World’s First Fully Hydrogen Powered Passenger Trains
The first fully hydrogen-powered passenger train service is now up and running in Germany. The only emissions are steam and condensed water, and the trains run with a low noise level. I found this story in my Good Newsletter. Here are the details.
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Celebrating Soberversaries
Staying sober is a big accomplishment for a recovering alcoholic. These days, people are being more open about their recovery and celebrating each year of sobriety with activities ranging from quiet reflection to sober celebrations with friends. Axios has more about this trend.
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Restoring Biodiversity Across England
farmers and landowners are working “to restore nature and reduce flooding while still producing food will be supported by the government in 22 locations across England.” The Guardian has details.
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A Creative Project for Safer Streets in a Portland, Oregon
Shootings in a section of Portland, Oregon have decreased by 64% in the first three months of a pilot program which redirected traffic and created a park. For details and pictures, click HERE.
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Kelp Forests Growing Strong Down Under
A recent global diving survey by the University of Western Australia discovered kelp forests growing faster than land crops and outgrowing “even the mighty Amazon Rainforest.” The most productive forests were found in South Australia and South Africa. This is particularly good news after Tasmania lost much of its kelp forests due to climate change. The Good News Network has more on this story.
Here’s a video about re-forestating in the ocean off Australia’s coast.
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Australia Returns Large Rainforest to Aboriginal Owners
Daintree National Park, over 600 square-miles of rainforest, was returned to the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people who lived there for generations and are one of the world’s oldest living cultures. Click here for details, hopes, and beautiful photos.
Victory for Equal Property Rights in South Africa
The South African parliment recenlty passed a bill which reverses discrimination against black women seeking equal access to matrimonial property. Apartheid-era law giving the husband total property rights for black couples married before 1988 was declared unconstitutional in April. Read about the four women whose cases led to the bill and its significance in the Good News Network.
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US Monument Protection Restored
In the US, the Biden administration has restored protection for The Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments as well as a marine conservation area off the New England coast. Here’s more from PBS News.
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Sheep Rescue Video
I detest barbed wire, and I’m still a little concerned for this sheep, but I keep watching this happy ending video over and over again. Maybe it’s the pleasant scenery… at the end of the video.
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In 2017, Anitoluwa Adewumi—aka,“Tani” – and his family were refugees from Nigeria. They came to the US and lived in a shelter in Manhattan. Tani learned to play chess in school. At ten years old, he has won the state championship becoming an official Chess National Master, Read more about Tani in this article from the Good News Network.
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Australia Commits $100 Million to Ocean Conservation
In April, Australia announced it will commit $100 million to protect oceans. The Good News Network reports: “Much of the funding will go towards ecosystems that involve seagrass and mangroves, which play a key role in drawing carbon out of the atmosphere.” This report from GNN specifies the benefits and distribution plans.
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Alabama Governor Signs Bill to Remove for Anti-LGBTQ Language from Curriculum
A new Alabama state law which goes into effect July 1, “removes the requirement that educators teach that homosexuality isn’t an acceptable lifestyle and that being a homosexual is a criminal offense in the state. The law also will require schools to notify parents about their intent to provide instruction about sexual education or human reproduction.” Here are details more from The Hill.
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Former Circus Elephants Get a New Home with Natural Habitat
Ten Asian elephants who were freed from the circus are settling in at their spacious, natural home in Florida. This is progress toward a more compassionate culture:
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After Years in Foster Care, 19 Year Old Monyay is Adopted
Monyay didn’t like her foster care caseworker at first. But over the years, they developed a special bond. The caseworker, Leah Paskalides, “gave her all the support her job would allow. When Monyay “aged out” of the foster care system, Leah found a way to adopt her proving, it’s never too late. This one brought tears to my eyes:
Collecting GNT stories last week, I already had this one from Insideron the drop in COVID cases in US nursing homes. Then, I discovered that the Good News Network has a whole list of positive COVID updates about decreasing numbers, medical school applications, generous countries, vaccine helpers, immune cells, and more. Here’s the list from the Good News Network.
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Australia’s “Astonishing” Drop in Crime
Over the past 20 years, Australia has experienced a significant drop in crime: Break-ins have fallen by 68%, motor vehicle theft by 70%, robbery by 71%, attempted murder by 70%, and murder rates by 50%, while overall homicide decreased by 59%. Improvements in the economy, lower unemployment, less alcohol consumption by young people, and improved access to better safety technology are cited as possible reasons for the decrease in crime. For details, visit this article from the Good News Network.
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Biden Signs Orders for Immigration Reform
US President Joe Biden signed three executive orders last week to reform immigration, including one creating a task force to re-unite families that were separated at the border. Good Morning America has more.
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A Simple Change Decreased Seabird Deaths in Namibia by 98%
A recent fisheries study in Namibia reported a 98% reduction in seabird deaths after laws were passed requiring fishermen to attach colored streamers to the back of their boats. Previously, 22,000 to 30,000 seabirds were accidentally being killed every year in Namibia including the endangered Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross. This article from the Good News Network provides details, illustration, and interesting facts about the amazing albatross.
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Four-Year-Old Goes Home after Nine Months in the Hospital Fighting COVID
Four-year-old Stella Martin from New Mexico was in the hospital for nine months fighting COVID 19. Stella’s asthma contributed to her risk, and she spent five months in the ICU. She was released from the hospital on January 26th. You can read more about Stella and her family, in this article from Good Morning America.
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Bonus Video:
Ten-Year-Old Christian Stone and his mom remove snow from cars in hospital parking lot:
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All Australian Bushfires Contained in New South Wales
Not all the fires are out, but they are all contained allowing more focus on rebuilding.
The exciting news comes after a week of historic rainfall in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Good News Network
Let’s continue to pray for healing.
In this related story, soldiers are using their free time to help care for displaced koalas.
From ABC News
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Taxi Driver Stops $25,000 Scam
When a 92 year old woman asked him to take her to the bank to pay the IRS, taxi driver Raj Singh dug deeper. He ended up taking her to the police, who uncovered the scam. Mr. Singh could have just taken the lady to the bank and not asked questions, but it’s a good thing he cared. Here’s the story from The Good News Network.
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10 Billion Dollars for Planet Earth
Jeff Bezos, “the richest man in the world,” has announced his plan to donate 10 billion dollars of his own money to help fight climate change. Associated Press reports Amazon, the company started by Bezos, plans to have “100% of its energy use come from solar panels and other renewable energy by 2030.” That will be something to watch over the next 10 years. The AP article pointed out that Jeff Bezos “only recently became active in donating money to causes as other billionaires like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have done.” Wouldn’t it be great if all of the world’s financially wealthy people because so altruistic? Hopefully, it’s not too late to do some good for the planet. Here’s the article from AP News.
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Earning College Degrees in Prison
Hudson Link is a nonprofit program that helps prison inmates earn college degrees for free. According to Hudson Link, the general rate of recidivism in (NY) state is 43%, while the prisoners who walk out with degrees have only a 2% chance of being re-incarcerated. You can read more about it on the Good News Network.
The downpours have already helped to extinguish 32 bushfires in New South Wales alone as the number of fires fell from 120 to 88 on Thursday. __Bored Panda
Even with flooding and other risks, the rain is welcome. But the crisis is not over. Fires are still burning in Australia, though they’re not spreading like they were. Let’s keep praying and sending good energy to help put out the fires.
Patsy the brave border collie saved more than 200 sheep from a bush fire in Australia. Please click the link below for the story from The Good News Network including a sweet video of praise for Patsy. Thanks to Sparky Jen for finding this news after I lost it in last week’s technical difficulties.
North Carolina: The LARGEST COAL ASH CLEAN UP IN U.S. HISTORY!
On December 31st,Duke Energy agreed to excavate nearly 80 million tons of coal ash and move it to dry, lined storage facilities away from drinking water supplies. Here’s more from PBS.
First Above the Knee Double Amputee to Complete Ironman Triathlon
Roderick Sewell was homeless as a child. His mother gave up her job so he would be eligible for prosthetic legs. On October 12, Roderick became the first above the knee double amputee to complete the Ironman triathlon world championship. I bet you’ll enjoy watching this video.
I first found this storyin my Good Morning America email.
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Feel free to write your own Good News Tuesday post and link it below.
Sorry I’m so late today. I was late to begin with, then I clicked to caption something and my whole post disappeared! I fiddled with the history, then decided to start rebuilding.
The first item came to me this morning in my Good Newsletter. I want to acknowledge that it’s normal to feel frustrated, sad, angry, or scared with all that’s going on in the world. We can’t deny the bad news, but the lopsided perspective of bad news dominance does not have to be normal. Good news is happening, too.
Feel free to share examples of good news in the comments!
In an earlier post, I reported that the US state of Maine will be banning styrofoam this month. That was incorrect. The Maine ban goes into effect one year from now. Also, Costa Rica has decided to ban Styrofoam in 2021. The product is not impossible to recycle, but it’s complicated and rarely done. It takes a very long time to decompose and when it does, it just turns into little pieces of plastic. Who needs that? We don’t. Good job, Costa Rica!
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Food Drop in Australia
Thank you again all the helpers in Australia. Please join me with continuing prayers for an end to the fires, and safety and healing for Australia.
Today’s prompt for SoCS is: “ow.” Find a word that contains “ow” or use it as a word in your post. Have fun!
Ow. Owie. Ouch. That’s what I feel when I see the photos of the koalas and kangaroos hurt by the fires burning in Australia. I can’t think about it too long, but I can pray for more rains to come and put the fires out.
Mother earth is hurting. Maybe we can send her healing energy. And rain.
Did you realize that WOW upside down is MOM? There’s something to that. Being a mom is WOW.
Bow wow. Did you ever here a real live dog say that? Me neither. Ruff, maybe or Roof. Growl. Owls can be heard at night in my neighborhood at the edge of the city. Where the trees are.
Wow! There was a lot of the Force happening in Star Wars,The Rise of Skywalker. At the end of the movie, I sat there listening to the music and thinking back about how many times I saw A New Hope in the movie theatre in the 70s. At least ten times. It was the first movie of it’s kind.
One of the things I liked about Rise of Skywalker is the strong female characters. The main character, Rey, doesn’t appear to wear a lot of make up or glamorous clothes. Few material possessions. Those things just don’t matter. But she’s strong in the Force and strong in general.
Speaking of general, General Leia’s line, “Nothing is Impossible,” reminded me of my father telling me that very same thing. Leia’s character has come a long way since she realized she was strong in the Force. As an occasional practitioner of Reiki, I was very interested in it’s healing properties which resembled reiki with the laying of hands.
Wow. They made a movie with a dead person in a major role. No disrespect. I have a lot of respect for Carrie Fisher and Princes/General Leia. They used mostly old/extra footage from previous movies. Rise of Skywalker was a spiritual movie. Lots of action of course, but a message of hope and the rise of the people against tyranny. The evil empire wants you to feel alone. That’s how they win. But you are not alone. There are more of us people who want peace and decency…… Wait. I don’t like to get political on my blog, but you know what I mean. There are more of us than the evil empire wants us to think.
There are more of us who are just regular folks. That’s another thing I noticed about the movie. Regular looking people. Yes, they had make up on, especially the aliens with multiple eyes, and the horses with curly fangs. Or maybe they were tusks. But I liked that people’s hair got messed up a lot in the rain and the sweat. Sometimes being in the resistance means messy hair.
I wish we could use the force to bring healing rains to Australia. Imagine that. Make it so.
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For more streams of consciousness and instructions, visit Linda Hill at:
1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.
2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.
3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.
4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.
5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.
6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!
7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.
Sensory-Friendly Santa for Kids with Special Needs
A mall in Lexington, Kentucky open early to create a safe and comfortable environment for kids with special needs. Dimmed lights, less noise, engaging activities, and wheel chair accessibility make it easier to include more kids in the Santa experience. Here’s the story with a video.
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Green Light Could Relieve Migraine Pain
There’s something about green. The following article explores research using green light for migraine and other kinds of pain. The main study has people sit in a dark room with a green light for an hour a day with reduction in symptoms over time. Of course quiet time in a dark room might also be a factor. I can’t help but wonder if being in a room full of green plants would also help. Here’s the article from the Good News Network
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Nurses Turn Surgical Wrap into Sleeping Bags for the Homeless
2000 large sterile wraps were being thrown away every day. But nurses at Tampa General Hospital had a different idea. Imagine if every hospital did this?
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One Love
This is not new, but it came across my bow wanting to be shared again. In 2018, a thousand strangers, Christians, Jews, and Muslims, got together and sang Bob Marley’s “One Love.” Here’s how it turned out.
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Rain Dance
It’s been raining in Australia! Some fires might still be burning, but we celebrate the joy of rain where it falls. This video shows a group of firefighters with one breaking out in dance. If you can’t see it, go to the YouTube link. There’s one more below.
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Got good news?
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Wishing you comfort, peace, and joy through the holidays.
Global Citizen reports that Italy has passed a law to send unsold food to charities. It’s shameful how much food is thrown away when so many people are hungry. The article gives example of how much of the food thrown away is edible:
“….if white rice is mis-labeled basmati rice, it’s food waste. If a vegetable is misshapen it’s food waste. If a cereal box has a tear, food waste. A can with a ripped label also food waste. A bruised fruit, yup, food waste.”
While some countries impose penalties for wasted food, Italy is providing incentives.
SynDaver—the world’s leading manufacturer of hyper-realistic, synthetic human and animal surgical trainers has created a realistic enough non-living frog model for dissection. Despite the replica being more expensive than a real frog, its synthetic tissues are reusable and free of harmful chemicals like formaldehyde. At least 3 million frogs are killed annually in the name of educational dissection. Isn’t it time we moved toward more humane educational pursuits?
A group of Dutch quilters making mittens for koalas and pouches for kangaroos suffering from fires in Australia. The mittens and pouches must be made entirely of cotton. Here’s the story from SBS Dutch.
Other good news within this terrible fire, is that $1,705,390 has been raised to help animals in Australia. Here’s a link to the fundraiserfor the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital. THANK YOU to all the helpers!
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New Zealand Commits to Becoming Carbon Neutral by 2050
“In a historic show of bipartisan agreement” New Zealand passed a new law that will require the nation to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. The Good News Network provides details, and Prime Minister, Jacinda Arden, inspires:
Anything is Possible! 