To many residents of this storm-battered city, the New Orleans Saints carried more than a trophy when they came home on Monday after winning the first Super Bowl in their 42-year history… “Our spirits are lifted,” reported Reuters.
Just four years after Hurricane Katrina decimated the city of New Orleans, the Saints rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat the favored Indianapolis Colts, 31-17, Sunday night in Super Bowl XLIV.
The game, played in Miami featured two of the NFL’s top offenses, but it was big plays from the Saints special teams and defense that turned the game around. Trailing 10-6, the Saints surprised the Colts when they began the second half with an on-side kick. New Orleans recovered the ball and drove for a touchdown.
The world’s leading industrialized nations have pledged to write off the debts that Haiti owes them, following a devastating earthquake last month.
The G7 group – which includes Canada, the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Japan – announced a plan to cancel all of Haiti’s bilateral debts and encourage other international lenders to do the same.
A quick note to say we’ve had major power outages here in the DC area because of the Snowmaggedon, here this weekend. So, I am stuck in my Lake home with fireplace and kids, but possibly a generator later that can help me get more good news online.
See you online soon, I hope!
geri
Photo from my back porch after the December snowstorm
Economists are reacting to the new jobs report saying the fall in the unemployment rate is legitimate good news, while President Obama calls it a “cause for hope.”
“It was not driven, as it sometimes is, by labor force dropouts,” wrote Stephen Stanley, of RBS. “The labor force grew by 360,000 in January while household employment surged by 784,000, more than reversing the big December decline.”
For forty years, the Heinz ketchup packet has been a frustrating annoyance to travelers and diners alike. Hard to open, leaving bits of foil in your mouth, never enough in one packet, and no way to dip those french fries in the sauce.
Now that burden will be lifted by a new package design unveiled Thursday that gives ketchup lovers two ways to enjoy their Heinz: either peel back the lid for easy dipping, or tear off the tip to squeeze onto favorite foods. The new package also holds three times as much ketchup as the traditional packet.
For forty years, the Heinz ketchup packet has been a frustrating annoyance to travelers and diners alike. Hard to open, leaving bits of foil in your mouth, never enough in one packet, and no way to dip those french fries in the sauce.
Now that burden will be lifted by a new package design unveiled Thursday that gives ketchup lovers two ways to enjoy their Heinz: either peel back the lid for easy dipping, or tear off the tip to squeeze onto favorite foods. The new package also holds three times as much ketchup as the traditional packet.
Five months before Allen Manly retired from his job in June as a high school guidance counselor, he underwent training that could go a long way to keeping his brain – and his skills – sharp. He signed up for hours of orientation to be a health care volunteer. A growing number of researchers believe volunteering may actually be doing Manly a lot of good — maybe even delaying dementia and prolonging his life.
After settling in and listening to the morning announcements, the boys in the behavioral class at a Canadian public school don’t hit the books. They hit the gym.
With four treadmills and four stationary bikes set up in their classroom, the class of boys works up a sweat for 20 minutes before getting down to business. They can also use the equipment during the day when they need to. The unusual experiment at the Etobicoke elementary school is based on a growing body of research tying physical activity to improved attention and learning.
Other schools are incorporating daily activity or dancing for kids saying it makes them better able to concentrate back in class.
In Haiti, huge piles of rubble remain virtually untouched. But a surprising sight is tucked away just outside the coastal city of Leogane: Workers are busy constructing two small, wood-frame buildings.
The Canadian military and a U.S.-based aid group are working together to rebuild an orphanage.
It is one of the first signs of rebuilding in an area that was reduced almost entirely to rubble in the Jan. 12 earthquake.
Empowering women is critical to improving life in Afghanistan and key to a brighter future there. Last week the Obama administration unveiled a plan to do just that.
The Women’s Action Plan for Afghanistan, outlined by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at the London Conference on Afghanistan on January 28, seeks to increase Afghan women’s security, leadership in the public and private sectors, access to judicial institutions, education and health services, and ability to take advantage of economic opportunities, especially in the agricultural sector.
The number of girls being educated in Afghanistan has improved dramatically, with girls making up about 35 percent of the 6.2 million students now enrolled in Afghan schools. Under Taliban rule, fewer than 900,000 boys — and no girls — were enrolled.
The Church of Scientology has sent more than one hundred and fifty of its members to assist in relief efforts in Haiti. NBC went to a hospital site where several of the volunteers were helping doctors, to see what they were doing and what they were saying about their religion.
“As well as providing medical assistance, the volunteers – wearing yellow T-shirts that read: ‘Something CAN be done about it’ – have also helped distribute food and water and remove medical supplies from damaged buildings,” reported the Daily Telegraph.
New England is primed to ride a tailwind of advancements in wind turbines for both small and large systems, with the help of a few high-profile, fast-growing companies. While Europe is still king when it comes to large-scale turbine deployments (thanks to its wind-friendly feed-in tariffs), a combination of regulatory changes and financial incentives is making this region an attractive market for wind turbines.
The U.S. appears to be trending towards being a safer place for children, with researchers reporting a striking 26 percent decrease in the incidence of child abuse and neglect between 1993 and 2006.
The mammoth study, congressionally mandated and completed by the federal government documents an unprecedented and dramatic decrease in incidents of serious child abuse, especially sexual abuse. Experts hailed the findings as proof that crackdowns and public awareness campaigns had made headway.
A 3 year-old girl was watching the news on TV in New Mexico when she heard there were children who lost their limbs. She ran to her bedroom closet to fetch her own prosthetic limb — one that she had outgrown — and told her mom she wanted to give it to a child in Haiti.
A 3 year-old girl was watching the news on TV in New Mexico when she heard there were children who lost their limbs. She ran to her bedroom closet to fetch her own prosthetic limb — one that she had outgrown — and told her mom she wanted to give it to a child in Haiti.
Freddie Mac and a network of non-profit organizations announced a nationwide phone campaign to convince discouraged delinquent borrowers to pursue mortgage workouts that can save their homes and steer clear of foreclosure.
In addition, they will open walk-in help centers offering “holistic” credit counseling in Chicago, Washington, DC, Phoenix, and California. Holistic counseling addresses a wide range of borrower debt and income issues, not just delinquent mortgages. This will allow people to have access to confidential one-on one support from trusted independent, non-profit organizations.
Freddie Mac is also launching a separate Borrower Help Network offering similar counseling over the phone to targeted Freddie Mac borrowers across the nation.
A dog rescued from the Baltic Sea after braving a 75-mile journey on an ice floe has joined the crew of the Polish research ship that saved him, the captain said Friday.
The Sea Fishing Institute which owns the ship sent a bowl and a squeaking toy, and the scientists on board brought dog food. Numerous calls were received from people offering money to feed the dog or wanting to adopt him.
Families can earn £900 a year by installing solar panels on their roofs as part of a new Government scheme to pay people to generate their own electricity.
Under the deal, which starts in April, households will be paid for electricity fed into the grid from renewable technologies such as solar, wind or energy from waste.
The most attractive rate of return will be on solar panels, which for an average sized three bedroom home could earn households £25,000 over 25 years.
Stars like Barbara Streisand and Celine Dion, and rappers including Kanye West and Snoop Dogg, walked through the same door on Monday to record a new version of the iconic pop hit song “We Are The World”, that 25 years ago was used by a group of A-list singers who came together to raise money for the famine in Africa. The latest glittering lineup was called together in the last few weeks, this time to respond to the devastating Haitian earthquake.
None of the singers of the original song were invited to participate in the update, which was recorded at the same Hollywood studio, again under the oversight of Quincy Jones and the song’s co-writer Lionel Richie.
Classical tenor Josh Groban said, “Everybody left their ego at the door,” referring to a sign that Jones hung in the studio during the original session on the old A&M Records lot on January 28, 1985.
“25 years ago, the entertainment industry showed the power of community to help our fellow man when we recorded ‘We Are The World‘ to bring relief to those suffering from famine in Ethiopia,” commented Jones. “Today the country of Haiti is suffering immeasurably and is in immediate need of relief that will last long after the television cameras have left. As artists, we have joined together on this 25th anniversary and in the spirit of ‘We Are The World’ to help meet that need.”
Upon its original release, We Are the World quickly became the fastest selling single in history and in the years that have followed, USA for Africa has raised and distributed more than $63 million in revenue from the sales of more than 7 million units of the album, single and cassettes, plus nearly 2 million digital sales and related merchandise.
“When first approached about re-recording ‘We Are The World’, it didn’t seem like a great idea since the original version was so iconic,” said Randy Phillips, President & CEO, AEG Live. “Then Haiti happened and that changed everything. Quincy and Lionel decided that ‘We Are the World’ was created just for emergencies like this. This recording will have a life of its own and keep Haiti in the public eye at the same time raising much needed funds to continue the healing, reconstruction and rebirth of this country,” Phillips added.
The new version of We Are The World and the accompanying video is available for purchase on-line, with all proceeds going directly to the earthquake relief efforts in the country of Haiti through the We Are The World Foundation.
Other celebrities included Justin Bieber, Usher, Katharine McPhee, will.i.am, Toni Braxton, LL Cool J, Harry Connick Jr., Wyclef Jean, Vince Vaughn, Jeff Bridges and Natalie Cole and Carlos Santana. (WATCH the video below)
To many residents of this storm-battered city, the New Orleans Saints carried more than a trophy when they came home on Monday after winning the first Super Bowl in their 42-year history… “Our spirits are lifted,” reported Reuters.
Scientists in Cambridge have shown that an “artificial pancreas” can be used to regulate blood sugar in children with Type 1 diabetes.
