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Aug 14, 2017 01:30 pm
Bourne Identity and Run Lola Run actor Franka Potente has teamed up with PETA Germany for a new ad and video campaign, in which she shares that going vegan three years ago changed her life.
“I went vegan for health reasons,” she says in the video. “My choice was to either take medication that I didn’t want to take or change the way I eat. And I love a good challenge, so I walked out of the doctor’s office vegan.”
“I felt different pretty much immediately,” continues the German-born Taboo star. “I always had trouble with lingering throat inflammation, and I got rid of that immediately, and my skin cleared up. I slept better.” Now, she’s encouraging others to do the same: “Try it out and see how you feel. If you feel better after a week, try another week.”
PETA — whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” — notes that in addition to the health benefits that Potente enjoyed, other advantages of going vegan include a decreased risk of suffering from heart disease, strokes, diabetes, cancer, and obesity by comparison with meat-eaters. And of course, every person who goes vegan spares approximately 100 animals every year daily suffering and a terrifying death in today’s industrialized meat, egg, and dairy industries.
Aug 14, 2017 11:30 am
Written by Elizabeth Willoughby
In an interview for Intelligence Squared, education activist Malala Yousafzai took the stage with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg to talk about Sandberg’s book Plan B, and to discuss facing adversity, building resilience and finding joy.
Malala is a living example of how this can be achieved. One moment a 15-year-old Malala was riding in her school bus in Pakistan, and the next she was waking up alone in a hospital in England. She had been shot by a Taliban gunman in an attempt to silence her encouragement of education for girls.
Malala says that to get through the ordeal, she started by accepting herself for who she was and being thankful for the things she still had – her family and friends. “None of us can escape sadness, loss or life’s disappointments,” she wrote, ” so our best option is to find our option B.”
According to Sandberg, gratitude seems to be key in the process of getting from adversity to joy. “Counter intuitively, whenever we face something that’s really hard,” says Sandberg, “and it can be hard and it can be overwhelming, thinking of what could be worse helps us find gratitude for that which we took really for granted before.”
Malala found gratitude mostly in her family, which she says has kept her feeling normal. She also has taken to heart the support she received from her friends and from the letters, cards and gifts that she received from strangers around the world.
“In return,” she says, “you should show the same love and the same care for others. I think that’s the best way to thank back.”
Most of us have heard of post traumatic stress (PTSD), but few recognize the term post traumatic growth even though far more people will experience post traumatic growth than PTSD. Pain is an agent of change. Put simply, says Sandberg, “from the hardest things in our lives, we learn, we grow. Our lives become deeper, more meaningful, we find more purpose, we form deeper relationships, we are more grateful.
“We all live some form of option B,” says Sandberg. “Sometimes it’s true trauma, where you lose your country and your life as you know it, like Malala has been through. Sometimes it’s the kind of trauma of losing someone suddenly, or not suddenly, in your life. Sometimes it can be something small. But no one’s life is exactly as they planned it. At some level we all live option B.”
You can see the whole talk here.
Aug 14, 2017 09:30 am
Written by Elizabeth Willoughby
Despite that the current US president pulled out of the Paris climate accord earlier this year, former vice president and current activist, Al Gore, still says he comes down on the side of hope.
Following his 2006 documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, about the effects of global warming, Gore released a follow up documentary last month called An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, which speaks to the human ingenuity that is behind his hope.
In an NPR interview, Gore said that with the fossil fuel industry financing an industry of climate denial through pseudo scientists and pseudoscientific reports, enough doubt was created so that the sense of urgency about solving the crisis was lost. “But because Mother Nature has a more persuasive voice than any of us,” he says, “they’re losing this battle. The Paris agreement was truly a historic breakthrough, illustrating that all around the world, opinions are getting stronger and stronger in favor of solving the climate crisis.”
He cites other signs of hope as well. “Electricity from the sun and the wind is now in many regions much cheaper than electricity from dirty fossil fuels,” says Gore. “Electric cars are becoming affordable. Batteries are coming down very quickly in cost and, coupled with renewable energy, will utterly transform the world’s energy systems.
“And along with sustainable agriculture and forestry, we now have a chance to use these tools to really solve the climate crisis in time to avoid the catastrophic consequences that would otherwise fall upon us.”
The question is, will we?.
Aug 14, 2017 07:30 am
Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services presents the 19th Annual Alive & Running 5K Walk/Run for Suicide Prevention.
The event will take place on Sunday, September 24, 2017 beginning at 7:00 a.m. at West 88th Street & La Tijera Boulevard just north of LAX. (Schedule of Events is listed below.)
Held during Suicide Awareness and Prevention Month, Alive & Running is an inspiring, life-affirming gathering of people affected by suicide that remembers loved ones and raises money and awareness for the Didi Hirsch Suicide Prevention Center. The family-friendly event includes live music, speakers, children’s activities and a Health & Wellness EXPO.
With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting that suicide for teen girls is at a 40-year high, the event is expected to draw hundreds of high school and college students who have been affected by suicide and want to support prevention efforts. Last year, about 2,000 runners, walkers and volunteers attended Alive & Running, raising about $350,000. Since its inception, the event has raised over $2.5 million for the Center’s programs.
Actor-turned-filmmaker Dennis Dugan, who directed many comedies including Happy Gilmore and Big Daddy, will serve as emcee of this year’s Alive & Running. “I have been touched by the tragedy of suicide three times,” says Mr. Dugan. “My wife’s mother and two of my friends have taken their lives. What those dear souls went through to arrive at that point is unimaginable to me. And what those who live on have had to confront is equally inconceivable. If I can contribute anything to help ease the pain of anyone involved in these tragedies, I will do so with my heart and soul.”
In memory of Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell and Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington, two musicians who recently died by suicide, The Village CEO Jeff Greenberg is supporting this year’s event to focus attention on how the music industry is affected by mental illness, substance use and suicide. He formed a team called The Village People and is urging musicians, artists, music executives and fans to come together against suicide.
“With these two recent losses of stars that I adore and have worked with, it’s more important than ever to get the word out that there are alternatives and help for anyone considering suicide,” Mr. Greenberg says. “Didi Hirsch’s Suicide Prevention Center is the leading anti-suicide organization in America and offers a variety of services including counseling, a hotline, education and support for survivors.”
The Fletcher Family Foundation is the event’s Presenting Sponsor. The Berman/Rutenberg Family, Pamela and Earl Kluft and Andrew E. Rubin are all Platinum Sponsors.
EVENT SCHEDULE
7:00 am
Same-Day Registration
7:30 am
Pre-Race Program
7:45 am
Warm-up and Stretch
8:00 am
5K Walk/Run Begins!
9:00 am
Entertainment / Awards
Aug 14, 2017 07:00 am
Tina Fey is a writer, comedian, actress, and producer.
Fey was one of the recipients of Love Our Children USA’s“Mothers Who Make A Difference” awards in 2009.
Charities & foundations supported
Tina Fey has supported the following charities:
Read more about Tina Fey’s charity work and events.
Aug 14, 2017 06:00 am
Providing a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need
MusiCares services and resources cover a wide range of financial, medical and personal emergencies, and each case is treated with integrity and confidentiality. MusiCares also focuses the resources and attention of the music industry on human service issues that directly impact the health and welfare of the music community.
The Foundation is the charitable arm of the Recording Academy, the group that gives out the Grammys.
Celebrity supporters
MusiCares has 164 known supporters, including Elton John, Bill Clinton, and Paul McCartney
Areas of work
Read more about MusiCares’s work and celebrity supporters. |
