Hello everyone, welcome to the Monday Good News Roundup. Spring has finally sprung (Although living in Western New York it will probably be a bit until Spring fully kicks in around here) so this week we’re springing an extra large GNR on you guys. Bhu and Killer300 have been working extra hard tracking down the news of the world that isn’t completely soul destroying, so lets dispense with these pleasantries and get to the good stuff.
Autocrats such as Putin eventually succumb to what may be called the “dictator trap.” The strategies they use to stay in power tend to trigger their eventual downfall. Rather than being long-term planners, many make catastrophic short-term errors—the kinds of errors that would likely have been avoided in democratic systems. They hear only from sycophants, and get bad advice. They misunderstand their population. They don’t see threats coming until it’s too late. And unlike elected leaders who leave office to riches, book tours, and the glitzy lifestyle of a statesman, many dictators who miscalculate leave office in a casket, a possibility that makes them even more likely to double down.
Despots sow the seeds of their own demise early on, when they first face the trade-off between allowing freedom of expression and maintaining an iron grip on power. After arriving in the palace, crushing dissent and jailing opponents is often rational, from the perspective of a dictator: It creates a culture of fear that is useful for establishing and maintaining control. But that culture of fear comes with a cost.
Tyranny is the shortest lived form of government, and day by day it seems like Putin is gonna find that out the hard way.
he Council of Europe decided to expel Russia from membership, though Russia said it would have left the human rights organization anyway.
The council's parliamentary assembly unanimously adopted an opinion Wednesday suggesting Russia should be kicked out of the council, then the Russian government announced its withdrawal on the same day, according to a statement from the council. The Council of Europe was formed in 1949 in the wake of World War II with the goal of protecting human rights. Russia had been a member since 1996.
You know, there is something fascinatingly pathetic about the far right’s utter inability to accept any sort of perceived failure. Like they can’t just leave it that they were expelled, they gotta puff up their chest and be like “Well we were leaving anyway.” Like sure buddy. Do they think that makes them look tough? Do you think anyone who isn’t as pathetic as they are buys that. There is nothing that looks more small and sad that a bully trying to act like a big man and failing.
Vladimir Putin is a bad strategist. He does not understand the relationship between force and politics, and he is incapable of predicting international reactions to his ham-fisted military campaigns. Putin’s blunders began in 2014, with Russia’s annexation of Crimea and intervention in East Ukraine — actions that provoked widespread condemnation and suspicion about his real ambitions. With few friends left, Putin was reduced to propping up murderous authoritarian regimes in Syria and Belarus. Today, his misuse of Russian power is leading Russia towards impoverishment and isolation. His ill-considered invasion of Ukraine has galvanized international opposition, crippled the Russian economy, and overstretched the Russian military. Putin is making Russia a pariah state.
Hey remember four or five years ago when we thought Putin was this Doctor Doom like mastermind and everything? Yeah me neither.
Three years ago this week — on March 15, 2019 — an estimated 1.4 million young people and supporters in 128 countries skipped school or work for what was then the largest youth-led day of climate protests in history. That record was soon eclipsed by even larger demonstrations later that year, with 1.8 million joining a May 24 day of action, and 7.6 million protesting for the climate over the course of Sept. 20 and the week that followed. The school strikes for climate movement, launched by 15-year-old Greta Thunberg of Sweden in late 2018, had reinvigorated the global climate movement and brought public participation to levels never seen before.
By early 2019, thousands of young people were already skipping school to protest for the climate each week in Europe, but the school strikes had only just begun to catch on in the United States. March 15 of that year was arguably when Thunberg’s campaign truly became a global phenomenon, with large demonstrations in cities all over the world. The youth-led strikes went on to revolutionize and grow the climate movement, helping to popularize concepts like the Green New Deal and grab the attention of policymakers and the media. Three years on, it’s a good time to assess what this flood of activism accomplished and how the youth climate movement has adapted to the challenges of the early 2020s.
As it turns out, the Kids are alright.
An international resistance of computer programmers and volunteer "information warriors" is racing to pierce Kremlin propaganda and expose ordinary Russians to the uncensored truth of a brutal war.
They've built tools that allow anyone to surprise Russian citizens with text messages detailing the war's civilian death toll. They've published antiwar videos and news sites built to evade Russian government bans. They've even cobbled together databases with the personal details of Russian military personnel - all in the hopes of fomenting rebellion across the new Iron Curtain.
Seems the war isn’t going well for Putin on more than one front. On a personal note, I look forward to a day, and I think it will be soon, when Putin’s troll farms get shut down for good and the internet will be free of his constant bullshit.
In late January, as Russia’s troops amassed along Ukraine’s borders, many of the GOP’s most Trump-friendly figures preached caution over confrontation. According to Axios’ reporting, the GOP’s up-and-comers feared they would “alienate the base” of the Republican Party by pushing too hard against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his ambitions for Europe. They thought they had their finger on the pulse of an ascendant movement within the Republican Party. They were wrong.
I mean, I can get why they might have thought this was a winning strategy, considering the idiots running around wearing “Better Russian than Democrat” shirts, but I think when push comes to shove even those people aren’t seriously gonna back what Putin is doing.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) started a political firestorm last month when he released an 11-point “Rescue America” plan. While there is plenty to argue about in this document, the part that most caught the attention of economic policy media was the following: “all Americans should pay some income tax to have skin in the game, even if a small amount. Currently over half of Americans pay no income tax.”
By its own admission, this plan would seem to raise taxes on a lot of people. The exact number is unclear. First, the number of nonpayers is a moving target. It is likely to return to under half of Americans after some pandemic-era policies lapse. Second, in later clarifications, Scott made exceptions for several broad categories of non-taxpayers.
But the scent of a tax hike to attack quickly sent Washington into a bipartisan feeding frenzy. Scott caught criticism from both Democrats, like White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, and fellow Republicans, like Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who slapped the idea down.
Oh, the Republicans are fighting again! *grabs popcorn*
Officials in Honduras say they are cracking down on open-pit mining, an activity that has plagued the country with deforestation, pollution and loss of biodiversity, among other environmental hazards.
The government is no longer granting environmental permits for open-pit mining projects, the Ministry of Energy, Natural Resources, Environment and Mines said in a statement. It also plans to shut down open-pit mines already in operation.
Every day, the governments of the world listen to the pleas of people that we need to protect the planet.
Without much fuss and even less public attention, the nation’s egg producers are in the midst of a multibillion-dollar shift to cage-free eggs that is dramatically changing the lives of millions of hens in response to new laws and demands from restaurant chains.
In a decade, the percentage of hens in cage-free housing has soared from 4% in 2010 to 28% in 2020, and that figure is expected to more than double to about 70% in the next four years.
The change marks one of the animal welfare movement’s biggest successes after years of battles with the food industry. The transition has cost billions of dollars for producers who initially resisted calls for more humane treatment of chickens but have since fully embraced the new reality. Pushed by voter initiatives in California and other states as well as pressure from fast food restaurant chains and major grocers, egg producers are freeing chickens from cages and letting them move throughout hen houses.
You know, if you don’t eat meat, that’s fine and well. I do eat meat, but at the same time I don’t think we need to be assholes to the animals we eat. So cage free chickens is good news. Let the chickens be free.
The European Commission has today proposed an outline of a plan to make Europe independent from Russian fossil fuels well before 2030, starting with gas, in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
This plan also outlines a series of measures to respond to rising energy prices in Europe and to replenish gas stocks for next winter. Europe has been facing increased energy prices for several months, but now uncertainty on supply is exacerbating the problem. REPowerEU will seek to diversify gas supplies, speed up the roll-out of renewable gases and replace gas in heating and power generation. This can reduce EU demand for Russian gas by two thirds before the end of the year.
I wish it didn’t take a war to make people realize “Hey maybe we should switch to renewables faster”, but at least its something.
BERLIN, March 6 (Reuters) - Germany has earmarked 200 billion euros ($220 billion) to fund industrial transformation between now and 2026, including climate protection, hydrogen technology and expansion of the electric vehicle charging network, its finance minister said.
"200 billion euros in funding for the transformation of the economy, society and the state," Christian Lindner told public broadcaster ARD on Sunday, adding that this also included the removal of renewable energy levies.
More good news about how Europe is working to clean up their proverbial act and improve the environment.
BEIJING, March 5 (Reuters) - China plans to build 450 gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind power generation capacity on the Gobi and other desert regions, the chief of the state planner said on Saturday, as part of efforts to boost renewable power use to meet climate change goals.
President Xi Jinping has pledged to bring China's total wind and solar capacity to at least 1,200 GW and to cap its carbon emission to a peak by 2030.
Not just Europe either, nations all over the world are working to fix the environment.
Former President Trump is staring at a real chance that his endorsed candidates go zero-for-three in competitive Senate primaries in May, an outcome that would underscore his already mixed record in primaries and raise serious questions about the depth of his political clout within the Republican Party. Trump’s undisciplined political strategy, seeking to punish any candidate he deems disloyal, faces a wall of resistance in the South, one of the most pro-Trump regions of the country during his presidency.
From North Carolina to Alabama, Senate candidates are failing to capitalize on the Trump seal of approval. Former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory has weathered millions in outside attacks from the Trump-allied Club for Growth and leads Trump-endorsed Rep. Ted Budd in several publicly released polls. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp now leads former Sen. David Perdue by double digits in multiple polls, while holding a significant financial advantage down the home stretch. Trump-endorsed Rep. Mo Brooks has underperformed so badly in Alabama’s Senate race that the former president is reportedly considering endorsing one of his leading rivals. All these primaries will be taking place in May.
Well no con lasts forever, and it looks like people are finally starting to wise up to Donny being a loser.
he US House on Friday passed legislation that would ban race-based hair discrimination in employment and against those participating in federally assisted programs, housing programs, and public accommodations.
The Democratic-led House voted 235-189 to pass the
CROWN Act, which stands for "Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair." The bill seeks to protect against bias based on hair texture and protective styles, including locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, and Afros.
"Natural Black hair is often deemed 'unprofessional' simply because it does not conform to White beauty standards," Democratic Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey, the bill's sponsor, said in a statement. "Discrimination against Black hair is discrimination against Black people."
I’m glad this bill exists. Like the fact that people are getting discriminated against because of their hair is ridiculous (of course all racism is inherently ridiculous, but that’s a topic of discussion for another day).
Three of the country's largest credit reporting agencies are removing nearly 70% of medical debt from consumer credit reports, the companies announced in a joint statement Friday.
Equifax (EFX),
Experian (EXPGF) and
TransUnion (TRU) will eliminate billions of dollars from the accounts of consumers who faced unexpected medical bills that they were unable to pay. The three firms said they made the move after months of research.
"Medical collections debt often arises from unforeseen medical circumstances. These changes are another step we're taking together to help people across the United States focus on their financial and personal well-being," the companies said in a joint statement.
The announcement follows
research from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau showing that Americans had racked up $88 billion in medical debt on consumer credit records as of June 2021. It's the most common debt collection credit account on credit records, the CFPB said.
Now this is some surprising good news, feels like someone got visited by three ghosts or something.
Russian elites are allegedly planning to remove President Vladimir Putin, according to Ukrainian intelligence, with a successor already in mind.
The incendiary claim came from the Chief Directorate of Intelligence for the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine on Sunday via a post on the ministry's official Facebook page. The post boldly begins with, "Poisoning, sudden disease, accident—Russian elite considers the possibility of removing Putin."
"In the environment of the Russian business and political elite, a group of influential persons opposing [Vladimir Putin] is formed," the post reads. "Their goal is to remove Putin from power as soon as possible and restore economic ties with the West, destroyed due to the war in Ukraine."
So it sounds like maybe we aren’t the only ones unhappy with Putin’s recent job performance. Its probably not true, but I guess we’ll see in the next coming days.
And on that note, I’m calling time on the GNR this week. We had a lot of great stories, and many more that we didn’t have time for, but maybe those other stories will show up as annexxes later this week. Till next week, everyone have a happy and hopeful week and a good start of Spring.