Positive News Update 10-19-05
Here's a couple of examples of how
a disaster can bring the world closer.
Please do what you can to help...
http://www.networkforgood.org
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
U.N.: Countries Have Pledged $165M in Aid
to victims of the South East Asia Earthquake
GENEVA - Countries have pledged some $165 million
to aid the victims of the devastating weekend earthquake
in South Asia, the United Nations said Thursday.
"We are in a hurry; we should all be in a hurry to
rush assistance to victims," said Yvette Stevens,
an emergency relief coordinator of the U.N. Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The U.N. estimates some 4 million people were affected
by Saturday's earthquake, including 2 million who lost
homes ahead of the fierce winter.
So far, some 30 nations have contributed relief
supplies and manpower.
Quake prompts dramatic accord
on Kashmir contacts
The catastrophic earthquake which shattered
Pakistani Kashmir opened a door to reconciliation
with Pakistan's old foe India on Tuesday.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf made
a dramatic appeal to India to allow the
quake-stricken people of divided Kashmir
to help each other deal with the catastrophe.
India agreed with unusual speed.
"We will allow every Kashmiri to come across
the Line of Control and assist in the reconstruction
effort," Musharraf told a news conference in
the region.
"We would also like to facilitate the political leaders
on both sides to go across and interact each with other
and assist each other in whatever reconstruction effort,"
he said.
He said Pakistan would accept anything New Delhi
offered, short of a military crossing of the Line
of Control -- a ceasefire line and de facto border
dividing Kashmir and its people.
IMMEDIATE NEEDS
Although longer-range planning to help survivors
through the harsh Himalayan winter has started,
large numbers still need immediate help but are
cut off by landslides.
Helicopters, back in the air after weekend rains
grounded the only means of getting aid deep into
the mountains quickly, deliver supplies and bring
down people who had lain injured since their
remote world was shattered.
But they have not been able to reach everywhere.
The lowest estimate of the number of people
left homeless in Pakistani Kashmikr is 1 million.
They urgently need winter tents, and Musharraf
again appealed for tents to shelter people who
have lost everything.
Would you like to help? Start here
http://www.networkforgood.org
US NEWS
Ben & Jerry's returns to social issues
Ben & Jerry's, the ice cream brand whose
image and marketing was built on social
consciousness, tonight revives that tradition
in its first TV ad campaign in a decade.
The ads focus on issues, not ice cream.
In the first of five commercials to run
throughout the year, Ben & Jerry's takes
on the decline of family-owned farms in the USA.
CEO Walt Freese admits that Ben & Jerry's
has been soft in recent years on continuing
its founders' tradition of social consciousness.
"Ben & Jerry's has tremendous heritage in
leading with its values. Over the last few years,
we've honored our values, but we haven't stepped
out there boldly the way that (founders) Ben
Cohen and Jerry Greenfield taught us to lead."
says Walt Freese, who became CEO a year ago.
The campaign comes as some ad giants are spending
more on social responsibility programs and ads:
• GE in May announced its Ecomagination program
- a $1.5 billion program of research for less-polluting
technologies - and is running a corporate ad.
• Starbucks, which already offers coffees that promote
fair pay for growers and environmentally sound cultivation,
recently announced it will donate $10 million over five
years for clean drinking water around the world through
sales of its Ethos bottled water.
• British Petroleum has been advertising its environmental
awareness and is spending $350 million over several years
to create energy-efficient products.
Such spending is a cost of doing business in a global economy
with consumers connected by e-mail and blogs, says Steve
Lippman, vice president of social research at Boston-based
Trillium Asset Management, which invests in socially
responsible funds and companies.
"Customers expect companies to act responsibly," he says.
"In business terms, it's basic risk management. Customers,
employees and potentially investors can turn against you
if they don't like what they see. And the Internet (lets)
activists get the word out faster."
Social Security Announces 4.1 Percent
Benefit Increase for 2006
Monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security
Income benefits for more than 52 million Americans
will increase 4.1 percent in 2006, the Social Security
Administration announced yesterday.
Lose weight, enjoy a better sex life: study
Obese women who start to lose weight will also see
an improvement in the quality of their sex lives,
according to a U.S. study released on Monday.
Even a moderate weight loss reduced complaints
of feeling sexually unattractive and led to improved
desire, according to the study presented at the
annual meeting of The North American Association
for the Study of Obesity (NAASO) in Vancouver.
"If people experience benefits and rewards from
their weight loss and health efforts, it may motivate
them to continue a healthy lifestyle," said Martin
Binks, director of behavioral health at the Duke
Diet and Fitness Center in Durham, North Carolina.
a disaster can bring the world closer.
Please do what you can to help...
http://www.networkforgood.org
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
U.N.: Countries Have Pledged $165M in Aid
to victims of the South East Asia Earthquake
GENEVA - Countries have pledged some $165 million
to aid the victims of the devastating weekend earthquake
in South Asia, the United Nations said Thursday.
"We are in a hurry; we should all be in a hurry to
rush assistance to victims," said Yvette Stevens,
an emergency relief coordinator of the U.N. Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The U.N. estimates some 4 million people were affected
by Saturday's earthquake, including 2 million who lost
homes ahead of the fierce winter.
So far, some 30 nations have contributed relief
supplies and manpower.
Quake prompts dramatic accord
on Kashmir contacts
The catastrophic earthquake which shattered
Pakistani Kashmir opened a door to reconciliation
with Pakistan's old foe India on Tuesday.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf made
a dramatic appeal to India to allow the
quake-stricken people of divided Kashmir
to help each other deal with the catastrophe.
India agreed with unusual speed.
"We will allow every Kashmiri to come across
the Line of Control and assist in the reconstruction
effort," Musharraf told a news conference in
the region.
"We would also like to facilitate the political leaders
on both sides to go across and interact each with other
and assist each other in whatever reconstruction effort,"
he said.
He said Pakistan would accept anything New Delhi
offered, short of a military crossing of the Line
of Control -- a ceasefire line and de facto border
dividing Kashmir and its people.
IMMEDIATE NEEDS
Although longer-range planning to help survivors
through the harsh Himalayan winter has started,
large numbers still need immediate help but are
cut off by landslides.
Helicopters, back in the air after weekend rains
grounded the only means of getting aid deep into
the mountains quickly, deliver supplies and bring
down people who had lain injured since their
remote world was shattered.
But they have not been able to reach everywhere.
The lowest estimate of the number of people
left homeless in Pakistani Kashmikr is 1 million.
They urgently need winter tents, and Musharraf
again appealed for tents to shelter people who
have lost everything.
Would you like to help? Start here
http://www.networkforgood.org
US NEWS
Ben & Jerry's returns to social issues
Ben & Jerry's, the ice cream brand whose
image and marketing was built on social
consciousness, tonight revives that tradition
in its first TV ad campaign in a decade.
The ads focus on issues, not ice cream.
In the first of five commercials to run
throughout the year, Ben & Jerry's takes
on the decline of family-owned farms in the USA.
CEO Walt Freese admits that Ben & Jerry's
has been soft in recent years on continuing
its founders' tradition of social consciousness.
"Ben & Jerry's has tremendous heritage in
leading with its values. Over the last few years,
we've honored our values, but we haven't stepped
out there boldly the way that (founders) Ben
Cohen and Jerry Greenfield taught us to lead."
says Walt Freese, who became CEO a year ago.
The campaign comes as some ad giants are spending
more on social responsibility programs and ads:
• GE in May announced its Ecomagination program
- a $1.5 billion program of research for less-polluting
technologies - and is running a corporate ad.
• Starbucks, which already offers coffees that promote
fair pay for growers and environmentally sound cultivation,
recently announced it will donate $10 million over five
years for clean drinking water around the world through
sales of its Ethos bottled water.
• British Petroleum has been advertising its environmental
awareness and is spending $350 million over several years
to create energy-efficient products.
Such spending is a cost of doing business in a global economy
with consumers connected by e-mail and blogs, says Steve
Lippman, vice president of social research at Boston-based
Trillium Asset Management, which invests in socially
responsible funds and companies.
"Customers expect companies to act responsibly," he says.
"In business terms, it's basic risk management. Customers,
employees and potentially investors can turn against you
if they don't like what they see. And the Internet (lets)
activists get the word out faster."
Social Security Announces 4.1 Percent
Benefit Increase for 2006
Monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security
Income benefits for more than 52 million Americans
will increase 4.1 percent in 2006, the Social Security
Administration announced yesterday.
Lose weight, enjoy a better sex life: study
Obese women who start to lose weight will also see
an improvement in the quality of their sex lives,
according to a U.S. study released on Monday.
Even a moderate weight loss reduced complaints
of feeling sexually unattractive and led to improved
desire, according to the study presented at the
annual meeting of The North American Association
for the Study of Obesity (NAASO) in Vancouver.
"If people experience benefits and rewards from
their weight loss and health efforts, it may motivate
them to continue a healthy lifestyle," said Martin
Binks, director of behavioral health at the Duke
Diet and Fitness Center in Durham, North Carolina.
posted by Mr. Positive! at 2:39 PM
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