In Search of Good News & A Delicious Cookie Recipe

Having your head in the sand about the realities of things currently happening in the world is not helpful. Neither is doom scrolling and forgetting that the good things that do exist feed hope, which is essential. In the spirit of seeking balance here’s some good news and also a delicious cookie recipe.

(starting with the most random) Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District has a hope line

I grew up calling Moviefone and a phone number for the local time and temperature so the idea of calling a phone number for a message of hope sounded delightful. And I was especially curious since it’s from a regional sewer district. Here’s the Hope line post (and number) on bluesky and on instagram. Maybe sewer analogies will bring us together in 2025.

This is how we should be using AI

“The company told CBS they worked with known scam artists to train Daisy and used a tactic called number seeding to get Daisy's phone number added to a list of online ‘mugs lists’ — lists used by scammers targeting U.K. consumers. When they call, Daisy ‘has all the time in the world’ to keep the scammers occupied.” (AI grandma fights back against scammers)

Science is amazing

“In the United States, the perinatal HIV transmission rate, or the rate of a mother passing the virus on to a child through pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding, is now less than 1% thanks to antiretroviral medications, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The World Health Organization says that globally, new HIV infections among children up to age 14 have declined by 38% since 2015 and AIDS-related deaths have fallen by 43%.” (Closure of northern Minnesota camp is ‘the greatest story.’ Here’s why.)

“The emerging data surrounding lenacapavir is so astonishing that the drug's development has been heralded as the 2024 Breakthrough of the Year by the journal Science, which described it as representing ‘a pivotal step toward diminishing HIV/AIDS as a global health crisis.’" (This drug is the 'breakthrough of the year' — and it could mean the end of the HIV epidemic)

“In a significant breakthrough in women’s health, the innovative diagnostic tool has proven it is highly accurate in differentiating between healthy individuals and those suffering endometriosis, a chronic condition affecting one in nine women worldwide.” (Proteomics nails near perfect results for endometriosis blood test)

Animals for all the wins

Comedy wildlife photography awards 2024 – in pictures

and the winners are…

See the Winners of 2024 Comedy Wildlife Awards: ‘Stuck Squirrel,’ ‘Smooching Owls,’ ‘Awkward Smiley Frog’ and More

And that cookie recipe!

Salted Pistachio Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I don’t know how I came across this recipe but I am glad I did as they were a big hit in my house on New Year’s Day. But I should note that I am one of those people who always tweaks things in recipes so for transparancy here were my slight adjustments:

I used panela sugar / half almond flour and half all purpose flour/ left out the matcha powder (didn’t have).

And the note about not using chocolate chips and sticking to chunks of chocolate is important, the chocolate bites is where the burst of flavor of almond and salt and pistachios really shines through. I used one of my equal exchange dark chocolate bars broken into big chunks. And now I have to go make another batch.

Hope this starts your year with a bit of a smile.