Tiger Woods and Corporate Social Responsibility

I need to take an "indefinite break" from Tiger Woods.

But if we need to talk about him, lets talk about his lack of corporate social responsibility. There is a lot I could say about Woods and lack of responsibility in his private life, but at this point, that mess is really between himself, his wife and his higher being. But I digress.

Many analysts believed that Woods was going to be dropped by all his sponsors and partners, including energy giant Chevron, but it seems like Woods beat them to the punch.

From TigerWoods.com

As the final round of the Chevron World Challenge begins, I would like to extend my heartfelt thank you to everyone affiliated with the event, especially our amazing title sponsor, Chevron." Woods added: '"I am so grateful to them for their efforts, and I am sincerely sorry I was unable to fulfill my duties as host and player in this important event." He also mentioned the "18 outstanding pros in the field," saying, "they provided excellent competition.

If Tiger Woods is so reckless about his personal life, why would I expect any better from his corporate life.

From David Zirin:

In 2008 Chevron entered a five-year relationship with Tiger Woods's foundation under the guise of philanthropy. But if Woods had a shred of social conscience, this partnership never would have existed. Lawsuits have been issued against Chevron for dumping toxic waste all over the planet. Alaska, Canada, Brazil, Angola and California have all accused Chevron of dumping. Even worse, Chevron has a partnership with Burma's ruling military junta on the country's Yadana gas pipeline project, the single greatest source of revenue for the military, estimated at nearly $5 billion since 2000.

Ka Hsaw Wa, co-founder and executive director of EarthRights International, wrote in an open letter to Woods, "I myself have spoken to victims of forced labor, rape, and torture on Chevron's pipeline--if you heard what they said to me, you too would understand how their tragic stories stand in stark contrast to Chevron's rhetoric about helping communities." Chevron is underwriting a dictatorship, but Tiger Woods apparently sees them as upstanding corporate partners.

Zirin goes on to say that Tiger Woods has designed a golf course in Dubai, which "also has a reputation as ground zero of the global sex trade. The project cost $100 million, and Woods said nary a word about his benefactor's practices. This is business as usual for Woods who would sooner swallow a five-iron than take anything resembling a political stand."

Who is really surprised by this? It's not like Tiger Woods respects women anyway, right...

Human Rights Day? I think not...

So, apparently today was International Human Rights Day, but nothing about today seemed to celebrate that feeling. President Obama was in Oslo, Norway today to receive his "much-deserved" Nobel Peace Prize. I'm so glad I am not the only person that sees the absurdity in Obama's award.

From Marc Lamont Hill:

...How can a president who is not only managing but escalating unnecessary wars receive an award as an agent of peace? Even more absurd is the reaction from the Left, which has failed to call Obama on the carpet for the very policies and practices for which we lambasted President Bush.

Like George W. Bush, Barack Obama’s Afghanistan policy is rooted in a belief that military escalation and indefinite occupation are the keys to global security and the expansion of democracy. Like Bush, Obama has refused to substantively invest in Afghani jobs, housing, and education, all of which are traditional keys to an effective counter-insurgency strategy. Like Bush, Obama has dipped into the reservoir of fear, scaring Americans into thinking that military aggression, even the pre-emptive sort, is the only thing that will keep Americans safe. Yet somehow, despite these and other eerie similarities to President Bush, the anti-war Left has sat on its hands while President Obama operates.

Even more disturbing than Obama’s warmongering is the blatant calculation behind it. Unlike Bush, whose wrongheadedness was at least borne out of a coherent (though perverted) set of principles, Obama appears willing to act out of pure political expediency. After getting public pressure from his generals and bloodthirsty Republicans for his “dithering” (a Bushian term used to mock the President’s audacious use of facts, evidence, and wise council) Obama finally caved to his rivals and sent troops. Then, in order to satisfy the anxious anti-war left, Obama promises a withdrawal date. Sound good? Sure, except for one catch: He never promised a completion of the withdrawal, which hinges upon the ability of a severely compromised Karzai government and woefully underprepared Afghani troops to take over the military reigns. In short, Obama, like Bush, has American troops and innocent Afghani citizens in harms way without a clear or reasonable exit strategy...

All I have to say about this is that if the Dalai Lama doesn't think you are deserving the prize, you know you got issues.

Global Wire Interview: Women Tech Entrepreneurs

The first New Media Women Entrepreneurs Summit occurred yesterday with dozens of enterprising women – and a few men – thinking about the business side of the new cyber frontier. Following the summit, Global Wire talked to future tech entrepreneur Juliana Bozan of Brazil about creating Internet start-ups with a focus on social justice. Bozan came to the Summit to find inspiration.

Global Wire: Why is it important for more women to get involved in technology and entrepreneurship?

Juliana Bozan: I think it is really important for women to get online today because they are so many business opportunities. Women, especially in the developing world, are blogging and tweeting about issues that affect us. Just look at the Iranian protests last summer and the continuing human rights problems against women in the Middle East; many of the bloggers are women. Journalism outlets like CNN and BBC are using information on our blogs for free, and we see no profit. But now is the time to step our game, and figure out a way to create business opportunities for our words, video and audio.

GW: Tell me about your blogging experience?

JB: I used to write for a now defunct group blog for women in Brazil a couple of years back about “Brave Women,” where we would talk about problems women in the favelas like domestic violence, prostitution and single motherhood. It was great because everyone liked it and we have a lot of unique hits on the site, including from European journalism outlets. However, some of these journalism outlets reposted some of our blog posts, which was fine at first, but eventually we got tired of them taking our stuff without giving credit to our blog, the bloggers or even asking our permission to repost or paying us for reposting. We felt like we were being used, you know, like a new kind of colonialism. Since Western outlets are cutting back on having journalists in the developing world, they now seek out bloggers in countries they want to get information about. Unfortunately, it is very commonplace these days for Western journalism outlets take information from bloggers in the developing world and not give credit where credit is due.

GW: What are you hoping to take away from this Summit?

JB: I have met a couple of interesting people here who I would like to follow up within the next few days about getting help on writing a business plan. I want to look into starting an online newsletter or blog about Brazilian women social justice activists, but this time I want to look at having a better strategy for monetizing my site, so my writers will get payment and credit for their work. I would even consider having more formalized partnerships with journalism outlets.

GW: What advice do you have for other women tech entrepreneurs?

JB: Be strong, be confident and be smart about what you are doing. Don’t let others take advantage of you or tell you that you can’t do your own website. When you do that, you have failed before you’ve even gotten started.

Fall Into Bloom

Photos I took in Boston’s Jamaica Plain and Roslindale neighborhoods the week of October 25, 2009.

Tweeting for Equality

On Sunday, thousands of gays and lesbians gathered in Washington, D.C. for the National Equality March, which was billed as the largest event of its kind since 2000. While many in the gay community were divided over the reasoning for having such a march, this was also one of the first massive gay rights protests to use social media - tools that are being used by the new generation of LGBT activists. Sunday's protest was the latest example of the generational shift in how to communicate for social change.

Most of the organizing was done through Facebook, YouTube and other tools leading up to the march. Before and during the march, protesters could follow the march's official Twitter feed for any logistics matters, such as getting information about purchasing subway round-trip tickets before the march to avoid long lines stations kiosks.

Throughout the day, Twitter was the main choice of communicating, as thousands of protesters either in Washington or following the events on television reflected on march highlights. Most used the hashtag #nem to follow the conversation.

loquaciousmoi "Rights for Gays
and Lesbians aren't special rights in any way. It isn't special to be free from
discrimination." - Julian Bond #nem

700mtv Judy Shepard, "I"m here today
because I lost my son to hate . . . We're all equal Americans. Gay, straight,
whatever." #NEM

peterzimmerman Wow the speeches at #NEM are really inspiring. Gosh.
So exciting to see the outpouring of emotion at the march!

Jamal Jackson and Winston Brown moved to the United States from the Caribbean island of Jamaica to escape harassment from others about their relationship three years ago. The march was the first gay rights event they have attended as an openly gay couple. The both also used Twitter to follow what other folks were saying, as well as tweeting their own thoughts.

"I started using Twitter a year ago and I found using it to be very useful," Jackson told Global Wire following the march. "I was able to tweet other protesters, find out where to meet my friends and navigate the city during the protest. I was able to find other people here from the West Indies, like Trinidad, Dominica and Haiti."

For Winston Brown, tweeting had a more sentimental meaning.

"I am using Twitter because I still have closeted gay friends back home in Kingston, and they are reading my updates," Brown said to Global Wire. "They will not feel alone anymore and might feel inspired."

Ru Freeman on life, politics and writing

To Qaddafi with Love

I think it might be time for Muammar Qaddafi to call it a day. I guess he was so excited to be making his debut at the United Nations today that his speech may have sounded...a little off???

From The Guardian:

...Muammar Gaddafi - for it was he - grabbed his 15 minutes of fame at the UN building in New York today and ran with it. He ran with it so hard he stretched it to an hour and 40 minutes, six times longer than his allotted slot, to the dismay of UN organisers...

...He tore up a copy of the UN charter in front of startled delegates, accused the security council of being an al-Qaida like terrorist body, called for George Bush and Tony Blair to be put on trial for the Iraq war, demanded $7.7tn in compensation for the ravages of colonialism on Africa, and wondered whether swine flu was a biological weapon created in a military laboratory. At one point, he even demanded to know who was behind the killing of JFK. All in all, a pretty ordinary 100 minutes in the life of the colonel...

...He then turned his wrath on to America, Britain, France, Russia and China - the permanent members of the security council, or "terror council" as he renamed it. Their veto was tantamount to terrorism. "This is terrorism, like the terrorism of al-Qaida. Terrorism is not just al-Qaida, it takes many forms."

In case the point was lost on anyone, he tore up his copy of the UN rule book.

Having thus abused and alienated 99.99% of the world's top diplomats, he suddenly changed tack, heaping praise and devotion on the one man he appears to respect. "Now the black man doesn't have to sit in the back of the bus, the American people made him president and we are proud of that. We would be happy if Obama stayed president of America forever."

Poor Barack Obama. Having Gaddafi applaud his stance towards the world must have been as pleasing as being congratulated on his domestic policy by the leader of the birthers, who insist Obama was not born in America.

So much for Pan-Africanism...