My name is Lysa Heslov. This is my first blog post! I do art exchanges with at-risk kids here in the States, and internationally with children who are suffering from armed conflict. I am not an expert nor a politician, but simply a mother, and I speak with knowledge and conviction when I say that these children did not sign up for this. My philosophy is quite simple – I believe every child in our world deserves to be treated with human decency. They deserve to feel like children!

My organization, Children Mending Hearts, promotes global art exchange with these at-risk children, hopefully creating empowerment, education and empathy, thereby mending hearts and creating peace throughout the world!

Today I leave for the DR Congo to lead a scrapbook workshop, as well paint lanterns and make puppets with children there who have been the victims of sexual and gender-based violence. The scrapbooks were made here in LA at Inner-City Arts, a center for at-risk kids in downtown.

You can take part in the adventure that I and my team – Stan Barrett, Samantha Coker, filmmaker David Serota and Joey Borgogna – are embarking upon by watching for updates on our travels. We are grateful for the support of the International Medical Corps, Samaritan’s Purse, Creative Visions, and the wonderful students at Inner-City Arts who began us on our journey with the beautiful scrapbooks they made for us to share with their brothers and sisters in the Congo. See for yourself…

Inner City Arts and Children Mending Hearts from takepart on Vimeo.

photo by Tigerzeye, Creative Commons

Unless you live under a rock, it’s hard to be immune from the ongoing depressing news of our country’s economic state, the millions of citizens who’ve lost jobs, the millions who are falling into poverty and the increased number of homeless families because of these tough economic times.  While Obama has pledged a major economic stimulus package of $800 billion, but that doesn’t necessarily provide immediate relief for millions of impoverished Americans.

This is scary and depressing news. However, there’s a lot of things you can do to alleviate people’s suffering by donating food, volunteering at homeless centers and giving away gently used clothing.  If you’re a teenager, one cool way to donate clothes is through Teens for Jeans.  It’s really simple:

-between January 26th and February 22nd, drop off a pair of gently worn jeans to any Aeropostale store.
-you will receive 25% off your next pair of jeans from Aeropostale.

So, start cleaning out your closets and get ready to head to your nearest Aeropostale at the end of the month! takepart with Do Something for more details.

An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale shook residents of Costa Rica this afternoon, killing two children who sold candy to tourists in a national park.  The quake struck just 20 miles northwest of the capital of San Jose, triggering landslides in the surrounding rural areas and damaging a highway near the Poas national volcano park. An earthquake of similar scale killed around 700 people in the city of Cartago in 1910, and in November 2004, the capital was struck by a 6.4 quake, which killed eight people.  While it’s great news that the casualties weren’t more extensive it’s terribly sad that the earthquake claimed the lives of children.
takepart by learning more about earthquakes from Scientific American and learn how to prepare for one with Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country.

Related:  Inconvenient Truth of the Day

Photo:  Public Domain

You may think during the holidays that just a little extra turkey, or stuffing, or whatever it is you eat during the holidays (my family’s Christmas eve dinner was all Mexican food, of course) won’t hurt too much, cause you’ll start dieting in the new year (how’s that resolution working, by the way?). But studies show that overeating at some meals can actually lead to long-term damage to your health.

National Public Radio’s Morning Edition reports that sporadic overeating can lead to more than that, with detrimental effects.

The problem, some doctors and researchers say, is that overeating causes biological changes in the body that can lead more food cravings and cause your stomach to send mixed signals about when it’s actually full. As the years go by, those holiday pounds add up.

So, basically, that little extra you had just because it was New Year’s Eve or whatever will come back to haunt you in the coming years. The biological changes make you more likely to overeat instead of sleep, for example (which seems odd, I know, but we don’t argue with science).

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For all of you that were waiting for the new federal fuel efficiency standards to take effect so everyone starts to drive more environmentally-friendly cars, your wait is going to be a little bit longer. Yesterday, the Bush administration (the Transportation Department, to be quite specific) announced that they would be delaying implementation of standards that will require cars and light trucks (SUVs) to be more fuel efficient due to the financial hardships faced by the auto industry.

Bloomberg.com  notes that interestingly enough, “The trade association representing automakers said it didn’t want the delay.” And, as well, this setback may be a short one. As the article notes, the administration’s decision

postpones action on a 2007 agreement by Congress and President George W. Bush to raise Corporate Average Fuel Economy for the first time in three decades. That leaves it up to President-elect Barack Obama’s administration to set standards for 2011 models before a March 31 deadline.

As Obama has stated he wants stricter standards, he has plenty of time between January 20 and March 31 to make changes. Basically, this is the Bush administration saying it doesn’t want Republicans to seem too harsh on the auto industry, as “U.S. auto sales in December plunged 36 percent, leaving the industry’s 2008 sales volume at a 16-year low.”

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The controversial military conractor KBR may have knowingly exposed soldiers from the Indiana National Guard to toxins while they were protecting employees of a power plant in Southern Iraq.  Since 2003, some of the troops have exhibited signs of cancer, tumors and rashes and one guardsman has already died of lung cancer, and now the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America are asking KBR to come clean about any knowledge of those toxins and asking Congress to take action.  If they did know, hopefully this gross negligence will not go unpunished or swept under the rug, particularly as the Bush administration scuttles out of office.  (KBR is, after all, a subsidiary of Halliburton, the giant energy company formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney)

Here is Battalion Cmdr. James Gentry upsetting account of his battle with cancer since serving at the KBR plant:

takepart by signing IAVA’s petition demanding that KBR own up to any knowledge of these hazards.

Sure, there’s a dense thicket of eco-concious websites sprawling all over the web, but sadly many are struggling admist our current economic maelstorm (see: Plenty).  Well, maybe a little bit of rock ‘n’ roll will help.  Chuck Leavell, keyboardist for the Rolling Stones, along with fellow green Atlantans have launched Mother Nature Network this week, aspiring to be the CNN of all things environmental.

While it may be an ambitious endeavor at a challenging time, the site looks impressive and thoroughly covers a vast array of eco-topics.  MNN offers a one-stop shop for green news and advice, from business and technology to food and family and more.  The site may seem a bit sprawling, but it aims for simplicity and accessibility:  they’ve hired the experts, so you don’t have to be one.

takepart by joining the MNN community and check out Chuck talking about being a tree farmer on MNN’s series Love of the Land after the jump:

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I adore Lily Allen. She’s stylish, fabulous and she’s got a sweet new single out “The Fear” (see video below, I love this song) and a new album ‘It’s Not Me, It’s You’, out February 9th
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What a cutie! A very outspoken cutie (hence why I adore her). Allen has gotten lots of flack in the past for such things as public drunken antics, fighting with Amy Winehouse, her weight and now she’s being blasted because she recently was quoted as saying “I know lots of people that take cocaine 3 nights a week and get up and go to work everyday, no problem.”

Okay, maybe not a great thing to say on record but it’s not like Lily said

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Today Barack Obama’s transition team asked Congress to delay the national switch to digital television scheduled for Feb. 17, claiming there is “insufficient support” for the problems consumers will experience during the shut-off of analog signals. Additionally officials announced the program distributing $40 coupons to consumers to assist with the cost of converter boxes is out of money, so consumers who need the $40 coupon may not receive them one before the switch date.

After the switch, analog television sets will not work without a converter box. Consumers who have digital TV sets, or whoever cable or satellite service, will not be affected.

“With coupons unavailable, support and education insufficient, and the most vulnerable Americans exposed, I urge you to consider a change to the legislatively-mandated analog cutoff date,” John Podesta, co-chair of the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team wrote in the letter, which was sent to leaders of the Senate and House Commerce committees.- Washington Post

takepart and stay informed onthe digital switch at http://www.dtv.gov/

Admittedly this a genre that I don’t very much enjoy but this still looks pretty bad.

Although I admit is kind of interesting that the movie is about a poor urban white boy being taken advantage of by a black man.  Beyond that though this seems pretty basic - although I do appreciate the shout out to how hard it is to be a street vendor.  I have a few friends who are vendors and they put up with a lot.

On that note, takepart with the Street Vendor Project, a group that works to protect the rights of street vendors.