By Stephanie Doctrow, RP Staff, on Fri May 27, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
CNN looks at the 30 year anniversary of HIV/AIDS being cited in a medical publication, through the eyes of literature professor and activist Edmund White. [CNN]
Should kids under 13 be allowed to use Facebook? [Time]
The number of sex-selective abortions in India is on the rise, and experts say that this is due to the increase in wealth and literacy rates in the country. The “missing girl” crisis is creating a population imbalance that will affect India for years to come. [NY Times]
It’s 2011, and the stem cell debate is raging even harder than ever. [Newsweek]
Stay away from the Four Loko. Even though the caffeinated alcoholic beverage banned in some states and the makers recently removed caffeine from its recipe, experts say it’s still dangerous. [Huffington Post]
By Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, on Tue May 24, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET
Among her many civic and philanthropic roles, contributing RP Kathleen Kennedy Townsend sevres as Chair of the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Institute of Human Virology, founded by well-known AIDS researcher Dr. Robert C. Gallo. In recent weeks, the Institute received $23 million in new funding for an HIV/AIDS vaccine from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Army, and other organizations.
Still, Townsend argues, the need for research dollars is far, far greater. As she wrote for Atlantic magazine online:
While researchers are still struggling to develop a preventive vaccine, the treatment of HIV/AIDS has drastically changed. For most of the developed world, HIV/AIDS has been transformed from a death sentence to a chronic disease.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the case in the developing world, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where millions don’t have access to life-saving drugs. For them the death sentence has not been commuted.
By Stephanie Doctrow, RP Staff, on Fri May 20, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
One woman’s kidney donation to a stranger starts a chain of giving. [Huffington Post]
It’s a dark question we all hope to never have to ask ourselves. If your house was burning down, what possessions would you take with you? [The Burning House]
Concerned parents around the world are thanking God. The infamous “Botox mom” loses custody of her eight year old. [Time]
Years later, Magic Johnson reflects on living with HIV and how his diagnosis affected his life and public opinion towards a controversial illness. [Newsweek]
By David Snyder, on Fri May 20, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET
Not being much of a writer, but having known the RP for going on 30 years, I was offered the opportunity to contribute to the blog. The theme of all first timers on this site is (in the RP’s own words), “how you got to your second act.” Although I am not a recovering politician, I am a recovering lawyer.
I spent ten years practicing law and I am proud to say – IT CAN BE DONE – you can make it out alive. And there is life on the outside. This is in no way meant to disparage attorneys. Many on this site (the RP included) are attorneys, as are my own father and many friends. So many attorneys do great work and are still engaged in and excited by the practice of law, and it really is amazing to see. Law still remains the most noble of professions.
But I also know there are many like myself who had their fill and needed to move on. I was typical of many solo practitioners – doing criminal defense and smaller litigation cases, wills and trust work, and eventually part of a small firm, doing more complex business litigation. And I reached a point where the fight of other’s battles became a thankless and ungratifying place to be.
I had always wondered where my life would go if I left the practice of law. And as fate would have it, while I was contemplating this issue in my law office in downtown Cincinnati, an opportunity arose that put me on the path I am on today.
While considering my future in 2002, I was visited by my financial advisor who, while performing an annual review, began recruiting me. And within a day, I was already on my way to meetings, interviews and a whirlwind of education and licensing for four months that led me to Northwestern Mutual and being a Financial Advisor, where I have been the past 8+ years. The fit was perfect. I already had the legal background and a good knowledge of planning from the legal perspective and add to that the financial/investment education and the proper licenses and credentials, as well as a very supportive wife, and I was set to go.
Within a month, my entire perspective on being a professional had changed. While leaving an appointment in that first month, the clients actually thanked me for spending time talking with them and discussing their financial planning. No one had ever done that while practicing law and my life had been transformed. I knew I had found a home in this profession. I realized that I had a passion for this work. I have the privilege of making an impact, making a difference, of working with individuals, protecting families and businesses, and more importantly, building wealth in a most tax efficient manner.
This is gratifying and satisfying, something that many lawyers never feel. Despite all of the good work that attorneys perform, much of it is thankless and that took its toll on me. Practicing law was work. Now I have a career.
I must say that it has not been easy and without certain trials and tribulations. Being self employed is great, but requires much work to build up a going business. And the biggest bridge I have crossed is toeing the line between personal and professional life. In no other business I have seen does a person actively seek out so many people that you already know in an effort to help them out and make them clients. That can cause strife when your professional relationship creeps into the personal relationship. And it is the burden that all who work as Financial Advisors must carry.
I was very recently confronted with this situation – a client who is a long time friend, and there is most definitely a fine line between the appropriate times for business and the times when the relationship must remain purely social. I am comforted by my passion, because I know that even when I walk along that line, I am operating from a good place and with good intentions. My heart and passion are in the right place and this career offers me the opportunity to help not only those I have just met, but also those persons I have known for so long and care so much about. Where else can you impact people, including friends and family and help provide them with the security and peace of mind they so desperately want and need?
So here I am, 8+ years later, happier and professionally satisfied. And while being self employed has its challenges, I can make my own schedule which allows me to attend my childrens’ sports activities and school programs, along with other extra curricular and charitable work I have begun.
To all the attorneys out there in RP land – I applaud you. But if you are like me, there is hope – find what you like and go after it. It can make all the difference.
The experts agree: there’s only so much sunscreen can help, no matter the SPF level. [Washington Post]
Fox News recommends some natural allergy remedies, in case that Zyrtec isn’t helping. [Fox News]
A $2 million research project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture will photograph Texas students’ lunch trays before they sit down to eat and later take a snapshot of the leftovers. Smile kids, you’re on calorie camera! [Huffington Post]
By Jonathan Miller, on Fri Apr 29, 2011 at 12:30 PM ET
Those readers familiar with national politics might remember “Walkin’ Lawton” Chiles, the Florida legend who walked from the western most point of the Florida panhandle all the way to Key West during his 1970 bid for the U.S. Senate. The walk became his signature action, so he incorporated it through his many future statewide campaigns.
In 2010, our own contributing RP Loranne Ausley took the gimmick another “step,” and ventured on a bike trek from Tallahasse to West Palm Beach to convince her opponent to finally engage in a civil debate. (Read about what Loranne is up to in her inaugural post.) Here is a report of her efforts:
By Lisa Miller, on Wed Apr 27, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
Behind every man is a good woman.
And behind every good woman is a great woman.
In 1975 when Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner, and Lorraine Newman were the feminine faces of Saturday Night Live, the late great John Belushi made it his mission to sabotage their success.
No kidding.
John Belushi and Jane Curtin
Jane Curtin said as much on Oprah Winfrey’s April 14 tribute to SNL. According to Curtin, Belushi apparently believed that “women were fundamentally not funny; and if a woman had written a piece for John, he wouldn’t read it during rehearsal, he’d whisper it.”
She went on to explain that this type of disrespect wasn’t at all an unusual feature of the workplace experience in the 70’s. A working comedienne (terrifically talented at that) in New York, on the most exciting new show on television, and Jane Curtin, as a self-employed woman — “could not even get a credit card.”
Why bring this up now?
Because I thought of this super good title while walking the dog three days ago. And I decided this piece can’t be about my life as an RP spouse as I had originally planned. That’s because watching Tina Fey sit with Curtin on Oprah’s famous couch illustrated how far women have come in 36 years. And that was deeply inspiring.
Today, Tina Fey is lauded as one of the most brilliant entertainers in T.V, and she is indeed a woman with a credit card — as well as loads of respect. Here’s what Oprah says:
“Tina Fey is the creator, writer, and star of 30 Rock — and former head writer of SNL — she is one of the smartest women on our planet right now.”
I wonder if she’s the smartest woman on all of the planets. She might be, and do you wonder too how she got to be so all that?
Fey said simply, “I was 5 when the show started, and I studied it all the time.” There it is, nourished by the brilliance of women before her, Fey now stands on the shoulders of those who blazed the trail. (For the purpose of this spiffy blog article, I wish she’d have been more specific in that sound bite about emulating women in particular. But maybe that’s exactly what she meant, eh?)
Anyway, it was a powerful statement when she said later about her own trail-blazing time on SNL that “the more women in the room to laugh at pieces written by women, the more everyone would agree to put it in the show.”
While the scary, loathsome dynamics of middle school girls might lead us to believe that girls will always and forever scratch each others’ eyes out, most adult women have each other’s backs. There is no doubt that we help one another in ways that make us cry with gratitude.
Consider all the stories of women all over the world: WomenforWomen.org, which helps women survivors of war rebuild their lives; United Prosperity, which guarantees loans to female entrepreneurs in developing countries; the nameless thousands of women volunteers who stand on call in the middle of the night at rape crisis centers across the world; or the women in your own family and in my family who say to each other, “I know your heart is breaking, and I know you will get through it because I did.”
Click on Tina to review and/or purchase
Whether we realize and appreciate them or not, new generations build on the successes of their ancestors. It’s why the indigenous people pray that their current actions be “for the good of the children and the children’s children.” And it’s why Tina Fey can now be queen of comedy in an industry that is still predominately male.
I plan to read her new book, Bossypants, this weekend by the way. In it are many stories of her road to empowerment, success, and hilarity. Can’t wait.
And because I’m always looking for fantastic role models for my girls, they are each getting a copy.
Now it’s your turn: Whether you are female or male, tell a brief story below about the awesomeness of a woman in your life.
By Stephanie Doctrow, RP Staff, on Fri Apr 22, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
Want to play doctor? The New York Times’ Wellness blog gives readers the chance to solve a real-life medical mystery. [New York Times]
IMS Health’s annual report on U.S. prescription spending reveals that in 2010, the top 10 most popular medications were generics for the first time. [Time Healthland]
Those tiresome pop-up ads for the acai berry will finally be off our computer screens, thanks to FTC intervention. [Huffington Post]
Feeling down? Blame it on the pollen… it could be linked to your seasonal allergies. [CNN]
Now get that mood back up with a funny YouTube video. This ticklish penguin at the Cincinnati Zoo is quickly becoming an Internet sensation: [YouTube]
