The hardest Good News I ever had to write was on Jan 7 of last year. But even after the worst day of our country’s history, there was still good news. (We took the Senate that day!)
No matter how grim the outlook, there is good news every day.
Good News about the Midterms for Democrats
Democrats need not despair: 6 reasons to be hopeful about the 2022 midterms by Amanda Marcotte, Salon
We keep reading and hearing doom and gloom about the midterms. Maybe it isn’t so hopeless.
Here are six reasons to stay in the fight in 2022.
1. GOP's gerrymandering-pocalypse is a dud
2. Democratic governors — who may be what save us in 2024 —look strong in 2022
3. The Senate map looks good for Democrats
4. Republicans are putting up a vomit-inducing set of candidates this cycle
5. The pandemic may finally dissipate
6. The Supreme Court may awake a sleeping giant (of angry voters)
Good News about COVID
Forecasters say omicron peak could come this month
One forecast from Columbia University researchers predicts cases could reach their highest levels the week of Jan. 9, and then decline from there. Another from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington School of Medicine estimates infections could top out in late January, though that will likely soon be updated to an even earlier date.
Random good news from Twitter:
- Trump’s little press/liar conference scheduled for Jan 6 is cancelled! Can’t wait to learn why. He’s blaming the Jan 6 Committee.
- The Jan 6 Committee wants to talk to Sean Hannity. I wonder if this had something to do with bullet point 1? They also released a boatload of Hannity texts that are not looking good for Hannity.
- Melania is selling her stuff
on eBay. Isn’t that what broke college students do?
- Marjorie Tayler Greene is calling on all Republicans to leave Twitter. I hope they take her advice.
- The traffic jam on the 1-95 that kept people freezing in their cars for over 24 hours has been cleared.
Good News for Indigenous Peoples
Last year, the Canadian government discovered several graveyards containing bodies of indigenous children put in government care. There is no good news about that. But the Canadian government is doing what it can after the fact to make things as right as possible.
Canada Pledges $31.5 Billion to Settle Fight Over Indigenous Child Welfare System by Catherine Porter and Vjosa Isai
The Canadian government announced Tuesday that it had reached what it called the largest settlement in Canada’s history, paying $31.5 billion to fix the nation’s discriminatory child welfare system and compensate the Indigenous people harmed by it.
The agreement in principle forms the basis for a final settlement of several lawsuits brought by First Nations groups against the Canadian government. Of the overall settlement, 40 billion in Canadian dollars, half will go toward compensating both children who were unnecessarily removed, and their families and caregivers, over the past three decades.
The rest of the money will go toward repairing the child welfare system for First Nations children — who are statistically far more likely to be removed from their families — over the next five years to ensure families are able to stay together.
Good Environmental News
Eco Friendly Burials
Desmond Tutu is a leader even in death.
What is aquamation, the burial practice Desmond Tutu requested instead of greenhouse gas-emitting cremation? By Miriam Berger
Traditional means of body disposal are not eco-friendly. Burial takes space and puts toxic chemicals in the ground. Cremation burns fuel and puts toxic gases into the air. But there are becoming alternatives. One is body composting, which is what I am looking into. Another is aquamation.
The Anglican archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who died Dec. 26 at age 90, had requested that his funeral not be ostentatious and that his body not be cremated by flame. Instead, Tutu reportedly requested aquamation, or alkaline hydrolysis, a water-based process considered an eco-friendly alternative to traditional cremation.
Aquamation is part of a growing “green burial” movement that avoids non-biodegradable materials and promotes natural decomposition. Advocates say it’s an environmentally friendly alternative to ornate caskets and cremation by fire, which emits greenhouse gases.
Solar Shingles
Want solar panels but don’t like the look? How about solar shingles?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2022/01/03/solar-energy-roof-shingles-climate/ By Tik Root
Starting Monday, one of the largest roofing companies in the United States will be selling a new solar shingle product. The aim is to drive the cost of installation down and the rate of solar adoption up.
Rooftop solar on small buildings could theoretically meet a quarter of electricity demand in the United States, a 2016 assessment from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found. But putting efficient, durable and eye-pleasing solar panels on roofs at a reasonable cost hasn’t been easy.
“It looks great, goes up fast and it’s legit,” said [Martin DeBono, president of GAF Energy]. “We think that many people will choose now to go solar.”
As a lot of you know, I am fighting stage 3 colorectal cancer. For this reason, I am especially interested in medical breakthroughs. The GoodNewsNetwork, a favorite link for Gnusies, has a rundown of amazing medical breakthroughs last year. The links in the boxes are all from the main article.
Andy Corbley, GoodNewsNetwork
Medical Breakthroughs And Treatments in 2021 to Beat Cancer, Alzheimer’s, Diabetes & More
Alzheimers
An End to Alzheimer’s? The MEND Protocol of Precision Lifestyle Changes Leads to Compelling Clinical Trials
Drug Reverses Age-Related Mental Decline Within Days, Suggesting Lost Cognitive Ability is Not Permanent
4 Common Medicines Have Reversed Alzheimer’s in Mice
Cancer
Immunotherapy Drugs So Effective that Tumors Disappear in Weeks for Head and Neck Cancer Patients in Landmark Trial
Prostate Cancer Breakthrough: Protein That Stops Tumor Growth is Discovered
COVID
Cannabis Compound Inhibits COVID-19 Replication in Human Lung Cells, Study Says
Two New Nasal Sprays That Kill COVID-19 Virus Are Looking Remarkably Effective
New Organs
Man Regains Sight And Sees His Family Again After Becoming First Person Ever to Receive an Artificial Cornea
First Artificial Kidney That Would Free People From Dialysis and Transplants Runs on Blood Pressure
Lyme Disease
Naturally Occurring Antibiotic Kills Lyme Disease and Nothing Else: A Potential Breakthrough Treatment
Paralysis
Yale Scientists Successfully Repair Injured Spinal Cords Using Patients’ Own Stem Cells
Multiple Sclerosis
Same Technology Behind Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine is Leading Researchers to Possible MS Breakthrough
Eczema
New Treatment For Eczema Could Emerge After Possible Cause Was Identified by ‘Surprised’ Scientists
Habitual Coughing
Doctor’s ‘Miraculous’ Remedy for Nonstop Coughs is Curing People With a YouTube Video
Personal good news about cancer
I am very happy to announce that I have been accepted into a clinical trial for colorectal patients.
Could mRNA vaccines be the next frontier for cancer treatment?
By Kaitlin Sullivan, Reynolds Lewis and Akshay Syal, M.D.
This study is to determine if a mRNA vaccine, customized to an individual, could be used to identify cancer coming back after standard treatment has been completed.
The idea behind an mRNA vaccine — whether for Covid or for cancer — is to use the genetic material to train the immune system to target a specific protein. For the coronavirus, it’s the spike protein on the surface of the virus. For cancer, it could be a protein on the surface of a tumor cell. Once the immune system learns to recognize the protein, it can create antibodies or T cells that fight and destroy it, along with the cells that carry it.
I can’t wait. Not only to be done with chemo (in March), but to see if this technology will keep me safe going forward. Colorectal is my third cancer. I’m done with it.
On that note, let the comments commence ...