Wednesday, March 23, 2011
I am trying really hard to become Vegan, I am realizing that being a vegetarian is not enough... WHY IS IT SO HARD!? I want this so bad, but I also want to do yoga everyday, and that doesn't happen. I need to strive more. grr... I need advise, maybe part of my issue is I have no one behind me encouraging me, I mean seriously I don't even know any other vegetarians for crying out loud! I feel alone...
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Peace Corps volunteer totals reach 40-year high
More people are volunteering with the Peace Corps than at any point since 1970, the agency said Thursday as it touted a 13 percent year-to-year increase in headcount.
As of Sept. 30, 8,655 Peace Corps volunteers were working in 77 host countries, up almost 1,000 volunteers from 2009, the agency said. The new total falls a little short of the 9,000 volunteers who worked with the Peace Corps in 59 countries in 1970.
The agency attributed the jump to new host countries, extended volunteer stays and a $400 million operating budget -- its largest ever. The Peace Corps reopened programs in Colombia, Indonesia and Sierra Leone and re-opened its suspended program in Madagascar, the agency said.
The agency's volunteer headcount fell to a low of 5,380 in 1982 but climbed steadily through the 1980s, according to agency statistics. It has yet to reach a goal of 10,000 volunteers per year that was set by Congress in 1985.
The average age of Peace Corps volunteers is 28, but seven percent are over age 50, and the oldest volunteer is 86. Nineteen percent of volunteers are minorities, 60 percent are women, and 90 percent hold at least a bachelor's degree.
Education remains the most popular sector of service for volunteers, but others work on health and HIV/AIDS prevention, business development, youth development and environmental and agricultural projects. Volunteers are almost evenly divided across Latin America, Africa and Europe/Asia, the agency said.
"Every day, Peace Corps volunteers strive to make a difference and have improved the lives of millions of people - not just in communities around the world, but also in their local communities in the United States once they return home," said Peace Corps Director Aaron S. Williams. "This is the legacy of [President John F. Kennedy's] concept of international service, an idea that continues to capture the imagination of thousands of service-minded Americans today."
Kevin Quigley, president of the National Peace Corps Association, said the new numbers "reflect the community's long-held aspiration that the Peace Corps grow strategically and effectively." Current and former Peace Corps volunteers often refer to each other as members of the "Peace Corps community." NPCA represents returning Peace Corps volunteers and provides networking and mentoring options to members. The community's lobbying efforts helped secure last year's $60 million increase in agency appropriations, Quigley said.
More than 200,000 Americans have served in 139 countries since Kennedy established the Peace Corps in 1961. It became an independent federal agency in 1981 and will mark the 50th anniversary of its founding next March.
As of Sept. 30, 8,655 Peace Corps volunteers were working in 77 host countries, up almost 1,000 volunteers from 2009, the agency said. The new total falls a little short of the 9,000 volunteers who worked with the Peace Corps in 59 countries in 1970.
The agency attributed the jump to new host countries, extended volunteer stays and a $400 million operating budget -- its largest ever. The Peace Corps reopened programs in Colombia, Indonesia and Sierra Leone and re-opened its suspended program in Madagascar, the agency said.
The agency's volunteer headcount fell to a low of 5,380 in 1982 but climbed steadily through the 1980s, according to agency statistics. It has yet to reach a goal of 10,000 volunteers per year that was set by Congress in 1985.
The average age of Peace Corps volunteers is 28, but seven percent are over age 50, and the oldest volunteer is 86. Nineteen percent of volunteers are minorities, 60 percent are women, and 90 percent hold at least a bachelor's degree.
Education remains the most popular sector of service for volunteers, but others work on health and HIV/AIDS prevention, business development, youth development and environmental and agricultural projects. Volunteers are almost evenly divided across Latin America, Africa and Europe/Asia, the agency said.
"Every day, Peace Corps volunteers strive to make a difference and have improved the lives of millions of people - not just in communities around the world, but also in their local communities in the United States once they return home," said Peace Corps Director Aaron S. Williams. "This is the legacy of [President John F. Kennedy's] concept of international service, an idea that continues to capture the imagination of thousands of service-minded Americans today."
Kevin Quigley, president of the National Peace Corps Association, said the new numbers "reflect the community's long-held aspiration that the Peace Corps grow strategically and effectively." Current and former Peace Corps volunteers often refer to each other as members of the "Peace Corps community." NPCA represents returning Peace Corps volunteers and provides networking and mentoring options to members. The community's lobbying efforts helped secure last year's $60 million increase in agency appropriations, Quigley said.
More than 200,000 Americans have served in 139 countries since Kennedy established the Peace Corps in 1961. It became an independent federal agency in 1981 and will mark the 50th anniversary of its founding next March.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Puppy Mills Must Go!
Help Fight Puppy Mills
http://www.aspca.org/fight-animal-cruelty/puppy-mills/10-ways-you-can-help-fight.html
That puppy who charmed you through the pet shop window has most likely come from a large-scale, substandard commercial breeding facility, commonly known as a puppy mill. In these facilities, parent dogs are caged and bred as often as possible, and give birth to puppies who could have costly medical problems you might not become aware of until after you bring your new pet home.
Make Adoption Your First Option
If you’re looking to make a puppy part of your family, check your local shelters first. Not only will you be saving a life, but you will ensure that your money is not going to support a puppy mill. There are many dogs waiting for homes in shelters all across the country—and an estimated one in four is a purebred! Your second option is breed rescue. If your heart is set on a specific breed you haven’t been able to find in a shelter, you can do an Internet search for a breed-specific rescue organization.
Internet Buyers, Beware!
Buying a puppy from the Internet is as risky as buying from a pet store. If you buy a puppy based on a picture and a phone call, you have no way of seeing the puppy’s breeding premises or meeting his parents. And those who sell animals on the Internet are not held to the Animal Welfare Act regulations, and so are not inspected by the USDA.
Share Your Puppy Mill Story with the ASPCA
If you have—or think you have—purchased a puppy-mill puppy, please tell us your story. Every bit of evidence gives us more power to get legislation passed that will ban puppy mills.
Speak Out!
Inform your state and federal legislators that you are disturbed by the inhumane treatment of dogs in puppy mills, and would like to see legislation passed that ensures that all animals bred to be pets are raised in healthy conditions. You can keep up-to-date about current legislation to ban puppy mills by joining the ASPCA Advocacy Brigade.
Tell Your Friends
If someone you know is planning on buying a puppy, please direct them to our puppy mill information at ASPCA.org. Let them know that there are perfectly healthy dogs in shelters waiting to be adopted.
Think Globally
Have a webpage, a MySpace page or a blog? Use these powerful tools to inform people about puppy mill cruelty by adding a link to our puppy mill information at ASPCA.org.
Act Locally!
When people are looking to buy or adopt a pet, they will often ask the advice of their veterinarian, groomer or pet supply store. Download and print our flyers (pdf) and ask to leave them in the offices of your local practitioners.
REASONS TO BE A VEGETERIAN
Because a vegan diet reverses heart disease.
Because it takes a small person to beat a defenseless animal ... and an even smaller person to eat one.
Because eating meat and dairy products makes you fat.
Because the grain used to feed animals could be used to feed hungry people.
Because no animal deserves to die for your taste buds.
Because you can't eat meat and call yourself an environmentalist.
Because more than half the water used in the U.S. is used to raise animals for food.
Because when animals feel pain, they scream too.
Because it isn't fair.
Because it takes a small person to beat a defenseless animal ... and an even smaller person to eat one.
Because eating meat and dairy products makes you fat.
Because the grain used to feed animals could be used to feed hungry people.
Because no animal deserves to die for your taste buds.
Because you can't eat meat and call yourself an environmentalist.
Because more than half the water used in the U.S. is used to raise animals for food.
Because when animals feel pain, they scream too.
Because it isn't fair.
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