Hey there, it’s Erica! Welcome to another edition of Feel Good News — here’s your weekly dose of uplifting stories.

1. ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic Turned Down Million-Dollar Offer to Perform in Saudi Arabia: ‘I Don’t Need to Take Any Money if It Makes Me Feel Icky’

“Weird Al” Yankovic recently disclosed that he declined an offer of at least $1 million to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia last year, expressing discomfort with participating in the event. He emphasized his decision by stating that he wished for offers he could accept without feeling bad. The festival, which featured several prominent American comedians, faced criticism due to its ties to the regime of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and human rights violations, including the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Several comedians, like Atsuko Okatsuka and Shane Gillis, also turned down offers due to similar ethical concerns, while others defended their participation, suggesting that comedy could promote openness in the region. The future of the Riyadh Comedy Festival remains uncertain.

2. Illinois has erased more than $2 billion in medical debt for over 1 million residents across all 102 counties, and recipients don’t apply, they simply receive a letter saying their debt is gone.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker announced the elimination of $2.6 billion in medical debt during a meeting with Cook County health officials. Of this, $1.5 billion was erased through a Cook County program. The initiative provides relief to over a million residents across the state, averaging $1,200 in debt relief per patient. The state’s Medical Debt Relief Program was established in July 2024, partnering with the nonprofit Undue Medical Debt, which committed $10 million to address these debts. CEO Allison Sesso explained that they buy debts from collections agencies at low prices and notify individuals of their debt relief. Cook County Health’s Erik Mikaitis emphasized that the relief could support families financially amid potential Medicaid cuts. However, a 2024 study suggested that the relief’s impact on financial wellbeing and healthcare usage was minimal and may harm the repayment of other medical bills. Despite losing federal stimulus funding, Cook County plans to continue the debt relief program.

3. Trained rats that sniff out landmines have destroyed more than 31,700 landmines, cleared an area the size of Paris, helped make Mozambique mine free, are clearing land in Cambodia, and are now helping 33,000 displaced families return home in Azerbaijan

In December 2023, APOPO celebrated a significant achievement in humanitarian mine action by clearing 100 million square meters of land since its inception. This area is comparable to the size of Paris and was previously contaminated by landmines and explosive remnants of war, threatening local communities. By the end of 2023, APOPO had removed 31,739 landmines, 90,140 explosive remnants, 36,205 small arms, and 2,731 cluster munitions, benefitting over 2 million people in affected regions. Their programs also emphasize mine risk education, victim assistance, and community support for socio-economic development. APOPO employs trained animals, such as HeroRATs and HeroDOGs, alongside traditional manual demining techniques for effective mine detection and clearance. Their operations have restored land for productive use, aiding community recovery. Key contributions include: - Angola: 8.2 million sqm cleared, supporting post-civil war recovery. - Azerbaijan: 1.3 million sqm cleared, focusing on landmine issues from the 2020 Karabakh conflict. - Cambodia: Nearly 50 million sqm cleared, contributing to safety and cultural heritage protection. - Laos: Over 22 million sqm cleared, addressing WWII-era unexploded ordnance. - Mozambique: 11.5 million sqm cleared, aiding the country’s path to becoming mine-free. - South Sudan: 1.7 million sqm cleared, enhancing safety in conflict regions. - Türkiye: 641,029 sqm cleared to improve safety along borders. APOPO remains dedicated to eliminating landmine threats and enhancing community safety, expressing gratitude to its donors and partners who support its mission.

4. Cambodia has become the first country in Asia and the Pacific to meet the UN’s toughest HIV targets, with 95% of people living with HIV now knowing their status, receiving treatment, and achieving viral suppression

The announcement jointly made by the Royal Government of Cambodia and Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS marks a major step in Cambodia’s progress towards ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. It also comes as 2026 marks 30 years of Joint United Nations Programme support to Cambodia’s HIV response - three decades of partnership with the Royal Government of Cambodia, communities, civil society, development partners and people living with and affected by HIV.

5. A brain injury left a Seattle man unable to remember the career he’d spent 20 years building, but he still remembered how to fix bicycles. Now he repairs broken bikes for free and gives them away to people who need them.

Rob P. spends hours restoring a broken bicycle shifter instead of replacing it for $10. He repairs bikes for free and gives them away to reduce waste and find purpose after a traumatic brain injury from a car accident in 2017. This injury led to cognitive and physical challenges, including memory loss and partial blindness. Previously a computer programmer, Rob revived his bike repair skills from youth to engage in meaningful work, slowly overcoming depression. He began fixing bikes for friends and expanded his efforts through an online group, making hundreds of repairs. Rob’s meticulous approach, supported by his wife Becky, has helped him regain a sense of identity and accomplishment, offering joy to both donors and recipients of the bikes. Experts note that fixing bicycles taps into procedural memory, enhancing recovery possibilities. Rob, focused on his abilities rather than his limitations, finds fulfillment in helping others while navigating the challenges of life after injury.

6. Hawaii just signed healthcare measures that could erase up to $91 million in medical debt for 50,000 residents, with qualified people simply getting a letter saying their debt has been canceled, while also expanding fertility preservation coverage and colorectal cancer screening access

Gov. Josh Green signed three health measures into law on July 9 aimed at expanding care and creating a state program to forgive medical debt. The package includes new insurance rules for fertility preservation, financial help for colorectal cancer screenings, and a Medical Debt Acquisition and Forgiveness Program to cancel qualifying bills. One bill (Act 218) requires insurers to cover standard fertility preservation for patients facing medically necessary treatments that could cause infertility — think chemo, radiation or certain surgeries — and applies to policies issued or renewed after Dec. 31, 2026; Hawaii will be the 22nd state with this requirement. Another (Act 219) directs the Department of Human Services to provide financial assistance for colorectal screening for people who are uninsured, underinsured or ineligible for Medicaid, and forces some plans to cover necessary follow-up colonoscopies after a positive screen with no deductibles, copays, or coinsurance; colorectal cancer is the state’s second-leading cancer killer, about 260 deaths a year. The debt bill (Act 220) sets up a program under the Office of Wellness and Resilience to partner with nonprofits to buy outstanding medical debt for a fraction of its value and cancel it, potentially wiping out as much as $91 million for up to 50,000 residents, though it’s subject to available funding. Officials say about 1 in 20 Hawaiians has medical debt on their credit report; people won’t apply — if their debt is purchased and erased they’ll just get a notice. Supporters called it a major step to prevent medical bills from wrecking families’ finances, noting estimates that a relatively small state investment could cancel huge amounts of debt.

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That’s it for last week :)

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are we drawing the connection between worker safety and consumer safety & public health yet?

More on the health point:

"US Department of Labor proposes more than $1M fine following worker fatality at New Jersey vegetable processing facility"

The first-edition of The Joy of Gay Sex, published in 1977, declared, “Vegetable shortening may be the best lubricant, since it is not only greasy but also digestible”[4] Such a statement perhaps gives new meaning to the companies boastful declarations that “Its digestible” and “Crisco has been making life in the kitchen more delicious for years.”  Similarly, in the 1978 sex manual The Advocate Guide to Gay Health, Crisco even earned an entry in the book’s index.  Discussions of the shortening’s use as an anal lubricant indicate its popularity, with statements such as: “The lubricant, typically the cultic Crisco, must be copious.”[5]  In fact, Crisco was so synonomus with gay sex that discos and bars around the world took on the name, such as Crisco Disco in New York City, which was one of the premiere clubs during the 1970s and early 1980s.  Other clubs or bathhouses, such as Club Z in Seattle, even featured murals with Crisco.  Thus, Crisco was conversely also one of many things that led to the formation of gay identities during the 20th century.

from this essay: http://www.columbia.edu/~sf2220/TT2007/web-content/Pages/drew2.html

you've seen the jokes. india is "dirty", indians are "everywhere", why don't they fix their own country. ok. let me tell you why, and what's happening right now while nobody's watching.

first, the history you skipped: britain ruled india for two centuries and drained it. economist utsa patnaik's research estimates around $45 trillion in today's money was taken. the india that got independence in 1947 was one of the poorest countries on earth. every "why is india like this" question starts there. you don't get to profit off a robbery and then mock the crime scene.

now, what's happening RIGHT NOW:

in may the question paper for NEET leaked. that's the national medical entrance exam. over 2.2 million students took it. cancelled. years of studying, families' savings poured into coaching, gone overnight because someone sold the paper. students died by suicide after. these were kids who wanted to be doctors.

and out of that came a protest movement. a gen z group called the cockroach janta party, started by a 30 year old named abhijeet dipke, got 22 million instagram followers within DAYS. they've been doing a sit-in at jantar mantar in delhi demanding education minister dharmendra pradhan resign.

and then there's sonam wangchuk. if you've watched 3 idiots, he's the real engineer the character was based on. built solar schools in ladakh. invented ice stupas so himalayan villages have water. spent his whole life on education. he's 59 and he's been on hunger strike for 17+ days now. reporters went to see him this week and he was too weak to talk. and the troll armies are calling him "anti national" and "foreign funded". a man starving himself for other people's children. that's the thing here, anyone who asks a question is suddenly a traitor.

it's not one incident, it's everywhere you look:

• infrastructure worth thousands of crores failing within months of the ribbon cutting. tunnels collapsing in regions where heavy rain is a guarantee, not a surprise.

• youth unemployment near 10% for ages 15 to 29, 13.6% in cities. in a country of 1.42 billion where more than half the population is young.

• only about the top 3% of indians earn above 10 lakh a year. meanwhile billionaire wealth keeps ballooning and the headlines celebrate it.

• manipur burned for over two years. an ethnic conflict, tens of thousands displaced, and the prime minister barely said the word manipur while it happened.

• journalists raided. critics' houses bulldozed. activists sitting in jail for years without trial under laws like UAPA. our press freedom ranking has cratered.

• even the petrol is a fight now, ethanol blending pushed through while drivers complain about their engines and get no straight answers.

and through all of it, the PM, who came to power on religious polarisation (americans, sound familiar?), travels abroad for photo ops and has not held one single open press conference in over a decade. not one.

what i'm asking:

if you're not indian: share this. our media mostly won't cover any of it because the big outlets are owned by the same billionaires the government serves. the only reason wangchuk's fast is getting any coverage is people refusing to look away.

if you ARE indian: speak up even if you're comfortable. especially if you're comfortable. join the protests. add to this, correct me, translate it. staying quiet is a choice when nothing in this post touches your life.

india is not "dirty". india was robbed, and it's being robbed again, from the inside this time. but it's also the country where a 59 year old will starve for strangers' kids and 22 million young people will rally behind a party literally named after cockroaches, because cockroaches survive everything.

we can still save her. but only loudly.

I must find...the HOES.

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