cats, and forest products such as agarwood were among the wildlife seized during these operations.
One of Europe's most polluted cities wants to ban cars from its centre
Cheers to Milan — and to Stockholm and Paris!
From EuroNews:
Milan, one of Italy’s busiest cities, has proposed banning cars from its centre. ✂️ Milan is one of Europe’s most polluted cities. It has poor air quality due to the volume of fine particles, the pollutant which poses a risk to human health. The maximum level considered safe by the World Health Organisation (WHO) is a long-term average of no more than 5 μg/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre). Milan’s levels are almost four times the safe amount, at 19.7 μg/m3. As part of a push to tackle the dangerous emission levels, Milan’s authorities have proposed a ban on private traffic in the city centre. ...To enforce the ban, cameras will be installed along the Corso Venezia to record traffic and prevent entry to private cars.Residents with a garage, anyone accessing car parking, taxis and public transport are exempt from the ban. Those caught accessing the area unauthorised face a fine, though the mayor did not specify the sum. The move will make some of Milan’s busiest areas more pedestrian-friendly, including the elegant Fashion Quadrilatero where many of the city’s high-end boutiques are located. ✂️ Milan is not the first European city to consider a car ban. Earlier this month, Stockholm announced plans to block petrol and diesel cars from entering the city centre. The measure hopes to slash emissions and reduce pollution. The new rules will come into force on 31 December 2024. Paris is also hoping to eliminate private vehicles from its historic centre by early 2024 ahead of the Olympic Games. The move could see as many as 100,000 cars taken off the French capital’s roads daily.
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Photo of the week
This is hilarious.
Whatcha lookin’ at??
These whale watchers are too focused on where they think they should be looking to see the inquisitive whale that’s just popped up behind them!
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Good news in medicine
Breakthrough Research Sheds Light on Aggressive Breast Cancers in Black Women
Black Americans, especially Black women, have been routinely overlooked in medical research, so this is very good news.
From BOTWC [Because of Them We Can, a positive Black news site], published in The Skanner:
Researchers at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center are spearheading a pioneering study to unravel the biological underpinnings of aggressive breast cancers in Black women. Led by Dr. Harikrishna Nakshatri, a breast cancer researcher at the IU School of Medicine and a key researcher at the Vera Bradley Foundation Center for Breast Cancer Research at the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, the investigation holds promise for targeted treatments that could significantly reduce disparities in breast cancer outcomes among Black women. While breast cancer incidence is now considered lower among Black women, they face significantly poorer outcomes, often developing more aggressive triple-negative breast cancers at a younger age. ...Nakshatri’s lab has been dedicated to uncovering the influence of genetic ancestry on the biology of normal breast tissue and its implications for developing aggressive breast cancers. Women of African descent had more PZP cells in their normal breast tissue than women of Caucasian descent, according to a previous study under Nakshatri’s direction. Notably, PZP cell numbers increase when Caucasian women develop breast cancer, while they are naturally more abundant in Black women. Adding to this, Nakshatri and his team showed that PZP cells have a significant effect on how cancer cells behave and grow, especially when they interact with epithelial cells, which is where breast cancer usually starts. ...“When these PZP cells interact with epithelial cells, they trigger the production of a crucial protein called interleukin-6. This prompts distinct behavior in the epithelial cells and activates a signaling pathway known as STAT3,” Nakshatri explained. “This is what makes tumors originating from the epithelial cells more aggressive.” The findings have laid the foundation for an upcoming clinical trial led by Kathy Miller, MD, a prominent figure in oncology at IU School of Medicine.
Scientists discover how brain cells die in Alzheimer’s
This is a story from September, but it’s an important one that I don’t think has appeared here before.
From BBC:
It is the loss of brain cells, called neurons, that lead to the symptoms of Alzheimer's, including memory loss. And if you look inside the brains of people with the disease you'd see the build-up of abnormal proteins called amyloid and tau. But scientists have not been able to join the dots between these key traits of the disease. This is what the researchers - at the UK's Dementia Research Institute at University College London and KU Leuven in Belgium - now think is happening. They say abnormal amyloid starts to build up in the spaces between neurons, leading to brain inflammation, which the neurons do not like. This starts to change their internal chemistry. Tangles of tau appear and the brain cells start producing a specific molecule (it's called MEG3) that triggers death by necroptosis. Necroptosis is one of the methods our bodies normally use to purge unwanted cells as fresh ones are made. The brain cells survived when the team were able to block MEG3. "This is a very important and interesting finding," researcher Prof Bart De Strooper, from the UK's Dementia Research Institute, told the BBC. "For the first time we get a clue to how and why neurons die in Alzheimer's disease. There's been a lot of speculation for 30-40 years, but nobody has been able to pinpoint the mechanisms.” ✂️ Prof De Strooper says the discovery that blocking the MEG3 molecule can hold off brain cell death could lead to a "whole new line of drugs development". However, this will take years of research.
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Good news in science
This is the largest map of the human brain ever made
🎩 to Future Crunch for linking to this exciting research.
From Nature:
Researchers have created the largest atlas of human brain cells so far, revealing more than 3,000 cell types — many of which are new to science. The work, published in a package of 21 papers [on October 12] in Science, Science Advances and Science Translational Medicine, will aid the study of diseases, cognition and what makes us human, among other things, say the authors. … Researchers have previously mapped the human brain using techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging, but this is the first atlas of the whole human brain at the single-cell level, showing its intricate molecular interactions... The research is part of the US National Institutes of Health’s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative — Cell Census Network (BICCN), a collaboration between hundreds of scientists. The programme’s goals include cataloguing brain cell types across humans, non-human primates and mice to improve understanding of the cellular mechanisms behind poorly understood brain disorders. ✂️ Neurons — cells in the brain and nervous system that send and receive signals — varied widely in different parts of the brain, suggesting different functions and developmental histories. The mix of neurons and other cell types also differed across each region; some cells were only found in specific locations. The brainstem — a relatively under-studied structure connecting the brain to the spinal cord — harboured a particularly high number of neuron types, says study co-author Sten Linnarsson, a molecular systems biologist at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. “One of the big surprises here is how incredibly complex the brainstem is.” ✂️ Other studies drilled into the mechanisms of gene regulation and expression in different cells. ...Pinpointing the switches that activate or block gene expression in brain cells could be useful for diagnosing brain disorders and developing tailored treatments… ✂️ The researchers uncovered links between certain brain cell types and neuropsychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder, depression and schizophrenia. ...The next step for the BICCN team is to sequence more cells from all parts of the brain
Chicken Feathers Can Replace ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Renewable Hydrogen Fuel Cells, Lowering Cost
I love stories about discovering novel uses for everyday items. And they’re even better when they’re win-wins like this, transforming things that are hard to dispose of into things we desperately need.
From Good News Network:
Hydrogen fuel cells can generate both emissions-free energy and a portable fuel similar to diesel, but at the moment they are manufactured with so-called “forever chemicals” that are toxic in certain quantities and don’t biodegrade in any way. On the other hand, chicken is an invaluable part of the food supply but comes with 40 million metric tons annually of feathers that are incinerated as a waste product that produces CO2 and other problematic gases as well. This is where the team at ETH in collaboration with Nanyang Technological University in Singapore has come up with a brilliant solution of using the feathers instead of the chemicals, thereby sparing the environment on both ends in two different ways, and potentially lowering the cost of hydrogen adoption. ✂️ Fuel cells create hydrogen fuel by separating the hydrogen from the oxygen in water. At the heart of the fuel cell lies a semipermeable membrane that allows protons to pass through but leaves electrons behind to escape via an external circuit from the negatively charged anode to the positively charged cathode: thereby creating a current that can be harnessed for electricity. Chicken feathers are made up of 90% keratin, a protein in our hair and fingernails that [the researchers] converted to ultra-fine fibers called amyloid fibrils by breaking the feathers down in an environmentally friendly way. The fibrils can be used to make the membrane between the anode and cathode of the fuel cell three times cheaper than synthetic materials. But better still, this fibril membrane can also be used to create pure hydrogen (as in H without the 2 and the O) which doesn’t exist on Earth naturally but which can be used like diesel fuel to power heavy machinery like planes and trains.
Surgical robot can peel, puncture, and repair a quail egg
This is just mind-blowing.
From Future Crunch:
What you're looking at in the video below is a surgical robot, controlled by a human surgeon, delicately removing the outer shell of a raw quail egg while preserving the integrity of the egg's contents. The egg is then punctured and skilfully sealed up. Technology isn't something that exists outside of us. It is us. x YouTube Video
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Good news for the environment
EU bans microplastics added to consumer products
About time! C’mon FDA and EPA, we need to do the same!
From Deutsche Welle:
From the depths of ocean trenches to the peaks of the highest mountains, from our food and water to human blood and stool, there are few places microplastics have not been found. Indeed, the United Nations estimates there is more of it in our seas than there are stars in our galaxy. Spread through the air, water and soil, once microplastic is in the environment, it doesn't biodegrade and can't be removed, meaning it stays there for centuries, posing a threat to wildlife and ultimately making its way into the food chain and the human body. Microplastics are used as abrasive particles in toothpaste or exfoliants, or as binders that change the consistency of liquids. Currently an estimated 42,000 tons of these tiny pieces of plastic, intentionally added to products, are released in the EU annually. Yet their effect on human health remains unknown. "That's why it is so important to stop the stream of release into the environment," said Johanna Bernsel, spokesperson for the European Commission. ✂️ The new ban, which covers all synthetic polymer particles less than five millimeters that are organic, insoluble and resist degradation, will impact a vast array of products including cosmetics, detergents, glitter, fertilizers, plant protection items, toys, medicines, medical devices and artificial sport surfaces. Not affected are construction materials that contain microplastics but do not release them and products used at industrial sites. However, manufacturers will have to report their estimated microplastic emissions annually and will have to provide instructions on how to use and dispose of products to prevent microplastics escaping into the environment. The ban not only applies to products manufactured in the European Union but also to those imported from abroad.
Home countries of major rainforests agree to work together to save them
This is a crucial first step to saving what remains of the world’s most important rainforests. As the article notes, follow-up work is needed.
From Reuters:
Countries that are home to the world's three major rainforests agreed on Saturday to cooperate to overcome deforestation and safeguard biodiversity but fell short of a concrete alliance to protect the vital carbon sinks. The announcement came on the final day of the Congo Republic-hosted Three Basins summit, which brought together presidents, NGOs, technical experts, and finance sector officials to strengthen governance and preservation of the Amazon, the Congo basin, and forests in Southeast Asia. ✂️ "We've realised that joining forces is an absolute necessity, and we've recognised that the initiative to unite the three basins is part of an inevitable dynamic," said Republic of Congo environment minister Arlette Soudan Nonault. ✂️ On the sidelines, Congo Republic signed a roadmap for a forest partnership with the European Union that aims by 2030 to increase the amount of its protected, restored or sustainably managed forests, create more forest-related jobs, and curb the rate of forest loss. Environmental organisations said governments must go further than Saturday's agreement. "More efforts will be needed to enhance concrete collaboration between the three regions to foster real action to halt deforestation," the World Wildlife Fund said in a statement.
For Indian Farmers, Artificial Glaciers Are a High-Altitude Antidote to Drought
Paying attention to nature — like noticing the slow melting rate of stalagmites — can yield creative solutions to environmental problems.
From Reasons to Be Cheerful:
..in Ladakh, a remote valley sandwiched between the Greater Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges in Northern India, [farmers] prepare for the harvest of wheat, potatoes and barley in fields flanked by snowy peaks and glaciers. In the summer and autumn, these melt and provide much-needed water for drinking and irrigation downstream. But in the spring, when Ladakhi farmers sow their summer crops, many face an acute water shortage: the glaciers high above them are still frozen, and the region is a high-altitude desert that receives only about 11 centimeters of precipitation annually. ✂️ In 2013, Ladakhi educator and inventor Sonam Wangchuk came up with a surprising way to relieve this seasonal problem. He had noticed that ice stalagmites remained solid long after horizontal ice around them had melted. Was it possible that when frozen vertically, ice took longer to melt than when it lay flat on the ground? ... Wangchuk began experimenting with building ice into pyramids in winter to see how long they took to melt. Because they looked similar to the conical Buddhist stupas — shrines that contain relics of holy men and women, or even sacred mantras, ubiquitous across the Ladakhi landscape — they came to be called ice stupas. Their recognizable shape would, Wangchuk surmised, blend seamlessly with their surroundings and make people identify with them more easily. Ladakhi ice stupas Wangchuk and his team built a seven-meter-high structure, without using any electricity and with minimal labor. They piped water from a height of over 60 meters uphill, calculating that it would rise like a fountain an equal distance up from the ground when piped downstream. Sub-zero winter temperatures would do the rest. ...[Wangchuk] says, “We’d hoped the prototype would last till 1st May, but it did better than that!” It finally melted on May 18... [But the] farmers themselves were initially skeptical. ...“We thought, why not train people to build their own ice stupas in their villages?” says Wangchuk. In 2018, ...he spearheaded an annual ice stupa making contest in which teams from across Ladakh participated for cash awards ranging from US $2,500 to $6,000. Thus far, five statewide contests have each attracted around 15 teams, all vying to build the tallest ice stupa that stores the maximum amount of water. “This way, we’ve engaged with over 45 villages in the state,” Tiku says, “and trained over 500 stakeholders to build ice stupas and experience their benefits.”
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Good news for and about animals
Brought to you by Rosy, Nora, and Rascal.
Rock star Bret Michaels adopts hero stray dog also named Bret Michaels
Here’s a two-fer from Rosy in memory of Nora: dog saves kitten!
From The Washington Post (gift link):
Bret Michaels, the husky A rescue husky dog named Bret Michaels has been adopted by the human rock star Bret Michaels. Michaels, 60 — frontman of the glam rock band Poison — first heard the story of his namesake pup when the Nebraska Humane Society shared a Facebook post about the canine, whose blood was used to save a month-old kitten. ✂️ The kitten — who was later named Thorn, after Poison’s 1980′s hit power ballad “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” — was suffering from major blood loss, which caused him to develop anemia. To survive, he needed a blood transfusion. “Feline blood is very particular, as far as typing goes, and we didn’t have time to figure out what type the little guy was and find a suitable donor,” explained Alec Rose, a digital marketing manager at the shelter. “That process would have taken longer than he actually had.” Little Thorn wouldn’t have survived without the blood transfusion from the husky. The shelter’s vet came up with a backup plan called xenotransfusion, which involves transfusing blood from one species into another. In this case, it was...Bret Michaels to Thorn. The dog had recently undergone a full vet exam and bloodwork, and he was deemed a viable donor candidate. ...“It ended up working out really well. After 15 minutes, he was doing great,” [said Rose]. ✂️ Two days after sharing the [Facebook] post, the shelter received a private Facebook message from Bret Michaels’s official account, as well as a public comment. “Hi — Team Bret reaching out to you about this. What an absolutely amazing story!” the comment said. “We wrote you a private message as well — Bret would like to explore adopting Bret Michaels (the dog).” ...Then Michaels himself called Rose to hear more about husky Bret Michaels’s story. ✂️ ...it was “definitely meant to be,” Rose said, adding that Michaels told him that one of his three German shepherds died a few weeks ago. “So many things aligned for this to happen.”
A woman in Mexico City turned her apartment into a hospital for hummingbirds
Rascal chirps loud applause for this generous bird-lover!
x YouTube Video
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Art break
A Sculpture Gifted to Couple Who Gave [the Artist] Shelter During a Storm 68 Years Ago Sells for $100,000
Back to our theme of kindness — you never know where a simple act of kindness will lead.
From Good News Network:
Cat statue made by David Hockney in art school One rainy day in Bedfordshire, England, Peter Richards and his wife noticed a pair of lads shivering under the eaves of their country cottage after getting a soaking. Inviting them inside to dry off and have some tea, one of the two young men would eventually give Richards a ceramic sculpture of a black and white cat, which looked similar to their pet “Moggy” at the time, as a way of repaying the kindness from that day. Now, that child-life sculpture has sold for a small fortune, because its maker was none other than Sir David Hockney, the most celebrated English artist of the 20th century. David Hockney and his friend Norman Stevens from Bradford College of Art were hitchhiking to London to visit exhibitions at the time of the fateful encounter. Hockney went on to have a long-lasting friendship with the Richards.
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