Sean McCarthy says that his small hi-tech firm in Dublin has hit upon a way of generating clean, free and constant energy from the interaction of magnetic fields. McCarthy bought a newspaper advertisement to challenge the global scientific community to test his ideas. Within 36 hours, more than 400 applications from scientists had arrived eager to perform experiments on the technology, which challenges fundamental scientific principles. (Scientific American)
Necessity Moves Armenians to Run Cars on Natural Gas
The ex-Soviet state Armenia is blazing a trail in the global quest to move to cleaner fuels… (Upwards of 20%) of vehicles in Armenia run on natural gas, which produces fewer harmful greenhouse gases than gasoline or diesel. "There are gas refueling stations on every corner." (Reuters)
Trapped Cat Tugs At Hearts Of Four Youths Who Rescue It
Frantic cries rose from a sewer drain that was quickly filling with water. Four boys found a cat hanging on for dear life. They couldn’t reach it by themselves but figured out a way to help. With a happy, but also a very surprising ending, this story will cheer all pet-lovers. (Arizona Central)
Eliminating Customer-Infuriating Plastic Clamshell Packaging
Great news about those horrible plastic shell encasements that seem to require super-human strength — and stabbing motion with scissors — to extract anything from their clutches. Costco will begin to use recycled cases that are easy to open, helpful for our environment and soothing of customers nerves. I LOVE Costco! (Treehugger has details, and photo of angry unwrapper)
Something Good About You
Do you want to hear something good about yourself?
From Netropolis Design in Australia comes the Automatic Flatterer. Just tell the web page your name and you get the opportunity to read all sorts of good things about yourself. (It’s true that despite all of our foibles, we really are good!)
Cuba’s Agricultural Revolution an Example to the World
An organic, green revolution, largely unnoticed, is well under way in Cuba — unprecedented both within the developed and undeveloped world — establishing a self-sustaining system of agriculture that by necessity is essentially organic. The Cuban people are eating well and infant mortality rates are lower than in America…
Rays of Hope in the Philippines
Nine manta rays were recently spotted for the first time in 20 years gliding through Basura, the internationally renowned dive site in the Philippines.
“We were observing a group of seahorses when the manta rays swooped by us,” recalls Raymond Bersamin, an experienced diver who captured the sighting on video…
US Rebuilds Clinic in Tanzania to Foster Anti-Terrorist Sentiment
I wish there was more effort to avert terrorism by winning hearts and minds, like this Associated Press story illustrates today. I was an advocate for this kind of reaction to 9/11. (full story)
"We feel the best way to counter terrorism is to go after conditions that foster terrorism," U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Richard W. Hunt, commander of the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, told reporters Thursday. "So we focus on medical care, education. We attack these causes right at the very root."
Inspiration Point: Coping With Disappointment
“I love the story Charles Edison, former Gov. of New Jersey, tells of his father, Thomas Edison. He says in 1914 when Edison Industries of West Orange, New Jersey was practically destroyed by a great fire, most of Edison’s life work was going up in flames. So the young man, concerned, looked about for his father and he finally came upon him…
The man’s face was ruddy in the glow of the flames. He wrote, My heart ached for him, no longer a young man, everything being destroyed. Then he says, My father spotted me and he called out, Charles, Charles, run get your mother. She will never see anything as beautiful as this fire as long as she lives.
So, even in its destructiveness, Edison saw the beauty of the fire because, you see, he was a researcher. He’d spent all of his life learning how to cope with disappointment. The next morning, walking about the charred embers of all of his dreams, Edison said, “There’s great value in disaster because all of our mistakes are burned out. Thank God we can start again!” Three weeks later the Edison Company delivered the first phonograph.
You might say, but Edison was an unusual man. He was different. He was special. Or, we say of Jesus, but he was the son of God.
But Jesus said, All that I do you can do too.
Each of us has the God potential within to rise above any and all disappointment. In life you will have many trying times but there is a tremendous capacity within us to rise above any situation, any challenge, any limitation. Always we must know that if I’m discouraged or disappointed it’s not because of what happened, it is a result of my own consciousness, my own negative awareness. You can decide that You’re going to meet all things from the highest possible perspective. Your job is not to *set* things right but to *see* them right.
The Core of Disappointment
The problem of disappointment comes from neglect of ones spiritual life. I’m not talking about going to church or worshiping God in a formal way. I’m talking about his awareness of his own wholeness, the awareness of his own God-Self manifesting within him. So if he listened more to the inner voice and less to the clamorous voice of the external world, he would find a strength and a courage that would insure him against discouragement.
The sad thing is that most persons are obsessed by the pessimistic wailing of hearsay and they-say and what they read in the papers and the worlds tragedies and troubles. So they have little time to listen to the voice of the infinite within themselves. In a sense, as the Christmas story reveals, they had no room in the inn to receive the creative flow.
Now of course we should understand that if you love your misery and you want to nurse your discouragement and your feelings of failure, it’s your privilege. Anyone has a perfect right to stew in his own juices if he wants to. But remember, you’re in your cave because you want to be there. When you’re sick of being so negative you can open the window and turn on the light at anytime. Anytime you can overcome. The disappointment is a result of your own consciousness. Your own negative awareness.
213 W. 58th NY, NY 10019
Story originally reprinted by GNN with his permission in May 2003.
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Generosity of a Stranger
An Act of Kindness happened to me yesterday, in The Illawarra, NSW – Australia.
I was at the chemist needing a perscription filled as I was suffering from a very bad ear infection, but unfortunately I did not have all of the money to cover what I needed. This woman I have never met before was in the chemist and could see how ill and distraught I was. She asked me, “How much do you need?”
The pharmacist said, “$9.40.”
The woman could see I had $4.60 on the bench and she pulled out a $5.00 note from her purse and placed it with my money. I turned to her, touched her on the arm and cried the word “thank you“.
The pharmacist said, “Thank you, Maurine,” and then she walked out.
He turned to me and said, “God must be watching over you.”
I said “He must be.”
A Bright Spot in Today’s Middle East
A Grieving Mother’s Incredible Forgiveness
A great story of compassion in the NY Daily News:
The mother of a Harlem teen gunned down by a 12-year-old told her son’s baby-faced killer she forgives him – then asked the judge if she could hug him…
Saving Old Growth One Click at a Time
With one click you can save a section of old growth forest in Sweden. "Ett klick for skogen" in Swedish means, "A click for the forest." Every time you click, the Web site’s sponsors contribute towards the purchase of old growth forests. To date 70 hectares (172 acres) have been protected. With your help, this number will grow. Global warming is a global problem. Saving a tree in Sweden reduces CO2 and benefits even people living on the other side of the planet. Visit as often as you like — and click — to protect forests and the climate worldwide. (The Conscious Earth)
Calif. Utility Vows to Increase Solar Use Fivefold
Good news in the advancement of renewable energy from Pacific Gas and Electric. Already PG&E has 12,000 customers using solar panels to produce enough electricity to power more than 66,000 homes. California’s governor added a surcharge onto current electric bills to fund rebates for more customers to install solar panels. Solar is clean and green, and may be ready to become a big player. (Mercury News)
Change for Good
EDITOR’S BLOG
As I touched down on U.S. soil late yesterday in a British Air jet, after having shepherded a group of teenagers through multiple screening and searches at London’s Heathrow airport, I was happy to be landing. I was even more delighted that the kids and adults on the plane were offered the opportunity to contribute their loose change and foreign currency to the UNICEF Change for Good program. British Air flight stewards announced there would be a special collection and provided the envelopes for our goodwill donations. (right) They have been collecting change for twelve years with magnificent results…
G is for Great Britain
EDITOR’S BLOG
I will be shooting a small documentary this week in England, so, will not be able to post nearly as much good news as I normally do. My camera is following the English-born director of a Mount Vernon youth theater group as she takes 12 kids on a foreign exchange adventure to the town where she was born, Clacton-on-Sea. The kids cast and rehearsed the abridged version of Romeo and Juliet last week and we board a flight to London this evening. The players are marvelous young actors who will perform at the local Prince’s Theatre and attend the Globe’s production of Antony and Cleopatra in London…
Japan: Producing Electricity from Train Station Ticket Gates
The East Japan Railway Company, as part of research aimed at developing more environmentally friendly train stations, is testing an experimental system that produces electricity as people pass through ticket gates. JR claims that this sort of human-powered electricity generation system may provide a portion of the electricity consumed at train stations in the future. (via orgismo)
Rebels Declare Ceasefire in Uganda
The Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has announced a unilateral ceasefire, with immediate effect… The rebel movement’s deputy leader Vincent Otti told the BBC he had ordered all field commanders to cease all hostilities against Uganda’s army.
Anti-Evolution School Board Members Lose Election
Voters in Kansas have ousted two anti-evolution school board representatives in the State’s primary elections. (Not many more details, but here is the source: The Register)
India Posts New Ban on Child Labor
"In a determined bid to curb the exploitation of children," the government of India will prohibit the employment of kids as servants in homes, or in businesses, including factories, shops, dhabas, restaurants, and hotels beginning October 10. (Financial Times)