With a click and a hum, the sleek Porsche 914 pulled away from the curb while onlookers watched anxiously and the passenger gazed down at a laptop plugged into the dashboard. Once powered by a conventional gasoline engine, the 1976 Porsche now operates on 18 high-tech lithium batteries–the result of work by dedicated MIT students and their mentors.
The Robin Hood Foundation, which raises money from the rich to give to the poor, collected $56 million in a single night during their annual gala attended by hedge-fund managers and the New York glitterati. 3,700 Wall Street executives gathered to hear Sheryl Crow and Shakira sing and bid on celebrity packages donated by the likes of NBC and Nike. Bricks were sold for one million dollars apiece to be the cornerstones of new housing for the poor. The hedge-fund industry is off to its “worst start in almost two decades”, but this one event last night continues to be the strongest fundraiser of its kind in New York City, and proceeds raised will go to more than 240 local poverty-fighting programs. (Read a full report on Bloomberg)
Since 1988, Robin Hood has “targeted poverty in New York City by applying sound investment principles to philanthropy”. 100 percent of every donation goes directly to programs helping poor New Yorkers to change their fates. Visit the Robin Hood Foundation website for more.
Gregory Pike shows the world what is possible. His large dog carries around a cat on his back, who carries a rat on her back. He lets people take photos of the trio all day long on a city street corner. He wants to send the message that it shouldn’t be that hard for humans to “all get along” in peace. (YouTube video from Bison Films)
Thanks to Andrea P. for sending me a great musical link on the subject!
Relief efforts by aid agencies have reached around one million people in Myanmar, just over 40 percent of those affected by the cyclone, according to the United Nations (not counting aid distributed by the Government).
Some 153 international flights had arrived in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city and between 10 and 15 flights are coming in every day, with air-bridge flights from the logistics hub at Bangkok’s Don Muang Airport to Yangon now fully operational.
For many Ugandans, boxing is their national sport. The East African country has produced world-class fighters, but many of the toughest aren’t prepared to step into the ring with Bashir Ramathan — even though he is blind.
Burundi’s government and last active rebel group, the National Liberation Forces (FNL), have signed a ceasefire.In the deal signed on Monday morning, both parties agreed to stop the fighting — which has killed 100 people since April. (Full Story at BBC)
“Virginia Tech professor Jerzy Nowak, whose wife was one of 32 people killed by a student gunman on campus last year, will head a peace center to be established in the building where most of the victims died.” (Associated Press via WVVA)
They last donned uniforms nearly 70 years ago, but thanks to volunteers and donations to the Honor Flight network, World War II veterans finally get to visit the nation’s capital to see the memorial that was built in their honor.
To thunderous applause and cheers, the latest group arrived from Detroit at Washington National Airport on May 17. The 40 veterans were eager to fulfill their dream of visiting the World War II Memorial, something none of them had done since its dedication in 2004.
(Guests of Honor Flight Michigan included Army Air Force veteran Roman Zedro – Defense Department photo by Samantha L. Quigley)
“I like to think of my old buddies, which are mostly all gone by now,” said John DeNardo, an Army veteran who served from April 1943 to January 1946. “Most of them never got to see it, so I feel like I’m representing them here in a way.
The flight, tour, and meals are provided at no cost to veterans through a network of Honor Flight local chapters in 31 states , including Michigan, Alabama, Florida and Colorado.
“Time is of the essence,” said Earl Morse, Founder and President of Honor Flight, Inc. “In another five to ten years, almost all of them (WWII Veterans) will be gone. There is a very narrow window available to us to make their dreams of visiting their memorial, a reality.”
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs and Arlington National Cemetery statistics, in 2007 about 1,200 WWII Veterans will pass away every day. The youngest WWII Vet is 79 years old. Over 70 WWII Veterans on the waiting list have passed away, patiently waiting their turn. Honor Flight presently has over 4000 WWII Veterans on their national waiting list.
The Michigan vet, DeNardo, a resident of Clinton Township, said he was glad for the chance to see the memorial — built in part by his contributions. He said he didn’t think the visit would be too emotional, but he had a few tissues just in case. And that probably was a good thing.
“It makes us cry. It makes them cry,” said Rick Sage, who works with Honor Flight Michigan, the organization that made the trip possible. “You can’t go through this day and not be emotional.”
Honor Flight Michigan brought 414 World War II veterans to visit the memorial in 2007. Sage said the organization’s goal is 600 this year. It all depends on funding, he said. All funds raised and donations received go into getting veterans to Washington.
“We’re all volunteers. We don’t get paid anything,” Sage said. “We’re just doing this because it’s the right thing to do for these guys.”
Even the right thing can come with challenges, though. Many World War II veterans are no longer mobile and require a wheelchair to get around. That means more of what the Honor Flight Network refers to as “guardians” to help move those who need wheelchairs. But that doesn’t discourage the volunteers.
In the end, the veterans’ reactions make it easy to forget any challenges.
“They think it’s just one of the best things they’ve ever seen,” Sage said. “Some of them get a little misty, [and] some of them don’t want to talk. It’s a very emotional time for them.”
Sadly, the national Honor Flight Network program, which began as a passion for Earl Morse, a physician’s assistant and retired Air Force captain in Ohio in December 2004, eventually will come to an end.
But until the final survivor of “The Greatest Generation” has their chance to visit their memorial, Honor Flight network will make sure as many World War II veterans as possible get to appreciate the grand monument built to honor their sacrifices.
If you would like more information about the Honor Flight, or would like to donate to help send a vet to Washington, visit www.HonorFlight.org, call (937) 521-2400, or write: Honor Flight Inc., 300 E. Auburn Ave, Springfield OH 45505.
Civilians are offering to help the Pentagon handle the growing mental health needs of troops. Thousands of private counselors are offering free services to troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with mental health problems, jumping in to help because the military is short on therapists. (Associated Press)
“Greenhouse gas emissions by all the Group of Eight industrial nations except Russia fell in 2006 in the broadest dip since the world started trying to slow climate change in 1990, a Reuters survey showed on Friday.” (Reuters News)
40 wounded soldiers from veterans hospitals in Washington flew in a private jet to Las Vegas over the weekend for an all-expenses-paid getaway, thanks to the Sands hotel chairman Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam. The Armed Forces Foundation officials who organized the trip, said the dream holiday eventually would be extended by the Adelsons to every veteran who had been admitted to the two D.C.-area hospitals. (Full story in the Associated Press)
Everything that happens to you serves you in some way. Everything. Every time. It doesn’t always feel good but it always serves you. Pain is feedback that something is amiss. Likewise, failure is simply feedback. You can be instantly freed from the suffering associated with any failure if you grasp (and master) the concept that failure is feedback.
A successful businessman wanted to do something meaningful to help hungry people in Northern Ohio. Utilizing his industry contacts, his company purchased over 25,000 pounds of frozen chicken. Thanks to Adam DeFrancesco, CEO of Omni Systems Inc., a manufacturer that makes labels for the poultry industry, six food agencies in Cleveland and Youngstown distributed more than 22 tons of the chicken to needy families.
From the brink of extinction, humpback whales have made a dramatic comeback over the past four decades, according to an extensive study. The new study conducted by more than 400 whale researchers for the US agency, NOAA, found the number of humpback whales in the North Pacific Ocean has rebounded to approximately 18,000 to 20,000 animals.
The population of humpback whales in the North Pacific numbered less than 1,500 in 1966 when international whaling for this species was banned. In the 1970s, federal laws including the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act provided additional protection for the whales, at least half of whom migrate between Alaska and Hawaii.
A company has invented a glowing light source that lasts for 15 years — instead of the 15 minutes for a typical glowstick. GlowPaint won the grand prize in NASA’s 2007 ‘Create the Future’ Design Contest with its Litroenergy™, a non-toxic, inexpensive micro particle that emits light — bright enough to read by — without any electricity or sun exposure.
“This has potential to save billions in energy costs worldwide,” says the company. It is durable and reliable too, they say: “The Litrospheres are not effected by heat or cold, and are 5,000-pound crush resistant. They can be injection molded or added to paint. The constant light gives off no U.V. rays, and can be designed to emit almost any color of light desired.” See more info here.
Saudi Arabia has made a landmark offer to contribute $500 million to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) to help with efforts to combat the global food crisis. The WFP has now achieved its target of $755 million to deal with the recent surge in food and fuel costs.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, “This contribution of an unprecedented size and generosity comes not a moment too soon, given the needs of millions of people dependent on food rations.”
Next month the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will host a major summit at its Rome headquarters to discuss how agriculture can be harnessed to produce enough food to meet the demands of the world’s growing population.
Waves of xenophobic violence against immigrants this week has led to an overwhelming positive response by the South African public, through an outpouring of goods, food, blankets and money for the victims of the violence.
Gift of the Givers has set up a program to collect donations and in just a week, they have moved over R1 million worth of goods to refugee centers.
“I’ve been in this industry for 15 years and I have never seen a response like this,” says Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, founder of Gift of the Givers. “To me, the real spirit of South Africans has been shown. We are not a xenophobic nation. We are seeing massive support. Black, White, Indian, Coloured; they are all here.” (See the full report in South Africa’s premiere Good News website)
Simplifying can sometimes be overwhelming. The amount of stuff in your life and the amount of things you have to do feels too momentous to tackle. Here are 10 simple things you can do today that will make the biggest difference in your hectic life.
If you do these 10 things, you’ll have made great strides toward a simpler, happier life.
Today, on our Friday “Word Fast, we look at POWER and how the way in which we perceive each other affects our understanding of the word, and the actions that then arise. Jack gives us an acronym to reframe our thinking and a helpful practice to reframe how we look at our fellow humans…
The idea of presenting our will equal regardless of the authoritative or academic status, race or age of people is a practice originally introduced by ancestors of various regions who defined their fellow humans as equal allies, nothing more nothing less.
Later generations were taught to perceive people via judgment and measurement. The result is that we either give our POWER away when we see ourselves as less than, or steal someone else’s POWER by seeing ourselves as greater than.
Local fishermen struggled through the night to return dozens of stranded pilot whales back to the sea on Wednesday after the animals mysteriously beached themselves along a Senegal coastal village around 9:00 in the evening.
One fisherman told a reporter, “We worked all night to try to drag them back into the ocean. We got about 80 back into the water with ropes, our (boats) and our hands.”
READ More at Reuters News-Africa
File photo by NOAA
