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Time Magazine released their TIME 100, a list of global icons –100 men and women whose power, talent or moral example is transforming our world. Angelina Jolie was listed under "Heroes & Pioneers" and an article by Deputy Secretary-General of the U.N. Mark Malloch Brown was posted…
Recently, I took my 13-year-old daughter Maddy to a New York City event honoring Angelina Jolie. Every parent will relate to the fact that Maddy often finds the world of celebrity magazines more interesting than the world of her father—which in my case centers on the United Nations and its work fighting poverty. That night Angelina brought those two worlds together. Maddy was awed by how Angelina used her celebrity to lift all of us beyond the glamour of a Manhattan ballroom and make us confront the grim realities of poverty in the farthest corners of the globe.
That ability to transcend worlds has something to do with Angelina’s movie-star charisma—but it also says something about her diligence and grit. Angelina, 30, spends a great deal of time in the developing world, visiting refugee camps, speaking and listening to the men, women and children she is working to help. Those people, Angelina explained, "have seen so much, they’ve felt so much pain—lost more than anyone could bear, and yet they contain joy of life and appreciation for small things we often forget." It was a further indication of Angelina’s humanity that she stopped to listen and talk to Maddy as the city’s power brokers hovered impatiently, awaiting their brush with celebrity.
Angelina’s commitment as goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has pushed her to speak out about root causes—economic failure and lack of justice. She urged me relentlessly to meet her last year during a stopover at an airport where our paths happened to be crossing, so that I could brief her ahead of her appearance at a big international meeting. It is typical of her. The subject was the Millennium Development Goals—a set of objectives agreed upon by the world’s governments. They range from eradicating poverty to reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS. As always, she wanted to be prepared—not just to share impressions of poverty but to be able to speak seriously to the issues. Angelina went on to make a film for MTV on a village in Kenya, where a pilot project is under way to fight poverty, hunger and disease.
That blending of the activist and the performer, not on the set but in the African bush, reflects her determination to stick with a subject, immerse herself in it, make it part of her life—and then bring her public with her. It is celebrity advocacy at its most effective, most intelligent and most sincere. For that, she has my enduring respect and gratitude—and Maddy’s. (More pictures in the gallery!)
(L) Brad grabs onto Maddox after arriving at Namibia’s Swakopmund
Airport this past Friday. (C) Looks like Brad’s got a new bracelet!
(R) Angelina holds her precious Zahara snuggled in her arms.
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Yahoo! News/ Sun Apr 30, 8:35 AM ET Brad and Angelina are welcome in NamibiaNamibia’s relaxed approach when it comes to celebrity is one of the main reasons why Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt chose this arid stretch of Africa to have their baby — and they should be left alone, locals say here.Hollywood’s golden couple, together with their two adopted children Maddox and Zahara, quietly jetted into Namibia in early April where Jolie, 30, is expected to give birth to their child.Even in this remote corner of the continent, news of their presence quickly leaked out, unleashing a torrent of tabloid and paparazzi journalists on the small holiday resort of Langstrand, on the country’s west coast.Wedged between the icy Atlantic and rising sand dunes of the world’s oldest desert, the Namib, the small resort town has become the scene of clashes between the press pack — straining to get a glimpse of the couple — and Jolie’s bodyguards, backed by Namibian police.A Namibian rights organisation and journalists have accused VIP guards and police of heavy-handed tactics, including a door-to-door search for suspected paparazzi and assaults on photographers with pepper spray.But ordinary Namibians who live along Langstrand (Afrikaans for "Long Beach") told AFP this week they believed the star couple should be left alone."Namibians are not celebrity mad like in Europe or the United States," said Almuth Styles, who runs a tourist information shop in the scenic nearby colonial German holiday town of Swakopmund.Styles told AFP when Jolie visited Namibia in 2002 for the filming of the movie "Beyond Borders", none of the locals were bothered too much about it."Jolie even came into the office asking for directions. I didn’t recognise her and only afterwards a young trainee told me that it was her," she laughed.Another resident, Roger du Toit, who every day takes his dog for a walk past the Burning Shore Lodge, where the couple is staying said "they are just ordinary people to me, enjoying the beautiful, unspoilt stretch of the beach and the view of the Atlantic Ocean.""Let them enjoy this place like everybody else. It doesn’t matter whether they are famous or not," Du Toit said with a typical shrug of Namibian shoulders.The owner of a cluster of holiday flats next to the Burning Shore Lodge added she discovered a group of foreign paparazzi perched on the balcony of one of her apartments."They brought a ladder with them and climbed to the balcony of a chalet that I had rented out," Merylin Leippert told AFP."When I arrived the people who rented the chalet informed me of their unwelcome ‘guests’," she said."They (the paparazzi) told me they had permission from the owner and I told them: ‘I am the owner and that they certainly did not have my consent,’ so I made them leave promptly."Around this time of year, Langstrand’s long white beach is empty and most of the resort’s holiday homes are locked.Its misty shores where the desert and the ocean meet, are only frequented during vacations and long weekends, when most residents drive here to escape the oppressive heat of the interior…http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060430/ennew_afp/afpentertainmentnamibiauspittjoliepeople_060430123553
The magical word in most of Angelina’s responses during the Dateline interview is WE, which translates to a committed and loving relationship she has with Brad. She is simply glowing not just because of motherhood and hormones- she is in love.
# 278 | the real noni You know, I personally don’t believe Anne Curry was going there. I think she was speaking about how society generally expects Hollywoodites to spend their time/days, and that Angelina Jolie has upset the image. We see Paris, Lindsey, Jessica, Nicole just to name a few doing basically nothing but shopping, partying, and lunching, and basically living a life of leisure 24/7, but AJ and some others choose to make different use of there time. Yeah, it definitly can be construed that AC was taking a dig, but I don’t think she was singleling out "fresh squeezed OJ in Malibu".JMHOjpf
# 257 | you | Sorry, you had to go the whole thread to understand my post (btw-I’ve been there and acted before reading the whole blog), someone asked me to post it. I could give a rats ass about Colin, don’t get me wrong I like him but that is not the reason I posted it. As usual BAMZ+1 fans says they’d like to see a video, I’ll link them if I have it…. So, am I going to be tarred and feathered for this unbelievable crime :)))) Just kidding, it really was meant to be sent to one person who inquired about it. Hey, we are all cyber-friends ……RIGHT???
thanks so much guys for the jay leno video with angie….wow…she even addressed the "incest" kiss…but still…moralistic hypocritical people are keep harping on it….she looks so lovely in that video where she is promoting alexander….
Hi. I couldn´t see the interview because I live in Argentina, so we don´t have that channel, please can anybody post it here? I´m dying here….I love Angie, Brad ande the kids
# 241 | Passing Through i don’t really particularly know why ph hate ja…do you know why?? because ph is so gay and always plugging those frivulous starlet in his blog but he always has a nice thing to say about bamz+1…..is he a maniston hater??
Goodnight BAMZ+1 fans and friends. I have an early morning meeting. Love you all, tomorrow..
I’m just guessing that Perez just loooves Brad and Angie–often calls her Santa Angelina–and hates the pity-party woman. He also thinks JA is–how do I put this diplomatically?–aesthetically challenged in the looks and femininity department. Seems like he signed onto Team Jolie from the beginning.
Just saw the DATELINE interview, the woman is in LOVE!!!!!!!!I wonder if they talk about marriage. IMO, I just think Brad wants that and he wants it like YESTERDAY!!#275 I’m in San Diego too! Mira Mesa/Scripps Ranch!!
Hot
Yano I don’t get all this fighting over who’s better Angie or Jen. It’s ridiculous. They are two different people. And remember this people Brad thought Jen was beautiful and loved her or he wouldn’t have married her. Also remember he NEVER speaks bad of his ex’s so why should we? Shouldn’t we respect that? If we are truly happy for Brad and Angie then we should leave his past just that .. the past.
By the way J .. thanks for the great pix. :)
# 286 | COLD HARD MATHSD here too, spring valley (east county) >_
Yes please somebody can post the videos??
Sorry, before I go to bed, I need to put an APB on someone her name starts with "c" and ends with a "2"….Miss you " :-)
#286 They seem to want the same things. I don’t believe one peroson wants the marriage and the other person doesn’t. It’s all tabloid crap. They may as well be married. They both wear the same wedding band.
I really hope it’s understood that this is just my personal observation and nothing more.When Angelina said about Brad:"people know very little about him I think when it comes to what his morals are, values are, how he is with people. What he cares about, what he’s learned about - He is a very aware person. He’s doing a lot of good things and he’s a great parent.Its nice to watch him do that and nice for me to talk about the things I care about with somebody who does as well"it really made me wonder if he kept his true hearts desires; what he really wanted in his life, and out of his life pretty much under wraps prior to meeting Angelina. Did he never quite feel it would be understood by even those who were supposed to be close to him, and that means going back years and various relationships. I really got the impression tonight that he’s kept alot of himself quite close to the vest "until now" and mainly because maybe he had no one who could relate to what he wanted up and above life in Hollywood. Anyone else think this?jpf
# 288 | Lori i am not going to apologize for rooting for my chickie babe…yes…braddy married ja and she should be grateful for it……and braddy never speaks about his ex coz why should he?? the ex is the one who started all this hoopla…don’t tell me that she only talk coz people ask her questions…yeah people ask questions but does she need to have a different long interview with different mags to explain her divorce…. how braddy has an insensitive chip…or whatever….there are only 2 words she should utter when people/gossip mongers asked question about her divorce…and it should be "NO COMMENT"…..see the result of her insensitive unintelligent comments….till now we are still arguing about it coz ja’s fans cannot let go of the past….so why should I bother to let go of the past if people keep reminding me of it…by hitting my chickie babe with all these nasty comments…I can move forward but if people keep hitting my chickie babe harshly???….what’s the point…never mind!!
jpf–I definitely think Brad kept things to himself and perhaps even he didn’t know what he wanted until the last year. He was always stuffed into the "hunk" category–which he probably detested–and yearned for something more substantial in his personal and professional lives. And now he is achieving some very admirable things with a true partner, someone who isn’t taken in by the (cough cough) superficial things in Hollywood.
#294 Original jpf,I was on my way to bed until I saw your post,but yes you are on to something.My mother the head doctor pointed out to me about 2 months ago that she felt Brad must feel free,because he has someone who finally gets what he wants out of life,so he would be more fouth coming about what he wants.She said that if in the past he felt his partner wouldn’t understand he might be guarded with what he would reveal to them.So you are on the right path.Let’s be honest he was mismatched in his last relationship big time.This man was dead serious about wanting 7 childern.
# 294 | Original jpf | Dag on it I should be in bed by now, but I couldn’t help but respond. They are : "SOUL MATES"!!!!
jpf–love your thoughts!!! I, we are all happy that they’ve found each other, no superficials needed, :deep sighs: thank god. God Bless them.
295 | jjoy | May I’m really glad you brought this up because after this interview, I think the tide has turned, and there will be no more Bermuda Triangle talk, or jokes etc. It’s a new day, and Angelina clarified things for those who are still living in the past. Jolie-Pitt are (as Anne Curry said) a formidable pair. They are a couple, and it’s a new day. I think it would be a very stupid move for x to bring up the past now because all ties got cut tonight, and new ties that bind got validated. I think the fat lady has sung clear & loud and it’s about time. And with that cliche filled, but sincere last post of the evening I bid you all adieu.Goodnight ya’lljpf
i really don’t care…here it is….MANISTON IS SO FUGLY LOOKING HAG AND HASBEEN!! HA! HA! CAN NEVER BE COMPARED TO MY CHICKIE BABE….SEXY/GORGEOUS/SUPERSTAR/NOVA SOCIAL ACTIVIST!!
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