Friday, November 30, 2012

A URINE POWERED GENERATOR


14- and 15-Year-Olds Duro-Aina Adebola, Akindele Abiola, Faleke Oluwatoyin and Bello Eniola

Four Nigerian schoolgirls aged 14 to 15, created an urine-powered generator that can turn a liter of urine into nearly six hours of electricity. The simple generator separates urine into nitrogen, hydrogen and water. The process turns the plentiful waste product into power. The $64 prototype could help Nigeria's 160 million citizens without access to electricity.

Source: http://makerfaireafrica.com/2012/11/06/a-urine-powered-generator/
Source 2: http://mashable.com/2012/11/30/inspirational-kids-2012/#10392111-14-and-15YearOlds-DuroAina-Adebola-Akindele-Abiola-Faleke-Oluwatoyin-and-Bello-Eniola

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Will Smith - Quote Image: Smiling

"Smiling is the best way to face every problem, to crush every fear and to hide every pain"
Will Smith

Rapper 50 Cent Thinks Like a Harvard Businessman



Curtis Jackson broke into the music industry in 2002 and became the multiplatinum rapper 50 Cent. Today, he's also an entrepreneur and philanthropist. He talks with WSJ's Lee Hawkins about his latest ventures and whether he will become a billionaire.

Watch Mario Lopez talk Ryan Seacrest HERE: http://bit.ly/KYZknO

Watch Manny Pacquiao's exclusive WSJ interview HERE: http://bit.ly/KZyiNj

Lee Hawkins interviews Soulja Boy, John Elway, Cee Lo Green and more HERE: http://bit.ly/LWstNg

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WSJ Live brings you original programming from The Wall Street Journal. Get news directly from The Wall Street Journal's 2,000 reporters across the globe. With exclusive video and daily live programming, you can stay on top of the latest in news, elections, markets, tech, opinion and lifestyle.

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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Angela Bassett - Quote Image: Average


"Don't settle for average. Bring your best to the moment. Then, whether it fails or succeeds, at least you know you gave all you had. We need to live the best that's in us."
Angela Bassett

Monday, November 19, 2012

Chef Jamika

Say the word “chef” and traditionally, it conjures up images of a big white hat atop a restaurant chef. However, the recipe for this dynamic chef goes against all tradition. Jamika is truly a one of a kind chef known for her bold flavors and lively personality to say the least.

Beginning her professional career as a corporate marketing executive, Jamika, known for her risky moves, gave up her lucrative job to pursue her passion for food and cooking to enter the culinary industry. Her classical training included studying in European countries such as Venice, Italy and Vienna, Austria and graduation from the International Culinary Schools at the Art Institute of Atlanta. She also worked for the renowned Ritz Carlton Hotel.

Recognizing her yearning to be the boss, she paired her love for cooking and entertaining and in 2006, began her business – Life of the Party Personal Chef Services.

Positioned as a “Chef to the Stars”, Chef Jamika became a highly sought after personal chef in Atlanta, Georgia, cooking for numerous celebrities and professional athletes. Relying strictly on word-of-mouth advertising and maintaining her professional reputation, Chef Jamika expanded her business by becoming the chef for various corporate events hosted by Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Def Jam Recordings, Black Entertainment Television, the Atlanta Braves, the Atlanta Hawks, and ProFiles Sports, Inc.

Jamika’s cooking style is described as modern and elegant, yet sassy. Blending her Caribbean heritage with her Southern roots, she is most frequently called upon to prepare her inventive Southern Caribbean Fusion dishes. Inspired by travels and international cuisine, Chef Jamika brings her signature dishes to exciting new levels by blending the essence of different cultures into one.

As a certified Nutrition and Wellness Consultant, and advocate for ending childhood obesity, Chef Jamika is often invited as a nutrition expert to speak at numerous health expos and corporate events, such as the Tom Joyner Family Reunion, Radio One Love Caribbean Gospel Cruise, and Black Entertainment Television (BET) Women’s Health Symposium. Ebony Magazine also named Chef Jamika as one of the Top African-American chefs in the country in 2008.

With Jamika’s bright and witty personality, television was an inevitable avenue to pursue. While cooking for local news programs and interviews, Chef Jamika decided to take her enjoyment for being in front of the camera mainstream by becoming a contestant on the competition series, The Next Food Network Star, season 5. Jamika took the competition down to the final rounds and won the hearts of millions of viewers. Although she did not bring home the final prize of winning her own cooking show, Jamika vowed that this would not be her only shot at a national television series. Triumphantly, her hard work and commitment has paid off. Now you can see her as one of the hosts on The Learning Channel’s (TLC) lifestyle improvement show Home Made Simple. Jamika shows off her clever humor and easy elegant meals by traveling all around the country to the homes of moms in need of help in the kitchen.

Network television is not the only place you can see Chef Jamika. You can see her hosting events and conducting cooking demonstrations across the U.S. and Caribbean islands. As a result of her business success she was also named the alumni spokesperson for the International Culinary Schools of the Art Institutes. Moreover, as an inspiring presence for women of color, Jamika was honored as one of the Queens modeling for Queen Latifah’s Covergirl Queen Collection cosmetics.

Food is her business and she knows her business well. She works to develop herself into a household brand with cookbooks, products, and her own cooking show. As a dynamic business woman, Chef Jamika has burst on the scene dispelling the perceptions of what a chef is – and what they can be or do. Chef Jamika is ‘stirring’ up the food industry one meal at a time and loving every minute of it.

Source: http://chefjamika.com

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Antron Brown becomes 1st black NHRA autoracing champion


 Antron Brown became the first black champion in any NHRA pro series when he won the Top Fuel title on Sunday at the season-ending event.

Brown suffered minor burns to his hands when his engine popped in an opening-round loss during eliminations, then had to wait to celebrate his victory until the final, when teammate Tony Schumacher lost in a photo finish to Brandon Bernstein.

“I feel so blessed to be in this moment right now and this is a big huge moment,” Brown said. “I am just glad we could bring it home for Don Schumacher Racing. To win the world championship the way the competition has been this year in Top Fuel and to run and compete how we’ve been doing all season long is just phenomenal. We all switched the lead back and forth a bunch of times. Is this really happening?”

Brown led Schumacher, a seven-time champion, by 67 points at the start of Sunday’s eliminations. It looked as if Schumacher might take the title until he lost the final to Bernstein by eighth-thousandths of a second.

When the win light went on in Bernstein’s lane, Brown was mobbed by his teammates, family and friends in a huge celebration at the starting line.

“If I can be an inspiration for any of the kids out there who have dreams, any Americans, that’s all I want,” said Brown, who earned six victories in 11 final rounds and was top qualifier three times en route to his title.

The NHRA has long been one of the most diverse series in motorsports. Shirley Muldowney was the first woman to earn a license from NHRA to drive a Top Fuel dragster and won three championships, and brothers Cruz and Tony Pedregon, who are of Hispanic descent, both won Funny Car championships.

Earlier this season, Erica Enders became the first woman to win a Pro Stock event, beating four-time champion Greg Anderson in the finals at Route 66 Raceway.

Also Sunday, Jack Beckman claimed the Funny Car world championship when he edged teammate Ron Capps by two points in one of the closest points margins in the history of the category.

Top qualifier Capps lost a close semifinal round to rookie Courtney Force. Beckman was crowned champion before his semifinal against eventual race winner Cruz Pedregon.

Beckman’s title gave team owner Don Schumacher both nitro trophies, duplicating his effort from 2005 when his son Tony won Top Fuel and Gary Scelzi took the Funny Car crown.

Beckman, a cancer survivor, came on during the Countdown playoffs and moved into contention with a win at St. Louis. He took the points lead at the event in Reading, Pa. when he set a national performance record and was the No. 1 qualifier.

The major historian of the sport and former drag racing school driving instructor was thrilled with the title.

“You think about this, and you dream about this,” said Beckman, a cancer survivor. “It’s going to take me a while to wrap my head around this.”

Pedregon, Allen Johnson (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) joined Bernstein as race winners at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

Source: http://thegrio.com/2012/11/12/antron-brown-becomes-1st-black-nhra-autoracing-champion/

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Nelson Mandela - Quote Image: Action



"Action without vision is only passing time, vision without action is merely day dreaming, but vision with action can change the world."
Nelson Mandela

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Beating the Odds: Eddie Brown's Investing and Life Strategies


Beating the Odds is the improbable, inspiring autobiography of financial guru Eddie C. Brown, one of the nation's top stock pickers and money managers. It details how Brown skillfully kept Brown Capital Management afloat through the dot-com bust, 9/11 and the Great Recession. Born to a 13-year-old unwed mother in the rural South, this African-American investment whiz created a Baltimore-based financial firm that amassed more than $6 Billion under management.

Brown delves into the profound heartbreak and disorientation upon the death of his beloved grandmother – who was his surrogate mother -- and recounts how Brown's moonshine-running Uncle Jake subsequently became the dominant adult figure in Brown's life. His unflinchingly honest, easy-to-read memoir details how intellectual curiosity, abiding self-belief, hard work and divine providence helped Brown earn an electrical engineering degree, become an Army officer, and later a civilian IBM engineer. Readers will learn of the strife that ensued when Brown quit IBM to earn an MBA, leading to investment jobs that prepared him to start his own money management company in 1983.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_C._Brown

Monday, November 12, 2012

Tyrese Gibson: Dream with your eyes open


5MK, Los Angeles Launch featuring Tyrese Gibson, Singer and Actor

Sunday, November 11, 2012

The Hip Hop Preacher - Get an Appetite for Success



Renown speaker, educator, author, activist and minister, Eric Thomas is rising to national prominence by delivering a high energy message that tells youth through first hand experience how to live up to their full potential and greatness and by breaking the cycles of crime, hopelessness and despair that many face daily. Known for his engagingly personal approach, his messages are both dynamic & inspiring

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Sleep is 4 Suckers.........the Mission ft. Eric Thomas



David Shands, Founder of Sleepis4Suckers explains the mission of the Sleepis4Suckers company..... Log on to www.Sleepis4Suckers.com and be inspired!!
Source: http://www.sleepis4suckers.com

Friday, November 9, 2012

iPhone App: Around the Way App


Description
Around the Way is an easy to use application that helps you find the nearest Black-owned businesses. The application uses the built-in GPS to find your location and plots the Black-owned businesses on the map around you.

Features: 

- Automatically finds your current location and plots the nearest businesses around you.
- Create a customized Favorites list.
- Add a Black-owned business directly into the app.
- Share any business listing with your Facebook and Twitter friends.
- Get step-by-step directions to the business location




Source: http://aroundthewayapp.com/

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Kobe Bryant: Rise

"Everything negative-pressure, challenges, it's all an opportunity for me to rise"
Kobe Bryant

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Infor: Charles Phillips, Chief Executive Officer


Prior to Infor, Phillips was President of Oracle Corporation and a member of its Board of Directors. During his seven and a half year tenure, the company tripled in size and successfully acquired 70 companies. Prior to Oracle, Phillips was a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley in the Technology Group. Before his 18-year career on Wall Street, Phillips was a Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps in the 2nd Battalion, 10th Marines.

Phillips holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the U.S. Air Force Academy, a JD from New York Law School, and an MBA from Hampton University and is a member of the Georgia State Bar.

Phillips serves on the Boards of Viacom Corporation, Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York Law School, the American Museum of Natural History, the United States Air Force Academy Endowment Fund, and Phillips Charitable Organizations. Phillips also served on the Obama Administration's Economic Recovery Board, led by Paul Volcker.

Source: http://www.infor.com/

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Obama’s Top 50 Accomplishments


1. Passed Health Care Reform: After five presidents over a century failed to create universal health insurance, signed the Affordable Care Act (2010). It will cover 32 million uninsured Americans beginning in 2014 and mandates a suite of experimental measures to cut health care cost growth, the number one cause of America’s long-term fiscal problems.

2. Passed the Stimulus: Signed $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009 to spur economic growth amid greatest recession since the Great Depression. Weeks after stimulus went into effect, unemployment claims began to subside. Twelve months later, the private sector began producing more jobs than it was losing, and it has continued to do so for twenty-three straight months, creating a total of nearly 3.7 million new private-sector jobs.

3. Passed Wall Street Reform: Signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (2010) to re-regulate the financial sector after its practices caused the Great Recession. The new law tightens capital requirements on large banks and other financial institutions, requires derivatives to be sold on clearinghouses and exchanges, mandates that large banks provide “living wills” to avoid chaotic bankruptcies, limits their ability to trade with customers’ money for their own profit, and creates the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (now headed by Richard Cordray) to crack down on abusive lending products and companies.

4. Ended the War in Iraq: Ordered all U.S. military forces out of the country. Last troops left on December 18, 2011.

5. Began Drawdown of War in Afghanistan: From a peak of 101,000 troops in June 2011, U.S. forces are now down to 91,000, with 23,000 slated to leave by the end of summer 2012. According to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, the combat mission there will be over by next year.

6. Eliminated Osama bin laden: In 2011, ordered special forces raid of secret compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in which the terrorist leader was killed and a trove of al-Qaeda documents was discovered.

7. Turned Around U.S. Auto Industry: In 2009, injected $62 billion in federal money (on top of $13.4 billion in loans from the Bush administration) into ailing GM and Chrysler in return for equity stakes and agreements for massive restructuring. Since bottoming out in 2009, the auto industry has added more than 100,000 jobs. In 2011, the Big Three automakers all gained market share for the first time in two decades. The government expects to lose $16 billion of its investment, less if the price of the GM stock it still owns increases.

8. Recapitalized Banks: In the midst of financial crisis, approved controversial Treasury Department plan to lure private capital into the country’s largest banks via “stress tests” of their balance sheets and a public-private fund to buy their “toxic” assets. Got banks back on their feet at essentially zero cost to the government.

9. Repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”: Ended 1990s-era restriction and formalized new policy allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military for the first time.

10. Toppled Moammar Gaddafi: In March 2011, joined a coalition of European and Arab governments in military action, including air power and naval blockade, against Gaddafi regime to defend Libyan civilians and support rebel troops. Gaddafi’s forty-two-year rule ended when the dictator was overthrown and killed by rebels on October 20, 2011. No American lives were lost.

11. Told Mubarak to Go: On February 1, 2011, publicly called on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to accept reform or step down, thus weakening the dictator’s position and putting America on the right side of the Arab Spring. Mubarak ended thirty-year rule when overthrown on February 11.

12. Reversed Bush Torture Policies: Two days after taking office, nullified Bush-era rulings that had allowed detainees in U.S. custody to undergo certain “enhanced” interrogation techniques considered inhumane under the Geneva Conventions. Also released the secret Bush legal rulings supporting the use of these techniques.

13. Improved America’s Image Abroad: With new policies, diplomacy, and rhetoric, reversed a sharp decline in world opinion toward the U.S. (and the corresponding loss of “soft power”) during the Bush years. From 2008 to 2011, favorable opinion toward the United States rose in ten of fifteen countries surveyed by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, with an average increase of 26 percent.

14. Kicked Banks Out of Federal Student Loan Program, Expanded Pell Grant Spending: As part of the 2010 health care reform bill, signed measure ending the wasteful decades-old practice of subsidizing banks to provide college loans. Starting July 2010 all students began getting their federal student loans directly from the federal government. Treasury will save $67 billion over ten years, $36 billion of which will go to expanding Pell Grants to lower-income students.

15. Created Race to the Top: With funds from stimulus, started $4.35 billion program of competitive grants to encourage and reward states for education reform.

16. Boosted Fuel Efficiency Standards: Released new fuel efficiency standards in 2011 that will nearly double the fuel economy for cars and trucks by 2025.

17. Coordinated International Response to Financial Crisis: To keep world economy out of recession in 2009 and 2010, helped secure from G-20 nations more than $500 billion for the IMF to provide lines of credit and other support to emerging market countries, which kept them liquid and avoided crises with their currencies.

18. Passed Mini Stimuli: To help families hurt by the recession and spur the economy as stimulus spending declined, signed series of measures (July 22, 2010; December 17, 2010; December 23, 2011) to extend unemployment insurance and cut payroll taxes.

19. Began Asia “Pivot”: In 2011, reoriented American military and diplomatic priorities and focus from the Middle East and Europe to the Asian-Pacific region. Executed multipronged strategy of positively engaging China while reasserting U.S. leadership in the region by increasing American military presence and crafting new commercial, diplomatic, and military alliances with neighboring countries made uncomfortable by recent Chinese behavior.

20. Increased Support for Veterans: With so many soldiers coming home from Iraq and Iran with serious physical and mental health problems, yet facing long waits for services, increased 2010 Department of Veterans Affairs budget by 16 percent and 2011 budget by 10 percent. Also signed new GI bill offering $78 billion in tuition assistance over a decade, and provided multiple tax credits to encourage businesses to hire veterans.

21. Tightened Sanctions on Iran: In effort to deter Iran’s nuclear program, signed Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act (2010) to punish firms and individuals who aid Iran’s petroleum sector. In late 2011 and early 2012, coordinated with other major Western powers to impose sanctions aimed at Iran’s banks and with Japan, South Korea, and China to shift their oil purchases away from Iran.

22. Created Conditions to Begin Closing Dirtiest Power Plants: New EPA restrictions on mercury and toxic pollution, issued in December 2011, likely to lead to the closing of between sixty-eight and 231 of the nation’s oldest and dirtiest coal-fired power plants. Estimated cost to utilities: at least $11 billion by 2016. Estimated health benefits: $59 billion to $140 billion. Will also significantly reduce carbon emissions and, with other regulations, comprises what’s been called Obama’s “stealth climate policy.”

23. Passed Credit Card Reforms: Signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act (2009), which prohibits credit card companies from raising rates without advance notification, mandates a grace period on interest rate increases, and strictly limits overdraft and other fees.

24. Eliminated Catch-22 in Pay Equality Laws: Signed Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009, giving women who are paid less than men for the same work the right to sue their employers after they find out about the discrimination, even if that discrimination happened years ago. Under previous law, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the statute of limitations on such suits ran out 180 days after the alleged discrimination occurred, even if the victims never knew about it.

25. Protected Two Liberal Seats on the U.S. Supreme Court: Nominated and obtained confirmation for Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic and third woman to serve, in 2009; and Elena Kagan, the fourth woman to serve, in 2010. They replaced David Souter and John Paul Stevens, respectively.

26. Improved Food Safety System: In 2011, signed FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, which boosts the Food and Drug Administration’s budget by $1.4 billion and expands its regulatory responsibilities to include increasing number of food inspections, issuing direct food recalls, and reviewing the current food safety practices of countries importing products into America.

27. Achieved New START Treaty: Signed with Russia (2010) and won ratification in Congress (2011) of treaty that limits each country to 1,550 strategic warheads (down from 2,200) and 700 launchers (down from more than 1,400), and reestablished and strengthened a monitoring and transparency program that had lapsed in 2009, through which each country can monitor the other.

28. Expanded National Service: Signed Serve America Act in 2009, which authorized a tripling of the size of AmeriCorps. Program grew 13 percent to 85,000 members across the country by 2012, when new House GOP majority refused to appropriate more funds for further expansion.

29. Expanded Wilderness and Watershed Protection: Signed Omnibus Public Lands Management Act (2009), which designated more than 2 million acres as wilderness, created thousands of miles of recreational and historic trails, and protected more than 1,000 miles of rivers.

30. Gave the FDA Power to Regulate Tobacco: Signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (2009). Nine years in the making and long resisted by the tobacco industry, the law mandates that tobacco manufacturers disclose all ingredients, obtain FDA approval for new tobacco products, and expand the size and prominence of cigarette warning labels, and bans the sale of misleadingly labeled “light” cigarette brands and tobacco sponsorship of entertainment events.

31. Pushed Federal Agencies to Be Green Leaders: Issued executive order in 2009 requiring all federal agencies to make plans to soften their environmental impacts by 2020. Goals include 30 percent reduction in fleet gasoline use, 26 percent boost in water efficiency, and sustainability requirements for 95 percent of all federal contracts. Because federal government is the country’s single biggest purchaser of goods and services, likely to have ripple effects throughout the economy for years to come.

32. Passed Fair Sentencing Act: Signed 2010 legislation that reduces sentencing disparity between crack versus powder cocaine possessionfrom100 to1 to 18 to1.

33. Trimmed and Reoriented Missile Defense: Cut the Reagan-era “Star Wars” missile defense budget, saving $1.4 billion in 2010, and canceled plans to station antiballistic missile systems in Poland and the Czech Republic in favor of sea-based defense plan focused on Iran and North Korea.

34. Began Post-Post-9/11 Military Builddown: After winning agreement from congressional Republicans and Democrats in summer 2011 budget deal to reduce projected defense spending by $450 billion, proposed new DoD budget this year with cuts of that size and a new national defense strategy that would shrink ground forces from 570,000 to 490,000 over the next ten years while increasing programs in intelligence gathering and cyberwarfare.

35. Let Space Shuttle Die and Killed Planned Moon Mission: Allowed the expensive ($1 billion per launch), badly designed, dangerous shuttle program to make its final launch on July 8, 2011. Cut off funding for even more bloated and problem-plagued Bush-era Constellation program to build moon base in favor of support for private-sector low-earth orbit ventures, research on new rocket technologies for long-distance manned flight missions, and unmanned space exploration, including the largest interplanetary rover ever launched, which will investigate Mars’s potential to support life.

36. Invested Heavily in Renewable Technology: As part of the 2009 stimulus, invested $90 billion, more than any previous administration, in research on smart grids, energy efficiency, electric cars, renewable electricity generation, cleaner coal, and biofuels.

37. Crafting Next-Generation School Tests: Devoted $330 million in stimulus money to pay two consortia of states and universities to create competing versions of new K-12 student performance tests based on latest psychometric research. New tests could transform the learning environment in vast majority of public school classrooms beginning in 2014.

38. Cracked Down on Bad For-Profit Colleges: In effort to fight predatory practices of some for-profit colleges, Department of Education issued “gainful employment” regulations in 2011 cutting off commercially focused schools from federal student aid funding if more than 35 percent of former students aren’t paying off their loans and/or if the average former student spends more than 12 percent of his or her total earnings servicing student loans.

39. Improved School Nutrition: In coordination with Michelle Obama, signed Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act in 2010 mandating $4.5 billion spending boost and higher nutritional and health standards for school lunches. New rules based on the law, released in January, double the amount of fruits and vegetables and require only whole grains in food served to students.

40. Expanded Hate Crimes Protections: Signed Hate Crimes Prevention Act (2009), which expands existing hate crime protections to include crimes based on a victim’s sexual orientation, gender, or disability, in addition to race, color, religion, or national origin.

41. Avoided Scandal: As of November 2011, served longer than any president in decades without a scandal, as measured by the appearance of the word “scandal” (or lack thereof) on the front page of the Washington Post.

42. Brokered Agreement for Speedy Compensation to Victims of Gulf Oil Spill: Though lacking statutory power to compel British Petroleum to act, used moral authority of his office to convince oil company to agree in 2010 to a $20 billion fund to compensate victims of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico; $6.5 billion already paid out without lawsuits. By comparison, it took nearly two decades for plaintiffs in the Exxon Valdez Alaska oil spill case to receive $1.3 billion.

43. Created Recovery.gov: Web site run by independent board of inspectors general looking for fraud and abuse in stimulus spending, provides public with detailed information on every contract funded by $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Thanks partly to this transparency, board has uncovered very little fraud, and Web site has become national model: “The stimulus has done more to promote transparency at almost all levels of government than any piece of legislation in recent memory,” reports Governing magazine.

44. Pushed Broadband Coverage: Proposed and obtained in 2011 Federal Communications Commission approval for a shift of $8 billion in subsidies away from landlines and toward broadband Internet for lower-income rural families.

45. Expanded Health Coverage for Children: Signed 2009 Children’s Health Insurance Authorization Act, which allows the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to cover health care for 4 million more children, paid for by a tax increase on tobacco products.

46. Recognized the Dangers of Carbon Dioxide: In 2009, EPA declared carbon dioxide a pollutant, allowing the agency to regulate its production.

47. Expanded Stem Cell Research: In 2009, eliminated the Bush-era restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, which shows promise in treating spinal injuries, among many other areas.

48. Provided Payment to Wronged Minority Farmers: In 2009, signed Claims Resolution Act, which provided $4.6 billion in funding for a legal settlement with black and Native American farmers who the government cheated out of loans and natural resource royalties in years past.

49. Helped South Sudan Declare Independence: Helped South Sudan Declare Independence: Appointed two envoys to Sudan and personally attended a special UN meeting on the area. Through U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice, helped negotiate a peaceful split in 2011.

50. Killed the F-22: In 2009, ended further purchases of Lockheed Martin single-seat, twin-engine, fighter aircraft, which cost $358 million apiece. Though the military had 187 built, the plane has never flown a single combat mission. Eliminating it saved $4 billion.

Source: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/march_april_2012/features/obamas_top_50_accomplishments035755.php

Monday, November 5, 2012

Eric Thomas: DON"T GIVE UP ON ME



Eric motivates teachers to work through tough times in the classrooms.

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Sunday, November 4, 2012

John Legend Charity Work, Events and Causes


When Grammy Award-winning soulster John Legend first read The End of Poverty by Earth Institute director Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, he was so inspired that he traveled straight to Ghana to learn more about the problems faced by African countries. The book made him realize how it could be possible to set impoverished villages onto the road of self sufficiency and progress, and the trip showed him how he himself could make a difference to the lives of millions.

Legend established the Show Me Campaign to raise the required funds soon after his fact-finding mission, and partnered with Sachs’ Millennium Promise Alliance to serve needy African villages. In 2008, both Legend and Sachs made a tour of universities all over the US to encourage social, economic, personal, and educational growth. Called the Poverty Action Tour, the sessions challenged people to support the fight against poverty, and promote the charities and groups that champion the cause.

Rather than giving out money to destitute villages, the Show Me Campaign and Millennium Promise are more practical. They provide mosquito nets to curb the millions of avoidable deaths from malaria, free meals to children attending school which raises attendance rates and health, safe water points, local clinics and fertilizer to improve crop production and eradicate food shortages.

“Some people will say with some justification that we have a lot of problems here at home that we still need to solve,” said the 29-year-old singer. “But I don’t believe you have to choose. I think every life is valuable and poverty anywhere is something we should address.”

John also raises awareness and support for The Gentlemen's Fund and is a spokesperson for Tide Loads of Hope, for which he spent a day folding the laundry of those affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Legend performed at a concert benefitting the Jason Collier Memorial Scholarship Fund.

John made an ad supporting the GAP (PRODUCT) RED (Two Weeks) Campaign. Proceeds from the sale of the campaign’s T-shirts benefit the Global Fund.


Charities & foundations supported (30)

John Legend has supported the following charities:



more: http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/john-legend#ixzz2AqDqqPow

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Miles Davis - Quote Image: Fear

"Do not fear mistakes. There are none." 
Miles Davis

Friday, November 2, 2012

Usher Charity Work, Events and Causes


Usher established the Usher's New Look Foundation to empower young people from underserved neighborhoods around the world to create change in their communities.

Please also see our 58 past articles about Usher


Charities & foundations supported (12)

Usher has supported the following charities:


 


more: http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/usher#ixzz2AqCtenPq

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Will Smith - Quote Image: Go get it


"If you want something go get it. Period."
Will Smith