Friday Snippets and Soundbites

• There's only one more month left in the ec fiction writing contest . . . and we haven't received very many entries! The winning story will be featured in an upcoming issue of ec! So get busy writing! Send your submissions to godlifefun@gmail.com.

• CNN does a special blog and interview on “Young People Who Rock.” It’s focused on people under 30 who are doing all kinds of remarkable things. Teens Hannah and Joseph Salwen from Atlanta made the list because they convinced their parents to sell their home and donate half the sale price to Africa’s poor. Hannah was inspired when she saw a homeless person on a street corner and a Mercedes Benz near him. She thought that if the person with the nice car bought a less expensive one, then the homeless person could have something to eat. She reflected on her own privilege, too, and realized her family didn’t need a 7-bedroom mansion with an elevator and library. You can watch the interview with Hannah and Joseph here.

• Your mom probably does the grocery shopping for your family. But one day you’ll have to buy your own. And choosing the healthiest grocery store is important. Health experts ranked the top 10 healthiest grocery stores out of the nation’s largest chains. Wanna know which ones won? Whole Foods got first place, followed by Safeway and Harris Teeter. Check out the whole list, as well as the reasons behind it, here.

• Are you rude? According to the Oprah Winfrey Show, 80 percent of Americans think that rudeness is a serious national problem, but 99 percent of the same people say that they themselves are not rude. You can take a quiz here to see how you compare to others. The rudeness quiz asks questions like “Have you ever texted or talked on a cell phone in a movie theater?” And “Have you ever cut in front of someone in line?” You can also read the whole story here.

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