Editor’s Pick: This past week has been Te Wiki O Te Reo Maori or Maori Language Week. All across Aotearoa people have been doing their bit to celebrate te reo Maori. TV One did their weather segment using both Maori and English place names, the NZ Herald offered a Maori Editorial, Kiwi Blog ran a totally Maori piece. If last year is anything to go by, the positive effects of this week will continue to ripple outwards for the rest of 2009. Charlotte Squire Good News Roundup E bella! You’re all invited! This September Nelson’s main city centre street will be only open to those eating at a long line of dining tables during an Italian lunch time feast (dubbed ‘the long lunch’) (Nelson Mail). From the top of the South Island to the bottom, residents of the Resthaven Retirement Village of Gore have been gifted with sixteen hand-crafted quilts. Resthaven Village manager Margaret O’Connor was so impressed with the colourful quilts that she plans to exhibit them before she hands them out to residents (Otago Daily Times). Nine years after they lost her, Muffy the dog has been returned to her rightful, and overjoyed owners on the Gold Coast, Australia. Check out this tear (of joy)-jerking story (Stuff.co.nz). This experience may inspire some gratitude for actor David Arquette. He’s living on the streets of New York in a cardboard box to raise awareness of the homeless people in the big apple (Onlygoodnews.com). Here’s another leader who seems to be up for anything – after hundreds of negative articles relating to a racial issue, President Obama invited a few guys over to his house for a beer. Check out the success story here (NY Times). It was a success story for this city – thousands were delighted by a total solar eclipse in Varanasi, India recently, when an “etheral blue-grey darkness” blanketed the city for nearly four minutes (Times of India). Onto positive environmental news – now New Zealand’s Enviro Schools people are taking to the road to collect and share information about the many inpiring projects that are happening in Northland schools (People’s Times.com). And if you’d like to make a start and help your school or your children’s school environment to become ‘greener’ – here are five simple ways to help make this happen. They’re provided by Zac Goldsmith, director of Ecologist Magazine (The Guardian). Some students may be interested to know that a bald-headed pink-faced songbird has been discovered by scientists in Laos, this is a noteworthy discovery as it’s the only known songbird in Asia (Happynews.com). Here’s a novel concept – ever heard of a camouflage glass house home? Now’s your chance to explore such a concept via Inhabitat.com. This turtle certainly hadn’t lost his sense of exploration – just when many had lost hope for their future, a ninety year old Galapagos turtle has mated, and has a nest full of eggs to watch over at his bachelor pad, inspiring renewed hope amongst conservationalists (Reuters). This new invention will also inspire hope – a new gadget has been developed which tests whether fresh water can be extracted from almost any water source – it’s called ‘M3’ (Scidev.net). Onto trees – did you know that the ancient Mayans once practiced what we now call sustainable forest managment? Read more here (sciencedaily.com). Finally here’s a great example of a rock band making a difference environmentally – Radiohead are selling a Windbreaker made entirely of recyled plastic drink bottles (Greenideal.com). CHECK OUT MORE GOOD NEWS AT Make Happyzine your homepage and access good-news each time you use the internet. Here’s the Wikipedia lowdown on how to do it. Was this news ‘good’ for you? Let us know – we appreciate all feedback. |
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