Lennon vs. Bono, Round II (Washington Post version): the death of the celebrity activist

For those 5 people not?totally satiated with this topic, including those?of you?who want answers to some of the very valid questions and doubts?posted as comments on?the earlier blog post, I have an article coming out in the Washington Post Outlook section this coming Sunday.??Please read the full version that is already available online, here are some extracts:

Lennon was a rebel. Bono is not.

Lennon’s protests against the war in Vietnam so threatened the U.S. government that he was hounded by the FBI, police and even immigration authorities. He was a moral crusader who challenged leaders whom he thought were doing wrong. Bono, by contrast, has become a sort of celebrity policy expert, supporting specific technical solutions to global poverty. He does not challenge power but rather embraces it; he is more likely to appear in photo ops with international political leaders – or to travel through Africa with a Treasury secretary – than he is to call them out in a meaningful way.

There is something inherently noble about the celebrity dissident, but there is something slightly ridiculous about the celebrity wonk.

…In this role, Lennon was continuing a venerable tradition: the celebrity as a crusader against the wrongs committed by those in power. In the 19th century, the celebrity activists had been not musicians but writers. Charles Dickens, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and other authors loudly supported the abolitionist crusade against slavery. …Mark Twain denounced American imperialism and atrocities in the 1898-1902 war against Spain and Filipino independence fighters.

…{Bono} runs with the crowd that believes ending poverty is a matter of technical expertise – doing things such as expanding food yields with nitrogen-fixing leguminous plants or solar-powered drip irrigation.

These are fine moves as far as they go, but why have Bono champion them? The technocratic approach puts him in the position of a wonk, not a dissident; an expert, not a crusader. (Little wonder that he hasn’t cranked out a musical hit related to his activism. It’s hard to imagine “Beautiful Day When We Meet the MDG Targets by 2015.”) Can you imagine Lennon passing himself off as an authority on the intricacies of Vietnamese politics and history? His message was simpler: This war is wrong.

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Disability is no longer the penalty of death for pets

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - dog of when Beverly Tucker Tobi rupture disc in his back, the veterinarian gave him the choice: expensive surgery with little chance of success, or euthanasia.

As an increasing number of owners of domestic animals, Tucker has opted for a third choice thanks to advances in medicine and changing attitudes about the animaux.Elle care has purchased a wagon wheel specially equipped for the legs of Tobi, restore his paralyzed Doggie mobility.

"I would never have my dog mater", said Tucker."Our option was the wheels and we're going strong since.

Pets with disabilities ranging from deafness spinal injuries still struggling more than healthy counterparts, but their future is also darker as avant.Une pet owners with disabilities restoration industry has arisen, offering all chiropractors who specializes in canine spines carts.

Even in an economic slump, people are willing to pamper their pets.

Total spending on pets have increased every year since the beginning of the recession, passing $ 41.2 billion in 2007 to 47.7 billion American pet products this year, according to the Association.

"Business pet has evolved considerably, especially in the last five years," said Leslie may, founder of the industry consultant Marketing Pawsible."When people think of animals as members of the family, that they seek the resources meet the needs of their pets.

Animal health specialists responsible for medical supplies and volunteer rescue say that they have seen a growing willingness of American public opinion to adopt or pet care conditions that would have once satisfied with certain euthanasia.

Dianne Dunning, Director of public policy program N.C. State University, well-being of animals, ethics and said change has overshadowed advances in veterinary medicine.

She said: "you're seeing in many cases now that pet is equivalent status to children of a family."

There are many different 21 years, when the Buddha, a Doberman owned by Ed and Leslie Grinnell, woken up unable to use his legs one morning.

There is no online support group, no physiothérapeutes.Les doggies alone options offered by the vet had surgery back $ 5,000 to a recovery - 50-50 shot or immediate euthanasia.

Instead of this, Ed Grinnell put his skills to work as an engineer in mechanics and designed a wagon wheel of the Buddha, who lived three ans.Dix years later, veterans were referred so many people that they have gone in the manufacture of canine carriage full-time Grinnells.

Since 1999, Eddie wheels has extended to workers at their facility in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts and now ships its carts in the world for dogs, cats, rabbits, goats, sheep - 14 same alpacas.

"I don't think people felt very differently on their pets 20 or 30 years," said Leslie Grinnell. " This is just the culture confirmed that this is an important member of the family. ?

This isolation of Grinnells felt was similar to what Joyce Darrell and her husband, Mike Dickerson, experienced when their dog Duke broken his spinal cord during an accident in place of euthanasia Duke, the Grinnells 1999.Au has obtained a trolley with wheels.

They have adopted since another dog with legs paralyzed.

Adoptions have since become full-time rescue called pets With Disabilities, Darrell runs from his home in Prince Frederick, MD.Le program saves between 50 and 70 dogs per year, finding permanent most accommodations.

He said disabled dogs often tighter bond with people as able-bodied dogs "because they are beings humans for things more."Still, there are more challenges in caring for disabled animals, including higher medical costs.

"Folks are generally far animals will require medical care and cost is usually the No. 1 issue, said Gail Buchwald American society for the prevention of cruelty animal adoption Center in New York.

Mary Dow, volunteer from Durham, independent pet rescue rescued a cat named Daisy and paid $2,300 for surgery on his leg cassée.Elle has raised more than $1,800 to compensate for the tab.

"This is not necessarily a conclusion in advance that all people are reluctant to away disabled animals", she says, however. "We have found homes for a bit which would have been euthanized.?

This second chance is not just for animals, Leslie Grinnell said, but for humans who stand to learn their disabled pets.

"These animals am sorry for them," she says. "They really have much to teach us.?

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