Dear friends,
I’m sure I’m not alone in cheering the victorious “Hollywood Ending” of the actors’ strike.
The deal includes new provisions for pensions and health care, minimum compensation floors, protections around the use of artificial intelligence (AI), and a “streaming participation bonus” that provides residuals for actors on digital productions. The new contract’s concessions are valued at over $1 billion, according to SAG-AFTRA.
It was a long, hard fight and an important win. The pay raises represented “the largest increase in minimum wages in the last forty years.”
The way that good action spreads like ripples in a pond always moves me.
It appears that Governor Hochul is finally going to sign the Clean Slate Act.
The law will enable folks who have been incarcerated to successfully rejoin their communities after a waiting period that will seal their criminal records. This will directly affect about 2.3 million people in New York State
Senator Zellnor Myrie, who sponsored Clean Slate, has repeatedly pointed out that this bill is “a jobs bill, an education bill, a housing bill.” It is an opportunity for repair and we all need that.
The governor needs a reminder, however, since Republicans in the state are lobbying against this legislation.
Tell Governor Hochul to sign Clean Slate!
When people are incarcerated, they are deprived of all kinds of ease. This includes the ease of accessing factual information. NYC Books Through Bars does an annual campaign for world almanacs, one of the most-requested items by incarcerated readers.
Help feed the hunger for context by purchasing the latest edition of The World Almanac for someone behind bars.
The work of justice is so often the work of repair. Austria will now compensate people who were prosecuted under old anti-gay statutes. The new program will distribute millions of euros to around 11,000 people who were investigated and punished under the discriminatory provisions.
The nation’s justice minister told reporters:
“This financial compensation can never, never make up for the suffering and injustice that happened … but it is of immense importance that we … finally take responsibility for this part of our history.”
Restoring meadows repairs wildlife and pollinator habitat while improving air and water quality and sequestering carbon. One person, whose community received funds to convert their lawns, described the other benefits of converting laws to meadows:
“You can hear the bees, and can see the bees and the butterflies — and the beauty that it has created on the edge of the property is just phenomenal.”
Convert a patch of lawn, if you have one.
A "nature agreement" has been finalized involving Canada’s national government, the provincial government of British Columbia, and the province's 200,000 First Nations people to protect 30 percent of the province's land by 2030.
The goals include the protection of old growth forests and the restoration of ecosystems.
"With mutual recognition of First Nations as the original stewards and title holders to our lands and waters, we have reached a jointly developed framework with sustained funding to achieve our collective goals for biodiversity protection, restoration and stewardship," said Chief Terry Teegee with the B.C. Assembly of First Nations.
Trees are also exceptionally good company, although they are no substitute for human companionship.
Dr. Ruth Westheimer is back in action as New York State’s Loneliness Ambassador, a post she campaigned for. She was separated from her family at age 10 when she was part of the Kindertransport of Jewish children escaping Nazi rule in Germany.
During the pandemic, Dr. Ruth revisited her diaries from that difficult time and has offered her services to help address the epidemic of loneliness. Dr. Ruth, 95, is living my dream: to be useful as long as I live.
And here’s some local good news: a new independent bookstore on Church Avenue, called Lofty Pigeon Books.
Check out the events at Lofty Pigeon Books. It’s good to get out on a weeknight!
Yesterday’s post never went out. It was going to be so laden with sad news that I added a disclaimer urging you to skip it if it wasn’t going to be good for you to read it. By the time I finished writing my disclaimer, I gave myself the day off, which was definitely wise.
Pause to acknowledge smart things you’ve done recently to take care of yourself.
with love,
L