At Only Positive News, we’ve addressed the importance and power of physical touch. But it bears repeating. Why? Because in today’s world, we become increasingly distant from one another physically. We’re all too aware of personal space (which matters - don’t get me wrong!) but to a point where we don’t embrace…embracing.

What can you do today to improve your health and the health of loved ones? A simple hug may do the trick:

Researchers from the University of Carolina study also found that hugging instigates an elevated release of oxytocin, which is known as the “bonding” or “cuddle” hormone and prompts loving and caring feelings. Some studies have shown that it also reduces blood pressure. Another study that took place in 2000 showed that hugging babies while they were given blood tests made them cry less and kept their heart rates steadier. Both elevated levels of cortisol and high blood pressure have been linked to various diseases, including heart disease, so not only does hugging feel great, it’s good for our hearts, too.

Source: Gimundo

When the Bronx Zoo’s Egyptian cobra went missing several weeks ago, all eyes were on them. Would they find this venomous snake? Was the snake going to be alright? Now that the snake is safe and sound, a naming contest is underway.

How is this positive news? Attention and love given to our wildlife is always cause for celebration!

A fake Twitter account named @BronxZoosCobra has attracted almost 240,000 followers as users became gripped at news of the snake’s fate.

The zoo, in collaboration with New York Daily News, has now launched a competition to find a name for the cobra now she has been found ‘alive and well’.

The competition is due to end later today and has already attracted over 25,000 entries. The winner and the snake’s new name are set to be announced on Thursday.

The venomous snake’s escape last month sparked a frantic search and rescue mission, with the Reptile House shut down as a precaution.

However, the drama ended only a few days later when she was found in a dark corner of the building, not far from her tank.

In Venomous Snakes of the World, Mark O’Shea writes that the reptile, which can grow to be eight feet long, lives in savanna and dry woodland to semi-desert, and eats mammals, birds, toads, and other snakes. Its venom is a postsynaptic neurotoxin.

The Egyptian cobra is the cobra of Cleopatra, the royal snake of the Pharaohs and a more likely instrument of her suicide than an ‘asp’, which would have caused a painful and unpleasant death. Egyptian cobras are large snakes that exhibit a fragmented distribution surrounding the Sahara with populations along the Mediterranean coast, across the Sahel south of the Sahara and throughout East Africa. The black Moroccan Atlas Mountains population is sometimes recognized as a separate subspecies, as is the southwest Arabian population. They can raise one-third of their length vertically, and spread a broad, rounded hood, with little provocation.

One snakebite victim relates his experience, in the book:

“I received a single fang snakebite from a medium sized Egyptian cobra and experienced the rapid onset of neurotoxic symptoms: ptosis (drooping eyelids), flaccid facial paralysis and breathing difficulties before I received antivenom. The effects were rapidly reversed by a combination of antivenom and neostigmine. I was discharged from the hospital the next day.”

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/859920-competition-launched-to-find-name-for-bronx-zoo-cobra#ixzz1IZMtyUec

There’s nothing positive about the disaster and aftermath that’s occurring in Japan. What can be positive is your contribution. Here are some ways to help, thanks to The Huffington Post:

How To Help Japan: Earthquake Relief Options

Visit Redcross.org or text REDCROSS to 90,999 to donate $10 from your phone.Save the Children has also responded. Eiichi Sadamatsu of the organization released a statement, saying:

“We are extremely concerned for the welfare of children and their families who have been affected by the disaster. We stand ready to meet the needs of children who are always the most vulnerable in a disaster.”

The organization is currently organizing efforts and donations to its Children’s Emergency Fund will support outreach.

UNICEF is also coordinating efforts to help the children of Japan. Use this form on UNICEF’s website to donate 100 percent of your desired amount to their fund designated for victims of the earthquake or text JAPAN to 864233 to donate $10.

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International Medical Corps is responding to the health needs of the disaster’s victims. Nancy Aossey, President & CEO, International Medical Corps said in a statement:

“We are putting together relief teams, as well as supplies, and are in contact with partners in Japan and other affected countries to assess needs and coordinate our activities.”

To donate or learn about other ways you can contribute to its medical response, visit Internationalmedicalcorps.org. Also, text MED to 80888 from any mobile phone to give $10.

The Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund was launched at GlobalGiving.org to garner funds that will be given to a variety of relief organizations helping victims of the earthquake. It has already raised over $100,000, particularly from concerned Twitter users around the world. The project page explains:

We are working with International Medical Corps, Save the Children, and other organizations on the ground to provide support. Our partners on the ground are working hard to provide immediate relief.

Salvation Army personnel are organizing efforts in Tokyo and will soon send a team to help the severely damaged city of Sendai, Japan. To contribute to earthquake relief, text ‘JAPAN’ or ‘QUAKE’ to 80888 to make a $10 donation or visit SalvationArmyUSA.org.

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is sending two three-person teams to the Iwate and Miyagi prefectures in Japan. To learn more about the organization’s efforts or make a donation, visit Doctorswithoutborders.org.

Other relief organizations are also sending representatives to disaster sites, including AmeriCare and Shelterbox.

MercyCorps is gathering donations for its overseas partner, Peace Winds Japan, which currently has personnel on the ground distributing emergency relief in Japan.

Along with an appeal for monetary donations, Operation USA has also announced efforts to collect bulk corporate donations of health care supplies. If you are interested in donating bulk medical items, visit OpUSA.org.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare will soon be deploying a team to assess needs regarding animal rescue. Dick Green, the organization’s emergency relief manager for disasters, wrote on IFAW’s blog:

“As we saw most recently in Haiti, major disasters require long-term planning and a concerted effort between NGO and governmental ranks to ensure that the greatest number of animals and humans benefit from the intervention.”

They are encouraging support through donations, which will be used to buy pet food, veterinary supplies, vaccines and other necessities for animals needing help.

For any who have loved ones abroad, Google has stepped up to help. Along with a tsunami alert posted on its front page, Google has launched the Person Finder: 2011 Japan Earthquake to help connect people that may have been displaced due to the disaster. Google has also launched a crisis response page filled with local resources and emergency information.

Judy Chang, head of PayPal’s nonprofit group, announced that transactional fees incurred by money transfers to US 501(c)(3) organizations (or charities registered with the Canada Revenue Agency) between March 11 and April 10 will aid relief efforts in Japan.

World Vision has announced global mobilization in response to tsunami warnings. Geoff Shepherd, the organization’s humanitarian and emergency affairs director for the Asia-Pacific region, released a statement on World Vision’s website, saying:

“We’ve also alerted our Global Rapid Response Team and have put team members on standby for possible deployment to affected areas. This could be a very serious disaster in multiple countries and our staff are prepared to respond.”

We all need a little crazy. Not too much, obviously, but just a touch offers up freedom, expression and id-driven creativity. So what do some of the experts have to say on the topic of craziness? Let’s read on:

A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?
Albert Einstein

The truth is you don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. Life is a crazy ride, and nothing is guaranteed.
Eminem

I would imagine that if you could understand Morse code, a tap dancer would drive you crazy.
Mitch Hedberg

You have to go on and be crazy. Craziness is like heaven.
Jimi Hendrix

My psychiatrist told me I was crazy and I said I want a second opinion. He said okay, you’re ugly too.
Rodney Dangerfield

Pound’s crazy. All poets are. They have to be. You don’t put a poet like Pound in the loony bin.
Ernest Hemingway

The distinction between children and adults, while probably useful for some purposes, is at bottom a specious one, I feel. There are only individual egos, crazy for love.
Niccolo Machiavelli

Dreams are often most profound when they seem the most crazy.
Sigmund Freud

If you’re going to be crazy, you have to get paid for it or else you’re going to be locked up.
Hunter S. Thompson

I like someone who is a little crazy but coming from a good place. I think scars are sexy because it means you made a mistake that led to a mess.
Angelina Jolie

If we weren’t all crazy, we’d just go insane.
Jimmy Buffett

You have to go on and be crazy. Craziness is like heaven.

Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/crazy_2.html#ixzz1FSS7LEhO

We’re becoming increasingly aware of the implications of our actions and the direct implications to our environment. We shop more wisely (organic, locally, etc.) and watch our energy use.

But in the arena of jewelry, many of just don’t realize the ecological implications. Materials such as moissanite (a diamond alternative that doesn’t harm the environment) and recycled metals are becoming increasingly popular but still fall a bit under the radar.

Here’s a little more info. The next time you want to buy a piece of jewelry, consider some of these smart alternatives:

Traditional mining practices for gold can cause big environmental problems for communities around the excavation site along with unsafe work conditions and extremely low wages. It’s a complex problem that has gone on for years and finally is beginning to be addressed.

New choices are available for what some call green gold or ethical gold. Understanding and exploring our best jewelery choices can be found when you check out dirty gold.

• Keeping the peace with diamonds and semi precious stones.

Beautiful gemstones have been sought after for thousands of years and their beauty and value have created benefits for many people but also has brought about some very real problems for those caught up in the violence that can surround something of great value.

Conflict diamonds have been in the spotlight for several years because of their contribution to increasing fighting and violence in regions that have already suffered enough.

You don’t have to give up owning diamonds. Learn what to look for so you can enjoy the beauty of these stones without the guilt.

• Everyone benefits from fair trade jewelry.

The big focus in the jewelry industry has been on gold and diamonds but that is only part of the picture. What about other mined gems and minerals? Are they being sourced ethically and with concern for the environment?

Some companies are addressing this but it has become a focus of some companies that create fair trade jewelry. Here a concern for the environment and concerns for the women, men and children from around the world that work to fabricate all different kinds of jewelry come together in the creation of eco friendly jewelry. Problems of poor pay, unsafe working conditions or unfair treatment are not uncommon and are beginning to be addressed.

Look for companies that provide fair made, eco friendly and socially responsible fair trade jewelry.


• Recycled jewelry does it all from elegant to fun.

From recycled gold to recycled paper, jewelry designers are creating beautiful and creative eco jewelry by reinventing what was old or unusable. Fine jewelers are giving new life to old gold and gemstones while creating elegant and stylish pieces to please even the most discriminating shopper.

Then there are those who turn trash into treasure and create fun, fresh and unique designs. Many different styles can be found online. Locally look to shops like Whole Foods or other small stores that carry handcrafted items.

To read more about this exciting new trend in jewelry check out recycled jewelry for more info and tips on where to shop.

Whatever you choose you are sure to be making an eco fashion statement of not only beauty and style but as someone who cares about making purchases that actually help people and the environment.

Your next trip to the jewelry store may have you looking at jewelry in a whole new light. The choices are yours to make and with options like these eco jewelry looks like a glittering solution.

Source: Natural Living for Women

Considering the abundance of wealth in pro sports and the price of a ticket to a football game, exorbitant, it’s nice to read about a couple who have a chance to go to the biggest football game of all, even though they’re homeless.

Ouida Wright is getting a break from her life at a Wisconsin homeless shelter to jet off to Dallas with her boyfriend to catch the Super Bowl.

Wright, of Green Bay, Wis., won two tickets, hotel accommodations and travel expenses from the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau in a contest that involved uttering a secret phrase — “Have you been to Dallas lately?” — to a “mystery man” walking around Green Bay, according to Fox 11 of Green Bay.

Wright said she and her boyfriend, Aaron, have “lost everything” and have been at the shelter for two months. They had just finished lunch at a soup kitchen on Saturday and were going to walk around Winterfest in search of some free fun, she told the channel.

She learned about the contest when people began to ask the couple if they had been to Dallas. Wright decided to give it a try, and on her fourth query, she’d found the mystery man.

“I thought it was a joke,” she said in an interview with Fox 11. “I’m homeless. Let’s face it. I thought he was just messing with me.

“And then we saw the cameras,” she said. “I just thought, oh my gosh. … We won Super Bowl tickets. It doesn’t get any more amazing than that. We had 90 cents in our pocket, and we have won a package that people would have offered thousands and thousands of dollars for.”

For Aaron, described as a fan who “bleeds green and gold,” it’ll be the trip of a lifetime.

“Ever since I was young, I always wanted to go to a Super Bowl with the Packers playing,” he said in the interview. “I’m still in shock over it.”

Wright, who has four children and used to live in Hawaii, said she’s never been to a football game. Her family used to gather outside a Kmart to listen to them.

Now, she’s thrilled to be heading south this weekend.

“What better than a couple in a homeless shelter,” she said. “Not that we’re more deserving, but … we’re lucky to get a can of soda or a movie. And we’re going to the Super Bowl.”

Source: AOLNews

Superheroes come in all shapes and sizes. Their superpowers, varied. Their strengths, many. We all have a superhero residing within, as this story relays:

Super Cooper cannot sling webs. He does not pilot an invisible airplane, communicate telepathically with sea creatures or leap tall buildings in a single bound.

Super Cooper does possess a guileless enthusiasm, a proper red superhero’s cape and an open-book approach to reporters not usually found in men of steel.

He readily told AOL News about his latest act of derring-do-good.

“We saw someone next door and we said hi. And we gave him flowers. And we tell him he could come to our school.”

Courtesy of Kristal Burns

Preschoolers at Missoula Community School in Missoula, Mont., perform weekly acts of kindness dressed as caped superheroes.

AOL News managed to extract the name of Super Cooper’s favorite fellow caped crusader, Eliza, before Super Cooper handed the phone to his preschool teacher and returned to his toys.

Cooper Spataro, 3, and his classmates at Missoula Community School in Missoula, Mont., are “superheroes of kindness,” performing weekly acts of good will that include cleaning school windows and delivering paper flowers to residents of an assisted living community.

Teacher Kristal Burns came up with the concept after discovering Laura Miller, aka Secret Agent L.

Miller, whom AOL News profiled in August, performs frequent small acts of kindness using her secret agent pseudonym, leaving small notes and treats in public places for passers-by to discover. She encourages others to embrace the random good deed and to share their under-the-radar benevolence anonymously via her website.

“I was intrigued,” Burns said. “We were talking about how wonderful it would be to teach the kids to do that. At the same time, we love superheroes and we want to be superheroes, but superheroes often hit and punch. Why don’t we be superheroes of kindness?”

The kids loved the idea, even after Burns explained that they would not be fighting bad guys; even after she told them that they could not “fly” on slick ice, only on dry pavement; and especially after a crafty parent fashioned capes for the entire class.

Burns’ students, who range from 3 to 5 years old, most recently took part in the mission Cooper described, an idea Burns concocted when a shop opened in the neighborhood.

“There was a new store that moved in called Upcycle that takes recycled materials and turns them into bags. We welcomed them into the neighborhood and asked them if they’d like to come in,” she said.

While the superheroes’ acts usually benefit those outside school walls, one of the primary goals of the kindness effort is to encourage development of empathy, sometimes in short supply among preschoolers who don’t want to give up their truck, their doll or their purple crayon.

Since the kids became superheroes, Burns has noticed a change.

“It has made a world of difference,” she said. Bickering is on the wane; helping is on the rise.

“We’re not telling them that they have to help someone who needs help, but now they just see it.”

Unexpectedly, the small superheroes have spawned adult sidekicks in their community.

“They’re getting these random letters from people. … Can we go on a mission with you?” Burns said.

“They’re not too small to make a difference. That’s been a really neat outcome of this. They’re just being their kind selves, and people are so thankful.”

Source: AOLNews.com

Life often requires sacrifice. But as you’ll read in this story, sacrifice can help both parties.

But before you read this story, do you have an organ donor card? Is it on your driver’s license? Go check or visit this website:

Organ Donor Website

What others thought was just an exercise routine to lose weight was, for Chen Yurong, a way to save her son’s life.

The 51-year-old Hubei native knew she had to improve the condition of her liver in order for doctors to cut part of it out - and transplant it into her son’s body.

So in February she went on a diet and marched about 10 km a day.

The result, even broadcast yesterday by State television CCTV, was a successful 14-hour operation to save her son from a life-threatening liver disease.

“In order to give my young granddaughter a complete family, I’d like to do everything to save my son,” Chen said before the operation.

While Chen and her 31-year-old son, Ye Haibin, are now in stable condition at Tongji Hospital in Wuhan. He suffers from Wilson’s disease, or hepatolenticular degeneration. Health experts said a living organ donation was not the best way for Chen to save her son, given that about 1 out of 1,000 liver donors die after the transplant surgery.

“Living organ donation is just an alternative when there’s no suitable deceased organ donated,” said Chen Shi, an organ transplant expert with the Institute of Transplantation at Tongji Hospital.

“It’s kind of a dilemma facing transplant doctors worldwide whether to do living organ transplantations, which involve potential health risks for the donor, particularly in countries like China without robust voluntary organ donations after death,” he told China Daily yesterday.

Last December, when Ye was again rushed to hospital, doctors said that a liver transplant would be the only way to prolong his life. That’s when Chen made the decision to give part of her own, as it’s even harder and more expensive to get a match from others.

More than 1.5 million people in China need organ transplants each year. However, only 20,000 finally get one, official statistics show.

Last year, living transplants accounted for at least 40 percent of the nationwide total, experts estimated.

Vice-Health Minister Huang Jiefu previously warned that living organ donations involve risks for both donor and recipient.

In the worst cases, both could die, he noted.

“We have had such tragedies in China before,” he said.

“The best way is to set up a nationwide deceased organ donation system and encourage more people to donate organs for life-saving transplants after death,” he said.

In 2007, China issued the Regulation on Human Organ Transplantation to ban all forms of organ trade and request that living donations be restricted to spouses, blood relatives or people sharing family bonds.

Meanwhile, a nationwide deceased organ donation system held by the Red Cross Society of China and the Ministry of Health is being established.

Chen Yurong's worn-out shoes.

Source: People’s Daily Online

It doesn’t always take a lot to make a child happy. Especially Matt, who is suffering from a rare neurological disease. He wants a Christmas card. That’s all. At the end of this post, you’ll find his address.

Like many kids his age, 11-year-old Matthew Mickelson Butman was eager to meet Santa Claus. Most of his friends would line up at the mall for hours—but in Matthew’s case, Santa was willing to make a house call.

Matt has a rare degenerative neurological disorder called Leigh’s disease. It claimed his brother’s life in 1996—and soon, it will take Matthew’s life too.

“To make it easy to understand, it’s a very rare disease that affects the [cell’s] ability to make energy,” Matt wrote on his Facebook page. “Once a cell is affected, it dies. There are also brain lesions. Unfortunately it is terminal and there is no treatment or cure. … My parents make sure I’m comfortable and have no pain.”

He is no longer able to speak or lift his head, but that hasn’t stopped him from celebrating what will likely be his last Christmas.

When Santa came to visit him on Wednesday, he didn’t have any gift requests. Instead, he presented Saint Nick with a big bag of gifts to deliver to needy children.

Along with the Santa visit, Matt’s only Christmas request is for strangers to send him greeting cards. He’s eager to receive messages of good will from people around the world, and he’s already receiving up to 80 cards a day. After Matt reads them, his mother hangs them up around the room in a chain of Christmas cheer.

Want to contribute to Matt’s happy Christmas? Greeting cards can be mailed to him at: Matthew Mickelson Butman, PO Box 1865, Wylie, TX, 75089.

Check out the video of Matt’s story.

I just returned from my high school graduation and boy, my head was spinning! It’s so strange and wonderful to see so many familiar faces. Yet also emotionally evocative. It’s as if you’re beemed back in time and relive and re-experience feelings of yesterday. - no easy emotional task.

So what did I do to process it? Simple. I went for one of my “power walks.” Now, I’m not talking about power walking in the traditional exercise sense. It was a spiritual power walk.

The air was cold and brisk, the winter sun shining brightly. As I walked, I kept an intention in mind: clear your head, let the thoughts blow away in the cold breeze, breathe, enjoy the now.

Simple, right? For me, this “power walk” helped me mentally digest a busy weekend, regroup and return to myself.

So the next time you’re feeling overwhelmed (especially as the holiday season approaches!), never underestimate the power of a good walk!

Walk your Mind Away