25 year-old Kyle Carpenter should not be alive today after jumping toward a grenade to save another soldier on a rooftop in Afghanistan. But he is alive in every way. He’s going to school, giving speeches, and continuing to inspire people every day.
In June, Kyle was invited to the White House to become the second living Marine since the Vietnam War to receive the nation’s highest military decoration — the Medal of Honor.
(WATCH his story below)
When Best Friends Animal Society staff members pulled a pretty, golden-colored pit bull terrier mix from a busy Los Angeles city shelter, no one knew she’d soon find her true calling – twice.
Chata the dog’s incredibly sweet and calm demeanor made her stand out to one adopter in search of a therapy dog to bring to school where she worked with special-needs children.
Chata went home with the adopter, got certified as a therapy dog and it looked as though she’d found her forever home. But then her adopter was transferred to a different school, one that did not allow pit bull terriers.
One week after Chata returned, military veteran Joseph Stanberry came in looking for an emotional support dog. Best Friends adoption specialists immediately told him about Chata, but there was a problem. Joseph’s heart was set on a Labrador retriever, like the one he’d grown up with, but he couldn’t find one that really tugged at his heartstrings. So, he agreed to meet Chata.
When she entered the room where Joseph was waiting, she immediately walked up to him, sat down and let him pet her. Upon meeting her, Joseph said, “I just felt like I couldn’t leave there without her.” Chata was the one.
Joseph took his new dog home, complete with the service vest she’d earned. He renamed her Summer and enrolled her in a training program for dogs and veterans. It turns out, Summer’s line of duty is just being herself. “She helps me with anxiety and depression. I’m also going to have her trained to help me hear (better), because I have a significant amount of hearing loss due to the military explosions and gunfire.”
Summer now accompanies Joseph nearly everywhere, bringing a sense of calm and duty wherever they go. When Joseph stops, she halts and awaits marching orders from her captain.
Learn more about how Best Friends helps pets at their website, Bestfriends.org.
Photos courtesy of Joseph Stanberry
A hospital in in Wigan, England granted Sheila Marsh’s dying wish to see her horse one more time.
The Royal Albert Edward Infirmary arranged transportation for Marsh’s favorite horse, whom she had looked after during the previous 25 years. Nurses wheeled her bed into the car park so she could say goodbye.
The hospital said the 77-year-old “gently called” for Bronwen, who walked toward her with purpose and nuzzled her cheek.
After Sheila died the next day her family shared the touching photos.
(WATCH the video below or READ more from the BBC)
Countries fishing the Eastern Pacific Ocean for bluefin tuna have heeded scientific advice agreeing to almost halve their fishing quotas for the prized but beleaguered fish.
The European Union, US, Mexico, China, and Japan, along with 16 other nations belonging to the Inter American Tropical Tuna Commission agreed to establish a catch quota of 6600 tons of Pacific Bluefin tuna for commercial catches spread over the next two years. That achieves a 45 percent reduction, almost meeting the reduction of 50 percent recommended by the International Scientific Committee for tuna.
In June 2012, the group of nations set a tuna quota in the eastern Pacific for the first time ever. Last year the quota was reduced to 5000 metric tons for all of 2014. This new significant cut could lead to a Pacific bluefin tuna recovery.
The hope is that these same countries, especially the US, Mexico and Japan, will also agree to similar cuts to Pacific Bluefin Tuna elsewhere, when the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission meets in Samoa in December.
SOURCE: WWF – Photo by Tom Puchner via CC license
Veterans Day gives everyone a chance to thank American veterans and their families, for service to the country.
In honor of those who served, the National Park Service is waiving entrance fees for all visitors to any of 2000 parks this Veterans Day, November 11, 2014.
Everyone can enjoy a fee-free day at any of the National Parks, monuments, and memorials. They have a list of Remembrance Sites that are particularly appropriate for the holiday.
Additionally, if you are disabled, the National Park Service will provides a free, lifetime pass if you are a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, which provides free access to more than 2,000 recreation sites managed by five Federal agencies.
You can find a park near you using the National Park Foundation’s online tool.
Toxic people defy logic. Some are blissfully unaware of the negative impact they have on those around them, and others seem to derive satisfaction from creating chaos and pushing other people’s buttons. Either way, they create unnecessary drama, strife, and worst of all stress, which has proven to be harmful for your health.
The ability to manage your emotions and remain calm under pressure has a direct link to your performance. TalentSmart has conducted research with more than a million people and discovered that 90% of top performers are skilled at managing their emotions in times of stress in order to remain in control. One of their greatest gifts is the ability to neutralize toxic people. They employ well-honed coping strategies that enable them to control what they can, and eliminate the rest. Here are 12 ways that successful people deal with toxic people:
Complainers and negative people are bad news because they wallow in their problems and fail to focus on solutions. They want people to join their pity party so that they can feel better about themselves. People often feel pressure to listen to complainers because they don’t want to be seen as callous or rude, but there’s a difference between lending a sympathetic ear and getting sucked into their negative emotional spiral.
Successful people know how important it is to live to fight another day, especially when your foe is a toxic individual. In conflict, unchecked emotion makes you dig your heels in and fight the kind of battle that can leave you severely damaged. When you read and respond to your emotions, you’re able to choose your battles wisely and only stand your ground when the time is right.
Toxic people drive you crazy because their behavior is so irrational. The more irrational and off-base someone is, the easier it should be for you to remove yourself from their traps. Quit trying to beat them in an argument. Distance yourself from them emotionally and approach your interactions like they’re a science project (or you’re their therapist, if you prefer the analogy). Rather than responding to the emotional chaos—focus only on the facts.
Think of it this way—if a mentally unstable person approaches you on the street and tells you he’s John F. Kennedy, you’re unlikely to set him straight. When you find yourself with a coworker who is engaged in similarly derailed thinking, sometimes it’s best to just smile and nod.
4) They Stay Aware of Their EmotionsMaintaining an emotional distance requires awareness. You can’t stop someone from pushing your buttons if you don’t recognize when it’s happening. Sometimes you’ll find yourself in situations where you’ll need to regroup and choose the best way forward. This is fine and you shouldn’t be afraid to buy yourself some time by saying, “Let me get back to you on that.” Sometimes it’s best to give yourself some time to plan the best move.
This is the area where most people tend to sell themselves short. They feel like because they work or live with someone, they have to engage. Once you’ve found your way to Rise Above a person, you’ll begin to find their behavior more predictable and easier to understand. This will equip you to think rationally about when and where you have to put up with them and when you don’t. For example, even if you work with someone closely on a project team, that doesn’t mean that you need to have the same level of one-on-one interaction with them that you have with other team members.
You can establish a boundary, but you’ll have to do so consciously and proactively. If you let things happen naturally, you are bound to find yourself constantly embroiled in difficult conversations. The trick is to stick to your boundaries when the person tries to encroach upon them, which they will.
6) They Won’t Let Anyone Limit Their JoyWhen your sense of pleasure and satisfaction are derived from the opinions of other people, you are no longer the master of your own happiness. When emotionally intelligent people feel good about something that they’ve done, they won’t let anyone’s opinions or negative remarks take that away from them.
While it’s impossible to turn off your reactions to what others think of you, you can always take people’s opinions with a grain of salt. That way, no matter what toxic people say, your self-worth comes from within. One thing is certain—you’re never as good or bad as they say you are.
Where you focus your attention determines your emotional state. When you fixate on the problems you’re facing, you create and prolong negative emotions and stress. When you focus on actions to better yourself and your circumstances, you create a sense of personal efficacy that produces positive emotions and reduces stress. Quit thinking about how troubling your difficult person is, and focus instead on how you’re going to go about handling them. This puts you in control, and reduces the amount of stress you experience when interacting with them.
8) They Don’t ForgetEmotionally intelligent people are quick to forgive, but that doesn’t mean they’ll always give a wrongdoer another chance. Forgiveness requires letting go of what’s happened so that you can move on. Successful people are unwilling to be bogged down unnecessarily by others’ mistakes, so they let them go quickly and are assertive in protecting themselves from future harm.
Sometimes you absorb the negativity of other people. There’s nothing wrong with feeling bad about how someone is treating you, but focusing on it is self-defeating. It sends you into a downward emotional spiral that is difficult to pull out of.
Drinking caffeine triggers the release of adrenaline. Adrenaline is the source of the “fight-or-flight” response, a survival mechanism that forces you to stand up and fight or run for the hills when faced with a threat. The fight-or-flight mechanism sidesteps rational thinking in favor of a faster response. This is great when a bear is chasing you, but not so great when you’re surprised in the hallway by an angry coworker.
11) They Get Some SleepI can’t say enough about the importance of a good night’s sleep in making you more positive, creative, and proactive in your approach to toxic people. When you sleep, your brain literally recharges, shuffling through the day’s memories and storing or discarding them, so that you wake up alert and clear-headed. Your self-control, attention, and memory will suffer when you don’t get enough sleep. Sleep deprivation raises stress levels on its own, even without a stressor present.
Don’t attempt to tackle everything by yourself. Get help dealing with a challenging person by tapping into your support system to gain new perspective. Everyone has someone at work or in their life who is on their team, rooting for them, and ready to help them make the best of a difficult situation. Identify these individuals in your life and make an effort to seek their insight and assistance when you need it. Something as simple as explaining the situation can lead to a new perspective. Most of the time, other people can see a solution that you can’t because they are not as emotionally invested in the situation.
Thankfully, the plasticity of the brain allows it to mold and change as you practice new behaviors, even when you fail. Implementing these 12 techniques for dealing with difficult people will train your brain to handle stress more effectively and decrease the likelihood of ill effects.
Do you have your own strategies for dealing with toxic people? Do share them in the comments section below…
Dr. Travis Bradberry, Ph.D. is the award-winning co-author of the #1 bestselling book, Emotional Intelligence 2.0, and the cofounder of TalentSmart, the world’s leading provider of emotional intelligence tests, emotional intelligence training, and emotional intelligence certification, serving more than 75% of Fortune 500 companies. His bestselling books have been translated into 25 languages. Dr. Bradberry has written for, or been covered by, Newsweek, BusinessWeek, Fortune, Forbes, Fast Company, Inc., USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Harvard Business Review.
Photo (top) by Ed Yourdon, CC license
Some 250 gardens appeared suddenly along corridors like the one in Brownsville, Brooklyn, planted with flowers, grasses and small trees.
“In what officials have billed as one of the most ambitious programs of its kind in the United States, New York City has, with little fanfare, embarked on a roughly 20-year, $2.4 billion project intended to protect local waterways, relying in large measure on ‘curbside gardens’ that capture and retain storm-water runoff.”
Over the coming months, the Department of Environmental Protection will expand the Green Infrastructure Program initiated by Mayor Bloomberg, by building 2,000 curbside gardens in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens. When construction is completed, the gardens, also called bioswales, will have the capacity to collect and absorb more than 4 million gallons of storm water when it rains. By softening the impervious urban landscape and naturally absorbing rainwater the city hopes to capture more than 200 million gallons of storm water each year, thereby improving the health of the rivers and bays surrounding the city.
In addition to making boroughs more resilient to extreme flooding, some of these neighborhoods currently have less than average street tree counts and higher than average rates of asthma among young people. The increased tree canopy and vegetation will help to improve air quality, provide shade during hot summer months, and beautify the neighborhoods.
The New York Times says similar gardens have proved effective in other cities, most notably Philadelphia.
(WATCH one of the gardens in action during rainfall below)
(READ a story in the NY Times)
Photos by NYC Department of Environmental Protection
Yvon Le Maho, who has been studying penguins for more than 40 years, knows that humans make penguins very skittish so it is difficult to collect data about natural behavior. He wondered about sending in a small rover on wheels to carry a camera and other recording equipment. When the idea was first tested, he found the penguins’ stress levels stayed low.
Would the rover be accepted into the colony if it were disguised as a baby penguin? The answer was, an emphatic, yes.
Luckily for Le Maho, at the same time he was experimenting, the UK-based John Downer Productions, was working on shooting a film using camouflaged cameras to get into emperor penguin colonies.
“It was like a marriage in heaven,” Philip Dalton, producer of the BBC mini-series “Penguins: Spy in the Huddle”, told NPR.
Their collaborative effort resulted in the ‘chickcam,’ a data collection penguin so lifelike that adults tried to care for it. The feathered rover also captured something that had never before been recorded: an emperor penguin laying an egg.
In the 2013 clip below, penguins in the film meet ’emperorcam’ for the first time. One of the 50 spy cameras that filmed, as never before, the charismatic birds.
(WATCH a video of the chickcam, and READ the story from NPR)
Photo credit: Le Maho and team, in NatureMethods
The proportion of adults smoking in the UK has declined to its lowest level since recording started in the 1940s. (Guardian)
Every year a million people suffer from cardiac arrest in Europe and face a mere 8% survival rate due to slow response times of emergency services. Alec Momont seeks to improve existing emergency infrastructure with a network of drones capable of saving lives. His drone can speed to a location within 1 minute, when it would take an ambulance ten.
The Ambulance Drone is the result of Momont’s Master Graduation thesis research project. The industrial engineer studied in Belgium, France and the Netherlands and holds a master’s degree of science from the Technical University in Delft,
(WATCH the video below or learn more at alecmomont.com)
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Officers from the Aurora Police Department went way beyond what any great-grandmother would expect of them after becoming a victim of a purse snatcher while grocery shopping.
Officers Robert Little and Craig Hess met her at the store and immediately helped the 86-year-old woman cancel her credit cards. The thief got away with her wallet and keys to both her vehicle and house.
Afterward, they drove her home, picked up her spare set of car keys and returned to bring her car home.
“After doing all of that the officers then purchased a new lock for her door with their own money and installed the lock that night,” said the police department on their Facebook page.
(WATCH a video or READ the story from The Independent)
Photo from the Aurora FB Page
You might think fraternities are all about partying. Not this one.
With hundreds of homeless people in their Alabama city, many of them veterans, this group of college guys have started a project to get some of them off of the streets.
The men of Phi Kappa Psi at the University of Alabama in Huntsville have created an initiative called Foundations for Tomorrow to create a communal village of tiny homes somewhere in Huntsville.
The young men plan to build the homes themselves, with help from the future resident, and are currently raising funds to buy the land.
(WATCH the video below READ the story from WHNT)
Today is the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall that divided East and West Germany for 28 years.
The East German lieutenant colonel who gave the fateful order to throw open the gate he guarded 25 years ago said he wept in silence a few moments later as hordes of euphoric East Germans swept past him into West Berlin to get their first taste of freedom.
“Harald Jäger said he spent hours before his history-changing decision trying in vain to get guidance from superiors on what to do about the 20,000 protesters at his border crossing on Bornholmer Street who were clamoring to get out,” reports Reuters.
Finally he just threw the doors open, giving in to protestors’ ridicule and dares.
(READ the full Reuters story from Sydney Morning Herald)
(WATCH the inspiring commemorative video below from Google)
Photo of Harold Jäger by Eric the Fish, via CC license
The headline of Friday morning’s jobs report shows payrolls expanding by 214,000 jobs in October.
“But dig a little deeper and you find a much sunnier story. When read carefully, today’s report provides more evidence that the labor market is improving quite rapidly, and that the recovery has gained momentum over the past year,” explains Justin Wolfers a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan.
(READ the article in the NY Times)
Image by FutUndBeidl via CC license
North Korea released from prison two American citizens who had been sentenced to years of hard labor.
Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller are in route to the United States after the “surprise involvement” of a top-ranking U.S. intelligence official.
“The United States has long called on D.P.R.K. authorities to release these individuals on humanitarian grounds.”
“We are grateful to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who engaged on behalf of the United States in discussions with D.P.R.K. authorities about the release of two citizens. We also want to thank our international partners, especially our Protecting Power, the Government of Sweden, for their tireless efforts to help secure the freedom of Mr. Bae and Mr. Miller.”
(READ the Reuters story, w/ photos, from NY Post)
Photo by John Pavelka via CC license
LinkedIn held its second annual ‘Bring In Your Parents Day’, an idea that was born when the company realized that one-third of their employees’ parents had no clue about what their offspring did for work.
At LinkedIn’s Mountain View headquarters Thursday, CEO Jeff Weiner told the parents in his welcome speech, “You should be incredibly proud of your kids.”
Speakers included a sales associate, company wellness guru, communications staffer and engineer — all explaining their roles, while parents sat paying rapt attention.
The annual event (#BIYP) has become a worldwide initiative to help bridge the gap between professionals and their parents. This year more than 50 other companies around the globe participated by holding their own events.
John Clinton, CEO at Edelman CA said, “Parents were proud their kids wanted them here.”
Anne Ripley, pictured above, put her mom to work, helping her run the social media team for Red Door Interactive in San Diego.
LinkedIn had commissioned a study this year that showed 60% of young professionals believe their parents have valuable skills that they have not yet to shared. Perhaps that’s why one company set up a “Parental Advice Station” where parents could answer queries about life or work.
One of the theme’s this year was thanking parents for all their guidance and advice over the years.
(WATCH a video publicizing the 2014 event or READ the story in SFGate.com)
Story tip from Mike McGinley – Front page photo by Megazord via CC license
A year-long $2.1 million study by the federal government agency, Health Canada, found no link between wind turbine noise and migraines, dizziness, or chronic illnesses like high blood pressure and diabetes.
The expert committee for the study, which surveyed 1,238 adults living near wind turbines in Ontario and Prince Edward Island, included over two dozen government, academic and industry experts in various fields and four international advisers.
Another study on wind turbines and health effects, in Australia in March 2013, said that “wind turbine sickness” is far more prevalent in communities where the anti-wind farm activists have been active and appears to be a psychological phenomenon caused by the suggestion that turbines make people sick, according to the Toronto Star.
(READ an article in the Toronto Star – or the study summary from Health Canada and Statistics Canada in Ontario, Prince Edward Island)
Photo by imma via CC license
When Legends Of The Knight was first released in a handful of theaters in February, all the proceeds were donated to local charities. On November 18, the documentary will be released on DVD, capable of inspiring the rest of us with the power of Batman’s heroic, and human, story.
The feel-good film weaves together uplifting true stories of individuals who have embraced their inner superhero to overcome obstacles — or unselfishly given to their communities — because of their love for the Caped Crusader.
In additional to the more personal stories, the film features interviews with people who have been involved with Batman’s rise to dominance over the years, including Michael Uslan, executive producer of the blockbuster Dark Knight films.
5-year-old Texan Kye Sapp is an example of the downhearted who can gain strength by identifying themselves with Batman. After being diagnosed with leukemia, he was given a chance to save his city, as Batman would, through the organization Wish with Wings in 2012.
Because the Gothem City comic book character has no actual superhero powers, Rabbi Cary Friedman was profoundly impacted since childhood. It motivated him to write the book “Wisdom from the Batcave: How to Live a Super, Heroic Life”, which expresses the life lessons & moral teachings in Batman tales.
As a professor, Dr. Travis Langley has even taught a Batman course that illuminates the field of psychology through the characters & stories of Batman.
Meet these and other Batman fans and heroes by pre-ordering a DVD copy of Legends of the Knight, the film that was funded by more than 1100 people from around the world as a way to keep alive our childhood dreams of becoming a hero.
(WATCH the film trailer below)
SHARE with your Batman Buddies with the Buttons Below…
Comedy stars like Jon Stewart and Louis CK took the stage at Madison Square Garden Wednesday night for the 8th annual Stand Up for Heroes comedy benefit.
Following the comedy stand-up performances, the audience was treated to a surprise acoustic performance by Bruce Springsteen. Afterward, the group auctioned off his guitars, dinner at his house, a guitar lesson, and a motorcycle ride around the block.
All that, plus his shirt, brought in $300,000 from bidders in the audience to benefit a veterans group, the Bob Woodruff Foundation, which raises funds for returning soldiers.
(READ the story, w/ photos, from the Chicago Tribune)
Photo credit: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for New York Comedy Festival, 2013
Here’s something to lift your spirits.
A fun dad dances with his son. (On the GNN Facebook Page, someone commented that he is also teaching the lad how to wait for his turn.)
(WATCH the video below, via Facebook… May take a second to load)
