Latest News and Politics from the U.S. - Huffington Post [June 2011 Bulletin]

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A couple weeks ago, I attended a fundraising event for a charity called Right To Play.  I immediately fell in love with the organization after hearing about how their programs impacted children around the world.  At the event, I was asked to share a story about my involvement with the organization.  The story reminded me of how much I've grown through the same fears that hold many people back.As an athlete ambassador for the charity, I was invited to visit one of their projects in Sierra Leone a few years ago.  Hearing about the disease and turmoil that has overwhelmed this disadvantaged country, many people asked me why I wasn't too scared to travel there.More...

Source: Leading a Fulfilled Life

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"The only 'failed meditation' is one we leave behind on the cushion when we go about our day."-- StefnobleMore...

Source: The Only Way Out Is Within

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In what will likely become fodder for conspiracy theorists, Australia's military has mysteriously lost its "X-Files," a host of records which detail sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs), the Sydney Morning Herald is reporting.The nation's Department of Defense made the revelation after a two-month search in response to a newspaper's Freedom of Information (FOI) request proved fruitless, and officials were unable to locate the files. "The files could not be located and Headquarters Air Command formally advised that this file is deemed lost," the department's FOI assistant director, Natalie Carpenter, is quoted as saying.More...

Source: Australia UFO Sighting Files Mysteriously Disappear

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As Texas lawmakers prepare to cut billions in education funding and give school districts a heavier hand in determining teacher pay, the state's educators are fighting back.After the state Senate passed a bill on Monday that empowers districts to cut teacher salaries and institute more furlough days -- which is now in the hands of the state House -- 200 teachers protested on the capitol in Austin. Now, according to Texas American Federation of Teachers President Linda Bridges, they're mobilizing over the phone.More...

Source: Texas Teachers Protest Massive Cuts

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Lucky hasn't been trained, coerced, or even bribed -- she's simply got happy feet.Lucky, who's a rescue at the Phnom Tamao Rescue Center in Cambodia, is a particularly expressive creature. Orphaned at 8 months old, she would likely have been killed had she not been rescued.More...

Source: Lucky The Dancing Elephant: Orphaned Animal Dances Without Training Or Coercion (VIDEO)

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 Every Wednesday is Tip Day.

This Wednesday: 7 tips for minding my own business.More...

Source: Balanced Life -- 7 Tips for Minding My Own Business.

[THP]

Gunnar Madsen, Joy Gregory, and John Langs' new musical, The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World, takes its name both from the real life New Hampshire girl band formed by the Wiggin sisters in the late '60s at the insistence of their father, Austin, and the title of the only album they ever recorded. Snippets of the original album are heard throughout the show and are jarring not only for their sheer lack of musical ability (they never play or sing in tune and the tempo conveys just how uncomfortable they are) but for the pain and extreme unease that is instantly felt by us, the listeners.Thankfully, Madsen decided to craft his music mainly around moments inside the girls' thoughts and dreams so we can glimpse at the beauty they were never able to articulate. One of the highlights comes when Helen (Emily Walton), normally mute, expresses her love for Kyle (Cory Michael Smith), singing, "Impossible You." Musicals were always meant to express larger-than-life moments through songs, but by reserving songs particularly for the characters inner thoughts, Madsen, Gregory, and Langs preserve a down-to-earth realism that's often lost when characters begin to sing.More...

Source: On the Culture Front: When America Doesn't Have Talent: The Story of the Shaggs