Tuesday, May 18, 2010

"Somewhere Inside" by Laura Ling and Lisa Ling


Oprah interviewed Laura King about her life in the North Korean Prison and how she got there. Laura was trying to do a story on what is really happening in North Korea.

Laura Ling was vice president of Current TV's investigative journalism series Vanguard, and also served as an on-air correspondent for the show. Prior to joining Current in 2005, Laura worked as a series producer for Channel One News.



On March 17, 2009, Laura Ling and her colleague Euna Lee were working on a documentary about North Korean defectors who were fleeing the desperate conditions in their homeland. While filming on the Chinese–North Korean border, they were chased down by North Korean soldiers who violently apprehended them. Laura and Euna were charged with trespassing and "hostile acts," and imprisoned by Kim Jong Il's notoriously secretive Communist state. Kept totally apart, they endured months of interrogations and eventually a trial before North Korea's highest court. They were the first Americans ever to be sentenced to twelve years of hard labor in a prison camp in North Korea.

When news of the arrest reached Laura's sister, journalist Lisa Ling, she immediately began a campaign to get her sister released, one that led her from the State Department to the higher echelons of the media world and eventually to the White House.

Somewhere Inside reveals for the first time Laura's gripping account of what really happened on the river, her treatment at the hands of North Korean guards, and the deprivations and rounds of harrowing interrogations she endured. She speaks movingly about the emotional toll inflicted on her by her incarceration, including the measures she took to protect her sources and her fears that she might never see her family again.

Lisa writes about her unrelenting efforts to secure Laura and Euna's release. Offering insights into the vast media campaign spearheaded on the women's behalf, Lisa also takes us deep into the drama involving people at the highest levels of government, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, Senator John Kerry, and Governor Bill Richardson—intense discussions that entailed strategically balancing the agendas and good intentions of the various players. She also describes her role in the back-and-forth between North Korea's demands and the dramatic rescue by former President Bill Clinton.

Though they were thousands of miles apart while Laura was in captivity, the Ling sisters' relationship became a way for the reclusive North Korean government to send messages to the United States government, which helped lead to Laura and Euna's eventual release.

Told in the sisters' alternating voices, Somewhere Inside is a timely, inspiring, and page-turning tale of survival set against the canvas of international politics that goes beyond the headlines to reveal the impact on lives engulfed by forces beyond their control. But it is also a window into the unique bond these two sisters have always shared, a bond that sustained them throughout the most horrifying ordeal of their lives.CB3Z9QAB7C3D

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Oprah introduces " The Kind Diet"

The Kind Diet is a new Diet Book written by Alicia Silverstone, this was introduced on Oprah's Show.
This is one of the best weight loss books for women I have read.



Product Description
In The Kind Diet, actress, activist, and committed conservationist Alicia Silverstone shares the insights that encouraged her to swear off meat and dairy forever, and outlines the spectacular benefits of adopting a plant-based diet, from effortless weight loss to clear skin, off-the-chart energy, and smooth digestion. She explains how meat, fish, milk, and cheese—the very foods we’ve been taught to regard as the cornerstone of good nutrition—are actually the culprits behind escalating rates of disease and the cause of dire, potentially permanent damage to our ecology.

REVIEW

got interested in reading The Kind Diet soon after reading the book written by Jonathan Safran Foer titled "Eating Animals". Foer really made me think and I decided to research the idea o vegan living. In the chapter about "Nasty Foods" Alicia Siverstone's observations about meat industry were in line with those of Mr. Foer. And she does a good job of backing her statements with well-conducted studies from reputable sources.

According to Alicia, in addition to meat, Nasty Foods include also dairy, refined sugar, and processed foods. These are the foods that we have to avoid in our daily diet. However, she realizes that it is very hard, if not impossible, for most people to just drop their normal nutritional habits and go totally vegan from one day to another. Therefore she suggests three levels of changing into Living in the Kind Life - from Flirting, via Going Vegan, to Becoming a Superhero.

Alicia insists that by eliminate harmful foods like meat, dairy, refined sugar and processed products, and enjoying an endless variety of deeply nourishing grains, vegetables and other delectable whole foods, you will live in agreement with nature and get rid of obesity problem that plagues the modern societies. By changing your eating habits and becoming vegan you will say good-bye to dieting once for all. And that's while enjoying "irresistibly sweet treats, you can eat every single day, forever."

I recently verified Alicia's statement on my recent trip to Central Europe. I discovered a restaurant chain called "Green Wave" that was serving plant foods only. Throughout the whole week I was consuming a variety of delicious meals not even once missing my traditional North American Big Burger.

By the end of the book Alicia provided some good (and some not so good) recipes of vegan meals. I suggest trying most of them to decide which ones suit you best. Keep in mind that you need to eat what's indigenous to the area to avoid stressing your body. This isn't a totally novel idea. The author of a great health/longevity book titled "Live 150 Years - Your Body Maintenance Handbook" is also a great proponent of living in agreement with nature and eating indigenous foods. If you check this book out, make sure to also read the chapters about obesity causes, and proper food combination.

TO SUMMARIZE: Plant-based diet is just about the greenest thing you can do. It requires less fuel, water, and other precious resources. It can also be the secret to your health, slim physique and radiant beauty. Enjoy the ride

Yet going meat- and dairy-free doesn’t mean suffering deprivation; to the contrary, The Kind Diet introduces irresistibly delicious food that satisfies on every level—it even includes amazing desserts to keep the most stubborn sweet tooth happy. Alicia also addresses the nutritional concerns faced by many who are new to a plant-based diet, and shows how to cover every nutritional base, from protein to calcium and beyond.

Alicia knows that changing life-long dietary habits is a process, and that each person progresses at a different pace. For that reason, The Kind Diet encompasses 3 separate levels, from Flirting to Superhero. Flirts learn to dip a toe into the vegan pool, reducing their meat-eating and swapping out a few key foods for plant-based substitutes to see quickly how even small changes can reap big results. Vegans get to experience the life-altering effects of forgoing animal-products entirely, while still enjoying many convenience foods and meat substitutes in addition to the wonderful grains, vegetables and fruits that form the core of that diet. True enlightenment comes with the Superhero program, based on the principles of macrobiotics and built on a foundation of whole grains, vegetables, and other yummy foods that Alicia describes in detail.

Whether your goal is to drop a few pounds, boost your energy and metabolism, or simply save the world, Alicia provides the encouragement, the information, and the tools you need to make the transition to a plant-based diet deliciously empowering.


About the Author
Alicia Silverstone, perhaps best known for her generation-defining turn in Clueless, continues to work steadily in film, television, and theater. A dynamic fixture in the acting, political, and scientific communities, she is a dedicated advocate on behalf of the planet and its animals, and was voted "Sexiest Vegetarian Alive" in 2004. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Christopher, and their four rescued dogs.

Oprah introduces "Food Inc"

Review
David Denby, New Yorker
“Those of us who avoid junk food, with many sighs of relief and self-approval, may still be eating junk a good deal of the time. This enraging fact, which will not surprise anyone who has read such muckraking books as Eric Schlosser’s “Fast Food Nation” (2001) and Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” (2006), is one of the discomforting meanings of the powerful new documentary “Food, Inc.,” an angry blast of disgust aimed at the American food industry.”

The American Conservative
“If you care about what you’re eating, you should see the new documentary Food Inc.”


Takepart.com
“Most of you have probably heard about Food, Inc., the movie, but did you also know there’s a companion book to the film? The book explores the challenges raised by the movie in fascinating depth through 13 essays, most of them written especially for this book, and many by experts featured in the film. Highlights include chapters by Michael Pollan (Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food), Anna Lappe (Hope’s Edge and Grub), Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation and film co-producer), Robert Kenner (film director), and a chapter on asking the right questions from Sustainable Table! The book is so popular it’s already in its fourth printing.”





Product Description
Food, Inc. is guaranteed to shake up our perceptions of what we eat. This powerful documentary deconstructing the corporate food industry in America was hailed by Entertainment Weekly as “more than a terrific movie—it’s an important movie.” Aided by expert commentators such as Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser, the film poses questions such as: Where has my food come from, and who has processed it? What are the giant agribusinesses and what stake do they have in maintaining the status quo of food production and consumption? How can I feed my family healthy foods affordably?

Expanding on the film’s themes, the book Food, Inc. will answer those questions through a series of challenging essays by leading experts and thinkers. This book will encourage those inspired by the film to learn more about the issues, and act to change the world.

Reviews
This book is a perfect book for new comers to the food industry as well as a good first-read to those interested in helping with the current food crisis. It covers many different subjects and allows the reader to choose which subjects they would like to further pursue.

For those of you interested int he Food Inc DVD.-View the first 20 minutes RIGHT HERE

Monday, May 10, 2010

Women Food and God -Geneen Roth


Women Food and God was written by Geneen Roth. Geneen first appeared on Oprah in May 2010 and it changed the way Oprah thought about food. Oprah said" The battle with food is now over" having read this "life changing book " .

The book is about the way you eat is inseparable from your core beliefs about being alive. No matter how sophisticated or wise or enlightened you believe you are, how you eat tells all. The world is on your plate. When you begin to understand what prompts you to use food as a way to numb or distract yourself, the process takes you deeper into realms of spirit and to the bright center of your own life. Rather than getting rid of or instantly changing your conflicted relationship with food, Women Food and God is about welcoming what is already here, and contacting the part of yourself that is already whole-divinity itself.

What the book is about



If you suffer about your relationship with food -- you eat too much or too little, think about what you will eat constantly or try not to think about it at all -- you can be free. Just look down at your plate. The answers are there. Don't run. Look. Because when we welcome what we most want to avoid, we contact the part of ourselves that is fresh and alive. We touch the life we truly want and evoke divinity itself.

Since adolescence, Geneen Roth has gained and lost more than a thousand pounds. She has been dangerously overweight and dangerously underweight. She has been plagued by feelings of shame and self-hatred and she has felt euphoric after losing a quick few pounds on a fad diet. Then one day, on the verge of suicide, she did something radical: She dropped the struggle, ended the war, stopped trying to fix, deprive and shame herself. She began trusting her body and questioning her beliefs.

It worked. And losing weight was only the beginning. Get Your Copy Here

She wrote about her discoveries in When Food Is Love, her first New York Times bestseller. She gave huge numbers of women their first insights into compulsive eating and she changed huge numbers of lives for the better.

Now, after more than three decades of studying, teaching and writing about what drives our compul-sions with food, Geneen adds a profound new dimension to her work in Women, Food and God. She begins with her most basic concept: The way you eat is inseparable from your core beliefs about being alive. Your relationship with food is an exact mirror of your feelings about love, fear, anger, meaning, transformation and, yes, even God. But it doesn't stop there. Geneen shows how going beyond both the food and feelings takes you deeper into realms of spirit and soul to the bright center of your own life.

With penetrating insight and irreverent humor, Roth traces food compulsions from subtle beginnings to unexpected ends. She teaches personal examination, showing readers how to use their relationship with food to discover the fulfillment they long for.

Your relationship with food, no matter how conflicted, is the doorway to freedom, says Roth. What you most want to get rid of is itself the doorway to what you want most: the demystification of weight loss and the luminous presence that so many of us call "God."

Packed with revelations on every page, this book is a knock-your-socks-off ride to a deeply fulfilling relationship with food, your body...and almost everything else. Women, Food and God is, quite simply, a guide for life.



Have a look at a short video here on "Women Food and God" by Geneen Roth. CB3Z9QAB7C3D