Greetings, Gnusies!
Our 2nd BIRTHDAY is tomorrow!!
May 17th has been declared the official birthday of the Good News Roundup, and we’ve been celebrating our 2nd birthday since Sunday! So for today’s celebration, I made a word cloud card for us:
Happy birthday to us!!
For as long as we need to and want to, we’ll continue to gather here to support and cheer each other as we meet two historic challenges: eradicating an illegitimate president and the party that has enabled him, and doing the hard but exciting work of restoring and strengthening our democracy. But today, let’s put some of our focus on celebrating!
Obligatory pet photo:
(My little Senegal parrot Rascal asked to join in the celebration. He promises not to eat all the cake.)
Special birthday love to Goodie!!
If it hadn’t been for Goodie, we wouldn’t have our wonderful GNR community to come to for support, inspiration, laughs, and comfort. So special thanks to the original one-and-only GoodNewsRoundup, our founder, mayor, and still the most inspiring voice we have. There really are no words to thank you enough, Goodie.
❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
CAKE!!
What’s a birthday without cake?!?! You still have a day before our official birthday, so bake one! And in the true Gnu spirit, share your cake with family, friends, neighbors, even strangers. Here’s an easy-peasy recipe from my favorite pastry guru, Alice Medrich. The key to success here is to use natural cocoa powder, not “Dutch process” – fortunately, the most commonly available brand, Hershey’s, is the correct kind.
Fastest Fudge Cake
Makes one 8-inch or 9-inch round cake [or a 9-inch square cake or 12 cupcakes]
Alice’s Introduction:
“I get the best results stirring this batter with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. This cake is delicious on its own but even better topped with ganache.”
Ingredients
- 4-1/2 oz. (1 cup) all-purpose flour
- 1 oz. (1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) unsweetened natural cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. table salt
- 4 oz. (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and warm
- 1-1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 1 cup warm Ganache [see below]
Preparation
- Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat the oven to 350 F. Butter and flour the bottom of an 8×2- or 9×2-inch round cake pan or line it with parchment.
- In a small bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Sift only if the cocoa remains lumpy after whisking. In a large bowl, combine the melted butter and brown sugar with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Add the eggs and vanilla; stir until well blended. Add the flour mixture all at once and stir just until all the flour is moistened. Pour the hot water over the batter; stir just until it’s incorporated and the batter is smooth. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes for a 9-inch pan, 35 to 40 minutes for an 8-inch pan. [A 9-inch square pan will take 20-25 minutes, cupcakes wil take 18-22 minutes.] Let cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Run a thin knife around the edge and invert the cake (peel off the parchment if you used that). Invert it again onto the rack and let cool completely.
- Once cool, set the rack over a baking sheet or foil. Pour the warm ganache over the cake and use an icing spatula to spread it over the top of the cake and down the sides. Let set for about an hour before serving.
Ganache:
Yield: Yields 1-1/2 cups.
You’ll have a bit of this ganache left over after icing the Fudge Cake; use it as a sauce for ice cream or another dessert. [Or just eat it with a spoon!]
Ingredients
- 8 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream; more as needed
- Granulated sugar (optional)
Preparation
- Put the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and whisk gently until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. (If using a 70% bittersweet chocolate, the ganche might be a bit thick; add more cream, a tablespoon at a time, to thin it. You might also want to add a couple of teaspoons of sugar when you add the hot cream.
Make Ahead Tips
Ganache will keep for a week in the refrigerator, covered. Rewarm gently before using.
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For this morning’s musical offering, I want to welcome each and every one of you with this cheery, goofy song from the one-and-only Woody Guthrie:
“I feel glad when you feel good...”
I think that’s an excellent way to describe our vibe around here, as well as the larger goals we Progressives strive for. We care about each other, we care for each other, we make sacrifices for each other, we work together to try to make good things happen for everyone, not just for ourselves. And we welcome everyone who’s willing to stand with us. So “Howdjadoo!”
How I got here
Karij’s story yesterday of how she joined our community of Gnusies has inspired me to share my own story. After reading Daily Kos for a few years – mostly “Cheers and Jeers”– I joined in January 2016 so I could write a diary about the occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge by the Bundys and their mouth-breathing followers. (Remember them?? My favorite name for them was “Yokel Haram,” though I also liked “Y’All Qaida”). After that, I started reading Daily Kos more regularly. After the body blow of the 2016 election, I kept reading, searching for hope. Like many of you, I got a big boost in January 2017, marching with over 10,000 Portlanders at our Women’s March. And then in May 2017, I found the Good News Roundup. It was truly a revelation. Suddenly I wasn’t alone in my grief and fear, and you all were giving me hope for a future we could build together.
So thank you, Goodie, for creating this wonderful community, and thank you, Gnusies, for sustaining and building it with love, brains, wit, and grit. I love all of you.
Now let’s get to the news:
🗞 📺 Encouraging current news nuggets 🗞 📺
NOTE: These are some recent stories that caught my eye. I’m counting on you commenters to fill us in on late-breaking news and analysis we should be aware of. Thanks!!
A new study just debunked Trump’s favorite talking point about undocumented immigrants
From Think Progress:
A growth in the undocumented immigrant population is not associated with an increase in local crime, according to a new study from The Marshall Project. The findings directly contradict one of the president’s favorite talking points about immigrants and crime.
This study, which focuses squarely on undocumented immigrants, uses local crime rates published by the FBI and concluded that between 2007 and 2016, almost every type of crime had a flat line trend, suggesting that any increase in undocumented immigrants has had no effect on crime. Areas with higher rates of illegal immigration actually appeared to have a slight drop in the crime rate.
ACLU helps create and distribute informational videos about what to do if confronted by ICE
From ACLU.org:
We Have Rights is a national immigrant empowerment campaign that will provide critical information to communities threatened by Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) and engage the broader American public in an urgent conversation about immigrant justice in our country.
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The videos are voiced in multiple languages by an all-star cast of influencers and activists, including: Jesse Williams (English), Diane Guerrero (Spanish), Kumail Nanjiani (Urdu), Linda Sarsour (Arabic), Edwidge Danticat (Haitian Creole), Katya Lee (Russian), and Xiren Wang (Mandarin).
Judge orders Florida to provide Spanish-speaking ballots to displaced Puerto Ricans
From Think Progress:
A federal judge ordered dozens of Florida counties to provide Spanish-language ballots and other election materials to Puerto Rican voters displaced by Hurricane Maria, ahead of the March 2020 presidential primary elections.
Last summer, a coalition of advocacy groups sued Florida’s secretary of state and election supervisors of 32 counties in the state for failing to provide ballots and other voting materials to thousands of Spanish-speaking Puerto Ricans who had been forced to relocate following the massive storm that destroyed much of the island.
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LatinoJustice attorneys were on the legal team that represented a coalition of Florida and Latinx rights groups including Hispanic Federation, Vamos 4 PR, Faith in Florida, Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, UnidosUS and a class of over 30,000 Spanish-speaking Puerto Ricans living in the 32 counties.
RIP Medical Debt: Churches Shine a Light on America’s Mounting Medical Debt
From Nonprofit Quarterly:
Nonprofits take many different forms, and some are designed specifically to work in partnership. The organization addressed here allows others to live out their mission intentions while keeping media focus on a larger, persistent medical and economic problem.
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In Evansville, Indiana, the congregation of City Church ... is seeking to eliminate $1.5 million in medical debt for low-income people by buying that debt for $15,000 through RIP Medical Debt (RIP), an organization that was inspired by the now-defunct Rolling Jubilee, an offshoot of the Occupy movement that bought both medical and student loan debt. RIP Medical Debt helps eliminate medical debt and stop the hounding of poor people faced with collections proceedings, by buying the debt for pennies (or in this case less) on the dollar. To date, RIP Medical Debt has relieved 200,000 people of their past-due debts, to the tune of around $700 million.
Three in five students [in Oregon] will attend a school serving meals to all kids at no charge.
This is great news from my state, via an email from the Executive Director of Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon. It’s a great illustration of how much good can be done in a state with a Democratic governor and Democrats in the majority in both houses of the legislature.
...the Oregon Senate passed the Student Success Act (HB 3427), which addresses decades of disinvestment in Oregon's schools. Among many provisions that will help Oregon's kids succeed is universal access to school meals.
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The provision has three main components:
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More than double the number of schools with universal school meals. Three in five students will attend a school serving meals to all kids at no charge. Kids at these schools will no longer feel singled out for eating school meals, and research shows that’s great for student achievement. |
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For the remainder of schools, Oregon will raise income eligibility to match eligibility for children's health insurance. This will support working families who currently earn just too much to qualify but still need assistance. |
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Oregon will standardize the best practice of offering breakfast after the bell to students at schools with high rates of poverty. This means more students will have access to school breakfast, which is linked to higher attendance and graduation rates, and higher incomes later in life. |
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The bill is expected to be signed into law by Governor Kate Brown in the coming days.
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💰 Corporate control and corruption on the run! 💰
- GEO Group, the world’s largest for-profit private prison company (and the largest contractor with ICE), wrote to the SEC that its business model was in jeopardy due to protests and divestment.
Good! Let’s keep up the protests and divestment efforts against GEO and all corporations that derive their profits from injustice.
⚖️❤️ Fighting for tolerance and justice ❤️⚖️
From Women in the World:
‘We will continue our fight against guardian abuse’: Runaway Saudi sisters leave Georgia to start new life
Two runaway Saudi sisters who won global attention for fleeing to Georgia and pleading online for protection said on Tuesday they were preparing to start new lives in a country where their family could not find them.
Maha, 28, and Wafa al-Subaie, 25, started an online campaign to find a safe haven in April after arriving in Georgia to escape relatives they said abused them, in the latest case to highlight Saudi Arabia’s strict social control over women.
“We are thrilled to announce that we are leaving Georgia,” the young women wrote on Tuesday from their Twitter account @GeorgiasSisters2, posting a short video of them at the airport.
The sisters applied for asylum in Georgia in April, but said they feared their family could come to the former Soviet republic, which does not require visas, and force them back.
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“As we settle in our new home and life we will continue to support Saudi women. We will continue our fight against guardian abuse. Many Saudi women supported us and we will never forget it,” they wrote.
National Bail Out’s Free Black Mamas fundraiser to support bail for jailed black mothers raised more than $82,000 for Mother’s Day. Colorlines covered the background story of the effort.
Activists Organize to Bail Out Black Mamas for Mother's Day
...
Black Mamas Bail Out is an annual event that was launched in 2017 to bring attention to the more than 540,000 Americans who are locked up every day without being convicted of a crime, according to a recent Prison Policy report. The same report notes that incarceration rates for women of color are rising faster than those of men, particularly because they can’t afford bail. And 62 percent of them are mothers of minors.
“[We have] two commitments: to destroy the racist system of money bail and to bail out Black mothers, so they can celebrate Mother’s Day with their family,” Arissa Hall, project director of National Bail Out collective told Colorlines. “We’re talking about more than just birth mothers: caregivers, queer mamas, and the people responsible for taking care of our families and communities.”
10 transgender women seeking asylum just won their immigration cases after months of violence and discrimination
And one of them is already planning to pay it forward.
From CBS News:
Ten transgender women who traveled with the caravan that President Trump targeted during the midterm elections have won their asylum cases and been released from a detention center in Texas.
For Estrellita, the decision to flee her home country of Honduras to seek asylum in the United States wasn't an easy one. Even though she faced discrimination for being transgender, she considered staying so she could help others like her.
"I wanted to change things but that made me more of a target," Estellita told CBS News via email. "I was assaulted and threatened by those who didn't agree with me and hated trans people. I love my country and wouldn't have left but for the persecution I suffered. ...”
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Estrellita said that she plans to open a trans women's shelter. "So many advocates have helped me and I want to turn around and help others," she said.
🌎 ☀️ 🌱 Good green news 🌎 ☀️ 🌱
You may or may not like this design – it’s a pretty radical departure – but it’s great that ecological impacts are being taken into consideration:
Look at New Eco-Friendly Rooftop Designs for Notre Dame Cathedral With Solar-Powered Glass Spire
From Good News Network:
Though the world has been in mourning for the roof of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, several architects have come forward with designs to breathe new life into the building.
Last month, French legislators announced that they would be holding an international design competition for how the beloved cathedral ought to be reconstructed.
French architectural firm Vincent Callebaut recently released their own ideas for the cathedral’s reconstruction…
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“The new wooden frame is covered with a three-dimensional crystal glass dress subdivided into faceted diamond-shaped elements. These crystals consist of an organic active layer, made of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen, which absorbs light and transforms it into power. This energy, stored in hydrogen fuel cells, will be directly redistributed throughout the cathedral.”
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Furthermore, the roof could support a new fruit and produce garden which could be managed by cathedral staffers or charity workers.
“Up to 21 tons of fruits and vegetables could be harvested and directly redistributed for free each year,” said the firm. “To that end, a farmers’ market would be held every week on the forecourt of Notre Dame.”
Solar installations in US now exceed 2 million and could double by 2023, new figures show
From CNBC (tip o’ the hat to Bill in Portland Maine for posting this story in Cheers and Jeers on Tuesday):
There are now over 2 million solar photovoltaic (PV) installations in the U.S., according to new figures. The 2 million mark comes three years after installations hit 1 million…
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Looking at the bigger picture, the U.S. Energy Information Administration says it expects renewable sources, excluding hydropower, will provide around 11% of electricity generation this year, rising to 13% in 2020.
♀ Remarkable women doing remarkable things ♀
From the Good News Network:
After Five-Year Campaign, Woman Successfully Rallies a Nation to Protect 763,000 Square Miles of Ocean
Over 763,000 square miles of ocean are now protected from pollution, seabed mining, and overfishing thanks to one 48-year-old marine conservationist.
Jacqueline Evans is the hero behind the Marae Moana legislation that was passed in the Cooks Islands, protecting the ocean territory rich with stunning array of marine biodiversity—including whales, sea turtles, manta rays, seabirds, several threatened shark species, and migrating humpbacks.
Despite how traditional Polynesian cultures have come to rely on large-scale commercial fishing, Evans spent five years tirelessly persuading, traveling, and advocating for the legislation’s approval.
In July 2017 her conservation goals became enshrined in law, and now Evans is being honored with the 2019 Goldman Prize for Islands and Island Nations.
Here’s an interesting bit of history from Common Dreams:
The Remarkable Mothers of Social Security
This Mother’s Day, let’s celebrate the remarkable Mothers of Social Security. Without them, this essential program may never have been born. It certainly would be much less successful and effective.
The Mothers of Social Security pushed for an expansive, ambitious program. When necessary, they fiercely resisted men too cautious to embrace their bold vision. All of us benefit immensely from their work—particularly women, for whom Social Security’s modest benefits are especially important.
Best known of Social Security’s many mothers is Frances Perkins, the first female member of a presidential Cabinet in the history of the country. … A less-known pathbreaker was Dr. Barbara Nachtrieb Armstrong, the first tenured female law professor in the country.
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Other remarkable Mothers included two members of the Social Security Board, which administered Social Security prior to a 1946 reorganization that replaced the Board with a single commissioner. Four other women were members of the 1938 Social Security Advisory Council, whose recommendations to add benefits for wives, widows, and dependent children were enacted into law in 1939.
📰 💻 Finding more good news 📰 💻
Good News Network is always full of inspiring news. Here’s another one of their recent stories:
Years After Dog Dies, Nurse Starts Collecting Pacemakers From Human Patients to Give to Pets in Need
When [Terri] Matula and her husband were in college 20 years ago, their beloved cocker spaniel … was in desperate need of a pacemaker, but since the Matulas were both students at the time, they couldn’t afford the $3,000 device.
Matula has now been working as a cardiovascular nurse at the Navicent Health center in Macon, Georgia for 17 years – and she has been using her experience in the hospital to help sick pets as well.
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“The similarities between how animals and humans are treated for certain diseases are very strong,” says Matula. “When I was studying to become a nurse 20 years ago, I learned that pacemakers for human beings could be utilized in dogs, as well.”
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...Matula was inspired to start collecting human pacemakers in order to give them to animals in need.
In February 2018, Matula formed the Pacemaker Donation Program between the [University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine] and Navicent Health.
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Since launching the program, the university has received 41 pacemakers.
Positive News, a UK site, always has valuable news items. Their current focus is on fixing products you already own instead of replacing them with new ones. Here’s one of their stories:
Under new EU legislation, manufacturers of certain products will be required to make them easier to repair – progress for consumers and the environment
One of the reasons why some items fail to go the distance is because they have become too difficult – and therefore too expensive – to repair. Many manufacturers, intentionally or otherwise, build products in a way that does not allow for disassembly, making it impossible to replace defective components when they break. Consumers, therefore, are often forced to scrap the entire item, when there is actually very little wrong with it.
But all that could be about to change thanks to new EU legislation, which will require manufacturers of washing machines, dishwashers, televisions, lights and fridges to make their products easier to repair.
From 2021, appliances of these types that are sold in Europe must be designed so that key components can be replaced with commonly available tools. Spare parts will also have to be made available to professional repairers for at least seven years after the last unit is sold.
Supporters of the legislation claim it will prolong the lives of popular household items and dampen demand for new ones, thereby reducing carbon emissions, cutting waste and saving consumers money. It awaits formal EU acceptance.
Sounds like something we should start asking for here on the other side of the pond!
The Future Crunch newsletter out of Melbourne, Australia, is an interesting source of quirky bits of cheery (or just plain weird) news, always with links for following up:
From the Future Crunch newsletter #78, May 3:
The Philippines has passed a Universal Health Care Act, entitling all of its 107 million citizens to health insurance and access to medical treatment. WHO
The indigenous Waorani community of Ecuador has won a landmark case against oil companies, protecting 180,000 hectares of their land against exploitation. Al Jazeera
Last year, a scientist discovered that a 1.1° twist in a sheet of graphene creates super conductivity. Physicists have been losing their minds over twistronics ever since.
Jen Hofmann at Americans of Conscience recommended some sites for more good news. I had never heard of any of them, so I’m passing along the links in case others here also want to check them out:
And, of course, Daily Kos has plenty of good news – you just have to avoid the downer headlines and search out the inspiring stuff. This diary from May 4 is so entertaining and cheering, I want to make sure you all see it:
World’s largest steam locomotive lives again after six decades.
🗓 Random holiday heads up 🗓
May 16th happens to be a holiday just made for us Gnusies: National “Do Something Good For Your Neighbor” Day! It was founded in 2009 with this mission:
Celebrate National Do Something Good For Your Neighbor Day by displaying acts of kindness to your neighbors, friends and anyone who crosses in your path. Use #NationalDoSomethingGoodForYourNeighborDay on Social Media.
May16th is also National Love a Tree Day. If you missed celebrating Arbor Day (though you shouldn’t have, since chloris creator built such a lovely roundup around it!) you can make up for that omission by planting a tree today – or at least saying a heartfelt thank-you to all the trees you see.
💙 ✊ Resist by taking action! ✊ 💙
WolverineForTJatAW (aka Wolvie or Wolves) commented yesterday about Postcards to Voters’ latest campaign, which is to get Democratic voters in FL to sign up for Vote by Mail. Here’s an explanation of why this is a good idea:
The Florida Democratic Party has studied the numbers. Looking just at quadrennial voters (those who only vote every 4 years in the Presidential elections), they found that VBM voters participated at a rate of 71%. The voters who were not enrolled, though, showed up in person at a rate of only 31%. That’s a huge difference. And that’s in a Presidential election.
Imagine the effect of having ballots arrive conveniently in your mailbox for every single election? Municipal? State? Runoffs? Specials? The fact is that Democratic voters are much more likely to participate when the ballot is mailed to them without them asking each time.
This postcard-writing campaign is especially appealing because it has the potential to boost Dem participation in many future elections, not just one.
If you’ve never volunteered to write postcards, let me encourage you to sign up! It’s a really fun and rewarding way to feel that you’re making a difference. You can create your own, but you can also buy pre-printed cards. Go ahead and click the link!!
Americans of Conscience checklist
Here’s an important action recommended in this week’s AoC checklist:
Speak up for patient-centered health care. [h/t National Women’s Law Center, National Center for Transgender Equality, Transgender Law Center]
Call: Your two senators and one House rep (look up). Script: Hi. I’m calling from [ZIP] to advocate for a health system that centers patients who need care. The administration’s so-called Conscience Rules undermine this principle by expanding permission for individuals and institutions to refuse services to people in need of care. A system based on provider preference rather than patients will cause harm to me/my family/many vulnerable people. I would like [NAME] to publicly oppose these rules and introduce legislation to overturn them.
Bonus: Call or write your two state legislators (look up).
Script: Hi, I’m a constituent in [ZIP] alarmed by the administration’s new so-called “Conscience Rules” that expand health care providers’ ability to refuse care. I’m asking [NAME] to introduce legislation to protect vulnerable communities and require providers in our state to disclose in advance the services they do and do not offer. Additionally, I’d like the state to educate us about how to navigate this new system and plan for our care. Thank you.
😂 We laugh at all the evildoers and dolts! 😂
We especially love to laugh at the Ass Clown in Chief:
From Showercap’s Monday blog:
Here’s a real gem, which I’m posting just in case you missed it:
And because it’s our birthday, we can look back and savor some old favorites. This Randy Rainbow song parody is even more relevant today than it was in August 2018 (except for the Avenatti reference):
👍💙 We share encouraging news and views 💙👍
All of us have friends who are a bit too tethered to MSM and occasionally need a lift so they don’t fall into despair. Inspiring quotes from Good News Roundups and from other upbeat progressive sites really do seem to help.
Here’s part of an inspiring message that Jen Hofmann at Americans of Conscience posted on Mother’s Day:
Here’s one thing you can do.
Take a deep breath if you can, then ask yourself this question:
What kind of world do I want to live in?
Notice what images, words, or sensations come into your awareness.
Change focus.
This question was at the top of a huge poster board at our AoCC booth at the Salem (OR) Women’s March. Hundreds of people used bright markers to write words like: Kind. Respectful. Connected. Green. Loving. Community. (One 4-year-old wrote CATS! Too cute!) Everyone longs for something.
The end product was a riot of color and life.
Every time I look at this poster, I get a little misty. It makes me hopeful. We all need inspiration as counterbalance to the day-to-day realities. Knowing what we long for reminds us who we areand what really matters.
What kind of world do you want to live in?
🎁 Bonus birthday present: BABY GOATS!! 🎁
Lots of Gnusies have been longing for goat news, so here’s one of the G.O.A.T. goat videos, thanks to Wonkette. Feel free to jump along!
And finally, some happy dancing
I’ll bet most of you have seen this 2008 viral video. I’ve watched it many times, but it never fails to make me ridiculously happy. Something about Matt’s geeky dance moves combined with that infectious song and the unfettered joy of all the other dancers from all over the world is just so uplifting. Enjoy!
Thank you!
I’m so grateful for the opportunity to keep Old Hippie Dude’s Thursday chair warm by writing a Good News Roundup!
{{{{ OHD }}}} Come back soon!!
❤️💙 RESIST, PERSIST, REBUILD, REJOICE! ❤️💙