The End of Poverty - video lecture

Jeffrey Sachs, the economist who wrote the above book, recently gave a 40 min lecture at Columbia University, where he outlined the main themes of his book, and his argument that we can end poverty by 2025. He's a compelling speaker, and I enjoyed listening to it. Check it out here:

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/media/05/349_the_end_of_poverty/

Let me know what you think

Glyn

World Water Day, Wed March 22

To find out about how much of the world does not have access to clean water (something most of us don't even think about as a luxury), check out the facts on the World Water Day website

http://www.worldwaterday2006.org/

Glyn

Actors, politics and IAE (Inappropriately Assumed Expertise)...

Okay, I didn't really want to be political in this blog, but since I am political, and since this blog is supposed, to some extent, reflect who I am, I can't help myself. Here's my complaint: why is it that actors, who are known for excelling at pretending to be someone else, believe they have expertise when it comes to pronouncing on politics, current events, wars etc.? It is as if, since they have expertise in one area, they inappropriately assume expertise in another. The fact of fame gives them a platform from which to speak, and they expect to be taken seriously. The fact that the media give them such a platform show that either the media think they have something useful to say, or the media think that WE think they have something useful to say.

Of course, every citizen has the right to comment on public affairs, but we don't usually attribute expertise to them. Why then do we attribute expertise on politics to actors? I don't expect my dentist to know about banking, nor my doctor to advise me on mutual funds... but I'm willing to listen to an actor talk about politics? Martin Sheen may play a powerful, effective president on The West Wing, but do I really believe he could run the country? Or more worrying, does he?

Simply put, expertise in one area does not qualify you to spout forth as an expert in another. I am tired of bleeding heart actors arguing against the war in Iraq with (in my humble opinion) no real background understanding. What I would like to ask them is what their plan is for removing a genocidal dictator maniac like Saddam, who is proven to have tortured hundreds, perhaps thousands of people, and unleashed chemical warfare (poison gas) attacks on the minority Kurds in the country? What is their plan, or justification for allowing such tyranny to continue?

Yet they would also (rightly) complain about the human rights abuses in Darfur, Sudan. Either you accept tyranny and torture or you do something to stop it. If you decide to do something, that something might be war. Would anyone seriously argue that Hitler should have been allowed to continue rampaging through Europe?

What also galls me is their outcry when the public rebel against their politics. Tim Robbins has every right to state that he feels the war is unjust. But if those who hear his comments don't like them, and vote with their feet at the box office, then he must accept that, not whine about how he is being punished. If your career as an actor depends on public popularity, which it does, and you annoy your public to the extent that they don't want to see your movies (are you listening Tom Cruise?), then don't complain about it. Enjoy your principled stand, and the price you are paying for it.

Actors today are the most massively rewarded of all employees - there are few jobs where you can earn millions for two months work. By all means, let us applaud them for their expertise in acting, and reward them handsomely if we must. But actors, on your part, do some thinking. Don't just parrot anti-war slogans without thinking about what "not war" entails, about what unchecked tyranny might involve.

Senator McCarthy... where are you when we need you? ;)

For more on this theme, check out: http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/smarter.asp which compares the relative education of the administration with famous actors who have commented on politics. I don't agree with the whole article, but it makes some good points.

Speaking of serendipity...

I thought I would share a remarkable experience of serendipity, or at the very least, marvelous coincidence. Cathleen and I had our honeymoon in Venice, Italy. Coming back one evening we were walking through St. Mark's square to our hotel, when a classical music quartet started playing the exact tango (from Scent of a Woman) that Cathleen and I had danced to at our wedding for our first dance. So, there we were, backpacks and all, dancing our tango in St. Mark's square, to the surprise of the onlookers. A magical moment. What's yours?

Opening Pandora's (music) Box,

I thought I would share a recent web discovery with you. Go to www.pandora.com. There you will find a website where you create your own radio station. You enter some bands that you like; it analyzes the styles of music of these bands (the music genome), and then creates a radio station which features similar music. You can make some wonderful, serendipitous discoveries, and find music you'll love.

Once your radio station is up and running, you can further refine it by giving the thumbs up or down to whatever songs it presents to you. Lots of fun. My favorite song I've discovered so far is one called "Joining You", a Lenti cover by Alanis. Enjoy!

You can also email your radio station to others so they can enjoy it too. If you want "Female Easy Vocal" or "Glyn's Pop Radio," let me know :)

Join me in reading a book...

So, I just started "The End of Poverty" by Jeffrey D. Sachs. I saw Sachs interviewed (well, sort of interviewed) on The Colbert Report, which is another one of my "news" sources along with The Daily Show. Sachs was so compelling and passionate in his belief that ending poverty is possible, that I decided I would buy the book.

Now I am only 30 pages in, and horrified. I'm already thinking of what I need to give up (appropriate for the Lenten season) and how I can influence the course of world poverty. I am pretty sure, even at this early stage, that my life is going to look different a month from now.

A stunning claim that Dr. Sachs made in the interview was that the US spends DAILY on military spending, the same amount that it has dedicated FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS on poverty relief around the world.

Some of the solutions are simple:
• bed nets to prevent malaria, (between 1 and 3 million African children die of this completely preventable/treatable disease every year);
• wells to provide clean water - a well to supply a whole village costs about $6000
• AIDS drugs - in Malawi, AIDS drugs cost a dollar a day, but the government can't afford it, so most of the 900,000 (except maybe 25,000) infected simply go to hospitals, lay down 2 or 3 to a bed and die.

This is not going to be a comfortable read. We wouldn't let it happen here. And if we believe that an African life is of the same value as an American, or European life...

Please read this book with me. Let's think about what we can do. Let's scheme together and maybe make life better, one village at a time. (And I was worried about napkins...)

A confession: I am a news snob

Although I am prepared to admit with pride (where shame might be more appropriate) that I come from a country that once took over the whole world and called it the British Empire, there is one thing about my country that I am proud of, and that is its news coverage. If you ever tune into BBC America and catch the BBC World News, you will find that it is just that - world news.

Maybe it's because we once occupied these far flung regions, or maybe Britain is so small that we need to look elsewhere for good news, but I enjoy the global perspective, delivered in that crisp BBC accent.

So, I endure American news. I manage to tolerate it only be telling myself that The Today show, on NBC in the morning, with Matt and Katie is not news. It's more like a magazine, and you may occasionally find a tidbit of news in there, but don't expect too much.

I admit, I could try and read a local newspaper, but there's so much of it... and I'm really not that interested in a lot of stuff that passes for local news.

So, my snobby solution is simply this: I read The Economist, a weekly magazine that is not just about economics, but in fact, seems to be, in my humble opinion, the best, most thoughtful, global, informative news magazine that exists. To get a taste of the coverage, go to the website (www.economist.com) and read some of the Backgrounder articles, to give an overview of, for example, the Arab-Israeli conflict. I love this magazine. I feel smarter when I've read it - and I do read almost all of it.

The only thing it lacks is real entertainment news. I cannot find in The Economist who has had the latest nose or boob job; what two names of dating celebrities have now been combined to describe their relationship (Bennifer? Tom-Kat??), or anything else that someone who lives within 30 miles of Hollywood should care about... so strange that they would overlook this...

Of Napkins.

To answer my good friend Michelle's question about napkins in nice restaurants... here's the thing. A napkin has three functions, only two of which are particularly relevant to this discussion:
1. It makes the table look nice
2. You can place it on your lap to catch any food you inadvertently drop on your nice trousers.
3. You can wipe your mouth on it.

While I can live without 1., or rather enjoy it temporarily before deploying the napkin, items 2. and 3. seem mutually exclusive. Either you keep the napkin on the table, for ease of mouth-wiping, in which case, food can drop in your lap with no problem, OR you place it on your lap, which means, if you have to wipe your mouth, you bend over double and look like you're kissing your knee.

So, this is the start of the "Give me 2 napkins" campaign. Are you in?

I just finished reading Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. What a strange, wonderful book. Miller looks at Christian spirituality, and is just so refreshing. He finds it troublesome that so much of Christianity divides people into 'in' and 'out' groups. He experiences non-judgmental love with a group of hippies that are not Christians, and wonders why Christians do so badly at it. After reading it, I get the distinct feeling that Miller puts his finger on some aspects of Christianity that are deeply disturbing to those of us who want to be loving, embrace diversity, refrain from judging... his treatise on the fact that we use love like money, doling out affection to those who act in ways that are pleasing to us, is convicting.

Definitely worth a read. It makes me feel like I want to be a Christian like Donald Miller is a Christian, and I'm always inspired by people who seem to be getting it right, without being arrogant about it. If you've read it, tell me what you thought. If you haven't, then read it, come back and comment. Thanks.