A woman who claimed a charitable deduction for taking care of 70 stray cats won her case against the IRS, a victory for animal-rescue volunteers across the U.S. that helped clarify the treatment of unreimbursed expenses for 1.5 million IRS-recognized charities.
The decision paves the way for volunteers of animal-rescue groups like the ASPCA and Humane Society of the U.S. to deduct unreimbursed expenses that further the groups’ missions, such as fostering stray animals.
In morning rush hour, Carole Markowitz was about to get on the subway when the car door started coming toward her, trapping her leg completely between the train and the platform.
In the narrow space less than six inches wide Carole lost her shoe onto the track and started to panic. She screamed.
That was when she felt arms under her shoulders, lifting her like a rag doll.
A passenger saved her then disappeared into the crowd.
The Obama administration is leading a global effort to deploy “shadow” Internet and mobile phone systems that dissidents can use to undermine repressive governments that seek to silence them by censoring or shutting down telecommunications networks.
One prototype, an “Internet in a suitcase,” has been financed with a $2 million State Department grant.
The housing market in many US cities is performing better than recent national data would suggest, leading some analysts and real estate brokers to express cautious optimism about the prospects for a recovery.
List prices rose in 24 of 26 cities tracked by Altos Research in May, with San Francisco, Washington and San Jose, California, showing the biggest gains. New York and Las Vegas were the only two cities in the index where prices declined.
Samantha Power warned against multi-tasking with electronic devices: “You’ve got to be all in. This means leaving your technology behind occasionally and listening to a friend without half of your brain being preoccupied “
Steve Ballmer insists that passion is not something only for geniuses: “Finding passion is kind of your job now.”
And, Toni Morrison says the ‘pursuit of happiness’ is not enough: “Personal success devoid of meaningfulness is more than a barren life… It’s looking good instead of doing good.”
A touch of the hand, a pat on the back, a hug: These small physical gestures are making a big difference in the NBA Final games.
Two social psychologists from the University of California-Berkeley, both avid basketball players themselves, recently analyzed 90 hours of televised professional play. They looked at every team and every player in the league and concluded the teams that touch the most win the most — and the individual players who touch the most perform the best.
What’s more, the study determined that touch brings success off the court.
People on sidewalks collecting signatures for a petition, for instance, were almost twice as likely to get a person to sign if they touched them on the arm.
(WATCH the full report below from Nightline, or READ part of the story at ABC)
A touch of the hand, a pat on the back, a hug: These small physical gestures are making a big difference in the NBA Final games.
Two social psychologists from the University of California-Berkeley, both avid basketball players themselves, recently analyzed 90 hours of televised professional play. They looked at every team and every player in the league and concluded the teams that touch the most win the most — and the individual players who touch the most perform the best.
What’s more, the study determined that touch brings success off the court.
Work by scientists at the University of Minnesota could result in a new way to capture heat from underground geothermal sources, which lets us generate clean electrical energy for our own uses while simultaneously disposing of some of the CO2 that’s responsible for global warming. Though it sounds implausibly positive, it actually all lines up in terms of science, and best of all, this piece of lateral thinking was achieved in a flash of inspiration during a road trip–the best type of idea.
The two researchers from the Department of Earth Sciences say the discovery was born in a flash of insight.
Work by scientists at the University of Minnesota could result in a new way to capture heat from underground geothermal sources, which lets us generate clean electrical energy for our own uses while simultaneously disposing of some of the CO2 that’s responsible for global warming. Though it sounds implausibly positive, it actually all lines up in terms of science, and best of all, this piece of lateral thinking was achieved in a flash of inspiration during a road trip–the best type of idea.
The two researchers from the Department of Earth Sciences say the discovery was born in a flash of insight.
The economic news in recent weeks suggests that the recovery has hit a rough patch, but at least one forward-looking review of the macro trend says the rearview mirror may be misleading.
The 35 economists in yesterday’s update of the biannual Livingston Survey—the longest-running continuous set of predictions by scientists—see moderately improving conditions in the second half of this year.
As if Jonathan Perez’s return home wasn’t special enough, something special was waiting for him in the parking lot after USS Hampton docked in San Diego.
Parents welcomed home their youngest son during a tearful reunion, then showed him what his father had been working on every night since his first tour of duty began with the U.S. Navy.
As if Jonathan Perez’s return home wasn’t special enough, something special was waiting for him in the parking lot after USS Hampton docked in San Diego.
The Parents welcomed home their youngest son during a tearful reunion, then showed him what his father had been working on every night since his first tour of duty began with the U.S. Navy.
“Your horse is a mirror to your soul, and sometimes you may not like what you see. Sometimes, you will.”
So says Buck Brannaman, a true American cowboy and sage on horseback who travels the country for nine grueling months a year helping horses with people problems.
BUCK, a documentary featured at the Sundance film festival, follows Brannaman from his abusive childhood to his phenomenally successful approach to horses.
A 15-year-old girl from North England has been fighting cancer for four years and now strangers around the world are fighting to help her cross off as many items as possible from her ‘bucket list’.
To stay in a caravan. To swim with sharks. To go to Kenya. To go to Cadbury World eating lots of chocolate.
The story of Alice Pyne has been a popular trending topic on Twitter (#alicebucketlist) as the online community works to help her realize her dreams.
(READ the story in the Globe and Mail) – See her blog at alicepyne.blogspot.com
Georgia outfielder Johnathan Taylor, who was paralyzed after colliding with a teammate in March, was drafted by the Texas Rangers on Wednesday in the 33rd round of the MLB Draft.
“The kid, he’s obviously going through a tough time, and this was a way to let him know that people are thinking about him,” Ryan Coe, the Texas Rangers scout for Georgia, told the AJC.
“And you know what? The kid deserved to be drafted. He was a good player for all those years. He’s somebody we had interest in had he been healthy.”
In a display of loyalty that surprised many outsiders, 29 year-old Cate Edwards walked into a North Carolina federal courthouse last week with her father, John Edwards, the former senator and presidential candidate who had cheated on her mother and shattered his career and their family.
But insiders know she had always been the glue that holds the family together through tragedy and loss.
“Despite all the things that have happened, she wants her father to succeed and her family to stay together,” said a family friend.
As computers, data centers and mobile devices become more powerful, their energy requirements are likewise generally increasing. Possible solutions to the problem include power-saving sleep modes, devices that keep computers from drawing a current when supposedly turned off, and water-cooled processors.
EnerJ, a new solution created at the University of Washington, takes a different approach – it supplies less power to regions of the chip that are performing processes that don’t require absolute precision.
The US Senate defeated an attempt by big banks to derail financial reform scheduled to take effect next month that will bring some overdue common sense to the debit card fees banks are allowed to charge merchants.
Under the reform, starting July 21, rather than a percentage charge, swipe fees paid to the biggest banks will be set at a flat 12 cents per transaction — a huge 75% reduction that will benefit low income people most, who don’t even use such banking services.
A Japanese-American soldier who single-handedly stormed machine gun nests in World War II clearing the way for an entire battalion to escape was awarded the military’s second highest honor yesterday, the Distinguished Service Award.
“Rocky” Matayoshi’s father was locked in an internment camp in California when he told his newly-enlisted son to make America proud.
(WATCH the video below from the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC)
Solar power was first developed in the US a half century ago. Now industry leaders are on the road to make the case that solar is finally ready to compete against nuclear power, natural gas, and coal.
Solar costs have fallen sharply in the last few years, because of increased production and technological advances. “Solar is ramping down in cost where it is competitive with all these other forms of energy,” said Thomas Dinwoodie, the founder of SunPower, the second largest US solar company.
