Nicholas Winton quietly organized the escape of 669 mostly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia at the start of World War II when the Nazis were marching in.
Winton was a 29-year-old stockbroker in 1938, when he spent nights and weekends helping a diplomat friend by organizing logistics, raising money and cutting through red tape to transport the children to safety. He also found foster families for all the children.
The survivors call themselves “Winton’s Children” and on his 100th birthday, the individuals he saved–now with families of their own– joined him aboard a special steam train that traveled from Prague to London, to retrace their original route to safety. (Watch the video)
Sir Nicholas, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, died on Wednesday in Maidenhead, England. He was 106.
(WATCH the video tribute below – or READ the obituary from the New York Times)
A new gene therapy attacks cystic fibrosis at its cause, improving or stabilizing lung function while potentially reducing or eliminating the dozens of drugs patients have to rely on currently for treatment.
Cystic fibrosis, which often kills patients in their 20s, causes mucus to collect in the lungs, making it difficult to breath and disrupting digestion.
Scientists in the UK took healthy copies of the gene that causes cystic fibrosis and created a way for patients to inhale them, essentially “smuggling” healthy copies of genes into the lungs of people with the genetic disorder. In the small trial, a group of 136 patients either inhaled the gene once a month or inhaled a placebo.
Patients who inhaled the gene saw an average 3% improvement in their lungs, rather than the average 3- 4% decline for those who received a placebo.
The study was carried out by the Imperial College London, Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh, along with NHS research groups, and was jointly funded by the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, National Institute for Health Research and Just Gene Therapy. The results were published in the journal Lancet.
The leader of the study at Imperial College London, Prof. Eric Aldon, warned, “The effect is modest and it is variable. It is not ready to go straight into the clinic yet.”
The trial was small but research into the treatment is just beginning. The next trial will use a larger dose to see if it is even more effective.
(WATCH the video below from Online Demand News, or READ more at the BBC) – Photo: Imperial College London, Released
It’s hard enough to believe a lizard can walk on water, but you also need to imagine it happening when the badlands of the American west were a tropical rain forest.
A newly discovered lizard fossil has shown scientists as much about the changing climate of Wyoming as it has about a unique family of “Jesus lizards.”
They get their name because the lizards can walk — or more accurately, run — on water at six miles per hour for as far as 15 feet. There are nine living species, like the one pictured above, and most live in the tropics.
Jack Conrad from the American Museum of Natural History says the fossil tells researchers as much, if not more, about the climate as it does about the corytophanid lizards, also known by the common genus name of basilisk. He published his findings this week in the journal PLOS ONE.
Scientists thought running on water was a relatively new skill, but the fossil shows that lizards were doing it 48 million years ago. It also suggests that while the animals they were running around Wyoming, the now-arid badlands of the west were more like the rain forests of Southeast Asia.
(WATCH the National Geographic video and READ more at CBS News) — Photo by Benjamint444, CC
A boy, rescued from the Indonesian tsunami wearing a Cristiano Ronaldo soccer jersey, is learning to play “the beautiful game” where his hero trained.
The 17-year-old Martunis — he goes by just one name, like football stars sometimes do — has joined Sporting Lisbon’s youth academy where Ronaldo got his start in Portugal.
Martunis was only six when he survived for three weeks on noodles and water from puddles after losing his mother and two brothers in the 2004 tsunami. Journalists found him wandering on the beach and images of the little boy in the football jersey appeared in newspapers around the world.
Ronaldo flew to Indonesia to meet the boy and help finance his education. The Portugal Football Association donated 40,000 euros to rebuild his house in 2005. Now, the teen’s education will include the same athletic training that prepared Ronaldo to become the world’s greatest footballer.
“Martunis, the survivor of the Indonesian tsunami, is going to live, grow and become a football player at the Sporting Academy,” Sporting Lisbon posted on its Facebook page.
“It’s great to be here, this club makes my dream possible,” Martunis said at his presentation. “Viva Sporting!”
(READ more at the Daily Mail) – Photo: Sporting Lisbon Facebook
Score Some Points With Your Friends And Followers, Pass This Story To Them…
He’s not your father’s tennis star, but, with signature dreadlocks he hasn’t cut in 19 years, underdog Dustin Brown just stunned the crowds at Wimbledon by knocking out the 10th ranked player in the world.
Brown was only ranked the 102nd best player in the world this week when he defeated Rafael Nadal in the second round of tennis’ premier event. The win has thrust the six-and-a-half foot, German-Jamaican into the spotlight, but he, along with his parents, had been working toward a big win for a long time.
Born in Germany and raised in Montego Bay, Brown made his tennis debut playing for the Jamaican national team in 2003 — after trying his hand at soccer, handball and judo.
That tattoo on his torso, pictured left, is of his father, Leroy — it symbolically says, “my father is on my side.”
When Brown left the Jamaican team, his parents bought him a camper van to follow the European tennis circuit. It took them six years to pay it off, and Brown spent three years living in that van as he worked his way up the rankings toward the top 100 in the world.
In the end, his underdog, four-set victory over Nadal was really a family effort played out over many long years.
“It’s easy for me to play my game against someone like him because I have nothing to lose,” Brown told the BBC after his win. “I just kept saying, ‘Dustin, just try to concentrate. Even if you lose this, no one is going to say anything bad.’”
(WATCH the Tennis Channel video and READ more at the Telegraph) – Photos by Ethreon, CC; Steven Pisano, CC
Serve This New Hero To Your Friends And Followers…
Alex Deans has a lot to reflect on this summer. The eighteen-year-old Ontario, Canada native just graduated high school as valedictorian and is getting ready to attend McGill University in the fall.
He’s also changing the way blind people everywhere will be able navigate the world around them.
For the past six years, Deans has been working tirelessly on a device now known as the iAid, a navigation system that uses ultrasonic technology and GPS technology to help the visually impaired get where they need to go.
The belt-like structure comes with a joy stick and operates using four ultrasonic sensors, which send out sound waves that ricochet off objects and alert the user as to how far away that object is (currently, some cars use the technology to alert drivers as they back up).
The idea first came to him at age 12, when he went to help a blind woman across the street. All that was at her disposal was a cane and the option of a guide dog, which is often hard to come by.
“When we use the navigation map on our iPhones, we know how to get where we’re going. We can see things directly in front of us and know where they are in relation to us,” Dean told Good News Network. “Guide Canes tell you what’s directly in front of you, but they don’t help you figure out where you are in relation your destination and objects that are farther away.”
The iAid helps users steer around objects in their vicinity and includes a joystick that swivels in their hands, pointing them in the direction they need to go in.
“You can feel it moving in the direction you need to go in, and if you’re far away, it will tilt far away, and as you get closer, it becomes more vertical,” he said.
These sophisticated concepts derived from a modest knowledge gained as a boy watching a couple of TV shows about robotics and sound, and a penchant for breaking everything he could get his hands on just to see how things worked.
“At the beginning it was really a hobby. I didn’t think anything would come from it,” he said. “It took me 2-3 years just to get the programming and coding knowledge.”
But once he had a prototype ready, he decided to bring it to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.
“When I saw the reaction from people using the device, it motivated me to to continue doing it,” he said.
For years, Deans returned again and again, using their feedback to build an updated, better prototype until he got it right.
The iAid won the 2015 Weston Youth Innovation Award this past May, and he was presented with $2,000 at a ceremony at the Ontario Science Centre on June 2. There, he had the chance to demonstrate his device to local community organizations and school groups.
“It was really cool to be able to tell them about the history behind the device and my journey building it,” he said.
Alex and his parents at the Ontario Science Centre
Now, he’s working with a multimedia team at the Science Centre to create an animated exhibit for his project, which should debut within the next two weeks. Deans also presented at We Day, a tour of inspirational, youth leadership concert-type events for youth across the U.S., Canada, and UK.
Better still, the patent he is vying for in both the U.S. and Canada should be finalized within the next month or two, bringing the device one step closer to the mass market.
“I want to make it smaller and aesthetically pleasing first,” he said. “I would also like to team up with the Foundation Fighting Blindness or another institution to distribute it.”
As far as pricing goes, he estimates the device will only cost about $50-$70 per unit, if he can get the cost of materials down.
He hopes his invention will one day replace canes and give blind people the ability to maneuver more easily on their own – an admirable goal from a guy who can not only see the world around him, but the future, as well.
Photo (top) by Karen Wray; (homepage) by Mike Kovaliv
A beloved school custodian had reason to jump for joy one year after a tragic fire destroyed her South Carolina home.
Brenda Hurst is adored by staff and students alike at Boiling Springs High School—that’s why they didn’t waste any time devising a way to help her.
A group of teens enrolled in the school’s career center knew exactly what to do, and decided to put the construction skills they were learning to good use.
Working alongside volunteers from a group called “Carpenters for Christ” and making use of donations that poured in from the school and the community of Campobello, they were able to rebuild Hurst’s house in a little over a year’s time.
They kept her away until the work was done, and asked her to keep her eyes covered as a police officer drove her to the new home.
When the bus blocking her view of the new house rolled away to reveal the work, Hurst burst out in excitement.
Her squeals of delight and tears of joy are better than any grade they could’ve gotten on the project.
(WATCH the WSPA News video below) — Photo: WSPA
Build Morale in Your Friends And Followers By Sharing This Story:
The weather may be getting hotter, but Californians are exceeding the state government’s expectations by conserving a record amount of water.
The State Water Resources Control Board reports that consumers cut their usage by 29% in May, one-upping the government’s request for a 25% reduction by the end of June.
“My first response is almost disbelief,” Mark Gold of UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability told the L.A. Times. “These results are beyond encouraging; they’re heartening. They make you realize that as a whole, people in urban areas are making the sacrifices necessary to get through this unprecedented drought.”
People in dozens of communities across the Golden State have risen to the occasion by shortening showers, using water-efficient appliances, and turning lawns into drought-resistant gardens, cutting their use upwards of 30% in some cases.
The State Water Board again called on Californians to continue conserving as the drought persists through the critical summer months.
(READ more at L.A. Times) – Photo: CC-David-Eppstein
Continue the Conservation Effort by Sharing Below…
“I was thinking I could just put my hat on the piano and make a couple dollars and get tips,” Donald “Boone” Gould told WWSB. Instead, he may wind up with a paying gig, because a local piano bar has offered Gould an audition.
Aroar Natasha was walking by as Gould played his cover of Styx’s “Come Sail Away.” She recorded it, posted it to her Facebook page and made Gould an overnight sensation — her video of his performance has been viewed more than three million times in four days.
Sarasota installed 'public pianos' throughout downtown. This homeless man now has the opportunity to be something other than 'just a nuisance' to all the people downtown. Just took my breath away. Wow.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCguq3hTC2M
In the meantime, Jacqueline Bevan is helping make his dreams come true. She has set up a fundraising page that has already collected donations of $8,700 in one day.
“All funds will go to Donald (Boone) Gould to secure a home, a car and to possibly return to school for his last 3 classes for his music theory degree,” she says on the GoFundMe page.
Gould had played clarinet as a U.S. Marine and wanted to be a music teacher, but his life didn’t turn out as planned and he wound up on the street in 1998. He lost most of what he had, but he never lost his talent.
It could be the veritable ticket to his second act.
(WATCH the WWSB News video) — Photo: WWSB Video
Inspire Your Friends and Followers By Sharing This Story With Them…
A Saudi Arabian prince is next in line to donate his entire fortune to charity – $32 Billion.
As one of the richest men in the world, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is following the example of 138 other super-wealthy individuals who have signed up for The Giving Pledge created by fellow billionaires, Bill and Melinda Gates, and Warren Buffett.
Calling philanthropy “a personal responsibility,” the prince says the money will be used to “help build bridges to foster cultural understanding, develop communities, empower women, enable youth, provide vital disaster relief and create a more tolerant and accepting world.”
He called the decision a crucial part of his Islamic faith and made the announcement during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The gift will go to a foundation he created, Alwaleed Philanthropies, and will be overseen by a board of trustees. He’s given $3.5 billion dollars to the foundation already.
He says he was inspired to donate his wealth to charity by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has worked with Alwaleed Philanthropies in the past.
Prince Alwaleed is the nephew of Saudi King Salman and chairman of investment firm Kingdom Holding Company. He is listed as number 34 on the Forbes list of the world’s richest people.
(READ more at the BBC) — Photo by Kingdom Holding Company, CC
Enrich your friends and followers, share this story…
In one of the city’s roughest neighborhoods, police are dropping their guns and batons and picking up bats and balls in an effort to reach at-risk kids through America’s favorite pastime.
Police officers like Angela Wormley are stepping up to the plate to coach boys and girls as part of the Englewood Police Youth Baseball League.
The program was started for kids 9-12 years old on Chicago’s south side – an area notorious for gang violence – to gain the trust of children who are often suspicious of police.
“Showing them that police are human, that we’re their friend, that they are safe around us – that’s an extension of being a police officer,” Wormley told NBC News.
In a statement, Englewood Youth Baseball League Program Manager Andrea Na’Tay, said,“The purpose of this program is to promote unification and trustworthiness, to establish and build relationships between the youth and the police of this community.”
The league runs through August and about 100 girls and boys have signed up to participate. The initiative is part of a partnership with community welfare organization Teamwork Englewood and Get In Chicago – a program aimed at eliminating juvenile violence.
(WATCH video below or READ more at NBC) – Photo: NBC video
Beauty treatments are becoming more and more expensive—but believe it or not, your kitchen is full of tried-and-true ingredients that can give your skin, hair–and even feet–a major boost.
Baking Soda: Exfoliator
You can use Baking Soda as a natural face scrub! It has a great texture because it’s just coarse enough to exfoliate, but if used gently won’t irritate your skin. Add about 1 teaspoonful into your normal cleanser, mix (in your hand) and scrub.
Lemon Juice: Skin Brightener
Lemon Juice is a loaded with healthy vitamins and is a great remedy for brightening skin and diminishing the appearance of age spots. Since the acids in the juice may be irritating, make sure you dilute it with water. To create a solution, mix 10 drops with ½ cup of water. Dab a cotton ball into solution and apply to face. No need to rinse off!
Coconut Oil: Foot Moisturizer
To give your fee some great TLC, use Coconut Oil. Coconut Oil will work much better than any product you’d find in a beauty store. Many moisturizers contain a lot of water, whereas coconut oil will provide pure moisture. This works best on clean, scrubbed feet (preferably after a shower).
Apple Cider Vinegar: Facial Toner
The acidity in vinegar works as a great toner to help restore your skin’s natural pH balance. Imbalances in pH can lead to breakouts and cause “combination” skin (when parts of your face are oily while others are dry). Mix 1 part vinegar to two parts water, and apply with a cotton ball on clean skin. The smell may be a little strong, but it will fade within minutes. The protective layer on your skin locks in moisture and gives a beautiful glow.
Vinegar might also be curative for arthritis.
Mayonnaise: Hair Mask
Mayonnaise is made with an oil base, so it works as a great conditioning mask and leaves your hair with an amazing shine. Use ½ – 1 cup depending on the length/thickness of your hair. Heat in the microwave for about 10 seconds, then massage into dry hair. Cover with a towel or plastic bag, leave on for 20 minutes, then shampoo as normal. You will love how silky and radiant your hair looks and feels.
And, Here’s a Bonus for the Brave: Coconut “Oil Pulling”
An ancient remedy known as Oil Pulling has so many benefits that it’s hard to believe such a simple practice can produce such a wide array of results. Think of Oil pulling as washing out your mouth with soap, but less bitter. By swishing a tablespoon of oil around your mouth for twenty minutes, it creates a process called “saponification”, meaning it basically produces soap from the healthy fats found within the oil.
As you swish the oil within your mouth, it has a unique way of attaching itself to the bacteria that can be found between your teeth and gums. Benefits for this everyday practice include better breath, whiter teeth, and improved overall health. Oil Pulling should be done first thing in the morning before eating, and you will still retain the benefits if you brush your teeth before or after.
Using 1 tablespoon of oil, simply swish around your mouth, pushing in between your teeth and around your gums, for 20 minutes. This shouldn’t be too vigorous, and it shouldn’t cause your jaw to become sore. If that’s the case you’re swishing too hard. As time passes, the oil expands. So even though you are only starting out with 1 tablespoon, it may end up feeling like 2 or 3 when you’re finished.
Dr. Mona Vand is the creator of The Modern Pharmacist, movement created to help patients understand the connection between pharmaceutical science and overall wellness.
Photos: CC: ellas kitchen company limited, Karen Lee, Tim Hoggarth, Meal Makeover Moms, fdecomite, Stacy Spensley, Tetine
Anyone who’s ever ‘dinged’ a nearby car can relate to that moment of panic – fearing the amount of damage, and debating whether to admit to it.
It was no different for parents in the U.K., whose 3-year-old son slammed their car door right into a neighbor’s.
The parents contacted their neighbors to let them know what happened and offered to pay for the repairs, and those neighbors responded by sending them an ‘invoice’ totaling about $3,000.
They even itemized the tea and biscuits they consumed “while pondering (the) repair.”
At the bottom of the page, however, was a message they didn’t expect.
Instead of charging the honest parents, the neighbors wrote, “These things happen…The only thing we ask is that you keep taking our parcels in when we are not here, thanks!”
An amateur golfer is credited with playing what’s being considered the greatest round of golf ever, after sinking three holes-in-one in a single round.
Patrick Wills accomplished the feat during a tournament in Quantico, Virginia, on June 22.
While several players have scored two aces in a single round (during 18-holes of golf), this is believed to have been the first time anyone – professional or amateur – has been confirmed to hit three holes-in-one in a round.
The odds of three aces in a single round are greater than winning the Powerball and Megamillion lotteries on the same day: two billion to one.
Scoring a hole-in-one is nothing new for the 59-year-old Wills — the three brought his lifetime total to 25 —but the chances are 5,000-to-one for a player of Wills’ caliber to hit just a single hole-in-one.
Wills once thought about becoming a pro-golfer, but joined the U.S. Marine Corps instead. He again toyed with the idea after he left the service, but put his golf dreams on hold to take care of his wife as she dealt with health issues.
With a round like this one, he may have to rethink that a third time—after all, three seems to be his lucky number.
(READ more at GolfStyles) – Photos by Lotus Head, CC; Patrick Wills, Facebook
Tee This Story Up: Send It To Your Friends And Followers…
“Itty Bitty Hope” isn’t just a run of the mill miniature horse.
Weighing just 13 pounds at birth, she tied the record for the smallest horse ever born—and she may just be the cutest.
Coupled with her fun-loving personality, she’ll make a perfect companion for kids and adults in Oklahoma who are in need of comfort: Itty Bitty Hope may be tiny, but she has a big job ahead as a therapy animal.
Her “people parents,” Jim and Linda Woods, have already made plans for the foal to work with their charity “Mini Hooves of Love,” which pairs miniature horses with people —especially kids—who need help working through difficult times.
Their tiny horses bring smiles to the people they visit in children’s hospitals, nursing homes and shelters.
It’s horse sense that this tiny foal is going to bring out a herd of happy faces when she goes to work.
(WATCH the KFOR News video below) – Photo: KFOR
Giddy-Up: Send This Story Galloping Over To Your Friends And Followers…
A half-century after breaking off relations, the United States and Cuba will restore full diplomatic ties and reopen embassies later this month.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Havana for the July 20th re-opening of the U.S. embassy there, and Cuba will open its embassy in Washington, DC, the same day.
Each country has maintained a minor diplomatic post called an “interest section” in the other country for years, but neither building was allowed to fly their country’s flag without formal relations. The first hint of today’s announcement came earlier this week as workers installed a new flagpole at the Cuban Interest Section just blocks from the White House.
Since December, the two countries have been working quickly to bridge a divide that began in 1960 at the height of the Cold War.
Now, after more than five decades of isolation, the U.S. has relaxed its trade and travel restrictions and removed Cuba from its list of states that sponsor of terrorism.
“We don’t have to be imprisoned by the past. When something isn’t working, we can and will change,” President Obama said during the announcement in the White House Rose Garden.
(READ more at The Hill) – Photo of El Capitolio, Cuban Academy of Sciences, by dibaer, CC
Send Your Own Diplomatic Communique: Share this (below)…
Wolves are rarely seen as creatures of comfort and healing, but they’re changing teenage lives for the better in southern California.
“Wolf Therapy” is an eight-week program focusing on making a primal connection between young adults and wolves who were abandoned or neglected in the wild.
The initiative is the offspring of a partnership between the animal rescue operation Wolf Connection and Promises, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center.
Wolves and teenagers are often misunderstood, but their worlds come together at a 165-acre facility 45 miles north of Los Angeles.
“We bring people into the world of the wolf for a day or a weekend,” Teo Alfero, a pack leader at Wolf Connection, said in a 2013 video. “For a moment all that neglect and self- hurt and mistreatment and anger cease to be in the front of your life. It takes a little step to the side and allows for a connection that is very, very deep at a primal level.”
Alfero says the wolves help young adults to engage in a different lifestyle by developing confidence and trust. He says they essentially step out of their former lives, make the connection, then move on with a healthier, more productive outlook.
(WATCH a videos about wolf therapy for addicts below) – Photo: Wolf Connection Video
SHARE the Surprising Therapy Option on Social Media…
“Ten years ago, three intrepid Kittredge Elementary School second-graders started secretly digging up a giant rock behind their school,” began a news report in Massachusetts. “They snuck plastic spoons out of the cafeteria and dug a little bit each day.”
“They were told not to, but they kept going. One might think this story ends in discipline and childhood disappointment, but not quite.”
The grownups finally relented, and after 10 years, the ‘Kittredge Rock’ now stands unearthed on the playground in North Andover – with its own plaque donated by a local business – as a symbol of perseverance.
(READ the inspiring story in Wicked Local) – Photo used with permission; Story tip from A. Robinson
In the competitive news business, it’s rare for TV stations to help one another out, but even network affiliate rivals can work together to broadcast acts of kindness.
That’s exactly what folks in the newsroom of KOCO-TV did after the sudden passing of a beloved broadcaster in Oklahoma City.
Employees at KFOR-TV, where Bob Barry, Jr. was a broadcast legend, wanted to pay their respects at his funeral last week, but needed to stay behind to run the television station.
The rival media outlet across town offered to staff the newsroom so more of Barry’s colleagues could attend.
“I’ve heard from all the news directors in Oklahoma City who all, independent of each other, reached out upon hearing the news of Bob’s death,” KFOR News Director Carlton Houston told The Oklahoma Daily. “Bobby was a very special guy and a dear, beloved friend.”
Bob Barry, Jr., who died in a scooter accident this month, was a second-generation sports director at KFOR-TV. He replaced his father at the anchor desk, where Bob Barry, Sr. had been a fixture on local news for more than 40 years.
(READ more at The Oklahoma Daily) – Photo: KFOR fb, Story Tip from Amanda Harvey
What if you could achieve an hour’s worth of workout results in just five minutes? It’s not easy, but it is possible. My five-minute core workout routine requires no machines, no weights, and no personal trainer. Rotating just two very easy-to-master exercises for five minutes five times a week will result in core strength that will emanate throughout your entire body. You’ll get tighter abs, defined buttocks, and a stronger upper body. Here’s how it works:
Exercise 1: The Mountain Climb Crunch
Start in plank or push-up position with your wrists directly under your shoulders. Lift one foot off the ground and bring your knee to your chest, contracting your stomach in the process. Then repeat with the other knee. Continue to alternate as fast as safely possible for 30 seconds.
Lie on your back and contract your abdominal muscles so your shoulders are slightly lifted off the ground. Place your hands behind your head and contract your abs so your right knee meets your left elbow, then switch to the other side. Keep alternating sides until you’ve completed as many of these crunches as possible in a 30 second window.
The Routine
Switch between the Mountain Climber Crunches and the Biker Racer Crunches, doing each for 30 seconds until you’ve reached a total of five minutes—that means each exercise five times.
If at first this routine is too difficult, start smaller. Begin with 10 or 20 second increments and work your way up over the next several weeks. Soon enough, you’ll have the strong, defined core you’ve always wanted…and plenty of extra time to flaunt it.
(WATCH the video above to see how it’s done)
David Sandoval is the founder of Purium Health Products and author of The Green Foods Bible. Learn more at puriumcorp.com.
