“A Royal Marine who is to be awarded the George Cross for saving the lives of his comrades by throwing himself on top of a grenade… He was thrown into the air by the force of the explosion but survived with minor injuries as his rucksack cushioned the blow. “It was incredible. I escaped with only a nose bleed and a headache,” he said.” (London Times Online) Photo: Lance Corporal Croucher with backpack he was wearing when he jumped on a grenade
Thanks to Lali W. for submitting the link!
“It’s not expensive to be nice — in fact, it often costs nothing. Here are 13 easy ways to be nice that cost zero and a bonus idea that will set you back just a buck or two. ” Here is the link.
More than 38,000 anti-personnel mines have been cleared in the past six months across Afghanistan – one of the most heavily mined countries in the world – representing 10 percent of the total number cleared in the past 18 years, a senior United Nations official said Monday.
NASCAR driver Tony Stewart is donating money for bulletproof, stab-proof vests to be provided to police dogs in Indiana and four other states, including Georgia. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
“George Bell was faced with the possibility of being paralyzed for the rest of his life after falling from a deck. But, Bell, a deacon at a Lockport, NY Methodist Church, shows no signs today of the broken neck he was diagnosed with July 9 at Erie County Medical Center.”
He says it is all thanks to his faith in God, but he also is grateful for the quick action of his 9-year-old neighbor, Trevor, who was there with him, quoting scripture for inspiration, when he suffered the nearly catastrophic injury. (Lockport Union-Sun Journal) Thanks to Maureen G. for submitting the link, saying, “I’m not a religious person, but this article makes it difficult not to believe in a higher power.”
QUITO, Ecuador – “Lonesome George, the long-living Galapagos Islands giant tortoise thought to be the last of his kind, might soon be a father… The eggs have appeared after 36 years of multiple efforts (with the closest female to its kind).” (Yahoo News brings this AP report)
Taja Sevelle saw the hundreds of acres of vacant land in the city of Detroit and came up with the idea of creating an organic self-help movement that would turn wasteland into free vegetable gardens and feed the poor people who live nearby. A side benefit as more people pick up a spade is that community spirit is revitalized.
In 2005 Ms. Sevelle’s Urban Farming program began with 3 gardens in Detroit. In 2007 190 gardens bloomed across the country and abroad, in places like Haiti, providing fresh produce to an estimated 50,000 people, some of whom desperately need it. (Read more at BBC News)
Visit the Urban Farming website.
“A drug once approved as an antihistamine in Russia improved thinking processes and ability to function in patients with Alzheimer’s disease in a study conducted there, said an expert at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. The findings featuring the drug, Dimebon, are published in the journal The Lancet.” (ScienceDaily.com)
After a car accident, physicians and surgeons told the great golfer, Ben Hogan, that he would never walk again. But he did return to golf to regain his title as best in the world, thanks to thousands of encouraging letters from fans. “Kind words softened a hard heart, helping to heal a mangled body.” Read more about Ben Hogan’s transformation – physical and emotional – in the July 16 column, Integrity Matters, in The Salinas Californian, by Jim Bracher.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged the disparate and conflicted countries around the Mediterranean Sea on Sunday to make peace as European rivals did in the 20th century as he launched an unprecedented Union for the Mediterranean incorporating countries in North Africa, the Middle East and Europe representing 800 million people including Israelis and Palestinians.
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African leaders have approved a plan to create a super peace council with the goal of limiting the number of conflicts within the African continent. The Peace and Security Council of the African Union has rolled out an elaborate blueprint to incorporate the cooperation of the Arab League, the United Nations Security Council and the South American group of nations to help bring conflicts in the continent to a halt. (The Media Line, MidEast News Source)
Two poorly performing Kentucky schools in downtown Lexington will receive $1.2 million to hire more teachers and offer chess, violin, foreign language and art instruction in an effort to boost student achievement. One of the schools, William Wells Brown elementary, newly built to replace a failing school, presented a dynamic proposal produced by its principal, Yvonne Peace, “who spent eight years at Ashland Elementary, which infused the curriculum with arts education a few years ago. Ashland’s standardized test scores have steadily improved in the past few years.” (Kentucky.com)
Negotiating with enemies instead of shunning them may be signaling the United States, Israel and European allies are changing Mideast tactics, analysts said. The shift is borne out by recent events — U.S. and Iranian diplomats at the same table, an Israeli-Hezbollah prisoner swap, Syria’s president welcomed in France and the United States considering setting up a diplomatic presence in Iran, The New York Times reported Friday.
A young Oregon girl has started an online movement to feed some unexpected victims of a failing economy, abandoned dogs. Like FreeRice.com, FreeKibble.com, donates a small amount of food every day that you come to the website and click. A Bow-Wow Trivia question appears every day.
Whether you answer correctly or not, freekibble.com and its corporate sponsor provide 20 pieces of kibble to animal shelters — a total of 500 pounds of food in the month of May, 5 million pieces of kibble since April 1.
Jack is back on Fridays, after both of us having been overseas, with his spiritual metaphors and acronyms. The acronym for today is: D.E.N.I.A.L. (Discordant Energy Negating In Accepting Love)
As a musician of some years now my mind tends to rely on the art of music to describe personal experiences (in this case, my moments of denial.)
“For the first time, the US is expected to have a presence at the impending nuclear talks in Geneva. Initial responses to the talks have been positive, as the US has shifted from its confrontational policy of isolating Iran in favor of diplomacy. The US Administration is also proposing to open a de facto U.S. Embassy – which would mark the first time in almost 30 years that U.S. diplomats would go to Iran since the countries broke relations after the 1979 Islamic revolution.” (AP story via Yahoo.com)
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia sponsored an interfaith conference that kicked off in Madrid yesterday with the goal of bringing Muslims, Christians, and Jews closer together. He opened the 3-day dialogue with a call to shun the extremist violence that has tarnished the reputation of religious faith. “It was the first time Saudi Arabia invited Jews to such a meeting,” Reuters reported.
“Most couples know their marriages are happier when they make time to have fun. But fun can fall by the wayside in a trying economy. Now research from the University of Denver supports the idea that finding moments to be together free of financial, family or other stresses — just to have fun together — is not an indulgence.” (Continue reading at USA Today)
“State schools are to be included under the government’s new domestic carbon emissions trading scheme from April 2010, the environment minister said on Wednesday. Britain has also earmarked 110 million pounds for installing renewable energy technology in more than 200 secondary schools undergoing refurbishment over the next three years.” (Daily Mirror has the story)
“Young people stand to gain most tomorrow from the action we take on climate change today. That’s why schools should be included in the shift to a low carbon economy,” Environmental Minister Hilary Benn said in a statement.
Residents of a remote village sold chickens and cattle to raise the $900.00 needed to fly the siblings to Dartmouth College. A new film tells the story of the brothers’ efforts to return to Kenya to finish building a clinic that their father had started constructing before he died of AIDS. The compelling story of community was featured in an MSNBC story and video. Unable to raise enough money on their own, the brothers are joined by students, politicians, and a rock band who launch a fund raising drive among young people across the United States. The documentary, Sons of Lwala, follows the young men on their incredible journey as they find a way, despite all odds, to open their village’s first hospital.
The making of the movie provides another compelling twist: A TV anchor in Nashville quit his job after interviewing the about their struggle to create the clinic and decided to capture the story on film to help raise money for the effort. The Lwala Community Alliance website helps you get involved in the mission that is saving thousands of lives. Why not show the Sons of Lwala documentary in your neighborhood, school or church? They can send you the materials. You can buy the DVD at www.sonsoflwala.com. Click to watch the inspiring movie trailer below.
