Around the Big World

Ideas and Issues
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      Sacramento  Hitting New Orleans for less than 24 hours and then off to California, forces a sort of homeless, stateless sense to begin to settle in.  Some things seem to be moving to align everywhere, while others are breaking away.  Let me share some examples:

    • According the UK Guardian, the reaction to paying bonuses in the huge financial industry in the City of London, perhaps second only to New York City, was to have the government and industry join to block all bonuses in any financial institution getting a bailout to only the extra pay at the bottom to clerks.  A far cry from the USA!
    • Martin Luther King III was in Delhi commemorating the 50th anniversary of his father’s trip to pay homage to Gandhi and non-violent tradition he popularized in the freedom struggle as India broke free from Britain.
    • Staying at a Motel 8 near the airport in Sacramento, I once again found that all hotels up the line and at the bottom now have curved shower curtains.  What is up with that?
    • Huffington Post notes that a “re-alignment” at SEIU international headquarters is likely to lead to layoffs of union staff in Washington, DC.
    • 100,000 parents of American-born citizens have been deported from the US in recent years according to a recent story in the Times.
    • Big news from giant drug maker Glaxo based in the UK (thanks again to the Guardian) is a breakthrough announcement that they are lowering prices for critical drugs being sold by their company in developing nations.  No mention of this in the WSJ or NYT, which is why I have added the Guardian to my list.  Unfortunately.
    • I am speaking this week at a conference on Global Cities being organized at Tufts University from Thursday through Saturday.  One session that might be of interest to any of my friends in the Boston area is a session on “Vulnerable Cities” on Friday evening from 7-9 pm, which includes discussion of many of the worlds’ great cities but also looks at the lessons from New Orleans.  Attend if you have the time as my guest and say hello!
    • Ercilia Sahores is in Peru meeting with ACORN Peru leaders and corporations about supporting our work there.
    • British Columbia Government Employees Union (BCGEU) announced a $16,000 CN grant to ACORN International to support expansion of the waste pickers unionizing effort to new cities, including Bangalore and Kolkata.
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