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China’s Drive to Cleaner, Smaller Cars

China’s growing middle class now demands cleaner air… while Beijing’s bureaucrats are working furiously to balance growth with pollution.

In March, China cracked down on polluting and wasteful cars using heavy-consumption taxes against cars with the biggest engines. Tax rates for big cars are nearly seven times higher than for the smallest ones. Adding 20 percent to the cost of an SUV is steering consumers away. Also, within two years China will mandate the strictest fuel-economy standards in the world forcing manufacturers to top every other industrialized nation. (Reuters)

Wedding Registries for Charity

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brideA growing number of couples who get married later in life find they don’t need wedding gifts to furnish their home nor want gifts that provide a more lavish lifestyle. Instead, they are setting up gift registries for charities. New Web sites make it easy for couples to collect money for their favorite causes …

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For instance, Justgive.org offers to engaged couples a Charitable Wedding Center for creating a customized Web page that encourages contributions to their favorite charities. JustGive offers more than 1 million charities to choose from, including national and local organizations and can be used alone or in addition to traditional gift registries. (AP)

Russia Forgives Debt of Developing Nations

(June 9) Russia said Friday it plans to write off about $700 million in debt owed by the poorest countries – a move reflecting its soaring oil-fueled wealth and a desire for equal footing with the world’s top industrialized nations. (Seattle PI)

Tropical Storm Blesses Many in Gulf Region

The rains from Tropical Storm Alberto have turned out to be a blessing to officials fighting wildfires in Florida and to farmers in Georgia with millions of dollars of peanut and cotton crops at risk from drought. For details on the slow rains that seeped into fields, read the AP story here.

Soccer Team Helps Bring Peace to Ivory Coast

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The first-ever World Cup match for the Ivory Coast was played by a team made up of players of various ethnic backgrounds from both the rebel-held North and the government-controlled South. It represented national unity for the war-torn country striving to repair its breach.fifa_elephants

Even the coach, a Frenchman, is accepted in a country where fierce anti-French sentiment simmers...National unity (is) something that the country desperately needs if it is to preserve its tenuous peace while moving toward disarmament and fall elections… An Ivorian soccer analyst says the team’s positive impact on the country’s woes could be huge. "You wouldn’t believe what’s happening in the besieged zones when the team wins. It’s something incredible. Everyone sees themselves in the team." (CSMonitor )

Wonderful Life Tops 100 Most Inspiring Films List

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afi_cheersLast night the American Film Institute presented the list of Top 100 Most Inspiring American Films in a three-hour television special on CBS. A jury of 1,500 film artists, critics and historians awarded the classic, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, starring James Stewart, with the honor of most inspirational movie of all time. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, SCHINDLER’S LIST, ROCKY and MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON completed the top five.

100 Cheers: America’s Most Inspiring Movies counted down the list with commentary from some of Hollywood’s most celebrated actors and filmmakers, including Don Cheadle, Sally Field, Jane Fonda, Whoopi Goldberg, Ben Kingsley, Sidney Poitier, Mickey Rooney and Steven Spielberg.

"The past few years have not been easy in America–from September 11th to the devastation of hurricanes," reminded Jean Picker Firstenberg, AFI’s Director and CEO. . .

George W. Bush Administration Creates World’s Largest Marine Preserve in Hawaii

The Bush Administration announced today the creation of a vast nature preserve to protect a chain of remote islands in Hawaii. The new national monument would encompass 140,000 square miles of adjacent seas and would be larger than all national parks combined — an area that would stretch from Chicago to Florida.

Environmentalists are hailing the move as historic. The archipelago is home to 7000 marine species, at least a quarter of which are found nowhere else. Funds are being raised to aid local fisherman whose livelihood is being phased out as part of the marine protection effort. (Washington Post)

 

Hope I Die Before I Get Old: Study Finds Older People Happier Than Anticipated

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Back when he was 20 years old in 1965, rock star Pete Townshend wrote the line “I hope I die before I get old” in his anthem for the 60’s: “My Generation.”

But a unique new study suggests that Townshend may have fallen victim to a common, and mistaken, belief: That the happiest days of people’s lives occur when they’re young.

optimistic oldsterIn fact, the study finds, both young people and older people think that young people are happier than older people — when in fact research has shown the opposite. And while both older and younger adults tend to equate old age with unhappiness for other people, individuals tend to think they’ll be happier than most in their old age.

In other words, the young Pete Townshend may have thought others of his generation would be miserable in old age. And now that he’s 61, just the opposite is likely to be true: youths “mis-predict” how happy (or unhappy) they will be as they age.

EPA Plans to Phase Out Use of Pesticide

holdingappleA pesticide commonly used on apples, pears, nuts and other crops will be phased out in the United States after lawsuits and complaints by farm workers and environmental groups. AZM will be banned for use on apples, blueberries, cherries, pears and parsley in 2010, and "beginning next year on nuts, nursery stocks and Brussels sprouts." (AP)

(I don’t know about anyone else, or about the facts in the case, but I do know this sounds like good news for families and their health. Most people — I bet — want less chemicals on their foods.)

Steelworkers and Sierra Club Unite

The largest union and the largest environmental group, two sides that have normally opposed each other, have joined forces to inspire workers and CEO’s to believe that jobs can multiply while the environment is protected:

A central goal of the partnership, called the Blue/Green Alliance, will be to reassure workers that measures to improve the environment need not jeopardize jobs. "We’re going to work together to try to blow up the myth that you can’t have a clean environment and good jobs," said Leo Gerard, the president of the steelworkers union, which has 850,000 members. (SustainableBusiness.com)

Cats to Compete in Reality TV

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opryTen cats in search of owners, chosen from shelters around the country, will compete for loudest purr, most prolific sleeper and who can catch the most toy mice. Kitties who get the boot will be adopted into permanent homes. (right, orphan Opry)

The show was created by the cat food company, Meow Mix, and will air on cable’s Animal Planet beginning June 16 (9:00 PM). Viewers can go to the Web site and vote off one feline contestant each day, which sends them to a new home. (Reuters)

Christianity Today Stands Behind Wiccan Widow

This article appeared in June 5 issue of Christianity Today

Stand Up, Stand Up for Wicca
A war widow rightly wonders: Whose freedom are we fighting for?

Amidst a sea of memorial plaques at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery, one space remains blank.
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That space is waiting to be filled by a plaque honoring the life and sacrifice of 34-year-old Sgt. Patrick Stewart, who was killed in action on September 25, 2005, when his helicopter was struck with a rocket-propelled grenade as it flew over Afghanistan. But it may be some time before Sgt. Stewart is remembered with a memorial plaque. That’s because his war widow and the Department of Veterans Affairs are at odds over the Stewart family’s request to have the Wiccan pentacle, a five-pointed star surrounded by a circle, placed on the plaque. As of May 31, 2006, government officials have refused to allow the Wiccan symbol to be placed on Stewart’s plaque.

Nigeria Signs Accord with Cameroon Ending Border Dispute

ngra-cmronThe presidents of Nigeria and Cameroon today signed an agreement settling a decades-old, sometimes violent, border dispute over the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula following intensive mediation over the weekend by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

“The signing ceremony which has brought us together crowns a remarkable experiment in conflict prevention by Cameroon and Nigeria,” Mr. Annan said of the agreement which provides for the withdrawal of Nigerian troops within 60 days.

One Thing You Can do About Global Warming: Sign Up for Wind Power

Has anyone seen Gore’s movie….An Inconvenient Truth? If not, then please do so. It’s powerful. And, after watching it, come back and tell us what you are going to do about global warming.
wind turbines
One thing I want to do is this. For the next 10 weeks I want to convince one person per day to sign up to receive all their electricity from windpower. In Colorado, you would have to get on a waiting list. The goal is to increase the waiting list by thousands in order to encourage the utilities to put up more wind turbines.

Tennessee: Brook Trout on the Rebound

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salvelinus_fontinalisOnce endangered in the Eastern United States, the brook trout is making a comeback. The success of conservation efforts has led to stable populations that now will be open to fishermen of a few Appalachian Mountain streams for the first time in 30 years. The brook trout is the only trout native in the East. (AP)

Congress Proposes Farm Animals Receive Humane Treatment

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Reps. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) and Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) made history for farm animals June 8 by introducing landmark legislation thatcow would greatly improve the welfare of millions of animals on factory farms. The Farm Animal Stewardship Purchasing Act would establish basic animal welfare standards for the meat, egg and dairy industries, and it would require producers supplying animal products to the federal government to comply with these standards. (Factory Farming Campaign )

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Congressman Shays said, "The way a society treats its animals speaks to the core values and priorities of its citizens." One of the seven core values determining the selection of news here at the Good News Network is compassion. You can express your compassion by supporting this legislation at the Factory Farming Campaign’s Web site.

Ecobrique: Building With Sewage

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ecobrique2A French company is winning awards for innovation with its building materials that are made from sewage! Introducing, Ecobrique:

vBc 3000 has patented a process of making ceramic products from sewage sludge. Partially dried sewage sludge is mixed with clay to create bricks or expanded clay aggregates, such as lightweight concrete. The bricks can be fired in traditional kilns and the clay aggregates made in the rotary furnaces that they use in cement factories. The resulting materials are lightweight and as durable as traditional building materials…The first commercial production of the Ecobrique is due to start in 2007 (Go to TreeHugger for more details)

Designer Unveils Off-Road Wheel Chair

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k2

The K2 has three wheels — two large ones at the front that can take mountain bike tyres — and a smaller one at the back… The company says it is ideally suited for off-road use but can be just as useful in towns and cities too. The K2 is extremely light — with the quick-release wheels — and can be folded up in about eight seconds. (BBC )

Pet Cat Chases Black Bear Up Tree

Never underestimate your own potential. No matter your size.

A territorial Tabby cat, who doesn’t like strangers in his yard, chased a bear up a tree — twice.
(AP has a photo!)

Report: Enough Wind Offshore to Electrify America

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wind-offshore-ws-flickrThere is as much wind power potential (900,000 megawatts) off our coasts as the current capacity of all power plants in the United States combined, according to a new report entitled, A Framework for Offshore Wind Energy Development in the United States, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, and General Electric. See the full story here.

(Editor’s note: Thanks for the link, Cindy… That’s a lot of power, alright. But, I keep thinking, the reason I go on holiday to the shore is to gaze upon the vast unbroken horizon. . . How do people feel about the possibility of changing that landscape? Should there be a limited number of areas with the turbines?)