Think Bigg

I got a couple of comments on last week’s post on Reusable Bags, and more specifically the Wrap-N-Mat, so I thought I’d just post a quick update.

First, Jan over at Unique Baby Gear Ideas wondered if the bags were machine washable, and indeed, the website says that the bags are machine washable, with a food safe liner that also wipes clean.

Jan also wanted to know if the bag would hold the food snugly, and I thought perhaps a different photo might show off the closed version a bit better.

With the fold and the velcro closure, it looks to me like the sandwich inside is going to stay put!

Anyone out there with any personal experience with these bags, feel free to chime in!

Thanks for the comments, girls!

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My husband and I just returned home from a lecture given by Mia Farrow.

Admittedly, I went in expecting to be more than a little annoyed by a teary, Sally Struthers-esque presentation on Darfur. Instead I came out moved and grieved by the relentless violence that continues to plague the lives of the people in that region, and impressed by the efforts of Ms. Farrow to lend her own voice to a people that the rest of the world seems to have forgotten.

All photos courtesy of MiaFarrow.org

Mia Farrow’s website dedicated to the genocide in Darfur, MiaFarrow.org, recently reprinted an article written by Nicholas Kristof at the NY Times which I think is worth reading in its entirety, but here is just a bit:

The Beijing Olympics this summer were supposed to be China’s coming-out party, celebrating the end of nearly two centuries of weakness, poverty and humiliation.

Instead, China’s leaders are tarnishing their own Olympiad by abetting genocide in Darfur and in effect undermining the U.N. military deployment there. The result is a growing international campaign to brand these “The Genocide Olympics.”

This is not a boycott of the Olympics. But expect Darfur-related protests at Chinese Embassies, as well as banners and armbands among both athletes and spectators. There’s a growing recognition that perhaps the best way of averting hundreds of thousands more deaths in Sudan is to use the leverage of the Olympics to shame China into more responsible behavior.

The central problem is that in exchange for access to Sudanese oil, Beijing is financing, diplomatically protecting and supplying the arms for the first genocide of the 21st century. China is the largest arms supplier to Sudan, officially selling $83 million in weapons, aircraft and spare parts to Sudan in 2005, according to Amnesty International USA. That is the latest year for which figures are available.

Sudan feels confident enough with Chinese backing that on Jan. 7, the Sudanese military ambushed a clearly marked U.N. convoy of peacekeepers in Darfur. Sudan claimed the attack was a mistake, but diplomats and U.N. professionals are confident that this was a deliberate attack ordered by the Sudanese leaders to put the U.N. in its place.

Another possible sign of Sudan’s confidence: an American diplomat, John Granville, was ambushed and murdered in Khartoum early this month. Many in the diplomatic and intelligence community believe that such an assassination could not happen in Khartoum unless elements of the government were involved.

Other countries also must do much more, but China is crucial. If Beijing were to suspend all transfers of arms and spare parts to Sudan until a peace deal is reached in Darfur, then that would change the dynamic. President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan would be terrified — especially since he is now preparing to resume war with South Sudan — and would realize that China is no longer willing to let its Olympics be stained by Darfuri blood.

DreamforDarfur.org has several easy steps for you to take action to help pressure China into using its leverage to stop the genocide in Darfur. Click here to petition the UN Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace, Mr. Adolf Ogi, to ask him to make the issue of Darfur central in these upcoming Olympic games.

Better yet, click here to send a message to the corporate sponsors of the Olympic Games — Coca Cola, Johnson and Johnson, Adidas and GE, among others — reminding them that your patronage comes at the cost of their social responsiblity.

And if you want to give financially to reputable organizations who are working in the Darfur region, check out Charity Navigator’s list of 3- and 4-star rated charities to ensure that your money is getting to the people of Darfur.

Don’t let the overwhelming statistics or the overwhelming distance be a reason for failing to act. Tonight I go to bed humbled and reminded that with knowledge comes responsibility.

Know better. Do better.

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The NY Times ran a story today talking about how the Hollywood writer’s strike has been the best thing for CNN’s election coverage since… well, since a woman and an African-American man became the front runners for the Democratic presidential nomination.

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According to the NY Times,

“This one is special,” he said. “You have the Clintons, a powerful dysfunctional family — remember they were the ones that spoofed ‘The Sopranos’ — you have this out of nowhere handsome stranger in Obama that is straight out of ‘Heroes.’ John McCain, left for dead in a previous episode, roars back to life, and Mitt Romney, who is a dead ringer for John Forsythe. And I am not the first to point out that Mike Huckabee is Jim Nabors.

“And then it all ends in this amazing ‘American Idol’ big episode on Super Tuesday. How can you not watch that? My wife had some minor surgery the other day and the nurse asked her if she wanted to just lay there in the recovery room and rest a little bit. And she said, ‘No thanks, I have to get home and watch ‘The Situation Room.’ ”

All of this is great, but what are we going to do after the season finale on Super Tuesday?

Please, Mayor Bloomberg, enter the race and keep the show going until November!

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Which candidate are you voting for in the upcoming elections?

With the endless media discussion of who cried and who didn’t, who is most likeable and who is most electable, do you really know where your candidate stands on the issues? Will they vote the way you would?

Check out the Select a Candidate Quiz sponsored by news station WQAD:

Obviously, this particular set of issues doesn’t capture the universe of reasons to vote for a candidate, but I have to admit that I took the quiz with some surprising results!

Have fun with it and remember to get to your state primary!

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Just in case you were unconvinced, the NY Times reports that the UN today released the final report of its panel on climate change.

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According to the article,

Members of the panel said their review of the data led them to conclude as a group and individually that reductions in greenhouse gases had to start immediately to avert a global climate disaster, which could leave island states submerged and abandoned, African crop yields down by 50 percent, and cause a 5 percent decrease in global gross domestic product.

The panel, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last month, said the world would have to reverse the growth of greenhouse gas emissions by 2015 to avert those problems and others.

Time to start washing those clothes in cold water!

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