Police say a service dog trained to use the phone called 911 and got help when his Scottsdale, Ariz., owner suffered a serious seizure. Buddy, an 18-month-old German shepherd, used his teeth to press programmed buttons until a 911 dispatcher came on the line.
Dog Dials 911 to Get Help for Owner
Bangladesh Commits to Addressing Climate Change
Leaders in Bangladesh have created a National Climate Change Fund to help them anticipate the effects of climate change. The plan will also focus on the link between climate change, poverty, and health.
(read the full story at Environmental News Network)
Company Invents Tree Free Paper
Chicago paper company GPA has recently invented paper that does not require trees or water to make. The paper is made from inorganic mineral powders and is resistant to water, grease, and oils.
(Read the full story at Environmental News Network)
San Antonio is Going Green with Sewage
San Antonio aims to become the first in the nation utility to capture and sell methane natural gas as renewable energy generated by treating the city’s sewage — enough to fill 1,250 tanker trucks every day. (NOTE: story below may take a few seconds to load.)
Unicef: Child Mortality Down 27 percent Since 1990
Child mortality rates have dropped 28% worldwide since 1990, UNICEF reported Friday. Death rates of children aged five and under have even dropped by 60% since 1960. (Read more in USA Today)
Thanks to William F. for submitting the tip!
TV Star’s Death-Defying Tortoise Escapes Recycling
A tortoise belonging to Welsh comedienne Ruth Jones is recuperating at home after a lucky escape from a recycling plant. The Fifty five-year-old tortoise, Tom, was rescued by staff before being ground up by a recycling machine after the pet had vanished five weeks earlier from home. He must have crawled into the bag. (Edie.net has the story)
Report: Schools Offering Fewer Soft Drinks
Sugary soft drinks accounted for less than a quarter of the beverages sold in schools last year, demonstrating that a voluntary transition toward healthier drinks is working. Editor’s note: For those who think it doesn’t matter, consider that last year my pediatrician told me the number one concern he had about young people today is calcium loss due to consumption of sodas, of all kinds… (Associated Press story via USA Today)
6 Alternatives to Arthroscopic Knee Surgery
Arthroscopic surgery is a popular choice for many boomers struggling with knee pain and osteoarthritis. But a broad new study confirms earlier findings that healthier alternatives work just as well as the expensive surgery. (NOTE: story below may take a few seconds to load.)
Lost Cat Returned Home After Nine Years
A British couple have been reunited with their missing cat after nine years of believing she had been killed by a car. The 15-year-old ginger cat disappeared in 1999 and was found less than half a mile from her home. (Reuters via MSNBC.com)
National Day of Encouragement- September 12
A visionary group of teenagers in Arkansas identified the biggest problem facing youth and society today — the lack of encouragement. The students felt the best solution for addressing the root of many negative problems today was to confront the discouragement first, and to empower one another through words and acts of inspiration and support. They launched a national day of encouragement and chose September 12 in hopes of balancing the discouraging feelings of 9/11.
This “Day of Encouragement” was conceptualized in June, 2007 by a group of high school students attending a leadership camp at Harding University in Searcy, Ark. The students were challenged to determine what they believe to be the biggest problems facing high school students today and to devise a solution. While alcohol, drugs and violence were identified as serious problems, one group determined the basic problem facing youth in schools, and society in general, was a “lack of encouragement.”
The day is now endorsed by both Presidents George W. Bush, and his father, George H. W. Bush, and by celebrities such as comedian Jeff Foxworthy, and is gaining momentum. The elder Bush said of the Day, “Acts of kindness and encouragement can go a long way toward helping an individual achieve success.”
Andrew Baker, organizer of the National Day of Encouragement and executive director of the non-profit Encouragement Foundation, said, “Our goal is to challenge people not to just think about the idea of encouragement, but to do something that will encourage someone else … even if it’s simply speaking a kind word.”
Participation in this year’s National Day of Encouragement is widespread; from small towns to major cities, schools to corporations, public figures to private citizens. Watch the video and then, continue with the story below:
Communities nationwide are planning Red Cross blood drives, sending text messages and care packages to those affected by recent hurricanes as well as to first responders, and asking people to sign encouragement cards that the National Guard and personal military advocates will distribute to troops abroad and at VA hospitals.
Marine Reservist, Paden Timms of Arkansas said, “The cards are great! They help remind us of home and that is really cool. When you are in a hot, hostile and strange place it is nice to get notes from the kids back home.”
To find out more about the National Day of Encouragement or to check out tools and resources online, visit www.LetsEncourage.com.
Firefighter Saves Cat With Mouth to Mouth
A firefighter broke new ground Tuesday when he saved a house cat with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. He had rescued the cat from a burning, second-floor apartment in New Bedford “and it really needed air and it couldn’t wait,” he said. (Read the story in SouthCoastToday.com or watch the raw video)
Pooch Comes to Helpless Neighbor’s Aid
A little dog — a fluffy white bichon frise — helped lead owner to an elderly neighbor who collapsed in a nearby apartment. The Associate Press reports on MSNBC.com.
2008 American Government Innovation Awards
Sweeping the honors for this year’s Innovations in American Government Awards are three states: Missouri, for its successful approach to rehabilitating juvenile offenders; North Carolina, for its ambitious college preparation program for disadvantaged kids; and Arizona, for its one-of-a-kind prisoner re-entry system.
The awards, which highlight successful programs with the hope of replicating them elsewhere, are given by Harvard University ‘s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Flawless, Historic Start for World’s Mightiest Particle Collider
Particle physicists were jubilant yesterday after the long-awaited startup of a mega-machine passed its first tests with flying colors. Two beams of protons sped around a 17 mile track toward a collision designed to help scientists learn about the essential makeup of the universe.
Cheers, applause and the pop of a champagne cork marked the historic moment in Geneva, as the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) turned on the switch that will lead to an expansion of human knowledge. (Read text below the video)
Lance Armstrong Returns to Cycling, to Win 8th Tour
Lance Armstrong, at 37, is getting back on his bike, determined to win an eighth Tour de France this spring.
(Read text of story below)
Standing Up Against Mockery in the Public Discourse
We are a society that has come to consider mockery an acceptable form of public discourse. Whether it’s on a late-night comedy show, in a popular movie, or a political campaign speech, this form of public degradation is seen as “normal. We don’t care if a speaker’s words are vicious or denigrating, or even true — as long as they’re uttered with a smile and a joke line… But as mockery has grown increasingly acceptable in the public discourse, children and teenagers have also come to accept it as normal, and the consequences have sometimes been tragic, like suicides by teens who were cruelly mocked. (Mocking is a form of bullying, a way of asserting superiority by denigrating or humiliating another.)
Mockery is used by both Republicans and Democrats, in blogs on both sides. It is time to reject it. Read the rest of this inspired opinion column by Pamela Gerloff, co-author of Dignity for All: How to Create a World without Rankism (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2008).
This Sunday Join a Worldwide Intention Experiment for Peace
Join possibly the largest experiment ever designed to test the power of group intention to lower violence and bring peace in conflict areas around the world. This Sunday, September 14, you can participate with hundreds of thousands of people for ten minutes sending an intention for peace under highly controlled scientific conditions.
Lynne McTaggart is the author of The Intention Experiment — see the Good News Network feature, Largest Successful Mind-Over-Matter Experiments in History.
McTaggart has assembled a scientific advisory body of leaders in consciousness research, to devise a strict protocol and measure violence levels before and after the intention experiment to see if there is any effect.
Visit TheIntentionExperiment.com for more information or to sign-up to partcipate.
(Image courtesy of Sun Star)
Turkey-Armenian Thaw After Presidents Watch World Cup Match Together
An inspired meeting of rivals from Turkey and Armenia over a football match has opened a crack in the wall of silence between the the two nations since World War I. Amid widespread negativity in his own country, the president of Turkey accepted an invitation from his Armenian counterpart to view Saturday’s World Cup qualifying match between the two teams, becoming the first Turkish leader to step foot on Armenian soil since 1991. The invitation led to talks about a future plan for peace.
Giant Buddha Statue Unearthed in Afghanistan
Archaeologists in Afghanistan said they discovered a giant Buddha statue near the ruins of the pair of giant Buddhas, which were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. The archaeologists said the newly discovered statue measures 62 feet tall and features the Buddha in a sleeping position. (Reuters)
What are the Odds? Son Gets Same Dorm Room as Dad
The father of a Michigan State University student said fate landed the 18-year-old in the same dorm room his dad stayed in 30 years ago. Rich Robell, 50, said he was shocked when his son, Mike, received his room assignment at Emmons Hall, B310.
