just found a few items that made me smile and I thought I'd share them.
Let's start with Virginia.

It was a historic day in Virginia politics as bills to legalize marijuana, abolish the death penalty and eliminate several mandatory minimum sentences passed in the General Assembly.

If it was just one thing I probably wouldn't make a big deal of it, but legalizing marijuana, abolishing the death penalty, and eliminating mandatory minimums. That's huge!
Speaking of the justice system, the next subject is the international criminal court which passed a critical hurdle.

The International Criminal Court said Friday that its jurisdiction extends to territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, potentially clearing the way for its chief prosecutor to open a war crimes probe into Israeli military actions.

The decision was welcomed by the Palestinians and decried by Israel’s prime minister, who vowed to fight “this perversion of justice.” The U.S., Israel’s closest ally, said it opposed the decision.

The ICC’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said in 2019 that there was a “reasonable basis” to open a war crimes probe into Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip as well as Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank. But she asked the court to determine whether she has territorial jurisdiction before proceeding.

of course Israel and its allies in Washington and the news media are all screaming that this is anti-Semitism. Because it's anti-Semitism to oppose the murder of unarmed Palestinian children.
can you imagine if the ICC has enough balls call a spade a spade? What will the world do if faced with the dilemma of having to admit that Israel has engaged in ethnic cleansing?

And speaking of the ICC, it's also investigating our crimes in Afghanistan. A new UN report has something to say about that.

A new U.N. report says nearly one-third of all prisoners in Afghanistan have been tortured or mistreated. The forms of torture include beatings, suffocation, electric shocks, as well reports of “enforced disappearances.” Over half of the claims in the U.N.’s “Torture Report” come from Kandahar province.

In other news about Afghanistan, a Congress-appointed bipartisan panel is advising the U.S. to slow down its withdrawal from Afghanistan. The panel’s report says the May 1 withdrawal goal, established in a 2020 agreement between the U.S. and Taliban forces, could lead to more unrest and potentially a civil war.

first of all, let's get one thing out of the way. A potential Civil War?! What the flock has been going on for 20 years?
Torture, enforced disappearances, and we don't want the ICC to investigate? Gee I wonder why.

and finally one side note about pipeline politics.

Efforts have resumed to complete the last underwater section of the controversial Nord Stream 2 natural-gas pipeline.

The international consortium behind the Russia-led project began laying pipes on February 5 in Danish waters.

The pipeline is intended to carry 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year from Russia to Germany, but work was halted in December 2020 following the threat of sanctions from the United States.

Washington opposes the effort to bypass Ukraine in delivering gas to Europe, denying Kyiv a lucrative source of revenue. The United States has also said the pipeline will increase dependence on Russia for energy supplies, with President Joe Biden calling Nord Stream 2 a "bad deal for Europe."

let's just hope tomorrow brings good news from Ecuador.