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No Child Left Alone: Volunteers Mentor Children of Inmates

Mentor with inmate's son - CSMonitor video snapshot

Mentor with inmate's son - CSMonitor video snapshotWith 2.3 million inmates behind bars in the US, the goal of volunteers in mentor programs for the 2.7 million children of prisoners is: No child left alone.

Since 2003, a federal faith-based initiative called Mentoring Children of Prisoners has paired more than 100,000 children of prisoners with volunteer mentors.

Love With a Side of Fries: McDonald’s Inspired High School Sweethearts Marry After 30 Years

senior sweethearts MacDonalds - KARE-TV video snapshot

senior sweethearts MacDonalds - KARE-TV video snapshotThe McDonald’s in Crystal, Minnesota brings back golden memories to Steve Rydberg going clear back to the 1960s when he met his high school sweetheart while flipping burgers there.

Then Steve left for college, and as often happens, the sweethearts drifted apart.

This week he celebrated a reunion with the girl for whom he was so smitten as a teen — a reunion that led to love and marriage in his near-golden years.

Happy Adolescents Likely to Have Higher Incomes as Adults

kids buddies

Photo by Sun StarAre you sure money can’t buy you happiness? New research suggests that the relationship between money and happiness and is far more complex. Two leading economists claim that the happiness levels of teens clearly determined the likelihood of whether they would go on to earn higher incomes later in life.

The results are striking. Their analysis shows, for example, that a one-point increase in life satisfaction (on a scale of five) at the age of 22 is associated with almost $2,000 of higher earnings per annum by the age of 29.

Iowa Honors Birthday of Farming Hero Who Saved a Billion Lives: Norman Borlaug

Norman Borlaug

Norman BorlaugToday marks the 98th anniversary of the birth of Iowa’s greatest hero, Norman E. Borlaug, the farm boy who received the Nobel Peace Prize for starting the “Green Revolution” and known as “the man who saved more lives than any other person who has ever lived.”

There are several birthday tributes planned for Borlaug, who died in 2009, including a new museum and Youth Institute to promote efforts to alleviate starvation.

Iowa Honors Birthday of Farming Hero Who Saved a Billion Lives: Norman Borlaug

Norman Borlaug

Norman BorlaugToday marks the 98th anniversary of the birth of Iowa’s greatest hero, Norman E. Borlaug, the farm boy who received the Nobel Peace Prize for starting the “Green Revolution” and known as “the man who saved more lives than any other person who has ever lived.”

There are several birthday tributes planned for Borlaug, who died in 2009, including a new museum and Youth Institute to promote efforts to alleviate starvation.

Hero Shelter Mutt Saves Volunteer Dog-Walker From Attacker

dog saves volunteer walker from attack - WTSP video snapshot

dog saves volunteer walker from attack - WTSP video snapshotWhen a 17-year-old St. Petersburg, Fla., girl did a good deed by taking a shelter dog for a walk, she didn’t think the pup would return the favor.

But Mabeline, a Rhodesian Ridgeback mix, did – and then some. On a recent Saturday afternoon, the volunteer took the then-homeless dog for a standard walk near Friends of Strays animal shelter.

A registered sexual predator attacked the girl, grabbing her by the hair and pinning her down on the ground.

Mitsubishi Electric Cars Can Double as Portable Power Supplies

Mitsubishi MiEV EV

Mitsubishi MiEV EVMitsubishi electric car owners in Japan will soon be able to use the family car as an emergency generator, using their EV’s batteries to power a home.

The MiEV Power Box is an adapter that plugs into the i-MiEV’s quick charging port. Instead of recharging the car’s drive battery, it does the exact opposite, pulling 1500 watts of electricity to keep the lights on when the power goes out.

Husband’s Crazy Pink Tutu Photos Help to Fight Breast Cancer

Tutu Project - photo by Bob Carey

Tutu Project - photo by Bob CareyFor photographer Bob Carey and his wife Linda, a big hairy man in a pink tutu has taken on special meaning in their fight against breast cancer.

When Linda was recovering from surgery, he discovered something he could do to ease the stress. He took photos of himself in odd locations wearing a pink tutu.

“It makes us laugh,” Linda told Yahoo News.

Oddly enough, the cancer has taught the couple that life is good.

“Dealing with it can be hard,” they wrote on their website. “But, sometimes the very best thing—no, the only thing—we can do to face another day is to laugh at ourselves, and share a laugh with others.”

800 Floating Lanterns Released in the Air for Peace Above Pakistan

lanterns floating - Wikipedia photo by Takeaway, CC

lanterns floating - Wikipedia photo by Takeaway, CCAlmost 800 people came together in Islamabad yesterday to release floating lanterns into the night sky in front of Parliament to spread a message of peace for the country and the world.

“It’s Pakistan Day, and what better day to spread the message of peace,” the project’s founder told the International Herald Tribune. “In these trying times we need to do everything within our capability to create a positive image for our country.”

Generosity From Doctor and Former Thief Helps 85 Year-old Robbery Victim

elderly woman who was robbed gets surgery

elderly woman who was robbed gets surgeryAn 85-year-old South Carolina woman who was robbed of $400 in cash that she’d saved for eye surgery was given free medical care after a doctor saw her story on the news.

Dr. Budev of Carolina Cataract Center wasn’t the only one who saw the report and was moved to action. A one-time thief who’d stolen a woman’s purse, sent a $500 check to help atone for his crime.

“There’s so many good things that’s happened out of this that I never dreamed would happen and it makes a big difference,” Ida Sue Collins told Live 5 News.

(WATCH the video below, or READ the story at Live5News.com)

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The 10 Happiest Careers in America

businessman-w-feet-up-michael-connors-morguefilAn expansive survey from the job site CareerBliss.com revealed the top ten happiest professions in America.

Bosses, co-workers, daily tasks and the level of control they feel over their work all contributed to making Biotech careers the No. 1 happiest job. The No. 2 career on the list was customer service, with employees enjoying the ability to talk to people every day.

The fact that education employees rated No. 3, while legal professionals landed at the bottom, showed that “money can’t buy love–even for your job”.

The 10 Happiest Careers in America

businessman-w-feet-up-michael-connors-morguefilAn expansive survey from the job site CareerBliss.com revealed the top ten happiest professions in America.

Bosses, co-workers, daily tasks and the level of control they feel over their work all contributed to making Biotech careers the No. 1 happiest job. The No. 2 career on the list was customer service, with employees enjoying the ability to talk to people every day.

The fact that education employees rated No. 3, while legal professionals landed at the bottom, showed that “money can’t buy love–even for your job”.

Solar Panels Turning Dirty Water Clean in Angola

PUR water packet

PUR water packetA brightly painted old shipping container with solar panels on its roof and high-specification filtration devices inside looks out of place in the dusty Angolan village.

But it will soon be providing nearly 20,000 liters a day of clean, drinkable water to the area’s 500 residents who currently rely on the dirty nearby river.

Trucking Hero: ‘Something Inside Me Made Me Stop’

trucker gets award-Goodyearphoto

trucker gets award-GoodyearphotoAmerican truck driver Mike Schiotis, his voice quaking and eyes tearing up, told a group of trucking journalists last night how he saved a passers-by’s life and how he was scared that he was going to die.

Schiotis, a driver for Panther Expedited Services Inc., was en route to his destination in Pennsylvania when he noticed a female pedestrian with a man walking closely behind her. He slowed to take a closer look and realized the man had a gun.

That’s when the fear hit. He had one hand on the gear shift while thinking that everything would be okay if he just kept driving, reports Today’s Trucking.  “But, something inside me made me stop.”

Thinking quickly, Mike stopped his truck and stepped between the man and the woman. He ushered the woman into his truck and drove away as the gunman returned to his car and began following Mike’s rig. Working with another truck driver, Mike evaded the gunman, giving law enforcement officials enough time to arrive on the scene.

White House Secret Service Agents Come to Ducklings Aid

secret-service-helps-ducklings

secret-service-helps-ducklingsA mother duck and her ducklings visited the White House Wednesday, but the mom was the only one of the group big enough to jump the concrete barrier beneath the fence.

Her young ducklings were stuck milling about on the sidewalk below until armed guards came to the rescue.

Two uniformed Secret Service agents saw the separation and came to the ducklings’ aid, lifting each baby through the fence.

Tourists gave the agents a big round of applause afterward.

(WATCH the video from NBC via the Rachel Maddow Show)

 

White House Secret Service Agents Come to Ducklings Aid

secret-service-helps-ducklings

secret-service-helps-ducklingsA mother duck and her ducklings visited the White House Wednesday, but the mom was the only one of the group big enough to jump the concrete barrier beneath the fence.

Her young ducklings were stuck milling about on the sidewalk below until armed guards came to the rescue.

Two uniformed Secret Service agents saw the separation and came to the ducklings’ aid, lifting each baby through the fence.

Hero Award Recipient: ‘I Can’t Let This Baby Die’

heroes

heroesTom Porter says he doesn’t think he’s a hero, but he’ll soon have a bronze medal that says he is.

The Texas resident was awarded a Carnegie Hero medal for pulling a 1-year-old girl from a burning vehicle.

The national award is given to people who perform extraordinary acts of bravery to save the lives of others. Porter was among 20 people from across the country, some of whom died during their attempted rescues, recognized by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission Wednesday.

101-year-old Grandmother Sets Paragliding Record (WATCH)

Paragliding grandma News 5 video

Paragliding grandma News 5 videoNot wanting to be outdone by her 75-year-old paragliding son, Mary Allen Hardison of Ogden, Utah, took flight on her birthday, becoming the “Oldest Female to Paraglide Tandem” — an achievement described Tuesday by Guinness World Records as a “celebration of the start of spring and life rejuvenated.”

“I didn’t want him to do something that I couldn’t do,” the 101-year-old great, great grandmother said.

She didn’t know anything about breaking a record. She just wanted to have fun.

101-year-old Grandmother Sets Paragliding Record (WATCH)

Paragliding grandma News 5 video

Paragliding grandma News 5 videoNot wanting to be outdone by her 75-year-old paragliding son, Mary Allen Hardison of Ogden, Utah, took flight on her birthday, becoming the “Oldest Female to Paraglide Tandem” — an achievement described Tuesday by Guinness World Records as a “celebration of the start of spring and life rejuvenated.”

“I didn’t want him to do something that I couldn’t do,” the 101-year-old great, great grandmother said.

She didn’t know anything about breaking a record. She just wanted to have fun.

New York City has Solar, Wind Power Plans for Landfill Site

Solar-powered landfill with geomembrane

Solar-powered landfill with geomembraneA New York City site once known for the size of its garbage heaps will be home to alternative energy sources that could power 6,000 homes, now that the city is soliciting bids to build and operate a wind farm and solar power plant at Staten Island’s Fresh Kills landfill.

With 75 acres available for lease, city officials say the project at the closed landfill could generate 20 megawatts of renewable energy.