Category Archives: Viva!

Avian Flu Diary: WHO: Cuba To Lend 165 HCWs To The Ebola Fight

WHO welcomes Cuban doctors for Ebola response in west Africa

Statement

12 September 2014

WHO welcomes the commitment from the Government of Cuba to provide 165 health professionals to support Ebola care in west Africa. The newly announced support includes physicians, nurses, epidemiologists, specialists in infection control, intensive care specialists and social mobilization officers, and will be concentrated in Sierra Leone.

“If we are going to go to war with Ebola, we need the resources to fight,” says Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization. “I am extremely grateful for the generosity of the Cuban government and these health professionals for doing their part to help us contain the worst Ebola outbreak ever known. This will make a significant difference in Sierra Leone.”

“Cuba is world-famous for its ability to train outstanding doctors and nurses and for its generosity in helping fellow countries on the route to progress,” says Dr Chan.

via Avian Flu Diary: WHO: Cuba To Lend 165 HCWs To The Ebola Fight.

Humans of New York

“When I was fifteen, I was raped by three boys while competing at a gymnastics tournament. I was so ashamed, that I stood on a train track, and waited for the train to come. At the last moment, I tried to jump away. I woke up after a month. It was the middle of the night, and I could immediately tell that something was missing. I started feeling all over my body, and that’s when I realized that I’d lost my arm. Now I counsel teenagers who have been diagnosed with HIV. I’m normally the first to meet with them after they get their results. I try to explain to them that there’s a way out of even the most impossible situations.”

(Odessa, Ukraine)

via Humans of New York.

Man assaults woman jogging…who turns out to be a federal marshal

After allegedly attacking her by grabbing her behind and pulling down her shorts, Flynn took off running and the victim/federal marshal ran after him, the station said.

That is when victim yelled, “Federal marshal, stop!”

She caught up with him a few blocks away, cornered him, and when he resisted, she kicked him in the crotch, CBS Pittsburgh reported.

Flynn is suspected of lifting up another woman’s skirt earlier that day (a busy Tuesday of sexual assault for this guy!) and now faces charges of aggravated assault, indecent assault, and escape. It’s unfortunate that, in a culture in which harassment like this is disturbingly normalized, it often takes a chance encounter with an law enforcement agent — or dedicated teen girl runner — to bring guys like this to justice. But still, I’m enjoying imagining his face when he heard “Federal marshal, stop.”

via Man assaults woman jogging…who turns out to be a federal marshal.

Jane Fonda Narrates New Documentary “Becoming California” | Jane Fonda

When I was asked to narrate the California Legacy Project’s documentary “Becoming California” I jumped at the chance.

I’ve learned much about the makeup of the California landscape from its State Parks, having hiked in the Redwood forests and camped in Sequoia National Park among others, but I was surprised to learn there was much I wasn’t familiar with and even areas I thought I understood turned out to be far more unique and interesting than I ever imagined. I loved finding out about the geological histories that brought us what we see today— from the vast oil field that lay beneath what is now Los Angeles; to the the movements of tectonic plates.

By exploring California in three parts, “Becoming California” asks the question; Can nature and civilization coexist? What I like is that it rather than bringing gloom and doom there is a sense of hopefulness.  I was so moved that it was frequently hard to read some of the lines without tearing up. Because I was so impressed with the documentary and wanted my children and grandchildren to learn what I had learned. I gave them each a DVD set last Christmas.  I got advance copies, but now you can enjoy it too, watch the trailer here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8oRNXt7Xbc

via Jane Fonda Narrates New Documentary “Becoming California” | Jane Fonda.

Serena Williams proves doubters wrong at US Open and arguably heads greats | Kevin Mitchell | Sport | The Guardian

During one of Serena Williams’ not infrequent mood dips, she professed little or no interest in the fact that her occasional absences from the tour were hurting her chances of being ranked No1 in the world. She was not that bothered, she insisted to a sceptical press room at Wimbledon a few years ago and the unspoken truth was that, whatever the rankings said, she was the best in the world anyway.

via Serena Williams proves doubters wrong at US Open and arguably heads greats | Kevin Mitchell | Sport | The Guardian.

13 Reminders to Help You Deal with Haters. | Rebelle Society

{Took me ages to finally learn this – when I did, I could finally put away all the hurt one of my parents gave me – when I was not the real target of the hurtful comments}

5. Don’t take it personally. Don Miguel Ruiz’s second agreement states: Don’t take anything personally.

“Whatever happens around you, don’t take it personally… Nothing other people do is because of you. It is because of themselves. All people live in their own dream, in their own mind; they are in a completely different world from the one we live in.

When we take something personally, we make the assumption that they know what is in our world, and we try to impose our world on their world.“

via 13 Reminders to Help You Deal with Haters. | Rebelle Society.

U.S. Open 2014: Serena Williams Beats Caroline Wozniacki for 18th Grand Slam Title – NYTimes.com

{Power, grace, Serena!}

Serena Williams was asked last week what the number 18 meant to her.

“It means legal to do some things,” she said with a laugh.

But she knew what the reporter was getting at.

“It also means legendary,” she added more seriously.

She would not go so far as to call herself legendary — “I’m just Serena,” she said — but she joined some elite company Sunday, when she tied Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova with her 18th Grand Slam singles title.

The top-ranked Williams defeated Caroline Wozniacki, 6-3, 6-3, to capture her third United States Open final in a row and sixth over all.

via U.S. Open 2014: Serena Williams Beats Caroline Wozniacki for 18th Grand Slam Title – NYTimes.com.

Food Politics » Never mind low-carb v. low-fat: Get a Lab (dog, that is)

A reader who prefers his name to go unmentioned writes this in response to yesterday’s post about low-carb v. low-fat diets:

Hi Marion,

It is pretty simple.

1. Calories in, Calories out!

2.  Eat less. I cut out beer and ice cream.

3.  Get a Labrador retriever and walk everyday. If you don’t the dog will drive you crazy and probably destroy your house.

I got my first Lab in 2002 and weighed 240.  I am on my second Lab and now continue to weigh about 210 after having lost 35 pounds by 2006, and have crept up about 5 pounds.

It ain’t complicated!

He could make a fortune.  Just think: the “Get a Lab” diet—a guaranteed success!

via Food Politics » Never mind low-carb v. low-fat: Get a Lab (dog, that is).