Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Let us know what you think at info@reasonstobecheerful.world. Great grains At RTBC‚ we are often drawn to solutions that are‚ well‚ old. Sure‚ we like innovation‚ but there’s something alluring about the idea that the solution to a problem has been out there waiting to be rediscovered. That’s part of what drew Editorial Director Rebecca Worby to a story from Inkcap Journal this week about a Bronze Age crop in the UK’s Outer Hebrides. Becca says:   Recently I’ve read several stories about how ancient crops — in this case bere‚ a very old variety of barley — can help us adapt to climate change. This one is beautifully written. Part of it is also about how distilleries on these islands are using the grain‚ which seems like a ripe subject for a future story of its own. Bere barley. Credit: Roger Culos Planting plans A decade ago‚ close to half of the Dominican Republic’s land had been degraded. According to a story from El País shared by Contributing Editor Michaela Haas‚ a large-scale land recovery plan has yielded impressive results: one-fifth of the Caribbean country has been reforested in 10 years. Michaela says:   Impressive when a country reverses the downward trend. What else we’re reading The Finnish miracle: how the country halved its suicide rate – and saved countless lives — shared by RTBC founder David Byrne from the Guardian Welcoming Relatives Home: Bringing Back the Bighorn — shared by Rebecca Worby from​​ YES! Magazine What Texas can teach San Francisco and London about building houses — shared by David Byrne from the Financial Times From our readers Della Gilleran from Sacramento‚ California sent us a story from the Christian Science Monitor about what happened when neighbors said “yes in my backyard” in Boston’s Back Bay. As Della notes‚ it’s a “rare story of a wealthy community finding solutions to homelessness.”  The post What We’re Reading: Ancient Crops‚ Caribbean Regreening and More appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.

When those charged with nurturing and saving lives end up harming and ending lives‚ do good intentions count? Some of the women on "The View" seem to think so. Even though it became clear early in the pandemic that children were the least vulnerable group from the COVID-19 virus and...

Self-promoting leftist "Star Trek" actor George Takei is at it again‚ disgorging his vitriol all over social media‚ but this time he may have gone too far by attempting to make the murder of a woman in Georgia all about himself instead of the actual victim. The openly gay‚ 86-year-old...

MSNBC resident racist Joy Reid is going viral this week with a video of an unhinged rant in reference to conservatives wanting to have more children. Reid's nonsensical diatribe was apparently inspired by Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville's public support for his state's Supreme Court Feb. 23 ruling that frozen...

Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears‚ a Republican elected during the Virginia anti-wokeness red wave of 2021 along with Gov. Glenn Youngkin‚ isn't one to get concerned about blowing off liberal pieties. When talking about race and politics in September 2022‚ she told the New York Post's Cal Thomas that "[i]n...

Musician Kid Rock was condemned on social media for urging Israel to threaten to kill tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians as part of an aggressive campaign to compel the release of hostages taken by Hamas during the Oct. 7 terrorist attack. The Grammy winner (real name: Robert James Ritchie)...

A conservative social media user went viral over the weekend with a disturbing experiment with artificial intelligence that showed just how deeply transgender madness has infected the country -- but a police training program might have gotten there first. The Rabbit Hole‚ an account on the social media platform X‚...

While Joe Biden tries to save face‚ Donald Trump promises to build fences. While president‚ Trump followed through on his promise to secure the border by way of legislation and executive orders. On the contrary‚ from his first day in office‚ as Politico reported‚ Biden overturned several of Trump's executive...

There comes a time in every partisan political writer's life‚ no matter how big or small his audience is‚ no matter how moderate or hardline he may be‚ where he has to call out his own. This‚ alas‚ is that time. So‚ let me get this question out there right...