Soloman Howard has something in common with the street people living outside the entrance to Washington’s Kennedy Center Opera house.
He was once homeless himself.
Today, Soloman is onstage playing the pivotal role in the revival of “Don Giovanni”.
He grew up only a few miles away, in a rough D.C. neighborhood.
Soloman Howard has something in common with the street people living outside the entrance to Washington’s Kennedy Center Opera house.
He was once homeless himself.
Today, Soloman is onstage playing the pivotal role in the revival of “Don Giovanni”.
He grew up only a few miles away, in a rough D.C. neighborhood.
Recent models including Apple’s iPhone 5 and the Samsung Captivate are less hazardous than old handsets, according to a new chemical analysis.
The new study offers encouraging results of tests on handsets which measured the amount of toxins these gadgets would unleash into landfills if not properly recycled.
23 people learned recently that they had been picked to receive $500,000 each to fund their work, with no strings attached.
Known as genius grants, the MacArthur Fellowships, given annually, are meant to provide recipients with the freedom to pursue creative activities and ambitious projects unburdened by financial concerns. This year, those activities range from bow-making for string instruments to art entrepreneurship to finding a new way to lift people out of poverty.
New Yorker Chris Thile, a prodigy mandolin player is one of two fellows who are musicians, along with two documentary filmmakers, two photographers, and a host of writers, mathematicians and scientists.
Meet the full class of 2012 at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation website: www.macfound.org
(WATCH the AP video below, and READ about the Fellows at WS journal)
17 years ago, a retired couple in Utah started making handmade wooden toys for poor and sick children. The little cars and trucks were received so enthusiastically in the local hospital, a workshop was set up which has since delivered more than 1.1 million toys to kids around the world.
News spread around Cedar City telling of a “Happy Factory” where retired couples could come to laugh and give their time in a collective effort to make kids happy around the globe. Volunteers began showing up every day.
Charles and Donna Cooley, the original founders, soon incorporated as a non-profit and found a local factory to donate scraps of hardwood — leftover kitchen cabinet pieces that would otherwise end up in a landfill.
There are a few expenses for car wheels, saw blades, building maintenance and shipping fees, which add up to around eighty five cents per toy, so the Happy Factory accepts donations on their website.
Designed by Mr Cooley himself, there are 5 types of wooden cars: a jeep, a sedan, a bug, a truck, and a hatchback. The volunteers use jigsaws to cut out the shape. These are then sanded, wheels are attached and the finished product is painted with protective mineral oil.
In the evolution of their toy-making enterprise, the Cooleys have learned that toys are not simply playthings, but tools that help unlock a child’s ability to think and to cope with the world around them. What started as a hobby has turned into a full time labor of love.
There is no shortage of love for any child, so the couple has welcomed juvenile offenders as volunteers.
(WATCH the inspiring video below, from Bus52.com)
17 years ago, a retired couple in Utah started making handmade wooden toys for poor and sick children. The little cars and trucks were received so enthusiastically in the local hospital, a workshop was set up which has since delivered more than 1.1 million toys to kids around the world.
News spread around Cedar City telling of a “Happy Factory” where retired couples could come to laugh and give their time in a collective effort to make kids happy around the globe. Volunteers began showing up every day.
The percentage of US high school students who drink and drive has dropped by more than half in two decades, according to the latest findings by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The officials said Tuesday the drinking and driving rate for teens dropped to 10.3 percent in 2011, from 33.2 percent in 1991 — a 54 percent decline.
Almost everybody deals with anxiety, stress and mild depression. Using a few specific tools, we can have an easier time managing these. Here is a list of five techniques you can use to help manage your most persistent fears and everyday anxieties.
1) Sometimes we get stressed out when everything happens all at once. We may not even want to get out of bed. When this happens, we should try to find something to do for a few minutes to get our minds off the problem.
Almost everybody deals with anxiety, stress and mild depression. Using a few specific tools, we can have an easier time managing these. Here is a list of five techniques you can use to help manage your most persistent fears and everyday anxieties.
1) Sometimes we get stressed out when everything happens all at once. We may not even want to get out of bed. When this happens, we should try to find something to do for a few minutes to get our minds off the problem.
Manufacturing unexpectedly expanded in September, exceeding even the most optimistic forecasts in a Bloomberg survey.
Sustained strength in motor vehicle sales and a rebound in demand for home construction materials provided a major lift for American factories, which outperformed their counterparts in Europe and Asia, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s factory index.
A monster weed called Kenaf can sequester huge amounts of carbon permanently while lifting villagers out of poverty by providing both protein-rich food and super-insulated building materials.
This is according to Bill Loftus, a retired building contractor who has patented an application for the fast-growing, carbon-sucking plant that can grow 14 feet in a single year.
A Louisiana man has been released from death row, becoming the 300th prisoner nationwide to be freed after DNA evidence showed he was innocent.
Of those 300 prisoners, 18 had been on death row, according to lawyers from the New York-based Innocence Project.
“It feels good,” said 38-year-old Damon Thibodeaux.
A yellow lab named Bosko found a young calf dying of hypothermia on his family’s ranch. Bosko came across the calf and ran to get help from his family. The animal was barely breathing as it was brought into a shelter, wrapped in blankets and heating pads and given him some antibiotics.
Over the next four hours, even though it was cold, Bosko stayed steadfastly by his side.
He curled up next to the calf and only after relentless coaxing would he give up his watch to the family’s other dog and come into the house.
Every time a cruise liner sails in or out of the Grand Harbour, a solitary figure appears perched high upon a roof ledge cheerily waving a Maltese flag to welcome or bid the passengers farewell.
“I feel as if I’m contributing to my home country in my own little way,” said the 70 year old citizen.
Charles Cremona knows the timetable of the liners’ activity and appears on the roof of his apartment like clockwork.
This amiable practice started two years ago when a close friend of Mr Cremona’s was about to leave Malta for a holiday on board a cruise liner.
(WATCH the video and READ the story in the Times of Malta)
Businesses might want to allow employees a five-minute tour of kitten videos on YouTube now that a new study released by Japanese scientists has reported added benefits of looking at cute images.
Beyond just feeling warm and fuzzy, the mere sight of adorable puppies and kittens can improve our concentration, according to a new study, “The Power of Kawaii: Viewing Cute Images Promotes a Careful Behavior and Narrows Attentional Focus.”
The research was was conducted by scientists from Hiroshima University and published Thursday in PLoS One.
(READ the story in the Wall Street Journal)
Photo from story, Macaque Shoots Perfect Self-Portraits (courtesy of David Slater)
Businesses might want to allow employees a five-minute tour of kitten videos on YouTube now that a new study released by Japanese scientists has reported added benefits to looking at cute images.
Beyond just feeling warm and fuzzy, the mere sight of adorable puppies and kittens can improve our concentration, according to a new study, “The Power of Kawaii: Viewing Cute Images Promotes a Careful Behavior and Narrows Attentional Focus.”
Kengi Carr wrote a heartfelt blog post describing how he felt when he won the gift of gourmet fudge following the Good New Network’s “Give A Fudge” contest, in which he was nominated by a friend for his service to the poor and HIV community in L.A.
Carr stressed that he doesn’t devote his life to helping others in order to get rewarded or lauded by others. But the fudge award arrived at a time of doubt and cynicism for Carr regarding higher ups in city government. Alex’s nomination and ultimately winning the award reminded him of the gratitudel he feels for his friends and supporters, and the appreciation they feel for him:
Seth Goldstein was in the middle of a cross country meet in Memphis recently when he saw a runner drop to the ground in front of him. Everyone else kept running, but Goldstein stopped.
His lifeguard training prepared him to recognize that the boy was in severe distress and having a seizure.
A freshman at Lincolnton High School could hardly believe she landed a nomination to the homecoming court for the big fall dance. She had expected a more popular girl would be picked.
Later she learned the votes had been a prank. But, she decided not to back down.
As news of the cruelty spread, the school, family members, and the community rallied around her and helped her get ready for the big day.
A freshman at Lincolnton High School could hardly believe she landed a nomination to the homecoming court for the big fall dance. She had expected a more popular girl would be picked.
Later she learned the votes had been a prank. But, she decided not to back down.
As news of the cruelty spread, the school, family members, and the community rallied around her and helped her get ready for the big day.
