To balance the disturbing news of recent days

By Carol Gee

I did not feel as if I properly celebrated Labor Day. Much of the news was disturbing. That is the reason for one of these rare "Pollyanna-Merry-Sunshine" posts of mine.

To begin, the good news was that the hurricane could have been much worse. Here is some more good news. From "betmo" (8/28/08) on MSNBC came this to celebrate: "The world's most powerful women" -- "Business and political leaders on Forbes list control $26 trillion worldwide." To quote:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel tops the list for the third year running as the ranking democratically elected female leader. Sheila Bair, head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the embattled U.S. bank-deposit insurer, debuts in second place as she tries to stave off financial panic amid a worldwide credit crisis. At No. 3, Indra K. Nooyi of PepsiCo is the highest-ranked woman in business as she expands the food and beverage giant internationally to counter a decline in Americans' preference for soda and chips.

. . . Candidates for our list are globally recognized women at the top of their fields: chief executives and their highest-ranked lieutenants, elected officials, nonprofit leaders. They don't have to be rich, but they do have to wield significant influence. This year, an architect, a war correspondent and several foundation executives all won spots on the list.

We measure power as a composite of public profile - calculated using press mentions - and financial heft. This year, for instance, the woman with the highest public profile is Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, No. 28, who garnered intense media scrutiny for her failed U.S. presidential bid.

Power surge/The top 10

1. Angela Merkel
2. Sheila C. Bair
3. Indra K. Nooyi
4. Angela Braly
5. Cynthia Carroll
6. Irene Rosenfeld
7. Condoleezza Rice
8. Ho Ching
9. Anne Lauvergeon
10. Anne M. Mulcahy

Here is another "feel good" story, from one of my regular contributors, Jon. The news celebrates the little guy. Labor Day was meant to celebrate all the little guys, those salt of the earth folks who form the bedrock of our nation. From the (8/24/08) Time Magazine comes: "Goliath Loses: Accountant Beats IRS." To quote:

It took seven years, but Charles Ulrich did something many people dream about, but few succeed at: He beat the IRS in a tax dispute. Not only that, but tax experts say potentially millions of other taxpayers could benefit from his victory.

The accountant from Baxter, Minn., challenged the method the IRS has used for more than 20 years to tax shares and cash distributed by mutual life insurance firms to their policyholders when they reorganize as public companies.

Further -- under the feel good section: One of my favorite bloggers wrote this about Senator Obama, who also celebrates the little guy: "Regional Vox Populi (election edition)" by "buckarooskiddoo" at Make it stop! Make it stop! It is worth clicking the link just for the uplifting words. To quote just a few:

Thursday night, I attended a Barack Obama Acceptance Speech house party here in rural Oregon. While we were there to watch and cheer the speech, which everyone did with gusto, the most interesting thing to me was hearing the attendees explain why they support this ticket. . . other assessments, which went along these lines:
. . . This war is poisoning this society and culture, making it sicker and sicker...Obama is the antidote.
". . . I am tired of the entitlement culture of the Bush administration."
". . . I think that if we want to live in the 21th century, we have to vote Obama."
". . . I feel that Barack Obama respects me and values my opinion."

. . . these comments moved and heartened me...I was proud to count myself among these entirely ordinary Americans, and I can only hope that there are a whole lot more people out there who share their views.

I know that, in a few short weeks, I will be finally be able to cast a vote for President with joy in my heart, rather than a clothespin on my nose.

By the numbers: The Neilsen ratings for the Dems Convention. "38.4 million total viewers this week":

Nielsen just released its ratings for Day Three of the Democratic National Convention. The key takeaways are:

1) Bill Clinton and Senator Joe Biden drew more viewers (24 million) than Michelle Obama (22.3 million) but fewer than Hillary Clinton (26 million).

2) Older viewers (age 55+) continued to dominate the TV audience Wednesday night, with 18.1% of all Americans in that age group -- 12.5 million people -- tuning in to the convention coverage.

In conclusion, I leave you with a silly little poem I wrote years ago:

Holidays Are Of the Heart

Holidays were meant for happy hearts.

New Year's Eve is about fresh starts.

MLK's birthday tugs at heart strings.

Valentine's Day's for diamond ear rings.

Easter Sunday signs Resurrection's hope.

Mothers Day brings me scented soap.

Fathers Day the kids always call home.

Birthdays bring PJ's and a card poem.

Independence Day's for love of country.

Labor Day declares workers honorees.

Thanksgiving makes our hearts grateful.

Christmas for family, gifts by the sack full.


Copyright by Carol Gee -- 2/19/06

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)