All around the world...

I realized this morning I've been monopolizing this blog with good news from the US. I suppose I'm fighting the US media bias of only reporting "local" news, but I've also been going with stories that came to me, rather than actively looking for articles. Today I did a little more of the latter and found a bunch of good news from other countries. 

The Washington Post (yay for the US reporting on something other than the US!) had a brief story on a new customer relations technique debuted in Japan - service with a smile. Now, you're probably protesting this concept is as old as the hills, but the Japanese have taken it to a new technological level. Employees at the busiest train stations - ones that serve hundreds of thousands of commuters every day - now have the option to check their uniform in the mirror and their smile on the computer. Software on laptops in 15 of rail stations can measure the employees' smile curvature to tell how broad a grin the individual is sporting. 

Also in the Pacific is news of a more far-reaching nature. Yesterday, the leaders of Taiwan and China exchanged their first direct messages in 60 years. The enmity between these two countries goes back a long ways, pretty much ever since China annexed Taiwan against the Taiwanese people's wishes. If I were Taiwanese, I'd be pretty peeved too. But according to USA Today, the Chinese president sent a congratulatory message to Taiwan's leader after he won an election to the ruling party's chairmanship. 

Moving a little farther west, presstv.ir reports that a mosaic depicting an angel has been uncovered in the Hagia Sophia museum in Istanbul, Turkey. Originally a basilica before the Ottoman Turks took over the city in the 15th century, the angel (one of a set of six, it is believed) were covered after the building underwent its own religious conversion. 

Lastly, I finish up in the West - Canada to be more precise. The Toronto Star reports on some welcome relief to prospective adoptive parents. Recently, Imagine Adoption Agency, which was handling adoptions between Canadians and children in an orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, filed for bankruptcy. That move halted the adoptions of over 40 families, many of whom spent years learning Ethiopian culture and language in preparation for their new child(ren). However, a mining company has stepped in and donated $100,000 to help the orphanage in Ethiopia keep going and facilitate the adoptions already in progress that were frozen. 

(Photo courtesy of presstv.ir)

Always look on the bright side of life..

In addition to that line coming from one of my favoritest movies ever, it's good advice. Standing on the sunny side of the street or searching for the silver lining... Whatever you call it, it means looking for the best part of a bad situation, which somehow puts you in a better frame of mind to deal with the rest of the bad than you were before you found the good. 

This theory is epitomized in the Unemployed Olympics, the brainchild of several New Yorkers who have been, in the kind words of the New York Times, made redundant. People from all over the city came to compete in several contests that put a fun spin on office tasks. Yeah, it may have done absolutely nothing for their job search, but I'm sure plenty of them now feel slightly better about life. 

A different medium has joined the drumbeat of good news broadcasting. Unfortunately, AM 1310 KLIX probably doesn't reach much outside of Southern Idaho, but it made a pledge to talk about only good news for 24 hours, starting this morning. The morning show took calls from people with stories to tell, and for the rest of the day, every half an hour the station will have good news updates during its syndicated content. 

It's nice to know these days when people are hunkering down and putting the cash under the mattress there are some out there still worried about the future of the non-human species on the planet. As reported in Reuters India, this month begins a migration of a rare butterfly through Taiwan, the route of which crosses a busy highway where last year there was actually enough of a butterfly roadkill rate to have to measure it. This year, the Taiwanese government took steps to protect these creatures. Yes, some of the actions taken may briefly inconvenience people now, but eventually when we come out of our bunkers and want to see the outside world again, there will still be nature to look at.