All News - Page 1592 of 1602 - Good News Network
Home Blog Page 1592

Businesses Set Ethical and Quality Standards

By
Good News Network
-
fruit.jpg

Today, Harvard University is among more than 30 business schools offering courses on social responsibility.* This is illustrative of many positive trends in business, as exemplified by the growth of Business for Social Responsibility.

Quality production and labor practices are being adopted by global companies attracted to markets that adhere to higher standards. Europe’s demands for fruit without pesticides was one of the factors that led to a quality certification for 1,200 growers in Brazil. The standards have been a win-win situation for growers, laborers, the economy and consumers. Brazil’s guarantee of quality produce, grown with respect for the environment, work conditions and health, has led to increases in exports;— and employment — since its implementation four years ago. Additionally, a decrease of 40 percent in the use of fertilizers and of 25 percent in the use of pesticides created “a positive influence on their production costs.”

Continue

Habanero Peppers Wilt Cancer Cells

By
Good News Network
-
Photo by Ed Uthman, CC license on Flicr

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and UCLA researchers report habanero peppers have the power to drive prostate cancer cells to commit suicide.

Capsaicin, the compound that makes you sweat and your tongue burn after eating habanero peppers, is responsible for inducing the death of prostate cancer cells, according to studies published in the March 15, 2006 issue of Cancer Research.

(Featured image by Ed Uthman, CC license on Flickr)

Growing Pains, and Glitches

By
Good News Network
-

Welcome to "G is for…. Blog"

G is for Growing pains and Glitches

Well, I sure needed those quotes this morning! (see below and also Inspiration Point for March 18 ) After a week of technical problems with the site, our glitches have yet to be resolved. On top of that, I ran into a website this morning with SO MANY of the features I want for this site — technorati feed, de.licio.us tags preset for each story, multiple tags for each story that lead to related topics, headline links for mobile phones to bookmark… I feel that all this angst is forcing me to be smarter, to rise to the occasion… to be compassionate with myself. . . So I’m learning something, which is good. Try to see the good in your pain.

__________________________
_____________________

"Smart, useful pain comes to you because you are taking risks, and acting out of love and adventure. It is trying to make you smarter. In Kabbalah, in tarot, the devil card is the archetype of the Riddler, who presents us with insolvable problems so we can get smarter by rising to the occasion. Pain is demanding that we get more loving and expansive."

– Rob Brezsny (Author, Pronoia is the antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings
"Compassion directed toward oneself is true humility."
– Simone Weil

Golden Monkeys Surprising Comeback

By
Good News Network
-

China’s golden monkeys, a species more endangered than giant pandas (and almost as adorable), have made a surprising comeback with populations quadrupling in the past two decades from 200 in the early 1980s to around 800.

The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World

By
Good News Network
-
Cultural Creatives

Cultural CreativesThe Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World (Hardcover)

The researchers who wrote this fascinating book characterize a new group of people as “Cultural Creatives.” These are people like me, the editor of the Good News Network, whose values embrace a curiosity and concern for the world and its ecosystem; an awareness of and activism for peace and social justice; and an openness to self-actualization through spirituality or personal development.

Sociologist Paul H. Ray and psychologist Sherry Ruth Anderson claim to have found that 50 million adult Americans (slightly over one quarter of the adult population) can now be identified as belonging to this group. They estimated that there were an additional 80–90 million “Cultural Creatives” in Europe as of 2000. Their assertions, though broad and sweeping, shed new light on American culture and demograpics.

Ray and Anderson argue that cultural creatives hold the potential for radically reshaping the values and material realities, the “deep structure,” of American life, and so they aim to make this group cognizant of their shared values, to bring about substantive changes.

Ray and Anderson created a questionnaire to identify “Cultural Creatives” in Western society. The below characteristics were identified as qualities of a “Cultural Creative”. Agreement with 10 or more indicates status as a “Cultural Creative”.

  • love of nature and deep caring about its preservation, and its natural balance.
  • strong awareness of the planet-wide issues like climate change and poverty and a desire to see more action on them
  • being active themselves
  • willingness to pay higher taxes or spend more money for goods if that money went to improving the environment
  • heavy emphasis on the importance of developing and maintaining relationships
  • heavy emphasis on the importance of helping others and developing their unique gifts
  • volunteer with one or more good causes
  • intense interest in spiritual and psychological development
  • see spirituality as an important aspect of life, but worry about religious fundamentalism
  • desire equality for women and men in business, life and politics
  • concern and support of the well being of all women and children
  • want politicians and government to spend more money on education, community programs and the support of a more ecologically sustainable future
  • are unhappy with the left and right in politics
  • optimism towards the future
  • want to be involved in creating a new and better way of life
  • are concerned with big business and the means they use to generate profits, including destroying the environment and exploiting poorer countries
  • unlikely to overspend or be heavily in debt
  • dislike the emphasis of modern cultures on “making it” and “success”, on consuming and making money
  • like people, places and things that are different or exotic

New Life for Historic Railway

By
Richard Rogers
-

In what has been called an “historic agreement,” a scenic stretch of railroad along the rugged coastline of British Columbia has been donated to a charitable community foundation ready to promote more environmentally friendly commuting and tourism.

The deal depended upon a huge array of community municipalities and citizen groups along Canada’s western coast working together for four years until they achieved non-profit status as the Island Corridor Foundation.

The Canadian Pacific Railway then handed over the 225 km (140 miles) of railway line between British Columbia’s capital Victoria and Vancouver Island, along with six historic stations, a number of spectacular trestles, 651 hectares (1600 acres) of property, and $2.3 million in cash (Canadian) for upgrades to the line. In return, the company received the full tax benefit due a $236 million charitable donation.

Continue

Science Confirms Humans Naturally Helpful

By
Good News Network
-
toddler is kind naturally

toddler is kind naturallyWhat is human nature? Are we basically good, evil, or a little of both? Philosophers have debated this throughout the ages, but today science delivers some definitive news. Humans are naturally altruistic.

In Germany at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, a window has been opened into human behavior. Experiments involving prelinguistic and just post-linguistic children as young as 18 months showed the toddlers to be freely and voluntarily helpful in situations where the experimenter feigned a need for help.

Continue

Spirituality and Religion Prevalent Among College Professors

By
Good News Network
-

Eighty-one percent of U.S. college professors consider themselves “spiritual,” according to a report by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA.

The survey of 40,670 faculty at 421 colleges and universities seems to counter the popular perception that college campuses are predominantly secular.

…And, check out the neat online community called Integrative Spirituality where I found this story. (There are way too many links on the front page, though… It tends to cause paralysis in a viewer…)

Chelation a Possible Cure for Autism

By
Good News Network
-
Boy with cancer Portrait by Flashes of Hope-Patrick Schneider

Boy with cancer Portrait by Flashes of Hope-Patrick SchneiderParents and caregivers are crediting the process of chelation with curing their son of autism. He went from not responding to his parents and continually spinning himself in circles, to talking and responding like a normal child.

Continue

Photojournalist finds people are thirsting for images of goodness

By
Gerald Herbert
-

I have found … that people are thirsting for images of goodness in order to maintain their hope in a difficult world. Sometimes, the measure of our work as journalists is not the professional recognition of colleagues, but rather the mark we make in the hearts of readers who see our work.

– Gerald Herbert, photojournalist

Poor Kids Can Figure Out Computers on Their Own

By
Good News Network
-

Children in Remote Villages in India Teaching Themselves to use Computers Instinctively – with No Help from Adults

An IT engineer in India was gazing out his office window at the poverty-ridden shanty town located just outside the walls of his sleek hi-tech corporate compound. This irony led to inspiration. Computer skills offer a better chance at success for these poor kids.

The BBC reports, “He decided it was time to break a hole in the wall and give the children outside a chance to see what a computer was. He cut a hole and hooked one up. What happened next amazed him. They taught themselves how to use it.”

The article gives fascinating detail on how that occurred.

Innovative kid-only computer kiosks (built to keep large adult hands out) are now being installed in the village squares of other impoverished areas.

Since its inception in 1999, the Hole-in-the-Wall project has grown from a single computer at Kalkaji, New Delhi, to more than a hundred computers at various locations across India and abroad. For the children, it is an extension of their playground where they can play together, teach each other new things and, more importantly, just be themselves. World leaders, like the president of Afghanistan, have come to watch them play on the computers.

The really interesting twist is, no one teaches the kids how to use the technology. They teach themselves. “The driving force behind Hole-in-the-Wall is the the concept of Minimally Invasive Education which is truly path breaking,” reads their Web site. Observing the children at the kiosks for four years has shown “children could learn on their own, something not many people would have imagined.”

Editor’s note: Some families in the U.S. have “imagined” it and they called it Unschooling… a type of homeschooling that is gaining momentum. It is also called natural learning or child-led learning. Approximately 100,000 kids in the U.S. are in families that practice this philosophy… including my own! — Geri

Goldfinches making comeback in UK Thanks to Garden Feeders

By
Good News Network
-

A survey revealed that better food in bird feeders and gardens contributed to a recovery in the UK goldfinch population by one third in the last 20 years.

The telegraph reports that "increases in population have been noted since the mid-1990s, but the survey is the first confirmation that the revival has been brought about by the bird food offered in Britain’s 15 million or so gardens."

Nyjer (or niger) seed is one of the preferred foods for finches and is readily available, along with the high-energy sunflower heart seeds. Feeding birds is a simple way we can all help to bring back species of beautiful songbirds.

(submitted by tif short, CA)

Six months after Katrina, Kitty Reunited with Owner

By
Good News Network
-

A 7-pound black kitty named "Cupcake" proved to be tough and streetwise prowling the devastated New Orleans neighborhood for six months in search of food following the evacuation of her family. She never strayed far from her home until animal rescuers found her owner and reunited Cupcake with the teenager now living in Atlanta… AP reports and files a wonderful photo of the happy girls.

"Animal rescue groups have rescued more than 1,200 former pets living as strays in New Orleans and have been working to reunite them with their owners, according to Best Friends Animal Society, the group that arranged the reunion."

How to Get a Small Business Loan

By
Neil Berdiev
-
Neil Burdiev

Neil BurdievWhen I finished writing my Loan Financing Guide for Small Business Owners, I realized that the book is only a small step toward the achievement of my goal to develop training tools and resources that are easy to grasp and actually work.

My book tour has taken me to the streets of large cities like Boston and Miami and small towns like Cambridge and Somerville in Massachusetts. I’ve documented many questions from small business owners about loan financing for small businesses in Finland as well. In response, I’ve written articles and developed a seminar entitled, Preparing a Powerful Small Business Loan Request.

Here are three answers to frequently asked questions.

Continue

Volvo Pledges Lifetime of New Cars for Heroes

By
Good News Network
-

BevilhymerHope Bevilhymer from West Jordan, Utah, is “America’s Greatest Hometown Hero” in the third annual Volvo for Life Awards. Her inspired work in developing countries around the world helping those in need to receive prosthetic limbs, won her a complimentary new Volvo car every three years for the rest of her life. The Limbs of Hope Foundation was born out of the difficulties in her own life raising money to buy a prosthetic limb when it was not covered by insurance.

Continue

Australian Vintners Donate Grapes to Winery Torched in Brush Fires

By
Good News Network
-
wine-GrampianEstates

wine-GrampianEstatesWineries in Australia rallied to support a fellow vintner whose crop had been destroyed by regional bushfires. Ten thousand dollars in grapes were donated to allow Grampians Estate to bottle a Shiraz that year.

They called it the ‘Friends Collection‘ and put images of the fires and the people who helped them return to their craft on the front and back labels of the 2006 vintage.

Don’t you just love Australian wines even more now?

(READ the full story from ABC.net)

Summer Vacations, Cheering Orphans, and Host Couples

By
Good News Network
-
KidSave International
To California, North Carolina, and Virginia, the Summer Miracles program brings orphans from Russia, Kazakhstan and Columbia for summer vacation with host families. Through carnival rides, picnics, swimming, and horseback riding, these kids often experience the best moments of their lives.KidSave International

The adults who sign up for the program, through KidSave International, fall in love with children and often are inspired to adopt. More than 1,300 children have participated in the Summer Miracles program. Nearly all have found permanent homes.

American College Students Choosing to Teach Inner City Kids

By
Good News Network
-
Teachers can learn something from Finland

Grad Students Teach America What Gen X is All About

In the spring of 2005, 12 percent of graduating seniors at Yale signed up to “Teach for America” in inner city schools. David Gergen of US News and World Report shared a compelling tale of young idealism.

Teach for America teachers score higher in classroom math scores than regular teachers. “This spring on many college campuses, something absolutely remarkable happened: Talented young people lined up by the scores to teach lower-income kids in urban and rural public schools. In years past, investment banks like Goldman Sachs were the recruiting powerhouses at top campuses; this year, they were joined by Teach for America, a program that expresses the fresh idealism and social values of this new generation.”

Small World Stories

By
Good News Network
-
photo of elderly couple, by Geri

This is an inspiring letter I received from Michael in Canada. He calls it his small-world story. It should remind you that striking up conversation with people whom you don’t know is usually quite worthwhile, even though it takes some courage.

A recent study shows how being extroverted can make you happy. Talking to strangers requires us to be extroverted, but it pays handsomely, as the following tale reveals. Notice how Michael is aware that passing time talking with others enriches his happiness:

I was waiting in our local Emergency Room to see about my sprained wrist. I struck up a conversation with an elderly gentleman to pass the time a bit more enjoyably. He told how he was once helping out his local church rummage sale when a client asked to buy a large piece of furniture. While waiting for the delivery truck to return, he started talking to the man.

 

The man was an Iranian immigrant, fleeing from Khomeini’s strict regime. His family had fled to Turkey to escape.

 

My new elderly friend said, “My nephew worked in Istanbul during that time.”

 

The immigrant replied, “Istanbul is where we ended up! Tell me, your nephew, his name was David?”

 

“Yes, he worked at the Canadian Consulate.”

 

The immigrant grabs the old man in a huge hug and started crying, “Your David approved us to come to Canada! Your David saved the life of my family!”
Michael Kannon
Winnipeg, Canada
Do you have any Small World Stories (SWS’s) to share? Post a comment below.

20,000 Muslims Gather for Peace

By
Good News Network
-

Dec. 5, 2005 — We need to be reminded again and again that mainstream Muslims are not like their fanatical brothers in terror. In Britain, families traveled to London to be counted as the peaceful majority of Islam, able to stand against terrorism yet speak out in the face of unfairness. Let’s collect here on the Religions page of the GN Network as many stories as we can about Muslims as equals. Equality and Oneness shine as values in all the world’s religions.

1...1,5911,5921,593...1,602Page 1,592 of 1,602
© Copyright 1997–2025 GNN, LLC