Good week, Bad week

Good week for:

Poop power, after the Toronto Zoo agreed to send 3,000 tons of feces from rhinoceroses, giraffes, bison, and other animals to a new biogas plant. The power plant will convert the zoo’s poop and food waste into heat, electricity, and fertilizer.

Hugging, after Brian Feldman, a Florida conceptual artist, spent Father’s Day giving his dad a 24-hour hug while the two stood in a boxing ring. Feldman called it “both a healing and transformative experience.’’

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Sarah Palin, Inc., after the former Alaska governor registered a trademark on her name, barring others from using it for commercial or political marketing unless they pay her for the privilege.

Bad week for:

Buddhist jokes, after the host of an Australian TV show tried to make the Dalai Lama crack up by telling him a joke: “The Dalai Lama walks into a pizza shop, and says, ‘Can you make me one with everything?’” The Dalai Lama, apparently confused by the reference to pizza, looked at him blankly.

Just following orders, after a Washington state woman drove her SUV down a boat ramp and into a lake because her GPS told her to. The woman and two passengers were able to swim to shore.

Listening to your own impulses, after the Portland, Ore., Water Bureau drained a reservoir of 7.8 million gallons of drinking water after 21-year-old Joshua Seater urinated into it. “I had a pleasant buzz and I should have known better,’’ Seater admitted.