Contrary to what you may have heard, new retirees are doing better financially than previous generations, according to research being published on Wednesday by a mutual fund industry trade group.
“On average, more-recent generations of households have higher levels of resources to draw on in retirement than previous generations,” said the study by the Investment Company Institute, a trade group.
Mission statements seldom come simpler than the one guiding the Whole Planet Foundation, which aims to alleviate poverty through microcredit — small loans extended to poor people — in communities that supply Whole Foods stores with products.
Since 2005, the Foundation has witnessed a payback rate of 97 percent on the staggering $32 million committed to nearly a quarter million microcredit clients in 54 countries globally, the most recent being Danish lenders Sambla and Eksperten.
Dozens of homeless Milwaukeeans are improving their self-esteem with professional portraits from Help-Portrait Milwaukee, a local branch of the global initiative that arranges for photography sessions to benefit those in need.
The Repairers of the Breach homeless shelter hosted the event Friday inviting their regular clients to meet with photographers. More sessions were planned at other shelters citywide over the weekend.
Some of the participants planned to give the printed photos as Christmas gifts to family members not seen in years.
The objective of the program, according to the Milwaukee Help-Portrait website, is to show homeless or at-risk people that “they are valuable, respected and important members of our communities. They may be looked past on a daily basis but . . . they are beautiful and worthy people who may just need to see it in their hands to understand what we mean.”
The events are free of charge thanks to local amateur and professional photographers, licensed hair stylists, makeup artists and other volunteers. Over the last several years rehabilitation centers and nursing homes in the Milwaukee area have benefitted too.
To date, more than 200,000 portraits have been taken worldwide by more than 16,000 volunteer photographers in 60 countries, according to the international organization.
(READ the feature article, w/ photos, in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
Dozens of homeless Milwaukeeans are improving their self-esteem with professional portraits from Help-Portrait Milwaukee, a local branch of the global initiative that arranges for photography sessions to benefit those in need.
The Repairers of the Breach homeless shelter hosted the event Friday inviting their regular clients to meet with photographers. More sessions were planned at other shelters citywide over the weekend.
Some of the participants planned to give the printed photos as Christmas gifts to family members not seen in years.
One of the world’s rarest seabirds has returned to remote Ascension Island in the Atlantic 150 years after its colony was wiped out by feral cats.
Last week ornithologists spotted two nests containing eggs being guarded by Ascension frigatebirds.
It is the first of the species to breed there since Charles Darwin visited the island in the early 19th century.
A nice story was posted on Reddit about a friendship between a young shop girl and a homeless veteran who hangs out near where she works (photo, right). She received a gift from him the other day and shared the story with photos on December 5:
“Over the past few months we have become friends… On certain days we eat lunch or have snacks together.”
“Tony tells me about his war stories, loved ones, and who should win the Super Bowl. I tell Tony about my problems, loved ones, and how I don’t really care who should win the Super Bowl.
This past month has been one of the hardest ones to get through in my life and at times there really seemed as if there wouldn’t be solace. Tony was there for me, listened each day as things got worse and surely pushed me to move forward and continue working toward my ambitions and dreams.
I was walking outside still feeling sorry for myself listening to self-loathing music when I felt a tap on the shoulder. It was Tony.
He says to me, “I don’t have much but I wanted you to know that you have done what many others would not simply by being my friend.”
As Tony walked away, I started to cry. I realized at that moment, when you reach out and do something kind for someone less fortunate, you get back not only what you gave, but infinitely more.”
(SEE the watch at the original post on i.imgur.com)
A nice story was posted on Reddit about a friendship between a young shop girl and a homeless veteran who hangs out near where she works (photo, right). She received a gift from him the other day and shared the story with photos on December 5:
“Over the past few months we have become friends… On certain days we eat lunch or have snacks together.”
In Paraguay there is a town essentially built atop a landfill where adults pick through the latest heaps of trash for sellable goods and children are at risk of getting involved with drugs and gangs.
Things changed for the people of Cateura when an orchestra director and music teacher came to town with the notion of teaching the youth how to play violins and flutes. But they had a problem. Too many students for the number of instruments they brought.
Then, someone from the town brought something the musicians had never seen before: a violin made out of garbage. The town scrap dealers fashioned horns, violins, violas and guitars out of junk. The newly created orchestra used only assembled instruments and chose a new name, The Recycled Orchestra.
With the children inspired by a new passion and purpose, Beethoven never sounded so good.
“An upcoming feature-length documentary shows how trash and recycled materials can be transformed into beautiful sounding musical instruments,” according to the filmmaker’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/landfillharmonicmovie. “More importantly, it brings witness to the transformation of precious human beings.”
In Paraguay there is a town essentially built atop a landfill where adults pick through the latest heaps of trash for sellable goods and children are at risk of getting involved with drugs and gangs.
Things changed for the people of Cateura when an orchestra director and music teacher came to town with the notion of teaching the youth how to play violins and flutes. But they had a problem. Too many students for the number of instruments they brought.
Then, someone from the town brought something the musicians had never seen before: a violin made out of garbage. The town scrap dealers fashioned horns, violins, violas and guitars out of junk. The newly created orchestra used only assembled instruments and chose a new name, The Recycled Orchestra.
With the children inspired by a new passion and purpose, Beethoven never sounded so good.
“An upcoming feature-length documentary shows how trash and recycled materials can be transformed into beautiful sounding musical instruments,” according to the filmmaker’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/landfillharmonicmovie. “More importantly, it brings witness to the transformation of precious human beings.”
(WATCH the inspiring video below)
Surgery may soon be a thing of the past for breast cancer patients, thanks to a new technique that destroys tumors by freezing them.
A supercooled needle tip is repeatedly inserted into the cancerous tissue to turn it into a ball of ice, before it is then defrosted, leaving the tumor damaged.
The unemployment rate dipped and job creation remained steady in November, as the U.S. economy showed surprising resilience after Hurricane Sandy.
The November jobs report, released Friday morning, was a pleasant surprise to analysts who had braced for some ugly numbers.
A digital advertising agency in Delray Beach surprised one of its longest and most deserving employees with a new 2013 Ford Escape for his birthday on Thursday.
Chris Ninos, a resident of Boca Raton, has been the chief financial officer at BMI Elite for the last two years. According to CEO Brandon Rosen, Ninos is one of his most loyal, honest, trustworthy and hardworking employees.
“Chris will call me up at midnight, at 5:00 a.m., and on holidays just to talk about business,” said Rosen. “He’s one of the hardest workers I know.”
“Chris is truly an extraordinary person and I believe that this will change his life more than we all can imagine,” said Rosen.
Ninos was told by co-workers that they were taking him out to lunch to celebrate his 52nd birthday. They said they needed to make a stop at the Maroone Ford dealership, and when they arrived at the showroom, Ninos was surprised with a new 2013 Ford Escape filled with balloons.
“I, along with the rest of the BMI team, am very excited to be giving Chris this gift,” said Lansman. “I can’t think of a more deserving person.”
(WATCH the video below – w/ short advertisement – from WPBF)
A digital advertising agency in Delray Beach surprised one of its longest and most deserving employees with a new 2013 Ford Escape for his birthday on Thursday.
Chris Ninos, a resident of Boca Raton, has been the chief financial officer at BMI Elite for the last two years. According to CEO Brandon Rosen, Ninos is one of his most loyal, honest, trustworthy and hardworking employees.
Not only are Germany solar power plants producing a world record amount of electricity – equal to 20 nuclear power stations at full capacity – now, the village of Wildpoldsried is producing 321% more energy than it needs.
As of August, 2011, the small farming village in Bavaria was actually earning $5.7 million in annual revenue from its investments in renewable energy — 7 windmills, 190 buildings with solar panels, 4 biodigestors — and they did it all without going into debt.
Apple Inc plans to move some production of Macintosh computers to the United States from China next year, Chief Executive Tim Cook said Thursday, in what could be an important test of the nascent comeback in U.S. electronics manufacturing.
The effort is expected to go well beyond simple final assembly of devices, with Apple spending more than $100 million on the initiative and unnamed partners joining to build most or all of the components in the United States as well.
A group of high school students wanted to lift the spirits of their friends who had survived a deadly automobile accident over the weekend that killed two others in the car. Their goal, to get two celebrities to call the hospital, has once again proven the power of social media.
Within an hour the football star Tim Tebow learned of the kids’ Tweets, and the hashtag #TebowCallMatt that began nationally trending on Twitter.
Still in his Albany, New York hospital bed, Matt Hardy received a call from the famed good-guy quarterback, Tebow.
A group of high school students wanted to lift the spirits of their friends who had survived a deadly automobile accident over the weekend that killed two others in the car. Their goal, to get two celebrities to call the hospital, has once again proven the power of social media.
Within an hour the football star Tim Tebow learned of the kids’ Tweets, and the hashtag #TebowCallMatt that began nationally trending on Twitter.
Still in his Albany, New York hospital bed, Matt Hardy received a call from the famed good-guy quarterback, Tebow.
Jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck died Wednesday — a day before his ninety-second birthday.
He was best known for his 1959 album “Time Out,” recorded by his band, the Dave Brubeck Quartet. With its complex and unusual beat patterns, many experts believe a new age for jazz was launched.
The inspiration for an American to use such odd time signatures came from the sounds and rhythms of the developing world, including Turkey, where Brubeck traveled. The most famous jazz song in history, “Take Five,” is on the album. The song, with its famous melody written by the band’s alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, was so catchy and became so widely known that it crossed over to Billboard’s pop charts in 1961. (Hear it below)
Every year, the SPCA needs to find homes for thousands of dogs that have been abused, abandoned, or just forgotten. The dogs may be mutts, but they are smart — and this organization of animal lovers in New Zealand decided to prove it. They have been training three shelter dogs to drive a Mini Cooper.
The head “driving coach” is Mark Vette, a professional Animal Psychologist, Zoologist and Director of the team. They designed a driving simulator to use indoors to teach the pooches the basics — how to stop and move forward. The Mini Cooper itself needed to be modified so the drivers could actually reach the pedals.
Every year, the SPCA needs to find homes for thousands of dogs that have been abused, abandoned, or just forgotten. The dogs may be mutts, but they are smart — and this organization of animal lovers in New Zealand decided to prove it. They have been training three shelter dogs to drive a Mini Cooper.
The head “driving coach” is Mark Vette, a professional Animal Psychologist, Zoologist and Director of the team. They designed a driving simulator to use indoors to teach the pooches the basics — how to stop and move forward. The Mini Cooper itself needed to be modified so the drivers could actually reach the pedals.
