Good News for Humankind

The world’s latest milestones for climate, justice, freedom, peace, health, and more

November 4 – 10 2024 C.E.

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Hi beautiful people,

What a hard week! At times, I’ve felt quite sad and hopeless. At others, angry and judgmental. At others, seeing all the silver linings and possibilities.

I’ve heard from some of you who are urgently pursuing action. Others seem more in a space of grief, contemplation, or not knowing. Others are choosing to focus on other things in life. Other never really cared that much to begin with.

I still don’t feel like I have much useful to say right now. Maybe it’s enough just to give you permission to let go of any judgment about how you or others are reacting to this moment. Maybe for now, we can all just let ourselves and each other be wherever we actually are without needing to look a certain way about it.

You don’t need to be positive, optimistic, noble, or constructive. What would it mean for you just to be authentic?

Love, Peter

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Calendar

• ​GET S*** DONE: Anti-Procrastination Group​ on Monday, November 11 at 12:30-2pm PT (online)
• ​Bellingham Men’s Circle​ on Monday, November 18 from 6-8pm PT (in-person)

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​Sudan launches first malaria vaccine in landmark child health initiative​

Malaria remains a leading cause of childhood mortality in Sudan, which has one of the highest malaria rates in the region. The disease claimed an estimated 7,900 lives in Sudan in 2023, though the actual toll may be higher due to ongoing conflict between rival militaries. The launch follows the arrival of the first consignment of 186,000 doses to Sudan in October and the campaign will begin across 15 health facilities in Gedaref and the Blue Nile states, benefitting more than 148,000 children under 12 months old. In 2025 and 2026, the vaccine will be introduced in a further 129 localities.

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​Australia to slash $10 billion off student debt amid cost of living pressures​

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said that his government plans to cut student loans for around three million Australians by 20%, wiping off around $10 billion USD in debts. The move builds on May’s budget, which attacked cost of living pressures in Australia and gave debt relief for students, as well as more investment to make medicines cheaper, and a boost to a rent assistance program. The changes would mean the average graduate with a loan of A$27,600 would have A$5,520 wiped, the government said, adding that they would take effect from June 1, 2025.

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​Sarah McBride makes history as first trans member of U.S. Congress​

Her recent election win makes McBride the first out transgender person to serve in Congress. She beat her Republican opponent, John Whalen III, who ran on an anti-immigration, anti-choice platform. At only 34, McBride has already made an impressive name for herself, with her seat in Congress adding yet another “first” to the list. After working for the Human Rights Campaign and interning in the Obama-Biden White House, the 2020 elections in her home state of Delaware made her the first trans person elected to a state senate.

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​Thailand moves to end statelessness for nearly 500,000 people in “historic development”​

Thailand’s cabinet has approved an accelerated pathway to permanent residency and nationality for nearly half a million stateless people, marking one of the region’s most significant citizenship initiatives. The decision will benefit 335,000 longtime residents and members of officially recognized minority ethnic groups, along with approximately 142,000 of their children born in Thailand. The country recently pledged at the Global Refugee Forum 2023 to resolve statelessness and was among the founding members of UNHCR’s Global Alliance to End Stateless, launched in October 2024.

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​Missouri voters approve ballot measure to expand abortion rights​

Missouri banned almost all abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The state’s current law is considered one of the most strict in the country, though it makes exceptions to protect the life of the mother, and for medical emergencies. The new amendment, which required a simple majority to pass, now removes the state’s ban on abortion and protects abortion rights up to fetal viability, around the 24th week of pregnancy, with exceptions afterward to protect the life or health of the woman.

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​New York passes Equal Rights Amendent passes​

New Yorkers have passed Amendment 1, branded the Equal Rights Amendment. The New York Constitution already forbids discrimination based on race, creed, or religion. Amendment 1 adds language that would prohibit denial of civil rights based on national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes or reproductive healthcare and autonomy. The amendment effectively guarantees a right to abortion and adds protections for trans New Yorkers.

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​Brazil fines meat ranchers and packers $64 million for raising and purchasing cattle from deforested Amazon​

IBAMA, Brazil’s environmental protection agency, has fined meat packers and cattle ranchers — including the largest on the planet, JBS — $64 million for buying or raising cattle on illegally deforested land in the Amazon rainforest. The agency said 69 properties had been identified that had sold a total of 18,000 cattle who had been raised on deforested land. They also found 23 meat packing companies that had bought the cattle in Amazonas and Para states. Cattle ranching is the biggest driver of deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest.

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​Jordan becomes first country to receive WHO verification for eliminating leprosy​

Jordan has not reported any autochthonous cases of leprosy for over two decades, a testament to its strong political commitment and effective public health strategies to eliminate the disease. Following up on the Ministry of Health’s interest in verifying the elimination of leprosy, the World Health Organization (WHO) commissioned an independent team to assess this situation. After an extensive review, the verification team recommended that WHO acknowledges leprosy has been eliminated in Jordan.

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​Colorado voters move to put existing abortion laws into state constitution​

The amendment is similar to a law Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed in 2022 and would codify protections for abortion including barring local governments from passing their own laws to try to restrict the procedure. It would also remove Colorado’s current constitutional ban against public funding for abortions. That would allow the state to cover the procedure under Medicaid and add it to state employee health plans.

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​World’s first wooden satellite, developed in Japan, heads to space​

LignoSat, developed by Kyoto University and homebuilder Sumitomo Forestry, opens new tab, will be flown to the International Space Station on a SpaceX mission, and later released into orbit about 250 miles above the Earth. Named after the Latin word for “wood”, the palm-sized LignoSat is tasked to demonstrate the cosmic potential of the renewable material as humans explore living in space. Decommissioned satellites must re-enter the atmosphere to avoid becoming space debris. Conventional metal satellites create aluminum oxide particles during re-entry, but wooden ones would just burn up with less pollution.

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​World Health Organization approves first-ever malaria vaccine​​ (2021 C.E.)​

The vaccine – called RTS,S and developed by PATH and GlaxoSmithKline – was proven effective in 2015. Now, after the success of pilot immunization programs in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi, the World Health Organization says the vaccine should be rolled out across sub-Saharan Africa and in other regions with moderate to high malaria transmission. Having a safe, effective vaccine for one of the world’s deadly diseases – after more than a century of trying – is a historic milestone for medicine and public health.

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​Humanity eradicates malaria (2045 C.E. ???)​

Malaria has been one of the biggest scourges on humanity for millennia and mostly kills babies and infants. However, through the widespread dissemination of a vaccine developed in the 2020s, global efforts to eradicate perhaps the deadliest disease known to humanity finally find resounding success. In the 20th century alone, malaria claimed between 150 million and 300 million lives, accounting for 2-5% of all deaths globally. By the halfway point of the 21st century, these deaths had been effectively eliminated.

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These milestones have been added to the ​Archive of Human Genius​ – our database of social change milestones – past, present & future.