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Holland Cruise Ship Rescues Migrants

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Good News Network

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Jun 9, 2006

The United Nations is praising the rescue of 22 migrants, including at least one asylum seeker, whose vessel had sunk in the Aegean Sea, by the crew of a cruise ship from the Holland America Line.

The MS Noordam was on its way from the Greek city of Piraeus to the Turkish port of Kusadasi on Tuesday, when the crew spotted several people in the water off the Greek island of Samos. The ship rescued 22 migrants from various countries, including Somalia and Iraq. The effort took two hours and fifteen minutes. They were then taken to Kusadasi the next day. . .

FDA Approves New Cervical Cancer Vaccine

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Jun 8, 2006

The Food and Drug Administration today approved the first vaccine that protects against the viruses known to cause 70 percent of cervical cancers. In a two-year study of more than 12,000 women, Gardasil was shown to be highly effective as an immunization for girls and women ages nine to 26.

The vaccine was found to be 100 percent effective against four types of human papillomavirus that are responsible for about 70 percent of cervical cancer cases, and others that cause 90 percent of genital wart cases. (HealthDay)

Water-Powered Car Featured on Local TV News

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Stephen c. Liberatore

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Jun 8, 2006

This guy seems to be onto something positive for the hybrid automobile folks.

Fox TV News channel 26 (need Windows Media Player to watch report)

The Green Auto Blog adds adds some comments and links regarding the man’s seemingly amazing technology.Â – Stephen C. LIberatore

Blind Man Wins in Court, Bank Must Issue Checks

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Jun 8, 2006

A blind man is celebrating after winning a legal battle with his bank to be allowed to use a cheque book.

Mr Pincha, from India, knows discrimination when he "sees" it.

He now plans to take on the insurance companies, which demand higher premiums from blind policy holders, on the presumption that there is greater risk to their lives. (BBC)Â

Bahrain Appoints its First Woman Judge

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Good News Network

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Jun 7, 2006

Women are making inroads in the government of Bahrain, a tiny Persian Gulf country that first gave women the right to vote and stand as candidates in national elections after the constitution was amended in 2002. Yesterday Bahrain’s government appointed its first woman judge.

The country, with a population of 700,000 is lead by two women ministers in the current government. And, in the upcoming parliamentary elections, twenty-one women candidates will be on the ballot. (AP)

Extinct Frogs Rediscovered in Colombia

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Good News Network

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Jun 7, 2006

whitestreefrog

“These finds show there is still hope.”

The rediscovery of the frogs showed that preservation of small habitats — such as the El Dorado reserve in Colombia where two frogs were found — could be a key to saving many threatened species. (ENN )

Twelve Amazing Teens Changing the World

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Good News Network

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Jun 7, 2006

After receiving nearly 1,500 nominations for its 2006 Build-A-Bear Workshop Huggable Heroes program, 12 inspiring kids have been recognized for their outstanding efforts to change the world.

The heroic stories of this year’s Huggable Heroes range from Welland Burnside, 18, starting Suitcases for Kids, so that children moving from one foster home to another wouldn’t have to carry their belongings in black garbage bags, to Maggie Fazenbaker, 14, of New Mexico, whose project called Operation Soldier Smiles sends care packages to deployed soldiers in the war zone. Jeniece Klammer, 18, of Michigan, started a back-to-school effort collecting school supplies for less fortunate children in her own school.

Build-A-Bear Workshop invited the public to visit their Web site to vote for the person who most touched their heart. Anthony Leanna, 14, of Suamico, Wisconsin, was selected as the People’s Pick Huggable Hero for Heavenly Hats, a program that donates brand new hats to cancer patients. More than 80,000 new pieces of headwear have been donated, thanks to Anthony, to hospitals and clinics nationwide over the past four years. Heavenly Hats has inspired hundreds of youth groups and schools to help out by hosting hat drives.

Anthony was honored along with the other 2006 Huggable Heroes at the First Star charity gala in Los Angeles, California, on Saturday. Malcolm David Kelley, “Walt” from television’s Lost, hosted the event. Each hero received a donation to their cause of $,2500.

“We are so proud and impressed by everything our Huggable Heroes have accomplished,” said Maxine Clark, Founder and Chief Executive of Build-A-Bear Workshop. “These young people are great examples of success, proving that no matter how old you are, or where you live, you can make a difference. They will touch many people’s lives and become even greater future leaders for our country.”

Bailey Reese, 9, Niceville, Fla.
Sent more than 12,000 care packages to soldiers in Iraq.

Charlotte McKane, 10, Oneonta, N.Y.
Donates hygiene products to families in violence intervention programs and games and videos to a local psychiatric unit. Raised $13,000 to benefit these groups.

Kaylene Wright, 12, Westland, Mich.
She has donated almost 1,000 children’s books to hospitals.

Heather Wilder, 12, Las Vegas, Nev.
As a former foster child, she writes books to raise awareness about the challenges foster kids face.

Maggie Fazenbaker, 14, Alamogordo, N.M.
Care packages for U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

Jenessa Largent, 14, White Bear Lake, Minn.
Her group has made over 200,000 bracelets to support service men and women.

Anthony Leanna, 14, Suamico, Wisc.
Donates hats to cancer patients.

Ted Cox, 15, Marysville, Ohio
Dedicated volunteers at a local hospital.

Welland Burnside, 17, Garden City, S.C., Suitcases for Kids
Donates suitcases to foster kids: to date 400,000 suitcases have been collected.

Brittany Palmer, 18, North Vancouver, BC, Canada
Active community volunteer for Easter Seals and other organizations.

Jeniece Klammer, 18, Ypsilanti, Mich.
Sent 200 children from poorer families back to school with special backpacks filled with school supplies.

Matthew Krauze, 18, Warwick, N.Y.
Volunteers for Puppies Behind Bars: One of his raffles raised over $1,000 for the cause.

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More Huggable Hero stories and photos online at Build-aBear Workshop

Pitt-Jolie Baby Photos to Benefit Charity

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Good News Network

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Jun 6, 2006

AP reports that Getty Images won the opportunity to be the first allowed by Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt to photograph the famous couple’s new baby in a private photo session. Getty will pay an undisclosed amount that will be donated to a children’s charity of the family’s choice. The deal is estimated to yield several million dollars.

”While we celebrate the joy of the birth of our daughter, we recognize that two million babies born every year in the developing world die on the first day of their lives,” said the couple in a statement.

Photo: UNHCR

Providing Foster Care for Deployed Troops’ Cats

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Jun 6, 2006

army_cat

Army Staff Sgt. Aeyne Anne M. Dizicksa’s cats are her family, so their welfare was her top priority when she faced deployment:

“I knew that if I had them to return to, everything else was irrelevant — just another passing episode in my life.”

She was given only a few days’ notice before her activation in January 2005. Luckily she discovered Operation Noble Foster, which has provided more than 3,000 deployed servicemembers with individual foster homes for their cats until they return. . .

(Sweet Magnolia rests on the dryer in the home of Susan Hagrelius, her foster owner of more than a year. The 8-year-old cat will soon reunite with her owner, Staff Sgt. Aeyne Anne M. Dizicksa, a deployed Army reservist in the 719th Veterinary Medical Detachment who will return later this month.)

EPA Mandates Cleaner Diesel, Cleaner Truck Engines

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Good News Network

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Jun 6, 2006

cars-driving-at-sunset

New rules issued on Thursday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires oil refineries to begin making ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD), “a fuel with 97 percent less sulfur than ordinary diesel,” which will cut smog-forming emissions by 10 percent.

“The new EPA rule “is the biggest step toward cutting vehicle pollution since lead was taken out of gasoline two decades ago,” says Richard Kassel, director of the Clean Fuels and Vehicles Project at the Natural Resources Defense Council,” reports the CS Monitor.

“80 percent of the diesel produced for highway use (must) be ULSD-compliant… By October, all filling stations now selling diesel will be required to sell ULSD instead of or in addition to diesel.”

This is only the first step to cleaner diesel for U.S. manufactures — and less smog flowing from tailpipes of buses, trucks and cars. A transformation to an all-new clean-diesel engine has been mandated to replace sales of older, dirtier models by 2008 — this, despite heavy lobbying efforts by Mac and other truck engine makers.

The new rules will have far-reaching implications for people’s health because of the cleaner air, but also for their pocketbooks. The new cleaner burning engines get 20 to 40 percent better mileage per gallon.
(CSMonitor)

Idle Computers Get To Work on Cancer Cure

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Good News Network

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Jun 6, 2006

More than 60,000 people are donating idle computer power to a project that is ultimately trying to find cures for diseases like cancer and AIDS. The number-crunching power of all those PCs working together is the equivalent of one supercomputer. If the research team can increase that number tenfold, major scientific breakthroughs are possible. . .

Gay Couples Parent Just Like Everybody Else

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Good News Network

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Jun 5, 2006

aidanandmoms

Hearing the voices recently insisting that it is best for a child to grow up with one father and one mother reminds me of a powerful documentary that aired this January on MTV called, I Have Gay Parents. Part of the ThinkMTV series entitled True Life, I Have Gay Parents follows three teens through their every day lives in a riveting look at what it means to have gay parents.

REVIEW

Hope is an adopted dark-skinned girl growing up on Staten Island with two white dads. She is preparing to leave for Wellesley College and her dads are shown fussing and worrying about her needs and desires (in one case, her yen for a tattoo — about which they are not happy). They obviously care deeply about her and are having a difficult time letting their chick leave the nest.

Aidan’s story was more suspenseful as she was trying out for the position of drum major at her conservative high school in Richmond, VA. . .

(photo- Aidan with two moms, from MTV’s True Life: I Have Gay Parents)

Federal Judge Rules Oklahoma Gay Adoption Ban Unconstitutional

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Good News Network

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Jun 5, 2006

scales of justice

US District Court Judge Robin Cauthron Friday struck down a two year-old amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution that prevented the state from recognizing adoptions by gay parents. In her ruling, she wrote:

"The very fact that the adoptions have occurred is evidence that a court of law has found the adoptions to be in the best interests of the children… To now attempt to strip a child of one of his or her parents seems far removed from the statuteâ€™s purpose…" (Jurist)

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