Quote of the Day: “Never say never because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.” – Michael Jordan
Photo by: Austin Human
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?
Six in ten Americans expect to be receiving more “creative” gifts than ever before from their loved ones this holiday season, according to a new poll.
And it may be in hopes to make this a season to remember, as nearly three in four Americans say they are planning on making this holiday season a memorable one.
The poll of 2,000 Americans found that in order to achieve this, one in five started their holiday shopping in September.
The survey, conducted by OnePoll on behalf of BJ’s Wholesale Club, took a look at how Americans are doing their holiday shopping during this unusual year.
According to the results, all but five percent of those polled plan to start their holiday shopping before December.
Since there will be a greater emphasis on online shopping this year than in the past, 71% said they plan on spending a good amount of time researching the best deals and discounts before purchasing anything.
And for those who will shop in-store, 70% of those polled said they plan on doing their holiday shopping at big, all-encompassing stores in order to cut down on how many trips they take.
While 56% of those polled said they’ll miss the in-store “treasure hunt” aspect of holiday shopping this year, most feel as though they’ll wind up being more creative and thoughtful with their gift-giving by shopping online.
Most respondents feel confident that they’ll find what they need by surfing the web, but one out of three (34%) still say they plan to buy at least one holiday item or gift only in-store. The majority agree that they’ll plan to use digital services to make that process easier.
More than four in ten respondents (42%) also say that they will purchase gifts for people that they’ve never previously bought for.
In fact, the average American surveyed will be getting gifts for nine people this holiday season, with 40% having 11 or more people on their shopping list.
The average American who took the survey said they plan on spending $370 on holiday gifts for loved ones this year, and nearly half (45%) say they plan to spend more than $400, with 16% planning to spend over $700.
Plans to give creative, thoughtful gifts to loved ones? That sounds like a pretty great way to end what’s been a difficult year for so many.
(WATCH the illustrated video of this shopping news below.)
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Far from pursuing the American vision of “amber waves of grain,” this farmer in England’s southwest has, for 20 years, been growing 500 different types of food in what appears to be a temperate forest.
Known as “agroforestry,” Martin Crawford’s garden is wild but tamed—a forest capable of producing tons of food with as little as a few hours’ work a month.
“What we think of as normal in terms of food production is actually not normal at all,” explains Crawford in a National Geographic short about his marvelously-tangled forest garden.
“Annual plants are very rare in nature, and yet most of our agricultural fields are full of annual plants. What’s normal is a forested or semi-forested system.”
The word ‘system’ here is important, because whereas normal farmers look to isolate certain parts of natural systems for complete control (a tactic which has become unfathomably successful thus far) Crawford’s garden’s success depends on it holding it’s own as a fully functional and complex ecosystem.
Crawford explains in the video, and in his book Creating a Forest Garden, that one needs seven layers: tall trees, small trees, shrubs, perennials, ground cover, root crops, and climbers.
These could be food producing crops, but also what he calls system plants, ones which aid in nitrogen distribution or mineral accumulating, or others which attract pollinating species that eat pests.
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In addition, he grows utilitarian plants such as those meant for weaving fibers, basket making, medicinal plants, and plants meant for fine timber as well. He even has fruit bushes spliced into existence in Cold War-era Soviet laboratories.
“It can seem a bit overwhelming, there’s just so many different species,” he admits. “You shouldn’t let that stop you from beginning a project because you don’t have to know everything to begin with, just start, plant some trees, and go from there.”
Eventually though, agroforestry systems become so big, and so perennial, as to naturally eliminate most of the work one associates with farming or gardening. Since everything is there to stay, there’s no need to till and re-till the ground, add manure, fertilizer, or nitrogen.
The canopy will hold moisture in the undergrowth, meaning that eventually, you won’t really need even to water your garden.
This lack of tilling pressure eliminates one of the major land-use changes associated with human carbon emissions. “Because of course when you [till] the soil, a load of carbon goes into the air,” explains Crawford in another film on his farm.
Furthermore, it releases micronutrients and exposes vital fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms to sunlight, often killing them, reducing the biodiversity of soil particles.
But the real sustainability of an agroforestry system comes from its diversity of species.
“It’s not the gradually increasing temperatures that damage plants, it’s the increase in extreme events,” he explains in the Nat Geo film. “By having a very diverse system whatever happens to the weather, most of your crops will probably do fine—some will fail, some may do better.”
That’s very important, explains Crawford because it’s during the next 30 years that farmers will be under the constant threat of changing weather, and will have to be able to identify quickly which species of fruits and vegetables are capable of withstanding such threats.
Agroforestry is planting firm roots, and growing strong in farming families across Europe and North America. Some are even attempting to bring the practice into the infamously destructive oil palm plantations in the tropics.
Earlier this year, GNN reported that 59,400 square miles of land (15.4 million hectares) is currently utilized in Europe for agroforestry, of which 15.1 million is livestock agroforestry, while in the U.S., the 2017 Census of Agriculture found over 30,000 farms utilizing agroforestry practices, in states as varied as Texas, Virginia, Oregon, Missouri, and Pennsylvania.
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“In this country [the UK] in particular, you know, farmers don’t tend to know much about trees, and foresters don’t know much about farming. And agroforestry, which is kind of in the middle of the two, therefore seems quite difficult for people like farmers to access because they’re not comfortable with trees, so that’s a potential problem,” Crawford hypothesized in a film about his garden from 2010.
It’s perhaps necessary that they do. Agroforestry systems can produce varying amounts of an enormous variety of foods; their three-dimensional nature making up for the lack of powerhouse production potential of a traditional farm.
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Organic farming, however, which is often hypothesized as an effective alternative, would require an average of 500% more land to feed the UK at current yields, while undesirably producing 170% more greenhouse gases due to the need to use overseas land, create natural fertilizer, and import the difference in production loss.
READ: Man Creates Gardens For Unwanted Bees, Grows Free Food in 30 Abandoned Lots
Hopefully Martin Crawford can inspire a generation of forest farmers through his innovative work, appealing to both dedicated agriculturalists, and lazybones who only feel like working a few hours a month.
(WATCH the National Geographic short about Martin below.)
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Like the song says, “There’s no place like home for the holidays.” Now, thanks to a pair of forward-thinking business owners in County Kerry, Ireland, three families will be moving into company subsidized housing in plenty of time to see Santa come down the chimney—and that’s just for starters.
Patricia and Tony Walsh, owners of Walsh Colour Print and Educate.ie employ nearly 120 people. Patricia explains that the work they do requires a specialized skill set. Since they’d been unable to find enough local job candidates to fit the bill, a good part of their workforce hails from other European countries.
Unfortunately, with housing options both limited and expensive in the area, many employees simply couldn’t afford to save for places of their own while paying steep rents.
Two such longtime workers were Anna and Marcin Wojs, who’ve been with the Walshes since emigrating to Ireland from Poland 16 years ago. Faced with the possibility of having to go home despite wanting to stay, they brought their dilemma to Patricia and Tony’s attention.
For the husband and wife team, the answer seemed obvious: Find a way to offer an affordable housing alternative as an incentive to keep their employees in the family fold.
So, in 2017, the couple sought planning permission to build tracts of not-for-profit homes on land already owned by Walsh Colour Print. The Clonaugh site can accommodate 70 units, 20 of which have been earmarked for company workers.
Built on a not-for-profit basis, the 1,000-square-foot attached homes are sold to employees at about €30,000 (roughly $36,500) below market value. To offset costs, the other 50 units are set to be sold at full value on the open market.
With the construction of three houses now complete, the Wojs family was the first to move into their new home and they’ve already begun decking the halls. The employees who purchased the two remaining homes are expected to ring in the new year in their new homes as well.
Tony Walsh notes that there will be an informal agreement with employees who purchase homes to stay with the company for the following 10 years. While he sees the measure as a way to ensure a steady workforce, he also believes homeownership will be a key factor in securing a stable future for his employees when they eventually retire.
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“Mercin and Anna and their family are over the moon,” Tony Walsh told RTÉ News. “For the first time in their lives, they own something. We are going to roll this out now to the rest of our staff and, at the end of their time, when they are finished working with Walsh Colour Print and Educate.ie, they can close the door and say, ‘We own this.’”
Construction for the next tract of houses is scheduled to break ground next month. According to Patricia, providing affordable housing is already proving to be a job perk that’s a win/win for both employers and employees—and she heartily hopes other Irish firms will emulate their example.
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In the meantime, Mercin, Anna, and their children are just thankful to be home for the holidays. “It’s the best Christmas present ever,” Anna said. “The feeling now is that we are happy, just happy.”
Three families in North Kerry are preparing to move into new homes developed on a not-for-profit basis by the company they work for. They were all purchased below market value and plans are underway to build 20 more homes for employees. pic.twitter.com/xOJc2KPBGT
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) December 9, 2020
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When I was a kid, in truth I was a bit of a scaredy cat. The ‘adventurer’ in my family has always been my big brother. He’s the one who’s a search and rescue pilot. He’s the one who’s climbed the tallest mountain in the Swiss Alps, in a snowstorm—for fun.⠀
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Still, I’m always trying to shake up the scaredy cat inside me. And I’ve always known how important it is for girls to feel brave as they grow up.
Girls not feeling confident in themselves is common. In the high school years especially, according to Girl Scouts developmental psychologist Dr Andrea Bastiani Archibald, “girls, at large, experience so much hesitancy and a normative drop in confidence.”
One way to counteract that dip in confidence? By encouraging a sense of adventure in girls before they’re teenagers.
Such adventures don’t have to be big. Research from Anglia Ruskin University shows that even just going for a walk outside leaves people feeling more confident and better about their bodies. After all, nature doesn’t care about how we look. It doesn’t care who our friends are or the grades we got. It’s a place where we can really be ourselves.
That’s why I teamed up with the award-winning illustrator Amy Blackwell to create a middle grade book dedicated to real-life women adventurers from around the world, from 2,000 years ago to today.
A USBBY Outstanding International Book 2020 and a CBC kids’ book pick, The Girl Who Rode a Shark: And Other Stories of Daring Women has been receiving star reviews in lots of places. Even more exciting, kids have been dressing as women from the book.
Here’s a young reader called Sophie dressed as her favorite dancer-turned-treetop scientist Nalini Nadkarni.
Through bright illustrations that combine portraits and hand-drawn maps, I’m so glad readers can now trace the ocean-soaring flights of pilot Amelia Earhart, follow Isabella Bird’s expedition up the Yangtze River, and meet Kimi Werner—the freediving chef who hitched a ride on the dorsal fin of a great white shark. I hope these stories help so many kids feel bold, and daring, and excited by the world.
As for me? I live in the Canadian Rockies these days, and while I still feel a little nervous before an adventure up a big mountain, or across a frozen river, I feel a lot bolder than I did as a kid.
It helps that I now have a lot of role models to help me feel daring. Here’s one of my favorite stories from The Girl Who Rode a Shark. Please meet Jade Hameister.
The polar explorer who hit back at bullies from the South Pole.
Jade Hameister lives in Australia. Her birth country is famous for beaches, kangaroos and koalas. It’s not so famous for snow. Yet when Jade was 12 years old, she decided to become a skier. In fact, she wanted to ski at the North Pole.
To ski in the Arctic requires lots of training, but Jade didn’t have anywhere to practise her technique. Still, she could build her strength and endurance at the gym. She also went to the local beach and ran with giant tyres attached to her waist. In this way, she mimicked the weight of pulling a heavy sled across ice. By the age of 14, Jade was ready for her adventure.
The world’s far north is not a blank canvas of soft snow. At the North Pole, Jade had to navigate ice rubble. She faced looming walls of snow blasted by furious winds. Between drifting fields of ice, there were rivers of freezing water to cross. Jade and her team used their sleds to build makeshift bridges over the water.
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Every part of Jade’s body felt frozen and sore, but she never thought of giving up. She just felt lucky to be in this fragile yet beautiful part of the planet.In April 2016, after skiing 62 miles, Jade made history. She became the youngest person in history to ski to the North Pole by this route. Thirteen months later, she broke another record. In June 2017, Jade became the youngest woman to complete the 342-mile crossing over the Greenland icecap.
Jade gave a talk about her skiing adventures. On stage in Melbourne, she said that every human body is astonishing. It doesn’t matter what it looks like in selfies. What matters is who we are. The whole audience cheered.
But when the video was posted on YouTube, some male commenters wrote mean comments like, “Make me a sandwich.” This is a catchphrase used by internet bullies to try and make women feel small. It means, “Your achievements don’t matter. Your place is at home in the kitchen.”
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Jade’s next skiing adventure was to the South Pole. For more than a month, storms blew across the mountains of Antarctica. Jade and her team pushed on to the bottom of the world anyway. Finally, standing in her pink snowsuit under a bright sky, Jade had her photo taken.
She was holding a plate with a sandwich on it. It was for her internet bullies. Jade posted the picture online. She captioned it, “I made you a sandwich (ham & cheese). Now ski 37 days and 600km to the South Pole and you can eat it.”
Artwork by Amy Blackwell
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Like almost no other event within living memory, the COVID-19 pandemic has painted our world with a very dark brush. While there finally appears to be light at the end of the medical tunnel coming from the scientific quarter, during our most troubling hours, what many people turned to for solace was art.
Whether in the form of visual imagery or music, dance or poetry, the vivid power of art to take us out of the moment and uplift us from despair is a reminder that hope endures.
Unfortunately, as essential as art may be to the soul, with money spread thin between food, rent, and other must-haves during the lockdown, for many former patrons, being able to buy art is no longer part of the equation.
Earning a living as a fine artist is rarely easy in the best of times. As pandemic restrictions tightened their hold, closing galleries and shutting down regular shows, for many, it became close to impossible.
The realization that so many creative people were struggling was the catalyst that spurred NYC-based painter Guy Stanley Philoche—whose own Abstract canvasses can command in excess of $100,000 each—to launch a one-man crusade in support of his fellow artists.
“The art world is my community and I needed to help my community,” Philoche told CNN. “People say New York is dead, but it’s far from that. There’s an artist somewhere writing the next greatest album. There’s a kid right now in his studio painting the next Mona Lisa. There’s probably a dancer right now choreographing the next epic ballet. People forgot about the artists in these industries.”
In March, Philoche posted an Instagram shout-out to artists around the world asking them send images of their work. Since then, he’s spent in the neighborhood of $65,000 and purchased over 150 unique works of art from both friends and total strangers. His only criteria is that the art speaks to him.
Philoche and his family came to America when he was 3 years old. Like many immigrants, he says he learned to speak English by watching TV.
He was also inspired at a young age to make drawings of his favorite Disney characters. From those early efforts, his fascination for the art that would one day become his career was born.
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It took Piloche decades to achieve success, however, now that he’s arrived, the 43-year-old feels honor-bound to pay his good fortune forward. “Art saved my life,” he said. “I owe it a debt I could never repay, but the only way to really repay it is by buying other art from someone who hasn’t gotten a big break yet. And that’s what I’m going to keep doing.”
Vincent Van Gogh once observed, “There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.”
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While Philoche favors the Abstract style for his paintings, the tangible expressions of support he delivers to his fellow artists shine from a perspective that’s stunningly real—and may just well be his true masterpiece.
Feature image: Philoche Studios
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Quote of the Day: “If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.” – Epictetus (Greek Stoic philosopher, born a slave in 55 AD)
Photo by: Robert McGowan
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?
A letter-writing initiative that sees bundles of uplifting, personal notes being delivered to individuals in need of kind words is back with its ’12 Days of Love Letter Writing’ campaign, and you can join in on the action.
There are four more days to go in More Love Letters’ December drive, and the organization says: “We need your cursive to make this year the most impactful yet!
Sign up, and each morning you’ll find a new letter request. You’ll then have the day to write your letter to someone who might be feeling lonely or in need of some extra encouragement in the form of a handwritten note, and you can write as many letters as you’d like.
Everyone taking part sends their letter to More Love Letters’ listed address, and all those notes then get bundled and passed on to the person on the receiving end of the action.
The people who receive all those kind words, all those handwritten notes and letters and cards? They’ve been nominated by a friend or a family member.
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We told the story of MLL’s beginnings earlier this year, with founder Andrea Brechner saying: “I published a simple question on my blog: ‘Do you need someone to write you a love letter today?’ and my inbox filled up with heartbreaking stories.” She explained to Good News Network, “That one question changed my life forever as I spent the next year writing hundreds of love letters to strangers in all parts of the world.”
Soon after, Brechner created MLL. Now there are 42,000 Facebook members, and more than a quarter of a million letters have been passed on to surprise recipients since the organization’s inception in 2011.
Those letters make a difference. Here’s a recent note from a recipient on MLL’s Instagram:
If you’d like to take part in this year’s 12 Days of Love Letter Writing, you can head to the MLL website to sign up.
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A Canadian teenager just took first place in a global science competition for her brilliant explanation of quantum tunneling.
Maryam Tsegaye lives in Fort McMurray—a city that hit headlines for devastating reasons in 2016, when 88,000 people were forced from their homes due to wildfire.
Now, thanks to her ability to explain tricky quantum physics theory with ease, this 17-year-old has taken top prize at the sixth annual international Breakthrough Junior Challenge.
The challenge is a science video competition where young people showcase their knowledge of scientific principles in various fields.
In a three-minute explainer, Maryam likened the behavior of electrons to how her brother cheats while playing games online:
“So I was watching my brother play this video game and he used a cheat code that let his character do a walk-through-walls hack,” she says in the video. “He pushed himself against a barrier in the game, hit some buttons and boom, his character appeared on the other side,” she says in her video.
“Imagine if you could walk through walls in real life—and it turns out you can, at a quantum level.”
Alberta politician Rachel Notley spoke for many when she tweeted her congratulations to the teen.
I don't have the first clue what quantum tunnelling is but I'm glad Fort McMurray's Maryam Tsegaye is on it!
— Rachel Notley (@RachelNotley) December 7, 2020
Maryam is the first Canadian to win the $500,000 international Breakthrough Junior Challenge. Congrats! #ableg #ymmhttps://t.co/ALTt7bR293
Maryam placed first out of more than 5,600 other applicants from 124 countries.
She won a $250,000 Post-secondary scholarship, a $50,000 prize for her science teacher, and a $100,000 science lab for her school.
(WATCH Maryam’s brilliantly simple explainer in the video below.)
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A new ‘green’ Mediterranean diet, containing even more plant matter and very little red meat or poultry, may be even better for cardiovascular and metabolic health than the traditional version suggests new research published in the journal Heart.
The Mediterranean diet, rich in plant-based foods, is linked to a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes and currently forms the backbone of dietary guidelines to stave off coronary heart disease.
It’s thought that its impact is related to higher dietary intake of polyphenols, ‘healthy’ fats and fibre, and lower animal protein intake.
Researchers in Israel, Germany, and the USA wanted to find out whether a greener version of this diet, higher in green plant food sources and even lower in red meat intake, might be even better for health.
According to a statement from BMJ, they randomly assigned 294 sedentary and moderately obese people (BMI of 31) with an average age of 51 into three dietary groups.
The first group received guidance on boosting physical activity and basic guidelines for achieving a healthy diet.
The second received the same physical activity guidance plus advice on following a calorie-restricted (1500–1800 calories per day for men and 1200–1400 calories per day for women) traditional Mediterranean diet.
This was low in simple carbohydrates, rich in vegetables, with poultry and fish replacing red meat. It included 28 grams per day of walnuts.
The third group received physical activity guidance plus advice on following a similar calorie-restricted green version of the Mediterranean diet.
This included 28 grams per day of walnuts, avoidance of red/processed meat, and higher quantities of plant matter. It also included 3–4 cups a day of green tea and 100 grams frozen cubes of Wolffia globosa (cultivated Mankai strain)—a high protein form of the aquatic plant duckweed, taken as a green plant-based protein shake as a partial substitute for animal protein.
After six months, the effect of each of the diets on weight loss and on cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors was assessed.
Those on both types of Mediterranean diet lost more weight: those on the green Mediterranean (green Med) diet lost 6.2 kg; those on the Mediterranean diet lost 5.4 kg; and those on the healthy diet lost 1.5 kg.
Waist circumference—an indicator of a potentially harmful midriff bulge—shrank by an average of 8.6 cm among those on the green Med diet compared with 6.8 cm for those on the Mediterranean diet and 4.3 cm for those on the healthy diet.
The green Med diet group achieved larger falls in ‘bad’ low-density cholesterol of 6.1 mg/dl, a reduction of nearly 4%. The equivalent figures were 2.3 mg/dl (nearly 1%) for those in the Mediterranean diet group, and 0.2 mg/dl for those in the healthy diet group.
Similarly, other cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors improved more among those on the green Med diet, including falls in diastolic blood pressure, insulin resistance, and an important marker of inflammation, C-reactive protein, which has a key role in artery hardening. The ratio of ‘good’ to ‘bad’ cholesterol also increased.
These changes resulted in a substantial nearly two-fold fall in the 10-year Framingham Risk Score—a calculation used to predict the likelihood of serious heart disease over the next decade—among those on the green Med diet.
The researchers caution that their sample included just 35 women, nor were they able to identify the specific factors in the green Med diet responsible for the observed effects.
But they write in their peer-reviewed research: “Education and encouragement to follow a green Med dietary pattern in conjunction with physical activity has the potential to be a major contributor to public health as it may improve balancing of cardiovascular risk factors, eventually preventing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.”
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And they conclude: “Our findings suggest that additional restriction of meat intake with a parallel increase in plant-based, protein-rich foods, may further benefit the cardiometabolic state and reduce cardiovascular risk, beyond the known beneficial effects of the traditional Mediterranean diet.”
Source: BMJ
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Tesco, the world’s third-largest grocery store chain, has announced that as millions of Yule-tide products appear across its shelves, they do so lacking 20 million individual pieces of what would have been single-use plastic.
The always-proud-to-help-the-environment grocer, who embraced the five pence tax on bags, and places carbon footprint labeling on its products, switched to recycled cardboard for packaging of Christmas lights, crackers, pudding, cards, and more.
This is partly down to new regulations entering force in 2022 that taxes plastic packaging which doesn’t include at least 30% recycled material.
“It is an absolute priority of ours to remove and reduce the amount of plastic in our stores to the minimum and ensure everything we use is recycled and kept out of the environment–Christmas time is no exception and we want to do our bit to help customers have more sustainable celebrations,” said Sarah Bradbury, Tesco’s Quality Director said in a statement.
With a bit of alliteration, it’s easy to see how they arrived at this milestone of 20 million pieces, as the quality department’s “4R” motto is “Remove it where we can. Reduce where we can’t. Reuse more. Recycle what’s left.”
Simple decisions, such as removing the plastic layer around a box of Christmassy puddings, spared 1.78 million pieces of plastic, while removing the plastic packaging components of their own-brand crackers alone left their operations 14 million plastic pieces lighter.
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In Tesco’s 2020 holiday report, the British grocer noted that they went into the holiday season with a different attitude, and that surveys they conducted helped guide their decisions.
“Over two thirds of Brits expect world events to impact their celebrations, turning the nation towards the festive fundamentals of family, friends and tradition,” says the opener of the report which found that 50% of the 2,011 people questioned said they had started reusing Christmas decorations.
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It also found that a third of participants said they will only buy loose fruit and veg to reduce plastic packaging, and that a quarter will reuse wrapping paper.
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Australian wildlife ecologists were overjoyed to find endemic pygmy possums surviving on Kangaroo Island after it was torched by wildfires.
In what was the equivalent of finding a very little needle in a haystack hundreds of thousands of acres wide, the survival of the possum on the South Australian island is a sign that wildlife escaped the almost 200,000 hectares burned by this year’s bushfires.
Weighing only seven grams, and having been recorded only 113 times officially by science, it was by no means obvious that ecologists and volunteers working for the Kangaroo Island Land for Wildlife NGO would find the cercartetus lepidus—the pygmy possum—after fire destroyed so much of its habitat.
The world’s smallest possum, C. lepidus is found only on Kangaroo Island, Tasmania, and in very small numbers on the South Australian coast.
Speaking with ABC News Australia, ecologist Pat Hodgens, working with the NGO said: “…the summer bushfires burnt through much of [the] habitat that species had, but we were certainly hopeful that we would find them.”
“It’s very important now because it is kind of like the last refuge for a lot of these species that really rely on very old long, unburned vegetation,” he said.
In mid-November about 16 people from the NGO surveyed 20 sites, finding 200 different individual animals of over 20 different species, all of which are endemic and some of which are endangered.
These included southern brown bandicoots, western and little pygmy possums, brush-tailed possum, and the tammar wallaby, as well as amphibians like the eastern banjo frog, common froglet, painted frog, spotted grass frog, and Bibron’s toadlet.
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Australia’s marsupials are found nowhere else in the world, and they suffer from many invasive species through predation and competition for food. Add in destructive wildfires and their survival odds seem non-existent; but as we know from Jeff Goldblum’s role in Jurassic Park, life finds a way.
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Quote of the Day: “The only thing we never get enough of is love; and the only thing we never give enough of is love.” – Henry Miller
Photo by: Kira auf der Heide
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?
The World Health Organization reported that malaria deaths fell last year to the lowest level ever recorded.
The mortality rate has dropped by almost 60% in the last two decades, and 1.5 billion malaria cases have been averted globally in the period between 2000 and 2019. Together, the various organizations have achieved 7.6 million fewer deaths from the mosquito-born disease.
The 2020 edition of the World Malaria Report takes a look back at key events and milestones that helped shape the global response to the disease over the last 2 decades—a period of unprecedented success in malaria control.
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This year’s 2020 report also features a special section on malaria and the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a detailed analysis on progress towards the 2020 milestones of WHO’s global malaria strategy.
It also tracks the monetary investments by 91 nations. An estimated $3 billion was spent last year on malaria control and elimination, compared with $ 2.7 billion in 2018 and $ 3.2 billion in 2017.
The highest contributions in 2019 came from the government of the United States, which provided $1.1 billion, followed by the United Kingdom donating $ 0.2 billion.
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An estimated two-thirds of deaths are among children under the age of five.
Malaria is preventable and treatable, and with generous support by these and other nations and nonprofits, the mortality rate has dropped from 24.7 per 100,000 people in 2000 to just over ten deaths per 100,000 in 2019.
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One of the oldest trees in Canada, a towering red oak believed to be more than 250 years old, was facing the axe when a new homeowner bought the property. But now, thanks to a last-minute vote by the city, the tree will be saved for future generations.
On November 26, the Toronto City Council voted to preserve this mighty oak by authorizing the purchase of the property for the creation of a mini-park.
Due to its size, age, beauty, and cultural significance, the magnificent tree is already recognized as a heritage tree under Forests Ontario’s Heritage Tree Program.
Fully matured, the red oak’s branches span 78-feet (24 meters) with a trunk circumference of over 17 feet (5m).
With generous monetary support from 1,300 donors helping to raise money, the city will make up any shortfall to secure the property’s purchase and establish the space as a parkette, to preserve and showcase this beautiful oak.
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A decade ago, Heritage Toronto unveiled a commemorative plaque, which captured this great oak’s place in the city’s natural heritage, which reads in part:
“The large red oak (Quercus rubra) situated in the backyard of 76 Coral Gable Drive is more than 250 years old, making it one of the oldest in the city. Before Europeans colonized this area, the Humber River branch of the Toronto Carrying Place trail system Opens in new window passed nearby. The tree was part of its delicate savannah ecosystem. This network of trails and portages was used by Indigenous peoples to travel between Lake Simcoe and Lake Ontario and to trade throughout what is now Southern Ontario and beyond. The tree survived European settlement despite logging along the Humber River, clearance of the land for agriculture, and the development of this suburban neighbourhood in the early 1960s. The Coral Gable Drive red oak is a remarkable specimen of its species.”
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The ecological, social and economic benefits inherent to preserving and fostering canopy cover are many, including reducing fine particulate matter air pollution, cooling the air by shading surfaces and releasing water vapor, providing habitat for wildlife, reducing storm-water runoff, sequestering carbon from the atmosphere and providing a link to the natural history of the area. In 2020, it was calculated that this oak stores 2.5 tons of carbon dioxide per year.
Donors from across the city, province, and beyond, have helped ensure the property is secured and will help create a new home for Toronto’s tree. People can donate money to support the creation of the parkette, and help create a befitting setting for the magnificent tree.
RELATED: Tree-Filled City Parks Make People as Happy as Christmas Day, Says Study of Twitter Posts
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This is an excerpt from Thriving through Uncertainty: Moving Beyond Fear of the Unknown and Making Change Work for You By Tama Kieves…
You may feel like things are challenging at this moment in your life. But let’s get this straight right now. It’s not because you’re failing, or broken.
You’re standing at the doorway. On one side of the door, you can decide that life has not turned out the way you desire. It’s unfair. It’s too hard. Maybe the same thing keeps happening to you—or not happening.
You might feel anxious or discouraged. You don’t have real money. Stable true love. The recognition or freedom you deserve. It almost works out sometimes—but then it rains. The job is taken away.
Part of you knows, it doesn’t have to be this way.
This is a life that is “happening to you.” This perspective denies your own power. I am not demeaning your feelings of frustration. It’s just that I have something more useful in mind.
You can walk through this doorway.
You may have to crawl. You may need to breathe deeper than you have ever breathed. You may do it while kicking stones and cans in resentment, but doing it nonetheless, giving yourself a shot. You may have to grow. You may have to choose to do things in a way that you have never done them before. You may have to become a superhero in your own lifetime.
I want you to step into the life you didn’t plan. I want you to loosen up on your control over everything you think needs to happen.
Everything that hasn’t exactly worked out in your life brought you to this wooden doorstep. It is the doorstep of willingness. It is a precipice. It is an adventure. It is a cliff. It is a choice. It is time to unlock your powers or your destiny. Congrats, you’ve arrived.
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Uncertainty is your new best friend. It will help you discover your certainty. It will help you reach for freedom. Because when you let go of your plan, you open to a powerful path, the path of being led. It’s the beginning of your True Life, the one of following your inspired instincts instead of your fear.
This takes courage. Or desperation. Or curiosity. Or ambivalence. I don’t care how you get here. Let’s just do this. Let’s begin in this second. Let’s give life a new chance. It’s the only life you have. I’d say bet your life on it.
You are growing beyond where you have been. Your life isn’t diminishing. Your old life is diminishing. Your True Life is expanding. It’s roaring for your love and commitment.You may think you’re stuck. I’d say you’re standing at a threshold.
Where is uncertainty creating discomfort for you? Making you feel small? Or making you play small in your life? That’s where you’re getting fooled. You’re letting the circumstances of your life define who you are.
Oh, but butterfly-grasshopper-lover of transformation, you are here to define (or redefine) your circumstances. You are the storyteller in your life. And you are here to live a Great Story with a happy middle, as well as a happy ending.
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Because as you show up for your true desires, life shows up for you. You feel alive when you show up. You feel flattened and hollow when you don’t. You may have your “reasons.” But it doesn’t matter. Anything that keeps you from showing up, is poison.
Why do some people keep going? Why do some people come up with creative angles that immediately get attention? Why do some people meet the right connection? Or bounce back from setbacks? Find the right doctor? Get funding? Meet that incredible partner? Get the breaks? Enjoy where they are, no matter the circumstance?
They have mastered the art of showing up with love for their lives. Acting with love. Choosing with love. Glowing. Having that something extra. They are not forcing their lives. They are discovering them. Working with their own spirit, instead of against it.
I’m sensitive this way, because I have almost given up or settled, lost my own fight to anxieties and frustration too many times. And it’s unbearable to me to think of the life I would have missed—and I so don’t want you to miss the life that is calling to you.
ALSO: 5 Growth Hacks To Help You Adapt And Thrive During Challenging Times
I know what it’s like to have everything change and to have to make up your life out of thin air and fight back tumultuous fears to do it. It took a different voice within me to create a different life.
I just couldn’t find my way in the world. I had to find myself first. I found myself by learning how to listen to a loving voice inside myself. It’s been a quantum shift in how I think and approach everything in life. When I began, I thought I was just going through a massive career transition. But that career transition turned out to be an identity transformation. It’s been a spiritual pilgrimage of shedding old, limiting, and “rational” beliefs. I couldn’t have a different life until I realized I was so much more than who I thought I was. We all are.
I’ve now been a career, life, and success coach for almost 30 years. I’ve also worked with thousands in workshops and retreats. Having sat with individuals at the frontiers of their most pressing moments in relationships, work, health, true desire, grief, and everything else, I know firsthand the pivotal difference it makes when we change how we see our possibilities.
If you’re in transition–the things you decide right now will affect your entire life. And because you’re going through change, you feel more vulnerable. And when you’re feeling weak, it’s possible to make weaker choices than you really want to make. I want to help you choose from strength, love and the astounding guidance of your inspired mind. Because when your plans fail, that’s when your real life begins. This is a precious opportunity to create the life that is calling your name right now.
Fears and resistance will talk you out of showing up for yourself in every way you can. But it is showing up for yourself that will end your pain.
LOOK: UC Berkeley is Offering Up Their Popular ‘Science of Happiness’ Course for Free Online
My yoga teacher Jen once said, “You think you are hitting obstacles on your path. But the obstacles are your path.” Now of course she’s a yoga instructor and specializes in stretching people into physical torture for a living, while she shares philosophy, so there’s that. But I’ve shared this same wisdom with my clients: whatever is in your way, is your way. Because your life is your life. It’s not an accident. It’s a miracle.
If you and I were working one-on-one together, I would assure you, you have a path. It’s already within you. It’s better than you imagine. In fact, it’s so much better, you can’t imagine it. It’s time to follow your innate intelligence,encour instead of doubt it.
You’re not just going to shift your circumstances. You’re about to shift your identity. You may be thinking, that’s great but can I pay the mortgage? Can I help my son stop drinking? Can I find a publicist for my work? Can I find another job? And I will tell you, yes you can. This and more.
Albert Einstein said “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” It’s time to realize you don’t have a problem. You have a process. You are in transformation. And that means you’re moving forward into the next, best part of your life.
Every circumstance you are in is a chosen conversation designed for your good. There is a scent to follow. The wind is pushing you in the right direction or whispering what is necessary. The rain is a wild unfettered priest dousing your existence in holy water. Everything is in your favor. The moments of realizing this are worth a lifetime. Really, it’s one thing to be alive. It is a whole other thing to be awake.
This is what it means to thrive through uncertainty. This what it means to show up for your life. Walk through this door.
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A “miraculous” haul of gold coins dating from the late 15th century was discovered by a family digging in their garden.
The highlight of the hoard was a collection of four coins bearing the initials of the wives of Henry VIII—Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, according to the British Museum.
The 63 gold coins were found in the New Forest area of Hampshire by a family who wanted to remain anonymous.
The pandemic stay-at-home orders have led to a boost in finds from home gardens, including some very special and intriguing discoveries, like a Roman furniture fitting dating from nearly 2,000 years ago.
These treasures are among more than 47,000 finds that were registered this year with the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS)—with 6,251 discoveries reported during the first lockdown in the UK.
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John Naylor, from the Ashmolean Museum, told PA News the hoard was likely to have been hidden either by a wealthy merchant or clergy fearful of Henry VIII during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, in which he took control of many of the religious community’s assets.”
“Some monasteries and some churches did try to hide their wealth hoping that they would be able to keep it in the long term.”
To all who are inspired now to dig, happy hunting!
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Quote of the Day: “That rule about having to act one’s age? I just don’t buy it. Emotionally, I’m about 13.” – Dick Van Dyke (turns 95 today)
Photo by: Chirag Thapa
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?
New Yorkers are the most savings-conscious compared to any other state, according to a new poll of 5,000 Americans from all 50 states.
Interestingly, the results also showed that 58% of those polled said COVID-19 has completely changed how they approach savings, with 53% saying they’ve started saving for different things since the pandemic started.
Of those surveyed, the top thing they were saving for was found to be an emergency of some kind (32%) followed closely by retirement (31%), with a new car coming in at a distant third (20%).
But the respondents are also making a much greater effort to put money away. Nearly six in ten (59%) say they are officially cutting back on their spending towards this effort.
The survey, conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Slickdeals, aimed to uncover data around how people in different states are reacting to their finances in the wake of the pandemic.
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Of those cutting back, taking advantage of deals and discounts instead of buying at retail price (45%) was a popular method, as well as getting less take-out (44%) and making coffee at home rather than getting their caffeine fix from a pricey cafe.
“Cutting back on your spending does not always require drastically altering your lifestyle,” said Ryan Tronier, senior personal finance editor at Slickdeals. “Once saving money becomes a priority, you can start to make minor changes that start to add up over time.”
ALSO: Poll Shows People Are Picking Up Healthy New Habits As a Result of Being Home in Pandemic
The saving-conscious New Yorkers are putting away, on average, 14.5% of their income towards savings goals or investment accounts.
Georgia came in second place with 12.9%, and Texas placed third with 12.7%—with residents from nearly every other state tucking less than 10% away for future goals.
The average respondent was found to have $17,135 locked away in a savings or investment account, with people from South Dakota leading the way with an overall average of $24,497 in savings.
The states with the least amount of savings were found to be West Virginia ($6,936) and Tennessee ($9,628).
TOP STATES FOR MOST MONEY SOCKED AWAY…
South Dakota $24,497
New Hampshire $24,187
Wyoming $22,626
Montana $22,522
Pennsylvania $20,252
Rhode Island $20,227
Hawaii $19,613
Massachusetts $19,565
North Dakota $19,185
Wisconsin $18,725
Nebraska $18,517
Georgia $17,562
Alaska $17,491
Delaware $17,451
Virginia $17,245
Nevada $16,752
Iowa $16,738
New York $16,609
Minnesota $15,884
New Jersey $15,151
Utah $15,066
New Mexico $15,039
Michigan $14,928
Texas $14,832
Alabama $14,813
Maine $14,657
Washington $14,431
Indiana $14,396
Kansas $13,900
Maryland $13,815
Vermont $13,573
Illinois $13,416
Kentucky $13,238
North Carolina $13,237
Connecticut $12,823
Colorado $12,490
South Carolina $12,240
Oregon $12,094
Florida $11,955
California $11,815
Arizona $11,804
Ohio $11,436
Oklahoma $11,414
Louisiana $10,939
Arkansas $10,805
Missouri $10,478
Idaho $10,208
Tennessee $9,628
Mississippi $9,306
West Virginia $6,936
MORE: Top Healthy New Habits As a Result of Being Home in Pandemic
What began as a single act of kindness ignited a chain of good cheer stretching 900 cars long.
A Dairy Queen restaurant in Brainerd, Minnesota was the scene of the pay-it-forward chain that lasted nearly three days.
The store manager Tina Jensen was excited on December 3 when a man said he’d like to pay for the car behind him, so she gave the heart-warming news to the people in that car, and then asked if they wanted to do the same.
“If you like I can pay it forward and you can pay for the order behind you and we can keep this going,” Jensen recalled in an interview with KARE-TV. “She’s like ‘really, why would he do that?’.”
She agreed to make that Thursday a ‘lucky day’ for the car behind her—and after that, the next car kept paying for whoever came next.
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Jensen says, “One lady, she was so excited, she threw us a 20 dollar bill almost in tears. ‘Are you serious. This is really going on?’ I said, yep, you are about 125 cars into it. She said, ‘For real, can you believe this?'”
The longest chain this drive-through ever experienced was 15 to 20 cars, but in 2020 with the holiday spirit in the air, everyone wanted to keep it going.
Tina posted about it on Facebook, and people started driving to the restaurant just so they could participate—all day Friday, and most of Saturday, they kept coming, and paying the tab for the person next in line.
ALSO: When a Man Gives a Car to a Substitute Teacher the Gift Ignites a Ripple of Good Deeds
The record ended up at over 900 cars, with $10,000 in sales from selfless customers who passed up the opportunity to take a free meal for themselves.
WATCH the interview below…
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