Quote of the Day: “When you have a dream, you’ve got to grab it and never let go.” – Carol Burnett
Photo by: Bobby Johnson
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
The Lesson: Philanthropy comes in many forms, and from many faces. Whether it’s the lifestyle we try to live, the purchasing decisions we make, the parents we were born to, or the careers we’re pursuing, there’s a role for everyone in leaving the world a better place than when we found it.
Notable Excerpt: “There’re so many choices we make, and I’m not saying you have to make 1,000 choices a day that are directed towards social impact, but planting that seed in your consciousness that you want to be here on Earth as a vehicle of social change for the better really starts to, in the most beautiful of ways, affect your decision making. So while most people think of social impact as big philanthropic gifts and massive moves from your investments into impact investing, I really think about it like a lifestyle.”
The Guest: Rachel Gerrol is Co-Founder & CEO of NEXUS, the leading global network of next-gen philanthropists and impact investors with 6000+ members from over 70 countries representing families with a combined net worth of over $650 billion.
Rachel has organized 40 NEXUS summits across 6 continents, including an annual summit at the UN and regional summits at The White House and No. 10 Downing Street. She led the “Media for Social Impact Summit” at the UN for 5 years and worked closely with the Obama/Biden Administration to create the renowned “It’s On Us” campaign to stop sexual assault on campus.
Rachel is recognized internationally for her work on next-gen philanthropy and has been featured in The New York Times, The Financial Times, Forbes, Vanity Fair and more.
[raw]The Podcast: Livin’ Good Currency explores the relationship of time to our lives. It focuses on learning how super-successful people align their purpose with their passions to do good for themselves and others daily, and features a co-host who knows better than anyone the value of time (see below). How do you want to spend your life? This hour can inspire you, along with upcoming guests, to be sure you are ‘Livin’ Good Currency’ and never get caught running out of time.
The Hosts: Good News Network fans will know Tony (Anthony) Samadani as the co-owner of GNN and its Chief of Strategic Partnerships. Co-host Tobias Tubbs was handed a double life sentence without the possibility of parole for a crime he didn’t commit. Behind bars, he used his own version of the Livin’ Good Currency formula to inspire young men in prison to turn their hours into honors. An expert in conflict resolution, spirituality, and philosophy, Tobias is a master gardener who employs ex-felons to grow their Good Currency by planting crops and feeding neighborhoods.
Episode Resources:
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A pair of Japanese researchers have launched a startup that turns food waste into cement with 4-times better bending resistance.
The potential applications are endless, and as well as being potential building material, the cement can produce any kind of simple object like tea cups or chairs; but it’s also edible, and aromatic, and biodegradable.
Tokyo University’s Kota Machida and Yuya Sakai are the brains behind Fabula Inc, a project to reduce food waste, help curb global warming, reduce pressure on landfills, and offer a new way of looking at production with their method of turning common types of food waste into cement that’s edible and strong.
Cement production, according to the UK thinktank Chatham House, produces 8% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, or around 3.5 times as much as the airline industry, and while modern “bio” or “green” cement usually incorporates wood ash, coffee grounds, or another previously-living substance into normal cement mixtures, Fabula’s product is 100% biological.
It took years of development but the method is simple. Food waste is dried, turned into a powder, and then heat-pressed into a mold. The difficulties originally arose from the fact that every food item needed different temperatures and pressures to correctly solidify.
Now they can make cement from Chinese cabbage, coffee grounds, orange rinds, squash and pumpkin waste, banana peels, seaweed, and onion scraps. They’ve turned this into tiles and panels for emergency shelter building, cups, plates, and other things as proof-of-concepts.
Chinese cabbage produces the strongest cement, oddly enough, with a 5 millimeter plate capable of supporting over 60 pounds of weight.
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Sakai told the AP he and Fabula are working with firms to produce various products like cup sets and furniture, but that his aspirations are a little bit higher—that of edible emergency shelters in disaster zones.
“For example, if food cannot be delivered to evacuees, they could eat makeshift beds made out of food cement,” he said.
Indeed the food waste cement is edible, if it is broken into pieces and boiled. For this reason, Fabula say that different mixes of materials, such as spices, can produce different flavors, colors, and even aromas in the cement.
RELATED: Breakthrough Zero-Carbon Fertilizer Set to Take Root Across the World as ‘Biochar’
One could build a literal gingerbread house, or a restaurant that offers booths which smell of component elements to their tasting menus.
Japanese news reports that the country produced around 5.7 million tons of edible food waste in 2019 and the government aims to reduce that around 2.7 million tons by 2030. Among industrialized and developed nations, Japan is the 11th largest producer of food waste per capita, so the practical need for edible cement is also there.
MORE LIKE THIS: From Beer to Biogas: Creating Green Energy Using Brewer’s Grain Farm Waste
As it’s entirely made of food, there’s no need to worry about disposal: it will eventually biodegrade if not treated.
“Our ultimate hope is that this cement replaces plastic and cement products, which have worse environmental impacts,” Machida told AP.
An evolutionary “missing link” species was just discovered, and it was a very big and scary link in a very big and famous chain.
The newfound species, Daspletosaurus wilsoni, is thought to be the direct ancestor of Tyrannosaurus Rex, and had a unique set of facial features like a set of ridges called “hornlets” above its eye socket.
Everyone knows T. rex, the giant almost 10,000 pound dinosaur that stood atop the pinnacle of the Cretaceous Era food chain, but scientists don’t know how it came to be, or what it evolved from.
The family Tyrannosauridae contains 9 known animals, and it’s believed that the genus Daspletosaurus were the progenitors of the genus Tyrannosaur. However a lack of substantial fossil remains has limited the possibility of drawing that connection until now.
Daspletosaurus wilsoni was identified from parts of a fossilized skull and skeletal fragments, including a rib and toe bone, that date to about 76.5 million years ago during the Cretaceous period (145 million to 66 million years ago).
Paleontologists from the Badlands Dinosaur Museum in North Dakota uncovered the fossils at the Judith River Formation in northeastern Montana, between 2017 and 2021, according to a new study published November 25th in the journal Paleontology and Evolutionary Science.
The team initially stumbled across the fossils after crewmember Jack Wilson noticed a small, flat piece of bone projecting out from the bottom of a cliff, which later turned out to be part of the dinosaur’s nostril. Excavating the bones, however, proved to be immensely challenging because they were buried beneath 26 feet (8 meters) of solid rock.
The researchers had to painstakingly chisel away large parts of the cliff with jackhammers before they could even start excavating the individual bones. Rather than something like “Sue,” the team named the specimen “Sisyphus” after the Greek character of legend who was forced by Hades to push a boulder up a mountain for eternity.
The new species displays a mix of features found in more primitive tyrannosaurs from older rocks, like a prominent set of horns around the eye, as well as features otherwise known from later members of this group (including T. rex), like a tall eye socket and expanded air-pockets in the skull. In this way, D. wilsoni is a “half way point” or “missing link” between older and younger tyrannosaur species.
In the Late Cretaceous of North America, many dinosaur families are represented by multiple closely-related species. These were previously thought to represent diversity, ie. that they lived at the same time, which would be evidence of branching evolution. However, a wealth of new specimens and a better understanding of their placement in time has changed what we think.
We can now see that many of these species are actually very finely separated in time from each other, forming consecutive ladder-like steps in a single evolutionary lineage where one ancestral species evolves directly into a descendant species.
RELATED: Canada Schoolteacher Finds Fossil that May Be 300 Million Years Old and Could Re-Write Fossil Record
This is called the “anagenesis” mode of evolution, and is contrasted with “cladogenesis”, where successive branching events produce many species that are closely related and therefore look similar to each other, but represent evolutionary “cousins” rather than ancestors and descendants.
The new study supports the addition of tyrannosaurs to a growing list of dinosaurs (including horned and duckbilled dinosaurs) for which anagenesis (linear evolution) has been proposed. This seems to suggest that linear evolution is more widespread in dinosaurs, with branching evolution being less frequent than previously thought.
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The most astonishing display of atmospheric variability came as giant ocean waves of clouds drifted over the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming last week.
The incredible scene was captured by photographer Rachel Gordon, who shared them on the Wyoming Through The Lens Facebook group, and is a textbook example of “Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability.”
KHI results from differences in air density between the various layers of the sky—in this case probably from sun heating pockets of air between mountain saddles which rose rapidly into both colder air and strong winds.
“I think everyone should see this beautiful phenomenon,” Gordon wrote in the group.
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The Washington Post reported that wave clouds from KHI are not uncommon, but they are fleeting. Perfect examples like the one photographed by Rachel are rare.
Another group member caught a time-lapse video of their movement, which can see them hold their shape as they move across the horizon like tidal waves ready to smash into the coast.
SHARE This Beautiful Phenomenon With Your Friends…
California just granted the first ever state license for Unicorn Husbandry, provided the young applicant can find one, and ensure it has appropriate exposure to sunlight, moonbeams, and rainbows.
Department of Animal Care and Control added that its horn needed polishing every month with a soft cloth.
“Dear LA County, I would like your approval if I can have a unicorn in my backyard if I can find one,” wrote a girl named Madeline.
In response, DACC sent an emblazoned “Permanent Unicorn License,” in fuschia-colored metal, alone with a white unicorn plushie with pink hooves and a silver horn.
DACC Director Marcia Mayeda praised Madeline’s “sense of responsible pet ownership to seek permission in advance” and for thoughtfully considering “the requirements of providing a loving home to animals.”
The agency posted images of the correspondence, the license, the medallion and the stuffed toy on its social media accounts.
The agency added that if the unicorn needed a topical treatment of sparkles and glitter, that they be exclusively non-toxic and biodegradable.
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Quote of the Day: “He who reforms himself has done much toward reforming others.” – Thomas Adams
Photo by: Max Harlynking
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
In the 1998 comedy Waking Ned Devine, a multi-million dollar lottery jackpot is split between the stunned residents of a tiny Irish village.
Well, last week, the film’s storyline became a reality for the small Belgian village of Olmen, near Anterp.
165 Olmen residents divided up an unbelievable $150 million dollars won in the Euromillions lottery. The ticket will pay out $915,000 to every individual—tax free. (That’s around €870k.)
Local shopkeeper Wim Van Broekhoven, who regularly organizes a group pot for the drawing—with each person contributing €15 ($20)—said the residents are shocked by the lucky win.
According to Euronews, One person already knows what they want to do: fulfill a lifelong dream to spend a few months in America, and hike the Grand Canyon. Another said they will split it among 3 children and many grandchildren.
EuroMillions spokesperson Joke Vermoere told Reuters it was the first time in Belgium that such a big group had won this much.
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“It’s a lovely story, really.”
SHARE The Win With Your Neighbors on Social Media…
Laser light therapy has been shown to be effective in improving short term memory, according to a new study.
Scientists demonstrated that the therapy, which is non-invasive, could improve short term memory in people by 10%, and even up to 25 percent.
Scientists at the University of Birmingham in the UK and Beijing Normal University in China demonstrated the treatment, called transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM), which is applied to an area of the brain known as the right prefrontal cortex.
This area is widely recognized as important for working memory. In their experiment, the team showed how working memory improved among research participants after several minutes of treatment. They were also able to track the changes in brain activity using electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring during treatment and testing.
Previous studies have shown that laser light treatment will improve working memory in mice, and human studies have shown tPBM treatment can improve accuracy, reaction time, and high-order functions such as attention.
This is the first study, however, to confirm a link between tPBM and working memory in humans.
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“People with conditions like ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) or other attention-related conditions could benefit from this type of treatment, which is safe, simple and non-invasive, with no side-effects,” said Dongwei Li, a visiting PhD student in the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Human Brain Health, and co-author on the paper.
In the study, researchers at Beijing Normal University carried out experiments with 90 male and female participants, age 18 to 25. Participants were treated with laser light to the right prefrontal cortex at wavelengths of 1064 nm, while others were treated at a shorter wavelength, or treatment was delivered to the left prefrontal cortex. Each participant was also treated with a sham (which was an inactive tPBM) to rule out the placebo effect.
After tPBM treatment over 12 minutes, the participants were asked to remember the orientations or color of a set of items displayed on a screen. The participants treated with laser light to the right prefrontal cortex showed clear improvements in memory over those who had received the other treatments. While participants receiving other treatment variations were able to remember, on average, 1.9 of the test objects, those with the targeted treatment were able to recall, on average, around 2.1 objects.
Data, including from electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring during the experiment was analyzed and showed changes in brain activity that also predicted the improvements in memory performance.
The researchers don’t yet know precisely why the treatment positively affects working memory, nor how long the effects will last. But further research is planned, so don’t break out the LED lights just yet.
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“It’s possible that the light is stimulating the mitochondria – the powerplants – in the nerve cells within the prefrontal cortex, and this has a positive effect on the cells’ efficiency,” said Professor Ole Jensen, also at the Centre for Human Brain Health.
DON’T Forget to Share the Light With Forgetful Friends on Social Media…
An English fossil found in a museum’s storeroom has shifted the origin of modern lizards back 35 million years, according to new research.
The specimen, retrieved from a cupboard at the Natural History Museum in London, has shown that modern lizards originated in the Late Triassic period, and not the Middle Jurassic, as previously thought.
This fossilized relative of today’s lizards—such as monitor lizards and gila monsters—came to the museum’s collection in the 1950s, from a quarry near Tortworth in Gloucestershire. The late Pamela Robinson who recovered the fossils from the quarry did not have access to CT scanning technology to help her gather all the hidden precious details.
As a modern-type lizard, scientists say the new fossil impacts “all estimates” of the origin of lizards and snakes (together called the Squamata), and affects assumptions about their rates of evolution, and even the key trigger for the origin of the group.
The research team have named their amazing discovery Cryptovaranoides microlanius—meaning ‘small butcher’ in tribute to its jaws that were filled with sharp-edged slicing teeth.
Study leader Dr. David Whiteside, of Bristol’ University’s School of Earth Sciences, recalled, “I first spotted the specimen in a cupboard full of Clevosaurus fossils.
“Our specimen was simply labelled ‘Clevosaurus and one other reptile.’ As we continued to investigate the specimen, we became more and more convinced that it was actually more closely related to modern day lizards than the Tuatara group—the only survivor of the group, the Rhynchocephalia, that split from the squamates over 240 million years ago.
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“We made X-ray scans of the fossils at the University, and this enabled us to reconstruct the fossil in three dimensions, and to see all the tiny bones that were hidden inside the rock.”
The findings, published in the journal Science Advances, shows that Cryptovaranoides is clearly”a squamate as it differs from the Rhynchocephalia in the brain case, in the neck vertebrae, in the shoulder region, in the presence of a median upper tooth in the front of the mouth, the way the teeth are set on a shelf in the jaws, and in the skull architecture—such as the lack of a lower temporal bar.
Dr. Whiteside said there is only one major primitive feature not found in modern squamates, an opening on one side of the end of the upper arm bone, the humerus, where an artery and nerve pass through.
Study co-author Professor Mike Benton explained, “In terms of significance, our fossil shifts the origin and diversification of squamates back from the Middle Jurassic to the Late Triassic.
“This was a time of major restructuring of ecosystems on land, with origins of new plant groups, especially modern-type conifers, as well as new kinds of insects, and some of the first of modern groups such as turtles, crocodilians, dinosaurs, and mammals.
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“Adding the oldest modern squamates then completes the picture.
“It seems these new plants and animals came on the scene as part of a major rebuilding of life on Earth after the end-Permian mass extinction 252 million years ago, and especially the Carnian Pluvial Episode, 232 million years ago when climates fluctuated between wet and dry and caused great perturbation to life.”
“The name of the new animal, Cryptovaranoides microlanius, reflects the hidden nature of the beast in a drawer, but also in its likely lifestyle—living in cracks in the limestone on small islands that existed around Bristol at the time, where it would have preyed on arthropods and small vertebrates.” said PhD research student Sofia Chambi-Trowell.
“This is a very special fossil and likely to become one of the most important found in the last few decades,” concluded Whiteside.
SLITHER The News to Reptile-Loving Friends on Social Media…
It’s the most popular photography competition in the world—because the winning photos are some the funniest moments of mirth on Earth.
Some of the most famous photographers from 85 countries submitted their most spontaneous snaps, capturing the amusing side of nature, in a bid to win the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards.
The contest was founded in 2015 by Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam, both professional photographers and passionate conservationists who wanted create a competition that focused on the lighter, humorous side of wildlife photography.
The online competition is free to enter, yet both money and awareness are raised for a charity partner each year—in 2022, the fantastic Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN)—with 10% of net revenue donated.
The overall winner of this year’s competition, which saw 5,000 incredible entries, is Jennifer Hadley, for her perfectly timed photograph of a lion cub losing its grip on a tree trunk entitled ‘Not so cat-like reflexes.’
The image was captured in the Serengeti, when Jennifer managed to capture the exact moment a young 3-month-old cub attempted to descend from a tree, and it didn’t go so well. She had already positioned her camera, then the unexpected happened.
“I think part of what makes this contest great is that most of these photos probably happen by complete accident and that was certainly the case with the lion cub falling out of the tree,” she explained. “How often do cats fall out of trees?”
“It was probably his first time ever in a tree and he decided to just go for it. Happily, as cats do, he righted himself just in time.”
As the 2022 Comedy Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Jennifer won an African safari trip to Kenya. She also won the Affinity Photo Award and People’s Choice Award for her charming shot of two penguins (pictured above).
“I really love this photo contest because it’s just so different from anything else and really shows off the personalities of the animals,” says Jennifer.
The Creatures of the Air Category Award was won by Jean Jacques Alcalay with ‘Misleading African Viewpoints’, which shows a hippo looking like he’s about to scoff a great blue heron whole.
The bird seems completely oblivious—maybe that is because he knows that, in fact, the hippo is actually having a yawn.
“With so much going on in the world, we could all use a bumper dose of fun and laughter and this year’s finalists have definitely delivered that,” said Sullam in a press release.
Sullam summed it up perfectly: “When you see these amazing photographs, like the wallaby at sunset—seemingly about to launch another wallaby into space—it makes you smile and wonder at the incredible animals that are on this earth with us.”
CHECK OUT: Mom’s Zoo Pic is Adorably Photo-bombed by Stingray With Remarkable Resemblance to Her Daughter
SEND These Adorable Moments of Nature to Your Flock by Sharing on Social Media… AND, Check out the 2021 winning photos: From Cheeky Bears to Goofy Gophers, See the Fun Finalists of the Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards
Quote of the Day: “To be free, you must have your own hypothesis about what you are called to do, and follow it, not giving in to circumstances.” – Andrei Tarkovsky
Photo by: Ken Brown, CC License
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
According to a new survey, more than half of adults would welcome a pre-owned gift this Christmas—especially to save people money and act more sustainably by extending a product’s life.
The poll of 2,000 people who celebrate Christmas, showed 19 percent expected to receive a second-hand gift this year—with 29 percent expecting the practice to become more common in the future.
More than half (58 percent) would feel positive about unwrapping a pre-owned item, and 46 percent said they would happily give one.
Already, almost four in ten respondents have purchased a pre-owned gift ahead of Christmas at some year in the past.
The top reasons for doing so were saving money (50 percent), affording an item which would otherwise be out of their price range (44 percent), and to help products have a longer lifespan (41 percent).
Amazon Warehouse in the UK, which sells refurbished and pre-owned products, commissioned the survey, which also revealed that 38 percent plan to take sustainability into consideration when shopping for presents for this festive season.
But, overall, 26 percent believe there is a stigma about giving such gifts. Even so, 31 percent believe giving and receiving pre-owned products should be normalized.
“As a nation, we’re becoming more conscious consumers and it’s exciting to see so many people are open to shopping for nearly-new products,” said John Boumphrey, a UK manager at Amazon. “Pre-owned doesn’t have to mean worn or outdated, often products have simply been unboxed but still work as good as new.
The top pre-owned items people are happy to receive were books (50 percent), jewelry (31 percent), and artwork (30 percent).
And the most popular tech gifts to get ‘nearly-new’ were mobile phones (21 percent), laptops (20 percent), and tablets (20 percent).
The top places to buy pre-owned or refurbished gifts were eBay.com, thrift stores, and Amazon.
Nearly one in five estimated they had saved more than $244 annually over the past five years.
21 percent of those surveyed by OnePoll think it can be hard to tell the difference between these products and new goods—and 17 percent have noticed more retailers offering nearly-new or pre-owned items.
A team of neighbors, firefighters, and animal control officers worked for hours in the freezing weather to rescue four horses that fell through an icy pond.
The South Kalispell Fire Department responded to the scene near Patrick Creek in Montana, after the four horses fell through the ice, and were stuck up to their necks.
A video shared by Amber Countryman shows the numerous attempts to pull out the horses, each one failing until the rescuers eventually harnessed some extra ‘horse power’ when they brought in a tractor.
A dozen people, including firefighters, staff from Flathead County Animal Control, as well as neighbors, all worked together to free the horses.
They first tried to make makeshift pontoons from pallets and other pieces of wood in an attempt to make a ramp.
They then tried to pull one horse out of the water by using a long rope, taking care to avoid breaking any its legs, but they still couldn’t free the animal completely.
Eventually, all four horses were removed safely by using a harness attached to a tractor.
They were all taken to a veterinary clinic where they received care.
Watch the video below showing the community working together…
HAIL the Montana Horse Rescuers By Sharing on Social Media…
A mom discovered that her son’s elf had mysteriously lost a leg while he was in school—so she spent hours concocting an elaborate back story to keep the magic alive.
Lauren Weir introduced the elf toy to her 4-year-old son Tommy for the first time on December 1st, but that evening she was horrified to discover that his right leg had been torn off and was now nowhere to be found.
“I completely panicked. It was only day one and he was already so in love, I was like ‘oh my god what am I going to do’. I didn’t have time to go out and get another one.
“If I didn’t fix it I knew he’d be devastated, yet I knew if it lost a leg he’d just accept it—but it needed to have a story about why it was gone.
The 30-year-old then scrambled to salvage her son’s beloved elf by stitching closed the hole so the white stuffing inside wasn’t showing. Then, she came up with an imaginative cover story to explain the missing limb.
She staged a dinosaur attack using the schoolboy’s toys and explained that the ‘naughty’ beasts had eaten the elf’s leg, rendering him an amputee.
“He was so excited when he came downstairs the next day, he was like ‘where’s his leg?’. I was like, ‘the dinosaurs must have eaten it!’
Eventually he grabbed his Iron Man action figure to fight back and teach the “naughty dinosaurs” a lesson.
The boy, in Hertfordshire, England, thinks it’s great that his elf survived a dinosaur attack—and the ruse has led to more fun surprises.
When Tommy expressed worry about how his elf would get around without his leg, the creative mom ‘put a call in to Santa’ and had an elf-sized wheelchair ‘delivered’ the next day.
“He was concerned about how the elf was going to get around only having one leg so I made a call to Santa in front of him and requested that he send some crutches or a wheelchair to the elf.
WATCH: Firefighter Dresses Like Buddy The Elf And Starts Pillow Fights With Shoppers–and it’s Hilarious
Lauren posted a video about the toy’s ordeal online with the caption: “This elf is going to take over my life,” after spending hours stitching his leg and building a Lego wheelchair.
The next day when the boy came down the elf was sitting on his wheelchair throne, which could be pushed to roll around the house.
“Santa’s really good at making Lego wheelchairs,” cooed Tommy.
“The wheelchair took ages because I was trying to be quiet sifting through the Lego—because it’s so noisy—trying to make it from Christmas colors, red and green.”
RELATED: When Dog Chews Girl’s Beloved Elf on the Shelf, Hospital Works Magic With a Little Help From Santa
The magical character has since gone on to bring more joy in the household.
Creative elf scenes in their home have included an ‘advent calendar truck’ delivery full of chocolate coins and sweets and a fishing scene on the top of their aquarium tank with a fishing rod made out of a shoelace.
“We’ll be keeping this elf; he loves him so much even with one leg.
“I’m praying that the leg doesn’t turn up because then I’m really going to have to wrack my brain to cover that up somehow.”
Display This Sweet Story on Your Social Media Shelf to Share With Elves Worldwide…
Our partner Rob Brezsny provides his weekly wisdom to enlighten our thinking and motivate our mood. Rob’s Free Will Astrology, is a syndicated weekly column appearing in over a hundred publications. He is also the author of Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How All of Creation Is Conspiring To Shower You with Blessings. (A free preview of the book is available here.)
Here is your weekly horoscope…
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY – Week of December 10, 2022
Copyright by Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
Of all the signs in the zodiac, you Sagittarians are least likely to stay in one location for extended periods. Many of you enjoy the need to move around from place to place. Doing so may be crucial in satisfying your quest for ever-fresh knowledge and stimulation. You understand that it’s risky to get too fixed in your habits and too dogmatic in your beliefs. So you feel an imperative to keep disrupting routines before they become deadening. When you are successful in this endeavor, it’s often due to a special talent you have: your capacity for creating an inner sense of home that enables you to feel stable and grounded as you ramble free. I believe this superpower will be extra strong during the coming months.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Capricorn author Edgar Allan Poe made this mysterious statement: “We can, at any time, double the true beauty of an actual landscape by half closing our eyes as we look at it.” What did he mean? He was referring to how crucial it is to see life “through the veil of the soul.” Merely using our physical vision gives us only half the story. To be receptive to the full glory of the world, our deepest self must also participate in the vision. Of course, this is always true. But it’s even more extra especially true than usual for you right now.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
Aquarian theologian Henri Nouwen wrote, “I have discovered that the gifts of life are often hidden in the places that hurt most.” Yikes! Really? I don’t like that idea. But I will say this: If Nouwen’s theory has a grain of truth, you will capitalize on that fact in the coming weeks. Amazingly enough, a wound or pain you experienced in the past could reveal a redemptive possibility that inspires and heals you.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
Piscean novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen says it’s wise to talk to yourself. No other conversational partner is more fascinating. No one else listens as well. I offer you his advice in the hope of encouraging you to upgrade the intensity and frequency of your dialogs with yourself. It’s an excellent astrological time to go deeper with the questions you pose and to be braver in formulating your responses. Make the coming weeks be the time when you find out much more about what you truly think and feel.
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Aries filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky wrote, “To be free, you simply have to be so, without asking permission. You must have your own hypothesis about what you are called to do, and follow it, not giving in to circumstances or complying with them. But that sort of freedom demands powerful inner resources, a high degree of self-awareness, and a consciousness of your responsibility to yourself and therefore to other people.” That last element is where some freedom-seekers falter. They neglect their obligation to care for and serve their fellow humans. I want to make sure you don’t do that, Aries, as you launch a new phase of your liberation process. Authentic freedom is conscientious.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
The term “neurodiversity” refers to the fact that the human brain functions in a wide variety of ways. There are not just a few versions of mental health and learning styles that are better than all the others. Taurus musician David Byrne believes he is neurodiverse because he is on the autism spectrum. That’s an advantage, he feels, giving him the power to focus with extra intensity on his creative pursuits. I consider myself neurodiverse because my life in the imaginal realm is just as important to me as my life in the material world. I suspect that most of us are neurodiverse in some sense—deviating from “normal” mental functioning. What about you, Taurus? The coming months will be an excellent time to explore and celebrate your own neurodiversity.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
Poet Jane Hirshfield says that Zen Buddhism is built on three principles: 1. Everything changes. 2. Everything is connected. 3. Pay attention. Even if you are not a Zen practitioner, Gemini, I hope you will focus on the last two precepts in the coming weeks. If I had to summarize the formula that will bring you the most interesting experiences and feelings, it would be, “Pay attention to how everything is connected.” I hope you will intensify your intention to see how all the apparent fragments are interwoven. Here’s my secret agenda: I think it will help you register the truth that your life has a higher purpose than you’re usually aware of—and that the whole world is conspiring to help you fulfill that purpose.
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Author Flannery O’Connor wrote, “You have to cherish the world at the same time that you struggle to endure it.” I will add a further thought: “You have to cherish the world at the same time that you struggle to endure it and strive to transform it into a better place.” Let’s make this one of your inspirational meditations in the coming months, Cancerian. I suspect you will have more power than usual to transform the world into a better place. Get started! (PS: Doing so will enhance your ability to endure and cherish.)
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):
Many sports journalists will tell you that while they may root for their favorite teams, they also “root for the story.” They want a compelling tale to tell. They yearn for dramatic plot twists that reveal entertaining details about interesting characters performing unique feats. That’s how I’m going to be in the coming months Leo, at least in relation to you. I hope to see you engaged in epic sagas, creating yourself with verve as you weave your way through fun challenges and intriguing adventures. I predict my hope will be realized.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
Venus is too hot and dry for humans to live on. But if travelers from Earth could figure out a way to feel comfortable there, they would enjoy a marvelous perk. The planet rotates very slowly. One complete day and night lasts for 243 Earth days and nights. That means you and a special friend could take a romantic stroll toward the sunset for as long as you wanted, and never see the sun go down. I invite you to dream up equally lyrical adventures in togetherness here on Earth during the coming months, Virgo. Your intimate alliances will thrive as you get imaginative and creative about nurturing togetherness.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
As far as I’m concerned, Libran Buddhist monk and author Thích Nhất Hạnh was one of the finest humans who ever lived. “Where do you seek the spiritual?” he asked. His answer: “You seek the spiritual in every ordinary thing that you do every day. Sweeping the floor, watering the vegetables, and washing the dishes become sacred if mindfulness is there.” In the coming weeks, Libra, you will have exceptional power to live like this: to regard every event, however mundane or routine, as an opportunity to express your soulful love and gratitude for the privilege of being alive. Act as if the whole world is your precious sanctuary.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
A reader named Elisa Jean tells me, “We Scorpio allies admire how Scorpios can be so solicitous and welcoming: the best party hosts. They know how to foster social situations that bring out the best in everyone and provide convivial entertainment. Yet Scorpios also know everyone’s secrets. They are connoisseurs of the skeletons in the closets. So they have the power to spawn discordant commotions and wreak havoc on people’s reputations. But they rarely do. Instead, they keep the secrets. They use their covert knowledge to weave deep connections.” Everything Elisa Jean described will be your specialties in the coming weeks, Scorpio.
WANT MORE? Listen to Rob’s EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES, 4-5 minute meditations on the current state of your destiny — or subscribe to his unique daily text message service at: RealAstrology.com
(Zodiac images by Numerologysign.com, CC license)
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Quote of the Day: “Rest in the hollow seed of stillness that contains all right doing.” – Fred Lamotte
Photo by: Mario Dobelmann
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
A clever recycling dog is helping clear the streets of litter by collecting hundreds of plastic bottles during his daily walks.
Scruff, a 13-year-old border collie, has been dubbed “the eco dog” by local residents who love watching him do his part for the environment.
Owners David Grant and Yvonne Faulkner-Grant adopted Scruff from a farm in 2009. Like so many puppies, he loved to play with sticks, but a fear of mouth splinters lead to Yvonne discouraging such behavior. Instead he began to play with plastic bottles.
Years past, and it was 2021 when David and Yvonne first noticed on their walks that their litter-picking hound had a fascination for plastic bottles. He’d pick one up, and carry it until he found another one.
“It seemed wrong that he would pick the bottle up and then drop it again—we thought people would think we were dropping litter,” said Yvonne. “So we got him to start bringing the bottles to us and we put them in a bag and then count them up at the end of the walk.”
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The counting began in 2022, as it never occured to their owners before. And after a slow start with just 40 in January, Scruff has now retrieved more than 1,000.
Over the last year, the couple have been sharing their pet’s green credentials on social media using the #scruffsbottlepatrol hashtag.
“We get such a good reaction on Facebook where Scruff has been dubbed an eco-dog,” said Yvonne.
“People have said he should be working for the council, and everybody loves it when they see him in the street,” said David. “He is such an obedient dog and very friendly—your typical sheep dog. He never chews the bottles or the lids he just [wantedd] to play.”
“Now, he seems to go out looking for them on walks.”
They are currently storing them all on one side of the garden, where they will sit until New Years, when the couple will do a big count. Come 2023, Scruff will continue to clean the streets and parks on his walks, but the couple have said they will recycle the bottles every month instead.
“Sometimes he collects 15 and sometimes it’s only one—it depends how dirty the streets are that day,” said David. “Someone said to me the other day that not all heroes wear capes and that is exactly what I think Scruff is doing—being a hero.”
“If a dog can do it anyone can.”
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For the third year in a row, Minnesota is opening the now-traditional “Name a Snowplow” contest to residential voting.
The contest, held by the MN Department of Transportation, has included past winners that include Betty Whiteout, Plowy McPlowFace, Ctrl Salt Delete, Snowbi Wan Kenobi, “Ope, Just Gonna Plow Right Past Ya”, and The Truck Formerly Known As Plow.
Voters are encouraged to head to the DoT website to cast their vote, with submissions open until next Friday, the 16th. The only limitations are a 30 character name that excludes vulgarity and political partisanship.
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This is fast becoming an international tradition all over not just America, but the Northern Hemisphere. Contests are also being held by the Ohio DoT, the Massachusettes DoT, the Nebraska DoT, and several cities in Canada like Edmunton, and Calgary.
It became an even better idea since the adoption of map applications that gave residents in blizzard-prone areas real-time updates on the positioning of the snowplows.
Last year, GNN reported of a similar contest in Scotland, which included winners like, “You’re a Blizzard Harry,” Brinestone Ploughboy, Lord Coldemort, Spreddie Van Halen, Mary Queen of Salt, and On Her Majesty’s Slippery Surface.
In Minnesota, 8 winners will be chosen, all of which will feature in each district.
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Data from Denmark has shown that as more and more Westerners shun the humble potato for other vegetables, its reputation as a carb-heavy diabetes risk is unfounded.
There are many different ways to prepare potatoes, and the data indicates that this is why they are looked at unfavorably from a health perspective.
“In previous studies, potatoes have been positively linked to incidence of diabetes, regardless of how they’re prepared—but we found that’s not true,” said Edith Cowan University Ph.D. candidate Pratik Pokharel.
To examine this, Pokharel looked at self-reported data from 54,000 people from the Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health study, a long term study with the objective to produce a dataset which could be examined for trends and patterns the way Pokharel did.
“In Denmark, people consume potatoes prepared in many different ways; in our study, we could distinguish between the different preparation methods, and when we separated boiled potatoes from mashed potatoes, fries, or [chips], boiled potatoes were no longer associated with a higher risk of diabetes: they had a null effect,” said Pokharel.
Most chips and french fries are cooked in ultra-processed vegetable oils—one of the least-healthy calorie sources in the American diet. Mashed potatoes often include things like butter, cream, or cheese, which can contain a lot of calories, but because they’re processed once from the original source (milk) and then processed a second time (melted into the potatoes) those calories are not triggering satiety mechanisms the same way whole foods will.
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Boiled or roasted potatos on the other hand maintain the natural food matrix, preserve the rich sources of resistant starch—the form of fiber in potatoes—all of which means their effect on blood sugar levels is reduced.
There was another aspect of the data which Pokheral parsed out—the place of processed potatoes in a meal.
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“In our study, people who ate the most potatoes also consumed more butter, red meat and soft drink—foods known to increase your risk of type 2 diabetes,” he said.
In the largest meta-analysis on red meat consumption ever done, there was no health benefit observed from excluding red meat from the diet. This came as a surprise to many, and it was widely reported. In essence, the meta-analysis found that red meat suffers from the same guilt-by-association that potatoes are burdened with.
When the humble spud is prepared without fats, there’s no reason to avoid it. Roasted potatos in the oven with their skins on, covered in rosemary and a bit of salt, and drizziled with cold olive oil is one of the great Italian preparations for the vegetable, which contains a lot of fiber, and more potassium than a banana.
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