The best story in sports, whether success is achieved through a solo performance, by a team, or a whole nation of fans, is that of the underdog. Looking back on 2010, we noted an inspiring trend among the top news this year: Underdogs who surged ahead, turning doubters into believers. These six stories are our favorites:
Underdogs Triumph in 2010’s Best Sports Stories
Underdogs Triumphed in 2010’s Best Sports Stories
The best story in sports, whether success is achieved through a solo performance, by a team, or a whole nation of fans, is that of the underdog. Looking back on 2010, we noted an inspiring trend among the top news this year: Underdogs who surged ahead, turning doubters into believers. These six stories are our favorites:
Business Schools Embracing Do-gooders With Degree Programs
The popular image of students in modern-day business schools dreaming of pinstriped suits and spreadsheets is increasingly being turned on its head.
Many students today are pursuing business school degrees with a view toward working with non-profits, or launching socially responsible enterprises.
And many business schools are racing to meet the demand for such “social entrepreneurship” programs. Some are even offering stand-alone social enterprise degrees.
(READ the story at MSNBC)
GM Teams Up With Hawaii to Push Hydrogen Cars
Hawaii may be the first state in the nation to successfully build a fueling infrastructure that will support thousands of hydrogen fuel cell cars.
This month, General Motors, in partnership with Hawaii’s Gas Co., and 10 other public and private groups, announced a plan to tap into Oahu’s 1,000-mile utility pipeline and supply hydrogen to the many fuel-cell vehicles expected to come on the market in 2015.
General Motors is providing 20 Equinox fuel cell vehicles to the project known as H2I, or the Hawaii Hydrogen Initiative. The Gas Co., which makes hydrogen as a byproduct of the state’s synthetic natural gas production, is providing the hydrogen.
(READ the story from the LA Times)
Video: Pilot Uses Helicopter to Blow Calf to Safety
The same Oklahoma TV news helicopter pilot who four years ago pushed a deer on an icy pond to safety using the wind from his rotors, has once again made national news saving a trapped calf — pushing with the same gusty wind, after the animal lost all footing and was stuck on the ice.
WATCH the video below via AP – and watch the 2007 deer rescue on GNN
Video: Pilot Uses Helicopter to Blow Calf to Safety
The same Oklahoma TV news helicopter pilot who four years ago pushed a deer on an icy pond to safety using the wind from his rotors, has once again made national news saving a trapped calf — pushing with the same gusty wind, after the animal lost all footing and was stuck on the ice.
WATCH the video below via AP – and watch the 2007 deer rescue on GNN
Small Town Doctor Has Charged $5 a Visit for 55 Years — and Never Taken a Day Off
There is a treasured hero in Rushville, Illinois: a doctor who has kept his fees the same as they were back in 1955 — five bucks a visit — and who has never taken a day off.
Dr. Russell Dohner has been looking after his neighbors, going anywhere, at any time, to help those in need, often arriving before emergency crews.
“In a mercenary world,” a waiting patient told me, “this place is an oasis.”
WATCH the video below, or read the story at MSNBC…
Small Town Doctor Has Charged $5 a Visit for 55 Years — and Never Taken a Day Off
There is a treasured hero in Rushville, Illinois: a doctor who has kept his fees the same as they were back in 1955 — five bucks a visit — and who has never taken a day off.
Dr. Russell Dohner has been looking after his neighbors, going anywhere, at any time, to help those in need, often arriving before emergency crews.
“In a mercenary world,” a waiting patient told me, “this place is an oasis.”
Obama Spends Part of Christmas with Troops
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama greeted members of the military and their families during Christmas dinner at the Marine Corps Base in Kaneohe, Hawaii.
Mr. Obama and the first lady are encouraging the public to support military communities, especially during the holidays when separation from family can be difficult.
(Video included below)
Christmas Hero Brings Cheer to New Orleans Homeless Children Every Year
To put a smile on hundreds of homeless children this time of year, one man in New Orleans organizes a Christmas party for those he calls the “Forgotten Angels.”
Looking for a job 16 years ago, Clarence Adams applied to be a counselor at a New Orleans homeless shelter. He knew very little about homelessness then.
“After the interview, they gave me a tour in the building and it was lunch time,” Adams says. “And I saw children there. That really bothered me. I just never thought about a child being homeless.”
Adams got the job and took it upon himself to help the kids coming to the shelter in any way he could. He went with their parents to register them for school and organized donation drives for school supplies. One day as the holidays neared, he talked to a friend about what it might be like for homeless children to celebrate Christmas.
“Basically the only thing that these kids had to look forward to was having their Christmas dinner in the shelter with hundreds of people who they didn’t know,” he says. “I mentioned to my friend that if I ever got rich, I would just have a big party for homeless children. She said, ‘Well, let’s do it.'”
That’s how the Christmas for Forgotten Angels party started 12 years ago.
“The first year we had 50 children. And my food service manager from the shelter cook fried chicken and macaroni and cheese,” Adams says. “We had some desserts and we were able to give all the kids toys and we had Santa Claus.”
But organizing that party all alone, he says, was overwhelming.
“I swore I would not do that again because it was too much work,” he says. “But at the party, seeing the faces on these kids, having them come up and give me a hug and say, ‘Thank you,’ to see how much joy this brought to these children who would otherwise have nothing. I determined at the end I had to do this every year.”
Reports about his Christmas party now appear in local newspapers every year. That’s resulted in having dozens of volunteers contact Adams to donate their time as well as clothing, toys and food.
Despite the economy, “People are still very generous,” Adams says. “We had a group of volunteers that came for like three years in a row from Georgia. I know that last year, we got checks from four different states. I had a family that brought some toys last week. Their 7-year-old son had a $20 bill that he had saved up money from his allowance all year so he could help.”
Helping out
Volunteers who can’t afford to donate money come and help wrap the gifts and prepare for the party. Tiffani Hicks, a 29-year-old single mother, helped out for the first time this year.
Doing something to make homeless children happy is important to Hicks. She says she knows exactly how they feel at Christmastime, because she was homeless as a child herself.
“I felt like I wasn’t loved. I felt like I didn’t deserve it,” Hicks says. “I just felt like nobody cared about me. My Mom died when I was five years old and my aunt, she took care of us. She did what she could do for us. So we never really had a Christmas or whatever like that. It just makes you feel awful. Then after the holidays you have to go back to school and everyone is talking about what they got for Christmas, so you’re kind of making up things that you wish you would have gotten, so you can fit in.”
With dozens of volunteers like Tiffani Hicks, Clarence Adams says they were able to serve more than 200 homeless kids this year. The Christmas for Forgotten Angels organizer says he’d like to see his community’s support and commitment to making homeless children feel special continue all year round and not just during the holidays.
(Source: VoA News)
A Kiss to Build a Year on – If Your Brain’s Chemistry Agrees
A kiss at midnight to ring in the new year. That’s what Friday night should bring, right? And there’s pressure to get it right.
There ia a scientific basis for those high stakes. Whom you kiss can set the course for a good year. Really. It’s not magic – it’s chemistry and neuroscience.
Story of Patton’s Army Hero Draws Tears and Cheers During Repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
People in the audience listened with rapt attention at the White House last week during the signing ceremony for repealing the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
The entire event was profound, but perhaps the most moving part was when President Obama told a dramatic rescue story from WWII.
“Sixty-six years ago, in the dense, snow-covered forests of Western Europe, Allied Forces were beating back a massive assault in what would become known as the Battle of the Bulge. And in the final days of fighting, a regiment in the 80th Division of Patton’s Third Army came under fire. The men were traveling along a narrow trail. They were exposed and they were vulnerable. Hundreds of soldiers were cut down by the enemy.
Airline Wraps Gifts to Send Through the Baggage Chute for Christmas Eve Travelers
The Spanish airlines, Spanair, created a memorable holiday evening for passengers traveling on Christmas Eve to La Palmas. After arriving from Barcelona to collect their baggage, 190 people found a stream of colorful gift packages flowing out onto the conveyor belt delivering presents for each and every traveler.
Knowing their customers’ flight would be landing after midnight while others were already home celebrating with their families, the airline decided to do something special.
Airline Wraps Gifts, Sends Them Out Baggage Chute for Christmas Eve Travelers
The Spanish airlines, Spanair, created a memorable holiday evening for passengers traveling on Christmas Eve to La Palmas. After arriving from Barcelona to collect their baggage, 190 people found a stream of colorful gift packages flowing out onto the conveyor belt delivering presents for each and every traveler.
Knowing their customers’ flight would be landing after midnight while others were already home celebrating with their families, the airline decided to do something special.
Filmmaker Tyler Perry to Rebuild Woman’s Burned Home
Entertainment mogul Tyler Perry is reaching out to help a great-grandmother of seven who lost everything in a fire.
On Tuesday, an 88-year-old woman and her 4-year-old great-granddaughter escaped a fire that destroyed her home of 40 years. Firefighters began soliciting for donations from and dozens of calls came in.
With the community’s help, Ransby was climbing up the stairs to a new rental home just 48 hours after the fire.
Renewal in Kansas City Jazz Scene Encouraging
Much as prognosticators claim to see green shoots in the nation’s struggling economy, Kansas City’s jazz scene demonstrated encouraging signs of renewed vigor after an extended period fraught with challenges.
A Day of Service with President Obama and the Los Angeles Lakers
Rather than the traditional, honorary trip to the White House this year, the 2010 World Champion Los Angeles Lakers teamed up with NBA Cares and President Obama last week to join members of The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washingon for an afternoon of education and service projects.
Take a behind-the-scenes look as the President and the Lakers assemble care packages and write letters for wounded military servicement and women, put together supplies for DC homeless, and compete in the “Big Brain Academy Challenge” game which builds skills in thinking, memorization, computation, analysis, and identification.
Watch the activities with the kids below — President Obama congratulated the Los Angeles Lakers on their 2010 NBA Championship in a brief ceremony. (Watch that here or read the transcript.)
(Sarah Bernard is the White House Director of Online Engagment (and a native of LA who loves the Lakers)
A Day of Service with President Obama and the Los Angeles Lakers
Rather than the traditional, honorary trip to the White House this year, the 2010 World Champion Los Angeles Lakers teamed up with NBA Cares and President Obama last week to join members of The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washingon for an afternoon of education and service projects.
Take a behind-the-scenes look as the President and the Lakers assemble care packages and write letters for wounded military servicement and women, put together supplies for DC homeless, and compete in the “Big Brain Academy Challenge” game which builds skills in thinking, memorization, computation, analysis, and identification.
Watch the activities with the kids below — President Obama congratulated the Los Angeles Lakers on their 2010 NBA Championship in a brief ceremony. (Watch that here or read the transcript.)
(Sarah Bernard is the White House Director of Online Engagment (and a native of LA who loves the Lakers)
Holiday Surprise: Hero’s Welcome Awaits Chilean Miners, Rescuers and Their Families
A New Year will mean new memories for the Chilean miners whose saga transfixed the world, as they are treated to a hero’s welcome and family vacations at Walt Disney World Resort next month.
During their complimentary six-night Disney vacation, Jan. 27-Feb. 2, 2011, the miners, their rescuers and immediate families will visit all four Walt Disney World theme parks and serve as honorary Grand Marshals of the Main Street, U.S.A. parade in Magic Kingdom.
Scientists Unravel Secret Behind 130 Brain Diseases Like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Autism
Scientists have isolated a set of proteins that accounts for over 130 brain diseases, including diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsies and forms of autism and learning disability.
The team showed that the protein machinery has changed relatively little during evolution, suggesting that the behaviors governed by and the diseases associated with these proteins have not changed significantly over many millions of years. The findings open several new paths toward tackling these diseases.
(READ the story in Science Daily)