New Birth Control For Pets Could Make Spaying And Neutering Obsolete

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Oct 9, 2015

Expensive and uncomfortable spay and neuter surgery could be a thing of the past thanks to researchers at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) who believe a simple shot in the haunches will do the job.

Meet The Woman Who Saves Deaf Dogs, ‘They Hear With Their Hearts’

Their “vectored contraception” works like a vaccine against pregnancy. The procedure causes muscle cells to block a hormone called GnRH. All mammals, including humans, require GnRH to reproduce. It’s essential to making eggs and sperm mature, and blocking it makes mammals infertile.

New Study Shows That ‘Lovebirds’ Actually May Fall In Love

There are a number of groundbreaking potential new uses for this “injection contraception,” such as the ability to help control feral cat populations by catching the critters and giving them the shot instead of surgery.

“Spaying and neutering of animals to control fertility, unwanted behavior, and population numbers of feral animals is costly and time consuming, and therefore often doesn’t happen,” said Bruce Hay, professor of biology and biological engineering at Caltech. “There is a strong desire in many parts of the world for quick, nonsurgical approaches to inhibiting fertility. We think vectored contraception provides such an approach.”

Happy ‘Gotcha’ Day! Celebrates Adopted Pets With Unknown Birthdays

The CalTech research was supported by Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Beckman Institute, and the National Institutes of Health and in part by a Gates Millennium Scholar Award for one of the scientists on the team.

Their work was published in the journal Current Biology.

(Photo: Jan-Mallander, CC)

Dog Spends Over an Hour Pulling Injured Woman to Phone to Call 911

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Terry Turner

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Oct 9, 2015

Janet Wilhem is a nurse, so she instantly knew she was in trouble after a severe fall in her garage left her pretty much stuck.

As she later found out, she had fractured her pelvis in five places, and her husband wouldn’t be home for another eight hours.

The nearest phone she could use to call for help was 20 feet away.

Her only comfort was Mabel, the black Labrador she’d rescued three years earlier. She reached for the dog to hold her and as she grabbed for Mabel’s collar the dog started backing up.

Groundswell of Support for Heroic Pitbull Gets Citywide Ban Lifted

Wilhem thought the Lab was trying to get away. It took her a while to realize Mabel was dragging her toward the phone.

Mabel kept pulling Wilhem across the floor for an hour-and-a-half until she could reach the phone and call for an ambulance.

Airline Pilot Diverts International Flight to Save Dog’s Life

“I was so happy she was there,” a tearful Wilhem told WFAA News. “I said ‘Good girl, I love you, I love you.’ I was just so happy.”

Wilhem is learning to walk again, and her doctors in McKinney, Texas say if it hadn’t been for Mabel, the longer wait for help would have complicated her recovery.

(WATCH the video below from WFAA News) — Photo: WFAA video

CNN Announces Amazing Line-Up For Top Ten Heroes of 2015

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Terry Turner

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Oct 9, 2015

They’ve brought healthcare to the poor, saved animals in Suriname, rescued children in Nepal, and provided food, water, and hope to people who’ve had none for a very long time.

CNN’s “Top Ten Heroes of 2015,” have officially been announced.

The general public gets to vote for their favorite top ten nominee over the course of the next few weeks, but be warned, you’ll face a tough choice before casting your ballot online.

The nominees for Hero of the Year are:

Dr. Jim Withers who has given free, quality healthcare to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania’s homeless for more than 20 years.

Monique Pool, “The Sloth Lady,” who has rescued and rehabilitated hundreds of sloths and other animals back into the jungles of Suriname.

Richard Joyner, a Conetoe, North Carolina pastor who started gardens to give his parishioners healthier diets in his town’s “nutritional desert.”

This Moving Company Helps Women Leave Abusive Homes At No Cost

Maggie Doyne, who used her babysitting money to buy land and start an orphanage and school in Nepal — today home to 50 children and 350 students.

Sean Gobin, who created a project to let veterans “walk off the war” by supplying them with everything they need for long-distance hikes in the U.S.

Bhagwati Agrawal, who brought safe, clean drinking water to 10,000 people living in six villages in India.

Kim Carter, a former inmate and homeless woman who created a nonprofit to help 800 women like her reclaim their lives.

Rochelle Ripley, who, inspired by her Lakota grandmother’s stories, has raised $9 million for Native Americans on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota.

Jody Farley-Berens, who has provided free financial and emotional support to 300 single parents battling cancer in Phoenix, Arizona since 2006.

Dr. Daniel Ivankovich, who has battled red tape and provided medical care — including 600 surgeries — to 100,000 patients whether they could pay for their treatments or not.

You can vote for one person per day at CNNHeroes.com. The network will announce the winner at their annual televised award show December 6, and present the 2015 winner with $100,000 for continuing his or her good work.

(WATCH the CNN video) — Photo: CNN video

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Woman Fills 200 Backpacks With Love for Homeless To Deliver in Single Night

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Terry Turner

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Oct 9, 2015

A woman’s simple plan to help the homeless took off so fast, it outgrew her basement and brought in volunteers from across the city.

Kathy Acre thought she’d fill a few backpacks with hats, gloves, and snacks for homeless people in St. Louis, Missouri.

She may have started off with just 20 backpacks, but this weekend—one full year later—her “Back@You” project plans to deliver more than 200 fully stocked backpacks to people in need in a single night.

Connecticut Becomes 1st State to End Chronic Homelessness Among Vets

As a single mother whose own career involved working closely with people in public housing, she knew just how thin the line was between having a roof over your head and not having one.

“The one thing I had, no matter how broke or hungry I was, I had a support system,” Acre told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “The people on the street don’t have that.”

Acre’s son, a lawyer, incorporated “Back@You” as a nonprofit with its own GoFundMe page, which raised $10,000 in the past year. She’s already launched a second page for next year’s batch of backpacks.

Coffee Roasters Hire the Homeless –Now Can’t Run Store Without Her

The money paid for 200 waterproof backpacks with built in ponchos made by Chicago nonprofit Citypak, and the essentials her volunteers stuffed them with. Each contains a fleece throw, a pair of thermal socks and three pairs of heavy, cotton socks, two knit hats, a pair of gloves, and a water bottle.

The Bridge Outreach, a homeless charity, will distribute the backpacks this weekend among St. Louis’ homeless population.

Acre’s finishing touch, a hand-knitted scarf to keep the chill out, was added to remind the wearer that someone is thinking about them.

Church Installs 6 Colorful Micro Homes in First Nashville Village for Homeless

As Acre says on her GoFundMe page, “They may be small gestures in the grand scheme of things, but they are filled with love.”

(READ more at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) — Photo: Back@You, GoFundMe

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Students’ Huge Surprise For Sweet Café Worker: “It’s a Dream Come True”

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Good News Network

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Oct 9, 2015

Every day, Kathryn Thompson, an Elon University café worker, asks her customers where they’re from, what they’re up to, and how they’re doing.

Two students, Lucy Smith-Williams and Taylor Zisholtz, appreciated Thompson’s kindness so much that they decided to rally the community to surprise her in a very big way.

“When she said it was her dream to go to Disney World, I thought, well, there are 6,000 of us here with at least a dollar, I’m sure we can make this happen,” Zisholtz told Elon News.

Hero Mechanic Surprised on Live TV After Thieves Ruin His Good Deeds

The girls started a GoFundMe campaign that has raised $7,685, enough for the Acorn Coffee Shop employee to take her grandchildren with her on that dream vacation.

“I can’t wait to see my grandson’s eyes when he hugs Mickey Mouse. He finds Mickey, and he just hugs him,” Thompson said through tears.

(WATCH the video below from ELN News) Photo: ELN News

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Want a Treat? Enjoy 5 of The Best New Silly Dog Videos

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Good News Network

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Oct 9, 2015

It’s been far too long since we’ve posted something cute about dogs….crises averted! Enjoy your Friday funnies…

1. This dog is having a ball, swimming in the ball pit(bull).

ICYMI: Safira and her baby pool ball pit are taking the Internet by storm! Many thanks to The Huffington Post, USA TODAY, BarkBox and others who have shared our video and helped spread the word about this fun-loving pup. (P.S. Safira is still looking for a home! Meet her: http://bit.ly/AdoptSafira.) -abigail
Posted by Best Friends Animal Society on Friday, August 14, 2015

2. This dog expertly chauffeurs around a small child, safely and skillfully.

3. This dog’s long, eager race to what awaits is totally worth it.

For the love of water!
Posted by 7Lions on Wednesday, October 1, 2014

4. This dog politely asks the woman from the dog rescue to please stop singing, because he’s been through enough already.

Lee Tawil
Posted by Leah Rose on Thursday, October 8, 2015

5. Okay, this one’s technically about a raccoon who thinks she’s the third dog in the family, but after watching this video, you’ll see why we’re giving her honorary canine status.

Photo courtesy of AllPaws

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Can’t Exercise? A Pill May One Day Offer Some of the Same Benefits

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Terry Turner

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Oct 9, 2015

For those who can’t work out due to chronic pain, disability, or other obligations, a pill could some day offer some of the benefits of walking, squatting, or doing push-ups.

That’s right: scientists are working on an “exercise pill,” to help you if you can’t help yourself.

Two studies have been underway to examine the physical changes that the body undergoes after exercising, like building muscle, creating new cells, and developing blood vessels, in an attempt to duplicate them with chemical compounds.

In one of the studies, scientists at the University of Sydney, Australia were looking at ways to chemically replicate the benefits of exercise for people who couldn’t work out because of injury or illness.

Blood Cells “Retrained” to Destroy Cancer, Leads Again to Full Remission

The researchers biopsied healthy athletes’ muscles before and after strenuous workouts and found 1,004 molecular changes that took place during the workout, suggesting they could isolate chemical compounds that could one day duplicate those changes.

“While scientists have long suspected that exercise causes a complicated series of changes to human muscle, this is the first time we have been able to map exactly what happens,” study co-author Dr. Nolan Hoffman said. “This is a major breakthrough, as it allows scientists to use this information to design a drug that mimics (some of) the true beneficial changes caused by exercise.”

Study Shines New Light on Preventing Multiple Sclerosis

A second study at the University of British Columbia in Canada aimed to uncover whether exercise pills might be able to help people build muscle faster and reach exercise goals more quickly.

The Canadian research suggests that any benefits from an exercise pill will be localized in the muscles.

“It’s not going to make a couch potato into Arnold Schwarzenegger.” Ismail Laher, the study’s co-author, said. “It’s a very small slice of the pie.”

But it may one day allow you to have a slice of pie after dinner, without having to spend as much time in the gym.

No single pill can provide the hundreds of positive results real exercise produces, but these researchers believe their findings indicate that one day, many people could benefit.

The separate studies have been published in Trends in Pharmacological Sciences and the journal Cell Metabolism.

(Photo: Allan Ajifo, CC; Global Panorama, CC)

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Sikhs Set Up Free Bakery Near War Zone to Feed Fleeing Syrians

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Terry Turner

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Oct 8, 2015

Sikhs are taking one of their traditions of religious hospitality to one of the most inhospitable places on Earth — five miles from the Syrian border in refugee camps for people fleeing that country’s civil war.

The UK group, Langar Aid, an organization that provides food and water to people in need, has set up a bakery that currently feeds 14,000 people a day.

The group takes its name from the langar in the Sikh religion, a large common kitchen where food is served free to all visitors, regardless of religion or background. Langars are typically found at Sikh place of worship, but wherever Sikhs are, they have established the free kitchens open to all.

World’s Largest Free Kitchen Feeds 100,000 a Day Inside a Golden Temple

Volunteers have been feeding distressed people for over a year now, reports the Times of India.

The volunteers had to strip down the traditional langar model and focus solely as a bakery due to the small quantities of food that can make it through to the Kurdish region.

However, in recent months, more support has been pouring in from around Europe, which could allow them to broaden their scope.

After Wedding, Instead of Fancy Meal Couple Serves 4000 Syrian Refugees

Most of the volunteers with Langar Aid, an extension of UK charity Khalsa Aid, are from Europe, with ancestors from the northern India’s Punjabi region.

(Photo from Langar Aid, Facebook)

50 Shades Of Gray Paint: Colorblind Bask In Joy of Painting Too #TBT

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Terry Turner

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Oct 8, 2015

There has never been a television show as soothing to the ears and as calming to the soul as “The Joy of Painting.”

Host Bob Ross’ soft voice would gently describe each added detail in real time as he created “happy little trees” amid mountain landscapes. After listening to him, you just wanted to live inside the scenes he created on canvas.

Volunteers Transform Bleak City Schoolyard Into Breathtaking Cafe (WATCH)

Not everyone could see those colorful vistas, so, during the show’s second season in 1984, he created an episode especially for colorblind people using nothing but shades of gray. Ross wanted them to enjoy painting, too.

‘M’ is for ‘Maria’, Who Will be Missed After Four Decades on Sesame Street

For this show he limited his palette to Prussian Blue, Van Dyke Brown, and Titanium White to add the splashes of light.

The episode, which popped up recently on YouTube, is another reminder of the wonderful worlds Ross created on Public Television with a brush, canvas, and calm, reassuring words.

(WATCH the Bob Ross video) — Photo: The Joy of Painting video

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She Had No Medical Degree or PhD But Just Won Nobel Prize for Medicine

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Terry Turner

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Oct 8, 2015

The first Chinese woman to win a Nobel Prize is being called the “three no’s” winner in her home country — no medical degree, no doctorate, and no time spent working overseas.

It would be her understanding of ancient Chinese medicine that led Tu Youyou on her unlikely path to creating a drug to fight malaria and the 2015 Nobel Prize for Medicine this week.

In the 1960s, Chinese leader Mao Zedong demanded a cure for malaria. Tu, who had only an undergraduate degree in pharmacology, was among those sent to work on the project.

Six Million Lives Saved: Malaria Cases in Africa Cut in Half

At the time, nearly a quarter million different compounds had been tried worldwide to fight the disease. Nothing worked well.

Tu studied ancient texts and found the Chinese had used sweet wormwood around 400 AD. The team had no success at first, but Tu dived back into her reading, adjusted the recipe, and boiled an extract of the wormwood — artemsinin in 1972.

She also volunteered to be the first human treated with the new drug.

The discovery led to a drug that battles malaria-carrying parasites.

At the time, Tu’s contributions were not well known. It was at the height of communist isolation in China, just before relations with the west began to thaw. Her research was published anonymously in 1977 and only years later did her role become public.

Today, the drug she discovered is the standard medicine used to treat the disease and has been credited with saving millions of lives around the world.

MORE: World’s First Malaria Vaccine Approved – and it Will Be Not-for-Profit

The 84-year-old Tu shared this year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine with William Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura for their discoveries in battling diseases caused by roundworm parasites.

Help Your Friends Discover This Story, Share It… Photos: Thomas Fisher Rare Library University of Toronto, CC

Who You Gonna Call to Liven Up Science Class? Ghostbusters Volunteers

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Terry Turner

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Oct 8, 2015

If there’s something dull
’Bout your science class,
Who you gonna call?
Ghostbusters!

These super-fans of the ‘80s movie don’t just dress up like their heroes, they’re loading up their P.K.E. Meters and Proton Packs for the super scary job of teaching third grade science class.

Their first project: teaching kids about cross-linked polymers, also known as “slime.”

The fan group “New York City Ghostbusters” does public service while doing “cosplay,” better known as grown-up costume dress-up.

Chris Pratt En-Raptors Kids at Children’s Hospital

Group director Eric Cudworth and his team are serious about what they do, shelling out $3,000 for a Proton Pack replica.

His New York group isn’t alone in wanting to have fun while giving back to their community—other Ghostbuster fan groups from North America and Europe don the uniforms to perform charitable service.

Some of those heroic tasks include raising money for nonprofits, visiting sick children in hospitals, and conducting food drives, like the video from the Alabama group demonstrates below.

Pirate Johnny Depp Surprises Patients in Visit to Children’s Hospital (Watch)

The NYC Ghostbusters raise donations to equip elementary school science labs through events like their Marshmallow blaster target game and “Slime Lab.” They stress that none of the contributions are used on props or costumes — Individual members are responsible for those.

“The real pay-off is inspiring those third graders in science class,” Cudworth told Man’s Life.

“It’s silly, but when you have a kid who’s afraid of monsters or the bully teasing them, if they can look at us and see this 35-year-old guy dressed as a Ghostbuster, they say ‘Then hey, so can I,’” he said.

“Who Ya Gonna Call” New All-Girl Cast of Ghostbusters Visits Kids in Hospital

He tells kids not to be afraid of who they are — and of course, “Don’t be afraid of no ghosts.”

(WATCH the Alabama Ghostbusters Video) — Photos: NYC Ghostbusters, Facebook

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Flooded South Carolina College Team to Get Extra Love in Louisiana Saturday

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Good News Network

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Oct 8, 2015

This weekend, the Tigers will be on the prowl for ways to help the Gamecocks feel at home.

Because of the devastating flooding in that state, Saturday’s football game at the University of South Carolina has been moved to the opponent’s field in Baton Rouge.

New Goal for German Football Stars: Helping Refugees

USC may lose their home field advantage, but in a show of southern hospitality and good sportsmanship, the Louisiana State University Tigers band will be learning all of the competing team’s fight songs.

The school is also donating all ticket sale proceeds to disaster relief in the state.

“We want to support South Carolina in anything they want to do,” Les Miles, coach for LSU, said yesterday. “We have been through weather issues here.”

(READ more at ESPN.com) Photo: South Carolina Gamecocks Facebook

The First Canadian City to Eliminate Homelessness –Here’s How They Did It

By

Terry Turner

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Oct 7, 2015

For the homeless population of Medicine Hat, Alberta, the right dose of the perfect solution has led to an amazing revolution.

Tonight, every one of the city’s 60,000 people are sleeping with a roof over their heads, thanks to the Canadian city’s new policy that mandates housing for anyone who has spent 10 days in a shelter or on the streets.

When city officials learn of a person living in these circumstances, they move the individual (or family) into a house or apartment. In fact, Mayor Ted Clugston says 10 days is the absolute limit—the city usually finds housing for homeless people even quicker than that.

Los Angeles Officials Vow to Spend $200Mil on Helping Homeless

The first city in Canada to officially end homelessness, Medicine Hat adopted the “Housing First” plan, where the homeless are given a place to live first before tackling the underlying causes of their homelessness. Utah used this model to reduce its homelessness by 91% in ten years.

“Housing First puts everything on its head. It used to be, ‘You want a home, get off the drugs or deal with your mental health issues,’” Clugston told CBC News. “If you’re addicted to drugs, it’s going to be pretty hard to get off them, if you’re sleeping under a park bench.”

Once Homeless She’s Now the Boss of Her Own Construction Business

The city started building new homes for the homeless in 2009 and has moved nearly 900 people off the streets since then. It costs the city about $20,000 a year to house a homeless person — but $100,000 a year if they are living on the streets.

Since Medicine Hat adopted Housing First, police calls about homeless people and emergency room visits have plummeted.

(Photo of homeless native couple by Doug Brown, CC — Story tip: Murray Lindsay)

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Donations May Reach $1Mil for Wounded Hero of Oregon Shooting

By

Terry Turner

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Oct 7, 2015

Thousands of strangers inspired by an Oregon student have donated $800,000 hoping to help him learn to walk again, following a mass shooting last week where he emerged a hero.

When Chris Mintz heard shots fired at Umpqua Community College, the Army veteran led classmates out of the building, then returned to trigger alarms and get others to safety. While holding a classroom door shut to keep the shooter out, Mintz was shot five times and twice more once the shooter got through the door.

Two Teachers Praised as Heroes in Lafayette Movie Theater Shooting

Mintz survived the event but with both his legs broken. He’ll need physical therapy to learn how to walk again.

His cousin, Derek Bourgeois, set up a GoFundMe page hoping to raise $10,000 for Mintz’s medical expenses.

“While Chris is not the type of person to ask for it, he is going to need all of the help he can get while he recovers,” Bourgeois wrote on the page.

Americans and Briton Who Thwarted Train Attack Receive Legion of Honor

The community in Oregon and strangers across the land were quick to offer help, and donations topped a half million dollars in the first day. The tally is at $788,000 this afternoon, four days later.

(READ more at KIRO News)

Teachers Personally Walk 200 Kids Home From School Every Day

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Good News Network

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Oct 7, 2015

We couldn’t have dreamed up a better story to tell on International Walk To School Day.

Carl Schneider, a special education teacher at Whitney Achievement Elementary School, is part of a group of five teachers committed to personally walking home about 200 kids from school every day.

The volunteer group formed after a number of school staff realized that it might be a challenge for kids to make it home safely without a chaperone—the walk is two miles for some, through rough neighborhoods in Memphis, Tennessee.

Teen Builds Bridge So Kids Can Get to School Without Wading Through Polluted Stream

“We can just get to know the kids and talk about what they did over the weekend or how their behavior was at school that day,” Schneider told WHBQ.

This has been part of the teachers’ routines for three years, but just now gained recognition in the media after a photo posted by an admirer was widely shared.

(WATCH the video below from WHBQ-TV) Photos: Whitney Achievement Elementary School Facebook

FOX13 News, WHBQ FOX 13

UK Auctions Let Artists Donate 100% of Proceeds To Help Refugees

By

Terry Turner

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Oct 7, 2015

Online art sales have painted a picture of relief for Syrian refugees.

During a five-week run in August and September, the “Creative Collective for Refugee Relief” took in donations of art through their Facebook community and used the proceeds to pay for food, shelter, medical supplies and a truck convoy from the UK to deliver the good to camps in Eastern Europe.

The Collective sold most of the 750 pieces of art that were donated to them and raised more than $31,000 for two relief organizations – Syria Relief UK and Calais Refugee Support.

Artist Paints Homeless Portraits, Donates Money Toward Their Care

The Collective’s founders only planned to keep the fundraiser going through September 30th, but now they are asking for more donated works from online artists for another fundraiser.

This time, the Collective is teaming up with “The Common Good Presents” for an online charity auction supporting Syria Relief UK. The Collective wants to supply another 50 pieces for that event on October 23.

(WATCH the Syria Relief charity video below, and SEE more art at the Collective’s Facebook Album) — Photo: UK Dept for International Development

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One-Day Cancer Treatment Ends Weeks of Daily Radiation Visits

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Good News Network

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Oct 7, 2015

It’s not often that the word “revolutionary” actually follows through on its promise.

But in this case, a cancer treatment that is cutting cost, time, and side effects for patients with a variety of cancers is making a profound difference in the lives of thousands of people.

When undergoing a traditional radiation treatment series, the patient must receive the therapy every day for four to eight weeks.

A newer radiation treatment approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over a year ago just takes eight minutes.

Known as Intraoperative Radiation Therapy (IORT), the procedure involves one single dose of radiation delivered at the time of a lumpectomy or partial mastectomy. Because there is only one treatment to be had, the recovery time, treatment time, and cost are all significantly lower than traditional radiation. The technology has been used in Europe for decades, but was only approved for use in the U.S. in 2013.

In early stage breast cancer patients, by treating the tumor bed only, IORT delivers a much smaller dose to the area, while sparing healthy tissue and organs such as the heart, lungs and rib cage.

Studies over a five-year period have shown that the recurrence rate of cancer is comparable to that of traditional radiation therapy, while the cost to the patient is significantly lower.

There are several different IORT machines used to deliver the same treatment for people have been approved, such as Varian, Hologic and Zeiss, but these are large and require special procedures. The Xoft System is small and portable, using a miniaturized X-ray tube technology to perform the same procedure.

Survival Rates for Ovarian Cancer Reach All Time High – Up 50%

The small device was used on Harriett, 78, of Alexandria, Virginia, who always said she’d never undergo chemotherapy or radiation if she was diagnosed with cancer.

But, when that diagnosis came in April of 2014 after a malignant tumor was found in her breast, she was referred to a doctor where she was offered the IORT treatment and agreed to schedule it.

“There were no ill effects at all, I just had to recover from the surgery itself, the lumpectomy, which took about three weeks,” she told Good News Network. “I got along very well after that, and have been clear of cancer. I had a checkup in May and there was no sign of anything.”

She will be celebrating her 79th birthday this Friday.

New Discovery: How We Might Starve Tumors by Cutting Off Food Supply

Currently, the small device is being used at 70 hospitals and cancer treatment centers around the world. To date, more than 10,000 patients have been treated globally, across all clinical applications, with the Xoft System, which can also be used on non-melanoma skin cancer and gynecological cancers.

Make Sure Your Friends Know About This (Click to share) – Photo (top): theSuperStar, CC

Coffee Roasters Hire the Homeless –Now Can’t Run Store Without Her

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Good News Network

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Oct 7, 2015

For citizens of the United Kingdom, a call to “be social” this weekend offers more than just the chance to say a fine how-do-you-do.

An initiative called Social Saturday will shine a spotlight on 70,000 socially conscious businesses, including cafés, restaurants and shops, offering free classes and tastings.

One especially unique local business gaining attention is the Old Spike Roastery, a coffee shop in Peckham Rye, London set up exclusively to help local homeless people in the community receive job training, work experience, and land a place to live.

Cafe Serves Up Second Chances to Homeless Youth in Denver

Their first homeless employee, Lucy, was selling copies of the Big Issue—a magazine sold by homeless people—near the London Bridge when co-founder Cemal Ezel met her. He liked her so much that he offered her a job on the spot.

The Romanian native doesn’t speak much English, so Ezel is providing her with language courses, which she uses to practice with their customers.

For more on the Old Spike Roastery, check out their website. To learn more about Social Saturday, click here.

Photo by Kate Beard

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Newly Found in Himalayas: Walking Fish and Sneezing Monkeys

By

Terry Turner

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Oct 7, 2015

A “walking” snakehead fish that can travel on land and breathe air for up to four days is one of the more unusual new discoveries from the world’s highest and most rugged mountain range.

How Wolves Have Changed Yellowstone’s Rivers

The walking fish, also known as the blue dwarf snakehead fish is native to streams, lakes, and ponds in the Eastern Himalayas, where even though it has gills, the fish still needs to climb above water periodically to breathe.

On land, its movement is more cumbersome than a smoothly slithering snake, according to World Wildlife Fund researchers, but it can still travel a quarter mile per day between bodies of water.

The WWF has recently catalogued more than 200 new species discovered in the Himalayas between 2009 and 20014.

Snubby monkey-Faunaandflorainternational — Martin Aveling / Fauna and Flora International

Another discovery includes a monkey with a nose so upturned that it sneezes every time it rains. The local people of Myanmar know it well. Scientists first learned of “Snubby” – as they nicknamed the species – from hunters in the forested, remote, and mountainous (Himalayan) Kachin state. Locals claim that the black and white monkey is very easy to find when it is raining because of the sneezes. To avoid this evolutionary inconvenience, snub-nosed monkeys spend rainy days sitting with their heads tucked between their knees.

The sneezing monkey is likely to be classified as critically endangered due to its restricted range and significant hunting pressures.

In all, scientists found 133 plants, 39 invertebrates, 26 fish, 10 amphibians, one reptile, one bird and one mammal in the five years detailed in the Hidden Himalayas: Asia’s Wonderland.

The group says the discoveries highlight the biodiversity of a remote part of the planet and the fragility of the ecosystem surrounding the tallest mountain range in the world.

Photo: Sharada Prasad CS, CC and Henning Strack Hansen/WWF

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How Untangling Your Ideas About Life Will Change Everything

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Good News Network

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Oct 6, 2015

Have you ever noticed that your mind is talking all day long? And, rather than being focused on life, your attention follows your thoughts wherever they go?

When you step back and watch your thoughts, you realize that your mind is a storyteller, “liking” this, “not liking” that, wanting what it doesn’t have, and not wanting what it does have.

All of this “scribbling” that goes on in your mind is just ideas about life rather than life itself.

Here’s how to break that habit:

Recognize That Your Mind Wants to Be In Control

You are made up of 3 layers. The top layer is the controlling layer: this is where you identify with whatever your mind is saying. On average, you have 65,000 thoughts a day, and most of them are repeats from the day before.

If a thought says “I am sad,” you think you are sad. If thought says, “I am mad,” you think you are mad. If you are like most people, you feel you have to be busy doing life and do it right (secretly believing you have never done it quite right enough).

Wonderfully Imperfect: Don’t Define Yourself By Your Flaws

Try this: feel the difference between saying, “I am so afraid” and “I see that you are in fear, and I see how scared you are.” This is the phenomenal power of human attention. When your attention and your immediate experience are not differentiated, it is difficult to untangle them and let go of your thoughts.

Discover the Phenomenal Power of Your Own Attention

As you grew up, you took on the beliefs that you are separate from life, life is not safe, and thus you have to control it. It is the part of you that thinks if you can just figure it out or if you can just do it right, everything will be okay.

Using your attention instead to be curious about what is actually happening right now is an extremely powerful healer. It doesn’t happen while you are trying to get the “good stuff” and it certainly doesn’t happen by trying to resist or change what life is offering. It happens when you discover how to be curious about life rather than always trying to control it.

10 Easy Ways You Can Practice Mindfulness

Let’s say you are caught in rush hour traffic, and it takes you three hours to get home from work instead of the usual one hour. For most people, the mind gets upset and wants it to be different.

What would it be like if all of a sudden you start getting curious? You might ask yourself, “What is my mind doing right now?” Just noticing that your mind is stirred up is a blissful moment of not being caught in its world. It is also powerful if you can also notice what is going on in your body. It may feel like there is an elephant sitting on your chest, or there is a knot in your stomach, or your jaw is clenched, or your belly is constricted.

9 Things Successful People Won’t Do

A moment of bringing your attention to your immediate experience (whether you are noticing the stories in your head or the tightening in your body) opens the possibility of your bound-up energy being able to move–and eventually it moves through you, leaving you open to life exactly as it is right now.

Get to Know Your Unacceptable Parts

You have been so used to having your attention pinned on changing, resisting or fixing that you can’t see that right outside of your struggling mind is a whole other world of newness, aliveness, intelligence and trust. When you discover this field that is always with you, you reconnect with the healing power of relaxing into life.

It is important to note that if you try to bring your attention to these places of struggle in order to make them go away, it may not work. But if you truly are interested in what you are experiencing, even for just a second, these types of moments accumulate and you come to the place where your reactions to life simply pass through you, leaving you present for the privilege of living this moment of your life.

Photo: Nickolai Kashirin, CC

Mary O’Malley is an author, counselor and awakening mentor in Kirkland, Washington. Mary’s latest book, What’s In the Way Is the Way, provides a revolutionary approach for healing fears, anxieties, shame, and confusion.