Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Shot of the Day for March 25, 2009

The Berlin Wall
By Flickr Member Extranoise

Good News for March 25 (posted by Mary Beth)

DREAM RESCUE Fire Fighter Spiderman Saves Autistic Boy

"A Thai fire fighter put on a Spiderman suit to save a scared, autistic boy from falling down three stories from a balcony he sat on in school.

Teachers of the school for children with special needs in Bangkok called for help when the boy, who was scared of his first day in school, sat on a balcony on the third floor and refused to get down."

For more on this amazing rescue, click here.


Pet-ernity Leave: Treating Pets as Humans

"People expecting an addition to the family have a lot on their minds. Besides the changes to their routines, there are short-term considerations like getting time off to properly welcome the bundle of joy into his or her new home.

Happily, there are enlightened employers who understand their anxious employees’ concerns. That’s why Virgin Mobile of Australia is offering its employees five days of unpaid leave to welcome the newcomers home.

Only five days? Well, how long does it take you to get a kitten settled?"

Click here for the rest of Chuck Colson's commentary.


Number of New Orleans area jobs climbed in February

"The New Orleans metro area added 700 jobs in February, a gain that temporarily lays to rest concerns that the local economy might mimic the job hemorrhaging that is taking place nationwide. Employment levels were also up compared with the same month a year ago, according to data released Wednesday by the Louisiana Workforce Commission."

More on the increase is waiting for you here.


Meteorite windfall: Thousands of space rocks land at Field

"Amid months of grim economic news that has been crippling public museums, $3 million worth of rocks from outer space and a $7.3 million endowment landed at the Field Museum Tuesday like manna from heaven.

The windfall means that even as museums everywhere cut corners and pare back research, the Field can expand one of its oldest departments: meteorites."

Click here to read more about this new exhibit at Chicago's Field Museum.


A watery revolt in Boston Harbor

"They came in colonial garb to Boston Harbor today not to dump tea - but to dump what they say is overpriced unnecessary water.

Noting that tap water in Boston and most Eastern Massachusetts' communities that comes from the Quabbin Reservoir passes a slew of rigorous standards for safety and purity – and costs less than a half cent per gallon – ten members of the Think Outside the Bottle campaign performed the tongue-in-cheek demonstration at Christopher Columbus Park in the North End."

To read more about this living history event, click here.

Good News From Mary March 25, 2009

Va. Hospital Treats the Whole Person

At Fauquier Hospital in Warrenton, a patient doesn't have to worry about getting stuck with a chatty roommate: All 86 of the hospital's rooms are private. Restricted visiting hours are a thing of the past, too: Family and friends can drop by any time, day or middle of the night.

Fauquier patients can order decidedly non-institutional dishes such as breakfast burritos, brick-oven pizza, Mongolian stir fry and desserts that are to die for, although the hospital probably wouldn't care to put it that way. And if a patient is accustomed to dinner at 8 or likes to sleep until 10, the concierge will take note and try to oblige.

Click here
to read the rest of this story.

Teen's Vision Brings Safe Water to Darfur

Joshua Guthrie was a troubled teen. Like many others of his generation, the high school sophomore was troubled by the needless suffering of so many people in so many places. Hunger and poverty. Wartime atrocities and sex trafficking. AIDS orphans and genocides.

It seemed so impossible for a 16-year-old in west Tennessee to make a difference.

Then Joshua read "Do Hard Things," a bestselling book by twin brothers Alex and Brett Harris, at 20 years old only barely out of their teens themselves. The book challenges young people to rebel against "the myth of adolescence" -- the notion that teens are by nature irresponsible, immature and rebellious. "By breaking the mold of what society thinks we are capable of, teens can achieve so much more than what's expected," the brothers write. "We've seen 'average' teenagers transformed from channel changers to world changers who are accomplishing incredible things."

Click here to read the rest of this story.

Shuttle Discovery undocks from space station

After eight days together, space shuttle Discovery pulled away from the international space station Wednesday, ending a successful effort to boost electrical power and science research at the orbiting outpost.

Click here
to find out more.

'Miracle fruit' turns sour things sweet

The small fruit has the color of a cranberry, the shape of an almond and tastes like a flavorless gummy.

But after chewing the fruit and rubbing the pulp against the tongue, the berry, known by a promising name -- "miracle fruit" or Synsepalum dulcificum -- releases a sweetening potency that alters the taste buds.

For about 15 to 30 minutes, everything sour is sweet.

Click here to read the rest of this story.

Where 'Undo Send' and other Gmail ideas are born

Most of us have done it.

Instead of hitting "reply" to an e-mail, we accidentally push "reply all," sending a potentially embarrassing or insulting message to those we didn't intend to see it.

To address this problem, Google Inc.'s Gmail Labs has launched an experimental feature called "Undo Send" that gives users a chance to rewrite their message, correct settings or simply fix typos.

Click here to read the rest of this story.

Man survived both atomic bombings

Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on a business trip on 6 August 1945 when a US plane dropped the first atomic bomb.

He suffered serious burns and spent a night there before returning to his home city of Nagasaki just before it was bombed on 9 August.

Click here to read the rest of this story.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009 Good News Now Stories

Companion Plants for Tomatoes

"There are plants that work well together and plants that should be kept apart. Matching the two groups into a garden plan is often difficult, especially in a small space. Companion planting tomatoes is a lot easier than trying to lay out your entire vegetable garden with good companions."

Click here to read more.


Idaho Pastor Claims Successful Answer to Famous Atheist's Easter Challenge

"Dan Barker was once a preacher and writer of popular Christian songs, but in 1984 he told friends he did not believe in God any longer and walked away from ministry. He is now co-president of the largest atheist group in the U.S., the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF, Inc.) in Madison, Wisconsin. The group has filed numerous legal suits trying to do such things as removing monuments of the Ten Commandments from city parks and 'under God' from the Pledge of Allegiance. When it comes to Easter, for sixteen years Dan Barker has challenged Christians concerning the reliability of the story from the Bible. His 'Easter Challenge' is found in his 1992 book "Losing Faith in Faith." Using the words of the Bible, Barker asks Christians to begin at Easter and make a list of the events described in all the various stories of who did what, when, and where from the time of the resurrection up to the time of Jesus' ascension into heaven. His only condition is that not one detail from the Bible be omitted. Barker sees the accounts as contradictory in numerous places, casting a shadow of certain doubt on the truthfulness of the Easter story. According to Barker, few Christians have responded to his Challenge, and none have succeeded."

Click here to read more.


TV Anchor Left at the Altar Gives Advice on Dating

"At the height of her career as a TV anchor and madly in love with a man she expected to soon call husband, Kimberley Kennedy lost everything – her career, love, health, and money. In her wrestle with God and life, she learned about the Father’s love and emerged with a new motto in life – 'man’s rejection, God’s protection.'"

Click here to read more.


Let the Children Come to Me

"March 21, 2009—Jesus said, 'Let the children come to me.' On Saturday morning in Montevideo, Uruguay, thousands did just that."

Click here to read more.