Democrats, fielding many moderate candidates, gained more than 25 seats in yesterday’s elections for the US House of Representatives, placing Rep. Nancy Pelosi, 66, on track to become the first female House leader and the highest-ranking woman in U.S. political history — second in line behind the president. Voters weary of corruption heard in last night’s victory speech, Pelosi’s intentions to lead the most honest and open House in history…
Pelosi Seeks to Heal Rifts as First Female House Speaker
Teen Hailed as a Hero for Teddy Bear Project
People magazine named 16-year-old Taylor Crabtree one of its top five heroes of 2006 for creating a nonprofit that has raised more than $100,000 to purchase teddy bears for 23,000 young cancer patients at 300 hospitals throughout the nation. Taylor has been doing this since age seven, when she was inspired during her grandmother’s bout with colon cancer. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
There’s Just ONE Story Today
I’ll be electioneering at the polls all day, watching returns all night!
Gangs Embrace Truce, Violence Drops 80%
A secret negotiated truce between two of the most dangerous street gangs in Boston has dramatically reduced bloodshed.
“Violence stopped abruptly in July, when a temporary cease-fire took effect. In the nearly four months since, there has not been a single shooting, and overall violent crime where the gang members live has plummeted by as much as 80 percent.”…
Within days of the two gangs shaking hands on the treaty, members of other gangs began contacting clergy and youth workers to ask for similar peace summits. Police and clergy are talking with eight other street gangs, hoping to broker truces — with similar incentives and commitments — across the city.
Many of those involved were also key players in the “Boston Miracle,” a collaboration of police, ministers, and community leaders that helped end a murder wave in the 1990s.
(READ the Boston Globe story here)
Peace Being Sown Among Olive Trees
Since the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising in 2000, Palestinian olive grower, Fuad Amer has been prevented from harvesting his crop. Jewish settlers from hilltop communities in the West Bank had harassed pickers, and destroyed olive trees. But in 2004, two Israeli rights groups – the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and Rabbis for Human Rights – filed a court petition on behalf of farmers. This season, an Israeli high court granted Palestinian growers protection from settler violence giving Amer the ability to successfully harvest the olives from his 60 trees…
Hundreds of Israeli soldiers and police are patrolling stony hillside groves near Jewish settlements in the West Bank, vowing to keep the peace. Palestinians, usually fearful of Israeli authorities, are welcoming their presence.
“We are happy that the army is here. We feel like we’re being protected,” said Amer, who has been harvesting his olives within shouting distance of the hilltop settlement of Bracha. So far, he says, there have been no problems.
(From the story written by John Murphy, Baltimore Sun Foreign Reporter)
Fish Stocks Highest in 50 Years Since Creek Restoration
The restoration of Nile Creek from a river that was devoid of fish into a salmon and cutthroat trout-bearing stream rich in life prompted Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) biologists to hail it as an example for the rest of British Columbia. The project was so successful that fish stocks were restored to capacity, with pink salmon smolt even surpassing what the creek produced in the 1950s…
From Russia with Love: Orphan Sisters are Reunited
Two teenage sisters who had been pulled from an abusive home in Russia were united with their two younger sisters who’d already been adopted by a Utah mom, and who also grew up in an abusive family. The Simmonses now enjoy a large, happy home with nine children, six of whom are adopted. Heart-touching story and photos of the Russian sisters in Deseret News.
100 Children You Must See (Video)
“Living Compassion” made this video to show you the faces of the first 100 children they are feeding and schooling in far away Zambia. The kids will remind you of your neice, your neighbor, or your child. They are happy because they are, for the first time, being fed and educated — by lovely volunteers from America. These 100 Children live in a slum in one of the poorest countries in the world, but you can’t tell by their faces. You must see these 100 children and hear the inspiring story of the Kantolomba Project…
The Kantolomba Project is undertaking no less that the complete transformation of an African village. “From clean water, to safe housing to medical care to substantial, sustainable employment… the creation of a self-sufficient community.” “Living Compassion” does this work, they say, “Not because there is something wrong or something to fix, but rather because we are moved to participate in life with our fellow human beings.”
After you see the children, please visit the Kantolomba project website and donate the money you would spend on just two Cafe-latte-mocha-chino-espresso-grande’s with skim. Join us at the Good News Network as we help the Kantolomba project meet their goal of raising $100,000 by year’s end — they are nearly there! Please donate any amount. (The music, “I can see the beloved in you,” is by Karen Drucker.)
Wal-Mart Eyes Carbon Bounty in its Supply Chain
Wal-Mart is sending engineers to its supply-chain factories to find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. "Green" means green in their pocket: "What we found absolutely staggered us," said one engineer. The electricity bills were slashed by 60 percent at one factory, simply by installing readily available low-emissions lighting. (Reuters)
From Miner to Superhero, then a Cold Beer
An Australian man noticed a serving tractor-trailer truck on the other side of the road on his way to work. He turned his car around sped up to the truck and confirmed his suspicion that the driver was in trouble — slumped over the wheel. He parked his car, ran toward the truck and climbed inside it to pull the hand brake. An ambulance officer called to the scene said….
“In my 10 years in the service I have never seen or heard of anything like this. He is an absolute lifesaver. Even though the truck was not travelling at a great speed, it is an enormous vehicle…. Me and my ambulance partner had to climb on board this huge truck while it was stationary, once, and it was hard. I could not imagine how difficult it would have been while in motion.” (The Age – includes photo)
This comes under the heading, “I’m not a hero; I did what anyone would have done.” I read countless stories, while searching for good news, about people pulling strangers from burning buildings, and intervening in car wrecks, even when the cars are on fire, or sinking into lakes… The amazing thing is that *every time* the person says, “I’m not a hero; I did what anyone would have done.” I just love that…
Macs Join the Maasai Tribe
Retired tech executive Patrick O’Sullivan, moved by the plight of a Maasai tribe that needed three years to complete a school for their children, raised the money and materials needed to build a new school that runs day and night on solar panels.
He brought three new laptops, along with some colleagues from Apple, to East Africa. One of them, a 14-year-old, trained the teachers to use the computers. Now the village kids are gazing wide-eyed at the ocean for the first time…
Vermont Experiment Keeps Seniors at Home, Out of Nursing Homes
A unique experiment is under way in Vermont that allows older people to stay home and avoid nursing homes. Under Vermont’s Choices for Care program, Medicaid-eligible senior citizens who need home care can be tended by a family member, friend or neighbor, who is then paid by the state $10 per hour. That means 93-year-old Florence can keep her cat, tend her plants and attend a weekly 25-cent poker game with neighbors… (AP)
DNA Clears Man After 25 Years in Prison
A decorated Vietnam veteran accepted the apology of a Texas judge after he was wrongly jailed for 25 years and released when new DNA tests this year proved he couldn’t have commited the rape for which he’d been convicted. On Tuesday, Larry Fuller, 57, walked free saying, "My faith was tested and I won."…
Kindness is Returned When One Waitress Helps Out
A waitress in a small Texas diner lent money to a raggedy customer for bus fare, and bought her some pancakes. The customer came back and returned the favor sharing the good news that she’d gotten a job. "Can one act of friendliness start to generate peace? I believe it can. Peace begins with one person but spreads like warmed syrup. When I connect with my neighbors, they return it in kind," she wrote in her essay, This I Believe, for NPR News.
Being Nice Makes You More Successful
One hugely successful New York advertising agency was built on kindness, said the founders Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval in their new book, The Power of Nice: How to Conquer the Business World With Kindness
In an era when the corporate world glorifies a dog-eat-dog mentality, these two dynamic women built …
World of Warcraft Can Cure Obesity
Gaming with World of Warcraft can cause you to lose weight without having to move from your computer, a gamer has claimed. Greg shed 41 lbs. from a 274-pound frame in just 3 months — and did it playing World of Warcraft….
KFC Restaurant Swears Off Trans-Fat Oils in Health Move
Responding to pressure from public health advocates, Kentucky Fried Chicken said Monday they would stop frying chicken in trans fats, which raise your bad cholesterol and lower your good cholesterol more than other oils. Other fast food restaurants, like Wendy’s, already use non-trans fat oils for frying. Switching to soy bean oils will keep the customer healthier but still satisfied say KFC officials who conducted secret taste-tests that registered no measurable differences from diners. (Register-Guard in Oregon)
Halloween Candy Safe, After All
It is time we de-bunked the myth that trick-or-treat candy is in need of an x-ray before our children are allowed to dig in. (Reprinted from Oct 1999 GNN story) Fact: There has never been a single confirmed serious injury from “tainted treats” having been altered by a stranger since fears began spreading among the public in the late 50’s…
University of Southern California sociologist Barry Glassner checked the facts. Glassner points to Southern Illinois University sociologist Joel Best who investigated every incident of tainted Halloween candy since 1958, but couldn’t find a single instance of serious injury or death resulting from corrupted candy doled out by a stranger. Nearly all of the alleged tamperings were in the end proven to be false alarms or hoaxes, usually perpetrated by young pranksters.
Professor Glassner says that many reporters don’t check the facts, and end up repackaging the same fears year after year. Glassner’s book, The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things, asserts that the media, in search of ad dollars and ratings revenue, publicize “poignant anecdotes in place of scientific evidence, the christening of isolated incidents as trend and depictions of entire categories of people as innately dangerous.”
Incidentally, the two Halloween fatalities uncovered were tales of children poisoned by their own families, one to hide an accidental ingestion of heroin and the other to collect insurance.
Spicy Spin on Easing Arthritis
.jpg "turmeric(1)")
.jpg)
Turmeric been used for centuries in traditional Indian Ayurvedic medicine to counter inflammation. Now the spicey herb has shown its promise to researchers throughout trials treating arthritis in rats… (WebMD) Thanks to GNN suporter, David M. for submitting the link!