The Good News Network

“Hi there! I'm Geri, the founder and editor/publisher of the Good News Network. I began this effort in 1997 as a passion to serve humanity with doses of positive news. Now my goal is to make this a business. I want to be the first person to really prove that good news sells.”
One of my objectives in setting up this “Nice World News” Blog was to promote the good and nice things that are happening around the world and to try and balance out the seemingly endless bad news that mainstream news organisations continually throw at us.
One way I can do that is to inform you about other great good news resources that are out there to find.
One site that stands out is “The Good News Network” and can be found at www.goodnewsnetwork.org
It is owned and edited by Geri Weis-Corbley
Founder and Managing Editor, Geri Weis-Corbley is the world's first positive news expert. She has been featured on Washington Post Radio, BBC World Service, dozens of radio shows, and in numerous newspapers and magazines. She worked in TV news in D.C. for 10 years before leaving to raise a family in 1990. Geri's combination of artistry, quality news, and personal service has gained her thousands of fans and rave reviews from viewers around the world.
Well done Geri, you are providing a badly needed service that is lifting people beyond the negative news in the world, balancing it with the good.

Mother has 8 healthy babies in 5 minutes

This is a happy news story about a woman who had eight babies by caesarean section in the Bellflower medical centre, near Los Angeles, California.
The babies six boys and two girls weighed in between 1lb 8ozs and 3lb 4ozs and according to doctors are all healthy and doing well.
The mother who has asked for privacy while she recovers has not been identified.
She already has six children ranging from two to seven years old at home.
She is said to be very exited about the successful birth of these latest editions to her family and is hoping to breast feed them all.
I know as a parent how much hard work goes into raising children from babyhood to adult, but I also know how much goodness you get back from your children in different ways.
I would like to congratulate the medical team that worked hard to make this a happy result and wish the parents of these little miracles all the best for the future.
No doubt we will hear more about this special family as the children grow and reach milestones in their lives and I look forward to including their progress as nice news.

The DEC disaster appeal reaches £1,000,000 despite ban by BBC and SKY

The BBC and Sky have refused to air a television appeal for donations to help the people of Gaza because they claim this would harm their impartiality.
Despite the appeal by the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) not being broadcast by the BBC and SKY, donations to the charity have reached over £1,000,000 so far.
If you want to donate money to the charities trying to help the innocents then follow the link to www.dec.org.uk and donate what you can afford.
The following information was taken from their website.
The DEC consists of: Action Aid, British Red Cross, CAFOD, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Help the Aged, Islamic Relief, Merlin, Oxfam, Save the Children, Tearfund, World Vision.
It’s easy to donate. Please visit our website on www.dec.org.uk or call the DEC on 0370 60 60 900. We know people are facing financially difficult times but even a small donation makes a difference. Even a small donation to the appeal will help get food, water, shelter, emergency and medical supplies to people who desperately need it.
The DEC criteria to launch an appeal are:
The disaster must be on such a scale and of such urgency as to call for swift International humanitarian assistance. The DEC agencies, or some of them, must be in a position to provide effective and swift humanitarian assistance at a scale to justify a national Appeal. There must be sufficient public awareness of, and sympathy for, the humanitarian situation so as to give reasonable grounds for concluding that a public Appeal would be successful.
It is good to know that despite the petty mindset of these organisations, ordinary people have responded to the suffering of these people in a caring way, regardless off any politics.

Nice to hear good news from Afghanistan

We are constantly being told of the death and destruction in the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, so it is nice to hear a story of something positive and good coming from there.
An agreement has been signed between UNICEF and the Japanese that will see them give a £12,000,000 donation to build secure classrooms that will be used to educate up to 80,000 Afghan schoolchildren.
Both boys and girls will benefit from these classrooms which is significant as some Afghans believe it is not worthwhile educating girls.
It has taken us over 100 years to get rid of sexism, and we are still working at it.
Lets hope it does not take the Afghans that long.

The Pope takes to the tube

Pope Benedict XV1's speeches and other news from the Roman Catholic church are to be posted on Googles www.youtube.com in an attempt to keep in touch with the churches millions of young followers around the world.
Hopefully this will also reach people of other faiths, building up better communication and understanding between all religions in the world.
Better understanding through knowledge of others religious beliefs can only be a good thing as bigotry and religious fanaticism can only be spread through ignorance.
Many of today's and past wars have been through religious intolerance.
Why can't we have a United Religions set up, similar to the United Nations, so that the heads of all religions could get together and nip in the bud differences of religious culture that are at the root of most conflicts.
That really would be something to praise God for, whatever your faith.

Official recession in the UK, is it all bad?

We now have it officially, the UK is in a recession, I am not going to go into all the facts and figures that the government has issued that indicate an official recession, if you really want them you can find them on the BBC on-line news today at www.news.bbc.co.uk
What I would really like to see discussed is the question, is a recession bad for everyone?
I am sure it is not all doom and gloom that the popular media seems to promote, they seem to think that the bad side of things is the only side we want to hear, for the majority of people life just carries on as normal.
My daughter made an interesting observation yesterday when she received the latest letter from her mortgage provider telling her that the mortgage rate had dropped again, (third time in three months) and the amount she was paying had been reduced.
She said if this is what a recession is then they should have them more often!
She has not only got reduced mortgage payments but has also got some great bargains in the sales because of retail businesses selling off stock, so for her the so called recession has had nothing but financial benefits.
I know a lot of people won't share this point of view if they have lost their jobs, or their businesses are struggling and are looking at a change in lifestyle.
I can speak from experience as I lost my job several times in the last two recessions when I worked in engineering and had a young family to support, it can be very frightening not knowing what the future holds, and a normal human reaction is to fear change.
But anyone who finds themselves in this position has a choice, the same choice I had to make, you can feel angry, blame the employer, blame the government, blame yourself, but in the end some things you can not change, so you just have to accept it, stop looking to lay blame and look for solutions.
When I look back at the UK recession in the 1980's, I remember being made redundant just after my daughter was born, although we had to change our lifestyle to live more frugally, I really enjoyed the time at home.
I enjoyed quality time with my children, did lots of voluntary work in youth clubs, grew my own vegetables, and foraged for food from countryside to keep us going.
I enjoyed it to much and I had to really kick myself into gear to get back to work when engineering jobs came available again about eighteen months later.
So don't look at the recession as bad, even if bad things happen, use them as opportunities to do something better with your life.

Inauguration Day For President Barack Obama

The world news today is dominated by one story, the inauguration of the new American president, Barack Obama.
The achievement of this man in becoming president of the USA, with the support of his nice family, gives hope of better things to come, not just for the USA but for people everywere.
The fact that he is the first president of African decent has been a major boost to the moral and esteem of people of African decent in all countries throughout the world.
So before he has lifted a finger in his new job, he has already achieved more to make people happy than most politicians achieve in a lifetime.
Whatever else he does in the future, the pride he has given to many Americans today will live within them forever.
He now has the power to make good and great things happen, to right wrongs and build bridges that can lead us to a better world.
So I would sincerely like to wish him my best wishes.
Good luck Mr President

Most depressing day of the year today?

I have seen news reports that psychologists have dubbed today the most depressing day of the year, apparently they have come up with six reasons why they feel people should be at their most depressed today.
The bad weather:
The fact that people now realize the debts they have run up over Christmas:
The fact that Christmas has been over for a couple of weeks.
The assumption that most people will have failed in their new year resolutions:
The assumption that most people have low motivational levels today:
The assertion that people feel the need to take action:
In my opinion the psychologists that came up with this need the help of their colleagues to get over their pessimistic leanings.
The bad weather is part of the cycle of seasons and is needed to ensure nature has its rest, so that everything can bloom again in the spring and give us our summers to enjoy.
The fact that Christmas has been over for a couple of weeks means our next holiday is that much closer.
The assumption that most people have failed to keep their new year resolutions is just that an assumption, there will be many people who are succeeding in the plans and goals they have set.
The assumption that most people will have low motivational levels today is based on the the belief that most people have a pessimistic outlook, I believe there are many more people with a positive outlook who are well motivated.
The assertion that people feel the need to take action is only valid if you accept that all the other reasons to feel depressed are themselves correct which I hope this article will challenge.
We have the whole year ahead of us, it is up to us to make it good.

Heroes in Gaza

The other major story over the last couple of weeks has been the Israeli incursion into the Gaza strip.
But looking beyond the death, destruction and the blame game, there are some unsung heroes whose only aims and objectives was to preserve human life and ease suffering in the best way they could.
I am talking about the nurses and doctors treating the injured in unbelievable conditions, under fire,
understaffed and with few resources.
The ambulance drivers who made trip after trip to bring in the injured men women and children whilst under constant attack.
The aid workers who stayed at their posts and continued to move and issue essential supplies of water and food to the millions who needed them, despite the attacks on their trucks and compounds.
The ordinary families that have taken in, not just their extended families who have needed shelter and assistance, but other widows and orphaned children caught up in the conflict.
It is good that both sides have now declared a ceasefire in this conflict and I have no wish to judge either sides actions, only to highlight the committed work many are doing to alleviate the suffering.
Those are the heroes in Gaza.
Despite all the bad, they brought good.

A Pilots skill saves 155 lives

Flight 1549 a US Airways Airbus A320 was landed safely in New York's Hudson river after both of its engines failed.
The pilot Captain Chesley B.”Sully” Sullenberger 111 glided the plane faultlessly into the river despite having little control of the plane, saving the life of the 155 passengers and crew.
Wow, that was a brilliant landing and my admiration goes out to him, he deserves all the good publicity he is getting. And what a fantastic name he has.

How I intend to bring Nice World News into your life

I am a big fan of the news, but I have had enough of the constant focus on the bad side of the news. Disasters, crimes, wars are all bad for the people directly involved, but it doesn't tell the whole story.

I feel it is brainwashing me into a permanent state of unhappiness and I believe many other people must feel the same way.

So I have decided through this free blog to re-write some of the top world news stories emphasising some of the nice and positive aspects that I can see in them.

Bad things will continue to happen in this world, but they should not be our only source of news, I want to give the nice and good things people are doing in difficult circumstances more prominence, hopefully balancing the bad and good in my readers minds.

So what piece of headline bad news should I write in a nice positive way to start off?

Well, looking at the major news headlines over the last few days, the main story seems to contradict me, its all good.