The Person Who Saved Many Jews during the Holocaust

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Joshua

The Person Who Saved Many Jews during the Holocaust

German businessman Oskar Schindler became an unlikely hero when he saved hundreds of Jews in Poland and Czechoslovakia from death at the hands of the Nazis during World War II (1939–45). By employing them in his factory, Schindler protected them from the wrath of the Nazi Party and preserved generations of Jewish families.

Oskar Schindler was born in 1908 in the industrial city of Zwittau, Moravia, then a German province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and now part of the Czech Republic. The region where Oskar grew up and attended a German-language school was also known as the Sudetenland. Oskar’s father, Hans Schindler, was a factory owner and his mother, Louisa Schindler, was a homemaker.

In June of 1942, the Nazis began relocating Krakow’s Jews to labor camps. Some of Schindler’s workers, including his office manager, were among the first group of people ordered to report to the train station. Schindler raced to the station and argued with an SS officer about how essential his workers were to the war effort. By dropping the names of some of his Nazi friends and making a couple of threats, he was finally able to rescue the workers and escort them safely back to his factory.

Shortly after Schindler’s fifty-fourth birthday in 1962, he was officially declared a “Righteous Gentile (non-Jew)” and invited to plant a tree on the Avenue of the Righteous leading up to Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Museum, a memorial to the Holocaust, the name for the German liquidation of Jews during World War II.

Upon his death from heart and liver problems in 1974, he was granted his request to be buried in Israel. About five hundred Schindlerjuden attended his funeral and watched as his body was laid to rest in the Catholic cemetery on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Thanks to Oskar Schindler, more than six thousand Holocaust survivors and their descendants were alive in the 1990s to tell the remarkable story of “Schindler’s List.”

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Susan L. Taylor’s A Better Way of Living: Creating Balance, Meaning & Joy

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Joshua

Susan L. Taylor’s A Better Way of Living: Creating Balance, Meaning & Joy

“Ultimately, the only question that matters,” says Susan Taylor, ‘am I happy?’” This simple question helps to make the “how” of happiness and bringing balance to life simple and clear. Offering encouragement, valuable insights, and effective tools, Taylor leads attendees on a wonderful journey toward removing the walls of doubt and fear that keep many from living their best life possible.

In this inspiring keynote speech, Taylor addresses the central issues – our beliefs, behaviors, relationships and career challenges – that are critically important to maintaining equilibrium in today’s fast-paced, hectic world. This keynote speech demonstrates how choosing to put our personal values, needs and goals at the center of our lives creates an immediate shift toward greater health, happiness and productivity.

In the engaging style and heartfelt personal approach that have made Taylor one of America’s leading speakers, A Better Way of Living offers audiences the most precious gift in the world: a real and genuine way to believe in their own value and worth.

As the soul of Essence magazine for over three decades, Taylor was the driving force behind one of the most celebrated African American owned business success stories. A fourth generation entrepreneur, she flourished in her leadership role, building the brand and guiding it through a period of phenomenal growth to a readership of over 8 million.

During this time she penned the popular “In the Spirit” column and wrote the best-selling books, In the Spirit: The Inspirational Writings of Susan L. Taylor, and Lessons in Living and Confirmation: The Spiritual Wisdom That Has Shaped Our Lives.

Now, as the Founder of National Cares Mentoring Movement, she shares her inspirational passion for empowering African Americans in a call to action to recruit mentors for at-risk youth. She continues to inspire hope and encourage us to reclaim our lives and create sustainable communities.

Genuine, energetic, and spiritual, Taylor’s passion is to help people realize their strengths and take charge of their lives. She brings her gift of inspiration to every audience – sharing with them her prescription for adopting the best practices, both personally and professionally, that will help them find fulfillment and success in life.

Stephen William Hawking: Disabled, Succeeded and Awarded

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Joshua

Stephen William Hawking: Disabled, Succeeded and Awarded

Professor Stephen William Hawking was born on 8 January 1942 in Oxford, England, which is exactly 300 years after the death of Galileo. From a very early age Hawking showed the qualities of a scientist, he was always inquisitive. He liked to build models to see how things worked.

Hawking went to the High School for Girls (yes, the school was supposed to be for girls) at St. Albans at the age of 8. Later, he switched to St. Albans School by passing the eleven-plus examination. Hawking was a keen child, but he was not the brightest in his competitive A stream class. Some of his classmates did not believe he could do well, though they gave him the nickname of Einstein.

Hawking’s father who was a doctor, wanted him to study medicine at Oxford. However, he was more interested in Mathematics. It turned out that he studied Physics, as the University College did not provide degree studies in Mathematics. Hawking was awarded a first class honors degree in Natural Science after 3 years of studies, without doing much work, as he described in his auto-biography.

At the age of 20, Hawking went on to do research in Cosmology at Cambridge. This was also about the time when he was diagnosed with the incurable disease ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). He slowly lost control of his muscles and was told would die within a few years. At first, Hawking was shocked and upset. He could not find a reason for living before he met his wife Jane Wilde. Later the progress of his illness slowed down, and he finished his Ph.D.

He was known for his books and public appearances that made him an academic celebrity and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. His contributions made him a lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and in 2009 he was awarded with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.

John Locke and his Philosophies on Governing Human with The Natural Law

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Joshua

John Locke and his Philosophies on Governing Human with The Natural Law

John Locke was born on August 29, 1632, in Warington, a village in Somerset, England. In 1646 he went to Westminster school and in 1652 to Christ Church in Oxford. In 1659 he was elected to a senior studentship, and tutored at the college for a number of years. Still, contrary to the curriculum, he complained that he would rather be studying Descartes than Aristotle.

In 1666 he declined an offer of preferment, although he thought at one time of taking up clerical work. In 1668 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, and in 1674 he finally graduated as a bachelor of medicine. In 1675 he was appointed to a medical studentship at the college. He owned a home in Oxford until 1684, until his studentship was taken from him by royal mandate.

Locke’s mentor was Robert Boyle, the leader of the Oxford scientific group. Boyle’s mechanical philosophy saw the world as reducible to matter in motion. Locke learned about atomism and took the terms “primary and secondary qualities” from Boyle. Both Boyle and Locke, along with Newton, were members of the English Royal Society.

Locke became friends with Newton in 1688 after he had studied Newton’s Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis. It was Locke’s work with the Oxford scientists that gave him a critical perspective when reading Descartes. Locke admired Descartes as an alternative to the Aristotelianism dominant at Oxford. Descartes’ “way of ideas” was a major influence on Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.

In his own time, he was famous for arguing that the divine right of kings is supported neither by scripture nor by the use of reason. In developing his theory of our duty to obey the state, he attacked the idea that might makes right: Starting from an initial state of nature with no government, police or private property, we humans could discover by careful reasoning that there are natural laws which suggest that we have natural rights to our own persons and to our own labor.

Eventually we could discover that we should create a social contract with others, and out of this contract emerges our political obligations and the institution of private property. This is how reasoning places limits on the proper use of power by government authorities.

His Unending Devotion to Dalai Lama

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Joshua

His Unending Devotion to Dalai Lama

Named one of Time magazine’s 25 Most Influential Americans, Robert Thurman is an internationally recognized scholar, translator and author, and the first Westerner to be ordained by the Dalai Lama as a Tibetan Buddhist monk. In describing Thurman, Time magazine calls him “the Billy Graham of American Buddhism.” Or perhaps the St. Paul, a later-day, larger-than-life scholar-activist destined to convey the dharma, the precious teachings of Siddhartha, from Asia to America.”

Born in 1941, Thurman grew up in New York City participating in dramatic readings in his home alongside house guests like Laurence Olivier. A rebel from a young age, he left Phillips Exeter Academy his senior year to enlist with the then poetic idealist Fidel Castro. He was turned back at the border. Thurman entered Harvard University in 1959.

His Philosophical studies include:

Inspiring and full-bodied treatments of enlightenment and its fruits, including compassion and peace.
Spiritual interpretations of the meaning of freedom and the quest for happiness.
Practical advice on applying the wisdom of Buddhism to the challenges of contemporary living.

One year later, Thurman’s left eye was destroyed in a freak accident with a tire iron — which became a turning point in his life. He dropped out of Harvard, left his wife and young child, and went on a “vision quest.”

Traveling as a pilgrim through Europe and the Middle East, he eventually reached India, where he was hired to teach English to exiled Tibetans. He remained there until he was called back to the United States to attend his father’s funeral.

Not far from home, in Freewood Acres, New Jersey, he met his root lama, a Mongolian monk, Geshe Ngawang Wangyal. Thurman began studying with the Geshe, who not only taught him the Tibetan language, but also took him to India to meet the Dalai Lama. In 1965, Thurman was formally ordained by the Dalai Lama.

Christopher Reeve—the real struggles of Superman behind the scenes

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Joshua

Christopher Reeve—the real struggles of Superman behind the scenes

Christopher Reeve was born September 25, 1952 in New York City. He had various stage and television roles before becoming the star of Superman and its sequels. In 1995 he became paralyzed from the neck down following a horse-riding accident. He founded the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation in 1998 to promote research on spinal cord injuries. He died of cardiac arrest in 2004.

Film and stage actor, director, born on September 25, 1952 in New York City, USA, he studied at Cornell University and the Juilliard School in New York, and had various stage and television roles before becoming universally known as the star of Superman and its sequels (1978, 1980, 1983, 1987). Later films include Noises Off (1992) and Morning Glory (1994).

In May 1995 Reeve became paralyzed from the neck downwards and wheel-chair bound following a horse-riding accident. He also required a respirator to assist his breathing for the rest of his life. He became very involved in campaigns supporting handicapped children and paraplegics, and founded the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation in 1998 to promote research into spinal cord injuries, testifying before a Senate subcommittee in favor of federal funding for stem cell research.

Reeve continued to work after ongoing rehabilitation. He acted again in films, including a television production of Rear Window (1998) and directed two television films with health themes, In the Gloaming (1997) and The Brooke Ellison Story (2004). His autobiography Still Me appeared in 1998.

For most of his career, Christopher Reeve was known throughout the world as the movie version of Superman. However, after an equestrian accident in where he was left confined to a wheelchair, he became a household name once again as a crusader for research to cure spinal injuries. Like Fox, he became an advocate of stem cell research in hopes of finding a cure.

However, long before his accident Reeve had been an advocate for causes such as the Make a Wish Foundation and the Special Olympics. That advocacy continued with the creation of his namesake Foundation as well as the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center. Reeve truly proved that no matter what he was a Superman.

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Christopher Burke’s X-Factor: Standing Up with Down Syndrome

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Joshua

Christopher Burke’s X-Factor: Standing Up with Down Syndrome

Celebrities with Down Syndrome, like Chris Burke, offer excellent role models, embodying success and good self-esteem. He wrote the foreword of the book entitled, “Down Syndrome: Living and Learning in the community,” edited by Lynn Nedal and Donna Rosenthal in 1995, Chris writes, “I live an exciting and happy life, that is because I am living my dreams. I love entertaining people and being an actor, I like to help my fellow handi-capables. Many people recognize me from my role as Corky Thatcher on Life Goes On, an ABC-TV series for many years. Corky has Down Syndrome and so do I.”

“Only call it, ‘Up Syndrome’, because having Down Syndrome has never made me fall down. I am always up. One reason is uplifting because of the tremendous support I have received from my family and all the people in my life. My teachers, friends, and people I have worked with, are very important to me, just like I am important to them.”

“Being part of a community is important for all people whether they have DS or not. Everybody likes to be included. That is why I think it is great that people now understand what life is about. It is about ABILITY not disability. We all have goals and ideas. We have jobs. We have a place in the larger community, but most of all we have dreams, and we live them every day.” Corky, the character on the long-running TV-series, was able to communicate well and achieve many things.

Chris Burke’s mother, Mrs. Marian, mentioned, “In 1965, when my son was born, there was very little outside assistance available for our family. It was difficult to make the non-challenged world aware of a person like my son, who needs to be recognized and understood the same as anyone else and for him to be comfortable in the presence of all the facets of society.

Integration and inclusion had to be, and were accomplished in the social aspect of his life and in the community-based programs we sought out. We have to make life as normal as possible for our children. What gives us pleasure is to know that what we started as a simple family project has been enhanced by the role that Chris Burke has played in Life Goes On.

To see ordinary people in an airport pay homage to Chris is exhilarating, not because of the celebrity aspect, but because it shows he has proven his worth and worth of all his peers, and he has opened minds, hearts, and doors to acceptability for our children with Down Syndrome. I truly believe we must accept our children as they are presented to us, then work hard in all facets of their education – at home, in the community, and at school – so that they can be independent.” After graduating in 1981, Chris Burke, the Boy Scout, musician and actor became the Goodwill Ambassador of the American Down Syndrome Society (NDSS).

A Triumphant Hero in a Wheelchair

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Joshua

A Triumphant Hero in a Wheelchair

Apolinario Mabini was a Filipino political philosopher who served as the Philippine’s first prime minister in 1899. Despite of being physically handicapped, Mabini was considered as one of the main figures of the Philippine revolution. He was dubbed as the “brains of the revolution” and the “sublime paralytic.”

Mabini was born on July 22, 1864 to a poor family in Talaga, Tanaun, Batangas. Early in his childhood, Mabini already displayed extraordinary knowledge and a creative mind. His grandfather, who was a village teacher, was his first instructor. Later, due to his aspirations of achieving higher learning, Mabini attended a regular school and worked his way towards his tuition and board and lodging expenses.

In 1881, Mabini was given a scholarship by the Colegio de San Juan de Letran where he finished his Bachelor of Arts. Shortly, in 1894, he finished his law degree in the University of Santo Tomas, one of the most prestigious educational institutions in the Philippines.

During the onset of the Philippine revolution, Mabini was critical to the Katipunan forces of Andres Bonifacio and the resistance put up by Emilio Aguinaldo. However, Jose Rizal’s execution in 1896 proved to be the last straw for Mabini. Aguinaldo, the future Philippine president, sent hundreds of his men to ask Mabini for his help. Mabini responded positively and gave his full support to the Kawit, Cavite-centered revolution.

Mabini served as the chief legal and political adviser of Aguinaldo during the revolution. He drafted war memorandums and other decrees. In 1899, Mabini wrote the constitution of the Biak-na-Bato revolutionary government – the first constitution in Asia.

President Aguinaldo appointed Mabini as prime minister and foreign affairs secretary of the newly-established revolutionary government in Malolos, Bulacan. The Filipinos won the revolution and both Mabini and Aguinaldo sworn into office as the president and prime minister of not just the revolutionary government but of the first Philippine Republic.

However, the United States, who at that time helped the Filipino cause, was planning on instituting a Commonwealth government in the Philippines. Hence, a Filipino-American war ensued. Mabini was captured and put into exile in Guam.

In 1903, Mabini returned to the country after swearing his allegiance to the United States but upon his return, Mabini immediately started political movements and social uprisings that ultimately push for Philippine independence.

A Story of Unshakable Confidence in God’s Love

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Joshua

A Story of Unshakable Confidence in God’s Love

“What matters in life are not great deeds, but great love.”

Therese Martin was the last of nine children born to Louis and Zelie Martin on January 2, 1873, in Alencon, France. However, only five of these children lived to reach adulthood. Precocious and sensitive, Therese needed much attention. Her mother died when she was 4 years old. As a result, her father and sisters babied young Therese. She had a spirit that wanted everything.

Therese had a conversion that transformed her life. From then on, her powerful energy and sensitive spirit were turned toward love, instead of keeping herself happy. At 15, she entered the Carmelite convent in Lisieux to give her whole life to God. She took the religious name Sister Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face.

Living a hidden, simple life of prayer, she was gifted with great intimacy with God. Through sickness and dark nights of doubt and fear, she remained faithful to God, rooted in His merciful love. After a long struggle with tuberculosis, she died on September 30, 1897, at the age of 24. Her last words were the story of her life: “My God, I love You!”

The world came to know Therese through her autobiography, “Story of a Soul”. She described her life as a “little way of spiritual childhood.” She lived each day with an unshakable confidence in God’s love. Therese lived and taught a spirituality of attending to everyone and everything well and with love. She believed that just as a child becomes enamored with what is before her, we should also have a childlike focus and totally attentive love. Therese’s spirituality is of doing the ordinary, with extraordinary love.

“My mission – to make God loved – will begin after my death,” she said. “I will spend my heaven doing good on earth. I will let fall a shower of roses.” Roses have been described and experienced as Saint Therese’s signature. Countless millions have been touched by her intercession and imitate her “little way.”

She has been acclaimed “the greatest saint of modern times.” In 1997, Pope John Paul II declared St. Therese a Doctor of the Church – the only Doctor of his pontificate – in tribute to the powerful way her spirituality has influenced people all over the world.

A Projection of Her Beauty and Brain over Asperger Syndrome

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Joshua

A Projection of Her Beauty and Brain over Asperger Syndrome

Heather Kuzmich is an art student and American fashion model. Heather is best known for being a contestant of America’s Next Top Model, where she was the fourth runner-up of the show. During the show, it was revealed that Kuzmich has Asperger syndrome and ADHD Kuzmich was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome when she was fifteen years old Heather signed to the women’s division of Elite Model Management in Chicago and Hong Kong She has also appeared on the cover and inside of Spectrum Magazine, a magazine for families and individuals who have autism.

She was one of the lucky applicants of America’s Next Top Model who sent in an application and received a call back. She was initially encouraged by her friends and family to join the reality show. She really wanted to get into modeling, but was not sure if the reality show was the right way to enter the industry. She was later convinced when a friend made her watch Cycle 7, in which CariDee English was named America’s Next Top Model.

Heather finally gave it a shot and sent in her application. She was surprised to receive a callback, and was happy to have her private audition, unlike all the other young women who had tried out more than once and just had to keep coming back for another chance.

Despite having Asperger syndrome, the then 20-year-old Heather bravely faced the reality competition and earned herself a spot in the final 13. She initially was noticed for having Asperger syndrome, but eventually the other girls learned to accept her as she was. In fact, they even helped her glam up in the episode entitled “The Girls Go Rock Climbing,” and was eventually named the CoverGirl of the Week. She successfully retained the title for the rest of the cycle. In the episode entitled “The Girl Who Gets A Mango,” Ambreal, Jenah and Heather teamed up to put together their public service announcements and ended up winning the challenge.

Heather also won an extra prize, and was given a chance to participate in a photo shoot for Carol’s Daughter, directed by musical artist Mary J. Blige. In “The Girls Who Crawl,” the girls were tasked to shoot a music video with Enrique Iglesias. He later tells them that whoever wins the challenge will be featured more in the video. Heather and Lisa were then announced as winners, but the excitement stopped when Heather fainted due to over exhaustion.

When things got better, Heather realized how much the girls cared for her, and genuinely touched by their concern. Heather then encountered a rather dry week, but bounced back in “The Girls Go to Shanghai,” where she was rewarded with a shopping spree. However, this did not stop her from earning a spot in the bottom two. She encountered more trouble in the next episode, as she was not able to complete all her go-sees. She again landed in the bottom two after being criticized for not being able to handle the pressure. She was finally eliminated in this episode.

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The Person Who Saved Many Jews during the Holocaust

Susan L. Taylor’s A Better Way of Living: Creating Balance, Meaning & Joy

Stephen William Hawking: Disabled, Succeeded and Awarded

John Locke and his Philosophies on Governing Human with The Natural Law

His Unending Devotion to Dalai Lama

Christopher Reeve—the real struggles of Superman behind the scenes

Christopher Burke’s X-Factor: Standing Up with Down Syndrome

A Triumphant Hero in a Wheelchair

A Story of Unshakable Confidence in God’s Love

A Projection of Her Beauty and Brain over Asperger Syndrome