Nearly 60 street children, who had made a railway station their home after fleeing abusive families in India are now gainfully employed in hotels, shops and the market place of the city. Once begging and sometimes stealing, they are no longer despised by the police and passengers thanks to vocational trainings by a local NGO organized in a shelter at the end of platform no. 5 where they are fed and trained from 11 am every day. (Hindustan Times) Thanks to Shashank A. for sharing this inspiring link!
How to Recycle Those Threadbare Duds, Schedule a Pick-Up
Just because that old shirt you used to love is too threadbare to wear anymore doesn’t mean it has to end up in a landfill, reports the Christian Science Monitor. “Consumers don’t understand that there’s a place for their old clothing even if something is missing a button or torn,” says Jana Hawley, a professor of textile and apparel management at the University of Missouri-Columbia. “Ninety-nine percent of used textiles are recyclable.”
Nonprofits like Goodwill and the Salvation Army are great for keeping old clothes out of the waste stream, but I like the Lupus Foundation of America because they can pick up the donations directly from your house!
Restoration Of A Tropical Rain Forest Ecosystem
Half a century after most of Costa Rica’s rain forests were cut down, researchers are attempting what many thought was impossible — restoring a tropical rain forest ecosystem. When the researchers planted worn-out cattle pastures in Costa Rica with a sampling of local trees in the early 1990s, native species of plants began to move in and flourish, raising the hope that destroyed rain forests could one day be replaced.
Ten years after the tree plantings, researchers counted the species of plants that took up residence in the shade of the new planted areas. They found remarkably high numbers of species — more than 100 in each plot. And many of the new arrivals were also to be found in nearby remnants of the original forests. (ScienceDaily, 2008-04-30)
Cheap 5-in-1 Wonder Pill Could Prevent 80% of Heart Attacks
In a mission to make it available to everyone over 55 at an affordable price, UK scientists have developed a “polypill” which they say could save 100,000 lives a year. With its combination of cholesterol-busting statin, three medicines to lower blood pressure, and folic acid , it could prevent four-fifths of heart attacks and strokes, says its maker, the London-based Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine. (Daily Mail)
UPDATE: Violinist Plays Private Concert for Taxi Driver
A violinist who left his $4 million Stradivarius instrument in an airport taxi is playing a private concert today to thank the driver who faithfully returned it to him — a 30-minute performance in the cab waiting area at Newark Liberty International Airport.
(BBC News has photo and update) Thanks to Richard Young for alerting me! GNN-i posted the story of the violin’s return here .
UN Welcomes Bush’s Call for $770M in Global Food Aid
The UN World Food Program has thanked President Bush “for his urgent call to action to combat the advance of hunger among the world’s most vulnerable,” after Mr. Bush asked the US Congress to provide an additional $770 million for food aid and development work. (See news report, Bush Asks Congress for $770)
Josette Sheeran, Executive Director of the WFP, said yesterday that “urgent consideration by the US Congress will help prevent wide-scale human suffering due to soaring food prices.” She added that, “today, for those living on less than US$1 a day, the impact of soaring food prices is catastrophic.”
The President of the World Bank Group, which provides funding for development around the globe, also welcomed the announcement by Mr. Bush.
“These funds will help put food in the mouths of millions of people who are struggling to survive as prices rise,” Robert B. Zoellick said. “Importantly, US action goes beyond the critical short-term needs and aims to deal with the causes of the crisis so millions will not suffer again.”
Mr. Zoellick also welcomed the fact that the announcement came after Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had assembled an international task force to tackle the global food crisis.
“By combining emergency support for the neediest, with support for agricultural production, and international action on trade, the US package takes us closer to the integrated international response needed to build sustainable solutions,” he said.
Young Engineer Launches Stair Aid at 16
A young engineer set up the StairSteady company when she was only 16 to market her innovative idea, a simple device to assist people to go up and down stairs when they don’t need an expensive chair lift. She won an award for her invention, which she designed for her teacher’s father who had suffered a stroke. (See the neat story and photo at BBC)
7 Success Habits to Design a Life you Love
Goal setting is a skill I learned early on in life, and it’s a skill that has helped me immensely in creating a life I love. Did you know that only 4% of the population actually achieves the goals they set? Here are some great ideas about how you can use goals to create a life that you love.
1. Get a buddy!
Everyday at 7:30 am my success partner Janet and I share the one thing we’ll each do that day to be Happy, Healthy and Wealthy. Sometimes we talk for three minutes, sometimes 15. The point is to set tangible action items for the day that get you one step closer to your heart’s desires.
2. Determine what you want in life.
One of my mentors, Brian Buffini taught me to set goals in 5 areas of my life: Spiritual, Personal, Friends & Family, Career, and Finance. What a difference having goals makes! There is no one right way to set goals. Just do it, and when you do, grant yourself permission to think really big.
Consider making weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly goals. Why not create goals for 2-10 years out? Once all of your goals are set you will have a map ready to lead you to achieving your dreams.
4. Set a Quantum Leap Goal.
Jack Canfield, co-author of the internationally renowned Chicken Soup for the Soul series, taught me to take the time to set a goal so big that it can only be achieved by shifting your thinking and by engaging the Law of Attraction. The Law of Attraction states that what you focus on expands. And it’s true. Throughout my career I’ve leveraged this law for success.
5. Have a quarterly Vision Day with a success partner.
Write your successes from the last 90 days (you’ll be amazed at what you’ve done!). Set goals for the next 90 days in each area of your life (hint: use your annual goals as a guide to determine quarterly goals).
6. Re-purpose your time.
Get really particular about what you do with your time – ALL of your time – especially the time you spend with other people. Leverage your commute into an educational experience! Take one week a month and listen to CD’s on personal development.
7. Record and listen to your goals.
My friend Craig records his goals and then creates play lists in his iTunes that have goals mixed in between his favorite songs. So he listens to music, and then gets to hear himself saying an affirmative goal. Talk about being intentional!
Become part of the minority and take the first step in achieving the goals you set! I guarantee that as you add goals and benchmarks to your new intentional life, you won’t be able to help but pass on the keys to your success to others. This is the beauty of living a life you love – once you get there, you’ll want everyone around you to find the same happiness and success that you have. It’s simply contagious.
Kristen Marie Schuerlein is a fourth generation entrepreneur who is committed to living intentionally by harnessing the power of affirmations. After 11 years at the helm of a successful graphic design and marketing company she founded Affirmagy, a company that creates fleece blankets silk screened with positive affirmations. Kristen’s positive life force inspires others to design – and live – a life they love. Contact Kristen by email here.
Image by Celestine Chua – CC license on Flickr
Survey Results Are In! …70% of Readers are Ready to Move
I’m so excited! Whether it’s about the new forums opening next week, or the free gifts I’m handing out on Mother’s Day, or the fact that over 800 viewers took my survey — and 70 % confirmed the best of my hopes, that the Good News Network content is so unusually good that it’s worth paying for.
Thanks to everyone who took the survey, especially my longtime readers. Now I have valuable info about your good news preferences, life goals and daily work. It can help me shape the Good News Network, giving you what you want in an inspirational news service… Most exciting for me is the realization that fully 70% of viewers value the daily content enough to pay for the service. Beginning this Sunday, I am moving forward with steps to make this a sustainable website for the long term. You will see more good news and more features that you want, but the best idea came from one of you in the survey! …
UN Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman Calls for Millions to Reduce Violence Against Women
UN Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman called for millions of people to add their name to an online petition for opposing violence against women. “I know that there are millions around the world who care deeply about the issue — and I urge all of them to come on board,” said the Academy Award–winning actress referring to the Say NO to Violence Against Women campaign. (UN Photo of Nicole Kidman at press conference in NY, by Jenny Rockett)
Tree-Lined Streets Cut Asthma
Children who live on tree-lined streets have lower rates of asthma, a New York-based study suggests, finding that asthma rates among young children fell by 25% for every extra 343 trees per square kilometre. (BBC Health News )
Landmark UN Disability Treaty Takes Full Force
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities entered into force yesterday, one month after the final country of the 20 needed to ratify voted for the landmark treaty to guarantee the rights of some 650 million people worldwide.
Bakery Gives Wheatberries to Customers to Grow Local Flour
A Massachusetts organic bakery joins the ‘local food’ movement and its effort to cut global warming by distributing free wheatberries for customers to grow in small plots at home. Using wheat grown locally instead of in South Dakota cuts CO2 emissions and saves fuel. The Groovy Green Blog has the story.
First Cell Phones, Now Computers Come to Cuba
Cubans can now buy personal computers, the latest freedom offered by Cuba’s new president, Raul Castro, who lifted the ban on cell phones earlier this year.
READ THE STORY AT: The BBC
Tornado Victims Pay It Forward
With all the news of tornados, this story shows the best of what can come from such an event, as victims help other victims pay kindness forward. A middle school teacher in Greensburg, Kansas, the town that was flattened by a twister last year, organized a coin drive with his students and raised over $5,000 to help tornado victims in another state.
Maryland Graduates Can Stay on Insurance Until Age 25
Now a new Maryland law requires large insurance pools to extend coverage to all dependent students up to the age 25. Staying under their parents’ health insurance is a huge benefit to young people who may want to do volunteer work or take a job that doesn’t offer health coverage. (Washington Post)
The Art of Word Fasting: Today’s Word is ‘Complain’
Just like we can choose to take the stairs, rather than the elevator, and strengthen our bodies, we can alter our thinking and create the reality we want. A new columnist on GNN-i joins us every Friday. Today we look at our results when we COMPLAIN, and Jack gives us a helpful acronym to reframe our thinking — and our complaining — so we can build the life we want.
My acronym for complain is: C.O.M.P.L.A.I.N. Creating Only More Problems Living Always in Negativity.
This acronym reveals to me the nature of my attention and how I influence my day to day living by what I focus upon. Complaining is a learned practice that uses a form of discussion to bring about sympathy from a listener. The results of my complaining ends with nothing resolved, or worse, a kind of helplessness arising out of a closing statement such as “That’s just the way life is.”
‘Pixie Dust’ From Pig’s Bladder Regrows Man’s Finger
“With the help of an experimental powder, a man’s severed finger has regrown to its original length in just four weeks. Regeneration, the almost magical property possessed by some animals to regrow whole limbs, tails, other body parts, is now possible with a collagen and cellular mixture made from a dried pig’s bladder.” (UK’s Daily Mail has report and many photos)
Flattened by Tornado Last Year, Greensburg Launches Green Rebirth
Nearly one year after most of Greensburg, Kansas was destroyed by a massive tornado, the city is rebuilding with green environmental standards that will lead the nation. Recycled building materials, energy efficiency, and water savings will save money in the long run and has already attracted investment that will help rebuild.
Airlines Slow Down Flights to Save on Fuel
Airlines are slowing their planes down to save on fuel. Southwest Air began a few months ago to add 2 minutes to each of its flights and estimates it will save $42 million this year on fuel costs. Other air carriers are using software to help determine the best routes to extend flight times.