As the U.S. Congress begins debate on immigration reform, learn about an American success story for two immigrants who became passionate about growing grapes.
Amelia moved to California from a small village in Mexico when she was twelve and old enough to pick fruit in some one else’s vineyard.
She and her husband bought their first plot of land in 1983 and now own a multi-million dollar Napa Valley business called Ceja Vineyards.
The auto industry is about to go on a hiring spree as car makers and parts suppliers race to find engineers, technicians and factory workers to meet that demand for vehicles in 2013.
More than 11,000 employees will be hired this year by the big three car companies alone, which doesn’t include parts dealers and manufacturers.
Beast Fit Nation in Portland offers free workouts, the only catch is you have to “pay it forward.”
“It’s the world’s first free gym. Everything is free you don’t have to pay me a dollar,” said Sergio Jones, founder of Beast Fit Nation. “All you have to do is promise me you’ll do three random acts of kindness after you leave. You will help out somebody else.”
The actor who could have probably done all right for himself as a pretty boy found a way to prove he was more than just a set of cheekbones and has become one of those rarest commodities in Hollywood: A totally unique specimen who appeals to men, women and children of all ages.
On the occasion of his turning 50 years old (on May 9), enjoy these 50 reasons why Mr. Depp remains Mr. Cool.
Thronged by news photographers and well-wishers, Kabang the hero dog arrived back home in the Philippines yesterday after 8 months in the U.S. enduring intensive surgeries and treatment for cancer and heartworm.
Kabang became a national hero in 2011 after she lost her snout and upper jaw running in front of a motorcycle in what her owner said was “a deliberate act to save two girls who were crossing the street,” according to GMA Online.
After they dutifully followed their mama across a street, four ducklings got trapped when they fell into a storm sewer in Bettendorf, Iowa.
Neighborhood families were able to rescue 3 of the 4 babies with a net, but needed to call out the professionals to get the last one.
The city’s Public Works crew devised a plan to send the final baby back toward the net with a burst of water from upstream.
It worked.
The emergency inspired the neighborhood to work together, with four families joining the effort.
(WATCH the video below, or READ the story from WQAD)
An elderly American couple visiting Toronto have turned into actor John Malkovich’s biggest fans. The Ohio senior was saved from severe bleeding when the acclaimed actor, on the sidewalk at the right time, used his own scarf to tie around the man’s neck to cover the wound.
“The way he was spurting I thought it was the carotid [artery] or the jugular,” his wife, 79 year-old Marilyn Walpole, told the CBC.
Award winning fashion photographer Rick Guidotti worked in Milan, Paris and New York shooting pictures of the world’s most beautiful people, until a chance encounter on a Manhattan street changed everything.
Rick saw a stunning girl at the bus stop and marveled at her pale skin and white hair. Upon returning home he searched for information about albinism and other genetic differences, and was shocked to see the sad and dehumanizing photos in the medical literature.
He proposed — and Life magazine accepted – a feature photo essay called Redefining Beauty showing women like the girl he saw at the bus stop. In 1998 he stopped working in the fashion industry and launched the non-profit Positive Exposure.
Eight members of the Philadelphia Orchestra who were stuck on a tarmac in Beijing for three hours gave fellow passengers an experience of a lifetime when they took out their violins and cello and played an impromptu concert.
Plenty of mobile phones captured the musical magic of the not-quite-in-flight entertainment.
(WATCH the video below from ABC News)
Greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil fell by nearly 39 percent in the five years before 2010, largely because of reductions in the amount of forest loss, according to a new government report.
Fifty years separate the two friends, Collin and Ernest, but together these two have managed to accomplish the miraculous after Colin was involved in a horrific car accident as a teen, and was paralyzed from the chest down.
Ernest, who’d recently retired as an engineer, heard about the accident through his church and felt what he described as “a calling” to help the teenager, whom he’d never met, though they attended the same church.
He called Smith’s family and offered his services to the young athlete’s overwhelmed, working parents. But, wait…
The extent of his “services” would inspire awe in anyone who noticed that Ernest arrives at the house every day before dawn to get the boy ready for college, putting in 12 hours a day at his side, and coming back the next morning.
(WATCH the video below, or READ the story from ABC News)
Canada’s economy created a surprising 95,000 jobs in May, the biggest monthly gain in 11 years, and most were full-time positions and in the private sector, Statistics Canada said on Friday in a report showing the economy may be gaining momentum.
The stellar performance handily beat market expectations for a 15,000 gain.
Media reports about substances that are supposedly hazardous to your health may cause suggestible people to develop symptoms of illness even when there may be no actual cause.
This is the conclusion of a new study that involved 147 adults, half of whom were given suggestive news reports about the dangers of wi-fi just before being placed in front of a laptop.
The researchers tried to reproduce a “nocebo effect”, which is the opposite of the pain-reducing effect known as a placebo.
The study illustrates how media reports about health risks may trigger or amplify nocebo effects in some people, actually causing symptoms which might otherwise not be warranted.
Frequently, the media reports on the potential health risks associated with the electromagnetic fields (EMFs) produced by cell phones, cell phone masts, high-voltage lines, and Wi-Fi devices. People who believe they are sensitive to electromagnetic fields report symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, burning or tingling sensations on their skin, and they attribute these effects to this radiation. Some people actually skip work or move to remote regions to get away from electrical equipment altogether.
Magnetic resonance imaging has demonstrated that the regions of the brain responsible for pain processing are indeed active in these instances.
“However, tests have shown that the people affected are unable to tell if they have really been exposed to an electromagnetic field,” explained Dr. Michael Witthöft of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. “In fact, their symptoms are triggered in exactly the same way if they are exposed to genuine and sham fields.”
“The mere anticipation of possible injury may actually trigger pain or disorders,” he added. “This is the opposite of the analgesic effects of placebos.”
Witthöft undertook the current study in collaboration with G. James Rubin during a research stay at King’s College in London. The 147 test subjects were first shown a television report. One group of participants watched a BBC One documentary, which dealt in no uncertain terms with the potential health hazards supposedly associated with cell phone and WiFi signals. The other group watched a report on the security of Internet and cell phone data.
Then all the subjects in both groups were exposed to fake WiFi signals that they were told were real. Even though they were not exposed to any radiation, some of the subjects developed characteristic symptoms: 54 percent of the subjects reported experiencing agitation and anxiety, loss of concentration or tingling in their fingers, arms, legs, and feet. Two participants left the study prematurely because their symptoms were so severe that they no longer wanted to be exposed to the assumed radiation. It became apparent that the symptoms were most severe among the subjects who had viewed the documentary about the possible hazards of electromagnetic radiation. (Bottom photo by Flying Pete, on Morguefile.com)
“The study thus demonstrates that sensationalized media reports on potential risks, which often lack scientific evidence, can have a significant effect on the health of large sections of the population,” concluded the report. “Such speculation on health hazards most likely has more than just a short-term impact like that of a self-fulfilling prophesy; it is likely that over the long term some people begin to believe that they are sensitive and develop symptoms.”
The success story of Lloyd Chen, 17, is the stuff that dreams are made of.
Raised in poverty by a single mom who emigrated from South Korea to the U.S., the young man from Elk Grove, California, recently received nearly $3 million in full scholarships, earning one at every top university he applied to.
He’s chosen to attend Harvard University, which he said was his “dream,” starting this fall.
Donations have poured in from around the world to help the three women found a month ago, held captive for a decade in a Cleveland house.
The Cleveland Courage Fund, a tax-free trust, was set up to collect the donations and, so far, $825,000 has come from across the country and overseas.
Cleveland area businesses and community groups are donating and holding fundraisers — from youth soccer teams to the Corned Beef Company, from pro football players to local news outlets.
The women have started using the money and lawyers for all three women say they are happy, safe and healing, according to the TODAY show.
(READ the story in the Toronto Sun)
1,500 tons of food that would have gone to waste will now go to UK charities every year thanks to an innovative plan by the British grocery chain, Asda.
Teaming up with hunger charity FareShare, Asda will divert surplus refrigerated food that arrives from suppliers, ensuring it won’t end up in the trash bin.
The number of whales migrating off Australia’s Queensland coast is predicted to hit a 50-year high this season, said the species conservation manager for the reef.
Solar engineers have developed an innovative method to dramatically improve the electrical efficiency of solar panels while also reducing the cost.
The team at University of New South Wales has discovered a mechanism to control the deficiencies in any lower grade silicon, which is by far the most expensive component in solar cells.
“The process makes lower-quality silicon outperform solar cells made from better-quality materials,” says Professor Stuart Wenham from the School of Photovoltaics and Renewable Energy Engineering at UNSW, the school which still holds the world-record for silicon cell efficiency at 25%.
While making a speech in front of the Israeli parliament, the education minister burst into a laughing fit that went viral on Tuesday on Israeli websites.
Hearing the opening sentence for the first time, Shai Piron, who is also a rabbi, could not get past the words dealing with a proposed law against smuggling cell phones into Israel’s prisons: “Mr. Chairman, distinguished Parliament, the aim of this legislation is to deal with a serious phenomenon – the penetration of prohibited objects into prisons.”
The giggling began to spread in the chamber, with other members wiping their eyes and grinning.
Connecticut is set to become the first state to require labeling of foods that contain genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.
With a bill requiring the labeling of genetically engineered foods, Connecticut’s legislative leaders Saturday acknowledged a movement that has muscled its way from the scientific fringe to political mainstream.
