This video, posted on You Tube four days ago, documents a “Free Hugs” campaign staged in a busy pedestrian square in Sydney. Juan Mann’s sole mission is to hug strangers to brighten their lives.
Police officials ordered the Free Hugs campaign banned. Then, a surprising and heartwarming reprise for the “hugs” man.
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Some 300 homeless dogs and cats, many left behind by owners who fled Lebanon during the Hezbollah-Israel war, are headed to new sanctuaries in the United States for adoption, thanks to Beirut for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. (photos and video from AP on MSNBC)
Last Friday at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, Jonathan Oppenheimer, Director of De Beers, and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete announced a $2 million project to help improve the impoverished lives of so-called "informal" diamond miners in Tanzania, who work in streams and river beds where diamonds occasionally wash up.
"Bamboo is the hottest new ingredient in everything from flooring to furniture and dishware."
Even fashion! … Designers are now using the quick-growing plant’s fibers in their fabrics. In fact, "luxurious new fabrics made from the fibers of bamboo, soy, corn, seaweed and even pineapple, are all coming on the market."
Why? Because they are easily renewable and grown without using pesticides. Best of all they’re soft…
Researchers are collaborating — and the U.S. government is funding — an initiative to bring bionic arms to soldiers who return from the Middle East missing their limbs. Already, a Tennessee man is fitted with the experimental arm which is controlled by his thoughts. He thinks, ‘close hand,’ and electrical signals are sent through surgically re-routed nerves to make it happen. The arm is holding up well under real-world testing, but repairs were needed after the man pulled too hard on a lawn mower. (AP at CNN)
Yale University said last week it will offer digital videos of some courses on the Internet for free, along with transcripts in several languages, in an effort to make the elite private school more accessible…
Hospitals, including some run by Kaiser Permanente, are serving all-natural, all-organic foods in their cafeterias to satisfy not only their mission to promote health but the appetites of visitors and workers who rave about the fresh fruit smoothies, wild salmon, and homemade pies with antioxidant-rich dried cherries…
How often have you heard people under the age of 60 complain they can’t do something or change their habits because they’re too old? I know people in their 30’s who act older than some people who are senior citizens. Take Takao Arayama, a 70 year old Japanese man who didn’t start climbing seriously until he was in his 40s, and who climbed to the top of Mount Everest…
Mr. Arayama apparently beat the previous record holder, another 70 year old Japanese man, Yuichiro Miura, by doing it when he was 3 days older. 175 climbers have died climbing Mount Everest.
After graduating from Hokkaido University many years ago, Miura became a professional skier. He took part in the Italian Kilometer Lanciad in 1964, where he set what was then the world speed record at 172.084 kilometers per hour (106.9 miles per hour). He later skied down Mt. Fuji and in 1970 skied down Mt. Everest from an altitude of 8,000 meters (26,245 feet), the first time anyone had done so successfully. By 1985, he had skied down the slopes of the tallest mountain on each of the seven continents.
Here’s a good quote from Yuichiro:
“No matter how old people are, they can still hold on to their dreams. You have to continue to make an effort to turn your dreams into reality. I learned that if you keep heart and take one small step after another, you can stand on top of the world. I think far too many people give up on their dreams long before they hit their 50’s let alone 70.”
“One of the admirable Japanese traits is persistence. Ask someone who’s from or lived in Japan to tell you what the word gambare means and how important it is to being Japanese. Too often people focus on the negative aspects of other cultures. Every country has it’s fair share of these. Why not focus on emulating the positive aspects of other cultures?”
Books are replacing bullets as the primary focus for children in some of Haiti’s worst slums, where, for years, gunmen have ruled the streets allowing no aid workers inside. Scores of thousands of youngsters have finally returned to school thanks to an operation lead by by the United Nations Children’s Fund. 271 schools and more than 68,000 children are being provided with basic learning materials (like these backpacks, pictured at right) in Cité Soleil and other violence-affected neighborhoods…
British billionaire, Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Conglomerate (and Virgin records and airline) committed all personal profits from his airlines and rail company for the next ten years toward developing energy sources that do not contribute to global warming. The sum, experts estimate to be $3 billion, will be invested in a host of alternative energy enterprises. (New York Times)
Saudi Arabia will donate $6.3 million to finance the construction of 100 housing units in the West Bank city of Hebron as part of a project being carried out by the United Nations HABITAT Program. The new homes will be allocated to underprivileged or widowed women. The project will be carried out in cooperation with the Palestinian National Authority and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) over a 24 month period. (source)
Racing against time and the elements, a Bridgeport, Connecticut, police officer plunged beneath the city streets Tuesday afternoon to save a bedraggled kitten caught in a storm sewer. (Photo and story Connecticut Post)
Delegates at an African International Media Summit convened in Ghana this week to discuss ways to change the continent’s doom and gloom image, are proposing a good news network to combat what they call a culture of negative reporting… "We would like to call it the ‘positive story network’". (Reuters)
Natalie decided at 13 she wanted to be a dancer. Only problem was one of her legs was artificial below the knee. She started taking classes at Georgio’s American Dancer Centre but never told the instructor about her prosthetic. Eight months later, her teacher was stunned to learn the truth. Natalie danced better than other girls with two legs and won a spot in the senior company. She never gave up her dream and now stands out as “one of the dancers with the most rhythm and grace.” (Details and video at MSNBC)
Tomorrow a group of world-famous artists raise their voices in Paraguay’s capital to draw attention to the world’s hungry and raise money for food programs. The mega-concert, Music vs. Hunger will be staged in “Defensores del Chaco” stadium in the Paraguayan capital, the first time an event of this magnitude has been organized in Paraguay…
The Good News Network is proud to present video for the first time! In a report featured by Voice of America, Muslim children are finding a cultural bridge with American kids by becoming Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts. The parents believe scouting teaches values similar to those of their faith… The best part is the seeding in young kids of understanding for different cultures. (read the story and see photos at voanews.com)
Gabriel Miller writes a story in The London Paper pointing to health experts who say the prevalence of
A South African newspaper reports doctors told diabetic Terry Whitfield that his gangrene-ravaged foot would need to be amputated. Instead he sought the help of an alternative healer and calls the outcome a miracle…
Atlanta Thrashers fan Andy Freeman, after having been on dialysis for two years, received a donated kidney from a stranger solely because they shared a love of hockey.
Freeman, who could not find a single match among his family, was watching a Thrashers game in an Atlanta sports bar with fellow fan Doug Shaw and mentioned his need for a kidney. Shaw then mentioned Freeman’s plight to his wife, Brandi, who, as it turns out, shares the same blood type as Freeman. The odds of being a perfect match for a non-relative, though, were “astronomical”.
In the same year it stopped receiving global food aid, China emerged as the world’s third largest food donor. According to a report by the World Food Programme (WFP) released late last month, China donated 577,000 tons of food in 2005, mainly to neighbor North Korea, placing it only behind the United States and the European Union on the list of global food donors.
“With 1.3 billion mouths to feed and a land mass largely unsuited to agriculture (only around 14 per cent of the territory comprises arable land), China’s achievements in vanquishing hunger are all the more impressive,” says Pallavi Aiyar in The Hindu’s online edition…
Another success story is India’s transformation as a recipient of food aid in 2000 to becoming the 15th largest donor to WFP last year. (WFP delivered 54 percent of the world’s total food aid that year.)
“In the last three years,” United News of India reported, “India has made donations through WFP worth about $52 million to assist children in Afghanistan and Iraq to return to schools benefitting nearly 2 million children.” The distribution of India’s biscuits at educational facilities have persuaded families to allow their daughters to enroll in schools across Afghanistan.
So, the lesson is that once we help countries to become developed, they can help still more countries…
The Big Picture for Food Aid
Global food aid overall grew by 10 percent to 8.2 million metric tons in 2005. China accounted for more than half of the rise in overall food aid donations in 2005, with a 260 percent increase compared to the previous year. Canada increased its donations by 42 percent, to 275,000 tons. Other relatively new donors, such as the Czech Republic, Greece, Poland, doubled or even tripled their support from 2004 to 2005.
Donations from non-governmental organizations, such as the American Red Cross, increased by 64 percent.
The U.S. Still Most Generous Donor
The United States remained the world’s most generous food aid donor, providing 4 million tons, or 49 percent of all donations. Overall donations from the European Union totalled 1.5 million tons, with the European Commission, Austria, Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden significantly increasing their support.
“Donations of food made the difference between life and death after the tsunami, the Pakistan earthquake and in Sudan, so we are extraordinarily grateful to all who gave last year,” said James T. Morris, Executive Director of WFP.
Which Countries Receive the Food
For the first time on record, more than half of all food aid was sent to sub-Saharan Africa, which received 4.6 million tons of food aid. Ethiopia again topped the list of countries receiving food aid, with 1.1 million tons of food aid, or 13 percent of all food aid delivered in 2005. Other major recipients in Africa included Sudan, Uganda, Eritrea and Kenya.
Food aid to Asia increased by 14 percent, and the Democratic Republic of Korea received the second-highest amount of food aid worldwide, with 1.1 million tons – most of it bilateral aid donated from China and the Republic of Korea. Bangladesh, Indonesia and Sri Lanka were also among the principal recipients.
Food aid destined for Latin America and the Caribbean increased 8 percent against 2004, while deliveries to the Middle East and North Africa dropped 53 percent and to Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States fell by 30 percent.
“Sadly, there still is not enough food aid to feed everyone who needs it. The number of hungry is rising by more than 4 million people a year in the developing world, even though poverty is declining. We need a food first policy,” added Morris.
You can help by donating to the United Nations World Food Programme (which receives no dues or UN contributions).
The Hindu- Food Security: China’s Success Story
India’s Success
