OlderThu, 27 April 2006 at 12:00 am
Angelina Jolie on The Today Show
Ann Curry :: In what seems to be the middle of no where, on the edge of Namibia in Southern Africa. A very pregnant Angelina Jolie emerged from her private family vacation to speak on behalf of children in poor countries who don’t get to go to school. What is the worst, in your mind, of that?
Angelina Jolie :: God, there are just so many things. It’s really that thought of the potential of a human being. The lack of education causes death. More children die under the age of 5 when the parents aren’t educated. More people get AIDS when they haven’t had an education. Statistics prove that if every child was in school, every year, 700,000 less people would get AIDS.
AC :: It seems also, for you, kind of a personal thing. You have two children you’ve adopted. Both of you whom might have been in this same circumstance of not being able to get educated. And when you look at them and realize that…
AJ :: I look at them and just think, especially my daughter and how many millions of kids are out of school in her country. Especially girls. And I know how families with AIDS when parents die of AIDS, there’s no possible way that children can make a school fee. There’s no possible way she would have gone to school. And she is so smart and so strong. Her potential as a women one day is great. You multiply her by thousands and that is the thing that I can so clearly see when I look at her. Maddox — the amount of street children in his country… in all probability Maddox would have probably been one of the kids going the garbage picking in the streets. He would have been on his own.
AC :: It must mean much to you, as a human being, to be able to give them an opportunity they never would have gotten.
AJ :: I’m happy for them that they’re gonna have all this education and I hope, with it, they do some good things. That they’re good people. [giggles]
WATCH :: Angelina Jolie’s Today Show Interview [video]
(NOTE :: This video link won’t work on Firefox, use IE!)
Share This Post:
338 Comments
# 185 | Be saneMalaya and I used to not only visit that place but actually post. As I mentioned, there was a time when there was some sanity and the haters were kept at bay. If you can believe it, even the regulars began to go undercover to post anonymously. So that in itself indicates how bad it got for them. I recall a couple of Aussie supporters (one who reminds me of Passing Through to an extent) who were arm-in-arm with me. I finally gave up when it took too much of my time to defend against the same crap lodged against Brad and Angie. For that same recycled crap I’ve seen there, I’m often out of the arguments here. It’s so repetitive and nothing gets through to those haters heads. NOTHING. When I first found the site, it truly appalled me the tone of the posts. Even those posted by supposedly "intelligent" guests and regulars were subterfuge for the most warped thinking. They figure through convolution and impersonation of eloquence, they could sound reasonably intelligent. But just like the haters here, any intelligence is completely corrupted by hate. I mean, hell, one verbose but not necessarily articulate regular embraces…no, make that worships the National Enquirer. WTF?!Anyhow, since extricating myself from there as an active poster, I don’t get as repulsed by the posts. Nope, I look at it in a different light of how badly those messages reflect on that site, which is a shame because the general forums are sensible. So I’m quite at peace with the presence of childish, immature and even the vulgar posts that most balanced people would find repugnant. They have one spammer who is the quintessential village idiot/motley fool. You’d think it was truly a grade schooler punking the site with her pranks. Those people truly do not have any outside perspective of how they come off. In one thread, they were calling for exposing the deception of Brad and Angie’s humanitarian work by writing to the media. That would be the beneficial to Brad and Angie to show the mainstream what moronic fools lurk among the hater world. The only thing missing is for someone to tattoo "LOSER" onto their foreheads. So I actually choose to see FF as a positive. Positive in how badly the haters represent themselves. This may be shocker, but I’ve come across white supremacists who forward more deceptively "intelligent" arguments under junk science and manipulated statistics than anything the Jolie-Pitt haters have. I’ve debated with those white supremacists before. # 197 | Moi JadeIt’s okay, Moi Jade. Just use it judiciously so it won’t lose its potency. AKIMBO? Please keep your updates coming. They are great!
# 185 | Be sane | Please No!!! do not give in to negative or very childish responses , this is coming from someone who knows. Cindy2 knows I was ready to throw in the towel several times . Today, I was trying this stupid idea like I could be a mediator and try to find a happy medium. Well I FLUNKED royally:)My supposed brilliant idea was I could "kill them with kindness", well, it aint going to work. But according to my score card we are far ahead :)
This commentary is actually a reply to the People Magazine thread, but the subject matter is more appropriate here. It just goes to show that nothing is more blinding and mentally-numbing than the consuming hate festering in the yes, HATERS. I’ve watched the interview and Angie did extremely well. (Jennifer would be reduced to a babbling idiot even when she’s talking about her trivial films.) When Angie was speaking on serious issues, she knew her facts right off the bat - as broken down by Original Curious. Nobody with at least half a brain can dispute those facts either. It makes simple sense. Only morons (read: haters and haters/Maniston fans in denial) could even suggest otherwise. Yeah, the moron pretending to know any truth - warped truth for sure, but nothing remotely of the truth. Here’s the real truth: No truth could be formulated on that nimrod’s keyboard.Even when Ann Curry posed that the States devoted funds to education of the world, Angie countered that we don’t spend even nearly as much as the UK (they spend 3 times more), especially in light of the States being the richest nation in the world. (For the record, as well, the States ranks poorly in foreign aid as a percentage of our GNP - with the Scandinavians countries leaving us in the dust in their generosity.) To her advantage, Angie never comes off brusque, overbearing or pedantic. She’s affable and easy-going, without any pretenses. I can see why she’s can be effective in persuading legislators to her causes. It’s infuriating when politicians slip in their pork-barrel funding to bills to make themselves look good only to their states. Bridge to Nowhere, and now Railroad to Nowhere. (Remember to keep on top of what your congresspeople do and exercise your democratic rights.)She only got into her giggling fits when she talked lovingly of her children and when Ann brought up her recent condition. And Ann learned about this giggling from Holly. It wasn’t as if Angie wasn’t a giggling fool in uncontrollable fits. Hell, the haters could use some of that giggling. Yeah, her giggling was infectious, too. It was nice to see her in such a good spirits, refuting the nonsense rumors about her bad moods from the pregnancy and the constant bickering with Brad. I applaud her for staying informed (which is more than I can say for the nasties), vigilant and single-minded in her advocacy. Good job, Angie. AKIMBO!!I swear, where do these Salem witchhunters jumped the shark from?
# 201 | cindy2Re: FFI did feel as if there must be a group of really seriously criminal militia-type white-power persons behind some of the threads. It’s beyond scary, it’s sickening. I meant to say I probably won’t go there much… in a way, as long as they get their angers out they won’t act on it in real-life, would they? But then I feel it’s wrong to close my eyes to something vile just so I’m comfortable… I’m torn about it still.The really vicious ones include ultra-right wing type ones, and I am monitoring some to see what is being said without commenting. As Aniston hype continues to die down, I’m hoping that the board would slowly calm down.
I like what she said in response to Ann Curry’s questions as to why help other countries when america is besiege with domestic problems as well. She said how can you live if your neighboring counties are crumbling, in chaos. True to what she said, we can’t simply live alone, we are affected by all people around us. It’s good to hear that she knows what she is talking about. I agree about what someone said on this thread about accounting to the donations being given and providing sustainable lives for these people. More than, raising awareness AJ and BP and Bono are clearly saying that there needs a policy, law that will ensure and guarantee that these poor people are provided with their basic needs to survive, food, shelter, medicine and education. People can only help and donate so much, but if there is a governing law that will force governments, politicians to act on this inhumane situation and atrocities then these activists purspose is well served. Politicians have to be pushed to ensure that there is appropriate budget to help these people. Their national government has to be pushed to end the atrocities in their country. If there is enough pressure from other neighboring counties like us then their government will be forced to act upon it. We don’t need to be a rich country to help, that’s for sure. Help can be in so many forms. I live in a third world country, hey, we are on the verge of Tiger economy if not for incessant corruption. Here in the Philippines, the poor people are marginalized. Our government’s business is to destroy each one’s character. I’m not poor but certainly not rich. I’m a working class pinoy. Pinoy’s like me who generate income for this country. Our country is abundant in natural resources and yet most of our government income comes from taxes and remittances from overseas workers. It’s frustrating, some of us just feel jaded because no matter who sits or what form of government we take there’s hardly a change. I sometime feel our politicians don’t really want to help out the poor because in these people who comprise more than 70% of our population they get their votes, they keep on promising come election time and the poor hapless people can just hope, much worst they sell their vote for a measly $10 so they can get by. And yet, many of us goes out of our way to help other people, our overseas workers many of whom are degree holders
# 203 | cindy2To her advantage, Angie never comes off brusque, overbearing She’s affable and easy-going, without any pretenses. I can see why she’s can be effective in persuading legislators to her causes."I agree–she has the almost child-like innocent demeanor that is disarming, she herself calls it "a punk kid in me" who has complex towards Ivy league elites. She comes off so endearing and earnest, when she says an apple is red, you have to know it’s true without any alternative motive behind it. That’s what I like about her as an activist. George Clooney on the other hand, with all his good intentions comes accross as hostile and with an agenda… I told Jared about this but for Ocean 12 press conference held in Tokyo, from which foreign press was banned, they were asked, "If you want to steal something [as in Ocean's men] what would you steal?" to which GC answered "Presidency" (!). I don’t think this was every publicized here in the US. BP said, "Oh you said it! you said it!". There is a link to this video but it’s truly complicated to get it and I could almost hear only audio. It makes you register in Japanese etc. I’m trying to find a better video. It’s a hilarious press conference (Clooney, Pitt, and Matt Demon), just after BP’s separation was announced.
# 205 | shane "Our country is abundant in natural resources and yet most of our government income comes from taxes and remittances from overseas workers."It’s really sad to hear your country suffers from such corruption. In so reading, I can’t help but think of a country-state that is the opposite. Hong Kong has practically no natural resources to call its own, but through its state as the closest thing to a free market economy (as described by Milton Friedman…hey jjoy, heard of him in your econ classes?) and minimal corruption, it has risen to become one of the world’s prime financial centers and part of the tiger economies. I hope your country will eventually find that visionary revolutionary to change the establishment.
I haven’t been to FF. I know that in the past it has been said that a lot of the trolling here was most likely people coming over from that site.It seems like things are better than they have been here in the past month. I haven’t read the other recent threads though that everyone is referring to so I could be wrong.I got to see the Today show interview before I went into work but missed the beginning. Luckily a link to the video online was made available to me.It made me look forward to Dateline sunday night. I think it will be an expansion and I think that what was on the Today show will be included because it has a different target audience. But we’ll see.I also just got Angelina’s book Notes from My Travels and I’m reading that. It has four parts:Mission to AfricaMission to CambodiaMission to PakistanMission to EcuadorI am almost finished with the Mission to Africa and I just got the book today. It reads a bit like a diary and if you’ve seen her interviews then when you read the book you can "hear" Angelina telling the story of her experiences. Anyway, just thought I let those who haven’t read it know what I think.
# 206 | Be sane "George Clooney on the other hand, with all his good intentions comes accross as hostile and with an agenda…"George is definitely a darling of the liberal faction, of which I proudly affiliate myself with. (If you ask me, I think he won his best supporting actor Oscar partly from the anticipated acceptance speech he would give.) I like that he takes a prominent and public stance, but he may not be as diplomatic as say, Angie or Bono. He’s more publicly critical, which is fine by me. But to work Congress, activists have to learn to be accommodating and amenable to politicians on the opposite side. I do think George is smart cause he fires off stinging retorts to Bill O’Reilly that leaves you completely bemused and pitying O’Reilly’s public spanking (that’s not begged from his former producer). But give credit to George to not be completely divisive to be able to drag O’Reilly to participate in the Katrina fundraising telethon. George can work his charm even on the snakes of the nation.
and yet they ventured out into foreign countries doing blue collar jobs to provide for the family they left home. I considered them hereos. They have to endure racism, homesickness and others give up on their dreams to be able to live the dreams of their love ones. That is total selfless and yet it’s sad knowing they are giving more than they could. There was a story featured in local tv about a young girl who live in Mindanao, that’s a war torn area here in the Philippines. That region has been ravaged by war for as long as I can remember. This girl goes to school even there is an everyday threat of killing. Encouraging other kids in her neighborhood to go to scholl, their school by the way has endured so many gunfires. Inspite of lack of facilities and teachers, she took it upon herself to teach the young kids. A kid teaching other kids. Her teacher wrote to a tv program that grant’s wishes and told her story. The program organise school supplies to be sent to this area and help rebuild the school. The little girl’s only wish is to get education for herself and the other kids. she just wants to go to school and help other kids. That’s how important it is for her to learn. She wanted changes in her region and to be able to help. Some of us may not have monetary capacity but surely raising awareness in this fast pace age will do a lot to force our government and politicians to act with seriousness and conviction on these matters. Problems are global.
Hi Dolphingirl. Nice to see you here.
The other thing I wanted to respond to was earlier in the thread people were talking about how little the US does in relation to other countries.I perceive an attitude by Americans (I am one) that we have all these problems here at home to deal with and why should we be doing anything for anyone else while we still have all these problems here.My parents are both veterans. My mother stayed stateside during her tour but my father went overseas. I was always made aware by my parents that America really does have the richest poor people in the world. And I know that I’m gonna get jumped on for even saying that.But all I can say is that you have to actually face what the world is really like to appreciate that statement. I probably didn’t say in the best way. It’s not that we don’t have people who are in need. That’s not what I was saying at all. I just have a difficult time comparing the poverty here with the level of poverty other places. And that’s not even talking about the genocide and human rights violations. I don’t see how I can complain. There is a lot that I don’t have. But I always feel very fortunate.
Thanks cindy2. Now that I dropped that bomb. I should get to bed. LOL. I guess that’s not fair. I really didn’t think I’d post anything. I just thought I’d try to check things out like you suggested.
# 213 | dolphingirl"Now that I dropped that bomb."You must not have heard about my bomb shelter? Well, you chose a lucky day to visit when Jared had a wealth of riches to share. Don’t be a stranger even though I know where you hide out at.
# 184 | Here we go "Oh, by the way I’m from the neighbouring country where baby Z is from and its people look like mine. Guess?"Is it Eritrea? I met a guy from that country and he had the same coloring as an Ethiopian.
Thanks cindy2. Hi Shane. You are so right. Problems are global. And we have to live global if we are ever going to have the world we want.My step-father was also a veteran. He passed away in 2003. He was quite a bit older than my mother. He was enlisted in the 1950’s. He was stationed all over, including the Phillipines and also Guam. He especially tried to instill in me that even though I didn’t have all the things that I wanted, I was very fortunate to have the things that I did.All of my parents fought for the freedom that I enjoy and tried to make things better for others while they were in the service.No one person can do everything. And no one can accomplish everything that they would like. But you can always accomplish being a better person by the things you do and the attitudes that you hold. Education is the key. I can understand risking your life for it. The more you know the more you will ultimately come to learn. People really are dying because of a lack of education and people are dying because of a lack of awareness by others of their plight.
that was me^I’m not used to the changes on the blog. Although I like them. It’s still pretty busy here so I was signed in then it booted me out I guess. At least when I get a page error I know to just refresh because otherwise I’ll just end up causing multiple posts.
# 103 | AJ acting? |so what if it’s a photo-op ! it’s must better than posing half nude in GQ mag. with nothing to said except me, me, and me.
Late Night Bulletin Update from Talk of JJ Nation:News from the pending Director of the United States CIA: Rude-dog was hounded tonight for answers to what is believed to be plans for an impending attack on FemaleFirst.co.uk. Undisclosed sources are reporting that the compound located http://femalefirst.uk.com/boardviewforum.phpf=40&sid=bc5b103ffe00ee21204a10f4998fd8a5is under surveillance from the United States Secret Service Special Forcesnamed KTB aka( Kill Those *******). Rude-dog has been undercover on special assignment last seen rallying forces to descend on thecamp and retaliate the ongoing slander and hate crimes against Angelina Jolie and members of her family. Unable to make contact with Rude-dog via phone or satellite, a spokesperson on his behalf stated that a voluntary registration under "guest" was being conducted for all interested freedom fighters to sign up and join the coalition.One woman close to the compound stated " It’s unbelievable the things that are being said in there. Horrible. Disgusting. just Putrid. Something has to be done to clean out that place."Another observer noted " Oh it doesn’t surprise me, those girls hating on Angelina & Brad… or anyone for that matter who tries to make this a better world. They are all the same. We see them coming in & out of here all the time from our store across the street. Most of them look like they haven’ t bathed in days. They wear wigs and fishnet stockings with holes in them and shoes like the ones Mary Poppins use to wear. One of them came by the storefront and had no teeth at all in her mouth, asking us if we knew where she could purchase some jello or pudding."" She said she didn’t care what flavor it was. May God have mercy on all their forsaken souls." The observer whose identity we are keeping private, looked down towards the ground and shook her head several times in disbelief… " The drool just leaked from her side lips onto her collar." Looking upward to my gaze she questioned " How does a woman manage to carry herself that way? Yes something should be done." Foul a very foul breed that lot"Talk on the streets resonate this kind of growing tension and remorse around the compound as increased publicity surrounding Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt has been aired on TV and in international newspapers and magazines publications recently. Active members of the KTB and freedom fighters across the world who would like to support the AKB are being asked to lend support by lifting your most noble weapons, The swords of knowledge and wit and join us in a full force attack today. Even for just one post.This has been a public announcement for the KTB in support of BAMZ+1.This is Moi Jade reporting from JJPBS in NYC.
I"m sorry but I dont see what is so damn great about this couple to have all this gushing. Simply put he cheated on his wife, she cheated with a married man. How the heck is that endearing? I think she suited Billy Bob best. They both had their own warped individualistic style. Brad is too much of the golden American boy whilst she seems to hate America, go figure?
Hi. I can´t believe some people here… Please if you don´t like Angie and Brad then stop writing about them, stop postings things about them, stop reading about them….is as simple as that…and you will be happy. Respect the ones who admire Angie and Brad (me, and a lot of people, by the way).This site is like the blog of Us magazine, full of haters. I don´t get it: I repeat if you don´t like Angie or Brad stop posting about them… Love BAMZ+1Another thing: North americans (and yes, you are north americas, I don´t understand why you keep on saying americans to refer only to people of the United States, you are north americans, because americans are all of who lives in the entire continent). God, now you are discovering that there´s a world out there, beyond your borders, beyond the wars that Bush started.C´mon USA started a war, you people voted for that stupid man, now he´s going to start another war (in this case Irán), years ago it was Afganistan, and I can go on and on…I know that there are a lot of people in USA that cares about others, but sometimes -as the powerfull nation that USA is- it seems that the problems in other countries doesn´t even need to be mentioned because they are not north american problems or because doesn´t affects to the United States. I don´t know if you can undesrtand what I mean….But oh yes, when the issue was about oil and millions then Irak was a problem, and then Bush started a war because of the oil…the world know it, north americans know that? , I repeat: you voted him again. O h my God… Your goverment spends millions and millions in wars and arms, please why?, We are in the XXI century, stop killing people, stop destroying cities. Can you imagine the things that could have been done with all that money?
Okay, this has nothing to really do with AJ’s interview, but notice how everyone keeps making fun of Zahara’s head scarf and guess what.. Mommy Jolie is wearing one throughout the entire interview.. HOW fly is that? Do you think JA would ever sit down without trying to look hollywood perfect? AJ has confidence that glows from the inside out…Nothing fake about her! I love Angelina and Zahara’ have matching head scarves… how cute & loving is that. P.P.s For those naysayers who ask how is AJ going to take care of Z’s hair or why does she keep putting on her head scarf? If anyone cares to notice, little Z has beautiful curly hair… similar texture to Maddox just curly. She’s not only beautiful physically but you can tell she’s truly happy and very at peace with her life. WE LOVE YOU BAMZ FAMILY!!
# 220 | DuudeI"m sorry but I dont see what is so damn great about this couple to have all this gushing. Simply put he cheated on his wife, she cheated with a married man. How the heck is that endearing? I think she suited Billy Bob best. They both had their own warped individualistic style. Brad is too much of the golden American boy whilst she seems to hate America, go figure?——————-It is almost May 2006 for goodness sake … such jammed reasoning is annoying to the ears.
# 220you obviously don’t have anything valid to say, not even new. move on dude!
She looks gorgeous and so so HAPPY!!!She is glowing and she giggles…BAMZ+1 RULES
Pages: « 1 … 6 7 8 [9] 10 11 12 … 14 » Show All
Comment and Share!
E-mail to a Friend or share on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and more!