Grammy artist, Kanye West, with upcoming sophomore album, "Late Registration," due in stores later this week, had a discussion recently on MTV about rap and its negative portrayal homosexuals.

With thuggery and testosterone driven lyrics dominating the hip hop world for the good part of the 1990s and this decade, Kanye West brings a fresh new point-of-view to the genre. Son of a college english professor and a product of suburban Chicago -- and not the projects of Brooklyn (like his mentor and predecessor, Jay-Z, of Roc-A-Fella records) -- West brings a more positive attitude to his music, not unlike the pop-friendly rappers of the 1980s, including LL Cool J, Kurtis Blow and DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince.

read the AP article on sfgate.com

Trying to hold to our apolitical ways, I offer this knowing full well the volatility of the Cindy Sheehan issue. Personally, I think war sucks and is very much not the nice way to resolve issues. I don't think anyone could argue with this statement (maybe just with my naivete...but I can handle that). Seems important for people to speak-up against war, and Cindy Sheehan's campaign has given their story some real legs.

Cindy Sheehan is being supported by the Crawford Peace House, a group and actual house that was organized and purchased for $65,000 sometime before the actual invasion of Iraq. The group had been running low on funds when they agreed to support Cindy Sheehan's campaign to speak with President Bush about the war. In fact, Cindy's first gift to the Peace House was a $250 check to help turn the phones back on.

Again, we do not support war, but we do not support anti-war political groups either. Politics are covered ad nauseam on the web. We just think that it's important for people to think about peace as an ideal that should define us rather than tear us apart; and we support peaceful alternatives. We also support everyone (soldiers and citizens alike) in the war torn areas of the world. Peace is a means to an end. And an end to war is what (I think) we all want. Let's bring our soldiers home; and let's welcome them back with arms and hearts wide open.

read the article in The Dallas Morning News

Stephen Rahn, owner of EZ Cash check cashing store in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, went against the grain when it comes to payday loan proprietors: He helped someone in need with a little cash.

Mr. Rahn paid a past due electricity bill and deposit fee to the local utility to get the lights turned back on for a struggling teacher and frequent customer. The woman was going through rough times having just been divorced and dealing with a failing car. Mr. Rahn knew of her troubles but had no idea that things had hit rock bottom until the woman's daughter informed him that the electricity had been turned off in their home for a month.

Out of the goodness of his heart, Mr. Rahn decided he needed to help the Michigan teacher out for no other reason but that it was the right thing to do.

read the article in The Flint Journal

The City of Selma, Alabama, came together last Tuesday to say, "Thanks."

Although it looks like a business community ploy to drum up business, I like to think that it's always a good idea to celebrate the goodness in life.

The "Thanks, Selma" public relations campaign was developed and promoted by the City of Selma and the Selma-Dallas County Centre for Commerce to thank citizens and customers for all of their past support. Mayor James Perkins Jr. got into the thankful spirit by thanking, "the person who picked up litter and put it in the litter basket...parents who help their children with homework every night and...the person who goes by to check on a neighbor." Now that's gratitude.

read the article in The Selma Times-Journall

Don Dauphinais just returned from a charity bike ride last Sunday. He rode 4,210 miles from San Francisco to Boston in memory of his good friend, Crispin Morrison, who died May 23, 2003, of ovarian cancer. These cross-country rides are much more common than you may think; nonetheless, everytime it is accomplished, you just have to admire the heart of the rider.

I have a friend who once did a similar ride to draw attention to the oil industry's on-going plan to open up the Arctic National Refuge to drilling. Jeff Barrie, documentarian and all around cool guy, has been a longtime inspiration for me. Check out his latest project Kilowatt Ours. I'll write more about Jeff in future posts.

read the article on www.norwichbulletin.com

The fact that anyone goes homeless or hungry in our country is, to say the least, insane. In the wealthiest and most charitable nation's in the world, why can we not end once and for all this issue? According to the Urban Institute, approximately 800,000 people (of which 200,000 are children) are homeless on any given day. And, according to America's Second Harvest, more than 30 million Americans went hungry in 2001.

The presence of homeless and hungry in our society raises a very interesting debate: To give or not to give. Here in New York City, we are faced with this moral dilemma on a daily basis. On one hand, to give is to show compassion and the willingness to help another person in a time of need. Who can argue with this? Of course, this magazine promotes charity and the lending of a helpful hand. Then, when you ask others about why they tend not to give away pocket change on the subway, a common (a somewhat cynical) response is, "well, how do I know if this is truly a homeless person I'm speaking with and how do I know that I'm really helping this person out?" This line of reasoning is usually followed up with the statement, "besides, I'd rather give my money to an established charity like the United Way or the local food kitchen where I know the money will be used effectively." Hey, how can we argue with this point-of-view either? Both sides are right to a degree, and neither really are conflicting in nature. But still, the debate sits unresolved: To give, or not to give.

Enter the Downtown Denver Partnership and the City and County of Denver’s Office of Economic Development. They have released a study that showed $4.6 million a year is given to panhandlers. One visceral response is, "Great. The People of Denver are taking care of their own." Yet others, especially those of us working in the non-profit sector, are a bit more analytical and wonder what better good could be done with this money. Could $4.6 million dollars go toward programs that cut at heart of the perpetuating homeless issue. This money go toward much needed counseling services, shelters and food pantries. Indeed, the sponsors of the study encourage residents of Denver to funnel their charity away from the streets and into the local United Way. Is this necessarily better than just giving a buck to someone in need?

We are glad that the study sponsors have introduced this information. We only caution that people understand that the kind of attention that city agencies and economic development corporations pay to this issue is usually not the kind that you and I necessarily agree with. Cities across the country (New York and San Francisco included) have had their moments of looking ugly and without a soul when it come to addressing homelessness. Usually, these studies are brought to bare only to help raise public support for ousting the homeless from the streets, leaving them with no real housing alternatives -- classic NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) stuff. The issue doesn't go away, it just disappears.

This debate is an important one that needs to be pushed to the top of public discourse. We hope that residents and decision-makers in Denver will now be forced to confront their homeless issue. Obviously, people care enough about others to dish out $4.6 million a year to "help a brother out." Now, imagine what could be done if all of this care and concern was cultivated and focused into eliminating homelessness. I can.

read the article in DenverPost.com
read the story on Denver's ABC 7 website
read the story in bizjournals.com
read the story in Rocky Mountain News

Kestrel Blackstone is a writer in Vermont who tells about how passersby helped to save her life as she experienced a cardiac episode while tending to her garden. Like the most poignant of these stories, this one involves anonymous folks who stepped in, called the EMT and stayed with her until the hospital; then they disappeared into the crowd. These folks were completely selfless, only looking out for Blackstone's wellbeing.

Turns out, of course, that these lifesavers were her neighbors who have since become important members in Blackstone's circle of friends. Check out her piece and for the full skinny.

read the piece on ChamplainIslander.com

This past Saturday in Syracuse, New York, two strangers thwarted a child abduction in progress. Monique Williams and Jerry Searight confronted James H. Gilkeson at the gas pumps of a Big Apple Market just as he coaxed a 10-year-old girl into his car.

Thank goodness there are people in the world willing to put it out there and do the right thing. For all of you central New Yorkers, if you know Monique or Jerry, send them our highest regards.

read the article in ElitesTV.com

Vacaville, Calif. based animal rescue group, Animal Place, is actively finding homes for 160,000 chickens. That's right, 160,000 egg-laying hens are about to be sent to the chicken coop in the sky unless these do gooders in NoCal have anything to do with it.

If you want to help, call the Marin Humane Society at (415) 883-4621.

read the article in TheReporter.com

Animals to the rescue...

KRON 4

This letter to the editor was taken from today's Newsday New York:

Acts of kindness make city shine

One may not expect it, but there is great kindness in New Yorkers. Recently, on the No. 6 subway platform, a flying bug landed on me. When I went to brush it off, I knocked off my glasses, which went flying off somewhere onto the subway tracks. I am completely blind without my glasses.

Four different New Yorkers helped me through my ordeal in trying to locate and retrieve my glasses.

From the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank them sincerely. To the people who located my glasses on the tracks, the people who led me up the stairs to find a transit worker and to the lady who offered me her iced tea and helped get me a cab home, I would like to cheer, "Thank you!"

Although this letter is intended to thank them, I hope that it also helps to inform other readers that, even though this city seems to be full of uncaring strangers, there really are nice people in New York. Their actions have helped to restore my faith in humanity, which sometimes can get lost in this blur of people (pun intended). It is folks like these whose unexpected kindness, graciousness and caring make this city a better place. These people, although quiet and unassuming, are the true heroes of our society and deserve to be recognized.

Carol Duplessie
Woodside

more at www.nynewsday.com

Boston cabbie, Mohammad Zahoor, was a nice, kind man whose final act was one of generosity and good will. In a moment of horrendous timing, his stopping to help a stranded motorist proved fatal. Zahoor was struck by a vehicle that flipped over the bridge he was on during a five-car pileup over the weekend. Zahoor was working to support his family back in Pakistan. We'd like to give a nod to the life of Zahoor and our sincerest thoughts to his family.

You can send donations for Zahoor's family at the New Revere Mosque in Masachussetts.

read the article at BostonHerald.com

Two more entries submitted to The Arizona Republic's Act of Kindness column.

One story tells of a very grateful toothache sufferer and a nice person at the dentist office who gave up her coveted appointment to allow this man to receive much needed emergency toothwork.

The second is your standard thank you, shout-out to an honest person at the airport who turned in a lost bag.

read more at The Arizona Republic

Here's just one of many accounts of just how nice Peter Jennings was. It's always refreshing to know that out there are people in positions of great power and influence who maintain a core decency that any of us would want to aspire to.

I also have a friend that works at ABC News who can attest to how incredibly down-to-earth and kind Mr. Jennings was.

read the article in The Union Leader...

Phil Haynes of Bromsgrove, England, wants his community to come together for one day of kindness.

read the article in the Bromsgrove Standard...

Summertime hit hard at NICE Magazine. We all took some time off to enjoy and contemplate life. We hope you all have had the same opportunity to reflect, celebrate, play, etc.

We now have a renewed focus on NICE. We are going to work really hard from this point forward to develop a network of writers, reporters, do-gooders, observers, pundits, people of power and importance and everyday people to send in their stories of nice people, places and things. We feel it's much more interesting to hear about the world from locals and nice people "in-the-know." We'll always have our running commentary and observations, but mostly, NICE will be crafted from the viewpoints and words of you and all other nice people in communities throughout the land.

Here's to summer fun and a whole new season of NICE!

-D. Robert