Twitter is a new and fun way to keep in touch with your friends, but now it also has proved a useful way to win release from an Egyptian jail. A US blogger in Egypt used Twitter from his cell phone to fire off a one-word message: “Arrested”. The 30 friends signed up to recieve his Twitter messages, spread the word within seconds and went to work calling the US embassy. (CNN.com has the story)
Follow me on Twitter with my username: GeriWC (Skype too!)
Efforts to clamp down on illegal fishing for cod in the Barents Sea are paying off – with a 50% cut in illegal fishing since 2005. According to the Norwegian government, more than 100,000 tons of illegal cod was caught in the Barents Sea in 2005 while last year estimates put illegal landings at 40,000 tons (the legal catch was around 450,000 tons).
Technology gets a bad press when it comes to fitness, but not only can it help us, it can make us fitter – not fatter. (BBC video shows that if you're a gadget freak, it could be a motivation to get fit.)
Pills aren’t the answer to helping many people recover from depression, says a February report. But there’s growing evidence that gloominess could be a positive experience.
There are other qualities depression generates, not just resilience.
It can be seen as a defense mechanism that can force a healthy reassessment — a reevaluation of one’s personal career, relationships, and life purpose that can lead to positive results.
(READ the article from BBC News Magazine)
This is exactly the premise discussed with Dr. Lara Honos-Webb on our Great Mentors audio program in February, “Discovering the Gift Within Your Symptoms: Listening to Depression and ADHD.”
A Pennsylvania doctor frustrated by insurance companies interfering with patient care vowed to do whatever she could to increase quality. She opened her own clinic for treating the uninsured. The elimination of paperwork allows Dr. Lorna Stuart more time with patients. (CNN Heroes)
To help a balding penguin to swim again rather than shivering on the sidelines while his 19 peers played in the water, biologists at the California Academy of Sciences had a wetsuit created for an elderly African penguin. (Canadian TV Science News) Thanks to Shelley for submitting story!
Here’s a list of top 10 places to find paradise on earth, from the white-sand beaches of Kauai to untouched lakes and mountains of Patagonia. Travel Picks covered at Reuters.com Lifestyle section.
Mike needed someone to accompany his elderly father on visits from the nursing home to his favorite pub. He received a slew of responses to his job posting in the local paper offering 7 pounds ($14) per hour, but finally decided on a retired doctor and military man. Mike wants to give his father “some of his old life back.” (Associated Press via MSNBC)
Just like we can choose foods that enhance our bodies, we can choose our words more carefully to create the reality we want. A new columnist on GNN-i will join us every Friday to take us on a Word Fasting program. Today’s word — chosen from our menu — is CAN’T. Welcome Jack Barakitis to the first Good News Network Friday Word Fast!
In a historic move, the Senate on Thursday unanimously passed federal legislation designed to protect consumers against discrimination based on their genetic profiles. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act now goes to the House, which passed it by a wide margin last year.
A Newark cabbie was honored yesterday by the mayor with a special medallion for reuniting a touring musician with his $4 million violin after it was mistakenly left in the back seat of a taxi.
When the Stradivari stringed instrument finally was returned to him, Philippe Quint fell to his knees and cried.
NJ.com reported, “It took 18 months for Philippe Quint to persuade a wealthy philanthropist to lend him a 1723 Antonio Stradivari violin valued at upward of $4 million. It took less than a minute for the valuable instrument to disappear after Quint left it in a Newark cab.”
(Read about the humble cabbie and his reward in this inspiring New York Times article)
“Gas prices have reached record highs again. Would you like to improve your fuel economy by 30 percent or more without buying a new car? Try slowing down — and installing a dashboard-mounted display that tells how much gas is consumed each time you push your pedal to the floor when the light turns green…” Read the story at Phileadelphia Inquirer and check out www.ecomodder.com, a site dedicated to high fuel efficiency.
The Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program celebrated the creation of its one billionth liter of clean drinking water Tuesday at a rural clinic near Ibadan, Nigeria. Using a packet of water clarification and disinfectant developed by Procter & Gamble, a former company official, John Pepper, helped transform cloudy contaminated water into clear, clean drinking water in a matter of minutes before a crowd of local residents and Nigerian officials.
Somali forces rescued a hijacked ship carrying food to this desperately poor country, freed hostages and arrested seven for pirating.
A Massachusetts wife wouldn’t speak to her husband after he accidentally threw away a cardboard dish containing her wedding rings while on vacation at Disney World. But Disney employees including executive housekeeper Drew Weaver and seven of his staff were determined to help and waded into the bags of garbage to miraculously find the rings. (story and video at WCBD News-2)
“Russia has shut down a weapons-grade plutonium reactor as part of a deal with the United States to reduce the risk that loose nukes would get into the hands of terrorists. The Siberian plant founded by Soviet leader Josef Stalin, was turned off on Sunday, 45 years after it was started up to create plutonium for Cold-war era bombs.” (Reuters News )
[UPDATE: I want to give three more away to US or Canadian viewers, so I’ll honor six winners altogether!] In honor of Earth Day I’m going to send a FREE canvas totebag, with the Good News Network slogan/website on the front, to the first three [SIX] people to post a comment at the bottom of this blog post.
After you post the comment, you can send me your mailing address (and name) and I will send to you this great Earth-friendly bag.
Welcome to listeners from KXYL in Texas, WJBC in Illinois, and KWNA in Nevada. I was a guest on these stations today sharing my Top 10 Earth Day news!
To post a comment, you need to be registered as a member. It’s free and easy filling out a quick form, here!
Though watching so many beehives nationwide fall to colony collapse disorder, Doug Schulz still has not lost a single bee to the epidemic, probably due to his old-fashioned organic methods. His labor-intensive beekeeping practices produce premium honey in Wisconsin, and carries on the tradition of his octogenarian mentor. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal)
Happy Earth Day! Here are the top ten good news stories for the environment… Since the first Earth Day in 1970, air quality has improved dramatically, rivers are cleaner, and many endangered species have been rescued from the brink. As every first grader is taught in school, the environment rocks! Let’s look at 10 points of light in the news about our Earth.
#1) We can Breath Easier – The dramatic reduction in air pollution represents one of the greatest success stories in American government. Most Americans believe air pollution has been getting worse, but the truth is just the opposite: Air pollution levels have been dropping for decades. Since the first Earth Day, emissions from the most common air pollutants have decreased by about half, even while gross domestic product increased 195% and people increased their travel in cars by 178%. Los Angeles, for example, had nearly two hundred hazardous days every year for smog in the 1970s but now experiences less than twenty-five heavy-ozone days each year. Lead has been eliminated entirely from the air, thanks to the introduction of unleaded gasoline, while levels of carbon monoxide are down by 70%.
Europe achieved its goal of cutting pollution from coal-burning plants years ahead of schedule, reducing acid rain-causing sulphur dioxide by 65 percent since 1990. China is also surging ahead to curtail its pollution. In the last year it has increased fuel standards, closed ozone-producing checmical factories, invested in renewables, unplugged 253 coal-fired generators, and continued to spend its investment of $175 billion on environmental protection over 5 years. Rounding out the effort, thousands of citizens around the world aided in cleaning the air by planting a billion trees last year for the UN’s Billion Tree campaign.
“A ‘bionic eye’ may hold the key to returning sight to people left blind by a hereditary disease. Treatment is underway on first patients in the UK as part of a clinical study into the therapy.” (BBC Health News)
