Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
Oh, I’m sure the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) might be doing something to alleviate the problem of world hunger besides blaming America…and holding press conferences to blame America…and distributing press releases that blame us…and holding conventions to blame us…
…but that’s about all I’ve seen or heard of them doing. Maybe they are doing other things. Maybe they’re coming up with some plans to “end world hunger.” But the making of the plans, consistently, gets a lot more news coverage than the content of those plans once made. You know, I think if everyone was willing to do whatever it took to end world hunger, once the content of such a plan was made clear and thought to be viable, it would travel to the four corners of the world like jungle telegraph.
All I’ve ever heard of, is bitching away about how the United States doesn’t kick in enough money.
And the menu for the latest bitch-fest…as reported by the AP…
Tuesday:
• Vol-au-vent (pastry puffs) with corn and mozzarella
• Pasta with a sauce of pumpkin and shrimp in cream
• Veal rolls with cherry tomatoes and basil
• Spinach Roman-style
• Fruit salad with vanilla ice cream
• White wine from OrvietoWednesday:
• Cheese mousse
• Pasta with vegetables and cherry tomatoes
• Chopped beef
• Butter beans
• Pineapple with ice cream
• CabernetThursday:
• Zucchini pie
• Parmesan Risotto
• Ragout of veal with legumes
• Sauteed potatoes
• Lemon mousse with raspberry sauce.
• Pinot Grigio
Yummy.
You know, the catering seems to be the genesis of the public relations problems with these things. I understand it makes sense to cater meals with such a large entourage. What city’s cuisine establishments could handle such a lunch crush?
Hey here’s an idea. Fly them to Redmond, Washington, where I got my start in software development. The Microsoft engineers…twenty years ago, they had inspired a huge explosion in Thai restaurants. I’m pretty sure the restaurants are still there, most of ’em. Thai food is yummy. And, you know, there are some hungry people in Thailand. Just do with the world-hunger diplomats and policy wonks and noisemakers what they do with me when I have to go to training — speaker says “Do I have time for one more question? No? Pushing it? Okay, maybe it’s time for a LUNCH BREAK?” And then you turn them loose.
I’m sure there’s some kind of banking office in the U.N. that can handle the conversion of whatever currency is available, into American dollars in advance of the trip. Whoever can’t afford the ten bucks for chicken in peanut sauce, iced tea and tip, can just spring for McDonald’s.
Yes, I know…if they skipped lunch, it wouldn’t feed a single hungry person. I get that.
But people who are fat, or are making themselves that way, as they go through the motions of solving world hunger — man, that’s one of my pet peeves.
And I’m not alone. How do these public relations boondoggles happen? The U.N. is an organization that exists, in large part, to convince outsiders of things. They come up with ideas, right or wrong, and from there on out the big struggle is to persuade others how incredibly wise and correct they are because they are the U.N. It’s not a done-deal. The U.N.’s ideas tend to cost lots of money. Some folks are receptive to them, others are more skeptical.
So P.R. must mean something.
Why, then, does it seem that so little thought goes into things like this?
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