2008: March 22nd Good News (Granny Saved After 5 Days, Man Builds House of Chocolate, more...)

Good Evening All!

It is a rainy morning here in Seoul, and it is already Easter over here... Happy Easter! (I get to say that again tomorrow, heheheh).
Anyway, today we had some interesting stories about things people accomplished. One man, for instance built a house out of chocolate, and then sold the chocolate bars for an eastertime charity. In another story, a woman rescued an elderly lady who had been trapped in her home for 5 days, unable to call for help. And, in a third, a swimming world record was achieved.

So, please enjoy today's articles, and I will see you tomorrow! :)



Today's Top 5:
1. Man Builds House of Chocolate (ABC Australia)
2. ‘I promised Ama I would look after her two children’
3. Nissin Food to use Paper Cups for Cup Noodle (Japan Today)
4. 'TRAPPED AT HOME' GRANNY RESCUED (New York Post)
5. SWIMMING: (Frenchman) Bernard Sets New 100 Metres World Record (France 24)



Honorable Mention:
1. Persistence Pays Off as a Woman Gets Back Her $10,000 Diamond Ring After Losing it on Maui (Honolulu Star Bulletin)
2. Marine, Iraq Dog Reunited in San Diego (Idaho Statesman)
3. Research Facility Dogs Released for Adoption! (Earth Times)
4. Serious Weakness Found in Virus Responsible for Cervical Cancer (Science Daily)
5. North Seattle Woman Takes a Stand to Save Trees (Seattle Times)



Not Published:
Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt Gave $8 Mil to Charity in 2006, Tax Records Show
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/431862




Today's Top 5:

1. Man Builds House of Chocolate
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/23/2196847.htm
Posted 7 hours 37 minutes ago
A Croatian man has claimed that he has built the biggest castle made of chocolate after working for 24 hours on his candy construction in a central Zagreb square, national television has reported.
The three-metre high construction with six-by-two-metre base was made of chocolate bars from a local producer.
The candy castle builder, Krunoslav Budiselic, boasted that his effort deserved a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Some 100,000 chocolate bars were used to build the castle, which weighs 10 tonnes.
After the castle was built its "bricks" were being sold as part of a charity event ahead of Easter to help disabled athletes.




2. ‘I promised Ama I would look after her two children’
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/wales-news/2008/03/22/i-promised-ama-i-would-look-after-her-two-children-91466-20660000/
Mar 22 2008 by Katie Norman, South Wales Echo

A COUPLE who donated £3,000 to help Ghanaian cancer victim Ama Sumani now plan to adopt her orphaned children.
The couple, who live in Cardiff, want to remain anonymous to protect their existing two children, but said they are willing to move anywhere in the world to care for the orphans.
Widowed Ama, 39, died in Ghana on Wednesday, three months after she was controversially removed from the UK while undergoing cancer treatment at University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff.
Her son Samede, seven, is now in the care of one of Ama’s Ghanaian friends while her daughter Mary, 16, is at boarding school in the country.
The couple wanting to adopt Ama’s children befriended her after their 11-year-old son was moved to tears by her story.
They donated £3,000 to help her and the anonymous woman, who Ama called Mamma, said they spoke to her on the telephone every day.
The woman, who was born in the Netherlands but has lived in Cardiff for more than three years, said she spoke to Ama moments before she died.
She said: “Ama was worried about her children and now we are now going to adopt them. There is no doubt about it.
“I promised her I would look after them.”
The woman said she had already discussed the matter with Ama’s family in Ghana and her close friend Janet Symmons, who runs the Xquisite Africa shop in City Road, Roath, Cardiff.
“My husband will fly over immediately,” said the woman. “Ama’s brother and I have already spoken about it.
“I’ve decided that if we’re not allowed to bring the children to the UK then we will go anywhere in the world to do it. But I must keep my promise.”
Friends and supporters raised more than £70,000 to help Ama because she could not afford dialysis in Ghana.
The money helped fund her care, but the treatment she received to prolong her life in Cardiff was simply not available in Ghana.
She died just after a South African doctor had agreed to treat her. Plans were being made to fly her to see him in Cape Town.
The remaining money raised for Ama will pay for her funeral and ensure her children are cared for.
The woman planning to adopt Ama’s children is an immigration expert and is currently writing a book, which she plans to dedicate to Ama.
She said her own children had been “traumatised” by the UK’s refusal to continue Ama’s treatment after her visa expired.
She said: “My son says Ama has been murdered. How do you answer a child when they say that?”
katie.norman@mediawales.co.uk




3. Nissin Food to use Paper Cups for Cup Noodle
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/431819
Saturday, March 22, 2008 at 06:52 EST

TOKYO — Nissin Food Products Co said Friday it will stop using polystyrene foam cups and will instead introduce paper cups for its Cup Noodle instant noodle products in a bid to contribute to environmental protection. The packages of all nine regular-size products will be replaced with paper cups in stages from April, Nissin said. Although the use of paper cups will be costlier, emissions of carbon dioxide during the production process are expected to be curbed, the company said.



4. 'Trapped at Home' Granny Rescued
http://www.nypost.com/seven/03222008/news/regionalnews/trapped_at_home_granny_rescued_102981.htm
By Todd Veneziav and Laura Moscrip

March 22, 2008 -- An elderly woman spent five grueling days trapped on the floor of her Queens home before being rescued Thursday by a worried neighbor who broke into the house.
Rose Schwing, 80, toppled onto her living-room floor at her home in Woodside sometime last weekend after a chair in which she was sitting broke, her family said.
She lay there helpless for five days, according to the Fire Department, growing weaker and ill as time went by.
On Thursday afternoon, neighbor Kim Russo noticed mail was piling up in the woman's mailbox and went over to see if something was wrong.
When Russo looked in the window, she saw Schwing lying on the floor crying out for help.
Russo sprung into action and with three hard blows knocked open the door.
"Kim is a hero," said Schwing's nephew, Erik Schwing.
Just as Russo entered the home, the elderly woman's niece, Alice Schwing, was calling on the phone from Texas. Russo answered, told her what was wrong and then called 911.
Schwing was taken by paramedics to Elmhurst Hospital, where she was recovering yesterday.
Russo could not be reached for comment yesterday.
"This isn't the first time she's done something like this," said George Johnson, her brother. "She once saved a kid from being electrocuted from a power line that fell into some water."




5. SWIMMING: Bernard Sets New 100 Metres World Record
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/23/2196847.htm
Saturday 22 March 2008

EINDHOVEN, Netherlands, March 22 (Reuters) - Frenchman Alain Bernard shattered the 100 metres freestyle world record for the second time in two days at the European swimming championships on Saturday. Bernard, who had snatched the record from Olympic champion Pieter van den Hoogenband at the Dutchman's home pool in Friday's semi-finals, lowered it by a further 0.10 seconds to 47.50 to win the final by the best part of a second. Bernard had clocked 47.60 seconds in the semi-finals to beat the 47.84 mark Van den Hoogenband set in the semi-finals of the Sydney Olympics on Sept. 19, 2000, on the way to the first of his two Olympic 100 freestyle titles. Van den Hoogenband, who turned 30 last week, had pulled out of the Eindhoven event, having been ill during the week. The heavily-muscled Frenchman turned at the 50-metre mark in 22.53, a breathtaking 0.35 seconds inside his own world record split of 22.88, and powered down the return length to finish the job to the cheers of spectators in the National Swimming Centre. Sweden's Stefan Nystrand took silver in 48.40 and world champion Filippo Magnini of Italy, who had won the title at the last two European champions, had to settle for bronze in 48.53. Bernard's best time before Eindhoven was 48.12.



Honorable Mention:

1. Persistence Pays Off as a Woman Gets Back Her $10,000 Diamond Ring After Losing it on Maui
http://starbulletin.com/2008/03/22/news/story05.html
Saturday, March 22, 2008 By Gary Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.com

WAILUKU » Kerry Beasley said she thought she had lost her $10,000 diamond ring forever.Battered by the surf at Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve in south Maui on March 9, 2006, her knees, elbows and right hand bleeding, she noticed the ring had slipped off her finger only after surviving her ocean ordeal.
"I was driving back to my condominium and all of a sudden I realized -- oh my gosh, my ring was gone," said Beasley, a Montana resident.
Beasley, who had received the ring as a Christmas gift from her husband, James, 25 years ago, enlisted the help of a man who specialized in metal detection and finding valuables on Maui.
She took him the next day to the place where she thought she had lost it.
"The surf was pretty high," she said.
He made several trips but was unsuccessful.
Months passed and then on June 20 of last year, she received a call from her sister saying her ring had been located.
Mel Taketa, who looks for lost items as a part-time job, said he found the ring in a small lava hole with pebbles covering most of it.
He said he learned about the ring from the man who had tried to do the initial search.
Taketa said he was diving in the vicinity of where Beasley had said she lost her ring, when he saw off to the side a glimmer of gold the size of a grain of rice.
"I grabbed it with my fingers and turned it around. That's when I saw the diamond," he said.
It was in about 8 inches of water and 12 feet from where Beasley thought she had lost it.
Taketa said the ring was discolored in some places but shiny in others. Taketa said he gave the ring to Beasley's friend who arranged to return it to Montana, and had the opportunity to meet Beasley Wednesday on Maui.
"She was so, so happy," Taketa said.
Taketa said he and the man she originally hired received a fee as agreed initially.
But as in many searches, the main reward was the satisfaction of helping to return something of sentimental value.
"That was the object of this search," he said. "To do a good deed."
Beasley said the real story was about Taketa. "It's about the aloha, the character of Mel, the persistence of him trying to find the owner."
For searches, Taketa can be reached at Mel1575@Hawaiiantel.net.



2. Marine, Iraq Dog Reunited in San Diego
http://www.idahostatesman.com/apusnews/story/331028.html
22 March 2008

SAN DIEGO — A San Diego-based Marine major was reunited on Saturday with one of his closest war buddies - a 2-year-old dog named Nubs.Nubs greeted Maj. Brian Dennis at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station when the fighter pilot returned from Iraq.
It was the first time the two were together since Dennis' family and close friends helped raise $3,500 to fly the dog to San Diego about a month ago. Nubs wasn't allowed to stay on base in Iraq.
Dennis, 36, of St. Pete Beach, Fla., had spotted the mongrel dog while on patrol in Anbar province and later nursed the animal back to health after finding him stabbed with a screwdriver.
He named the dog Nubs after learning someone cut the ears off believing it would make the dog more aggressive and alert.


3. Research Facility Dogs Released for Adoption!
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/research-facility-dogs-released-for-adoption,323369.shtml
Posted : Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:52:03 GMT
Author: Lisa Beal; Last Chance for Dogs

WHEN: Saturday, March 22, 2008 10:30 a.m.
WHERE: NAFA, 1609 Dan Ave, Jonesboro, Arkansas 72401
WHAT: I am sure you remember the closure of Class B Dealers C.C.Baird, as shown on the HBO special "Dealing Dogs" -- the Last Chance for Animals investigation in Wiliford, Arkansas and Northeast Arkansas For Animal's (NAFA) role in placing animals from that facility. I am not sure you are aware of it, but that was the first time in the history of the USDA that animals from a Class B Dealer were actually surrendered to a rescue.

In the past, when a Class B Dealer was closed the animals were simply moved to other Class B Dealers or euthanized. So, in addition to saving those dogs, it set a new precedent.
Along those same lines, Last Chance for Animals and NAFA will be making another ground-breaking stride this weekend. 11 dogs from a research facility (originally obtained from a Class B Dealer) will be turned over to NAFA. It is the norm throughout most research facilities and teaching schools, that when animals are no longer needed for research, they are either shipped to another research facility, returned to the Class B Dealer, or euthanized.

So you see, the removal of these 11 animals, and then into rescue, and then into private homes, is quite monumental. The research facility that will release these dogs does not want their name or their people's name released. The dogs will not be released until late Friday afternoon and evening. Then, representatives from Last Chance for Animals will be driving these animals to NAFA -- to arrive on Saturday morning about 10:30.

WHO:
Lisa Beal, Campaigns Director of Last Chance for Animals (LCA), an international non-profit animal advocacy organization based in Los Angeles. For more info go to http://www.lcanimal.org/.
Wannda Turner, Director of Northeast Arkansas For Animal's (NAFA). NAFA is a rescue group based in Arkansas. Wannda and the rest of her volunteers are heroes to the animal community.

CONTACT:
To schedule an interview with Lisa Beal of Last Chance for Animals call 818-681-3672.
To schedule an interview with Wannda Turner of NAFA call 870-243-4362.
Media Contact:Lisa BealLast Chance for Animals818-681-3672Lisa@LCAnimal.org




4. Serious Weakness Found In Virus Responsible For Most Cervical Cancer
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080320103251.htm
ScienceDaily (Mar. 22, 2008)

The virus responsible for most cases of cervical cancer has a serious weakness which may provide hope for new treatments for the disease.
Human Papillomavirus (HPV), a virus which causes several types of cancer but is particularly associated with cervical cancer, has developed clever ways of hiding in the body, but researchers at the University of Leeds have found that its ability to trick the body's first line of defence leaves it vulnerable to attack from a second defence system.
When viruses enter cells, they produce proteins to assist their growth and replication, and the body's immune system is programmed to recognise and attack these non-native proteins.
Professor Eric Blair of the University's Faculty of Biological Sciences and Dr Graham Cook from the Leeds Institute for Molecular Medicine have been specifically looking at one of the proteins produced by HPV, called E7, and have discovered that it suppresses markers on the cell surface, making infected cells much less visible to T cells, one of the body's key defence systems.
"T cells can normally tell when there are molecules in the body that shouldn't be there and activate an immune response," says Professor Blair. "But HPV uses the E7 protein to hide from them. We've always known the virus has clever ways of defending itself, but we now know how one of its main defence mechanism works."
However, in a twist that offers hope for the development of potential new therapies for cervical cancer, Professor Blair and Dr Cook have also discovered that this subterfuge may be the virus's downfall.
Cells without surface protein markers are targeted by another of the body's white blood cell armoury, Natural Killer cells - cellular assassins, which when activated, release specialised enzymes into target cells to kill them.
"Despite the body's valiant efforts to ward off the virus, women are still contracting this awful disease, so there are clearly other mechanisms at work. We need to look at the role of the other components of the virus, to see if they prevent the Natural Killer cells from attacking," says Professor Blair. "For example, we've started examining the contribution of the virus protein E6, which we believe works in partnership with E7. The recent introduction of a vaccine against HPV is an important development in the fight against cervical cancer. However, it may take many years for the vaccine to reduce the number of cases of this cancer and other approaches to eliminating tumour cells need to be discovered."
This research was funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research, the charity's Chief Executive, Elaine King commented: "Human Papillomavirus is extremely complex with many mechanisms affecting how it operates. However, through this research we have discovered how the E7 protein works, which is a huge step forward, and will hopefully help us to develop effective ways to combat Human Papillomavirus in the future."
Adapted from materials provided by University of Leeds, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.





5. North Seattle Woman Takes a Stand to Save Trees
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004298893_trees22m.html
By Jack Broom

Michele Leonard is working to save trees that are growing across the street from her house. The Seattle school district plans to cut down more than 80 trees on Ingraham High School grounds to add a new classroom wing.
A few trees have already been cut from the grove on Ingraham High School grounds as a part of the renovation project.Related
Should city woodlands be preserved at any cost? Sunlight filtered through the high branches of tall Douglas fir trees one recent afternoon as Michele Leonard walked through a small grove across the street from her North Seattle home, giving a slight sigh.
"These trees are gone come July, and it doesn't matter what we say," she said. "This is the school district, and they get what they want."
More than 80 trees, many of them decades-old evergreens, are slated to be cut down on the Ingraham High School grounds as part of a $24 million renovation project authorized by voters last year.
But Leonard and some of her neighbors, who've found an ally in the Seattle Audubon Society, argue the stand of trees provides a welcome buffer between their homes and the school.
"Right now, I open my backdoor and I look outside and see a forest," said Leonard, who for 10 years has enjoyed the sight of fir, cedar and madrona trees on the northwest corner of the high-school campus. "But that forest is going away."
Matthew Mega, conservation director for the Seattle Audubon Society, has asked the school district to take a closer look at potential environmental impacts of the project, noting that mature trees can be important habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife.
"We seem to be going backwards, with more trees getting cut on a daily occurrence than saved or planted," wrote Mega.
Not a done deal
The school district's plans, as detailed in a 20-plus "environmental checklist," call for eliminating 62 trees, primarily evergreens, from a stand of 130, and cutting down 22 more trees deemed to be diseased.
The trees would make way for a new classroom wing to replace a half-dozen portable buildings now in use.
New trees would be added around the campus — more new trees, in fact, than the number to be cut down.
But Leonard and some of her neighbors doubt that smaller "street trees" and other plantings will replace the canopy, serenity and bird habitat the tall trees provide. "I see flickers and finches and hawks and, sometimes, eagles," said Leonard. "We won't see them in street trees."
Officially, removal of the trees is not a done deal.
Although a preliminary school-district report concluded the renovation project would not present significant environmental problems, comments on that report will be evaluated and addressed, said David Tucker, spokesman for the school district.
"Right now there is a process, and the process is still engaged," said Tucker. But Tucker emphasized that the school's portable buildings must be removed, and new classrooms must be built. Ingraham, built in 1959, has long been in need of renovation and upgrading.
Neighbors with concerns about the tree removal say they've seen no indication the district would be willing to reconsider.
"It sounds like they have already decided," said Amy Wong, who attended a meeting at the school this week to discuss the project. Wong and her husband, Paul, bought their house on Ashworth Avenue North in 1989, partly because the stand of trees directly across from their front door, "was like a small park."
Another neighbor, Steve Zemke, collected signatures from residents of nine nearby homes calling for a closer look at the project's environmental impacts, citing concerns about the removal of trees and creation of more parking spaces. "Should we really be encouraging more students to drive to school?" he said.
Zemke said if public input had been sought sooner, he thinks the project could have been designed to provide new classroom space elsewhere on the campus, without removing the stand of fir and cedar.
"They basically put together a design, but it seems like it was an in-house process, not a public process," Zemke said.
Some neighbors say school officials haven't done a good job of informing residents about the process and the opportunities to participate.
Leonard noted that when the district put out its "environmental checklist" on the project, she was mailed 30 copies of a public notice.
Some other nearby residents received none.
Jack Broom: 206-464-2222 or jbroom@seattletimes.com