Jolie Sees Benefit in US Surge in Iraq

It's not often that you see positive articles from celebrities about Iraq, but this article from Yahoo.com is just that.

According to the article, In an op-ed piece published by the Washington Post, titled "A Reason to Stay in Iraq," Jolie details the plight of refugees and says their conditions have not improved since she visited the country last August to urge governments to provide more support.

Later in the article, "When I asked the troops if they wanted to go home as soon as possible, they said that they miss home but feel invested in Iraq," she wrote. "They have lost many friends and want to be a part of the humanitarian progress they now feel is possible."

To read the full article, please go to this page on Yahoo.com.

Make a great day!

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Denzel Washington - A True AMERICAN Actor

I received an email today regarding Denzel Washington. As with all emails, I first checked it's validity on Snopes.com, and it appears this story is mostly true. Here is the email in it's entirety, and below it are some clarifications about the some statements in the email:

Don't know whether you heard about this but Denzel Washington and his family visited the troups at Brook Army Medical Center, in San Antonio,Texas (BAMC) the other day. This is where soldiers that have been evacuated from Germany come to be hospitalized in the States, especially burn victims. They have buildings there called Fisher Houses. The Fisher House is a hotel where soldiers' families can stay, for little or no charge, while their soldier is staying in the hospital. BAMC has quite a few of these houses on base but as you can imagine, they are almost completely filled most of the time.

While Denzel Washington was visiting BAMC, they gave him a tour of one of the Fisher Houses. He asked how much one of them would cost to build. He took his check book out and wrote a check for the full amount right there on the spot. The soldiers overseas were amazed to hear this story and want to get the word out to the American public, because it warmed their hearts to hear it.

The question I have is why does Alec Baldwin, Madonna, Sean Penn and other Hollywood types make front page news with their anti-everything America crap and this doesn't even make page 3 in the Metro section of any newspaper except the base newspaper in San Antonio.

As I mentioned earlier, the basics of this email are true. Denzel did make a substantial contribution, but he didn't take out his checkbook and write a check on the spot. He actually made a contribution a few months later. But, for the most part, the story is accurate. His visit was back in 2004.

It is funny to me how news like this doesn't get picked up by the mainstream media, but at least there are sites like this one that are trying to spread the good news.

Good luck and make it a great day!

P.S. If you'd like to help out the soldiers at Fort Sam Houston, you can make a contribution on their website at www.fortsamhoustonmwr.com.

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Country Music Superstar Rodney Atkins To Perform A Very Special Concert

Rodney Atkins is one of the reasons why I have become a huge country music fan over the last few years. Yes, I like his music, but more than that, he's a good guy who's trying to make a difference in the world. Case in point is this story from GACTV.com.

Rodney is going to be performing a very special concert to benefit the Make-A-Wish foundation in honor of a little girl named Maddie. Maddie recently lost her battle with bone cancer at age 7. But, before she died, Rodney got to spend some time with her. How he came to do that is pretty special. Rodney read an article in the Detroit Free Press about Maddie, and in the article, Maddie mentioned that Rodney's song, If You're Going Through Hell, was her favorite song. Rodney was so moved that he booked a flight the next day to Detroit to see the little girl. He spent over five hours with her. Here's an excerpt from the article:

Rodney visited Maddie at the hospital and sat on her bed and colored with her. They watched television, and when she got tired, he sang to her, strumming his guitar.

"I'm thankful I got to meet her," he said. "She had such a spark in her eye. She was hurting really bad. It was shocking, sitting with Maddie. She was asking for the drugs by name. A 7-year-old should not know what morphine is. It was horrific."

Rodney visited on one condition: He didn't want any media attention. He wanted all of his energy to be devoted to Maddie.

"He spent, like, five hours with her," Paul said. "He told me his plan was to come and stay with her until she was absolutely out of energy. He was staying until she tuckered out. I was really impressed with the man. He had a big heart."

When Maddie went home to die, an autographed picture of Rodney was stuck to the wall, above her pillow.

"Maddie blessed me," Rodney said. "I can't imagine what Paul is dealing with. This [concert] is his way of keeping Maddie alive, trying to make something good out of something horrible. This little girl, Maddie, is living forever."

The world needs more musicians, celebrities and normal people like Rodney. If we were all more concerned with others than ourselves, the world would be a much better place to live, don't you think?

If you haven't heard Rodney's song, If You're Going Through Hell, here's the music video. Make it a great day!



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Daily Positive News Briefs - Thursday, November 22, 2007

Gimundo.com - A Piggy Thanksgiving, and Other Fun Facts About Turkey Day - Excerpt from this article: "The real first Thanksgiving actually took place in Berkeley Plantation, Virginia, back in 1619. And the Virginia settlers didn't feast on a turkey dinner, either: According to historical records, their meal consisted of ham or bacon, and maybe a few oysters."

HappyNews.com - Celebs Serve Holiday Meals to Homeless - Excerpt from this article: "Kirk Douglas, Harrison Ford and other celebrities shared the Thanksgiving spirit Wednesday by serving hot meals to homeless people on Skid Row."

HappyNews.com - Tired on Thanksgiving? Don't Blame Turkey - Excerpt from this article: "While there is an amino acid in turkey that induces sleepiness, experts say it's much more likely the reason you're tired after having Thanksgiving dinner is a combination of simple factors: you ate and drank too much and didn't sleep enough."

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Winfrey Showers Macon, Georgia Audience With Gifts

From HappyNews.com - Oprah Winfrey, kicking off a series of shows highlighting towns across the United States, concluded a taping in Macon on Saturday by doling out gifts large and small to audience members.

Under the theme "Oprah's favorite things," she showered the crowd with presents ranging from refrigerators to camcorders to wrapping paper. The show will air Tuesday.

Winfrey also toured downtown Macon and stopped by Nu-Way, a well-known hot dog restaurant, Friday afternoon.

Afterward, she proclaimed the hot dogs her favorite thing about the visit.

Macon spent as much as $20,000 to ready City Auditorium for Winfrey's visit. Her company, Harpo Productions, has offered to reimburse the city for some of the improvements to the historic building. For more stories like this one, visit HappyNews.com.

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Kindness Is Coming - Melissa Peterman (Barbara Jean from Reba)

Melissa Peterman (Barbara Jean from the sitcom Reba) and Gimundo.com teamed up together and produced two inspiring videos of Melissa performing random acts of kindness to unsuspecting people. Enjoy!




Funny Video of the Day - Today's Best Country Music Videos

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Rodney Atkins - If You're Going Through Hell

Some of my friends have asked me before why I like country music. The truth is I like all types of music, but I'm not a big fan of a lot of the pop and rap songs being released these days.

One of the reasons why I like it is because of the positive message that many country songs convey. Country music is the only genre of music that allows it's artists to sing about God and positive things and still remain popular. It's a sad statement, but how many rock or pop artists do you know of that can sing about Christian or Religious themes and still remain at the top. The list is very small.

But, country music is different. For the most part, it's music that inspires rather than tears down. And in this day and age, that's what I like to hear. Each week, I'll feature a new positive song from a country music artist. This week's song is If You're Going Through Hell by Rodney Atkins.

Enjoy and make it a great day!



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