That year, Ziemniarski and his wife Jackie founded the Ziemniarski Family Resource Foundation (ZFRF) on the principle that they should “pay it forward” for all the assistance they received from family and friends while Paul fought his cancer.

The goal was “to help families with everyday expenses that are experiencing similar situations with cancer, because we strongly believe in paying it forward,” Ziemniarski said.

Since its inception, the ZFRF has used donations to help ease the financial burden of cancer treatment for families impacted by leukemia, as well as the emotional toll. Ziemniarski assembles care packages with blankets, skin care products, puzzle books and other comforts he found helpful during his own cancer battle.

Last summer, the Ziemniarski family received devastating news: Paul’s cancer had returned.

After a 30-day arsenic treatment and infusion of his own, cleaned stem cells, the family was told the procedure failed and Paul would need a transplant of stem cells from an external donor, with a two-month hospital stay in between.

Fortunately for the Ziemniarski family, Paul’s “pay it forward” attitude spread to the community, which turned around and gave right back.

Read more about Paul Ziemniarski and his valiant fight on Huffington Post

Read more at FOX News

Our Take:
One man enlist the help of some very kind strangers to bring joy his terminally ill uncle. His sister says of the amazing response – “It’s just shocking how wonderful — I don’t even understand how one line you write on the Internet can be so powerful, This reminds me of old-fashioned ways or something.”

It started about a month ago with a single post on Reddit.com:

“Hey Reddit — my 47 year old uncle, Scott Widak, has down syndrome and is terminally ill with liver disease. He is currently bedridden and living out his last days at home with my 85 year old grandmother. One of his favorite things to do is open mail…anyone feel like sending him a letter or card?”

It was a bit of a risk. Going personal on Reddit, a user-generated social news site that works like a message board, can occasionally be like exposing yourself to the juvenile id of the Internet. But the poster, Sean O’Connor, added a couple of things that his uncle likes — and something wonderful happened.

Read more about Sean O’Connor and his Uncle Scott Widiak’s incredible story at the L. A. Times

A video that is starting to make its rounds on the Web, although it was posted about a month ago, shows the trials of a young mothers decision to go through with having a baby whose face would be severely deformed. It wasnt the decision of whether or not to have him that she found difficult but the criticism and stares from strangers she received after.

Lacey Buchanan details in a flash-card style self-video posted on GodTube the Christian version of YouTube how her son Christian came to be, the whispers she endures because of his appearance, and how she ultimately overcame it.

The Right Choice from laceybuchanan on GodTube.

Read more about Lacey and Christian Buchanan at The Blaze.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee angrily asserted on his Fox News show that the mainstream media employs a double standard for political invocations of Jesus Christ’s name.

“What I would like to know is why is it OK for Barack Obama to publicly invoke the name of Jesus to justify high taxes or same-sex marriage, but when I mention that my faith leads me to accept what Jesus said regarding marriage as ‘a man shall leave his mother and father, and a woman shall leave her home and the two will become one flesh,’ I get whacked by the press and the pundits? I’ve been called a narrow-minded bigot, a homophobic hate monger, a Neanderthal, right-wing religious kook, and other things not mentionable on family television,” Huckabee said last week, according to a transcript FoxNews.com posted Tuesday morning.

The catalyst for Huckabee’s statements was President Obama invoking Jesus last week when he announced that he now supports gay marriage. “When we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf,” Obama said to ABC News. “But it’s also the Golden Rule, you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated.”

Huckabee wasn’t alone in his distaste for Obama’s reference of Jesus. The Washington Times reported that former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum declared in a radio interview, “I assume people are entitled to their Christian beliefs, but they are not entitled to take the Bible and twist it to where it is unrecognizable — and that is certainly what the president did.”

Sometimes, irony crosses the boundary to the absurd.

A British newspaper recently published an informative piece on Internet pornography addictions, noting that some children as young as 8 are developing a dependency as they view images on smart phones, tablets and other devices.

Near the end, the report said British Prime Minister David Cameron supports a measure that would block all porn web sites into the United Kingdom, requiring anyone who wants access to physically opt in.

This, the paper said, went along with its own campaign to block online porn and to open a “consultation on the introduction of content filtering systems for Internet accounts.”

What’s ironic about this, you ask?

The story on the paper’s web site was surrounded by links, with photos, to other content on the site. One was for a story about a “sex guru” talking about her new book while posing in a bikini. Another lured readers with Jennifer Lopez flaunting “her famous curves in an array of plunging swimsuits…”

The list of links seemed endless, and endlessly provocative. None could be categorized, in a legal sense, as pornographic. But all were nibbling at the edges, inviting readers with the same emotional bait that attracts people to the hard-core stuff.

C.S. Lewis said, “We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst.” By the same token, if we laugh at the virtues of modesty and fidelity, should we be shocked to hear that the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation found that seven out of 10 teenagers have viewed pornography on the Internet, often without even seeking for it?

Or can we really act with indignation when an Australian addiction specialist says some children share such things on their electronic devices with their friends?

If we, as some parents in a recent New York Times piece, decide that kids are naturally attracted to smut, therefore they should be allowed access to milder pictures of nudes “not much racier” than what appears in the swimsuit edition of a sports magazine, should we be surprised when they develop unhealthy attitudes toward women?

Two stories this past week highlight aspects of this problem. The first involved a court of appeals ruling in New York that dismissed a conviction against a man who had 132 images of child pornography in temporary files on his computer.

The other was the conviction of Steven Powell in Washington state on 14 counts of voyeurism involving the surreptitious filming of children.

The New York story brought to mind a column I wrote in 2007 about how difficult it is for lawmakers to keep up with the many devious ways pornographers go about their business. At the time, portable devices were beginning to make inroads, as were flash drives, making it easier to hide images.

Today the “cloud” and streaming video let users get around laws that specifically outlaw the act of downloading certain images. The New York court ruled that browsing was not the same as possessing child pornography.

This one had a happy ending, of sorts. Only 12 hours after the ruling, the normally divided New York Legislature had bills in the Senate and Assembly to close the loophole. Other states, however, remain vulnerable with their outdated laws.

The Powell case, meanwhile, is a textbook example of how pornography can capture a mind and change a personality. As Deseret News reporter Pat Reavy documented in an excellent piece on Powell’s background, those who know him describe how he went from a devout father and husband to a bitter deviant, and now a convicted felon, all because of an addiction to porn.

The culture appears determined to continue splashing around the muddy edges of this murky swamp while expressing outrage at those who fall in. This tug-of-war between the outer boundaries of an increasingly sexualized society and the inner guardians of basic propriety has been going on for awhile.

But the mixed messages and the never-ending development of new technologies are making the struggles more pronounced. A generation coming of age in the midst of this could use a lot less absurd behavior from the adult world.

Source – desnews.com

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ron Luce didn’t recognize the voice of the woman who phoned to say his daughter Hannah was with her and was fine.

Her words didn’t make any sense to the Texas minister and founder of a Christian organization that reaches out to troubled youths. How could Hannah be with this woman when she was on a plane bound for a Christian youth rally in Iowa?

“The way I discovered about my daughter and the plane accident was probably the most unscripted way you could imagine,” Luce said Sunday during a news conference at University of Kansas Hospital, where his 22-year-old daughter was in serious condition with burns over 28% of her body. “I asked [the woman], ‘Where’s the plane?’ She said it’s off in the distance, and there are flames, there’s smoke.”

Hannah Luce is the only survivor among five people who were aboard a twin-engine Cessna 401 that crashed Friday afternoon northwest of Chanute, Kan. Three died at the scene, and a fourth, who Luce said helped his daughter walk from the wreckage to a nearby road, died early Saturday at a hospital in Wichita.

Read the full story from the L. A. Times

LUXOR, Egypt (AP) – The funeral of a 28 year-old waiter in southern Egypt turned into a celebration when he woke up after being declared dead.

Hospital officials had pronounced dead Hamdi Hafez al-Nubi, who came from the village of Naga al-Simman in the southern province of Luxor, after he suffered a heart attack while working.

His family says grieving relatives took him home and, according to Islamic tradition, washed his body and prepared him for burial Friday evening.

A doctor sent to sign the death certificate found it strange that his body was warm. At closer observation she discovered he was still alive.

His mother fainted upon hearing the good news.

With the doctor’s assistance, both al-Nubi and his mother were awakened and soon were celebrating with guests.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press)

NEW YORK (AP) – For years, Gac Filipaj mopped floors, cleaned toilets and took out trash at Columbia University.

A refugee from war-torn Yugoslavia, he eked out a living working for the Ivy League school. But Sunday was payback time: The 52-year-old janitor donned a cap and gown to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in classics.

As a Columbia employee, he didn’t have to pay for the classes he took. His favorite subject was the Roman philosopher and statesman Seneca, the janitor said during a break from his work at Lerner Hall, the student union building he cleans.

“I love Seneca’s letters because they’re written in the spirit in which I was educated in my family – not to look for fame and fortune, but to have a simple, honest, honorable life,” he said.

His graduation with honors capped a dozen years of studies, including readings in ancient Latin and Greek.

“This is a man with great pride, whether he’s doing custodial work or academics,” said Peter Awn, dean of Columbia’s School of General Studies and professor of Islamic studies. “He is immensely humble and grateful, but he’s one individual who makes his own future.”

Filipaj was accepted at Columbia after first learning English; his mother tongue is Albanian.

For Filipaj, the degree comes after years of studying late into the night in his Bronx apartment, where he’d open his books after a 2:30-11 p.m. shift as a “heavy cleaner” – his job title. Before exam time or to finish a paper, he’d pull all-nighters, then go to class in the morning and then to work.

On Sunday morning in the sun-drenched grassy quad of Columbia’s Manhattan campus, Filipaj flashed a huge smile and a thumbs-up as he walked off the podium after a handshake from Columbia President Lee Bollinger.

Later, Filipaj got a big hug from his boss, Donald Schlosser, Columbia’s assistant vice president for campus operations.

Bollinger presided over a ceremony in which General Studies students received their graduation certificates. They also can attend Wednesday’s commencement of all Columbia graduates, most of whom are in their 20s.

Filipaj wasn’t much older in 1992 when he left Montenegro, then a Yugoslav republic facing a brutal civil war.

An ethnic Albanian and Roman Catholic, he left his family farm in the tiny village of Donja Klezna outside the city of Ulcinj because he was about to be drafted into the Yugoslav army led by Serbs, who considered many Albanians their enemy.

He fled after almost finishing law school in Belgrade, Yugoslavia’s capital, where he commuted for years by train from Montenegro.

At first in New York, his uncle in the Bronx offered him shelter while he worked as a restaurant busboy.

“I asked people, which are the best schools in New York?” he says. Since Columbia topped his list, “I went there to see if I could get a job.”

Part of his $22-an-hour janitor’s pay still goes back to his brother, sister-in-law and two kids in Montenegro. Filipaj has no computer, but he bought one for the family, whose income comes mostly from selling milk.

Filipaj also saves by not paying for a cellphone; he can only be reached via landline.

He wishes his father were alive to enjoy his achievement. The elder Filipaj died in April, and the son flew over for the funeral, returning three days later for work and classes.

To relax at home, he enjoys an occasional cigarette and some “grappa” brandy.

“And if I have too much, I just go to sleep,” he says, laughing.

During an interview with The Associated Press in a Lerner Hall conference room, Filipaj didn’t show the slightest regret or bitterness about his tough life. Instead, he cheerfully described encounters with surprised younger students who wonder why their classmate is cleaning up after them.

“They say, `Aren’t you…?’” he said with a grin.

His ambition is to get a master’s degree, maybe even a Ph.D., in Roman and Greek classics. Someday, he hopes to become a teacher, while translating his favorite classics into Albanian.

For now, he’s trying to get “a better job,” maybe as supervisor of custodians or something similar, at Columbia if possible.

He’s not interested in furthering his studies to make more money.

“The richness is in me, in my heart and in my head, not in my pockets,” said Filipaj, who is now an American citizen.

Soon after, the feisty, 5-foot-4 janitor picked up a broom and dustpan and went back to work.

Source – AP News/KSL.com

A mere five words ignited the showdown:

“We don’t work on Sundays.”

On one side of the table in the worksite trailer sat Firoz “King” Husein, owner and founder of Span Construction & Engineering, a company that specializes in the engineering and construction of large steel buildings.

On the other side sat the executive management team in charge of construction for Costco, the gigantic consumer goods wholesaler.

At issue was a 110-day schedule during which Costco’s latest warehouse store needed to be completed.

Span Construction had negotiated the contract to build the project, and a few wrinkles, as they always do, had come up to delay the construction schedule. This would not do. Costco’s timetables are sacrosanct. The store had to open at the end of 110 days, as announced.

So the executives were letting Husein know that Costco was willing to pay for overtime, but obviously the hours and the days had to be ramped up or the deadline would not be met.

And King Husein was letting the executives know that he would bring in larger crews and they would absolutely lengthen their days — with the exception of Sundays. Span Construction did not work on Sundays. That too was sacrosanct.

Suddenly the air was leaden. Maybe the 110-day clock was spinning, but in the heavy silence of the trailer time stood still.

Finally, a Costco executive spoke, saying to Husein without disguising his incredulity: “You would not work your men on Sundays even if it means you could lose this entire account?”

Answered Husein, “I hope it doesn’t come to that, but if it does, I’m sorry, I will not work my guys on Sundays.”

The executive stood up, approached Husein, and, inches from his chest, said, “You’d better meet that commitment.”

As he was leaving, he said to an architect outside the trailer, “That is one stubborn Indian.”

Truer words could not have been uttered.

The above incident in the trailer occurred 21 years ago. Since that time, Span Construction has become the exclusive builder for Costco worldwide, erecting over 59 million square feet of structures in North America, Asia, Europe and Australia, including 350 warehouses, 16 depots, four office structures, 66 expansions, four additions and 376 gas stations — an average of more than 40 projects every year.

Read the full article on Desnews.com

It’s probably not a good idea to take the law into your own hands, but this video of a man stealing back his stolen bicycle is sure to bring a smile to your face.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Read more about Danny Lesh and his new found sense of justice at MSNBC

These giant waves only happen out in the open sea. They are so huge, the surfers have to be pulled into them by boats and then Jet Skis.

Everything about this says Danger, but watching this video of Garrett McNamara surfing a giant 78 foot wave is absolutely thrilling.

Read More About This Record Setting Surfer on Discovery News

Just two weeks after the huge “supermoon” wowed skywatchers around the world, the heavens will offer up another observing treat — a solar eclipse on May 20 that should be visible from much of western North America.

The May 20 event is what’s known as an annular solar eclipse, in which the moon blocks out most of the sun but leaves a ring of light visible around its circumference.

It should be quite a spectacular sight for favorably placed — and appropriately careful —skywatchers throughout Asia, the Pacific region and parts of North America.

Annular solar eclipses: The basics
As the moon revolves around Earth, it passes between our planet and the sun once every 29.5 days. Most of the time,the moon zips either above or below the sun, and no eclipse occurs

Read more on FOX News

In this mesmerizing animation from NASA we get to see the currents of the world’s Oceans and Seas in continuous motion. Created by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Scientific Visualization Center, the satellite footage is actually from 2007-2008 but was animated and released just last year. Click on the video below if you want to restore your sense of wonder!

Visit the NASA website to learn more

Rachel Macy Stafford of Hands Free Mama

Yes, it is the 21st century. Yes, the whole world is online. Yes, the communications for your job are important. Yes, at times you must be readily available. But despite all those factors, you do not have to sacrifice your child’s childhood; nor do you have to sacrifice your life.

By sharing my own painful truths when it comes to the distractions of the modern age, I have gained an unexpected insight. In the 18 months my blog, Hands Free Mama, has existed, I have been privy to a new distraction confession every single day.
Up until now, I never knew what to do with this unusual collection of painful admissions from an overly connected society. But today, in a moment of clarity, I knew. And a woman with 35 years experience as a day care provider held the key.

It came as a message in my inbox after the woman read my post The Children Have Spoken which included heart-breaking observations from children themselves about their parents excessive phone use.

As soon as I read the first sentence of the caregivers email, I knew this message was different than any I had ever received. The hairs on my arms stood up as I absorbed each word that came uncomfortably close to home.
It was a voice of heartache, wisdom, and urgency speaking directly the parents of the 21st century:

I can recall a time when you were out with your children you were really with them. You engaged in a back and forth dialog even if they were pre-verbal. You said, Look at the bus, see the doggie, etc. Now I see you on the phone, pushing your kids on the swings while distracted by your devices. You think you are spending time with them but you are not present really. When I see you pick up your kids at day care while youre on the phone, it breaks my heart. They hear your adult conversations. What do they overhear? What is the message they receive? I am not important; I am not important.

In a 100-word paragraph this concerned woman who has cared for babies since 1977 revealed a disturbing recipe … How to Miss a Childhood.
And because I possess hundreds of distraction confessions, including stories from my own former highly distracted life, I have all the damaging ingredients.

All it takes is one child and one phone and this tragic recipe can be yours.
How to Miss a Childhood

Keep your phone turned on at all times of the day. Allow the rings, beeps, and buzzes to interrupt your child midsentence; always let the caller take priority.

Carry your phone around so much that when you happen to leave it in one room your child will come running with it proudly in hand treating it more like a much needed breathing apparatus than a communication device.

Decide the app youre playing is more important than throwing the ball in the yard with your kids. Even better, yell at them to leave you alone while you play your game.

Take your children to the zoo and spend so much time on your phone that your child looks longingly at the mother who is engaged with her children and wishes she was with her instead.
While you wait for the server to bring your food or the movie to start, get out your phone and stare at it despite the fact your child sits inches away longing for you talk to him.

Go to your childs sporting event and look up periodically from your phone thinking she wont notice that you are not fully focused on her game.
Check your phone first thing in the morning … even before you kiss, hug, or greet the people in your family.
Neglect daily rituals like tucking your child into bed or nightly dinner conversation because you are too busy with your online activity.

Dont look up from your phone when your child speaks to you or just reply with an uh huh so she thinks you were listening.

Lose your temper with your child when he “bothers” you while you are interacting with your hand-held electronic device.

Give an exasperated sigh when your child asks you to push her on the swing. Cant she see you’re busy?
Use drive time to call other people regardless of the fact you could be talking to your kids about their day or about their worries, their fears, or their dreams.

Read email and text messages at stoplights. Then tell yourself that when your kids are old enough to drive they wont remember you did this all the time.

Have the phone to your ear when she gets in or out of the car. Convince yourself a loving hello or goodbye is highly overrated.

Follow this recipe and you will have:
Missed opportunities for human connection

Fewer chances to create beautiful memories

Lack of connection to the people most precious to you

Inability to really know your children and them unable to know you

It is not easy to consider the possibility that the distractions of the modern age have taken an undeserved priority over the people who matter in your life. In fact, when I admitted this difficult truth to myself almost two years ago, I experienced an emotional breakdown. However, that breakdown became a breakthrough that propelled me to begin my life-changing Hands Free journey.
Heres the thing: You dont have to follow the above recipe. Yes, it is the 21st century. Yes, the whole world is online. Yes, the communications for your job are important. Yes, at times you must be readily available. But despite all those factors, you do not have to sacrifice your childs childhood; nor do you have to sacrifice your life.
May I recommend this recipe instead?
How to Grasp a Childhood:

Look into her eyes when she speaks to you. Your uninterrupted gaze is love to your child.

Take time to be with him really be with him by giving your full attention. The gift of your total presence is love to your child.

Hold his hand, rub her back, and smooth his hair. Your gentle touch is love to your child.

Greet her like you missed her when she was not in your presence. Seeing your face light up when you see her is love to your child.

Play with him. Your involvement in his activities is love to your child.

Set an example of being distraction-free while driving. Positive role modeling behind the wheel is love (and safety) to your child.

Create a distraction-free daily ritual. Consistently making him a priority each day is love to your child.

Talk to him. Ask him about his day. Listening to what he has to say is love to your child.

Focus and smile at her from the stands or the audience. Seeing the joy on your face as you watch is love to your child.
The recipe for How to Grasp a Childhood requires only one thing: You must put down your phone. Whether it is for ten minutes, two hours, or an entire Saturday, beautiful human connection, memory making, and parent-child bonding can occur every single time you let go of distraction to grasp what really matters.

The beautiful, life-changing results of your Hands Free action can start today right now the moment you put down the phone.

You can follow this Hands Free Mama and her revolutionary approach to letting go and living life by joining The Hands Free Revolution on Facebook or through her blog at www.handsfreemama.com.