The poor quality of Brazilian roads results in a lot of blown-out tires. Fortunately, one entrepreneurial tire-repairman took his profession to the next level — a win-win for the environment and housing market.
In the Brazilian state of Goias, Jose Neto Medeiros (known as “Ze neto”) noticed the demand among farmers for fixing flats of large tractors and combines in his small town called Goiatuba. There was no equipment locally to fix this kind of tire, so he built his own and became well-known in the area. As time passed, the amount of waste was piling up and starting to bother him, so the Brazilian inventor began testing unusual ideas for reusing the tires.
After producing a variety of useful objects with the worn tires, Ze Neto developed a construction brick made of rubber mixed with an ecological concrete. For the brick, Ze neto basically removed the metal components of the tire and cut the sides, what is left is essentially a rubber circle, that he cuts, flattens and rolls – like a roulade – fastening with staples. For the concrete, he mixed cement with rubber and other recyclables, like glass, plastic and non-toxic metal parts from appliances. To test his material, Ze Neto built a foundation and pillars on his property at Goiatuba and it worked very well.
The next natural step was to build walls. Brazilian engineers expressed skepticism that turned to mockery – Ze Neto barely finished primary school and was building with trash. Since the tests were so encouraging, and the country isn’t very diligent at enforcing construction laws, Ze Neto began building the walls.
During this process a local TV station broadcast a story of the rubber concrete and afterward a curious engineer from the capital city, Jose Dafico, got in touch with him. That engineer had access to the labs at the University of Goias and decided to study the material. Despite his lack of formal education, Ze Neto’s concrete passed all kinds of tests – thermal comfort, temperature, fire, impact, etc. The ecological concrete and bricks are just as good as commercial materials and are strong enough to erect three-story buildings.
“Actually I am pretty sure it’s possible to go higher, but I don’t have the resources to go on with tests,” Dafico told Good News Network.
Ze Neto’s pillars were built with a fifteen-room hotel in mind. And, when the walls were almost finished, the story was broadcast on the biggest TV station in Brazil, Globo. Today the hotel is finished and Ze Neto intends to rent it to a private company to run the business.
Holiday cheer was rampant in Chicago’s Union Station in 2013 when an intelligent grand piano teased nearby passengers with its tunes.
Amtrak and Rob Bliss Creative created a piano that responded to its environment in real-time – from playing rumbling bass notes while a businessman cursed on his phone, to accompanying a little girl rehearsing ‘Chopsticks’, the instrument was spookily smart.
Several pedestrians whipped out their own instruments and performed breathtaking renditions with the ivory genius. Another was happy just to dance to the jazzy melodies.
Christian Dornhorst became a Louisiana hero this week when – struck by divine inspiration – he used $1,840 of his own money to bake a hearty barbecue for Baton Rouge flood victims and rescue workers.
When he got the idea to feed the displaced families at 7AM Monday morning, the 35-year-old requested to take the day off of work and headed to Sam’s Club with his wife Amanda.
The couple bought all 108 pounds of the brisket in the store along with as much chicken, hot dogs, and sausage as they could carry.
With a smoker in tow, the Dornhorsts drove to the Celtic Media Center in Baton Rouge where over 2,000 evacuees had taken shelter since the flooding started a few days previously.
“The Lord blessed us with all of these things,” Christian told the Washington Post regarding his truck, his smoker, and cooking utensils. “There are enough people suffering here that I can do this to help.”
The Dornhorsts were serving up non-stop food up until the brisket was done at 7:00PM – which was gobbled up and finished only twenty minutes later.
In response to volunteers requesting Christian to cook for the Army, police, and Air Force personnel working disaster relief, the couple returned the next day with another $990 worth of food.
“When you hand someone a serving tray of food, it’s like handing them a hug, a smile and handshake all at once,” the chef told the Huffington Post. “It’s a way to say, ‘I’ve been there before,’ and ‘We’re gonna make it through this’ without saying a word.”
Christian – who is an army veteran himself – says that his employer Dow Chemicals has offered to reimburse him for the meat in exchange for his compassion.
The Red Cross has declared the Baton Rouge, Louisiana flooding as the worst natural disaster since Hurricane Sandy. With still more rain and thunderstorms to come, the city has been in a state of emergency with over 30,000 residents and 1,400 pets already rescued. Food, water, and clothes are currently being distributed by volunteers from the Louisiana State University, the Red Cross, and even the Church of Scientology to aid the displaced.
Cook Up Some Courage With Your Friends, Click To Share – Photo by Christian Dornhorst
The champion is back! Brazilian gymnast Diego Hypólito amazed the nation during the 2016 Rio Olympic games and finally beat his greatest enemy: depression.
The 30-year-old athlete cast away his ghosts from the past Olympic games – Beijing in 2008 and London 2012 when he fell in the finals of both games – and lost medals that were considered conquered.
After his fall in London, he fell into a deep depression, lost 22 pounds, accumulated a host of health issues, and in 2013, his team ended their gymnastics project due to lack of money.
Hypólito was officially unemployed and without a place to practice, leading the sports community to believe his chances of going to the Rio games had disappeared.
“I had to move from Rio to Sao Paulo to practice in a top notch club,” says Hypólito regarding his strict routine living at his new gym. “They had no obligations, so they actually did me a favor.”
During the competition, he admitted to being scared.
“Frankly, the scenes of Beijing came to my mind in the middle of my presentation. But I promised myself that this time, I had to get my medal and I managed to leave those scenes in the past.”
And it worked – the world ended up watching an incredible display of athletic and personal redemption as he overcame his fears and took home the silver for the floor final.
”Guys, I’m the living proof – if you believe in yourself, you’re getting what you really want This medal speaks louder than any words,” Hypolito says in a tearful televised address to the nation after winning his medal. “Believe it’s possible to leave the hole and work hard to leave it!”
According to the World Health Organization, 350 million people around the world from all age groups suffer some type of depression, and being alone is the second largest cause of death for people between 15 to 29 years old.
Unfortunately, GNN couldn’t find an American TV broadcast of his presentation, but you can enjoy his full presentation from a Brazilian broadcast by clicking here.
Share The Inspiration With Your Friends, Click To Share – Photo by the Olympic Committee
Two men in Florida have debuted a huge air-conditioned trailer outfitted with six shower stalls to help lift the self esteem and happiness of the homeless community in West Palm Beach.
Chris Bentley and Carlos Miller, African-Americans living in the city who have been friends since middle school, started the nonprofit called Live FRESH (Feeling Revitalized Encourages Sustainable Happiness) which now serves showers to hundreds of transients in the area.
Inside the tractor trailer on wheels are all the towels, toiletries, and supplies—including sanitary napkins—to maintain the hygiene of all who need help.
“To see a human being—living in the United States, of all countries—walk inside a store with apprehension over being shunned or offensive due to their odor or disheveled state grabbed at the core of my heart,” said Miller, the visionary leader of the project.
Launched in April in coordination with local homeless shelters, the services provided by this mobile facility have already restored dignity to people who were able to find a job and get back on their feet.
Jeanne L. says that because of Live FRESH she is a “productive member of society again.”
Other cities, like San Francisco with the Lava Mae project, are benefiting from nonprofits who have converted large vehicles in the same noble cause. And, a pair of friends in Australia created mobile laundry facilities to take the cause of cleanliness one step further.
(WATCH a video below from the Sun Sentinel) –Photo: Sun Sentinel news video
French comedian Jérôme Jarre and Mexican Juanpa Zurita gave 100 kids from the slums of Morro da Providencia the gift of a lifetime when they brought them to watch the Olympic games for free.
Jarre and Zurita are well-known on the internet for their pranks and social work around the world.
The comedians reached Casa Amarela, an institution that develops cultural and social work at the Morro da Providencia in Rio, and were responsible for choosing which lucky kids got to watch the games.
“I know this is very little when you compare it to their needs, but I believe the world changes every time someone does something small in benefit of others.” Jerome wrote on Instagram.
Juanpa posted a picture with a child in front of the Engenhao stadium saying “Taking this little one to the Olympics has amazing. This is my little brother for a night: his name is Carlos and this has been a great experience for both of us.”
The director of Casa Amarela, Juliana Luna, said that she was surprised when the comedians got in touch with her. “The kids attended many games, but we can’t afford to support that many kids on a regular basis so we asked for the help of another social program to bless these kids.”
Multiply The Good, Click To Share – Photo by Extra
The Enfield, Connecticut response team answers over 6,000 emergency calls a year, but rescuing a distraught squirrel with its head stuck in a yogurt cup was definitely a first.
Since the panicked critter wouldn’t stop hopping in circles around the officials, it took them a few tries to catch the poor thing.
Twelve patients who became paraplegics due to injuries have just been reclassified as only “partially paralyzed” thanks to a new kind of virtual reality therapy.
Twice a week for an hour a day, the patients were given a virtual reality headset in which they were able to move the legs of their avatar in the projection using only their brain waves.
Scientists then tracked down and connected to the parts of their brain sending those neurons and used them to create an exoskeleton that was controlled the same way.
However, after using the exoskeleton for a year, scientists were amazed to find that the patients were regaining muscle control over their bodies.
(WATCH the video below to find out more)
Don’t Wait To Tell Your Friends About This Breakthrough – Click To Share
They may not have won the gold, but these all-star athletes certainly won hearts during an incredible display of sportsmanship at the women’s 5,000 meter race semifinal.
3,000 meters into the dash, New Zealand‘s Nikki Hamblin took a nasty step and tumbled to the ground, bringing the United States’ Abbey D’Agostino down with her on accident.
D’Agostino didn’t waste a second jumping to her feet so she could help Hamblin up to finish the race side by side.
Just after the rescue, D’Agostino collapsed to the ground, unable to continue – but this time, it was Hamblin who stayed to help her.
D’Agostino eventually convinced Hamblin to continue without her and – once she had hobbled over the finish line with an injured ankle a full two minutes after the winner – they embraced each other with huge smiles of appreciation.
Here is what Nikki Hamblin had to say about Abbey D'Agostino after their collision in today's Olympic 5,000m heat. pic.twitter.com/HxTFsKkcZy
Baton Rouge, Louisiana has been in a state of emergency since fast-moving floods started claiming the streets – rescue workers have already saved more than 20,000 stranded residents and pets, but one particular gesture was caught on video for the internet to see.
When floodwaters were about to claim a woman and her dog trapped in a sinking red convertible, three patrolling rescue workers spotted them just in time.
This sea-dwelling cutie found 3,000 feet under the sea looks like he’s about to go skip school with Nemo.
The tiny purple fish, known as Rossia pacifica, had scientists on the Nautilus Live team in hysterics when they stumbled across his hiding place in Southern Californian waters last week.
“The stubby squid (Rossia pacifica) looks like a cross between an octopus and squid, but is more closely related to cuttlefish,” says the Nautilus team. “This species spends life on the seafloor, activating a sticky mucus jacket and burrowing into the sediment to camouflage, leaving their eyes poking out to spot prey like shrimp and small fish.”
Make Sure Your Friends See This Little Cutie – Click To Share
It’s mid-August and the stores are bustling with families scrambling to get their school supplies before the school year begins. Children are excitedly choosing new shoes and pants, branded lunch boxes and backpacks. The bill for these items can run families a few hundred dollars per child. Back-to-school sales can help, but think for a moment about the anxiety that homeless parents feel without the funds to buy the anything.
As Nick Lowinger grew older, he became aware of the exploding costs and felt fortunate that his family was able to afford not only what he needed for school, but also the popular brands he wanted.
“The sad truth is that there are almost 2.5 million homeless children in the US—one out of every three are youth under the age of 24,” he told Good News Network.
“I first became aware of the prevalence of homeless youth when I was five, and met children of every age at a local shelter where I went to volunteer with my mother. I was surprised to see that many of these children didn’t have shoes that fit them, if they had any at all. Children stayed behind at the shelter while a sibling wore the only pair of shoes they had to share between them, and they would switch places the next day. The first day of school would come and go for some of these children, all because they lacked their own properly fitting footwear. Some children expressed embarrassment over having to wear shoes that were so worn out.”
Since its founding in 2010, Nick’s group has donated new shoes to over 51,000 homeless children in all 50 states, allowing them to participate in sports and school activities alongside their peers—and succeed with them, as well.
If you want to help improve the dignity of homeless children in your own community, increase their self-confidence and pride so they can realize their hopes and dreams to succeed, here is a list of three of the best ways, according to one homeless shelter. The most pressing needs are:
1. Donate gift cards to homeless shelters so homeless families can purchase clothing and/or school supplies for their children.
Most schools send home a lengthy list of classroom supplies for parents to purchase for the first day of school. Long gone are the days when schools provided an abundant supply of markers, pencils, glue sticks, etc, for children to use in the classroom.
The shelter we spoke with said that one year they had a large number of high school students in the shelter who didn’t have calculators for math class. The shelter had to round up the money to purchase them, which put a strain on their budget. Donating gift cards for department stores or office supply stores that are near the shelter’, would be a huge help to homeless families, allowing them the ability to purchase what they need.
Transitioning to a new school can be very difficult for homeless children who have been uprooted from their old neighborhoods. Gotta Have Sole high school clubs are run by teen leaders who act as peer mentors and provide a constant support for youth at the shelters.
Near-peer mentors go to the shelter after school to give moral support to the children and to help them with homework challenges. They also provide new shoes for the children, and run after school activities with them which promotes a more inclusive and cohesive community. To start a club in your school or community, check out our website page.
3. Donate new footwear to Gotta Have Sole’s Step Up for Homeless Youth campaign and we will purchase the footwear children in shelters need
Footwear orders pour in at Gotta Have Sole every summer, so this year, they’ve set a goal to outfit 1,000 homeless children with the shoes they need for school. It costs an average of $15.00 to outfit a young child with a new pair of sneakers, and $25.00 for teens. 100% of donations support our footwear program.
“I don’t see sneakers as being cool or trendy. For many homeless children, shoes are a sign of hope, opportunity, and dreams fulfilled. Join with us, and improve the lives of homeless children, one “sole” at a time.”
(WATCH a past video of Nick Delivering Shoes below)
Get Your Friends Involved, Click To Share – Photo by Gotta Have Sole
After two years of their people being hunted and displaced by the black-clad soldiers of ISIS, these women will not tolerate it any long.
A team of over 100 escaped Yazidi female slaves – and 500 more in training – have created a military unit known as ‘The Force of the Sun Ladies’ to counterattack ISIS’s stronghold in Mosul.
Considered devil-worshippers by Islamic State militants, the Yazidi people’s faith combine Christian, Zoroastrian, and Islamic beliefs. In 2014, over 200,000 Yazidi people were attacked by the jihadi organization and fled to refugee camps in Kurdistan.
Over 5,000 of the women and children were enslaved – but not for long.
The 600 escaped Sun Ladies – plus another 1,400 Yazidi men – plan on using their knowledge of the terrorist base to team up with Kurdish Peshmerga forces and seek revenge, as well as protect the survival of their people and free the remaining enslaved women.
“Whenever a war wages, our women end up as the victims,” Captain Khatoon Khider, a member of the Sun Ladies told Fox News. “Now we are defending ourselves from the evil. We are defending all the minorities in the region. We will do whatever is asked of us.”
Show Support For The Sun Ladies, Click To Share – Photo by Owen Holdaway
Hoping to be part of the solution, while promoting a unified community, dozens of volunteers came out Sunday morning in Milwaukee to help clean up after Saturday’s riots left several businesses burned.
The Coalition for Justice led a prayer vigil in the Wisconsin Sherman Park neighborhood and, afterward, participants young and old picked up bags and gloves to clear the debris and ashes around a gas station, beauty store, bank and surrounding buildings.
“We need to continue to love and inspire people with an atmosphere that changes the way they look at things,” said Nate Hamilton, one of the volunteers.
The riot was sparked by the death of a youth who tried to shoot police officers with a stolen gun. The youth’s father later exonerated police for their actions and blamed himself for not being a proper role model for his son.
(WATCH the video below from WITI News) –Photo: WITI Video
A photo posted by I Choose Beauty™ (Sahar) (@ichoose.beauty) on
During treatment for severe depression, a therapist suggested she focus on something of beauty every day to help her get through a difficult Ohio winter. What has emerged is a 1,000-day project inspiring others who are suffering in silence.
Every day for nearly three years, since November 2013, Sahar Aker has snapped a picture of beauty and published it on Instagram using the hashtag #IChooseBeauty.
“I’m a very visual person, so I decided I would document the beauty I saw each day with a picture,” says Aker. “After only a week, I noticed a difference – I started to feel hopeful. Days went by, and I was hooked. So much so that I didn’t stop when winter was over. I kept going. I’m on Day 1,000 now.”
#IChooseBeauty helped Aker to notice all the little things in life— whether it’s a flower, the clouds or a good hot cup of tea. She started to find beauty she had once overlooked. Beauty she couldn’t see when she was in the depths of her recent episode of severe depression.
“I woke up one morning and found myself curled up at the bottom of a deep dark hole where I could barely breathe, wondering what happened. Wondering how I got here. And not really caring if I ever saw light again,” recalls Aker.
A photo posted by I Choose Beauty™ (Sahar) (@ichoose.beauty) on
The amazing thing that has come out of this project, besides Aker’s healing, is that it has inspired and helped so many other people who are struggling in life. Dozens have joined the movement, posting their own #IChooseBeauty images and sharing how this process helps them, too.
“Seeing and feeling the ‘beauty’ in everyday things just really changed my perspective on life. I do not take things for granted anymore and I NOW try very hard to actually see the beauty in small things,” says one commenter.
Another wrote, “My depression has gotten progressively worse. #IChooseBeauty has really helped me focus on the day and realize that everything isn’t as grim as it feels. Thank you.”
Depression affects about 14.8 million American adults, or about 6.7 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older per year, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Positive psychology researchers have found people who notice and appreciate beauty are more likely to find joy and meaning in everyday life. And are more likely to feel positive and grateful.
#IChooseBeauty has been Aker’s life preserver — her proof that happiness is right in front of us, all around us. We just have to choose to see it on Instagram.
It wasn’t easy for Andrea Sierra Salazar to lose all of her hair after being diagnosed with stage two lymphoma, but that didn’t stop her from rocking her baldness anyway.
Since the 17-year-old from McAllen, Texas had to take time off of school for her chemotherapy, her mother suggested she support her lifelong interest in modeling.
Andrea tried experimenting with wigs, but it didn’t quite feel right – losing her luscious locks had taken a toll on her confidence.
So after modeling for a series of agencies and shoots, the teen posed for a series of photos captured by Gerardo Garmendia without hair or wigs – and they were absolutely magical.
After Andrea posted the photos to Twitter with the caption “Cancer doesn’t stop me from being a princess”, the pictures were retweeted almost 100,000 times with encouraging compliments and gratitude for her being such a positive role model.
Salazar has said that she’s most proud of inspiring other girls her age to be confident no matter what disability they have – princesses come in all shapes and sizes and they’re all beautiful.
In the careers of skateboarders, one of the biggest signs that they’ve “made it” is when they start to get sponsored. When a skater takes to the ramps with their name emblazoned on their board, you know they’ve just gone to a whole new level.
That’s exactly what Ben Gregor had in mind when he created his first solo art exhibit, “Humble & Epic.”
It’s simple on the surface: over 50 skate decks laser etched with names, mounted on a wall next to a placard that tells Ben’s story about that person. Each of these people – including colleagues, celebrities, legends, good friends, family members, even his dog – have supported him through hard times in his life, but Gregor likes to say they “sponsored” him. And due to life-unraveling events that took place a few years ago, he became inspired to return the favor.
Best known for the British kid’s comedy “All Stars,” Gregor was building up a successful career in European film & television director. His personal life was going pretty well, too. He had been living with his partner for nine years, but the two suddenly split, and Gregor was left alone with a lot of shock, misery and time to introspect.
It was a time period in which he could have sunk into bitterness. But he decided to take action instead. He says, “You can come out of [un]happiness in different ways — sometimes you need to brood and be on your own. But sometimes you need to say, “F*** it,’ and make something great out of it.”
As Gregor counted all the ways his life had gone wrong, he also started to take a tally of the ways his life had gone right – thanks in large part to the many, many people who had been there for him in the past, either physically or as sources of inspiration. It’s a wide-ranging list, including colleagues like Sigourney Weaver and Spike Jonze, as well as heroes like Evel Knievel. And yes, the woman who broke his heart got a board in her honor as well.
Gregor had been a lifelong lover of skateboards and skate culture, and alone in his new flat, surrounded by new furniture and the smell of fresh wood, he had an epiphany: “I want to sponsor back the people who’ve sponsored me in my life.” And the result was all the boards of Humble & Epic, a true exercise in gratitude.
And the exercise of that gratitude turned out to generate even more for him to be grateful for. With the support (and outright generosity) of his friends, including Archie Holloway and Alice Herrick (both of whom were honored with decks in the show) Gregor was able to manufacture the custom pieces and book a show at London’s famed Herrick Gallery.
The exhibit was an immediate hit, filling opening reception with stars, art lovers and people moved by the story, alike. And now Gregor is taking the message State-side. Starting August 6, Humble & Epic will be on view at Project Gallery in downtown Los Angeles.
The show is not only about “sponsoring” the heroes that have impacted Gregor’s life. A portion of the proceeds from the exhibit will benefit Skateistan, a non-profit based in the Middle East that empowers girls living under Sharia law not only with the opportunity to practice a sport, but to further their education. Gregor explains, “Under Sharia law (the Islamic legal system), girls aren’t allowed to ride bikes or do much at all. But through a loophole, they’re allowed to skateboard because it’s seen as a toy. Skateboarding is so accessible. As long as you have a board, you can do it anywhere.”
In exchange for skateboard lessons and access to the sport, Skateistan students are required to attend – and excel in – academic classes. Most of the kids the organization works with are dropouts, so the fact that the organization is getting them back in school is a testament to what a strong motivator skateboarding is. And that’s just talking about the efforts in Afghanistan. The organization also has programs in South Africa and Cambodia. Around the globe, they change the lives of over 1,200 kids each week.
Beloved actor Dick Van Dyke and his a cappella group Vantastix treated the diners of a Denny’s in Santa Monica, California to a spontaneous rendition of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”.
It’s easy to tell that even though he turned 90-years-old in December, the guy’s still got it.
(WATCH the adorable video above)
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This heavy metal legend isn’t going to be joining the large ranks of celebrities that have recently passed away anytime soon.
The 68-year-old guitarist announced at the Spire Parkway Hospital’s Specialist Care Centre in Solihull, England that the lymphoma that has been plaguing his system since 2012 has gone into remission.
“I am in remission, and hopefully this situation will continue,” he told The Birmingham Mail. “I came back to hospital straight after [Black Sabbath] finished a round of European tour dates, and the good news is that everything is all right up to this point.”
Iommi was unveiling an award given to the £1.3 million facility that had been providing him treatment when he made the announcement.
The declaration is ideal timing for the band’s 2017 globally-spanning farewell tour The End, and has even inspired the possibility of future tour dates, should the conditions be agreeable with Black Sabbath members Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward.
(WATCH the video below)
Don’t Be Paranoid, Click To Share – Photo by Birmingham Culture, CC
It was a normal night in Rome until the neighbors of this elderly couple were alarmed to hear heart-aching wales coming from the next door apartment.
When police arrived at the door, they discovered no one was actually harmed – Michele, 94, and Jole, 89, had been watching television and were so disheartened by all the negative news that they started crying in despair.
The loneliness from a lack of visitors had also contributed to the couple’s sadness until it apparently became too much.
The Italian police officers knew they had “two lonely souls to reassure” so they politely asked if they could access their pantry – because nothing lifts the spirits like a home-cooked meal.
All while conversing amiably with the seniors, the boys in blue whipped up some buttered pasta for dinner. Even though it’s a relatively simple dish, the Facebook picture of the evening said the spaghetti contained “all their humanity” for the sad couple.
