Hi Readers! I’ve really enjoyed writing for this wonderful site over the past few years but, the time has come for me to leave the TakePart family. Although I will not longer be a Takepart.com blogger, I will continue to be a reader and supporter. And now here’s a oldie but goodie video I’d like to share in honor of my last post.

Feel free to keep up with me on the web at giuliarozzi.com.

I will never understand how anyone could abandon a baby. Luckily there are folks like Debbe Magnusen around to help care for those children left behind. In 1996 after reading a newspaper article about the discovery of a dead baby in a file cabinet in Yorba Linda, Calif., in 1996, Magnusen started a hotline called Project Cuddle and announced on TV that women unable to care for their newborns could drop them off on her porch in Costa Mesa, California. Over the past 13 years Magnusen has rescued 661 babies finding most adoptive homes.

And now her life will be the topic of a made-for-TV movie. Tonic.com reports that John Stamos, National Spokesperson for Project Cuddle (best known as Uncle Jesse from Full House) is producing the film about Magnusen and her wonderful work.

Project Cuddle doesn’t just help house unwanted infant, it also offers needed resources such as job and other assistance to allow a mother to keep her baby and shelter and medical aid. You can help Project Cuddle by contributing to their organization wish list or you can volunteer to be a rescue family anywhere in the country. Learn more by clicking here.

Today, November 20 marks the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the most widely ratified international human rights treaty. The UNCRC laid out the civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights for children all over the world. The documented has been ratified by 193 countries including every U.N. Member State but the United States and Somalia.

I was surprised to learn that the U.S. was not included in the 193 supporting nations. VOA News reports: Despite the success of the Convention in raising awareness of children’s rights worldwide, one of the largest and most influential countries in the world has not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The United States has not approved the Convention because it fears government interference in family life and the possible loss of its sovereign rights.

But ratifying a treaty doesn’t always promise results as many are acknowledging that 20 years later, children’s rights are still being violated. Many nations that ratified the Convention have not taken all the steps to protect children leaving many children victim to preventable diseases, malnutrition, violence and exploitation. Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, Saad Houry, calls the Convention a milestone, but notes the reality does not always live up to the document’s vision of a world made safe for all children. He says millions of children remain excluded from that dream saying “despite remarkable economic growth in scores of countries over the past 20 years, shocking disparities are also growing, with the poorest children left further behind.”

However many are hopeful that the anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child will serve as a reminder to countries to keep their promise and take action to protect our littlest citizens. Click here for a list of worldwide UNCRC anniversary events.

CREDO Mobile, a cell phone provider that donates 1% of your charges goes to progressive nonprofits, is mailing coat hangers to all the democratic members of the House of Representatives who voted in support of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment in Obama’s health care reform bill.

The Credo site is asking people to sign their petition saying: “We know what happens when women are denied access to reproductive health care including abortion. And we can’t go back to an era of coat hangers and back alley abortions. Reconsider your vote on the Stupak amendment. Tell House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that the final health care bill that emerges from the conference committee can’t turn the clock back on women’s rights.” When you sign the petition they’ll send a coat hanger to the 20 formerly pro-choice Democrats who voted to take away women’s rights.

It’s a harsh action, but it definitely sends a message. To learn more about how the healthcare reform bill is affecting reproductive rights, check out this article on the Frisky.

CREDO is also the company I wrote about earlier this year that offers those great free stickers in support of gay marriage, click here to get yours.

I am so sad to report that Oprah has confirmed that in 2011 she will end her daytime talk show.

A spokesman for the CBS Television Studios, which distributes her show, said “We have the greatest respect for Oprah and we wish her nothing but the best in her future endeavors, we do know anything she turns her hand to will be a great success.”

But Oprah can’t retire until I’m one of her guests! I adore Oprah, her shows are insightful, compassionate and smart. I always dreamed of being onstage with her and answering her thought-provoking questions and discussing our new collaborative charity project. The show would of course end with us giving her audience free autographed copies of my latest book and dvds of the first season of my sitcom, to which they would howl and cheer with overly enthusiastic joy!

Aside from Oprah’s always fantastic shows, she is well-known for her generosity and amazing amounts of charity work. Oprah’s Angel Network was established to “encourage people around the world to make a difference in the lives of others. Oprah’s vision is to inspire people to help others rise to their potential.” To date, Oprah’s Angel Network has received more than $80 million in donations from the public and has used those funds to help build more than 55 schools in 12 countries, provided education for thousands of children in rural areas throughout the world, helped victims of Hurricane Katrina and Rita, given life-changing assistance for women and girls, and so much more. I know once the Oprah Show goes off the air, Ms. Winfrey herself will continue her wonderful charity work, but I (and all of her fans) will still miss her daily does of on-air goodness.

Volkswagen recently introduced the Fun Theory Awardan initiative that encourages people to create fun ways of doing mundane things to help people remember to do that thing. The person with the best idea will be named winner of the Fun Theory Award and receive 2,500 Euros.

Here’s an entry example based on the idea that taking the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator will make you feel better, however few people actually follow that advice. To solve that issue the idea here is to make the stairs more fun, check it out:

I love that!

Submissions will be accepted until December 15. Entries can be submitted either in writing and/or visually (drawing, video, etc), as long as it demonstrates change for the better and it’s fun!

Coca-Cola is going green with its new PlantBottle. According to a press release: PlantBottle PET plastic bottles are made partially from plants, which reduces the Company’s dependence on a non-renewable resource — petroleum. Other benefits are that it is 100 percent recyclable, and preliminary research indicates that from the growing of the plant materials through to the production of the resin, the carbon footprint for the PlantBottle packaging is smaller than for bottles made with traditional PET.

Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company said “Today, we are taking a major step along our sustainable packaging journey as The Coca-Cola Company becomes the first-to-market with a recyclable PET plastic bottle made partially from plants. From Coke brands in Copenhagen to DASANI water in the Western United States, we are starting to roll out the first generation of the bottle of the future.”

Making Coca Cola products more eco-friendly is part of it’s Live Positively campaign which is commitmented to make a positive difference in the world by redesigning the way we work and live so sustainability is part of everything we do. The company is taking lots of steps to help better our planet, learn more by clicking here.

The November 30th deadline for the Going Green Film Festival is fast approaching so if you want to enter your eco-friendly film, do it it now. The Going Green Film Festival’s motto is: REthink. REplenish. REcommit. This is the only festival of its kind to focus exclusively on green filmmaking, from production to content! Check out the trailer:

Going Green Film Festival Trailer from David Dibble on Vimeo.

Films are being considered in 3 Main Categories:

*GREEN PRODUCTION, where a film’s production worked to lessen the carbon footprint left on the planet. (any genre of film)

*OUR PLANET, where the film’s topic covers third world issues, ecology, nature or the environment; and

*HYBRID/ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORTATION, where the film features a hybrid vehicle, bicycle, electric scooter or public transportation (any genre of film).

Prizes include: $2000 from Chipotle, Hybrid Bikes, Tree Planted in Your Name, Fuji Film, Movie Magic Suite Software, Showbiz Software, Super 8 Production Facilities and more.

The festival will take place April 2-4, 2010 in Beverly Hills CA.

Yesterday the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force released new guidelines for mammograms which are causing debate by many in the medical field.

The American Cancer Society suggests all women should get a base mammogram done by the age of 40, and that women over the age of 40 should have a mammogram repeated annually until the age of 75. Meanwhile the task force says women should begin getting their mammograms done at the age of 50 and repeating the test every two years. They claim that getting screened for breast cancer so early often leads to “too many false alarms and unneeded biopsies without substantially improving women’s odds of survival”. They also said that women need not do self-breast exams as they are not effective. (This last claim I find especially surprising considering every time I see my doctor they tell me self-examinations are must).
Here’s more from CBS news:

Read the rest of this entry >>

Today, JPMorgan Chase announced a $1 million donation to help restore damaged areas of Central Park. After a summer storm destroyed parts of the park creating a lack of needed trees, the Central Park Conservancy began an appeal for donations to help clean the mess and replace the estimated 1,500 lost trees. Check out this this video about the damage:

Why are trees so important? Trees produce oxygen, they clean the air and soil and they act as homes to many animals. Not only that but trees (along with its rolling lawns, trees and lakes, and 250 species of birds) are part of what make Central Park the slice of nature heaven that us New Yorkers need. Learn more about the importance of trees by clicking here.