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Category Archives: Social Commentary

All We Want For Christmas Is…

SeeTwist Productions

Photo Credit: SeeTwist Productions

I know I said that I wasn’t one to beg, but I’m making just one more tiny tiny  exception (two in one week, YIKES!). OK, I’m lying. It’s a big fat, pie-in-the-sky whopper. In addition to my plea for just one of the 1000 journals (which still stands, but this wish DEFINITELY pre-empts that one!), I’m also willing to get down on my knees for tickets to Obama’s inauguration. Unfortunately, everyone else and their mom wants to go too, and there are only 240,000 seats. That’s like 2.5 Dallas Cowboys mega-stadiums, but considering the entire nation wants to fit inside, it’s creating a bit of a problem for those of us who propelled the Obama movement to victory, but don’t have thousands of dollars sitting around to be spent on bad ass moments in history.

Never having been one to give up easily, I’m still trying! Miss Amira Dugrhi (my very favorite documentary film wonder-child) and I have hatched a plan to crash the party! We searched E-Bay first, but holy cow, even on November 12th the prices were ridic. So, I also wrote our congressman, Peter DeFazio, and am stopping by his office tomorrow to make our case in person.

Additionally (and boy is it your lucky day!), we’ll also make it to you. Practice makes perfect, you know? Plus you can send in feedback that might improve our argument (hint hint!).

Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury:

Our generation–so-called Generation Y–was a major force in the Obama Campaign’s success for a White House bid. We tuned into his energy and tone early on and were vocal supporters for the three years this presidential cycle spanned. We talked about him to anyone and everyone. We got our parents and families excited about him. We made videos, wrote blogs and songs about him. We designed freakin amazing posters, T-shirts and stickers for the cause. We exhibited all the signs of Obama fever and it paid off for his campaign in a big way. History was made.

Yet, the “millenials” are largely being squeezed out of an event that we should be on the VIP list for. January 20, 2009 is a big freakin’ deal! Obama’s speech will undoubtably go into the history books. We can only guess how many boxes of Kleenex will fly off the shelves the day before. Put simply: The moment will be unforgettable. Incredible. But we won’t be there, because we don’t have those good ol’boy connections to get tickets from our Congressmen and women, and most of us can’t afford to buy scalped tickets at thousands a piece.

It’s not exactly the way you keep Generation Y inspired to build an era of greatness in American history. We want to be involved. We want to engage. We expect access, because that’s what we are about. That’s where we are taking society. Because we believe in access (we are, after all, the children of the Internet, the ultimate symbol of access), we feel strongly that people from our generation have a right to experience this moment in history; that the rich shouldn’t be the only ones in attendence; that CNN and the like shouldn’t be the only media entities to receive press passes!

Sidenote to readers: we were super stoked to see this article on CNN (Yeah we know we just made them out to be our arch nemisis, but you know how it goes…gotta know your enemy!) about the program Earl Stafford has put together to grant access to the event to the poor and underpriviledged. Major major respect for him re: this.

But we digress. Where were we? Oh yeah…

Considering the role Generation Y played in electing our soon-to-be 44th President, and because we are the rapidly approaching future of news media (among other things), we implore you to support us as its representatives at the inauguration. We’ve got the means to get there. We’ve got the vision and talent to cover the occasion for our peers and beyond. But we haven’t got one of those 240,000 passes to get in the door.

We’re kind of like Charlie. Frantically searching for the last golden ticket, hoping to meet the illustrious Willy Wonka.

Can you help us find a ticket? We’ll even do the Ooompa Loompa dance for you if you can (SUCH an amazing/motivating incentive, I know!).

Many thanks.

kill button & little girl

(a.k.a. the vision and the voice)

On deck: Episode No.2 of our Torture! It’s What’s For Dinner series. We’ll be taking a look at the history of torture in America, in order to better understand how we got to where we are today. Keep a look out for it! It’s sure to be enlightening.

Because Nobody Wants To Spend The GNP of Mexico On Gas In A Year

Starns Bailey

Photo Illustration: Starns Bailey

Wonder of wonders. Miracle of miracles. Today I bought gas for under $2.00/gal ($1.89 to be exact). I couldn’t believe it. If you asked me two months ago about the chances of ever seeing gasoline under $4.00/gal again, I would have said zero to none.

It got me wondering whether or not the sudden and shocking price drop will have an effect on
the corresponding fervor to develop greener automobiles/factories and stem the rising tide of carbon emissions. Have we broken the bonds of the Matrix or will $1.89/gal be our undoing?

It’s no secret that the United States is a fiscally driven culture. We like the “green movement” so long as the price is right. But most of us won’t to pay much extra on the front-end to participate in a movement that will save our collective back-end (ridiculously short-sighted, but true).

Example: When Hillary Clinton was on Wal Mart’s Board of Directors, she encouraged them to build greener stores. She reasoned that it would not only help the environment, but also save money in the long-run. The problem was that Wal Mart didn’t want to pay the 30% higher initial costs to build these environmentally friendly stores.

Today Wal Mart is jumping on the green band wagon. Why? Let’s be real–it’s not because Wal Mart’s leadership watched “An Inconvenient Truth” and had a major change of heart about how they run the company. It’s all about the Benjamins Baby.

Wal Mart is building green stores because rising fuel prices and increased social pressure are making it more financially prudent for them to do so. It doesn’t cost as much to build green these days and energy savings are making up for the extra front end costs at a much quicker rate. Additionally their leadership can promote the company as “green”, which could bring in customers that previously avoided its isles due to reservations about Wal Mart’s environmental vision (I’d also mention that its civil rights record hasn’t been the cleanest either, but let’s just save that for another day!).

Now Wal Mart is just an example, but the same is true for most Americans. In general, we want a Prius or some sort of Hybrid because gas prices sky rocketed. The fact that we’ll feel better about what we are doing for the environment is just an added bonus.

If I sound a bit cynical, I am. But I’m also optimistic. Why? One word: Starbucks.

Say what little girl?

Yeah, that’s right: Starbucks.

Think about it. We complain about paying $4.00 for a gallon of gasoline that will transport us, our kids, their friends and the dog for 15-20 miles. But $4.00 for a 16oz caramel macchiato that will give us a little buzz for a few hours? No problem.

It’s all about priorities. We’ll pay more for things that are more valuable to us.

And our priorities are changing when it comes to our transportation.

When priorities shift, we become more open-minded to alternate ideas and arguments. Hear me out. Let’s say gas prices go up again and you just can’t deal with the $70.00 hit you take each time you fill up your SUV. You look into a hybrid because of the financial savings. But while learning about the financial benefits, you also pick up on the environmental savings that come along with the package. A light bulb (hopefully an energy-saving florescent) goes off. What if there are other ways I can help the environment AND save money?

Sometimes it just takes getting a customer into the store to sell them on your product. And sometimes getting the customer into the store depends on a shift in reality.

Reality shift? Check.

Priority change? Semi-check.

I like to think that we’ve taken the red pill, awakened in a new consciousness and are now unable to go back to our blissful fossil-fuel ignorance. Would I bet my meager life-savings on this? Nope. After all, we are only human.

But if you’re ever in need of a reality check, here are a few triggers to remind you the folly of fossil fuels.

  • At $4.89/gallon x 17 gallons, gas would cost you $83.13 per tank (1-2x/week) or $4233.76-$8645.52/year (YIKES!)
  • Hurricane Katrina, and the world wide increase in major storm frequency and intensity, have been linked to rising global temperatures, which are due to a dramatic increase of carbon in the atmosphere, originating mostly from our automobiles and factories.
  • 9/11 and other terrorist acts which originate from cells based in the Middle East are often inspired by those citizens feeling threatened by a strong U.S. presence in their neighborhood. A decreased dependency on oil will result in a decreased financial interest in a region that does not appreciate any sign of American strength (Israel being probably the only exception). One can reason that if people feel less threatened, they would feel less inclined to lash out against the source of the perceived threat.
  • 66.3% of adults in America are moderately overweight or obese. THAT’S 2/3 OF THE POPULATION!!! It’s no surprise that we have one of the highest obesity rates in the world when we also have the highest number of cars per capita (0.77 cars per person) and very high incidence of driving in lieu of walking or biking (even if the distance is less than a mile). The math is really simple: Cut your time in the car and cut your weight/carbon emissions.

My advice: Put some of these key words on a sticky note and hang it on your dash board so that every time you turn the ignition you are reminded of why we need to continue our demands for cleaner, more efficient cars, better transportation alternatives (i.e. more walking and bike paths, bus and subway routes) and the individual prudence to take advantage of all. Because nobody wants to end up paying upwards of the average annual income (GNP) of Mexico ($10,090) to gas their car each year.

Torture! It’s What’s For Dinner.

Torture…It’s what’s for dinner!

Well, maybe not, but it might as well be.

When did it all come to this? I thought we left torture behind after the Salem witch trials and slavery.

Isn’t torture an act reserved for demented rapists, serial killers, dictators and rebel armies to engage in?

Evidently not.

It was quite the story when the atrocious methods being used on the “night watch” at Abu Gharib were revealed in pictures.

Check out this video from www.ted.com on how easily humans are persuaded to use torture against their brothers and sisters.

“Bad form,” said the U.S. Army. Just a few bad apples.

But the truth is that many techniques, considered torture by the “civilized” international community (which P.S. we are supposedly at the forefront of), are still being used–more often than not at the now infamous Guantanamo Bay/Camp Delta facility.

And we, the people, have looked the other way. Because we want to eat dinner in peace. We don’t want to think about things we allow to happen by being silent and complacent about their existence.

So my good friend Amira Dughri and I are going to be doing a series on torture, how it’s being used in the U.S. and what’s being done to combat its use.

I hope you’ll join us here at little girl BIG VOICE as we explore this fascinating and disgusting topic. We’re so sure that you’ll be as appalled as we are, that we’ll even throw in a few ideas to use your voice and make a difference!

It might ruin your appetite, but if our efforts are successful, at least you’ll be able to sleep at night.

I know why the Economy is Tanking

Starns Bailey

Photo By: Starns Bailey

I know why the U.S. economy is tanking. And it’s not just because we have too much debt and too little savings, took the bait on sub-prime mortgages and/or let Wall Street run unchecked for decades. Those are just the logistics. They aren’t the underlying reason.

The economy is unstable because we are unstable. We are unstable because we are in the midst of a major values shift. Our economy, our culture, our beliefs about religion and just about everything else are not what they used to be. And this isn’t a bad thing. It just is.

In the developing world most people are dying to be in the middle class. As Seth Godin and Thomas Friedman (among others) have pointed out, in places like India, the ideal job is as a bureaucrat; a stable, average job that will keep your family out of poverty and put food on the table in an air conditioned room. That’s a big deal when most of your population still subsists on less than $1000 a year.

But in the United States we are over being ordinary. We want to be extraordinary–100% of the time. Godin says our demands have evolved from believing that normal is desirable to seeing it as mediocre. Who wants to shoot par when Tiger Woods goes for eagle every time? And we all secretly (or not so secretly) want to be Tiger Woods or at least have his golf game.

So we want more. We want function, yes, but we also want style, the latest technology, environmental soundness and affordability; all in one pretty little package (biodegradable of course).

The thing is, our archaic industrial-based system is not set up to handle these unconventional demands.

I was reading in Tribes (Godin’s latest book and the means by which I arrived at this “ah ha” moment) that the status quo is no longer where it’s at.

He says: “‘Good Enough’ stopped being good enough a long time ago, so why not be great?” (Page 31, Tribes)

I can’t help but agree, especially when we see more and more of the great pillars of established business enterprise enter into peril each day. GM, Lehman Brothers, Kodak and others used to be the leaders in generating prosperity and wealth. Now they are losing value and relevancy at an alarming rate.

But why?

I’ll tell you. Our system–by which we produce our goods, services and food, educate our children, connect with the environment, care for our sick, base our economy and influence our brand identity–is dying . It simply doesn’t work anymore.

But why?

In a most ironic twist of fate, it’s best explained by good ol’fashioned economic theory. Our demands have shifted. They’ve created a new paradigm in which the “market” is forcing our institutions and culture to change drastically and swiftly. We don’t want what our stable factory-based system gives us anymore. We don’t want average. We consistently reject “normal” right down to our Prada knock-off stilettos. We’re addicted to the extraordinary and we won’t settle for anything less.

Frame our present reality in this way and it can’t be surprising that our economy is in shock over the state of the union (and the rest of the world, really). Our shift in values has destabilized our very way of being and doing.

And if you look at things this way, it’s also not hard to see why Barack Obama inspires so many people. You see, even though we demand the extraordinary, we don’t exactly know how to go about getting it, creating it and maintaining it in a way that will bring us the same prosperity that we identify with the system of yesterday. We are desperately seeking leaders to help us solve this dilemma. John McCain lost because he ran on a platform of fixing the system already in place and restoring the status quo to it’s former glory. It’s a nice fantasy, it’s just that it’s impossible.

Barack Obama, on the other hand, looked at our increasingly irrelevant (not to mention dysfunctional) system and saw that we need to reinvent that system in order to achieve the prosperity we desire and have come to expect in this supposed greatest-of-nations. He’s deconstructed the issue just one step further than McCain did. And that one extra, audacious step makes all the difference. It resonates with the millions of Americans looking around at their worlds and seeing very unfamiliar territory.

The bottom line: Stable is out. Dynamic is in. Industrial Era/Reagan Economics= Over. Boat Rockers = The new heroes.

We are now entering the Era Extraordinary (©).

Are you a boat rocker? If you want to succeed in the Era Extraordinary (©), you’d better be. Because the passionate commitment, leadership and determination that America was built on demands that you be. We can only hold back the dam for so long with patches and bailouts. Sooner rather than later we are going to have to learn how to swim or risk drowning in the sea of has-been empires. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not become the next Rome with features running on the Discovery Channel (…in Chinese) about our FORMER glory. Simply put, it’s time to step it up several notches. We need each and every one of your talents and skills, because there is A LOT to do. Overhauling this behemoth of a system ain’t gonna be easy task. However, the result will be a product we can all be proud of. The result will prove the relevancy of American Dream and prove that our values are timeless. Not much will survive from our current system–but among those sure to stay are life, liberty and the pursuit.

Are you ready to chase the dream? Are you ready to step off the brink into the Era Extraordinary (©)?

If you are, welcome to the team.

Another $100 Billion? Sure, why not!?

www.avtoindex.com

Photo Credit: www.avtoindex.com

To bail or not to bail, that seems to be the primo question around Washington these days. But no longer are lawmaker’s concerns limited to the financial district. Joining the line of eager Olivers, hands stretched out, asking, “please sir, I’d like some more”, is the auto industry. And they present another frustrating case to the tax payer.

The problem is that approximately one in 10 jobs in the United States is connected to the industry. This includes direct employment–through factories and dealerships, etc–but also includes jobs in automobile financing and in sectors that provide crucial raw materials to the auto industry (i.e. steel manufacturers). Translation: If the industry goes belly up, millions of Americans on Main Street would be adversely affected.

Obviously everyone in Washington, Wall Street and Main Street want to see the auto industry–long the symbol of American innovation and dominance–succeed. The issue at hand concerns which strategy to choose and there are several options being weighed.

Some background info: The “Big Three” (GM, Chrysler and Ford) were granted a $25 Billion loan package from Congress earlier this year to help them retool their plants and products, and assist the companies in regaining competitive status in the global markets. The package has some money allocated for aiding with liquidity issues, but is structured to be used mostly for environmental upgrading. It is scheduled to be distributed within six to 18 months, but with GM stock trading near $3/share and the company burning through $2.5 billion a month (and the others scarcely better off) they need cash quickly in order to avoid filing for bankruptcy and there are numerous contingencies attached to the package that will delay any checks being cut.

GM, in particular, desperately wants to stay out of Chapter 11 status, but others contend that a pre-planned bankruptcy could help them sort out their organization, up efficiency levels and come out stronger. Supporters of allowing at least one of the Big Three to file bankruptcy (most likely GM, as it has stated it only has enough cash to get through the next few months) base their optimism for such a plan on the airline industry’s experience with bankruptcy. My concern with using the airline industry’s experience as precedent is that travel and buying automobiles are entirely different things. Flying is the only available option to travel expediently (I mean have you ever taken a train or bus? Waiting in security lines pales in comparison to stopping every 20 minutes at each podunk town between destinations. It took me almost seven hours to get from Charlotte to Atlanta on Amtrack when I could have driven it in three and a half). That means people will suck it up and pay higher prices, because the service provided is worth it. And that’s why the major airlines were able to survive bankruptcy while still operating as contenders in the market.

But the auto industry is different. There is fierce competition between American and foreign auto makers (which is the root of the American auto maker’s problems; they can’t compete any longer against Honda and Toyota doing business as usual). If GM and/or Ford and Chrysler go into bankruptcy, people are just going to look to foreign options even more than they already are. Couple this with the fact that fewer Americans will be buying automobiles overall and it doesn’t look like filing for bankruptcy is the best plan.

Still–does that mean GM, Ford and Chrysler should get a piece of the $700 billion pie we’ve grudgingly made for the financial industry? Secretary Paulson says no. The legislative branch says maybe.

My vote goes for a seperate small (if anything with the figure “billion” in it can be considered small) package of loans that will help GM get through 2009 and into 2010, when they’ll see substaintial cost cuts due to the switchover of their retired employee health-care plans to the United Auto Workers Union. The cash will also help Ford and Chrysler brave the recession and come out in tact.

It’s clear that something must be done and quickly.The American economy simply cannot sustain a collapse of this critical industry right now. If GM goes down, Ford and Chrysler will most likely follow. But just as important as helping the industry, is also requiring substantial change in behavior through strict provisions that force the hand of Detroit to upgrade their product and system in terms of environmental impact (i.e. lessening it) and efficiency.

For 30 years, U.S. auto makers have dilly-dallied around pushing these upgrades in performance in lieu producing of flashy, ostentaitious status symbols with atrocious (embarrassing, really, considering the technology available) gas mileage (One word: Hummer). And now, their indulgence in excess has come back to bite them in the ass. Unstable gas prices, strong signs of global warming’s impending unpleasantries and fiercly competitive foreign counterparts are just as much to blame for the ailments at the Big Three as the current downturn in the U.S. economy. If additional aid is made available, one thing must be made crystal clear to leaders in Detroit:  The only chance for a deal and longterm survival alike involves sucking it up and bearing the pain of overhauling their entire archaic system.

This likely won’t make the CEOs of Ford, GM and Chrysler happy, but it’s a deal they need to make in order to save their companies–and more importantly the American economy. It’s not all about them, but unfortunately it (i.e. A successful turnaround of the U.S. economy) has to include them and depends on the choices they make.

So add another inefficient, poorly run, delusional industry to the list of Bailout Baffoons caught up in this Black Swan event. All the cool kids are doing it. I’m just wondering whether we’d have been better off aligning ourselves with the geeks?

Off With Their Heads? High Treason This Election Season…

Steve Bronstein—The Image Bank/Getty Images

Image By: Steve Bronstein—The Image Bank/Getty Images

The phone just rang and it was an unknown number. Being that it’s election season, of course I didn’t answer. I don’t need none of that. If Barack Obama wants to call me, then he should get his name assigned to his numbers, so I know it’s him (PS: Barack, if you do want to give me a call and discuss the next four years, I would be glad to take your call of course…have your people call my people…but I digress).

Seeing that it wasn’t friends, family or Senator Obama, my immediate thought was, “It’s probably some Democrat-hater calling to let me know I’m supposed to vote November 5th.”

Say what?

I’ll issue an upfront disclaimer that the following situation is, indeed, totally whack and a disgusting display of dirty politics. I won’t go so far as to say that I believe the McCain-Palin campaign is behind this–I don’t think they would ever stoop to this level.

Here’s the deal. I was just watching the News Hour on PBS and Gwen Ifel was interviewing some people about early voting and election day. Evidently there is a new low being reached in election hard ball.

Fake Flyer Being Distributed in Virginia (via CNN.com)

Fake Flyer Being Distributed in Virginia (via CNN.com)

In Virginia, and some other key states across the nation, there are extremely deceiving brochures and materials being distributed that claim, among other things, that Republicans vote on November 4 and Democrats on November 5. They appear to be official state documents and, in Virginia, even bear the state seal. Yes, you are correct–they are a complete fallacy and also illegal.

I mean, really? Who the hell do these people think they are? And how do they get off assuming that it is O.K. to try and dupe less experienced or informed voters out of their right to express their opinion through the act of voting.

I’m incredibly pissed off about this. Among the outraged vocab bombarding my brain (and making it more difficult than usual to write a coherent sentence, much less blog post): ridiculous, dastardly, duplicitous, disgusting, revolting, bull shit, desperate, malicious, audacious, treason and last but not least WRONG WRONG WRONG.

It’s not that I think this is such a huge injustice against Democrats in particular or Barack Obama. More importantly, this is a blow to DEMOCRACY, to our Constitution and voters everywhere–regardless of party affiliation. It’s predatory and inexcusable and, in my opinion, it’s treason against our great nation. Worst of all, these materials target the weak and for that I hope the perpetrators rot in a cold, dark prison cell, in a dumpy orange jumpsuit, with a fresh copy of “The What President Obama Did Today Times” delivered with their tasteless gruel and burnt coffee at breakfast every morning.

I also pray to god that such an act is considered a felony in the Commonwealth of Virginia and that its a state where citizens lose their right to vote for having committed a felony. Anyone who would resort to such tactics simply doesn’t deserve that right any longer. In another time, it would have been “off with their head!”

For me, this only reinforces the value of a vote. It is so valuable that people with dark hearts have resorted to extraordinary tactics and tricks to con us into giving it up. So remember–voting for all happens TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4 and our nation needs each and every one of us to get out there and use our voice. Obama, McCain, Mickey Mouse, whatever. Just get out there and be heard!!!

Update: My hope of such an act being considered a felony in Virginia is, unfortunately, not reality. According to the Hampton Pilot (a local Virginian paper in an area hard hit with the flyers), “In 2007, the General Assembly passed a law making it a Class 1 misdemeanor to knowingly communicate false information to registered voters about the date, time and place of the election or voters’ precincts, polling places or voter registration statuses in order to impede their voting. The measure is one of the few such deceptive voting practice laws in the country, according to the watchdog group Common Cause.” BUMMER!!!

Breaking The Silence…But Are Your Words Empty?

Julia F.

Photo By: Julia F.

You’ve probably already figured out from the title of this website that speaking up and being a voice against injustice is a kind of a big deal here. But it doesn’t stop at the moment of outcry. You can’t talk if you don’t walk. Least not in my book.

Here’s the deal. I get these emails from organizations that are involved in very worthy causes, calling on me to participate in an observance against one of the many injustices going down on our planet. Many of them are revolve around not using a certain common tool or resource for a day to make a statement–which is great. Statements are needed, sure enough and we need people organizing these drives for awareness. But what gets to me is that we so often jump on board to make these statements without any real action to back them up. What are we really accomplishing by refraining from drinking coffee for one single day as a symbol of “supporting” Ethiopian coffee growers that are being screwed by the global markets and so-called (entirely un) free trade? What difference will that make when we open our can of Folger’s tomorrow morning and continue to perpetuate a cycle of exploitation?

Like, “sorry you’re getting screwed. We acknowledge that it sucks to be you, but that’s all we have time for.”

That’s whack people.

We’ve got to stop these “unfunded statements” and start putting something behind our words and symbolic gestures. We can’t just sit by and continue to let our humanity become another “No Child Left Behind” (good intentions without any semblance of adequate backing). If something makes you ill every time you hear about it, then how about this: DO SOMETHING. THROW THE FOLGERS OUT AND BUY SOME ORGANIC FAIR-TRADE BEANS!!!

But I’m a poor college student! Or, I’m a poor just-out-of-college entry-level employee paying off a mountain of student loans! Or, I’m a parent-made-poor by putting a student through college! Or, I just spent every penny I had on my iPhone!

My 6th grade math teacher used to say, “Excuses are the nails you use to build your house of failure.” A quote I’m sure he ripped off from some great thinker, but it’s the only damn thing I remember from his class (I can’t even remember his name!). Funding doesn’t necessarily refer to throwing down your increasingly less available disposable income. It can mean devoting time to raising awareness or volunteering at an organization involved with the cause you want to champion. What about running a 10K to raise money instead of just donating? Or organizing a drive to collect items in need for a cause? Or spending part of your Thanksgiving serving meals to elderly citizens who don’t have any family?

Point is, saying you support a cause with your words is nice and should be commended (YOU USED YOUR WORDS! YAY YOU!). But showing you support a cause with your actions is at least 10 million billion gazillion times better, because it takes your involvement level from “aware sideliner” to an “agent of change” (ESTUPENDO!!!!).

You can guess which one we prefer here!

If you’re thinking to yourself that this little girl is throwing down a bit of a gauntlet–you’re right. I most certainly am. However, said little girl is NOT–repeat, NOT–making an unfunded statement (Lord in Heaven forbid)! The Eugene Marathon has my name written all over it with Train For Humanity reaping the benefit of my crazy desire to tear down my body to the point of breaking in order to extend the basics to those in the Darfur Region through Darfur Peace and Development Organization (And–HINT HINT–I will be accepting donations, love and free massages for my sure-to-be-aching body from January to May 2009).

To those of you already being champions at championing a cause–you freakin’ rock our world. PLEASE write in and tell us what you’re involved in! Who knows–maybe you’ll inspire an agent of change in-training!

If you need some inspiration, here are a few causes I’m getting myself into that you might connect with too.

Train For Humanity: “Was created as an almost entirely online organization in order to reduce overhead to as little as possible, and to show people that with a little creativity and innovation, anyone can assist and make a difference in the world.The concept is simple: getting fit + social media + blogging = social good. Train for Humanity uses the web, social media, and blogging in tandem with everyday athletes in training to support organizations that help prevent suffering and alleviate the pain of children, orphans, and refugees who have been displaced due to genocide or internal strife and war within their country (www.trainforhumanity.org).”

XDRTB.ORG: “Is an extraordinary effort to tell the story of extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) and TB through powerful photographs taken by James Nachtwey. XDR-TB, or extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis, is a new and deadly mutation of tuberculosis. Similar in creation to multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) but more extreme in its manifestation, it arises when common tuberculosis goes untreated or standard TB drugs are misused. James’ photographs represent these varying strains. Learn more about TB, MDR-TB and XDR-TB, and learn how you can take action to stop this deadly disease at www.xdrtb.org.”

Pangea Day: “In 2006, filmmaker Jehane Noujaim won the TED Prize, an annual award granted at the TED Conference. She was granted $100,000, and more important, a wish to change the world. Her wish was to create a day in which the world came together through film. Pangea Day grew out of that wish. The first-ever Pangea Day took place on May 10, 2008. Locations in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro were linked for a live program of powerful films, live music, and visionary speakers. The entire event was broadcast — in seven languages — to millions via the internet, television, and mobile phones. Throughout the day, we heard from an extraordinary lineup of speakers and musical performers: Queen Noor of Jordan, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Lisa Ling, Dave Stewart and friends, Gilberto Gil, and Iranian rock phenoms Hypernova were among those taking part (www.pangeaday.org).”

Humanity’s TOP 10…Now Where Is David Letterman???

Coming back from vacation is always a bittersweet phenomenon for me. It’s concurrently depressing and a relief. I’m always longing to be back in the middle of the trip, without a care in the world, yet itching to get everything that’s piled up in my absence taken care of. So Saturday morning turned into a bit of a roller-coaster ride, as I disembarked from a seven day cruise through Mexico aboard The Norwegian Star—my ocean liner of a home away from home—and made my way to LAX.

I won’t lie. I struggled with giving up my Blackberry for eight glorious days. But I also reveled in ditching said Crackberry in the stateroom safe. I both loved and hated not keeping any sort of schedule. I was delighted, yet insecure about being able to sleep in past 5 a.m. (the first few mornings, upon waking au natural et sans alarm, I panicked, thinking I had somehow slept through my alarm and was now disastrously late).

But mostly, I have arrived back in the states with a simmering sense of guilt about being in the social position to receive such an opportunity—to be waited on, hand and foot. My time in Mexico was exhilarating, but concerning as well. It’s just not fair that some of us get to jet-set around, while others toil to make our journeys memorable without ever coming close to affording similar luxury for themselves.

I’ve gotten some flack for believing in an American Dream, but I just can’t help it. Even though I walked through the streets of Mazatlan’s slums and saw the injustice of the de facto global caste system, I can’t stop myself from feeling that the situation can change if we just keep pushing. That sounds simplistic maybe, but that it’s the only way to keep myself from collapsing into depression and cynicism about it all.

I suppose it comes down to what might be one of the corniest, albeit spot on, sayings in sports, “You’ll miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Look at it this way: We can’t afford to sit on the sidelines contemplating whether or not to act. So I’m going to keep taking shots until I fall down dead on the field, and I hope you will too. The world is so far from perfect that it’s overwhelming to let yourself think about it for more than a minute. But the world has one thing that keeps me going and that’s the future. We can’t change the past, but we can use its lessons in our every present moment to influence the future and make sure we build the human experience into something better.

Isn’t that the American Dream? The belief that tomorrow will be better than today? And that we must have at least some control over building “our better”? To boot, I’ll leave you with a few other musings on the subject by thought-provokers extraordinaire, who most certainly can put these things more eloquently than I.


“THE WORLD IS A DANGEROUS PLACE TO LIVE; NOT BECAUSE OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE EVIL, BUT BECAUSE OF THE PEOPLE WHO DON’T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.” (ALBERT EINSTEIN)


“DON’T BUNT. AIM OUT OF THE BALLPARK.” (DAVID OGILVY)
“GREAT SPIRITS HAVE ALWAYS FOUND VIOLENT OPPOSITION FROM MEDIOCRITIES. THE LATTER CANNOT UNDERSTAND IT WHEN A MAN DOES NOT THOUGHTLESSLY SUBMIT TO HEREDITARY PREJUDICES BUT HONESTLY AND COURAGEOUSLY USES HIS INTELLIGENCE.” (ALBERT EINSTEIN)


“CYNIC: ONE WHO NOT ONLY READS BITTER LESSONS FROM THE PAST, BUT WHO IS PREMATURELY DISAPPOINTED WITH THE FUTURE.” (UNKNOWN SOURCE)

“WHAT GOOD IS A MAN WHO WON’T TAKE A STAND? WHAT GOOD IS A CYNIC WITH NO BETTER PLAN? YES, I BELIEVE THERE’S A BETTER WAY.” (BEN HARPER)

Heck, I like this one so much, I’ll put the video below. If you’ve got three minutes and 45 seconds to spare, you should watch!!!

…and although I love Mr. Harper, my personal favorite is saved for last (obviously not least!)

“NOBODY CAN GO BACK AND START A NEW BEGINNING, BUT ANYONE CAN START TODAY AND MAKE A NEW ENDING.” (MARY ROBINSON)
Bottom line: Start dreaming. And dream big. But here’s the catch—you have to actually act on those dreams in order to manifest “our better” into reality. Otherwise, we’ll end up a bunch of cynical complainers in worse trouble than we’ve ever imagined.

So here’s my plan: Some of the friends I met in Mexico encouraged me to make a personal “bucket list,” which you can check out by clicking here or on the Bucket List tab on my home page. But I decided the World needed a bucket list too and I can’t make it alone. I’m taking ideas at: starnsbailey@gmail.com. Please write in and use your BIG VOICE–use it or lose it people! Then stay tuned for the reveal of the “TOP 10 THINGS HUMANITY NEEDS TO DO THIS CENTURY…IN ORDER TO MAKE IT TO THE NEXT ONE” (And what you can do to help) on Saturday, November 1.

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