The Dalai Lama brought his message of peace and compassion — and his trademark humor — to Hawaii, celebrating the coming together of two native cultures. Similar to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the indigenous culture of Hawaii has its own inherent spirituality.
“He calls it compassion. We call it Aloha,” said one participant at the events.
The Dalai Lama’s visit marks the launch of a new initiative entitled Pillars of Peace Hawai’i with the goal of “building peace on a foundation of Aloha”.
Brain science is being used in planning school lessons for 200 students in kindergarten through third grade at the one progressive private school in New York.
The school has become a kind of national laboratory for integrating cognitive neuroscience and cutting-edge educational theory into curriculum, professional development and school design.
“Young children at the Blue School learn about what has been called ‘the amygdala hijack’ — what happens to their brains when they flip out. Teachers try to get children into a ‘toward state,’ in which they are open to new ideas. Periods of reflection are built into the day for students and teachers alike, because reflection helps executive function — the ability to process information in an orderly way, focus on tasks and exhibit self-control.”
(READ the full story in the New York Times)
A heartbroken 5-year-old girl suffering from cerebral palsy couldn’t stop smiling on Thursday after her dog stolen two weeks ago was returned to her doorstep overnight.
“She went right to Andrea’s bed, put her paw up on the bed, and sat there and was trying to wait for her to wake up,” said Andrea’s mother, who believes pressure from the Kansas media and the Reno County Sheriff’s Department led whoever stole the dog to have a change of heart.
Several decades ago, Stan Brock nearly died when a horse kicked him in the head, while working on a ranch in the middle of the Amazon rain forest, not exactly the easiest spot to find a doctor.
When indigenous people in the region are struck by measles, influenza or malaria, thousands of people died for lack of medical attention.
Brock took the initiative, getting his pilot’s license and a small plane to bring medical care to people in remote areas. In 1985, he started a nonprofit, Remote Area Medical. Since then, the all-volunteer group has held more than 663 medical clinics worldwide, providing free health care to half a million people.
Today, 60 percent of the medical care is provided not overseas but in America where large swaths of population have no dental, eye or general health care.
(WATCH the video below READ the full story in CNN Heroes)
Several decades ago, Stan Brock nearly died when a horse kicked him in the head, while working on a ranch in the middle of the Amazon rain forest, not exactly the easiest spot to find a doctor.
When indigenous people in the region are struck by measles, influenza or malaria, thousands of people died for lack of medical attention.
Brock took the initiative, getting his pilot’s license and a small plane to bring medical care to people in remote areas. In 1985, he started a nonprofit, Remote Area Medical. Since then, the all-volunteer group has held more than 663 medical clinics worldwide, providing free health care to half a million people.
Students at Detroit area high schools have become confident readers thanks to a corrective reading class for students who have trouble decoding words.
Freshman Kyeana Hodge has gone from the student who wanted to cry if a teacher asked her to read aloud to one who twice on a recent morning raised her hand to volunteer to read.
Brain research expert Dr. Pat McGeer eats ginger every day, one of his personal strategies for warding off Alzheimer’s disease.
Along with ginger, try blackberries, rhubarb, cinnamon, turmeric, cranberries, pomegranate and blueberries.
Those foods contain enzymes to block plaque buildup, and help keep the disease from progressing, McGeer told delegates at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting that ended Monday in Vancouver.
An international team of archaeologists have made an intriguing discovery — the peoples who farmed the Amazon long before the arrival of Europeans did so without burning down trees to clear room for their fields. These indigenous farmers used raised-field farming, according to a University of Exeter researcher.
A record amount of money was invested globally in alternative energy in 2011 — more than a quarter trillion dollars, a 6.5 percent increase over the previous year, according to research by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
The US is once again the leader of the clean energy race, having reclaimed the top spot from China, the leader since 2009. Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and India were also among the nations that most successfully attracted private investments last year.
A record amount of money was invested globally in alternative energy in 2011 — more than a quarter trillion dollars, a 6.5 percent increase over the previous year, according to research by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
The US is once again the leader of the clean energy race, having reclaimed the top spot from China, the leader since 2009. Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and India were also among the nations that most successfully attracted private investments last year.
24 year-old Charles Sonder got on a New York Subway with a bag of cheddar Pringles chips, and a knack for peace.
As the train rolled through darkness toward its next stop, a fight between a man and a woman broke out; curses were uttered, and punches and kicks were thrown.
At that moment, Sonder moved toward the door of the train car, where the man was standing, and parked himself there. No words were spoken. Sonder just stood there, a barrier between the fighting couple, calmly munching on his chips as a cell phone camera captured the entire scene.
(WATCH the YouYube video below, or READ more it at MSNBC)
Lower trade deficits boosted optimism in the U.S. economic growth this week.
American businesses sold a record number of goods and services in Europe, China and other foreign markets in February, while imports declined.
Many economists began raising their forecasts for GDP growth after seeing Thursday’s government report on the lowest trade deficit since the fall.
The largest dam removal project in U.S. history began in September, marking a victory for a campaign that spanned more than two decades.
Two dams built in the early 1900’s stretching across the Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State were constructed without fish ladders, blocking migratory fish from spawning.
The Newark, New Jersey mayor — already lionized in some corners for his good deeds — added to his list of praiseworthy actions on last night when he raced into a burning home to help save a woman trapped inside.
Cory Booker said he contemplated jumping from a second story window, but escaped down a staircase instead.
The woman, his neighbor of six years, suffered second-degree burns on her neck and back. Booker got away with only minor burns and smoke inhalation.
“We should give a lot more credit to our firefighters,” he told the LA Times, after he experienced that kind of terror.
(READ the story and listen to the interview at the LA Times)
RELATED: Mayor Digs Out Senior, After Twitter Snow Appeal for Help
Part of a novel lost when a blind woman’s pen ran out without her knowing has been salvaged with the help of a local forensic police team.
Trish Vickers, from Charmouth, had written 26 pages of her first novel without any ink in her pen.
When she asked her son to read it back to her there was nothing on the pages.
They called the fingerprint bureau in Dorset who volunteered their time and revealed the missing words.
(READ the story from the BBC)
The city of Boulder, Colorado has won the right to take its power supply—and carbon emissions—away from corporate control and redirect it toward the sun.
The change for Boulder came in November when voters passed two ballot measures that allow the city to begin the process of forming its own municipal power utility to take advantage of the 300 days of annual sunshine.
The word ‘Hope’ engraved on wooden blocks is on display alongside food items in several Budgens grocery stores as an innovative way to raise money for charity.
Shoppers can place the blocks in their carts for the cashiers to collect £1 for each one scanned in support of local people affected by dementia.
The blocks are then returned to the shelf to be sold again to benefit the Alzheimer’s Society.
France is celebrating the life of Raymond Aubrac, one of its last great heroes of the resistance, whose bravery and exploits with his wife Lucie against the Gestapo became the stuff of legend and film.
Aubrac, who died at age 97 in a military hospital in Paris on Tuesday, was, along with his late wife, a leading figure in the underground fight against Nazi occupation.
For the third consecutive year, 100 percent of the graduating seniors from the Urban Prep Academy, the nation’s first all-boys public charter high school, have accomplished what some thought impossible – every single one of these 85 students has been accepted to a four-year college or university.
As of last week, the Englewood campus’s 2012 graduating students have been accepted to 128 different four-year colleges and universities, including: Bates College, Georgetown University, Morehouse College, Northwestern University, Syracuse University and the University of Virginia. In total, this year’s seniors have been awarded more than $3.5 million in scholarships and grants to date.
Also good news, a follow-up study of former graduates of the African-American student body shows they are staying in college beyond their first year at record rates: 83 percent of Urban Prep graduates persisted in college compared to only 71 percent for Chicago Public School alumni and 35 percent for African-American males nationally.
“I’m incredibly proud,” said Tim King, founder and CEO, Urban Prep Academies. “Critics didn’t believe that a bunch of boys in the hood could be boys doing good.”
Urban Prep is committed to the ongoing success of its alumni, and has allocated resources for supporting students once they graduate high school, with regular contact, mentoring and guidance.
Urban Prep Academies was founded in 2002 by Tim King and a group of African-American education, business and civic leaders who wanted to improve the educational opportunities available to urban boys.
(WATCH a video below from ABC-7 News or READ their story)
A few months ago, gaming company OMGPOP was about to go bust.
Its Facebook games weren’t performing and prospects were so bleak that CEO Dan Porter was forced to lay off the startup’s flash developers.
Then, they launched a mobile game called Draw Something, which changed everything.
Within weeks of its launch, Draw Something became the most popular iPhone/Facebook game out there with 35 million people playing.
