Pegasus Research Consortium

an old saying
if you see someone without a smile..give them one of yours...


this story is proof....pass out the kindness..it really does come back to you




pictures at link

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lauren-casper/to-the-young-woman-who-noticed-us-when-i-hoped-no-one-would_b_6305066.html


Lauren Casper  Become a fan
Founder and blogger, LaurenCasper.com
Posted:  12/10/2014 6:42 pm EST    Updated:  12/10/2014 6:59 pm EST


To the Young Woman Who Noticed Us When I Hoped  No One Would
I was tired, hurried, frustrated, and ready to just go home. John was pushing Mareto in the cart just as fast as he could to leave the store before the meltdown got worse. We were frantically trying to open up a cereal bar in an effort to stem the tears. Arsema was strapped to my chest in the ergo carrier watching it all through wide eyes. Sweat beads were forming on my forehead, caused in part by my embarrassment, but mostly from the heat and amount of energy I was exerting by running through Trader Joe's with my 18-pound baby strapped to my chest and my toddler son screaming behind me.

I sure didn't feel like I was going to be in the running for any mom of the year awards. I felt like a hot mess. In fact, I was sincerely hoping that no one was looking at us too closely... that somehow we were invisible to the people bustling around us. It was chaotic, exhausting, and an unfortunately all too common experience for us.

Our family doesn't exactly blend in with the wallpaper. Not only are we two white parents with a brown son and daughter (something that causes enough stares and questions all by itself), but our son has noticeable developmental delays and different behaviors caused by his autism, and our daughter has physical differences with her missing and webbed digits. In other words, when we all go out together, we stand out. Usually I don't mind, and often I love it. My children are beautiful and so is our story.

Sometimes, though, on the days when we are very far from having it together, I do mind. Those days I just want to blend in with the crowd and hide far away from the curious stares. Some days I get tired of it all and just want to be a family. Not the adoptive family. Not the family with special needs children. Not the unique family... just a family. This was one of those days.

I was close to tears myself as John took Mareto to put the cart away. I rushed through the doors with Arsema on my chest to get to the car as quickly as possible when a voice behind me slowed my steps.

"Ma'am!!" She called out. I slowed, hoping and praying she wasn't talking to me.

"Ma'am!" I stopped and turned to find a young woman rushing toward me. A bright smile covered her face and I immediately noticed her beautiful black curls, just like the black curls snuggled on my chest, tickling my chin. Recognizing her shirt, I realized that she worked there and assumed I must have dropped something. I looked at her, holding back my tears, waiting.

"I just wanted you to have this bouquet...." I looked down to see the flowers in her hands. She quickly continued to explain...

"I was adopted as a baby and it has been a wonderful thing. We need more families like yours." I stared at her, stunned. Hadn't she seen what a disaster we were in the store? Didn't she see that we were barely able to keep it together? Didn't she see what I felt were all my failures as a mom?

As she handed me the flowers, I managed to choke out a thank you and tried to express that this meant the world to me. She patted my shoulder, told me my family was beautiful, and walked back into the store.


My steps were much slower as I finally headed to the car with my arms full of flowers and tears that had spilled over onto my cheeks. On a day when I felt like we were the worst example of family... a day when I hoped no one noticed us... she did. But she didn't see what I assumed everyone was seeing. She didn't think what I assumed everyone was thinking. She saw beauty and love and hope and family. She thought we were wonderful and it made her smile.

I wish I had thought to get her name. I wish I could go back and tell her, two years later, what her gift continues to mean to me today. To the beautiful young woman in the parking lot of Trader Joe's... thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are a treasure.


This post originally appeared on LaurenCasper.com.

Police Deliver Groceries To Struggling Grandma Caught Shoplifting To Feed Family Of 6



The Huffington Post    | By  Kimberly Yam   
  Posted:  12/12/2014 8:43 am EST    Updated:  12/12/2014 9:59 am EST

This kindhearted officer's unique approach to enforcing the law meant helping someone who needed it most.

Helen Johnson, of Tarrant, Alabama, went to a grocery store last Saturday to buy eggs. The 47-year-old had been in a tough financial spot and found that she was 50 cents short of being able to afford the carton of eggs. Johnson says she was desperate, as her grandchildren hadn't eaten in two days, according to WIAT.

"I actually thought that if I didn't feed those babies, they were going to die," she told the outlet.

So the grandmother decided to put three eggs in her jacket pocket, WIAT reported. However, the eggs broke and a store employee who caught her stealing called the cops. When Tarrant Police Officer William Stacy arrived, Johnson expected him to arrest her -- she thought wrong.

"She started crying," Stacy told ABC 33/40. "She said, 'I need help. I need help Officer Stacy, I need to put food in my babies' stomachs.' That's what got me. That's what hit me the hardest. I told her [to] park on the side of the parking lot, I ran in, bought the carton of eggs, came back outside, handed them to her and she got very emotional, very apologetic."

The officer's kind act was caught on camera by a bystander who posted the clip online. It quickly went viral racking up more than 650,000 views.

Johnson's family of six, including her two daughters, two grandchildren and a niece, have been living off of disability and welfare. The welfare check she was supposed to receive this month had gotten lost in the mail, according to AL.com.

And while Stacy's decision to lend a helping hand was a generous one, the kindness didn't stop there. The Tarrant Police Department has since signed Johnson's family up for a local toy drive and collected food donations from the community, eventually delivering two truckloads of groceries to the 47-year-old's apartment.

"I was just getting eggs and now that's saved my life,'' Johnson told AL.com. "I've never been more grateful in my life. I'm so overwhelmed with the goodness of these people."

"My heart is wide open right now,'' she added.




photo's at the link
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/12/officer-buys-eggs-for-gma-caught-stealing_n_6310630.html

http://www.upworthy.com/a-kid-on-a-skateboard-crashes-into-a-construction-worker-it-just-gets-so-good-after-that-ah2-5c


Tiny little actions set off a chain of happiness. People give just a moment, or just a small gift. And the next person does, too. We have bumps of big kindness, but mostly, it's just a pulse of everyday friendliness.

Oh, and the song is "One Day" by reggae superstar Matisyahu. You will not regret having it stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

kindness counts even in the critter kingdom





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ87DJl_jbc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ87DJl_jbc





Good Guy Tortoise Helps A Friend In Need Get Back On His Feet



The Huffington Post    |  By  Ryan Grenoble 
Posted:  12/15/2014 6:07 pm EST    Updated:  12/15/2014 6:59 pm EST

When you're down and troubled, arms waving helplessly in the air, it's good to know that you've got a friend.

Like this good-guy tortoise, for example, who helped right an upside-down buddy after life landed him on his back.

According to The Dodo, these two tortoises live in Taipei, Taiwan, and the children in the background are screaming "jiayou!" a Chinese cheer which loosely translates into an encouraging phrase.

Jiayou, indeed. Nice work, tortoise!


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/15/tortoise-flips-friend-off-back-video_n_6329842.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

Walmart Cashier Pays For Man's Groceries With Her Own Money When He Couldn't Afford To



The Huffington Post    |  By  Kimberly Yam 
Posted:  12/15/2014 9:05 am EST    Updated:  12/15/2014 9:59 am EST


This cashier went out of her way to give a customer the extra boost he needed.

Jenny Karpen of Rotterdam, New York, a new employee at Walmart, was working the cash register on a Friday when an elderly man came to her lane to pay for his groceries, according to News10 ABC. The man handed her money for his items, but came up short.

"He was like, 'Is it enough?'" Karpen told News10. "And I was like, 'No, it's not.' So he was trying to take stuff back."

The cashier, fearing that the shopper would be leaving without some necessities, stepped up to help. She took $40 from her own pocket to subsidize his bill, allowing him to leave with everything he planned on purchasing, which included food and pet supplies, News10 reported.

"I felt really bad for him. I didn't want him to go home and not have something that he really needed to eat," she told the outlet.

Inspired by her kindness, another shopper in the line offered to give her $40 for her generosity, but the kind cashier declined.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/15/walmart-cashier-pays-for-mans-groceries_n_6316746.html?utm_hp_ref=good-news

this guy didn't have to wear a mask to do good...




Football Player Donates A Week's Paycheck To Sick Little Girl, Makes Her Season Bright



The Huffington Post    |  By  Ron Dicker   
Posted:  12/22/2014 12:28 pm EST    Updated:  12/22/2014 12:59 pm EST


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyGRSyff4sQ




Menelik Watson of the Oakland Raiders just earned our All-Pro honors -- for incredible generosity.

The Raiders were visited recently by Ava Urrea, a 4-year-old who was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome -- which interrupts normal blood flow through the heart. Ava, who has had 14 surgeries, got to hang with the players last week, received a signed helmet and all kinds of goodies and attended the team's game on Dec. 21. It was all arranged through the Touchdown Dreams children's charity run by Fox Sports reporter Jay Glazer.

But Watson went the extra yard -- well, way beyond that. He pulled Ava's father aside and told him he was donating a week's paycheck to the family.

Just how much money is that? Well, given Watson's $622,948 salary for this season, his weekly paycheck for the 17-week season comes out to almost $37,000 before taxes, according to Pro Football Talk. "With federal and California taxes consuming roughly half of that amount, the net check would have been in the range of $18,000," the outlet went on to note.

On Sunday, Watson didn't tweet about the donation, though he did mention the Raiders' upset victory over the Buffalo Bills. (He did not play.) With Ava in attendance, the Raiders triumphed, 26-24.

Fans deluged his account with praise for what he had done off the field. One called his donation a selfless act that was way bigger than football.

At 6 feet, 5 inches and 310 pounds, No. 71 (pictured below earlier in the season) is a large man. And he just got bigger in the eyes of many.

And now we know that Santa Claus can wear silver and black, too.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/22/menelik-watson-heart-week-paycheck-donation_n_6366368.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/24/homeless-man-100_n_6378022.html




Prankster Gives Homeless Man $100, Secretly Follows Him And Learns He Buys Food For Others



The Huffington Post    |  By  Kimberly Yam   
Posted:  12/24/2014 1:07 pm EST    Updated:  5 hours ago
This video proves that a person's integrity goes far beyond what meets the eye.

In a video uploaded to YouTube, prankster Josh Paler Lin gives $100 to a homeless man and secretly follows the him to find out how it's spent.

The homeless man is seen on camera buying food and giving it to strangers in the park. The sight turns Lin's perception of homelessness on its head.


Lin says he is "stunned" and admits he thought the man might buy alcohol.

"You just touched my heart," Lin told him.

While the gesture left the prankster so emotional that he decided to donate another $100, he also had something to offer Lin:

"There's a lot of people that are just victims of circumstance," the homeless man told him. "And they didn't go homeless because they're lazy ...It could be a divorce, and one thing leads to another. A man sells his boat, his home, and all of a sudden he finds out he has no money. There's a lot of good people that are homeless."



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiWxrpikWgs

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/03/james-robertson-walks-21-miles-to-work-donations-car_n_6604896.html


In 24 Hours, Internet Helped Change Life Of Detroit Man Who Walks 21 Miles To Work



The Huffington Post    |  By  Cavan Sieczkowski   

Posted:  02/03/2015 1:16 pm EST    Updated:  02/03/2015 1:59 pm EST

Sometimes a simple story can be life-changing.

That's what happened to James Robertson, a 56-year-old man from Detroit who walks 21 miles to and from work each day. The Detroit Free Press first covered the tale of Robertson's grueling commute, explaining that he leaves his home at 8 a.m. and does not return until around 4 a.m. Because Robertson can't afford to own and maintain a car in the Motor City on his $10.55-per-hour salary, he must rely on public transportation, rides from good samaritans and his own two feet to get him where he needs to go Monday through Friday.

Evan Leedy, a student at Detroit's Wayne State University, set up a GoFundMe account to help raise money to buy Robertson a car. It began with a simple goal of $5,000 and skyrocketed to over $200,000 from thousands of people after Robertson's story was picked up my media outlets around the world.

"I am just so stunned," Robertson told People magazine Tuesday. "Who would have thought that just a simple walk would have turned into this? I would have told you that you were crazy a few days ago ... I am taking this as a sign that it's time I start driving again," he said. "And getting more than two hours of sleep a night."

Robertson's girlfriend, Tanya Fox, echoed a similar shock.

"He's kind of a private person, doesn't bother anybody. He's the kind of person you can depend on. He's a good man," she told the "Today" show about the response to Robertson's story. "We're both elated and he's overwhelmed. He didn't think something like this would even happen to him."

His work ethic and spirit are truly inspiring. Robertson doesn't complain and he manages to have perfect attendance at work.

"I set our attendance standard by this man," Todd Wilson, the plant manager at Schain Mold & Engineering, told the Detroit Free Press. "I say, if this man can get here, walking all those miles through snow and rain, well I'll tell you, I have people in Pontiac 10 minutes away and they say they can't get here — bull!"

"I do it with no excuses," Robertson told CBS News. "If you want something, you've gotta go out and get it ... You better go ahead and do it because your girlfriend don't want to hear it, your coworkers don't want to hear it and you got to get up and do it again the next day."

While the sum collected via GoFundMe can afford Robertson a luxury vehicle, he plans to keep it simple. He told the Detroit Free Press Tuesday that he likes Ford.

"I'm a Ford fan. I remember the Taurus," he said. "They look comfortable, nothing fancy. They're simple on the outside, strong on the inside — like me."





.........................................................................

http://www.alternet.org/labor/detroit-man-walks-21-miles-work-each-day



Detroit Man Walks 21 Miles to Work Each Day
 



Now that his story has come out, 56-year-old James Robertson may just get a car and a reprieve.
 
By Terrell Jermaine Starr / AlterNet

February 2, 2015


If you complain about your morning commute, you need to stop and consider the four-hour trek 56-year-old Detroit man James Robertson takes every day to reach his factory job 23 miles away in the suburb of Rochester Hills.

When James' 1988 Honda Accord stopped working in 2005, he began taking the bus part way to his job, then walking the other 21 miles to Schain Mold & Engineering, according to the Detroit Free Press. He told the paper he didn't get a new car because, "I haven't had a chance to save for it."

Robertson makes makes $10.55 per hour, more than Michigan's minimum wage of $8.15 an hour but not nearly enough to purchase and maintain a car in Detroit. At $5,109 per year, Detroit has the most expensive car insurance in the nation. The commute is incredible but that's how it is, given that Metro Detroit has cut back its bus service routes and car ownership is out of reach for many residents.

As rough as  Robertson's commute has been, his boss says it hasn't stopped him from getting to work on time.

"I set our attendance standard by this man," Todd Wilson, plant manager at Schain Mold & Engineering, told The Free Press. "I say, if this man can get here, walking all those miles through snow and rain, well I'll tell you, I have people in Pontiac 10 minutes away and they say they can't get here — bull!"

Robertson's co-workers give him a lift when they can; Wilson's wife makes sure he has homecooked food during dinner time each day.

"Oh, yes, she takes care of James," Wilson told the Press. "And he's a personal favorite of the owners because of his attendance record. He's never missed. I've seen him come in here wringing wet."

The commute takes a toll on him though, says his coworker Janet Vallardo, 59, of Auburn Hills. "He comes in here looking real tired — his legs, his knees," she told The Free Press.

Robertson has walked to work in the freezing cold, snow, rain and during the summer heat. Getting home after work at night is even tougher because he has to go through rough parts of town. He was mugged once.

According to the Free Press, Robertson operates "a injection-molding machine the size of a small garage, carefully slicing and drilling away waste after removing each finished part, and noting his production in detail on a clipboard."

He keeps himself energized at work by drinking 2-liter bottles of Mountain Dew and cans of Coke.

There is a bright spot to this story. After the Free Press ran James story, hundreds of people around the country began raising money for him to purchase a vehicle. More than $53,000 has been raised as of noon today.

A local car dealership has offered to give Robertson a a 2014 Chevrolet Cruz or Sonic. "He gets to choose," said Angela Osborne, customer service specialist at Rodgers Chevrolet in Woodhaven. "We were just impressed with his determination."

Robertson would have to pay the $900 tax on the car.

After hearing about the money that has been raised for him, all James could say in response was, "Are you serious?"



..........................................




http://news.yahoo.com/funds-pour-detroit-man-walks-21-miles-002408804.html


Funds pour in for Detroit man walks 21 miles to, from work

.

Associated Press

February 2, 2015 7:24 PM


DETROIT (AP) — Hundreds of people have contributed tens of thousands of dollars to help a Detroit man who says he typically walks 21 miles to get to and from work.







Related Stories


1. Strangers raise $60,000 to buy car for Detroit man who walks 21 miles a day to work Yahoo News
2. In 24 Hours, The Internet Helped Change Life Of Detroit Man Who Walks 21 Miles To Work Huffington Post
3. Fundraiser for Detroit man with marathon commute draws over $226,000 Reuters
4. Crowdfunding raises $200,000 for US man with long commute AFP
5. How a Detroit man's 21-mile walk to and from work became a national cause Vox.com

The Detroit Free Press (http://on.freep.com/1yujefU ) reports that James Robertson rides buses part of the way to and from his factory job in suburban Rochester Hills, but because they don't cover the whole route, he ends up walking about 8 miles before his shift starts at 2 p.m. and 13 more when it's over at 10. Lately, he's been getting occasional rides from a banker who passed him walking every day and finally asked what he was doing.

After the newspaper wrote about the 56-year-old's situation over the weekend, multiple people started crowdfunding efforts to help him buy a car and pay for insurance. Some have offered to drive him for free and others have offered to buy or give him cars.

Robertson began making the daily trek to the factory where he molds parts after his car stopped working ten years ago and bus service was cut back. He's had perfect attendance for more than 12 years.

"I set our attendance standard by this man," said Todd Wilson, plant manager at Schain Mold & Engineering. "I say, if this man can get here, walking all those miles through snow and rain, well I'll tell you, I have people in Pontiac 10 minutes away and they say they can't get here — bull!"


Evan Leedy, a 19-year-old student at Wayne State University, read the story and started a GoFundMe site with the goal of raising $5,000. As of Monday evening, he had raised more than $90,000.

Robertson said he was flattered by the attention and amazed strangers would step in to help.

Asked about a federal program newly available through Detroit's bus system that might pick him up at home and drop him off at his job, Robertson said, "I'd rather they spent that money on a 24-hour bus system, not on some little bus for me. This city needs buses going 24/7. You can tell the City Council and mayor I said that

this fits here... SMILE.. it will make your day... hugs



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd_2Y29_FLU


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd_2Y29_FLU


Disney Characters Shadow Unsuspecting Mall Shoppers



The Huffington Post    |  By  Ed Mazza   
  Posted:  02/17/2015 11:25 pm EST    Updated:  02/17/2015 11:59 pm EST

With New York in the grips of record low temperatures, it might seem like only a little Disney magic could thaw the place out. And that's just what some unsuspecting shoppers in a Long Island mall got when they found themselves being shadowed by Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck and more during a recent hidden-camera stunt to promote the company's "Disney Side" ad campaign.

The characters were working behind the opaque windows of the "Umbra Penumbra Magic Shop" at the Westfield Sunrise Center in Massapequa. The name of the shop refers to two parts of a shadow.

The store also claims it was established in 1955, not coincidentally the year Disneyland first opened.

Check it out in the clip above... and prepare to be impressed by some pretty slick dance moves from a certain mouse.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/17/disney-characters-mall-shadow_n_6702530.html

 
;D   8)  the internet can be a good thing...smile  being different  makes you interesting..not a thing of scorn


Mocked Dancing Man Set For 'Epic' LA Party



(http://img.s-msn.com/tenant/amp/entityid/AA9t7Wa.img?h=410&w=728&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f)

A man mocked for his dance moves is set for a "party of a lifetime" with hundreds of women - and potentially Hollywood stars - after an online campaign tracked him down.

Named as 'Sean' and from London, he was pictured in a photo on the 4chan site looking down in the dumps after apparently being made fun of.

An anonymous poster wrote: "Spotted this specimen trying to dance the other week. He stopped when he saw us laughing."

The post was republished on photo site imgur and quickly picked up more than 2000 comments of support for the mystery man's moves.

One person posted: "I literally want to hug him. His face... he looks so defeated. I want to tell him to keep dancing and don't care about those people."

Cassandra Fairbanks, who spearheaded the #finddancingman campaign, told Sky News the original taunts were "disgusting bullying", but that Sean was now basking in internet love.

"There have been so many [messages] – it's just been an outpouring of support and love and kindness.

"He's been wonderful. He said he's been smiling and laughing all day and reading everybody's tweets."

She explained "a whole bunch of women from LA from various fields" had got behind the campaign after being outraged by the nasty comments.

And now a photo of a chuffed-looking Sean has emerged and he appears to have set up his own Twitter account @dancingmanfound.

Cassandra told Sky News she is in contact with him and trying to arrange dates. A fundraising page has been set up to fund Sean's LA adventure.

"We have over 17,000 people in our group so I think we can swing the airfare," said Cassandra, who is promising the lucky Londoner an "epic" trip.

"We organised a huge sleepover party a few months ago," she said.

"We had bouncy houses, and a monkey I think was there; giant pizzas, air mattresses...

"I think we can organise an even more epic dance party. There are already a lot of artists volunteering to perform, people are offering all kinds of stuff."

Happy singer Pharrell Williams could be one of those performing in Sean's honour, tweeting on Friday "keep me posted about your dance party" ... never be ashamed of yourself."

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/03/13/players-leave-court-mid-game-to-confront-bully-cheerleader-with-down-syndrome/

Midwest

Players leave court mid-game to confront bully of cheerleader with Down syndrome





vid at link of team


Published March 13, 2015
·FoxNews.com


A group of middle school basketball players walked off the court in the middle of a game when they heard bullying coming from the stands directed at cheerleader, Desiree Andrews, who has Down syndrome.

"We walked off the court and went to the bullies and told them to stop because that's not right to be mean to another person," said Miles Rodriguez, one of the players, told Fox & Friends Friday.


The athletic director at Lincoln Middle School in Wisconsin told the show he was proud of the boys for what they did, as well as Desiree and the other cheerleaders.

"It truly does take a village to do great things," AD Tim Nieman said.

Brandon Morris, who was the boys seventh-grade coach at Lincoln told the Kenosha News, "One of the kids stepped up and said, 'Don't mess with her,'.


Eighth-graders Miles, Chase Vasquez and Scooter Terrien stormed off the court to confront the bully, who was giving Andrews a hard time.

"We were mad; we didn't like that," Rodriguez told the paper. "We asked our sports director to talk to the people and tell them not to make fun of her."

In a video on TMJ4 news in Wisconsin, Andrews called the gesture "sweet, kind, awesome, amazing."

"It's not fair when other people get treated wrong because we're all the same. We're all created the same," Terrien told TMJ4.

In a tradition that began last year, the introduction of the starting lineup for Lincoln's boys basketball team always includes Desiree, coach David Tolefree told Kenosha News. He added that the gym was renamed "D's House" in her honor, and students wear T-Shirts celebrating her inclusion with the team.

"They have really stepped up, almost like they are big brothers to her," Tolefree said. "It's good to see."

Desiree's father Cliff Andrews told the paper that his daughter's interest in cheerleading came from the television show "Glee."

"They have a character with Down syndrome who is a cheerleader. And she said, 'If she can be a cheerleader, I can be a cheerleader.'"

Cheer coach and Lincoln teacher, Laura Stone, told Kenosha News she believes Desiree's participation on the team, and at school, has helped her students grow.

"She has been very special to us," Stone said.

follow up

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/detroit-area-man-who-walked-miles-to-work-gets-new-apartment/ar-AA9O2sm

Detroit-area man who walked miles to work gets new apartment



(http://img.s-msn.com/tenant/amp/entityid/AA9OcqX.img?h=486&w=728&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=907&y=809)


James Robertson: In this Tuesday March 3, 2015 photo, James Robertson cleans off his furniture before leaving his new apartment in Troy, Mich. Robertson, who said he walked 21 miles to and from work each day, is settling into the suburban Detroit apartment after receiving thousands of dollars in online donations. ?  © AP Photo/Detroit Free Press, Ryan Garza In this Tuesday March 3, 2015 photo, James Robertson cleans off his furniture before leaving his new apartment in Troy, Mich. Robertson, who said he walked 21 miles to and from work each day, is... 
DETROIT — A man who said he walked 21 miles to and from work each day is settling into a new, suburban Detroit apartment after receiving thousands of dollars in online donations.

James Robertson said he feels more secure in Oakland County's Troy after moving north from his Detroit home to escape people asking him for money, the Detroit Free Press said Sunday (http://on.freep.com/1x6cWZd ).

The 56-year-old gained celebrity after the newspaper reported earlier this year that he began walking to a job at an auto parts factory when his car stopped working in 2005 and bus service was cut back.

A local college student launched a modest crowdfunding campaign to a buy a new car. It led to $360,000 eventually being raised and Robertson receiving a new, $35,000 Ford Taurus from an auto dealership.

"I may have been born there, but God knows I don't belong there anymore," Robertson said about his old neighborhood near Detroit's New Center area.

The plastic-molding operator also said he didn't tell people in his old neighborhood where he was moving.

He still works at the same factory in Rochester Hills, which pays him $10.55 an hour, but the hours-long walking trip now is done in a 20-minute drive.

"I'm going to keep working — that's for sure," he told the newspaper.

Financial experts are donating their services to help Robertson manage his money. The one-bedroom apartment in Troy costs him $800 a month in rent. He had been paying $880 per month for less space in his ex-girlfriend's home in Detroit.

Most of his money now is in a trust that has a principal amount of $351,000. The earnings from the trust should be enough to keep Robertson's nest egg untouched until he retires, said Rebecca Sorensen, a UBS Financial Services senior vice president for wealth management.

She is part of the financial team helping him.

People have stepped up because Robertson is unselfish and deserving, Sorensen said.

"He wants the majority of the funds he received to be invested in a way that will someday provide an income stream when he retires," she added.

___

Information from: Detroit Free Press, http://www.freep.com



(http://img.s-msn.com/tenant/amp/entityid/AA9Okfa.img?h=216&w=270&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=1126&y=439)

© AP Photo/Detroit Free Press, Ryan Garza In this Tuesday March 3, 2015 photo, James Robertson, left, shows Charlie Purtan Levenson, 13, how to properly swing a baseball bat while he was visiting Robertson with his mother and others at Robertson's new...

Quote from: space otter on December 25, 2014, 12:27:20 AM






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiWxrpikWgs

Wow that did not end the way I thought it would have when I saw him going into liquor store.  Very moving.

well this is sad.. but I guess with humans you have to expect it..which is even more sad..sigh...but the whole story needs to be told





http://uptownmagazine.com/2015/03/detroit-walking-man-ex-demands-cut-350k-donations/



Detroit 'Walking Man' Not Sharing Windfall With Ex-Girlfriend

Posted by  Angela Wilson  on Mar 17, 2015

(http://uptownmagazine.com/files/2015/03/UPTOWN_james_robertson_new_car-640x360.jpg)

The story of James Robertson, a diligent working man from Detroit, who walked 21 miles to and from work everyday warmed the hearts of America, including a local Toyota dealership that gifted him a 2015 cherry red Ford Taurus. In addition to his new wheels, Robertson, 56 , received over $350,000 in donations from a GoFundMe account after walking nearly a decade to his $10.55/hour job at a Rochester Mills, Michigan factory, which was only a 20 minute drive. But his tear-jerking story may not end in happily ever after, as his ex-girlfriend/former landlord Tanya Fox wants a cut of the donations he received from strangers.

Fox, 60, claims the plastic-molding operator was "not a neat person" and left his apartment a mess "with grease up the walls" when he moved out after 15 years of living there. She's been so adamant about getting a piece of his unexpected funds that Robertson issued a restraining order against her. Fox, who said the two discussed marriage at one point, insists she deserves something for putting up with him as a tenant and plans on fighting the order.

"I'm not a threat to him, and no one in this house is a threat to him," she told the Detroit Free Press.




much longer version here...



http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/detroit-man-demands-cut-350k-strangers-article-1.2150621


Ex-girlfriend of Detroit man who walked 21 miles to work each day demands cut of $350K given to him in crowdfunding campaign


BY  Lee Moran   / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS /
Published: Monday, March 16, 2015, 6:39 AM / Updated: Monday, March 16, 2015, 9:49 AM

A greedy ex-girlfriend wants her cut of the $350,000 gifted to a Detroit man after it emerged that he walked eight hours to work every day.

Tanya Fox, 60, has been hounding James Robertson for at least $50,000 so she can fix up the apartment he rented from her for 15 years, reports the Detroit Free Press.

She claims that he was "not a neat person" and left the home in a mess "with grease up the walls" when he moved out.

The plastic-molding operator has since been forced to take out a restraining order against his former lover, reports the publication.

Fox is reportedly just one of a number of people who have come begging to Robertson, and issuing threats, since he landed the unexpected windfall

The 56-year-old found fame in February when details of his astonishing 42-mile round-trip from his Detroit home to a factory in Rochester Mills, Mich., became known.

He'd made the torrid commute for almost a decade after his Honda Accord quit on him.

Local computer science student Evan Leedy, 19, of Macomb Township, heard about his hardship and created a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to buy Robertson a car.

News of the drive soon went viral, and Robertson was flooded with more cash than he ever could have dreamed of.

vid here at link

It saw him move out of his Detroit New Center neighborhood to a 1-bedroom apartment in the suburb of Troy, and given a $35,000 Ford Taurus from an auto dealership.

It means he has just a 20-minute drive to his $10.55 an hour job.

But he's since completely cut ties with the area in which he grew up.

"I may have been born there, but God knows I don't belong there anymore," he told the Free Press.

this kind of  fits here..mostly as a follow up .. it doesn't really need a place by itself


so the original story is here  about the mom chasing her kid



http://www.thelivingmoon.com/forum/index.php?topic=8209.msg113027#
Reply #18 on: April 28, 2015, 11:28:03 AM »


A suspected rioter in Baltimore got the smackdown of his life Monday by his mom on television. (WMAR)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRlmCf1Kj2o



...............................................

and here is the follow up ..about the mom and what has happened since..pretty cool..i wish them well and I am susre we will here  about this kid in the future..hopefully in a good way


http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/for-baltimore-hero-mom-video-captures-only-part-of-her-struggle/ar-BBjNv5a

For Baltimore 'hero mom,' video captures only part of her struggle

BALTIMORE — Three weeks ago, Toya Graham was a recently unemployed single mother of six and grandmother of one struggling to scrape by in West Baltimore.

Today, she's the beneficiary of a growing GoFundMe page, and a scholarship fund has been established for her 16-year-old son. She's fielding job offers, she said, from BET, Under Armour and St. Joseph's Hospital.

"I told them all yes," she said. "I know I can't work all of those jobs. But, I didn't want to seem ungrateful."

Graham's newfound opportunities are the result of one indelible moment: She confronted her son with a barrage of slaps — just as he was poised to throw rocks at police officers by Mondawmin Mall. Captured on video, it was one of the unforgettable scenes from the unrest related to Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old man who died as a result of injuries sustained while in police custody.

The clip catapulted her to overnight fame, with whirlwind appearances on almost every major news network and on shows such as "The View." She even received a call of support from Oprah Winfrey.

The change in fortune brings her to tears.

"It's really overwhelming," she said, sitting in a couch in her living room, where framed pictures of her family and religious scripture adorn a glass table atop paneled wood floors. "When you have struggled for so long, you don't know where your next meal is coming from. It means a lot. ... I'm grateful that they heard me say I was struggling."

But prior to April 27, Graham's experiences were not atypical for West Baltimore: going to church, getting by, raising her children in a neighborhood that can echo with gunshots. While one daughter aspires to be in uniform, her son resents the police; Graham fears his story ending the same way as Trayvon Martin or Freddie Gray.

After moving her family from Park Heights to a larger rowhouse in West Baltimore, the 42-year-old health care worker injured her back on the job; she eventually lost her position as a caregiver. She made ends meet with the help of her significant other and an older daughter. Graham also enlisted the help of social services.

To compound matters, Graham said, past legal trouble kept her from getting new employment.

"If you have any criminal background it is hard to find work," she said. A court records search showed Graham was charged with second-degree assault in 2002, but the case was dismissed.

The number of people seeking work who have such records in their background is so widespread in Baltimore that last year the City Council passed "Ban the Box" legislation that would force employers to wait until they have extended a conditional job offer before checking an applicant's criminal history.

Graham declined to elaborate on that history but added that "no one wants to work with anyone with a record. Sure, you can get hired at McDonald's. But you can't if you want to work as a nurse or as a caregiver with a criminal background. I'm saying this from experience."

———

Even while Graham struggled, she never lost sight of her faith and her family. The youngest of five, she was raised by her parents in a close-knit family in Park Heights.

"Growing up in Baltimore, everyone had a mother and father in the household. Parents were strict. I had to do chores, go to school. We respected elders," she said.

She was devastated when her mother died in 1996. "It was hard for me," she said. Her voice lowers to almost a whisper as she describes family gatherings at the gravesite. "We go up there with blankets and talk to her," she said.

Graham has a "strong connection with the church," she said. Her faith helps her cope, along with a closeness to her father, who often hosts Sunday fish-fry dinners.

She has served as an usher in Berean Baptist Church, where she has been a member for years, she said. Her daughters have been part of the dance ministry there.

Perhaps it is Graham's stern background that comes through in the video that shows her hitting and pushing her son while yelling and cursing at him.

The images stirred sharp emotions, drawing praise for Graham as "Mother of the Year," as well as condemnation for her violence against a child. There were cheers of approval, then a backlash, then a backlash to the backlash.

Graham said she doesn't want any labels. She just wants to keep her children safe.

"I know I'm not alone out there," she said. "It's just that the cameras caught me on TV that day. I was trying to get my son out of a bad situation."

———

Graham stands 5 feet 2 inches tall. She's always been called "shorty," but her presence is commanding. On the day of the interview, she wore a sparkly "Boss" necklace that accented her black dress.

The way she has handled attention since the video makes her oldest daughter, Tericka Tate, proud.

"People are recognizing what she's done for me in my 24 years of living," Tate said. "She's done the best she could."

Graham's father, Robert, echoes the praise.

"She adopted what I was teaching," the 68-year-old said. "To me, she was raising them in the order I tried to raise them."

Robert Graham lives in Westport and works laying tile and marble. He does not view what his daughter did as wrong or abusive.

"I was proud of her for catching him from getting into trouble," he said. "Those were the things I would do to them growing up. I would go to school to check on them."

Graham has avoided social media and Internet stories about herself.

"People are going to have their opinion," she acknowledges. She would just rather not read about it.

"I've told my girls that if you see anything that is negative about me, don't tag me or respond," she said. "I live by the belief that sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

———

For more than a year, Graham said, she has watched narratives in the deaths of unarmed black youths unfold on television. Her heart ached for the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice and Michael Brown.

"It petrifies me to see the different cases on national television," said Graham, who follows current events closely. "They want answers as to why they don't have their son."

Graham didn't want to become one of those mothers. So when she spotted her son, Michael Singleton, with a rock in hand ready to throw it at police, she jumped into action.

"I wanted to get my son and have him be safe," she said. "I knew that whole thing was not safe."

Although she had never known Gray or heard of him before his death, she attended his viewing.

"I was one of those mothers who couldn't imagine being in that same situation," she said. "I don't know him, the mother or no one in the family. But as a mother I thought I should pay my respect."

Despite the harsh realities of Baltimore, she remains unwavering in her loyalty to her city. Graham lives in a red-brick rowhouse surrounded by boarded-up homes in the Edmondson/Poplar Grove neighborhood. The issues that converged in the Gray case are what she sees "on a daily basis."

Of the protests, she said, "People just need to understand that we were fed up."

Shootings are a regular occurrence here, according to Graham. Nearby gunshots disrupted a recent evening.

"Last night, when my daughter was doing my hair, I heard gunshots so I pushed her to the ground," she recalled. "You don't know where it is going to wind up."

That's why she is determined to keep Michael safe.

"He always wants to be out there with his friends," she said. "He doesn't see what I see. He's mad because I keep him in."

Since the video, Graham has been even more protective.

"He hasn't really been out of my sight since this incident," she said. "It's best to keep him with me. Everybody who knows me, knows I always have my children with me. I like to know they are OK."

———

Life for Michael, a student at Excel Academy at Frances M. Wood High School in Baltimore, has been shifting back to normal since the video aired in late April.

Graham said classmates haven't teased him about the video, which has garnered more than 8 million views on YouTube alone. In fact, they have reacted with admiration.

"They've said: 'Michael, you are lucky you had a mom like that. She came out there to get you,'" said Graham, who declined to allow her son to be interviewed by The Sun.

The two had a lengthy talk after the incident.

"I pretty much asked him: What was he thinking?" Graham said. "He has a lot of anger for what the police have done to his friends. But two wrongs don't make a right."

The message appears to have stuck. In an interview with ABC's "World News Tonight," Michael said: "I understand how much my mother really cares about me, so I'm just gonna try and do better."

Graham and her son discussed his older sister, Tate, an aspiring police officer who lives in Park Heights.

"I told him that could have been his sister," Graham said. "I asked, 'How would you feel if they did that to her?'"

Michael and his sister also talked.

"I told him, 'That is my job. I could have been there.' He said he didn't think of it that way," Tate said. "He understood and thought about it. He said he wouldn't want anyone hurting me."

———

While Graham said support has been overwhelming since release of the video, she was still "shocked" to receive a call from Oprah Winfrey.

"She said she understood why I was there," said Graham, who talked with Winfrey for about 45 minutes. "She said, as a mother, she would do the same thing.'"

In addition to drawing high-profile names and more than $12,000 in donations on GoFundMe, the video has helped Graham connect to several local employers, including St. Joseph's Hospital in Towson.

"Like many in our community, we were saddened by the events in Baltimore City," said a hospital spokeswoman. "When we saw Ms. Graham's story and learned that she was a recently unemployed health care worker, we reached out to see if we could help."

The hospital said it was working out details of a potential position; when asked about Graham's background, a spokeswoman said "all offers are contingent on background checks and evaluation of any findings."

Under Armour also reached out to Graham.

"After hearing the story of Toya Graham and seeing her courageous act of tough love ... we have discussed potential opportunities with her at Under Armour," said Danielle Cavalli Daly, senior manager, global communications and entertainment.

She has gone to New York for appearances on shows such as "The View" and "CBS This Morning."

Graham said, she has been deeply touched by the outpouring of support and praise.

"I don't feel that I am a hero mom," she said. "It's just me and my children. To see my son in that same predicament, I had to get out there and do something. I see myself as a regular mom who had to get out there to protect my child."

I have given up..long ago on trying to save the whole world.. if the gloom and doom folks are right  then I will deal with it as it hits my small living area
in the mean time I will do what I can for those nearest to me

reading this the question becomes.. not if you are an angel but whose angle are you today..


and some dazes you have to be your own angel and look hard to find the beauty that surrounds us


http://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/mind-and-soul/5-year-old-makes-entire-waffle-house-cry-with-goodwill-gesture-toward-homeless-man/ar-BBjWf8w

5-year-old makes entire Waffle House cry with goodwill gesture toward homeless man

Five-year-olds seemingly ask questions non-stop. Sometimes, those queries make their parents uncomfortable—what happens when we die, how do babies get into mommy's tummy, why are we driving so fast that policeman behind us wants us to pull over? But when that parent can give a direct answer, it can make a huge difference to someone in need.

Thus, when 5-year-old Josiah Duncan recently spotted a man outside a Waffle House restaurant in Prattville, Ala., with only a bag and a bike, he asked his mother, Ava Faulk, a question about him. Faulk told her son that he was homeless, and Duncan asked what that meant.

After she explained it, though, Duncan—apparently troubled by the idea that this man had no food to eat—had a request for his mom. Buy this man a meal, he told her.

More from WAAF:


"[The man] came in and sat down, and nobody really waited on him," Faulk explained. "So Josiah jumped up and asked him if he needed a menu because you can't order without one."

The man insisted on a cheap hamburger to start, but he was assured he could have anything he wanted. He got the works.

"Can I have bacon?" Faulk remembers him asking, "And I told him get as much bacon you want."

Before the man could take the first bite, Josiah insisted on doing something.

"I wanted to say the blessing with him," Duncan said.

When the pre-meal blessing was complete, there apparently wasn't a dry eye in the place. And Josiah's actions filled his mother with pride.

"You never know who the angel on Earth is, and when the opportunity comes you should never walk away from it," Faulk told the TV station. "Watching my son touch the 11 people in that Waffle House tonight will be forever one of the greatest accomplishments as a parent I'll ever get to witness."


YouTube: 5 year old's touching gesture feeds homeless man at Waffle House
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxcVlWEnxfY

Quote from: space otter on May 19, 2015, 02:56:42 PM
in the mean time I will do what I can for those nearest to me

This has been my message for many years. :D

Quoteand some days you have to be your own angel and look hard to find the beauty that surrounds us

Yes  it is also hard to help others when you yourself are hurting.  Most self help orgs will tell you to heal yourself and family FIRST before you take on others  and then only take on what you can handle.

Back when we had the Medieval group strong... we found that in numbers you can help more people and at the same time help yourself

5 year olds do ask those questions. LOL but I do wonder how many of those with tears took that lesson to heart after they left...

Nice story :D

No calamity befalls those who take refuge in you, and they who resort to you become a refuge to others.

--  The Durga Saptaslokistotra.

If we acknowledge the existence of compassionate Gods, then we have a moral duty to act as a physical avatar of said Gods.  Kali has shown me unconditional love.  If I show anyone else, anything else, then I am not worthy of her.  Before any of the rest of you say it, I am aware that my failure rate in doing so is around 90%.

One of the things that I am currently trying to learn, is that for me to surrender to misanthropy in response to my perception of the continual hubris, stupidity, and overall degeneracy of the rest of my species, is in itself morally wrong, and renders me a hypocrite of the worst order.

is in itself morally wrong, and renders me a hypocrite of the worst order.

no pets r us..
I  don't think self awareness is  surrender .. it's simply self awareness
recognition is not surrender.. it's simply recognition

knowledge of being attached while not  part of something is to ask the question

and   grasp the absurdity as we ask..
what the hell AM I HERE FOR?....

perhaps the knowledge of the asking is all there is

Quote from: petrus4 on May 20, 2015, 01:09:07 AM
If we acknowledge the existence of compassionate Gods, then we have a moral duty to act as a physical avatar of said Gods.

Why do we have to acknowledge the existence of compassionate Gods, can't we just act that way, gods or no gods?

This is a great thread!

Quote from: ArMaP on May 20, 2015, 09:35:35 PM
Why do we have to acknowledge the existence of compassionate Gods

We don't have to, Armap.  Principled atheism can and does exist, and I acknowledge that.  The Samhkya philosophy of Patanjali and the earliest known Yogis, which Vivekananda describes in his Raja Yoga, was atheistic.  It is pure mechanism and entirely reproducible, at least the way he describes it; although I truthfully do not have the authority to speak about that, because I am a very long way from realisation.  I believe in it to a sufficient degree, however, that I believe it to be worth my investigation.

This is truthfully why I do not understand why more atheists do not seem to have studied Advaita Vedanta, because according to that system, liberation is still entirely possible (although considerably more difficult) without any belief in God.

Why bring god into this ? why on earth some people still cling to such a divisive concept, is beyond me.
imagine people simply being kind to each other. Every day , everywhere.
wouldn't that be something. :)

Why bring god into this ? why on earth some people still cling to such a divisive concept, is beyond me.
imagine people simply being kind to each other. Every day , everywhere.
wouldn't that be something.


that was the entire point of this thread Elvis.. to show that a kindness to others is  important
and does exist
but we got side tracked..as usual

ok back on track....

one human being kind to another human...



http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/virginia-state-trooper-helps-young-black-man-with-flat-tire/ar-BBk08tl

Virginia state trooper helps young black man with flat tire


New York Daily News
MELISSA CHAN
4 hrs ago

A white Virginia state trooper who kneeled down to help a stranded young black man change a flat tire, and then stayed by his side all night until help arrived, has become a hero in the eyes of his grateful mother.

"This kind officer approached him didn't ask if the little Mercedes was stolen but rather got on his knees to replace his tire," mom Nada Owusu wrote in a Facebook post that has gone viral.

Owusu's 20-year-old undergraduate son Joseph Owusu was driving home to Danville from Virginia Tech last Thursday when his back tire blew on the road "in the middle of nowhere," she said.

That's when Virginia State Trooper Matt Okes stepped in to try to fix the flat.

When he couldn't, the law enforcement officer kept the student company on the dark road for over four hours until his mother and AAA arrived at 1 a.m.

Then he trailed them in his police vehicle until he knew they were fine to drive on their own, Owusu said.

"What really impressed me is not just the fact that he tried to change the tire, which I didn't even know police did," Owusu told the Daily News.

"What touched me more was that he didn't leave him on that road, where he could have been hit by another car. As a mother, that really meant a lot to me."

Owusu's post has been shared more than 21,000 times and liked by more than 400 people, including TV personality Montel Williams, who called Okes' assistance an "act of heroic kindness."

"Too often we look at very specific instances where police miss the mark, and it's equally if not more important to recognize the countless Trooper Okes' of the world who quietly serve with distinction and embody EVERYTHING we want our Police to be," Williams wrote. "Trooper Okes, thank you for your service."

Owusu said the message has even reached those in Ferguson, Mo., the site of recent turmoil between police and protesters, where white police officer Darren Wilson fatally shot Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen in August.

"Somebody in Ferguson told me it was uplifting and that they're beginning to heal," Owusu, a pediatrician, said. "That really touched me. This was a simple, worried mother's post trying to thank one officer. This was accidental, but it's bringing healing.

"I believe that people want to hope again -- that they can still believe in our officers," she added. "The officers need the community to believe they are there for our own good."

The kind act has even changed Joseph Owusu's perception of police officers.

"When my son saw that officer, he didn't think the officer would help him. And that's sad," Nada Owusu said. "Now he knows."

I thought I started a thread on GOOD COP reports? :D

  the party for the guy from reply #10



http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/offbeat/dancing-man-honored-at-hollywood-celeb-dance-party/ar-BBke0eV?ocid=ansnewsNYDailyNews11

'Dancing Man' honored at Hollywood celeb dance party

(http://img.s-msn.com/tenant/amp/entityid/BBkeiDs.img?h=486&w=728&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f)
© JONATHAN ALCORN/Newscom/Reuters "Dancing Man" Sean O'Brien dances at the #IAmDancingMan party at the Avalon Hollywood in Los Angeles, California May 23, 2015.



Dancing Man got his groove back.

A portly chap who got fat-shamed by Internet trolls was the guest of honor at a star-studded dance party in Los Angeles on Saturday.

British business man Sean O'Brien got the name "Dancing Man" after web dweebs on the message board 4Chan ruthlessly mocked photos of him busting a move on a dance floor in photos posted online in March.

"Spotted this specimen trying to dance the other week," the poster sneered along with the pics, which showed O'Brien grooving one moment and then appearing to hang his head in shame in the next. "He stopped when he saw us laughing."

Once the photos went viral, Free Thought Project writer Cassandra Fairbanks started a "#finddancingman" campaign to identify the cheery bloke and show him some love.

It caught the attention of thousands of Twitter users, including singer Pharrell Williams, musician Moby and pop singer Ellie Goulding, all of whom agreed to support a dance party in his honor.

The 47-year-old Liverpool native got the last laugh this weekend when party organizers flew him to Hollywood for a bash attended by hundreds of supporters, including "Party Hard" rocker Andrew W.K., presidential paramour turned anti-bullying crusader Monica Lewinsky and Moby, who DJ'd the event.

The throw down also featured a performance by Pharrell, who appeared via video.

O'Brien called the experience "truly life-changing."

"It was daunting at first. I was a bit worried about how it all happened but it's turned into the most wonderful journey, I've met some of the most wonderful people you can imagine," he told Good Morning Britain on Monday.

O'Brien's U.S. tour included a stopover in New York, where he appeared on "Today" Friday and danced on stage with "All About That Bass" singer Meghan Trainor.

And on Sunday, O'Brien was a guest of honor at the Dodgers Stadium, where he threw out the first pitch before the L.A. Dodgers-San Diego Padres game.

The Los Angeles dance party, meanwhile, which was orgranized by Fairbanks and Hope Leigh, raised more than $70,000 for the anti-cyberbullying organization The Cybersmile Foundation, "Today" reported.

"This is amazing," Fairbanks told L.A.'s KABC-TV. "It really shows power of people. If everybody comes together to do something nice look what you can accomplish."

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/hundreds-repaint-older-mans-home-after-teens-make-hurtful-comments/ar-BBlEmM3


(http://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BBlEQ3j.img?h=768&w=1366&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=1259&y=971)
© Josh Cyganik via Facebook Josh Cyganik and other good samaritans painted the home of an elderly neighbor. Photo of house shown before painting on Josh Cyganik and other good samaritans painted the home of an elderly neighbory. Photo...


After hearing two teenagers mock the state of an elderly man's home, Josh Cyganik, an Oregon railroad worker, decided to take action.

For the past four years, Cyganik has started each morning the same way. He leaves his home in Pendleton, Ore., and waves to his neighbor, 75-year-old Leonard Bullock, who often sits on the front porch of his home.

In early July, Cyganik overheard two teenagers say the home should be "burned to the ground" as they walked by Bullock's house. Unfortunately, Bullock could hear the teens.

"I saw the look on Leonard's face. I could tell the comment bothered him," Cyganik said in an interview posted on his employer Union Pacific Railroad's website.

Cyganik said he couldn't stop thinking about Bullock and decided to do something. He asked Bullock if he would like to have his house painted.

"He was ecstatic," Cyganik said.

In need of a few extra hands to help paint the home, Cyganik asked for help via Facebook.

The post was shared over 6,000 times and on July 18, hundreds of volunteers were waiting to help Cyganik at Bullock's house. He said the good will didn't stop with a new paint job. Volunteers purchased outdoor furniture. Construction of a new porch is also currently underway.

(http://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BBlESEw.img?h=410&w=728&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=394&y=388)
© Josh Cyganik via Facebook Josh Cyganik and other good samaritans painted the home of an elderly neighbor. Photo of house shown before painting on Josh Cyganik and other good samaritans painted the home of an elderly neighbory. Photo...

The house that once had paint peeling from the boards is now a warm beige color.

"Yeah, it was a random act of kindness, but to me it's more about respect," Cyganik said in the Union Pacific post. "I was raised to respect the people who came before you, to help others out who don't have much. Leonard can now sit on his front porch for the rest of his years while feeling good about his home."

Hell yeah! Boom!  8)

maybe because they are public servants we hear more about them

I try to never be in a hurry when I go to the grocery store cause there is always a short older-than-me person who needs help reaching that top shelf...and someone to talk to  ;D
someday that may be me and hopefully I have enough karma to have someone to talk to then


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/greater-manchester-police-stu-ockwell_5644a786e4b060377347daca?cps=gravity_5057_-2067076697855671393

Kimberly YamAfter Couple Calls Police Because They're Lonely, Cops Respond With Sweet Surprise

To protect and to serve -- tea.



Associate Good News Editor, The Huffington Post
Posted: 11/13/2015 08:15 AM EST

For these police officers, their jobs aren't just about fighting crime -- but also caring for the citizens they serve.

Police Constable Stu Ockwell and a colleague from the Greater Manchester Police in England, responded to a call earlier this week from 95-year-old Doris Thomson. The officers assumed that someone had fallen or gotten hurt, according to the Manchester Evening News, but when they arrived at the woman's house, they discovered that the Doris and her 95-year-old husband Fred Thomson, who's blind, just wanted someone to talk to.
So the officers did something perhaps not typically associated with those in law enforcement  -- they brewed some tea for the couple and hung out with them for a bit, ITV News reported.

"It was a nice change to have somebody to talk to," Ockwell told ITV News. "I was very pleased to know there was help about and pleased to talk to them because sometimes you can be a bit isolated as you get older but they made me feel at home."

Ockwell and his colleague spent about half an hour with the couple, having tea. Fred even told them a bit about his past.

"Fred told us the stories of when he was in the war," Ockwell said, according to The Telegraph. "He's an amazing character and had us in fits of laughter and to me it made my day."

Ockwell explained that though the call didn't have to do with a medical injury like he'd originally assumed, the visit was necessary.

"The lady's husband has gone blind and she struggles to look after him," he said, according to the Manchester Evening News. "It was out of desperation, really. She isn't very well herself."

The officer said that while the couple has supportive neighbors, they were just looking for a little help. Something he'd be happy to provide again.

"We'd do it all day long," he said.

Last year, about this time, one member of this forum, knowing that I was having money problems, had the kindness to help me and my family in the way he could at the time.

That help gave us a better Christmas (although, unfortunately, it came a little late for Christmas day, mostly because of bureaucracies) and a better start for 2015, but that wasn't the only (or maybe even the most important) thing, as it made me think that I haven't been helping people as much as I could, and so, although limited at the time to my family, I started giving more of my time to other people, even if it was only on little things like helping in the kitchen (I learned how to cook simple things like rice and spaghetti) or washing the dishes.

I noticed some time ago that now I see the act of helping other people as more natural than I did one year ago.

So, yes, kindness counts, more than it may look at first, and mostly in an indirect way, but it sure counts.

My thanks to that Pegasus member. You made me a better person and made my family's life better.

PS: No names mentioned to protect the "guilty". :)

ArMaP
thanks for sharing that..how nice to know we have kindness here...I knew it  ;D  ;D
and even though you had help.. it was YOU who made the changes in your life ..YOU  made a choice to play the kindness forward
hugs




and gold of course  ;)

Quote from: space otter on December 19, 2015, 01:51:06 PM
and even though you had help.. it was YOU who made the changes in your life ..YOU  made a choice to play the kindness forward

Yes, but without that first "push", would I do it?

I think that we all have the possibility for good and bad, we only need a push in the right direction. Unfortunately, a push in the wrong direction has the same result but for the bad.

oh ArMaP

would you or wouldn't you...that still means YOU had to make a choice..
you could have done nothing.. you choose to play it forward

good or bad push we still decide if we go with it or not

you have heard about free will, haven't you .?  ;)

Yes, free will plays a part, obviously, but what I mean is that the easiest thing is to do nothing and let things as they are.

Changing is possible (for those that have the will to do it), but most people need that push. Maybe one day I get to the point where I can give that push to someone else. :)

I believe the truly wonderful acts are never known they are always done in secret or asked to keep them secret. Many that you see online are fake and sometimes the help is not given to people who are truly in need but ones that will garner attention.

Just like anything else you need to keep your eyes open to being conned for u-tube hits or donations which may and have been known to be handed as kick backs secretly to the persons starting the campaign.

Personally I think careful choice is necessary. Example, I saw a young woman in a beat up car with bald tires but was very clean, get her kids out and go into the grocery store. Each of the three children was clean and neat even though the clothing was old and passed down. She bought bags of rice, huge bag of potatoes, beans and milk and other staples.

This young woman was a winner in my eyes. If I could afford it I would just have someone put new tires on her car or give her a better one, most any used care would have been an improvement! At that time I had zero cash.

Now in the same parking lot the week before I had given money to a Man with a sign who looked very needy. This week he was still there and I realized had camped the parking lot and now he had a dog and was smoking so he had extra to feed an animal and smoke. Anyway I didn't stop and give him anything and he flipped me off!! Bad choice there!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjYXpZBzQYQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjYXpZBzQYQ

Quote from: zorgon on December 20, 2015, 01:34:05 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjYXpZBzQYQ

I would be willing to bet these actions and responses were prearranged. I love being kind and going the extra mile for people, but don't expect to always get this response in return. Often people respond with anger or jesters or frowns.

i once offered to carry an elderlies bags and got and angry no in response, the no I understand the anger??? :-\

One guy we stopped for in a wheel char trying to get a cross a street at a crosswalk but no light. We stopped as you should and this caused everyone else to finally stop. The guy gave us the middle finger and did not cross :-( This is not a one time kind of thing people have all kinds of chips on their shoulders.

You have to just smile and move on.

QuoteI would be willing to bet these actions and responses were prearranged.

Dyna
of course they were.. it was only a promo to show that kindness is played forward and you never know what one little gesture will end up later
the title to the u tube is Kindness is Contagious, Spread some

it sounds like you have been very unlucky in those you thought to aid...tha'ts sad but like you said you just smile and move on
glad you haven't stopped trying though. ;D

(http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w400/thorfourwinds/anon%20that%20which%20divides_1.jpg)

ArMaP, that was a splendid reflection of the Love shared here among the Pegasus Family.

Thank you for sharing.

That's the Pegasus family that I love.

Be Blessed, everyone, for I feel that we will all be tested shortly.

Be vigilant, locked and loaded.

(http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w400/thorfourwinds/ostia%20OpStopTerror%20fifemanjpg.jpg)

Quote from: thorfourwinds on December 21, 2015, 04:42:37 AM
ArMaP, that was a splendid reflection of the Love shared here among the Pegasus Family.

Thank you for sharing.

Usually, I don't like to talk about myself, but I thought that in this case I should, as it wasn't really about myself. :)

QuoteBe vigilant, locked and loaded.

I think some people may be "loaded" in a different way. ;)

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/more-sports/pennsylvania-wrestler-forfeits-match-in-ultimate-act-of-sportsmanship/ar-CCrDjh?li=BBnb7Kz
USA Today Sports
Ed Gotwals
4 hrs ago


Pennsylvania wrestler forfeits match in ultimate act of sportsmanship

The Chambersburg wrestling team won every match it faced Saturday at the Wilson Duals Tournament and came home carrying the team championship trophy.


But the Trojans also won a lot of respect for a bout they didn't even wrestle.

In its last dual meet of the day, Chambersburg took on Conestoga Valley. One of the Buckskins' top wrestlers, Lucas Ortiz, came out on the mat for the first bout of the meet at 152 pounds, and was awarded a forfeit victory.

It was the 100th victory of his high school career, and it will also be his last.

Ortiz had 99 career wins by the end of the season last February. It seemed like it would be simply a matter of a short time until he opened his senior year with the milestone victory.

Except that Ortiz, who will wrestle at Lock Haven next year, tore an ACL and damaged the meniscus in his knee in October and can't wrestle this year.

Trojan coach Matt Mentzer said, "Lucas has been on some freestyle teams in the offseason with some of our kids, so we know him, and he's a good kid. We had heard about him being stuck on 99 wins, and I had talked to him earlier this year (at the Carlisle tournament) and knew he was frustrated about it.

"I remembered that we were going to face them in the Wilson tournament. So when that match came up, I spelled out the situation with our kids and told them to go talk about it and see what they wanted to do."

The Trojans came back with an answer: Senior Matt Strunk agreed to forfeit his match at 152 to Ortiz, which would be the magic win No. 100.

Strunk said, "Some of our guys know Lucas pretty well and said he's a really good guy, so we wanted to do something for him. I told the guys that Colin (Runshaw) should go up to 160 and I'll give up the forfeit at 152. It wasn't a hard decision for me – he's a senior and was stuck on 99 wins and it was the right thing to do."

Ortiz said, "That meant a lot to me. Not so much because it put me at 100 wins, but it just shows that they are great guys."

follow up on  James Robertson

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/man-who-walked-miles-to-work-settles-into-new-life/ar-BBpfF9c?li=BBnbfcL
Associated Press
4 days ago

Man who walked miles to work settles into new life

(http://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BBpg6EU.img?h=487&w=728&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=1670&y=419)

© REUTERS/Rebecca Cook Detroit resident James Robertson waves to the crowd after being surprised with the free gift of a 2015 red Ford Taurus sedan, at the Suburban Ford dealership in Sterling Heights, Michigan, February 6, 2015 
TROY, Mich. — A Detroit-area man who had said he walked 21 miles a day to and from work is finding life is much easier about a year after receiving a new car and a windfall of donations, but the downside to that generosity is that he has put on weight.

The Detroit Free Press reported last year about James Robertson's daily trek to the factory where he worked in Rochester Hills. Shortly thereafter, donors gave Robertson the car and roughly $360,000. He moved from Detroit to suburban Troy.

"People ask me why I still work. I don't change that for no one," he told the newspaper (http://on.freep.com/1PgpFxO ).

Now it takes the 57-year-old about 12 minutes to drive to work. The newspaper reported Sunday that the new situation hasn't rid 57-year-old Robinson of all of life's problems. He still needs to find new friends and fit into a new neighborhood, and he wants to lose weight because he is not getting as much exercise as before his good fortune.

Robertson said he isn't likely to retire anytime soon, in part because he prizes his friendships at work.

Each weekday, and lately on many Saturdays, Robertson makes the trip to his job at Schain Mold & Engineering, where he operates an injection-molding machine. But instead of needing five hours of walking and bus riding to get there, he can get to work by car swiftly.

"His attendance has never faltered, not one day," plant manager Todd Wilson said recently. "That money, none of it changed him one bit. James is still one of the most loving, caring people I know."

___

Information from: Detroit Free Press, http://www.freep.com

For otter
From a glass half full person like me people I can love.
(http://s20.postimg.org/7a2nkyw6j/good_world_1.jpg)
(http://s20.postimg.org/l2h2glmy3/good_world.jpg)

http://s20.postimg.org/7a2nkyw6j/good_world_1.jpg
http://s20.postimg.org/l2h2glmy3/good_world.jpg

oh Dyna..huge hugs...you made me tear up...it's been happenin a lot lately when  kindness and love jump out of the doom and gloom stuff
so THANK YOU


and the glass half full half empty thing.. just a matter of prospective...
it's always at half..just depends if you are looking down or up

http://www.begood.news/ :)

QuoteHeartwarming moment state trooper sits and eats lunch with homeless mother-of-four on the side of the road after picking up two meals from nearby restaurant when he spotted her

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3596061/Heartwarming-moment-state-trooper-sits-eats-lunch-homeless-mother-four-road-picking-two-meals-nearby-restaurant-spotted-her.html#ixzz490rFucEP

Super Suits: Combating Developmental Delays With Fashionable Exoskeletons

(http://i2.wp.com/neurosciencenews.com/files/2016/05/super-suit-exoskeleton-development-NeuroscienceNews.jpg?w=750)

Sarah Grace uses the Playskin Lift to combat arthrogryposis, which greatly inhibits her ability to use her arms.


For parents of children with developmental delays, dressing them in uncomfortable devices that make them stand out from their peers is a constant struggle. Kids don't want to wear it and parents don't want a constant battle. It's exhausting for everyone involved. Therefore, many of the exoskeletons simply don't get used often enough to make an impact.

Michele Lobo, assistant professor of physical therapy at the University of Delaware, decided to act. She created exoskeleton and other devices that are light, comfortable and effective. They're appropriately dubbed Super Suits.

"Super Suits is an umbrella of projects. It entails everything from low-tech, adaptive clothing to custom-designed exoskeletons that kids can put on and take off more easily," explains Lobo. "They like how it looks and it fits them better."

One of the Super Suits is an exoskeletal garment called the Playskin Lift. Flexible mechanical inserts made of piano wires slip into the vinyl tunnels under the sleeves, providing the child's arms with additional support. This increases the child's reaching space while improving object exploration and learning outcomes.

Preliminary results showed not only an assistive effect, immediately improving arm and hand functioning, but also a rehabilitative effect, meaning the child's strength and abilities improved over time. This is the world's first exoskeletal garment created for rehabilitation and it is custom-made for every child.


more at link

http://neurosciencenews.com/developmental-delay-exoskeleton-4246/ (http://neurosciencenews.com/developmental-delay-exoskeleton-4246/)

get a hankie and then  maybe give a hand to someone less fortunate  than you ..or give thanks for what we already have

group hug






http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/a-new-york-tycoon-found-a-friend-%E2%80%94-and-her-dog-%E2%80%94-living-outside-his-office-building/ar-AAhLSc1?li=BBnbfcL

MarketWatch MarketWatch
By Jennifer Gould Keil
10 hrs ago



Wealthy developer Steve Witkoff had just moved his offices to West 57th Street — Manhattan's Billionaires' Row — when he first laid eyes on Lasharn Francis Harvey and her sand-colored dog, Sahara.

Lasharn had set up a sleeping bag outside the massive granite facade, and would lay her head on the cold sidewalk every night.

In the morning, Lasharn would routinely call out, "Have a blessed day!" as he entered his building.

Steve knew his life was blessed. He develops millions of square feet of offices and condos in New York, Miami and London. But he also felt cursed, by heartbreak, since the death of his 22-year-old son, Andrew, five years ago from an Oxycontin overdose.

Maybe there was a way, he thought, to help Lasharn. He didn't realize she could help him, too.

Lasharn was born 43 years ago in Chicago, and, for a while, life was good. She went to college and aspired to run her own business. She sold a co-op in 2008, and invested the $140,000 profit in a technology she saw as a sure thing.

Ever heard of DVD vending kiosks? Rent a DVD on a street corner for $1 a day, secured by a credit card? Lasharn bought two of the doomed things. Then the recession hit. Her little business foundered.

She had bought the kiosks for $60,000, only to sell them for around $16,000, she said.

"Yes, it was devastating," she told The Post. "But you just pick up your feet and start again."

She decided to travel.

"I sold my apartment and bought a dog," she said.

Sahara is part golden retriever and part poodle. Lasharn paid $800 for the scruffy thing, all curls and love, and off they drove to see America.

Lasharn is hesitant on the specifics, but her travels turned out to be a series of wrong turns, including in Florida, where she enrolled in a school to become a "traveling physical therapist." Nothing came of that, either.

Maybe it was bad luck, or her own regrettable business decisions, or the damage from the tumor she didn't realize was growing slowly in the pituitary gland at the base of her brain. But several years ago, Lasharn found herself with nothing but Sahara. Not that anything ever got her down.

"It's easy to be positive when you are homeless," Lasharn said. "People give you money and try to help you."

Arriving in New York, she could have set down her cup of loose change and her sleeping bag at Port Authority, or at Penn Station. Instead, she and Sahara decided to live outside 40 W. 57th St.

"You couldn't help but notice her," Steve said. "Every single morning she was there, sitting on the ground with Sahara, whether it was cold or wet. She was there in the rain and she had a small cup with change, and that wasn't going to be sufficient. And that is how I met her."

Steve remembers their first meeting. "Sahara jumped on me and knocked the change out of the cup" as he made the first of many donations.

"I see a lot of homeless people," said the 59-year-old mogul. "But she had a kind face. You could tell that she was kind and that she was kind to Sahara. Even before I gave her the money, I talked to her about Sahara and she said Sahara was her baby."

Since Andrew's passing, Steve Witkoff has become a quietly generous man, often slipping cash into the cups of beggars he passes on his walks, meeting to meeting, through Midtown.

Still, there was something special about Lasharn, he said — with her reliable, all-weather cheer and her contented dog.

Read: 10 things that would happen to the planet if humans were to completely disappear

"I have dogs," added Steve, who, in fact, has seven. "And I knew that if Sahara was happy and incredible, then there had to be something nice about Lasharn."

"And then," added Steve, "I remember that Sahara was matted, and I was concerned. She was living on the street and I worried that she needed medical care and I said I would have her groomed," he said. "But Lasharn thought I'd take the dog."

It took days to build trust. Steve persisted, introducing Lasharn to Samantha Schmidt, his "dog whisperer," the woman who managed the care for his own small pack.

"Finally I convinced her, and we sent [Sahara] to the grooming place on Lexington and then Sam took Sahara with Lasharn to my vet and Sahara was checked. But they were still living on the street."

Weeks later, on Thanksgiving, Lasharn and Sahara were invited to join Steve's family and friends for a big dinner at the Park Lane, a luxury hotel on Central Park.

"Seventy people stuffed into the apartment, and she came with Sahara," he remembered. "And Sahara sat next to her and ate turkey and stuffing."

That was a place of honor — Steve's own dogs were relegated to the canine equivalent of the little kids' table: dinner with a dog sitter in another room.

Then November turned to December. "It was freezing out," Steve remembered.

The developer made sure she kept a phone on her — and his number. "I would drive on 57th Street and just make sure she was OK, because she moved around a bit."

For Christmas, he checked Lasharn and Sahara into the Park Lane hotel, and sent them there again, over Lasharn's protests, during a 10-day cold spell in January.

Lasharn told her benefactor that she was saving the money he was giving her, rather than spending it on housing, so she could buy a van to live in.

"I asked her how much it would be. She said $1,500." Done. Lasharn used her new white van as transportation and housing, parking it at night in a lot on 54th Street.

"I got nervous when I didn't see her in front of the building," Steve admits.

But, unknown to Lasharn or her patron, the tumor at the base of her brain was growing.

She began losing her eyesight. In May, she fell, wound up in Roosevelt Hospital, and lost everything all over again. Her beloved Sahara was taken by animal control. The van would be stolen. Even her cellphone, left in the van, was gone.

"Lasharn went into the hospital with nothing, not even her phone," Steve said. "She remembered my office number and that's how the hospital contacted me. I was her contact."

Steve tracked down Sahara, sending Schmidt, his "dog whisperer," to reclaim her from the pound.

The mogul or his business assistants remained with Lasharn through the CAT scans and biopsies. Steve met with Lasharn and her doctor as she planned the radiation and steroid treatment that will shrink the tumor, and got his childhood best friend, David Cooper, a health care executive, to find an expert to double-check her reports.

With steroids, Lasharn's tumor is shrinking, and her vision is beginning to come back in one eye.

"A part of me feels that Andrew is leading me to people like this," Steve said.

"If she is left on the street, she will die. She is a human being and she was scared for her life. I wanted to be at the hospital to comfort her. She had no one here with her. It's what you would do for a family member, but she didn't have one and as each thing came up, we said we weren't going to stop there."

Steve now is paying for Lasharn to live at a Marriott long-term-stay hotel in Midtown while she continues her outpatient treatments. Sahara, the once-homeless dog who brought them together, and who was almost lost forever to the shelter system, is now living with one of Schmidt's training staff elsewhere in Manhattan. Steve is paying for Sahara to learn to become Lasharn's service and seeing eye dog.

"She would have been lost without that dog," Steve said.

"He is such a good guy," Lasharn said of her multimillionaire savior. "He is the best guy ever."

But Steve insisted, "This story isn't about me. She touched me, and I am happy to have done what I did."

The developer has often wondered how Lasharn, who is so clearly engaging, charming and intelligent, could wind up homeless. "She went to college and she owned a co-op," he said.

"There is a whole life here. So what happened? It is the elephant in the room ... God knows how long she was living with the growth inside her brain."

"She could have died. But this woman is a portrait in courage. She is really an incredibly courageous woman. She was all alone on the streets of New York — and still, the voice message on her phone says, 'Have a blessed day.'"

A version of this story ran on NYPost.com.

  Greetings, great thread!

Reading this makes me think of a certain person I know who is a very good example of one who would do kind things (Most just call him A.J.). The kind of person that does a random act of kindness very often and spontaneously for individuals they do not know at all.
One day I watched as A.J. argued with 3 older adult men trying to take down a huge branch off a tree. He was saying to the man that was doing the cutting, that if he
made the cut from where he was, he would be struck by the branch and launched into the next yard! At first all 3 men laughed at him and made some nasty comments, but A.J. persisted with increasing vigor until they gave in. The guy cutting changed his position, and it was a good thing too as you can guess! A.J. was spot on and had just saved this mans life or limb (pun intended).
There were 2 things that amazed me about this occurrence. First (amazing in a bad sort of way) was the lack of thanks given by the 2 men that were not doing the cutting and the second was the grace and modesty exhibited by A.J. It was a sad fact that later the same 3 men also showed no gain in respect or admiration for A.J.
  I witnessed A.J. save and/or aid many people over many years. (We grew up together). Yet to this day very few people have even given him the thanks he really deserves. A.J. was responsible for saving the hearing of a young boy named Robert, freeing to women trapped in an overturned van, saving the life of his friend Bill (Bill had a violent seizure and was joking to death on his own fluids.), saving a young Mexican boy who nearly drown, saved a woman's hand from being severed between a boat and piling .  The list is actually quite a bit longer but that's enough. lol
  Seeing A.J. do all these things and never ask for anything in return makes me hope with all that I am, that these acts of kindness will truly bring the balance of karma to him after this life if not sooner!
  I do believe that even if you do not see a return of your kindness in the world you will receive it in time and gain from each act more then was spent to carry it out.
Have you done a kind act today? lol

WhatTheHey

hello what the hey

hope your health has improved

sounds like AJ is an angel..how cool to know one in human form

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1CltzPjFWo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1CltzPjFWo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1CltzPjFWo)


eta: Which reminds me I noticed last month in our local Fred Meyer grocery store, there is now a cardboard box at the entrance to the fruit department that has a couple of everything in it, bananas, apples etc. that has a small sign by it that says... "For a pleasurable shopping experience, please choose some free fruit for your children to enjoy while you shop."

I saw one little girl picking out something.

I was pretty impressed and plan to let the manager know about it and will probably chip in.  8)

https://www.facebook.com/spotlightstoriesofficial/videos/1217555074942979/

(http://16749-presscdn-0-94.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/102385-healthy-shopping-s2.jpg)
(Photos by Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)

Maisy Fels, 3, of Vancouver snacks on a free banana while shopping with her grandmother Katy Miller on Tuesday afternoon at the Fisher's Landing Fred Meyer.

The grocery chain recently launched its Fruit for Kids program that offers children a free piece of fruit while shopping.

great idea.

That's why I have a house full of rescue cats.  We could have lost Saige due to the abuse by her previous home.  When we had her spayed, the vet said one horn of her uterus was badly bruised, and the outer layer of her bladder was torn and bleeding.   It explains why Spirit and Salem were the only kittens who weren't stillborn.  All three are happy and healthy.   Spirit loves to sleep between the pillows at night.  Sometimes she holds my finger with her paw.

Shasta

Quote from: Shasta56 on December 23, 2016, 10:05:59 PM
That's why I have a house full of rescue cats.  We could have lost Saige due to the abuse by her previous home.  When we had her spayed, the vet said one horn of her uterus was badly bruised, and the outer layer of her bladder was torn and bleeding.   It explains why Spirit and Salem were the only kittens who weren't stillborn.  All three are happy and healthy.   Spirit loves to sleep between the pillows at night.  Sometimes she holds my finger with her paw.

Shasta

That's sweet that she holds your finger. Mine always has to be right up against my back. Sometimes he will very gently touch my face with his paw if he wants attention.

I always go for rescue cats too.   :)

Turning over in bed or getting up to use the "people box" during the night can be an adventure.

Shasta

Quote from: Shasta56 on December 24, 2016, 12:21:51 AM
Turning over in bed or getting up to use the "people box" during the night can be an adventure.

Shasta

All through my life my cats have acted like little dogs. They usually follow me wherever I go including the bathroom.

This one, Bear, likes to play in the bathtub while I'm occupied. He is a major-league goof. He hates the litter between his toes, so when he's done he races all over the house growling and flinging litter everywhere.

As a cat mom, I'm sure you understand how hysterical this is to me.  ;D

Blaze had to use the bathtub for a litter box this morning because Dodger wouldn't let her use the actual box. 

Shasta

Quote from: Shasta56 on December 25, 2016, 02:48:25 AM
Blaze had to use the bathtub for a litter box this morning because Dodger wouldn't let her use the actual box. 

Shasta

Kids!   :P ;D

Wow   gives turn the other cheek new meaning in this time of crazy..

this is long but , i think, worth the read

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/2-boys-carjacked-an-80-year-old-baltimore-city-council-member-now-shes-their-advocate/ar-BBHT1LB?li=BBnbcA1

2 boys carjacked an 80-year-old Baltimore City Council member. Now she's their advocate
By Luke Broadwater, The Baltimore Sun
9 hrs ago

there are photos with the article - at the link

BALTIMORE - The weather wasn't too cold that December morning, so Baltimore City Councilwoman Rochelle "Rikki" Spector put on a light jacket as she headed for her gold Buick.

Two teenage boys from Southwest Baltimore were in her Inner Harbor parking garage, cutting school and looking for cars to steal. They fixed their eyes on the 80-year-old Spector.

The attack was quick and it was violent.

As Spector got in her vehicle, the 13-year-old blocked her door from closing. The 15-year-old hit her in the face, hard.

"I was mad as hell," Spector recalled recently. "They said, 'You white b----, give me your car.' They punched me in the face. Threw me into a concrete pillar. I was screaming like crazy."

Word of the attack and the subsequent arrests of the boys made evening newscasts and morning newspapers, and fueled more local anxiety. In a city besieged by violence, it seemed to show that no one, not even an octogenarian city official, was safe.

What's less well known is this: Instead of seeking vengeance, Spector quietly decided to become the boys' advocate.

She and a team of nonprofit workers, mentors, cooks and coaches, a group Spector has dubbed the "Good Samaritans," have been working with the boys for months - during and after their time on house arrest - and say their grades, school attendance and attitude have shown marked improvements.

Though the boys are still works in progress, their supporters say, the teens are now emerging as leaders in the neighborhood, trying to teach others to stay out of trouble.

Last month, around the one-year anniversary of the December 2016 attack, Spector joined the older teen in front of a large audience at her Park Heights synagogue, where leaders from across the city presented him with an award for his progress.

The boy who had once punched Spector in the face now shyly tried to hide behind her from the view of the crowd.

"He was so overwhelmed, if he didn't hold on to me, he was going to collapse," Spector said.

"I felt scared on the inside," the teenager said. "It was a lot of people and I thought they were going to be ashamed of my actions. But a lot of people started shaking my hand and said they were proud of me."

A week later, Spector presented another award to the younger boy, who hugged her, called her "ma'am" and said, "I messed up."

The Baltimore Sun is not identifying either teen because they were charged as juveniles.

The relationship likely would never have developed if not for UEmpower of Maryland. The nonprofit provides a range of services, including teaching youths how to become chefs.

Shortly after the carjacking, Spector attended a court hearing for the boys.

Michelle Suazo, UEmpower's co-founder and vice president, pulled Spector aside and talked to her about the boys' situation. Despite the crime, Suazo told Spector, she believed the boys had a lot of promise.

"We invited her to come to the neighborhood and see how much is needed here," Suazo said. "We had kept on saying we need something here. We need something. And nobody was listening."

The median household income in their Carrollton Ridge neighborhood is less than $25,000. Nearly half of families live below the poverty line. Lead paint violations are more than three times the city average, and youths are nearly twice as likely to be murdered as elsewhere in Baltimore. The younger boy lived in a home where the electricity had been shut off, and seldom attended school.

"We went to court not to say they shouldn't be punished, but to see if there was some way we could find a solution," Suazo says. "They need to stay busy. They need to stay engaged. Our goal was to be louder than the streets. If you're not there every day the streets just call the kids in at a very early age."

It would have been easy for Spector to stay angry at the teens. She could have asked the judges to jail them for years.

Spector says she drew on her Jewish faith, and chose to forgive them.

"The Talmud says you first have to have empathy," she said. "You have to do acts of love and kindness."

That day in court, Spector - sporting a big swollen black eye - approached the older boy and started talking. She told him, "Kids don't hit grown-ups."

"He burst out crying, and he hugged me," Spector says. "That was in the courtroom. I knew I was hooked. I was going to be there."

The boy recalls being overcome with emotion.

"We spoke. We hugged," he recalls. "She gave me a kiss on my cheek. It made me feel happy. I started feeling sad for what we did to her."

"I was so sad, what we did to her, especially when I seen her face," he said. "I was like we couldn't have done this. Not this bad. But it turns out we did. It just broke my heart. Every time she seen me, she kept giving me kisses on my cheek. I kept giving her big hugs."

Suazo asked the older teen: "What is it that I can do for you? He said, 'Miss Michelle I want a job.'

Since then, she says, "I've been nonstop trying to find a solution. He is going to be my partner in this effort to bring good things to the neighborhood."

The boys were placed under house arrest, meaning they had to wear monitoring devices and couldn't leave the house without permission. The younger teen spent two months in a juvenile rehabilitation facility in Montgomery County. They are required to continue to report to the
Department of Juvenile Services for supervision and drug testing.

Suazo wanted to make sure they were engaged in positive activities during their house arrest. She intervened with the courts to make sure they could attend catering and cooking jobs with UEmpower. She lined up a tutor for the younger boy who was no longer enrolled in school.

"I asked the judge if they could participate in the cooking and he said yes," she said.

So at one event, the teens made food for Spector.

"I didn't think she was going to take it," the older boy said. "When she tasted it, I felt good in myself."

All the while, he was trying to do better.

"After this incident happened, and they put me on house arrest," he said, "I just started busting my school work out. My grades started going up and up and up. I don't hang around the people I was doing that dumb stuff with. I hang around with whole new people who don't even live on this side of town. So my life, it just turned around."

One day while on a catering job, Suazo noticed some of the boys' old friends hanging out on a corner.

"I thought, 'Wow, he chose to go to the catering job with us,'" she said. She said she later learned one of the youths on the corner was shot and killed. "I just think about that every day. Every choice is a life or death choice."

UEmpower has helped organize a team of workers who are bringing services - including food and mentoring - to Southwest Baltimore. They worked out of other locations in the past, but are setting up shop at the Samuel F.B. Morse recreation center, which they fought to keep open.

Melvin Willingham, founder of the Makings of a Man mentorship program, mentors the boys and other youths in the neighborhood.

Robert Stewart, "Chef Stew" of the Transition Kitchen, provides culinary training and creates catering jobs.

Coach Derwin Hannah runs youth football, basketball and baseball teams in the neighborhood.

Donor Rosanne Skirble created a healthy snack company called SeedyNutty that she is giving to the youths for an entrepreneurship opportunity. UEmpower is seeking $24,000 to get the company up and running in what is now a food desert.

While not in a leadership role with the nonprofit, Spector helped the organization get access to the rec center and adjacent school. She regularly attends the group's functions.

On a recent Wednesday night, Willingham spoke to a group of youths about visualizing their future, setting goals and taking the steps needed to achieve them.

"We need to look in the mirror and define ourselves with what? Integrity," Willingham said. "We need to define ourselves with integrity."

Hannah, the football coach, said he visited the teens after he learned of the attack.

"They've changed," he said. "It still takes a lot of work, but we're still holding fast and hoping for the best."

Suazo says the rec center now functions as a sort of ground zero for the range of services UEmpower provides. Next month, she hopes to open a kitchen at the school as a permanent site to feed people in the neighborhood.

"This is a safe zone. If you take this away, there's nothing." she says.

She says the boys are constantly reminded of the dangers of the streets. One summer day while walking to a cookout, youths passed the body of a young man who'd been shot to death.

The mother of the older boy in the carjacking says she's noticed a large improvement."He's more focused on what he wants to do in life. He's trying to finish school and he's trying to be a role model for kids in the neighborhood, but also his little brothers," Lakeisha Jones said. "He helps more around the house.

"I've seen a whole 360 on him. He was rebelling but he came back. That's the change I've seen. I've seen growth. ... He talks about Ms. Spector a lot. He appreciates her. He was really sorry."

She said she thinks the arrest helped scare him straight.

"He was actually very scared. He was terrified. He said he won't ever go back. He said, 'This is not where I'm supposed to be.'"

Mayor Catherine Pugh was at the synagogue to present the award to the boys.

"Rikki has been very benevolent, very caring," she said. "Taking these young men under her arms and mentoring them to a better lifestyle. Their families are grateful. I know they are. I think they are feeling they've had a second chance and that's what she's given them."

The older boy says he's most attracted to the cooking skills he's learning from UEmpower. He said he believes it's a way for kids in the neighborhood to stay busy.

"It will get younger and older kids out of trouble. It will keep us away from the streets. And it will keep us from doing bad stuff in the streets. Instead of us being outside, we'll be in here," he said.

He says he doesn't feel safe in his neighborhood.

"I've got to watch my back in the streets, because I don't know what people are trying to do to me," he said. He says he tries to spend time in other parts of the city. "I don't like being scared. Why should I be scared of where I'm from?"

The most important lesson he learned is to be careful about the people you surround yourself with.

"I'm trying to teach (younger kids) not to hang around people they know are going to do bad stuff and to choose the right people to hang around. When it's time to leave and when it's time to stay."

When he attacked Spector, he said, "I wasn't thinking. I was trying to be a cool kid and do the stuff they do. And not thinking about my actions. Trying to be along with the team."

He sees a future for himself. He'd like to make it as a pro athlete - he's known for a strong throwing arm in football - but if that doesn't work out, he thinks he will become a veterinarian. He collects fish, turtles, iguanas, snakes and bearded dragons.

Spector "gave me a chance," he said. "I took that chance as an advantage and did what I had to do in school, outside of school, and stayed away from trouble. Period."

Suazo says Spector has become an important advocate for the boys.

"She's tiny but she's powerful," she said. "She has so much energy. Now the boys have a huge advocate in their corner with Rikki. She wants to see them succeed as much as we all do."

Spector says she's dedicating the rest of her life to reforming the juvenile justice system.

"They're our children," she said. "They walk where we walk. If they're going to do bad, they're going to be doing bad where we are. I'm going to spend my next 40 years fixing the juvenile justice system."

Visit The Baltimore Sun at www.baltimoresun.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pieJ-GSdyx8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcBeQF6zB9I

Pumpkin is home after surgery!

https://www.facebook.com/TwistOfFateFarmAndSanctuary/videos/vb.291230994318884/355118075211646/?type=2&theater

i had heard about this  man but reading this and watching the vid made me cry at the knowledge that when we think we are alone we will be shown that we are not
i am so fortunate to live in an area where people still greet each other in public with a smile and a hello or good morning..i wish that for all of you
reach out  and you will find humans aren't so bad after all

Quotehttps://www.huffpost.com/entry/hundreds-arrive-el-paso-victim-funeral_n_5d57724fe4b0d8840ff34b48

U.S. NEWS 08/16/2019 11:32 pm ET
Hundreds Arrive To El Paso Victim's Funeral After Partner Feared Few Would
After Margie Reckard was killed in the El Paso Walmart shooting, her companion worried he would be alone at her funeral.

Jamie Stengle and Russell Contreras

the vid is only two minutes long and heart warming in it's message..it's at the link

QuoteEL PASO, Texas (AP) — When Jordan Ballard read that one of the victims of the El Paso massacre had few relatives and the public was invited to her funeral, the Los Angeles resident bought a plane ticket and flew to Texas to honor a woman she had never met.

She was one of hundreds of strangers who braved 100-degree (38 Celsius) heat to pay their respects to 63-year-old Margie Reckard. Feeling heartbroken and alone after her death, Reckard's companion of 22 years, Antonio Basco, had welcomed anyone to attend.

"I arrived here this morning," said Ballard, 38, who lived in New York City during the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "His story moved me."

The service was moved from a funeral home to La Paz Faith Memorial & Spiritual Center to accommodate the crowd. Vocalists and musicians volunteered to help, including a mariachi band. Condolences and orders for flowers poured in.

"He felt like he was going to kind of just be by himself with this whole thing but it's not so," Perches Funeral Homes director Harrison Johnson said Thursday of Basco.

(https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5d57748e2200002f00f6d17f.jpeg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A large crowd attends Margie Reckard's funeral at La Paz Faith Memorial & Spiritual Center in El Paso, Texas.
While well-wishers waited, Basco arrived to people shouting blessings in English and Spanish. Before entering the funeral home, someone gave him a gift that appeared to be an El Paso t-shirt.

"I love y'all, man," Basco said, before breaking down.

As the line swelled, Basco came back out to thank attendees personally for coming. People crowded around to hug and touch him. Basco appeared overwhelmed that strangers were now running toward him to show love and offer condolences.

Moments later, mariachis walked through the crowd singing "Amor Eterno," the 1984 ballad by the late Juan Gabriel, that has become an anthem for El Paso following the shooting. Some attendees sang along. Others sobbed and got out of line.

Jason Medina, 42, of El Paso, said he had to come. Wearing a black and red zoot suit, Medina stood quietly in line and waited for his chance to say goodbye to someone he never knew. "I know her now," Medina said. "We're all family, bro."

Johnson, who is also a pastor, headed the service. Funeral home staff urged attendees to be patient as people began rotating in and out of the service amid scorching heat.

Reckard had children from a previous marriage who travelled from out of town to the funeral. But Johnson said that for Basco, Reckard was "his life, his soul mate, his best friend." The couple had a car wash business, he said.

"Probably some people have felt like Mr. Tony in a time of death — they felt like they were alone and nobody was around," Johnson said.

On Tuesday, Perches posted on Facebook a photo of a bereft Basco kneeling by a candlelight memorial. The post welcomed anyone to attend Reckard's funeral and soon drew thousands of comments and shares.

Perches is among local funeral homes offering free services for the 22 people killed. In the days after the shooting, Basco told El Paso television station KFOX that Reckard's kindness and selflessness was incomparable. "When I met her she was an angel and she still is," Basco said.

Her son, Harry Dean Reckard, told The New York Times that when he and his brother and sister were children, the family didn't have much money and frequently moved. He said his mother would sometimes work at fast food restaurants or as a hotel housekeeper to add to what her husband earned as a truck driver.

"As a kid, I just remember her feeding us and trying to provide for us the best that she could," said Harry Dean Reckard, who lives in Omaha, Nebraska.

He said that after his father died in 1995, his mother began a relationship with Basco. The couple had moved to El Paso a few years ago. He said his mother, who had been battling Parkinson's disease, "was loved by many."

___

Associated Press reporter Russell Contreras reported from El Paso, Texas.

This was a great story.