Positive world news and perspectives. http://www.thepositiveobserver.com Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:42:32 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.thepositiveobserver.com/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://www.thepositiveobserver.com Positive world news and perspectives. http://www.thepositiveobserver.com/Athletics/NBC-Sports-and-Universal-Sports-to-Broadcast-2010-Paralympic-Winter-Games-Highlights.html Article Source: U.S. Association of Blind Athletes GE To Be Presenting Sponsor of NBC Sports and Universal Sports rsquo; Broadcast of the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. and NEW YORK ndash; NBC Sports and Universal Sports announced today the multiplatform broadcast coverage of the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games presented by GE. Coverage on NBC Sports will include a one-hour program recapping the Opening Ceremony on Saturday, March 13 (1-2 p.m. ET) and a two-hour highlights program on Saturday, April 10 (3-5 p.m. ET). In addition to the coverage on NBC Sports, Universal Sports will broadcast a nightly two-hour show for nine straight nights dedicated to the daily competition of the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games starting on Monday, March 15 at 6 p.m. ET (re-air at 11 p.m. ET) and continuing nightly through Tuesday, March 23. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:11:30 +0100 http://www.thepositiveobserver.com/Domestic-News/Recession-slang-10-new-terms-for-a-new-economy.html Article Source: CS Monitor The recession may be over, but the new slang it spawned just might be here to stay. Here are our Top 10 picks. The recession may be technically over but its effects on our life and language are far from it. In fact, some recession words have become so ubiquitous shy; ndash; staycation, for one (see below) shy; ndash; that they just might be here to, ahem, stay. Recession language isn rsquo;t a new phenomenon. Thanks to the Great Depression we have terms like: Okie, dirt poor, and baloney (to mean ridiculous, not the mystery sandwich meat). Even the term quot;depression quot; has been attributed to Herbert Hoover, who is thought to have wanted to avoid using the more common, but more alarming terms quot;panic quot; or quot;crisis quot; to describe what subsequently became known as the Great Depression. Learn more... Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:39:22 +0100 http://www.thepositiveobserver.com/Domestic-News/Promoting-Women-Is-Simply-Good-Business.html Article Source: InterPress Service UNITED NATIONS, Mar 9 (IPS/TerraViva) Companies with women in leadership positions are reporting a measurable boost to their bottom lines, but they are still a minority in the world rsquo;s business community. To rectify this imbalance, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the U.N. Global Compact (UNGC) have designed specific guidelines to encourage the business community to appoint more women as managers, executives and board members. Learn more... Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:13:31 +0100 http://www.thepositiveobserver.com/International-News/Promoting-Women-Is-Simply-Good-Business.html Article Source: InterPress Service UNITED NATIONS, Mar 9 (IPS/TerraViva) Companies with women in leadership positions are reporting a measurable boost to their bottom lines, but they are still a minority in the world rsquo;s business community. To rectify this imbalance, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the U.N. Global Compact (UNGC) have designed specific guidelines to encourage the business community to appoint more women as managers, executives and board members. Learn more... Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:13:31 +0100 http://www.thepositiveobserver.com/Domestic-News/-Job-openings-rise-the-most-since-March-2007.html Article Source: USA Today The economy generated jobs at a noticeably faster pace in January, the government said Tuesday in a further sign that the labor market may be turning the corner. The number of job openings in the USA rose by 193,000 to 2.7 million, the second-largest increase since March 2007, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. The job openings rate mdash; the portion of all jobs that were open mdash; was 2.1%, up from 2% in December and the highest since February 2009. Learn more... Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:23:47 +0100 http://www.thepositiveobserver.com/Athletics/-Fit-Finds-36th-Colorado-Sportswoman-of-the-Year.html Article Source: The Denver Post Jenny Barringer, Olympic runner and University of Colorado National Champion, was honored Sunday night at the Sportswomen of Colorado annual awards banquet. Barringer became a Hall of Famer in 2009 after being honored by the group for the third time. Learn more... Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:55:06 +0100 http://www.thepositiveobserver.com/Athletics/She-keeps-on-running-pedaling-swimming.html Article Source: The Denver Post Triathlete Eileen Croissant inspires her peers as she pushes herself So this is what being 70 looks like today. Lean. Energetic. Instead of disciplined waves, a rakish tomboy haircut. And a rigorous workout schedule that includes regularly running 3 to 8 miles at a time, swimming 2,000 to 2,400 yards, and a hard half-hour on the stationary bike (for now, in winter). quot;I really don't think that what I do is all that unusual, quot; says Eileen Croissant, a composed 70-year-old who is becoming a fixture on the local triathlon circuit. Learn more... Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:44:24 +0100 http://www.thepositiveobserver.com/International-News/Never-dismiss-power-of-Afghan-women.html Article Source: CNN (CNN) -- Afghan women won the world's attention nine years ago following the routing of Taliban troops at the hands of U.S. and Afghan forces. Back then, a rush of dignitaries flew to Kabul to denounce the Taliban's brutal treatment of women, although the world had largely forgotten these same women during the previous seven years. No school, no work, no leaving the house without a man -- even a boy would do. These are the laws Afghan women learned to live with, because they had to. Yet they also found a way to work around those rules. Learn more... Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:41:55 +0100 http://www.thepositiveobserver.com/Domestic-News/Consumer-borrowing-up-after-11-month-decline.html Article Source: MSNBC - AP Small gain could be a signal that Americans are regaining confidence WASHINGTON - Consumer borrowing broke a record stretch of declines with a small increase in January as a boost in auto loans offset continued weakness in credit card borrowing. The small gain, the first in nearly a year, could be a signal that Americans are regaining confidence in the economy. Learn more... Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:14:03 +0100 http://www.thepositiveobserver.com/Domestic-News/Meet-The-Millennials.html Article Source: MediaPost.com The Pew Research Center's most ambitious examination to date of America's newest generation, the 50 million Millennials, is prefaced with the admission that most readers don't need a team of researchers to tell them that the typical 20 year-old, 45 year-old, and 70 year-old are likely to be different from one another. People already know that. At the same time, the authors recognize the difficulty in completely disentangling the multiple reasons that generations differ. At any given moment in time, age group differences can be the result of three overlapping processes, says the report. Learn more... Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:30:15 +0100 http://www.thepositiveobserver.com/Domestic-News/-Good-job-news-Wages-are-rising.-Really.html Article Source: CNN NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The end of more than two years of job losses can't come soon enough for most Americans. But with all the attention given to the number of jobs on U.S. payrolls and the unemployment rate, it's easy to miss one important sign of improvement in the job market: paychecks have started to get bigger. Despite the millions of people who have lost jobs during the past year, there are signs that personal income is increasing. Even a small gain in income is significant. If consumers have more money in their pocket, that can help to boost consumer spending and create the demand that will prompt a resumption of hiring. Learn more... Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:00:29 +0100 http://www.thepositiveobserver.com/Domestic-News/Adoption-initiative-halves-numbers-of-kids-needing-families.html Article Source: The Denver Post Colorado: The number of Colorado children in foster care awaiting permanent adoption has been cut in half by a partnership between churches and government that places parentless kids in quot;forever homes. quot; When the Colorado Springs-based ministry Focus on the Family began spearheading the quot;Wait No More quot; adoption initiative in November 2008, the state had 8,000 children in foster care. That number included almost 800 children who were eligible for adoption because their parents had lost parental rights after the state found serious and repetitive neglect and abuse in their families. Learn more... Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:55:51 +0100 http://www.thepositiveobserver.com/International-News/Experts-see-fatwa-as-significant-blow-to-terrorist-recruiting.html Article Source: CNN Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A fatwa, or religious ruling, issued this week is roiling theological waters after it took aim at those notorious for targeting others: terrorists. The anti-terrorism fatwa by renowned Muslim scholar Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri pulled no punches, declaring that terrorism was quot;haraam, quot; or forbidden by the Quran, and that suicide bombers would be rewarded not by 72 virgins in heaven, as many terrorist recruiters promise, but with a suite in hell. Learn more... Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:30:33 +0100 http://www.thepositiveobserver.com/Athletics/-Anthem-Life-To-Sponsor-USABA-Ski-Festival-For-the-Blind.html Article Source: U.S. Association of Blind Athletes Blind and visually impaired skiers take to the slopes in Breckenridge, March 13-14 Colorado Springs, CO (March 3, 2010) ndash; Sponsored by Anthem Life, The United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) is pleased to announce a Learn to Ski/Learn to Race Alpine Ski Festival to be held in Breckenridge, CO. Friday, March 12 through Sunday, March 14. Eighteen athletes who are blind or visually impaired of all ages and abilities will be given the opportunity to learn to ski and learn to race using the trained guides by Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center. ldquo;With the generous support from Anthem Life, The United States Association of Blind Athletes is pleased to partner with the Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center to provide a meaningful opportunity for skiers who are blind and visually impaired including military service members and veterans with eye injuries, rdquo; said Mark Lucas, USABA rsquo;s Executive Director. Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:13:45 +0100 http://www.thepositiveobserver.com/Domestic-News/The-Eyes-of-Me-on-the-series-Independent-Lens.html Article Source: U.S Association of Blind Athletes Tonight, March 2 at 9PM CST PBS premiers of the documentary The Eyes of Me on the series Independent Lens. More than 9,000 students across the United States attend residential schools for the visually impaired. Over the course of one school year, THE EYES OF ME captures the stories of four extraordinary teenagers at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, a public residential high school in Austin that has educated visually impaired students for more than 150 years. An extraordinary look into the world of blind teenagers mdash; where crossing an intersection, cooking a meal, or navigating unfamiliar areas is a challenge unlike any that sighted viewers must consider mdash; THE EYES OF ME offers fresh perspectives on growing up, fitting in, and preparing for adulthood. Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:01:36 +0100