Kaieteur Falls in Guyana, South America is 4x higher than Niagara Falls and twice the height of Victoria Falls – by Allan Hopkins (Flickr-CC)
An agreement signed May 22 will commit $215 million for expanded protection of the Amazon rainforest.
The move will guarantee funds for the next 25 years to ensure long-term protection of the world’s largest network of protected areas over more than a quarter million square miles (60 million hectares) of the Amazon rainforest.
The Amazon Region Protected Areas program (ARPA), which aims to permanently protect 15 percent of the Amazon, an area equivalent to the size of Spain, will receive money from the Brazilian government, WWF and other partners.
“We convened leading financial thinkers and philanthropic partners to create a plan for a first-of-its-kind bridge fund to ensure ARPA’s inspiring success continues,” said Carter Roberts, president and CEO of WWF-US.
ARPA is considered the single largest tropical forest conservation program in history. Created in 2002, and coordinated by Brazilian Ministry of Environment it is a joint effort by Brazil’s federal government, regional state agencies, private institutions and civil society.
Washington state residents were relieved that a 22-year-old college student at Seattle Pacific University tackled a gunman and thus prevented any more killings at the school Thursday.
The young man, jumped up from his desk and pepper-sprayed the shooter when he paused to reload, and quickly subdued him with the help of another man. A police source who saw the security camera video called Jon Meis’s response an “amazing act of heroism.”
News reports revealed that Meis and his fiancé are planning to be married later this month.
Realizing that these should have been happier days for the couple, strangers began buying all the wedding gifts on the couple’s online Target registry, according to a collection of tweets posted by Buzzfeed. When there were no more left to purchase, people began contributing money to pay for a honeymoon — all to say “Thank you”.
The campaign quickly spread online and in local media, after an online fundraising page was set up by a stranger, Jessamyn McIntyre. She set a goal of $5,000 and within hours on Friday the total shot to $6,000.
By Sunday, more than 1300 people had donated $41,400.
McIntyre said, “People asked why I started the fund page for Jon Meis. I don’t know him, and nobody asked me to do it. People found his registry online for his wedding and bought all the presents they could. Then started to wonder what else they could do. The community support for Jon has been so strong, and I wanted to give it a place to continue.”
Jon and his fiancé Kaylie are scheduled to be married on June 21.
Milwaukee River at night by CJ Schmit Photography (CC license via Flickr)
30 native fish species, including sturgeon, are now living and swimming in the lower Milwaukee River, another milestone in the rehabilitation of this waterway, an urban center of life.
Buoyed by tougher environmental regulations and $5 billion in improvements, from the building of the deep tunnel system to the removal of dams and reduction in phosphorus, the Milwaukee River is cleaner and more valuable economically and ecologically than at any point in the past 100 years.
Donors from China, India, the United Arab Emirates and the United States provided $80 million as cornerstone funding to save wild cats.
Panthera, a leading organization dedicated to ensuring the future of wild cats, announced on June 1 the 10-year commitment from several environmental philanthropists and the crown prince of Abu Dhabi.
Unprecedented in its scale and scope, Panthera said the money will immediately fund the most effective solutions for conserving big cats: poaching for local and international trade; retaliatory and punitive killing from conflict with humans; unsustainable hunting of prey; and the loss and fragmentation of habitat.
As the animals at the top of the food chain, these cats help maintain the delicate balance of the ecosystems in which they live and upon which humans depend, and serve as the flagship species for conserving large, wild landscapes.
The founding members of the global alliance are H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, the Jynwel Charitable Foundation in Hong Kong, the Wildlife Conservation Trust in India, and Panthera’s Founders, Dr. and Mrs. Kaplan.
“Today marks a turning point for global cat conservation, and we at Panthera are deeply moved by His Highness’ leadership in this noble cause,” said Panthera Founder and Chairman of the Board, Dr. Thomas Kaplan. “His support is a game changer, opening a path for us to create what has become an unprecedented alliance of philanthropists from Arabia, China, India and America, now united in a common cause.”
The Sheikh’s support builds upon his late father’s legacy, the founder of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who was a passionate advocate for wildlife conservation many decades before the cause became mainstream.”
The multi-year pledges catalyze Panthera’s inclusive plan to help conserve all 38 species of wild cats, with a core focus on tigers, lions, jaguars, snow leopards, cheetahs, clouded leopards, cougars and leopards. Solutions that will be funded as a result of this commitment include:
Protecting and stabilizing more than half of the world’s most important Asian tiger and African lion populations
Securing the largest carnivore corridor in the world for jaguars across 18 countries in Latin America
Creating community-based conservation projects in nearly all countries with snow leopard populations
Reducing killing and poaching in more than half of cheetah and leopard range countries
Designing and implementing a range-wide conservation strategy for cougars, inclusive of creating corridors and recovery landscapes across North America.
For more information on how to join Panthera in their efforts, visit www.panthera.org.
Thanks to our Facebook Fans, who have shared these stories since 2008, we are closing in on the quarter million mark for followers of our page. To celebrate, I posted a montage at Facebook.com showing some of our most popular stories.
Check out our favorites, with thousands of uplifting comments posted from around the world:
A pet owner owes her life to her dog after the much-loved mutt saved her from choking on a piece of toast in April – by performing a Heimlich-style maneuver on her.
The clever labrador-springer-spaniel-cross named Judy, raced across the kitchen and jumped on her owner’s back, forcing her to cough up the toast on which she was choking.
As a newly-appointed Global Youth Ambassador for A World at School, I want to bring attention to the 57 million children around the world currently being denied their human right to an education. I am joined in this call to action by over 500 other young advocates for global education. Together, we make up the Global Youth Ambassadors group – recently launched by the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UN Special Envoy for Global Education, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Gordon Brown.
Shazia and Kainat are two of my fellow Ambassadors. Along with Malala Yousafzai, they were shot by the Taliban for going to school in Pakistan just over a year ago. Their story, and that of so many other of the youth advocates I have joined forces with, inspires me to stand up for the millions of children that are kept out of school because of poverty, early marriage, child labour and different forms of discrimination.
As firm believers that education is the answer to the greatest challenges we face as a society, we ask for your help in urging leaders to raise budgets, build schools, train teachers and improve learning for all children.
It has been shown that we could lift more than 170 million people out of poverty simply by teaching every child in low-income countries basic reading skills. So why are we not making this a reality?
I believe education is the key to building a better future for us all. I hope that together we promote this message and show that we cares about every child’s human right to go to school and learn.
I came across this really nice story about a dog. It was out of the National Geographic magazine I was reading while on an airplane. This is quoted from the article:
“Layka, the dog pictured on our magazine cover, was two when she was sent to help clear an enemy compound in Afghanistan. During her search she was shot by enemy forces and took four rounds from an AK-47 at point – blank range. Despite her injuries, she attacked and subdued the shooter, protecting her handler, Staff Sgt. Julian Mcdonald, and other members of the team. It took seven hours of surgery, including the amputation of a limb, to save her. In 2012 Layka was presented with a medal of heroism and adopted by Sgt. McDonald, who now trains dogs and their handlers at Fort Benning, Georgia.”
“When Layka bounded out of the van that delivered her to Sergeant McDonalds’s home–a special brace allows her to run as if she’d never lost a leg–she instantly recognized him, even though they’d been together only a month before she was shot. “Her excitement brought me to years,” McDonald says. “She was the sole reason why I was living and breathing and able to come home to my son and wife.”
“Our cover story, “The Dogs of War,” is about a special bond. Dogs have been our best friends for at least 14,000 years. The relationship is in our genes and theirs.”
Growing up, Michael King said, his dad always dreamed of owning a 57 Chevy Bel-air.
“He grew up poor, in a family of 7 children. He never thought he would be able to own his dream vehicle, but would talk about it all the time,” says his son on YouTube.
“When I was 8 years old I promised him that on his 57th birthday I would buy him a 57 bel-air. I never forgot, and was able to fulfill my promise.”
Michael had been showing his father pictures of the Bel-air in recent years to gauge how much he would enjoy it. He would get very excited but admit he knew he never would be able to own one like it.
The aqua-blue vintage car had been in King’s possession for two years waiting until the 57th birthday.
In the video above, watch his father break down in tears…
Wednesday marked the last day of school for students in Anderson County, Kentucky and they celebrated by surprising the janitor with a special gift– enough money to see his family stationed overseas.
The students and faculty had secretly donated cash to the fund, collecting $1900 for Ricky Spaulding who had never met his new granddaughter.
“My son is stationed in Italy and we are going to see him,” Spaulding said. “Words can’t describe the joy that I feel right now,” Spaulding told a Lexington TV reporter.
Brimfield Police Chief David Oliver has a “No Mopes” policy
The Brimfield, Ohio Police Department announced this week that they are redoubling their efforts in the name of safety, pulling over as many citizens as they can. Not only that, they are profiling a certain group known to “travel in groups”.
Before you ask where the good news lies in this disturbing information, read part of the full announcement that Chief David Oliver posted on Facebook, to the delight of 18,500 people:
Under my command, we have always been an agency which has not issued a lot of tickets. We make a good amount traffic stops and arrests, yet we issue few citations. That all changes on Monday, June 9th, 2014.
For the summer, we will become an agency with a mission to write tons of tickets. We are not doing this for the revenue. We are doing it for your own good.
As part of this mission, we will be profiling a certain group of people. If you belong to this group of people, I will not apologize for the inconvenience if you are stopped. It is not harassment, so don’t go there. I am ordering my officers to stop anyone belonging to this specific group, we will immediately stop the person or persons (sometimes they travel in groups) and give them a ticket.
As part of “Operation Safe Summer,” officers are ordered to stop anyone appearing to be 15 years of age or under who is riding a bicycle and wearing a helmet while doing so. They will then issue the youthful offender a ticket for a free ice cream cone from Frank’s Drive-in.
Last year we gave away nearly 200 free ice cream treats. It sent a strong message… and we are sending one again this year. Thank-you to Frank’s for the support again this year!
Chief Oliver has become quite the Facebook sensation. Even though his town has a population of only 10,000 with 14 full time officers, he’s managed to accumulate over 70,000 fans. His initial plan was to connect with the community and promote positive communication. Not only has he achieved this, but he’s been praised worldwide for his insistence that officers issue at least one goodwill ticket per shift, especially while “targeting” small children.
Sgt. Tami VanZandt, Spc. Forrest Krenke and Spc. Ray Ortega, all assigned to the Special Troops Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, pose for a photograph with their French hosts before driving to their home June 4, 2014.
While dignified and solemn ceremonies today mark the courage and loss of life 70 years ago during the D-Day invasion, the long-lasting partnership between the U.S. and France is also on display. This friendship dates back to the American Revolution in 1780 when French troops arrived to help their American allies and George Washington to win their bid for independence.
50 French families opened their homes – and their hearts – this week to American soldiers visiting France to commemorate the Normandy Landing. The hosts showed the young Americans how well the French treat their guests.
“I had such an amazing time,” said Spc. Jessika Hurst, serving with the Commanding General’s Mounted Color Guard. “They just kept coming out with more and more food. It was crazy, yet so delicious.”
”We did this so our child could meet an American Soldier,” said Stephanie Folloit, a mother of two who opened her home up to four Soldiers. “He loves American Soldiers. He loves to read about them, he really looks up to them. But we also did this to say ‘thank you’ for what your grandfathers did for us.”
Folloit said she hoped her family could experience the visits again. “This was a great night,” she said. “I am happy to have met these Americans tonight.”
A 23 year old undergraduate from Nottingham Trent University in the UK wanted to design a bike lock that was secure and lightweight.
Using modern materials, Felix Ure believes he has succeeded in making a lock that is indestructible. Neither drill, nor saw, nor bolt cutters can destroy the HENCH Lock.
Further, you will marvel at the innovative design that makes it easy to carry while riding.
The product design student hopes to gain financial backing for the product via a Kickstarter campaign.
Teaching magic tricks by Nicola Ward - Arts Health Institute
Teaching magic tricks by Nicola Ward – Arts Health Institute
Instead of requiring the usual boring, repetitive exercises, an innovative therapy program for kids with Hemiplegia uses training in magic.
Not only is the therapy more fun, the physical results of the Amazing Magic Club, run by the Arts Health Institute of New South Wales in Australia, have been miraculous.
The kids are so enthusiastic about learning the tricks, which require a certain amount of dexterity, they usually sit in their rooms for hours and practice until they can trick their parents.
This intensive training to use both hands simultaneously can help the young patients to achieve independence in every other bimanual daily task, such as tying a shoe.
Photo courtesy of Coach Derek Herber (left) to the Boston Globe
Photo courtesy of Coach Derek Herber (left) via the Boston Globe
Coach Derek Herber had gone into the record books for having steered his boys track and field team to a second consecutive Division 2 outdoor championship — and it was his final season as coach.
But when Herber checked the details of the scoring later that night he found that something didn’t add up. He had uncovered an error.
His team was awarded the points for a second-place finish in one race, when in actuality a competitor had placed second, while a North Attleboro junior had finished seventh.
The school that benefitted, Central Catholic, now displays its rightful trophy.
“I don’t think there is any question the message is loud and clear: There are bigger things than winning,” said the Central Catholic athletic director.
A team of middle school girls had the moment of their lives when President Obama told the story of how they built an app to help their blind friend navigate his way through their school.
The team of Latina girls and their visually impaired classmate, Andres Salas, from tiny Los Fresnos, TX, presented their Hello Navi app to the President at the White House Science Fair on May 27th. Andres inspired the idea, but what makes the app really special is that it will soon be available for all visually impaired students — and free of charge.
The girls created the app for the Verizon Innovative App Challenge, an annual challenge for teams of middle and high school students to design an app that solves a problem in their community or school. The Hello Navi team was one of eight winning teams that received best in nation honors, a grant to support STEM programs at their schools, and the opportunity to work with the MIT Media Lab to turn their concept into reality. This month the finished Hello Navi app will be available for download on the Google Play store to help the visually impaired.
