Jason Alexander as Jenny Craig Spokesperson

Seinfeld star Jason Alexander is the latest star to step onto the scales for Jenny Craig— to she pounds as the newest spokesperson for Jenny Craig. “It’s like someone’s clubbing me over the head it’s so obvious I should be doing this,” the funnyman told PEOPLE on Monday. “It was a deadly combination of I’m fat and they work,” he says of his decision to try the program. The former KFC spokesperson says he was drawn to Jenny Craig after watching footage of his recent appearances in film and television. “I just got to a point where when I would look at the Seinfeld reunion stuff or one of these other projects that I had done, I said, ‘I don’t like the way that guy looks. That guy is not attractive in any way, shape or form to me,’” he says. “It made me go, ‘Oh, yuck!’” Alexander hopes to lose between 30 to 40 pounds to reflect his weight during the early years of the show that made him a star. He jokes “Over the course of the nine years of Seinfeld, I can actually see my hairline go away and my waistline increase. One of them I can do nothing about; the other I can,”. He credits his initial weight gain to sympathy-weight during his wife’s two pregnancies where gained about 15 pounds during each — and the increased quality of craft services on the Seinfeld set — “it will absolutely kill ya!”

Jason was also inspired by the success of friend and fellow Jenny Craig spokesperson Bertinelli. The actor says he’s excited to join the mostly-female ranks of Jenny Craig spokespeople. “It’s hard for me to think of the Jenny Craig program — or any weight loss program — as a female thing,” he says. L.A. Clippers player Baron Davis has also endorsed the program. “I’m trying not only to do it for myself but I’m encouraging other guys to come on board and say we can do this. This will work for us, and we can do this and deal with the problem,” says Alexander. “If somebody goes, ‘Well, if George can do it, I can do it!’ – that’s great. Whatever it takes to get you heading in the right direction. If I’m it, great!”

Profiteerism as Haiti suffers

POLITICS - There should be a law against trying to make a profit off a bad situation.

ie. Someone trying to take advantage of the recent earthquake in Haiti to sell a calendar and promote a TV show.

I received a spam from someone trying to promote the sale of Max "The Body" Philisaire calendars, claiming part of the proceeds will help people in Haiti. Really? When?

It takes time to transfer funds, by the time his calendars get sold and Max Philisaire actually cuts a cheque for the people in Haiti, by then international aid will have already arrived and done its job in helping the beleaguered people living there.

What the Haitian people need is immediate help. Not some lame "we'll send money later" scheme, which really only has one purpose and that is to extend the fame/reputation/wealth of Max Philisaire. Despicable.

Furthermore the same spam email also promoted Max's participation in an upcoming TV show called "Rupaul's Drag Race Season 2". In other words its more profiteerism. Nothing to do with helping Haiti at all.

And this is just one example. There are plenty of other people, companies and corporations trying to gouge the public right now for a few extra dollars and its questionable how much of that money will actually go to Haiti quickly enough to make any difference.

Wyclef Jean's charity Yele Haiti Foundation is currently under financial scrutiny because apparently its been operating on a "for profit" basis for many years now, without the musician's knowledge.

A number of credit card companies were taking a substantial cut for donations to Haiti and were making millions off it. The Huffington Post got wind of this and blasted the credit card companies for pure profiteerism. Since then the various credit card companies have backpedaled in an angry media firestorm and many of them are now pledging 100% of donations will go directly to Haiti.

Now not everybody is trying to make a profit off the situation. Google and Microsoft have stepped forward just plain giving immediate cash to be spent on food, medicine and relief supplies.

But Apple on the other hand is offering people a way to donate via iTunes, but is refusing to say whether its taking a cut. Shame on Apple!

A lot of cell phone companies have also offered ways to donate by texting "Haiti" to specific numbers, but its questionable how much of that money will actually be sent as relief aid to Haiti.

Worse, telemarketers are now cashing in on Haiti. The situation is so bad in the USA politicians are warning people to watch out for scams using the following tips:

1. Don’t respond to unsolicited e-mails and text messages asking you to donate.
2. Watch out for pushy telemarketers.
3. Don’t give cash over the phone.
4. Protect your personal information.

If you want to donate to Haiti's relief effort I recommend doing your research on the individual charity to make sure what you're sending will actually go to helping people and won't be lining the pockets of bankers or businessmen. Or anybody else who would so greedily try to take advantage of such a catastrophe.

If you are looking for the most reputable organization I recommend The Red Cross.

Building Windmills in Africa

ENVIRONMENT



“Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration!” - Thomas Edison, holds the world record for the most inventions with 1,093 patents.

Essentially all it takes is a little research, some hard work and you can change the world around you.

Disney's first black princess

ENTERTAINMENT/POLITICS - Get in line, black women are apparently kewl in the United States of America. And around the world too, as I will demonstrate.

First there is Princess Tiana, the first black princess in a Disney film, which debuts in "The Princess and the Frog" on November 25th and in wider release on December 11th just in time for the Christmas rush.

The film is already getting lots of attention from children and parents, even though Tiana spends most of the film in frog shape (she kisses the Frog Prince and instead of transforming him back into a human, she tranforms into a frog).

Which begs the question, when will we get our first real Princess? Technically Tiana isn't a real princess. But then again neither was Belle, Cinderella, Mulan or Pocahontas. I suppose Pocahontas was at least a chieftain's daughter... And Belle and Cinderella only marry princes, starting off poor. Whatever, its really a moot issue.

Secondly there is Mattel's new "So In Style" line of black Barbie dolls which have various skin colour tints allowing little girls and collectors to choose between a dark chocolate to a light mocha. (The biggest complaint however is that the hair is too easy to come through.)

The hair issue is nothing new. That complaint has been around for decades.

Mattel first made a black Barbie in 1967. They also made black and Hispanic versions in the 1980s, a Kenyan Barbie in 1994, and so on. In 1992 they made a Teen Talk Barbie which would talk and say "Math class is tough." which sparked outrage.

According to designer Stacey McBride-Irby: "As far as the hair, I wanted to create dolls little girls would play with. They couldn't have as much fun playing with an Afro." A wardrobe of hair extensions might have been useful and more authentic.

There is a lot of politics around African hair and accepting the way it is. (You will note nobody is complaining that Princess Tiana's hair is mostly straight and only a wee bit curly.)

Thirdly there's what I'd call the "Michelle Obama" effect... black women, young and old, jockeying for position on how to best help humanity and other women. For example singer Rihanna says she wants to be a role model:

"I’ve always been a role model for young women so it’s only natural that I continue to set the right example and encourage them and give them insight," says Rihanna. "It doesn’t have to be a specific topic, but whatever it is I want to help young women."

Overseas there is also Senegalese-French novelist Marie NDiaye, who recently became the first black female to win the Prix Goncourt for her best-selling work Trois Femmes Puissantes (Three Powerful Women). She has been openly vocal and critical of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, sparking rumours she might run for the French presidency. MPs loyal to Sarkozy have been trying to muzzle her ever since.

And in Oklahoma Senator Connie Johnson and members of the Legislative Black Caucus are taking the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to federal court over discriminatory practices against both women and minorities.

The list goes on and on. It is as if collectively black women around the world suddenly all stood up and said "Yes, We Can." Maybe they were taking action before too, but the mass media just wasn't paying attention. Regardless, black women are now in vogue.

Kirikou and the Sorceress

ENTERTAINMENT - I came across this wonderful film called "Kirikou and the Sorceress" while browsing and decided to see if I could find a copy of it. Lo and behold, YouTube provided me the whole film.

And thus I am passing it onto friends. I think its an amazingly adorable, funny and witty film. I hope you enjoy it.

Kirikou and the Sorceress is the story about a newborn baby who saves his village from an evil sorceress. Despite his small size he manages to outwit her and save all the villagers. The story is based on a West African folk tale and was so popular in France it was made into a stage musical. I admit there is a lot of singing in the film, but it doesn't distract from my enjoyment of it (I normally hate musicals).

Women Prefer Feminine Men When on The Pill

Those birth control pills taken daily by women around the world might leave husky, masculine types (Daniel Craig) by the wayside, in favor of feminine, boyish types like Zac Efron or Leonardo DiCaprio.

Women who take the birth control pill may be attracted to different types of men than those who do not suggests a new study published in Trends in Ecology and Evolution.

"When you're on the pill you may choose partners who are more feminine or with different features," says Alexandra Alvergne of the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences at the University of Sheffield, one of the study's co-authors.

At different points in their cycle, women are attracted to different types of men Alvergne says. When women ovulate, they prefer masculine men with symmetrical faces who seem most "genetically dissimilar" to them – in other words, men who will father strong, healthy offspring, at least according to women's animal instincts.

During the rest of the month, women look for something different: men for the long haul, who seem caring, more feminine and more similar to them genetically.

"In the long run, you're looking for a parental investment, but for the genetic quality of the child, you're looking for good genes in the man," Alvergne says. "And you can't always have it all."

Upon reviewing seven recent studies, the researchers found that when women take birth control pills, and are not fertile, they are always attracted to the same type of guy – the more feminine one.

Whether this translates into mate choices remains unknown. But when two parents are too genetically similar it can affect the health of the offspring, or be more difficult to reproduce at all, and that may explain women's ovulation-time attraction to masculine characteristics. Also, when a woman meets a man while on the pill and then goes off it, it is possible that she could become less attracted to her partner and realize she craves someone a little more manly.

On the flip side, men also find non-ovulating women less attractive. In a study of lap dancers, the ovulating dancers earned $20 more per hour, on average.

According to the study, ovulation brings about physical changes in women that men pick up on, including changes in facial appearance, odour or voice pitch. As well, women may dress more provocatively or perceive themselves as more attractive when they are ovulating.

"For the same woman, if she takes the pill throughout all her cycles she's going to be less attractive on average than if she was off the pill," Alvergne says.

Increase in Men Going for Clinical Treatments

Age restoration, was once the exclusive realm of women. Now it is a unisex endeavour.

"I haven't slept in 10 years," says Lende, a top agent who specializes in downtown luxury homes.

"It's seven days a week, full speed. The eyes tell the story."

Slowly, the needle's clear liquid contents empty into the Toronto real estate agent's face in a ritual that is becoming increasingly common among men of a certain age anxious to smooth out the wrinkles.

Lende sits part of the male cosmetic procedure demographic: Mid-40s, successful and in an industry where appearance, especially youthfulness is essential to success.

Experts say real estate agents are among the leading group of male Botox-seekers.

"Presentation is part and parcel of the industry," says Lende. "If you're happy with your face it gives you more energy and vitality. It's not always inside out. It's often outside in."

Achieving the new 30 when you're in your 40s comes with options.

There are creams and serums, invasive cosmetic surgery. And then there is clinical, non-surgical treatments that plump, smooth, lift and brighten.

"We're not going to do anything drastic, just make you look like a better version of yourself," says Diana Phillips, the cosmetician at the DLK on Avenue clinic where Lende sought the fountain of youth.

The process included a "soft lift," microdermabrasion and a photo facial – words and phrases not previously part of the male lexicon.

The soft lift is done by injecting a combination of Juvederm, which promises to restore volume in hollowed-out cheeks and smooth out folds around the nose and mouth. And Botox, which is designed to turn back the clock on frown lines and crows feet.

It's not cheap.

The Juvederm treatment costs at $600 and up for a single treatment requiring a touch-up every six to nine months.

Botox treatments cost $350 and up for each session and must be repeated every three or four months,

Lende's youthful restoration also included intense pulse light (IPL) photo facial treatments in which a technician zaps uneven skin tone and broken capillaries (three to six treatments every two to four weeks; $350 and up for each treatment) and diamond microdermabrasion to suck up dead skin, exfoliate and brighten (three to six treatments every two to four weeks; $150 and up each).

"Men are slowly starting to realize there are options out there that will not drastically change their looks; rather, just make them look and feel younger," says Dr. Lisa Kellett, the Toronto dermatologist who owns the DLK clinic. "The benefit is that there is no surgery so, therefore, no downtime and more reasonable cost than surgery."

The before and after pictures tell the story. Weeks after his procedures, Lende does appear more rested and even youthful.

"I thought it was a subtle but distinct transformation," he says. "It's not a matter of wiping years off your face. But stress and exhaustion do dissipate. It's kind of like Photoshopping your face."

Vika Goodale, owner of Yorkville's Vikaspa, says there are days now when she sees more men than women.


""Men absolutely love facials and pedicures," she says. "When you have younger and younger and smarter guys coming in looking for your job, grooming is a big way of keeping up.

"It's a cultural change," says Dr. Nicholas Nikolov, a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon who has recorded a 30 per cent increase in male clients over the past three years.

"The perception is that people who are energetic and capable look youthful. Patients want to look younger so that the outside matches their enthusiasm and vigour inside."

Sudanese woman demands the right to wear pants

Lubna Hussein of Sudan has been charged and convicted of wearing pants in public. Originally her sentence was 40 lashes (enough to nearly kill someone), but its since been downgraded to a fine of approx. $200 USD.

Hussein says she won't pay however and is demanding the Sudanese law against women wearing pants should be abolished.

See The Truth about Who Wears the Pants in Sudan for more details.

Lizzie Miller's Belly

In Glamour's September issue you'll find plus-size model Lizzie Miller and her midriff. On page 194, is Miller laughing in her underwear while forgetting to tuck in a charming little paunch.

"The reaction to that one picture has been incredible," Miller said yesterday, speaking over the phone from her fourth-floor apartment in midtown Manhattan.

Miller's career might never be the same. The 20-year-old from San Jose, California – a size 12 or 14 who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs between 175 and 180 pounds, said this month is shaping up to be the busiest of her seven-year career.

And there are those who are hoping the buzz surrounding Miller's belly might spur the fashion business which has long been criticized for its seemingly insatiable lust for pencil-limbed models of dubious dietary habits – to change for the better, too. One Glamour reader wrote in to call Miller's signature shot "the most amazing photograph I've ever seen in any women's magazine." Another urged the editors: "Put her on the cover."

"I think it's a sign of the times that women are looking for a little bit more authenticity, a little less artifice, in every part of their lives," Cindi Leive, editor of Glamour, said in an interview with the Today show. "Will (Miller's photo) change our approach (as a fashion magazine)? I think it will."

Miller said she has received emails and messages on Facebook, including one from a woman who said the picture inspired her to throw away her diet pills and laxatives; and from a man who claimed that only now, after Miller's un-self-conscious image hit newsstands, will his similarly proportioned girlfriend believe him when he tells her she's pretty.

"This whole frenzy has shown that people want to see these kinds of photos – of real women in real situations," she said. "So hopefully (the industry) will take notice and they'll say, `Okay, we should do this, too.'"

It was only a few years ago that Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston died due to complications from anorexia, her 5-foot-8 frame weighing a mere 88 pounds, an event that spurred at least one runway show to institute minimum height-weight ratios for models. And earlier this month the editor of Self magazine defended the retouching of a cover photograph that made singer Kelly Clarkson look decidedly skinnier.

"(Self magazine is) meant to inspire women to want to be their best," Lucy Danziger, the editor, wrote on the magazine's website.

Miller, for her part, said she understands the inspirational aspect of what she calls fashion's "fantasy world."

"But the problem is, a lot of women are trying, but they can't look like a size-two model, and it's a horrible feeling when you don't see anyone else who looks like you (in magazines)," said Miller. "I've been that self-conscious girl."

Miller will not lie: At first, she didn't love her signature photo. And she hasn't always been the picture of plus-sized confidence. In grade school she says her diet veered between stuffings of McDonald's and Ferrero Rocher chocolates. A post-class bag of Doritos – "A big bag," she says – was a daily ritual.

"At the rate I was gaining weight, I was like, `Wow. I am going to be huge by the time I get to high school.' I was like, `I don't want to be the fat girl,'" said Miller.

It was in Grade 6 that she joined Weight Watchers and dropped 60 pounds. By the time she was 13, she was 5-foot-11 and existing somewhere in the neighbourhood of her current body weight, which she now maintains playing co-ed softball in Central Park and belly dancing. Even then, she said, she didn't begin to feel good about her body until she saw herself in the silhouettes of entertainers Jennifer Lopez and Beyoncé.

"I'm a pear shape. I'm small at the top, but I'm thick on the bottom. I started seeing J-Lo and Beyoncé and saying, `They're curvy. They're sexy. If I get in shape, I could look like them.' If I can be the person that girls are looking at now and saying, `She's beautiful. I can look like her,' then I'll be doing my job. I think it's just something people have really, really wanted to see. Let's hope they'll see more of it."

Canada's First Africentric Public School

Nadia Hohn and her grade 1 students, are part of the historic first class in Canada's only Africentric public school. And for the first day of school, she has chosen a worksheet based on a Jamaican song called "Chi Chi Bud Oh."

Her students will use the worksheet to learn the song, identify Jamaican birds and practice drawing.

As this worksheet is based on a traditional Jamaican folk song, it reflects the background of many of Hohn's students.

"This is why I wanted to work at the Africentric Alternative School – because research shows you engage students, especially those who may feel marginalized, by letting them see themselves in their lessons," Hohn said yesterday during a visit to the school that will open Tuesday with 85 students from junior kindergarten to Grade 5.

Hohn is one of the five teachers hired for Canada's most high-profile new public school, all of them women of colour who said they applied to work here because they believe it will help battle a 40 per cent dropout rate among black students.

Leah Newbold, who will teach gym and French, is fresh out of teachers' college at the University of Toronto.

"Of any school in Toronto, this is absolutely the one I wanted to work at right away," said Newbold. "I really believe kids in our community are brilliant, if only the schools set them up to succeed."

After nearly two years of public debate about whether an Africentric school would divide or enrich Toronto's diversity – some slammed it as segregation, others hailed it as cultural awareness. The alternative school will open in Sheppard Public School on Sheppard Ave. just west of Keele St.

Principal Thando Hyman-Aman led tours of the classrooms, which have banners proclaiming the seven principles of Kwanzaa, a holiday honouring African culture, written in both Swahili and English: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, purpose, creativity, faith and cooperative economics.

Traditional African mud cloth hangs from some tables and doors. The music room has steel pan drums and African shakers. Framed posters of accomplished African-Canadians line the halls.

A long-time supporter of the program, Ryerson professor Grace-Edward Galabuzi watched yesterday's open house with excitement, as did Donna Harrow and Angela Wilson, the two mothers who encouraged trustees to open the school.

"I'm filled with so many emotions, all of them happy," said Wilson.

In Marina Hodge's Grade 2/3 class, Berenstain Bears books are tucked among more culturally representative reads such as Africa is Not a Country and One Smiling Grandma: A Caribbean Counting Book.

"Our children will learn the Ontario curriculum," Hyman-Aman said. "But we want to make sure the whole story is told."