This video of a wolf-like cry soothing a baby evokes something mystical from deep within our collective history. Quite magical in its effect, too.
Posted on YouTube more than a year ago, a Good News reader from Alaska named, wwwoolf (not making that up), finally sent the link to me yesterday. Enjoy.
(Does anyone know to what exact species this animal belongs?)
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, is waging one of the world’s most determined campaigns against terrorism — and much of the credit goes to the country’s American-trained police unit, Detachment 88. The horror and audacity of the Bali bombings proved to be an epiphany for Indonesians, alerting them to the homegrown extremists in their midst and helping forge a national consensus against terrorism. The following year, Detachment 88 was set up with the backing of the U.S. and Australian governments. Today, it numbers 400 personnel drawn from the elite of the Indonesian police’s special-operations forces — and it has built up an extensive intelligence network to nab terrorists.
Since Feb. 22, 48 suspected terrorists were caught within a seven-week period and another eight killed. In May, a further 16 suspects were arrested and five killed as police foiled a plot to assassinate Indonesia’s President and visiting foreign dignitaries. Detachment 88 had done it again.
(READ the story from Time Magazine)
A new pollution standard announced Saturday, on World Environment Day, ensures that cleaner water wll flow into the Arabian Sea from India’s second largest state.
Maharashtra, the richest state in India, boasting a 300 mile coastline and deep water ports like Mumbai, has ordered that all of its hotels, clubs and resorts install sewage plants on their premises to help recycle 80 percent of sewage water for non-potable use.
The decision from the Maharashtra Pollution Board Control is all the more important because 50 percent of the untreated sewage water of Mumbai, the second most populous city in the world, is flushed directly into the rivers and sea, affecting marine life.
Water shortages across India also bolstered the push for the new rule, which is controversial among smaller hotels.
According to a report in Midday, Vijay Shewakramani, Managing Committee Member, Hotel and Restaurant Association Western India said, “Making optimum use of recycled water is the need of the hour. Soon, not just commercial establishments but residential complexes too will have to implement this rule.”
(READ the report in Mid-day.com)
A new pollution standard announced Saturday, on World Environment Day, ensures that cleaner water wll flow into the Arabian Sea from India’s second largest state.
Maharashtra, the richest state in India, boasting a 300 mile coastline and deep water ports like Mumbai, has ordered that all of its hotels, clubs and resorts install sewage plants on their premises to help recycle 80 percent of sewage water for non-potable use.
The decision from the Maharashtra Pollution Board Control is all the more important because 50 percent of the untreated sewage water of Mumbai, the second most populous city in the world, is flushed directly into the rivers and sea, affecting marine life.
Water shortages across India also bolstered the push for the new rule, which is controversial among smaller hotels.
According to a report in Midday, Vijay Shewakramani, Managing Committee Member, Hotel and Restaurant Association Western India said, “Making optimum use of recycled water is the need of the hour. Soon, not just commercial establishments but residential complexes too will have to implement this rule.”
(READ the report in Mid-day.com)
A person in their final months of life cannot adopt a pet, but, what if they are longing for the snuggling and affection of a lap cat? Tails High, a cat adoption agency in Virginia provided such a pet for a woman who made a special inquiry about her sister who was dying at home in hospice care.
After the suitable cat was chosen she was carried to meet the dying woman.
“The moment was breathtaking. My sister was so happy.”
And Sabrina the cat? She seemed to sense what was necessary. “She was instantly and completely a lap cat.” She snuggled up against the patient for hours on end and dealt calmly with everyone who arrived — hospice workers, family members, friends.
(READ the story at USA Today) … Thanks to Sally Scime for suggesting the link!
Legendary UCLA basketball Coach John Wooden, who led his team to 10 NCAA championships over 12 years, including an 88-game winning streak from 1971 to 1974, has died at the age of 99.
The humble man was sometimes more of a teacher, life guide or spiritual adviser than a coach. He never raised his voice during his 27 year career.
Wooden authored a lecture and book about the Pyramid of Success, a set of philosophical building blocks for winning at basketball and at life. The last book he authored was released in 2009, Coach Wooden’s Leadership Game Plan for Success: 12 Lessons for Extraordinary Performance and Personal Excellence
Among his maxims:
* Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
* Flexibility is the key to stability.
* Be quick, but don’t hurry.
WATCH the video below, or at MSNBC... also, READ this article at Chicago Sun-Times.
Two of the world’s solar energy leaders have just announced major plans to bring new solar energy technology and green jobs to San Diego. The Sanyo Electric group has embarked on a three year, $3 million partnership with the University of California, San Diego on next-generation solar energy systems, and in a separate development, solar cell efficiency wizard Kyocera has started up a solar module manufacturing plant in the city, aiming to produce about 30 megawatts annually.
(READ the details in CleanTechnica)
With forests at high risk for fire in northern Ontario last week, a couple who were out for a scenic flight in their small plane became environmental heroes when they spotted a flash fire and risked their lives to save the Boreal forest near their remote cottage west of Sudbury.
Traveling to their hideaway home on Lonely Lake, Steve and Giselle Holmik veered overhead to see if friends were at their camp on neighboring Onaping Lake. They noticed forest fires in the distance in every direction.
“We suddenly sighted a huge explosion seemingly coming out of the ground near Lonely. It was just like a volcano erupting. We had just heard an announcement on the radio that there was a fire North of Wahnapitae and a smaller one to the West,” said Giselle.
Piloting their small plane, Steve scouted for a safe place to land. Taxiing by the narrows and observing the smoke, it was clear that the fire had been burning for a few days.
“With all the other fires going on, we had no idea how long it would take for the Ministry of Natural Resources to take action and the fire being near the camp, it was too close for comfort to be wondering and waiting,” says Giselle.
Forest fire in Canada is a dangerous situation at the best of times, let alone in a remote location when forests were tinder dry. Seeing no option, Steve acted quickly and calmly to get their small fire pump going, though it had not been working for a couple of years.
By the time they got to the site, there were trees going up in flames like fire crackers and Steve had to situate himself on the burned out land, still smoldering, in order to reach the flames, reports Gisele.
They determined that the fire, set by recent lightning, had tunneled into the ground. Realizing this was going to take longer that they thought, Giselle headed back to get more fuel for the water pump and a second hose. They connected the hoses and Steve continued working his way to the flames. Giselle was able to go in and start digging where he had put flames out, as it was obvious the parched earth underneath was still on fire.
Three grueling hours later, the environmental heroes had the area under control.
A fire bomber plane buzzed overhead, but realized that the couple amazingly had things under control, and moved on to other fires in the distance.
Later that evening, the couple inspected the site and found smoke and ground still smoldering. By the next morning however, the area was smoke free. That same night, a helicopter flew over Lonely, hovered a bit over the site scanning with heat sensing equipment and then took off up North.
“It was a relief to see that!” the couple relates. They flew over the area again this week, spotted fine wisps of smoke and reported it to the MNR, who took over from there.
With forests at high risk for fire in northern Ontario last week, a couple who were out for a scenic flight in their small plane became environmental heroes when they spotted a flash fire and risked their lives to save the Boreal forest near their remote cottage west of Sudbury.
Traveling to their hideaway home on Lonely Lake, Steve and Giselle Holmik veered overhead to see if friends were at their camp on neighboring Onaping Lake. They noticed forest fires in the distance in every direction.
“We suddenly sighted a huge explosion seemingly coming out of the ground near Lonely. It was just like a volcano erupting. We had just heard an announcement on the radio that there was a fire North of Wahnapitae and a smaller one to the West,” said Giselle.
That tangled mess of cords under the desk doesn’t look good, but you can fix it easily by painting and reusing a cardboard paper towel cylinder.
Takeout containers, wine cases and egg cartons have multiple uses, as well.
Here are eleven more money-saving ways to repurpose what you would have ended up throwing away curbside.
(READ the list at WBTV.com)
For students in Peach County, Georgia, Mondays are for video games or hanging out at community centers.
The rural area is one of more than 120 school districts across the country where kids attend school just four days a week, a cost-saving tactic gaining popularity among cash-strapped districts struggling to make ends meet. The 4,000-student district started shaving a day off its weekly school calendar last year to help fill a $1 million budget shortfall.
The results? Test scores went up.
So did attendance — for both students and teachers. The district is spending one-third of what it once did on substitute teachers, Clark said.
(READ the story or WATCH the video from AP, via Yahoo News)
World Environment Day kicks off tomorrow, June 5, in Rwanda, a country of exceptional biodiversity that has made “huge strides in environmental protection,” according to the UN Environmental Program, which produces the annual celebration.
Rwanda recently pledged along with nine other African nations to continue supporting the recovery of the great ape. But, people in other countries around the world are helping too.
You can lend a hand to this threatened species by recycling your cell phone, or better yet, creating a neighborhood or school event that collects phones from an entire community.
The mobile phone industry consumes huge amounts of the metallic ore, coltan. Mining of this non-renewable metal takes place mostly in central Africa, the sole habitat of the majestic gorilla.
A group of physicians have organized free health care clinics across 26 states tomorrow that will treat, screen and counsel patients who need care. More than 200 Pakistani-American doctors from the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA) have volunteered their time and services for this Free Health Care Day.
“Pakistani-American doctors have donated their time and services for years,” said Dr. Zeelaf Munir MD, president of APPNA. “But we hope to help thousands of fellow Americans on one day during our first coordinated National Free Health Care Day.”
Imagine a vaccine for adult women that would prevent breast cancer, just like the vaccines received as children prevented polio. Cleveland Clinic researchers have done just that, completing a trial that showed 100% effectiveness for a new breast cancer vaccine in mice — and they want to begin testing on women over 40 as soon as possible.
The researchers found that a single vaccination with the antigen α-lactalbumin prevents breast cancer tumors from forming in mice, while also inhibiting the growth of already existing tumors. Human trials could begin within the next year. If successful, it would be the first vaccine to prevent breast cancer.
“We believe that this vaccine will someday be used to prevent breast cancer in adult women in the same way that vaccines prevent polio and measles in children,” said Vincent Tuohy, Ph.D., the study’s principal investigator and an immunologist in Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute Department of Immunology. “If it works in humans the way it works in mice, this will be monumental. We could eliminate breast cancer.”
(WATCH video, or continue reading below…)
Imagine a vaccine for adult women that would prevent breast cancer, just like the vaccines received as children prevented polio. Cleveland Clinic researchers have done just that, completing a trial that showed 100% effectiveness for a new breast cancer vaccine in mice — and they want to begin testing on women over 40 as soon as possible.
The researchers found that a single vaccination with the antigen α-lactalbumin prevents breast cancer tumors from forming in mice, while also inhibiting the growth of already existing tumors. Human trials could begin within the next year. If successful, it would be the first vaccine to prevent breast cancer.
“We believe that this vaccine will someday be used to prevent breast cancer in adult women in the same way that vaccines prevent polio and measles in children,” said Vincent Tuohy, Ph.D., the study’s principal investigator and an immunologist in Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute Department of Immunology. “If it works in humans the way it works in mice, this will be monumental. We could eliminate breast cancer.”
(WATCH video, or continue reading below…)
Despite the aches and pains of old age, a large Gallup poll has found that by almost any measure, people get happier as they get older.
A study of more than 340,000 people nationwide, ages 18 to 85 showed that people start out at age 18 feeling pretty good about themselves, and then, apparently, life begins to throw curve balls. They feel worse and worse until they hit 50. At that point, there is a sharp reversal, and people keep getting happier as they age. By the time they are 85, they are even more satisfied with themselves than they were at 18.
So, don’t worry, be happy — because you’re getting older.
(READ the article at the NY Times)
The finale of a star-studded night at the White House where Paul McCartney received the Gershwin Prize was a rousing rendition of Hey Jude with a sing-along for audience members — “First the men… Now the women, just the women…”
McCartney was joined onstage by all the artists who serenaded him with renditions of his tunes throughout the night, including Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, Jonas Brothers, and Jerry Seinfeld, the emcee for the show, which will air on PBS stations July 28.
(WATCH the video below, or at ABC News)
Scientists have taken another important step toward understanding just how sticking needles into the body can ease pain.
In a paper published Sunday in Nature Neuroscience, a University of Rochester Medical Center team identified a specific molecule as playing a key part in creating the effects of acupuncture in the body. Building on that knowledge, scientists were able to triple the beneficial effects of acupuncture in mice.
The research complements a rich, established body of work showing that in the central nervous system, acupuncture creates signals that cause the brain to churn out natural pain-killing endorphins.
Scientists have taken another important step toward understanding just how sticking needles into the body can ease pain.
In a paper published Sunday in Nature Neuroscience, a University of Rochester Medical Center team identified a specific molecule as playing a key part in creating the effects of acupuncture in the body. Building on that knowledge, scientists were able to triple the beneficial effects of acupuncture in mice.
The research complements a rich, established body of work showing that in the central nervous system, acupuncture creates signals that cause the brain to churn out natural pain-killing endorphins.
Paul McCartney landed in Washington, DC this week where he will be honored by fellow artists and awarded the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song by President Obama during a concert at the White House tonight.
As the third winner of the prize presented by the Library of Congress, Sir Paul invited a hand-picked slate of stars to perform his songs, including Stevie Wonder, who won the Gershwin prize last year, Elvis Costello, Jack White (of the White Stripes), The Jonas Brothers, Herbie Hancock and Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters fame, among others.
In a rehearsal on Monday across town, several of the artists practiced their licks with the McCartney band, which is set to anchor the 90-minute show that will feature a score of Paul’s best known songs.
The small group of invited friends, guests and staff that were on hand broke into wild applause following a flawless solo by a US Marine Band member who was invited to recreate the bright notes of the piccolo trumpet for Penny Lane. Costello, who co-wrote 12 songs with McCartney, provided the lilting vocals.
