Giulia Rozzi | 6 months ago | Comments (0)
I'm a sucker for a good Lifetime TV movie. Last night I watched "The Natalee Holloway Story" about the teenage girl who vanished during a senior class trip to Aruba in 2005. Wow, did I forget what how messed up that whole Holloway case was until I saw the movie last night.
While the film was chock full of all those dramatic moments that make Lifetime movies such a guilty pleasure, the movie also served as a serious warning for parents and teenagers about the dangers of international travel. I mean, I've been a care-free, underage drunk girl on spring break so I know what it's like and it makes me terrified to have daughters. The movie is based on "Loving Natalee: A Mother's Testament of Hope and Faith." written by Hollways's mother, Beth Twitty. Check out Beth Twitty's safe travel PSA.
Danny Jensen | 6 months ago | Comments (0)
People who eat large quantities of red and processed meat likely to die sooner, particularly from heart disease or cancer, than those who eat much smaller amounts, according to a new study. I think many of us have long suspected that red meat heavy diets are unhealthy, but the decade long study provides stark evidence that even eating a little less can extend your life, and as I've mentioned before, help protect the planet. We're talking about people who eat 4 ounces of red meat, and one and a half ounces of processed meat every day. Every day?! That sounds like a lot to me, although 4 oz is about the size of a deck of cards. I suppose a deck of cards is an apt comparison though, considering that you're gambling with your health when you eat that much meat.
So, if you are eating large quanities of red and processed meat, do your body a favor and take a few days off. Even if you don't eat that much meat, try picking one day (or three) a week when you don't eat meat at all. You'll feel healthier and you'll help curb environmental pollution, climate change and protect water resources. Pretty soon, you won't even be asking "Where's the beef?"
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug75diEyiA0
Giulia Rozzi | 6 months ago | Comments (0)
Bobbi and the Strays is a NYC based non-kill shleter that rescues over 500 animals per year serving as a safe haven for animals found in the streets, given up by their owners or animals pulled off death row from city shelters. Here is an adorable doggy filled video showing you some of Bobbi and the Strays residents.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1LD9urgkBw&feature=player_embedded
Sadly, Bobbi and the Strays is in danger of losing their shelter next year and without the funds to secure a new space, these homeless animals will have no where to go. Help them raise money needed to continue rescuing animals, support the Bobbi and the Strays Walk 4 Paws event. Walk 4 Paws takes place this Saturday May 2nd in New York City and will be a fun event for both people and canines with fun goodie bags, microchipping, live entertainment, contests and prizes and more. And if you can't make the NYC event, you can still donate by visiting the Bobbi and the Strays site.
tkaya | 6 months ago | Comments (0)
carlaslopez | 6 months ago | Comments (7)
Here's a fabulous opportunity for young fashion designers. The UK based non profit organization the Ethical Fashion Forum launched its Innovation Competition last week. The competition celebrates social and environmental innovation in fashion design aiming to "inspire and motivate a new generation of design leaders to integrate sustainability at the core of what they do, and in turn to become infuential in relation the the sustainability of the industry overall."
The competition is open to designers who have been in business for less than 3 years. Winners receive worldwide press coverage and the get to show their label at the Pure trade show in August 2009 and Estethica in September 2009 as part of London Fashion Week.
Wendy Cohen | 6 months ago | Comments (4)
After a recent panel discussion in West Hollywood relating to human trafficking, I was approached by two individuals from the Takepart.com team, Rick Reisdorf and Wendy Cohen. They asked if I would be interested in contributing to the slavery portion of their soon-to-be launched website. I was pleased that we saw eye-to-eye on several crucial imperatives regarding the site's role - primarily to serve as a destination for reliable data and information, while providing tools and recommendations that would allow the very fragmented abolitionist community to unify around a set of activities to initiate a more effective response to this unconscionable human rights violation. As a subset of slavery, we agreed to start our focus on trafficked sex slaves. Such slaves are by far and away the most profitable slaves in the world, and it can be argued, the most barbarically exploited.
Contemporary slavery is thriving as a global business, yet efforts to intervene in these crimes remain anemic, misdirected, and uncoordinated internationally. Beginning a decade ago, the first stage of the contemporary abolitionist movement was to remind people that slavery still existed and that slave-trading (also known by the less helpful term, "human trafficking") had resurfaced as a ubiquitous mode of entry into numerous forms of slave exploitation, especially for forced prostitution. However, awareness and outrage are not enough. We must shed the propensity for sensationalism and initiate a more effective, analysis-driven response based on a granular understanding of the business of all forms of contemporary slavery, and none is a more sophisticated than the business of sex trafficking. More
Sarah Newman | 6 months ago | Comments (2)
Perusing a supermarket aisle is like taking a trip to the United Nations. I'm not just referring to the exotic cheeses, oils or wines that are readily available to unsuspecting consumers. How about more standard fare such as plump canned tomatoes grown in Italy, frozen edamame from China, luscious avocados from Mexico or Canadian corn? All of these products are displayed standing at attention, looking their best to lure in hungry, unsuspecting shoppers. I don't want to discourage anyone from making healthy food choices, but we need to examine more than what we're eating. We need to also think about where it's coming from. With the duress we're all living under because of swine flu, coupled with our high carb(on) footprint because of our food choices, it's time for us to re-examine where our produce comes from.
Most of our produce probably needs a passport to enter the United States. According to Food and Water Watch, 1/2 of all food-borne illnesses in the US are caused by imported foods. Additionally, the number of FDA inspectors who are supposed to safeguard our food supply has dwindled. Last year, they inspected a measly 11,000 inspections on the 33 billion pounds of produce that crossed our border. With all of the swine-flu hysteria, these disturbing numbers don't bode well for ensuring a safer food system.These foods need the same strict visa process that is used for the millions of tourists who come to our shores annually.
Beside potential threats to your health, imported foods have a serious impact on our environment. The average meal travels a whopping 1500 miles from farm to your plate. Synthetic fertilizers contribute 647 million pounds of nitrous oxide (a greenhouse gas emission) annually. According to the Cool Foods Campaign, food processing and packaging is one of the top 5 biggest energy users in the country, gobbling up 14 billion gallons of gasoline annually.
Don't fret though because there's lots of simple things you can do to ensure you're eating plenty of safe, healthy, local fresh produce rather than unsafe, unsustainable international foods.
-Learn about imported foods with Food and Water Watch's nifty new interactive Global Grocer.
-Reduce your carbon food/footprint by buying local, sustainable produce within 200 miles of your house. The user-friendly Eat Well Guide helps you find local farmers markets, farms and CSAs.
-Learn more about the contribution of your food choices to global warming with the Cool Foods Campaign.
(picture: I took this at the Santa Barbara farmers market earlier this year)
Gina Telaroli | 6 months ago | Comments (0)
Get our your tissues folks. This one is looking to rob you of your tears.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17sIyLOm0Xc
I have no real desire to see this film, nor do I think it looks especially good, yet by the end of the above trailer I may have been crying.
Sigh.
I do think the topic is interesting in terms of exploring children's rights and the moral issues of technology we are using to conceive children but I just don't know if I can handle dying children AND Cameron Diaz..
I guess it just comes down to the fact that the movies of Nick Cassavetes are not for me (they are for many many people though) - I much prefer the work of his father.
