Climate related investments will pay

The message from today's linked article from Scientific American is clear: invest significantly now in tackling climate change and its worst impacts will likely be avoided. But cautious investments may well be wasted - they simply won't be enough to make a difference. This is the conclusion reached by researchers in Germany and the Netherlands, who studied how much it would take to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above 19th Century levels (generally considered the 'tipping point' for catastrophic impacts). They found there was a 90% chance of meeting this goal with average annual investments of 2% of GDP globally, made from 2005 through to 2100. That's definitely a big commitment... It's a wake-up call to leaders across the world as they consider the consequences for their environmental policies of the global economic downturn. But it's also a hopeful sign, as it underscores the value of acting collectively and boldly today to secure our future. If those same leaders are listening, they may find their policy decisions easier to make...

Concerted acts of kindness

This is a great story of some young men trying to spread festive cheer. I found it in the UK's Independent newspaper. The four men concerned are housemates in London, and some time ago they decided to try and brighten the lives of others by making their wishes come true. For example, they managed to persuade Yamaha to donate a red guitar to a child, and helped send people to see a soccer game at the new Wembley stadium and others to see the Moscow State Circus. More recently, though, their "Kindness Offensive" project has focused on gathering donations of food and toys to share with unsuspecting, but deserving, members of the public, such as asylum seekers. It's a great example of how - not so much random as calculated - acts of kindness can have a knock-on effect... not least of all on those being kind, as these guys seem to be really enjoying themselves! (Photo from the Independent.)

Guinea worm may soon be eliminated

Woah - I just realized how long it was since I last posted. Sorry folks. I've been consumed by work over the past two weeks. Fortunately, RTBH reader Stacey reminded me of a story I'd seen but was too tired to post! (Thanks, Stacey!) It's from the BBC, and it documents the progress made in preventing guinea worm infection. The worm is present in water in many poor countries - when people drink water containing guinea worm larvae, the little critters stay in their bodies and grow. They can reach a meter in length and eventually emerge from the skin - as you can imagine, it's extremely painful and disabling. There's no vaccine or treatment for the disease - you avoid it by filtering water and taking other precautions. Thankfully, through such measures, the disease has already been eliminated in many countries, and worldwide infection rates have dropped by 99% since 1986. 80% of all remaining cases are in Sudan. Former US president, Jimmy Carter, is spearheading the final push towards worldwide elimination - with additional support from the Gates Foundation and the UK government - and he thinks it could all be over within 2 years! That really would be quite an achievement... (Photo from BBC.)

HIV positivity in Lesotho

It is World AIDS Day - as it is each year on 1st December - and there was plenty of coverage of the topic on the newswires. In general, it was rather muted and somewhat overshadowed by other big stories (such as the fallout from the Mumbai attacks last week, and the global economic crisis). However, once again the BBC produced a great photo-journalism piece to mark the event - linked from the post title above. For the last month, the BBC has been covering the day-to-day lives of HIV positive people in the small African nation of Lesotho. Today's photo montage focused on Joseph Ramokoatsi, an HIV and AIDS counsellor in the remote community of St Rodrigue, who is also HIV positive. Joseph's openness about his own HIV status has inspired many other people to discover theirs, and to seek treatment for HIV or TB if they need it. He's even appeared on posters advertising HIV testing services, and has motivated others to work as counsellors (such as Mamatsoele Leseo, pictured here in the red t-shirt next to Joseph). In short, he's a symbol of hope in the fight against this disease - across Lesotho and beyond. (Photo from BBC online.)

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Bloggers Unite for World AIDS Day 2008 - challenge site

Nature's own remedy for turtles

This story from The News and Observer (a local paper from North Carolina) caught my eye the other day. Apparently, vets at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center are using a new remedy to treat rare loggerhead turtles that have been injured by boat propellers, and it's proving very successful. It's nothing high-tech, though: it's honey, mixed up with beeswax. Honey has great antibacterial properties - which have been well-recognized since Roman times - and when mixed with wax it can plug a tear in a turtle shell, keep out water and bacteria and help it to heal. This story underscores once again the importance of the humble honeybee to our planet - and reminds us that many of life's best remedies are really very simple.

A gift for life

Thanks very much to RTBH reader, Karn, for sending in today's touching tale. The article comes from a local paper, the Bemidji Pioneer from Minnesota, US. It tells of an incredibly generous young woman, Tausha Smith, who recently donated one of her kidneys to her ailing grandfather. She decided to donate when her grandfather became increasingly tired after his dialysis sessions and tests suggested that, with an O-positive blood type, she could be an ideal donor. As her grandfather, Don Cook, intimated, he's received a pretty extraordinary gift - one that will be appreciated daily, long after both Don and Tausha have recovered from surgery and well beyond the upcoming holiday season. It's a gift that is, quite literally, for life. (Photo from the Bemidji Pioneer.)

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As you may already know, RTBH was nominated for a Divine Caroline award this year - and voting ends soon! (The end of November, I think.) If you are enjoying RTBH, please cast a vote by clicking the button to the right and following the on-screen instructions. Many, many thanks.

Also, although the RTBH blogger's challenge for Donors Choose was running throughout October, you can in fact donate to this fabulous cause any time. The kids' clay art projects selected for funding by RTBH are now fully funded - yeah! - but the two other projects (for musical instruments at a school in Massachusetts and for books at a school in New York) are not. Please consider donating by clicking the button to the right - there is literally no donation too small, as the idea is to gradually amass enough from different donors to buy the classroom equipment needed, and your donation is tax deductible. THANK YOU so much...! (For background, you may want to take a look at RTBH post 356 from October 1st.)

Women drive towards independence in Iran

This story from the BBC caught my eye today. It reminded me of one of my favourite stories from RTBH's past, about the Taxi Sisters of Senegal (Day Forty-Three, posted almost exactly a year ago in fact). According to today's BBC report, a women's taxi service now operates in Tehran - run by women, exclusively for female customers. On the one hand, of course, this reinforces the separation of men and women in Iran's conservative society. On the other hand, the female taxi drivers are thriving in a male dominated trade - and many of them have gained financial independence and new skills. Women run the call centre, drive the taxis and maintain them too - the only man about the place seems to be the company's owner... He now plans to expand the service in Tehran to around 2000 cars and take the business model to other cities across Iran. it sounds as if these taxis will bring increased independence to many more women in the years ahead. Maybe they'll be the next generation of business owners too? (Photo from BBC online.)

The electric bay

News today that San Francisco Bay is leading the way - in rolling out alternative transportation. The UK's Guardian newspaper reports that the bay area – which is home to around 7.6m people - intends to replace 1 million gas-guzzling cars with electric ones by 2015. Billions of dollars will be invested in developing the infrastructure, such as charging stations, that can support this major shift in the way people get around. The plan is supported by local politicians and officials, including San Francisco's mayor, and California state governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's not the first time California has led the way on the environment and it probably won't be the last. The state, which is in effect the world's eighth largest economy, aims to reduce greenhouse gas levels to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050 and has environmental legislation that is very progressive compared to the rest of the US. Hopefully it won't stay that way - we all need to catch up! Call it an electric car chase, if you like...

A letter full of reasons to be hopeful

This is a very moving and poignant story from the BBC in the form of a letter written to Noel Martin, a man attacked and paralysed by neo-Nazis in Germany 12 years ago. Noel currently plans to travel to Switzerland to have an assisted suicide. The letter is written by disabled broadcaster Liz Carr who met Noel when she interviewed him for a BBC Radio 5 Live report. She asks "Is your life really not worth living?", before reminding him of some of the reasons he has to be hopeful. She cites the fundamentals - feeling powerful emotions, being surrounded by people who love and care for him, reaching out to others through his writing... the kinds of things that make all our lives worth living, in short.

The genius in all of us

Well, this article from the UK Times newspaper is certainly encouraging. It explores what we know - and don't yet know - about the human brain: how it works, and how it maintains its abilities as we age. On the latter, the evidence appears to suggest that the 'use it or lose it' maxim is a good one to live by - play chess, do puzzles or mind games, or just read a lot. It's all good for your brain, which can grow new cells when challenged in this way. But there is also evidence, apparently, that everyone can experience 'eureka' moments - bursts of creative genius - when faced with difficult challenges. In other words, we plug away trying to find the answer to a particular question, analyzing the options, then all of a sudden - just as we have given up hope - we break through and solve the problem. This likely relates to use of the brain's 'prefrontal cortex', which has the ability to 'freewheel' (allowing us to generate unusual or surprising associations between different ideas) and then pull everything together. This ability is particularly well-developed in 'divergent thinkers', including creative geniuses, but we are all capable of it. So, there you go - let your brain freewheel! You may be surprised at the ideas you generate or the problems you solve...

It's never too late to say sorry...

This is a lovely story. It comes from a local newspaper in the UK – the Bristol Evening Post. According to the article, a Bristol shopkeeper recently received a letter of apology from an former drug addict, who stole 400 cigarettes from his shop - seven years ago. The anonymous letter-writer said they'd been 'a mess' at the time but had now given up drugs and wanted to make amends - indeed, the letter contained £100 in lieu of the stolen cigarettes! The shopkeeper, Imran Ahmed, displayed the letter in his shop, where it's attracting a lot of positive attention. He's also said he will give the £100 to a drugs charity, to help other addicts turn their lives around. It's never too late...

The youth of today...

Many thanks to RTBH reader Suzie for sending me this story from the BBC. It's about a man and his dog who owe their lives to a few skilled and dedicated local students. Stephen Kelly and his dog Molly became stuck on a cliff ledge in Somerset, England, after Molly went over the edge of the cliff and Stephen attempted to rescue her. Fortunately, some pupils from a nearby school were in the area with (as fate would have it) their abseiling gear - and they set about winching both man and dog to safety. What brave young people! The story is also a reminder that we all possess skills that can be put to good use, one way or another - even at the most unexpected moments. (Photo from the BBC.)

Hope personified

If ever a man carried the hopes of a nation - indeed, of the world - upon his shoulders, this man does. Barack Obama. Sí, se puede!! Let's hope we do... (Photo from NDTV.)

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Thanks to RTBH reader Jack for alerting me to today's linked article from NPR, about a 109-year-old woman who voted yesterday for Obama - and herself personifies the huge changes in American society over the last century, which have culminated in Obama's election as the next US President. Amanda Jones' father was a slave until he was freed at age 12. He went on to have 13 children. Only Amanda survived to witness the election of America's first black President. It's a world away from the segregated America of her youth. Now that's change we can believe in...

Bat returns from brink of extinction

Although it was only yesterday that I was reading about declining bat populations in the US, today Science Daily carried this story, about the resurgence of the 'Pemba flying fox', a bat from Tanzania. The bats had been hunted for many years and were considered a local delicacy. Sadly, as a result, their numbers were so depleted by the 1990s that they were thought doomed to extinction. But with support from conservationists, and a local community now proud of this unusual creature in its midst, the bat population has soared to at least 22,000. And they do sound quite amazing - with a wing span of around 5.5 feet but with a weight about half that of a guinea pig. Let's hope this flying fox soars even higher in the years ahead. (Picture from Science Daily.)

Living a dog's life

I found this interesting column in the Star Tribune, a local newspaper from Minneapolis-St Paul, today. It offers some useful lessons on how to life a good and happy life - but from an unusual perspective, as the author draws his lessons from the way dogs live their relatively short lives... with deep loving and loyalty, knowing when and how to rest, and taking plenty of exercise, for example. Oh, and demonstrating real persistence, of course. Never giving up. Perhaps we should all be a bit more 'dogged' in our approach to life?

Beginning of the end for West African slave trade

A landmark ruling on slavery was reported by the BBC today, which could hasten abolition of the practice across West Africa. Hadijatou Mani from Niger was sold into slavery at age 12 and then forced to work and to bear her master's children - all despite the fact that slavery is outlawed in Niger. With support from Anti-Slavery International, Hadijatou sought compensation from the government of Niger, which she says failed to protect her. She took her case to the ECOWAS (West African regional) Court of Justice... and won. Niger's government has been ordered to pay her $19,750, which she says she will use to feed, educate and house her young family - so they can avoid her fate. She may have helped many other victims of slavery too - the ECOWAS ruling will be binding on all West African states, and has also drawn much-needed attention to the extent that slavery persists across the region. Certainly it's an important step towards eradicating this evil trade, once and for all. (Photo from BBC online.)

Heroes sharing hope

As it did last year (see post Fifty-Eight on this blog), CNN is running a 'Heroes' special for 2008. Ten inspiring individuals, who spend their lives helping others, have been shortlisted by CNN - and now you can vote for those whose stories you find most compelling. I'm not sure whether it's deliberate, but this year more than half those shortlisted work with children - helping them learn, ensuring they eat, and in one case making it possible for them to stay in touch with their parents who are in prison... and all these heroes have an interesting story to tell about their work and how they got there. Well worth a read.

Environment not to be sacrificed during recession?

Somewhat surprisingly, WTOP news reported today that the 15 original European Union countries are on target to meet their Kyoto targets on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Three countries - Denmark, Italy and Spain - are making slightly slower progress than hoped, but this is offset by the rapid progress being made by the UK, Germany and Sweden. Elsewhere in the news today, European leaders committed themselves to sustaining their efforts to tackle climate change regardless of the economic downturn. For now, of course, we have only their word - but at least today's confirmation of progress suggests they're on the right trajectory.

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I wanted to let you know about this year's Stand Up campaign from UNIFEM and others, which aims to mobilize people across the world to press for an end to poverty and inequality. Last year, 43.7 million people joined Stand Up, setting a new world record. This year, you too can join Stand Up between 17–19 October 2008, by clicking the link above and signing up to the campaign.

Fighting poverty by restoring women's dignity

Today is Blog Action Day 2008. The idea of Blog Action Day is that all participating bloggers post on a chosen theme - and this year's topic is 'poverty'. In recognition of that, I am sharing an article from the BBC, about a community in Uganda that has banned the degrading practice of female circumcision. Also known as female genital mutilation (FGM), the practice generally involves removing the clitoris and partially sealing the vagina of young girls. The Kapchorwa district council in Uganda banned it on the basis that it was 'outmoded' and 'not useful' for women, but it's also dangerous - circumcised women are more likely to suffer from sexually transmitted and other infections and they incur significant risks to themselves and their babies during childbirth. Further, there's a good deal of evidence to suggest that improving women's rights and position in society - and specifically supporting women to take control of their sexual and reproductive health - is one of the most effective ways to fight poverty. Where women are empowered, households are better off economically and children - especially girls - fare better in terms of their health, education and general well-being. Banning female circumcision is both a practical and symbolic step towards realizing women's rights in Kapchorwa. For the sake of the 3 million women and girls at risk of FGM annually across Africa, let's hope others follow their lead.


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Thank you to RTBH reader Suzie for sending in this article, also from the BBC, about a new technology that may help people overcome paralysis. The 'brain-machine interface' works by interpreting brain signals and converting them into electrical impulses to stimulate muscles. US scientists have been testing this device on monkeys with positive results. Now they must test it in humans. So it's early days, but it's definitely promising research. Thanks again, Suzie!

A bitter pill, made sweeter

I was very glad to see this article, from Reuters, today. I have a bit of a 'thing' about how few infectious disease treatments in developing countries are formulated so children can - and might actually want to - take them. After all, we have the technology to flavor medicines, and to make them chewable, meltable, dispersable... and we use it in many over-the-counter children's medicines in the US and Europe. Now, the makers of one of the most effective anti-malarials on the market in Asia and Africa may follow suit. Researchers in Tanzania have been treating children with cherry-flavored chewable Coartem pills. These are more palatable than the original pills, which are very bitter and often crushed by hand so children can take them. The researchers think that if the pills are easier to take, kids are more likely to complete their treatment course - so they're more likely to get well and there is a lower chance of drug resistance emerging. Sounds good and tastes good...