When Beth Zilbert trained her rescued Golden retriever, Luke, to become a therapy dog, she had no idea that one day he would help her survive her own trauma.
“Luke was found wandering the streets after Hurricane Katrina,” says Zilbert, of Lake Charles, La. The pound that was keeping him sensed he was special and pleaded with Zilbert to adopt him.
The World Trade Center hero who saved thousands of lives on 9/11 will now be remembered each year by the federal government, with the creation of the Rick Rescorla National Award for Resilience that will be given to civilians who respond extraordinarily to disasters.
If you haven’t heard of Rick’s heroics, which were memorialized by documentary films and even an opera, he was Vice President of Security for Morgan Stanley, on September 11, 2001, when he personally led a massive evacuation of that company’s 2,700 employees. All but six of the workers in the South Tower survived. Rick Rescorla was one of those killed and was last seen walking back up the stairs to rescue more people.
At the tenth anniversary commemoration in NYC last Fall, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said “Since the 9/11 attacks, we have seen exceptional models of resilience all around us.” To honor those exceptional efforts, she unveiled the Department’s plan to create a national award inspired by the actions and resilience of Rick Rescorla.
The Rick Rescorla National Award for Resilience will honor superior leadership and innovation by a non-governmental individual or organization, emphasizing leadership in effective preparation, response, and recovery in the face of disasters. It will be awarded for the first time starting September 2012. (See information below about how to nominate someone.)
Nominees for the new National Award for Resilience need only be non-governmental individuals residing legally in the United States or its territories or a US organization that has demonstrated outstanding response to a natural or human caused incident during the previous year, saving lives or property because of planning and preparation. Nominees can expect to be used to illustrate excellence in the area of disaster preparedness and response.
The nomination period ends on May 15, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. All nominations must be submitted by email to the following DHS email address: [email protected]. Nomination forms (downloaded .doc) — as well as Frequently Asked Questions — can be found on the web site, dhs.gov.
See the Rick Rescorla tribute website at RickRescorla.com
At first glance, today’s high-level event in the United Nations General Assembly would appear to confirm the worst suspicions of UN skeptics. The tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is hosting a daylong special session on “Happiness.”
What the heck is going on? More than meets the eye, in fact.
One of the hottest fields in development economics has been, believe it or not, happiness research. And it turns out that the government in Thimpu may have something wise to say on the subject.
Kyle De Souza created the first Masaai night school in East Africa, where he spent seven months building solar and wind infrastructure that could power the lights for villagers who must work in the fields during daylight hours in one of the most impoverished communities in the world.
The mining engineer who graduated from the Curtin University Western Australian School of Mines volunteered his skills in Africa last year to help build a new classroom for orphans who had been abandoned or whose parents had died from AIDS or starvation.
Mr. De Souza, from Perth, said after a month at the orphanage, he received a phone call from community members requesting his skills in woodwork, engineering and project management to assist the building and completion of a school in the Maasai Land where people still live a traditional farming life.
“We started the first Maasai men’s education program which allows men who herd cattle during the day to get an education at night,” said De Souza. “We run classes for them during the day, and night classes between 6pm and 10pm, and currently have more than 40 students enrolled in the program.”
“When the challenge was set to start a school dedicated to Maasai men, I thought to myself, ‘if I can start a mine, I can start a school’.”
The school is already in session with two full time teachers. Practical aspects of the school construction are being used to teach students how to cut wood, use a ruler, as well as teaching them addition and subtraction to calculate the measurements.
“Some of the students have to walk up to 2.5 hours each way to get to school, but regardless of that, they always show up; they are that keen on learning and making something of their lives.”
“We have also started a women’s program which seeks to empower women by giving them the skills to sell their crafts online. The women normally do bead work all day, so we are working on starting a website, called United Maasai, where we help to market the products produced by these women internationally.”
The Maasai school is expected to be fully completed before the end of the year, and will include essentials such as electricity, a library extension, concreted floors, windows, lockable doors, tables, chairs and hygienic areas for children to eat.
Kyle De Souza’s family immigrated to Australia from India in 1995 and share a long-standing involvement in charity work
WATCH a video from Kyle De Souza below…
Thanks to Andrea Barnard for submitting the story, first published on the Curtin University news website.
Kyle De Souza created the first Masaai night school in East Africa, where he spent seven months building solar and wind infrastructure that could power the lights for villagers who must work in the fields during daylight hours in one of the most impoverished communities in the world.
The mining engineer who graduated from the Curtin University Western Australian School of Mines volunteered his skills in Africa last year to help build a new classroom for orphans who had been abandoned or whose parents had died from AIDS or starvation.
Mr. De Souza, from Perth, said after a month at the orphanage, he received a phone call from community members requesting his skills in woodwork, engineering and project management to assist the building and completion of a school in the Maasai Land where people still live a traditional farming life.
Low-cost carrier AirTran had best performance last year among 15 airlines that carry at least 1 percent of domestic passenger volume, according to an annual report released Monday.
Overall, airlines improved their performance last year as judged by four measures — passengers who endured lost bags, delayed flights, lousy service or bumpings from full flights.
An announcement by WestJet on Sunday seemed too good to be true, especially for parents traveling with little kids.
And considering it was made on April 1, it was.
On April Fools Day, the airline issued a statement saying it would start introducing child-free cabins on certain flights with an exciting VIP area for kids beneath the plane called, “Kargo Kids”.
“I believe that the greatest truths of the universe don’t lie in the study of the stars and planets. They lie deep within us, in the magnificence of our heart, mind, and soul.”
So begins the new book by Anita Moorjani, the true account of one woman’s journey to the edge of death and her medically miraculous healing that followed. (Dying to Be Me: My Journey from Cancer to Near Death to True Healing
“I believe that the greatest truths of the universe don’t lie in the study of the stars and planets. They lie deep within us, in the magnificence of our heart, mind, and soul.”
So begins the new book by Anita Moorjani, the true account of one woman’s journey to the edge of death and her medically miraculous healing that followed. (Dying to Be Me: My Journey from Cancer to Near Death to True Healing
Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy has claimed a landslide victory in a series of election contests which hold the key to Burma’s return from international isolation.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner, Ms. Suu Kyi, along with other leading NLD figures spent much of the last two decades under arrest, but was freed in 2010 in a surprise move by the regime, followed by a series of political reforms.
Suu Kyi won her own election contest with 99 percent of voter support in the poor Kawhmu township she sought to represent.
An 86-year-old woman, recently stole the show from gymnasts young enough to be her grand-daughters at the 2012 Cottbus gymnastics World Cup in Germany.
Johanna Quaas, a former member of the East German handball team, displayed flexibility that left the crowd at the championship stunned.
The crowd watched in disbelief as she performed parallel bar and floor exercises, showing balance, strength, flexibility and endurance of a 20 year-old.
(WATCH the video below, or READ the story in the Digital Journal)
An 86-year-old woman, recently stole the show from gymnasts young enough to be her grand-daughters at the 2012 Cottbus gymnastics World Cup in Germany.
Johanna Quaas, a former member of the East German handball team, displayed flexibility that left the crowd at the championship stunned.
On the hottest day of the summer last year in New York City, a white roof was measured to be 42 degrees (F) cooler than the traditional black roof it was being compared to by NASA scientists studying the city’s unprecedented effort to brighten rooftops and cool down the city.
A new study of how different white roofing materials performed “in the field” in New York City over multiple years found that even the least expensive white roof coating reduced peak rooftop temperatures in summer by an average of 43 degrees Fahrenheit. If white roofs were implemented on a wide scale, as the city plans to do, this reduction could cut into the “urban heat island” effect that pumps up nighttime temperatures in the city by as much as 5 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, said the study’s lead scientist, Stuart Gaffin of Columbia University.
The stock market just had its best first quarter in 14 years. The surge has sent Wall Street analysts, whose forecasts seemed too sunny three months ago, scrambling to raise their estimates for the year.
“That it’s up isn’t surprising. It’s the magnitude.”
For the first three months of the year, the Dow was up 8 percent and the S&P 12 percent, the best start since the great bull market of the 1990s. The Nasdaq had an even more remarkable run — up 19 percent for the year, according to the Associated Press.
Not only that, in the measurements of seemingly every other indicator of US economic health, optimism bubbled up with each new report released in March.
The stock market just had its best first quarter in 14 years. The surge has sent Wall Street analysts, whose forecasts seemed too sunny three months ago, scrambling to raise their estimates for the year.
“That it’s up isn’t surprising. It’s the magnitude.”
For the first three months of the year, the Dow was up 8 percent and the S&P 12 percent, the best start since the great bull market of the 1990s. The Nasdaq had an even more remarkable run — up 19 percent for the year, according to the Associated Press.
Not only that, in the measurements of seemingly every other indicator of US economic health, optimism bubbled up with each new report released in March.
Japan is preparing to bolt turbines onto barges and build the world’s largest commercial power plant using floating windmills.
The partners are tackling the engineering challenges of an unproven technology to cut the nation’s reliance on atomic energy.
Developers are erecting the 16-megawatt pilot plant off the coast of Fukushima, site of the nuclear accident that pushed the government to pursue cleaner energy.
On March 17, a triumphant 65-year-old mountain climber from Utah reached the tallest peak of Mount Kosciuszko in Australia, making her the oldest woman in the world to have reached the summit of the highest mountains on each of the world’s seven continents.
Carol Masheter conquered each of the famous Seven Summits to become the oldest female member of the Seven Summits Club, after a series of big losses in her life.
She lost her job, her relationship and her mother.
(WATCH the video below, or READ the story from KSL-TV)
The Supreme Court heard arguments last week about the fate of 2,500 offenders who were sentenced as teenagers — some as young as 13 — to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
A few blocks from the Supreme Court, family members of their victims came together quietly to support the opportunity for young wrongdoers to eventually seek rehabilitation outside of prison.
One man’s mother had been killed by four teenage girls. Another man’s son was killed by a teenage boy. Yet all of them want the court to find life without parole for juveniles unconstitutional.
(READ the story or LISTEN to the report from NPR)
A man says he is lucky to be alive after an attack by a mountain lion stopped him in his tracks while hiking in California Monday morning. In his case, ‘man’s best friend’, is a bear.
Robert Biggs, 69, who often hikes in the Whisky Flats area, came across a mother bear and her cubs, which were about 40 feet from where he was standing.
After watching the bear family for a few minutes he decided to leave them alone and turned to walk back up the trail. As he turned, a mountain lion pounced on him grabbing hold of his backpack with all four paws.
In response to an ongoing campaign on Facebook, Mattel announced plans to create a bald “Barbie doll” for children suffering from hair loss.
Instead of selling the dolls in stores, Mattel said it plans to give them directly to children affected by hair loss. The company says it will also give dolls to the Children’s Cancer and the National Alopecia Areata foundations.
