Puffins and other water birds have a new home at the most northern point of Scotland, after a UK wildlife group purchased a stunning 40-acre site at Dunnet Head.
Sitting on a rugged peninsula with 300-foot tall cliffs, the site is a natural “seabird city,” drawing tens of thousands of puffins, guillemots, razorbills, fulmars and kittiwakes.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has leased the land since 2008, but has finally been able to buy it outright. With the purchase, the historic waterfowl breeding ground will become a permanent bird refuge.
Previous owner Ben Colson had held onto the site for 25 years, preventing any commercial development. He said selling it to the Scotland group will “ensure it continues as a place of wild beauty.”
(WATCH the video below of Dunnet Head puffins – READ more at The Scotsman) — Photo: Wilson44691, CC
What keeps friends apart for 12 years? Successful careers, or maybe just that “Smelly Cat?”
Five of the six stars from the long-running American TV comedy, “Friends” reunited for one night to salute the driving force behind their sit-com – a television icon named James Burrows.
David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow sat together on stage during the all-star gala reminiscing about their ‘friend-ships’ and paying tribute to the creator and director of so many hit shows—“Friends” in the 1990s, but also “Cheers,” “Fraiser,” “Will and Grace,” and “Taxi,” among others. (See a second video below...)
Matthew Perry, who is currently working on a stage play in London, couldn’t attend in person Sunday night but sent a video introducing his co-stars to the stage.
The actors reflected on how working together was the start of actual real-life friendships between them:
“We really just fell in love and adored each other instantly, and would hang out at each other’s houses and watched the show together,” recalled Aniston, while her cast mates nodded.
When teams take to the field in Fort Worth, Texas this weekend, the stars of the day will be sitting in the stands.
Fifty tickets have been set aside for veterans who are studying at Texas Christian University (TCU). Inviting their families to a barbeque party and fun at the ballpark is part of a campaign to raise awareness of veterans turned college students at the school.
Two daughters of student veterans will will also throw out the first pitch Saturday morning as the TCU “Horned Frogs” take on Loyola Marymount in baseball.
Lila Public Relations, a student-run PR team, teamed up with TCU’s Student Veterans of America to secure the tickets, arrange the first pitch ceremony, and host a tailgate party for veterans and their families before the game.
Want to be healthier, less stressed, and leave depression behind? You may want to move to Naples, Florida or nearby Marco Island and Immokalee, where well-being and love of community is highest in the nation.
The place with its Gulf breezes earned the top spot in this year’s Gallup-Healthways poll of 190 metro areas in the US.
The State of American Well-Being: 2015 Community Rankings annually weighs each city’s quality of life in five categories–purpose, social, financial, community and physical–to determine the happiest and healthiest places in America.
Top rated metropolitan areas in this year’s poll tended to feature lively culture and higher income levels, with half of them located along beaches.
The tri-city area of Naples, on Florida’s Gulf Coast, did not rank in the top ten last year, but a city located just 117 miles to the north, Sarasota, was voted number one – it fell to #3 in the latest survey.
Here are the top 15 cities for overall well-being:
1. Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, Florida
2. Salinas, California
3. North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, Florida
4. Fort Collins, Colorado
5. Town of Barnstable, Massachusetts
6. Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California
7. Boulder, Colorado
8. Charlottesville, Virginia
9. Anchorage, Alaska
10. San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande, California
11. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas
12. Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, California
13. Honolulu, Hawaii
14. Provo-Orem, Utah
15. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California
The 15 cities ranking at the bottom:
176. Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Indiana
177. Utica-Rome, New York
178. Flint, Michigan
179. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
180. Scranton-Wilkes Barre-Hazleton, Pennsylvania
181. Rockford, Illinois
182. Dayton, Ohio
183. Worcester, Massachusetts-Connecticut
184. Toledo, Ohio
185. Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pennsylvania
186. Chico, California
187. Huntington-Ashland, West Virginia-Kentucky-Ohio
188. Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, North Carolina
189. Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma
190. Charleston, West Virginia
The scores are based on more than 353,000 Gallup interviews with adults in all 50 states, conducted between January 2, 2014, through December 30, 2015. Scores ranged from zero to 100, with high scores being the best.
When a seven-year-old boy heard about Flint, Michigan’s water problems, he wanted to do something to help. He ended up helping every grade school student in the city.
When Flint changed water supplies in 2014, corrosive water from the Flint River caused lead to leach from pipes, contaminating the city’s water supply.
Isiah Britt of Gainesville, Virginia heard that students at Flint’s Eisenhower Elementary School were afraid to wash their hands in the water, so he asked his parents to help him send hand sanitizer to the school.
They helped Isiah launch a GoFundMe campaign to raise $500 — enough for 20 cases of hand sanitizer, one for each classroom at Eisenhower Elementary. But in just over two weeks, people have donated more than $10,000.
That’s enough to supply every classroom at all 12 elementary schools in Flint.
The first shipment of product with alcohol as the active ingredient (above) arrived February 12 at Eisenhower Elementary, and his family is continuing to ship hand sanitizer to other Flint schools.
When teens can’t go to the doctor, Dr. Seth Ammerman brings his office directly to them.
Ammerman runs a mobile health clinic out of a big, blue bus — making stops on the campuses of seven high schools in the San Francisco Bay Area to provide free health care for teens.
He treats 400 young people every year in his “Teen Health Van”. Forty percent of those patients are homeless and many of the youth have never seen a doctor because their families couldn’t afford an office visit.
The doctor says you can’t expect kids in that situation to seek out a practitioner—someone has to “meet them where they are.”
It’s not just quick medical care he’s providing. Ammerman’s team also provides counseling for depression, abusive relationships, and drug use. A dietitian works with malnourished teens — common among the poor and homeless kids the van reaches.
The van is a project of the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Stanford and the Children’s Health Fund which has been providing the service for 20 years now. They just rolled out a new version of the van equipped with Wi-Fi and a lab that can give out HIV test results in 20 minutes.
“Going to the patients makes all the difference,” Ammerman told NPR News, “and it’s not just a matter of convenience. It really is that these kids, because of all these access barriers — lack of insurance, lack of transportation — they’re not going to get this kind of care unless we go to them.”
(WATCH the video below from KNTV News) — Photo: Stanford Medicine
An all-in-one test can now identify every known, inherited heart disease with a single blood sample.
The test identifies 174 faulty genes associated with heart and circulatory system conditions including heart rhythm disturbances, a propensity for high cholesterol levels, and aortic diseases — 17 known diseases and conditions in all.
The new test can identify family members at risk years earlier than before, allowing them to take action ranging from surgery to simple lifestyle changes to prevent heart trouble later on. It could benefit about a half-million people at risk of inherited heart disease in the UK alone.
The British Heart Foundation, which funded a portion of the research to develop the new test, says it provides a “cheaper and more efficient diagnosis” than previous genetic tests.
“Genetic tests are invaluable when managing inherited heart conditions,” Dr. James Ware, one of the lead researchers said. “Without a genetic test, we often have to keep the whole family under regular surveillance for many years, because some of these conditions may not develop until later in life.”
The test is already being used to diagnose about 40 patients per month at a Royal Brompton Hospital in London. Researchers hope National Health Service labs across the UK will adopt it in the near future.
Turnbow turned around, and found the dog, frightened and alone, standing about two feet off the edge of the busy highway.
Afraid the little guy would dart into traffic, Turnbow approached him slowly, and wrapped him up in his leather jacket to help him feel secure. He started the motorcycle and let it run for a little while so the dog could become accustomed to its sound and vibration.
Was riding out to meet dad this morning an saw a vehicle pulled over on 171 with a worthless piece of crap beating an...
When the dog was calm, and traffic died down, Turnbow pulled onto the road and met up with his father, also on a motorcycle, and together they drove 45 miles back to Turnbow’s house taking the dog to eventual safety with the pup riding happily bundled on the seat behind.
At a four-way stop, the biker turned around to check on the pup. He was sitting on the seat, “like he has rode all his life,” Turnbow wrote on his Facebook page.
Local governments working with volunteers from religious groups and private business in Virginia delivered more than 72 tons of coats and blankets this winter to Syrian refugees in Turkey.
The Northern Virginia Regional Commission, made up of 14 local governments in the Washington, DC suburbs, has been coordinating the coat and blanket drive for each of the last three winters.
Volunteers began boxing donations in November, receiving contributions from 13 states and the District of Columbia.
The number of coats and blankets quickly reached 144,710 pounds — more than four times as much as in the group’s first drive.
Photos courtesy of Northern Virginia Regional Commission
The Paxton Companies and Maersk stepped in to ship the 4,900 boxes of donations for free, delivering them to Eastern Turkey. This month, a team from Virginia joined two nonprofit groups there, Embrace Relief and Kimse Yok Mu, to help distribute the cold weather gear to families and individuals bracing against the cold.
Some of the volunteers wrote notes and tucked them in the pockets, so refugee children would receive warm wishes along with their warm clothes.
Skye the golden retriever is back on top of the world, after police and firefighters rescued her following two days at the bottom of a 14-foot-deep hidden sinkhole.
Megan Holmes let Skye off her leash during a routine walk at the Penn State University arboretum February 15, but the dog never returned. A search that Monday night turned up nothing.
On Tuesday, Megan’s husband, Ron, found an 18-inch wide sinkhole. He looked into it, but only heard rushing water. He was afraid Skye had fallen in and drowned. But when he checked the same hole the following morning, he heard no water, only Skye’s excited barking.
Campus police rushed to shore up the narrowing opening to the hole while firefighters widened it enough for one of their crew to be lowered into the pit and rescue Skye.
Skye has gotten a clean bill of health from the vet and the university has promised to fill in the hole, but the Holmes family doesn’t plan to be letting Skye off her leash in the future.
(WATCH the video below from WTAE News) — Photos: Alpha Fire Company, Facebook
It isn’t just in your head. A scientific study shows mindfulness meditation really does reduce stress and “rewire” the brain to be less reactive.
There has been anecdotal suggestions that mindfulness meditation, which involves being aware and non-judgmental in each moment, helps the brain and body relieve stress. However, there were problems with studying its effects scientifically—until researchers at Carnegie Mellon University figured out a way to create a placebo for comparison between groups.
The scientists found 35 unemployed people under stress from their job searches. All were given brain scans and blood tests to measure levels of inflammation and and levels of cortisol — a chemical related to stress.
They were then put through a three-day program to test the effectiveness of mindfulness meditation.
Half the group was taught actual mindfulness meditation and practiced it for 25 minutes a day for three consecutive days. The mindfulness group “paid close attention to bodily sensations, including unpleasant ones.” The rest were put in a placebo routine of a fake form of meditation. Those people were given stretching exercises, relaxation, and joked during their sessions.
After the three days, people in both groups claimed they felt better. But follow-up examinations showed a much different story.
Brain scans on those who’d followed the legitimate form of meditation showed actual decreases in inflammation. That didn’t happen with the participants in the placebo meditation group.
Another follow-up four months later showed those who were taught mindfulness meditation showed lower levels of chemicals related to stress in their blood stream than those in the placebo group.
David Creswell, lead author of the study and associate professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon, recommends training people in mindfulness meditation because the practice “improves your brain’s ability to help you manage stress, and these changes improve a broad range of stress-related health outcomes, such as your inflammatory health.”
The researchers published their findings January 29th in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
A woman who has lived for 106 years thought she would never live to see a day that she would walk into the White House, but she did—and she not only walked up to President Obama and First Lady, she sauntered and danced with them both.
Virginia McLaurin came to Washington, D.C. to celebrate Black History Month, after having witnessed more than a century of it herself.
The spirited centenarian couldn’t keep still when she met Barack and Michelle Obama, booming a loud hello and almost running across the room to celebrate the moment.
A music teacher was literally knocked off her feet when two dozen former students appeared in the hallway at school and began singing her praises.
Chorus teacher Gabrielyn Watson thought the cameras were there for an interview she’d agreed to. But they were really there to catch Watson’s old students — some who hadn’t seen each other in 10 years — come back from around the country to cheer up their favorite teacher who was recently bothered by health problems.
When the teacher walked into her school in Chicago, Peter, from the Class of ’05, who is now a thriving entertainer in California, appeared around a corner and began singing “Amazing Grace.” Watson thought it was just him, until two more familiar faces appear to form a trio.
The teacher is so overcome, she slumps to the floor.
Money may not be able to buy happiness, but it may earn students’ attention in the classroom.
Principal Harold Clay at the Edna Karr High School in New Orleans has a keen motivator up his sleeve, as he pays cold hard cash to his students for their good grades.
He believes if teens start to look at participating in academics as a sport, they’ll be more eager to excel, which is why he gives Letterman jackets to reward academic achievement
On Friday, Clay awarded $100 bills to 33 students who had grade point averages of 4.0, and nearly 400 varsity sport jackets for teens with a 3.5 GPA, or higher.
Judging by the proud smiles of the recipients, the tactic has worked wonders.
“If you work hard in the class room someone is going to take notice, someone’s going to take heed of what you’re doing,” said Karr senior Korey Finnie to WWL-TV.
(WATCH the video above from WWL News) – SHARE With Educators…
Louise had talent, she had grace, and she was Charles Evans’s whole life – until she passed away in 2011.
Once the grief subsided, this devoted husband decided that a headstone over a grave wasn’t a good enough memorial for his wife of 60 years, so he created a museum dedicated to their love.
Complete with walls papered in photographs, the shoe shine stand where they first met, and all the music they used to dance to, the monument is a breathtaking homage to Louise Evans tucked away in a cozy little cottage in Starkville, Mississippi.
(WATCH the story above from Steve Hartman and CBS News) –Spread the Love… Share This
As a wedding photographer, Stephanie has always been interested in taking beautiful pictures – and hearing beautiful stories.
In a photo series titled ”To Grow Old With You,” Stephanie interviewed fifteen couples she’d never met about how they met, their first date, and how they take care of their marriage. What began as a personal project displayed at her college Brigham Young University became a message to her generation about the toils of love.
“Throughout this project, I’ve realized how a relationship begins is far less important than how it endures,” Stephanie told the Good News Network. “Some couples knew they found “the one” in an instant, others struggled and toiled, and some didn’t like each other at all in the beginning. Each couple is unique. Some bound together by light hearts, others a oneness with God.”
Here’s five of our favorite couples interviewed Stephanie:
1. Ray and Tess – 54 Years of Marriage
Ray was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s 4 years ago. To this day, no matter what happens to him, if you ask him what he would like to do, he always responds, with “Whatever Tess wants to do.” That is the one thing he never seems to forget!
2. Doug and Fran – 55 Years of Marriage
“We dated eight years. We broke up and got back together six times. We just couldn’t communicate. But the stars kept bringing us back together. We are still working on that communication thing, but our love grows deeper every day.”
3. Andrew and Norma – 57 Years of Marriage
“We met when I was working at a women’s dress shop in California, and he was working next door at a men’s clothing store. Every morning we’d both go out to sweep the sidewalk. One day our brooms met, and we fell in love on that sidewalk in front of those stores. We talked everyday and he swept me off my feet!
Gentle humor and a light heart to not take things too seriously unifies our marriage. We love spending time with our children. We have 36 grandchildren and 22 great grandchildren in the area. Once a month we try to get everyone together. We like planning service projects with our family clan. Prayer within our home is the best defense for struggles. Love means respecting the person you are with and knowing about them deeply.”
4. Lloyd and Helen Fay – 64 Years of Marriage
“He has a twin brother and I have a twin brother, and we rode the school bus together. I was in the third grade and he was in the sixth grade. We fell in love riding on the school bus and going to baseball games together. I was eighteen and she was sixteen when we got married.
I made it a priority to do anything I could to provide for my family. I’ve herded sheep, ran a saw mill, run a farm, bailed hay. We’ve stayed active in the church all our lives and that’s kept our family together. We have 30 grandchildren and 32 great-grandchildren. We sure are glad we rode that school bus together.”
5. Robert and Patricia – 23 Years of Marriage
“We met on a blind date. My niece set us up and we went to Chuck-a-rama. She didn’t like me at all and I didn’t like her dog.
We’ve been on three service missions together and it’s important to say I love you everyday.”
If you want to check out the rest of the Growing Old photo series, you can go to Stephanie Jarstad’s website.
For many years Norma and Leo would listen to Paul Harvey’s “The Rest of the Story” at lunch time in their humble home in northern Michigan—now, she has crafted an ending for the rest of her story…
Norma’s husband of 67 years, Leo, was dying in a hospice center when another medical crisis suddenly arose.
Some blood was detected in Norma’s urine during a routine exam and she was sent for an ultrasound–then, another. She learned that she had a large, likely-cancerous mass on her uterus. Two days after Leo died she found herself sitting in a doctor’s office hearing about treatment options.
You know the drill: surgery, then radiation and chemo in some order. When the doctor was finished he asked her how she would like to proceed.
A tiny woman at 101 pounds and under five-feet tall, an exhausted Norma looked the young doctor dead in the eye and with the strongest voice she could muster, said, “I’m 90-years-old, I’m hitting the road.” The gynecologist, and the confused first-day medical student who was observing, looked to her son and daughter-in-law for some clarification.
Having had time to talk to Norma beforehand about the likelihood that there would be some bad news coming from the doctor. She made it VERY clear that she had no interest in any treatment. Her kids “got it” and were in complete support of her decision.
But what next? They couldn’t imagine leaving her in a nursing home, especially after she’d just walked down the long halls of the local Tender Care Hospice to visit Leo in the last room on the right, reserved for the dying. No way. There was also no way she could live at home alone without Leo—they were a well-oiled interdependent team for more than six decades.
Having recently read Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande (put this on your reading list), the best option was to take her traveling. Norma was not in pain, her mind was sharp, and she loves adventure. She is also remarkably easy to be around.
They explained to the well-meaning doctor and his student that they live in a mobile RV home and would be taking her wherever she wants to go. He didn’t hesitate to say, “RIGHT ON!”
When asked if he considered this an irresponsible approach, his reply was telling: “As doctors,” he said, “we see what cancer treatment looks like everyday. ICU, nursing homes, awful side effects and honestly, there is no guarantee she will survive the initial surgery to remove the mass. You are doing exactly what I would want to do in this situation. Have a fantastic trip!”
The medical student, who was working her first day and stood discreetly near the door taking it all in, had until that point spent every moment working with pregnant women— the waiting room was filled with them— all thinking about the beginning of life, rather than the end. The look on her face during our conversation indicated she had just received the education of a lifetime.
Norma drinks her first mimosa – courtesy of Driving Miss Norma on Facebook
Norma has now been on the road for 6 months and is thriving! Signs of cancer have reduced and she is in no pain. She and her family have explored several National Parks, participated in a Native American ceremony, traveled to 12,000-ft above sea level in the Rocky Mountains and to below sea level in New Orleans. A recent highlight was a hot air balloon ride over central Florida (top photo).
On dealing with loss, Norma told Good News Network, “Keep praying every day and God will take care of you, even when it feels like you can’t care for yourself.”
After losing the love of her life, her advice is to talk about the good times: “Storytelling is really, really helpful.”
When asked about how to stay positive, Norma simply said “Just keep on going everyday, that’s about it.” And, have fun.
Norma has a hard time believing so many people are interested in “little ol’ me” after her Facebook page started blowing up from Good News Network readers. “I’m pleased to know that I can be an inspiration to so many.”
You can follow her adventurous antics and send her some love at the Driving Miss Norma on Facebook.
SHARE Her Inspiring Story Now, Before the End of Yours…
These guys had to try every trick in the book to loosen the ice around the neck of an eight-foot bull moose, enough to pry the huge animal out of frozen Loon Lake.
In a two-hour marathon of chopping, using everything from sledgehammers to chainsaws, the law enforcement officials of Spokane, Washington finally were able free the waterlogged creature so it could crawl to safety.
When a woman couldn’t afford the expensive tests and surgery for her little dog, her boyfriend came up with a $40 solution that got the Pomeranian-mix back on his feet.
Benny, a three-year-old, woke up one morning, unable to use his hind legs. A veterinarian told Briana Ibarra that an MRI and surgery could cost more than $8,000 or she could buy a custom wheelchair for $1,000.
His solution cost about $40 — most of that buying a $20 scooter just to salvage the wheels. There was another five bucks for Velcro straps and eight more for PVC pipes, joints, and cement.
Benny’s finished chariot isn’t pretty, but the little dog doesn’t seem to mind — he’s as free-wheeling as ever.
(WATCH the video below from KCAL News) — Photo: news video
If online medical searches are turning you into a hypochondriac, these doctors may have the cure for what ails you.
“Doctablet”, which was launched this week, is a series of animated, online videos hosted by respected physicians that explain basic health issues through storytelling.
Dr. Jose Taveras and Dr. Christopher Palmeiro created it as an alternative to boring pamphlets, inaccurate search engine results, and uninformed health blogs.
Doctablet’s videos provide accurate, factual medical information in an entertaining format. They’re free of medical jargon and explain health matters in easy to understand illustrations — such as comparing diabetes to the workings of an old-fashioned locomotive or heart attacks to your car’s engine.
“I’m a jokester and I love breaking things down in a novel way,” Dr. Palmeiro said. “This method is not only more fun than, ‘here, read this pamphlet,’ it keeps with educational practices of today. How do we learn? We go online.”
They unveiled their Doctablet website with four videos to start — in addition to the ones mentioned above, there’s one about how carbohydrates and processed foods affect your body and another explaining abnormal sugar levels.
Each video features both English and Spanish language versions. They’ll be adding more in the future to address more medical issues. There’s even a countdown timer to let you know when the next video – on cholesterol – will be available.
(WATCH the video from Doctablet below and SUBSCRIBE to all their videos on YouTube) — Photo: Doctablet
