The Student Room Group

Some good news for a change

We all know there are some cynics out in the world these days, their ranks growing bigger by the day, but every now and then something happens that can remind you that the world isn't such a bad place after all.

So, how about a thread where something nice or uplifting is reported? People who watch Russell Howard's Good News on BBC3 will be familiar with the concept.

To kick it off, a piece from the BBC News website. The Olympic Torch tour has been slated and mocked by many, but you can't deny it means something to a lot of people. Today, a 67yr old wheelchair-bound Parkinsons' sufferer was doing his 300m leg when, for the final few yards, he got up and walked.


Feel free to share your good news.

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Reply 2
143 thread views, one jokey response.

Says a lot about the news, eh?
This reporting made me laugh: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/police-seize-record-haul-counterfeit-coins-193742964.html

It's fake money, it's not worth a penny (well, a penny beyond the cost of the materials.) :rofl:
"We keep the mother flame in specially designed miners' lanterns so if the flame does go out for some reason on the relay we relight it from the source of the flame."

That's mighty unsporting.

Should make it a global game of paintball capture the flag, two countries who want to host the Olympic games are the team captains and their countries build the bases which hold two lit torches. Each captain country gets to pick other countries to join their teams. Once started each team has to get the enemies torch and bring it back to their base, the winner gets to host the Olympics.

Everyone can take part, everyone gets paint ball based weaponry along with protective gear. Apart from any other weaponry you can use whatever you want (within the constraints of the law of course, as in if you had a boat you could mount a amphibious assault but you couldn't steal a car that isn't yours). Starts at the end of every Olympic games, would probably take a few years at least for someone to win.
Reply 5
Original post by Darth Stewie
"We keep the mother flame in specially designed miners' lanterns so if the flame does go out for some reason on the relay we relight it from the source of the flame."

That's mighty unsporting.

Should make it a global game of paintball capture the flag, two countries who want to host the Olympic games are the team captains and their countries build the bases which hold two lit torches. Each captain country gets to pick other countries to join their teams. Once started each team has to get the enemies torch and bring it back to their base, the winner gets to host the Olympics.

Everyone can take part, everyone gets paint ball based weaponry along with protective gear. Apart from any other weaponry you can use whatever you want (within the constraints of the law of course, as in if you had a boat you could mount a amphibious assault but you couldn't steal a car that isn't yours). Starts at the end of every Olympic games, would probably take a few years at least for someone to win.


At least that would make the Olympics interesting.
Reply 6
Original post by Happydude
At least that would make the Olympics interesting.


Some people find it perfectly interesting enough as it is...
Reply 7
Original post by Drewski
Some people find it perfectly interesting enough as it is...


Good for them. I don't appreciate taxes which could be spent saving/improving lives of people in this country being spent on a fancy sports day to make us look like big boys to the rest of the world.
Reply 8
Original post by Happydude
Good for them. I don't appreciate taxes which could be spent saving/improving lives of people in this country being spent on a fancy sports day to make us look like big boys to the rest of the world.


Good for you. I appreciate a view of Government - and more than a token amount of private - expenditure that goes beyond the mundane and provides inspiration, hope, ambition as well as joy and fun to a huge amount of people the world over, let alone here in this country, which does improve people's lives. Each to their own, eh?
The weather:smile:
Original post by Drewski
Good for you. I appreciate a view of Government - and more than a token amount of private - expenditure that goes beyond the mundane and provides inspiration, hope, ambition as well as joy and fun to a huge amount of people the world over, let alone here in this country, which does improve people's lives. Each to their own, eh?


Bringing joy to people world over versus pay freezes, benefit cuts, high youth unemployment etc?

Doesn't cut it for me
Reply 11
Original post by That Bearded Man
Bringing joy to people world over versus pay freezes, benefit cuts, high youth unemployment etc?

Doesn't cut it for me


Because all that was predicted and known to be on it's way in 2004/5? Once in you can't pull out, losing international face on that scale is worse than spending a bit of money. Especially when, in the grand scheme of things, the money that's been spent is small.
Original post by Drewski
Because all that was predicted and known to be on it's way in 2004/5? Once in you can't pull out, losing international face on that scale is worse than spending a bit of money. Especially when, in the grand scheme of things, the money that's been spent is small.


This is a fair point....but bringing pride to a nation is little solace for people getting laid off from work
Reply 13
Original post by That Bearded Man
This is a fair point....but bringing pride to a nation is little solace for people getting laid off from work


Speaking as someone who lost a Government job due to cuts and is now working 3 parttime jobs, I fully sympathise, but sometimes you've got to look for the bigger picture. Yeah, the few billion spent there could have been spent elsewhere, but that only amounts to about a tenth of the NHS budget. Just because the Gov might've had the money, doesn't mean they would have spent it wisely!

Anyway, this has wandered significantly from the point of the thread.
Reply 14
the words good and news rarely mix :rolleyes:
Original post by Drewski
Good for you. I appreciate a view of Government - and more than a token amount of private - expenditure that goes beyond the mundane and provides inspiration, hope, ambition as well as joy and fun to a huge amount of people the world over, let alone here in this country, which does improve people's lives. Each to their own, eh?


Fair enough, but I have never met anyone apart from yourself that thinks so! Maybe that's because I live in a non-affluent part of Scotland where there are a lot of people that could benefit from even a fraction of the money spent on some games spent on improving their lives, but who knows.
Reply 17
Original post by cl_steele
the words good and news rarely mix :rolleyes:


Rare doesn't mean never.
I love Russel Howards Good News :biggrin: I do watch the proper news aswell though.
Reply 19
Original post by Drewski
Speaking as someone who lost a Government job due to cuts and is now working 3 parttime jobs, I fully sympathise, but sometimes you've got to look for the bigger picture. Yeah, the few billion spent there could have been spent elsewhere, but that only amounts to about a tenth of the NHS budget. Just because the Gov might've had the money, doesn't mean they would have spent it wisely!

Anyway, this has wandered significantly from the point of the thread.


How the hell did you get three jobs? You must be highly qualified.

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