Good News Tuesday, May 12, 2020: Renewables Surpass Coal, Elder Recoveries, Eagles in England, and Repaying a Kindness

Seeking Balance One Tuesday at a Time

Windmills in North Carolina

Renewable Energy Surpasses Coal for the Month of April in the US

Renewable energy from solar, wind, and hydropower generated more electricity than coal for the month of April in the US. Contributing factors include “…low gas prices, warmer weather, a significant amount of new renewable capacity connecting to the grid late last year, and lower power demand… because of the coronavirus.” Here’s more from the Good News Network. 

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Elders Recovering from COVID 19

Also from the Good News Network is a story about elders recovering from COVID 19.  Guadalupe and José from Spain, both 88, “had just celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary a few weeks earlier when they both became ill with the virus.” Then there’s Carrie Pollock, age 99 in the UK, 104-year-old Ada Zanusso of Biella, Italy, and Cornelia Ras, the Dutch woman who celebrated her 107th birthday on March 17th. You can read their stories, along with some words of wisdom, from the Good News Network. 

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Eagles are Back in England

Eagles had been almost hunted to extinction in the UK. “Now, 240 years after the last sighting, a mature white-tailed eagle was confirmed soaring in the wild high over the North York Moors.” The comeback is the result of several eaglets that were released on the Isle of Wight.”  Here’s that story from The Good News Network

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Ireland Repays the Kindness of Native Americans

In 1847, when Ireland was suffering starvation during the potato blight, the North American Choctaw tribe found compassion amidst their own suffering of forced relocation. The tribe raised $170 (almost $5,000 in today’s currency) and sent it across the ocean to help Ireland. Now, the people of Ireland are paying back that debt by helping  the Navajo and Hopi tribes hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.  GNN reports that “almost $2.7 million has been raised so far, with many donations flowing in from Irish citizens expressing gratitude for the help they received so many decades ago.”

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Good News Tuesday 5/5/20: Sudan Ready to Outlaw FGM, Shifting Away from Fossil Fuels, a COVID Recovery Story, and Captain Tom Update

Seeking Balance One Tuesday at a Time

 

Sudan to Outlaw Female Genital Mutilation

Sudan’s council of ministers approved a new law criminalizing female genital mutilation on 22 April. The law is expected to be passed by the members of the sovereign council, which was created after the removal of the former dictator. Under the new law, anyone inflicting FGM will face up to three years in prison. You can read more in this article from The Guardian. 

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Investors Shifting Away from Fossil Fuels and Artic Exploitation

US Investment bank Morgan Stanley will no longer fund oil and gas exploration and development in the Arctic, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Morgan Stanley is the fifth largest funder of fossil fuels in the United States and also the fifth major U.S. bank to stop arctic oil financing.

“The updated environmental policy also prohibits direct financing for new and expanded coal-fired power plants and new thermal coal mines. Additionally, Morgan Stanley has committed to phasing out funding for thermal coal mining companies that “do not have a diversification strategy within a reasonable timeframe.”

This article from The Planetary Press reports on the policy change and signs that world banks are “beginning to recognize the need to shift away from fossil fuels and towards sustainable alternatives”

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“This man came home from the hospital to die. His son found a way to keep him alive”  CNN

81 year old Suryakant “Suri” Nathwani had contracted COVID 19 and was not expected to live. He pleaded with his son to go home, to not die in the hospital.  Raj Nathwani took his father home to the outskirts of London to try to make him comfortable.  But that’s not all Raj did. He researched, collected data, and consulted with a family friend who was  a general practitioner. While many families do not have the resources to do all that Raj was able to do, we can still celebrate this son’s efforts and his father’s recovery. I hope you will read this inspiring story as reported by CNN 

You can also listen to the story here:

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Captain Tom Update: You’re Never Too Old to Dream Another Dream

Happy Belated Birthday to Captain Tom Moore who turned 100 on Thursday! He’s raised 40 million dollars for charity and is being well recognized for his perseverance.

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Got good news?

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Desperado

Today’s Song Lyric Sunday theme is gambling/risk, brought to you by Helen, at

https://helenswordsoflife.com/2017/08/19/song-lyric-sunday-theme-for-82017/

In Trust the Timing, I write about my fear of falling in love again when my high school sweetheart comes back after 39 years.  It was a gamble. I’d learned that people are on their best behavior when we’re just getting to know them (even for the second time), and the infatuation stage of romance had clouded my judgement in the past. As I started leaning toward taking one more chance on love,  I sang the song, “Desperado” to myself,  changing the words a little, like replacing queen of hearts with king of hearts, and “things that are pleasing you” with “fears that are teasing you.”

Desperado was written in 1973 by Don Henley and Glenn Lewis Frey. I originally wanted to share the Eagles version, but I do love Linda Ronstadt’s voice in this beautiful video.

 

The following is from AZ Lyrics

Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses?
You been out ridin’ fences for so long now
Oh, you’re a hard one
I know that you got your reasons
These things that are pleasin’ you
Can hurt you somehow

Don’t you draw the queen of diamonds, boy
She’ll beat you if she’s able
You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet

Now it seems to me, some fine things
Have been laid upon your table
But you only want the ones that you can’t get

Desperado, oh, you ain’t gettin’ no younger
Your pain and your hunger, they’re drivin’ you home
And freedom, oh freedom well, that’s just some people talkin’
Your prison is walking through this world all alone

Don’t your feet get cold in the winter time?
The sky won’t snow and the sun won’t shine
It’s hard to tell the night time from the day
You’re losin’ all your highs and lows
Ain’t it funny how the feeling goes away?

Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses?
Come down from your fences, open the gate
It may be rainin’, but there’s a rainbow above you
You better let somebody love you (let somebody love you)
You better let somebody love you before it’s too late