Did you read any positive news lately?

frimble3 · Nov 13, 2019

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/cana...peeding-car/ar-BBWHCmd?li=AAggv0m&OCID=FIRPLC

A man in Montreal is driving his SUV to work. Ahead of him, a speeding vehicle, police in hot pursuit, blows through a light. He shrugs, makes his turn onto the same street and carries on.
Then, he sees the speeding vehicles makes a U-Turn, coming right back at him, and towards the intersection, which is now full of pedestrians. There have been various horrible instances of mass-killings from vehicles plowing into groups of pedestrians.
So, he has a SUV, crazed driver has a Honda. There's a median between them. Our hero drives his SUV over the median, and plants it across the other lane. Crazed driver hits him, he's not hurt, the SUV is mildly damaged, crazed driver is grabbed up by cops, where he receives medical treatment and not a single pedestrian is injured!
Go, brave, fast-thinking man! Yay, courageous Montrealers!
(Cool side-note, when he contacted his insurance company, they did not hold him at fault for the damage.)

hester · Nov 13, 2019

I don't know if this exactly counts as positive (considering the poor man lost all his frequent flyer miles!) but I thought it was cute

. The man wanted to bring his cat onto an Aeroflot flight, but the cat was too heavy (22 pounds at weigh-in). He found someone else with a lighter cat to do a weigh in, then swapped out Phoebe (the slimmer cat) for Viktor :roll:

(link below):

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...0191113-rfv4ghnnpffcxoslui64vltfxy-story.html

frimble3 · Nov 13, 2019

22 lbs? He should have just bought a child's seat for it, tossed a blanket over the cat, and hoped no-one had the nerve to comment on how hairy his 'baby' was.

Lyv · Nov 13, 2019

phantasy said:
Harriet Tubman Wins Vote To Replace Andrew Jackson On $20 Bill

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/20...-tubman-to-replace-andrew-jackson-on-20-bill/

And for those wanting to make it happen, you can ask your rep to support these two bills. I call my rep every couple of weeks to as him to sign on as a co-sponsor of the first. The second has some bipartisan support, but far fewer co-sponsors. Both have been referred to the the House Committee on Financial Services
.
H.R.3082 - Woman on the Twenty Act of 2019

H.R.1083 - Harriet Tubman Tribute Act of 2019

ElaineA · Nov 13, 2019

The House Judiciary committee today took a big step toward extending the timeline for ratification of the ERA.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introduced the resolution for markup today at a hearing on Capitol Hill. The bill, which removes the time limit for ratification, was originally introduced by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) in January of 2019 and has rapidly gained momentum in the days since a pro-ERA majority was elected in Virginia. After last week’s statewide elections in Virginia, state legislators have pledged to bring the ERA to the Virginia Assembly for passage in early 2020, making it the 38th and final state necessary for ratification.

MaeZe · Nov 13, 2019

frimble3 said:
Weird, when this is the same Supreme Court that just voted against DACA (the 'Dreamers' bill). Unless they are hoping to get the chance to close a few loopholes?

It hasn't been decided yet. News media is all doom and gloom. Past experience has shown, you can't guess these decisions by the questions they ask.

If Kavanaugh and Roberts are undecided, you can bet Kavanaugh is going to keep kissing Trump's ass. But Roberts has a brain and Sotomayor made a public complaint recently challenging the decisions favoring Trump which, (I know it's a stretch), could tempt Roberts to once again prove the Court is not politically biased.

Vox: Justice Sotomayor warns the Supreme Court is doing “extraordinary” favors for Trump

MaeZe · Nov 13, 2019

frimble3 said:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/cana...peeding-car/ar-BBWHCmd?li=AAggv0m&OCID=FIRPLC

A man in Montreal is driving his SUV to work. Ahead of him, a speeding vehicle, police in hot pursuit, blows through a light. He shrugs, makes his turn onto the same street and carries on.
Then, he sees the speeding vehicles makes a U-Turn, coming right back at him, and towards the intersection, which is now full of pedestrians. There have been various horrible instances of mass-killings from vehicles plowing into groups of pedestrians.
So, he has a SUV, crazed driver has a Honda. There's a median between them. Our hero drives his SUV over the median, and plants it across the other lane. Crazed driver hits him, he's not hurt, the SUV is mildly damaged, crazed driver is grabbed up by cops, where he receives medical treatment and not a single pedestrian is injured!
Go, brave, fast-thinking man! Yay, courageous Montrealers!
(Cool side-note, when he contacted his insurance company, they did not hold him at fault for the damage.)

That is such an uplifting story. :hooray:

frimble3 · Nov 13, 2019

MaeZe said:
That is such an uplifting story.

Isn't it though? Just when you think that a single person can have no effect on anything, and all we can do is pat ourselves on the the back for signing a petition that will be ignored, here's a guy who shows that one man, thinking swiftly, can make an actual difference in people's lives. :partyguy:

ElaineA · Nov 13, 2019

MaeZe said:
It hasn't been decided yet. News media is all doom and gloom. Past experience has shown, you can't guess these decisions by the questions they ask.

If Kavanaugh and Roberts are undecided, you can bet Kavanaugh is going to keep kissing Trump's ass. But Roberts has a brain and Sotomayor made a public complaint recently challenging the decisions favoring Trump which, (I know it's a stretch), could tempt Roberts to once again prove the Court is not politically biased.

Vox: Justice Sotomayor warns the Supreme Court is doing “extraordinary” favors for Trump

Just for an additional data point: the Roberts court is up to 73 5-4 decisions. He isn't much interested in bipartisanship, but as MaeZe says, that is not at all proof of how this will break. Only that general data supports it breaking for the conservative cause.

The brilliant Dalia Lithwick did a Nov 12 Slate piece on this.

neandermagnon · Nov 13, 2019

Not read but seen... around the town where I live and work (I work right in the town centre) recently I've noticed that the local homeless people have big fat duvets, sleeping bags, blankets and are sat on street corners and in shop doorways wrapped in their bedding, reading books. I don't know who's been so generous with the bedding and books but it's a great idea, especially the books. Living on the streets must be bloody boring and soul destroying so I don't know why I've never come across the idea of donating books to the homeless before. It also helps to challenge people's perception of homeless people. Anyway, thought I'd pass it on. Maybe if someone reading this has got books they don't need they can give them out to homeless people or to their local food bank.

edutton · Nov 14, 2019

Matt Bevin just conceded.

frimble3 · Nov 14, 2019

edutton said:
Matt Bevin just conceded.

After the recanvass showed that he was still behind by almost the same number as before.
Still, at least he wasn't the sort of jerk to force the system to pay for various sleazy maneuvers in a desperate effort to get him back on the throne, sorry, his seat.

Well done that man, for seeing the light. A positive development indeed.

MaeZe · Nov 14, 2019

These rocks have been showing up around here recently. It's the first I've heard of them. I love it.

The Kindness Rock Project

The Kindness Rock Project is a viral trend where people, commonly children, paint pebbles or cobbles and leave them for others to find and collect. Photos of the painted rocks and hints of where to find them are commonly shared on Facebook groups.[1] The trend originated in the U.S. and has spread to the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand as well as other countries.[2][3]

The Kindness Rock Project was started by Megan Murphy in 2015 who wrote "You've got this" on a rock and left it on a beach on Cape Cod. After a friend found it, she started leaving more rocks with inspirational messages behind.[2][3][4] Coincidentally, another Cape Cod resident, artist Alice Brock, had also been painting rocks to be found by other people and relocated for several years.[5]

frimble3 · Nov 20, 2019

And, a bunch of teenager surfers save lives:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/news...rip-current/ar-BBWWWCf?li=AAggFp4&OCID=FIRPLC

These teens were fifteen and sixteen. How often teenage boys (and surfers) are stereotyped in a negative way, it's nice to see that these ones, taking the initiative and risking their lives to save others is getting noticed and appreciated.

nighttimer · Nov 24, 2019

A cop is killed.

He's Black.

The community mourns and honors him.

Heroes are hard to find.

Maryn · Nov 25, 2019

In my former hometown: An 82-year-old woman, five feet tall and 105 pounds, beat an intruder with a table and poured shampoo in his eyes. She's not pressing charges. "He's already in the hospital," she said.

https://www.democratandchronicle.co...hy-fights-intruder-during-robbery/4297597002/

frimble3 · Nov 25, 2019

Maryn said:
In my former hometown: An 82-year-old woman, five feet tall and 105 pounds, beat an intruder with a table and poured shampoo in his eyes. She's not pressing charges. "He's already in the hospital," she said.

https://www.democratandchronicle.co...hy-fights-intruder-during-robbery/4297597002/

An inspirational story for us all! And if the intruder claims that he was 'viciously attacked', I hope he is laughed out of court and into a cell when the court is reminded of the age of his attacker.

MaeZe · Nov 27, 2019

AP: Utah banning ‘conversion therapy’ with Mormon church backing

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah is on its way to becoming the 19th state to ban the discredited practice of conversion therapy in January after state officials formed a proposal that has the support of the influential Church of a Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Republican Gov. Gary Herbert announced Tuesday night that church leaders back a regulatory rule his office helped craft after legislative efforts for a ban on the therapy failed earlier this year.

SomethingOrOther · Nov 29, 2019

This is out of the blue, but I'm sorry about the flippant tone of the OP. More generally, I'm sorry for the strain of immaturity and affected aloofness that ran through many of my posts in this subforum a few years back. Maybe I was in denial about how bad the world was in some ways, waging an internal war against others' more sober outlooks because they deeply unsettled me. That all was unnecessary, selfish, and insensitive. A lot over the past few years has changed my perspective, even beyond "growing up."

I hope you all have as good of a day as is possible.

Siri Kirpal · Nov 29, 2019

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Even flippant cynicism has its uses, Something. Many of us have been uplifted by this thread. Thanks for starting it.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

frimble3 · Nov 29, 2019

Even negativity can make us more aware of all the little positives. :Hug2:

All the best to OP.
Oh, and after a 20 year absence, the eulachon fish (aka 'candlefish') has returned to the Bella Coola river, thanks to the efforts of the Nuxalk College.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/brit...on-grease-project-revives-tradition-1.4722780

Marian Perera · Nov 30, 2019

Know My Name, a memoir by Chanel Miller, has been released. She was the woman assaulted by Brock Turner, who got a sentence of six months because the judge didn't want to ruin his life.

neandermagnon · Nov 30, 2019

Londoners disarm terrorist with narwhal tusk and fire extinguisher. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-50608315

Not sure if everyone's heard about the latest terrorist attack in London. There was a terrorist attacking people with a knife - sadly killed two and injured three but was prevented from hurting anyone else by passers-by who intervened, including a chef confronting the terrorist with a five foot long narwhal tusk. Another passerby who intervened went at the terrorist with a fire extinguisher, along with all the other people who piled in, restraining him and preventing him from hurting anyone else.

Siri Kirpal · Nov 30, 2019

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

A narwhal tusk? That's some classy weapon! Especially when used as a defense against a murderer on the rampage.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Roxxsmom · Dec 2, 2019

I saw the headline about someone defeating a terrorist with a narwhal tusk and assumed it was some kind of metaphor I'd never heard before, like Sampson's "jawbone of an ass." Seriously, he disarmed the guy with an actual narwhal tusk? Where in the heck did he get it? Reading the article, it's not clear to me.

We have a well-made replica of a narwhal tusk in our natural history lab classroom at the college, and it would indeed make a good weapon! Hope I never have to use it, though.

Did you read any positive news lately?

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