There’s a baby boom going on among a clan of the world’s most endangered killer whales.
Whale watchers off the British Columbia coast have sighted a fourth calf born since December to the group of Southern Resident Killer Whales that also frequent Washington State waters.
Naturalist Jeanne Hyde first spotted the latest addition while aboard a whale watching cruise. At first, she thought it was another orca born earlier in the year. Then she saw the dorsal fins of both calves break the surface at the same time.
“It was so exciting, because this calf has the heavy-duty, deep fetal folds,” Hyde, the avid whale photographer, was quoted as saying in an online magazine. “I’d never seen one so fresh. That’s an indicator that it was born just within a couple days.”
The birth of ‘J52’, as the newest arrival is called, increases the estimated number of wild mammals in the community of Southern Resident Killer Whales by three percent, to a total of 81.
It’s been almost three years for the clan since a calf has survived to its first birthday, according to the Center for Whale Research. The survival rate is normally about 50 percent for any young orca. The latest string of births have allowed for cautious optimism, however, and even a bit of excitement.
The research community and whale watchers in the Pacific Northwest are keeping their collective fingers crossed that the endangered community has “finally turned the corner.”
Photo Credit: Jeanne Hyde courtesy of Center for Whale Research (shows both calves’ dorsal fins breaking the surface)
The company that owns fast-food restaurants KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut joined the trend toward sustainability by announcing on Friday it plans to refrain from using palm oil obtained through deforestation by committing to source 100 percent of its palm oil from responsible sources by the end of 2017.
A study by scientists in 2012 found that the number of forests being leveled to produce new palm plantations is causing a globally significant increase of carbon dioxide emissions.
But the trends are positive.
The percentage of palm oil companies operating under zero-deforestation commitments grew from zero to about 60 percent last year. And the five biggest palm oil growers in the world have launched and signed the Sustainable Palm Oil Manifesto with a temporary moratorium against deforestation.
3M vowed recently to begin sourcing all its paper products from sustainable forests. General Mills joined other U.S. companies — Unilever, Nestle, Kraft and Burger King — by announcing in 2010 an end to buying palm oil from companies accused of destroying rain forests.
KFC completely replaced palm oil in all its UK and Ireland stores in 2012, which also cut the saturated fats from their food by 25 percent.
Brutus, a two-year-old Rottweiler and a quadruple-amputee, is currently living a frisky life, thanks to Orthopets Denver and a university team from the veterinary teaching hospital — and, especially, the woman who rescued him.
Laura Aguilina, of Loveland, Colorado, first spotted Brutus, then badly crippled, in a parking lot, where his previous owner was trying to sell him.
After Laura took him in, a friend advised her to take him to Orthopets, a unique animal clinic specializing in innovative, biomechanically-correct prosthetic solutions for animals around the world.
Before Brutus could be fitted, he would require paw surgery at the Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, so she quickly created a GoFundMe page to raise money for his new legs and accompanying therapy. So far, almost $14,000 has been raised from 295 donors.
Five months into his new life, Brutus is longer afraid to take a walk on the wild side–he’s chasing squirrels and playing his favorite game, tug-of-war.
“Brutus is super sweet, ridiculously smart and has a very forgiving nature,” Aquilina told Good Morning America. “You would think a dog like him who’s been through so much wouldn’t trust people, but he’s a very gentle soul.”
More milestones lie ahead for Brutus: neuro-muscular re-education therapy and walking on an underwater treadmill. But the sweetest is the finalization of his adoption by Laura and her husband, which will take place next week.
For the last nine years Lee Hardy has made thousands of Easter baskets for needy kids in her Palmetto, Florida community— and each is a toy-laden cellophane-wrapped masterpiece.
Hardy nearly empties the holiday shelves at all the Dollar Stores in her area, buying Easter grass, candy, bunny-themed coloring books and plush toys.
“The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office donates toys cars and stickers but Hardy buys nearly everything that goes into the baskets,” reports WTSP News. “She even throws in a toothbrush to balance things out.”
GNN Exclusive- At the outbreak of the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict, Israeli and Palestinian parents who’d lost children to violence set up a tent on a street in Tel Aviv. For 70 straight days, they hosted dialogues on peace and reconciliation in the “Peace Square”. Out of that session came a mural, imagined by 20 Palestinian women who, after discussing their personal losses and grief, decided to pick up paint brushes. It was finished by Israeli parents who suffered the same loss of a child.
Now, that mural is on display at the United Nations in New York. And while a mural may not seem like an obvious step towards peace in the Middle East, the message is powerful enough to transcend politics.
“We’re not artists,” Robi Damelin told Good News Network. “We use art. Art can open up all kinds of people to our message.”
Damelin’s son was shot to death by a Palestinian gunman in 2002. She was the only Israeli in the room when the 20 grieving Palestinian women began creating the mural.
“As the women began to work [on the mural] they became more and more free.” she said. “It’s quite therapeutic.”
It’s also quite symbolic of what their grassroots group, the Parents Circle, hopes to accomplish.
“We can talk, work together thru this piece of art,” Bassam Aramin, whose daughter was shot and killed by an Israeli police officer in 2007, told the Good News Network.
Bassam Aramin, left, with Robi Damelin
Rather than giving into anger or seeking revenge, Aramin sought reconciliation. He found like-minded people, both Israeli and Palestinian like himself, in the Parents Circle, which was formed more than a decade ago for grieving parents from both camps. More than 600 families have joined the Parents Circle Family Forum since then.
Damelin said there is no difference between Israeli or Palestinian parents when they lose a child.
“The pain is the same,” She said. “You never want any other parent to feel that pain.”
The mural is an expression of that pain. But it is also a concrete example of cooperation and peace.
“The mural we unveil today was inspired by the powerful symbol of the Peace Square,” Deputy UN Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said from the U.N. in New York. “It is the work of bereaved families and friends, both Palestinian and Israeli. Its very existence conveys a vital message: within both communities there is a hunger for reconciliation and a longing for peace.”
Aramin says seeking peace between Israelis and Palestinians is the best way to honor the “blood of sons and daughters” spilled by both sides in the conflict.
“Revenge?” he said. “You will never meet your loved ones again. We believe we can exist in peace.”
The Peace Square Mural, measuring 20 X 6.5 feet, can be viewed until April 10 on the third floor, just outside the conference building at 46th Street at First Avenue.
A single mom from San Diego, who adopted seven special needs boys, remained patient and pleasant during an extensive April Fools gag, perpetrated by a fake valet parking service — and she’s glad she waited for the punchline.
After turning in her ticket to get her SUV back from the valet, he returns with a shabby vehicle and even a mail truck, seemingly unable to find her car because “it’s his first day on the job.”
At the end of the prank, she found herself the recipient of a new 2015 Chevy Traverse.
Stephanie White can now fit all the kids in one vehicle thanks to the generosity of Chevy, with help from the Jimmy Kimmel show.
The crew aboard a passing German container ship rescued a sunburned and dehydrated South Carolina sailor Thursday, who had survivetsd at sea for 66 days atop his capsized boat, called Angel.
37-year-old Louis Jordan told the Coast Guard that he had survived on rainwater and any saline he could catch with a net and by rationing food he had packed for his fishing trip.
He was spotted approximately 200 miles off the North Carolina coast and flown by medical helicopter to a hospital.
Jordan had been first reported missing by his family on Jan. 29. The inexperienced sailor set out Jan. 23 on a fishing trip to the Gulf Stream aboard his 35-ft single masted vessel.
(WATCH the video below or READ the story) – Photo via Facebook
“When Islamic State militants advanced toward a monastery perched on a mountain in northern Iraq, the monks rushed to protect a cherished library of centuries-old Christian manuscripts,” reports the AP. “Dozens of the handwritten books were spirited to safety in nearby Kurdish-ruled areas.”
They now remain hidden in an apartment where Christians who have fled the fighting are watching over them.
When two Michigan policemen were notified that a woman parked at a local McDonald’s was holding a baby in her lap, they came ready to issue a citation. But after spending a few minutes with mom, they decided to donate a car seat instead.
Officers Jason Pavlige and James Hodges learned that the couple, who were new to Fruitport Township, did not have the financial means to buy a proper car seat—and had no family or friends in the area.
To ensure the 10-month-old girl’s safety, Pavlige and Hodges not only used their own money to buy one, they installed the car seat and instructed the family on its use.
“The father was, I think, almost in shock,” Hodges, 26, an almost two-year veteran of the force, told ABC News.
A lieutenant on the force, Bruce Morningstar, said the good deed was brought to the department’s attention by a clerk at Walmart, who wanted them to be recognized for their kindness.
Both men were hailed for their action in a letter from the department that read in part, ‘This certainly goes above and beyond what is expected of you in serving our community.”
Your heart pounds in your chest. You can’t catch your breath. Your legs are shaking. Although it may feel as if you’re having a heart attack, these symptoms are associated with panic attacks.
Your body is turning on the stress response. But here’s the good news: you can help your body to activate its relaxation response by employing certain techniques.
I suffered from severe panic attacks for years and learned to prevent them and stop them from escalating with these 7 steps.
1. Thinking Clearly
Rational thinking is key to slowing down a panic attack. The symptoms of anxiety are really your body’s fight or flight complex kicking in to fight danger, but this cascade of physical events only begins with your acknowledgment that something is bad. What is real to the mind becomes real in the body. You can use all your powers of rational persuasion to convince yourself that you are safe so your body’s primal danger system won’t be as easily triggered.
While you’re converting cautionary thoughts to calm ones, take super slow breaths from your belly. Try inhaling for four seconds and exhaling for six seconds. When most people feel panic, they will hold their breath or will try to inhale from their chest.This usually results in hyperventilation, so luxuriate in the longer exhales and fuller inhales.
3. Use Imagination to Focus and Distract
You’re already good at using your imagination because you’re picturing scary scenarios to bring on a panic attack. Instead, conjure wonderful images. Picture yourself feeling good or being with someone you love. Picture times when you felt relaxed and peaceful. Try encouraging these sensory sensations by coupling them with comforting sounds or gestures. Anything that “takes you away” will do, because if the activity makes you concentrate hard enough, you’ll distract yourself from the panic.
When you start to feel yourself starting to panic, stand or sit up straight. Why does this work? Because when you straighten your spine and lift your chest, you will feel your own power. With the erect posture you will free up space to breathe more easily from your belly. Feel courageous and tell yourself to have patience and wait for the slow breathing to quiet your body.
5. Get Moving
There’s a considerable amount of research supporting how exercise relieves anxiety. Any movement will do. Try to make it something you enjoy so you can do it regularly. If you are on an airplane, rotate your wrists and ankles, and roll your head.
6. Eat ‘Calming Foods’ and Reduce Your Toxic Load
Panic and anxiety are often traced to underlying inflammation resulting from eating a lot of sugar and processed foods filled with chemicals. Remove foods that may be contributing to anxiety and make sure to chow down on healthier foods, particularly green vegetables and healthy fats, like olive oil, avocados and nuts.
7. Use Nature’s Medicine Chest
Spice racks and herbal gardens contain powerful “medicine” for reducing anxiety. B vitamins, magnesium, probiotics and fish oils have all been shown to help alleviate stress. Try working with a medical practitioner who can help you get into balance.
Sandra Scheinbaum, Ph.D., IFMCP, CHC, BCB, RYT is the author of Stop Panic Attacks in 10 Easy Steps and How to Give Clients Those Skills. As a clinical psychologist specializing in mind-body medicine and positive psychology, she helped hundreds of clients ease their panic and anxiety. She is certified in functional medicine, the director of Feed Your Mind Wellness, adjunct faculty at the University of Western States, and Founder of the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy, Inc.
SHARE the Good Ideas (below)… / Top photo by hufse (CC)
Sixteen percent of students admitted to Stanford University for the upcoming fall semester are first-generation college students, and that number may continue to grow with the announcement this week of more generous financial aid guidelines.
Under the new policy, Stanford will offer free tuition to students whose parents have typical assets and earn annual incomes below $125,000. There will be zero parental contribution needed for tuition, room and board for parents with annual incomes below $65,000.
The university’s income threshold was previously $100,000 and $60,000 respectively, with a cap on assets of less than $300,000, excluding retirement accounts.
”Our highest priority is that Stanford remain affordable and accessible to the most talented students, regardless of their financial circumstances,” said Provost John Etchemendy. “Our generous financial aid program accomplishes that, and these enhancements will help even more families, including those in the middle class, afford Stanford without going into debt.”
Over half of Stanford’s undergraduates receive financial aid from the school, and 77 percent of them leave the university at graduation with no student debt. Standford’s student body is comprised of young folks from 50 U.S. states and 77 countries.
Because Stanford is one of the world’s richest universities, with an endowment of $21 billion, and the school enrolls a higher proportion of wealthier students, tuition for lower-income peers can be subsidized. Annual tuition for a typical student totals roughly $65,000 before financial aid.
As part of the financial aid program, students will be required to contribute toward their own expenses through summer jobs or part-time employment during the school year. Students are expected to contribute at least $5,000 per year from these sources, but are not expected to borrow to make the contribution.
New York City’s favorite roll-models are getting ready to take Fifth Avenue in Sunday’s Easter Parade, putting their best wheels forward to raise awareness for special needs rescue pets everywhere.
Modeling her new Easter dress, Little Miss Lexi (pictured above) will join the parade, with her adoptive sister Pumpkin, as representatives of Posh Pets Rescue, the nonprofit that took them in and helped them heal. Their message is clear: Adopt, Don’t Shop—and consider special needs and senior rescue dogs when you do.
William Lets It All Hang Out on the Couch
Making his debut for the first time is William (left), a rear-wheeler who has just joined the pack. The jury is still out on whether he will dress up his diaper to the nines, but he is looking forward to a better life than the one he had, which, unfortunately, led to his being dropped off in a cardboard box outside of Animal Care & Control here in NYC. He is currently looking for a new forever home, and is enjoying his foster family’s company until then.
The three dogs have a lot in common. Little Miss Lexi, a 20-month-old front wheeler, was put up on Craigslist after being born with deformed front limbs, and Pumpkin, an 8-year-old rear wheeler was found in Brooklyn with a broken back. After being brought to the foster home of Mary Fayet to be fitted for their “wheels,” it became very clear that the “temporary”arrangement would become permanent.
Today, Little Miss Lexi can be seen steering, breaking, and otherwise maneuvering around the streets of Manhattan on her way to work with Mary.
Many dogs like Lexi and Pumpkin enter the Posh Pets Rescue in bad shape and in need of serious medical care—but by the time they are placed for adoption, they are nursed back to health, vaccinated, and given a stylish new look.
Miss Lexi and Pumpkin Are Really Over This Cold Weather.
Lexi’s posh life is not without its challenges. Firstly, she is still trying to convince Mary to let her sleep in the “big bed” (because she likes to roll around and bounce, they’re worried she’s going to fall off). Second, she sometimes ends up wearing the same outfit to work as her colleagues (last week’s purple checkered shirt incident was almost impossible to live down). Lastly, while attempting to show off, she tends to tip over in her cart.
Lexi’s shaky work ethic is also well documented on Twitter, where she taunts the rest of us by wearing pajamas to work, freely checking Facebook, and napping on her desk.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Lexi herself, who serves as the Posh Pets Rescue’s Director of Pup-lick Relations.
Too good to be true? Experts always tell you there is no such deal. Don’t believe them.
BMW New Zealand yesterday ran an April Fool’s advertisement in the Auckland Herald saying the first person to walk into the dealership and ask for “Tom” could swap their old car for a brand new Beemer.
Most people thought it was a pretty lame April Fool’s joke. But Amy and Tiaana Marsh were willing to go for their dream.
They walked in and asked for Tom.
They drove away in a BMW with a license plate that said, NO FOOL.
(WATCH the video below)
Here’s another great car prank played on the 1st of April. Check out what someone found in their garage… A post-it note car (posted on Twitter)
Dan Kennedy was driving to work Tuesday morning near Salt Lake City when he saw a huge orange bag fall off the back of an armored Brink’s truck.
When he stopped to investigate, he found wads and wads of $50s and $100s — thousands of dollars stacked in “steak-sized” plastic bags.
He tried and failed to chase down the truck after discovering the bag’s contents, according to KSL-TV. Then he took the 75-pound bag with him to work.
The Utah Highway Patrol is praising the honest Samaritan who had not a thought about keeping the money.
“I didn’t really think about anything else,” he told the reporter. “You would do it… you would, too.”
Last October an honest citizen faced the same situation, when a bag with more than $100,000 fell out of another Brink’s truck near Haifa in Israel. “Just like in the movies,” Yarden Ben Ezra was shocked to see a bag of cash tumble off the truck. He said it was clear that he would return the money.
(WATCH the video below or READ the story from KSL News)
One brave little boy just got a surprise from some strangers that he will treasure forever.
This past January, a stray bullet took out the right eye of Donovan Lyles Jr. while he was playing video games in his Detroit home. When a local theater group, Captain Fishbones and the Pirates of the Forgiven, learned that the young survivor would soon be turning five, they decided to don matching eye patches and throw him a pirate-themed party for his birthday.
At first, DJ, as his family affectionately calls him, was startled and shy around his costumed guests, but once he realized the event was just for him, he warmed up and hugged every “matey” in sight. His two sisters, Emory and Eternity, also got in on the bandit action, and were especially thrilled to gather up some treasure-filled gift bags.
His brand new hearties donned him “DJ the Daring,” a title that the Pirates of the Caribbean fan didn’t mind one bit.
“It’s now his official pirate name,” Carole Cross, a theater group member, told ABC News.
DJ, who was the victim of an apparent drive by shooting, has since moved to a safer neighborhood with his family. His mother, Emily Brazelton, sacrificed her job in order to take care of him, and the two remain optimistic.
“When I told him his eye was gone, he said he would ‘just have to become a pirate then,'” said Brazelton.
And so he did. Well done, Captain Fishbones and crew!
(WATCH video of the pirate party from ABC News)
Photo Credits: Captain Fishbones and the Pirates of the Forgiven – Facebook
Two men who saved each other’s lives 30 years apart reunited in California this week to help save even more lives at a charity event.
Their story goes way back–and then back even further.
Four years ago, when a tractor-trailer rig rammed into Dr. Michael Shannon’s SUV. Orange County Paramedic Engine 29 was on the scene within minutes. Firefighters found the pediatrician trapped in a burning vehicle, flames licking his legs and feet. Chris Trokey was among the firefighters using the Jaws of Life in a race to pry open the burning SUV, and successfully helped rescue the doctor before the fire killed him.
Later, at the hospital, when he heard the injured man’s name, Trokey realized the doctor had saved his life 30 years earlier.
“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, Dr. Shannon?’” Trokey told KTLA. “That’s when I found out.”
As a newborn, Trokey faced steep odds. He weighed only a little over three pounds. Doctors gave him only a 50% chance of surviving. But Trokey says Shannon worked around the clock to make sure he beat those odds.
Shannon told KTLA: “It’s amazing to watch them all grow up, but to have one come back in your life, on a day you really need it, that’s really incredible.”
On Sunday, the two joined 28 other people shaving their heads for charity, an effort that raised $12,000 for St. Baldrick’s, which funds research on childhood cancers.
In case you were wondering, no harm will come to your second-largest organ if you’ve got a bean addiction.
Researchers spent 11 years tracking the blood levels of four enzymes that indicate liver function in nearly 28,000 Joe-drinking adults, and the results are good.
The study, published in Hepatology, revealed that those who drank 3 cups of coffee a day had lower levels of abnormal liver enzyme than those who don’t sip coffee on the regular, by about 25%.
To boot, yet another study published by the World Cancer Research Fund found that it may even decrease your risk of liver cancer by 14%.
The jury is still out on decaf—though it has shown to protect against cancer in other studies.
Autism Awareness Day is also Independence Day, thanks to a new line of clothing designed to help autistic teens get dressed more easily—and stay on track.
The standard clothing features many of us take for granted — zippers, buttons, even tags — can be a challenge for teens with autism to navigate. That’s why Lauren Thierry, a former CNN anchor, eliminated them entirely when she designed her Independence Day line.
The clothes have no front or back, and they’re reversible, in case unsightly stains pop up. There’s also a rechargeable GPS device option in every piece of clothing, in case the child wanders or gets lost.
”The best thing I can do for my child and everyone else’s child is to give them the tools — in my case the clothes — so they can dress themselves and have a fair degree of independence,” Thierry told AM New York. “No matter how you put it on it’s going to be right.”
Theirry was inspired by her son, Liam, who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder when he was two-years-old. He’s spent the past twelve years learning how to get dressed.
“Autism can affect you cognitively, but also your fine motor skills and dexterity,” Theirry explained.
She worked closely with Dalila Anderson to design the clothing line, which was tested at the New York Child Learning Institute, a school for autistic children in College Point, Queens. As practical as the outfits are, they don’t sacrifice the “style” factor — an important quality for just about any teen. The outfits have a preppy flair inspired by Calvin Klein and Lilly Pulitzer.
The clothes can also benefit teens with other special needs like muscular dystrophy or cerebral palsy.
Here’s to freedom—for both kids and parents alike.
When I was six years old, I was obsessed with my Barbie Workout tape. To this day, I believe that it contributed, in large part, to my industrial-strength calf muscles. If this eight-minute yoga video had existed when I was, say, in preschool or kindergarten, I may not have stayed the type of kid who crawled around and disrupted everyone during naptime because I didn’t know how to just chill.
Here in New York City, it’s easy to find classes teaching kids to do yoga on pint-sized mats. In many parts of the world, however, children aren’t so lucky, and that’s where Jodi the Yogi and her flexible companion, Downward the Dog, come in — making yoga accessible to kids everywhere. Science has confirmed the many emotional benefits of yoga, such as increased ability to focus, reduced stress, and clarity of mind. The physical health benefits, like improved flexibility, coordination, even digestion, are well known. One of the ways children learn best is through music and the repetition it offers, which is why Jodi’s program pairs original music with all of her yoga movement sequences. Some of them literally emulate sun salutations, others focus on a specific posture (like the airplane song), and others are soothing with a focus upon breathing (like crisscross applesauce). It’ll also make ‘em laugh, because Jodi and Downward were “designed” to be funny characters. Your child will have no idea that in reality, they are boosting their immune system and balancing their energy.
If I were a kid, I would have made my parents play this video on a loop every day, much like I did with the Ronald McDonald and Friends tape that nearly melted our car’s cassette player—and, when they eventually cut me off, I would’ve had the skills needed to self-soothe by using my breath. (WATCH Jodi the Yogi below and learn more at her website) SHARE it Forward (below)…
Believe it or not, 38 weddings can be cheaper than one.
Acrobat couple Rhiann Woodyard and Cheetah Platt are on a marital mission to tie the knot in 12 different countries over the course of 83 days. With 21 ceremonies under their belt already, the cost of this international nuptial tour has been less than $10,000.
All the wedding venues are available at no cost, although their family and friends have done back-flips in order to help fund the lodging and travel for each expedition.
Photos by Cheetah Platt and Rhiann Woodyard
“We only had to pay for our flights, lodging, and transportation. We used our credit card airline miles, and our friends and family have helped us tremendously,” Woodyard told Metro U.S. “We asked that if they were planning on giving a gift, that they use our alternative gift registry on honeyfund.com.”
She continued, “They could contribute to our adventure by buying us a night at one of our accommodations in Morocco, or a safari in Kenya”
Photos by Cheetah Platt and Rhiann Woodyard
The couple in their 30’s have already visited Spain, Ireland, Kenya, Egypt, Morocco, India, and Thailand, and are posting their photos on various social media, like Facebook.
Oddly, they’re still planning on having a honeymoon after the weddings…and yes, she wears the same dress every time.
