A Call for Justice Against Poverty

I got this in my email today and read the whole speech by Bono. It is available as an online book called The ONE Campaign - on the move and for sale in tangible form (proceeds support the ONE Campaign).

Here's the text of the email:
Having worked in politics for a long time, I've heard thousands of speeches in my life, but none as moving as Bono's at the 2006 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC. It was profound. It was a spiritual call to arms against injustices that we -- together as ONE -- can end. He elevated every person in the room to rise up and do something. See for yourself.

The speech is now available in a small, beautiful book called On the Move. Proceeds from On the Move support The ONE Campaign.

Here is one of my favorite passages:

"God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them."

You can read more through a new tool we're using called digital paper. It lets you literally flip through the pages of the book.

Go here for a virtual tour of On the Move and order your own copy.

This is an incredible time to be a ONE member. More than 100,000 members joined in less than a week and we've had a string of major back-to-back victories as we build our movement into a force unlike any other. We are growing. We are on the move. We will end extreme poverty. Bono's On the Move book reminds us of that. It guides, inspires and shines light for all to see. Please read it, and share it.

Thank you,

Susan McCue, ONE.org

Giro d'Italia live online

Dammit. Robert got me hooked. We hovered over his desktop this morning having coffee and watching Day 2 of the tour.

Watch the Giro d'Italia on RAI here, every day, live.

And since the RAI links are unreliable (at least on Mac), visit the official Giro website for updates (English and Italian), or the gazzetta for updates in Italian.

I guess once an American starts winning, we'll eventually get to see the Giro on U.S. TV. Back in 1996 I used to have to watch the Tour de France on ESPN2 at 2:30 a.m. for measly 30-minute highlights.

If you buy bottled water, read this

First, the NRDC: Bottled Water - Executive Summary and the full report here based on a four-year study.

You might find this disturbing:
"Some of this marketing is misleading, implying the water comes from pristine sources when it does not. ...one brand of "spring water" whose label pictured a lake and mountains, actually came from a well in an industrial facility's parking lot, near a hazardous waste dump, and periodically was contaminated with industrial chemicals at levels above FDA standards.

or:
"...about one fourth of bottled water is bottled tap water (and by some accounts, as much as 40 percent is derived from tap water)..."

and a bit more
Even when bottled waters are covered by FDA's specific bottled water standards, those rules are weaker in many ways than EPA rules that apply to big city tap water. For instance, comparing those EPA regulations (for water systems which serve the majority of the U.S. population) with FDA's bottled water rules:

City tap water can have no confirmed E. coli or fecal coliform bacteria... FDA bottled water rules include no such prohibition (a certain amount of any type of coliform bacteria is allowed in bottled water).

Well, actually, just go read that executive summary -- it tells you the rest!

Engine Trouble

2007 is proving to be an exciting drama filled year. First, I was chased by the NYPD in January. Yesterday, on my return to Chicago, we had an incident in the air.

So I had a bad vibe that hovered since morning. I couldn't place it. I wandered around Chicago with an ominous feeling all day long. We boarded the plane -- the flight attendant was unkind about helping me put my five pound small bag up in the bin, but everything else was rather uneventful.

Take off. Um, sparks. Flames. Smoke...where I happened to be sitting, immediately behind the wing. Really bad burning smell seeping through the cabin.

What I love about United is Channel 9 Audio -- air traffic control communication is open to all passengers, which I happen to find fascinating audio. The most exciting thing in the past was hearing the Air France pilot speak -- gotta love an accent. So our pilot explains to air traffic control that we had a 'bird strike' -- a "fairly large bird, like a goose or something."

Shortly after take off, at about 5000 feet, a goose (or something) went straight through our right engine -- hence the sparks, flame, and smoke. The burning smell entered the cabin, at which time the pilots turned off the A/C controls for that engine. While the engine was fine at 5000 feet, they were concerned how it would react when we reached cruising altitude and chose to turn us back around to land in O'Hare just to be sure.

Non-emergency landing. Sit on aircraft and wait for inspection. Announcement: This aircraft is being taken out of service. We found significant damage to the blades in the engine. At this time, please take all of your personal belongings and deboard the plane.

It was a good call from the pilots, who later also explained that the plane was taken to a hangar for further inspection for internal engine damage, and that in 30-something years of flying, he had "never smelled anything quite like that."

Dining Out for Eastern Market

On Monday, May 21, Dine Out for Eastern Market, a special fundraiser to help rebuild our beloved and historic neighborhood market, lost in a fire on April 30.