Good News Headlines 6/22/2022

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Lizzo Removes Controversial Lyric From Her New Song After A Moving Exchange With Disabled Fans

by Heather Wake, Upworthy

Lizzo received criticism from fans for a word included in her newly released single “Grrrls,” which was seen by some as derogatory toward disabled people. The song’s opening line includes the word “spazz,” which as many disability advocates pointed out, “spastic” is also used to describe someone with a medical condition where they lose control of their muscles (cerebral palsy, in particular). The term has often been used as an insult, implying that someone is “awkward or clumsy.” Hence why many view it as an “ableist slur.”

‘People Over Pentagon’ Proposal Would Take $100 Billion From Pentagon To Fund Social Programs

by Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams

Progressive advocacy groups across the United States on Monday welcomed a new legislative proposal that would cut Pentagon spending for the next fiscal year by $100 billion and reallocate it toward top threats facing the nation that “are not military in nature.” “Cutting $100 billion from the Pentagon may seem dramatic, but frankly, it frees up the bare minimum needed for a down payment to address the social and political inequalities and crises that are a clear and pressing threat to our democracy,” asserted Eric Eikenberry, government relations director at Win Without War.

Solar Covered Skyscraper Will Produce All Its Own Energy

by Andy Corbley, Good News Network

An eight-story high-rise office building in Melbourne is going to be covered in over a thousand solar panels with the aim of providing all its own electricity. Australia, which is already the world’s great renewables powerhouse, and has powered entire states with solar and wind energy for as long as a week. Clunky rooftop solar panels are still what most people will imagine when they hear that a building is generating solar energy. However one look at the West Melbourne Workplace gives no indication whatsoever that the building is solar powered.

Sonia Sotomayor Reassures Liberals As Conservative Decisions Loom

by Paul Blumenthal, HuffPost

Justice Sonia Sotomayor didn’t tell a gathering of liberal lawyers Thursday what will happen in the big upcoming abortion decision, nor did she give any hint of when it would drop. She didn’t talk about the internal drama roiling the court or how she’s getting along with her colleagues. These topics were off-limits for her speech at the American Constitution Society convention. But she did offer some reassurance to the crowd — ahead of what is expected to be a devastating series of decisions for progressives coming in June — that ultimately, “the arc of history bends toward justice.”

Nearly 100 Rescue Beagles Brought To Salem, MA Shelters For Adoption

by Scott Souza, Patch

Nearly 100 beagles are getting a second chance at a happy life starting this weekend at the Northeast Animal Shelter in Salem and other MSPCA Adoption Centers across the state after being rescued from a breeding facility where they were used for research. The MPSCA said that the dogs were living in confined and unsanitary conditions with little to no socialization. Two of the dogs were also pregnant at the time of the rescue and have since given birth — so the group includes 13 newborn puppies that will be adopted out as well.