Good News Friday

  • Malaria deaths in Kenya drop by 93 per cent over eight years. The Eastleigh Voice.
  • Iraq’s poverty rate dropped from 21.5% in 2022 to 17.6% in 2024. Shafaq.
  • In these nine Asian countries, child mortality has more than halved since the year 2000. Our World in Data.
  • Cold-related deaths have fallen 65% since the 1990s. Think Global Health.
  • Tanzania reduced maternal mortality by 80% over seven years. Africa CDC.
  • China has created or restored more than 10,000 square km of wetland since 2012. Xinhua.
  • Artificial intelligence is now used to locate abandoned fishing nets in the ocean. Oceanographic.
  • Global sales of combustion engine cars have peaked. Our World in Data.

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

Grover Cleveland: A Study in Character by Alyn Brodsky

Happy President’s Day! Last year for president’s day, I did a post about Abraham Lincoln. Two years ago, I did a post about Thomas Jefferson. This year, it’s a less famous president, Grover Cleveland.

Grover Cleveland was the only Democrat to be elected president between the Civil War and World War I. His great great grandfather Aaron was friends with Benjamin Franklin. His great grandfather (also named Aaron) was an abolitionist way back in the 1790s. His father Robert was a Presbyterian minister and his mother owned a slave before her husband made her send her slave away.

Stephen Grover Cleveland was born in Caldwell, New Jersey in 1837. He was the fifth of nine children. He was named in honor of his father’s predecessor who had founded the Caldwell church. He ended up dropping the Stephen from his name, although he was known as Big Steve to his friends.

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Good News Friday

  • Child mortality in Malawi has plummeted from 234 deaths per 1,000 live births to just 49 since 1992. Nyasa Times.
  • World Health Organization (WHO) report reveals a 38% drop in the global drowning death rate since 2000. WHO.
  • A year into new initiative, Denver no longer has any homeless veterans living on the street. Good Good Good.
  • In Bradford, England, a clean air zone has reduced visits to the doctor for respiratory illnesses and heart problems by around 25%. The Guardian.
  • Wind and solar accounted for nearly two-thirds (65%) of Lithuania’s power generation in 2024. The Progress Playbook.
  • In 2004, it took the world a year to add a gigawatt of solar power — now it takes a day. Our World in Data.
  • 95% of all new power capacity in the United State added to the grid in 2024 was carbon-free. Distilled.
  • Family of beavers save Czech government $1.2 million by finishing a 7-year dam project in just a few weeks. Fortune.

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

The Simpsons Season 3

For season 3, the opening credits change again. This time, the tune Lisa plays on the saxophone is different from episode to episode. Season 3 continues to have a lot of famous-at-the-time guest stars. There’s sports stars such as Magic Johnson and Darryl Strawberry, musical stars like Michael Jackson, Sting, and Aerosmith, and actors like Neil Patrick Harris, Jon Lovitz, and Steve Allen.

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Good News Friday

  • In 2000, over 100,000 young Americans were locked up in juvenile detention facilities. By 2022, that number had plummeted by 75%. New York Times.
  • ​In 2015, less than half of the world population was in the range of a 4G network. That figure is now 90%. Our World in Data.
  • Niger is the first country in Africa to be declared free of river blindness. WHO.
  • Sleeping sickness has been eliminated in Guinea. WHO.
  • Malaria cases in the South East Asia fell from 22.8 million in 2000 to 4 million in 2023 – a reduction of 82.4%. WHO.
  • Cardiovascular disease mortality has fallen massively since the 1950s. Our World in Data.
  • 2024 saw one of the lowest ever death tolls from natural disasters. Sustainability by Numbers.
  • Global emissions of local air pollutants have probably passed their peak. Our World in Data.
  • A bipartisan coalition of 24 U.S. governors pledged to continue the country’s work toward achieving Paris Agreement goals. Sustainability.
  • Solar overtakes coal in Europe for the first time in 2024. Ember.
  • Türkiye has doubled its solar capacity in just 2.5 years, surpassing its current target more than a year ahead of schedule. Ember.
  • India doubled its tiger population in a decade. NPR.
  • New wonder material designed by AI is as light as foam but as strong as steel. Live Science.
  • 14 of the 20 amino acids that life on Earth uses to make proteins and all five genetic code components were found on the asteroid Bennu, suggesting the early solar system had most of the ingredients needed for life. NASA.

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

The Simpsons Season 2

The first episode of the second season is the highest rated episode of The Simpsons overall, getting 33 million viewers when it originally aired. I remember “Bart Gets an F” (S2, E1) being the last episode of the first season. Since it takes place at the end of the school year when seasons typically end, this would make sense, but I guess my memory is wrong. I was fully expecting Bart to go on to the fifth grade the next episode and was surprised when he remained in the fourth grade. I was Bart’s age when the first season aired, so I thought Bart and I would always be the same age. Alas, I have continued to age while he has remained a permanent fourth-grader.

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Good News Friday

  • France’s 2024 power grid was 95% fossil free. Bloomberg.
  • The female primary school completion rate in Sub-Saharan Africa has increased from 48.5 percent in the year 2000 to 68.5 percent in 2023. World Bank.
  • The number of non-white US Congressmembers has nearly-doubled since 2005. Pew Research Center.
  • Drug overdose deaths in the US decreased 22% between August 2023 and August 2024, the largest decline in a one-year period. CBS News.
  • Georgia certified malaria-free, the 45th country to achieve this milestone. WHO.
  • Invasive ‘murder hornets’ are wiped out in the US. AP.

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

The Simpsons Season 1

The Simpsons is the longest-running American primetime TV show. It may also be the most influential in terms of phrases and memes. Several new words invented by The Simpsons such as d’oh, meh, embiggen, cromulent, yoink, and craptacular are now in the dictionary. It’s probably influenced every comedy show that’s come after it in some way. Merchandising was hugely successful from the beginning, with as many as one million Bart Simpson t-shirts selling on a single day.

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Good News Friday

  • China smashes wind and solar installation records once again in 2024. The Progress Playbook.
  • Deaths from AIDS in India came down by 79 per cent while HIV infections fell by 44 per cent in 2023 when compared to 2010. abp.
  • In 2021, the USDA re-evaluated the 50 year old Thrifty Food Plan, which estimates the cost of groceries, resulting in a 21% increase in food stamp benefits for more than 41 million people. Vox.
  • 9 countries said goodbye to a devastating disease in 2024. NPR.
  • Wage inequality has declined in two-thirds of countries worldwide since start of 21st century. International Labour Organization.
  • In 1991, fewer than 15% of people in Bangladesh had access to electricity. Thirty years later, access was almost universal. Our World in Data.

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

Good News Friday

  • US Congress passed multiple bills with bipartisan support that will benefit nature. The Nature Conservancy.
  • In the US, we now have 10x more EVs on the road, nearly twice as many heat pumps, and 100x as much battery storage capacity as in 2016. RMI.
  • Global EV sales were up 25% in 2024. The Progress Playbook.
  • AI spots unreported California wildfire, proving its ’emerging’ role in fire safety. Good Good Good.
  • The Great Salt Lake could disappear in 5 years. This teen is using hydrogels to save it little by little. Good Good Good.
  • Indonesia kicks off first free meal program for children, pregnant women in effort to counter malnutrition. Al Jazeera.
  • Norway on track to be the first country to eliminate petrol and diesel engine cars. Fast Company.
  • Renewables and nuclear accounted for 82% of the electricity generated in Spain and Portugal in 2024. The Progress Playbook.
  • Chile has reduced 1.03 million tons of carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. World Bank Group.
  • Two new methods break down forever chemicals using ordinary light. Nature.
  • US airlines have transported passengers for more than two light-years since the last plane crash. Our World in Data.
  • In 2023, unemployment in the European Union declined to the lowest point in over three decades. Our World in Data.
  • Veteran homelessness in the US reaches record low, decreasing by 7.5% since 2023. VA.
  • There’s been a 97.5% reduction in sleeping-sickness cases over the past two decades. Nature.
  • Poverty in Indonesia drops by 1.84 million people since 2023. Jakarta Globe.
  • Childhood cancer deaths in the United States have declined six-fold over the last seventy years. Our World in Data.

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