We Need Some Happy News

There is so much negative news in the media lately. I feel like the economy is weighing everyone down. So, in an attempt to lighten things up, I thought I'd put up a post devoted to things that made me smile today. I hope they do the same for you. 

Wash. Burglary Victim Drives Off In Thieves' Van

Associated Press, February 15, 2009

BELLEVUE, Wash. - A man in Washington state made sure a pair of burglars didn't get away with his three flat-screen televisions - he moved their getaway car. Patrick Rosario was in the basement of his Bellevue home on Tuesday when he heard the burglars upstairs. The Seattle Times says the 32-year-old Rosario, who had been laid off from his job as a Washington Mutual manager, called 911 while he sneaked out of the house. He saw a white van sitting in front of his house with the motor running and the keys in the ignition, and he got in and drove it to a friends house.

The existence of this article makes me laugh... "How to Be Happy"

Poll: Teens Say Happiness Comes From Family

TheTrumpet.com

"A poll conducted in April by the Associated Press and MTV indicated that what makes teens happy is not what some might expect. Although money, sex, music and other factors were

 examined by the study, the top answer teens gave to the open-

ended question "What makes you happy?" was spending time with family. The second-most frequent reply was spending time with friends, and spending time with a boyfriend or girlfriend third. Teens who were in wealthier families were generally happier than those who were poorer, but very few respondents listed money as what made them happy." 

This is one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time...

If your not getting enough good news... check out the Good News Network.

Dog Found After 6 Months- and a cold winter 

Associated Press, Feb. 7, 2009

HELENA, Mont. - A golden retriever named Buck that darted from his owner last summer 

after being spooked by a train whistle and went missing for six months is back home in Washington state, thanks to several residents of rural north-central Montana. The 7-year-old dog survived despite apparently spending most of the winter exposed to heavy snow and temperatures well below zero before he was found taking refuge under a collapsed building. "I've never had a miracle happen to me, so I don't really know what to think," said Kim Halter of Bonney Lake, Wash. 

Thats Not Cool

A couple weeks ago, I did a story on the dangers children and teenagers face while on the web. The Myspace Inc. study found their number one threat to be their peers, not child predators. (You can read the story here).

Today, in my daily adventures on the web, I found this great site called That's Not Cool. If you have a daughter, son, niece, nephew, grandchild... I don't care, you need to get them on this site. It addresses how teens are controlled, disrespected and pressured through instant messaging, social networks and cell phones. The web site challenges teens to determine, "What's your digital line?"

Here is the site's current PSA that you may have caught on TV.

The site has a lot of fun videos, featuring sock puppet personalities (which I find, not only super cute, but incredibly endearing).

It also features web images called "Call Out Cards" that can be shared on many of the social networking sites, like Facebook and MySpace. I think these little cards can go a long way to spread the site's message. You'd be amazed at what kind of ripple effect they could cause. What if ten of us changed our online photos to one of these cards, or even posted one to our profile? How many teens would get the message that they don't have to take cyber stalking or cyber bullying? How many teens would feel more confident and more comfortable drawing their own digital line?

Before We Get Started...

I want to introduce you all to a web site that, next to WSJM's, is one of my main sources for national news. 

The Daily Beast

This site has all the big national stories, plus interesting blogs and other commentary. My favorite part is the "Cheat Sheet." The Cheat Sheet has a list of everything you need to know before you go into work. 

Another great feature is "The Big Fat Story." Often when covering a news story, there are many different dimensions. "The Big Fat Story" highlights those different aspects. Today's big story, Obama's First Month of Presidency. The story examines what different analysts expect to happen over the next 45 days, what other Presidents have accomplished, and the ripple effect of the Bush Administration. 

More and more people use multi-news sources like these to get their daily dose of what's going on. I know I do. I wake up and I check WSJM, CNN, The Herald Palladium, WNDU, and all the press releases in my Inbox before I start my day. I think this web site gets that idea. I love how it pulls stories and ideas from many different sources, an then presents that information to the public in a clean, concise, professional, and, most importantly, interesting way.  

I've passed this site on to everyone I know. It's likely I'll link to it quite a bit. I hope you enjoy.