U.S. factory output rebounded strongly in February 2014, surging 0.8 percent, the largest gain in six months, according to the Federal Reserve.
US Factory Output Rose in Feb. by Most in 6 Months
Warren Buffett’s Son Targets Rhino Poaching With $24M
American philanthropist Howard Buffett donated $24 million to South Africa’s national parks service on Friday to fund a high-tech campaign against rhino poaching which he compared to the United States’ war on drugs on its southern border.
The money will fund a 30-month campaign to try to reverse a troubling trend in Kruger Park, where illegal hunters infiltrating from Mozambique have been decimating the rhino population.
(READ the story from Reuters)
Girlfriends Do the Unthinkable for Friend with Cancer
South African Girda McKenna asked her friends for just one thing after she was diagnosed with cancer. She wanted them to sit together for a photograph.
The portrait turned into something much more, and blessed her with a memory of true friendship. Luckily, photographer Albert Bredenhann documented the magical journey as all eleven ladies decide to shave their heads in solidarity.
“That is the least I can do,” one woman said before a stylist took an electric shaver to her blonde locks. “If I can do just a little for her to feel better, I will do it with love.”
When Girda walked onto the patio where they all had gathered she was shocked and overcome with tears. She hugged each friend, saying “You girls look amazing.”
All their hair was donated to the Cancer Association of South Africa, according to the Metro, to be weaved into wigs for other cancer patients.
The entire process was made into an incredible video that was anchored by the perfect song, “I will do anything for love (but I won’t do that).”
Photo by Albert Bredenhann
Eiffel Tower Renovation Includes Green Energy Powerhouse
An ambitious renovation has begun on an aging iconic landmark, the Eiffel Tower.
The project, which began in 2012 and is slated for completion later this year, aims to include many new sustainable features on the aging tower’s first floor, such as solar, hydraulic and wind power.
The renovation, by French architecture studio Moatti- Rivière, will add new accessibility options that will finally allow disabled visitors to visit the first floor, an area that will be newly equipped with solar panels and LED lighting.
(READ the story the with more photos at Inhabitat.com)
Pharrell’s Song Happy Joins UN for Intl Day of Happiness
Having just performed at the Academy Awards, where he sang his Oscar-nominated hit “Happy” and danced with A-list actresses in the front row, Pharrell Williams is partnering with the United Nations Foundation to promote the annual International Day of Happiness, Thursday, March 20.
Since the song, “Happy,” which made its bubbly debut on the film Despicable Me 2, it has become an international phenomenon with its album, G I R L, reaching #1 in more than 75 countries. Happy people from Toronto to Ireland have edited dance videos to the catchy song and posted them on YouTube. Two of those were featured as Top Videos on Good News Network.
Drawing inspiration from the “Happy” videos that fans worldwide have already posted, Williams is calling on all his fans to post videos of themselves demonstrating their happiness using the song, and the hashtag #HAPPYDAY, and then registering their submission at 24hoursofhappiness.com.
As part of this global digital engagement, people will be reminded that everyone deserves a chance to be happy, and their donations to the UN humanitarian efforts around the globe can make that happen. This is where you can donate.
Ways To Participate:
- Post dance mob videos on your Youtube channel tagging them with #HAPPYDAY — or post them on Facebook, G+, Tumblr or Instagram with the same hashtag
- Post “Happy” covers on your YouTube Channel tagging them with #HAPPYDAY
- Tell everyone what makes you happy — and tag it to join the trending topic.
Police Helicopter Crew Plucks Dog From Deadly Cliff
A dog that got stuck on cliff high above Portugese Beach in Sonoma County, Calif. was rescued Saturday afternoon after a sheriff’s deputy dangling from a helicopter plucked it off a sheer rock face and returned it unharmed to its owner.
The black and white Labrador named Oreo somehow made her way about 40 feet down a 90-foot high cliff, where there was no way of return.
Deputy Henri Boustany attached himself to the bottom of a 100-foot rope strung from the helicopter and was lifted to the ledge where the dog was waiting.
— WATCH the amazing rescue below
— READ the story from the Press-Democrat)
Photo via YouTube screenshot
Restauranteur Saves Bakery Because It Employs Ex-Cons
When San Francisco restaurateur Andrew Stoloff agreed to consult on the finances of an inner-city bakery in nearby Richmond, he found a failing business, a part-time staff of 14 former prison inmates, and decrepit equipment 20 to 30 years old.
Over several months, as he spent time with the employees, Stoloff learned how the bakery had changed their lives. He fell in love with the mission and, against the advice of family and friends, he bought the bakery himself.
Today, Rubicon Bakery is a moneymaking business, employing 105 full-time staff, some with only a sixth-grade education and many having served time in prison.
(READ the story from Christian Science Monitor)
Thanks to Joel Arellano for submitting the link on our Facebook Page! (Photo from Rubicon Bakery)
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3D-Printed Pelvis Keeps Cancer Patient Walking
3D printing, in which a three-dimensional object of virtually any shape can be created from computer data, has enormous potential in the field of medicine, as one pioneering British surgeon has shown.
Orthopedic surgeon Craig Gerrand used 3D printing to create a pelvis – the first of its kind – for a patient who had lost his to cancer. The man, a retired professional in his sixties, had been diagnosed with a rare bone tumor for which there was no treatment.
Following the successful procedure, he can now walk with a cane.
(READ the story from in the Telegraph)
Join Me for a Spring Cleansing Body Detox
I enjoy my espresso in the morning. I love my wine in the evening. And, I adore all manner of cheese at any time, day or night. But I’m giving all these up — plus wheat, dairy, sugar, and red meat — for 14 days to give my body a much needed cleansing.
For the first time I am willing to go without my culinary loves (or addictive habits, if you prefer) because I found a program that seemed doable, and I really wanted some extra energy in the final weeks of my website redesign project for the Good News Network. Plus, it’s spring, a great time to think about detoxing the body.
When my friend in Montana, who’d just started a two-week cleanse, listed the foods and snacks that were acceptable to consume — fruits and vegetables, stir-frys, hummus, organic fish and chicken — I knew I would be able to do it, but I hoped the benefits would outweigh the aggravation. Everyone I know who has done a cleanse has concurred that the benefits are worth it.
Resale Store Refuses to Give Homeless Man a Coat, Woman Opens Free Shop in Response
A little store in a Hollister, Missouri shopping center is offering the basic needs — clothing, hygiene items and baby supplies — at incredible prices. They’re all free.
The shop, called Selfless Blessings, was started by Andrea Berdine after she witnessed a thrift store turning away a man who asked if he could have one of their coats.
“He wasn’t asking for money,” she told KY3 news. “He was cold, and he was wet, and he needed a coat.”
Like many of us, Berdine was compelled to act. “I found him, gave him a coat… (and) told him how sorry we were, couldn’t believe that happened in our community,” she says.
After posting her frustration on Facebook, a new group was born, wanting to do good for those in need.
Now she runs a shop of her own where people throughout the community come to drop off bags of used clothes and household items so Andrea and her volunteers can give them away.
“A lot of people told me I was crazy, but crazy has turned into a perfect storm of giving,” she added. “There have been trials as far as funding, but it always seems to come out in the wash.”
The Facebook group is open to all at SelflessBlessings.
(WATCH the inspiring video at KY3.com)
DONATE: (Selfless Blessings, Inc. has applied for, but not yet received, 501C3 non-profit status):
– 153 1st Street, Turkey Creek Junction, Hollister, MO. 65672
– Make cash donations through Paypal or credit card at www.selflessblessings.com.
– Anyone wishing to receive a written acknowledgment of your donation will need to ask for the same at the time of the donation.
Students Design Aquarium Pumps to Save Babies’ Lives
Babies are surviving in the poorest parts of Africa thanks to the ingenuity of students in a Rice University design class.
Faced with the problem of modern medical care being so expensive, the Houston seniors used basic materials like an aquarium pump in their quest to create technology that would keep premature babies in distress alive.
When lungs are underdeveloped, the infant’s every breath is like blowing up a new balloon — a difficult task to first inflate.
It doesn’t take much air pressure to fill the lungs of a tiny baby, and with the students’ new device, called the bubble CPAP machine, the success was startling.
New Orleans Soldier Home From Afghanistan Uses Deployment Money to Help Homeless
Sgt. Austin Winton Lumpkin, a soldier who returned home to Gretna from Afghanistan, used his deployment money to help the homeless. While he was home on leave, he purchased products to fill more than 200 bags, which included a new pair of socks, personal hygiene products, water, and snacks.
“The reason I wanted to do this gift-giving project was to show people that you don’t have to have a lot to give a little,” said Lumpkin who is an engineer from the U.S. Army’s 87th Sapper Company and stationed at Fort Hood, Texas.
He handed out the gift bags from the back of his truck and talked to “really nice” people like a retired Navy veteran who was living under a bridge.
(READ the story w/ photos from Helen Williams in NOLA.com)
Photos used with permission
Bus Stop Heater Comes On Only If You Hold Hands (Video)
At an outdoor bus shelter in Montreal strangers have been holding hands this winter so they can keep warm while waiting for their ride.
Not a social experiment, it’s the latest innovation from Duracell.
The company installed battery operated heaters that rely on the human body’s ability to transmit an electrical current because of its composition as 50 percent water.
Two or more pedestrians simply place one palm flat against the wall and complete the connection by holding hands with their neighbor.
The heater kicks in and stays on for a few minutes, to the delight of all who are living through Canada’s polar vortex.
Their new video released this week can make you feel warm even if you aren’t holding hands…
(SEE more photos at Canada Nightlife)
The Science of ‘Paying It Forward’ (NY Times)
One morning in December of 2012, at the Canadian drive-through window of a Tim Hortons coffee shop in Winnipeg, a customer paid for her order and then picked up the tab for the stranger in the car behind her in line. Then that customer paid the bill for the following customer in line — and so on, for the next 226 customers, in a three-hour sequence of spontaneous generosity.
News outlets have reported the emergence of many such chains in a variety of restaurant drive-throughs, like this donut shop, and others throughout North America.
Social scientists have conducted experiments demonstrating that the effect of a single act of kindness can in fact ripple through a social network, setting off chains of generosity
(READ the story from the New York Times)
Photo by ykanazawa1999
New Jersey Letter Carrier Returns Wallet with $4,800 in Cash
A Jersey City letter carrier found $4,800 in crisp $100 bills inside a wallet on the sidewalk while delivering mail on Jan. 22, the day after a big snowstorm.
The first thought that came to Marcario “Mark” Panuil was, “I need to give it back to the owner.”
His Postal Service coworkers and the local Postmaster honored him as “a great inspiration” in a ceremony this week, where he stood with Rev. Rudolph Daniels Sr., a retired pastor who’d lost his wallet, but had his prayers answered.
“A modest man of few words, Panuil repeatedly refused to take any reward from Daniels for finding the cash,” reported NewJersey.com. “Panuil said it is reward enough to be recognized by his peers, many of whom have called him a ‘hero’.”
(READ the story w/ photos from New Jersey.com)
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Photos Will Make You Wish You Ran for Cancer
On Sunday, March 9, the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research posed as cheerleaders to don purple pom-poms and encourage thousands of runners in the LA Marathon.
An official charity for the LA Marathon, the Foundation rallied lots of volunteers and provided a peppy cheering squad to uplift runners and walkers as they grew nearer to the finish line just a few miles away.
With their purple signs saying “You Can Do It”, the Foundation’s cheering station had a DJ stage playing happy music as volunteers handed out valuable information about pancreatic cancer.
These photos by Angela Daves-Haley will make you feel like you were there cheering, too.
Photos by Angela Daves-Haley
Family Just Adopted a Puppy That Ends Up Saving Them
After having just adopted a puppy three weeks ago from the Humane Society, a Michigan family owes the husky-mix their lives after he alerted them to a gas leak in the middle of the night.
His adoptive mom, Jill McLarty, had a cold and couldn’t smell the gas streaming from a gas burner left on, but burnt out, in the kitchen.
The black and white puppy would not stop whining and running around in circles upstairs, until eventually, with Jill in tow, he marched directly to the stove.
(WATCH the video below or READ the story from WJBK-TV)
Thanks to Joel Arellano for submitting the link on our Facebook Page!
Elderly Couple Chooses Perfect Doorstep to Leave Their Dog
This has the makings of a three-tissue story.
An elderly Los Angeles couple who could no longer afford to care for their ailing pet delivered the dachshund to the doorstep of an animal shelter with a heartbreaking note.
“We are both seniors, sick with no money. We cannot pay for vet bills or to put him to sleep. He has never been away from us in all these years, he cannot function without us. Please put him to sleep.”
Now they are glad they chose that doorstep.
Medical Students Spearheading Change
McMaster University is one of three Ontario sites for Exercise is Medicine on Campus, an initiative aimed at connecting medical and kinesiology students, with researchers and physicians who believes that prescribing exercise to boost health and prevent disease is the way of the future.
If, in the future, doctors prescribe exercise the way today’s physicians hand out pills, it could mean big changes in health care.
(READ the story from Toronto Star)
Flickr photo via CC by Ed Yourdon
Scottish Island Gets 90% of its Energy from Wind, Rain and Sky
In 2008, after decades of using diesel generators, the people of the Scottish Isle of Eigg, having no mainland electricity connection, decided to create their own renewable electricity. Today, the community fulfills almost 90 percent of their energy needs from a combination of wind, water and sun.
The island of just 85 residents has transitioned from having no grid in 2008 to now making energy available to everybody. In 1997, Eigg became the first island in Scottish history to be bought by its inhabitants, and now it dreams of being the first island in the world powered solely by renewable energy.