Easter Happy News Roundup

Happy Easter to all those who celebrate the holiday!


And to everyone else, hope you are having a good weekend. Today's post news comes from the Happy News website, linked to the post's title, above.

Tax filing extended - Particularly welcome is a bit of time generosity from the IRS, though we all still must pay our money. The income tax filing deadline has been extended. quote,

The Internal Revenue Service made it a little easier to procrastinate this year. Not only do taxpayers have two or three extra days to file, they also can ask for the first time for an automatic six-month extension.
Nearly 88 million taxpayers have filed their returns, but that leaves millions more working to meet the deadline _ Monday for most people.
The IRS expects 9.6 million to miss the mark in April and request an automatic filing extension until Oct. 16. But they have to pay their taxes now.

Two peaceful women have not given up on a peaceful solution to the dilemma of Iran's nuclear program. With all the saber-rattling, threats and bluster going on this story offers a bit of fresh air today. The female Nobel laureates launched a peace bid in Iran. To quote the articfle,

Shirin Ebadi remembers a time years ago when she was one of 100 female judges in
Iran. She also recalls when the Islamic revolution changed everything.
"After the revolution, we were informed that women could not be judges anymore and women judges were demoted to administrative levels," she said in an
interview Tuesday. "I became the clerk of the court in which I had been the judge. Of course, I couldn't tolerate that and I got early retirement."
But retirement wasn't her style. Ebadi became a human rights activist and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. Now she has a new goal: She's teamed up with other women laureates to launch a campaign to promote a peaceful solution to U.S.-Iran tensions.
Jody Williams, an American who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for her work to outlaw the use of land mines, has joined Ebadi in spearheading the initiative.
"Shirin and I feel a particular responsibility to let the world know that the people of Iran and the United States do not support violent resolution of this crisis," Williams said.

Another generous woman in Iraq is making her mark as a Red Cross volunteer in Iraq. It is a dangerous place, but like many other women stationed there, or living there as citizens, she is trying her best to make it a different kind of place. To quote from the story,

Everyday, women are making history here in Iraq, but one Red Cross worker is making history one family at a time. Heather Ross, Assistant Station Manager, Tikrit-American Red Cross, might not make the history books but she is a part of the Soldiers' and their families' history while in Iraq.
Ross started as a volunteer with the Red Cross in the United States. This is her fourth trip to this area and she is completing her second year in Iraq.
"I love this job - I absolutely love this job," Ross said. "I love working with the Soldiers - I love hearing their stories - I love being part of this."
The main mission for the Red Cross is to provide a communication link between the
American public and the Armed Forces. Ross and the other two members of her
team assist the units and the Soldiers in making a decision as to when a Soldier needs to go home on emergency leave. The team also gets to relay good-news messages to Soldiers that might be hard to contact.

A new mom story is about the establishment of a new bald eagle site. The re-establishment of breeding pairs of b ald eagles all over North America is the perfect rebirth story for Easter. To quote from this good news story,

For the first time in more than 50 years, a pair of bald eagles hatched a chick on Santa Cruz Island, wildlife biologists said Thursday.
The fluffy chick came out of its shell Wednesday afternoon about 35 days after the egg was discovered on the island off Southern California. Scientists say the successful
breeding marked a significant milestone in their four-year effort to reintroduce the eagles to the island.
"It's such an incredible event," said David Garcelon, president of the Institute for Wildlife Studies. "For the first time in 50 years they did it themselves. It's a new age for the islands."

Tags: good news taxes Iran Iraq environment Red Cross