The Positivity News: 1 July

Posted by Jessie Hornby on Jul 1, 2011 in Life | 0 comments

OTTAWA, CANADA 

Happy Birthday, Canada! There’s so much to feel good about this week: we live in a pretty great country, it’s a long weekend, and I have found further proof that human beings are not a total lost cause. Check it out:

FINALLY.

Those of you who have cycled in Ottawa may have noticed that, while there are many lovely, groomed pathways around the city, the street infrastructure for bikes lanes is severely lacking. Few major arteries in the city include a bike lane, and more often than not, existing lanes are poorly thought out, with many ending in the middle of the street and thereby spitting the unwitting cyclist out into traffic. This can make the prospect of commuter cycling very intimidating to many people, but Ottawa is finally taking serious steps to not only encourage people to get out on their bikes, but to make it safer for those who do, with the creation of segregated bike lanes. It’s win-win, really: drivers can avoid the frustration of getting stuck behind a slow-moving cyclist, and cyclists are better protected from aggressive or careless drivers. Keep it up, Ottawa!

No Facebook OR Twitter? OMG.

This story is both captivating and encouraging. I am absolutely fascinated by the fact that there are tribes of people in the Amazon that have been untouched by the technological baggage of the 21st century, and I’m happy to hear that the Brazilian government is working to preserve the land on which the tribes live and hunt and to ensure that they maintain their traditional way of life.

Bionic bow-wow

This is the story of Naki’o, a dog whose owners have surely earned themselves a place in the fires of Hell by abandoning Naki’o when they moved away after their house was foreclosed (who does that?). Poor little Naki’o got his paws stuck in an icy puddle in the basement of the home, and the resulting frostbite was so severe that all four paws had to be amputated. However, Naki’o has been given a new lease on life thanks to Christie Tomlinson, a vet tech who adopted him and raised enough money to buy him two bionic legs. Because Naki’o did so well with his first set of legs, the company that makes the prosthetics, Orthopets, fitted him with his second set of legs for free.

Well, it’s a start

The New York State Senate passed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage, thus making New York the sixth state to do so. Obviously, this particular move deserves kudos, but…only six? It’s time more states started following suit.

 

Jessie Hornby is a regular contributor to Thought Out Loud. She has a BA Translation degree and by day earns a living as a mild-mannered public servant in Ottawa, Ontario.