Update on Matthew Leone, the young bassist beaten into a coma while rescuing a battered woman

Image: Altpress

'Events like this, while traumatic and painful, force you to stop and reevaluate, and there’s beauty in that.'

So says Matthew Leone, who was severely beaten while stopping a domestic attack last June (and whose story I shared with you in August). I'm happy to be able to tell you he's doing much, much better!

A couple of months ago, the prognosis was uncertain for Matthew: his doctors were unsure whether he'd be walking and talking within a year, and whether or not he'd ever fully recover his memory. Now, he's up and about, and looking forward to going back out on tour with his band Madina Lake in early spring. Concerned fans and others set up benefit shows and other fundraisers to pay his extensive medical costs. The outpouring of love and support he received 'was a demonstration of compassion and generosity and selflessness in a world where selfishness prevails,' Matthew said.

More than 40 farmers volunteer to harvest their ill neighbor's crop

Image: GraniteFallsNews.com

Last Tuesday, dozens of farmers rose early, and rolled out with their combines, grain carts, and other equipment ready for the 360 acre harvest. But this time, they didn't work their own fields; instead, they gathered at City Hall to plan and finish the harvest of Robert Thompson's crop, another local farmer who's hospital-bound.

This isn't even the first time these farmers have helped each other out: “There’s been four or five times, since I’ve started farming, that things like this have happened and every time word gets out everybody drops whatever they’re doing and comes running,” Tim Velde remembers. 

Doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals give up a Saturday to perform free surgeries

Image: 10News.com

Last weekend in San Diego, over 150 doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, and other medical professionals volunteered to perform free medical procedures from biopsies to repairing hernias to gallbladder removals on patients who needed surgery but have no insurance. Project Access San Diego organized this event with Kaiser Permanente, in addition to other such events, providing free specialty medical care to over 550 patients since December 2008. Several hospitals and over 400 volunteers have participated in Project Access San Diego, doing what they can to bring healing to those who cannot afford today's high cost of medical care.. 

Image: Wikipedia

If we should deal out justice only, in this world, who would escape?  No, it is better to be generous, and in the end more profitable, for it gains gratitude for us, and love. - Mark Twain

Community workshop in Norwich, England, helps build relationships through building bikes

Image: Norwich Evening News 24

It's Not About the Bike, a community workshop organized by Sarah Smith, brings socially isolated people together through learning to build and ride bikes. It's run by users, community workers from Norwich City Council, and volunteers who offer classes and work experience, and take people on organized rides through the city, including disabled people on specially built bikes. Their goal is to offer a practical yet fun way of getting people out and about, and ready to rebuild their work and social lives.

USDA program commits to feeding about 400,000 kids in Afghanistan and Haiti

The McGovern-Dole Program is administered by USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service, which has fed over  22 million children since 2002, just announced that they will be sending 11,000 tons of rice, vegetable oil, yellow peas and lentils to feed hungry children in Afghanistan and Haiti. The program was founded to 'promote education, child development, and food security for some of the world’s poorest children. It provides for donations of U.S. agricultural products, as well as financial and technical assistance, for school feeding and maternal and child nutrition projects in low-income countries'. Hey, here's a good chunk of our tax money being very well spent!

Image: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A team of health care professionals teach people to avoid and treat disease

Image: The Rotary Foundation

Members of Rotary International based in Pennsylvania have traveled to Ghana, training local health care professionals in the prevention and treatment of such diseases as lymphatic filariasis, diabetes, and leprosy.  
The training includes proper nutrition, causes of disease, self-care, and obtaining and using therapeutic devices and medicines. 


The Rotary Foundation allocated $46,340 for the trip to Accra, and sent eight health care professionals from around the world. They are devising a manual that they can leave behind to help future prevention and treatment efforts as well.

Scientists gain new understanding as to why deaf people often have extraordinary visual acuity

Image: Cerebral Systems Laboratory

A research team led by Stephen Lomber at the Center of Brain and Mind, University of Western Ontario, discovered more about how the human brain adapts for deafness. They used cats in the study, which is the only other animal besides humans that are born deaf, and found that part of the brain normally dedicated to detecting peripheral sound rededicates itself to pick up peripheral motion instead.

“The brain wants to compensate for the lost sense with enhancements that are beneficial. For example, if you’re deaf, you would benefit by seeing a car coming far off in your peripheral vision, because you can’t hear that car approaching from the side; the same with being able to more accurately detect how fast something is moving,” says Lomber. “The brain is very efficient, and doesn’t let unused space go to waste.”


Lomber is looking into whether this same adaptation occurs in people who were born hearing and became deaf later as well.

Man turns his own speech disorder into a opportunity to help others like himself

Image: University News, Appalachian State University

Many people who have speech disorders are bullied as children, become reclusive and shy, and settle for jobs they don't like because of speech disorders.

One of these, a former journalism hopeful, turned his stutter into motivation to help others like himself overcome these obstacles. Joe Klein decided to pursue a career studying speech and language disorders, trying to better understand symptoms and causes, and to develop new techniques for treatment, based on his own experience. Stuttering, like many other speech disorders, is not well understood; it is difficult to treat or to overcome on one's own, and can greatly impact the social life and job prospects of sufferers. As assistant professor, he now helps to train speech-language pathologists at Appalachian State University.

innovative chain of 'health stores' bring quality medicines and business opportunities to Kenyans

Image: The HealthStore Foundation

Hey everyone, it's great to be back! My phone line and DSL service was own of commission for a week, so it's been a little while since I've been able to share stories with you. Here's a great one:

The HealthStore Foundation is the brainchild of Scott Hillstrom, a Minnesota lawyer and entrepreneur. He conceived his unique hybrid of for-profit franchise and non-profit humanitarian effort when he learned how an inefficient and sometimes corrupt governmental system made it difficult to obtain affordable and effective medicines from knowledgeable staff. He hit upon the franchise model because it would incorporate a system that thoroughly trains pharmacy owners, and holds every franchise accountable to strict guidelines of quality and effectiveness in order to stay open.


While the HealthStore Foundations chain of pharmacy/clinics CFW Shops (Child and Family Wellness Shops) are for-profit businesses for local entrepreneurs, no one is turned away. Rather, those who can pay do, and the difference is covered by these small profits and additional funds donated by the Foundation. 


To date, CFW shops have treated hundreds of thousands of people, saving lives from preventable diseases such as malaria and respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses. They also offer advice and tools in order to prevent disease. 

In-Home Companion Services helps senior citizens, the disabled, and otherwise homebound adults become involved in their community

Image: Doing Good

As a story by National Geographic indicated, it seems that one of the most important factors in living a long, healthy life, is that people stay involved in their communities. In-Home Companion Services helps people to do just that. It's fully staffed by volunteers, and provides a variety of outside activities such as entertainment, current event discussions, and pursuing their hobbies and interests, all focused on interacting with others in their community.


What this wonderful group is doing is of especial importance to me personally: I feel that one of the major ways that Americans and many other communities fail in kindness and justice, is to pay enough respect and attention to the elderly in our communities. These are the people in most need of love and attention and are yet  the most neglected, while we owe them the most: almost every thing we enjoy and rely on is there because of those who came before us: our farms, our laws, our music, our science, our art and literature, our roads... our entire history! 


For more about In-Home Companion Services, check out their website at http://www.inhomeservices.org/index.html

Image: Wikipedia

The four characteristics of humanism are curiosity, a free mind, belief in good taste, and belief in the human race. 
- E.M. Forster

Dentist travels the world 7 times in 16 years, providing free dental care

Image: WFC Courier.com

Dr. Thomas Strub is addicted: he finds that providing free dental care all over the world, on his own and with Global Dental Relief, a source of such joy and fulfillment that he's hooked. Over the years, working with such humanitarian efforts such as Habitat for Humanity and GDR, Dr. Strub has helped bring health and happiness to hundreds of people in Honduras, Panama, Jamaica, and the Ladakh region of the Himalayas. 

Doctor Liza provides free medical care for the homeless in Russia

Image: The Moscow News

In addition to bringing help and healing to the approximately 80,000 people living on the streets of the capital, Elizaveta Glinka brings public attention to the plight of the homeless through her nonprofit organization Spravedlivaya Pomosh (Fair Aid).


Read more about her story here: http://www.mn.ru/society/20100830/188014689.html and visit her website http://doctorliza.ru/, where she writes movingly, sharing stories of the people she helps every day.

Petition to free Sakineh from death by stoning receives over 300,000 signatures, and counting

Image: FreeSakineh.org

For about five years, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani has been imprisoned and under penalty of painful death by stoning, for charges of 'having illicit relationships,' adultury, and the murder of her husband. Her initial confession of having been involved in an affair with a man was recanted, as she was being whipped at the time, giving her confession under duress. No witnesses came forward to support the accusations against Sakineh, and her children have rallied behind her, risking their own safety.

Worldwide, there is a great outcry against the unjust treatment of Sakineh by the Iranian government; human rights groups, world leaders, and people from all walks of life are joining in the protest. As I sit here writing, I see dozens of signatures added to the tally on http://freesakineh.org/. You can join by signing the petition too, and by sharing Sakineh's story with others.

New hope for liver disease patients: scientists grow new liver cells in the lab for the first time

Image: Nature.com

For the first time after 40 years of trying, scientists are able to grow liver cells by reprogramming skin cells. Diagnoses of liver disease are especially frightening for patients, since it is the fifth largest cause of death in the US and even higher in other countries, and there is such a shortage of donor livers available for transplant. With this breakthrough, scientists are closer than ever to finding new, effective treatments for patients.

The results of this clinical study were published September 1st, 2010, in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Seeing the world with new eyes: Biosynthetic corneas restore vision in humans

Image: OHRI

(from Ottawa Hospital Research Institute)


A new study from researchers in Canada and Sweden has shown that biosynthetic corneas can help regenerate and repair damaged eye tissue and improve vision in humans. The results, from an early phase clinical trial with 10 patients, are published in the August 25th, 2010 issue of Science Translational Medicine.

“This study is important because it is the first to show that an artificially fabricated cornea can integrate with the human eye and stimulate regeneration,” said senior author Dr. May Griffith of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, the University of Ottawa and Linköping University. “With further research, this approach could help restore sight to millions of people who are waiting for a donated human cornea for transplantation.”

The cornea is a thin transparent layer of collagen and cells that acts as a window into the eyeball. It must be completely transparent to allow the light to enter and it also helps with focus. Globally, diseases that lead to clouding of the cornea represent the most common cause of blindness. More than a decade ago, Dr. Griffith and her colleagues began developing biosynthetic corneas in Ottawa, Canada, using collagen produced in the laboratory and moulded into the shape of a cornea. After extensive laboratory testing, Dr. Griffith began collaborating with Dr. Per Fagerholm, an eye surgeon at Linköping University in Sweden, to provide the first-in-human experience with biosynthetic cornea implantation.

Together, they initiated a clinical trial in 10 Swedish patients with advanced keratoconus or central corneal scarring. Each patient underwent surgery on one eye to remove damaged corneal tissue and replace it with the biosynthetic cornea, made from synthetically cross-linked recombinant human collagen. Over two years of follow-up, the researchers observed that cells and nerves from the patients’ own corneas had grown into the implant, resulting in a “regenerated” cornea that resembled normal, healthy tissue. Patients did not experience any rejection reaction or require long-term immune suppression, which are serious side effects associated with the use of human donor tissue. The biosynthetic corneas also became sensitive to touch and began producing normal tears to keep the eye oxygenated. Vision improved in six of the ten patients, and after contact lens fitting, vision was comparable to conventional corneal transplantation with human donor tissue.

“We are very encouraged by these results and by the great potential of biosynthetic corneas,” said Dr. Fagerholm. “Further biomaterial enhancements and modifications to the surgical technique are ongoing, and new studies are being planned that will extend the use of the biosynthetic cornea to a wider range of sight-threatening conditions requiring transplantation.”

This research was supported by grants from the Canadian Stem Cell Network, the Swedish Research Council and County of Östergötland and a European Union Marie Curie International Fellowship. Initial work in developing the biosynthetic corneas was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Recombinant human collagen type III used in formulating the biosynthetic corneas for the clinical study was provided by FibroGen, Inc., San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.

Dr. May Griffith is a Senior Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Professor at the University of Ottawa (Faculty of Medicine) and Professor of Regenerative Medicine and Director of the Integrative Regenerative Medicine Centre at Linköping University. Dr. Per Fagerholm is a Professor of Ophthalmology at Linköping University. Dr. Neil Lagali is a senior lecturer at Linköping University. Other authors are listed in the paper.
About the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) is the research arm of The Ottawa Hospital and is an affiliated institute of the University of Ottawa, closely associated with the University’s Faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences. The OHRI includes more than 1,500 scientists, clinical investigators, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and staff conducting research to improve the understanding, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human disease. www.ohri.ca
About Linköping University
Linköping University is organized in four faculties on three campuses. With a student population of 26,000 and 3,500 employees it is one of the major universities in Sweden. The Faculty of Health Sciences is integrated with the University Hospital and covers a broad range of research fields. Within the emerging Integrative Regenerative Medicine Centre there is a close collaboration with physicists at the Institute of Technology. www.liu.se/om-liu/?l=en 

Image: Wikipedia

The aim of life is some way of living, as flexible and gentle as human nature; so that ambition may stoop to kindness, and philosophy to condor and humor. Neither prosperity nor empire nor heaven can be worth winning at the price of a virulent temper, bloody hands, an anguished spirit, and a vain hatred of the rest of the world. - George Santayana

Ethiopia Has Halved Malaria Deaths in Just Three Years (mirrored from The Global Fund)

Image: The Global Fund

The number of people who die from malaria has been halved in just three years through the distribution of nearly 20 million insecticide-treated bed nets and widespread use of antimalaria drugs.  The dramatic fall in deaths from a disease that kills one in four people in Ethiopia was made possible with Global Fund support and a small army of health workers.

Turnaround

In 2005, only two percent of households owned an insecticide-treated net and almost half the population had no access to any health care services at all. A plan to get nets out to farming families was floundering, partly because of the sheer number of nets required and partly because of the challenge of distributing them to remote areas.

Ethiopia’s minister of health, Tedros Ghebreyesus, describes the situation in simple terms, “We were in a mess.” He led a rapid assessment and galvanized the country into a proactive response to malaria. An arrangement was made with the Global Fund to speed up the flow of funds: money allocated for three years was released for spending in just one.

An Ambitious Program Exceeded All Previous Targets

In a scaled-up program, more bed nets were distributed than had previously been planned - 20 million insecticide treated nets to protect the most vulnerable, particularly women and children for whom malaria is more dangerous due to their bodies’ inability to fight the parasite.

Health Extension Workers

The idea is simple, broaden the outreach: train two high school graduates per village to act as health advisers. Thirty thousand young women have been mobilized to transfer health skills to the entire community. Their top-up training, disease test kits and drugs are paid for by the Global Fund.

Bringing Health Services to Rural Communities

Firehiwot takes basic health services to remote villages by making home visits on foot. She talks to housewives woman-to-woman, which makes it easier to address sensitive health issues. She advises pregnant women to sleep under a bed net and ensures they know how to obtain one.

Early detection of malaria is vital for effective treatment. Firehiwot is able to carry out tests for malaria on the spot thanks to a new lightweight disposable test kit. Paracheck is much easier to use than the traditional microscope. A drop of blood is absorbed by the dip stick and results are displayed in a window, similar to a pregnancy test.

If the malaria test result is positive, Firehiwot gives patients a three-day treatment of Coartem, which is based on a plant extract called artemesinin combined with other ingredients to prevent the development of drug resistance. Before Firehiwot’s visits, families ignored malaria symptoms because the nearest health post was too far to go for help. Now they don’t fall ill so often and are happier as a result.

Prevention is Better than Cure

Preventing people from getting sick not only improves their well-being, it is also better for their livelihood and reduces the strain on the health care system. Heath Minister Tedros explains the thinking behind the scheme: “It’s the knowledge gap that is exposing people to HIV, malaria, TB, diarrhea … so the health extension workers actually help them in changing their lifestyle. They can take the responsibility of helping themselves, because they can prevent diseases on their own.”

Putting health care in the hands of the community is a good way of ensuring people get healthy and stay healthy. Grassroots health care is not costly and its impact is massive because eliminating the risk of the disease means avoiding the expenses triggered by diagnosis, treatment and follow up.

Health Minister Tedros’ commitment to fighting malaria is inspiring the continent. As chair of the international Roll Back Malaria Partnership, he is using his country’s model to inspire others in the region. Strong leadership and commitment combined with financing from the Global Fund and assistance from development partners are driving the fight against disease in Ethiopia. The only country in Africa never to have been colonized has fought off invaders in the past and is now effectively fighting off malaria.

can a game of ultimate Frisbee be one little step towards making peace possible?

Image: Ultimate Peace

These young people have found a most practical way to have fun, find camaraderie, and foster understanding by coming together through sports. Ultimate Peace is a summer camp for Israeli and Palestinian kids to meet in a safe location and simply play together, as human beings; not enemies, not rivals.

For so long, it's been the accepted wisdom in much of the world that it's best to raise your kids in a sheltered environment, where they learn only the practices, doctrines, and political convictions of their own local or idealogical community, and spend their formative years spending time only with others who are more or less the same. Such kids as these at Ultimate Peace show us that maybe, there's a much better way to grow.

Chris Abani on ubuntu: "the only way for me to be human is for you to reflect my humanity back at me"

                                                                              
This amazing talk by Chris Abani of Nigeria, about how it takes countless acts of kindness to bring about lasting social change, and illustrates his point with moving stories, sometimes heroic, sometimes sweet, sometimes horrific.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/chris_abani_on_the_stories_of_africa.html

Nicaraguan boy shares his story of his school, his new dreams and opportunities

Video: UNICEF

For more on this story, visit http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/nicaragua_55478.html

The picture I used to illustrate this blog portrays my darling niece Savannah, and my Dad reaching his arms out to help her down from a big tree.
This blog is dedicated to Dad, my hero, who taught his children to read, think, and discuss, to take responsibility for our own actions, and above all, to be loving and kind to others.

Louisiana man proved innocent after 22 years in jail

Image: The Innocence Project

A long-overdue serology test very recently demonstrated that Booker Diggins, a man imprisoned for rape and armed robbery since 1988, could not have committed the crimes for which he convicted. Although the prosecutors for the State had procured blood type evidence from the rape kit at the time of the trial, they withheld it from Diggins' defense team. As a result, the jury never heard that the man who committed the rape had type A blood, while Diggins has type O.

The Innocence Project, a nonprofit founded in 1992 by Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld, has been providing legal assistance to prisoners who could potentially prove their innocence through DNA testing. To date, 258 people have been exonerated by the Innocence Project, including 17 death row inmates. The number of cases that the Innocence Project works on, however, represents only a small portion of the total number of people in prison, on death row, or even executed for crimes they didn't commit. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, in the united States, 138 people in all have been exonerated from death row since 1973. Wikipedia contains a lengthy list of death row exonerees, and Northwestern University School of Law's Centre on Wrongful Convictions lists 39 people who have been executed despite compelling evidence of actual innocence. All over the country, lawyers, law students, and others donate their time and energy, working hard in the cause of justice for the wrongfully convicted, for the victims, and to protect others from the violent criminals who have gotten away and are still free to commit more crimes.

40 U.S. Billionaires Pledge Half Of Wealth To Charity (mirrored from NPR)

Image: NPR

Story by Pam Fessler


'Forty U.S. billionaires pledged Wednesday to give at least half of their wealth to charity — either during their lifetimes or after death.
That could be a big boost to nonprofits, which have suffered from the recent economic downturn....'

 Get the full story here

Matthew Leone, a Chicago musician injured while defending a woman from attack, receives outpouring of support

Image: Madina Lake's Myspace page

On the early morning of Tuesday, June 29th, Matthew Leone was walking down the street and came upon a man beating his wife. When Matthew stepped in to defend her, the man turned on him and savagely attacked him, beating him unconscious. Matthew's twin brother Nathan says that, though Matthew is slowly improving, it's going to be a long recovery, since Matthew suffered such severe blows to the head that they had to remove part of his skull to relieve the pressure from swelling. His medical bills have already soared to around $250,000, and he has no medical insurance.
After hearing of the story, help has poured in from strangers all over the world. The Smashing Pumpkins, the band most influential to Matthew and Nathan's own band, Medina Lake, played a relief concert that raised about $60,000 in ticket sales. The Leone brother's bandmates and friends have also set up a concert and auction series called Through the Pain to raise additional funds.
Hooray for Matthew, a brave and unselfish man; we all hope you heal soon!

"Happiness is the only good. The place to be happy is here. The time to be happy is now. The way to be happy is to help make others so." Robert Ingersoll

Medical trek in the mountains of Nepal treats almost 700 patients free of charge

Image: The Mountain Fund

I just found this great organization called the Mountain Fund, which works to improve access to healthcare, education and economic opportunity in mountain communities throughout the world, which include many of the poorest. Here's one of their latest exploits, as described by Ari Stern :


'This spring, The Mountain Fund took another amazing and diverse group of people from all over the world on a medical trek through the Rasuwa District of Nepal, where we have been working for the last 10 years. We had members from Canada, the US, Sweden, the UK, and Germany. While only about half the group was comprised of medical professionals, everybody in the group was fully able to contribute to the needs of the people of Rasuwa. We hosted three medical camps over the course of 10 days seeing close to 700 patients. The busiest member of our group was Pete, an optometrist from Muscatine, Iowa. He diagnosed an 8 year old with glaucoma…as well as gave some much needed glasses to a 7 year old boy whose can now really see the world for the first time. Pete, of course, was not the only busy person on the trip…everybody kept busy organizing, seeing patients, and giving out medicines.

And, as a bonus, everybody really enjoyed the trek itself. We had some wonderful comments at the conclusion of the trip. Pete, our optometrist for the trip, said “this is my 14th trip and comparing other organizations…this is the best organized, best led trip…I would certainly recommend this [trip].” Jon, a pilot, said “I was impressed with the flexibility, the lack of bureaucracy, the lack of egos….I felt like everything we were doing had the mission in mind and helping whoever needed help.” Farah, a pulmonologist from Alaska who has participated in other international medical endeavors, said “its wonderful to see a medical camp that has involved the community itself and left somebody behind to take over…that was really refreshing.”

Our three medical camps were held in Kalikastan, Thulo Syabru, and Thambauchet. The patient ailments ran the gamut of the medical spectrum ranging from skin infections to burns to gastric complaints to lung problems. The vast majority of the people in Rasuwa are subsistence farmers whose only access to medical care is that which is provided by our hospital, clinics, and the medical treks we do several times a year.

We have been fortunate enough to see a big change in not only the people’s access to healthcare in the district but also a clear improvement in infant, child, and maternal mortality. This work could not be done without the brave and ambitious people of Rasuwa, many of whom have significantly contributed to our efforts there as well as your donations and support.'

'Why to Believe in Others' - a 1972 talk by Viktor Frankl, neurologist, psychologist, and Holocaust survivor

Find out more about Viktor Frankel and his school of  Logotherapy at TED: Ideas Worth Spreading

Hope for diabetic patients in remote areas: a new form of more easily transportable insulin

Image: www.abc.net.au

Bianca van Lierop and her team at Monash University in Melbourne have developed a type of insulin that can survive a variety of temperatures. This will allow life-saving insulin to reach patients in remote areas where refrigeration is unavailable.
This story and more updates on breakthroughs is science can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/ra/innovations/stories/s2952498.htm

A Science Odyssey: a TV series about the progress of science

Image: PBS 

Here's this great PBS series about our quest to understand the natural world, and using these discoveries to improve human health and happiness. I'm watching the episode on medicine and health: A Matter of Life and Death. It's been so long since thousands or hundreds of thousands of people suffered and died every year of such diseases as bubonic plague, pellagra, diabetes, etc, that it's easy for us to take modern medicine for granted. In their own times, medical pioneers such as Louis Pasteur, Joseph Goldberger, and Jonas Salk faced ridicule and disbelief as, one by one, they discovered the causes and treatments of disease.

I found this video series posted on Youtube, but you can also get them on Netflix.

This is old news, but one of my all-time favorites, so I just have to share it with you again!

Image: Neatorama

About one year and one month ago, there was a KKK rally in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Among those who showed up were a large party of clowns, who made a most effective counter-demonstration using one of the best possible tools: humor! And lots of it!

Here's the original story, verbatim from Neatorama:

"The white supremacist group VNN Vanguard Nazi/KKK tried to host a hate rally in Knoxville, Tennessee, they were foiled by … clowns!

Unfortunately for [VNN] the 100th ARA (Anti Racist Action) clown block came and handed them their asses by making them appear like the asses they were.

Alex Linder the founder of VNN and the lead organizer of the rally kicked off events by rushing the clowns in a fit of rage, and was promptly arrested by 4 Knoxville police officers who dropped him to the ground when he resisted and dragged him off past the red shiny shoes of the clowns. 
http://www.volunteertv.com/home/headlines/7704982.html

“White Power!” the Nazi’s shouted, “White Flour?” the clowns yelled back running in circles throwing flour in the air and raising separate letters which spelt “White Flour”.

“White Power!” the Nazi’s angrily shouted once more, “White flowers?” the clowns cheers and threw white flowers in the air and danced about merrily.

“White Power!” the Nazi’s tried once again in a doomed and somewhat funny attempt to clarify their message, “ohhhhhh!” the clowns yelled “Tight Shower!” and held a solar shower in the air and all tried to crowd under to get clean as per the Klan’s directions.

At this point several of the Nazi’s and Klan members began clutching their hearts as if they were about to have a heart attack. Their beady eyes bulged, and the veins in their tiny narrow foreheads beat in rage. One last time they screamed “White Power!”

The clown women thought they finally understood what the Klan was trying to say. “Ohhhhh…” the women clowns said. “Now we understand…”, “WIFE POWER!” they lifted the letters up in the air, grabbed the nearest male clowns and lifted them in their arms and ran about merrily chanting “WIFE POWER! WIFE POWER! WIFE POWER!” "

162nd Anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention for Women's Rights

3 fearless pioneers of the women's rights movement:
Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony,  Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Image from NYPL Digital Gallery

This comes one week late (I was away on vacation last week and it slipped my mind): last Monday, July 19th, was the 162nd anniversary of the Seneca Falls Women's Rights Convention, which was the beginning of the organized drive for women's rights to be recognized by our culture and in law. Here, inspired by the writings of Thomas Jefferson, they drafted the mission statement of the women's rights movement, the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions.

Ernestine Rose
Image from Brandeis University

These women endured public scorn, threats of bodily harm, assaults on their reputation, slander, threats of hellfire and damnation, and more, but continued undaunted in their quest to show the world that women are equal citizens of the world, and share the same rights, privileges, and responsibilities as their male counterparts. Among other things, they fought to protect women's rights to obtain an education and employment, and sovereignty over their own property, minds, and bodies. They and their successors continued the long fight for women's rights, one which continues to this day. 

image from BBC.co.uk

I believe in using words, not fists. I believe in my outrage knowing people are living in boxes on the street. I believe in honesty. I believe in a good time. I believe in good food. I believe in sex.
- Bertrand Russell

Laid-off oyster workers in Louisiana receive an outpouring of donations

image from theGrio 

In response to a number of news articles about people losing their jobs as a result of the BP oil spill, sympathetic strangers from around the country donated money to help laid-off employees from AmeriPure Oyster Processing Company make it through the hard times.


One woman was able to still throw her daughter's first birthday party; others were still able to afford the groceries, school supplies, and other things they needed.


Ameripure has set up a tax-deductible relief fund for their ex-employees, until they can find work again.

Maine teens seek to plant Seeds of Peace in a conflicted world

Just recently, The US Department of State congratulated young members of Seeds of Peace for their work promoting tolerance, understanding, and coexistence for people of all cultures and ethnicities throughout the world, and for completing a three-week program the organization conducts in Maine.
From the Seeds of Peace website: 
'Founded in 1993 by journalist John Wallach, Seeds of Peace  is dedicated to empowering young leaders from regions of conflict with the leadership skills required to advance reconciliation and coexistence.

Over the last 17 years, Seeds of Peace has intensified its impact, dramatically increasing the number of participants, represented nations and programs.

From 46 Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian teenagers in 1993, the organization has expanded its programming to include young leaders from South Asia, Cyprus and the Balkans. Its leadership network now encompasses over 4,000 young people. Currently, the organization is actively working in the Middle East and South Asia.

Seeds of Peace's internationally-recognized program model begins at its summer Camp in Maine and continues through programming in regions around the world with innovative initiatives in the form of conferences, regional workshops, educational and professional opportunities, and an adult educators program. This comprehensive system allows participants to develop empathy, respect, and confidence as well as leadership, communication and negotiation skills—all critical components that will facilitate peaceful coexistence for the next generation.' 

New Orleans Care Clinic offering free medical care for two days in August

'The National Association of Free Clinics (NAFC) will be sponsoring a two day free medical clinic for the New Orleans area uninsured on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 and Wednesday, September 1, 2010. 

The New Orleans C.A.R.E. Clinic will offer free basic medical care and health education.  Being a volunteer at this event will give you the opportunity to help thousands of people gain access to medical screening and care they otherwise may not receive...'

http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=873181

'The very idea of humanity .. one of the noblest with which man is endowed, seems to arise incidentally from our sympathies becoming more tender and more widely diffused, until they are extended to all sentient beings. As soon as this virtue is honoured and practised by some few men, it spreads through instruction and example to the young, and eventually becomes incorporated in public opinion.'
- Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man (1871)

Shukla Bose: Education activist

Founded in 2003, Shukla Bose's Parikrma Humanity Foundation is a non-profit organization that is transforming education for underserved children in urban India, so that they can have equal access to the best opportunities. Parikrma manages the entire education cycle from kindergarten to college for each child.

She sees to her students' every need, from food to shelter to improving their family's situation, as well as training teachers. Her organization is well run with an experienced staff, and keeps the books open for strict accountability. You can hear her speak at 

http://www.ted.com/talks/shukla_bose_teaching_one_child_at_a_time.html

The science behind the pleasure of doing good

Hello!
I've been dreaming up this blog for some time, because I want to share stories with you that illustrate something that's very important to me.
It seems to be true that human beings want to be decent to one another, and are, in most places, under most circumstances, most of the time. This is evidenced first and foremost by the fact of civilization, which would not be possible if most human beings did not spend not only much of their time cooperating, but also being polite, caring, and altruistic.
I'd like to take it a step further and demonstrate that human beings do this best and most consistently when pressures from forces such as natural catastrophes, the frenzy of mob rule, extreme patriotism, or dogma warp their natural sensibilities. Human beings do not need to be commanded, bribed, or threatened into being good: they just want to be, and are most of the time! This runs counter to the prevalent philosophical and religious trends, which effectively spread the misconception for many hundreds of years that human beings are wicked and must be forced, bribed, or inspired from without to be good, until Enlightenment thinkers and the sciences slowly began to dispel this myth.
Here's an article from three years ago, with a story about some neuroscientists at the National Institutes of Health, whose research confirmed the musings many Enlightenment philosophers, who thought that kindness and generosity are nit only innate, but pleasurable to human beings. This research seemed to show that altruistic behavior activates the pleasure centers of the brain in the same way that other pleasurable activities do, like eating good food or having sex.
I figure this is a great place to start this blog. I am one of those of who agree with the Enlightenment idea that philosophy is all well and good, but to find its true value, your reasonings must be tested and backed up by evidence to keep you honest; that's when you find out whether you have advanced in the search for truth, or just indulged in rhetorical gymnastics.