Good (Encouraging) Stuff (Part 1)

In the UK, Electricity is now the most renewable it has ever been, with so much green energy being generated, the grid is now generating less carbon than last year at the height of the first lockdown.

Coal has now been completely off for over 13 days (Again, this is earlier than last year) and most of the gas turbines are sitting idle at the moment, as cheap wind power and solar are taking up the slack.

This is massive progress in a very short space of time- going from half a kilo of carbon emitted for every kWh of electricity produced nine years ago to only 42 grams at this current point.

Of course, the coming decade is going to have to see a huge amount of investment so that this performance can be maintained year round, and electricity generation will have to ramp up in order to decarbonise the rest of the economy, but this is hugely hopeful. Even with a half-hearted approach from government, current technology is just killing off fossil fuels.

EDIT to add- Almost 25% of electricity demand is being met by solar. Solar! On this grey, overcast island. In April. OK, so it is the middle of the day now, but this is crazy.

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But but, Uncle Joe promised he won’t kill fracking!!

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$500,000 Jefferson Davis chair stolen in Selma will be a toilet unless Confederate group hangs banner, email claims

In those emails, a group calling itself White Lies Matter say they stole the chair from the Old Live Oak Cemetery and are demanding that the UDC hang a large banner at 1 p.m. on Friday – the anniversary of the Confederacy’s surrender in the Civil War – and leave it there for 24 hours.

The banner bears a quote from Assata Shakur, a Black Liberation Army activist wanted by the FBI for the 1973 murder of a New Jersey state trooper: “The rulers of this country have always considered their property more important than our lives.” White Lies Matter said it had already delivered the banner to the UDC.

“Failure to do so will result in the monument, an ornate stone chair, immediately being turned into a toilet,” the email states. “If they do display the banner, not only will we return the chair intact, but we will clean it to boot.”

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Cannot :heart: this enough!

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Awesome Stephen Colbert GIF

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Gave they considered turning it into a bidet?

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I’m actually really hopeful about the potential for an mRNA vaccine and treatment revolution to come on the heels of this pandemic.

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Sorry, this wasn’t a good news post so I’m deleting it.

I’ve just had a week off, really needed it to reset, haven’t really had a break in a year. During it the government announced a “right to disconnect” from work. So we can’t be expected to monitor our emails etc. I really took advantage of that!

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checks Boing Boing store

Not yet.

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During it the government announced a “right to disconnect” from work.

When I worked at UBS I’d leave my “out of office” email message as:

I will be in Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada. If you need to contact me, the Park Rangers can be reached at 613-555-1212. I will be on either the Petawawa or Barron Rivers. My tent is green, my canoe is blue. If it is urgent, you will likely have to pay for the float plane flight, otherwise, expect a reply in 4 to 6 days.

Needless to say… no cellphone coverage… :grin:

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TL;DR
Countering predatory1 payday lenders’ effects2 in its community and on its residents, a church in Dallas simultaneously saves the only credit union on the south side of the city and gets its congregational members a real, functional alternative while giving its members a chance at a building a decent credit score.

In the article, I learned payday lenders report when someone misses a payment or defaults, but somehow don’t report the good news when someone pays off the loan (which would help the borrower’s credit score). :thinking:


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Get out your hankies.

This even made my ol’ DH shed a tear. It’s lovely. So grateful for good news.

:joy:

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Of course. Doing that would make it easier for people to stop having to rely on the endless cycle of debt these places are founded on.

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Yeah, and though this contra the intended topic of this thread, some of the stories I read about the umpteen-thousand percent interest rates of these places is sickening.

Back on topic, I found that this trend of offering alternatives to the sharking includes…

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Season 4 Wow GIF by The Office

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Ohhh Yeah!

Smores anybody?? :smile:

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