And the Snow Angel Crown Goes To

North Dakota takes it's snow angels seriously. In February, they broke the world record for the most snow angels created in one location. They will then regain the crown that Michigan stole from them.

The event was held on the capitol grounds. 8,910 people registered to participate. There was a 5 month old and a 99 year old--both making snow angels for the first times. People actually took time off works just so they could be there.

The snow angel record was created in 2002 when North Dakota first held the record with 1791 snow angels. The most recent record was Michigan's 5,784 snow angels. If verified by the Guiness Book of World Records, North Dakota will crush that record by over 5,000.

How long will it be before Michigan tries to take back the crown?

Update: Senator Tim Johnson is out of the Hospital

You may remember that Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota suffered a brain hemorrhage on December 13th 2006. His recovery is going so well that he's been released from the hospital.

Johnson has a long road ahead of him. Right now he's staying at a private rehabilitation facility. He's come a long way in his rehabilitation, but still has a long way to go.

Things are on track for Johnson to make a bid for reelection in 2008. His Democractic colleagues are making sure he gets a fair shake by holding fund raisers on his behalf. Senator Baucus of Montana has taken a special interest and has formed a joint committee in support of Johnson.

It's uncertain when Johnson will return to elected office. If he continues his rate of recovery, we should be seeing him back very soon.

Thrift Store Thrill

Michael Sparks of Nashville, Tennessee may have had the best thrift store shopping experience ever. Sparks found a copy of the United States Declaration of Independence and plunked down $2.48 for the purchase.

Sparks noticed his copy had a date of 1823. There was a notation that it was "by order of the government". He had an inkling that it might be valuable so he had it appraised.
It turns out he's got the real deal! His copy is value at approximately $200,000.

The 1823 copies were ordered by John Quincy Adams. At that time, the original Declaration of Independence was showing wear. It had been sent around to various locations for display. Adams realized if he didn't do something to preserve this historic document it would disappear. He ordered that 200 copies be made of the original.

Sparks is auctioning off his copy March 22. The opening bid is $125,000. That's not a bad return for the price he paid.

Update: Smallest Baby

Earlier this week I wrote about Amillia Sonja Taylor who is the smallest baby ever to survive. She was supposed to go home Tuesday. She was born in October and grew to a big enough size (4 1/2 lbs) to go home.

Doctors decided Wednesday to keep her in the hospital awhile longer. They did not cite any specific problem, only that this is a precaution.

Let's hope that little Amilia will be home with her parents very soon.

The Smallest Baby Ever

Little Amillia Sonja Taylor has made it. Born at just 10 ounces in the 21st week of pregancy, the odds were against her. She's a fighter and now gets to go home.

Amillia was born October 24thto Sonja and Eddie Taylor. She is the first baby born under 23 weeks who has lived. She is also the fourth smallest ever to survive. "We weren't optimistic, but she proved us all wrong" Dr. Smalling commented.

Amillia has spent her short life in the hospital in an incubator. She's gotten her weight up to 4 1/2 lbs., so Mom and Dad finally get to bring her home. Life will be tumultuous for them. Amillia will need extra special care including oxygen. The hospital will continue to monitor her to ensure that everything is going well. She has some lingering health issues but it is good health. She is a strong willed baby and hopefully, that will see her through what comes next.

Branson's Challenge

Richard Branson is at it again. He is offering 25 million dollars to the first scientist who devises a way to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.

The tycoon believes this project is vital to our survival. Governments are steeped in inertia when it comes to solving the greenhouse effect. It seems that our only hope comes from private investors willing to fuel our ingenuity.

In addition to the huge prize, Branson has created Virgin Fuels. The focus of this new venture will be to fund alternative energy research. He's investing 400 million dollars in the project.

With scientists throughout the world working on this problem, there just may be some hope.

Arab Nominated for Righteous Among Nations Honor

Not many know that Tunisia was occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II. Once they were in control of the country, they unleashed their persecution of the 100,000 Jews living in Tunisia at the time. Jews were forced into labor camps and sent to concentration camps in Europe.

Robert Satloff, Director of the Washington Institute of Near East Policy, has been researching the holocaust. He's gone to Tunisia to explore the relationship between Arabs and Jews during World War II.

During his research, he came across the story of Khaled Abdelwahhab. Abdelwahhab came from a prosperous family. He was active within the community. On day a rumor spread that German officers were going to rape a local Jewish woman. Abdelwahhab stepped in to protect her and about 24 others.

Abdelwahhab provided them safe haven on his farm. He did this for four months. Then the occupation ended.
Because of his brave deed, Staloff has nominated Abdelwahhab for a very high honor. It's called the Righteous Among Nations honor. It's given to Non-Jews who helped Jews during the war.

This would be the first time an Arab has been nominated. While Muslims have been awarded the honor in the past, no Arab has even been nominated. As history is unveiled, more stories of bravery against the Nazi government will come to light.

Delaware Puppy Rescue

Diane Hess is always helping stray dogs. She is the Founder of Delaware Puppy Rescue, an organization she founded in 2004.

Hess gets the dogs that nobody wants: pregnant dogs, abandoned litters, and puppy mill rejects. Her group saves those that are slated for euthanasia and finds them loving homes.

The groups nurses dogs back to health and provides them with medical treatment. Then they try to find homes for them. The dask is daunting. However, they've had huge success. In 2006, they placed 285 dogs in new homes.

Wife Saves Husband from Mountain Lion Attack

Thanks to his quick thinking wife, Jim Hamm is going home. On January 24th, he and his wife were out hiking in Humboldt County. He was attacked by a mountain lion--at one point his head was in the mountain lion's mouth. His wife, Nell, valiantly fought off the mountain lion with a tree branch. She saved her husband's life.

Hamm was in critical condition when he was brought into the hospital two weeks ago. Hamm had puncture wounds on his face and scalp and torn, in addition to torn muscles, and a damaged right arm. The surgeon took muscles from his back to patch the holes in his head. He may need plastic surgery depending on how things heal. He will be undergoing physical therapy to regain use of his arm.

Hamm is very happy with his wife's heroics and the ability of the doctors to patch him up. He and Nell celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Friday. Although they spent the day in the hospital, it may be the best anniversary they've ever had.

South Africa Will Test AIDS Vaccine

The people of South Afirca have been hit hard by the AIDs epidemic. Out of 47 million people, 5.5 million have been diagnosed with the disease.

They have an opportunity to change the face of AIDs treatment. An HIV vaccine will be tested on 3,000 South Africans this year. Thus far, the vaccine has been tested on 1800 people in several countries. This will be the largest trial to date.

This is the first promising vaccine to come along in some time. Another vaccine, AIDsVAX, proved to be a failure.

The program will be called Phambili (Going Forward). This will be a joint effort between the South African AIDs Vaccine Iniative and the United States National Institute of Health.

Random Acts of Kindness Week

The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation has declared February 11 through February 17 as Random Acts of Kindness Week. During this week everyone is encouraged to do a spontaneous act of kindness. Your act can be as simple as holding a door open for someone at the store or as grand as paying for someones meal at a restaurant. The point is do something nice that isn't expected.

I did my random act today. I swap books at paperbackswap.com. There is a woman who I've met online that I've swapped with before. She orders books from me from time to time. I finished a book last night that I think she will like, so I slipped it into her order. I hope that she will enjoy it.

By adding an act of kindness to our days, we make the world a little brighter. While we all love getting big gifts, we often remember the small kindnesses the most. You might have been having a bad day and then a stranger gave you their place in line. You might have been flustered while waiting in a doctors office and the person waiting next to you struck up a conversation and made the time go quicker. Your teenager saw that you were tired and washed the dishes without being asked. We cherish these small moments because they make each day a little easier to get through.

Will you participate? If so, post a comment and tell us what you did this week to bring kindness to another human being. You can visit the Random Acts of Kindness website to see what others are doing.

Super Bowl Champions

Super Bown Sunday gave America a bit of history. for the first time, an African American coach brought a team to football's biggest game. This time, both of the coaches were African Americans.

Lovie Smith of the Chicago Bears and Tuny Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts faced off in the Super Bowl. While Dungy gets all the accolades since his team won, Smith deserves his due as well. Both overcame the odds. They battled racism and good ol' boy networks throughout their careers. They worked their way through the NFL system, then finally got the chance to prove themselves.

It seems appropriate that this first would happen right around Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's birthday. One more slice of the dream realized. With each first, we open doors for the next generation. May there be a day when we won't even notice the color of another skin, but view them by their abilities, skills, and character.