There is some serious heartwarming going down for creators of a video podcast called Extra Credits which examines the state of video games today.
Recently, their illustrator, Allison Theus, suffered a shoulder injury and her insurance company declared it to be a “preexisting condition” and refused to pay for repairs. As a professional artist who has done work for companies ranging from Disney to Fantasy Flight, she was facing the loss of her livelihood.
There is some serious heartwarming going down for creators of a video podcast called Extra Credits which examines the state of video games today.
Recently, their illustrator, Allison Theus, suffered a shoulder injury and her insurance company declared it to be a “preexisting condition” and refused to pay for repairs. As a professional artist who has done work for companies ranging from Disney to Fantasy Flight, she was facing the loss of her livelihood.
Six months ago, political reporter and former legislative director Lawrence O’Donell shared his experience of delivering 30 desks to a children’s classroom in Africa with viewers of his MSNBC show, The Last Word.
Inspired by the video of Malawi kids sitting on dirt floors, donations poured in — more than 2.3 million dollars — allowing him to deliver an incredible 46,000 desks, enough for every child in all four districts targeted.
Even better, the purchasing impact created with Lawrence’s K.I.N.D. fund — Kids In Need of Desks — has also brought jobs to the small factories in Malawi that manufacture the wooden desks.
A family in mourning over their late son’s death has something to celebrate. Four months after his death in a car crash, his bass guitar was stolen from a church where he was a pastor.
Two days after the parents issued a public plea for its return, the bass guitar was left on their doorstep.
“I want to thank the person who returned this,” said Trent’s father, who called it a miracle.
(READ the story at MSNBC or, WATCH the video from WTHR News)
Screening smokers and ex-smokers with spiral CT scans can reduce lung cancer deaths by 20% without triggering too many dangerous or unnecessary tests that sometimes result from cancer screening programs, researchers reported Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The trial, funded by the National Cancer Institute, is the first to conclusively demonstrate that screening can reduce deaths from lung cancer, experts said.
A federal judge today upheld a May 2008 decision that polar bears throughout their range should be protected as a “threatened” species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
In his decision, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan dismissed challenges by the state of Alaska and others seeking to strip the polar bear of its protection. Sullivan ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to protect the bear due to the melting of the Arctic sea ice was well supported.
A federal judge today upheld a May 2008 decision that polar bears throughout their range should be protected as a “threatened” species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
In his decision, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan dismissed challenges by the state of Alaska and others seeking to strip the polar bear of its protection. Sullivan ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to protect the bear due to the melting of the Arctic sea ice was well supported.
Partially bankrolled by a $1 billion fund set up by BP after the oil spill, a project to restore lost wetlands off the Texas coast has successfully provided a new home for brown pelicans, long-necked egrets and bright pink spoonbills.
This wetland was created by man, seeded with marsh grasses that would become the foundation of a thriving ecosystem, after dredging the Houston Ship Channel.
From mowing it’s Googleplex headquarters’ lawn with a herd of goats to proposing a $4.68 trillion plan for changing alternative energy policy in the United States, it’s clear that Google’s commitment to sustainability has more significance than just another PR stunt.
The heart of Google’s green policy pivots on a single premise: What’s good for business can also be good for the environment. This is why Google decided to cool their massive internet data center in Hamina, Finland with recyclable sea water, reducing its energy consumption by up to half of the standard data center. But there are plenty more ways that google lived up to it’s commitment to sustainability and carbon neutrality.
From mowing it’s Googleplex headquarters’ lawn with a herd of goats to proposing a $4.68 trillion plan for changing alternative energy policy in the United States, it’s clear that Google’s commitment to sustainability has more significance than just another PR stunt.
The heart of Google’s green policy pivots on a single premise: What’s good for business can also be good for the environment. This is why Google decided to cool their massive internet data center in Hamina, Finland with recyclable sea water, reducing its energy consumption by up to half of the standard data center. But there are plenty more ways that google lived up to it’s commitment to sustainability and carbon neutrality.
Not all the donations to victims of the Joplin, Mo., tornado in May were delivered to the two-legged survivers. A dog named Sugar, found in a drainage ditch with her hind legs paralyzed is on the road to recovery, just like her owners, thanks to surgery and therapy donated by the University of Missouri Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital.
Tornado sirens had been sounding in Joplin and a quick check of the weather forecast prompted high school teachers Steven and Debbie Leatherman to head to the basement with the family pet. But, Sugar, a chow-chow cocker spaniel mix sensed the fear of her owners, became panicky and bolted back upstairs to her own “safe area,” a spot under one of the beds. (Photo by UM News)
Not all the donations to victims of the Joplin, Mo., tornado in May were delivered to the two-legged survivers. A dog named Sugar, found in a drainage ditch with her hind legs paralyzed is on the road to recovery, just like her owners, thanks to surgery and therapy donated by the University of Missouri Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital.
Tornado sirens had been sounding in Joplin and a quick check of the weather forecast prompted high school teachers Steven and Debbie Leatherman to head to the basement with the family pet. But, Sugar, a chow-chow cocker spaniel mix sensed the fear of her owners, became panicky and bolted back upstairs to her own “safe area,” a spot under one of the beds. (Photo by UM News)
Two California medical students, dismayed by communication breakdowns in emergency rooms where patients don’t speak English, are changing the face of global medicine with their new software app, MediBabble.
Doctors and nurses can use their smart phones to play pre-recorded questions for patients in their native languages — questions about medical history and current symptoms, the answers to which would dictate 90 percent of normal patient care.
Two California medical students, dismayed by communication breakdowns in emergency rooms where patients don’t speak English, are changing the face of global medicine with their new software app, MediBabble.
Doctors and nurses can use their smart phones to play pre-recorded questions for patients in their native languages — questions about medical history and current symptoms, the answers to which would dictate 90 percent of normal patient care.
If your electric vehicle stutters to a halt while you’re cruising down the highway, call the same people who fix flats on your regular car.
AAA announced this week that it is sending out EV mobile charging units in its roadside assistance operations. The organization will start with six units in select states (including California, Florida, and Washington) in August. All of the charging units will come with Level 2 chargers, which can juice up a vehicle in a matter of hours, and Level 3 chargers that can power up a car in a matter of minutes (if the car uses that technology).
Hess Corporation announced yesterday that it has donated $1 million to North Dakota flood relief efforts.
“We are deeply concerned about the people who are suffering from the devastation caused by the floods that have occurred in North Dakota,” said John Hess, Chairman of the Board and CEO of the oil company.
The donation will go to the Minot Area Community Foundation and the North Dakota Community Foundation to support relief efforts. The groups are providing immediate aid as well as assisting in long term recovery and rebuilding efforts in the Minot area and across the state.
Hess Corporation announced yesterday that it has donated $1 million to North Dakota flood relief efforts.
“We are deeply concerned about the people who are suffering from the devastation caused by the floods that have occurred in North Dakota,” said John Hess, Chairman of the Board and CEO of the oil company.
The donation will go to the Minot Area Community Foundation and the North Dakota Community Foundation to support relief efforts. The groups are providing immediate aid as well as assisting in long term recovery and rebuilding efforts in the Minot area and across the state.
An 84 year-old tinkerer has invented many useful items that have won rave reviews from friends and family, but were rejected by every company and investor.
“Everywhere I’d go I’d get rejected,” said George Weiss. “I just couldn’t get a foot in the door.”
But all that changed when a small company agreed to invest in a word game Weiss came up with called “Dabble,” which is now sold in 50 stores nationwide and won the 2011 Game of the Year Award from Creative Child Magazine.
(READ the story from Today, at MSNBC)
Amanda Burden, the daughter of famed socialite Babe Paley, and now, the director of city planning, is spearheading Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s far-reaching effort to rezone nearly a quarter of New York City and reclaim the city’s waterfront.
Her populist achievements include zoning for new affordable housing in East Harlem, Brookyln and the South Bronx, as well as the massively popular High Line, an abandoned railroad track that has been transformed into a popular tourist destination in the once-gritty meatpacking neighborhood, which has seen commerce move in and property values soar in the past decade.
An innovative financing mechanism for achieving the green jobs and carbon cuts mandated in New York was passed last week by the state legislature. The “Power NY Act” funnels energy savings from individual electric bills to the cause of financing energy efficient retrofits on one million buildings and homes.
The win-win-win strategy of “on-bill financing” will create 14,000 living-wage jobs, cut carbon emissions, lower utility bills for working families, and enable moderate-income homeowners to access safe loans for retrofits and use energy savings to repay the loan.
