It was a moment of historic healing as Queen Elizabeth this week laid a wreath and bowed her head in a “hugely symbolic act of reconciliation between Ireland and Britain”.
The first ruling British monarch to visit the country in a century paid tribute at the Garden of Remembrance to the Irish rebels who died resisting British rule — a move that impressed even the cynics.
It was a moment of historic healing as Queen Elizabeth this week laid a wreath and bowed her head in a “hugely symbolic act of reconciliation between Ireland and Britain”.
The first ruling British monarch to visit the country in a century paid tribute at the Garden of Remembrance to the Irish rebels who died resisting British rule — a move that impressed even the cynics.
Oprah Winfrey has made a career our of surprising people but on Tuesday night, the tables were turned as hundreds of her celebrity friends surprised her to say goodbye.
From Maria Shriver to Aretha Franklin to Tom Cruise, stars paid tribute to Winfrey during the taping of two shows leading up to the talk show queen’s grand finale next week. 13,000 fans crowded a Chicago arena to witness the spectacular farewell.
Forty finalists were chosen in the ‘Doodle 4 Google’ contest from more than 107,000 entries, and when public voting concluded, a 7-year-old took home the top prize with his drawing, ‘Space Life’.
Matteo Lopez won a $15,000 college scholarship, a netbook computer and a $25,000 technology grant for his school. He’ll also get his doodle on the Google homepage all day May 20. Not bad for a 7-year-old artist.
(SEE more winners in the Washington Post)
A year ago, she had a good job at a bank in the suburbs. Her 10-year-old son had a safe home.
But then the world came crashing down when she lost her job and, afterward, her house. Soon, they were living in her car.
That’s when a knight in shining armor showed up — a homeless man who wanted to repay the woman’s previous kindness to him. With money he collected from pedestrians, he started paying for a hotel room, so she and her son could stay off the streets.
He’s collected thousands of dollars since September and donated it all to her.
She is grateful that, after years of giving her own money to charities and treating homeless panhandlers with respect and dignity, “an angel was waiting for me” in the end.
The wild hat worn by Princess Beatrice to the recent Royal Wedding is proving to be worth a bundle for charity.
Beatrice, 22, put the hat up for auction on eBay – and the current bid now tops $30,000 (£20,200).
“I’ve been amazed by the amount of attention the hat has attracted,” Beatrice wrote on the eBay listing.
The British government on Tuesday pledged to cut the country’s carbon emissions in half by 2025 — part of its legally mandated commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent by 2030, and 80 percent by 2050.
Energy Secretary Chris Huhne characterized it as a massive boost to the country’s green technology companies.
A South Korean golfer, K.J. Choi is giving $200,000 from his win at The Players Championship to help victims of the tornados that ravaged the southeastern United States.
The money will be given through his K.J. Choi Foundation, which he started to help unprivileged children around the world.
(Read the AP story in Golf.com)
A donkey that wandered up to the Marine camp in Anbar province soon became such a part of the unit that he received his own care packages and cards. Marines took care of him for a year until 2009 when they left the area.
One of the Marines formed a bond with the animal named Smoke he used to walk daily, and continued to worry about the donkey’s fate.
The Make A Wish Foundation of Colorado held a coronation gala for a 7-year-old girl with heart troubles who wanted to be a princess.
The state’s governor proclaimed Princess Natalie Day on May 14th, 2011 when the girl was given the royal treatment, which included limo rides, high tea and a horse drawn carriage.
A new book explains a decade of research by psychologists that finds that self-compassion may be the most important life skill, imparting resilience, courage, energy and creativity. It’s also a skill many people lack.
“Compassion is sensitivity to the suffering of self and others and a commitment to do something about it,” explains one researcher.
Kristin Neff, an associate professor at the University of Texas wrote the book, Self-Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind
(READ the article in LiveScience)
A couple who won millions last year from a lottery ticket are giving back to the community where their blue collar families have lived for generations.
After being fortunate enough to receive a scholarship that allowed him to get a college education, Gilbert Cisneros said he and his wife are donating some of their winnings to give college scholarships to Latino students in Pico Rivera who need them.
(WATCH the video below, or at MSNBC)
Two decades ago, a wedding photographer battled breast cancer. Now, Cheryl Ungar is giving back by making wedding dreams come true for couples like Melissa and Jeff whose budding romance was struck early by the same harsh diagnosis.
On Sunday, April 17th, Melissa and Jeff became the first couple to be married with the help of Cheryl Ungar her Denver group, “The Wedding Pink.”
Ungar organized a team to create the dream wedding for Melissa and Jeff — a $30,000 wedding donated by 30 different Colorado wedding vendors, including the wedding planner, the venue, the caterer, the deejay, the florist, and the cake.
(WATCH the video or read the story at ABC-Denver)
The Japan Animal Rescue Shelter has undertaken several clandestine and dangerous trips into the exclusion zone to rescue 200 dogs and cats from the now off-limits towns around the power plant.
“It’s like a mission,” explains Sugano Hoso, who runs the shelter with her husband. “And as a human being — since people have been evacuated from there, why do these dogs have to be left there?”
Doctors have been using electrocorticography, or ECoG, since the 1950s to figure out which area of the brain is causing seizures. But now, by placing the array of sensors directly on the brain and connecting them to a computer, researchers are able to control robotic arms, and even determine which word a person is imagining.
“It really goes pretty close to what people used to call mind reading,” says Gerwin Schalk, a researcher who studies ECoG at the New York State Department of Health’s Wadsworth Center in Albany.
The combination of a strong energy mandate passed by the former Governor Jon Corzine, and a generous carbon offset program has made New Jersey a shining example as the nation’s second largest producer of solar power, behind California.
Solar panels have sprung up on utility poles, vacant lots, farmland and university campuses, and atop rooftops across the state. Recently approved legislation calls for opening access to old landfills.
How do you determine where in the world is the best place to live the good life?
International Living magazine ranked 194 countries in nine different categories — cost of living, culture/leisure, economy, environment, freedom, health, infrastructure, safety, and climate — to come up with some answers.
For the fifth year in a row, France takes first in the annual Quality of Life Index. “No surprise,” says the editors. “Its tiresome bureaucracy and high taxes are outweighed by an unsurpassable quality of life, including the world’s best health care, and ‘bon vivant’ lifestyle.”
How do you determine where in the world is the best place to live the good life?
International Living magazine ranked 194 countries in nine different categories — cost of living, culture/leisure, economy, environment, freedom, health, infrastructure, safety, and climate — to come up with some answers.
For the fifth year in a row, France takes first in the annual Quality of Life Index. “No surprise,” says the editors. “Its tiresome bureaucracy and high taxes are outweighed by an unsurpassable quality of life, including the world’s best health care, and ‘bon vivant’ lifestyle.”
A Connecticut high school headmaster has reversed her decision to ban a student from the prom after he broke school rules by hanging his prospective date’s invitation at the school entrance in big cardboard letters.
Outraged students and parents at the school started a Facebook page to urge school officials to let James Tate and his prom date attend the dance.
Tate even appeared on talk shows like Jimmy Kimmel and Good Morning America and phone calls to the school came from people around the world.
(WATCH the video below from AP – or READ the story in the Hartford Courant)
A Connecticut high school headmaster has reversed her decision to ban a student from the prom after he broke school rules by hanging his prospective date’s invitation at the school entrance in big cardboard letters.
Outraged students and parents at the school started a Facebook page to urge school officials to let James Tate and his prom date attend the dance.
