This Girl Had A Pocket Full Of Determination

by Kevin Burton    It’s girl power times three on Page 7 today.    The third story is about car repair, the first two about clothing, beginning with my favorite, a rare tale of a big company responding to consumers. All three are from the Good news Network:    “A young English schoolgirl named Georgia …

World’s Biggest Iceberg Spins In Ocean Trap

by Jonathan Amos and Erwan Rivault BBC News    For months nowA23a, the world’s biggest iceberg,  has been spinning on the spot just north of Antarctica when really it should be racing along with Earth’s most powerful ocean current.    Scientists say the frozen block, which is more than twice the size of Greater London, …

Canada: So Close, So Livable, Why Not?

by Kevin Burton  Americans alarmed and disgusted by extreme left-wing and right-wing elements destroying their country bit by bit, can look north to a quite agreeable landing spot.       We posted part of a BBC story, stating that Mexico is the favorite location for expatriates (“Survey Names Mexico best Location For Expats,” Sept. 16).    …

World Record Pepper Brings Serious Heat

by Kevin Burton    We’ve got a hot story for you today. Record hot.    It’s also news I can use, but I’m not going to.    The BBC reports that the Guiness Book of World Records has certified Pepper X as the hottest chili pepper in the world. It has surpassed the Carolina Reaper …

What If 911 Doesn’t Speak Your Language?

by Kevin Burton    Today’s post is kind of a follow-up to yesterday’s story about the best countries for expatriates.    The BBC did that story, based on a survey of people who had left their home country and settled elsewhere. My wife read it and asked “What about health care?” The story didn’t mention …

Survey Names Mexico Best Location For Expats

by Kevin Burton    I’ve done it before; I could do it again if I had to. So file this under “just in case.”    The BBC recently published a list of ten best countries for expatriates – people who leave their home country to live abroad – based on a survey by Internations, the …

All The World Is Sick Of Bad News

by Kevin Burton    People worldwide are unplugging from the news, according to a Reuters Institute study.    We just don’t want to hear it.    I grew up with the Dayton Daily News on the doorstep every morning and the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite a regular part of the early evening.  Local …

A New Beatles Song? We’ll Take It!

by Kevin Burton    From a beloved uncle or a dear friend who has passed away, you find a previously unknown letter. How precious is that?    It’s a piece of that person that you never had, at a time when you thought there would be no more glimpses into their being. Would you not …

Blind Women Helping Detect Breast Cancer

   In a bare room in a remote government-run primary health center in Vapi, a city in the south-west Indian state of Gujarat, Meenakshi Gupta holds a diagram of a woman’s breast with five Braille-marked orientation tapes pasted on it. Speaking to the woman sitting on the bed, she says: “I’ll paste these skin-friendly tapes on your …

Russian Reporter Jailed For Telling The Truth

   Maria Ponomarenko has my respect, my admiration and full attention.     Last March the Russian Air Force bombed a Ukrainian theatre in the town of Mariupol, with 1,200 civilians inside. The Russian defense ministry denied the attack. Ponomarenko, a 44-year-old Russian journalist, told the truth about it in a social media post.  This is …