A Rottweiler named Molly is "showing her softer side, using her maternal instincts to help rear two lambs" that had been born with complications on an English farm — and she is fiercely protective… (photos and story by BBC) Thanks to member MJ Allen for the link!
Inventor Donates $1M and His Innovative Water Purifying System to Native Bangladesh
A man from Bangladesh who is now a chemistry professor in Virginia spent years trying to find a solution to the arsenic problem infecting drinking water throughout his homeland. On Thursday the National Academy of Engineering awarded him a prize of $1million for his ultimate invention — a simple filter that removes most traces of the poison. He is using the prize money to make sure the filters are distributed to the poor in Bangladesh at risk of cancer because of the tainted well water… (AP photos and story via AOL) Thanks to new GNN member, Meyer, for submitting the link!
MidEast Youths Use Amazing Video to Tell Leaders, ‘Enough!’ (Video)
Ordinary young Palestinian and Israeli citizens were given an unprecedented opportunity last week to present an impassioned video expressing their views to world leaders at the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni listened as leaders of the youth movement, OneVoice, told them, "Enough!" (Read more to see video)
Oil Giant Injects Biofuel Hopes with $500 Million
"Oil giant BP will give $500 million to a partnership led by UC Berkeley to develop new biofuels and reduce environmental harm caused by the use of fossil fuels, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and company officials announced Thursday. (They) will team up with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign… to develop fuel from plants, improve the extraction of oil from existing reserves and find ways to keep carbon from entering the atmosphere." (LA Times)
Green Mutual Fund Names Top 10 Performing Stocks of 2006
Looking for a place to invest some money? Global mutual fund Portfolio 21 has named its Top 10 financial performers among environmentally responsible companies. The top performers in the fund posted returns ranging from 41% to 131% in 2006 besting 88 other companies in the fund… Focused on earning for customers a "Healthy Return" on their investment, Portfolio 21, based in Portland, has been identifying companies that save natural resources and create a sustainable society since 1999…
The Most Important Quality to Have in Tough Times
In part 8 of our series on Cultivating an Attitude of Gratitiude, Harry Tucker explores the quality of character perhaps most needed for expressing gratitude in tough times.
The D in GRATITUDE stands for Diligence. In the fast-paced world we live in, it’s not easy to live a life of gratitude without effort. Every one of us, no matter how enlightened we are and how grateful we are, experience moments when our belief system is challenged and we question why we should be grateful for something that we are not particularly happy about…
Sony Joins Nike Cutting 10M Tons of Global Warming Gases
As nations gathered to discuss climate change in Paris, twelve major corporations recommitted their pledge, and reported they are on course to eliminate at least ten million tons of CO2 emissions annually by 2010. The 12 international companies joined the Climate Savers Programme and are glad they did. It turns out, reducing pollutants that cause global warming is profitable as well as responsible…
Women Help Keep Peace as Defense Ministers in South America
Fully one-third of the leaders of defense for South American countries are now women. They are talking peace and justice in countries once plagued by macho-dominated attitudes and military dictators. (AP’s Bill Cormier reports)
1,500 Volunteers to Build 6 Playgrounds in One Day for New Orleans Schools
Students at six New Orleans elementary schools will soon have new places to swing, slide and play, after 1,500 volunteers gather in a one-day blitz to erect playgrounds for nearly 36,000 New Orleans children. 1,000 of the volunteers are employees of Fannie Mae and will be taking a day from their national conference in New Orleans to spread happiness to the local kids. The playgrounds were designed by the schools’ own students in December.
The grander vision is called Operation Playground, an initiative by KaBOOM! to build 100 student-designed play areas in the hurricane-ravaged Gulf region. KaBOOM! has built 19 playgrounds in New Orleans to date, each one designed by the children who will use it, planned by local residents and built entirely by volunteers.
The six newest playgrounds are funded by a $400,000 grant from Fannie Mae. The construction on February 13 will also include building picnic tables, benches, shade structures and landscaping.
“Children dream the darndest things, and the folks at Fannie Mae are thrilled to help KaBOOM! build these new kid-designed playgrounds in New Orleans,” said Fannie Mae President and CEO Dan Mudd. “Our volunteers and funds are just a small part of our big, long-term commitment to help the region rebuild and renew. We’ve been here for years, we’ve been here through the aftermath, and we’re here for the long haul.”
The six playground sites set to be completed by Fannie Mae and Operation Playground are Martin Behrman Elementary Charter School, John Dibert School, McDonogh #32 Charter Elementary School, Benjamin Banneker School, Einstein Charter School and Benjamin Franklin Elementary School.
To date Fannie Mae has distributed over $6 million dollars in disaster relief efforts to local nonprofits, government agencies and other organizations.
“The children in New Orleans have displayed incredible strength in the face of unimaginable adversity, said Darell Hammond, CEO and co-founder, KaBOOM!. “We need to give them places where they can just be kids again. For Fannie Mae to demonstrate this level of commitment to helping New Orleans children and the city rebuild is truly remarkable.”
KaBOOM! began as a nonprofit group that envisioned a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. Over the past decade, KaBOOM! has brought communities together with businesses to build more than 1,100 new playgrounds, skateparks, sports fields and ice rinks across North America. Check out the KaBOOM! website to learn how to plan a new playspace in your own neighborhood. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago, Atlanta and San Mateo, CA.
Investment in Clean Energy Surged 167% in 2006
"Venture capital and private investments in clean energy companies saw a huge leap in 2006, increasing by 167 percent from $2.7 billion to $7.1 billion. The increase was driven by investment in biofuels (up fourfold from $647 million in 2005 to $2.8 billion last year), solar (up 210 percent, thanks to initiatives like California’s ‘Million Solar Roofs’), and wind (which more than doubled from $307 million to $821 million)." (GreenBiz.com)
Images of Iran Show a Country Like Ours
Our friends at NewsofInterest.tv pulled together a group of photos showing the people and countryside of Iran and many of the photos look as if they were taken in any city of America … or Canada … or Europe.
The women look modern and lovely and the skiing looks fine!
(Images of Iran)
Hip-Hop Summit Teaches Financial Empowerment: Get Your Money Right!
For the third consecutive year, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network will tour the country offering young people a financial literacy life raft for a generation drowning in debt. The 2007 financial empowerment tour features a panel discussion with the group’s Co-Chair and music industry icon, Russell Simmons, along with hip-hop artists and financial specialists. The “Get Your Money Right” workbook will be a centerpiece of the program. It will be distributed in both English and Spanish — as well as online.
“Hip-hop is about eliminating poverty and ignorance…”
Russell Simmons emphasized. “We have found a creative and effective method of raising awareness about the importance of financial literacy. We are helping youth and young adults to fulfill their aspirations and lay a solid financial foundation for their future.”
A national poll of youth taken recently by USA Today and the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) found that 30 percent of young adults polled worry frequently about their debt.
“This generation of twentysomethings is straining under the weight of college loans and other debt, a crushing load that separates it from every previous generation,” wrote USA Today’s Mindy Fetterman and Barbara Hansen in a six part series with NEFE called “Young & In Debt.”
Following the success of both the 2005 and 2006 “Get Your Money Right” national tours, The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, along with sponsors Chrysler Financial and Anheuser-Busch, are kicking off the 2007 tour in The Granville Sawyer Auditorium at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas on March 3.
The agenda focuses on the basics of banking, repairing and understanding credit scores, asset and wealth management, vehicle financing and home ownership.
The tour will include stops in five additional cities, including April 14 in Detroit, Mich.; September 8 in Greensboro, N.C.; September 29 in Washington D.C.; October 20 in Miami, Fla. and November 3 in Atlanta, Ga.
For more information on the 2007 “Get Your Money Right” national tour, or to get a copy of the “Get Your Money Right” workbook, go to www.hsan.org.
Why Volunteerism Has Reached Historic High in US
"More Americans than ever before are volunteering. In 2005, 29 percent of adults were serving – a 30-year high. Volunteerism is uniquely rooted in the American character (barn-raising and crop harvesting), but now the trend is poised to engender real change" (C.S. Monitor)
Paris to Roll Out Free Bicycles
Paris has contracted with a French firm to offer a free bicycle service to commuters, locals and tourists. Following a similar program in Amsterdam, Paris aims to cut the amount of air pollution and traffic throughout the city by offering more than 14,000 bikes ready to ride by this summer. (AP)
Teen Buys Grocery Market to Save Small Town
With help from a nonprofit agency and $10,000 he saved from doing odd jobs, a 17-year-old boy from Truman, Minnesota, is stocking the empty grocery shelves on Main Street to try to revitalize the dying town. (KARE-TV produced this news report and Video for NBC)
Home is a Haven for Guinea Pigs
"I immediately fell in love with her," Karen said about Abby. "She was absolutely gorgeous and she just started snuggling and kissing my ear as soon as I picked her up."
Since that day in 2002, Karen and her husband, Steve, have opened their home for, and rescued, hundreds of guinea pigs. They find new families to adopt them in the Cincinnati area…
Tutu Likens Gays’ Treatment to Apartheid
"Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu, the former Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, said African churches were paying too much attention to the issue of homosexuality while ignoring real problems facing the continent. "I am deeply, deeply distressed that in the face of the most horrendous problems – we’ve got poverty, we’ve got conflict and war, we’ve got HIV/AIDS – and what do we concentrate on? What you are doing in bed," Tutu told journalists in Nairobi during the World Social Forum…"
Pope and Politicians Praise Homeless Champion Abbe Pierre
Abbé Pierre, the French Roman Catholic priest whose radio appeal in 1954 for the homeless and destitute stirred the conscience of his nation has died at age 94. Pope Benedict XVI expressed "thanks for his activity in favor of the poorest." Using his fame to challenge political leaders about homelessness and campaigning for the destitute until the end of his life, he was frequently voted France’s most popular man, ahead of even personalities like football star Zinedine Zidane…
Hospice Helped Dying Man Shed His Virginity
“A young disabled man who receives care for his life-limiting illness at a hospice run by a nun spoke yesterday of his decision to use a prostitute to experience sex before he dies.” Twenty-two-year-old Nick explained, “There are many aspects of life that an able-bodied person takes for granted but from which I am excluded. I had hoped to form a relationship when I went to university, but it didn’t happen.” (photo- Telegraph)
First Non-Profit Pharmacy Puts Customers Before Profits
It might be America’s first non-profit pharmacy that opened with celebration on Thursday in a poverty-stricken community of Cincinnati. "It’s amazing when you … realize how long we’ve been without a retail pharmacy in the neighborhood." Thanks to the vision of pharmacist Chad Worz, residents will be less likely to skip medications as they won’t need to travel long distances for their drugs… (USA Today)
