Rhetorical Fiction

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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Today it’s mostly famous for what it looks like on the inside.

It has an equestrian staircase though it’s so smooth it’s really just a gentle slope more than a staircase. It was build like that so our lazy bum king could ride his horse all the way to the top (king not in photo)

And naturally people have also driven cars up the tower

And held a bike race

For a while it was just sort of abandoned by the authorities and became a spiraling marketplace

But today it has been restored and become a tourist spot as well as a popular destination for school trips. And yes, you can still watch the cosmos at the top.

He told his students to go to the windows.

Get out. Jump if you have to.

Then Liviu Librescu walked to the classroom door and pressed his body against it.

He was 76 years old. He weighed 140 pounds.

The gunman was in the hallway.

It was April 16, 2007. A Monday morning. Solid mechanics class at Virginia Tech, Room 204. Twenty-two students, most of them 19 or 20 years old.

At 9:45 AM, gunshots echoed through Norris Hall. Room by room, the shooter was working his way down the corridor.

Liviu heard it. He understood immediately.

He had survived the Holocaust. He had survived a labor camp. He had spent decades living under Communist oppression. He knew exactly what evil sounded like.

He told his students to escape through the windows. Second floor — it was a drop, but they'd survive. Then he walked to the door and held it shut with his body.

The shooter tried to force it open. It wouldn't move.

He fired through the door. Wood splintered. Bullets came through.

Liviu stayed.

Behind him, students were climbing out the windows. Dropping to the ground. Running. One by one, all twenty-two of them got out.

The shooter kept firing through the door.

Liviu held it shut until every student was safe.

Then the bullets killed him.

When police arrived, they found his body at the door.

All 22 of his students survived. Not one was injured.

Liviu Librescu was born on August 18, 1930, in Ploiești, Romania.

He was Jewish. In 1941, when he was eleven years old, Romanian authorities sent him and his family to a labor camp. His father died there. Liviu survived. When the war ended, he was fifteen.

He went back to school. Studied engineering. Earned a doctorate from the University of Bucharest.

But Communist Romania had no interest in allowing a Jewish intellectual to succeed. He was blocked from academic positions. Passed over for jobs he deserved. He applied to emigrate. The government kept refusing.

Finally, in 1978 — when Liviu was 48 years old — Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin personally intervened. Romania let him go.

He had spent most of his adult life trapped in a country that didn't want him.

In Israel, he taught at Tel Aviv University. Published over 300 papers. Became an international expert in aeroelasticity — the science of how air flows over aircraft wings.

In 1985, Virginia Tech offered him a position. He moved to Blacksburg, Virginia. He taught there for 22 years. His students loved him — demanding but kind, high standards, genuine care.

He was still teaching full-time at 76. Still publishing research. Still showing up every Monday morning for solid mechanics.

April 16 was the first day of Passover — the Jewish holiday celebrating liberation from slavery and oppression.

Liviu Librescu died on the day his tradition sets aside to celebrate freedom.

He spent his entire life escaping death and oppression by luck, by persistence, by the intervention of others. And on his last morning, he chose to stand at a door so that twenty-two young people could have the future he had fought so hard to reach.

He could have run. He could have hidden. He could have climbed out a window with his students.

He chose to stay.

The Virginia Tech shooting killed 32 people that day — the deadliest school shooting in American history at the time.

Room 204 had zero casualties.

Because a 76-year-old Holocaust survivor held a door with his body until every student behind him was gone.

His funeral was held in Israel. Students from Virginia Tech flew across the ocean to honor him. The Israeli government awarded him the Star of David Medal posthumously. Virginia Tech named a scholarship in his memory.

His son said his father died the way he lived — protecting others.

A man who survived everything evil threw at him for 76 years.

On his last day, he made sure 22 kids survived too

Professor Liviu Librescu. August 18, 1930 — April 16, 2007

Holocaust survivor. Labor camp survivor

302 published papers. 22 years at Virginia Tech

22 students out the window.

He held the door.