Despite the struggling economy, officials with the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon say contributions and pledges from this weekend’s 45th annual Labor Day event totaled $58.9 million.
“I’m heartened by the unique ability of Americans to help others in need, when they themselves are likely struggling financially,” said Lewis, national chairman of MDA.
Through Lewis’s telethons, more than 2.5 billion dollars has been raised to help fight neuro-muscular disease.
(READ the AP story via NPR)
Heat from trains moving along tracks in the Parisian metro combined with the warmth generated by human bodies will help heat a public housing project in the city center.
The project, which is based on geothermal technology, aims to draw heat from subterranean passages and move it to heat exchangers before supplying heating pipes.
Carbon dioxide emissions should be slashed by a third compared to using a boiler room connected to district heating.
(READ the story in Reuters)
Nearly 60 years ago, and without telling their parents, five high school students led 720 of their fellow pupils on a walkout to protest the inferior facilities at their all-black school in segregated Kinston, North Carolina.
Some mark that peaceful march to the courthouse by Adkin High School students in November 1951 as the start of the Civil Rights Movement.
Over the weekend, a reunion of original students reenacted the protest that eventually succeeded in getting many of their demands met by the school board, like the construction of a gymnasium.
(Originally published by WNCT. Note, source material has been removed by the source)
Ed Bagale was honored with an Unsung Hero Award for his efforts to help transform the Rouge River from among the most polluted bodies of water in Michigan to one that is showing promise.
“We went, in the matter of 10 years, from a river that only one or two days a year had enough oxygen to support life … to a river that has 27 species of fish swimming around,” Bagale said.
Bagale’s Rouge River Gateway Partnership convinced a Ford vice president that the company should join the group — a partnership that influenced Ford’s $2-billion renovation of its Rouge plant. It was turned into a model for green and sustainable industrial development.
A now-67-year-old German woman finally got to thank in person an 88-year-old American woman for her middle-class family’s generosity toward ‘the enemy’ after World War II.
The American family had made sure that life was just a bit more bearable for a German war widow and her young daughter, by sending 70 boxes of clothes, food and supplies –one every month, or so, for years.
Now, after all those years, the daughter traveled to America and wanted to find the American family — the Benjamins — and thank them personally.
Mr. Benjamin considered Hitler and the government the enemy, but the people as victims. He signed up at his church to provide CARE packages, but instead of just donating money for supplies, he made it a personal mission to get to know the family and to bridge the ocean of distance and experience that divided them.
(READ the FULL story from the Seattle Times – watch a short video interview, below)
Something to think about, from a Letter to the Editor in the Daily Record…
Since the end of World War II 65 years ago, this is the first generation of (Western) Europeans in about 1,600 years to reach their 60’s without being ravaged by war.
This is also the first generation of Russians to reach their 60’s without being ravaged by war. The same is true for the Chinese and the Japanese.
In the book Cancer: 101 Solutions to a Preventable Epidemic, the authors consider the importance of eating specific foods and drinks for cancer protection.
They suggest a variety of fruits, vegetables, herbs and drinks. Here are the top ten items to include in your diet, if you don’t already have them on your menu…
(READ the article at Care2.com)
Ghana is on track to be the first country in Africa to achieve the Millennium Development Goals for halving poverty and hunger by 2015.
Between 1990 and 2004, Ghana outperformed all other countries worldwide, reducing hunger by 75 percent.
“Ghana’s progress has been remarkable,” says Melinda Gates, of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, “especially when you consider the devastating drought, dwindling harvests and rising poverty that Ghana experienced in the mid-1980s.”
The West African nation is also making great strides to reduce the number of people living in poverty.
How did they do it?
The Basque separatist militant group ETA declared a cease-fire in a video statement issued on Sunday, suggesting it might turn to a political process in its quest for independence.
“ETA makes it known that as of some months ago it took the decision to no longer employ offensive armed actions,” the statement said, suggesting it is ready to pursue a “democratic process,” in trying to achieve its goals.
The video, which appeared in Basque newspaper Gara’s website and was also made available to the British broadcaster BBC, showed three masked militants making a statement in Basque.
(READ the AP story on NPR.org)
Out of his love for the environment and concern about over-flowing landfills, Akinori Ito, from the Japanese company Blest, developed a machine capable of transforming plastic back into oil for use as gasoline or kerosine.
While the process is easy to understand the results are pretty impressive: For every 1kg of plastic, 1 liter of oil can be harvested. Aside from the obvious advantage of this process targeting issues of plastic recycling, the machine also breaks down the byproduct of carbon dioxide into water.
Plastic’s carbon footprint is very high, since incineration is often its destination because the recycling rate is so low around the globe.
The tabletop machine can be transported via commercial airline and taken to developing countries where they have no capability to recycle trash.
“(After seeing a demonstration of the machine) people begin to see that this is not garbage,” said the inventor. “The plastic cap, the (carryout) lunch container, is oil.”
Further, if oil and gasoline could be created in these countries, they wouldn’t have to import it from faraway places, thus eliminating the extensive CO2 emissions required to transport it.
Commenters from around the world who’ve seen the following video on YouTube or Reddit are anxious to know if and where they can purchase such a machine. Though the company still mainly produces larger, industrial-use machines, Blest Co. will be more than happy to hear from you. Contact them directly at [email protected].
WATCH the video below, and read more at Our World blog, United Nations University… Thanks to Kiama Robinson for the link!
Out of his love for the environment and concern about over-flowing landfills, Akinori Ito, from the Japanese company Blest, developed a machine capable of transforming plastic back into oil for use as gasoline or kerosine.
While the process is easy to understand the results are pretty impressive: For every 1kg of plastic, 1 liter of oil can be harvested. Aside from the obvious advantage of this process targeting issues of plastic recycling, the machine also breaks down the byproduct of carbon dioxide into water.
Since 1946, a roadside honey stand has survived as a monument to the proposition that people are basically good.
That’s because it runs on the honor system.
Its shelves are crowded with jars of golden honey. Next to this is a weathered, steel strongbox with the words “PAY HERE/THANK YOU” written in marker.
As an economic proposition, does it work?
“Works great. It’s been there 63 years,” said David C. Biggers, who operates the stand.
Biggers says he stocks the shelves almost every day. He has to; it’s a popular product and his system works for him.
“Basically the American people, they’re honest,” Biggers says. “That’s what I think. Don’t you?”
(READ the story in Daytona Beach News Journal)
Every year, hundreds of millions of dollars in energy seep through poorly insulated walls, doors and windows in American homes. So in 2009, as the U.S. Congress crafted its economic stimulus bill, lawmakers set aside a record $5 billion to weatherize the nation’s leaky homes.
The purpose was twofold: to help low-income Americans save money on home heating and cooling bills and to boost job growth in the industry that specializes in residential energy efficiency. The weatherization program funded by the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and run by states is now upgrading 25,000 homes a month.
“That’s 200,000 low-income families that will be benefiting from lower energy bills and from increased comfort in the years ahead. It’s absolutely fantastic progress,” said Cathy Zoi, the U.S. Department of Energy’s assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Cheered by hundreds of thousands of jubilant Kenyans waving national flags, President Mwai Kibaki signed a new constitution last week that curbs his sweeping powers and strengthens civic rights.
In a ceremony full of military pomp and traditional dance, Kenyans packed Nairobi’s Uhuru Park—or Freedom Park—to see their leaders take fresh oaths under the first overhaul of the charter since 1963.
(READ the story in Reuters)
A UK news reporter has fun with a seagull, investigating its real life of crime…
U.S. manufacturing grew faster than expected, chalking up a 13th straight month of expansion, while the overall U.S. economy has grown for 16 consecutive months.
The Institute for Supply Management factory report showed a reading of 56.3 in August, up from 55.5 in July. A reading above 50 shows manufacturing is growing. The index has averaged 56.6 over the last 12 months.
The latest figures support the view that the U.S. economy will avoid a double-dip recession, says the Wall Street Journal.
Stocks shot upward on the news. The three major U.S. indexes rose nearly 3 percent Wednesday.
Meanwhile, US small businesses continued to hire in August, according to the Intuit Small Business Employment Index. The August employment growth translates to approximately 26,000 new jobs nationwide, the same number of jobs added in July.
Since the growth trend first began in October 2009, small business jobs have increased by 340,000, with healthy gains made in January through April of 2010.
The employment index reflects data from approximately 57,000 small business employers who use Intuit Online Payroll.
U.S. manufacturing grew faster than expected, chalking up a 13th straight month of expansion, while the overall U.S. economy has grown for 16 consecutive months.
The Institute for Supply Management factory report showed a reading of 56.3 in August, up from 55.5 in July. A reading above 50 shows manufacturing is growing. The index has averaged 56.6 over the last 12 months.
The latest figures support the view that the U.S. economy will avoid a double-dip recession, says the Wall Street Journal.
Stocks shot upward on the news. The three major U.S. indexes rose nearly 3 percent Wednesday.
Meanwhile, US small businesses continued to hire in August, according to the Intuit Small Business Employment Index. The August employment growth translates to approximately 26,000 new jobs nationwide, the same number of jobs added in July.
Since the growth trend first began in October 2009, small business jobs have increased by 340,000, with healthy gains made in January through April of 2010.
The employment index reflects data from approximately 57,000 small business employers who use Intuit Online Payroll.
“An emerald so large it’s being compared with the crown jewels of Russian empress Catherine the Great was pulled from a pit near corn rows at a North Carolina farm.”
“After the gem was cut and re-cut, the finished product was likely worth more than one and a half million dollars.”
(READ the AP story at CBS News) –Photo courtesy of gemologist “Cap” Beesley
China and Russia have agreed to set up the first cross-border protection zone for rare Siberian tigers.
Only about 500 of the big cats are thought to be left in the wild.
The zone will straddle the border, where both sides will enforce anti-poaching measures.
(READ the story in BBC)
You probably have a routine for when you get home from work. You might go through your mail, change out of your work clothes, spend a few minutes checking in with your spouse or maybe grab something to drink. You get the idea.
You basically have a handful of automatic responses designed to help you physically and emotionally recover from your day. And it requires no thinking on your part. Unfortunately, because of the increasingly complex and demanding lives most of us are choosing to live, these automatic responses are not enough.
