Month: March 2025

Benjamin Harrison by Charles W. Calhoun

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment

Benjamin Harrison was born in 1833 in his grandfather’s house in North Bend, Ohio, the second of ten children. His great grandfather Benjamin Harrison V was governor of Virginia and his grandfather William Henry Harrison was the ninth president of the United States. His father John Scott Harrison served in Congress, however, he was a farmer who was often in debt. His mother was a strict Presbyterian.

Benjamin worked on the farm as a child, and also enjoyed hunting, fishing, and reading. He attended a log cabin school built on his father’s property. When he was 14, his father sent him to Farmer’s College near Cincinnati where Presbyterian minister Professor Robert Hamilton Bishop became a powerful influence, keeping him up-to-date on contemporary political issues and instructing him in religion.

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Good News Friday

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment
  • Armenia and Azerbaijan agree to end almost 40 years of conflict. Reuters.
  • In the US, Medicaid expansion saved 27,400 lives by 2022. The Economist.
  • Global average yields of cereal crops have tripled over the past 60 years. This has been crucial to feeding a growing population while sparing natural habitat from expanding agricultural land. Our World in Data.
  • How China re-greened the most eroded place on earth. The Guardian.
  • Texas broke its solar, wind, and battery records in one week. Canary Media.
  • Covid ‘benevolence bump’ endures as acts of kindness 10% higher than before 2020. The Guardian.
  • Tech millionaire builds village of 99 tiny houses for homeless neighbors in Canada. Good Good Good.
  • Mediterranean monk seals make remarkable return from brink of extinction. ABC.
  • In the past 25 years, 68 million child marriages have been averted. UNICEF.

For more good news, check out Fix the News and The Progress Network.

Good News Friday

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment
  • $20k foldable tiny home can be installed in just 60 minutes: ‘Meeting the growing demand for housing’. Good Good Good.
  • Man lives for 100 days with artificial titanium heart in successful new trial. CNN.
  • U.S. battery capacity increased 66% in 2024. EIA.
  • Almost 100 million people in Africa have gained access to electricity in recent years. Global Energy.

For more good news, check out Fix the News and The Progress Network.

The Lost 116 Pages by Don Bradley

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment

When Joseph Smith was writing the Book of Mormon, approximately 116 pages were lost. Don Bradley attempts to reconstruct what was in the lost pages by examining the scriptures and the accounts of those familiar with what was in the lost pages.

Interestingly, Joseph Smith’s father said there were Masonic symbols on the cover of the golden plates. (I didn’t realize until reading this book that the beehive was a Masonic symbol.)

Smith’s mother described the Urim and Thummim as three-cornered diamonds framed in silver, connected like a pair of spectacles. (They may have been triangular in shape to match the Masonic compass and square.) They could be attached to a breastplate by a rod which held them in front of the face. Joseph apparently used the Urim and Thummim to translate the lost portion, but used the stone in the hat to translate the Book of Mormon we have today.

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Good News Friday

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment
  • James Harrison, a man with an unusually high concentration of rare antibodies in his blood that can help prevent hemolytic disease in newborns, died recently. He helped save 2.4 million babies by donating blood. The Washington Post.
  • Vaccines now save six lives per minute in Zimbabwe. The country has slashed under-five mortality from 93 to 48 deaths per 1,000 live births. Gavi.
  • HPV vaccines help reduce US cervical cancer deaths by 62%. Gavi.
  • Cambodia, once the world’s most mined country, is now almost landmine-free with the number of casualties plummeting from 4,320 in 1996 to just 49 in 2024. Construction Property.
  • Texas sees steady decline in child abuse deaths after legislative changes. KSAT.
  • India’s tiger population doubles in a decade. BBC.
  • In 1987 there were only 22 remaining California condors, North America’s largest bird. There are 561 today, with 344 flying free. Knowable Magazine.
  • Wind and solar power overtake coal in US for first time. The Times.
  • UK emissions fall 3.6% in 2024 as coal use drops to lowest level since 1666. Carbon Brief.
  • How Bangladesh rolled out the world’s largest off-grid solar program. The Progress Playbook.
  • Scientists have developed a new rice strain that emits 70% less methane. Sci Tech Daily.
  • Chilean scientists develop rice that uses half as much water. El Pais.
  • Almost 100 million people in Africa have gained access to electricity in the past five years. Global Energy.
  • In 2024, women in the US 16 and older earned an average of 85% of what men earned, up from 81% in 2003. Women between 25 to 34 years old earned 95% of what men earned, up from 88% in 2003. Pew Research Center.

For more good news, check out Fix the News and The Progress Network.

The Simpsons Season 4

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment

As a kid, one of the cartoons I watched was Tiny Toon Adventures, which featured younger versions of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and other Looney Tunes characters. Around the same time season 4 of The Simpsons premiered, Tiny Toons featured an obvious Bart Simpson analog named Blard Simpleton. Blard came from a realistic cartoon and was unprepared for wacky things like anvils falling from the sky. Ironically, The Simpsons largely decided to abandon realism in season 4, opting for a lot more Looney Tunes style gags.

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Good News Friday

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment
  • Nearly 24% decline in U.S. drug overdose deaths. CDC.
  • By 2023, Denmark had reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 46% compared 1990, and will likely cut its emissions by 50% this year. Reuters.
  • Fetus receives life-saving medication before birth in medical first. Science Alert.
  • New sickle cell treatment cures disease at lower cost than gene therapies. Axios.

For more good news, check out Fix the News and The Progress Network.