Sunday, April 18, 2010 Former Cambodian Boy Soldier Defuses His Past  He's the little guy trying to make his country safe, according to photo displays at tourist museums. His method is simple. Aki Ra walks from landmine to landmine, defusing bombs not unlike those he had activated as a child soldier during the rise of the Khmer Rouge. In Cambodia, where 300 people a year are still injured by mines set over 3 decades ago, Ra has devoted his life to disarming them. Read how Ra has made a name for himself risking life and limb to make the countryside safer. Read More >>
back to top  Saturday, April 17, 2010 Unemployed Man Gives Away $10 a Day  For many of us, giving away money is last thing we'd do after losing our job. For Reed Sandridge, it's a "journey of altruistic giving". After getting laid off last year as a director of a nonprofit group in Washington D.C, the 36-year-old decided to start an experiment in giving. Every day, Sandridge walks up to a stranger and gives away $10. So far, he's handed out close to $1,200! He also interviews the recipient and posts their story on his blog, "Year of Giving". Read More >>
back to top Friday, April 16, 2010 Brazil Takes the Lead  No, we're not talking about soccer. Brazil, a nation known for its cutting-edge soccer skills, is also at the forefront of massive social reform. While many nations are struggling to keep up with the ambitious Millennium Development Goals put forth by the United Nations in 2000, Brazil is unperturbed. The Latin American country has already reduced poverty by a whopping 81 percent, drastically lowered child mortality rates, and stabilized the spread of HIV/AIDS throughout the country! And with so much accomplished, Brazil hopes to help other countries achieve their goals. Read More >>
back to top Thursday, April 15, 2010 Smiles, Baseball, and Longevity  The wider you grin, and the deeper your laughter lines, the more likely you are to live a long life. At least that's what researchers at Wayne University in Michigan say. In a study examining pictures of 1952 major league baseball players, researchers found that those with the widest grins lived an average of 79.9 years- a full seven more years than their glum colleagues! The study also found that false smiles don't count- only those who looked genuinely happy had longer expectancies. Read More >>
back to top Wednesday, April 14, 2010 Meet The Boss  Lily Kanter makes money so she can give it away. And she's good at it. After retiring as a multimillionaire at age 35, she and her husband started a family foundation to support amazing causes and social entrepreneurs. Yet when asked to pinpoint her proudest accomplishment, Kanter admits it's a work in progress: "Figuring out how to do the dance of running a successful company, but also running a successful household." With perseverance, grace, and laughter, Lily Kanter twirls from business to social cause to family, choreographing balance into the world. Read More >>
back to top Tuesday, April 13, 2010 Upside of Depression  It's everywhere. As inescapable as the common cold. Every year, 7 percent of us will be diagnosed with the grey clouds of depression. But how well do we really understand it? Charles Darwin claimed that depression was a clarifying force, focusing the mind on its most essential problems. And the grey clouds hit him hard, leaving him "not able to do anything one day out of three." More recently, researchers say that depression has a secret purpose, and it's best to ride out, rather than conceal, the pain. Like a fever that helps the immune system fight off infection, depression might be an unpleasant yet adaptive response to affliction. Maybe Darwin was right. We suffer- we suffer terribly- but we don't suffer in vain. Read More >>
back to top Monday, April 12, 2010 Where has all the meat gone?  What do Paul McCartney, the Baltimore Unified School District, and the city of San Francisco all have in common? They have all stopped eating meat on Mondays. In efforts to curb climate change, cities around the world are promoting citizens to eat less meat, since livestock is a large source of greenhouse emissions. From meatless Monday school lunches in Baltimore to "Veg Days" in San Francisco and Ghent, Belgium, cities across the world are experimenting with the cause. Paul McCartney even wrote a song about it! Read More >>
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Lower gaze. Quicken pace. Become absorbed in sight of sidewalk. In the hustle and bustle of city life, this is a common response to the sight of the homeless on the street. One day, a city-dweller breaks out of this routine when she stops to buy a magazine. She discovers that her vendor is a refugee from a war-torn country whose 25th birthday has just passed. Caught with compassion, she finds herself on a mission to celebrate his birthday...And ends up receiving her own birthday gift in return! [ 
What does Earth Day during the recession mean for Corbyn Hightower's family of five? Fixing, not tossing. Pedaling, not driving. Growing, not buying. Corbyn reflects, "Our needs are modest, our overhead has been lowered, and life has become about simple, sustainable pleasures." Even the four-year-old is turning the soil! [ 
New research says that it does! In a groundbreaking study, two university psychologists, Malte Klar and Tim Kasser, interviewed college students about their political engagement and level of happiness. The results show that taking action boosts morale: those who are politically involved are happier than those who aren't. Regardless of how engaging the political action, simply taking a stand for what we believe in makes us feel more alive. [ 
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard...No one will care if you ever studied American poetry when you get a job." said James Martin's faculty advisor at Wharton School of Business. "Fortunately, I didn't take his advice," Martin announces with a smile, "And it's one of the few courses I remember very well from school." James Martin, Jesuit Priest and author of 'The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything', recounts that the best career advice he ever received came as a question: What would you do if you could do anything? Since then, Martin stopped "shoulding" and started pursuing what he loved. After all, those who do well do what they love. [ 
9-year-old Neha started off selling handmade greeting cards and wine charms. Now, at 13, her nonprofit has raised $30,000 for orphans in India. 10-year-old Kelly invented the T-Pack (a fanny pack worn on the thigh). Now a millionaire, she teaches entrepreneurship to children, and is an author on the side. Oh, and she's 18. With the internet providing easy access to business innovation websites like StartUpNation.com and Young Entrepreneur, standing on the shoulders of giants has never been so easy. The result? Kids tapping into their creativity, and making a difference. [ 
For a man who relished solitude, living in a small cabin by a small pond in the forests of Massachusetts, Henry David Thoreau sure got his ideas heard. Can this philosopher who once refused a doormat- because, as he wrote, "It's best to avoid the beginnings of evil"- still inspire people to live in simplicity in today's increasingly complex world? According to Lawrence Buell, professor of American Literature at Harvard, the answer is yes. [ 
