Politics
Having a difficult time finding positive news about national and global politics? Search no further! From public policy to positive leadership to democracy efforts, find the latest good news stories in the world of politics at The Optimist Daily.
Costa Rica approves legalization of medicinal cannabis
Last week, Costa Rica’s Congress approved the legalization of medicinal cannabis, overcoming the opposition from conservative groups and President Carlos Alvarado, who has yet to ratify the law. If President Alvarado vetoes the law, then lawmakers would have to vote on it again and approve it Read More...
Egypt's State Council swears-in the nation's first female judges
Egypt’s State Council was established in 1946 and is an independent judicial body that deals with administrative disputes, disciplinary cases, appeals, reviews draft laws, decisions, and contracts that involve the government or a government-run body. And until recently, was exclusively Read More...
FDA takes steps to authorize over-the-counter hearing aids
A new policy from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to make hearing aids more accessible and affordable in the US. The new policy will make hearing devices available over-the-counter as early as next fall. Hearing aids currently cost more than $5,000 a pair and are not usually covered Read More...
EPA draws up a plan to regulate the use of dangerous “forever chemicals”
Back in 2016, the Obama administration enacted an unenforceable recommendation that limited the amount of polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), otherwise known as “forever chemicals” for their inability to degrade in nature, to 70 parts per trillion or less in any given product. Read More...
Following shut offs and hurricanes, Puerto Ricans want a solar future
Puerto Ricans pay nearly twice as much for electricity as mainland Americans, yet random shut-offs and natural disasters like Hurricane Maria often leave many without power. In the wake of the hurricane, a social movement called Queremos Sol was born. Meaning “we want sun,” the movement Read More...
These are the inaugural winners of the Earthshot Prize
We have previously wrote about Earthshot Prize nominee Vinisha Umashankar, a clever 14-year-old student from Tamil Nadu who created a mobile ironing cart that runs off solar power. Although Umashankar didn’t win an Earthshot Prize, the five other recipients were recently announced. Here are the Read More...
California says goodbye to gas-powered gardening equipment
We recently wrote an article about why you should invest in all-electric gardening equipment. Recognizing the environmental and public health benefits of this transition, California has signed a bill into law that will ban the sale of new gas-powered leaf-blowers, lawnmowers, power washers, and Read More...
Ethnic studies to become high school graduation requirement in California
California high school students graduating in 2030 or later will be required to take at least one semester of an ethnic studies course. Legislation mandating the new graduation requirement was signed into law last week, following similar policies in Los Angeles Unified and Fresno Unified school Read More...
Nobel prize awarded for work demonstrating benefits of raising minimum wage
US-based economist David Card is one of this year’s recipients of the Nobel prize for economics, awarded for his work which helps answer one of the field’s most contested ideas surrounding minimum wage. Card is Canadian born but based at the University of California, Berkeley. So what Read More...
Cal State Los Angeles prison education program celebrates first graduates
Pitzer was the first college in the US to establish a bachelor’s degree program for incarcerated individuals, but while Pitzer allows students to participate in classes virtually from prison, Cal State Los Angeles' Prison B.A. Graduation Initiative is California’s first in-person bachelor’s Read More...