BeadforLife in New York Times

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, who is one of the great advocates for women and the eradication of extreme poverty in the world, has written an article about BeadforLife and how people can get involved in the fight against global poverty.  It is so exciting to have him as part of the bead circle.  Hosting a bead party is a wonderful way to make a … Continue reading BeadforLife in New York Times

Haiti Earthquake: Telling the Story

The Los Angeles Times and the New York Times are doing a great job reporting a backstory in Haiti.  Their journalists are telling how broadcast and cable news handled the incredible logistics of deploying their people to Port Au Prince to cover the story.  This is not to diminish the role of Facebook, Twitter, blogs, YouTube and cell phones, but to get people like Anderson Cooper of CNN, … Continue reading Haiti Earthquake: Telling the Story

Acid Attacks: Personal and Political

Many of you have come to this blog to watch the story about Juliette and read about her brutal acid attack in Kampala, Uganda (http://vimeo.com/5703299.)  I had always considered the violence against Juliette and other women like her as personal.  Jealous men destroy the lives of women who threaten them in some way.  Nicholos Kristof of the New York Times writes widely on this subject as … Continue reading Acid Attacks: Personal and Political

India Ethics

I wrote a blog on Christmas Day 2008 (after seeing the movie “Slumdog Millionaire”) about how conflicted I was while in Delhi, India over what to do when children begged for handouts.  Apparently I’m not the only person who has struggled with how to respond.  Check out Sunday’s New York Times column, The Ethicist, by Randy Cohen. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/magazine/03wwln-ethicist-t.html For more information on Vicky Collins visit http://teletrendstv.com Continue reading India Ethics

Trend Setting Iowa

My husband is from Iowa.  His parents live in a town of about 10,000 called Storm Lake in the Northwest corner of the state.  I’ve been going back and forth for many years.  The Iowa I used to see was a conservative, set in its ways kind of place that didn’t really welcome change.  But my view is shifting dramatically.  Iowa voters were prescient with their … Continue reading Trend Setting Iowa

Juliette’s Acid Attack

Juliette dreams of someday marrying a nice man.  One unlike the monster who poured acid on her in a jealous rage in July 2007.  We are sitting with this young woman, just 19 years old, on a porch near a church in Kampala, Uganda.  Juliette is beautiful on the side of her face that she shows to the world.  Her eyes are bright and she has a radiant … Continue reading Juliette’s Acid Attack

Newspaper War

My husband and I had a newspaper war.  Our subscriptions to the local papers lapsed and I didn’t renew them.  It was sort of an experiment to see if we would really miss not having the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News delivered to our home.  Everything is available to us on line and I scan half a dozen news websites a day.  Often by the … Continue reading Newspaper War