This Just in...

ETA Announces Permanent Cease-Fire

MADRID, Spain - The Basque separatist group
ETA on Wednesday announced a permanent
cease-fire, bringing a dramatic end to a
decades-long campaign of violence and closing
the door on one of Western Europe's last active
armed separatist movements.

For more on this story click here

The amazing positive part of the story in addition
to the obvious benefits of a cease fire the wire report
goes on to say "that many Spaniards believed that
after the 2004, terror attacks in Madrid, ETA had
effectively been stymied.

The belief was that popular revulsion over
terrorism made deadly violence politically
unthinkable for the group.

Peace is possible!

Positive News Update 3-22-06

Here's a quick view of some of this week's
Positive News. We continue to witness
progress on all fronts and these stories
demostrate there is progress being made.

US NEWS

Wal-Mart doubling organic food offerings

Having paid close attention to the growing demands
for organic food over the last few years, Wal-Mart,
already a major retailer of groceries, has decided it
wants to create a niche for itself: over the next two
weeks, it will double its stock of organic foods.

Cigarette sales hit a 55-year low in 2005

Cigarette sales have fallen by more than 21 percent
since state attorneys general negotiated a landmark
settlement with the industry eight years ago, newly
released figures show.

The National Association of Attorneys General said
Wednesday that the 378 billion cigarettes sold in the
United States last year marked the lowest number
sold since 1951, a time period in which the U.S.
population more than doubled.

``The continuing long-term decline shows that we
are winning the battle against cigarette smoking,''
the attorneys general of Iowa, Idaho, California
and Utah said at the association's annual spring
conference.

Cigarette sales declined 4.2 percent last year from
2004, one of the largest one-year percentage
decreases since 1999.

New software tackles color blind challenges

In a world where more and more work is conducted
online, few efforts have gone into improving the view
for people with color blindness, even though about
8 per cent of men and roughly a half of 1 per cent of
women have some form of it.

Now 'EyePilot' has been developed. The new program
gives colourblind people several ways to filter multi-
chromatic images on their computer screens and lets
users pinpoint particular shades on a screen or shift
hues to bring out easier-to-detect contrasts.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Hong Kong launches non-smoking campaign

The Department of Health in Hong Kong has begun
a campaign to educate patrons not to smoke in
restaurants in preparation for a total ban on
restaurant smoking that will occur in 2007.

Study shows tofu, oatmeal lower cholesterol

Researchers in Toronto, Canada, report that a
diet including tofu, oatmeal, and nuts can
significantly lower cholesterol.

The diet includes low-fat dairy products, and
substituting soy products for animal foods
when possible.

The more dieters combine foods rich in viscous
fibre, such as oat bran, barley, okra, and eggplant,
as well as raw almonds and walnuts, the more
their cholesterol dropped.

Research study shows global
drop in blood pressure

According to a new study published by the
British Medical Journal, levels of unhealthy
blood pressure have declined worldwide.

Physicians and researchers suspect that the
decline has more to do with lifestyle changes
than medication.

Dr Hugh Tunstall-Pedoe, author of the study
and professor of cardiology and epidemiology
at Ninewells Hospital Medical School, in Dundee,
Scotland, commented: 'There is a lot more to
health than popping pills; there is a greater
dimension to blood pressure and its control
than simply a prescription of medication.'

I encourage all of you to look out for more
Positive News Stories and share them here.

Thanks, Mr. Positive!

Positive News Update 3-15-06

Fresh from the wires here's a couple
of positive stories and one just for fun!

Burundi agrees to peace talks with rebels

Burundi has agreed to peace talks with the last
group of rebels holding out from a series of deals
that ended the central African nation's 12-year
civil war, a government spokesman said.

The announcement came a day after the head of
the National Liberation Force, or FNL, said his
Hutu rebel group was ready for negotiations.

Chile to give seniors free hospital care

Newly inaugurated President Michelle Bachelet
has said that all Chileans older than 60 will
immediately begin receiving free care at public
hospitals.

Bachelet said she also plans to increase pensions
earned by Chileans and grant government
pensions to elderly citizens who lack an income.

Rome's chief rabbi visits city mosque

Rome's chief rabbi recently visited the main
mosque in the Italian capital. He is the city's
first chief rabbi ever to do so in a move to
increase dialogue between religions and offer
the Jewish community's support to Muslims
in Italy.

Study shows ethanol good for the
environment and the economy

A recent study refutes the notion that it takes
more energy to produce ethanol than the
corn-based fuel saves.

Scientists at the University of California-Berkeley,
USA say there's a 20 per cent net energy gain
by using fossil fuels to make ethanol compared
to gasoline.

Ethanol producers say the study shows that
cleaner-burning ethanol is good for both the
environment and the economy.

``The new study reaffirms what we already
know: Ethanol is energy positive, and it grows,''
said Bruce Rastetter, CEO of Hawkeye Renewables
in Iowa Falls.

Nanotechnology May Repair
Damaged Brains

TUESDAY, March 14 (HealthDay News)

Rodents blinded by brain damage had their vision
partially restored within weeks after being treated
with nanotechnology developed by bioengineers
and neuroscientists at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology.

The findings provide evidence that similar strategies
might someday work in humans.

The findings appear online this week in the journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The Brain Injury Association of America
has more information about types of brain injury.

Click here for more

New Technique Rapidly
Detects Harmful Bacteria

Mar. 13 -- Scientists developed a rapid and efficient
way to identify the presence of pathogenic bacteria
within an unknown mixture of microbes.

Using this sequencing-based method, the research
team successfully distinguished between two closely
related microbes -- a pathogenic soil bacterium and
an anthrax bacterium.

This new method should advance the study of microbes
in the environment and improve the ability to distinguish
between benign and harmful bacteria.

Woman Shows Off Five-Pound
Monster Mango

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii - When Colleen Porter
took her mango to the local grocer, it wasn't to
sell it, but to weigh it and show it off.

Colleen Porter, already a state mango record holder,
has been confirmed by the Guinness Book of World
Records as growing the world's heaviest mango —
5 pounds, 7 ounces.

The monster mango appears to be close to the size
of a human head. Now that's a huge mango!

Click for more

Positive News Update March 7, 2006

Here's some of the Positive News I discovered
in the past week...it reinforces my belief that
there's many positive news stories out there,
if that's what you are looking for...Dave

New Positive TV Show

First, most publicity around TV is geared towards
shows that are racy or raunchy and the uproar
they create. I prefer to applaud TV shows that
inspire and uplift you.

ABC's new show "Miracle Workers" is a
very positive show that deserves your attention
and time.

Miracle Workers is a life-changing new series
about real people overcoming insurmountable
odds with the help of an elite team of medical
professionals.

Think "Extreme Home Makeover" with a
medical twist. Each week, the show will feature
two stories of ordinary people who will be helped
by the medical team and have their lives transformed.

Last night's show was amazing and I'm sure you'll
enjoy future episodes. Check your local listings for
days & times.

Now with all the "American Idol" publicity this
story caught my attention...

Young Muslims Find Pop-Star Role Model

With a British accent, Islamic lyrics and trendy
video clips, 25-year-old Yusuf has become a
music idol to a young generation of Muslims
eager to reconcile their religious impulses with
the appeal of modernity and pop and to proudly
display an Islamic identity many feel is under attack.

He rejects the "clash of civilizations" theories fueled
by the current angry exchanges over cartoons of
prophet Muhammad.

He seeks to dispel stereotypes and to show that the
Western and Muslim cultures he straddles can coexist.

Click here for the rest of the story...


College Students Pass on Spring Break
Parties to Work on Katrina Relief Projects.

College kids from across the United States have
answered the call to forsake March parties in
Daytona Beach, Florida, and Cabo San Lucas,
Mexico, in favor of fixing and cleaning homes,
schools and community centers in Alabama,
Mississippi and Louisiana.

Click here to read more...

If you're a BlackBerry User Here's
Some Very Positive News!

The maker of the BlackBerry e-mail device
Friday said it settled its long-running patent
dispute with a small Virginia-based firm,
averting a possible court-ordered shutdown
of the BlackBerry system and a disruption
of wireless service for millions of users.

Whew! That was close...

A New Tool for Students
and History Buff's Too!

The Biographical Directory of the United
States Congress, from 1774 through 2005,
is the definitive reference book about federal
lawmakers and it's online for the first time.

The entries in the directory's 16th edition,
the first update since 1989, were written
by congressional historians to provide basic
information — dates, places and positions
— rather than personal stories.

Occasionally, though, startling tales appear
amid the plain facts.

To View The Biographical Directory
of the U.S. Congress, please click the
link below.

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/serialset/cdocuments/hd108-222/