Despite having been born without lower arms, fifth-grader Nicholas Maxim received an award Monday from the Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting Contest.
The judges were so moved by the entry – sent by Nick’s teacher – they created an entirely new award for physically-challenged kids, and named it after the Maine youngster.
Despite having been born without lower arms, fifth-grader Nicholas Maxim received an award Monday from the Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting Contest.
The judges were so moved by the entry – sent by Nick’s teacher – they created an entirely new award for physically-challenged kids, and named it after the Maine youngster.
In their largest clean energy investment to date, Google will contribute $168 million to the new Ivanpah solar energy power plant under construction in California’s Mojave Desert.
Investment in the 370-megawatt BrightSource Energy project brings the total amount injected by Google into the clean energy sector to $250 million.
In their largest clean energy investment to date, Google will contribute $168 million to the new Ivanpah solar energy power plant under construction in California’s Mojave Desert.
Investment in the 370-megawatt BrightSource Energy project brings the total amount injected by Google into the clean energy sector to $250 million.
Oregon lawmakers from both sides of the aisle included snippets from the song lyrics to “Never Gonna Give You Up” into their speeches on the House floor and then stitched them together to make a video for April Fool’s Day.
“Your heart’s been aching / but you’re too shy to say it” were two lines that were particularly hard to get into speeches, especially considering that the rules of the game mandated that the lawmaker on the floor could not ask for extra time and had to work in the phrase assigned to them in a way that was germaine to what they were talking about.
WATCH the video below and read/listen to the FULL story at NPR…
After an intense three-year campaign, Africa’s first woman head of state, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, has won international forgiveness of its crushing $4.9 billion debt, making way for the revitalization of the war-ravaged West African country.
Late last summer, Africa’s “Iron Lady” achieved a sound financial footing making the impoverished country much more attractive to foreign investors, who are pumping life into its economy.
My 12-year-old son Tim was killed on 20 March 1993 by a bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army in Warrington, England. He was shopping for football shorts associated with his favourite English football team, Everton, when the bomb exploded. Tim sustained horrific facial injuries from which he died five days later.
Tim’s death shattered my life and the lives of my wife Wendy, his older brother Dom, then 14 years old, and his younger sister, Abigail, then 11 years old. At the time, our pain and grief was too great to imagine that we could ever harness it to help others.
A few years later, Wendy and I established the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Initially the foundation was set up to help resolve the conflict between Britain and Ireland by placing victims at the heart of the healing and reconciliation process, and building understanding and friendships between individuals and communities that were divided across sectarian lines.
The Foundation’s first activity was The Tim Parry Scholarship exchange programme, which brought youth from Belfast, Dublin and Warrington together, challenging them to counter their prejudice, intolerance and bigotry which underpinned the conflict. So successful was the programme in changing youths’ attitudes toward one another that we committed ourselves to building a unique Peace Centre where we could expand our programmes beyond the conflict that led to Tim’s death to address other conflicts around the world.
By that time, the terrorist attacks in Britain, arising from the troubles with Northern Ireland, had all but ended when several years later they were replaced by terrorist attacks of a very different kind, evidenced by the devastation in London on 7 July 2005 when suicide bombers detonated bombs in the Underground during morning rush hour, killing 56 people and injuring over 700 more.
In this post-9/11 era, the emphasis of our work shifted dramatically towards interfaith and inter-racial relations in the UK, compelling us to create programmes for victims of all terrorist incidents to become, like us, ”survivors”.
Following the 7 July attacks in London, we were asked to teach the lessons we had learned and the skills we had developed in a high school in South Leeds where interracial and interfaith conflict between students was so serious that the police were on call and on site, daily.
To meet this challenge, we designed and delivered a leadership development programme to three groups of students and asked them to apply the programme, which countered racism and taught alternatives to violence, in their own style in interactions with the other 1,500 students in the school. The results have been remarkable in bridging the school’s interracial and inter-religious divides, and turning it into more of a tolerant, understanding community. This programme’s success has been officially acknowledged as groundbreaking by the British government.
In 2006, we hosted our first mixed Palestinian/Israeli group at the Peace Centre. The atmosphere between the two groups was anything but cordial and was, in fact, hostile. They did not know me, nor did they understand the symbolic importance of the Peace Centre until I addressed them. My message was simple: if my wife and I could do something positive after what we’d been through – losing Tim – so could they! And the message, in its simplicity, profoundly changed their behaviour. They crossed the floor and spoke to one another for the first time.
This is the power of dialogue.
We also developed the Survivors for Peace programme, which brings together victims and perpetrators of politically motivated terror attacks. Amongst those actively engaged in this programme is a victim who was injured when she was on a London bus that was blown apart on 7 July. She fully embraces the spirit and ethos of our work and has worked with British Muslims engaged in the programme.
The death of my son Tim devastated my family but it also propelled us to bring about powerful and positive change – in our lives and in those of others. Tim’s Foundation for Peace has helped thousands of individuals to take proactive, peaceful steps towards solving some of today’s most intractable conflicts.
Colin Parry is Director and Founder of the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace.
(Reprinted with permission of Common Ground News Service – CGNews)
My 12-year-old son Tim was killed on 20 March 1993 by a bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army in Warrington, England. He was shopping for football shorts associated with his favourite English football team, Everton, when the bomb exploded. Tim sustained horrific facial injuries from which he died five days later.
Tim’s death shattered my life and the lives of my wife Wendy, his older brother Dom, then 14 years old, and his younger sister, Abigail, then 11 years old. At the time, our pain and grief was too great to imagine that we could ever harness it to help others.
Anyone who has ever cried over the death of a pet will see this as great news, especially if you live near Ashland, Oregon.
Firefighters in southern Oregon now not only risk life and limb for fellow townspeople, but also for their furred, feathered and slithering neighbors.
At 17 years old, not only did Wilson Patton found a new, clever fundraising vehicle for charity, he also drove attention to the cause by breaking a Guinness World Record.
Standing on a balance board for nearly two hours, the teen’s sweat and pain were more than worth it. Using his gymnast background, Patton persevered on behalf of his Charity Bandz non-profit organization and the people it ultimately serves.
At 17 years old, not only did Wilson Patton found a new, clever fundraising vehicle for charity, he also drove attention to the cause by breaking a Guinness World Record.
Standing on a balance board for nearly two hours, the teen’s sweat and pain were more than worth it. Using his gymnast background, Patton persevered on behalf of his Charity Bandz non-profit organization and the people it ultimately serves.
Volunteering abroad between high school and college helps students to learn teamwork and build leadership skills, says Abigail Falik who has launched a non-profit called Global Citizen Year.
A graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Business School, Ms. Falik went to Brazil in her late teens to help street kids before later founding her one-of-a-kind, award-winning program in 2008.
As America’s young adults find themselves in a new global economy and job market, her idea has come to fruition at exactly the right moment.
(READ the story in CS Monitor)
A growing band of British economists, politicians and academics is thinking seriously about happiness — and they are putting theory into practice by starting a “mass movement for a happier society.”
Action for Happiness launched Tuesday in London, encouraging hugging, meditation and random acts of kindness. It is getting under way as the British government asks statisticians to measure the economically battered nation’s well-being.
(READ the article in the Toronto Star)
Bay Area scientists reported Monday that aspirin is proving to be a preventative breakthrough in an especially deadly common cancer — pancreatic cancer.
After being diagnosed, 95 percent of patients are dead in five years, but more than half die within six months.
Prof. Matthias Hebrok, a UCSF researcher told KTVU that his team’s remarkable discovery may help prevent this killer from getting started by reducing inflammation.
Since 2003, social and emotional learning has been a legislative mandate in Illinois. The programs are implemented to a greater or lesser degree in each school based on interest and finances. My son’s school is going at it like gangbusters.
Each week, my son and his fellow kindergartners, for instance, sit on the floor with their teacher and do exercises that help them to identify emotions (both others’ and their own), solve conflicts and reduce frustration. They also learn not to be bystanders. They give a mean handshake.
(READ the article in the Chicago Tribune)
Ryo Ishikawa, the 19-year-old golf phenom who last week pledged all his 2011 winnings to disaster relief in his home country, jump-started his donation drive by winning $93,320 at the Masters Tournament.
Ishikawa shared 20th place with three golfers, but shot 13 birdies over four days of play, raising an additional $16,549 with his promise to add a bonus for every birdie he makes.
Ryo Ishikawa, the 19-year-old golf phenom who last week pledged all his 2011 winnings to disaster relief in his home country, jump-started his donation drive by winning $93,320 at the Masters Tournament.
Ishikawa shared 20th place with three golfers, but shot 13 birdies over four days of play, raising an additional $16,549 with his promise to add a bonus for every birdie he makes.
The biggest golfing star in Japan explained that the earthquake was responsible for a new desire to play better, so he wants to give back.
“I wish to be of some assistance to the victims. I’ve received tremendous support from people in Japan, and now it’s my turn to pay my debt of gratitude.”
A tie for 20th was his best finish in a major tournament outside Japan, topping his previous best, a tie for 27th at the 2010 British Open. He was third on Japan’s money list last year with just over $1.82 million.
“I’ve joined the people in the quake-hit areas in recovery efforts. Together we’ll continue to battle against tough times.”
(READ the story at Mainichi Daily News)
International observers have been understandably wary about the elections in Nigeria. In a country where political intimidation and violence have marred every election since they gained independence, many were expecting this election to follow suit.
But thanks to a herculean effort by the Independent National Electoral Commission and the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan, the Nigerian elections that kicked off over the weekend looked nothing like elections past.
In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the National Archives and Ancestry.com have published millions of online Civil War records once restricted to the National Archives building.
The newly digitized records will be free to the general public for one week ending Thursday and to Ancestry.com members thereafter. (The website offers a 14-day free trial, during which you can access all records.)
The stars of the new Civil War collection are the draft registration records from 1863-1865. These nearly 275,000 records were previously only available by request in original form at the research center.
The American Red Cross announced that the public has generously donated $120.5 million to help the people of Japan following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
“The American public have not forgotten the generosity of the Japanese people when we suffered tremendous loss after the 9/11 attacks and, more recently, after Hurricane Katrina,” said Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the American Red Cross. “Collectively, the Japanese Red Cross sent us contributions of close to $30 million. Now it is our opportunity – and our duty – to do what we can to help you.”
The money will go to the Japanese Red Cross, which is providing direct emergency relief, medical services and emotional counseling to affected communities.
“Almost three weeks after one of the most devastating earthquakes in history, we are immensely grateful to the American public for their continued generosity,” said David Meltzer, senior vice president of international services with the American Red Cross.
Red Cross volunteers and staff in Japan continue to provide relief items and emotional support, with dozens of medical teams operating in hospitals and mobile clinics treating those affected by the disasters.
Immediately after the earthquake and tsunami, the Red Cross provided 125,500 blankets and 25,000 emergency kits. The Red Cross is increasing its relief operations for survivors in evacuation centers and is planning to provide supplies for 100,000 people still homeless. More supplies and fuel are also reaching affected areas.
Overall, the conditions for survivors appear to be improving: the number of people in shelters in Japan has been cut in half to 244,000 from nearly half a million.
In addition to the funds provided to support work by the Japanese Red Cross, the American Red Cross has given $500,000 to the United Nation’s World Food Programme for logistics support for the delivery and storage of relief items for survivors. The American Red Cross also has been assisting in the voluntary evacuations of military families from Japan.
The announcement was made Tuesday at a press conference at the Japanese embassy with Japan’s Ambassador to the United States Ichiro Fujisaki and American Red Cross Chairman Bonnie McElveen-Hunter.
