Good News Sunday: failed again.

In this week’s Good News Sunday: how to counter the systematically evil, looted artwork is returning, and the systematically evil wins from the haphazardly evil. Obviously.

Every Sunday I try to present the Good News, and every Sunday I fail.

Not that there’s no good news to be had — kittens, goslings, puppies are saved by the dozens.

Somehow that isn’t enough.

Here’s this week’s selection.

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Systematic Evil Is The Worst Kind

This piece is a frightening reminder that foresight and strategy also works for those who do not wish the other well.

The protagonist is Kevin Roberts, leader of what has become the far-right reactionary Heritage Foundation. Reactionary of the wave of equal rights laws that were passed during the sixties in the United States.

Until Kevin Roberts took the helm, the Heritage Foundation was a relatively normal conservative think tank. Filled with relatively normal conservatives. Most have now left — those who stayed share his radically racist Opus Dei Catholic extremist views. Project 2025 views.

But this is where it gets really weird.

As a graduate student, in awe of the power and resilience of Black equality movements, he studied African-American culture. Experts later said it was an “intricate, nuanced work on enslaved Black people”.

More likely? Not to join the struggle. But to learn to defeat it.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGdHuFqH5/

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Coincidentally Found Looted Artwork Returned

Just by chance, this painting by Dutch artist was found to be part of the Goudstikker art collection stolen by nazis during the second world war.

Goudstikker, a second-generation dealer in the fine arts, mostly 17th century paintings, died accidentally while fleeing the nazis after the invasion of the Netherlands.

His death, and the coincidence of the untimely death of his solicitor just before, opened the path to the looting of his entire collection by Hermann Goring, a prominent nazi military official.

And while some of the collection was returned after the war ended, much was never found. A mere 202 art works of the original thousands were given back to the Goudstikker heirs — fifty years afterwards!

The work pictured — by painter and sculptor Toon Kelder — was found only after the grand-daughter of Dutch nazi Hendrik Seyffardt

admitted to a family member it was looted.

Coincidence.

Portrait looted by Nazis found in home of Dutch SS leader’s family

Let Structure Become Your Superpower

This is something everyone knows but not everyone has the discipline to act upon. Structure brings power.

It’s the stuff productivity gurus thrive on. Simple structures, that, when followed strictly, lead to results.

Warren Buffet has his “finding an outstanding company at a sensible price”. Scientist and writer Genrikh Altshuller his “Theory of Inventive Problem Solving”

During his long career as a civil servant, Xi Jinping, currently General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President of China, was always described as a strong leader with a strategic outlook.

He was described in a 2011 The Washington Post article by those who know him as “pragmatic, serious, cautious, hard-working, down to earth and low-key.”

Chinese state media Xinhua News Agency said that Xi “personally reviews every draft of major policy documents” and “all reports submitted to him, no matter how late in the evening, were returned with instructions the following morning.”

It’s clear. When Trump and Xi Jinping met this week to discuss trade and world affairs, frivolous, flippant Trump never had a chance.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGdHxXpKq/

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In the News Today

This week I’ve chosen — somewhat randomly — to look at the headlines of the countries bordering on the Baltic Sea. Previous USSR republics Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia, and the Scandinavian countries Finland, Sweden, and, with some stretch of the imagination, Denmark.

Lithuania

Image: K29 business centre in Vilnius by Augustas Didzgalvis on Wikipedia hi(cc)

LRT.lt, May 17 2026

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda and Finnish President Alexander Stubb said on Wednesday that recent incidents involving Ukrainian drones entering Baltic and Finnish airspace highlight the need to strengthen air defences.

“We must, and we must do it very quickly — strengthen both our detection capabilities and our ability to shoot down, so that such incidents are immediately prevented, and our people are not put at risk,” Nausėda told reporters on Thursday.

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Estonia

Image: Tallinn, Gleb Makarov on Unsplash

ERR, May 17 2026

Estonia, Latvia say Europe is moving too slowly towards combat readiness

European defense spending planners are aiming for full combat readiness by 2029, but eastern flank ministers think this timetable is too slow as Russia could move sooner.

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Latvia

Image: Europride in Riga (2015), Greenzeb on Wikipedia (cc)

LSM.lv, May 17 2026

Speed of Russian advance in Ukraine “an insult to snails”

Latvian Foriegn Minister Baiba Braže was in Tallinn, Estonia on May 16th, taking part in the annual Lennart Meri Conference, a geopolitical meeting named after the distinguished former Estonian president.

Braže participated in a panel discussion titled ‘Not One Centimetre: Europe’s Defence Strategy’, in which she underlined the need to strengthen European military capabilities, expand the presence of NATO forces on the Eastern Flank, continue long-term support for Ukraine, and weaken Russia through sanctions and political pressure.

Finland

Image: Helsinki Central Library Oodi in July 2019, Vadelmavene on Wikipedia (cc)

YLE, May 17, 2026

Fighter jets patrol Finland’s skies amid heightened surveillance

The Latvian Army confirmed this morning that one unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) had entered and exited the country’s airspace.

Finnish F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets were seen and heard flying over the regions of Southeastern Finland and Pirkanmaa on Sunday morning.

Yle has received confirmation from the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) that the country has intensified surveillance of the area.

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Sweden

Image: Øresund Bridge viewed from a plane taking off from Copenhagen Airport, Nick-D on Wikipedia

Svenska Dagbladet, May 17, 2026

Politicians are neglecting the election issue

There are many reasons why the economy will be this year’s election issue.

Both the Prime Minister’s party, the Moderates, and the major opposition party, the Social Democrats, say they want an election campaign about the economy. Add to that the fact that reality exists and that voters live in it. Trump’s Iran war has created the worst oil crisis since the 1970s and has caused the Finance Minister to downgrade the growth forecast. This after a long recession in the wake of the Ukraine war and the pandemic, with inflation and unemployment…

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Denmark

Image: Christiania in Copenhagen, Joshi Milestoner on Unsplash

Politiken, May 17 2026

Now researchers say they have found a solution to social media’s big problem

Social media algorithms control who and what we believe, according to a new study from the University of Copenhagen. The researchers behind it say they have found a way to create better relationships between people.

Social media like Facebook and Instagram are designed to maintain our attention, and their algorithms have received massive criticism for giving a distorted picture of reality and even creating hatred between people.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

For the first time, new research now points to a possible solution that may actually help us understand each other better.

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That’s it from me this week. Hope for the better, prepare for the worst!

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Header Image: Nima Mohammedi on Unsplash