The U.S. economy is gathering steam as the year draws to a close, boosting optimism about prospects in 2011, according to measures published by two separate economic research firms on Friday.
The Conference Board’s measure of leading economic indicators jumped 1.1 percent in November, the biggest rise since March and the fifth straight monthly gain.
(READ the story at Reuters)
Jackie Evancho, the child wonder soprano who took second place on the fifth season of America’s Got Talent, performed for the Obama family and the public outdoors during the lighting of the National Christmas Tree just outside the White House grounds.
Watch the video below…
A coyote was rescued Friday after floating on a wayward sheet of ice in Chicago’s Lake Michigan.
Because animal control responded so quickly to the emergency call. Fire crews decided to use a fireboat to bring the animal control official out to the coyote.
(WATCH the video or read the story from KGO-TV)
A US cancer patient who received a stem cell transplant has been cured of HIV, said a team of German doctors whose research was published in the peer-reviewed journal Blood on Wednesday.
“Our results strongly suggest that cure of HIV has been achieved in this patient,” said the study.
The results suggest the first such cure for the virus that causes AIDS.
(READ the AFP story at France24.com)
A South Carolina retiree is doing his part to help California close its massive budget deficit.
More than four decades after Dennis Ferguson received unemployment benefits from the state, he wrote a $10,000 check to the treasury to pay back the money, plus interest.
(READ the AP story at MSNBC)
In what sometimes looked like the worst of times, it was actually the best of times for ideas — and these ideas will shape how the world recovers in the years to come.
Driven by the need to do more with less, the year’s boldest innovators turned up better, simpler ways to use our shrinking resources to improve global quality of life.
Homer started out with a lot against him. Abandoned as a tiny kitten, a virulent infection meant he had to have both eyes removed to save his life.
His fortunes changed when he was taken home by Gwen Cooper, an avid cat lover who was instantly charmed by the kitten’s energy and enthusiasm for life despite his problems.
Eventually she wrote a book, “Homer’s Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned About Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat
(READ the story in Reuters)
IRS officials are strongly encouraging taxpayers across the country to claim their money.
Tens of thousands of refund checks mailed out for 2009 tax returns, were returned to the IRS undelivered because of out-of-date mailing addresses or other issues.
For instance, more than 4,400 taxpayers in North and South Carolina are due about $5 million in federal tax refunds.
“We want to make sure taxpayers get the money owed to them,” IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman stated.
If you think you are missing a refund, you need to update your address information, so your money can be properly delivered.
(READ about Carolina refunds at ENCToday.com)
A new report finds malaria control programs have saved hundreds of thousands of lives during the past decade. The World Health Organization, which has just published its World Malaria Report 2010, says malaria deaths could end by 2015 if the gains being made are maintained.
WHO says results from malaria control programs during the past two years have been spectacular.
A charity rally to “Support the Troops” got very loud with two thousand cheering Operation Gratitude volunteers and the arrival of a very special gift to be sent in the organization’s 600,000th Care Package: A 2011 Victory motorcycle.
Wearing fatigues, Elizabeth Cowie, the co-founder of the organization, drove in the bike and added the vehicle’s key, along with other gifts, to the milestone package, which was proudly assembled and held by Ann Kurachi, a volunteer from Trabuco Hills High School.
After a spate of recent muggings and robberies, a group of 20 Bedford-Stuyvesant men started escorting people home as they got off the train and are walking through the neighborhood reaching out to young men.
They’re not part of a political club, they don’t come from any one church and they’ve never been particularly active in the community – until now.
They also sponsored a neighborhood outreach walk earlier this month, stopping to talk to young men hanging out on the corners.
(READ the story at NY Daily News)
Richard Holbrooke believed in Bosnia. As we mourn his passing, we also mark the 15th anniversary of the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords, the agreement that culminated his efforts in the Balkans, Denis Prcic, the president of the American University in Bosnia, wrote yesterday in CNN International.
There are traits we wish we could teach our kids — like generosity, bravery, and honesty — that are especially inspiring, particularly in a year when the media focused on examples of the worst kind of humanity.
Even despite hardship, tragedy, or accident of birth, these ten kids can teach a lesson to every adult. As 2011 nears, let’s look to our youth for inspiration while we nurture these traits in ourselves:
Seventeen more of the wealthiest Americans have joined billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffett in a pledge to give at least half their wealth to charities while still alive.
Among the latest of the super-rich to sign up is Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg.
“People wait until late in their career to give back. But why wait when there is so much to be done?” said Zuckerberg.
The Giving Pledge has now logged 57 signatories, whose gifts could generate $600 billion dollars for charity.
(READ the story at the Daily Mail)
Conservation efforts have more than doubled the number of black rhinoceros in African reserves over the past decade.
There are currently about 4,700 of the critically endangered rhinos, up from a low of nearly 2,100 in the early 1990s.
Conservation efforts have more than doubled the number of black rhinoceros in African reserves over the past decade.
There are currently about 4,700 of the critically endangered rhinos, up from a low of nearly 2,100 in the early 1990s.
Eric Sheptock has 4,548 Facebook friends, 839 Twitter followers, two blogs and an e-mail account with 1,600 unread messages.
What he doesn’t have is a place to live.
Being a homeless homeless advocate is the thing that gives Sheptock – an unemployed former crack addict who hasn’t had a permanent address in 15 years – his clout on the issue of homelessness.
(READ the story in the Washington Post)
Teachers and homeschoolers can infuse multimedia into their daily lessons with YouTube as an excellent starting point.
Plenty of universities, nonprofits, museums and media companies post videos on YouTube for the cause of education. The following 100 channels feature plenty of solid content actively trying to make viewers smarter.
(READ and use the list at OnlineCollegeCourses.com)
Frogs across Australia and the US may finally be recovering from a fungal disease that has devastated populations around the world.
New surveys suggest that the frogs are re-establishing across a number of species, according to University of Newcastle researchers in New South Wales.
Barred river frogs, for instance, have returned to streams after having disappeared across Australia’s Central Coast.
(READ the story in New Scientist)
