A Silicon Valley venture capital firm will invest more than $1 billion in green startups over the next 24 to 30 months, Managing Partner Alan Salzman told Reuters at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. VantagePoint Venture Partners will “probably back 10 to 15 companies over the course of 2009,” he said. (Read more at Reuters News)
Venture Partners Have $1 Billion for Green Startups
3 Million Join Mass Prayer in Bangladesh
Some 3 million Muslims joined in a mass prayer ceremony Sunday in Bangladesh, seeking blessings for all Muslims as well as global peace and prosperity. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina led the prayer, capping off a three-day event, which is one of the world’s largest religious gatherings. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer w/ photo)
US Makes Emergency $20 million Contribution for Gaza Relief
Using funds from the U.S. Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund, the Obama administration on Friday made an emergency contribution of more than $20 million for urgent relief efforts in the Gaza Strip, a day after the United Nations launched an appeal for $613 million to help Palestinians recover from Israel’s three-week military operation there. (AP story via Minn. Star-Tribune)
Dirt and Germs Are Good, Most Hand Sanitizers, Bad
Author of Why Dirt Is Good, Mary Ruebush says the lack of germs and dirt in a child’s environment and over-washing of hands may be linked to the formation of severe illnesses — even diabetes and multiple sclerosis.
The theory, backed by research, is called the hygiene hypothesis.
Scientists believe that our bodies use the germs to create a healthy immune system. Not only that, but the use of antibacterial soap to wash hands, which has been described as akin to using a jack-hammer to kill an ant, is likely resulting in the contamination of water, harmful to the development of frogs and potentially humans.
Read more about this research in these Canadian warnings against anti-bacterial soap.
Triclosan, the same ingredient in antibacterial soaps and cleaners, which are suspected in the malformation of frogs, is also being used as a germ killer in toothpaste and mouth wash! Molecular biologist John Gustafson insists that triclosan belongs only in hospitals and clinics, “not in the homes of healthy people.” (Scientific American)
See a list of products to avoid at Treehugger.com.
Smooth Election Day In Iraq (Video)
Polls have closed throughout Iraq in a recent election, as citizens voted for over 400 council seats. And, it was almost entirely a violence-free process. The local seats on 14 new councils were created to better reflect Iraq’s diverse ethnic and religious population. (Video below may take a moment to load.)
Green Business Finds Solution With Used Cardboard Boxes
Businesses dispose of cardboard shipping boxes by the truckload and recycling isn’t always the best answer because the process of recycling cardboard requires a great deal of energy, the use of chemicals and leaves behind emissions that have their own negative effect on the environment. Cardboard containers make up nearly 14 percent of U.S. municipal solid waste, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, the largest single component of city landfills.
Now a company is helping save trees, energy, our environment and consumers’ money by reusing quality cardboard boxes and shipping them to households who need them for moving.
Violinist Plays for Those who Saved His Arm
Ken Wollberg, a classically trained violinist, returned to the hospital where surgeons reattached his triceps and tissue to show his appreciation with a concert. Wollberg thought he might never be able to play music again after a trucking accident, but after months of therapy, one revision surgery and a lot of stretching, he was finally able to resume his love affair with the violin.
Wollberg, 59, of Goreville, IL, worked in the truck driving business. The accident occurred two days after Christmas in 2007. He and his wife had just entered Montana on the way to Portland, OR, when the roads suddenly became icy. The stack of three trailers slid on the ice and then caused the truck to turn on its side. The truck was totaled; the accident sheared bone off Wollberg’s left elbow and damaged his triceps. “Strangely, I wasn’t in a lot of pain,” he said. “But I couldn’t do anything with my elbow.”
Blue Collar Family of 10 Opens Door to Four More in Need
NPR “buried the lead” in its story of a working family with 8 kids trying to make ends meet.
The real inspiring facts come in the middle of the radio report as we learn that this family, already financially strapped, agrees to take in 4 boys whose dad has just committed suicide. Hear the audio tale at NPR.
(Photo courtesy of Sun Star)
Lottery Winner Shares Winnings With Waitresses
Newly minted Canadian millionaire Jorma Hogbacka made good this week on an old promise to share his $14.8 million lottery win with a group of former waitresses who used to help him pick Lotto numbers — and served coffee with a smile.
Photo courtesy of Sun Star
Don’t panic about your 401(k) losses. Here’s why.
Before anyone mistakes the current market slump for a reason to drive us back into pensions, consider that historically the stock market recovers and even rallies well before the job market bottoms out. So out-of-work Americans who have a 401(k), including myself, should take heart. (Continue reading at Christian Science Monitor)
Obama Signs Equal-Pay Bill into Law
“Well, this is a wonderful day,” said President Obama, before signing his first major piece of legislation, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, which will make it easier for people to get equal pay regardless of their gender, race, or age.
“It is fitting that the very first bill that I sign is upholding one of this nation’s founding principles: that we are all created equal.”
Surrounded by leaders like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and with the new law’s namesake, Lilly Ledbetter, receiving the cermonial pen, President Obama signed into law a powerful tool to fight discrimination.
“Ultimately, equal pay isn’t just an economic issue for millions of Americans and their families, it’s a question of who we are — and whether we’re truly living up to our fundamental ideals,” President Obama said. “Whether we’ll do our part, as generations before us, to ensure those words put on paper some 200 years ago really mean something — to breathe new life into them with a more enlightened understanding that is appropriate for our time.”
Mrs. Ledbetter spoke in the following White House video about what the new law means to her. Watch the video, which includes the president’s remarks, below, or read the full text of remarks by the president, and those of Michelle Obama from the reception that followed the ceremony, at the bottom.
Pittsburgh Steeler Terrible Towels, a Wonderful Legacy
Myron Cope, a longtime Pittsburgh broadcaster is credited with creating the Terrible Towel, a terrycloth battle flag and symbol for over 30 years of a city and its team, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Recently, before his death, he left behind a legacy far more personal and lasting. In 1996, Cope handed over the trademark to the Terrible Towel to the Allegheny Valley School, a network of campuses and group homes across Pennsylvania for people with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities. It receives almost all the profits from sales of the towels. (The New York Times has the “terrific story”– link submitted to the Good News Network by Geanette Poole)
How Anyone Can Make Money in This Recession (Video)
Did you know that more millionaires were made per capita during The Great Depression than at any other time in history?
Watch the video that shows you how to prosper, whether you’ve recently been laid off, fear losing your job, or are just plain nervous about the economic recession. The second in the series of videos from The Masters Gathering is an encouraging and inspiring message for you about prospering in today’s economy. This 30-minute video is perfect for people who need a pep talk about getting their financial house in order, and it isn’t about buying real estate, or multi-level marketing. It’s about you, your talents and achieving your personal potential. It’s about how to transform your current challenges into abundant opportunities
Loral Langemeier, the featured “master” recently worked with foreclosure victims on the Dr. Phil show and was the featured financial guru in “The Secret.” She reveals the #1 Emerging Business that ANYONE can earn a living in, online or offline, with no skills other than what you need in your daily life anyway (cooking, cleaning, driving, etc.).
100% of her personal students make money, so be sure to watch the entire video to the finish. She actually GIVES AWAY a six-week free course that will teach you exactly how to create productive wealth. Learn more at this link, and thank me later!
CNN Story Helps Surgeon Perform ‘Lifesaving’ Op
A brain surgeon performed what he called a “life-saving” surgery on a teenager by removing a large brain tumor using a method he read about on CNN.com just three days earlier. (CNN.com has the story, of course!)
Doctors to Treat Thousands in Honduras on Medical Mission
A contingent of 38 doctors and nurses from Cleveland, New York and Chicago, along with Salvation Army Officers who act as interpreters and ministers, will leave for Honduras tomorrow to treat 3,000 patients in need.
Together they will spend a week working in two areas of Honduras (Central America), where the group has been cited as the finest primary care group that attends to that nation’s residents.
Although the group will include a cardiologist, obstetrician/gynecologist and other specialists, the patients are mostly in need of primary care.
“We do everything from gunshot wounds and stabbings to vitamins for entire families,” says Dr. Norm Raymond, a Westerville physician who also serves in a leadership position at The Salvation Army’s Chapel at Worthington Woods, Ohio, where he is the Corps Sgt. Major.
This is the ninth straight year that a medical mission has been organized for Honduras since the country was devastated by Hurricane Mitch.
Russia ‘Halts Missile Deployment’
Russia’s military has announced it will halt its plans to deploy short-range missiles in its Baltic enclave Kaliningrad, bordering Poland. A Russian military official said a change in US attitude with the new administration had prompted the latest decision, Interfax reports. (BBC News)
CEO Shuns Private Jets, Armani Suits and Excessive Pay (Video)
Instead of buying corporate jets and paying himself millions as CEO, the Japan Airlines’ chief, Haruka Nishimatsu, puts his money and time into his relationship with employees. Anyone can walk into his office at anytime, which demonstrates that his philosophy is about building a cohesive team as their leader, but acting as their partner.
(Read full text at CBSNews, or watch the video report below, w/ 30-second ad)
Heroic Man Rescues 3-year-old from Burning Mobile Home
Awakened by his barking dogs about 2 a.m., Jamie Sheetz looked out his window to see a neighbor’s mobile home engulfed in flames. Dressed only in shorts, he sprinted across the lawn, smashed through a window of the burning home, grabbed the child from his bedroom and carried him back out the window to safety.
Fire officials say the boy was moments away from being overcome by flames, with “literally, seconds” to spare.
Like almost every hero, he said he was only doing what anyone would have done, “I did what a man’s supposed to do.” (LancasterOnline.com)
Inmates Train Security Dogs and Feel Common Bond (Video)
Happiness comes to both the incarcerated and the canines that are being trained to sniff bombs at several prisons in Fla. and Georgia. Officials say the dogs get excellent training from the female inmates, and the women experience more responsibility and less depression.
Who would imagine that prison could look so positive and joyful! (Video may take a minute to load)
Obama to Washington: Snow Wimps! (Video)
In a humorous moment, President Obama paused to gently needle Washington for all but coming to a halt after a dusting of snow and ice. He says his kids laughed too, saying school would never be cancelled back home in Chicago, and the seven-year-old commented that they would even be marched out for recess! (Video may take a moment to load)
