CANNES, France (Reuters) – In a bumper year for U.S. productions in Cannes, director John Hillcoat, presenting prohibition-era drama “Lawless” at the film festival on Saturday, said the state of smaller-budget American movies was “distressing”. Lawless is in fact an international production – Hillcoat and two of his leading cast are Australian, as is scriptwriter and musician Nick Cave. But the 1930s tale of three bootlegging brothers in Virginia also features leading U.S. actors Jessica Chastain and Shia LaBeouf and is backed by the Weinstein Company. It is one of five U.S. …
Movies News Headlines – Yahoo! News
20-May-2012
27-Apr-2012
SCA Teen Trail Crew Hosts DOI Sec. Salazar, U.S. Senators Murkowski and Reed
Denali National Park, AK (PRWEB) August 12, 2011
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), capped her “best of Alaska” tour with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) on August 10th with the presentation of a special citation to a Student Conservation Association crew in Denali National Park.
Neither the officials nor the crew let a cool, rainy day dampen their outlooks. The SCA members – six high school-aged volunteers plus two adult crew leaders – were encrusted in mud from making improvements to the park’s Savage Trail but Salazar, Murkowski, and Reed eagerly shared handshakes and hugs. Regional Park Service Director Sue Masica, Denali Superintendent Paul Anderson and other park staff were also present.
The senators, DOI and park officials stressed their commitment to expanding youth service opportunities on the nation’s public lands, and engaged the SCA crew in an animated discussion of their experiences in Denali.
While noting the importance of Denali to Alaska’s economy, a smiling Salazar put his arm around one of the SCA members and said “This administration is committed to youth conservation service and you embody that practice here in this magnificent national park.”
The Secretary then presented the team with a framed photograph of Denali in recognition of SCA’s ongoing conservation efforts in the park and across Alaska.
“For more than 50 years, SCA has engaged youth in nature, promoted lifelong stewardship, and prepared young people for green careers,” says SCA Associate Vice President and Alaska Director Don Hunger. “As SCA expands its own programs, we look forward to supporting the America’s Great Outdoors youth engagement initiative and the proposed 21st Century Youth Conservation Corps. In doing so, we will further expand our partners’ capacities by adding skilled and motivated hands and accomplishing more of the critical work that needs to get done.”
“Additionally, with today’s alpine unemployment levels among younger Americans, programs like SCA provide a critical advantage for those entering the job market. We’re glad Secretary Salazar and Senators Murkowski and Reed saved the best for last on their Alaskan tour. Together, we can give young people like those here in Denali more opportunities to protect our precious natural and cultural resources.”
Last year, SCA youth leaders nationwide were instrumental in developing the America’s Great Outdoors youth report, a federal initiative that calls for expanded youth service and employment opportunities to help reconnect youth to nature and meet the needs of public lands. SCA is currently working with the Department of the Interior, the National Park Service and others to create new opportunities for youth to gain valuable career experience in national parks. Concurrently, SCA is implementing its own plan to dramatically expand the number of young people it engages in hands-on conservation service over the next five years to further support the nation’s parks and forests as well as the workforce development needs of land management agencies and other green employers.
Seventeen-year old SCA crew member Cailyn Gray of Arlington, VA says she expected to see grizzly bears, moose and eagles while in Alaska, but meeting the federal dignitaries was another story altogether. “They were sincerely interested in hearing about our efforts and experiences,” Gray says. “And it wasn’t easy for them to get here. They were awesome.’
Senator Reed, chairman of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, encouraged the teenagers to consider careers with the National Park Service, stating “you are our best hope.” Murkowski closed the session by thanking the crew for sharing their time and passion. “Although you are not from Alaska, you will take Alaska with you,” Murkowski said while patting her heart. “And you’ll also take the skills you learned here back to your communities and I hope they serve you well.”
SCA, a national nonprofit organization that annually places thousands of young interns and volunteers on public lands in all 50 states, recently launched an expansion of its Alaska programs, with a specific emphasis on providing service and job training opportunities for Native Alaska youth. SCA is collaborating with local partners to fulfill the workforce development needs of federal and state agencies and provide young workers with new skill sets and hands-on experience, and is also working with Alaska’s youth-focused community of non-profits, Native Corporations, universities and public land agencies to provide integrated programming, leadership and career development opportunities for the state’s young people.
Earlier in the three-day tour, Murkowski, Reed and Salazar visited the Bureau of Land Management’s Alaska Fire Center in Fairbanks as well as several energy facilities on the North Slope.
About SCA
The Student Conservation Association is the only national organization that develops tomorrow’s conservation leaders by providing high school and college students with service opportunities in all 50 states, from urban communities to national parks and forests. More than 4,000 SCA members annually render over two million hours of service to America’s public lands. Since 1957, SCA has helped to develop new generations of conservation leaders, inspire lifelong stewardship, and save the planet. SCA maintains offices in Anchorage, AK, Boise, ID, Charlestown, NH, Oakland, CA, Pittsburgh, PA, Seattle, WA and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit http://www.thesca.org.
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13-Apr-2012
Artyom Saleviev remains traumatized after being sent back to Russia by his American mother.
04-Mar-2012
2011 U.S. Human Rights Heroes Announced
Category : Teen
2011 U.S. Human Rights Heroes Announced
Boston, MA (PRWEB) November 28, 2011
The Petra Foundation welcomed four new fellows to its growing network of human rights heroes on Saturday, November 19, at its 23rd annual celebration of leaders who are making distinctive contributions to human rights and social justice.
The 2011 Petra Fellows were recognized for their innovative work on behalf of pregnant and parenting teens; low-wage restaurant workers; prison inmates and their families bearing the brunt of “tough on crime” political posturing; and the indigenous people of Guam, whose 30-mile-long island is about to be swamped by a $ 15-billion U.S. military build-up.
“Without personal privilege, and in the face of enormous obstacles, these leaders are not only improving the lives of those in their communities but they are working to bring about the changes that will add up to shared prosperity and opportunity in America,” said Petra director Meg Fidler. “We are honored to have them join us, and thrilled by the warm welcome they have received in Cambridge, where the foundation first launched 23 years ago.”
Keynoter Michael Patrick MacDonald, peace activist and author of All Souls, his award-winning memoir of growing up in South Boston, also paid tribute to the honorees: “Petra Fellows stand as a challenge to us to pay attention to the violence of poverty and injustice and to transform that pain into healing and hope. Their achievements do not allow us to simply applaud, but they call on each of us to act, as citizens of the world, to effect change wherever we are.”
The 2011 Petra Fellows are:
Julian Aquon, Chamoru Indian human rights activist from Guam, is using national and international legal advocacy, community organizing and critical scholarship to protect the environment and insure the cultural survival of indigenous peoples in the Pacific Islands in the face of massive waves of development and militarization.
Nikki Lewis, co-founder of the Restaurant Opportunities Center in Washington, DC, put
her first-hand experience of the occupational segregation, low-wages, lack of benefits and labor abuses to organize a rapidly growing workers center that is playing a role in the national movement for workplace justice.
Benita Miller, founding director of Brooklyn Young Mothers Collective, left her job as a juvenile rights lawyer to design a new model that enables disadvantaged teenage mothers not only to make transformational changes in their own lives and break the cycle of generational poverty, but also to become skilled advocates who are reframing the public response to pregnant and parenting teens.
Lillie Branch-Kennedy, co-founder of the Community Restoration Campaign, and founding director of Resource Information Help for the Disadvantaged, has taken on the full range of hardships encountered by prisoners and their families, from supporting children of incarcerated parents to lobbying for restoration of parole and voting rights and against the practice of filling Virginia’s “supermax” cells – and state coffers – by importing prisoners from as far away as Hawaii.
To see videos of each winner, please visit http://www.youtube.com/thepetrafoundation.
About Petra
Each year since 1988, through a national search and nomination process, Petra has identified and championed unsung leaders who are making distinctive contributions to the rights, autonomy and dignity of the millions who are marginalized in America.
In addition to giving Petra Fellows a personal financial award, the foundation sustains its commitment to them, promoting their local models to national prominence, fostering their collaborations and leveraging the power of a growing network of activists, advocates and policymakers on their behalf.
More information on the foundation and the 90 Petra Fellows working in 31 states, Indian Nations and U.S. territories is at http://www.petrafoundation.org.
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10-Feb-2012
New CDC Vital Signs Report Shows 9 in 10 U.S. Adults Get Too Much Sodium Every Day
Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) February 09, 2012
About 90% of Americans eat more sodium than is recommended for a healthy diet. Most of the sodium we eat comes from processed foods and foods prepared in restaurants. Sodium is already part of processed foods and cannot be removed. However, manufacturers and restaurants can produce foods with less sodium. In addition, you can select lower sodium foods when possible and you can cook more foods yourself, to better control how much sodium you eat.
The latest Vital Signs report finds that 10 types of foods are responsible for more than 40 percent of people’s sodium intake. The most common sources are breads and rolls, luncheon meat such as deli ham or turkey, pizza, poultry, soups, cheeseburgers and other sandwiches, cheese, pasta dishes, meat dishes such as meat loaf, and snack foods such as potato chips, pretzels and popcorn. Some foods that are consumed several times a day, such as bread, add up to a lot of sodium even though each serving is not high in sodium.
Top Sources of Sodium in the Diet
1. Breads and rolls
2. Cold cuts and cured meats
3. Pizza
4. Poultry
5. Soups
6. Sandwiches
7. Cheese
8. Pasta dishes
9. Meat dishes
10. Snacks
“Too much sodium raises blood pressure, which is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke,” said CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “These diseases kill more than 800,000 Americans each year and contribute an estimated $ 273 billion in health care costs.”
The report notes that the average person consumes about 3,300 milligrams of sodium per day, not including any salt added at the table, which is more than twice the recommended limit for about half of Americans and 6 of every 10 adults. The U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend limiting sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams per day. The recommendation is 1,500 milligrams per day for people aged 51 and older, and anyone with high blood pressure, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease, and African Americans.
Key points in the Vital Signs Report:
Ten types of foods account for 44 percent of dietary sodium consumed each day.
65 percent of sodium comes from food sold in stores.
25 percent of sodium comes from meals purchased in restaurants.
Reducing the sodium content of the 10 leading sodium sources by 25 percent would lower total dietary sodium by more than 10 percent and could play a role in preventing up to an estimated 28,000 deaths per year.
Reducing daily sodium consumption is difficult since it is in so many of the foods we eat. People can lower their sodium intake by eating a diet rich in fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables without sauce, while limiting the amount of processed foods with added sodium. Individuals can also check grocery food labels and choose the products lowest in sodium. CDC supports recommendations for food manufacturers and restaurants to reduce the amount of sodium added to foods.
“We’re encouraged that some food manufacturers are already taking steps to reduce sodium,” said Dr. Frieden. “Kraft Foods has committed to an average 10 percent reduction of sodium in their products over a two year period, and dozens of companies have joined a national initiative to reduce sodium. The leading supplier of cheese for pizza, Leprino Foods, is actively working on providing customers and consumers with healthier options. We are confident that more manufacturers will do the same.”
Understanding sodium in foods can be confusing
Types of foods matter: More than 40% of sodium comes from the following 10 types of foods: Breads and rolls, cold cuts and cured meats such as deli or packaged ham, or turkey, pizza, fresh and processed poultry, soups, sandwiches such as cheeseburgers, cheese, pasta dishes, meat-mixed dishes such as meat loaf with tomato sauce, and snacks such as chips, pretzels, and popcorn.
Sources of foods matter: About 65% of sodium eaten comes from food bought at retail stores, so look for lower sodium choices. About 25% comes from restaurants and it can be hard for a person to tell how much sodium is in restaurant foods.
Brands of foods matter: Different brands of the same foods may have different sodium levels. For example, sodium in chicken noodle soup can vary by as much as 840 milligrams (mg) per serving.
To learn more about ways to reduce sodium, visit http://www.cdc.gov/salt. For more information on heart disease and stroke, visit http://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/. Reducing sodium is also a key component of the Million Hearts™ initiative to prevent a million heart attacks and strokes over the next five years. To learn how to reduce sodium using the DASH eating plan, visit http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/dash/.
Vital Signs is a CDC report that appears on the first Tuesday of the month as part of the CDC journal, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The report provides the latest data and information on key health indicators. These are cancer prevention, obesity, tobacco use, motor vehicle passenger safety, prescription drug overdose, HIV/AIDS, alcohol use, health care-associated infections, cardiovascular health, teen pregnancy, asthma, and food safety.
CDC works 24/7 saving lives, protecting people from health threats, and saving money to have a more secure nation. Whether these threats are chronic or acute, manmade or natural, human error or deliberate attack, global or domestic, CDC is the U.S. health protection agency.
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10-Jan-2012
Five La Peer Health Systems Surgeons Named U.S. World and News Report Top Doctors
Los Angeles, California (PRWEB) December 08, 2011
La Peer Health Systems in Beverly Hills is proud to announce that five surgeons, Dr. Sonu Ahluwalia, Dr. Babak Azizzadeh, Dr. Babak Larian, Dr. David Parks and Dr. David Savar, have been named U.S. World and News Report Top Doctors. To be included in the listing, doctors are nominated by their peers. Then, the Top Doctors nominees are reviewed by a physician-led research team.
“It is an honor to be recognized by U.S. World and News Report and my peers for my medical work. I would like to congratulate all of my colleagues at La Peer who were also awarded by U.S. World and News Report as Top Doctors for all of their hard work and expertise in their given fields. This recognition demonstrates La Peer’s dedication to excellent patient care and advanced treatment,” said Dr. Azizzadeh.
Dr. Sonu Ahluwalia, a board certified orthopedic surgeon at La Peer, is nationally ranked by U.S. World and News Report in 12 specialties and high-performing in one specialty. His medical expertise includes sports medicine, arthoscopic surgery, knee ligament reconstruction, minimally invasive surgery, acute orthopedic trauma and hip and knee replacement surgery. Dr. Ahluwalia’s expertise in orthopedic surgrery has allowed him to present numerous scientific orthopedic papers at national and international level meetings, publish articles in peer reviewed journals, and be featured on multiple television programs.
Dr. Babak Azizzadeh is a Harvard-trained facial plastic surgeon and is double board-certified by the American Board of Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery and the American Board of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. U.S. World and News Report awarded him nationally in 12 specialties and high-performing in one specialty, including rhinoplasty, blepharoplasty, facial plastic surgery, facial rejuvenation and reconstructive surgery. His expertise in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery has made him one of the most sought-after surgeons in the country. Additionally, he has received many honors and awards for his research endeavors, has published numerous articles, presented nationally and internationally, and has been featured in television programs and other media outlets.
Dr. Babak Larian is a highly experienced, board-certified otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon. According to U.S. World and News Report, he is nationally ranked in 12 specialties and high-performing in one specialty. Dr. Larian’s medical specialties include minimally invasive surgery techniques, thyroid disorders, parathyroid disorders, parotid gland tumors, endoscopic surgery and sinus issues. As a leader in the field, he trains other surgeons, presents at national conferences and performs research.
Dr. David Parks is a skilled and extensively trained board-certified ophthalmologist. As a result of his expertise in ophthalmology, U.S. World and News Report ranked him as high-performing in 10 specialties. Dr. Parks understands the complexity and delicacy of the eyes and the importance of maintaining optimal eye health. He specializes in the diseases and surgery of the retina and vitreous, ocular inflammatory disease and the ocular complications of AIDS. Dr. Parks prides himself in offering experience, medical expertise and cutting edge care to his patients.
Dr. David Savar is a board-certified ophthalmologist and is nationally ranked in 12 specialties and high-performing in one specialty, according to U.S. World and News Report. He specializes in reconstructive and plastic surgery of the orbit, eyelid and lacrimal system, in addition to treatment of disease of the eye such as cataracts and glaucoma. Dr. Savar is dedicated to providing his patients with state-of-the-art medical and surgical care in a modern and comfortable environment.
La Peer Health Systems, located in Beverly Hills in Los Angeles county, focuses on excellence in patient care, offering the most advanced treatments and equipment that the medical world has access to. With 42 doctors across 13 departments, from anesthesiology to urology, La Peer offers comprehensive and widespread medical treatments for all patients. More information about La Peer Health Systems can be found at http://www.LaPeerHealth.com.
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Related World News Press Releases
04-Dec-2011
New Novel Depicts Racial Conflict on World War II U.S. Home Front
Princeton, NJ (PRWEB) October 17, 2011
When poor black migrant Roosevelt Turner flees the segregated South during World War II to find work in Pittsburgh’s booming steel industry, and Jacob Perlman, a Jewish physician, escapes Nazi-occupied Austria to find a safe haven in America, neither has an inkling that the “promised land” they now call home will force them to confront the same racial venom they’ve run from all their lives. But that’s precisely what occurs in Eliot Sefrin’s new novel, “Blood in the Promised Land” (ISBN 9781462026104, iUniverse, 2011).
Set at the height of World War II, as war-related production demands lure legions of southern blacks to northern defense jobs, transforming key cities into both “Arsenals for Democracy” and cauldrons of racial conflict, “Blood in the Promised Land” chronicles the separate, arduous journeys of two men who, at first glance, could not be any more different.
An orphaned, impoverished sharecroppers’ son, Roosevelt Turner, is black and uneducated, a manual laborer who owns little more than his visions of a better life. Lonely and uncommunicative, he summons the courage to free himself from the racial shackles of the Jim Crow South, embarking on a solitary, six-month journey to Pittsburgh, where he works at a local steel mill while searching for an America consistent with its lofty ideals. In contrast, Jacob Perlman—an affluent, esteemed physician, married and the father of a teenaged daughter—is among the thousands of Jews forced to flee Vienna in the face of anti-Semitic Nazi terror.
Stripped of all possessions, no longer licensed to practice medicine, he emigrates to Pittsburgh after a temporary stay in the Dominican Republic, working at a local medical clinic, and part-time as a cigar-factory lector, as he struggles to reclaim everything he has lost.
Beyond these vast differences lie striking parallels between Roosevelt and Jacob’s lives. Each has been deeply scarred by harrowing pasts shaped by persecution and violence tied to his race or ethnicity. Each has been cast adrift from a life stolen by others. Each wonders if he‟ll be able to purge painful memories, rid himself of unwonted emotions, and find a measure of peace in an America awash with both glowing promise and jarring contradictions.
When their paths unwittingly cross during a violent racial incident in Pittsburgh, their fateful encounter instantly reshapes their lives, permitting them to transcend their differences and exorcise the demons of their pasts. Their unlikely bond also thrusts them into the crucible of the civil rights movement, as they courageously join forces to crush the kind of terrorist hate group that‟s haunted them for years.
Author Sefrin says of his reasons for writing “Blood in the Promised Land”: “I wanted to tell the stories of two men who are polar opposites in terms of race, religion, education, and roots, and yet who find commonalities that ultimately draw them together on a bold, life-changing quest. I believe the novel contains a powerful, and hopefully inspiring, message about how all our lives contain common threads that should draw us together instead of pull us apart…how people need to see beyond their obvious differences, transcend the stereotypes that often define who they are, and form alliances that strive to achieve a common good.”
Reviewers agree that Sefrin has succeeded. Richard Blake of Reader Views states: “Sefrin carefully lays the foundation for his story. His images are extraordinary, his character development amazing, his writing so intense and authentic that I often lost sight of the fact that I was reading a fictional account. World War II has spawned countless novels. ‘Blood in the Promised Land’ is unique among them.”
“Blood in the Promised Land” will make people reconsider what it means to live in the land of the free, where bigotry and racism are still prevalent, and it will inspire them with its depiction of how even the most downtrodden of people can make a difference.
About the Author
Eliot Sefrin has been a newspaper and magazine reporter, editor, and publisher for more than thirty years. A native of Brooklyn, NY, he is a graduate of the City College of New York and resides near Princeton, NJ. “Blood in the Promised Land” is his third novel.
“Blood in the Promised Land” (ISBN 9781462026104, iUniverse, 2011) can be purchased through local and online bookstores. For additional information, visit http://www.EliotSefrin.com. Publicity contact: http://www.ReaderViews.com. Review copies available upon request.
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30-May-2011
Reuters – Sony Corp said it will start restoring its PlayStation videogame network in Japan and elsewhere in Asia on Saturday, more than a month after a massive security breach leaked personal details on tens of millions of accounts.
