Going on 10 years, the municipal government of Seoul has been collecting used furniture from luxury hotels and donating it to low-income earners and homeless city residents.
Over that time, partnerships with 14 different luxury hotels in the Seoul metropolitan area have seen 120,000 used furniture items distributed to low-income housing, homeless facilities, and other shelter initiatives.
This year, the program has recruited an additional 10 hotel partners, which along with boosting the amount of furniture collections, will also maintain an employment opportunity pipeline to those who are out of work and in danger of living on the streets.
“We express our respect and gratitude to the 24 hotels that have helped create a better Seoul through sincere support beyond corporate social responsibility,” a Seoul government official said.
“Sponsored goods from the refurbishment process of luxury hotels will be provided to families with little household goods, which will play a major role in enhancing the self-esteem and satisfaction of low-income citizens.”
There’s something to be said for the value of not only supporting the bottom line of a low-income earner, but also their “self-esteem.” The sight of well-made pieces of stained wood, brushed zinc, or polished marble, may offer an intangible benefit to someone with the stresses of living near the poverty line that direct financial support may not.
Once collected, the furniture pieces are held by the city government before being distributed to various locations upon request.
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In late October, word broke that the owner of the NHL team representing Tampa Bay—the Lightning—was selling up.
Millions were coming his way via a pair of money managers from New York set to take over during the next 3 years, and the affair seemed like business as usual.
But Lighting Owner Jeff Vinik is anything but usual, and in an email that was both a surprise and not a surprise, he informed the 300 full-time employees of the Jeff Vinik Sports Group they would be sharing in his profits.
$20 million in farewell bonuses would be split between them, depending on conditions currently unreported, but the email stipulated that the minimum amount would be $50,000.
“He’s the best owner in the sport. I have friends who are involved in other sports and they all say the same thing: Jeff is the best,” said Julien BriseBois, the general manager of the Lightning.
It’s not the first time Vinik has opened his bank account for the sake of others, with GNN reporting all the way back in 2011 that he had donated $10 million to “deserving community heroes and charity partners in the Tampa Bay area.”
Johh Romano at the Tampa Bay Times got an exclusive interview with BriseBois after the news of the sale and the email disclosing the bonuses made it to the press.
At the time of Vinik’s takeover, the ‘Bolts’ were nearing insolvency, and were losing both on and off the ice. It was during the 2008 Financial Crisis, when Florida was one of the hardest-hit states.
The GM recounted a conversation he had when Vinik first bought the franchise, when, nearing bankruptcy, losing connection with the fans, and managing one of the worst records in the NHL, Vinik saw an opportunity to do some good.
“He said, ‘Well, I turned 50 and I was wondering what I was going to do with the next chapter of my life,’” BriseBois told Romano for the Times.
“He said, ‘I’ve been very fortunate. I happen to be good at something that made me a lot of money, and I feel I need to give some back. I’ve always been a hockey fan and I thought I could buy a hockey team and use it as a vehicle to improve the lives of people in the community.’”
Writers are speculating that this is exactly what Vinik is aiming to do. In the wake of the worst hurricane season to hit Florida in recent times, what wouldn’t someone do to have an extra $50,000 lying around?
After Hurricane Helene, the Amelie Arena was used as a collection point during the first two home games, with fans encouraged to bring in non-perishable foods, cleaning and baby supplies, hygiene products, and other household necessities for donation to victims of the hurricane.
The collections have been completed and donated to Feeding Tampa Bay, Metropolitan Ministries, and the University Area Community Development Corporation (UACDC).
The Lightning Foundation also donated $2 million to relief efforts.
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A massive new marine protected area (MPA) has been established in the eastern Atlantic off the coast of the Azores.
Covering 287,000 square kilometers of ocean makes it the largest MPA network in the North Atlantic—the size of Virginia and Georgia combined.
15% of Azorean waters are now designated as fully protected and 15% as highly protected, which means that fishing and other extractive activities will either be restricted or banned in the area.
The Azores, a chain of nine volcanic islands in the Atlantic Ocean that are part of Portugal, is surrounded by deep-sea corals, whales, dolphins, sharks, manta rays, fish, and unique hydrothermal vent ecosystems—much of which is now protected.
The decision of what and how much to protect came about through a thorough surveying expedition, informing a highly participatory process shepherded by the regional government.
The announcement comes as the world prepares for the UN Biodiversity Conference at the annual summit for the parties to the Paris Climate Agreement, known shorthand as the COP.
At the last summit, in 2022, the world agreed to protect 30% of land and ocean by 2030. Right now, only 8% of the ocean is protected in some way and less than 3% is fully or highly protected.
Sea life in the Azores from the Nat Geo Pristine Seas expedition – credit, National Geographic, released
“As negotiators gather in Cali, Colombia, to assess the state of nature protection, the case of the Azores provides a model of ocean protection for the world to follow,” said Enric Sala, the founder of National Geographic Pristine Seas, who took part in the scientific exploration of the area now under protection.
“What is so remarkable about the new protected area network is not only its massive size, but also the fact that so many local groups worked together to make it happen. Government officials, scientists, industry representatives, and local citizens banded together to devise a system of protection that works for everyone.”
In 2018, in partnership with the regional government, local scientists, the Waitt Institute, Oceano Azul Foundation, and other partners, Pristine Seas participated in scientific expeditions in the Azores to help identify priority areas for protection. Using high-tech tools like underwater cameras to assess coastal, open sea, and deep sea areas, the expeditions added new information about their biodiversity—as well as the impact of human activity.
“We witnessed that the marine ecosystems of the Azores are one of the most diverse and dynamic in the North Atlantic,” said Alan Friedlander, the chief scientist of Pristine Seas.
Also looking to impress in advance of COP16, the Brazilian state of Para recently created a protected area around some of the largest trees ever identified in the Amazon Rainforest, stretching 1.3 million acres, around the size of America’s Yosemite and Grand Tetons national parks put together.
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Kris Sipe watching the Wizard of Oz through colorblind glasses for the first time - credit, SWNS
Kris Sipe watching the Wizard of Oz through colorblind glasses for the first time – credit, SWNS
This is the moment a man became overwhelmed with emotion after trying on colorblind glasses for the first time.
Kris Sipe, 47, who has been colorblind his whole life, bought the glasses on a whim without knowing whether they would work.
A video made by Kris shows him trying on the eyewear in his Tulsa, Oklahoma home and immediately becoming captivated by the colors around his living room.
“It was so overwhelming to experience for the first time,” he said. “I wasn’t even sure the glasses would work so to have everything changed so much was crazy to me. It felt like a big light had been turned on and everything was illuminated.”
Picking out the most colorful film he could imagine watching on his high-definition TV, Kris was delighted with the green of the Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz.
“With my regular sight, the best way to explain it is that things are a bit duller and I don’t see exact colors,” he explains. “To me, a green traffic light just looks like a white light, and rainbows are just a yellow line.”
“I’ve been like this my whole life and when I couldn’t match colors in kindergarten, my parents realized what was up.”
Kris has owned the glasses since 2021 and goes about his day with the lenses clipped onto the nose bridge of his eyeglasses. He actually doesn’t wear them all the time as he says the intensity of the color spectrum can be overwhelming at times.
“It just feels too much to be seeing all these bright colors all the time. But if I know something is particularly colorful, I will flip them on and have a look,” he said. “The prettiest thing I’ve ever seen is a yellow fire hydrant. It was just so bright and vibrant.”
In an English safari park, keepers are celebrating the arrival of a calf from the world’s most endangered species of antelope, the eastern mountain bongo.
Born October 16th, first-time mom Othaya welcomed a male calf in the late afternoon marking the first bongo calf born at Woburn Safari Park in over 10 years.
The calf’s father, Sonny – credit, Woburn Safari Park
It’s both a major success for the park and global conservation efforts to save this species native to Kenya.
“Othaya the bongo has successfully given birth to her first calf on Wednesday afternoon. After a long labor, the large healthy male calf was born and was soon seen standing on wobbly legs, in the deep bed of straw prepared for his arrival,” stated Tom Robson, Head of Reserves at the park. “Both mom and calf are doing really well.”
Sonny, the calf’s father, joined the four-strong bongo herd at the park last November and successfully mixed with the females, wasting no time in doing his job and displaying breeding behaviors.
“The bongo is part of a crucial breeding program and we are hoping in the future our new calf will travel to another wildlife collection and start a breeding group of his own,” Robson added.
Once the mom and baby are ready, they will rejoin the rest of the bongo herd in the African Forest exhibit, where visitors will soon have the chance to see the calf in person.
The eastern mountain bongo species has been hunted almost to extinction in the wild, and with less than 100 individuals remaining, this birth is hugely important for the future of the species.
Its near-cousin the lowland bongo is readily dispersed across the Congo region and southern West Africa, and is not endangered. The mountain bongo, with its much deeper red coat, is found only on Mount Kenya.
It has been estimated that without appropriate protections, the eastern mountain bongo may go extinct within 2 decades. However, several Critically Endangered species, like the West African lion, have made recoveries on the continent in recent years.
WATCH the story below from Africa News…
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A Wichita courtroom rang out with sobs and cheers when over two dozen people learned that their life savings had been recovered after being lost by a local bank.
Over $8 million in children’s university funds, retirement accounts, funds for eldercare, and bequeathments to children and grandchildren were returned after the FBI located and seized a cryptocurrency wallet linked to an account in the Cayman Islands.
The bank’s founder Shan Hanes, claims he had unintentionally lost it all by investing in a sophisticated cryptocurrency scam, though he ultimately lost his defense and received 24 years in prison for defrauding depositors and investors.
In August, Heartland Tri-State Bank was put into receivership by federal regulators after being drained of cash. The FDIC paid out $47 million to everyday depositors and other investors, but the rural, community-owned bank had 30 shareholders who had carefully planned long-term accounts that were not insured.
Last Monday, in Judge John W. Broome’s courtroom, the shareholders were told one by one that they were going to be made entirely whole again, after the FBI’s financial crimes division located the cryptocurrency account linked to Tether Ltd. where their savings had been moved.
The AP reported that shareholder Margaret Grice came to court that day figuring she’d get $1,000 back. Instead, she learned she’d recover almost $250,000, her entire 401(k).
“I’m just really thrilled,” she said. “I can breathe.”
The shareholders were almost all Hanes’ friends and neighbors, but that didn’t stop him from putting millions of debt on the books in a “pig butchering” scam.
Having gained his trust through WhatsApp communications, scammers convinced Hanes to buy $5,000 in cryptocurrency. The money appears on a fake website and proceeds to grow in value over time.
Either believing he had made the investment pick of a lifetime, or because he was in on the scam somehow, Hanes eventually spent $60,000 belonging to his local church, $10,000 from a local investment club, and $60,000 from his Daughter’s college fund, before making 11 separate wire transfers totaling $47 million—the entire deposit value of the bank—over a series of weeks.
Hanes’ defense stated that the money was being put up in order to close the account and cash out on what appeared to be close to 400% returns, but instead, the money was “jettisoned into the ether.”
Ironically, Hanes has been a long-time advocate of community-owned and operated banks and the necessity of these local institutions in protecting Americans from the shark-infested waters of international investment markets. He even testified before Congressional banking and finance committees on the topic.
However, an investigation from the Federal Reserve revealed that it was exactly this community aspect, and it was exactly his prominent role in the culture of local banks, that disarmed Heartland employees who might have otherwise detected the fraudulent activity.
“Heartland employees circumvented the bank’s internal controls and policies; following those internal controls and policies may have prevented or detected the alleged fraudulent activity,” the report read. “We believe that the CEO’s dominant role in the bank and prominent role in the community contributed to a reluctance on the part of Heartland employees to question or report the alleged fraudulent activities earlier.”
Prosecutors argued that even if Hanes was just the first of the scam’s many victims, he knowingly broke both customer agreements and federal banking regs when he began transferring depositors’ and investors’ funds into the scam account.
“I just can’t describe the weight lifted off of us,” said local shareholder Bart Camilli to the AP, who will be recovering a half-million dollar fund he lost in the scam. It’s life-changing.”
The story of Heartland Tri-State Bank is a great reminder to make certain you understand the risks before any investment.
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Quote of the Day: “Love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic.” – Jack Layton
Photo by: Jonny Gios for Unsplash+
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quote of the Day page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
What we English speakers refer to as grief is actually a complex web of not only emotional, but also physical states.
A newly established non-profit founded last fall is pursuing a mission to support individuals navigating grief and burnout through community support and somatic-based practices, instructing them how to grow through grief taking direct control over the nervous system.
Grief is a universal experience affecting both mind and body, with feelings in our brain directly affecting our physiology in ways that can leave us stressed and numb.
Recognizing its profound impact on overall well-being, the Denver-based LIGHT Movement utilizes scientific insights from the Polyvagal Theory developed by neuroscientist Dr. Stephen Porges, and organizes classes, retreats, and workshops to help overcome grief in a powerful, organic way.
Polyvagal Theory explains how grief can trigger physiological responses in the nervous system, leading to states of anxiety, disconnection, or numbness.
“Grief can significantly alter our physiological state, making it crucial to address both emotional and physical aspects,” said Amy Pickett-Williams founder and co-executive director of the LIGHT Movement. “By understanding these responses, we empower individuals with techniques to grow with their grief, leading to re-engagement with life.”
The word somatic refers to one-half of the division of the human nervous system, with the other half being the autonomic nervous system. Somatic refers to those aspects of the nervous system we can control and it plays a key role in how grief unfolds across our physiology.
LIGHT Movement promotes and uses somatic techniques like breath control. Inhaling slowly through the nose, but critically, extending the exhale activates the parasympathetic nervous system, (related to ‘rest and digest’ as opposed to the ‘fight or flight’ response of the sympathetic nervous system) promoting calm and present-moment awareness.
Mindful movements that mirror emotional states—practicing the oscillation between expanding outward into vulnerability and contracting inward when the pain is deep—this pendulation fosters growth from grief, according to Pickett-Williams.
She founded the LIGHT Movement after the loss of her father followed by a stomach cancer diagnosis and long recovery.
In today’s fast-paced world, the LIGHT Movement also addresses burnout, recognizing it often comes with its own form of grief—the loss of passion and motivation. Their programs provide tools to alleviate burnout symptoms and promote overall well-being.
Many of these focus on another somatic method called bilateral stimulation, which involves rhythmic stimulation of both sides of the body, such as alternating taps, walking, swimming, art, baking, cooking, or gardening. These activities help support integration between the brain’s hemispheres, aiding growth and resilience.
“We invite individuals and organizations to join us in bringing LIGHT to communities worldwide,” added Pickett-Williams. “Through virtual and in-person offerings, we strive to make growing with grief accessible to all.”
At 7 p.m. MST [think Denver] on the winter solstice, a date celebrated for millennia as a crossing-over point in the year, LIGHT Movement will host a worldwide/in-person event to help alleviate the burden of grief.
“This December 21st, we hope to quadruple the in-person and virtual attendance (nationally and globally) with the goals of reminding people they are not alone, to teach somatic based tools to support integration and finding meaning/purpose, and stand in solidarity of ALL people and ALL types of loss,” Pickett-Williams said. “Our world is grieving and we must support each other.”
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Antonia, one of three cloned ferrets based on DNA of a female captured in 1980 - credit, US Fish and Wildlife Service
Antonia, one of three cloned ferrets based on DNA of a female captured in 1980 – credit, US Fish and Wildlife Service
In Front Royal, a black-footed ferret named Antonia has just given birth to two healthy kits.
Antonia was cloned from the DNA of a ferret taken into captivity in Wyoming. Her name was Willa and she died in the 1980s, but through her DNA, one of the most endangered North American mammals will have a new genetic lineage that may help it one day recover into the voracious, adorable hordes that once roamed the North American Prairie.
The black-footed ferret program, run by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, was the first time cloning was used as a conservation tool in North America. Antonia was one of three ferrets cloned in 2020. The others are named Noreen and Elizabeth Ann and live in a Colorado facility.
All black-footed ferrets are descended from seven individuals, resulting in unique genetic challenges to recovering this species. Cloning may help address the issues of genetic diversity and disease resilience in wild populations, as without an appropriate amount of genetic diversity, a species often becomes more susceptible to diseases and genetic abnormalities, as well as limited adaptability to conditions in the wild and a decreased fertility rate.
Once thought to be extinct and currently listed as an Endangered Species, black-footed ferrets were rediscovered by a Wyoming rancher whose dog dropped a recently deceased ferret on his doorstep. A small colony of 24 individuals was eventually located, which started the captive breeding program in which 7 reproduced.
These 7 have led to thousands of captive-bred ferrets being dropped onto the grasslands of Wyoming, Colorado, and other states, but at great risk of poor genetic diversity. By contrast, Antonia’s kits, and those of Noreen, who is also liable to breed (Elizabeth Ann isn’t) hold three times the genetic diversity as the currently wild population members.
credit – Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute
In September, Colorado wildlife officials were enthusiastic about reports of at least two healthy litters of wild-born black-footed ferrets at May Ranch in southeastern Colorado, and program members speaking with the Colorado Sun said that if an 8th genetic lineage could be added to this population, that would make a major difference over the generations. Antonia’s offspring will not be reintroduced, but may eventually lead to future offspring who will be.
Experts say proof that cloned animals can reproduce safely is key to the healthy restoration of the severely endangered ferrets, and increases the confidence conservation scientists may have when saving other species from extinction in the future, such as the northern white rhino, by attempting to clone them.
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When a Canadian professor lost his class ring while splashing around in Barbados with his son, finding a needle in a haystack must have seemed like a breeze by comparison.
Yet miraculously, after 47 years of tumbling about in the surf, sand, and shells, the man celebrated his 83rd birthday by slipping on his MacMaster Alumni ring again after it was found by a freedriver.
As one might imagine, as soon as the ring wasn’t immediately found, Perigo was certain he’d never see it again.
“One day I took my younger son and waded into the ocean. He was knocked over by a wave, so I reached to grab hold of him. He pulled on my hand and my Mac Alumni ring came off,” recalled Perigo in an email to the university press. “We searched for it but were unsuccessful.”
He had received the gold and ruby ornament when he graduated in 1965 from the faculty of science. Fast forward to 2024, and something truly unbelievable happened.
Incredibly, there was another MacMaster University scholar visiting Barbados recently, and along with being a Mac alumni, was also a professional freediver; and along with being a professional freediver, also brought along an underwater metal detector.
The freediver, named Alex Davis, found Mr. Perigo’s ring, having decided to swim about on the same stretch of water, if it can be believed, and recognized it as belonging to one of his colleagues.
“I found a McMaster University signet ring with three initials on the inside,” he wrote to alumni officer Laura Escalante. “I found it metal detecting in Barbados this morning and suspect it’s been lost for some time.”
Compared to Perigo and Davis, Escalante had a fairly straightforward treasure hunt in front of her, as the ring was not only engraved with the year 1965, but with the initials FMP. In little time, she determined it was Frederick Morgan Perigo.
Organizing contact between the two men, there was plenty of joy for all parties, and a delightfully unexpected birthday present for Perigo, who received it in the mail on his day of celebration.
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From the depths of the Brazilian Amazon comes the incredible news that a massive new protected area, guarding the tallest and most valuable trees in the great rainforest, has been established in the state of Pará.
Established by Pará’s governor Helder Barbalho on September 28th during New York Climate Week, Giant Trees of the Amazon State Park spans 1.3 million acres, as big as Yosemite and Grand Tetons National Parks put together.
Located along the Yari and Ipitinga rivers, a portion of the new park’s borders overlaps with an existing state-owned forest block, that has now been reorganized for stricter protection.
It contains over 100 individual trees from the pea family called the “Angelim Vermelho” or Dinizia excelsa. It’s considered the tallest tree in the tropical Americas at a height of 290 feet (88.5 meters). Many of those contained in the park are 400 to 600 years old, and may hold the total carbon of 500 average-sized trees.
According to the decree establishing the park, the indigenous people and their activities of gathering Brazil nuts and camu-camu shall not be interfered with, aided by a wide buffer zone around the park.
Funding for the establishment of the park was provided generously by the Amazon-Andes Fund, one of the largest conservation-focused trusts in South America, that, throughout its history, has helped establish 42 million acres of protected areas and secure 48 separate land titles for indigenous people.
“The Giant Trees State Park is very important for the protection of a unique Amazonian forest that is a marvel for the world due to the size of its trees,” said Enrique Ortiz, Andes Amazon Fund’s Senior Program Director. “It is also a critical area that provides ecosystem services which are particularly important during these times when we see extreme rains, droughts, and climatic events.”
The discovery of these tropical giants was an unlooked-for shock that came about during a randomized survey of the Amazon via satellite. Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) mapped 850 random 900-acre blocks of remote forest.
Eric Bastos Gorgens, a forest engineering researcher, was part of the team that parsed through the data, told Smithsonian what went on at the moment they began to find sets of numbers that indicated something out there was very, very tall.
“It could have been a bird flying by, a tower, a sensor error,” says Gorgens, who authored a recent study about the trees in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. “So we started to look into what could have given us these numbers that were so far from standard. And as we started looking at the data more carefully, we realized they weren’t errors. They were, in fact, giant trees.”
Knowing they absolutely had to see these trees for themselves, a major expedition was planned up the Yari River near an area known as the Guiana Shield. It took five days to reach base camp, during which they were able to easily visit some of the trees that were growing conveniently by the riverside.
Towering above the surrounding canopy, professional photographer Fernando Sette captured stunning imagery of the trees and the lush riverine jungles surrounding them.
One of the trees measured 82 meters tall—but another would later be identified as 88.5 meters—almost 30 feet higher, and almost 300 feet in total.
Speaking with Smithsonian, researchers both involved and not involved with the study said the reason for the giant trees’ survival in that area isn’t totally understood. Angelim Vermelho trees can be easily pushed over in strong storms, but this eastern area of the rainforest near the Guiana Shield sees little wind and few storms compared to areas further west.
WATCH one of the researchers climb one of these giant trees…
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Quote of the Day: “We are bound together by the most powerful of all ties — our fervent love for freedom and independence, which knows no homeland but the human heart.” – Gerald Ford
Photo by: Silas Baisch
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quote of the Day page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
Jax and his new family - credit Central Pennsylvania Humane Society
Jax and his new family – credit Central Pennsylvania Humane Society
In central Pennsylvania, a couple are the happy new owners of a dog that was seriously in need of a loving, calm, disciplined home after spending a year at a shelter.
This pit bull/rottweiler mix named Jax is a cheery enough fellow, but such a long time in a shelter, coupled with poor training during his infancy left him “kennel stressed.”
Abandoned in the yard of the Central Pennsylvania Humane Society (CPHS), his hyperactivity, inability to play with other dogs, and poor training left him particularly “mouthy,” a phrase to describe a dog that interacts with the world through its mouth.
“He was constantly passed up. He had little to no interest at all,” said CPHS in a statement on Facebook announcing Jax’s adoption. “He was the definition of kennel stressed. He would jump 24/7. He was mouthy due to pent up energy.”
The ASPCA states that “adult dogs who mouth people probably never learned not to do so during puppyhood,” and that “mouthing is often more difficult to suppress in adult dogs because adults aren’t as sensitive to our reactions as puppies are.”
Despite this, the CPHS persevered, keeping him for a whole year and continually making efforts to find him a permanent home.
Last month they brought Jax out to an event called Paws in the Park, where dogs available for adoption can strut their stuff in front of families and individuals looking perhaps to add a four-legged family member to their household.
Sure enough, a couple who saw Jax that day instantly felt drawn to his energy, and eventually showed up at the CPHS to adopt him.
“This is why we do what we do. Moments like this make it all worth it,” the CPHS wrote on Facebook. “Have a great life Jax. We are so happy you are finally home.”
“Such a beautiful little happy face. Thank you for adopting Jax and showing him the love and respect he deserves,” wrote one of over 100 commenters on the post, in which many community members recognized Jax’s new mom as a local named Tracy, who was lauded along with her husband for bringing an end to this disruptive period in the dog’s life.
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Lois White with two of her four great-great grandkids - credit, family photo, released
Lois White with two of her four great-great grandkids – credit, family photo, released
From Kansas comes the story of a timeless American: a great-great-grandmother who sings, dances, and plays pickleball twice a week.
Lois White puts the elder in ‘elderly,’ and has lived a life of play, sport, love, and family to be celebrated from one corner of the country to the next.
Pickleball is an American sport similar to padel played on a hard court with a hollow ball to reduce ball speed, and has rapidly gained popularity as a way to stay active for players of any age—especially among seniors.
Every Tuesday and Thursday, White takes to the pickleball court at New Century Fieldhouse, Gardener, Kansas. She holds her own against whippersnappers in their 50s and 60s.
“On top of this, I play cards every week,” White told KCTV News 5. “I picked up square dancing. Then, I decided I want to play the Mandolin. So, I bought me some books and I do play and sing. I belong to the Pickers and Fiddlers.”
Indeed, pickleball is just the most recent example of the richness of White’s life.
Born before an airplane had ever flown over Kansas, she married a soldier at age 17 and had 6 kids.
“We always did what the kids wanted to do. I’ve played basketball, football, you name it,” White said. “My husband and I had a softball team with our daughters for years.”
After her husband passed away 30 years ago, the “stubborn” woman continued to stay busy—easy to do when you have 6 kids, 20 grandkids, 37 great-grandkids, and now four great-great grandkids.
Amy Schmitt and her son love to dress up for Halloween. The house is always festooned with decorations, and locals know it’s a must-visit stop along any trick-or-treating route.
However, after her son was hospitalized two days before, Schmitt had no time to join in the festivities, and left a simple note on her door apologizing that her son Jacob was in the hospital and there’d be no candy this year.
You can picture Schmitt’s disappointment, but as the night began to fade, her phone began to buzz.
It was the Ring doorbell camera app, alerting her to movement—a group of children who were dumping some of their own candy into a bucket on Schmitt’s porch for her and for Jacob.
“It’s overwhelming, all the love we’ve got… and I don’t know half these people,” Schmitt told ABC 7 News Detroit, adding that the parents deserve major credit for raising such considerate young neighbors. “It’s just amazing… what these parents have raised these kids to be.”
Several groups of children made the ad-hoc donations, including 6-year-old Mia, who WXYZ Detroit notes had finished trick-or-treating, only to ask her father to go out again to collect candy specifically to leave at Schmitt’s door for Jacob.
“She felt bad and didn’t want anybody not to have candy on Halloween,” said Mia’s father James Sayen.
WATCH the video below from WXYZ…
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Dr. Jamela Al-Raiby, WHO Representative to Jordan (left) and H.E Prof. Feras Ibrahim Hawari, Minister of Health, Jordan (right) - credit WHO, released.
Dr. Jamela Al-Raiby, WHO Representative to Jordan (left) and H.E Prof. Feras Ibrahim Hawari, Minister of Health, Jordan (right) – credit WHO, released.
It is a disease that has been plaguing commoners and kings alike for millennia (as well as armadillos), but for the first time in history, a country has completely eliminated leprosy.
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has completed this amazing achievement, and is the first country ever to be recognized as doing so by the WHO, whose Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, congratulated the nation for their diligent work on behalf of their citizenry.
Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. It primarily affects the skin, peripheral nerves, mucosal surfaces of the upper respiratory tract, and eyes. Left untreated, leprosy can cause permanent damage to the skin, nerves, limbs, and eyes. Early diagnosis and treatment can prevent disability.
Leprosy is considered a neglected tropical disease (NTD) that still occurs in more than 120 countries. More than 200,000 new cases are reported every year.
It famously affected King Baldwin IV, the crusader monarch of Jerusalem from the 11th century, who is said to have worn a mask and veil to hide his disfiguration from his subjects.
“Leprosy has afflicted humanity for millennia, but country by country we are stopping transmission and freeing individuals, families, and communities from its suffering and stigma,” said Dr. Ghebreyesus.
Jordan’s success in targeting transmission saw the country go without any reported autochthonous cases of leprosy for over two decades, and after a thorough review by the WHO investigation team, it was awarded the distinction of being the first to eliminate the disease entirely.
“Jordan’s elimination of leprosy is an achievement that will transform the discourse around this age-old, stigmatizing disease,” said WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Hanan Balkhy. “As the first country to achieve this target globally, Jordan stands as an inspiration to other countries, encouraging them to enhance their efforts and overcome barriers to achieve this remarkable feat.”
The announcement follows on the heels of Egypt’s recognition as being a malaria-free country.
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Quote of the Day: “There was always just enough virtue in this republic to save it; sometimes none to spare, but still enough to meet the emergency.” – William Seward, U.S. Sec. of State during the Civil War
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In the same way that artificial coral reefs can jumpstart marine ecosystems, solar farms, if they’re constructed properly, can create more biodiversity than agricultural fields.
That’s the key point a coalition of Australian planners and researchers are trying to get across to land developers in the state of New South Wales (NSW), where a flat, grassy, sometimes riparian ecoregion called the Tablelands is seen as an optimal place for solar power stations.
In a planning guide entitled: Better Biodiversity on Solar Farms, innovative strategies and evidence are compiled that show how solar farms, often criticized as land-hogging eyesores, can be set up in a way that not only makes room for native biodiversity, but contributes actively to its flourishing.
The strategies are referred to as agrivoltaics and conservoltaics.
Regarding the former, GNN has already reported that it can benefit biodiversity, and can include obvious strategies like allowing native grasses, herbs, and forbs to grow underneath the solar panels which can remain pasture for animals like sheep and cows.
In both strategies, nature can complement technology. Rich groundcover vegetation growing underneath a solar panel has been shown in multiple studies to keep the panel cooler, thereby allowing it to generate electricity more efficiently. Surrounding a solar farm with a high hedge of native shrubs blocks the accumulation of dust and dirt blown off country roads, while also offering a haven of shelter and security to many native species.
“Planning a renewable energy development offers a chance to consider shared land use,” NSW regional coordinator for the Community Power Agency Heidi McElnea explains. “We know from projects being developed in Europe, the US and now emerging in Australia, that conservation and agriculture don’t need to come off second best to renewable energy.”
The guide suggests that degraded agricultural land makes for a perfect site for solar projects as the landscape needs to be regenerated eventually anyway, while existing infrastructure like roads and grid connections can save developers money.
In other cases, where new developments are taking place, byproducts of leveling the ground such as rocks and logs can be set aside for later use reconstructing habitats for reptiles and insects in and around the solar farm.
Oregon State University
“Similar to artificial reefs in aquatic ecosystems, solar farms can serve as hubs for biodiversity enhancement, introducing structural complexity into the environment and providing crucial shelter and habitat for various species,” University of New England (Australia) researcher Dr. Eric Nordberg explained to ESD News.
Using tracking systems that turn the solar panels to follow the path of the Sun throughout the sky helps ensure adequate sunlight to vegetation underneath the panels, while higher mounting racks can allow mammals to move underneath and use them for shade.
Any developer looking to build in the NSW countryside has to assess the biodiversity score of the property pre and post-development via a points total, and pay for credits to make up for each point lost under a certain requirement.
Part of that total will be the Vegetation Integrity Score, and it’s usually assumed until proven otherwise that this VIS will be zero, amounting to a significant addition in terms of cost and time for any project that could, by contrast, potentially be completely avoided by following the methods for cultivating native grasslands and habitat outlined in the guide, the authors conclude.
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In a new study, scientists seeking to better understand how physical activity protects against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s found it’s because exercise makes the brain larger.
2 to 3 days of moderate to vigorous physical activity was correlated to a significant increase in total brain matter and in specific regions like the temporal lobe and hippocampus.
To ensure the record is understood absolutely clearly—there’s no doubt that physical activity protects the brain from neurodegenerative diseases, including mild and severe cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s, Parkinsons, and other forms of dementia.
The Canadian/American research team sought to better understand the mechanisms behind this effect.
Light physical activity, number of steps taken per day, and number of city blocks traversed per day, are all modalities that have been used to measure connections between physical activity and preventing these diseases, showing that even pedestrian, non-athletic, non-sportive activity can be neuroprotective in some cases.
One of the main culprits, in a positive sense, for this effect is brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF is released into the brain during periods of exercise where it lowers neuro-inflammation, improves synaptic connection, and performs other functions too numerous to list here.
The study benefitted from the use of a deep-learning neural network that allowed for multiple MRI scans of the same brain to be analyzed rapidly.
10,000 participants (and their brains) with an average age of 54, but ranging from 18 to 97, who were about half men and half women made up the study cohorts.
Exercise was self-reported—an inevitable flaw when conducting large population studies like this one. Participants were asked how many days of the week they engaged in 10 minutes or more of moderate or vigorous intensity exercise.
While previous studies quantified moderate and vigorous intensity through heartbeats per minute, this and other more modern studies simply define moderate as being engaged in physical activity and still being able to talk, but not being able to sing. Vigorous was defined as being in a state where only a few words could be spoken before pausing to breathe.
10,125 brain MRI scans were examined, and it was determined that a higher number of days of moderate to vigorous physical activity “predicted larger normalized brain volumes in multiple regions, including total gray matter volume, total white matter volume, hippocampus, frontal cortex, parietal lobes, and occipital lobe,” the authors wrote.
This was particularly true for the occipital lobe, parietal lobe, hippocampus, posterior cingulate, and temporal lobe, which all had correlative significance (also known as the p-value) of 6 or higher. A result of 6 or higher is typically when scientists begin to take notice of correlations—trained as they are to take them always with a grain of salt.
Brain matter and size are all predictors of better cognitive and neurological health as we age, while neurodegenerative diseases are often found in less-dense brains.
“The study included adults aged 18-97, showing it’s never too early or late to start,” wrote Chris Kresser, founder of the California Center for Functional Medicine, who was not involved in the study.
“While 75% of participants reported doing some regular physical activity, many didn’t meet standard exercise guidelines—yet still showed brain benefits. This adds to growing evidence that even modest physical activity can protect brain health.”
“Notably, moderate exercise appeared more beneficial than vigorous activity, suggesting you don’t need to be a super-athlete to reap the brain benefits,” he added.
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Charlotte stood on the train tracks ready for a train to come sweeping down the rails and end it all.
However the driver of that train, 47-year-old Dave Lay, had other plans.
Slamming the brakes after receiving notice of a pedestrian on the tracks, Lay brought the train to a halt and got down to talk with the suicidal woman for nearly half an hour before eventually getting her safely to the next platform.
Local police met the pair, and helped Charlotte get in contact with local mental health support workers then and there. Shaken but feeling good about what he was able to do, Dave departed, imagining the episode had finished.
But Charlotte had other plans.
Looking him up on Facebook the following day, she sent a message thanking him for the kindness he showed her on the rails at Crossflatts Station in West Yorkshire, England.
“I walked down the tracks and sat down, waiting,” Charlotte told the British media service SWNS. “I’m unsure who raised the alarm about my presence but when the next train came, it slowed and stopped far from me. I’m so grateful to Dave for stopping that day and being so patient and understanding.”
After Dave returned Charlotte’s text telling her he was available whenever she needed to speak to someone, they began exchanging messages on a daily basis. They met for a coffee after chatting for two months.
Charlotte, a nurse at the British National Health Service, was previously diagnosed with major depressive disorder, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and emotionally unstable personality disorder.
Recalling her decision-making process from that fateful day in 2019, she said that she was on the train to work in her scrubs, but nothing felt right. Dave’s arrival had all the hallmarks, she remembered, of a person trained to de-escalate mental health crises.
“I once asked him if he’d ever had any de-escalation training, because he was brilliant that day,” she said. “The conversation from what I can remember was just about mundane things and about both our lives, but it was enough to break the crisis.”
“Life didn’t feel as heavy anymore. The next day I made it my mission to find the man who had been so kind to me.”
Dave told the BBC he simply “said all the things he wished he could’ve said” to other people who have committed suicide, and for his part was desperately happy to hear from Charlotte, as he had no way of knowing if she ever approached mental health services, or if she made another attempt to enter the House of Hades.
“I needed to know she was all right. I’d contacted police to try to find out what happened to her and just wanted to make sure she was safe,” he told the BBC. “I felt like I had a duty to make sure she was all right. We’d had that rapport built by the side of the track.”
Charlotte says she hopes that by sharing her story, people will realize that, although it would be ideal if we all had specialist training to deal with a mental health crisis, we are all nevertheless capable of helping by being empathic and present.
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