Danielle Levy

–We should decry that business interests are concerned over not being able to make money over Susan Boyle’s popularity–We all know about Susan Boyle and how she became a sensation with a singing voice that did not match the judges’ expectations given what many called her frumpy appearance. In April, YouTube videos of her performances were viewed 220 million times. Her popularity continues and now the businesses involved are concerned that it is difficult for that popularity to pay off. Freemantle Media Enterprises who owns the international digital rights to Britain’s Got Talent show, uploaded clips on YouTube, a unit of Google, but the clips do not appear to generate any advertising revenues. Despite arcane financial arrangements, Ms Boyle’s continued popularity and the number of hits the clips received, very little money has been generated by any of the parties involved. The concern was deep enough that the New York Times run a story about it.
When we expect every story and every success to be quantified by its monetary value or revenue potential, it is a fact of our culture that needs to be noticed. It needs to be noticed, decried and censured lest the hope of its redress be that far more removed.

–Former vice-President Dick Cheney is a lesson of someone who diggs in his heels—In his speech at the American Enterprise Institute former Vice-President Dick Cheney spoke from his heart, but apparently, what’s in his heart and what some of the facts are do not coincide. In his column the following day, David Brooks, the NYT’s commentator and a Republican explained how after 2003 the policies Mr. Cheney spoke about, policies Mr. Cheney was then advocating, were being slowly overruled by a group of Bush administration officials, including Condoleeza Rice. In a McClatchy newspaper article by Jonathan S. Landay and Warren P. Strobel they cite the omissions and misstatements by Mr. Cheney. For example, Mr. Cheney quoted National Intelligence Adviser Adm. Dennis Blair in statements and positions he did not hold or which he later changed, amended or qualified. While the precise instances would make for a long and very dry piece, the point remains. Mr. Cheney’s speech is revealing of his stance on these issues, a stance that is so deeply ingrained, it flies in the face of facts, or of any truth that may contradict it. It is not a unique phenomenon, we often see it manifest itself in so many people around us. In that Mr. Cheney becomes an example of digging in your heels and helps us see is how sad it can be.

–When it comes to the acai berry, are we being rapacious or just thoughtless?—We do our best to eat right. We also factor in the environment, and participate in the eat local movement, or slow food one whichever better suits our sensibilities. Accordingly, we try to limit the carbon footprint we leave upon the environment. But what thought do we give to the people involved? The question acquires a certain importance when it comes to the acai berry grown in the Brazilian jungle. It is the staple food for many living in the Amazon regions. It is a protein-rich nutrient they’ve long relied on, usually beaten, diluted in water and eaten with manioc or other foods. It has been so popular around the world, popularized by Oprah Winfrey, Nicholas Perricone and Mehmet Oz that there is now a diminished supply for those who depended on it for food, and given how it grows, on palm trees, the supply cannot be quickly replenished. Where it is available in Brazil, it is now much more expensive and out of the reach of many.
If we try to be ethical about how we eat, then we ought to factor in the consequences of what we consume upon the people and cultures where it is grown. Acai may be a super food, but for us, it is a supplement, something to make us younger, loose weight faster, age more slowly. For those in the Brazilian jungle it is a staple, often a necessity. While our abstaining from acai and the now many products that tout it, will not directly help those in the jungle, it will dampen the profits of those exploiting it and as it does, they may relent or reevaluate its uses. A decreased demand would in a round about way help those who have depended on it for generations. That is not only possible for us to do, it can be considered our responsibility.