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Greece Is Pulling Off an Amazing Recovery

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Mar 28, 2014

Athens by Rob and Lisa Meehan-CC

On the week of their nation’s Independence Day, Greece has a reason to celebrate with its friends once again. Just like in the 1820s, when British, French, and Russian naval forces arrived to help Greece overthrow the Ottoman Empire, which had ruled there since 1453, the inexpensive loans offered by the European Union in the 21st century rescued Athens from financial catastrophe to preserve that hard-fought independence.

Just two years ago, Greece was on the ropes. Today, investors are increasingly confident of the nation’s ability to pay its debts. Rarely has a country repaired its image with creditors so quickly.

In the short run, cheap loans from foreign lenders gave them the time needed to adjust their spending to the point that now, they are expected to return to economic growth this year.

(READ the story from Bloomberg News)

Thanks to Harley Hahn for submitting the link.

Photo by Rob and Lisa Meehan-CC

Long-Lost Renoir Returned to Baltimore Museum

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Mar 28, 2014

painting-Renoir-On the Shore of the Seine

A tiny Renoir painting has returned home to a gallery in the Baltimore Museum of Art nearly 63 years after it was stolen and then kept mysteriously hidden for decades until it resurfaced in 2012.

Museum officials were thrilled and a little teary-eyed when it was returned to its rightful home.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s painting “On the Shore of the Seine,” from about 1879, will be unveiled Sunday as the centerpiece of a new exhibition, “The Renoir Returns.”

“It’s a moment we’ve been looking forward to,” said museum director Doreen Bolger. “I always believed in my heart that it would come back … It’s what we’re about: preserving works of art.”

(READ the story from ABC News)

Deaf Woman Shocked to Hear for the First Time (Video)

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Mar 28, 2014

cochlear implant video-Midlands Centre-UK

A 39-year-old woman in the UK burst into sobs when hearing someone speak for the first time.

Joanne Milne, from Gateshead, was born deaf and began going blind in her 20s, but thanks to cochlear implants received at Midlands Implant Centre at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, she can now live a more full life.

“Hearing things for the first time is so, so emotional, from the ping of a light switch to running water. I can’t stop crying.

Channing Tatum Sends Teen With Cancer a Video Kiss

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Mar 27, 2014

Channing Tatum Sends teen with cancer video kiss-Vid

High school senior Alisa Finely from Kansas was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer.

Finey created a bucket list and her #1 wish was to kiss actor Channing Tatum.

The Hollywood star found out about it and posted a video he recorded especially for her on his phone. He also recorded a scene for her on the red carpet at the Vanity Fair post-Oscar party where he sang a quick verse of Happy along with his wife, changing the lyrics to add Alisa’s name.

India and Southeast Asia Are Now Officially Polio-Free

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Mar 27, 2014

India Polio-free-WHO photo

Older Americans remember when, in the 1940s and 50’s, polio crippled about 35,000 people each year. After Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine, the devastating disease, which is caused by a virus and usually spreads via infected food or water, was eradicated in the US. In fact, over the last half century, polio has been eliminated in a majority of the world.

But in 1988, a collaboration of organizations — UNICEF, Rotary International, The U.S. Centers for Disease Control, and the World Health Organization (WHO) — formed the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, to promote vaccinations that will, once and for all, eradicate polio from the Earth.

They thought India would be the greatest challenge because historically it was the largest reservoir of the disease with up to 100,000 paralytic polio cases occurring each year between 1978 and 1995. It has also been one of the main sources of polio importation for other countries.

But today leaders of the monumental effort formally announced the end of polio in India. Further, they proclaimed the entire Southeast Asian region, home to a quarter of the world’s population, to be entirely polio-free.

Aussie Chocolate Maker Helps 50 Different Families Longing to Be Reunited

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Mar 26, 2014

hug 2 guys-Tim Tam-video

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the chocolate TimTam, Arnotts is reuniting Australian family members who are longing to be together, whether living across the country or overseas. In a campaign called 50 Qantas Trips in 50 Days, aging parents have gotten to spend time with their adult children, brothers and sisters have embraced after years of being apart.

With 10 international flights and 40 within Australia being given away, one lucky winner per day since February 28 has received two nights in a hotel room along with a ticket to see their loved one. They also win a suitcase full of of Arnott Tim Tam biscuits to enjoy with their families, to help evoke memories of the old days.

85 year old Bert has lived all his life in the hot, remote Queensland town called Winton, with only 954 residents. He is happy there but misses his daughter desperately. Bert says all he wants is “to see her again before I go.”

Victoria also lives in Winton. Raising a family along with her husband is wonderful, but she is so far from her sister in England. Tim Tam surprised Victoria, not only bringing her sister, but her mom and dad and second sister too. On top of that, her husband’s best friend from Canada emerged out of the same plane — an incredible surprise for him too.

Watch the beautiful reunions below.

The contest will take its final entries before May 15. See more stories and enter to win at TimTam50.com.

Thanks to Oli Andrews for sending the story link!

How 6,000 Used Cds Were Turned into Beautiful Art

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Mar 26, 2014

CDs art projec veil-Ignatov architects

In a clever community art project, 128 volunteers attached 6,000 discarded CDs to a giant fishing net and then stretched it like a translucent veil between the pillars of a public park in Varna, Bulgaria, on the Black Sea.

For the project, dubbed Mirror Culture, architect Borislav Ignatov asked for donations of the “abundance of CDs laying forgotten in people’s closets” and soon gathered the 6,000 used in the project.

(READ more and SEE the photos at Slate)

Bond Between Michigan State Star and Little Girl With Cancer Is Bigger Than Basketball

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Mar 25, 2014

Adreian Paynen with Lacey BigTenNetworkvid

The NCAA tournament is always filled with heart-warming stories. Perhaps the sweetest one involves Michigan State’s star forward and an 8-year-old girl named Lacey Holsworth who found out in 2011 that she had neuroblastoma.

She’d been in the hospital for a month when the Michigan State team came for a visit. She immediately forged a bond with Adreian Payne the 6’10” senior with a big smile.

50-cent Paper Microscope Could Save Millions of Lives

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Mar 25, 2014

foldscope microscope-StanfordEDU

Stanford bioengineering professor Manu Prakash was worried that because the developing world could not afford microscopes, they were prescribing malaria pills without identifying specific strains, and unwittingly boosting the resistance of some of the bugs. So he set out to make the best possible disease-detection instrument he could and make it cheap enough to distribute almost for free.

He and his students came up with an origami-like folded cardboard device called the “Foldscope”. It can be produced with just 50 cents for materials and is so durable that it can be stomped on and dropped into a bucket of water, and it still works.

Fetal-Brain Protein in Old Age Could Fight Dementia

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Mar 25, 2014

brain scans CU Tufts

Scientists have discovered that a gene-regulating protein that protects the developing brain of a fetus resurfaces in old age and may stave off dementia, a finding that could open a new path in Alzheimer’s research.

The research by Harvard University scientists published yesterday in the journal Nature, showed the protein is depleted in brains of people with Alzheimer’s.

(READ the article from Bloomberg)

Town Builds Tiny House for a Homeless Outcast

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Mar 24, 2014

Because of his nasty demeanor on the streets of a South Carolina town, homeless man Ben Richardson, known as Rock Man, didn’t have any friends— and maybe didn’t want any friends.

That didn’t matter to a group of adults and youth who talked at their church about how missionaries often overlook those in need right in their hometowns. To them he was simply a man who didn’t have a home.

“It wasn’t until the kids partnered together that Ben started to accept anyone’s help,” said Lynn Sargent, a Kindergarten teacher who, along with another man in town named Quinn, was the catalyst for the compassion campaign.

The community-wide effort secured a spot on the edge of a property owned by a Richardson relative, and plans for a tiny one-room cottage with a bathroom and porch were drawn up.

People in the small town, 60 miles south of Greenville, donated time, materials and labor to construct the one-room cottage.

A Facebook page titled “A Home for Rock Man” helped bring in donations of furniture, kitchen items, food, a crock-pot, paper products and toiletries.

“He’s beginning to trust and smile,” Sargent told WYFF-4. “He’s a different person.”

“His heart is filled with hope and his face shines with joy,” said Angela Cogburn on Facebook.

(READ the full story from WYFF-4)

Video Changes the Life of Nice Homeless Man, Public Donates $42K

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Mar 24, 2014

hugging homeless man given lottery winnings-YouTube

On March 4, a YouTube magician and prankster name Rahat set aside his mischievous pranks to do something really kind for a homeless man he’d often seen hanging around his shopping mall.

He heard that the man named Eric was a “nice and respectable guy,” so he gave him a lottery ticket telling him it was a winner and that he should come to the shop and claim his prize. The store clerk was privy to the stunt and pretended the ticket was indeed a winner and handed over $1,000 in cash to the homeless gentleman.

Rahat, who had secretly given the clerk the cash to give to Eric recorded a video of how excited Eric was to “win” the money.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he repeated. The money was now his, and even though poverty had been his constant companion for a long time, he offered to give Rahat half the money, saying, “I want to share it.” They both began crying with the emotion of the moment.

So many people loved meeting this decent man through a YouTube lens (watch the video below), that many asked how they could help Eric themselves.

Rahat decided to set up a fundraising page for Eric online at Fundly.com, with a goal of raising $20,000 to help Eric improve his life. Within just three days that goal was met and, as of today, 2650 people have donated a total of $42,000 online.

Rahat tweeted his thanks to people and met with Eric for lunch on March 9 to share the news and post a new photo.

Surely, the YouTube magician never pulled off a stunt that better earned his YouTube name — “Magic of Rahat” – than this one.

Corporate “Villain” Vows to Stop Clear Cutting Trees

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Mar 24, 2014

Forest stream deep green Tasmania DSEWPaC-attribution

Few companies have done as much damage to the world’s tropical forests as Asia Pulp & Paper. But under intense pressure from its customers and conservation groups, APP has embarked on a series of changes that could significantly reduce deforestation in Indonesia and serve as a model for forestry reform.

The company committed itself to a series of forestry reforms, including a pledge of zero deforestation in woodlands that sequester large amounts of carbon or have high conservation value, a commitment to strict monitoring of its forestry practices, a vow to acquire prior consent from communities for new tree plantation development, and an agreement to set up a disputes resolution process.

(READ the story in Yale’s 360 blog)

Foster Child Surprises TV Anchor Who Helped in Adoption

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Mar 23, 2014

surprised anchor Gloria Campos and adopted Keonte-WFAA

Fourteen-year-old Ke’onte is full of life and laughter — largely because of his new parents.

But his happiness is also thanks to a television news anchor who featured the boy’s story in Dallas, Texas, not just once, but twice, after a failed adoption brought disappointment.

In 2007, when Ke’onte was just eight years old, Gloria Campos featured him as a “Wednesday’s Child,” a feature produced locally by five US television stations around the country which showcases children in foster care who need loving parents.

The boy, now happy and off medication wrongfully prescribed, wanted to thank Gloria for her persistence in finding him a home, and he surprised her on the air.

(WATCH the touching video below READ the story from WFAA) Thanks to Harley Hahn for submitting the link!

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