Giraffes may be going extinct due to power, food, and money.

12/8/2016

The long neck, skinny legged, towering, lovable animal that comes to life in many childrens books across the world today may soon become history.

There has been a 36-40% decline in the giraffe population since recent decades. in 1985 there was estimated to be about 163,452 giraffes. Now there is estimated to be 97,562. In order to keep these awkwardly loving animals alive, us humans need to change our ways.

There are 3 things we need to take into consideration when changing, power being one of them. We need to stop burning fossil fuels for for electricity and heat. It is warming up our planet and wreaking havoc around the world.

Food is the second thing we humans need to change. We have altered 40% of the earths surface for agriculture production. Some biologists think we have to set aside huge chunks of land -- 50% of the Earth, according to Harvard University's E.O. Wilson -- to stop the sixth extinction from occurring, or to lessen its scope

Finally, money. Poaching in particular. Illegal networks are decimating the populations of some animals, including elephants, rhinos and the pangolin. And it means thinking of nature as an endless vat of cash.

Giraffes all over the world are being constricted by humans. They are being poached for their meat, and using their tails for bracelets. Humans are reshaping the earth in ways we've never seen before. Many of us are so disconnected from nature now a days we don't even realize the responsibilities we have in order to keep these precious things alive.

So, imagine a world without giraffes, because without big changes, that's what we can expect to see.

David Beckham takes a stand for children

12/9/2016

David Beckham first started working with the UNICEF when he was playing football for Manchester United. He went on a tour with his club to Thailand in 2001, and visited a child protection center that was providing support to children as young as five who'd experienced violence and abuse.

David said "Seeing the organization's incredible work firsthand had a great impact on me, especially as my son Brooklyn was just 2 years old at the time, and as a new father I wanted to do what I could to help."

David is still involved with this program and continues to help these children and families. He says being involved is one of the proudest and most memorable moments in his life.

David states "I created my fund with UNICEF because I want a world where children grow up safe: safe from violence, war, poverty, hunger and preventable disease. A world in which every child has the opportunity to reach their full potential. Together we need to imagine a better future for every child and make sure that together we achieve it."

"I won't ever forget these children, their resilience and determination against all odds."

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/13/opinions/we-must-stand-up-for-children-beckham/index.html

6 Police Shot In 6 Days In Georgia

12/12/2016

The past week in Georgia has been a brutal one. There has been six police shootings leaving two dead. The shootings happened in three different incidents. At least sixty four law enforcement officers have been shot this year across the US.

About 140 miles southwest of Atlanta Americus Police Officer Nicholas Ryan Smarr responded to a 911 call last Wednesday about a domestic dispute at a local apartment complex. His best friend Jody Smith, decided to respond to the call as well to make sure there was enough backup.

At the scene, Minguell Lembrick shot and killed Smarr, 25, and critically wounded Smith, who later died from his injuries.

Smith was planning on getting married this coming spring and had recently asked Smarr to be his best man.

After the tragic death of those officers, two other incidents occurred days after wounding even more officers.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/13/us/georgia-police-shootings/index.html

How Much Money You Make Can Be Linked To Stress

12/13/2016

I'm not so sure if money can buy you happiness, but research shows that it can make for less stress and a longer life.

Higher-income Americans are twice as likely to report being in good health than lower-income Americans, and they are less likely to have high stress levels, as seen in an index of blood pressure and other biomarkers according to the paper, which was released by the Brookings Institution's economic policy initiative The Hamilton Project on Monday.

"We were surprised that health appears to be deteriorating for people across all income groups, though the change is more pronounced for those with low incomes," said Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, director of The Hamilton Project, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a co-author of the paper.CNN Vital Signs - Science of Stress - Dec 2015_000022

"We don't know for sure which aspect of income drives the differences that we find, because income is closely tied with many aspects of life," she said. "For example, income insulates individuals from chronic stress associated with food insecurity, violence and substandard housing and also provides better access to high-quality health care."

Toddler Killed In Arkansas Due To Road Rage

12/14/2016

There was a toddler killed in Arkansas during a road rage incident. Police are still looking for the man who shot and killed the toddler. Investigators are offering a $20,000 reward for information on the man.

he boy was 3 year old Acen King. The little boy was going shopping with his grandma. The man was mad because the grandma was not moving quick enough for him. He got mad and honked his horn, that's when the grandma honked back and he immediately got out of his car and and fired a shot into the car. It was only one shot that went right through the car and got the little boy.

The grandma did not see that the boy was hit and continued to drive to the store, when she got there she saw that he was wounded when she took him out of the car. The boy was sent to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/18/us/arkansas-toddler-death-road-rage/index.html

Everyone Has Brown Eyes

12/15/2016

All human eyes are brown.

It all comes down to the presence of the pigment melanin, also found in skin and hair, within your eye's iris -- the colored part that surrounds the pupil.

"Everyone has melanin in the iris of their eye, and the amount that they have determines their eye color," said Dr. Gary Heiting, a licensed optometrist."There's really only (this) one type of pigment."

Melanin is made up of melanocyte cells. It is naturally dark brown but has the ability to absorb different amounts of light, depending on how much of it there is. The more melanin inside the iris, the more light is absorbed, meaning less light is reflected out, leaving the iris appearing brown.

When someone has blue eyes, they have less melanin in their iris, resulting in less light being absorbed and more light reflecting. When the light is scattered, it reflects at shorter wavelengths along the blue end of the light color spectrum leaving you seeing blue.

Green and hazel eyes are somewhere in the middle, with differing quantities of melanin resulting in different levels of light absorption and therefore different colors reflecting out.

Different light settings can also make some eyes appear to change color depending on where the person is standing.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/16/health/human-eye-color/index.html

Hospital Worker Spends Her Own Money On 1,000 Toys For Sick Kids

12/16/2016

A hospital worker has been using money from her own paycheck to make sure sick children have an extra special Christmas

For the past eight years, Jessie Tendayi, a food service aide at Trinity Hospital in Chicago, has been picking up extra shifts and saving cash for toys.

"It brings joy to me, and also brings joy to the children, that I'm making a difference," Tendayi

She began in 2009 by giving 100 toys, but her output has since multiplied.

This year, she spent $5,000 on 1,000 toys for sick children at Advocate Children's Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois, a Chicago suburb.

"He doesn't leave this room," she said. "For him to have more toys to play with and keep him happy while we're here is incredibly helpful, humbling and amazing." Said a mother of one of the sick children.

Tendayi said her dream is to give presents year-round, helping sick kids in hospitals 365 days a year.

Deadly 55 Car Pileup

12/19/2016

A 55-vehicle crash on a icy stretch of I-95 in Baltimore left at least two people dead and motorists stranded for hours about 5 a.m. Saturday

The winter roads are getting bad. People need to leave early to give themselves extra time on the slippery roads.

Stay in as much as you can. The cold weather is very harsh.

What Are People Talking About Before They Die?

12/20/2016

Kerry Egan is a hospice chaplain and opens up about what people who are dying talk about.

Most people assume they talk about god, or religion or even the meaning of their lives but Kerry Egan opens up and says that's not usually true.

Mostly, they talk about their families: about their mothers and fathers, their sons and daughters. They talk about the love they felt, and the love they gave. Often they talk about love they did not receive, or the love they did not know how to offer, the love they withheld, or maybe never felt for the ones they should have loved unconditionally.

They talk about how they learned what love is, and what it is not. And sometimes, when they are actively dying, they reach their hands out and they call out to their parents: Mama, Daddy, Mother.

Kerry says: What I did not understand when I was a student then, and what I would explain to that professor now, is that people talk to the chaplain about their families because that is how we talk about God. That is how we talk about the meaning of our lives. That is how we talk about the big spiritual questions of human existence.

Family is where we first experience love and where we first give it. It's usually the first place we've been hurt, by someone we love, and hopefully the place we learn that love can overcome even the most painful rejection.

Love is where we start to ask those big spiritual questions, and ultimately where they end.

I have seen such expressions of love: A husband gently washing his wife's face with a cool washcloth, cupping the back of her bald head in his hand to get to the nape of her neck, because she is too weak to lift it from the pillow. A daughter spooning pudding into the mouth of her mother, a woman who has not recognized her for years.

We don't learn the meaning of our lives by discussing it. It's not found in books or churches or synagogues or mosques. It's discovered through these actions of love.

Egan says: Sometimes that love is not only imperfect, it seems to be missing entirely. Monstrous things can happen in families. Too often, more often than I want to believe possible, patients tell me what it feels like when the person you love beats you or rapes you. They tell me what it feels like to know that you are utterly unwanted by your parents. They tell me what it feels like to be the target of someone's rage. They tell me what it feels like to know that you abandoned your children, or that your drinking destroyed your family, or that you failed to care for those who needed you.

People who did not know love in their families know that they should have been loved. They somehow know what was missing, and what they deserved as children and adults.

When the love is imperfect, or a family is destructive, something else can be learned: forgiveness. The spiritual work of being human is learning how to love and how to forgive.

Egan believes that we should learn from those who are dying that the best way to teach our children about God is by loving each other wholly and forgiving each other fully -- just as each of us longs to be loved and forgiven by our mothers and fathers, sons and daughters.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/20/health/what-people-talk-about-before-dying-kerry-egan/index.html

Explosion In Mexico

12/21/2016

On tuesday December 20th the San Pablito market north of Mexico City exploded. Forensic teams are combing through the charred rubble, searching for victims' remains. At least 31 people were killed and dozens more were injured

An explosion at the same fireworks market in 2005 injured a large number of people and caused enormous damage. But since then, officials have made security improvements at the market and made it a much safer place to buy and sell pyrotechnics than the clandestine workshops in some local homes

A day later, the smell of fireworks, charred buildings and burned plastic still fills the air

Authorities haven't said what caused Tuesday's explosion. Seventy-two people were injured, said Eruviel Avila, governor of the state of Mexico. Three minors are expected to be transferred to a hospital in Galveston, Texas, for treatment for extreme burns.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/21/americas/mexico-fireworks-market-explosion/index.html

Children Behind Bars

12/22/2016

Because Nepal lacks the social safety net that exists in most Western nations, many children there have little choice but to live in prison when their parents are incarcerated.

Since 2005, Pushpa Basnet has been working to get some of these kids out from behind prison walls.

She provides a daycare program for children under 6, and she runs a home where dozens of kids have a chance to live a more normal life. Basnet and her group have helped more than 140 children of incarcerated parents. She was named as top 10 CNN heroes of 2012.

Basnet says: Being selected as one of the top 10 CNN Heroes was beyond my wildest imagination. I was numb to begin with and since then have been somewhat anxious, extremely ecstatic, deeply touched, tremendously grateful and filled with a renewed hope for the future.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/19/world/cnnheroes-pushpa-basnet-interview/index.html