INSPIRATIONAL: Jackie, a bald eagle, demonstrated motherly dedication

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13062175/bald-eagle-mother-jackie-eggs-livestream-weather.html

Bald eagle Jackie’s livestream is turned into weather apocalypse film as expecting mom braves California’s tropical storm-force winds, relentless rain and heavy snow shielding three small eggs
By Mackenzie Tatananni For Dailymail.Com
Published: 14:55 EST, 8 February 2024 | Updated: 19:05 EST, 8 February 2024

*** begin quote ***

Jackie, a bald eagle, shakes powder off her feathers as she settles into a snow heap overlooking a California valley.

Invisible to the eye, a cozy nest sits underneath, kept warm by her body heat.

Jackie has been guarding her three eggs from the elements ever since a powerful atmospheric river pummeled the region last week.

*** end quote ***

Life is tough in the wild.  Something we humans forget all to easily.  Life is precious.  

How did the eagles learn to survive?

Make me think hard thoughts.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: There are no Wrong Decisions

Friday, January 19, 2024

https://geni.us/inner-battles?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Darius Foroux’s Win Your Inner Battles: Defeat The Enemy Within and Live With Purpose

There are no Wrong Decisions

“Learn to view every decision as an opportunity for growth, regardless of the outcome. Embrace the uncertainty and use it as a stepping stone to learn and evolve.”​

# – # – # – # – # 

I used preach that there are no “bad” decisions.  First, not making a decision is really a decision in disguise. Second, you ALWAYS make the “best” decision you can based on all the dikw (i.e., data, information, knowledge, wisdom) available.  Some of those “best” decisions turn out to be “wrong” in retrospect.  Usually due to insufficient data, wrong information, missing knowledge, or a lack of wisdom.  Just because a decision turns out badly does NOT make it “wrong”.  That’s why it’s always important to do an After Action Report and Lessons Learned.

I really wish I’d done more but again that was a human failing on my part not to learn from my “mistakes”.  Hope you do better than I did.  

Sir Isaac Newton, the famous English scientist, once said, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: This seems to be a big step forward to a real solution

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/texas-tiny-house-community-for-the-homeless-nears-2000-neighbors-easing-homeless-in-austin/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_medium=weekly_mailout&utm_source=10-01-2024

Texas Tiny Home Community Thrives With 2,000 Neighbors: Easing Homelessness in Austin
By Andy Corbley – Jan 9, 2024 

*** begin quote ***

“…No one’s ever done what they’re about to do,” Mark Hilbelink, the director of Austin’s largest homeless-services provider, told the New York Times.

In a big feature for the Times, Lucy Tompkins documents the stories of hope and recovery that some of the residents have lived through since moving to Community First!, which is run with a Christian ethic of “Neighborhoods of Knowingness.”

*** end quote ***

For all the politicians and bureaucrats slavering about the issue, little gets done.  In this day and age, one would think that if the Gooferment would just get out of the way with all its diktats and “regulations”, private charity could “solve” the problem.  Like the lessons from the Great Chicago Fire, intelligent help can do wonders. All Gooferment did was close down the mental asylums to “save money” and never deliver the local mental health resources that were promised.

Argh!

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: Alwayd nive to hesr a memory fo a prominent figure being kind

Thursday, January 4, 2024

FROM 1440

Good morning. It’s Saturday, Dec. 30, and in this weekend edition, we’re covering works from 1928 to soon enter the public domain, Russia’s largest aerial attack against Ukraine, and much more. First time reading? Sign up here.

*** begin quote ***

“In 1980, I was accompanying my boss on a VIP flight from Brussels to Washington on one of the Air Force’s plushed-out large jets—the ones with ‘United States of America’ emblazoned along the fuselage. My wife and I, along with two small sons, were at a round table with four captain’s chairs across from an Army straphanger and his wife at a similar table. He saw that my wife was exhausted from having handled most of our move while I had concentrated on my boss and that my boss was buzzing me every few minutes with questions about our reception in Washington. An hour or so into the flight, the general motioned for my boys to come to his table. For the next five hours, he and his wife entertained my sons so that my wife could get some rest and I could take care of my boss. Those two life-savers were Colin and Alma Powell.”

*** end quote ***

# – # – # – # – # 

A reflections on a good man.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: Governor’s chickens as a stress releiver?

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

https://lailluminator.com/briefs/governors-mansion-chickens-to-remain-in-residence-through-transition/?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

Governor’s Mansion chickens to remain in residence through transition
By: Piper Hutchinson – December 18, 2023 5:36 pm

*** begin quote ***

Edwards intended to take the chickens with him back to his home in Amite at the end of his term next month, but he has decided to leave them after Gov.-elect Jeff Landry asked to keep them during a tour of the mansion grounds, Edwards told the Illuminator.

*** and ***

Sources close to the governor say Edwards is known to visit and feed the chickens during particularly stressful days on the job.

The official transition of poultry ownership will take place on Jan. 8, when Landry is sworn in as governor.

The chickens did not respond to multiple interview questions about their new owner.

*** end quote ***

I find this story both inspirational and humorous.  Can’t imagine that being a Governor is that stressful, but the chickens must have a special way of entertaining peace and tranquility,

—30—

 

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INSPIRATIONAL: Advice on protecting children

Friday, December 22, 2023

https://palexander.substack.com/p/this-is-how-each-parent-guardian?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=579356&post_id=139768914&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=onvra&utm_medium=email

Friendly reminder if you don't feel this way about every child you're in my way you're part of my problem and that's somewhere you do not want to be.

[JR: I agree with the meme, but not his ideas on “quick justice” for pedophiles]  

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: Amazing but arduous cure for sickle cell disease

Saturday, December 16, 2023

FROM 1440 NEWS

*** begin quote ***

Sickle Cell Gene Therapy

The US Food and Drug Administration yesterday approved a pair of gene therapy treatments for sickle cell disease, a group of inherited red blood cell disorders caused by mutations in a gene that produces an oxygen-carrying protein known as hemoglobin. One of the treatments, called Casgevy, is based on breakthrough CRISPR technology—a Nobel Prize-winning gene-editing tool (see 101, w/video)—and is the first approved gene-editing therapy in the US.

Codeveloped by Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics, Casgevy involves harvesting cells from a patient’s bone marrow, editing the cells in a lab using CRISPR technology, and inserting the modified cells back into the patient’s body. Read one man’s account of being among the first people to experience the CRISPR-based treatment here.

The second treatment, developed by Bluebird Bio and called Lyfgenia, uses a harmless virus to introduce a gene into a patient’s body to help produce a hemoglobin substitute. Both Casgevy and Lyfgenia have been approved for people 12 years and older. 

Sickle cell disease (see overview) affects more than 100,000 Americans per year and 20 million people worldwide. 

*** end quote ***

https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/12/04/1084209/vertex-exacel-approval-gene-editing-sickle-cell-disease-patient/

OPINION
I received the new gene-editing drug for sickle cell disease. It changed my life.

  • As a patient enrolled in a clinical trial for Vertex’s new exa-cel treatment, I was among the first to experience CRISPR’s transformative effects.

By     Jimi Olaghere
December 4, 2023

*** begin quote ***

The options for treating sickle cell disease are very limited. Denying access to such a powerful and transformative treatment based on someone’s ability to pay, or where they happen to live, strikes me as unethical. I believe patients and health-care providers everywhere deserve to know that the treatment will be available to those who need it.

*** end quote ***

Truly it was an arduous journey.

And, while it may be hard to understand, breakthroughs are expensive.  But as soon as they are made, the inventors and others work on making it available cheaply and easily.  Indoor plumbing, electric light, and automobiles quickly became available to the masses thanks to the “invisible hand” of the marketplace and the incentives af making a profit.

It would be better IMHO for him to focus on the Gooferment and its incestuous relationship with Big Pharma as the barrier to quicker progress.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: Search for Mexico’s Ancient Civilizations

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/zelia-nuttall-globe-trotting-scholar-unlocked-secrets-aztecs-180983049/

History | November 2023

The Globe-Trotting Scholar Who Unlocked the Secrets of the Aztecs

  • Anthropologist Zelia Nuttall transformed the way we think of ancient Mesoamerica
  • An illustration of the Aztec calendar stone surrounds a young portrait of anthropologist Zelia Nuttall. “Mrs. Nuttall’s investigations of the Mexican calendar appear to furnish for the first time a satisfactory key,” wrote one leading scholar.
  • Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University

By Merilee Grindle
Author, In the Shadow of Quetzalcoatl: Zelia Nuttall and the Search for Mexico’s Ancient Civilizations

*** begin quote ***

On a bright day early in 1885, Zelia Nuttall was strolling around the ancient ruins of Teotihuacán, the enormous ceremonial site north of Mexico City. Not yet 30, Zelia had a deep interest in the history of Mexico, and now, with her marriage in ruins and her future uncertain, she was on a trip with her mother, Magdalena; her brother George; and her 3-year-old daughter, Nadine, to distract her from her worries.

The site, which covered eight square miles, had once been home to the predecessors of the Aztecs. It included about 2,000 dwellings along with temples, plazas and pyramids where they charted the stars and made offerings to the sun and moon. As Zelia admired the impressive buildings, some shrouded in dirt and vegetation, she reached down and collected a few pieces of pottery from the dusty soil. They were plentiful and easy to find with a few brushes of her hand.

*** end quote ***

Amazing what this woman was able to accomplish.

I was most impressed by her language abilities.

And, I wonder what else we have lost or overlooked.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: ₿itcoin podcast slips in a good episode about make bettwe, possibly, Libertarian children

Thursday, October 5, 2023

Kids Don’t Need School with Jonathan Prescott 
Stephan Livera
September 20, 2023

https://overcast.fm/ OBZnLSjGc

*** begin quote ***

Podcast
Stephan Livera Podcast
http://www.stephanlivera.com

Join Stephan as he interviews the sharpest economic and technical minds in Bitcoin & Austrian Economics to help you understand how money is changing and evolving. This is one of the leading podcasts in the space, and listening to this show is one of the fastest ways to learn and get up to speed on Bitcoin. 

*** end quote ***

This “snuck” in on my favorite ₿itcoin podcast.  I’m sympathetic to home schooling.  Even if I have to children to torture my craziness with. 

This is that “home school” podcast that I thought had some great ideas to try with an ADHD child my fiancé has custody of.  Not to “home school” but to steal some of the strategies and tactics that might help us deal with him. 

It may offer some great ideas.

I was particularly struck by how Gooferment Skrules make the children unable to make even simple decisions by themselves.  I am well aware of the “Prussian School Model” with bells and yak in the box.  It was designed to replace the Family with the State and make cannon fodder for the Army, willing morons for the factories, and useful idiots to vote for and be led by the elite.

FWIW YMMV

I found it inspiration for liberty.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: Will the local Gooferment have the stones to have it torn down?

Wednesday, October 4, 2023

https://www.theguardian.com/global/2023/sep/27/london-apartment-block-that-deviates-from-plans-must-be-torn-down-says-council?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark

London apartment block that deviates from plans must be torn down, says council

  • ‘Blight on the landscape’ in Greenwich lacks promised gardens, children’s play areas and accessibility for wheelchair users

Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent
Wed 27 Sep 2023 04.19 EDT
First published on Wed 27 Sep 2023 02.00 EDT

*** begin quote ***

Buildings rarely look as good as the airbrushed architects’ visualisations produced to persuade planners to grant permission. Extra sharp highlights, implausibly blue skies and deeper colours are all part of the dark arts of the computer-generated rendering.

But the gulf between what was proposed for an apartment complex rising 23 storeys above the Thames in south-east London and what was actually built has finally proved too much.

After counting 26 major deviations from the original planning permission that it granted, the Royal Borough of Greenwich has taken the extraordinary move – “unprecedented”, it said – of ordering the developers of the Mast Quay II development to pull it down. It means tenants in 204 flats now face the prospect of finding somewhere else to live.

*** end quote ***

Well clearly the correct politicians and bureaucrats didn’t have their pockets lined right!

Now will the politicians and bureaucrats have the courage to have it torn down?

Seems like a waste, but if they don’t, it sends the wrong message.  I can imagine the lawsuits and pity parties that will ensue.

Perhaps if the “profit” and then a little extra is removed from all involved, a more economic result MIGHT be achieved.  But only if all involved are equally screwed.

Seems a waste of prefectly good building to send a message to the “marketplace”.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: Even “casual caring’ can be enough to help in a terrible situtation

Saturday, September 30, 2023

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/she-was-about-to-end-it-all-until-a-stranger-shed-never-meet-again-told-her-dont-jump/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_medium=weekly_mailout&utm_source=21-09-2023

She Was About to End it All, Until a Stranger She’d Never Meet Told Her ‘Don’t Jump’
By Andy Corbley – Sep 18, 2023 

*** begin quote ***

“I was sobbing and crying and working up the courage to just go through with it, because I knew at that moment that it was going to make everyone’s lives better.”

At that moment, a driver, whose face Belmont didn’t see, and whose hand she would never shake, passed over the bridge and hollered out of the window.

“Don’t jump,” they said.

It immediately clicked a lightbulb on in her head; that if a stranger could care enough to speak up, then suicide was not the answer.

*** end quote ***

Help is available call or text 988.

I’d have preferred if the driver stopped and talked her “down”.  But, maybe that would have had a worse effect?

I always thought that suicide for a young healthy persons was just FEAR (i.e., False Evidence Appearing Real).  And, the Bible tells us, as one Christian Brother to my class, that “leaving the game early is against the rules.  That’s why football has the ‘Hail Mary Pass.  There’s always hope.  Or in the case of the opponents of Notre Dame, the next game!”.  Maybe a little sacrilegious, but in a funny memorable way.  We all have to just put one foot in from to the other, day by day, until we reach the finish line.

I wrote in my Magnus Opus: “My love, were it in my power, I would sadly grant thee this boon. But, we have to continue to follow His Plan for us. Let’s go forth and speak no more of this. Who ever is last will be last. It will be His choice; not ours. We’re but humble custodians of His temple on earth. It’s not our place to trump His plan. Whatever that plan be, know that I will be with you to my last breath.” — character “John” in CHURCH 10●19●62 Volume 2 Page 399

And, I really believe that to be true.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: Making lenonaid from lemons

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

https://nypost.com/2023/09/21/my-90-minute-american-airlines-flight-turned-into-9-hour-hell/

 My 90-minute American Airlines flight turned into a 9-hour hell — but a miracle happened

By Jane Herz 

Published Sep. 21, 2023, 9:27 a.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

American Airlines flight 5085 was scheduled to depart at 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 18. But when Conley looked at his phone and saw that the time was 6:30 p.m. — about a half hour after the plane was originally supposed to land at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) — he knew something was awry.

That’s when the pilot told passengers that the plane was diverted to a small airport in Wichita Falls, Texas, due to a severe impending storm, as DFW was not allowing landings or takeoffs.

Rather than disembarking upon landing at 6:45 p.m. at Wichita Falls Regional Airport, Conley and his fellow passengers got stuck on the tarmac for over two hours because airport employees weren’t allowed outside due to the lightning.

But what should have been the flight from hell was really something that turned into a beautiful, human experience, Conley, 38, said.

*** and ***

The man Conley was sitting next to, Joshua Chandler, even put on a pretend duck tour for the young kids, as he had been on one earlier that day, blowing the yellow duck whistle around his neck.

*** end quote ***

What a great inspirational story.  We hear all about the “Karens” and “Kens”, drunken idiots, or some “un housebroken” slobs on planes.  But we rarely hear of the times that humans all come together under duress and make the best of some unfortunate coincidences.

I’d like to think that I could be like them  — charitable, kind, and considerate of my neighbors.

And, BTW, where does one go for a “duck tour” and why. Laugh!

Of course, I’ll never ever fly into, out of, or through DFW.  One thunderstorm ride there back in the 70’s was enough for me. (And that’s where IBM lost its PC team when Esteridge’s place went down. All the corporate travel departments created the “only a few employees on any one flight” rule as few weeks later. So sad.)

Great story of humanity’s possibilities.

—30— 

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INSPIRATIONAL: Usign “e-waste” to revive an electric scooter

Friday, September 8, 2023

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/man-used-80-discarded-vape-batteries-to-power-an-electric-scooter-proving-the-importance-of-e-waste/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_medium=weekly_mailout&utm_source=05-09-2023

Man Used 80 Discarded Vape Batteries to Power an Electric Scooter Proving the Importance of E-Waste

By Good News Network – Sep 2, 2023 

*** begin quote ***

A clever graduate has used 80 discarded vape batteries to power his e-scooter—and to make a point about waste.

The 23-year-old Brit says disposable vape devices are marketed as expendable, but still have plenty of power—and people need to know that.

It didn’t cost any money to pick up 80 discarded vape batteries and he wired the lithium-ion batteries to a scooter purchased on eBay for $37 (£30).

*** end quote ***

Wow.  Now there’s an “injineer”.  

I’m more impressed with scooters when I see them in use.  While I’m too old and heavy for one, and they really are only for “fair weather”, there is a lesson for “youngsters” who can’t drive yet that there are alternatives to “shank’s mare” aka walking.

It also demonstrates the value of “lateral thinking”.  

Wish I was young again, there seems like there are MORE opportunities for youths to succeed in unconventional 9-5 wage slave jobs.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: One man’s effort leads to reestablishing a species

Wednesday, August 30, 2023

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/to-halt-ibis-extinction-austrian-man-shows-beloved-birds-a-new-migration-route-with-his-ultralight-and-its-working/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_medium=weekly_mailout&utm_source=24-08-2023

To Halt Ibis Extinction Austrian Man Shows Birds a New Migration Route With His UltraLight–And it’s Working

By Andy Corbley – Aug 21, 2023

*** begin quote ***

An Austrian ornithologist has pioneered an incredible way of wildlife rehabilitation by fostering chicks of an endangered species before re-instituting their migratory practice by leading them along their natural migration route with an ultralight aircraft.

The method was developed to help reconnect the northern bald ibis, a bird that was extirpated in Europe 400 years ago, with its summer-winter migration pattern from northern Europe to its sunny southern climes.

*** and ***

Fritz came to the rescue again, hand-rearing chicks on ground mice and beef heart 8 times a day, while letting the inquisitive, gregarious chicks investigate his ears and nose for curiosity’s sake.

This was all a part of getting them to the age of flight when he would lead them again in his ultralight aircraft along a 2,500-mile circumnavigation of the Alps to a new wintering site on the sunny Spanish south near Cadiz

*** end quote ***

A heroic effort.

And just goes to show when one committed “crazy” person can accomplish.

That’s conserving nature for future generations.

—30—

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INNOVATION: Oubaitori: Avoiding Comparison to Others

Sunday, July 23, 2023

https://www.artofmanliness.com/character/advice/7-japanese-concepts-that-can-improve-your-life/

in: Advice, Character
Brett & Kate McKay • July 18, 2023
7 Japanese Concepts That Can Improve Your Life

*** begin quote ***

Oubaitori: Avoiding Comparison to Others

The characters that spell out oubaitori represent four different trees that bloom in Japan in the spring: cherry, apricot, peach, and plum. Each tree blooms in its own way and in its own time, and each bears a distinct flower and fruit. Oubaitori as a concept grows out of this arboreal image and refers to the idea of avoiding the habit of comparing yourself to others and embracing your unique journey and timeline instead. 

Theodore Roosevelt (another appreciator of Japanese culture) famously said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Boy, was he right. I’ve noticed that I tend to get most down in the dumps when I start measuring my success against the success of others. Whenever I start doing that, I just remind myself to practice oubaitori. The word serves as a trigger to shift my focus away from others and back to my own path.

*** end quote ***

Hmmm, my own path?  I’m not sure I have one.  Or, ever had one.  More like adrift on raft at sea.

Sigh!

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: Marine Mammal Stranding Center returns Harbor seal #23-089 to the ocean

Sunday, July 16, 2023

https://youtu.be/NXdeZfafu5M

MMSC Harbor seal #23-089 Release Day- July 13, 2023
Marine Mammal Stranding Center
Jul 14, 2023

*** begin quote ***

Our final seal release of the 2022-2023 season was a BIG one with the return of Harbor seal #23-089 (Barnegat Light) back to the wild! This adult female Harbor seal spent over six weeks recovering from an injury in MMSC’s rehabilitation hospital. Safe travels, big girl!

*** end quote ***

Awe inspring.  When humans act ethically to animals.

Happy to support their activities.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: When Britian stepped up and the USA (FDR) didn’t!

Saturday, July 8, 2023

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12262003/Mystery-1939-Kindertransport-photo-showing-three-Jewish-girls-solved.html

Mystery behind 1939 Kindertransport photo showing three Jewish girls at Liverpool Street Station after fleeing Nazi Germany is finally solved after more than 80 years

  •     Girls identified as sisters Inge and Ruth Adamecz and Hanna Cohn
  •     They had all fled Nazi Germany as part of the Kindertransport scheme 
  •     Photo had been displayed at museums for decades but with identities a mystery 

By Harry Howard, History Correspondent
Published: 05:52 EDT, 4 July 2023 | Updated: 07:06 EDT, 4 July 2023 

# – # – # – # – # 

This picture shames the USA for not taking in Jewish refugees, who were eventually killed. 

So sad.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: Horse rescue is good practice

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Firefighters rescue horse from Florida swimming pool

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-65985119

# – # – # – # – # 

Catch the expression on the horse.  “WTH!”  Laugh!

I always think that these rescues are a good use of resources as practice for when there is a real emergency.

And, given how fat us Americans are getting, (me included), it may be necessary to get a human like me out of a pool.

Laugh!

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL:An adult version of that “we;re twins” perception

Wednesday, June 14, 2023

https://www.boredpanda.com/adoptions-unites-two-best-friends/

Boy Becomes Friends With 12 Y.O. Foster Kid So The Family Adopts Him
Margo Butautaite  — BoredPanda staff

*** begin quote ***

In an ideal world, every child has nurturing parents that love and protect them and kiss them goodnight after checking for monsters under the bed. Unfortunately, the reality is more tragic. Many children get taken away from abusive parents and end up in foster care waiting for years for a new family. A boy from Tennessee was lucky to have found a family that loves him unconditionally AND ended up having his best friend as his brother. How cool is that?

*** end quote ***

I don’t often find “inspirational” material on Bored Panda; so this was special.

It made me think of all those memes where young children claim “twin-ship” by wearing the same clothes and ignore that they are of different “races”.  (It makes me thing that “race” really doesn’t exist except as a meme in the midst of adults!)

This story is an adult version of that perception.

I hope that all involved have all the blessings that Karma can grant them and some on all those who can’t see the beauty of the family’s action.

Dona Nobis Pacem

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: 8th Grader Walks himself into a college scholarship

Sunday, June 11, 2023

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/after-8th-grader-walked-to-graduation-a-missouri-university-and-nfl-star-team-up-to-give-him-a-ride-to-college/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_medium=weekly_mailout&utm_source=07-06-2023

After 8th Grader Walked to Graduation, an NFL Star and University Team Up to Give Him a Ride to College
By Andy Corbley – Jun 5, 2023 

*** begin quote ***

A Missouri middle schooler was so determined to make it to his graduation, he ended up walking 6 miles.

Losing out on an opportunity for a ride there, 8th-grader Xavier Jones asked his friend and brother to walk along with him, remembering something a mentor at Yeatman Middle School had told him.

“‘If I want it, I got to go get it,’” Jones told Fox News, remembering the advice. Together, the young men walked over 10,000 steps and two-and-a-half hours through St. Louis to arrive at the school.

*** and ***

“She said, ‘You got a full ride,’ and I said [to Xavier], ‘Do you know what that means,’ and he said, ‘They’re going to give me a ride to school?’” Seals said. “I was like, ‘No, you’re getting a ride to college. He said, ‘Wait a minute, I don’t have to pay for college. Then it started hitting him.”

*** and ***

Miami Dolphins NFL player Terron Armstead, who grew up in a similar part of town to Xavier, had bought his family a minivan, and an electric bike to ensure transportation options are no longer a problem.

*** end quote ***

An impressive young MAN! We hear a lot of bad things that “juvenile delinquents” do, but not enough stories like this one.

Very impressive actions by the college president and the NFL player.

I’m sure KARMA will reward them.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: The York groundsel is “De-Extinct-ed”

Friday, June 9, 2023

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/flower-that-grew-only-in-york-brought-back-from-extinction-after-30-years-first-ever-british-de-extinction/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_medium=weekly_mailout&utm_source=01-06-2023

Flower That Grew Only in York Brought Back From Extinction After 30 Years—First Ever British De-Extinction

By Andy Corbley – May 30, 2023 

*** begin quote ***

English media is gushing over the news of the first “de-extinction event” that saw a yellow wildflower unique to northeast England brought back to life.

Extinct since 1991, the York groundsel managed to carry on thanks to a handful of seed that was shed from three potted specimens on a windowsill at the University of York.

Stored at the Millennium Seed Bank in the Kew Gardens, botanists at Natural England organized a resurrection for the York groundsel after they received word the seeds were reaching the end of their lifespan.

*** end quote ***

Like aborted children, about whom I wonder who was the one who was to cure cancer.  So to, an extinct species of flower could hold the unknown key to an unknown mystery.

Probably not, but who wants to bet against the possibility?

Not me.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: If you need a lift, this short video never fails to do it for me

Sunday, May 14, 2023

https://www.themarginalian.org/2023/05/07/ode-to-joy-flashmob/

Som Sabadell flashmob – BANCO SABADELL https://youtu.be/GBaHPND2QJg via @YouTube 

Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” Brought to Life in a Spanish Flashmob of 100 Musicians

  • A touchingly human reminder of our capacity for ecstasy and transcendence.

By Maria Popova

*** begin quote ***

Imagine what life would be like if lived, in May Sarton’s lovely phrase, with “joy instead of will.” That is what Beethoven imagined, and invited humanity to imagine, two centuries ago in the choral finale of his ninth and final symphony, known as “Ode to Joy” — an epochal hymn of the possible, half a lifetime in the making.

In the spring of 2012, the Spanish city of Sabadell set out to celebrate the 130th anniversary of its founding with a most unusual, electrifying, and touchingly human rendition of Beethoven’s masterpiece, performed by a flashmob of 100 musicians from the Vallès Symphony Orchestra, the Lieder, Amics de l’Òpera and Coral Belles Arts choirs. Watching the townspeople — children with kites, elders with walkers, couples holding hands — gather to savor the unbidden music in a succession of confusion, delight, and ecstasy is the stuff of goosebumps: living proof that “music so readily transports us from the present to the past, or from what is actual to what is possible.”

*** end quote ***

Sappy, but I love the children really getting into the swing of it.

Hard not to be moved by it.  Something gets stirred in the soul.

What could be if we all just tried harder … … “Peace on Earth” to men of good will.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: “hold firm to our God-given rights against a godless government” seems like great advice

Sunday, April 9, 2023

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/04/leftism_and_the_minions_of_satan.html

April 7, 2023
Leftism and the Minions of Satan
By Nancy Van Deest 

*** begin quote ***

With Holy Week upon us, it is time for Christians to stop relinquishing our beliefs out of fear from retribution and vitriol. Instead, put on the full armor of God to stand firm against the deteriorating culture, understanding that the more we voice God’s truths to counter their lies, the greater their inner demons will scream, expecting to stop God. But do not yield. Instead, offer God’s message of salvation, hoping it will plant a seed and move them toward God and away from Satan. However, prudently realize that at some point, God gives Satan’s unrepentant followers over to their depraved minds.

Given Satan’s growing influence on American leaders and the dangers they pose, Christians should be encouraged by David, who picked up a stone to defeat Goliath. His faith in God against overwhelming odds gives proof that God goes before us as our champion. While God may not spare us from the effects of the storm, with God in the lead, we can stand confidently upon His truths and hold firm to our God-given rights against a godless government. At the same time, we should warn those seeking unholy power, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”

*** end quote ***

It’s a sad end that the American Experiment seems to be ending with a quick sinking into bankruptcy, perversion, and crime.

I’ve ofter railed about how the “King” wants to destroy the “Church” as an alternative authority.  Pedophilia in the Catholic Church was allowed to continue and thus erode any claim to “moral authority”.  

So too, the Gooferment was allowed to undermine thrift, self-reliance, and a sense of community with welfare paid for by future generations.  Get everyone on some sort of dole to enhance the “King” (i.e., politicians and bureaucrats).

Decadence used to be shamed and hidden mostly in Hollywood has now become front page “news”.

As the few good people man the battlements, let’s go down if we must.  But go down fighting to the last soul speaking the truth to the Powerful and their befuddled troops.  

When it comes time to pick up the pieces, those recording history will say “this was their finest hour”.

Just say no to everything that goes against the Spirit.

—30— 

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INSPIRATIONAL: What the police od right is seldom recognized

Monday, March 20, 2023

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11867551/Officers-relief-battled-save-boy-3-trapped-seat-underwater.html

Best cry I’ve ever heard’: Cops describe relief after saving unconscious boy, 3, trapped in his car seat, completely submerged – and reviving him with CPR

  •     Boy was trapped in seat after car had plunged into canal following a car crash 
  •     Rescuing officer had to pull car seat ‘as hard as he could’ to break child free
  •     Another officer gave the boy CPR and kept telling him ‘you’re going to be fine’

By Miriam Kuepper
Published: 08:54 EDT, 16 March 2023 | Updated: 09:01 EDT, 16 March 2023

*** begin quote ***

Officers have described the utter relief after they battled to save an unconscious three-year-old boy who was trapped in his car seat and completely submerged by water for three minutes before he was rescued and revived with CPR by the police.

The child was trapped in his seat after the car had plunged into a canal following a car crash, according to the Miami-Dade Police Department in Florida, which was called to the rescue.

Despite ‘heroic efforts’, the driver was unable to get the boy out of the car, even after good Samaritans saw the accident and tried to help.

*** end quote ***

Not sure if I would have the huevos muchos grande to dive into a murky Florida canal.  I’d be thinking aligator.  But evidently this man proved his courage and saved a life.  “Whoever Saves a Life Saves the World” is well know in both Jewish and Islamic writings. 

“Men are expendable; women and children are not. A tribe or a nation can lose a high percentage of its men and still pick up the pieces and go on … as long as the women and children are saved. But if you fail to save the women and children, you’ve had it, you’re done, you’re through! You join Tyrannosaurus Rex, one more breed that bilged its final test.”  — The Pragmatics of Patriotism (1973) from Heinlein’s address at the U.S. Naval Academy (5 April 1973)

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: A doctor’s curiosity leads to a new approach; can we learn from it?

Sunday, February 26, 2023

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna-insider/alcoholics-returning-emergency-department-ktph-hospital-cold-turkey-addiction-3285241

CNA Insider
Christy Yip @ChristyYipCNA
Jinee Chen
19 Feb 2023 06:15AM (Updated: 19 Feb 2023 06:26AM)

*** begin quote ***

  • Alcoholics kept returning to A&E in this hospital. So a medical team chose to help them at home
  • Is going cold turkey the way to tackle alcoholism? For some patients, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital advocates a different approach by, for example, encouraging them to reduce their intake rather than harp on abstinence.
  • Alcoholics kept returning to A&E in this hospital. So a medical team chose to help them at home
  • The KTPH team helps patients achieve their personal goals, rather than focusing on their addiction.
  • One patient used to drink nine cans of beer a day. The team helped her drop to three — through a badminton game with her family.
  • Visits to the emergency department from these patients have dropped by more than half since the programme began in 2020.

SINGAPORE: Emergency physician Desmond Mao has encountered many a drunkard. At work, the protocol was to treat their physical ailments and send them home with a referral to an addictions specialist.

Outside of work, he used to give them a wide berth. Like most people, perhaps, he “didn’t want any trouble”, he said.

But these days, his nonchalance has turned to curiosity. It was propelled by a nagging problem in Khoo Teck Puat Hospital’s (KTPH)’s emergency department, where he has been practising for some 12 years: The same patients with alcohol misuse kept returning.

These patients could come in with chest or leg pains — symptoms of overdrinking — or could be brought in by paramedics because they were on the streets, flat-out drunk. Sometimes they were “rowdy” and caused the department “a bit of grief”.

After discharge, some would “come back straight away,” said Mao. “Some of them even come back two to three times a day.”

In 2017, he was tasked to look into the issue.

Indeed, a study published in the Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs found that between 2007 and 2016, the rate of alcohol-related emergency department visits across Singapore’s hospitals had increased by 62.4 per cent.

*** end quote ***

Human beings are incredibly complex and twisted walking and talking “problems”.

Here’s fellow, who curiosity, leads to “gold”  —  a new approach.

I hope that we can learn from this and get a new strategy and some tactics to solve “homelessness”, drug addiction, and substance abuse.

—30— 

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INSPIRATIONAL: Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt “I’ve got too much to do.”

Friday, February 24, 2023

https://apnews.com/article/sports-parasports-jean-dolores-schmidt-chicago-06b8d438408e8e6abe08b395e3cd13d7

At 103, Sister Jean publishes memoir of faith and basketball
By LUIS ANDRES HENAO

  • Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the Loyola University men’s basketball chaplain and school celebrity, sits for a portrait in The Joseph J. Gentile Arena, on Monday, Jan. 23, 2023, in Chicago. The beloved Catholic nun captured the world’s imagination and became something of a folk hero while supporting the Ramblers at the NCAA Final Four in 2018. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

*** begin quote ***

CHICAGO (AP) — At age 103, Sister Jean awakes daily at 5 a.m. She sits up quickly to avoid going to sleep again — “I’ve got too much to do,” she says. After prayers for the day ahead, she reads the Gospel on her tablet.

“I guess there aren’t too many 103-year-old nuns using iPads these days – there aren’t too many 103-year-olds, period,” she writes in her memoir that will be published Feb. 28. “But I’m pretty comfortable with modern technology. I’ve always said, ‘If you’re not moving forward, you’re going to get left behind real quick.’ Adaptability is my superpower.”

In “Wake Up with Purpose: What I’ve Learned in My First Hundred Years,” Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt tells her life story, offers spiritual guidance and shares some of the lessons she’s learned.

The beloved Catholic nun captured the sports world’s imagination and became something of a folk hero as the chaplain for the Loyola Chicago men’s basketball team that reached the NCAA Final Four in 2018. 

*** end quote ***

While I’m feeling my age, she inspires me to get moving. 

‘If you’re not moving forward, you’re going to get left behind real quick.’

Should be on a motivational poster.

—30—

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