Category: Global Citizen

A new front in the Fat Wars?

Here are my questions for the day …

  1. should director Kevin Smith be getting an apology from Southwest Airlines because he was pulled off a flight for being too large?
  2. And if he did deserve the apology – why him and not every other fattie who has ever been pulled off or charged extra for taking up too much space?
  3. And more broadly, what do we all think about airline plans to charge obese people more for air travel?

I mean seriously, at a time when a higher percentage of Americans, Europeans and Asians are overweight than ever before, these are questions that get some seriously emotional responses.  

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In support of Special Teams

For years I’ve told the stories of men, women and children struggling to survive amidst conflict, poverty, human right abuses and a wide array of life’s challenges. Every single one of them had a story to tell that contributes to the diverse tapestry of the global family.

And now it’s my turn.

At a time when globalization and the Internet have connected people across the world in more ways than ever possible before, it’s profoundly disconcerting to feel completely alone. And yet, as my family battled to not only survive – but thrive – though my son’s special needs reality that is exactly how I felt.

Most friends, family and colleagues simply could not understand, no matter how much they loved us. When it came time to put in a feeding tube or make the difficult decisions concerning our son’s health, we were inexorably alone. And scared. And angry. And overwhelmed by the amazing love we felt for our son.

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Rogue’s Gallery

If recent history is anything to go by, both traditional and new media are going to be flooded with verbiage on Sarah Palin’s appearance this weekend the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville. Love or hate the former-Alaska governor, only a fool would argue the lady doesn’t have an attention-grabbing public persona.

Her supporters believe this the real Mrs. Palin. An attractive do-it-all-modern mom who shoots from the hip, holds nothing back and brushes off emotional punches like a prizefighter.

Her detractors blast her as a manipulative and dangerous talking head that spews vitriol without checking her facts first.

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New Media: The good, the bad, and the downright ugly

Over the span of the last two weeks we have witnessed both the power and the folly of new media.

The blogosphere, twitterverse and other online forums proved to be effective rapid-reaction communications tools when a massive earthquake devastated Haiti on Jan. 12. Outside Haiti, the Internet exploded with posts and tweets providing donation information, suggestions to help people search for loved ones and heartfelt entreaties to lend a helping hand. From inside Haiti survivors tweeted eyewitness accounts and offered to help locate loved ones, uploaded information to MySpace, YouTube and Facebook.

Did all this online activity dig people out from under collapsed buildings? Did it put bandages on bleeding wounds? No, of course not.

But it did provide an almost immediate platform for people to come together, share information and reach out with compassion and do what they could to help Haiti.

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Hope for Haiti, Hope for the World

The blogosphere and twitterverse exploded late last night with the news of a massive 7.0 earthquake in Haiti. The current outpouring of support, prayers and entreaties to help Haiti recover are both humbling and inspiring – and remind us all that even in the face of great tragedy there is hope for us all when people of the world unite in common purpose.

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Changing Reality: Social Networks Power Up Change

When electoral authorities declared Iran’s incumbent Mahmoud Ahmedinejad winner of June 2009 presidential elections the power of technology and social networks became front page news around the world. Six months later the power of these new tools to influence the hearts and minds of users around the world is definitively a mainstream concept – and is attracting attention from policymakers.

 Iran’s opposition politicians and their supporters rallied to oppose the controversial election, using Twitter networks to inform people in and outside Iran of demonstration plans. As authorities blocked an increasing number of websites and prevented most journalists from reporting out of Tehran, protestors and their online supporters set up proxies to help those inside Iran continue using Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other social networking sites to sidestep official censorship.

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Off the Edge of the Map: Russia to Arm World Against Asteroid

Every once in a while (though it seems more frequently in this oft-strange world we live in) a story comes along that, while true, seems to be the work of Hollywood writers.

Case in point: Russia’s battle plan to save earth from an asteroid collision.

In this case – unlike virtually, every single Hollywood movie (…yawn…)- it won’t be the U.S.A. that saves the day. Russian scientists have stepped forward with a (vague) plan to send a spacecraft up to bump the asteroid off course.

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Angela’s Attire Focus of Political Fashion, Again

I wonder if we are ever going to get past inane discussions about female politicians’ wardrobes as a story in the media in favor of continued focus on more important things like – oh, I don’t know – health care, nuclear nonproliferation,  the international arms trade and climate change.

 Recently German fashion designer Wolfgang Joop told a German magazine that German Chancellor Angela Merkel should don more low-cut attire, and that if anyone makes snide comments about her more revealing outfits “she can always slap them on their fingers using a fan from her clutch handbag.”

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DRC Paraplegics Take On Social Stigma through Music

A group of disabled singers and musicians from the Democratic Republic of Congo have banded together to challenge discrimination and stigma through music. Their refusal to accept the disdain of DRC society and impoverished, unfulfilled lives on the fringes is a testament to the human spirit.

 Ok, so that might sound cliché, but I mean it. Most of us pass through lives that would widely be considered mundane or “normal” – fretting over “normal” problems like paying the bills, little Billy’s school grades and mowing the lawn. These artists have taken a horrendous situation and turned it into a positive. How many of us “normal” folk can say that?

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A leader for the times: Maldives President Nasheed

You have to give Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed gold stars for perseverance and creativity. At a time when our planet is in desperate need of creative leaders willing to “think outside the box” to address a host of critical common threats to the human family, Nasheed stands out as a man unwilling to give up in the face of indifference.

Nasheed took 11 of his cabinet ministers out to a coral reef near one of the Maldives islands for the world’s first underwater cabinet meeting last week. Decked out in scuba gear and seated around a horseshoe table amidst the coral, the officials passed around an “SOS” agreement calling for carbon gas emission cuts.

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